14-year old girl was found unconscious near Expo Center Essay

KARACHI: An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale rocked the coastal city of Karachi and adjacent areas late on Monday night. According to the seismic center, the epicenter of the quake was 10 kilometers deep in Hub, Balochistan he police on Monday night identified those six deceased people whose bodies were found dumped . Khan was strangled to death by unknown people along with his wife Nadia Amer and three sons – Roman Khan, Adam Khan and Haider Khan – and his 24-year-old servant. According to sources, Ameerullah Khan, a millionaire, was the the owner of real estate worth millions of rupees in Peshawar. Reportedly, he was not only engaged in a dispute with his brother and brother-in-law over the ownership of the property but was also receiving threats from land mafia. KARACHI: Eid-ul-Azha today (Tuesday) is being celebrated in Saudi Arabia besides Gulf, European, Far Eastern countries, US and Europe, Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in Pakistan tomorrow Wednesday, while the Pakistani expatriates in US and Europe like our northern areas would also be celebrating two eids, as some of them slaughtering sacrificial animals on Tuesday, while others would be doing so on Wednesday. See more: Sleep Deprivation Problem Solution Speech Essay ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops early Tuesday morning responded to the unprovoked firing by Indian forces across the Line of Control (LoC) and reduced them to silence, The sources further said that Pakistan’s tit-for-tat retaliation forced the enemy to retreat to its bunkers. LONDON — Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who wasshot in the head by the Taliban for her advocacy of girls’ education, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Thursday by the European Parliament. Ms. Yousafzai was chosen as the winner of the $65,000 Sakharov Prize by the heads of the political groupings in the 766-member European Parliament. LONDON — The Pakistani police arrested Pervez Musharraf, the nation’s former military ruler, on Thursday, opening a new criminal prosecution against him that frustrated plans by his supporters to fly him out of Pakistan. Muhammad Rizwan, a senior Islamabad police official, told reporters that Mr. Musharraf would remain under house arrest at his villa outside Islamabad, where he has been confined since April. It is not clear, however, whether the court order represents a major obstacle to Mr. Musharraf’s plans to leave Pakistan, or a temporary one. deadlysiege of the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007. A Pakistani court granted bail on Wednesday to Pervez Musharraf, the country’s former military ruler, clearing the way for him to leave the country as early as Thursday, his lawyers said. Mr. Musharraf, 70, has been under house arrest at his villa outside Islamabad since April, facing criminal charges in three cases related to his nine years in power, from 1999 to 2008. Mr. Musharraf had already been granted bail in two of the three cases, and the decision on Wednesday to grant bail in the third — related to the death of Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader killed in a military operation — opens the door for him to avoid prosecution entirely. Mr. Musharraf’s lawyers said that his bail payment of $20,000 could be processed as early as Thursday morning; he could then leave Pakistan immediately.

Consumer Behavior Comparison Essay

1. Using the tricomponent attitude model, compare the differences in attitude of consumers towards Kraft Foods versus their attitude towards Vegemite. The tricomponent attitude model is made up of Cognitive, Affective and Conative component. The three components are interrelated and integrate to form an attitude of a person toward any product or service in consumer scenario. Here we are studying how the consumers react to Kraft Food and Vegemite. Cognitive Component Cognition is basically making decisions going through a thinking process. So this thinking process can occur on the basis of knowledge and perceptions that already existed in the consumers’ minds. The Cognitive Component of attitude is developing a belief based on past experience or perception and whenever the consumers are exposed to attitude object (about which we are to form certain attitude) and those belief will form a typical behavior towards that attitude object. The consumers can be seen in the case study to be protective over Vegemite as they perceive it to be a national symbolic food with the long history. The brand itself had lasted centuries with its unique salty base as breakfast spread as compared to traditional sweet base spreads. Kraft Foods being the brand owner did not do anything to the brand until the later years where they did a rebranding of the product to suit modern culture and needs. The consumers clearly triggered heavy resentment over the undesired new name as they had perceive â€Å"Vegemite† to be worthy of a name to more relevant. Here Kraft Food suffered a marketing backlash whereas consumers’ support for Vegemite rally strong. Affective Component This Component of Attitude formation is all about emotional feelings of a consumer about the particular product or brand. Consumers have certain emotions regarding the attitude objects either favorable or unfavorable; good or bad, it may be regardless of any quality, specification, features, utility or brand name. Vegemite lasted centuries of success without any interference from Kraft Food in terms of product modification or receipe changes. Kraft Food knew that Australians held Vegemite with high regards and deeply rooted in the history and culture. Despite a dip in sales after foreigners infux, the strong support of the old brand can be seen as Kraft Food carelessly picked an odd name for their re-branding. In their â€Å"Name me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  campaign, strong sentiments of the brands were reveal as hate groups emerge to hate the new Vegemite name. The consumers feel strongly violated as the name did not resonate with the hearts of the supporter. Kraft Food succumb to pressure an d rename the product. Conative Component This final component is concerned with the likelihood or tendency that a specific action will be undertaken by an individual regarding attitude object. It is treated as an expression of consumer’s intention to buy. It may include action itself. Consumers usually make purchases for positively evaluated brands. Their intentions towards those brands are positive, so their attitude towards those brand would be positive. Although the new â€Å"iSnack 2.0† was much disliked, the success of the receipe is shown with the improvement in sales figures. Consumers in this case, reacted to the over hyped publicity generated by negative marketing, resulting in curious new consumers trying out the new product. Vegemite in this case, was successful. On the other hand, Kraft Food was said to be making use of the clever marketing strategy by inducing resentments from the consumers with the â€Å"iSnack2.0† name. Compared with vegemite, Kraft Food is perceived to be crafty and had to resort to underhand means to achieve desirable results. 2. Thinking about the different methods Kraft used to encourage consumer input for their new Vegemite product, what kind of consumer learning took place during the entire process? Consumer learning is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behaviour. Most of the learning is incidental and some of it is intentional. Elements of Consumer learning The basic elements that contribute to an understanding of learning are motivation, cues, response and reinforcement. Consumers will be motivated to learn if the information is relevant to their needs and goals while cues serve to direct consumer drives when they are consistent with consumer expectations. Response is how consumers react or behave to a drive or a cue while reinforcement increases the likelihood a response will occur in the future as a result of a cue. Kraft encouraged consumer input for their new Vegemite product through the â€Å"How do you like your Vegemite† and the â€Å"Name me..† campaign. By getting the consumers to be involved, the Australians will feel that they ‘own’ the brand which created the sense of belonging. Kraft asked consumers to log on to the website and post their ideas on the different ways they ate the product. Instrumental Conditioning Instrumental Learning theorists believe that learning occurs through a trial and error process in which the positive outcomes in the form of results or desired outcomes lead to repeat behaviour like Repeat Purchase or Repeat Positive Word of Mouth. Both positive and negative reinforcement can be used to encourage the desired behaviour. The timing of repetitions influences how long the learned material is retained. Learning usually persists longer with distributed re-inforcement schedule, while mass repetitions produce more initial learnings. In view of how Kraft Food did was the â€Å"Name me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  campaign. They failed to select a proper name for the first time, but they acknowledge the mistake and repeat the campaign a second time. Meanwhile, they took four months to replace the â€Å"iSnack2.0† labelled jars off the shelves before replacing with â€Å"Cheesybites†. The consumers are conditioned by this instrumental method. 3. Vegemite is a food product sugge sting customers would have lower levels of involvement with the brand. However, the fall-out from ‘iSnack 2.0’ imply otherwise. What aspects of involvement theory were presented in their response? Involvement theory recognizes that consumers become attached to products, services or brands to differing levels and they engage in a range of information-processing activities, depending on the significance of the purchase (Sciffman et al. 2008). The involvement level shown by the consumers in ‘iSnack2.0’ is high is because Vegemite is considered to be a national brand and a part of Australia’s heritage (Superbrands Australia, 2012). Beside this, the ‘How do you like your Vegemite’ and the ‘Name Me’ campaign further increase the involvement level of the consumers as they felt a sense of ownership in the creation phrase of the product (Sciffman et al. 2008). From the case of ‘iSnack 2.0’, the hemispheral lateralization theory can be used to explain the responses of the consumers. The hemispheral lateralization theory, also known as split-brain theory, is the learning theory around the basic principle that the left and right side of the brain specialize in the kind of information they process. The left side of the brain, which specializes in cognitive activities, can be put as rational and logical, while the right side of the brain, which specializes in pictorial and holistic information, can be put as emotional and instinctive (Sciffman et al. 2008). When Kraft chose the name ‘iSnack 2.0’, the left hemispheral of the consumers processed the decision-making and they responded negatively because the logical thinking is that the selected name is more related to technology products such as iPod and iPhone by Apple. This made the decision looks ‘wierd’ and ‘irrevelant’ to the public and will also results in consumers thinking that Kraft is trying to ride on the success of Apple’s products (Miller, 2009). On the other side, the right hemispheral of the consumers also contributed to the consumers responding negatively because Australians have high loyalty and feelings for Vegemite (Foley, 2009) and the fact that Kraft did not let the consumers have a say in the winning name intensifies the negative feeling that Kraft, an American company, is not allowing the Australia public to have a say in the brand they felt they have ownership in. And by choosing a name that is perceived to be unsuitable and outrageous, it further fuels the feeling that the company is showing disrespect to the brand Australians love (Sciffman et al. 2008). 4. Do you think Kraft can change perception of ‘iSnack 2.0’ by changing the name to ‘Cheesybite’? Explain your answer. Perception is the process by which people select, organize and interpret stimuli to form a meaningful and logical picture of the world and it is important in marketing strategies for marketers because consumers make decisions based on what they perceive, rather than on the basis of objective reality. (Sciffman et al. 2008). When ‘iSnack 2.0’ was chosen, it triggered negative responses and outrage from consumers across a number of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, online forums, newspaper and magazines. ‘iSnack 2.0’ was perceived to be ‘weird’ and ‘irrelevant’ and make no sens e to consumers as to why a food product was given a technological name that is normally related to technology products such as iPhone and iPod (Miller, 2009). The name was also perceived to be a marketing stunt by the company as the negativity generated increased the exposure of the product. This led to the sales rising 47 percent in the first two weeks and the product being available in 15% of Australian households (Foley, 2009). However, ‘iSnack 2.0’ also led to hatred and anger as there are consumers who suggested boycotting the product (Collerton, 2009). By deciding to change the name of ‘iSnack 2.0’ to ‘Cheesybite’, Kraft can change the perception of the product. The product is a combination of ‘Vegemite’ spread and cream cheese (Kraft Foods Australia, 2011), which is as what ‘Cheesybite’ suggested and made more sense to consumers. Another reason is that ‘Cheesybite’ is chosen in a popularity vote by more than 30,000 Australian and New Zealanders, instead of by the company, therefore will relate better to consumers (AAP, 2009). Once the more popular and logi cal choice of ‘Cheesybite’ replace ‘iSnack 2.0’, sentiment will soften due to the Australia loyalty to the brand and the incident will slowly fade away. 5. If ‘Vegemite’ could be given a brand personality, what do you think it would be like? Compare this to how the ‘Cheesybite’ personality might be. Brand personality is an act or a process of the personality traits that a brand possesses. It is the viewing of a brand as a person and defining the traits that a brand has. A brand personality is something consumers can relate to and it develops over time (Parameswaran, 2006). An effective brand will increase its brand equity by having a consistent set of traits. There are five main types of brand personalities and they are Excitement, Sincerity, Ruggedness, Competence and Sophistication (Friend, 2010). ‘Vegemite’ is best described as having the personality of Sincerity which is interpreted as down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful (Friend, 2010). Vegemite is an Australian brand that reaches to the hearts of its consumers and therefore brand loyalty is high. Kraft has retained the down-to-earth nature of ‘Vegemite’ by not changing the content, with the only updates applying to external factor such as packaging and the occasional consumer promotion. ‘Cheesybite’ is best seen as having the personality of Excitement under the 5 dimensions of brand personality. The name ‘Cheesybite’ gives consumers an exciting, daring and spirited feeling (Friend, 2010). This will attracts consumers with high innovativeness as they are risk takers and are more likely to adopt new products (Tellis et al, 2009) The different personalities of ‘Vegemite’ and ‘Cheesybite’ give consumers totally different perception and feeling and this is important for Kraft to position itself in the different market segment to establish a good name. Bibliography AAP, 2009, Vegemite Cheesybite replaces iSnack2.0, The Sidney Morning Herald. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/vegemite-cheesybite-replaces-isnack20-20091007-gm5u.html Collerton, S. 2009. iSuck 2.0: Unhappy little Vegemites. ABC News. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-28/isuck-20-unhappy-little-vegemites/1445034 Foley, Meraiah. 2009. Vegemite Contest Draws Protests. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/global/03vegemite.html?pagewanted=all Friend, Camille. 2010. The 5 Dimensions of Brand Personality. Fuel Your Branding. http://www.fuelyourbranding.com/the-5-dimensions-of-brand-personality/ Kraft Foods Australia. 2011. http://www.kraftbrands.com/kraftvegemite/Pages/product-information-cheesybite.aspx Kraft Foods Australia. 2011. http://www.kraft.com.au/products/media_release_vegemite_vote.aspx Miller, K E. 2009. Title fight. The Drum Opinion. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/26916.html Parameswaran, M.G. 2006. Building Brand Value: Five Steps To Building Powerful Brands. Tta McGraw-Hill Education. Schiffman, Leon, David Bednall, Aron O’Cass, Angela Paladino, Steve Ward, and Leslie Kanuk. 2008. Consumer Behavior. 4th ed. Pearson Education Australia Superbrands Australia. 2012. http://www.superbrands.com/au/content/view/300/1/ Tellis, Gerard J, Eden Yin and Simon Bell. 2009. Global Consumer Innovativeness: Cross-Country Differences and Demographic Commonalities. Journal of International Marketing, American Marketing Association. Vol. 17, No 2, 2009, pp 1-22.

Recruitment

Focus and cite strategic manpower planning, recruitment and selection activities. Report and quote on these processes and how they help the company achieve its strategic goals Job analysis and Designing Coca cola companys HR Department check its own Job description and Job analysis in which they get the information about the employees work activities, human behavior, performance standard, Job context and human requirements and also other information related to this conduct.HR Department of Coca Cola used this information also for recruiting, selection, compensation, performance appraisal, training, and employee's relationship Planning and Forecasting Coca Cola HR Department involves in the company strategic planning and they also make sufficient planning for hiring new employees needs in the organization. HR forecast the needs for employees on the change in technology and increases in productivity.After planning the HR Department sends report to the head office for approval and if th ey get approval from the head office then HR will start the ecruitment process, The Recruitment Process HR Department posts their vacancy in news paper, institutions and company websites. The applicant can search for Jobs on the current Jobs tab from the homepage of their website and if the applicant already decided on what position to apply him/her will Just need to click â€Å"Apply Online† button and then follow the instruction provided.But in order to apply the applicant must first create a profile so that he/she can see the updates of his/her application. The company does internal nd external Recruitment. The Selection Process The selection process of Coca Cola HR Department will vary depending on the position that the candidates are applying for. Below are the tools used mostly by the HR department and in most cases they used the combination of any of the following tools; Interview- The interview is designed to reveal more about you and your experiences.Interviewer will ask for examples of how you behaved in different situations, maybe at school, home or in your previous Jobs Group Exercises- Coca cola s very much into teams so this exercise will show how the candidates effectively work with people. It is the good opportunity for the HR to see how the candidates communicate, influence and involve other people in work place.Presentations- Coca Cola used presentation as a tool in selection process to show the ability of the candidate on how he/she communicates to a group of people on a specific topic. The candidate may be given a topic in advance or on the day of the presentation. Psychometrics Test- the coca cola company also gives a psychometric test. Psychometric test are timed exercises that examine the candidates abilities and potential.HR uses the personality assessment tool that is designed to find out more specific things about you. Role plays/situational exercises- this tool is designed to assess how the candidates react in certain situatio ns, this will help to highlight the candidate may be given facts and fgures to review or a report to complete; hr may also have an assessor acting as a customer or employee to simulate a situation that could occur in the workplace.

Aquinas and Aristotle's Perspective on the American Government Essay

Aquinas and Aristotle's Perspective on the American Government - Essay Example America was colonized by Britain and after independence, founders of the American society introduced federal system of government. This paper will analyze Aristotle and Aquinas view on the American style of governance and on allegations that the British occupation was unjust under the law of nature and God. The question that this paper will seek to answer is what the wisdom and justifications of these words in regard to Aristotle and Aquinas view of Governance in America are. Based on this question, the main objective of this paper is to analyze the teachings of Aristotle and Aquinas on Governance and apply them on American perspective. Thomas Aquinas observed that there are two types of governments, just and unjust. The three kinds of a just government are; monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. Aquinas states that monarchy is the best form of government, since one leader, known as a king is made to rule; his heart needs to be kind and just. The reason advanced by the philosopher is tha t no obstacle can come on the king’s rule. Oligarchy refers to rule by an elite group of people. Aquinas views this as second to monarchy since it is not efficient and ideal as a monarch in its operations. Aquinas argues that with oligarchy, there might be a different view which affects the functioning of the state. The least, in Aquinas view is a democracy, and he refers it as rule by the masses. Aquinas views this as the most inefficient since decisions are not implemented with speed. Basing on these teachings, the American claim of independence from British is not wise. They were against the King of England who was a monarch, and in his belief, monarchy is the best style of governance. Americans had the intention of creating a democratic government based on the concept of equality and unalienable rights. Aquinas argues that democracy can turn to be unjust (Lord, 47), for instance, when people turn out to be selfish and greedy, and, in a democracy, the unalienable rights of individuals can be looked down upon. The American system of governance is composed of the senate, the House of Representatives and the presidency and in Aquinas’ view; this is a just form of governance since the three organs control the excesses of each other. This hybrid style of governance was proposed by Aquinas, where the monarch, i.e. the presidency will be in check by a group of Aristocrats i.e. the senate and House of Representatives who are elected by the masses. For Aristotle, democracy is not the best form of government. He believed that the most efficient form of governance should be made using the concept of policy which embraces rule of law, personal freedom and dependent upon the middle class. The American style, though it’s a democracy was condemned by Aristotle, borrowed heavily from Aristotle’s teachings which are: Governments should enact policies which are for the benefit of the people. A stable regime is made of mixed regimes. The best form of government involves the balancing off the kingship, aristocracy and democracy. A pure democracy can turn into a tyranny of the majority. The rule of law should be the foundation of governance (Lord, 47). Basing on these teachings, the American constitution acknowledges the rule of law as one of its tenets which borrows heavily on Aristotle’s teach

VARK analysis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

VARK analysis paper - Essay Example It means that the student is able to recall images more than listening to class lectures alone. Aside from the use of proper gestures when teaching, the student learns well if the teacher uses pictures, posters, slides, and diagrams like flow charts or graphs throughout the class discussion (Vark Learn, 2012c). The student’s preferred learning strategy is totally different when compared to other learning styles. Instead of using pictures, posters, slides, and diagrams like flow charts or graphs, the use of aural learning strategy is more focused on receiving inputs out of hearing. In most cases, students who prefer the use of aural learning strategy learns best each time they attend classes, discussions, and tutorials, participating in group discussion, or using a tape recorder (Vark Learn, 2012d). In case the only available teaching and learning materials is a manuscript or notes, the student should read the text aloud so they can easily recall what they have read. Students who prefer the use of read/write learning strategy learns better when they read dictionaries, books, journals, notes, essays, and manuals. It is also possible for this group of learners to learn better each time they write down technical terms on a piece of paper or convert diagrams or charts into words (Vark Learn, 2012e). Unlike the use of visual, aural, and read/write, kinesthetic approach in learning is all about learning by doing (Gardner, Jewler, & Barefoot, 2008, p. 44). Basically, figure I shows the test results after completing the VARK Questionnaire entitled â€Å"How Do I Learn Best?† The fact that the VARK Questionnaire results show scores between 10 to 15 strongly suggest that as a learner, the student is very flexible. Regardless of the kind of teaching modality used in class, the VARK test strongly suggest that the student can easily cope with whatever teaching modality the teacher decides to use in class. The test results strongly suggest that the student

Interpersonal Conflict in Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Interpersonal Conflict in Film - Essay Example His methods did not work. The main problem in this conflict was a lack of communication between Hitch and his beloved girl. Communication is very important for any kind of relations and in this particular case hitch and his girlfriend let things slide...It is impossible for people to find a mutual solution in case they do not understand each other. I was interested in their conflict and it was very important for me to see what solution they will find. Sara and Hitch came across a problem, which is experienced by numerous couples. They did not hear each other and they avoid making their own decisions. They came to a favorable solution, when they heard each other. Successful relationship depends on a strong desire of both partners to find a mutual solution. However, when at least one of the partners simply does not want to do that, the relations are doomed. Hitch and Sara should have talked and decide what was wrong with their lives. Both of them should have made concessions. Sara accused Hitch of Albert’s loss of his beloved girl because of his full piece of advice. Sara behaved herself as a selfish and a reserved person. She did not give a chance to hitch to explain his actions. Hitch was a doctor of souls, but, actually, he instilled confidence in his clients. He did nothing wrong, but he could not help to his friend at once and Albert lost a fight for love! When Sara realized that she was wrong, Hitch turned her out of doors. During their next meeting they caught their chance and discussed different things, gave an opportunity to tell everything to each other. The sooner they had talked, the better outcome would be. When the proble ms remain unresolved, with the course of time they become even more challenging and it is really difficult to come to a mutual solution. He should not have hidden from her his real occupation. The root of evil of this conflict should be found in initial lie of Hitch to his

Cultural Differences Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cultural Differences - Research Paper Example   According to Royce (1982), there exist differences among all cultures of the world; these differences emanate from the fact that each group has its own norms, belief system, and values. The cultural differences prevalent in most parts of the world mean that people behave in accordance with their culture. Moreover, people tend to hold dear their values, morals, and ways of life. As a result, the traditions of any group of people are held sacred and should be adhered to by the members of the ethnic group. Those who violate the laid down norms may face punishment from the entire society. Therefore, a society may apply some sanctions for undesirable behavior; for example, wrongdoers may be ostracized or alienated from the other members of the society. However, the amount of punishment differs from society to society due to the varying cultural beliefs. Ethnic Identity Ethnic identity is a diverse term which has no universally accepted meaning. However, scholars have advanced the defi nition of ethnic identity to mean the relationship of a person as he or she relates to his or her society. Specifically, ethnic identity refers to a construct that affiliates the individual to the rest of the group. Ethnic identity refers to the view of a person by themselves and others as belonging to a certain group. A person chooses to identify with a group that tends to be available for him or her whenever he or she needs the group or a group, which acknowledges him. For example, a person can choose to affiliate with a group that has the same ethnic heritage (Banks, 1996). According to Banks (1996), in ethnic identity, the affiliation with a group can be in terms of cultural, natal, racial, and symbolic factors. Natal factors can be regarded as the ancestral attributes of a person; for example, the homeland of a person, origin of parents, and the origin of kin. Racial factors entail the use of physical characteristics as well as physiognomic attributes. On the other hand, symbol ic factors refer to the characteristics that tend to be typical of a certain ethnic group. Examples of symbolic factors include clothing, foods, holidays, artifacts, among other attributes shared by a group of persons. Cultural factors involve the behavior patterns exemplified by the group; it may also include the shared values and customs of a group. For most people in the world, ethnic identity forms the basis of national identity; as such, people tend to identify themselves with their ethnic groups. People belonging to the same ethnic group tend to share some attributes which are distinct from other ethnic groups. Moreover, ethnicity signals some form of physical traits, cultural similarities, an enduring descent, and a blood relationship. Apart from these similarities, people belonging to the same ethnic group tend to have some commonalities which include a common language, similar traditions, common religion, and a history that they can share (Royce, 1982). To a large extent, e thnic identity forms the basis for understanding the diverse differences among cultures. People tend to strongly identify with their respective ethnic groups. By belonging to an ethnic group, a person declares a certain ethnic identity and continues to demonstrate acceptable behavior which is characteristic of that group.  Ã‚  

Communicating Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communicating Change - Research Paper Example A technique that is often used in the corporate environment to improve communication in the workplace is having weekly meetings between the managers and the staff. Any changes that the firm implements can be discussed during a meeting. Another technique that can be used to improve communication in the workplace is the implementation of a feedback system. A feedback system allows the workers the ability to provide input anonymously. Sometimes the workers prefer to speak anonymously to avoid retaliation from the managers. The feedback system can help a company determine whether the workers accept the changes. Question #3 Maintaining a good corporate image can enhance the brand value of a company. Companies with strong corporate images are preferred by customers (Vonhamme, Lindgreen, Reast, Popering, 2012). As the CEO of Tyco I would develop a strong social responsibility program in order to show the general public that the company has changed and that the mistakes committed by its past CEO were an outlier. I would perform quarterly audits to ensure the firm is free of fraud. Companies must maintain good communication with the outside world because the outside world includes important stakeholder groups such as customers and investors. An issue that could occur that hurts the communications with the outside world is miscommunication. Three tools that can be used to communicate with the outside world are the corporate website, annual report, and news bulletins. Vonhamme, J., Lindgreen, A., Reast, J., Popering, N. (2012). To Do Well by Doing Good: Improving Corporate Image Through Cause Related Marketing. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(3). p.259-274. Retrieved March 3, 2013 from EBSCOhost database. Warrick, D. (2011). The Urgent Need for Skilled Transformational Leaders: Integrating Transformational Leadership and Organizational Development. Journal of Leadership,

Motivation in the workforce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Motivation in the workforce - Essay Example A strong corporate culture is the key for a corporation to attain success in its operation. "Company culture is based on shared values and workplace norms (e.g., innovation, risk-taking) not necessarily personality likenesses. Company cultures pervade the entire organization, not just certain departments or levels of employees."(Rao, 2003). Corporate culture is the underlying element inside a corporation. A strong corporate culture enables a company to deal with challenges effectively especially on its expansion worldwide. A strong corporate culture is characterized by cohesiveness and cooperation. It is of known fact that companies are not run by only one man. Companies are driven by groups of men with the goal of achieving success. It is important to achieve this state of order because companies really do need cohesiveness and teamwork in facing different challenges. Cohesiveness will bring the companies to have a smooth operation that is essential in attaining success. Every membe r is vital and plays a role of significance in the quest to have corporate success in every corporation around the world. "Culture has a vital and measurable impact on the organization's ability to deliver on its strategy. Thus culture is central for a successful operation and to long-term effectiveness of the company" (Gupta, 2007). BARRIERS IN MAKING A STRONG CORPORATE CULTURE In building a strong corporate culture which is tantamount to success is not an easy task. There are also barriers that must be overcome in order for an organization to have a strong corporate culture and succeed in its business endeavor. There are things that can be detrimental to building a strong corporate culture. "During the early 1900s, leadership was by fear and threats, forcing people to follow orders. This is man's natural instinct. This led to the policy of abuse which produced undesirable results" (http://www.motivation-tools.com/workplace). Man always has the tendency to be superior and being on top seems to have a strong feeling of superiority over others. Basically, a very autocratic leadership does not result to a strong corporate culture. A leadership that is abusive does not appeal to the heart of his employees. It may result to rebellion that sometimes manifested in non-cooperation. At times, autocratic leadership results in misbehaviors by leaders or managers. Some leaders take advantage of being a leader and tend to do sexual advances towards his employees. Some taking advantage is manifested in insulting employees even there is no apparent reason in doing so. A culture of immorality then plagues an organization and it is then in opposite direction of building a strong corporate culture because it creates a culture of destructive laziness. Destructive laziness is manifested in lack of interest in job activities because of perceived moral disintegration of leadership. MOTIVATION Motivation is a term we often hear which we generally associate with behavior. Most likely, we experience

Hedge Funds-who is the winner(literature review) Essay

Hedge Funds-who is the winner(literature review) - Essay Example In the later part, we give an analysis, consult other authors and available literature in the field, and critically assess Brown’s article on hedge funds. The phrase â€Å"hedge funds† alone has not been well defined. Dr. Grenville, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia could not mention the proper definition. The Bank of Australia, in a paper submitted to the Australian House of Representatives, indicated that it was very concerned about the activities of highly leveraged financial intermediaries known as â€Å"hedge funds†. The paper stated that they were concerned that the funds made money â€Å"by attacking an exchange rate that has already overshot, so that it overshoots even further.† Through published actions and short selling, a bandwagon forms, then the funds would pull out. The Bank paper further stated that this was what happened to the ERM crisis that hit the British Pound in 1992, the Asian currency crisis in 1997 and speculative attacks on the Hong Kong dollar peg in 1998. With their action, the funds were holding the small countries hostage. (p 301) Brown (2001) pointed out that the International Monetary Fund reported that in the 1990s, there were financial intermediaries that had been investing steadily into South East Asia. There was a net inflow of about US$20 billion into the region over and above portfolio and direct investment; this was up to 1995 and 1996 when it increased to US$45 billion per annum. Then, there was a collapse of the Baht and the Ringgit in 1997 (the start of the Asian financial crisis), and a sudden outflow of US$58 billion. It was then perceived by the central bankers in the region that the collapse in the currency had everything to do with an attack on the currencies of the region by well-financed international speculators. Hedge funds could be the cause of the Asian financial crisis. One of those who believed on this was Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad when he said,

The European Constitution and the Irish Constitution Assignment

The European Constitution and the Irish Constitution - Assignment Example It is a basic fact of the European Union and use of the European Convention as law that each member state of the Union must deal with internal strife and dissidence in accordance with nationalistic attitudes. Ireland in particular is dealing with these stresses because of its sheer youth as an independent nation, and because of the young age of the Irish Constitution the country wishes generally to stay the course when it comes to human rights laws and follow the Constitution to the letter instead of incorporating the use of the European Convention. Irish citizens are having difficulty managing with both an accepted and celebrated Constitution and a supranational doctrine that was put in place for exactly the same reasons. Factors like strong nationalism, European unrest as a unified state, and the belief that established practises are indeed better than the newer ideologies are all contributing to the fact that Ireland will never fully accept European Convention rules over its own Constitutional rights and policies. Authors and leading experts on the subject concur that despite the best intentions of the European government, Ireland is destined to follow its own regulatory path. Regardless of international opinion, however, Ireland seems to have unofficially decided that its own Constitution does hold higher prestige than any European Convention ruling. The Constitution of Ireland When the Republic of Ireland gained its freedom from the United Kingdom in 1922, the new nation drafted the Constitution of the Irish Free State, a document that would last until 1937 when the Constitution of Ireland was drawn up. According to certain researchers, there were two main reasons for the change: its affiliation with the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the fact that since its adoption so many amendments had been made it was difficult to understand1. The Anglo-Irish treaty was created during the Irish Civil War that broke out as the tensions between Great Britain and the Roman Catholic Irish population were at breaking point. In an attempt to quell the violence and still keep Ireland within the realm of the English monarchy, the United Kingdom offered up a treaty proposal that it hoped the angered Irish community would accept: ultimately the Britain would be disappointed at the outcome. The new Constitution was drawn up so that those important amendments could be brought up to date and written in accordance with the modern goals and ambitions of the relatively new state. The Constitution was written in both the Irish and the English languages; the content focused on establishing an Irish nationalist spirit, granting citizenship to its residents and those with parents born in the country, establishing the capital city in Dublin and working within a democratic political system2. The rights and provisions claimed by the Constitution were of great importance to its drafters and continue to be important in today's Ireland. Like all new nations, Ireland was proud to

Management of the Cash Position Essay Example for Free

Management of the Cash Position Essay Not only do these managers often have difficulty in comprehending sophisticated forecasting techniques, but the cash flows of their companies are usually dependent upon fewer customers and a smaller number of product lines than those of their larger competitors. Thus the cash flow pattern of the small firm is typically too unstable over time and the available data describing it too limited for reliable forecasting. The small business is subject to still other constraints, apart from those applicable to all firms, which tend to restrict the use of even relatively simple cash management techniques. Small firms, for example, are normally unable to afford the division of talent available to larger companies in the form of highly educated financial managers. Many small firms, struggling hard just to remain solvent and earn a fair return, suffer further from lack of recognition that a cash management problem even exists. Once a problem is discovered the manager may lack knowledge of the methods available for a viable solution. A solution which requires more manpower or expenditures than can be covered out of normal cash flow is Dr. Grablowsky is assistant professor and rhairman of the Department of Finance at Oid Dominion University. He has published articles in the JSBM, the Journal of Financial Education, and the Journal of Behavioral Economics. Prior to his entry into education. Dr. Grablowsky was with the Department of Cost, Planning, Systems, and Analysis at the Monsanto Co., World Head, quarters, St. Louis.  typically rejected by the small business. This article will present the results of a survey of small-business cashmanagement practices and compare these methods with techniques commonly employed by larger corporations. Small businesses are defined in this study as firms with annual sales under $5 million. Data for this study were collected by means of a mail questionnaire distributed to two hundred firms selected randomly, within the various business classifications, from classified advertisements appearing in the telephone directories of the Greater Norfolk-Portsmouth SMSA and the  Hampton-Newport News SMSA. The firms were selected in five different distribution levels, with annual sales varying from under $50,000 up to $5 million. The firms in the survey operated at from one to thirteen locations and employed up to three hundred persons, although more than half had fewer than ten employees. Of the two hundred businesses selected for study, 66, or 30 percent, responded. A breakdown of the respondent firms by industry and size is given in Table 1. The Cash Budget It was hypothesized that few of the firms with sales under a million dollars would prepare cash budgets; in fact, only 30 percent of all firms in the sample did so. Several interesting relationships were noted in this regard. One was that the newer firms 1 For an example of this situation see B. J. Grablowsky, Management of Accounts Receivable by Small Businesses, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 14, No. 4, October, 1976, pp. 26-27. 5 According to E. Donaldson, J. Pfahl, and P. MuUins, Corporate Finance (New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1975), pp. 22-23, this would include, based on average sales per company, over 86 percent of all firms in the U,S. budgets, the larger ones updated their budgets more frequently than the others. One of the reasons for the more frequent update was that none of the largest firms made more than a thirtyday cash forecast while the smaller ones normally made budgets for up to a year. This last finding is in agreement with the results of other studies showing that few firms with  sales under $3 million make sales forecasts, whereas virtually all firms with sales over $10 million prepare one or more projections for various planning periods. As the firm grows, cash budgeting becomes more essential. Of the firms that prepared cash budgets, an annual planning period was the most common, although some also used weekly, monthly and quarterly budgets. No company made a cash budget for more than one year. The frequency of updating the budgets was well distributed over weekly, semimonthly, monthly, quarterly, and annual intervals. Another question asked whether or not the firms cash balances were being handled in the most effective and efficient manner. Of the 67 firms sampled, forty-eight replied that they felt they were efficiently utilizing their cash balances, but, of these, only eleven regularly prepared cash budgets. The assumption by the 37 firms that did not prepare cash budgets that they were efficient in the use of their cash balances is certainly made in ignorance. Conversely, of the remaining 56 firms that did not preoare cash budgets twenty-three replied, and probably rightly so, that they were not using their cash balances in the most 3 See Orgler. Cash Management, pp. 4-13, for a discusFion of factors affecting the time horizon for cash budgets. Aso see: Keith Smith. Management of Working Capital (St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., 1974), pp. 35-49, for a survey of the practices of large businesses. Soldofsky and Olive, Financial Management, p. 559. were more likely to prepare budgets than t heir longer-established competitors. A possible explanation lies in the higher educational attainments of the owner-managers of the newer firms. This characteristic, together with the attitudes of the owners toward budgeting, is believed to be a major determinant of the efficiency with which financial planning is handled in the small firm. The d^ta also showed that, somewhat contrary to expectations, in the size categories which included the largest and the smallest firms (i.e., those with less than $50,000 and those with between $1  million and $5 million in sales) a smaller percentage prepared cash budgets than in the other groups. This result was expected for the smallest firms but quite unexpected for large ones. On the other hand, of the firms that prepared cash  effective manner. This realization alone should have provided impetus to the managements concerned to investigate the need and advantages for cash budgeting—yet they still failed to prepare the budgets which could have improved their cash flow performance. The managers of these firms recognized that they had a problem—the need for more efficient cash management—yet they failed to take the proper steps to solve it. These same firms tended to take fewer of their allowed trade discounts than others, suggesting that because they did not forecast cash flows they found it necessary to resort to expensive sources of financing such as foregoing discounts. Cash Collection  actions that they could take themselves. Although only about half of the respondents had even heard of lock boxes or concentration banking, more than one-third did use one or both of these methods for reducing float time. Generally, the respondents reasoned that they could not justify expending the time and money required to reduce float, because such action would not (in their opinion) materially improve the cash position or the profits of the firm. As with many other decisions confronting small businesses, this one was usually made with inadequate information or investigation. The principal reason, again, was the lack of human resources and expertise available to the small firm. Wholesalers, because of the regional or national nature of their sales, were the most frequent users of these techniques. Businesses with a local sales orientation, such as service establishments and retail stores, were much less likely to use any method to improve cash collections.

Rebranding: Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Issues

Rebranding: Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Issues Introduction According to Mintel, the total UK market for deodorants was estimated at  £459 million in 2008. Unilevers Lynx brand for men had estimated sales of  £92 million during the same period giving it a market share of 20% (Bainbridge, J., 2009) Tyrelever Cosmetics has recently acquired a stock of low cost deodorant for men from South America. The proposal is to rebrand this deodorant and market it through retail outlets in the UK under the brand name Stynx. It also proposed to use a celebrity endorsement within the product advertising. Tyrelevers current contracted celebrity, Gordon Oliver, is not considered suitable for this role and the proposal is that an altered image of the footballer David Beckham be used to endorse the product. The product branding and celebrity endorsement strategies are designed to take market share from the Lynx brand and thus establish Stynx as a credible male deodorant brand in its own right. By adopting this strategy and by pricing the product competitivel y, Stynx expects to make a significant return on its original investment. Objective of the Report This report identifies and critically examines the legal, regulatory and ethical issues associated with the proposals outlined in section 1.0 above. In the light of this analysis the report also makes recommendations as to how the advertising of the proposed Stynx brand should proceed and how that advertising can be supported and leveraged by deploying additional marketing strategies. Legal Issues There are a number of legal issues that can affect the nature and content of advertisements as well as the use of celebrities within advertisements. If an advertiser creates an advertisement that is misleading, it may be unlawful in a number of different ways. It may, for example, constitute a malicious falsehood or infringe a registered trademark. A trademark is defined as a distinctive design, picture, emblem, logo or wording (or combination) affixed to goods for sale to identify the manufacturer as the source of the product and to distinguish them from goods sold or made by others (Hill G.N. et al., 2005). The Lynx name is a registered trademark of the Unilever Group (Unilever, 2009) and, as such, it is capable of being infringed by another product that attempts to pass off its brand name as the Lynx brand. The Law of Passing Off The law of passing off is a common law tort that has been created by the judiciary. It relates to a misrepresentation made by one business which damages the goodwill of another business. Typically, this will involve passing off the goods or services of one business as those of another. In most cases businesses will have protectable rights under the law of passing off in relation to trade marks, brand names, slogans and other elements of advertising in which they have accrued goodwill (Ali, I., 2005). There is a distinct probability that the proposed Stynx brand name will be seen as passing off the Lynx brand name because the names are so similar and the products using the names are both male deodorants. There are three main points that need to be satisfied to qualify as passing off for legal action. These points were defined by the House of Lords in the famous legal case of Reckitt Colman Ltd v Borden Inc (1990) 1 WLR 49, sometimes also known as the Jif Lemon case. The three points defined by the judges in this case were i. There is goodwill in the defendants brand name. This will undoubtedly be the case in terms of the Lynx brand which has been registered as a trademark since 1985 and is the UKs number two deodorant brand (after Sure). By definition, therefore, it has accrued a considerable amount of goodwill evidenced by its sales and market position. ii. The offenders brand name has misled consumers into believing that there is a connection with the defendants brand name. This is classic passing off and, as stated earlier there is no doubt that the Stynx brand name will mislead consumers into believing that it is either Lynx or has a close connection to it. iii. The action has resulted in damage to or a likelihood of damage to, the defendants goodwill. The nature and quality of the Stynx product is vastly inferior to the Lynx product and has a different smell. This will certainly cause damage to the defendants goodwill if customers unintentionally buy the S tynx brand thinking it to be Lynx. It will obviously be necessary to consult Tyrelevers solicitors over this issue but the initial research above indicates that Tyrelever would be in a very weak position in terms of its ability to defend any legal action by Unilever in terms of passing off. Contract Law Whilst it may be undeniable that Gordon Olivers skin complaint and weight gain does not make him the ideal face of Stynx there is the issue of his contract to consider. There is no clause in the contract that allows Tyrelever to terminate said contact due to physiological changes on the part of the other party to the contract, namely Gordon Oliver Tyrelevers contract gives Gordon Oliver exclusive rights to the endorsement of Tyrelever cosmetic brands. The current contract does not expire until 31 December 2009 and is subject to a six month period of notice for it to be terminated by either party. Copyright Law With regard to the use of an image of David Beckham in the advertisements for Stynx then there are issues of copyright law infringement to consider. The copyright to the photograph that Tyrelever plans to use will be held by the originator of the image, namely the photographer, or his or her agent. Copyright law is a powerful legal tool used to prevent the unauthorised appropriation and use of, amongst other things, images. In the UK, courts can impose an unlimited fine and even up to ten years in prison on copyright infringers. Initially in the USA, and now in the UK too, lawyers have successfully extended the use of trademark and passing off laws to protect their celebrity clients (Lydiate, H 2004). The legal case that brought this issue to the forefront in the UK involved the Formula One racing driver, Eddie Irvine who successfully sued Talk Radio (now Talksport) for the unauthorised use of his image in its advertising. A picture of Eddie Irvine was digitally altered by Talk Radio to show the racing driver holding a radio which also included wording that gave the impression that he was endorsing the radio station (Lysandrides, J., 2005). In terms of the proposed unauthorised use of an image of David Beckham then he already has a number of endorsement contracts including one with Gillette. It is likely that David Beckhams lawyers will be able to successfully refer to the Irvine case in the event of the unauthorized and digitally alerted use of his image in advertising for Stynx. In addition, the ASA code requires advertisers to gain written permission from those whose image it is going use in advertising, especially in respect of endorsement. This applies whether the image is altered or not. Failure to comply with this aspect of the code could lead to the involvement of the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom in respect of printed and broadcast advertisements respectively (CAP, 2007). Regulatory Issues Whilst contravening regulations does not incur the same potentially damaging penalties as contravening the law, there are, nonetheless, serious consequences for the infringement of regulations. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) The BERR has introduced new regulations (in force from 26 May 2008) to crack down on unfair trading sales and marketing practices. The new Regulations are called the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and they replace the Control of Misleading Advertisements (Amendment) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 2000 and 2003). Misleading Advertisements If the BERR considers that an advertisement misleads consumers or is aggressive or unfair to consumers, then it may refer the case to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) whose role is to ensure that all advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful (ASA, 2009). The ASA performs this task by referring complaints to its Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP). The advertising codes administered by CAP contain: wide-ranging rules designed to ensure that advertising does not mislead, harm or offend. Advertisements must also be socially responsible and prepared in line with the principles of fair competition. These broad principles apply regardless of the product being advertised (ASA, 2009). So, the CAP rules are very explicit and it is the references to misleading the consumer and the principles of fair competition that are most likely to be a cause for concern for Tyrelever. Unfair Trading As well as covering misleading advertisements the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibit unfair trading practices generally. There are some 31 specific areas of unfair trading that are encompassed by the regulations including aggressive and misleading sales practices. Local authorities have the power to ask Trading Standards Officers to investigate complaints by consumers of unfair trading practises. The general caveat for the regulations state: To breach the majority of the Regulations, the misleading action or omission must cause, or be likely to cause, the average consumer to make a different transactional decision e.g. make a purchase which he would not otherwise have made (Trading Standards Institute, 2009). Complaints from consumers about being mislead into making a purchase they might otherwise not have made due to confusion between Stynx and Lynx is a very real possibility. Ethical Issues As well as legal and regulatory concerns, there are ethical issue to consider. Firstly, if the fact became known that Tyrelever acquired the deodorant product from South America, where it was produced using child labour (hence the knockdown price), then this could severely damage Tyrelevers reputation. Equally, if Tyrelever was to proceed with the planned branding and advertising of the deodorant then, as well as legal and regulatory penalties, it will be viewed as an unethical and untrustworthy business that relies on misleading and illegal advertising to sell its products. This proposed advertising campaign, by association, will also undoubtedly damage the reputation and efficacy of other brands in the Tyrelever portfolio. More and more businesses are adopting ethical and socially responsible policies in terms of their marketing activities. The term ethical has become a highly topical and catchall word which has come to be associated with basically any product or service that does not harm people or flora and fauna. Being ethical is all about respect and Tyrelever would be showing huge disrespect to its employees, consumers and to David Beckham if it proceeds with the advertising campaign as currently proposed. Recommendations for a Way Forward In view of the potential legal, regulatory and ethical pitfalls associated with the proposed advertising campaign, it is recommended that an alternative way forward is adopted. The following part of the report outlines some alternative strategies that could be deployed to launch the Stynx brand effectively without the risks associated with the original idea. The Stynx Brand It has been shown that by deploying this brand name it is highly likely that Unilever will bring and win a case of passing off against Tyrelever. Consequently, a new name should be sourced for the product and registered as a trademark. Celebrity Endorsement The risk of damaging litigation in using David Beckhams image is too high to warrant proceeding. Even if it were possible to persuade him to endorse the product the cost of such an endorsement would be prohibitively high and certainly not affordable for Tyrelever. Although Gordon Oliver is a minor league celebrity, he has become known as the face of Tyrelever through his previous exposure on other brands for the business. Tyrelever should honour Gordon Olivers contract. His image can easily be digitally enhanced (with his permission, of course) to minimise the detrimental effects of his skin disorder and weight gain. The professional use of celebrities in advertising has been found to measurably improve its effectiveness. All of the evidence demonstrates that, when done professionally, the use of celebrities in advertising can be enormously profitable for brands. For example, the use of Jamie Oliver in Sainsburys advertising has produced a return on investment of 27:1 in incremental revenue (IPA, 2009). Also, 13% of the prize-winners in the Institute of Practitioners in Advertisings (IPA) Effectiveness Awards have used celebrities as a major part of their advertising concepts. So, to improve the effectiveness of the advertising it will be necessary to leverage Gordon Olivers involvement in the campaign. For example, Tyrelever could i. Use him as a presenter at company events this may necessitate a contractual amendment. ii. Get him involved in charitable work (childrens charities) and se public relations to generate news stories around this involvement. This will, by association, also help to show that Tyrelever supports the rights of children and is against child exploitation in the factories of South America. iii. Make him the brand character of the campaign (rather than have Gordon playing himself) in the advertising by using his natural acting ability at playing character roles. A good example of how this is has worked successfully is the use of Rowan Atki nson for Barclaycard (Pringle, H., 2004) The more the celebrity becomes involved with the brand and the business, then the more the consumer will engage with the brand. Corporate Social Responsibility A programme of staff (and celebrity) involvement in socially responsible projects around Tyrelevers operational headquarters should be planned and implemented as soon as possible. The detailed planning is outside the scope of this report and should be considered separately. Also, Tyrelever should cease to source any more products from countries that are known to use child labour. By doing deploying these two strategies and by using public relations techniques to promote them to stakeholders Tyrelever can start to build a reputation as a socially and ethically responsible business. Summary and Conclusions This report recommends that the advertising campaign as originally envisaged, does not proceed for the reasons detailed. By not proceeding, Tyrelever will be able to avoid almost certain litigation and regulation infringement. Both of which could lead to significant financial penalties and reputation damage. In addition, the original proposals have been seen to be unethical and socially irresponsible, which will be detrimental to Tyrelevers long term future. There is an opportunity for Tyrelever to market the deodorant in a legal, decent and honest way and thus not full foul of the law or the regulators. At the same time Tyrelever can enhance its reputation and leverage its sales by adopting a socially responsible and ethical stance which will have incremental benefits for all of its products. -ends-

The Influence of Celebrities

The Influence of Celebrities The influence of celebrities especially in this century has extends far beyond the traditional role meant for it in the society. The World Wide Web is one of the major causes behind this phenomenon (Choi and Berger). We have now put the celebrities on a pedestal that is on the same or even a higher level than that of our leaders. Simply put, we treat them as the modern day gods. This phenomenon can be seen where in Twitter; Justin Bieber has a lot more followers compared to Barack Obama. (Mell) in his article discusses that it is noticeable that today’s headlines often revolve around celebrity news than other types of news. The quantities of entertainment magazine such as Us Weekly are noticeably a lot more than any other types of magazine. Generation Y’s obsession over celebrities baffles the Generation X simply because they are wondering why are stars and celebrities are so popular. In his article (Callaway) explains about a new psychology study that helps determine on why some stars are popular. The study showed that people just need something to talk about and that it is a basic human desire to connect and find common ground with others. This basic desire pushes us to discuss on an already popular celebrities. The article also states that fame is self-perpetuating thing even when that celebrity is not doing anything that is fame-worthy anymore. Take Brad Pitt for example, he is a very famous actor and while he is now are doing less acting but when his name are mentioned most people would definitely know who he is. (Austin) in her article discusses that the society paints celebrities and stars as they are just like us but they are the better versions of ourselves in every aspect. Her article also highlight that children these days sees fame as a cure for all problems and that fame appears to be an attractive way to fix things. We aimed to be just like them because in our mind, they are living the perfect life – lots of money, fancy cars, big houses, perfect body, and many others. That is why celebrities and stars are so popular. Take Jay-Z for instance, he is a music mogul who was born in an area that is filled with gang violence but he rose from the slums of where he was born to become rich, successful and have a beautiful family. This is what makes celebrities famous because we relate ourselves to them and we want to be like them. Each of us have our favourite stars and celebrities and for us the term stars and celebrities basically bear the same meaning but these two term bears a totally different meaning. According to (Merriam-webster.com), a celebrity is someone who is famous or well-known because of something that the person does. That person can be a socialite, a famous spokesperson, a radio deejay and many more. For example, Paris Hilton is a celebrity because she is famous for her luxurious lifestyle. Meanwhile according to (Dictionary.com) a star is someone who excels in their respective field and has an added charm to them or what we call as charisma. The combination of excellence in their respective field and their charisma is what makes stars stand out from the rest. An example of a star is Sandra Bullock; she is an award winning actress – she won an Oscar for Best Actress in 2010 because she possesses an excellent acting skill plus she has charisma. With the rising demand for more entertainment shows, reality TV shows are created to fulfil the said need thus a new term are coined for its stars. Reality TV shows stars are called media personality. According to (Urban Dictionary), media personality is celebrities that lack in natural presentation talent. For instance, Kim Kardashian falls under the media personality category simply because she got no real talent. Stars are worth millions or more in the entertainment industry. A star worth is based on their characteristics and personality. A star will worth more if they possessed good norms and ethics and of course a star worth more if they have credible skills in the field that they went into. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo, a famous football player in the world, is beating Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique. He gets the highest paid salary estimated around $21 million every year (Kornowski). Beside Cristiano Ronaldo, there are still a number of famous celebrities who got paid the same or more amount as he is. One of them is Jennifer Lawrence. According to the (The Inquisitr News) Jennifer Lawrence was the most bankable star of 2013. Based on Hollywood Stock Exchange, it claims that at first the market value displayed of Jennifer Lawrence in last September is at $125.49 per scene and currently, her market value has significantly increase to $147.83 per scene (Perez). Stars are easy to rose to fame and fade away from it – they tend to become expandable. Thus, stars like film stars need to be worried if they want to remain Hollywood worthy. This is because they need to use their ability and profession to stay bankable. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s author S. Galloway, stars have more pressure to be the first pick for studios because unless they have an impressive box-office record, they cannot demand and negotiate more about clauses that is in their co ntract (Kiisel). In addition to that, people will judge the stars on how do they look, how do they dress themselves and how do they carry themselves. It means that, looks and appearance is very important for a star to gain popularity. An article by (Kornowski) stated that less attractive stars get paid less whereas good looking stars are paid handsomely. If we notice the current trend of how stars look is that almost all the star is good looking and they have a nice body shape which is slim and muscular. Arirang TV conducted a survey with 699 fans to found out which star has the best appearance. The result that came out was interesting. 2NE1 member and Sandara Park is ranked number one with the votes of 24.5%. For the next survey, the question is which female star has the most perfect body. The result shown that 4Minute member, HyunA got the most votes with 13.9% (Oh-dara.com). This shows that it is very important for a star to own a good appearance and perfect body. Star image can be argued that they are the representative of person which they eventually change the ordinary preconception of what is it to be a normal human being in the society. However it is proposed that the society is what stressed them like others in the social group or class to which they belong (Wilson). For example, Lady Gaga is an image and definitely not the real person. Furthermore, star image is not a real person that is created out of range of materials. They could also be reappearing as icons and font. A star’s images use different type of media forms to be recognized by the public. Many stars use their image for advertising and other purposes. Stars image representative of attitudes, shared values and to promote a certain ideas. The star image’s quality is based on the audience’s interest and views. Stars image usually give the audiences a picture or idea or what people are supposed to be like. Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the s trength of their meanings (Dyer). For example, Lady Gaga was made to create a physical embodiment pop culture. Star image also influences the audiences or fans to copy them in the sense of fashion and hairstyle. Sometimes, stars they have a unique image that is impossible to copy but the image they portray has created many fan bases. A star image motif is a running theme for an artist and the aim is to help to establish the artist as a brand (Dyer). Basically, the star image shows how those medias promote or how they advertise in a way that they will make the star popular and earn money. For example, YouTube stars have to produce a good quality of image to attract more viewers and fans. Moreover, they can earn money by getting more views and subscribers. Some of the stars use their image as logo or icons to promote themselves through media. By that they can also earn money from there. For example, Eminem uses his star image in a style in which he has been using for many years like posters and caps. Even though he wasn’t in the music industry for quite a while but he still maintain he style until today. He also earns more than a million by using he own style to promote himself. This idea makes him even popular because the brand makes him stand out and also makes his fans think that he never left. Furthermore, most of the Korean stars use their image to promote themselves and become popular even though there are not very talented. This is because media is what makes them good looking and popular. Through media also helps them earn more money and also more fans. Pop star like Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars earn more money because of their talent and also their appearance. On the other hands, they also promote themselves through their albums and also cover magazines that make them even popular and earn more incomes. Paparazzi and journalist are known as the ones who publicize famous stars and celebrities for the public. Even though, they are known as annoying yet persistent stalkers who would go against their ethical practices to get the shot or story they desire but this day and age what we think and talk about with our friends and family greatly revolves around the glamorous, and usually scandalous, lives of the rich and famous as said by (Tong). Nowadays, we have created a new platform of entertainment by introducing stars and celebrity television program or better known as reality TV shows to parade themselves and earn money from us like TMZ, Perez Hilton, E! News, web-blogs, tabloids and so on. However, many argued that stars and celebrities chose a career that requires them to be in the public eye and receive a lot of attention. Many believe that if a star or celebrity stays out of the media, they could be unrecognizable and someone might steal their spotlight. Therefore, it is undoubted t hat the press who sells explicit photos, the public who buys them and the celebrities themselves are as responsible for the invasive journalistic practices that pry onto star and celebrities private lives. All three parties are equally as responsible in such practice as the journalist; press and celebrity make money out of it. Paparazzi and journalist target famous people whom they consider the public to have voracious appetite for. The public obsession towards a star or celebrity could result in encouraging paparazzi and celebrities to go above the limits of invasive antics. It is only when harm occurs that the public becomes outraged enough to criticize the news gathering techniques of the paparazzi. For example, who would blame Britney for losing control or Lindsay Lohan for feeling she cant trust anyone† says (Tong). It is because people like us are the ones who pressure stars and celebrities to give portray and image we want to see the in. Whether or not it is bad or good. They may be able to disgrace some people, but in the end, the publishers and readers will make a decision based on the bottom line of it, not whether its right or wrong says (Puente). Frank Griffin, co-owner of the Bauer-Griffin paparazzi agency mentioned that paparazzi does not waste time on famous people whom they fail to cover in as time is the essence of money and the demand on different famous people changes all the time. The paparazzi â€Å"are so easy to avoid Griffin says. Just cover your face, and if you do that every day, theyre not going to get any pictures, theyre not going to make any money and theyre not going to sit outside your door anymore. It is a cycle of demand where it is through the demands of the public that encourages paparazzi and journalist to covers on a certain famous people who they desire to know and is obsessed about. Thus, making the press company to buy photos and stories of famous people the public demand and publicize it. Although it may seem like famous people often avoid paparazzi and press but it was argued that famous people themselves wants to be publicize as well and be used for product endorsements and advertising schemes (Tong). Most of celebrities go to places where they know paparazzi will always be there. Some even call ahead of time to notify paparazzi and journalist of where they are. An article by the (Urban Times) stated that â€Å"There are even rumours that celebrities themselves asked their public relations team to alert paparazzi to their locations in ensuring maximum coverage. In some ways it is win-win for both parties; it’s certainly a complicated relationship.† Meanwhile, in a written article by (Anderson) said that â€Å"the stakeouts and high-speed chases that the paparazzi are notorious for sound horrible, but if people didn’t read the magazines or didnt care so much about the celebrities, there wouldnt be a demand, and the paparazzi may disappear.† In this era where the World Wide Web creates a ‘limitless’ kind of world where information is literally at the tip of your finger celebrities are seen to be centre of it. The internet provides an easy and perfect platform for celebrities to further spread their fame and thus cemented their status in the public eye. From what we gather is that the society put celebrity’s life as benchmark for what a good life should look like – celebrities are put on a pedestal and they are our modern day god. Other than that, we learn about what makes a star bankable – their good looks. Also we look into the fascinating relationship between the stars and paparazzi where we can conclude that it is a win- win situation for both party but there are some boundaries to be obey because now the paparazzi does not only portrays the star alone but also they are lurking about the star’s family. An article by (Schaefer) discusses about â€Å"a bill aimed to protects the children of celebrities and public staff officials from paparazzi.† This bill basically protects the child’s star from any form of harassment including photographing or recording that child without parental consent. In a support to help this bill to be passed, actress Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner both testify in front of the legislative committee. Berry in her statement said â€Å"They ask my daughter questions that are inappropriate for a 5-year-old to have an answer.† While fellow actress Jennifer Garner states that â€Å"she made the decision to have a public life when she chose her career (acting), but her children are private citizens, just like anyone elses.† This bill clearly creates a strain in this star-paparazzi relationship with the newspaper publishers are among those who oppose the bill stating that it would violate on the journalists’ ability to do their job s. With all of this fame that the stars garnered over the years we cannot stop to but to wonder that with fame come great consequences. Julia Roberts once said that â€Å"I dont think I realized that the cost of fame is that its open season on every moment of your life.† This simply portrays that once you are famous your life are owned by the public or so to speak. Word Count: 2624 words References Anderson, Christina. Are The Paparazzi Just Doing Their Job, Or Are They Overstepping Their Boundaries?.The Huffington Post. N. p., 2014. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Austin, Anastacia. Why Are We So Obsessed With Celebrities?.Buzzle. N. p., 2007. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. Callaway, Ewen. How Celebrities Stay Famous Regardless Of Talent Science-In-Society 24 June 2009 New Scientist.Newscientist.com. N. p., 2009. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. Choi, Chong Ju, and Ron Berger. Ethics Of Celebrities And Their Increasing Influence In 21St Century Society.Journal of business ethics91.3 (2010): 313318. Print. Dictionary.com,. The Definition Of Stars. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. Kiisel, Ty. You Are Judged By Your Appearance.Forbes. N. p., 2013. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Kornowski, Liat. Shes Worth HOW MUCH?!.The Huffington Post. N. p., 2013. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Mell, Mic. Is Celebrity Obsession Destroying Our Society? | Thecelebritycafe.Com.Thecelebritycafe.com. N. p., 2009. Web. 18 Jun. 2014. Merriam-webster.com,. Celebrity Synonyms And More From The Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. Oh-dara.com,. Article: Dara Ranks First In Arirang TVs Survey Which Star Has The Best Appearance. N. p., 2012. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Perez, Adrian. â€Å"The Bankable Star: Why Jennifer Lawrence Is Going To Be Around In The Film Industry For A Long Time†; -A Close Look At Market Value Improvements -How A Film’S Box-Office Success Makes Its Stars More Bankable.Cineasts POV Press. N. p., 2014. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Puente, Maria. Celebs Push Back Against The Paparazzi.Usatoday.com. N. p., 2014. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Schaefer, Samantha. Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner Testify On Paparazzi Bill.Los Angeles Times Articles. N. p., 2013. Web. 22 Jun. 2014. Dyer, Richard. Star Image.Slideshare.net. N. p., 2014. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. The Inquisitr News,. Jennifer Lawrence Was The Most Bankable Box Office Star Of 2013. N. p., 2014. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Tong, Arianne. Do Celebrities Deserve Some Level Of Privacy By Arianne Tong | Entertainment Scene 360.Entertainmentscene360.com. N. p., 2014. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Urban Dictionary,. Media Personality. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. Urban Times,. Celebrities Are Using The Power Of The Paparazzi For Good. N. p., 2013. Web. 21 Jun. 2014. Wilson, Karina. Mediaknowall ASA Level — Stardom.Mediaknowall.com. N. p., 2014. Web. 22 Jun. 2014. 1

Essay example --

Statement of Purpose We are accessible only to a limited quantity of resources around us. Considering the current usage and availability of resources, it has become very important for us to use them as wisely as possible. As an industrial engineer my aim is to find ways to eliminate wastefulness and enhance the efficiency of the process or service being provided. I would like to enhance my knowledge and in order to achieve this, I wish to pursue my Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at the Arizona State University. I aspire to do my PhD after my Masters to fulfil my long term career goal of carrying out postdoctoral industrial research while becoming a tenured professor. Throughout, my inclination has always been towards academics and I consistently strive to achieve the best. I attended one of the best schools in my city, National Public School, Bangalore. Be it in school or my college, I have always been very enthusiastic about learning something new. In 2010, I started my undergraduate degree course in Industrial Engineering and Management in the prestigious M.S. Ramaiah ...

Meditation Essay -- essays research papers

Meditation is a private devotion or mental exercise consisting of a number of techniques of concentration, contemplation, and abstraction to heighten spiritual awareness. It has also been defined as, â€Å"Consciously directing your attention to alter your state of consciousness.† Meditation has been practiced around the world since the ancient times. It was used back then and still used today for spiritual growth (becoming more conscious). Meditation is mostly concerned about your attention, where it is directed to, and how it alters or changes a person’s consciousness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although meditation has been used for spiritual growth, recently it has become a way of finding a peaceful bridge between stress and the fast paced world around us. It has become a way of taking time out of all the distractions and stress that occurs in our lives and relaxing and finding ourselves. Some other uses of meditation include healing, emotional cleansing and balancing, deepening concentration and insight, manifesting change, developing intuition, unlocking creativity, exploring higher realities, and finding inner guidance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is no exact way to meditate. Different people meditate in different ways. However, there are many similar guidelines or ways that people go about meditating. First, put your expectations aside. Don’t expect to all of a sudden have your consciousness altered. Be open to meditation but don’t try to force something to hap...

Macbeth :: essays research papers

The play is about a man called Macbeth who on his journey home meets three witches who for tell his future as first becoming thane of Cawdor and, later king. Macbeth instantly sercomes to the witches and believes what the witches say. When Duncan announces is successor as his son Malcolm is dream of becoming king through honesty are dashed. Lady Macbeth quickly comes up with a plan to make Macbeth king, by killing king Duncan and making his son Malcolm flee in hope to save his own life. The plan is followed through Duncan dies and Malcolm flees for his life leaving Macbeth as king. But the guilt is too much and he soon starts to see the goast of King Duncan, meanwhile his wife goes insane with guilt and kills herself. Malcolm army soon attacks on Macbeth and Macduff kills Macbeth. Malcolm was made king.Shakespeare use of witches in act 1 scene 3 and act 4 scene 1 is highly significant, I also believe that they say a lot about Shakespeare and how he would of thought. The main reasons though that I feel the witches roles were so significant is because Shakespeare wanted to please the king who was interested in demonology, to expose Macbeths mind the witches sort of showed his conscious escaping. Also to show human weakness or temptation, which gives the audience, a lot to listen for.The witches appearing in Act 1 had a huge affect on the story line. Even before we meet the witches we know the next few minuets will be very important, because of the significant weather change. You notice it has become very dark and tense this instantly makes the audience aware of their surroundings. When you do meet the witches you notice a good use of pathetic fallacy because the sky is dark and gray and so is the mood of the characters.When he meets the witches they tell him of his future as King Macbeths response is the expected yer right its more of a great! He doesn’t seem to need to know how? Or why? Or even how do you know? Which suggests that he may already have had these ambitions he doesn’t seem to question the witches as if he already thought it out minuet by minuet and he doesn’t need any more answers.I also believe that Lady Macbeth shared the same ambitions as her husband because when Macbeth tells her of the witches prophesies she also doesn’t questions whatthe witches say which can suggest she is a witch or that she also has an ambitions of her husband becoming king.

An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’

Achebe, Chinua. â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's ‘Heart of Darkness'† Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co. , 1988, pp. 251-261 In the fall of 1974 I was walking one day from the English Department at the University of Massachusetts to a parking lot. It was a fine autumn morning such as encouraged friendliness to passing strangers. Brisk youngsters were hurrying in all directions, many of them obviously freshmen in their first flush of enthusiasm.An older man going the same way as I turned and remarked to me how very young they came these days. I agreed. Then he asked me if I was a student too. I said no, I was a teacher. What did I teach? African literature. Now that was funny, he said, because he knew a fellow who taught the same thing, or perhaps it was African history, in a certain Community College not far from her e. It always surprised him, he went on to say, because he never had thought of Africa as having that kind of stuff, you know. By this time I was walking much faster. Oh well,† I heard him say finally, behind me: â€Å"I guess I have to take your course to find out. † A few weeks later I received two very touching letters from high school children in Yonkers, New York, who — bless their teacher — had just read Things Fall Apart . One of them was particularly happy to learn about the customs and superstitions of an African tribe. I propose to draw from these rather trivial encounters rather heavy conclusions which at first sight might seem somewhat out of proportion to them. But only, I hope, at first sight.The young fellow from Yonkers, perhaps partly on account of his age but I believe also for much deeper and more serious reasons, is obviously unaware that the life of his own tribesmen in Yonkers, New York, is full of odd customs and superstitions and, li ke everybody else in his culture, imagines that he needs a trip to Africa to encounter those things. The other person being fully my own age could not be excused on the grounds of his years. Ignorance might be a more likely reason; but here again I believe that something more willful than a mere lack of information was at work.For did not that erudite British historian and Regius Professor at Oxford, Hugh Trevor Roper, also pronounce that African history did not exist? If there is something in these utterances more than youthful inexperience, more than a lack of factual knowledge, what is it? Quite simply it is the desire — one might indeed say the need — in Western psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest.This need is not new; which should relieve us all of considerable responsibility and perhaps make us even willing to l ook at this phenomenon dispassionately. I have neither the wish nor the competence to embark on the exercise with the tools of the social and biological sciences but more simply in the manner of a novelist responding to one famous book of European fiction: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness , which better than any other work that I know displays that Western desire and need which I have just referred to.Of course there are whole libraries of books devoted to the same purpose but most of them are so obvious and so crude that few people worry about them today. Conrad, on the other hand, is undoubtedly one of the great stylists of modern fiction and a good storyteller into the bargain. His contribution therefore falls automatically into a different class — permanent literature — read and taught and constantly evaluated by serious academics. Heart of Darkness is indeed so secure today that a leading Conrad scholar has numbered it â€Å"among the half-dozen greatest short n ovels in the English language. I will return to this critical opinion in due course because it may seriously modify my earlier suppositions about who may or may not be guilty in some of the matters I will now raise. Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as â€Å"the other world,† the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man's vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant beastiality. The book opens on the River Thames, tranquil, resting, peacefully â€Å"at the decline of day after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks. But the actual story will take place on the River Congo, the very antithesis of the Thames. The River Congo is quite decidedly not a River Emeritus. It has rendered no service and enjoys no old-age pension. We are told that â€Å"Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world. † Is Conrad saying then that these two rivers are very di fferent, one good, the other bad? Yes, but that is not the real point. It is not the differentness that worries Conrad but the lurking hint of kinship, of common ancestry. For the Thames too â€Å"has been one of the dark places of the earth. It conquered its darkness, of course, and is now in daylight and at peace. But if it were to visit its primordial relative, the Congo, it would run the terrible risk of hearing grotesque echoes of its own forgotten darkness, and falling victim to an avenging recrudescence of the mindless frenzy of the first beginnings. These suggestive echoes comprise Conrad's famed evocation of the African atmosphere in Heart of Darkness . In the final consideration his method amounts to no more than a steady, ponderous, fake-ritualistic repetition of two antithetical sentences, one about silence and the other about frenzy.We can inspect samples of this on pages 36 and 37 of the present edition: a) it was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention and b) The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. Of course there is a judicious change of adjective from time to time, so that instead of inscrutable, for example, you might have unspeakable, even plain mysterious, etc. , etc. The eagle-eyed English critic F. R. Leavis drew attention long ago to Conrad's â€Å"adjectival insistence upon inexpressible and incomprehensible mystery. That insistence must not be dismissed lightly, as many Conrad critics have tended to do, as a mere stylistic flaw; for it raises serious questions of artistic good faith. When a writer while pretending to record scenes, incidents and their impact is in reality engaged in inducing hypnotic stupor in his readers through a bombardment of emotive words and other forms of trickery much more has to be at stake than stylistic felicity. Generally normal readers are well armed to detect and resist such under-hand activity.But Conrad chose his subject w ell — one which was guaranteed not to put him in conflict with the psychological predisposition of his readers or raise the need for him to contend with their resistance. He chose the role of purveyor of comforting myths. The most interesting and revealing passages in Heart of Darkness are, however, about people. I must crave the indulgence of my reader to quote almost a whole page from about the middle of the stop/when representatives of Europe in a steamer going down the Congo encounter the denizens of Africa. We were wanderers on a prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet.We could have fancied ourselves the first of men taking possession of an accursed inheritance, to be subdued at the cost of profound anguish and of excessive toil. But suddenly as we struggled round a bend there would be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass-roofs, a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling under the droop of heavy and motionless foliage. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us — who could tell?We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember, because we were traveling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign — and no memories. The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there — there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly and the men were †¦. No they were not inhuman.Well, you know that was the worst of it — this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They ho wled and leaped and spun and made horrid faces, but what thrilled you, was just the thought of their humanity — like yours — the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough, but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you — you so remote from the night of first ages — could comprehend.Herein lies the meaning of Heart of Darkness and the fascination it holds over the Western mind: â€Å"What thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity — like yours †¦. Ugly. † Having shown us Africa in the mass, Conrad then zeros in, half a page later, on a specific example, giving us one of his rare descriptions of an African who is not just limbs or rolling eyes: And between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler.He was there below me and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs. A few months of training had done for that really fine chap. He squinted at the steam-gauge and at the water-gauge with an evident effort of intrepidity — and he had filed his teeth too, the poor devil, and the wool of his pate shaved into queer patterns, and three ornamental scars on each of his cheeks. He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank, instead of which he was hard at work, a thrall to strange witchcraft, full of improving knowledge.As everybody knows, Conrad is a romantic on the side. He might not exactly admire savages clapping their hands and stamping their feet but they have at least the merit of being in their place, unlike this dog in a parody of breeches. For Conrad things being in their place is of the utmost importance. â€Å"Fine fellows — cannibals –in their place,† he tells us pointedly. Tragedy begins when things leave their accustomed place, like Europe leaving its safe stronghold between the policeman and the baker to like a peep into the heart of darkness.Before the story likes us into the Congo basin proper we are given this nice little vignette as an example of things in their place: Now and then a boat from the shore gave one a momentary contact with reality. It was paddled by black fellows. You could see from afar the white of their eyeballs glistening. They shouted, sang; their bodies streamed with perspiration; they had faces like grotesque masks — these chaps; but they had bone, muscle, a wild vitality, an intense energy of movement that was as natural and hue as the surf along their coast.They wanted no excuse for being there. They were a great comfort to look at. Towards the end of the story Conrad lavishes a whole page quite unexpectedly on a n African woman who has obviously been some kind of mistress to Mr. Kurtz and now presides (if I may be permitted a little liberty) like a formidable mystery over the inexorable imminence of his departure: She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent †¦. She stood looking at us without a stir and like the wilderness itself, with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose.This Amazon is drawn in considerable detail, albeit of a predictable nature, for two reasons. First, she is in her place and so can win Conrad's special brand of approval and second, she fulfills a structural requirement of the story: a savage counterpart to the refined, European woman who will step forth to end the story: She came forward all in black with a pale head, floating toward me in the dusk. She was in mourning †¦. She took both my hands in hers and murmured, â€Å"I had heard you were coming. â€Å"†¦ She had a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering.The differ ence in the attitude of the novelist to these two women is conveyed in too many direct and subfile ways to need elaboration. But perhaps the most significant difference is the one implied in the author's bestowal of human expression to the one and the withholding of it from the other. It is clearly not part of Conrad's purpose to confer language on the â€Å"rudimentary souls† of Africa. In place of speech they made â€Å"a violent babble of uncouth sounds. † They â€Å"exchanged short grunting phrases† even among themselves. But most of the time they were too busy with their frenzy.There are two occasions in the book, however, when Conrad departs somewhat from his practice and confers speech, even English speech, on the savages. The first occurs when cannibalism gets the better of them: â€Å"Catch ‘im,† he snapped with a bloodshot widening of his eyes and a flash of sharp teeth — â€Å"catch ‘im. Give ‘im to us. † â€Å" To you, eh? † I asked; â€Å"what would you do with them? â€Å"Eat ‘im! † he said curtly. . . . The other occasion was the famous announcement:†Mistah Kurtz — he dead. † At first sight these instances might be mistaken for unexpected acts of generosity from Conrad.In reality they constitute some of his best assaults. In the case of the cannibals the incomprehensible grunts that had thus far served them for speech suddenly proved inadequate for Conrad's purpose of letting the European glimpse the unspeakable craving in their hearts. Weighing the necessity for consistency in the portrayal of the dumb brutes against the sensational advantages of securing their conviction by clear, unambiguous evidence issuing out of their own mouth Conrad chose the latter. As for the announcement of Mr.Kurtz's death by the â€Å"insolent black head in the doorway† what better or more appropriate finis could be written to the horror story of that wayward ch ild of civilization who willfully had given his soul to the powers of darkness and â€Å"taken a high seat amongst the devils of the land† than the proclamation of his physical death by the forces he had joined? It might be contended, of course, that the attitude to the African in Heart of Darkness is not Conrad's but that of his fictional narrator, Marlow, and that far from endorsing it Conrad might indeed be holding it up to irony and criticism.Certainly Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his history. He has, for example, a narrator behind a narrator. The primary narrator is Marlow but his account is given to us through the filter of a second, shadowy person. But if Conrad's intention is to draw a cordon sanitaire between himself and the moral and psychological malaise of his narrator his care seems to me totally wasted because he neglects to hint however subtly or tentatively at an alternative frame of reference by which we may judge the actions and opinions of his characters.It would not have been beyond Conrad's power to make that provision if he had thought it necessary. Marlow seems to me to enjoy Conrad's complete confidence — a feeling reinforced by the close similarities between their two careers. Marlow comes through to us not only as a witness of truth, but one holding those advanced and humane views appropriate to the English liberal tradition which required all Englishmen of decency to be deeply shocked by atrocities in Bulgaria or the Congo of King Leopold of the Belgians or wherever.Thus Marlow is able to toss out such bleeding-heart sentiments as these: They were dying slowly — it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts , lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest.The kind of liberalism espoused here by Marlow/Conrad touched all the best minds of the age in England, Europe and America. It took different forms in the minds of different people but almost always managed to sidestep the ultimate question of equality between white people and black people. That extraordinary missionary, Albert Schweitzer, who sacrificed brilliant careers in music and theology in Europe for a life of service to Africans in much the same area as Conrad writes about, epitomizes the ambivalence. In a comment which has often been quoted Schweitzer says: â€Å"The African is indeed my brother but my junior brother. And so he proceeded to build a hospital appropriate to the needs of junior brothers with standards of hygiene reminiscent of medical practice in the days before the germ theory of disease came into being. Naturally he bec ame a sensation in Europe and America. Pilgrims flocked, and I believe still flock even after he has passed on, to witness the prodigious miracle in Lamberene, on the edge of the primeval forest. Conrad's liberalism would not take him quite as far as Schweitzer's, though. He would not use the word brother however qualified; the farthest he would go was kinship.When Marlow's African helmsman falls down with a spear in his heart he gives his white master one final disquieting look. And the intimate profundity of that look he gave me when he received his hurt remains to this day in my memory — like a claim of distant kinship affirmed in a supreme moment. It is important to note that Conrad, careful as ever with his words, is concerned not so much about distant kinship as about someone laying a claim on it. The black man lays a claim on the white man which is well-nigh intolerable. It is the laying of this claim which frightens and at the same time fascinates Conrad, â€Å"†¦ he thought of their humanity — like yours †¦. Ugly. † The point of my observations should be quite clear by now, namely that Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist. That this simple truth is glossed over in criticisms of his work is due to the fact that white racism against Africa is such a normal way of thinking that its manifestations go completely unremarked. Students of Heart of Darkness will often tell you that Conrad is concerned not so much with Africa as with the deterioration of one European mind caused by solitude and sickness.They will point out to you that Conrad is, if anything, less charitable to the Europeans in the story than he is to the natives, that the point of the story is to ridicule Europe's civilizing mission in Africa. A Conrad student informed me in Scotland that Africa is merely a setting for the disintegration of the mind of Mr. Kurtz. Which is partly the point. Africa as setting and backdrop which eliminates the African as human fa ctor. Africa as a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril.Can nobody see the preposterous and perverse arrogance in thus reducing Africa to the role of props for the break-up of one petty European mind? But that is not even the point. The real question is the dehumanization of Africa and Africans which this age-long attitude has fostered and continues to foster in the world. And the question is whether a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is: No, it cannot. I do not doubt Conrad's great talents.Even Heart of Darkness has its memorably good passages and moments: The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across tile water to bar the way for our return. Its exploration of the minds of the European characters is often penetrating and full of insight. But all that ha s been more than fully discussed in the last fifty years. His obvious racism has, however, not been addressed. And it is high time it was! Conrad was born in 1857, the very year in which the first Anglican missionaries were arriving among my own people in Nigeria.It was certainly not his fault that he lived his life at a time when the reputation of the black man was at a particularly low level. But even after due allowances have been made for all the influences of contemporary prejudice on his sensibility there remains still in Conrad's attitude a residue of antipathy to black people which his peculiar psychology alone can explain. His own account of his first encounter with a black man is very revealing: A certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed my conception of blind, furious, unreasoning rage, as manifested in the human animal to the end of my days.Of the nigger I used to dream for years afterwards. Certainly Conrad had a problem with niggers. His inordinate love of that word itself should be of interest to psychoanalysts. Sometimes his fixation on blackness is equally interesting as when he gives us this brief description: A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms. . . . as though we might expect a black figure striding along on black legs to wave white arms! But so unrelenting is Conrad's obsession. As a matter of interest Conrad gives us in A Personal Record what amounts to a companion piece to the buck nigger of Haiti.At the age of sixteen Conrad encountered his first Englishman in Europe. He calls him â€Å"my unforgettable Englishman† and describes him in the following manner: â€Å"(his) calves exposed to the public gaze . . . dazzled the beholder by the splendor of their marble-like condition and their rich tone of young ivory. . . . The light of a headlong, exalted satisfaction with the world of men. . . illumined his face. . . and triumphant eyes. In passing he cast a glance of kindly curios ity and a friendly gleam of big, sound, shiny teeth. . . his white calves twinkled sturdily. Irrational love and irrational hate jostling together in the heart of that talented, tormented man. But whereas irrational love may at worst engender foolish acts of indiscretion, irrational hate can endanger the life of the community. Naturally Conrad is a dream for psychoanalytic critics. Perhaps the most detailed study of him in this direction is by Bernard C. Meyer, M. D. In his lengthy book Dr. Meyer follows every conceivable lead (and sometimes inconceivable ones) to explain Conrad. As an example he gives us long disquisitions on the significance of hair and hair-cutting in Conrad.And yet not even one word is spared for his attitude to black people. Not even the discussion of Conrad's antisemitism was enough to spark off in Dr. Meyer's mind those other dark and explosive thoughts. Which only leads one to surmise that Western psychoanalysts must regard the kind of racism displayed by Co nrad absolutely normal despite the profoundly important work done by Frantz Fanon in the psychiatric hospitals of French Algeria. Whatever Conrad's problems were, you might say he is now safely dead. Quite true. Unfortunately his heart of darkness plagues us still.Which is why an offensive and deplorable book can be described by a serious scholar as â€Å"among the half dozen greatest short novels in the English language. † And why it is today the most commonly prescribed novel in twentieth-century literature courses in English Departments of American universities. There are two probable grounds on which what I have aid so far may be contested. The first is that it is no concern of fiction to please people about whom it is written. I will go along with that. But I am not talking about pleasing people.I am talking about a book which parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults from which a section of mankind has suffered untold agonies and atrocities in the past a nd continues to do so in many ways and many places today. I am talking about a story in which the very humanity of black people is called in question. Secondly, I may be challenged on the grounds of actuality. Conrad, after all, did sail down the Congo in 1890 when my own father was still a babe in arms. How could I stand up more than fifty years after his death and purport to contradict him?My answer is that as a sensible man I will not accept just any traveler's tales solely on the grounds that I have not made the journey myself. I will not trust the evidence even off man's very eyes when I suspect them to be as jaundiced as Conrad's. And we also happen to know that Conrad was, in the words of his biographer, Bernard C. Meyer, â€Å"notoriously inaccurate in the rendering of his own history. † But more important by far is the abundant testimony about Conrad's savages which we could gather if we were so inclined from other sources and which might lead us to think that these people must have had other occupations besides erging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague Marlow and his dispirited band. For as it happened, soon after Conrad had written his book an event of far greater consequence was taking place in the art world of Europe. This is how Frank Willett, a British art historian, describes it: Gaugin had gone to Tahiti, the most extravagant individual act of turning to a non-European culture in the decades immediately before and after 1900, when European artists were avid for new artistic experiences, but it was only about 1904-5 that African art began to make its distinctive impact.One piece is still identifiable; it is a mask that had been given to Maurice Vlaminck in 1905. He records that Derain was ‘speechless' and ‘stunned' when he saw it, bought it from Vlaminck and in turn showed it to Picasso and Matisse, who were also greatly affected by it. Ambroise Vollard then borrowed it and had it cast in bronze. . . The revolution of twentieth century art was under way! The mask in question was made by other savages living just north of Conrad's River Congo. They have a name too: the Fang people, and are without a doubt among the world's greatest masters of the sculptured form.The event Frank Willett is referring to marks the beginning of cubism and the infusion of new life into European art, which had run completely out of strength. The point of all this is to suggest that Conrad's picture of the people of the Congo seems grossly inadequate even at the height of their subjection to the ravages of King Leopold's lnternational Association for the Civilization of Central Africa. Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves. But even those not blinkered, like Conrad with xenophobia, can be astonishing blind.Let me digress a little here. One of the greatest and most intrepid travelers of all time, Marco Polo, journeyed to the Far East from the Mediterranean in the thi rteenth century and spent twenty years in the court of Kublai Khan in China. On his return to Venice he set down in his book entitled Description of the World his impressions of the peoples and places and customs he had seen. But there were at least two extraordinary omissions in his account. He said nothing about the art of printing, unknown as yet in Europe but in full flower in China.He either did not notice it at all or if he did, failed to see what use Europe could possibly have for it. Whatever the reason, Europe had to wait another hundred years for Gutenberg. But even more spectacular was Marco Polo's omission of any reference to the Great Wall of China nearly 4,000 miles long and already more than 1,000 years old at the time of his visit. Again, he may not have seen it; but the Great Wall of China is the only structure built by man which is visible from the moon! Indeed travelers can be blind. As I said earlier Conrad did not originate the image of Africa which we find in h is book.It was and is the dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination and Conrad merely brought the peculiar gifts of his own mind to bear on it. For reasons which can certainly use close psychological inquiry the West seems to suffer deep anxieties about the precariousness of its civilization and to have a need for constant reassurance by comparison with Africa. If Europe, advancing in civilization, could cast a backward glance periodically at Africa trapped in primordial barbarity it could say with faith and feeling: There go I but for the grace of God.Africa is to Europe as the picture is to Dorian Gray — a carrier onto whom the master unloads his physical and moral deformities so that he may go forward, erect and immaculate. Consequently Africa is something to be avoided just as the picture has to be hidden away to safeguard the man's jeopardous integrity. Keep away from Africa, or else! Mr. Kurtz of Heart of Darkness should have heeded that warning and the prowli ng horror in his heart would have kept its place, chained to its lair. But he foolishly exposed himself to the wild irresistible allure of the jungle and lo! he darkness found him out. In my original conception of this essay I had thought to conclude it nicely on an appropriately positive note in which I would suggest from my privileged position in African and Western cultures some advantages the West might derive from Africa once it rid its mind of old prejudices and began to look at Africa not through a haze of distortions and cheap mystifications but quite simply as a continent of people — not angels, but not rudimentary souls either — just people, often highly gifted people and often strikingly successful in their enterprise with life and society.But as I thought more about the stereotype image, about its grip and pervasiveness, about the willful tenacity with which the West holds it to its heart; when I thought of the West's television and cinema and newspapers, a bout books read in its schools and out of school, of churches preaching to empty pews about the need to send help to the heathen in Africa, I realized that no easy optimism was possible. And there was, in any case, something totally wrong in offering bribes to the West in return for its good opinion of Africa. Ultimately the abandonment of unwholesome thoughts must be its own and only reward.Although I have used the word willful a few times here to characterize the West's view of Africa, it may well be that what is happening at this stage is more akin to reflex action than calculated malice. Which does not make the situation more but less hopeful. The Christian Science Monitor, a paper more enlightened than most, once carried an interesting article written by its Education Editor on the serious psychological and learning problems faced by little children who speak one language at home and then go to school where something else is spoken.It was a wide-ranging article taking in Spanis h-speaking children in America, the children of migrant Italian workers in Germany, the quadrilingual phenomenon in Malaysia, and so on. And all this while the article speaks unequivocally about language. But then out of the blue sky comes this: In London there is an enormous immigration of children who speak Indian or Nigerian dialects, or some other native language. I believe that the introduction of dialects which is technically erroneous in the context is almost a reflex action caused by an instinctive desire of the writer to downgrade the discussion to the level of Africa and India.And this is quite comparable to Conrad's withholding of language from his rudimentary souls. Language is too grand for these chaps; let's give them dialects! In all this business a lot of violence is inevitably done not only to the image of despised peoples but even to words, the very tools of possible redress. Look at the phrase native language in the Science Monitor excerpt. Surely the only native language possible in London is Cockney English. But our writer means something else — something appropriate to the sounds Indians and Africans make!Although the work of redressing which needs to be done may appear too daunting, I believe it is not one day too soon to begin. Conrad saw and condemned the evil of imperial exploitation but was strangely unaware of the racism on which it sharpened its iron tooth. But the victims of racist slander who for centuries have had to live with the inhumanity it makes them heir to have always known better than any casual visitor even when he comes loaded with the gifts of a Conrad.