Haverwood Furniture Essay

Haverwood Furniture, Inc. Q1 How would you characterize the HH wood Furniture Industry? †¢Haverwood L Room & Bedroom †¢Haverwood has own sales force 10 sales/ 2 Reg †¢Upholstered 50%/ Wood 40% †¢Total Ind Sales 3 Mil †¢Top 10 Wood Manu = 1/3 of total sales †¢Asia imports driving down prices (BPuerto) †¢US Manu downsized – 100 Manu †¢$15 million sales = 6% mkt share †¢Hwood uses 1000 specialty style (Selective distribution) †¢Gallery concept prevalent †¢Do not have full line in all retailers †¢Do not have galleries in all retailers Q2 How do consumer buy? †¢94% enjoy shopping †¢Lack confidence about quality or evaluating price †¢95% get redecorating ideas from Mag. †¢84% believe higher price = higher quality †¢72% browse even when not buying †¢Rely on sales people for ideas but want to be left alone to shop †¢85% read ads before shopping †¢Difficult to select styles Attributes †¢Styling/Design (1) †¢Brand Name/Image (5) †¢Price (4) †¢Construction Quality/workmanship (2) †¢Store Quality/Image (3) Buying Decision †¢Joint decision †¢Difficult – guidance †¢Little Knowledge Q3 What is the role of Marketing Communications †¢Consumer advertising oinforms about styles, arrangements oEmphasize Quality oDevelops â€Å"share of mind† †¢Company Salespeople oSell thru as much of line as possible oSell-develop rapport oTraining retail sales people – product quality %& feature oBuild enthusiasm w/ RSP o100% sales time †¢Trade Advertising oPoint of purchase – anything that goes on at the time of sale oBrochure take away †¢Cooperative Advertising oGiven by the retailer but funded by the manufacturing †¢Builds bond between retailer and brand Q4 Objectives for 2008 †¢Broaden advertising incl online †¢Penetrating boomer demo (Buy hi-quality) †¢Lower ad budget if possible †¢Marketing many lines †¢Broaden full line penetration †¢More galleries †¢Reach consumers at critical decision points Q5 How might objectives be translated into budge? †¢Sales Increase oLast Year 75 M * 1.04% = $78000000 oSales person option $135000 (SALES) o5% of 78000000 = †¢3900000 †¢3675000 †¢225000 o1% = 780000 (AGENCY) †¢562000 †¢218000

Hrm About Alibaba

1. Introduction Alibaba Group is the world's outstanding business-to-business e-commerce service company, which provides an efficient online trading platform for buyers and suppliers all over the world. It is China's largest e-commerce group which was founded by Jack Ma in 1999, and has developed into seven affiliated groups, namely Alibaba International Business Operations, Alibaba Small Business Operations, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall. com, Juhuasuan, e-Tao and Alibaba Cloud Computing (News, 2012).Besides, Alibaba Group has more than 24,000 employees in 70 cities which scattered in China, India, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States (News, 2012). This report will focus on analysis for Alibaba Group's human resource management, in order to reply the demand of its future developments. 2. Background to the case study organization Alibaba Group has  taken a hit as a result that a part of its employees were guilty of online fraudulent activities and irresponsible short- term profit.The announcement of the company showed that nearly 100 employees including sales staffs, manager and supervisor, had conspired to the fraud by deliberately helping fake suppliers in China to register with avoiding the company scrutiny and allowing them to defraud oversea buyers on the Alibaba’s international website (Nytimes, 2011). Surprisingly, these allegedly fraudulent online shops account for 1. 1% and 0. 8% of Alibaba’s ‘Gold Suppliers’ signed up during 2009 and 2010 respectively, which has impacted on the company value and produced a shock to mass beliefs (Economist, 2012).Thirteen people were sentenced ranging from eight months to three years in jail after conspiring with suppliers to gain illegally around RMB 500,000 yuan in this online fraud (Nytimes, 2011). 3. Outline of People Management Issues This issue related to the credibility of  Alibaba is directly due to the internal defects in management, the lack of inside supervision an d few controls of the internal culture. Moreover, the deep-rooted reason should be the problems of its human resources management. Lacking of a set of scientific and effective control and management system cannot guarantee the mplementation of building both core value and enterprise culture of Alibaba. Therefore, the outline of this report about the human resource management issue behind the online fraud of Alibaba is as follows. On the one hand, the management and supervision system has problems. Alibaba Group has not supervised the management in the process of dealing with related complaints about fraud happened between 2009 and 2010, even though some suspected online trading accounts had been deleted and specific inquiries of its international market transaction had been conducted since the beginning of the third quarter in 2010.It appears that in this issue managers ignored fraudulent behaviours behind the performance-chasing. However, in the statement said by Mr. Ma, it was not allowed to violate business honest principal or the basic line of company values (BBC, 2012). Although managers in Alibaba Group have to take responsibilities for the consequences, it cannot be denied that the fraud fully exposed that the lack of internal control, especially the supervision and administration of the management, is one of reasons lead to exacerbate the situation.Additionally, the event of online fraud has been doomed from the start to some extent. With the accelerating pace of internationalisation, the number of employees which rapidly increased from 11,700 in 2009 to 24,000 in 2012 has become a significant challenge that threats the development of Alibaba Group (Hua, 2012). However, weak awareness of the human resource control among Alibaba Group’s executives sets the stage for this online fraud scandal in China. On the other hand, the company may not satisfy the physical and emotional need of its employees.Both the greedy desire and the psychological imbala nce are the internal reason behind the problem. 4. Analysis (linked to HRM theory) There is always a kind of psychological motivations behind any subjective action, and the online fraud scandal of the Alibaba Group is no exception. This report will start the analysis from the view of internal motivations and then moving to the external causes. 4. 1 Internal reasons According to the perspective of Abraham Maslow who is well known for the hierarchy of needs theory, the pattern of behaviours based on individual needs (Poston, 2009).The following are psychological requirements which could associate with the fraudulent behaviours of officers at Alibaba in term of the greedy desire, the psychological imbalance and herd mentality. 4. 1. 1 The greedy desire It is difficult to satisfy individual demands because everyone would move to the next more advanced platform of the hierarchical pyramid that Maslow created frequently once the prior need is met, especially in modern society.Meanwhile, w hen setting Maslow’s model into the business to understand the motivation behind employees’ behaviours, it is not amazing to find that there are also have similar five levels of needs which including wages, safety, social belongingness, self-esteem and finally self-actualization. Maslow and Stephens (2000) have posited out that individuals will not spend an inordinate amount of time to think about their salaries if they are fairly paid. After being paid adequate salary, employee seeks safety physically and mentally on the jobs.And then the stage of needs moves to the third level subsequently-seeking social belongingness in the workplace. Although the working environment is always full of stress and difficulties, training provides opportunities for employees to improve themselves and contact with new people which could help them to fit in. Until the employee make themselves comfortable among different working relationship, it will not allowed to access to the hierarchy stage of self-esteem and self-actualization respectively.Unfortunately, after employees have been satisfied with all these five levels of needs, the worldview, philosophy and value view of them will be generally changed in a climate of corruption. With the early success of corrupt deals by heads of the sales department at Alibaba, they would have an addictive sense of satisfaction and accomplishment which lead to those guilty behaviours for greater interest repeat again and again naturally. In Skinnner’s reinforcement theory, Skinner (1984) has drawn attention to the fact that appropriate reinforcement based on public consequence may influence verbal response.It means that individuals would reinforce a kind of behaviour once its consequence benefit to them. Therefore, it makes sense that managers at Alibaba will help to defraud if dynamically taking managers’ greedy desire into consideration. 4. 1. 2 The psychological imbalance Employees of equal position and qualifica tion serviced in the parallel department with the same salary may have  quite different perceptions of the fairness. When they perceives the disparity between the inputs and the outputs,  different responds will be excepted in various ways, including de-motivation, reduced effort, becoming disgruntled and even disruptive.According to the Equity Theory of Adams, an individual will perceive the ratio of inputs to the outcomes depend not only on the absolute value but also in the relative value in order to measure whether himself or herself is treated fairly or not (Adams et al, 1976). This can be illustrated by the following equation: Individual’s outcomes/individual’s own inputs = relational partner’s outcomes/relational partner’s inputs (Adams et al, 1976). Equity is considered when this ratio is equal. While if this ratio is unequal, it leads to ‘equity tension’ which was called the negative tension state by Adam (1976).Meanwhile, it wil l motivate him or her to do something to relieve this tension. Therefore, it is why some leading cadres at Alibaba Group may feel unbalanced and help to defraud which negatively impact on the credibility of the company. With the rapid expansion of international business scale in the development of Alibaba Group, they consider their contribution to the company is greater than the return. As a result, corruption was caused secretly by the combination of selfish desire and power without supervision. 4. 2 External reasons 4. 2. 1 OpportunityThe officers participated in the fraud are almost from a high-powered job position in Alibaba Group and own important resource and privileges in the company. Therefore, it is easy for them to commit a crime with close interest people once they are lured by short-term profits. 4. 2. 2 The lack of control and management system It is not just incorrect psychological requirement or the unsound political system is blamed for breeding corruption, the lack of core value and culture control of the company is one of the significant factors which could not be ignored.The development of supervision before the event, at present and after the event all depends on the growth of the enterprise culture. Thus, if the pre-supervision runs into a problem, it represents the failure in enterprise culture management. There are six core values guide Alibaba Group’s operations and operate its culture, which including customer first, teamwork, embrace change, integrity passion and commitment (News, 1999). However, it is difficult to transform corporate culture into practice to some extent.Meanwhile, with the rapidly increased number of employees in Alibaba Group, the previous culture management has to further improve. Organizational culture diagnoses and cultural audits, for example, can give an accurate picture of an organization’s current management system (Mason, 2012). 5. Critical Reflection on group presentation Because our group has not given the presentation to the class, I could just conclud some limitation about the analysis of this report. Due to the theories of human resource management are not fully understood, the analysis of the case study about the Alibaba Group is not in-depth and incomplete.Moreover, the report has only provided superficial explanations of the issue because of the insufficient knowledge of Alibaba Group and the limitation of those methods linked with. Besides, the recommendations have not taken everything into consideration. They are too abstract and theoretical that are not seen as scientific, feasible suggestions in practice. However, analysing the issue of human resource management in the view of psychology is an innovative point of this report. 6. Recommendations 6. 1 Strengthen job rotation system in the key positionAlibaba Group should strengthen the job rotation system to avoid the corruption, especially in some key positions. According Shalley and Oldham (2004), employees wi ll have job burnout of different extents as well as reduction of creativity after 6 years working in the same position. However, if the company could do the job rotation periodically and provide support to any employees transitioning out of the company, the situation will be changed as it not only prevents managers from increasing spheres of influence, but also gives opportunities to employees to gain experience in their professions. 6. 2 Establish the mechanism of risk managementRisk management of all positions in the internal enterprise is an important part of the management system. Alibaba Group should clear the level of risk in different position and establish an internal regulatory system which includes ‘peer review’ mechanism, department regulatory system, internal audit and external audit mechanisms to ensure mutual supervision avoid unnecessary credit losses. 6. 3 Establish psychological management mechanism It is necessary to give psychological training program me at least once a month for intensifying the efforts of anti-corruption and enhancing the management of core value and culture in Alibaba Group.Besides, relevant department would better assign a special supervisor to investigate the staff on suspicion of corruption. 6. 4 Improve the mechanism of incentives and restrictions Alibaba Group should keep its employees hold the sense of crisis and responsibility and correct the psychological imbalance at the same time, such as using gaming-style leader boards to encourage internal competition or offer appropriate prizes to the most successful one. 6. Improve the standard system of selection and appointment Alibaba Group should try to improve the standard system of selection in order to ensure the person employed has higher organizational commitment. Additionally, it is necessary to introduce different kinds of methods of personal testing and assessment which combine the enterprise culture into the evaluation. References Mason, K. (2012). Informing a new business-to-business relationship: Corporate identity and the emergence of a relationship identity. European Journal of Marketing, 46 (7), p. 684-711. Poston, B. (2009). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.The Surgical Technologist, 8 p. 348-353. Available at: http://www. astd2007. ast. org/publications/Journal%20Archive/2009/8_August_2009/CE. pdf [Accessed: 03 Nov 2012]. ADAMS, J. S. , BERKOWITZ, L. , ; HATFIELD, E. (1976). Equity theory: toward a general theory of social interaction. New York, Academic Press. Bbc. co. uk (2011). BBC News – China arrests 36 for fraud on Alibaba and other sites. [online] Available at: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-13986308 [Accessed: 1 Nov 2012]. Economist. com (2012). An online-fraud scandal in China: Alibaba and the 2,236 thieves | The Economist. online] Available at: http://www. economist. com/blogs/newsbook/2011/02/online-fraud_scandal_china [Accessed: 05 Nov 2012]. Harpercollins. com (2008). Browse Inside In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters, Robert H. Waterman, Jr.. [online] Available at: http://www. harpercollins. com/browseinside/index. aspx? isbn13=9780060548780 [Accessed: 09 Nov 2012]. Hua, T. (2012). Alibaba and the 2,236 thieves. Business Management, Iss. 5 p. 12-13. MASLOW, A. H. , & STEPHENS, D. C. (2000). The Maslow business reader. New York, N. Y. , J.Wiley. News. alibaba. com (2012). Alibaba Group. [online] Available at: http://news. alibaba. com/specials/aboutalibaba/aligroup/group_news. html [Accessed: 02 Nov 2012]. News. alibaba. com (1999). Alibaba Group. [online] Available at: http://news. alibaba. com/specials/aboutalibaba/aligroup/culture_values. html [Accessed: 05 Nov 2012]. Nytimes. com (2011). David Wei and Elvis Lee Quit Alibaba Amid Fraud Inquiry – NYTimes. com. [online] Available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2011/02/22/business/global/22alibaba. html [Accessed: 02 Nov 2012]. Shalley, C. and Oldham , G. (2004).Th e Effects of Personal and Contextual Characteristics on Creativity: Where Should We Go from Here? Journal of Management, 30 (6), p. 933-958. Skinner, B. (1981). Selection by consequences. Science, 212 (4507), p. 501-504. Skinner, B. (1984). The operational analysis of psychological terms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7 (4), p. 547-553. Available at: http://web. comhem. se/u68426711/rft/Skinner%201945%20The%20operational%20analysis%20of%20psychological%20terms. pdf [Accessed: 06 Nov 2012]. SUZANNE, B. And STEPHEN, D. (2003). Understanding and motivating health care employees:

Five Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy in Cast Away

Pysiological Needs, includes the most basic needs that are vital at survival, like the need for water, air food and sleep. Security needs, includes needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Some examples are health insurance, shelter from the environment. Social needs, includes needs for belonging, love and affection. Examples of Social needs are friendship and families help fulfill this needs for companionship and acceptance. Esteem needs, becomes increasingly important after the first three needs have been contented.It includes the needs for things that reflect on self-esteem, such as social recognition, accomplishment, social recognition. Self-actualizing needs, is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. People that are self-actualizing are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and interested fulfilling their potential. The nee ds that appeared to be most urgent and necessary were the Physiological needs; Chuck Noland’s actions agreed with Maslow’s Hierarchy when we got on the island, he immediately sought food.The items that were already present on the island were Coconuts, Rocks, Sticks, and Palmetto Leaves. They met the needs of Physiological and Safety. The items that Chuck Noland used from the FedEx boxes were Clothing, Volleyball, Ice Skates, and VHS tapes. The needs that these items met were Physiological and Love. The movie Cast Away, Chuck Noland was stranded on an island. He was stuck there for about four years. As the years went by, he became more aware of how to survive.He knew how to find food, how to make shelter, and how to keep himself company. He used his volleyball that was in a FedEx box as a friend to talk to. He used leaves and sticks and sunlight to build a fire. He used porta potty as shelter. He also used anything for food. He was the only one who survived on that isla nd from all of his co-workers. He finally built a boat and went in the water. Soon he found a huge ship that he climbed onto and sent home. When he got home nobody recognized him. Also when he got home, he got told bad news.His fiance that he was planning on marrying thought he was dead and fell in love with his dentist, and ended up marrying him. In my opinion I do think Chuck Noland met his need for self-actualization during his stay on the island. For example, self-actualization means self-aware, concerned with personal growth, and less concerned with the opinions of others. He honestly didn’t care what other people that about him, he thought he was successful and a hard worker. All in all, the movie Cast Away was very good movie that represented the five levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy.

Summary Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Summary - Term Paper Example Bartlett, in the article, addresses the issue of the serious rift evident in ethical view of in theoretical terms and manner in which employees follow the theories in real management situations while applying ethics. Ethical theory has its base upon moral theory used to define it. According to Bartlett, decision makers tend to embrace business ethics based on motivational elements. This suggests that level to which ethic receives recognition depends on the motivational elements outlined in the expectancy theory. Several business ethics researchers show failure while formulating and defining their research agenda. In defining their agenda for research, misconception occurs when business ethics researchers do not adequately relate personal values to the course of moral reasoning. By that, business ethics researchers fail to recognize and integrate the role of cognitive process in moral reasoning, which is essential in ensuring business ethics at the workplace. The researchers, therefore, alienate the role of reasoning which is intermediary. Bartlett gives proposals that would help ensure a harmony between the theoretical and practical views of business ethics. These aims at addressing the theory-practice rift existing in the management of business ethics. Bartlett notes that, despite the study of business ethics in philosophies and psychology that promotes morality, business ethics application in real situations remains a challenging issues to many people. The approaches used in the learning of seem to fail in their application, in real life scenarios. Suggestions that bring out the possibility of achieving a narrowing down of the gap would see compatibility of the two concepts. Appreciation of the variability between real life situations in management and theory by researchers is fundamental. Recognition of the complexity is of immense importance. This would enable business ethics researchers come up with frameworks of

Implementation of a Customer Relation Management System (CRM) in B2B Term Paper

Implementation of a Customer Relation Management System (CRM) in B2B with the example of Aviation business - Term Paper Example Therefore, airline organisations need to develop new methods to manage the customer relationship in order to enhance customer loyalty and income. The impacts of global economic downturn along with the terrorist attack of 9/11 have severely impacted on the aviation business. The airline companies concentrate on operational developments in order to minimise expenses without ignoring the demand of customers. Customer relationship has nurtured for aviation companies to maintain competitive advantage and productivity in the long-run. The customer relationship management (CRM) has become a tool for aviation companies for managing good association with the customers (Boland & et. al., 2002). The paper explains the CRM system in B2B business with concentration on aviation business. B2B allows one business to interrelate with other business. The developing technologies have enabled businesses to apply CRM system in B2B. The chief resemblance between B2B and CRM is that they both work on onlin e platform. Therefore, developing and implementing CRM strategy on the basis of B2B model can result in low managerial expenses, well-organised marketing promotion and improved customer receptiveness. By using CRM in B2B, aviation organisations can increase the reach of customers and lessen the expenses of quality management (Zeng & et. al., 2003). The paper describes how CRM can be conducted in B2B aviation organisation. The objective of the paper is to understand various aspects of CRM in aviation organisations concerning designing, implementation and procedure which must be considered in order to get positive results. 2. The Strategy 2.1 Design CRM Strategy Several organisations pursue expensive CRM initiatives without considering the challenges and the expenses involved in them. Therefore, they are unable to get the benefits of CRM. IT and CRM managers are responsible for economic reasoning in order to make sure that CRM plans get appropriate funding. Aviation organisations must realise that CRM is a business strategy with underlying technology and it necessitates huge spending of money in software, hardware, communication, consultation and employee training. Objectives of CRM The major objective of CRM is to enhance the level of customer satisfaction. The task of CRM is not only providing technological support to the business, but it also acts as marketing philosophy for organisations. The â€Å"one-to-one† marketing system which has appeared in present days, proposes organisations to be more prosperous if they focus on gaining and preserving a portion of every customer, rather than a portion of entire market. In this context, information technology i.e. CRM can become an enabling aspect for organisations. With the improvements in technological innovations and the emergence of internet, CRM has become powerful enough to forecast the behaviours of customers, develop value–added functions, reinforce the brand image and develop customer support functions. CRM is a technology empowered business approach whereby organisations influence increased customer information in order to establish commercial relationships, on the basis of optimisation of value provided to the customers. Customer satisfaction through implementation of CRM can be achieved by lessening of cost of services, development of

Selective Incorporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Selective Incorporation - Essay Example Selective incorporation has been applied in numerous instances to protect and uphold human rights especially in a criminal proceeding. This was done during the tenure of chief justice Earl Warren when the rights enjoyed by the criminal defendants were expanded. For example, in the case of Gideon v Wainwright, the defendant was accused of breaking into bay harbor pool hall and stealing cigarette change from the vending machines.Though Gideon requested a lawyer to be appointed by the states, the state of Florida declined, stating that this can only be done in capital offenses. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th amendment allowed all defendants to access the services of an attorney. This right, as stated in the sixth amendment of the constitution was meant to protect the rights of the accused and ensure the provision of free trails. The Miranda v Arizona established the principle of equal access to legal representation during a trial and the determination was based on select ive incorporation. Failure to inform a suspect of his right during arrest constitutes legal subjugation of their legal rights as contained in the first 8 amendments and the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution. The 5th amendment of the united states indicates that a suspect has a right to remain silent during arrest as any pronouncement made can be used against them in the determination of the case.The sixth amendment indicates that a legal counsel must represent suspects during the determination of their cases.

Self assessment of Tiger Nursing informatics competencies Coursework

Self assessment of Tiger Nursing informatics competencies - Coursework Example These are consistent with recommendations of the Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform (Finkelman & Kenner, 2014). My clinical information management, based on the self-assessment, identifies a weakness. As a registered nurse, I should be skilled in computer technology applications and data analysis for informed care decision and this requires ability collect, record, manage, analyze, and interpret data. My self-analysis results, however, identify competence in a majority of clinical information management measures, an indicator of average potential. My best scores were proficiency in ensuring data confidentiality and data security, with no expertise score in a single measure. Retrieval of information from stores was the most challenging of clinical information management aspects. There was however better results on information literacy as about 50 percent of my scores were proficient. No expertise score was reported and novice scores were limited. Analysis of information and information sources were the most challenging aspects. My basic computer competencies were however outstanding with exper tise score in most of the measures. Comparative analysis of my current competencies identifies weaknesses in application of data for nursing purposes. Competencies in computer applications for data entry, management, analysis, and interpretation are recommended for my professional qualification and experience but I am below average in related measures that correspond to clinical information management and information literacy. Age barrier, having trained and entered the nursing profession before integration of high-level of information technology into the nursing profession explains my weakness. My areas of specialty, that have required minimal application of computer competencies and information literacy explain my weakness. I have worked in long-term care, psychiatric, and correctional nursing, areas that may

Rational persuasion Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rational persuasion - Term Paper Example The bargain wilds intensely as the teachers are seriously on the neck of the government terming them not serious about the lives of the children who are not being taught, as the government is quite reluctant about their issues (Hoch 2004 pg 64-9). Through out the bargains, the government given the tough economic times tries to use rational persuasion to try to sway the angry teachers to class. This evident since the government has directed their negotiations towards the influential minorities that is the teachers’ consultees; they are trained and given non-factual promises by the government (Hoch 2004 pg 97). The promises are non- factual given that they do not give any timelines and are not giving any statistical figures in form of percentage increase of the mentioned benefits. The limitation of this is that the method would not suppress the angry teachers are they are already aware of the conning that the government is likely to direct to them. Faced with such a situation in the future, an integration of both factual and rational would be considered to relay quite convincing information. Scenario 2 Rational persuasion for security of a country There is a terrorist group, which is seriously terrorizing the citizens’ of the country jeopardizing the role of the government of protecting its citizens. Though power is held by the state, the group is reckless and does not mind hurting any individual as they have nothing much to lose. The government on the other hand is not in the position of attacking those head on, as this may lead to the group unleashing its potential on the innocent civilians through their poisonous biological weapons. The government has therefore the option of engaging... There is a terrorist group, which is seriously terrorizing the citizens’ of the country jeopardizing the role of the government of protecting its citizens. Though power is held by the state, the group is reckless and does not mind hurting any individual as they have nothing much to lose. The government on the other hand is not in the position of attacking those head on, as this may lead to the group unleashing its potential on the innocent civilians through their poisonous biological weapons. The government has therefore the option of engaging the group in a discussion for a negotiation, which cannot be factual as the terror group, cannot be promised facts given that this would be against the sovereignty of the state.   In the persuasion efforts, the government presents on the table goodies for the terror group and promises them to be integrated in the running of the government. They are therefore, invited to select their top officials or the individuals they entrusts with t he promised positions and the intention of the government inviting them to this table is to peacefully detain the officials without the followers awareness. This is a divide and rule technique of running the government as the result is directed towards making the followers realize that soon they are likely to be detained as their leaders hence scaring their activities and the harms they are likely to create to the government. The rebels on the other hand purpose a negotiation through representatives.

Reaction to Karen Pykes Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reaction to Karen Pykes Article - Essay Example Within these three factors, what become apparent are the immigrants high regard for the culture which is dominant in the society. Their picture of what is "ideal" and "normal" family becomes synonymous with that of the North American family as seen in popular media and their American peers. On the other hand, the family ideology of the minority like Koreans and Vietnamese is seen as deficient. The study reveals the preference of the immigrants to have a more Americanized family than stick with their own family ideologies. It should be noted that almost all the interviewees express their predilection for more sensitive, open communication, flexibility, and forgiveness among family members. Their traditional family values like role prescriptions, family obligations, hierarchical relations, and lack of emotional expressiveness are seen are hindrances in attaining rapport among family members. Given a chance to change their families, Koreans and Vietnamese immigrants want their parents to be less strict and give them more freedom, more open-minded and less traditional, and more expressive. As mentioned above, it can be seen that this perception of the normal and ideal family stems from the hegemony of the American culture in the society where they belong. However, Pyke also notes that even though Koreans and Vietnamese immigr

Does capital punishment equate to cruel and unusual punishment Essay

Does capital punishment equate to cruel and unusual punishment - Essay Example This paper is an attempt to identify whether capital punishments can be regarded as cruel and unusual punishments which should be prohibited in the nation. It is essential to consider the Supreme Court’s legislative rulings over capital punishments. In the Gregg v. Georgia case the Supreme Court made it clear that â€Å"the death penalty is not considered cruel and unusual punishment, nor grossly disproportionate to the crime, provided the court’s review procedure affords procedural safeguards to prevent arbitrary or discriminatory sentencing† (PMBR & Palmer, 2009, p. 59). However, it is imperative that special care should be taken by the jury to display no arbitrary or discriminatory sentencing and it should ensure that capital punishments are given to the most deserving criminals. Similarly, the Supreme Court of Florida, considering the petition of Thomas H. Provenzano, ruled that â€Å"execution by electrocution in Florida’s electric chair as it exists in its present condition as applied does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment, and therefore, is not unconstitutional† (Supreme Court of Florida, 1999, p. 3).

Latino Narrative Film Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Latino Narrative Film - Research Paper Example Speaking about Latin cinema of that period, it is worth mentioning that common historical destiny of the all countries of the continent largely led to the commonality of the social problems that most of the Latin countries faced with. It also determined the interrelation and spiritual affinity, which found the expression in the cinematograph. In most general terms, the Latin cinema is closely connected with the national reality and national identity (Shaw, and Dennison 6). The current paper will consider and compare two examples of the Latino cinematography, Romero (1989) and Innocent Voices (2004), brightly representing the national idea and national values in the context of the civil war in El Salvador. Due to the different social statuses of the main heroes, these two stories appear to be different, but the common problem of national oppression makes them alike. The comparison of the films will be conducted with the enclosing of the historical context, short description, reasons a nd methods of imaging, the authors used in both movies. Before starting to analyze the movies and understand the relevance of the problems discussed in films, it worth considering the historical background. The suggested movies tell their stories that developed during the civil conflict in El Salvador in 1970’s – 1980’s. ... king measures of this, but was ensuring the interests of large landowners and foreign monopolies that naturally led to the roll of the public moods â€Å"to the left†, to communism. The electoral frauds during the 70’s and the violent suppressions of public demonstrations against resulted in the bitterness of national mind. In the 70’s the left powers of El Salvador were increasingly inclining to use the force, when democratic methods did not help. The main part of the activities of sabotage and â€Å"hit-and-run† attacks in the 70’s was carried by the several revolutionary leftist groups. In the leadership of these groups there was a constant discussion on the ways of combating: whether to use force or to agitate among people. The leader of the communist party, Salvador Cayetano Carpio, stood for the violent methods and the introduction of the Vietnamese tactics of the long struggle against the governing regime. In the early 70’s Carpio left the Communist party and created the Farabundo Marti Liberation People's Forces (FPL) (Manwaring, and Prisk 39). The energy of Catholic clergy and the creation of the nation-wide organizations such as trade unions and peasant federations led to broadening of the base of the left forces and the creation of the conditions to seize the power. A large number of converted to communism came from the universities. There was an external factor of the socialistic revolution in Cuba contributing to the strengthening of the tension on the governing regime. The latter in El Salvador was conservative and economically dropping behind. Moreover, most of its money means was received as a help from the United States (Murray 14). From the beginning of 1980’s there started an intensive integration of the â€Å"left† radicals. Already in 1980

Introduction to Routing and Switching Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Routing and Switching Essay 1. Introduction – Computer Network A computer network is a setup which comprises of multiple computers and devices to create connection in order to support the communication of all such devices. This facilitates sharing of information and resources to all the users present in the network. The following are the main purposes that the network provides to its users:  · Communication- networks allow free flow of communication among all the users. These include chat, messages, emails, conferences, etc.  · Sharing of Resources – Resources can be shared among all the users within a network. These include: o Hardware The different computers in a network can also make use of a single hardware attached to the network. Consider the example of a shared printer attached to multiple devices in the network like in case of a university or office environment. o Software- Network also allows users to share software application programs through their computers o Files and other data – Files and data can be shared among systems in a network environment through authorized access. This helps members to work and submit tasks on the same domain and within deadlines, thus saving from hassles. 2. The Open Systems Interconnection OSI Model The hardware components of the network operate at the layers of the OSI model which are briefly discussed below: Physical layer This is concerned with the functions that carry a stream of bits over a physical medium at the mechanical and electrical level. Hubs and Repeaters operate at the physical layer of the OSI model. Data link Layer This layer categorizes data from network layer (upper layer) into frames and handles errors of the physical layer to provide to the network layer. The Bridges operate at the Data link layer of the OSI Model. Network Layer The delivery of the packet is the responsibility of the network layer which can include multiple links. Network layer can be used in cases of multiple networks where there are some links between the networks. Routers operate at the Network layer of the OSI model. Transport Layer The transport layer is also responsible for delivery of packets but it also recognizes relationship between messages. This is done in proper order and the layer also ensures control of error and flow at the source as well as the destination. Session Layer This layer controls dialog and synchronizes interaction within the network. Presentation Layer This layer is also one of the most important layers as it is looks into the syntax and semantics of the data being transferred within the network. Application Layer This layer involves interfaces and other supporting frames for the user to access the network. 3. Hardware Components within a Network The following re the basic hardware components within a network to interconnect devices (Sosinsky 33): 3.1 Network Interface Cards (NICs) These are the components used to connect to another networking medium. The NIC has a unique identification number known as Media Access Control address (MAC address) that is provided by the manufacturer. 3.2 Repeaters Repeater is a device used to transmit signals after cleaning them by regenerating the original bit pattern. 3.3 Hubs Hub connects multiple devices in the network so that they appear as a single device, therefore, it has multiple ports. 3.4 Bridges These are also hardware components that connect multiple segments of the network. 4. Network Hardware Components – Routers and Switches Routers and switches are important components of the computer network that support the above mentioned purpose of a network. These are discussed in details as under: 4.1 Routers Router is a software or device that helps in transmitting data between users in a predefined manner, thus helping in serving the purpose of the network. The data is in the form of packets that travels along the network, where the routers process the data present in the packet. In many cases there is a pre-defined forwarding or routing table used to direct the information to the appropriate destination (Beasley 62). The main tasks of the routers include:  · Ensures information forwarding to the required destination  · Keeps track and avoids information from reaching where not needed 4.1.1 Characteristics The following are the characteristics of Routers:  · The routers correspond to internet Protocols such as the internet Protocol, internet Control message Protocol, etc.  · Provides interfaces between the packet networks through the required functions  · Sends and receives datagrams  · Chooses destination for the datagram according to the routing database  · Provides support facilities for network management which includes status and exception reporting, debugging, etc. 4.1.2 Routing Routing is the process of sharing information by connecting networks and translating protocols between them. It functions at the network layer of the OSI model, acquiring addresses from the IP header of the layer to get the sources and destination. Here the Routing Protocols are used. Routers also use the routing tables to decide the destination of the packets. The routing tables include:  · Address information  · Connection Priorities  · Traffic Rules Routing differs in its delivery schemes which include the following:  · Delivery to a single node (unicast) where the node is predefined.  · Delivery to multiple specified nodes (multicast)  · Delivery to all the nodes that are part of the network (Broadcast)

Concepts Of Consumer Behaviour And Mobile Phones Marketing Essay

Concepts Of Consumer Behaviour And Mobile Phones Marketing Essay Mobile phone occupies a fundamental place in peoples daily life. It has become one of the most important tools for personal communication across the globe during the past fifteen years. Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how and where people do or do not buy products (Sandhusen; Richard, 2000). One of the things that can be categorized as both needs and desires is mobile phone. This chapter introduces the concept of Consumer Behaviour and shows the various components applicable to the mobile phones purchase in Mauritius. This will include the key factors influencing the Mauritians buying behaviour for mobile phones. The different criteria consumers consider in their buying behaviour will also be exemplified. Concepts of Consumer Behaviour and Mobile Phones In todays world consumer behaviour is one of the most fascinating topics. Consumer is the ultimate user of every product, without any consumer there is no market as such (Baker, 2004). Consumers are considered the king therefore it is very essential to study the behaviour of consumers. Blackwell et al. (2001) described consumer behaviour as the activities, in which people acquire, consume and dispose products and services. In the same view, Kundi et al (2008) stated that consumer behavior refers to the mental and emotional process and the observable behavior of consumers during searching, purchasing and post consumption of a product or services. McGraw-Hill (2005) defined consumer buying behaviour as the behaviour in the quest to satisfy needs which products and services were acquired to satisfy these personal consumption needs. Customers make purchases in order to satisfy needs. According to Christ (2009) some of these needs are basic and must be filled by everyone on the planet whi le others are not required for basic survival and vary depending on the person. It probably makes more sense to classify needs that are not a necessity as wants or desires. On the other hand, Peter and Olson, (1993) mentioned that interactions between the peoples emotions, moods, affection and specific feelings is called consumer behavior, in other words in environmental events which they exchange ideas and benefits each is called consumer behavior . Figure 1: Influential factors of consumer behaviour Source: Kotler Armstrong, 2008 By understanding consumer behaviour deeply, different authors have given different information about the consumer behaviour and how consumer buys the products. Consumer behavior involves the psychological process that consumers go through in recognizing needs, findings ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions, interpret information, make plans and implement these plans (Perner, 2008). Consumer behaviour towards mobile phones The emerging technologies, one that promises greater variety in applications, highly improved usability, and speedier networking (Robert Godwin-Jones, 2008). Mobile phone is a constant companion to many people. Mobile phone which is fundamentally a communication device has undergone several transformations making its functionalities transcending the traditional voice communication between two individuals (Kushchu, 2007). Mobile technology is a daily communication device that allows people to communicate worldwide within seconds. Different researchers have diverse view about mobile phones. Xiaowei Huang (2011) identified mobile phone as one of the cultural commodities in todays world. According to Bassett (2006), today, the functions of mobile phones are not only for making and receiving calls, but also for providing other functions such as mailboxes, digital cameras, video recorders, personal radios, personal organizers, and even MP3 players. It is sometimes assuming that the mobile becomes each of these objects rather than simulating them, or re-mediating them; that it takes on the most advanced characteristics of each media stream it subsumes, and also assumes the development trajectory, or even the nature, or ontology, of these media (Bassett 2006). Nowadays mobile phone users are more adaptive, definitive, and subjective to how they use the communication device (Murni Mahmud et al, 2010). Mobile phone is not only a medium for communication but an entertainment device, an educative tool. Consumers used the technology as designed by the designers to satisfy different purposes beyond the conception of the designer (Carroll et al., 2002; Bar et al., 2007). Mobile technology were used and interpreted by users of mobile phones in their distinctive ways rather than how the designer had conceptualised the use of the mobile phones. Likewise mobile phone usage became more meaningfully through how the technology is used, the purposes it serves, and the context of its use through choice of functions and features (Okabe, 2004; Lindqvist and Svensson, 2007; Wirth et al., 2008). Overview of the Mauritian Mobile Phone market The Republic of Mauritius, a small island state with a population of 1.3 million inhabitants, is nestled in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Mauritius was the first country to launch cellular operations in the Southern Hemisphere on 29 May 1989 (Minges, Gray Tayob, 2004). Mauritius has been the first with the many telecommunication innovations in the African continent, who aims to be known as a cyber island. Telecommunication had an early beginning in Mauritius, the first telephone line was installed in 1883, seven after the invention of the telephone. The privatisation of telecommunication industries since the mid-1990s, most mobile phone markets have been characterised by competitive industries due to the presence of more than one operator (Bailard, 2009; ITU, 2011). The result is more affordable and reliable mobile services. People also do not have to wait for long periods of time to have a mobile phone installed. The Mauritian telecommunications sector was fully liberalized in Ja nuary 2003 pursuant to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) commitment made by Mauritius in 1998 (WTO, 2012). Currently there are 3 main mobile phone operators in Mauritius namely Orange, Emtel and MTML. Orange is the market leader, while Emtel and MTML are the challengers. Emtel first launched the 4G Mobile in Mauritius, Tassarajen Chedumbrum Pillay, Minister of Information Technology and Communication (ICT), which officially launched the 4G mobile phone service on May 29, 2012 (Lexpress.mu, 2012). Mobile penetration rates have exploded from a mere 1.05 percent in 1995 to a staggering 92.79 percent by the end of 2010. Mobile cellular subscribers rose by 9.6% to reach 1,190,900 in 2010 from 1,086,700 in 2009. Prepaid subscribers increased by 8.5% from 1,013,000 in 2009 to 1,099,200 in 2010. Mobidensity or the number of mobile cellular phones per 100 inhabitants increased by 9.2% from 85.0 in 2009 to 92.8 in 2010 (Central Statistics Office, 2011). Figure 2: Mobile cellular subscriptions in Mauritius C:UsersRachnaDesktopchart.png Source: World Bank, 2011 Consumers purchase preferences and satisfaction level for mobile phones For perspective of globalization we cannot change the system of tastes and preferences of Consumers. Another instance demonstrating the ignorance of local tastes in the wake of globalization features the multinational mobile phone makers, Nokia had tasted success with its soap-bar designed phones and ceased producing the flip phones that consumers found irritating to use (Zaccai, 2005). Every consumer has their own tastes and preferences. So, every consumers opinions and preferences are different from one another. It has also been pointed that many decision strategies used by consumers can change due to person-, context-, and task-specific factors (Dhar, Nowlis and Sherman, 2000; Swait and Adamowicz, 2001). Consumers tend to utilize different approaches to make choices. Mobile phone choice and use has also been found to be related to prior consumption styles. According to a survey of Finnish young people aged 16-20, it was found that mobile phone choice and especially usage is consis tent with respondents general consumption styles (Wilska, 2003). Customer value perceptions are found to significantly impact and drive consumers intentions in terms of repurchase intent, word-of-mouth referrals, customer commitment and loyalty (e.g. Brady and Cronin, 2001; Cronin et al., 2000; Duman and Mattila, 2005; Christou, 2003). In general, a common distinction to be made is that while the utilitarian goods usually are primary instrumental and functional, hedonic goods provide fun, pleasure and excitement. It has been noted that many choices have both utilitarian and hedonic features (Batra and Ahtola, 1990), and thus it can also be proposed that the choice between mobile phones has both utilitarian (e.g., communication, time planning) and hedonic (e.g., games, camera) features. Quite similarly, consumer choice can also be approached from the perspective of conscious and non conscious choice (e.g., Fitzsimons et al., 2002). On the other hand, direct marketing activities have big impact on every consumer, every company knows about the behavior of every consumer in the market. This theory helps for the organization and sub-organizations to know the consumer behavior in different market environments, taste and preferences of the consumer behavior (Thomas, 2004). Kalpana and Chinnadurai (2006) found that adverti sement play a dominant role in influencing the customers but most of the customers are of opinion that promotional strategies of cellular companies are more sale oriented rather than customer oriented. Nandhini (2001) examined that attitude of the respondents using cell phones was not influenced by either education or occupation and income Usage functions and features as a key driver of consumer acceptance of mobile phones Another important aspect that has risen from different studies is that consumers purchase new phones due to the fact that their existing ones capacity is not appropriate referring to the idea that new technology features such as built-in cameras, better memory, radio, more developed messaging services, and color displays are influencing consumer decisions to acquire new models (In-Stat/MDR, 2002; Liu, 2002; OKeefe, 2004; Karjaluoto et al., 2005). Thus it can be expected that new features will influence the intention to acquire new mobile phones. The consumer will respond according to the product quality and reliability, the fundamental understanding of products is necessary to understand the product features, products reliability and product benefits (Baker, 2004). For example, researchers like Chang and OSullivan (2005) showed that concrete feedback provided when keys are pressed offers a good satisfaction experience among the mobile phone users whilst Lesher et al. (1998) and Nesba t (2003) re-designed the keypads to expedite text entry. Moreover, studies involving elderly users found them to prefer large, clear and bright screens (Kurniawan et al., 2006; Nizam et al, 2008). Mobile phones are often criticized as being too small to be held and handled (Balakrishnan and Yeow, 2007). In a recent paper, V. Balakrishnan (2011) investigated mobile phone messaging satisfaction among Malaysian youths. It was found that mobile phone users have mixed feelings towards text entry speed, keypad design and health-lower extremity and thus, they are unsure about their overall SMS satisfaction. Hence this indicates that consumers lay more emphasis on the design of the mobile phone while choosing which cell phone to buy. The younger the consumer the more hedonistic features consumers tend to value in mobile phones (Wilska, 2003). Though, in Africa, the use of SMS and chat services has been widely accepted, but people are still reluctant to engage in other mobile data services, such as MMS, mobile banking and web browsing amongst others (Brown, Gordon, Janik Meyer, 2005). The major portion of the population uses SMS, chat services and some leisure based services such as ring tones and games but they are still reluctant to engage in other more advanced data services (Goldstuck, 2005; Bouwman et al., 2006). Mobile value-added services are digital services added to mobile phone networks other than voice services, including short message service, games, entertainments, web surfing, software applications and functions for achieving specific purposes (e.g. performing electronic transactions (Kuo et al., 2009). Among all m-commerce applications, mobile value-added services have been recognized as having a remarkably promising future in the telecom service market because customer values, such as time-critical needs and arrangements, spontaneous needs and decisions, entertainment needs, and efficiency needs and ambitions, can be met by using these services (Anckar and DIncau, 2002). Consequently, mobile phone technological advances allow customers to participate in the mobile services development, design, production and delivery process, mobile phone users increasingly demand for affordable and reliable services that correspond exactly to their specific individual needs, lifestyle and preferen ces (Sigala, 2002). Generally speaking, a positive attitude with regard to new information technologies can be found among the younger, male and high-income categories (Brown and Vemnkatesh, 2005; Gefen and Straub, 1997; Ilie et al., 2005; Rice and Katz, 2003; Wei and Lo, 2006). Not all types of mobile phone are successful in entering the market because some types of the mobile phone have a negative perception of user (Jaya Suteja and Stephany Tedjohartoko, 2011). While some people find using mobile devices to conduct transactions relatively easy, others experience difficulty with the small screen size and small keypad. Data input becomes a problem, and this can lead to wasted time, errors and frustration experienced by users, hence making usability less attractive (Chen Frolick, 2004).However, the mobility of mobile devices also increases the risk of losing them (Tarasewich, 2003). Mobile users are worried about the safety of their devices as these can easily be lost or stolen. Branding as a major factor affecting purchase of mobile phones Brand image is perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory (Keller, 2003). Brand is considered as a warranty not only of the quality and performance but also of the difference and emotional relationship with the product (Bahmanziari et al., 2003; Jiang, 2004). Moreover, the technological advancement lead to product features becoming more and more similar, as such consumers are often incapable or reluctant to distinguish between brands on rational attributes alone (Temporal and Lee, 2001). Likewise Riquelme (2001) examined how much self knowledge consumers have when making choice between different mobile phone brands based upon six key attributes (telephone features, connection fee, access cost, mobile-to-mobile phone rates, call rates and free calls). The research showed that consumers with prior experience about a product can predict their choices relatively well, although respondents tended to overestimate the importance of features, call rates and free calls and underestimate the importance of a monthly access fee, mobile-to-mobile phones rates and the connection fee. Brand image acts as information prompt (Bhat and Reddy, 1998). Moreover, brands can accelerate consumers information transmission (Kotler, 1999). Brand image helps to create positive attitudes and feelings. Brand effects for mobiles have been investigated by various authors. Luca Petruzzellis (2010) studied the hedonic and utilitarian value dimensions to better understand the brand effect. Previous research has shown that consumer brand image would affect consumers opinions on brand equity, leading to brand loyalty. Brand equity significantly affected purchase intention (Chen, 2010). Brand equity is referred to the marketing results that accrue to a product with its brand name as compared to those that would ensue if the same product did not have the brand name (Aaker, 1991; Ailawadi et al., 2003; Keller, 2003). The brand equity influences consumer-level constructs such as attitudes, awareness, image, and knowledge and company related outcomes like market share, prices, revenues and cash flow (Ailawadi et al., 2003). Accordingly brand equity drives to brand loyalty. Likewise, Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) added that affective responses to brands are of utmost importance as brand effect is a strong driver of brand loyalty. Additionally, in the context of the mobile communications industry, Baker et al. (2010) examine the importance of brand equity in generating greater consumer demand for mobile communications products/services. In a similar vein, Jurisic and Azevedo (2011) address the need to increase brand equity by building and maintaining customer-brand relationships, which can be done by valuing the issues that customers value the most in order to increase their emotional attachments to the brand. Personality influences on mobile phones Mobile phones have been recognised as a form of self-expressive identity (Mannetti, Pierro, Livi, 2002; Walsh White, 2007) with many mobile phone users personalizing their phones to express their identity by decorating their phones and having unique ring-tones (Goggin, 2006; Katz Sugiyama, 2005). Self-identity has also been found to predict level of mobile use, with use increasing as self-identification as a mobile phone user increases (Walsh White, 2007). These findings suggest it may be worthwhile to assess whether self-identity is related to the level of involvement that people have with their mobile phone to improve our understanding of the connection between material objects and behaviour. As the mobile phone supports interpersonal interaction, mobile phone use might be a function of personality (Sarah Butt James G. Phillips, 2008). Historically, a mobile phone has been pricy with the market dominated by business users (Kendall, 1997). It has been considered a status symbol for the rich and famous during the early 1990s all over the world. The mobile phone is, however, more than a communication tool or piece of furniture: it is an extension of their person, and expresses their identity and selfhood in a variety of ways, including both how it is used and how it is worn (Helen Haste, 2005). It has been argued that a young persons mobile phone is a central expression of their identity (Brown et al. 2002). Young people are increasingly using and adapting mobile phones not only to interact with their own worlds, but to create and structure their worlds (Spero Stone, 2004 Referral influences for mobile phone buyers behaviour Consumer behaviour research on consumers social and interpersonal environment has indicated that the mobile phone consumers final purchasing decision will also be influenced by reference groups (such as friends, family, work associates and etc.) on whether to buy a specific product and which brand or model to choose among competing alternatives (Moschis, 1976). Wooten and Reed (2004) suggested that consumers with high susceptibility to normative influence tend to use protective self-presentation to avoid undesirable disapproval. In the studies of Jiaqin Yang et al. (2007), reference groups have a significant influence on US mobile phone consumers in their purchasing behavior. The target population for the survey was Chinese people, they consume similar brands or products that their peers consuming. In comparison, individualism is a popular trait among US consumers, so most American consumers focus more on their personal needs and less concerning about the opinion of others. It can be further supported by a recent research (Mourali et al., 2005). The research of Tiana Tucker (2011) illustrate that friends were the most influential people for young adults when looking to purchase a new mobile phone. Sernovitz (2009) described word of mouth marketing as all about consumers sharing their experiences of products by ways other than direct marketing to consumers. When an idea is transferred to the consumers and they send it to fellow customers, that is, a form of real word of mouth communication. Word of mouth seems desirable to achieve positive perception and thus preference for a brand in the customers mind (Sweeney et al., 2008). One way that offers a distinct point of advantage is positive word of mouth (WOM). Early studies suggested that WOM is nine times as effective as traditional advertising in converting unfavorable or neutral predispositions into positive attitudes (e.g., Day, 1971). More recently, Hogan et al. (2004) showed that WOM can triple the effectiveness of advertising. Table 1: Types of Reference Groups Type of Reference Group Definition Example Formal Clearly defined structure and membership Soccer club Informal Has no formal rules Families, friends and peer groups Primary Has face-to-face interaction Students in a class Membership Members of a certain group and model behaviour on others in the group Members of a church or a social club Non-membership Do not have membership but may still model their behaviour on members of this group Non-member of church may still be influenced by members behaviour: helping those in need Aspirational Groups that people aspire to belong Movie stars and famous personalities (Ryk Neethling) Dissociative Groups that you avoid or reject Gangs Source: Cant et al. (2006); Strydom, et al. (2000) Mobile technology within the social and occupational spheres influence buying patterns Social needs are the needs for social interaction of an individual that represent the need for communicating with friends, family and affiliation such as group membership, clubs, churches and work affiliations (Tikkanen, 2009). Social need is one of the determinants of consumers dependency on mobile phones (smartphones) because the mobile phones have become much more versatile, allowing consumers increased usage for communication and maintaining relationships between and among individuals (Lippincott, 2010). This is supported by the Mafe and Blas (2006) study which found that consumers high dependency on smartphones is positively correlated with consumers future purchase behaviour. Currently, TV-individual interaction through text messages includes participation in programmes in order to vote, downloading a variety of content, expressing opinions and appearing on screen, taking part in draws or competitions and even TV screen chats (Beyer et al., 2007). Mobile phones have in the firs t place been enhancing friendships and family interaction and have resulted in the tightening of social cohesion among close friends and family members (Ling Horst, 2011). In Wei and Los (2006) research, it was found that consumers were highly engaged with smartphones when there was a positive correlation between social needs and dependency. Consumers with a high need to socialize and be connected were found to increase their usage rate on mobile phones because Bodker et al. (2009) claimed that interaction or social networking has been embedded and conveyed through the mobile phones itself. Consequently, consumers with a lower level of social needs are expected to have a lower usage rate of smartphone (Morgan, 2010). According to Hundley and Shyles (2010), consumers fulfils their social need by engaging with mobile phones and have concerns about being socially disconnected, uninformed and excluded from friends and their social activities. Research has consistently shown that many young people believe mobile phone use enhances social inclusion by allowing them to remain in contact with friends and peers at all times (see, e.g., Ling, 2004; Peters ben A llouch, 2005; Wei Lo, 2006). Additionally, some mobile phone users report feeling loved and valued when they receive contact on their mobile phone (Walsh, White, Young, 2009) and that positive messages are stored on mobile phones so they can be re-read when the user is feeling low (Srivastava, 2005). Young people are heavy users of mobile phones; they are the majority of the population who users mobile phone the most (Dickinger, et al., 2004). As such the younger generation is keener to have high technology devices, for example latest technology mobile phones than the older population. Mobile phones are more as a fashion accessory to the young generation than a communication device (Robins, 2003). Mobile devices are more likely to be used in the presence of other people and may even be seen as a fashion accessory (Lu et al., 2005, 2008). More public use of these portable systems may mean that users are more open to circumstances of social judgement, criticism and censure. Young people are using and adapting mobile phones more and more not only to interact with their own worlds, but to create and structure their worlds (Spero Stone, 2004). Mobile phone is now a common part of youngsters lifestyle. Research showed that mobile phones enable young people to be associated to their fa mily and to their peers and allows them even more freedom to connect and explore. The impact of culture on mobile phone purchase Culture is identified as the collective mental programming of individuals in an environment (Hofstede, 1980). This means that culture is not genetically inherited, and it cannot exist on its own but acquired from the society. An individuals behavior is a result of that individuals cultural value system for a particular context which are changed and developed over time (Luna and Gupta, 2001). According to various authors, culture is believed to have a great influence on consumer behaviour. Culture has a profound influence on how and why consumers purchase range products and services, (Blackwell et al., 2001). Cultural groups influence the consumption patterns. Moreover, ethnic background and geographical locations play a large part in culture and establishing culturally acceptable and unacceptable consumer behavior. Subcultures exist with culture groups. According to researchers obtaining a mobile phone is a milestone that indicates success, not only financially but also culturally in term of the integration within society, (Castells et al. 2007). On the other hand, Marquardt (1999) has claimed that mobile phones affect social relationships and this is a disintegration of communities. Mobile phone usage has resulted in greater electronic interactions between friends and family at the expense of face to face interaction which have been dramatically reduced. Consequently, it could be proposed that mobile phones are changing individual cultural norms and values (Rauch, 2005). Conversely, HUANG Xiaowei (2011) argued that the mobile phone, with its dramatic development and peerless functions, is not a myth but a consequence of social development. The study from Choi and Geistfeld (2004) showed that functionality design, feature images and brand images are highly positive correlated with cultural characteristics of the users. Research showed that in some of Shanzhai mobile companies develop special models of mobiles for sub-cultural group consumers, for example, for Buddhists they have gold plated mobile with Buddha picture as inter face and sutra (Jun Li, 2010). Subcultures comprise of nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographic regions. Further, Lee and Kacen (2008) discovered that subjective cultures tend to influence the buying intention of consumers. Gay et al. (1997) defined culture as the what-everybody-knows about the world without consciously knowing where or when they first learned it. The research work by Monthathip Srikes et al (2009) demonstrated that differences in national culture impact on the buyer behaviour of the Thai and British consumers when purchasing a mobile phone. For example, for Thai consumers, it is important to note that social acceptance acts as the main buying decision factor alongside their cultural attributes. In contrast, a strong correlation occurred between buying Intention self- direction and price -hedonism with British consumers (Monthathip Srikes, Panos Louvieris, Catherine Collins, 2009). Mobile phone choice as a learning device Mobile technology is dominating the world rapidly. In the educational system, Ling (2003) argues that communication systems between students have always existed. Students have always communicated to each other by passing notes, whispering, using hand signals, and the like (Ling 2003). Furthermore, the use of the mobile phone to send SMS eliminates the physical note, thus allowing for discretion-the message cannot be seen or read by others (Ling, 2003). Mobile learning devices such as mobile phones now have the emerging potential to achieve a large scale impact because of their portability, versatile features, and low cost (Roschelle, 2003). Many researchers have analysed the effectiveness of mobile phones. Taher Bahrani (2011) believes that mobile phones offer promising opportunities for learning in informal setting outside the classroom borders. Moreover, the increase in processing power, storage memory, and connectivity through the internet or the Bluetooth technology have resulted in an extensive growth in media richness that can provide access to highly personalized learning environment for everyone in informal setting (Pea Maldonado, 2006). As the matter of fact, the conventional mobile phone is more than just a device to make a call. In recent years, there have been many studies and projects using the relevant mobile technologies such as mobile phones or ipods for both formal and informal language learning (Chinnery, 2006; Kadyte, 2003; Kiernan Aizawa, 2004; Levy Kennedy, 2005; Norbrook Scott, 2003; Paredes et al., 2005; Thornton House, 2005; Ogata Yano, 2004).Mobile phones can provide the learner with frequent engagement opportunities to language problems all the time increasing the learning chances by allowing the learner to use many sources of authentic audio/visual and print materials once motivated (Beaudin et al. 2006). Nevertheless, there is no formal theory of mobile language learning developed to date (Joseph Uther, 2006), but still emerging mobile technologies increasingly suggest potential language learning solutions and environments that will be highly interactive, ubiquitous, and convenient. On the other hand, in countries such as India, cell phone ownership is growing fast. As a result, many educational projects are taking advantage of that development to create applications that run on mobile phones (Robert Godwin-Jones, 2008). However, research carried out by Ozhan (2004) reports that as educational level increases, the level of negative attitude toward mobile phones increases also. In the same vein, Pressley (2002), reading is about constructing meaning from a text so that the goal of reading goes beyond decoding and recognizing words. Also, reading is purposeful only when a learner can build meaning from a text and connect it to his or her everyday life. A lack of comprehension leads to negative attitudes and a loss of motivation (Graves et al., 2003). Additionally, Murphy (2006) also emphasizes the need to consider cultural and social factors when designing mobile learning activities. Similarly, Cobcroft et al. (2006) suggested to be well aware of the limitations a nd challenge, bearing in mind the potential impact on transforming current cultures and practices. Price as an influential factor in the purchase on Mobile Phones Besides new technological advances price was the most influential factor affecting the choice of a new mobile phone model. Price of the phone has b

Evaluating the Communication Strategy adopted by Yahoo

Evaluating the Communication Strategy adopted by Yahoo Founded in 1994 by Stanford Ph.D. students David Filo and Jerry Yang, Yahoo! began as a hobby and has evolved into a leading global brand that changed the way people communicate with each other, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information. Today, Yahoo! Inc. attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world class online media company. The majority of Yahoo! offerings are available in more than 30 languages. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with a presence in more than 25 countries, provinces, and territories. Yahoo!s vision is to be the centre of peoples online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences (Yahoo, 2010) Yahoo! operates the web portal http://www.yahoo.com which provides content including the latest news, entertainment, and sports information. The portal also gives users access to other Yahoo! services like Yahoo! Mail which is the most popular product, Yahoo! Maps which provides the user with maps of cities and town , Yahoo! Finance enables user to have achieve to financial trade and stock market, Yahoo! Groups is a large collection of online discussion boards and Yahoo! Messenger which offer free communication . The majority of the product offerings are available globally in more than 20 languages. When any organisation is formed is main objective is to serve a certain purpose or need. Yahoo aims to be the center of peoples online lives. Customer is king and it is always important to provide a personal responsibility in order to maintain the customers loyalty and trust. Customer are always regards as the number one priority and keeping them satisfied is main goal always. Main body External And Internal Communication Corporate Communication is an essential aspect of an organisation and one that can determine the success of the organisation. It is the management function that offers a framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintain favourable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the organisation is dependent on ( Joep Cornelissen 2008) http://www.emeraldinsight.com/content_images/fig/1680040405005.png Markwick and Fill model helps with explaining how an organisation presents itself to each stakeholders and how it enables to distinguish itself from all other organisation In every organisation employers are the one of the key assets that helps the business establish itself in the market. Yahoo! believes that Work and play join forces to revolutionize the web When Yahoo! Started it was a directory of websites. They pioneered a new profession for its employees called Web Surfer which involved categorizing sites of every stripe in which they have to decide what to include, where to arrange the information and how to describe things in a clear point of view. In embarking on the task of bringing order to so much information, Yahoo! established foundational principles which are as relevant today as they were when the Web was new: Be simple, clear, direct. Be useful, inclusive, and provide context, not judgment. Employers are not confined to their offices for hours. Yahoo! believes that Work and play join forces to revolutionize the web. Forbes magazine has named Yahoo one of the best companies to work for. Yahoo! believes humor is essential to success and it applauds irreverence and dont take ourselves too seriously. We celebrate achievement. The company fosters an environment of teamwork, offering video games and Foosball, and celebrating achievements and milestones with company parties. Environment Yahoo! has a strong commitment to corporate citizenship, and strives to conduct business in an environmentally responsible manner. Yahoo! is constantly trying to give back to the community in a lot of ways. It ranked number one environment corporate citizen in the Corporate Responsibility Officers 10 Best Media list in 2007 We use ingenuity and technology to reduce our dependence on natural resources such as energy, materials, and water. And each Yahoo! employee pitches in to help reduce waste. This teamwork makes decreasing the overall environmental impact almost as much fun as yodeling. We endeavor to use our global reach to promote the story of sustainability. As a result, we are increasing value to our customers and shareholders, providing an example to other companies, and contributing to a more sustainable  future. Yahoo believes in sharing the success with the communities it lives and works in and strive to do our very best for their employees, shareholders, customers and the  environment. Yahoo is committed to provide the best online user experience to all individual disable or non-disabled alike. In 2008 Yahoo! developed the accessibility lab which designers and engineers studied how disabled children and individuals soon computers and assess the internet Yahoo!s commitment to accessibility is not only socially responsible but also a reflection of our mainstream business practices. Yahoo! fundamentally respects its customers. Identity, Reputation and Image Every organisation has an image that gels with its reputation.By establishing an identity in a market a company is able to distinguish itself from other corporations in the market. Apart from being a leading global internet brand Yahoo!s When is come to identity Yahoo regards itself a corporate citizen it has associated itself with two charities which are Trans Tanz And Hope HIV. Tranz Tanz charity in Tanzania that aims to provide people living with HIV and AIDS with drug treatment and testing facilities in regional health centers without charge. But since many people cannot afford public transport .Trans Tanz provides free bus service transporting patients to and from the health centers and their homes. In 2010 on world aids day it plans to use motorbikes to deliver the drugs and test kits from the Health Centers to the patients home. Hope HIV supports people in sub Saharan Africa who have been affected or orphaned by HIV/AIDS by providing education and emotional support to the victims. HopeHIV aims to make the victims future one of hope rather than despair. By being associated with such charities Yahoo! is able to project its image of itself as a caring and responsible corporate citizen contributing to the fight against one of the deadliest diseases around. This enables to boost Yahoo! brand recognition and royalty to its customers (Yahoo 2010) Culture http://www.designedforafrica.org/images/blog/hofstede.jpg Every organisation has a culture which generates the image of an organisation to the outside world. It determines how the corporation presents itself. Hofstede Framework for assessing culture helps us in identify Yahoos culture. One of factor for cultural assessment is Power Distance in Yahoo the level between the top level management and employees is low which means ideas and view are encouraged and accepted by the management to surfaces anywhere within the organisation. All employees are treated equally and are encouraged to communicate openly (Yahoo Code of Ethics) Individualism is hugely prevalent in all Yahoo ! companies since it an American establishment. With regard to the Masculine and femininity approach Yahoo! adopts both the styles.Yahoo is committed to being a leading global company and strives to do so with integrity. They execute the task flawless and dislike any shortcuts on the other hand Yahoo adopts a famine approach towards its relationship with its employees .Yahoo employers are regarded as valuable assets and the company takes good care of them by providing them with all of perks (dental medical insurance etc).When it comes to uncertain factors affecting the environment Yahoo is able to adapt to it. Yahoo always tries to anticipate the trends in the market and quickly embrace it. Role Of Human Resource Management Human Resouce Management is regarded as one of the most important functions in an organisation. It acts as a guideline for the organisation to add value to its business. One of the main roles of Human Resource management is to meet the needs of management, HRM is a strategic management tool that links people in an organisation towards the goals and objectives of the business. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/content_images/fig/0690170707001.png The Harvard analytical framework explains how the organisation operates in a business environment. Situational factors influence the organisations HR strategy choice. With reference to the work ethics of Yahoo! it conducts itself with integrity that upholds the values of the organisation. The style of management adopted is different from most business organisation they believe that humour is essential for success. The power distance between the top management and employers is low as Yahoo accepts view, ideas and opinions from anywhere within the organisation. By enabling employers to express themselves will lead to more dedication and commitment which in turn helps Yahoo to achieve their targets. Stakeholders interest is an essential aspect in an organisation. Yahoos management consist of high skilled and qualified people. To name a few one of them being Micheal J. Callahan who is the executive vice president of Yahoo! his role is to advise the companys management and board of directors on strategic and corporate matters. When it comes to Yahoos marketing strategy Elisa Steele is in charge Elisa handles the global marketing strategy as well as global communication and regional marketing. Yahoo! considers itself to be an equal opportunity employer and believes in treating it employers with courtesy and respect. With the wide number of employers working in Yahoo! coming from different backgrounds the organisation has zero tolerance towards unlawful workplace harassment and always strives to maintain an environment where all cultural backgrounds are embraced. The HRM policies of Yahoo! provide guidelines on how the organisation accepts its staff to conduct themselves and how communication between various departments should be carried out in a structured manner so that it is complaisant with the laws and regulations which are applicable to all their worldwide operations. David who works as the Chief Human Resouces Officer say I constantly listen to feedback from employees on how the HR processes can improve and do my best to address Yahoos concerns. Employers are encouraged to take up new challenges to learn more about the business and with that exposure they will be able to contribute immensely to the team and Yahoo! as a whole HR Outcomes The HR outcomes revolves around the commitment the employers have towards the organisation, The staff views and ideas are always considered by the management and discourage them to be spectator in the organisation this helps with developing an emotional bond between the employers and the organisation itself. Long Term Consequences It has been 15 years since Yahoo! established itself and during its time period it was been able to emerge as one of the top most successful companies in the world .With all the success it said gained Yahoo! has not forgotten the staff who have been with the organisation from the start and their efforts havent gone unnoticed . Conclusion In light of the above analysis undertaken by me for Yahoo! I feel that the communication strategy adopted by the firm is extremely efficient .Yahoo has adopted an excellent corporate strategy that enable the organisation to communicate corporate messages to all its stakeholders. Yahoo is one of the most successful media and communication enterprises in the internet industry. People from all over the world come to Yahoo to find information that matters to them the most and Yahoo never fails to deliver that to their customer. All the employers in yahoo are recognised and rewarded thereby sustaining their contribution towards the success of the company.With regard to corporate reputation Yahoo has consistently communicated and projected its corporate images towards the stakeholders as being authentic , unique and responsible with its association to a large number of charitable organisation and fight against AIDS.

Comparing the Work of Arundhati Roy and Seamus Heaney :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Comparing the Work of Arundhati Roy and Seamus Heaney Arundhati Roy writes a provocative story of growing up in India in his book entitled, The God of Small Things. The novel is placed in two different time periods about 23 years apart and moves smoothly from one time period to another. Roy’s predominate story is of Estha and Rahel who are â€Å"two-egg twins†¦born from separate but simultaneously fertilized eggs† (Roy 4), but along with their story are several other stories that spotlight members of immediate Ipe family members and persons living nearby. Woven into Roy’s novel are his views of life in India. Also examined here is Seamus Heaney’s book of selected poems, Opened Ground. The poet laureate of Ireland portrays in his writings his views Ireland, from his life as a child to the troubles Northern Ireland has faced because of England in the last century. These two countries are different in cultures and traditions and are located at opposite ends of the global yardstick. But common to both are pr oblems of unrest; in India those associated with English influence and domination; in Northern Ireland problems concerning English sympathizers and those opposed to English rule. These similarities and differences will be examined here. Roy begins by speaking in the present time focusing on Rahel return to India after a long absence. The author includes a careful description of the desolateness that currently envelopes the once active house, a house filled with activity but little happiness. After Ammu, the twin’s mother, is divorced, she returns to the house and fills it with her young and active twins. Rahel and Estha lived guarded lives as children, finding happiness for the most part only in their relationship with a neighbor of a lesser class, Velutha, a carpenter who became involved romantically with Ammu. Eventually, Estha was separated from his twin and sent to live with his father. In years past, her grandmother, Mammachi, spent unnamed hours on the front veranda, fleeing from her brutal husband, the Reverend Ipe and playing her violin. When Sophie Mol, Chacko’s daughter arrives from England for a visit, she is received on the veranda and served cake. And the property near the house also once held a factory of Mammachi’s named â€Å"Paradise Pickles and Preserves† and employed several people. The house held a bustle of activity. But when Rahel returns, all the activity that occurs outside involves rodents running in overgrown gardens and frogs swimming in scummy ponds.

Dangerous Encounter :: essays research papers

It was a dreadful afternoon, big droplets of rain fell directly on my face and clothes. I tasted the droplets that mixed with my tears, the tears I cried after the incident. The pain in my foot was excruciating. It caused me to make a big decision of whether I should visit you or not. I decided I would. I limped towards my bright, blue car where my bony, body collapsed onto the seat. I started the engine up but at the same time being cautious of my bleeding foot. I then drove to the destination where I was bound to meet you. I was bound to meet you after three years of counselling from my last appearance with you. I guess all I can remember is the scarring.... I remember.... When.... When my friend introduced me to you. My friends were so obsessed and entangled by the wonders you did for them. If I can recall they said you took them to new places and down new paths. They talked about how you healed their sorrows and pain. I could not resist the temptation. Never once did I talk to my parents about my encounters which were influenced by you. What a fool I was. You severely disheartened my life, turned me evil. All my ambitions that inspired me were lost. You and your sharp eyes stabbed me right in the arm. It also stabbed the people I loved right in the arm too. Although, it was so amazing how dependent on you I was during my youth. These memories still sting like a violent slap across the face. Now, facing you today is such a hard task to overcome.... I pulled into the driveway and staggered into the loud, large and mysterious place. I was surprised at how many people were there. It could have been about twenty or so. I would not know because I am not highly educated. My education actually collapsed after being involved with you. I put all my attention and focus towards you. I can’t count the amount of times I missed class or skipped school. Whilst thinking of this, a young girl came strolling over. She had dark, long hair, brown eyes and a slim figure nearly identical to my own appearance. She wore a white garment matched with pure, silk shoes. Her glamour attracted people from all directions. She looked about twenty five years old.

American Racial Discriminations against Middle Easterners and the effect it has on Middle Easterners since 911

â€Å"Middle Easterns† is not just a race residing in several countries around the world; it has evolved to depict different semantic meanings as to the term of people born in the Middle Eastern culture and way of life. (Wikipedia) The Middle East is composed of countries in the territory of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Palestine (now Israel), Jordan, Egypt, The Sudan, Libya, and several states belonging to the state of Arabia (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates).Geographically characterizing Middle Eastern communities, it has enlarged over the years to include three other countries in the North Africa region which is Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco with associated foreign policies. The Middle East is a territory that is surrounded by the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Wikipedia) Middle Eastern is a modern term coined by Americans for Arabs and for people who reside in the region of the Middle East.These are Semitic people speaking the Arabic language and are generally not specified to particular residency in the Middle East. The distinction of Arabs must be clearly defined as the common perception of Arabs is that they are Muslims. Not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. Arabs are considered by the short lived Arabian league to be those of Arabic descent and speaking the Arabic Language. They must have originated from an Arabic country and strictly follow the rules and tenets of Arabic culture. (â€Å"Poll: Majority of US Muslims suffered post September 11 bias†, 2002)The paper will discuss the implications of the perception on Middle Easterns and the changes after the September 11 attacks in the United States. In this exposition, discrimination against Middle eastern will be evaluated and the extent to which it happened after the 9/11 attacks. The study shows what life was for Middle Eastern s before the attacks, and what they had to experience after. The study will not only focus on discrimination against Middle Easterns but also to discrimination per se on people belonging to different races.Discrimination happens due to decisive factors which differentiates one person belonging to a race from another. It is a way to make clear distinctions and act towards another person based on prejudice. It can happen through in three different ways; either base on their appearance, language, and religion. MIDDLE EASTERN DISCRIMINATION The society will more likely discriminate an individual because of what he looks like. Visual discrimination is the easiest way to discriminate someone. This is because appearance is readily available for a person to judge on especially when people base their perception on skin pigmentation.Even on how a person dresses constitutes formation of prejudices against them. Difference in religion also contributes to discrimination, not just the religion Is lam, but also other religious orientations as well. Religious discrimination is a one rampant occurrence after the 9/11 attacks. This is acting of ones bigotry against persons’ beliefs, rituals and customs in the particular religion he holds. Finally, the distinction between the different languages people speaks also accounts for discrimination to happen. Differences in language or in accent can generate misunderstanding among people.Discrimination is carried through many ways an(â€Å"DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION FROM LITERATURE REVIEW†)d forms. Middle Easterns are not just the ones affected by this act of prejudice, but all those other nationalities perceived as different. The stereotypes that greatly motivate discrimination can be attributed to how the American media portrays people. The media has adverse perpetuations in people who are different from the Americans. The American media affects how the people perceive Middle Easterns, whether physically, by religion or with language.Discrimination takes on different forms and is carried out to unlimited extent, from hate crimes to employment discriminations. (â€Å"DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION FROM LITERATURE REVIEW†) DISCRIMINATION BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11 2001 Discrimination against people with Middle East cultures is known even before the 9/11 event. But this had escalated dramatically over the years, particularly after the 9/11 attacks. They have been the subject of hate crimes, assaults and harassments due to their difference in color, race and religion.The perception of Arabs as terrorist is believed to have started in 1973 with the Arab- Israeli war and oil-embargo. The Iran hostage crisis in 1979, the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985 and the beginning of the Persian Gulf crisis added to the hostility of the American society against the Middle East culture. Prior to 911, Middle eastern were already a subject of contempt and distrust. Their portrayal in mainstream media as either lying vi llains or evil warlords has vilified their image to the American public. Fictional books, particularly after 1973 exhort American and Israeli courage under the face of their Arab oppressors.Middle Easterns were tagged as terrorists due to the perception that they are oppressors in their war against Israel. The American interest over Israel had contributed to the terrorist perception it generated. Even cartoons, like Aladdin imprint in American children the image of those coming from the middle east as liars and villains. (EEC, 2002) Before, little was known about the world that middle Easterns came from. The only feedback that the general public had was when the media reports that another terrorist attack has been perpetrated by Arab terrorists, or another take on the deemed inequalities in their culture and religion.In particular, Anti Arab sentiments have already taken hold before 911, due to the perception that these middle easterns are the oppressors in their war against Israel. The American interests in Israel have led them to promote the state at the same time portraying Muslims and the Arab world as oppressors and terrorists. Each terrorist attack by the Muslim world was broadcasted with the effect of making them the new pariahs of the world. The media and the government were very instrumental in defacing the image of middle easterns. And these acts further intensified after the tragedy that occurred on September 11 2001.THE TRAGEDY ON SEPTEMBER 11 2001 The September 11, 2001 attacks often referred to as just 911 was composed of a series of terrorist suicide attacks against the United States of America. On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists whose were purportedly with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization hijacked four commercial passenger airplanes. The hijackers took control of the aircraft using small knives to scare and immobilize the passenger and crew. Two of the planes (United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11) were crashed in the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.In Arlington County, Virginia a third airplane (American Airlines Flight 77) was crashed into the United States Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. The fourth airplane crashed into a field adjacent to the town of Shanksville in Pennsylvania. The plane did not reach its reported desired objective of crashing into the U. S. Capitol due to the attempt of some passengers and crew members to regain control of the plane. In addition to the19 hijackers, 2,973 people died; another 24 are missing and presumed dead. (Wikipedia) DISCRIMINATION AFTR SEPTEMBER 11Nine days after the terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush declared to the nation that â€Å"no one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith. † His words were a little too late and apparently ineffective. After 911, there have been a large number of r eported incidents of discrimination against Middle Eastern people in the United States. Security checks in airports were tightened and Middle Eastern personas well as persons perceived to be Middle Eastern were unjustly subject to more stringent security measures.(CNN, 2001) In the three days that succeeded the 911 terrorist attacks, CNN reported that at least 300 reports of Middle Eastern being harassed and abused were received by the Council on American-Islamic relations. This number tripled the amount of received reports in the year before September 11. The most common complaints were people yelling verbal abuse like â€Å"Get out of our country! Go back to your own†, as well as the calling of insulting names like Arab dogs, whores, and other vile monikers. (CNN, 2001)The FBI also reported an increase in Muslim crimes in the US in the year 2001. The US government is also said to have detained about 1200 Middle Eastern and South Asians with the assumptions that they are ass ociated with the terrorists. A report on the study by the Council on American- Islamic Relations (CAIR) released in September 18 2005, showed an increase of more than 30% of discrimination, harassment and violations complaints against Muslim. The CAIR, the country’s largest Muslim organization had evaluated the implications of the 9/11 attacks to the Muslim community.Such incidents of discrimination, harassments and violation complaints were reported to be 1, 972 in 2005, more than what is reported in the previous year. The organization concluded the report as the highest statistic since it started doing reports on anti-Muslim activities in 1995. The organization began its yearly reporting of crime incidents towards Muslim in the year 1995 after the Oklahoma bombing. The bombing of the federal government building in Oklahoma, pointed by the mass media to have done by Arab radicals, triggered the anti-Muslim perception of the people and as a result tagged the Muslim community as villains of peace.The year 2005 reported 153 cases of anti-Muslim hate crimes and marked a 10% increase of hate crimes over the year 2004, and a dramatic 50% increase from the year 2003. Hate crimes are acts of discrimination against persons belonging to a certain race, culture or religion. (cite source) These crimes involve murder, attacks on religious institutions, shootings, vehicular assaults and verbal threats against the person. This become evident after the 9/11 attacks as the whole Muslim community were scrutinized for their involvement with the attacks.(â€Å"Class action lawsuit filed against the US government†, 2002) There were several hate crimes reported after the 9/11 attacks. Balbir Singh Sodhi in Mesa Arizona, associated with a different religion from Islam, was killed with no reason at all. It has been reported that the reason for his death was just mere association with terrorist, particularly the assumption that he looks the same as the terrorist therefo re he too is a terrorist. There has been similar incidents like what happened to Sodhi after the 9/11 attacks. In Dallas Texas, Waqar Hassan was shot to death in his own convenience store.The 46 year old Pakistani was apparently mistaken for an Arab following the 911 tragedy. His murderer, Mark Stroman, was also found guilty of killing another man, Vasudev Patel, with the same motive. (BH. , 2002) Murders without regard to affiliation, actual race and citizenship were committed after the Sept 11 attack. The list includes Adel Caras a Coptic Christian who originated from Egypt, American citizens Amil Almansoop and Jawed Wassel and Abdo Ali Ahmed among others. It would seem that the pain of the tragedy of 911 was enough reason for the murderers to perform their act.The aftermath showed that some people felt it was ok to target Middle Easterners and even people who look like them either as revenge or just as an object to vent their rage. Most murderers did not even attempt to camouflag e their act. Marks Stroman was rumored to have bragged that he just that did what every American wanted to do but didn’t have the nerve. After 911, the amount of reports of employment discrimination against Middle Easterns showed an increase. In a report of the US Equal Employment Commission in May 2002, they showed that 488 complaints were received regarding post 911 employment discrimination.Additionally, 301 of those reports were about Middle Easterns being forced out of employment. Numerous reports also abound of people ostracizing Middle Eastern co workers in the office. The united states government also aided in portraying the Middle Easterns as having direct links to terrorists. After the September 11 tragedy, the United States detained 1200 people. These were of Middle East and South Asian descent, further fueling the perception that the Arabs and the Muslims had something to do with the September 11 attacks. What’s more troubling is that in Sept. 17, 2001, int erim regulation issued by the U. S.Department of Justice allowing detention without charge for at least 48 hours in emergency situations. This regulation was used in great effect in detaining those of Middle Eastern origin. The rule was invoked in the immigration of Middle Easterns following the attack. About 763 individuals were detained and about half of them were deported. Jorge Martinez of the United States Department of Justice explains that they did not single out Arabs, they were simply following up on leads and clues. However, the proceedings regarding these immigration cases are shrouded in a veil of secrecy. Identities and charges were not officially released.According to the Justice Department, this is simply to protect the privacy of the proceedings as well as the persons involved. Most of the information that were obtained showed that those detained were held on minor visa violations and on other terrorist unrelated criminal charges. The immigration judges presiding in the trials were allowed to hold their court proceedings in secret. The release of some detainees accompanied the news that rough treatment and solitary confinement were being used in these persons. (HRW, 2003) The effect of the attacks on Middle eastern communities across the country is even more troubling.Fear and paranoia has changed the way of life that these people were accustomed to. The numerous reports of physical injury and verbal abuse against Middle Easterns have induced some to refrain from showing signs of their ethnicity. The wearing of scarves and other telltale signs of their culture has made them visible targets to public contempt and most were not willing to undergo the risk that that entails. Withdrawal from civic life also came as a result of the 911 attacks. Middle Easterns stayed at their homes, and went out only when necessary due to fear of being a recipient of abuse.Muslim communities avoid congregating in order not to be subject to suspicion by others. Middl e eastern children were ostracized in their schools, most were bullied, called names and physically assaulted. (HRW, 2003) Prior to the 911 attacks, Muslim Middle Eastern families gave generously to charities and fundraisers. This is in accordance to the practice of zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam. However, the U. S government had a crack down on Muslim charities and charity benefactors, saying that they were a front for fundraising by terrorist organizations.In Chicago, two local Muslim charities, the Global Relief Foundation and Benevolence International Foundation, were investigated and shut down due to alleged terrorist links. A wave of paranoia has been sweeping Middle Eastern communities since the 911 attacks. Reports of the government’s methods in obtaining intelligence information from these communities have resulted in a feeling of fear and dread among individuals. Many has reported having been followed, eavesdropped upon, and watched. Federal agents have bee n known to search Middle Eastern residence without due notification or even the necessary warrants.Questioning by these agents without regards to the rights of the individual has made Middle Easterns wary and afraid. Reports of new faces in Mosques and in internal gatherings have made many wary. Islam is a religion based on tolerance and love. Because of this, Middle Easterns which have grown in this culture silently suffer the indignities and abuse being shown to them. However, a new generation of middle easterns, those who have grown in American soil, are rising up and asserting their rights as individuals and as Americans. Communities have begun to band together and combat the discrimination against them.Groups like The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Alliance of Iranian Americans (AIA), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the National Council of Pakistani Americans (NCPA) have provided a voice to those victim to racial discrimination. The y have acted by providing data, reports, denouncing claims and by filing suits against the perpetrators. But to some this is not enough. Many young middle easterns who have experienced this discrimination have talked about fighting back. CONCLUSION Discrimination against a particular people, religion or culture is a widespread occurrence even in these times.Discrimination comes in many forms. The Middle Eastern people have suffered discrimination on American soil before and after the September 11 attacks. Prior to 911 they have endured verbal abuse, harassment, racial profiling and even hate crimes. And after the tragedy, they suffered and are still suffering much more of these. They have been treated with distrust, unearned hate and contempt. Their rights have been trampled on and their liberties taken away from them. They have known fear and paranoia. And most have resolved to be victims no longer and fight back. The September 11 attacks struck a painful blow to the American natio n.The wounds of the victims and survivors are now healing. But the wound that its effects have wrought on the Middle Easterns in America still bleeds. References BH. (2002). 9/11 Fuels Anti-Arab Crime. Boston Herald. Class action lawsuit filed against the US government. ( 2002). Retrieved October 23, 2006, from http://www. adc. org/index. php? id=1540 CNN. (2001). Hate crime reports up in wake of terrorist attacks. Retrieved October 24, 2006, from http://www. cnn. com/2001/US/09/16/gen. hate. crimes DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION FROM LITERATURE REVIEW. from http://www. d. umn. edu/~lbelote/srseminar/mideast/PAPER4.HTM EEC. (2002). EEOC Provides Answers About the Workplace Rights of Muslims, Arabs, South Asians, and Sikhs. Retrieved October 24, 2006 from http://www. eeoc. gov/press/5-15-02. html HRW. (2003). We Are Not the Enemy. Human Rights Watch: A Journa, l(14(6)), 1-39. Poll: Majority of US Muslims suffered post September 11 bias. (2002). Retrieved October 24, 2006 from http://www. cairnet. org/asp/article. asp? articleid=895$articletype=3 Wikipedia. September 11, 2001 attacks. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/September_11,_2001_Terrorist_Attack#_note-CBS