Non Verbal Communication in Shopping Malls Essay Example

Non Verbal Communication in Shopping Malls Paper Nonverbal communication is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) cues between people. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, body language or posture, physical distance, facial expression and eye contact, which are all types of nonverbal communication. Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, rate, pitch, volume, and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation, and stress.Likewise, written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the physical layout of a page. However, much of the study of nonverbal communication has focused on face-to-face interaction, where it can be classified into three principal areas: environmental conditions where communication takes place, physical characteristics of the communicators, and behaviours of communicators during interaction. Importance:- Nonverbal communication is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) cues between people.It is one of the most important methods of communication in shopping malls as it needs to be communicated to a large number of people. When the other person or group is absorbing the message they are focused on the entire environment around them, meaning the other person uses all five senses in the interaction: 83% sight, 11% hearing, 3% smell, 2% touch and 1% taste. Nonverbal communication strengthens a first impression in common situations like attracting a partner or in a business interview: impressions are on average formed within the first four seconds of contact.First encounters or interactions with another person strongly affect a persons perception. The advantages of non-verbal communication are: 1) You can communicate with someone who is hard of hearing of deaf. 2) You can communicate at place where you are supposed to maintain silence. 3) You can communicate something which you dont want others to hear or listen to. 4) You can communicate if you are far away from a person. The person can see but not hear you. 5) Non-verbal communication makes conversation short and brief. 6) You can save on time and use it as a tool to communicate with people who dont understand your language.The disadvantages of non-verbal communication are: 1) You cannot have long conversation. 2) Cannot discuss the particulars of your message 3) Difficult to understand and requires a lot of repetitions. 4) Cannot be used as a public tool for communication. 6) Less influential and cannot be used everywhere. 7) Not everybody prefers to communicate through non-verbal communication. 8) Cannot create an impression upon people/listeners. In short Non-Verbal Communication needs to be concise and clear to make sure the message is communicated and understood by the receiver. Types of Non-Verbal Communication:-There are 2 main types of Non-Verbal Communication which are:- 1. Sign Language- S ign language (also signed language or simply signing) is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses manual communication and body language to convey meaning. It can be further divided into †¢Visual Signs †¢Audio Signs 2. Body Language- Body language refers to forms of non-verbal communication, wherein a person reveals clues as to some unspoken intention or feeling through their physical behaviour. Majority of Non-Verbal communication found in shopping malls are sign language. Visual signs in shopping malls:-This is main type of non-verbal communication in shopping malls. Messages are conveyed to people by the means of visual signs and written communication as they need to be spread to a large audience of people. Some examples of them are:- 1. Him/Her- This is most common and widely used visual sign not only in shopping malls but in any building open to the public. Mainly used to differentiate between men’s and women’s toilet. 2. N o Smoking- It is denoted by a red circle with a cross and a cigarette in the middle. It is used to convey that, smoking is strictly prohibited in a particular area. 3.Danger- This is also a widely used sign to warn the people about potential dangers around them. Mainly denoted by a skull and two bones crossed below it, in malls it is mainly used to keep people out of the electricity/generator room. 4. Escalator Sign- Used to direct the public towards the escalators. 5. Elevator Sign- Used to direct the public towards the elevators. 6. Parking/No Parking- Used to show areas where cars can and cannot be parked. 7. No Pets Allowed 8. Wet Floor These are just a few examples of how visual signs are used to communicate in malls. Audio signs in shopping malls:-Audio is also an integral part of non-verbal communication in shopping malls. These messages are conveyed not through spoken words but by different noises. Some examples are:- 1. Fire Alarm- This is an universal audio sign used to wa rn people about fire being caught inside the building. 2. Anti-Theft detectors- Many shops in malls have anti-theft detectors that make noise if someone passes through it without paying for item. 3. Metal Detectors- It is mandatory to go through metal detectors before entering any mall to find out if anyone is carrying explosives or weapons inside the mall. An alarm goes off if they are detected.

Branding British Tomatoes Responding To New Foreign Competition Threats

Branding British Tomatoes Responding To New Foreign Competition Threats Background British growers are facing competition from foreign exports and this has prompted them to put up an intense fight. Whereas the trend towards the domestic sustainability has indeed assisted the British farmers to secure some sales, in the future market, this only may not be sufficient enough.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Branding British Tomatoes: Responding To New Foreign Competition Threats specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More John Giles said this while addressing the British tomato growers association at their 2010 conference. The UK has become a prime market for tomatoes as it has a greater appetite for the tomatoes and other product besides having affluent customers. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods markets have seen competition among producers and suppliers increase and it has facilitated branding as a strategy to stay competitive on the market. Many producers have conducted a number of marketing ca mpaigns to enable their products to develop strong brand identities for consumer products like bread (Warburtons bread, etc) and milk (Cravendale and Yeo Valley milk, etc). These advertising and promotional activities for these consumer products have combined both the rational and emotional appeals with a unique image description with certain characteristics to attain competitive advantage. The Tomatoes Challenge Having been faced with imminent threat from foreign competition, the larger UK tomato grower Ennivel has come up with a strategy to develop a brand identity and a communication strategy for marketing its products on the domestic market. Ennivel has secured the three leading supermarket retail chains in the UK namely, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and Tesco. Nonetheless, Tesco has already begun purchasing tomatoes from the Spanish, Dutch and Italian importers and this has caused worry to the Ennivel executives that the business may not be able to compete aggressively with these larger exporters based on prices and quality alone. It’s with this in mind that Ennivel is developing a brand of tomatoes that will communicate the healthy eating lifestyle (Organic + fresh tomatoes = Healthier life). The Branding Strategy The brand name i proposed for Ennivel tomatoes was Choochi. This is a very simple name and easy to keep in mind once a person comes across it. The name can readily be remembered and they can easily pronounce it. Furthermore it could be associated with chewing based on the sound. It is therefore almost a descriptive name describing tomatoes as edible.Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The double O between the consonants will be drawn into tomato shapes therefore people can connect the name with tomatoes as they read it. Moreover the name Choochi can be easily identified as a logo and it will be drawn in red w ith the two O’s depicting very ripe and succulent tomatoes As a group we however settled on branding our tomatoes as â€Å"Lyco† instead of Choochi. We derived the name Lyco from the word lycopene. Lycopene is the name of the carotene compound found in tomatoes. The group thought that this name was more suggestive of our product; therefore its quality will definitely be associated with superiority. This is why we thought the name was the most appropriate as it was connected to tomatoes in a unique way. The Advertising Message I suggested to the group that Tomatoes have a lot of benefits and the advertising will seek to adopt a message that will summarize all these benefits in simple and short message. Generally tomatoes add colour to food. Ripe tomatoes are usually red in and when used for cooking they cause food to have a reddish coloration that is appealing. Tomatoes are sometimes served as a main dish thus some people think it is a vegetable (Thybo 835). Due to thei r taste, tomatoes also add flavour to food especially foods like sandwiches, pizzas and other delicious delights. One can delightfully enjoy a simple salad that is made of onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. However, it is important to note that tomatoes are not just taste makers they have several other incredible benefits that entail possibility to prevent cancers and heart problems. For this reason, we as a group settled on advertising our brand as an important health food product. Our advertisement strategy will have two goals. The communication objective will be to build health awareness among our customers. We tell them that organic tomatoes boosted their health by protecting them from possible serious diseases like cardiovascular problems. Since health is a serious matter, we anticipate great response because many people are conscious of their health today. The group decided to adopt the advertising message in the form of â€Å"the Slice of Life Appeal†. This technique is f ounded on the conflict-solution concept where the consumers are presented as having or fear an impending problem. As a result they are actively seeking to stop it or prevent it.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Branding British Tomatoes: Responding To New Foreign Competition Threats specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This makes a lot of sense because health statistics have shown that there have been an increasing number of people suffering from cancers and cardiovascular diseases over the past three decades. These medical problems are a very serious concern to the society. However, out advertising strategy presents Lyco tomatoes as part of the solution to help prevent such problems from developing. Tomatoes have a number of health benefits and among them include the ability to prevent cancer. Antioxidants in tomatoes have the ability to prevent cancer (Metzger 67). Cooked tomatoes have been found to have the highe st levels of lycopene which is the carotene element responsible for the red coloration and also linked to the protection of DNA from damage (Caballero 105; Metzger 67). Tomatoes also contain other antioxidants like vitamins A and C which function to reduce risk of cancer. Tomatoes are therefore protective against prostrate cancers, breast cancers, oral cancers and stomach cancers among others (Metzger 67). Ennivel intends to market Lyco tomatoes as healthy food stuff and as such, there are several slogans or messages that were proposed to help market its tomatoes (Thybo 835). Based on the benefits that tomatoes have, the following slogans were suggested ‘colour for your food’ this was drawn from the fact that the reddish tomato coloration adds colour to food (Caballero 107); ‘fill your life/meal with love’, this was derived from the fact that ripe tomatoes are red and in most cases red in that colour of love. ‘We like choochi’, was suggested to draw consumers into being connected to Choochi tomatoes because of their quality; ‘delicious is tomatoes!’ slogan was also suggested to help market the tomatoes are spicy and tasty for food preparation. Lastly, there was the catchphrase ‘Tomatoes are cool and healthy’. This is the slogan that will now be employed in the advertising message. The slogan is derived from the fact that tomatoes are essential food ingredients that not only add flavour and colour to food, but also have other healthy benefits. Therefore in order to sum these benefits in a short and attention attracting phrase, this slogan was selected. This is because the firm aims at selling the idea that consumption of fresh organic tomatoes was a healthy habit for healthy life (Thybo 835). The word cool may not be formal but it has deeper meaning in the contemporary society where people of all ages associate it with being classy, superior, important and attractive. Therefore associating this te rm with healthy is very tactical, as it will deliver the message simply and vividly to children and adults without seeming boring or too fancy for adults (Lewis Hill 207).Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Research has found that children have a great influence on the way parents shop and that is why this advert is targeting children and parent. Essentially it is very easy to convince children concerning the product and draw their attention. Even though the main reason for advertising is to create health awareness and initiate the buying process, consumers like to be amused and enthused as well. Basically, people never respond to adverts that are too boring. By mentioning the word ‘healthy’, the advert will resonate with the audience at a slightly deep level because it will be informative hence inspiring interest. This type of advertising is set to elicit great response since in a normal market as consumers are always looking to solve a problem as the slice of life appeal suggests. With intensive campaigns advocating for healthy eating and organic food consumption (Powers 16), our slogan is bound to attract people who want to be â€Å"cool† or classy and eat health y at the same time. What Consumers have not been told about Tomatoes Most of the information about tomatoes has been said especially since there has been increased campaign towards healthy eating with the government and non-government organization claim on people to eat organic foods. Consumers may have not been told that tomatoes can help protect them form cardiovascular diseases. Lycopene also has the ability to mitigate the occurrence of cardiovascular problems like heart disease (Caballero 105). Researchers in Boston Brigham Women’s hospital found out that women who consumed tomato-based products had reduced risk of developing heart disease at 29% rate. Tomatoes also contain chemical element called chromium, and this chemical helps patients suffering from type 2 diabetes to maintain blood sugar at normal level. Besides being able to protect human beings from cancers, tomatoes are able to reduce the levels of the dangerous Low Density Lipoproteins which are usually referre d to as the bad cholesterol because of their impact on human health (Metzger 68). Research has shown that tomatoes have to reduce the oxidation of the LDLs and therefore this reduced the effect of oxidized LDL’s which include inflammation of the arteries and other tissues. This helps to reduced risk of developing arteriosclerosis. Tomatoes also contain greater amounts of potassium and scientific research has shown that potassium has the ability of lowering blood pressure and there reducing the risk of developing heart problems. The Target Market The advert will strategically target both parents and children in order to have greater sales and build customer loyalty. It is easier to convince children that a product is entertaining or offers some reward when they acquire it (Lewis Hill 207). Children present a very important group of in marketing since the UK lifestyle has completely transformed. In the past, children never had a say in whatever the family was planning but toda y, the society has changed and children greatly influence parents’ decision like going to holiday and what to eat among others (Lewis Hill 207). The advert is designed to catch the attention of the children. Basically this strategy can easily create brand loyalty because we anticipate that children will grow special attachment to our brand as it campaigns for healthy eating. Therefore they will be loyal to the brand as they will have greater understanding of our policy. As a group we thought that children are an important factor of decision making unit – DMU in a family. Children function as initiators of the decision to buy (Lewis Hill 209). Parents are willing to agree to the demands of their children because they want their children to feel loved and as such they can buy most of the things that the child might suggest or imply to like. Children also function as influencers by challenging their parents to buy or no to buy certain products based on certain reasons t hat they may have learnt concerning the product (Lewis Hill 210). When children learn about our brand from the television adverts, at school from peers and teachers or following actual experience of the product in direct promotional activities, they can influence parents to buy, especially when they are refereeing to healthy organic and tomatoes. In DMU, children are sometimes the deciders, the buyers and the users of the product (Lewis Hill 210). This is very important to note because, in today’s economy, all the customer categories are important especially children who have their own purchasing power and can influence that of their parents. Children in the modern world enjoy more autonomy and power to make decisions to the family compared to the past decades (Lewis Hill 212). This means that when children are more vocal with what they want, parent will be obliged to buy it. This has been termed as pester power where children nag and bother parents into purchasing The ide a of healthy eating is greatly advocated for in schools and even on the television by various groups that support the idea. Advertising is very much tied to psychology of the buyers. Healthy eating has constantly been advertised and it has become persistent where children can constantly plead with parents to consider organic foods (Powers 16). After that persistent plea, comes the importance of the nagging. Parent are struggling to ensure that they raise healthy children and with such intentions, comes the desire to give the best to their children and this also works like the guilt of not spending more time with children. Having targeted advertising, psychologists and researcher have identified what makes children react. This is based on their emotional, social and developmental needs as they grow up. This advertisement is clearly set to exploit art work of designing the logo, fantasy by use of informal words like ‘cool’ and hope by suggesting that organic and fresh tom atoes caused healthier lives. Besides attractive packaging and advertisement message, promotional activities will be conducted on the tomato shelf. Children will be given labels for every pack of tomatoes they collect. The pack will have a child challenge quiz for children to suggest ways of eating more tomatoes where the winner will be the most creative child and will be rewarded. Red dots will be put along the walking space to the tomato shelves to lead children to the brand. The salesperson will wear a red nose like a clown to amuse and excite children at the shelf hence drawing their attention to the brand. Since the children spend almost 8 hours at school, we will invite several schools for school trip to our farm, let the children learn how tomatoes are grown and let them help with the process of growing the tomatoes to build some loyalty to our product (number of students, timings and age will be determined differently depending on the school.) The key decision influencer for the children will be the brand design that is colourful; the labels give for every pack of tomatoes and catchy phrases used for our promotional activities. For the parents, it will be the pester influence from the children the fact that this will be promoting healthy eating. The CDM study will guide our understanding of their purchase decisions because the final decision is much deeper than knowing a brand name. It entails emotional pull and persuasive message. We have done thorough market research and identified the emotional triggers which include the pester power of the children and the need to have healthy life. Advertising Strategy: to Promote Healthy Eating Because of the increased cases of diet related medical conditions and the role that diet plays in influencing chronic diseases, it has become important that people have to watch what they eat. Fruits and vegetables that are cultivated organically have been found to have greater ability to fight cancers because of the antio xidants these fruits have compared to other fruits cultivated normally (Metzger 67). Research has found that pesticides, herbicides and certain synthetic fertilizers affect phenolics (the chemical responsible for plant defence mechanism). However organic fertilizers boost production of anticancer compounds (Metzger 67). Our production of tomatoes does not employ use of pesticides and herbicides. Previous researches have shown that synthetic chemicals raze the natural development of the natural plant elements like phenolics. Antioxidants are also destroyed in the same way (Powers 17). In order to be able to compete with other producers or growers, Ennvil aims at developing a brand â€Å"Lyco† which is basically organically produced tomatoes hence promoting healthy eating (Powers 17). The main idea behind this concept of advertising is that Organic and fresh food stuff will enhance healthier life. This is the reason why our tomatoes will be produced without fertilizers, herbici des and pesticides (Powers 17). The tomatoes will be delivered at the retail stores within 24 hours after their harvest and the main goal is to develop a friendly, unique and recognizable brand that will allow consumers to enjoy healthy lives and tasty meals. Our production will entail production of tomatoes by use of organic fertilizers and pesticides. As a result, the organic plants retain their natural chemicals as they are not interfered by synthetic chemicals from artificial fertilizers and pesticides. The tomatoes have the ability to make vitamins and other chemicals like lycopene naturally (Caballero 105). For this reason, the organic tomatoes are usually more nutritional in compared to conventional tomatoes. This means that their consumption will make the body to receive a greater amount of nutrition as in vitamins and other minerals required by the body for healthy growth and development. As part of the greatest marketing strategy, Ennvil will advertise tomatoes as very hea lthy for human consumption. To emphasize this, the message will say that Lyco tomatoes have many health benefits including defence from cardiovascular diseases. The major challenge will be to convince the supermarket that our brand will not beat theirs or affect it in business. However, based on the fact that the consumer decision making process take the issues of having alternative seriously, we will use this concept to ask supermarket to allow more alternative for customer because it is one of the things that will attract them to the store. Besides many clients do not like monopolistic businesses and as such, we will request to be allowed to engage in healthy competition where we seek to build each other’s competitiveness in terms of prices and quality of tomatoes. Consumer awareness has greatly increased and by having our organic tomatoes around, this will be an attraction enough to draw clients who would purchase other groceries as well particularly by impulse. This would be a significant opportunity for the supermarket to improve on the quality of its tomatoes as well as build a reputation of being friendly and fairs engaging in healthy competition. Media Strategy Contrary to the popular belief that the internet is a very fast paced media for advertising reaching many parts, studies show that Television is more effective (Tymore 71). We contemplated that we could use cinema advertising to market out tomatoes. However, there are several advantages and disadvantages that influenced our decisions. The advantage of using cinema for advertisement is that the message reaches the target audience directly because nearly all of the viewers pay attention to the big screen waiting for the movie to start or in between the movie they will still watch it (Tymore 71). Besides, the marketer is able to identify the target audience easily because in most cases the large number of people who go for cinemas are aged 18 to 35 years and few out of this age bracket. The major disadvantages are that it is very costly to advertise in cinema and sometimes adverts in a movie theatre seem like distraction and people do not like them. Despite the fact that they can easily catch the attention of the audience, out target group is children and parents and this target group does not visit cinemas as often. Instead of cinema, we resorted to using television as a medium for advertising because it is a medium that children and parent all have constant access. The cost of advertising on television is quite expensive if the ads have to be repeated for several times and on several channels (Singer Singer 376). Besides the ads are usually shorter and at times obscure but the Ennvil ad will be precise and revealing crucial information. Several experts will have to be employed in order to conduct the advert hence making the creation of the advert very intricate. We settled on TV advertising because of some major advantages that distinguish it from cinema advert. Tel evision has a great ability to communicate to a very large audience over a very big geographical area in a short period of time. Besides, TV advertising can be manipulated in terms of timing to target children and parents. The adverts can be targeted to specific audience for instance placing the adverts during children’s programs like the cartoon networks. The timing include in the mornings before leaving for school, in the afternoons and lunchtime period, and during weekends. The ads can also be aired on adult shows and health programs (Singer Singer 376). This way, the Ennvil tomatoes will be marketed to both the children and parents. The use of visuals, sound and action, the TV ads will enable us as marketers to influence the audience’s emotion as they listen and see the way the message is conveyed (Tymore 71). This also improves the credibility of the information being passed across hence catching the attention of the target group. Television adverts are bound to be very efficient in influencing the consumers’ perceptions and gradually swaying their decisions later as instant sale may not be possible (Singer Singer 376). To enhance TV adverts, the group also suggested that the firm with put up Billboards close to schools and major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s. These supermarkets already have their own lines of tomatoes with their names. Lyco tomatoes are only adding up to these brands to increase customer options. There will more adverts on the internet since its use cannot be overlooked. We will place adverts on Youtube, Facebook and other social sites to increase possibility of access by parents. As our tomatoes gain popularity, we believe the Word of Mouth will naturally take effect as our satisfied clients recommend it to friends and family. The Above the Line (ATL) advertising used here is television and it is very effective however, we will have a strategy to combine it with Below the L ine (BTL) strategies which will include the unconventional means of advertising. Basically the changing market dynamics of the FMCG shows that BTL is very effective as it entails direct communication via email and direct mails. Besides being on television, Ennvil will employ email and direct mail communication to initiate closer communication with our clients (Tymore 71). By sending direct mails and email to major retailers communicating to them our products, Ennvil is likely to win their confidence and secure orders because ambiguity can be clarified. We will link the ATL and BTL through social sites and sharing networks like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Myspace among others. This is just to make sure we reach a larger audience. The main challenge will be to adapt consumer advertising and transforming into adverting strategy. This consumer advertising strategy has had very crucial impact on businesses and Ennvil is expected to exploit all the advertising strategies to ensure that it competes with tomatoes exporters from outside the UK. Trade advertising will be designed to ensure greatest distribution of the products. The company will place articles in health magazines and or trade magazines like Progressive grocer. Caballero, Benjamin. Guide to Nutritional Supplements. London: Academic Press, 2009. Print. Lewis, Milton and Hill, Anderson. Food Advertising on British Childrens Television: A Content Analysis and Experimental Study with Nine-Year Olds. International Journal of Obesity, 22.3(1998): 206-214 Metzger, Boyd. American Medical Association Guide to Living with Diabetes: Preventing and Treating Type 2 Diabetes, American Medical Association. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2007. Print. Powers, Sandy. Organic for Health. New York, Sandra Powers, 2006. Print. Singer, Dorothy and Singer, Jerome L. Handbook of Children and the Media. London: Sage Publishers, 2008. Print. Thybo, Annet, et al. Effect of Organic Growing Systems on Sensory Quality and Chemical Composition of Tomatoes. LWT Food Science and Technology, 39. 8(2006): 835-843 Tymore, Stan. Advertising and Public Relations. New York: InfoBase Publishing, 2010. Print.

Women in Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Women in Medicine - Essay Example Those hazards vary from one environment to another, depending on the type of hazard expected in a particular place. Some of the factors include the potential occupants, type of anticipated hazard, availability of first aid kits, and proximity to a medical facility to cater for the injured women. Proper analysis and reviewing of such factors, which determine healthy and safe indoor and outdoor environments, will help determine the intervention mechanism to be used. For instance, medical officers must consider the potential occupants of given environments to facilitate the planning process. Failure to understand the occupants means that the healthcare experts might not receive any considerable change in scope due to the increasing number of injuries, which such people are likely to incur in the workplace (More 108). The other important factor is the type of hazard expected in particular environment. ... 1.2 How to Monitor and maintain Health and Safety in the Work Setting and how People are made Aware of Risks and Hazards and Encouraged to Work Safely. In monitoring and maintaining health and safety, a high standard of hygiene must be constantly checked and maintained. The care takers must ensure that the women are living under good hygienic conditions and practices, such as toileting, eating and playing in safe environments. The toilets, kitchen, dining place and playing ground must be always kept very clean and safe for the women to use. In addition, people in the work setting are made aware of risks and hazards, as well as are encouraged to work safely by training them on the ways to keep the environment clean and healthy. Equipping them with the first aid kits and knowledge to enable them swiftly respond to emergencies, accidents and incidents. In order to make people aware of risks and hazards and encouraged to work safely, they must be kept informed about the potential environ mental threats. In addition, the workers should have food hygiene certificate to certify their ability to maintain the high standards of cleanliness. This would ensure that they work safely (Markward and Yegidis 91). 1.3 CSSIW, Welfare Requirement, Early Years Foundation Stage The sources of current guidance for planning health and safe environments and services, which are in accordance with the guidelines set by the CSSIW include the following. The Women’s Act, The Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974, The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, and The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 (Pringle 201). The

Tea Party Movement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tea Party Movement - Research Paper Example It is quite easy to find analogues of the present phenomenon of Tea Party Movement in a recent American history - this is the relative success of Ross Perot in the Presidential Election in 1992 and the overall success of Ronald Reagan with his right-wing populist coalition which supported him in the election of 1980, and even Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign, who lost the elections, yet mobilized a significant public support in his favor (Harris, 2010, p. 33). Nevertheless, TPM gives the impression of something very new. Its name – Tea Party, was borrowed from American history, as it is associated with American olden times and patriotic spirit. Growing tension between the colonies and the metropolis after the Boston Tea Party eventually led to the War of Independence. There is a clear relationship between the Boston Tea Party and the present one: people in Boston were protesting against arbitrariness of British political and financial elite and now people protest against the arrogant financial elite and the federal government and presidential policies all over America. This conservative movement, disappointed with the policy of the U.S. President and excessive, in their view, liberalism of the Republican Party, has strengthened its political position. According to the recent survey, the percentage of Americans who support the military campaign in Afghanistan fell to its lowest level since 2001.   The result is very unfavorable for Barack Obama, who actively plays the card of fighting global terrorism.  The situation looks even gloomier on the domestic political front, where the Administration has to struggle fierce critics of the health reform.  In other words, President Barack Obama has created the Tea Party Movement with his own hands, the movement, which expresses the most conservative views primarily of white middle- aged and middle class Americans and took its present shape probably in 2010. Moreover, it involved thousands of people who were totally indifferent to politics before. The nature of American politics has been dramatically rev olutionized by the Tea Party’s ability to politicize people who were previously apolitical. Having never felt any deference for elite opinion makers in the first place, the newly politicized Tea Partiers find it easy to turn their backs on them.  (Harris, 2010, p. 5) The initial impulse for its creation, apparently, was the adoption of the Paulson Plan by Congress in autumn of 2008, aimed at saving the largest U.S. banks at the expense of the state budget, that is, ultimately, taxpayers.  The law was adopted against the clear disagreement of the majority of voters. Disturbance by the actions of the political establishment, which rushed to rescue the fat cats at the expense of ordinary Americans, was very strong.  Around the same time another problem appeared at the center of public attention practically first – the state debt.  It was a kind of reality breakthrough in the mass consciousness.   Our political system is dysfunctional, Congress is unrepresentativ e; government is out of control and the political parties are part of the system, both of them. (Hillyer, 2009, p. 47) February 19, 2009, about 7 o’clock in the morning,  standing in the midst of stock gamblers and officials of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the editor of business news of CNBC channel, Rick Santelli, attacked the Obama administration’s plan to refinance mortgages. It was he who sarcastically said about Chicago Tea Party in July, advising all the capitalists to

Management acounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management acounting - Essay Example 220.5 (A) W7. Material M7 usage variance = ((2,100 ?0.68) – 1,470) ?1.75 =?73.5 (A) W8. Direct labour rate variance = (7.2 ?525) – 3,675 =?105.0 (F) W9. Direct labour efficiency variance = ((2,100 ?14/60) – 525) ? 7.2 =?252.0 (A) W10. Variable overhead expenditure variance = (2.1 ?525) – 1,260 =?157.5 (A) W11. Variable overhead efficiency variance = ((2,100 ? 14/60) – 525) ? 2.1 =?73.5 (A) Budgeted fixed production overhead = 497 ? 9= ?4,473 W12 Fixed production overhead expenditure variance = 4,473 – 4,725 = ?252.0 (A) Standard hours for actual production = 2,100 ?14/60 = 490 hours W13 Fixed production overhead efficiency variance = (490 – 525) ? 9 = ?315 (A) Fixed production overhead capacity variance = (497 – 525) ?9 = ?252 (F) b) Discuss how the operating statement can assist managers in (1) Controlling variable cost Variable cost refers to operating expenses that vary in ratio to the business activity. Examples of variable cost include in our case include Direct material, direct labor and variable production overhead. Operating statement does assist managers in controlling variable cost in the following ways. Measuring actual cost marks the beginning of controlling cost. This is followed by variance calculation that is meant to show the difference actual and budgeted/standard costs. Managers will be given these reports on variances since they have got duty to use the report on the day to day running of the business (Riahi, 2001). The manager can use the report given to him to decide whether the company needs to take action of bringing actual costs back. The operating statements for our case will play a role in providing information to managers that helps in decision-making procedure (Coombs, et, al 2005). The statement helps in quantifying the effect of the difference in volume between actual sales and budgeted sales. This means that comparison between budgeted cost of the actual output and the actual cost of the actual output will be made hence it helps to differentiate clearly between actual and planned performance. This helps management by exclusion because these mangers can now turn their energy on other important areas so that they can achieve the best results in relation to achieving actual performance. Variable costs do get affected in control terms during short period of time hence an operating system for the previous month indicating variable cost variances will outline areas where the organization needs action (Coombs, et, al 2005). For instance, managers can improve labour efficiency using different ways e.g. by training or reducing staff actions that do not aid production process. For our case, direct labour efficiency variance of ?252.0, which is 7.2%, could be reduced. Direct labour variance is given by the difference between labour flexed budget and actual results. The managers can break this down into labour rate variance and labour efficiency variance. This will help the company know what they paid for hours they actually used in comparison to what they budgeted for (Coombs, et, al 2005). On the other hand labour efficiency variance will indicate how much labour the organization used compared to what it thought it could have used. This can be illustrated from the analysis of the company’s operating statement for instance we are given direct labour rate variance to be ?105 which is favorable according to Ash plc producers. On the other hand, direct labour efficiency variance in the same company is ?252 which indicates adversity in the running

Festingers Social Comparison Theory Psychology Essay

Festingers Social Comparison Theory Psychology Essay In this essay we are asked to look at Festingers social comparison theory and its findings, applications, methodologies and theoretical approaches since its birth. We are asked to illustrate our understandings with reference to literature. Social comparison theory assumes that people tend to evaluate their successes, failures and opinions in relation to others (Festinger, 1954). This may occur with reference to a physical reality; what is happening at a particular moment in time relative to ones perceptions of anothers abilities. Take for example if someone can run a 6 minute mile he or she cannot know this is good or bad without comparing this time with other runners. It may also take place with reference to an objective evaluation, for example a comparison between two assignments with similar grades. Festinger (1954) postulates that there is an innate drive within human beings to compare themselves with outside images and assess their abilities in line with their assessments of others who are similar on the same tasks. Following on from Festingers (1954) original theory according to Kruglanski Mayseless (1990) people prefer to compare themselves with people who are similar to themselves as it tends to result in a mo re accurate evaluation. For example the runner would take into account age and sex of other runners and make comparisons based on this knowledge. Social comparisons are defined as comparative judgements made about a stimulus from the environment. They are context dependent (Kruglanski Mayseless, 1990). There are three levels of analysis to Social Comparative Theory. Firstly a judgemental process must exist before comparisons can be made. Social comparisons are made up of categorisations and comparative judgements about the self. The third level is the most specific of the three and is composed of the content of the comparison whether it is in the domain of comparison for example in sporting competition; levels of achievement with reference to age and gender may be taken into consideration, as outlined by the runner example(Kruglanski et al., 1990). There are two main kinds of social comparison; upwards and downwards social comparisons. Upwards comparisons occur when an individual compares itself to someone who they believe to be better off than themselves. Downwards social comparisons occur when people compare themselves to people they believe to be worse off than themselves. Festinger (1954) proposes that people who engage in downwards social comparisons do so in order to maintain their self esteem and buffer their self evaluations. Upwards social comparisons supposedly exhibit more negative effects such as lowered levels of self-esteem. These processes will be discussed later. There have been many components to Festingers original theory that still remain intact but the scope of social comparison theory has been extended to a vast array of psychological domains and its implications have been applied to a variety of settings. How SCT findings, methodologies and theorising has evolved since Festingers 1954 publication Festingers original theory has undergone a number of changes over the years particularly in relation to its extension towards cognitive psychology. Since its founding the theory has been accepted to be more complex than originally thought. For example new dimensions of the theory have been suggested. Revisions include en empirical emphasis on motivations and drives, self enhancement, perceptions of self esteem, self esteem buffering, perceived target closeness, components of closure to name but a few (Kruglanski et al., 1987; Corning, 2002, Gerrard, Gibbibs, Lane Stock, 2005). According to Suls, Martin Wheeler (2002) social comparisons serve as a defence mechanism to protect ones self evaluation. Self enhancement depends on a number of variables such as whether the person compares upwardly or downwardly. If a person compares his or her own abilities in relation to people perceived to be lower than the individual this may act as a buffer to maintain the person sense of self worth and esteem. In the educational domain, people that are less academically driven prefer downwards social comparisons to prevent them from felling bad about bad results (Blankton et al., 1999). Research suggests that people have varying responses to social comparisons and these depend upon the perceived closeness of the target and the perceiver, and the importance of the particular domain of categorisation or expertise owned by the perceiver (Tesser, 1988; Suls et al., 2002). Several other models have been introduced to extend Festingers (1954) original theory. Social comparisons proxy model as proposed by Wheeler, Martin Suls (1997) refers to a situation in which people use social comparisons to assess their abilities in relation to an unfamiliar task. To illustrate, Wheeler et al., (1997) offers the example of a person considering pursuing a university degree. Social comparisons are made between the person and others who are currently in university. If the proxy (experienced other) is similar to how they perceive themselves on average they are more likely to pursue the goal. Amount of effort needed to pursue goal is an important indicator of the outcome and often other related attributes are perceived irrelevant (Suls et al., 2002). There seems to be sufficient evidence to support this theory. A model that has been derived from SCT is the Relative Deprivation Theory as proposed by Davis (1959). This model provides a conceptual framework for personal perceptions of discrimination and deprivation. Davis (1959) postulates that this process helps people cope with social deprivation, people tend to assess their levels of deprivation by comparing their situation with those around them. In India because of the inflexibility of the Caste system people often compared themselves downwardly in order to deal with their present state of poverty, for example those living in the slums would compare themselves to the sewage dwellers or pavement people. This acts as a buffer for people to cope better with their unchangeable circumstances. The applications of Festingers (1954) theory are vast. The implications have many important effects particularly for health psychology. Research suggests that when a threat is involved downward social comparisons help people cope better. For breast cancer patients it was found that patients who preferred downwards social comparisons dealt with their illness much better (Taylor, Wood Lichman, 1983). Likewise, according to Meta analysis, comparisons of the self to others in relation to appearance can lead to body dissatisfaction which correlates strongly with eating disorders (Myers Crowther, 2009). In conjunction with Meta Analysis Corning, Kruum Smithans (2006) study looking at social comparisons and eating disorder symptoms found that women who engage in everyday social comparisons were more likely to exhibit eating disorder symptoms, and also found that self esteem was also a predictor of disorders. Research reveals that social comparisons can also predict success in cessation o f smoking behaviours (Gerrard, Gibbons, Lane Stock, 2005). People that dissociate themselves from other smokers or the target behaviour are more likely to give up smoking in comparison to those who do not. When a decrease in downwards comparisons to smoking exists, smokers are more likely to quit. Social comparison theory has also been applied to an academic setting. Research suggests that upwards social comparisons can predict success in an academic environment. Gibbons, Benbow Gerrard (1994) found that gifted students preferred to compare themselves with those who did the best in the class on receiving a high grade. Conversely, if students received a poor mark they preferred downwards comparisons. This inconsistency is considered by the researchers to represent a form of buffering of the self concept and esteem. Research conducted by Blankton, Buunk, Gibbons Kuyper (1999) found that overall those who preferred upwards social comparisons did better in end of term grades. Interaction between affect and social comparison Comparisons may involve affective and cognitive components. The Wheeler Miyake (1992) study that incorporated the Rochester Social Comparison Record (RSCS) scale found several important findings conveying the importance of the cognitive and affective component. Firstly the comparison direction, either upwards or downwards; depended on the perceivers relationship with the target. It also found evidence for a cognitive component to the theory, that is to say, priming mood effects the directional movement of social comparisons. Schacter (1959) proposes that people make comparisons by evaluating emotions. In a number of experiments he found that fear evoked participants to want to be in a situation where someone else was experiencing the same feelings. This has been explained as a self evaluative component similar to what Festinger outlines in his original theory (Schacter, 1959). Conversely, Goethals Darley (1977) suggest that values are a component people make social comparisons base d upon. Priming of a negative mood led to more upward social comparisons. Wills (1981) found that inducing threat leads to more downwards social comparisons this is explained as downwards comparisons serve to increase positive affect, mood, boost esteem and may reduce anxiety. Another study found that comparisons can lead to an induction of a positive or negative feeling (Buunk, Collins, Taylor, VanYperen Dakof, 1990). Downwards social comparisons increased peoples subjective well-being and an opposite effect was found for the upwards comparison (Wheeler et al., 1992). Being primed with either a threatening ego or self-esteem booster condition has a significant effect on individual social comparisons. When an ego boost is induced people tend to prefer upwards social comparisons and can this can predict behaviour i.e. individuals exhibited increased ability on a task. The opposite effect was found for an induced threat, similarly to Buunk et als. (1990) findings. Thus it has been co ncluded that motivations to maintain a positive self evaluation reflects performance on tasks (Johnson Stapel, 2007). Lastly people who exhibited high self esteem tended to engage in more self-enhancement comparisons (Wheeler et al., 1992). There seems to be a ubiquitous consensus that SCT exists but the exact dimensions of the theory are contested. The methodologies used tended to be mostly qualitative and really not applicable to the natural world. According to Wheeler Myiake (1992) existing methodologies for studying social comparisons have focused primarily on retrospective accounts and specify that an experience sampling measure should be adapted to account for social comparisons as they occur in naturalistic settings. In their 1992 study they describe a qualitative method of measuring SCT called the Rochester Social Comparison Record (RSCR) (Wheeler et al., 1992). Discussion Conclusion It has been assumed that social comparison theory is a pervasive and ubiquitous phenomenon in everyday life. However, there still needs to be a lot of work conducted in this area particulary in relation to directional comparisons and their implications (Buunk et al., 1990). Albeit, despite revisions on social comparison theory the fundamental building blocks of Festingers (1954) original theoretical framework remains the same. The self evaluative component is important for this theory (Suls et al., 2002). As proposed by Festinger (1954) people make evaluations of their own behaviours in relation to others that they perceive are similar, this aspect has remained untainted. There seems to be evidence for this drive like ambition for humans to compare themselves in relation to others (Festinger, 1954). There seems to be a distinct cognitive component to social comparison theory. Suls et al. (2002) propose that comparisons are made uniformly across all domains and are not exponentially context driven. Priming can effect comparative judgements (Wills, 1992; Schacter, 1959). Current research in this domain outline that comparative knowledge depends on the motivations of the comparator and are dependent upon a number of situational, cultural and personality facets. Kruglanski et al., (1990) posit that motivational factors, perceived relevance, and availability heuristics all have an important role in whether the evaluative dimension relates to similar or different others. The work on social comparison theory has been extended to practical applications to health, counselling psychology and educational psychology. Over all social comparison theory has had a major impact in Psychology. Its implications and applications have been extended to many branches of psychology and undoubtedly the full extent of its pervasiveness have yet to be uncovered.

Straight from the CEO :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Straight from the CEO A Review of the Literature (Dauphinais and Price, 1998) The minds of CEO's are, in aggregate, a tremendous center of power in society. Upon these minds - how they tick, how they prioritize, how they view the vectors of change depends on the transmission of know-how, technology, capital, and jobs. In addition, as globalization increases, the socioeconomic impact of their thoughts becomes all the greater (p. 15). This book provides a broad cross sample of the global CEO population. Insightful interviews have been collected, which contain lessons from both the brawny companies that have been forced to reinvent themselves, as well as from some of the brainy upstarts that needed to be rather unconventional to gain access to the global playing field. CEO's of top world corporations tell how they handle globalization, customer service, motivation, leadership and other management issues. Gone is the day of the stern looking, tight lipped, antisocial dark suit who sits positioned in the large corner office secured by twelve foot walnut doors with gold handles. Today's workers demand involvement and interaction from upper management, no longer do the baby boomers see fit to have P and L figures discussed between upper management only. In order to be a successful CEO in today's society you must be able to demonstrate an understanding of the dynamics of value enhancement, to be aware of opportunities and to exploit them. The future and success of the company depends on how you view the company and how your employees view you. A CEO's understanding can have no limits, adapting to change is just a small step in dealing with the organizations future. When we discuss change we have to keep in mind that, the largest of corporations feel the pressures of change on a global level, competing with our global trading partners such as Japan, China, and Europe. In order to be global a corporation must be able to compete on a worldwide basis and to do this manager's must be able to think globally. Percy Barnevik of ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd comments: "Global managers are not born-they must be developed" (p. 40). Developing managers in global thinkers has to start with understanding of the differences between U.S. and the international culture. For example, several months ago a potential client came to town and of course we wanted to leave an impressionable opinion by having lunch at the new Japanese restaurant that everyone in town raved about.