Barilla’s manufacturing Essay

Manufacturing: Barilla has 25 plants, including large flour mills, pasta plants, and fresh bread, as well as plants producing specialty products. Raw materials, in the manufacturing process, were transformed to packaged pasta on fully-automated 120 meter long production lines. The plants were specialized by the type of pasta they would produce, with the primary distinction based on the composition of the pasta, e.g. dry or fresh pasta, pasta with or without eggs and spinach. Also, even within the same family of pasta products, individual products were assigned to plants based on the size and shape of the pasta. The manufacturing process at Barilla was very precise, and required tight heat and humidity specifications in the pasta dry process, so as to keep the changeover cost low and quality high. Distribution: Barilla divided its products into â€Å"dry† and â€Å"fresh† product categories and maintained a different distribution system for the two categories. The dry products category includes dry pasta and longer shelf-life bakery products, whereas, the fresh products category includes fresh pasta products (with 21-day shelf life) and fresh bread (with one-day shelf life). Barilla had two central distribution centers (CDC) to which the products shipped from the plants. The fresh products were then purchased from these CDC’s by independent agents who then channeled the products through 70 regional warehouses located throughout Italy. From the CDC’s approximately 65% of the dry products went to the supermarkets, 70% of these (65% of dry products) went to super market chains, whereas, the remaining 30% went to independent super markets. The remaining 35% of dry products were distributed from the CDC’s to Barilla’s internally owned regional warehouses, which then distributed them to small  independent shops – Signora Maria Shops. Dry products destined for supermarket chains were distributed from the CDC to the chain’s own distribution organization, known as Grande Distribuzione (GD). While those destined for independent supermarkets were distributed from the CDC to a distributor known as Distribuzione Organizzata (DO), which acted as a centralized buying organization for a large number of independent supermarkets. The CDCs held a month’s inventory for dry products, and 3 days for fresh products. The GD, DO and the internally owned regional warehouses (for Signora Maria shops) held a two-week supply for Barilla’s dry products. The following figure (Figure 1) shows an illustration of Barilla’s distribution system for dry products: Figure 1: Barillas Distribution Network for Dry Products What is the problem faced by Barilla? What do you think are the factors causing this problem? Barilla’s pasta supply chain suffers from classic bullwhip-effect problem. It has been experiencing large amounts of variability in demand resulting in operational inefficiency and increased manufacturing, inventory, and distribution costs. The underlying factors of the fluctuating demand include Barilla’s sales strategy relying heavily on the use of promotions in the form of price, transportation and volume discounts; sales representatives being rewarded based on the amount of product sold to distributors, which led to sales representatives trying to push product to the distributors during promotions, decreasing the ability to accurately forecast sales; the distributors having full control over their orders leading to gaming behaviors; and the lack of a computer forecasting system at the distributor level. Describe the solution proposed by Brando Vitali. Why do you think this would help alleviate the problem? Brando Vitali suggested the implementation of a Just-In-Time Distribution  (JITD) strategy, which is essentially the Vendor Management Inventory (VMI) strategy. Barilla will be in charge of the channel between the CDCs and the distributor and decide on the timing and size of shipments to its distributors. Thus, unlike traditional supply chains in which distributors place orders and manufacturers try to satisfy these orders as much as possible, in JITD Barillas own logistics organization would specify the appropriate delivery quantities – those that will more effectively meet the end customer’s needs yet would also more evenly distribute the workload on Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics system. If implemented, Barilla can make better delivery decisions and improve its demand forecasts, be more effective in meeting end-customers needs, and more evenly distribute the workload on its manufacturing and logistics systems. Also, the inventory levels at CDCs will a lso be reduced. What conflicts or barriers internal to Barilla does the JITD program create? What causes these conflicts? How should Giorgio Maggiali deal with these internal conflicts? The main resistance internal to Barilla was from the sales and marketing functions, which Barilla, until now, has relied upon for its success. The sales representatives feared reduction in both their responsibilities and bonuses due to a flatted sales level. The marketing people also feared a reduction in responsibilities as trade promotions would be difficult to run with a JITD strategy. There were also concerns about inability to adjust shipments quickly to stock outs, lack of infrastructure to handle JITD, vague cost benefits, and increased competitor shelf space at distributors. I think Maggiali should demonstrate that JITD benefits not just Barilla, but also the distributors. He should run experiments at one or more distributor sites and prove his case. Also, Maggiali should encourage the marketing and sales people to look at the overall benefit to the supply chain. By getting the top management involved, by effectively advocating the benefits for the entire supply chain, and by removing the obstacles of sales incentives and reduced responsibility, Maggiali can effectively deal with this problem and get JITD implemented. How do you think a typical Barilla customer would respond to JITD? Why? How would you convince the customer that the JITD program was worth trying? If you are not able to sway the customer, what alternatives would you suggest to combat some of the difficulties that Barilla’s operating system faces? I think a typical Barilla customer, if explained to properly, should be able to comprehend the benefits associated with JITD for the entire supply chain. I would convince the customer by mentioning the benefits of the JITD in removing the bullwhip effect. I would point out the fact that they would actually be reducing their costs significantly because Barilla would be responsible for monitoring and replenishing their inventories when levels are low. Moreover, the reduced inventory levels would also save them the cost for both inventories and space. If however, I am not able to convince the customers, I will try other modes, in my capability, to effectively respond to the fluctuating demand. For this purposes, I would either reduce the varieties of products being offered which will reduce the need to have so many different inventories and SKU for both customers and Barilla. I could also try implementing the Just-In-Time (lean production) approach for Barillas manufacturing processes – processes which are internal and Barilla has full control over.

Developmental Psychology and Expressive Arts Essay

An explanation of each of the areas of learning and development and how these are interdependent. There are 7 areas of development in the learning and development for children as described in development matters in the early years foundation stage 2012 DFE Cheshire. There are 3 prime areas of development and 4 specific areas of development. The prime areas area personal, social and emotional development, physical development and communication and language development. The specific areas are literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. Personal, social and emotional development: The areas of personal, social and emotional development is about how a child makes relationships, has self-confidence and self-awareness and manages behaviour. For example, a child of 26 months will demonstrate to their parents that they can be independent and they could show this by saying ‘no’ if they don’t want to do anything. Physical development: Physical development is about how children can move around and handle things by themselves and health and self-care. For example, a child who is 10 months will pull themselves up to help them stand and they will hold onto someone they know or a piece of furniture for support. Communication and language: Communication and language is about how a child can listen and pay attention, to understand others and be able to speak. For example, a child who is 5 months will make their own sounds in response when someone who is familiar is talking to them. Literacy: Literacy is about a child who is learning to read and learning to write. For example, a child who is 16 months will be interested in books and rhymes and could also have a favourite. Also the could draw/write with their finger in the sand. Mathematics: Mathematics is about children learning about numbers, shapes, space and measures. For example, a child who is 40 months could be able to separate a group of 3 or 4 objects indifferent ways, and begins to recognise that the total is still the same. Understanding the world: Understanding the world is about how children see people and communities, how they see the world and technology. For example, a child who is 30 months could ask a question or comment on the aspects of the world, such as where they live or where a different family member lives. They might ask why they live in different places then them. Expressive arts and design: Expressive arts and design is about exploring and using media and materials, and being imaginative. For example, a child who is 60 months will be able to understand different media and combine them to make a new effect. These 7 areas of learning and development are all interdependent. An activity that shows this is playing play dough and basing this activity on the book postman pat. Personal, social and emotional links into this activity because they are all talking to you and each other about what they are doing with the play dough. This is interdependent with communication and language because they are speaking to each other while they are doing the activity. Communication and language is interdependent with physical because when they are making play dough people to do with postman pat they are using their fine motor skills to hold the cutter and rollers properly. Physical is interdependent with maths because when the children make the people, they can count how many people of objects they have made. Also they can be making different shapes which will help them learn. Maths is interdependent with literacy because they could make their names out of the play dough with the cutters and there could be some alphabetical letters they can also use. Literacy is interdependent with understanding the world because they will be using their senses and their knowledge to understand the book and be able to complete the play dough. Understanding the world is interdependent with expressive arts and design because using play dough is a type of media so they will gain skills. This is also helping the children learn more effectively and to be more creative. Early learning goals: Each aspect of the areas of learning and development have early learning goals. Most children will achieve most of these by 60 months. The outcomes have been reduced in the EYFS 2012. ‘Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others needs and feelings; and form positive relationships with adults and other children. This is from the personal, social and emotional: making relationships ELG 40-60+ months. For example, if a child was playing with lots of toys and another child was sitting alone with nothing to do, the child would share their toys with them so they become happy. This will help for them to build a relationship and become better friends.

Natural Sci 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Natural Sci 3 - Essay Example Finally, it will present a conclusion based on the data gathered and present recommendations for people who will try this test in the future. More often than not, people avoid cockroaches or try to kill or repel them, mainly because they carry disease and germs, and the fact that many people either find cockroaches disgusting, or are afraid of them. This is why these people spend money on insecticides, repellants, exterminators and other chemicals and gadgets for the purpose of getting rid of cockroaches. As commonly known, cockroaches are attracted to food, and are often found in dark confined places of the home. These cockroaches that we see are actually only a small percentage of the actual number of cockroaches in your home. According to an article by extension.umn.edu, â€Å"Cockroaches are nocturnal, hiding during the day and becoming active at night. The number of cockroaches people see is usually a small percentage of a much larger population.† And this means that ther e are definitely more cockroaches in your home than you expect. ... It will break down the pre-experiment and post-experiment information as such: Project design plan Problem Statement Relevance of the study Review of related literature Experimental design Dependent, independent and controlled variables Threat reduction to internal validity Hypothesis Post-experiment data analysis Data collection method Graphs and charts of the data collected Interpretation of results from the data collection Conclusions and recommendations Project design plan Problem Statement The problem that this paper aims to test is if the pandan plant is effective in repelling cockroaches from food. This paper aims to test the effectiveness of an all-natural, inexpensive, low-maintenance and non-toxic alternative for repelling insects. This paper will use a scientific style of experimentation in order to determine if the pandan plant is effective at repelling cockroaches. Relevance of the study This study aims to test the effectiveness of the pandan plant in order to determine if it can be used as a good alternative for electronic or chemical insecticides or repellents. This study is significant to several people and groups such as: Homes and families If proven, this natural alternative can help homes and families reduce the number of cockroaches in their home without having to spend so much money and avoid the danger of chemical repellants. This also gives families the ability to secure their food and rooms from cockroaches and the germs they bring using a low-maintenance method. Schools This gives schools the opportunity to keep their students secure and safe from the disease brought by roaches and keep their facilities from being infested by the roaches using a natural and low-maintenance

The Lure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Lure - Essay Example Nowadays, casual coital relationships and pre-marital sex are widely accepted. In fact, it is a subject discussed not only among married couples but among friends, male and female alike. It is an adventure, if not a necessity that must happen for a person to find the perfect match. With this perception growing to be widely accepted, being physically attractive is not the only matter that is given attention. Since coital relationships require intimacy, fragrance should be equally important and this is the message of Gucci Guilty in its advertisement. The advertisement of the perfume, Gucci Guilty displays a nude couple and is in a physical intimate relationship. It is directed to women in particular who desire to draw and satisfy the perfect partner. With the model being beautiful and sexy, it metaphorically implies that such attributes are not enough to have a man totally captivated in her arms. The sense of smell must also be satisfied. A woman should be fragrant as well to be sexua lly appealing to the opposite sex and Gucci Guilty is the perfect perfume for such moments. The man is shown to be closing his eyes, his nose under the chin of the woman, his lips open, almost ready to kiss but not touching the neck of his lover. The neck is one of the parts of the body where perfume is applied. This suggests that the man is hooked in that area, stopping to just enjoy the smell of the woman’s perfume. The neck is also a part that is usually kissed because of where it is situated. Intimate kissing usually starts from the lips, down through the neck and, to the more intimate parts of the body. Moreover, it is one of the parts of the body that arouses sexual appetite when touched tenderly and lovingly. The man actually appears to have been mesmerized by the neck of the woman so that he was magnetized by something. That something is the scent of the woman’s perfume. This statement is not just an assumption but is proven true by what is shown in the picture . As mentioned earlier, the man is not kissing the neck of the woman, although his lips are parted, almost ready to kiss her. However, instead of him being portrayed as a very passionate lover who is ready for action, he is shown to have been magnetized, unable to resist the neck of the woman. With his face just very close to the woman without touching her neck, the photo implies that the man had to stop and sate himself with the smell of the woman. This specific reason for the man just stopping to smell the woman may not really be clearly stated in the photo but with the bottle of Gucci Guilty beside the woman, it says it all. Looking at the woman, one might wonder in relation to the statements made above, that she is not as interested about her lover as the man is of her. The man’s looks do not present any question about his physical attractiveness rather appears extremely desirable. Still the woman is not as concentrated on him as he is about her. This is because the perfu me is worn by the woman that is why it is only the man who is captivated by her. The woman’s lips are slightly curved to a smile which shows satisfaction. She appears to be happy about how her lover is so attracted to her but her smile has something else beside the satisfaction that she feels. Looking at the woman’s eyes, one can tell that there is a knowing in her. That she knows why her lover is so a

The role of traditional political parties in the democratization Essay

The role of traditional political parties in the democratization process - Essay Example As a result, most countries have changed from military to political-civil regimes that foster democratic governance. Political parties play fundamental roles in governance and are critical for the lifelong political development in emerging democracies.This paper highlights the role of political parties in the democratisation process in Latin America, and explores the factors leading to the decline of traditional political parties and their possible comeback in the near future. Democracy illustrates the rights held by citizens that allow them to choose their own government and officials through secret ballot after a defined period. Democracy is achieved following thetransformation of authoritarian rule into a state that is guided by the civil majority. Democratic regimes are characterised by the civic responsibility through which citizens elect their leaders whose prime functions is to protect basic human rights. In this regard, political stability is achieved and through it,economic and social benefits are reaped. Similarly, democracies involve conducting free and fair elections that does not discriminate across citizens of voting age. As such, representative democracy is the most common form in majority government settings where citizens elect officials to make political decisions, formulate laws, and implement policies to benefit the society.In any democracy, political parties are essential owing to the various functions they perform in their capacities that include the representation of social interests. Political parties are regarded as the primal link between the state and society where quality representation is sought for equitable distribution of justice and resources (Cott 1). As such, the responsiveness of party systems to the interests and demands of organised groups largely influences the quality and stability of democratic institutions. Early political parties in Latin America were formed to provide a platform on which different opinions could be ra ised for the benefit of the society.Traditional political parties were formed based on the ideology shared, which saw the emergence of conservative, liberal, federal, clerical and anticlerical parties (Lambert 183). Significant of the Traditional Parties These traditional parties serve as links between political elites and citizens where they mobilise members into participation during the electoral process. In this way, revolutionary movements under social organisation embark on calls for reforms and regime change. Intense social and political upheaval characterised the 1970s in Latin America as social movements and popular mobilisations intensified calls for reforms.Governments under authoritarian or military regimes in Latin America suppressed any form of civil society activity as a way of maintainingcontrol of the state. The governments denied political expression and weakened the existing groups that sought reprieve over the prevailing social conditions.Hostility accorded social movements in their bid to push for political reforms acted as a catalyst that garnered more support for the movements. Movement leaders mobilised their supporters to protests that were aimed at destabilising the authoritarian regime. The resulting instability formed the basis of political reforms with the hope of creating an all-inclusive government that would cater for the

Critically discus Visit Scotland Organisation and its contribution to Essay

Critically discus Visit Scotland Organisation and its contribution to the development of Scottish tourism in the past ten years - Essay Example These organisations play a fundamental role in development of tourism products within different markets. This article presents an analysis of the national tourism agency for Scotland; VisitScotland. The article identifies the numerous approaches the organisation has pursued in development of tourism within the country, and the result of these strategies on the tourism industry in Scotland. The report provides several recommendations that could enhance the impact of the organisation on the tourism activities occurring within the country. Table of Contents Executive summary 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Methodology 3 Background of Visit Scotland 3 Findings 4 Partnerships 4 Marketing 6 Provision of information 7 Quality and sustainability 7 Discussions 8 Recommendations 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction VisitScotland is the Scottish national tourism agency that undertakes the role of marketing the country as a tourist destination in the world. The organisation is a gover nment funded public body that plays a significant role in coordinating various stakeholders within the tourism industry, in Scotland. The organisation has continuously been actively involved in the development projects of many tourism-based investments within the country. ... These activities have provided significant impacts in the development of tourism activities within the country; consequently contributing to economic improvement through sustainable tourism activities (Yeoman, para 1). Methodology The research gathered in this report was taken from various literatures available online. Journal articles and books have also been utilised in gaining an objective perspective of the organisation. Background of Visit Scotland Visit Scotland is an executive public body in Scotland, which coordinates tourism activities in Scotland and acts as the national tourism agency. The organisation operates from head offices located in Edinburgh, Scotland as well as other locations across the country (VisitScotland, para 1). The organisation was established in 1969 as the Scottish Tourism Board, and has continued to undertake tourism related activities since inception. The organisation is charged with the responsibility of attracting visitors to the country; an ope ration it undertakes through advertising, promotional campaigns and many other approaches. The organisation works closely with VisitBritain, a similar organisation with similar tasks across the entire Britain. The organisation coordinates tourism-marketing activities within the country, and seeks to ensure sustainability of the tourism sector within the country (Yeoman, Galt, and Mcmahon-Beattie, 14). Findings The organisation has been fundamental in the sustainability of tourism activities within the country for many years. The presence of the organisations remains essential in the tourism activities undertaken through the country. The organisation has over

Black Fish Movie Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Black Fish Movie - Assignment Example There are no records of the attacks; thus trainers have little information on the risks involved in their job. The orcas are unhappy in this captivity and aggressive not to themselves but also to the trainers. This negligence witnessed in the way the orcas are treated, and this put the lives of the trainers in danger. The Blackfish film expounds on the mistreatment of orcas. This film focuses on the way the SeaWorld captured the orcas and kept in their captivity for human entertainment. Blackfish is one such documentary, which exposes the unkindness man imposes on animals and the plight of wildlife in marine parks as they undergo domestication and training to amuse humans and generate profits The filmmaker is making emphasis on telling the stories of the trainers and their narrative pointing to the abuse and in the way SeaWorld keep the killer whale in captive. The film advocates on the plight of orcas. It is not adequately supported because it is focusing on the incidents Tilikum and his captivity but fails to digress in talking the other incident involving others killer whales. There is no differentiation of the incidents. The film is not clear on how to treat SeaWorld. People interviewed in the film have the adverse opinion, and they do not provide the solution. The film has perfect visual work, and different interviews blended with the mixture of footage of animations of parks and animals. This cinematography is trying to bring clear vision and emotions on the subject of the plight of animals.

Toys R Us Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Toys R Us Case Analysis - Essay Example So the company formed partnership with McDonalds which helped the firm to understand the business process which other companies follows for establishing its position in Japanese market. 80% of the company was owned by TRU and rest of the shares was owned by McDonalds of Japan. This partnership became very beneficial for TRU to start its business in Japan. TRU entered in Japanese market at the time of recession. The people of that country at were focusing of low priced products. For this reason the company introduced a catchy tagline for attracting customers in its stores. TRU provided discounts on its various products and maintained a good quality. The tagline of TRU in Japan focused on the low price and quality of its products. This helped the company to become popular among the Japanese people. By this even TRU was successful in establishing its position in the market of Japan. It also helped the company to create its customer base in that country. For expanding its business into Japan TRU had to set up stores in different parts of the country. The company required 3000sq ft area for establishing its retail stores. But according to the law of Japan government establishment of large retail stores were prohibited. The company TRU was able to change this law of Japan. The company opened its store of 3000sq ft in Japan in 1991. Soon the company opened its many other toy stores in different parts of this country. Therefore for establishing its business TRU changed the one of the government laws of Japan. TRU improved some of its internal factors for launching its business in Japan. The company introduced export managers in its business system for analyzing and evaluating the market of Japan. It helped the company to get a qualitative and quantitative idea about Japanese market for establishing its business. The organization teamed up with McDonalds of Japan for evaluating its new business environment. It helped the company to

Green Houes Gases and its effect and How can we reduce its effect Essay

Green Houes Gases and its effect and How can we reduce its effect - Essay Example Energy efficiency needs to be addressed so as to deal with this menace. This paper also outlines the measures that can be taken to ensure that global warming is reduced and the environment remains sustainable. The term greenhouse gas refers to a gas resulting to the greenhouse effect through the absorption of infrared radiations. Many GHGs occur naturally in the atmospheric conditions. Other greenhouse gases are generated from human activities on the surface of the earth. Various human activities increase the concentration of the gases within the earth’s surface. The involved gases include the carbon dioxide originating from remnant fuel combustions. Methane is also a greenhouse gas resulting from the waste damps and nitrous oxide that also develops over industrial processes. HCFC-22 is another greenhouse gas obtained from refrigerants as the main source. As such, an increased atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases results to the earth trapping infrared radiations. The results effects distort the radiation equilibrium forcing a rise in temperature ranges to regain the natural balance. The effects of the greenhouse gases require decades to impact on higher surfaces due to large capacities of the oceans to amass heat. This paper elaborates the greenhouse gases and resultant effects. As such, the paper will also discuss possible ways to reduce the effects. Environment contamination is the developing scope of study in the present global challenges. The environmental pollution originates from the increasing demand for manufacturing products and large markets in industrial manufacture. Industries over rely on the environment for sustainable supply of natural resources and the daily amalgamation of the raw materials to supply the large industrial projects (Sharaf, 2012). Manufacturing absorption of the raw materials affects the

Obstacles to negotiation Essay Example for Free

Obstacles to negotiation Essay Sometimes people fail to negotiate because they do not recognize that they are in a bargaining position. They may fail to identify a good opportunity for negotiation, and may use other options that do not allow them to manage their problems as effectively. Or, they may recognize the need for bargaining but may bargain poorly because they do not fully understand the process and lack good negotiating skills. In such cases, getting parties to participate in negotiations is a very challenging process. In addition, both parties must be ready to negotiate if the process is to succeed. If efforts to negotiate are initiated too early, before both sides are ready, they are likely to fail. Then the conflict may not be open to negotiation again for a long time. Before they will negotiate, parties must be aware of their alternatives to a negotiated settlement. They must believe that a negotiated solution would be preferable to continuing the current situation, that a fair settlement can be reached, and that the balance of forces permits such an agreement. Weaker parties must feel assured that they will not be overpowered in a negotiation, and parties must trust that their needs and interests will be fairly considered in the negotiation process. In many cases, conflicts become ripe for negotiation when both sides realize that they cannot get what they want through a power struggle and that they have reached a hurting stalemate. This means that a potential agreement exists that would benefit both sides more than their alternatives do. However, parties must first explore their various interests, options, and alternatives. In addition, each side must believe that the other side is willing to compromise. If the parties regard each other with suspicion and mistrust, they may conclude that the other side is not committed to the negotiation process and may withdraw. The dilemma of trust concerns how much you should believe of what the other party tells you. If you believe everything this person says, then he or she could take advantage of you. But if you believe nothing this other person says, then reaching an agreement will be very difficult. The search for an optimal solution is greatly aided if parties trust each other and believe that they are being treated honestly and fairly. In many cases, the negotiators relationship becomes entangled with the substantive issues under discussion. Any misunderstanding that arises between them will reinforce their prejudices and arouse their emotions. If parties believe that the fulfillment of their basic needs is threatened, they may begin to blame each other and may break off communication. As the issue becomes more personalized, perceived differences are magnified and cooperation becomes unlikely. In addition, parties may maintain their commitment to a course of action even when that commitment constitutes irrational behavior on their part. Once they have adopted a confrontational approach, negotiators may seek confirming evidence for that choice and ignore contradictory evidence. To combat perceptual bias and hostility, negotiators should attempt to gain a better understanding of the other partys perspective and try to see the situation as the other side sees it. Finally, if the right people are not involved in negotiations, the process is not likely to succeed. First, all of the interested and affected parties must be represented. Second, negotiators must truly represent and have the trust of those they are representing. If a party is left out of the process, they may become angry and argue that their interests have not been taken into account. Negotiators must therefore be sure to consult with their constituents and to ensure that they adequately deal with constituents concerns. http://www. beyondintractability. org/essay/negotiation (2007). In the above discussion, we can derive that in negotiation, an upfront attitude with a clear understanding of good faith, will pave way for an individual to succeed in the process and be straightforward with what he or she wants. This is a very important tool in marketing, especially in this stage of globalization where one needs to deliver the core competencies of his products and sell it to the world – whether under compromise or in conflict with the rest. Negotiation is more so affected with the nature of the product – again, if it is indeed answering or meeting a demand at the right place and at the right time. Armed with sufficient knowledge in negotiation skills and practices, this is deemed useful in marketing and ins strategizing on how to penetrate the market without spoiling it, given one’s steady relationship with his competitors and existing industry members. Further in this paper, the theories or practices discussed will set as guiding principles in staging the industry of bio-cosmetics in the market with a clear and receptive approach of the major players. Such major player is the environment of the product it will be introduced or the environment it is currently in. Environments play a huge role in determining the business prospects of the company. In this regard, it is also necessary to understand the life history theory of a product which will attempt to demonstrate the many aspects of an environment – all influencing or changing the life of a product (see appended illustration below for the Life History Theory): Source: Joseph (2000:6-30).

Influences of Organisational Culture on Social Care

Influences of Organisational Culture on Social Care Explain How Different Aspects of Organisational Culture, Including Communication and Leadership, Influence Service Provision in Social Care Organisational culture, a theoretical model of business practice, may also used to understand the systems and behaviour of other organisations, in particular the application of organisational culture theory to the understanding of social work practice. This model of business attempts to understand the positive and negative development of an organisation, through conscious and unconscious processes, and how these elements assist or limit the people within the organisation. Applying the principles of organisational culture theory to an environment which is essentially client-focussed is not straightforward, but provides social care theorists with both a way to understand barriers and limitations within the system, and the way that the principles of the organisation is applied to service provision; it may also offer a key to implementing practice reforms and changing the structure of social service organisation from within. By interpreting the social care system through this business mo del, it is possible to avoid the limitations which hinder better practice within social work. As this essay is based upon the terminology of Organisational Culture Theory, it is necessary to begin with a brief introduction to the theory, highlighting its concerns, and considering how this term relates to current understanding of organisational models. After this explanation, the essay will then consider each of the most important terms within organisational culture theory, including leadership, communication, and motivation. These terms will then be used to describe the aspects of organisational culture as they affect the provision of services within social care. A conclusion will discuss the relevance of organisational culture theory to social work, finishing with the consideration of how this business model is being used to alter the way in which social services are practiced, and the values which are utilised by social care. Organisational culture, the â€Å"set of beliefs, values and meanings that are shared by members of an organization† (Austin and Claassen, 2008, 349), is most often understood to refer to the practices and behaviours of a business organization. The term â€Å"Organisational culture† is not easily defined, despite its frequent usage, and theorists have therefore tended to outline the term according to their own interests. Attempts to clarify the meaning of ‘organisational culture† began in 1954: â€Å"The culture of industrial groupsfrom class origins, occupational and technical sources, the atmosphere of the factory which forms their background and finally from the specific experiences of the small informal group† (J. Brown, quoted in Anderson-Wallace and Blantern, page 3). This term highlights the importance of social bonding in creation of an organisational culture, which serves to unite a company around a common world view. Andrew Brown is one of m any authors who have noted that the same organisation can have different organisational cultures in different countries, reflecting a difference in the social cultures of those companies: â€Å"These differences are most striking when they were detected in the subsidiary companies of the same multinational organisation, because they seemed to suggest that national cultural differences may help shape organisational design and behaviour at a local level† (Brown, 1995, page 2). Later, organisational culture would be more extensively defined by both Brown and Edgar Schein: these two works will be the basis of the remainder of this essay. It is important to note the essential elements of organisational culture theory: that this culture consists of social and localised beliefs about the operation of the business; these beliefs, or mythology, may bind a company together to the extent that it becomes isolated from outside ‘reality’: Brown uses the example of Philips Elec tronics: â€Å"Philips’ cultural inclination to define truth and reality according to its technological bias has led critics to charge that it is complacent, lethargic, inward-looking and risk adverse† (Brown, page 29). He also notes that critics considered the internal culture a definite factor in the economic failure of the business. Brown’s work is a general guide to organisational culture, and offers three main sources of culture within a business: â€Å"The societal or national culture within which an organisation is physically situated† – which might be one reason why multinationals operating in many countries often have a number of organisational cultures; â€Å"The vision, management style and personality of an organisation’s founder or other dominant leader† – leadership and the mythology of prominent leaders being an important influence on the culture of a business; and â€Å"the type of business an organisation conducts and the nature of its business environment† – one would not expect social care to develop the same organisational culture as a company such as Shell or Cadburys (two businesses mentioned by Brown). Schein’s work describes similar factors in a rather more abstract manner. He uses the terms ‘artifacts’, ‘expressed values’, and ‘basic assumptions’ to describe organisational culture. Schein sees artifacts as including all the tangible aspects of a culture – language, surroundings, technology and â€Å"The visible behavior of the group and the organizational processes into which such behavior is made routine† (Schein, 1992, page 17). These are the aspects most observable to outside researcher, although Schein notes that â€Å"It is especially dangerous to try to infer the deeper assumptions from artifacts alone because one’s interpretations will inevitably be projections of one’s own feelings and reactions† (Schein, page 18). Espoused values may help the researcher to better understand the culture; some of these values later become assumptions: â€Å"Only values that are susceptible to physical or soci al validation and that continue to work reliablywill become transferred into assumptions† (Schein, page 20). Consciously espoused values may provide a clue to the basic assumptions of a group; alternatively, they may not: â€Å"One must discriminate carefully between those that are congruent with underlying assumptions and those that are, in effect, either rationalizations or only aspirations† (Schein, page 21). Basic Assumptions are, in essence, what lies beneath; these assumptions are those held subconsciously by an organisation: â€Å"If a basic assumption is strongly held in a group, members will find behavior based on any other premise inconceivable[they] actually guide behaviortell group members how to perceive, think about, and feel about things† (Schein, page 22). With this understanding of basic organisational culture theory, it is now possible to consider in greater detail a number of subjects which are influenced by this culture: motivation, leadership, and communication. Motivation: Business theory is greatly concerned with the motivation of employees, and a strong organisational culture is considered essential to this. â€Å"Most organisations make strenuous attempts to motivate their employeesan appropriate and cohesive culture can offer employees a focus of identification and loyalty† (Brown, page 90). A positive organisational culture has a beneficial effect upon the motivation of the workforce, encouraging staff retention, high performance, and the intake of recent graduates; employees may also experience a better quality of life, or at least working life, avoiding stress-related illness. By contrast, a negative culture may result in loss of motivation, high staff turnaround, workers entering employment with fewer skills or qualifications, and low performance. Leadership: Leadership, particularly charismatic leaders and company founders, have a profound impact upon the organisational culture of a business. Founders, of course, by creating the business, â€Å"usually have a major impact on how the group initially defines and solves its external adaptation and internal integration problemsFounderstypically have strong assumptions about the nature of the world, the role that organizations play in that world, the nature of human nature and relationships [and] how truth is arrived at† (Schein, page 213). The creation of the company is usually the beginning of its organisational culture and basic assumptions; and while the espoused values may change, the unconscious basic assumptions may extend back to the foundation of the business. Founders and later leaders are often charismatic, and their decisions may not be challenged directly: â€Å"The emerging culture will then reflect not only the leader’s assumptions but the complex int ernal accommodations created by subordinates† (Schein, 230). The charismatic leader’s personal style will also lead to the development of a mythology. These stories are vitally important in the maintenance of an organisational culture. Communication: The effective communication of ideas is essential in organisations, and often progress can be hampered through poor communication; Schein describes the development of production engineering: â€Å"Without it, engineering often designs things that cannot be built or are too expensiveEngineering is likely to perceive production as lazy and unimaginative, while production perceives engineering to be unrealistic† (Schein, 258). Organisational culture can affect communication, for example in hospitals, where â€Å"Most were discovered to suffer from a dearth of worthwhile formal communication channels† (Brown, 281). An organisational culture which avoids communicating new ideas will undoubtedly make profound mistakes and fail to co-operate. It is possible to see these aspects in the influence of organisational culture upon social care, and particularly how the provision of care is directly affected by leadership, communication, and motivational ideas. As Anderson-Wallace and Blantern explain, the perception of the recipient of care has a basic assumption (unchallenged), as its base: â€Å"One cultural artefact is an emphasis on an assessment of the individual client within their wider social environment. This is underpinned by the espoused value of the importance of a dialogue between practitioner and client. The underlying assumption is of the independent nature of the client in active negotiation with the practitioner.† (Anderson-Wallace and Blantern, page 8.) The basic assumption also reveals that the emphasis is upon the client, rather than upon the care worker. In such circumstances, it would not be surprising to see care workers being de-motivated; active participation is limited to the client, lessening th e need for effective communication, and also the possibility of blaming the client for errors; against this latter lays the practice of holding social services responsible for all errors in service provision. Motivation is a major problem in social service, revealed through high turnover, poor quality of working life, and work-related illnesses such as stress: â€Å"stress is more common amongst social workers than either the general population or health care workers, due to the sensitivity and responsiveness to the difficult problems presented by clients which their work requires† (Ramon and Morris, 2004, page 7). As noted above, lack of motivation provision within organisational culture not only results in all the complications described here, but is also connected to low job performance. Here, the organisational culture influences service provision in a negative manner, by creating a culture of de-motivation, where the care worker feels impotent: â€Å"The statements indicate the relationships between experiencing stress, level of control, autonomy and flexibility within their job or role† (Ramon and Morris, page 8). There are also conflicting social cultures within the w ider environment which contribute to this absence of motivation: the western world generally emphasises self-help and chastises those who are dependent upon government assistance: â€Å"A further layer was poor morale, associated with an inquiry on child protection (a feature shared with a number of similar departments), and the experience of a culture which tended to view stress as reflecting individual weakness† (Ramon and Morris, 7, but also visible in the wider media). There is in fact very little evidence for leadership as part of organisational culture within the social services, although some research has suggested that leadership culture within social care may be negative: â€Å"This vindication of the pessimistic view of the team leaders group highlights the defensiveness of some senior managers of social services departments who view constructive criticism as an affront† (Ramon and Morris, 19). The account of leadership culture within the social care department suggests an organisation that emphasises leadership above productivity and worker satisfaction – other parts of the essay note staff complaining about impolite and inconsiderate leadership styles. Despite an espoused value of worker importance, the basic assumption appears to be that leadership is most valued, and criticism by lower staff members is not acceptable. Poor communication culture lies at the heart of social care training. Ramon and Morris note â€Å"Improved communication between management and staff† as one of the goals of their research (Ramon and Morris, page 10), suggesting at the very least that the organisation culture of the social services is one of negligence towards communications, other sections of their essay suggest that communication is exceedingly poor â€Å"Poor communication and consultation within the organisational culture was identified as the major cause for stress,. As noted above, this can seriously affect performance, in this instance service provision† (Ramon and Morris, 19). In the following example, the necessary NVQ was preceded by a questionnaire upon the values of the workers involved; these reveal quite different values from those of the NVQ modules – an emphasis upon personal quality of life offered by the workers is altered to education on health care and understanding of residen t’s social issues. â€Å"Almost without exception, role development was identified as impor ­tant; most viewed this to be within the care sector at a higher grade or entering nurse training. Significantly, male staff perceived their role pro ­gression to be to that of care home manager or owner† (Winter and Meehan, 2004, page 6) While most of the workers described personal lives as more important or as important as work, and valued honesty and equal opportunities for staff, instead, emphasis was placed upon NVQs with modules such as â€Å"Fostering people’s equality, diversity and rights†, where the focus was upon the residents’ needs rather than staff equality. Training within the NVQ did not cater for male staff’s ambitions, or for personal quality of life. Here we can see Social Care with a series Espoused Values (care and motivation of staff; better staff retention; valuing employees) which contradict the actions of the area, with it s emphasis upon residential equality and the gaining of IT skills, suggesting that the Basic Assumptions do not match – the basic assumptions might be â€Å"care of the residents is more important than staff satisfaction† and â€Å"IT training will improve motivation and help retention†, or even â€Å"training will improve the care given†. It is worth noting that, while 92% of staff thought the NVQ training would improve motivation, only 50% thought it would improve staff retention – one of the stated aims of the training. Emphasis upon training therefore appears to bear little correlation to workers’ performance; it also does not appear to have improved the motivation or turnover of care staff. The purpose of this essay has been to consider how organisational culture influences the provision of services within social care. One thing that has become clear from this research is that the organisational culture of social services relies heavily upon charismatic leadership to develop the stated values of the department. However, the culture also places limitations upon staff criticisms of leaders, meaning that desirable change may be limited or even prevented: for instance, Michelle Johnson and Michael Austin have suggested that the organization culture of local social services contained barriers to the creation of evidence-based practice, including the fact that there was â€Å"Little history, culture or expectation that evidence is routinely and systematically used to underpin practice† (Austin and Johnson, 87). This problem is undoubtedly one of leadership culture preventing better evidence-based practice from being developed. A secondary problem is that of communicati ons – as Ramon and Morris noted, official communication was resented, being seen as an imposition from above (page 19), and there was limited value placed within the culture for cross-company consultation. These details may seem to relate only to staff members, but clearly they have a role in the outcome of service provision to clients or residents. The lack of motivation experienced by staff members, including stress and feelings of impotence, impact the service they offer to clients, particularly when the unconscious assumption is that these clients are both ‘independent’ of the care provider, and under the control of that same provider. Leadership issues prevent the adequate solving of problems – the basic assumptions of the group meaning that challenges to senior management are dismissed, or regarded as an affront to the leadership. This assumption has prevented the adoption of beneficial policies within the workplace, and has probably limited schemes which would also have aided service provision. Communication between departments within the social services has been justly criticised in the past, and it is clear that a problematic relationship with senior manage ment is also indicative of problems in communication, data being rejected by staff members if it appears to come from management. All of these actions reveal the unconscious assumptions of social workers, both towards colleagues and towards their clients. The application of organisational culture theory to social care offers an opportunity to better understand the role that basic assumptions and values take in the provision of services to clients. Attempts to create a more evidence-based practice have emphasised the importance of a corresponding change in the culture of social work, offering an alternative to the problematic assumptions which can be found in the current organisation’s culture and practice. Works Cited Anderson-Wallace, Murray, and Chris Blantern (2005) â€Å"Working with Culture† in Organisational Development in Healthcare Peck, Edward (ed) Radcliffe Publishing, 2005. Austin, Michael J, and Jennette Claassen (2008) â€Å"Impact of organizational culture: implications for introducing evidence-based practice† Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work Volume 5 no 1-2 (2008) pp. 321-359 Austin, Michael J, and Michelle Johnson (2006) â€Å"Evidence-based practice in the Social Services: Implications for Organizational Change† Administration in Social Work Volume 30, no 3 (2006) pp 75-104 Brown, Andrew (1998) Organisational Culture Essex, Pearson Education Ltd Schein, Edgar H (1992) Organisational Culture and Leadership San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers. Ramon, Shulamit and Lana Morris (2004) â€Å"Responding to perceived stress in a social services department: applying a participative strategy† retrieved 13/09/2008 from http://www.britsoc.co.uk/user_doc/Morris.pdf Winter, Jane, and Lyn Meehan (2004) â€Å"The value of integrated workforce planning across the local health and social care economy: a case study† Clinical Governance Bulletin Volume 5, no. 2 Jul 2004 pp 6-8

Analysis of Fagins Last Night Alive in Charles Dickens Oliver Twist E

Analysis of Fagin's Last Night Alive in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist Combining entertainment with a deep critique of the contemporary socioeconomic system and philosophy, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist explores the reality that in Victorian London, crime was neither heroic nor romantic. A setting of debauchery, thievery, prostitution, and murder, Fagin's underworld didactically illustrates the "unattractive and repulsive truth (36)," that one's environment--not birth--influences character. Attempting to introduce society to the evil it had created, Dickens penned "Fagin's Last Night Alive," manipulating both his literal and figurative audience, capitalizing on the current sentiments and issues. By typifying Fagin as the absolute evil, Dickens uses contemporary religious temperaments and society's apathy and ignorance, to reveal a reality about the underworld lifestyle that society was not willing to acknowledge--society is somewhat guilty for the underworld's corruption. Distant, detached, and ignorant of society's degenerate condition, the developing society feared reality's ugliness. Believing that decadence encouraged decadence and that one's birth influenced one's character, society sought welfare reform, establishing centralized institutions for public assistance. Once established, the Poor Law separated families, put the poor to work in occupations that no one wanted, creating an environment that was less appealing for public assistance, and more appealing for employment. Believing that it had made today better than yesterday, society went about its business, ignoring the reality of starvation, illness, and death. The conditions after the Poor Law forced people to avoid public assistance, leaving them the only... ...f society must rid itself of devils, it should also accept the guilt for the things it has created. Understanding the relationship between environment and morality--indifference and depravity--Dickens evaluated what the system does to a person, how it classifies, how it deforms. Fagin manages the underworld, connoting corruption as an entertaining, enjoyable, and artful game not only because of his intrinsic craftiness, but also because it is the only way he knows to survive. Exploiting his audience's attitudes, Dickens shaped a character with religious stereotypes to ensure that his readers could recognize the absolute evil it had bore through its ignorance and apathy--poverty is a product of a societal environment. Work Cited Dickens, Charles. A Norton Critical Edition: Charles Dickens Oliver Twist.? Ed. Fred Kaplan. New York: Norton & Company, 1993.

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot and The Theater of The Absurd Essay

With the appearance of Waiting for Godot at the Thà ©Ãƒ ¢tre de Babylone in Paris in 1953, the literary world was shaken by the arrival of a drama so different yet so thrilling that it gave rise to the "Theater of the Absurd". His contribution to this particular type of theater movement allows us to refer to him as the father of the genre. While other dramatists, such as Tom Stoppard, have also contributed to this genre, Beckett remains its single, most lofty figure. It is this type of theater that deals with the absurd aspects of life, to stress upon its native meaninglessness. It is the time and identity of characters that are usually vague or ambiguous in such plays from the theater of absurd. The plays are dreamy and impossible to implement in real life and the dialogues of such plays are irrational and make the play seem absurd because the whole structure of the play is in repetition. In this play, Samuel Beckett emphasizes upon human suffering. The play revolves primarily around Estragon and Vladimir who endlessly wait for something to help overcome their boredom and sins because they seek redemption as mentioned in the play. Godot can be assumed as one of the many wishes that Vladimir and Estragon wait for. Waiting for Godot is part of the ‘Theater of the Absurd’. This implies that it is meant to be irrational and pointless in nature since you do not have a proper moral and conclusion to the play, i.e., it is an open ended play. The readers and audiences can have many conclusions towards the end of the play. The concepts of drama, chronological plot, logical language, themes, and recognizable settings are features of drama that a play from the Theatre of Absurd does not have. We see how the characters of Vladimir and Estrago... ...s with their incoherent colloquy. And above than all, its theme is unexplained meaning that the play does not only have a single theme like adventure or action. â€Å"Waiting for Godot† is an absurd play for it is devoid of characterization and motivation. Though characters are present but are not recognizable for whatever they do and whatever they present is purposeless. Works Cited Beckett, Samuel. Waiting For Godot. 3rd ed. N.p.: CPI Group, 2006. Print. Vol. 1 of Samuel Beckett: The Complete Dramatic Works. 4 vols http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Absurdity-In-Waiting-For-Godot-868180.html http://www.gradesaver.com/waiting-for-godot/study-guide/about/ http://www.gradesaver.com/waiting-for-godot/q-and-a/why-is-waiting-for-godot-despite-its-absurdity-a-popular-play-109391 http://elitnotes.blogspot.in/2012/07/absurdity-in-waiting-for-godot-waiting.html Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot and The Theater of The Absurd Essay With the appearance of Waiting for Godot at the Thà ©Ãƒ ¢tre de Babylone in Paris in 1953, the literary world was shaken by the arrival of a drama so different yet so thrilling that it gave rise to the "Theater of the Absurd". His contribution to this particular type of theater movement allows us to refer to him as the father of the genre. While other dramatists, such as Tom Stoppard, have also contributed to this genre, Beckett remains its single, most lofty figure. It is this type of theater that deals with the absurd aspects of life, to stress upon its native meaninglessness. It is the time and identity of characters that are usually vague or ambiguous in such plays from the theater of absurd. The plays are dreamy and impossible to implement in real life and the dialogues of such plays are irrational and make the play seem absurd because the whole structure of the play is in repetition. In this play, Samuel Beckett emphasizes upon human suffering. The play revolves primarily around Estragon and Vladimir who endlessly wait for something to help overcome their boredom and sins because they seek redemption as mentioned in the play. Godot can be assumed as one of the many wishes that Vladimir and Estragon wait for. Waiting for Godot is part of the ‘Theater of the Absurd’. This implies that it is meant to be irrational and pointless in nature since you do not have a proper moral and conclusion to the play, i.e., it is an open ended play. The readers and audiences can have many conclusions towards the end of the play. The concepts of drama, chronological plot, logical language, themes, and recognizable settings are features of drama that a play from the Theatre of Absurd does not have. We see how the characters of Vladimir and Estrago... ...s with their incoherent colloquy. And above than all, its theme is unexplained meaning that the play does not only have a single theme like adventure or action. â€Å"Waiting for Godot† is an absurd play for it is devoid of characterization and motivation. Though characters are present but are not recognizable for whatever they do and whatever they present is purposeless. Works Cited Beckett, Samuel. Waiting For Godot. 3rd ed. N.p.: CPI Group, 2006. Print. Vol. 1 of Samuel Beckett: The Complete Dramatic Works. 4 vols http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Absurdity-In-Waiting-For-Godot-868180.html http://www.gradesaver.com/waiting-for-godot/study-guide/about/ http://www.gradesaver.com/waiting-for-godot/q-and-a/why-is-waiting-for-godot-despite-its-absurdity-a-popular-play-109391 http://elitnotes.blogspot.in/2012/07/absurdity-in-waiting-for-godot-waiting.html

Thomas Edison Essay -- biographies bio biography

Term Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thomas Alva Edison is one of the most influential people of his time. This native born Ohioan is credited with many invention that we use today and that many of us take for granted. Countless hours of hard work went into everything he accomplished. That drive is what made him the man he was and defined him as an individual. Thomas Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Edison, Jr. and Nancy Elliot Edison. His parents had no special mechanical background. His mother was a former schoolteacher; his father was a jack-of-all-trades - from running a grocery store to real estate. When Thomas was seven years old, his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. He was a very curious child who asked a lot of questions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edison began school in Port Huron, Michigan when he was seven. His teacher, the Reverend G. B. Engle considered Thomas to be a dull student. Thomas especially did not like math. And he asked too many questions. The story goes that the teacher whipped students who asked questions. After three months of school, the teacher called Thomas, "addled," which means confused or mixed up. Thomas stormed home. The next day, Nancy Edison brought Thomas back to school to talk with Reverend Engle. The teacher told his mother that Thomas couldn't learn. Nancy also became angry at the teacher's strict ways. She took Thomas out of school and decided to home-school him. It appears he briefly attended two more schools. However, his school attendance was not very good. So nearly all his childhood learning took place at home.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of his inventions he deliberately tried to invent, like the light bulb and the movie projector. But some inventions he stumbled upon, like the phonograph. Of all his inventions, Edison was most proud of the phonograph. Edison invented and improved upon things that transformed our world. Some things he invented by himself. Some things he invented with other people. Just about all his inventions are things we still use in some form today. Throughout his life, Edison tried to invent things that everyone could use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edison created the world's first "invention factory". He and his partners invented, built and shipped the product - all in the same complex. This was a new way to do business. Today many businesses have copied Edison'... ...ing off ideas and doing experiments as fast as they came to mind. Once the invention had been started, he left the details to others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edison was known to be stubborn. When he was a senior citizen, he became protective of his inventions. One historian found an irate letter from Edison to his manufacturing department. Edison had learned that teenagers were turning up the speed of his cylinder phonograph to make the music faster. Edison complained, "I don't want it and won't have it. " To make sure this would not happen again, he ordered his workers to make a control for the record speed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas Alva Edison died when he was 84 years old, on Sunday, October 18, 1931. He was still experimenting up until the time he died. Three days later, on October 21, 1931, electric lights were dimmed for one minute throughout the United States. Edison and his wife, Mina, are buried on their home estate grounds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography Smith, John – â€Å"Don’t Follow This† American Publishing Company, Washington D.C., 1969 Dilion, Bob – â€Å"This is wrong† Forever Young Inc. Omaha, NB, 1988 Durst, Fred – â€Å"If you can read this you are too close† Nookie for Life  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Orlando, FL, 1999

Jonathan Edwards Essay

1. Explain the mood of this passage. The mood of this passage is somber and serious. During the passage Jonathan is in a very serious tone. 2. Using specific examples, give one example of a metaphor, one example of a simile, and one example of an allusion that Edwards uses in this passage from the sermon to elicit this particular mood. Jonathan Edwards is a preacher trying to scare his congregation into salvation he compares them to insects dangling over the fires of hell and only god’s mercy keeps them from burning. The mood is angry and urgent. A metaphor would be the fire of wrath. A simile would be comparing people on the summer threshing floor. An allusion would be hell. A word that makes the tone clear would be â€Å"consider the fearful danger you are in. Lastly an image would be a spider hanging over furnace by a string held by a big hand that could drop it any time. 3. What specific words (minimum of three) does he choose to make his tone clear? He uses lots of words to make his tone clear. He uses a very powerful tone of voice. He uses words like danger, wrath, damned in hell, etc. These words make the passage a lot more eye catching in my opinion. 4. What images (pictures in the listeners’ mind) does Edwards use in the passage to make his tone clear? What effect do those images have on establishing the tone of the piece? He uses god ´s â€Å"rough wind’ to make his tone clear. His tone is also very serious while he’s talking about this. 5. In the last two paragraphs of the sermon (refer to the Investigate page of this lesson) Edwards’s talks about an â€Å"extraordinary opportunity† his congregation has. What is this opportunity? How does his sermon persuade the congregation to take advantage of this opportunity? The opportunity that Edward is talking about in the last two paragraphs is ‘’Salvation.’’ He’s telling the people that only way not to get to hell is through salvation or else they’ll end up in hell and that’s not a place they would want to be.

A Model of Image Creation and Image Transfer

Today, although still representing a small percentage of the overall promotional budget, the outlay of rumination dollars for sponsorship castles Is growing rapidly (Parker, 1991; Candler and Shank, 1989; Scott and Chard, 1992). Not only are today's sponsorships more sophisticated (I. E. , more than simply the donation of cash for event production but most firms are expecting a reasonable return on their sponsorship dollar in the form of increased sales (Octahedron and Van Kirk, 1992).While firms enter into sponsorship arrangements with a variety of goals, two of the most important are: to increase brand awareness; and to establish, strengthen, or change brand image Crowley, 1991; Marshall and Cook, 1992; Meghan, 1991; Memorable teal . , 1991). Recently, these goals have been theorized to be important in the development of customer-based brand equity, defined as the differential effect of brand knowledge on the consumer's purchase decision (Keller, 1993).In Seller's conceptualization , brand knowledge (which drives customer-based brand equity) Is a function of both the consumer's awareness of the brand and the Image(s) associated with that awareness. â€Å"In particular, the variability, strength, and uniqueness of the brand associations play a critical role in determining the differential response† (Keller, 1993, p. 8). Brand awareness is achieved by exposing the brand to as many potential consumers as possible (Asker, 1 991 ).Sponsorship activities present multiple opportunities for achieving awareness objectives, and much of the research to Image creation model 145 International Marketing Review, Volvo. 14 No. 3, 1997, up. 145-158. MAC university press, 0265-1335 International Marketing Review date in the sponsorship literature has focused on awareness issues such as sponsor recall (e. G. McDaniel and Kinney, 1996). Regrettably, less attention has been given to event and brand image issues.A number of questions exist regarding the effect of sponsorship promotional activities on brand and event image. For example: ; What factors contribute to an event's image? ; Do consumers associate an event's image with sponsoring brands? ; If there is an image association between event and sponsor, is there a theoretical explanation that can be used to understand this linkage? ; If there is an image association between event and sponsor, what factors moderate (strengthen or weaken) this relationship? How does event image influence attitude towards the brand? Although attempts at measuring the return on the sponsorship investment have been made (e. G. , total event attendance, exit polls, sales following the event, and number of media mentions), an understanding of how sponsorship â€Å"works† has yet to be developed (Octahedron and Van Kirk, 1992; Cavalry et al. , 1994; Memorable teal . , 1991; Parker, 1991). The purpose of this article is to present a model explaining the mechanisms by which brand image may be impacted through sponsors hip activities.Specifically, drawing on the theory of meaning rareness from the celebrity endorsement literature, a model is presented which suggests the factors involved in creating an event's image and the subsequent transfer of that image to the sponsoring brand. Furthermore, several factors are identified that may moderate the relationship between event image and brand image. While the focus of this article is on the conceptual development of image transfer in sponsorship, a variety of research propositions are offered to guide future empirical inquiry.A framework for the transfer of event image Model conceptualization and overview Brand image has been defined as â€Å"perceptions about brand as reflected by the brand associations held in memory' (Keller, 1993, p. 3). Keller suggests that the variability, uniqueness, and strength of the associations are critical to a brand's success. Brand associations are developed from a variety of sources including product use, informational sources (e. G. , advertising, packaging, word-of-mouth), and association with other entities.The â€Å"association with other entities† source is of particular relevance to sponsorship activity. Keller has suggested that when a brand becomes associated with an event, some of the associations linked with the event (e. . , youthful, relaxing, enjoyable, disappointing, sophisticated, elite, etc. ) may become linked in memory with the brand. This transfer of associations is consistent with research in the celebrity endorsement process. Initial research regarding celebrity endorsement focused on the credibility and attractiveness of the message source (I. E. Celebrity) to explain the persuasive nature of endorsers. That is, more credible and attractive endorsers were viewed as more persuasive. However, McCracken (1989), pointing to conflicting research results, suggested that endorsement effectiveness is better explained by the â€Å"meanings† consumers associate with the celebrity endorser and subsequently transfer to the brand. McCracken uses the term â€Å"meaning† to describe consumers' overall assessments of what a celebrity â€Å"represents† based on counterblasts sun as social class, gender, age, personality Ana Testily. In individual characteristics (e. . , regal, trashy, maleness, strong, caring, sexual, irreverent, wise) are integrated to define the meaning of the celebrity. Meaning which has been accumulated through their roles in â€Å"television, movies, military, athletics, ND other careers† is thought to reside in celebrities (McCracken, 1989, p. 315). According to McCracken, the meaning attributed to celebrities moves from the celebrity endorser to the product when the two are paired in an advertisement. That is, meanings associated with the celebrity become associated with the product in the mind of the consumer.To complete the meaning transfer process, consumers acquire the meaning in the product through consump tion. This process is illustrated in Figure 1. 147 Figure 1 . Meaning movement in the endorsement process McCracken (1989) â€Å"meaning† in celebrities is analogous to Seller's (1993) event associations. Following the convention set forward by Keller with reference to brand image, this article uses the term event â€Å"image† to represent the cumulative interpretation of meanings or associations attributed to events by consumers.A comparison can be drawn between celebrity endorsers and events. Just as consumers associate celebrities with certain meanings, so too are events associated with particular attributes and attitudes. It is suggested here that these associations are derived from the event's type, event characteristics, and several individual consumer factors. This is not unlike the meaning attributed to a celebrity being formed by the various roles he or she occupies.For example, event associations attributed to the annual Chicago Blues Festival (a food and mus ical extravaganza drawing over 500,000 people) might include tradition, celebration and civic pride. Extending this concept of meaning transfer from the celebrity endorser literature, it is suggested that events act in a manner analogous to endorsers in the transfer of image to sponsoring brands. The framework presented in Figure 2 theorizes from McCracken celebrity endorsement model to suggest that International Marketing Review 14,3 148 Figure 2.A model of image creation and image transfer in event sponsorship event image is formed from a number of external and internal factors. Through sponsorship, an event's image, which may be relatively distinct for different consumer groups, may be transferred through association to the sponsoring product. As indicated in the figure, several factors may moderate the strength of this image transfer. This discussion leads to the offering of the first research proposition: Pl : Through sponsorship, an event's image will become associated with th e sponsoringDragon ‘s Image. Determinants of event image An event's image is represented by a particular market segment's overall subjective perceptions of the activity. The proposed framework suggests three factors that may impact one's perception of a particular event: event type, event characteristics, and individual factors. Event type . In accordance with the earlier definition, event type can be categorized into at least five areas: sports related, music related, festival/fair related, fine arts related (e. G. Ballet, art exhibit, theatre, etc. ), and professional meeting/trade show related. The type of event impacts event image in a variety of ways. First, it conjures up image associations in the mind of the consumer. That is, most individuals, through past patronage or other forms of exposure (word-of-mouth, television, etc. ) will develop some attitudes (I. E. , positive or negative predispositions towards an event) regarding particular events. These attitudes will se rve to frame the image of the particular event type.Note however, that one's attitude towards an event is only one part of an event's image. One's attitude towards an event represents a summary of experiences resulting in some mineral predisposition to respond to an event in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner. Thus, event attitude is an enduring evaluation (Cohen, 1990). While an event's image will be strongly influenced by one's attitude towards the event, event image will also be impacted by non-evaluative perceptions of an event that are formed through associations held in the consumer's memory (Keller, 1993).In this sense, event image reflects the meaning of the event for an individual, and can be characterized using descriptive labels that represent a summation of one's perceptions. These labels, termed image associations, would include: youthful, mature, carefree, adventurous, educational, social, traditional, exclusive, common, liberal, conservative, high class, f amily oriented, children oriented, cerebral, athletic, artistic, pride, political, etc. Thus, event image can be thought of as a collection of image associations.In addition to past experiences and other indirect exposures, it is likely that new experiences will shape one's perception of event image. In fact, image perceptions formed from the most recent event experiences will likely be the most influential in shaping one's overall event image receptions (Baggage and Warsaw, 1990). New experiences can be divided into two types: the specific activities engaged in or observed; and all interactions with other event attendees/participants and event staff.It is through these two experiences that past event images may be changed or modified and new image associations can be added. The specific activities engaged in or observed may be the same for all participants[l] (e. G. , attendees at a soccer match) or quite varied (e. G. , the individual rides and attractions selected at a local fest ival), depending on the type of event. Regardless of the similarity of experiences, the essential issue is that a given consumer's specific event experiences or observations will shape their perceptions of event image.It is also argued here that the number and type of other participants will have an impact on one's evaluation of the event's image. For example, the number of spectators may impact one's assessment of the success of the event. Perhaps events may be viewed as more successful when they draw more attendees. In Alton, ten under AT participants may Impact perceptions AT crowding, event availability, and wait times. Type of participant† represents the demographic and cryptographic characteristics of others attending the event.The attendees at some events represent relatively homogeneous market segments in terms of social class, family life cycle, age, gender, political affiliation, etc. For example, spectators of professional golf tournaments may be middle aged, white males, with above median incomes. In other cases, events draw heterogeneous types of participants. Just as other customers can have a substantial impact on consumer's perceptions of service firms, so too can other participants have an impact on one's event experiences and bequest assessment of event image (Bitter et al. , 1994).These factors, perceptions based on past experiences, event activities, and the number and type of spectator/participant, constitute one aspect that will serve to shape consumers' overall subjective perceptions of a given event. Based on the above discussion, several research propositions are suggested: 149 International Marketing Review 14,3 150 App: Direct experience and/or indirect information (word-of-mouth, advertising, etc. ) with an event type will influence event image. Pub: The specific activities experienced or observed during an event will influence event image.PC: The number and type of other spectators/participants will influence event image. Eve nt characteristics. Within a given event type (e. G. , music concert series, trade show, etc. ), a number of characteristics will vary from event to event. The â€Å"level† of the following five event characteristics will likely influence consumers' perceptions of an event's overall image: event size, professional status of participants (professional or amateur), tradition/history associated with the event, event venue, and promotional appearance.Event size can be considered along a number of dimensions, including Engel of event, level of media exposure (local, regional, national, international), number of performers (if applicable), and amount of physical space occupied. The same type of event, for example electronic industry trade shows, can vary along all of these dimensions, creating different images for the same event type. Likewise, other event characteristics such as the professional status of performers (professional versus amateur) or the venue in which the event is staged (e. . , temperature, convenience, physical condition, etc. ) will impact one's overall assessment of the event's image. One could theorize that, in most cases, perceptions of quality, legitimacy, and attendance desirability will be higher with long running, large, elaborately staged events, featuring professionals in attractive and convenient venues. The perceived promotional appearance of a brand's sponsorship activities may appear anywhere along a spectrum from advertiser to benefactor.A perception towards the benefactor end of the spectrum may lead to increased feelings of goodwill towards the brand because it is perceived as donating funds to make the event possible (McDonald, 1 ) conversely, tanner may De a negative reaction to ten Americanization of events that have not been sponsored in the past. These events may be perceived as â€Å"selling out† to the corporate world. This has become especially true in the Arts, where some individuals feel that sponsorship (c orporate or governmental) of the Arts leads to censorship Jacobson, 1993; Wood, 1996) .However, due to increasing costs, it has become even more critical for events to obtain outside sponsors in order to continue to exist. To take full advantage of the goodwill aspects, the sponsoring brand may need to educate attendees regarding the beneficial role sponsorship plays in event production. Due to its association with the event, a sponsoring brand's promotional claims can be legitimated, which serves to increase the believability of the promotional message (McDonald, 1991). Additionally, a sponsoring firm may be perceived as making an event possible for the consumer (Chew, 1992; McDonald, 1991).The perception may be especially strong for small events which often have difficulty securing financial support. In this sense, the consumer does not view the sponsorship as a form of promotion, but rather the sponsoring brand is seen as providing a service to the attendee and a level of dowdily is generated by the firm. Again, the skepticism that can be associated with traditional advertising may be circumvented. Brands that are viewed as â€Å"benefactors† will be seen in a more favorable light. The consumer may even feel the need or desire to reciprocate by purchasing the brand.Following from the above discussion, the following research propositions are suggested: App: Event size will influence event image. Pub: Professional status of participants will influence event image. PC: Tradition/history associated with the event will influence event image. Pad: Event venue will influence event image. Pee: Promotional appearance will influence event image. Individual factors. Because of the large number of factors influencing event image and the unique manner in which participants may interpret those factors, an event may have different images for different individuals. Qualitative research has revealed each sport to have its own individual image, and sponsors will tend to benefit from image transfer accordingly' (Parker, 1991, p. 26). Three individual factors are suggested here that may impact event image: the number of images an individual associates with an vent; the strength of the particular image; and the past history one has with a specific event. This last factor differs from the â€Å"past experience† factor discussed under event type. Past history refers to the unique experiences associated with a specific event, whereas past experiences refers to encounters with a general event type.Events that consumers perceive as having multiple images will be more difficult to associate with a single identity. This will be compounded when the meanings are of a conflicting nature. Thus, an individual with many event associations may have a hafting image of the event, depending on which association is currently most salient. Related to this is that images can be very strong or relatively weak. It is likely that a single strong image will dominat e over several weaker ones. This will cause an event Image to De consistent over time, out Limits ten realness Tanat multiple Image associations would confer.Finally, an individual's personal history with a particular event may have an impact on one's perception of an event's image. A long history will typically lead to a more ingrained and consistent image. An individual that has attended or has been associated with an event for a substantial time period may also have nostalgic feelings that become associated with the event's image. Events that have multiple or vague images pose problems for a firm's sponsorship selection decision because it becomes more difficult to predict the image that may become associated with the event, and ultimately â€Å"transferred† to the product.The above discussion leads to the following research propositions: App: Individuals associating an event with a large number of images will have difficulty identifying a consistent event image. 151 Inter national Marketing Review 14,3 152 Pub: Individuals with a single, strong image association will have consistent event images over time. PC: Individuals with a single, strong image association will have less rich event images. Pad: Individuals with long-term participation in an event will hold a consistent event image for that event.This section has identified three broad areas (event type, event characteristics, and individual factors) that influence the creation of an event's image, although there may be some event image determinants not explicitly discussed in the previous section. It is likely that any unrepresented actors could be accommodated within the proposed areas. The next section discusses constructs that may moderate the relationship between event image and brand image. Moderating variables in the model Potential moderating variables presented in the model are discussed in two sections.In the first section variables potentially impacting the strength of the image transf er from event to brand are discussed. As such, variables pertaining to the formation of strong memory associations (degree of similarity) and exposure to the sponsor's message (level of sponsorship and event frequency) are discussed. The second section on moderating rabbles examines how one's involvement with a product may moderate the impact of the event's image on brand attitude. Attitude towards the event and attitude towards the brand are conceptualized and discussed as being components of event image and brand image, respectively.Although not illustrated in Figure 2, these attitude components should be considered as a part of each of the respective â€Å"image† boxes in the figure. Moderators between event image and brand image This section will discuss three moderating variables impacting the strength of the â€Å"transfer† between an event's image and the image of a sponsoring brand. As indicated above, the basis of the relationship is the meaning transfer betwe en these constructs and it is this process that the moderating variables are proposed to influence.The first moderating factor to be discussed in the image transfer process is the degree of similarity between the event Ana ten sponsor. A product can nave letter Atonally or Image related similarity with an event. Functional similarity occurs when a sponsoring product is actually used by participants during the event. An example of this type of similarity is Valentine's sponsorship of automobile racing. The link is established because, apart room being a sponsor, Valentine's motor oil products are actually used by many of the participants during the event.The second type of similarity is termed image related, and occurs when the image of the event is related to the image of the brand. An example of this type of linkage is Pepsin's sponsorship of the 1993 Michael Jackson World Concert Tour. Here the similarity comes from the youth and excitement orientation of both the music and the pr oduct. Interestingly, some sponsors do not appear to be linked to the events they sponsor. For example, the USAF&G Sugar Bowl combined a large insurance firm with a collegiate football game.It is suggested here that either functional or image based similarities forge stronger ties and help the consumer to link the event image with the brand. Thus, sponsor- event similarity (functional or image based) will enhance image transfer by more firmly anchoring the relationship in the consumer's mind. This assertion is consistent with some celebrity endorsement literature which suggests that â€Å"MIS-matches† between endorser and brand decrease the effectiveness of the endorsement (Katie, 1987). A second factor that may moderate the image transfer from event to sponsoring brand is the level of sponsorship.Sponsorship arrangements can run the gamut from a single sponsor to hundreds of sponsors at many different levels. Multiple sponsors for a given event lessens the probability that a particular brand will be associated with the event, due to the additional stimuli each consumer must attend to and recall (Hutchinson and Alba, 1991). Often, events allowing multiple sponsors will offer different â€Å"levels† of sponsorship. By contributing different dollar amounts to the event, the sponsor can buy enhanced packages. These enhancements include better sign/banner location, more frequent media mentions, and premium kicked and hospitality packages.Exclusive sponsorship, or at least a dominant position, will increase the likelihood of meaning transfer from the event to the sponsoring brand by more firmly establishing the link between event and brand. The frequency of the event will also have an impact on the image transfer process. Events may be on either a one-time or recurring basis. Although a onetime event does not allow recurring event-sponsor associations to be developed over time, some events may be of such a unique nature that they attract a great deal of media attention (e. G. , Hands-Across-America). However, an ongoing event (annual, semi-annual, monthly, etc. Should have the benefit of more firmly establishing a link between the event and the brand due to repeated exposures (Manacling et al. , 1991). The above discussion leads to the following research propositions: App: The higher the degree of similarity (image or functional based) between event and sponsoring brand, the more effective the image transfer between event and brand. Pub: The more exclusive the level of sponsorship, the more effective the image transfer between event and brand. PC: The more frequent the event, the more effective the image transfer between event ND brand.Image creation m Ode I 153 Moderators between event image and attitude towards the brand As discussed previously, one's attitude towards the event will help to shape one's image of the event. Thus, event attitude is a component of event image. Likewise, attitude towards the brand is considered und er this framework as a International Marketing Review 14,3 154 component of brand image. Indeed, recent conceptualizations of brand image include an attitude component (Keller, 1993). As such, the model presented in Figure 2 suggests that event image will have an impact on attitude towards the brand.However, might there be situations in which this relationship is moderated by another factor? Advertising research with endorsers has demonstrated that product involvement level (defined as the level of personal relevance a product has to a consumer, resulting from the perceived level of risk associated with the product's consumption or non-consumption) can impact the attitude formation process (Petty et al. , 1983). â€Å"Specifically, we have shown that when an advertisement concerned a product of low involvement, the celebrity status of the product endorsers was a very potent determinant of attitudes about the product.When the advertisement concerned a product of high involvement, ho wever, the celebrity status of the product endorsers had no effect on attitudes, but the cogency of the information about the product contained in the ad was a powerful determinant of product evaluations† (Petty et al. , 1983, p. 143). Following from this research, level of product involvement should moderate the relationship between event image and attitude towards the brand, such that event image will have a larger impact on brand attitude for a low involvement product.The influence of event image on brand attitude can be understood further by considering the type of persuasion process likely to occur. Petty and Capacious (1986) elaboration likelihood model (ELM) suggests that persuasion can occur along two routes. The central route to persuasion occurs when an individual bases product evaluation on â€Å"diligent consideration of information that a person feels is central to the true merits of an issue or product† (Petty et al. , 1983, p. 144).The second route to att itude change, peripheral, suggests that change may also occur through the association of the object with positive or negative cues (e. G. , expert source, pleasant surroundings, forceful presentation, etc. ). This conceptualization of the peripheral persuasion route is consistent with Seller's (1993) position of links in memory being established between an event and the sponsor. One characteristic of sponsorship that distinguishes it from some other promotional methods is its indirect nature (McDonald, 1991).That is, the sponsorship is, at best, a secondary concern (behind the actual event) for the participant. Furthermore, other than the brand's name and/or logo, seldom is any type of commercial message associated with the firm's products. Thus, sponsorship would appear to operate along Petty and Capacious peripheral persuasion route due to this indirect nature, and lack AT available cognizant International. Emplace tests AT ten ELM model suggest Tanat ten central route to persuasi on is more effective for high involvement goods, while the peripheral route has a higher impact on low involvement goods (Petty et al. , 1983).Theorizing from the ELM, one could conclude that when the sponsoring brand is a low involvement product, event image will be a potent force in determining brand attitude. Conversely, the promotional benefit, in terms of attitude change, for high involvement products appears to be small. Product involvement is only likely to be applicable when the sponsorship is focused at the brand level, as opposed to the sponsorship focus being at the firm level. The discussion in this section gives rise to the following research propositions: App: Brand attitudes of low involvement goods will be strongly influenced by event image.Pub: Brand attitudes of high involvement goods will be weakly influenced by event image. PC: Persuasion processes from event sponsorship take place on the peripheral route. Implications for practice and research Implications for p ractice Several implications for marketing practice can be drawn from the proposed model. First, firms should consider more than simply the number of potential customers their sponsorship signage and other identifiers will reach. It is important to consider the image of the event, as this image may become associated with the brand.An event's image can be assessed through a variety of methods. However, given its potentially ambiguous and transitory nature, qualitative methods in the form of depth interviews, focus groups, and projective techniques, are likely to provide the best view of how consumers perceive a given event. Event organizers might take it on themselves to conduct such studies and use the results to recruit potential sponsors. In the course of such research, event organizers may find that the image of their event is not what they thought.Furthermore, it would be wise for event image studies to take place on a regular basis to assess changes in event image over time. Th is would allow event organizers to take corrective action in a timely manner. The proposed model suggests a variety of event image determinants that could be manipulated to position a given event in a different light. In terms of the sponsoring rand, the model suggests several aspects of sponsorship that should be considered when deciding on potential event affiliations.One aspect that should be considered, in light of image transfer benefits, is the degree of similarity between the event and the brand. Brand awareness benefits are likely to accrue regardless of similarity levels, but it has been argued here that image associations will be more likely when some link exists, either image or functional, in the consumer's mind. Firms looking to add sponsorship activities to their promotional mix should also consider the level of pensioners and frequency of the event.Although most firms will look at these aspects with an eye towards the total dollar commitment, it may also be wise to co nsider the meaning transfer implications. As discussed previously, exclusive sponsorships in events occurring on a frequent basis will likely maximize the image transfer potential of the sponsorship purchase. Finally, firms should consider whether image transfer benefits will actually have any influence on consumers' attitudes towards their brand and ultimately their purchase intention. The model suggests that, in terms of impacting a