Durable Medical Equipment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Durable Medical Equipment - Essay Example The Government, through this act, intentionally ignored the fact that most of the American citizens were already in use or covered by the Medicare, Medicaid and other private insurance covers. This would not lead to the upsurge or little increase in sales of the medical devices assumed by the state to enable the companies offset the added cost of nearly $30 billion that was expected to accrue in this industry as per Congressional Budget office foresight (Bayh par 1). The company’s bottom line is that, the tax cannot be passed to the buyer, as most of those devices are directly sold to public hospitals, physicians, and other health service providers through long-term contracts signed, which locked the prices. A 2.3% tax on the company’s sales is equal to almost a 15% on the normal tax on profits, and if this added to the mandatory 35% corporate tax, it totals to 50% as the eventual tax imposed on the industry. This severely affects these companies, as they have to pay th is excise tax whether they are making sales or not (Bayh par 2). Therefore, it would have been much simpler to peg the tax on profits rather than on sales revenue.Other players in the industry such as the medical software developing companies, which are small and numbering to hundreds, are the worst hit by this legislation. Their products, Apps, have a potential for revolution in raising the practice of medicine in the US and globally (Bayh par 2). The effect of this taxation is already manifesting itself; for instance.

Diversity at Barclays Bank Essay Example for Free

Diversity at Barclays Bank Essay There are four top leading Banks in UK, Barclays Bank is one of the leading banks. Barclays Bank considers honest prompting an atmosphere or environment where diversity is highly respected and accepted. Diversity as defined by (Dictionary, 2009) is said to be the reality or standard of being diverse (Rajan Amin, 2003) Says diversity contains personal individuality explained by age, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual position. These differences are established and guarded by law. Diversity in workplace can also be viewed has the difference in qualities and attributes in people working in an organisation. Diversity in workplace can have positive influence in efficient and smooth running of an organisation and can cause chaos between the employees if not administered properly. In 1963 Late President of USA, John Kennedy met with the Americans leaders to discuss about (Drachsler, 2013) the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act which was made law on June 19 of 1964 to focus on Equal opportunity commission and affirmative action and policies, which made the organisations, focus more on just complying on legislation imposed by law, it moved to another stage during the early 1980s to incorporate minors and women into workforce in the late 1980s it moved from just complying to rules and regulations and focuses more on business survival. In the late 1990s there is much shift from complying to laws and to focus on incorporating women and minors into workforce to including everyone in the workforce to know the differences in each employee in the workforce and to be sensitised about the needs and distinctions of others. Now in this century Diversity has shifted attention to inclusion and diversity to increase the efficiency, profitability, wide scope and all factors that can lead to business success. There are two types of workforce diversity Surface level diversity and deep level diversity 1. Surface level diversity as defined by (Kenneth Price H, 2002) as distinctions to each of more members of a team in an overt demographic feature. It is also said to be the different features in workforce that can be seen and observed such Age, Gender, Religion, and Ethnicity. Marital status was also listed as an factors to be considered as a surface level diversity and all these aforementioned examples of surface level diversity  are quantifiable 2. Deep level diversity is defined as distinctions between values, personality and preferences in work. It also defined by (Kenneth Price H, 2002) as the predetermined distinctions among members of a team’ personalities included psychological characteristics, values and attitudes. They factors here can only be felt and cannot be seen they are qualified they cannot be quantified. There are benefits derived from workforce diversity, In Employee management they make good utilization of talents, improved quality of team problem- solving efforts and strength to attract and retain employee’s organisations benefits. In Strategic problem solving skills such as prospective to improve sales volume and to increase market capital base of the organisation, good ethical behaviours ( knowing the right thing to do) . In Organisational Operation they derive good team spirit among the employees, good problem solving strength and lowering cost that is connected to absenteeism and law suit s. Diversity is a two edged sword (Chrobot-Mason, 2013) which means it has positive and negative advantage. There are challenges to workforce diversity such as communication in multicultural environments has mentioned by (Fatima Oliviera, july 2013) and diversity involves not only how employees see themselves but how they see others. That insight affects the way they interact. (Sreedhar, 2011) Highlighted that there is need for professionals in human resource department to consider and administer effectively with issues of change, communication and adaptability. (CHUA, 2013) Also discussed that as organisations become more culturally diverse, conflicts and tensions are bound to happen among employees or people that are from different cultural backgrounds. With all these above mentioned merits and demerits I think diversity is the management of differences in employees effectively and eliminating conflicts that might arise afterwards. Barclays has the believe that to be among the first four leading banks in the world they need a rock solid diversity and inclusion strategy programme and policy to be in place to give them a huge advantage among their rivals in the banking sector . They started by knowing that the foundation of their success is in the talented people they employ, whatsoever lifestyle, age, personality, religion, race, disability, gender or sexual orientation. Barclays focuses on six principal areas of diversity; Gender- is the most important of Barclays diversity and inclusion policy, promoted by the Barclays executive diversity group and it was aimed at increasing the number of women in the senior roles by doing all that is possible to make women in the organisation fulfil their career potential with Barclays increasing female portrayal to at least 20% by the end of last year and rising more to more than 25% by 2015 at the board level. Recruiting is based on merit, and gender diversity is considered seriously when exerting talents across the globe, from the future leader programmes to the most senior recruit and they do make sure that all those that provide recruitment support, supports the vision to lure in diverse candidates around the world. However, other banks all over the globe have innovated Women’s Initiative Networks but the Barclays Women of the year award identifies talented personal and Professional attainment from female employees globally, as well as identifying male em ployee who champion and be of support to female career development. Disability Barclays has shown commitment to being a disability self- assured organisation. Their aim is to lure more highly expertise people, aid disabilities or health defect by making available the equipment and accommodation that enable their employee to be outstanding. Awareness of employee with disability is giving the Bank to recognise modern ways of making products, service and facilities available to everyone an illustration the organisation run disability listening groups, the forum provides staffs with disability with the chance to meet with high level employee and give materials into calculated transformation to improve the working society. Generational diversity Recognising generational diversity in workplace adds cognitive capital to Barclays bank, which promotes revolutions for employees, clients and the customers of the Bank. Barclays bank manages this by supporting the recruitment process and holding firm an age diverse workforce. Creating a workforce with no age limit on each vacant position at Barclays is set as a goal achievable. Merit is the criteria for any elevation; elevation is open to all employees through a yearly achievement and development review  procedure. They are among just few organisations that have taken the proactive measures to include multigenerational diverse workforce into the employee working tactics, the age employees also believes that skill, strength, capability and accomplishment are the backbone of all good performances, which is making the bank one of the leading banks in the world. Sexual Orientation Barclays has good records to encourage their Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered employees, customers and clients and the Bank have been known worldwide by numerous external establishments, Human Rights Campaign in the US are included. Barclays was at the stonewall workplace equality index (WEI) controlled by the United kingdom’s chief Lesbian Gay Bisexual charity, and they were ranked number three in year 2011 in acknowledgment of the work been done to make sure their workplace, products and services are included. They achieved 100 percent in the 2011 Human Rights campaign corporate equality index in the USA and it 95percent in the UK. Multiculturalism This is a very important tool for organisations in the current global business world, Barclays works with a great cultural diversity sense. Barclays Employees are from all around the globe, the employees throughout the Barclays around the world set a footmark to make up a constantly changing pattern of nationalities, cultures and heritage. The distinctive approaches are immeasurable in making sure the organisation comprehend what the need of their customers and clients all around the world is, and with that they provide expert products and services to meet the needs. More to this is the Cultural Awareness Employee network which brings together employees within all Barclays to make sure the bank continue to find up to date method to examine the world with the motive of evaluating and leveraging differences. CONCLUSION Globalisation has made businesses to see diversity has a must do thing, to be successful in modern day business, diversity in workplace should not be treated as complying to law and regulations, it is now a thing of inclusion  and diversity to increase the efficiency, profitability, wide scope and all factors that can lead to business success. For Barclays Bank, Diversity and inclusion is much more than just complying with the law. It means stating and having an active policy in place to make the very best of their diverse staff to serve the clients, customers and benefit their employee to make them retain the height they are in the business world. RECOMMENDATION Having observed all the analysis of diversity and inclusion it is therefore suggested that the following be done to enjoy more benefits of diversity Minimise inequalities among employee to reduce conflicts among the employee. Training and re training programme on human relation should be put in place for employee to enable the employee to know how best to interact among their contemporary. Change is constant so therefore diversity policies and procedures guide lines should be amended yearly. Bibliography Chrobot-Mason, D. A. N. P., 2013. The psychological benefits of creating an affirming climate for workplace diversity. Professiona and management development training, 38(1059-6011), p. 31. CHUA, R. Y. J., 2013. The costs of ambient cultural disharmony: Indirect intercultural Conflicts in social environment undermine creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 56(0001-4273), p. 33. Dictionary, A. H., 2009. Mifflin Houghton. [Online] Available at: http://www.eref-trade.hmco.com/ [Accessed 21 01 2014]. Drachsler, D. A., 2013. Supreme court sets high bar for Title vii retaliation claims.. Labour law journal, 64(4-0023-6586), p. 6. Fatima Oliviera, M. d., july 2013. Multicultural Environments and Thier Challenges to Crisis Communication. Business In Communication , 50(0021- 9436). Kenneth Price H, D. H. A. J. G. H. A. F. T., 2002. TIME, TEAMS, AND TASK PERFORMANCE: CHANGING EFFECTS OF SURFACE- AND DEEP-LEVEL DIVERSITY ON GROUP FUNCTIONING. Academy of Management Journal, 45(5), pp. 1029-1045. Rajan Amin, H. S., 2003. The business impact of diversity. Business Source Premier, Issue 0959-5848, p. 1471 Words. Sreedhar, U., 2011. Workforce Diversity and HR Challenges. OB and HRM Department, IBS, Bangalore (Karnataka), INDIA, 4(0974-2611), pp. p33-36.

Cause of World War I Essay -- essays research papers

WWI Causes World War I, a war that started out locally in Europe between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that later ended up including thirty two different nations. This war has been around for almost a century and yet the causes of it are still being debated. There are many different scenarios that have been considered. Some of the key reasons that were believed to have instigated WWI were nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and an arrangement of treaties. Also the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was believed to be one of the immediate causes. Nationalism is the doctrine that your national culture and interests are superior to any other. From just reading the meaning of nationalism it is quit obvious to see that this idea will oppose some kind of conflict sooner or later, and as proved later on it did. At the settlement of Vienna in 1815, the idea of nationalism was ignored mainly because nations wanted to preserve the peace. Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany also in 1871. Another result of the Franco-Prussian War, which took place 1870-1871, was that France wasn’t happy with the outcome of Alsace-Lorraine losing, and regaining what they lost from that was a major goal for the French. Nationalism was a problem for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans. Those areas had many conflicting national groups. The strong faith Serbia had for the movement advocating th...

Newell Convers Wyeth Essay

Newell Convers Wyeth was one of the famous men in America during his time. This is because he was considered as one of the greatest American illustrators. He was the first to set the pace amongst the three generations of Wyeth artists. However, he was not only an illustrator but a painter as well. The work he did has become historical and is celebrated in many galleries, museums and publications as well as in other artist venues across the globe (Howell, par 1). Throughout his life, he was doing very well as an illustrator thus becoming very famous. N. C died in Chadds Ford in 1945 through an accident (Brandy Wine Conservancy 3). Wyeth gained national recognition as a result of his Scribner’s Classic Children’s Books like The Yearling, Robinson Crusoe, The Last of the Mohicans, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island among others. Wyeth believed that the deepest happiness a person can experience comes from living a simple life, and also treasuring the beauty and bounty of land and sea. Quite a number of Wyeth’s paintings were based on his feelings and own experiences. This was usually as a result of the memories of his parent’s farm where he grew up (Highlights for Children, par 1-8). N. C Wyeth started drawing when he was a child. He was being encouraged by the mother who helped him nature his gift. He began working for a magazine called the Saturday Evening Post when he was only 20years. Soon after this, his fame began to spread and his work published in other leading magazines like Harper’s weekly, Century, and Scribner’s among others (Nila McCann Spring). Despite the fact that Wyeth was an illustrator, he yearned to be known as a painter as well. The difference between the two was that illustration carried a pejorative connotation that Wyeth felt keenly all his life. In addition, regardless of the fact that commissioned work earned him income to support his family, he tried to run away from the confines of textual limitations, taking up personal paintings like landscapes, still lives and portraits. He moved from lyrical landscapes, which had an impressive style, to powerful portraits of fishermen that evoke the work of the American Regionalist artists. Nonetheless, he never attained personal satisfaction or the recognition that he wanted (Brandy Wine Conservancy 2). Wyeth was able to make three trips, between 1904 and 1906, to West America. This was after Wyeth recognized the value of Pyle’s instructions in his career. Pyle was one of the most renowned illustrators from Howard Pyle School of Art where Wyeth had joined then. During the period of the trip, he spent much of his time taking up the experience that enabled him to paint images. The painted images would allow him to come up very well and be among the top greatest illustrators during his error. Wyeth had managed to herald in Outing Magazines by 1907. He was one of the greatest painters of American outdoor life (Brandywines Conservancy 1). Early Life Nowell Convers was born on 22nd October, 1882 in a place called Needham, Massachusetts. His mother was the daughter of Swiss immigrants while his father was a descendant of the first Wyeth to arrive in the New World in the mid-17th century. His growing up in a farm made him develop a deep love for nature. He began his artistic inclinations at a very young age and the mother encouraged it. However, his father opposed this since he wanted him to use his talent more practically. He attended Mechanic Arts High School in Boston up to May 1899, where he concentrated on drafting. Through the support of his mother, he was able to transfer to Massachusetts Normal Art School and through the help and guidance of his instructor Richard Andrew; he took the line of illustration (Brandywine Conservancy 1). Wyeth married Carolyn Bockus in 1906. They met after he completed his learning under Pyle. They gave birth to five children whose names are Nat, Carolyn, Ann and Andrew. Some of these children resembled his father in his work of illustration and painting. They picked up talents for one art form or another, ranging from composing music to teaching art lessons and also to inventing (Howell, par. 3-4). N. C Wyeth trained his son Andrew through home schooling in 1932. This was after he realized that his health was failing. There were several challenges that came with school administration and also the expense of teaching his son from home. However, Wyeth managed to complete his son’s education as his teacher. After that, Andrew Wyeth continued to work under his father’s artistic guidance in their home in Maine which was named after the famous Winslow Home painting (Howell, par. 6). N. C Wyeth’s Work Wyeth is the perhaps the best and is remembered for his illustrations of other children classics done for Scribner’s. He gained national recognition with his illustrations for the book Treasured Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1911. He composed American stories and themes from carpetbaggers to Indians. He used color and romantic imagery brilliantly and this combined with his close attention to historical detail, enables his artwork gain a lasting place in the lexicon of American illustration. The love he had for America in-terms of its individuality and landscapes is evident in his works; that is, from the Old West to the Brandywine Hill. This was a country of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. It is said that his boldness and sometimes massive artwork expressed his ‘largeness of spirit’. He is also said to have painted murals on a heroic scale by one of the biographers (New World Encyclopedia, par 2-4). He managed to complete over three thousand works during his career. Being an illustrator, some of his famous works included publications like Kidnapped, Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island and Robin Hood. Between 1925 and 1935, he completed some of his most exhilarating pieces of work, among which were several experimental pieces that were seen as heroic compared to his commissioned work (Howell, par 2). The success of Treasured Island insured Wyeth along his career. Scribner’s illustrated many classic stories in his succeeding years. The most famous titles are; â€Å"kidnapped (1913), The Black Arrow (1916), The Boy’s King Arthur (1917), The Mysterious Island (1918), The Last of the Mohicans (1919), The Deer slayer (1925) and The Yearling (1939). † In addition, he created illustrations for other publishers. Examples of such books are Robin Hood by David McKay(1917), Robinson Crusoe by Cosmopolitan (1920), Rip VanWinkle by David McKay (1921), Men of Concord by Houghton-Mifflin (1936) and Trending Into Maine by Little Brown (1938) (Howell, par. 2). Books like Treasured Island and Robinson Crusoe by N. C Wyeth are the most historical and famous. They also have a maritime adventure and an Island as a center element of their schemes. In addition, the historical language used in every one of them is similar as well as one of the same nautical terminology like stern, bow and aft among others. This is utilized because of the aforementioned similarities (Enotes, par1-3). Checking closely, the characters in these two books are alike only in the most basic ways. In Robinson Crusoe, for example, Crusoe is a male just as are Long John Silver and Hawkins. In addition, both central character are seamen and in the case of Hawkins, they were trying to become such. On the desolate island, young Jim Hawkins is trying to survive as a lone boy in the world of men just as Crusoe tries. On the other hand, both books are written by male authors and that the masculinity tone is seen in both books. In this case, as one reads these books, each story helps them to gain a perspective into the oceangoing world of the past. May be a better comparison could be drawn between Stevenson’s in Kidnapped and Defoe’s in Robinson Crusoe because there are better similarities existing in these books (Enotes, par. 2-3). His work also contains religious paintings. For example in 1923, he is said to have been commissioned by the Unitarian Layman’s League to do a series of paintings which included ‘The Parables of Jesus’. His most superb religious work that consisted of three hinged panels painted for the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at the Nations Cathedral in Washington D. C seems to be welcoming believers. It consisted of Jesus surrounded by a host of heavenly angels. The wordings are, â€Å"Come unto Me, All Ye that Labor and Are Heavy Laden, and I Will Give You Rest† (New World Encyclopedia, par. 13). His other works included; Mowing (1907), Long John Silver and Hawkins (1911), The Fence Builders (1915), September Afternoon (1918), Dying Winter (1934), The Alchemist (1938), Deep Cover Lobsterman (1939), The war Letter (1944) and the Nightfall (1945) (New World Encyclopedia, par. 23). Assessment of N. C Wyeth’s Work It was appropriate for Wyeth to start his work at his young age. One of the reasons is because he was able to leave an impact after he died in that his work is still remembered to date. He also was able to raise his son Andrew as his successor and the son become famous too because he was doing very well. It was also of importance to begin his work at an early age since he was able to publish so many books like Treasured Island and Robinson Crusoe (Amazon Par. 1-3). In addition, this golden age work of Wyeth played an important role in uplifting and pursuing work in illustration. The period of golden age work was also recognized for unparalleled brilliance in publication of journal art which had not been seen before. Also N. C Wyeth plus other students were able to carry on Howard Pyle’s work and this also brings out the importance of his beginning work at a young age (Jo Ang, par 4-5). N. C Wyeth was also able to perfect his work over time by starting his career at a young age and this enabled him to gain fame in America and other nations too. The fame is evident in his created images for magazine advertisements and calendars, painting for big companies like Wheat Company, Coca-Cola, Blue Buckle Overalls, Steinway &Sons, New York Life Insurance among other (Brandy wine Conservancy 3). Conclusion Wyeth is remembered since he was one of the greatest illustrators in America and who created nearly 4,000 works during his golden age from 1903 to 1945 when he died. However he never achieved the personal satisfaction or public recognition that he wanted. N. C Wyeth gained national recognition as a result of his Scribner’s Classic Children’s Books like The Yearling, Robinson Crusoe, The Last of the Mohicans, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island among others. All these books are read even to date. Work cited Amazon. com. 1996-2010. The Amazon. com Review, 2010. Web. 15 May 2010 . Brandy wine Conservancy. N. C. Wyeth Biography. Brandywine River Museum, 2009. Web. 14 March, 2010, . Enotes. com, Inc. Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe, 2010. Web. 15 May, 2010,

Effective Communication in a Criminal Justice Settings Essay

In the criminal justice system, a police officer’s ability to communicate is one of the most important traits an officer can have. Police officers communicate with everyone from the public to peers, arrestees, victim and suspect families, and court personnel. A police officer must determine the most effective way to communicate, using several different methods, with everyone without offending or sounding weak. Public Announcements to the Press Police officers deal with the public on a constant basis. Many times, police officers will have to address the public in a professional, staged appearance. Public announcements can be in person, often live in front of news cameras, or a written statement the press uses to publish in the print media, website, or news broadcast. High-profile cases, riots, or inmate suicides are reasons a corrections officer may need to provide an announcement to the press. Upon making a public announcement, it is important for the corrections officer to speak directly to the audience and keep sentences short to avoid confusing the audience (Wallace & Roberson, p. 71, 2009). Usually, when giving a public address announcement, the press will follow up the message with questions of their own to clarify the remarks, or in an attempt to get additional information if the message is too vague. When a police officer speaks to the media publically, it is important for the officer to know his or her facts and be very keen on the topic (Wallace & Roberson, p. 79, 2009). If there was an officer involved shooting, the public and the media could care less to hear about the new patrol cars or k-9 unit. It is important to be punctual and understand the timeframe the speaker has to present his or her information to the media. The speaker should prepare him or herself by having notes or an outline to  follow, it is not a good idea to â€Å"wing it,† especially if the purpose for the public announcement is serious. A speaker’s appearance is important because the media and public could be critical and doubt the sincerity of the speech if the speaker fails to take the time necessary to look presentable. When a police officer provides a written announcement he or she needs to be as professional as possible. It is important to avoid the use of legal or technical jargon, slang, or words the audience may be unfamiliar with (Wallace & Roberson, p. 73, 2009). The print media may not have the time to contact the speaker and ask for clarification so it is important to use clear and concise language when providing written statements for the media. Testifying in court Effective communication in the courtroom is a necessary cog in the wheel of criminal justice. As a police officer, it is important to understand the importance of effective communication while presenting evidence or testifying in court. Defense attorneys will try to confuse try to make the officer second-guess his or her actions or the content of an incident report. An ill-prepared corrections officer may become impatient and exasperated if challenged by an aggressive defense attorney (Wallace & Roberson, p. 111, 2009). Police officers commonly make errors because of the lack of preparedness prior to taking the witness stand (Wallace & Roberson, p. 71, 2009). Police officers should meet with the attorney they are being summons by in order to read over their report and refresh their memory in preparation for the stand. If a police officer is set to testify during a trial, it behooves the officer to communicate with the prosecution to prepare for questions the Prosecution will ask, and potential questions the defense attorney will ask. When a police officer writes a report, it is essential to include important and necessary information. Police officers write various types of reports. However, the information contained in each type of report must be clear, concise, and honest. Future court cases may depend on information contained in an officer’s report as evidence in a criminal case (Miller & Whitehead, p. 4, 2011). Disciplinary review boards may rely on an officer’s incident report to determine if an officer operated outside his or her scope of duty. Prior to the court appearance, the police officer must analyze his or her report to enhance his or her preparedness for the trial. The court will not wait for the corrections officer to fumble through his or her notes. Preparedness will enhance the officer’s credibility with the jury; whereas, an unprepared and confused corrections officer may look incompetent to a jury, which may cause the jury to questions the validity of the events recorded in the report and the officer’s testimony. When a police officer testifies in court, it is not only essential but also the law to be honest in everything said. If the corrections officer does not know the answer, saying, â€Å"I do not know† is appropriate. If the police officer does not remember a specific event, it is appropriate to ask the judge to review notes or a copy of his or her report if he or she has one (Wallace & Roberson, p. 115, 2009). However, reading the report word-for-word or taking too long to locate the answer to a question may cause the jury to doubt the truthfulness and competence of the officer. The jury may think, â€Å"you were there, how could you not remember?† The officer must never assume the next question, but wait for the defense or prosecuting attorney to ask the questions and provide an honest answer in a clear and loud voice. Effective communication applies to the back and forth conversation the police officer has with both the prosecutor and defense attorney. It is important for the police officer to understand the questions the attorneys ask (Wallace & Roberson, p. 115, 2009). It is appropriate for an officer to ask for clarification if he or she fails to understand the wording of the questions (Wallace & Roberson, p. 115, 2009). A police officer must remember the court records his or her testimony in a written transcript, and sometimes by audio recording. The officer must master communicating orally when testifying in court because a stenographer cannot and will not type hand gestures, nods, shrugs, etc. (Wallace & Roberson, p. 115, 2009). It is important for the police officer to remember they are in a court of law, and he or she represents his or her agency. The police officer must show respect for the court, the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense  attorney. A jury may look poorly upon a rude, belligerent, and disrespectful officer. Disrespect for the court could result in administrative reprimand or contempt charges. Appellate courts use written trial transcript when they review a lower-court ruling. The appellate courts do not review or see new evidence; therefore, it is imperative for a corrections officer to do his or her part in practicing effective oral communication. A police officer appearance is also important when testifying in court. An officer’s appearance is the first thing a jury sees, and the jury will judge the officer on his or her appearance. An officer should have a clean, wrinkle free uniform shirt and trousers. The officer should have his or her shirt tucked in and shoes shined. A sloppy looking, unkept officer will look unfavorable on the jury, who may use that negative first impression when deciding the believability of the officer’s testimony. Communicating with Peers and the General Public Effective communication with peers in the general public is not only necessary but also life saving. Police officers tend to use their own â€Å"lingo,† or â€Å"cop-talk† to communicate with each other. Most non-law enforcement people are familiar with the term â€Å"Code 4,† which can mean, â€Å"Yes, okay, copy, etc.† Code 4 is one of a normal range of 13. Each number represents a message an officer uses instead of explaining word-for-word what they need. This abbreviated form of communication is known as â€Å"common code.† In police departments within the County of Boulder, Colorado departments use the common code. For instance, â€Å"code 4, code 5 with one† means an officer is okay with one person in handcuffs. Code 13 would mean â€Å"I need one additional officer as fast as possible.† Communicating with superior officers is also important. Higher-ranking officers in a police department supervise the officers. If there are ineffective rules or policies in place, it is the responsibility of the officer to follow the chain of command and provide feedback and possible suggestions on how to improve the ineffective policies. Police officers see the world differently from non-law enforcement citizens.  Police officers spend most of their day running from call to call. Experienced police officers have a different perspective on humanity; they often share and agree with those jaded views of society with fellow officers (Gilmartin, 2002). This can cause poor communication methods when speaking to the general public. It is easy to look at an arrestee and judge him or her as a â€Å"loser, a drug addict, or pervert.† Not all arrestee are guilty of their charges; everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. However, it is important for a police officer to put aside feelings of contempt and communicate with arrestees in a respectful and professional manner. Gilmartin (2002) stated, â€Å"Officers control 100% of their integrity and Professionalism. Everything else – policies, uniforms, required procedures, budget, assignments, organizational goals, and just about every other central aspect of the officer’s role, is controlled by someone else† (p. 80). Communicating with arrestees is different from communicating with people who are not under arrest or detained. Arrestees are under a great deal of stress because of their limited freedom and the unknown future that awaits them. Although difficult, it is important to remember the current situation of an arrestee when communicating with them, especially telling them they cannot do certain things. Many arrestee are not accustomed to somebody telling them â€Å"no.† Communicating with Peers and Juvenile Arrestees Communicating with peers in a juvenile arrestee situation is quite similar to communicating with peers in an adult situation. Clear and concise lateral communication is impotent between officers over radio transmission as well as face-to-face communication. A juvenile arrestee situation can be a dangerous setting even though the arrestees are usually under the age of 18. An officer must use careful consideration when dealing with juvenile offenders. Juvenile minds are not fully developed. Juvenile minds may also lack the comprehension to understand the seriousness of their actions. Most of the offenders do not think and act as adult offenders do; therefore, officers must try to communicate closer to their level. A police officer has to remember that a juvenile offender attains certain special rights when detained. The juvenile cannot be questioned without a lawyer or parent present. Many officers forget this note in many state laws and end up losing a case because admitted evidence is thrown out during trial. In conclusion,  police officers have a duty to themselves, their peers, arrestees, the courts, and the public to be effective communicators. Verbal and nonverbal communication skills are important to learn, and continue to improve upon. A police officer who learns to apply effective communication skills in his or her occupation will become a valuable asset within his or her department. The community will have more confidence in a department if they have confidence it the officers who represent it. Officers who communicate with different types of people will also gain the respect and trust of their peers and supervisors. References Gilmartin, K. (2002). Emotional Survival For Law Enforcement. Tucson, AZ: E-S Press. Miller, L., & Whitehead, J. (2011). Report writing for criminal justice professionals (4th ed.). Retrieved from University of Phoenix eBook Collection database Wallace, H., & Roberson, C. (2009). Written and interpersonal communication: Methods for law enforcement (4th ed.). Retrieved from University of Phoenix eBook Collection database

Consumer Behaviour †Theory and Practice The WritePass Journal

Consumer Behaviour – Theory and Practice 1.0 Introduction and Discussion – 20% Consumer Behaviour – Theory and Practice 1.0 Introduction and Discussion – 20%2.0 Critical Analysis (Theory) – 50%2.1 Definition of Consumer Boycott2.2 Advantages of Boycotting2.3 Disadvantages of Boycotting2.4 Example of Successful Boycott2.5 Solution for Companies to handle boycott3.0 Conclusion – 20% 1.0 Introduction and Discussion – 20% 2.0 Critical Analysis (Theory) – 50%2.1 Perception2.2 Attitudes2.2.1 Definition of Attitudes2.2.2 The functions of Attitudes2.2.3 Attitude Models2.2.4 Measuring Attitudes2.2.5 Marketer changing consumer attitudes3.0 Conclusion – 20% Reference ListRelated 1.0 Introduction and Discussion – 20% Consumer buying is important to society because it is a key component of the economic system of many countries, it can influences by political, religious, spiritual, environmental, social and cultural aspects of society (Jim Blythe, 1997). Nowadays, consumers are more toward to ethical purchasers because they are more aware that their consumption pattern is part of global political and economic system (Solomon, M., G. Bamossy, S. Askegaard and M. Hogg, 2009). Generally, consumers reflect their values and beliefs by what they do or do not buy (Dickinson and Hollander, 1991). For example, consumer perceptions will signify the strengths and weaknesses of countries by favouring or dislike goods produced in a particular country. Sometimes consumer negative experience generate boycott of a company’s products, or even protests against everything from a politically undesirable country by discourage consumption of products from certain companies or countries, like boycotting Israel products. Boycotting is a form of ethical purchase behaviour. The term â€Å"boycott† arose in the year 1880 after Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott, an English land agent in Ireland whose ruthlessness in evicting tenants led his employees to refuse all cooperation with him and his family (Hazem Jamjourm, 2008). According to an Environics, the trend to boycott and warn against those irresponsible companies are strongest in North America and Oceania, and Northern Europe, while in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Latin America taken boycott is very unlikely (Rob Harrison, Terry Newholm, Deirdre Shaw, 2005). Boycotts have become a pervasive and effective instrument of consumer dissatisfaction in today’s marketplace. Economist (1990, p. 69) writes: ‘Consumer boycotts are becoming an epidemic for one simple reason: they work to initiate organizational and social change’; a recently conducted survey reports that 50% of Americans claim to have taken part in a product boycott (Dolliver, 2000). Between 1988 and 1995, over 200 firms and over a thousand products were actually subject to organised boycotts in the US. On the other hand, according to the Co-operative Banks latest research the value of boycotts in 2007 was up by 15% in the food and drink sector and 20% in the clothing s ector. Money talks, they say. So listen to these figures food and drink boycotts in 2007 in the UK  were valued at  £1,144m, travel boycotts  £817m, and clothing boycotts  £338m (Ethical Consumer, 2008). 2.0 Critical Analysis (Theory) – 50% 2.1 Definition of Consumer Boycott Boycotts are a widely used movement tactic to gain influence over corporations to adopt some change in practice or policy. It can be anti-corporate, labour, and other social change movements (Manheim, 2001). In this few years, a number of theorists have studies and outline the theory of boycott. Smith (1990b:258) explain boycott was essentially a moral act; an expression by the consumer of disapproval of the firms activities and disassociation from them. Friedman (1999, p.4) defines consumer boycotts as â€Å"an attempt by one or more parties to achieve certain objectives by urging individual consumers to refrain from making selected purchases in the marketplace.† Laidler (1968) defines boycotting as â€Å"an organized effort to withdraw and induce others to withdraw from social or business relations with another.† From different view of the theorists, consumer boycotts can be explain in more specifically that consumer boycotts is a collective act from the consumers to refusing buying a company’s services or products, consumers express their dissatisfaction with intention and make political claims about corporate practices. 2.2 Advantages of Boycotting Although boycott would seriously hurt the business, in fact, boycott has advantages. The main advantage of boycott is a way that consumers can use their power for positive social change. Another advantage is the exposure of irresponsible company with less people buying their products and buying substitute goods. As result, demand and supply for substitute goods will increase to enhance competition in the market and firms will reduce their process as a result to compete and also to gain the extra consumers this will benefit the smaller firms to gain more of the market share (Baumeister, Roy F., 1998). 2.3 Disadvantages of Boycotting Boycotts are an unwelcome act to marketers because firms targeted by a well-supported consumer boycott have apparently failed to sustain a sufficient customer focus. In the recent world, most of the companies are sensitive to boycotts because they can have serious financial implications (Pittman, Thane S., 1998). Observably, there are lots of disadvantages to boycotts though. One of drawback is boycotting could be a large reduction in jobs. After boycotting a company, there can cause an unfavourable impact on individuals and communities which become innocent victims of the economic damage. Secondly, the company reputation will be harmed as a result on the impact of consumer boycott. Hence, this is not good for company as it would need to lower its prices to get back the consumer purchasing demand. Somehow, consumers boycotting not purchase particular countries produce cause a loss of worldwide specialisation and technology in third world country because most of the company may not do business with them. Also this action may limit consumer choice from the market. Another disadvantage to the company is that the company budgets will get ruined and will need to be analysed and changed. Furthermore the gross domestic product of the host country could fall. Besides that, there can also result irregularly violence and antipathy from the boycotts. As conclude, although consumer boycotting brings lot of drawback to companies as well as it also bring advantages. Marketer should make a balance view of boycott and learn from other companies’ mistake to enhance the operation and create positive value to consumers. 2.4 Example of Successful Boycott In fact, empirical examinations of corporate recognition to boycotters demands found that only a quarter of all publicized boycotts were successful (Friedman, 1985). Boycotts can be successful because when result in increased public scrutiny of the company. This in turn will cause concerns inside the company about lost profits from the loss in consumer interest and companies are always concerned about their financial position. Countless successful boycott examples could be given of the boycott in use by many different groups of people in past centuries. One well-known successful boycotting example is boycotting Barclays Bank in year 1986. Boycotter choosing to boycott Barclays Bank because they have strongly believed Barclays’ company as the largest bank in South Africa supported apartheid is a wrong consequence. Besides that, consumers participate in the boycott may have been motivated by the belief that supporting boycott could helping people from South Africa by forcing Barclays’ withdrawal and speeding the downfall of the apartheid regime, secondly is the consumers desire not be associated with a company that directly or indirectly benefits from apartheid, a â€Å"clean hands† motivation; and lastly it show that a reluctance to be seen patronizing the â€Å"apartheid bank,† an avoidance of unseemly conspicuous consumption. As result, Barclays was forced to pull out of the co untry after protests against its involvement during the apartheid regime. Also at that time, Barclays led to a drop in its share of the UK market from 27 percent to 15 percent. Consumer boycotts upon environmental arguments are a strategy commonly used by many environmental NGOs. Procter and Gamble has been focus of a long running boycott from the Uncaged Campaign due to the use of animal testing. PG declare that animals are used in their ‘product safety research’, as well as cats and dogs in pet food experiments, Uncaged’s investigations continue to expose disturbing examples of PG’s ongoing involvement in a painful and dangerous animal tests. PG test on animals because of their desire to get new chemical ingredients on the market and to make as much money as possible. Garrett’s (1987) review of the boycott literature hypothesized six factors in boycott participation: the awareness of consumers; the values of potential consumer participants; the consistency of boycott goals with participant attitudes; the cost of participation; social pressure; and the credibility of the boycott leadership. However, according to the report on boycott PG Day 2010 actions, the fourteenth global boycott PG Day on 8 May 2010 has ratcheted up the pressure on PG to stop their cruel and unreasonable animal testing. Moreover, another famous boycott case is the Nestlà ©. A number of groups, many of which are coordinated by the International Baby Milk Action Network (IBMAN), have called for the boycott of Nestlà © products due to Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s marketing practices in promoting infant formula in poor countries. IBMAN points to the dangers of formula feeding in developing countries (most notably, lack of clean water to use in mixing formula powder). Further, it maintains that Nestlà © is exploiting susceptible customers and contributes to increased infant mortality. To examined the boycotters’ intentions to participate, motivations for participating, and actual product choice, as result their participation is based on product judgments and their perceived badly of Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s actions, boycott participation and brand image. According to observers of boycotts, boycotters have this feeling because they are referring to the ‘moral outrage’ (Smith 1990). The latest Update of Baby Milk Actions Boycott News, the international boycott is having an important impact on Nestle, not only in direct economic terms but also in manipulate damage to its corporate image, management morale and management time the company must spend struggle it. 2.5 Solution for Companies to handle boycott It is not possible to study consumer boycott effectiveness without studying the target’s reaction to the protest. A satisfactory response, complying with a campaign’s demands, can stop a boycott before it has even got under way, whereas a reaction that is deemed insufficient or abusive could potentially recruit new members to the campaign. Smith identified four key types of management response: ignore, fight, fudge/explain or comply (1990b: 254). One increasingly popular solution used by marketers is to set up a joint task force with the boycotting organization to try to iron out the problem. For instance, in the US, McDonald’s used this approach with the Environmental Defence Fund, which was concerned about its use of polystyrene containers and bleached paper. The company agreed to test a composting programme and to switch to plain brown bags and to eliminate the use of antibiotics in such products as poultry. 3.0 Conclusion – 20% In conclusion, consumer boycott is an effort to punish those irresponsible companies. Yet consumer boycotts often have a large number of participants, and sometimes be successful in changing the behaviour of firms. Generally, participation may be driven by individual motivations such as guilt, the maintenance of self-esteem, and the avoidance of dissonance; individuals may seek a thrill of victory; or behaviour may be influenced by a false consensus bias. Despite the problems of causation, many writers agree that there is persuasive and widespread evidence of boycott actions delivering on social or environmental goals. Examples include PG anti animal testing in production; keep away from Barclays Bank apartheid in South Africa and persuade Nestle to take responsible the problem in third world. Obviously consumer boycotts cannot effectively address the full range of social and environmental issues, because it requires choice and competitive markets to function. Finally, consumer boycotts have the potential to harm many innocent parties, including guiltless workers and the various economic entities that depend on the boycotted firms. 2) B) Discuss the various ways in which marketers can attempt to influence consumer perception and attitudes, using examples to illustrate your argument. (60%) 1.0 Introduction and Discussion – 20% According to International Monetary Fund (2010), analyse that in year 2010 the world spending is at GDP 62,909274. United States have the highest GDP, which are 14,657,800. Consumer is the most important person to marketer because marketer takes into account consumer likes and dislikes on the production of goods and services. Marketing and consumer behaviour are basically connected.   By clearly understanding of consumer behaviour to support all marketing activity, it is a necessity to organizations for being marketing orientated and thus profitable. However, to understanding what consumers buy or not to buy is the most challenging concept to marketers. As consumer buying behaviour is difficult to be understanding clearly because factors affecting how consumers make decision are extremely complex. Buying behaviour is deeply rooted in psychology with dashes of sociology. The reason is, since every person in the world is different, it is impossible to have simple rules that explain how buying decisions are made. In general, there are three main factors that influence consumers buying decision which are personal, psychological and social. Besides that, involvement also can be a major factor in consumer’s decision making. Because consumers often form emotional attachments to products, for example most people would be familiar with the feeling of having fallen in love with a product. But, studying consumers can help marketers improve strategies. Through obtaining a view into how consumers think, feel, reason and choose. Marketers can use this information to design products and services that will be in demand. By understanding customers better it can improved trading relationships. Next is can reduced cost and greater efficiency, for example, through better targeting of marketing efforts, which reduced the cost per sale. Third is improved competitiveness, by understanding consumer, marketer can through consumer feeling adapt in marketing practice to result more effective. Lastly, it will gain more sales. 2.0 Critical Analysis (Theory) – 50% 2.1 Perception Before making purchase, consumers go through series of steps. These steps include problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision and post purchase evaluation (Appendix 1). In the information search process, psychological element that influences consumer is perception which influences the way consumers receive information. Jim Blythe (2001) explains perception is the way people build up a view of the world. While William D.Wells and David Prensky (1996) define perception as the process by which an individual uses his or her perceptual processes to selects stimuli, organizes information about those stimuli, and interprets the information to form a coherent, meaningful view of the world (Appendix 2). Stimuli are inputs into any one of the five senses – vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The explanation of the stimuli can be subjective on individual’s environment that becomes the basis for the behavioural processes of learning, attitude formation, and decision making. At the same time, it has cultural, social, economic, and psychological bases since it requires the selection, organization, and interpretation of what the individual senses. For example, consumers manage to purchase certain products and leave the store without becoming overwhelmed. This is because of their background characteristics, past experiences and motivations to satisfy their needs help to assign meaning to the stimuli and recognize products that will offer certain benefits to them. Therefore, marketers should design their packages so that consumers will be able to distinguish them from other stimuli in this hectic retail environment. For instance, Innocent created a range of smoothies especially targeted to kids. In the packaging of this range of products, the Innocent brand identity is enriched with some funny details on the logo, in order to immediately distinguish this product from the others and appeal the children. Perception plays important part in marketing programmes, where the use of pictures, images, spoken and written language, colour, noise, music, tastes and smells are used in such abundance. At the information search stage communication campaigns should be informative in nature, so when marketers make an advertisement it should provide information about the product and its attributes to consumers. This helps in creating brand awareness and dispelling doubts regarding the product among consumers. Individual’s perception is unique and powerful in its inferences for marketers. Usually, consumer purchase will take place when individual perceives that product or service will offer benefits of needs. Hence, marketers must understand how perception works in order to communicate successfully a product’s benefits. In reality, consumers exposed to advertising and promotion do experience information overload.   Hence, the perceptual process includes a component called selective perception, which allows individuals to screen out some stimuli while allowing other stimuli to be perceived. Therefore marketer can use clear communication as strategy. Advertisements should be copy tested to ensure consumers get the message. Things to avoid include incorrect understanding of imagery, inappropriate humour, and double entendre. Also, lengthy communications are less likely to pass through consumer’s mental filters. Perception is also subjective. People understand things differently. The manner in which consumers organize and interpret information is individualistic and biased. That is, people experience subjective perception; perception deviated from reality due to individual differences in the perceptual process. 2.2 Attitudes 2.2.1 Definition of Attitudes The next step of consumer buying process is evaluation of alternatives which information is gathered. Another key element that influences the evaluation process is the attitude of the consumer towards the product. Attitudes are learned, it will be affected by new information and experience. Consumers use perception and learning to gather new information and combine with knowledge about product’s quality and benefits. This serves the basis for evaluating the choice products from which consumer will make purchase decision. An attitude is how positive or negative, favourable or unfavourable, or pro or con a person feels toward an object. This definition views attitudes as a feeling or an evaluative reaction to objects. A second definition represents Attitude can be defined as ‘a learned tendency to respond to an object in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way’ (Onkvisit and Shaw, 1994). This definition is slightly more complicated than the first because it incorporates the notion of a readiness to respond toward an object. A third definition of attitude popularized by cognitively oriented social psychologists is: ‘an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual, and cognitive process with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world’ (Krech and Crutchfield, 1948). This views attitudes as being made up of three components: (1) the cognitive, or knowledge, component, (2) the affective, or emotional, component, and (3) the cognitive, or behavioural-tendency, component. As conclude, an attitude is a learned tendency to act in a consistent way toward an object based on feeling and opinions that result from an evaluation of knowledge about the object. Yet, attitude formation is the process by which individuals form feeling or opinions toward other people, products, ideas, activities, and other objects in their environment (Michael R. Solomon, 2004). Attitude toward object is combine with three factors, first is learned knowledge form previous experience, second is evaluation based on individual’s knowledge, last is tendency to act based on evaluation. Attitudes are important to marketers because consumer will based on their attitude towards the product to buy or not to buy. But marketer cannot directly observed attitudes as attitudes are the result of motivation, perception, and learning. By understanding consumer attitudes, marketers can use interviews and surveys to measure consumers’ attitudes. 2.2.2 The functions of Attitudes Daniel Katz (1960) has developed functional theory of attitudes to explain how attitudes facilitate social behaviour. Attitudes provide individuals to apply their knowledge to an evaluation of alternative products and, consequently, to make faster, easier, and less risky purchase decisions to satisfy their needs. Obviously, attitudes help individuals with four primary functions, which are utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-defensive and knowledge function. To clarify, utilitarian function is gain utilitarian benefit from the product, while value expressive is product express individual’s values and lifestyle, and ego defensive is about a product that support self-concept and finally knowledge function is organize individual’s knowledge about product in his or her environment. 2.2.3 Attitude Models Consumers’ attitudes to products can be complex. They vary according to valence, extremity, resistance, persistence and confidence (Jim Blythe, 2008). Attitude has three components: affect, which is about the consumer’s emotional attachment to the product; behaviour, involves the person’s intentions to do something with regard to an attitude object and cognition, which is to do with the conscious thought processes. These three components are known as tri-component attitude models or as the ABC model of attitudes (Appendix 3). This model emphasizes the interrelationships between knowing, feeling and doing. Consumers’ attitudes towards a product cannot be determined simply by identifying their beliefs about it. The second attitude model is multi-attribute models. This model is unlike tri-component models cause it focus on an object’s multiple attributes and suggest individual’s attitude toward the object is the result of the aggregation of his or her evaluations of each one. There are three components is this models too, which are attributes on which the object is evaluated, beliefs about whether an object possesses the attribute and an evaluation of the importance or relevance of each attribute in determining the individual’s overall attitude toward the object (Martin Fishbein, 1963). This model is emphasizes that beliefs and evaluations both require evaluation of knowledge. Next is the attitude-toward-the-ad model. This model is an effort to understand how advertising influences consumer attitudes toward a particular product (Terence A. Shimp, 1981). Variables in these models include where, when, and in what context the as is seen as well as the effectiveness of the ad in generating feelings and dispelling negative beliefs. Mean that, an advertisement influences not only consumer’s attitudes about the ad itself but also their view of the product. As conclude, attitude-toward-the-ad model is consumers form feeling and judgments as the result of their exposure to an ad. 2.2.4 Measuring Attitudes In order for marketers to use that various attitude models, they need to measure all of these beliefs and evaluative components. There are three common methods used to measure attitude components. First is the observation of behaviour, second is qualitative investigations then attitude scales. Each has unique advantages, depending on the circumstances and all are helpful in determining the strength and direction of particular attitudes. The most often use by marketer is the attitude scales like consumer survey questionnaires with quantitative scale taken by consumers. In fact, this method may be hard for participants to recall information or to tell the truth about a controversial question. 2.2.5 Marketer changing consumer attitudes Marketer can attempt to influence consumer’s belief, affect, and conative intention by providing information about the attributes and benefits consumers use to form attitudes by influencing the social context in which consumers form those attitudes. For example, usually consumers look to members of their reference group for information and advice, marketers use communication tool to influence consumers and the information and advice can change their attitudes. In actuality, marketer changes consumers’ beliefs or evaluation of the product by promote their product offers benefit and will satisfy their needs better than competitors or previously product. The strategies marketers employ to influence and promote attitude change include adding benefits, changing product or package, changing the criteria for evaluation and linking products to existing favourable attitudes. The most often strategies use to influence attitude change are adding benefits and changing product or package. To enhanced product value, the product must offer multiple benefits to consumers. As consumer’s attitudes will become more positive by product’s perceived value increase. For example, Johnson’s Baby Oil claims to soften a baby’s skin, condition adults’ skin, remove makeup, and promote tanning. Besides that, consumers often form attitudes in response to changes that improve a product’s ability to deliver benefits. Softso ap, for instance, introduced liquid hand soap and in turn favourably influenced consumers’ attitudes about the convenience of the product. An alternative to changing the product itself is changing its packaging. For example, Jif peanut butter available in a plastic container. As result, changing package consumers’ attitudes are formed in part by evaluating packaging features that offer convenience and environmental benefits. The drawback of this changes will increased costs for company to maintain competition within market place and maintain their share hold of market. Also works against the consumer, as newer products make older product obsolete, resulting in more costs to remain current. 3.0 Conclusion – 20% In conclusion, according to Katona and Strumpel (1978), attitudes and perception are closely related. Both concepts tend to affect one’s perceptions and shape one’s behaviour. To identify consumer perception and attitude concept and function, several theories and models were represented. This is to focuses attention on how some of the factors that can contribute to those concepts and how they are evaluated by the consumers. Besides that, some examples are listed to support and identify various way that marketer attempt to influence consumer perception and attitudes. Lastly, it is useful that marketers have a better understanding on consumer’s attitudes and perception so that strategies can be applied in a proper manner to gain competitive advantages from other competitors and also can capture consumers’ attention for products to leading successful. Reference List Jim Blythe, (1997) The Essence of Consumer Behaviour. London, Prentice Hall. Solomon, M., G. Bamossy, S. Askegaard and M. Hogg (2009) Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective. FT Prentice Hall (4th Edition). Dickinson, R., and S.C. Hollander, Consumer Votes, Journal of Business Research, Vol.23, No.1, 9-20. Hazem Jamjourm, (2008) BDS The Global Anti-Apartheid Movement. Badil Resource Resource Center. Rob Harrison, Terry Newholm, Deirdre Shaw, (2005) The Ethical Consumer. London, Sage Publications Ltd. The Economist (1990), Boycotting Corporate America, The Economist, May 26, 69-70. Dolliver, M. (2000). Boomers as boycotters. Adweek, (Eastern edn), 12 April, 44. Ethical Consumer, (2008) Consumer Boycotts. [Internet] Available from: ethicalconsumer.org/Boycotts/aboutboycotts.aspx [Accessed 10 April 2011] Manheim, J. B. (2001) The death of a thousand cuts: Corporate campaigns and the attack on the corporation. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Smith, N. Craig (1990), Morality and the Market: Consumer Pressure for Corporate Accountability, London: Routledge. Friedman, M. (1999). Consumer Boycotts, New York: Routledge. Laidler, H. (1968). Boycotts and the Labor Struggle: Economic and Legal Aspects, New York: Russell and Russell. Baumeister, Roy F. (1998), â€Å"The Self,† in Handbook of Social Psychology, Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske and Gardner Lindzey ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Pittman, Thane S. (1998), â€Å"Motivation,† in Handbook of Social Psychology, Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T.Fiske and Gardner Lindzey ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Friedman, M. (1985). Consumer boycotts in the United States, 1970–1980: contemporary events in historic perspective. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 19, 98–117. Garrett, Dennis E. (1987), â€Å"Effectiveness of Marketing Policy Boycotts: Environmental Opposition to Marketing,† Journal of Marketing 54 (April), pp. 46-57. International Monetary Fund, (2010) World Economic Outlook Report. [Internet] Available from: imf.org/external/ns/cs.aspx?id=28 [Accessed 12 April 2011] Jim Blythe, (2001) Essentials of Marketing. London, Prentice Hall. William D.Wells and David Prensky, (1996) Consumer Behavior. New York, John Wiley Sons, Inc. Sak Onkvisit and John J. Shaw, Consumer Bahaviour, Strategy and Analysis (New York: Macmillan, 1994). D. Krech and R. Crutchfield, Theory and Problems in Social Psychology,   McGraw-Hill, New York, 1948. Michael R. Solomon, (2004) Consumer Behaviou: buying, having, and being. London, Prentice Hall. Jim Blythe, (2008) Essentials of Marketing. London, Prentice Hall. Martin Fishbein (1963), An investigation of the Relationship Between Beliefs About an Object and the Attitude Toward That Object, Human Relations, 16, 233 – 240. Terence A. Shimp (1981), Attitude toward the Ad as a Mediator of Consumer Brand Choice, Journal of Advertising, 10 (2), 9-15 ff. Katiba, G., and B. Strumpel. (1978) A New Economic Era. New York: Elsevier.

death of Ivan Ilynch1 essays

death of Ivan Ilynch1 essays The Death of Ivan Ilych The Death of Ivan Ilych tells the story of a man on his deathbed realizing that the majority of the things hes done throughout his life was for social acceptance. Concerned only with the thoughts of other people, his own ideas and thoughts were dismissed from importance when it came to self-image. On his deathbed he realizes that In public opinion I was moving uphill, but to the same extent life was slipping away from me. And now its gone and all I can do is die. Ivan found money and work to be the root of all happiness. One of the reasons why Ivan values work and money so much is because these to aspects were escapes from his artificial married life he was leading. For once in his life Ivan had a chance to escape all the worries involved with his work life and go to the country to live with his brother-in law, immediately after getting there Ivan felt bored and decided to go to Petersburg to punish those people who had failed to appreciate him by trying to get transferred to another ministry with larger pay. In this move he felt that his colleagues owed him something for all those years of so called friendships. Despite them he and his family he does find a new job paying 5000 rubles. As soon as his wife finds out their married life becomes the best its ever been since the first year. This is the perfect example of how they found happiness in money. While on his deathbed Ivan only wants to be pitied by people and the only one that pities him from the beginning is Gerasim. Ivan has a whole new respect for Gerasim when at the beginning of his death Gerasim says We all have to die someday so why shouldnt I help you(104). It is these words that started Ivans abstract thinking of lifes real meanings and treasures. Ivan knew that Gerasim was helping him because he would want the same for himself ...

Democratic-Republican Party - Members and History

Democratic-Republican Party - Members and History The Democratic-Republican Party is the earliest political party in the United States, dating to 1792. The Democratic-Republican Party was founded by  James Madison and  Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and champion of the Bill of Rights. It eventually ceased to exist by that name following the 1824 presidential election and became known as the Democratic Party, though it shares little in common with the modern political organization with the same name. Founding of the Democratic-Republican Party Jefferson  and Madison founded the party in opposition to  the Federalist Party, which was led by  John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and John Marshall, who fought for a strong federal government and supporting policies that favored the wealthy. The primary  difference between the Democratic-Republican Party and the Federalists was Jeffersons belief in the authority of local and state governments.   Jeffersons party stood for rural agricultural interests urban commercial interests represented by Hamilton and the Federalists, wrote Dinesh DSouza in  Hillarys America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The Democratic-Republican Party was initially just a loosely aligned group that shared their opposition to the programs introduced in the 1790s, wrote University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. Many of these programs, proposed by Alexander Hamilton, favored merchants, speculators, and the rich. Federalists including Hamilton favored the creation of a national bank and the power to impose taxes. Farmers in the western United States strongly opposed taxation because they worried about not being able to pay and having their land being bought up by eastern interests, Sabato wrote. Jefferson and Hamilton also clashed over the creation of a national bank; Jefferson did not believe the Constitution permitted such a move, while Hamilton believed the document was open to interpretation on the matter. Jefferson initially founded the party without the prefix; its members were initially known as Republicans. But the party eventually became known as the  Democratic-Republican Party. Jefferson initially considering calling his party the anti-Federalists but instead preferred to described its opponents as anti-Republicans, according to the late  New York Times  political columnist William Safire. Prominent Members of the Democratic-Republican Party    Four members of the Democratic-Republican Party were elected president. They are: Thomas Jefferson, who served from 1801 until 1809.James Madison, who served from 1809 until 1817.James Monroe, who served from 1817 until 1825.John Quincy Adams, who served from 1825 until 1829. Other prominent members of the Democratic-Republican Party were Speaker of the House and famed orator  Henry Clay;  Aaron Burr, a U.S. senator; George Clinton, a vice president, William H. Crawford,  a senator and Treasury secretary under Madison. End of the Democratic-Republican Party In the early 1800s, during the administration of Democratic-Republican President James Monroe, there was so  little political conflict that it became essentially a one-party commonly referred to as the Era of Good Feeling.  In the presidential election of 1824, however, that changed as several factions opened up in the Democratic-Republican Party. Four candidates ran for the White House on the Democratic-Republican ticket that year: Adams, Clay, Crawford and Jackson. The party was in clear disarray. No one secured enough electoral votes to win the presidency to the race was determine by the U.S. House of Representatives, which chose Adams in an outcome that was called the corrupt bargain. Wrote Library of Congress historian  John J. McDonough: Clay received the smallest number of votes cast and was eliminated from the race. Since none of the other candidates had received a majority of the electoral college votes, the outcome was decided by the House of Representatives. Clay used his influence to help deliver the vote of Kentuckys congressional delegation to Adams, in spite of a resolution by the Kentucky state legislature that instructed the delegation to vote for Jackson.When Clay was subsequently appointed to the first place in Adamss cabinet - secretary of state - the Jackson camp raised the cry of corrupt bargain, a charge that was to follow Clay thereafter and thwart his future presidential ambitions. In 1828, Jackson ran against Adams and won - as a member of the Democratic Party. And that was the end of the Democratic-Republicans.

The Archaeological search for the ancient city of Troy Essay

The Archaeological search for the ancient city of Troy - Essay Example According to the myth that he created, in the early childhood little Henry has set a fantastic goal - to find Homer's Troy and immortalize his own name. For this he earned a fortune and turned his life into one of the most amusing stories in world history. In this a very interesting tale’s finale: Troy has been found and wiped out. Heinrich Schliemann was born in 1822 in the family of a Protestant pastor in Germany. During his childhood he heard many stories about ancient castles and buried treasures. Those stories along with the "World History for Children" book, which he got when he was 8 as a gift from his father, according to him, became the impetus for the journey to a mythical Troy. Later, in his autobiography Schliemann wrote that when he saw pictures of Troy, the city, glorified by the blind Homer in the immortal "Iliad", he decided once and for all to find the city. Archaeology, the science of finding and excavation the ancient civilizations hardly existed in the begi nning the XIX century. And Schliemann's idea of basing his search on the work of literature, taking it at a face value sounded crazy. What if the poet, albeit the great one, used metaphors and wrote about imaginary things? Heinrich’s father fell into financial problems and the boy had to look for an employment. Beside the work, he was spending his money on further his education. Wanting to verify the statement â€Å"A man who speaks two languages is worth two men†, Henry decides to study foreign languages, starting with the mother tongue – German, polishing pronunciation. Using his own method of learning within only three months he learned English and French – within next months. On March 1844, after being fired from his next job, he approached the richest import and export firm in Amsterdam â€Å"Schroeder and Co" and offers himself as a commercial agent to work with foreign partners. â€Å"Schroder and Co† had the trading business virtually ever ywhere in the world and Heinrich proved to be a real catch for them. Not only he knew languages, he also knew how to trade. He was working for two people and receiving one salary. After a year of hard work he has made a great success – the director of the company made him his personal assistant. At that time the most profitable market for the company was Russia. Technical complexity of its development was that the representatives of Russian trading companies generally did not know any foreign language. It was difficult to negotiate. Schliemann took the initiative to rectify the situation and started to learn the Russian language. Soon he became fluent in it and was stationed to Russia. In 1846 Russia met Schliemann with intolerable cold. The path to his dream journey to Troy lied through the endless snow, which still had to be turned into gold. Spring brought Heinrich Schliemann fabulous profits. He started his own company and over the next few years he creates an entire trad ing empire, which specialized in the purchase of European goods in Amsterdam and selling them in Russia. It seemed the market in Russia is conquered, and Schliemann left to America, where he invested in gold mining. Profiteering gold was successful, but the outbreak of the Crimean War in Russia in 1854 opened new horizons for the company.

Economic developments in Germany and their impact on the EU economy Essay

Economic developments in Germany and their impact on the EU economy - Essay Example This paper demonstrates the main two economic pillars behind the unification were the theories of ‘Regional Trading Block’ and ‘Optimum Currency Area’. The former deals with a free trade area with a two-tier tariff system i.e. zero tariffs within the union members and some positive rate of tariff for the non union-members. (Robson 1999: 109-110) The latter deals with the introduction of a unique currency; it would enable the member states to enjoy the benefit of a fixed exchange rate system with the facility of full currency convertibility. (Krugman and Obstfeld, 1997: 631-33) The simultaneous functioning of a trading block and the optimum currency area was the main theoretical standpoint of the European Union and economic integration was the result of that. Economic integration is desired for the transfer of the benefit of economic development of one country to another. (Czinkota, Rivoli, Ronkainen 1989: 14-16) Let us consider the economic development of Germany and its influence on the European Union. Here our analysis would be concentrated on the economic development of Germany after the establishment of EU. German economy marks itself as a social market economy as the government undertakes a wide array of social services. As German economy is highly export oriented it advocated for European economic integration. After unification German commercial policies have been highly centred towards union. The social reform policies adopted by Germany for the welfare of the society and the structural industrial reform enhanced the performance of the economy and its global competitiveness. (US Dept of State 2008)

Persepolis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Persepolis - Essay Example Her description of a significant event from Iran history, the movie theater burning, and the way it is done will help to understand her attempt to full extent. (Satrapi, 2002). The book of Satrapi is peculiar from the point of view of the way of the events description. They are depicted on the illustrations which are accompanied by short but sharp comments, like â€Å"The Shah said that a group of religious fanatics perpetrated the massacre.† (Satrapi, 2002, 15), which is, similarly, an attempt to simplify the description. â€Å"Simplification develops more than just the accentuated written messages†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Nolan, 2010, 3). The pictures about the Rex Cinema fire contain the images of a burning building of the theater and the metaphorical depiction of the victims of the fire who were burnt inside. Keira Nolan also states that â€Å"†¦a simplified art style works best, as it amplifies only the primary features of the text, unlike realism which would be far more focused on social details.†, which means that Satrapi focuses primarily on terrible consequences of the tragedy. (Nolan, 2010, 1). This way the author instigates the readerà ¢â‚¬â„¢s thinking on both the reason and the party which caused this terrible fire. Satrapi also pays attention that the firemen arrived too late, â€Å"†¦forty minutes later†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and this is also a point of significant concern. (Satrapi, 2002, 15). The mentioned event is also described from historical perspective. The historians, the date and the death toll aside, also pay attention to the versions of the deadly fire, which are, obviously, opposite and are similarly to have been elaborated to defend each of the blamed parties. The official government which ruled Iran those days blamed the protesters and the militants, whereas the latter counter-attacked such accusations by their aiming at SAVAK, the state structure close to Shah.

Slide Presentation, Plastic Bags Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Slide Presentation, Plastic Bags - Assignment Example The second noteworthy facet was the insurmountable difference in the cost of recycling plastic bags and creating new bags. Jared Blumefeld noted that the cost of recycling is more that 125% the cost of creating new bags. Certainly, the government as well as private individuals cannot maintain the recycling drive for plastic bags at this ridiculous rate. If recycling then is not the answer what is? The third feature emphasizes a glimmer of hope for the stoppage and subsequent eradication of the dangers of the use of plastic. The creators of the presentation suggest that we can stop the use of plastic bags and replace the plastic with cloth. Besides the obvious advantage of being particularly recyclable one individual utilizing one cloth bag can replace the use of 288 plastic bags in one year. Therefore if every member of the population utilized cloth instead of plastic there would be a phenomenal removal of the dangers of plastic consumption in our lives. From the foregoing arguments one can conclude that the continued use of plastic bags are indeed detrimental to our lives as a consequence life as we know it today would be full of poison in the very near future unless we take the bull by the horn and make significant steps to removing the plastic from our daily lives. Thus, consistent with the findings as presented in the power point I recommend a complete 360 degrees turning from the use of plastic bags to a more positive alternative. Like the authors of this presentation I would like to reiterate the use of cloth instead of plastic and an outright ban of its use by the government. The author of this paper believes that in addition to the recommendations already made we as individuals and as a nation can plant trees to not only replenish the earth with positive substances but also to be used as material to create

The role and representation of men Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The role and representation of men - Essay Example man as weak and vulnerable, yet often such film makes a point of portraying this as a tragedy, an injustice in which man is stripped of his natural power. In stark contrast; the female role is often a vulnerable one – she is the beautiful daughter or the caring wife – she is the home-maker who cooks the meals and cleans the house; she is the child-bearer. Such stereotypical portrayals of the sexes are indeed extremely common, and have roots in the age-old status roles which men and women took centuries ago. This essay will focus on the role of the male in film; it will assess which forms the male role has taken in film and for which message it was intended to portray. Film media plays an immense role in portraying the stereotypical roles of men and women on the screen. As has already been stated, the male role is often connected with masculinity, and all that comes with this label; namely independence, financial success, violence, aggression and physical attractiveness. Men suffering problems are portrayed as ‘drinking’ them away or using methods of violence to ease the anger associated with the problem. A ‘real’ man is portrayed as muscular, harsh, well-endowed and often is a womaniser because of these qualities. It is almost as if these qualities give the male a reason, or a right to such womanising activities. The French male role is often the suave, less masculine in terms of violence, yet more beautiful and poetic. Entre nous depicts and accentuates the difference between the ideal and the typical male role. It portrays the ability of the female characters in constructing a network of friendship and mutual support, in which they are able to establish and maintain a form of independence from their husbands. In this film, the male role depicts that of the caring husband, the admirer of his wife and daughters, the provider of the family, yet in a less masculine sense. By depicting the women in this manner, the film manages to accentuate

Slide Presentation, Plastic Bags Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Slide Presentation, Plastic Bags - Assignment Example The second noteworthy facet was the insurmountable difference in the cost of recycling plastic bags and creating new bags. Jared Blumefeld noted that the cost of recycling is more that 125% the cost of creating new bags. Certainly, the government as well as private individuals cannot maintain the recycling drive for plastic bags at this ridiculous rate. If recycling then is not the answer what is? The third feature emphasizes a glimmer of hope for the stoppage and subsequent eradication of the dangers of the use of plastic. The creators of the presentation suggest that we can stop the use of plastic bags and replace the plastic with cloth. Besides the obvious advantage of being particularly recyclable one individual utilizing one cloth bag can replace the use of 288 plastic bags in one year. Therefore if every member of the population utilized cloth instead of plastic there would be a phenomenal removal of the dangers of plastic consumption in our lives. From the foregoing arguments one can conclude that the continued use of plastic bags are indeed detrimental to our lives as a consequence life as we know it today would be full of poison in the very near future unless we take the bull by the horn and make significant steps to removing the plastic from our daily lives. Thus, consistent with the findings as presented in the power point I recommend a complete 360 degrees turning from the use of plastic bags to a more positive alternative. Like the authors of this presentation I would like to reiterate the use of cloth instead of plastic and an outright ban of its use by the government. The author of this paper believes that in addition to the recommendations already made we as individuals and as a nation can plant trees to not only replenish the earth with positive substances but also to be used as material to create

Historiographic review of the great terror in Russia (1936- 1938) Assignment

Historiographic review of the great terror in Russia (1936- 1938) - Assignment Example This information was proved by the number of documents and annals as well. There are many notes that were made by Stalin personally. These documents testify that he ordered to kill more and more people. He marked the sentences with the red pencil (Kuromiya, 2007). Some names were marked by the additional notes, such as â€Å"kill more†. At the bottom of the pages there was a comment â€Å"Everyone should be shot†. The number of shot â€Å"enemies† was more than 3000 per day. It was proved that during the previously mentioned period 681692 people were sentenced to death, because of the political motives (Getty, 1993). However, according to other sources, the number of victims was much higher. Counting the victims, we should also take into account those who died in prisons, correctional labor colonies and gulags and also those who were just shot due to the criminal offences. So, the number of the victims reached 1 million (Frierson C.and Vilenski, 2010). Moreover, in 1936 -1939 more than 1,2 million of communists were arrested that was a half of the communist party. Only 50 thousand of them got their liberty, the rest were shot or just died in prison. Getty and Manning (1993) state: â€Å"during the Great Terror, the NKVD [Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del] investigated and commonly arrested party members who had been purged from the party. Once the NKVD had made a number of arrests, party members having any association with those arrested were called before the party committee for questioning. At one Moscow textile mile, all party members with relatives, friends, co-workers, or any other associates who had been arrested were themselves subject to questioning, expulsion from the party and arrest† (Getty and Manning 1993: 164). The name â€Å"The Great Terror: was given to the events after the name of the book written by Conquest. The book is called â€Å"The Great Terror†. In the Soviet Union it was called â€Å"ezhovshinaà ¢â‚¬  after the last name of commissar Ezhov, who was arrested on April, 10, 1939. He was also shot on February 4, 1940. He was accused of the sympathy to Trotskyism, espionage and the preparation of the revolution. Getty and Manning describe: â€Å"he was a fairly colorless, mediocre individual who was raised up to the heights of party and state leadership by the will of Stalin, am ordinary product of creation and establishment by the will of Stalin, an ordinary product of the creation and establishment of totalitarian, coercive and bureaucratic system. He was truly a servant of the regime of personal power who compensated for his low moral and political qualities by exhibiting selfless love for in, and devotion to the leader† (Getty and Manning 1993: 21). His henchmen had same destiny. It should be noticed that not all of the mass repressions organizers shared the destiny of their victims. Some of them made an excellent carrier. For example Beria, who was the organizer of the great terror in Georgia. He and his henchmen got the beneficial positions in the Party, NKVD, army and other branches (Davis, 1997). There was an interesting episode in the terror campaign. One of the heads of NKVD, Feldman, beat one of the prisoners. As a result the man stayed in hospital for long. This case was under control and Feldman proved his actions and was not going to be sorry. He emphasized that he had a right to behave this way, because he had Beria’s directive. Feldman added that he would continue to act this

Essay Free

Essay Free Will Essay â€Å"Free Will† takes one of the central questions of any religious realm. Whether a human has a freedom in his choice? Whether a human can make a personal, independent decision such us what he should do in each situation? Or are all of his actions predetermined, and the possibility of making a free choice an illusion? Since the time of the Greek philosopher Socrates to modern times, philosophers, theologians, scientists have tried to prove the existence of â€Å"Free Will† or its absence, and as well have to answer to the question do people have real control over their actions? The question, about existence of â€Å"Free Will†, appeared in ancient Greek philosophy. Socrates and his followers believed that the dependence of the lower sensual impulse is an equivalent to slavery, but responsible subordination which was inspired by human mind, means a â€Å"Free Will†. Socrates argued that all humans are looking for the good behavior, but not all equally know what good behavior is. If a person really knows what the true goodness is, then this person wants to do it, but one, who doesnt know, usually takes imaginary goodness instead of real goodness. Then rushes to reach the imaginary goodness and makes mistakes. This then produces evil deeds. No one is willing to be bad on their own will. This way, moral evil reduced to thoughtlessness, that equal to a lower needs level, and goodness for Socrates, according to Aristotle, expresses of the intellect, which is an equivalent to a â€Å"Free Will†. Which means, only human who doing good things can have â€Å"Free Will†. Based on the foregoing, it is possible to make a conclusion, that by the term â€Å"Free Will†, Socrates understands the qualities that exceptional people have, rather than an integral part of every human being. The idea of â€Å"Free Will† gets a new interpretation with the development of Christianity. If we trace the history of â€Å"Free Will† in the Bible, it is necessary to start with the character of God, who decided on his own and created the universe and all that fills it. The Bible says that man was created in the image and likeness of God. This means that a human is equal to God, and has a consciousness, feelings and will, and has the ability to think and make decisions. Suppose a person is really free in his choice. In such a case, two problems appear right away. According to religious beliefs, everything in this world happens only by the will of God. God makes, all he wants, in heaven and on earth. And no one, including human can’t resist God’s will. How, then, can a person can have any â€Å"Free Will†? If a person is not free, another ethical problem appears. According to Christianity (as well as Islam and Judaism) God rewards man for good behavior and punishes him for his bad. However, if a person cannot choose what he should do in each case, if his actions were predetermined and even corresponded to the will of God, how and why in this case, it is possible to punish humans? And what then is the â€Å"Free Will† for a man? Scientists consider issues related to the freedom of will. With development in science particularly genetic engineering, neuroscience and psychiatry; human view the presence of â€Å"Free Will† has changed. Scientists believe that people do not choose the genotype and the environment, do not choose the other factors affecting their lives. People do not choose in which family to be born, therefore they do not choose hereditary genes that are the most meaningful way determine our lives. Some genes predisposing to a human disease, some genes determining appearance, behavior, intellectual abilities all of them affect our lives. According to scientists, human body is as a kind of machine, established and acting at the direction of the external forces that cause it to work in certain way. This point of view is a concern because it is mean that people cannot be responsible for their behavior in any situation. No one has found the answer to the question of whether people have the â€Å"Free Will† or is it just an illusion. But in any case, a human has the right to follow the path of good or choice the path of evil. All humans exist like cells in a single large organism called the universe. World created from all its parts or elements. Each element contributes to the world their personal characteristic; effects and change world’s destiny. It may be weak and insignificant in the overall system of the world, but it is exists. It operates within certain limits on domestic fundamentals essence and nature. Without any of these elements would be a different world.

Roles Of Armed Forces In Disaster Management Environmental Sciences Essay

Roles Of Armed Forces In Disaster Management Environmental Sciences Essay 1. Disasters are of various types caused by natural phenomena as well as compounded by human error. Natural disaster may be of various type such as earthquakes, cyclone, tornado, flood etc. and other events such as drought, crops failure, etc. whereas man made disasters may include radiation accidents, gas leakage accidents bomb explosion, war time rioting, firing etc. Natural Disasters are unlike anything else in human experience. These are largely beyond control of human being resulting quick changes in the lives of the victims. On the other hand, the cost of man made disaster like war is borne by the entire population. The socio-economic consequences of all these disasters have always been highly alarming and devastating. 2. Many countries of the world are frequently struck by adverse natural calamities. The magnitude and severity of such disasters are be alarming. The loss of life, damage to property and stripping off the resources are common features. However, the topology of natural disasters is multiple, based on meteorological, topographical and geological conditions such as cyclones, floods, earthquake etc. and its effects also vary from country to country. 3. Like many countries of the world, natural disasters are very common in Bangladesh, because of its geographical, atmospheric, environmental and fast changing ecological reasons. Bangladesh may be described as one of the most disaster prone countries of the world. Almost every year she experiences one or the other type of disaster. The most common disasters that generally occur in Bangladesh are floods, cyclone, storm surge, tornado, norwester, drought, earthquake etc. Bangladesh is a developing country having one of the lowest per capita income in the world, cannot afford to have a big standing organization with equipment exclusively to meet the requirements of pre, during and post disaster activities. 4. The contribution which the armed forces can make in dealing with such disaster need not be over emphasized. This contribution has usually been made under some form of official arrangement for aid to civil power, as laid down in the standing operating procedures.Experience has shown that military forces are fully effective in counter-disaster role. The flexible organizational structure, capability of sustained operation in all weathers by day and night and well trained management system of the armed forces make them particularly well-suited for effective disaster relief operations. In addition, many of their normal activities parallel to those in public emergency services. Thus armed forces can offer assistance to the victims with invaluable support in engineering, communications, transport, rescue, emergency medical services, field sanitation, water supply and so on. 5. Therefore, whenever Bangladesh faces any natural disaster it becomes imperative for the Armed Forces to respond quickly with its own management, communications and administrative machineries to assist the Civil authorities to provide humanitarian relief to prevent further loss of lives and property. In this paper an attempt will be made to identify the types of different natural disasters and the role of the Armed Forces in handling them, effects of disaster in general those of the new disaster threats and Disaster management system in other countries The study is confined to the natural disasters that commonly occur in Bangladesh and its handling by the armed forces. It is assumed that the definition of disaster, its pattern and nature, the principle causes are well-known to the reader and therefore, not discussed here. The paper is laid out in the following order : a. Types of disaster; and its Effect on Bangladesh. b. Nature of Military Assistance and the capabilities of the Armed Forces to combat the Disaster. c. Existing Disaster Management System in Bangladesh. d. Contribution of the Armed Forces in Disaster Management- a Historical Review. e. Disaster Management System in other Countries. f. Future Role of Armed Forces in Disaster Management. AIM 6. The aim of this paper is to analyse disaster management in general and recommend measures/systems for disaster preparedness and mitigation in Bangladesh by the Armed Forces. TYPES OF DISASTER, AND ITS EFFECTS ON BANGLADESH. 7. General. Disaster includes such events produced by a variety of natural and manmade destructive agents, including earthquake, volcanic eruption, tropical cyclone, flood, landslide, drought, epidemic, fires and war time bombing attacks. According to Kates (1980) roughly 90 percent of the worlds disaster are due to four hazard types. a. Floods (40 percent) b. Tropical Cyclone (20 percent) c. Drought (15 percent) d. Earth Quakes (15 percent) 8. Types of Disaster. Except earthquakes (Though the country experienced a mild trauma in 1988) other three hazards are common in Bangladesh. The most common disasters for which the Armed Forces may be employed in aid of civil power are. a. Natural Disasters. (1) Flood. (2) Tropical cyclone (typhoon). (3) Earthquake. (4) Landslide. (5) Epidemic. (6) Drought. (7) Famine. (8) Storm surge. b. Man made or Artificial Disasters. (1) Major Accidents. (2) Civil Unrest. (3) Man made floods. 9. The New Disaster Threats. The new disaster threat which has developed since World War-II besides the traditional disaster threat need to be considered and dealt with as a challenge with more effectively . The new disaster threats, may cause endless sufferings win far-ranging effects, and at the same time be difficult to counter. Some of these kinds of disasters are listed below : a. Social Violence. Social Violence like hijacking, terrorism, communal riots, civil unrest and conflicts with conventional arms affect many nations. The Armed Forces can help the government remove such social violence. b. Hazardous Material. Hazardous materials or substances can be as new disaster threat. The tragedy of Bhupal in India in 1985 ranks paramount in this category, with its estimated toll of 2500 killed and 100,000 affected in various ways. c. Atomic and Nuclear Threat. The explosion in 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia highlighted the extent and severity of this problem. Radio active effects from the disaster area were measured as far way as 1600 miles and more. Even if country was not directly involved in nuclear conflicts or terrorism, it could well suffer severely from the radio active side-effects. 10. General Effects of Disaster. The causes of disaster may be varied, the major effects of disaster tend to be : a. Loss of Life. b. Injury. c. Damage to and destruction of property and nationalInfrastructure. d. Damage to and destruction of subsistence and cash- crops. e. Disruption of production, life style and essential services. f. Loss of livelihood. g. Destabilization of National Economic Development. h. Sociological and physiological after effects. j. Political Instability. k. Crisis related to national security. 11. Effect of Major types of Disaster in Bangladesh. The effect of major types of disasters are given at Annex `A. 12. Impacts on Macro-Economic Adjustment of govt. The impacts of the natural Disasters on macro-economic adjustment are: a. Impact on central govt revenue. b. Impact on availability of Extra-budgetary resources. c. Impact on central govt development budget. d. Impact on foreign aid and over all growth. NATURE OF MILITARY ASSISTANCE AND THE CAPABILITY OF ARMED FORCES TO COMBAT THE DISASTER. 13. Military Assistance. The nature and extent of military assistance in disaster will depend on the combination of the forces prevailing in the country. Following assistance may be rendered by the Armed Forces to fight disaster. a. Air, land and sea survey and assessment, specially to ascertain levels of casualties and damage. b. Reconnaissance in the disaster zone and identification of routes within and leading towards it. c. Organized and mobile manpower for rescue operation. d. Well trained and equipped Engineers. e. Signal / communication units to provide emergency radio and telephone links. f. Supply / Logistic units to handle, store and transport goods and people over all types of roads. g. Emergency / Immediate medical support to the civilian services. h. Helicopters and aircrafts for reconnaissance and transport duties. j. Provision, by Naval forces, of transport support in harbour; also electrical power, mechanical engineering, water purification, long distance radio communication, cooking and backing facilities. 14. Capabilities of the Armed Forces to Combat Disaster. The well planned organization and management system of the Armed Forces make them capable to effectively handle, manage and tackle natural calamities and disasters under any serious condition. The members of the Armed Forces are selected personnel, disciplined and are well trained in leadership qualities. They are great organizers of any given task with honesty, sincerity, co-operation, discipline and above all patriotism. They can handle and manage any catastrophe with success. 15. Armed Forces have specialized training institutions to impart training to their members on various fields. They have expert hands such as doctors, engineers and other professionals to meet the differents need . These experts become extremely necessary to meet any emergency and for conducting relief and rehabilitation work. The role of the Armed Forces in various disaster management fields is briefly narrated below : a. Rescue Operation. The Armed Forces are quite capable of rescuing water bound people from flood affected areas using different kinds of water transport and also helicopter. b. Relief and Rehabilitation Work. Members of the Armed Forces with their better mobility can reach at every corner of the country rapidly to start relief and rehabilitation work in disaster and crisis ridden areas. c. Medical and Sanitation Services. Members of Army Medical Corps immediately start providing all kinds of emergency and general medical services including vaccines and setting up of sanitation facilities through active participation , wherever possible of the affected people. d. Supply of Pure Drinking Water. The Armed Forces are assigned the task of ensuring the supply of through water bowsers/trailers. Besides, they also assist in sinking tube-well for this purpose. e. Repair and Maintenance of Communication. Restoration of normal communication becomes a very important task of the Armed Forces in flood affected and cyclone hit areas. They also perform this important task in areas where sabotage or subversive activities are carried out. Members of the Signal Corps undertake this responsibility and urgently rebuild the communication system. The Crops of Engineers of the Armed Forces undertake emergency repair and reconstruction work of the roads and bridges damaged by flood, tidal bore and help restore effective and workable communication system. f. Provision of shelter. Armed Forces also in sometimes participate of construction of shelters in areas severely hit by natural disaster. Mostly this is done through the active participation of the affected people. g. Transportation of Relief Materials. Armed Forces render great help in transporting relief materials to the affected areas. For this purpose, they quickly use their different kinds of transport vehicles. h. Loading Unloading of Food Grain Relief Materials. Armed forces may be employed for loading and unloading and guarding of food grains and relief materials in sea-port and different river ports. EXISTING DISASTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN BANGLADESH 16. General. Disaster relief and its managements is one of the prime national responsibilities. The Bangladesh Government Bangladesh has outlined the duties and responsibilities of the various Governmental institutions and of different ministries, including the Armed Forces in two Standing Operating Procedures (SOP). These SOPs are : a. Emergency standing orders for flood. b. Standing order for cyclone. 17. Based on these two SOPs Armed Forces have formulated their own SOPs up to unit level. SOP at all level has clearly spelt out the detail tasks with regard to pre, during and post disaster activities. More so, when a disaster is anticipated, selected military units and personnel with vehicles, transport aircrafts, helicopters, naval vessels and other water crafts remain in complete readiness to take part for immediate rescue and relief operations. 18. Existing System. Armed Forces play a pivotal role in complementing Government effort to restore normalcy in disaster affected areas. The system which are followed in disaster management is briefly stated below : a. Preparedness to Face Calamities. Natural calamities like cyclone and flood are recurring phenomenon Bangladesh but In recent times the intensity and magnitude of these natural calamities have given rise to the need for organizing the whole nation in preventing, fighting and understanding this calamities. b. Organizations Dealing with Preparedness. Government (govt) of Bangladesh has formed various committees/ bodies/cells at the national level to advise the government as to how to be prepared for facing natural calamities and to execute the Government decision and action programmes to fight the disasters. These committees have specific tasks and mission during a disaster period. The committees/cells are : (1) National Disaster Prevention The policy making Council. body. (2) National Co-ordination The co-ordinating Committee. body. (3) Disaster Management and The operation Relief Activities Co-ordination Group. and Monitoring Cell. (4) Prime Ministers Relief Go-down. 19. Armed Forces in Disaster Management. Armed Forces Division (AFD) is the highest Military Organization in Bangladesh. Disaster Management and Relief Activities Co-ordination cell operates at the Prime Ministers Office with support from Armed Forces Division. The cell functions under the directive of the Honorable Prime Minister. Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division acts as the Chief Co-ordinator of all relief and rehabilitation activities through this cell. All the three services, ie Army, Navy and Air Force are ordered by this Division prior to an anticipated disaster. 20. Co-ordination and Monitoring Cell. In the event of post disaster management, day to day operation coordinated by a cell within the Prime Ministers office under the Principal Staff Officer (PSO). This is commonly known as Disaster Management and Relief Activities Coordination and Monitoring Cell, more widely known as the PSOs Cell. The functions of the Cell are : a. Collection and compilation of damage assessments. b. Assessment of relief requirements. c. Management of Prime Ministers Relief Fund and related Storage facilities. d. Receipt, storage and distribution of locally and foreign donated relief supplies. e. Coordination of air supply drops. f. Coordination of transport. g. Public relations including briefing of the media and donors. 21. In the aftermath of any disaster, the Cell functions round the clock. The tasks that military personnel are to undertake in an emergency period are : a. Evacuation. b. Rapid damage assessments (specially logistic support to mixed assessment teams). c. Search and rescue. d. First aid/medical treatment. e. Handling of relief. f. Logistical support (land, sea and air) for the delivery of relief goods. g. Placing of relief storage and distribution. h. Clearance of debris. j. Emergency repairs. k. Burial of human bodies and animal carcasses. l. Setting up/ restoration of Telecommunications. m. Provision of Temporary shelters. CONTRIBUTION OF THE ARMED FORCES IN HANDLING DISASTERS A HISTORICAL REVIEW 22. Armed Forces of Bangladesh traditionally have an additional role to meet any sort of national emergency. For any severe disaster Armed Forces is called for providing necessary emergency support and assistance. Besides this, on humanitarian ground an organized force feels obliged to participate in alleviating human sufferings. In recent past during the severe disasters military organization worked side by side with Civil Administration. This remarkable contribution of the Armed Forces as explained below has earned the confidence and respect of the people. a. Cyclone of 1985 and 1988 and Great Cyclone of 1991. It is well remembered that on 25 May 1985 the ferocious cyclone accompanied by tidal waves devastated Urirchar and badly affected Swandip and Hatia. On 29 November, 1988 another devastating cyclone rolled over Bagerhat, Satkhira, Khulna and Sundarban areas. The cyclone that crossed the Bangladesh coast on 29-30 April 1991 can only be described as a Great Cyclone. All these cyclones caused indescribable damage to the lives, livestock, crops and properties of the affected areas. The destruction of property caused by 1991 cyclone alone was estimated to be about $4 billion (US). The cyclone that affected Bangladesh since 1960 are shown at Annex `B and the official statistics of 1991 cyclone are shown at Annex`C. b. Immediately after the cyclone warning orders were issued by the Govt to all the services Headquarters, to undertake anticipated relief and rescue operations, Armed Forces provided the following support during the cyclone. (1) The Armed Forces Quickly mobilized troops and moved them to the cyclone affected areas by the Naval vessels, boats, other available Water crafts along with the relief goods, medicine, drinking water etc. (2) Rescued the affected persons/families. (3) They helped sinking tube-wells and re-excavated ponds for pure water where necessary. (4) A good number of small medical team with life saving drug deployed in affected areas to treat the injured persons. (5) They established radio communication between the affected areas and concerned headquarters. (6) They prepared temporary shelters. (7) They rendered assistance in restoring the public services. (8) Army engineers with the assistance of Roads and Highway and Railway authorities repaired bridges and culverts as well as roads within the shortest possible time. (9) Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) employed substantial number of its air assets for dropping food into the cyclone affected areas. They also evacuated serious patients to the base hospital. (10) Bangladesh Navy was mainly deployed in Chittagong and Khulna area. Its sailors had been worked day and night to provide emergency assistance to relief/ reconstruction operations. 23. Flood of 1987 and 1988. The floods of 1987 and 1988, that which inundated about 39.9% and 67% of the land area respectively were also unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh. The entire international community was not sure how Bangladesh will over come this disaster. But by the grace of Almighty, the Govt, could tackle the situation within very short period of time in an organized manner. The military organization earned confidence nationally and internationally. Total 350 camps were established to carry out relief activities. Official estimates of loses and damage by floods in 1987 and 1988 are shown at annex D. and major floods in Bangladesh since 1954 are shown at annex E . DISASTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN OTHER COUNTRIES 24. General. Most of the countries of the world are facing disaster in some form or other but the type and magnitude differ from country to country. Each country has a National level disaster plan in which there is provision for military assistance. Organization and the procedure of handling disaster of some of the countries are discussed below : 25. Australia. a. Types of Disaster. Cyclone is a common natural disaster in Australia. The cyclone season extends from November to April. The two major cyclones are TRACY which devastated Darwin on Christmas Day of 1974 and the TRIXIE that devastated western Australia in February 1975. Australia did suffer from floods normally caused by cyclonic rain falls. b. Organization. The Federal Civil Defence Authority under Department of Defence is the central authority to coordinate relief activities. Each state and community has its own local Counter Disaster Organization. The Defence Forces of Australia have their own role to play in disaster management. They coordinate with all levels of disaster activities i.e. the National Level, the state and community level and the Local level. In the local level the chief Executive officer (CEO) may be the local Chief of the Police. c. Disaster Planning Group (DGP). Besides, the DGP is to provide policy guidance for the CEO in planning disaster counter measures and during the conduct of disaster relief operations. The DPG consists of representatives from the following : (1) Police. (2) The local State or Territory Emergency Service Organization. (3) The major Medical/Hospital facility. (4) Local government. (5) The communications/telecommunications authority. (6) The major non govt welfare Organization. (7) Others in accordance with any priority local need. d. The Emergency Committee. The CEO is the chairman of the committee, consists of the leaders of all local organizations, including the Police. e. Defence Forces. When Defence Force units assist in counter disaster operations, a Defence Force liaison officer is to be attached to the CEO during the period of operations. All matters relating to the allocated Defence Force elements or resources can then be channelled through this officer. 26. Malaysia. a. The Types of Disasters. Malaysia experiences flood almost every year.17 The major causes for this are constant and heavy rainfall, erosion and siltation of river beds. b. National Security Council. National Security Council (NSS) It is primarily responsible for disaster management. At the national level it is the NSC that decides on the policy and conducts relief operations. They have the National Disaster plan and a Disaster Organization at all levels to mobilize and coordinate all activities connected with disaster. The plan also includes the participation of the Armed Forces. The use of military in National Disasters is within the scope of the Malaysian Armed Forces. This is one of their defined rolls. The major operational control machineries of the Relief operational plan includes: (1) National Security Council (NSC). (2) National Flood Relief Committee (NFRC). (3) Working committee for supplies. (4) Working committee for transport and communication. (5) National Security Council Flood Relief Operation Centre. (6) Defence Operation Room. (7) State Flood Relief Coordination Control Centre. (8) District Flood Relief Coordination Control Centre. All these committees and centres include all three services of Armed Forces i.e. Army, Navy, and Air forces. Philippines 27. Types of Disasters. Typhoons-high winds, storm surges, landslides and floods are the major disasters in Philippines. 28. Organization. The national govt is responsible for disaster operations. The main body in charge of mitigating the impact of natural disaster is the National Disaster coordinating council (NDCC). The secretary of Defence convenes the council with the representatives of govt. the office of the president, the Armed Forces and the phillipine National Red cross (NRC). The role of the philippines Armed Forces is to establish communication links and make this available for disaster operations, to assist in reconstruction of damage rods/ bridges and to assist in providing transportation for relief and evacuation. 29. Analysis. From the above discussions, It may also be observed that in almost every country of the world Armed Forces, form the core of different national disaster management bodies and in any catastrophic, all these bodies work shoulder to shoulder. In the light of their experience following suggestions can be made for Bangladesh for effective National disaster management. a. Bangladesh may also form a body like one of those countries. In such effort our Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation may be placed under Prime Ministers Secretariat as a Division. This will enhance the coordination capability of the proposed division to effectively handle the crisis arising out of disaster. b. In case of Australia they have a National policy making body on disaster management. Their main job is policy formulation for better disaster management and help the Govt. This can be very much practicable in case of Bangladesh. Noted Scientists, intellectuals and peoples representation from all walks of life can formulate better policy for ensuring peoples participation at all levels. c. As Armed Forces are often called for disaster management, standing cell may be formed in every service so that they can distribute the work in advance, train and motivate the forces under their command to ensure quick response and rapid deployment to the disaster affected areas. 30. Problems being faced during the Management of Disaster. Disaster management is the national responsibility. But to combat the it effectively all social agencies and establishments should work unitedly. Whenever Bangladesh faces any natural disaster the Armed Forces is called to fight the disaster. However, Armed Forces work under many constraints like shortage of officers and other skilled personnel, fixed and rotary wing aircraft, naval vessels, equipment etc. It is also not possible to solve and overcome this problem within short time. Even then these constraints/limitations, Armed Forces shall have to work with dedication and in full cooperation with the civil administration. However, there are some constraints which are forced particularly during day to day operation at the time of actual disaster management. These constraints if not addressed in time many greatly affect the disaster management operation and thereby reduce the capability of the organizations/ agencies includi ng the Armed Forced. a. Inter Agency/ Departmental Statuesque. Some times over conscious official with regard to his rank, status or title stand in the way of effective cooperation and thereby delays the progress of crisis management. b. Personal rather than Collective Concern. Individual attitude of thinking may not be the same. But in Case of disaster management which works on group decision imposition of individual decision can delay the attainment of common goal. c. Absence of Common Forum. In our country, there is not much opportunity to exchange views among parties involved. Meeting common forum generate mutual understanding and strengthen cooperation. d. Lack of Communication between Two Parties. Lack of proper and effective communication between two parties creates a gap which decreases the effectiveness of co-operation and after creates confusion. e. Lack of Co-ordination. Sometimes the work of different parties are not well Co-ordinated. Co-ordination is essential for any type of joint venture to avoid mismanagement or disorder. Without proper coordination, any good venture or attempt may turn into an utter failure. f. Confusion about Jurisdiction of Work. In all situations, the role of each party should be clearly defined. Interference to other partys role is harmful. It destroys the congenial atmosphere. g. Lack of Mutual Respect. In most cases officers of civil and military administration suffer from ego-centric complexities. These create rigidity and hinder smooth functioning. 31. Ways to Overcome the Problems. To overcome these problems few suggestions are discussed below : a. Mutual Respect. All civil agencies and military administration must have respect for each other. In practical field it is often deliberately over-looked. Mutual respect ensures effective co-ordination and success in a given task. b. Sense of Duties and Responsibilities. Both civil and military administration must be aware about their own duty and responsibility. This is a pre-condition for any successful disaster management. c. Sense of Team work. Civil and military administrations should jointly work for all nation of peoples sufferings. They are complementary to each other. If anybody considers otherwise, then it will create undesirable situation. d. Avoid Rumour. Rumour may create misunderstanding between civil and military administrations. Direct communication diminishes the danger of rumour. e. Proper Communication and Co-ordination. Communication gap between civil and military administrations often crops up during crisis management. Proper and timely communication between each other help achieve the goal. f. Sense of patriotism. Both civil and military administrations must work together to achieve common goal ie to serve the nation. Deviation from this goal meets with failure. FUTURE ROLE OF THE ARMED FORCES IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT 32. RATIONALE. Since disasters such as cyclones, tornadoes, tidal surge, etc. are sudden, severe and overwhelming in nature, an organized and trained institution with the necessary manpower, materials and other logistic supports are required to respond to crises and prevent further human suffering. The Armed Forces being the only institution with all the necessary requirements may fulfill this role. On the basis of this rationale, the following organizations may be set up.The organogram is at annex G. 33. National Disaster Management Council . This would be the highest level decision and policy making body related to natural disaster management in Bangladesh which will be acted upon by National Emergency Response Committee (NERC). The Prime Minister (PM) will be the chair person of this council with following members. a. Key Ministers of. (1) Home Affairs. (2) Relief and Rehabilitation. (3) Information. (4) Cabinet Affairs. (5) Foreign Affairs. (6) Finance. (7) Communication. b. Chiefs of the Three Services. c. Principal Staff Officer of AFD. 34. National Emergency Response Committee (NERC). NERC may be consisted of the following members : a. PSO as Chief coordinator. b. Secretaries of Following Ministries. (1) Relief and Rehabilitation. (2) Home Affairs. (3) Information. (4) Communication. (5) Cabinet Division. (6) Director General Metrology office (Weather Forecasting). c. Director General, NGO Affairs Bureau. d. Task. (1) To report to the Pri