Indian Business Environment Essay

Abstract One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. This paper seeks to determine the impact of various market and regulatory initiatives on efficiency improvements of Indian banks. Efficiency of firm is measured in terms of its relative performance that is, efficiency of a firm relative to the efficiencies of firms in a sample. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has used to identify banks that are on the output frontier given the various inputs at their disposal. The present study is confined only to the Constant-Return-to-Scale (CRS) assumption of decision making units (DMUs). Variable returns to scale (VRS) assumption for estimating the efficiency was not attempted. It was found from the results that national banks, new private banks and foreign banks have showed high efficiency over a period time than remaining banks. II. Reforms and Banking system In the post liberalization-era, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated quite a few measures to ensure safety and consistency of the banking system in the country and at the same point in time to support banks to play an effective role in accelerating the economic growth process. One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices 4. Although the Indian banks have contributed much in the Indian economy, certain weaknesses, i.e. turn down in efficiency and erosion in profitability had developed in the system, observance in view these conditions, the Committee on Financial System(CFS) was lay down. Reserve Bank of India has implemented banking sector reforms in two phases. The first reform focused on introduction of several prudential norms, major changes in the policy framework, and formation of competiti ve atmosphere. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. The Financial sector reforms were undertaken in 1992 based on the recommendations of the CFS. Later, The Narsimham Committee has provided the proposal for reforming the financial sector. The committee also argued that ‘economic reforms in the real sector of economy will, however, fail to realize their full potential without a parallel reform of the financial sector. It focused on several issues like, releasing of more funds to banks, deregulation in interest rates, capital adequacy, income recognition, disclosures and transparency norms etc. However, financial sector reforms focused on improving the competitive efficiency of the banking system. The financial reform process has commenced since 1991 which was made the banking sector healthy, sound, well- capitalized and become competitive. The competitive pressures to improve efficiency in the banking sector has resulted in a switch from traditional paper based banking to electronic banking, use information technology and shift of emphasis from brick and mortar banking to use of ATMs. INDIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY Indian banking industry, the backbone of the country’s economy, has always played a key role in prevention the economic catastrophe from reaching terrible volume in the country. It has achieved enormous appreciation for its strength, particularly in the wake of the worldwide economic disasters, which pressed its worldwide counterparts to the edge of fall down. If we compare the business of top three banks in total assets and in terms of return on assets, the Indian banking system is among the healthier performers in the world. This sector is tremendously competitive and recorded as growing in the right trend (Ram Mohan, 2008). Indian banking industry has increased its total assets more than five times between March 2000 aThe overall development has been lucrative with enhancement in banking industry efficiency and productivity. It should be underlined here is financial turmoil which hit the western economies in 2008 and the distress effect widened to the majority of the other countries but Indian banking system survived with the distress and showed the stable performance. Indian banks have remained flexible even throughout the height of the sub-prime catastrophe and the subsequent financial turmoil. The Indian banking industry is measured as a flourishing and the secure in the banking world. The country’s economy growth rate by over 9 percent since last several years and that has made it regarded as the next economic power in the worldnd March 2010, The Indian banking industry is measured as a flourishing and the secure in the banking world. The country’s economy growth rate by over 9 percent since last several years and that has made it regarded as the next economic power in the world. Our banking industry is a mixture of public, private and foreign ownerships. The major dominance of commercial banks can be easily found in Indian banking, although the co-operative and regional rural banks have little business segmentIn the post liberalization-era, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated quite a few measures to ensure safety and consis tency of the banking system in the country and at the same point in time to support banks to play an effective role in accelerating the economic growth process. One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices. Although the Indian banks have contributed much in the Indian economy, certain weaknesses, i.e. turn down in efficiency and erosion in profitability had developed in the system, observance in view these conditions, the Committee on Financial System. Reserve Bank of India has implemented banking sector reforms in two phases. The first reform focused on introduction of several prudential norms, major changes in the policy framework, and formation of competitive atmosphere. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. The Financial sector reforms were undertaken in 1992 based on the recommendations of the CFS. Later, The Narsimham Committee has provided the proposal for reforming the financial sector. The committee also argued that ‘economic reforms in the real sector of economy will, however, fail to realize their full potential without a parallel reform of the financial sector. It focused on several issues like, releasing of more funds to banks, deregulation in interest rates, capital adequacy, income recognition, disclosures and transparency norms etc. However, financial sector reforms focused on improving the competitive efficiency of the banking system. The financial reform process has commenced since 1991 which was made the banking sector healthy, sound, well- capitalized and become competitive. (CFS) was lay down. Liberalisation of India’s banking sector †¢ Liberalisation of India’s banking sector begun since 1992, following the Narasimhan Committee’s Report (December 1991) †¢ Important recommendations of the Committee were – [i] reduction of statutory pre-emptions (SLR and CRR) [ii] deregulation of the interest rates [iii] opening up the sector to foreign and domestic private banks [iv] adoption of prudential regulations relating to capital adequacy, asset classiï ¬ cation and provisioning standards Service firms such as ITC Hotels and ANZ Grindlays Bank found direct marketing very effective in retailing customers and weathering competition. †¢ The Indian banking system is growing in a robust manner. †¢ The Indian banking system complies with international standards of prudential regulation. †¢ The Indian banking system is opening up for entry of foreign banks. †¢ Despite the growth, Indian banking system is not entirely inclusive. †¢ There is good opportunities for the banking industry – domestic and foreign – for expansion to ï ¬ ll the gap. A decade after the Narasimham report was published and in the light of new challenges from the norms laid down by the WTO and Basel II, it is imperative to have a close look at the performance of banks in the last decade or so to assess the success of the reform process. INDIA inherited a very weak banking system following Independence. However, the nationalisation programme (1969) helped this sector achieve remarkable success in many respects. The stability among depositors, penetration into rural India and the consequent reduction in poverty and diversification out of agriculture were some of its laudable achievements. Given the predominantly bank based nature of financial system, the banking industry gained the reputation of one of the most protected in the country. However, in the 1990s a chain of events such as introduction of modern technologies, competition from new players in the liberalised market place, and enhanced emphasis on governance to protect shareholder interest changed the way banks conducted business. The Indian banking sector with its diversity of ownerships — State Bank of India and its associates, nationalised banks, private domestic banks and foreign banks also faced a similar set of challenges. Although the public sector banks acquired a dominant presence thanks to the regulatory environment, several of them performed poorly in the late 1980s. To preserve the soundness of the financial system, especially the banking segment, the Government set up the Narasimham Committee. The Committee (in 1991) made far-reaching recommendations that formed the basis of banking reforms. Some of the comprehensive reform measures suggested included: Stricter income recognition and asset classification, higher capital adequacy ratio, phased deregulation of interest rate, lowering statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR), entry deregulation, and branch-de-licensing. These measures mainly aim to improve the efficiency/profitability of banking industry. A decade and half after the Narasimham report was published and in the light of the World Trade Organisation and Basel II norms, it is imperative to have a close look at the performance of banks in the last decade or so to assess the success of the reform process. Performance indicators Commonly-used measures to assess the performance of the banking industry are: Return on Asset (ROA), Operating Profit Ratio (OPR), Net Interest Margin (NIM), Operating Cost Ratio (OCR) and Staff Expenditure Ratio (SER). The first two are generally considered profitability measures, while the others, the efficiency indices. These five measures have been considered in this analysis for two sub-periods: Pre-liberalisation (1992-1995) and post-liberalisation (2000-2003). The total number of banks considered for two sub-periods were 64 (eight State Banks, 19 nationalised banks, 19 private banks and 18 foreign banks) and 87 (8, 19, 28 and 32 respectively). Overall performance improvement A comparison of performance indices during the study period reveals that the reform measures helped to improve the overall performance of industry. This is reflected in the improvement of all performance indicators barring the net interest margin (see Table). Interestingly, the ROA, treated as a proxy for risk-adjusted return, increased from (-) 0.28 per cent in the pre-liberalisation period to 0.79 per cent (against more than 1 per cent in other merging markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Korea) post-liberalisation, indicating a significant rise in the ability of banks to convert their assets into net earnings. Another interesting aspect is that despite a marginal fall in the net interest margin from 2.84 to 2.73 (which might be due to policy change), the banking industry has managed to improve its OPR by increasing its non-interest fee-based income and reducing its operating costs/staff expenses. The evidence indicates that after the reform initiation period, the banks have increasingly been providing off balance sheet items such as derivatives, which generate major part of non-interest income. The proportion of operating costs/staff expenses has declined mainly due to computerisation and the voluntary retirement scheme. The property rights theorists believe that the private banks are more efficient than their counterparts in the public sector. This view is corroborated by the public choice theorists who argue that the specific X inefficiency factors are more prevalent in the public sector, irrespective of market conditions. Further, many cross-country findings report an increased government ownership as a deterrent to the development of the banking system. The Indian banking scenario seems to be consistent with the above, as the privately owned (foreign as well as domestic) banks seem to be superior to their public counter parts with respect to all performance indicators except the NIM. Despite a fall in their OPR and NIM between 1992-95 and 2000-03, the private banks successfully managed to reduce their operating expenditures, particularly the staff expenditures, thereby successfully maintaining their status. Among private banks, the foreign banks seem to be superior in terms of three out of five the criteria used. Within the public domain, the State Banks tend to be superior with respect to ROA, OCR and SER, while the nationalised banks seem to show better performance in terms of OPR and NIM. Thus, although there is a significant improvement in the overall performance of banks as one moves from the post-reform period to the late-reform period, one finds certain anomalies such as a fall in the NIM (except in the case of the nationalised banks), a fall in the ROA of private domestic banks, a reduction in the OPR of private domestic and foreign banks and a rise in the OCR/SER of foreign banks. Convergence or divergence Apart from the overall improvement across the board, another important criterion to evaluate the success story is to check whether the competitive force has led to any convergence in the performance of different ownership groups in the post-liberalisation period. Exposure to the competitive forces is often argued as a panacea to shake poorly performing banks out of their slumber. Although the public banks compared poorly with private banks during the initial period, they made a significant improvement in the later period by responding well to the new challenges of competition and consolidation, mostly following a gradual and cautious approach. The pay off is well reflected in the increase in their ROA, OPR and NIM. Some possible reasons for the better performance of public banks could be they still undertake most of the government borrowing programmes, thereby generating significant fee based income; the market discipline imposed by the listing of most public sector banks has also probably contributed to this improved performance; and ï‚ · the reform measures have changed their business strategies particularly greater diversification of non-fund based business and emergence of treasury and foreign exchange business. The study reveals that the OPR across four ownership groups tend to converge. The NIM tend to converge across private and public sectors while the OCR continues to remain significantly different across ownership groups. The above analyses indicate that the banking sector performs reasonably well with respect to the goals set by the Narasimham Committee, particularly in the context of the poorly performing banks and showing some encouraging signs to meet the Basel II norms by 2006. However, one should not go over board in reading these numbers to evaluate the success of the Indian banking sector, particularly from the perspective of a developing economy such as ours. Policy-makers should be extra cautious in giving free a reign to the banking sector in pursuing â€Å"profit and risk† based strategies. Recent trends in non-synergy based consolidation, growing disinclination to lend money towards productive purposes and to the unprofitable sectors such as agriculture, self-help groups, infrastructure and to small and medium sized enterprises, its growing engagement in non-productive treasury operations and conspicuous consumer lending will seriously impair the role of banks as public instruments of development. Therefore, maintaining a balance between these two objectives will remain a challenge to the banking sector for some time to come. Bibliography- * www.thehindubusinessline.com * iimahd.ernet.in/assets/snippets/ *

Introduction to Ergonomics

Dafpus skripsi Bridger, R. S. 1995. Introduction to Ergonomics. International Editions. Singapore : McGraw- Hill Book Co. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. 2010. Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders in the EU-Facts and Figures. http://osha. europa. eu/en/publications/reports/TERO09009ENC (diakses pada tanggal 17 September 2012) Health and Safety Executive Authority. 2004. Getting to Grips with Manual Handling. UK : sss http://www. hse. gov. uk/pubns/indg143. df (diakses pada tanggal 17 September 2012) Health and Safety Authority. 2005. Guidance on the Management of Manual Handling in the Workplace.http://www.hsaeng/Publications_and_Forms/Publications/Retail/Management_Manual_Handling. pdf (diakses pada tanggal 17 September 2012) Kurniawidjaja, L. Meily. 2010. Teori dan Aplikasi Kesehatan Kerja. Jakarta: Penerbit Universitas Indonesia (UI-Press). Nurmianto, Eko. 2004. Ergonomi: Konsep Dasar dan Aplikasinya, 2nd. Ed. Surabaya: Penerbit Guna Widya. Tarwaka, dkk. 2004. Erg onomi untuk Kesehatan, Keselamatan, & Produktivitas. Edisi I, Cetakan I. Surakarta: UNIBA Press. Santoso, Gempur, Dr. , Drs. , M. Kes. 2004. Ergonomi: Manusia, Peralatan, dan Lingkungan. Jakarta: Prestasi Pustaka Publisher. Sastrowinoto, Suyatno, Ir. 1985. Meningkatkan Produktivitas dengan Ergonomi. Jakarta: PT Pustaka Binaman Pressindo. Suma’mur, P. K. , Rd. , MSc. 1989. Ergonomi untuk Produktivitas Kerja. Jakarta: CV. Haji Masagung.Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission of New Brunswick. 2010. Ergonomics Guidelines for Manual Handling, 2nd. Ed. , Australia : Worksafe NB, http://www. worksafenb. ca/docs/MANUALEdist. pdf (diakses pada tanggal 03 Agustus 2012) WorkCover New South Wales Authority. 2012. Manual Handling Black Spots: Manufacturing. Industry Reference Group, http://www. workcover. nsw. gov. au/formspublications/pages/manualhandlingmanufacturing. aspx (diakses pada tanggal 06 November 2012)

English vs. Spanish Colonization Essay

From 1500 to 1700, the English colonization of the Chesapeake region and the Spanish colonization of the Central/South American region varied greatly in their primary motivations for settlement and the lasting effects imprinted into both societies. The English motives in settling the Chesapeake region were more economically-based, seeking greater economic opportunity and employment, while the Spanish effort took on a more religious approach that ended up having long-term effects on the way their culture and society developed. The effects both colonies felt differed in many ways, primarily due to the varying motivational influences felt by the English and the Spanish. However, similarities in colonial motivations and cultural impacts were present between both societies. English colonization of the Chesapeake region revolved around economic gain and opportunity that colonizers believed could be found in the New World. Overcrowding in England led to a desire for expansion and better emp loyment options for English settlers. Rumors of gold discovery in the New World also spurred an intense frenzy that English colonizers sought to pursue, resulting in the development of societies poorly suited for colonial life when gold was never found. On the other hand, Spanish colonization of Central and South America began with the Spanish conquistadors, who used the saying â€Å"God, Gold, and Glory† to describe their motivations for colonization. The dominant motivational force for the Spanish was the religious aspect, where conquistadors sought to spread Christianity throughout Central and South America. The â€Å"Glory† prospect was heightened by the yearning for Spain’s dominance over the Western Hemisphere, which was thought to be obtained through unifying native peoples through Bailey Kargo! IB HOTA 3rd period the Christian religion. Similar to one aspect of English motivations, the Spanish also sought to find gold and riches that they thought the New World had to offer. When Christopher Colombus returned from his expedition to the New World, he reported to the Spanish crown his confidence in the quest for wealth in this new land. He described his encounters with the natives where they traded him gold for various items, and even claimed he saw gold in the rivers. This fueled the Spanish obsession in their ultimate quest for wealth and riches. The effects of settling the Chesapeake region reflected the English economic motivations for colonization there. When the Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607, settlers found themselves ill-prepared for establishing a structured colony, especially when they were solely prepared for discovering gold. The Jamestown Colony struggled immensely at first due to lack of supplies and skills needed to create the foundations of a colonial society. However, John Rolfe’s introduction of tobacco to the region completely transformed the economy and played a key role in saving the Jamestown colony. Tobacco became a booming industry and plantation owners needed more workers for cheap labor. As a result, African slaves were introduced into the population to meet these needs, stimulating a new industry: the slave trade. The successful tobacco economy was also capable of financing the importation of indentured servants, which also played a major role in the labor force and became an integral part of the Chesapeake’s economy. Wealthy landowners were now able to have more help on their plantations and have access to more land, while servants now had the ability to own land and create a name for themselves among the colonies. Unlike English colonization, Spanish colonization in the Americas completely decimated native populations. The introduction of European diseases, particularly smallpox, along with Bailey Kargo! IB HOTA 3rd period updated European weaponry decimated Indian culture and transformed their way of life due to lack of immunity to such diseases and more primitive weapons. Native populations were seen as much weaker compared to the conquistadors and their armies, making them extremely easy to conquer. A cultural angle unique to the Spanish settlements was the creation of the Mestizo culture. Unlike the English, the Spanish conquerors and Native Americans intermarried, allowing for a completely new race to develop and contribute to society. Although they were regarded as lesser than other races and looked down upon, the creation of the Mestizo culture proved to become a unique impact of Spanish colonization that later English settlers chose not to conform to. The introduction of the encomienda system was also a significant effect that became an integral part of Spanish society. When the Spanish conquered natives, these natives were required to perform work for Spanish landowners. In return, the natives would receive protection from other tribes and the conversion to the Christian faith. This system was extremely beneficial to the colonists who received land and gained Christian converts, but many native tribes were reduced to involuntary servitude that further devastated Indian populations in addition to disease and war. The differing motivations behind English colonization of the Chesapeake region and the Spanish of Latin America proved to directly affect the way each colonies were formed from 1500 to 1700. English colonization revolved around a more economic basis, while the Spanish focused more on religious aspects that managed to integrate their way into its economy as well. Despite these differences, both societies found a common motivation in the search for gold and riches, and both incorporated different forms of slavery, indentured servitude and African slaves in the Chesapeake and the encomienda system in Latin America, into their economies that stimulated Bailey Kargo! IB HOTA 3rd period each colony’s development. The growth and expansion of both colonization efforts eventually would fuel the newfound desire of other European nations to join the race to the Americas in an attempt to assert their dominance and further diversify societies of the New World.

Hepatitis B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hepatitis B - Essay Example In this paper, the focus will be on Hepatitis B (HB) as it has been responsible for 600,000 worldwide deaths annually (Wasley et al, 2010). Like many other diseases, hepatitis B has its cause though this information is often known first by the health practitioners than the patients. As for this disease, a virus called hepatitis B virus, often abbreviated as HBV, causes it. Concerning its transmission methods, HB occurs whenever semen, blood or any other body fluid enters a non-infected person from a patient (CDC, 2015). That is to say, one could contact HB if there is a sharing of injecting equipment such as needles or syringes; sexual relations as well as while giving birth. It is worth noting that HB has two categories: acute and chronic infection. Acute infection refers to the first time a person realizes to be infected with HB. Often, this stage characterized by mild symptoms and only a few cases of serious illness. In fact, many people, especially adults, tend to recover from this illness with little intervention. Sadly, this is not the case with infants, and many could die even at this stage. If the acute infection is ignore or not treated for at least six months, the inevitable chronic infection materializes. Regardless of the stage, a person suffering from HB will exhibit various signs and symptoms including dark urine, joint fever, abdominal pain, appetite-loss and nausea or vomiting. In addition, a patient has jaundice and their bowel movement is clay-colored. Unfortunately, patients of chronic HB could be asymptomatic, lack clear liver-disease evidence and suffer from cirrhosis or another kind of liver-cancer called the hepatocellular carcinoma (CDC, 2015). Thus, it is imperative to ensure that once the signs are observed in the acute stage, treatment is sought quickly to avert the more deadly consequences in the chronic stage. Though early

Third Party Rights Over Property Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Third Party Rights Over Property - Case Study Example In the first instance Helen does not own the building outright as Kevin invested money into buying the shop and flats; Helen has taken out a mortgage on the building so Southern Counties Building Society would have a vested interest (the property was put up as collateral for the loan) and the second flat has been tenanted with Tom having a five year lease by deed of that flat. The amount of vested interest in the property owned by Kevin will depend on whether or not he and Helen had formed a partnership prior to buying the property, how long him and Helen had been living together in the first floor flat and what rights either of these situations (business partnership or de-facto relationship) might have on the ownership of the building. Because Helen raised the loan to buy the property it could be assumed that she might have a majority stake holding in the building and therefore could sell the business without involving Kevin. However, if Helen raised the mortgage so that her contribution to the building then equaled Kevin's then she has no right to sell the building without consulting Kevin first and the sale would be a joint decision. Kevin has another stake hold... Also any lease agreement he may have would have to be honored by the new buyer. The actual amount of impact Kevin would have on the sale of the building would depend on any agreement made between him and Helen, whether Kevin has any rights under de-facto law (which would be virtually nil in Britain as de-facto couples do not share the same rights as married couples) and whether or not Kevin is listed on the land title as co-owner. Helen would also have to pay off the mortgage owing amount on the building at the time of sale because the building is the collateral for the money loaned. Another problem that the new buyer would have to face is the lien on the property that prevented Helen from setting up a business that would act in competition to other businesses in the area. Any prospective buyer would have to be informed that the shop portion of the building could only be used as a newsagent shop. However, that covenant might not necessarily apply if the agreement was made personally between Helen and the person she purchased the shop from, as this covenant would only apply if it had been entered on the land title. If the land title had remained unregistered throughout the previous transactions then the situation for Kevin and Helen changes slightly. If Kevin does not have a legal partnership agreement with Helen then he would have difficulty proving his claim to any ownership of the building. He may be entitled to some duress under de-facto land ownership legislation, but that would be difficult to prove if he did not have something in writing that could prove the extent of his relationship with Helen (such as a Cohabitation Agreement) and the amount

Contracting and Procurement in Project Management Essay - 1

Contracting and Procurement in Project Management - Essay Example Project procurement management is "the process of purchasing goods or services from the vendors" (Phillips, 2003). This very definition of the process suggest that the procurement is the process which involves external organizations as well as persons in the whole project management process. It therefore not only makes it more complicated but also a delicate job too as maintaining relationships with the vendors and suppliers sometimes become a very important element for the overall success of the project. Thus, it is of great importance that the procurement management should effectively be integrated into the overall process of project management so that project can get completed within budgeted times, costs and schedules. It is also important to understand that the process of procurement management is a phased process therefore it is not only time consuming but also need to have a more strategic outlook as it also provides an opportunity to develop long term relationships with the vendors. This presentation will present an overview of how the process of procurement management can fit into the whole project management besides discussing the various other aspects to get a braoder view of the whole process. Procurement is a process which requires the involvement of different resources including people, goods, services as well as other resources. It also involves the evaluation of tenders as well as estimation of different costs involved in the procurement process. This therefore requires that the project managers must take extreme care to manage different risks involved in the process. Since the process of procurement management involves different persons outside the project therefore project managers need to follow a systematic procedure. A procurement management process generally involves following processes: 1) Purchase and acquisition decisions 2) Contract Planning 3) Solicitation of seller responses 4) Selection of sellers 5) Administrating the contract 6) Contract closure The first phase of purchase and acquisition is about the determination of the different goods and services required to complete the project. This therefore requires that the project managers must clearly identify which project needs can be fulfilled through the procurement process. The emphasis, during this phase of the procurement, is mostly on what, how and when to acquire the resources required for the project. (Ghosh, 2007). Contract planning is the next important steps which require not only close monitoring of the existing policies and procedures of the firm but also require that the organization's strategic objectives and aims are achieved. It is important to understand that the very crux of the procurement management process is to make a conscious decision of whether to buy or build the resources required for the project to complete. It has also often been argued that the while planning for contracting, project managers must also take into account the various legal aspects of the contracting and that the drafting of the same should be done after taking into different legal as well as operational aspects of the contracting. While at the phase of the purchase and acquisition decisions, it is also important that the project managers must evaluate the seller responses after making acquisition decisions. It is quite possible that the project

Public Relation - BlueJet case study Term Paper

Public Relation - BlueJet case study - Term Paper Example Jet Blue Airways has had its share of difficulties in the public relations sector such as the stranding of two planes in the JFK airport in the snowstorm of February 14, 2007. Public relations are defined as the management and practice of passing on information between the management and public in an organization. In this report, I shall focus on how Jet Blue Airways is able to keep a growing number of local and domestic flyers. The growth of the company is documented in numerous sources, such as a growth that has recorded over 23 million passengers in the New York, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, Orlando, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and long beach, California cities in the August- July 2010 season. This report shall assess the methods, strategies and practices used by Jet Blue Airways with respect to improving public relations. Improving the public relations positively affects the running of the company such as in marketing, advertising and sales department of the company. The report shall also focus on the elements useful is improving the public relations of the company. The SWOT analysis of Jet Blue Airways consists of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the company faces in running its operations. The analysis should involve all the elements that involve the company’s operations. The SWOT analysis of a company is normally done to aid in marketing the services and products in an aim to attain sustenance and growth. When it comes to the public relations, there are minimal differences in the SWOT analysis as the concerns of the company are in regards to the loyal customers the airline has established (Broom, 2008). The following are the strengths of Jet Blue Airways in public relations, in accordance to the marketing strategy used by the company (Cutlip, Center, & Broom, 2005). These strengths involve the management, staff

Oultline 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Oultline 2 - Essay Example transformers as coolants and lubricants, also used as hydraulic fluids, dyes and carbon-less copy paper ink. When PCBs are released into the atmosphere, they can be ingested through inhaling, eating contaminated food and also drinking contaminated water. This usually occurs because the substances (Polychlorinated biphenyls) stay suspended in the atmosphere and may take a lot time to be cleared off. A person can also be exposed to these chemicals through using or even being at close proximity to old equipments that makes use of PCBs e.g. transformers, fluorescent tubes capacitors and other appliances. Air containing above 42% of chlorine PCB or more than 1microgaram of air for a 10-hour workday, 40-hour workweek is not recommended to breath by NIOSH. Requirements by the EPA is that the companies producing this chemicals should store, transport and dispose of this chemicals following the rules and regulations of the Federal Hazardous Waste Management Program and also limits the amount PCBs used in waste water treatment. Chromium have different oxidation states, one of them is +6 and thus the name hexavalent chromium. It is manufactured industrially. Hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI) is are many side effects which include: causes cancer, it also affects the kidney, skin, liver, respiratory system and even eyes. It is estimated that about 558000 workers from different occupations in the United States of America are exposed to hexavalent chromium. Employees are expose to Cr(VI) by inhaling dust, mist or fumes containing this chemical, ingestion or even eye contact with fluids that have this chemical. Exposure to hexa chrome can be very harmful to the skin and the eyes. Direct contact with the skin can lead to susceptible response known as dermatitis. When an anaphylaxis has developed, even concise skin contact can bring about manifestations. Direct skin contact can also bring about an infection referred to as chrome ulcers which small wounds on the skin

Critical Review of a Performance (Luisa Miller by Verdi) with as Essay

Critical Review of a Performance (Luisa Miller by Verdi) with as correlated main theme ''LOVE AND FEAR INTERACTION'' - Essay Example This insurgency brought with it another market economy, in view of new innovation machine devices and machine control rather than human instruments and creature power. Towns blasted into urban focuses and individuals moved to them from homesteads and the farmland to take employments in recently opened plants. With next to zero regulations set up, these occupations could be severe. Men, ladies, and kids worked 14 hour shifts; where they had once read a clock by the sun, now they could go weeks without seeing the light of day. Quick development handled urban areas that were filthy and packed, the working poor regularly existed in filthiness, and smokestacks obscured the air with ash (Baldini, 1980). While industrialization made shopper products less expensive and expanded the preparation of nourishment, there were the individuals who thought over on the past longingly, seeing it as a sentimental period before individuals were commoditised and nature scourged and demolished. In the meantime, there was a developing response against the theory of the Enlightenment, which underscored science, exact confirmation, and sound thought most importantly. Sentimental people tested the thought that reason was the one way to truth, passing judgment on it lacking in understanding the extraordinary secrets of life. These riddles could be uncovered with feeling, creative energy, and instinct. Nature was particularly celebrated as a classroom for divulgence toward oneself and profound taking in, the spot in which secrets could be uncovered to the psyche of man. Sentimental people underscored a life loaded with profound feeling, otherworldly existence, and free outflow, seeing such ethics as a defence against the dehumanizing impacts of industrialization. They additionally lauded the quality of individuals, which they accepted to have endless, divine

Sustainable business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sustainable business - Essay Example Landrum, Landrum and Edwards (2009, p. 4) define a sustainable business as that business which guarantees the â€Å"interest of all current and future stakeholders in a manner that ensures the long-term health and survival of the business and its associated economic, social, and environmental systems.† This makes us believe that sustainable businesses focus on how the business is going to affect the current and future consumers and what impact it is going to have on the overall environment. The objective is to create a positive difference in the environment or reducing the negative impact on the environment. We call that such a business is going green since it is environment friendly. A sustainable business is not only able to address the current needs of consumers but also works upon ensuring the well-being of future generations. There is a win-win situation between the business and the environment. Such businesses have built their reputation in the modern world because they boost the economy and provide the human beings with a healthier place to live

Organisation Structure Essay Example for Free

Organisation Structure Essay The structure is totally centralized. The strategic leader makes all key decisions and most communication is done by one on one conversations. It is particularly useful for new (entrepreneurial) business as it enables the founder to control growth and development. They are usually based on traditional domination or charismatic domination in the sense of Max Webers tripartite classification of authority. [edit] Bureaucratic structures Weber (1948, p. 214) gives the analogy that â€Å"the fully developed bureaucratic mechanism compares with other organizations exactly as does the machine compare with the non-mechanical modes of production. Precision, speed, unambiguity, †¦ strict subordination, reduction of friction and of material and personal costs- these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration. †[5] Bureaucratic structures have a certain degree of standardization. They are better suited for more complex or larger scale organizations. They usually adopt a tall structure. Then tension between bureaucratic structures and non-bureaucratic is echoed in Burns and Stalker[6] distinction between mechanistic and organic structures. It is not the entire thing about bureaucratic structure. It is very much complex and useful for hierarchical structures organization, mostly in tall organizations. [edit] Post-bureaucratic The term of post bureaucratic is used in two senses in the organizational literature: one generic and one much more specific [7]. In the generic sense the term post bureaucratic is often used to describe a range of ideas developed since the 1980s that specifically contrast themselves with Webers ideal type bureaucracy. This may include total quality management, culture management and matrix management, amongst others. None of these however has left behind the core tenets of Bureaucracy. Hierarchies still exist, authority is still Webers rational, legal type, and the organization is still rule bound. Heckscher, arguing along these lines, describes them as cleaned up bureaucracies [8], rather than a fundamental shift away from bureaucracy. Gideon Kunda, in his classic study of culture management at Tech argued that the essence of bureaucratic control the formalisation, codification and enforcement of rules and regulations does not change in principle.. it shifts focus from organizational structure to the organizations culture. Another smaller group of theorists have developed the theory of the Post-Bureaucratic Organization. [8], provide a detailed discussion which attempts to describe an organization that is fundamentally not bureaucratic. Charles Heckscher has developed an ideal type, the post-bureaucratic organization, in which decisions are based on dialogue and consensus rather than authority and command, the organization is a network rather than a hierarchy, open at the boundaries (in direct contrast to culture management); there is an emphasis on meta-decision making rules rather than decision making rules. This sort of horizontal decision making by consensus model is often used in housing cooperatives, other cooperatives and when running a non-profit or community organization. It is used in order to encourage participation and help to empower people who normally experience oppression in groups. Still other theorists are developing a resurgence of interest in complexity theory and organizations, and have focused on how simple structures can be used to engender organizational adaptations.

The Changing world of Work Project Essay Example for Free

The Changing world of Work Project Essay 1. Explain the different ways the length of time people stayed in their jobs have changed today since the time of my grandparents. In todays fast-pace society, one is constantly having to change, especially with regard to the jobs one has and the careers one may pursue. The Jobs for life idea is long gone. My grandparents probably started work for one company when they were aged around 15-16, and they would have been more likely to stay with the same company for the rest of their life until they retired. The majority of people, back in the day, tended to stay in one job. They may have progresses in the company (e.g. from assistant manager to manager to managing director). They would have never even thought about the possibility of changing their job, unless they were forced to do so (if they got fired for example). It is presumed that in a persons average working life, they will not change jobs several times, but will also change their line of career. Nowadays, there is no guarantee that one may have a job for life, so it is important for the working people in todays society to be prepared for change due to various factors which could be brought up. 2. Task 18.1:- Smith Brothers is a very traditional firm that makes garden furniture by hand. This furniture sells well locally and is always in demand. Over the last year, there has been an increase in the number of people buying garden furniture, especially of the wooden type. The brothers have a big decision to make, do they expand their business and create more jobs for people or modernise the company and bring in technology and let the computers make the furniture? The proposal has created a hostile reaction from the workers. List the reasons for and against Smith Brothers changing their method of production of garden furniture. [Concentrate on the good and bad points of using computers in the production process]. 1. Good points of using computers in the production business:- * More accurate measurements in making the furniture. * Less human error due to the use of computers. * Stronger fixtures as computers are being used. * Cut back on unnecessary costs e.g. employees wages. * Cut back on loss of time, as computers can be working for almost all of the day e.g. 19 hours a day. Whereas humans cant be working for that long. 2. Bad Points of using computers in the production business:- * The degree of flexibility required by an employee in order to get a job will increase if more computers are used. * Although, the Smith Brothers will be making cuts in the initial number of employees (replaced by computers) they will have to employ technicians to ensure that their computers are working constantly. * If something serious happens to a computer, the whole system may be disrupted, thus delaying production of the furniture. * If the measurement in the prototype goes wrong, then the computers will automatically continue to make the wrong products, thus increasing the time needed for production, wasting resources, money and materials. * Dealing with computers/machines may require a certain amount of training, especially in the production process, knowing when to push which switch etc. therefore, this will take time and may cost money in order to train the employees to know how to make them work. WEEK 2 1. Task 18.2:- You have been given the task of trying to change the attitude of the people that work with you, with regard to training as they feel it is not worth it. Give your reasons and examples as to why you think they should change their attitude. Change is a natural aspect to growing life and will continue to happen as technology becomes more dominant. In order to remain successful, it is essential that companies constantly train and educate their employees. Modern companies should aim to ensure that all have an underlining net of skills and eventually, has the skills that are required to perform a certain number of tasks. This will make the employee or trainee more demanding to other potential employers. Although training involves time and money, the time and money does pay off in relation to the employee. For example, if the employer training the employee trains them up really hard, then that employee would be able to get a potentially better job with another employer. When the new employer trains that employee up again, then that employee can once again go off and get a better job with more pay. This cycle will continue, provided that the employee stays in a similar field of work as marketing skills may not be required for administration tasks. Training will also improve the performance and efficiency of employees in general as well as training unskilled workers. Training also reduces the need for supervision and provides greater opportunities for the staff or employees. Individual employees being trained would find that due to their training, there would be a reduction in the number of accidents in the workplace, and they would be less likely to make mistakes. Their pay would increase too and they could gain a promotion to another job, if not change jobs to a better company all together. 2. Task 18.6:- Delta Homes plc, a property developer, has a Personnel Department. Much of the work of this department involves recruiting construction workers on temporary contracts. a) Explain ONE reason why Delta Homes plc employs workers on temporary contracts. [2 Marks] Delta Homes plc employs workers on temporary contracts because they are unable to provide permanent contracts, therefore, temporary contracts which allows the hiring and/or firing of employees to suit the business cycle of the company can be put forward. b) Explain TWO problems for Delta Homes plc that might arise from employing workers on temporary contracts. [6 Marks] Two potential problems that Delta Homes plc may face due to these temporary contracts:- * Is the fact that the job security, which is considered by many people to be very important, disintegrates. Job security is very important because it provides stability and can lead to high motivation. Many employees would like to know that when they come to work tomorrow, they will still have their job to go to and continue to receive income. The idea of temporary contacts is worrying for many people, especially the employees who have families to support and also have the responsibility of providing for them. They want to know that when they take out a load for five years or longer, they will still have a job, enabling them to meet the monthly payments. * Similarly, in mortgage companies, if one of these Delta homes plc temporary employees decide to purchase a home, then the company would want to know if they have a secure job which will enable them to make the payments and if they are employed for more than 1 1/2 years or so. Therefore, many of Delta Homes plcs employees will have a hard time trying to find a mortgage for their home purchase because they may not be employed for long or may get fired any day. WEEK 3 Task 18.7:- An increasing number of employees work from home and keep in contact with the office using a computer and a modem. Write a report on the effects this way of working might have on the employee and the implications for the employer. (Concentrate on any good and bad points for the employer and the employee who might be working from home). Good Points for the employer and the employee who might be working from home:- * There is no need for travelling to work everyday and during rush hours. Both the employer and employee benefit from this because the employer wont need to be accountable for the employees late arrival into work. * Computers stationed at home anywhere in the country can be linked to a company and employers do not have to rely on local labour to fulfil the workforce. The employee gets to work at home just as if they were in their office, due to the system link-up. Saves time and hassle of using USB storage devices or floppy disks to transfer files and data/information between office and work. Also, when the employer wants a report in, then the employee working from home can just email it to the employers office email address so there is no need to travel to meet a deadline. * Working from home allows the employee to be flexible, so working when they have the time to and are available. For example, a mother of three children could work after normal office hours (at home) when the children are asleep or are distracted. Also, if her children are ill, she need not get a nanny or child-minder to look after them, she can put her work on hold for a while and look after the children herself. Due to this, she doesnt need to take time off work. * The employer does not need to provide the employee the premises to work, as they can do it at home due to the computer system link. This way, the employer can cut down on costs for the company, e.g. the food they pay for in order to feed their employees, the cost of building extensions to the main office building, the additional cost of the electricity and gas bills. Also, employers can use labour in areas of high unemployment so, can reduce the salaries they pay cut back on costs. Bad Points for the employer and the employee who might be working from home:- * The employee may not be able to work at home unsupervised, due to lack of concentration, thereby not finishing reports and missing deadline dates. * The employer does not know whether the employee is working or taking an early holiday. They wont have any say on the hours that the employee puts into their work. * If the employee works overtime, then the exact hours overtime may not be known because there was no witness. So, employee may lose out on the overtime pay. * If there is a system link failure with the computer, then the employee will be stuck and may lose all of their work. Also, lose time on working on the report/project. WEEK 4 1. What does flexible working mean? Flexible working is when the employee is required to come into work and do a job with out much notice. They have to be able to keep their schedules open when it comes to work. A bit like a doctor who is on call he doesnt know when a casualty will come in; therefore, he has to be available if something happens. 2. Why do more companies require their employees to have flexible working? More companies require their employees to have flexible working because many of them require their facilities to be functioning 24/7/365 24 hours a day. They cannot afford to let their equipment remain idle for long periods of the day. 3. Why is flexible working of great importance for companies whose employees work with computers? A person/employee who repairs or mends computers would have to be flexible because they will wait for a telephone call or message to say they are needed to repair a machine. This call could come during the evening, at weekends or even at bank holidays whenever the computer breaks down. The company could not afford to let the computers stand idle for great periods of time, mainly because we have come to rely on them so much. If a machine is not working, then it is costing the company money and hindering somebodys work. WEEK 5 1. Why do companies spend a lot of time in making sure the computers they are going to buy are the correct ones? Computer equipment is very expensive to buy. If one buys a computer it is often said to be out of date immediately after one has bought it. Something new has already been introduced, which is better and more powerful than the original one purchased. This is because computers are continually being updated; therefore, the pace of change is very fast. Therefore, companies will spend a great deal of time and energy in making sure that the computers they purchase are the correct ones for the job that needs to be done. 2. Why is it important that a technician makes sure all computers are working all the time? It is important that a technician makes sure all computers are working all the time because if they stand idle, they are losing the company money. This is why companies employ technicians to ensure that the computers are functioning and working properly without any problems. 3. Why is it important that companies are always looking to update their computers? Companies will always need to update their machines because we live in a fast-changing world and they need to be able to keep up with the pace. If they do not update, then they could become uncompetitive and would not be able to produce the same results in the given time. This could lead to more unemployment in the company. WEEK 6 1. How has the use of email helped reduced waste? The use of email has reduced the amount of paper that is used in the world, which in turn has reduced the number of trees hat need to be cut down to produce the paper. Also, the energy used to cut down the trees has also been saved, which could have an effect on global warming. This has become of great concern to business, the government and the public in recent years. 2. How has the use of computers reduced waste in industrial processes (making products)? Computers have reduced waste in industrial processes by guaranteeing that each batch of products or materials that will be made would be to the same quality as the last and the one before that. This is due to the decrease in human error. This cuts down on the amount of resources used in the process. 3. What is and why is recycling important in society? Recycling is the re-use or sustainable use of products e.g. paper, glass and steel cans. Recycling is important in society because the huge amount of litter that has been created through the disposal of throw-away materials. These throw-away materials are disposed of in land-fill sites around the world. Eventually, and slowly, we will run out of land-fill sites and so where will the waste go? This can be stopped by preventing the production of such throw-away materials and the promoting or the production of recyclable materials.

Literature and communities

Literature and communities Literature can help people to get a real in depth view of life through someone elses shoes. You can almost get lost into another world while reading a book. No matter if that world is fiction or non-fiction, it can take the reader to an unfamiliar place and make them feel comfortable in that space. A person can take something away from what they have read in some form of literature and put it to use into their communities. Something as simple as a feeling, viewpoint, or even a new perspective, can bring a new knowledge on the whole outlook of something. Literature can help to add culture to a readers life. Anytime a person adds culture to their life, they would have a positive affect on our society because they have been enriched with literature. Everyone has different points of view that they wish to express in life, regardless of the theme. Everyone also has different opinions as with literature. Each individual that reads a poem or a story is affected by it differently. However, t he common ground for literature and the community and every person that reads it is this: we all must start at the beginning before we get to the last page or line from a poem. Every community has been affected by literature since the beginning of time. At first, many people did not have the pleasures of being able to read and write and therefore could not appreciate literature. But once they were taught how to read, interests in reading became popular through many communities. Communities are affected by historical stories, autobiographies, fiction, non-fiction, and even poetry told by authors. It is somewhat like a domino effect that has been happening for many years and it will continue to grow and affect those in the future. The readings from this pasts week even show how communities are affected by literature. My first example is in the â€Å"The Prodigal Son† by Luke, (cited in DiYanni, 2007, page 27) is two sons and their father. One son works by his fathers side without complaining. The other son, however, asks for his inheritance as soon as he is old enough to speak with his father about it. The father in this story does as per his sons request and sells his half of the land and gives the money to his son. That son wastefully spends all of his fortune and loses all of his friends when the money is gone. He ends up homeless and becomes very desperate until he realizes that he will go home and ask his father to become one of his servants. The servants were not as poor and desperate as he was becoming. Naturally his father was so delighted by having his son come home that he holds a feast in honor of the son returning. Then the other son complains to his father about being loyal while the other son did not remain loyal. The father answers his sons complaint with a great explanation: â€Å"son thou art ever with me and all that I have is thinefor this thy brother was dead and is alive again: and was lost and is now found† (cited in DiYanni, 2007, page 28). The father was simply saying that what is his is theirs and he was thankful that his son learned his life lesson. This story affects the community because it gives people a sense of hope when there is despair. Even when people can bring on their own problems by selfish acts, faith, hope, and love can help people get through the toughest of times. I feel that this story has a very prominent part of the religious community. A person can still receive forgiveness in spite of the fact of the thing they may have done wrong. I most certainly can relate to this story because I have know that I have hurt my mother time and time again, but no matter how big and ridiculous my mistakes have been, she is always there to help and guide me. That is why I feel that if I am impacted by this story that my community is also. Another story from this weeks readings showing the relationship of how the community is affected by literature is â€Å"AP† by John Updike (cited in DiYanni, 2007, page 32). This story is about a young man that is employed by the same supermarket chain as in the title. He tries to suffer for three girls in hopes that they will notice him but they do not exactly give him the time of day. There are these three girls that go shopping in the store, but they are wearing nothing but bikinis. Being that they are inappropriately dressed, the store manager asks them to come into the store having their shoulders covered next time. The young man ends up quitting his job in the hopes of catching the girls attention. I believe that he wanted to be viewed as the hero for standing up for them; even though, the girls were in the wrong for coming into a store dressed that way in the first place (cited in DiYanni, 2007, 36). This story affects the community because there can be different ways t hat this sort of story can be viewed, and we could all learn from this sort of storyline. A person can take something away from what they have read in some form of literature and put it to use into their communities for the future. That something can be as simple as a feeling, viewpoint, or even a new perspective, that can bring a new knowledge on the whole outlook of something. A person with culture added to their life, has a positive affect on our society because they have been enriched with literature. Each individual that reads a poem or a story is affected by it differently. However, the common ground for literature and the community and every person that reads it is this: we all must start at the beginning before we get to the last page or line from a poem. This knowledge is something that stays with a person forever; not only here, but in every community. References: Di Yanni, R. (2007). Literature: reading fiction, poetry, and drama. NewYork: McGrawHill Publishing, Inc.

Catcher in the Rye Essay: Child to Adult -- Catcher Rye Essays

Child to Adult in The Catcher in the Rye  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a story about growing up. It explores the obstacles we all face during our transition from child to adulthood. The tragedies and triumphs, the breakthroughs and setbacks, the happiness and heartache. As you follow the book's protagonist, Holden, through his journey into adulthood, you learn about his life, but more importantly, you learn about your own. You grow to sympathize with the young rebel, and you begin to see traces of yourself in him. This book appeals to the child in all of us because we can all remember a time we'd like to go back to; a time when making our beds was our greatest responsibility and life was something we took for granted. Unfortunately, growing up means letting go, and leaving the past behind. It means not only do things change, but the way you look at them changes. No matter how badly you wish you could stop it, time advances and the world continues to turn. This is no exception for Holden. Thinking back on childhood memories of class trips to the museum he remarks, "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times....Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you" (121). There have been times in each of our lives that we have wished we had a small cupboard of memories, all kept in little jars labeled with a time, a person, or a place we hope never to forget. Sometimes, one of the happiest and yet saddest parts of life is looking back on the part we have already lived, no matter how great or small. This is something Holden learns about life and about himself as he spends... ...erican teenager. He tests his boundaries and learns what he's comfortable with and what he's not. He forms a lot of opinions about the world. He quickly learns that life is no fairy tale full of gum drops and candy canes. The real world is a harsh place to live, and growing up in it isn't always easy. The book ends abruptly, leaving Holden's future up in the air. We can only imagine what's in store for him and where his travels will take him. More importantly, though, we have come to understand and sympathize with Holden's struggles, and we are sad to hear we have reached the point at which our paths part. Upon leaving, we can only hope that he is headed down the right road, and that destiny will run its course. But in reality, isn't that all that we can hope for ourselves? Work Cited Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Bantam Books, 1951.

A Solders Duty in Guests of the Nation Essay examples -- European Lit

War evokes different emotions and feelings for many people. Some are drafted and forced to serve, others volunteer their lives for a cause they believe in and some never even see a battle ground. Some live, some die, others are captured and become prisoners or hostages. But one thing is certain, for those who have actually seen war know first hand that it has the power to change and in most cases it does just that. In Frank O'Connor's "Guests of the Nation," two British soldiers are captured by the Irish Republic Army. Two young Irish soldiers are assigned to guard the captives. The British earn the trust and friendship of their young captors. Until one day the call of duty forces the Irish to carry out orders that forever change their perspective on the war and the duty that accompanies. In "Guests of the Nation," O'Connor uses six elements of fiction to illustrate the conflict associated with the responsibility of duty and one's personal morals in the circumstance of war. Although this is a story of war and there is obviously external conflict between the opposing countries, it is the internal conflict of the Irish soldiers Bonaparte and Noble that help the reader understand how the weight of duty ultimately defeats personal morals during war. It is Bonaparte and Noble's duty as an Irish soldiers in the IRA (Irish Republic Army) to guard the two captured British soldiers. Bonaparte feels the two men do not even need guarding, that they would not flee given the chance. He and Noble both have become bored with docile cottage life and would rather be out in the action fighting. Bonaparte soon finds out that he and Noble are going to be relived of there guarding duties but not how either of them had anticipated. "It was the... ... of something like this happening. Now he begins to feel a dilemma between what his duty might be to his country and how that duty will ultimately win out over any moral dilemma he might have to the men. All five characters in this story are faced with dilemma be true to one's self or one's country. Although war is defiantly a divider it also has the power to bring together under moral and personal circumstances. War is what brought these men together and it is what ultimately lead the physical death of Hawkins and Belcher, but it also lead to a little piece of Noble and Bonaparte dying too. This war forever changed the lives of four men because the duty of war was held in above morals and friendships. Works Cited O'Connor, Frank. "Guests of the Nation." Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Sylvan Barnet, et. al. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. 590-598.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle :: essays research papers

The Caucasian Chalk Circle The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Brecht uses epic theatre to bring forth an idea ormeaning for the audience to consider while entertaining the audience. Epic theatre involves the use of alienation techniques to distance the viewer from the story but still concentrate on the overall meaning. The person who just views the story would likely take it as fantasy and not reach the true depth of the play. Brecht shocks the viewer by making the events and actions in the play "strange and abstract" this contrasts with dramatic plays where the audience sympathises and relates to the characters of the play. The theme throughout the play is natural justice versus class justice. The title has links to other parables and stories before it. The Chalk Circle, a Chinese play involved a legal action where the false claimant was granted custody due a bribe to claim her dead husbands estate. This however was overturned by the emperor, the guarantor of the law, in a retrial as the emperor was the father. This particular story is a whisper to the result of Grusha's trial. The emperor is portrayed as the epitome of justice and gives a true verdict. The trial scene is also adapted from the parable of King Solomon. Solomon the paragon of justice and truth oversees the trial of two mothers, one child is dead the other alive, they seek custody of the alive child. The king asks the child to be cut in half, the real mother relinquishes her claim and thus gains custody of her rightful child. In these two whispers the law is shown to be equated with justice, however Brecht seeks to highlight that within Grusinia this is not the case and it takes a greedy Azdak who despises the upper classes to give a just verdict. The class justice presented in the novel has close links to the Marxist view of the law, with the law serving all, but in reality it protects and secures the interests of the ruling classes. The play seeks to emphasise that within this class justice the poor can only gain justice under exceptional circumstances. Azdak as the judge and arbiter of justice has come to this position only through a matter of chances and mistakes. Firstly he harbours the Grand Duke from Shauva, then he confesses to the Ironshirts only to be made judge because the Duke escaped.

Hearts and Hands (O.Henry)

At Denver there was an influx of passengers into the coaches on the eastbound B. & M. express. In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler. Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed together. As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only vacant seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman.Here the linked couple seated themselves. The young woman's glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her countenance and a tender pink tingeing her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard. â€Å"Well, Mr. Easton, if you will m ake me speak first, I suppose I must. Don't vou ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West? â€Å"The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand. â€Å"It's Miss Fairchild,† he said, with a smile. â€Å"I'll ask you to excuse the other hand; â€Å"it's otherwise engaged just at present. † He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining â€Å"bracelet† to the left one of his companion. The glad look in the girl's eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror. The glow faded from her cheeks.Her lips parted in a vague, relaxing distress. Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other forestalled him. The glum-faced man had been watching the girl's countenance with veiled glances from his keen, shrewd eyes. â€Å"You'll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you're acquainted with the marshall here. If you'll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen he'll do it, and it'll make things easier for me there. He's taking me to Leavenworth prison. It's seven years for counterfeiting. â€Å"Oh! † said the girl, with a deep breath and returning color. â€Å"So that is what you are doing out here? A marshal! † â€Å"My dear Miss Fairchild,† said Easton, calmly, â€Å"I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings unto itself, and you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening in the West, and–well, a marshalship isn't quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but–† â€Å"The ambassador,† said the girl, warmly, â€Å"doesn't call any more. He needn't ever have done so. You ought to know that.And so now you are one of these dashing Western heroes, and you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers. That's different from t he Washington life. You have been missed from the old crowd. † The girl's eyes, fascinated, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the glittering handcuffs. â€Å"Don't you worry about them, miss,† said the other man. â€Å"All marshals handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business. † â€Å"Will we see you again soon in Washington? † asked the girl. â€Å"Not soon, I think,† said Easton. My butterfly days are over, I fear. † â€Å"I love the West,† said the girl irrelevantly. Her eyes were shining softly. She looked away out the car window. She began to speak truly and simply without the gloss of style and manner: â€Å"Mamma and I spent the summer in Denver. She went home a week ago because father was slightly ill. I could live and be happy in the West. I think the air here agrees with me.Money isn't everything. But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid–à ¢â‚¬  â€Å"Say, Mr. Marshal,† growled the glum-faced man. This isn't quite fair. I'm needing a drink, and haven't had a smoke all day. Haven't you talked long enough? Take me in the smoker now, won't you? I'm half dead for a pipe. † The bound travelers rose to their feet, Easton with the same slow smile on his face. â€Å"I can't deny a petition for tobacco,† he said, lightly. â€Å"It's the one friend of the unfortunate. Good-bye, Miss Fairchild. Duty calls, you know. † He held out his hand for a farewell. â€Å"It's too bad you are not going East,† she said, reclothing herself with manner and style. But you must go on to Leavenworth, I suppose? † â€Å"Yes,† said Easton, â€Å"I must go on to Leavenworth. † The two men sidled down the aisle into the smoker. The two passengers in a seat near by had heard most of the conversation. Said one of them: â€Å"That marshal's a good sort of chap. Some of these Western fellows are all right. † â€Å"Pretty young to hold an office like that, isn't he? † asked the other. â€Å"Young! † exclaimed the first speaker, â€Å"Why–Oh! Didn't you catch on? Say–Did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand? â€Å"

The Affect of Aggression on Motivation

Sport psychologists have been becoming increasingly important in the realm of sports; helping athletes in their focus and controlling emotions; such as anxiety. Moreover, they have also become assistants to team organizations In selecting potential players, As previously stated, much research has been completed in an effort to not only increase performance but to also predict future performances. As result, many theories have evolved. These theories range from the achievement goal theory (ACT), to the self determination theory (SDTV), ACT states that an Individual will poses either an ego goal orientation or a task goal orientation.Researchers have examined different aspects of athletes' motivational orientations in hopes to predict a successful performance. Based off this research, it has been shown that when athletes have a high task goal orientation they are more likely to give a successful performance. However, it has been shown that athletes at the elite level of competition pos sess both a high task orientation and ego orientation. This is important to coaches when considering how to motivate players. One motivational tactic that has been heard on the sidelines at sporting events Is the coach telling his players to be aggressive.Moreover, athletes routinely site aggressive play as the factor In a win or loss. In this regard, the focus of this proposed study is to investigate what role aggression has on an athletes' motivational orientation and whether aggression has a positive correlation with performance. Aggression Is seemingly becoming more evident in sports. Moreover, aggression has evolved as a positive attribute In the eyes of athletes and spectators alike, and has earned itself an important role in team sports (Rascal, Coulomb-Cabbage, & Delegate, 2004).However, little research has been conducted on aggression and how TTS manifestation will affect an athlete's performance, or if aggression is more prevalent In one goal orientation over another. To s tudy the occurrence of aggressive behavior, the proposed study will look at athletes In the sport of boxing which is often viewed as a highly aggressive and sometimes barbaric sport. Boxing is 1 OFF play them must also have a certain degree of aggression that motivates them to continue the sport. However, a conceptual definition of aggression is that it is a negative personality trait that is connected with sport participation (Keller, 2004).Aggression has been further broken down into two categories; hostile and instrumental. Hostile aggression is defined as behavior that is performed with the sole intention of inflicting harm on a person and is seen as being an emotional response out of frustration or anger; while instrumental is considered non-emotional and is behavior that intentionally causes injury or harm to an opponent in the pursuit of another non-aggressive goal such as scoring or winning (Rascal, Coulomb- Cabbage, ; Delegate, 2004).With this in mind, this study will also measure assertiveness; which is defined as a non-hostile, non-coercive tendency to behave with intense and energetic behavior to accomplish one's goal, and within the sport setting is within the rules of competition. Assertiveness will primarily be included because the primary goal in boxing is to inflict injury or harm on an opponent. This study will also measure the goal orientations of the athletes. Previous studies have shown that when athletes have a high ego low task orientation they are more prone to aggression and a win at all cost mentality (Rascal, Coulomb-Cabbage, & Delegate, 2004).Therefore, it is hypothesized that 1) the goal orientation of the boxers will be influenced by the level of aggressiveness or assertiveness 2) aggression will be correlated with a high ego-orientation and assertiveness will be correlated with a task-orientation 3) assertiveness will have a positive correlation with performance and aggression will have a negative correlation with performance 4) assertiveness will be viewed and considered to be aggression by the athletes in the study. Method The design of this study will be non-experimental and will utilize surveys and researcher observation.The study will have two independent variables, aggression and assertion; and three dependent variables, task-orientation, ego-orientation and performance. Performance will be Judged by a win or loss. Aggressive behavior will be considered illegal blows. This will include low blows, kidney punches, rabbit punches (punches to the back of the head), hitting on the break (when the referee calls a halt to the action), hitting an opponent while down on a knee, and excessive holding. Assertive behavior will be pressing the action, and a high volume of punchers thrown (>50 punches/round).The distinction between aggression and assertiveness will not be made to the athletes and will be used as criterion for observers when rating the performance of the athlete. The participants in the study will b e 30 active professional (n=10) and amateur (n=20) boxers between the ages of 18 and 25. Active participation will be defined as having at least one fight 2 months prior to the study and the subjects must have a fight scheduled to take place during the study. Participants will receive information on the parameters of the study and will be informed that all data collected will be anonymous.In addition written onset will be obtained by all subjects. The subjects will complete surveys that will rate the performance of their last competition, goal orientation, aggression, and assertiveness. The outcome of their last competition (whether the athlete won or loss) and demographic information will also be used in the data analysis. To assess developed by Roberts and Plague will be used. This scale has shown both reliability and validity for assessing task and ego goal orientations. Aggression will be measured in two ways; first, the subjects' global aggression will be assessed by the Buss-D arker Hostility Inventory (BID) scale.This will be used to see if aggression is a core trait of the athlete. Questions are answered either true or false and indicate whether the actions described are thought to be self-descriptive; and second, the subjects' situation-specific or sport aggression will be measured with the BAG-S scale. This is a 30 item inventory that measures both hostile and instrumental aggression. It uses a 4-point Liker scale with 1 being strong agreement and 4 being strong disagreement. To assess assertiveness, the Rather Assertiveness Schedule (RASA) will be used.This is a 30-item questionnaire that measures perceived assertiveness. It uses a six point scale that ranges from 3 to -3; with 3 being very characteristic of me and -3 being very uncharacteristic. Additionally observers will measure the subjects' level of aggression and assertion during competition using a 4- point Liker scales with 1 being very aggressive and very assertive and 4 being little aggress ion and little assertion. Analysis Analysis of the data will be conducted using several methods. For assessing the levels of aggression and assertion on performance the Pearson Correlation Coefficient will be used.

Sexual Appeals in Advertising and Their Effects on Consumers

Sex Appeal is one such method of differentiation that suppliers have found and proven to be successful. By targeting our basic animalistic behaviour, namely the drive for sexual reproduction, firms have found that through a cleverly designed message containing sex appeal, they can attract and hold on to consumers’ attention, thus making it more likely for consumers to choose that particular product over another. On the other hand however,sexual content may not be communicative and might even have a detrimental effect on brand information processing. Using sex appeal in advertising is a time-tested technique that will probably be with us forever. If you are marketing a product or service, you need to be aware of the power of sex appeal in advertising and understand the nuances of using sex to market your wares. What is sex appeal in advertising? Appeals utilizing overt sexual information are common in mainstream consumer advertising. Sex appeal is pervasive in advertising and is used with increasing frequency. As advertisersseek out ways to break through clutter and draw attention to their messages, the use of sexually oriented appeals have been used as a communication technique . Previous research for advertising has documented that sexually oriented appeals are widespread, commonplace, and increasing. Typically, sex appeals have varied along two major dimensions; nudity and sexual explicitness. The escalating usage of sexual stimuli in advertising indicates that companies will advertise in a way that most effectively moves the product. And sex does sell; one only has to browse through popular magazines to realize how powerful a tool sex is. Why Sex Sells: The most obvious reason sex appeal works in advertising is that it grabs attention. Both males and females are attracted to this type of advertising. It is a powerful instinctive attraction that will take our focus from anything else we may be doing. And advertisers know this. They play off of our curiosity. They know that it will be more likely to be recalled than most other forms of appeals because of the generated interest. Also, many advertisers have found that overly controversial images, even if they are taken off of the air, will stir up discussions about the ad and the product associated with it. Even if someone does not agree with what is put on an ad, they are still talking about it. By those discussions being had, the name of your product stays in the minds of consumers longer. What to Be Careful of When Using Sex Appeal in Marketing: Make sure that people are not so distracted by the sexual appeal of the ad that they do not remember what the ad was for in the first place. It does not do any good to create a sensual or sexual message when all they can remember is the image and not the brand name. So, make sure the sexual/sensual image being used is connected in some way to the product or service being promoted. This will create a link between the two and make the viewer much more likely to remember the product or service being advertised. Many advertisers appeal to males in this way- buy the product, get the girl. Especially beer advertisements- generally, a group of average looking guys will be in a bar and by purchasing or drinking a certain brand, they will attract interest from an attractive girl across the room. What is considered acceptable varies from one location to another. In a large metropolitan area with a diverse, less conservative population, you might be more likely to produce more risque advertising versus a rural and conservative or religious community. Tailor the message to the people you are targeting, which includes understanding their feelings and beliefs on public sexuality. If you are setting up a business in a smaller community, make sure to note what other businesses do to advertise. Sex appeal may not be an acceptable form of appeal at all. It is not as attention-grabbing as it once was. There is still an element of surprise, but do not think that people will react or respond quite how they did when it was first being used. As we have become more and more surrounded by sexual images in movies and television, we have become almost desensitized to it, and an ad with half-dressed models does not nearly shock us as much as it would have twenty years ago. So, instead of just having a group of sexy girls or guys in an ad, try to find more subtle and unexpected ways to use sexuality in your message. Dove did this by using â€Å"real people† in their marketing campaigns that started a few years ago. They used the different kinds of beauty, body shape, and age to promote their products. This unexpected campaign, which premiered during the Super Bowl, was extremely successful because it was something different that they were remembered for doing. Sex appeal can be used in many ways. In short, make sure that the way you are using it is appropriate for the product that you are selling and the people you are selling it to. Amy Bax is interested in providing innovative informational resources to entrepreneurs. She is currently an MBA student at the University of Missouri – Columbia. We're surrounded by advertisements that desperately compete for our attention. Everywhere we look, we find ourselves inevitably drawn to images of scantily clad attractive men and women that are supposed to somehow inspire us to purchase products they endorse. Sure, this attention-getting strategy is popular. Is sex appeal effective? Sex appeal can increase the effectiveness of an ad or commercial because it attracts the customer's attention. It's human nature to be curious about sex. A pair of long legs on a billboard is more likely to catch (and hold) a guy's attention than a puppy, regardless of how cute it may be. Even women are drawn to them, perhaps with the desire of having goddess-like legs. However, misuse of sex appeal can be costly. Many campaigns deemed offensive have started brand boycotts that affect sales and damage brand reputation. Abercrombie & Fitch has been involved in several scandals, the latest from their most recent catalog entitled â€Å"XXX Wet, Hot Summer Fun. † On April 18, 2002, only a week after the catalog hit the stores, the Illinois State Senate passed a resolution condemning A&F's advertising tactics. This resolution, backed by several nonprofit organizations, suggests citizens and shareholders boycott Abercrombie's products and to take a stand against the company's marketing strategies. Although sexy images in catalogs are not at all uncommon, â€Å"XXX Wet, Hot Summer Fun† featured naked boys and girls frolicking in natural settings. Not quite appropriate for an apparel catalog targeted at teenagers. Sex in advertising has stirred controversy for many years, an advertiser must be careful when incorporating it in a campaign. Great advertisers consider not only the attention-getting power of an advertisement or commercial, but also what kind of emotional response it provokes in customers. Studies show that the attractiveness of the endorsing model provokes positive responses. Nudity and graphic erotic content, while still increasing consumer's attention, doesn't really generate positive feelings among viewers. In other words, advertisers must be careful to avoid the â€Å"cheap shot,† which may negatively affect a brand's image. To avoid that, the sexual content in advertising must be appropriate to the product category and have a proper underlying message. One spot, called â€Å"The Premature Pour,† shows a beautiful seductive woman pouring Heineken into a glass. When a guy across the bar responds by pouring his own, he nervously pours too fast and spills foam all over the table and himself. The sexual content is implicit, yet direct. The sexual reference in this and other spots in the campaign worked, causing sales to rise 13% in the first two quarters of 2002. However, Steve Davis (VP of marketing in Heineken USA), claims that, â€Å"Provocative is a very good place to be, as long as we're not inflammatory. But the spots also work for a different reason. From the tag line to the plot, they are about a desire for Heineken. Our ads make the beer the hero. † Sex sells, yes, but only when used â€Å"in good taste. † As marketers we must think not only in getting customers' attention for the short term, but also in building a brand reputation that will yield long-term results. The positive roles of sex appeal in advertising: One might ask ‘why do advertisers promote sex appeal? ’ The answer in its purest form is thatit works well in most cases and according to Bumler (1999), most advertising executives usesex appeal as the most powerful weapon in their arsenal and therefore they use graphic images to get and hold on to audiences’ attention. From a marketing perspective, sexual appeal maybe advantageous for the simple reason that they prey on basic biological instincts and thus, an incredible motivational factor, which is a desirable attribute to break through clutter. Advertisements that attract attention have the increased likelihood to affect persuasion,especially in a saturated media environment typified by passive viewing exposure. Numerous research studies have revealed that sexual appeal, when used in advertising are attention grabbing, likeable, arousing, effect inducing, memorable, and somewhat more apt to increase interest in the topic advertised in comparison to non-sexual appeal. Sex appeal serves several crucial roles in advertising. Firstly,sexual material in advertising acts as an initial attention lure to the ad, which is referred to asthe stopping power of sex . Attention is a necessary condition for learning, attitudinal change and behavioral effects. A second function of sexual stimuli in advertising is to enhance message recall as sex is arousing, easy to relate, emotion inducing, and most of all, memorable. Finally, the third role of sexual content in advertising is to evoke emotional responses, such as feelings of arousal, excitement, or even lust, which in turn can create stimulation and desire for the product (Bumler 1999). This role may affect the consumer’s mood and can result in favourable cognitiveprocessing of the ad and increase the persuasion impact. Sex appeal in advertising is also effective ineliciting fantasy or expressing the imaginative fulfillment of motives, such as sexual gratification. Latour, Pitts, and Snook-Luther (1990) have provided insight into the emotional impact ofsexual appeals, specifically the level and nature of evoked arousal and attitudes toward theadvertisement and brand. They have found a direct relationship between the positive arousalevoked by sexual appeals and evaluations of the brand. Nonetheless, whether sexual appealelicits a positive or negative reaction depends on the appropriateness to the advertisedproduct. Richmond and Hartman (1982) ascertain that sexual stimuli will enhance brand recallonly if it has an appropriate relationship with the product category and the advertisingexecution. When sex appeal is used inappropriately, such as utilizing it solely as an attentiondevice, exploiting the female body, degrading the female role or insulting propriety, weakbrand recall may occur and may in fact produce a negative attitude towards the brand. This implies that the use of sex appeal in advertising must be appropriate to the type of products eing advertised and when sex appeal is used thoughtfully and appropriately, it may produceacceptable and satisfactory results. Negative effects of sex appeal in advertising: While studies have shown that overt sexual portrayals attract attention to an advertisement, other numerous advertising research have also suggested that inappropriate and excessive use of sexual content can actually have a number of negative effects. Consistently, studies have demonstrated that sexual appeals attract attention to the ad, typically without a corresponding advantage for brand information processing. Sexual content may be eye-catching and entertaining, but it may not be communicative and might distract the viewer from the message. When sexual stimulus is used in advertising, viewers’ perceptual and processing resources are directed toward the sexual information in the ad rather than toward the brand. The use of explicit sexual messages in advertisements may interfere with consumers’ processing of message arguments and brand information, which in turn may reduce message comprehension. Furthermore, initial devices such a sexual stimuli overwhelm the message, and are negatively correlated to both recall and persuasion. Finally, there has been evidence to suggest that overt sexual appeals may have detrimental effects on attitudes toward the ad and brand, and therefore may reduce purchase intention . These findings led MacInnis, Moorman, and Jaworski to advance the proposition that hedonic appeals, such as sexual stimuli, increase motivation to process the ad execution, but largely at the expense of the brand. All of these threaten to act as potential hazards of using sex appeals. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) provides a framework to understand the role of sexual appeals in persuasion (Shimp 2003). According to ELM, persuasion can occur along a continuum of elaboration. Persuasion resulting from extensive issue-relevant thinking isreferred to as central route processing, whereby receivers engage in vigilant examination ofmessage information. As receivers’ motivation, opportunity, and ability decrease, receiversare less likely to engage in systematic elaboration and are consequently more likely to rely onperipheral cues to guide their decision-making. Evidence suggests that this process occurs in response to sexual appeals in advertising (Severn, Belch & Belch 1990). It appears that numerous advertising utilizing sex appeal seems to get attention but do little for the advertised product. For instance, Judd and Alexander (1983) found that ads withdecorative female models increase memory for the image in the ad with no difference in actually reading the information of the ad. In particular, nudity and erotic content was found to increase attention to the ad, but not necessarily enhance recall or positive attitudes toward a brand. As a result, sexual appeals stimulate less argument elaboration and connecting thoughts than will non-sexual appeal. Additional evidence also suggests that, as the level of nudity and erotism increase, the intended communication effects either become negative or dissipate. Therefore, despite the persuasiveness of sexual appeals when used in advertisements, it is likely to be the result of peripheral processes and as a result may be transient. In addition to the aforesaid negative effects of advertising, bad uses of sex symbols in advertising may lead to unacceptable perception by audience. The widespread use of sex as an advertising technique has elicited significant consumer protest. On top of that, as clutter increases in advertising, consumers appear to be more able to physically avoid advertising and tune out . For this reason, every advertiser haspragmatic need to stand out. As marketers focus on developing messages that stand out, too many of them forget that their focus should not solely be on the executional devices, but on the core message. In order to investigate the abovementioned discrepancy with regards to the effects of sexual stimuli in advertising, we conducted a short survey on 20 subjects on their perception of ads that exploit sex appeal. The subjects, who consisted of eleven females and nine males, wereasked to browse through five different ads for 20 seconds. Two out of the five ads presented,employ sexual appeal as their core messages. The subjects were then required to answer a series of questions about the attractiveness of the ads and were then asked to recall the brand names. The survey questions, results, and advertisement stimuli are provided in Appendix 1. It was found that one of the ads utilizing sexual appeal (Ad 2) was rated as most appealing by the majority of subjects. Interestingly however, the other ad that displays explicit nudity (Ad) was rated as most unappealing and most subjects were unable to recall the brand name. We therefore concluded that sex appeal in advertising works well, but only if it is appropriate with the product context and within an appropriate level of explicitness.