Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 122

Essay Example This is because the African Americans have been segregated against than any other group. Pampel (2004) observes that there is a need for additional experimental results regarding whether police traffic curbs practices that have inappropriate effect on minority drivers (Pampel 124). In their study, they concluded that generally, minority citizens and Black Americans in particular, were unreasonably stopped due to their higher percentage representation of those eligible to drive. Nonetheless, in contrast to the conflicts of people alarmed by racial profiling, the two researchers concluded that Caucasians were more frequently searched than minorities. Notwithstanding, Caucasians were essentially more likely to be subjected to consensual searches. In comparison to Caucasians, the researchers observed that minority drivers stood a higher chance of being warned. On the other hand, the probability of ticketing or arresting Caucasians was observed to be higher (Pampel 65). It is noteworthy to mention that these instances are indicators of racial profiling because law enforcers arrest or charge minorities based on their appearance. This could lead to stopping citizens unfairly even if no evidence of wrongdoing or breaking the law exists (Pampel 67). Among the researches that do exist, some of them come in handy as concerns the data studied in current articles. One of the studies looked at the stop-and-frisk procedures of the New York Department of Police and concluded that regardless of the blacks making up 25.6% of New York City’s population, they represented 51% of all people stopped by the New York Police Department (Maasik & Solomon 147). Another research by Smith and Alpert pertinent on this topic since it was carried out in a key metropolitan area of the U.S., and because the percentages and numbers of the diverse categories of stops, seem to be related to the data from the primary source (Pampel 107). This makes

John Lewis partnership

John Lewis partnership What is John Lewis partnership? John Lewis partnership is a visionary and successful way of doing business, boldly putting the happiness of partners at the centre of everything they do. The outcome of nearly a century of endeavour to create a different sort of company, owned by partners dedicated to serving customers with elegance and fairness. All 71,196 staff are partners who own 28 John Lewis department stores, 213 Waitrose supermarkets, an online and with catalogue business, (John Lewis direct-john Lewis.com), a direct services company (Greenbee), three production units, and a farm with a turnover of nearly  £6 billion last year. Partners share in the benefits and profits of a business that puts them first and the partnership follows its seven business principles purpose, power, profit, members, customers, business and relationships. Mission statement Mission statement addresses the question where does it belong to in the business. The John Lewis Partnerships reputation is founded on the uniqueness of its ownership structure and commercial success. Its purpose is the happiness of all our members, through their worthwhile, satisfying employment in a successful business, with success measured on its ability to sustain and enhance the position both as an outstanding retailer and as a thriving example of employee ownership. Partnership Strategy Partnership strategy is based on three interdependent objectives partners, customers, profit which together will make its successful business. Partners should gain personal satisfaction by being members of a co-owned enterprise in which they have worthwhile, secure and fulfilling employment and confidence in the way the partnership conducts its business. The partnership should recruit and retain loyal customers through their continued trust and confidence in our reputation for value, choice, service and honesty. The partnership should make sufficient profit to sustain our commercial vitality and distinctive character, allow continued development and distribute a share of profits each year consistent with partners reasonable expectations. Environmental Factors As ROBSON(1997) conveys environment analysis takes an important part towards increasing the quality of strategic decisions considering relevant features well before making an irrevocable decision. Social Fairtrade, certifies producers against internationally recognised trading standards. Fairtrade items generate a guaranteed price to cover production plus a social premium to be reinvested in suppliers businesses or local communities. Recruitment, retention and training- Partnership aims to attract and retain the best people who share the values. Traceability- Having full traceability of products, and their ingredients or components, is critical to success and to consumer confidence. Product safety- Ensure the integrity of products and the application of the best standards in safety, quality environment and animal welfare. Animal welfare- Waitrose is committed to providing the best conditions for animals at all stages of the supply chain and to combating cruel practices. Environmental Energy and emissions- committed to tackling the issue of Climate Change and have set a public target of reducing CO2 emissions by 10% by 2010 Packaging and waste- The Partnerships longstanding objective is to reduce waste wherever possible, and to reuse or recycle more of what they produce. Economic As a business based solely in the UK, the Partnership is particularly exposed to any economic downturn which could affect consumer spending, most notably in the Department Store business. Political The Partnership remains sensitive to the regulatory environment in which it trades in order to ensure ongoing compliance with key regulatory requirements around planning, trading, tax and competition. SWOT Analysis The importance of performing a SWOT analysis is that, no business should take a high risk strategy if there are any significant weaknesses foreseen. Performing a SWOT analysis may consider in, What are the weak/strong products, divisions, attitudes etc.? Are there any gaps/opportunities? Are there any dangers/threats needs to be protected? Are we strong in the right way to exploit the opportunity? Considering the above facts a SWOT analysis has taken place to mark the right opportunity. Strengths Weaknesses The Partnership has many strengths such as committed and experienced Partners; the ability to trade well even when conditions were difficult. It had also come through a very difficult period with its integrity and the trust of customers intact. However, it had not been plain sailing as profits has been hit hard particularly in John Lewis. Sales in Waitrose have been more resilient but the division has fought hard by turning up the volume on price and the cost of that investment. As Partnership Chairman Charlie Mayfield reports, Profits could be down this year but their financial position remained strong. Their financial strategy is conservative as borrowings and mortgages are low comparing to competitors. This is due to the fact that they have planned and were able to cope with difficult economic periods. They also have good relationships with banks, but it has to be maintained to ensure their continued support in the future. However, plans for growth cost money and the business needs to consider how much more it could afford to invest when operating profits on under pressure. Opportunities Threats Clearly sales have been under threat during recession periods and there were risks around the operational side of the business. A biggest threat seen was the collapse of banking sector. John Lewis partnership didnt seem to be affected by it but still since it has not ended yet there is a caution of lending money from banks. Apart from it, implementing new products and multi-channelling occupied the ongoing of business. Organisational Structure Its Decision Levels Partnership council Partnership has a clear and streamlined management structure which means decisions could be taken very quickly. The Partnership Council symbolizes its democratic structure and represents the strategic level governing authority. Signifying Partners as a whole,  most of its members  are elected by  Partners. Its main role is to hold its management to account, to influence policy and to make key governance decisions. Partnership Board has ultimate responsibility for issues of major policy and for allocating the financial and other resources of the business. To a large extent its role is keeping the Partnership true to its principles both in terms of the vitality of its commercial progress and its distinctive co-ownership objectives. The Council should retain its three vital decision-making powers: to elect the Trustees of the Constitution and five directors to the Board to change the Constitution, with the Chairmans agreement to dismiss the Chairman. Managing the business This starts with the two divisional Management Boards, who have clear responsibility for developing a strategy for the ongoing development of our John Lewis and Waitrose businesses and then for seeing through its implementation in accordance with an approved business plan. Said two divisions share the Partnerships principles in the managerial level and a common approach to doing business, but they are substantial businesses in their own right. The establishment of the Management Boards clarified the responsibility they carry for the trading operations of the business. They are accountable to the Chairman for their performance, and they derive their authority from the Partnership Boards approval of their business plans. Waitrose Management Board The Waitrose Management Board is accountable to the Chairman for its performance and it derives its authority from the Partnership Boards approval of its business plan. John Lewis Management Board The John Lewis Management Board is accountable to the Chairman for its performance and it derives its authority from the Partnership Boards approval of its business plan. Partnership Services Partnership Services represents the knowledge level and designed to meet the Business plan and Partner needs with simple, efficient services, enabling a growing and successful Partnership. Partner Being a partner with a shared responsibility for the partnership and a drive to put its success first is a different aspect compared to operational levels in other organisations. Further partnervoice is the local avenue for Partner opinion and is the means by which Partners can provide feedback, question management on branch, raise their own issues and be consulted. Types of Decisions Made at Various Levels Multi-Channel Retailer Level Type of decision Type of IS Benefits to organisation Link to the mission Strategic level Build multi channel retail ESS- sales forecast for 3 years. Improvement of profit margins and expanding the organisation. Partners could be stretched and develop their career. Management level Budgeting Cost analysis MIS- Annual budgeting on channels DSS- analysing cost in implementing and maintaining channels Knowing the spending In finding the best possible way to suit the business To build a successful business Knowledge level Designing modern trends KWS- designing channel workstations Best possible way to suit the business Sustain as an outstanding retailer Operational level Schedule employees TPS- Training and development Processes daily activities smoothly To sustain as a business IS Recommendations Strategic level management of performance as a whole where how it could meet the expectations of organisation Management level performance report against the spending. Knowledge level design performance indicators Operational level pay reviews. International Expansion Level Type of decision Type of IS Benefits to organisation Link to the mission Strategic level International expansion ESS-prepare 5 year forecast in sales Growth in the partnership internationally Partner satisfaction Management level Budgeting Pricing analysis MIS- annual budgeting on expenditures DSS- determine prices Keep track on expenditures of the company. Towards the company profit margin. Success of the business Knowledge level Market analysis KWS-analysing retail market Acquire the best opportunities. Sustain in the business Operational level Process orders TPS-processing and tracking of orders. Process routines Success of the business IS Recommendations Strategic level franchise internationally Management level franchise budgeting forecast reports Knowledge level analysing markets for franchise Operational level keep up the standards as a franchiser. Increase Marketing Level Type of decision Type of IS Benefits to organisation Link to the mission Strategic level Increase Marketing ESS- 3 year sales forecast Increase of sales Sustain of the business Management level Marketing budget Cost analysis MIS-issuing marketing budget DSS-analysing costs towards marketing Manage marketing budget Find best possible for the company Enhance the position in the market Knowledge level Design marketing trends KWS-market analysis Attract customers to drive sales Success of the company Operational level Display marketing adverts TPS-point of sale To drive more sales More sales more bonus IS Recommendations Strategic level economic trends of a countrys condition in a given time period Management level sales analysis and sales reports. Knowledge level design products to suit the economic trend. e.g. to suit economic crisis Operational level production order of the new designed product. Expansion In UK Level Type of decision Type of IS Benefits to organisation Link to the mission Strategic level Expansion in UK ESS-prepare 3 year operating plan Bring more sales, profits Enhance the partnership Management level New budgets for new stores Costs in expansion MIS-spending budgets for annum DSS-contract cost analysis Make most of it towards the future Keep within budgets Sustain of business Knowledge level Design KWS-engineering workstations Keep up standards Towards success of the company Operational level Enter, process orders TPS-order process Make sales More sales more profit, bonus IS Recommendations Strategic level profit forecasts, sales trend forecast Management level sales management, sales analysis Knowledge level market analysis Operational level training development Ethical Issues Climate change Reduced overall CO2 emissions by 16% Waitrose are investing  £55 million over five years to replace refrigeration equipment and improve efficiency Improved shop energy efficiency by 15% in John Lewis, 19% in Waitrose Investigated alternative, lower carbon fuels for vehicles Founder member of the Environmental IT Leadership Team, a cross industry user group aiming to develop more sustainable IT strategies Packaging, waste recycling In 2007-08, John Lewis recycled 4,490 tonnes of waste (39%) and Waitrose 21,500 tonnes (49%) Waitrose reduced carrier bag usage by 30% this year John Lewis have introduced a number of carrier bag initiatives Waitrose are committed to reducing packaging and are introducing recycled recyclable materials. In John Lewis, all new paper and card packaging uses either recycled or FSC-certified material. Waitroses anaerobic digestion generates green energy from food waste from 5 stores Building and operating sustainable shops- Signed up to the BCSC Sustainability Charter Each building project now starts with a Sustainability Action Plan Working to identify ways to improve the sustainability impacts of the design and construction of interior fixtures and fitting Over 90% building waste was recycled during the fit-out of John Lewis Leicester All new Waitrose in-store graphics are made from paper or card, making them fully recyclable, and signage equipment is fully deconstructable so it can be recycled at the end of its life. Supplier relationships The Partnership have provided suppliers with a Responsible Sourcing Supplier Workbook to give suppliers a better insight into our Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice. Through day-to-day contact, John Lewis highly trained buyers give suppliers a helping hand in meeting the terms of our Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice Sustainable products- 78% of the garden furniture FSC certified John Lewis We Can Make a Difference promotion covered more than 600 biodegradable, organic, energy-efficient, Fairtrade, recycled and sustainable products Waitrose stock 180 Fairtrade lines and Fairtrade sales rose by 76% in 2007 Waitrose are the only UK retailer to insist all British fruit and vegetable growers adopt the LEAF certification standard Waitrose local and regional sourcing sales increased by 58% to  £21 million in 2007-08 Improving the customer experience Ranked first for service in the Verdict customer satisfaction index for 2007 Focusing on reporting and sharing details of any customer complaints, so that we can learn from such feedback All new John Lewis Partners currently receive an induction and lots of on-the-job training. This year, we are investing more in training Partners Chairman Charlie Mayfield appointed to the UK Commission on Employment and Skills (UKCES). Health nutrition Over 1,000 products now carry the Food Standards Agency (FSA) multiple traffic light labelling on their packaging, and all recipe cards and publications carry key nutritional information per serving. Waitrose Education invests approximately  £400,000 a year educating young people about nutrition and food. The online Nutrition Advice Service provides customers and health. professionals with help and advice on a wide range of food issues Supporting our communities- Partnerships contribution to charities and communities in 2007-08 was  £6.2 million. All Waitrose shops support local charities and community groups nominated by customers through its new Community Matters scheme. Partners have raised  £138,000 for Wallace and Gromits Childrens Foundation, this years John Lewis Charity of the Year. Waitrose Partners donated 4,221 hours and John Lewis Partners 22,500 through the Golden Jubilee Trust scheme.

America Needs Some Gun Control Essay -- argumentative, persuasive, gun

Gun control is the effort to restrict or limit the possession and use of guns. The gun control debate may be one of the most important issues in our society. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the 2nd Amendment restrains the government’s ability to ban handguns. Some politicians are passionate about gun control and make voting decisions based upon on this issue alone; hence, the people we elect into office directly affect our lives. A few republican politicians have a strong belief in the right to own guns. This battling contradiction can sometimes make it difficult to approach the issue reasonably. The arguments have different statistics and facts regarding how firearms can impact society. It is important to realize that there are strong and valid points to be made for both sides of gun control issues. With that in mind, is there a â€Å"right† or â€Å"wrong† side to this issue? Gun right advocates believe that the 2nd Amendment, â€Å"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed† guarantees the right to own guns and that gun control laws are a violation of their constitutional rights.(constitution) Sarah Palin, Alaska’s former governor, believes that gun control is taking away the rights from the citizens in which the 2nd Amendment has granted them. She is in favor of the constitution and expresses that gun control laws are unconstitutional; â€Å"I support our constitutional right to bear arms†¦You start putting more and more laws on guns and you take away a second amendment right.† (Romano 2) The government is constantly proposing legislation for more and more gun control. However, they cannot be so naive to think criminal... ...ent, and More - Newsweek. 30 Jan. 2011. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/30/sarah-palin-s-gun-control-warnings-at-safari-club-international.html Romano, Andrew. "Sarah Palin's Gun Control Warnings at Safari Club International - Newsweek." Newsweek - National News, World News, Business, Health, Technology, Entertainment, and More - Newsweek. 30 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/30/sarah-palin-s-gun-control-warnings-at-safari-club-international.html Souter, David. "David Souter on Gun Control." OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues. 09 Feb. 2010. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. . United States. The U.S. Constitution - The 2nd Amendment. By James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. .

Explore That Claim That a Consumer Society Is Always a Throw Away Society

Explore the claim that a consumer society is always a throw away society. There is no doubt that our environment is becoming more polluted. An increase in the amount of waste people produce is one of the main causes for this issue. For example, households in the UK throw away approximately 30 million tonnes of rubbish a year. Our population is rising, therefore the amount of goods required to meet people’s demands has increased. Living standards have improved, as have the qualities of products and the choice of them thereof, all of which is facilitated by the increasing demands of a growing market.The subsequent waste that this increase in population, demand and consumerism creates provokes the question – is a consumer society always a throw away society? Rising affluence is a key factor in today’s increase in waste and rubbish. In today’s society the majority of people are able to afford the higher standards of living and more luxurious items. Take a tele vision for example; in the 1950’s televisions were regarded as a luxury. Those families that had a black and white television were regarded as wealthy or rich.However, skip to today’s society and everybody has a television and they are now seen as a necessity rather than a luxury item regardless of a families’ on individuals’ financial capacity. As well as the increase in households there has also been an advance in technology; we are now seeing plasma, HD or 3D televisions as the luxury item to be had in households (Making social lives, P. 109, 2010). Due rising levels of affluence people are able to buy more products and replace them with new rather than paying for the old products to get fixed.In today’s society it has become normal to throw away broken items such as washing machines, dishwashers, DVD players, televisions or microwaves rather than getting them repaired. A lot of electrical items such as these are cheaper to buy brand new than it is to pay for them to get repaired. Since the 1st department store opened in 1869, Bon Marche, fashion and clothes shopping was sold to customers as a luxury, however department stores were able to produce products for the less wealthy clientele as well.This was the beginning of mass produced items, which meant that the price was affordable for a wider range of the population. Clothes and accessories were being produced with new technology, which was able to produce these products a lot faster than if they were handmade. Department stores were also the central point in the movement of people expressing their individuality and personal character identities. Department stores had cracked it; seducing customers into buying what appeared to be luxury items produced at a low cost so a wider range of people were able to afford them (making social lives, P39, 2010).If we skip forward a few years and look at today’s shipping society we see the same problem I spoke about earlier, eve rything is now mass-produced from outside the UK. Such products are exceptionally cheap to buy and, unfortunately, this is an extremely influential point in the facilitation of a throwaway society. A lot of families that are fortunate enough to go on holiday to a hot country abroad will find themselves buying specific items only appropriate for the holiday and then disposing them after one or two wears due to the low cost of the items.As well as throwing away clothes after holiday there are a large number of clothes thrown away due to an increase in society’s interest in fashion. Facilitated and accelerated by increased coverage by different media formats, demand for new fashion cycles from designers has emerged, for example, spring, summer, autumn, winter – all cycles that would not have existed at one point. Rather than people customising and adjusting clothes like they would have done years ago, old, ‘unfashionable’, clothes are thrown away to make way for newer, more fashionable, ones.Supermarkets produce one of the cheapest clothing sources in our country, they buy mass produced items from places such as India, Bangladesh and China. This is due to the cheap labour and material costs that these countries provide. (making social lives, P87, 2010) Supermarkets are taking over our country. They have made themselves extremely accessible to all people, from all backgrounds and classes, with a huge range of different products, all sold at very low prices. Not surprisingly then, supermarkets are responsible for a huge percentage of our country’s waste. Any food that is out of date or past its shelf life date gets thrown way, any food that is not cosmetically perfect gets thrown away as well. This, in my opinion, is unnecessarily wasteful and instead of throwing it away could be used in a more productive and resourceful way. As well as the amount of food supermarkets waste they produce a lot of rubbish through the packaging used t o keep the goods safe and fresh for consumers. It appears that every product you purchase is over packaged, it could be in a plastic tub, wrapped in plastic film, and surrounded by a cardboard advertising sleeve, this is again completely unnecessary waste ready to be thrown in the bin.Although we have been a throw away society over the last century, recently the media have made a conscious effort to increase society’s awareness of what is going to happen to the environment if everybody carries on being as wasteful and blase as they have been in the past. There has been a lot more advertising to create awareness with regards to recycling and looking after the environment. As a homeowner these days we are expected to recycle as many items as possible and are asked by the government to separate them into categories to help the country be able to dispose of the high volumes of rubbish produced.There has been a significant rise in recycling and now 27% of homeowners recycle as bef ore they would have been just thrown theses items in the bin. (Making social lives, P118, 2010). As well as recycling food, we as a nation are now beginning to recycle our clothes. Certain charity shops post refuge bags through people’s doors, asking the owners of the household to fill them with unwanted clothes that are then re-sold in charity shops at a lower price for people who are not as wealthy to purchase. Some clothes are also sent to other countries that may need emergency clothing.Supermarkets are also doing there bit for the environment; they now produce ‘bags for life’ which are designed to minimise the amount of plastic bags used and thrown away by customers. Supermarkets in some countries, such as Wales, have even begun charging for normal carrier bags, enticing customers to make a one-off payment for a ‘bag for life’, save some money and help the environment all in one go. Supermarkets have also started distributing unsold food to home less and needy people. Our rubbish can be given value again in many ways, for example – hand-me-down clothes, car boot sales or selling unwanted items on EBay.Currently there are a lot of charities that are aware of how much rubbish we waste as a society and are helping society to do something about it. An example of how they are doing this is that currently all un-wanted tents that are left at festivals are sent to countries that need emergency accommodation after natural disasters or war. Another way of giving rubbish value is by transporting all our unwanted waste around the world to places with lower wage costs, who in return separate it, clean it, and process it into something usable again, for example using scrap aluminum to make bottle tops and food cans.China are on board with recycling their rubbish into value items, they send their consumer goods over to England and take back our unwanted rubbish to be recycled in China (making social lives, P118, 2010). With the wo rld’s population increasing, consumer demand from food to electrical goods has increased likewise. Subsequently, society has evolved to adapt to this change in both positive and negative ways. Positively, cheaper, mass-produced foods provide us with a necessity.Negatively, advances in technology are not as key to our survival, for example the HD TV. The media, and an increase in the world’s general economic well-being, until recently have been partly to blame for the facilitation of society’s wasteful approach to life. Supermarkets have been beneficiaries not facilitators of the behavior of their consumer environment. However, the media have now turned full-circle and are promoting a more recyclable approach to life since we have learned the consequences of our wasteful tendencies.Therefore, I believe the argument that consumer societies are always throw-away societies is false. I think the pivotal point in a society becoming a throw away society is in their edu cation of the damage such an approach can do to their planet in the long run. Word count:1283 Bibliography Martin Wainwright. (2012). hundreds of tents. Available: hundreds of tents. Last accessed 21st march 2013. Hinchliffe,S (2009). Making social lives. Milton Keynes: Latimer trend and company Ltd. 105-119. Staples, M (2009). Learning companion 2. Milton keynes: Bell and Bain Ltd. 1-29.

Life in the Iron Mills

. Life is Not Merely a Coincidence â€Å"Theatre of the Absurd† is designated for plays of absurdist fiction and refers to the avant-garde theatre of a loosely associated group of dramatists such as, Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, and Albee who first emerged during and after World War 11. The plays express the belief that â€Å"in a godless universe human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down† (Britannica Online Encyclopedia). Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion which is silence. Absurdist theatre is often called a reaction to realism, as instead of conforming to the concept of real life, absurdist sought to provide an unmistakably unreal experience. The absurd dramatist relates to existentialism and the philosophical approach in understanding human existence and experiences. Existentialism is based on the assumption that individuals are free and responsible for their own choices and actions. Hence, people are not victims of circumstances as there is the freedom of choice. In an absurdist play, time and settings are generally ambiguous, if they are even defined at all. The characters are not meant to mimic real people, but instead are often â€Å"metaphorical or archetypal† (Britannica Online Encyclopedia). Absurdism is a form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of human existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue, purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or logical development. The guiding principle of absurdism is to look at the world without any assumption of purpose and its usefulness is it exists without prejudices or specificity. As it is equally alien to everyone, Absurdism is meant to be accessible to everyone. One of the common misconceptions of theatre of the absurd plays is that nothing makes sense. On the contrary, the characters in absurdism tend to behave in a serious way, reacting realistically to the bizarre occurrences of their environment. The protagonists of Endgame by Samuel Beckett, The Zoo Story by Edward Albee, and Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco are all overwhelmed by the irrational nature of their respective environments and the general effect they share is a nightmare and dreamlike atmosphere that is their existence involving the forces of hope, truth, identity, reality, alienation, meaning, and human existence; all of which are forces they are struggling against. The idea of the Endgame is taken from the game of chess where the concept designates the last, and entirely predictable, stage of a game, the end. The play portrays a universe which is nearing its end. Hamm and Clov both are the protagonists in Beckett’s one-act play, Endgame. Hamm is the chess King, paralyzed and wheelchair bound, who moves only when he makes demand for Clov to service him â€Å"get me ready, I am going to bed† (391) or â€Å"I feel a little too far to the left / Now I feel a little too far to the right† (399). Clov is his submissive Knight who staggers around erratically submitting to Hamm’s every whim. Hamm controls everything and everyone while having absolutely no control over himself or his environment. Frustration and anger dictates his existence as he sees the end all humanity seem to be moving towards is both uncertain and elusive, and he is terrified. Hamm channels his anger at God by shouting â€Å"The bastard! He doesn’t exist! † (Levy 410). The forces of a meaningless existence, reality, and Armageddon are the forces Hamm and Clov struggles against. Both are starving for identity and a healthy relationship with others but it is an impossible feat. They want to preserve their own unique identity, but it is necessary for both to relate to the outside world and nature to develop a true identity. Hamm and Clov are confined in a depressing, stagnant, bare, and dismal vacuum of their environment located partially underground, and their relationship with nature is nonexistent as Beckett reveals â€Å"nature has forgotten us / There’s no more nature† Levy 393). Since both fail to develop an identity the result is a failure to establish a healthy mature relationship with each other. Outside all seems dead, barren, and nothing occurs as Hamm states â€Å"outside of here it’s death† (393). Inside, Hamm and Clov, his caretaker is passing the time mortifying each other and toying with fears and illusions of a possible change that will never occur. Clov indicates â€Å"I can’t be punished anymore† (390) when he reflects on his life with Hamm. In return Hamm declares that he is miserable, â€Å"can there be misery—loftier than mine? † (391). Hamm is attracted to whatever light there is in the gray world and constantly asks Clov to push him under the window so he can feel the light on his face. Light is used as a symbol of hope and life which expresses many of the nuances of Hamm’s personality. Hamm is cursed with darkness and he wants Clov to share the same miserable fate so he continuously antagonizes him. The antagonist is at times Hamm as well as the environment and death. The antagonist death will ultimately prevail and win the chess game. Clov and Hamm are in the â€Å"endgame† of their life and death lurks around the corner. Endgame is the term used to describe an ending in chess where the outcome is already known. The chess endgame parallels the final stages of life. Hamm and Clov will succumb to death regardless of how the game is played. They are stuck in a perpetual loop that never allows final closure. Hamm claims he wants to be â€Å"finished† (410), but admits that he hesitates to do so. He has no answers to the basic existential questions of why he is alive, why he has to die, and why is injustice in his miserable, suffering, and empty existence. Just as death cannot arrive to seal off life, neither can Hamm or Clove escape to close the book of one existence and open another. The Zoo Story by Edward Albee is more anchored in reality than most typical works in the genre of Theatre of the Absurd. The drama is a confrontation between middle-class America and the outcasts of society, Peter and Jerry. Albee presents the setting in a simple structure in New York’s Central Park consisting of two park benches. The play never changes, and the action unfolds in a linear manner, from beginning to end. There are three overriding themes in the short one-act play. They are absurdity versus reality, alienation and loneliness, and wealth and poverty. The protagonist is Peter, a complacent publishing executive of middle age and upper-middle income. He is a conventional family man with morals, mainstream social values, and financial stability. Peter is contending with forces of loneliness, hope, identity, and meaning in his life. Marriage, his cage, and life in general has not played out the way Peter anticipates as his household is female-dominated and he is forced to comply with the desires of his wife. He desires to be freed from the cage and the zoo of his life as Albee shows Who better than a nice married man with two daughters and†¦a dog? [Peter shakes his head] No? Two dogs. [Peter shakes his head again] Hm. No dogs? [Peter shakes his head sadly] Oh, that’s a shame. But you look like an animal man. CATS? [Peter nods his head, ruefully] Cats! But, that can’t be your idea. No, sir. Your wife and daughters? [Peter nods his head] Is there anything else I should know? (549) Jerry, the antagonist is an aggressive, dysfunctional, lonely, disheveled thirty something man in search of human interaction who also yearns to be released from his cage. Jerry is in a personal conflict with his sexuality and Peter is dealing with his emasculation. The distinctions being, Jerry is a social outcast who is free spirited and morally obligated. He is a free man in respect to Peter restrained life. Jerry is in a search of meaning and his struggle is to find his purpose in life. Without the purpose he seeks his life is meaningless and he chooses death to end it all. Peter is a template of American societal male and is a caged animal. Through the serious failed conversation and misrepresentation of the act of love, Jerry begins his life experiment to see if the middle class are animals after all. The lives of both Peter and Jerry is forever altered when they encounter each other on that faithful day and The Zoo Story highlights what happens when one character enters the life of another and rapidly changes it forever. Neither character prevailed in the drama with the violent conclusion of the psychological attack by retreat by Jerry when he tries to teach Peter the nature of human existence and relationships. Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco explores issues of chaos while arriving at a clear message about the chaos. Despite the wild themes and constant activity in the play, a structure and a plot does move forward. Ionesco challenges the point of life and rational nature of humans and forces humanity to challenge to understand ourselves and our actions. The protagonist is Berenger, an everyman who has strong moral character and individuality. The force he has to contend with is the decision to be an individualistic or conform because the masses have succumbed. He is not so different from everyone else in many respects, however, his strength of self and individualism is highlighted when he resists the call to conformity when he says â€Å"But they won’t get me / You won’t get me! † (Levy 469). Berenger chooses to be alone and to give rationality another try. The question becomes is he being true to himself or not? Is human condition one more of rationality or irrationality? To what degree should one resist the pull to conformity, and to what degree should one capitulate to the ways of the world? The antagonist is the ruling government and Nazism and the protagonist Tom prevailed by standing for what he believes even though at times he doubts his decision. Life is full of challenges faced on a daily basis. The many circumstances of life test the human existence, identity, hope, truth, and alienation among many other. Existentialism is based on the assumption that individuals are free and responsible for their own actions and choices. Humans are not victims of circumstances as the freedom of choice is a reality. One gets to make conscious choices when faced with challenges in life. The primary difference between the Theatre of the Absurd and existentialism is that while existentialism recommends a certain type of response to the apparent failure of the human condition, the works of Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, and Albee makes points without providing any integrated human solution. If the nature of man is partly or mostly irrational, the Theatre of the Absurd expresses the absurdity of human life in a relatable fashion. Works Cited â€Å"Electronic Encyclopedia. † Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. , 2011 Web. 11 Nov. 2011 . Levy, Walter. Modern Drama: Selected Plays from 1879 to the Present. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print.

songs for the pearl essays

songs for the pearl essays Song # 1 Otherside by: Red Hot Chili Peppers, album: Californication, 1999 I think this song well describes the feeling in the Book The Pearl at the time when Kino and Juana were walking home from the hill with a rifle and their dead baby, the song shows their pain, and they, in a sense are taking their lives on the otherside (title of song) because once such a life influencing change is made in your life like that you are trapped on the otherside of life and society, you are now the center of attention because of the way your life has so much changed. I think the song Promise By Eve 6 is the perfect song to express the deep feeling in the way the reader observes the adrenaline rush Kino and Juana are experiencing as they begin their enduring journey away from home, in fear if being killed for killing. Ill Run away with you if things dont go as planned, and it can be a gamble, but Ive already rolled the dice. Eve 6. These words sum up what I am trying to say entirely. Song #3 Smells Like Teen Spirit by: Nirvana, 1991 This song shows the immense fear of the moment when Kino decides to try to kill the trackers and slithers from bush to bush, building up the courage in his head; I think if the Song of evil was a real song it would sound like this song. Load up our guns, bring your friends, its hard to loose, your to content these words describe the feeling you can almost see when Kino is about to leap out from the bush he was hiding behind. ...

Folklore Contemporary Legends

Folklore Contemporary Legends The Hook This is a contemporary legend transmission because it lacks supernatural elements within its contents, and shows how various threats invade our space. Similarly, it shows how people are anxious about boundary issues. It qualifies as a contemporary legend because it has been in circulation in recent times and reflects the cultural reality of adolescents during that period.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Folklore: Contemporary Legends specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Over the years, this story has been told and retold by different people. There are various versions of the story but the moral of the stories remain the same. In contemporary legends, women are often depicted as being vulnerable and weak, while the men are portrayed as the villains or heroes. These characteristics are present in this story and classify it as a contemporary legend. Screaming Jenny As is with most contemporary legends, this story h as anxiety as its backbone. It preys on the readers fear for the unexplained and warns of a danger that lurks even in places we think are safe. Similarly, the authenticity of the story is not determined and the story has been retold many times over the recent years. The fact that the location of the incident exists in reality gives the reader the illusion that the story could be true. This is a characteristic of a contemporary legend. In addition, the woman (Jenny) is portrayed as a weak and vulnerable character who even after dying comes back as a ghost in pursuit of rescuing from men (the heroes/Villains). Army of the Dead In this story, the laundress is portrayed as a victim of her own curiosity. Despite the stern warning from her husband, she simply can’t â€Å"leave well enough alone.† As a result she ends up suffering the consequence of her disobedience. This story falls under the contemporary legend category because it has a moral (messing with the unexplained c an lead to dire consequences), the laundress is depicted as a vulnerable and weak individual and the soldiers (army of the dead) are portrayed as heroes going to help win the war. These characteristics make for a contemporary legend. The story preys on the reader’s fears by implying that there are consequences when one interferes with the supernatural. In addition, the story has been retold numerous times and there is no clear indication on whether it is true or false. The Driverless Car One for the main characteristics of a contemporary legend is that it lacks the origin/ source of the story. This can be evidenced from this particular story, which is narrated as a hear-say from a FOAF (friend of a friend). Secondly, it lacks supernatural elements and has eloquently shown how the events invade and threaten an individual’s space, safety and security.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15 % OFF Learn More Additionally, this story depicts how a culture (carjacking and ghost stories) can influence an individual’s perception in regard to what exists, and what he/she believe happens. Similarly, it has a twist in which the authenticity of the victim’s narration of the events are questioned after witnesses to the same occurrence walk into the cantina and dismiss the victim’s claims. These are among the characteristics that make the Driverless Car a contemporary legend. The Clown Statue / The Clown  Doll This story is narrated as a hear-say. The source is not identified and there are no specific details leading to the occurrence. It focusses on the fears of teenaged baby-sitters who are paranoid about the presence of uninvited predators lurking in the dark as they wait for the opportune time to attack. Similar to most contemporary legends, this story portrays the baby-sitter as a weak and vulnerable woman whose space, safety and securi ty are threatened. In addition, the man (in this case, the clown midget) is portrayed as the villain. On the same note, it lacks a supernatural element to it. The story reflects on the culture that baby-sitters are often attacked especially in big houses by unknown assailants and that parents fail to believe their children even when they are in fact telling the truth. These are some of the characteristics that make this story a contemporary legend. The Legend of the Pearl This story explains the origin of the pearl. It gives a detailed description of how pearls came to be. It qualifies as a contemporary legend because the source is not identified and there are no specific details about how the situation came to be. The butterfly and the shell are given human emotions to support the plausibility of the story. On the same note, this story lacks supernatural elements and focuses on the culture of love. It shows that there is happiness and sadness where love can no longer be found. The story is a classic representation of the complexities of love. These are among the characteristics that make it a contemporary legend. The pearl is a symbol of the virtuous nature of love that can be experienced in today’s society. The use of a butterfly and a shell symbolizes today’s love culture, which goes beyond racial, ethnic and tribal differences.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Folklore: Contemporary Legends specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Legend of the Fir-tree This is a contemporary legend because it explains the origin of the Fir-tree and why it is used during the Christmas festivities. Like in most contemporary legends, the woman is portrayed as vulnerable and weak individual while the man is depicted as the hero who sets out to save the damsel in distress during her time of need. On the same note, there is no indication on whether or not this story is true. In addition, the source, lo cation and details of the contents of the story are not given. The story focuses on the culture of togetherness during the festive season and shows that as long as we have the Fir-tree in our homes, we are not alone. These are some of the characteristics that make this story a contemporary legend. The Body in the Bed This is a contemporary legend because it lacks main details about where the events of the occurrences happened and who witnessed it. In as much as the location is revealed, the story does not have enough evidence to ascertain whether it is true or false. On the same note, the woman (the body) is portrayed as the victim while the man is depicted as the hero. Similarly the story lack a supernatural element and is based on a hear-say. The story reflects on contemporary culture in which people believe that Las Vegas is where people can easily be killed and hidden without other people noticing. In addition, the story reflects on the don’t-care attitude that people in today’s society have towards each other. Black Aggie This story qualifies to be a contemporary legend because it seeks to discourage the youth against the dangers of hazing/pranking. This culture has been in existence for a very long time and though it is considered as a rite of passage it may have serious negative implications on an individual’s life. As is with most contemporary legends, this story does not have a source of origin or evidence to substantiate its validity. Similarly, it shows how the unknown threatens an individual’s safety, space and security. The moral of the story is that individual’s may face serious consequences when they interfere with the unknown. It seeks to discourage young people from playing dangerous games in sacred grounds. In addition, the story targets the reader’s fear of the dead especially so in cemeteries. The story’s ability to reflect on a popular culture and imply consequences from undesirable actions are among the characteristics that make it a contemporary legend.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Bear Lake Monster One of the factors that make this story a contemporary legend is that it has been retold several times in different variations. It has a supernatural element that seeks to elicit fear in the mind of the reader and audience in regard to the dangers that lurk around Bear Lake. The story seeks to warn people against swimming in Bear Lake alone. In addition, the story focuses on mystical beliefs held by people regarding supernatural creatures that prey on unknowing victims in places where they think they are safe. On the same note, the validity of the claims asserted by the story cannot be confirmed nor denied. These are among the various characteristics that make this story a contemporary legend. I’m coming down now! This is a classic example of a contemporary legend. It focusses on the popular culture in which people believe in haunted houses all over the world. The content of the story seems believable but there are no facts to support the claims. Another fac tor that makes it a contemporary legend is that it is based on hear-say in which it is narrated from a FOAF (friend of a friend) perspective. As such, the origin, location and details leading to the occurrence are not validated. Similarly, it shows how the unexplained threatens the space, security and safety of an individual. On the same note, it contains a supernatural element which is supposed to induce fear and anxiety in the minds if the readers. These are among the various characteristics that make this story a contemporary legend. You can’t get out! This story is a mixture if dreadful perceptions and humor. The town drunk believes that he has met his doom and the devil has come to reclaim him for his wrong doings. This story reflects on the culture in which people believe that God will punish them for their wrong doings. On the other hand, it is humorous in the sense that the town drunk misjudged the whole situation and panicked. The validity of the story is not ascerta ined. It has no supernatural elements and shows how an individual’s perception or misconception regarding a situation may threaten his/her safety, space and security. In addition, it is narrated as a hear-say meaning that it may or may not be true. These are among the various characteristics that make this story a contemporary legend.

French Pronunciation of the Double L

French Pronunciation of the Double L In French, the double L is sometimes pronounced like an L  and other times like a Y. How do you know when to pronounce it each way? This lesson explains the general rules and the inevitable exceptions. Rules for Pronouncing LL As a general rule, the double L after A, E, O, U, and Y is pronounced like an L: une balle, elle, mollement, une idylle, etc. If there are exceptions to this, Ive never found them. In words with I followed by LL, the rules are a bit more complicated. The double L is always pronounced like a Y in letter combinations with vowel ILL: aill (e.g., taille)eill (oreille)euill (feuille)Å“ill (Å“illet)ouill (grenouille)ueill (cueillir)uill (juillet) And LL is pronounced like a Y in words such as fille, la Bastille, Millau, and chantilly. However, there  are also many words in which the double L is pronounced like an L (follow links to hear the words pronounced). This is the complete list: un bacille  - germ, bacillusbillevesà ©es - nonsenseun billion - trillioncapillaire - capillaryun codicille - codicildistiller - to distillune fibrille - small fiber (fibrillaire, fibrillation)*un krill - krillLille - town in northern Francelilliputien - Liliputianmille - thousand (un millà ©nium, millier, etc.)un mille - mile (le millage)milli- (prefix)un milliard - billion (un milliardaire, le milliardià ¨me, etc.)un million - million (un millionaire, le millionià ¨me, etc.)osciller - to oscillate, swingun/e pupille* - ward of the stateune pupille* - pupilune scille - scillaune spongille - spongillatranquille - calm, tranquilun verticille - verticilun vexille - vexillumune ville - town (une villa, un village, etc.)une zorille - zorilla The (parentheses) indicate derivations which are also pronounced like an L. *These words may be pronounced either way.

MGR #5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGR #5 - Essay Example Willard covers some of the main subjects of the spiritual life. From Willard’s reading, the paper draws some of the major takeaways through presenting thoughts on readings that made a significant impression. I realized that solitude according to Willard is the full abstinence from interaction with other people and denying ourselves companionship and everything that comes from our conscious interaction with other people. According to me, this was rather demanding to a Christian. As much as one needs time in solitude with God, going to a harsh condition such as the desert, wilderness, and the ocean may not be a better option. It is because it fails to promote our social interaction with man. I find it conflicting as God commands us to interact fruitfully with fellow men, and this is the instruction that solitude limits. Additionally, I appreciated that submission, as a discipline of engagement, is the highest level of fellowship. It sustains humility, transparency and complete submission during restitution and confession. I concur with Willard’s thoughts on this discipline. It is because if one submits to a high-level authority he or she indicates that he respects his power. However, people must take care to avoid the misuse of this privilege in making young people submit to

Director of Marketing for WhizBang Games Research Paper

Director of Marketing for WhizBang Games - Research Paper Example Within the last few years, many games have been of great influence on the industry of gaming. This has led to growth in video gaming evolution (Creasey, and Myers, 1986, p.257). From my point of view, I think the most influential games include Final Fantasy, Mario Brothers, Grand Theft Auto and World of Warcraft. How does our culture impact video games? Video games are impacted by our culture through promotion of family game night. This is done through the families having quality time for fun. Also, for educational purposes, learning which uses educational tools is encouraged. All types of academic disciplines are tested; reading skills, English skills and skills of mathematics (Favaro, 1982, p.19)). Moreover, video games are created basing on reality of life. Therefore, through the gaming world, normal life activities like being rich, being a police man, being a fighter among others are depicted. Lastly, through the growth and evolution of video gaming industry, there was growth for video games indicating that video games are positively impacted by our culture. How do you think the gaming industry has to adapt in order to minimize negative effects to our culture? For minimization of negative effects to our culture, I believe that gaming industry has to ensure that reduction of violence content and sexual content is adhered to. In my opinion, many games which are meant for mature people are viewed by children hence the need to minimize on sexual content and violence content video games. Several games have violence content and sexual content which affect the girl child and boy child in the society; the girl child is more affected than boy child through video games. Also, more family friendly games should be aired thus encouraging many people to watch the video games. Lastly, producers should engage in minimizing negative effects of media and maximizing positive effects of media through production of age-appropriate programs which are designed well (Griffiths, 19 91a, p.312). Assessment B, Part 1 - Exploring the Influence and Controversy of Modern Electronic Games What are some of the most controversial issues you have discovered? The most controversial issue I have discovered is violence. Violence is portrayed as the most controversial issue in video games although other controversial issues exist such as that of Grand Theft Auto. Other controversial issues include foul language, sex, amount and time spent in playing video games (Graybill et al, 1987, p.7). How can I explain the industry’s response to concerns that gaming perpetuates obesity? On explaining the response of industry that obesity is perpetuated by gaming, it is true that the current Nintendo Wii can make one lose his or her weight. One can also fight obesity through being active and participating in games such as ches. Indeed, video gamers might not fight the flab but battle virtual villains thus leading to reduction of obesity. Will we ever be able to completely elimin ate concerns about sex and violence in video games? Why or why not? No, we will not be able to fully eliminate concerns on violence and sex in video games. This is because such video games are highly demanded by people globally. Video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft which is being subscribed by approximately nine million people who pay monthly fee (Funk, 1993, p.89). What are some positive aspects of video games?

Prions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Prions - Essay Example Clinical signs among others include personality changes, psychiatric problems, lack of coordination, steady gait, involuntary jerking movements, unusual sensations, insomnia, confusion and severe mental impairment in the later stages. Those known to infect other vertebrate animals include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cows, chronic wasting disease in American elk and deer, transmissible mink encephalopathy in mink and feline spongiform encephalopathy in cats (Jeffrey, Goodbrand & Goodsir 1995). One of the primary risk factors identified in relation to prion diseases is age. Studies suggest that a general mechanism might produce the remarkable reduction in disease risk as age increases. For example, in a study of scrapie outbreaks, it is observed that incidence of clinical cases peaked in sheep with age ranging from 2 to 3 years. The same age range has been noted in cattle with mad cow and deer with chronic wasting disease (Heisey 2004). In terms of its prevalence in the human population, it is estimated that 1 in 10,000 people are infected with CJD at the time of death. The actual prevalence of prion diseases are very difficult to ascertain due to overlapping symptoms that may lead to misdiagnosis. (Heaphy 2003) Research pertaining Research pertaining to prion diseases is deemed limited by the fact that studying them is substantially hampered by the unconventional properties of the presumed etiologic agent. Moreover, the long incubation period ranging from 34 to 41 years ("Mad cow could be dormant in people" 2006) of the diseases make them more difficult to detect. Moreover, the standard laboratory methods utilized for studying viruses and bacteria may not be applicable in this case (Belay & Telling). However, following reports of the outbreak of BSE, commonly termed as "mad cow" disease, in many European countries coupled with the estimated economic and medical implications of the said epidemic, the scope and nature of research on prion diseases has developed rapidly. This paper focuses on the current advancements in the study of prion diseases specifically in terms of modes of transmission, diagnosis methods, possible treatment and prevention. Modes of Transmission The manner of transmission of prion diseases is of primary concern in view of the protein nature of the prions. Note that unlike other types of infectious diseases which are spread by microbes, prion diseases are caused by misshaped protein, dubbed as prion protein, which transmits the disease between individuals causing brain deterioration (Belkin 2003). Based on recent studies, prion diseases have been considered unique as these can be inherited, sporadically occur or spread through infection. Majority of the prion disease cases are said to occur spontaneously, hence, animals with no prion protein mutation were observed infected. (Collinge 2001) On the other hand, inherited prion disease occurs in animals carrying a rare mutant prion allele. The disease is transmitted when healthy animal consume tainted tissues of other infected animals. The "mad cow" epidemic has been attributed to this mode of transmission as practice of feeding the cattle with processed remains of other cattle, which may have been infected already, became common. (Weissmann 2004) In humans, as in the cases of CJD, the

What Is Omitted in the Controversy Surrounding the Issue of Drugs Lega Essay

What Is Omitted in the Controversy Surrounding the Issue of Drugs Legalization - Essay Example For the United States, the drugs problem today has assumed the shape of the controversy about whether drugs use should be legalized. In this debate emotions often rule, when appeals to the conservative values of the nation are made by the adherents of the continuation of the current "War on Drugs" (Inciardi, 1999, p.128). However, we will see that significant benefits can be obtained from the legalization of drugs and from the shift from the drugs-related prosecutions to harm-reduction policies. Let us explore this issue in detail and try to see why this is the case. One of the strong arguments for legalization of drugs stems from the inadmissibility of the continuation of the current state of affairs, when hundreds of thousands of people are arrested every year and kept behind bars for possession of illegal substances for personal usage, and not for sale (Inciardi, 1999, p.133). At the same time, realistically looking at things we have to confess that even under such a harsh regime there has not occurred a significant reduction in drugs use, and there seems to be no perspective for such reduction at all. Indeed, the real problem with drugs is that for many people they have a unique ability to satisfy one of the fundamental human aspirations that lies in the need to escape from the numerous unpleasant aspects of our reality, even though doing so in a perverse way that may finally only aggravate the problems that we are trying to get rid of. If we understand this then we have to concede that drugs, in one form or another, are to stay with us perhaps forever. In this light, the disputable successes that proponents of the maintenance of the criminal status of drugs use to allude to when they defend their position may be misleading. Indeed, the measures of prosecution and compulsory rehabilitation of drug addicts substitutes one evil for another as they only add to the unhappiness of people who depend on drugs by intensifying in them an atmosphere of psychological tension that may actually contribute to the drug-oriented behavior and addiction.  Ã‚  

Case briefs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case briefs - Assignment Example The case went through the court of first trial all the way to the Supreme Court. At the court of first trial, a suppression motion was granted to the defendant. This is because the court found out that the search warrant that had been issued earlier was not based on a feasible cause. To be specific, the court contended that that search warrant was surrounded by contentions of an untested informer and inadequate validation by the police. Upon the subsequent trial to the Court of Appeal, the court affirmed the decision of the court of first trial. The Court of Appeal declined the exclusionary rule that was put forward of good faith. Lastly, when the case reached the Supreme Court of the U.S, certiorari was granted. The legal issue that was in this case was whether the exclusionary rule to the fourth amendment should be amended so as to permit the usage of evidence acquired by police officers acting in judicious dependence on a search warrant dispensed by an isolated and impartial magistrate but eventually established to be uncorroborated by credible cause. The court held that the exclusionary rule ought to be amended so as allow the use of evidence acquired in the justifiable belief of acting under good faith that a given search warrant conformed to the said fourth amendment. Justice White stated that the exclusionary rule to the fourth amendment ought to be amended so as to allow the use of evidence acquired in the justifiable belief of good faith that an issued search warrant complied with the provisions of the fourth amendment. He argued that the exclusionary rule was a judicial-made remedy and not a constitutional right. He said that the rule’s main objective is to deter the misconducts that may be occasioned by the police officers. He further contended that it can be amended if the police officers have tangible evidence that can be used if it can be shown that the

How risk affect corporate financial strategy Research Paper

How risk affect corporate financial strategy - Research Paper Example Risk is the probability of loss to occur. Corporate financial strategy is affected by various types of risks. This includes political risk. Conflicts and civil wars leads to massive loss of assets by companies. When there is conflict in a country, companies’ property are looted and others destroyed.   Companies located in these countries suffer huge losses since it become hard to protect their investments. Nationalization of industries also poses political risk since companies’ lose their licenses; hence, they cannot continue to operate in these countries. Governments may also increases taxes on companies, making it difficult for any company to continue operating. The second type of risk is interest rate. When higher interest rate is charged on loans, it makes it impossible for companies to fund their operations using loans. Due to high interest rate charged on loans, corporate may fix higher prices on good and services hence reducing the market share as consumer will shift to cheaper goods (Ehrhardt and Eugene 7).The author states that one of the risks is credit risk. This type of risk is most common in banking industry where borrower will fail to meet the obligation to repay the loan in the agreed terms. Other risks occur in book keeping where incorrect figures are entered. Failure of borrowers to repay their loans and errors in book keeping causes huge loses to banking industries. The fourth type of risk is business risk. This is the probability that an auditor will suffer loss to his professional practice.

Case briefs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case briefs - Assignment Example The case went through the court of first trial all the way to the Supreme Court. At the court of first trial, a suppression motion was granted to the defendant. This is because the court found out that the search warrant that had been issued earlier was not based on a feasible cause. To be specific, the court contended that that search warrant was surrounded by contentions of an untested informer and inadequate validation by the police. Upon the subsequent trial to the Court of Appeal, the court affirmed the decision of the court of first trial. The Court of Appeal declined the exclusionary rule that was put forward of good faith. Lastly, when the case reached the Supreme Court of the U.S, certiorari was granted. The legal issue that was in this case was whether the exclusionary rule to the fourth amendment should be amended so as to permit the usage of evidence acquired by police officers acting in judicious dependence on a search warrant dispensed by an isolated and impartial magistrate but eventually established to be uncorroborated by credible cause. The court held that the exclusionary rule ought to be amended so as allow the use of evidence acquired in the justifiable belief of acting under good faith that a given search warrant conformed to the said fourth amendment. Justice White stated that the exclusionary rule to the fourth amendment ought to be amended so as to allow the use of evidence acquired in the justifiable belief of good faith that an issued search warrant complied with the provisions of the fourth amendment. He argued that the exclusionary rule was a judicial-made remedy and not a constitutional right. He said that the rule’s main objective is to deter the misconducts that may be occasioned by the police officers. He further contended that it can be amended if the police officers have tangible evidence that can be used if it can be shown that the

Project management yara2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project management yara2 - Essay Example From the fact that resources will always remain limited, managers are required to manage the limited resources using systematic ideas, effective methods and theories and good setting of standards to ensure the project succeeds without unnecessary expenditures. Most project managers whose projects have failed can be traced to the poor interpretation of resource availability. It is on this point that the project managers are required to involve all round resource management skills to avoid failing vital company products. An all-round resource management in this case includes both financial and human capital. The elements needed for effective project management under the limited resources include the ability of the managers to plan, organize, direct, coordinate, control and evaluation of the whole process. These elements are always expected to form a key part of any project at the starting point. Knowing or noting the importance of these elements during project is not enough to steer th e project towards success. Leadership traits and practical aspects of the project management must take center stage. A number of projects have failed despite the availability of resources due poor leadership. One of the elements of project management leadership is involvement of all and accurate communication. Good project management must involve a gradual process of introduction of any new items or changes. This study will focus on good project management from leadership to the practical point (Meredith and Mantel, 2012). Organizations and individual managers have experienced a series of project failures. These failures can be traced to poor management within the organization and the project team. The difference between successful and failed projects has been pointed out to be the management aspect. Successful project management as portrayed by this study requires effective management from the

Failures of Transactional Marketing: An Analysis

Failures of Transactional Marketing: An Analysis A. R. Lacey (1996), in Dictionary of Philosophy explains paradigm as a shared assumption or an accepted theory which governs the outlook of an epoch and its approach to scientific problems [giving] standard forms of solutions to problems. Within the physical and social sciences, it is common for one paradigm, a dominant paradigm to be prevalent. Currently, the dominant marketing paradigm, the accepted model of how marketing works and should be integrated with the rest of the world, is what has come to be called Transactional Marketing (TM) (Gronroos, 1996; Aijo, 1996; Gummesson, 1987; Berry, 1983; Jackson, 1985; Payne, 1995). This research is principally concerned with what has been called Relationship Marketing (RM), a term alluded to by Thomas (1976), but first explicitly used by Berry (1983: see Kotler, 1992; Gronroos, 1990, 1991; Hunt and Morgan, 1994; Berry, 1995; Sheth and Parvatiyar, 1995; Turnbull and Wilson, 1989). The foundations of Relationship Marketing are inextricably mixed with the development and practice of Transactional Marketing. The underpinning theories and conceptualisations of RM often only exist in relation, or opposition to the theory and practice of Transactional Marketing. It is therefore necessary to understand Transactional Marketing before RM can be fully comprehended. The American Marketing Association has defined (transactional) marketing as the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives. (AMA Board, 1985). The marketing concept is a very simple but powerful idea. The best way for a company to meet its objectives, profit making or otherwise, is by satisfying customers-the achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition (Jobber, 2001). This is best done by all members of the firm seeking to serve the needs of the customer, even at the expense of producer inconvenience. If this concept is adopted by the organisation, it leads to what is called a marketing orientation. The analysis and subsequent review of transactional marketing will be in two parts, an appraisal of its theoretical origins, development and weaknesses and an examination of the standard wa ys in which firms implement it. The next section will critique the Transactional Marketing Paradigm on two main fronts. These being firstly, criticisms based on theoretical weaknesses or omissions, and secondly, criticisms about the way in which theory and models have been misunderstood or ignored by firms. Both of these categories however, emerge out of the unique economic and social environment within which the transactional marketing paradigm developed (Webster, 1992; Aijo, 1996). 1.1. THE BIRTH OF MARKETING THEORY The origins of Transactional Marketing are in microeconomics, North America and the 1950s. Prior to WWII, economists developed price theory to embrace what they called oligopolistic competition (Chamberlain, 1933; Sheth, Gardner and Garrett, 1988; Waterschoot and Van Den Bulte, 1992). This theoretical development led early marketing theoreticians (McGarry, 1950; McKitterick, 1957; Alderson, 1957: see Gronroos, 1994, 1996) to create lists of marketing variables deduced from econometric, profit optimising equations- the so called functionalist school of marketing (McGarry, 1950). In turn, this inspired Borden (1954) to introduce the concept of the marketing mix, a list of 12 variables (product, price, branding, distribution, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling, fact finding and analysis which the marketer would have to consider in any given situation. [And] would blend the various ingredients or variables of the mix into an integr ated marketing program. (Gronroos, 1994b:350). In a seminal work, McCarthy (1960) presented the marketing mix management approach, reconstructing Bordens original 12 variables into the now familiar 4P model (Price, Product, Promotion and Placement). The theoretical foundations of this model have been severely questioned (Waterschoot and Van Den Bulte, 1992; Gummesson, 1987; Sheth et al, 1988; Webster, 1992; Duncan and Moriarty, 1998). Principally, these questions stem from the fact that the original microeconomic variables, derived through empirical induction had solid theoretical foundations, whilst Bordens list had only second-order links to these foundations and, crucially, was not intended as an exhaustive definition or method of implementation but merely as a set of guidelines within a fully integrated marketing program. Real world developments and its inherent simplicity ensured the rise and rise of the 4P model and its attendant Marketing Mix Management theory. 1950s North America -a huge domestic market of apparently homo genous and insatiable customers -led to rapid increases in the demand for standardised consumer goods and the crowning of the United States as the dominant marketing culture. In time it became the basis of modem transactional marketing (Takala and Uusitalo, 1996; Kotler, 1992; Aijo, 1996).The simplicity and communicability of the marketing mix paradigm, in combination with its apparent success, combined to turn marketing into a highly effective impact machine (Gr6nroos, 1996c: 16). Transactional Marketing rapidly became the overwhelmingly dominant marketing paradigm (Dixon and Blois, 1983, Kent, 1986). 1.2. MARKETING IN CONTEMPORARY ORGANISATIONS Given the great number of organisations which pay at least lip-service to the importance of marketing, a diversity of methods of implementing transactional marketing is inevitable (Brodie et al, 1997). The most typical structure, and one commonly found within the context of end-user orientated firms (Christy et al, 1996) is to have within the organisation a sub-unit, separate from the rest of the firm, with responsibility for marketing market analysis, advertising, sales promotion, pricing and distribution (Buttle, 1996; Deshpande and Webster, 1989; Gurnmesson, 1994). The principal focus of this research is on the relationship between such firms, and their customers. In everyday marketing vocabulary.marketing department, an organisational unit, is used as a synonym for marketing function (Gronroos, 1994). The implication is clear, Transactional Marketing theory suggests that marketing can be treated as a separate, discrete function, rather than as an integrated one (Berry and Parasuraman,1995; Waterschoot and Van Den Bulte, 1992; Palmer, 1994; Payne, 1995; Thomas, 1996). The existence of these marketing departments echoes much about the functionalist, scientific [econometric] origins of transactional marketing. The philosophy of implementation prevalent within western business is that specialists should themselves take care of a task for specialists (Gronroos, 1996). In many businesses, the marketing department is seen as having total responsibility for various marketing tasks, such as market analysis, market planning, advertising, sales promotion, pricing, distribution and product packaging (Gronroos, 1994). This begs the question that if the ma rketing department takes care of these entire fundamental issues, what exactly is the rest of the business for? One of the primary and most traditional Justifications of adopting a marketing orientation rather than a sales or production orientation is that marketing integrates the other functions of the business (Bennett, 1996; Jackson, 1985) into a more coherent whole, built around the needs and wants of the customer. The outcome of creating a marketing department is to bring about a situation where, within an organisation, marketing department is used as a synonym for marketing function, which is the process of taking care of the fulfilment of customer needs and desires. As a consequence, the rest of the organisation is alienated from marketing, and the marketers are isolated from design, production, deliveries, technical service, complaints handling, and other activities of the firm (Gronroos, 1994). Marketing is being treated as a specialist management function, rather than a general management issue (Gronroos, 1996). Within such organisations, there is a clear-cut distinction [inferred from marketing mix management theory] between those who are involved with marketing, and those who arent. This process has been called the Ghettoisation of marketing (Gummesson, 1987). It has been strongly argued (Gummesson, 1987,1990,1994; Duncan and Moriarty, 1998; Aijo, 1996; Christy et al, 1996; Heide and John, 1995) that the distinction between the marketer and non-marketer is an artificial one. Opportunities for marketing activity are not limited to those inside the marketing department. What do the following people have in common: a telephone operator connecting a customer with a salesperson; an installation team from the supplier spending two weeks on the buyers premises installing and testing new equipment: a management consultant presenting a progress report in an assignment? (Gummesson, 1991). The answer is of course, that these are all people outside the marketing department, [therefore by definition not responsible for marketing] where, nevertheless, their attitudes and way of doing their job have an impact on the customers perception of the firm (Gronroos, 1996).These non-marketers, with their influence on the firms ability to market itself efficientl y and effectively have been called part-time marketers (Gummesson, 1987). 1.3. SUMMATION OF THE PROBLEMS INHERENT TO THE MARKETING MIX The origins of marketing mix management theory, and the transactional marketing paradigm it gave rise to be in the USA, the nineteen-fifties and microeconomics. The theoretical foundations of this paradigm are questionable in terms of its translation from econometric modelling and its pedagogical simplification. At best, the 4P model was suitable for the unique marketing environment created by the post WWH American autarchy. The theoretical weaknesses of the transactional marketing paradigm have been highlighted by radical changes in the business environment, such as the globalisation of competition and the increasing sophistication of consumers and products. These weaknesses are especially apparent in contexts that are significantly different from that of its origins -most noticeably services marketing and European markets. The academic response has been to avoid the problem by papering over the theoretical cracks. Within firms, the creation and stagnation of marketing departments h as ghettoised, neutered and isolated marketing from the consumer and even the rest of the firm. As a result of this, transactional marketing treats the consumer as passive and fails to fully recognise the marketing importance of interaction between front-line staff and customers. Transactional Marketing fails its own definition. It is a production orientated definition of marketing, not a customer orientated one. THE ORIGINS OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING THE OTHER MARKETING THEORIES The origins of Relationship Marketing are in Europe, the nineteen-eighties, and dissatisfaction with the Transactional Marketing paradigm. It was noted earlier that transactional marketing theory was principally developed from its origins in end-user, consumer markets. Relationship Marketing draws on a broader theoretical base (within a marketing context), with concomitant development within the services and business to business (B2B) marketing literatures. The term Relationship Marketing, alluded to by Thomas (1976) was first explicitly used by Berry (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991; Berry, 1995; Gummesson, 1987; Gronroos, 1996; Payne and Richard, 1993; Robicheaux and Coleman, 1994; Payne and Frow, 1997). It has also been called customer-focused management (Gummesson, 1994), or relationship management (Payne, 1996). Berry (1983) used the term within the context of criticising services marketing literature, arguing that researchers and businessmen have concentrated far more on how to att ract consumers to products and services than on how to retain those customers. He advocated a switch from a transactionary approach, where marketing effort was focussed on customer attraction, to a relational approach, where the attraction of new customers should be viewed only as an intermediate step in the marketing process (Berry, 1995), and the primary objective was retaining customers. Berry (1983) defined Relationship Marketing as attracting, maintaining and -in multi-service organisations -enhancing customer relationships. Simultaneously, Hammarkvist, Hakansson and Mattson (1982), working within the arena of business-to-business marketing (Gronroos, 1996), advanced similar definition (Andersson and Soderland, 1988; Anderson, Hakansson and Johanson, 1994) all activities by the firm to build, maintain and develop customer relations. (Hammarkvist et al, 1982: cited Gurnmesson,1987). That relationships should be managed and built has become a cornerstone of both the Nordic and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) School of marketing (Mattsson, 1997; Gronroos, 1996c). This parallel development within separate areas of research is far from coincidental (Takala and Uusitalo, 1996). As with the Transactional Marketing literature, each of these streams of research emanates from within a specific business environment (Aijo, 1996). SERVICES MARKETING It was argued earlier that the Transactional Marketing Paradigm habits origins within a unique and highly specific business environment, that of the North American consumer goods markets of the 1950s. It was further suggested that these origins limited the value of TM as a universal theory of marketing, and that primarily within the context of end-user orientated literature, development consisted of re-jigging a redundant theoretical format. The deviation from this specific business environment was greatest within the domains of service marketing and business to business marketing (Mattsson, 1997), albeit in very different ways. The theory and practice of transactional marketing assumes that consumers are available in great numbers and behave passively. Within industrial and service markets, the interactive Participation of the customer is required to successfully complete the exchange (Gummesson, 1987), within business, customer-firms are often limited in numbers. An ancillary implication of treating the customer as passive, someone to whom things are done (Dixon and Blois, 1983) is to instil within the business the philosophy of competing with customers, rather than interactive co-operation. Transactional Marketing Theory maintains the assumption of its microeconomic origins in that the marketing mix is a tool used to help a company optimise [maximise] its profit function (Waterschoot and Van den Bulte, 1992; Gronroos, 1991). It is because of this that firms consider marketing objectives met at the point of customer attraction -i.e. moment of exchange. When marketing a service, it is argued that the objectives should not only be to only to attract, but to then keep and maintain the customer-to develop a long-term relationship with them (Bitner et al, 1994; Cravens and Piercy, 1994; Gronroos, 1991; Gummesson, 1987b). When selling a physical product, the costs of production are offset by the revenue of the purchase. With a service, the majority of costs are often incurred whilst setting-up the service (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991; Booms and Bitner, 1981), for example; accountancy and banking. The implication of this is that longer-term strategy, in conjunction with placing significant emphasis on customer retention will yield dividends (Berry, 1995; Payne and Richard, 1993; Parasuraman et al, 1991; Gronroos, 1990), and indeed, empirical evidence to support this has been found. Reichheld and Sasser (1990) have demonstrated across a variety of service industries that profits climb steeply when a company successfully lowers its customer defection ratethe researchers found that the firms could improve profits from 25 percent to 85 percent by reducing customer defections by just 5 percent. Not only do loyal customers generate more revenue for more years, the costs to maintain existing customers frequently are lower than the costs to acquire new customers (Berry, 1995). Other studies have provided further evidence of the benefits of a long-term, customer retention strategy within competitive consumer-service markets, Storbacka (1997), Gwin (1988) and Perrienet al (1993) in banking, Crosby and Stephens (1987) in insurance. Moments of Truth and the Crucial R ole of the Part-Time Marketer. Firms producing end-user products often sell through an intermediate, retailing company. As such, opportunities for marketing are indirect via mass-media and market research (Henry, 1994). The interaction required within service and business-to-business marketing enforces a more direct approach (Gronroos, 1994). The image and reputation of the firm cannot solely be constructed through promotion. Interaction between a consumer and the firms part-time marketers (Gummesson, 1987) will result in that consumer have a positive or negative perception of the company (Price et al, 1995; Cravens and Piercy, 1994) a process that Gronroos (1982) calls perceived service quality. Given the intangibility of service products, this perceived service quality is of the utmost importance, the consumer has little else by which to judge the firm outside of his direct interaction with it (Ferguson,1996; Bitner et al, 1994). The marketing effort of the part-time marketers therefore forms the bulk of the firms marketing impact (Gronroos, 1996), often they are the only marketers around (Normann, 1983). Research shows that the customer will judge the quality of the service and form an attitude to the provider both from the experience of the production1delivery process and of the future benefits of the service (Lehtinen, 1985). In a situation where the majority of marketing activity does not come from the full-time marketers within the marketing department, it makes little sense to plan the activities of this department separately. It was argued earlier that if such a department is considered by the rest of the firm to be taking care of the marketing function, it will become increasingly difficult to create an interest in marketing amongst unwitting part-time marketers (Gronroos, 1982; Christy et al, 1996). A marketing orientation is only achieved when all members of an organisation has asked them how do I contribute to excellence in customer relations and to revenue (Gummesson,1991: 60). An auxiliary concept to that of the part-time marketer is that of points-if-marketing (Normann, 1983), more poetically called moments of truth. These are natural opportunities emerging in the production and delivery process; for example, the interaction between a doctor and a patient (Gummesson, 1991). For these occasions to be positively resolved, marketing must be designed-into the process, rather than tacked-on. RELATIONSHIP MARKETING DEFINITIONS FROM SERVICE LITERATURE Since Berry (1983), other authors have presented alternative definitions of Relationship Marketing within the services marketing literature. RM concerns attracting, developing, and retaining customer relations (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991). establishing a relationship involves giving promises, maintaining a relationship is based on fulfilment of promises; and, finally, enhancing a relationship means that a new set of promises is given with the fulfilment of earlier promises as a prerequisite. (Gummesson, 1991). The core of these ideas from services marketing is the interpersonal interaction between buyer and seller interaction. The organisation should be structured and managed so that promises worth making can be kept. Clearly, a relationship between two parties is something that grows in strength through repeated exchanges over a period of time, it is not instantaneously generated. BUSINESS TO BUSINESS AND NETWORK MARKETING Such moments of truth also exist within a business-to-business context. If the interaction between producer and consumer is crucial in services marketing it is doubly so within B2B marketing -principally because of the relatively low number of customers/suppliers (Andersson et al, 1994; Blois, 1997; Dabholkar et al, 1994). These dyads do not exist in isolation. Within the business marketing literature it has become clear that the theoretical foundations of contemporary work are not shared with the Kotlerian (Andersson and Soderland, 1988) marketing mix theory, which has microeconomic ancestry. Instead, network-theory, which attempts to model the process of resource exchange in markets where both buyer and seller are firms or other organisations has its origins in empirical work conducted over the last 20 years, principally in Northern Europe (Mattsson, 1997). The results of these studies, when assessed as a body of work, highlight several commonalities in the exchange behaviour betw een firms that contradict business philosophy derived from the transactional marketing paradigm (Elg and Johansson, 1996). B2B partners are characterised as active and mutually dependent, with the buyer and seller both able to initiate an exchange. Interaction between the organisations was not the sole purview of a marketing department but instead between the equivalent departments in each firm -inter functionally. In practice, it was recognised that the marketing emphasis had switched from optimising the marketing mix to the management of the firms relationships (Andersson and Soderland, 1988). Network theory suggests that markets are heterogeneous, rather than homogenous (Matthyssens and Van Den Bulte, 1994). The marketing objectives of the firm became to establish, develop and decide when to terminate its relationships with the customers and suppliers in its network (Hammarkvist et al, 1982). This divergence from the transactional marketing paradigm was driven by factors in the business environment (Blois, 1997; Andersson and Soderland, 1988). Many of the economic and social characteristics of Scandinavian countries [where much of the empirical work was conducted] helped to highlight the differences between consumer markets and business to business markets (Andersson and Soderland, 1988). These economies have been traditionally noted for high levels of concentration in industry, a considerable amount of interaction between firms, the state and labour unions, and the national dependence on the export of highly complex products (Porter, 1985). In general terms, business-to-business markets are characterised by a limited number of potential customer-firms, encouraging businesses to maintain relations with their partners over-time (Anderson and Narks, 1984, 1990), rather than the start-stop philosophy of transactional marketing. The increased level of interaction between the partners and the individualistic requirements of each customer obviate the need for a standardised marketing program (Dabholkar et al, 1994). Relationships must be tailored, not off the peg (Harland, 1996). The management of relationships is a complex issue, Hakansson and Johanson (1992) acetones relationship management problems as either limitation or handling problems. Limitation problems concern the firms management of its portfolio of relationships -its collection of dyadic interactions. These problems concuern which, if any, of the firms relationships should be emphasised (Andersson and Soderlund, 1988). To misquote Clausewitz, he who emphasises everything, emphasises nothing. Handling problems concern the manner in which relationships are established, and once established, how they are maintained, developed and judged appropriate for termination. Within a network, what are the relational objectives of an organisation? Transactional Marketing advocates a competitive stance, the results of any interaction between a buyer and seller must result in one winning -and one losing (Doyle and Engermann, 1992; Donaldson, 1996). Network theory espouses co-operation to produce a win-win situation (Deshpande and Webster, 1989). Despite this, network theorists consider that firms must work to deepen chosen relationships, to achieve some level of power -also called bonds over their partners whilst striving to remain free of such bonds themselves (Andersson and Soderlund, 1988). Relationships can create bonds of several types, planning, knowledge, legal and social (Berry, 1985).The end of the relationship will incur switching costs, not necessarily purely financial. The original quote being He whose fends everything, defends nothing BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP MARKETING DEFINITIONS Since Hammarkvist et al (1982) defined relationship marketing within the context of business network marketing, others have proposed alternatives. RM is an emergent disciplinary framework for creating, developing and sustaining exchanges of value between the parties involved, whereby exchange relationships evolve to provide continuous and stable links in the supply chain (Ballantyne, 1994) .. Is not directly aimed at immediate transactions but is based on building, supporting and extending customer relationships (Matthyssens and Van denBulte, 1994). RM is the process of co-operating with customers to improve marketing productivity through efficiency and effectiveness (Parvatlyar, 1996). At the heart of these ideas is the concept of a partnership where both parties require co-operative behaviour from the other in order for the relationship to be mutually beneficial -neither has many other alternatives, to buy from or supply to. The focus is not at the level of one-on-one interaction of services marketing, but is instead much wider -it is necessary for large groups on both sides to contribute. THE RELATIONAL CONSTRUCTS OF COMMITMENT AND TRUST Until quite recently, little attempt had been made to provide network theory with the conceptualisations necessary to understand the processes of relationship maintenance and development. Whilst an initial model was presented by Dwyer, Schurr and Oh (1987), the first serious attempt test a model in a structured manner was in a seminal paper by Morgan and Hunt (1994), (see Kalatatis and Miller, 1996; Hunt, 1997; Gronroos, 1996a; Gummesson, 1997). Relationship Marketing refers to all marketing activities directed towards establishing, developing and maintaining successful relational exchanges. Morgan and Hunt (1994) They further argue that Relationship Marketing requires the successful management of relationships with the firms partners. Such management requires the establishment, maintenance and development of relationships, in which understanding of concepts like commitment and trust are keys. Morgan and Hunt have suggested that commitment and trust are amongst the key mediating variables that distinguish productive, effective relational exchanges from those that are inefficient and ineffective (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Furthermore, commitment and trust between partners in a network leads directly to co-operative behaviours in three ways. Firstly, they predispose the partners towards actively preserving relational investments. Secondly they help to prevent partners from adopting short-term, opportunistic behaviours. Thirdly, they help to support the view of high-risk actions as being prudent in the longer term (Hunt, 1997). Morgan and Hunt construct what they call a KMV (Key Mediating Variable) model to show the central importance of commitment and trust in marketing relationships. THE BEGINNINGS OF A RELATIONAL PARADIGM? The increasing awareness of the limitations of the Transactional Marketing Paradigm, in conjunction with the development of Services marketing and Network marketing has led to calls for a substantial change in the marketing philosophy, practice and ethos (Daskou, 1997; Clarkson et al, 1997; Palmer, 1994). in the authors view, the present marketing concept, as it appears in research, textbooks and seminars is unrealistic and needs to be replaced (Gummesson, 199 1). The need for a paradigm shift in Marketing, based on a Relationship Theory is being advocated more and more strongly ( Gronroos, 1990). This change is not skin-deep, it will not be quick, and it will not be painless. RM suggests different focus and different underpinning values for marketing that, in my view; justify calling RM a new paradigm and the beginning of a new marketing theory. (Gummesson, 1994). It requires a totally new approach to some of the fundamental thoughts in marketingthe transition from a transaction-orientated marketing mix-based practice of marketing to a relationship-oriented one is not an uncomplicated process. The old paradigm has deep roots in the minds of marketers as well as non-marketers in a company. (Gronroos, 1996). What then, is the association between Transactional and Relational marketing? Any meaningful answer to this critical question requires a definition of Relationship marketing. The first definition of RM offered as a general rather than a business/services/consumer marketing specific definition is to be found in Gronroos (1991). Marketing is to establish, maintain and enhance, and where necessary end relationships with customers and other parties at a profit so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is done by a mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises. As Aijo (1996) notes from the work of Sheth et al (1988), Throughout its historymarketing has been generally dominated at any one time by one prevailing perspective. The implication of this is firstly, that the transactional paradigm will be completely replaced by the relational paradigm, and that secondly, the association between the alternative paradigms is competitive, rather than complementary. For some brief time, this view received wide support, no doubt influenced by the weaknesses of the transactional paradigm and incredible growth of relational literature (Berry, 1990; Gronroos, 1989; Dixon and Blois, 1989; Gurnmesson, 1991). Quickly, this simplistic view of the (non) association between transactional and relational was superseded by more sophisticated thoughts (Brodie et al, 1997;Aijo, 1996). Gronroos (1991) considered that the true decision facing firings was not Transactional Marketing or Relationship Marketing, but rather where on a marketing strategy continuum the comp any should place itself In some cases, a firm could be justified in maintaining a purely transactional approach. For some types of products and in some situations or for some types of customers a one-deal-at-a-time approach may be good strategy (Gronroos, 1991). This idea has great appeal, especially when it is considered that some sections of the wider marketing literature have discussed for years the interaction between the customer and aspects (we might say avatars) of the impression/relationship the firm has made in the mind of the customer-obvious examples of this would be store location strategies and especially branding. Indeed, the argument could be made that if the objective of the research project is to examine customer perspectives on their relationships with firms, an assessment of branding would be a key part of the literature review and would feed into the design of the research questions and fieldwork. A subtle but important distinction needs to be made between the re lationship a customer has with a firm and the perspectives that customer has on relationship marketing as applied to them by the company. This research project is centred on the latter, not the former. This Transactional Marketing-Relationship Marketing continuum forms the basis of a simple model that developed by Gronroos. In this model he attempts to place various categories of goods/services at the appropriate place