Steve McCurry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Steve McCurry - Essay Example â€Å"Otherizing† is a unique feature of photography, which can be defined as conveying some meaning to the viewer along with the photograph so that the viewer interpret the picture in a certain way. In fact, this is what happens when a viewer sees something that they cannot actually relate to. The artists who are effective in otherizing manage to convey the feeling with minimal effort and the communication takes place in a vey subtle way though the overall effect is rather large. One of such photographers is Steve McCurry who is well known for his dramatic pictures. His most famous photograph is the Afghan Girl (1984). McCurry is a photographer of armed conflicts including the Iran-Iraq war, Lebanon Civil War, the Cambodian Civil War, the Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines, the Gulf war, the Afghan War and so on and on. Throughout his photography career, he focused on the consequences of war on human life, and the specialty of his work is that the effects are not in the la ndscape, not in the dress, but simply in the face and eyes of human face. A close analysis of the works by McCurry reveals that many of the works by McCurry proves that he is trying to otherize the subjects, and this otherization comes as a result of the traits of colonialism and the concept of supremacy of the West which remain in both the conscious and unconscious of the photographer. The West always had a curiosity towards the Oriental Other, and this tendency is clearly seen in the works of McCurry. The pictures to be analyzed here are the Afghan Girl (1985; 2002). The first picture was shot in an informal school in a refugee camp. The photograph shows a girl in red burqua with the backdrop of a green building. Her face is somewhat youthful, but her eyes are wide open, fearful, doubtful, and green in color. A look into the eyes of the Afghan girl reveals a lot of things to the viewer. First of all, the problems suffered by the girl in her life are evident in her watchful, vigila nt and untrusting eyes. McCurry makes sure that the youth and innocence of the girl well-contrasts with the fear in the girl’s eyes. One can see that McCurry has selected a green building as the backdrop of the picture. Coincidently, or intentionally, the green color of the backdrop is seen in the girl’s eyes too. In addition, the green background is combined with the green burqua worn by the girl, thus attracting the viewer to the eyes as they seem to pop. Furthermore, the picture is taken in a low light setting so that the face and eyes receive more attention. Though the wrinkles and burns of the burqua are hidden, the overall effect is a revelation in concealment. A close analysis of the picture reveals that the girl does not look like a thirteen year old girl, and the main reason behind the over-aging is the fear in her eyes. One can see that this fear is again supplemented by the defiance evident in her eyes. In order to understand how the great artist is not free from the sin of otherizing, one should look at the other photograph as well. Now, it is necessary to turn to the second picture of the same girl McCurry took after seventeen years (2002). This time, the artist visited the place again and met the girl. By this time, she was between 28 and 30, and with her husband’s permission, he took the second photograph of the Afghan girl. The first point visible in the second photograph is the lifelessness in her eyes. Though fearful, the first photo is filled with a lot of life, but in the second photo, there is no energy in the eye, and it has lost its glitter. In addition, the artist uses the technique of using dark colors instead of the green and red in the first one. Though

Free writing journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Free writing journal - Essay Example It made her strong enough to care for herself and her children through the years. But it also made her weak since it blinded her from the way she treated her children. She never got past her heartbreak and she was stuck in the denial stage. Until the end, her very death, she was still in denial of her past and her present state. Porter’s wrote The Jilting of Granny Weatherall the same way as a degenerating mind of an old woman. At first, everything was coherent enough that you can tell who was speaking and what the characters were doing. As the story nears its end, same as how Granny neared her end, the narration became a jumble. It was like a mess. You cannot easily distinguish who was saying what. This was the same as Granny’s mind. It was like a clutter of thoughts. She was thinking about something but she cannot say it any longer. Her children were hearing mumbles but she was hearing herself clearly. It was effective in a way that Porter emphasized how the thoughts of a dying person can be multi-linear. It has many lines crisscrossing together. It was actually a sad story. It made me think of how my death would be. It seems heartbreaking that death is that lonely. That in death there is isolation. The story was an eye-opener. If we live our lives in denial, there is a possibility that we may die in denial of our own death. This would make the dying person and the people around her hold on to her, as the denial is strong to even accept the death that is happening with their own

Role and purpose of sponsorship

Role and purpose of sponsorship Sponsorship is defined as a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically a sports, entertainment, non-profit event or organization) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property (International Events Group (IEG) Glossary, 2010). Sponsorship can be beneficial to companies for many reasons but the two main reasons for a firm to enter a sponsorship are: (1) to increase brand awareness, and (2) to establish, strengthen, or change brand image (Cornwell and Maignan 1998; Crowley 1991; Gwinner 1997; Gwinner and Eaton 1999; Marshall and Cook 1992; Meenaghan 1991; Meerabeau et al. 1991). Sponsorship is now one of the most significant parts of marketing mix and all marketers consider it a major factor of a successful marketing campaign. The most popular medium of sponsorship is sport sponsorship and accounts for more than half of all sponsorship spending in UK and US (Thwaites, 1995). In UK the estimated value of sponsorship market is  £871 million with sport sponsorship accounting for 51% of all sponsorship expenditures in 2005, broadcast following with 27% and arts with 14% (Mintel, 2006). It is important to label the difference between event sponsorship and event marketing. Event sponsorship involves payment from the sponsors side in contrast to event marketing which refers to staging of an event from a firm with or without paying a sponsorship fee (Close et al, 2006). Sponsorship is also different from patronage. In patronage the financial support is given without any expectation of returns in terms of advertising or publicity, in sponsorship the main reason of financial contribution is brand awareness (Bennett, 1999). According to Meenaghan (2001) sponsorship is more beneficial than advertising for two main reasons: Firstly, consumers can develop an intense emotional response toward sponsorship and this leads to higher levels of involvement in the event. Moreover, sponsorship is an indirect attempt to persuade consumers compared to advertising which is direct. Therefore, sponsorship can influence consumer on a subconscious level. A diagnostic measure, used to make decisions concerning sponsorship and advertising is public awareness of sponsorship (Tripodi et al, 2003). As Gwinner and Bennett (2008) mention a lot of research was conducted on the effects of sponsorship on brand awareness (Cornwell Coote 2005; Gwinner Swanson, 2003; Madrigal, 2000, 2001; Pham Johar, 2001; Rifon, Choi, Trimble, Li, 2004), thus, the most recent studies on sponsorship focused on other element in order to measure the effectiveness of the sponsored events. As the authors state recent studies focus on the consumer attitude toward sponsorship (McDaniel 1999; Speed Thompson, 2000; Stipp, 1998), (Dean, 2002; Gwinner Eaton, 1999; McDaniel 1999; Rifon et al., 2004; Rodgers, 2004; Szykman, Bloom, Blazing, 2004), goodwill (Meenaghan, 1991, 2001), fan involvement (Fisher Wakefield, 1998; Madrigal, 2001; Meenaghan, 2001; Schurr, Wittig, Ruble, Ellen, 1988; Wann Branscombe, 1993), image transfer (Gwinner, 1997; Gwinner Eaton, 1999), and behavioral intentions like purchase intent, positive word-of-mouth, and actual purchase behavior because of sponsorship (Madrigal, 2001; McDaniel, 1999). Sports sponsorship is the most studied type of sponsorship and the majority of studies had shown a positive influence of sponsorship on brand recall and recognition, image transfer and purchasing intentions (Kim and Choi, 2007). However, no research has conducted on how brand awareness, eventà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢sponsor fit, attitude toward the sponsors, fan involvement and purchasing intention can be effective in a music festival surrounding. All the above studies mainly focus on sports events because sports sponsorship is more popular than others types of sponsorship (Mintel, 2009). According to BBC News the sales of albums dropped by 3.5% in 2009 to 128.9 million, this was the fifth year in a row that sales of album have fallen. On the other side, music digital downloading increased (BBC News, 2010). Therefore, the music industry should determine other methods in order to increase its profits. Music festivals and concerts are becoming a major source of income for artists and generally the music industry (Campaign, 2008). This is a great opportunity for brands to sponsor music event. According to Mintel (2008) the total number of concert goers is forecast to continue rising to 2013, but at a much slower rate that over the last five years: just under 25 million people are forecast to attend a concert in one of the major categories in 2013, compared with an estimated 23 million in 2008 and 17 million in 2003. Furthermore, a research commissioned from Target Media (executed from Eyebal) shows that many different sectors choose to associate with music festivals, but those with the most potential for success are alcoholic drinks, with 75% of festival goers spotting booze ads at festivals and 77% believing alcohol brand advertising would work best at festivals. Fashion brand advertising has been spotted by 36% of those attending festivals and 41% believe this kind of advertising would work best in a festival environment. (cited in Roberts,2009). According to a research made on sponsorship of music festivals, brand sponsorship has an impact on brand recall, awareness and attitude towards the brand (Rowley and Williams, 2008). Although sponsorship of music festival from alcoholic drinks looks very promising as a marketing communication tool health issues can impede this process. According to Campaign (2009) the governments health committee will recommend changes to advertising codes to prevent alcohol companies sponsoring music or sports events if a proportion of the audience would be too young to buy alcohol. On the other hand, a research made from The Cardiff Business School, published by the International Journal of Sports Marketing Sponsorship, found that there are no significant statistical correlations between sports sponsorship awareness and attitudes to alcohol use among underage drinkers. (cited in Parson,2010). This study aims to provide a better understanding of brand sponsorship on music events. The main purpose of the research is to investigate how sponsorship in music festivals can influence the beliefs and attitudes of the participants. Through the analysis of the impact of music sponsorship on consumers perception of brands it will be easier for firms to target their customers more efficiently. Music concerts and festivals that use alcoholic drinks as sponsors will be investigated in order to examine the behavior of the consumers. The research will focus on alcoholic drinks (Tuborg beer) because alcohol brands are the most common sponsors of music events. The objectives of this research are: Examine the levels of brand awareness in music festivals Investigate the level of fan involvement of music festival participants Determine the congruence between music festivals and alcoholic drinks as perceived from the consumers Examine the attitude of participants toward the sponsors of music festivals Investigate if attitude towards the sponsor, fan involvement and sponsor / event fit influence the buying intentions of music event participants The first chapter will provide the academic background of sponsorship especially in sports events because most previous studies are related to sports. However, the variables that were used from previous researchers in order to measure different aspects of sponsorship effectiveness will be adapted to our study on music events. Variables such as brand awareness, fan involvement, sponsor and event congruence, attitude towards the sponsor and purchasing intention will be explained at this stage of the research. Every variable will be defined and the results from previous studies will be presented. In this way, we will determine our objectives and define the measurement that will be used throughout the report. In the second chapter the methodology will be presented. Due to the scope of our research and based on previous studies only quantitative research will be conducted. The collection of the data will be based on questionnaires. Questionnaires will be distributed in a popular music festival (Latitude Festival 2010) in order to test the impact of sponsorship in music events. Research instruments and data collection method will be part of this chapter as well as the way that our survey was conducted. In the next chapter, the results of the entire research will be presented. SPSS will be used in order to analyze the collected data and to evaluate the level of significance of our results. Descriptive statistics as well as correlation and regression analysis will be conducted in order to check the validity of our results. Tables and graphs will also be concluded in this part of the study. In the last chapter, the conclusions will be drawn and compared to the results of previous studies. The conclusions will be used as a guide in order to advise marketing managers in their future marketing campaigns. Limitation of the study as well as ideas for future research will be concluded in this part. Brand awareness This study will investigate how sponsorship in music festivals can influence the beliefs and attitudes of the participants; hence all types of branding should be defined. Brands can influence consumers in many different ways. According to De Chernatony and McDonald (2003) brand awareness reflects the salience of a brand and facilitates consumers abilities to identify the brand with a specific product category. Brand awareness consists of brand recognition and brand recall (Keller, 1993, Keller 2001). Recall is the ability to name (typically unprompted) the brands involved in a given sponsorship. On the other hand, Brand recognition develops the notion of knowledge by adding the ability to recognize the product category of the brands involved (Smith, 2004). For instance everybody knows that AIG is the sponsor of Manchester United but fewer people recognize that AIG is an insurance company. In addition, brand image reflects the consumers perception of a brands characteristics and can be gauged by associations they hold in their memory (De Chernatony and McDonald, 2003). According to Keller (2001) positive perception of the brand is likely to affect the cognitive (eg brand recognition, awareness and recall), affective (eg liking or preference for the brand) and conative (eg intention to buy, brand purchase and loyalty) dimensions of consumer behavior and create strong brands which yield marketing advantages, such as lower vulnerability to competitive actions or market crises, the ability to earn higher margins and increased marketing communication effectiveness. In addition, Gà ¼Ãƒ §là ¼ Sà ¶zer and Vardar support this statement on their journal. According to the authors the positive effect of sponsorship is mainly on the cognitive dimensions of brand equity. Cognitive dimensions of brand equity, which are brand awareness and perceived quality, represent lower levels of consumer-brand relations. The main reason for brands to sponsor events is increased brand awareness and improved brand image (Gwinner and Eaton, 1999). Moreover, sponsorship is the main medium for art festivals to raise money (Hume et al., 2007). According to Alexandris et al (2008) potential sponsors who target events with young and more educated spectators might have an easier task in sponsorship promotion and in achieving sponsorship objectives, than sponsors who target events with older and less educated spectators, who are probably less informed about sponsorship issues. These spectators need more focused marketing approaches in sponsorship promotion, if awareness is to be achieved. Therefore, sponsorship of music festivals can be more effective on reaching the sponsorship objectives due to the target audience of music festivals. The audience of rock/indie festivals is mainly male between 16-34 and their social status is ABC1 (Mintel, 2008). The first stage of sponsorship benefits is awareness, without it, the sponsors cannot meet their subsequent objectives such as image enhancement, positive behavioral intentions and increased sales (Crompton, 2004). The actual use of the product in the sponsorship event is of major importance for the awareness of both the product and the brand. In events that sponsors provided a specific souvenir item and allowed product sampling the recall and recognition levels of the sponsor were higher (Miloch and Lambrecht, 2006). The mean recognition rates for these sponsors were twice as high compared to those sponsors that did not activate their sponsorships (Miloch and Lambrecht, 2006). It is also interesting enough that the recall levels change during the event. Before and during the event the recall levels of the sponsor are relatively high but after the event they fall again in the initial levels, the communication effort of the sponsor is what determines the effectiveness and the duration of the sponsorship awareness (Walliser, 2003). Moreover, Grohs et al (2004) support that people who are aware of the sponsor before the event, they are more aware after it. Brand equity of sponsor plays a major role in the fit that consumers perceive between the sponsor and the event. Even if the events sponsored are identical, high brand equity sponsors are perceived more congruent than low brand equity ones (Roy and Cornwell, 2003). Higher recall and recognition levels can be achieved when people are interested on the event (Miloch and Lambrecht, 2006). This means that when the participants are more involved with the event higher brand awareness can be achieved for the sponsor. According to the results from a survey conducted from Vale et al (2009) the level of investment is related to the level of awareness. Consequently, the sponsors that invest more in the sponsorship were more evoked. The results also suggest that sponsorship when considered in isolation from other complementary communicative policies positively affects the awareness of the sponsoring brands through exposure (Vale et al, 2009). The relationship between exposure and recall is generally positive and not an inverted U as many researchers supposed (Zajonc, 1968 ; Bennett, 1999). Therefore, a repeated exposure to stimuli (e.g. the logo of the sponsor) will lead to a more favorable opinion towards the stimulus (Bennett, 1999). If the spectator frequently visits the area of sponsorship (e.g. a football stadium) it is more likely to be aware of the sponsors perimeter posters (Bennett, 1999). However, consumers get confused about the official sponsor of the event (Grohs, 2004). Ambush marketing can be the reason for the misunderstanding of the official sponsor. It is common in sponsored events brands that are not the official sponsor and do not have a direct connection to the event to try to exploit the commercial opportunities that appear (Burton and Chadwick, 2009). In order to predict sponsor recall many parameters of sponsorship should be determined. According to Grohs et al (2004) sponsor-property fit, event in volvement and exposure are the main factors to be considered. According to the research of Boshoff and Gerber (2007) both brand recall and brand recognition of the sponsor of the event increased significantly but brand recall and brand recognition of non sponsor did not increase at all. Therefore, sponsorship has a positive direct impact on brand awareness of the sponsor. Although, field-sponsorship stimuli as well as television-sponsorship stimuli are effective as far as memorization is concerned, they are not equally effective (Lardinoit and Derbaix, 2001). According to the research of Lardinoit and Derbaix (2001) television-sponsorship stimuli influence both unaided recall and recognition; on the other hand, field sponsorship can lead to a superficial memory trace in the mind of the consumer. Fan Involvement According to Meenaghan (2001) fan involvement refers specifically to the extent to which consumers identify with, and are motivated by, their engagement and affiliation with particular leisure activities. Enduring involvement corresponds to a kind of genuine enthusiasm, a strong and solid interest that comes from the relevance of an object or subject for the individual ( Lardinoit and Derbaix,2001). On the other hand, team identification is spectators perceived connectedness to a team and its performance and represents the final mechanism of fan attachment (Smith et al, 2008). Consequently, fan involvement is used to measure the attachment of an individual towards a social or leisure activity and team identification to measure attachment towards a team. Individual that are more involved towards an activity, they are capable to comprehend the values of the event and to associate these values to the sponsor of the event (Meenaghan, 2001). Fans who attend football matches in order to support their team they share the same norms and images with other fans and their involvement to the whole event generates positive feeling towards the group of fans (Bennett, 1999). According to Lardinoit and Derbaix (2001) it is of major importance for the success of sponsorship to reach high levels of involvement because involvement attracts the consumers to watch the sponsored event, for longer periods of time and more frequently. The authors also mention that involvement leads to extensive exposure to the sponsors message. Purchasing intention can also change when the attendant is highly involved in the activity (Meenaghan, 2001). Fan involvement has an impact on brand awareness and brand image of the sponsor. As Pitts and Slattery (2004) state highly committed viewers and individuals who are more aware of the event it is more likely to recognize the sponsor compared to less committed spectators. This also supported from the research of Lascu et al (1995) which was based on golf fans. According to the finding high involved golf fan were more likely to remember the name of the sponsor. In addition, the greater the interest of the participant for the event, the greater the sympathy toward the sponsor and this lead to more positive image for the sponsor (Alexandris et al, 2007; DAstous and Bitz, 1995). This is also supported from Close et al (2006) survey: An event attendee who is more active in the area of the event (e.g., sports) is more likely to appreciate a sponsors community involvement. According to Alexandris et al (2007) highly involved attendants of basketball were more likely to engage in positive word -of-mouth. According to Wann Branscombe, (1995) an individual can feel more secure and strengthen its self esteem by belonging to a group. They also mention that a person emphasize on the positive aspects of the group and try to avoid any negative associations. The above behavior strengthens their identity as team members (Madrigal, 2001). Loyal and dedicated fans of a team or an event (as described from the research) were much more likely to purchase or consider purchasing from sponsors of the event than those who were not as avid supporters of the team or the event (Dees et al, 2008; Fisher and Wakefield, 1998; Madrigal 2000; Schurr et al, 1988; Smith et al, 2008; Wann and Branscombe, 1993). Moreover, highly identified sports fans are also more likely to be aware of the sponsor and to form a positive attitude (Gwinner and Swanson, 2003; Madrigal,2001). Highly identified fans also attend games (Fisher Wakefield, 1998; Schurr et al, 1988, Smith et al, 2008), spend more on tickets and products , and remain loyal (Smith et al, 2008). The development of an emotional relationship between the consumer and the social activity can also be a result of an effective sponsorship (Meenaghan, 2001). It is interesting, that fan involvement did not have the same impact as other variables as attitude toward the sponsor and goodwill. According to Dees et al (2008) attitude toward sponsor and goodwill have greater impact than fan involvement on purchasing intentions. In order to understand the behavior of attendants of performing arts it is very useful to determine the relationship between subscription and involvement and the relationship between the quality of the event and the purchasing intentions of the attendants (Hume et al, 2007). Sponsor and event fit It is of major importance for the success of an event the consumer perception of congruence between the event and the sponsor, accordingly sponsor brands need to be close to the event participants and try to communicate with them during the event( Gà ¼Ãƒ §là ¼ Sà ¶zer and Vardar, 2009). In image sponsoring, the sponsoring company attempts to identify itself or one or more of its products with the positive images of the event held by the events consumers (spectators, viewers) (Ferrand and Pages, 1996). Therefore, the sponsor should consider how the image of its brand can be congruent to the image of the event. Gwinner and Eaton (1999) in their study about sponsorship and image transfer found that if consumers perceive similarities between the event and the sponsors brand the image transfer was enhanced. This statement was also supported from a latter research made from Gwinner et al (2009) on team identification and event sponsorship. Speed and Thomson research (2000) found that a good fit between event and sponsor can have a positive influence on attitude toward the sponsor and in the intention of using the sponsors product. An example of good category-level fit would be a sports clothing company sponsoring tennis. If there is category-fit consumers next consider fit at the level of the brand, Adidas, for example is a global sportswear brand that would fit with a top-level tennis brand such as Wimbledon(Gwinner and Eaton, 2009). In order to determine the influence of sponsorship we should take into account similarities. There two types of similarities according to Gwinner (1997): Functional similarity occurs when the participants of an event use the product of the sponsor and image related similarity occurs when the image of brand and event are interrelated. An example of the above theory is given by Donald and Cornwell (2003), Mountain Dew has successfully developed brand associations of over the edge and extreme by sponsoring sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding that have similar associations attached to them. Brand knowledge is also a factor that it should be considered when we evaluate sponsorship techniques. High levels of brand knowledge can lead to brand cohesiveness and make the individual able to find a fit between the brand and the event (Gwinner and Bennett, 2008). If the participant of an event is aware of the sponsoring brand (brand knowledge) he can easier conceptualize the similarity between the brand and the event. In addition, it is crucial to take into consideration sponsor-property fit, event involvement and exposure when we want to predict sponsor recall (Grohs et al, 2004). According to Becker-Olsen and Simmons (2002) participant who are exposed to sponsorships with low fit generated less favorable thoughts, formed a less favorable attitude toward the sponsorship, saw the firms positioning as less clear, and engendered less favorable affective and behavioral responses to the firm. If there is a relationship between the product and the event consumers can easier recognize the sponsoring brand than if there is no relationship (Pham Johar, 2001). Therefore, it is more effective in awareness terms if a guitar manufacturer sponsor a music event than a sport event. There is a connection gap (lack of congruence) between the event and the sponsor if the event is over commercialized (Gwinner and Bennett, 2008). According to the authors this is due to the feeling of exploitation that that participant develops toward over commercialized brands. This is also supported from Speed and Thomson (2000) who state that the positive association found between perceived sincerity and response to sponsorship suggests that consumers do not perceive sponsorship to be just another form of commercial activity but are sensitive to the potential philanthropic dimension that a sponsorship may have The way the congruence or fit between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli is perceived from the individuals influence the conditioned response (Speed and Thomson, 2000). The consumer response is stronger when there is a fit between the sponsor and the sponsored event (Crinmiins and Horn 1996; Otker and Hayes 1987; Speed and Thomson, 2000; Stipp and Schiavone 1996;). Therefore, the fit between the sponsor and the sponsored event is of major importance for the success of event. In addition, the combination of personal liking from the consumers side and a good fit between the event and the sponsor will lead to a more positive respond toward the sponsor of the event (Speed and Thomson, 2000). According to Roy (2000) student that perceived that there was a high level of congruence between the brand and the sport event transfer this positive association to the corporate image of sponsor. He also mentions that the attitude of the students toward the sponsor; due to the fit between brand/event, was also positive. Positive cognitive and affective responses from the consumer are the result of fit between the event and the sponsor (Koo et al, 2006). Fit is also important in order for the brand to reach its target market and instigate the affective associations (McDaniel, 1999) Attitude towards the sponsor One of the major objectives of sponsorship is the development of positive attitude and feeling toward the sponsor of the event (Gwinner Swanson, 2003; Harvey, 2001). According to Lee and Sandler (2007) the effectiveness of sponsorship in terms of reaching the desired objectives is related to the different attitudes that consumer have towards different events. Attitude is a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993). Therefore, the attitude toward the sponsor can be either positive or negative. The positive attitude toward the sponsor can be the result of favorable beliefs about the benefits of corporate sponsorship (Madrigal, 2001). If the corporate sponsorship is perceived as important from people their attitude is more positive toward the sponsor of the event (Madrigal, 2001). According to Mason (2005) attitudes are comprised of enduring cognitive (beliefs), affective (evaluative emotional attachments) and behavior tendencies towards an object . He also mentions that sponsorship influence the affective components of attitude and generate positive link between the event and the sponsors brand. Attitude toward an object is based on the beliefs that the individual has about that object and the behavioral intentions toward the object are determined from the attitude of the individual (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Therefore, attitude toward the brand is a relatively enduring, unidimensional summary evaluation of the brand that presumably energizes behavior (Spears and Singh, 2004). It is interesting enough that even when the sponsorship awareness of the sponsored event is low, spectators of the event developed positive attitude toward sponsorship in general (Alexandris et al, 2008). According to Alexandris et al (2008) the sponsorship campaign should not over commercialize the event in order to maintain the positive feelings of the participants toward the sponsor. As already mention over commercialization has also a negative impact on the consumers perception of event/sponsor fit (Gwinner and Bennett, 2008). According to the authors this is due to the feeling of exploitation that that participant develops toward over commercialized brands. Attitude toward the sponsor is important in order to predict the purchasing intention of attendants (Alexandris et al, 2007; Lee et al, 1997; Speed and Thomson, 2000). In addition, sport activity involvement, and beliefs about sponsorship play an important role on the prediction of sponsorship outcomes such as image, word of mouth, and purchase intentions (Alexandris et al, 2007). Positive attitudes toward a sponsor have further been positively associated with favorable perceptions and intentions to purchase a sponsors product (Speed and Thompson, 2000). Brand image of the sponsor can also be improved from repeat attendance of the event (Lacey et al, 2007). Purchasing intention Purchase intentions are an individuals conscious plan to make an effort to purchase a brand » (Spears Singh, 2004). Consumers purchase intention is based on two main influences: first, a positive attitude towards the brand; and second, brand familiarity, which is obtained from brand exposure and prior use (Pope and Voges, 2000). The enhanced company and brand awareness that sponsorship can cause is only a part of its effectiveness. According to Smith et al (2008) sponsorship can also create the desirability to the attendants of the event to buy the sponsored products. This is also supported from previous researches on consumer purchasing intentions (Faircloth, Capella and Alford, 2001; Koo et al 2006; Lee et al., 1997; Madrigal, 2001; Meenaghan, 2001; Terry and Hogg, 1996). It is also interesting that congruency between sponsor and event is influenced from brand equity. As Roy and Cornwell (2003) mentioned sponsors with high brand equity sponsors are perceived from participants of the events as more congruent than those with low brand equity. The link between personal attitude toward an object and the actual behavior is called behavioral intention (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Therefore, when we want to predict the influence of sponsorship, attitude toward the sponsor is of major importance. Speed and Thomson (2000) state that positive attitudes toward the sponsor can motivate the participant to purchase the sponsors product. This occurs because generally consumers positive attitude towards the brand will lead to purchase intention before the actual purchase of the brand (Spears and Singh, 2004). However, celebrity advertisement may not be as effective as sponsorship. According to the experimental study of Tripp et al (1994) when celebrity advertisement increases the intention of consumer to purchase the product decreases. Three variables that lead to higher purchase intentions according to Smith et al (2004) are: Team support Sponsor receptiveness (openness to further information, interest in learning more about the sponsor and knowledge of the sponsors business) Sponsor integrity (is a composite measure of respondents views about the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored sporting team) Some interesting finding from the research of Smith et al (2004) is that the purchase intentions are positively influenced from sponsorship if the participants are passionate supporters of the sport team or the event. In support to the above statement, Spears and Singh (2004) mention that avid supporters (loyal and dedicated fans) and those who hold positive views of the corporate sponsors its more likely to buy the sponsors product than non fans. On the contrary, the frequent match attendance did not have an impact on purchase intentions (Smith et al, 2004). According to Dees et al (2008) the pleasant atmosphere of an event is what influences the consumer to purchase the product of the sponsor. During the event the marketing message is introduced to the consumer. Therefore, the consumer will buy the product of the sponsor in order to experience the same feeling that he had during the event. According to the research conducted from MacDonald and Sharp (2000) on consume

Deforestation and Biodiversity Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Pa

Deforestation, defined by biologist Charles Southwick as "the destruction of forests; may involve clear-cutting or selective logging" (p. 365), is a predominantly human-driven process that is dramatically altering ecosystems worldwide. "Clear-cutting" involves the indiscriminant removal of every single plant and tree species from within a selected area. The other major process of deforestation, "selective logging," focuses removal efforts on only specific, predetermined tree species within a chosen area. The statistics gathered about human deforestation over time are considerable, and they can be somewhat controversial. Depending on the source and the location selected, the magnitude of deforestation varies. Southwick estimates that, approximately 10,000 years ago, 6.2 billion hectares (23.9 million square miles) of forest existed on earth (p. 117). That figure is equivalent to 45.5% of the earth's total land. He further estimates that, by 1990, this amount had declined 30%, with onl y 4.3 billion hectares of forest remaining (p. 117). Southwick also acknowledges other estimates that place the total amount of deforestation between 50% and 75% (p. 117). NASA has similar deforestation statistics that confirm these trends. According to their website, 16.5% of the Brazilian Amazon forests have been destroyed. They also note similar magnitudes of deforestation in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), despite the significantly smaller total area of forest within these countries. These grim figures are somewhat tempered by the NASA finding that, over the past ten years, the deforestation rate has declined from 6,200 square miles per year to 4,800 square miles per year. Though this trend is n... ...later time. Though it is simply impossible to know what the ultimate effects will be on our long term survival as a species, it is important to bear in mind that, once a species has been eliminated through extinction, it cannot be brought back. So, for the overall health of our rainforests, their biodiversity, and the limitless potential contained therein, it is crucial for us, as humans, to make as honest an effort as possible at their preservation. References Southwick, Charles H. Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford University Press: New York, 1996. Vandermeer, J. & Perfecto, I. Breakfast of Biodiversity. The Institute for Food and Development Policy: Oakland, CA, 1995. Websites NASA http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Deforestation/deforestation_3.html National Institute of Health http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1997/105-11/focus-abs.html

Existentialism is a Humanism Essay

In Existentialism is a Humanism, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) presents an accessible description of existentialism. A key idea of existentialism—and of the human condition— is that existence precedes essence. The essence of something is its meaning, its intended purpose. A paper cutter is made to cut paper; that is its point. Humans, however, do not have an essence. Man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself. We have no greater purpose, no pre-determined plan, no ultimate meaning. We have, in Sartre’s words, no human nature, since there is nothing (e.g. God) outside of us which would conceive of it for us. We are simply here, and it is up to us to define ourselves. Responsibility Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself. We have choice, we have subjectivity, and we choose what we will make ourselves to be; we are entirely responsible for our existence: Thus, existentialism’s first move is to make every man aware of what he is and to make the full responsibility of his existence rest on him. This thought is often not easily accepted. ‘Subjectivity’ is a word that riles up many. â€Å"If everything is subjective then nothing is objective; nothing is absolute! Our values are nothing more than our whims! Nothing is right or wrong! Rabble, rabble, rabble!† Sartre replies that, â€Å"it is impossible for man to transcend human subjectivity.† He isn’t saying â€Å"I prefer subjectivity over objectivity,† he’s asking, â€Å"how can we possibly not be subjective?† Even the religious individual who believes that morality is absolute and comes from God must, at some point, choose to bel ieve that this is the case. Our responsibility is a blessing and a curse. It leads us to feel things like anguish, forlornness, and despair. Anguish We experience anguish in the face of our subjectivity, because by choosing what we are to do, we ‘choose for everyone’. When you make a decision you are saying â€Å"this is how anyone ought to behave given these circumstances.† Many people don’t feel anguish, but this is because they are â€Å"fleeing from it.† If you don’t feel a sense of anxiety when you make decisions, it’s because you are forgetting about your â€Å"total and deep responsibility† toward yourself and all of humanity. Forlornness Forlornness is the idea that â€Å"God does not exist and that we have to face all the consequences of this.† There is no morality a priori. There is no absolute right or wrong. There is no ultimate judge. This is a very distressing idea. As Dostoievsky said, â€Å"If God didn’t exist, everything would be possible [permissible].† Without God we have nothing to cling to. â€Å"There is no determinism, man is free, man is freedom. [†¦] We have no values or commands to turn to which legitimize our conduct.† In other words, we have no excuses, and we are entirely responsible for our decisions. What are our values? The only way to determine them is to make a decision. At the end of the day, your ideals aren’t what matter; what matters is what you actually did. Despair Despair arises because we only have power to change things that are within our power to change—and there is a lot we cannot change. Reality is impartial and out of your control, except for small aspects of it here and there. We despair because we can never have full control of the future. What Will Happen Will Happen Tomorrow, after my death, some men may decide to set up Fascism, and the others may be cowardly and muddled enough to let them do it. Fascism will then be the human reality, so much the worse for us. Regardless of what is right or wrong, good or bad, and regardless of whether these are absolutes or not, â€Å"things will be as man will have decided they are to be.† What will happen will happen and humanity will be entirely responsible for what it does. Does this mean we ought to become passively accepting of what will happen? Sartre says the exact opposite. Does that mean that I should abandon myself to quietism? No. [†¦] Quietism is the attitude of people who say, â€Å"Let others do what I can’t do.† The doctrine I am presenting is the very opposite of quietism, since it declares, â€Å"There is no reality except in action.† Moreover, it goes further, since it adds, â€Å"Man is nothing else than his plan; he exists only to the extent that he fulfills himself; he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life. No Excuses This is why existentialism horrifies some people. It puts such a burden of responsibility squarely on their shoulders. They can’t stand to think they were at fault for not being a great or successful person, for having no great friendships or love. They think they are the victim of circumstances; they haven’t had the proper education, leisure, or incentives; they haven’t found the right person yet; they haven’t had the opportunity to show their greatness. Sartre, however, says that â€Å"The coward makes himself cowardly, the hero makes himself heroic.† The artist is an artist because of the works of art he created, not because of what he could have created. The mathematician is famous for the math he did, not what he maybe could have done. We find that this is â€Å"a harsh thought to someone whose life hasn’t been a success.† We are responsible for our successes and failures. But at the same time, this harshness forces us to face the incredibly important fact that: Reality alone is what counts. Sartre sees these views not as a pessimism, but as an â€Å"optimistic toughness.† Optimistic in that we are the rulers of our lives; our destiny is within our hands; we are encouraged to take action. Sartre summarizes his idea of optimism and action in the following passage. Thus, I think we have answered a number of the charges concerning existentialism. You see that it can not be taken for a philosophy of quietism, since it defines man in terms of action; nor for a pessimistic description of man—there is no doctrine more optimistic, since man’s destiny is within himself; nor for an attempt to discourage man from acting, since it tells him that the only hope is in his acting and that action is the only thing that enables a man to live. Is Choice Arbitrary? Sartre ends this piece with a further defence of subjectivism, in which I wish he had gone into a little more detail. He says people are still not satisfied with the idea of subjectivism, and objections usually come in one of the following forms: 1. â€Å"Well then, you’re able to do anything, no matter what! You’re promoting anarchy!† But this isn’t the point. It is not possible to not choose. In not making a choice you are still choosing not to choose. Choice is inescapable; we are â€Å"condemned to be free† because we are human, whether or not we are existentialists. 2. â€Å"You can’t pass judgement on others, because there’s no reason to prefer one idea to another!† We can still hold values, and values appear out of the choices we make. Through our actions (as an individual and as a group), we create ethics. 3. â€Å"Everything about your choice is arbitrary!† We define ourselves through our actions, â€Å"in relationship to involvement.† And as we make ourselves—as we make choices—it is absurd to say we are choosing arbitrarily.

Role of Media in India

Role of Indian Media in the New Age The following is the speech given by Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of HRD and C & IT, on the topic: â€Å"Role of Indian Media in the New Ag†, presiding as the Chief Guest for the ‘Press Club Awards for Excellence in Journalism' , on 5th May, 2012 at The NSCI, Worli, Mumbai. I am privileged to be here with you on a day the media celebrates its exceptional performers. I congratulate all those who have received awards and wish them continued success in their profession.The media has emerged as a pillar of the modern State. The foundation of a modern democratic State lies in its ability to secure fundamental rights promised to its people, to deliver justice and lead its people to economic and social progress. Democracy is defined by freedom of speech and expression. Media is an embodiment of these rights that define democracy. If we look back into history, the emergence of the modern nation-state where the sovereignty vested in its people is closely related to the spread of the printing press.Guttenbergaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Bible (the first printed book) was a precursor to the spread of democracy and republican thought across the world. Rousseau was mild mannered, but his thoughts disseminated by the newspapers in the coffee houses of Paris resulted in the French Revolution. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as the slogan for the Revolution owes much to the media of the day. The Indian media has been truly a pillar of the Indian State. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. The Indian media has indeed been vigilant and persuasive in protection of freedoms and awakening thought.If we have preserved our democracy in the midst of periodic lapses into dictatorships in our neighbourhood, the credit should go to our founding fathers who created robust institutions and to the media who kept a vigilant watch at preserving these institutions. However, the nature of media has also been changing over the last two decades. The eme rgence of the electronic media in India over two decades ago since the first war to be witnessed live by millions in the cosy comforts of their homes, brought the power of imagery to the forefront.The growing dominance of imagery over substance in an era where time is of the essence and competition is intense, has brought about the need for stoking fires, beaming controversies and heated debates in the media. The divergence of approach between the print and the electronic media has been amply demonstrated in the events of the last year. Todayaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s media does not provide much space for settling differences, it prefers to dog the protagonists forever reminding them of the past. There is a problem with this approach. We do not sufficiently celebrate our achievements, we do not appreciate the progress that we make.The spread of negative sentiment leads to despondency and inaction. Infact, todayaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s headline in a prominent newspaper speaks of the fear that stalks t he corridors of bureaucracy. Despite the exhortation of the Prime Minister, the civil services today is afraid of action, for any action can be questioned. Faith and trust in all institutions are being eroded. Rampant mistrust, I believe, has slowed governance and if not corrected, can imperil the foundations of democracy. We have much to correct, but it is necessary for room for correction to be available.When there is a dispute in a family, the members retire to a place of seclusion to settle their differences. Today, there is no such place available due to the omnipotence of media. Competition spurs innovation, but unhealthy competition can lead to pandering. The rush for eyeballs in a crush of problems leads to extremes being aired rather than the moderate being heard. In such a situation, the responsibility of the media to the larger society gets diluted. At the same time, I would for one strongly oppose attempts to impose responsibility through regulatory action.It is for th e media to ponder and find solutions for itself. If the media fails to do so, just as we are witnessing a clamour for judicial accountability because the judiciary has not succeeded in inculcating responsibility within itself, a similar clamour for media accountability would grow. Another trend that has emerged in the recent years is the growth of the social media riding in the ICT revolution. Social interactions have exploded as never before, aided by the connecting power of the internet. The ability of thoughts to converge and congregate have multiplied manifold.These interactions have led to questioning of the present order and the search for a better world through the social media. The outpourings of protests all over the world aâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" from aâ‚ ¬? Occupy Wall Streetaâ‚ ¬? to the aâ‚ ¬? Arab Springaâ‚ ¬? , from the aâ‚ ¬? Lokpal agitationaâ‚ ¬? to the million mutinies erupting across the globe – made 2011, the Year of the Protestor. Street dissent in Democracies has become prevalent. Simultaneously, we are witnessing the overthrow of Dictatorships. Thoughts and deeds, actions and reactions jump across the globe to reach the mind-space of people in the twinkling of an eye.The internet today is the public square of the Grecian city-state democracies. And media is slowly ceding space to the internet as the harbinger of news and views. Our country is a nation of vast diversity and complexity. We were fortunate that our founding fathers bequeathed us an edifice that we could be proud of. A free media is a pillar of this edifice. It holds up the State and seeks accountability from it. The events of the recent past have led us to introspect on the basic elements of our State. Let the media not stay away from this introspection. Thank you. Role of Media in India Role of Indian Media in the New Age The following is the speech given by Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of HRD and C & IT, on the topic: â€Å"Role of Indian Media in the New Ag†, presiding as the Chief Guest for the ‘Press Club Awards for Excellence in Journalism' , on 5th May, 2012 at The NSCI, Worli, Mumbai. I am privileged to be here with you on a day the media celebrates its exceptional performers. I congratulate all those who have received awards and wish them continued success in their profession.The media has emerged as a pillar of the modern State. The foundation of a modern democratic State lies in its ability to secure fundamental rights promised to its people, to deliver justice and lead its people to economic and social progress. Democracy is defined by freedom of speech and expression. Media is an embodiment of these rights that define democracy. If we look back into history, the emergence of the modern nation-state where the sovereignty vested in its people is closely related to the spread of the printing press.Guttenbergaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Bible (the first printed book) was a precursor to the spread of democracy and republican thought across the world. Rousseau was mild mannered, but his thoughts disseminated by the newspapers in the coffee houses of Paris resulted in the French Revolution. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as the slogan for the Revolution owes much to the media of the day. The Indian media has been truly a pillar of the Indian State. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. The Indian media has indeed been vigilant and persuasive in protection of freedoms and awakening thought.If we have preserved our democracy in the midst of periodic lapses into dictatorships in our neighbourhood, the credit should go to our founding fathers who created robust institutions and to the media who kept a vigilant watch at preserving these institutions. However, the nature of media has also been changing over the last two decades. The eme rgence of the electronic media in India over two decades ago since the first war to be witnessed live by millions in the cosy comforts of their homes, brought the power of imagery to the forefront.The growing dominance of imagery over substance in an era where time is of the essence and competition is intense, has brought about the need for stoking fires, beaming controversies and heated debates in the media. The divergence of approach between the print and the electronic media has been amply demonstrated in the events of the last year. Todayaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s media does not provide much space for settling differences, it prefers to dog the protagonists forever reminding them of the past. There is a problem with this approach. We do not sufficiently celebrate our achievements, we do not appreciate the progress that we make.The spread of negative sentiment leads to despondency and inaction. Infact, todayaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s headline in a prominent newspaper speaks of the fear that stalks t he corridors of bureaucracy. Despite the exhortation of the Prime Minister, the civil services today is afraid of action, for any action can be questioned. Faith and trust in all institutions are being eroded. Rampant mistrust, I believe, has slowed governance and if not corrected, can imperil the foundations of democracy. We have much to correct, but it is necessary for room for correction to be available.When there is a dispute in a family, the members retire to a place of seclusion to settle their differences. Today, there is no such place available due to the omnipotence of media. Competition spurs innovation, but unhealthy competition can lead to pandering. The rush for eyeballs in a crush of problems leads to extremes being aired rather than the moderate being heard. In such a situation, the responsibility of the media to the larger society gets diluted. At the same time, I would for one strongly oppose attempts to impose responsibility through regulatory action.It is for th e media to ponder and find solutions for itself. If the media fails to do so, just as we are witnessing a clamour for judicial accountability because the judiciary has not succeeded in inculcating responsibility within itself, a similar clamour for media accountability would grow. Another trend that has emerged in the recent years is the growth of the social media riding in the ICT revolution. Social interactions have exploded as never before, aided by the connecting power of the internet. The ability of thoughts to converge and congregate have multiplied manifold.These interactions have led to questioning of the present order and the search for a better world through the social media. The outpourings of protests all over the world aâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" from aâ‚ ¬? Occupy Wall Streetaâ‚ ¬? to the aâ‚ ¬? Arab Springaâ‚ ¬? , from the aâ‚ ¬? Lokpal agitationaâ‚ ¬? to the million mutinies erupting across the globe – made 2011, the Year of the Protestor. Street dissent in Democracies has become prevalent. Simultaneously, we are witnessing the overthrow of Dictatorships. Thoughts and deeds, actions and reactions jump across the globe to reach the mind-space of people in the twinkling of an eye.The internet today is the public square of the Grecian city-state democracies. And media is slowly ceding space to the internet as the harbinger of news and views. Our country is a nation of vast diversity and complexity. We were fortunate that our founding fathers bequeathed us an edifice that we could be proud of. A free media is a pillar of this edifice. It holds up the State and seeks accountability from it. The events of the recent past have led us to introspect on the basic elements of our State. Let the media not stay away from this introspection. Thank you.

6 Quick and Easy Tips for Proofreading

6 Quick and Easy Tips for Proofreading 6 Quick and Easy Tips for Proofreading Us professional proofreaders are a mysterious breed; a clan of brooding grammar obsessives and spelling pedants, forever clinging on to our red correction pens and shouting verbose slogans about not splitting infinitives. Needless to say, this slavish devotion to typographical accuracy is why we’re so good at spotting mistakes that other people miss. Don’t worry, though, you don’t have to be quite so enamored with editorial excellence to proofread your own writing. To help out, we’ve prepared six quick tips for proofreading that anyone can use. 6 Tips for Proofreading Proofreading Tip #1 – Plan for Your Proofreading! The biggest mistake people make when proofreading is not allowing enough time. Spotting errors in your work requires patience and care, so you need to make sure you set aside time to go back over everything before the deadline for your paper. Proofreading Tip #2 – Vary Your Reading Style Proofreading demands slow and careful reading. The best way to do this is often to print out your work and read it on paper rather than on a computer screen, which gives you â€Å"fresh eyes† and helps make errors stand out. Alternatives include reading out loud, reading backwards (i.e., starting at the end of your paper) and even reading upside down! Proofreading Tip #3 – Use Computers Wisely†¦ Although printing your work out can aid proofreading, your computer also has a few tricks up its plastic sleeves. Spellcheckers, for example, can be invaluable. The â€Å"Find† function in Microsoft Word is a great time saver if you spot a repeated error, too, as it lets you quickly check for additional instances of the same kind. Proofreading Tip #4 – †¦But Look Out for Homonyms! The downside of computer spellcheckers is that they’ll miss erroneous homophones: i.e., words that sound the same as other words, so aren’t spelling mistakes, but are still not the word you intended. Computers can also struggle with acronyms and proper nouns, so be especially careful to double check these. Proofreading Tip #5 – Check Your References Referencing is often where errors creep into otherwise excellent academic papers, so make sure that you check your citations before submitting. The best way to do this is to compare your citations against a style guide provided by your college. Using a citation generator can help too. Proofreading Tip #6 – Stay Fresh! The last of our quick tips for proofreading is to stay fresh! Since concentration is vital to effective proofreading, it’s important to take a break now and then. It can even be worth taking a day away from your paper before you start proofreading. The first step to good proofreading, then, is sometimes to do something else entirely!

Free Essays on Loreal

L’Orà ©al: La coloration - Tendances parmi les jeunes - Authors: Nicole BRANDL Wilma HUPPERTZ Linn Camilla SYLTA Maja LECHTMAN Tobias SCHOMACHER Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 METHODOLOGY 3 2 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY 4 2.2 RESULTS: WITH COLOURATION 4 2.3 RESULTS – WITHOUT COLOURATION 9 3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 13 4 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 13 4.1 PRICE POLITICS 14 4.2 PRODUCT FEATURES AND PACKAGING 14 4.3 PROMOTION 15 4.4 PLACE/DISTRIBUTION 15 5 APPENDIX 16 5.1 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE AVEC COLORATION 16 5.2 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE SANS COLORATION 20 5.3 APPENDIX C: STATISTICS 22 1 Introduction Teenagers around the world are becoming more and more concerned about their looks. They shop for their own trendy clothes because it is getting increasingly important to wear the latest fashion. Furthermore, there is a growing number of younger and younger children colouring their hair, often with the permission of their parents. The question, which arises from this, is: Why do adolescents pay more attention to their appearance than in past years? The answer is difficult to find because it is complicated to reveal psychological motivations. Nevertheless, considering the extraordinarily high importance of means of mass communication like TV and Radio, the influence of the media on young people is, without doubt, immense. Moreover, it is probable that the commercials of big companies with a widespread reputation are, in some way, responsible for the above-mentioned movement. That is why more and more firms in the clothing industry as well as those concentrated on the marketing of beaut y products start developing strategies to take advantage of this efficient way of influencing a broad part of the population in order to attract the younger target group. Being aware of the new trend, L’Orà ©al commissioned this study about â€Å"Tendencies among adolescents concerning hair co... Free Essays on Loreal Free Essays on Loreal L’Orà ©al: La coloration - Tendances parmi les jeunes - Authors: Nicole BRANDL Wilma HUPPERTZ Linn Camilla SYLTA Maja LECHTMAN Tobias SCHOMACHER Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 METHODOLOGY 3 2 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY 4 2.2 RESULTS: WITH COLOURATION 4 2.3 RESULTS – WITHOUT COLOURATION 9 3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 13 4 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 13 4.1 PRICE POLITICS 14 4.2 PRODUCT FEATURES AND PACKAGING 14 4.3 PROMOTION 15 4.4 PLACE/DISTRIBUTION 15 5 APPENDIX 16 5.1 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE AVEC COLORATION 16 5.2 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE SANS COLORATION 20 5.3 APPENDIX C: STATISTICS 22 1 Introduction Teenagers around the world are becoming more and more concerned about their looks. They shop for their own trendy clothes because it is getting increasingly important to wear the latest fashion. Furthermore, there is a growing number of younger and younger children colouring their hair, often with the permission of their parents. The question, which arises from this, is: Why do adolescents pay more attention to their appearance than in past years? The answer is difficult to find because it is complicated to reveal psychological motivations. Nevertheless, considering the extraordinarily high importance of means of mass communication like TV and Radio, the influence of the media on young people is, without doubt, immense. Moreover, it is probable that the commercials of big companies with a widespread reputation are, in some way, responsible for the above-mentioned movement. That is why more and more firms in the clothing industry as well as those concentrated on the marketing of beaut y products start developing strategies to take advantage of this efficient way of influencing a broad part of the population in order to attract the younger target group. Being aware of the new trend, L’Orà ©al commissioned this study about â€Å"Tendencies among adolescents concerning hair co...

Behaviorism, Its Origin, Purpose and Main Definitions.

Behaviorism, Its Origin, Purpose and Main Definitions. Behaviorism For as long as history can date back, humans have always had a certain interest in what makes up an individual; who they are, and what aspects of there being, have set them apart from others within there species. As behaviorist see it, these questions are answered by nothing more than the world in which you were brought up in. Behaviorism, focuses on variables we can observe, measure, manipulate; and avoid whatever is subjective, internal, and unavailable i.e. mental (1998, C. George Boeree). Behaviorism is a very old theory of personality. One of the oldest theories dates back to Rene Descartes. He introduced the idea of substance dualism, and called the person a machine dependent on external events whose soul was the ghost in the machine (substance dualism). Meaning that what is mental, and things that are physical are completely separate. Modern behaviorism however changes this theory in refusing to acknowledge any internal workings of the mind. Behaviorist believe that, persons are nothing more than mediators between behavior and environment (Skinner, 1993). Because the inner workings or the human mind are ignored, opponents to the theory make a strong case against it. Behaviorism is unable to explain human language, and memory. Although these criticisms indicate a failure in this theory. It isnt denied that behaviorism can teach the world a lot about human behaviors. Behaviorism as it is known today was founded on the ideas of John B. Watson. Watson claimed that behavior should be examined, rather than describe how the mind was working. He contended that it was possible to condition humans and animals. In his famous study, Watson conditioned a young child named Albert to fear a white rat. He did so by creating a loud noise whenever Albert touched the rat. Frightened by the loud noise, the child associated the rat to this feeling, and feared the rat the same way he feared the noise. Watsons work was backed by the most noted behaviorist B.F. Skinner. Skinners entire system is based on operant conditioning. The organism is in the process of operating on the environment (Skinner, 1993). While operating, the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus, called a reinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer. This special stimulus has the effect of increasing the behavior occurring just before the reinforcer. Operant conditioning is: the behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future (Behaviorism, 1997). Skinner ran experiments to prove this by placing a rat in a cage called a Skinner Box. His cage would have a bar or pedal on one wall that, when pressed, causes a little mechanism to release a foot pellet. The rat would then bounce around the cage, doing whatever it is rats do, when he accidentally presses the bar, a food pellet falls out. The operant is the behavior just prior to the reinforcer, which is the food pellet. In no time at all, the rat is furiously peddling away at the bar. A behavior followed by a reinforcing stimulus results in an increased probability of that behavior occurring in the future (Stacy Breslau, 2003 ). What if you dont give the rat any more pellets? After a few attempts, the rat will stop pressing the bar. This is called extinction of the operant behavior. A behavior no longer followed by the reinforcing stimulus results in a decreased probability of that behavior occurring in the future. (Stacy Breslau, 2003 ) Now, if you were to turn the pellet machine back on, so that pressing the bar again provides the rat with pellets, the behavior of bar-pushing will pop right back into existence, much more quickly than it took for the rat to learn the behavior the first time. This is because the return of the reinforcer takes place in the context of a reinforcement history that goes all the way back to the very first time the rat w as reinforced for pushing on the bar. A question Skinner had to deal with was how we get to more complex sorts of behaviors. He responded with the idea of shaping, or the method of successive approximations. Basically, it involves first reinforcing a behavior only vaguely similar to the one desired. Once that is established, you look out for variations that come a little closer to what you want, and so on, until you have an animal performing a behavior that would never show up in ordinary life. Skinner and his students have been quite successful in teaching simple animals to do some extraordinary things. Beyond fairly simple examples, shaping also accounts for the most complex of behaviors. You dont, for example, become a brain surgeon by stumbling into an operating room, cutting open someones head, removing a tumor, and receive a reward. Instead, you are gently shaped by your environment to enjoy certain things, do well in school, take a certain class, see a movie, and so on. This could be something your parents were carefully doing to you, but much more likely, this is something that was more or less uni ntentional. Another type of reinforcement is aversive stimulus. It is the opposite of a reinforcing stimulus, something unpleasant or painful. A behavior followed by an aversive stimulus results in a decreased probability of the behavior occurring in the future (Stacy Breslau, 2003 ). This both defines an aversive stimulus and describes the form of conditioning known as punishment. If you shock a rat for doing something, it wont do what ever it is it got shocked for. If you spank Johnny for throwing his toys he will throw his toys less and less (maybe). If you remove an already active aversive stimulus after a rat or Johnny performs a certain behavior, you are doing negative reinforcement. If you turn off the electricity when the rat stands on his hind legs, hell stand a lot more. Notice how difficult it can be to distinguish some forms of negative reinforcement from positive reinforcement. If I starve you, is the food I give you when you do what I want a positive? Or is it the removal of a negative, the aversive stimulus of hunger? (1998, C. George Boeree) Skinner doesnt approve of the use of aversive stimuli, because they dont work well. Earlier I said that Johnny will maybe stop throwing his toys? Thats because whatever was reinforcing the bad behaviors hasnt been removed. This hidden reinforcer has just been hidden with an aversive stimulus. So, sometimes the child will behave, but it still feels good to throw those toys. All this boils down to a theory of personality that says that ones environment causes ones behavior. A man named Albert Bandura found this a bit too simplistic for the phenomena he was observing, aggression in adolescents, and decided to add a little to it, environment causes behavior, but behavior causes environment as well(Bandura, 2000). He labeled this concept reciprocal determinism. He then went a step further. Bandura began to look at personality as an interaction among three things the environment, behavior, and the persons psychological processes. Adding imagery and language to the mix allows Bandura to theorize much more effectively than someone like, B. F. Skinner, about two things that many people would consider the humans strong point, observational learning or modeling, and self-regulation. Of the hundreds of studies Bandura was responsible for, one group stands out above the others. The bobo doll studies. Bandura made of film of one of his students, a young woman, beating up a bobo doll. In case you dont know, a bobo doll is an inflatable, balloon creature with a weight in the bottom that makes it bob back up when you knock him down. The woman punched the clown, shouting sockeroo! She kicked it, sat on it, hit with a little hammer, and so on, shouting aggressive phrases. Bandura then showed his film to groups of kindergartners. The children then were let out to play. In the play room, were several observers with pens and clipboards, a bobo doll, and a few little hammers. The observers recorded: A lot of little kids beating on the bobo doll. They punched it and shouted sockeroo, kicked it, sat on it, hit it with the little hammers, and so on. In other words, they imitated the young lady in the film. This might seem like a worthless experiment at first, but the children changed their behavior without first being rewarded for that behavior. While that may not seem extraordinary to the average person, it didnt work well with standard behaviorist learning theories. He called the phenomenon observational learning or modeling, and Banduras theory is usually called the social learning theory. Bandura did a large number of variations in his study. All these variations allowed Bandura to establish that there were certain steps involved in the modeling process. If you are going to learn anything, you have to be paying attention. Likewise, anything that doesnt allow you to pay attention is going to decrease learning. If, for example, you are sleepy, groggy, drugged, sick, or nervous, you will learn less. Second, you must be able to remember what you have paid attention to. This is where imagery and language come in. We store what we have seen the model doing in the form of mental images, or verbal descriptions. When stored, you can later bring up the image or description, so that you can reproduce it with your own behavior. At this point, youre just sitting there daydreaming. You have to translate the images or descriptions into actual behavior. So you have to have the ability to reproduce the behavior in the first place. For example, I can watch Olympic swimmers all day long, and not be able to reproduce their times, because I may not even know how to swim. But if I can swim, my performance would in fact improve if I watch swimmers who are better than I am. Our abilities improve even when we just imagine ourselves performing. Many athletes, imagine their performance in their mind prior to actually performing. With all this, youre still not going to do anything unless you are motivated to imitate. Bandura says there are many motives, past reinforcement, promised reinforcements, vicarious reinforcement. These are, considered to be the things that cause learning. Bandura is saying that they dont cause learning but, only cause us to demonstrate what we have learned. He sees them as motives. The negative motivations are there too, giving you reasons not to imitate someone such as past punishment, promised punishment (threats), vicarious punishment. Like most traditional behaviorists, Bandura says that punishment in whatever form does not work as well as reinforcement and, in fact, has a tendency to backfire on us.

Why having a large vocabulary is good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Why having a large vocabulary is good - Essay Example A bewildering vocabulary entraps aghast and paranoid occupants of the society and provides them with a most comfortable place to live. The elegant and charismatic words, help in evading disputes. Proper use of vocabulary helps people in integrating their dispersed thoughts in an efficient way. Moreover, to properly utilize the liberty of thoughts and expression a person needs to have a large vocabulary. Having a large vocabulary stops people from lament over the lack of words to explain their thoughts. An efficient use of vocabulary ensembles the ideas and produces a long-lasting effect on people. Hence, the beauty of words is the most powerful weapon against the prejudices, disputes, arguments and literary wars that exist today. Having a large vocabulary for the cause of sharing ideas, sympathizing people, literary expressionism and a tool to fight against the vices of society is a great success of an individual. Hence, large vocabulary not only helps in good academic outcomes but a lso affect the social order and perceptions of people if used

Methods of enquiry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Methods of enquiry - Essay Example A Qualitative method of study differs from the usual quantitative methods (used in the study of pure sciences) in the sense that it tends to be far more subjective. This is in sharp contrast to the methods used in pure sciences which are exclusively objective. The research methods for marketing are a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Being open to qualitative methods of study also allows social scientists to incorporate non-quantitative data (i.e. non-numerical data, such as words, images, gestures, impressions etc.) in their study. Since human beings tend to operate in terms of such data and not in terms of the terminology used in ordinary sciences this broader outlook is far more applicable in the study of social sciences. In keeping with the methodology employed in marketing researches the theories too are formulated and used keeping in mind that they are not necessarily applicable to all conditions. Be it psychology, history, political science or economics human events are most likely to influence the rules which define the basic theories of a marketing subject. Success in the field of marketing researches can therefore be achieved if and only if it is understood that the subject has no space or opportunity for watertight methodologies or theories. (Lamb, 2004) The basic advantages of qualitative measures are multi-fold. Firstly, it presents a completely realistic approach that the statistical analysis and numerical data used in research based on quantitative research cannot provide. Another advantage of qualitative measures is that it is more flexible in nature in terms of collected information interpretation, subsequent analysis and data collection. It also presents a holistic point of view of the investigation. Furthermore, this approach of research allows the subjects to be comfortable thus be more accurate

Brand Lifetime and Obsolescence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Brand Lifetime and Obsolescence - Essay Example Brand Lifetime and Obsolescence What doesn’t die is the heritage of a brand specifically when it was never known for wrong reasons before the obsolescence. Hence, if a brand is obsolete (i.e., forgotten by people after the corresponding products become obsolete), it can be revived later by carrying out retro-branding by making people recall the old heritage of the brand and then link new offerings with the brand along with power sentences like â€Å"the leader is back with new promises† (Brown and Kozinets et al. 2003). However, what is important for revival of brands is that they should not remain obsolete across generations such that the people that loved them are no longer alive in the world. The only value of such brands may be their archaeological value whereby their products may be purchased as antiques. We can imagine what would had happened to Ford if they were to continue with their Model T in today’s world of flashy & stylish cars and to Sony if they were to continue with their Walkman in today’s world of digital entertainment. These brands have survived due to their continuous innovations and launch of new products maintaining the past competencies and developing new competencies. Brands do become obsolete if new innovations & products are not launched for prolonged periods and existing products & services become obsolete due to the competition killing them through the creative destruction process.

Public Policies Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Policies - Term Paper Example These people feel threatened by the public interest groups that jockey for room and influence. However, there are others who believe that these groups prove that America is a vibrant democracy. This latter opinion makes much more sense and will be explored in the course of this essay. America has a truly brilliant political system. Each person has one vote. But by organizing together, groups of people can have a larger impact on the system. For example, people who enjoy owning guns for recreational purposes such as hunting can join together to be members of the NRA. There are millions of people who have done so. This is an issue that is important to them. When a politician suggests that the law should be changed to make possessing guns more dangerous, these millions of NRA members have an effective way of championing their position. Likewise, those who want more gun control are free to organize to present the opposite point of view. The debate will presumably happen in public. The representatives can choose a position and can allow the voters to ratify his or her decision at the next election. That is how democracy works. There is nothing broken about lobbying. As Anderson explains in his book, there are a number of different types of interest groups. Some are professional, some are ad hoc. Some are interested in a single issue, others have multiple interests. Some think tanks provide constant pressure on political issues (Anderson, 64). Others groups are collections of professional activists (Anderson, 72). In all of these forms, these groups contribute to our democracy. One of the transformative decisions of the Supreme Court in recent years regarding interest groups is the Citizens United decision which overturned the campaign financing laws. In the past groups could not spend very much money promoting a candidate during an election period. The Court felt that this was an assault on freedom of expression and overturned the law. In

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - Research Paper Example Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, or ALL, is the most common malignant carcinoma in pediatric patients (Cipoloti et al., 2003). It is characterized by abnormal proliferation of leukemic blasts that are poorly differentiated, leading to inadequate hematopoiesis (Siddique et al., 2011). Pathogenesis There are several studies that dissect the underlying cellular events responsible for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The basic mechanism for abnormal proliferation of any cell remains the same. The cell cycle consists of different phases with various check points to control abnormal division. The most important are the transition from G1 to S phase and G2 to M phase. Division of cell only takes place after receiving instructions from some external stimulation (Cipoloti et al., 2003). There are various mechanisms by which cells are regulated for division. This includes stimulation from special molecules called mitogenic substances, inhibition by various anti-proliferative cytokines and regulation by adjacent cells. Most of the cancer cells including those involved in ALL, abandon these regulatory mechanisms. Various studies including one by Cipoloti et al. tried to isolate mutations in those tumor suppressor genes that are responsible for keeping a check during cellular division. An example is the inactivation of p15 gene in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.... According to the report, Notch 1 is a signaling pathway crucial for the development of T-cells and its mutation is found commonly in patients with ALL. To verify the extent of this abnormal expression, real time PCR was used to detect the gene and its mutation. It was evident in the results that most patients had overexpression of Notch 1 gene that contributed to overproliferation of T cells in ALL (Lin et al., 2012). Subtypes It is important to remember that there is no single cause of cancerous growth of cells in ALL, but various factors unite together and lead to this abnormal proliferation. Moreover, there are various subtypes within ALL, such as precursor B-Cell and T-Cell leukemia. All these subgroups show some variation in their pathogenesis. A study by Teuffel et al. in 2008 focused on anemia and survival in children suffering from various subtypes of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In the above mentioned cohort study, 1162 patients were analyzed for the subtype of ALL and thei r associated Hb levels. It was evident that patients with the T cell subtype had a higher level of hemoglobin as compared to the B cell precursor type. Moreover, less severe anemia was associated with an increased survival rate in early childhood. This explains that various subtypes have different impacts on the hematopoietic system and, therefore, variable survival rate. Risk Factors Few risk factors have been isolated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Those which are assumed to be associated with ALL are poorly verified and contain diverse controversial evidence. A matched control case study found that increased maternal age is associated with increased incidence of ALL. Paternal age showed no association and only a weak link

Brand Lifetime and Obsolescence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Brand Lifetime and Obsolescence - Essay Example Brand Lifetime and Obsolescence What doesn’t die is the heritage of a brand specifically when it was never known for wrong reasons before the obsolescence. Hence, if a brand is obsolete (i.e., forgotten by people after the corresponding products become obsolete), it can be revived later by carrying out retro-branding by making people recall the old heritage of the brand and then link new offerings with the brand along with power sentences like â€Å"the leader is back with new promises† (Brown and Kozinets et al. 2003). However, what is important for revival of brands is that they should not remain obsolete across generations such that the people that loved them are no longer alive in the world. The only value of such brands may be their archaeological value whereby their products may be purchased as antiques. We can imagine what would had happened to Ford if they were to continue with their Model T in today’s world of flashy & stylish cars and to Sony if they were to continue with their Walkman in today’s world of digital entertainment. These brands have survived due to their continuous innovations and launch of new products maintaining the past competencies and developing new competencies. Brands do become obsolete if new innovations & products are not launched for prolonged periods and existing products & services become obsolete due to the competition killing them through the creative destruction process.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - Research Paper Example Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, or ALL, is the most common malignant carcinoma in pediatric patients (Cipoloti et al., 2003). It is characterized by abnormal proliferation of leukemic blasts that are poorly differentiated, leading to inadequate hematopoiesis (Siddique et al., 2011). Pathogenesis There are several studies that dissect the underlying cellular events responsible for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The basic mechanism for abnormal proliferation of any cell remains the same. The cell cycle consists of different phases with various check points to control abnormal division. The most important are the transition from G1 to S phase and G2 to M phase. Division of cell only takes place after receiving instructions from some external stimulation (Cipoloti et al., 2003). There are various mechanisms by which cells are regulated for division. This includes stimulation from special molecules called mitogenic substances, inhibition by various anti-proliferative cytokines and regulation by adjacent cells. Most of the cancer cells including those involved in ALL, abandon these regulatory mechanisms. Various studies including one by Cipoloti et al. tried to isolate mutations in those tumor suppressor genes that are responsible for keeping a check during cellular division. An example is the inactivation of p15 gene in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.... According to the report, Notch 1 is a signaling pathway crucial for the development of T-cells and its mutation is found commonly in patients with ALL. To verify the extent of this abnormal expression, real time PCR was used to detect the gene and its mutation. It was evident in the results that most patients had overexpression of Notch 1 gene that contributed to overproliferation of T cells in ALL (Lin et al., 2012). Subtypes It is important to remember that there is no single cause of cancerous growth of cells in ALL, but various factors unite together and lead to this abnormal proliferation. Moreover, there are various subtypes within ALL, such as precursor B-Cell and T-Cell leukemia. All these subgroups show some variation in their pathogenesis. A study by Teuffel et al. in 2008 focused on anemia and survival in children suffering from various subtypes of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In the above mentioned cohort study, 1162 patients were analyzed for the subtype of ALL and thei r associated Hb levels. It was evident that patients with the T cell subtype had a higher level of hemoglobin as compared to the B cell precursor type. Moreover, less severe anemia was associated with an increased survival rate in early childhood. This explains that various subtypes have different impacts on the hematopoietic system and, therefore, variable survival rate. Risk Factors Few risk factors have been isolated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Those which are assumed to be associated with ALL are poorly verified and contain diverse controversial evidence. A matched control case study found that increased maternal age is associated with increased incidence of ALL. Paternal age showed no association and only a weak link

Client-server and Human Resource Essay Example for Free

Client-server and Human Resource Essay The proponents have found the following studies and literature as relevant to the system being proposed. The review of related literature and studies will serve as an overview of the presentation in the analysis of the system. INTRODUCTION Human Resource Information System (HRIS) improves information and communication between the company and the employees; it becomes an important strategic tool since it collect, manages and reports information for decision making. Modern HRIS needs to help the organizations by automating most of the Human Resource (HR) functions. The changing world new technology that is available, managers need to be aware of the technology that will increase effectiveness in the company. Early Human Resource, then called personnel, were limited to employee record keeping and were provided as a service to the organization. There was no HRIS as we know it today. Personnel record keeping was done by hand, oftentimes utilizing a system as simple as an index card file. The personnel department was typically small with little power and limited interaction with the organization’s business mission. After WWII organizations became more aware of human capital issues recognizing the importance of employee morale in the success of organizations. Formal selection and development processes were developed but there was no real change from the original responsibility of the â€Å"personnel† department that of record keeping. As record keeping was still done by hand, HR information systems, pre-1960, hardly gave a hint of what they would become with the advent of workplace technology. In the late 1960’s and 1970’s the term â€Å"human resource management† gained common usage in place of the term â€Å"personnel† and by 1974 the new term, human resource management, was appearing in media headlines and was eventually shortened to just â€Å"HR.† From the 60’s to the 80’s organizations firmly integrated HR into their core business missions. At the same time regulatory reporting requirements for employees increased significantly. Large organizations used mainframe computers to maintain organization data bases and technology based Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) provided an efficient solution for the increased record-keeping and reporting required by government regulation. The human resources department became one of the most important users of the org anization’s computer systems, though the primary task was still record-keeping. In this modern era of Information Technology (I.T), human resource information system (HRIS) has become an important management discipline at enterprise level. HRIS plays a vital role in implementing the strategic business objectives of the organization, and in running the daily operations/functions efficiently and effectively to improve the productivity and proficiency, human capital becomes the only sustainable resource of the competitive advantage for an organization. Firms that is successful at finding, managing, retaining and developing good employees. Since 1990, the economical rapid change with globalization and technological innovations led for the development of human resource information systems (HRIS) and advanced internet capability facilitates to create a real-time shared data information-based, self-service, and interactive work environment. Information Technology with web-enabled capabilities helps human resource (HR) as it becomes a more horizontal and self-learning o rganization, by enabling human resource to contribute to the strategic focus of the organization. The strategically focus in human resource significance from the resource-based view of the firm that treats human capital as a strategic asset and a competitive advantage in improving organizational performance. Human Resource Information System is a systematic procedure for collecting, storing, maintaining, retrieving, and validating data needed by an organization. HRIS comes to the rescue of human resource professionals, because it has common shared database, tools to analyze to aid in decision making and many other features such as scanning and matching resumes compatible with requirement of the organization. HRIS empowers the employees to access their personnel records, view the payroll, tax payments and compensational benefits like health coverage, retirement benefits and other perks and incentives. In the literature, Database, Employee Tracking, Benefits Administration, Payroll Administration, Employee Interfaces and attendance monitoring are deemed to be major components of hu man resource information systems. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE John Gill et al., (2010) described the HRIS is a computerized system typically comprising a database or inter-related databases that track employees and their employment-specific information. Broderick (1992) states that HRIS can influence effectiveness in four ways: Firstly, with emphasis on increased productivity from the workforce, recruitment, short term working, temporary, and less redundancies. Secondly, it deals with the increasing demands made be legislation, which related to HR practices and the increased need to produce statistics for government. The third factor was the rate of the development of computer technology. The final factor was the increased availability of HRIS at lower costs. The professional body argued that effective HRIS use leads to efficiency. Michael et al., 2008] Florkowski et al., (2006) in his research paper: ‘The diffusion of human-resource information technology innovations in US and nonUS firms’, evaluated the diffusion of information technologies that are transforming HR service-delivery and revealed that the modest correlation between the number of acquired Information Technologies (IT) and HR-transactions automation supports the general call for more formalized HR-technology strategies at the firm level to coordinate purchasing and implementation decisions. Hussain ZI (2002) in his article stated that HRIS can help large or small businesses. By organizing the payroll, benefits and employee information among other things, it’s imperative to stay current on any changes to this software. Keeping the HR information system secure and compliant with other software should be the most important aspect. (International Journal of Research in Economics Social Sciences 52 http://www.euroasiapub.org ) The emergence of Information Technology, especially internet-enabled technology has affected and enhanced many management areas that include HR management. The decreasing costs of computer technology versus the increasing costs of employee compensation and benefits made acquisition of computer-based HR systems (HRIS) a necessary business decision. Resource Information Systems in Jordanian Universities ABSTRACT The main purposes of this study are to explore the extent to which public Jordanian universities have adopted Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and to examine the current HRIS uses, benefits and barriers in these universities. A structured questionnaire was constructed based on other previous studies; it also pre-tested, modified and translated to capture data from HRIS users in Jordanian universities. The main findings of this study revealed that the quick response and access to information were the main benefits of HRIS implementation. While the insufficient financial support; difficulty in changing the organization’s culture and lack of commitment from top managers were the main HRIS implementation barriers. The present study provides some insights into the performance and applications of HRIS in Jordanian universities that could help Human Resource Management (HRM) practitioners to get a better understanding of the current HRIS uses, benefits and problems, which in turn, will improve the effectiveness of HRIS in Jordanian universities. (http://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=trct=jq=related+studies+of+hrissource=webcd=8cad=rjaved=0CFgQFjAHurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjournal.ccsenet.org%2Findex.php%2Fijbm%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F7638%2F5867ei=JjeGUPzYA-qNmQW3uIHQAQusg=AFQjCNHTHGH-AykQNcyM-sDYPla0MI9RHA) Human Resource Information System The system that seeks to combine the task and activities involved with human resource management and information technology (IT) into one universal database through the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. The goal and objectives of HRIS is to combine the different parts of human resources including payroll, labor productivity, and benefit management into a less capital-intensive system than the mainframes used to manage activities in the past. Which is also called Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS). The Human Resource Information System is a database software or online solution for the data entry, data tracking, and data information needs of the Human Resources, payroll, management, and accounting functions within a business. Generally packaged as a data base, hundreds of companies sell some form of HRIS and every HRIS has different capabilities. Pick your HRIS carefully based on the capabilities one need in one company. Figure1.HRIS Human Resources Information System is a system that lets you keep track on all of employees and information about them. This is basically done in a database or, more often, in a series of inter-related databases. These systems include the employee name and contact information and all or some of the following: department, job title, grade, salary, salary history, position history, supervisor, training completed, special qualifications, ethnicity, date of birth, disabilities, veteran’s status, visa status, benefits selected, and more. (http://managementdemand.com/2012/07/hris/) How can HRIS contribute value to the organization? An HRIS serves two major purposes in organizations: HR Administrative and Operational Role: The first purpose of an HRIS is to improve the efficiency with which data on employees and HR activities is compiled. Many HR activities can be performed more efficiently and with less paperwork if automated. When on-line data input is used, fewer forms must be stored, and less manual record keeping is necessary. Much of the reengineering of HR activities has focused on identifying the flow of HR data and how the data can be retrieved more efficiently for authorized users. Workflow, automation of some HR activities, and automation of HR record keeping are key to improve HR operations by making workflow more efficient. HR Strategic Role: The second purpose of an HRIS is more strategic and related to HR planning. Having accessible data enables HR planning and managerial decision making to be based to a greater degree on information rather than relying on managerial perception and intuition. For example, instead of manually doing a turnover analysis by department, length of service, and educational background, a specialist can quickly compile such a report by using an HRIS and various sorting and analysis functions. Human resource management (HRM) has grown in strategic value in many organizations; accordingly, there has been an increased emphasis on obtaining and using HRIS data for strategic planning and human resource forecasting, which focus on broader HR effectiveness over time. What are the Uses of an HRIS? An HRIS has many uses in an organization. The most basic is the automation of payroll and benefit activities. With an HRIS, employees’ time records are entered into the system, and the appropriate deductions and other individual adjustments are reflected in the final paychecks. As a result of HRIS development and implementation in many organizations, several payroll functions are being transferred from accounting departments to HR departments. Beyond these basic activities, many other HR activities can be affected by the use of an HRIS. Figure2. Uses of Human Resource Information System (http://www.nmatec.com/hrwise/what) REVIEW OF RELATED SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT OF SUPPORT AND BENEFITS OF HRIS IN MEDIUM-SCALE TEXTILE INDUSTRIES ABSTRACT In the current fast-paced global competitive business environment, the efficient and effective management of human capital is an immense challenge to the human resource departments Information systems contributes to improve the organizational performance, and enhance the competencies of human resource professionals. This paper aims to assess and establish the support levels and the benefits of the human resource information systems in the medium scale textile industries. As a core part of the study, the primary data was collected from the selected of respondents of textile companies who are using human resource information systems with the help of a survey questionnaire. The data analysis that was performed using cumulative weighted average technique concludes highly moderate support levels of human resource information systems exists in the medium-scale textile industries and they are able to attain only 2/3 of the benefits. Further the research, based on an evolutionary view of computing growth suggests improvements in the human resource information systems in order to gain the competitive advantage and to maximize the benefits. (International Journal of Research in Economics Social Sciences 52 http://www.euroasiapub.org ) THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING IN PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN SRI LANKA ABSTRACT Human Resource Information System (HRIS) has become one of most vital information systems in the market. This study focuses on the role of HRIS in human resource planning (HR) in private sector organizations in Sri Lanka. The purpose is to explore the functionality and contribution of HRIS in HR planning through HRIS recruiting and training development subsystems as perceived by senior HR executives in Sri Lankan private sector organizations. A pilot survey was carried out to identify the problem using structured interviews with Heads of HR of three selected private companies. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from senior HR executives of selected private sector companies in Sri Lanka. Answers received from 89 respondents were analyzed. The overall response rate was 48 percent. The deductive mode of reasoning, cross-sectional study and quantitative techniques were selected as research methods. The results of the survey showed that the most frequently accepted HRIS feature is training needs analysis (TNA) and that there is high positive correlation between HRIS job analysis and the effectiveness of HR planning. Most Sri Lankan private sector organizations perceived the contribution to efficiency of HR planning through HRIS skill inventory, HRIS TNA, HRIS training program evaluation, HRIS succession planning, HRIS labor demand and supply analysis and decision-making, as the greatest contribution of HRIS. This study shows that HRIS needs to offer more intelligent capabilities to increase the effectiveness of HR planning. HRIS vendors need to win the trust of HR professionals through enriching features and increasing the awareness and usage of HRIS in HR planning, especially its effectiveness. DEVELOPMENT OF HR INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR AN AEROSPACE INDUSTRY ABSTRACT The usage of a proper HR Information System (HRIS) has always been an important contribution for the HR (HR) operation in any organisation to work effectively. HR is one of the important functions of any industry. Hence it is important to keep this function equally efficient and effective compared to other operations in an organisation. One of the factors which contribute to the proper functioning of HR operation is data. Storing, analysing, processing and retrieving of data for decision making become necessary in this context. In the current study, the existing manual systems and processes in the HR department has been studied and observed. By studying the various processes with the help of tools like flow charts, use cases and data flow diagrams various parameters has been analysed. The HRIS has been designed using object oriented analysis and design methodology along with PHP version 5.0 for the front end and MySQL as backend database. Various forms like employee information, leave approval has been designed. Partial implementation of HRIS with Leave Management System as one of the modules has been carried out. Various reports like new and existing employees, leave pending/approval has been created. The HRIS has been implemented against the existing system on internal server with Windows operating system which reduced 49.24% of time compared to the existing system. The developed HRIS will help the organisation to effectively store employee data more securely and accurately. This study can be further extended in implementation of other modules of HRIS like recruitment, training, and development, compensation, benefits and payroll. (http://www.msrsas.org/docs/sastech_journals/archives/May2011/8.pdf) HUMAN RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH IN INDIA – ISSUES AND CHALLENGES Deoki Nandan*, K.S. Nair** and U.Datta*** Availability of adequate number of human resources with suitable skill mix and their appropriate deployment at different levels of health care set-up are essential for providing an effective health care service for the population. Since independence, concerted efforts have been made to address the need for human resources for health in India. However, shortage exists in all categories of human resources at different levels. Ensuring the availability of human resources for health in rural areas and building their capacity in public health are daunting tasks. Future challenges include planning for human resource for public health at State/national level, framing of State specific human resource development and training policy, creation of human resource management information system, reorientation of medical and para-medical education and ensuring proper utilization of the trained manpower and standardization of training. It is also important to link human resource development and trai ning policy to the National Rural Health Mission in achieving its goals. (http://medind.nic.in/hab/t07/i4/habt07i4p230.pdf)