Indian Market Diversity

Indian Market Diversity & Changing Consumer Behaviour The Indian consumer market is one of the most promising markets in the world, evolving faster than ever across all socioeconomic strata, regions and town classes. Post liberalisation Indians have seen a tremendous increase in incomes, multiple income households, exposure to international lifestyles and media, easier financial credit. In these fast changing times, it becomes imperative for companies reaching out to the Indian market, to catch the pulse of the Indian consumer, to gain a better understanding of the Indian consumer behaviour and to get key insights into issues like: †¢What does the Indian Consumer’s shopping basket consist of? †¢What is it that the Indian consumer is buying – Is it Apparel? Books? Music? Or Durables or Grocery? How is she paying for her purchases? †¢How much is she willing to travel to get one-stop shopping options? Is she discount driven enough to wait for promotions or markdowns? †¢How different is the Delhi consumer from the one in Kolkata or Chennai, and how different are they from those in Lucknow or Ludhiana? All these questions have taken a top priority not only to domestic marketers but also for companies like Wal-Mart and Carrefour that are planning to set up retail chains to tap the potential Indian consumer market. Marketing in India is gr owing through an indefinable phase. Various print, electronic and other media are influencing everyone right from â€Å"Karta† of the family to the kid, the consumer‘s making decision and the way in which the new generation Indian consumer behaves is undergoing change at a never before pace. In today's global marketing era, which stresses on customization and localisation, influencing the consumer’s decision has become more important in this changing environment. Many new upcoming trends have been noticed in the last decade. According to the data provided by (NCAER) latest Indian market demographics report 2002 in the period from 1998-99 to 1999-2000, the purchase of white goods rose by 103%, this growth was seen mostly in the Southern India, with North and Western parts of the country still lying untapped. In other words, the potential in the North and the West is truly large. With income levels rising- especially in the post-reforms period the number of upper-medium and high-income households rose from 4. 1 % of the total numbers of households in 1989-90 to 11. 9% in 1998-99. The pattern of consumption has also undergone a sea change. Similarly, the number of low-income households, that is households with an annual income of less than Rs. 35,000 per year, has fallen from 58. 2 % in 1992-93 to 39. 7 % in 1998-99. Income Levels : From NCEAR, LM – Lower Middle class, M – Middle Class, UM – Upper Middle Class and H – Higher Class. (All figure in %) Income Class92-9395-9698-99 Low=, Rs 35,00058. 248. 939. 7 LM=Up to Rs 70,00025. 430. 734. 5 M= up to Rs 1,05,00010. 411. 913. 9 UM = up to Rs 1,40,0003. 756. 2 H =. Rs 1,40,0002. 33. 55. 7 A traditional family in India is different from a western family, the decision making process for the purchasing of consumer durables is quite elaborate, as many members with their diverse view are involved in it. At the same time, the characteristics of Indian families are fast changing. Indian families are presently in a state of flux, shifting from being strictly hierarchical to more egalitarian in character. This is all because of a sea change in the structure of income distribution (as shown in the table) where: †¢High-income class is expanding very fast. Middle-income classes bulging in size especially in rural India. †¢During the post reform period the rate of growth in the upper income categories was much higher, compared to the corresponding decline in the size of the low-income class. The growth of the top most income class after 1995-96 has been of the order of about 19%. †¢A significant negative growth in the urban low-income class was observed in south and west India, followed by north India. The High class consumers are at the top end with the mindset: â€Å"I pay more to get more†, where the purchase is driven by the emotional surplus that the consumer experiences. The mid-level which thinks: â€Å"I get good value at a reasonable price†. More important, however, is the large block at the lower income level which says: â€Å"I pay less and I get less† and is totally satisfied with that. This is probably a segment that many marketers tend to overlook since they feel that there is no existing demand there. Nothing could be further from the truth. The problem was that earlier, there were no goods and services targeting this large chunk; but today companies are reaching out into this segment. There is a growing realisation today that it is easier to compete in the smaller towns because many of the big brands and their marketing managers and sales teams don’t make the effort to travel there. Hence, if one does go there, market share is easy to achieve because even though the overall pie is smaller, there is less competition. Rural –Urban divide: †¢The rural markets are growing. However the level of infrastructure development (including that of the services sector), performance of agriculture, and dependency on Monsoon will determine their further growth. Availability of electricity alone is a critical factor for durable ownership. In urban markets, aspiration is the key — it is all about brands, lifestyles and show-off value. This is followed by quality and finally price. Rural India is driven primarily by price, followed by aspiration and then quality. However, what is important to understand is that the Indian consumer, no matter where he or she is or what category he or she belongs to, still looks for a good bargain. That is a unique Indian characteristic. While they maybe driven by the same desires, there are still differences in the way people live in the non-metropolitan cities when compared with the metropolitan cities or ‘metros’ as they are usually called. A degree of homogeneity may exist in large cities, but there is a disconnect when compared with their counterparts in smaller towns — whether it is regarding their philosophy, their thoughts or their approach to life. Thus, marketers today also need to think about creating brands that address these differences in consumers’ lifestyles. The Indian consumer is also maturing fast and is upgrading within product segments at a pace that consumer companies are struggling to keep up with. The mobile phone category is a classic example, where individuals across segments are constantly moving to the next price level as soon as they master the technology of their current phone. Companies therefore have to straddle the whole consumer pyramid rather than being focused on one part of it. These changes have also raised new challenges for old brands. There is a danger of them fading if they do not reinvent themselves to satisfy current needs. As a result, there is a whole new marketing opportunity and challenge for those brands that have to reinvent themselves and try to compete. The retail experience has also created a niche for new products and services. Gadgets like mobile phones are sold through kiranas (small family stores) and telephone booths since those are the outlets that have electricity. This is the total opposite of the mall culture seen in urban India and it is a need that consumer companies will need to address. Indian FMCG market in 1990's †¢During the 1990's the rural segment of the FMCG market has grown steadily at over 3% per annum. †¢Market size for products with lower penetration and consumption levels has grown at over 40% per annum during the later half of the 1990's. Significantly such products are at the higher side of the price line. †¢There are others such as washing materials, toiletries, toothpaste and tea where substitution effects are taking place. The role played by members of the family varies with demographics parameters as well as with the type of products. While a number of psychological variables are useful in obtaining into consumer's psyche, it is worthwhile to probe into some specific aspects of consumer decision making in order to formulate marketing strategies. In case of a family, the influencer does not usually have expertise but assume their respective roles on the basis of the family dynamics. Once the decision to buy a particular consumer durable product is made and announced. Family members provide what information is available to them about the product, and even assign members to gather information. For collecting additional data, the influencers use any of the four basis sources of information, via, personal, commercial, public and experiential. The degree of acceptance of the information and the preference of the influencers may, however, vary. The entire family members will act as an influencer. The moderator (Whom the influencers confine) may be instructed to collect the desired information. By the early nineties FMCG marketers had figured out two things: †¢Rural markets are vital for survival since the urban markets were getting saturated. Rural markets are extremely price-sensitive. Thus, a number of companies followed the strategy of launching a wide range of package sizes and prices to suit the purchasing preferences of India's varied consumer segments. Hindustan Lever, a subsidiary of Unilever, coined the term nano-marketing in the early nineties, when it introduced its products in small sachets. Small sachets were introduced in almost all the FMCG segments from oi l, shampoo, and detergents to beverages. Cola major, Coke, brought down the average price of its products from around twenty cents to ten cents, bridging the gap between soft drinks and other local options like tea, butter milk or lemon juice. It also doubled the number of outlets in rural areas from 80,000 during 2001 to 160,000 the next year, almost doubling its market penetration from 13 per cent to 25 per cent. This along with greater marketing, led to the rural market accounting for 80 per cent of new Coke drinkers and 30 per cent of its total volumes. Emergence of the new consumer Understanding the Indian consumer market means understanding its individual segments. Three major segments are emerging †¢Kids †¢The Youth (including the young working singles) †¢The Urban Indian Woman These segments have shown a tremendous increase in influencing and driving purchase decisions and hence are huge drivers of change in the consumer market. Purchases are being driven not by necessity, but to satisfy individual needs. A high-potential emerging market is also the vast rural hinterland, which has its own unique characteristics. Kids: Getting older younger There are 300 million children aged between 4–14 years in India — a vast market by any standards. The role that children play in purchase decisions has changed dramatically in the past 4–5 years. From pester power, kids have changed their role to becoming influencers, this is not only in product categories like confectionary and toys, but in larger long term use categories such as cars, electronics and even consumer durables like refrigerators and air conditioners, which were, traditionally, decisions taken by parents. Today the roles are reversed, with kids pointing out the pros and cons of purchase decisions to their parents. In fact, in the older age group, kids have actually become consultants, whom parents turn to for advice during the decision-making process. Another driver is their mastery of technology, which is a primary component of a high proportion of new products in the market. The relative ease with which they are able to grasp technicalities and understand product features and usability (or lack of) has made them experts in the eyes of their parents. Youth – Charting their own path: With the majority of India’s population below the age of 25 years, young consumer market is the primary target of every consumer goods company. The trend towards homogeneity is also apparent in terms of aspiration between segments and there is no difference in the mindset of the younger demographic. The aspirations of the youth are the same, driven primarily by the fact that they are all Internet savvy and this has given them equal access to information. Along with the love for brands and gadgets, they are equally comfortable with Indian values and Indian culture. Life is about visiting religious centres with their parents and then spending the evening with friends at the local club or a similar social venue. Indian youth are also very patriotic, not in the classical, pre-independence sense but in a modern sense which reflects their pride in being Indian in today’s world. As a segment, they are on the whole sensible, very clear about what they want to achieve in their lives and not easily carried away by hype and show. The outsourcing phenomenon in India ha has been the main driver of this consumer segment. A larger number of younger people now have cash in hand and this combined with increasing brand awareness has resulted in a lot of spending on leisure and personal gratification. This has also brought about a dramatic change in the concept of saving. The young generation lives for today, the concept of saving for a rainy day is alien to most of them — especially since the majority of them have not experienced shortages in their lives. This is also a segment constantly on the move — mentally and physically. The young do not want to be at home and are spending twice the amount of time outside the house than they would have done a couple of years ago. So, whether they are at a multiplex, a mall or a cyber cafe, hanging out with friends is a clear preference. The Urban Woman: Defining her own space In India, it has been a long accepted fact that it is the women in a family who define the environment at home. In the urban cities and even in small towns, they have been the ‘silent influencers’ for some time now, directing family purchases and expenditures. It is only recently, however, that the urban woman has come into her own, and today there is no looking back from her newly gained independence. In the past five years, there has been a large increase in the product categories specifically targeted towards the urban woman. Be it mobile phones, computers, apparel, jewellery or even financial products, women in the cities are finding themselves spoilt for choice. One prominent manifestation of this segment is seen in the daily soap operas on Indian television. While the characters may seem regressive at first glance, increasing viewership has proved that they have struck a chord — whether the woman is a homemaker or a professional. Today women go out with each other, a trend that was not seen previously. They are also much more into indulgence and satisfying their emotional self. † So, whether it is spending time at clubs with friends, pampering herself at the salon, experimenting with cosmetic surgery or enrolling at the fitness centre, the need to look good has now become a priority. It is no longer only about getting married and having kids. Implications for marketers: †¢Commoditisation of brands: Routine items and white goods will be bought on price, accessibility and not for brand values. †¢Novelty will not be a reason for trial: The new generation consumer will try to simplify complexity by dropping into routine behaviours. †¢Brand will be for pleasure: Brand will have to redefine role, where consumers are physically more satisfied and psychologically more confidant. †¢Evaluation parameter of brand will change: When consumers are going to continuously ask about the long-term safety/ effects of using

Philosophical problems for people with religious beliefs Essay

* In what ways might evil and suffering create philosophical problems for people with religious beliefs? Outline two solutions to these problems( 21 ) * To what extent are these solutions successful?( 9 ) 1. Suffering can cause all sorts of problems that can shake people’s religious beliefs. Evil and suffering create problems in people’s faith because they have lost someone or they have suffered particular hardship in their life and they wish to blame someone or something for their personal suffering and this is normally God. If someone close to a person dies and that person is religious or has been brought up in a faith even if they have lapsed it will make them doubt their faith even though we know that everyone has to die someday but it is never the right time to loose someone you love. And because of this people blame God or if they have a faith it may make them feel that god is not there. This is the issue of the inconsistent triad. The triad says that god is all loving all powerful and all knowing. If this is true would an all loving God let innocent people suffer at the hands of illness and natural disasters. And if he is all loving and he wouldn’t want us to suffer like this he might not know it was happening and so the second angle of the triangle is disproved and finally if he is both all loving and all-knowing he would not want people to get hurt and he knew it was happening so maybe it is the fact that he simply wants to help but he cannot as he is not all powerful. The inconsistent triad is a very big philosophical problem as it is a very logical series of suggestions and seems perfectly logical that if you love someone you wouldn’t want them to be hurt if you knew it was happening and more importantly you had the power to stop it why wouldn’t you especially if you loved that person. This is then used to say that if God is not all of these things then he is not God. This sums up nicely the flaw in all religion. If you say your God loves you and they are all powerful then why do they allow people, innocent people to suffer. Also the second problem with the morality of evil and suffering that can hurt religious beliefs is the issue of unanswered prayers. If someone is praying that their friend or relative won’t die of an illness or something along those lines if they do people often turn away from god because they feel he is not listening because what they asked for had not been granted. And again this relates back to the inconsistent triad as if he can hear the prayers and if he loves the people who ask him and plead him for help and he ignores them and lets people die maybe he isn’t all powerful or isn’t all loving. Some theists respond that a perfect being may still allow some evil, asserting that it will enable certain greater goods, such as free will, which can not be achieved without allowing some evils. A theodicy, on the other hand, is an attempt to provide such justifications for the existence of evil. Richard Swinburne maintains that it does not make sense to assume there are such greater goods, unless we know what they are, i.e., we have a successful theodicy. Many contemporary philosophers disagree. Skeptical theism, which is based on the theological position that humans can never expect to understand the divine, is perhaps the most popular response to the problem of evil among contemporary philosophers of religion. But how do we truly explain the problem of evil and suffering especially in relation to the existence and power of god. Swinburne also once said â€Å"in a cool moment we must provide a satisfactory answer for atheists.† I believe that this concept could also be applied to the theists who are suffering or are questioning god as a result of evil and suffering. To deal with the issue of theist faith suffering as the result of suffering we must address the objections to the problem. These are many and varied; for example Christian scientists often say that God cannot exist due to the logical problem of the inconsistent triad whereby the two claims negatives the third and therefore the existence of a perfect god. The existence of evil is of course the strongest objection and causes the most problems for faith. But there are many types of evil there is natural evil, god created a flawed and imperfect world. There is also moral evil why did god create people capable of doing such terrible things but this comes down to the issue of free will in mankind. But overall evil is the min reason for philosophical problems in beliefs. This is often countered by some theists saying that maybe god is making us suffer out of love. In irenaean theodicy it is considered and based upon the fact that our god is a personal god unlike in the Augustinian theodicy where god seems more disinterested and distant. It is implied that god loved his creation. † god looked upon what he had done and he saw it was very good†( the book of genesis).and because he loved us so much he wanted us to have the chance to create our perfect soul through an imperfect world with challenges to receive the ultimate reward of a perfect soul. So we suffer for a positive purpose or outcome. Professor John Hick developed the soul making theodicy. John Hick believes that in order for moral growth to take place it is important that human beings are created at a knowledge distance from God. This knowledge means that human beings do not know whether God exists and so this knowledge gap means that human beings are genuinely free and have space to grow and mature through making their own moral choices. Irenaeus, a Church Father. Believed that human beings have a two stage process of moral development, having been created in â€Å"the image and likeness of God.† (Genesis 1:26). Created in the image of God, human beings have potential, which they may achieve in this world as they attempt to grow into the likeness of God, thus fulfilling their potential. This two stage process of moral development is compared to growing from a child into an adult through our moral choices. St irenaues also suggested that evil could be tracked back to human free will.he differed from Augustine by saying that god did not make a perfect world and that evil has a valuable part to play in god’s plans for humanity. Irenaeus said that god was partially responsible for evil. In the sense that god created humans imperfectly in order that they could develop into perfection. His own image but with the intention of letting them develop into his likeness or perfection of character later. Being in gods image means that you have intelligence, morality, personality, but perfection would only be accomplished as humanity was changed into god’s likeness developing over time. God couldn’t have created humans in perfection because attaining the likeness of god needed the willing cooperation of human individuals. Moreover freedom requires the possibility of choosing well instead of evil and therefore god had to permit evil and suffering to occur. St Augustine lived in the fifth century and it was his concept that god was perfect the world was perfect and it was mans evil that caused this to break. God brought the world into existence from nothing (ex nihilo) the fall itself is chapter three of genesis. Augustine taught that following the fall the devil tempted Adam and eve to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge the fruit from the knowledge tree. The fruit which god had forbidden Adam and eve to eat. Sin is the definition of the will of a rational being away from god which is motivated by pride hubris. Augustine believed that original sin was passed down through the act of sexual intercourse so that every human being, as descendants of Adam and eve suffer from original sin. Humanity has a tendency towards sin. Man wants to sin. â€Å"The good that I would I cannot.† Evil is a privation of goodness. Evil doesn’t exist as a substance of his own right. Augustine described sin as a falling short or missing the mark of that which god intends. Augustine believed that the â€Å"ugliness of sin is never without the beauty of punishment In the scientific age of the twenty-first century people no longer believe in angels. The whole idea of the fall is nonsensical and is only fit for a pre-scientific view of the world. Similarly people no longer believe in the devil. Augustine’s theodicy depends on his assumption that the world was made perfect. This is contradicted by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection. The story of Adam and Eve is not historically true, it is a myth. The teaching of Original Sin is not Biblical, but comes from St Augustine. The idea that the human race is fallen, as we inherit Original Sin from Adam and Eve is both Scientifically nonsensical and Even if it were true it is highly unfair to punish the offspring (the human race) for a sin committed by their parents, i.e. Adam and Eve. 2. As we see pain and suffering around us in the so called â€Å"perfect world that God created and we feel a need to justify why this is happening and more importantly who fault it is. This is where god comes into the equation, the designer of the earth and an all knowing being who loves us all no mater who we are. The mere idea of pain in this world with this being calls into question the very existence of what our existence is and how it came to be. The definition of a theology is to prove the divine attributes of god and when one sees death in ones family; could one ever possibly see a vindication of evils existence? In analysis both theodicy’s one must take into consideration the historical context in which both were conceived and written. With modern scientific knowledge we have com to believe that the universe came into existence through the big bang. Consequently many have discredited the possibility of the genesis version of creation. The Augustine theodicy is therefore open to much modern day speculation and criticism, as it is based on the belief that man established evil due to a conscious decision made by Adam and eve under temptation from Lucifer. This is the fall and when human existence supposedly turned away from the grace of God. In today’s more logical and pragmatic society the idea of man’s creation through such events is considered to be nothing more than mythological farce. Where the text should not simply be discredited but is more of a symbol in this case to Christianity. In discrediting the source of the theodicy therefore one considers what remains of Augustine theodicy ineffective due to our lack of belief in the first premise. The point to consider is if one is a traditional catholic and believes that this is the word of God or weather one takes a more modern stance on the issue and learns from scientific growth of the modern era. However scientist still struggle to provide a true explanation for the cause of the big bang, had Augustine been able to see these modern times he may have argued the point that when the fall happened (the expulsion of Adam and eve from the garden.) the big bang would have occurred. This is very open to interpretation as it is now a certainty that the story of Adam and eve is a metaphorical device to explain the beginning of the world to people who were simpler than today’s standards. What is clear is that the Augustine theodicy is a very traditionalist approach to the idea of evil. Whereas the irenaean theodicy was written before the Augustine theodicy it is actually a more modern in its approach to the problem of evil and suffering. In these modern times under newer scientific evidence such as the theory of evolution and the big bang theory St Iranian’s theodicy was cast into new philosophical light. It was shown to be a document before its time as it draws from an original state of imperfection in the universe. Which then has to work towards perfection? Her is so much evil in today’s society we can see many natural evil. In contrast to natural evil one cannot but help agree that the world is not perfect. In contrast to natural evil occurring due to a delicate balance being lost in the world the idea of an imperfect world working towards perfection appears far more feasible. To conclude one must draw to the evident change in sociological and intellectual factors from the time of Irenaeus and Augustine. Although both when written may have proved strong vindification for moral and natural evil in the case of the existence of god mans growth appears to change the significance of each thing in the universe.

An Analysis of Googles Internal Management

We are going to do the research on their internal management, and then define their key factors of success; moreover applying Google’s management to different industry. Keywords: Google, internal management, welfare system, work environment, different industry. List of figures Figure   Introduction In a company, the internal management is the most important factor. In addition, if a company has a good internal management, employees will not only enhance their effectiveness but also keep those employees with good performance to stay in the company and reduce errors. Consequently, my topic is to investigate how the internal management encourages employees to be creative and effective. I am going to do the research on Google, which is a well-known search engine. Google’s internal management is also well known to the whole world for its work environment, welfare system and company culture. I have chosen this topic for my research report, on the one hand, I want to be a successful leader and I am going to study business management for my master degree. On the other hand, my father and his friends are all successful businessmen, who always teach me some practical and professional knowledge about management and share their personal experiences to me. Furthermore, they once suggested me studying business management, which may be useful in the future, for the reason that if you want to organize a company profitably and prosperously, you must master in good management skills. As a result, I am Interested in business management. I strongly believe that a good management method could affect the whole enterprise. Every year, Fortune Magazine sorts out a list, named â€Å"Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for†. In preparing the list, the magazine relies on two criteria: the culture and the policies of each company as well as the opinions of the company’s own employees. Google has topped the Fortune’s list for many times. It can be proven that Google’s internal management has done very well. Thus, the following research objectives were set: 1. To analyse Google’s internal management (SWOT). 2. To estimate how well Google’s internal management could be applied to different industries. 2. Literature Review 2. Work environment A good work environment could influence employees very much. For example, to reduce stress, Google’s employees can play volleyball, football, video games, table tennis or even roller hockey on the campus, which makes employees feel like they are still at the college campus rather than being in the office. (Kuntze, R. and Matu lich, E. 2010). Another remarkable example is that respecting the employees who are from different cultures. Google currently has 14 offices in different states and more than 40 countries worldwide; it must have many workers from different nationalities. In different offices have various local customs of decoration and interior decoration (Google). 2. 2 Welfare system Google provides its employees with a wide range of benefits to make sure that the employees are satisfied and loyal to the company. These benefits include: free food, onsite childcare, healthcare services, transportation services, laundry and dry cleaning services, sport facilities, pets allowed, 20% creative time program, environmentalism, numerous holiday and leave days, and other services (Kuntze, R. and Matulich, E. 2010). The other companies have never executed these benefits mentioned above. In addition, their welfare system has few innovative rules, â€Å"The company has a policy of unlimited sick leave, and only expects employees to work 70% of the time. It factors in opportunities for staff to think of ways to work better, and allows impromptu sport during the work day. † (Logan, 2008:3). 2. 3 Company culture Although Google is a Large-scale company, their leader tries to maintain their atmosphere feels like a small company without hierarchy, employees can say whatever they want to say, they can bring up all of their ideas or thinking to their manager whenever they want. Google). Furthermore, Google attempts to keep the good employees in the company and have a good relationship between leaders and employees. Every Friday afternoon the founders gather all employees into an open area for a TGIF meeting. (Raphael: 2003). 3. Methodology A SWOT analysis is a well known management tool, one of which could very quickly to find strengths and weaknesses. It could apply to all kinds of research. That is the reason why SWOT is one of the most common used management tools recently. Strengths |Weaknesses | | | | |Opportunities |Threats | | | | Figure 1: SWOT analysis table. In this research does not need to calculate the data. SWOT analysis is one of suitable management tools in this research, it is also easy and clear to use and understand. Therefore, I will use SWOT to analyse Google’s internal management, after that I will apply Google’s management method to manufacture industry, and do the SWOT analysis again, interpreting the analysis according to my own working experiences. First of all, the data will be collected from Google website and my work experience, moreover, some of the research which had published from experts. The collected data will be consisting of work environment, employee’s welfare system, company culture, relationship between leader and team members. After that, using SWOT analysis to analyse all the aspects mentioned above. Followed by an investigation to see whether Google’s internal management can be applied to different industry or not. 4. Analysis and results |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Good work environment. |High costs. | |Good welfare system. |Low pay. | |Keep structures flat. |Lost in the crowd. | |Opportunities |Threats | |Create new policy for welfare system. More and more competitors use the same method. | |Encourage employee to work at home. | | Figure 2: SWOT analysis of Google’s internal management. Strengths Google’s internal management has many strengths, one of strengths is that all of its offices have good work environments; they design different interior decorations according to different culture, and build up many recreational facilities, for the sack of reducing stress as well as increasing creativity and efficiency. The second strength is good welfare system, Google formulates some benefits not only to keep the good employees and encourage them to do their best but also devote to the company. Hamel reports that The Founders’ Awards, an annual multimillion dollar payout to teams who’ve made outsize contributions to Google’s growth, is one key retention mechanism The goal: to ensure that internal entrepreneurs have no incentive to take their best ideas somewhere else. (2006: A16). The third strength is to keep structures flat, in a large company usually has hierarchy that would waste lots of time on paper works and have difficulty in retaining a good relationship between high level managers and low level employees, however Google try to keep the office’s atmosphere like a small company. In Google, employees could raise their queries or propose their ideas to the managers or founders directly. It is unlike usual management which needs lots of paper works. Weaknesses Certainly, not everything could be perfect; Google also has some problems about its management. The first problem is cost; Google spends about 50% of revenue on their welfare system. (Kafka, 2009). Although founders thinks that could increase productivity and efficiency of the organization, the budget of welfare system spending still too much. The second problem is low salary, Google sets up many employees’ benefits and bonus system are better than other competitors; however, their pay is lower than the others. Most of Google’s employees have fixed salaries that are significantly lower than the industry average, even when those base salaries are supplemented by stock options. (About. com 2009). The last example is lost in the crowds, the problem is some of employees want to issue their ideas but there are too many ideas in Google. Consequently, employees feel depressed when they can not issue their ideas. Hardy (2007) reports that with more than 20,000 people working for Google, some people feel their ideas are lost in crowds. It is a highly competitive environment with everybody trying to make the next â€Å"in† thing. Opportunities Google could create new policy or develop their welfare system, trying to find the new thing could let workers pay more attention to their works and elevate employee’s creativity. In addition, encourage employee to work at home. Even though offices are decorated like home or any places make employee feels relaxed, it is still a office not home, as s result, enable the workers to work at home could be one of the new solution to increase efficiency also reduce the costs. Threats After Google created the new vision of internal management, there are more and more enterprises copying Google’s management method, not only the same industry but also others industries and applied to their companies. Accordingly, Google’s competitors could provide the same or better condition o attract Google’s good employees to their company. |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Good work environment. |Working environment atmosphere too relax. | |Good welfare system. |Poor management. | |Opportunities |Threats | |Good relationship between managers and employees. |Worker’s education level. | Figure 3: SWOT analysis of Google’s internal management is applied on di fferent industry (Manufacture). Strengths All of the employees who are from different industries, they all need to work at a good environment. In manufacture industry, employees work at dangerous environment, they need a place to release their stress. Like Google’s office, there are many places or equipments to help their workers reduce their stress. The next point is welfare system, most of the manufacture companies use original management, they do not have a good welfare system. As a result, if manufacture companies use Google’s management method might urge worker’s morale. Employees would feel satisfied staying in the company for a long time, it is good for those manufacture companies, because in this industry, company prefer employee who has long experience. In manufacturing, experienced worker’s efficiency is more than apprentice. Weaknesses Many employees find the work environment far too much fun and perhaps even an ‘overload’ of happiness. Most workers are able to find their focus and sanctuary at work but for some, a more professional and structured work environment is necessary. Arrington, 2009). In manufacture industry, workers should be very engrossed when they are working. If employees feel too relaxed when they were working, an accident might happen. The other point is hierarchy structure, most of employees who work for manufacture industry, and the education level is less than employees who work for information industry. Thus, in manufacture industry should use hierarchy structure to contain every step, because it would be easier to find the problem if error happens during the process. Moreover, the last point is industry’s character is different, the duty of the manufacture industry is to produce goods, company must have done their work in time, however information industries mainly focus on creating new things, time is not a big issue as for them. Opportunities As we known, manufacture industry usually use original management. This management has a big gap between leader and worker, because they are very difficult to meet each other. Using Google’s method might ameliorate the relationship between leader and worker. Thanks to the low hierarchy, workers and managers can interact intimately, in this way; relationship between them will definitely become closer. Threats The Google’s management style is free; it gives their worker to organize their time management by themselves. Although Google’s employees have a lot of free time, they still do their job very well. The main problem is education level. In the information industry, most of employee’s education levels are higher than people who are working for the manufacture industry. The meaning is high level education employees are more positive, their time management organization are better than those employees with low level education. 5. Conclusion I used SWOT analysis to define the unique aspects of Google’s management and assumed that it is applied to different industries; I learned two important points from this research as well. The first one is that I understood why Google can win â€Å"The best company for work† many times. Actuality, Google’s salary is lower than industry average but it An Analysis of Googles Internal Management We are going to do the research on their internal management, and then define their key factors of success; moreover applying Google’s management to different industry. Keywords: Google, internal management, welfare system, work environment, different industry. List of figures Figure   Introduction In a company, the internal management is the most important factor. In addition, if a company has a good internal management, employees will not only enhance their effectiveness but also keep those employees with good performance to stay in the company and reduce errors. Consequently, my topic is to investigate how the internal management encourages employees to be creative and effective. I am going to do the research on Google, which is a well-known search engine. Google’s internal management is also well known to the whole world for its work environment, welfare system and company culture. I have chosen this topic for my research report, on the one hand, I want to be a successful leader and I am going to study business management for my master degree. On the other hand, my father and his friends are all successful businessmen, who always teach me some practical and professional knowledge about management and share their personal experiences to me. Furthermore, they once suggested me studying business management, which may be useful in the future, for the reason that if you want to organize a company profitably and prosperously, you must master in good management skills. As a result, I am Interested in business management. I strongly believe that a good management method could affect the whole enterprise. Every year, Fortune Magazine sorts out a list, named â€Å"Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for†. In preparing the list, the magazine relies on two criteria: the culture and the policies of each company as well as the opinions of the company’s own employees. Google has topped the Fortune’s list for many times. It can be proven that Google’s internal management has done very well. Thus, the following research objectives were set: 1. To analyse Google’s internal management (SWOT). 2. To estimate how well Google’s internal management could be applied to different industries. 2. Literature Review 2. Work environment A good work environment could influence employees very much. For example, to reduce stress, Google’s employees can play volleyball, football, video games, table tennis or even roller hockey on the campus, which makes employees feel like they are still at the college campus rather than being in the office. (Kuntze, R. and Matu lich, E. 2010). Another remarkable example is that respecting the employees who are from different cultures. Google currently has 14 offices in different states and more than 40 countries worldwide; it must have many workers from different nationalities. In different offices have various local customs of decoration and interior decoration (Google). 2. 2 Welfare system Google provides its employees with a wide range of benefits to make sure that the employees are satisfied and loyal to the company. These benefits include: free food, onsite childcare, healthcare services, transportation services, laundry and dry cleaning services, sport facilities, pets allowed, 20% creative time program, environmentalism, numerous holiday and leave days, and other services (Kuntze, R. and Matulich, E. 2010). The other companies have never executed these benefits mentioned above. In addition, their welfare system has few innovative rules, â€Å"The company has a policy of unlimited sick leave, and only expects employees to work 70% of the time. It factors in opportunities for staff to think of ways to work better, and allows impromptu sport during the work day. † (Logan, 2008:3). 2. 3 Company culture Although Google is a Large-scale company, their leader tries to maintain their atmosphere feels like a small company without hierarchy, employees can say whatever they want to say, they can bring up all of their ideas or thinking to their manager whenever they want. Google). Furthermore, Google attempts to keep the good employees in the company and have a good relationship between leaders and employees. Every Friday afternoon the founders gather all employees into an open area for a TGIF meeting. (Raphael: 2003). 3. Methodology A SWOT analysis is a well known management tool, one of which could very quickly to find strengths and weaknesses. It could apply to all kinds of research. That is the reason why SWOT is one of the most common used management tools recently. Strengths |Weaknesses | | | | |Opportunities |Threats | | | | Figure 1: SWOT analysis table. In this research does not need to calculate the data. SWOT analysis is one of suitable management tools in this research, it is also easy and clear to use and understand. Therefore, I will use SWOT to analyse Google’s internal management, after that I will apply Google’s management method to manufacture industry, and do the SWOT analysis again, interpreting the analysis according to my own working experiences. First of all, the data will be collected from Google website and my work experience, moreover, some of the research which had published from experts. The collected data will be consisting of work environment, employee’s welfare system, company culture, relationship between leader and team members. After that, using SWOT analysis to analyse all the aspects mentioned above. Followed by an investigation to see whether Google’s internal management can be applied to different industry or not. 4. Analysis and results |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Good work environment. |High costs. | |Good welfare system. |Low pay. | |Keep structures flat. |Lost in the crowd. | |Opportunities |Threats | |Create new policy for welfare system. More and more competitors use the same method. | |Encourage employee to work at home. | | Figure 2: SWOT analysis of Google’s internal management. Strengths Google’s internal management has many strengths, one of strengths is that all of its offices have good work environments; they design different interior decorations according to different culture, and build up many recreational facilities, for the sack of reducing stress as well as increasing creativity and efficiency. The second strength is good welfare system, Google formulates some benefits not only to keep the good employees and encourage them to do their best but also devote to the company. Hamel reports that The Founders’ Awards, an annual multimillion dollar payout to teams who’ve made outsize contributions to Google’s growth, is one key retention mechanism The goal: to ensure that internal entrepreneurs have no incentive to take their best ideas somewhere else. (2006: A16). The third strength is to keep structures flat, in a large company usually has hierarchy that would waste lots of time on paper works and have difficulty in retaining a good relationship between high level managers and low level employees, however Google try to keep the office’s atmosphere like a small company. In Google, employees could raise their queries or propose their ideas to the managers or founders directly. It is unlike usual management which needs lots of paper works. Weaknesses Certainly, not everything could be perfect; Google also has some problems about its management. The first problem is cost; Google spends about 50% of revenue on their welfare system. (Kafka, 2009). Although founders thinks that could increase productivity and efficiency of the organization, the budget of welfare system spending still too much. The second problem is low salary, Google sets up many employees’ benefits and bonus system are better than other competitors; however, their pay is lower than the others. Most of Google’s employees have fixed salaries that are significantly lower than the industry average, even when those base salaries are supplemented by stock options. (About. com 2009). The last example is lost in the crowds, the problem is some of employees want to issue their ideas but there are too many ideas in Google. Consequently, employees feel depressed when they can not issue their ideas. Hardy (2007) reports that with more than 20,000 people working for Google, some people feel their ideas are lost in crowds. It is a highly competitive environment with everybody trying to make the next â€Å"in† thing. Opportunities Google could create new policy or develop their welfare system, trying to find the new thing could let workers pay more attention to their works and elevate employee’s creativity. In addition, encourage employee to work at home. Even though offices are decorated like home or any places make employee feels relaxed, it is still a office not home, as s result, enable the workers to work at home could be one of the new solution to increase efficiency also reduce the costs. Threats After Google created the new vision of internal management, there are more and more enterprises copying Google’s management method, not only the same industry but also others industries and applied to their companies. Accordingly, Google’s competitors could provide the same or better condition o attract Google’s good employees to their company. |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Good work environment. |Working environment atmosphere too relax. | |Good welfare system. |Poor management. | |Opportunities |Threats | |Good relationship between managers and employees. |Worker’s education level. | Figure 3: SWOT analysis of Google’s internal management is applied on di fferent industry (Manufacture). Strengths All of the employees who are from different industries, they all need to work at a good environment. In manufacture industry, employees work at dangerous environment, they need a place to release their stress. Like Google’s office, there are many places or equipments to help their workers reduce their stress. The next point is welfare system, most of the manufacture companies use original management, they do not have a good welfare system. As a result, if manufacture companies use Google’s management method might urge worker’s morale. Employees would feel satisfied staying in the company for a long time, it is good for those manufacture companies, because in this industry, company prefer employee who has long experience. In manufacturing, experienced worker’s efficiency is more than apprentice. Weaknesses Many employees find the work environment far too much fun and perhaps even an ‘overload’ of happiness. Most workers are able to find their focus and sanctuary at work but for some, a more professional and structured work environment is necessary. Arrington, 2009). In manufacture industry, workers should be very engrossed when they are working. If employees feel too relaxed when they were working, an accident might happen. The other point is hierarchy structure, most of employees who work for manufacture industry, and the education level is less than employees who work for information industry. Thus, in manufacture industry should use hierarchy structure to contain every step, because it would be easier to find the problem if error happens during the process. Moreover, the last point is industry’s character is different, the duty of the manufacture industry is to produce goods, company must have done their work in time, however information industries mainly focus on creating new things, time is not a big issue as for them. Opportunities As we known, manufacture industry usually use original management. This management has a big gap between leader and worker, because they are very difficult to meet each other. Using Google’s method might ameliorate the relationship between leader and worker. Thanks to the low hierarchy, workers and managers can interact intimately, in this way; relationship between them will definitely become closer. Threats The Google’s management style is free; it gives their worker to organize their time management by themselves. Although Google’s employees have a lot of free time, they still do their job very well. The main problem is education level. In the information industry, most of employee’s education levels are higher than people who are working for the manufacture industry. The meaning is high level education employees are more positive, their time management organization are better than those employees with low level education. 5. Conclusion I used SWOT analysis to define the unique aspects of Google’s management and assumed that it is applied to different industries; I learned two important points from this research as well. The first one is that I understood why Google can win â€Å"The best company for work† many times. Actuality, Google’s salary is lower than industry average but it

Reading Reflection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reading Reflection - Assignment Example Cultivating integrative thinking is possible when one views their problems as processes other than events, and problems as products. As a process, a situation makes it the responsibility of the learner to search for the problem without direct or indirect reference to the problem. Conversely, the product arising from the process of identifying the problem is also a problem because besides the presentation of the problem, raising crucial questions and identifying what is expected leads to a further problem to solve. Although dealing with life problems maybe outlined in simple and motivating steps, I understand that the intensity of one problem differs from that of another. Consequently, I would be wrong to say that I have an ideal way of dealing with all my problems. However, with the right questions for each problem, identifying the right approach is easier, even though it is labor intensive. I have come to understand that despite my student life being a high pressure and high stake situation, I have never had the right approach nor known the ultimate expectations of my academic writing. Actually, I have simplified by academic writing to fulfilling one of the instructor’s expectations. In some way, this approach has presented some pressure but, I have always performed just above average, and this is an indication that I missed some crucial steps. Average academic performance also implies that, my approach to the problem did not involve the hard work required to develop the complex idea in the problem. Consequently, I have failed to meet high achiever’s grades. In life situations, this would present me as a lesser competent person and could probably translate to less employability due to evident limitations in handling pressure. Regardless of the inappropriateness of the question, I have learnt that the beginning of any academic

Advise to Rig Repair & Parts Limited in its International Business Coursework

Advise to Rig Repair & Parts Limited in its International Business Expansion - Coursework Example The issue with Agency B is a very complicated one. Agency B has the sole agency rights for RRP in South Africa. This makes them the only agency that can source for projects in South Africa for RPR. If care is not taken by RPR, it could get involved in a breach of contract with Agency B if it goes ahead to sign this contract with Agency A. If this happens, Agency B will be entitled to claims for damages. Secondly, if RRP goes ahead to sign this contract with Agency A, granting it exclusive rights without a proper care with regards to the agreement with Agency B, Agency A will not get access to the exclusivity it desires. This could also pose legal problems for Agency A and B in their operations in South Africa. This arrangement is a principal-agency arrangement in an international context. A principal-agent relationship exists when a party pursues to direct the actions of the opposite party to his own ends for mutual benefits like shareholder-manager and employer-employee relationships (Jager, 2008). This, therefore, means that the principal-agent arrangement is one where the principal allows the agent to further his interest and in that process, there is a symbiotic relationship whereby the agent also benefits from some consideration from the principal. The principal gives out a duty to the agent and as the agent goes about it, he gets some benefits and rewards for his efforts. This, therefore, makes it a mutual relationship between both parties. Under international law, the UN Convention on Agency in the International Sale of Goods offers a very broad and comprehensive framework for principal-agent relationships between parties from different parts of the world (Cheng, 1990). South Africa is a signatory to the convention. Under the convention, there are three main elements that are crucial and must be honored by both parties.

How the Law of England and Wales Is Made Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How the Law of England and Wales Is Made - Essay Example The paper tells that businesses in Wales and England have a different form of ownership that depends on the required level of control and the availability of funds. The variation in the form of ownership determines the rules suitable for a particular business according to the legal system of the countries. The UK parliament is responsible for the creation of laws that govern Wales and England. The parliament is made up of the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the Monarch. The processor creating laws starts with the creation of a bill that has to pass or to be approved by the parliament. Either the bills can be public (presented by government ministers) or private (presented the backbench MPs). English laws can also be created from government policies that have to go through similar approval from the legislature. The bills have to go through first and second readings in the house before being handed to the committee for further debate. From the committee stage, the bill is present ed to the house as a report before it goes through the third reading. After passing through the third readings successful bills proceed to the House of Lords for approval. Finally, the bill has to go through the Royal Assent for it to be adopted as a law. The laws made by the legislature are general laws that govern the countries, however; there are specific laws that are important to the corporate and business world and this fall into the category of business and corporate laws. Creating of business laws is a complex process that requires combined efforts from the business sector and the government’s instruction through the judicial system.

The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions Research Paper

The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions - Research Paper Example It is through such understanding that they grow up to become effective buyers and at the same time of the best products in the market (Wayne & Deborah, 2009). This will help avoid impulse buying among consumers hence invest in well. A good consumer should be able to portray the three major characteristics of a consumer namely a user, payer and buyer. This implies that relationship marketing is a vital aspect in the market decisions that are reached at by a buyer. Consumers in ant market setting are considered as the most vital aspect to the seller as they are a contributing factor to the profits that are made by the sellers. Branding Strategy The brands formed should be those that will help maintain the trust of the consumers. They are expected to be eye catching and convincing. It will serve as a form of company identity and it should be able to tell a lot about the company in question. As a government organization, our brand should be one that can be able to convince the consumers about our products or the services being offered. The company needs to define what its brand in order to be able to create a foundation for all the components that are to be included in it. It is through the brand that the company will be able to undertake a market evaluation and obtain all the required market related information and come up with practical strategies. The brand will also enable the organization to come up with objectives that will serve as a platform for working on (Edelman, 2010). Through the objectives, the organization will be able to focus on the target audience and this will enable them understand the consumer behavior. The company will also be able to set its market target in order to get the limit supply of their products to given consumers. This will become vital in avoiding unnecessary losses. In order to attract new hires, the company should discover and eliminate the brand barriers in existence. This is an analysis that will be undertaken in order to be a ware of the principle barriers that exist and can be responsible for the inability of the product to be successful. Branding is vital as it serves as identification in the market place. It communicates on behalf of the product and the company at larger and should be made in such a manner that it convinces the consumers (Wayne & Deborah, 2009). The target market has to be clearly defined and this is through a brand strategy where the consumers get to understand that you are talking specifically to them. To better understand your market group and consumer behavior, the company is expected to conduct an intensive market analysis. Competitors have to be known as they also influence the movement of goods in the market. Recommendations It is recommendable that as a company, we be able to consider people with common interests so that we can have goals that will enable the company adjust its strategies so that they are able to meet the market demands and competition. Communication is a vita l foundation through which the organization will build a good relationship with its consumers. Here ideas will be shared between the two parties and this will help the company to know where to improve on the services being provided. It is through communication that the company will be able to define better their brand strategy to their consumers in order for them to understand the company better. Secondly, the company shou

Human Population Ecology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Population Ecology - Essay Example As a population increase the resources become scarce. Therefore the alterations in number of births and deaths also decelerate. The human population has been growing persistently since the 1650, finally reaching a figure of 6 billion by late 1999 and 6.3 billion by 2003. Now whether this growth will continue consistently depends on ecological aspects. While ecologists might in certain circumstances feel that growth in human population might stop, in other cases they suggest that there is no permanent reason to restrain the growth. A rapid growth is supposed to have taken place owing to factors like a fast decline in death rate, modern techniques and processes of sanitation, an enhancement if growth of food facilities and distribution, improved medical care facilities and with time the improved living standards and higher level of income led the decline in birth rate to come to terms with death rate. In different European nations in 2003 the growth in human population has become negat ive or zero. As per the â€Å"medium variant forecast† of United Nations, a growth of zero percent is predicted for 2100. At that point of time, around 11 billion is the target population to be achieved. The population of the world reached one billion in 1850, two billion in another 100 years and 6.3 billion in 2003. As per Lomborg 60 percent of this growth would be skewed towards 12 nations. The regions outside Asian and African countries might not undergo the problems with population density. The population growth is highest in Asia where the zenith was achieved during 1989-91 with an addition of around 58 million births every year. The population growth has decreased gradually to 0.013 in 20032. Each individual contributes another individual to the population, which can be called the per capita rate of increase. According to the ‘Essentials of Ecology’ population growth follows an ‘Exponential Growth Model’. The rate of per capita increase in the population can also

Justice and Injustice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Justice and Injustice - Essay Example For example, I found that many individuals in America believed that since Saudi Arabia is an Islamic society, it does not have the necessary development to be in the modern world. The major American image of the Saudi society is one which is extremely backward with little to commend it to the world apart from its oil wealth. This image of Saudi Arabia is a very bad stereotype of the people of this state because most of the population of this country is very much in line with the modern world, but living their lives in compatibility with Islam. The people of Saudi Arabia have adopted many of the ways of the Western world that they find to be good and this include has included the adoption of automobiles for transport, the wearing of western clothing, especially the men and most of all, they live in houses which have been built in the western style. The justice system of Saudi Arabia, while considered by many as extremely harsh, can be said to be among the most just in the world, because justice tends to be swift and decisive (Rosen 819). This has led to a situation where Saudi Arabia has among the lowest prevalence of crime in the world, meaning that its justic e system is, while not perfect, among the best. The popular opinion in America is that Saudi Arabia is a country which is mired in political fanaticism because of the fact that its laws are derived directly from the Quran. This image only applies to a few of the people in this society because the majority is surprisingly very liberal in matters concerning religion. Very few Saudis share the same religious point of view as that which is propagated by religious fanatics who commit acts of terrorism in the name of Islam. In fact, most Saudis tend to display the same kind of liberalism that is displayed by the other Arabs in the Middle East. The western perceptions of Saudis have been by the media’s portrayal of it and the only way to learn the truth is through finding out the facts. It is my opinion that the death penalty should continue to be applied in all societies because it is the surest way to ensure that justice against heinous crimes is attained. It can be argued that the death penalty serves as a disincentive to misde meanours, since those who are given the death penalty serve as an example to those who would be tempted to indulge in criminal activities. In addition, it can be stated that there are some individuals, such as murderers, who when sentenced to death ensures that similar crimes within their societies are deterred from happening frequently. In the Islamic belief, it is stated that those individuals who cannot conform to the morals of the society, such as the natural laws against murder, have to be removed from society on a permanent basis. This action, however harsh it is helps to ensure that such individuals are kept from repeating the same crimes that they have committed. It can further be argued that the death penalty is a just punishment for those individuals who commit such heinous crimes as rape, murder, and other violent crimes it can be said that such people lack the human conscience to live in civilised society. It is my belief that the death penalty is completely justified es pecially when applied to cases where individuals have committed sequential murders or have committed mass killings, since these acts are unpardonable in most human societies in the world (Miller and Hayward 113). One would argue that the putting of such

Representation of families in animated sitcoms Essay Example for Free

Representation of families in animated sitcoms Essay Introduction: For my research investigative, I will be comparing the representation between two popular American sitcoms Family Guy and the Simpsons. Both are animated situation comedies, using a conventional nuclear family to portray the typical American family and their lifestyle. Using media textbooks extracted from theorists such as Roland Barthes and Vladamir Propp, I will investigate how they both use the same narrative structure to create their sitcom. I will also use the internet to develop the ideas of the sitcoms and use this to define the narrative patterns between the two sitcoms. The Simpsons: The Simpsons was first created by Matt Groening and was broadcasted on the 19th December 1987. This became the first animated comedy sitcom, catering to the whole family. The characters confirm the idea of a nuclear family living a typical American lifestyle; however the family coherently faces a dilemma which is always solved at the end of the episode. The episodes are normally self-contained narratives involving equilibrium, disequilibrium and a resolution. For example, the protagonist Homer Simpson will begin the day getting ready for work and faces a dilemma at work, in most cases the whole family will attempt to solve together, rather than Homer attempting to figure out on his own. The idea of the families involvement to solve the problem reflects the opening sequence where the family sits down together to watch television. The idea of togetherness with the family effects how the audience will perceive stereotypical families on T. V. The setting also reflects how the audience sees the ideological family. Springfield is a fictional state based in America consisting of a close knit community and many other characters appear on the episodes. The family appear to look like a conventional family; however they have their individual personalities. Homer: A Safety inspector at a power plant, he expresses a careless personality and dominates a crude, ill-mannered, and lazy characteristic, always providing for his family and heavily devotes his life to them. Marge: a typical American housewife and mother, her strong moral values and patient manner are put down by her troubled children and her gawk husband. Bart: A troubled 10 year old often bullying Lisa his sister and lack of respect for the authorities and the community, Bart is one of the most prominent characters. Lisa: an 8 year old strong-headed activist who due to her intelligence sees herself as a misfit with the Simpsons family. Her personality does reflect Marge, however her liberal belief differ from Marges democratic beliefs. To sum up their family, the baby Maggie only communicates through her pacifier and the pets Santas little helper and Snowball IV reinstates their family friendly ideology and safe atmosphere. Most of the episodes are based in Springfield, the home of the family, and the opening sequence shows the camera zooming into the state of Springfield, depicting a birds eye view of the local school, the donut shop (which is significant on Homers characteristics), the town hall and the supermarket all are significant towards their regularity and familiar location. The bold yellow headline and blue sky signify the opening sequence of the sitcom. The soft yellow, blue and white colours reinforce the idea that the sitcom is family friendly also considering the baby-type font used. This can be known as a memorable hallmark. Their gag names and catchphrases have developed neologism; creating their own catchphrases which often audiences can acknowledge them from have made them common. Even though they are animated characters which can develop, the producers have chosen not to and have stayed the same, although the new technology which has developed over the past decade can transform them. They have recently updated the opening sequence, revealing more characters that appear more often in the episodes. This idea keeps the audience interested in character development and the change of characters over time. One idea that hasnt changed since the beginning of the Simpsons is the theme song which is recognised as the Simpsons theme tune all over the world. The orchestral soundtrack is lively and upbeat, which proves the entertainment aspect of the sitcom. The Simpsons had been provided to humour families during prime time, capturing audiences with its exciting linear narrative and realism in each episode. However The Simpsons had been criticized frequently for their lack of quality in the episodes and Bart Simpsons rebellious nature having an effect on boys and acting as a role model towards the younger male audience. Family Guy Family guy consists of the Griffins, a dysfunctional family set in a fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island America. This is also a situational comedy; however the content contains satirical adult humour, amusing American culture. Its mostly recognised for its cutthroat gags on disability, sexual behaviour and cutaway scenes. The Griffin family is constantly compared to the Simpsons, consisting of similar family values and characteristics. Peter Griffin: male protagonist; an overweight safety inspector at a toy factory, recognised in America as a stereotypical blue collar worker. He is often known for his inappropriate nature, reminding the audience of an immature child. Lois Griffin: Mother and wife of the Griffin family, a typical housewife, grew up in a wealthy family, and married Peter Griffin. She teaches piano for an extra income. However she spends most of her time caring for her family. Chris Griffin: The teenage son of Peter and Lois, he appears to have taken Peters genes and deals with typical adolescent inconveniences; girls, acne and school. Meg Griffin: A self-conscious teenage girl who struggles to be accepted in not only school but also at home. She is regularly at the hind end of Peters jokes. Stewie Griffin: A one year old toddler who frequently is misguided about his sexuality. His evil nature is often taken out on his mother, who he repeatedly masters a plan to kill. His sophisticated speech and maturity juxtaposes typical toddlers description. Brian Griffin is the speaking pet dog, following an anamorphic behaviour. He has a refined speech and often corrects Peters immature behaviour. Despite the fact that Brian is a dog, he enjoys human activities and dates women regularly. Brian appears regularly in episodes, and on occasion appears in special episodes with Stewie, travelling in an epic adventure as Dog and toddler. During the episodes the storyline is always cut off on a tangent, and a new storyline is created. This may be seen as difficult for audiences to follow the plot; however it is always based on two centered narratives. The storyline also follows equilibrium, disequilibrium and a resolution, however on one episode where Stewie kills Lois the plot continued onto another episode, finally resolving the problem. Most of the episodes are set within Quahog, and some specials reside in Stewie and Brian going to a different country such as England and Germany. The opening sequence depicts the conventional family setting; Lois and Peter are placed on the piano, happily playing in unison. The other family members appear after, joining together symbolises the family values enforced in the typical idea of a conventional family. Family guy appears to share the same family values as the Simpsons, however the content and the audience is clearly different. The simpsons share family values and humour the typical American culture, however their humour is directed towards adults and children, using satirical wittiness and frequently punning on American products such as Mad TV or the actual TV production company that shows the Simpsons, Fox. Whereas family guy is shown during the late night schedule and the content uses extreme vulgar adult content, profanity, violence and nudity. In a sense, family guys title does mislead the audience into thinking that the program will be based on the same values the Simpsons produces. This is where they differ in style and content. Following my research, I have decided to challenge the conventional representation of families in sitcoms. I will create a DVD poster of a brand new situational comedy based on a family which appear to be a dysfunctional family which struggle to follow the conventional structure of a beginning scene, a dilemma then a resolution. They share the conventional ideology that families are appeared to be shown. I will use Adobe Photoshop to create my poster and Macromedia Flash to create the characters. Stereotypically, the male protagonist is portrayed as reliant on the other family members to bail him out. However in my production, I will portray the male protagonist as independent and smart and place the male characteristics on another character, for e. g. the son.

Comparison Of Learning Theories

Comparison Of Learning Theories There are three main categories of learning theories, behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviourism is concerned with observable behaviour; it classified learning as acquiring new behaviour based on environment. Cognitivism basically is concern with person thinking process. On the hand congnitivism philosophy of learning based it premise that as person reflect on past experiences they construct their own meaning of experiences and knowledge. These three theories will be discussed with some focus on their likeness and differences. Since, they all have implication to teaching and learning. Such as, keeping students thinking process in mind; looking at students responses and the consequences of those responses. Introduction There is not single set of learning theory that if devotedly followed guarantee educators perfect results in the classroom. However, the study of learning has generated much discussion for many years. It has been at the core of educational psychology. Although the importance of learning as a topic of study is agreed by psychologists; they often disagreed on the mechanics of how learning process occurred. (Wittrock, 1977) cited by (Good and Brophy 1995) defined learning as the process of acquiring relative permanent change in understanding, attitude, knowledge, information, ability and skill through experience. This paper seeks to explain congnitivism, behavioural and constructivist theorists of learning, examining the similarities and differences between the theories, gives examples of how theses theories could used in the classroom. Cognitive theories focusing on how people process information and learn. They discuss concept such as memory, problem solving and decision making. David Ausubels (1963) cognitive theory distinguishes reception learning from rote and discovery learning. It is concern with how students or persons learn large amount of meaningful material thought a verbal expository teaching method (Woolfolk1990 P. 292). He suggested that learning is based on presenting information in a hierarchical sequential, organized, manner to learners. This aid and encourage meaningful learning, connection and retention of new information. Since, information presented is usually related to previous learned subsumer. A subsumer is a concept or idea that includes others concept (Woolfolk, 1990). Simple put, for learning to become meaningful there must be a possible fit or incorporation between learners existing cognitive structure and the information to be learned. To do this Ausubel postulates that educator should always start with advance organizer. Advance organizers are simple statement used to introduce higher- level concepts to be learn. They provide a structure for new information in a general manner and covers the concepts to be learnt (Slavin, 2003). To illustrate, as a teacher I at times uses the KWL chart to teach certain topics, such as the continents. First I gave the students a KWL chart; I encourage them to record what they already knows about the continents, then want they wants to know about continents and finally what new information they learned. Therefore with knowledge of advance organizers in mind educators should be cognisant of students prior knowledge and pre-requisite capabilities should be determined before giving any instruction. When teaching new concepts teachers should incorporate and commence with advance organizers. Instructions or concepts should be integrated which will encourage integrative review, links and transfer of information. Moreover, to facilitate transfer of knowledge teachers should present information in a progressive way starting with lower- level skills before moving up to higher-level skills. Additionally, a much as possible learning material taught in one subject area should facilitate learning in another subject area. For example, students can be encouraged to make links between some English words and Spanish words or Latin words. Also, in the classroom, instructions should include both discovery and receptive teaching. To facilitate this, after given instructions teachers should follow up with questions and assessments which will provide opportunities for students to encode material in their own way and apply the concept learn. Furthermore, provide instructions in simple steps, organizing information in sequential and logical ways which will be easy to follow. This will also aid and facilitate mastery of information at each stage. This hierarchical format of giving instruction was supported by Gagnes theory. Robert Gagne (1979) has proposed a theory of instructions (Woolfolk, 1990). Gagne postulate several types of learning which needs different types of instructions. According to (Good Brophy, 1995) Gagne identified five major types of learning. They are attitudes which are internal state that influence personal choices, for example how student feel after reading a poem. Motor skills involve using your reflexes such as tying your shoes. Information entails facts and knowledge stored in the memory, for example addition and subtraction facts. Using intellectual skills that allow learners to discriminate between concrete, define concepts, and solve problems using rules. Finally, use personal ways to guide learning, acting and develop solutions to problems. Additionally, (Woolfolk, 1990) said Gagne was more interested in the quality, permanence and usefulness of students learning. To achieve this, he postulated that teacher used nine instructional events. First teachers must gain students attention. This can and should be done using a variety of approaches and methods. For example, to get my Kindergartens attention I sometimes incorporate music, drama, nursery rhymes, or poems to introduce my lessons. These are expected to grab students attention and interest since children generally like these activates. After students attention is gain, Gagne proposed that teachers communicate to learners of the objectivities of the lesson. This can be done by reviewing prerequisites, oral questioning or quizzes. Teachers can also provide demonstrations of learning products or outcomes (Slavin, 2003). For example, when teaching students how to use different shapes to build a house I will present then with a model of what they can finally make themselves. When attention is gain educators must stimulate students recall of prior learning. This involves getting students to retrieved information they have learned. Then, present the stimulus that is presenting the material to be learnt, followed by providing learning guidelines. This could be anything from guided discovery activities, explanations or demonstrations, however, information presented should be in a logical and understanding way. After doing this (Woolfolk ,1990) said learning does not stop there. Since, teachers has to insure learner demonstr ate understanding of taught information. Gagne proposed this is done by his next step which involves providing guidance to learners. Gagnes sixth instructional event involves questioning students for understanding, their responses allow teachers to evaluate learners comprehension this also provides reinforcement, feedback and assess performance, which Gagne posited as his seventh and eight instructional level. His theory indicates that after each topic is taught teachers should assess pupils performance, this can be done via formal or informal evaluation. Finally, educators must enhance retention and facilitate transfer of knowledge to other top and subject areas and real life situations. With this information in mind, educators must be mindful that different instructions are required for different learning outcomes. For example in my classroom when I want my class to identify letter a I do not focus on the letters sound but on its formation or differentiating it from others. Furthermore teachers must be purposeful in selecting instruction strategies, understanding the limitations and advantages of the strategies they choice. Additionally, strategies choice should be based on the students, content and situation of it used, for individual differences are to be considered. Likewise, lessons should commence with declaration of what and why students are required to learn the information. Additionally, Pavlovs and Skinners theory were behaviourist. Behaviourism is concern with observable and measurable aspects of human behaviour (Good Brophy, 1995). This means that their theories focused on observable, measurable behaviour. Classic conditioning is a term used to describe learning which has been acquired through experience. According to Legge Harari, 2000). Pavlov used animals mainly dogs in his experiments to demonstrated classical conditioning, he arranged for the study of salivary conditioning. The dogs he used showed a salivation response when they where offered food (unconditional stimulus). The food was offered a number of times with the sound of a buzzer (conditional stimulus). After this, the sound of the buzzer alone could produce the salivation response. This theory has some links to classroom situations. For instance, a bell ringing is used in schools to indicate the end of instruction time, recess time, or use a whistle to get students attention during physical educati on exercises. Like Pavlovs theory B. F. Skinner agreed that some human reflexive behaviour is clearly encouraged by specific stimuli. However, Skinner proposed that reflexive behaviour accounts for only a small proportion of all actions (Slavin, 2003). He proposed the use of pleasant and unpleasant consequences. He work focused on placing subjects in controlled situations and observing their behaviour. Operant conditioning is sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning is a method of learning involving reward and punishment of behaviour (Legge Harari, 2000). Skinners theory has has some important principles, is that, behaviour changes according to its immediate consequences. Pleasant consequences strengthen behaviour, unpleasant consequences weakens it (Slavin 2003). Simple put a person will repeat a behaviour if the consequences of that behaviour is pleasing or pleasant. Slavin also, posit that pleasant consequences are call reinforcer, unpleasant consequences are called punishers. Reinfo rcers are any consequence that strengthens or increase behaviour. Reinforcers can be positive or negative and both are used to strengthen behaviour. Positive reinforces which are favorable events that are presented after the behaviour, such as, praise, grades and stickers. Negative reinforcers are unfaviourable Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an unfavorable events to strengthen a behaviour.( ww.psychology.about .com) Obviously, teacher can apply Skinners and Pavlovs theories. They can decide what behaviours they want students to emulate, and reinforce these behaviours when they occur. For example in my class when I want my students to practice raising their hand to indicate they desired to give an answer, I praise them when they do so and over time I get the desired behaviour I want. However, as teacher we must be careful not to praise or reward work that do not deserve praise. Since, students may not strive to work to their fullest capabilities. Also, after determining of the objectives teachers must analyze the task into prerequisite skills and sub-skills. Additionally, rewards for academic effort should be meaningfully, such as extra recess time, opportunities to work on the computer or extra credit on key projects. Furthermore, students should know what behaviour you desire and when students exhibit the desired behaviour and they are reinforce, you tell them why. Additionally, as educators we must ensure reinforcement is truly reinforced. For example, when presenting class rules, set up both negative and positive consequences for breaking or following the rules. Also, use cues to help establish new behaviours. Sometimes at the beginning of the school year I Call students attention to the notice board, which usually has list of material they should have or will need when official class begins. Moreover, teachers must remember to reinforce appropriate behaviour as soon as possible. For delayed reinforcement are usually less effective than immediately reinforcement. In addition, one must keep in mind anything children like can be use as an effective reinforcer, although all can not be utilize in the classroom. However, as a teacher I sometimes use what whatever practical reinforcement to motivate my students. Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. According to Slavin (2003) it draws many of it philosophy on the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, they emphasis the social nature of learning, and both suggested the use of different abilities grouping to promote conceptual change. Jean Piaget (1896-1980), is one of the most influential child psychologies. He proposed a theory of cognitive development which has many implications on teaching and learning. In Piagets theory he viewed cognitive development on two biological tendencies organization, and adaption( Legge Harari 2004). Organization as Piaget saw it involved organising experiences and observation into cohesive systems. Adaption involves adjusting to the environment. It is a process by which individual create matches between their pervious learnt information and new information that might not exactly fit together. This is where individuals demonstrate patterns of behaviour or thinking described by Piaget as schema (Slavin 2003 P.30). This involves using two techniques assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation involved trying to understand something new by fitting it into what one already knows. For example, the first time many children see the moon they call it a ball. They are assimilating the information into their current view of the world. If the child observation does not fit into their existing schemas they accommodate or change schema. When the individual has strik e a balance between assimilation and accommodation that person has achieved equilibrium because existing schemes and change schemas now fits. Therefore, with the above information in mind teachers or educators should facilitate assimilation process by matching new learning experiences with learners existing thinking patterns. However, the match between new experiences and existing thinking scheme of learners should not be too exact, for no or little accommodation will occur. When planning teachers should create opportunities of experiences that generate novel ideas and divergence views this will require some reconstructing of thinking and belief. Also, when presenting new information to learners it is essential that this is done in a sequential and meaningful way this will facilitate organization of information and encourage learners to organize their thought into main ides, concepts and generalisation; this helps students to consider past learning in a divisive and integrated way which can becomes problem solving tools. According to (Woolfolk 1990) Piaget also postulates a stage theory. He suggested that all children regardless of factors such as race and gender go though different stages of development, and that at each stage they think qualitatively different to the stage before. In the first stage sensorimortor, (birth to 2 years) is the time when infants gain knowledge about the world though manipulating objects and innate reflexes. They learn that an object will continue to exit even if it is out of sight Woolfolk (2003). The preoperational stage (2 to 7 years) children can now use imagery based on his or her memory of previous behaviour in the same situation (Good Brophy, 2008). Preschoolers language develops at an incredible rate. However their thinking remains egocentric and central. Therefore, teachers should use visual aids whenever possible. When given instructions to preschoolers, educators can allow them to act it out as well as give them oral information and do not expect students in the preoperational stage constantly see the world from others perceptive. Moreover opportunities must be provided for group word, this facilitates co-operation, and reduce subjectivity. The next stage is the concrete operational (age 7 to 12) Children at this age are in schools they are able to solve concrete (hands on) problems (Slavin 2003). They heavily depend on concrete experiences to facilitate his or her thinking. Therefore, teacher must provide opportunities for learner in this stage to meaningfully manipulate objects. For example, when I am teaching topics such as addition or time I give student models of clocks or counter to aid their understanding. . Also, importantly students must have occasions to interact with the physical and social environment The final stage (age 12 and beyond) of cognitive development is defined by the childs ability to think abstractly and use logical hypothesis testing to solve problems. Teachers must therefore integrate new examples and illustration from previously taught lesson to extend old learning. Also provide higher level problems to engage student in critical abstract thinking. In my teaching my questions and problems are set at different levels such as requires knowledge to answer, others required comprehension skills while other may need analysis skills. Vygotsky (1896-1934) is a Russian psychologist who made significant contributions to developmental and constructivism theory. He proposes a theory of development in which he presented several key concepts Legge Harari 2004). He viewed cognitive developments as a result of a dialectical process, where a child learns through shared problem solving experiences with someone else. It is primarily through their speech that adults are assumed to transmit to children the rich body of knowledge that exists in their culture. As learning progresses, the childs own language comes to help as his or her primary tool of intellectual transformation (Slavin 2003). Another concept is his theoretical construct of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) which provides an explanation of how a child develops with the help of others (Woolfolk 2003). It is the gap between what children are already able to do and what they are not quite ready to accomplish by themselves (Slavin 2004). He explains how children develop through contact with others such as parents, teacher, siblings or a peer.The person interacting with the child undertakes most of the responsibility for guiding the problem solving, but gradually this responsibility transfers to the child. Vygotsky also posited scaffolding. It is similar to scaffolding around a building. In that, it can be removed after the need for it ends. For instance, when a child is shown how to something and has mastered the idea he or she can now complete this assignment on his or her own. Vygotskys theory can be applied to the classroom, he suggests the teachers Is important in the process of the transmission of knowledge .This means teacher must ensure information given are accurate and useful to learners. Moreover, they must provide opportunities for peer tutoring, cooperative learning arrangements among student with mix-abilities. Personally I can attest that this approach works. Since, I have successful use this in many of my lessons. Allow students to gradually take on more independent responsibilities, removing the scaffold. Teachers responsibilities are to facilitate learning, what teachers do in the classroom are important to the overall effect of students learning. Therefore, teachers endeavour to making learning occur must be his or her best efforts. In so doing teachers can draw of all of the theories discussed in the essay. However, one must be mindful that these theories ha some thins in common and differences. Behaviourism is concern about behaviour that can be observed while cognitive psychology assumes that humans have the capacity to process and organise information in their mind. It is concerned less with observable behaviour and more with the thought processes behind it. Constructivism like congnitivism focuses on thinking processes and problem solving but also considered students reactions which is an important feature of the behaviourist theory. All three discussed theories attempt to explain and describe how learning occurs and viewed education and the instructional process as a whole. However, behaviourism formed the basis for all learning theories. Cognitivism and constructivism both stressed the importance of forging relation between previous learnt information to new information. In other words, learners are expected to relate new information to prior knowledge and experiences. As stated before there is no ideal educational theory. However the approach teachers used in their daily instructions are important. The approaches they use should be based on a variety of issues, such as the age of the students, their cognitive processing level, the subject matter and difficulty of the required task in order to successfully achieve all the objectives.