Factors Leading To Integration Of Marketing Communication Marketing Essay

Factors Leading To Integration Of Marketing Communication Marketing Essay Keeping in view the dynamic environment of todays business, Marketer is required to develop the product that have the capacity to satisfy target market needs and wants, price that product attractively, and ensure its availability to the target customers. But the task does not stop over here; the organization must also communicate with their target about the company offerings. Communication is the process in which messages are exchanged to achieve a desired behavior direction or goal. The task of communication with target market is called promotion in Marketing. A company can use variety of promotion techniques including advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, direct marketing and public relations to achieve the companys communication objectives. From the last two decades, promotions strategies used by organizations around the world have undergone through tremendous changes. This is due to the fact that the technology has revolutionized our daily life, marketing promotion have no exception. Companies must be aware of the fact that the face of marketing communications is continuously shifting and, to be successful in the future, the Marketing manager needs to utilize the novel emerging communication techniques. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2006), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a concept in which a company carefully integrates and coordinates its many communication channels-mass media advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, packaging, and others-to deliver a clear, consistent, and compelling message about the organization and its products. The results of IMC are better communication that transform into consistent sales volume. The integrated marketing communication goes beyond these specific promotion tools. The design, and packaging of the product, its container and packaging, its price, and the retail stores that sell the product, all communicate something to buyers. Thus, although the promotion mix is an organizations primary communication, the whole marketing mix including product, place, price and promotion must be coordinated in order to achieve the desired impact. The organization IMC helps the firm in identification of the target audience, and then helps the firm in designing a well-coordinated promotional program that focus on managing the customer relationship over time. According to Pelsmacker et all (2006) Integrated Marketing Communication is the integration of specialized communications functions that previously operated with varying degrees of autonomy. If the organization fails to integrate its various communications tools, for example, the advertisements of the offering concentrate on one thing, while a price signaled transmit a different message while the labeling of the product depicts still another message. This will create ambiguity in the mind of the consumer and he will wander here and there in search of what the company is trying to convince me? As Kotler and Armstrong (2006) have pointed out IMC builds brand identity and strong customer relationships by tying together all of the companys messages and images. Brand messages and positioning are coordinated across all communication activities and media. Factors Leading to Integration of Marketing Communication: The following are some of the reason due to which it is inevitable to integrate the Marketing Communication of the organization. Fragmentation of the mass market: This mass-marketing strategy focuses on what is general in the needs of consumers rather than on what is different. The organization offer single Marketing Mix consists of one type of product with small or no variation, one pricing strategy, one promotion program aimed at every person and one distribution system aimed at the entire market. In the last two decades, the mass marketing strategy has lost its impact due to fragmentation of the markets across the world. Consumers around the world now have a more options of what to buy, what to watch to listen or read. The emergence of new market segment which was previously homogeneous, having distinct needs, requirements, and preferences. (Groucutt ; 2004). These fragments reduce the effectiveness of mass marketing techniques and erode brand loyalty. Media Fragmentation: Market fragmentation has resulted in media fragmentation because the of alternative media channels available to the consumer and all messages seen as one single message to consumer. Todays consumers are being irritated with a bundle of of television channels, and a steady stream of new magazines that hit the newsstands every week. Coupled with rising level of ad dodging and the future for some mass media might seem austere. Therefore advertising has to spread further, covering massive amount of channels to gain the same exposure. Explosion of New Technologies: The Technology is evolving today with much speed and has a very disruptive impact on our daily life. Something that has been considered as status symbol today is a myth of past now. Also this explosion allow customer to have greater control over the communication. Consumer can now select what to see, and what to hear more easily as in past. Emergence of Global Markets: Due to advent of IT the whole world has collapse to a global village. The culture around the world is merging and a unified culture is emerging. Although this has created some opportunities for organization, but is also posing some potential threat as they need now to be very cautious while designing there promotional programs and unless the promotional program are well coordinated and integrated it will not have any impact on the target market. The global market has also led to increase in advertising mess due more channels and more group placing ad on mass media. Shifts of Power from Manufacturers to Retailer: The power that historically rests with manufacturer has been shifted to retailer. The retailers due to this power now demands huge promotion fees and can offer better retail information from due to the usage of checkout scanner technology. Shifting of Promotion Cost from Advertising to other Forms of Promotion: Due to the increase usage of Internet, growth of customer databases, customer lack of time, companies are moving toward concentrated and niche segmentation, as consumer has the convenience to order what he needs and wants from direct marketers. This had led to change on the percentage of promotion spent on advertising. Traditionally this percentage used to be very high but now as the market conditions are changing it is eroding and taking the form of direct marketing, point of sales activities, online advertising etc. Emergence of Lower Cost and More Target Communication Tools: As the traditionally used media tools is losing its impact, the exploration of lower-cost and more targeted communication tools continues. Marketer now have the option to use promotional tools like event marketing and direct mail etc that are more targeted and have less cost as compared to of mass media. Development of Database and Relationship Marketing: One of the most important Direct Marketing is the Customer Databases. It is a controlled collection of absolute data about individual customers or prospects, together with geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data. These databases help companies in influencing and building customer relationships and the organization can also tailor its message or market offering according to the personal needs of the target market. Increase Usage of Internet: The usage of Internet around the world is increasing with the passage of time, and this had led to change how a company does its business and how the organization communicate and interact with its target market. Companies around the world are using the Internet as a competitive tool to change how they transact the business. They can a company does business and how they communicate and interact with customers as they can reach prospects at just the right moment and can offers a low-cost, well-organized way to reach markets. Agency Accountability: The terms and conditions of the relation that the company and agency used to have are changing, due to changes in the competitive setup of the industry. The organization now demands for greater accountability from the advertising agencies and changes in return and incentives of the agency. Marketing Strategy Results Measurement Organization now calls that the activities that the marketing department carries out should be measurements appropriately and expectations from marketing strategy. Change in Shopping Approach: The reason behind why the consumer goes for shopping has been change. Traditionally people used to went for shopping in order to get the desired products and/or services from the market. But now the shopping approach has been changed, it is now taking form of freedom and entertainment. Growth of Digital Media: Multi-track media society that is constantly developing and changing with the passage of time has led to advent of digital media. In digital media consumer have extraordinary control over the information and entertainment choice. With new digital media in place, people have thousands of viewing options they can select from. Future of IMC: The conception of integrated marketing communications (IMC) is fairly new. The IMC tools allows marketing manager to plan and then execute his marketing communication programs, which create and maintain mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with the target market by satisfying their needs and wants. This means that promotion tools are used to create loyalty. The future trends of IMC are discussed in the following: Competitive Advantage: The Various tools that organization has can be used as a competitive edge against the competitors. Competitive advantage is the edge and the ability of firm to provide superior value to its target market as compared to competitors. As IMC components are designed as a whole, the organization is able to focus its efforts in all the communication elements that create single, powerful brand equity by speaking with one voice. This single brand message provides a competitive advantage to the company as the target clearly understand that what the company is communicating. Brand Equity IMC strategies are essential to the companys strategic brand management because IMC strengthens the interface between the organizations strategy of brand identity and the target markets brand equity. The organization that uses IMC strategies will be able to measure the brand awareness and brand image of its various offerings. Specifically IMC strategies and brand identity are the most vital parts of the companys overall brand equity strategy. The brand identity strategy of the organization serves as a foundation for its overall IMC initiative and, for this reason, accounts for to the firms brand equity. Online Advertising: Online Advertising is becoming powerful IMC tool for advertisers and organization can use online advertisement as people are now spending more time online; the Internet became another channel via which companies can market their offerings successfully. (Google; 2007) Because of the Internets versatility, it will give an organization the opportunity to reach and interact with its target market. Companies can now produce an IMC campaigns that exclusively target the desired customer more successfully with less cost as compared to traditional communication efforts. Online campaigns will give organization new abilities to the organization due to the following reasons: Reach: The Internet used by more than 170 million people only in the United States. Relevance: Online Advertising shows ads to potential customers who are actively searching for what businesses have to offer. Return on investment (ROI): Using analytical tools, companies can understand more about the effectiveness and efficiency of their ads. (Google; 2007) Viral marketing: Viral marketing is an IMC technique that is mostly used for trendy brands, Marketers are increasing acknowledging Viral marketing as an important IMC tool because it offers the traditions benefits and effectiveness of advertising. In viral marketing the organization promotes its product using Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM), utilizing individuals communication networks, and relying on their individual recommendations to sell the product. Companies actively seek viral marketing, by fueling discussion on their offerings. (Groucutt, J. et al 2004). Multi Chanel Promotion: As multi channel media increases in reputation, the problem of IMC is to make sure that the IMC campaign reaches its planned audience. According Perkin (2003) as media-blitzed, ad-cynical, time-poor, channel-flicking audience living in a fast-paced, attention-challenged world The fact is that due to fast pace of technology, and globalization of the world, consumer behavior around the world is changing. Today customer have more control over what to see, and read and therefore IMC need to tailor the organization campaign as per the requirements of the market. Media Selection There are a huge number of magazines, each having its own focus, allowing segmented audience to the organization. The owner of these Magazines not only offers media planners a place to get the target audience, but also provide insights regarding audience and how to connect with them in the most excellent manner. Companies can use these magazines in there IMC efforts by effectively marketing their product and to utilize and ensure correct targeting, positioning and promoting the company offerings. (Perkin, N. 2003). Sponsorship Campaign Sponsorship of sporting events like football, cricket, or even horse race is recognized as a strong medium of promotion due to its focus of providing target audience on one platform event and the capability to attach with company target market by adding value to their behavior and interests. The finding of the response that how a particular customer or a group of customers will reveal some interesting aspects about the company sponsorship and will also reveal the form of sponsorship appropriate for the company products. Although sponsorship, like other form of promotional mix, has to prove its value in IMC, consumers are inner to a sponsorship strategy. Targeting the accurate event will take a lot of research on behalf of the organization while the exposure created by sponsorship is very short lived (Crow 2003). Market Positioning The art of targeting customer to portray a product in a certain desired manner in known as positioning is the one of the most important factor while launching a new product and/or service for any organization. With the entire media overloaded, the consumer has closed mind to the new products, therefore, the company offerings should be exceptional, and supported by original, relevant, creative and really inspired IMC efforts. Advertising diffusion is exceptional and media fragmentation is growing now a days. In order to get a desired level of recall and brand awareness marketer need to target several medium. This is due to fact that consumer media habits are diverse and had led to higher IMC budgets and also waste of the precious organizational resources. Direct marketing Direct marketing has become one of the most effective and efficient way for reaching target market due to dynamic environmental factors, changing customer preferences, and technological developments. (Brassington, F. Pettitt, S. 2003). The key to successful direct marketing for an organization is targeting. The success of marketing manager while using direct marketing depends on his capability to identify the just right audience for the company product and then design the direct marketing campaign to achieve that goal. Site-Targeted Campaigns: The keyword-embattled ads can become visible on Google exploration results pages or on search and content sites inside the Google Network. Site targeting will give an organization the ability to: Advertise on most wanted sites. Reach customers near the beginning in the buying process, with advertisements designed to increase responsiveness or to promote a brand, but not unavoidably to generate clicks or traffic.

Development In Social And Cultural Contexts

Development In Social And Cultural Contexts According to sociocultural theories, child development differentiates in different social and cultural contexts. Culturally- specific beliefs and practices in each sociocultural context influence childrens development in its unique way (Berk, 2009). This essay sets out to examine how Chinese childrens developments in academic knowledge and temperament are impacted by culturally-specific child rearing in Chinese society. Bronfenbrenners ecological systems theory and Vygotskys sociocultural theory are applied to analyse the general practices, the assumptions, the beliefs and the upheld values of child rearing in China. Definitions of Culture and Society Culture and society may mean different things to different people. For instance, society is defined as an association with ones fellowsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, the system of customs and organization adopted by a body of individualsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered communityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2002, p.2906, cited in New Zealand Tertiary College[NZTC], 2010). In this essay, society refers to the aggregate of people living together. Therefore, the Chinese society means the populations living in China. Culture in this essay refers to the distinctive customs, achievements, products, outlook, etc., of a societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as defined in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2002, p. 575, cited in NZTC, 2010). By culturally-specific child rearing practices within this essay, it means the consistent and similar child rearing practices adopted by Chinese, such as feeding, toilet training, sleeping arrangement, a nd discipline. Academic Knowledge and Temperament of shyness Generally speaking, there are three broad domains of child development: physical, emotional and social, and cognitive (Berk, 2009). This essay will focus on studying the influence of culturally-specific child rearing on Chinese childrens academic learning (cognitive development) and temperament (emotional and social development). In a study of Hong Kong-Chinese preschool childrens literacy skills, it is advised that: 75% of five years olds can write their names in Chinese correctly; more than 50% of four years olds can write appropriately using strokes and stroke patterns (the two smallest units in Chinese writings); 75% of three years olds can differentiate drawing from writing, and 20% can write appropriately (Chan Louies, 1992, cited in Chan, Juan, Foon, 2008). In international cross-cultural studies of reading, mathematics, and science achievement, children from all the participating Chinese cities, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, are rated top performers, way above the international level (Programme for International Student Assessment, 2003, 2006, cited in Berk, 2009). Despite relevant high academic achievement, most cross-cultural studies define Chinese children as shy and withdrawn (Chen, Rubin, Li, 1995, Chen et al., 1998, cited in Berk, 2009). In a cross-cultural study of Chinese and Canadian two years olds, Chinese toddlers were found significantly more inhibited than Canadian ones (Chen et al., 1998, cited in Papalia, Olds, Feldman, 2004). Child rearing practices in the Ecological Systems According to Bronfenbrenner, the environment influencing child development can be classified into five different layers from the innermost to the outermost levels: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and the chronosystem. The microsystem refers to childrens immediate environment, such as home and early childhood centre .The mesosystem is the interaction between the microsystems. Other social settings outside the immediate environment that affect childrens development make up the exosystem. The macrosystem includes cultural values, laws, customs, and resources. Chronosystem means the whole environment system is an ever-changing system. Any changes in life events imposed by others or by the children as they grow up can modify the systems (Berk, 2009). The child rearing practices in the respective systems that contribute to childrens development of relevant high academic performance and temperament of shyness are analysed as below. At home (microsystem), the childcare is mostly carried out by mothers. Chinese mothers are found to indulge their infants and toddlers in terms of feeding, sleeping (Roopnariane Carter, 1992, cited in Yunus, 2005). They always keep their children close to them and favour physical contact over verbal stimulation. The mothers start toilet training the babies when they are six months and most of they are successfully trained by one and half years old (Whiting Whiting, 1975, Sung, 1995, Lee, 1999, cited in Yunus, 2005). It is suggested by Kelly and Tseng (2000, cited in Yunus, 2005) that the over-indulgence and early rigid toilet training are positively related to Chinese childrens slow physical and motor development. The fathers role is to discipline children. The discipline is taught by induction: explicit statement of what exactly the child is expected to do and why. If the child doesnt do as told, some parents might resort to shaming the misbehaved child, retrieving their love or e ven physical punishment (Jose, Huntsinger, Huntsinger, Liaw, 2000, Schwalb, Nakazawa, Yamamoto, Hyun, 2004, cited in Berk, 2009). The parenting style is less warm and more controlling (Dehart, Sroufe, Cooper, 2004; Berk, 2009). Yunus(2005) suggests that Chinese parenting is more authoritarian compared to Western parenting. The communication pattern is one way: parent to child. At most times, children listen attentively to what parents say. Children are not to openly express opinions on certain issues (Chiew, 2000, Zhao, 2002, Akhtar, 1998, cited in Yunus, 2005), or to express strong emotions ever since they are babies (Berk, 2009). It is found that parents do little to help their children release emotions, encouraging them to hide the emotions (Chan, Bowes, Wyver, 2009).. Children are taught the emotion-feeling rules and display rules justified with moral reasons (Wang, 2006, cited in Chan et al., 2009). Being reared in an authoritarian way and taught the emotion display rules (hiding the emotions), Chinese children are inclined to be shy and withdrawn (Chan et. al., 2009). In terms of parents attitudes towards play, almost all Chinese parents discourage their children to play at home. They often tell their children Dont think of playing all the time. Learning is most important. Believing in the importance of academic learning, parents begin to teach their children to count and write since they are three in most cases. Therefore, for home activities as well as mother-child interaction, it would be mother teaching the child to write, count, and appropriate social behaviour through fable storytelling, especially respecting the elders (Pearson Rao, 2003). A recent survey shows that before children attend primary school, 88.6% parents teach their children reading, recognising Chinese characters and counting; 28.2% parents teach their children foreign language, and 20.3% parents tutor their children the courses for primary school (Wang, Wang, Chen, 2010). A lot of demonstration, time to practice academic skills, and explicit values of academic skills, faci litate Chinese childrens development in academic knowledge (Chan et al., 2008; Gershoff Aber, 2006, cited in Berk, 2009). Most Chinese parents send their children to kindergartens when they are three. The children will then spend eight to nine hours daily in the kindergarten (Liu Elicker, 2005). The interaction between Chinese parents and teachers (mesosystem) is limited (Schwartz, 2003, cited in Yunus, 2005). While parents do concern about their childrens learning, they assign the teaching responsibility to teachers, relying on the teachers for childrens learning in the kindergarten (Morrow, 1999, cited in Yunus, 2005). In a survey of parents expectations of kindergarten teaching, parents express their main aspirations for their children as possessing academic skills and filial piety (88%) (Xinyuan Kindergarten, 2010). Parents highly valuing academic skills urges teachers to put a lot of efforts in academic teaching to meet up their expectations. In China the child rearing is shared among the extended family (exosystem), especially grandparents take up a large role in raising the children. The filial piety and the whole system of family are greatly valued among the extended family (Yunus, 2005). Children are taught the importance of respecting the elders and the obligation to contribute to familys honour by behaving properly (Zhao, 2002, cited in Yunus, 2005). When children are shy, reticent, quiet, they are considered by the extended family to be well-behaved and having sense of understanding (Hart, Yang, Nelson, Robinson, Olsen, Nelson, Porter, Jin, Olsen, Wu, 2000). Children are constantly reminded that their first means to fulfil family responsibility and obligation is through education (Yunus, 2005). The expectation of academic achievement and honouring family reputations placed by the extended family put pressure on parents child education and childrens motivation towards high academic performance. In macrosystem, the Chinese families are greatly influenced by Confucian philosophy stressing the importance of academic achievement and social harmony. The following assumptions are deeply rooted in Chinese child rearing practices: children inherently penchant for the good; proper training during early childhood helps to build childrens positive character; formal education and high standards of academic achievement is important for childrens development (Yunus, 2005). It is the custom that parents are to provide an environment conducive to academic achievement, while children are to work hard for high performance in academics. Besides, Chinese value the doctrine of mean (Zhong Yong Zhi Dao in Mandarin), not being extreme. Inhibited, sensitive, and socially restrained behaviour are highly valued in the Chinese culture (Ho, 1986, Lao, 1996, Chen, in press, cited in Hart et al., 2000). It is partly because they prioritise the importance of maintaining social order and interpersonal har mony in the society at large in the collectivism society (Hart e al., 2000). The one-child policy in China also affects childrens development to a great extent. Having only one child, a lot of parents do their best to start their childrens education at the possible earliest age to make their children more advantaged within the intensely competitive Chinese educational system (Brassard Chen, 2005). Government also devote the increased resources to the care and education of children to support the families and to secure the countrys future generations success in the highly competitive economy (Dehart et al., 2004). In the chronosystem, while shyness is traditionally valued by parents and the society, recent researches indicate a change of peoples attitudes towards childrens shyness. With the rapid growth of the economy, assertiveness and sociability started to be viewed as desirable for success in the society (Chen, Wang, DeSouza, 2006, Yu, 2002, cited in Berk, 2009). It is reasonable to assume, with parents values swift, their way of interacting with children will change accordingly in the future, influencing childrens development in a different way. Figure 1. Chinese child rearing practices contributing to academic learning and shyness in the Ecological Systems. Vygotskys sociocultural theory According to Vygotskys sociocultural theory, each culture provides its own context and different goals for children (Drewery Bird, 2004). Vygotsky proposes that cultural influence children through cultural tools, which refer to the knowledge of cultural practices that help children fit into their cultural context, including language, rituals, ceremonies and social values and beliefs that guide peoples thinking (Crain, 2000, cited in NZTC, 2010). Vygotsky further suggests that the values, beliefs, customs and desirable skills of a culture are transmitted to the next generation through social interaction, in particular through scaffolding by adults and more-advanced peers (Rowe Wertsch, 2002, cited in Berk, 2009). In china, the selected goals for children are high academic achievement and maintaining social harmony. There goals are valued by the Confucian philosophy which still deeply influences the Chinese parents (Hart et al., 2000). Parents encourage children to develop these culturally valued skills at an early age of three. Children strive for these desirable skills to fit into the sociocultural context. Social value and belief of early formal education, cultural practices upholding the academics and proper social behaviour of respecting elders and shyness add to the Chinese cultural tools. All these cultural tools support the daily child rearing practices, educational activities, the routines, the child-adult interactions as analysed in the ecological systems (Crain, 2000, cited in NZTC, 2010). Through interaction with their parents, extended family, children learn, apply and internalize these cultural values and tools of academic learning and temperament of shyness. Conclusion Different sociocultural environment places different goals and expectations on children. When the sociocultural context changes over time, certain values and practices might change. Generally speaking, Chinese children are expected to fulfill the goals and expectations of academic achievement and maintaining social harmony placed by their parents, extended family, and society. The values, beliefs upheld by the society affect the parents and extended family, and the extended family and parents influence childrens development in academic learning and temperament through specific child rearing practices emphasising these skills.

Reverend Dimmesdales Guilt in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter

The Guilt of Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter God does not like the sin of adultery. He does not like lying. He does not like hypocrisy. There are two roads that one can choose. In the end, what may seem like the easy way may have far greater consequences than the hard way. Arthur Dimmesdale chose the easy path and learned that the pain of guilt is far greater than the pain of shame. From the start, Dimmesdale did not want to live with the consequence of his sin. To begin with, he must of told Hester not to tell anyone about his sin, because on the scaffold, she will not tell anyone (pg. 64). Clearly, Dimmesdale was afraid of the justice and the shame that would follow. He thought that if no one knew, he could continue with his life normally. Yet, he began punishing himself secretly (pg. 133). Slowly though, the sin began to nag at him, and he had to beat himself to sooth his conscience. This shows that he has a conscience and that he is beginning to feel convicted. Late in the book, he finally confesses before the town, but then dies (pg. 231-233). As can be seen by his confession, he had the heart to change, but only then he realized that it was too late. His death marked the effect of the poisonous sin that had accumulated in him. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, just as repentance leads to salvation, a lesson Dimmesdale did not learn until it was too late. Dimmesdale is very hypocritical in how he handles the subject of his sin. For example, he says "Be not silent from any mistaken pity or tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty he... ...glimpse of human affection and sympathy, a new life, and a true one, in exchange for the heavy doom which he was now expiating." (pg. 184). Hester's offer to him for a new shot at life could not lift the guilt. He had sinned against the townspeople, and he needed to confess to them. When Dimmesdale is dying at the end, he asks Pearl to kiss him (pg. 233). This kiss signifies the breaking of the hold that sin had on his life. Sadly, it was too late-the sin had already consumed the last bits of life that he had left. Even though he died shortly after he confessed, he still repented, and that was his goal. Once he confessed his sin to the community, his guilt was gone too. Even after Dimmesdale repented, God still did not like the sin. But, once he repented, he was separated from that sin. God shows mercy on those who repent, and He showed mercy on Dimmesdale.

Pearl Harbor :: essays research papers

The movie Pearl Harbor is a depiction of the actual attack from the Japanese on American soil. It appears that the Japanese’s peace talks with the United States was a ploy to set up the most surprising attack that the United States has every experienced. It is clear the attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise and something that Naval Intelligence had at one point hinted of the possibility of such attack occurring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On December 7, 1941, from 7 am to 9:45 am., and a clear day on Sunday. Pearl Harbor was attacked and over 3,000 lives were lost. According to our US. History book, 2,400 lives were lost on this day and 1,200 wounded.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since July of 1941 Naval Intelligence hinted of the possibility of such attack. The Japanese deliberately sent radio messaged to confuse the Americans to think that peace was a common vision. During this time World War II was being fought in Europe. Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain was asking for more planes and warships from the Americans. The United States did not want to commit any troops to the was in â€Å"Europe.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States had not choice, but to get involved and commit to fighting with the Allies forcer in Europe. This is proof that preempted strikes are sometimes necessary to prevent loss of human lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the mist of the attack, the hospitals were being bombarded by patients that they could not handle. Nurses were forced to label bodies or lives that were salvageable against lives that soon die. They had to expand energy on those that had the possibility to survive. Imagine having to label bodies and almost play the role of â€Å"God.† To have to decide who is dying and who has that extreme possibility to live.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Meanwhile, as the Japanese continue their bombing, there some smaller air fields that had not recognized initially. There were some pilots that were able to man their planes and shoot down many planes. The Japanese lost 29 out of 350 planes on their attack on the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strategically, the Japanese attacked the Island of Pearl Harbor, from the northeast. Which means that they were attacked from behind other Islands of Hawaii.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The technology was that Japanese torpedoes where armed with wooden panels so that when they entered shallow waters and strike their targets at ease.

Karl Marx :: essays research papers

According to Karl Marx, religion is like other social institutions in that it is dependent upon the material and economic realities in a given society. It has no independent history; instead it is the creature of productive forces. As Marx wrote, â€Å"The religious world is but the reflex of the real world.† Religion can only be understood in relation to other social systems and the economic structures of society. In fact, religion is only dependent upon economics, nothing else — so much so that the actual religious doctrines are almost irrelevant. This is a functionalist interpretation of religion: understanding religion is dependent upon what social purpose religion itself serves, not the content of its beliefs. Marx’s opinion is that religion is an illusion that provides reasons and excuses to keep society functioning just as it is. Much as capitalism takes our productive labor and alienates us from its value, religion takes our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them, projecting them onto an alien and unknowable being called a god. Marx has three reasons for disliking religion. First, it is irrational — religion is a delusion and a worship of appearances that avoids recognizing underlying reality. Second, religion negates all that is dignified in a human being by rendering them servile and more amenable to accepting the status quo. In the preface to his doctoral dissertation, Marx adopted as his motto the words of the Greek hero Prometheus who defied the gods to bring fire to humanity: â€Å"I hate all gods,† with addition that they â€Å"do not recognize man’s self-consciousness as the highest divinity.† Third, religion is hypocritical. Although it might profess valuable principles, it sides with the oppressors. Jesus advocated helping the poor, but the Christian church merged with the oppressive Roman state, taking part in the enslavement of people for centuries. In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church preached about heaven, but acquired as much property and power as possible.

Figures in literature Essay

â€Å"As figures in literature, the women portrayed in these stories are either worshipped of they are victims; they are rarely just allowed to be themselves†. Women of the nineteenth century were generally regarded as being inferior to men and were treated with little respect. At the beginning of the century, women enjoyed few of the legal, social or political rights that are now taken for granted in western countries. This meant that they could not vote, could not sue or be sued, could not testify in court, were rarely granted legal custody of their children in cases of divorce, were barred from institutions of higher education and had extremely limited control over personal property after marriage. Women were expected to remain subservient to their fathers and husbands. Their occupational choices were also extremely limited. Middle and upper class women generally remained at home, caring for their children and running the household while lower-class women often were domestic servants or labourers. Many women had to fight the battle of conforming to society’s views against their own freedom and independence, an idea which â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, â€Å"The Woman’s Rose† and â€Å"26 Men and a Girl† discuss and explore. Therefore women often could not be themselves. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† shows the narrator’s struggle to deal with both mental and physical confinement. The narrator is mentally trapped by the views of society and her husband, John. She is not allowed to be herself so she confides in â€Å"dead paper†. This allows the reader to see who she is – a strong-minded and independent woman, shown by the repetition of â€Å"personally†. Physically the narrator is trapped by the room which she is staying in, â€Å"for the windows are barred†. These barred windows can symbolise entrapment or a prison cell. From the beginning of the text the story is very personal as it is written in the first person. The narrator is very interesting as she writes using many one sentence paragraphs, making the story seem very realistic, â€Å"Still I proudly declare that there is something queer about it. † The realism comes from the narrator’s style of writing – continuous streams of thought which could also suggest her state of mind. In the story the narrator shows us that she does not get anything she wants, â€Å"John has complete control†. John controls every aspect of the narrator’s life, even her thoughts. This becomes clear when she is writing, but then stops and contradicts herself. The narrator finds herself stopping her line of thought for fear of what John would say, â€Å"I know John would think it absurd. † Everything in and around the house is separated and divided, boxed in, and locked like a prison, much as she is held captive in her own room, â€Å"there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people†¦ I never saw such a garden – large and shady, full of box-bordered paths,† In fact, the house itself seems designed for men. Larger-than-life mansions were typically symbols of masculine aggression and competitiveness, while it’s being a â€Å"hereditary estate† reminds us it was probably passed down to men in the family. It is immediately apparent in the story that the narrator is treated as being inferior to many men, particularly her husband John. Being a physician, he has made a ‘schedule’ for her. She is told to stay in bed, suppress her imagination, and most importantly to discontinue her writing, even though it makes her feels better, but she does not say a word. Her schedule also makes her unable to show her true personality. The readers are the only ones who really know what the narrator is like, â€Å"Personally I disagree with their ideas,† she writes, â€Å"Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. † From this repetition of â€Å"personally† we can assume that the narrator is very independent. This statement, â€Å"What is one to do? † implies a lack of self-confidence and a feeling of inferiority. She speaks as though her opinions do not count in any way. However, she is very accepting of this, which was often the general feeling of women at the time. The narrator belittles herself several more times throughout the story â€Å"I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already†. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is driven by the narrator’s enthusiasm to interpret the wallpaper and realise that it symbolizes something that affects her directly. The wallpaper develops its symbolism throughout the story. At first it seems merely unpleasant; it is ripped and an â€Å"unclean yellow. † The worst part of it is the formless pattern, which fascinates the narrator as she attempts to figure out how it is organized. After staring at the paper for hours, she sees a ghostly sub-pattern behind the main pattern visible only in a certain light. She then sees a woman, which could be a sign that her mental state is deteriorating, or it could be a projection of the narrator onto the wallpaper. This woman puts an element of mystery and excitement in the narrator’s life and it gives her something to think about other than her own health. The desperate woman is constantly crawling and stooping, looking for an escape from behind the main pattern, which has come to resemble bars of a cage. The bars of the cage can symbolise the barred windows in the narrator’s room which in turn symbolise jail. The wallpaper can also represent society’s view in which the narrator finds herself to be trapped by. When the narrator finally identifies herself with the woman trapped in the wallpaper, she is able to see that other women are forced to creep and hide behind the domestic patterns of their lives, and that she herself is the one in need of rescue. The horror of this story is that the narrator must lose herself to understand herself. She has untangled the pattern of her life, but she has torn herself apart by getting free of it. An odd detail at the end of the story reveals how much the narrator has sacrificed. Now she is horribly â€Å"free† of the constraints of her marriage, her society, and her own efforts to repress her mind. The narrator has no name which could show the lack of identity and recognition women were used to in the nineteenth century. However, the fact that the narrator has no name could mean that Charlotte Perkins Gilman wanted the narrator to symbolise all women at that time. The narrator seems to have a lack of self esteem and is unsure about her thoughts and what she wants to say. This can be seen when she breaks up her sentences using hyphens, â€Å"I wonder – I begin to think – oh I wish John would take me away from here! † The narrator is free of her constraints of her marriage as she has detached herself from her husband, John. While she would usually call him â€Å"John† or â€Å"my husband† she now refers to him as â€Å"that man†, which can underline the fact that her strength as a woman and also her strength as a character has increased. The end of the story shows a switch in power between the narrator and John. At the beginning John had all the power, however at the end the narrator has power over him. We can see this when John comes into the locked room and faints in her path, â€Å"now why should that man have fainted? â€Å", [†¦ ] â€Å"I had to creep over him every time† which can also suggest the fact that women can gain temporary control over men, but they will never seem to be free of them. At the end of the story the narrator believes she has won, â€Å"I’ve got out at last† by setting the woman free from behind the main pattern of the wallpaper. By setting the woman free from behind the wallpaper it can also suggest to the narrator is being set free as well. The narrator made a huge sacrifice in escaping and as a result, at the end of the story, we see that she has lost her narrative; her writing has become less fluent and fragmented, with no structured pattern. This can be seen on the last two pages with the extensive use of exclamation marks. There would be many social consequences of the narrator’s actions. By setting free the woman, it implies that the narrator and the woman are very much the same, as they are both trapped; the yellow wallpaper is trapping the woman, but the barred windows and society are trapping the narrator.

Facebook Case Analysis

Case Study: Facebook| Introduction Recently, the social networking sites are getting much more popular on the internet. They are playing a vital role in the way that individuals can easily create their own online profiles, construct their identities and help communicate with each other. Literally, there are many social networking sites worldwide; however, Facebook is the most well-known one since the number of its visitors is significantly increasing.Historically, Facebook was founded almost nine years ago by three undergraduate students of Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg and his two colleges, where it was firstly used by the members who have only ‘. edu’ email addresses. A month later since Facebook had been launched; it was spread very fast where it was used by the majority of Harvard students, then the number of Facebook users increased rapidly after Zuckerberg had left Harvard and move to California in order to make the site expanded more and more (Valenzuela, Park, Kee, 20 08). The majority of the individuals who are surfing the internet, spend lots of time on Facebook.They are able to visit their own profiles as well as they can even browse profiles of other people and share interests like photos, games and information (Mikolaj et al. , 2011), (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). In this paper, there are a number of questions concerning the Facebook and will be answered. Question 1: Why do people use Facebook, and what do they do when they are on the site? What are the implications of this behaviour for individuals, organizations and for Facebook? Facebook is one of the social networking sites, which has become the most popular site globally (Lipsman, 2011).The number of individuals who registered in Facebook site reached a billion about four months ago (Mikolaj et al. , 2011). Generally, individuals are doing a variety of activities using Facebook platform on the internet. People have a great opportunity to create their own public profiles, in which their old an d recent information can be browsed, where Facebook users are able to write their personal information on their own profiles like names, living places, interests, study programs, contact details, photos and pictures as well as the other favoured sites (Hargittai, 2010). In addition, Facebook nables the individuals to communicate and connect with distant friends, colleagues and strangers, showing and sharing their lists of connections as well as extend and strengthen their relationships and friendships, meet each other and sharing their interests, and they can even share the media content (Griffiths & Kuss, 2011). People can also shop online using Facebook browsing shopping pages, seeking for groups or members, and browse people’s walls (Mikolaj et al. , 2011). Moreover, Facebook users are able to play free social games such as Zynga, which in turn would help them connect with the other communities.According to Piskoriski (2011), there was a survey done by Information Solution Group demonstrated that more than 30 percept of Zynga game players pointed out that the games enabled them to connect with family and present friends whereas another third admitted that playing games on Facebook made them connect with old friends and one third used them in order to make new friends. Additionally, concerning the effect of Facebook on organisations, organisations are using Facebook platform to make their names much more well-known which in turn leads to increase their sales and profits (Mikolaj et al. 2011). Actually, there are two main factors that have made Facebook the most popular social site internationally: Firstly, the need to belong, secondly, the need to view limitation. All those factors could be influenced by several variables such as demographic and personal attributes, and social and cultural background (Ashwini & Stefan, 2012). In contrast, using Facebook could be leading to the negative consequences. In other words, the increasing hours people spend on line, may be indicative of potential addiction particularly for students (Griffiths & Kuss, 2011).Grabmeier (2010) claimed that there is a strong link between using Facebook and low grades achievement at universities. This is correlates with the recent study showed that â€Å"Facebook users had lower grade academic performance and spent less time studying than students who did not use this social networking sites† (Griffiths & Kuss 2011, 10). Furthermore, Griffiths and Kuss (2011) claimed that Anecdotal case study evidence reported that some Facebook addicts are more likely to have potential mental health problems.Moreover Accessibility of the others’ privacies using Facebook could also be considered as one of the negative impacts of using Facebook. Question 2: How can organizations leverage Facebook for commercial purposes? How effective are company pages on Facebook? Facebook platform is playing a crucial role in commercial purposes, particularly for companies. They are able to create free profile page in order to post information about their products and receive comments about them, as a result, Facebook might invest more in order to enhance advertising products (Mikolaj et al. , 2011).Additionally, further investment in this social site assist the firms improve their own applications, letting the Facebook users engaged in some social events that they might be interested in and consequently the relationship between the firms and their fans would be strengthened (Mikolaj et al. , 2011), (Piskoriski, 2011). Facebook also made new business pages which permitted businesses, brands, products, artists, and public figures to build free custom Facebook pages and attract Facebook users to like them so that users would then see status updates, pictures and videos which posted by the organisation on their page (Mikolaj et al. 2011). This can create an effective negotiation between the firms and their fans. Companies can also advertise their pages on Face book to be liked by users. New advertising products were improved using Facebook which in turn leveraged its users in terms of social relationships (Mikolaj et al. , 2011), (Piskoriski, 2011). To illustrate, friends of a certain company would see ads about that company regularly (Mikolaj et al. , 2011). As a result, Facebook has achieved massive financial benefits from those developers and applications.Question 3: Regarding the Facebook platform, what role does it play for both individuals and organizations? Facebook has some approaches that make it different from other social sites. For example, Facebook users are able to browse each other’s profiles as long as the profiles’ owners allowed that (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Moreover, Facebook permitted users to add applications in order to enhance their profile and they were set up by Facebook developers (Mikolaj et al. , 2011).One of these applications is games, where more than 40 % of Facebook users had been attracted to play games by 2011. A year after Facebook extended its API to comprise other actions, such as listening to music or reading an article and might be also shared with other users (Mikolaj et al. , 2011). Facebook platform also play a significant role in increasing the profitability of the firms. The immense increase in the number of the Facebook users has made it much more attractive to the traditional companies (Piskoriski, 2011).Firms started to create application platforms and look for new customers and engaging the existing ones on Facebook site by advertising and offering new special prices and posted them on their own profile page (Piskoriski, 2011). As a result, the number of visitors to that profile page of that firms would be increasing which led to a substantial increase in the number of users who are interested in the their applications and brands. Individuals can also see other brands using advertisements for those brands on Facebook. Then the firms’ incomes would b e increasing dramatically. Question 4:Finally, review the final paragraph on page 14. How would you respond to these questions? What should Facebook concentrate on? Recently, there has been a huge collaboration between firms and Facebook platform in terms of commercial aspects. In fact, offering free profile pages on Facebook has made it much more attractive and valuable to many companies. Firms have been able to utilize this feature by doing businesses with Facebook through which they capable to advertise their brands and products on Facebook users’ profiles so that companies can increase their revenues (Mikolaj et al. , 2011).In addition, Facebook application developers have great opportunities to create additional applications, and update and enhance the old ones based on users’ interests due the massive increasing in the number of Facebook visitors who have different desires and needs (Egele et al. , 2012). Therefore, Facebook plays an essential role in products di spersal and increasing sales and then profits of the firms as a result of advertising and applications. Facebook should be focusing on deploying much more effort in order to support its businesses with organisations based on the interests of the users.Development its tools is another factor that can increase its attraction to the investors and then increase profits. There is also an important issue that Facebook should concern about which is privacy in terms of data hankering. Facebook should be aware of keeping its users privacies secure. Otherwise, it will lose its admiration in terms of limiting the objectives for both individuals and companies (Fowler & Geoffre, 2010). Conclusion There is no social networking site as popular as Facebook. It can be used either for communication between individuals worldwide or for commercial aspects.Facebook has several advantages in terms of strengthening the social relationships as well as providing new marketing strategies which in turn leads to the increasing the growth of economy. Nevertheless, Facebook has some negative impacts such as students’ achievement and browsing the others’ privacies. In general, Facebook is experiencing massive challenges to keep and advance its reputation. 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