Students Are More Tech Savvy Than Ever Before - 1900 Words

Today’s students are more tech-savvy than ever before. â€Å"It’s almost like they are programed to learn differently than traditional past methods† (Wainwright, 2015). Having technology in the classroom does not necessarily replace a great teacher, but a combination of a great teacher and a classroom with technology usage can result in great education. â€Å"It is important to intergrade technology in the classroom since it has become so integral to the world outside of the classroom and todays students are accustomed to in† (Wainwright, 2015). Since most of our students coming into our classroom have had technology in their hands since they were very young, it is only natural that we as teachers must continue the use of allowing technology in our classrooms to keep our students engaged in what we are teaching. â€Å"When we’re engaged in something, we do better at it. That’s as true of learning as it is anything else: an engaged st udent is more likely to learn and succeed than a disengaged one† (Teacherkit, 2015). According to Visual Teaching Alliance, 70% of the population is visual learners which explain why our students in our classrooms prefer to learn through pictures and video verses words and speech. Describing things in words isn’t always a very effective method to teaching our today students; however, adding video clips to explain concepts creates a much clearer picture for our students and is more entertaining. Our students are social and love being a part of aShow MoreRelatedA New Term Has Emerged In Education Recently That Has Teachers1070 Words   |  5 PagesA new term has emerged in education recently that has teachers unease with how they feel about it. The ever so emerging â€Å"flipped classroom† technique is starting to become integrated in several classrooms today. The reason so many teachers are suspicious of the technique, is because it is foreign and rather new. Traditional styled teachers are struggling to accept the new style due to the deranged forms of learning. Whereas the newer teachers are excited to track progress and learn new techniquesRead MoreHuman Resource Practices And Policies Designed By Neil Howe1096 Words   |  5 Pagesthough much of it is contradictory. In fact, Millennials are full of contradictions, which, of course, may explain the youth of any generation. Most consistent is that this generation is technically savvy, almost as if it has a digital sixth sense. A wired, connected world is all that Millennials have ever known. The Challenge The nearly 80 million Millennials who are about to enter or who are already in the workforce will fundamentally change how business is conducted in the future. Human resourceRead MoreMy Life As A Parent956 Words   |  4 Pagespeople in my life, and I have been even more blessed in the last two years to watch all of these people love my children in ways that I cannot. Currently, this love mostly involves giving my oldest cookies, but I am sure that these roles will continue to evolve as my daughters get older. It takes a village. Educating students and preparing them for â€Å"the real world† is an insurmountable feat. In addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, students must be tech-savvy, media literate and effective communicatorsRead MorePros And Disadvantages Of Technology890 Words   |  4 PagesIn today’s world, children partake the advancement of technology more specifically smartphones, computers, laptops, and anything else that has access to the internet. With this come the dangers of exposing children to ideas and including access to the expansive web. Throughout this time magazine article Eliana Dockterman seeks to sway her addles parental audience that technology is beneficial to our children; however Dockterman bias on this topic diminish her ethos and leaves her audience undecidedRead MoreNew Business Model Of College Students995 Words   |  4 PagesCollege students who have to have certain kind of software for school often find themselves in a predicament when they cannot afford software that they need for a class whether it be for an English major or Graphics Design major. Students are facing a new business model where companies like adobe and Microsoft Office are making their software into a monthly payment instead of a one-time pay for the software. Software companies should not have their software on a monthly payment for students becauseRead MoreTechnology vs. the Human Brain876 Words   |  4 Pagesmost effective when it comes to creating overall well-rounded thinking. I agree with Carr on this issue and I have noticed that technology alters the way one thinks, has caused society to become reliant upon it, and in turn strongly impacts college students like myself. Nicholas Carr explains the idea that technology may have changed the way individuals today think. This is explored farther by Bruce Friedman, a blogger about computers in medicine, who confirms that technology has played a huge roleRead MoreFacebook Has Changed The Way People1397 Words   |  6 Pagestime the book was written). Even more astonishing the number of people join was about 5 percent a month. â€Å"Were the growth rate if both Facebook and the Internet to remain steady, by 2013 every single person online worldwide would be on Facebook†. To me that is an amazing fact and shows not only how popular Facebook is but how it truly changed the way people connected and communicated. According to author David Kirkpatrick Facebook is a â€Å"platform for people to get more out of their lives,† and an â€Å"entirelyRead MoreThe Learning Potential Of E Books1450 Words   |  6 Pagescommon knowledge that students possess different learning styles than those of genera tions before them. In the essays by Marc Prensky â€Å"Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants† (2001) and â€Å"Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?† (2001) the author clearly argues a need to adapt to students modern learning styles. In Lotta Larson’s â€Å"The Learning Potential of e-Books† (2015) Larson also argues the clear benefits of eLearning for today’s students. Finally, is Naomi SRead MoreThe Digital Of Digital Literacy Essay1403 Words   |  6 PagesContext Digital literacy has been an ever steady presence in today’s society. It is time to bring digital literacy into mainstream America. It is no longer acceptable to wave aside the need for computer literacy; people more than ever need the ability to access information that can benefit them in an array of ways. In order for adults to have the ability to obtain valuable resources and services that they might be able to access, engage in critical thought involving everyday issues such as shoppingRead MoreOnline Classes Vs Traditional Classes1316 Words   |  6 Pages9 December 2015 Online vs. Traditional: Are online classes better than traditional classes? Although online classes can seem easier due to not having to deal with the physical peer pressure in a traditional schooling environment, they are not always easier. It is effective to learn in a traditional classroom, but a great aspect of online learning is not having to be face-to-face with the professor. There are many students who just simply want to learn in a comfortable and quiet environment

Should Marijuana Be Legalized - 1121 Words

Zoned out looking, T-shirt wearing Grateful Dead slacker, long hair and unwashed, their brain cleansed out with any thought is a stereotypical marijuana user. The thought of someone like this makes people cringe. Society looks at marijuana as a drug that people go to, so they are able to escape their problems and worries. The older population seems to oppose the legalization of marijuana while younger age groups along with ethnic groups tend to be more open to legalize the use of marijuana. Marijuana is one of many substances that have acquired a lot of awareness in recent years. However, marijuana is one of the most misunderstood drugs on the market. Legalizing marijuana is a very controversial issue in the American society. Although†¦show more content†¦However most of todays society thinks marijuana is a threat to the world, but Couloumbis states â€Å"It is time to legalize medical marijuana, because we should not deny doctor-recommended treatment that could help peopl e suffering from seizures of cancer patients affected by chemotherapy.† Doctors and nurses should be allowed to use their resources to cure or to help a patient in need. Unlike other drugs, marijuana is not addictive. On the other hand, some people say that marijuana is a â€Å"gateway drug†. However, just because marijuana smokers are more expected to use a higher compelling drug, does not imply that smoking marijuana causes you to try other drugs. For instance, people who smoke marijuana before are willing to try other drugs just to get a stronger â€Å"high†. People who have never smoked are not going to have that urge. It simply means that most people who don t smoke marijuana are highly unlikely to try other drugs. Legalization of marijuana can be used to help Veterans and NFL Players to overcome painful and challenging obstacles. As soldiers go and fight for our country they are scarred by the traumatic experiences that they face. Many military service members come back home and are tested for Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). People who suffer from PTSD often suffer from flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, and emotionally feeling numb. These symptoms can significantly impair a person’sShow MoreRelatedShould Marijuana Be Legalized?849 Words   |  4 Pageswhether marijuana should be legalized. Around 23 states have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use. In the state of Illinois, medicinal use of marijuana has been passed on April 17, 2013. Since January 2014, patients are able to obtain marijuana with a doctor s recommendation. The new debate is whether marijuana should be legalized for the general public as a recreational drug. Although some believe that marijuana is harmless, and that it has beneficial medicinal uses, marijuana shouldRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1715 Words   |  7 PagesMarijuana in Society Cannabis, formally known as marijuana is a drug obtained from the tops, stems and leaves of the hemp plant cannabis. The drug is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Only substances like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are used more (â€Å"Marijuana† 1). In the U. S. where some use it to feel â€Å"high† or get an escape from reality. The drug is referred to in many ways; weed, grass, pot, and or reefer are some common names used to describe the drug (â€Å"Marijuana† 1). Like mostRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1489 Words   |  6 Pagescannabis plant or marijuana is intended for use of a psychoactive drug or medicine. It is used for recreational or medical uses. In some religions, marijuana is predominantly used for spiritual purposes. Cannabis is indigenous to central and south Asia. Cannabis has been scientifically proven that you can not die from smoking marijuana. Marijuana should be legalized to help people with medical benefits, econo mic benefits, and criminal benefits. In eight states, marijuana was legalized for recreationalRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1245 Words   |  5 PagesMarijuana is a highly debatable topic that is rapidly gaining attention in society today.   Legalizing marijuana can benefit the economy of this nation through the creation of jobs, increased tax revenue, and a decrease in taxpayer money spent on law enforcement.   Ã‚  Many people would outlaw alcohol, cigarettes, fast food, gambling, and tanning beds because of the harmful effects they have on members of a society, but this is the United States of America; the land of the free and we should give peopleRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1010 Words   |  5 PagesThe legalization of marijuana became a heated political subject in the last few years. Twenty-one states in America have legalized medical marijuana. Colorado and Washington are the only states where marijuana can be purchased recreationally. Marijuana is the high THC level part of the cannabis plant, which gives users the â€Å"high† feeling. There is ample evidence that supports the argument that marijuana is beneficial. The government should legalize marijuana recreationally for three main reasonsRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1231 Words   |  5 Pagesshows the positive benefits of marijuana, it remains illegal under federal law. In recent years, numerous states have defied federal law and legalized marijuana for both recreational and medicinal use. Arizona has legalized marijuana for medical use, but it still remains illegal to use recreationally. This is absurd, as the evidence gathered over the last few decades strongly supports the notion that it is safer than alcohol, a widely available substance. Marijuana being listed as a Schedule I drugRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1350 Words   |  6 Pagespolitics in the past decade would have to be the legalization of marijuana. The sale and production of marijuana have been legalized for medicinal uses in over twenty states and has been legalized for recreational uses in seven states. Despite the ongoing support for marijuana, it has yet to be fully legalized in the federal level due to cultural bias against â€Å"pot† smoking and the focus over its negative effects. However, legalizing marijuana has been proven to decrease the rate of incrimination in AmericaRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1145 Words   |  5 PagesLegalizing Marijuana Marijuana is a drug that has been actively used for centuries. This drug can be traced back to 2737 BC by the Chinese emperor Shen Nung. He spoke about the euphoric effects of Cannabis and even referred to it as the â€Å"Liberator of Sin.† Since early on, marijuana was seen as a medicinal plant that was recommended for medical uses. Marijuana is currently in schedule I, which means that physicians are not allowed to prescribe it in the United States (Hart, Ksir 2013). This drugRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?997 Words   |  4 PagesLegalize It: The Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana Should marijuana be legalized? Many Americans have been asked this question or have heard some type of news about the issue. Marijuana is commonly known as cannabis which refers to the dried up hemp plant cannabis sativa, even though marijuana is a plant and has no chemical additives it has been a tropic of controversy for many years but nowadays it is in the spotlight more than ever. For centuries, marijuana has been used by people throughout theRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized? Essay1457 Words   |  6 PagesSHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED? Marijuana is a drug that has sparked much controversy over the past decade as to whether or not it should be legalized. People once thought of marijuana as a bad, mind-altering drug which changes a person’s personality which can lead to crime and violence through selling and buying it. In the past, the majority of citizens believed that marijuana is a harmful drug that should be kept off the market and out of the hands of the public. However, a recent study conducted

Observation of Special Ed program Essay Example For Students

Observation of Special Ed program Essay For my visitation I went to the public high school in my hometown of Vineland, NJ. Due to time constraints I was not able to visit the school on a weekday when classes were in session. I did however get to witness another part of the special education/inclusion program called the Rooster Buddies. I did, however, get some information on the special education program from an administrator via phone and fax. The special education program at Vineland High School (VHS) is only seven years old. VHS is on a seven-period day, and the Severely Handicapped (SH), Special Day Class (SDC), and Resource Special Program (RSP) teachers are only assigned students two or three periods. The majority of students are only enrolled in a Special Education class one or two periods, depending upon their individual need. The breakdown of each individual section of the special education program at VHS looks like this: The administrator that I spoke to wrote in a fax the Special Education classes are transitioning into study skills classes so the teacher can provide additional help and support for the student to succeed in the regular class environment. During the four or five periods, when the teachers and instructional aides do not have students assigned to them, they are providing support for their students in the regular education classroom. The level of support is directly related to two factors: 1) What the student needs to be successful. 2) What the teacher needs to help the student succeed. So the support provided by the teacher may be provided daily in the regular education classroom, in the form of helping the student take notes, monitoring behavior, doing a lab activity, etc. The support may also take the form of weekly program checks with the regular education teacher, modifying and/or adopting curriculum, or teachers meeting informally to talk. As I mentioned before, I didnt get to actually sit in on a class but the weekend that I was home the Rooster Buddies were holding a fund-raiser. At the annual City Series basketball game between my alma-mater Sacred Heart and VHS the Rooster Buddies were selling an assortment of baked goods. The Rooster Buddies is a student club that was started with the intent of helping students with severe disabilities make the adjustment from a self contained classroom in a county special education school to the relatively unstructured experience of a large high school. VHS has over 4,000 students. There are more than 75 non-handicapped students in the club and they work with over 30 students who have disabilities ranging from severe physical handicaps to students with learning disabilities. At the game there were about 15 students without obvious handicaps and 4 students with visible physical handicaps. Since I was not with the administrator at the game I was unable to determine just how many of the seemingly normal students were non-handicapped. From what I saw, the students seemed to work well with each other and actually they were pretty efficient. At halftime they were really swamped by fans and they worked well. The physically handicapped students werent just ornaments. They actively participated, as much as they could. One of the students, Alex Ill call him, was apparently paralyzed from the waist down. He had full use of his upper body and was one of two kids taking money. Another student in a wheelchair, who appeared to be afflicted with a more serious handicap (perhaps a form of cerebral palsy) was using the tray on his chair as a table displaying various cookies. The purpose of the bake sale was to raise money for a trip to a local amusement park. I thought that this was a good way to entice non-handicapped students to participate in the program. .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 , .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .postImageUrl , .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 , .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2:hover , .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2:visited , .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2:active { border:0!important; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2:active , .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2 .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u985989b568fc40124ffb0c346895dae2:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Maturity Levels In Characters Essay Another thing that I noticed that I found encouraging was the fact that the students with handicaps were into the game, as fans. Up until about two minutes before halftime and then again two minutes into the third quarter the physically handicapped students found their way out into the gym and watched the game from right near the student section. They were cheering just like any other students and they were there participating .

Racial Profiling Against Aboriginal People free essay sample

For the historical reason, First nation people seldom get involved in the white-dominated society. To begin with, many aboriginal people, especially in North Saskatchewan, live in the Indian reserves, which is far away from cities. In the reserve, native people have their own way of dealing with matters, and quite a few of them that do not fit the modern society standards. According to an exclusive Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Postmedia News More than four out of five Canadians don’t want more money sent to aboriginal reserves unless proper, independent audits are conducted to ensure financial accountability. Secondly, 30 percent of the aboriginal population are tax-exempt. In other words, first nation group make less contribution to the society than any other group do and get more rewards than any other race groups in Canada though aboriginal welfare system. Also, the contrary between the extremely low fee on the aboriginal students and the very limited amount of them are willing to receive higher education is very disturbing to many Canadians, therefore, it’s no surprise that many people are questioning is it wise for government to pay huge amount of taxpayer’s money on aboriginal education. We will write a custom essay sample on Racial Profiling Against Aboriginal People or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page What’s more, given certain Indian culture backgrounds, it seems like amongst all racial groups in Canada, First nation people are most likely to get involved in serious social problems, such as illegal Gambling, drug problem, female abusing and even the high suicide rate in aboriginal youth. In 2004-05, Aboriginal offenders represented 16. 2% of the total federal offender population and 20% of the provincial/territorial offender population, while Aboriginal adults accounted for only 2. % of the Canadian adult population in the last Canadian census(Tanya Rugge). Due to the overrepresentation within the criminal justice system, the stereotyped image of uneducated, violent aboriginal people is rooted in many people’s head even they often denying for being racists. Like Mrs. Wegner, the mother of one of the victims said in the documentary:† We are not valued as human being—we are Indians. †(Hubbard). Lastly, the authority structures failed to address raci al profiling effectively. In the documentary, RCMP did not hold a clean and full investigation on those two officers who were the top suspects of murdering Rodney Naistus and Lawrence Wegner, they ended up to serve 4 months sentence behind the bar, they almost gone scot-free. Even though in the movie, a new chief is hired and he meant to fix the relationships with aboriginals, but individual’s effort can’t fix the flaws in the whole criminal justice system, nor stopped another native man, Neil Stonechild, to die out of cold shortly after his meeting with aboriginal elderly. In a word, the racial profiling is seems to be inevitably, since the legal system produces and reproduces the essential character of law as a means f rationalizing, normalizing, and legitimizing social control on behalf of those who hold power and the interests they represent(Carol. Tator,Henry, Frances 2006) In conclusion, racial profiling leaves real and direct consequences to people who experiencing it. Isolating and distorting is no way near the solutions, only with joined efforts, we could forge an empowering future for both aboriginals and non-aboriginals people. Reference 1 â€Å"two worlds Colliding†, Tasha Hubbard . 10 February 2005 (Canada). 2 Michael Woods, â€Å"Majority of Canadians concerned about financial accountability on First Nations reserves: poll†. Postmedia News , 13/01/15. 3 Tanya, Rugge. lt;Risk assessment of male aboriginal offenders: A 2006 perspectivegt;. Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, 2006. 4 Carol,Tatoramp;Henryamp; Frances.? Racial Profiling in Canada: Challenging the Myth of a Few Bad Apples?. University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2006.

Fast food and fine dining Essay Example

Fast food and fine dining Essay Example Fast food and fine dining Essay Fast food and fine dining Essay Fast food and Fine dining Last Friday, my friends and I went to a fine dining restaurant in the afternoon. It as the best day of my life because it was the first time I ate a delicious food In the states. It reminds me of the good days in my country. It Is tough to find a fine dining restaurant in the states, because the fast food restaurants are countless. While the fast food Is great, but the fine dining Is the best food I ever taste. Both fine dining, and fast food there food are delicious, and tasty. Both of the restaurants cost money, not only the fast food makes you gain weight, but also the nine dining makes you gain weight. Both of the fast food and the fine addling serve the person drinks and appetizer. The people are eating In these restaurants every day. However there are some differences, first the prices, then the kind of people who eats the food, after that the kind of food. First the prices of the fast food Is very cheap it begins from 3 to 10 dollars a meal with drinks and appetizer, but the fine dining is very prick it begins from 30 to 200 dollars a meal without the drinks and the appetizer. Secondly most of the poor people eat the fast food, but the rich people always eat the fine dining. : And thirdly the foods that are served in the fast food are burgers, fries, pizza, pasta, and the drinks are beer, cola, sprite, and Dropper. But the fine dining they serve lobster, steaks, caviar, and oysters, and the drinks are wine, bourbon, martini, and champagne. There is no problem with the difference but both of them are delicious and tasty. In conclusion, these types of food have some similarities between them; they have a lot of differences too. But both of them people like to eat these types of food. These types of food are similar by eating them the person gain weight because they are very tasty and delicious.

Sodium in Water Chemistry Demonstration

Sodium in Water Chemistry Demonstration The sodium in water chemistry demonstration illustrates the reactivity of an alkali metal with water. This is a memorable demonstration that creates a spectacular reaction for students. Still, it can be performed safely. What to Expect A small piece of sodium metal will be placed in a bowl of water. If a phenolphthalein indicator has been added to the water, the sodium will leave a pink trail behind it as the metal sputters and reacts. The reaction is: 2 Na 2 H2O → 2 Na 2 OH- H2(g) The reaction is especially vigorous when warm water is used. The reaction may spray out molten sodium metal and the hydrogen gas may ignite, so use proper safety precautions when conducting this demonstration. Safety Precautions Never use a piece of sodium larger than a pea or pencil eraser.Wear safety goggles.Perform the experiment behind a clear safety barrier or at a distance from the students. Materials Sodium metal stored under mineral oilA 250 mL beaker, filled halfway with waterPhenolphthalein (optional) Procedure Add a few drops of phenolphthalein indicator to the water in the beaker. (Optional)You may wish to place the beaker on an overhead projector or video screen, which will give you a way to show the reaction to students from a distance.While wearing gloves, use a dry spatula to remove a very small chunk (0.1 cm3) of sodium metal from the piece stored in the oil. Return the unused sodium to the oil and seal the container. You can use tongs or tweezers to dry the small piece of metal on a paper towel. You may wish to allow the students to examine the cut surface of the sodium. Instruct the students that they can look at the sample but must not touch the sodium metal.Drop the piece of sodium into the water. Immediately stand back. As water dissociates into H and OH-, hydrogen gas will be evolved. The increasing concentration of OH- ions in the solution will raise its pH and cause the liquid to turn pink.After the sodium has reacted completely, you can flush it with water and rinse it down the drain. Continue to wear eye protection when disposing of the reaction, just in case a bit of unreacted sodium remained. Tips and Warnings Sometimes this reaction is performed using a small piece of potassium metal instead of sodium. Potassium is even more reactive than sodium, so if you make the substitution, use a very small piece of potassium metal and expect a potentially explosive reaction between the potassium and water. Use extreme caution.

109SAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

109SAM - Essay Example Research indicates that bureaucracy is one of the key indicators for a civilized society/ organisation (Flohr, 2010). Some of the merits of democracy include: it act as a tool for ensuring success and efficiency within an organisation. It furthers helps to coordinate different people to work together to achieve a common goals. In addition, bureaucracy helps to define roles that of each person in an organisation should execute. For example, some of the key roles hire include: finance role, managerial roles, human resource roles, accounting roles, legal roles, marketing roles to mention just but a few. In addition, less time is consumed in a bureaucratic structure because there are fewer consultations involved. Bureaucracy provides the top level managers with an opportunity to exercise greater control of organisation decision and strategies this further helps towards proper implementation of organisation decisions. Bureaucratic organisation structure tends to have a clear chain of comm and as well as define lines of reporting. Other merits of democracy may be observed from the government perspective. For example in case of a country, bureaucracy helps to protect it against external and internal aggression via establishment of central intelligence units and armed forces. In above connection, it helps to sustain a strong economy through the establishment of Export-Import bank, securities as well as protection of public goods (Media and Ingram, 2013). On the contrary, bureaucracy tends to have some disadvantage. Among disadvantages of bureaucracy include; it denies the participants an opportunity to think independently and hence, discouraging creativity and innovativeness. Bureaucracy tends to be so mechanistic and rigid; this discourages adaptability to contemporary market, legal and industrial changes. In addition, in a bureaucratic organisation, employee in lower levels of management tends to be less satisfied with the decisions made by top, management because the y are not involved in making those decisions and hence they tend to lack accountability in implementing those decisions. In addition, bureaucratic structures tend to be so much centralized rather than decentralized and hence making it difficult for people with a brilliant ideas to contribute. Bureaucratic organization denies employees morale due to repetitiveness in the nature of task undertaken. This it is rare for employees to shift from one job to the other. Additionally, bureaucracy may not be suitable for a small organisation because it. In a bureaucratic organisation there is usually an aspect of goal displacement as because instead of pursuing overall organisation objectives individuals tend to pursue their own goals and interest (Media and Ingram, 2013). There are various theories of bureaucracy for example, max Weber theory, monopolistic model and the theory of acquisitive. Marx Weber theory of democracy comprises of five characteristics that include: specialization, whereb y, employees should be allotted that task that they can do perfectly. The second characteristic involves division of labor; this implies that work should be divided into smaller and manageable task. The third characteristic entails hierarchical whereby, an organisation should have a clear chain of authority where employees can report to one senior. The fourth characteristic entails standardization of operating procedures. This involves explaining employees on how they are suppose to execute the task (Spark notes, 2013). PORTFOLIO ITEM 2: Culture Cultural awareness entails the ability to think not only about ourselves but

Research how to prepare for an interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research how to prepare for an interview - Essay Example Several factors used to reach a salary level include the supply and demand of labor, education level and experience of employees, competition, geographic location and the organization offering the job (Krugman, 2007). When certain job markets demand a high supply of labor, but there is a shortage of enough qualified individuals to take them up, employers will offer the few available higher salary tags in a bid to attract and retain them. Those who possess the necessary knowledge, skills and experience, stand to receive a higher salary offer (Krugman, 2007). Another factor determining salary is the geographic location of the employees’ posting. For example, an organization may be having branches in various states, and a new employee is to be posted to a state different than the one the interview occurred. Such an employee will receive a higher salary to compensate his moving away from his home state (Krugman, 2007). Furthermore, geographically different regions have different living costs; thus different regions will offer different salaries for the same job and experience (Krugman, 2007). There are some states whose minimum wages exceed the federal minimum rate, and in those states, the employer pays whichever is higher. Employers also base their salary rates on what their competitors are paying. After running searches and getting an idea of what the competition pay, most employers will offer higher salaries in order to outbid them in acquiring the best skilled employees available. In cases where the government is the employer, government guidelines determine salaries. For example, the price of the bid or tender placed on the project for which the employee, or subcontractor, is being hired will play a part in determining their pay. Factors that cause salaries to differ within the same position include the industry, responsibilities, education

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking Essay Example for Free

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking Essay Social networking sites have become extremely popular among the youth as well as the professional people. Keeping in mind, the growing popularity of these sites and the effect it has and the benefits that it brings along, it can be easily predicted that its popularity is sure to grow much more. The social networking websites are more like the virtual meeting places where people can just chill and hang out with friends. They can discuss on different topics, share information, and exchange files and pictures. We admitted the fact that using social networking is one way to enhance our social interaction with other people. Because of our technologies there are many ways that can help our works faster and easier. However, everything has a positive and negative side. Similarly, the social networking sites are also made up of their set of advantages and disadvantages; it is a one way to communicate our distant relatives or families, it’s a big help for the people who needs jobs especially there are online jobs offered in social networking and also it’s a way for some students who wants to finish their study due to their personal problems because there are many distance learning here in social networking. But among those advantages we can get from social networking, there are still many disadvantages that can affect to the users. Students are the one who are really affected for the disadvantages of social networking. According to the some surveyors many students are addicted to some social networking. That can lead them not to go to their classes’ hours. There are some social networking’s that are prohibited for minor children. Because of that, the cases now for the minor children like harassment, rape and etc. are getting higher. Because some are getting influence by what they have saw or learned from that social networking. In using social networking, it must be minimal and the users should know how it affects to her /his life so that there will be no regrets at the end. Do whatever you want as long as it can lead you on a better way and a peaceful life.

The Pathophysiology of Hepatitis B Essay -- Health, Diseases

Introduction Hepatitis B, an infectious disease caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV, a DNA virus), was formerly called serum hepatitis, inoculation hepatitis and post-transfusion hepatitis. Infection with HBV may result in acute, fulminant or chronic hepatitis, sometimes even resulting in a chronic asymptomatic carrier state, apart from hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis (Davis 179). The disease is transmitted when an individual comes in contact with infected blood or objects. It may also be transferred from an infected mother to her infant either during or after birth (Zuckerman et al. 211). Transmission may also occur by accidental inoculation from infected needles and hospital equipment, intravenous drug abuse, body piercing, tattooing, and mouth-mouth kissing (Zuckerman et al. 210). The risk of Hepatitis B is particularly high in individuals with multiple sex partners, and in homosexuals. The HBV virus occurs in morphologically different forms in the serum of infected individuals. HBV infection has an incubation period of about 75 days. Systemic symptoms of the disease include fatigue, fever, dyspepsia, arthralgia, malaise, and rash, while local symptoms include hepatomegaly, jaundice, dark urine, and pale stools (Davis 179; Zuckerman et al. 210). Anatomical/physiological/biochemical changes that lead to the disease Hepatitis B results from cellular injury to the liver, subsequently affecting its metabolic functions. However, the HBV is not cytopathic by itself. The pathogenesis of Hepatitis B occurs as a result of the interactions between the host’s immune system and the virus. The host immune system targets HBV in liver cells (hepatocytes), inadvertently causing damage to the liver. HBV derived proteins (... ...BeAg), bilirubin level, and platelet count (Pyrsopoulos and Reddy). The disease prognosis can be done by calculating the prognostic index based on the status of these six variables. Conclusion HBV infection is complex and affects a large population worldwide. The discovery of the Australia antigen (HBsAg) in 1965 by Blumberg et al. (1965) set the stage for rapid progress in understanding and counteracting the disease (qtd in Zuckerman et al. 210). Liver function tests help in estimating the extent of damage caused to the liver during HBV infection. Diagnosis is done by detecting viral specific antigens in the serum. Both active and passive immunization options exist for disease prophylaxis. However, it is always best to practice caution over the parenteral, sexual and other routes of transmission of the disease for effective disease prevention and prophylaxis.

Alexander the Great’s Policy of Fusion Essay

From his conception, Alexander was destined for greatness. Born to Olympias, Princess of Epirus and Phillip II, King of Macedon, passion and purpose were the driving forces of his young life. As a young boy, in Philips absence, he entertained Persian envoys and much to the surprise of the guests instead of asking about the Persian hanging gardens, he asked about the state of the Persian army and the roads. Clearly, at his tender age, his thoughts were already set on conquering. Years later, after the death of Philip in 336 BC, Alexander adopted Philips plans to conquer Persia and travelled across the Hellespont in order to rightfully earn his glory and write his name into the history books. In the years that followed, Alexander did just that, proving his tactical brilliance in battle and as a result, conquering the largest empire of the age. With Persians, Macedonians and Greeks under his rule, Alexander devised a policy that would ensure the smooth running of his empire. It has been dubbed by scholars as his ‘Policy of Fusion’. What was Fusion?! The dictionary deï ¬ nes fusion as: the process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity. In the case of Alexander, it refers to his ‘fusing’ of the Persians with the Macedonian and Greeks to create a super empire, combing the best of Persian and Macedonian Kingship. Alexander did not wish to destroy Persia and replace it with Macedonian rule, instead he took several actions to actively encourage the combination of the two cultures. His concept was simple: treat the natives as equal, not inferior, tolerate the native customs and religion and adopt some of the native  customs. According to Curtius Rufus, Alexander said: â€Å"Everything is taking on the same hue: it is no disgrace for the Persians to copy Macedonian customs nor for the Macedonians to imitate the Persians. Those who are to live under the same king should enjoy the same rights†. The nature of Kingship Macedonian The Macedonian nature of Kingship is that the King was ‘prima inter pares’- ï ¬ rst amongst equals. This meant that the King would not bask in splendour, he would wear the same clothes as his men and be approachable to them. (Alexander knew most of his men by name). The epitome of leading from the front, the King would play a major role in battles, earning respect from his men as they shared in the glory of victory. Persian! In stark contrast the Persian King had an exulted status as all subjects were required to perform proskynesis before him. He was considered to be god’s representative on earth. He lived a life of luxury and was attended by ushers, bodyguards and eunuchs. Access to the court was controlled by the Vizier. His dress was extravagant and set him apart from his subjects. He wore a purple tunic, gold cloak and belt and a jewelled scabbard. The vastly different styles of Kingship highlighted the need for a policy of Fusion. Similarities and Differences Philip: Philip’s policies for dealing with conquered people differed vastly to Alexander’s Policy of Fusion. For after the Battle of Chaeronea the Greek States were forced to become a member of the League of Corinth of which Philip was hegemon. From the Greek States money, men and allegiance was needed to ensure peace. Although the Greek states had ‘autonomy’ it was within the Macedonian parameters. A bit of an oxymoron really; incarcerated freedom. Strict Macedonian Garrisons and a pro- Macedonian Government were in play to maintain order and provide a tool if there was disorder. Conversely, Persians and Macedonians were encouraged by Alexander to co-exist and live together, enjoying the same rights and governed by the same rules under the same King. Wether the purpose of Alexander’s policies was ‘homonoia’, or as a practical means to rule or was an attempt to Helenize Asia- Persians beneï ¬ tted from his rule. In the case of Philip, the Gree ks did not receive the same treatment. Lycurgus once famously said: â€Å"The Battle of Chaeronea marked an epoch for all ages. With the dead was buried the freedom of Greece.† The purpose of Philip’s policies was entirely for the beneï ¬ t of Macedonia. Hamilton states that: â€Å"Philip’s policy was primarily aimed at the advancement of Macedon and for this he found Greeks useful, perhaps essential. Alexander and his contemporaries received a good Greek education and in them Greek culture was more securely rooted. But admiration for Greek culture need not imply a desire to secure the welfare of Greece†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Was Fusion even Alexander’s idea- Persian policies! Although it is hard to deï ¬ ne when exactly the idea ï ¬ rst ‘popped’ into Alexanders head, it certainly would have manifested itself during the Macedonians stay in Babylon. Because it was from here that he had the ability to fuse the two cultures, as after Gaugamela- the Persian Empire was effectively his. At the time Alexander’s policy was considered revolutionary, the complete opposite of the Macedonian dealing with conquered people. However, as Fox suggests without the â€Å"Persian background Alexander’s own plans for government have been made to seem unnecessarily radical.† Persians in fact, had been fusing ideas and cultures for generations as â€Å"two hundred years before Alexander, they had overthrown the empire of the Medes and annexed the ancient civilisation of Babylon, but in each case they had availed themselves of their subjects’ experience.† Alexander’s policy and the policy of the Persian King Cyrus (both e arned the title ‘Great’) were very similar. In around 550 BC Cyrus expanded his annexed Median and Persian lands to include the Fertile Cresent. After conquering â€Å"He adopted a policy of toleration toward the people he conquered. For example, he allowed them to speak their own languages, practice their own religions, and follow their own ways of life. He also declared the ï ¬ rst Charter of Human Rights. Etched on a clay cylinder, this charter set forth Cyrus’ goals and policies. His respect for the people made Cyrus popular and made it easier for him to create a peaceful and stable empire.† Reasons for Similarities or Differences! Philip had no reason to fuse the Greek and Macedonian cultures as, aside from Macedonian being governed by an absolute monarchy and the Greek States being governed by democracy the two cultures were fundamentally the same. This was because Macedonia was Hellenized. Alexander on the other hand, was dealing with two tangibly different cultures and needed fusion to effectively rule over both. There were also differences too between King Cyrus, and Alexander’s policies. King Cyrus’s policy worked. As the most important man of the nation, if Cyrus tolerated the Medes and the peoples from the Fertile Cresent, the rest of his subjects would have too. Unlike the Greeks and Macedonians, they did not believe themselves to be superior to the people they conquered. The nature of Persian Kingship ensured the stability of the empire for the next 200 years. Alexander would have known of Cyrus’s policy and could potentially have tried to mimic it, seeing as it was so effective. Without Persian Background Alexander’s own plans for government have been make to seem unnecessarily radical (Fox). Purpose The purpose of Alexanders Policy of Fusion has been widely debated. There are several arguments. On one hand, we have William Tarn’s utopian view of homonoia- Alexander’s desire for universalism, to create a ‘brotherhood of man’. On the other, we have the juxtaposed AB Boswoth’s view that Alexander did not really attempt to ‘fuse’ the two cultures together, instead he was really playing one off against the other. As discussed in Nicholas Ed Foster’s thesis, both Classical Historians have ï ¬â€šaws in their arguments. Tarn is perceived to practically worship Alexander and his achievements, focussing on creating the big picture of the great king, while overlooking massacres that occurred during the campaign. Bosworth does the opposite, as he focuses on the massacres and ignores Alexander’s intentions. There are other ideas surrounding the purpose of fusion, one is that it was used because it  provided the practical means to rule the two peoples. Other’s argue that fusion was an attempt to spread Greek culture. Brotherhood of Man At the time, Alexander’s ideas were considered revolutionary. His actions completely went against the ideas of Aristotle, where captured people were barbarians, treated worse than animals. Alexander changed this completely. When he declared that all men were alike sons of one Father and when, at Opis he prayed that Macedonian and Persians might partners in the commonwealth and that the peoples of his world might live in harmony and unity of heart and mind (Tarn). According to Curtius Rufus Alexander justiï ¬ ed his entire conquest by saying that he had hoped to annex his empire to many famous peoples. He also justiï ¬ ed his actions around marriage by saying that his intention â€Å"was to erase all distinction between conquered and conquerer†. Practical Means to Rule Alexander’s Policy of Fusion is considered by some to have stemmed from necessity. Put simply, fusion was a practical way to bring Hellenic and Eastern cultures under one rulethis was the purpose of it. Due to the vast expanse of the empire, the area simply became too large to be controlled solely by the Macedonian Army. Furthermore, â€Å"By appointing Persian satraps, or in many cases simply leaving them in their previous positions of power, Alexander was able to prevent the rise of dissent from the populace.† (Nicholas Ed Foster, Thesis LSU) Tamsin Woolf AS91397 Policy in Action: Alexanders Policy wasn’t a mere Policy of words, it was a Policy shown in action. Alexander showed his policy in various ways, both big and small. After entering Babylon, Alexander was quick to initiate his policy of fusion through action. His ï ¬ rst action, after entering the great city, was to restore the temples that were destroyed by Xerxes, including the great Temple of Bel, where he made a sacriï ¬ ce. Much to the surprise of the Macedonians, respect was shown to Persian nobility, especially to Kings of the past. Bessus, for the murder of Darius, was paid special attention. After having his face customarily mutilated and torturing him, Alexander â€Å"had him torn limb from limb. He had the tops of two straight trees bent down so that they met, and part of Bessus’ body was tied to each. Then when each tree was let go and sprang back to its upright position, the part of the body that was attached to it was torn off by the recoil. (Plutarch) Persians were given positions of power and included in Alexanders army. Previously considered ‘barbarians’ were made Satraps of provinces with the most signiï ¬ cant being Mazeaeus re-established as satrap of Babylon and Porus, being given back his rule after his defeat at Hydaspes. Alexanders elite Companion Cavalry which previously was comprised of men from the ranks of Macedonian nobility, who had proven their worth in the ï ¬ eld of battle now included Persian Lords. Alexander adopted the Persian dress, wearing the diadem along with a pure white robe and sash, a compromise between Persian and Median costume. â€Å"He may have done this from a desire to adapt himself to local habits, because he understood that the sharing of race and of customs is a great step towards softening men’s hearts.† (Plutarch) Like his father Philip, Alexander also used marriages for political reasons. Through his own marriages to Roxanne (the captive daughter of Oxyartes, a Bactrian noble), to Barsine, the eldest daughter of Darius and (according to Aristobulus) to Parysatus daughter of Artaxerxes Ochus, Alexander had linked himself with both branches of the Achaemenid Persian House. Alexander also encouraged marriages between his men and Persian women. This was demonstrated at the mass marriages at Susa which according to Hamilton: â€Å"brought to a climax his policy of fusing Macedonians and Persians into a single race.† It was at Susa that 90 of Alexanders men married noble Persian women at a mass celebration. The brides received considerable dowries. One of the most dubious enforced actions introduced by Alexander was the Persian court practice, proskynesis. Researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus observed the practice: â€Å"When the Persians meet one another in the roads, you can see whether those who meet are of equal rank. For instead of greeting by words, they kiss each other on the mouth; but if one of them is inferior to the other, they kiss one another on the cheeks, and if one is of much less noble rank than the other, he falls down before him and worships him.† As part of his Policy of Fusion, Alexander believed that the action would bring Persians and Macedonians together, however instead of this, it only managed to highlight the differences between races. While Persians already performed proskynesis to their King, for Macedonians, the action was reserved only for gods. Along with his other actions, Alexander ensured sustainability for the future and had 30,000 Iranian boys trained for the military, they were taught Greek, wore Macedonian attire and used Macedonian weapons. They were called ‘The Successors’. According to Arrian, Alexander called them his Epigoni- his inheritors. The title for the boys was apt as they would inherit the empire, and before Alexander’s death, they were obliged to him only. Persian Reaction: Implications and Impacts The Persian people viewed Alexander as a liberator, his actions repeatedly encouraged them to trust him. Unlike the Macedonians, the Persians did not have to do anything to be a part of Alexanders policy, instead, Alexanders actions encouraged the Macedonians to adopt Persian customs. Through sacriï ¬ cing to the Temple of Bel, ensuring a proper funeral for King Darius and hunting down Bessus for Darius’s murder, Alexander showed great respect for the Persian people and their customs. Before Persepolis Alexander’s men followed their leader blindly. They would die for him. They would die for the noble cause of punishing the Persians. As Alexander started to implement his Policy of Fusion discontent began to brew amongst the Macedonian Camp. Having to live in harmony with the ‘barbarians’ who they came to Asia to conquer was something they were not prepared for. This was something they struggled with as the Macedonians and  Greeks believed that they were the superior race. Furthermore, many Macedonians felt that Alexander was no longer loyal to them and thus became resentful. The strain in the relationship is shown through several events some of which are explicit reactions to fusion, while others are implicit. Division between Old Guard and New Guard The division of the Old and New Guard is shown through the Old Guard’s more extreme reactions to Alexander’s Policy of Fusion early on in the piece. Many of the Old Guard had fought under Philip and were used to his ways. This, combined with their distaste for the Fusion Policy and that the Old Guard felt that their actions at Battles past, had been forgotten created a divide between the young and old. Philotas and Parmenio In late 330 BC, in the early stages of the implementation of Fusion, a plot was hatched to kill the King. Philotas was informed to consult the King immediately, but failed to twice. Because of this he was connected to the plot and killed. Shot down by the Macedonian javelins together with his fellow conspirators (Arrian). There are several other factors that could have contributed to his death. Philotas was known to condemn the Policy. His death was a combination of Alexander’s growing insecurity concerning plots and the Macedonian resentment of Fusion. These factors blinded Alexander into believing Philotas’s guilt. There is no hard evidence to suggest Philotas’s guilt. The only proof of it appears to be his failure to organise an audience for Cebalinus or to inform Alexander of what he had been told (Hamilton). As a result of the danger of a Parmenio ï ¬ lled with vengeance at the death of his son, Parmenio was murdered too. These incidents prove how adamant Alexander was to continue with his policy, using brutality for the greater good of ensuring harmony between two peoples. Cleitus Cleitus the Black was the Commander of the Royal Squadron of Companion Cavalry and a friend of Philip. In Maracanda, 328 BC, at a drinking party Cleitus and some of the older members became offended by an insulting chant. The division between the old and young is highlighted as the â€Å"older members shouted their disproval of both the composer and the singer, but Alexander and those next to him listened with evident enjoyment and told the singer to continue Whereupon Cleitus who, besides being naturally surly and having a savage temper, was by now drunk, became extremely angry† (Plutarch). In his speech, Cleitus vented all his feelings over the last few years, particularly around fusion. â€Å"It was not right for Macedonians who were much superior to those who mocked them, even if they had met with misfortune, to be insulted before natives and enemies.† â€Å"The dead I call fortunate; they don’t live to see the Macedonians ï ¬â€šogged by the the rods of Medians and begging Persians for permission to have an audience with their king.† (Plutarch) †¦ â€Å"Go, and live with foreigners, slaves who will bow down before your Persian girdle and your white tunic.† (Plutarch) As a result of Cleitus’s comments, Alexander (who was also drunk) snatched a spear from one of his bodyguards and ran it through Cleitus. Proskynesis Historically, Persians had performed proskynesis when recognising someone of higher rank than them, as they had done to Darius, they prostrated themselves before Alexander. The action was not one of worship, merely recognising someone of higher rank. For the Macedonians however, the action was something only the slavish barbarians did. For them, the action was strictly reserved for gods. Despite Alexanders attempts to prove his divinity, he was human. What added salt to the wound was that before the campaigns he had adopted the historical Macedonian form of Kingship- prima inter pares- ï ¬ rst amongst equals. Despite knowing this, Alexander had counted in the action to enhance his fusion policy. In 327 BCE Alexander attempted to introduce proskynesis at a drinking party. According to Plutarch Alexander passed the cup to one of his friends, who took it, rose from his couch, turned to face the hearth, drank, and performed proskynesis before kissing Alexander and resuming his place. All the guests followed suit except for the philosopher Callisthenes, who refused to prostrate himself. One opposed to the action seems insigniï ¬ cant. Indeed, he was the only person to voice openly his disproval of what all the best and oldest of the Macedonians resented in their hearts. By preventing the introduction of this practise he saved the Greeks from great disgrace and Alexander from a greater (Plutarch). Mutiny at Opis One of the most illuminating examples of the Macedonian reaction to Fusion was the Mutiny at Opis- as it highlights the extent of the discontent  between Alexander and his troops. With a previous mutiny, conspiracies and the rejection of proskynesis already under their belt, the arrival of the ‘Successors’ in Susa was the tip of the iceberg for the Macedonians. The 30,000 Iranian boys arrived in Susa wearing Macedonian clothing and carrying Macedonian equipment, performing a dazzling display of discipline and deftness  before the Macedonian Army. At Opis, Alexander announced that he was releasing from the Army those who, because of old age or disablement, were no longer ï ¬ r for service and was sending them home (Arrian). This greatly vexed the Macedonian Army as they assumed that Alexander intended to replace them with the young ‘war dancers’ as they resentfully termed them (Hamilton). This assumption, combined with their distaste in Alexander’s dress throughout the campaign, his appointment (or re-appointment) of foreign Satrap leaders and inclusion of Persian in the Army (including into the prestigious Companion Cavalry) lead to their response. Arrian states that: â€Å"they did not stand passively in respectful silence, but shouted to him to dismiss every man of them and carry on with his ‘father’, mocking Ammon by this remark.† A mutiny against Alexanders actions as a result of his Fusion policy is signiï ¬ cant because it shows just how widespread the discontent was, this discontent was not something felt only by the Old Guard. Patterns of Reaction Fusion- Can we trust it?! Fusion rufï ¬â€šed the feathers of the Macedonians. It created tension which lead to recurring negative reaction. Although most Macedonians were opposed to  the policy from the outset, the Old Guard seemed more offended by it and people knew where they stood. The execution of Philotas and Parmenio and the murder of Cleitus show just how important the policy was to Alexander and how seriously he took opposition to it. As time went on war weariness and Alexander’s change in status from ‘ï ¬ rst amongst equals’ to Son of Ammon started to take a toll on the rest of the troops, the discontent in the Macedonian Army regarding fusion became more widespread, ultimately resulting in Mutiny. As none of the primary sources exist today, I have used all secondary sources in my report. This begs the question- can the sources be trusted? The secondary sources each used different primary sources from both the Good Tradition and the Vulgate. I used Arrian, Plutarch and Curtius Rufus. Arrian used mainly Ptolemy and Aristobulous but he also used Nearchus and Callisthenes. Plutarch used all sources, while Curtius Rufus used an unknown source, embellished with Cleitarchus who used sensational popular beliefs, rather than facts. This ultimately made Curtius Rufus less reliable than Arrian and Plutarch. However, it is highly improbable that the secondary sources used the primary sources word for word, rather they used the primary sources to back up their own conclusions about Alexander. There is also the question of what the primary sources had to gain from their writing. Although the good tradition are considered to be more reliable than the vulgate, they were all close to Alexander and potentially built up his achievements for their own personal gain. Conclusion: In conclusion, Alexander’s Policy of Fusion was implemented in order for Alexander to effectively govern both Persians and Macedonians. It sparked many negative reactions from the Macedonians who viewed themselves as superior. Initially the more extreme reactions were shown by the Old Guard, but with time, the whole of the army came to oppose the policy, as shown  through the Mutiny at Opis. Despite the opposition, Alexander chose to continue to pursue his policy with great perseverance. Bibliography Websites: http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=abbott&book=alexander&story=death Date http://www.livius.org/pp-pr/proskynesis/proskynesis.htm http://student.kc.school.nz/ClassWebs/ClassicsWeb/Classics301/Alexander%20The%20Great/ Alexander%20PwrPts/E.%20Alexander%20&%20the%20Macedonians/1.ThePolicyofFusion.pdf! http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04112005-150526/unrestricted/Foster_thesis.pdf http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDsQFjAE&url=http %3A%2F%2Feduco.vln.school.nz%2Fmod%2Fresource%2Fview.php%3Fid %3D4300&ei=WMlpU5XECIilkQXVkIHwBg&usg=AFQjCNExDT4GSgLAlubZldzs7r8rQUMag&bvm=bv.66111022,d.dGI http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/ca/books/bkf3/writing/02_empires.pdf Books Arrian. (1976) The Campaigns of Alexander, page 356 Penguin Classics Hamilton, JR. (1973). Alexander the Great. Hutchinson & Co (Publishers) LTD page 28 Plutarch. (1973). The Age of Alexander. Penguin Classics- page 301, 283 The History of Alexander Penguin Classics pages 244,245

Group decision making essay Essay

Introduction. Managers in today’s business environment are faced with numerous often-unplanned events that require decision-making. In the past it was more common for a manager to decide the course of action individually or within formal groups. Important decisions in the business circle are now deemed too risky or important to be made entirely by one person. A manager must seek the right advice from several different sources. Today it is often common for many managers to seek involvement from lower level employees in the decision making process whenever it can be done. However it is not always possible just to ask a colleague what they should do. Most decisions will require a process of a greater degree of subordinate participation; these decisions can be made through a variety of different ways such as committees, task groups, departmental participation and so forth. It is said that making decisions in a group allows for every angle to be looked at and every possible idea to be created with every decision from a group offering the best solution this method of decision making. However like many techniques it has its positives and negatives.It can be time consuming and may not offer an answer to the problem that satisfies everyone. This essay hopes to discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making using several theories and some real life case studies. We will see how participation in decision-making affects companies decisions; we will look at several helpful models i.e. vroom-jago model and all referencing it to real life situations and quotes from famous persons in the field Circumstances Of Group decision. Managers as part of their job are faced with many decisions in which they have to undertake, it is up to the managers themselves to decide in what kind of way they want to make the decision and solve the problem. However groups can offer an essential feature in decision making for an organisation. As Coghlan points out: â€Å"Membership of teams and groups shape perception and participation in organisational change.. Groups and teams play a key role in the process of planned organisational change. The change process typically involves teams in the organisational’s hierarchy responding to the change agenda and adapting to it in terms of its tasks and processes† (Coghlan) Coghlan statement clearly leads us to believe that groups are critical in making important direction changing decisions for the company. Evidence supports this statement and we will look at this a little later as we discuss the advantage and disadvantages. First we will look at how managers come about making the decision to use group participation. A manager may decide to use group decisions in several circumstances and the contingency model by Vroom and Yetton as well as the Vroom and Jago decision model can prove useful in helping management decide when to encourage group participation. In he contingency model by Vroom and Yetton there are five key management styles as described by Vroom that a manager can undertake to make decisions. This is shown in appendix 1. We can see from this that the amount of participation that a manager involves in a decision varies greatly. It would not be logical for managers to always  involve group decision-making on smaller problems such as whether to refund a customer (if it was something worth 10) this would be a waste of time and resources for the company and could easy be dealt with on the stop with a programmed decision by the staff. Group decisions as described by Coghlan can be very useful for important or company changing problems or opportunities. It would not be wise to let one person decide whether to invest 4 billions pounds to merge with another company. This is a case when it would be wise for the company to go for the style as vroom described as decision style â€Å"GII† i.e. where you share a problem with your subordinates as a group and implement any solution that has the entire support of the group. The Vroom and Jago decision model goes onto produce a decision tree for choosing a appropriate decision-making method.This decision tree allows the manger to move along the branches by answering the questions at each point. This leads to one of the five decision making styles as described in the Vroom Yetton model. However it has to be said that this model as well as models in general are neither right nor wrong they must be seen as guidelines or as a reference. However the Vroom-Yetton, Jago model must be seen as a useful tool in the aid of decision-making although it is not perfect. Looking at appendix 2 we can see that the model looks a little complex however once you reach the starting point QR we can see that the model is simply a set of high, low yes, no answers that guide you to an eventual decision style. This model has been criticized as being not perfect. However it is not possible for me to say these critics are not right or wrong only this model is neither. However support is growing for this model as more examples of its uses come to light. Advantages, Disadvantages To Group Participation. In today’s empowered work places managers involve all workers in decision making as a rule rather than choice. However companies must understand that  participative decision-making does has its disadvantages as well as it obvious advantages. It is seen that in business two heads are better than one. This can be true in some circumstances as it offers an advantage in terms of offering a boarder perspective to establish the problem and sort out its causes and effects. It also enables the company to have more ability and facts at its disposal therefore allowing for greater scope to sort out any potentially tricky problem. Group discussion leads to the evaluation and correction of possible decisions, plus group discussion also helps to back up and support a decision that an individual may not wish to take on his or her own due to the risk involved. And finally group discussion allows for more satisfaction from the workers, as they feel involved with the project and decision that their work place is taking. Group decisions however can tend to be time consuming, everyone must be consulted on the problem and then they must all find the time to jointly diagnose the problem and decide a solution. Groups may also have the problem of not using the best solution for the problem, although the group discussion allows for more ideas some members may not agree on the best solution and therefore a comprise solution will have to be used to gain group wide acceptance. A boarder instant of this would be the risky shift phenomenon, this suggests that instead of groups taking fewer risks and making safer decisions the reverse is often the case. There is a tendency for groups to make more risky decisions than an individual may take. Another point is that people inclined to make risks are more influential within the group than say the more conservative members, therefore good ideas could be lost. Group think is another problem that must be considered within a group. Group  think tells us that pressures on individual members to conform and reach consensus mean that minority or unpopular ideas maybe suppressed. Members who oppose the group are stereotyped as being weak, stupid, and argumentative. As People may not wish to question any ideas of the group, bad ideas may filter through. One other big problem to group think as see we see in the example of Napster is that it can lead to a inherent morality of the group which in turn can lead to members to be convinced of the logical correctness of what it is doing and to ignore ethical or moral consequences of decisions ( more harsher examples of groupthink would be Pearl harbour, Vietnam, Mullins99) The final problem is people do not feel the same sense of responsibility for group decisions or their outcomes. â€Å"A decision which is everyone’s is the responsibility of no one†(Mullins,98) An example of disadvantages of group decision-making and group think can be seen by www.napster.com. Even when it was clear that their practice of providing free mp3’s of the latest musical material was wrong they decided as a group in the face of the courts to continue their practice. This was because their group norms supported them doing so and that they were the most sought after website on the Internet. However group members of Napster had to compromise all their values so as to keep dissent and as there was no clear reasonability everyone agreed to this illegal practice. If some members would have voiced their concerns and beliefs earlier in the process and put an end to the practice before the courts took over they could have save themselves much time and money. However lets go back to advantages of group decision-making and look at the techniques used to promote it and stimulate creativity. Management have realized that encouraging employee participation in solving problems can be extremely advantageous toward the company. Frontline workers are constantly in touch with the needs, wants and concerns of the companies customers, it allows them fuller insight into how to possibly solve problems  that concern the company’s consumer base. When I first worked at Matalan they operated a system by where you could post any ideas you had on how to improve the operation of the store and its service to the customers. If you idea was put into practice you would receive a financial reward. This system received many replies and allowed for many improvements to be implemented around many Matalan stores. There are many different ways in which can pursue employee participation. The most common and well-known participation tool would be brainstorming. Brainstorming is a decision-making technique in which group members present spontaneous ideas and suggestions for solving the problem concerned. It allows any ideas regardless of how impractical they may seem. This in turn hopefully promotes freer and more creative thinking. Brain storming works on involving everyone, and encouraging communication, listening, and information sharing in the hope that it maximises ideas/possible solutions to problems and also minimises the risk of overlooking any points of the problem under question. An advancement of the brainstorming technique is the Delphi technique this is based on anonymous inputs from individual members of the group and then management assess the responses until a consensus is reached. This can be time consuming but overcomes the limitations of brainstorming and the systems of group think. Now Lets take for example many common marketing departments; it is now commonplace for them to have basketball hoops, televisions, computers games, and other stimuli within the room. Management hope this will promote a relaxed environment within the group in the hope that it will allow for more creative thinking and brainstorming within the marketing group Other techniques used for group decision making include signing a devils advocate. The devils advocate challenges the assumptions and assertions made by the group to prevent any premature consensus. (Daft,00) This it hopes  forces the team who created the idea to solve the problem to examine and explain any risks that maybe associated with it. Another similar approach would be multiple advocacy. Multiple advocacy, involves several advocates and allows for the presentation of several different points of view on the idea in question. It allows minority and unpopular opinions, decisions are therefore based on solid augment and the understanding of all the pro’s and con’s. Conclusion. As we can see there are circumstances where group decisions are more necessary than others and it is up to the managers to decide which situations would be best to involve group decision. Although the decision of when to involve group decisions is entirely up to the manager there are models available such as vroom to help give guidance should they need it. Group participation offers a variety of different advantages for solving problems and tasks. It allows for the group as a whole to participate toward solving the task and allows for more creative thinking than would be given by an individual. Groups cover all angles of a problem and enable any ideas to be looked at in detail before being implemented. However like all good things it has its disadvantages. Group participation includes such problems as groupthink and risky-shift phenomenon. These tell us that support can be given to ideas just to enable group harmony or because individuals don’t wont to gain a reputation. It also includes the point that people inclined to take risks are more influential within the group. Whatever the disadvantages and advantages of group participation and performance, groups will always form part of the pattern of work organisation. It is merely a matter of judgement for the manager as to when, and how best, to use groups in the execution of work.

Hiphops Impact on Society essays

Hiphops Impact on Society essays In The mid 70s a new culture emerged in The South Bronx section of New York City, little did anyone know that it would spread like a wild fire throughout the nation effecting not only the music industry, but Media, Fashion, marketing and advertising, and almost every aspect of modern society. It has reached beyond color barriers, and stretched past urban streets where it originated, reaching a status of a global phenomenon. This culture, this Movement is called Hip-hop. It always has been the voice of the youth even from its beginnings, which makes it an advertising goldmine. The Pepsi and Coca-Cola Companies have used Hip hop Artist or some reference to the culture in their Ad campaigns, as well as Reebok, Nike, who traditionally use Athletes to promote their products. Other Corporations have followed in the same trend. We, the youth of the United States are considered to be the Generation to spend the most money, so what better way for a Corporation to reach its Demo graph then to sell their products directly to them then by speak though their music. There isnt really a way for me to explain exactly how we have been effected by hip-hop without first taking you back in retrospect on its humble origins and show you how even then it was making ground breaking changes in the way we think, act and speak, even live. The hip hop movement was first produced in a poor African American and Latino Neighborhood in the Bronx, New York, It started as a new style of music, Provided by a DJ, mixing and blending rhythms and percussion to make the clearly distinctive hip-hop sound. The Music has strong ties to Jamaican dance hall music. The innovator of this technique of Mixing and using breaks went by the name of DJ KOOL HERC he was a native Jamaican who immigrated to the Bronx as a teen some call him the one of the leading pioneers of the early hip hop movement going as far as accrediting him as ...

5 Steps in a Full College Book Review Dig into the Work at Hand

5 Steps in a Full College Book Review Dig into the Work at Hand 5 Steps in a Full College Book Review: Dig into the Work at Hand Most college students find writing book reviews rather difficult than enjoyable. It is supposed to be a thorough description, critical analysis, and evaluation of a book. Students can confuse a book review with a book report or book summary. A book review is not a narration but rather a critical analysis. Book reviews mostly focus on the themes, ideas, relevance, and limitations citing evidence from the book. In general, a college book review should present a clear and detail oriented evaluation of the quality of the book. On average, a book review should be approximately 500-1000 words. However, the word count might differ depending on the complexity and length of the book. How to Write a College Book Review Though different book reviews may vary, when it comes to a tone, style, subject and length they all have the same format. So, the steps that you should take while writing a college book review corresponds to the parts you need to work on. Read and understand a book. After you get the task to write a book review, the first step you’re recommended to follow is to read and understand the book. No additional resources can reveal totally the book content. Understand all the themes in the book and the message the author intended to communicate to the audience. Without taking this step, there is no sense to pass on. Introduce the book and its author to readers. As you understand this part is supposed to be an introduction that includes all the relevant details about the author and his or her book you’re going to analyse the name of the author, the book title and the major theme. Besides, you can add the book edition, the place of publication if this information is mentioned in the book. Give the basic information about a book. This part is called a summary in which you should focus only on the key issues in the book. There is no room for narrating the whole story. In fact, this section should not be more than 200 words. Carry out a critical evaluation. This section is considered to be a main one which is mostly targeted by examiners. Your task is to evaluate and analyze based on the author’s perspective as well as your understanding citing evidence from the book. You are free to critique or even state the limitations of the book if any. Conclude your reading. The conclusion largely depends on the evidence you have presented in the main section. It is also important to note that no new evidence can be presented in the final paragraph. Answer the question if you would recommend the book to others by underpinning your statement. With this practical guideline, writing a book review should be like a walk in the park. And each step will surely bring pleasure to you if only you follow them correctly without skipping. In   case you doubt in writing any part of a book review, you always can be supported by our quick professional help in writing. Our academic writers are ready to deal with a custom book review as required by your instructor. Start meeting academic requirements together with our expert team.

Asian American women study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asian American women study - Essay Example These racial and gender complexities served to define what became of Asian American women who moved to the united states in the pre-1965 period. It is worth noting that it was not easy for Asian women to move into the United States even when they wanted to. The exclusion and restriction principles saw many women barred from gaining entry into the United States despite their husbands working in America. The application of the restriction law only contributed to the formulation of multiple barriers that served to prohibit Asian women from joining their husbands in the United States (Espiritu 45). For example, the proportion of Chinese women in comparison to men was very low, placing emphasis on the level on the gender constraint placed on women who expressed interest of immigration into the United States (Chan 117) Evidently, Asian women faced the detrimental effects of the American immigration policy compelling some of them to file lawsuits. In many of these litigation cases, they los t and had to give up the prospect of being able to unite with their husbands and sometimes their children who accessed immigration permits easily. The restrictive immigration policy had detrimental effects on Asian women who have a primary responsibility in ensuring that the family unit remained closely knit (Chan 119). In Asian culture, the family unit is the fundamental unit defining a society, and women had a major responsibility in making it successful. Moreover, Asian women who successfully immigrated into the United States only managed because of the profiles of their husbands, and not solely on the women as individuals (Scott 1056). The wives of laborers were not preferred immigration candidates and their immigration requests were usually rejected. Asian American women who fled to the United States during the Vietnamese war faced multiple challenges. Most of them resided in refugee camps and proper resettlement only depended on sheer luck to acquire willing sponsors who would help them resettle into the news culture and environment. Accounts from many of these women reveal that the new cultural set up and language barriers were some of the hardships they faced. Culture is an important aspect of identity in Asia, and many of the immigrants exhibited the willingness to foster their culture despite the overwhelming mainstream culture. Most of the women faced the challenge of fending for their families in America (Chan 125). The surging compulsion of securing a job in a foreign country was not easy, but most of the women who found themselves the heads of their families stood up for the challenge. Moreover, bring up children with Asian values was not easy since most of the children schooled in highly integrated institutions. The need for the Asian families to experience a cultural wellbeing and familiarity saw many of the families cluster in California, where the weather was favorable, and many Asian immigrants had settled. Although many Asian American women resettled and focused on rebuilding their lives in the United States, the stereotypes attached to people of Asian descent served as glass and bamboo ceilings, forming a complexity of barriers that served to prevent most of the Asian Americans from complete integration into the American society. English, as a second language proved difficult for many Asians to learn, and prevented many of the

Your Lot in Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Your Lot in Life - Essay Example London, et.al. (2007) aver that â€Å"it is universally accepted that breast milk is the most desirable sources of nutrition for newborns†. However, there are critical issues which encompass breastfeeding mothers, especially those who have to return to work. It is in this regard that this research paper aims to determine relevant factors associated with breastfeeding. Several literatures would also be presented on their respective studies regarding breastfeeding and working mothers. Finally, this paper would seek to address the problem of breastfeeding mothers torn between working and continuing this life nourishing task. More and more women have opted to maintain full time work due to economic factors. For women who gave birth to their firstborn, the following is a typical scenario which needs a closer review. â€Å"You are expecting your first child and are interested in breastfeeding your baby. You would also like to return to work relatively soon. You have to decide how valuable breastfeeding is and whether you can work and breastfeed.† (1) Increased resistance to infections; (2) Earlier development of the infant immune system; (3) Decreased risk of ear infections; (4) Decreased risk of diarrhea; (5) Decreased risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome); (6) Baby is less likely to be hospitalized due to serious illness; and (7) Human milk is made to meet the specific needs of human babies, and it changes as the baby grows to offer the best combination of nutrients that make it easy for baby to digest and use. (1) Less childhood obesity; (2) Reduced risk of some chronic diseases that develop during childhood including: juvenile diabetes, childhood cancers, and allergic disease/asthma; (3) Enhanced neurological development that may result in higher IQs (60) and better eyesight; and (4) Suckling at the breast promotes good jaw development and encourages the growth of

INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH CARE PRACTICES AND CLINICAL SKILLS Essay

INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH CARE PRACTICES AND CLINICAL SKILLS - Essay Example As far as taking care of an elderly person is concerned, the role of nurses is further emphasized. Though, traditionally the care of the elderly has been the responsibility of family members; in the present society, care of the senior citizens is provided by the state or charitable institutions and nurses have a major role to play in these situations. The role of nursing is authenticated in helping people move towards independence in all activities of daily living. They take up the role of a family member. Their actions have an impact on the individual and affect their levels of dependence/independence and these include biological, psychological, socio-cultural, environmental and politico-economic variables (Roper et al, 2002). The economic, social and health status of the fast-growing elderly population poses a great challenge to all sectors. The WHO has projected that the elderly population of the world will cross the one billion mark by the year 2020 and by that time, over 700 million old people will be living in developing countries. It is unfortunate to say that little attention is paid to the enormous needs of the elderly population because the National health services are still preoccupied with tackling of the communicable diseases, maternal and child care. The World Health organisation has taken action to improve the health care of the elderly with the principle focus on community participation and family care, thereby promoting traditional family ties. The corner stone for supporting this is making optimal use of primary health care services (WHO, 2006). This essay will highlight the role of a nurse in the health promotion of an elderly man suffering from dementia and diabetes, who has only a wife to support him and no children and is admitted to a residential care. Aging is a natural physiological process and there are many changes which occur in the various organs of the body. The changes related to aging

Brand Placement in the Indian Film Industry

Brand Placement in the Indian Film Industry Churning out nearly 1,000 films a year, the Indian film industry is the largest in the world. Now, aided by technological advancements, the industry is set to take a further leap across production, exhibition and marketing. In such a scenario, product placement in mainstream films deserves a renewed focus because as a marketing communication tool, it is fast emerging as the medium with maximum potential to capture and covert audiences to potential consumers. This is especially relevant in a world where traditional media vehicles are increasingly failing to reach the consumers for various reasons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brand/product placement is a promotional tactic used by marketers in which a real commercial product is used in fictional media, and the presence of the product is the result of an economic exchange, it is an advertising technique in which the companies pay a fee or provide service in exchange for a prominent display of their product. Product placement occurs in plays, films, television series, music videos, video-games and books. The objective of such brand communication is to expose the audience to a brand, whereby the effect can be maximized in terms of increased awareness and higher recall, so that the customer will buy the brand which has maximum recall; and to satisfy the customer to optimum level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This research paper looks at the rationality of brand placement, the possible congruity that can be built in the story, as indicators of success of effective brand placement in films and if so, as variables in bringing desired change in consumers attitude. The paper highlights the basic reasons for placing products and brands in Mainstream Hindi films and the effectiveness of these placements as a tool for enhancing the recall value of brands in long run brands in the films. This paper also gives insight as to how audiences react to product placement, do they think it as an effective alternative media, if it has any impact on them and if they find it ethical.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The research incorporated case studies of four mainstream Hindi films, selected on basis of their box office fate and the amount of brand placement. These films are then anaysed in terms of effectiveness of the variety of placements in bringing the desired recall and recognition values. The four films selected include Om Shanti Om, Goal, Chak De! India, and Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The research concludes with suggestions regarding areas for future research.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Product placement has come as a blessing in disguise for both, the brand and the filmmaker. Through it, the brand managers get the clutter breaking opportunity to look beyond the 30 sec TV commercial and the filmmaker gets to earn huge revenues by just showing the brand being used by protagonist or let it exist in the background. The deal is just perfect for both of them. But the most important person in the deal is the consumer who is vigilant and smart enough to notice whats served to him and has reservations against in your face placements. Surely he does not want more intrusion in his life. Hence, product placement has arrived and here to stay. But a word of caution is to be always kept in mind, by both the brand and the filmmaker- if as communication purveyors they are looking for better and innovative means of reaching the consumer, the consumer himself is already bombarded with marketing tactics from all over and in the three hours of movie, he would want to forget about all these intrusions, including advertising. Thus overdose of brand placement will only drive away the consumers from the cinema halls, resulting in a flop film and a failed marketing endeavor. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND The Concept of Product Placement Product Placement in Movies Types of Product Placement Brand Placement is Different from Celebrity Endorsement The Opportunity of Brand placement, Consumer Information processing and Issue of Brand Congruity WHAT IS PRODUCT PLACEMENT? A product placement is the inclusion of a product, package, signage, a brand name or the name of the firm in a movie or in a television programme for increasing memorability of the brand and instant recognition at the point of purchase. Placements can be in form of verbal mentions in dialogue, actual use by character, visual displays such as corporate logo on a vehicle or billboard, brands used as set decorations, or even snatches of actual radio or television commercials. The objective of this communication strategy is to expose audience to a brand, whereby the effect can be maximized in terms of increased brand awareness and higher recall, so that the customer will buy the brand which has the highest recall; and to satisfy the customer to optimal level. Because of proliferation of advertisements and the consequent difficulty in getting commercial messages to reach and influence potential customers, product placement appears as an interesting alternative to traditional marketing communication tools. Basically, there are three ways product placement can occur: It simply happens. Its arranged, and a certain amount of the product serves as compensation. Its arranged, and there is financial compensation. Sometimes product placement just happens. A set dresser, producer, director, or even an actor might come across something he thinks will enhance the project. Usually this has to do with boosting the level of credibility or realism of the story being told. Example can be use of Tata Indigo car in movie Aaja Nachle. The car has been used to as mode of transport for the lead actress both when she arrives from abroad and when she goes back. Interestingly the vehicle is widely used as commercial luxury vehicle in many Indian towns. So use of this car added a touch of realism in the movie. However, when contacted, the representatives of the car company denied being approached about the use of their product. Arranged product placement deals fall into two categories: Trade-off of integration or placement for a supply of product Financial compensation for placement or integration The most common type of deal is a simple exchange of the product for the placement. Example, lets say the production team wants lead actor to display a quirky affinity for a particular type of beverage. This will come across rather strongly over the course of the program which means the chosen product could get a lot of air time. It turns out that someone on the crew knows someone who works for that beverage. The production people approach the beverage company folks with a proposal and a deal is made; in exchange for the airtime, the cast and crew are provided with an ample supply of the beverage at work. Example: the movie Krish where the lead actor drinks a lot of Bournvita. Sometimes, a gift of the product isnt an appropriate form of compensation, so money powers the deal. Imagine that the marketing team at Tag Heuer has heard about this project and feels that, given the star power of the actor playing lead, this project would be a great vehicle for showcasing its product. Someone from Tag Heuer approaches the set dresser with a financially lucrative proposal. Eventually, they come to an agreement and the wristwatch casually appears in several scenes. Before product placement really saw a surge in the mid 1990s, it was pretty much a do it yourself effort. Now there are specific corporate positions and entire agencies that can handle the job. Some larger corporations will dedicate personnel to scout out opportunities for product integration or placement within films, television shows and even games and music. Good example would be Madisons specialized division for in-film branding, MATES. PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN MOVIES Every frame in a movie has an opportunity for branding. With that intent, a number of marketers are now using movies to project the core values of their brands. In-film advertising, in its most effective form, is about a brand being a part of cinemas content. Many global brands are now turning to this medium for the sheer impact that a movie can make on its audiences. Product placement in movies has gained momentum all over the world. The practice of using branded products in Hollywood movies started as casual process since 1940s. The earliest example would be 1945 movie Mildred Pierce with film star Joan Crawford drinking Jack Daniels bourbon whiskey. The current Hollywood movies feature a plethora of products ranging from telecommunications (Motorola, Nokia), automobile (Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Jeep, Lada and Mercedes) to other products like FMCG goods, Tobacco etc. Good examples are James Bond movies. Indian mainstream Hindi films, popularly known as Bollywood the world over, caught up with the trend in 1970s with Rajkapoor using Rajdoot in his movie Bobby. Popularity of movies as medium for product placement grew because of the increasing difficulty of using television as an effective medium to target audiences. The film medium provides an excellent message reach and message life and an effective method of popularizing and immortalizing brands. One of the key drivers for movies becoming a popular medium for product placement has been the increasing difficulty of using television as an effective medium to target audiences. The advent of cable and satellite television has meant that audiences have become more fragmented and tend to demonstrate a greater level of ad avoidance. By contrast, the film medium provides an excellent message reach and message life and an effective method of popularizing and immortalizing brands. The movie-goers vicariously experience the brand as they make a connection between the film, the actor, the product and its consumption, and argue that product placement acts as a perceptual clue which directs behavior to purchase a product to satisfy a need or reinforce a social status. Movie product placement is viewed as a cheaper and more effective alternative to traditional marketing communications, despite its inflexibility, but as a result of the establishment of specialist placement agencies, and thro ugh increased brand exposure through cable, satellite, video and DVD, a typical movie with international distribution can reach over one hundred million consumers from box office to TV. There seem to be three reasons why marketers consider product placement in movies as interesting communication strategy. First watching a movie is high attention and involving activity. The particular exposure context associated with movies in theatres (lights off, minimal noise and distraction possibilities, large screen, difficulty in moving around, no zapping) is bound to lead to a high level of consumer attention as opposed to, say, listening to television. In addition, movie goers expend some significant effort (choosing a movie, driving to the theatre, finding a parking space, staying in line, finding a seat) and money (transportation, parking, tickets) in order to go to a movie and therefore quite involved during the show. Second, successful movie attract large audiences. A blockbuster movie like Om Shanti Om for instance has been seen by millions of people, and this does not include video purchases and rentals, and eventual television broadcast. Therefore from a strict cost per viewer point of view, a product placement in a movie is a real bargain. Finally product placement represents a natural, non aggressive, non persuasive way of promoting brand or a firm. Hence it may lead to less counter arguing and internal zapping from consumers. Such success stories firmly establish the importance of product placement. The use of feature films as a strategy for introducing new products has grown increasingly sophisticated. Savvy marketers now build elaborate marketing communication plans cross-promoting films and brands. For example, Audi used 2004s Babul, a film by Ravi Chopra, as an integrated element for introducing a new model, the Audi A6. It was judged the most successful promotion of 2004. Subhash Ghai was one of the early filmmakers to do product placement on a real large scale. Bollywood insiders say Ghai recovered production cost from Coke and other products even before the release of films like Yaadein and Taal. In future 40% of a films revenue will accrue from streams like TV, online rights, product placements and digital downloads. Video-on-demand, IPTV and DTH are already fetching handsome returns. Then, of course, there is the overseas market, which is expanding fast. In 2007 alone, at least a dozen Hindi Mainstream films have crossed a US $ 1 million mark in the UK an US. As successful marketing efforts incorporating motion pictures continue to mount, the casual use of brands as props will diminish. While current practice does not require filmmakers to identify brands placed in films, viewers can reasonably assume that prominently featured brands have offered some compensation or other consideration in exchange for the appearance. TYPES OF PRDUCT PLACEMENT In films, product placement can be divided into three broad categories: Implicit Mode: in this the star appears in a situation and is seen openly stating that he is using the product/brand. For example, in the movie Chalte Chalte, Shahrukh Khan is seen asking his worker to fill Castrol in his truck. Imperative Mode: In this the star would ask his friend/co-worker/peer to use the product. For example, in the movie Koi Mil Gaya, Hritik Roshan is seen recommending Bournvita to Priety Zinta and her mother in the film. Co-present Mode: in this, the star appears in some kind of setting with the product or he or she could be seen consuming or using the product. In the movie Diljale, love is the ulterior theme, and Sonali Bendre, the lead actress is shown expressing her love through Archies cards, thus revolving around the social expression feel of the Card makers. BRAND PLACEMENT IS DIFFERENT FROM CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT The celebrities endorse product and brands with commercial reasons, which normally come in the breaks in television programmes or in cinema halls. The phenomenon of zipping and change in television usage behavior due to surfing during the commercial breaks has reduced effectiveness of television commercials. Similarly commercials of cinema hall are found to be of low involvement as audience takes them as blocks between the reasons of visiting the cinema hall and the time available to them for entertainment. So the brand communication and the entertainment product are viewed differently from the audience of both media. Brand placement provides an opportunity where the involved audience gets exposure to the brands and products during the natural process of narration of movie or television commercial. THE OPPORTUNITY OF BRAND PLACEMENT, CONSUMER INFORMATION PROCESSING AND ISSUE OF BRAND CONGRUITY   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Of late there have been attempts by Indian producers and brand managers to come together and place the brand in a situation where the audience is captive and more prone to show high level of retention. Many consumers and researchers are of the view that this method is excessive commercialization of media and intrusion in life of viewer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The viewer does not necessarily go there to see the brands; rather he is going to the cinema hall to escape from the realities of life. Brand managers are using different type of placements to make the brand look obvious at the point of emergence. They are also integrating the brand presence with the plot of the cinema, so that the audience does not feel the brand to be out of context. The brand should also be reflective of the class of user of character in the film. If the plot connection is missing and the brand is not reflective of the characters class of usage, then probably the whole brand placement exercise will be futile. The success of Indian movies is not based on sound fundamentals which is evident from the number of feature films flopping every year. So if the vehicle in which the brand is placed does not have the required viewership, then the tariff charged to bring brand at some point of the story will also go in drain .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Films are selected as context of research for various reasons as explained below.   Compared to television, movie viewing has higher involvement. While watching a television programme, the viewer can do multifarious work at home setting, which may affect the attention degree span of the audience and hence, reduce the overall effectiveness of the medium for enhancing brand retention. In opposition to this argument, is the movie going behavior where the viewer makes a voluntary choice for viewing (exposure) a specific film (product) at a cost (time, financial, opportunity cost) for the purpose of wholesome entertainment. So he is more receptive to brand communication provided to him in the movie hall while watching the movie of his choice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has been observed from research that brand recall for commercials shown during the television programmes with higher level of TRPs are very poor due to the channel switching behavior. High level of media clutter, similarity of programming across channels, channel switching behavior are the factors responsible to generate sufficient level of research interest in researchers at the practice of brand placement in movies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brand placements are used to increase the level of brand knowledge among consumers as in every advertising medium. The uniqueness of the medium is found in the process of exposure and congruity of brand in the story. There is no competitive exposure in the same medium at the same time, unlike television of newspapers. This is significant as it may increase the level of brand knowledge. Brand knowledge is conceptualized as brand node in memory to which a variety of associations are linked. So it is important to identify the properties of the brand node and brand association.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The factors important for product placement include the level of abstraction and qualitative nature of the brand memory effect and the congruity among brand associations affects the favorability, strength and uniqueness of the brand associations. The factors being: Brand awareness: It is the strength of brand node or trace in the memory as reflected by consumers ability to identify the brand under different conditions. Brand image: It is the set of perceptions, held in the consumers memory, as reflected by brand associations. Are the other informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory and contain the meaning of the brand for the consumers? Brand Attitudes: they are the overall evaluation of the brand by the consumers. They often form the basis of consumers choice. Other variables affecting Brand placement are- Favorability of Brand Associations: Associations differ according to how favorably they are evaluated. The success of a marketing program largely depends on the ability of the marketing program in creating the trust among consumers that the attributes and associations benefits are there in the brand talked about in communications. The Strength of Brand Association: It depends on how the information enters consumers memory (encoding) and how it is retained as part of brand image (storage). Strength is a function of both the amount or quality of processing information received at encoding (how much the person thinks about the information) and the nature or quality of the information at the encoding end (the manner in which the person thinks about the information). Congruence of a Brand: the congruence of the brand with the story of the film and presentation in the film is another measure. Congruence is defined as the extent to which the brand association shares the content and meaning with other brand associations. This explains how easily one existing brand association can be recalled and how additional associations can be linked to the brand node in memory. Brand Leverage: Compares the characteristics of the secondary associations with those of primary brand associations. The secondary associations are derived out of the usage of the brand by the character in the film. Example in the film Taal, the hero uses the bottle of Coke as a symbol of exchange of love and this contextual placement increases the strength of association of the brand. Earlier researches have shown the importance of a strong link between the brand and the film. The stronger the link, the greater is the impact between the brands image and the attitude towards the brand sponsor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increase in product placements and institutionalization of the industry indicate that advertisers are using the technique to sway consumers brand attitudes. The type of placements should look natural to the narration, as consumption symbols are often used to enrich the plot, theme and characters of popular culture texts. Some consumers may feel that the use of brand names in popular culture simply reflects the increased commercial content of a culture or the producers efforts to enhance the realism of their film. However, in case where the brand takes a major role in the story of the film as in the movie Friends, or where its presence in the movie might look suspect as in the movie Yaadein, the audience may realize that it was placed there to affect their judgments and they may counter argue them just as they do to the traditional advertising messages. Advertising gurus claim that in-film advertising is a very shaky business and most marketers have a tendency and temptation to go overboard with the result that the film would end up becoming a long advertising commercial. Others say that since marketers always tried to stretch their advertising rupee in order to obtain the maximum bang for their buck with the result that brand suffered. However, most advertising professionals vouch for the fact that films, by virtue of being quite engaging, are one of the cost-effective and effective mediums for advertising. If a consumer watches a particular scene and the advertisement is well embedded into that, it will remain, they say. This can be referred to the fact that the girls beating the boys fighting sequence in Chak De has been referred to as the McDonalds fight scene merely because it takes place in one of the outlets. Again, there is no mention of McDonalds in the entire film as it has been seamlessly embedded. Film content of any kind can be used to build brands. The last one year has been rather active in terms of in-film placements and branding through films. However, the placement of brands such as Ultra Tech poses a big challenge especially considering that there is no obvious benefit in sticking to stereo-types and force-fitting the Brand in films theme or storyline, he said Literature survey in the Indian context was more disheartening despite the fact that brand placement is used more and more in Indian films these days. There are hardly any evidences of work carried out on brand placement in Indian Movies.   The Indian Hindi film industry id the largest in the world in terms of number of movie produced. Yet the success rate of the movies in Indian film industry is very less. If a proper research on brand placement can be done, it can guide the producers, brand managers and academicians to develop and effective brand placement strategy in which the risk of the film making and failure will come down substantially in the Indian market. The producers can charge a price for the brand placement and cover a production cost; the brand managers will find a platform to communicate with the audience about their brands in more effective manner than conventional television advertising. PROMINNENT EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT PLACEMENTS IN SOME MAINSTREAM FILMS (In Recent Times) SOME FAILURES TOO SUCCESSES Bollywood has finally discovered branding. In 2007, according to industry estimates, brand cameos earned around Rs 200 crore, and as a result, even small-and medium-budget movies as well as animated films are hoping to cash in on this new and lucrative revenue stream. Indeed, media analysts and industry watchers expect that figure to climb to Rs 800 crore by 2010. Some of the select successful instances of brand placement in recent times are cited below: Rang De Basanti: Rakyesh Omprakash Mehras Rang De Basanti was probably the most successful Bollywood branding in 2006 with its limited edition RDB Coca-Cola bottle, and cameos of Airtel, LG, Berger and Provogue in the film. Coke, in a first of its kind attempt, launched Coca-Cola bottles branded with the RDB title and Amirs picture and produced a movie trailer that was a montage of shots from the film and Cokes Piyo Sar Uthake campaign. Just the right kind of media partners, the films marketing ensured good and effective publicity and both the brands and the movie generated a lot of mileage from each other. Krrish: Rakesh Roshans Krrish, now a case study of Indian Institute of Management, Indore, prominently featured Singapore Tourism Board, Sony, John Players, Bournvita, Tide, Hero Honda, Boro Plus, Lifebuoy, HP Power, Acron Rangeela, Hansaplast and Lays chips, followed by merchandising of Krrish masks, lunch boxes, water bottles. Its merchandising sold like hot cakes among children. Krrish made 12 crores out of product placement. Don: Farhan Akhtars Don promoted Tag Heuer watches, Motorola, Garnier, Citibank and, of course, Oakley sunglasses as well as Louis Philippe outfits. The placement ensured that the viewer noticed dons phone, his laptop, his watch, hia sunglasses and the brand names were the focus of the camera work. But it was still done in a subtle way and did not come across as being imposed on viewer. Dhoom 2: Sanjay Gandavis Dhoom 2 promoted Coke, Pennzoil, Pepe, Sony, Disney channel, Sugar Free, McDonalds, Speed, and Suzuki Zeus. The movie was quite an opportunity for Coke, for both the brand ambassadors of Coke were starring in the movie together for the first time. The cool couple drinking the always coolest drink, perfect for Coke! The cola company had a special campaign for Dhoom 2 where Hrithik Roshan encouraged youngsters to take a swig and go dhoom. Main Hoon Naa: Farah Khans first movie Main Hoon Naa featured the following brands- Reebok, Cafà © coffee day, Frito Lays, Levis, LML. MHN was an example of optimum utilization of branding in a film. The story of the film revolved around youth hence it gave us the scope of using lifestyle and youth centric brands. The brands that were involved were the ones keeping the modern day college goers in mind, for which using brands is just a way of life. The brands were woven into the screenplay in a manner where it looked like a modern day college going youth was using the product natural yet conspicuous. Baghban: One of the clear cases of effective placement in recent times was BR films family drama Baghban. The movie creatively integrated five brands in it. The brands included were ICICI Bank, Tata Tea, Archies, Ford and Tide. Baghban truly depicted the craft of product placement. And these are not mere stating of the brands featured. These placements result in stupendous impact in consumers as delineated by the sales figures of the featured brands, before and after product placement. After Bournvita featured in Krrish, it reported a increase in sales by 15% and intention to use brand by 9%*. Domios registered greater footfall in its outlets after its placement in Phir Hera Pheri. Garnier recorded a product recall of 46% after it got featured in the movie Chup Chup Ke. Lays got an additional endorsement from Priyanka Chopra after she was shown munching on the snack in Krrish, thus re-establishing Lays as cool snack.   After Reebok featured in key scenes in Viruddh, the brand boasted of having got verbal endorsement of Amitabh Bacchan, and extensive reach through multiple showcasing of the film on multiple vehicles. Tanishq recorded a average minimum revenue of 1.45 crore from its Paheli collection. And as if that was not all, they recorded a increase in purchase intent by 13% and favorability of the brand by 10%!!! That says a lot about the success of brand placements. FAILURES There is always the other side of the coin! Academicians from Universities say that currently, embedded advertising still needs to grow in India. It is like a deranged marriage, the brand most often does not fit into the film the way in which it should. The reason is that most filmmakers still do not think of it as a revenue stream, they say. So apart from the huge successes, there were some bad failures as well. Few of them are: Ta Ra Rum Pum: After you see drivers and cars layered by brands of their sponsors, Ta Ra Rum Pum a film on racing cars would seem like the perfect avenue to showcase such similar branding. After all seeing these brands is what weve come to expect, but corporate honchos didnt seem happy just with being there. So they mustve insisted on special close-ups and zooms for their brands. As a result we get a good dose of Castrol, Goodyear and Chevrolet periodically through this film. Salaam E Ishq: Salaam E Ishq was another product-friendly movie. With such an extensive star cast and lavish set designs the director mustve felt the need for corporations to cover up costs. Of the many placements there was one that stood there screaming for attention. John Abraham and Vidya Balan play a couple in love so on the day of their anniversary John decides to gift his lady love with a diamond set. For those curious about the brand, it was Ira Jewellery and the makers give more than a glimmer to those who wonder. To make things worse, the camera decides to zoom more on the brand than the jewels. Victoria 203:   If youre one of the few people that watched the remake of Victoria 203, youd probably be gripped by the urge to buy diamonds, more specifically Gitanjali Diamonds. Thats because Gitanjali has been constantly mentioned throughout the first half an hour. The makers go to the extent of giving the viewers an unwanted history lesson about the Choksi family that owns the company and their legacy. VirruddhFamily Comes First: In terms of product placements, Viruddh went to the extent of shoving their branded products down audiences throats. What made this blatant promotion unbearable was that Virruddh was made as a serious film about a grieving family and their dead son. Obvious instances were where Sanjay Dutt posed with a can of Elf Oil in his garage and John Abraham praised how great the services of Western Union Brand Placement in the Indian Film Industry Brand Placement in the Indian Film Industry Churning out nearly 1,000 films a year, the Indian film industry is the largest in the world. Now, aided by technological advancements, the industry is set to take a further leap across production, exhibition and marketing. In such a scenario, product placement in mainstream films deserves a renewed focus because as a marketing communication tool, it is fast emerging as the medium with maximum potential to capture and covert audiences to potential consumers. This is especially relevant in a world where traditional media vehicles are increasingly failing to reach the consumers for various reasons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brand/product placement is a promotional tactic used by marketers in which a real commercial product is used in fictional media, and the presence of the product is the result of an economic exchange, it is an advertising technique in which the companies pay a fee or provide service in exchange for a prominent display of their product. Product placement occurs in plays, films, television series, music videos, video-games and books. The objective of such brand communication is to expose the audience to a brand, whereby the effect can be maximized in terms of increased awareness and higher recall, so that the customer will buy the brand which has maximum recall; and to satisfy the customer to optimum level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This research paper looks at the rationality of brand placement, the possible congruity that can be built in the story, as indicators of success of effective brand placement in films and if so, as variables in bringing desired change in consumers attitude. The paper highlights the basic reasons for placing products and brands in Mainstream Hindi films and the effectiveness of these placements as a tool for enhancing the recall value of brands in long run brands in the films. This paper also gives insight as to how audiences react to product placement, do they think it as an effective alternative media, if it has any impact on them and if they find it ethical.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The research incorporated case studies of four mainstream Hindi films, selected on basis of their box office fate and the amount of brand placement. These films are then anaysed in terms of effectiveness of the variety of placements in bringing the desired recall and recognition values. The four films selected include Om Shanti Om, Goal, Chak De! India, and Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The research concludes with suggestions regarding areas for future research.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Product placement has come as a blessing in disguise for both, the brand and the filmmaker. Through it, the brand managers get the clutter breaking opportunity to look beyond the 30 sec TV commercial and the filmmaker gets to earn huge revenues by just showing the brand being used by protagonist or let it exist in the background. The deal is just perfect for both of them. But the most important person in the deal is the consumer who is vigilant and smart enough to notice whats served to him and has reservations against in your face placements. Surely he does not want more intrusion in his life. Hence, product placement has arrived and here to stay. But a word of caution is to be always kept in mind, by both the brand and the filmmaker- if as communication purveyors they are looking for better and innovative means of reaching the consumer, the consumer himself is already bombarded with marketing tactics from all over and in the three hours of movie, he would want to forget about all these intrusions, including advertising. Thus overdose of brand placement will only drive away the consumers from the cinema halls, resulting in a flop film and a failed marketing endeavor. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND The Concept of Product Placement Product Placement in Movies Types of Product Placement Brand Placement is Different from Celebrity Endorsement The Opportunity of Brand placement, Consumer Information processing and Issue of Brand Congruity WHAT IS PRODUCT PLACEMENT? A product placement is the inclusion of a product, package, signage, a brand name or the name of the firm in a movie or in a television programme for increasing memorability of the brand and instant recognition at the point of purchase. Placements can be in form of verbal mentions in dialogue, actual use by character, visual displays such as corporate logo on a vehicle or billboard, brands used as set decorations, or even snatches of actual radio or television commercials. The objective of this communication strategy is to expose audience to a brand, whereby the effect can be maximized in terms of increased brand awareness and higher recall, so that the customer will buy the brand which has the highest recall; and to satisfy the customer to optimal level. Because of proliferation of advertisements and the consequent difficulty in getting commercial messages to reach and influence potential customers, product placement appears as an interesting alternative to traditional marketing communication tools. Basically, there are three ways product placement can occur: It simply happens. Its arranged, and a certain amount of the product serves as compensation. Its arranged, and there is financial compensation. Sometimes product placement just happens. A set dresser, producer, director, or even an actor might come across something he thinks will enhance the project. Usually this has to do with boosting the level of credibility or realism of the story being told. Example can be use of Tata Indigo car in movie Aaja Nachle. The car has been used to as mode of transport for the lead actress both when she arrives from abroad and when she goes back. Interestingly the vehicle is widely used as commercial luxury vehicle in many Indian towns. So use of this car added a touch of realism in the movie. However, when contacted, the representatives of the car company denied being approached about the use of their product. Arranged product placement deals fall into two categories: Trade-off of integration or placement for a supply of product Financial compensation for placement or integration The most common type of deal is a simple exchange of the product for the placement. Example, lets say the production team wants lead actor to display a quirky affinity for a particular type of beverage. This will come across rather strongly over the course of the program which means the chosen product could get a lot of air time. It turns out that someone on the crew knows someone who works for that beverage. The production people approach the beverage company folks with a proposal and a deal is made; in exchange for the airtime, the cast and crew are provided with an ample supply of the beverage at work. Example: the movie Krish where the lead actor drinks a lot of Bournvita. Sometimes, a gift of the product isnt an appropriate form of compensation, so money powers the deal. Imagine that the marketing team at Tag Heuer has heard about this project and feels that, given the star power of the actor playing lead, this project would be a great vehicle for showcasing its product. Someone from Tag Heuer approaches the set dresser with a financially lucrative proposal. Eventually, they come to an agreement and the wristwatch casually appears in several scenes. Before product placement really saw a surge in the mid 1990s, it was pretty much a do it yourself effort. Now there are specific corporate positions and entire agencies that can handle the job. Some larger corporations will dedicate personnel to scout out opportunities for product integration or placement within films, television shows and even games and music. Good example would be Madisons specialized division for in-film branding, MATES. PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN MOVIES Every frame in a movie has an opportunity for branding. With that intent, a number of marketers are now using movies to project the core values of their brands. In-film advertising, in its most effective form, is about a brand being a part of cinemas content. Many global brands are now turning to this medium for the sheer impact that a movie can make on its audiences. Product placement in movies has gained momentum all over the world. The practice of using branded products in Hollywood movies started as casual process since 1940s. The earliest example would be 1945 movie Mildred Pierce with film star Joan Crawford drinking Jack Daniels bourbon whiskey. The current Hollywood movies feature a plethora of products ranging from telecommunications (Motorola, Nokia), automobile (Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Jeep, Lada and Mercedes) to other products like FMCG goods, Tobacco etc. Good examples are James Bond movies. Indian mainstream Hindi films, popularly known as Bollywood the world over, caught up with the trend in 1970s with Rajkapoor using Rajdoot in his movie Bobby. Popularity of movies as medium for product placement grew because of the increasing difficulty of using television as an effective medium to target audiences. The film medium provides an excellent message reach and message life and an effective method of popularizing and immortalizing brands. One of the key drivers for movies becoming a popular medium for product placement has been the increasing difficulty of using television as an effective medium to target audiences. The advent of cable and satellite television has meant that audiences have become more fragmented and tend to demonstrate a greater level of ad avoidance. By contrast, the film medium provides an excellent message reach and message life and an effective method of popularizing and immortalizing brands. The movie-goers vicariously experience the brand as they make a connection between the film, the actor, the product and its consumption, and argue that product placement acts as a perceptual clue which directs behavior to purchase a product to satisfy a need or reinforce a social status. Movie product placement is viewed as a cheaper and more effective alternative to traditional marketing communications, despite its inflexibility, but as a result of the establishment of specialist placement agencies, and thro ugh increased brand exposure through cable, satellite, video and DVD, a typical movie with international distribution can reach over one hundred million consumers from box office to TV. There seem to be three reasons why marketers consider product placement in movies as interesting communication strategy. First watching a movie is high attention and involving activity. The particular exposure context associated with movies in theatres (lights off, minimal noise and distraction possibilities, large screen, difficulty in moving around, no zapping) is bound to lead to a high level of consumer attention as opposed to, say, listening to television. In addition, movie goers expend some significant effort (choosing a movie, driving to the theatre, finding a parking space, staying in line, finding a seat) and money (transportation, parking, tickets) in order to go to a movie and therefore quite involved during the show. Second, successful movie attract large audiences. A blockbuster movie like Om Shanti Om for instance has been seen by millions of people, and this does not include video purchases and rentals, and eventual television broadcast. Therefore from a strict cost per viewer point of view, a product placement in a movie is a real bargain. Finally product placement represents a natural, non aggressive, non persuasive way of promoting brand or a firm. Hence it may lead to less counter arguing and internal zapping from consumers. Such success stories firmly establish the importance of product placement. The use of feature films as a strategy for introducing new products has grown increasingly sophisticated. Savvy marketers now build elaborate marketing communication plans cross-promoting films and brands. For example, Audi used 2004s Babul, a film by Ravi Chopra, as an integrated element for introducing a new model, the Audi A6. It was judged the most successful promotion of 2004. Subhash Ghai was one of the early filmmakers to do product placement on a real large scale. Bollywood insiders say Ghai recovered production cost from Coke and other products even before the release of films like Yaadein and Taal. In future 40% of a films revenue will accrue from streams like TV, online rights, product placements and digital downloads. Video-on-demand, IPTV and DTH are already fetching handsome returns. Then, of course, there is the overseas market, which is expanding fast. In 2007 alone, at least a dozen Hindi Mainstream films have crossed a US $ 1 million mark in the UK an US. As successful marketing efforts incorporating motion pictures continue to mount, the casual use of brands as props will diminish. While current practice does not require filmmakers to identify brands placed in films, viewers can reasonably assume that prominently featured brands have offered some compensation or other consideration in exchange for the appearance. TYPES OF PRDUCT PLACEMENT In films, product placement can be divided into three broad categories: Implicit Mode: in this the star appears in a situation and is seen openly stating that he is using the product/brand. For example, in the movie Chalte Chalte, Shahrukh Khan is seen asking his worker to fill Castrol in his truck. Imperative Mode: In this the star would ask his friend/co-worker/peer to use the product. For example, in the movie Koi Mil Gaya, Hritik Roshan is seen recommending Bournvita to Priety Zinta and her mother in the film. Co-present Mode: in this, the star appears in some kind of setting with the product or he or she could be seen consuming or using the product. In the movie Diljale, love is the ulterior theme, and Sonali Bendre, the lead actress is shown expressing her love through Archies cards, thus revolving around the social expression feel of the Card makers. BRAND PLACEMENT IS DIFFERENT FROM CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT The celebrities endorse product and brands with commercial reasons, which normally come in the breaks in television programmes or in cinema halls. The phenomenon of zipping and change in television usage behavior due to surfing during the commercial breaks has reduced effectiveness of television commercials. Similarly commercials of cinema hall are found to be of low involvement as audience takes them as blocks between the reasons of visiting the cinema hall and the time available to them for entertainment. So the brand communication and the entertainment product are viewed differently from the audience of both media. Brand placement provides an opportunity where the involved audience gets exposure to the brands and products during the natural process of narration of movie or television commercial. THE OPPORTUNITY OF BRAND PLACEMENT, CONSUMER INFORMATION PROCESSING AND ISSUE OF BRAND CONGRUITY   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Of late there have been attempts by Indian producers and brand managers to come together and place the brand in a situation where the audience is captive and more prone to show high level of retention. Many consumers and researchers are of the view that this method is excessive commercialization of media and intrusion in life of viewer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The viewer does not necessarily go there to see the brands; rather he is going to the cinema hall to escape from the realities of life. Brand managers are using different type of placements to make the brand look obvious at the point of emergence. They are also integrating the brand presence with the plot of the cinema, so that the audience does not feel the brand to be out of context. The brand should also be reflective of the class of user of character in the film. If the plot connection is missing and the brand is not reflective of the characters class of usage, then probably the whole brand placement exercise will be futile. The success of Indian movies is not based on sound fundamentals which is evident from the number of feature films flopping every year. So if the vehicle in which the brand is placed does not have the required viewership, then the tariff charged to bring brand at some point of the story will also go in drain .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Films are selected as context of research for various reasons as explained below.   Compared to television, movie viewing has higher involvement. While watching a television programme, the viewer can do multifarious work at home setting, which may affect the attention degree span of the audience and hence, reduce the overall effectiveness of the medium for enhancing brand retention. In opposition to this argument, is the movie going behavior where the viewer makes a voluntary choice for viewing (exposure) a specific film (product) at a cost (time, financial, opportunity cost) for the purpose of wholesome entertainment. So he is more receptive to brand communication provided to him in the movie hall while watching the movie of his choice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has been observed from research that brand recall for commercials shown during the television programmes with higher level of TRPs are very poor due to the channel switching behavior. High level of media clutter, similarity of programming across channels, channel switching behavior are the factors responsible to generate sufficient level of research interest in researchers at the practice of brand placement in movies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brand placements are used to increase the level of brand knowledge among consumers as in every advertising medium. The uniqueness of the medium is found in the process of exposure and congruity of brand in the story. There is no competitive exposure in the same medium at the same time, unlike television of newspapers. This is significant as it may increase the level of brand knowledge. Brand knowledge is conceptualized as brand node in memory to which a variety of associations are linked. So it is important to identify the properties of the brand node and brand association.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The factors important for product placement include the level of abstraction and qualitative nature of the brand memory effect and the congruity among brand associations affects the favorability, strength and uniqueness of the brand associations. The factors being: Brand awareness: It is the strength of brand node or trace in the memory as reflected by consumers ability to identify the brand under different conditions. Brand image: It is the set of perceptions, held in the consumers memory, as reflected by brand associations. Are the other informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory and contain the meaning of the brand for the consumers? Brand Attitudes: they are the overall evaluation of the brand by the consumers. They often form the basis of consumers choice. Other variables affecting Brand placement are- Favorability of Brand Associations: Associations differ according to how favorably they are evaluated. The success of a marketing program largely depends on the ability of the marketing program in creating the trust among consumers that the attributes and associations benefits are there in the brand talked about in communications. The Strength of Brand Association: It depends on how the information enters consumers memory (encoding) and how it is retained as part of brand image (storage). Strength is a function of both the amount or quality of processing information received at encoding (how much the person thinks about the information) and the nature or quality of the information at the encoding end (the manner in which the person thinks about the information). Congruence of a Brand: the congruence of the brand with the story of the film and presentation in the film is another measure. Congruence is defined as the extent to which the brand association shares the content and meaning with other brand associations. This explains how easily one existing brand association can be recalled and how additional associations can be linked to the brand node in memory. Brand Leverage: Compares the characteristics of the secondary associations with those of primary brand associations. The secondary associations are derived out of the usage of the brand by the character in the film. Example in the film Taal, the hero uses the bottle of Coke as a symbol of exchange of love and this contextual placement increases the strength of association of the brand. Earlier researches have shown the importance of a strong link between the brand and the film. The stronger the link, the greater is the impact between the brands image and the attitude towards the brand sponsor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increase in product placements and institutionalization of the industry indicate that advertisers are using the technique to sway consumers brand attitudes. The type of placements should look natural to the narration, as consumption symbols are often used to enrich the plot, theme and characters of popular culture texts. Some consumers may feel that the use of brand names in popular culture simply reflects the increased commercial content of a culture or the producers efforts to enhance the realism of their film. However, in case where the brand takes a major role in the story of the film as in the movie Friends, or where its presence in the movie might look suspect as in the movie Yaadein, the audience may realize that it was placed there to affect their judgments and they may counter argue them just as they do to the traditional advertising messages. Advertising gurus claim that in-film advertising is a very shaky business and most marketers have a tendency and temptation to go overboard with the result that the film would end up becoming a long advertising commercial. Others say that since marketers always tried to stretch their advertising rupee in order to obtain the maximum bang for their buck with the result that brand suffered. However, most advertising professionals vouch for the fact that films, by virtue of being quite engaging, are one of the cost-effective and effective mediums for advertising. If a consumer watches a particular scene and the advertisement is well embedded into that, it will remain, they say. This can be referred to the fact that the girls beating the boys fighting sequence in Chak De has been referred to as the McDonalds fight scene merely because it takes place in one of the outlets. Again, there is no mention of McDonalds in the entire film as it has been seamlessly embedded. Film content of any kind can be used to build brands. The last one year has been rather active in terms of in-film placements and branding through films. However, the placement of brands such as Ultra Tech poses a big challenge especially considering that there is no obvious benefit in sticking to stereo-types and force-fitting the Brand in films theme or storyline, he said Literature survey in the Indian context was more disheartening despite the fact that brand placement is used more and more in Indian films these days. There are hardly any evidences of work carried out on brand placement in Indian Movies.   The Indian Hindi film industry id the largest in the world in terms of number of movie produced. Yet the success rate of the movies in Indian film industry is very less. If a proper research on brand placement can be done, it can guide the producers, brand managers and academicians to develop and effective brand placement strategy in which the risk of the film making and failure will come down substantially in the Indian market. The producers can charge a price for the brand placement and cover a production cost; the brand managers will find a platform to communicate with the audience about their brands in more effective manner than conventional television advertising. PROMINNENT EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT PLACEMENTS IN SOME MAINSTREAM FILMS (In Recent Times) SOME FAILURES TOO SUCCESSES Bollywood has finally discovered branding. In 2007, according to industry estimates, brand cameos earned around Rs 200 crore, and as a result, even small-and medium-budget movies as well as animated films are hoping to cash in on this new and lucrative revenue stream. Indeed, media analysts and industry watchers expect that figure to climb to Rs 800 crore by 2010. Some of the select successful instances of brand placement in recent times are cited below: Rang De Basanti: Rakyesh Omprakash Mehras Rang De Basanti was probably the most successful Bollywood branding in 2006 with its limited edition RDB Coca-Cola bottle, and cameos of Airtel, LG, Berger and Provogue in the film. Coke, in a first of its kind attempt, launched Coca-Cola bottles branded with the RDB title and Amirs picture and produced a movie trailer that was a montage of shots from the film and Cokes Piyo Sar Uthake campaign. Just the right kind of media partners, the films marketing ensured good and effective publicity and both the brands and the movie generated a lot of mileage from each other. Krrish: Rakesh Roshans Krrish, now a case study of Indian Institute of Management, Indore, prominently featured Singapore Tourism Board, Sony, John Players, Bournvita, Tide, Hero Honda, Boro Plus, Lifebuoy, HP Power, Acron Rangeela, Hansaplast and Lays chips, followed by merchandising of Krrish masks, lunch boxes, water bottles. Its merchandising sold like hot cakes among children. Krrish made 12 crores out of product placement. Don: Farhan Akhtars Don promoted Tag Heuer watches, Motorola, Garnier, Citibank and, of course, Oakley sunglasses as well as Louis Philippe outfits. The placement ensured that the viewer noticed dons phone, his laptop, his watch, hia sunglasses and the brand names were the focus of the camera work. But it was still done in a subtle way and did not come across as being imposed on viewer. Dhoom 2: Sanjay Gandavis Dhoom 2 promoted Coke, Pennzoil, Pepe, Sony, Disney channel, Sugar Free, McDonalds, Speed, and Suzuki Zeus. The movie was quite an opportunity for Coke, for both the brand ambassadors of Coke were starring in the movie together for the first time. The cool couple drinking the always coolest drink, perfect for Coke! The cola company had a special campaign for Dhoom 2 where Hrithik Roshan encouraged youngsters to take a swig and go dhoom. Main Hoon Naa: Farah Khans first movie Main Hoon Naa featured the following brands- Reebok, Cafà © coffee day, Frito Lays, Levis, LML. MHN was an example of optimum utilization of branding in a film. The story of the film revolved around youth hence it gave us the scope of using lifestyle and youth centric brands. The brands that were involved were the ones keeping the modern day college goers in mind, for which using brands is just a way of life. The brands were woven into the screenplay in a manner where it looked like a modern day college going youth was using the product natural yet conspicuous. Baghban: One of the clear cases of effective placement in recent times was BR films family drama Baghban. The movie creatively integrated five brands in it. The brands included were ICICI Bank, Tata Tea, Archies, Ford and Tide. Baghban truly depicted the craft of product placement. And these are not mere stating of the brands featured. These placements result in stupendous impact in consumers as delineated by the sales figures of the featured brands, before and after product placement. After Bournvita featured in Krrish, it reported a increase in sales by 15% and intention to use brand by 9%*. Domios registered greater footfall in its outlets after its placement in Phir Hera Pheri. Garnier recorded a product recall of 46% after it got featured in the movie Chup Chup Ke. Lays got an additional endorsement from Priyanka Chopra after she was shown munching on the snack in Krrish, thus re-establishing Lays as cool snack.   After Reebok featured in key scenes in Viruddh, the brand boasted of having got verbal endorsement of Amitabh Bacchan, and extensive reach through multiple showcasing of the film on multiple vehicles. Tanishq recorded a average minimum revenue of 1.45 crore from its Paheli collection. And as if that was not all, they recorded a increase in purchase intent by 13% and favorability of the brand by 10%!!! That says a lot about the success of brand placements. FAILURES There is always the other side of the coin! Academicians from Universities say that currently, embedded advertising still needs to grow in India. It is like a deranged marriage, the brand most often does not fit into the film the way in which it should. The reason is that most filmmakers still do not think of it as a revenue stream, they say. So apart from the huge successes, there were some bad failures as well. Few of them are: Ta Ra Rum Pum: After you see drivers and cars layered by brands of their sponsors, Ta Ra Rum Pum a film on racing cars would seem like the perfect avenue to showcase such similar branding. After all seeing these brands is what weve come to expect, but corporate honchos didnt seem happy just with being there. So they mustve insisted on special close-ups and zooms for their brands. As a result we get a good dose of Castrol, Goodyear and Chevrolet periodically through this film. Salaam E Ishq: Salaam E Ishq was another product-friendly movie. With such an extensive star cast and lavish set designs the director mustve felt the need for corporations to cover up costs. Of the many placements there was one that stood there screaming for attention. John Abraham and Vidya Balan play a couple in love so on the day of their anniversary John decides to gift his lady love with a diamond set. For those curious about the brand, it was Ira Jewellery and the makers give more than a glimmer to those who wonder. To make things worse, the camera decides to zoom more on the brand than the jewels. Victoria 203:   If youre one of the few people that watched the remake of Victoria 203, youd probably be gripped by the urge to buy diamonds, more specifically Gitanjali Diamonds. Thats because Gitanjali has been constantly mentioned throughout the first half an hour. The makers go to the extent of giving the viewers an unwanted history lesson about the Choksi family that owns the company and their legacy. VirruddhFamily Comes First: In terms of product placements, Viruddh went to the extent of shoving their branded products down audiences throats. What made this blatant promotion unbearable was that Virruddh was made as a serious film about a grieving family and their dead son. Obvious instances were where Sanjay Dutt posed with a can of Elf Oil in his garage and John Abraham praised how great the services of Western Union