Monday, September 30, 2019

Management: Paying for patching Essay

Patch software has been designed to assist with updating computer programs and fixing a wide range of computer related problems. At the same time, patching has also been designed to update a computer’s supporting data. This is normally done in an attempt to make better the performance of a computer. Patch management involves the process of strategically planning and deciding on which system, the exact patches to use on these systems and at what time (Andress, 2006). Over time, many software companies like Microsoft have resorted to enabling their customers to be able to use patch securely as a free software. In XP SP2, Microsoft made updates that enabled its customers choose to allow Microsoft make automatic background updates on their computers. Such technology companies have also come up with strategies that continuously evolve in attempt to ensuring that their customers do not have to pay for basic patch management which provide security to the entire server farm. As a result, getting a management to allocate money to pay for patching has become a difficult task given the fact that such software companies offer patching for free to all their customers (Semilof, 2004) Additionally, patching has been configured in a relatively simple and consistent manner which can be used in businesses which have simple and constant configurations. As a result, getting the management to allocate funds in order to pay for patching becomes hard since the updates configurations are simple and efficient in handling computer affected systems. For instance, when the environment is more complex, Windows update have made provisions and improvements on already existing software so as to allow the customer be able to use their free updates to fit the different IT environments (Semilof, 2004).

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Discussion

Violating my copyright privileges is definitely not a good thing. I am all for sharing music. If music was not shared, some of the smaller acts would never be recognized. As for my scenario my employment and income is based off of music sales. In this case I am not okay with it. The Fair Use Act seeks to protect people from others reproducing their content without consent.By people sharing my music they are violating the fair use act cause I did not give this music away for free in the first place.. The reduction in my profits is a terrible thing. I am not sure how to stop copyright infringement. There really is no way to stop people from sharing music unless we make it more affordable. This also hurts the artist who is signed to a record label. The record label takes a percentage of sales for promoting and distributing the material.If we could aka music available digitally that can help reduce the cost of an album. It eliminates packaging and shipping. There really are no legal reme dies to pursue In my opinion. By suing fans you will create a bad name and make people not want to purchase your material. It is hard to sue everyone as well. Some people cannot be caught. All we can do Is find a new way to deliver music that will not be able to be copied and distributed. Tunes Is a great example. Discussion Many papers have been writing on the subject of exploitation of the poor by multinationals and there is no easy answer or solution to satisfy both sides; economists and ethicists are continuously debating on the back of the increasing expectations from the consumer population for firms, to behave socially and environmentally responsibly. The Economist Approach The world of business is no romance; it is a place populated with various stakeholders and the survival and long-term success of an MEN is dependent on meeting the needs of these stakeholders.Friedman's free market school of thought from the ass is still relevant today: the key role of a business is to satisfy the needs of these stakeholders (Penn. 2009). As a CEO, I would justify my global strategy very simply; doing business with the bottom Of the economic pyramid (BOP) is part of the global strategy of any MEN and ignoring this segment would be a failure on my part to my primary stakeholders.While the billions of people in t he world who survive on $2 a day may seem to have little purchasing power, ‘the sheer number of these individuals makes up a potential market of trillions of dollars as disposable income† as suggested by Parallax and Hart (2002). With a little vision to the not so far future, it is easy to imagine that as developing economies become transient economies, these billions of people â€Å"move up the income distribution ladder and swell the ranks of the lower-middle and middle income tiers† (Parallax,C.K. 2005). In emerging markets, the BOP has needs as much as the top of the pyramid but they do not have the same income, therefore I would adopt different distribution, packaging and pricing tragedies for that specific segment. The Ethicist Approach As a businesswoman, I would want to keep a strong ethical reputation and as a CEO, I would want my firm to keep a strong ethical brand image and not be seen to be exploitative.While my primary role would be the pursuit of eco nomic performance, acting socially and environmentally responsible would not have to be contradictory as part of my strategy planning. Porter and Kramer (2006) have argued that a firm's social responsibility initiatives must be aligned with its overall strategic direction to be truly effective, that is, profitable. When planning my strategy for doing business with the BOP, I would ensure that managers of all levels in the company are truly aligned with the CARS values. Loud ensure that the decision-making process when considering Foreign Direct Investment (FED) would not just be driven by the economical outcome but also by the â€Å"ethical attitude† and practices of the country receiving the investment. The long-term effect of investing in countries involved with corruption for example would both me as person and would not fit with the corporate image and profile, would hope my firm would want to achieve.Therefore, in my view, conducting business in a responsible way, social ly and environmentally, with the BOP can deliver on the â€Å"triple bottom line' and exploiting that segment of the pyramid does not mean the exploiting the people in it. Discussion Organizational management is a variety of tools and assets that must be managed well in order to be successful. Patients are our number one stakeholder in health care and health care is a business that requires a strategic mindset to steer a health care facility not only in profitability but also in innovation to keep up with new medicines and technology.Having a strategic mindset not only look at the present but also looks at the past for mistakes that as a health care manager can learn from to ensure those stakes will not happen again, but also looks abroad to the competition and future projects which can bolster opportunities to capture more patients for the facility. The key elements of organizational strategy, according to Patrice Spats and Stanley Abraham IS, † It requires identifying who its competitors are and how it might best them. It means accurately identifying its consumers and knowing what they want.It entails determining whether it can produce the kinds of servic es consumers want to buy, whether it has the people and organizational structure to make it all happen, and, most important, how to make a profit when all is said and done. â€Å"(Spats, & Abraham, 2013, peg. 1. 4) These key elements are in direct relationship with a strategic mindset because these are the blueprint to be successful in healthcare. Profits is a key element at the end of the day is what matters, yes we want to cure diseases and help as many people as we can but if you have no money to find those initiatives than unfortunately you will become bankrupt.Everybody has the capacity to learn traits to become a successful health care manager but you have to have the motivation and drive to learn these traits. There are many resources to help and guide you to develop a strategic mind but you have to be motivated to take the time and learn and develop those traits. Discussion Please use as a basis for your discussion the following question: Do you think the events of this chapter (Chapter 2) are isolated instances of business malfeasance, or are they systemic throughout the business world? I don't think events in Chapter 2 are isolated instances of business malfeasance. From the cases of Enron, Arthur Andersen and World, it's easy to find some similarities.All of them focused on short-term revenue and ignored the long-term development and companies' integrity and reputation; all of them couldn't successfully solve the interest conflict between â€Å"people on the top† and current and respective shareholders. For companies, the main goal and theme is to make more profit in general. A stably raising stock price satisfies the board of directors as well as attracts investors to make investment.To achieve this goal, there are two ways to go: one is following all the audit and accounting ethics when directing the company, which may be slow but stable and beneficial in long term; another one Is cheating and walking on the borderline of ethics, which can make a lot revenue In short term but prohibits the company's healthy development in the future. Obviously, companies In those cases In Chapter 2 chose the second way. However, I can hardly say that they are symmetric problem In the business world.Although there are some bad apples In the tree, there are more companies which aim to long-term healthy development and obey rules and regulations. I agree with Currant's opinion that there Is a give and take relationship on both sides of companies and investors. The two-side relationship urges companies to follow their policies within ethics, especially In current world where there are more Acts to regulate behavior of corporations as well as technology and Internet makes Information more transparent.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Staycations vs Vacations

Staycations vs. Vacations In the past few years, staycations have become the most popular alternative to vacation traveling. Staying at home for the holidays is usually less expensive, safer and easier. So, it is no surprise to why back-porch vacations and poolside holidays are becoming the new trend for many middle-class Americans, especially in light of the recent state of our economy. However, there are some very specific reasons why traveling is a better alternative to staycations despite the cost and possible inconveniences.When considering staycation or vacation, one must consider the opportunity to experience heightened senses, life changing events, and meeting new people while traveling. First of all, traveling involves experiencing places with one’s own senses: seeing, touching, hearing and smelling the new, unusual and unique environments of places that people visit while on vacation. If someone described a new ice-cream flavor using a hundred words, but instead one could choose to simply taste it, most would prefer the actual experience. It is the same concept with traveling.Unlike watching Discovery Channel or National Geographic, reading about exotic places, and watching even the most exciting and fun podcasts about traveling, actually visiting the place is a much more powerful experience. In addition, one gets to form their own opinion about what was seen instead of just watching it through the eyes of a television director or through the lens of a photographer. Secondly, traveling is possibly one of the best sources of inspiration one could think of. Even if someone has been to the same place a few times, the next visit can leave impressions which are very different.One may have a new feeling or a fresh hint, since the weather, one’s mood and the people will almost always be different. An impression of a place can change drastically or just become fuller and mor fulfilling. Traveling always brings new discoveries, whether they are d iscoveries of the outer worlds externally or discoveries within one’s self. Traveling can be the best cure for depression, the feeling of inner confusion and fears for what the future may bring and which direction life is heading. Sometimes, a vacation to a new place or a place one knows very little about can do more than just broaden knowledge and inspire new emotions.It can change one’s whole life perspective and cause a complete review and revision of life values. So, it’s no wonder that people return from vacations completely changed and never go back to their old lifestyles. Finally, traveling means meeting new people. Unlike staycations, which normally revolve around the same group of people and friends, traveling brings together different people from various cultures and backgrounds. Traveling is always a chance to get to know others better and to learn to adjust to new traditions and other lifestyles.While on the road, people can meet others that they wo uld never get a chance to meet if they had stayed within their comfort zone, at home or with a group of people they have known for ages. Traveling is always a chance to make new friends and change the cycle of the everyday routine that people have gotten trapped in over the years. All in all, there is always a place for discussion of whether traveling is worth the money that will get spent on it or is it simply better to save up, spend a vacation at home and stay within one’s comfort zone.Traveling may seem like a challenge; it needs a great deal of planning, a budget, and a certain level of enthusiasm and willingness to welcome new challenges. If there is an overwhelming desire to see a place far away, people should not let the fears or perceived limitations stand in the way. Having once traveled, it will never again be a question whether to spend your vacation at home or travel, staycations will simply not be an option . ——————†”—————————- Top of Form

Friday, September 27, 2019

United States History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

United States History - Essay Example Furthermore, the events of those horrific years marred not only the countries overseas, but our own country as well. Even though the United States played a more passive role during the Holocaust years, we were still involved in the era as much as Germany had been. World War II had already been underway when the Holocaust reared its ugly head, having started in 1939, approximately when the more rash events of the Holocaust began taking place. In 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, forcing the United States into the war. Only four days later did Hitler declare war on the United States (Bluhm, 2008), making not only the war the business of the United States, but the Holocaust as well. Prior to our involvement in World War II, the United States had merely watched the world burn, bidding its time until its military troops were called to the front lines. It was because of our reluctance to be a part of the war that many people believed that we did nothing to stand in the war of the Holocaust, or the progression of the war itself. However, with the sudden attack on Pearl Harbor and the war raging across the globe, it is almost no wonder that the United States wanted very little to do with the events, though this was no reason for them to stand aside and watch everything else fall. Also, after the first World War, America had adopted a policy of Isolationism, which would prevent them from involving themselves in the conflicts of other countries (Wexler, 2007).

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Organizational Behaviour - Report for Microsoft Essay

Organizational Behaviour - Report for Microsoft - Essay Example Basically organizational culture is determined by the leadership style, communication and group dynamics of the particular organization. In fact employees would perceive this as the quality of work life which impacts on final outcomes as employee performance, motivation, individual satisfaction and personal growth and development in the organizational environment. Business organizations are those legal entities that engage themselves in the production of a good or service with the intention of selling it for a profit and are much more focused on the long run survival in achieving organizational goals such as profitability, shareholder satisfaction, market share and share price growth, corporate governance, sustainability, market leadership and so on. However the modern conceptualization of the business organization as a paradigm that sets trends to be followed by societies, in which they operate thus influencing the very behavioral dynamics of the members of those societies, is far more revolutionary and thought provoking. Thus this paper would focus on the strategic activities of the senior executives and provide an overview of the operational and tactical decisions implemented by the Microsoft Company. Further it would provide an understanding of the main components of competitive advantage and how these components have sustained the compan y against the backdrop of the behavioral challenges faced by the company in modern business environment. Microsoft Corporation can be identified as a multinational computer software technology company which basically provides different computer software products for computing devices, consumer electronics and video game consoles to its worldwide customers. Its current staff strength is in the region of 93,000 employees working in over 90 odd countries. This figure alone speaks volumes about its business strategies and initiatives. Thus Microsoft’s mission statement is â€Å"To help people and businesses throughout the

Paradigm of black politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paradigm of black politics - Essay Example Thus, instead of identifying the simple reasons why Blacks are unable to achieve political goals through legitimate means, the Black feminists introduced a new way of thinking not only in terms of race but also in terms of class and gender, which, according to these authors, are inseparable. As a result, it seems that the best paradigm for understanding Black culture within the United States also applies quite well to the study of Black political advancement since the struggles of the 1960s, and reflects the struggle African-American people now face. The black feminist perspective is an integrated approach that focuses not specifically on gender, or on race, or on class, but on these factors as mutually reinforcing aspects of one problem. This problem is the lack of progress in having Black representatives in government. One key aspect, or insight, from the Black feminist movement coming out the 1970s was that Black Nationalism and institutional racism (from whites) were part of the same gendered problem, both with misogynistic and masculine characteristics (Burns). Taking efforts to expose and correct this problem, the Black feminists offered a paradigm and a perspective for understanding Black politics at the time and throughout the transitory period. This perspective, which moves beyond the monolithic â€Å"Black† used in the rhetoric of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, allowed students of politics to mark gender distinctions when it comes to significant issues, like the specific social welfare policies for A frican-American women and the drug laws that disproportionately target African-American men (Collins). Patricia Hill Collins, a Black feminist, is famous for using this perspective to analyze new ideas for black liberation. However, since the influential mainstream feminist movement of the 1970s and 1980s, the Black feminist paradigm might not be so useful for looking at the political situation. Changes in

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Describe urban blight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Describe urban blight - Essay Example The main reason which can be identified for the phenomenon of urban blight includes the neglect from the respective governments of the particular region. Lack of economic support towards the proper maintenance of the areas can also result in the deterioration of the older buildings and portions of the cities. Effects of urban blight can be of high significance. Urban Blight has the possibility of causing hazard to other buildings and also is threatening for the lives of human beings. The buildings in the city with poor conditions are very much prone to fire and also have the high probability of collapsing down at any times which may cause considerable damage to the society. (What is urban blight, n. d). Another significant cause of urban blight can refer to the process of urban renewal scheme, where the government focuses on the development of the cities in areas near to the highways. As a result of such projects they fail to concentrate on the older parts of the city which leads to their deterioration. The increase in tax in The United states property improvement gave rise to the urban Blight in the area. (Soares, et al, p.675, 2011) Shanty town refers to the settlement of people in slums. The presence of shanty town is mostly observed in the developing and the partially developed nations where unequal distribution of wealth prevails. The people in shanty town lead a treacherous life and their primary needs are often not fulfilled. They lack a proper shelter as their dwellings are made up of scrap materials which may collapse easily under any sort of environmental calamity. People living in shanty town lack proper sanitation facility and leads an unhygienic lifestyle (Clark, 2003, p.122). The slums in which they live are generally one room and are shared by many people who make it clumsy and suffocating. There is no facility of electricity in the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Translating culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Translating culture - Essay Example Globalization is an overwhelming global trend drawing both positive and negative influences. One of the significant impacts of globalization on cultural identity lies in the spread of multinational corporations. This has been a significant driver of consumer culture and standardization of products and values.2 Globalization has been significant in propagating economic opportunity, elevating human rights, and enhancing access to information, technology, and goods and services to the people. Globalization has had a remarkable influence on the viability of locally made products and the people who take part in producing them.3 Local culture can be analyzed in terms of three dimensions. The first dimension relates to human relationship to nature and to life while the second dimension relates to symbols and rituals that aid people in structuring social relationships and building communities. Lastly, culture infers quest for ultimate meaning that avails goals and motivations. People make cu lture, and culture, in turn, makes people. Cultures keep on changing, and evolving, and the elements within any cultural identity reflect consumer choices. Nevertheless, globalization may accelerate cultural change and lead to a quick dilution of local cultural identity.4 From a socio-cultural perspective, globalization has a permeating effect on building of relationships between and among people.5 Prior to the emergence of globalization, most cultures were local, autonomous, distinct, and well-defined. The previous robust and culturally sustaining experiences, connections and reinforced local cultural identity have been destabilized. In this case, identity can be perceived in terms of gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, and nationality. In the contemporary world, people’s lives are perpetually being modified by contradictory trends of globalization and identity. Cultural identity and globalization are correlated and interconnected phenomena. Globalization is a critical s ource of transformation of new and modern ideas, development of human capital and information. Globalization has enhanced contacts between people with their values, ideas, and ways of life. Globalization diffuses cultural traits from one society to another. Culture is altered by other cultures that it comes into contact with through diffusion, commercial or political relations. Globalization has been associated with free flow of information, rapid advancement in technology and communication. Similarly, there has been phenomenal growth in the transportation sector, leading to the world becoming a â€Å"global village.† The new global culture signifies a â€Å"deterritorializing† character of globalization and eventual emergence of a borderless world. This aspect is blamed for diminishing the consequence of locality in cultural experience.6 Globalization has eased the way in which people can take part or integrate into another country’s cultural, economic, and pol itical life. The dominance of capitalism geared towards selling as much as possible to maximize profit has contributed significantly to the weakening of local cultures. The hyper commoditization stems from massive advertisement campaigns carried out to disseminate information concerning the products. Consumer

Monday, September 23, 2019

English Contemporary Historical Fictions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

English Contemporary Historical Fictions - Essay Example terary genre, Romance depicts a style of narrative verse or heroic prose that was very much used in Europe during the Middle Ages right up to the time of Renaissance. This literary genre includes passionate love stories which can be fiction or reality or it could be highly adventurous tales about heroic deeds and secret love by knights and passionate ladies. Good examples of Romances are – Shakespeare’s â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† and â€Å"The Tempest†. There are yet others who are of the opinion that it is a name that is given to the various languages and people associated with the Latin language. It is also described as –â€Å"A type of narrative fiction characterized by the fanciful, often idealistic, treatment of subject matter; love and adventure are often its principal themes. [. . .]à ® (Guerin et al. 326). The romantic period spans over the time during which Wordsworth and Coledridge (1798) lived to create wonderful Lyrical Ballads of love and adventure and goes right up to the time Charles Dickens career to 1832. (Holman 405) According to Guerin, Realism is the opposite of Romance, he says –â€Å"A manner of presentation in literature that stresses an accurate, perhaps even factual, treatment of subject matter. à  The emphasis is on the rational and probable, as opposed, for example, to the romantic† (Guerin et al. 326). Therefore we find that Romance is more fictional than realistic and depends largely on imaginary, fictitious and mysterious characters and settings. Romances as opposed to Realistic stories use passionate love and adventure as a base in writing novels and poetry. Sarah Dunant was born in 1950 and completed her education at Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith, London. Her novel of â€Å"The Birth of Venus† (2003) is an inspiring tale of art, politics, danger and passion. She worked as an actress for some time and then became a novelist, critic and a broadcaster on BBC radio in 1974. She had won many awards for her writing which

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Essay about recent hate crimes and statistic Essay Example for Free

Essay about recent hate crimes and statistic Essay Lifeless bodies with slashed throats were found in the mountains of Virginia nearly six years ago. This is quite a disturbing image; the unfortunate result of a hate crime. What exactly is a hate crime? The American Psychological Association defines hate crimes as violent acts against people, property, or organizations because of the group to which they belong or identify with (1). The different groups usually involved include homosexuals, ethnic groups, and religion affiliations. Dr. Jack McDevitt, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston, said hate crimes are forms of messages the offender wants to send to members of certain groups letting them know they are unwelcome in that neighborhood, community, school or workplace (APA, 1). According to CNN.com, Darrell David Rice of Columbia, Maryland, was found guilty of committing the 1996 slayings of hikers Julianne Marie Williams and Laura Lollie Winans, who were the girls in the opening disturbing image. Rice is serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison in Petersburg, Virginia, for attempting to abduct and kill a female bicyclist in the same park in 1997. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called the killings of Williams and Winans hate crimes and said Rice could also receive the death penalty, in addition to the present sentence (Frieden, 1). Examples of hate crimes provided by Stephen Wesslers Addressing Hate Crimes: Six Initiatives include (3):  ·the dragging death of African-American James Byrd, Jr., in Jasper, Texas  ·the deadly attack on Matthew Sheppard, a gay student in Laramie, Wyoming  ·the shooting rampage targeting minority citizens in Chicago  ·the shootings of children at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles  ·the murder of Joseph Santos Ileto, a Filipino-American mail carrier A report done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that 7,947 hate crime incidents were reported. In 1995, a comparison of states showed that California was at the top of the charts with 1,751 incidents reported, and Florida stood with 164 incidents (2). The total number of hate crimes only decreased by less than a hundred between 1995 and 1999. While these numbers may seem relatively small, the Southern Poverty Law Center has posted more dramatic statistics: every hour someone commits a hate crime, every day eight blacks, three whites, three gays, three Jews and one Latino become hate crime victims, and every week a cross is burned (1). In order to prevent the hate crimes from occurring, different things are being done in order to prevent and deal with the hate crimes. In schools, the Anti-Defamation League websites suggests planning ahead by doing the following (1): 1.Work with your school administration to establish a plan for responding promptly to hate incidents and hate crimes. 2.Educate school staff on how to recognize hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes. 3.Establish procedures for reporting hate-motivated incidents/crimes. 4.Establish school policies which clearly indicate that hate-motivated behavior will not be tolerated. On a wider scale, since the 1980s research on hate crimes has increased, especially from those in the fields of criminology and law enforcement. There focus is primarily on reporting the frequency of the problem and preparing criminal justice responses to it. While many hate motivated crimes go unreported, the number of reported incidents is up. However, with special training, people are prepared to deal with the situations. According to Wessler, the first professionals to respond to the scene of a hate crime are police officers. How they act in the situation will affect  the outcome of the incident. Wessler stated, law enforcement agencies have a pivotal role in responding to, investigating, prosecuting, and preventing hate crimes. Training is given to the police officers in order to carry out their role. Wessler said the training includes how to recognize and investigate potential hate crimes, have clear protocols on how to respond to hate violence, and develop innovative programs for preventing the hate crimes. Along with the professional training of police personnel, laws against hate crimes have been enforced in some states. As of 1999, there are only eleven states that do not have hate crime laws: South Carolina, Hawaii, Wyoming, New York, Kentucky, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas, Georgia and Indiana. The anti-hate laws may not be well known but there are some out there. For example, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act provides assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies and amend federal law to streamline the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes. This bill will change the already existing law, adding crimes against sexual orientation, gender, and disability. This law also allows authority to respond to all crimes covered by the existing law, meaning crimes based on race, color, national origin, and religion (1). The number of hate crimes is slowly being decreased and the number of laws against hate crimes is slowly being increased, but the truth is, they are still out there. It may seem impossible to eliminate all the hate crimes that are occuring, but with more research, training, and handling each situation as they arise more seriously, America is slowly on its way to eliminating the problem of hate crimes. Works Cited American Psychological Association. 1998. Anti-Defamation League. 1999. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Reports. 1995. Frieden, Terry. 10 Apr. 2002. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. NGLTF Communications Department. 25 Sep. 2002. Southern Poverty Law Center. Wessler, Stephen. Addressing Hate Crimes: Six Initiatives That Are Enhancing the Efforts of Criminal Justice Practitioners. Feb. 2000.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Angostura Strategy Most Profitable Rum Company

Angostura Strategy Most Profitable Rum Company Analysis of Angostura In this chapter the information gathered from primary and secondary resources will be used to analyse the marketing strategy and performance of Angostura SBR. The vision of Angostura Ltd is to be the most profitable rum company in the Caribbean and continuously improve their position as the largest aromatic bitters company in the world. And their mission is to bring the spirit of Trinidad Tobago to every customer experience by providing preferred products and excellent products and excellent customer service. From these statement it is believed that Angostura would like the company to be the flagship brand or product of the country and that they would incorporate these statements when developing their strategies to market their products .Over the past five years the company have been through a lot which would have affected their existence and performance within the market. They have overcome disastrous obstacles such as having their old (CLICO) parent company filing for bankruptcy w hich would have affected their reputation and their business operations. In this chapter the information and results collect from the interviews, observation and surveys will be analysed and compared with those of the competitor. Angostura strategy Past Present In the past it could clearly be determined that the previous strategy was not about having a dominant presence in the market but more trying to have their products in the foreign markets. It can safely be said that Angostura adopted a strategy of a merger and acquisition type because they were purchasing and forming agreements with other distilleries. In 1999 they bought the minority share in Bacardi Ltd, in 2002 they bought Burn Stewart a scotch distillery in Scotland. And they also formed relationships/alliances with Dewars Ltd. These developments assisted in the distribution of the Angostura brands into untapped markets. They were capitalising on the brand names and the association of the brands to penetrate the markets. It can clearly determine that they adopted a strategy from the Ansoff matrix to the best of their ability to become a leader in the alcohol industry in the world. At that time of the company existence, then chairman and owner of Angostura Lawrence Duprey who is a visionary saw these products as being world class and it should be available to the world. This strategy could be considered to be successful because some of the products won international awards in the GermanysMundus Vini Competition and International Spirits Challenge UK, but there was some neglecting to their home market as there was little awareness of the brands in the local market . There was little advertising over those years that are when the foreign competitors penetrated the market with their intensive marketing tactics and influence a significant number of consumers to switch from rum to scotch. The foreign competition came into the market through distribution via local distributors. The main product that affected Angostura market share which they held for years was scotch. Starting in 2010 the new CEO decided to implemented a new strategy to take the company back to its rightful position in the market and eradicate all competition. The companys CEO Wayne Yip Choy said â€Å"he saw an untapped opportunity to increase rum sales in what had been a stagnant market for the last 25 years or so. The growth of rum over the last 25 years has been flat at about 500,000 case per year while whiskey sales went from 34,000 to 267,000 cases.† The CEO has endorsed this campaign professing that it was successful (Newsday 19th May 2011 page 3) He employed a market penetration strategy which consisted of several changes to the companys structure and products. These changes include an immediate stop to distribution of all competitor products such as Bacardi and Dewars and a repackaging of their rums and repositioning the brands. Albarran et al (2006) states that the industry life cycle helps in understanding the dynamics of a market structure and the entry, exit and survival patterns of firms. The rum industry can be considered or characterized as being in its decline phase as they have not been active in the market like they should. There is a moderate entrance of competition into this industry; however the industry is favourable to Angostura as they are the leaders in the rum distribution which makes it difficult for any new company to sell rum and penetrate the market. However there is a heavy threats in the alcohol market from brands such as Johnnie Walker Black (JWB) which is a scotch beverage and has capture a significant segment of the market. The company responsible for the marketing strategies of this product is AS Brydens who follow the strategy The present strategy being employed by Angostura can be best identified as a Differentiation out of the porter generic strategy. The product differentiation strategy in any market gains competitive advantage from being able to offer additional value to their customers that they may in some way appreciate and value. Differentiation strategies are not about pursuing uniqueness for the sake of being different it is about understanding customers and how the product can meet their needs, differentiation is about uniqueness, establishing differentiation advantage requires creativity. They have achieved this by offering a premium product with a unique taste and new packaging to the consumers. Presently in the market Angostura have fierce competition by foreign competitors who have entered the local alcohol market via distribution channels such as AS Brydens and Alstons Marketing Company who control the powerful brands such as Johnnie Walker Black and Dewars respectively. The Angostura Singl e Barrel Rum (SBR) is product that the company is actively marketing currently. This product is an old product that has been rebranded and re-positioned to a new target audience to regain its market share from scotch. The main competitor for the SBR is JWB. JWB is the most preferred drink for upcoming professionals and socialites between the ages of 18- 35 which is also the same target audience that angostura is also seeking after for SBR. The JWB has been able to captivate this market after persistent years of active marketing strategies over the last 10 years and how they have positioned the product in the minds of this target group. Angostura have realised that this target group will be the future leaders of the country and decided to focus SBR on this target audience. There are many marketing strategies that they may have evaluated to deliver the best approach to reach with this group. But from observations and analysis it can be determined that they may have adopted the challenger strategy whereby they develop a strategy that is similar to the market leader (JWB) and try to capitalise on it. This strategy is effective because it tends to feed off the energy or success of the market leader. However it can be safely said that the strategy that they adopted to allow them maximum mileage and infiltrate the market without much hindrance is between the market penetration or product development strategy out of the Ansoff Matrix. The market penetration would be a suitable strategy to adopt because it contributes to the increase in market share and it is a great growth strategy as it contributes to the increase usage of the product. The marketing mix that angostura used for SBR used can support the justification of the market penetration strategy. They implemented extensive advertising via newspapers, billboards, radio and event sponsorships. They flooded the market with the SBR adverts aggressively targeting scotch particularly JWB. The pricing strategy that they also used would allow the product to penetrate the market because it was cheaper than the competitor making it more affordable and attractive to the consumers. The product development strategy may have been more align to the overall strategy, and it justifies by producing a high quality rum for its consumer hence the reason for an entire repositioning of the product. SBR was given a drastic change from the bottle to the way it was presented to the public. The packaging of the bottle improved to a sleeker smooth and sexy look that would to appeal to the specific target group as its similar to the shapes of their competitors in the market. These changes were slowly introduced to the country using the â€Å"BOLD† concept to explain the approach that they adapted. The marketing mix that they used supported this by the use of having a launch event to introduce the new packaging of the SBR .This was then was supported by intensive print and billboards advertisements describing the shape and look of the bottle. The ads also describe the flavour of the rum and why its better than the scotch. Angostura can be deemed to seek a type of innovation in implementing this strategy and introducing a forgotten secret from their distillery. This product is not a new product as it has been in existence for at least 4 years and it was not marketed to the public. It was the decision of the previous CEO to share this secret with the public rather than having it on their shelves that the House of Angostura as an ornament collecting dust. Mr Yip Choy felt that the product deserved and audience and this was the catalyst that began the introduction of a new old product into the lives of alcohol consumers of Trinidad and Tobago. Angostura have core competences that they can use to their advantage to give them the competitive edge over their competitors. Core competences such as they have the factory readily available to them as they have highly skilled staff to produce these rums. They have the history of the company which is known to produce high quality products, that have received world class awards and they dont have the to pay excessive taxes to import an finished goods compared to the competitors who are faced with high taxes and duties that they need to pay to import a finished product into the country and pass on these cost to the consumers. In analysing the strategy a random survey was conducted online to measure the effectiveness of the campaign to date. The results of this survey is discussed below .Based on the results from the survey it can be assumed that the strategy has not been totally effective. They have been able to develop a discussion or buzz about SBR that probably led to a considerable amount of persons trying the product at bars, clubs, events where ever the product was available after its mega launch and print intensive campaign. The target group for this campaign is one of an elite nature. The target audience for SBR are males who are within the age group of 25-35 years old who are professional or upcoming managers, who live in urban or well developed areas. Their income ranging between -20k 30 k per month belonging in the social class of A and B. This target audience tends to be the trendsetters of the new generation; the mangers, the upcoming executives, leading accountants, and the influential people within the society. There is some concern if this is the ideal age group that Angostura should be focussing their strategies to as with this audience they are seasoned and have peculiar and specific needs and they really change unless influence by something very drastic. Also to note that Angostura will have a tough challenge to persuade all ready established scotch drinkers to switch to rum because it two different types of alcohol . However with this new strategy that they have employed it may be successf ul. Their marketing strategy also consist of a branding strategy which conveys the entire image and direction of the brand so that the target audience can relate and create a connection with the product. The brand strategy is a part of the marketing strategy because this is responsible for the positioning the brand and the other attributes of the brand. This will play a significant role into the development of this strategy because of the target audience and the competitor that they are going up against they need to have a very fierce and aggressive strategy to accomplish this feat. In analysing the brand profile it can be assumed that the Brand Identity Prism created by Jean-Noà «l Kapferer model was used to develop this framework. Physical Facet of SBR- Simple packaging, smooth taste, sweet aroma premium rum dark rich colour Brand personality -Rich, complete, Independent and distinguished Customer Reflection It entices the consumers palate , satisfies them, helps them re-calibrate Customer Self Image-Discerning, Unique, part of a select group and well educated The image of the brand has to be well positioned as to have great influence over the target audience. Some of the attributes of the brand that were indicated above do apply to how the consumer drinking it wants to be seen because they are image driven because of the status that they hold within society. They mostly associate themselves with products that are align to the character. SBR have the necessary brand profiles that twill meet the needs of the target audience. Angostura has positioned the product as a premium product to compete with JWB which is also positioned in that bracket. It is imperative that the Angostura Ltd employ active and aggressive tactics to persuade this group because what they are trying to do is a drastic switch of a consumers taste. From this strategy it was also observed that Angostura is trying to influence consumers behaviours by providing facts and additional information about the distilling process about rum and scotch to convince the consumers to switch. It can be deemed that they use the black box model to influence this change of behaviour. The concept of the model is that it suggests consumers will respond in particular ways to different stimuli after they have processed those stimuli in their minds. These messages were conveyed in their ads such as â€Å"Because Spirits mature faster in warm climates a 5 year old rum has a better aged flavour than a much older scotch.Age has nothing to do with maturity.† Statements like this will cause the consumer to think and processed the stimuli in their minds. Alcohol Sales In Trinidad Tobago alcohol is associated with most rituals or events because the culture is a celebrating and socializing culture. When looking at the sales of alcohol it can be seen that sales continue to rise for the period of 2008-2010 even though the Governor of central bank stated that the country was going thru a depression. This statement was not a reality as it was seen that even though the economy was considered cash strapped the population was still purchasing these products as regular. The chart below, illustrates the sales within the alcohol industry over the past years. There was a slight decline in sales in 2007/ 2008 but from end 2008 the industry gained momentum and have increased and plateau till 2010. During this period of 2007 2009 Trinidad Tobago was considered to be going thru a decline in economic activity other known as a recession and according to philosophy, goods of this nature tends to increase in a recession as these products are used as a way of comforting due to financial hardship. Most consumers had switch brands and purchase a cheaper brand which gave them more value for their money. During this period beers such as Carib and Stag had significantly increased during this recession and posed a threat to Angostura Table 1 Yearly litre cases in 000s Spirits 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Rum 513.5 525.9 502.1 497 501 497 Vodka 27.75 29.5 31 33.5 36.65 37.85 Scotch 207 238.5 240.5 244.9 224.7 211.65 Beer 395 400 420 438 452 465 Source IWSR 2010 At this present time Trinidad Tobago is said to be experience an increase in productivity which indicates there is an increase in disposable income. An increase in disposable income leads to increase purchases of items that are not necessities such as alcohol. Angostura would have accessed these conditions when developing their strategy to influence consumption. The sales of SBR have increase significantly for 2009 where only 250 bottles were sold compared to 2010 where they sold 4594 bottles . The sales in 2010 could have increase significantly due to the launch, events and high level of awareness that was happening for the period of September to December. This is a good sign for the brand as it show that there is a possible market for the product. Johnnie Walker Strategy JWB marketing strategy can be determined to be an aggressive strategy but through a focus approached. They use world-class marketing capabilities to combine with flair and agility to delight consumers with both a trusted brand favourites and the introduction of new and exciting innovations. JWB thrives on innovation as they believe thats the way to the consumers especially with all the available technology .They have also adopted a Premiumization strategy which position it as an elites product which is what Angostura has implemented with the SBR. JWB has put a lot of emphasis on testing different aspects of the marketing mix so that they can understand what the consumers wants when advertising or on-premise or digital. They have clearly identified who their target audience and have developed the necessary strategies to consume this group. The clientele that they are chasing after are selective just like the SBR so they have developed a framework within their strategy to attract this audience which is known as FACE. (Flair, Agility, Customer centric and Evolving) These are the watch words that they use to effectively acquire and maintain their customer base. This strategy has been proven to be effective because the sales of this product have increase continuously year after year. Table 2 Scotch Yearly litre cases in 000s in Trinidad Tobago Brand 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 JWB 26 29 29 36 40 Black White 30 35 33 36 34 Dewars White Label 6.85 7.85 8.15 8.25 7.75 Chivas Regal 4 4.8 4.95 5 3 Source IWSR Report Johnnie Walker campaign is as less aggressive print wise but they capitalize on digital and relationship building in their campaigns and this is how they execute the FACE frame work. Flare is particularly important in this category because consumers care about it. Every time they select a brand theyre making a statement about themselves its not about functional performance.The brand has flair in the way they execute the ads, the promotion they way they present the product to the consumer, it is executed in a manner thats appeals to the target audience that distinguishes itself from the others. They have implemented campaigns that are fully integrated campaign across multiple channels, above the line and below the line that motivates and engages consumers and builds affinity and loyalty for the brand. They also use a premium pricing strategy to position the product as a high end product that distinguishes from the other brands. Analysis of survey A survey was carried out online to evaluate several issues and the effectiveness of the campaign. The sample size of 100 was used based on a random sampling where 73 % percent of the respondents were male and 27 % female of which 75 % were the suitable age profile for SBR. Based on the educational background profile that meets the criteria of SBR 58% of the respondents had a degree or even higher qualification which meets the profile. This is based on the profile given on the brand profile for SBR. In the survey questions were asked to get the factual, felling and emotional statements about the product and their experiences. When asked the question if they have every tasted the single barrel rum 69.2% indicated that they have but when asked if they will drink the drink again 34% said no ,while 40.3% indicated that they may try it . This is not positive signs for SBR as they want to stimulate repeat purchase as this is what will take the product to the pinnacle to surpass scotch. Figure 1 Figure 2 When asked how they found out about the product the most popular responses were from word of mouth and TV. However the word of mouth can only happen because someone saw an ad. From my interview with Ms De la Rosa VP Marketing Manager, she indicated that part of the strategy was to create a conversation and buzz about the products, it can be said that they achieved this because of the percentage of persons were informed by word of mouth. It can also said that the aggressive print campaign which included newspapers and billboards contributed to this discussion, but some of the comments about the ads were not that compliment as some of the respondents indicated that the ads were not that appealing. Figure 3 The art of marketing is to influence ones behavior to try a new product and this is done by creating a strategy utilizing the marketing mix and tactics that that will appeal to the target audience that will encourage them to try the product . During the Christmas and carnival 2011 Single barrel rum is in most if not all of the events promoting the rum in an attempt to push the product on the consumers and maintain awareness. However this strategy may not have been the contributing factor that influenced persons to try the drink as the main reason for trying it was curiosity and friends. When new products arrive in the market people are hesitant to try it unless they are heavily influence by some factor, they tend not to come out of their safety net. But recommendations by peers have can influence their behavior as they will trust their friend who has endorsed the product. The ads that appeared would have contributed in some way but it was not a major influence. The product was introduced received some great reviews for its new shape an packing as this was one of the highest ranking issues that the audience like about the product . The taste was the leading choice of what they like about the product. The new taste is differently and it seems to be a key ingredient for this product. Angostura has used the taste to clearly justify their existence and why scotch should be a second option to that brand. This taste can be used as their competitive advantage along with the health benefits for consuming those beverages. The brand attributes associated was not communicated because when asked how they felt about the drink or association with the brand 60% said they felt nothing and another 20 % felt refreshing. The brand has specific attributes associate with the image of the product, feelings of independence, noteworthy, leader, trendsetter are the some of the words associated with the brand. It can be determined that it may be too early in the products awareness cycle for these attitudes to be conveyed in the targets audience mind but, with fierce and persistent competition on the outside. From the 100 respondents it can be clearly stated that the marketing /advertising campaign was effective as overall 65% found that the campaign was good or excellent. This is a very good rating for the company and their agency, but the campaign being a good one may not translate into the figures that the company would like for their sales because the overall objective for the campaign is to increase the sales of the SBR and move into the market share of the scotch market. Figure 4 In the survey it was important to find out what the public thinks about rum so questions were asked to get this rating. The leading drink to be a first choice was scotch. Rum was 3rd 4th choice to beer and wine. Angostura has tried to influence the target audience to switch the use of rum as a first preference. This change is a behavior change that they need to address to get the target audience to switch. When asked why they like this preferred drink the most favorite response was taste. Taste is important to the consumer; as a result Angostura can look at this capitalizing on the taste to gain an edge over their competitors. Table 3 When socialising what is your preferred drink of choice? Answer Options 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Scotch/Whiskey 22 16 7 4 4 1 Rum 9 6 13 9 7 6 Vodka 7 10 11 12 11 3 Beer 11 17 11 10 2 1 Wine 9 7 10 10 14 3 Other 4 2 4 2 2 6 Digital Marketing In the 21 century where there is so much different technology and ways for communication and reaching a target audience a company should utilise the. In 2007 Heineken decided to create a marketing campaign that would â€Å"rejuvenate its brand among Puerto Rican youth,† it recognized that 30-second TV spots and other forms of traditional media would not be the most effective means of reaching its target audience. Instead, the company seized upon the architecture of the online world to build a powerful, interactive â€Å"virtual universe† named Heineken City . They were able to fuse the digital world along with the traditional media to develop a campaign. From research conducted for this paper it was concluded that Angostura has not utilised these digital marketing tools to their advantage to date and these tools are used by the target audience on a regular basis. They have access on a daily basis as they are have it available to them at home , in the office or on the go on their Smartphones such as blackberry and iphones. Campaigns like this one are transforming the nature of advertising in the digital age. Today, alcohol brands are promoting their products across a wide spectrum of new platform from social networks to mobile phones to immersive, virtual communities. This marriage of communications and commerce has benefited from a â€Å"perfect storm† of converging developments: the rise of a global generation of Internet-savvy users; the growing capability to access online content at any hour, especially through mobile devices; powerful new digital marketing platforms such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube; and the growing sophistication and power of both online advertising techniques and the companies that offer them. Angostura has only utilised YouTube to upload two of their TV ads and no presence of a facebook page. Their immediate competitor JWB, have developed extensive tactics utilising the digital world. They have developed mobile applications for Smartphones, they have utilised all the social media which includes facebook and twitter to keep their customer current on all promotion and events that are happening with the brand. They have embraced the technology and expanded on it using it to the

Friday, September 20, 2019

Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising

Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising 3. Research Framework 3.1 introductions In the research the factors will be considers as that entertainment credibility; irritation and informativeness are the significant factors affecting respondents attitudes toward mobile advertising. They use attitude as a dependent variable and consider the antecedents of advertising value as factors of attitude in their framework. (Chakraborty, Lala, Warren, 2003)Compared to other advertisings, personalization is very important in the Internet advertising. Personalization can ensure that visitors to location based service segment are to see the most appropriate and appealing Internet advertising and have positive benefits ranging from improved attitude toward the Website to purchase consider that personalization factors will come into play in the mobile environment. This factor may help further distinguish the mobile environment from traditional and Internet media. Specifically, I propose that personalization will affect respondents attitudes toward mobile advertising in addition t o those proposed by Tsang et al. Figure 1 depicts the framework of consumers perceptions on mobile advertising. These five factors are expected to affect mobile advertising attitude, and attitude will affect intention on using location based services in customer point of view. The attention refers to the plan of acting on the information presented in mobile advertising, such as going into a certain store to buy something after receiving a mobile advertisement from the store. Location-based services (LBS) are services that utilize knowledge about where a mobile device user is located. For example, the user of a mobile smart phone could be publicized ads exact to the region the user is travelling in. Location-based services exploit any of numerous technologies for knowing where a network user is geographically positioned. associated Business Intelligence estimates that the LBS industry will account for more than 80 billion in revenue by 2020 in Europe. Most telecommunications carriers plan to pursue either network- or handset-based location fixing technologies in their networks. The technology to pinpoint a mobile phones location is obtainable today and is of significant commercial value to businesses that want to aim their customers via mobile phones. Advertising that changes based on a users location (LBA Location Based Advertising) has been one of the much-talked-about capabilities of the wireless Internet, the idea being that an advertiser could reach a customer when he was most likely to buy. Opt-in possibilities could permit device users who are strolling in a shopping mall or urban area, for example, to signal their readiness for local offers. Location-based services (LBS) are services that exploit knowledge about where a mobile device user is located. For example, the user of a mobile smart phone could be shown ads precise to the region the user is travelling in. Location-based services take advantage of any of several technologies for knowing where a network user is geographically located. Allied Business Intelligence estimates that the LBS industry will account for more than 40 billion in revenue by 2006 in Europe. Most telecommunications carriers plan to pursue either network- or handset-based location fixing technologies in their networks. The technology to pinpoint a mobile phones location is available today and is of significant commercial value to businesses that want to target their customers via mobile phones. Adver tising that changes based on a users location (LBA Location Based Advertising) has been one of the much-talked-about capabilities of the wireless Internet, the idea being that an advertiser could reach a customer when he was most likely to buy. The advertising will be directed toward phone and PDA (personal digital assistant) users or passengers in public transport. Wireless advertising makes the most sense when delivered contextually through media on a geo-targeted basis. Opt-in possibilities could permit device users who are strolling in a shopping mall or urban area, for example, to signal their readiness for local offers.(Kà ¶lmel Alexakis, 2002) 3.2 Factors Contributing to Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising Mobile advertising has become one of the most accepted applications in mobile marketing, principally in the form of text advertising through SMS (Short Messaging Service). This research investigates and compares the attitude toward mobile advertising and advertising- in-general. The results, conducted on 571 Sri Lankan mobile phone users, indicate that (1) consumers hold positive attitudes toward mobile advertising and advertising-in-general, (2) perceived irritation, informativeness, and trust affect consumers attitudes, (3) mobile advertising and advertising-in-general dont irritate consumers and they perceive them informative. However consumers dont trust mobile advertising and advertising-in-general. (4) Consumers are more positive about advertising-in-general than mobile advertising.(Buckley, 2004). in advertising and information systems suggests that advertising in mutually conventional media and the Internet is either effortlessly ignored by the audience or is perceived with d iminutive value. However, these studies assumed that the audience was passive and failed to consider the motives of the users. In light of this, the present study measures consumers attitudes toward advertisements for different purposes/functions (Location building and directional) and different media (traditional and Internet-based). Literature suggests the following factors that contribute to consumers perceptions of ads: entertainment, irritation, informativeness, credibility, and demographic. We believe that interactivity is also a factor that contributes to consumers perceptions. By understanding consumers attitude towards advertising, designers and marketers can better strategize their advertising designs. A better understanding of interactivity can also help to improve the effectiveness of interactive media such as the Internet. A methodology for studying the factors that contribute to consumers perceptions of ads is proposed and implications for Internet-based advertising an d e-commerce is discussed.(Wang, Zhang, Choi, Eredita, 2002). mobile marketing and the permission and user attitude for acceptance of mobile services by consumers accessed mainly by mobile phones. The aim of this study is to analyze the factors affecting consumer attitudes toward permission-based mobile marketing (PBMM).(Cengiz, Tetik, Yuan, 2010) The LBA push approach amounts to the advertiser working with the carriers and delivery networks to send (push) ads to the user, determined by the devices location. Hypothetically, it could be targeted even more finely if other information is available about users (context, demographics, psychographics, etc.) Within the push approach, there are two further possibilities with which we have become unfamiliar in recent years as they pertain to e-mail advertising: opt-out and opt-in. Opt-out suggests that advertisers would send ads to whomever they wanted to until users asked that they not be sent ads anymore. In contrast, the opt-in approach involves users authorizing that messages be sent to them, a type of permission marketing(Godin 1999). As an example, the push approach was used when moviegoers walked near a kiosk at some theaters and received text messages letting them know they could download free content related to recent movie releases (Parry 2005). In this case, opt-in would mea n recipients would have previously indicated their interest in receiving messages from the theaters whereas opt-out means they would not have done so. The other approach to LBA is called pull and it occurs when consumers request some information or use some service on a one-time basis and in the process are exposed to commercial messages (MMA 2005a). In essence, they are seeking information (pulling) rather than the information seeking them (pushing). For example, a salesman visiting San Francisco could use his device to access a portal where one of the choices is Local Restaurants. After selecting that, the next alternative he may choose to pick is Chinese. Five restaurants are shown, all indicated to be within a half-mile of his location. He selects one of them and a map is provided as well as an offer of a free appetizer, good for the next hour. Because the user chooses the time and place to access the information in the pull approach, it is by definition opt-in. 3.3 Independent variables 3.3.1 Entertainment Entertainment is also a crucial factor for mobile advertising. It is essential that the message is concise and funny, and thus immediately captures consumers attention. As most people have a natural playfulness, providing games and prizes via text messaging (SMS) yields high participationà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Entertainment as defined by Ducoffe10 is the ability to ful ­fill an audiences needs for escapism, diversion, aesthetic enjoyment, or emotional enjoyment. Recent research has shown that entertainment has a noteworthy positive relationship with attitude and is deemed to be the most significant factor determining CATSA11-12,5,13-16. It has also been argued that SMS messages providing games and prizes yield high participation levels; thus is more suc ­cessful in attracting and keeping customers. Moreover, entertainment services can increase customers loyalty and provide extra value for the customer15. As peoples feeling of enjoyment associated with advertisements is very important in gaining their atten ­tion; it is essential that such messages are brief and funny. These attributes can contribute significantly in making consumers more unfamiliar with the advertised product as well as getting them involved in a more profound manner15. 3.3.2 Credibility Credibility of advertising is an important predictor of attitude toward the advertising. Advertising credibility is consumers perception of the truthfulness and believability of advertising in general (Barclay et al., 1995) Credibility of an advertisement is influenced by different factors, especially by the companys credibility corporate credibility is defined as the extent to which consumers believe that a firm can design and deliver products and services that satisfy customer needs and wants and has been found to have direct positive effects on attitude toward the ad, the Location , and purchase intent. On the other hand, due to declining advertising Credibility, marketers continually search for innovative ways to communicate their messages. Credibility is considered the base of the consumers trust. The relation between the consumer and the Location is highly influenced by trust and it is a common finding that consumers in general do not trust advertising due to issues of false ma rketing efforts36. As risk is well associ ­ated to trust; hence it should be kept to its minimum, not only by gaining consumers trust but through sustaining it by means of hard work. Credibility is believed to be achieved in numerous ways; for instance listing key features and communicating to the consumer in a trustworthiness manner; since con ­sumers will reject receiving ads to their mobile phones, if they cannot trust the advertiser37. Hence, creating a well-established basis of trust for mobile marketing has to be a key objective for all advertising companies. In order to do so ads providers can make advantage of referrals, suggestions and positive associations to gain trust among consumers38. Moreover, credibility can be perceived posi ­tively if a spokesperson or organization is employed to sponsor an advertisement, but only if done correctly. A recent study38 has confirmed that the use of celebrities as spokespersons or endorsers can additionally enhance the level of credibility. Thus, making use of referrals or celeb ­rity endorsements it is pretty common by advertisers. The level of credibility could substantially depend upon the ad source, which means that if the source is well known for its experience and proficiency in the subject advertised for; it is most likely to be perceived as trust ­worthy. Expertise comes from knowledge acquired in the subject, whereas trustworthiness refers to the honesty of the source39. Ohaninan40 has further confirmed that the consumers willingness to accept an ad message can be influenced by the source credibility and hence many advertisers use positive characteristics of the source, such as an 3.3.3 informativeness Information delivered to customers through mobile devices requests to demonstrate qualitative features like accuracy, timeliness, and usefulness for the consumer. Apart from this, users need quick access to the information they are looking for in their current content of use. There is even the possibility that the information may be delivered automatically to the consumersà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Informativness has been defined numerously; A definition provided by Waldt et al.5 and Ducoffe10 states that informativness is the ability of advertising to inform consumers of product alternatives so that purchases yielding the greatest possible satisfaction can be made, while Oh and Xu17 has defined it as the ability to success ­fully give related information. Both definitions focus on the ability of informing the consumers of the products relevant qualities. Literature shows that there exists a sig ­nificant positive relationship between informativeness of the mobile advertising and CATSA12, 15-16. One key objective of advertising is creating awareness and illustrating the uniqueness of the advertised product or service provided18. Higher information quality percep ­tion is typically yielded if accuracy, meaningfulness and timeliness of the information provided are ensured; since Informativeness is reliant on the match between content provided by the mobile service and the subscribers infor ­mation requirements16. In the contemporary technological world, informa ­tiveness (content) and entertainment (form) are characteristically entwined with each and hence could be included into a single construct19,10. This correlation is believed to create a positive CATSA, based on consumers requirements and expectation to how these should be met. 3.3.4 Irritation When advertising employs techniques that annoy, offend, insult or are overly manipulative, consumers are likely to perceive it as unwanted and irritating influence(Ducoffe, 1996). Mobile advertising can provide an array of information that confuses and distracts the recipient as well as overwhelms the consumer with information. Consumers may feel confused about them and react negatively. . The tactics advertisers use when competing for consumers attention can be annoying to the audiences. Irritation as defined by Ducoffe10 is the tactics used by marketers in advertisement that are annoying or against the consumer attitude or may insult consumer dignity and is perceived negatively by customers or irritates con ­sumers. Hence irritation is a phenomenon pretty much similar to reactance, where the consumer is more likely to reject advertisements perceived as intrusive. This ideol ­ogy has been supported by Tsang et al.16 and Ducoffe10, as both has stated that annoying, insulting or o verly manip ­ulative tactics used by advertisers are one of the primary sources of irritation. Perceived irritation has been illustrated to be dependent on numerous factors including number of messages, the frequency of ads, the messages contend and their timing12,20-21. Moreover, overlapping, confus ­ing information provided by SMS advertisements has also been proven to cause consumer annoyance and generate negative impact towards mobile advertise ­ment22. Additionally, privacy defined as the right ofan individual to control the information held about them by third parties23. It is an essential factor affect ­ing mobile advertisement acceptance. The personal nature of the mobile can lead to the opposition of SMS advertising since its potentially perceived as threatening their privacy. Burner and Kumar24 has confirmed that personalization can create a situation where a company gathers too much private information (such as the users whereabouts, without getting his/her consent) and uses this knowledge to provide geographic specific advertise ­ment, thereby generating a feeling of intrusion for the consumers. Based on the previously discussed, irritation has shown to yield considerable negative impacts toward SMS advertising, in contrast with both informativness and entertainment which generate positive impact25. Recent research has indicated various ways to reduce irritation caused by SMS advertisement. One of the most straightforward ways to tackle the irritation issue is permission-based SMS advertising26-27. In the context of SMS advertising a beforehand notification is sent to the consumer-prior to sending advertisements- to ask for permission to send SMS ads and to convince con ­sumers to opt-in; in which case a simple registration ensures sending relevant messages to the interested audi ­ence. In other words, consumers require a certain degree of control to achieve favorable acceptance towards such advertisements. This can refer to control over when, where, what and how much advertising to receive through mobile, which in turn generate acceptance towards SMS advertising28. Furthermore, language employed in SMS advertisement should be understood by the target group, since its a major determinant of the CATSA29. Mobile advertising should as well be concise and straight to the point t o yield acceptation30-31; since reading from mobile devices may take more time due to space limitations. Finally, SMS advertising should also disclose how to stop receiving further messages. 3.3.5 Personalization Mobile advertising has gained significant attention because of the unique attributes, such as personalization (28), that offer new opportunities to advertisers to place effective and efficient promotions on mobile environments. In order to achieve the competitive advantages consistently, real time personalization will most likely be required through the use of personalization technology. Mobile commerce holds a great potential for personalization, because of the nature of mobile devices they provide personal information of (T. Lee Jun, 2007). Personalized advertising improve the experience for companies and consumers By allowing mobile advertising providers to collect data about demographics and location of the consumers, personalization improves the quality of mobile commerce and turns it into important medium (Dickinger, Haghirian, Murphy, Scharl, 2004)The impact of the message can be increased by personalizing the message. Success of the target marketing is based on well-structured and maintained databases (ibid). 3.4.1 Mediator Perceived value (PV) behavioral intention relationship examines the direct effect of Perceived value to intention to use the technology The idea is that people form intentions toward using regardless of whether they have positive or negative feelings toward the behavior. Perceived value is defined by Davis, 1989 as The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance. (Fred D Davis, 1989) There is a positive correlation between Perceived value of mobile commerce and consumer satisfaction in mobile commerce environment (Lee et al., 2007,). The study conducted by(Soroa-Koury Yang, 2010) also found that Perceived value is one of the key variable for prediction consumer attitude toward mobile advertising. Consumer may intend to check the usefulness of the app and its advertistments inorder to make their mind set use LBS services. What causes people to accept or reject informa-tion technology? Among the many variables that may influence system use, pre vious research sug-gests two determinants that are especially im-portant. First, people tend to use or not use an application to the extent they believe it will help them perform their job better. We refer to this first variable as perceived usefulness. Second, even if potential users believe that a given ap-plication is useful, they may, at the same time, believe that the systems is too hard to use and that the performance benefits of usage are out-weighed by the effort of using the application. That is, in addition to usefulness, usage is theo-rized to be influenced by perceived ease of use. Perceived value is defined here as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance.T his follows from the defini-tion of the word useful: capable of being used advantageously.W ithina n organizationalc on-text, people are generally reinforced for good performance by raises, promotions, bonuses, and other rewards (Pfeffer, 1984). A s ystem high in perceived use-fulness, in turn, is one for which a user believes in the existence of a positive use-performance relationship 3.4.2 Moderator Location unfamiliarity People often consume products in a variety of different situations. For example, one might eat breakfast at Home, at a hotel, or at an airport. In making consumption decisions in these different situations, consumers must first recall from memory a set of products that may fulfill their needs and then make their final choice from this set.(S. Ratneshwar, Cornelia Pechmann, 1996).Location ununfamiliar defined as the knowledge about some locations. Location based advertising can be highly promoted when the consumer doesnt have an idea about the location. If the consumer has more information or consumer has many other options to use at a given location, it would be wasted decision to use LBS softwares to get services. Most of the customers willing to use LBS when the situation is unfamiliar. Such as updating market in China, consumers are more likely to use LBS, because of the lack of knowledge of the location. Location ununfamiliar can be defined as when the consumer doesnt have idea about the location and its products and services. As its a important moderator from customer point of view, i t will be use as a moderator in the research frameworkà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ (Campbell Keller, 2003) conducted in which ad contentand repetition were carefully controlled and only the ununfamiliar of the Location sponsor was varied. These provideconsistent evidence that ads for ununfamiliar Locations wear outfaster, showing decreased effectiveness at lower levels ofrepetition relative to ads for unfamiliar Locations. The results alsoprovide insight to the consumer psychology underlying theeffect of Location ununfamiliar on ad wearout.Across both studies, processing of the ads was seen todiffer with repetition depending on the ununfamiliar of the Locations. Ads for ununfamiliar Locations were processed more extensivelywith repetition than were ads for unfamiliar Locations.Just as a marketers focus is often on building market knowledgefor new Locations and on maintaining presence for familiarLocations, consumer focus may be on learning aboutununfamiliar Locations but also on updating exi sting knowledgefor unfamiliar Locations. Increases in processing because of repetitionand Location unununfamiliar lead to more negative andfewer positive thoughts. Additionally, the studies provideevidence to suggest that at higher levels of ad repetition,consumers may use more extensive processing to considerthe inappropriateness of advertising tactics for unfamiliarLocations. Tactic inappropriateness was seen to mediate theeffects of ad repetition and Location ununfamiliar on messageeffectiveness. Finally, the results demonstrated that attitudetoward the ad had a greater influence on attitude toward theLocation for ununfamiliar Locations compared with familiar Locations 3.4.3 Customer innovativeness By innovativeness we mean the predisposition of a consumer to adopt a product earlier han most others. Various studies have shown that across product categories, innovators tend to be: opinion leaders, risk takers, more likely to obtain information from mass media than through word of mouth, open to new ideas and change, relatively young etc. Marketers want to identify the segment of the market that is most likely to adopt a new product when it is the first introduced. This article describes we ask some key questions about the nature of innovativeness and try to make a correlation between characteristics of the innovators and innovativeness.(Dobre, Dragomir, Preda, 2009) 3.5 Consumer attitudes towards LBS / Purchase behavior /rejection behavior Attitude toward advertising is defined as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward advertising in general. Consumer attitudes toward advertising tend to affect their attitudes toward specific advertisements (Pyun James, 2011)Many researchers around the world have developed many models that point out determinants of attitudes toward advertising.. Factors underlying consumers attitudes differ among various forms of advertising and a variety of other factors. which is most appropriate and applicable to the context of the study, three perceptual antecedents (Informativeness, Entertainment and Irritation) influence how consumers assess the value of web advertising. Additionally, the findings of this research also noted that consumers assessments of value have a significant impact on their overall attitudes. Therefore, Informativeness, Entertainment and Irritation are factors that should be considered when examining attitudes toward mobi le advertising. and tested to show that it strengthened this model. This research will focus on four hypothesized factors: Informativeness, Entertainment, Irritation and ,Credibility..Personalization according to Lee , The primary aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing audience attitudes towards such location-based advertising. The results indicate that entertainment, personalization and privacy concerns all have direct impacts on consumer attitudes, with situational context moderating the impacts of these factors on such consumer attitudes. conclude by offering some practical suggestions for mobile operators and advertising agencies.(Y. C. Lee, 2010).buying behavior of the customers can be depending on the attitude towards location based services. If the attitude is positive , consumer may have a positive Purchase behavior , if the attitude is negative it can be rather differ. Meanwhile both purchase behavior and reject behavior will be depend on the attitude w hich create by the consumers mind. LBA opportunities. The majority (87%) of the consumerinterviewees in this study expressed ununfamiliar with SMS andmobile application forms of LBAs. They oftenreceived LBAs and promotions from well-known food and beverage vendors. Arecent survey in Singapore found perceived utility of advertisingas a strong predictor of mobile phone users affectiveattitude towards LBAs(Bruner Kumar, 2007)). In this study,more thanhalf (53%) of the interviewees perceived benefits of LBAs asconvenience (searching for deals) and time and money saving(purchasing products). Some interviewees viewed LBAs ashooks to encourage them to do shopping or attend eventsnearby. Three-fifths agreed with LBAs short-term effects toattract foot traffic by giving incentives (e.g., vouchers anddiscounts) but felt dubious about LBAs capabilities to giveadvertisers long-term benefits, particularly customer loyalty.Based on consumer interviews, a pull approach of LBAs wasmore acceptable than a push approach, indicating thatapplication-based LBAs are favored more compared with SMSads. Two-fifths of the interviewees thought application-basedLBAs gave them more control over receiving LBAs. Respondent 4 (personal communication, 19 March 2013) pointed out theimportance of allowing consumers to have choices: I justwantto be given the option to decide when I want or dont want it. 3.6 Technology Acceptance Model The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) explains how a new technology and the various aspects of it are received and used by the user. Though many models have been proposed previously in the field of Information Systems to describe the relationship, it is this model which has been widely acclaimed and used. The TAM was initially proposed by (Fred D Davis, 1989)It comprises two beliefs, the perceived utilities and the perceived ease of application, which determine attitudes to adopt new technologies. The attitude toward adoption will decide about the adopters positive or negative behavior in the future concerning new technology. A model developed to study the acceptance of the technology by an individual taking into account, basically, both the perceived ease of use and the usefulness of the technology. One of the most frequently employed models for research into new information technology acceptance. the TAM suggests that when users are presented with a new technology, a number of factors determine their decision about how and when they will use it. This is a theoretical framework designed by Davis (1989) that proposes a relationship between users acceptance of a new IS and the users perceptions of the ease of use and usefulness of the IS. A causal model hypothesizing that actual inform ation technology system use is affected by behavioral intentions that themselves are affected by attitudes toward use. Beliefs about the system, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use in TAM directly affect attitudes toward use In the TAM model, people who perceive technology as useful and easy to use will accept it more readily than those who do not, with usefulness more important than ease of use. A theory of innovation developed by Davis (1986) in which the main elements are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward using technology, and behavioral intention. Theoretical framework developed by Davis in 1989 which identify perceived usefulness, ease of use, and cultural orientation of the decision maker as key drivers of technology an information systems theory that models user acceptance. The model includes two main factors influencing individual IS use: Perceived value (will the system enhance my job performance?) and perceived ease-of-use (how difficult will it be to use the system?). TAM has been extended to include social influence and normative beliefs of others (TAM2). a model of individual acceptance of IT, stating that an individuals adoption of IT is dependent on the perceived ease of use and Perceived value of the technology TAM is a model of user acceptance of information systems technology based on the theory of reasoned action. Two variables Perceived value and perceived ease of use lead to attitude toward use, behavioral intention to use and use of the system. Is one of the most widely used theories in IS literature. Two bel iefs (Perceived value and perceived ease of use) predict attitudes, which in turn influence intended use of a technology. This intention then consequently impacts behavior of actual system usage. Perceived value is the degree to which a user thinks a technology would enhance performance or productivity in the workplace. Perceived ease of use is the degree of lack of effort required by the user in adopting a given technology. Perceived ease of

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Politics of the Network Society :: What is Politics?

In End of Millennium (2nd. ed., Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000), Manuel Castells makes much of the change from Industrialism (which he defines as a mode of development in which the main sources of productivity are the quantitative increases of factors of production and the use of new sources of energy) to Informationism (defined as the mode of development in which the main source of productivity is the qualitative capacity to optimize the combination and use of the factors of production on the basis of knowledge and information). This transformation of economics, he says, is inseperable from the rise of a new social structure, the NETWORK SOCIETY. Here, he says, the primary shift is located in the material foundations of our existence: that is, space and time. We have gone from a conception of space as "place" to a conception of space as "flows." Similarly, we have gone from a conception of time as "clock time" to a conception of time as "timeless time." Additionally, he makes much of t he shift from the POLITICS of space/time to the politics of information: that is, a politics enacted by symbol manipulation rather than material manipulation. This "symbol manipulation," he says, occurs in the abstract space of the media in the form of representation, etc. Basically, he takes this idea and applies it to current conflicts in the world today. He makes a huge, complicated argument that the USSR fell because of statism/communism's inability to adapt to this system; and he also argues that China, etc. have surged economically in recent years precisely because they were able to incorporate their old political ideologies with this very real change that has ocurred in the world market. More importantly for our project, he brings in the notion (based on what seems to me like neoMarxism) of SOCIAL EXCLUSION: that is, the new form of cultural imperialism in which the "First World" systemmatically excludes what he calls the "New Fourth World" by keeping them from the mainstream technology and markets which are the driving forces behind informational capitalism. In doing so, the fourth world are forced into a position of "uselessness" compared with the rest of the world; and they are quickly forced into a devastating pattern of exporting only their raw materials (the only resources left after exclusion) to the first world. This, of course, leads to intense nationalism, hatred, and anything other tactic that allows the new fourth world to hold on to anything resembling an identity.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Alternative Building Materials and Methods Essay -- Exploratory Essays

Alternative Building Materials and Methods The buildup of past construction techniques up to our present point in time has denoted wood as being the first and foremost material used to build houses in the United States. Building codes prescribe wood to build homes, because of both its structural benefits and because it is ingrained in the industry as the material of choice. Because wood has been used for so long, it is the material that builders know best and are the most comfortable with. However, the world’s forests are rapidly disappearing, as wood is used inefficiently and excessively in building – both the quantity of houses and the amount of wood used within a single house helps to quickly deplete our natural wood supply. Because of this, alternatives to wood building are being sought out by environmental organizations, with the aims of increasing awareness of the state of our forests and providing information and access to wood alternatives in building and upkeep of houses and other structures. Though it may be a slow process to change building codes and norms, there are other alternatives available. There are two main ways to decrease wood consumption: alternative building materials and alternative building methods. Alternative building materials include concrete, flyash, cob, earth, and straw/bale. All of these materials have been used in both the United States and in different countries to build houses, and have proven to be viable replacements for wood in construction. However, efforts to mostly or entirely supplant the use of wood with these wood substitutes have not yet been successful. Alternative methods for building range from sustainable practices in acquiring materials to the developmen... ...y, there are many barriers to this change that will be very difficult to overcome. As a global environmental issue, however, it is important to strive for the widespread use of alternative options. I believe that if the use of alternatives becomes economically viable, ad campaigns are instituted to promote their use, and government subsidies are allotted differently, then alternative materials and methods will definitely start to be used, to the benefit of the environment and world in general. Works Cited Daly, Ned. Demanding change in the wood and paper markets. Multinational Monitor, v19 n4 p13(4), April 1998. Fowler, Stacey. Building the future: Sustainable building materials come of age. Environmental News Network. September 25, 2001. www.enn.com. Use of Alternative Building Materials Could Save India 25% Cost. AsiaPulse News, Feb 24, 2003; p7044.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Pneumonia and Older Adults

What is pneumonia? Pneumonia is a lung infection that can make you very sick. You may cough, run a fever, and have a hard time breathing. For most people, pneumonia can be treated at home. It often clears up in two to three weeks, but older adults, babies, and people with other diseases can become very ill. They may need to be in the hospital. You can get pneumonia in your daily life, such as at school or work. This is called community-associated pneumonia. You can also get it when you are in a hospital or nursing home. This is called healthcare-associated pneumonia. It may be more severe because you already are ill. This topic focuses on pneumonia you get in your daily life. What causes pneumonia? Germs called bacteria or viruses usually cause pneumonia. Pneumonia usually starts when you breathe the germs into your lungs. You may be more likely to get the disease after having a cold or the flu. These illnesses make it hard for your lungs to fight infection, so it is easier to get pneumonia. Having a long-term, or chronic, disease like asthma, heart disease, cancer, or diabetes also makes you more likely to get pneumonia. What are the symptoms? Symptoms of pneumonia caused by bacteria usually come on quickly. They may include: †¢Cough. You will likely cough up mucus (sputum) from your lungs. Mucus may be rusty or green or tinged with blood. †¢Fever. †¢Fast breathing and feeling short of breath. †¢Shaking and â€Å"teeth-chattering† chills. You may have this only one time or many times. †¢Chest pain that often feels worse when you cough or breathe in. †¢Fast heartbeat. †¢Feeling very tired or feeling very weak. †¢Nausea and vomiting. †¢Diarrhea. When you have mild symptoms, your doctor may call this â€Å"walking pneumonia. â€Å"

Monday, September 16, 2019

“Animal Farm: A Fairy Story” Essay

A book that is based on a fable usually contains characters that act and talk like human beings while retaining their human traits. George Orwell wrote a book that was called ‘animal farm: a fairy story’ and was most likely based on the Russian Revolution which occurred during 1917 to 1945. There are many reasons to which why George Orwell would have used a fable in his condemnation of Soviet communism and totalitarianism. George Orwell used talking animals to show their interaction of these animals to help link things about humans that he can link to animals in the world. George Orwell’s book contained many animals which seemed to be imprisoned on a farm by their owner Mr. Jones, it is recognised by many people that this symbolised the Russia and the Soviet Union under Communist Party rule. The pigs seemed to represent the leaders because they made all the decisions that involved the animals and the farm. The rest of the animals seemed to be the citizens that lived on the farm and were controlled by Mr. Jones then the pigs. The battle at cow shed represented the civil war which ravaged Russia until1920. The battle of the windmill is linked to the German invasion of Russia during World War II. Throughout time, many animals have gained a reputation for their unique actions or even physical looks. These animals have been used to insult or describe someone or what they were doing. When George Orwell wrote this book, he was able to choose particular animals as particular characters to help forebode that character’s particular characteristics and their role in the story. Orwell would have had the animals in the story chosen to help link intelligent human characteristics with dirty farm animals. Orwell is able to use animals to link them to behaviours of humans and even end the book by saying that it is difficult to tell the difference. When George Orwell wrote this book, it would have been clear to him that the topic he was writing about was very controversial and would have angered or annoyed many people in powerful or influential positions that could do some harm to him or his career as a writer by making an influential comment or action. By writing a fable, he is able to protect himself from the criticism or denigration he might receive from those that believe they are being  slandered. Orwell was able to write the book to create an unspoken link with his work and the events that are happening around them that the readers are able to connect without the author making a direct connection. This would have been a very good reason for Orwell to write the book in the way he did. As George Orwell wrote the book, he would have wanted his work to be remembered or recognised for as long as possible. By writing in a fable, his message can be referred to in any situation or any point in time because he has not made any specific references to a specific event. By having his message written in such a way he can now have it spread because the message is universal. By writing the book as a fable, Orwell was able to write his story without having to explain what and why things were really happening because the story was most likely based on politics which can be very difficult to understand. Orwell was able to create reasons to which why things were happening and still have it linked to the complicated topic of politics. Many more readers of the book would have found it much easier to read and understand because Orwell explained it all in a new way without having to complicate it with other topics. Having a wider audience for his book would have helped him spread his thoughts and message with more people reading his book. Based on your understanding of the Russian Revolution, do the characters and events in Animal Farm take on any new significance?When George Orwell wrote this book, he might have wanted his message to be universal though it is quite clear to many readers that he based the story and the many characters on the environment he was living in and the people he knew much more about. The farm itself would have represented Russia as a country and the farm’s transformations would have represented the government changes which Russia undertook during the time which the book was written. The farms surrounding and interacting with Animal Farm would have symbolized the other countries in the world which related with the country during that time which tremendous change was happening in Russia. Farmer Jones is easily linked to Czar Nicholas II because Nicholas was the leader or Russia and Jones was the owner of the farm which represented Russia. Both leaders were beginning to be questioned and hated by their followers and soon lost what they had control of. Jones came back with other farmers to come and attempt to regain control of the farm though was met with all of the animals who did not allow Jones to come out of the battle victorious with some animals rising from the group and inspiring them to fight harder. Nicholas also came back with help from other countries to help him regain control of the country which he once controlled. The animals of the farm obviously represent everyone and everything that was under the control of Mr. Jones. In reality, this would represent all the citizens and working class who were struggling in those times which were many in numbers. Karl Marx and Old Major have an obvious similarity because Karl Marx was one of the first to proclaim his vision of a better country and Old Major was the pig who tells all of the animals on the farm of the dream he had that had resurrected an idea and thought which he had forgotten long ago but was able to remember and then pass those ideas onto the other animals. Both Marx and Old Major died before the revolution had come. Old Major spread his message of the vision that he had by teaching a song which he heard as a little pig called the ‘Beasts of England’. This ideology of communism was very popular with the animals and even got them excited where the ideas of communism began to spread throughout the world. A real song was also written by the followers of communism which was called ‘Communist Internationale’. Napoleon seems to be an obvious metaphor for Stalin who was able to become the new leader after Jones had been defeated. Stalin also became the new leader after the rebellion was able to take over. Both Napoleon and Stalin seemed to have the best interest of the country or the farm though both seemed to give into the evil temptations which arose while they were in  those positions. Napoleon began to slowly become greedier for more power which then began to influence his actions such as training the puppies not to read but to train them to become his personal protectors and even attackers. Napoleon soon begins to shower himself with more luxury and fort such as sleeping in a bed and even drinking alcohol. Stalin was also overwhelmed with new found luxury and power and soon let the peasants whom he was meant to help suffer. Snowball seems to be the symmetry of Leo Trotsky. Snowball was a pig that had the same interests of the farm as Napoleon in mind though it is how they each approached their ideas which got them into fights. Snowball was always disagreeing with Napoleon’s ideas and it was soon that Napoleon’s physical way of forcing his thoughts onto others that conquered over Snowball’s less taunting approach. Trotsky was soon seen as a traitor by the country and left as Snowball did when he was forced out by Napoleon. Squealer seems to represent the media in those times who attempted to influence everyone’s thoughts as to what they thought about why Napoleon did such acts as the media did with Stalin. Squealer becomes the only link to Napoleon to the rest of the animals on the farm and was the persuader and influential speaker who was able to hide or conceal the true intentions of the pigs. The media in those times were able to influence so well because the working class in those times were quite uneducated and needed something to think for then and it was that source of media that they depended on. Boxer is quite clearly the metaphor for the working class in those times. Boxer was a very hard working animal on the farm that made great efforts throughout his life and always had a simple motto to help him work even harder. The uneducated workers in those times were easily influenced by Stalin because it seemed as though they would prosper most in the new system as did Boxer. Boxer was a very dedicated follower of Stalin who was later on betrayed by being sent to the glue factory. Mollie is the representation of the middle class workers who are educated and understand the true effects under the new government which was being presented. Mollie would wear a ribbon and lick sugar when Jones was in charge of the farm though as the animals took over, Mollie was not aloud to wear ribbons or lick sugar for she had to make sacrifices. In reality, the middle class did not like the new system for they would be lowered to everyone else’s level. Mollie then leaves the farm after being caught being patted by another farmer and lives as she did when Jones was in charge. The puppies which were taken away from their mother by Napoleon became the bodyguards or defenders of Napoleon. These dogs that Napoleon trained to help keep his strong grip on the country attack Snowball and force him out of the farm which leaves no significant challengers for Napoleon to face. These dogs also attacked anyone that opposed or betrayed Napoleon in anyway. This easily represents the police or army which Stalin had control of when he took over as the leader of Russia. The windmill seems to represent the economy of Russia in those harsh times. The animals worked hard together to build the windmill even though there was a shortage of food and it was promised that this would help them significantly. This was just like in reality where Stalin had a five year plan to help Russia and just like the windmills, they failed to succeed. The book is easily linked to many things around Orwell as he wrote the book. Even though the message of Orwell was attempted to be made universal it is most likely connected to the significant Russian revolution.