Monday, December 30, 2019

Coach Incorporation Reports

Coach Inc. is one of the best known leather brands in the United States. It is a specialized retailer whose major role is the design, manufacture and marketing of quality leather products and accessories. These products include prestigious handbags, wallets, and briefcases, shoes for men, wristlets, and women jewelry. These products are a great symbol of fashion and style. Coach Incorporation always maintains the highest standards in both the materials and workmanship, making it a home of quality. The company produces goods that are afforded by almost every economic class, both internally and abroad. Even the shoppers in the middle class can afford the products for as low as $400 and below. The introduction of poppy handbags with lower prices greatly targeted the low income earners thereby boosting the target market. Currently, the target market cuts across all financial classes. The customer range is more than 60,000 each year. The global market forms another bit of the company’s target market. The extensive global programme aimed at marketing this company, has led to a big boost in the sales globally. Numerous stores have been opened up within and outside the United States so as to attract and capture the external market. The main reason for this expansion is to increase the number of products possessing the Coach’s name, and also to expand the service delivery to customers. A good percentage of Coach’s time has been spent in market research and the main objective of this is to identify and critically analyze the main demands of the customers. The company has also injected a lot of resources in international market research, which in return, has greatly improved the sales. In the race to capture the customers and become the market heroes, Coach Incorporation has met stiff competition from such companies as Wilsons the leather Experts, Kate Spade, Dooney and Bourke, Kenneth Cole, Gucci, Prada, Hermes, Jones Apparel, Liz Claiborne and Polo Ralph. These companies are either privately owned or are part of the European conglomerates that manufacture luxury brands of leather. With all these efforts and the greatest strategies, Coach Inc. must certainly succeed. It is true beyond any doubt that Coach is a market hero in leather industry.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Study Plan for Masters Degree in International Trade

Study Plan for Masters Degree in International Trade: Abstract. The Master Program of International Trade at The department of Economics of shanghai University is one of the leading ones of its kind around. The program has been created to provide students with the best possible skills and capacity to find employment in the international sector or to pursue international trade policy research. In response to the changing environment and development of the expertise of the faculty, The Department has substantially broadened the knowledge base of the program to meet the diverse needs of students. Introduction In recent years, field of International Trade has risen to the new heights due to the fact that International Trade is†¦show more content†¦For the case of my country, is having the same situation since it is too developing and needs to improve it’s performance in International Trade, I’m planning to work hard to attain the most out of the course for the entire time so I can do something to it. Through the help of outstanding supervisors here and my own efforts, I expect to learn and gain a lot. By the end of this course I expect to be able to do the following: †¢ Understand the general equilibrium relationship between factor endowments, the location of production, and international trade. †¢ Use general equilibrium techniques to analyze a variety of issues in international trade including the links between trade and wage inequality and the effects of trade policy. †¢ Understand the implications of imperfect competition, increasing returns to scale, and transport costs for patterns of international trade, the conduct of trade policy, and the location of economic activity in space. †¢ Understand the working and applications of models of Foreign Direct Investment. †¢ Know some of the empirical evidence relating to international trade, the geographical concentration of production, and Foreign Direct Investment. From the fact that the trade partnership between China and African countries, especially Tanzania is getting better and better everyday, I plan to use that opportunity to do my best to act as a link between my country and China on International Trade matters through the education andShow MoreRelatedEssay on A Career in Communication543 Words   |  3 PagesI am a communication strategist, who came from chemical science degree with the passion of developing exceptional product or service and bring them into the business. I always question myself and seek for the true reason behind every marketing movement that attracts my attention. I graduated in applied chemistry science, which gave me a strong fundamental to my analytic skills and excellent overview of industrial business. The specific core courses throughout this program allowed meRead MoreMy Intentions As A College Student1284 Words   |  6 Pages I will join organizations and activities in which may help build my resume. 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Saturday, December 14, 2019

Gendered Behavior- Biologically Determined Free Essays

Men and Women are different- not necessary better or worse, but definitely different. They generally live different lifestyles, in different worlds, with different values and different rules. This is a fact that many are unwilling to admit. We will write a custom essay sample on Gendered Behavior- Biologically Determined? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Unbelievable? – Just look at the evidence. Why do little girls generally play with dolls, while little boys with toy cars? Why is blue defined as a â€Å"masculine† color, while pink as a â€Å"feminine†? Where did all the gender-based stereotypes come from? Women are bad drivers, Men will never ask for directions. Women are too sensitive, Men are not sensitive enough. Women use toilets as social regions and â€Å"therapy† rooms, while men clearly only use the toilet for one purpose only. Think about it: Wouldn’t people be instantly wary of the man who called out â€Å"Hey Jack, I’m going to the bathroom- you want to join me? † From the shallow questions- why are men and women generally different heights? -To the more innate queries- why until the 1960s did men and women play different roles -domination of males and suppression of women? , it inevitably traces down to one conclusion. Men and women are primarily diverse. The question is what is the reason for this? If one were to leave young girls and boys to develop on a deserted island with no organized society, no parents, would they still be as they are today? Thus poses the question: Is gendered behavior biologically determined? Extracts from pop-psychology books profess â€Å"The equality of men and women is a political or moral issue; the essential difference is a scientific one. † Those who disagree with the biological perspective of this issue claim equality between the sexes. However the matter is not whether they are equal, but whether they are identical, which may be what many are confused about. Even scientific studies have shown recently that that behavior between the genders is not only physically different, but also mentally different. The most basic and direct form of evidence available for this argument is that the brain structures differ between the two ‘species’. The three main areas of the brain (the Temporal lobe, the Corpus callosum, and the Anterior commissure) illustrate these dissimilarities. The Temporal lobe, which helps control hearing, memory and a person’s sense of self and time, has proven men to have 10% fewer neurons in this area. The Corpus callosum, the main bridge between the left brain and the right which carries messages between the two, takes up less volume in a man’s brain than in a women’s, signifying that they may communicate less. Lastly, the Anterior commissure, which also plays a role in connecting the two brain hemisphere, is smaller in men’s brains than in women’s, even though men tend to have a bigger brain size. These facts alone should indicate that there are differences in men and women behavior. Brain scans, a fairly new technology has confirmed the differences in thinking between the two, and how they use their minds very differently when it comes to certain things. Scientist Sandra Whittleson verifies that for men, emotion is generally position to the right of the brain (meaning it can operate separately from other functions. Because of a man’s smaller corpus callosum, emotion is less likely to operate concurrently with other functions. It is the opposite with women, as their emotion is spread widely along both hemispheres, showing that in their case, it can activate at the same time as other functions. Thus, a stereotype of the sensitivity conflict between the two sexes is proven. There are many other case studies from these scans which present a kernel of truth in other regular stereotypical beliefs. There is, of course, another â€Å"side to the story†. Society today, one many say, is very gender-based. These stereotypes may exist because people encourage them too. Wouldn’t one agree that in today’s world, there are certain things that are and are not considered appropriate? In order to be accepted, people must conform. There are certain norms for dressing, manner, interests and behavior for males and females. Even the stranger who proclaims â€Å"What a big, strong boy you are† or â€Å"What a pretty little girl you are† is subconsciously indicating to a small child ideally cherished behavior and characteristics. It is believed by some that social conditioning is likely to determine how one acts through development. Baby girls are dressed in pink and given Barbies to play with, while baby boys are given Action Men and Hot Wheels. Young girls are cuddled and touched, while young boys are patted on the back and told not to cry. In comparison to girls, boys are more encouraged to behave typically and strongly discouraged from engaging in cross-gendered behavior. Is this form of up-bring why men are being dubbed insensitive? Because they are too insecure to show their feminine side? Why is it that when someone is pregnant, the first question an outsider would pose is â€Å"Boy or Girl? How such a question has has become so automatic now, so spontaneous is to be wondered of. It is also true that many in our society find gender re-assignment difficult to accept- think about transsexuals. As much as it is tried; people find the concept of this hard to grasp. The truth is there are no two ways about it; Gendered behavior is not only biologically determined, but also environmentally determined. Faced with the nature/nurture argument once again, it is strongly believed that the two are inseparable, especially in this context. Although the more evidence found, the more people think that the difference is biological. However, no one can say it is purely so because no one knows for sure. Everything you do, every way you behave is determined by a mixture of the two. The reason may be biological, yet how much it is enhanced may be environmental, and vice versa. Understanding the identity of people can be complex, and as much as we want to, we will not be necessarily undergoing this breakthrough anytime soon. How to cite Gendered Behavior- Biologically Determined?, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Celebrity Social Communication In Advertise - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the CelebritySocial Communication In Advertise. Answer: Introduction Celebrity endorsement is a popular means of promotion in marketing communication. The celebrity culture is a high volume perpetuation of the personal lives of the celebrities across the globe. Inherently, celebrity culture is tied to the consumer interests, in which the celebrities, particularly the fame which they have earned, help in becoming the product brands (Zimmerman Ayoob, 2004). Culture is something which can be identified physically, in an easy manner but when it comes to celebrity culture, it exists only as being a collection of desires, of the individuals, for getting an increased viewing of the celebrities. It is not the celebrities who form such identifiable or cohesive groups, which they identify themselves with, but the people following them do the same. The strategies of celebrity endorsement are competitive in nature and also are saturated in different brands and products of the competitors. As a result of the high advertisement clutter, no room is left for actual differentiation in product in the markets; and for this purpose, the role of celebrities is enhanced as the only differentiation in product is due to the right celebrity being found (Erdogan, 1999; Keller, 2008). Though, a thing which remains questionable in this context, is that the celebrity holding the transfer effect, matches up the features of the different brands, or not. This discussion is focused on highlighting the different factors which transform the manner in which the interaction between the celebrities and the brand cultures take place. Celebrities and Brands Celebrities can be found in a range of communities and in activities, which include music, fashion, politics, acting, and sports. The per se culture is created upon this becoming a common knowledge in a particular society that the people have an interest in the celebrity and that they are enthusiastic about modifying their life in order to take part in the life of the celebrity. This culture is initially identified through the factors which are out of the celebrities and later on is augmented by the involvement of the celebrities in the publicly construed culture. This popularity of celebrities is what makes them attractive to the brands, particularly for the purpose of brand awareness. The higher the popularity of the celebrities, the more brand endorsements the get. For instance, in Taiwan, Jay Chou endorsed between eight to ten different brands in a single year for different type of products (Yang, Lo Wang, 2014). Consumer and their choices Celebrity Culture The popularity of celebrity culture has a number of phases. The very initial examples of this include the broadcasts on the TV programs in which the individuals had the capacity of reaching a far wider audience and group of individuals, which could result in the rise of fame of such individuals. With the release of newer technologies, there has been a change in the manipulation of audiences. The individuals, particularly the entrepreneurial ones started to recognize the financial value for promotion some of the individuals in a purposeful manner, and this resulted in a consumer approach towards celebrities as being the brands being put forward. With this, a culture started shaping up where the consumers accepted the celebrities as being a part of the society. Along with this acceptance was the tactical and clever marketing, which perpetuated the celebrity culture in context of the ever changing shifts in the beliefs and customs. This is the reason why celebrity culture is viewed as b eing a synonym of the celebrity industry in which the celebrities are treated in a manner as are the products to be sold treated. There is a difference between the celebrity culture and the consumer culture in the sense that the former is just a part of the latter. There could be no existence of the former without the latter. The choice of the consumers is, for these reasons, influenced by the choices of the celebrities (Barron, 2014). The consumers allow the celebrities to be a part of the collective society by following them, which is created through the presence of this celebrity culture. And as stated earlier, the presence of the celebrity culture is propagated in an unknowing manner by the consumers only. Included in the celebrity culture phenomenon are the celebrities themselves as participants, which allows them in being aware of the brand which they create and also in attaining the financial gains by using their own status and the same, in addition to the foundation of the pre-branding of such celebrities. In view of Lapham (1993), this idea is based upon the naturally taking place relationship in between the regular people and the pedestal ones. In a number of religious books, examples have been covered who are well known by the people in general public. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt ensured that their fame was carried on for the centuries to come. Earlier, the celebrity culture was restricted to the mythi cal, biblical and royalty figures and they were found in the majority of sectors in society which included publishing, business and also included academia. Each of the scientific advancement is touched with the name that led to the discovery. Particularly in context of thee larger contributions to humanity, a lot of honour and respect is given to the contributors. With the advent of mass media, the power and exposure of the celebrities has increased. With this a trend has been developed which is carried on by the celebrities with the rise in the social capital, in comparison to the earlier times. Every cultural or national community has their own celebrity system which is independent; though, there has been a decline in this owing to globalization (Barron, 2014). In the last decade, the TV across the globe has seen a grown focus on teaching the audience regarding how their daily lives have to be managed and optimized by a flawless focus on health, grooming, style, home decoration and food. Owing to this interest, there is introduction of the audiences to rigors of lifestyle management and self-care which is followed by a number of popular lifestyle express being brought forward in comparison to the traditional experts. In this regard, the growing celebritization and the branding of the ordinary experts have a key influence on the lifestyle expertise of people. There is an abundance of literature regarding the role played by the celebrities as being the prominent cultural authorities (Marshall 1997; Turner, Bonner Marshall. 2000; Corner Pels 2003; Turner 2004; Evans Hesmondhalgh 2005). In the popular expertise realms, there have been a number of scholars who have turned their analytical gaze over the rising number of domestic experts and li festyle specialists who make appearance on the primetime TV, where they carry out the discussion on the rising focus and influence over the issues which concern the conduct of self and included in this pool of scholars is Moseley (2000), Taylor (2002), Hollows (2003), Palmer (2004), Attwood (2005) and Bonner (2005). Consumers in life of Celebrities In the traditional manner, the experts and the celebrities have been deemed as existing in different spheres of public life and had been linked to diversified sets of logics and values. As is the case of intellectuals, the experts were associated with high culture and with modes of rational techniques and knowledge regarding social organization followed with the rise of modern state. A stark contrast to this is the trends of celebrity which are seen as being in existence with the consumer and popular culture, coupled with mediatised public field in which the entertainment is deemed as more privileged in comparison to the information, thus having an affect over the meaning (Lewis, 2001). In the representation of the two different kinds of cultural authority, the celebrity and expert are nonetheless characterized with similar tensions in-between the claim of elite or the exception status and also the type of public representativeness. In the rise of the celebrity expert, a key role is played by the media culture, particularly in reconfiguration and flattening of the distinctions which are between the ordinary and expert discourse, owing to the process of celebritization (Lewis, 2010). There has been a clear link in the intimate lives of the ordinary people shifting in commodity culture and in the enhanced focus upon the consumption of domestically oriented advice, goods and services, and lifestyle. Owing to the instructional role played by the celebrities as being the life specialists, along with their highly visible lifestyles, being an example for the consumers, the celebrity lifestyle plays a major part in the affirmation of some of the modes of the consumption based personal values and also on the ways of living. This is passed on and devolved on the broader issues of community responsibility and the ethical decision making towards the general public. The branded lifestyle expertise is seen as logical extension of privatized politics and this can be established in the examples like Martha Stewart who offer an all encompassing lifestyle blueprint amidst the large array of choices (Lewis, 2010). The work of Lury (2004) and Arvidsson (2006) has suggested that the relationship present between the branded lifestyles and consumers is not a passive one in necessary manner. This is a dynamic relationship, along with being an interactive process in which the consumers forgo the brands meaning and also create social relations wide set where the brand is given value. This means that even though consumption was earlier viewed as non-productive activities, but with the growth of informational capitalism, there have been decision-making and imaginative processes which are associated with the daily, private and domestic consumption. This in turn has valorised the lifestyle expertise (Lewis, 2010). The celebrities have been made such a brand that it has also turned into a negative direction. This is particularly in context of the hounding of celebrities where their privacy is invaded and which goes beyond the boundaries of propriety and even enter in illegality of harassment (Roberts, 1997). A proof of this is the death of Princess Diana in 1997. Even in the aftermaths of 9/11, the sobriety culture of celebrities was presented, where the celebrities like Tom Hanks and George Clooney bringing support to the Americas real heroes, which included the police and the fire-fighters who gave their life in order to save other during the collapse of Twin Towers (Beach, 2001). These cases highlight the celebrity culture being represented by an unwanted excess, which was required to be reined in the civil societys structure. All these raised questions on why do the celebrities and the celebrity culture continue to hold such a fascination. In short, why do the celebrities still address so s ignificantly to the contemporary culture even with the shift in the structure of entertainment and media industries. The very first dimension of the answer to such question is that the celebrity is a pedagogical tool which helps in discourse of self. For the most parts of the 20th century, the celebrities serviced as being the beacon of public word and they helped in defining zeitgeist of specific movement, which is the structure of feeling on which reliance is made on mediation through popular music, TV, radio and films. Hence the stories on how the hairstyle of women in 1920s to 1940s had been determined by the screen icons who were in the Hollywood industry in US represents just a very basic example of how the preventatives move in cultural dimensions. The singlet of Clarke Gable or the hatless inauguration of JFK shaped the sartorial style in US at the very least. There have been a number of examples of power which the icons on screen held for embodying a particular mood. For instance, a general feature amongst the youth culture of 1950s was seen owing to the role of James Dean in Rebel without a Cause. The impact of music videos also cannot be denied which provided attitude and panoply of styles which migrated with surprising force in a transnational manner. Some celebrities also held the power of capitalizing such changes in powers and in the origins of the presentations. A leading example of translation of sub cultural style for wider media through music, music videos and performance was Madonna, who did this successfully for over two decades. This style later on became a fashion and a popular culture (Marshall, 2010). The impact of celebrity has served a number of purposes across the 20th century. The generations had been taught by the celebrity on how to engage and make use of the consumer culture in order to make oneself. In the numerous treatises on consumer culture and advertising, the cultural critics identified the manner in which the people could be taught on how they have to consume and also on how the value of consumption has to be recognized by them for their personal advantage. This could be easily established in the works of Story (1999), Toland and Mueller (2003), and most important in Leiss, Kline Jhally. (2005). Ewen (1975) shed light on wage slavery where it was stated that in place of making close, it was easier to get these made for the person and use the wages for capturing the latest fashion, along with the most recent style. This is the reason why the shops provided a way to the consumers where the potential and possibility was represented in addition to participation on the connected wider culture which had been cross linked with the stars and their entertainment culture (Schudson, 1984). Something which is not much developed in these criticisms regarding the consumer culture relates to the academic work which was performed for transforming a more traditional culture in consumer culture which is dependent to a big extent on the celebrities and also in their capacity to embody transformative power which is larger part of the consumer culture. As a result of the celebrities being central in self-production, the celebrity gossips, which are quite elaborate, provide continuity to the discourse which is around the presentation of self for the consumption of public. There has also been a cultural and technological change in this regard, particularly in context of the social networks to the presentational media. Amongst the key elements of discourse and celebrity culture in the previous century is the different types of address. This is because the celebrities present themselves as the cultural forms of performers and also were present in celebrity gossip settings and interv iew strictures. The intercommunicative dimension of the online social networking identifies the need for the celebrities, in staying connected to the shifted relationship, in a specified manner to the public and to the audience. There is a need for the engagement of the celebrities which in past had been partly handled through the celebrity industrys ancillary press and now could implicate the celebrity in interpersonal communication flow. Irrespective of this, the celebrities are in the front position with their fans, regarding the etiquette of engagement. There is a pragmatic understanding in the para-social self in which is crucial for communicating with millions in individual manner (Marshall, 2010). The level of engagement of the celebrity with fans is usually related to the relative power of position of the celebrity in the representation culture. This is the reason why Oprah Winfrey has been amongst the most successful talk shows in the nation and across the globe and had been very helpful in expansion of her reach in the Twitter world and has also raced her in attaining followed in the first half of 2009 alone. There has been a minimalistic reply to the huge fan following which she had attained and she simply follows a handful. Just like her, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher were the celebrity royalty of Twitter, and they in turn followed merely 113 and 261 individuals, respectively. However, an effort is made by them in replying to the messages of the fans. They also work on promoting a number of issues and also continue to maintain the exchange of information, which has in turn resulted in Twitter becoming one stop for all things celebrity. An example of this is the post of As hton Kutcher being deemed as a normal tweet, which becomes special, owing to the number of users on Twitter, relaying the link, showing their interest. These are the factors why the celebrity culture continues to proliferate, continue and prosper as a powerful influence (Marshall, 2010). The brands usually go for such celebrities who have a higher presence on the social media, in order to garner more traffic or inertest of the consumers, towards them (Blue, 2007). Technology as a factor With the growth in technology and that of publicity apparatuses, the celebrities became more and more visible and were integrated in the discussions. The growing visibility, in views of Gamson (1992) poses a threat over the myth that fame is natural cream rising to the top phenomenon. In the earlier half of this century, this threat had been controlled largely but the same had not been muted in its entirety. This is because the audiences were invited in real life of celebrities, which discerned the reality behind an image and suggested that the publicity apparatuses were in control of audience. The history sketches the position where there has been switch in two 20th century, which is concentrated on being famous. The main struggle is the presentation of celebrity to be keeping up with the economics of stardom and keeping it intact by making the admiration of the celebrities a coherent enterprise. Production of celebrity is coupled with a threat. This is particular in context of the lost control over the texts in the latter half of the century and the same being decentralized. The negative aspect The interaction between the celebrities and brand culture can further be explained in context of the negative impact which can take place. As has been touched upon earlier, a celebrity is used as a medium of endorsing the products of the company. The celebrities are used by the brands for their promotion, based on the image of the celebrity and the type of fan following which they have. Where a sports person is the celebrity, the individual would be used for promoting products like shoes, health drinks, clothing merchandise, and sports equipment. The situation in which the celebrity gets involved in a negative event or information, whereby the reputation of the celebrity is damaged, the brand has to bear the reciprocal results of such event. A leading example of this is Tiger Woods where a number of brands had to pull back their contracts with Tiger Woods after his extra-marital affairs, which put him in negative image amongst the views of the followers. A reciprocal effect which can happen in interconnectivity of celebrity and brand image is that that where owing to a negative event or information, the reputation of the brand is damaged, the effect of the same transpires on the celebrity and leading examples of this happening are Coco-cola and McDonalds. Thus, a number of issues are raised where the consumers examine the endorsing party and the brand decision based on the perceptions of negative or positive information. In addition to this, the awareness of brand has significant effects over the decision-making of the consumer, which influences them entering in consideration, and in context of the influence over the selected actions of brands (Keller, 1993; Macdonald Sharp, 2000). Transferring effectiveness Gaining an understanding to the transfer effectiveness in between the brand and the celebrity continues to be an issue of significance for the practitioners and the academics. This includes the case of McCracken (1989), Louie and Obermiller (2002), and Ilicic and Webster (2011). The celebrity endorses do share a well known feature of style, recognition, popularity and attractiveness, where each celebrity has their own unique image which is featured in the brand (Kamins, 1990; Ohanian, 1990). The consumers usually idolize the celebrities in emulating the behaviours and styles. This could view some meanings or images of celebrities to be relevant to the ideal self-image and also to the purchase brands which are endorsed by the celebrities in the hope that some become same as their looked upon celebrities through the consumption of such brands. The celebrity image, in this view, plays a key role in the process of endorsements (Choi Rifon, 2007). In an alternative manner, the features o f brand usually stem from the different mannerism which includes distribution channels, price, brand name, advertising message, symbol and the like (Batra Homer, 2004). Matching advertisements Advertisement is deemed as an effective manner where the brands and celebrity have attributed to the matches. There is a focus on the suitable fit between the celebrity and the brand which they endorse. By pairing the brand with celebrity, the brand is enabled to take the leverage of their positive and unique secondary associations from the celebrity; and they also obtain consumer awareness, build brand image, transfer positive association to tying up the celebrity to brand and ultimately for enhancing the equity of the endorsed brand. In this regard, where a particular celebrity could prove to be the right choice for one brand as its endorser, the same celebrity could prove to be completely wrong for another owing to the perception of the consumer based on their distinctive image (McCracken, 1989). An instance of this has been highlighted by Kamins and Gupta (1994), the tuning between the brand and the celebrity results in positive attitude towards the brand and a lack of tuning res ulting in negative brand evaluations. The advertisement is thus more effective where there is a mutual matching of the brand and the celebrity endorsing it (Yang, Lo Wang, 2014). Comparison of UK, US and India In UK, the interest in the celebrities gets reflected in the TV shows, sales of magazines, social media usage and internet searches. The idea of what forms a celebrity continues on expanding. This is the reason why the celebrities of a particular nation are not confined to it. In particularly, the world class athletes and the Hollywood stars compete with the reality TV stars and the glamour models for getting attention. The celebrities in the contemporary consumer cultures give the possibility of purposefully contributing and knowing about the projects of self. And yet the behavioural studies have put the focus over the work of celebrities being in the promotional roles, instead of being on the active interaction of the celebrities with the consumers. Such interactions could include reworking or playing with the images of celebrity instead of accepting the meanings which have been imbued in the brands, celebrities and products passively (Banister Cocker, 2010). In the United States, around twenty percent of the advertisements feature the celebrities and in other nations, the use of celebrities in advertisements, for instance in Japan, is even higher in comparison to US. The traditional explanations of the persuasion effects of the celebrity endorsements are based on the source effect literatures. As per these literatures, the celebrity endorsements are used by brands as they help in increasing the attention which is placed on an advertisement; due to the attractiveness of the celebrities, the consumers can be persuaded and it helps in social acceptance and forming positive opinions about the brand, particularly when the product relates to the attractiveness; the celebrities which are usually well liked by the majority, which possibly leads to the persuasion of consumers and towards their identification, as an attempt towards seeking certain kind of relationship with the celebrity. In the conventional dual process models, the celebrities are usually considered as the peripheral cue and they are deemed as significant in persuading when the consumers are not involved in the processing of the advertisement and in the product category. Though, the celebrities also bring forth the key information which is a crucial aspect in the matching up of the product with the celebrity. In context of the effective peripheral cues, the endorsements by the celebrities help in leading the media weight for getting an impact over the sales particularly in the mature categories (Escalas Bettman, 2018). There is a big market of celebrity endorsements in India and this market continues to grow on yearly basis. Yet, despite the rampant usage of the celebrities in the nation for the purpose of endorsement, all of the endorsements by the celebrities have not been as successful. There is a long list of failed instances of celebrity endorsements which depicts that to simply consider the endorsements by celebrities as an effective response towards the media clutter in every situation, irrespective of the intensity of people being involved, is wrong. As per Abhishek and Sahay (2013) this is due to the lens of culture with which the propositions have to be developed regarding the manner in which the consumer attitudes are shaped towards the celebrity endorsements, which is a function of cultural parameter in the developing nation like India. Talking about India, which is a nation with a number of cultures and sub-cultures, generalization on the basis of broad sample strategy which represents the entire population of the nation is a difficult task. In this regard, the difference between the celebrity advertising processes carried on in India and in US provides relevance to this issue. US follows broadly a single culture, whilst there are varied cultures in India; this is in addition to the diversion of movie segment in India as Bollywood, Tollywood, and the regional ones, whilst US has a single Hollywood (Saran, 2014). Such factors and more help in fixing the focus of celebrities in US easily in comparison to India, which requires a detailed focus on the celebrity being selected for a particular brand. So, even the culture comes into play when it comes to the various factors which transform the manner in which the celebrities and the brand cultures interact. The construction of identity of the consumers in the postmodern culture becomes more complex than ever. This is due to the change in the needs of the consumer where they no longer need a consistent, stable or authentic identity. This makes the aspects of self-identity more significant (Escalas Bettman, 2018). Conclusion To conclude, there are a number of factors which transform the manner in which the interaction between the celebrities and the brand cultures takes place. One factor which was discussed earlier is the image of the celebrities, which is created in the minds of the consumers, which makes them select a brand, based on the positive image which they hold; and which also has the capacity of the consumer being taken away from the brand, owing to the negative image created of the brand. The next factor having an impact on this interaction is the perception of the celebrity which is tapped by the brand and used to promote their brand. This particularly relates to the goal of the consumers in being associated with the celebrity, which again helps the brands in selling items, as they sell the products which are promoted or signed by the celebrities. Culture is another aspect which acts as a key factor in influencing the relationship between brand and the celebrity, and even shapes the choice of such celebrity. The engagement of the celebrity on social media is another technique which in the present digital age, is used by the brands, to further their cause. The more popular a celebrity is, the more favourable they would be for a brand endorsement choice. It is thus the consumers and their perceptions which act as the major factor in deciding the celebrity being selected by a particular brand. This is the reason why the advertisements are tailored by the brands, where the celebrities are selected based on their association with a particular aspect. Essentially, there is an interplay between the brands and the celebrities, which is used by both interchangeably, to attain gain for them; which at times, can at times prove negative for the other. References Abhishek, Sahay, A. (2013). Role of culture in celebrity endorsement: Brand endorsement by celebrities in Indian context. Retrieved from: https://vslir.iimahd.ernet.in:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11718/11466/2013-07-01abhishek.pdf?sequence=1isAllowed=y Arvidsson, A. (2006) Brands: Meaning and Value in Media Culture. London: Routledge. Attwood, F. (2005). Inside out: men on the home front. Journal of Consumer Culture, 5(1), 87-107. Banister, E.N., Cocker, H.L. (2010). A cultural exploration of consumers interactions and relationships with celebrities. Retrieved from: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/27571576/POST-PEER-REVIEW-NON-PUBLISHERS.PDF Barron, L. (2014).Celebrity Cultures: An Introduction. London: Sage. Batra, R. Homer, P. M. (2004). The situational impact of brand image beliefs, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14(3), 318-330. Beach, M. (2001). Song of unity tearful stars raise $230m in US telethon. Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia). 23 September, 5 ed. p. World 1. Blue, M. G. (2017).Girlhood on Disney channel: Branding, celebrity, and femininity. London: Taylor Francis. Choi, S. M., Rifon, N. J. (2007). Who Is the celebrity in advertising? Understanding dimensions of celebrity images, The Journal of Popular Culture, 40(2), 304-324. Corner, J. Pels, D. (2003). Media and the Restyling of Politics: Consumerism, Celebrity, Cynicism. London: Sage. Erdogan, B. Z. (1999). Celebrity endorsement: A literature review. Journal of Marketing Management, 15(4), 291-314. Escalas, J.E., Bettman, J.R. (2018). Connecting with Celebrities: Celebrity Endorsement, Brand Meaning, and Self-Brand Connections. Retrieved from: https://elab.vanderbilt.edu/Documents/PDF/Connecting%20with%20Celebrities%20-%20Celebrity%20Endorsement,%20Brand%20Meaning,%20and%20Self-Brand%20Connections%20%5BEscalas,%20Bettman%5D.pdf Evans, J. Hesmondhalgh, D. (2005). Understanding Media: Inside Celebrity. Maidenhead: Open University Press in association with The Open University. Ewen, S. (1975). Captains of consciousness: advertising and the social roots of consumer culture. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gamson, J. (1992) The Assembly Line of Greatness: Celebrity in Twentieth-Century America. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 9, 1-24. Hollows, J. (2003). Olivers Twist: leisure, labour and domestic masculinity in The Naked Chef. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 6, 229-248. Ilicic, J. Webster, C. M. (2011). Effects of multiple endorsements and consumercelebrity attachment on attitude and purchase intention, Australasian Marketing Journal, 19(4), 230-237. Kamins, M. A. Gupta, K. (1994). Congruence between spokesperson and product type: A matchup hypothesis perspective, Psychology and Marketing, 11(6), 569-586. Kamins, M. A. (1990). An investigation into the match-up hypothesis in celebrity advertising: when beauty may be only skin deep, Journal of Advertising, 19(1), 4-13. Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57, 1-22. Keller, K. L. (2008). Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Lapham, L. H. (1993). The Wish for Kings. New York: Grove Press. Leiss, W., Kline, S. Jhally, S. (eds) (2005). Social communication in advertising: persons, products, and images of well being. New York: Routledge. Lewis, T. (2001). Embodied experts: Robert Hughes, cultural studies and the celebrity intellectual. Continuum, 15(2), 233-247. Lewis, T. (2010). Branding, Celebritization and the Lifestyle Expert. Cultural Studies, 24(4), 580-598. Louie, T. A. Obermiller, C. (2002). Consumer response to a firms endorser (dis)association decisions, Journal of Advertising, 31(4), 41-52. Lury, C. (2004). Brands: The Logos of the Global Economy. New York: Routledge. Marshall, P. D. (1997). Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Marshall, P.D. (2010). The promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media. Celebrity Studies, 1(1), 35-48. McCracken, G. (1989). Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(3), 310-321. Moseley, R. (2000). Makeover takeover on British television. Screen, 41(3), 299-314. Ohanian, R. (1991). The impact of celebrity spokespersons perceived image on consumers intention to purchase. Journal of Advertising Research, 31(1), 46-54. Palmer, G. (2004). The new you: class and transformation in lifestyle television. In Understanding Reality Television, eds S. Holmes D. Jermyn. London: Routledge, 173-190. Roberts, R. (1997). The princess and the press: a dance ending in death. Washington Post, 4 September, p. D1. Saran, R. (2014). History of Indian Cinema. New Delhi: Diamond Books. Schudson, M. (1984). Advertising, the uneasy persuasion: its dubious impact on American society. New York: Basic Books. Story, J. (1999). Cultural consumption and everyday life. London: Edward Arnold. Taylor, L. (2002). From ways of life to lifestyle: the ordinari-ization of British gardening lifestyle television. European Journal of Communication, 17(4), 479-493. Toland, K. Mueller, B. (2003). Advertising and societies: global issues. New York: Peter Lang. Turner, G. (2004). Understanding Celebrity. London: Sage. Turner, G., Bonner, F. J. Marshall, P. D. (2000). Fame Games: The Production of Celebrity in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yang, D., Lo, J., Wang, S. (2014). Transfer Effects: Exploring the Relationship between Celebrity and Brand. The International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 4(4), 86-109. Zimmerman, J., Ayoob, E. (2004). The Role of Products in Consumer-Celebrity Relationships. Retrieved from: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnz/pubs/2004_DE_celebrity.pdf

Thursday, November 28, 2019

The Mormon Faith A Myth Essays - Mormon Studies, Lamanite

The Mormon Faith: A Myth During the early 1800s many new religious sects were growing in the United States. Religious denominations tried to spread their unique set of beliefs. Joseph Smith found a new church based on revelation that was translated into The Book of Mormon. The work tells a story of a prophet named Lehi who sailed to North America from Palestine in 600 BC. Lehi's sons became bitter rivals and each formed a powerful army. Their followers, the Lamanites and Nephites, named after the brothers (Laman and Nephi), prepared for battle in the area that would become New York. A Nephite named Mormon recorded, on golden tablets, stories of the battle and of earlier events. The Lamanites slaughtered many Nephites, but Mormon's son, Moroni, survived and buried the tablets at Cumorah. Nearly 1500 years later, Joseph Smith claimed that the angel of Morone had appeared to him (Streissguth, 1995). Mormonism began when Joseph Smith attended a Christian revival in 1820 where he was encouraged to pray to God for guidance as to which church was true. In answer to his prayers he was visited by God the Father and God the Son, two separate beings, who told him to join no church because all the churches at that time were false, and that he was to bring forth the true church. This event is called the first vision (Beversluis, 1993). In 1823 Joesph Smith had another heavenly visitation, in which an angel told him of a sacred history written by ancient Hebrews in America. The history was engraved in Egyptian on gold tablets and buried in a hill. He was told the information was the history of the ancient peoples of America, and that Joseph would be the instrument for bringing this knowledge to the world. The angel gave the tablets to Joseph Smith in 1827. He then translated the Egyptian into English with the help of the spirit of God and the use of a sacred instrument accompanying the plates called the Urim and Thummim. The translation was published in 1830 as The Book of Mormon. In this book are passages that proclaim there only one God and that God can not change (Bloom, 1992). There are many facts that present a valid argument against Joseph Smith and his religion. The 'First Vision' story was unknown until 1838, eighteen years after its occurrence and almost ten years after Smith had begun his missionary efforts. The oldest version is in Smith's own handwriting, dating from about 1832 (at least eleven years afterwards), and says that just one form, Jesus Christ, appeared to him. It also mentions nothing about a revival. The religious history of the locale where Smith lived in 1820 shows that there was no trace of a religious revival there at that time (there were revivals in 1817 and 1824, but none in 1820). Also, the oldest version of the first vision story contradicts the later account as to whether Smith had already decided that no church was true. In 1828, eight years after he says he had been told by God himself to join no church, Smith applied for membership in a local Methodist church (Streissgarth, 1995). Although Joseph Smith said that God had pronounced the completed translation of the plated as published in 1830 correct, many changes have been made in later editions. Besides thousands of corrections of poor grammar and awkward working in the 1830 edition, other changes have been made to reflect subsequent changes in some of the fundamental doctrine of the church. For example, an early change in wording modified the 1830 edition's acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity, allowing Smith to introduce his later doctrine of multiple gods. A more recent change occurred in 1981 when white was replaced with pure, apparently to reflect the change in the church's stance on the black race. Also, Joseph Smith claimed to be a prophet because he foretold future events--by the power of God. The dates have long past, leaving the deeds undone. Smith's doctrines weren't revealed to his church all at once or in their present state. From his first vision in 1820 until his death in 1844, Joseph Smith modified his doctrines, often altering them so much

Monday, November 25, 2019

Christmas holiday Essay Example

Christmas holiday Essay Example Christmas holiday Essay Christmas holiday Essay An example of this type of leadership at Waitrose is when they ask the employees in specific areas of the company for advice in the section that they are experts in i. e. in the bakery section, if Waitrose for example was looking to increase the amount of bread produced during Christmas holiday at a specified time, the employees will be affected as they will have to make the bread at the best quality , and have the product ready on time for the customers to collect.It is important that Waitrose does this as these are matters directly affecting the employees, thus may need consultation, if they dont, the employees may be offended and may decrease staff morale. Overall by having democratic leadership, Waitrose will have good advice from expertise to ensure that they have made the right decision and will allow the employees to feel more involved, resulting in increase of motivationAnother example where this type of leadership exists at Waitrose is how they allow employees input on judging how to achieve their personal goals e. g. Waitrose have appraisals which involve congratulating their employees on achieving their personal objectives as well as the company’s within the year.This lies on the democratic management style as both the employees and their section management at Waitrose have a meeting for the employee to have the opportunity to discuss any achievements that they have accomplished with their manager and additionally have the chance to come up on the next objective that will help their own personal development as well as the company’s as a whole which means that due to this compromise between two tittles i. e. mangers allowing the employees input in a business decisions, it works under democratic leadership style.This type of leadership is good for Waitrose, as it will mean that employees will feel they are value in the business and this makes them more motivated to do well in the company, due to feeling like an important member in the business. This also allows the company to ensure that they are making the right decisions, as even though the manger manages the employees, he/she is not qualified for all the sections in Waitrose, which is why it is important that they involve the employees that are, to ensure that they are making the most effective decision.However there are negatives that come with democratic style of management. An example being when different holidays occur, Waitrose need to ensure that they are working efficiently, such as if it was the Christmas holidays, Waitrose employees and managers cannot waste any time negotiating on different ideas of conclusions of whether the y should have a discount on a certain product or not. This needs to be done by one manager in the company, as this will ensure that Waitrose will be run efficiently and smoothly.This is due to Waitrose not being able to afford disagreements as this will lead to delays on the production line, and customers will not be satisfied due to the wait they must take to receive the product they want. If customers are not happy then this will result in profit levels decreasing, as they will not want to shop at Waitrose again. Another negative that can occur with democratic leadership is delays on stock.This is a negative to Waitrose as this means that if employees cannot come up with a conclusion, on what which stock they need for the section at Waitrose, delays may occur on the whole company due to not receiving the particular stock on time and this causes the whole company to run slower making customers not happy with the service given to them, which will lead bad reputation. Only one leader should make decisions for Waitrose, as this means that they can make the final say and there is no confusion on what stock to get thus eliminates mistakes occurring.Laissez-Faire (let it be): This is when the leadership responsibilities are shared with all the employees in the organisation. Allowing this type of management style to happen in a business can be very useful in companies where creative ideas are important, as different people have different ideas, which if you combine will create a fantastic outcome. By having all the employees involved can be highly motivational, as people have control over their working life as they get a say in their working hours and other decisions which may affect them.However it can make coordination and decision-making time-consuming due to lack in overall direction, as there is no manager in the team, which makes the final say to what the outcome should be due to this style relying purely on good teamwork and good interpersonal relations, whic h is not certain in the business. businessdictionary. com/definition/laissez-faire-leadership. htmlThis style of management would work at Waitrose by allowing different departments in the company to have their own inputs on decision-making e. g. for the marketing department, they will have the responsibility to find out ways to attract customers as they are trusted by the managers at Waitrose due to them being highly experienced and an expert in that area and this lies on the Laissez-Faire’ management style as employees are free to work independently when making decisions, without supervision from managers.Another example of how this management style could work in Waitrose is when different occasions occur throughout the year. E. g. for Christmas holidays the manager would need to ask employees for their input on what special theme they should do at the workplace, as employees are more in contact with customers i. e. employees who are working at the tills have friendly chats ’ with the customers. This will benefit the company as they will be able to get the theme right which leads to them standing out compared other supermarkets and this also lies on Laissez-Faire’ management style, as managers are giving the employees the opportunity to input their opinion, due to it being important in determining the success of the company.A strength of using this leadership at Waitrose would be, giving the responsibility to workers at Waitrose as it will mean that the staff will be motivated to do the work, therefore this means that it increases their staff morale, this is due to them being trusted by Waitrose, in addition to this, it will mean that instead of the mangers spending their time watching over employees they can spend it on something else which is important such as the customers, this is because the employees don’t need supervision, especially those that have worked for many years at Waitrose.Therefore this makes the company run smoot hly and efficiently. However there are negatives with this type of leadership, this is because the employees at the business may make mistakes, due to the manager not being there to guide them in decision making and this therefore means that there is a chance that they will make mistakes. For example if they have to make a decision on a particular stock to get for Waitrose and the manger is not available, they will have to come up with a decision on their own and with all that pressure and responsibility they may encounter mistakes.All this will affect Waitrose such as it running slower due to delays as the mistakes are occurring and externally due to the customers not being happy thus reputation decreases. Another negative is, the employees will learn that there is no manger there to supervise their every move, which means that their performance of high quality service and products will decrease. This is because they see that there is no point in working hard if they don’t g et noticed doing it. Therefore this will affect Waitrose as this means that that the reputation will decrease due to the quality of products and service decreasing.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Unit 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Unit 8 - Assignment Example al substance invites us to think deeply and conclude that ideas built by means of someone’s sense, memory and imagination are the only tools to create the presence of a material substance. By studying the arguments of Berkeley, one learns to incorporate the ideas of different senses to perceive the various objects, substances and materials. In short, Berkeley’s vision highlights the mind along with ideas and offsets the Newton’s absolute space and time. The time becomes merely a succession of ideas in individual’s mind, and the space is reduced to an extension perceived by senses. (Fogelin, 2001) Berkeley’s arguments positively relate with Phillonous who disagrees with majority of the philosophers to believe in the existence of matter. He like Berkeley emphasizes strongly upon mind and argues that every thing in this world depends upon mind. Hylas, who was the student of Phillonous believes in the matter. He states that all the worldly experiences of life remain unexplained without the existence of matter. This philosophy of Hylas does not resemble with that of Berkeley. Because Berkeley seems to stick on his famous principle, â€Å"Esse est percipi† (â€Å"to be is to be perceived†). Berkeley stated in his books that spirit itself cannot be perceived but can be perceived by its own effect. Similarly Locke states that one has a relative idea of substances in

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Continuum of Masculinity-Femininity Term Paper

The Continuum of Masculinity-Femininity - Term Paper Example The gene SRY that determines the male gene Y binds to the DNA, and distorts it to form the testes. Sox 9 gene is the one that regulates the expression of the SRY gene. If SRY gene is not regulated by the sox 9 gene, the fetus turns male (Storms, 1979). Without SRY gene, organs of female reproduction would be formed instead of male organs. Research shows that one in a hundred people has intersected characteristics. Not everyone believes that his or her biological sex corresponds to his or her gender identity. These people include transsexuals, transgender people and people who are interred sexed according to storms, (1979). Transsexuals and transgendered persons face certain challenges in the society even as they struggle to accept themselves as they are and acquire new gender roles that are based on each individual’s sex. A person might feel that their gender roles are not in line with their gender identity. This creates a disorder related to gender identity. Gender identity d isorder comes to play when individuals are uncomfortable with their gender anatomy which may lead to them to behave like people of the opposite sex. It is not true that masculinity and femininity are positioned on opposite sides of the continuum as is popular belief. If someone possesses both masculine and feminine traits, it does not mean that they are too feminine or masculine. A person’s position on the femininity and masculinity continuum depends on the report specifying their qualities and behaviors that are gender-linked. The continuum midpoint is called the zero point as noted by Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus (2011). A person is placed here if he/she fails to be identified by the gender role, or they breach it. Those identified with sex roles that are strong are placed on either end of the continuum. One factor that has helped me identify my gender is that naturally, I am a male with male sexual organs. However, this may not make me completely female. What I do every day and my behaviors also identify me as a male.

Monday, November 18, 2019

The Black Box Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Black Box - Essay Example The symbols she uses indirectly communicate the major theme of the work, in addition to the seemingly innocuous dialogue of the seemingly innocuous lottery happening in the town. One of the more potent symbols Jackson uses throughout her story is the black box, and, more generally, just the color black. Black, as it is traditionally interpreted, stands for death, decay, ignorance, and decline. The black box, of course, holds the lottery slips. While a similar ballot box would receive slips from voters in an election, this box only gives out slips, showing the lack of individual choice and freedom in this ritual. The blackness of the box gives off an ominous foreshadowing of events, and is itself a symbolic description of how the townspeople have sacrifice their individual wills to the social decree., as Jackson writes, â€Å"The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained†. The keen reader recognizes that the box’s decay indicates not only the physical corrosion of the box but of the social and moral corrosion of what it represents: the lottery. As the process accelerates during the course of â€Å"The Lottery†, Jackson writes that the townspeople stay as far away from the box as possible. Once again, this description is clearly relating to physical distance; but it may also refer to the concept of responsibility, and the moral qualms people have about participating in the lottery. The townspeople avoid the black box as if it were some kind of evil spirit, and because of this endow the box with such great power. Jackson writes, â€Å"The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool†¦Ã¢â‚¬  What otherwise would be just some old dilapidated box is, as a result of the social order and status quo, is an

Friday, November 15, 2019

Literature Review of Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom

Literature Review of Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom 2.5 Why Knowledge management is so important? Knowledge as a resource causes huge misunderstanding for economists, because unlike the physical commodities, it is the only resource which increased returns as it is used rather than reduced or diminished over time (Clarke, T. 2001). Knowledge may be costly to generate but there is modest cost to diffusion. Massa, S. Testa, S. (2008) believed that the determinants of success of organizations, and nationwide economies as a total, is ever more dependent upon their efficiency in assembling and utilizing knowledge. Accordingly to Malhotra, Y. (2000) knowledge has turn into a key production factor; though the monetary accounts are still leading by conventional factors of production, including buildings and machinery. The idea of knowledge flowing to where it is most needed is the critical point and it should not flow only from the top down, but flow in all ways in an organization, (Davenport, T. Prusak, L. 2000). Davidson, C. Voss, P. (2004), Lin, L. Kwok, L. (2006) claimed that know ledge is no longer a source of power; it is knowledge sharing that counts in the knowledge economy but author like Kakabadse, N. et al., (2003), viewed knowledge itself is power. Creation and codification of knowledge do not necessarily lead to performance improvement or value creation. Value is generated only when knowledge is allocated all the way through in an organization and linked where it is needed (Chena, C Huang, J. 2007). It is not sufficient to have smart people in the organization. Instead, the key is to create systems that tap into the knowledge, experiences, and creativity of your staff, your customers, your suppliers, and even your competitors. Knowledge strategy needs to be concerned with the quality of information, not the quantity; and with the timeliness of information delivery, not its speed. Smart systems are excellent but smart people are superior. Despres, C. Chauvel, D. (1999) identified that knowledge management occurs on three ends: the individual, the team and the organizational. 2.6 Framework for knowledge approaches Knowledge management is linked to diverse business fields and it has always been entrenched in the individual behavior. It is not all about creating an index or register that detains the whole thing that anyone ever knew. Collison, C. Parcell, G. (2004) suggested that it is about maintaining track of those who know the procedure, techniques and fostering the culture and technology that will get them talking. It is challenging to understand the nature of knowledge and the way it is managed. Also the management approaches towards knowledge management is varied. Knowledge can be created from re-describing and re-labeling the past knowledge, it also created from connecting people (the relationships) and connecting technologies (networks). This might be flexible social or stiff technical networks. These discussions vibrate with the managerial paradox of developing organizational performance via rigid or free control systems and this was interpreted in the following model adopted from Arm istead, C. Meakins, M. (2002) for describing four approaches to knowledge management stand on whether it is in an organizational or an individual context, and whether knowledge management is imposed or empowered by managerial approaches. Armistead, C. Meakins, M. (2002) Figure No: 2.3 Framework for knowledge approaches Imposition is linked with bureaucracy, structured and controlled systems and attempts to codify all aspects of knowledge. It might expect such perceptions to be more inclined to explicit rather than tacit knowledge. In contrast, Empowerment recognized the potential in the social and individual for knowledge creation and sharing, in which the tacit as much as the explicit aspect of knowledge is engaged. The authors considered that managers are likely to be concerned with knowledge at an individual and organization level and with particular approaches to managing knowledge. Consequently they proposed a managerial framework which uses the constructs of imposed and empowered as one axis and the individual and the organization as the other. Prescribed recommends a official approach to knowledge and its management at an  organizational level. It might see technology set up widely to detain, store up and  guard knowledge. Compliance means individual engage in knowledge activities through contract and  regulation. Resources are distributed via prescribed performance management  processes. Adaptive engages with the informal within the social fabric of the organization in  the logic of communities of practice and the self-management of teams. Self-determination supports individuals to get responsibility for their part to  learning in the knowledge creation and sharing processes. From the above management paradox of how the knowledge is manage at an organizational and individual context. There is another well known model, called SECI or knowledge spiral model. The model did not only described that how the knowledge is managed but it also explained the overall knowledge creation process. 2.7 SECI Model In 1995, (Nonaka, I. Takeuchi, H. 1995) introduced their SECI model, which stands for Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization. The purpose of this model is to offer an understanding of how organizations create knowledge and formalize organization processes which are mostly tacit in nature. It further provides an understanding of knowledge sharing, its management and application at an organizational level. According to Nonaka, I. Takeuchi, H. (1995) knowledge is formed from the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge. These four knowledge conversion processes interconnected by moving from tacit to explicit knowledge as it moves from socialization to internalization then return to socialization to shape a spiral model of knowledge creation. Hiscock, J. (2004) stated that the first generation earlier to 1995, completely dependent on technologies in their daily task often known technocratic, but this is the second generation of knowledge management, whe re knowledge exchange is illustrated as a spiral a thing to be managed and something which can be made explicit. As the purpose of this research it is to look at the barriers to knowledge management thus the only focal point from this model is to observe overall knowledge creation process. Nonaka, I. Takeuchi, H. (1995) discussed that how tacit and explicit knowledge interrelate to successfully create knowledge in an organization via four conversion processes: 2.7.1 Socialization tacit to tacit Socialization is the process through which tacit knowledge is passed to others; it is directly related to the group processes and organizational culture. Tacit knowledge is often attained through sharing experiences, observations and the processes that arises without formal discussions and using language for instance face to face interaction. Interviewing and focus groups techniques are also creating tacit knowledge amongst people. 2.7.2 Externalization tacit to explicit Externalization of tacit knowledge is the conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit. As tacit knowledge is embedded in the peoples mind and that is externalize or express by sharing of paradigms, metaphors and concepts through formal discussions. Nonaka, I Takeuchi, H. (1995) declared that we have conceptualized an image; we generally tend to express it in language. Externalization is developing notions which facilitate tacit knowledge to communicate. Redesign of existing information can escort to new knowledge in the shape of written statements. Wakefield, R. (2006) argued that when knowledge is externalized and turn into explicit it is in fact converted back into information or data. Both have values, but this cannot be out until the data and information is internalized again to form knowledge that is used for some productive purposes. 2.7.3 Combination explicit to explicit Combination is a process of systemizing concept into a knowledge system, at this level explicit knowledge merged with written reports and other strategic documents through formal discussions (i.e. meetings, documents etc.). This process includes gathering significant knowledge then sorting, editing and distributing it, which allows knowledge sharing within organization. Formal education and training are also comprise in this type of knowledge conversion. 2.7.4 Internalization explicit to tacit Internalization is a mechanism of altering explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge. It is achieved through individual expression and learning by doing. Once the explicit knowledge shared with individuals to internalize what they have experienced and then their understanding becomes tacit knowledge in the form of shared intellectual models or technological know-how which further become a valuable asset for the organization. For example: customer complaint are recorded and then read by other team members. 2.8 key components and its related barriers to Knowledge Management DuPlessis, M. (2008) point out that knowledge management is a holistic solution integrating mixture of perspectives: people, process, technology and culture perspectives and every single one should hold equal influence. According to Gillingham, H. Roberts, B. (2006), people, process and technology (soft and hard aspects) reveals the most essential features engaged in capturing, disseminating and sharing knowledge. These elements require to be balanced to guarantee that the complete benefits of knowledge sharing are exploited. Of course, people, process, and technology (PPT) are intertwined and no organizations get very far benefits without having a basic competency in all. But the tougher challenge in knowledge management is how to built PPT into an organization. Collison, C. Parcell, G. (2004) suggested that involving people who knows, and the behaviors to ask, listen and share, some processes to make things easier for sharing, validation, distillation, and a familiar, reliable te chnology infrastructure to facilitate sharing. Knowledge management is all concerning the integration of people, process, technology but strategy and structure too (Armistead, C. Meakins, M. 2002). According to Quinn, F. (2008) the development of knowledge managements exposes many issues that firms claim to have solved completely. The issues for example related to business benefits, people and culture, technology and process. These issues reflect all the main areas of concern in a knowledge environment and can be produce the barriers or road block to achieving the corporate success that most of would wish to inhabit. 2.8.1 People The biggest misunderstanding that the Information Technology (IT) leaders composed is that the knowledge management is all about technology. Gillingham, H. Robert, B. (2006) confirmed that people are the most central and complex element in knowledge management. It is a people who create and share knowledge, Since, (tacit) knowledge is set aside in the individuals the most essential thing for knowledge management is the system to allow the conceal knowledge within an individual be spread to others in order for them to share, exploit, and then alter it into (explicit) knowledge within an organization (Yeh, Y. et al., 2006). Knowledge management helps us do what we do better and its connect information and people, and people and people. Call, D. (2005) suggested that people are not being able to gain knowledge in a minutes and hours but they learn over days or weeks and one of challenge is to detained knowledge from what people said and did as part of their everyday job and to build it reachable to rest in an organization. According to Gundry, J. Metes, G. (1996) people behaviors is often manipulated by their beliefs, values, attitudes, and the organization culture. Influencing what people believe should direct to changes in values, attitudes and behavior in which knowledge is shared behavior. Gillingham H. Robert, B. (2006) stated that it is complicated to get people to do things in a different way because people can simply fall back on defensive routines. A state of willingness require from individuals to get people to modify the way that they do things, it is central to manage those who are willing to create and share their knowledge (Yeh, Y. et al., 2006). According to the Abell, A. and Oxbrow, N. (2001) people ask numbers of question in organization towards knowledge management for example: What is in knowledge for me? How does it make my job easier? What appreciation will I get for sharing my knowledge? Etc. It is important to identify what knowledge peo ple need and what knowledge people already possess and how to link people and knowledge process. In any system where information or knowledge is accessible, there must be adequate security to ensure that only appropriate people are able to see what knowledge is held and by whom, in that case confidentiality is the barrier to crafting a knowledge sharing culture in the organization (DuPlessis, M. 2008). But from the organizational point of view, one can comprehend that it is in national interest that the particular knowledge stays confidential. In other word the right information and knowledge should distributed to the right people at the right time and right place. For example in defense sectors and utilities provider such as countries like South Africa where they have one and only major energy provider, their key knowledge and information would be exceptionally secret hence it should be strongly managed (Sutton, S. Leech, S. 2002). Employee often does not know what is the concept of knowledge management their perception about knowledge as resources in not clear as capital assets resources. In the view of McCann, J. Buckner, M. (2004) people do not include knowledge into their work process to make final products and services and even do not feel responsible for sharing their own knowledge with colleagues. Kols, A. (2004) submitted that people do not even realize that they have knowledge worth sharing. Employees viewed knowledge management as an additional job, processes and formal channel of communications which is not incorporated into their daily working environment (DuPlessis, M. 2008). Another potential factor; employed turnover, where experienced employees transferred, promoted, retired, or fired from the organization, both their tacit and explicit knowledge may be lost unless the organization makes a concerted effort to assure that it is shared. Knowledge management setup and implementations requires sufficient time which is often claimed constraint. Time can be a difficult area or barrier, where employees are considered on the hourly basis, for example; accountants, lawyers, solicitors and engineers. For them, time is wealth and it is hard to modify the view that knowledge management be able to make them work smarter and quicker, even if they do expend some time on it upfront (DuPlessis, M. 2008). When the organization was steady and developing smoothly, it would be feasible for people to take extra time and effort to get involved in such knowledge management activities. Once the circumstances changed, these practices would be easily gone down because they were peripheral to business operations (Lin, L. Kwok, L. 2006). 2.8.2 Process Armistead, C. Meakins, M. (2002) declared that knowledge management is a process rather than an asset, and hence to facilitate maximize its value an organization must have to form an environment that facilitates the flow of knowledge. The argument between technology and people is about the ways of managing knowledge processes. Barnes, P. (2007), Probst et al., (2000) categorizes knowledge management in six core processes; knowledge identification, knowledge acquisition, knowledge expansion, knowledge sharing or distribution, knowledge exploitation and knowledge preservation. In order to share knowledge, one requires tools or processes: Expert locater systems, communities of practice (formal and informal), distance learning information-sharing tools, emergent expertise, storytelling, knowledge repositories, conferences/workshops/ seminars, e-learning applications and virtual communities are some of the methods organizations can use to disseminate knowledge. Abell, A. Oxbrow, N. (200 1) believed that people make process work, often through informal steps- how can these be formalized and how to build communities around business processes. Process must learn how to achieve the commitment of people to the learning process and how to integrate knowledge creation and utilization into business process. Processes need technology support- how to integrate business benefits and technology capability, it also require formal and informal communication between employees. Lack of communication, non-standardized processes and information systems and not knowing where to get knowledge. Gillingham, H. Roberts, B. (2006) stated that location and distance (geographical, legal, cultural and lingual) to access of vast organization knowledge can be a bottleneck Informal communication outlook as just chitchat or chatty activity, managers do not see the advantage of (tacit) knowledge process or transfer from one employee to another hence often employees are restricted to engage in discussing projects or ideas at meeting places such as near to water coolers or coffee machines (Webb, S. 1998). However organization confusion over the focus of the initiative often creates barriers to knowledge management: information or knowledge management; knowledge management or learning organization; which should lead human resources (HR) or information technology (IT). However there is danger in attempting to identify and collect everything available. According to Giannetto, K. Wheeler, A. (2000) if too much detail is gathered, it is impossible to distinguish what might be of value to employees and it will become a huge unmanageable, bureaucratic nightmare Organizations focus on collection not connection and attempt to capture all organization knowledge in repositories, often creating electronic bucket in place of physical filing cabinets also misunderstand the difference between tacit and explicit knowledge and treat it in the same way. 2.8.3 Technology The role of technology is significant; it is ultimately a facilitator of human knowledge in the organization. Technology or IS does not hold tacit knowledge, as it is held in the human brain (Rock, S. 1998), although it is transfer medium of tacit into explicit knowledge to some extend because tacit knowledge alters with each new experience and technology should be updated frequently. Armistead, C. Meakins, M. (2002) affirmed that information technology can enable speedy search, access and retrieval of information, and can support collaboration and communication between organizational members. In real meaning, it can undoubtedly play a variety of roles to support an organizations knowledge management processes. Technologies and knowledge management are strongly tied, because both assist the circulation of structured knowledge vertically and horizontally in the organization. (Yeh, Y. et al., 2006) argued that technology plays following roles in knowledge management: acquiring knowledge; classify, store, index, and tie knowledge related digital items; search and identify related content; and flexibly communicate the content based on the different utilization backgrounds. Knowledge management classifications are broadly defined technologies which improve and enable knowledge generation, codification and transfer. Peoples experiences and interpretations that add value, transforms into knowledge by using technologies. Knowledge management (technology) tools for instance: e-mail, document systems, groupware, the internet, intranet and video conferencing are all knowledge collaboration tools which can be use for gathering, organizing and sharing knowledge in the organizations (Gillingham, H. Roberts, B. 2006). Not everyone is computer literate and that sort of illiteracy become a cause which brake knowledge management processes also people finds that working with complex systems is not easy (DuPlessis, M. 2006). Sometimes it is more challenging for the organization to get people trained to using the KM tools (technologies) to facilitate knowledge sharing and retention. Holland, J. Johanson, U. 2003) recognized that organization consideration towards technological costs sometimes restrain in respect of installing knowledge management softwares and hardwares. Perhaps both are very expensive in terms of getting licenses for every member in a large organization. Since knowledge is an intangible asset, it is more complex for organization to calculate return on investment in hard form (cash), therefore step back from any initiative; however Collison, C Parcell, G. (2001) believed that knowledge benefits can be defined in qualitative and quantitative measures. Another barriers occur when technology is not up to date with the business processes as well as with the improvements in the technological world then knowledge and information might become rapidly old-fashioned and if maintenance and back-ups is not done regularly, knowledge can be vanished in a catastrophe situation, which is not only costly but also irretrievable. The advance type of communications for example; intranet if organizations only rely on this then it will be a huge barrier to the exchange of tacit knowledge. Davenport, T Prusak, L. (2000) suggest that knowledge sharing events happen when people connect via communities of practice and in person meetings. 2.8.4 Culture Chen, C. Huang, J. (2007) described organizational culture as shared value, beliefs, and work atmospheres that could have considerable impacts on the behaviors of employees. According to Yeh, Y. et al., (2006) culture is the combination of value, core belief, behavior model, and emblem. Culture is normally reflected in the form of organizations corporate structure, management and leadership style, learning from experience, norms, and practices, trust, rewards and recognition, networks and community of practices etc (DeLong, DW. Fahey, L. 2004, Al-Hawamdeh, S. 2003). Culture can play a role for organizational learning and every organizations culture is an independent entity different than any other organization. Alavi, M. Leidner, D. (2001) suggested that it is significant to comprehend that knowledge management is not as much of technical problem, but it is more of cultural problem. Culture is not only intangible and illusive, but it can also be observed at multiple levels in an o rganization. Trust and honesty are elements of culture sometime not clearly visible, Davenport, T. Prusak, L. (2000) confirmed that without these elements knowledge management would not function properly between individuals. Employees ask many questions themselves for instance; if I share knowledge will others misuse it, can I belief the knowledge that others created (Abell, A. Oxbrow, N. 2001). Another familiar barrier point out by Kols, A. (2004) knowledge as a source of power or authority and therefore hoarding it, similarly organizations are naturally unwilling to share their skills and know-how with rivals. Employees possibly will not willing to share their knowledge because they might lose control/power, they spotlight on continued existence in the organization rather than willingness to share knowledge (Clegg, S. Palmer, G. 1996). The following Chinese sayings depicting this philosophy with influences from such widespread beliefs, knowledge sharing becomes more complex. A good mastery of a single skill ensures a lifetime employment (Lin, L. Kwok, L. 2006). Internal divisions are general obstacle. Each department, field office, service delivery site, or project team tends to focus on its own problems, have limited contact with outsiders, and unaware of what other subdivisions are doing. Davenport, T. Prusak, L. (2000) stated that employee often assumes that the people in top of organizational hierarchy have greater knowledge and expertise and this difference amongst individual may be seen as a barrier. Employees on different hierarchical or designations frequently struggle to share knowledge between these levels, as they feel they may have much or more knowledge on a particular subject but not consulted or totally ignored because of their position in organization. Furthermore Webb, S. (1998) revealed that managers often try to avoid consult subordinates because they might fear for losing face. If skills are greatly diverse within professional areas and/or within ranks, it might obstruct the tools and practice through the knowledge is s hared between levels. Organization consists of multiple genders and seeking assistance from same gender whether the person is helpful or not is normal cause and may be a barrier. Bartram, S. (2005) stated that women in managerial position often seen as one of the cultural barrier. Also assorted age makes a differentiation at the point of exchanging knowledge. Webb S. (1998) believed that employees are unwilling to share knowledge if the future economic growth of organization is unstable and they strive to secure their position by retention of tacit knowledge as power. The overall organization instability may spoil social networks and reduce flow of knowledge from one corner to another in an organization (Lesser, E. Prusak, L. 2001). Management emphasis on individual rather than team, disincentive to knowledge sharing, competition between employees, motivational limitations, lack of acknowledging for the supplier of knowledge, sub-standard physical layout of work space, and fewer management commitments could be a constraint for knowledge sharing environment (Chase, R. 1997). 2.9 How the barriers of knowledge management can be managed? Knowledge management is a lengthy and iterative process and its related benefits realized over a period of time. There are no rapid fix solutions to counter these barriers. However to overcome these barriers an organizations require to undertake essential approaches and actions. According to Du Plessis, M. (2008) knowledge management barriers directly line up with organizational, national and personnel culture. Top and senior managements can play a significant role for instance by raising the awareness of knowledge management activities and its benefits into work place (Birkinshaw, J. 2001). At any level of knowledge management it is compulsory to make sure that employees trained on the basis of knowledge management, once the knew the insights of knowledge management they are enough able to see how its adds value into their routine jobs and how organization can create social and intangible capital. However if employees ignore or do not understand the notion of knowledge management th en they will not be capable to leverage it completely, even though organizations have elegant knowledge management plans and systems. Flexibilities between departments could span knowledge sharing boundaries. Employees should not reserve by position in a hierarchy and retain by resources. Davenport, T. Prusak, L. (2000) stated that the components of knowledge management: people, process and technology must be uniformly supplied in terms of time and money. The most powerful force in knowledge management is people because they can able to change their environment so trust in people is an extraordinary phenomenon in managing people and their knowledge. Milton, N. (nd) described two other ways to manage knowledge called connect and collect, however these terms are vastly similar to the Nonaka, I. Takeuchi, H. SECI model (see section 2.7). The S mean Socialization and it begins through the connecting people into social networks where they can able to talk, to share dialogues with other people where the other three boxes named Externalization, Combination and Internalization is all about revolving tacit knowledge into explicit into tacit knowledge. For example knowledge is documented, recorded into knowledge system or knowledge repository in an organized way thus the othe rs can access it. Organizational culture should abide for mistakes by recognizing and gratifying innovative errors, also there should be no fear of losing position from not knowing the entire thing (Gillingham, H. Robert, B. 2006). In the view of Barnes, P. (2007), decentralize structure gives opportunities to know where the decisive knowledge is located and able to make more accurate decisions. Incentive and reward systems not only influence members to support knowledge management activities but it also encourage their willingness to take part in the creation and sharing knowledge (Yeh, Y. et al., 2006). Lack of trust alters into culture of trust and confidence get by face to face interactions; its not only the way of transferring tacit knowledge between individuals but it allows to evaluating the trustworthiness of both the giver and the receiver. Use of technology in knowledge management stipulates user training and members should have skills available other than technical ones such as interpersonal skills. According to the Abell, A. Oxbrow, N. (2001) technologies should not be the driver and substitute of social interactions; neither should it be a barrier. 2.10 Summary Every organizations is a knowledge based and they possesses particular knowledge in various forms such as in human capital, structure capital, intellectual capital etc. and the issue of knowledge management is essential because organization lives in uncertain world. The above literature has been identified potential barriers to knowledge management which was categorized into organizational culture, people perceptions, ineffective processes and obsolete technologies. There is no cause to believe that those barriers will not impact on knowledge sharing to a more or fewer extent within an organization and between personnel. However the rationale of this study was not to classify an extensive organizational barrier profile but the principle was merely to recognize a set of commonly studied barriers in knowledge management which can be apparent in various means across an organization. When organizations managed and implement knowledge in a logical and structure way it can add value to bot h the employees and organizations effectiveness. The literature review also fascinated that knowledge management is a social activity or relies on social models, even though sharing of knowledge can be possible from technologies but recipient and sender of knowledge are still humans. Organizational culture, employees perceptions and their characteristics, sources of knowledge creation and the context in which knowledge is shared are key consideration in knowledge management.