Illusions in J.D. Salinger´s Catcher in the Rye Essays

Do not be mislead by what you see around you, or be influenced by what you see. You live a world which is a playground of illusion, full of false paths, false values and false ideals. But you are not part of that world (Sai Baba). A world of illusion is an alluring, yet perilous place to enter. It can deceive the mind only to cause damage and distress. Holden Caulfields life has led to. an atrophy through his struggle of conceiving illusions as reality. In J.D. Salingers novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield battles the constant reminder of his brother, Allies, death while he roams the streets of New York. Preceding his futile adventures, he is expelled from his fourth school, Pencey Prep. During his extent at†¦show more content†¦By hiding from this adolescent problem, Holden only reprieves the situation. As Holden aspires to be the catcher in the rye, he includes his red hunting hat. This is a people shooting hat...I shoot people in this hat (Salinger 22). Holden becoming the catcher is arguably the biggest illusion in this novel. This quote is taken in a metaphorical sense as to his armor or protection when he saves people in the rye from any maturation. When he puts on this hunting hat, he instantly feels the prerogative to become the catcher. He continues to reach for this duty as the catcher in the rye, but this prevails over his intuition and common sense on indispensable issues. In the climax when Holden watches Pheobe on the carrousel, he puts on his hat as a protection from the non-precedent rain. My hunting hat gave my quite a lot of protection, in a way, but i got soaked anyway. I didnt care though. I felt so damn happy all of a sudden (Salinger 212-213). Throughout this novel, Holden had perceived this hunting hat as a full protection and a barrier in between him and the rest of the world. In this scene, Holden finally understands that this hat cannot protect him forever. It is known that this hat had also be en a representation of Allie because he had very red hair (Salinger 38), and now Holden is apprehending that Allie cannot protect him from everything. While Holden knew he had the hat on and it was offering the protection it could,Show MoreRelatedGreat Gatsby in Comparison to Catcher in the Rye Essay1666 Words   |  7 Pages‘American dream’ which can be compared easily to The Catcher in the Rye By J.D Salinger. Nick and Jay Gatsby are similar to Holden Caulfield. Nick is like Holden in the fact that they both share ideas of having expectations of people and hope, even though society constantly lets them down with multiple examples showing how people act in their natural state. Gatsby and Holden are much alike because they both have these fond ideas of women and their illusion of their American dreams, with Holden its JaneRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Catcher Of The Rye 1080 Words   |  5 Pagesonly one present. In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Saling er and the movie Igby Goes Down by Burr Steers hypocrisy, self-Isolation and the deception of adult-hood are themes that re-illiterate the coming of age for young-adults like Holden Caulfield and Igby Slocumb. At times, we as people forget the standards we claim set upon ourselves to embrace yet forgetting to act upon it. This entitlement of hypocrisy carries out commonly amongst The Catcher in The Rye and Igby Goes Down. It is portrayedRead MoreThe The Rye : The Expression Of Individuality1061 Words   |  5 PagesRahul Gudivada EWA2 Literary Analysis 11/9/15 The Catcher in the Rye: The Expression of Individuality In the bildungsroman Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger employs the struggle of individuality, inevitable maturation, and the childhood corruption of adulthood to reveal Holden’s alienation from society. Throughout the novel Holden is rejected and exploited by the society around him. As he is conflicted with himself to find a purpose in life he constantly tries to connect with a superficial societyRead MoreEmotional Damage, Hidden Truths, and Accepting Responsibility in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye 1996 Words   |  8 PagesEmotional Damage, Hidden Truths, and Accepting Responsibility in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye When one finds themselves in a reader’s position, they search for things in the novel that they can relate to. J. D. Salinger wrote a story that contained countless topics that people, past, present and future, can relate to in several ways. The novel follows the story of a troubled boy named Holden who leaves school due to his poor academic performance, an altercation with his roommate, and complicationsRead MoreHolden s Journey Toward Maturity2555 Words   |  11 PagesAdditionally, Holden is constantly looking for answers to where the ducks go when not at the lagoon. For instance, â€Å"Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks when it gets all frozen over?† (Salinger 60). Holden’s concern for where the ducks go proves his anxiety and Holden feels he lacks anywhere safe to head to go in the world. Holden shows a growing ability to adapt to adult life. He also says people cannot rely on others to help them and sometimes people just have to do things with out theRead MoreThe Modernist Movement And Its Influence On Art1688 Words   |  7 PagesMovement.  Post-Modernism was a departure from modernism.  This movement took place during the mid-twentieth century.  One characteristic during the post-modern movement was that there was no absolute truth.  Postmodernists believed that truth is an illusion misused by people to gain power over other people.  The postmodern movement is identified with deconstruction and cultural criticism.  Cultural criticism questions the notions of high and low cultures and tends to treat all works of art as equallyRead MoreA Negative View Of Mental Illness1781 Words   |  8 Pages The Catcher in the Rye, makes a connection to these views of the world. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield is clearly disturbed in some way or another. The opening paragraph begins to paint a clear picture of Holden’s unique and descriptive personality, â€Å"I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy† (Salinger 1). TheRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald3044 Words   |  13 Pageswriters present the idea that the American Dream is all an illusion and that it is physically impossible to achieve yet many strive to reach it in their lifetime. Many define the American Dream as the notation that the American social, economic and political system is the key to a life of personal happiness and material comfort. The central theme of both ‘The Great Gatsby’, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, by J.D Salinger, is American lifestyle and mind-set during a time of prosperityRead MoreAccepting Realities : The Catcher Of The Rye2547 Words   |  11 PagesAccepting Realities: the Catcher in the Rye By: Shirelle Cogan â€Å"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very present one† –Albert Einstein. This quote by one of the most impactful men in the world emphasizes that although reality is not set in stone and changes constantly, it is an unavoidable part of life. This means that if someone refuses to accept their realities, it is due to issues within them that are unresolved. Holden, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, has extreme difficultyRead MoreLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 Pagesnovel is sometimes used interchangeably with Bildungsroman, but its use is usually wider and less technical. The birth of the Bildungsroman is normally dated to the publication of Wilhelm Meister s Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1795–96,[8] or, sometimes, to Christoph Martin Wieland s Geschichte des Agathon of 1767.[9] Although the Bildungsroman arose in Germany, it has had extensive influence first in Europe and later throughout the world. Thomas Carlyle translated Goethe’s novel

Phil 235 Paternalism Essay Free Essays

string(120) " neglect the fact that there is an obvious difference in the degree of knowledge between the patient and the physician\." Paternalism in the Medical Profession Philosophy 235 EC: Biomedical Ethics â€Å"The only appropriate and realistic model of the Dr.? patient relationship is paternalism. Doctors are the medical experts; most patients have little, if any, reliable medical knowledge; implicit trust in one’s physician is essential to the healing process; and doctors have the responsibility for our health and therefore have the duty to make all the important medical decisions. We will write a custom essay sample on Phil 235 Paternalism Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now † Critically assess that claim. The issue of doctor patient relationships has become more and more prevalent in our world today. It is hard to draw a clear line in deciding what the appropriate roles are of both the patient and the medical professional. The claim that the paternalistic model is the appropriate and most realistic model will be argued in this paper. This model states that the doctor is the one in complete control, making all decisions on behalf of the patient, and the patient grants the doctor this responsibility, obeying any orders. In this model, patients act as children, who are ignorant and unknowledgeable, and doctors act as parents, not only guiding the child in the right direction, but also, actually telling them what to do. Should doctors really hold complete responsibility for our health? Should they be the ones to make all the important medical decisions without patients having any say? This model will be argued in this paper in order to critically assess whether it should be dominant in our present society. â€Å"The traditional view held by physicians themselves was that the physician is the captain of the ship, and that the patient has to follow orders. † This view has only been strongly believed since the 19th and 20th century, when medical professionals were granted almost complete control over all decision making by their patients. Before that time, going to see a doctor was perceived as a last resort, and many would ignore their doctor’s advice altogether. Over time, this view has shifted and society began to believe that physicians â€Å"knew best, and therefore had not only the right but also the duty to make the decision. † Today, less and less citizens are continuing to agree with this point of view, and instead other doctor patient relationship models have emerged and been identified by Robert Veatch: the engineering model, the priestly model, the collegial, and the contractual model. The three alternative models to the priestly (paternalistic) model have emerged from a more contemporary perspective. The engineering model states that the relationship between the two parties would be nothing more than the doctor simply presenting the patient with the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options. Any decision as to which route to take is left entirely up to the patient. As the textbook explains, the doctor is nothing more than an â€Å"applied scientist†, or a â€Å"plumber without any moral integrity†, since ethics and values do not come into play in this relationship. Although I do not entirely agree with this model, the responsibility is lifted off of the physician, and the patient is given freedom to decide. This would follow the argument of self-determination, as said by Dr. Ornstein. This is the belief that all people who are competent should be the ones in control of determining their own fate. Society has not always believed or relied on medical professionals. In fact â€Å"until well into the nineteenth century, the physician was seen as a figure of last resort. † They were deemed useless and even harmful. With this in mind, I wonder why in our day and age, we would rely even more on physicians than we did in the past? Today, we have the privilege of finding out almost anything we need to know within minutes via the Internet, and that is why sometimes, it is the patient that knows more than his own doctor. It is important that patients assume some level of responsibility for their own health, instead of relying on doctors, and the engineering model would display that type of behavior. That is another reason why I oppose the claim that paternalism is the ideal relationship between doctor and patient. Another alternative model identified by Robert Veatch, is the collegial model. This theory emphasizes that both parties are connected through common goals and interests, and that each acts as an independent equal. This model would suggest that the parties work together, and therefore the responsibility is divided equally amongst the patient and physician. There is collaboration here, engaging in activities, which are satisfying to both, and demonstrating an adult-adult relationship, because no one party has greater control over the other. This model goes hand in hand with the partnership model, which expresses that health care professionals and their patients act as partners or colleagues in the pursuit of the shared value of health. There is mutual participation in this model, which demonstrates that, unlike the paternalistic model, the patient can help come to a medical decision. This model stresses, â€Å"the patient uses expert help to realize his ends. † This expert help can come in many forms, and as I have previously mentioned, today society is exposed to numerous modes of gathering any type of information that is of interest. It is of course obvious that the physician has a stronger medical background and is more competent in that field, but that does not diminish the participation or contribution of the patient. With that being said, it is my opinion that the paternalistic model has clearly outgrown our culture, when there are models such as the partnership or collegial model, which are more in sync with our world today. Finally, the third alternative to the paternalistic model is the contractual model. This model is similar to paternalism, in that it questions the assumptions of equality, however it differs in that there is a â€Å"contract† between both parties, leaving each with their own dignity and moral authority. What is crucial about this model is that it does not neglect the fact that there is an obvious difference in the degree of knowledge between the patient and the physician. You read "Phil 235 Paternalism Essay" in category "Essay examples" Instead of focusing on that discrepancy, the model concentrates on the agreement between the two parties to exchange goods and services and the enforcement of that by government sanctions. In other words, this model compromises between partnership and the reality of medical care, and according to Veatch, is the only realistic way to share all responsibility, while protecting various parties in health care. For example, both parties are freely entering this contract, and therefore are both given the right to leave it, given proper notice. However, while partaking in the contract, there are duties and obligations of each, which may neglect virtues of benevolence, care and compassion, which we do see stressed in other models. Leaving aside the three alternatives to the paternalistic model, there are several other arguments, which come to surface, when critically assessing the above-mentioned claim. The first is that doctors must act like parents because patients know much less than doctors do. This emphasizes the idea that the doctor patient relationship should be one of paternalism. This argument takes into account two different prototypes. The first is the parent-infant relationship, where the parent is the doctor, taking on an active role and the infant is the patient, taking on a passive role. In this case the patient is extremely dependent on the medical professional. The second is the parent-adolescent child relationship, where the physician guides the patient in the right direction, and the patient co-operates to the degree of obeying. Both suggest that the patient has no responsibility, and that the duty and obligation of all decisions rest on the shoulders of the physician. This proposes that patients are ignorant and unknowledgeable and given the opportunity to make their own decision, they would not be able to. It is likely that doctors know more than the average member of society, however, this is not to say that they are infallible, mistakes can happen. As Professor Ornstein has stated, we cannot choose our fathers, but we can choose our doctors, and in my opinion there is no connection where the two should be related. If a patient feels they should seek out a second, third or fourth opinion, that is their own right. Unlike the ability to seek out a second, third or fourth father. We do not have this option. It is possible and even probable that doctors will differ in their views, and each may guide their patient down a different path. Although a relationship between a physician and a patient should be based on a degree of trust and loyalty, if there is any sort of uncertainty, patients should not feel the pressure of following a path they do not believe in. Getting another opinion is not disloyal or disrespectful; it is a patient’s right. Additionally, today more patients recognize that it is unfair for doctors to take complete responsibility for our welfare, as we are exposed to so much free medical information. It is my opinion that it is the patient’s duty to also act responsible for his or her own welfare. Another argument that I have come across to oppose this claim is that doctors may be experts in medical matters but there may be other factors to take into account, such as ethical issues, when making a decision. Each doctor has taken an oath, to save lives. This is their main concern, and their main goal for each patient. One must wonder, whether or not this is always ethical. As Professor Ornstein has suggested, do we save someone who as a result must live the rest of his or her life in agonizing pain? Or do we relieve them of that pain, and simply allow them to pass away? This is an ethical issue where many doctors may have opposing points of view, and may decide that their job would be to save the patient. That would be a paternalistic instinct however; medical decisions should not be purely medical all the time. There are always other factors to consider such as the medical conditions of the patient, their preferences, the quality of life and the socio economic conditions. Each, of course, is given a weight dependent on the specifics and circumstances of the case. In the case of a patient who is experiencing excruciating pain, the doctor may come to the conclusion that the best option would be to remedy that pain with medication. It is important to note, that this paternalistic act is ignoring all ethical issues and only taking medicine into account. Opposing this notion would be to consider how this medication might cloud the patient’s judgment, or recognizing the patient’s preferences prior to formulating a medical decision. Doctors might be experts in medical matters, but the other factors, which are necessary to take into consideration, deem the paternalistic view inadequate. A final argument against the paternalistic view is that physician-patient interactions are negotiations. Viewing the interactions as negotiations, is in itself opposing paternalism because the patient is given some level of autonomy to take part in the decision making process. The goal is to reach a mutual agreement. In order to do so, there are certain steps that must be followed. Firstly, the negotiation should involve adequate disclosures by both parties. This is necessary, so that values and objectives are clear, and a fair negotiation can take place. Secondly, the negotiation should be voluntary, meaning uncoerced. Neither party should feel threatened while entering into the negotiation process. And finally, the solution should be one of mutual acceptance. Of course there are occasions where negotiation is not possible, and that would be for example in the case of an emergency, when the physician needs to save the patient without negotiating beforehand. In that case, the medical professional may act in a paternalistic way, however if there is a competent patient, negotiation is possible and can often be characterized in terms of any of the above-mentioned models (parent-child, friends, partners, etc. ). The aspect that the relationship is seen as a negotiation counters the paternalistic view, in that the patient is given choice. If the patient chooses to give up his autonomy, and lay his destiny in the hands of his physician, that is his preference, unlike the paternalistic model, where that is not a choice, but the only way. The paternalistic model is not the only realistic relationship between doctor and patient. â€Å"As a normative model, paternalism tends to concentrate on care rather than respect, patients’ needs rather than their rights, and physicians’ discretion rather than patients’ autonomy or self determination. As I have mentioned previously, there are many other factors that must always be taken into consideration when dealing with a patient. Autonomy, self-determination, and respect, are surely incredibly important when dealing with a patient, and paternalism ignores those factors. The above-mentioned arguments, and alternative relationship model s, clearly oppose the claim that paternalism is the only appropriate relationship. As I had asked the questions: Should doctors really hold complete responsibility for our health? Should they be the ones to make all the important medical decisions without patients having any say? I believe the answer to both questions is quite clear, that the responsibility should be shared, and the patient, if capable, should take part in the decision making process. That being said, paternalism is not the most appropriate model and no one relationship trumps another. Instead, all must be taken into account depending on circumstance. 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Diversity Affects Communication free essay sample

Diversity Affects Communication Victoria Moore University of Phoenix Introduction to Communication COM/100 Bruce Turner January 03, 2010 Diversity Affects Communication 1. What is cultural diversity? Why is an appreciation of diversity important in communication? Cultural diversity is having a group made up of people from various ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, etc. Having an appreciation of diversity is extremely important and essential for effective communication. For example, if you are a person that makes a lot of gestures to express yourself but you are attempting to communicate with someone who comes from a culture that does not utilize gestures; you would want to take this into consideration so that you do not come across as rude or offensive to the person that you are communicating with. 2. How would you describe your cultural background? How do your values affect the way you communicate with others and the way they communicate with you? Culture can be defined as â€Å"system of shared ideas and meanings, explicit and implicit, which a people use to interpret the world and which serve to pattern their behavior’. We will write a custom essay sample on Diversity Affects Communication or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page That being said my cultural background is very diverse. I am a young, African-American woman. An immediate assumption would be that I am liberal in both actions and ideas; however, that is false. I actually tend to have very conservative view points since I am also moderately religious. My values and my upbringing affect almost every aspect of my everyday life including the way that I communicate with other. The values that have been instilled in me is what tells me to be respectful to others and in return demand respect for myself. For example, I was in my very early twenties when I was a manager at the hotel that I work at. Most of the people that I managed were older than I was; however, they understood that I could be very personable and relate to them on a social level but I also could handle business. 3. How do gender differences affect communication? As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I learn more about how gender affects communication. I have learned how to communicate with the opposite sex by learning what they are influenced/hindered by. For example, I know that the worst time to communicate with my boyfriend is when he is watching any type of sporting event. I have learned that during this time anything I say goes in one ear and out the other. I have also learned that like the saying goes â€Å"You attract more flies with honey than with sugar. What this means in terms of communication with the opposite sex is that sometimes you can flash a nice smile to get something you want. Also, the ways that men and women communicate are very different. Usually men are more straightforward and to the point whereas women tend to elaborate more and tend to also be more emotional when communicating. 4. Describe three barriers to bridging differences. What strategies may you use to overcome them? Three barriers that were mentioned in the reading are: 1) Stereotyping and prejudice: These are opinions that are formed and are most likely wrong about a group of people. This can be overcome by simply not judging a book by its cover. We should not rush to form opinions or imply certain things about people based on their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. 2) Assuming superiority: As the text mentioned, this is one of reasons that our country has terrorists attacks aimed at us. Our country is hated by numerous others because we infer that we are the best, the richest, the most powerful. This can be overcome by communicating more with other countries and not just imposing our will on them. 3) Assuming similarity: This is an assumption that other people think and act the way that you do. This can be overcome by taking other peoples thoughts and ideas into consideration. 5. Identify three advantages and three challenges of working in a multicultural team. Three advantages of working in a multicultural team could be: 1) Unique viewpoints: Someone may have a new and unique way of looking at something or resolving an issue. 2) Opportunity to learn: Sometimes we get so stuck in our own box that we forget that there are other rich cultures out there that we could learn about. ) Opportunity for understanding: We may be able to understand more about a person or culture by understanding what they have gone through. Three challenges of working in a multicultural team could be: 1) Communication barriers: There may be a language or some other type of communication barrier that could be a hindrance to a team. 2) Inability to see past differences: Sometimes there may be so much cultural tension that you may not be willing to work through them. ) Different ways of working: Some cul tures may have a mentality of getting things done as soon as possible while others may believe in taking their time. 6. Does diversity affect ethical decisions? Explain your answer. I think that diversity does affect ethical decisions because different cultures are going to have different ways of looking at ethical issues. For example, the issue of abortion may be more accepted in culture as opposed to another, therefore people from those cultures are going to have two very different opinions about it.

Othello uses many different rhetorical devices to Essays

Othello uses many different rhetorical devices to persuade and show the Venetians that he is not a threat. Othello uses his skills in rhetorical devices to show the Venetians that he isn't a treat to them. Othello starts out using an appeal to emotion or ethos by saying "Her father loved me" to help him in his persuasion by showing an emotional side. He uses an appeal to emotion to try and bring out the emotion in the Venetians, so they will side with him. Othello then uses anaphora many times by saying "Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hairbreadth 'scrapes i' th' imminent deadly breach, Of being taken by the insolent foe" and then in the next few lines saying "And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence, And portance in my traveler's history," in order to prove his point more and draw more of their attention. Othello is using anaphora to show the Venetians what he was talking about. He then in the very next line uses imagery to talk about his travels and give the Venetians an image of where he went, to help guide them in his defense, by saying "And portance in my traveler's history, Wherein of oceans vast and deserts idle,". Othello then goes on to using personification when he says, "Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven" because quarries rocks, and hills can't really touch heaven. HE says this to exaggerate and explain the scenery he saw on his travels to help prove that he isn't a threat. When Othello says "And of the cannibals that each other eat," he is using an appeal to logic or logos because it is a fact that cannibals eat each other. He uses an appeal to logic to show the Venetians that he knows they are smart and is just stating common knowledge. Othello then uses personification again by saying "She'd come again, and with a greedy ear" because ears can't really be greedy. Again Othello is just exaggerating what he knows, that when she were to come she would come with greed. He uses an appeal to emotion again by saying "And often did beguile her of her tears, When I did speak of some distressful stroke, That my youth suffered. My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs." Othello says this to try and get the Venetians to feel sympathy for him to try and sway their position on whether he is a threat or not. Othello then again uses anaphora to help his case in trying to prove that he isn't a threat by saying "She swore, in faith, 'twas strange.'twas passing strange, 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wonderous pitiful." When Othello says this he is trying to emphasize how weird and pitiful her swearing was. In this passage Othello uses many different kinds of rhetorical devices to help him prove that he isn't a threat to the Venetians.

How to Style Compounds After the Noun

How to Style Compounds After the Noun How to Style Compounds After the Noun How to Style Compounds After the Noun By Mark Nichol Most but not all phrasal adjectives (two words that combine to modify a noun hence the alternate name, compound modifiers) are hyphenated, which is confusing enough though easily resolved: If a permanent compound is listed in the dictionary as open, no hyphen is necessary; otherwise, hyphenate. But that applies only before the noun. What happens after the noun is a whole other matter: Usually, phrasal adjectives and similar (or similar-looking) constructions are left open in that position. Here’s a rundown on hyphenation rules for various types of compounds: Categories Age compound: â€Å"The eighteen-year-old (boy),† but â€Å"He is eighteen years old.† Color compound: â€Å"The sky-blue paint,† but â€Å"The paint is sky blue.† Fraction compound: â€Å"A half-mile walk,† but â€Å"a walk of a half mile.† Number, spelled out: â€Å"Fifty-one,† â€Å"five hundred,† five hundred one,† â€Å"two thousand twenty-two.† (Hyphenate tens-ones figures in isolation and in larger figures, but leave open all other combinations of places.) Number plus noun: â€Å"A five-year plan,† but a plan that will take five years†; â€Å"a four-and-a-half-inch gap,† but â€Å"a gap of four and a half inches†; â€Å"the fourth-floor office,† but â€Å"an office on the fourth floor.† Number plus superlative: â€Å"The third-tallest player,† but â€Å"a player who is third tallest.† Time: â€Å"They’re going to the eight o’clock screening† and â€Å"The meeting starts at six (o’clock)†; â€Å"I have a five-thirty plane to catch,† but â€Å"I’ll meet you at five thirty† (always open when time is on the hour, and hyphenated before the noun but open after when time is between hours). Parts of Speech Adjectival phrase: â€Å"His matter-of-fact manner,† but â€Å"His manner was matter of fact.† Adjective plus noun: â€Å"A low-class joint,† but â€Å"The joint is low class.† Adjective identifying origin or location plus noun: â€Å"An Indo-European language† and â€Å"the French-Spanish border,† but â€Å"She is a Japanese American† and â€Å"the latest Middle East crisis† (open unless the first term is a prefix or there is a sense of a distinction between the elements). Adjective plus participle or adjective: â€Å"His long-suffering wife,† but â€Å"his wife is long suffering.† Adverb ending in -ly plus participle or adjective: â€Å"Her rapidly beating heart† (always open). Adverb not ending in -ly plus participle: â€Å"The little-read novel,† but â€Å"The novel is little read.† (See â€Å"More About Adverbs,† below.) Noun phrase: â€Å"A feather in your cap,† but â€Å"He’s a jack-of-all-trades† (open unless hyphenated in the dictionary). Noun plus adjective: â€Å"The family-friendly restaurant,† but â€Å"The restaurant is family friendly.† Noun plus gerund: â€Å"A note-taking lesson,† but â€Å"a lesson in note taking.† (But beware of closed noun-plus-gerund compounds like matchmaking.) Noun plus noun, the first one modifying the second: â€Å"A tenure-track position,† but â€Å"She’s on the tenure track.† (But leave permanent compounds like â€Å"income tax† open even before a noun, and check for closed noun-plus-noun compounds like bartender.) Noun plus noun, equivalent: City-state, nurse-practitioner (always hyphenated). Noun plus letter or number: â€Å"A size 34 waist,† â€Å"the type A personality† (never hyphenated). Noun plus participle: â€Å"A problem-solving exercise,† but â€Å"time for some problem solving.† Participle plus noun: â€Å"Working-class families,† but â€Å"members of the working class.† Participle plus prepositional adverb plus noun: â€Å"Turned-up nose,† but â€Å"Her nose was turned up.† More About Adverbs When less or more modifies an adjective, such as in â€Å"a less frequent occurrence†/â€Å"an occurrence that is less frequent† or â€Å"a more qualified candidate†/â€Å"a candidate who is more qualified,† the phrase is not hyphenated either before or after a noun. The same is true of least and most unless ambiguity is possible. For example, â€Å"a lesser-known rival† is a rival who is not as well known, but â€Å"a lesser known rival,† by contrast, might be a known rival of lesser consequence. Likewise, â€Å"the most-quoted orators† and â€Å"the most quoted orators† refer, respectively, to orators most frequently quoted and a majority of quoted orators. Again, however, the hyphenated version would be left open when it follows a noun, and would likely be worded differently than its counterpart that is not hyphenated before the noun, either. Also, when an adverb that is part of a modifying phrase is modified by another adverb, as in â€Å"a very much praised debut,† the phrase is not hyphenated at all, even though a hyphen would appear in â€Å"a much-praised debut.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business EmailsAwoken or Awakened?Particular vs. Specific

Elements in the Human Body and What They Do

Elements in the Human Body and What They Do There are several ways to consider the composition of the human body, including the elements, type of molecule, or type of cells.  Most of the human body is made up of water, H2O, with cells consisting of 65-90% water by weight. Therefore, it isnt surprising that most of a human bodys mass is oxygen. Carbon, the basic unit for organic molecules, comes in second. 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of just six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Oxygen (O) - 65% - Oxygen together with hydrogen form water, which is the primary solvent found in the body and is used to regulate temperature and osmotic pressure. Oxygen is found in many key organic compounds.Carbon (C) - 18% - Carbon has four bonding sites for other atoms, which makes it the key atom for organic chemistry. Carbon chains are used to build carbohydrates, fats, nucleic acids, and proteins. Breaking bonds with carbon is an energy source.Hydrogen (H) - 10% - Hydrogen is found in water and in all organic molecules.Nitrogen (N) - 3% - Nitrogen is found in proteins and in the nucleic acids that make up the genetic code.Calcium (Ca) - 1.5% - Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. Its used as a structural material in bones, but it is essential for protein regulation and muscle contraction.Phosphorus (P) - 1.0% - Phosphorus is found in the molecule ATP, which is the primary energy carrier in cells. Its also found in bone.Potassium (K) - 0.35% - Potassium is an im portant electrolyte. Its used to transmit nerve impulses and heartbeat regulation. Sulfur (S) - 0.25% - Two amino acids include sulfur. The bonds sulfur forms help give proteins the shape they need to perform their functions.Sodium (Na) - 0.15% - Sodium is an important electrolyte. Like potassium, it is used for nerve signaling. Sodium is one of the electrolytes that helps regulate the amount of water in the body.Chlorine (Cl) - 0.15% -  Chlorine is an important negatively-charged ion (anion) used to maintain fluid balance.Magnesium (Mg) - 0.05% - Magnesium is involved in over 300 metabolic reactions. Its used to build the structure of muscles and bones and is an important cofactor in enzymatic reactions.Iron (Fe) - 0.006% - Iron is found in hemoglobin, the molecule responsible for oxygen transport in red blood cells.Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Selenium (Se), Molybdenum (Mo), Fluorine (F), Iodine (I), Manganese (Mn), Cobalt (Co) - total less than 0.70%Lithium (Li), Strontium (Sr), Aluminum (Al), Silicon (Si), Lead (Pb), Vanadium (V), Arsenic (As), Bromine (Br) - pres ent in trace amounts Many other elements may be found in extremely small quantities. For example, the human body often contains trace amounts of thorium, uranium, samarium, tungsten, beryllium, and radium. Trace elements considered essential in humans include zinc, iodine, possibly silicon, probably boron, selenium, probably nickel, chromium, manganese, lithium, possibly arsenic, molybdenum, cobalt, and possibly vanadium. Not all of the elements found within the body are essential for life. Some are considered contaminants that appear to do no harm, but serve no known function. Examples include cesium and titanium. Others are actively toxic, including mercury, cadmium, and the radioactive elements. Arsenic is considered to be toxic to humans, but serves a function in other mammals (goats, rats, hamsters) in trace amounts. Aluminum is interesting because it is the third most common element in the Earths crust, yet serves no known function in living cells. While fluorine is used by plants to produce protective toxins, it serves no essential biological role in human beings. You may also wish to view the  elemental composition of an average human body  by mass. Sources Chang, Raymond (2007). Chemistry, 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-110595-6.Emsley, John (2011). Natures Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. OUP Oxford. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-19-960563-7.Frausto Da Silva, J. J. R; Williams, R. J. P (2001-08-16). The Biological Chemistry of the Elements: The Inorganic Chemistry of Life. ISBN 9780198508489.H. A., V. W. Rodwell; P. A. Mayes, Review of Physiological Chemistry, 16th ed., Lange Medical Publications, Los Altos, California 1977.Zumdahl, Steven S. and Susan A. (2000). Chemistry, 5th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 894. ISBN 0-395-98581-1. Elements in the Human Body and What They Do

Film Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Film Studies - Essay Example One of the reasons directors assemble movies from hundreds if not thousands of shots is because film cameras can hold only a limited amount of celluloid film, which is not enough for a feature-length motion picture. Importantly, narrative films compress time considerably by leaving out the boring parts of the stories. A long story could conceivably take exactly two hours to tell on film. To do this, a filmmaker is required to carve up the action into discrete shots and re-assemble them coherently to hold the audience’s visual interest.The simplest transition is the cut. A director films a shot(the basic unit of filmmaking) and has it developed. He/she films subsequent shots and have them developed as well. The director trims each shot down to the wanted length and attaches the strips of film together with a piece of tape. This implies that the director has cut from one shot to another using celluloid. The same effect can be created electronically with two shots taken in the vi deo without the need for a tape. Editing is a human activity, unlike the camera’s mechanical recording of images, editing is quite specifically a matter of active decision making the product of human choice. Cameras can only record while directors and editors cut out the unwanted parts. Other important transitions include the fade-in and fade-out; the iris-in and iris-out; the dissolve, and the wipe. However, these effects are mostly used as transitions from scene to scene or from the final shot of one scene to the first shot of the next scene.

Macro & Micro economics (Economics) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Macro & Micro economics (Economics) - Essay Example 6 (E) If an economy is initially operating at its potential output, explain the short and long- run consequences of a permanent increase in government spending. 9 References 11 (A) Explain why perfectly competitive markets lead to an allocative efficient allocation of resources in the long run. It has often been argued that perfect competition is a market structure which results in efficient allocation of resources. Evidently, the efficient allocation of resources is achieved with due concern towards the profit-maximizing quantity of output produced by perfectly competitive firms which further leads towards price equality with respect to marginal cost. Primarily, in the long run, there exists equality between price and marginal costs at minimum efficient scale of production. In other words, an efficient allocation of resources is realised when it is not possible to enhance the society’s overall degree of satisfaction by generating more of one good and less of other goods. Cont extually, such efficiency can be achieved when the price of goods is equal to the marginal cost of production. Notably, in the long run, firms entering and exiting the industry maximizes profit where these firms generate the below illustrated long-run equilibrium: P=SRMC=LRMC=SRAC=LRAC [Note: P- Price for the good produced; SRMC-Short-run marginal cost; LRMC- Long-run marginal cost; SRAC- Short-run average cost; LRAC-Long–run average cost] Additionally, the above depicted conditions reveal that market price for a good is equal to marginal cost and average cost in both the circumstances i.e. in short-run as well as in long-run in equilibrium situation. Due to the equality in the price and the marginal cost, each firm is able to maximize their profit without making any adjustment to their output quantity. Furthermore, equality of price and average cost renders each firm in the industry to earn normal profits. In such circumstances, economic profit is zero with no economic losse s. Precisely stating, allocative efficiency is witnessed in a perfectly competitive market in the long run as the firms are determined to maximize their profits by producing quantity of output where marginal cost equals to the price and therefore leads to effective allocation of resources (AmosWEB LLC, 2013). Profit Maximizing Behaviour Result in Allocative Efficiency in the Long-Run Source: (Pearson Education Limited, 2013) (B) Explain why free markets will under-produce goods with positive externalities (e.g. vaccinations against infectious diseases). Briefly suggest how government might intervene to correct this under-provision? Positive externalities are usually related with public commodities in an economy which can be defined as the situation where the goods are valued incorrectly, i.e. the goods are purchased either at under-valued or over-valued prices owing to the failure of the free-market to accurately determine to various factors when taking decisions regarding pricing. Public goods are generally identified by their distinctive features of non-rival and non-excludability. One of the primary reasons behind the under production of such goods can be related with the emergence of free-riders. Free-riders, in the economic context, can be identified as an individual party who enjoys the direct benefits from the purchase of a public good by other parties. Notably, the primary objective of the private firm is to earn substantial profits, but wherein a problem of free-riders persist,

How to Watch Your Brother Die Essay Example for Free

How to Watch Your Brother Die Essay The poem How to Watch Your Brother Die is a clear representation of the struggles of the homosexual community and how the outside world views them. The author recreates a situation in which a man is struggling with the death of his gay brother and learns the everyday trials he faced. The poem is told in first person so the readers can see firsthand what the straight brother is thinking. It has been a long time since he exiled his brother for being gay and gets the phone call that he is dying. (2-3) He is dreading flying to California and meeting the lover. (8-9). He symbolizes the fact that he has to keep a straight face and keep the emotions out of it. (10-11) He is very uncomfortable with the sexual orientation of his brother and cannot comprehend how a man can look at another man with love. (14-17) Reality sets in and he remembers his brother and the love they had for each other before the conflict with his brothers’ sexual interest. He misses those times deeply. (18-24) He tries to relate to the lover even though he doesn’t know how. He brought up the fact that the lover was an extremely good looking man but yet all he wants to see is his reaction. At this point he is just trying to understand how a man can love another man. This is a question that has puzzled him for a while. He finally gets his answer when the lover explains that it is just like the love between a husband and a wife but deeper because the odds are greater. He still doesn’t understand. (25-39) They drive into Mexico to acquire drugs that are not legal in the U. S. This is where he finally realizes the challenges that his brother has faced. They are stopped by border control and are told they cannot bring the drugs back. As he rages with anger he thinks about his children getting used to another mans hatred. (40-52) This is the climax of the poem. Society has made it difficult for people of same sex relationships to be able to coexist in today’s world without feeling exiled. He realizes he is one of the ones that judge them. He calls his wife to update her on the status of his brothers’ health. He asks her â€Å"How could anyone’s commitment be deeper than a husband and wife? † She is disgusted by his question and does not answer. The brother slips into a coma and his time is almost up. The man is trying to stay strong and understanding as he holds the lover. He still cannot understand how a man can hold another man, as he grieves for his brother. (59-68) The funeral director tells him that he cannot embalm the body for fear of contamination. The man feels anger and hatred towards him. This symbolizes the fact that homosexuals are always covered up, having to hide per say, from showing who they really are. The man now understands what struggles his brother went through in life. As the man stands by the casket and greets the hundreds of homosexuals that pass by the show their respects. He realizes his brother’s life is much different from his own. Everything he thought was normal perhaps was not normal for everyone. As the passing lovers ask each other â€Å"Who will be next† we understand that the brother died from AIDS. (74-83) As the man is driven to the airport from the lover he finally gets the closer he needs. The lover tells him â€Å"Forgive yourself for not wanting to know him after he told you. He did†. As he found this closer he learned to accept the lover for who he was. A man who loved and took care of his brother the way he should have. (84-98) One the way home the man has a few drinks. This symbolizes the cliche of men being strong and keeping everything inside hidden. He strokes the scar on his eyebrow and smiles. He knows that his brother is in a better place and has forgiven him. He thinks of his children and not wanting to make the same mistakes with them as he did with his brother.

The Global Financial Crisis Essay -- subprime mortgages, Great Recessi

1. Introduction 1.1. Background The Financial crisis was triggered in 2006 when US housing market began to crumble as the housing price reached their highest point after years of speculative price increase; many house owners defaulted on their loans, particularly subprime mortgagers (Archarya et al., 2009). Starting in mid-2007, the outburst of US housing bubble in the subprime mortgage leads to the global financial crisis that has been often so called ‘Great Recession’ (Verick and Islam, 2010). Archarya et al. (2009) states that it is widely agreed that the fundamental cause of this global financial crisis was the credit boom and the housing bubble. While Poole (2010) argued that it is a mistake to only take subprime mortgage issue as a unique reason of the crisis. With regard to the root causes behind the subprime mortgage issue, Verick and Isalam (2010) suggested below four factors that are low interest rate allows banks to search for high yield investment with high risk such as subprime mortgage (Crouhy et al. 2008); global imbalances between US the excessive consumption by depict and China the excessive saving by surplus fuelled the housing bubble and credit boom, it is closely connected with financial crisis (Obstfeld and Rogoff, 2009); misperception the risk of the subprime mortgage defaults; loose financial regulation that failed to control the standards in the mortgage market, and this point is supported by Crotty (2009) that regulators allow banks to hold assets o ff balance sheet without capital requirement to support them. After this introductory section, section 2 discusses the impact of recession on customer behaviour; section 3 presents an analysis on how does the recession affect the companies’ profitabilit... ...une. Available at: http://www.tradewindsnews.com/weekly/w2009-06-26/article200083.ece5 (Assessed on: 30 November 2013) Vaitilingam, R., (2009). Recession Britain: Findings from Economic and Social Research. [Online] Available at: http://www.esrc.ac.uk/_images/Recession_Britain_tcm8-4598.pdf (Assessed on: 24 November 2013) UNCTAD, (2010). Review of World Maritime Transport 2010. [Online] Available at: http://unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2010ch3_en.pdf (Assessed on: 5 December 2013) Verick, S. and Islam, I., (2010). The Great Recession of 2008-2009: Causes, Consequences and Policy Responses. [Online] Available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1631069 (Assessed on: 21 November 2013) Yang, D., Liu, M.J. and Shi, X.N., (2011). ‘Verifying Liner Shipping Alliance’s Stability by Applying Core Theory’. Research in Transportation Economics, 32(1), pp. 15-24.

If Winter Comes Can Spring Be Far Behind? Essay

If Winter Comes Can Spring be far behind? – Essay (free to read). This is the last line of Shelley’s famous poem: â€Å"Ode to the West Wind.† The poet depicts the terrible effect of the west wind in different spheres. The line is an epitome of optimism. Though for the present the cold winter be the ruler all around, yet the very approach of winter means the impending arrival of the spring season soon after win-ter. Winter must at last come to an end. It must be followed by the colorful spring which brings colorful flowers and bird’s sweet songs. After all, the circle of seasons must continue moving unhindered. Day is followed by night and night by day. Similarly, in life every period of sorrow and despair has at last to come to end. It is followed by a period of peace, comfort and joy. We must have a firm belief in the good ¬ness of things and have a strong self-confi ¬dence. There is no occasion for feeling dis ¬mayed. â€Å"If hopes are dupes, fears may be liars.† The best attitude in life is that of an optimistic stoic. Joys and sorrows should be treated in their own stride. They should be given equal treatment. Robert Browning w- s a highly optimistic poet. He had another way of looking at things. If he ever had to face failure in life, he consoled himself by telling himself that he will get his reward or success in heaven or in the next life. One famous psychologist of France taught the men the art of auto-suggestion. He advised them to say unto themselves: â€Å"Every day in every way. I get better and better.† Auto Suggestion for a better and happier life is the great art in modern day life which modern psychology has given to us. WEB. Yeats, the famous poet of early twentieth century says, â€Å"Cast a cold eye on life, on death, Horseman passes by!† Thus, we must rest assured that our sorrows, if any, are short-lived and a period of joy awaits us.

Customer Service and Order Processors

The Human Side of Management Assignment Repairing Jobs That Fail to Satisfy Learning Goals Companies often divide up work as a way to improve efficiency, but specialisation can lead to negative consequences. DrainFlow is a company that has effectively used specialisation to reduce costs relative to its competitors’ costs for years, but rising customer complaints suggest the firm’s strong position may be slipping. After reading the case, you will suggest some ways it can create more interesting work for employees.You will also tackle the problem of finding people who are qualified and ready to perform the multiple responsibilities required in these jobs. Major Topic Areas Job design Job satisfaction Personality Emotional labour The Scenario DrainFlow is a large residential and commercial plumbing  maintenance firm that operates around the United Kingdom. It has been a major player in residential plumbing  for decades, and its familiar rhyming motto, â€Å"When  Yo ur Drain Won’t Go, Call DrainFlow,† has been plastered  on billboards since the 1940s. Leigh Reynaldo has been a regional manager at DrainFlow for about 2 years.She used to work for a newer  competing chain, Lightning Plumber, that has been  drawing more and more customers from DrainFlow. Although  her job at DrainFlow pays more, Leigh is not happy  with the way things are going. She has noticed the work environment  is not as vital or energetic as the environment  she saw at Lightning. Leigh thinks the problem is that employees are not motivated  to provide the type of customer service Lightning  Plumber employees offer. She recently sent surveys  to customers to collect information about performance,  and the data confirmed her fears.Although 60 percent  of respondents said they were satisfied with their experience  and would use DrainFlow again, 40 percent felt  their experience was not good, and 30 percent said they  would use a competi tor the next time they had a plumbing problem. Leigh is wondering whether DrainFlow’s job design  might be contributing to its problems in retaining customers. DrainFlow has about 2,000 employees in four  basic job categories: plumbers, plumber’s assistants, order  processors, and billing representatives. This structure  is designed to keep costs as low as possible.Plumbers make very high wages, whereas plumber’s assistants  make about one-quarter of what a licensed  plumber makes. Using plumber’s assistants is therefore  a very cost-effective strategy that has enabled DrainFlow  to easily undercut the competition when it comes to  price. Order processors make even less than assistants  but about the same as billing processors. All work is very  specialised, but employees are often dependent on another  job category to perform at their most efficient  level. Like most plumbing companies, DrainFlow gets  business mostly from the Yellow Pages and the Internet.Customers either call in to describe a plumbing problem  or submit an online request for plumbing services,  receiving a return call with information within 24 hours. In either case, DrainFlow’s order processors listen to the  customer’s description of the problem to determine  whether a plumber or a plumber’s assistant should  make the service call. The job is then assigned accordingly,  and a service provider goes to the location. When  the job has been completed, via mobile phone, a billing representative  relays the fee to SHR034-6, 12-13 he service rep, who presents  a bill to the customer for payment. Billing representatives  can take customers’ credit card payments by phone  or e-mail an invoice for online payment. The Problem Although specialisation does cut costs significantly, Leigh  is worried about customer dissatisfaction. According to  her survey, about 25 percent of customer contactsà ‚  ended in no service call because customers were confused  by the diagnostic questions the order processors  asked and because the order processors did not have  sufficient knowledge or skill to explain the situation.That means fully one in four people who call DrainFlow  to hire a plumber are worse than dissatisfied: they  are not customers at all! The remaining 75 percent of calls that did end in a customer service encounter resulted  in other problems. The most frequent complaints Leigh found in the customer  surveys were about response time and cost, especially  when the wrong person was sent to a job. A  plumber’s assistant cannot complete a more technically  complicated job. The appointment has to be rescheduled,  and the customer’s time and the staff’s time have  been wasted.The resulting delay often caused customers  in these situations to decline further contact  with DrainFlow—many of them decided to go with  Ligh tning Plumber. â€Å"When I arrive at a job I can’t take care of,† says  plumber’s assistant Jim Larson, â€Å"the customer gets  annoyed. They thought they were getting a licensed  plumber, since they were calling for a plumber. Telling  them they have to have someone else come out doesn’t  go over well. †Ã‚   On the other hand, when a plumber responds to a  job easily handled by a plumber’s assistant, the customer  is still charged at the plumber’s higher pay rate.Licensed plumber Luis Berger also does not like being in  the position of giving customers bad news. â€Å"If I get  called out to do something like snake a drain, the customer  isn’t expecting a hefty bill. I’m caught in a difficult situation—I don’t set the rates or make the  appointments, but I’m the one who gets it from the customer. †Ã‚  Plumbers also resent being sent to do such simple  work. Obi Ani i s one of DrainFlow’s order processors. She is frustrated too when the wrong person is sent  to a job but feels she and the other order processors are  doing the best they can. We have a survey we’re supposed  to follow with the calls to find out what the problem  is and who needs to take the job,† she explains. â€Å"The  customers don’t know that we have a standard form, so  they think we can answer all their questions. Most of us  don’t know any more about plumbing than the caller. If  they don’t use the terms on the survey, we don’t understand  what they’re talking about. A plumber would, but  we’re not plumbers; we just take the calls. † Customer service issues also involve the billing representatives. They are the ones who have to keep contacting  customers about payment. It’s not my fault the  wrong guy was sent,† says Elisabeth King. â€Å"If two guys  went out, thatâ €™s two trips. If a plumber did the work, you  pay plumber rates. Some of these customers don’t get  that I didn’t take their first call, and so I get yelled at. †Ã‚  The billing representatives also complain that they see  only the tail end of the process, so they don’t know what  the original call entailed. The job is fairly impersonal,  and much of the work is recording customer complaints. Remember—40 percent of customers are not satisfied,  and it is the billing representatives who take the  brunt of their negative reactions on the phone.As you can probably tell, all employees have to engage  in emotional labour, as described in your textbook,  and many lack the skills or personality traits to complete  the customer interaction component of their jobs. They  are not trained to provide customer service, and they see  their work mostly in technical, or mechanical, terms. Quite a few are actually anxious about speaking directly  with customers. The office staff (order processors and  billing representatives) realise customer service is part  of their job, but they also find dealing with negative  feedback from customers and co-workers stressful.Two years ago, a management consulting  company was hired to survey DrainFlow worker attitudes. The results showed they were less satisfied than  workers in other comparable jobs. The following table  provides a breakdown of respondent satisfaction levels  across a number of categories:  Ã‚  Ã‚   SHR034-6, 12-13 DrainFlow Plumbers DrainFlow Plumber Assistants DrainFlow Office Workers Average Plumber Average Office Worker I am satisfied with the work I am asked to do. 3. 7 2. 5 2. 5 4. 3 3. 5 I am satisfied with my working conditions. 3. 8 2. 4 3. 7 4. 1 4. 2 I am satisfied with my interactions with o-workers. 3. 5 3. 2 2. 7 3. 8 3. 9 I am satisfied with my interactions with my supervisor 2. 5 2. 3 2. 2 3. 5 3. 4 The information about avera ge plumbers and average  office workers is taken from the management consulting  company’s records of other companies. They  are not exactly surprising, given some of the complaints DrainFlow employees have made. Top management is  worried about these results, but they have not been able  to formulate a solution. The traditional DrainFlow culture  has been focused on cost containment, and the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"soft areas† like employee satisfaction has not been a major  issue.The Proposed Solution The company is in trouble, and as revenues shrink and  the cost savings that were supposed to be achieved by  dividing up work fail to materialise, a change seems to  be in order. Leigh is proposing using cash rewards to improve performance  among employees. She thinks if employees  were paid based on work outcomes, they would work harder  to satisfy customers. Because it is not easy to measure  how satisfied people are with the initial call-in, Leigh  wo uld like to give the order processors a small reward  for every 20 calls successfully completed.For the hands-on  work, she would like to have each billing representative  collect information about customer satisfaction for each  completed call. If no complaints are made and the job  is handled promptly, a moderate cash reward would be  given to the plumber or plumber’s assistant. If the customer  indicates real satisfaction with the service, a  larger cash reward would be provided. Leigh also wants to find people who are a better fit with  the company’s new goals. Current hiring procedure relies  on unstructured interviews with each location’s general manager, and little consistency is found in the way  these managers choose employees.Most lack training in  customer service and organisational behaviour. Leigh thinks  it would be better if hiring methods were standardised  across all branches in her region to help managers identify  recruits who can actually succeed in the job. Your Assignment Your task is to prepare a persuasive report for Leigh on the potential  effectiveness of her cash reward and structured interview  programmes. Make certain it is in the form of a  professional business document that you would give  to an experienced manager at this level of a fairly large  corporation.Leigh is very smart when it comes to managing  finances and running a plumbing business, but she  will not necessarily know about the organisational behaviour  principles you are describing. As any new  proposals must be passed through top management,  you should also address their concerns about cost containment. You will need to make a strong evidence-based  financial case that changing the management style will  benefit the company. When you write, make sure you touch on the following  points:  Ã‚   SHR034-6, 12-13 1.Although it is clear employees are not especially satisfied  with their wor k, do you think this is a reason  for concern? Does research suggest satisfied workers  are actually better at their jobs? Are any other behavioural  outcomes associated with job satisfaction? 2. Using job characteristics theory, explain why the  present system of job design may be contributing to  employee dissatisfaction. Describe some ways you  could help employees feel more satisfied with their  work by redesigning their jobs. 3. Leigh has a somewhat vague idea about how to implement  the cash rewards system.Describe some of the  specific ways you would make the reward system  work better, based on the case. 4. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using  financial incentives in a program of this nature. What, if any, potential problems might arise if people  are given money for achieving customer satisfaction  goals? What other types of incentives might  be considered? 5. Create a specific plan to assess whether the reward  system is working. What are the dependent variables  that should change if the system works? How will  you go about measuring success?

Sample Short Answer Essay for a College Application

Sample Short Answer Essay for a College Application The Common Application no longer requires a short answer essay from all applicants, but many colleges continue to include the short answer as part of a supplement. The short answer essay prompt typically states something like this: Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. Colleges like this type of question because it gives their applicants the opportunity to identify an activity that is meaningful to them and to explain why it is meaningful. This information can be useful to colleges with holistic admissions as they try to identify students who will bring interesting skills and passions to the campus community. Sample Short Answer Essay Christie wrote the following sample short answer essay to elaborate upon her love of running: It is the simplest of movements: right foot, left foot, right foot. It is the simplest of actions: run, relax, breathe. For me, running is both the most basic and the most complex activity I perform in any day. While my body adjusts to the challenges of gravel paths and steep inclines, my mind is free to drift, to sift through whatever needs sorting or disposing- the upcoming days tasks, an argument with a friend, some nagging stress. As my calf muscles loosen and my breathing settles into its deep rhythm, I am able to release that stress, forget that argument, and set my mind in order. And at the midway point, two miles into the course, I stop at the hilltop vista overlooking my little town and the surrounding woodlands. For just a moment, I stop to listen to my own strong heartbeat. Then I run again. Critique of the Short Answer Essay The author has focused on a personal activity, running, not any history-making achievement, team triumph, world-changing social work, or even a formal extracurricular activity. As such, the short answer essay does not highlight any kind of remarkable accomplishment or personal talent. But think about what this short answer essay does reveal- the author is someone who can find pleasure in the simplest of activities. She is someone who has found an effective way for dealing with stress and finding peace and equilibrium in her life. She reveals that she is in tune with her self and her small town environment. This one little paragraph gives us the impression that the author is a thoughtful, sensitive, and healthy person. In a short space, the essay reveals the maturity of the writer- she is reflective, articulate, and balanced. These are all dimensions of her character that will not come across in her lists of grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities. They are also personal qualities that will be attractive to a college. The writing is also solid. The prose is tight, clear, and stylistic without being over-written. The length is a perfect  823 characters and 148 words. This is a typical length limit for a short-answer essay. That said, if your college is asking for just 100 words or something longer, be sure to follow their instructions carefully. Role of Essays and Your College Application Keep in mind the role of any essays, even short ones, that you submit with your college application. You want to present a dimension of yourself that isnt readily apparent elsewhere in your application materials. Reveal some hidden interest, passion, or struggle that will give the admissions folks a more detailed portrait of yourself. The college has asked for a short essay because it has holistic admissions; in other words, the school tries to evaluate the whole applicant through both quantitative (grades, test scores, rank) and qualitative (essays, interview, extracurricular activities). A short answer essay gives the college a useful window into the applicants interests. Christie succeeds on this front. For both the writing and the content, she has written a winning short answer essay. You may want to explore another example of a  good short answer on working at Burger King  as well as learn lessons from a  weak short answer on soccer  and a  weak short answer on entrepreneurship. In general, if you follow the advice on writing a winning short answer and avoid common short answer mistakes, your essay will strengthen your application and help make you an attractive candidate for admission.

0610 BIOLOGY Essays (1277 words) - Secondary Education In England

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS International General Certificate of Secondary Education MARK SCHEME for the May/June 2007 question paper 0610 BIOLOGY 0610/02 Paper 2 (Core Theory), maximum raw mark 80 This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners meeting before marking began. All Examiners are instructed that alternative correct answers and unexpected approaches in candidates scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the relevant knowledge and skills demonstrated. Mark schemes must be read in conjunction with the question papers and the report on the examination. CIE will not enter into discussions or correspondence in connection with these mark schemes. CIE is publishing the mark schemes for the May/June 2007 question papers for most IGCSE, GCE Advanced Level and Advanced Subsidiary Level syllabuses and some Ordinary Level syllabuses. Page 2 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE May/June 2007 0610 02 UCLES 2007 1 (a) (i) leaf B has parallel veins/veins not branched; [1] (ii) organism D has body divided into segments/rings/OWTTE; [1] (iii) organism E has four pairs of/eight legs/limbs ; I - ref to cephalothorax (erroneous) [1] (iv) organism G has more than 4 pairs of legs/limbs/non-identical/varied legs/limbs/2 regions to body/cephalothorax and abdomen; I refs to exoskeleton [1] N.B. No letter given no mark (b) show division of 50/5; (magnification) x10/times 10; R 10mm If no working then 2 marks for correct magnification If wrong working can gain 1 mark for correct magnification I ratios [2] [Total: 6] 2 (a) A = sepal/calyx; B = anther/stamen; Accept androecium [2] (b) to receive/trap pollen/OWTTE; Accept ref to male gamete [1] (c) 1 no nectary (in wind pollinated flower); 2 smaller/less obvious petals (in wind pollinated flower); 3 stamens outside of petals/flowers (in wind pollinated flower); 4 stigma/style outside of petals/flowers (in wind pollinated flower); 5 feathery stigma (in wind pollinated flower); any two 1 mark each [2] (d) process flowering plant human fertilisation germination implantation pollination sexual intercourse Each vertical column correct 1 mark each [2] I crosses in other boxes Page 3 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE May/June 2007 0610 02 UCLES 2007 (e) (i) 1 dispersed by animals/mammals/birds/named examples; R insects 2 red outer coat attracts them; 3 flesh encourages them to eat fruit; 4 seeds hard coats allow it to avoid digestion/discourage swallowing; 5 dispersal in faeces/dropped while removing flesh; any three 1 mark each [3] (ii) 1 moisture/water/OWTTE; 2 with minerals/named mineral; 3 warm conditions/suitable/optimum temperature; 4 in light/not shaded area; any three 1 mark each [3] [Total: 13] 3 (a) continuous (variation); [1] (b) (i) plotted as four bars, all clearly identified (beneath or on bar); accurate plotting (+/ half a square); [2] (ii) genes/alleles/genotype/DNA/OWTTE; [1] (c) (i) a change/alteration in a gene/allele/DNA/chromosome/chromosome number; [1] (ii) chemical/named example/cigarette tar; (gamma/beta/alpha/ionising) radiation; X rays; UV light; any two 1 mark each [2] [Total: 7] Page 4 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE May/June 2007 0610 02 UCLES 2007 4 (a) (i) F; [1] (ii) E; [1] (iii) no tropical forest left/all destroyed; [1] (iv) D; [1] (b) (i) bacteria/fungi; [1] (ii) carbon dioxide; minerals/named mineral salt/ion; I nutrients R nitrogen (gas) [2] (c) 1 crops take/use mineral salts from soil; 2 crop removed from land; 3 soil becomes infertile/low in mineral salts; 4 crop yield drops to worthless levels; 5 no fresh/replacement of humus/no recycling of materials; 6 crumb structure lost; any three 1 mark each [3] [Total: 10] 5 (a) (i) carbon compounds in animals; [1] (ii) C; D; E; any two 1 mark each [2] (iii) B; [1] (iv) A; [1] (b) (i) arrow labelled P parallel to C but in opposite direction/ linking boxes from air to plants around outside of diagram; [1] (ii) carbon dioxide + water; = glucose/(simple) sugar/starch + oxygen; [2] I ref to water on product side A correct formula as substitute for word no need for equation to be balanced [Total: 8] Page 5 Mark Scheme Syllabus Paper IGCSE May/June 2007 0610 02 UCLES 2007 6 (a) A; D; E; [3] I named parts (b) root hair cell 1 long extension/description to cell; 2 increase surface area (for absorption); 3 no chloroplasts/chlorophyll; 4 underground/hidden from light; [4] I - ref to photosynthesis

Global MBA Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global MBA Operations Management - Essay Example (Hammer). The obvious reason for such failure has often been cited as the lack of developing operating performance metrices and other systems and procedures which can ensure the consistent and reliable operational performance of the firms. It is also because of this reason that it is now considered that the modern organisations need to concentrate more on the operational performance of the firms in order to remain more competitive as well as flexible in nature so that they can easily withstand the external shocks. In order to achieve the efficiency in the operational performance, firms need to concentrate on different functions of organisation like marketing, customer services, manufacturing etc. This will allow them to re-engineer the processes properly and achieve the desired level of efficiency in their operations. However, improvements in the operational performance largely depend upon the development of an effective operating performance measurement system therefore any initiative to bring in a culutre of performance improvement would largely depend upon how successfully an organisation set up its performance measurement system. This paper will attempt to discuss the development of performance measurement system by taking into account the nature of the ... From its very nature, the activities of the firm are diverse in nature therefore it requires the management of different internal and external players in different contexts each time we deal with them. It is also important to discuss here that we face a different and complex challenge in terms of managing different aspects of our operations into a completely new and radical way in order to ensure consistency in our operations. However, in order to face the competition effectively and to become more resilient and flexible, we need to implement operational performance standards which match that of the international quality standards such as ISO 9001:2000. This would also require us to improve different aspects such as resource management, business development, and client delivery etc. We also need to manage subcontractors therefore it becomes more complicated when it comes to managing the performance of the firms, working for your organization to ensure compliance with the already set standards of the firm. Performance Management & Measurement It is often argued that the use of automation and information technology to boost the results and operational performance of the firms has not yet yielded the results which were expected. (Hammer). It is therefore believed that the firms do not only need to automate but also take into account the softer side of the operational performance in order to achieve the desired results. One of the basic problems behind the failure of the organizations to effectively measure the operational performance is the fact that the existing systems tend to measure the performance of personnel rather than processes thus ignoring various aspects of performance management. (Hammer, The 7 deadly sins of performance

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Ethics - Essay Example Those who are in the favor of the kind of happiness recognized by Aristotle believe that happiness is an objective element and not a subjective one and to recognized whether one is happy or not requires inquiry and not only introspection. Body The feeling of happiness does not last for a longer period of time. Certain times an individual experiences higher level of happiness as compared to other times and it is undoubtedly a fact that an individual might experience state of happiness at one moment and might even face unhappiness at the other moment. According to Bentham an individual gives more importance to events of happiness that lasts for a longer period of time (Pojman 122). Aristotle claims that stability is very important for one to be happy and the identification of whether an individual is happy or not can only be judged over an extended period of time (Pojman 305). According to a conventional tradition a person was said to be happy if he is really happy throughout his life. Happiness is desired by every one and everybody wants to experience it throughout their lives but individuals experience various events throughout their lives and they may at a certain point in time loose their feeling of happiness. ... Different philosophers may agree about both the events but they link happiness and actions in different ways. The followers of Bentham and those who support his view focus on benefits and believe that benefits provide satisfaction and they focus on the methods through which benefits can be obtained (Pojman 123). Those who follow the philosophy of Aristotle focus on an individuals desire to obtain a good life. Every philosopher is in agreement that happiness is the motive due to which individuals are promoted to conduct any action, but certain believe that it is the ultimate goal and certain believe that it is not necessarily an ultimate goal that individuals want to achieve. Every individual is in the pursuit of achieving happiness, certain philosophers believe that certain factors such as health and wellbeing are necessary to achieve happiness but individuals may experience lack of these factors due to their own fault and fault of others. An individual’s well being comprises of three main elements, these include benefits, satisfaction and pride. Satisfaction itself is a form of happiness, it can not be referred to as a feeling or believe but according to utilitarian it is one of the major elements of attaining wellbeing. If contentment is to be realized as an element of wellbeing, it needs to last for a longer period of time and not just for a few moments or a small period of time. Benefits are even recognized as an element of wellbeing, benefits refers to the satisfaction of the needs of food, drink, shelter and clothes which results in the flourishing state of an individual. Welfare can be of two kinds, psychological welfare and material

Criminal law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Criminal law - Essay Example The law that deals with crimes is referred to as criminal law. The shapers and foundations of criminal law are the numerous social standards and conducts set in different jurisdictions. This definition implies that criminal law seeks to control peoples’ conducts in society and criminalise actions and omissions that may threaten, endanger and harm others’ well being, safety, security and mental and physical health1. For people who breach any of the laid down criminal laws of a given jurisdiction, the consequences are often commensurate legal punishments such as jail terms. Unlike civil law which focuses on resolution of disputes and compensation, criminal law emphasises punishment for convicted offenders2. Because of the severity of the effects of some convictions on perpetrators, judges always want proof of the intent to commit a crime on the part of a defendant. This intent or guilty mind is referred to as mens rea. Thus mens rea and actus reus are the two core require ments that must be present at the same moment for a successful conviction. In other words, a criminal case cannot stand strong if mens rea and actus reus occur at different times, even if sequentially. On the other hand, strict liability refers to the criminal liability faced by a defendant, regardless of mens rea3, i.e. where it is absent. This paper explores the statement that â€Å"Theft and Fraud are both serious crimes, but they can never be the basis for any type of manslaughter conviction, even if the victim dies.’... Taking the offence of criminal damage as contained in section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971), the actus reus entails the damage or destruction of another person's property5. Thus, the mens rea in this case does not require exceeding an intention to commit criminal damage. In a specific intent crime, a suspect’s mens rea exceeds the actus reus. This implies that such a defendant had certain ulterior motives in mind. For an illustration, in the case of aggravated criminal damage contrary to section 1(2) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, this offence is committed if a defendant damages or destroys a property while all along intending to endanger life6. Examples of basic intent crimes include common law theft, fraud, assault, battery, manslaughter, rape and criminal damage while specific intent crimes are unclear offences, murder and criminal damage with intent to endanger life. The reason theft and fraud cannot form the basis for manslaughter is that the actus reus of the t wo crimes are not similar to that of manslaughter. For example, the actus reus of theft is the illegal taking, keeping and/or using of another person's property. This actus reus is accompanied by the mens rea of permanently intending to deprive the rightful owner the possession or use of a property. That is, if one party mistakenly takes the property of another, thus depriving the owner of the use and possession of the property (the actus reus), it does not amount to a crime since the former mistakenly takes the property, believing he/she is the rightful owner. However, if he/she realizes the mistake but does not take the earliest opportunity to return it to the rightful owner, it becomes a crime at this point7. There is thus, the element of dishonesty in the latter scenario. The

Uses of Brand Extension Strategies

Uses of Brand Extension Strategies 1- PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND This chapter contains background of our study, statement of the problem, significance and delimitation of the study. Furthermore Definitions of the terms used in this dissertation are also explained in this chapter. 1.1 Introduction One of the most famous strategies to leverage brand equity is brand extension. It is believed that consumers will favor new extension if new products are under the label of already established brand name.Familiarity and trust with the parent brand is one of the factor due to which companies hope that their consumers will react in a favorable manner. It is beneficial for the companies because of the positive association which consumers already have with the parent brand. A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. (Kotler 1996). Brand extension denotes to the corporate activity in which companies bring in new products, new product variants or product improvements by leveraging the brand equity of the existing parent brand. It is believed that instead of establishing an entirely a new brand, extension of brands can be favorable for companies in terms of promotional and awareness activities, distribution, customer perceived risk in buying any product of service. (Keller, 2002) stated that another major factor for which Companies prefer to use brand extension is lower cost. Introducing a new brand into consumer market can be relatively much higher than introducing new product or product variants under the same brand name. This cost can range above millions of rupees and can not guarantee of any success. So instead of launching entirely a new product, most companies prefer brand extension. Successful examples such as Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke benefited from the brand franchise of their parent products. Coca-Cola introduced six extensions and captured a larger market share than the original brand. For example, Cokes extension, Cherry Coke, was successful even without considerable advertisement. Apart from benefits of brand extension there are some potential problems associated with brand extension, such as failure or semi failure of brands like brand dilution or brand cannibalization. Rather than success of brands, failed extension might maculate the parent brand name thus the result would be reduced market share of the parent brand. Brand association in terms of quality and consistency are crucial for any brand extension to be successful in the eyes of the consumers. Association with the brand is also dependent on consumers own values, preferences, taste, buying situation and manager should always focus on what these dependent variables are and when they come into action. Take an example of new Coke; Coca Cola did not pay attention to what the core brand meant to stand for. It mainly focused on the taste and thought that the taste is the only factor which consumers are looking for. This concept was wrong. Coca cola was unable to identify the attachment of the consumer with the original coke before launching New coke, even though Coca Cola spent a lot of money on conducting research before launching New coke. Brand dilution occurs when consumers loss the original grasp of brand perception on their minds and no longer associate the brand with a specific product. For instance, Sunsilk may experience brand dilution by loosing its strong identity of hair care and shampoo range by running a number of different categories like mashed potatoes, powdered milk and soups. Too broad varieties of product categories run under same brand can frustrate consumers in thinking which variations of products that actually fit to their perceptions. For Example, too many ranges of Sunsilk shampoo include Sunsilk black, pink, white, yoghurt, dandruff can make customers confused in buying a suitable product which actually fit to their needs. Consumers these days have now become selective and demand innovative products. Those brands which are not unique or innovative in any means eventually got tarnished. Consumers do not prefer such extensions which do not offer any innovation or new features in extended brands. Consumers perception about parent brand and extended brand is one of the factors which may lead to either success or dilution of brand. Success and failure of brand is also dependent on familiarity with the parent brand and concept of fit between parent brands and extended brand. Brand loyalty by a consumer can be changed in case of brand extension. If brand extension is favorable it may lead to more loyalty towards the parent brand and if brand extension in unfavorable then the effect would be opposite. As per early research regarding brand extension leads to brand dilution, Aaker and Keller (1990) found insignificant evidence between unsuccessful brand extension leads to brand dilution. Conversely, in a research (Loken and Roedder-John 1993) pointed that inconsistency of product and brand beliefs may lead to brand dilution. Brand dilution and failure of brand can occur when consumer find it difficult to associate the extension with the parent brand, a lack of similarity and familiarity and discrepancy between Integrated marketing communication messages. Brand extension is a strategy which most of the companies are using to minimize risk associated with introducing an entirely new brand and to maximize their profits from the new brand. But in some of the cases brand extension fails, and the reason is the weak brand equity of the parent brand that bears upon the success of the brand extension. If the equity of parent brand is strong, brand extension can be successful and vice versa. Both Functional and non functional attributes of a brand can harm and eventually dilute the equity of an integrated oriented brand, which means due to the weak brand equity, brand dilution can occur across the parent brand. Such kind of failures of extensions can make customers to create a negative association with the parent brand or even with the brand family. These failures can also agitate and blur the original identity and meaning of a brand even positioning as well. Brand managers already know that there are some advantages and disadvantages associated with brand extension. Nevertheless couple of unsuccessful brand extension in past years was noticed. To be successful in brand extension knowledge related to brand extension should be refined. Brand extension is successful or not is decided by what factors? One of the most important factors is concept of fit. Fit with the parent brand in terms of quality and image. It is customer perceived fit which plays an important role in making consumers to decide whether extended products are favorable or unfavorable. If fit between parent brand and extended brand is as per consumers perception then consumers will respond more favorably to that extension and if fit between parent brand and extended brand are not as per consumers perception then consumer will respond to that extension unfavorable and it might lead to the failure or dilution of the brand. According to Martinez and de Chernatony (2004) brand image has two types: the general brand image and the product brand image. According to them there would be no negative impact on general brand image if the brand image is strong for example, Nike or Sony. Dilution effect would be more on product image instead of general brand image. Therefore, mostly the customers would stick to their beliefs about the parent brand with respect to its attributes and feeling. Nevertheless their study shows that â€Å"brand image can be diluted by brand extension, and beliefs and association with the parent brand can also be changed. In Pakistani environment companies especially MNCs prefer brand extension because they consider it more convenient. Top most cause for this is that products from multinationals already have an image of developed countries. Due to the past record of products from these developed countries, consumers give them positive response. Due to the image of product from these countries in the mind of the consumers, less cost is incurred by the companies on creating awareness and communicating about the product message with the target audience. These products already have good market share and media coverage; therefore it becomes easy to launch brand extension in Pakistan for such companies. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Since last couple of years, new product failure has been observed quite a few times. As a result companies now are relying on brand extension instead of launching new products. There are couples of other reasons instead of new brand failures, which companies consider for brand extension, such as low promotion and awareness cost, acceptance and less chances of being failed. Though these advantages are considered by companies to use brand extension as a part of their branding strategy, but apart of these advantages there couple of failed extensions have also been observed in last couple of years. Researchers are now focusing to identify the factors which are useful in evaluating brand extension and factors which play a role in either failure or success of brand extension. In this Thesis we will also try to find about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension. Most of the researches which were conducted to know about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension were focused on consumers point of view about brand extension. But as a matter fact it is quite difficult for consumers to evaluate whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. They can not evaluate it in undifferentiated fashion (Aaker and Keller, 1990, Keller and Aaker, 1992; Dacin and Smith, 1994; Smith and Andres, 1995). Brand extension according to consumers point of view was taken into consideration many a times, but very low attention was given to the managers point of view about brand extension (Nijssen and Agustin, 1999).Managers point of view regarding brand extension can give an extensive knowledge about brand extension because of their deep analysis about consumers and competitors and their personal experiences about the market and the brands. Hence in this thesis we will focus on managers perspective about brand extension along with consumers point of v iew. Both local and multi nationals are into brand extension from a long time. Such as Nestle , Pakola (Pakola, bubble up, Applesidra, double cola, Pakola milk), Sunsilk (Sunsilk black, Sunsilk white, Sunsilk pink, Sunsilk yoghurt, Sunsilk egg), Haleeb food Pvt Ltd (Milk, Juices, Cream, yoghurt), National Food (Pickle, salt, spices), Shan Food(spices, pickle, food), Unilever Pakistan (Lifebuoy, Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder), PG (Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder) Pakistan By keeping above relation in mind, it will be beneficial to have brand managers point of view about the success or failure of brand extension. 1.3 Significance of the Study The significance of this thesis is to explore the use of brand extension strategies in the Pakistan context. Whether the strategy of brand extension is favorable or not, or due to brand extension, brands gets diluted or cannibalized? Since brand extensions is one of the most popular strategies for leveraging brand equity, this study will also focus on brand extension effect on brand equity. This thesis will focus on brand extension strategies of products from various companies which include Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan, Nestle, Pakola and Head Shoulders. Various companies insights regarding brand extension will help us to study favorability or unfavorability of brand extension in a well manner. We will try to achieve this purpose by answering the following research questions. RQ1. What are the reasons to choose brand extension as a part branding strategy? RQ2. Is brand extension favorable or Unfavorable? Above mentioned two research questions were divided further into a set of questions. Purpose was to gain a deep insight to answer these two research questions. By answering above question, we will come to know whether brand extension is favorable or it leads to brand dilution, and whether brand extension is favorable for those companies who prefer extension and are involved in brand extension from couple of decades. We will also come to know that for what reasons companies in Pakistan are using brand extension, and whether brand extension is in accordance with the successful brand extension concept or not. This thesis will be beneficial in indentifying the success rate or failure rate of brand extension of those companies which have been chosen for this thesis. 1.4 Scope and Delimitation This thesis focused on brand managers of those companies which are operating here in Pakistan. Only four products have been chosen for which research is conducted to identify whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. So the product range is limited to four companies only. Another limitation faced during the course of this study was that brand extension strategy for most of the multi national companies are crafted in their home country and then implemented here in Pakistan. Furthermore, Interview process is chosen to know about brand managers point of view about failure or success of brand extension. Out of 4 brand managers, 2 interviews were taken on telephone and 2 were taken face to face. Due to the limitation of telephonic interview, non verbal responses could not be gauged. Other limitation confronted during the course of research was the fact that majority of multinationals (MNEs) formulate brand extension strategies at their head quarters abroad. Lastly, we came to k now that in Pakistan brand extension responsibilities is handled by marketing managers instead of brand managers in some companies. 1.5 Definitions 1.5.1 Brand According to (American Marketing Association 2007 brand is: A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition†. 1.5.2 Brand extension According to (Aaker 1991) brand extension can be defined as utilizing an already established brand to enter from one class of product category to another class of product category. (Kotler 1991) defined brand extension strategy as exploiting a well known and successful brand name either to launch a new or modified product can be termed as brand extension process. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined brand extension strategy as an expansion strategy, where companies try to further extend their already established and well known brands into either different other categories or in same category with some modification. 1.5.3 Product Line Extension (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined product line extension as a process of using already established brand name to introduce new items with some extra innovation or modification in the same category. For example Pakola has extended its soft drink named â€Å"Pakola† into Pakola raspberry, Pakola leeche, Pakola orange, Pakola lemon. (Aaker 1991) elaborates product line as line extension occurs in the form of introducing new items under the same brand name in the same category with some modification in flavors, colors, specification, ingredients and package sizes. Product line extension is somehow differs with brand extension because brand extension is about using an established brand name to introduce new product and brand in different categories, while line extension leveraging and established brand to introduce new products in same category with some improvements, modification and enhancements. 1.5.4 Brand Dilution According to (Aaker 1991) brand dilution is depraving of a brand via its overexploitation. This failure of brand occurs when extension is done in a poor manner, or when a brand with poor equity is leveraged to extend it into different other categories. This failure can also occur when an extension becomes unfavorable in the mind of consumers. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990), unfavorability of a brand in the mind of the consumers can be due to lack of quality, over pricing, lack of consistency with the parent brand, lack of innovative feature and lack of trust. Brand dilution can be a disaster for a company. Companies use their well known established brands to leverage their equity and image to further extend it for entering into different market segments, which gives them a chance to earn higher profits. This can be true when parent brand equity is strong. But if equity of any brand is weak, then consequences might include dilution or failure of a brand. 1.5.5 Brand Cannibalization (Kotler 1991) defined brand cannibalization as reduction in sales revenue and diminishing of share of market resulted as the introduction of new products in the same category For example, when diet coke was introduced by Coca Cola, sales for original coke diminished, but eventually it led in expansion of diet soft drink market. In case of Haleeb food, introduction of tea whitener diminished the sales of UHT milk, because consumers previously were using milk for making tea, but with the introduction of tea whitener, some consumers started to prefer tea whitener instead of milk, which resulted in cannibalization of milk category. 1.5.6 Brand Equity According to (Wood 2000) brand equity can be defined as a profitable relationship between a brand and its consumers. (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) reported that it is quite difficult to measure equity of a brand. Yet a strong brand results in strong brand equity which can be leverage to extend into different other categories. Conversely weaker brand means weak brand equity which can result in failure if extended into different other brands. Strong brand equity may lead to achieve brand loyalty, quality, brand association and awareness. These benefits help companies to incur less cost on communication and awareness. 1.5.7 Brand Association (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) defined brand association as refers to a degree where consumers discern a brand in rich fashion. Positivity of any brand depends upon how deeply that brand is penetrated in the mind of the consumers in positive fashion. Brand associations are the properties of a brand which consumers recall whenever brand is talked about. Consumer relates a brand name with its implicit or explicit meanings. Brand association can also be termed as the level to which a specific product/service is acknowledged amongst its product or service family. When choosing a brand name, it is important that the name selected must reinforce an essential dimensions and specification or benefit association that forms the position of a product. 2- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY PROCEDURE In this chapter we will discuss and justify methodological choices which we have made for our research. Below mentioned figure presents an overview of the research method which will be used in this chapter for our research. Source: Adapted from Foster (1998), p.81 2.1 Research Purpose (Yin 1994) and (Wiedersheim-Paul and Eriksson 1998) found in a research that there are basically three types of research: Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive According to (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksson, 1998) basis purpose of the explanatory research is to craft and specify the issues of the research. This type of research is beneficial when the problem is quite difficult to analyze. According to Patel and Tebelius (1987) explanatory research is used when researcher want to gain more and more information about any specific issue. Moreover, Reynolds (1971) said through explanatory research, researcher can get comprehensive information about research defined problem. (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2000) found that descriptive research is useful when the problem of research is properly defined and crafted in a well manner. For this purpose, researcher must have complete information about the problem defined in the research. Collection of data must be started after having a clear understanding about the problem defined form research. Furthermore, (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksonn 1998) described that the main objective of descriptive research is to iden tify the applicable facets of the problem of the research. For conducting descriptive research researcher has to deeply define these facets, and there must be a relation between and describe these aspects more thoroughly without researching connections between reasons and indications. For our research we will initially try to define the reasons behind brand extension. Why do companies in Pakistan prefer engaging in brand and line extension activities? Furthermore, we will also try to identify the favorability and un-favorability of brand extension in Pakistani markets and companys perspective. For gaining deep understanding about the research question defined previously, we have considered exploratory research as a part of our research. The reason is that before this research no study has been taken into consideration to know about brand extension activities in Pakistan and we want to gain as much information as we can. Along with exploratory our research is explanatory as well. We will try to explain the result which we will get through our research. On the basis of our respondents responses we will try to draw a conclusion. 2.2 Research Approach To gain a deep information about brand extension strategies in Pakistan and whether it is beneficial or not beneficial for Pakistani market we have to consider two approaches, First one Qualitative and second one is Quantitative research. (Ponteerotto, 2006) found that quantitative research approach is used when we have to gain lean descriptions and we use qualitative research when we have to gain comprehensive descriptions. In our previous chapter, we explained our research question which includes the reasons behind brand extension in Pakistan and advantages and disadvantages of brand extension in Pakistani markets perspective. We will also try to know about the factors leading to the success and failure of brand extension. (Ponterotto 2006) found that to conduct qualitative research, most beneficial instrument can be in-depth interviews because in-depth interviews researcher can define the different facets of human experiences which results in having a deep understanding about the research topic. (Holme and Solvang 1991) compared quantitative research as a conventional and integrated research approach. In quantitative research approach final results can be presented in the forms of facts and these results are also measureable. One of the main purposes of quantitative research approach is make the consequences of the research of few variables to higher numbers of entities. According to (ibid 2000) qualitative research approach uses qualitative data to draw a conclusion. It draws conclusion on the basis of factors like peoples attitude, perception, values, likes and dislikes. By using qualitative research approach, results can be drawn by gather information through specific number of entities. This process can provide us the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the research. By keeping the above mentioned description in our consideration, our research focus would be qualitative. One reason for choosing qualitative research approach as our research approach is that we want to gain as much information regarding our topic as much we can. This research approach would give us deeper information regarding brand and line extension activities in Pakistani perspective. For conducting our research for brand and line extension activities in Pakistan and its favorability or un-favorability, initially we approached many companies, out of which four companies agreed to provide us information regarding our research topic. Before conducting our interviews with our respondents, we sent a questionnaire to our respondents.. These interviews were not recorded and average time for an interview was approximately thirty to fifty minutes. Finally, to clear some doubts regarding the first three telephone interviews the companies were re-contacted to clear the doubts in some ques tions. 2.3 Respondents of the study Following companies were chosen to gain an insight about brand extension favorability or un-favorability from brand managers perspective. Initially, we approached many seasoned companies, out of which four companies brand manager agreed to give us time for interviews. Haleeb Foods Limited Pakistan Pakola Nestle Head Shoulders (PG) 2.3.1 Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan Haleeb Foods Limited is one of the biggest Dairy company of Pakistan which is operating in many different categories such as Juices, UHT milk, Tea whitener, and other dairy products. Haleeb foods came into existence in 1986 Haleeb foods initially started to produce Haleeb Milk. Later on Haleeb foods entered into different other segments of the market and different other categories. Since from its establishment, Haleeb food came up with many of brand and product line extension which Haleeb foods did successfully. Mr. Adil Suleman brand manager of Haleeb foods limited Pakistan was contacted via telephone to have this interview and to gain insight about brand extension of Haleeb in Pakistan. 2.3.2 Pakola Pakola is a beverage company which came into existence in 1950 by Haji Ali Muhammad. Initially Pakola focused on producing a soft drink which represented the drink of Pakistan. Later on as a part of brand and product line extension, Pakola introduced couple of other products which includes flavored soft drink and milk range, mineral water and juices. Mr. Mubeen Munnawar Marketing Manager of Pakola was contacted to have an interview to gain information regarding brand extension activities of Pakola in Pakistan. It was a face to face interview, and during the course of this interview, we gained deep insight about brand extension activities, favorability and unfavorability of Pakola brand extension. 2.3.3 Nestle Nestle was founded in 1866 by Henry Nestle and today Nestle if one the worlds largest beverage and food company. Nestle since from last couple of decades is into brand extension and product line extension. As a result of brand and product line extension Nestle has introduced couple of successful brands. Nestle has integrated innovation and renovation techniques in its principles. Nestle extend its brands through innovation and renovation. Mr. Adnan Tariq, brand manager of Nestle was contacted via telephone to get an insight about Nestle brand extension activities in Pakistan. During this interview Mr. Adnan Tariq gave us some valuable information regarding brand extension activities of Nestle in Pakistan and favorability and unfavorability of Nestle brand extension in Pakistan. 2.3.4 Head Shoulders Head Shoulders is an anti dandruff shampoo range introduced by PG. After a thorough research a new anti dandruff formula was developed which they used in developing Head Shoulders and it was first introduced in 1950. Head Shoulders have got a ranges of shampoo which includes classic clean, citrus breeze, refresh, extra volume, dry scalp care. Mr. Shaif Shafiq, who is associated with PG from a long time, was contacted to gain valuable information about brand extension strategy of Head Shoulders in Pakistan. Information the success or failure of Head Shoulders was also gained. During the course of this interview questions related our topic were asked and responses were noted down for future consideration. 2.4 Research Instrument 2.4.1 Interviews As per (Breakwell 1995) interviews as a research instrument can be useful because it is considered as a very flexible tools and due to its numerosity of phase in the research work. According to (ibid 2000) it is easy to use interviews as a part of research instrument because of its multi faceted nature of the research design. Observations and questionnaire can be used as a part of interviews to collect data for our research approach. Using interviews as a part of our research, we first took our research framework into our consideration. By keeping our research framework in our mind we developed a questionnaire which consisted of series of questions regarding reasons for brand extension and its favorability or unfavorability. Some irrelevant questions were late on excluded from our questionnaire before conducting our interviews. 2.5 Sources of Data (Wiedersheim-Paul and Erikson 1997) purposed two types of data collection method. First one is Primary data and second one Secondary data collection. Primary data is the first hand information which is collected for some specific purpose while second hand data is already published data which was collected for some other purpose or some other research. Moreover, (ibid 2000) shed some light on data collection methods as, there can be three different types of data collection method. First one is observation, second one is interviews and the last one is documentation. As per (Yin 1994) interviews can be one of the most reliable source for collecting data. Using interviews as a data collection method, interviewee and interviewer both can focus on the topic. Furthermore, (ibid, 2000) elaborated that interviews can be useful when it comes to gain insights of the interviewee about any specific topic. 2.5.1 Primary Data In previous section we focused more on that secondary data collection method for research can not be ample to identify more accurate and reliable information about any specific topic of research. When it comes to identify about the reason behind brand and product line extension and its favorability or unfavorability, it is important to determine what companies and their brand managers think about brand extension and product line extension. For this purpose use of primary data collection can be beneficial. Thus interviews are selected as an instrument for primary data collection method. These interviews include face to face and telephonic interviews. According to (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005), â€Å"proper communication can be a reliable and beneficial instrument for data collection. The reason is that in communication method no one forces researchers to wait for a certain event to be occurred†. (p. 167). Nevertheless, communication techniques have some drawbacks. In communication techniques it is not confirmed whether the answer to the research question will be obtained in an accurate manner. Using communication has some weaknesses. One of a reason for this is that responses are dependent on interviewees will to pass on the expected information. 2.5.2 Secondary Data For our research regarding brand extension and product line extension in Pakistani perspective, we also focused on collecting some secondary data. As per (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005) â€Å"for conducting any research, we must begin with searching for secondary information†. (p, 167). Using secondary data collection for gaining information can be beneficial in terms of having an initial idea about what have already been researched about the topic. Some useful information about research topic, already published information can also be gained in a timely fashion. Apart from advantages of secondary data collection method, there are some drawbacks associated with secondary data collection method. Secondary data can not be sufficient to give complete information regarding specific question of research. Furthermore, already published information was collected for some other purpose which not necessarily answers the question which you have included in your the sis. Indeed, according to them first of all, the data had been â€Å"collected for someone elses p Uses of Brand Extension Strategies Uses of Brand Extension Strategies 1- PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND This chapter contains background of our study, statement of the problem, significance and delimitation of the study. Furthermore Definitions of the terms used in this dissertation are also explained in this chapter. 1.1 Introduction One of the most famous strategies to leverage brand equity is brand extension. It is believed that consumers will favor new extension if new products are under the label of already established brand name.Familiarity and trust with the parent brand is one of the factor due to which companies hope that their consumers will react in a favorable manner. It is beneficial for the companies because of the positive association which consumers already have with the parent brand. A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. (Kotler 1996). Brand extension denotes to the corporate activity in which companies bring in new products, new product variants or product improvements by leveraging the brand equity of the existing parent brand. It is believed that instead of establishing an entirely a new brand, extension of brands can be favorable for companies in terms of promotional and awareness activities, distribution, customer perceived risk in buying any product of service. (Keller, 2002) stated that another major factor for which Companies prefer to use brand extension is lower cost. Introducing a new brand into consumer market can be relatively much higher than introducing new product or product variants under the same brand name. This cost can range above millions of rupees and can not guarantee of any success. So instead of launching entirely a new product, most companies prefer brand extension. Successful examples such as Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke benefited from the brand franchise of their parent products. Coca-Cola introduced six extensions and captured a larger market share than the original brand. For example, Cokes extension, Cherry Coke, was successful even without considerable advertisement. Apart from benefits of brand extension there are some potential problems associated with brand extension, such as failure or semi failure of brands like brand dilution or brand cannibalization. Rather than success of brands, failed extension might maculate the parent brand name thus the result would be reduced market share of the parent brand. Brand association in terms of quality and consistency are crucial for any brand extension to be successful in the eyes of the consumers. Association with the brand is also dependent on consumers own values, preferences, taste, buying situation and manager should always focus on what these dependent variables are and when they come into action. Take an example of new Coke; Coca Cola did not pay attention to what the core brand meant to stand for. It mainly focused on the taste and thought that the taste is the only factor which consumers are looking for. This concept was wrong. Coca cola was unable to identify the attachment of the consumer with the original coke before launching New coke, even though Coca Cola spent a lot of money on conducting research before launching New coke. Brand dilution occurs when consumers loss the original grasp of brand perception on their minds and no longer associate the brand with a specific product. For instance, Sunsilk may experience brand dilution by loosing its strong identity of hair care and shampoo range by running a number of different categories like mashed potatoes, powdered milk and soups. Too broad varieties of product categories run under same brand can frustrate consumers in thinking which variations of products that actually fit to their perceptions. For Example, too many ranges of Sunsilk shampoo include Sunsilk black, pink, white, yoghurt, dandruff can make customers confused in buying a suitable product which actually fit to their needs. Consumers these days have now become selective and demand innovative products. Those brands which are not unique or innovative in any means eventually got tarnished. Consumers do not prefer such extensions which do not offer any innovation or new features in extended brands. Consumers perception about parent brand and extended brand is one of the factors which may lead to either success or dilution of brand. Success and failure of brand is also dependent on familiarity with the parent brand and concept of fit between parent brands and extended brand. Brand loyalty by a consumer can be changed in case of brand extension. If brand extension is favorable it may lead to more loyalty towards the parent brand and if brand extension in unfavorable then the effect would be opposite. As per early research regarding brand extension leads to brand dilution, Aaker and Keller (1990) found insignificant evidence between unsuccessful brand extension leads to brand dilution. Conversely, in a research (Loken and Roedder-John 1993) pointed that inconsistency of product and brand beliefs may lead to brand dilution. Brand dilution and failure of brand can occur when consumer find it difficult to associate the extension with the parent brand, a lack of similarity and familiarity and discrepancy between Integrated marketing communication messages. Brand extension is a strategy which most of the companies are using to minimize risk associated with introducing an entirely new brand and to maximize their profits from the new brand. But in some of the cases brand extension fails, and the reason is the weak brand equity of the parent brand that bears upon the success of the brand extension. If the equity of parent brand is strong, brand extension can be successful and vice versa. Both Functional and non functional attributes of a brand can harm and eventually dilute the equity of an integrated oriented brand, which means due to the weak brand equity, brand dilution can occur across the parent brand. Such kind of failures of extensions can make customers to create a negative association with the parent brand or even with the brand family. These failures can also agitate and blur the original identity and meaning of a brand even positioning as well. Brand managers already know that there are some advantages and disadvantages associated with brand extension. Nevertheless couple of unsuccessful brand extension in past years was noticed. To be successful in brand extension knowledge related to brand extension should be refined. Brand extension is successful or not is decided by what factors? One of the most important factors is concept of fit. Fit with the parent brand in terms of quality and image. It is customer perceived fit which plays an important role in making consumers to decide whether extended products are favorable or unfavorable. If fit between parent brand and extended brand is as per consumers perception then consumers will respond more favorably to that extension and if fit between parent brand and extended brand are not as per consumers perception then consumer will respond to that extension unfavorable and it might lead to the failure or dilution of the brand. According to Martinez and de Chernatony (2004) brand image has two types: the general brand image and the product brand image. According to them there would be no negative impact on general brand image if the brand image is strong for example, Nike or Sony. Dilution effect would be more on product image instead of general brand image. Therefore, mostly the customers would stick to their beliefs about the parent brand with respect to its attributes and feeling. Nevertheless their study shows that â€Å"brand image can be diluted by brand extension, and beliefs and association with the parent brand can also be changed. In Pakistani environment companies especially MNCs prefer brand extension because they consider it more convenient. Top most cause for this is that products from multinationals already have an image of developed countries. Due to the past record of products from these developed countries, consumers give them positive response. Due to the image of product from these countries in the mind of the consumers, less cost is incurred by the companies on creating awareness and communicating about the product message with the target audience. These products already have good market share and media coverage; therefore it becomes easy to launch brand extension in Pakistan for such companies. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Since last couple of years, new product failure has been observed quite a few times. As a result companies now are relying on brand extension instead of launching new products. There are couples of other reasons instead of new brand failures, which companies consider for brand extension, such as low promotion and awareness cost, acceptance and less chances of being failed. Though these advantages are considered by companies to use brand extension as a part of their branding strategy, but apart of these advantages there couple of failed extensions have also been observed in last couple of years. Researchers are now focusing to identify the factors which are useful in evaluating brand extension and factors which play a role in either failure or success of brand extension. In this Thesis we will also try to find about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension. Most of the researches which were conducted to know about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension were focused on consumers point of view about brand extension. But as a matter fact it is quite difficult for consumers to evaluate whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. They can not evaluate it in undifferentiated fashion (Aaker and Keller, 1990, Keller and Aaker, 1992; Dacin and Smith, 1994; Smith and Andres, 1995). Brand extension according to consumers point of view was taken into consideration many a times, but very low attention was given to the managers point of view about brand extension (Nijssen and Agustin, 1999).Managers point of view regarding brand extension can give an extensive knowledge about brand extension because of their deep analysis about consumers and competitors and their personal experiences about the market and the brands. Hence in this thesis we will focus on managers perspective about brand extension along with consumers point of v iew. Both local and multi nationals are into brand extension from a long time. Such as Nestle , Pakola (Pakola, bubble up, Applesidra, double cola, Pakola milk), Sunsilk (Sunsilk black, Sunsilk white, Sunsilk pink, Sunsilk yoghurt, Sunsilk egg), Haleeb food Pvt Ltd (Milk, Juices, Cream, yoghurt), National Food (Pickle, salt, spices), Shan Food(spices, pickle, food), Unilever Pakistan (Lifebuoy, Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder), PG (Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder) Pakistan By keeping above relation in mind, it will be beneficial to have brand managers point of view about the success or failure of brand extension. 1.3 Significance of the Study The significance of this thesis is to explore the use of brand extension strategies in the Pakistan context. Whether the strategy of brand extension is favorable or not, or due to brand extension, brands gets diluted or cannibalized? Since brand extensions is one of the most popular strategies for leveraging brand equity, this study will also focus on brand extension effect on brand equity. This thesis will focus on brand extension strategies of products from various companies which include Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan, Nestle, Pakola and Head Shoulders. Various companies insights regarding brand extension will help us to study favorability or unfavorability of brand extension in a well manner. We will try to achieve this purpose by answering the following research questions. RQ1. What are the reasons to choose brand extension as a part branding strategy? RQ2. Is brand extension favorable or Unfavorable? Above mentioned two research questions were divided further into a set of questions. Purpose was to gain a deep insight to answer these two research questions. By answering above question, we will come to know whether brand extension is favorable or it leads to brand dilution, and whether brand extension is favorable for those companies who prefer extension and are involved in brand extension from couple of decades. We will also come to know that for what reasons companies in Pakistan are using brand extension, and whether brand extension is in accordance with the successful brand extension concept or not. This thesis will be beneficial in indentifying the success rate or failure rate of brand extension of those companies which have been chosen for this thesis. 1.4 Scope and Delimitation This thesis focused on brand managers of those companies which are operating here in Pakistan. Only four products have been chosen for which research is conducted to identify whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. So the product range is limited to four companies only. Another limitation faced during the course of this study was that brand extension strategy for most of the multi national companies are crafted in their home country and then implemented here in Pakistan. Furthermore, Interview process is chosen to know about brand managers point of view about failure or success of brand extension. Out of 4 brand managers, 2 interviews were taken on telephone and 2 were taken face to face. Due to the limitation of telephonic interview, non verbal responses could not be gauged. Other limitation confronted during the course of research was the fact that majority of multinationals (MNEs) formulate brand extension strategies at their head quarters abroad. Lastly, we came to k now that in Pakistan brand extension responsibilities is handled by marketing managers instead of brand managers in some companies. 1.5 Definitions 1.5.1 Brand According to (American Marketing Association 2007 brand is: A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition†. 1.5.2 Brand extension According to (Aaker 1991) brand extension can be defined as utilizing an already established brand to enter from one class of product category to another class of product category. (Kotler 1991) defined brand extension strategy as exploiting a well known and successful brand name either to launch a new or modified product can be termed as brand extension process. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined brand extension strategy as an expansion strategy, where companies try to further extend their already established and well known brands into either different other categories or in same category with some modification. 1.5.3 Product Line Extension (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined product line extension as a process of using already established brand name to introduce new items with some extra innovation or modification in the same category. For example Pakola has extended its soft drink named â€Å"Pakola† into Pakola raspberry, Pakola leeche, Pakola orange, Pakola lemon. (Aaker 1991) elaborates product line as line extension occurs in the form of introducing new items under the same brand name in the same category with some modification in flavors, colors, specification, ingredients and package sizes. Product line extension is somehow differs with brand extension because brand extension is about using an established brand name to introduce new product and brand in different categories, while line extension leveraging and established brand to introduce new products in same category with some improvements, modification and enhancements. 1.5.4 Brand Dilution According to (Aaker 1991) brand dilution is depraving of a brand via its overexploitation. This failure of brand occurs when extension is done in a poor manner, or when a brand with poor equity is leveraged to extend it into different other categories. This failure can also occur when an extension becomes unfavorable in the mind of consumers. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990), unfavorability of a brand in the mind of the consumers can be due to lack of quality, over pricing, lack of consistency with the parent brand, lack of innovative feature and lack of trust. Brand dilution can be a disaster for a company. Companies use their well known established brands to leverage their equity and image to further extend it for entering into different market segments, which gives them a chance to earn higher profits. This can be true when parent brand equity is strong. But if equity of any brand is weak, then consequences might include dilution or failure of a brand. 1.5.5 Brand Cannibalization (Kotler 1991) defined brand cannibalization as reduction in sales revenue and diminishing of share of market resulted as the introduction of new products in the same category For example, when diet coke was introduced by Coca Cola, sales for original coke diminished, but eventually it led in expansion of diet soft drink market. In case of Haleeb food, introduction of tea whitener diminished the sales of UHT milk, because consumers previously were using milk for making tea, but with the introduction of tea whitener, some consumers started to prefer tea whitener instead of milk, which resulted in cannibalization of milk category. 1.5.6 Brand Equity According to (Wood 2000) brand equity can be defined as a profitable relationship between a brand and its consumers. (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) reported that it is quite difficult to measure equity of a brand. Yet a strong brand results in strong brand equity which can be leverage to extend into different other categories. Conversely weaker brand means weak brand equity which can result in failure if extended into different other brands. Strong brand equity may lead to achieve brand loyalty, quality, brand association and awareness. These benefits help companies to incur less cost on communication and awareness. 1.5.7 Brand Association (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) defined brand association as refers to a degree where consumers discern a brand in rich fashion. Positivity of any brand depends upon how deeply that brand is penetrated in the mind of the consumers in positive fashion. Brand associations are the properties of a brand which consumers recall whenever brand is talked about. Consumer relates a brand name with its implicit or explicit meanings. Brand association can also be termed as the level to which a specific product/service is acknowledged amongst its product or service family. When choosing a brand name, it is important that the name selected must reinforce an essential dimensions and specification or benefit association that forms the position of a product. 2- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY PROCEDURE In this chapter we will discuss and justify methodological choices which we have made for our research. Below mentioned figure presents an overview of the research method which will be used in this chapter for our research. Source: Adapted from Foster (1998), p.81 2.1 Research Purpose (Yin 1994) and (Wiedersheim-Paul and Eriksson 1998) found in a research that there are basically three types of research: Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive According to (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksson, 1998) basis purpose of the explanatory research is to craft and specify the issues of the research. This type of research is beneficial when the problem is quite difficult to analyze. According to Patel and Tebelius (1987) explanatory research is used when researcher want to gain more and more information about any specific issue. Moreover, Reynolds (1971) said through explanatory research, researcher can get comprehensive information about research defined problem. (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2000) found that descriptive research is useful when the problem of research is properly defined and crafted in a well manner. For this purpose, researcher must have complete information about the problem defined in the research. Collection of data must be started after having a clear understanding about the problem defined form research. Furthermore, (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksonn 1998) described that the main objective of descriptive research is to iden tify the applicable facets of the problem of the research. For conducting descriptive research researcher has to deeply define these facets, and there must be a relation between and describe these aspects more thoroughly without researching connections between reasons and indications. For our research we will initially try to define the reasons behind brand extension. Why do companies in Pakistan prefer engaging in brand and line extension activities? Furthermore, we will also try to identify the favorability and un-favorability of brand extension in Pakistani markets and companys perspective. For gaining deep understanding about the research question defined previously, we have considered exploratory research as a part of our research. The reason is that before this research no study has been taken into consideration to know about brand extension activities in Pakistan and we want to gain as much information as we can. Along with exploratory our research is explanatory as well. We will try to explain the result which we will get through our research. On the basis of our respondents responses we will try to draw a conclusion. 2.2 Research Approach To gain a deep information about brand extension strategies in Pakistan and whether it is beneficial or not beneficial for Pakistani market we have to consider two approaches, First one Qualitative and second one is Quantitative research. (Ponteerotto, 2006) found that quantitative research approach is used when we have to gain lean descriptions and we use qualitative research when we have to gain comprehensive descriptions. In our previous chapter, we explained our research question which includes the reasons behind brand extension in Pakistan and advantages and disadvantages of brand extension in Pakistani markets perspective. We will also try to know about the factors leading to the success and failure of brand extension. (Ponterotto 2006) found that to conduct qualitative research, most beneficial instrument can be in-depth interviews because in-depth interviews researcher can define the different facets of human experiences which results in having a deep understanding about the research topic. (Holme and Solvang 1991) compared quantitative research as a conventional and integrated research approach. In quantitative research approach final results can be presented in the forms of facts and these results are also measureable. One of the main purposes of quantitative research approach is make the consequences of the research of few variables to higher numbers of entities. According to (ibid 2000) qualitative research approach uses qualitative data to draw a conclusion. It draws conclusion on the basis of factors like peoples attitude, perception, values, likes and dislikes. By using qualitative research approach, results can be drawn by gather information through specific number of entities. This process can provide us the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the research. By keeping the above mentioned description in our consideration, our research focus would be qualitative. One reason for choosing qualitative research approach as our research approach is that we want to gain as much information regarding our topic as much we can. This research approach would give us deeper information regarding brand and line extension activities in Pakistani perspective. For conducting our research for brand and line extension activities in Pakistan and its favorability or un-favorability, initially we approached many companies, out of which four companies agreed to provide us information regarding our research topic. Before conducting our interviews with our respondents, we sent a questionnaire to our respondents.. These interviews were not recorded and average time for an interview was approximately thirty to fifty minutes. Finally, to clear some doubts regarding the first three telephone interviews the companies were re-contacted to clear the doubts in some ques tions. 2.3 Respondents of the study Following companies were chosen to gain an insight about brand extension favorability or un-favorability from brand managers perspective. Initially, we approached many seasoned companies, out of which four companies brand manager agreed to give us time for interviews. Haleeb Foods Limited Pakistan Pakola Nestle Head Shoulders (PG) 2.3.1 Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan Haleeb Foods Limited is one of the biggest Dairy company of Pakistan which is operating in many different categories such as Juices, UHT milk, Tea whitener, and other dairy products. Haleeb foods came into existence in 1986 Haleeb foods initially started to produce Haleeb Milk. Later on Haleeb foods entered into different other segments of the market and different other categories. Since from its establishment, Haleeb food came up with many of brand and product line extension which Haleeb foods did successfully. Mr. Adil Suleman brand manager of Haleeb foods limited Pakistan was contacted via telephone to have this interview and to gain insight about brand extension of Haleeb in Pakistan. 2.3.2 Pakola Pakola is a beverage company which came into existence in 1950 by Haji Ali Muhammad. Initially Pakola focused on producing a soft drink which represented the drink of Pakistan. Later on as a part of brand and product line extension, Pakola introduced couple of other products which includes flavored soft drink and milk range, mineral water and juices. Mr. Mubeen Munnawar Marketing Manager of Pakola was contacted to have an interview to gain information regarding brand extension activities of Pakola in Pakistan. It was a face to face interview, and during the course of this interview, we gained deep insight about brand extension activities, favorability and unfavorability of Pakola brand extension. 2.3.3 Nestle Nestle was founded in 1866 by Henry Nestle and today Nestle if one the worlds largest beverage and food company. Nestle since from last couple of decades is into brand extension and product line extension. As a result of brand and product line extension Nestle has introduced couple of successful brands. Nestle has integrated innovation and renovation techniques in its principles. Nestle extend its brands through innovation and renovation. Mr. Adnan Tariq, brand manager of Nestle was contacted via telephone to get an insight about Nestle brand extension activities in Pakistan. During this interview Mr. Adnan Tariq gave us some valuable information regarding brand extension activities of Nestle in Pakistan and favorability and unfavorability of Nestle brand extension in Pakistan. 2.3.4 Head Shoulders Head Shoulders is an anti dandruff shampoo range introduced by PG. After a thorough research a new anti dandruff formula was developed which they used in developing Head Shoulders and it was first introduced in 1950. Head Shoulders have got a ranges of shampoo which includes classic clean, citrus breeze, refresh, extra volume, dry scalp care. Mr. Shaif Shafiq, who is associated with PG from a long time, was contacted to gain valuable information about brand extension strategy of Head Shoulders in Pakistan. Information the success or failure of Head Shoulders was also gained. During the course of this interview questions related our topic were asked and responses were noted down for future consideration. 2.4 Research Instrument 2.4.1 Interviews As per (Breakwell 1995) interviews as a research instrument can be useful because it is considered as a very flexible tools and due to its numerosity of phase in the research work. According to (ibid 2000) it is easy to use interviews as a part of research instrument because of its multi faceted nature of the research design. Observations and questionnaire can be used as a part of interviews to collect data for our research approach. Using interviews as a part of our research, we first took our research framework into our consideration. By keeping our research framework in our mind we developed a questionnaire which consisted of series of questions regarding reasons for brand extension and its favorability or unfavorability. Some irrelevant questions were late on excluded from our questionnaire before conducting our interviews. 2.5 Sources of Data (Wiedersheim-Paul and Erikson 1997) purposed two types of data collection method. First one is Primary data and second one Secondary data collection. Primary data is the first hand information which is collected for some specific purpose while second hand data is already published data which was collected for some other purpose or some other research. Moreover, (ibid 2000) shed some light on data collection methods as, there can be three different types of data collection method. First one is observation, second one is interviews and the last one is documentation. As per (Yin 1994) interviews can be one of the most reliable source for collecting data. Using interviews as a data collection method, interviewee and interviewer both can focus on the topic. Furthermore, (ibid, 2000) elaborated that interviews can be useful when it comes to gain insights of the interviewee about any specific topic. 2.5.1 Primary Data In previous section we focused more on that secondary data collection method for research can not be ample to identify more accurate and reliable information about any specific topic of research. When it comes to identify about the reason behind brand and product line extension and its favorability or unfavorability, it is important to determine what companies and their brand managers think about brand extension and product line extension. For this purpose use of primary data collection can be beneficial. Thus interviews are selected as an instrument for primary data collection method. These interviews include face to face and telephonic interviews. According to (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005), â€Å"proper communication can be a reliable and beneficial instrument for data collection. The reason is that in communication method no one forces researchers to wait for a certain event to be occurred†. (p. 167). Nevertheless, communication techniques have some drawbacks. In communication techniques it is not confirmed whether the answer to the research question will be obtained in an accurate manner. Using communication has some weaknesses. One of a reason for this is that responses are dependent on interviewees will to pass on the expected information. 2.5.2 Secondary Data For our research regarding brand extension and product line extension in Pakistani perspective, we also focused on collecting some secondary data. As per (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005) â€Å"for conducting any research, we must begin with searching for secondary information†. (p, 167). Using secondary data collection for gaining information can be beneficial in terms of having an initial idea about what have already been researched about the topic. Some useful information about research topic, already published information can also be gained in a timely fashion. Apart from advantages of secondary data collection method, there are some drawbacks associated with secondary data collection method. Secondary data can not be sufficient to give complete information regarding specific question of research. Furthermore, already published information was collected for some other purpose which not necessarily answers the question which you have included in your the sis. Indeed, according to them first of all, the data had been â€Å"collected for someone elses p