Luxury Brands Essay

ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE CONCEPT OF LUXURY: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS Bernard Dubois, Groupe H. E. C. Gilles Laurent, Groupe H. E. C. Even though recent years have not been extremely favorable for the luxury industry (the ComitT Colbert which includes many prestigious French names – Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent, etc†¦ – reports a 1. 5% increase in real terms for 1993), its growth rate, considered over a longer period, remains impressive. Colbert companies have more than doubled their sales over the last eight years (ComitT Colbert, 1991, 1993). In 1993, they achieved a global turnover of about USD 5. 5 billion. The Pacific Rim countries represented 28% of that amount (21. 6% in 1988), equally divided between Japan and the other Asian countries. Interestingly enough, however, such growth in demand has not been matched by an equivalent progress in consumer research and what was estimated by McKinsey (in 1990) to be a USD 60 billion market largely remains unexplored territory (McKinsey, 1991). Some studies obviously have been conducted and published in the past but they tended to focus on relatively narrow aspects. For example, the consumption habits of the affluent have been investigated regularly since Veblen’s seminal work (Veblen, 1899) and, today, anecdotal reports (Stanley, 1988, 1991) as well as in-depth monographies of specific segments such as upper class wasps (Hirschman, 1988) or nouveaux-riches (LaBarbera, 1988) are available. Limiting the investigation of the luxury market to the analysis of privileged consumers however would fail to recognize that, under the influence of diffusion strategies adopted by many luxury goods companies (for brands such as Dior or Yves Saint-Laurent, accessories may represent up to two thirds of their sales), today’s demand for luxury goods primarily consists of â€Å"ordinary† consumers who, from time to time, transform their desire to acquire a luxury item into reality. Similary, a few studies have been published on luxury brands, for instance on issues such as their relative positions in people’s mind (Dubois and Duquesne, 1993 ; Weber and Dubois, forthcoming) or their adopters’ characteristics (Andrus, Silver and Johnson, 1986) but many luxury goods (houses, diamonds, furniture, etc†¦ ) belong to product categories where branding is not a salient dimension, while, at the same time, a few brands (such as FabergT) which were in the past considered as luxury names seem to have lost their affiliation to the luxury world, usually because they have overdiffused their products. Finally, some research has also been published on the determinants of the acquisition of luxury products, emphasizing economic (Leibenstein, 1950 ; Mason, 1981) socio-demographic (Dubois and Laurent, 1993) or cultural aspects (Dubois and Duquesne, 1993 ; Mason 1993) but no overall conceptual scheme, model or theory has been developed yet. Paradoxically, one of the untapped research areas concerns the very nature of perceptions and attitudes attached to the word â€Å"luxury† itself. This is somewhat surprising because even casual conversations reveal that the word â€Å"luxury† evokes rather strong connotations among people. Some attach to it very positive feelings while others are quick to express their disdain, but few are left indifferent. The absence of research on the word â€Å"luxury† also is unfortunate because, in several product categories, the luxury adjective is used routinely to segment markets and to position products. In the car industry for example, both manufacturers and consumers clearly identify luxury models (Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, etc†¦ ) usually advertised as such. The same holds true for such services as hotels or restaurants. The objective of this paper is to report on an exploratory analysis of the perceptions and attitudes attached to the word (and underlying concept of) â€Å"luxury†. It is hoped that the results presented below will stimulate further research in the area and eventually contribute to the development of a theory of luxury acquisition and consumption behavior. METHOD In order to explore the meanings attached to the word â€Å"luxury†, a two-step survey methodology was adopted. Other approaches such as semiotics could also have been used but were left less appropriate to explore, and to some extent, quantify consumers’ attitudes towards the luxury concept (Wargnier, 1985). First, in-depth interviews were conducted by a professional psychologist with sixteen consumers selected for their widely different (and complementary) profiles. Both males and females were equally represented in the panel and age varied from 17 to 70 years. Occupations were also strongly contrasted, ranging from sales rep to student and from opera singer to mechanic. All interviews were conducted at home, on a face-to-face basis, and taped. On the basis of results obtained from such qualitative research, a battery of attitudinal items was developed and administered to a sample of 440 French consumers. Although not randomly drawn, the sample was chosen according to quotas set in terms of sex, age and geographical location. Given the nature of the topic under investigation, it was decided to overrepresent female respondents and to underrepresent lower income categories. All interviews were conducted by professional interviewers on a face to face basis. Although the questionnaire included many questions about specific product categories such as perfumes, jewelry, etc†¦ only the results connected with qualitative research and the general attitudinal statements are reported in this paper. RESULTS www. acrwebsite. org/search/view-conference-proceedings. aspx? Id=11539 1/4 3/4/13 Attitudes Towards the Concept of Luxury: an Exploratory Analysis by Bernard Dubois and Gilles Laurent From the results obtained through qualitative research, several important themes emerge in relation to the concept of luxury. First, the world â€Å"luxury† itself is spontaneously associated with other terms such as (in decreasing order of frequency) : â€Å"upscale†, â€Å"quality†, â€Å"good taste†, â€Å"class†, but also â€Å"flashiness† and â€Å"bad taste†. All of these terms overlap in meaning to a certain extent but also have distinct connotations. For example, the key perceived difference between upscale and luxury products is that the former imply a relative position on an evaluative scale while the latter correspond to a self-contained entity. Upscale products also are naturally connected with material goods while the concept of luxury encapsulates symbolic and cultural values. During interviews, many respondents referred to abstracts concepts such as space, time, or freedom to convey their perceptions of luxury. The fact that both good taste and bad taste are associated with luxury, sometimes by the same people, clearly reveal the ambivalent nature of respondents’ feelings, a theme which has been recently investigated in the context of gift giving behavior (Sherry, McGrawth and Levy, 1993). Typical contrasts emerge on dimensions such as : essential/superfluous, decent/indecent, quality/gadget†¦ Given this ambivalence, it is not surprising to find that luxury items often provoke avoidance/attraction reactions. For many respondents, luxury products are desirable when contemplated at a distance, at a day-dreaming level : when a specific purchase is considered (sometimes â€Å"ruminated†), guilt feelings arise however and the buying act is experienced by many as a transgression, a not totally excusable attempt to break off daily routine and run away, at least temporarily. TABLE 1 (/volumes/ap01/01274t01. gif) (/volumes/ap01/01274t01. gif) ATTITUDINAL STATEMENTS ABOUT LUXURY (/volumes/ap01/01274t01. gif) At the same time, the luxury transgression can also be a regression, a trip back to one’s idealized childhood, when everything was warm and smooth. This would explain why the concept of luxury was felt by many to be relative and idiosyncratic. During interviews, a number of respondents spontaneously started to describe â€Å"their† luxury, as if they were talking about a secret garden, only known to them. The dual nature of luxury-a world in itself and a world for me-certainly accounts for a large proportion of the ambivalence of feelings. Without oversimplyfing too much, one could say that many negative feelings are attached to â€Å"others’ luxury†, while the positive ones are kept for â€Å"my† luxury. On the basis of such themes, a battery of 34 attitudinal items was developed, pretested and administered. The attitudinal statements as well as the overall frequencies are presented in Table 1 and discussed in the following sections. Overall results tend to confirm conclusions obtained from qualitative research about the ambivalent nature of respondents’ feelings. As far as the concept itself is concerned for example, a majority of respondents considers that luxury is synonymous with â€Å"good taste†, is â€Å"pleasant†, â€Å"not old-fashioned† and â€Å"useful† but also â€Å"flashy† and â€Å"too expensive for what it is. † When commenting on their personal rapport to luxury, most respondents express a positive attitude (â€Å"I like luxury,† â€Å"I’m interested in luxury,† â€Å"Luxury makes me dream,† â€Å"Luxury products make life more beautiful†) but also confess their relative lack of expertise (â€Å"I don’t know much about it,† â€Å"I could not talk about it for hours†) and infrequent purchase activity (â€Å"I almost never buy luxury products†). When asked (in a projective mode) to comment on others’ behavior, a vast majority subscribes to the hedonic motive (â€Å"One buys luxury goods primarily for one’s pleasure†) and refutes the snobbish argument, but more than 50% of those who express an opinion consider that â€Å"people who buy luxury products seek to imitate the rich† and, on issues like â€Å"people who buy luxury goods try to differentiate themselves from others† or â€Å"people who buy luxury products are refined people† the sample is totally divided. Similarly, one out of two respondents does not support the idea of a heavier tax but one out of three welcomes such a proposal! In order to improve our understanding of the underlying attitudinal structure, correlation and principal component analyses were performed. Rather than displaying the full 34 x 34 correlation matrix, not easy to read (1156 coefficients), we decided to attempt to graphically represent the underlying structure, even though we recognize that it is not always possible to completely eliminate arbitrariness in positioning the items on the resulting map. Figure 1 depicts the map obtained when only intercorrelations higher than 0. 4 are considered. To make it easier to read and to interpret, all items which imply a favorable predisposition towards luxury are positioned on the left side of the figure while â€Å"negative† statements appear on the right side. Coefficients between 0. 40 and 0. 50 are indicated by dotted lines while solid lines correspond to correlations above 0. 50. Obviously, all coefficients are statistically significant. It appears that the backbone of perceptions and attitudes evolves around the attraction-avoidance dimension mentioned previously. The two attitudinal statements â€Å"I like luxury† and â€Å"I’m not interested in luxury† exhibit a strong (negative) correlation, with an absolute value which is the highest one in the whole matrix. From such a map, a number of conclusions can be drawn : 1. – There are two basic reasons underlying the lack of interest in luxury. The first one is a negative perception of the luxury world, considered in an absolute, general and abstract sense. Those who adopt this perspective tend to describe luxury goods as useless, old-fashioned, too expensive and flashy. Since they fail to see much value in luxury items, they do not develop an appetite for them. 2. – The second reason is more linked to a perceived lack of fit between the individual and luxury. Those who feel this absence of connivence tend to explain it in terms of their own inexpertise, their uneasiness with luxury environments and an impression of artificiality when they wear their luxury items (in case they own some). All those factors logically result in a minimal involvement in both interest for luxury goods and acquisition behavior. 3. – Although not reported on the map, the correlations between, on the one hand, those two sets of items and, on the other hand, the group of three statements related to the perceived reasons why others buy luxury goods (located at the extreme right of the figure) are statistically significant, typically in the 0. 20 – 0. 40 range. Those who don’t feel at ease with luxury goods and admit their incompetence also tend to believe that â€Å"others† buy luxury items to imitate the rich or to differentiate themselves from the rest of the population. www. acrwebsite. org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx? Id=11539 2/4 3/4/13 Attitudes Towards the Concept of Luxury: an Exploratory Analysis by Bernard Dubois and Gilles Laurent Those who believe that luxury goods are too expensive and flashy have a similar perception of the behavior of â€Å"others. † But the factors underlying such perceptions are not the same for both groups. While the former find one more reason to deepen the gap which separates them from the world of luxury, it looks as if the latter have one more justification in support of their disdain of an environment perceived as sterile and futile. 4. – The two mechanisms underlying disinterest have their counterparts on the positive (left hand) side. Although not shown on the map, the correlation between â€Å"I like luxury† and â€Å"I could talk about it for hours† is highly significant (0. 32). People who like luxury also are people who feel knowledgeable about it, both in terms of expertise and familiarity (Alba and Hutchinson, 1987). The luxury world is â€Å"their† world and they move in it like a fish in water, as revealed by their strong opposition to the statement â€Å"I almost never buy luxury goods†. 5. – But the appetite for luxury goods can be also developed on a more abstract and symbolic dimension (upper left corner). Those who adopt this viewpoint see the luxury word as a source of fascination and enlightment. Luxury products make them dream and contribute, in their opinion, to a more beautiful life. This ethereal perception of luxury is also the most hedonic of all in nature, as revealed by the strong correlations obtained with the items related to pleasure. Luxury becomes a permanent source of inspiration and happiness, almost a goal for life, far beyond transient fads and fashions. All these facets of luxury are easily confirmed by the rotated factor structure. Applying the varimax procedure to the table of intercorrelations yields the matrix reproduced in Table 2. Ten factors were extracted explaining about 60% of the variance. While the last six correspond to specific items (or pairs of items) not directly linked with the core attitudinal structure but useful to illustrate such topics as price perceptions and their consequences (Factor 5), or the scarcity issue (Factor 6), the first four correspond rather closely to the structure discussed previously. Factor 1 expresses the lack of interest due to limited expertise and familiarity, while Factor 2 corresponds to the positive evaluation of luxury goods fostered by hedonistic motives. Factor 3 summarizes the negative perceptions attached to the behavior of others and Factor 4 corresponds to the mythical and symbolic values attached to the luxury â€Å"fairy tale†. Taken together, these four factors contribute to a better understanding of the underlying structure and can be helpful for someone interested in developing a short scale intended to measure attitudes toward the concept of luxury. As an illustration, the factorial structure of a subset of twelve items appears on Table 3 and is rather straightforward in its interpretation : While the first factor corresponds to perceptions related to the concept of â€Å"Luxury in general†, factor 2 expresses a more personal rapport to luxury, and the remaining two factors describe attitudes towards those who consume luxury items. CONCLUSIONS Despite the importance and growth of the luxury sector, the determinants of luxury acquisition and consumption have received very little attention in the consumer research literature. There is a distinct lack of systematic studies to model and test the processes whereby individuals develop an appetite for the world of luxury (or fail to do so). FIGURE 1 (/volumes/ap01/01276f01. gif) TABLE 2 (/volumes/ap01/01277t02. gif) (/volumes/ap01/01277t02. gif) FACTOR STRUCTURE (/volumes/ap01/01277t02. gif) Given its exploratory nature, the present research only represents a first step in the development of a model of luxury acquisition and consumption. Only the attitudes towards the concept in general have been investigated here. The dual nature of those attitudes has emerged as a major conclusion of both qualitative and quantitative data: The structure of people’s predispositions towards luxury, as a concept, are affected both by their perception of the luxury world in general and their perceived personal fit with such a world. Future studies could investigate: 1) the socio-demographic and psychographic elements associated with such predispositions; 2) the role of specific product categories in the development of attitudes towards luxury and 3) the evolution of these predispositions over time. A program of research on each of these topics is being conducted by the authors and its results will be reported in future contributions. TABLE 3 (/volumes/ap01/01278t03. gif) (/volumes/ap01/01278t03. gif) A TWELVE ITEM ATTITUDINAL SCALE ON THE CONCEPT OF LUXURY (/volumes/ap01/01278t03. gif) REFERENCES Alba, Joseph, W. and J. Wesley Hutchinson (1987), â€Å"Dimension of Consumer Expertise†, Journal of Consumer Research, 13, March, pp. 411-454. Andrus, David M. , Edward Silver and Dallas E. Johnson (1986), â€Å"Status Brand Management and Gift Purchase: A Discriminant Analysis†, The Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 3, Winter, pp. 5-13. ComitT Colbert (1993), Rapport 1992 – Perspective 1993, Paris : ComitT Colbert, and (1991), Rapport 1990 – Perspective 1991 – Paris : ComitT Colbert. Dubois, Bernard and Patrick Duquesne (1993), â€Å"Polarization Maps: A New Approach to Identifying and Assessing Competitive Position: The Case of Luxury Brands, Marketing and Research Today, vol. 21, n ¦ 2 (May), pp. 115-123 Dubois, Bernard and Patrick Duquesne (1993), â€Å"The Market For Luxury Goods: Income vs Culture†, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 23, n ¦1, pp. 35-44. www. acrwebsite. org/search/view-conference-proceedings. aspx? Id=11539 3/4 3/4/13 Attitudes Towards the Concept of Luxury: an Exploratory Analysis by Bernard Dubois and Gilles Laurent Dubois, Bernard and Gilles Laurent (1993), â€Å"Is There a Euro-Consummer For Luxury Goods? â€Å", in Fred Van Raaij and Gary Bamossy (Eds), European Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 1, Provo, UT, Association For Consumer Research, pp. 58-69. Hirschman Elizabeth (1988), â€Å"Upper Class Wasps as Consumers: A Humanistic Inquiry†, in Elizabeth Hirschmann (Ed), Research in Marketing, vol.3, pp. 115-147, JAI Press Inc. LaBarbera, Priscilla A. (1988), â€Å"The Nouveaux Riches: Conspicuous Consumption and the Issue of Self Fulfillment†, in Elizabeth Hirschman (Ed), Research in Marketing, vol. 3, pp. 179-210, JAI Press Inc. Leibenstein, H. (1950), â€Å"Bandwagon, Snob and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumers’ Demand†, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 64, n ¦2, pp. 183-207 McKinsey Corp. (1990), The Luxury Industry: An Asset for France, Paris: McKinsey Mason,Roger (1981), Conspicuous Consumption, New-York, N. Y. : St Martin’s Press Mason, Roger (1993), â€Å"Cross Cultural Influences on the Demand for Status Goods† in Fred Van Raaij and Gary Bamossy (Eds), European Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 1, Provo, U. T. , Association for Consumer Research, pp. 46-51 Sherry, John, Jr. , Mary-Ann McGrath and Sidney Levy (1993), â€Å"The Dark Side of the Gift†, Journal of Business Research Stanley, Thomas J. (1988), Marketing to the Affluent, Homewood, Ill. :Irwin Stanley Thomas J. (1989), Selling to the Affluent, Homewood, Ill. : Irwin Veblen, Thorstein (1899), The Theory of the Leisure Class, New-York: McMillan Wargnier, StTphane (1985), â€Å"Analyse STmiologique des Produits de Luxe†, MTmoire de DEA en STmiotique – Paris : E. H. E. S. S.. Weber, Daniel and Bernard Dubois (forthcoming), â€Å"The Edge of Dream: Managing the Brand Equity in the European Luxury Market† in Lynn Kahle and M. Chiagouris (Eds), Values, Lifestyles and Psychographics, Hillsdale, N. J. : Lawrence Elbaum Associates.. —————————————- www. acrwebsite. org/search/view-conference-proceedings. aspx? Id=11539.

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Analysis - Case Study Example One of the few complaints that have become too regular in the operations of Fresh Direct is the customer claim that products are not sufficiently fresh upon delivery. Online grocery services are still an extremely small market sector in comparison to the massive physical stores that dominate the industry (Hand et al., 2009), so it is vital that Fresh Direct address every possible weakness with the appropriate correction measures. The business obtains, stores, sorts, and delivers items through a detailed process that has been extensively researched to minimize the time until delivery and to keep appropriate products refrigerated as needed. Accordingly, it is possible that the actual freshness is not the problem. Instead, customer perspectives may be biased because they cannot actually touch and physically examine their food prior to purchase, as many shoppers are accustomed to do (Cho, 2011). Fresh Direct can provide daily updates from factory employees that describes the items in the physical terms that shoppers would normally check in person. This addition to the website may ease consumer concern about receiving products that are not sufficiently

Politics and Policy in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Politics and Policy in Education - Essay Example The researcher states that politicians have the responsibility to take into account the welfare of the society and therefore education has become one of the first issues for all political parties’ agenda. Education has improved the market outcomes, particularly for the developing countries. Moreover, it has created positive thinking and attitudes, constructive way of socialization, modernization and overall transformation of the societies. In 1960s Higher Education Committee concluded in their report that education contributes towards economic growth. After around 30 years in 1990s loans were made available for students to help them with their education, and they were not required to repay this loan until they finish their studies and find a job, even then they were required to pay back the loan by installments. Money was invested in students who in return served the country and empowered the market economy. It also improved the social welfare and the economical and cultural c ircumstances. World Bank stressed on financing education in their report, describing education as a social and private investment. Markets and politicians both have realized the importance of financing education and therefore policies have been designed to support education. Markets, on the other hand, contend against free public education. After 1945 United Kingdom became a welfare state and government took the responsibility of health care, insurance, pensions, and child benefits. But with time it was realized that in order to remain efficient welfare system will have to be restructured and therefore nongovernmental organizations started to play a role too in social services (Zaleski, 2006). It was difficult for the government to bear all the social expenses therefore privatization was inevitable. Market became dominant in the economy by giving people license to pursue personal profit. All this made markets more competitive as barriers to entry were removes and everyone was given a level playing field. Mrs. Thatcher argued about privatization and reformation of the trade union. Thatcher's government injected competition and privatization. In Thatcher’s government education moved from being a pillar of the welfare state to being an instrument for a change and developing global market economy (Tomlinson, 2005). National curriculum was inspired from the free market to respond to the diversity of students. Following that the publishing of the league table promoted and motivated competition between schools, which was success for the market

Investor Relations with Bear Mountain Wind Park or as stated by Review Dissertation

Investor Relations with Bear Mountain Wind Park or as stated by Review Board in my notes to be uploaded - Dissertation Example ......................................................... Anthony Boydell, PhD, Director School of Environment and Sustainability ROYAL ROADS UNIVERSITY December 2010 Â © Marie Louise Vander Heiden, 2010 Abstract This study addressed the communication efforts of Peace Energy Cooperative (PEC) leading residents of the Peace River region in North Eastern British Columbia to invest in the Bear Mountain Wind Park (BMWP), a renewable, locally-based, environmentally-responsive wind energy project. A survey and subsequent email correspondence further explored local investor interest in renewable energy stakeholder relations. Respondents were motivated and aspired to be a component of environmental change; PEC allowed residents to act through financial investment. This study demonstrates media-based communications acting as a strong diffusion method in driving social networks to invest in renewable energy; however, it does not identify the single ideal method. Understanding significant infl uential factors that draw individuals towards renewable energy investment sources will act positively towards progression to a sustainable planet. Acknowledgements I would like to give thanks to the administrative support I received from PEC and all the members of PEC who kindly participated in my surveys. Great love and appreciation goes out to my kind, helpful and always encouraging husband, Michael. Thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Richard Kool who made my MEEC thesis experience very challenging but worth the sweat and tears. Rick, you pushed me to be better than I thought possible. My highest regards to Royal Roads University and Staff who were always there for me when I needed the support and guidance, especially Dr. Milt McClaren who went far beyond my furthest expectations, you are one-of-a-kind. I acknowledge support of my editor, Dr. Marie-Terese Little, who provided excellent guidance on APA and Royal Roads University-specific formatting and styling, grammar, sentence struc ture, syntax, punctuation and verbosity. Finally, to my lovely daughter Leila, I gave birth to you during this entire thesis process and you not only made it all worth it but you inspired me to be the best Mom and Environmental Educator I can be. Table of Contents Public Interest and Stakeholder Relations 3 Alternatives to Fossil Fuel Energy Sources 4 Purpose of Study 4 Research Questions 5 Research Objectives 7 Chapter 2: Literature Review 9 Climate Change and Global Warming 9 Renewable Energy Sources and Public Interest 10 Wind Energy- Attributes 24 Supply and Demand 25 Research Design and Rationale 26 Participants and Site 29 Data Analysis 31 Early Investors 35 Late Investors 35 No Investors 55 Conclusion 62 List of Abbreviations B.C. British Columbia BMWP Bear Mountain Wind Park EAO Environmental Assessment Office km Kilometre LP Limited Partnership MW Megawatts PEC Peace Energy Cooperative RECs Renewable energy certificates REEEP Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnersh ip RPS Renewable Portfolio Standards Chapter 1: Introduction The Peace Energy Cooperative is an education and investment cooperative that promotes the development of renewable energy and looks for investments to make these developments happen while making a return on investment for their member investors. Their only investment to date has been the Bear Mountain Wind Park, described below, although they are also involved with research and development with several other concerns. PEC boasts 400

Psychiatric Disorders, Diseases and Drugs Essay Example for Free

Psychiatric Disorders, Diseases and Drugs Essay Determining psychiatric disorders are best identified through their manifesting symptoms. Key to understanding this somehow lie in how one successfully determines the intensity or degree of symptomatic tendencies. In order to address these psychiatric disorders, some thinkers believe that there are good reasons to rely on the â€Å"practical signs† of a person’s behavioral abnormalities. It has to be mentioned that, while symptomatic disorders are not strictly to be regarded as diseases, â€Å"the clinical approach to abnormal behavior† can still be compared to â€Å"the medical approach to disease† (Moskowitz Orgel, 1969, p. 85). That being said, identifying symptoms still belong to one of the most fundamental steps that can help psychiatrists figure a helpful diagnosis for any mental illness. In this paper, five specific examples of psychiatric illnesses shall be concisely described through their symptoms: anxiety disorder, depression, mania, schizophrenia and Tourette syndrome. Some Examples of Psychiatric Disorders First, anxiety is a psychological state marked by purposeless restlessness, occasional experiences of muscle tensions and a feeling of panic or emotional discomfort (Illman, 2004, p. 3). The symptoms are themselves telling signs of abnormalities. Normal experiences of anxiety, if one may compare, may involve a feeling of considerable fear or worry. But a person suffering from an anxiety disorder experiences more than a feeling of emotional stress; as in most cases, this stress translates into psycho-somatic reactions such as prolonged apprehension or bodily discomfort as well (Moskowitz Orgel, 1969, 391). Closely related to anxiety is the psychiatric illness called depression. A person suffering from severe depression may also manifest certain psycho-emotional and somatic reactions, which, if carefully diagnosed, is seriously beyond normal experiences of poignant moments. Clinical depression may be said to occur to persons suffering from a prolonged feeling of â€Å"worthlessness† and an unwarranted guilt; and these feelings in turn are amplified by a need to â€Å"deject† from societal functions (Moskowitz Orgel, 1969, p. 394; Schacter, 2006, 49-65). Mania is a severe psychiatric condition characterized by compulsive behaviors such as anger, irrational actions or irritability. Persons suffering from mania put on an excessive amount of drive or passion to their behaviors on just about everything or anything to which they take interest (Moskowitz Orgel, 1969, p. 393). Instances of manic behaviors, many psychiatrists believe, are also closely associated with depression. Schizophrenia meanwhile is a mental disorder suffered by persons who, even without a given objective stimulus, are subjectively experiencing â€Å"vivid sensory experiences† – i. . , hearing voices, seeing visions, among others (Moskowitz Orgel, 1969, p. 393). Hallucination is almost often the commonplace word to describe such a mental condition. And last but not least, Tourette Syndrome is a mental illness characterized by a random, repetitive – and sudden – motor movement or creation of phonic sounds such as coughing, clearing of throat, among others; it is a peculiar symptom – called tic – already exhibited by patients early on in their childhood (National Institutes of Health). Diagnosis and Treatments To Help Explain and Cure the Disorders The basic diagnosis for these disorders fall into either two determining factors – genetics and environment. Under usual circumstances, psychiatrists are more inclined to consider the development of a person’s unique behavioral traits as explainable through an array of experiential traumas ensuing from factors within a person’s environment (Moskowitz Orgel, 1969, p. 384. Finding an appropriate cure is indeed a cause worth pursuing. Unfortunately for Tourette Syndrome, there are no known cure that is proven to deliver promising results. Except for some clinical trials involving â€Å"neuroleptics† (e. g. haloperidol and pimozide) – drugs used to suppress tic syndromes rather than cure it, and are known for side effects including sedation and weight gain – there are no approved medicine available in the market for now (National Institutes of Health). Anxiety and depression have been addressed through an array of anti-depressant choices, depending on which drugs respond well to the patients. The National Institutes for Health for example used â€Å"citalopram† (Celexa), among others, to conduct research to patients suffering from clinical depression, in the hope that the drug may act as serotonin inhibitors. Side effects, as in the case for most antidepressants, have reportedly been mild but serious, ranging from sedation, sleepiness and some headache (Depression Learning Fact). Other severe mental health maladies, or those that needs to be addressed via â€Å"integration of personality† (such as schizophrenia or severe mania) may need serious clinical psychotherapy, somatherapy or even psychosurgery (Moskowitz Orgel, 1969, 426).

The Development Of Characterisation From Everyman

The Development Of Characterisation From Everyman Everyman is a medieval morality play believed to be written late in the fifteenth century (Worthen 2004: 236), while Six Characters in Search of an Author was written in 1920. The vast difference in time periods between the two plays suggests that the development of characterisation could also be vast. In Medieval times civilisation had reverted back to simplicity (Holland 2010), with plays typically involving the personification of moral or psychological abstractions, and single characters to represent society as a whole (Worthen 2004: 236). However, by the writing of Six Characters it was common for plays, like other literature, to penetrate the minds of their characters more deeply (Greer and Lewis 2004: 661), creating more complex and individualised characters. The idea of complexity is significant in comparing the characterisation from Everyman to Six Characters. While Everyman has a simple purpose to instruct morality to the masses, Six Characters has a more complex aim, as Pirandello uses his characters to raise questions that ultimately are left unanswered. Dillon suggests that Medieval theatre aimed to teach and improve its audiences (Rees 2010), therefore the characters in Everyman act as religious metaphors to clearly communicate morals to the spectators. It is apparent that the language of Everyman presents no great difficulties to an audience, and in fact the whole play follows a clear plot where the meaning is rarely in doubt (Allen 1953: ix). The audience see Death, that no man dreadeth (Anonymous 115), order Everyman to make the pilgrimage to death (Anonymous 146), who then struggles to find anyone to accompany him. In contrast to this fairly simple plot and aim, Six Characters questions the ideas of reality and illusion, using the characters to bring these issues to the foreground. The complexity of the play is self-consciously stated when the Producer says, if you can understand them [Pirandellos plays] you must be very clever (Pirandello 1.77-78), as they question the very play the audience are watching. As highlighted in a review of the play by the Manchester Guardian in 1925, the characters pose the question What is real? (Bassnett 1989: 44), trying to create their own vision of humanity (Bassnett 1989: 78). As Worthen suggests, the play makes the audience reflect in depth on reality and illusion, but is inconclusive in that it doesnt provide a final answer on whether it is the actors or characters in the play that depict reality (Worthen 2004: 687). The Son even states, I am a character who has not been fully developed dramatically (Pirandello 1.712-713), which again provokes ambiguity on characters identity. In questioning our identity by discussing how each of us is several different people in diff erent situations (Pirandello 1.642), it would be easy to suggest that the Father would provoke self-reflection in some members of the audience. The contrasting aims of the two plays therefore suggests the reasons behind Pirandellos arguably more developed characters than those presented in Everyman. Development of character could be gauged on a characters purpose in a play. As the purpose of Everyman is to teach morality to the audience, the characters are constructed as merely functional. Rather than acting as well-rounded characters that each have a different personality, many of the characters could easily merge into one. For example Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Strength, Discretion, and Beauty all come together to help Everyman, but then all leave him to undertake his journey alone. Most of these characters are therefore presented as kind and helpful, and then regress into cowardice at the end of the play, to represent that nothing can be taken with you in death except good deeds. There is no need for the characters to be complex with multifaceted personalities, as this could distract the audience and complicate the simple meaning of the play. Performed amongst other morality plays the audience should understand that the characters function to represent typical Christian lif e and to put across a moral message (Holland 2010). Six Characters could also be seen as using its characters for a functional purpose. The idea that the six protagonists are trapped for all eternity in one moment (Pirandello The Scene.304), and only exist to tell their own story could be intended to provoke thought on character in the audience. It also suggests that they are simply constructions of the play to perform their story, questioning whether they are well-developed. It would be easy to assume that as time goes on the characters that playwrights create become more individual and life-like. While this could be deemed correct in the idea that Everyman features characters that are based on abstract concepts, such as Knowledge and Good Deeds, and Pirandello presents human characters, this argument is a lot more complex than it appears on a superficial level. In both plays, the characters are named by the role they play in life, and act as we would assume them to according to this role; as what Wallis and Shepherd refer to as recognisable social types (Rees 2010). For example, the character of Everyman is presented to act as all humans do, and is therefore restricted to having general characteristic traits of mankind rather than individual ones (Holland 2010). He is simply guilty of the sins that humans generally make, for example when he states, All my life I have loved riches (Anonymous 388), and money maketh all right that is wrong (Anonymous 413). Here, Goods is portrayed as an evil character, representative of how in Christian belief, love of money is the root of all evil (Clarke 1823: 559), as he states, My condition is mans soul to kill (Anonymous 442), and laughs at Everymans misfortune. As well as these allegorical characters that act as metaphors for concepts (Allen 1953: viii), in Six Characters the metatheatrical theatre workers on stage are referred to as the roles they play in the company. Rather than having individual names, they are grouped together with titles such as Leading Actor, Young Actress, and Producer. Like in Everyman, the group of actors also act how actors are stereotypically portrayed to be; Worthen suggests the Leading Actor must always be acting the Leading Actor, whether he is onstage or not (Worthen 2004: 687). This applies especially to the Leading Actor and Actress, for example the Leading Actor is elevated in complaining, If the theatre, ladies and gentlemen, is reduced to thisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Pirandello 1.806-807), and the Leading Actress patronisingly orders, Put him in my dressing-room for me will you (Pirandello 1.36). Interestingly, when questioned about identity, the Producer replies that he is, the Director, the Producer Im in charge (Pirandello 3.107-108); rather than seeing himself as an individual personality he is defined by his job title. Personally, I define role as a character type that obeys stereotypical assumptions, while I see a character as being a created person who has individual characteristics and idiosyncrasies that represent themself. In this way I would class both the characters in Everyman and the actors in Six Characters as undeveloped roles, who behave how an audience would expect them to behave depending on their stereotypical features. While these characters are confined by their stereotypical labels and are therefore unable to develop fully, the six characters highlighted in the title of Pirandellos play are, ironically, the only ones who are portrayed to be individual, rejecting the stereotypes theyve been branded with. Though it is clear that the six characters have actual names, for example Amalia (Pirandello 2.90), on the stage and in the script they are referred to by their family roles, such as Father and Stepdaughter. In addition to the labels they are given in relation to each other, like t he characters in Everyman they are presented wearing masks, which are designed to give the impression of figures constructed by art, each one fixed forever in its own fundamental emotion (Pirandello 1.103). The six characters are therefore intended to be defined by both their family role and the emotion they represent, for example Remorse for the FATHER, Revenge for the STEPDAUGHTER, Scorn for the SON and Sorrow for the MOTHER (Pirandello 1.103). Looking at the characters with this perspective, they could seem as underdeveloped as the theatre workers and the concept characters in Everyman, as they are stuck in one moment and in one emotion (Worthen 2004: 686). However, Pirandello designs these characters with individual traits. While the Stepdaughter is presented as intent on revenge, and at one point resumes her previous position (Pirandello 1.463) as if she is in a fixed state, she is also portrayed as full of a warm tenderness for her younger sister (Pirandello 1.103). In terms o f character development, it seems that even though both plays suggest each character is fixed, or a stereotype, the six family characters in Pirandellos play are the most developed as they are the most individually unique, and they break away from the barriers they are constructed in. In the preface to Six Characters in Search of an Author, Pirandello stated that, Every creature of fantasy and art, in order to exist, must have his drama, that is, a drama in which he may be a character and for which he is a character (Bassnett 1989: 85). The essential drama of the six characters is to allow their secrets to be unfolded on stage, and therefore in doing this they can stand alone as characters. While the characters in Everyman were given no exposition so an audience can focus on the moral, the exposition and back-story for the six characters in Pirandellos play make them appear much more developed, and therefore real. The Father suggests a fact is like a sackà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ To make it stand up, first you have to put in it all the reasons and feelings that caused it in the first place (Pirandello 1.602-604). Likewise, to understand a character, to make it developed and more life-like, the audience needs to see its exposition. For example the Father reveals how he could nt bear the sight (Pirandello 1.464) of his wife because he felt sorry she was incapable of love (Pirandello 1.296), allowing the audience to understand why he sent the Mother away. These individual and detailed feelings show the development of character as he seems life-like, a life full of his own specific qualities (Pirandello 3.101-102). While the stock characters in Everyman could only be imagined in similar situations, such as giving moral advice, the six main characters of Six Characters seem to be alive in their own right (Bassnett 1989: 79), and the audience would have enough information about them to imagine them in scores of situations (Pirandello 3.157). The characters of Six Characters seem to be more developed and rounded than those in Everyman, but we can also explore which ones develop as the plays go on. The character of Everyman begins as a sinner, and gradually uses more religious language such as, O Gracious God (Anonymous 153) and high Judge, Adonai (Anonymous 245), to his realisation that he is worthy to be blamed (Anonymous 477) where he then confesses his sins. While his character does develop, we dont see any real thought processes that present an individual state of mind, therefore it is difficult to empathise with the character. On the other hand, while in Six Characters the Stepdaughter has been defined as a character searching for revenge, she begins the play a confident, teasing and attention-seeking character, and then becomes increasingly angry and intense, and we see her individual emotions laid open. Adriano Tilgher suggests the characters in Six Characters have souls (Bassnett 1989: 41), and are therefore devel oped and life-like in comparison to the inhuman concepts created in Everyman. How developed a character is can significantly affect the audiences reaction to a performance. A characters expositional background and complexity can make it easier for audience members to engage emotionally and empathise with them. It would therefore probably be easier to empathise with the family characters in Pirandellos play than the concept characters in Everyman. Morality plays often used masks to avoid empathy (Rees 2010), therefore Everyman would be successful in making the audience think about morality rather than be emotionally moved. Contrastingly, the development of characters in Six Characters in Search of an Author could help the audience emotionally engage, allowing them both to think and feel. Character development, therefore, can be subjective. While in Everyman the characters could seem like simple personifications, when interpreted by performers they could become recognizable as individuals on stage (Worthen 2004: 236), and they could be as complex as a performer wants them to be. The lack of stage directions in Everyman can give freedom to a performer, therefore enabling the characters to be made much more complex, while Pirandellos stage directions could restrict a performer to following the predetermined, fixed character traits. While it is straightforward to suggest that characterisation develops significantly from simple to complex from Everyman to Six Characters, it is debatable who the most developed characters are. All are given stereotypical labels, and while the protagonists of Six Characters seem to have more individuality than those in Everyman, if their reality is an illusion (Pirandello 3.72-73), are they actually complex? 2187 words

Albanian Teenagers :: essays research papers

Depending on the respective culture, the life of a teenager can vary greatly. Certain cultures demand more from their teenagers in terms of family obligations than do other cultures. For example, the typical social life of a teenager whose heritage is tied to Northern Albania demands that the teenager honor his or her family’s wishes above all else. The obligations and the respect that an Albanian teenager shows towards his or her family are very important, and that is what keeps the family tied to each other, and form a bond that not anybody can break. Being an Albanian teenager myself, and getting raised in Northern Albania gave me the knowledge to get to know the exact demands that the parent puts towards the child, and the obligations that the child is supposed to fulfill. The first rule is â€Å"The parent is always right† it doesn’t matter what the situation is, you always have to listen and obey. I think that that rule is very right, because the child doesn’t know anything, and they should now rely on what their mind says but on what the parents say. Also with this rule the child understands that the only person he can listen and know it is right is the parent. This makes the parent-child bond much stronger. The society around the Albanian children had a great impact on you too, because if you don’t follow the rules of the society then you would be considered a very â€Å"bad† person, and everybody would point you out for something you did. Also there were cases when the teenager would be pushed away from the family and the village. For example the most important demand that an Albanian girl has to fulfill is not to date or have sexual intercourse with anybody except for her husband after her marriage. You are expected to do that, and if you don’t then you would be considered the lowest person of all, and you wouldn’t find a man to marry you. Also your family is the one who chooses your husband, except for some cases you had no choice on your mate. If you choose him then he has to be Albanian and definitely from the same religion. For the boys is more different, because they have more choices and they don’t have as many limits as girls have. It seems that everything sounds so brutal and not fair for the Albanian

The Pc Industry Essay -- essays research papers

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this paper I will discuss the industry structure and the behavior of firms in the Personal Computer Industry. The personal computer industry has five leaders: Compaq Computer Corporation (CCC), Dell Computer Corporation, International Business Machines (IBM), Hewlett-Packard, and Gateway, (Industry Survey, Apr. 2000). The PC industry, as discussed in the paper, is comprised only of home/business use machines, not mainframes, databases, or any kind of servers or super-computers. The PC industry is a fast-growing, consumer-based oligopoly. I will prove the latter through the use of industry characteristics and firm behaviors by giving an overview of each leading firm and their behaviors', then by combining them into an industry analysis. The companies will be addressed from top leader to bottom. Company Overviews   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Compaq Computer Corporation,(CCC) is the current industry leader. CCC boasts a 1999 market share of 12.8%. However, this figure has declined slightly from its 1998 share of 13.4%. The dip is due to Dell Computer Corp.'s heavy presence in the small PC market, (Industry Survey, Apr. 2000). Compaq has a wide range of PC products from smaller, less expensive machines to more costly, high-tech systems. CCC has been most successful with their smaller machines, targeted to the home/family segment, because they are able to sell large quantities. However, Compaq has been unsuccessful in retaining customers because most of them were pleased with their smaller machines and did not upgrade to CCC's more expensive, high-tech systems,(Hamblen 1-2). Customer retention has been a problem for the forty billion-dollar company, (Hamblen 1-2). It is my assessment that Compaq does still remain the leader because their products are very easy to buy for the uneducated consumer. You may simply walk into the WIZ or BEST BUY and there are five or so Compaq machines all competitively priced with a good range of attributes, usually not the best that a veteran user would require. For instance CCC's newest product, the iPac, is a very simple-to-use, inexpensive machine. It is supposed to satisfy business workers' needs for a useful computer at low cost,(Wildstrom 1-2). Another problem in CCC's not-to-distant future is their distribution costs. With the use of the Internet, competitors have been able to ... ...pr. 2000). This will lower costs and possibly increase the bottom line for the computer giant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Like IBM, Hewlett-Packard made one mistake and cost itself billions of dollars in revenues. HP is a large electronics conglomerate. HP manufactures everything from calculators to top-secret government appliances. For HP the PC market is one of many. Originally Hewlett-Packard was the standard in computer electronics; however, this is not reality today. HP's reputation declined through the `80s and early `90s because of poor quality management. To regain the respect they had lost the marketing and engineering departments at HP worked their fingers to the bone to create a new image for the company. This was very effective; today HP owns a modest 6.2% of the PC market and a very healthy reputation for quality PC's and peripherals, (Industry Survey, Apr. 2000). HP has had some growth in the past few years but has failed to match the industry growth rates. The company's years of poor quality put a considerable hurt on their future growth; while HP was busy filling in t he hole it dug for itself, industry leaders like Compaq and Dell were basking in their success.

Slavery In America Essay -- Slavery Essays

Slavery in America stems well back to when the new world was first discovered and was led by the country to start the African Slave Trade-Portugal. The African Slave Trade was first exploited for plantations in the Caribbean, and eventually reached the southern coasts of America. The African natives were of all ages and sexes. Women usually worked in the homes cooking and cleaning, while men were sent out into the plantations to farm. Young girls would usually help in the house also and young boys would help in the farm by bailing hay and loading wagons with crops. They were shipped from Africa by the Europeans, "The Triangular Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade". This was an organized route where Europeans would travel to Africa bringing manufactured goods, capture Africans and take them to the Caribbean, and then take the crops and goods and bring them back to Europe. The African people, in order to communicate invented a language that was a mixture of all the African languages combined,called Creole. They also kept their culture which accounts for calypso music and the instruments used in these songs. Slavery was common all over the world until 1794 when France signed the Act of the National Convention abolishing slavery. It would take America about a hundred years to do the same. George Washington, America's first president, was also a slave owner. He deplored slavery but did not release his slaves. Washington wasn't the only president to have slaves. Thomas Jefferson wrote;"All men are created equal" but died leaving his blacks in slavery. In 1775 black Americans were sent to fight in the revolutionary army. The British proposed that if a black man was to join their army, they would be set free afterwards. America originally planned not to let the blacks fight in the army, but when hearing this, let them enlist. Only Georgia and South Carolina refused to let them enlist, but paid for their racism when each lost 25,000 blacks to the British. The slaves returned on an honourable discharge after securing America's freedom, but not their own. Slavery continued and so did the numbers of slaves trying to escape to the free states or into Canada. A runaway slave would be found by bloodhounds, trained to find black slaves. Then the slave, upon retur... ...e" commented Joshua, who is a 16 year old recruiter in California. The race war was in full force by the 1960's. With the growth of white supremacy and their groups, black too had a weapon. Martin Luther King Jr. lead his people to march in Washington to end segregation and to form black unity for an equal and better America. Malcolm X, who was a Muslim, may have come from a different religion than his Christian counterpart, but had a very similar message and a similar fate. Both were assassinated. Today the hate groups of America have spread into Canada and are particularly common in Manitoba. The major sections are of the same name as their American cousins with a very similar message. Racism, despite much opposition, will never end. As long as there is fighting among a Jew and a Palestinian or hatred between a white and a black, Racism will be there. Only a utopian society can achieve such a dream. It is in human nature to have a few people that do not understand or possibly hate those who are different but, in fact, we are not different, we are judgmental and we are discriminatory, we segregate. We are unique individuals but among races we are equal and the same.

Organizational Change Essay

Organizational change is common when companies go through a transformation and need to either change business strategies or restructure the operation. Organizations are open systems that survive by maintaining good standing with the economic environment around them. By fundamentally changing the environment of a company, it means altering ways and means of production, downsizing, or even dropping dead weight as Ford did eliminating whole brands such as Mercury. In some cases the whole culture may need to change in order to rebrand a struggling company. According to McShane, effective change occurs by unfreezing the current situation, moving to a desired condition, and the refreezing the system so that it remains in the desired state. (McSane, 2014) Easier said than done because some of the main challenges when it comes to organizational change involve the employees who are restraining the driving forces of upper management. Resistance can prove toxic if untreated or left unnoticed creating silos or just counterproductive thoughts, words, and actions. Productive persuasion is tricky when you have to explain how to do things one way after explaining to do them another before. Credibility can be tarnished if reasoning and logic do not follow the definitive command. When Upper management has to restructure it can mean losing the respect of subordinates in some cases because they may be challenged more often in the future. Organizations can improve the likelihood of success in their change efforts by putting all the cards on the table. Explanations should be given that include positive results for them in the future justifying why change is needed. Communication and employee involvement reduce the restraining forces and promote an open learning environment. In Ford’s case, the fear of unemployment for many workers due to the economy was motivation enough to embrace change with open arms hoping to float by in the financial hurricane. This open-mindedness kept them ahead of the competition and rallied them behind the creation of the Fusion and Escape. Focusing more attention on smaller fuel-efficient cars has paid off mainly because of rising gas prices and environmental considerations. According to Rosevear, while the V8-powered GT version of Ford’s Mustang  sells well, higher-performance models are typically niche products. That niche is growing — Ford says that sales of high-performance models have risen 70 percent in the U.S. since 2009, and 16 percent in Europe over the same period — but it’s still small. High-performance versions of mainstream models generally make up less than 10 percent of the model’s total sales. But those sales can be very profitable. Ford’s compact Focus starts at under $17,000, but the sticker price on a loaded high-performance ST model is close to $29,000. There’s a lot of profit for Ford in that $12,000 difference. (Rosevear, 2015) The profit margin seems to be growing as production methods become faster and more efficient, creating an environment worth changing towards. When companies look back for examples to give about successful organizational changes, Ford should be on the forefront of their minds as a good example. McShane, S., & Glinow, M. (2014). Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior. Organizational Behavior (2nd ed., pg. 273). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Rosevear, J. (2015, January 10). How Ford Will Chase Younger Buyers in 2015. Retrieved from http://www.dailyfinance.com/2015/01/10/how-ford-will-chase-younger-buyers-2015/

Managing New Product Development Essay

New product development requires organizations to facilitate cooperation and coordination between department boundaries within the organization. To facilitate this cooperation and coordination, organizations form cross-functional new product development teams to lead and manage the development process for new products. There are several variations that these teams can be formed and managed. New product development teams can be structured into four types: functional, lightweight, heavyweight, and autonomous (Schilling, 2008). In functional teams, members remain in their respective departments and report to their regular manager. In this type of team, members meet periodically to discuss the project. This type of team is usually temporary and team members may only spend a small amount of time on team projects (Schilling, 2008). In lightweight teams, members are still a part of their functional departments, as with functional teams, however, unlike functional teams, a lightweight team has a project manager and a dedicated liaison to facilitate communication and coordination between functions (Schilling, 2008). Heavyweight team members are removed from their functional departments and are collocated with a project manager. The project managers in heavyweight teams are usually members of senior management with significant authority to command resources. Under a heavyweight team, members are assigned full-time to the project. This helps ensure cross-functional coordination and communication (Schilling, 2008). Under autonomous teams, members are completely removed from their functional departments and dedicated full-time to the development team. In this type of team, membership is sometimes permanent. This type of team is headed by a very senior manager with full control over resources contributed from different functional departments (Schilling, 2008). Autonomous teams often create their own policies, procedures, and reward systems, apart from the rest of the organization. They are also held fully responsible for the success or failure of any given project. In many ways, autonomous teams behave as if they are independent decisions within the organization. This allows rapid and efficient new product development because they do not have to deal with organizational procedures, which could slow the development process (Schilling, 2008).There are many challenges managers face when  managing innovation. Alcatel – Lucent has a proven record of accomplishment with teams within the Bell Laboratories. Alcatel – Lucent prides itself on being the place where innovation, through vision and technology, intercept the needs of its customers from incubating start-up projects to performing fundamental and applied research. Bell Labs is the engine behind innovation at Alcatel – Lucent designing products and services that are at the forefront of communications technology. More than any other institution, Bell Labs has been at the forefront weaving technological fabric of modern society (Alcatel – Lucent | Innovation, 2006 – 2010). Their scientist and engineers have made seminal discoveries, launched technical revolutions that have reshaped the way people live, work, and play. They have built the most advanced and reliable communications networks in the world. Bell Labs has helped Alcatel – Lucent take the lead in shaping tomorrows broadband networks powered with service intelligence at every network layer (Alcatel – Lucent | Innovation, 2006 – 2010) Bell Labs enjoys a rich tradition of inventions and innovations that have fundamentally changed the way people communicate and share their lives. Bell Labs utilizes an autonomous team format that recognizes both multiple dimensions of research as well as cross-discipline (cross-functional) interactions are critical to the innovation process. Bell Labs scientific disciplines include mathematicians, algorithmic scientist, physical scientist, nanotechnologist, software and computer scientist, and many other specified scientist and researchers (Alc atel – Lucent | Innovation, 2006 – 2010). Bell Labs research culture can be summed up in two words: innovating innovation. They are continuously reevaluating, reassessing, and improving how its research contributes to Alcatel – Lucent. Its scientist are a flexible group with a commitment to venturing new paths and seeking out new approaches to product development (Alcatel – Lucent, 2010). At Bell Labs, there is a culture of innovating innovation that is based on two key criteria: a critical mass of scientist and an entrepreneurial persona. The critical mass of diverse scientist and engineers generate big ideas and work through those ideas from multiple angles, allowing them to approach complex issues from a variety of perspectives and integrate those perspectives into groundbreaking new products and services. Their adoption of an entrepreneurial persona ensures that some of the most promising near term research assets are driven into  the business and carried into the market. This process allows Bell Labs res earchers work together to direct research insights and innovations into commercialized products and validate them in the marketplace (Alcatel – Lucent, 2010). Bell Labs is a research organization with a unique and diverse set of expertise that stretches across a wide gamut of scientific disciplines that has played a major role in some of the most revolutionary inventions of the last hundred years. It is an organization that has left huge footprints on the communications landscape and continues to explore new paths in unchartered territory (Alcatel – Lucent, 2010). Over the next five to ten years, Bell Labs and Alcatel – Lucent will continue to be at the forefront of telecommunications solutions and innovations. There market position will only improve with new breakthroughs in communication devices that provide the best solutions for today’s enterprises and governments. References Alcatel – Lucent | Company Overview. (2006 – 2010). Retrieved April 30, 2010, from Alcatel – Lucent – About Us: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/AboutUs/Overview/?lu_lang_code=en Alcatel – Lucent | Innovation. (2006 – 2010). Acatel – Lucent | About Alcatel – Lucent Innovation. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from Alcatel – Lucent – About Innovation: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4w3MfQFSYGYRq6m-pEoYgbxjgiRIH1vfV-P_NxU_QD9gtzQiHJHR0UAAD_zXg!!/delta/base64xml/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80SVVFLzZfQV9CVEg! Alcatel – Lucent. (2010). Innovating Innovation. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from Bell Labs | Alcatel – Lucent: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4x3DnAFSYGYRq6m-pEoYgbxjggRX4_83FT9IH1v_QD9gtzQiHJHR0UAZYL6lQ!!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvd0ZNQUFzQUMvNElVRS82X0FfNDND Schilling, M. A. (2008). Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Communicatoin theory

Explain what is meant y narrowband FM and wideband FM using the expression? 3. Explain any two techniques of demodulation of FM. 4. Explain the working of reactance tube modulator and derive an expression to show how the variation of the amplitude of the input signal changes the frequency of the output signal of the modulator. 5. Draw the frequency spectrum of FM and explain. Explain how Varactor diode can be used for frequency modulation. 6. Discuss the indirect method of generating a wide-band FM signal. 7. Draw the circuit diagram of Foster-Seelay discriminator and explain its working.Define internal noise. 2. Define shot noise. 3. Define thermal noise. 4. Define narrow band noise. 5. Define noise fgure. 6. Define noise equivalent bandwidth. 7. Define a random variable. Specify the sample space and the random variable for a coin tossing experiment. 8. What is white noise? Give its characteristics. 9. When is a random process called deterministic? 10. Define flicker noise. 11 . Sta te the reasons for higher noise in mixers. 1 . Derive the effective noise temperature of a cascade amplifier and explain how various noises are generated in the method of representing them. Explain the following terms (i) Random variable (it) Random process (iii)Gaussian process 3. Explain how various noises are generated and the method of representing them. 4. Write notes on noise temperature and noise figure. 5. Derive the noise figure for cascade stages. 6. What is narrowband noise? Discuss the properties of the quadrature components of a narrowband noise? 7. Write short notes on thermal noise and short noise. 8. Explain in detail about white and filtered noise.Define image frequency. 3. Define Tracking 4. What is meant by FOM of a receiver? 5. What is threshold effect? 6. Draw the Phasor representation of FM noise. 8. Define SNR. 9. What is the SNR at the output of DSB system with coherent demodulation? 10. Define CSNR. 1 1 . What is sensitivity and selectivity of receiver? 1 . Explain the working of Super heterodyne receiver with its parameters. 2. Discuss the noise performance of AM system using envelope detection. 3. Compare the noise performance of AM and FM systems. 4. Calculate the noise power of a DSB-SC system using coherent detection. Discuss in detail the noise performance in SSB-SC receiver. 6. Explain the significance of pre-emphasis and de-emphasis in FM system. 7. Derive the noise power spectral density of the FM demodulation and explain its performance with diagram. 8. a. Draw the block diagram of FM demodulator and explain the effect of noise in detail. b. Explain the FM threshold effect and capture effect in FM. UNIT V INFORMATION THEORY 1. What is prefix code? 2. Define information rate. 3. What is channel capacity of binary synchronous channel with error probability of 4.State channel coding theorem. . Define entropy for a discrete memory less source. 6. What is code redundancy? 7. Write down the formula for the mutual information. 8. Na me the source coding techniques. 9. What is Data compaction? 10. Write the expression for code efficiency in terms of entropy. PART-B (16 Marks) 1 . Explain the significance of the entropy H(XN) of a communication system where X is the transmitter and Y is the receiver. 2. An event has six possible outcomes with probabilities Find the entropy of the system. 3.Discuss Source coding theorem, give the advantage and disadvantage of channel oding in detail, and discuss the data compaction. 4. Explain the properties of entropy and with suitable example, explain the entropy of binary memory less source. 5. Five symbols of the alphabet of discrete memory less source and their probabilities are given below. the symbols using Huffman coding. 6. Write short notes on Differential entropy, derive the channel capacity theorem and discuss the implications of the information capacity theorem. 7. What do you mean by binary symmetric channel? Derive channel capacity formula for symmetric channel. . C onstruct binary optical code for the following probability symbols using Huffman procedure and calculate entropy of the source, average code Length, efficiency, redundancy and variance?

A & P: A Study of Society’s Norms

â€Å"I felt how hard the world was going to be for me hereafter,† Sammy mutters at the end of John Updike’s short story, â€Å"A & P.†On the surface, Sammy is talking about the problems he will experience after telling his boss that he has quitted his job, but he is really referring to the beginning of his responsibility to defend people being judged for their appearances, and to stand up to authority when the rules limit people’s freedom and creativity.   He understands the difficulty of the mission he has given himself.The episode that changes Sammy’s life happens one day in an A & P supermarket.   As a nineteen year old who mans one of the check-out registers at the supermarket, he observes three girls enter wearing only their bathing suits.This completely distracts him so that he cannot even remember if he has â€Å"rang up† the â€Å"Hiho crackers† (Updike) for one of the customers.   On the other hand, he can remember the details of the three girls’ appearances. He thinks less generously of the customer who bought the Hiho crackers, referring to her as someone who if â€Å"born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem† (Updike).â€Å"You could see them, when Queenie's white shoulders dawned on them, kind of jerk, or hop, or hiccup, but their eyes snapped back to their own baskets and on they pushed. I bet you could set off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering â€Å"Let me see, there was a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!† or whatever it is they do mutter. But there was no doubt, this jiggled them.A few house-slaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct† (Updike).The above paragraph is the best portrayal of the girls’ effect on the supermarket’s patrons.   â⠂¬Å"Queenie,† as Sammy calls the prettiest of the three girls, has the most effect.   Comparing the arrival of the girls to an explosion signifies the impact, and also the rarity of girls, or anyone for that matter, ever coming into the supermarket in their swimsuits.   Most people follow the dress code implemented in the supermarket, or any other public place besides the beach.   The short story of one seemingly mundane occurrence at a supermarket speaks volumes about judging appearances.The girls are in the supermarket to buy â€Å"a jar of herring snacks† for â€Å"Queenie’s† mother and not to make any trouble, but the fact that they are wearing swimsuits have earned them a reprimand from the manager, Lengel.   Lengel who also â€Å"teaches Sunday school† and is â€Å"pretty dreary† according to Sammy, represents the people in society who make and follow rules and expect others to do the same.   He rigidly implements the rules in the A & P he is managing to the point that after reprimanding the girls, he reminds Sammy about ringing up the girls’ purchase.   Every rule must be followed to the letter for people like Lengel (Updike).However, even before Lengel’s appearance in the short story, Sammy already observes the glances that the sheep, which is his term for the customers, give the girls.   The girls being in their swimwear has given the customers quite a shock.   Even Sammy and his married co-worker, Stokesie, have become very engrossed in watching the girls.   They may not condemn the girls like Lengel and the customers but their reaction also limits the free spirited choice of the girls to wear bathing suits to the supermarket.   Their behavior suggests that the act is clearly something that is out of the norm.Defending the girls has made Sammy a hero, but he must make it a crusade to continue the difficult task of making the more conservative people of society understand the v alue of â€Å"live and let live.†Ã‚   Being sidetracked from such a mission and bowing down to rules that he does not believe in will reduce his defense of the girls as an act of a boy with a crush and not an act of pure honor.Works CitedUpdike, John. â€Å"A & P.† 8 November 2007 .   

Pricing Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pricing Strategies - Essay Example Competition-based pricing would allow the ZC gemstone to enter the market at a known acceptable price. It would provide the flexibility to offer prices at or slightly below the competitors. This would eliminate the need for market research. It would also gain immediate market share from the competition upon launch of the product. Competition-based pricing would also tie the price to the overall market. That would benefit the company by taking advantage of increased profits when the market went up and continuing to sell as the overall market dropped. Because the product does offer a unique quality advantage, ZC could be priced slightly higher than the competition. However, Finlay et al. (1996) warns, "[...] consumers may easily isolate products which are overpriced and disregard them in their buying decision making process" (p.73). When using a competition-based pricing strategy, there needs to be considerations made for cost and survivability. If the price is set below the competition's lowest price, it may be below the cost of manufacturing it. It should be noted that in a competition based pricing strategy, the price will be set by the "least sophisticated or most aggressive competitor" (Docters 2003 p.18). In an attempt to eliminate the competition, it may drive ZC out of business. However, since the seller also manufactures the item, cost reduction and control could return the product to profitability. Another drawback in this scenario for pricing based on the competition is that the consumer will connect the quality to the price. Since ZC is a higher quality item, we may not want it to be priced at or lower than similar items of less quality. A lower price may give an indication to the market that it is of lower quality. This psychological barrier may be hard to overcome on an infomercial or through advertising. Since the product launch is on a televised home-shopping network in the United States, it's imperative that the initial offering be received positively. This will allow ZC to continue and go global. If the ZC Company has adequate resources, they may be able to tolerate cutthroat pricing while making a minimal profit with the objective being long-term expansion. With expansion and increased international sales, production costs will drop and profits will again begin to rise. The other strategy to consider would be perceived-value pricing. This strategy would be the most effective at setting the price for maximum profits. Setting a higher price based on the uniqueness of the product could offer a sizable competitive advantage. By using premium pricing, it would differentiate the product and set it apart from the competition. This would increase demand and move the price upward. According to Docters (2003), "[...] price alone can influence that demand or move the product into a new demand category" (114). A higher price would also add to the consumer's perception of quality. A study reported by Maxwell (2005) concluded, "[...] consumer price-quality perceptions were strongly related to their estimates of the price level of the product category" (358). Price is often the indicator that the consumer uses to gauge quality. By setting a higher price we are gaining perceived brand quality. Another advantage of perceived-value

Technical Term Paper (Part B) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Technical Term Paper (Part B) - Assignment Example The current network system has security lapses and faces slow response time and occasional downtime. In the process of moving and with the professional input of Wide-IP Company, Fiction Corporation intends to upgrade its system in order to adopt modern and standard network operations and security. The current hardware used in its network system was bought a long time ago and its application is based on the old technology. The network system upgrade will be essential in increasing system reliability, easy and economical maintenance of its components and increased speed of the data transfer process. At an estimated budgetary cost of $425,000 and a time frame of one month, Wide-IP Company will develop logical and physical design that will be useful in configuring Fiction Corporation network system. Project goal Making the correct and appropriate network technology decisions ensures that the organization attains its goals, the morale of the employees is retained, and the cost incurred is tenable with organization’s budgetary plan and financial objectives. In order to ensure that there is smooth transition of organization networking system from one location to the other, the right networking technology plan must be developed and implemented. In most cases, transferring a data center needs a flush cutover of the network system in order to supply remote systems that have access to data before and after migration. Wide-IP intends to develop a number of router configuration changes that would enable data center routers to be easily transferred, one at a time and dismantling the old lines after the installed new data centers are proven. This is essential in providing an uninterrupted user support during the transfer and reducing the ongoing operational risk. Project scope The project of transferring and developing a new networking system for Fiction Corporation will be done by the Wide IP Company that has 10 members who are proficient in system networking. With a budget of approximately $425,000, Wide IP Company will identify the requirements of Fiction Corporation, develop networking systems, establish errors and correct them, and provide and adhere to a detailed project schedule of 30 days. Design requirements User communities and network applications Fiction Corporation, a retail chain needs to move a new headquarter several miles away. Considering the distance and the chain operations, the main challenge is moving all the personnel to the new headquarters and ensuring that the data center supports all call centers and warehouse operations. Whereas the warehouse functions from Monday to Saturday, allowing one day transferring an AS/400 and developing new SNA links, most of the stores will be open for 24 hours, which will be significant in ensuring non interruption transfer of the network system. Basing on the viewpoint of data processing, the migration of network system will include as AS/400, a large UPS, NT PC and Novell servers, and mu ltiple RS/6000 AIX application servers. The network will be made up of 100 servers for call centers and three remote warehouses .These user communities are connected through frame relay that has ISDN backup to three routers located in data center. The three routers will run a common LAN that will be shared by the headquarter staff, call centers, the warehouse and the data center. There is a high possibility for a whole

Physics lab report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Physics - Lab Report Example The experiment made use of a glider placed in an air track and suspended on two springs. The setup is at rest and remains at rest because the springs subject an equal force on the glider; they cancel each other; it is at a stable equilibrium position. The force applied on the setup in particular direction results a net force that acts on the glider and tries to return to the equilibrium state. The combined forces pull in a manner that the resultant force takes It to the original position; determined as restoring force. When the glider is brought to the original position, it is still under the influence of velocity and therefore goes beyond the default position by overshoot moving to the opposite direction from the earlier force. The overshoot results in the whole drag to equilibrium starting all over again. The back and forth motion is referred to as an oscillation. Mathematically known as sine and cosine function; simple harmonic motion. To analyze the problem let x be an instantaneous position of the glider while x0 is the equilibrium position. When the glider moves from the equilibrium position, the restoring force is F. without applying too much force resultant forces are linear hence force equation is; It implies that when the glider moves away from the equilibrium, restoring force becomes bigger. F is proportional to x. k is the spring constant. The sign (-) represents the restoration character of the force in the setup. A positive different in (x-x0) indicates that the force is negative x direction. A negative (x-x0) implies a positive force direction. Given a displacement initially A = x-x0, F = -kA, and accelerates towards the negative x-axis towards equilibrium; x = x0 where the restoring force is zero. It passes beyond x0 to the opposite direction and arrives with x-x0 = -A at zero velocity and it is pulled back. This forth and back motion goes on and results to oscillations. Without friction, kinetic energy and potential energy remain the

Toy as Visual Stimulator for Early Childhood Research Paper

Toy as Visual Stimulator for Early Childhood - Research Paper Example This was demonstrated by measuring the way infants sucked on pacifiers (they typically sucked harder the better they liked something). However, objects such as balls and basic shapes did not instigate a strong reaction in the infants. Most studies that measure infant response to objects use a similar route, measuring the individual baby’s responses through the use of pacifiers and presenting to the infants a variety of objects, familiar and not familiar (Spitz and Woolf 90). Additional studies with infants can be done to help us better understand this concept of visual perception before six months old. For instance, with the advent of technology, more computerized visuals could be created, with not only patterns and faces, which have been so commonly used, but also moving stimuli. Not many tests have been done to see how young infants actually react to moving stimuli. We have established, through current research, that young babies are able to perceive outlines and do have the ir own ways of understanding when they see familiar items and faces. However, their own particular reactions to moving stimuli have not been measured. Of course, young infants are generally not able to follow items side to side, but items placed directly in front of them on a computer screen can still be used in order to measure their reactions. Many studies have been done like this with older babies and toddlers to measure their responses to sounds and colors, generally done by researchers of children’s television shows, like Nickelodeon, and toy companies wanting to sell successful products. However, it would be interesting to see if certain objects could be used to create a show that might be interesting to very young babies, as it may help them... One recent study included putting a variety of faces and other objects on a screen for three-month-old infants to see. Infants responded to all faces, having a heightened response to familiar faces. This was demonstrated by measuring the way infants sucked on pacifiers. However, objects such as balls and basic shapes did not instigate a strong reaction in the infants. Most studies that measure infant response to objects use a similar route, measuring the individual baby’s responses through the use of pacifiers and presenting to the infants a variety of objects, familiar and not familiar. Additional studies with infants can be done to help us better understand this concept of visual perception before six months old. For instance, with the advent of technology, more computerized visuals could be created, with not only patterns and faces, which have been so commonly used, but also moving stimuli. Not many tests have been done to see how young infants actually react to moving stimuli. Many studies have been done like this with older babies and toddlers to measure their responses to sounds and colors, generally done by researchers of children’s television shows, like Nickelodeon, and toy companies wanting to sell successful products. However, it would be more interesting to see if certain objects could be used to create a show that might be interesting to very young babies, as it may help them perceive and learn at an even earlier age. For most parents, the earlier they can assist their child with learning, the better.