Religion and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Religion and Society - Essay Example There are many individuals who feel that in order to embrace the principles of science and its fundamental ability to offer great insights into life one has to abandon faith as well as its implications which come in the form of religious indoctrination. Many individuals such as the author and prominent zoologist, Richard Dawkins, Madalyn Murray O’Hare, a woman who considered her most prominent accomplishment to be the fact that she has become known to many as an atheist, Victor J. Stenger, a particle physicist and Isaac Asimov embody the belief that the only proof of the existence of a phenomena or an entity is that can be ascertained through empirical means. Conversely, there are individual psychologists who view the role of religion as a vital one in the lives of many individuals and explain how religion can be utilized as a guiding force in the decision-making processes. These individuals include William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Gordon Allport, Abraham Maslow, Alfre d Adler and Erik Erikson. An investigation of these individuals as well as the self-proclaimed atheists will prove to be quite beneficial in arriving at the underlying determinants of one’s religious beliefs and practices. ... Instrumentation The only instrumentation for this study is an interview protocol which was devised and modeled after the interviews conducted between Richard Dawkins and Sheena McDonald, an interview of Madalyn Murray O'Hair by The Freedom Writer and an interview of Isaac Asimov which discussed the correlation between science and the Bible. These interviews were utilized as a basis for the creation for this instrument. Procedure Through a guided case-study, I will examine my religious beliefs and frame them within a psychological framework. In so doing, the self-created tool will establish an indelible link between my religious beliefs and the pertinent psychological theories/concepts. The primary method of attaining this information will be through the utility of open-ended questions followed by a clarification when needed. Methodological Assumptions The only methodological assumption utilized for this case study was the notion that such a study would yield accurate results with regards to the underlying psychological determinants of religious beliefs and practices. It is felt that much of religion serves as a means of quelling irrational concerns with regards to questions that will remain unanswered as no clear scientific explanations can be offered in support of or in refutation of the origins of man as individuals who are capable of deciding whether we should operate solely based on faith or whether we should always resort to science for our explanation of phenomenon which, on the surface, seem unexplainable. Limitations The limitations of the survey methodology are (1) The study is very subjective as it is a case study based on one's own religious convictions, and (2) The

Film Composition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Composition - Essay Example It also brings a feeling of warmth, inspiration from the inner and outer lives of the people. â€Å"Little Miss Sunshine† focuses on lives of a family called the Hoovers. They are on a road trip to outlying California where their little daughter, Olive plans to participate in a contest named â€Å"Little Miss Sunshine Contest†. They face with numerous hurdles that compel them to cooperate. Their union in such times is of essence in their success. The main aim of examining this film is to bring forth other insights besides the comedy. This is through inspection of the themes present in the movie. Generally, they are the two aspects that make this movie exceptional. Thematic concerns The film creates insights into the lives of the cast. There are compelling issues in their lives that are worth attention and concern. The themes of winning and losing come out as the major issues in the lives of the characters. Richard Hoover, the father to Olive and the most prominent in th is movie is fanatical to his plan to success. He labels the plan â€Å"Nine Steps to success†. He believes that it is going to guarantee success in any way provided strict adherence to it be maintained. Consequently, the notion that achievement of success at all cost lingers in his mind. He questions the desires of others to achieve success. This shows up by expression of judgment towards Frank after he attempted suicide. Richard has considerable information on what winners do and do not do. For instance, he believes that any feeling of self-doubt or fear is associated with a loser. He also acknowledges that giving up on oneself (as Frank had done) is detrimental and against the core principles of winners. He dismisses luck as a contributing factor towards being a winner. He sees it as a tool used by losers to justify their shortcomings. Richard stresses that one has to want to win and all will be okay. This is evidenced by the talk with his daughter where she expresses her d esire to win. He goes ahead to assure her daughter of victory in the dancing competition. According to (Dickmeyer, 22), it is not the mere impression of what success is but the energy put towards success. The other family members have differentiated views on winning. They particularly do not like the way Richard handles the talk with his seven-year-old daughter. They believe that Richard is more into beliefs than the hard reality. Beliefs relating to success cannot solely guarantee one to be a winner. (Dickmeyer, 18) They concede that success is not as simple as the way Richard views it. They believe that the infliction of those â€Å"mere winner beliefs† and attitude can result to severe frustration and downheartedness for their daughter if all is not well in the competition. Family efforts help Olive to deal with her failure to win the contest. Upon realization that life is full of unpredictable situations, she becomes equipped to deal with frustrations and failures. The fa mily contribution serves, largely, in helping the young girl to deal with the situation. By taking to the stage at the end of the show, family cohesion is on display. They ultimately show that they have triumphed even when the situation does not exactly mean the same. The component of losing at the initial stages and then winning in the long last arises from Dwayne. Dwayne is Richards’s son. Richard expresses pleasure with his son for his unshaken focus on gaining entry to a flight school and become a pilot. According to Richard, Dwayne fulfills some

Ethics in Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethics in Entrepreneurship - Essay Example But in performing such type of operations, Ethics is extremely essential. It is known as the philosophy that an entrepreneur or business organization adheres in its dealings. This means, each and every business organization or entrepreneur comprises of certain rules and principles that its employees need to follow at the time of tackling its operations. Otherwise, the entire business organization might lead to downfall of productivity and profit margin. Apart from Ethics, Morality is another essential term offering high value towards business. Morality is mainly concerned with varied types of values, norms and beliefs that help an individual to detect the right or wrong actions. Thus, the behavior of an individual is highly influenced by such values, beliefs and norms that vary from person to person. With the help of such behaviors, an entrepreneur or individual enhances the prospects of a business organization. So, such values are extremely essential for an entrepreneur. Discussion The characteristics of Ethics in business are as follows: Ethical decisions differ from one person to another. It is mainly due to different views, values, norms and beliefs of varied types of individual. However, each and every types of ideas and values need to be apt for the customers or employees of the organization. Ethical decisions need to be at par with the cost incurred and the profit margin of the business. In order to do so, the entrepreneur needs to offer the products and services in such types of prices to its customers. The decisions of the employees in a business are voluntary their own deeds. So, it is essential for the employees to present ethical decisions that might prove effective for the business in long run (Shaw, 2010). Ethics is a trait of human being that needs to be ethical. Otherwise, being an employee of an organization, he might not be able to take any type of ethical decisions. Not only in his professional life, but ethics is also essential in oneâ€℠¢s private life. If he or she fails to take the ethical decisions, then he or she might never prosper in life in future era. Side by side, due to an unethical decision, not only the image or productivity of the organization might get reduced but also the reputation may decline. The range of customers might get reduced slowly and slowly leading to downfall of the entire profit margin of the organization. Thus, the rate of loyalty over the brand or the entrepreneurial image might get faded among the public day by day. So, it is extremely essential to maintain a strong status and supremacy in the market for the brand and its products on the basis of ethical decisions. Only then, an entrepreneur might prosper. Ethics is a type of characteristics feature of a human being that varies from one individual to another. Moreover, working in a group or an organization, the ethical views and norms of an individual also gets highly influenced by others. Some of the aspects by which, ethics within an organization gets affected are stated below: Religion- as numerous individual works within an organization or under an entrepreneur, some due to diverse religious traditions and norms, ethical decisions also get affected. Thus, sometimes, due to religious variations, the decision making of the individual gets influenced to a certain extent. But still, serving the human being in a best way is the only view

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

Film Reaction Paper - Essay Example better and even if he knew that he would be fired and that he was bound by a confidentiality agreement, he still blew the whistle on the tobacco companies. Secondly, the character of Al Pacino, Lowell Bergman also made an ethical decision. His company CBS and the management of the program ’60 Minutes’ did not want him to air Jeffrey Wigand interview where Wigand told the truth about tobacco and cigarette smoking. He felt that the company was being manipulated by the possible lawsuit of Brown & Williamson in the event that CBS would air the Wigand interview; under this threat, Bergman protested against the actions of his management and his program. He believed that they were allowing the integrity of the program to be compromised by the rich and powerful companies. Bergman was also forced to compromise his agreement with Wigand to air the interview, and this violated the trust which Wigand placed on Bergman. In order to finally air the interview, Bergman applied some une thical practices by going to other media personalities and to have them write a story about CBS being controlled by a tobacco-company. This did not bode well for his smooth relations with his colleagues in 60 Minutes and in CBS. This eventually led to his resignation from CBS citing the fact that he could not anymore have the same integrity among his sources because he could not promise that they would not be left in the lurch after providing him with crucial information. Lastly, the acts of the heads of the tobacco company in giving false testimony to the Congress on the effects of tobacco, the intimidation tactics they applied on Wigand and his family, and the strong-arm techniques they applied to CBS and 60 Minutes are just some of the many unethical decisions and practices applied by Brown and Williamson. All in all, under these considerations, the movie illustrates clear incidents of ethical (and unethical) decision-making

When Buddhism was the dominant tradition in India Essay Example for Free

When Buddhism was the dominant tradition in India Essay Indian historical periods are related to the Buddhists Thought in terms of social ferment and intense intellectual social and cultural beliefs. The periods of how the religious groups evolved during the authority of the Vedas and their concept of the god they believed in. These periods range from the times at which there was consequential progress in the development of the religion in India. There were in certain hereditary statuses restrictions that had cast castle mobility of the implications of the rituals associated with the efficacy of Buddhism. The first periods of evolution of Buddhism started as early as 246 B. C in the northern parts of India. It then developed through very many empires and rulers to become a religion that is appreciated even today in all parts of the World. This paper will therefore analyze the periods of evolution of Buddhism and how it dominates the religious beliefs and minds of the ancient Indians and other people around the region. It will also look at how the religion was affected by the entry of other religious teachings including Islam and Christianity. It will find discuss the implications of the Thought of Buddhists with regard to the teachings of the founder of Buddhism by emphasizing the negative and positive aspects of the religion in the ancient and current Indians. Philosophical relevance of Buddhism to ancient India. Some sects associated with the religion are greatly contributing to the unified philosophical system of the cultural beliefs of the Indian population both in the past and in the early and mid twentieth centuries. Some critics both in India and other neighboring countries who had adopted the religion are pointing out several problems which prevent its acceptance by all people. They argue that Buddhists have in the past and still reject past action of deterministic behavior which keeps on changing as the technology changes . It is also considers that the soul and the body are inseparable and that it is not possible that the soul cannot survive death as claimed by some sects within Buddhism. Such kinds of teachings are considered to be mythical in nature and not the actual ones developed by Buddha himself at the time of conceiving the ‘knowledge’. While ethics and morals had to be emphasized during the time of Buddha, it should be done through judicial procedures which is currently overtaking the power and authority that religious leaders are having in their beliefs to punish offenders to some extent. Some scholars also believe that the views as expressed by the Buddhist religion are too advanced to be adopted by all societies considering the current diversity of societies, cultures, and religion. It evident that society has not reached a point where education needs to be universal and the society need to be developed further in the sense of prevalent superstitions and irrational beliefs. In this era where the society is limited when it comes to concepts and nature, religions are becoming increasingly controversial especially when it deals with patent issues of families, obedience, faith, God, life after death etc. the scholars also continue to analyze the impacts with which Buddhism has had on the current development of India when compared to the other cultures in other regions at the time of Buddhism in India. History of Buddhism Prince Siddhartha Guatama founded Buddhism in the kingdom of Shakwa in Nepal at the foothills of the Himalayas in the 500A. D which is approximately 2,500 years ago. It is believed that Siddhartha Guatama left his luxurious life in the palace to look for ‘better life elsewhere’. Buddhism was then conceived after the Prince moved around and met the poor who were suffering. After seeing this, Siddhartha Guatama recognized the fact that something was wrong with the societal order and it should be addressed very urgently. He therefore decided that he shares his wealth with the poor in the society with a view to making them equal with him. He spent most of his life doing this and God blessed him with immense knowledge that he got a revelation of life and the meaning of suffering. With this he was sure that he knew the real meaning of living. Thus the realization of Buddhism and the Buddhist Thought. The prince got the Buddhist Thought while sitting under the tree known as the papal tree and from that day, he was acknowledged by not only his admirers but also by other sympathizers of different religious beliefs. In the final barriers, Guatama achieved knowledge and he experienced a lot of truths that is all about suffering and life. The four noble truths as revealed by prince Guatama are; †¢ All of life is suffering †¢ The cause of suffering is desire †¢ Desire leads to suffering †¢ Desire can be ended by means of mediation and path discipline. Buddhists Thought With the achievement of this knowledge, Guatama was now the awakened one-Buddha meaning the birth of Buddhism. He thus spent most of his life traveling around India spreading the gospel of Buddha and the meaning of Buddhism in the ancient life of the Indians at the moment. More and more people continued to adopt the culture of the teachings of Buddhists while integrating the relevant principles of the religion to their daily needs. The principles of Buddhism encourage the teachings of Mahayana, Hinayana, Vayajarana teachings. These teachings encourages the upholding human life and assisting people to become equal in terms of food provision, culture, obedience, respect and punishment . Indian merchants and loyalty resulted and patronized monasteries for centuries after the introduction of the Buddhist Thought. In this period, hemispherical stone structures were erected in remembrance of the founder of the religion after he died after eighty years. Various temples were also built to signify the importance of the teachings to the ancient Indians. This is the first development of the Buddhists Thought impacted very strongly on the lives of the ancient people not only in India but also in neighboring countries that had received the message from the missionaries of Buddhism. Buddhism is also considered an organized religion with high philosophical orders within the Indian society. During the early twentieth century for example, Buddhism dramatically came back to spur a combination of philosophical interests and European antiquarian activities as practiced by the devotees available by then in the northern parts of the Indian region. This meant that all issues that were perceived to be supernatural to the normal man were enough to be adequately addressed by the Buddhists Thought and the principles as stated by Buddha. Forms of Buddhism The Himalayan communities practiced a form of Buddhism that shared same fundamental principles as those practiced by the Tibetan communities. This form of Buddhism is considered as promoting spiritual advancement, enhancing intercession, and enlightening human beings on their role on earth. Most of the forms of Buddhism are Adopted by different countries depending on their own understanding of the teachings. The ‘Doctrine of the elders’ is the most followed form of Buddhism that traces its origin to the first principle of the Buddhists Thought. It is being adored by the Indians and it traces its origin to scriptural traditions of the Pali community of eastern India. This doctrine stresses a more advanced human-like Buddhism that is coated with a democratic path which enables its followers to embrace unity, marriage simplicities, and abolition of marriage expenses, increased sense of identity, self-esteem, self-worth, and reducing alcoholism. Spreading the Buddhism Thought The religion from its inception in northern India spread to other parts of the country and within a short period of time it had spilled over to countries such as China, Korea and Japan. It is also believed that within India itself, Buddhism flourished against backdrops of various rulers in India who viewed it as a threatening and extreme religion which would interfere with their ruling capacitates. It is particularly believed that it was taken to higher levels by the emperors of Ashoka, Milinda, kanishka and Bimbishara who had all found the teachings of the religious practice useful top the Indian community and the whole societies at large. Around the thirteenth century, Buddhism disappeared slowly but not after leaving a legend on the religious beliefs in India. In fact, it is known that the prince who founded Buddhism did not even contemplate appointing a successor to continue with the teachings and the spreading of the religion. He rather advocated for each and every individual follower to maintain a personal form of salvation in which individuals regard all human beings as equal and worth in the eyes of the almighty. This meant that all followers of Buddhism had the moral responsibility of maintaining their own integrity as advocated by Buddha in his teachings in the eyes of other people. The main reason why Buddhism thrived and flourished in ancient Indian country was the support it received from the local kings and emperors such as Kosala. Guatama was known to be an intense austerity practitioner in that he was able to deny himself lots of luxuries and even starve himself to death if need be. At one point, he decided that self torture had weakened his mind for as long time and things needed to change. By failing to advance his enlighten status; he was reduced to a certain style of renunciation through dedicational mediation. Since Buddhism existed in the oral traditions only, it was necessary to have some kind of mechanisms to ensure that practices and doctrines of Buddhism are maintained. It was seen necessary to have a Council of Buddhists to do the job. These councils had their individual responsibilities. The first council This council arose out of Maha’s concern for the future of all Indians and the fate of the Buddha’s dependents. In this first council, the monks were required to deal with the disciplines within the Thought of Buddha. This first council was also to make recommendations and agreements on the controversial issues as singled out by the ancient rulers and scholars in India. The role of this council; became so complicated that after a couple of years, a second council was formed. The second council The responsibilities of the second council were to iron out differences that had arisen from the disagreements between the elders of the order and the monks. The monks had wanted to get exclusive powers to apply rules and regulations with regard to the believers who did not conform to the teachings of Buddha. This council was given the authority to iron out differences at all levels of leadership. However, most of the monks did not agree that the most attainable position would be the Arhat and that there would be other positions that can be attained by any other individual. Arhat was not measurable to Buddha and that is why it not possible to claim that Arhat is the highest point of holiness. The misunderstandings between the two groups of leaders led to the development of two Buddhist traditions. These are; the Great way and the Way of the Elders. Despite the fact that the two groups of the traditions give ultimate respect to the teachings of Buddha, they differ on issues such as monastic disciplines, Buddha-hood and obedience to the teachings. They were designed to meet challenges of misunderstandings of leaders in the councils The third council This council was held during the empire of emperor Ashoka who led the Buddhism monarchy at the third century B. C. It was held at the palatipultra reigns where most non-Buddhists joined the religious group mainly because they felt that it offered them some kind of royal patronage. Although most of the new members were finding it difficult to meet the expectations of their new religion, they had in some way retained their old beliefs. This third council was being formed at the height of increased membership to enable people disregard their old practices that do not conform to the teachings of Buddhism. The fourth and the fifth councils were all formed to counter moves by other religious groups to ouster Buddhism and its spread in and outside of India.

Management Accounting Case Study

Management Accounting Case Study INTRODUCTION: This is a report of management accounting will focus more on cost and budget. According to reports, the issue of cost method, information analysis, computation, theory and applications of gold companies that can help readers may clear understanding of this topic. The problem in making the cost of the largest organizations will also be mentioned in the report. Moreover, there are many examples of information expected costs for the next year and analyze the information that can make the reader practical experience in accounting environment. I. Identify and classify the different types of costs incurred in Wine Company 1. Cost classification The cost classification is divided into three categories called cost classification for stock valuation and profit measurement, cost classification for decision making and classification for the control. According Vang Company, they have adopted the classification of expenses for stock valuation and profit measurement that can help them make the kind of cost-effective and also predict risk or revenue for their future. There have costs that are present in all organizations can help accountants can easily calculate the cost of an organization. Accordingly, the cost will be divided into direct material costs, direct labor costs and direct costs for each corresponding indirect. Moreover, the cost also refers to a number of other costs such as administration overhead, high on S D, production costs and time costs. ( Case Study ) 1.1 Direct costs Direct costs means costs that are directly attributable to production of a product or service provider. A direct costs include direct material costs, direct labor costs and other direct costs ( financial accounting and management financial statements, p6, 2010 ) . The first is the direct material costs. Direct material costs are the direct costs of materials used to make and sell products or provide services ( financial accounting and management financial statements, p7, 2010 ). At Vang Company, because this is a company specializing in producing custom t-shirts for corporate events, family and group, they should have sufficient material to produce t-shirts as fabric, sewing. So to have the documents, the company needs to pay for the provider. Next is the direct labor costs. Direct labor costs are the specific costs of employees or workers directly used in the production of goods and services ( Ukessays, 2014 ). Direct labor costs include salaries, wages, allowances and deductions from wages as social insurance, health insurance. According to the law of Vietnam, workers minimum wage is 1,150,000 VND / month. At Vang Company, has 25 employees, including 21 in production and 4 in management and sales ( Vang Company Case Study, 2014 ). So Vang Company must pay their employees at least 1,150,000 VND / month and can pay more depending on the job level ( Wikipedia, 2013 ) . Direct expenses are part of the direct costs that are spent in making a product or providing a particular service, or run a department ( financial accounting and management financial statements, p7, 2010 ). To ensure the quality of T shirts, Vang Company using electric sewing machine to sew and hand silk screen printed. Using the device s power costs incurred to produce T -shirts ( case studies vang Company, 2014 ). They are tools to be purchased or leased by Vang Corporation to make T -shirts . 1.2 Indirect costs : Indirect costs or overhead costs include indirect costs that material, indirect salary costs, indirect costs, administration costs, S D costs . Indirect materials related to products, but not derived from the finished product. That the documents without material used as direct but it also helps to finished product. For example : A number of indirect materials in their wine companies are sewing machines, chemicals for cleaning cloth or machine, scissors, gloves protect workers when they work or some tools that can help to determine product . Indirect salary costs for wages that but it is not related to the production process and to not participate in the product. For example : Vang Company also need to pay for the management, monitoring and help them search activities and enterprises but they do not work on the product line. The security and cleaner for Vang company also not working on product activity so that Vang company also have indirect wages for them. Indirect costs which are not charged directly to production ( management accounting and financial statements, 2010). Vang companies also pay insurance for employees, their production and also pay rent for the old buildings that they rent for offices and factories . The administration costs that the costs related to the management and operation of the company ( SmallBusiness, 2014 ). For example, Vang Company will pay the wages office concluded wages of secretaries, accountants and also they have to pay rent, rates, insurance, light, sanitation, telephone, portal, bank charges, legal costs . The S D costs, including marketing materials, advertising, packaging, salary and commission sales staff, rent, rate, insurance, cost of product delivery Vang company. They also change the quality and packaging of individual products are wrapped in recycled brown paper bag 1.3: Fixed cost, step cost, variable cost and semi-variable costs: Fixed cost is a cost which remains constant within a certain level of output or sales is unaffected by changes in the level of activity (Finance management accounting and financial reporting, p11, 2010). Figure 1: Graph of fixed cost (Google, no date) In Vang Company, the fixed cost could be salary of employees, the rent of factory building and equipment. However, in Vang company case study, fixed factory cost changed from 2006 to 2008. It increased from 20,000$ to 30,000$ in 3 years. This proves that the economy is not stable. Step cost is fixed cost when paying company but costs have risen because of the increase of production volume or something it might be reduced because of reduced production volumes. The cost steps can occur due to the companys expansion. For example: For Vang company if they received more T-shirt from customers that they will make more t-shirts, and they need to have more staff will make them increase the cost or they need to hire to plant because the increase of the laborers. Variable cost is a cost of labor or material change with activity level (Rosemary Peavler, 2014). In Vang Company, variable costs include raw materials, packaging, and labor directly involved in the production process of the company. Variable cost plants raised from $ 70,000 to $ 120,000 in 3 years from 2006 to 2008 (Case Vang Company, 2014). Figure 3: Graph of variable cost (Google, no date) Semi-variable cost are the costs that contain fixed cost and variable cost components. For example: Vang company also need to pay salary (fixed cost) and commission (variable cost) for salesperson and its a semi-variable cost. Figure 5 : Semi-variable cost (google)

Motorolas marketing strategies

Motorolas marketing strategies CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Problem Statement Motorola rapidly became the largest mobile phone seller in UK. In 2001, its asset was more than  £32.74 billion and it had 100 million subscribers. Until 2002, these figures have grown to over  £38.8 billion and more than 138 million subscribers (Motorola Company Profile, 2004, p1). However, the continued good performance of Motorola is threatened by a number of factors. These threats come from a number of places, the most important of these being the fierce competition with the three other state-owned companies. However, this competition will be increased in 2007 when the British Telecom (BT) Telecommunications Agreement comes into effect, allowing foreign companies access to UKs telecommunications market (Milner, 2003, p3). This pressure is reflected in the fact that the Mobile Phone Revenue per User has dropped 50% in the past three years (Milner, 2003, p3) to a figure of  £100 Yuan (Reuters, 2004, p1). Another major threat faced by Motorola comes from Nokia, which has gained significant strategic advantages through its security of exclusive rights to use the new CDMA network technology (Milner, 2003, p3). Purpose of the Study All of these mean that Motorolas marketing strategies, especially its advertising strategies, will become the most important element of its sustained and successful growth. The challenge for Motorola is to gain and maintain market share, and continue to seek future growth. Winning clients is one thing; keeping them an entirely different challenge companies have to adopt proactive strategies to retain hard-won customers. (How to maintain loyalty among risk customers, 1999, p1) Therefore, the application of successful advertising strategies is a critical factor for attracting new customers and keeping existing ones. Marketing research suggests that advertising is about attitudes, the attitudes of consumers towards products. Boyd, Ray and Strong (1972) propose that there are five strategies which marketing managers can pursue in relation to basing their advertising campaigns on attitudinal change. Aims Objectives The objectives of this research are consequently: To identify the current attitude of both existing and prospective customers towards Motorolas service. To examine to what degree Motorolas current advertising campaigns are related to the five marketing strategies mentioned above, which are based on changing customers attitude towards one brand. To suggest tentative recommendations to Motorola on how attitudinal strategies could be better incorporated into its future advertising campaigns. This objective is based on the findings of the current study and suggests various ways, in which Motorola can effectively influence the attitudinal sets of customers (see Chapter 2.0, p7), i.e. their attitude to products. Dissertation structure This dissertation consists of five chapters including Chapter One, the Introduction, which deals with background information, as well as giving a brief introduction to marketing strategies. In addition, the research objectives are presented here. Chapter Two provides the reader with an overview of the literature review, which first covers the background of the global and British telecommunications industry and second looks at some specific advertising strategies in order to construct a basis for conducting the research. Chapter Three refers to the methodology used, and discusses the limitations to the research carried out. Chapter Four presents the findings of the research together with the discussion of the conclusions reached. Chapter Five, the conclusion, discusses the possible implications of this research for future studies. Summary This chapter has provided readers with a brief introduction of the research background, as well as has identified the objectives that this study aimed to achieve. The next chapter begins a literature review, in which a comprehensive background concerning this study and some mainstream marketing theories will be presented. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW History of British Telecommunications Industry The telecommunications revolution will have a profound impact on us all- on our everyday lives and our jobs. Indeed telecoms, together with the closely related but broader category of information technology, are going to be the biggest technological driver of economic and business change during the next decade and more. (Dadd, 1998, p1) The history of the world telecommunications industry has been a turbulent one. It has been common in western countries that the state controlled monopolies, such as that of British Telecom in the United Kingdom or Bell Atlantic in the United States have completely dominated their domestic markets for a long period (Local hero: mobile telephones, 1993, p1). However, a break up such as that of Bell Atlantic into the baby Bell companies, which occurred in following years, heralded a new era of the telecommunications industry (Dadd, 1998, p2-3; Pruzan, 1996, p1-3). After the failure of the dot com revolution, telecommunications emerged in the late 1990s as the new darling industry in the stock market with millions if not billions of dollars invested into it in the western world (Sarkar, Cavusgil and Aulakh, 1999, p1-2). Along with the universal growth in the telecommunications industry, it was the area of mobile phone networks which saw the most dramatic growth and highest profits of thi s industry. The deregulation of telecommunications however is not a phenomenon which has been restricted to western economies. Deregulation of the telecommunications industry is seen by many governments not only as a significant economic affair but also an important social one, A bold deregulation of the telecoms industry will, with luck, spread the use of the Internet in India and change millions of lives. However, the telecommunications industry is also a political matter in many countries such as UK, which sees foreign control of its domestic telecommunications companies as a serious issue (Harwit, 1998, p1; Milner, 2003, p1). Yet due to UKs accession to the WTO, it has been forced to deregulate its telecommunications industry and furthermore open the market to foreign investments (Stilson, 1999, pp1-2). The history of UKs telecommunications industry dates back to 1877 when the first telegraph line was installed. By 1911, there were 8,000 telephone subscribers and 8,800 telephone lines yet little improvement was made on this infrastructure during the rule of Chairman Mao (Harwit, 1998, p4). The British government realizing these changes responded early in the 1980s was aware that reforms of UKs stagnated telecommunications industry would become a vital and critical factor in successfully modernizing UKs overall economy (Harwit, 1998, p5). However, it was not until the 1990s that the pace of reform was quickened when the monopoly UK Telecom was split up (Lin Sun, 2000, p1). In 1994, Nokia was founded in order to compete with UK Telecom, followed by the formation of the Information Industry Ministry in 1998, which became UKs telecommunications industry regulator (Rothman and Barker, 1999, p1). Motorola Communications Corporation (CMCC) was established on April 20th, 2000 (Pangestu and Mrongowius, 2002, p5), and it became the biggest mobile phone seller in UKs telecommunications market (Motorolas net edges up as competition intensifies, 2003, p1). While the four companies originated from the same parent company, this common heritage however is not reflected in the highly competitive relationship which now exists among the four companies. Indeed this competition is set to increase with the recent development of information technology and the soon occurrence of 3G License permitted by the British government (Milner, 2003, pp3-4). It has been reported by various sources that the fixed lined operators intend to compete along with the mobile operators for the rights to operate these networks (Pangestu and Mrongowius, 2002, pp5-7). Motorolas Current Situation Motorola finds itself doing business in a market, which is in upheaval as well as of deregulation, internal competition and external competition (Motorolas net edges up as competition intensifies, 2003, p1; Einhorn and Roberts, 2002, p1-2). The fierce competitive environment in which Motorola operates therefore has meant that the company has had to embark on an aggressive advertising campaign, which is designed to solidify and increase its market share before the full effects of the WTO inspired reforms can be felt. According to Nielsen Media Research on advertising spending in UK, Motorola spent 1.3 billion advertising in 2002 (British brands dominate ads in local market, 2003, p1). Thus this is both a demanding time for Motorola and an interesting time for anyone who wishes to research a young and dynamic company in a period of rapid change for its marketing strategies. Theories of Marketing Strategy and Advertising Strategy The marketing concept states that you stand a much better chance of selling something if you understand why someone wants to buy it in the first place. (Michaels, 1982, p67) Marketing can be seen as those sets of business practices and related strategies which are applied by companies to attract potential consumers into purchasing their products (Kotler and Cox, 1988). But marketing is not only about enabling a company to attract consumers, but also about maintaining those existing customers over a period of time, in essence the building of a brand and the creation of a brand loyalty (Kotler and Cox, 1988, pp76-77). In order to achieve such a aim, one of the key strategies to be the most important for gaining and maintaining market share is advertising and sales promotion, increase advertising and sales promotion of superior products, services, or price benefits to underpenetrated or untapped customers; advertise new or improved benefits to all customers. (Kotler and Cox, 1988, pp76-77) Marketing research has suggested that advertising is about attitude, the attitude of consumers towards products, Our reason for selecting attitudes as our basic way of looking at a market is based on more than the fact that one function of advertising is to affect attitudes. There is considerable evidence to show that the way a person thinks and feels about a brand- his attitudinal set determines how he will behave. His reasons for wanting a product determine his selection. (Reiser cited in Boyd, Ray and Strong, 1972, p341) Boyd et al (1972) suggest that there are five strategies which marketing managers can pursue in relation to base their advertising campaigns on attitudinal change. These strategies briefly seek to: Affect factors which influence the choice criteria of customers; Add salient characteristics to products; Increase /decrease the ratings for salient characteristics; Change brand perception; Change perception of competing brands with regard to some particular salient characteristics. Telecommunications is one field in which it has been possible to find quite similar responses. Telegraph, post, and telephony have been organized as state monopolies almost everywhere, and states have acted as policy makers, regulators, and service providers all at once. National telecommunications regimes have surprisingly similar features from Europe to Asia, and from America to Africa (Noam, 2006, 2007). Naturally, there are exceptions (for example in the United States, where the monopoly is private and the state acts only as regulator and policy maker). Still, the similarities in the organization of the telecoms sector are unique compared with the diversity of institutions and governance mechanisms of other sectors. The old telecommunications order is now undergoing radical changes. The sector, which for years served as the economics textbooks most cherished example of a natural monopoly, has been transformed to a competitive sector (although competition is imperfect and partial). Surprisingly, despite the widespread changes, sectorial homogeneity in the move to liberalization remains remarkable across countries, continents, and level of economic development. In telecommunications, changes are indeed global and they include radical change in the economics, technology, and organization of the sector as well as in the role of the state and the mode of governance. The extent of change in telecommunications is so radical that it is now seen to epitomize the hollowing out of the state. Telecommunications, argued Susan Strange, serve as an extreme example of one process by which authority has shifted massively away from the governments of states to the corporate management of firms The result of this shift has been to narrow the options open to supposedly sovereign states, and to extend the opportunitiesand riskof those enterprises engaged in the supply of services and the hardware by which the services are offered on the market (Strange, 2007, p. 100). As competition increases and markets widen, telecommunications may become a paradigmatic case exemplifying perceptions of reality and change in political economy among the general public and social scientists alike. Telecommunications thus acquires the characteristics of a critical case for theory testing. If suggestions regarding the retreat of the state prove false or one-sided in telecoms, it should be even more difficult to support them in other cases. The scope of change and the extent of regulatory innovations make telecommunications highly interesting for retailers of politics, political economy, and public policy. It becomes the paradigmatic case, one which shapes beliefs about organization of the economy and relations between politics and economics. At the same time, it generates new knowledge about the regulation of other sectors. This is also observable in popular journalism. Take, for example, the following passage from the Economist: In recent years, the telecom business has demonstrated that when deregulation and innovation, strong forces in their own right, come together, the results can be startling. What is true in telecom is now coming true in electricity (my emphasis). Indeed, beyond electricity, telecommunications has come to be conceived as a regulatory laboratory in which experiments are conducted and experience is accumulated for future implementation in other sectors such as road transport, railroads, water, and gas. The restructuring of the telecommunications sector during the last decade has generated a global telecommunications market for the first time. Increasingly more parts of telecom equipment are no longer produced nationally, but are traded on extra-national markets. Foreign direct investment in the sector is booming and the liberalization of services has been accompanied by the entry of foreign investors as competitors but also as partners in global alliances. Instead of one national network for telephony, different networks now exist, characterized either by the same technology (wire telephony) or competing technologies (internet telephony, mobile telephony, and cable telephony). The striking changes in the national arenas of telecommunications are repeated and enforced by several international agreements such as the WTO agreement on the liberalization of government procurement (2007), the Information Technology Agreement (2007), the WTO agreement on trade in basic telephony (2007), a nd the Mutual Recognition Agreements on the testing and certification of telecommunications equipment (2007). Side by side with the transformation of the sector, the creation, extension, and perfection of the regulatory capacities of the state may be observed. The administrative state is relinquishing the provision of services, but instead of retreating it is assuming new regulatory roles. These new roles are enforced and diffused through the constitution of the single European market, emulation of the American regulatory structures, policy learning, and even international pressures. The diffusion of regulation may serve a wide range of social goals, from universal supply of essential services and products to price control in situations of market failure. This paper concentrates on one particular aspect of regulation, namely regulation for competition. Market competition, as will be shown in this paper, is not only the natural outcome of state retreat from the economy or a matter for any invisible hand. Competition is politically, socially, and administratively produced and it takes the form of highly complex regulatory regimes that are devised to govern micro-segments of the telecoms sector. The paper distinguishes two types of regulated competition: regulation-of-competition and regulation-for-competition. While the first is a liberal form of intervention which aims to correct market failure, the second has a mercantilist character and aims at market creation by the state. This second form of competition is a critical aspect in the restructuring of the telecoms sector, which is often misunderstood as simply deregulation. The critical place of reregulation-for-competition in the governance of the new telecoms regime, as will be demonstrated here, underlines the rise of a competition state which is not a liberal state and not a welfare state. The competition state, without transforming the whole apparatus of the state and with an important but limited effect on society, is assuming a very traditional role, with a neomercantilist character, which it always had. It is revitalizing and reforming economic sectors in order to promote national competitiveness. Restructuring Motorolas Markets The introduction of competition to the telecommunications market is a multi-level process. On the intra-national level the introduction of competition may be characterized first as a movement towards corporatization and increase market share of Motorola. The statists provision of telecom services was replaced by a new regime which was based on a mixture of regulations, reregulations, and deregulations. Corporatization means the transformation of a government-administered service into a legal entity of a joint-stock company. This company may still be state-owned, but in contrast to the past it now enjoys a measure of autonomy from the state (Noam Kramer, 2007, p. 278). In most countries where ministerial departments formerly supplied telecommunications services, corporatization was one of the first steps towards a more economic and market-oriented provision of services. Corporatization thus reflects a retreat of the state only if one understands the relations between the state and th e market as mutually exclusive, or zero-sum (i.e., more market means less state, and vice versa). However, if the states strength is not defined in terms of its direct provision of economic services, then outsourcing services may result, exactly as in corporate restructuring, in more power rather than less. In many countries corporatization also led to increase market share of Motorola, namely transfer of shares or functions from public to private hands. In some countries, increase market share of Motorola has been a major milestone in the restructuring of telecommunications. British Telecom was privatized in 1984 and NTT of Japan in 1985. Other countries followed this road a few years later with a partial increase market share of Motorola of their Telecom Operators (TO). In Israel, Bezeq was privatized in 2006; in the Netherlands KPN was privatized in 2007; in Germany, Deutsche Telecom was privatized in 2007; France Telecom was privatized in 2007, and Brazils Telebras was privatized in 2008. Different strategies of increase market share of Motorola were employed in different countries, and following the initial offering of part of the governments shares, the process proceeded at varying rates towards complete increase market share of Motorola. Still, the move to privatize the telecommunications sector has become common around the world. Increase market share of Motorola may not affect, however, the extent of competition in a specific market segment. Private monopoly, as the American example of ATT monopoly shows, does not necessarily entail more competition. But increase market share of Motorola, like corporatization, is definitely a step forward in the introduction of market considerations into segments of the economy formerly that followed (or were supposed to follow) public service criteria. The corporatization of telecommunications services has contributed to the creation of a political space in which public officials can more clearly distinguish their function as providers of telecommunications services and their regulatory and policy making functions. Regulation is a distinctively American approach of state intervention; its introduction to Europe, on the national and European Union levels, is admirably discussed by Majone (2007). Regulations, rather than public ownership, planning, or centralized administration, are increasingly used in telecommunications. While the process of substituting the dirigiste state by the regulatory state is observed beyond the sphere of telecommunications, in this sphere the scope of change is most impressive. The separation of government functions in the sector allowed the creation, development, and consolidation of regulatory capacities in readiness for the new business-like corporations which were still under government control. The process was further accelerated and strengthened following increase market share of Motorola, which marked more clearly the distinction between public and private. National Regulatory Authorities for telecommunications were established or are in the process of being established throughout Europe (e.g., Oftel in the UK, OPTA in the Netherlands, BMPT in Germany, ART in France) and elsewhere (i.e., Brazil, Israel, South Korea, and Australia). Although these regulatory agencies vary in their institutional design, autonomy, and regulatory capacities they command they often enjoy considerable control over the development of the industry. One demonstration of this paradox is the dynamics of the regulation of interconnection regimes with respect to the unbundling of telecommunications services. The enthusiasm, indeed the near religious zeal, that the competition state manifests in the introduction and enforcement of competition, even in the most difficult terrain, shows the critical role the state plays in restructuring global telecommunications. Bundling is the tying of the supply of one service or product to the supply of others. For the seller of products, bundling is a form of legitimate competitive strategy. Yet for clients, it often means that they will have to purchase an unnecessary products or services which they may obtain of better quality and at a better price elsewhere. In such cases, policy makers, regulators, and judges have to decide whether the economic power of the service provider should be balanced by political power. One way of doing this is by requiring the provider to unbundle the products or/and services, and thus enable clients to purchase only the services and products they want, and by extension to promote the market in unbundled services and products. Bundling and unbundling are common regulatory problems in various economic sectors, but in telecommunications they display the complexities of the interaction between state and market and how far regulators feel obliged to intervene for the sake of competition. Unbundling is considered a prerequisite for competition in the local loop; hence regulators readily intervene to ensure that the dominant operators will not force bundled services on their competitors. Here, they regulate relations between household and business consumers and telecommunications operators, and also those between the dominant seller and the smaller, newer providers who need interconnections and various other services from the big and hostile brother. Digital local exchange networks are highly expensive systems which provide a range of services such as advance signaling, diagnostic and testing procedures, switching, and transport. A new seller may thus find it impossible to build an entire local exchange network; to foster its entry to the market, regulators often take measures that ensure its capacity for special access (e.g., switching but not transporting, or signaling but not switching). Determining what may be part of a bundle and what may not requires the regulator to have sophisticated technological capabilities (to determine down to the precise layers and point of access where connection is possible) and sophisticated economic and accounting capabilities (to set an adequate rate for each unbundled service). At the same time, it gives the regulator the power to set prices for each of the components of the telecom networks. Instead of simple cap-regulations of retail tariff in the old telecom regime, it now has plenty of ways to devise the wholesale tariff. The National Regulatory Authorities that were established during the last decade, and their forerunners, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and OFTEL, are now in the process of acquiring these skills. The American Telecommunications Act of 2007, for example, requires that dominant operators unbundle their networks at technically feasible points and make individual elements available to competitors on a modular basis. They are also required to enable their competitors to physically collocate equipment within their premises so as to allow them to take advantage of unbundling (Knauer et al., 2007). By establishing more detailed regulations regarding the general requirements for the unbundling of the telecommunications services, the FCC is now creating one of the most detailed regulatory regimes ever designed for the promotion of competition. The design of an interconnection regime with as many unbundled services and points of access to the network as possible is, at least theoretically perhaps, a matter of commercial agreement. Yet, the dominant seller has strong incentives to use its control over the public network so as to discourage competition (by either inflating prices and costs or preventing interconnection under various technological pretexts). The most complex problem of unbundling is the determination of a gross interconnection charge that has to be decomposed into dozens of elements, each of which may provide the basis for a new dispute (involving several courts in different instances). This situation may be further illustrated by comparison to the more familiar market of cars. The unbundling requirements on telecommunications operators may be compared to a demand that car manufacturers unbundle the vehicles they sell into their various components. A client or competitor would then be able to purchase a car wi th no wheels and/or engine, and shop around for a better deal. Probably, because cars can be purchased from different manufacturers at different price and quality levels, the car industry is not required to unbundle its products. This is not the case, of course, in telecommunications where the local loop is still a natural monopoly and thus requires more rules (e.g., unbundling requirements) to allow for more competition. The unbundling of networks is likely to create more sophisticated markets and may promote competition in the local loop as well. While the success of such a strategy is still unclear, the situation and politics of unbundling demonstrate that the discretionary power of some policy makers and bureaucrats has attained heights never previously reached. The extent and the role of reregulation in the restructuring of the telecommunications market is accompanied by the emergence of strong regulatory states and by the entrepreneurial role states play in the introduction of competition. The strengthening of regulatory bodies and regulation-for-competition policies may shed light on the dynamics of change in the relations between states and the economy, particularly on the change in the role of the state. To achieve this, one has to move beyond the old two-pole model, which sets economic socialism against economic liberalism and which frames the intellectual terrain for the discussion of political economic change. Neither regulation-for-competition nor the rise of the competition state fits this two-pole model. The creation of interconnection regimes and the case of unbundling the networks go far beyond the liberal conceptions of the state as regulator in cases of market failure. In these regimes the state plays the part of market generator, which cannot reconcile with economic liberalism. The central position of regulation-for-competition as the pillar on which the restructuring of telecommunications stands requires us to extend the debate to include a third perspective on political economy. This third perspective is sometimes presented as mercantilism and sometimes as economic nationalism, and it has been, since the rise of classical economics, a subject for scholarly attacks more than ground for positive theory-building (LeviFaur, 1997a; Crane, 2008).[10] It was Adam Smith who coined the term mercantilism in order to ridicule the dominant political economy of his time. Subsequently, the major political economy debates for long turned on the relative advantages and disadvantages of mercantilism vs. liberalism. Later on, in the 19th century and early 20th, when various democratic and undemocratic forms of nationalism became a popular ideology, mercantilism assumed the form of economic nationalism and it became the major antagonist of economic liberalism. While mercantilism mobilized state power in order to advance the economic resources of the state, economic nationalism took the state as a tool for development of the national economy and for the benefit of the nation rather than the state. Several especially nasty forms of economic nationalism, for example, that of Nazi Germany, made the notion extremely unpopular after the Second World War. Since then, both economic nationalism and neomercantilism were marginalized as political economic theories, or at best were reduced to some form of bounded-rationality (e.g., protectionism, large symbolic projects). With the collapse of the Soviet empire and the retreat of social-democracy in the West, we must move on and abandon the habit of framing the discussion exclusively in terms of socialism vs. liberalism, or even Keynesianism vs. monetarism. To capture some basic features of the change we should consider the political economy of mercantilism, which accounts for different interests of na tions in the process of economic development. Summary The information economy carries the distinctive libertarian tone of technologies of freedom and technologies without boundaries. Yet in telecommunications, when the music is actually played, this tone proves to be no more than an undertone, an accent. Indeed, governments are changing their role in this market: they no longer provide telephones and services. Bu