A Problem in the American Education System Essay

This problem will have dire effects on those dropouts as well as other aspects such as financial and health problems. Many factors ultimately push the students off their path to a bachelor’s degree and end their dreams of ever becoming a doctor or maybe even a businessman. Along with those causes, there are serious consequences for those college dropouts. One effect that happens when a college student drops out of school would be that a huge debt must be paid back and since they dropped out it turn to be a wasted investment. Students looking to go to college, hen dropout have no answer to pay the money back which they were hoping to find a career with a college degree they wanted. Students often put a lot of money into college, thus putting them into debt. When the payments are finally too high for them they cannot afford to stay in school and all the money they put in is for naught. The students are under so much debt after dropping out and have nothing to show for it. That college degree they were hoping to receive at their graduation in non-existent which they were hoping to use as a tool in order to become successful. Who knows hat career a degree could have got them into, maybe a well-paying Job that would keep them from going broke from paying all the loans they used to go to school. All the money that could have been used in order to gain knowledge will be down the drain and the student now would have a harder time paying back those loans and supporting themselves. This also affects the schools and the taxpayers. All the money they are putting into paying and helping students with their schooling has nothing to showing for it. The millions of dollars that are being put into paving the way for the tudents financially do not pay off and instead money is lost. This slows down the whole country as there are less available new young workers to fill the positions of new work. Without a college degree, students earning potential are much lower than those of graduates. In order to pay off debts from loans to go to school and bills, students have to find a source of income and without a degree, finding a Job is much harder. Dropouts have a harder time finding a Job than those already with a degree. With a bachelor’s degree, it is easier to find Jobs as many opportunities are now open. A cause of college students dropping out is the amount they have to pay for just one semester. As many students do not even have a Job it is difficult for them to support themselves after paying for tuition and also pay for supplies they would later need for classes such as textbooks. A report from the Public Agenda for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation shows the students from the ages of 22 to 30 years old shows state that their main reason for leaving school is their problems with financial stability. From my experience as of today even now I have a problem having to pay for school at CSULB. Luckily I have financial aid because without it I would it I don’t think that I could have survived the first semester of college. Family problems such as having kids during school, or taking care of a sick family member could cause someone to leave college. Having to spend a large amount of time away from thing such as studying for an upcoming test really hurts the students in the long run. This hurts them because it keeps them preoccupied with things that they need to accomplish which is their dream of finding a career in their major and pursue it. Stress develops which may be from the numerous personal problems. Rising uition make students actually have to think about what they buy next. Most students already have to Juggle work and school at the same time Oohnson). I know for a fact that going to college is a hard task even now as a freshman, there is more homework and students have to pay for everything themselves. I understand why most students drop out because they cannot handle the pressure. Another cause for college dropouts is their scores on exams. Of course doing bad on a test will make students fail your class as this is already obvious. Lots of factors also cause students to do poorly on their exams such as stress and financial roblems One final cause for students leaving college early is their lack of motivation and preparation. As most students say their high schools did a poor Job in preparing them for their next step in life stated from a survey by Public Agenda (Crosseley). In college students have to manage their time socially and their time for school. Prioritizing this time is now critical of the all the times spent in school. Being bored really will not help you succeed in receiving a bachelor’s degree in your hand. For the many college students that attend today that go to college it may be a hard task. Still, college dropouts remain a problem in the American education system.

A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed

A friend in need is a friend indeed. A man who stands by his friend in adversity is a true friend. Selfless love is the base of true friendship. True friends share each other's joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure. They do not fall off in adversity. They have full confidence in each other. They never betray each other. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. A selfless friend is a blessing; a selfish friend is a curse. The first is an angel and the second is a devil. One makes your career while the other mars it. True friendship means great self-sacrifice on the part of both. A true friend foregoes pleasure and convenience.He goes out of his way and faces difficulties in his way with joy and even with pride. The friendship between Krishna and Sudama is a classic example of genuine friendship. Joy and sorrow, success and failure, good fortune and misfortune, are equally shared by a pair of true friends. They shoulder the burden of life equally for they feel that they sail in the same boat and that they have to sink and swim together. A selfish friend is rich in words and poor in deeds. He talks tall but when you are in trouble, he leaves you in the lurch. A selfish friend is always after grinding his own axe.He does not love you, he only loves your riches. You give him a loan of money; you will lose not only the loan but also your friendship into the bargain. A friend in need is the medicine of life. He stands by us through thick and thin, in weal and woe. He is a source of joy and inspiration. A friend in need is a true guide. He is always loyal and faithful. He is never a victim of misunderstanding. He is not a flatterer and a yes man. He is open and plain. If his friend goes wrong, he will openly tell him that he should desist from such a course. Lucky is the man who has a true friend-a friend in need and adversi A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed A friend in need is a friend indeed. A man who stands by his friend in adversity is a true friend. Selfless love is the base of true friendship. True friends share each other's joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure. They do not fall off in adversity. They have full confidence in each other. They never betray each other. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. A selfless friend is a blessing; a selfish friend is a curse. The first is an angel and the second is a devil. One makes your career while the other mars it. True friendship means great self-sacrifice on the part of both. A true friend foregoes pleasure and convenience.He goes out of his way and faces difficulties in his way with joy and even with pride. The friendship between Krishna and Sudama is a classic example of genuine friendship. Joy and sorrow, success and failure, good fortune and misfortune, are equally shared by a pair of true friends. They shoulder the burden of life equally for they feel that they sail in the same boat and that they have to sink and swim together. A selfish friend is rich in words and poor in deeds. He talks tall but when you are in trouble, he leaves you in the lurch. A selfish friend is always after grinding his own axe.He does not love you, he only loves your riches. You give him a loan of money; you will lose not only the loan but also your friendship into the bargain. A friend in need is the medicine of life. He stands by us through thick and thin, in weal and woe. He is a source of joy and inspiration. A friend in need is a true guide. He is always loyal and faithful. He is never a victim of misunderstanding. He is not a flatterer and a yes man. He is open and plain. If his friend goes wrong, he will openly tell him that he should desist from such a course. Lucky is the man who has a true friend-a friend in need and adversi

Competencies Job Analysis

Background to the study Organizations continuously change their processes and structures due to the dynamic forces In the environment (Beer, 1980). Such forces Include; divestiture, changes in technology, working practices, employment legislation, and culture (Appear & Gondola, 1998). This transition often means change in employees' roles and relationships thus the need for systematic Job analysis procedures such as competence analysis to remove ambiguity and Improve role clarity In order to ensure consistency with the new environment.Competence analysis is that part of job analysis that is concerned with functional and behavioral analysis to determine work-based competencies and establish behavioral dimensions that affect Job performance (Armstrong and Baron, 1995). It Is a human resource tool that generates competence profiles that provide human resource baseline data which is utilized to design human resource instruments such as competence based Job descriptions that enhance role clarity in organizations.The success of competence analysis depends on the role incumbents' capacity to uncover acid knowledge and role complexities and the analyst's experience to gulled role incumbents in the process. This removes ambiguity, improves role clarity and enhances reflective learning leading to improved individual and organizational performance (Immune, boss & Buoy, 2003). Many organizations in Uganda and most Sub-Sahara Africa lack this vital human resource tool to produce generic role definitions.This has resulted Into role ambiguity consequently leading took related stress, Job dissatisfaction that reduces organizational commitment and productivity abstinently undermining the overall individual and organizational performance (Immune et a/. , 2003). 1 The importance of Involving role Incumbents In profiling competencies was neglected In the Job analysis exercise carried out In 2003 by Uganda Telecoms Limited (TTL), this culminated into role ambiguity that has persist ed to date.

(Biochip Microfluidic Vortex Chamber) and (Biochip with Integrated Essay

(Biochip Microfluidic Vortex Chamber) and (Biochip with Integrated Vertical Emitting Light Source) - Essay Example The â€Å"optical imaging technology† (Bachman, 1986) was the best materials system of its time for fabricating â€Å"photodiode arrays† (Bachman, 1986) that were used in NASA’s satellite system. Bachman considered this to be just the beginning of experimentation with microgravity for the production of semiconductors. He articulated the need for further advances in physics to improve the photoconductive properties of the detectors in order to improve the quality of the satelites Twenty years later Bachman’s optical imaging device is being applied to identify diseases, as well as, analize the chemical and biological properties of different cystals and alloys in vortex chambers. The photoconductive device described in the study offers a cost effective method of fabricating biochips when coupled with simulation software known as Comsol software.Industries outside of quasi-government agencies such as NASA are utilizing microgravity technology. The budgets of these industries are not limitless, and therefore are in need of a feasible way of applying the quantum leap in semiconductor quality that is due to the microgravity science, without incurring the considerable costs that would keep them out of the field of biotechnology. The model described in this study offers theoretical outcomes when describing modified conditions calculated in simulation software as well as the actual observed events that occur within the various chambers of the photoconductive device. The properties that were observed utilizing simulated fluidic vortex chamber device are fluid flow, concentration and diffusion, and electrical conductivity. The conditions that were modified were velocity of fluid flow, locations of fluid concentration, and length of time the fluid would be concentrated at various locations. The results that the changing conditions as described in the â€Å"incompressible Navier-Stoke equation†.

Animal Test Should Be Stopped Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Animal Test Should Be Stopped - Essay Example   Ã‚   Animals form a pliable target for beings, but still, it is not just to take unjustified benefit of their defenselessness. It should be clear that a mouse or a monkey would go through similar throbbing that beings would do if subjected to certain hurting measures. These animals do not get food, water and, sleep. In various circumstances, they undergo cruel treatment. For example, dogs under lock and key in chambers to experiment whether a given insecticide is secure for breathing by people. On many occasions, there is no use of anesthesia at the time of testing. This is due to a callous attitude towards the safety of animals and avoids the alteration of the test results (Sherry, 1994). However, just imagine that you are in a theatre with no anesthesia or stacked in a filthy cell since a famous person wants to experiment how your body responds to that given surroundings. If individuals take the initiative of being kindhearted towards some creatures that you will realize the so mewhat pain these innocent animals have to bear during such experiments. Some countries, the likes of Netherlands New Zealand have forbidden the utilization of brilliant apes among other primates for experiments. (Thomas, 1995). Results obtained from the practice assist in checking whether a given sample of drug or cosmetic artifact would result to any reactions on people. The functioning mechanisms of human beings are different from those of animals. The extensive use of Aspirin is for the cure of pain, fever, inflammation, etc. in people. Conversely, this exact drug proves to be poisonous for rats.    Most conducted experiments are on the natural world, which cannot be a dependable basis for foretelling results on people. This shows that, the rats or mice are not the right forms to hypothesize reactions in people, where as only monkeys and chimpanzees are because their close relation to humans. Many of us are not aware that drug-manufacturing companies are not answerable for side effects or illnesses ensuing from their vaccines or medicines; however, many lately tested drugs they proudly trade; do not yield-required results. The reactions of drugs like clioquinol and thalidomide are an indication to the allegations that drugs tested cannot form a basis of considerations on animals as well as secure for human consumption (Types of Animal Testing, 2010).

Employee Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Employee Performance - Essay Example The situation has not been this way for a long time; until the last century, their existed an autocratic organizational system where the word of the top management was considered the last word. Their existed an environment where no emphasis was paid on the rights on employees and their needs. In order to properly defend the statement, one needs to look into the reasons for these developments that have been mentioned in the statement. Post-modernism is a concept that is deep rooted in history and is one of the fundamental reasons of the development of the recent organizational structures, bureaucratic environments and empowered employees. A discussion regarding how modernism started would first require understanding what existed in the pre-modernist era. The need for post modernism has been rooted deep in the history of mankind. It was first used in 1914 to describe the changing mindsets of people against the society prevailing at that time. Then came in modernism which gave people an escape from the normality and let people question their beliefs and creativity was fostered. However, it gave rise to modernity or bureaucracy. Bureaucracy usually uses rules and guided procedures in order to accomplish their tasks and depend on the predictability of events. They give no space to the unpredictably of life. In management terms, this would mean that there is task continuity prevalent in organization practicing bureaucracy and people would be subjected to strict rules and norms, repeated preprogrammed tasks and would be provided with stable and probable environments where homogeneity exists between the goods and services offered. Post modernism was a reaction to the modernistic ideas. Post-modernism largely is defined by the age in which there was intellectual growth, cultural enhancement, and development of an artistic state without the boundaries and restrictions of the hierarchies( Frederick, 1984). Post modernism stated that there are no clear cut and defined lines to a central successful organizational principle. It negated the aristocratic or the central hierarchy system and paved way for a more people oriented idea to organization development. Development of post-modernism was a result of the changing times and environment as well. It helped in almost all the disciplines of modern era. Post-modernistic ideas helped in the development of architecture, law, culture and literature. It heavily influenced the marketing and management fields of science as well. The management scenario changed completely with the advent of this idea in the society (Tim, 1999). The main focus would be kept over management and marketing practices because of the topic at hand. Post-modernism can be best explained as an era where nothing is certain and nothing is impossible. There are endless possibilities waiting to be grasped and countless situations in which a man can find himself. However, it has its share of criticism as being meaningless when it came to evaluating mathematical structures. Many people also argue that the era we are living right now is the post-postmodern condition. GLOBALIZATION Globalization is another important factor that gave rise to the post-modern conditions of today. Globalization by definition is turning personalized or localized phenomena's into

Israeli-palestinian conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Israeli-palestinian conflict - Essay Example This movement spread in many spheres of Jewish life such as culture, religion, secularism, politics, labor and revisionism. The spread of this kind of nationalism came to the world as a surprised and shock the foundations of several other religious forces such as Islam and Christianity which considered Israelis to be a thing of the past. The arrival of the Zionist forces in the mainstream politics and religion gave way to businessmen especially in the field of agriculture and farming (Beinin & Stein 2006). This was the start of the Jewish settlement in their ancient regions or what they called their homeland. Israeli-Palestinian conflict has its roots both in politics and in religion. Ever since the war of 1948, the Israelis have outnumbered the Palestinians in Jerusalem leading to an intrusion of the Zionists in the Palestinian politics which caused a severe damage to the established structure. Both Palestinian Muslims and Christians were affected by this invasion which came to them as a shock. It is Zionism which is keeping the Israelis to fight for their entire life. One wonders whether the Israeli Zionism had taken an extremist approach towards attaining the land or had the opposing force, that is, the Palestinian Nationalist Movement become ineffective (Caplan 2010). The places of exile were perfect for the Israeli’s to settle. Babylon and Egypt are regions full of resources and riches. But it was religion which drove the Jews towards the Holy Land of Jerusalem. It goes without saying that the means adopted by the Israeli forces to date are highly illegal although the Arab neighboring nations are not reciprocating the way they should be doing politically (Dowty 2004). Unfortunately countless number of people are killed ruthlessly every passing day. Many billions have already died in the past but the issue of Palestine remains until the followers of all the main religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam come together to put some sense into each othe r. It is also observed that when the solutions are presented for the conflict between the two nations there is a one sided image portrayed greatly depending upon the opinions of the UN, British, American or Israeli government. The conflict worsened as the Israeli forces pushed them next to the Arab state so that it could meet a larger end. The agreement to join hands with the opposing party meant a great deal of chaos. This was however overlooked because Israel’s demand for the partition depended upon the initial behavior of the Palestinians when they first offered some joint endeavor. The above mentioned issues still remain among the two nations. Palestinians were conveniently swept away from politics especially those who had a business approach to politics. Since the regions of occupation are of interest for all the three religions there is no reason why the people should be callously treated. With the end of World War II there were more than sixty thousand Jews who entered the land and started taking over the farmers and Bedouins who induced fear among the Jews for causing disturbance in the hierarchy the Muslims (ProCon.org 2004). Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan came to the rescue of Palestine. The war of 1948 was fought bravely and with complexity. Israel must recognize one critical point that whatever maybe the solution of these problems, any decade long period of war can bring peace in one of the

How did economic change and the two world wars effect wome workers in Essay

How did economic change and the two world wars effect wome workers in Britain between 1750 - 1950 - Essay Example Both phases provided empowerment for women altering their roles in their workplace and at home, sometimes restricting opportunity (Noung, Para1). The first phase of industrialization, the outwork, involved the production of goods for home use and for export through the merchants who fed the local and outside markets with the goods. The families never hesitated to squeeze themselves, if it called for, due to the flexibility of the system even though there were frustrations placed on their leisure time by out putting merchants. During this era, the women played a very important economic role since all the members of a household knew how to operate a spinning machine, meaning that together they contributed to the household economy. Therefore, this phase empowered women by making them agents of production and not just consumption (Floud, p25). This development in the production sector was important due to the agricultural trends, which were extant since 1700. This was due to the economics of scales that proprietors were employing. Large farms were able to operate with few workers hence released much labour from the lands driving women out of the labour market. These could be associated with the fact that men still dominated social and economic sectors during this period. As their wages started going down, they sought to exclude women from the labour market to prevent further immiseration. Hence, women from the agricultural region had to seek employment at home. This exclusion of women came with some side effects to the farmers who were their employers. Most noticeable and comical was the violent clashes between well-organized groups of women gleaners and the farmers. They would invade their farms to collect leftovers after harvesting. As the farmers tried to limit this, they developed a stricter notion of property rights in the eighteenth century. The farmers worn the civil case but the local customary law pull-ranked it as the judiciary

Psychological theories relating to Frankenstein (Mary Shelley's Case Study

Psychological theories relating to Frankenstein (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) - Case Study Example Although Frankenstein has been noted for its treatment of the philosophical, mythological, scientific, and feminist questions, it is fundamental to realize that the novel also undertakes an in-depth study of the psychology of mind, human nature and, most significantly, alienation. The offers an important case of reference to an analysis into how human brain creates one’s mental world and the novelist portrays the images of her politico-cultural world and value system through the characters of the novel. Significantly, Mary Shelley has been greatly novel effective in unleashing the images of her mental world into the intellectual sphere of her novel in a subjective, complex and problematic way and establishes the relationship between the theories of the mind and the motivations of the characters. â€Å"Mary Shelley translates politics into psychology. She uses revolutionary symbolism†¦ Her characters reenact earlier political polemics on the level of personal psychology.à ¢â‚¬  (Sterrenburg, 144) Therefore, a reflective analysis of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley corroborates that the motivations of the characters in the novel are directed by the mental world of the novelist. Psychological theories dealing with the working of human mind can be greatly useful in comprehending the construction of a literary work, especially the characterization of a novel. ... In order to comprehend the theories of mind in relation to the motivations of the characters in the novel, it is essential to realize the philosophical context of the work which is suggested by the theory of the ‘tabula rasa’ or ‘clean slate’. â€Å"This theory, held by the Empiricists, maintains that the mind, at the beginning of a person’s life, is empty; after birth, the senses receive impressions and are able to formulate ideas.† (Joshua, 25) The mental world of the novelist created by the socio-cultural and political images of her contemporary situation was crucial in the creation of the major characters in the novel. Significantly, the major characters of the novel, the young student of science and the monster created by him, offer a crucial example of how the mental world is linked to character-motivations. An investigation into the complex and multifaceted personalities of Frankenstein and the creature is essential in realizing the moti ves of these characters as the making of their mental world. Similarly, every significant question concerning science and society as discussed in the novel brings out this crucial link between the motivation of the character and their mental world. In a profound understanding of Mary Shelley’s creation account in the novel, it becomes lucid that the mental world of the creator has a great influence on the motivations of his creation. Thus, the mythic ambiguity of the central characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature, points to the underlying moral ambiguity of the story. In Shelley’s creation account, neither the creator nor the creature in his rebellion has morally pure motivation. This characteristic feature of the novel corresponds to the link between the mind and the motivations

ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN 'REVOLUTION' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN 'REVOLUTION' - Essay Example For this cause, the American Revolutionary War took place in 1775 and ended in 1783. It was also called by the name of the American War of Independence. â€Å"The war was the completion stage of the political American Revolution whereas the colonists had denied the rights of the Parliament of Great Britain in governing them without any representation. In 1775, revolutionaries had gained control of the thirteen colonial governments.† ("The American Revolutionary War") However, this revolutionary war somehow ended up in a global war where many nations and a few European giants fought against each other. Hence to sum it up, â€Å"The American Revolution ended two centuries of British rule for most of the North American colonies and created the modern United States of America. The Revolutionary era was both exhilarating and disturbing---a time of progress for some, dislocation for others.† ("The American Revolution") THE CONVENTIONAL VIEW OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION â€Å"T he significance of this point is that it contradicts a conventional view of American civilization as something transplanted more or less whole from across the Atlantic- ‘the providential history’ of the United States.† (Schultz, 572). ... It was now believed that those who were in power did not have any idea about the intensity of the situation and thus failed to comprehend and take charge resulting in a major setback for the British. The reason behind this uncertainty is considered to be the lack of faith which the British had in themselves. They were still doubtful whether they could win this battle or not. â€Å"Britain's  policy drove them toward a closer union with one another and finally  provoked  armed resistance.† (Murrin, 182) One should not forget that the British were in a far better position as compared to the Americans who neither had an army, navy or any experience in war. They were raw people who did not have the experience but their courage, valor and patriotism distinguished them and made them a major threat against the all powerful British. A term â€Å"spirit of 76† is commonly referred for all Americans for the bravery and love for land they executed throughout the war which la sted for almost eight years. They not only served their land but suffered terribly as well but despite all the hardships and brutality they faced, the Americans had the urge to emerge and bring about a change for the sake of their future generations. Thus the unjust rules and political dictatorship that was demonstrated by the British helped united a nation on a consolidated platform. It was the first time in the history that people vowed together against the unjust and rose for the sake of acquiring their basic international principles which are similar for all humans irrespective of cast, creed or culture such as constitutional rights, power and freedom. The oppression that was faced by the Americans and the way they were deprived from their rights and moreover their identity acted as a game changer for

Research Study on Organizational Commitment Essay Example for Free

Research Study on Organizational Commitment Essay IntroductionOrganizational commitment is an organizational member’s psychological connection or feeling of belongingness to the organization CITATION Edu15 l 1033 (Educational Portal). This commitment to an organization creates a feeling of passionate affection within a stakeholder of an organization, creating a desire for that / those individual(s) to do anything necessary for the organization to succeed. Organizational commitment is an indispensably huge role that determines whether a stakeholder will remain at the organization willingly, if given a choice. This is a determinant as to whether this individual will produce at the top of his skill index to ensure that the organization moves much closer, or in the direction of its goals. According to the three- component model (TCM), the organizational commitment is made up of three unique components. These are affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. Affective commitment encompasses the love for your career or job. This happens when one has a strong feeling of emotional attachment to their organization or company, and zealously works to promote the interests of that organization. These people have internalized the organization’s values, vision and goals, and have a sincere feeling of wanting to work for the organization for a longer period CITATION Min151 l 1033 (Mind Tools). This happens when the employee is happy at their workplace. There are factors that will normally contribute to this affection. Some of the reasons include freedom of thought and innovation, appreciably good salary, better employee terms among other things that could make employees feel that they are important and are valued by their employer. Whatever these reasons are, this affection is imperative to the organizational success. Hypothesis: Employees who are treated in a respectful manner in an ethics based organization are more likely to be happier than employees that belong to a profit oriented organization. Continuous commitment is an express fear of loss. This kind of commitment comes by when employees measures up the advantages and disadvantages of being at the organization compared to their exit CITATION Min151 l 1033 (Mind Tools). This comes as a result of a realization that staying at your current position in your company has better terms or benefits than leaving the company. For instance, if one wanted to move from one company or organization, they will not only consider monetary benefits, but a number of other parameters. These parameters include employee terms of welfare, available position of responsibility within the new organization, among other benefits one stands to lose or gain. Another reason could be completely unrelated to profession; one could be attached to their friends at the organization, that moving from the organization is a risk of breaking these bonds. The relentlessness of the continuance commitment increases with advancement of age and professional responsibi lity. Those who are so advanced in both of these factors will feel a certain kind of inertial force that hardly allows them to leave. Hypothesis: People who have successively progressed up the ladder within an organization, and / or age feel the severity of continuance commitment the most. Normative Commitment is the sense of obligation that one feels for an organization. Some people feel that it is the right thing to do, for them to belong to the organization they do belong to. This sense of belongingness occurs even when one is not happy with their position. They are often held back from pursuing even better opportunities CITATION Min151 l 1033 (Mind Tools). This feeling could arise from an array of reasons. A great example is a son working at their father’s firm, He will get a kind of virtual family pressure to weigh the burdens of the organization in order to make it successful. Even if there existed better opportunities, this son will turn them down for the sake of keeping their parents happy. Another scenario that could occur is when a wife works for an organization within a region. The job she does could only be offered by only her current company within the whole region or even country. Due to her domestic responsibilities, she cannot leave to pursue her career interests in another region of the country. This sense of obligation could drain the company of energy because normally, there is no zeal to work, but one will only perform at an average. Hypothesis: more married people will tend to work for a certain firm on a normative commitment basis than the single professionals. All the above forms of commitment are segments of organizational employee response due to certain organizational behaviors. The underlying fact is that employees have their personal needs, and will tend to place these interests first. When these interests are well provided for, the employees will automatically feel appreciated and will tend to happily offer service to the organization. As it has been stressed before, happy employees make more productive and successful companies CITATION And14 l 1033 (Oswald, Proto, Sgroi, 2014). On a practical scale, companies like Google have benefited from employee first approach. The company has invested a lot in employee support and satisfaction while allowing for imagination, creativity and innovation CITATION Kel14 l 1033 (Parkes-Harrison-Warwick, 2014). Some companies have got it right while others are yet to get it right. We carried a research into the various aspects that contribute to this phenomenon of organizational commitment. We use different techniques to measure or research into different Organizational behavior, including self-reporting scales, behavioral observation and organizational records analysis such as performance appraisal forms, time card data, absenteeism rates, productivity indices In this research, we use the self-reporting scales. Self-report study involves use of questionnaires, surveys or polls that let respondents respond to questions in a manner the respondents choose. This kind of survey is focused on extracting information from participants about their attitudes, feelings and beliefs on certain topics. It could be a form of interview, provision of answers to open and closed questions, rating scales, fixed choice questions among others. Reliability on these methods is dependent upon their consistence in providing similar results if used repeatedly in similar circumstances. Validity of the response is also a matter of concern. Especially for questionnaires, respondents may or may not give accurate or sincere answers to certain questions depending on the parameters provided. For example, Anonymous questionnaires or response forms are more likely to produce valid answers. In this survey, we carried a survey in which we asked various questions related to the hypotheses stated in within this document. We adopted the anonymous response questionnaire system to enhance validity of our research. We asked them to rate different departments, work conditions and parameters. The respondents were to respond to questions regarding the hypotheses. They were requested to rate the questions on four guided answers: Strongly agree, Agree, strongly disagree, and agree. Our respondents were 30 employees of different organizations. Results             We set ourselves to find out the validity of three hypotheses regarding the tenets of organizational commitment. These hypotheses stated as follow: Hypothesis 1: Employees who feel appreciated are happy and are more likely to be affectively committed to an organization Hypothesis 2: older employees and those who get promoted are likely to stay within an organization out of continuance commitment Hypothesis 3: most married people are normatively committed to organizations. The validity of our hypotheses had some concurrence with our respondents. However, what the survey disqualified is the sense of promotion as a determining factor to employee continuance commitment. Instead, the people who got promoted in organizations were the productive cream of the organization. This means that they felt a conviction to work for the organization. Such people were comfortably placed within the category of affective commitment. Conclusion             The survey conducted was successfully concluded and in our finding, hypothesis 1 was completely valid as most people agreed with it. Hypothesis 2 produced mixed reactions. Most agreed that older people were committed to the organization due to continuance commitment. Hypothesis 3 was completely valid as most people agreed with this hypothesis. All respondents had their reasons, as evident on their additional comments, including fear of family strain and divorce for the third hypothesis. References BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Educational Portal. (n.d.). Organizational Commitment: Definition, Theory Types. Retrieved January 28, 2015, from Educational Portal: http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/organizational-commitment-definition-theory-types.html Mind Tools. (n.d.). The Three Component Model of Commitment. Retrieved January 28, 2015, from Mind Tools: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/three-component-model-commitment.htm Oswald, A. J., Proto, E., Sgroi, a. D. (2014, february 10). Happiness and Productivity. Retrieved January 28, 2015, from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/eproto/workingpapers/happinessproductivity.pdf Parkes-Harrison-Warwick, K. (2014, March 21). Google is right: We work better when we’re happy. Retrieved jaanuary 28, 2015, from futurity.org: http://www.futurity.org/work-better-happy/ Source document

Globalization and Regional Strategies Essay Example for Free

Globalization and Regional Strategies Essay Executive Summary It is clear enough that in today’s era it is extremely critical for firms to adopt global and regional business strategies in order to attain sustainable competitive advantage. But the question arises regarding classification of a MNE (Multinational Enterprise) as a global firm. This essay critically analyses the work on regional strategy as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino and attempts to cover the following aspects in detail. Notion of Globalization and Global Strategy This section highlights the notion of globalization and way organizations today establish a global presence by adoption of unique business strategies. This part also details the three different kind of global strategies. Regional Strategy Analysis This part analyzes the theory and practice of regional strategy concept of Globalization in particular as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino (2008). It aims to justify that in today’s era very few global firms exists and secondly that sufficient amount of international business literature and theory is required to draw reflection on regional vs. global MNE’s (Multinational Enterprises) strategy. The Theory of the Regional Strategy This section explains the concept of regional strategy analysis and illustrates the various regional theories as explained by Osegowitsch and Sammartino. Introduction With the concept of globalization and internationalization gaining more and more momentum everyday, this essay attempts to critically analyse the work of Osegowitsch and Sammartino on regional strategy. It starts with explaining the concept of globalisation and global strategy and tries to justify that in today’s era very few global firms exist. Secondly, it tries to establish that significant amount of international business literature and theory is demanded in order to draw conclusion on regional vs. global MNEs strategy by exploring the theory of regional strategy. Notion of Globalization and Global Strategy Globalization can be defined as a complex concept which enables firms to operate in various continents and countries across the globe in order to improve and maximise their profit margins, sustainability, worldwide existence and economies of scale (Blyton et al., 2001). Globalization provides platform not only to consumers but also to organizations to help them satisfy their needs globally. According to Marquardt Berger (2003), Trade, Travel, Technology and Television are the four major developments that have resulted in Globalization. The four T’s of global development are the outcome of human brain and its creative innovations. These advancements have further encouraged and made possible continuous exchange of ideas, information and knowledge between human resources by breaking the barriers of distance. Moving ahead, Bratton Gold (2007) state that Globalization is a global process of political convergence, social economies and national sentiments, in which space, time and Government are not given much importance. The paragraph below will now highlight the three different views on â€Å"global strategy†. The First view states that the global strategy is one of the particular and specific forms of Multinational Enterprise (MNE) Strategy. Further, it highlights the fact that Globalization considers all the countries of the world alike (Levitt, 1983). The Second view considers global strategy as â€Å"International Strategic Management† (Bruton et al., 2004) which is no doubt wider concept than â€Å"global strategy† mentioned in the first view. Lastly, the third view describes global strategy in even broader term; The strategy of the firms that exist all over the globe and this can be concluded as the firm’s theory of how to become a successful competitor (Peng, 2006). Having discussed the various forms of global strategies which are adopted by firms today, this essay now moves ahead to analyse the theory and practice of regional strategy concept of Globalization in particular as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino (2008). It aims to justify that in today’s era very few global firms exists and secondly that sufficient amount of international business literature and theory is required to draw reflection on regional vs global MNE’s (Multinational Enterprises) strategy. The Regional Strategy Theories According to Rugman and Verbeke (2007), recent literature on globalization suggests that a firm is categorised as global if maximum 50% of its total sales are in its home territory (EU) and minimum 20% of sales in each of the NAFTA zone and Asia. He adds to it by bringing to surface the outcome of survey based upon this theory that indicated only nine global firms in Fortune Global 500 and also the orientation of numerous firms towards the home-region. In response to the above mechanism for classifying the firm as global, Osegowitsch and Sammartino (OS) (2008) have provided three basic criteria and comments that can be helpful in future classification of firms according to their geographic sales dispersion. Firstly, OS suggest that it is not appropriate to classify statistical data straightaway. It should be realised that since this is a growing area of research, usage of any kind of classification tool is open to criticisms as it is not simply the categorization of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) following particular regional strategy theories. As an example, OS focus on building and having strong position in the region by illustrating that if the EU, NAFTA region and Asia represents 90% of the total world sales output, an absolute division would require all the three regional triads to have 30% sales each and not 33.3% in order to encourage the strategy of lower thresholds. In other words, a firm can be defined as global if it has at least 20% of the total sales in the two host-triad regions and without any kind of imposition on the maximum sales threshold in the home territory (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007). Additionally, it should also be noted that it is not at all relevant to categorize a firm as having strong position in the market if its threshold is lower than 20% of t he total sales. OS even conducted a simulation using threshold value as 10% of the net sales in order to identify a string position in the host region as it would result to USD $1 billion even for the smallest of the Fortune Global 500 firms. But unfortunately, it didn’t present a strong position and can by no means be considered as an essence for strategic decision making in the worlds largest organizations. OS clearly argues that using various thresholds is helpful in assessing the sensitivity of firm’s positions in the classification system but the main function should always be to provide an assessment of the Future Global 500 and to easily track firms whose thresholds are continuously changing from one category of threshold to another. A clear example of this is Nokia which encountered a 4% decline in sales in the year 2002. However, this change in sales pattern reflected a short term failure in inter-regional growth but OS criticizes that it cannot be simply neglected. Movement of Nokia from a global organization in 2001 towards a home based firm in 2001 was a remarkable concern. In one line, it can be stated that having threshold below 20% simply leads to generation of more bi-regional firms and which can’t be regarded as truly global organizations. Moving ahead, the second regional strategy criterion which OS highlights is that the sales variations are highly industry specific. According to OS, industry plays a significant role and all future researched should aim at exploring the regional vs global strategies at the industry specific levels and try to establish the difference. It is truism that a majority of firms are not properly internationalized and their sizes varies across regions but then its some of the world’s biggest MNEs that have constantly been regarded as capable of compens ating for the weaknesses of the other sectors in different regions of the world. The main point to be considered is that our analysis are independent of differential size of numerous industries that exist across the region, as MNEs are able to establish regional markets and to further develop insufficient markets. Lastly, in third comment it is argued that it would be irrelevant to prefer regional strategy over global strategy. Regional strategies come into existence when it becomes very difficult or impossible to adopt conventional global strategies efficiently, or when they fail to function, keeping in mind that global strategies cannot be evaluated in isolation. Further, it can be said that heterogeneous geographic space beyond the home country border is essential for most of the companies now if not all of them. Moving ahead, this section of the essay will now make an attempt to tackle the criticism formed by OS concerning the contribution of regional strategy to the international business theory. According to (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007), the regional strategy is structured around three simple but fundamental empirical observations which demand international business theory to be extended and enhanced. First of all, only a small number of MNEs have a balanced geographical sales distribution pattern across the global market, although it counts towards the risk diversification at the downstream end of the value chain. OS illustrate that a balanced and structured distribution of sales geographically would contribute towards enhanced global acceptance by the customers of the company’s products and services. With only the exception of resource-based industries, the triad comprising the EU, NAFTA region and Asia demonstrates a first cut though not certainly a fixed one mechanism to identify the extent to which an MNEs net sales are distributed worldwide. Further, this triad has gained so much importance as it is the home of world’s most large MNEs as well as the locus for a number of outstanding innovations in most industrial sectors. The triad also demonstrates the world demand pattern for most knowledge intensive services and goods. But it’s unfortunate to mention that only a small number of MNEs in the Fortune Global 500 are capable of performing equally well in each of the three regions of the triad. It is often observed that a strong position in the home-triad region is not supported with an equally strong position in both the other two remaining triad environments. Classification tools are now irrelevant as among the firms with international operations only a small percentage are truly global i.e. may be even less than 5% (Ghemawat and Ghadar, 2006). They further add to it and state that different firms rule in different parts of the world. Second wing of the regional strategy focuses on the fact that several MNEs have regional features in the organizational structure such as geographic divisions and having individual divisions for different regions is supported mainly by the concept of regional heterogeneity demanding idiosyncratic management. In this case, the intra-regional institutional and economic distance is not just smaller but also very different from that of the interregional. It has been observed that for most MNEs, managing operations and work system in EU is very different from functioning system of the NAFTA region or as compared with the work cultural of Asian environment. These differences may further be enhanced if the work unit is further subdivided into smaller units. Fratiannin (2006) states that these differences in work system signal the importance of regional level in the business strategy and structure of MNEs. Today, almost all big firms such as Toyota, General Electric (GE) have embedded regional elements in their business and operational strategies and these companies are often wrongly referred to as global organizations not just because of lack of balanced geographic distribution but also because of their world wide global operations and manufacturing (Ghemawat, 2005). Thirdly, it should be noted that more than fifty percent of the geographic area in terms of sales is normally the main source of the firm’s cash flows and the centre point of most of the firms both tangible and intangible assets. In the coming years, the concept of having more than 50% sales in the home territory would not be significant enough in EU and North America specifically but it would gain momentum in Asian region as intra-regional distance is minimizing and thereby driven by a reduction of investment barriers and trade. Competition among industries would be more prevalent at the regional level instead of the national level. OC highlight that attention should now be laid on the development of classification tool that will help bundle the home country sales with the sales in the remainder of the home territory rather than paying attention separately to the sales in the home region and remaining of the home region especially for MNEs based in Asia and EU. Moving ahead, the above discussed observations and theories clearly demonstrate the need for an extended international business theory. These observations are independent of specific categorization approaches to measure specific home-region vs. rest-of-the-world market position of MNEs. A trend has always been seen that all the MNEs are much stronger in their home regions as compared to that in other triad regions. These top MNE firms have formulated their organizational structures around the regional component and a varying market position in each region raises call for a regional approach rather than a global strategy approach. The paragraph below now will bring to surface the three main components for the extension on mainstream international business theory (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007). Firstly, it is noticed that impact of country border does not provide strong basis for distinguishing between non- location bound (or internationally deployable/exploitable) and location bound. In today’s period of excess regionalization, it is very easy for some companies to exploit and deploy their strengths throughout the home country border. Further, proxies for internationally transferable FSA’s such as firms level predictors of internationalization like firm’s level of RD do not hold much importance in explaining intra-regional expansion occurring in home region, given the distance gap between the home country and rest of the home region is very less. As a result of well-functioning trans-European transport and logistics networks enabling fast response and just in time strategies covering the whole continent, the significance of geographic distance has decreased in EU. The EU integration process itself has let to decrease in Institutional distance. Further, Economic distance has lost its relevance because of many reasons such as development of new services and products at par with European level, possibility of cross border shopping made possible by web based searches, continuous attempts made by many companies to gain scale and scope efficiencies at the European level and lastly, increased importance of EU as a geographic space to ascertain company’s conduct, structure and importance. Finally, decreased significance of conventional measures of cultural distance mainly in the business to business area as it is easy to get labour in Europe, considerable increase in use of English as the lingua franca inside the region. On sharp contrast between past and present position of conventional location bound FSAs it can be clearly stated that previously they allowed firm expansion only up to country borders but now it can be easily upgraded, and made deployable and exploitable even beyond the home country borders and also in othe r home region countries. Secondly, there is a need to reconsider the fact that non-location-bound FSAs like technological knowledge or brand can be easily exploited and deployed nationwide. Today also it is necessary to complement existing FSA bundles with an additional FSA bundle in high distance environments which implies distance still plays an important role. According to Ghemawat (2005), there are several ways to differentiate between low and high distance environments, one major distinction being that between home regions and host regions in a triad context. Moreover, it is clear that extension and scope of mainstream international theory is free from any scholars disagreeing with the concept of the triad region as the best proxy to discriminate between low-distance environments (in this case the home-triad region) and high-distance environment (in this case the two host-triad regions). High distance implies to making more substantial investments in order to complement its present FSA bundles, also ena bling maximum and profitable exploitation in the host region environment. Here, the apparent trade off becomes obvious: further the efforts to expand the high-distance environment may not be proved to be as successful and profitable as the expansion of low distance environment, even if it is suggested by macro-level parameters which measure the attractiveness of the high-distance environment that they have strong location advantages. As stated by Nachum and Wymbs (2007) in regard to global cities that FSAs and location advantages are dependent on each other. High distance bundles also has many risk factors along with it like melding the extant FSA bundles with newly developed or accessed resources in the high distance environment may lead to burdened with several operational problems, decreased or disappointing sales, as exemplified by the retreat of some of the world’s largest MNEs from high-distance contexts, for example, Wal-Mart’s exit from Germany and Korea. . Thirdly, the theoretical difference between the two FSAs namely location bound and non-location bound FSAs assume conventionally easy developments and profitable exploitation of FSAs (like brand names or technological knowledge of proprietary) across borders. Moreover, it is very essential to acclimatize the brief contents of these two concepts to the authenticity of regionalization. More particularly, the factors that determine the extent of FSAs are, its distance accompanied by its geographic, institutional, economic and cultural components. The level at which a FSA should be called location-bound vs non-location bound is estimated by decay in value across a space. On the basis of terms like region bound nature of FSAs and the liability of inter regional foreignness it has been highlighted that for international business other geographic borders hold more importance than conventional country borders in our previous study. After studying the concepts and theories of regional strategy, we now try to establish the extent to which Procter Gamble could be categorized as a global firm in terms of its business and operational strategies. The Case of Procter Gamble Procter Gamble Co. – One of the worlds leading consumer goods manufacturer such as Tide, Pantene, Ariel etc was established in 1837 from an original candle and soap company. The firm now operates in 180 nations with more than 138,000 employees. According to Lafley, A. G., Chairman of the Board and chief Executive Officer, PG, the firm has over 171 years of history and has always been driven by creativity and innovation. Additionally, improved sales and long term success have always been the strategic goals of this corporation. And it understands the fact that these goals can be attained by constantly appreciating changing consumer’s needs, innovation, branding and market needs. Depending entirely on skunk work such as acquisitions, internal RD and selective innovations has proved to be inefficient and insufficient for attaining the business target of $4 billion business in a time period of one year. It can be clearly seen that invent- it-ourselves model along with global research facilities and recruiting and holding of the best talent nationwide attained success till the year 2000 but nowadays satisfying high levels of top line growth has become a big challenge for an organization The approach through which the radical strategy of open innovation helped an organization attain its business mission and goal can be typified in the following lines. To face the challenge, PG adopted a brand new technique of innovation: Develop and Connect model in the year 2000 which lays great importance on searching good and new ideas and information outside and bringing them in, in order to give internal capabilities a boost and make most out of them. With the perspective of manufacturing improved and relatively cheaper products faster the business strategy involved in this model was to leverage assets of people, products and property available externally and applying it to their respective RD labs, purchasing, market capabilities and production. The foremost work of this strategy is to recognize top ten preferences and needs of the consumer. Moreover, it is very essential that the customers are fully satisfied by the products manufactured and which will finally result in increased sales and profit. Moving ahead, alike products or related technologies which already exist in the market and occupy good position are recognized. Lastly, analysing the influence of technological acquisition of one area over the other areas. Networking is the backbone of this approach. Along with having business collaborations with open networking companies such as InnoCentive and Ninesigma, the PG group has long chain of suppliers and technological entrepreneurs worldwide. They play a crucial role by finding solutions to PG internal problems in the outside world. Thus, by constructing such type of infrastructure PG has been able to reduce its investment in technology along with achieving stable top line growth and required sustainability. According to Huston and Sakkab (2000), by shifting to Connect and Develop model there has been a remarkable increment in our RD production by 60% and the progress rate of innovation has undoubtedly doubled. The Procter Gamble figures out how an organization can maximize its profitability levels by switching to new and innovative The Procter Gamble examples mirrors the way how switching to new and innovative approaches of using information and technology can help maximise profit margins. It is one of the organisations which has developed enabling infrastructure fabricated around innovation with a huge worldwide network combining human capital, ideas and technology. Conclusion This essay has brought to surface a number of strategies which can help firms to establish strong positions globally like having a threshold of 20% etc. The main aim which was to justify that a firm cannot be simply categorized as global based upon statistical data has been justified. A number of measures have also been illustrated which can help differentiate the firms regional strategy from the global strategy. References Blyton, P., Lucio, M., McGurk, J. and Turnbull, P. (2001) â€Å"Globalization and trade union strategy: industrial restructuring and human resource management in the international civil aviation industry†, International Journal of Human Resource Management, pp. 445-463. Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2007) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice (4th edn), New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Bruton, G., Lohrke, F. and Lu, J. W. (2004) The evolving definition of what comprises international strategic management, Journal of International Management, Vol. 10, pp. 413-429. Fratianni, M. (Ed.) (2006) Regional economic integration, Research in Global Strategic Management, Vol. 12, Oxford: Elsevier. Ghemawat, P. (2005) Regional strategies for global leadership, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83, No. 12, pp.98-108. Levitt, T. (1983) The globalization of markets, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 61, pp. 92-102. Marquardt, M. and Berger, N. (2003) The Future: Globalization and New Roles for HRD, Advances in Developing Human Resources, pp. 283-295. Nachum, L. and Wymbs, C. (2007) The location and performance of foreign affiliates in global cities. In A. M. Rugman (Ed.), Regional aspects of multinationality and performance, Research in Global Strategic Management, Vol. 13, pp. 221-257, Oxford: Elsevier. Osegowitsch, T and Sammartino, A. (2008) Reassessing (home-regionalisation), Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 39, No. 2. Peng, M. W. (2006) Global Strategy, Cincinnati: South-Western Thomson. Rugman, A. M. and Verbeke, A. (2007) The theory and practice of regional strategy: A response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino, Kelly School of Business, Vol. 2, pp. 1-7.

Medical Marijuana and the Legalization Debate

Medical Marijuana and the Legalization Debate Introduction Medical marijuana or medical cannabis can be defined as the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Marijuana itself is a drug that comes from the cut and dried leaves of hemp plant also referred to as cannabis sativa. Its most active ingredient is delta tetrahydrocannibinol. Throughout history marijuana has been used in many different cultures to change perception, mood and consciousness. Its effects range from provoking mystical experiences to the increment of creativity. It comes second from alcohol in the list of recreational drugs. Around the globe, it has been used for many purposes. For example in the primitive tribes of South America India and Africa it is used for religious and ceremonies and also for some medical purposes. For instance the African mine workers used it in easing the drudgery of their work while the Jamaicans used it in the evenings to ease or relieved their fatigue. The ancient Persians, Greeks, East Indians, Assyrians and Romans used marijuana as the drug fo r controlling reducing muscles spasms, treating indigestion and the reduction of pain (Roth Rebecca 1). There are two sides on the issue of legalization of marijuana and each side has a multitude of reasons as to why medical marijuana should be legalized. This leaves one unsure of which side is credible. Reasons as to why medical marijuana should not be legalized. There are some reasons as to why the some people in the society are refuting the legalization of medical marijuana. One of the reasons is that medical marijuana is perceived to be addictive in many countries. For example in the united states of America the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana as a schedule 1 drug on basis that it contained high potential for abuse. This was propelled by the perception that people who consume it usually get hooked up therefore becoming potheads and the drug eventually dominates their lives. They also believe that the frequent overuse of the drug can lead to lethargic behaviors or even serious health problems. Addiction is brought by the fact that there is a possibility that someone treated for chronic periods of time for a constant pain will eventually become more dependent on the drug. He will also require high amounts than before. This addiction may lead to death due to respiratory failure. Another reason as to why some people are against the legalization of the medical marijuana is because they hold the idea that it has no accepted medical use. For example marijuana may yield considerable medical benefits for many patients with ailments such as cancer and glaucoma but these benefits have not been universally accepted both nationally and internationally. Another reason as to why many people are opposing this initiative is that it is historically linked to narcotics such as cocaine and heroine. For example in America the early anti-drug laws were stipulated so that they may regulate narcotics which included opium and its derivatives such morphine and heroine. These anti-drug laws also regulated marijuana although it is not a narcotic. The other reason is that some people believe that marijuana as a drug is associated with unfashionable styles. This is because often many people have taken marijuana to be the drug for losers and hippies. They feel that its legalization wil l lead to increased number of losers and hippies and therefore imposing of criminal sanctions against people who are found to be in possession of marijuana is perceived to a form of communal protection or tough love. Some people who are opposing the legalization of medical marijuana feel that there is no enough evidence to show that the drugs cure disease. In some countries (Holland and Amsterdam) where medical marijuana is considered to be illegal, it is assumed that marijuana can not be used for medical purposes because of some harmful effect brought about by its use. For example it is assumed that it affects the skills required for one to drive safely because it lowers alertness or the ability to concentrate, ability to react quickly and personal coordination. It also affects the driving skills by making it difficult for one to react to signals, sounds on the road and judge distances. Other harmful consequence of marinol drug which is made from marijuana include premature cancer, mental disorders such as depression, increased aggressiveness and hostility, memory loss, general apathy impairment of the immune system and the reproductive disabilities. For example scientific studies indicate that marijuana weakens the immune system of people suffering from AIDS for it is estimated that marijuana smokers who are HIV positive progress to the full blown aids twice as fast as the non-smokers. Opposers of legalization of the medical marijuana also believe that legalizing of the drug will lead to increased access to marijuana for the young population who are most likely to be damaged by the drug use. They also argue that there are many other drugs which can be used in the treatment of the same diseases. Therefore, the use of marijuana for medical purposes is uncalled for. The opposers continue to assert that it is harmful because it is an unstable mixture made up of more those 425 chemicals which usually convert to thousands especially when it is being smoked (Marijuana.com 1) Reasons as to why medical marijuana should be legalized. A raging debate has ensued about the legalization of the marijuana medicine. The proponents of the legalization of marijuana believe that marijuana should be moved to a schedule II drug so that it can be useful to a point that it can be prescribed by a doctor. They also believe that it doesnt cause some health problems like those caused by alcohol or tobacco such as strong addiction, cancer, heart problems, birth defects liver damage and emphysema. They also believe that death from an overdose is impossible. A study carried out by the UCLA school of medicine which featured 243 marijuana smokers over 8 years of smoking has shown that neither the intermitted nor the continuing marijuana smokers showed any declining rates in the lung function compared to the people who have never smoked marijuana (Barry 1). Many proponents also believe that many people are arrested and charged when they take marijuana for treatment since many people would rather face the law that die of certain diseases which can be remedied by marijuana. They also assert that scientific and medical tests dating back to thousand of years point to the medical properties of cannabis. They also state that thousands of doctors, patients and their families have also have also witnessed the medical benefits of marijuana because they have told other through testimonies in public hearing and also in the mass media. They have also contributed to books and even research studies on the drug. The proponents claim that the phenomenon (use of marijuana for medical purposes) is real and those who say the evidence is not sufficient are missing the point. They also argue that the evidence is enough for one to declare that there is no any valuable reason as to why medical patients who use marijuana for legitimate medical reason should be subjected to arrest, jails, public embarrassment and fines. They argue that the decisions about the use or purposes of marijuana lie in the hand s of doctors and patients. Some countries or states have legalized and others are pushing for the legalization of medical marijuana because of its positive attributes which include the medical value and its use as a recreational drug accompanied by relatively mild side effects. Many people believe that its a good treatment of some ailments. For example it provide the relief in pain, spasticity, nausea and many other symptoms which have not been successfully been treated with conventional medications. This is evident from the State of California whereby the smoking of marijuana has effectively been used in the relieving of chronic HIV associated nerve pains which were characterized by aching, burning and painful numbness. The patients were advised to smoke marijuana at least three times a day so that they can do away with the pain. People say it helps cancer patients because they believe it can stimulate appetite therefore alleviating the vomiting and nausea associated with the chemotherapy procedures (Sanfranc iscocannabisclubs.com 1). It is also argued that marijuana offers a mild and moderate way of relaxing unlike alcohol which has some of the vices associated with it such as frequent urination, nausea and at times vomiting especially when the individual had not taken some food before drinking taking it. After personal observations done by many people it is said that marijuana can be a good choice of drug because it has relatively low dependence liability and it is a little bit easier to control its side effects compared to the other drugs. It is believed that most of the marijuana users mainly develop tolerance to the drugs side effects and those who do not then stop using the drug with an immediate effect (Alternet.org 1). Conclusively, legalization of marijuana is a hotly contested debate between the opposers and proposers. Each side has got a multitude of reasons to support its respective stand and this creates an evenly balanced debate. Some of the medical reasons cited by one side are a counter to the reasons put forward by the other side. This creates a quagmire regarding the whole issue as one is unsure of which side is more credible. Works cited Sanfranciscocannabisclubs.com. The Medical Marijuana Guide, 2009. Retrieved from  http://www.sanfranciscocannabisclubs.com/medical-marijuana/  The source talks about the diseases which can be treated through the use of marijuana as the medicine Roth, Rebecca. Medical Marijuana, 2008. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1901  This source talks about the history of marijuana a and how it was used the past or its main uses. Alternet.org. The Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal, 2007. Retrieved from  http://www.alternet.org/drugs/60959/  The article gives some of the reasons as to why there should be the legalization of the medical marijuana Marijuana.com. Marijuana should not be legal because, 2000. Retrieved from  http://www.marijuana.com/legalization-decriminalization/1004-marijuana-should-not-legal-because.html  The article gives some of the reasons as to why some people do not support the legalization of medical marijuana Barry, Ian. Legalize marijuana, 2009. Retrieved from http://blog.sanonofre.com/2009/06/ian-barry-teen-pot-essay.html The article gives some of the examples of the fact that marijuana is not harmful and also explains why medical marijuana should be legalized.

Oedipus And Othello :: Compare Contrast Oediput Othello Essays

Oedipus and Othello   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When comparing and contrasting the character's Oedipus and Othello by means of the different theatrical practices, one must take in account that there have been many interpretations, and productions of each of their respected plays. The differing presentations of each may lead someone to think differently about the play than another would. In comparing and contrasting the dramatic representation of the protagonists Oedipus and Othello, theatrical presentation, costume design, and character will lead the reader, and viewer, to have a greater insight into the theatrical practices of their times and their approaches to the issue of verisimilitude.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theatrical presentation of both plays are very similar. The two plays would both be presented on a thrust stage, which is a platform surrounded on three sides by the audience. Except for the backdrop which would have some element of scenery, the stage itself would be bare apart from a few scenic elements and props. Othello, like most of Shakespeare's plays, had what is called an abstract setting. That is a setting in which the locale may change rapidly, it may not be indicated by the script that it has changed, and was most likely suggested by a few props. Abstract settings place more emphasis on the language and the performer, which causes the spectator to use their imagination. It also places more emphasis on costuming. This type of setting helped set up the style of representational theater, which places high emphasis on the realistic. The style used in classical Greece was presentational which, because of the use of the mask, gave no illusion that this story is happening before their eyes. The audience is reminded that they are watching a play, and not merely observing life. Thus, the use of the thrust stage is the only similarity of the two types of presentation. Othello is a purely illusionistic play, whereas Oedipus Rex is one that when watched, the viewer knows that they are watching a performance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Costumes convey information about the character and aid in setting the tone or mood of the production. Because most acting involves impersonation, most costumes are essential to re-create historical or to the period in which the production takes place. Costumes like that of William Shakespeare's Othello maybe abstract, ever-changing, like it's setting. When using the costume design of the latest film version of Othello, he is usually seen in a toga-like uniform which may have stemmed from his moor background. Since costume elements were formalized in classical Greek theater, the costumes would be that of everyday dress with slight additions of colour, designs, all of which created a larger

Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes Essay examples -- Stem Cell Essays

Diabetes, or fully named Diabetes Mellitus is when a person has high blood sugar and that is cause by the lack of insulin produced by the pancreas or it is when the cells do not respond to the insulin produced, it is also according to the type of diabetes that the cause may be different from others. There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and 2. Type 2 diabetes is mostly common found in adults, to reduce the glucose level, the subject can change diet or have a lot of exercise or if that doesn’t work they will usually take a liquid medicine or pill that helps.Type 1 diabetes is mostly found in children and is mostly rare, and diet alone cannot fix this so sometimes the subject has to take doses of insulin to lower glucose levels. Diabetes still have no known cure yet and some people can get diabetes from relativity or may get it from eating or drinking too much sugary items [1]. Stem cells are cells that are special unlike any other cell, stem cells have the ability to change to any cell in the body in the early life or growth of a stem cells. Stem cells have different types, there are two types of stem cells that are being discussed. Embryonic stem cells are one of the stem cells that could grow to different organs and/or cells, as the name suggests the embryonic stem cells comes and are taken from embryos and embryonic stem cells are one of the solution to many uncured diseases in the world such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and the known diabetes disease too. There are still problems with developing embryonic stem cells, since to get embryonic stem cells they have to destroy the embryo and many people will argue about it ending human life, scientist have been discussing about this for a long time and they have... ...em. Works Cited (1)"Diabetes." BrainPOP. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. . (2)"Stem Cells." BrainPOP. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .\\ (3) California Stem Cell Report." : Cost of a Stem Cell Therapy? An Estimated $512,000. N.p.,n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. . (4)"CELL CULTURE | The Science Creative Quarterly." CELL CULTURE | The Science Creative Quarterly. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. . (5)"Why Is the Use of Stem Cells Controversial? - Curiosity." Curiosity. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. .

Imperfections in The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay -- The Bir

Imperfections in The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Too often in this world does man attempt to perfect nature. Tampering with this sort of element most commonly leads to a disaster to come extent. Because man is never satisfied, he is constantly vying for perfection, regardless of the outcome. Such is the case in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, 'The Birthmark.' Aylmer's persistent attempt to perfect nature is the cause of Georgiana's demise and the affirmation that when man tampers with such a powerful component terrible things may occur. In this short story, Hawthorne uses symbolism to emphasize the strange shape of the 'earthly imperfection' (204) and his desperate need to change it. The shape of the birthmark 'bore a little similarity to the human hand' (204). Here, Hawthorne?s use of symbolism clearly illustrates a distinct connection between the shape of the birthmark as a human hand and the need to remove it by the same means. In Aylmer?s quest for perfection, he simply ignores the fact that he is tampering with an incredible force: Nature. The ?crimson hand? (206) symbolizes man always trying to change something natural: something that need not be changed. Aylmer?s subconscious obsession with science quickly becomes apparent when he realizes that he has the knowledge to potentially change something that nature has brought. At one point in the story Aylmer becomes so infatuated with removing this birthmark he dreams about how he will do so. He goes a...

Oedipus the King

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once identified the key ingredients of the tragedies that his culture is so famous for. These ingredients include a character with a fatal flaw, the realization of the fault for a particular problem and the final sudden reversal of fortune. For many tragedies, the fatal flaw is demonstrated as excessive pride, which usually serves as the driving force of the play’s action. It is common, even beneficial, to have pride in oneself, but when it becomes expressed as arrogance or in defiance of one’s fate, it is considered excessive and often leads men to engage in activities that will lead to their downfall. Aristotle (1998) stated â€Å"the tragic hero falls into bad fortune because of some flaw in his character of the kind found in men of high reputation and good fortune such as Oedipus. † This attitude, commonly found in men of high station is not specifically identified as pride in the case of Oedipus and, indeed, different readings can place Oedipus’ great flaw in a number of areas. It seems as if Sophocles intended to emphasize the more common interpretation of Oedipus’ flaw being excessive pride, but other interpretations, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1967 film Oedipus Rex, present other possibilities as the main character is brought through the three primary elements of tragedy. In both the play and the film, Oedipus is quickly demonstrated to have a fatal flaw. In the play, the action opens as Oedipus is approached by plague-stricken masses asking help from him as king. He responds to their appeals saying, â€Å"What means this reek of incense everywhere, / From others, and am hither come, myself, / I Oedipus, your world-renowned king† (4-8). In this statement, Oedipus’ pride in his social position is clear. In the film, though, he is seen as somewhat insecure, even as a child when he cheats at a game, and then as a haunted man with a burning mystery searing his dreams, both showing him to be a man of deep passions. Throughout the remainder of the action in the play, Oedipus’ personality clearly reflects excessive pride in his ability to force things his way. When Oedipus learned of the prediction that he was doomed to kill his father and marry his mother, he was full of self-pride to defy the fates and leave Corinth. The film depicts this as a heart-wrenching decision to never go near his parents again in order to save them followed by a time of desperate wandering through barren wastelands. While both versions indicate extreme passion involved in the killing of Laius and the claiming of Jocasta, the Oedipus in the play greets his subjects with almost concealed disdain and the Oedipus of the film greets them with sorrow and deeply shared concern. While Sophocles sets his character up to battle pride, Pasolini prepares him to come face to face with the consequences of passion. It is easy to see the irony in both play and film that if Oedipus had not been so determined to escape and prevent the prophecy, he would have not unwittingly fulfilled it. This is foreshadowed by Creon in the play just before the truth of the story is realized. Creon tells Oedipus, â€Å"You are obstinate— / obviously unhappy to concede, / and when you lose your temper, you go too far. But men like that find it most difficult / to tolerate themselves† (814-819). In this one short statement, Jocasta’s brother sums up the entire tragedy. He points to Oedipus’ stubbornness and pride in being unwilling to consider the possibility that he might be the murderer he seeks. As a result of his own impatience and driving desire to bring honor and further pride to his name, Oedipus becomes excessive in his proclamations regarding motives and punishments to be handed down and then suddenly realizes that he cannot escape the horror of his crimes. This horror is demonstrated in the film to great effect as the confused Oedipus slowly becomes overwhelmed with the possibilities, finally screaming out his confession in a now-customary burst of passion. By the end of the story, Oedipus has come to realize that everything he has done has only served to bring him closer to his evil destiny. In the process of trying to avoid fate, he has committed some of the greatest sins imaginable to him – defiled his mother’s bed, murdered his father and spawned monstrous children born of incest. Rather than face the truth and unable to take the severe wound to his pride, Oedipus stabbed out his eyes with broaches and walked away from Thebes forever, thereby sealing his doom through further prideful actions. The sudden reversal of fortune has Oedipus walking away from Thebes a blind, homeless beggar rather than the respected king he should have been based upon his more noble qualities. While this is a surprise, it is nevertheless a logical possible conclusion to the events that have taken place. This concept is brought out to greater extent in the film through the change in setting. Pasolini begins and ends the film in a contemporary setting to when the film was made. While the play suggests that Oedipus went wandering into the desert a self-blinded beggar man, the film indicates that he has been wandering a tortured individual for much longer than a normal lifespan. Thus, the elements of classic tragedy are carried throughout both play and film to slightly different interpretations. In both, a fatal flaw within the character of Oedipus drives his actions that eventually seal his own doom. Seen as it is throughout the various elements of the classic tragedian format of first demonstrating a noble characteristic to tragic proportions, then becoming aware of it and then suffering as a result of it, it cannot be missed that Sophocles was trying to illustrate to his audience the dangers of an absence of humility and common sense when he highlighted Oedipus’ excessive pride. Pasolini seems to have been more interested in warning his audiences about the sins of excessive passion. This is, in some sense, what Aristotle was trying to communicate regarding the purpose of tragedy, which he describes as â€Å"an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play †¦ through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions† (Aristotle cited in Friedlander, 2005). By illustrating the various things that can go wrong when one believes they have no flaws, Sophocles and Pasolini hoped to encourage a closer connection with truth as a means of avoiding Oedipus’ fate. Works Cited â€Å"Aristotle. † Critica Links. (1998). The University of Hawaii. May 21, 2007 Pasolini, Pier Paolo (Dir. ). Edipo Re. Perf. Silvana Mangano, Franco Citti, Carmelo Bene, Julian Beck & Ninetto Davoli. Arco Films, 1967. Sophocles. Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra. Oxford World’s Classics. Ed. Edith Hall. Oxford University Press, 1998.

Homework: Music Essay

In the world of music, there are many skilled singers, musicians and composers who have dedicated themselves to music in order to discover new types of music which will entertain other people. Moreover, composers are the main core of music. These composers are able to provide their listeners a form of music that will give entertainment to everyone. Furthermore, there are certain composers whom are able to change the lives of many. One of these composers is Ludwig Beethoven who had been well known to the music industry during his youth until this present day. Ludwig Van Beethoven is a person who have gone into different types of challenges during his lifetime. The name Beethoven came from his grandfather who had the same name however it is a counterpart of such name in Dutch. Moreover, Ludwig came from a musical family who widely knowledgeable in such subjects. Hence, Ludwig is well aware of music and was trained in an early age. At a young age, there are different competitions. Due to this, his father trained him well in order to compete with other flourishing composers during that period (Kinderman 15). After the years of training that he had with his father, Ludwig already became a great musician. However, there are cases in which their personal lives intervened in the progress of Ludwig’s career. Ludwig was able to have a career given the situation of his family. He taught children how to play piano. Ludwig was often hired as an instructor for wealthy families. In the case of his development in his music career, Beethoven is considered as one of the most important composers of the classical period. Along side Bach and Brahms, Beethoven is a composer who was able to surpass two different eras of 18th and 19th century which is the mixture of classicism and romanticism. In addition to this, Beethoven was able to combine different instruments which he called the symphony orchestra. Due to this genius, Beethoven was able to create concerti of nine for one or more participant in the orchestra. Accordingly, Beethoven was also able to create different types orchestra created for soloists. However, he did not focus on operas but rather on various kinds of instruments. Although he was open in the concept of an orchestra, he mainly utilized the piano, violin, French Horn as well as cellos (Kinderman 39). In the course of the career of Beethoven, it is said that there are three different levels which became an important sections of his compositions. The levels were, Early, Middle and Later periods. The Early period of his career was influenced by Mozart and Haydn which were mainly his predecessors. During his early period, he only composed six string quartets and different piano concertos (Kinderman 51). The second level is called the Middle stage where in Beethoven was slowly became deaf. Furthermore, Beethoven was also facing a crisis in his personal life which led to him composing orchestras and sonatas which are mostly about heroism in the lives of various individuals. Moreover, he was able to compose different sonatas which pertains to struggles in his personal life. Such compositions made him very relatable and accessible as a composer. Throughout his middle stages, he was able to compose music such as Symphony number three until eight, various piano concertos, a violin concerto, five different string quartets, and most especially Moonlight and Fidelio (the only opera created by Beethoven). Hence, during the middle period the compositions of Beethoven were a reflection of his many experiences as well as his exploration in music (Kinderman 86-108). The late period of Beethoven was said to have started during 1815. During the last period of Beethoven’s works, many have stated that his music had grown deeper and intensified. The last period exuded the fact that different aspects relating to his progress in music became very evident in his last period. Through the Early and Middle Stages of his career, Beethoven was still in search of different compositions he could play with. Thus, during the Last period, Beethoven was able to complete the stages of his growth. The Late period became the outburst of his knowledge, skill and experience in composing music. During the Late stage of his work he was able to compose Symphony 9, Missa Solemnis, and Gro? e Fuge which put him in the top of his league. During the end of his career, Beethoven is able to attain the greatness of a composer. Through different experiences and experimentations, Beethoven was able to create various compositions for different instruments. Moreover, he also able to create different compositions which presents that Beethoven is not only composer but a composer that has the capability to exceed the expectations of many (Kinderman 211-238; 308). Conclusion: Composers during the past centuries were very essential for the growth of our current music. Through composers such as Ludwig Van Beethoven, music had developed to a form of art and expression. Hence, through the genius of Beethoven various types of compositions and emergence of new types of techniques. Furthermore, Beethoven’s compositions provided different composers a level of quality which must be attained by most composers. Due to the high level of ability expressed by Beethoven, no composer was able to attain the similar level of expertise in such field. The compositions of Beethoven are still being played during this moment in different parts of the world. The songs of Beethoven are still appreciated and celebrated for his musical talents and contribution. Furthermore, Beethoven is a composer who will never be forgotten by many people for he provided development in the field of music. Beethoven was able to expound the meaning of music for people. Music is currently known as an expression of personal emotions during a certain period of time. It is concluded that Ludwig van Beethoven is one composer who is able to master his own craft. Beethoven was honed through time and his experiences becomes an important stage in the development of music during his era until this very day(Lockwood, 42)

Marketing and Car Rental Companies

THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNAL MARKETING ELEMENTS ON BRAND IMAGE OF SELECTED CAR RENTAL COMPANIES IN SOUTH AFRICA STUDENT NAME XXXXXX (student number) Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree PhD in Marketing Management in the Faculty of Management at the University of Johannesburg JOHANNESBURG September 2009 Supervisor: Prof xxxxx Co-supervisor: Dr yyyy Table of contents ____________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH 1. 1 Overview of services and services marketing 1. Internal marketing 1. 3 Brand identity and brand image 1. 4 Car rental in South Africa 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 3. 1 Primary objective 3. 2 Secondary objectives 4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 5. HYPOTHESES 6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH 7. LITERATURE REVIEW 7. 1 Theoretical paradigm 7. 2 Research Constructs 7. 3 Relationship between variables 8. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 8. 1 Research design 8 . 2 Research format 8. 3 Population and sample 8. 4 Data collection instruments, sources and procedures 8. 5 Data analysis 9. DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY 10. CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY 11.CLARIFICATION OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS 12. DIVISION OF THE STUDY 13. TIME FRAME AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS 14. LIST OF REFERENCES 3 3 4 6 8 9 10 10 11 12 13 19 19 20 22 23 23 24 24 25 26 27 27 28 28 29 30 31 2 Research proposal 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Organisations across all industries recognise that services are becoming an important factor in all their business dealings to obtain a competitive advantage (Strydom, 2005:114). According to Palmer (2005:2), every industry is a service industry and the only aspect that separates industries is the size of their service component.Innovative organisations offering unique services to customers are now succeeding in markets where established organisations have failed (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004:4). Services marketing management is about servicing and caring about people (Kasper, van Helsdingen and Gabbott, 2006:9). People encompass individuals, households, employees and organisations. In general, services deal with intangibles, in other words, things that cannot be hold, touched nor be seen before they are utilised (Gronroos, 2000:7). Services refer to deeds, processes and experiences (Kasper et al, 2006:9; Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler, 2006:4). . 1 Overview of services and services marketing Many skills, activities, knowledge, performances, efforts, deeds, systems and processes are required when implementing processes which focus on people. Developing and implementing assets and capabilities, including motivating employees to serve the client well through the delivery of excellent service quality is a challenge to any services organisation. The interaction between customers and service employees is vital for the actual success of service delivery (Kasper, van Helsdingen and de Vries, 1999:513).Organisations have realised that m arketing and managing services presented issues and challenges not faced in manufacturing and packaged goods companies. Employees previously employed by manufacturing companies found that their skills and experiences were not directly transferable. Services organisations realised there are a need for new concepts and approaches for marketing and managing services organisations (Zeithaml et al, 2006:10). Customer expectations and experiences play a vital role in the success of a services organisation.Since customers mainly rely on the contact they have had with employees of the services organisation, personal contact between employees and customers will to a large extent determine the success of the services organisation (Lovelock, 1996:50). The 3 Research proposal success of the Disney brand results from the organisation placing emphasis on the importance of their employees. They have realised that satisfied employees deliver better service quality, resulting in satisfied customers (Papasolomou and Vrontis, 2006:39).To ensure consistency service brands have developed internal marketing programmes in order to recruit, train and manage employees to deliver on the brand? s promises (McDonald, De Chernatony and Harris, 2001:337). 1. 2 Internal marketing Internal marketing views the employee as an internal customer, jobs as internal products and holds the view that all employees in an organisation serve both a customer and a supplier even in the event where one or both of these are internal colleagues (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003:319).The goal of internal marketing is to establish, implement and manage a customer-focused service culture, strategy and relationships, which should result in higher levels of service quality (Varey and Lewis, 2000:200). In order to achieve the goal of internal marketing service organisations need to recognise that marketing strategies should not only be aimed at external customers, but should also be implemented internally and achieve bet ter internal communication.Therefore the internal marketing mix have to be of central importance in services organisations as each element represents cues that customers rely on in judging quality and overall image (Mudie and Pirrie, 2006:6). Marketing activities are traditionally structured around the four Ps related to products, that is product, price, promotion and place (distribution). In the services marketing mix an additional three Ps were added referring to people, process and physical evidence. However, marketing theorists are forever debating the relevant number of Ps and subsequently a variety of marketing mixes are being used in the various industries.Although most literature focuses on the seven Ps of services, additional four Ps including positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance were recently introduced to the market, resulting in a number of eleven elements of the marketing mix (Balmer, 1998:31; Simister, 2009:3). These eleven elements should be 4 Research proposal included in the internal marketing programmes service organisations are offering to employees to ensure improved interaction with customers as suggested by the literature. Irrespectively of the nature of the service, employees working in the front-line interact directly with customers.In many service organisations, they are the only contact customers have with the organisation. They need to understand the customer? s needs and match the company? s service offering with the specific customer need. Moreover, they collect intelligence on competition, they help the company clarify what the needs of customers exactly are and assess the company? s ability to satisfy them. These employees promote the company? s overall image and the brand image of the company? s services (Gounaris, 2008:402). However, the font-line employees are not the only employees who should be exposed to internal marketing.In a services organisation it is imperative that all employees should be tra ined, developed and informed of the vision and goals of the organisation enabling them to deliver excellent services. Internal marketing requires the involvement of a number of departments working in unison to improve performance (Ahmed and Rafiq, 2002:57). A study conducted by Harris and Ogbonna (2000) unfortunately displayed that service employees were reluctant and resisted the concept of market orientation. Employees also lacked service consciousness.Harris and De Chernatony (2001:441) argue that ignorance and lack of training may explain the resistance, while employees may also feel that they may lose political power and status in the organisation by becoming more customer focused (Harris, 2002:62). Furthermore, front-line and contact centre employees are often under paid which results in a lack of enthusiasm and customer orientation. This eventually becomes an important barrier of the effort to meet customers? expectations, thus jeopardising the entire image of a service brand (Gounaris, 2008:402).Therefore, internal marketing programmes should not only include the internal marketing mix, but should also include the organisational fit, identification with the company, employee participation in decision making, commitment, accuracy and openness of communication (Naude, Desai and Murphy, 2003:1215). Liu, Petruzzi and Sudharshan (2007:25) argue that training with an emphasis on the specific tasks that employees have to accomplish, employee empowerment, sharing information pertaining to customer needs and rewarding 5 Research proposal mployees based on the quality of customer service they deliver. Employees that complete tasks effectively become motivated to provide a high quality service which results in higher levels of customer satisfaction. As a result, customers are satisfied, since expectations are met or exceeded and the brand image of the company will be positive (Donaldson and O? Toole, 2002:155; Varey and Lewis, 2000:200,201). Internal marketing, a lso known as internal branding or employee branding is viewed as equally important to external brand building or the brand management of customers (O?Callaghan, 2009:4; Witt and Rode, 2005:278). Another factor playing a role in business success is the establishment of a favourable brand image (Park, Cho and Kandampully, 2009:134). Brands are often seen as a major relationship builder between a service organisation and its customers. Kasper et al (2006:163) argue that brands are not only the product or service an organisation sells or delivers, but represent everything an organisation does and specifically what an organisation represents to its employees and its markets. 1. 3 Brand identity and brand imageBrands are increasingly seen as valuable market assets and an essential source of differentiation in industries which are becoming saturated with similar service offerings. Additionally, brands have certain functions such as improving loyalty, identifying the provider of the service , reducing search costs, reducing perceived risk and signalling quality (Kasper et al, 2006:163; Aurand, Gorchels and Bishop, 2005:164). Service organisations have begun to realise that the importance of nurturing relationships between employees and customers adds to the development of employees? nd customers? respect for certain functional and emotional values of the brand (Papasolomou and Vrontis, 2006:38). Subsequently, an integrated branding strategy is required to align the organisation? s strategy, processes and resources to ensure consistency in the quality of the service delivery and a positive perception of the brand (LePla, Davis and Parker, 2003:3-5). 6 Research proposal One of the critical steps in building a strong brand is to create a brand identity. The brand identity is aspirational, since it refers to how the brand would like to be perceived.Creating a brand identity is more than determining what customers say they need, it should also reflect the soul and vision of the brand and what it hopes to achieve. Aaker (1996:68) stated that the brand identity which provides the direction and strategic vision of the brand consists of twelve dimensions organised around four perspectives: Brand-as-product (product scope, product attributes, quality/value, uses, users, country of origin) Brand-as-organisation (organisational attributes, local versus global) Brand-as-person (brand personality, brand-customer relationships) Brand-as-symbol (visual imagery/metaphors and brand heritage)The brand identity should be strategic, reflecting a business strategy that will lead to a sustainable advantage, while the brand image tends to be more tactical (Aaker, 1996:70). The brand image of a service organisation is even more important than a product company due to the intangibility that characterises services. Brand image consists of two categories, namely brand associations and brand awareness. One generally accepted view of brand image is that perceptions about a br and are reflected by a cluster of associations that customers connect to the brand name in memory.Brand associations are the informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory and contain meaning of the brand for customers (Aaker, 1991:110; Keller, 1998:45). Keller (1998:45) classifies brand associations into three major categories, i. e. attributes, benefits and attitudes. Attributes refer to the descriptive features that characterise the brand. Product related attributes are essentially defined as the components of the core product function sought by customers. In terms of services, the service related attributes refer to the process of the core service (O?Cass and Grace, 2003:453). Benefits are the personal value customers attach to the brand attributes and brand attitudes are customers? overall evaluation of the brand (Del Rio Vazquez and Iglesias, 2001:411). Low and Lamb, (2000:352) conceptualise brand image, that is functional and symbolic perceptions; brand attitude as th e overall evaluation of the brand; and 7 Research proposal perceived quality as the judgements of overall superiority as possible dimensions of brand associations.The literature regards brand attributes, perceived quality and brand attitude as separate dimensions of brand associations under less familiar brands and as one dimension under well known brands. Well known brands also tend to exhibit multi-dimensional brand associations, which is consistent with the idea that customers have more developed memory structures for more familiar brands (Low and Lamb, 2000:353). Brand associations are important to decision makers in services organisations to improve brand identity amongst employees, which should result in positive brand associations amongst customers.Brand awareness refers to the strength of a brand? s presence in the customer? s mind. Awareness is measured according to the different ways in which customers remember a brand, ranging from recognition (exposure to the brand) to r ecall (what can be recalled about the brand) to first in the mind (the brand appearing first in the mind) and finally to dominant (the only brand recalled) (Aaker, 1996:10). Brand awareness is created by increasing the familiarity of the brand through repeated exposure and strong associations with the relevant cues enabling the customer to recall the brand effectively (Keller, 2003:70). . 4 Car rental in South Africa The homogeneity and heightened competition in the car rental industry are forcing car rental companies to consider the connection between internal marketing and brand image to achieve competitive differentiation. Due to increased globalisation most car rental companies in South Africa have to compete on a local and international level. Currently in South Africa there are a number of car rental companies, of which seven are most recognised due to their location at airports in South Africa. These companies include Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National, Tempest Sixt and Thrifty.Car rental companies are in a complex industry with a number of role players involved such as government, car manufacturers and a variety of target markets. Besides providing a service to the various target markets, the products they offer are beyond their control, as the end product the customer receives are from different manufacturers. These end products 8 Research proposal include a large range of different car models from various manufacturers, for example, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Mazda, Volkswagen, and Opel to name but a few.Since the car rental companies in South Africa focus on the same customers and provide the same car models, both factors not fully controlled by them, it is imperative that they have to provide excellent services to customers to grow their businesses and to retain existing customers. The employees of car rental companies are their most important asset and therefore special attention is required to ensure loyalty and commitment from employees to deli ver service excellence. Irrespective of the fact that the service organisation may have developed a well conceived positioning for its brand, he brand? s successful positioning depends on the role the employees play in producing and delivering the service (Papasolomou and Vrontis, 2006:39). Providing a service is a people business. It is therefore important for car rental companies to determine if internal marketing has an influence on employees? associations with the brand image of the organisation. Car rental companies should realise that there is a need to instil a customer-focused service culture, which is a prerequisite for delivering consistently high quality services and for building successful service brands.Therefore they need to embark on a process of strengthening their brands as a source of sustainable competitive advantage by implementing an internal marketing programme to compete with first world countries (Papasolomou and Vrontis, 2006:39). Although most South African car rental companies? brands are well known, formal research is required as it is not evident that internal marketing implementation does have an influence on the brand image of car rental companies in South Africa. 2.STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The internal marketing mix elements that will be used in this study include product, price, promotion, place, people, processes, physical evidence, positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance. In order to enhance the brand image of a service organisation the 9 Research proposal organisation has to adapt its marketing activities to mix and match the internal marketing mix elements that will reinforce the brand image (Kotler and Keller, 2009:288).Despite a strong interest in the subject amongst marketing researchers, little research has been conducted related to brand images in service brands (Del Rio et al, 2001:410; O? Cass and Grace, 2003:453). Although car rental companies have internal programmes, such as loyalty and othe r incentive programmes to motivate employees, the success of these programmes have not been researched nor linked to the internal marketing elements applicable to this study (Avis, 2009).Furthermore, the researcher could not find any direct studies related to the influence of internal marketing elements on brand image in the car rental industry in South Africa. This is relevant because if all elements do not contribute positively to the overall brand image of car rental companies in South Africa, it could receive reduced attention, which could damage the image of the brand of the car rental company. Additionally if certain activities prove ineffectively they could be altered and improved, thereby creating more competitiveness for car rental companies.The problem in this study is that the importance of brand image in a services industry, specifically the car rental industry, should be emphasised, therefore this study aims to determine the influence of product, price, promotion, place , people, processes, physical evidence, positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance on brand associations and brand awareness as dimensions of brand image of car rental companies in South Africa, as perceived by employees and customers. 3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVESThe following objectives will clearly define the objectives the study aims to determine: 3. 1 Primary objective The primary research objective of this study is to determine the perceived influence of the different elements of internal marketing on the brand image of selected car rental companies in South Africa. 10 Research proposal 3. 2 Secondary objectives The secondary objectives of the study aim to determine whether the various elements of the internal marketing mix have an internal influence on each of the brand image categories.The elements of the internal marketing mix that will be separately observed according to the classification of the Ps are firstly the traditional 4 Ps, product, price, promotion, place; secondly the additional 3 Ps for services marketing mix, people, processes, physical evidence and lastly the recently added 4 Ps, positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance.Each element of the internal marketing mix will be observed to determine its influence on brand image, namely brand associations, specifically brand attributes, perceived quality and brand attitude, as well as brand awareness, such as recognition of the brand and brand recall of selected car rental companies. The influence of the internal marketing elements on the brand associations and brand awareness will enable car rental companies to focus future internal marketing programmes on the relevant internal marketing mix elements to ensure an improved brand image.Furthermore the influence of the internal marketing elements is relevant to determine the overall influence on brand image as set out in the following hypotheses formulated in this study (see next section). The secondary research objectives are: To determine the influence of the internal product on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. To determine the influence of the internal price on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients.To determine the influence of internal promotion on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. To determine the influence of the internal place on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. 11 Research proposal To determine the influence of internal people on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. To determine the influence of internal processes on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients.To determine the influence of internal physical evidence on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. To determine the influence of internal positioning on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. To determine the influence of internal personal relationships on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. To determine the influence of internal packaging on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients.To determine the influence of internal performance on the brand image of car rental companies amongst selected car rental companies and their clients. 4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS As suggested by the title, the purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of the eleven internal marketing mix elements on brand image of car rental companies in South Africa. The research question can be phrased as: Do the eleven internal marketing mix elements ha ve an influence on the brand image of South African car rental companies? Sub-components of the primary research question include:What is the influence of the internal product, price, promotion, place, people, processes, physical evidence, positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance on brand associations of car rental companies? 12 Research proposal What is the influence of the internal product, price, promotion, place, people, processes, physical evidence, positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance on brand awareness of car rental companies? 5. HYPOTHESES In figure 1 the hypotheses derived from the research objectives are indicated.Figure 1 displays the organisation which imposes its values through internal marketing on employees with the external customer in mind to achieve its objectives (Mudie and Pirrie, 2006:14). The internal marketing mix elements are independent variables, since they are not dependent on one another to exist in the orga nisation. The brand image categories, that is brand associations and brand awareness are the dependent variables of the study as the research aims to prove the influence of the independent variables on the brand image.In order to establish the connection between the internal marketing mix and the brand image of the organisation an intervening variable is required. The intervening variable is brand identity, as it provides direction, purpose and meaning for the brand (Aaker, 1996:68). Through establishing that brand identity is dependent on the elements of the internal marketing mix and that brand image is dependent on brand identity, will allow the connection between the internal marketing mix and brand image to be established. The brand association dimensions that will be tested are brand attributes, perceived quality and brand attitude.The brand awareness dimensions are brand recognition and brand recall. In developing research hypotheses researchers normally frame relationships i n either the null or alternative format. In this study alternative hypotheses are formulated, indicating that there is a relationship between two variables that is significant. These hypotheses are depicted in figure 1 on the following page. 13 Brand identity Brand identity Employees Product v1 Traditional Ps Price v2 Place v3 Promotion v4 H2d, H2e H1a, H1b, H1c H3a, H3b, H3c H4a, H4b, H4c H1d, H1e CustomersAttributes v12 a b c H2a, H2b, H2c Perceived quality v13 Brand Attitude v14 Brand associations Recognition v15 H3d, H3e H4d, H4e d Brand image Brand awareness Recall v16 e People v5 Internal marketing Services Ps Processes v6 Physical evidence v7 H5a, H5b, H5c H6a, H6b, H6c H7a, H7b, H7c Attributes v17 a b Perceived quality v18 Brand Attitude v19 H5d, H5e c Brand associations H6d, H6e Recognition v20 H7d, H7e d Brand image Recall v21 e Brand awareness Positioning v8 Recent Ps H8a, H8b, H8c H9a, H9b, H9c H10a, H10b, H10c H11a, H11b, H11c H8d, H8e H9d, H9e H10d, H10eH11d, H11e Attr ibutes v22 a b Personal relationships v9 Packaging v10 Performance v11 Perceived quality v23 Brand Attitude v24 c Brand associations Brand image Recognition v25 Recall v26 e d Brand awareness Research proposal Based on the primary and secondary objectives and as indicated in figure 1, it is hypothesised that: H1a: Internal product does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H1b: Internal product does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H1c: Internal product does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H1d: Internal product does have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H1e: Internal product does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H2a: Internal price does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H2b: Internal price does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H2c: Internal price does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H2d: Internal price does have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H2e: Internal price does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H3a: Internal place does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H3b: Internal place does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H3c: Internal place does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. 15 Research proposal H3d: Internal place does have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H3e: Internal place does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H4a: Internal promotion does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H4b: Internal promotion does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H4c: Internal promotion does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H4d: Internal promotion does have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H4e: Internal promotion does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H5a: Internal people do have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H5b: Internal people do have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H5c: Internal people do have an influence on bran d attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H5d: Internal people do have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H5e: Internal people do have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H6a: Internal processes do have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H6b: Internal processes do have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. 16 Research proposal H6c:Internal processes do have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H6d: Internal processes do have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H6e: Internal processes do have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H7a: Internal physical evidence does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H7b: Internal physical evidence does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H7c: Internal physical evidence does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H7d: Internal physical evidence does have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H7e: Internal physical evidence does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H8a: Internal positioning does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H8b: Internal positioning does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H8c: Internal positioning does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H8d: Internal positioning does have an influence on recogniti on of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H8e: Internal positioning does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H9a: Internal personal relationships do have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H9b: Internal personal relationships do have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. 17 Research proposal H9c: Internal personal relationships do have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H9d: Internal personal relationships do have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H9e: Internal personal relationships do have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H10a: Internal packaging does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H10b : Internal packaging does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H10c: Internal packaging does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H10d: Internal packaging does have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H10e: Internal packaging does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity.H11a: Internal performance does have an influence on brand attributes of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H11b: Internal performance does have an influence on perceived quality of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H11c: Internal performance does have an influence on brand attitude of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H11d: Internal performance does have an influence on recognition of the brand of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. H11e: In ternal performance does have an influence on brand recall of car rental companies by increasing brand identity. 8 Research proposal 6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH Employees who are treated well and who believe in the company they are representing tend to deliver service excellence. Internal marketing provides the means to retrain employees and to motivate them to exceed customer expectations, resulting in a positive association with the brand, which customers are likely to share with others (Donaldson and O? Toole, 2002:155). In today? s crowded marketplace building a powerful brand is central in giving companies a competitive edge.The association clients make with a brand in the services industries will focus strongly on the service quality they receive from the company (Papasolomou and Vrontis, 2007:8). In South Africa no formal research study could be found on how the eleven internal marketing elements, that is product, price, promotion, distribution, processes, physical evidenc e, people, positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance influence the brand image, being brand attributes, perceived quality and brand attitude of car rental companies.Formal research is required to determine the influence of internal marketing on brand image, as the internal marketing efforts will have an effect on service delivery by employees, which subsequently should improve the image clients have of the brand. Although some car rental companies claim they care about employees and provide special motivational programmes for employees, no formal research has been conducted to determine if these programmes as part of internal marketing have a positive influence on the service delivered by employees (Avis, 2009). . LITERATURE REVIEW The literature study is based on the most recent literature available in the fields of study. It includes inter alia books, journals, academic dissertations and literature available in an electronic format obtained from reputable acad emic and various research institutions via the Internet. The ensuing sections contain information obtained to gain an in-depth understanding of the research issues as defined within the problem statement. 19 Research proposal 7. 1 Theoretical paradigmFew topics of the commercial theory have inspired as well as divided the marketing academia as the four Ps Marketing Mix framework (Constantinides, 2006:407). Since Jerome McCarthy (1964) reduced Neil Borden? s (1964) twelve identified controllable marketing elements to four, product, price, place and promotion, practitioners and academics promptly embraced the mix paradigm that soon became the prevalent and indispensable element of marketing theory and operational marketing management (Gronroos, 1994:13).The wide acceptance of the mix among marketers is due to their profound exposure to this concept, since most introductory marketing manuals identify the four Ps as the controllable parameters likely to influence the consumer buying pro cess and decisions (Kotler, 2003). However, despite the background and status of the marketing mix as a major theoretical and practical parameter of contemporary marketing, several academics have at times expressed doubts and objections as to the value and the future of the mix, proposing alternatives that range from minor modifications to total rejection.It is often evident in both the academic literature and marketing textbooks that the mix is deemed by many researchers and writers as inadequate to address specific marketing situations like the marketing of services, the management of relationships or the marketing of industrial products (Constantinides, 2006:409). Early references identifying differences between tangibles and intangibles underlying the distinctive character of services marketing are found in the works of Branton (1969), Wilson (1972).The special character of services were emphasised by Blois (1974), Bessom and Jackson (1975) and Shostack (1977). Several alternati ve methodologies and marketing conceptual frameworks for services marketing have been proposed ever since. A key factor distinguishing the services marketing from marketing physical products is the human element. Booms and Bitner (1981) included people, physical evidence as an important environmental factor influencing the quality packaging and process of service delivery as additional marketing mix elements in services marketing. 20 Research proposalSubsequently various researchers have added a variety of proposed elements and some changed existing elements. Currently there are additions of up to eleven elements in the marketing mix. Based on the recent contributions of researchers such as Fryar (1991) who introduced positioning, English (2000) who added personal relationship, Grove, Fisk and John (2000) who claim that performance should be included and Beckwith (2001) who indicated that packaging is lacking, these four elements are included in the internal marketing mix elements a s theoretical foundation for this study.The creation of a brand implies communicating a certain brand image in such a way that all the target groups of an organisation link its brand with a set of associations (Del Rio et al, 2001:410; Low and Lamb, 2000:350). Brand associations are important to organisations and customers. An organisation uses brand associations to differentiate, position and extend brands, to create positive attitudes towards a brand and to suggest attributes or benefits of purchasing or using a specific brand. Customers use brand associations to help process, organise and retrieve information in memory, nd to assist them in making purchasing decisions (Aaker, 1991:110). Brand associations play a central role in brand strategy development. In particular, Aaker (1992:25) suggests that brand associations should be organised into groups that have meaning. This meaning should define the brand? s positioning – its point of reference with respect to the competiti on. Thus, a well positioned brand will represent an attractive set of strong associations (De Chernatony and McDonald, 2003:254; Hankinson, 2005:25). The second category of brand image is brand awareness.Brand awareness consists of brand recognition and brand recall performance. Brand recognition relates to customers? ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue. In other words, customers are able to distinguish the brand as having been previously seen or heard. Brand recall relates to customers? ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category or a purchase or usage situation as a cue. In other words, customers are able to correctly generate the brand from memory when receiving a relevant cue (Keller, 2003a:67).Brand awareness is critical for services organisations, as customers have to actively seek the brand and be able to recall it from memory when appropriate. 21 Research proposal Toge ther with the eleven internal marketing mix elements, brand image, broken down into brand associations and brand awareness form the theoretical paradigm on which this study is based. 7. 2 Research constructs Research constructs are described as unobservable abstract concepts that are measured indirectly by a group of related variables.Variables are described as observable measurable elements of an object and are measured directly (Hair, Bush and Ortinau, 2009:233). In practice, the term variable is used as a synonym for constructs or the property being studied and in this context, a variable is a symbol to which numerals or values are assigned (Cooper and Schindler, 2001:44). Therefore, the variables that will be measured in this study are the eleven internal marketing elements, product, price, promotion, place, people, processes, physical evidence, positioning, personal relationships, packaging and performance.These elements are the independent variables or constructs, since they p redict or explain the outcome variable of interest (Hair et al, 2009:234). Brand image consists of the two classifications, namely brand associations and brand awareness. Brand associations as described by the literature can be measured in terms of brand attributes, perceived quality and brand attitude, while brand awareness can be measured as recognition of the brand and recall of the brand (Aaker, 1996:10; Keller, 1998:45).The brand attributes, perceived quality, brand attitude, brand recognition and brand recall are the dependent variables or constructs as they are the variables the researcher is seeking to explain (Hair et al, 2009:234). Brand identity is the intervening variable as it is the factor which theoretically affects the observed phenomenon but cannot be seen, measured, or manipulated; its effect must be inferred from the effects of the independent and dependent variables on the observed phenomenon (Cooper and Schindler, 2001:47). 22 Research proposal 7. 3 Relationship between variablesAs indicated in the formulated hypotheses, this study aims to indicate that there is a relationship between the variables that are being tested. The relationship can either be positive or negative. A positive relationship between two variables indicates that the two variables increase or decrease together, comparing to a negative relationship that suggests that as one variable increases, the other one decreases, or vice versa (Hair et al , 2009:234). Should there be no relationship between the eleven internal marketing elements and the brand image of selected car rental companies in South Africa, the null hypothesis will be relevant.If the null hypothesis is accepted, it concludes that the variables are not related in a meaningful way (Hair et al, 2009:235). If, on the other hand, the null hypothesis is rejected, the alternative hypothesis indicates that the two variables are related in some way that may prove useful for the car rental companies. 8. RESEARCH METHOD OLOGY A well-designed research plan forms the basis of the entire research process (Cooper and Schindler, 2001:6). Research can be described as a practical activity that intends to find out things in a systematic way.It is a process of designing, gathering, analysing and reporting information to uncover opportunities and reduce the risks of decision-making (Coldwell and Herbst, 2004:10). Previously gathered information which was not gathered for this study, but that was gathered for another purpose is called secondary data (Churchill and Brown, 2007:146). Secondary data, including books, academic accredited research journals, websites, dissertations, theses, internal company information and other written and verbal communications will be used to develop the theoretical background of the study.Primary data, which is data initiated by the researcher for the purpose of the proposed study, is extracted in the form of perceptions of the sample population that will be investigated (Church ill and Brown, 2007:146). 23 Research proposal Cooper and Schindler (2001:14) state that the term „empirical? points to the requirement for the researcher to test subjective beliefs against objective reality and have findings open to further scrutiny and testing. In this study, empirical research is used to test the objectives stated previously in this chapter. . 1 Research design The objectives of the study form an integral part of the research design, since objectives ensure that information will be collected from appropriate sources by using the correct data gathering techniques. They also influence the sampling methodology, the schedule and cost of the research project (Zikmund, 2003:58). According to Mouton (2001:37), the research method that is partly derived from the methodological paradigm (qualitative or quantitative) fits the research objectives.In quantitative research, the methods are well planned, structured and formal because the findings play an important role i n decision-making (Boyce, 2002:37). Quantitative research makes use of structured close-ended questions that have predetermined response possibilities in questionnaires or surveys and are distributed to a vast number of respondents (Hair et al, 2006:171). In this study a quantitative process will be used to seek data that can be expressed in numbers and statistically analysed. 8. 2 Research format The research format of the study is described as descriptive research.According to Cooper and Schindler (2001:136) descriptive research attempts to answer questions such as who, what, where, when or how much. Data collected through descriptive research can provide valuable information about the study units along relevant characteristics and also about associations among those characteristics (Aaker, Kumar and Day, 2001:73; Parasuraman, Grewal and Krishnan, 2004:72). As recommended by Solomon, Marshall and Stuart (2006:113), this study will include a descriptive survey design to gather the necessary data from a large sample size. 24 Research proposalThe descriptive format is broken down in two types, longitudinal and cross-sectional. Longitudinal designs rely on panel data in which the same variables are measured over time. Cross-sectional designs rely on a sample of elements from the population of interest that are measured at a single point in time (Churchill and Iacobucci, 2002:122). As the objectives of this study are to describe a current situation, a cross-sectional format is appropriate. 8. 3 Population and sample The population for this study will include employees and customers of selected car rental companies in South Africa.There are 7 car rental companies, being Avis, Tempest, Budget Car Rental, First Car Rental, Europcar, Hertz and Argus Car Rental. Avis, Budget and Europcar will be the sample drawn from the population, as these three are the largest and world leading car rental companies in South Africa. All three companies have more than 75 branches and fleets in excess of 8500, compared to the other car rental companies with less than 50 branches and fleets smaller than 6000. Since Avis, Budget and Europcar have a market share of more than 80% it is believed that they will be a fair representation of the car rental industry in South Africa.Probability sampling will be used for selecting the sample frame. Probability samples are distinguished by the fact that each sampling unit has a known, non-zero chance of being included in the sample (Hair et al, 2006:330). The two independent sample frames that will be used in the study include: Sample frame 1: The sampling units in this frame include all employees of the Avis, Budget and Europcar groups stationed at major airports in South Africa. These airports include OR Tambo, Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, East London, George, Nelspruit and Lanseria.There will be 800 employees targeted within this sample selected by the management of the three car rental groups. 25 Rese arch proposal Sample frame 2: The sampling units in this frame include customers who rented cars during a period of three months from October to December 2009 of the Avis, Budget and Europcar groups stationed at OR Tambo, Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, East London, George, Nelspruit and Lanseria airports. There will be 4000 clients targeted within this sample, selected by the management of the three car rental groups.It is important to consider both two independent sample frames, as the employees in sample frame one will measure the internal marketing aspects of the study. The customers of sample frame two will aid in measuring the brand image of the selected car rental groups. 8. 4 Data collection instruments, sources and procedures The data collection of this study will be conducted by means of a survey. According to Rubin, Rubin and Piele (2000:193) surveys allow the researcher to observe and gather evidence. Questionnaires will be designed for each of the sampl e frames.Questionnaires will include a demographic section to classify respondents, being customers or employees. In the second section of both questionnaires the eleven internal marketing mix elements will be tested based on information from the literature. The third section of both questionnaires will focus on brand associations, specifically brand attributes, perceived quality and brand attitude, as well as brand awareness, namely recognition of the brand and brand recall as described in the theory of the relevant chapter.A five point Likert scale, ranging from „strongly disagree? to „strongly agree? , will be used for all questions within both questionnaires. The Likert scale is a highly used rating scale that requires respondents to indicate a degree of agreement or disagreement with each of a series of statements about the objects (Cooper and Schindler, 2001:234). The survey, comprising of an online questionnaire will be administered through email and upon completi on will be sent directly to the Statistical Consultation Service of the University of Johannesburg.An online survey format will allow for a wide reach that will be relatively inexpensive and will be faster than offline methods. Furthermore, there will be no interaction between the researcher and the respondents, therefore interviewer error and bias will be 26 Research proposal diminished (Hair et al, 2006:230). Confidentiality and anonymously of respondents will also be guaranteed. A pre-test will be conducted to detect possible weaknesses in the questionnaire.An important purpose of the pre-test is to discover the respondents? reactions to questions and it also helps to discover repetitiveness or redundancy (Cooper and Schindler, 2001:236). 8. 5 Data analysis Statistical procedures to test the research hypotheses include descriptive statistics, factor analyses, analyses of variance and measures of association. Internal marketing and brand image involve numerous factors. Factor anal ysis will be used to compare and find correlations between these factors.The statistical method for testing the null hypothesis that the means of several populations are equal is analysis of variance (ANOVA) (Cooper and Schindler, 2001:509). ANOVA will be used to determine if internal marketing and brand image are related. The pre-test of the questionnaire will be conducted amongst five experts in the industry to ensure reliable data. Cronbach-Alpha will be used to measure the reliability of the pilot. All calculations will be done by means of SPSS. Analyses will be conducted by the Statistical Consultation Service of the University of Johannesburg. 9. DELIMITATION OF THE STUDYThis study will focus on the three largest car rental companies in South Africa and although it is believed that they will be representative of the car rental industry, it might not be the case, as smaller car rental companies might have different or no internal marketing focuses and therefore the results and recommendations may not be generalised to a wider context. The dimensions of brand associations and brand awareness will only be investigated amongst car rental companies in South Africa, which is a service industry. If the approach is extended to other services industries or even products the result might differ. 7 Research proposal Furthermore, no previous research has been conducted on the eleven internal marketing mix elements and brand image of the car rental industry in South Africa. Therefore, this study may lack in-depth information related to the car rental industry. 10. CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY The eleven internal marketing mix elements are still a new concept to many South Africans. No previous studies could be found that have been conducted on the influence of the eleven internal marketing mix elements on brand image of car rental companies in South Africa.This study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge in three ways. Firstly, it describes the complexity of the c ar rental industry in South Africa. This is followed by a description of the current understanding and debate amongst researchers of the relevance of the eleven marketing mix elements, specifically their influence on brand image of an organisation. Thirdly, the study aims to provide guidelines to car rental companies in South Africa on how to improve internal marketing programmes which will enable them to improve their brand image.Brand image is important to any organisation, as a good and well recognised brand will lead to higher profitability of the organisation. 11. CLARIFICATION OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS In the previous sections, certain terms and definitions were used. However, for the sake of uniformity, these terms and definitions have to be clarified (Mouton, 2001:36). The services marketing literature contain many definitions of services, but there are some common features in all of these definitions. The first commonality is that services deal with something that is intangi ble.Services refer to efforts, deeds or processes consisting of activities or a series of activities performed by the service provider, quite often in close cooperation and interaction with the customer, aimed at creating customer satisfaction (Kasper et al, 2006:57). Papasolomou and Vrontis (2006:37) postulate that service can be 28 Research proposal described as essentially intangible, not resulting in the ownership of anything and is a form of product that consists of activities, benefits, or satisfactions offered for sale.Internal marketing is defined as â€Å"a planned effort using a marketing-like approach directed at motivating employees, for implementing and integrating organisational strategies towards customer orientation† (Ahmed and Rafiq, 2002:11). Branding is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of these that identifies the seller of a product or service and seeks to differentiate them from those of competitors (Kotler and Keller, 2006:274; Pap asolomou and Vrontis, 2006:37). Brand identity is defined as â€Å"a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain.These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers from the organisation members† (Aaker, 1996:68). Brand image as identified by Keller (2003:70) is perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in a customer? s memory. Keller (1998:71) defined brand associations as â€Å"informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory that contains the meaning of the brand for consumers†. Brand awareness refers to the strength of a brand? s presence in the customer? s mind (Aaker, 1996:10). 12. DIVISION OF THE STUDYThe current chapter provides an introduction to the study, including the problem statement, objectives and research methodology. The rest of this study is divided into the following chapters: 29 Research proposal Chapter 2 describes the complexities an d current state of the car rental industry in South Africa. An overview of the three companies, Avis, Budget and Europcar, which are participating in this study, is provided. Chapter 3 focuses on internal marketing. The history of the elements of the internal marketing mix is discussed, as well as the development of the traditional four Ps up to the eleven currently in existence is described.The culture of organisations and the influence of internal marketing are furthermore explained. Chapter 3 discusses brand identity, brand image and the dimensions thereof. The importance of building a successful brand is also described. Chapter 4 outlines the research methodology with detailed reference to the research design, population, sample, measuring instrument, and the proposed statistical analysis. Chapter 5 records the analysis of the empirical research. Chapter 6 summarises the study. Recommendations concerning the outcome of the study are discussed and suggestions for further research are presented. 3. TIME FRAME AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS The researcher? s aim for completion of the study is October 2010. However, due to the change of direction taken in the research, the aim might have to be postponed to April 2011. The possibility of obtaining a bursary for the empirical part of the study was explored, but since the researcher is a part-time student, she does not qualify for most bursaries. If no bursary can be obtained, the researcher will complete most of the empirical work herself and where required, make use of her own available funds. 30 References 14. LIST OF REFERENCESAaker, D. A. (1991). Managing Brand Equity: Capatilising on the Value of a Brand Name. New York: The Free Press. Aaker, D. A. (1992). The Management of Brand Equity. New York: The Free Press. Aaker, D. A. (1996). Building Strong Brands. 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