Which is and will be the most powerful institution guiding human Essay

Which is and will be the most powerful institution guiding human activity in the next century... the state... the market ... or NGOS and IGOS - Essay Example Why is this so? First, most issues will have continued to be supra-national in nature to which the state is inherently constricted by its territorial boundaries. Hence, there is the increasing need for global governance (UBUNTU Foundation 94). As such, this makes IGOs most in demand, because the very supra-national nature of IGOs enables them to transcend the limitations of the state, while allowing them to act just like the state. In short, IGOs can govern globally. Where the state cannot intervene into the peace and security problem of a neighboring state, IGOs can. As defined, IGOs are created through a constitutive treaty involving two or more nations that come together in good faith for a common issue of interest. They are meant to create a mechanism through which nations of the world could work collaboratively more successfully concerning peace and security, economic and social issues. (Koteen, par. 1-2) Thus unlike NGOs, IGOs, Pease explains, have international legal personali ty. Meaning, IGOs are authorized to act under international law. For example, they can enter into international agreements with other international organizations and states; they can file a case in national courts; and they are also given immunities similar to the state. (6-7) Therefore, IGOs can be as powerful as the state in a much broader framework. Second, the unregulated dominant position of the market in the world economy, as manifested by the pervading powers of transnational and multinational corporations, is perceived not only to have increasingly threatened the sovereignty of nations but also to have caused poverty and to have widened inequality as it polarizes the world between the rich North and the poor South (Lodge and Wilson 9), which to many are enough reasons for violent conflicts to further intensify and for rebellion and terrorism to be justified. Though it may be argued that poverty is not the main cause of terrorism, Von Hippel sustains that there exists a signi ficant relationship between economic vulnerability and radicalism and terrorism (52-53). Suffice it to say therefore that the market, given its greed for profit, tends to exacerbate rather than mitigate violence and insecurity. Given this negative perception of the market, the need for global governance to regulate the market in order to lessen its impact on global economic inequality, consequently lessening possible sources of global insecurity, will become a necessity. Hence, the IGOs will become more influential. In fact, history shows the consistent trend that every after major world conflicts (i.e., Russo-Japanese War, World War I, and World War II), the emergence of IGOs for peace and security sharply increases (Jordan 18). Since the threats of world conflicts, though may no longer be in the form of world war, remains; the necessity for IGOs stands. Third, IGOs have consistently shown their effectiveness not only in finding ways to help resolve interstate conflicts but even in helping nation-state deal with its intractable conflicts (Brahm, par. 1). Hence, the prime usefulness of IGOs rests on their capability to provide states with a forum through which they can sit down and resolve their conflicts – Something that the market and the nation-state have not shown to be capable of. This cited effectiveness of IGOs could be attributed to the very purpose of their creation, which Brahm

Impact of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behaviour

Impact of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behaviour Chapter 1 Introduction   Preliminary Data Gathering 1.1: Introduction to the Report: During the last two decades many important developments in the position of food in daily life of consumers and producers takes place. In earlier times consumers were self sufficient, but during the last two decades things have been changed and there was a rapid development in the industrialization of food packaging communication process. So this research study focuses on the area of Packaging which is one of the most important elements of marketing mix and many marketers had considered packaging as a fifth ‘P , while the other four Ps are Product, Placement, Promotional and Price. So packaging is used as an important marketing tool. In marketing terms, Packaging can be defined as: â€Å"All the activities of designing and producing the container or wrapper of a product, Packaging is a structure designed to contain a commercial food product, i.e. to make it easier and safer to transport, to protect the product against contamination or loss, degradation or damage and to produce a convenient way to dispense the product† 1. Packaging mainly can be divided into three types, i.e. Consumer Packaging, Transport packaging and Food Packaging. This study is specified only to food packaging as food packaging industry requires packaging material that provides efficient barriers, preserves product effectively and therefore increases the shelf life of the product 2. However packaging is criticized largely from the environmental point of view, because many researchers think that packaging is depleting natural resources, as certain form of packages are health hazards, and there is a significant problem of disposing of these packages. Marketing researchers have to deal with these criticisms, and must enhance the positive features of packaging, like product protection, preservation, containment, communication, consumer convenience and marketing support 3. In context of above description, this study is basically consists of observations, surveys and interview from the consumers not only to determine how packaging of existing FMCG food products contain, preserve, and communicate the buyer, but the new food products too, because the variables for selecting the existing food products are different from the variables for selecting the new FMCG food products, secondly to know the importance of packaging on their buying decision process both for existing and new products, how they get influence, and how a good quality and attractive packaging convince them to buy particular FMCG food products. 1.2: Background of the study: The professional fields are becoming more and more challenging and competitive in the present arena. So, in order to endure and be successful in any field, you must have the deep knowledge and appropriate skills of the concerned field. In fact this is true about the fields of management sciences, in which the Knowledge and skills of a person can be polished, if he goes through some practical experiences. Therefore this study is mainly conducted to have the knowledge of practical business situations, because the theoretical knowledge might not always match with the practical situations, where we do businesses. Therefore this would be the socialization to the market in a sense of applying our theoretical knowledge in the practical fields. In this regard, I have selected the area of Packaging for my research study which carries a great concern in the present arena because in the last one and half decade the importance of packaging has been actualized immensely and by having packaging knowledge and designing skills, practically you can enhance your capabilities. Packaging has covered all the consumer tangible goods in order to create and enhance the marketing efforts. According to â€Å"International Association of Packaging Research Institutes† IAPRI, the packaging technology has gone through a significant and fast exploitation in recent years, and globally the packaging material and machinery industry is estimated to be worth of $ 500 billion per year representing almost 1-2 % of the GDP industrialized country, and over 100, 00 packaging manufacturing companies have employed approx 5 million people to serve all packaging business manufacturers company 4. 1.3: Introduction to the topic: The topic for my research is â€Å"A Survey on the Impact influence of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior† in which we will try to explore the variables of packaging not only for the existing food products but for the new products too, which attracts consumer behavior and influence them to buy. 1.3.1: Importance of Packaging: Many researchers together with Price, Promotion, Placement and Product considers Packaging as a fifth â€Å"P† as a marketing tools, because they think that packaging is a face of a product which actually refers to the material that servers to contain, identify, describe, protect, display and promote a specific product. The main objectives of packaging are to keep the food in good condition until it is sold or have been consumed and to encourage the consumer to buy it again and again. Correct packaging is essential to achieve above given objectives. Yearly billion of pounds are spent on packaging food. 1.3.2: Functions of Packaging: There are many protecting functions and purposes of packaging that influence consumers to buy a particular product.The various functions of packaging can be divided into three main types: Primary, secondary and tertiary (additional Functions). Primary functions concerned with the technical nature of the product while the secondary and tertiary functions are related to communications. The Primary Functions of packaging are to protect and storage of a product from loss, damage or any kind of deterioration from environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, precipitation and solar radiation. i.e.; the durability of a package, because people wants material that will really protect the product they bought and something that can resist handling and shipping. The Secondary and Tertiary Functions of packaging are the sales, promotional, service and guarantee functions. The main intentions of sales function of package is to promote the sales processes and to make it more effective and efficient, therefore in designing a package promotional materials should be placed at right place, because it plays an important role to communicate about the product functions, features, and other informational elements. The various informational elements such as product features, manufacturing and expiry date, ingredients information, nutritional information, food labeling etc. provides the consumer with details about the contents and use of a particular product. Therefore these promotional materials should be properly placed on the package in order to attract the potential consumers attention and to have a positive impact on their buying behavior 5. 1.3.3: Consumer Buying Behavior: The other main concern of the study is to know about consumer buying behavior or consumer decisions making process and how packaging can influence them to buy a particular product. Marella in one of her articles about packaging defines consumer buying behavior as the process by which â€Å"individuals search, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services, in satisfaction of their need and want†. When consumers need to purchase something, they usually go for the brands which are trustworthy and try not to seek other products such as new products or the brand which they dont know at all 6. Therefore at the point of purchase what communicates or influence consumer to buy particular product is only ‘Packaging. Similarly quality judgments are significantly influence by the product characteristics reflected by the packaging because packaging acts as a communicator, and it underlines overall features and functions of a product that lies in it such as informational el ements, product features, material used etc. So if the package is well design and attractive enough, consumer will likely to buy it especially in the case of new products. So, it is important that products should be well and attractive packaged to gain consumer attention. 1.4: Purpose of the Study: Success of a product depends on developing a strong relationship with consumer through an affective and efficient synergetic marketing mix, in which ‘Packaging† is one of the main elements to influence because packaging is the language of a product which only communicate to the consumer without any interpreter and has an immense effect on purchase decision. Most Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is low involvement products. In low involvement, â€Å"consumers do not search extensively for information about the brands, evaluate their characteristics, and make a weighty decision on which brand to buy†, and as packaging plays an important role in success of a brand and on a retail shelf it is the last opportunity to influence the consumer to buy, so the main purpose of this research, so this study will be conducted with an idea of knowing the impact influence of packaging on the purchase decision of FMCG food products, which are mostly consumed frequently and also to know the experiences of the ultimate consumers about packaging. The research study is basically conducted to apply my theoretical knowledge of marketing in the practical field of professionals by interviewing different consumers and to know their views and preferences towards the importance of food packaging. The objective of the research study will be focused on: To know consumer awareness about packaging. To examine the influence of existing and new FMCG food products packaging on consumer buying behavior. To examine consumer experience of purchasing packaged food products. To understand how packaging can influence them to purchase their decision powers To know whether a good and attractive packaging of FMCG food products can influence consumers to buy it or not? Beside this the research is the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Bachelors of Business Administration and the submission to the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar. 1.5: Methodology of the report: This study has been conducted with the following procedures: 1.5.1: Reading Articles Reading articles are the formation of the strongest foundation. For this research study I have been reading and looking at different articles and research studies both in libraries as well as through Internet and searching through digital libraries the literature of the my research study. 1.5.2: Questionnaires The data for my research study has been collected from a representative sample of 200 people, who are responsible for purchasing the household food products and are also the ultimate consumers of the packaged food products. The sample from population was derived from shoppers at different geographical areas of Peshawar. The questionnaire was initially put to pilot testing on 5 respondents for clarity and validity. Through the use of questions related to the study, the respondents were highly encouraged to express their opinions. The questionnaire comprised of few questions, grouped in five sections: Visual Impact, Brand Information, food labeling and nutrition information, and new products purchasing. The impact of these variables is analyzed in the Analysis section. Responses of the consumers have been converted to frequencies and percentages by using SPSS software through which I developed the Bar chart or Histogram in order to explain the degree of impact of mentioned variables on the purchase decision I have also used the Pie chart method in order to find the most influencing variable on the purchase decision. 1.6: Scope of the Study The Scope for my research study is limited to Peshawar city and the sample for my research has also been taken from the population of Peshawar city for collecting primary data. The market, which has been surveyed, is limited to the consumers in Peshawar region. The reader of this research report will be able to understand the preferences of consumers about the packaging especially the food packaging, because consumers are more connected to the food industry. And also they would be having better understanding that how packaging can influence consumers purchase decision? Besides, this research study will also show the knowledge and understanding of packaging features and roles in the marketing efforts and new demands from the packaging industries as far as consumers are concerned. 1.7: Limitations The first hurdle that I have faced is the unavailability of the secondary data about our local markets consumers therefore, in this stage I had the difficulty to find the relevant data as far as my study of research is concerned. Another limitation is the difficulty in collecting primary data in the market as I have used Questionnaire method but mostly respondents were not familiar about that how to understand and respond to a question being asked. Third limitation is time constraint, which is again a pressure on us to finalize the research report which might caused this research report be deficient in order to cover every aspect of my research study but still I made the best of it. 1.8: Sampling The study population comprised of 200 people who are the ultimate consumers of packaged food products. The sample has been drawn from supermarkets located in different geographical areas in Peshawar and also collected data from the respondents in the universities. For my studies I used stratified sampling method and judgment sampling method. I divide my sample into three main stratas like those males which got the purchasing power and do purchase regardless of the family members, second those female households which ultimately got the purchasing power, and lastly childrens. For childrens I used judgment sampling method. 1.9: Scheme of Report This report is organized in five main sections. Section 1 consists of one chapter that describes the introduction of the report, objectives and the purpose of the report. Section 2 consists of two chapters that constitute literature of this study and Different variables involved, respectively. Section 3 also consists of two chapters in which theoretical framework and nature of the research, i.e. research design has been describe. In Section 4 there is one chapter in which the data analysis has been done and the last Section, which is Section 5, consists of one chapter that mainly includes the Conclusion and Recommendations of this Research Study. References Cited: (1) Marketing Dictionary, Small Business Encyclopedia: Packaging, Web Link: http://www.answers.com/topic/packaging (2) Peters-Texeira, A., Badrie, N. (2005). Consumers perception of food packaging in Trinidad, West Indies and its related impact on food choices. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29(6), 508-514. Retrieved from E-Journals database. (3) M. Sehrawet and S.C. Kundu, (2007), â€Å"Buying behavior of rural and urban consumers in India: the impact of packaging†, International Journal of Consumer Studies Vol:31, pp630-638 (4): Packaging Research: Background to Packaging, Online Available at: http://www.iapriweb.org/packaging_research.html (5): Transport information System, Functions of Packaging. Online Availabale at: http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/verpack/funktion/funktion.htm#anfang#anfang (6): Marella, Does product packaging significantly influence consumer buying behavior? Online Available at: http://www.helium.com/items/1582891-packaging-affecting-consumer-behavior Chapter 2 Literature Review Literature Review: 2.1 Introduction: This chapter presents the results of a comprehensive literature search in several aspects to this work. The prime objective of this literature survey is to identify those variables, which are involved in this research study about perception of food packaging, that how consumer perceive about food packaging in industry and how they are influence the purchase of consumer decision in choosing any FMCG food products. 2.2 Packaging Definition: Packaging can be defined as, â€Å"All the activities of designing and producing the container or wrapper of a product†. The container is called package. Packaging is a structure designed to contain a commercial food product, i.e. to make it easier and safer to transport, to protect the product against contamination or loss, degradation or damage and to produce a convenient way to dispense the product 1. Packaging also refers as a container, silent salesperson or a wrapper for a consumer product that assists a number of functions including protection and description of the product, contents and product marketing promotion. Creatively and innovatively designed packages actually add value to the product, if it meets a consumer need such as portion control, recyclability, tamper-proofing, child-proofing, easy-open, easy-store, easy-carry, and non breakability. The labels on packages such as informational elements, nutritional elements, ingredients elements, brand information are such type of important components of the packages which enhance the overall marketing mix and can support advertising claims, build brand identity, heighten name recognition, and optimize shelf space allocations. When designing a packaging, the monetary value to manufacture, shipment, and display the package must be efficiently calculated. However, regarding to the packaging size and shape, the package must be design in a way that if it is small, then it should be small enough to accommodate available shelf space and large enough to dissuade theft. Furthermore, creatively designed packages must highlights the benefits of the product and contain an adequate amount of product to keep the per unit price competitive 2.3 Packaging Evolution: In early times, Before the World War II, Packaging was primarily used and was often standardized to surround and protect products during storage, transportation, and distribution. The main role of packaging was to ensure the preservation and transportation of products and even for ease-of-use by the end consumer, but package design was typically left to technicians. However, After World War II, things were changed and companies became more interested in mass production and development of packaging and invest more in marketing and promotion tools as a means of alluring customers to purchase their products. As a result of which many manufacturers began to view packaging as an essential element of overall business marketing strategies to lure buyers. This industry revolution and increased attention to packaging concurred with socioeconomic changes that were taking place around the world and on other hand with passage of time the consumers were becoming better educated, as a result of which their expectations of product, packaging designs and their trust on them was increased as well. Therefore, consumer began to rely much more heavily on manufactured goods and processed food items. New technologies related to production, manufacturer, storage distribution, and preservatives led to a massive increase in the number and type of products and brands available in industrialized nations. Thus, packaging became a vital means of differentiating items and informing busy consumers. Packaging today, is regarded, as an essential part of a successful business practice. Package design became a marketing mix promotion tool, and as a new corporate cost-consciousness developed in response to increased competition, companies began to alter packaging techniques as a way to cut production, storage, and distribution expenses. Furthermore, marketers began to view packaging as a successful marketing tool to feat existing product lines by adding new items and to ticker new life into maturing product line 2. 2.4: Packaging Attributes: Food products brands use a range of packaging attributes, which comprises of packaging colors, packaging designs, shapes, messages, and symbols (Pinya Silayoi Mark Speece, Oct, 2004) 1. These attributes attracts and sustains the attention of consumers and help them to identify with the images presented. The importance of packaging design and the use of packaging as a vehicle for communication and branding are growing in packaged food competitive markets. Consumers intentions to purchase packaged products depend on the degree of extent to which consumers expect that the product will satisfy their need when they will consume it. But there are certain situations when they havent even heard about the products so much while entering into the stores, (especially in the case of new products) so the intentions to purchase that very particular product is basically determined by what is communicated at the point of sale. So, at the time of sale when the product is not familiar to the consumer, the only factor that attracts consumers to purchase is Packaging which is also called as Silent Salesperson. It acts as s silent salesperson and became a critical factor when the consumer decision making process is in progress, and how they perceive it depends upon the communication elements, which become the key factor to success for marketing strategies. Now to achieve that communication goal effectively and to optimize the potential of packaging, the marketers and the package designers must have to consider consumer perception point, their past experiences, their needs wants, and understand how packaging design layouts get consumers to notice the package and notice messages on the package and evaluate packaging design and labeling for their effectiveness in the communication effort because it is also important to notice that not all consumers evaluate the packaging in the same way. 2.5 Packaging Functions and Elements: Pinya Silayoi and Mark Speece (2004), defines the basic functions of packaging logistically and marketing by their role. The logistical function of packaging is mainly to protect the product from incidence of damage, spoilage or loss through theft or misplace goods during movement through the distribution channel. While in the context of marketing function, the packaging should be attractive enough and well design, so that it conveys the message of product attributes clearly. Now whatever the logical considerations of packaging, the marketing function of packaging attributes plays a vital role as a communicator and it is only the package that sells the product by attracting and communicating the consumers, and allows the product to be comprised, divvy up, unitized and protected. Quality judgments are largely influenced by product charactertics reflected by packaging, because packages overall features can underline the uniqueness and originality of the product. If the packaging attributes communicates high quality, consumers assume that the product is of high quality. However if the package symbolizes or communicates low quality, consumers transfer this low quality perception to the product itself. So the packaging acts as communicator and communicates favorable or unfavorable implied meaning about the product. Mark Speece (2004) suggests that consumers are more likely to spontaneously imagine aspects of how a product looks tastes, feels, smells, or sounds while they are viewing a product picture on the package. A review of the above literature indicates that there are mainly four packaging elements potentially affecting consumer purchase decisions. They can be separated into two categories; visual and informational elements. The visual elements consist of graphics, images size and shape of packaging. Informational elements relate to product information and information about the technologies used in the package. However the product information can further be categorized into food labeling, ingredients information, nutrition information, usage detail, and manufacturers / company details, manufacturing and expiry information etc. 2.6: Variables of Packaging: 2.6.1: Visual Elements: 2.6.1.1: Graphics and Color: The implication of graphics is explained by the images created on the product. Graphics designs are visual presentations which include layout, color combinations, typography, and product photography all of which create a positive and distinctive image. For consumers, the package is the product, and different consumers respond to different packages in different ways depending on their involvement level (Silayoi Speece, 2004). For low involvement products, such as FMCG, where initial impressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact and where evaluation of attributes is less important in decision making, here then a highly noticeable factor such as graphics and colors becomes more important (Grossman and Wisenblit, 1999) (3). On the other hand, the behavior of consumers towards high involvement products is mostly influenced by image issues. For low involvement, there is a strong impact on consumer decision making from the development of the market through marketing com munications, including image building (Kupiec and Revell, 2001). (4) 2.6.1.2: Placement of Visual Impact Elements Matters: In packaging layouts, the placement of visual elements also plays an important role for consumer psyche, because a psychic research of Rettie and Brewer, (2000) (5) indicates that brain laterality results in an asymmetry in the perception of elements in packaging designs. The recall of package elements/attributes is likely to be influenced by their lateral pass position on the package, as well as by other usually recognized factors, such as font color, font size and font style. Research shows that for verbal stimuli recall is better when the copy is on the right-hand side of the package, and better for non-verbal stimuli when it is on the left-hand side. This may imply that, in order to maximize consumers recall, pictorial elements, such as product photography, typography, it should be positioned on the left-hand side of the package. Grossman and Wisenblit (1999) (6), says in their research that consumers also learn color associations, which lead them to prefer certain colors for certain product categories. For a unique particular brand, using color as a clue on packaging can nurture a potentially strong association. However people in different cultures are exposed to different colors and according their own culture they develop different color preferences. So as a marketer, color consideration should be the part of their marketing strategies and by keeping in mind the color consideration according to people perception in different culture, colors of a particular logo, package or product design should be done after a thorough understanding of color association according to culture. 2.6.1.3: Packaging Size and Shape: Silayoi and Speece, (2004) states that in packaging, the other visual elements such as size and shape are also important in consideration. Package size, shape and elongation also affect consumer judgments and considerations. Consumers use these things as simplifying visual heuristics to make volume judgments. They generally perceive more elongated packages to be larger. In case of sizes, especially for generic products, different sizes of packages may appeal to consumer with different involvement level. Usually generic products are packaged in larger sizes, which communicate to consumers who are specifically looking for good deals. So, this implies that when the product quality is hard to determine, as with generics, the packaging size effect is important. Thus elongating the shape, within acceptable bound, should result in consumer thinking of the package as better value for money also conceivably affect perceived volume. 2.6.2: Informational Elements 2.6.2.1: Product Information Product information includes information elements, such as food labeling, nutrition information, health information, ingredients information, manufactures date, expiry date. In high involvement level, the behavior of consumers toward product characterized is less influenced by image issues, graphical and visual response, in such cases consumer seeks product information which is one of the important packaging functions to communicate. (Kupiec and Revell, 2001; Silayoi and Speece, 2004). (7) Written information on the package can assists consumers in making their decisions carefully as they consider product characteristics. Package layout is important for information presentation. Food labeling is considered as significant information on packaging and a recent study shows that 90 percent of the consumers trends towards healthier eating have highlighted the importance of labeling, which also allows consumers the opportunity to cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices. However, packaging information can create confusion by conveying either too much misleads the inaccurate information. Manufacturers and package designers often use very small fonts and very dense writing styles to pack extensive information on the label, which lead to poor readability and sometimes confusion. As confusion can affect consumer decision quality, So Mitchell and Papavassiloiu (1999) (8), suggests that consumer confusion of information overload can be reduced by narrowing down their choice sets, because by reducing their choice alternatives and evaluation attributes decreases the probability that they will be confused by excessive choice and information overload. This strategy could also be applied to more experience consumers, because loyal consumers potentially look fewer brand alternatives. So, it is the experience which makes consumer more selectively perspective and restrict the scope of their choices. Hughes (1998) (9), in one of his journals grabs the attention towards involvement level, that sometimes involvement level reflects the extent of personal relevance of the individuals personal goals, basic values and self concept. If the product does not stimuli much interest, consumers do not give much attention to it. High involvement level shows more personal relevance. In general, consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often done without carefully examining brand and product information. This lack of commitment suggests that information on the package would carry relatively less value in such cases. On the other hand, more highly involved consumers evaluate message information more carefully, relying on the message to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Silayoi and Speece, 2004). 2.6.2.2: Packaging Technology Packaging for the FMCG food products in market plays a vital role in promoting the product to the customer, as well as carrying informative and legislative detail. Combining these roles requires commercial awareness, detailed knowledge of the relevant technologies, creative image care and consideration of the effect of colors, typography, photography that must support the product or brand. Design and technology of packaging decoration for the users market guides you through the technical and commercial factors to consider when planning the decoration, or label, of a package (10). Technology is basically somewhat related to the informational elements, because packaging technology conveys informational messages such as nutrition, health, ingredients which is linked to the consumer life style, so the technology of packaging development that constrained in the message communicated through technology must fulfill consumers need criteria. Consumers are even often prepared to pay slightl Impact of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behaviour Impact of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behaviour Chapter 1 Introduction   Preliminary Data Gathering 1.1: Introduction to the Report: During the last two decades many important developments in the position of food in daily life of consumers and producers takes place. In earlier times consumers were self sufficient, but during the last two decades things have been changed and there was a rapid development in the industrialization of food packaging communication process. So this research study focuses on the area of Packaging which is one of the most important elements of marketing mix and many marketers had considered packaging as a fifth ‘P , while the other four Ps are Product, Placement, Promotional and Price. So packaging is used as an important marketing tool. In marketing terms, Packaging can be defined as: â€Å"All the activities of designing and producing the container or wrapper of a product, Packaging is a structure designed to contain a commercial food product, i.e. to make it easier and safer to transport, to protect the product against contamination or loss, degradation or damage and to produce a convenient way to dispense the product† 1. Packaging mainly can be divided into three types, i.e. Consumer Packaging, Transport packaging and Food Packaging. This study is specified only to food packaging as food packaging industry requires packaging material that provides efficient barriers, preserves product effectively and therefore increases the shelf life of the product 2. However packaging is criticized largely from the environmental point of view, because many researchers think that packaging is depleting natural resources, as certain form of packages are health hazards, and there is a significant problem of disposing of these packages. Marketing researchers have to deal with these criticisms, and must enhance the positive features of packaging, like product protection, preservation, containment, communication, consumer convenience and marketing support 3. In context of above description, this study is basically consists of observations, surveys and interview from the consumers not only to determine how packaging of existing FMCG food products contain, preserve, and communicate the buyer, but the new food products too, because the variables for selecting the existing food products are different from the variables for selecting the new FMCG food products, secondly to know the importance of packaging on their buying decision process both for existing and new products, how they get influence, and how a good quality and attractive packaging convince them to buy particular FMCG food products. 1.2: Background of the study: The professional fields are becoming more and more challenging and competitive in the present arena. So, in order to endure and be successful in any field, you must have the deep knowledge and appropriate skills of the concerned field. In fact this is true about the fields of management sciences, in which the Knowledge and skills of a person can be polished, if he goes through some practical experiences. Therefore this study is mainly conducted to have the knowledge of practical business situations, because the theoretical knowledge might not always match with the practical situations, where we do businesses. Therefore this would be the socialization to the market in a sense of applying our theoretical knowledge in the practical fields. In this regard, I have selected the area of Packaging for my research study which carries a great concern in the present arena because in the last one and half decade the importance of packaging has been actualized immensely and by having packaging knowledge and designing skills, practically you can enhance your capabilities. Packaging has covered all the consumer tangible goods in order to create and enhance the marketing efforts. According to â€Å"International Association of Packaging Research Institutes† IAPRI, the packaging technology has gone through a significant and fast exploitation in recent years, and globally the packaging material and machinery industry is estimated to be worth of $ 500 billion per year representing almost 1-2 % of the GDP industrialized country, and over 100, 00 packaging manufacturing companies have employed approx 5 million people to serve all packaging business manufacturers company 4. 1.3: Introduction to the topic: The topic for my research is â€Å"A Survey on the Impact influence of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior† in which we will try to explore the variables of packaging not only for the existing food products but for the new products too, which attracts consumer behavior and influence them to buy. 1.3.1: Importance of Packaging: Many researchers together with Price, Promotion, Placement and Product considers Packaging as a fifth â€Å"P† as a marketing tools, because they think that packaging is a face of a product which actually refers to the material that servers to contain, identify, describe, protect, display and promote a specific product. The main objectives of packaging are to keep the food in good condition until it is sold or have been consumed and to encourage the consumer to buy it again and again. Correct packaging is essential to achieve above given objectives. Yearly billion of pounds are spent on packaging food. 1.3.2: Functions of Packaging: There are many protecting functions and purposes of packaging that influence consumers to buy a particular product.The various functions of packaging can be divided into three main types: Primary, secondary and tertiary (additional Functions). Primary functions concerned with the technical nature of the product while the secondary and tertiary functions are related to communications. The Primary Functions of packaging are to protect and storage of a product from loss, damage or any kind of deterioration from environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, precipitation and solar radiation. i.e.; the durability of a package, because people wants material that will really protect the product they bought and something that can resist handling and shipping. The Secondary and Tertiary Functions of packaging are the sales, promotional, service and guarantee functions. The main intentions of sales function of package is to promote the sales processes and to make it more effective and efficient, therefore in designing a package promotional materials should be placed at right place, because it plays an important role to communicate about the product functions, features, and other informational elements. The various informational elements such as product features, manufacturing and expiry date, ingredients information, nutritional information, food labeling etc. provides the consumer with details about the contents and use of a particular product. Therefore these promotional materials should be properly placed on the package in order to attract the potential consumers attention and to have a positive impact on their buying behavior 5. 1.3.3: Consumer Buying Behavior: The other main concern of the study is to know about consumer buying behavior or consumer decisions making process and how packaging can influence them to buy a particular product. Marella in one of her articles about packaging defines consumer buying behavior as the process by which â€Å"individuals search, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services, in satisfaction of their need and want†. When consumers need to purchase something, they usually go for the brands which are trustworthy and try not to seek other products such as new products or the brand which they dont know at all 6. Therefore at the point of purchase what communicates or influence consumer to buy particular product is only ‘Packaging. Similarly quality judgments are significantly influence by the product characteristics reflected by the packaging because packaging acts as a communicator, and it underlines overall features and functions of a product that lies in it such as informational el ements, product features, material used etc. So if the package is well design and attractive enough, consumer will likely to buy it especially in the case of new products. So, it is important that products should be well and attractive packaged to gain consumer attention. 1.4: Purpose of the Study: Success of a product depends on developing a strong relationship with consumer through an affective and efficient synergetic marketing mix, in which ‘Packaging† is one of the main elements to influence because packaging is the language of a product which only communicate to the consumer without any interpreter and has an immense effect on purchase decision. Most Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is low involvement products. In low involvement, â€Å"consumers do not search extensively for information about the brands, evaluate their characteristics, and make a weighty decision on which brand to buy†, and as packaging plays an important role in success of a brand and on a retail shelf it is the last opportunity to influence the consumer to buy, so the main purpose of this research, so this study will be conducted with an idea of knowing the impact influence of packaging on the purchase decision of FMCG food products, which are mostly consumed frequently and also to know the experiences of the ultimate consumers about packaging. The research study is basically conducted to apply my theoretical knowledge of marketing in the practical field of professionals by interviewing different consumers and to know their views and preferences towards the importance of food packaging. The objective of the research study will be focused on: To know consumer awareness about packaging. To examine the influence of existing and new FMCG food products packaging on consumer buying behavior. To examine consumer experience of purchasing packaged food products. To understand how packaging can influence them to purchase their decision powers To know whether a good and attractive packaging of FMCG food products can influence consumers to buy it or not? Beside this the research is the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Bachelors of Business Administration and the submission to the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar. 1.5: Methodology of the report: This study has been conducted with the following procedures: 1.5.1: Reading Articles Reading articles are the formation of the strongest foundation. For this research study I have been reading and looking at different articles and research studies both in libraries as well as through Internet and searching through digital libraries the literature of the my research study. 1.5.2: Questionnaires The data for my research study has been collected from a representative sample of 200 people, who are responsible for purchasing the household food products and are also the ultimate consumers of the packaged food products. The sample from population was derived from shoppers at different geographical areas of Peshawar. The questionnaire was initially put to pilot testing on 5 respondents for clarity and validity. Through the use of questions related to the study, the respondents were highly encouraged to express their opinions. The questionnaire comprised of few questions, grouped in five sections: Visual Impact, Brand Information, food labeling and nutrition information, and new products purchasing. The impact of these variables is analyzed in the Analysis section. Responses of the consumers have been converted to frequencies and percentages by using SPSS software through which I developed the Bar chart or Histogram in order to explain the degree of impact of mentioned variables on the purchase decision I have also used the Pie chart method in order to find the most influencing variable on the purchase decision. 1.6: Scope of the Study The Scope for my research study is limited to Peshawar city and the sample for my research has also been taken from the population of Peshawar city for collecting primary data. The market, which has been surveyed, is limited to the consumers in Peshawar region. The reader of this research report will be able to understand the preferences of consumers about the packaging especially the food packaging, because consumers are more connected to the food industry. And also they would be having better understanding that how packaging can influence consumers purchase decision? Besides, this research study will also show the knowledge and understanding of packaging features and roles in the marketing efforts and new demands from the packaging industries as far as consumers are concerned. 1.7: Limitations The first hurdle that I have faced is the unavailability of the secondary data about our local markets consumers therefore, in this stage I had the difficulty to find the relevant data as far as my study of research is concerned. Another limitation is the difficulty in collecting primary data in the market as I have used Questionnaire method but mostly respondents were not familiar about that how to understand and respond to a question being asked. Third limitation is time constraint, which is again a pressure on us to finalize the research report which might caused this research report be deficient in order to cover every aspect of my research study but still I made the best of it. 1.8: Sampling The study population comprised of 200 people who are the ultimate consumers of packaged food products. The sample has been drawn from supermarkets located in different geographical areas in Peshawar and also collected data from the respondents in the universities. For my studies I used stratified sampling method and judgment sampling method. I divide my sample into three main stratas like those males which got the purchasing power and do purchase regardless of the family members, second those female households which ultimately got the purchasing power, and lastly childrens. For childrens I used judgment sampling method. 1.9: Scheme of Report This report is organized in five main sections. Section 1 consists of one chapter that describes the introduction of the report, objectives and the purpose of the report. Section 2 consists of two chapters that constitute literature of this study and Different variables involved, respectively. Section 3 also consists of two chapters in which theoretical framework and nature of the research, i.e. research design has been describe. In Section 4 there is one chapter in which the data analysis has been done and the last Section, which is Section 5, consists of one chapter that mainly includes the Conclusion and Recommendations of this Research Study. References Cited: (1) Marketing Dictionary, Small Business Encyclopedia: Packaging, Web Link: http://www.answers.com/topic/packaging (2) Peters-Texeira, A., Badrie, N. (2005). Consumers perception of food packaging in Trinidad, West Indies and its related impact on food choices. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29(6), 508-514. Retrieved from E-Journals database. (3) M. Sehrawet and S.C. Kundu, (2007), â€Å"Buying behavior of rural and urban consumers in India: the impact of packaging†, International Journal of Consumer Studies Vol:31, pp630-638 (4): Packaging Research: Background to Packaging, Online Available at: http://www.iapriweb.org/packaging_research.html (5): Transport information System, Functions of Packaging. Online Availabale at: http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/verpack/funktion/funktion.htm#anfang#anfang (6): Marella, Does product packaging significantly influence consumer buying behavior? Online Available at: http://www.helium.com/items/1582891-packaging-affecting-consumer-behavior Chapter 2 Literature Review Literature Review: 2.1 Introduction: This chapter presents the results of a comprehensive literature search in several aspects to this work. The prime objective of this literature survey is to identify those variables, which are involved in this research study about perception of food packaging, that how consumer perceive about food packaging in industry and how they are influence the purchase of consumer decision in choosing any FMCG food products. 2.2 Packaging Definition: Packaging can be defined as, â€Å"All the activities of designing and producing the container or wrapper of a product†. The container is called package. Packaging is a structure designed to contain a commercial food product, i.e. to make it easier and safer to transport, to protect the product against contamination or loss, degradation or damage and to produce a convenient way to dispense the product 1. Packaging also refers as a container, silent salesperson or a wrapper for a consumer product that assists a number of functions including protection and description of the product, contents and product marketing promotion. Creatively and innovatively designed packages actually add value to the product, if it meets a consumer need such as portion control, recyclability, tamper-proofing, child-proofing, easy-open, easy-store, easy-carry, and non breakability. The labels on packages such as informational elements, nutritional elements, ingredients elements, brand information are such type of important components of the packages which enhance the overall marketing mix and can support advertising claims, build brand identity, heighten name recognition, and optimize shelf space allocations. When designing a packaging, the monetary value to manufacture, shipment, and display the package must be efficiently calculated. However, regarding to the packaging size and shape, the package must be design in a way that if it is small, then it should be small enough to accommodate available shelf space and large enough to dissuade theft. Furthermore, creatively designed packages must highlights the benefits of the product and contain an adequate amount of product to keep the per unit price competitive 2.3 Packaging Evolution: In early times, Before the World War II, Packaging was primarily used and was often standardized to surround and protect products during storage, transportation, and distribution. The main role of packaging was to ensure the preservation and transportation of products and even for ease-of-use by the end consumer, but package design was typically left to technicians. However, After World War II, things were changed and companies became more interested in mass production and development of packaging and invest more in marketing and promotion tools as a means of alluring customers to purchase their products. As a result of which many manufacturers began to view packaging as an essential element of overall business marketing strategies to lure buyers. This industry revolution and increased attention to packaging concurred with socioeconomic changes that were taking place around the world and on other hand with passage of time the consumers were becoming better educated, as a result of which their expectations of product, packaging designs and their trust on them was increased as well. Therefore, consumer began to rely much more heavily on manufactured goods and processed food items. New technologies related to production, manufacturer, storage distribution, and preservatives led to a massive increase in the number and type of products and brands available in industrialized nations. Thus, packaging became a vital means of differentiating items and informing busy consumers. Packaging today, is regarded, as an essential part of a successful business practice. Package design became a marketing mix promotion tool, and as a new corporate cost-consciousness developed in response to increased competition, companies began to alter packaging techniques as a way to cut production, storage, and distribution expenses. Furthermore, marketers began to view packaging as a successful marketing tool to feat existing product lines by adding new items and to ticker new life into maturing product line 2. 2.4: Packaging Attributes: Food products brands use a range of packaging attributes, which comprises of packaging colors, packaging designs, shapes, messages, and symbols (Pinya Silayoi Mark Speece, Oct, 2004) 1. These attributes attracts and sustains the attention of consumers and help them to identify with the images presented. The importance of packaging design and the use of packaging as a vehicle for communication and branding are growing in packaged food competitive markets. Consumers intentions to purchase packaged products depend on the degree of extent to which consumers expect that the product will satisfy their need when they will consume it. But there are certain situations when they havent even heard about the products so much while entering into the stores, (especially in the case of new products) so the intentions to purchase that very particular product is basically determined by what is communicated at the point of sale. So, at the time of sale when the product is not familiar to the consumer, the only factor that attracts consumers to purchase is Packaging which is also called as Silent Salesperson. It acts as s silent salesperson and became a critical factor when the consumer decision making process is in progress, and how they perceive it depends upon the communication elements, which become the key factor to success for marketing strategies. Now to achieve that communication goal effectively and to optimize the potential of packaging, the marketers and the package designers must have to consider consumer perception point, their past experiences, their needs wants, and understand how packaging design layouts get consumers to notice the package and notice messages on the package and evaluate packaging design and labeling for their effectiveness in the communication effort because it is also important to notice that not all consumers evaluate the packaging in the same way. 2.5 Packaging Functions and Elements: Pinya Silayoi and Mark Speece (2004), defines the basic functions of packaging logistically and marketing by their role. The logistical function of packaging is mainly to protect the product from incidence of damage, spoilage or loss through theft or misplace goods during movement through the distribution channel. While in the context of marketing function, the packaging should be attractive enough and well design, so that it conveys the message of product attributes clearly. Now whatever the logical considerations of packaging, the marketing function of packaging attributes plays a vital role as a communicator and it is only the package that sells the product by attracting and communicating the consumers, and allows the product to be comprised, divvy up, unitized and protected. Quality judgments are largely influenced by product charactertics reflected by packaging, because packages overall features can underline the uniqueness and originality of the product. If the packaging attributes communicates high quality, consumers assume that the product is of high quality. However if the package symbolizes or communicates low quality, consumers transfer this low quality perception to the product itself. So the packaging acts as communicator and communicates favorable or unfavorable implied meaning about the product. Mark Speece (2004) suggests that consumers are more likely to spontaneously imagine aspects of how a product looks tastes, feels, smells, or sounds while they are viewing a product picture on the package. A review of the above literature indicates that there are mainly four packaging elements potentially affecting consumer purchase decisions. They can be separated into two categories; visual and informational elements. The visual elements consist of graphics, images size and shape of packaging. Informational elements relate to product information and information about the technologies used in the package. However the product information can further be categorized into food labeling, ingredients information, nutrition information, usage detail, and manufacturers / company details, manufacturing and expiry information etc. 2.6: Variables of Packaging: 2.6.1: Visual Elements: 2.6.1.1: Graphics and Color: The implication of graphics is explained by the images created on the product. Graphics designs are visual presentations which include layout, color combinations, typography, and product photography all of which create a positive and distinctive image. For consumers, the package is the product, and different consumers respond to different packages in different ways depending on their involvement level (Silayoi Speece, 2004). For low involvement products, such as FMCG, where initial impressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact and where evaluation of attributes is less important in decision making, here then a highly noticeable factor such as graphics and colors becomes more important (Grossman and Wisenblit, 1999) (3). On the other hand, the behavior of consumers towards high involvement products is mostly influenced by image issues. For low involvement, there is a strong impact on consumer decision making from the development of the market through marketing com munications, including image building (Kupiec and Revell, 2001). (4) 2.6.1.2: Placement of Visual Impact Elements Matters: In packaging layouts, the placement of visual elements also plays an important role for consumer psyche, because a psychic research of Rettie and Brewer, (2000) (5) indicates that brain laterality results in an asymmetry in the perception of elements in packaging designs. The recall of package elements/attributes is likely to be influenced by their lateral pass position on the package, as well as by other usually recognized factors, such as font color, font size and font style. Research shows that for verbal stimuli recall is better when the copy is on the right-hand side of the package, and better for non-verbal stimuli when it is on the left-hand side. This may imply that, in order to maximize consumers recall, pictorial elements, such as product photography, typography, it should be positioned on the left-hand side of the package. Grossman and Wisenblit (1999) (6), says in their research that consumers also learn color associations, which lead them to prefer certain colors for certain product categories. For a unique particular brand, using color as a clue on packaging can nurture a potentially strong association. However people in different cultures are exposed to different colors and according their own culture they develop different color preferences. So as a marketer, color consideration should be the part of their marketing strategies and by keeping in mind the color consideration according to people perception in different culture, colors of a particular logo, package or product design should be done after a thorough understanding of color association according to culture. 2.6.1.3: Packaging Size and Shape: Silayoi and Speece, (2004) states that in packaging, the other visual elements such as size and shape are also important in consideration. Package size, shape and elongation also affect consumer judgments and considerations. Consumers use these things as simplifying visual heuristics to make volume judgments. They generally perceive more elongated packages to be larger. In case of sizes, especially for generic products, different sizes of packages may appeal to consumer with different involvement level. Usually generic products are packaged in larger sizes, which communicate to consumers who are specifically looking for good deals. So, this implies that when the product quality is hard to determine, as with generics, the packaging size effect is important. Thus elongating the shape, within acceptable bound, should result in consumer thinking of the package as better value for money also conceivably affect perceived volume. 2.6.2: Informational Elements 2.6.2.1: Product Information Product information includes information elements, such as food labeling, nutrition information, health information, ingredients information, manufactures date, expiry date. In high involvement level, the behavior of consumers toward product characterized is less influenced by image issues, graphical and visual response, in such cases consumer seeks product information which is one of the important packaging functions to communicate. (Kupiec and Revell, 2001; Silayoi and Speece, 2004). (7) Written information on the package can assists consumers in making their decisions carefully as they consider product characteristics. Package layout is important for information presentation. Food labeling is considered as significant information on packaging and a recent study shows that 90 percent of the consumers trends towards healthier eating have highlighted the importance of labeling, which also allows consumers the opportunity to cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices. However, packaging information can create confusion by conveying either too much misleads the inaccurate information. Manufacturers and package designers often use very small fonts and very dense writing styles to pack extensive information on the label, which lead to poor readability and sometimes confusion. As confusion can affect consumer decision quality, So Mitchell and Papavassiloiu (1999) (8), suggests that consumer confusion of information overload can be reduced by narrowing down their choice sets, because by reducing their choice alternatives and evaluation attributes decreases the probability that they will be confused by excessive choice and information overload. This strategy could also be applied to more experience consumers, because loyal consumers potentially look fewer brand alternatives. So, it is the experience which makes consumer more selectively perspective and restrict the scope of their choices. Hughes (1998) (9), in one of his journals grabs the attention towards involvement level, that sometimes involvement level reflects the extent of personal relevance of the individuals personal goals, basic values and self concept. If the product does not stimuli much interest, consumers do not give much attention to it. High involvement level shows more personal relevance. In general, consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often done without carefully examining brand and product information. This lack of commitment suggests that information on the package would carry relatively less value in such cases. On the other hand, more highly involved consumers evaluate message information more carefully, relying on the message to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Silayoi and Speece, 2004). 2.6.2.2: Packaging Technology Packaging for the FMCG food products in market plays a vital role in promoting the product to the customer, as well as carrying informative and legislative detail. Combining these roles requires commercial awareness, detailed knowledge of the relevant technologies, creative image care and consideration of the effect of colors, typography, photography that must support the product or brand. Design and technology of packaging decoration for the users market guides you through the technical and commercial factors to consider when planning the decoration, or label, of a package (10). Technology is basically somewhat related to the informational elements, because packaging technology conveys informational messages such as nutrition, health, ingredients which is linked to the consumer life style, so the technology of packaging development that constrained in the message communicated through technology must fulfill consumers need criteria. Consumers are even often prepared to pay slightl

Zeus And Odin :: essays research papers

Zeus and Odin Zeus is the ruler of the Greek gods. He is the son of Cronos and Rhea, in fact the only son of these two to survive to adulthood. Zeus had been hidden by Rhea so that Cronos would not swallow him like he had all of his other offspring; he had been warned that one of his children would eventually overthrow him. Rhea sent Zeus to the island of Crete where he was raised. Zeus eventually killed his father. After he killed Cronos, he restored life to his brothers and sisters. He then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades to see who would become ruler of the various parts of the universe. Zeus won the draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods. He is lord of the sky, the rain god. His weapon is a thunderbolt, made for him by the Cyclopes under the direction of Hephaestus, which he hurls at those who displease him. He married a succession of spouses with whom he had many children including: Athena, The Fates, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes. His last, and most well-known wife is Hera but he is famous for his many affairs. Odin is the leader of the Norse gods and has a myriad of names including Allfather, Ygg, Bolverk (evil doer), and Grimnir. He also has many functions within the myths including being a god of war, poetry, wisdom, and death. However, he is not considered the "main" god of each of these functions. Odin's symbol is his magical spear named Grungir which never misses its mark. He also owns a magic ring called Draupnir which can create nine of itself every night. It was this ring that Odin laid on his son Balder's funeral pyre and which Balder returned to Odin from the underworld. Odin also has two wolves, Geri and Freki, and two ravens, Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory). He sends his ravens out every day to gather knowledge for him. Odin was destined to die at Ragnarok; Fenris-Wolf swallowed him. Knowing his fate, he still chose to embrace it and do battle, showing the true warrior ethic. He is the god of warriors and kings, not the common man. Among his children are:Thor, Hermod, and Balder. He is married to Frigg, the goddess of marriage. The first obvious similarity between Zeus and Odin is in their appearance. Both are very large men, but they are not depicted as fat men. Both look very powerful and foreboding. They also are both shown as having beards. A beard represents manliness, in a very basic way as facial hair

Evolution of Globalization Essay

The term globalization denotes â€Å"globe† as a single market. Product presence in different Markets of the world. Production base across the globe. Human resources from all over the world. International investment Transaction involving IPRs. The advent in ICI(information, communication and technology) Rapid economic liberalization of trade and investment The mobility of people and transactional moves The reach of satellite channels, internet etc. CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION IMF defines globalization as â€Å" The growing economical interdependence of countries worldwide through increase in volume and variety of cross border transactions in goods and services and of international capital flows and also through the more rapid and wide spread diffusion of technology† Charles Hill defines globalization â€Å"it is a shift towards more integrated and interdependent world economy† It has two components 1. Globalization of markets 2. Globalization of production Globalization refers to the free cross border movements of goods and services, capital, information and people. It is the process of creating network connections among the actors of multinational distances mediated through a variety of flaws. Westernatization, wallmartization, Americanization, Mcdonalization, disnaffication, coco-colonization FACTORS AFFECTING GLOBALIZATION/ DRIVERS OF GLOBALIZATION establishment of GATT(General Agreement of trade and tariff) and WTO regional integration NAFTA, ASZN, European union, SAARC, OPEZ, European integration declining trade barriers-tarrifs and quotas growth in foreign direct investment advancement in technology emergence of international monetary fund. COMPONENTS OF GLOBALIZATION 1. Globalization of markets 2. Globalization of production 3. Globalization of investment 4. Globalization of technology Globalization of markets: integrating and merging as the world market a s single market. Features: Size of the company Market for non-consumer goods, industrial goods and financial goods. Different strategies required for different markets Reasons for globalization of markets Large scale industrialization and mass production To reduce the risk and to diversify the portfolio. To increase the profit The failure of domestic companies Adverse business environment Globalization of production: Reasons Cheap raw materials, cheap labour and high quality Imposition of restriction on imports Reduce the cost of transportation Globalization of technology: Revolution in telecommunication, information technology and transportation technology ADVANTAGES / DISADVANTAGES OF GLOBALIZATION ADVANTAGES Free flow of capital, tecnology etc Increase in industrialization Spread of production facilities Balance development of world economics Increase in production and consumption Commodities with lower price and high quality Cultural exchange Demand for variety of products Increase in job and income High living standards Balance human development Economic liberalization DISADVANTAGES It kills domestic business Exploit human resources Leads to unemployment and under employment Decline in income Transfer of natural resources National sovereignty at country stake. Leads commercial and political colonization The divide between the rich and the poor The developing and under-developing countries Unemployment and mass layoff Adverse balance of payment Volatile of markets Loss of cultural identity Shift of power to multinationals Effects of globalization The globalization may be defined as the process of integration and convergence of economic, financial, cultural and political system across the world ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION international trade, investments and capital flaws integration of economics cross border movements of goods and services, technology and capital. FINANCIAL GLOBALIZATION liberalization of capital movement deregulation of financial systems cross border capital flows listing in international changes. CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION It is the convergence ofculure POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION After the world war 2, the convergence of the political system The response strategies to globalization forces for emerging companies DEFENDER The pressure to globalization is low Understands the home market or the strength lies in deep understanding of the market or their competition assets are customized to local market. The company should adopt defensive strategy that focuses on leveraging the local assets in the market segment where internationals are weak eg: Videocon washing machine introduced semi automatic machine EXTENDER where the industrial pressure to globalization is low. They possess competitive skills and assets that can be transferred abroad Companies can focus on expanding to markets similar to home basic using competencies developed at home. Ex: haldiram DODGER where the industry pressure to globalization is very high. To compete in industries with globalization pressure is highly difficult situation for local companies. CONTENDER High pressure to globalize and transferrable abroad and competitive advantage that can be leveraged overseas by upgrading the capabilities and resources.

Computer Uses Essay

Today’s technology has changed the view of world. Among them computers are one of the best creations of the technology. Computers are the best closer look of new era’s technology. Computers are very useful in our routine life as a source of entertainment, as a medium of education and as a one way of business. First, Computers play a role of entertainer in our life. We can play a game on the computer. We can also download and upload games from the internet or from the game DVD. We can also enjoy music and movies too. For example, If you want to see movies, you can see it online through internet or you can see movie on DVD. Same way, if you like to listen music, you can upload songs from the CD or you get songs from online from the particular music sites. There are so many sites available on the internet like youtube.com, videoshare.com for the movies and video songs. This way we can get relaxation by using computers. Second is as a source of an education. Computers are the best companion for the students. Computer has many kind of services which can be helpful for the students for instance microsoft word, power point, HTML, java, etc. We can use microsoft word for writing purpose, we can use power point to make slide shows. Moreover, there are so many study sites available for online tutoring. It is really a very easy and cheap way for the study. You can find your any type of study related question to study online. In short, computers make study easy and interesting. Last but not least use of computer is as a medium of e-commerce. Today in our busy world people avoid to waste time for their shopping. Now a day consumers like to buy and sell their stuff online. Best example of online shopping is e-bay. On this particular site you get all necessary things like books, electric and electronic items, clothes etc. Moreover from e-bay, you can sell stuff too. I particularly love this site.

Organizational Dynamics Essays

Organizational Dynamics Essays Organizational Dynamics Paper Organizational Dynamics Paper Kelsey Seminar 6 Saturday 1. How can managers develop an organizational culture that encourages a high-performance system or a learning organization? A high performance system is the idea that today’s organizations need continuing excellence and renewal as a way to bring innovation into our systems (Brown, 2006, p. 381). HPS calls for the removal of excessive layers of structure within the organization and the creation of a climate that encourages participation and communication across functional barriers (Brown, 2006, p. 81). The leader needs to display energy and zest for the task being worked on, the products and processes being developed, and fellow team members (Brown, 2006, p. 381). Leading by example is a popular way for managers to create excitement and electricity within the workplace (Brown, 2006, p. 381). Displays of enthusiasm tend to improve the morale and productivity of the workforce (Brown, 2006, p. 381). 2. Compare and contrast organiza tion development and organization transformation. How are they similar or dissimilar? Organizational development compromises the long-range efforts and programs aimed at improving an organizations ability to survive by changing its problem-solving and renewal processes (Brown, 2006, p. 4). It involves moving forward an adaptive organization and achieving corporate excellence by integrating the desires of individuals for growth and development with organizational goals (Brown, 2006, p. 4). Organization transformation is defined as dramatic, abrupt, change to total structures, managerial processes, and corporate cultures (Brown, 2006, p. 399). It requires a redesign of everything in the organization, including the norms of the culture, the very soul of the organization (Brown, 2006, p. 399). Nothing is sacred, and there are few, if any, guidelines (Brown, 2006, p. 399). The two are similar because they are both ways of helping make an organization better so it will be the best it can be. They are different because OD is more about making the individuals happy to help them want to make the company better, the OT is more about trying to redo the foundation of the company to make it better from here out. . Describe future trends in organization development and explain how each fits with in the context of your organization? The future trends include: (Brown, 2006, p. 427). Organizational Transformation- This recent advance in change strategies is used in situations of drastic, abrupt change when the organization’s survival is at stake. Shared Vision-this approach to organizational change involves getting all levels of m anagement to identify the strategic vision of the future and what it takes to make it work. Innovation- Organizations are focusing more effort on innovating- creating new products, goods and services. Trust- The critical factor in changing organizations is the development of trust within and between individuals, teams, and organizational units and levels. Empowerment- In order to develop high-performing systems, organization members must be empowered. Learning organization- a conceptual framework for the organization of the future, the learning organization is the notion that learning is central to success. Reengineering- The fundamental rethinking and radical redesigning of business ystems urges an overhaul of job designs, organizational structures, and management systems. Core Competences- the idea for companies to identify and organize around what they do best. Organizational Architecture- a metaphor that forces managers to think more broadly about their organization in terms of how work, people and formal and informal structures fit together. Reference Brown, D. R. Har vey, D. (2006). An experiential approach to Organizational development, (7th ed. ). ,Upper Saddle River, N J: Prentice Hall.

Haasts Eagle (Harpagornis) Facts and Figures

Haasts Eagle (Harpagornis) Facts and Figures   Name: Haasts Eagle; also known as Harpagornis (Greek for grapnel bird); pronounced HARP-ah-GORE-niss Habitat: Skies of New Zealand Historical Epoch: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-500 years ago) Size and Weight: About six foot wingspan and 30 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Large size; grasping talons About Haasts Eagle (Harpagornis) Wherever there were large, flightless prehistoric birds, you can be sure there were also predatory raptors like eagles or vultures on the lookout for an easy lunch. Thats the role Haasts Eagle (also known as Harpagornis or the Giant Eagle) played in Pleistocene New Zealand, where it swooped down and carried off giant moas like Dinornis and Emeus  -   not full-grown adults, but juveniles and newly hatched chicks. As befitting the size of its prey, Haasts Eagle was the biggest eagle that ever lived, but not by all that much - adults only weighed about 30 pounds, compared to 20 or 25 pounds for the largest eagles alive today. We cant know for sure, but extrapolating from the behavior of modern eagles, Harpagornis may have had a distinctive hunting style - swooping down on its prey at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, seizing the unfortunate animal by the pelvis with one of its talons, and delivering a killing blow to the head with the other talon before (or even while) taking flight. Unfortunately, because it relied so heavily on Giant Moas for its sustenance, Haasts Eagle was doomed when these slow, gentle, flightless birds were hunted to extinction by the first human settlers of New Zealand, going extinct itself shortly afterward.

Anthology Submissions A Good Idea or Not

Anthology Submissions A Good Idea or Not Thinking of submitting to an anthology? I’d say if you have time to write an essay based on the submission guidelines, aren’t looking for great financial reward but are seeking to be published in a â€Å"real† book, there’s nothing to lose. I noticed a small ad in Poets Writers for submissions to an anthology devoted to lessons learned from our mothers. The editor, Eric Bowen, had decided to create an anthology of essays and poems and donate half of the proceeds to shelters for women and children affected (amazon.com/Wisdom-Our-Mothers-Stories-daughters/dp/1453631011) I was delighted to have my essay about my mother and knitting selected and the book has been a wonderful gift item. And it was my first time published in a book so a great credential to add to my resume. Shortly after, I was invited to submit an essay to a book being compiled (amazon.com/Im-Going-College-Not-You-Surviving/dp/0312607296 ) While these opportunities weren’t high paying, I felt they were important and a chance to have my work judged Without giving the writers any themes, I received submissions that span the entire citrus spectrum, from sour to sweet.   Inside are poems and essays about parents, families, jobs, food, and memories.   The title, Tangerine Tango: Women Writers Share Slices of Life, came from my love of the color orange and love of alliteration. I offered to pay the writers $50 for their submissions and have decided to donate the proceeds from the sales to fight Huntington’s Disease, which honors one of the writers who lost her mother to the disease this year. I loved working with the writers and shaping the book, seeing the themes that emerged.   I hope to do it again! So, I’d encourage you to submit to an anthology if you see one that speaks to you as a writer. Not for the money, but to be included in a book that you can be proud to be part of and will give you a chance to be published. I’d be wary of offers that don’t pay at all, or are for total commercial gain. Be sure you maintain the rights of your work too. You never know, being in an anthology could be a steppingstone to more acceptances.  

Using Geography to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse Research Paper

Using Geography to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse - Research Paper Example He argues that geography skills are important during this time because it will help people analyze the push and pull factors of migration, or movement, that can help them survive. Push factors refer to elements that make people want to leave the place, while pull factors are factors that make people want to go that place. Hunter (2013) mentioned that some of the pull factors of migration are cities that are connected to other cities, access to resources, such as food, water, reliable shelter, weapons, and transportation, and safety levels. Finally, he explained three steps that can help people analyze their options: (1) identifying points of analysis; (2) finding connections among communities or cities; and (3) finding patterns of movement over these connections. I agree with Hunter (2013) that geography skills will help people survive during the Zombie Apocalypse because they will help examine the movements of people, resources, ideas, and other factors that can help them decide whe re to go, in case it happens. If Zombie Apocalypse happens, the five pull factors that are critical to my movement are: (1) access to basic resources, including weapons and transportation, (2) access to people with ideas on how to survive during these times, (3) existence of safe havens, (4) connection among cities through transportation systems, and (5) availability of open, flat lands. I find access to basic resources important, particularly food, water, shelter, and medicine, because they are critical to survival.

Animated Comedy Analysis (comparison and discuss) Essay

Animated Comedy Analysis (comparison and discuss) - Essay Example uth Park, have written scripts that are laced with these lacerations that have the main aim of addressing racism in the American society and tell the story to the world at large using comedy as a medium to best portray this message. Animated comedies are believed to best capture and impact the minds of the viewer’s population than the action live comedies like sitcoms (Fels et al 296). The productions of these animated comedies have however elicited a lot of criticism as to whether the main aim of these comedy pieces is effectively addressing this social vice of racism amongst other societal issues like gender, class and sexuality by the use of cartoon medium or it’s a mere ridicule of the same social issues. A close analysis of the episodes of an animated comedy like South Park created by Trey Parker and Matt stone gives a clear picture of the context of race and vulgarism. The characters seem to be uttering a lot race related terminologies like the epithet â€Å"nigger† as a form of ridicule but passing a message that makes the race issue to appear as a thing of the past and the society at large has moved on (Weinstock 82). The aim of an animated comedy like South Park is to shine a torch where many have dreaded to shine a torch, race related issues are sensitive in nature because of the controversies that results when the subject is touched on but with the use of race ridicule platform in this animation gives an a approach that is blunt in nature in portraying racism in the society. Racism activism is normally related with the 18nth centuries and early 19nth centuries with race activists like Martin Luther king who took the main role of talking against racial segregation and discrimination. Race related issue in the present time appears to be a thing of the â€Å"past† that does not need much concentration because of the normalcy of interaction and good relationship ties between the races. South Park exposes the various instances of race related issues in

Israel and Palestine Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Israel and Palestine - Assignment Example en attack Jerusalem and Jordan parts controlled by the Israeli while Israelites attack Palestinians in Jordan, Jerusalem and Gaza as a means of retaliation and maintenance of security from what they term as terrorism from the Palestinians. Although the international community has shown interest in reconciliatory and mediation roles, I think the problems of Israel and Palestine can only be resolved by mutual consent by the Jews and the Palestinians. Reconciliation attempts had been made since 1948 when independent Palestine State and independent Jewish State were established (Sela, 2002). The move seemed to bring an end to a serious conflict in the region, but the struggle between the two countries is still on until now. There is need for the Palestinians and the Israelis to change their attitudes towards each other, but this is difficult because each side has strong and radical conviction about their religion, territories, power and security. International community may play the role of advising and encouraging both sides to loosen their demands, but the final road to peace will be created by the two nations willingly. The Jews and the Palestinians agreed that Palestine actually deserved to be a free state. West Bank and Gaza was considered to be acceptable locations of the Palestinian State. However, disagreements ensued on the shape and boundaries of those regions (Sela, 2002). The two regions have been the main centers of fights between Israel and Palestine. This clearly shows that the Israeli-Palestine conflicts are fueled by disagreements on boundaries. In this case, no international body will come to the region and tell Israel that this land belongs to Palestine, so just leave it, or tell Palestine the same thing. Israelites and Palestinians alone have the ability to sit and agree on the boundaries, but because each one of them wants to take control, they never seem to come to such an agreement. That is why conflict does not seem to be ending soon. What

Critically evaluate the usefulness of cognitive theories of learning Essay - 2

Critically evaluate the usefulness of cognitive theories of learning for the HR practitioner - Essay Example processes and the way in which these thoughts may have an influence on people’s understandings, interactions with their surroundings and their behaviour. Cognitive dissonance may cause disagreements and problems at workplace such as reduction in productivity and increase in the absenteeism or turnover rate of the employees (Schermerhorn et al., 2011). Like all other theories, the cognitive theories also have their strengths and weaknesses. This paper aims at evaluating the usefulness of cognitive theories in helping the HR practitioners. For instance, one of the strengths of cognitive theories is that they provide better understanding and knowledge on how people think. Moreover, based on the many studies done in the past, it has been observed that there are numerous positive influences of cognitive theories. This in turn has helped the cognitive theories to gain popularity since they can be used to understand the thoughts of people in relation to their reactions to their surroundings and to different situations (Bandura, 1989). However, on the other hand, cognitive theories have also faced criticism for having some weaknesses. For instance, there exists no common definition of the different cognitive theories. Nevertheless, the information provided by studying various cognitive theories has been taken into account in understanding an individual’s thoughts and reactions to their environment. This essay aims to e xplore the definition of cognitive theories and critically analyse the advantages and disadvantages of cognitive theories in learning for the HR practitioner. Human resource management practices are influenced by cognitive theories which are based on the assumptions that internal mechanisms like motivation, creativity, intelligence etc determine human behaviour (Shermon, 2004). Bandura (1989) presented the social learning theory according to which people acquire new information and behaviour by observing others. Bandura described learning as a social

Abuse of power by political leaders in africa Essay

Abuse of power by political leaders in africa - Essay Example In a military coup, he removed the president from power and took over the rule of the country. He abused the power and used it solely to his advantage (McDonnell, 2007). His rule witnessed horrendous brutality in which more than two hundred thousand people were killed just because they opposed his political leadership. The only motive behind these killings was to prolong his rule and the only way to do this was to kill anyone who would raise any voice against him. Not only the common people but judges, lawyers, people from the press, students or anyone who tried to question his power were killed (Melady & Melady, 1977). Only Uganda has not been such a state where political leadership has abused the power. The uprisings and increasing state violence in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya indicate that the people are not happy with their rulers (Herbst, 2000). The common citizen is denied justice, women are not given their respective rights and freedom of expression is not appreciated by these ru lers. During the recent uprising in Egypt, even the internet was banned for five days making the citizens devoid of any means of communication (Moe, 2011). Citizens cannot engage in productive work if they are denied such basic rights. A common man spends more time worrying about the security of his home and family than on his work. The nationals of these countries try to flee from their own homelands. As a result, the society and the economy both suffer simultaneously.

Television effects on Children Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Television effects on Children - Research Paper Example The essay discusses the effects of television on children in today’s society. Media greatly influences the character of many children. That is why most children chose the rock stars as their role model. Their way of dressing and character gives an affirmation to this. Research shows that children spend three to five hours watching television (Pressley 12). Television has both negative and positive effects on children. It educates, open their minds to new ideas, enable them to learn more about their culture as well as other people’s culture, it also gives them the chance to learn more about wildlife and the world that is other continents and planets lastly, it entertains (Datta 118). The positive effects only apply if the child chooses the right programme. On the other hand, television can be very detrimental on children. For instances, many movies show that one can achieve goals in life easily. This is to say that, television will display how ordinary people do extraord inary things to achieve a certain level of success for instance, engaging in theft. By so doing, children inherit this believes and presume how the school curriculum is wasting their productive time (Pressley 14). Because of this, children become violet and engage in theft activities to attain certain status in life. In addition, television creates stereotypes about life (Datta 117). For instance, men are portrayed to be wealthy and handsome while women are young and attractive. This makes them to assume that the society is supposed to be in that order. Because of that, many children have tried to achieve this level of life in the wrong way for instance theft as stated above and prostitution. As a child grows, television affects their health, weight, and sleeping hours. As children spend more time in front of television, screens they do not engage in physical activities. Sleep is also important for a growing child, lack of enough sleep results to fatigue (Voort 32). This makes the c hild to lose concentration in class affecting his or her performance. Recent research shows that the number of obese children in United States of American has doubled compared to the other years (Pressley 17). The main cause of this is many hours that the children spend on television screens. Television affects the social life of a child. A child may prefer to watch a certain programme instead of playing with other children. This also applies in the family where the child does not have time with the parents because of the television. Social interaction is an important aspect for a child’s development (Voort 32). Research has shown that about 85 percent of the children who are obese are vulnerable to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and heart problems (Pressley 15). This is to say that diabetes increases the risk of getting chronic diseases. The increase in obese children results to increase in obese adults this reduces their life span. The radical f rom the society lowers their self-esteem (Voort 32). This makes them not to feel accepted by the members of the society. To curb this parents are supposed to limit hours that children spend on the television and encourage their children to engage in physical activities. The other negative effect of television is that it encourages aggressive behaviors among the children. The aggressive behavi

Abuse of power by political leaders in africa Essay

Abuse of power by political leaders in africa - Essay Example In a military coup, he removed the president from power and took over the rule of the country. He abused the power and used it solely to his advantage (McDonnell, 2007). His rule witnessed horrendous brutality in which more than two hundred thousand people were killed just because they opposed his political leadership. The only motive behind these killings was to prolong his rule and the only way to do this was to kill anyone who would raise any voice against him. Not only the common people but judges, lawyers, people from the press, students or anyone who tried to question his power were killed (Melady & Melady, 1977). Only Uganda has not been such a state where political leadership has abused the power. The uprisings and increasing state violence in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya indicate that the people are not happy with their rulers (Herbst, 2000). The common citizen is denied justice, women are not given their respective rights and freedom of expression is not appreciated by these ru lers. During the recent uprising in Egypt, even the internet was banned for five days making the citizens devoid of any means of communication (Moe, 2011). Citizens cannot engage in productive work if they are denied such basic rights. A common man spends more time worrying about the security of his home and family than on his work. The nationals of these countries try to flee from their own homelands. As a result, the society and the economy both suffer simultaneously.

Internet Content and Views by Different Cultures or Religions Essay

Internet Content and Views by Different Cultures or Religions - Essay Example Through communication, certain social units develop unique habits, rituals, and customs. Religion, on the other hand, deals more with the spirituality and, sometimes morality of human beings. The difference in culture and religion throughout the world means that internet content may vary from one region to the other (Featherstone, 1990).In oppressive governments such as that of Iran, internet content is controlled by the state. Due to the tight bond of this country with Islamic culture and Islam, internet content related to Western culture has been completely censored. This is because their religion does not allow nudity and vulgar language. However, in the free world internet, content is not controlled and almost anything can be found on the internet (Hongladarom, 1999).In conclusion, I would like to say that various cultures and religions greatly influence the views of society on internet content. This is mainly because of the difference in beliefs. However, one thing is for sure, the internet is the greatest invention of the 20th century and has led to the betterment of life in society (Weinberg, June 2003).