International Foods Essay

The International Food Group (IFG) was the largest purveyor of food products in the world. Since IFG went public in the 1980s they continued to grow while acquiring companies by the dozen each year. Some of the companies were competition that needed to be eliminated while others had good ideas which IFG liked. Josh’s company, Glow-Foods, fortunately had some ideas that attracted IFG. Josh, while not very important himself was asked to meet with John Ahern and Tonya James, manager if IT marketing. John and Tonya were impressed with Josh’s work at Glow-Foods using social networking and other multimedia to market Glow-Foods. His ability to reach the under-thirty demographic is what really impressed management at IFG. Tonya explained how IFG wanted Josh to help them reach the youth and young adult market with IT. Josh would get a team and whatever resources he needed to accomplish this. Weeks later Josh met his team to begin work. He first met with Tonya, who expressed her excitement in having Josh onboard. Tonya would be responsible for helping Josh work through the many obstacles she knew would lay ahead. The obstacles were within IT as well with the larger company as a whole. Tonya introduced Josh to Rick Visser, the chief technology officer. Rick was in charge of architecture, security, risk management and the technology roadmap. Rick quickly reminded him there are procedures must be followed. It did not take long for Josh to realize there might be a bit more obstacles than he would like. Moving from a smaller company like Glow-Foods to IFG meant drastic changes in the process. Initially issues began to surface slowly, starting with a polite email from Visser reminding the team that access to instant messaging and Facebook required prior approval from his group. Next a request to outline proposed work, with costs and benefits for the next fiscal year, beginning six months from now. Josh and his team were understandably frustrated since they had to be innovative and think outside the box while following a very restrictive process. Josh and his team  worked through the obstacles and come up with a three pronged marketing plan. First, using an interactive web site with real time responses from internal staff the company c ould connect directly to customers about new product development ideas. Second, reach out to different communities to gain insight into their needs to help guide future marketing plans and third, implement all these ideas on the cloud. This would allow for easy scalability while linking with the company databases. Several obstacles where mentioned immediately. What are the business values and initiatives? What if these customers don’t like our company or our products and say bad things about us? How do we handle these situations? There was also great concern about the cloud. IFG did not have the cloud in its architecture and there was a fear of having too much company information vulnerable to anyone on cyberspace. They also mentioned the cloud idea was tried a few years back and it did not go well. Josh needed to win support for his three-point plan to use technology to reach its customers. There are several avenues Josh can take. For the first item, I believe Josh can do several things to help alleviate fear of an interactive web site. One would be to reach out to others who may be doing something similar and get their feedback. Another would be to just lay out some basic procedures for getting negative fe edback. Chances are there will obviously be some for one reason or another; maybe the idea of coupons or refund programs could be looked into, although outside the IT realm, there could be others in the company who could help with this idea. The second talking point of reaching out to different communities did not appear to get a lot of push back. It may be that this idea can proceed with little resistance. The third and the most controversial talking point is the cloud. Josh would definitely have to work closely with Rick and come up with a cost effective plan that works for the company, at the same time will alleviate their fears of the â€Å"cloud†. A well laid out plan explaining the process, the risk management and the benefits of the cloud will help win support for this final point of his plan. In conclusion, in Josh’s own words he has hit the big time. While the company policies require a much more strict business process each of them needs and can be worked through. IT appears there was an initial conversation with John, where Tonya mentioned the enormous roadblocks that are present because of all the procedures in place. The team needed room to be creative while  still working within the system. John appeared to be receptive to further meetings to allow this to happen. Until then, while working within the system, Josh needs to adapt to the new business process, since resisting it will only hurt his cause for new IT marketing ideas. All of his talking points in his three pronged IT marketing attack were very good, Josh and his team need to be a bit more thorough and try their best to have answers to every possible situation. References McKeenm, James D., Smith, Heather A. IT Strategy: Issues and Practices. Upper Saddle River, NJ

Notes Safety Management

Definition of Terms: Accident – an unplanned, undesired event that may result in harm to people, damage to property or loss to process. Near miss or near accident – an incident resulting in neither an injury nor property damage. Hazard – is any existing or potential condition in the workplace that by interacting with other variables, can result in death, injuries, property damage, and other losses. Hazard control -involves developing a program to recognize, evaluate, and eliminate (or at least reduce ) the destructive effects of azards arising from human errors and from conditions in the workplace.Loss control – is accident prevention, achieved through a complete safety and health hazard control program. Loss control involves preventing employee injuries, occupational illnesses, and accidental damage to the company's property. It also includes preventing injuries, illnesses, and property damage that may involve visitors and the public. Responsibility †“ is having to answer to higher management for activities and results. Authority- the right to correct, command, and determine the courses of action. Delegation – the sharing authority and responsibility with others.Even though we delegate responsibility, we cannot be completely relieved of it. Accountability – an active measurement taken by management to ensure compliance with standards. Safety Management: Safety Management will help us understand our safety responsibilities, take positive actions to prevent accidents, and give you a way of measuring how well we perform our safety duties. As a necessary part of the management process, hazard control is made up of safety audits and evaluation, sound operating and design procedure, perator training, inspection and testing programs, and effective communication regarding hazards and their control.A hazard control program coordinates shared responsibility among departments and underscores the interrelationships among wor kers, their equipment , and the work environment. Many of us mistakenly believe that accidents are only those incidents that result in serious injuries. If a minor injury or property damage results in an accident, some supervisors shrug off the incident and return to their routine work. They let the results of an accident determine their evel of interest in investigating its causes and preventing a recurrence.But we know that the results of an accident ( the degree of loss resulting from it ) are a matter of chance. It would be better to try to control the hazards that lead to accident than try to minimize, the damage done once and accident occurs. Loss control through accident prevention must be accomplished at all times. During safety inspection, be alert for anything that may cause an accident, such as tripping hazards, fire hazards, poorly stacked materials, poor housekeeping, safeguards are missing from machines, nd/or unsafe worker practices.Safety responsibilities cannot be s eparated from the other parts of your work. The best way to describe your Job is to say that you are responsible for safe production. Safety Responsibility as Performance Measure: Areas ot Responsibility: There are tour areas that supervisors must control: 1 Production 2. Quality 3. cost 4. Loss control Production, quality, cost, and loss control are of equal importance in measuring Job performance and cannot really be separated. When you accept a supervisory Job, you lso assume responsibility for the safety of your people.Every supervisor in any company is responsible for the safety of his or her workers. The top manager cannot handle all the details of every Job, so he or she delegates accident prevention responsibilities, along with commensurate authority, to various middle managers. In turn, the middle manager, will delegate responsibility for safety and accident prevention to the supervisor. Thus, you are accountable to your manager for accident prevention, Just as he or she is accountable to the top manager.

Essay notes of mice and men discrimination Essay

â€Å"Jail Bate† George discriminates her beauty and gender because of the way she acts. â€Å"She screamed† Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife to have been through some drama and terror which could suggest her reaction from discrimination. As Steinbeck does not name Curley’s wife this is Steinbeck’s opinion that she is irrelevant, this is yet another example of discrimination in some form. â€Å"Listen Nigger† this is an interesting quote that could suggest that Curley’s wife is discriminating Crooks, which is ironic because she is a victim of discrimination CROOKS QUOTES FOR DISCRIMINATION â€Å"Listen Nigger† this is a prime example of discrimination because of Crooks race â€Å"Cause I’m Black† this is yet another example of Crooks being discriminated as he replies to Lennie asking why he’s not allowed in the bunkhouse. â€Å"This is just a nigger talkin† here Steinbeck uses Crooks to show understanding the positives and negatives of being black e.g. no one will hold you for your actions. â€Å"The boss gave the stable buck hell† and â€Å"stable bucks a nigger† these two quotations emphasises the theme of discrimination of Race and how the context relates to how people were treated. (Slavery) â€Å"he woulda killed the nigger† here Candy is remembering a past memory but this is also links to the context of slavery. Here Steinbeck uses Foreshadowing as Curley’s wife dies later on in the novella. The name â€Å"Crooks† is a name given to the stable buck by Steinbeck because of his back which his discrimination of race which is why Steinbeck does not reveal his  name as Steinbeck has the opinion that he is irrelevant. â€Å"Guys don’t come into a coloured man’s room† here Crooks explain to Lennie how he is a victim of discrimination. LENNIE QUOTES DISCRIMINATION â€Å"crazy bastard† here George describes Lennie as â€Å"crazy† which reinforces why Lennie is mentally impaired. â€Å"Why ain’t you wanted?† Here Steinbeck shows lennie’s mental impairment to readers as he does not fathom the idea of racial discrimination. â€Å"you’d drink out of a gutter† here George emphasises Lennie being mentally impaired as George has the opinion that Lennie is not very sagacious. CANDY QUOTES DISCRIMINATION â€Å"They let the nigger come in† I can imply from this quote that Candy is relishing discrimination by joking about Crooks, which is ironic as he is also a victim of discrimination. â€Å"I been here a long time† this quote could suggest that Candy is a victim Ageism as Candy describes his time in Soledad as â€Å"long† which gives the image of old age. â€Å"wrist stump† this quote is an image which Steinbeck uses to show Candy’s disability. CONTEXT In the ranch where Lennie and George worked on was in Soledad, California which was where people went to chase their dreams it was known as the place of dreams. The Great Depression occurred between 1930-1936 meaning that most people were unemployed and money had been lost while banks had gone bust. This would have meant people who were discriminated e.g. disabled people or black people this could suggest that it was harder for them to live. LITERARY DEVICES SYMBOLSIM – rabbits representing Lennie’s dreams of owning land. IMAGERY – Steinbeck uses imagery before the introduction of each character to give them definition from one another and give the reader insight to what sort of character archetype they are . SIMILIE – â€Å"and flies shot like rushing stars.† This simile is used to show the conditions of the bunk house and how the workers were connected to nature. METAPHOR -â€Å"Lennie dabbed his big paw in the water† Lennie is metaphorically referred to as a bear because of his  large structure and his crushing strength. FORSHADOWING -All of the dead animals throughout the book, except Candy’s dog ; With every chapter, the death of living things increase in size, starting from a mouse, to a rat under the floorboards, to a puppy, to finally Curley’s wife and Lennie. Each death leads to a bigger one, foreshadowing that eventually, someone would die. CONNECTIVES For instance Significantly Partially Meanwhile Furthermore In addition In general Therefore However Thus Hence Alternatively Whereas As a result Consequently

History of women in the workforce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of women in the workforce - Essay Example This has precisely become a global phenomenon because they do not have access to equal opportunities. Following the lack of involvement of social entities, the feminine gender has found itself vulnerable to different detrimental factors such as diseases, physical abuse, emotional abuse and even sexual abuse. This paper, therefore, seeks to find and explore the role of women in the society and their vulnerability in an environment that is almost dominated by their opposite gender. Historically women have all through been highly faced with some obstacles that have been brought about by religious, cultural practices, ethnic background and sometimes abuse from their own spouses. Some conflicts have developed in the family relations with regard to gender. Arguably it is believed that behavioural norms have made gender roles vary from one culture to another In China, for example, women are treated as subordinates as opposed to their male counterparts. Therefore, they do not have any right that is supposedly supreme to that of their husbands or fathers. Different roles are set for them. For instance, collecting firewood and fetching water. Significantly the way gender roles are shared is partly attributed to the role that is being played by religion whereby, for example, in the Asian culture the women are highly forbidden in the holy places of worship especially when they are considered unclean due to some reason such as menstruation, ovulation and miscarriages (Hughes and Hughes 212). ... are considered unclean, and can, therefore, not stand in the pulpits or holy temples before they are secluded or sent to undergo thorough cleansing that is presided over by high priests. Significantly, this automatically depicts the men as clean. It also associates them with high divinity and high morals than their female counterparts hence bringing out the relations and differences between the two genders. Widespread discrimination is also another stumbling block before them. The way roles are distributed to women is partially attributed to religion and other social and cultural factors. Religion has been used to curtail the empowerment of women in society who are perceived as a weaker sex. Social-cultural factors such as societal taboos and traditions have also played a role in making women’s struggle for freedom a pipedream. Over the years, however, women have come out to claim their position in society. In the modern society, women have been able to crush the traditional n utshell and have been able to unleash their potential to the society. Women have managed to work in different disciplines like medicine, sports activities, art and even education. This is not only a comfort, but also a stepping stone to them since men continue to dominate the lucrative upper and better paying jobs in the government and other areas whereas, on the other hand, the women are not given full equal opportunities and rights like their opposite gender. They have little or no say at all in even the ownership of property because they are considered to be their husband’s property. Gender and sexuality are also taking a rather intriguing direction. Almost all religions have come up with a development that covers issues on sexuality and ethics. The society tends to look down upon the

Macroeconomics coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Macroeconomics - Coursework Example (6 marks) c)First-order conditions: Uc(C , l) – l = 0 Ul(C , l) – lzFN(K , h – l) = 0 zF(K , h – l) – G – C = 0 When the first two conditions arcombined Hence, in equilibrium MRTl,C = MRSl,C = w Which states that the Pareto optimum is the point where the indifference curve is tangent to the PPF? d) What happens to consumption, wages and output as G increases? (6 marks) After the increase in g = G/Y, the model can be able to predict a decrease in (c, w), increase in (Y,N, r), spending of Private consumption is â€Å"crowded out† by government spending increase. Output increases but welfare loss as both c, l fall.T (Besada and, Miras (2002) Question 2) a) Solve for labor supply as a function of t. (6 marks) Since w = z, we obtain the system Ul(C , l) – z(1 – t)Uc(C , l) = 0 C + G – z(h – l) = 0 Totally differentiating these gives [Ucl – z(1 – t)Ucc]dC + [Ull – z(1 – t)Ucl]dl  œ zUcdt = 0 dC + zdl + dG = 0 We had 2 equations from the previous sections: C = w(1 – t)(h – l) (1) C = z(h – l) – G (2) By substitution, we will have G = zt(h – l) It indicates the total spending by the government that equals total tax revenue. b) Sketch the Laffer curve for values of t from 0 to 1. (4 marks) Laffer curve c) What is the equation for t that maximizes tax revenue G? Either graphically or by other means, find this value numerically. (6 marks) The equation is as below; G = tz[h – l(t)] Basing on the curve above, the tax revenue is zero if t = 0 and t = 1 Therefore the numerical value is 0.5 Government maximizes tax revenue at t = t*. REV = REV* d) If G=0.2, find (either graphically or otherwise) the two values of l and t that satisfy this requirement. (4 marks) If G=2 then l and t is as below Question 3) Calculate the % year-to-year growth rates in each series, and graph them using a time series plot and a scatter plot (4 mark s) Scatter plot Time series (b) Are they positively or negatively correlated? (3 marks) They are positively correlated c) Does one lead the other? (3 marks) Basing on the graphs it is evident that one leads to the other d) Do the same using quarterly GDP and quarterly M2. Is there any consistency between M2-IIP and M2-GDP? Explain. (10 marks) Scatter plot Time series Basing on the graphs, there is no consistency between the two. This is because there is no correlation and one doesn’t lead to the other and the range or interval between one value is to small. Question 4) (a) Draw the consumer’s budget constraint, and show the optimal choice of consumption and leisure. Is it possible that the consumer may only choose an income of X? (8 marks) Consumer budget constraint The equality above holds at point H where the curve of indifference is tangent to the budget constraint and it is not possible for the consumer to choose an income of X b) What happens when the threshold va lue X decreases, explaining in terms of income and substitution effects; consider the cases of (i) someone whose income was initially below X and (ii) someone whose income was initially above X. (12 marks) When the value of X threshold decrease the impact is for example marginal substitution rate diminishes over time due to there is a diminishing marginal utility principle (Becker, 1965). Question 5) (a) Show how an increase in such government spending

Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bible - Essay Example De Duve (2005) proposed that "Science is based on the postulate that the universe obeys natural laws and is intelligible within the framework of those laws," and this belief is commonly shared by an ever-increasing global populace encompassing both theists and atheists, natural scientists and non-scientists alike. In fact, while pseudo and legitimate religious groups grow in wide diversity from New Age to Panentheism, the Christian belief of God and the Savior remains one of the most enthralling religious wonders of our time. Humbling and altogether enlightening when deeply understood. Thomas Aquinas summed up the answer for the question "Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us" when he wrote: It can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act." Aquinas argued that "in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue." He added that "If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends (New Testament). Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake." Together with the virtue of love, Aquinas cited other virtues represented on the man and the cross: patience for enduring the pain, sorrow and suffering, humility for allowing himself to be judged by the angry mob and Pontius Pilate, obedience to the will of His Father, and immateriality. Finney (1851) in his argument presented 24 reasons why Jesus had to suffer on the cross but this discussion shall present only those which conveys governmental underpinning as: First, he reasoned, is due to God's great and all-encompassing love quoting John (New Testament) "God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life" (John 3:16). Second, "His great love to the universe at large [] inasmuch as it was impossible that the atonement should not exert an amazing influence over moral beings [e.g., angels]" Third, "That an infinite amount of suffering might be prevented. The relation of Christ to the universe rendered his sufferings so infinitely valuable and influential, as an expression of God's abhorrence of sin on the one hand, and his great love to his subjects on the otherAs a governmental expedient it is easy to see the great value of such a substitute; that on the one hand it fully evinced t he determination of the ruler not to yield the authority of his law, and on the other, to evince his great and disinterested love for his rebellious subjects." In this argument, Finney (1851) quoted the

Community Event Assignments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Community Event Assignments - Essay Example The speaker also explained the deep meaning embedded behind this sacrificial ritual. The story of prophet Ibrahim was narrated really well. Since the event was spread over a long span of time, the members arranged for a time to read the Dhuhr (noon-prayer), Asr (after-noon prayer) and Maghrib prayers (evening prayer). These prayers are 3 of the 5 prayers that every Muslim is expected to read every single day. There was also a Henna session for the female students. During this session, intricate designs using henna was drawn on the palms of the willing female students. The henna designs are known as mehendi in the Muslim culture. Food was served up along with some dessert. A Muslim trivia was also arranged for during which questionnaires revolving Muslim traditions, history and culture were asked through which we gained a lot of more information and facts about Islam. The day ended with a cleaning up session after which we all returned home feeling much satisfied that we had the chanc e to come so close to such a rich yet misunderstood culture. I am glad that I had the opportunity to attend the community event. ... In fact, I believe that young Muslims Americans, like those who organized the event, can decrease the negativity between their culture and the West. American Islam dates back when slaves were brought from around the world to America but since they were freed the American Islam population was completely forgotten. We all are aware that immigrant Muslim population and American Muslim population are fast increasing in numbers and since Muslim students need to keep their cultural background intact as well as merge into the secular Western culture, this community event was an endeavor to accomplish just that1. The event was a nice platform for Muslim as well as Non-Muslim interaction. While the Muslim students had the chance of understanding the cultural and communal strength and the real meaning of Islam, the non-Muslim visitors gained an unforgettable experience. Since American Islam has to thrive among hostile population there are times when American Muslims are not valued, which leads to a feeling of dejection and abandonment. However this community event brought together so many like-minds to discuss about their feelings. I feel that I learnt a lot about cultural pluralism. An African-American poet had said-â€Å"Diversity makes for a rich tapestry and we should understand that all threads have the same value.† Somehow, in present day America, the American Muslims and the immigrant population are on the verge of losing their identity and I was not sure if they are recognized that well. Some studies even suggest that Muslim children often try to hide their real identity among fellow American students, but when I first came to this community event I immediately realized that the work the ASSOC was up to was incredible because they strived to keep their

Religion as a Psychology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religion as a Psychology - Research Paper Example Bible clearly describes the changing human behaviour through the stages of life. Therefore, it is well said by psychiatrist Jerome Frank, â€Å"psychotherapy is not primarily an applied science. In some ways, it more resembles a religion† (Bergin, 1980). Qur’an and Bible are the instructional books explaining the way of living in this world. Whenever someone leaves the instructions, the psychological force compelling the individual to get back on the track captures him. This practice of coming back to instructions is done through meditation, which controls the human psychology. Religions provide psychological guidance about behaviour, human rights and moral values. A reward of deeds in the shape of heavens and hell psychologically minimizes the human indulgence in sinful life (Fontana, 2003). Religion obligations act like a therapy in changing the human behaviour. Psychological changes that Islam and Christianity bring in human life are discussed in under mentioned para graphs: Psychotherapist Thomas in his book â€Å"The myth of psychotherapy† says that religion is the basic ingredient of psychotherapy. He also says that psychotherapy revolves around religion and rhetoric (Bergin, 1980). Human relations with each other are known as psychotherapy matters but in real, these are the matters of Christianity. This shows that Christianity and psychology are interrelated. Cure of souls was the common practice in early church that remained part of church activities until 20th century. Bible was used to identify the troubles in human mind followed by spiritual treatment of troubled mind. Prayers are the main source of fixing all sorts of problems. Care of soul therapy used in church, very effectively treated all the nonorganic mental, emotional and personal problems of living. This beauty of religion really helped to do away with all the psychological pressure and helped people to live a normal life. (Fontana, 2003) Cure of souls was replaced with t he modern word psychotherapy due to advancement in the field of medical sciences. Again, Christianity has played role in real psychological treatment of â€Å"sinful† minds. Psychological practitioners replaced the word â€Å"sinful† with word â€Å"sick† and replaced spiritual ministers in treating the people through religion than medical. Aim of religious treatment is to establish link between man and God. Confession and repentance is the right treatment for a soul in Christianity. Bible is the holy book that guides individuals in living an abundant life. Bible helps human being to exercise greater psychological control by having faith in God despite all the problems. Moreover, time comes when one is driven by internal force to tackle all the situations in the life that is the time when individual has received the life of God in his own body (Bergin, 1980). Islam means, â€Å"surrender to the will of Allah†, the all powerful who decides fate of human be ings. People with good deeds will go to paradise and with bad deeds will be punished in hell. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the last prophet of Allah and his followers are called Muslims. Islam is also one of the religions that treat human mind and soul through spiritual powers. Islam gives a clear path of leading a successful life. Qur’an is the holy book of Muslims having solutions for all the mental, health, psychological and health problems. Islamic scholars have done great research on the teachings of the holy book and have believed the fairness of all the guidelines. Islam lays great emphasis r on life following the death. Where good deeds will be rewarded paradise and bad deeds will see hell. This

Disaster recovery team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disaster recovery team - Essay Example The business disasters have several causes including human, natural, and mechanical in nature. The committee is in charge of procedures and operations of a discovery exercise. It is the central committee in any business company. For this company, it has twelve members from across all departments operational in the business. The departments are Information technology, management, electrical, finance, human resources, security department, and vendor. The committee must prepare and maintain a discovery plan. It is the first step in the process of planning the recovery. The committee should identify the risks and threats associated with disasters. The committee does this exercise by carrying out risk analysis that includes among others evaluating threats posed to the continuality of the business (Mukhopadhyay, 2005). Other scholars refer to the business risk analysis as the business impact analysis and entails assessing the current environmental and physical control and security structures as well as evaluating their capacity to serve their purposes. Differences in the magnitude of risk depend on location of occurrence, affected asset, as well as time. The committee should classify the risks into various classes while undertaking evaluation. The process helps in arranging on a scale according to priority. The committee can categorize the risks into known categories. External risks refer to those risks that nobody can associate failures of the company with their occurrence (Klein, 2007). Their strengths come from the fact that they are not bound by the company and its management. They fall into four subcategories including natural risks, risks caused by human factors, supplier, as well as civil risks. Completion of evaluation of risks means that the disaster recovery committee should sort and allocate scores to the categories. Determinants could be impact and likelihood. The management can prepare a score sheet to effectively score and

Declining Portable Water Essay Example for Free

Declining Portable Water Essay â€Å"Water of life†. This is a famous Christianity word that reflects how important water is to our life. As we know, most drinkable water comes from the river, thus making river the main sources of potable water. However global warming is getting more and more serious nowadays causing a global rise in temperature and melt the ices at mountain’s peak. In the book ‘Pillar of Sand’ by Sandra Postel, Postel says that major Asia’s rivers like Ganges, Indus and Yellow river depends on the snowpack mountains for their flow. Despite that, the rises in temperature has causes the snow to melt faster and an increase in rainfall, drying up the river especially during dry season. Even the famous Andes, Rockies and Alps rivers is said to soon face this problem which mean there will be a worldwide water shortage should these rivers dry up. Therefore, this essay will talk about what will happen when there is a decline in potable water. Global water pollution caused by sewage and animal waste has resulted in overdose of nutrients and sediments in rivers, lakes and sea.(Tasha Eichenseher, March 2010) This causes eutrophication which is a situation where algae growth increases; resulted in lack of oxygen in the river. That eventually decreases the values of the rivers, lakes and esturaries for recreation, fishing, hunting and aesthetic enjoyment. In addition to that, health problems can occur where eutrophic condition interferes with drinking water treatment. To sum it up, water pollution caused by sewage and animal waste is the root of the decline in drinkable water as it pollutes the rivers and also the treated water. In addition to the above, polluted water is also said to be the causes of diseases. According to the World Health Organization, up to half of humanity has one of the six main diseases – diarrhea, schistosomiasis, trachoma, infestation with ascaris, guinea worm, or hookworm at any time because of poor drinking water and inadequate sanitation. This shows that lack of safe drinking water, as water are polluted, can causes various dangerous spreadable diseases w hich can endangered our life. For example, it is predicted by Amin Zakaria in his column in The Star on July 9, 2008, that in 2009, diarrhea death toll will be like four jumbo jets of children crashing every day. Therefore, it is not exaggerating to say that human waste is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction as lack of adequate sanitation in usable water for more than a third of the Earth’s population is one of the biggest scandals in the last 50 years. This lack of clean water situation is further worsen when there is a decline in clean water. According to Tan Ee-Beng on 2008 in the Environmental Health Perspectives, of a population of roughly 6.1 billion, more than 1 billion lack access to potable water. His statement is further proven when a report from UNESCO on 2009 says that China currently has less than an estimated 49 billion cubic meters of renewable water resources when in the decades before 2000, this country owns an average of about 66 billion cubic meters of renewable water resources. In conclusion, knowing that there is a decline in clean water, the best way is to combat this issue soonest possible. Government should also urges the public to save water by increasing the water bill after the usual 50 liters usage. In addition to that, government should also increase the capacity of the water reservoir in the country. For example the current Selangor water issue between Peter Chin and Selangor state Government should be resolve soonest possible so that Langat 2 can be built and provide water for people of Selangor till 2025. We as citizen should also play a part by not wasting these precious water as to lessen the need to treat the water to be use again.

The importance of automobile industry

The importance of automobile industry CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction In the civilization of 21st century, human beings are not only focused on the basic needs but also pursuit the higher quality life. From the emergence of competitive business world, automobile manufacturers and assemblers needed to be active in order to ensure that consumers have high intention to purchase their products. We can clearly knowing that the people are toward the goal of comfortable and enjoyable life compared those residents in the olden days. Background information of country Malaysia The national car project, PROTON has been initiated with the originally conceived the idea and direct support of the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed was incorporate on May 7th, 1983 (http://www.proton.com). The first Proton car, Proton Saga was launched on July 9th, 1985. The present model car includes Gen2, Iswara, Wira, Waja, Savvy, Persona and Perdana. With the support by government, Malaysia has a fairly strong automobile industry. Beside Protons cars, the famous and well known cars also been assembled in Malaysia such as BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Volvo and etc. The importance of the automobile industry is also evident from its substantial contribution to the government bursary on direct and indirect taxes. It is estimated a total of RM 13.14 billion. A 54% of the total is for the government annual duty excise revenue which approximately RM 7.0956 billion, 33% of sales tax which approximately RM 4.3362 billion, 8% of import duty approximately RM 1.0512 billion and a 5% of corporate tax estimated to be RM 0.657 billion (http://www.proton.com). It the sense, it surely will be the governments interest to see automobile industry in Malaysia to grow further. Malaysia is largest automobile market in ASEANS with 90% of that manufactured or assembled domestically and more than 500,000 vehicles sold annually (Cheng, 2006). It shows that the major market for Malaysia is passenger automobile market. The new vehicle sales for passengers automobile in year 2006 is 90.1% compared with year 1999 is 83.1% (Malaysian Automobile Association, 2009). From year 1999 to year 2006, the highest automobile sales in Malaysia on year 2005 which is 416,692 automobiles. Table 1.1 shows the new vehicle sales in Malaysia from year 1999 2006. In year 1999 to 2006, we can see that Proton market share had decreased from 64.98% to 31.50% in the year 2006. This means that, the well known marques companies had started to penetrate in Malaysia automobile market. Throughout the 8 years, the highest increased in new vehicle sales is Toyota 84.53% follow by Honda 81.82%, third is Mercedes Benz 64.62%, BMW 61.47% and Nissan 59.50%. We can know that marques like BMW, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Nissan and Toyota automobiles sales have been increased from year to year. Beside Proton vehicle, Perodua is also one of the national car projects in Malaysia. They had also been increased in their vehicle sales from year 1999 2006 which is 56.46%. Automobile industry is the key success factor on the economy growth by creating various kinds of jobs in different industry. Due to its growth and backward relation with almost every segment of the economy, the automobile market has a strong and positive multiplier effect and thus propels progress of a nation (http://business.gov.in). Since Malaysia government had invested in national car project to elevate the technologies and to spur the set up of a huge network industry and services to put Malaysia among the few developing countries that are capable of producing a wide range of vehicles. According to Y.B. Dato Mustapa Mohamed Minister of Prime Ministers Department (2004), to compete internationally in automobile industry, we needed to invest in research and development, upgrade the workforce productivity and production efficiency to be competitively priced, be customer focused and provide satisfactory after sale services and to be aggressively promoting their brands to strengthen their market share positions. Beside that, the automobile industry in Malaysia needed to improve on innovations and practicality of designs, better safety features, improving performance, and fuel efficiency and be environment-friendly (Mustapa,Dato, 2004). Consumer are now also considered comfort and the colors are now for standards of driving in all of the world (Mustapa,Dato, 2004). Malaysia government had introduced the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in automobile industry to revise the sales forecast in order to be more competitively. It is also a way to be greater integration in ASEAN automotive industry; Malaysia will cut down the ASEAN CEPT import duty to 5% for qualifying vehicles (Cheng, 2006). It has been forecast that Proton might facing hard time to competing against tariff-free imports from other ASEANcountries under the agreement (Dilip Singh Mutum, 2003). The famous marques in the world such as Honda, Toyota, BMW and Ford have been put up their manufacturing plant in Thailand for the Malaysia automobile market. The car that have local content at least 40% produced by foreign country may enjoy a preferential import duty (Dilip Singh Mutum, 2003). Background of the Study The automobile industry has become more competitive as the fast trend growing automobile industry in Asia has drawn attention. Asia has been acknowledgement as a potential growth area for the automobile industry. A brands new car publication has led to increased competition, substantial price cuts and lower margins in the automobile industry (Silk Road, 2005). These relationships are not confined to the pursuit of short-term economic imperatives cost reduction but embrace innovations in design and technology, creative research and development and quality improvement and after sale services (Morris, Donnelley Donnelley, 2004). In the competitive automobile industry, competitors have to ensure their products are attracting to the consumers and high perception. The sales of the automobile will enhance the companys growth, profitability and market shares. Many consumers make their purchasing decisions is not always on the products pricing, but is on product characteristics, quality and perception, even between with fast moving consumer good (FMCG) (Veloutsou, Gioulistanis Moutinho, 2004). Some of the producer tends to focus on their own product comparable quality with the international brands, while others give less emphasis on the quality and concentrate on low price products. It is based on their target market. This theory can be converted to products marketed in internationally or locally. The British and German consumers with emphasize to the purchase intention in automobiles, placing particular emphasis on quantifying the relative importance of country-of-origin (Diamantopoulus, Schlegelmilch Du Preez, 1995). Therefore, the product quality will cause induction on consumer by increased their purchase intention attitude towards the brand and willingness of the product. In the advanced and competitive automobile market, consumer perception and purchase intention towards international brand on decision making is well set up. The automobile industries have to continue alter to strengthen their product image with a specific characteristic of the car model. The automobile companies can be fiddle by design via the use of visual elements, which consists of design characteristic to identify a brand and design characteristic for specific models to emphasize individuality (Liem, Zainal Warell, 2009). In automobile industry, under the tremendous pressure of offering a greater product variety at the competitive market pricing, the companies have increasingly employed platform sharing strategy, where different brands and models share the same basic platform (Chen, Kang Hung, 2007). Beside the innovation of the automobiles, after sales service also play an important role to initial the purchase of cars. It would substantially higher in sales and profit margin for the company. It creates substantial opportunities for cross-selling, brand-building, and solidifying customer loyalty. Before a store brand increases customer loyalty, many steps in the process have to be completed (Zielke Dobbelstein, 2007). The customer must know the product, launch some kind of interest, and try the product the first time, become satisfied and then launch a preference which will creates the loyalty of customer (Zielke Dobbelstein, 2007). The marques is currently undertaking a social change with its brands seeming less remote, less different, and less exclusive with high quality of life improving (Anurit, Newman Chansarkar, 1999). With the entire luxury marques brand, it created competitive automobile industry in world wide. The perception of the car image had become the key role in the purchase intention when the quality of the car is continue rising. The premium marques such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz must enlarge the attributes and values that reflect changing social values which influence buyers emotionally, in order to maintain their positions in different regions of the global market (Anurit, Newman Chansarkar, 1999). The purpose of this study is to examine consumer perception towards international brand in automobile industry and the factors that affecting the purchase intention on automobile industry towards international brand in Malaysia. It is to understand the perception towards the impact of international brand in automobile industry. Background of Problem Statement In studying the publics perception towards their preferred brand(s), it is important to understand the purchase intention and how does it affects the decision making and understand the factors affecting the purchase intention. Beside that, product image are important and lead to the idea in the marketing strategy. The brand name was the most important quality, followed by price retailer reputation (Agawal, Teas, 2002). These findings are valuable to marketers because they clarify whether or not marketing strategies related to market pricing, brand name, and their retailer reputation, can be standardized across cultures and countries (Agawal, Teas, 2002). The research is on Malaysians perception towards international brand in automobile industry and the affects of purchase intention on automobile in Malaysia. Almost all new car models are structure with brand extensions, capitalizing on current consumer perceptions and positioning the new model within the brand family (Strach Everett, 2006). Most of the Chinese car buyers are making their first automobile purchase and shows the brand loyalty (Silk Road, 2005). In the automobile market, consumers perceptions are more sensitive on the pricing that will affect the purchase intention. On the other hand, the perception towards the impact of international brand in automobile industry is a brand alliance combines the equity of two or more brand names to create a synergistic effect (Rodrique Biswas, 2004). In addition, the variables should be positively affected by the brand alliance (Rodrique Biswas, 2004). The brand names serve as a quality pledge device by wigwag product quality better than the host brand can by itself (Rodrique Biswas, 2004). Korean consumers perception were more strongly influenced by subjective norms rather than their attitudes, while US consumers purchase intentions were more strongly influenced by their attitudes than by the subjective norms (Chung Pysarcik, 2000). Problem Statement In Malaysia, the automobile industries are very competitive and the quantities of automobiles users are increasing every year. Table 1.2 shows the sales of automobiles in Malaysia in year 1999-2003. From the table, we can see that the non-national cars sales have been increasing throughout the five years. We can know that nowadays the peoples are preferred on international brand compared to the past. In year 2003, KIA motor has become one of the national cars in Malaysia. In year 2002 and 2003 total national cars sales have drop about 17% which is 56,920 units. Compared with the International brand cars sales have been increase about 35.7% which is about 16,663 units. However, Malaysias automobile industries still are facing positive and negative factors and impact which will greatly affect the purchase intention in automobile industry toward international brand. Therefore, I would like to do the research on automobile industry in Malaysia. In this research, we will focus and analyze the main 3 problem in this field which is: What is the Malaysians perception towards international brand in automobile industry? What are the factors affecting the purchase intention on automobile industry towards international brand in Malaysia? What is the perception towards the impact of international brand in automobile industry? Research Objective We define the research objective as: To study the Malaysians perception towards international brand in automobile industry. To study the factors affecting the purchase intention on automobile industry towards international brand in Malaysia. To study the perception towards the impact of international brand in automobile industry. Scope of the study This study will focus on all Malaysians especially the students from Multimedia University and working adults / young executives. It will examine the perception towards international brand and the factors affecting the purchase intention and the perception towards the impact of international brand in automobile industry. The study specifically will be focus on the Malaysians perception towards international brand in automobile industry. Significant of the study Through consumer behavior perspective in automobile industry, the research of this study prescribes the assembler and manufacturer with importance information about the perception is contributing to the purchase intention. With globalization, companies compete across borders and cultures. It is important for automobile industry to understand and forecast the perception. In addition, the research will provide a useful tool in developing effective marketing plans. It also provides some insight of Malaysians perceptions that arouse positive attitude towards international brand that will influence the consumers purchase intention. By conducting this research, it will be great to explore the perception towards the impact of international brand in automobile. The research is value added to the theory of purchase intention that it is not only related to locally but also internationally. Through this study, we are able to understand the factors that affecting to purchase intention on automobile towards international brand in Malaysia. Furthermore, this study can be used as a reference in Malaysia automobile industry for policy makers, automobile manufacturer and assemblers. Organization of the Research Report There are five chapters to be organized: Chapter 1 is the introduction of this research. Background of study and background of information country will be explained. Problem Statement and objective of study will be defined in this chapter. In Chapter 2, we will present a review of literature related to the perception of Malaysians towards international brand in automobile industry and the factors affecting the purchase intention on automobile industry towards International brand in Malaysia. This chapter also includes the perception towards the impact of international brand in automobile industry. The Chapter 3, research methodology, which includes the description of research framework used, questionnaire, sampling plan, and data collection method and data analysis. In this chapter, hypothesises will be made. In Chapter 4, we will analysis on the result of research findings. The beginning of the chapter is the background of the respondents. In the following part, reliability analysis will be tested. In the third part, there is included with mean analysis. The fourth is Pearson Correlation Analysis. The last part of Chapter 4 is multiple regressions. Chapter 5 is the contribution and conclusion of the study. The next part is suggestion for future research and limitation of study will be determined. Recommendation for the future study is included. Lastly, conclusion for the whole study will be given. LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction The purpose of the literature review is to provide supporting evidence that is related to the research. This chapter discusses the relevant literature dominant to the expansion of the conceptual model. Specifically, this literature review related to the perception and purchase intention. The Underlying Theory of Perception Most of the consumers will judge based on the price, store name, and brand name, to incriminate product quality perceptions has been demonstrated (Agrawal Teas, 2002). Study is an important build for investigative ethics-relevant feature of situational element in decision making and the relationship between quality cues and perceived quality across different cultural groups (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999; Agrawal Teas, 2002). In investigative the problem of perceived value is important because, when contrast with perceived quality, perceived value is immediate linked to consumer willingness-to-buy (Agrawal Teas, 2002). In additional, values are more complicated concept than the simply quality because it involves a trade-off of give and get components of a business deal. Therefore, the value will influence consumers purchase intention, which conversely is influenced by both quality and monetary sacrifice needed to purchase the product (Agrawal Teas, 2002). According to Agrawal and Teas (2002) Figure 2.1 shows the relationship between perceived quality, perceived sacrifice, perceived value and willingness-to-buy due to these four premises. The second premise will affect the first premise, which is consumers perception of product value will affect by consumers willingness-to-buy. Beside that, the perceived quality and monetary sacrifice is also affect by the consumers perception of value Therefore, Extrinsic cues such store name, brand name and price will be affect by consumers perception of product quality. Followed by, the price would be affect by consumers perception of sacrifice. Agrawal Teas (2002) conclude that: Consumers perceptions of quality and sacrifice will influence by extrinsic cues which is objective price, retailer reputation and brand name; The assessments of perceived value will influence by consumers perceptions of quality and sacrifice; and Consumers willingness-to-buy will be influence by the perceptions of value. According to Agrawal and Teas (2002) most of the consumers very frequent short of the in detail information, interest, expertise and time to assess a products quality. Pricing is also one of the indicators of cost that causes consumers have to give up an opportunity cost in exchange for the other products. The perceived quality and perceived sacrifice intervene the relationship between pricing, retailer reputation and brand name and perceive value. The willingness to buy a product is more directly connected to perceived value than perceived quality. Beliefs, Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions Model The purpose of this research is to find out the relationship between consumers perceptions and purchase intentions. By using the model of beliefs, attitudes and behavioral intentions it can define the relationship between consumers perceptions and purchase intentions (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975). According to Fishbein Ajzen (1975), as illustrated in Figure 2.2 it can define the relationships between perceptions and purchase intentions. As plate in Figure 2.2, the foundation of Fishbein Ajzen (1975) model is touch down in the difference between beliefs, attitude, intentions and behaviors. Beliefs are the main blocks in the model. Based on the first hand observation receive from outside source, a person emulate of beliefs about an object. Then they joint the object with every attributes. Therefore, a persons forges beliefs about oneself, about other people, about institutions, behaviors. The overall of a persons beliefs serve as the message base that ultimately defines their attitude, intentions and behaviors. Attitude can be characterization as a learned inclination to respond in a constant favorable or unfavorable way with respect to given object. Meanwhile, a behavioral intention indicates to a persons pectoral probability that they will perform some specific behavior. According to Fishbein Ajzen (1975) conceptual framework, a persons intentions, in the last resolution, are a function of certain beliefs. Some of these beliefs affect the persons attitude toward the behavior. In detailed, a person manner toward performing a given behavior is linked to their beliefs that performing the behavior will guide to certain outcome and his appraisal of those outcome. The acceptance is that the more favorable a persons attitude toward an object, the more they will propose to implement positive behaviors and the less they will propose to implement negative behaviors with respect to that object. The standard variable in Fishbein Ajzen (1975) model is the individuals behavioral intention. Fishbein Ajzen (1975) stated that behavioral intentions minister as a persons attitude toward an intervening variable and clear behavior. Fishbein Ajzen (1975) confident that the best forecast of a given behavior should be the persons intention to deal in that behavior. In order to forecast a concrete behavior (purchase intention), it is essential to measure the persons attitude and intentions toward performing that behavior (Fishbein Ajzen (1975). Therefore, if there can forecast on the behavioral intentions, in the other way it also can forecast the real behavior (Newberry, Klemz Boshoff, 2003). Product Cues Consumer assess products is based on the two attributes. Product linked attributes and non-product attributes are the two attributes. Design, serviceability and workmanship are the examples of product linked attributes (Gutman Alden, 1985). Inherent cues are the attributes that should not be transformed without transforming the physical features of the product itself (Gutman Alden, 1985). Consumers find it hard, if not impractical to assess the intrinsic cues precisely (Gutman Alden, 1985). The second element is extrinsic cues which are non-product linked attributes. Extrinsic cue is one which forms element of the worth of the product which is not innate characteristic of the substantial product (Gutman Alden, 1985). When inherent cues are apparent as being unpredictable, incomparable or unavailable, the extrinsic cues are relied upon seriously in the circumstances of risks (Gutman Alden, 1985). Research have revealed that consumers depend on extrinsic cues such as brand name (Agrawal Teas, 2002), price (Agrawal Teas, 2002), seller reputation (Agrawal Teas, 2002), advertising (Gutman Alden, 1985) and country-of-origin (Gutman Alden, 1985), in evaluating the value of products and brands preceding to purchase. Brand is used particularly as inherent cues (e.g. taste, performance and design) are not obtainable (Gutman Alden, 1985). This research aims to focus on an imperative gap by investigative product cue usage among consumers in Malaysia as both inherent and ext rinsic cues are predictable to influence consumers purchase intention. Inherent cues on Purchase Intention Consumers will form their possess perceptions on product cues, irrespective of their correctness as product cues are main advertising variables that pressure purchase decisions of potential customers (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). The components of cultural pressure and group conventionality have a weaker influence on attitudes than product assessment, and they are major predictors for domestic products but not for imported products (Chung Pysarchik, 2000). According to Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed (1999) Malaysian and United State consumers will also be compared in condition of their personality ethical philosophies. Furthermore, the two groups of consumers will be compared about their attitudes toward business, in most cases, and toward salespeople (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). There were several primary differences between United State and Malaysia is chosen for the assessment among these two countries (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). For example, the civilizing typology, the two cultures are different in definite significant values (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). It has constantly found real differences in moral perceptions in United State compared to Malaysia (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). Beside that, a study by Chung Pysarchik (2000) on cross-cultural differences within the apply of inherent and extrinsic product cues on consumers assessment and purchase intention for an attire product in China and Korea has reported that there were several differences in Chinese and Korean in assessing quality, worthy and purchase intentions. Findings have exposed that design was a stronger forecaster of purchase intention among Korean consumer (Chung Pysarchik, 2000). In brief, Korean consumers become visible to decide value of an attire product by comparing physical quality and design to price suitability, whereas Chinese consumers perception of value appear to be mainly reliant on their price perceptions (Chung Pysarchik, 2000). In addition, the research by Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez (1995) the possibility of standardizing European advertising has been questioned on the basis of trade and industry, cultural, and behavioral differences among European consumers. Particularly, it compares British and German consumers through observe to automobile purchases, insertion exacting importance on quantifying the relation importance of country-of-origin and environmental cues in a multi-cue context (Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez, 1995). Inherent cues are conceptualized as the attributes that should not be distorted or manipulated without changing the physical characteristics of the product itself (Gutman Alden, 1985). In inherent cues it might be hypothesized that inherent cues with slight consequence to consumers when evaluating an automobile. Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed (1999) study have shaped an opposing consequence. Their findings have exposed that inherent cues are possible to have a better collision on product assessments than extrinsic cues (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). Automobile purchase is a high contribution product and its difficult for consumers who do not have any technical background (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). Since automobile is a physical product, consumers more often assess product by using inherent cues such as color, design and specifications of the automobile (Gutman Alden, 1985) and extrinsic cues which is brand name, retailer reputation and price (Agrawal Teas, 2002). Since it is luxurious, it is bought once in a while. It is apparent to be dangerous and is extremely self expressive (Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta Ahmed, 1999). Country of Origin on Purchase Intention In given that to determining the work of country of origin has develop into one of the extensively research concepts in promotion and consumers behavior (Peterson Jolibert, 1995). It is one of the majority extensively deliberate phenomena in all the international business, promotion, and consumers behavior joint (Peterson Jolibert, 1995). It is unambiguous that a products country of origin can pressure consumers evaluative judgments of the product (Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez, 1995). These researches have established that consumers from miscellaneous countries have different perception about products produce in different countries (Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez, 1995). Also, it is acknowledged that there is a better requirement to determine consumers attitude towards both domestic and foreign products (Ozsomer Cavusgil, 1991). Several researches in this area have alert on what is called the country of origin consequence, investigating how consumers recognize products sourced from a exacting country (Peterson Jolibert, 1995). Country of origin is distinct as the country of produce or assembly (Ozsomer Cavusgil, 1991). This refers to the final point of produce which can be the same as the headquarters of the organization doing the marketing of the product or the brand name (Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez, 1995). Precedent country-of-origin research is mainly leaning towards consumer evaluations of product quality (Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez, 1995). Results on American buyers perception on product made in Eastern Europe have shown that industrial buyer usually felt that the quality of goods manufactured in West European countries was higher than the quality of products manufactured in the Eastern (Huddleston, Good Stoel, 2001). While country-of-origin belongings have been deliberate for over twenty five years, most of the research is restricted to uni-national products connecting a single country-of origin (Ozsomer Cavusgil, 1991). In recent times, the minority researchers have ongoing to observe the country-of-origin possessions in the circumstance of multi-country surroundings, making a dissimilarity among country of construct or assembly and the country of the companys headquarters (Huddleston, Good Stoel, 2001). For example, Anurit, Newman Chansarkar (1999) found that with the intention of designed for bi-national products; country of manufacture has superior possessions on top of consumer evaluations of product quality than does the brand name. In addition, Ozsomer Cavusgil (1991) found that there is no benefit in by means of a country with apparent greater design ability to improve product quality perception if the country assembly location is already apparent to produce poor quality products. Country of origin might be less important than has usually been supposed and they might happen mainly in relation to assessment of detailed attributes rather than overall evaluations (Huddleston, Good Stoel, 200 1). Consequently, there is no inquiry that country of origin consequence does exist and made-in typecast can be modify at least in the long-standing. Analyzing information throughout the use of structural modeling, Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez (1995) found rejection direct association of country of origin on purchase intentions and this confirms Peterson Jolibert (1995) doubts that country of origin evaluations has modest or rejection direct pressure on purchase intentions. This led researchers to conclude that the pressure of country of origin is more possible to function throughout supplementary variables rather than straight on purchase intentions (Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez, 1995). According to Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez (1995) the connection between country-of-origin possessions and branding has newly attracted rehabilitated concentration. For car manufacturers, country-of-origin possessions are of exacting significance (Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch Preez, 1995). Alternatively, they have achieved an extremely worldwide organization of manufacture processes which makes it ever more complicated for common consu

Four factors of leadership transformational leader

Four factors of leadership transformational leader Four Factors of Leadership Leader: The successfulness of a leader is determined by his followers not by himself or someone else. If the followers lack confidence or do not trust their leaders, then they will be un inspired. You must know and have an good understanding of what you know, who you are, and what can you do. To be successful you have to influence your followers, have to be loyal towards your followers. Followers: Followers are the most important part of a followers life. A leader must know his people with whome he have to deal with, he must know what his people want or requires like: a new worker would require more supervision than an experienced worker. Leadership Factors Communication: Communication is the most important part of Leadership, if a leader lacks in communicating, he can not be said a good leader. Mainly there are two ways of communication written verbal, the most used one is verbal, but it is not that effective as there can be misinterpretation of things. Situation: All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective. C:UsersdellPicturesOBefmh.jpg Transformational Leadership is a style of leading people in an inspirational way rather than driven by transactional numbers alone. C:UsersdellPicturesOBArrowLeader.jpg For Example: There must have been a situation in a group where someone took control of whole group by just conveying a clear vision of the groups goals, he then must had an ability to make the group feel his importance, recharged and energized. This person just might be what is called a transformational leader. Transformational leadership is a leadership style that leads to positive changes in followers. Transformational leaders are generally enthusiastic and passionate. They also try to help every person in there group. Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla says Transformational leadership to me means leadership in its highest form, such that it transcends the trappings of hierarchies, authority, power, as well as, formal and informal systems of reward and recognition and in the political sphere, votes. GREATEST TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER C:UsersdellPicturesOBgjugouhoiu.jpgC:UsersdellPicturesOBjnbkjhbgkjb.jpg MAHATMA GANDHI If we take an example of Father of Nation Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi, the greatest Transformational Leader ever can be. What he did? He just did DANDI MARCH by which he proved Yes, he is the person having Importance in others Life. He helped his followers and did everything a transformational leader should do. The Components of Transformational Leadershipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Intellectual Stimulation Transformational leaders not only challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity among followers. The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn. Individualized Consideration Transformational leadership also involves offering support and encouragement to individual followers. In order to foster supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct recognition of each followers unique contributions. Inspirational Motivation Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they are able to articulate to followers. These leaders are also able to help followers experience the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals. Idealized Influence The transformational leaders serves as a role model for followers. Because followers trust and respect the leader, they emulate the leader and internalize his or her ideals. COMPANY PRACTICES C:UsersdellDesktopimages.jpgHarvard Business School Working Knowledge Bharti has long relied on inquiry as a source of learning to deepen its understanding of Leadership needs. Rather than collect impressions second- or third-hand, Bharti goes to those in the know experienced leaders who have been with Bharti, often under demanding conditions, who then act as Transformational Leaders. With the help of Transformational leadership sales rose more than 85 percent over the previous year and the initial shipment sold out within weeks because the satisfaction level of workers in the organization increased. C:UsersdellDesktopuntitled.bmp ITC Limited conducted reviews of its own software engineers to determine why some were more productive than others with the goal of distilling their techniques into best practices that their less successful counterparts could adopt. After the stars were identified, they were interviewed in-depth about how they went about their work and, specifically, what they did to be more productive. Using these insights, the ITC team designed an innovative hands-on transformational leadership, which the star performers then delivered to a subset of their peers. The results were immediate and impressive. Participants reported a quick 10 percent productivity improvement, rising to 25 percent a year later. There were equally striking gains in managers evaluations of their ability to spot problems, conduct high quality work, keep their bosses informed, work across organizational boundaries, and attend to customer and competitive needs. C:UsersdellDesktopimagesCAEM8PW0.jpg Walmart, Americas leading company, embarked on a bold project to revolutionize the production process for manufacturing customized things that would reduce the unproductive things, tailor-made orders from eight to ten months to weeks or days. Because they were breaking new ground, not only in the industry, the challenge clearly demanded exploratory learning. A design team was assigned responsibility for implementing Transformational Leadership Programme. The leading process included elements of both competition and cooperation. It resulted in a great change within company as the satisfaction level of employees increased therefore the costumer satisfaction also increased. SWOT ANALYSIS I N T E R N A L Strengths Weaknesses E X T E R N A L Opportunities in Your Career Field Threats in Your Career Field I N T E R N A L Strengths Internal positive aspects that are under control and upon which you may capitalize in planning  ·Transformational leaders dose not require much work experience.  ·Education: Transformational leader need not to have any degree.  ·Transformational leaders contains good communication skills to handle its followers and motivates to work in team.  ·Transformational leaders have strong work ethic, self-discipline, ability to work under pressure, creativity, optimism.  ·Good contacts/successful networking  ·Interaction with professional organizations Weaknesses Internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you may plan to improve  · Sometimes transformational leaders are thrown out due to lack of Work Experience  ·Lack of goals, lack of self-knowledge, lack of specific job knowledge  ·Weak leadership knowledge  ·Weak skills (leadership, interpersonal, communication, teamwork)  ·Weak job-hunting skills  ·Negative personal characteristics (e.g., poor work ethic, lack of discipline, lack of motivation, indecisiveness, shyness, too emotional E X T E R N A L Opportunities Positive external conditions that you do not control but of which you can plan to take advantage  ·Positive trends in the field of Leadership that will create more jobs.  ·Opportunities you could have in the field by enhancing your education  ·Field is particularly in need of Leaders set of skills  ·Opportunities a Leader could have through greater self-knowledge, more specific job goals  ·Opportunities for advancement in the field of Leadership  ·Opportunities for professional development in the field of Leadership.  ·Career path youve chosen provides unique opportunities  ·Strong network Threats Negative external conditions that you do not control but the effect of which you may be able to lessen  ·Negative trends in the field of Leadership that diminish jobs (downsizing, obsolescence)  ·Competition from your companys Leader  ·Competitors with superior skills, experience, knowledge  ·Competitors who went to schools with better reputations.  ·Obstacles in your way (e.g., lack of the advanced education/training )  ·Limited advancement in the field of Leadership, advancement is cut-throat and competitive  ·Limited professional development in the field of Leadership, so its hard to stay marketable  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Companies are not hiring people with your major/degree Recommendations Dose Transformational Leadership affects satisfaction level in Organization? With the help of above Analysis it can be easily said that Yes,Transformational Leadership has a great affect on Satisfaction level in the Organisation as according to companies (analysed as above)like Walmart, Bharti and ITC Limited they have earned a lot of Profit by implenting Transformational Leadership Quality in to their Organizations. As far as recommandations are concerned Transformational leadership has a great scope in Future. It is in demand a lot, all the factors favours Transformational Leadership. Scope for Transformational Leadershipcan be seen in the figure below. C:UsersdellDesktopadas.png Review of Articles Are You a Transformational Leader? In todays world, when ones life and business has paced fast, everyone is having a tendency to try and control more and trust over the people remained less. People manages the system and squeeze every last drop of efficiency out of it, Even at the cost of people whose efforts made the success of work It does not take much to see the cost of all of this, whenever we will take a look around us , we can see the apathy, reluctance to take personal responsibility for the outcomes of our actions, be it at home, at the office or in the world at large. This system can only change if we change our focus, and be more upfront with some of the critical issues that are around us. It is so easy to play small and not contribute what you are here to give. Everyone have their own unique way of thinking to bring changes, that differs from other persons views and until we will not utilize this developing and giving of this unique gift, the world will not have that as a transformational tool. Being a tra nsformational leader means many things, and from the academic perspective, there are 4 specific areas by which you can be identified by others. 1. Charismatic Leadership, or Idealized Influence. When you are a Transformational leader, who will be the ideal of your followers and they will respect and admire you. You must have a clear vision and sense of purpose and should be willing to take risks. 2. Inspirational Motivation. Transformational leaders behave in ways that inspires others, generate enthusiasm and motivate them to take challenges. They clearly communicate expectations and demonstrate a commitment to goals and have a shared vision. 3. Intellectual Stimulation. Transformational leaders prevail new ideas and different prospect to do work. They stimulate creativity among others but never publicly correct or criticize them. 4. Individualized Consideration. Transformational leaders pay attention to the needs and the potential for developing others. They respect the individuals differences and respect them. They are always aware of individuals concerns and appreciate and encourage the interaction with others. Yet there are many elements that are the characteristics of transformational leadership, but we have discussed some crucial points. There is also a requirement for authenticity. This is about being who you are at the most fundamental level, and having a very clear understanding of yourself and your life purpose. This gives you a unique and powerful ability to be congruent with who you are in the work that you do. It transforms into a power that is unheard of, let alone experienced by most people in this world. 2.How to deal with Fear in Transformational Leadership Anyone who engaged in Transformational Leadership will experience fear at one or other point. Being human being, it is very natural to feel this when someone is engaged in a large or important undertaking, may be commercial, private or in the support of others and will create some kind of discouragement in mind. One of the reason for transformational Leaders to experience fear may be due to their position, Fear of failure, the unknown, uncertainty of self can occur, as the leader transforms them self through the process of being a Transformational Leader. Transformational Leadership is not to be at the top, and shouting the orders down to those who are below you. He is the one who is just a few steps ahead and finding the way together with the group. Any leader whenever engaged to fulfill large goals or purposes , he will feel fear on the journey. I am not enough, is a deep seated and common false belief and position that a scared, reactive mind may take on the journey, as we learn t o let go of ourselves, and learn to trust the process. We all can face fear if we have the courage to look at it. So the question for the leader of transformation is: How can I overcome my fear, and continue towards the goal? Just Do It! may be one option, or Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway may be another and the best way to remember what FEAR really is: F- False E Expectations A Appearing R Real So, the Transformational Leadership is about making the right choice, so that you will be full of confidence to overcome any kind of fear in the path of success and leading others to engage and commit to their own process, as you did. 3.The Benefits of Transformational Leadership Whenever In an organisation, the cost values get compared between hiring new employees and retaining old ones, later will be always prove beneficial.Poor cultural fit or a leader, who is not really the empowering type, perhaps more the transactional type becomes the reason for the organizations to loose their old employees which finally results in high turnover in organisations costs, that could only be reduced through the use of Transformational leadership. Transformational leadership has the potential to change others, and to realize them their full potential. So, they will both thank you and will contribute to your organization to their best level, or perhaps they will move on to a more fitting environment. Either way, you win. Better to have a high performing team member that is happy, or a space to replace with someone more suitable. Transformational leadership practices are helpful in fostering organizational improvement and effectiveness such as organisational learning; in par ticular, vision building, individual support, intellectual stimulation, modelling, culture building and holding high performance expectations. People that are led by a transformational leader have a role model to respect, admire and follow. This creates a high level of attachment between leaders and followers, so allowing the flow of information and trust. A strong common vision can be communicated through this relationship. When working with a transformational leader, you would feel engaged, enthusiastic and challenged in a way that would be personal and appropriate for your specific requirements. The vision and goals of the organization or group would be clearly communicated and there would be a tangible commitment to them by the leader. By actively stimulating others, transformational leaders are creative hubs for new ways of doing things, leading others to be more creative, productive and cohesive within in the organization. The potential for individual development and fulfillin g the needs of the individual are high. Never the less, it seems that there are many powerful benefits for an organization that encourages the use of Transformational Leadership. 4.The Potential of Transformational Leadership Transformational Leadership exists in the top level in the evolution of leadership. It is the highest manifestation of the art of leadership, and one of the most challenging to live. As humans we evolve always therefore, it is unlike that transformational leadership will be the last level of development, but it certainly give us hope in potentially addressing some of the issues that the human race are facing as individuals, groups and collective as a whole. Business, one of the oldest of human behaviors, after many decades and centuries of development, has lead us to spend whole time in looking at a computer screens or interacting with some form of electronic device instead to interact with other humans. No doubt, technology has made our life luxurious , comfortable and exceptionally fast but all this is at the expense of our humanity.Being a leader, one could lead himself and others to achieve the goals and outcomes that we or our collective group have set. This may include interfac ing with technology, but behind that we are still very much human beings. In a technological age, we are under threat of losing our humanity, and at the same time advancing it more powerfully that ever before. Transactional leadership, the definition of the outcome and the management of it, serves a purpose, and is reasonably easy to learn. The people you lead may do what you say, as the dictator dictates, yet how can you find a way to really genuinely inspire them to perform at a level far beyond the normal levels? Transformational leadership offers that possibility. As a transformational leader, we are called to be the highest expression of humanity at this time, and so lead ourselves and others towards a new destiny that awaits us. A way of being that inspires our most noble selves, to be of service, as an act of self mastery. To consider and hold ourselves and others in a way that is empowering, uplifting and inspiring. To engage each person we interact with, with honour and res pect. To be this and all the other ways of being that a transformational leader is, is a commitment to something far greater than just ourselves. It is more that just basic survival, acceptance and group recognition. It is the expression of our individual potential, or self actualisation. In some ways it is a calling, and requires an investment in you and in others, with no promise of a return, and a willingness to trust that there is something in humanity that has the potential to respond with in a positive, upward overall trend the potential for each of us to lift each other into a new level of understanding, relationships and consciousness. Like evolution, it is a journey of uncertainty. Never knowing where exactly we will end up, yet a willingness to be present for what is happening now, and making powerful choices about our future from there. THANK YOUà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ By: Abhinav Jain Reg. no. :11009737 Roll no. :RQ1005A23

Childrens Beauty Pageants Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It’s 7:OO A.M. on a Saturday, kids everywhere are just waking up ready to watch their favorite line up of Saturday morning cartoons. Marie, a four year old child, is preparing for her long weekend of make-up, hairspray, and gowns. Marie is one of many children who are forced by over-demanding parents who pressure their young and innocent children into many beauty pageants each year, and its wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Beauty pageants first originated in Atlantic City. It was a marketing tool to make tourists stay in town longer (Banet-Weiser). News struck about this beauty pageant and the local news paper headlined â€Å"The next Miss America†. As beauty pageants grew popular, a Little Miss America was started for parents who wanted their children in the contest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The average beauty pageant costs about $655 which includes the formal wear, sports wear and dance (A&E). The average cost does not include travel, hotel and food, which can be up to an extra two hundred dollars; and in some cases dresses for formal and sports wear can cost up to $12,000 with a minimum of $1500 (A&E). With the vast amount of expenses spent the pressure to win becomes more intense, leaving no room for mistakes. A four year old child should not have to go through the burden of a beauty pageant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Preparing for a pageant requires time and patience, hair lasting around an hour and forty-five minutes, make-up around an hour, and different performances that require some participants to practice for about seven hours a week (A&E). All of this is not healthy at a young age. During these pageants children are judged by the following: modeling sportswear and evening wear, how well they dance, and how much talent they have. They are also judged by their looks how well they perform, and how confident they appear.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Approximately 250,000 children participate in pageants each year (Wolf). Mothers who have children in beauty pageants argue that their children gains a boost of confidence through performing in front of crowds. They are also more socially comfortable around other people, and their children mature at a younger age than â€Å"normal† children do. Isn’t seeing a child â€Å"growing old before my eyes† a bad thing. What parent wants to see their child grow up any... ...m have finished with the first of three long days. She looks at her mom with teary eyes as she walks off stage empty handed. She feels that she has failed her mom and herself. Children at such a young age are very fragile, the do not have the experience to learn that they are still a worthy person even if they lose. Marie sees all of the other children leaving with trophies running towards their parents to give them a hug. As she walks of the stage with nothing and see the disappointment of her parents as they turn away. If that isn’t wrong†¦then what is?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited A&E. Inside Story: Baby Beauty Queens Banet-Weiser, Sarah. ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  National Identity.† Berkley: University of California Press: 1999. Cawthorne, Andrew. ‘Miss World to emerge from the shadow of deaths,’ (website)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http:/http://www.tiscali.co.uk. Date published: 5/12/2002 18:44 Lester, Time. Venzuela Beauty. Foreign Correspondent, (Dated aired) 03/16/2005. Wolf, Naomi. â€Å"The Beauty Myth. London: Vintage: 1990, pg. 288.

The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism Essays -- Chopin Awake

The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin's The Awakening as the title suggests is just that†¹the story of a young woman's awakening to life.   Even though it is a work of fiction, the character of Edna undergoes such a radical change one cannot ignore the psychological depth of the work.   The story could almost be seen as a case study.   In order to analyze the work psychologically, it is important to decide which psychological framework to use.   I chose the critic Cynthia Wolff who uses a Freudian framework for analysis.   Wolff feels that Edna's problems are a result of oral conflicts, while I see the work as more of an allegory of existentialism, and Edna's problems are a result of a lack of Being. Cynthia Wolff draws the reader into the Freudian framework by pointing out how cyclic Edna's life is in relation to eating and sleeping.   Wolff claims, "If one were to plot the course of Edna's life during this period, the most reliable indices to the passage of time would be her meals and her periods of sleep" (Wolff 231).   Since these are the most basic needs, one can quickly recognize the "infantile life-pattern" (Wolff 231) in Edna.   Wolff goes on to explain that Edna does not recognize her desire for Robert to be sexual because "Edna's libidinal energies have been arrested at a pre-genital level" (Wolff 232).   In Freudian terms this means that Edna's relationship to the world around her is on an oral level.   This level is characteristic of very young children whose only concern is for food, and anything they can reach they attempt to put in their mouths.   The "taking in" of the world in this way is the child's attempt to understand and become one with the world by internalizing it.   The oral stag... ... her.   Since this would not be tolerated by the society of the day, her children would suffer because of their mot her's behavior.   Since she cannot be in a world that will not let her Be, she chooses to give up what has become to her an unessential†¹life. Note 1The hyphens in Being-in-the-world are to show that a Being and the world are interdependent on one another and therefore inseparable. Works Cited Dostoyevky, Fyodor.   Notes From the Underground.   New York:   Dover, 1992. Heidegger, Martin.   Basic Writings.   New York:   Harper Collins Publishers, 1993. May, Rollo.   Existence.   New York:   Simon & Shuster, 1958. Sartre, Jean-Paul.   Essays in Existentialism.   Secaucus:   Carrol Publishing Group, 1997. Wolff, Cynthia.   "Thanatos and Eros." The Awakening by Kate Chopin.   Ed.   Margo Culley.   New York:   Norton, 1994. 231-41.    The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism Essays -- Chopin Awake The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin's The Awakening as the title suggests is just that†¹the story of a young woman's awakening to life.   Even though it is a work of fiction, the character of Edna undergoes such a radical change one cannot ignore the psychological depth of the work.   The story could almost be seen as a case study.   In order to analyze the work psychologically, it is important to decide which psychological framework to use.   I chose the critic Cynthia Wolff who uses a Freudian framework for analysis.   Wolff feels that Edna's problems are a result of oral conflicts, while I see the work as more of an allegory of existentialism, and Edna's problems are a result of a lack of Being. Cynthia Wolff draws the reader into the Freudian framework by pointing out how cyclic Edna's life is in relation to eating and sleeping.   Wolff claims, "If one were to plot the course of Edna's life during this period, the most reliable indices to the passage of time would be her meals and her periods of sleep" (Wolff 231).   Since these are the most basic needs, one can quickly recognize the "infantile life-pattern" (Wolff 231) in Edna.   Wolff goes on to explain that Edna does not recognize her desire for Robert to be sexual because "Edna's libidinal energies have been arrested at a pre-genital level" (Wolff 232).   In Freudian terms this means that Edna's relationship to the world around her is on an oral level.   This level is characteristic of very young children whose only concern is for food, and anything they can reach they attempt to put in their mouths.   The "taking in" of the world in this way is the child's attempt to understand and become one with the world by internalizing it.   The oral stag... ... her.   Since this would not be tolerated by the society of the day, her children would suffer because of their mot her's behavior.   Since she cannot be in a world that will not let her Be, she chooses to give up what has become to her an unessential†¹life. Note 1The hyphens in Being-in-the-world are to show that a Being and the world are interdependent on one another and therefore inseparable. Works Cited Dostoyevky, Fyodor.   Notes From the Underground.   New York:   Dover, 1992. Heidegger, Martin.   Basic Writings.   New York:   Harper Collins Publishers, 1993. May, Rollo.   Existence.   New York:   Simon & Shuster, 1958. Sartre, Jean-Paul.   Essays in Existentialism.   Secaucus:   Carrol Publishing Group, 1997. Wolff, Cynthia.   "Thanatos and Eros." The Awakening by Kate Chopin.   Ed.   Margo Culley.   New York:   Norton, 1994. 231-41.   

Philippine Marriage Customs Essay

The Filipino people have strange marriage customs. Among the Mangyans in the southern end of Oriental Mindoro, courtship takes a romantic flavor. Under the magic splendor of the moonlight, young man takes his native guitar and blanket, goes to the girl’s hut, and sings to her. The girl comes out and goes with him to a forest. There, in some secluded spot, the man spread out a mat. The girl lies on it, while her suitor sits at her side pouring out his feelings in love songs the whole night through. The maid answers him in songs also. When the girl finally gives her consent, the two go to the girl’s parents for their blessings. In the Bicol lagpitaw (slingshot) custom, the parents of the boy propose by letter. The other party answers verbally or in writing. Sometimes, a son learns that he has proposed and been accepted only on his wedding day. One of the easiest and quickest marriage ceremonies in the Philippines are performed among the Bagobos in Mindanao. Portions of rice are laid out on a banana leaf. Then the bride and bridegroom serve each other some rice, bump their heads together and are pronounced married. Up north in Benguet, Mountain Province, Cupid wears a G-string; he is usually an older man armed with plenty of gab. It is during kanyaos that the Benguet Cupid begins to feel the match itch. Warmed up by the ricewine, the impish oldster known as kalon scouts for a prospect from among the men of marriageable age: from 16 up. The â€Å"chosen† would be enlightened on the joys of matrimony and the horrors of bachelorhood. After the victim has been properly â€Å"softened† he has only to name the girl and the rest would be taken care of by the matchmaker. In the land of the Ibanags, when a young man’s fancy turns to love, his father turns poet. Usually, the father’s first concern is the right time for their sons to marry, usually between the ages of 16 and 18. The parents decide who will be the right girl. They employ the help of two respected and prominent friends to do the actual proposing. These two men called kumakagon intercept for the boy’s parents. On an appointed day, they go to the girl’s parents to ask for her hand in marriage. Marriages among the Batangans of Mindoro are partly by parental arrangement and partly by choice of groom and bride. When a child is born, the prospective bride or groom simply signifies his or her intention by telling the parents, â€Å"he or she is mine.† In this manner, the newborn becomes bethroted, without the cumbersome formalities of signing contracts or requiring witnesses. When the child is big enough to leave the parents, for instance at age three or four, the prospective husband or wife, as the case may be, claims it from the parents. Thereafter he or she cares for the child until it is mature enough for parenthood. In Sulu, the wedding, usually attended by relatives of the bride and the bridegroom dressed in very bright and flowing custom†s, climaxes months of careful preparation and negotiations between families. To them, marriage units not only two persons but two families as well. The Kalinga marriage is celebrated with a feast. The boy’s parents usually ask for presents from the girl’s parents. These are given as soon s the wedding is performed. Divorce is allowed. If this happens, the girl returns the dowry, usually resulting in a long family feud and a lot of vengeful killing. In Oton, Iloilo, it used to be the custom that both the bride and the groom have to cope with the wedding preparations or the timetable for planning marriage. Some Morong people who adhere to their marriage customs don’t simply announce any day for their marriage or wedding day. They believe that a wedding on Thursday brings suffering and sacrifices; on Friday some losses; Saturday will bring bad licks. For wealth, Morong people wed on Monday, Tuesday for health. But above all, they usually wed on Wednesday for good luck. In Quezon, a young man desiring to take a maiden for his wife must first be  put to a test. He lives with the maiden’s family but he has to show the best he can along all lines of work. He must be the first one to wake up in the morning. Every water container in the house should be filled before everyone gets up, a pot of coffee should have been boiled and firewood properly ready for cooking. After breakfast he goes to the kaingin and there he works until the sun is overhead. The rest of the day is spent either in the kaingin or in some other useful work. This trial marriage usually lasts  several years.