The Digital Transformation Of Communication, Information...

New Media is the digital transformation of communication, information and entertainment media, including music (Giddings, 2). The way music is produced, distributed and consumed or listened to has developed due to new media, digital technologies.This essay will examine in depth the streaming service, Spotify through breaking down the various, both positive and negative effects that it has on the music industry. Overall, this essay will discuss the idea that however convenient streaming on Spotify may be for it’s users it inevitably has a number of issues. The reason for these issues all concern finding a balance between distribution/access, and ownership/control of music files as well as public and private rights and interests (Katz, 300). The key cause of these issues is money; copyright, licensing costs, artist’s not getting paid enough, ownership and the competitive marketplace all contribute to the ambivalent effects of using streaming services. Mark Katz discussion surrounding file-sharing extends to Spotify; one key point Katz makes is that two broad types of change are likely to occur: legal and economic. The future of listening to music and the music industry thus depends on how these things will play out (Katz, 300). The structure of this essay is in four parts, addressing these legal and economic issues. Part one will address briefly the history, and way in which Spotify fits into the ‘digital revolution’ and its key positive attributes. Part two will look atShow MoreRelatedThe Impact Of Digital Media On The Cinema Industry1284 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Internet and new media has changed the way people live, work and entertain. Long–time forms of entertainment, such as music, games or movies have been changed accordingly. Within the entertainment industry, the cinema sector is experiencing dramatic transformations. Consumers are now provided with a wide range of ways to access their products. Trad itional practices of enjoying movies, especially going to the cinema, are said to be diminished by the use of digital media. From this, there areRead MoreThe Impact Of Internet On The Music Industry1276 Words   |  6 Pagesother entertainment sectors, was headed for impending doom and catastrophic losses in sales. To some degree, and for the first few years, these predictions seemed to become a reality as record sales fell drastically at least partially due to piracy. However, as technological change continues at a rate never before seen, the impact of the Internet has been expanded well beyond illegal downloading to include fundamentally different ways of distributing, promoting and marketing music. Digital CapabilitiesRead MoreThe Internet And New Media1504 Words   |  7 PagesIn the new millennium, the communication channels have advanced at an amazing rate, making it possible for two people separated by thousands of kilometers to get in contact and socialize as if they were face to face. These possibilities of human interconnection have transformed the internet, as Bill Gates well says, into the meeting place of world population. The outer shell of the internet and all of its services encouraged over time the materialization of many computer programs, with featuresRead MoreHow Media Has Changed The Modern Landscape Of Communications And Media1901 Words   |  8 Pages modern mass media platforms have changed the way the audience receives information. It is established that over the last few decades, there has been a significant difference between traditional means of mass media such as print and mails and the modern mass media communication channels. With the introduction of the Internet, a variety of media companies have improved means of producing and transmitting news using various platforms. As a result, convergence has occurred in the media space as communicationRead MoreMass Medi The Spread Of Digital Media Communication1701 Words   |  7 Pagesthe mass media likely to survive the spread of digital media communication? The purpose of this essay is to explore if mass media is likely to survive the spread of digital media communication. Firstly, this essay discusses the definition of mass media, as well as when and where it originated in order to gain a better background understanding. It then goes on to discuss the growing popularity of digital media and how mass media communication still prevails despite the new digital media. In the conclusionRead MoreBuzzfeed : The Future Of News1076 Words   |  5 PagesWith this, the content produced by BuzzFeed news shifted from an entertainment-oriented online content aggregator to an original news content generator. Journalists see hard news as reporting that consists of newsworthy facts of events that are potentially open to analysis and interpretation, while soft news items are equal to human-interest stories. Soft news is generally considered to include â€Å"interesting† stories, that are entertainment-oriented, and of human interest. The increas e of hard news storiesRead MoreThe Emergence Of The Internet And Social Media1079 Words   |  5 PagesThe emergence of the Internet and social media has had a tremendous impact on the theory and practice of advertising, public relations and marketing disciplines. Advertising spending on the Internet has outpaced all other traditional media (Center for Media Research, 2004). In the last two years, the number of social networking tools and the number of people using those tools have exploded, thus the rules are constantly changing and there is considerable uncertainty on how to employ these tools fromRead MoreCause/Effect How Technology Influences Personal Relationships1095 Words   |  5 Pagesjust met on Facebook. A group of kids get in a fatal car accident because the driver was texting. All of these people are real life examples of the negative impacts of digital technology on society. Technology has been evolving for hundreds of years. As it has become more advanced, the more it has taken a hold of the community. Digital technology is universal and there is no way to avoid it, but people need to start using it more responsibly. Everything gets taken for granted now that there are so manyRead MoreThe Global Media Manager For Adidas International Essay968 Words   |  4 PagesThe global media manager for Adidas International is responsible for developing and campaigning a new marketing strategy at Adidas called brand in the hand that is based on the merging of cell phones and wireless internet. Presents company background information, data on the penetration of mobile de vices such as cell phones, the growth of global mobile marketing practices, and several mobile marketing communications campaigns that Adidas launched in 2004, such as a mobile news ticker for the 2004Read MoreAdidas International Global Media Manager Essay964 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Brand in the hand† is a new marketing strategy developed by Adidas International global media manager. This new campaign is based on the merging of cell phones and wireless internet. This campaign presents company background information, data on the penetration of mobile devices such as cell phones, the growth of global mobile marketing practices, and several mobile marketing communications campaigns that Adidas launched in 2004, such as a mobile news ticker for the 2004 European soccer championship

Schizophrenia Essay - 1139 Words

Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder. It is a disease that makes it difficult for a person to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses to other, and to behave normally in social situations. People with schizophrenia may also have difficulty in remembering, talking, and behaving appropriately. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses. About 1% of the world population has schizophrenia. In the United States, there are about 2.5 million people with the disease. Schizophrenia is the cause of more hospitalizations than almost any other illness. Schizophrenia most commonly begins between the ages of 15 and†¦show more content†¦Even the experts are not sure exactly what causes it. Some doctors think that the brain may not be able to process information correctly. People without schizophrenia usually can filter out unneeded information: for example, the sound of a train whistle in the background or a dog barking next door. People with schizophrenia, however, cannot always filter out this extra information. One possible cause of schizophrenia may be heredity, or genetics. Experts think that some people inherit a tendency to schizophrenia. In fact, the disorder tends to â€Å"run† in families, but only among blood relatives. People who have family members with schizophrenia may be more likely to get the disease themselves. If both biologic parents have schizophrenia, there is nearly a 40% chance that their child will get it, too. This happens even if the child is adopted and raised by mentally healthy adults. In people who have an identical twin with schizophrenia, the chance of schizophrenia developing is almost 50%. In contrast, children whose biological parents are mentally healthy – even if their adoptive parents have schizophrenia – have about a 1% chance of getting the disease. That is about the same risk as for the general population of the United States. Some researchers believe that events in a person’s environment trigger schizophrenia. Some studies have shown that influenza infection or improper nutrition duringShow MoreRelatedSchizophrenia And Its Effects On Schizophrenia815 Words   |  4 Pagesand has schizophrenia. According to Mayo Clinic â€Å"Schizophrenia is a severe brain disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior. Contrary to popular belief, schizophrenia is not a split personality or multiple personality. The word schizophrenia does mean split mind, but it refers to a disruption of the usual balance of emotions and thinking. Schizophrenia is a chronicRead MoreSchizophrenia And Its Effects On The Development Of Schizophrenia Essay2173 Words   |  9 PagesSchizophrenia Schizophrenia is a life-long disorder that affects about one percent of the population (Mueser McGurk, 2004). The cause of this mental illness is still unclear. Studies have suggested that Schizophrenia does not arise from one factor but from a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors (Liddle, 1987). People diagnosed with Schizophrenia struggle to deal with a multitude of symptoms that make it difficult to function (Mueser McGurk, 2004). Antipsychotic medicationsRead MoreSchizophrenia Poster Research Topics : Schizophrenia1715 Words   |  7 PagesSchizophrenia Poster Research Topics K - What is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is chronic, severe, and a brain disabling disorder; that has affected people throughout history. It also interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others. People with the disorder may hear voices other people do not hear. They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illnessRead MoreSchizophrenia Essay949 Words   |  4 PagesSchizophrenia One of the major concerns of modern medicine is Schizophrenia. Frey defines schizophrenia as a group of disorders marked by severely impaired thinking, emotions, and behaviors (99). Straube and Oades incorporate more on its definition by saying this illness evokes a fundamental disturbance of personality (92). According to Gottesman, schizophrenia didn’t exist before the 19th century. He found many facts that lead to this hypothesis, finding no existence of this illness inRead MoreSchizophrenia Essay1411 Words   |  6 PagesSchizophrenia is affecting people more now than a few decades ago. This illness is across the US and is present in every culture. People are now aware and understand how the illness can be devastating to one’s life. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder of the brain but it is highly treatable. In the US the total amount of people affected with the illness is about 2.2 % of the adult population. The average number of people affected per 1000 total population is 7.2 % per 1000, which means a city thatRead MoreWhat Is Schizophrenia?1499 Words   |  6 PagesWhat is Schizophrenia? The study of schizophrenia dates back to the early 1800’s, when a guy by the name of John Haslam published a book called â€Å"Observations of Insanity†. In his book he goes into detail about the case studies or patents that show symptoms that we could categorize as schizophrenia disorder (John Haslam). By the end of the 19th Century the concept of schizophrenia was made known by a German psychiatrist by the name of Emil Krapelin. He basically took what he learned from HaslamRead More Schizophrenia Essay1017 Words   |  5 Pages Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects about one percent of the population. Generally if you have schizophrenia you cut out of contact with real world reality. The word Schizophrenia is Greek for â€Å"split mind†. It is common belief that a person with schizophrenia or a â€Å"schizo† has a split personality, but actually the person’s thinking, feelings, and behavior are so far from normal that they get to th e point where they interfere with their ability to function in everyday life. People whoRead MoreAbnormality and Schizophrenia1532 Words   |  7 PagesAccording to Mathers et al., (1996) â€Å"Schizophrenia ranks among the top ten causes of disability worldwide and affects one in one hundred people at some point in their lives.† (Cardwell and Flanagan, 2012). Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder which is commonly diagnosed in 15-30 year old individuals. It disrupts a person’s cognition, perceptions and emotions, making it extremely difficult to diagnose. Bleuler (1911) introduced the term schizophrenia, which translates as ‘split-mind’ or ‘dividedRead MoreSchizophrenia Essay1066 Words   |  5 Pagesis schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by irrational thought processes. A person dealing with this debilitating illness may think that people are going to kill them, or kidnap them. Some Schizophrenics often have â€Å"voices† in their heads telling them what to do. In some cases this has caused people to take their lives or try to. Schizophrenia is everywhere you look. Out of one hundred thousand people at least one hundred and fifty people have schizophrenia. LikeRead Moreschizophrenia abstract1053 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a severe and chronic brain disorder in which a person interprets actual reality abnormally. It is a mental disorder that makes it difficult to think clearly, have normal responses to emotions, act normal in a social setting, and tell the difference between their own interpretation of reality and actual reality. There are several types of Schizophrenia: paranoid, undifferentiated, disorganized, residual, and catatonic schizophrenia. The assumption is that

Does Sex Education Work Essay Example For Students

Does Sex Education Work Essay The question is no longer should sex education be taught, but rather how should it be taught. Over 93% of all public high schools currently offer courses on sexuality or HIV. More than 510 junior and senior high schools have school-linked health clinics, and more than 300 schools make condoms available on campus. The question now is, are these programs effective, and if not, how can we make them better? Kids need the right information to help protect them-selves. The US has more than double the teenagers pregnancy rate of any western industrialized country. Teenagers have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) of any age group, with one in four young people contracting an STD by the age of 21. STDs, including HIV, can damage teenagers health and reproductive ability. And there is still no cure for AIDS. HIV infection is increasing most rapidly among young people. One in four new infections in the US occurs in people younger than 22. In 1994, 417 new AIDS cases were diagnosed among 13-19 year olds, and 2,684 new cases among 20-24 year olds. Since infection may occurs up to 10 years before and AIDS diagnosis, most of those people were infected with HIV either as adolescents or pre-adolescents. Knowledge alone is not enough to change behaviors. Programs that rely mainly on conveying information about sex or moral precepts-how the bodys sexual system functions, what teens should and shouldnt do-have failed. However, programs that focuses on helping teenagers to change their behavior-using role-playing, games, and exercises that strengthen social skills-have shown signs of success. In the US, controversy over what message should be given to children has disadvantaged sex education programs in schools. Too often statements of values (my children should not have sex outside of marriage) come wrapped up in misstatements of fact (sex education doesnt work anyway). Should we do everything possible to suppress teenage sexual behavior, or should we acknowledge that many teens are sexually active, and prepare them against the negative consequences? Emotional arguments can get in the way of an unbiased assessment of the effects of sex education. Other countries have been much more successful than the US in addressing the problem of teen pregnancies. Age at first intercourse in similar in the US and five countries have teen pregnancy rates that are at least less than half the US rate. Sex education in these other countries is based on the following components: a policy explicitly favoring sex education; openness about sex, consistent messages throughout society, and access to contraception. Reducing the Risk, a program for high school students in urban and rural areas in California, used behavior theory-based activities to reduce unprotected intercourse, either by helping teens avoid sex or use protection. Ninth and 10th graders attended 15 sessions as part of their regular health education classes and participated in role-playing and experimental activities to build skills and self-efficacy. As a result, a greater proportion of students who were abstinent before the program successfully remained abstinent, and unprotected intercourse was significantly reduced for those students who became sexually active. Postponing Sexual Involvement, a program for African-American 8th graders in Atlanta, GA, used peers (11th and 12th graders) to help youth understand social and peer pressures to have sex, and to develop and apply resistance skills. A unit of the program also taught about human sexuality, decision-making, and contraceptives. This program successfully reduced the number of abstinent students who initiated intercourse after the program, and increased contraceptive use among sexually experienced females. Healthy Oakland Teens (HOT) targets all 7th graders attending a junior high school in Oakland, CA. Health educators teach basic sex and drug education, and 9th grade peer educators lead interactive exercises on values, decision-making, communication, and condom-use skills. .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .postImageUrl , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:hover , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:visited , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:active { border:0!important; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:active , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Chlamydia (714 words) Essay After one year, students in the program were much less likely to initiate sexual activities such as deep kissing, genital touching, and sexual intercourse. AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in School, a program for 9th and 11th graders in schools in New York City, NY, focused on correcting facts about AIDS, teaching cognitive skills to appraise risks of transmission, increasing knowledge of AIDS-prevention resources, clarifying personal values, understanding external influences, and teaching skills to delay intercourse and/or consistently use condoms. .

Work Life Balance Prioritizing

Question: Essay on Work-Life Balance. Answer: Abstract Work-life-balance is related properly prioritizing the work and the life of the employees by the employer of the organization. The leaders of the organization should assist the employees in understanding their job role properly accordingly prioritizing their jobs so that they can easily complete their jobs in time and make a space for their personal life. However, the concept of work-life-balance has been changed in some organizations due to their requirement of cost cutting of the organization. The study has been analyzed the statement of Juliet Bourke that states that the flexibility has been moved away from its original paradigm. It has been found that many organizations use the concept of work-life-balance as a way of redundancies in the organizations. The study also has been discussed the implication of excessive working hours on the performance of the employees as well as managers. Excessive working hours leads to health issues and personal life issues of the employees. Lastly, the study has been discussed the way in which the employers may bring flexibility in the organization during economic downturn of the organization. In this time, the employers have to properly allocate the human resources for the efficient productivity of the organizations. Key Word: Work-life balance, organization, managers, flexibility, performance Introduction Flexible working hours and work life balance are important factors for organization, as it increases the motivation of the employees that leads to high quality output (Purce, 2014). Many organizations are focused on reducing the cost of the organization through redesigning the organizational operation. They are focused on reducing the pay rolls, as it is the costliest things for the organization. On the other hand, many other organizations are interested in providing better work life balance to the employees for reducing redundancies (Storey, 2014). These kinds of organizations are providing flexible working hours to the employees for giving more space in their personal life. The meaning of work-life-balance is different in different organizations as per their needs. The study will discuss the justification of Juliet Bourke on her statement that flexibility has been moved away from its original paradigm. Apart from that, the study will also describe the implication of excessive worki ng hours on the performance of the employees and manager. The study will demonstrate the way the employers could facilitate work-life-balance on the time of economic downturn. Discussion In the previous era, talent acquisition was as kind of war for the employers, whereas now the employer seems to be reluctant in this area regarding their investment (Jiang et al., 2012). Nowadays, employers are highly focused on arranging the work, reducing the week of the work and initiating part time work with enhanced flexibility so that the organization could retain their employees for a longer time. Therefore, some employers are now doing foreseeable reduction in the staff of the organization, which is leading to an opportunity for redesigning the job roles and making the criteria of the job in such as way that simultaneously make the work life and personal life of the employees balanced. Juliet Bourke is not entirely satisfied with the reshaping of flexibility of the work. Juliet Bourke has argued that though workplace flexibility could minimize the overhead of the employees, the motive of workplace flexibility has been shifted and it is not in favor of betterment. As per Julie t Bourke, flexibility in todays organization is all about extracting more from fewer employees and it is very different from previous paradigm. The employer of organization may use economic crisis as the best opportunity for using work flexibility in a vicious way. The employers may reduce the time of work for some employees who are not needed at that time and put additional workload to some other employees that increases working time on those employees leading to overload of work (Alfes et al., 2013). Therefore, workplace flexibility is not ensuring win-win situation for the employees as well as employers in most cases. The intension of workplace flexibility is to benefit the people of the organization both horizontally and vertically, some organizations still need to develop sustainable solutions towards workplace flexibility and redesigning of work. While considering downturn, a situation might happen, where demand for client could be decreased (Buller McEvoy, 2012). Because of this downturn, the working hours for the employees might be reduced with flexible work environment and making work life balance of the employees. The prime element of this approach involves inclusive program of employee assistance and employees flexibility that assists in developing the adaptive, diverse and high performing workforce. These kinds of employees assist in meeting the existing and future needs of the organization. Leave options and voluntary lithe work provided by the organization may lead to reduced redundancy (Jiang et al., 2012). The organization may provide salary and wage according to the leave attended by the employees. Irrespective of strong culture in work life balance, some organizations inescapably need redundancy in workplace. However, the executive and high-level management has identified the benefit of work-life-balance strategi es and thus they have explored many new ways for balancing the work life and personal life of the employees minimizing the cost of the organization as well as redundancies. On the other hand, work-life-balance is related to provide effective working ways to the employees of all types of employees in terms of part time and full time. Frequent redundancies come in flexible working condition, natural attrition and redeployment when there is downturn in the organizations. In such cases, the employees have to stay sprightly in their working areas. In future days, the economy might pick up and the demand of the employees might be increased by increasing the urge of talent acquisition. According to Kehoe and Wright, (2013), the employees of the organization have concept that they have to work very hard in downturn situation. On the other hand, Armstrong, (2014) opined that overload in work may influence the employee engagement of the organization. This may in turn negatively affect the discretionary effort and productivity of the employees. The intension of organizations in getting more output from fewer employees may not always be effective and productive of the organization due to lack of engagement of the employees. According to Waiganjo et al., (2012), in order for increasing the sales volume and saving the cost of the organization towards increasing the profitability, it is expected that the employees would do according to needs of the organization for acquiring the set outcome. On the other hand, Nyberg et al., (2012) opined that forcing employees to do job as per the ser ways of organization may disengaged the employees and increases the time of required for actually completing the task. Unless and until the organization brings structural efficiencies in the workplace against the redundancy program, they may restrict themselves in getting more output from fewer employees. Therefore, it can be said that workplace flexibility has been moved away from its original paradigm that is foreseeable. Advantages and disadvantages are associated with it but if this situation is properly handled by the organization it may provide effective work-life-balance to the workforce. In order to complete the task and maintain their responsibility, employees work in different way in the organization. According to the requirement of the organization, excessive work of the organization can be categorized into different ways namely overtime, extended commute time, stretched hour per day and overtime hours. According to Al Ariss et al., (2014), excessive working hours may have negative influence on the employees and even the people associated with the employees like their family, community and employers. On the other hand, Park and Shaw, (2013) opined that long working hours have complicated connection with risk, as long working hour strongly influenced through employee control, job, non-work responsibilities and social life abnormalities. The implication of excessive working hours may lead to high level of stress, sleeplessness, limited time for families and other associated personal responsibilities. Excessive working hours may also harmfully affect the human body, disorder, exhaustion, uncomfortable and negative attitude of the employees towards their job role. According to Pierce and Aguinis, (2013), the managers of the organizations may also be negatively affected by the excessive working hours of the employees. Due to long working hours, attrition rate of the employees may be increased and thus, it may lead to delay in production process. When there is delay in production process, the production cost of the organization is increased and therefore, it hampers the actual profitability of the organization. On the other hand, Campbell et al., (2012) opined that the manger also negative influenced by the long working hours of the employees. Due to excessive working hour, employees do not work in the organization eagerly and do not give their best for producing high quality products. In such a situation, lethargy of employees towards their job role lead to cheap and low quality products and services produced in the organization by the employees. The community also influenced by the stunted approach of the employees towards their life in terms of medical errors, industrial mishap and automobile accidents. According to Langley et al., (2013), excessive working hours for the employees, who works for 24 hours at a stretch, may lead to decline in attention, continuous attention and alertness that results in poor diagnosis of diseases. On the other hand, Vaiman et al., (2012) opined that excessive working hours and pressure causes stress of the employees and their neck nerves to be strained due to long sitting in their working areas. According to Purce, (2014), if the employees have to work for long hours at a stretch, it can negatively affect the health of the employees. On the other hand, Storey, (2014) opined that due to long working hours, the employees may feel demotivated in the workplace if the working hours is not compensated by incentives. In order to decrease the demotivation of the employees towards their job role, the higher authority of the organization should properly define the responsibilities of the employees and accordingly provide incentives on the accomplishment of the job. Therefore, if the employers want to make the employees for working for long hours, then the employees should be motivated well through catering their psychological matter and provided with incentives on extra works. In absence of this things, the employees may lose their effectivity and may not perform their job role efficiently through not maintaining their responsibility. According to Jiang et al., (2012), at the time of economic downturn, employers need to facilitate suitable exploitation of resources so that none of the asset is predominantly overburdened. For example, if an organization thinks of retaining only its core employees, then it will be able to restore its financial resources. On the other hand, if an organization tries to reduce its optional expenditures then it will be able to retrain capital for compensating its human resource. This is because if an organization fails to retain its employees at the time of economic downturn, then it will surely fail to allocate best experienced candidates at the time of economic boom. On the other hand, Jiang et al., (2012) argued that for work-life balance, an organization needs to diversify its earning capabilities, so that the effect of national economic doom does not affect the revenue pattern. Therefore, it can be said that the concerned organization needs to ensure international business so that exchange rate increases the earning capability. Finally, it can be said that if an organization is able to retain its revenue at the time of economic downturn, then it will be able to maintain work-life balance. According to Waiganjo et al., (2012), at the time of economic downturn, the unemployment rate increases, as organizations fail to pay a huge human resource. Organizations only try to retain best and experienced candidates so that amount of performance is not reduced with ineffective workers. On the other hand, Park and Shaw, (2013) pointed out that at the time of economic downturn, some multinational organizations try to ensure training and development of its existing employees so that at the time of economic boom, human resource deliver the optimum outcome. Therefore, from the argument it can be said that organizations need to train and develop its human resource at the time of economic downturn, which will in turn ensure how to maintain work-life balance. Employees will get ample training regarding how to maintain work pressure, which will help the organization to retain such human resource during economic boom. According to Nyberg et al., (2014), the main focus for the employers at the time of economic downturn must be employee retention. For such motive, employers need to ensure effective working hours, flexible shift timing and allowance for work-from-home. Campbell et al., (2012) added that employers need not to ensure monetary recognition or financial benefits, but rather needs to give flexibility to its employees. Armstrong, (2014) pointed out that work-life balance at the time economic doom certainly leads to negative business impact, but if the business units are increased, then the amount of collective revenue will remain unaltered. This will lead to work-life balance. Therefore, from the views of the authors it can be said that employers need to entertain employees by good relationship, flexible working hours and special shift timing. It has been quite sure that the most important factor that conceives employers at the time of economic doom is finance. Therefore, if the organizatio ns are able to reduce the financial benefits and focus on work-file balance by flexibility, then it will surely able to retain enormous employees. Conclusion While concluding the study, it can be said that in todays organization, the time and hours of the employees is changing and this quick changes requires flexibility in the work environment for ensuring customer expectation through better product and service produced by the employees. In order to meet the business requirement, individual expectation of the employees should also be met through providing better work life balance. However, it has been found that some organizations are not providing better work-life-balance to the employees and making the employees work for excessive hours. Excessive working hours may have harmful effect on the health and personal life of the employees. Long working hours of employees may also negatively influence the employees through getting cheap and low quality products and service produced by the employees. In case of economic downturn of the organization, the managers of the organization should properly utilize human resources and consider the grieva nces of the employees so that effective and efficient productivity of the employees is maintained. References Al Ariss, A., Cascio, W. F., Paauwe, J. (2014). Talent management: Current theories and future research directions.Journal of World Business,49(2), 173-179. Alfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., Soane, E. C. (2013). The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model.The international journal of human resource management,24(2), 330-351. Armstrong, P. (2014). Limits and possibilities for HRM in an age of management accountancy.New Perspectives On Human Resource Management op. cit. at, 154-166. Buller, P. F., McEvoy, G. M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight.Human resource management review,22(1), 43-56. Campbell, B. A., Coff, R., Kryscynski, D. (2012). Rethinking sustained competitive advantage from human capital.Academy of Management Review,37(3), 376-395. Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Han, K., Hong, Y., Kim, A., Winkler, A. L. (2012). Clarifying the construct of human resource systems: Relating human resource management to employee performance.Human Resource Management Review,22(2), 73-85. Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms.Academy of management Journal,55(6), 1264-1294. Kehoe, R. R., Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of Management,39(2), 366-391. Langley, A. N. N., Smallman, C., Tsoukas, H., Van de Ven, A. H. (2013). Process studies of change in organization and management: unveiling temporality, activity, and flow.Academy of Management Journal,56(1), 1-13. Nyberg, A. J., Moliterno, T. P., Hale, D., Lepak, D. P. (2014). Resource-based perspectives on unit-level human capital a review and integration.Journal of Management,40(1), 316-346. Park, T. Y., Shaw, J. D. (2013). Turnover rates and organizational performance: A meta-analysis.Journal of Applied Psychology,98(2), 268. Pierce, J. R., Aguinis, H. (2013). The too-much-of-a-good-thing effect in management.Journal of Management,39(2), 313-338. Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals),67. Storey, J. (2014).New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Vaiman, V., Scullion, H., Collings, D. (2012). Talent management decision making.Management Decision,50(5), 925-941. Waiganjo, E. W., Mukulu, E., Kahiri, J. (2012). Relationship between strategic human resource management and firm performance of Kenyas corporate Organizations.International Journal of Humanities and Social Science,2(10), 62-70.

Organizational Politics free essay sample

The word politics is taken in a negative sense in most of the situations. Despite of this widely held belief, politics can be found everywhere right from home to the organization or the country level. Politics exists in every place where there are more than one person seeking same resources which are limited. Intentionally or unintentionally, everybody plays politics in one or the other way to serve their purpose and it proves to be helpful for someone while considered as â€Å"dirty† by others who are not benefitted by it. But probably it cannot be avoided as the politics comes in various forms and is present in every field of work in one or the other form. However, we are here to discuss about the politics present in the organizations in various levels and its affect on the work and people there. This presence of politics in the organization is called the organizational politics. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Politics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to Brandon and Seldman (2004), â€Å"Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives†. Extending the same note, Organizational politics refers to behaviours â€Å"that occur on an informal basis within an organization and involve intentional acts of influence that are designed to protect or enhance individuals’ professional careers when conflicting courses of action are possible† (Drory, 1993; Porter, Allen, Angle, 1981). Many studies have shown that organizational politics cannot be always considered to be a bad practice. In many cases, it proves to be beneficial for the organizations. Kotter, in his article â€Å"Power and influence†, says â€Å"Without political awareness and skill, we face the inevitable prospect of becoming immersed in bureaucratic infighting, parochial politics and destructive power struggles, which greatly retard organizational initiative, innovation, morale, and performance. † The concept is also supported by Randolph(1985) where he states that â€Å"Organizational Politics is not necessarily bad. It is another tool that employees and managers have for promoting goals that cannot be achieved in other ways†. Thus, in various articles, it has been stated that organizational politics is one of the major parts of business and it also has positive affects on the success of the organizations. To understand the concept of organizational politics, I would like to share a very common example of organizational politics. An employee asking for a salary hike in general terms would not probably be considered as an organizational politics, but as we see generally in the construction companies or other government organizations where labour unions are present, major strikes take place when the workers stop working and go on strike to force the organization for a salary hike. This may be considered as a major example of organizational politics. This example is having a very broad and visible scope but there are many other ways in which politics take place in the organizations. Sometimes they are visible to everyone but in most cases, it is played like a strategy game and it becomes tough to know where politics is happening. Politics take place in the organizations in every level, right from the junior level of workers for impressing their seniors and climbing up the corporate ladder, to the highest level of employees where they play politics for power and status. Sometimes, when the politics reaches a very high level in the organizations, it affects the organization in an adverse way and can be harmful for the organization’s future. Looking back to the article on â€Å"The Social Identity Theory†, I could relate the theory to the reasons behind the politics in the organizations. The social identity theory dealt with the human behaviours in different social gatherings. The strategies of organizational politics grow gradually in the employee’s behaviour. The way an experienced person joins the organization is very different from the fresher who joins his first organization. An experienced person is aware of the politics in the organizations and hence when he joins a new organization, he is very focussed about what he has to do. He quickly sets his target people whom he has to impress and whom he can rule. Moving further, he works on his strategies to achieve his pre-planned goal. However, when a fresher joins an organization, he is not aware of the politics in the organization and he still behaves in his high school ways doing friendships with the like ones and avoiding the unmatched people. But slowly, being in the organization, he smells the need of relationships with the right people and make his initial strategies to reach the intended person. Hence his identity changes in the organizational setup, and he learns the applicability of the old proverb that who you know matters as much as what you know. Many times, the same behaviour of a person is said to be wrong in terms of ethical behaviours but when the profitability of playing politics are sighted by the fellow members, they adopt the same political behaviour and tries to play the same ‘dirty politics’ to serve their purpose. When I was working in the organization, I have seen many cases like this, where people have played politics and have gained from it. In a very general scenario, an employee whether loves or hates his manager, he is always polite and sweet to him. This love and affection may not be because of the respect for the manager but it is also a type of organizational politics. We know with whom we have to keep good relation to grow in the organization. We know that keeping good relation with the manager will help us get promoted so however he is, we try to overlook it and behave in a very nice and polite way with him. A very general example of organizational politics can be seen in every small or large project. Every team member pretends to work for the whole team and care for each other but a very obvious fact is that he always try to over show him in the eyes of the seniors but showing the unintentional means. He never let other team members know that he is promoting himself in front of others but he tries to do that in some or the other way. This can be seen mostly in the Team Leader behaviours. He is regarded as a representative of the whole team and is generally responsible for answering for the whole team. While representing the team, he generally tries to hide the negative points or the mistakes done by the team members and try to over highlight the small achievements done by the team. His direct motive is the team but the indirect motive is always he. He knows that he can grow only when the team grows. Other say it as dirty tricks but no body can escape from it. According to King(1989), â€Å"Could it be that by refusing to play, we are able to avoid conflict that might compromise our principles and integrity? This is akin to taking our ball and going home! We gain a temporary reprieve, but the challenge still remains. Play or not play, the game still goes on! † Hence happily or forcefully, everybody has to enter the dirty game in order to save their chance in the game. Increasing social networking in the organizations is also a type of organizational politics. According to Dwyer in his article â€Å"How to win at Office Politics†, says ‘Successful politics starts with relationships: You’ll need your coworkers’ support — or at minimum their respect — to accomplish anything’. Social networking plays a very important role in the organizations. It is said that it’s worthless to count the enemies in your organization, but making more friends than the enemies always counts. It is evident that the more connections you have in your organization, the more powerful you are. All the negative impacts from the enemies can be counterbalanced by the positive impacts of friends. The main intention is to cover the area of enemies by friends. The affect of power is more visible in the higher level of hierarchy in the organizations. According to Farrell and Peterson (1982), â€Å"the successful practice of organizational politics is perceived to lead to a higher level of power, and once a higher level of power is attained, there is more opportunity to engage in political behaviour†. In a leadership position, the leader has more opportunity and need to play politics either for its own personal motive or for the sake of the organization. In a higher level, the leaders have the opportunity to highlight their contribution whenever needed. Due to the power they have, it is easier for them to manipulate things and show it in a more attractive way. In any case of brawl, they are capable to use any available resource such as experts, consultants, experienced persons, and administrative person etc. to put their point across and solve the problem. Moreover, they can ensure the help from the top management in case of difficult initiatives or discussions. Power is of no use if it cannot be used in the adverse situations. In a negative note, he can put the burden on others without letting them know in case of any unfavourable situation to save their position or work. Power can be used easily to remove any resistance in the work but using the power in a right way so that everybody is satisfied and happy is called the right politics. Moreover, the leaders do have the capability to exploit the political climate in the organization and maximize the organizational output and the satisfaction of the employees working under them. Giving appreciations, rewards and importance to the employees gives them a confidence to work and make them feel that they are important for the organization. This increases their loyalty towards the organization and commitment towards their work. This in turn increases the productivity and profitability for the organization as a whole. Thus, the employees are the main stakeholders of an organization and hence any politics in the organization should not break their trust or confidence and hence using the politics in a right way is very necessary in any level of the organization. Contrarily, sometimes when the manager intentionally or unintentionally avoids an employee or his good work or gives more importance to somebody else in front of him, then the employee feels isolated and avoided. Such repeated action results in lowering the employee’s confidence level and finally leads to frustration and mistrust. He eventually starts thinking that his hard work is not valued by the organization and he looses interest in his work. Because of this, his performance in the work decreases and leads him towards failure. Hence the behaviour of the leaders towards their employee plays a very important part in the overall progress of the employee. The satisfaction an employee feels at work leads him to maintain the status quo, while the lack of it may lead him to act in order to influence and change decisions in the organization. The politics in organizations changes the behaviour of an individual drastically. Once faced the politics in his work, he tends to evaluate every act of others in a political way. He starts evaluating the things in a more focused way and starts questioning every act of others. Due to this, he forces himself to make strategies to win against others. Sometimes, the level of competition reaches such a high level that it starts taking a wrong way and proving bad for the organizational culture. At this time, he starts caring less about the team work and concentrates only on his work. According to Dattner and Dunn, â€Å"In overly political organizations, there is a focus in individual self-interest and silos rather than on the good of the organization. Also there are clearly defined in-groups and out-groups, and a preoccupation with who is in each category. † This leads to a weak team building and differences among the team members. At this point of time, the real work of a leader comes into act. It becomes necessary for the leader to make some strategies so that he can heal the relational differences among the team members and get them back to the quality and united work rather han competing among themselves. Patience and the right politics play a very important role in such circumstances. Hence, organizational politics cannot be considered as negative all the time as it is generally important in the organizations in order to remove the hurdles in the work and maximize the output. However, Organizational Politics sometimes can be regarded as bad for the o rganizations and the employees. Sometimes, it lays a very bad affect on the employees with results in job resignation, job anxiety, dissatisfaction, frustration etc. Sometimes, employees who are dedicated towards their work to a more extent than others fail to get promoted and others having a political excellence win the battle. In such cases, the moral of the hardworking employees get affected and they do not get the actual worth of their hard work and dedication. Such reasons result in job dissatisfaction and they leave the company in search of a better environment but finally fail to find one. This is because one cannot get rid of the politics in the environment. The only option left with them is to change their own nature and behaviour and follow the political path. The hard work starts getting converted to smart work which can be beneficial for the individuals but probably is not good for the organizations. Moreover, a proper communication is very important in the organization. Mai and Akerson in their article ‘Building a better organization through effective communication’ says that Above all, leadership communication entails nurturing and maintaining a workplace environment in which communication flows freely and quickly in all directions with minimal distortion or lag time†. But when people get power, they sometimes hide the truth or share the necessary information with a limited number of people or probably share it very late with others. Sometimes, they alter the information and frame it in a misleading way for their own personal motives. The information starts with a different motive and intention in the higher level and by the time it reaches the lower level employees, the motive and meaning of the information changes. The intent of the information gradually changes in every level down, according to his or her political inclinations. Later on, when the truth unfolds, it puts a negative impact on other employees. The few negative impacts of politics on individuals as stated by Dattner and Dunn in their article â€Å"Organizational Politics† are decreasing loyalty and increasing focus on self interest, hoarding of information and control, stress and anxiety, paranoia and perceptual distortions, excessive worrying about status and perceived slights, defensiveness about errors and mistakes, mistrust of the validity of feedback, acting out and regressive behaviours etc. Moreover, when a person comes into power, sometimes he tends to create a ‘One Man Rule’ in the organization level or in the project level, which creates a lot of difficulties for the employees under him. He starts taking the problem in a more personal way and tends to take revenge with people he doesn’t like. In such situations, the intent of the politics goes beyond the organizational scope and reaches a personal arena. In such situations, during the time of electing people for promotions, he gets very biased resulting in the selection of people who are efficient in impressing him through their politics and the hard working and the work centric people lags behind in this game. According to Kacmar Ferris (1991), â€Å"In highly political organizations, rewards are not necessarily related to work performance, but may instead be tied to relationships, power, and other less objective factors. Due to this, the power and authority is not adequately distributed which leads to other problems. According to Zivnuska et al, in their article ‘Journal of Organizational Behaviour’, ‘If organizational behaviour is not governed by a clear set of rules or expectations and behaviour is enacted with the sole purpose of personal gain, it is difficult for employees to predict behaviour of colleagues, managers, or the executive team. ’ Conclusively, like it or not, every work place is a politi cal environment. But politics not always mean playing a dirty game. In its purest form, the organizational politics simply mean removing hurdles in your way and moving from here to there; by securing the job, securing a promotion, gaining support from other team mates or precisely getting the work done in an easier way. Getting success in the life is everybody’s main intention of life and for achieving it we have to go through many tough ways. Clearing the tough ways and making it easier for us is our motive and doing so by finding a way out in a strategic and probably ethical way is never wrong. However, excess of anything proves to be harmful and thus a proper mix of politics and work can serve the organization and the people in a better way. Politics and power are interrelated and both of it should be used in an appropriate way to avoid imbalance in work and ethics. Moreover, avoiding the organizational politics can never be the solution for an individual but trying to learn to be in such a political environment and win over it is the main essence of the work experience.

Free Essays on The Conflict Between Miss Y And Mrs. X

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MISS Y AND MRS. X â€Å"When two women, with a past like ours, who loathe each other the way we do things tend to get ugly when they get together.† This was said in â€Å"made-for-T.V. movie, but it perfectly explains the relationship between Missy and Mrs. X. The two women in this play, â€Å"The Stronger† by August Strindberg, (Miss Y, Amelia, and Mrs. X) are two women who were not necessarily friends, but more along the lines of acquaintances at one point in their relationship. However, something happened along the way that caused them to be angry with one another. In the beginning of this play Mrs. X was tiring to be friends with Miss Y, but Miss Y wanted nothing to do with Mrs. X. Nonetheless, Mrs. X sat at Miss Y’s table and began to speak to her about topics such as family, children, and the way Mrs. X â€Å"got in Miss Y’s way† and got her kicked out of the theater company they both worked for. Completely disregarding any hint from Miss Y that she was not necessarily welcomed at her table. Doing so caused Mrs. X to put together pieces of a rather large puzzle in which the end result was the affair that Miss Y had With Mrs. X’s husband. Miss Y is a quiet timid woman, who does absolutely no talking (verbally) in this story, but only expresses her self by facial jesters and a few sinkers and giggles now and then. Mrs. X: Why, Millie my dear, how are you? Sitting hear all alone on Christmas Eve like some Bachelor. Miss Y looks up from her magazine, nods and continues to read. (121) She does not seem to find it very important to discuss the topics that Mrs. X is bringing up because all it will do is end up hurting Mrs. X. She shows a lot of self-control because no matter how many hurtful things Mrs. X says, Miss Y still remains silent and hesitant, even when Mrs. x asks her to speak. It could also be that she is possibly lacking the strength to bring up this past that we find to be so very vivid. Sh... Free Essays on The Conflict Between Miss Y And Mrs. X Free Essays on The Conflict Between Miss Y And Mrs. X THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MISS Y AND MRS. X â€Å"When two women, with a past like ours, who loathe each other the way we do things tend to get ugly when they get together.† This was said in â€Å"made-for-T.V. movie, but it perfectly explains the relationship between Missy and Mrs. X. The two women in this play, â€Å"The Stronger† by August Strindberg, (Miss Y, Amelia, and Mrs. X) are two women who were not necessarily friends, but more along the lines of acquaintances at one point in their relationship. However, something happened along the way that caused them to be angry with one another. In the beginning of this play Mrs. X was tiring to be friends with Miss Y, but Miss Y wanted nothing to do with Mrs. X. Nonetheless, Mrs. X sat at Miss Y’s table and began to speak to her about topics such as family, children, and the way Mrs. X â€Å"got in Miss Y’s way† and got her kicked out of the theater company they both worked for. Completely disregarding any hint from Miss Y that she was not necessarily welcomed at her table. Doing so caused Mrs. X to put together pieces of a rather large puzzle in which the end result was the affair that Miss Y had With Mrs. X’s husband. Miss Y is a quiet timid woman, who does absolutely no talking (verbally) in this story, but only expresses her self by facial jesters and a few sinkers and giggles now and then. Mrs. X: Why, Millie my dear, how are you? Sitting hear all alone on Christmas Eve like some Bachelor. Miss Y looks up from her magazine, nods and continues to read. (121) She does not seem to find it very important to discuss the topics that Mrs. X is bringing up because all it will do is end up hurting Mrs. X. She shows a lot of self-control because no matter how many hurtful things Mrs. X says, Miss Y still remains silent and hesitant, even when Mrs. x asks her to speak. It could also be that she is possibly lacking the strength to bring up this past that we find to be so very vivid. Sh...

Competitiveness of HK Cruise Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Competitiveness of HK Cruise Tourism - Essay Example I identified that I will have to improve my confidence level which will in turn improve my communication and socialization skills. I am reserved and introvert in nature which makes it difficult for me to socialize with people and open up easily. To establish a successful career as a hotel manager in the cruise tourism industry I will have to possess excellent communication skills and a pleasant personality. I believe I have a positive personality but my inability to communicate smoothly makes it difficult for me to express my personality in my behaviour. To work in the position of a hotel manager and ensure the future development of my career, I will focus on enhancing my communication abilities and the ability to understand and respond to what other people have to say. This will help me in the future to manage the customers in the cruise where I would work as a hotel manager. The position of a hotel manager would, call for a friendly, outgoing, pleasing and helpful personality. Thus I will have to improve on these skills. Also, I will have to improve on my ability to communicate with other team members and to manage a team as I will have to manage a group of people working under me in my work. I will have to communicate wi th the customers, teammates and personnel in other departments. Therefore, I will have to install more confidence in my speaking and communicating abilities. A considerable level of empathy and ability to establish rapport with the customers and fellow workers would help me in the future development of my career. The essay is aimed at studying and evaluating the different aspects of the Hong Kong cruise tourism industry. The study is prepared by providing a suitable background to the Hong Kong tourism industry encompassing the different aspects of the tourism and hospitality sector in Hong Kong and the evolvement of the Hong Kong cruise industry through the establishment of terminals and other infrastructures. I have

Business Ethics and Issues of Employment Case Study

Business Ethics and Issues of Employment - Case Study Example Ethical relativism designates the universal values that apply to everyone in every business across the world. Sometimes, that extent can be reduced to cultural relativism that seeks to cover the accepted values in a narrower scope, say, a company or a country in regards to the existing culture or traditions. Proponents of Ethical (cultural) relativism assert it demonstrates empirical evidence. Conversely, arguments against ethical relativism claim that it is difficult to find values and norms that govern all businesses universally. Truth-telling refers to honest communication and poses the question as to whether anyone can defend their reason when not telling the truth in business. Advocates of truth-telling argue that all societies depend on reciprocal bonds of truthfulness to enforce their sustained relationships. Those against the being honest claim that it is common practice, and everyone should be aware of the game. They give examples such as the inflating claims used by advertising companies or contracts that have concealed fine print provided by employers and suppliers. For 35 years, Ken worked for United Airlines as a pilot. Typically, he expected to receive his six-figure pension income from the company’s retirement trust. At his retirement, United Airlines had been experiencing a tumultuous financial period. However, the airlines maintained that that was not the case despite doubts about their financial position to cater to the company’s demands such as Ken’s approaching retirement plan. True to the growing fears, United funded Ken’s trust at about 50 percent of the expected amount. The reason provided for this was that the airlines troubled financially, had been allowed by federal rules to skip making cash contributions. The rules allowed United to seek a bankruptcy declaration, and this meant that they could only cater for about half of what Ken’s was to receive. There are various ethical issues, in this case, chief among them being United’s lack of integrity. The company should have in advance disclosed to Ken about their state of bankruptcy and the financial troubles they were undergoing.  

The Evaluating a Website for Credibility Assignment

The Evaluating a Website for Credibility - Assignment Example Similarly, students can use the web address http:/ http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/16/393336901/vaccination-gaps-helped-fuel-disneyland-measles-spread to quickly find this website. This website’s domain npr.org is essential and one of the best way to determine its credibility of the site. In addition, it helps researchers learn the source of this web site quickly. The article from the npr gives a detailed discussion of the outbreak and spread of measles. The prime objective of this website is to enlighten the general public of the importance of vaccination, which makes it informative. Through the statement, â€Å"...there is a protective effect called herd immunity that interrupts the spread of the virus to vulnerable people† the website is optimistic that citizens will heed to the advice and embrace vaccination. Additionally, the site successfully passes the information since it is easy to navigate. Simplicity and visibility of the words used give visitors easy time while reading the information. Further, the website has an attractive picture that is accompanied by a written description of the images. The website also loads instantaneously hence saves time for the visitors. Besides, the website owner collects visitor’s geolocation data through their services for offering relevant services. The organization reserves the right to use the visitor’s comments for the purpose of improving service though it does not share personally-identifying information with the third parties. Since it does not share personal information, the website has a great sense of security and privacy. Moreover, this website is credible, and Americans and worldwide visitors should trust its information. Carder (2013) says that a credible should have an author from a recognized institution. George Freylandov has written this web page, and he is associated with the National Public Radio organization. In addition,

Hotel Industry: Brand Image and Customer Loyalty

Hotel Industry: Brand Image and Customer Loyalty Hotel Brand Images: Exploring Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction Contents (Jump to) Introduction Rationale Aims and Objectives Hypothesis Statement Secondary Literature Review Primary Quantitative Research Literature Review Brand Identity and Image Brand Strategy and Customer Satisfaction Consumer Loyalty and Brand Image Hotel Brands and Consumers Conclusion and Implications Research Approach Survey Questionnaire Data Sampling H1: Consumer loyalty is not related to brand identity in hotels. H2: Consumer satisfaction is not related to brand image of hotels. Correlation Analysis Conclusion Introduction This research paper takes the position that branding and brand loyalty have become an important part of modern day business marketing. Accordingly, consumer perceptions, brand image, and market research are all important components of developing continuous brand image. The development of brand loyalty has a direct impact on today’s marketability and viability of a service or product in today’s competitive market. Brand loyalty has been considered to be the repetition of consumer purchase behaviour under the conditions of the consumer’s sensitivity to a product as on of the more prevailing trends in global hotel marketing (Kayaman and Arasli 2007). Other viewpoints describe brand loyalty as having an attitudinal measurement (Kayaman and Arasli 2007). Brand performance has several aspects: quality, price, credibility, value, trust, and consistency. Delgado-Ballester Munuera-Aleman (2001) suggested that core brand trust and brand image functions have a key role in developing consumer loyalty and is characterised by high involvement of the organisation in service quality. The ability of an organisation to hold onto a market position is highly based on its ability to gain new customers while retaining old customers. Gunter Heather (2007) showed that in the service industry, the ability of team members to complete a service to the customer is important in developing customer loyalty and increasing the customer’s perception of service quality. This research explores key performance indicators of brands as they impact consumer loyalty in the hotel industry. This is done by looking at the theories behind brand performance, which include market signalling theory as well as brand identity and brand image. The research examines the efficiency of internal operations of organisations as they impact brand consistency. These components are interrelated with evidence for consumer patronage and consumer loyalty, based on various factors that will be explored as being relative to building (or diminishing) consumer loyalty. The dissertation will utilise secondary research as a literature review to establish the components and relationships between brand identity, consumer loyalty, and brand strategy. The ultimate goal of this research is to describe how consumer’s build expectations and perceptions regarding a particular brand image and how consumer loyalty to a particular hotel can be managed through brand strategy. Rationale Dean (2001) made the conclusion that the hotel industry has suffered in stock value compared to other industries. In 2001, only the Hilton brand was present in the top 100 brand names, with a market value of 1.4 billion dollars (Dean 2001). This shows that there is a need to understand and describe customer loyalty in the hotel industry to further consumer patronage of hotels. The hotel industry, especially in the luxury sector, offers an experience of a product and service. Therefore, it stands to reason that the consistency the brand offers has a strong impact on the consumer’s perception. Kandampully Suhartanto (2000) showed that hotel consistency should revolve around the internal performance of housekeeping, reception, food and beverages, as well as price and value to be considered competitive and to maintain consumer loyalty. This research is rationalised by the idea that understanding customer loyalty based on satisfaction in these arenas impacts market value, and thus can assist hoteliers in world wide competition. Aims and Objectives The aim of this dissertation is based on the above rationale and is focused on consumer based perceptions of hotel brands. The goal is to explore and examine the factors of customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, and hotel branding for the betterment of organisation’s operating in the hotel industry. Thus, the research aims to develop stronger market value through brand identity and brand image perceptions of the customer. The objectives to reach this aim are to first, describe the relationships between brand identity and customer loyalty through secondary literature review research. The next objective is to utilise primary quantitative survey methods to statistically evaluate the impact of the relationships between customer satisfaction and brand identity on customer loyalty. The end results should lead towards a description of the occurrence of customer loyalty perceptions in the hotel industry based on the factors of brand identity and customer satisfaction described in th e literature review. Hypothesis Statement Based on the aims and objectives of the research, the following hypotheses are to be explored through quantitative data: H1: Consumer loyalty is not related to brand identity in hotels. H1.0: Consumer loyalty is related to brand identity in hotels. H2: Consumer satisfaction is not related to brand image of hotels. H2.0: Consumer satisfaction is related to brand image of hotels. Secondary Literature Review The secondary literature review will be conducted to establish the variables and factors that develop the above hypothesis. In this, the research has chosen to utilise mainly scholarly journal databases, including Sage Journals Online, EbscoHost, and Thomspon-Gale. Each of these databases is peer-reviewed and scholarly, as well as international, which allows for a holistic focus on the issues of consumer loyalty from a global viewpoint. The point that each of these journal databases is international is important as this research focuses on the hotel industry as a whole, not on the hotel industry in any particular nation. The research was conducted using the Boolean search terms of ‘brand identity’ and ‘consumer loyalty;’ ‘brand identity’ and ‘consumer satisfaction’; ‘brand image’ and ‘consumer satisfaction’; ‘brand image’ and ‘consumer loyalty’; ‘consumer satisfaction’ and ‘consumer loyalty’; ‘brand identity’ and ‘brand image.’ Results were then sifted through based on date and current relevance to organisational branding, hotel branding, or market branding. This was important to do as some research findings were not related to the actual research, some findings that were unrelated and had to be removed included gender bias, cow procreation, and other unrelated terms. Future secondary literature review research will focus on stronger Boolean search terms to remove unwanted topics and prevent unnecessary time extensions. The secondary literature review is utilised to establish the questions in the quantitative survey as well as to establish relationships between each hypotheses statement. Primary Quantitative Research Primary quantitative research was chosen for this study as it allows for statistical and objective evidence to be presented and to accept or reject the stated hypotheses. The choice and rationale for the primary quantitative research is explored further in the methodology section. For this short introduction, quantitative research allows for specific information regarding the occurrences of customer loyalty and satisfaction, which can act as a precursor for further qualitative research later. Furthermore, the use of surveys allows the researcher to make specific and numerically succinct statements regarding the subjects at hand, from the customer’s perception. The research approach is deductive, meaning that it is theory testing rather than inductive, which is theory generating. In this manner the research proposes to accept or reject the hypothesis and establish the relationship between hotel brand identity-image and consumer loyalty-satisfaction. Branding is method of determining an organisation’s competitive position based on consumer perceptions, where the organisation’s position to competitors impacts consumer choices (Daffey and Abratt 2002). In corporations, branding has increased in recent importance, particularly in leisure and travel services, where increased attention has been placed on service branding in hotels, retail, and banking industries (Hatch and Schultz 2003). Research identified the need for branding as it pertains to the brand image and brand identity, which separates the brand based on the internal components of the industry or organisation as well as it is congruent with shared values and meanings identified by both the organisation and consumer perceptions (Hatch and Schultz 2003). Thus, the relationship between brand identity, brand image, and consumer perception for leisure services, such as hotels, has become imperative to describing the marketing needs of an organisation. Brand Identity and Image Brand identity is an antecedent to brand image, thus what the organisation puts forth as its brand identity impacts the consumer’s perception of brand image (Daffey and Abratt 2002). The focus can be placed on the interface within brand identity and consumer perception of brand image, which involved the corporate branding method and the manner in which it is perceived by the consumer, thus impacting the consumer’s identification with the brand and increasing or decreasing the consumer’s perceived brand value (Daffey and Abratt 2002). Conceptually, brand identity is the organisation’s marketing mission in regards to the brands vision and values (Kapferer 2004). Brand identity is thus fulfilled by the organisation’s competence towards its internal and external vision, aims, and values (Kapferer 2004). This means that brand identity is an articulation of the organisation’s ethos, which incorporates the individualistic image that a competitor pla ces on its products, where the goal is to differentiate the service or product definition from other brand identities (Kapferer 2004). The statement has been made that brand identity has three main goals (Albert and Whetten 2003). The first of these goals are to capture the organisation’s essential service or product paradigm (Albert and Whetten 2003). Secondly, the organisations brand identity should exhibit and define its meaning towards consumers; and thirdly this meaning allows the brand to be differentiated and exhibited with continuity in the consumer’s mindset (Albert and Whetten 2003). Bosch (2006) examined that the construction of brand identity is to involve the elemental intent of the organisation’s product or service, where the organisation’s reputation is relevant to the personality of the brand identity set forth by the marketing strategy (Bosch 2006). Thus, brand identity becomes an organisation’s operational strategy that allows it to enhance or integrate an internal vision to external customers, thereby shaping the customer’s purchase intentions and value-ad ded perceptions towards that brand. As noted, brand identity precedes brand image. Brand image is imperative to gaining consumer validation and retention. When an organisation sets forth an image that is favourable in the mindset of the consumers, it inherently builds a specific competitive advantage (Aaker 1997). Brand image is a construction of consumer perceptions of the brand, and therefore is based on the most recent mindset of beliefs that the consumer holds towards the brand itself (Nandan 2005). The consumer’s perceptions and feelings are based on the brand identity, as well as the consumer’s experiences and relationships with the organisation (Nandan 2005).Thus, brand image has a strong value for an organisation and is ascertained to create a distinctive and sustainable competitive advantage (Aaker 1997). It is therefore defined that brand image is the meaning of connection between the consumer and the organisation’s product or service, where the goal is to increase consumer loyalty in the net result of the marketing strategy (Aaker 1997). This net result is impacted by the consumer’s perception of the brand (Aaker 1997). This consumer perception is built by experiences with the brand and the impressions the brand leaves with the customer, thus altering the customer’s beliefs and feelings towards the product (Aaker 1997). This alteration of the consumer perception creates the consumer’s behaviour and attitude about a product or service (Aaker 1997). The link between brand identity and brand image has been noted to be largely based on the role of communication that forms consumer perceptions as they pertain to branding (Harris and de Chernatory 2001). However, some confusion as to the specific role of marketing brand identity and the formulation of brand image exists. While some researchers explore that consumer perception is built based on such marketing communications (Harris and de Chernatory 2001), others substantiate that brand image is not a result of brand identity marketing, but of the experiences of consumers with the product and service of the brand (Chun and Davies 2006). This means that the external communications of the organisation, noted in the above paragraphs to be centred on exposing the value, aims and intentions of the brand (Kapferer 2004) have less impact on the consumer’s mindset than the consumers actual experiences with the brand (Chun and Davies 2006). This is especially true in the service orient ed industries, such as hotels, where service context related firms are more likely to gain or lose brand image in the customer’s mindset based on consumer experiences with the service (O’Cass and Grace 2004). Consumer experiences such as word of mouth, poor service relationships, and negative service receipt are more likely to impact the perception of a brand image than the organisation’s marketing strategy of the brand’s identity (O’Cass and Grace 2004). In this relationship, the role of service employees and their relationship with the customer becomes an integral part of building a brand image, where the recognition of employees to the brand identity as well as towards delivering a positive customer service experience is more important to sustainable brand image than any other factor (Hardaker and Fill 2005). This is because the employee operating in a service context, such as a hotel, is the first point of contact the consumer has with the bran d (Hardaker and Fill 2005). Thus, the experience a consumer has with an employee of a service based industry has multiple interfaces as the employee’s value, the brand identity, and the consumer’s perception, all of which create the brand image (O’Cass and Grace 2004). Brand Strategy and Customer Satisfaction It stands to reason that if consumers create a perception of a brand image based on their level of satisfaction, then there is an inherent link between brand image and customer satisfaction. This was established as a positive image towards consumer satisfaction increases consumer loyalty, where it is postulated that the relationship also develops consumer loyalty (Chun and Davies 2006). In this relationship, there is a congruent development between brand identities, as it is externally presented by the organisation, and consumer satisfaction as it is internally perceived by the consumer (Chun and Davies 2006). The development is that a firm utilises brand strategy, as this has the ability to increase brand loyalty when it ensures that the relationship between brand identity and image is congruent and consistent, as it applies to influencing consumer loyalty (Nandan 2005). Thus, brand identity has an increased positive relationship that is established between the customer’s per ception of satisfaction, the development of loyalty, and the brand’s image (Nandan 2005). Consumer promotions are one method that organisations use to increase brand awareness, and thus establish brand identity. Consumer promotions include coupons and sweepstakes, but increasingly include loyalty programs such as points for repurchases. These types of sales promotions are have the targeted goal of increasing repurchase intentions of final purchases (Kotler and Armstrong 2002). Consumer sales promotions are just as various as brands themselves, existing as incentives for purchasing or repurchasing, while others attempt to communicate the nature of the organisation (Kotler and Armstrong 2002). Some promotions will be based on pricing discounts, while others are non-priced based, such as additional products or special services (Kotler and Armstrong 2002). Consumer promotion is a traditional brand strategy that is thought to enhance consumer loyalty by offering special rewards for repurchasing a service or product (Kotler and Armstrong 2002). Thus, it is supposed that consume r promotions influence the consumer by enhancing how the customer cognitively perceives the value of a service or product (Kotler and Armstrong 2002). Value, as the difference between price and received goods, is the object that creates price perception. Price perception, in turn, establishes how a customer values the brand’s overall image, and thus if the consumer is willing to purchase the brand (Schiffman and Kanuk 2004). Price perceptions can be both positive and negative. In luxury instances, higher prices for higher levels of services are considers attributes to the consumer’s success, and therefore the repurchase intentions may be based on the intrinsic value the consumer places on the actual service receipt, rather than the cost of the service (Moore et al 2003). Price and customer loyalty therefore become complex, as in some cases very low prices for a luxury brand, or over-promotion of the brand, lead to devaluation of the brand, where the consumer finds less value for the same service offered at a lower price (Moore et al 2003). This leads towards product quality perceptions, where the superiority of a service is approached by the consumer based on the consumer’s expectations of the service (Moore et al 2003). Consumers may place a judgement upon the quality of a service based on the information they have received through brand identity strategies regarding the service, when this information is not congruent with the customer’s received service, there is a negative gap in customer satisfaction (Schiffman and Kanuk 2004). Consumer judgements are created by intrinsic and extrinsic information (Schiffman and Kanuk 2004). The concern is that there is a gap between brand identities put forth by the organisation and brand images received, or perceived, by the consumers (Hatch and Schultz 2003). This gap exists when the internal identities of the organisation, as they relate to the values and ideals of the organisation, are not externally perceived by the consumer (Hatch and Schultz 2003; Chun and Davies 2006). Thus, the need for a brand strategy that bridges this gap for increased customer perceptions becomes a managerial goal to narrow the gap (Harris and de Chernatony 2001). This need for gap reduction is stated to be a holistic need, where brand strategy is centred on the ability of the organisation to ensure that all employees are able to breach the gaps and have the same values and aims that the organisations places external brand marketing importance upon (Harris and de Chernatony 2001). Emphatically, this means that strategy towards the brand image is highly reliant upon the internal brand identi ty of the organisation and the external brand image the customer forms (Harris and de Chernatony 2001). Thus, there is an increased need in brand development and strategy for organisations to match the consumer’s needs and perceptions with the brand’s identity, which in turn will increase consumer loyalty but not necessarily consumer satisfaction (Chun and Davies 2006). Consumer Loyalty and Brand Image Conceptualizing the link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has several dimensions (Oliver 1999). In this, satisfaction has the asymmetric consequence towards the development of consumer loyalty, yet consumer loyalty does not impact consumer satisfaction in the same manner (Oliver 1999). A consumer that has been traditionally loyal to a particular brand will not simply choose the brand after a dissatisfactory service experience simply because they have formed a habit of being loyal to that brand (Oliver 1999). Chun and Davies (2006) examined that a brand’s image can impact consumer loyalty based on the experiences of a customer in regards to the brand service delivery by employees. This means that employees are frequently the heart of a service brands image, and the front line of the ability of a brand to build consumer loyalty. Furthermore, employees are the most frequent determination of a consumer’s mindset towards a brand, which in turn impacts the consumers perception and frequency of loyalty towards the brand (O’Cass and Grace 2004). Thus, it is implied that employees are the foundation of building service brand images, and the employee of the service brand has the strongest impact of brand identity communication in the customer’s mindset (O’Cass and Grace 2004). Thus, what occurs is a service brand dimension where the employee, rather than the organisation, becomes the forefront for brand image formulation, which establishes that employees are the ambassador’s of a brand image (Harris and de Chernatony 2001). For the leisure and travel sectors, employees act as the interface between the consumer’s service needs and the brand image formation (Harris and de Chernatony 2001). Therefore, the consumer’s internal perceptions of a brand are enhanced or diminished by the service experience and communications of employees, which in turn results in future commitments to brand loyalty when these experiences and communications are positively perceived by the customer (Harris and de Chernatony 2001). Consumer satisfaction and loyalty are dependent on the consumers perceived value of a brand image. In early work regarding the subject, Oliver (1997) showed that consumer satisfaction is the ability of a service to fulfil the consumer’s need, thus it is based upon the response of the organisation towards fulfilling what the consumer believes, or perceives, to be important and of value. The ability of the consumer to develop a perception regarding the service of a brand is based upon a consumer’s judgement regarding the provisions of services and products and the pleasure that the customer receives, intrinsically, from the consumption of the product or service (Oliver 1997). Oliver’s (1999) later work established that consumer loyalty is a strong commitment of the consumer to repurchase the product or service in a consistent manner, based on the previous judgements that the consumer held, which are further enabled by both the customer’s and the organisation’s behaviours and attitudes towards the brand’s identity and image (Oliver 1999). Consumer attitudes have several components. First, the cognitive component establishes the rational appeal of a product or service, where the consumer makes a decision based on characteristics the consumer determines to be imperative to filling a consumer need (Rowley and Dawes 1999). The affective component is established as the emotional connections a consumer develops with the service, such as fulfilling a social or status need by purchasing a particular brand (Rowley and Dawes 1999). Lastly, the cognitive components of consumer attitudes are those that are relative to the consumers’ behavioural patterns (Rowley and Dawes 1999). Cognitive components are based on the consumer’s previously formed behaviour patterns, for example the difference between a hedonic and utilitarian purchaser. A hedonic behaviour pattern is where a consumer purchases a product based on the ability to receive a particular emotional need, such as societal satisfaction (Rowley and Dawes 1999). A utilitarian purchaser focuses on the physical needs of a product’s ability to fulfil a gap in the customer’s necessary purchase intentions (Rowley and Dawes 1999). This is further established by Chun and Davies (2006), where consumer loyalty as a behavioural and attitudinal aspect contains strong intrinsic characteristics built by the needs of the consumer and compared to the ability of the organisation to deliver towards these needs, which in turn develops the consumer’s attitudes and behaviours towards a brand. Yet consumer perception and brand loyalty is not only direc ted by behaviours and attitudes, it is also built by cognition of the brand and its associative value (Jones and Taylor 2007). In this, while attitudes and behaviours are important, the customer also may be inclined to cognitively assess the price that has been paid against the service or product received, which is the basic foundation of consumer’s perceived value (Jones and Taylor 2007). Hotel Brands and Consumers Consumers of hotel services seek consistently reliable service with fair to high quality and an affordable price within their perception of affordability (Dube and Reneghan 2000). Hoteliers place strong significance towards consumer satisfaction as this impacts the hotel’s perceived brand image (Dube and Reneghan 2000). What occurs is the brand hotel begins to operate based on its quality of service by delivering service value information to the customer before the customer views or uses the service product (Bruicks, Zeithaml and Naylor 2000). This means that as consumers seek out a particular amount of service quality to fulfil the gap between their needs and the service receipt, hoteliers are simultaneously awarding service quality based statements towards their internal brand identity and external brand image (Bruicks, Zeithaml and Naylor 2000). Effectively, brand images are built with multiple brand scopes achieved, where larger hotel chains offer several brand images with their end consumer’s perception of value and quality in mind (Dube and Reneghan 2000). Thus the hotel’s brand strategy is to develop brand value based on service awareness, rather than service receipt, as well as the quality of perception in the consumer’s mind, leading towards consumer satisfaction (Aaker 1991). As brand strategy leads towards the sight unseen ideal of gaining customer satisfaction, researchers have explored that hotels with higher consumer satisfaction for a perceived high value or high quality service are less conscientious about price and promotions, but more consciences in regards to service receipt and the quality of service (Dube and Reneghan 2000). Brand strategy of hoteliers focuses on increasing operational success of their overall brand measurements, where the ideal strategic viewpoint is to gain market share from the brand strategy (Ekinci 2002). However, the hotel industry has mixed results from brand strategies and brand images (Ekinci 2002). These mixed results are due to consumer’s perceptions of the brand image and brand quality (Ekinci 2002). The divergence exists when brand growth and consumer quality perceptions create a gap between the consumer’s expected service quality from the brand identity and the consumer’s receipt of service qu ality (Ekinci 2002). Pricing and promotion models also create a gap in expectations and perceptions (Ekinci 2002). This occurs because of the market signalling theory, which explains that consumers may expect higher quality from organisations with higher market shares, which increases the demand for future business and services (Helloffs Jacobson, 1999). In the hospitality industry, as market share leaders become more visible to consumers through brand identity and brand marketing strategy, advertising messages become aligned with the high market share and high quality perceptions (Helloffs Jacobson 1999). Size of the hotel chain, amenities, desirable locations, and similar services at various locations all become part of hoteliers brand marketing strategies as they gain market share. However, there is the concern that strategic brand management may cause a negative relationship between brand image, market share, and consumer’s perceived expectations of quality (Helloffs J acobson 1999). Some studies examine that consumer’s expectations of quality increase as market share increases, yet the consumer’s satisfaction with a service decreases almost simultaneously (Helloffs Jacobson 1999). Therefore, market signalling theory, as it applies to a hospitality organisation’s externally presented brand identity, may not be the precursor to adequate consumer satisfaction and the consumer’s internal perception of the brand’s image. Hoteliers are very aware of the needs for strong consumer focus, yet multiple hospitality organisations have differing perspectives regarding the customer’s needs and perceptions. For example, hoteliers may focus on strong franchise development, based on tourism locations, and typically focus on the customer needs of service continuity, as offering the same services at each tourism franchise location (Linder 2001). However, another line of thought is that corporate development and managerial strategy, rather than the franchise consumer, is more important in building brand identity to customer awareness (Linder 2001). Thus, there is a divergence in hotelier’s management strategy between the continuity of service franchises and the value of service towards the customer. There is some evidence that hoteliers have a brand identity need to respond to the customer’s concerns of cost and quality, but also to decide the level of service continuity within the franchiseâ⠂¬â„¢s, or in the lack of franchising, to respond to the needs of quality in the consumer’s service receipt (Michael 2000). One interesting component of this relationship is that franchising actually has a negative impact on quality, but service continuity has a positive impact (Michael 2000). Thus, the consumer may expect the same service quality at each hotel location, but is not likely to receive the same level of quality at each franchise location (Michael 2000). However, when the customer’s level of perceived quality does not have a gap in service continuity between franchise or hotel locations, then there is a strong positive relationship (Michael 2000). There is a negative relationship when service quality of a particular brand image that the customer has a created a specific internal perceptions are not equivocal, leaving a gap between what the customer believed would occur in values and quality, and what the customer believed they received in value and Bertolt Brecht: Using Comedy As Political Device Bertolt Brecht: Using Comedy As Political Device Bertolt Brecht, born in Augsberg Germany 1898, was a highly influential playwright, director and innovative performance theorist, making a major contribution to dramaturgy and theatrical production that continues to be portrayed within theatres and on stage to this date. His ideas and theories regarding political theatre reject the naturalistic system put forward many years before by Konstantin Stanislavski and attempted to persuade an audience to want to make a difference in society. In his early twenties, Brecht began to have an aversion to the capitalist society he was brought up in and sought after a more equal approach to the world and people around him. This was when he began his exploration into Marxism: a political philosophy, often referred to as a form of socialism, which emphasises the importance of the class struggle in society and maintains the belief that everyone is equal. This is a viewpoint that Brecht remained loyal to throughout the rest of his life and career with a certain level of Marxist influence being noticeably present in each of his plays and productions. Marxists believe in a socialist society that does not distinguish between classes of people. Marxists tend to be working class people or the proletariat and these fellow Marxists, i.e. the proletariat, were the people Brecht intended his plays for. He wanted to use his talent within the theatre to connect with the working class people in order to change the capitalist oppression under which he lived. His plays rejected the naturalistic stage style and portrayed the world at the time in a way that would enable each spectator to adopt a critical awareness of the action they saw on stage. Brecht laid down a system of performance and production techniques in order to create an atmosphere within the theatre that would prevent the audience from hanging their brains up with their hats in the cloakroom (Anon; www.delamere-arts.com.) The use of these techniques within theatre production is now formally known as Epic Theatre. Brecht intended his theatre to be both didactical (though not dull or boring) and dialectical, and believed that in order to make an audience pay attention to what they are seeing and hearing from the stage they must be distanced from the action (i.e. the audience see the stage as a stage and the actors as actors.) Epic theatre aims to create this production of thought in the spectators, creating a distance between them and the action through the use of a technique known as verfremdungseffekt or V-effekt. Roughly translated as the making strange effect, the V-effekt is a technique which solely intends to make the audience aware they are in a theatre at all times, enabling them to adopt an attitude of inquiry and criticism in their approach to the action. The audience must at no time during an epic play be seen to be in a trance or take what they see on stage for granted. Richard Schechner (2006) claims that the best way to think of the V-effekt is as a way to drive a wedge between th e actor, the character, the staging (including blocking, design, music and any other production element) so that each is able to bounce off, and comment upon, the others. In this an actor may pay a complete disregard for the fourth wall (a naturalistic staging and acting technique) directly addressing the audience in speeches, there may also be the use of a narrator (such as the Street Singer in The Threepenny Opera), songs and explanatory placards to interrupt the action and thus distance the audience from what they are watching. Other techniques Brecht introduced to the stage included the use of Gestus, or Gestureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ with attitude (Mumford, 2008, p.54) which sees the actors conveying the intentions of a performance through tableaux, a single gesture or voice inflection. An example of this was portrayed in the National Theatres production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Holmes; 2007) which saw the governors wife, Natella smoking over the babys pram. This showed her complete lack of love and care for her child. This, in itself, maintains a distance between audience and action in that a spectator is able to see the difference between actor and character, with an actor offering personal opinion through their actions and their use of such gestures. This distancing effect can also be created, as stated by Richard Schechner (2006) previously, by other production elements including the use of harsh, bright lighting, multi-role acting, visible set changes completed by the actors themselves, the use of half -curtains and also music and songs that clash with the action, providing further comment on the action about the themes and ideas. Brecht wanted his spectators to enjoy themselves and feel comfortable within the theatre, comparing his audiences to those at a boxing match or in a public house (smoking, chatting leisurely.) Brecht insisted that, maintaining these techniques and ideas, plays should be fun and playful (Lyon Breuer, 1992, p. 95.) He believed that the use of Spass, the German word for fun, adds to the effectiveness and overall power of the political and social messages each and every one of his play emits. Research into Brechts beliefs (Eddershaw, 1996) show that criticism through fun (spass) is a vital element in Brechts notion of effective theatreà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to encourage a working class audience. Brecht believed that a theatre that cannot be laughed in is a theatre to be laughed at. Humourless people are ridiculous (Brecht as cited by Bradby McCormick, 1978, p.112). He found influential examples of spass in arts such as cabaret and silent films (Brecht is said to be a big fan of silent actor C harlie Chaplin.) Comedy, as Brecht believed, is a historically bound phenomenon (Wright, 1989, p.49) that is intended for political purpose. With this in mind, Brecht used comedy as a political device within most, if not all of his plays. His dialectical theatre focuses on what would have been categorised as comedy at the time at which a play was written but has since become an anachronism (Willett Manheim, 1985, p.2). Brecht believed that: Comedy quotes what has never been natural. It is laughter at the not natural which provides the leverage to escape the ideological determinations of society. Brecht finds the source of comedy in the nature of society rather than in the nature of an individual. (Wright, 1989, p.49/50) Many believe that because of this approach to the theatre, Brechts plays (especially the use of comedy as a political device) no longer have the same affect on contemporary culture as they would have done on an audience of Brechts time. Characters he created to mock society, highlighting the class struggle and the capitalist oppression of his time appear satirical and stereotypical within modern day culture. Although, many critics maintain the belief that this use of satirical humour within the characters in his plays enhances the dialecticism of his work many others believe that without background knowledge of Brechts intentions within his theatre and instead of distancing the audience, such comedy brings them together in laughter. However, in saying this and at the time of writing his plays, Brecht was ingenious in his implementation of comedy within his plays. He did not force comedy at or onto an audience but instead used two contrasting acting styles at the side of one another, cleverly placing a down-to-earth, normal character alongside an embellished character. Both characters make political statements while one is also able to show the other character up. A good example of this can be found in The Caucasian Chalk Circle with the characters of the governors wife, Natella, drunken judge, Azdak and the peasant maid, Grusha within the scene of The Chalk Circle. Grusha maintains a sophisticated characterisation while the characters of both Natella and Azdak appear to mock the upper classes within society. This scene suggests that although Natella might have more money and be better dressed, Grusha still proves to be the better mother after all. This emphasises a strong socio-political message that materialism i.e. how much money a person has or how they look does not mean everything or even anything, it is what is inside a person that counts. As well as this, the scene also adds to the dialecticism of this particular play in that it appears to create a debate within the audience as a whole and also in the mind of the individual spectator as to who should, could and/or would be the better mother. It became well-known as Brecht delivered more and more plays and productions that he brought in comedy with a constant element of surprise, both because all was not always as it seemed on stage but also several different styles of acting were able to sit alongside each other and exist together (as shown above.) This technique acts as both a political device in showing the hierarchy within a capitalist society but also distances the audience with comedy. By using comedy, or spass, as a distancing technique whilst also highlighting the political and social messages of the play, Brecht was able to successfully achieve his aim of enabling an audience to adopt a critical awareness of what they saw on stage. This meant that the audience were more likely to leave the theatre wanting to make a change to the capitalist society that they were part of. Brechtian techniques, including his specific techniques involving comedy, are widely and very commonly used in contemporary cultural practice. However many claim that, nowadays, this is more than likely for an aesthetic value rather than to provide a political message and/or to add dialecticism to a performance or production. For example, TV crime drama programme, Hustle follows a small group of long-con artists during their everyday lives and through their work e.g. as they con other members of society out of money or possession. There is a constant hint of Brechtian influence throughout each episode with the use of Gestus (gestures such as hand movements and voice inflections that remind the viewer that they are watching con artists whilst they are at work), v-effekt (including direct address to camera and the con artists stepping out of character (i.e. the character adopted for the con) from time to time to explain their tricks to the audience) and also the use of spass within the characterisation of the victims of the cons (For example, a rich but clumsy, married businessman easily falling for and being seduced by the female of the con artists who is playing the part of another female within society). This use of spass within the piece is essential to enable the socio-political messages of each episod e to be conveyed to the audience. The con artists prove themselves to be different to what a stereotypical con artist is perceived to be in that they only con people of a higher class than themselves who are greedy, cheats and/or liars. They are portrayed as normal, down-to-earth human beings of a range of race, age, sex and colour. The characterisations of the victims of the cons they trick are generally stereotypical with each and every one of them being of a higher class (e.g. using queens English or Received Pronunciation, wearing business suits etc.) This conveys a sort of Robin Hood effect in that they are stealing from the rich but in order to teach them the lesson that they shouldnt cheat, lie etc. As described above, it is easy to see how this programme may be perceived as a contemporary example of the Brechtian use of comedy as a political device. This programme uses the general idea of spass by sending up the bad guys i.e. the members of a higher class, inviting the audie nce to laugh at these characters and also condemning what they stand for. However, as the programme is not strictly Brechtian in that the con artists are actually actors playing con artists (spectators are only made aware of this during the titles of the programme) it is questionable as to whether such Brechtian techniques were used in order to present a specific socio-political message or whether it was just for aesthetic purposes. It is also hard to tell whether the director intended to assist (Brechtian technique) or just plainly create the gaze of his/her audience Within Brechts plays and productions it is plain to see his attempt to assist the thought production or gaze within an audience i.e. how and what they interpret from the action they see on stage. Using a dialectical approach, Brechtian plays provide options and provoke debate, encouraging an audience member to create their own judgement and opinion regarding the action that they see on stage and so also critiquing how they see society around them and gaining their own understanding of it. In The Caucasian Chalk Circle, for example, a director may choose to provide the audience with other options e.g. the option for Grusha to leave baby Michael behind rather than to flee with him. This gaze between the spectator and the stage is essential and very important to Brechtian epic theatre, in order to get across any social or political message, a play is trying to convey, to the target audience i.e. a working class audience. A good contemporary stage example of this idea would be the work o f Mark Ravenhill. A very controversial playwright of the current time, Ravenhill is well-known for being highly influenced by Brecht. In his first play, Shopping and Fucking, Ravenhill set out to shock this audience to make them step back and question what they saw on stage, comparing this to the society they live in making them question that also. The play opens with a young man and woman, Robbie and Lulu, attempting to feed another young man, Mark, who is suffering or going cold turkey after attempting to quite heroin. This protagonist within the narrative also vomits on the stage. In most productions of this play the spectators are able to see the possibility of different outcomes for different characters. Using the names of a very well-known boy band called Take That as the character names within the place, this creates comedy within the piece to convey political messages as the audience will be very aware of any comparisons or contrasts that may be made between the characters o n stage and the members of the boy band. The play explores the breakdown of self value within people in society and the effect on the people since the announcement by Margaret Thatcher (1987) that there is no such thing as society. Although there is only a glimpse of Brechtian influence within the play, there is a clear socio-political message being portrayed and conveyed to the audience throughout the play. But, in saying this, we must always bear in mind that Brechtian signs and language was and is always intended to be read more than once e.g. the play (and so the socio-political message) is first read and interpreted by the actor before it is conveyed to the spectator, on stage, by the actor: what Brecht gives us to read is, by a kind of disengagement, the readers gaze, not directly the object of his reading; for this object reaches us only by the act of intellection (an alienated act) of a first reader who is already on the stage. (Barthes, 1986, p.219). However, with this being said, any interpretation of a Brechtian play made within contemporary cultural practice may prove unsuccessful in achieving Brechts official intentions due to the advance and change in society and societal values. In every play he wrote and directed, Brechts main aim was to make a change. He wanted his idea of theatre and the plays he wrote to encourage an audience to commit to social change, making them leave the theatre wanting to change the way they, and other around them, live their lives. Comedy within the theatre, to Brecht, was essential in order for him to connect with this target audience of the proletariat or working-class members of society. He found that criticism through spass was the easiest way to convey his socio-political messages in that it enabled a v-effekt, or distancing effect, between the action on stage and the audience. This gaze between the action and spectator is highly important in that, although Brecht would assist this gaze by providing the action and different options etc, he essentially wanted his spectators to make their own minds up and make their own decisions regarding what they saw on stage. However, due to the advance and change within society and societal values since Brecht wrote his plays, theories and techniques, the comedy Brecht used within his plays, has since been translated in contemporary cultural practice into a highly satirical manner, in which members of a higher class of society are mocked and stereotyped. In a modern theatre and within contemporary cultural practice, this would be more likely to bring an audience together in comedy rather than assisting the individual to adopt a critical awareness of the world that they live in. 2846