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

Intermolecular Bonding Essay :: essays research papers

Intermolecular Bonding Essay Write an essay on intermolecular bonding. Explain how each type of bond arises and the evidence for the existence of each. Comment on their strengths in relation to the types of atoms involved; the covalent bond and relative to each other. Use the concepts of different types and strengths of intermolecular bonds to explain the following: There exists four types of intermolecular bonding, they include ionic, covalent, Van der waals and hydrogen bonding. In order to describe the existence of such bonding you must also understand the concepts of polarity, polar and non-polar, and electronegativity. Ionic bonds are created by the complete transfer of electrons from one atom to another. In this process of electron transfer, each atom becomes a ion that is isoelectronic with the nearest noble gas., the substance is held together by electrostatic forces between the ions. The tendency for these ions to be formed by elements is corespondent to the octet rule, when atoms react,, they tend to do so in such a way that they attain an outer shell containing eight electrons. The factors that effect the formation of ions are ionization energy, electron affinity, lattice energy. Figure 1 The transfer of electrons involved in the formation of (a) sodium chloride and (b) calcium fluoride. Each atom forms an ion with an outer shell containing eight electrons. For many elements, compounds cannot be formed by the production of ions, since the energy released in the formation of the lattice of ions would be insufficient to overcome the energy required to form the ions would be insufficient to overcome the energy required to form the ions in the first place. In order for the atoms to achieve a noble gas configuration they must use another method of bonding by the process of electron sharing. From figure 2, you can see that the example of two hydrogen atoms combing. As the atoms get closer together, each electron experiences an attraction towards the two nuclei and the electron density shifts so that the most probable place to find the two electrons is between the two nuclei. Effectively each atom now has a share of both the electrons. The electron density between the two nuclei exerts an attractive force on each nucleus keeping them held tightly together in a covalent bond. Figure 2 A covalent bond forming between two hydrogen atoms. It is also possible for two atoms share more than one pair of electrons, sharing two pairs results in a double bond and sharing three pairs results in a triple bond. Electronegativity is a measure of how powerful a atom is in a molecule to

Macroeconomics Homework 1 Essay

Principles of Macroeconomics Homework 1 Please write down your answers as clearly as possible. 1. Below are some data from the land of milk and honey. Year 2008 2009 2010 Price of Milk $1 $1 $2 Quantity of Milk 100 quarts 200 200 Price of Honey $2 $2 $4 Quantity of Honey 50 quarts 100 100 a. Compute the nominal GDP, real GDP, and the GDP deflator for each year, using 2008 as the base year. Calculating nominal GDP: 2008: ($1 per qt. of milk ï‚ ´ 100 qts. milk) + ($2 per qt. of honey ï‚ ´ 50 qts. honey) = $200 2009: ($1 per qt. of milk ï‚ ´ 200 qts. milk) + ($2 per qt. of honey ï‚ ´ 100 qts. honey) = $400 2010: ($2 per qt. of milk ï‚ ´ 200 qts. milk) + ($4 per qt. of honey ï‚ ´ 100 qts. honey) = $800 Calculating real GDP (base year 2008): 2008: ($1 per qt. of milk ï‚ ´ 100 qts. milk) + ($2 per qt. of honey ï‚ ´ 50 qts. honey) = $200 2009: ($1 per qt. of milk ï‚ ´ 200 qts. milk) + ($2 per qt. of honey ï‚ ´ 100 qts. honey) = $400 2010: ($1 per qt. of milk ï‚ ´ 200 qts. milk) + ($2 per qt. of honey ï‚ ´ 100 qts. honey) = $400 Calculating the GDP deflator: 2008: ($200/$200) ï‚ ´ 100 = 100 2009: ($400/$400) ï‚ ´ 100 = 100 2010: ($800/$400) ï‚ ´ 100 = 200 1 b. Compute the percentage change in nominal GDP, real GDP, and the GDP deflator in 2009 and 2010 from the preceding year. For each year, identify the variable that does not change. Explain in words why your answer makes sense. Calculating the percentage change in nominal GDP: Percentage change in nominal GDP in 2009 = *($400 − $200)/$200+ ï‚ ´ 100 = 100%. Percentage change in nominal GDP in 2010 = *($800 − $400)/$400+ ï‚ ´ 100 = 100%. Calculating the percentage change in real GDP: Percentage change in real GDP in 2009 = *($400 − $200)/$200+ ï‚ ´ 100 = 100%. Percentage change in real GDP in 2010 = *($400 − $400)/$400] ï‚ ´ 100 = 0%. Calculating the percentage change in GDP deflator: Percentage change in the GDP deflator in 2009 = *(100 − 100)/100+ ï‚ ´ 100 = 0%. Percentage change in the GDP deflator in 2010 = *(200 − 100)/100+ ï‚ ´ 100 = 100%. Prices did not change from 2008 to 2009. Thus, the percentage change in the GDP deflator is zero. Likewise, output levels did not change from 2009 to 2010. This means that the percentage change in real GDP is zero. c. Did economic well-being rise more in 2009 or 2010? Explain. Economic well-being rose more in 2009 than in 2010, since real GDP rose in 2009 but not in 2010. In 2009, real GDP rose but prices did not. In 2010, real GDP did not rise but prices did. 2. What components of GDP in this year (if any) would each of the following transactions affects? How about total GDP in this year? Explain. a. A family buys a new refrigerator Consumption increases because a refrigerator is a good purchased by a household. Total GDP increases by the same amount. b. Aunt Jane buys a new house Investment increases because a new house is an investment good. Total GDP increases by the same amount. c. Ford sells a Mustang from its inventory 2 Consumption increases because a car is a good purchased by a household, but investment decreases because the car in Ford’s inventory had been counted as an investment good until it was sold. The increase in consumption cancels the decrease in investment, so there is no change to the total GDP (recall that GDP does not include the value from sale of used good) d. You buy a pizza from a local Pizza place. Consumption increases because pizza is a good purchased by a household. Total GDP increases by the same amount. e. California repaves Highway 101 Government purchases increase because the government spent money to provide a good to the public. Total GDP increases by the same amount. f. Your parents buy a bottle of French wine Consumption increases because the bottle is a good purchased by a household, but net exports decrease because the bottle was imported. The increase in consumption cancels the decrease in net exports, so there is no change to the total GDP (recall that GDP does not include the value of foreign produced goods) g. Honda downsizes its factory in Marysville, Ohio Investment decreases because some structures and equipment were put away. Total GDP decreases by the same amount. h. A senior lady in Cleveland receives social security from the government. Neither any of the components nor the total GDP is affected. Because social security is a kind of transfer payment, which is not included in GDP. 3. Explain a. Why a closed economy’s income must equal its expenditure? A closed economy’s income must equal its expenditure, because every transaction has a buyer and a seller. Thus, expenditure by buyers must equal income by sellers. b. Why do economists use real GDP rather than nominal GDP to gauge economic wellbeing? Economists use real GDP rather than nominal GDP to gauge economic well-being because real GDP is not affected by changes in prices, so it reflects only changes in the amounts being produced. Because it measures the economy’s production of goods and services, it reflects the economy’s ability to satisfy people’s needs and desires. But nominal GDP is affected both by quantity and price. You cannot determine if a rise in nominal GDP has been caused by increased production or higher prices. Thus real GDP is a better gauge of economic well-being than is nominal GDP.

Free Essays on Ricky Martin

She’s All I Ever Had By Ricky Martin Ricky Martin is a famous singer that has been an artist since the age of 10. He was born in Puerto Rico and began his singing career with a teenage group called the â€Å"Menodos†. The song â€Å"She’s all I Ever Had† by Ricky Martin, which has been rated number one, is a song that expresses the narrators feelings about a special woman in his life that he no longer has. The song begins with the narrator implying that he was hurt like a bird that had â€Å"broken wings.† This gives the listener a feeling of sorrow for the narrator because he makes it seem like the hurt that he was feeling inside was actually physically hurting him. He goes on to say that he has â€Å"quiet thoughts and unspoken dreams† which gives a listener the idea that the sorrow he felt inside was so intense that it wouldn’t let him share his feelings or thoughts with anyone. The song says, â€Å"Here I am alone again†. I can image the narrator sitting in the corner of a room thinking about this special woman that was no longer beside him. This women, had a certain quality that a mother has when she soothes her child that the narrator was craving when he said, â€Å"I need her know to hold my hand.† In second stanza â€Å"so much time so much pain† the narrator gives the listeners an idea that this man has been feeling wounded from his woman love for a long time. The narrator tries to hold on to the love that the women had given him. He doesn’t want to let go of the memories with her. He remembers that she was always there for him when he needed her. It seems like all he has left of her is the memories that they shared together and those memories will be the only thing that has him holding on to her love. The narrator feels like this individual was the only one that he ever wanted and he needs her to come back to his life so he can go on. He, the narrator, also states that this woman was all he h... Free Essays on Ricky Martin Free Essays on Ricky Martin She’s All I Ever Had By Ricky Martin Ricky Martin is a famous singer that has been an artist since the age of 10. He was born in Puerto Rico and began his singing career with a teenage group called the â€Å"Menodos†. The song â€Å"She’s all I Ever Had† by Ricky Martin, which has been rated number one, is a song that expresses the narrators feelings about a special woman in his life that he no longer has. The song begins with the narrator implying that he was hurt like a bird that had â€Å"broken wings.† This gives the listener a feeling of sorrow for the narrator because he makes it seem like the hurt that he was feeling inside was actually physically hurting him. He goes on to say that he has â€Å"quiet thoughts and unspoken dreams† which gives a listener the idea that the sorrow he felt inside was so intense that it wouldn’t let him share his feelings or thoughts with anyone. The song says, â€Å"Here I am alone again†. I can image the narrator sitting in the corner of a room thinking about this special woman that was no longer beside him. This women, had a certain quality that a mother has when she soothes her child that the narrator was craving when he said, â€Å"I need her know to hold my hand.† In second stanza â€Å"so much time so much pain† the narrator gives the listeners an idea that this man has been feeling wounded from his woman love for a long time. The narrator tries to hold on to the love that the women had given him. He doesn’t want to let go of the memories with her. He remembers that she was always there for him when he needed her. It seems like all he has left of her is the memories that they shared together and those memories will be the only thing that has him holding on to her love. The narrator feels like this individual was the only one that he ever wanted and he needs her to come back to his life so he can go on. He, the narrator, also states that this woman was all he h...

Essay on The Use of TelecommunicationEssay Writing Service

Essay on The Use of TelecommunicationEssay Writing Service Essay on The Use of Telecommunication Essay on The Use of TelecommunicationThe term telecommunications means long distance connection (Floyd,  2012). This is a form of transmitting and receiving all sorts of information (sound, images, text) over long distances via cable, magnetic, wireless, optical and other electromagnetic systems. Telecommunication systems have been developed and spread in the 20th century (Want,  2006).RFID (radio frequency identification) is a way to automatically identify objects, which by means of radio signals read or writes the data stored in the RFID tags (transponders). RFID systems according to distance are divided into near, medium and long-range identification. RFID technology is used in many spheres of human activity: education, medicine, industry, agriculture, as well as in systems: baggage handling, localization of objects in real time, access control and other (Wamba, 2012). This prevalence of this type of technology has caused serious controversy around it. Sometimes its criticism reached boycotting products. For example, many argue that the RFID system violate privacy. They argue that the buyer may not even know of RFID-tags or can not get rid of them, and secondly, the data from the tags can be read without your knowledge, in the third, when paying for goods by credit card it is likely the binding of ID tag with the buyer. Many argue that such a tagging system creates problems with rights for privacy and for most applications it is not necessary. The public is concerned that the presence of such tags for the purchased product, which the buyer may not even be aware of, may cause a number of negative phenomena. For example, goods with RFID-tags can be used to spy on the person. RFID systems represent a danger if obtained information about a person is stored in the database set of independent materials. In the future, obtained information can be used for bad purposes. For example, a burglar, using a handheld reader, can evaluate the material condition of a p otential victim passing by (Periaswamy,  2011). All this is due to the possibility of reading the information over short distances. Security experts are opposed to the use of RFID systems for authentication people, explaining that by high-risk of identity theft.

To Be or Not To Be Free Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

To Be or Not To Be Free - Essay Example However, one must question themselves and rephrase this interrogation once again: What kind of a world would we be living in if we did not keep a check on or misuse the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression? Therefore, with reference to this, there have been certain changes made in the European Union Charter with regard to Property laws as well. According to Article 17 of the EU, â€Å"No one may use the rights guaranteed by the Convention to seek the abolition or limitation of rights guaranteed in the Convention. This addresses instances where states seek to restrict a human right in the name of another human right, or where individuals rely on a human right to undermine other human rights (for example, where an individual issues a death threat).† Taking a look at the use of property that comes under it, it has been also stated in the EU that: 1. Everyone has the right to own, use, dispose of and bequeath his or her lawfully acquired possessions. No one may be deprived of his or her possessions, except in the public interest and in the cases and under the conditions provided for by law, subject to fair compensation being paid in good time for their loss. The use of property may be regulated by law insofar as is necessary for the general interest. 2. Intellectual property shall be protected. Therefore, according to this, it is clear that even though a person might have Rights regarding Speech and expression, he or she is not permitted by law to use those rights to undermine the rights of another person.

Miderm worksheet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Miderm worksheet - Essay Example n to the visual craft in this feature, the sum of the ensembles and surroundings were vibrant and delightful, and there wasnt anything that I would not like to take a gander at in light of the fact that it was all so exquisite and rich. I needed to recollect everything about the feature on account of the extent to which it invigorated my psyche. After sketching this out I learned that the content that stuck in my head was the part of her dancing for the man while he smokes his cigar. I learned that much of this video is about sexuality, the female nude, the male gaze and how woman can use their sexiness to gain the attention of a man. I also learned that I am a terrible drawer. 7. List descriptive details in the work that you find significant (angles, colors, focal points, characters, motion, sound, attire, shapes, mood, lighting, etc.) that help you understand the work. You need to understand and describe specific details of the work in order to derive meaning from it and interpret it. Otherwise, an interpretation likely has little grounding. The garments was unquestionably extremely noteworthy to help me comprehend this work, this music feature was honestly alluring and much of it is simply Beyoncà © moving in constrained dress for her spouse Jay-Z. I think having him in the music feature was additionally a tremendous a piece of this and seeing as this was her first collection discharged since conceiving an offspring I think having her spouse in the feature spoke to how she could in any case be an attractive lady considerably in the wake of having a child. The lighting in one of the parts is made to show simply her shape as she moves exposed on a seat, the bends in her body and point from her heel make her extremely engaging the eye. I could see why Jay-Z might need to gaze at her throughout the night Sexy, seductive, womanly, stimulating, empowering, risky, revealing, showy, burlesque, at the same time this video was also very degrading to women, needy for