American Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American Economics - Essay Example It was easily understandable that the situation had worsened far beyond immediate recovery. During this time, the concept of 'free market' prevailed. This idea suggested that the market would effectively balance itself the business could run smoothly without any government intervention. With this belief the government of President Hoover did not take any action believing the market would attain balance soon by itself and prosperity would return. It was assumed that once public regained confidence, business would begin and economy restored; but the business would not resume as there was surplus in the market that was unsold. Later, the government attempted to minimize state spending and increase taxes which in turn reduced the liquid money from market and worsened the situation. Attempts were made later to make this loss good by providing loans to banks in order to pump in money in market by offering relief work, providing loans to industries and expanding public works. No assistance in terms federal help was not provided and the government promoted 'self help' groups to promote self reliance. Decline in world trade and imports reduced because of an increase in import tariff. As an effect, exports also reduced considerably further weakening the state economy. With the onset of President Franklin Roosevelt's government, the

U.S. and China’s Future Essay Example for Free

U.S. and China’s Future Essay America is a powerful country with a developed market economy and great economic potential. American foreign policy has a great influence on the whole world. The main goals of America on the international market are to create a democratic world for American people and all other people. The era of globalization presumes the developed network of contacts with other countries and America is very successful in this aspect. China is another influential country. Big population and quick economical growth have made this country an important figure on the world political stage. Relationship between China and the United States have experienced major transformation during last fifty years. America’s foreign policy is greatly influenced by its economical and political interests. A serious test for America was The Great Depression. The Great Depression became the biggest economic fall during the history of the United States, which stared after the Stock Market Crash in 1929. Trade and personal income experienced a period of great decline during this time. Depression quickly became widespread to the most countries of the world. Economic instability finally led to the development of anti-democratic regimes in many countries, such as Germany, Italy and the USSR. The government of the United States managed to overcome the Great Depression without turning to dictatorship. Starting from the 1933 Roosevelt insisted on the necessity of a restructuring of the economy in order to avoid another depression. New Deal programs, aiming to stimulate demand and create work places, have been created. In contrast to many counties, which could not find a way to solve economical problems, the United States of America escaped this danger. This fact can explain the further successful American development on the world market. World War II has had a great impact on the position of most countries on the world’s map. After the experience of the World War I the United States of America took preventive measures when the World War II broke out. Hostility of Japan and threat of Nazi regimes to democracy made the United States of America take an active part in this war. Trying to keep neutral position the USA did not start war actions until the attack to Pearl Harbor. America being an active participant insisted on the Unified Allied Military Command for all the aliens, except the USSR because the Soviet Union did not want to declare war on Japan at first. In 1944 together British and American army attacked the Germans on the occupied territory of France. At that time the Soviets were attacking Germans in Poland and Romania (Friedman, 63). The United States of America took part in the WWII helped to stop Nazism and helped to save democracy in the world. It is necessary to note that the most powerful countries then were the United States and the USSR and so they were taking the most important strategic decisions. After the war the United Nations were created and America became one the five permanent members of the Security Council. The Cold War was another period in American foreign policy. This war was aimed to limit the USSR’s power all over the world and to find the balance. The US had established the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and got into close contact with China during that time. America was spreading its influence in every corner of the world, while the Soviet Union, being weakened after the war, was losing its power and might. By the end of the Cold War America invaded Panama and made a number of campaigns in Central America. â€Å"In 1986 the US was convicted of multiple violations of international law and breaches of treaties against Nicaragua by the International Court of Justice in The Hague† (Bunton, 64). Relations between the U. S. and Asian countries were not stable after the World War II, because of the so-called â€Å"American dominance† in the world. America was suspicious of Communist government of China making an assumption that China could invade all East Asia and so threaten America. China, in its turn, was afraid that America was going to weaken Chinese government. On the other hand, both countries saw the necessity in cooperation to escape the possible threats from both countries. Formally, America had not recognized China (Peoples’ republic of China) for almost 30 years and only after the war this conflict was resolved. After the Korean War, in which the United States and the PRC were enemies the relations between these two countries became frozen. â€Å"The Soviet Union was more of a factor than the Peoples Republic of China in instigating the 1950 North Korean invasion of South Korea. In response, the United Nations Security Council undertook to assist by military means the Republic of Korea† (Vogel, 167). All in all, this war has not had an official end but it has had a great impact on the relations between China and America. After it the relations became distanced, two countries had stopped any cooperation. America was even doing its best to prevent China from entering the United Nations. It imposed an embargo on trade with China and encouraged other countries to stop their cooperation with China. In the middle of the last century the situation has changed. The United States wanted to spread its influence in Southeast Asia in order to have an access to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and the only way to do it was the improvement of relations with China. America also required the Chinese market of over one billion consumers. In the year 1969, America removed an embargo on trade with China and took a number of measures to develop a bilateral contact. The negotiations lasted till the year 1972. In this year President Nixon visited Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou and, as a result, two countries signed to the Shanghai Communique. According to this agreement China and America stated that they shared their views on foreign policy. Its main aim was to normalize the relations between tow countries (Harding, 143). All in all, America did not get all the profit it supposed to get from this agreement, as the American products could enter the Chinese market only in a few decades and their economic cooperation was very slow. To analyze the further perspectives of Sino-American relations, it is necessary to get some information about China’s economy. China presents a significant part of the world’s economy because of its geographical position, demographic factor and unique methods of economic development. The population of China makes 20. 7% of the world total, the territory of China is 3. 70 million square miles, GPD annual growth is 7. 05% on average. China being under transition and developing in a unique way can give good lessons for other young developing countries. To analyze the position of this country in the rate of modern economy today it is necessary to get acquainted with the history of China’s development. The first period on the way of its development is so-called â€Å"Five-Year Plan; 1953-1957† when the emphasis was made on the development of heavy industry following the Soviet Union example. The second step was â€Å"Great Leap Forward; 1958-1960†. This period is characterized by raising of agricultural and industrial production following an own program, not the Soviet one. In 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution took place and, as a result Mao’s theory of self-reliant economy and political struggle and its pursuit appeared. In 1978 started the process of economic reformation that continues till now. This process is aimed to reform the planned economy into the market-oriented one (Buxton 219). China’s reforms are often called â€Å"economic miracle†, as such progress and success is just unbelievable but the results are visible. Only in year 1978 60% of one billion population lived below poverty and China was concerned as one of the poorest countries in the world. Beginning from the year 1978 China started its transition from a command economy to a market one and from the rural society to the urban one. China has chosen one of the fastest rates for economic and agriculture development and succeeded in it. The rapid economic growth is the result of combination of part reforms and constant experimentation. There were made reforms practically in all areas but agriculture was the most reformed area. Agriculture played a very important role in eradication of poverty. â€Å"By international standards, Chinas social indicators as reflected in close to universal access to primary education, low infant mortality and high life expectancy have been outliers, in view of Chinas low initial per capita income† (Hsieh, 37). The first actions that were taken about agriculture were the privatization of farming, intensification of industry and liberalization of markets for many goods. The process of transition to urbanization took the US, for example, 47 years while China managed to double its income twice just in 10 years (1978-1996). If to compare economic geographical factors of the USA and China from the first point of view they seem absolutely different but it is only first impression. In fact, both these countries occupy large territory, which is rich in numerous mineral resources. Nature is represented by lowlands, highlands, mountains and valleys and this fact contributes to excellent conditions of economic development. Geographical factor is one of the factors which can explain such rapid and such successful development of the both countries. It is quite another matter that countries have chosen absolutely different ways of the economic development. According to the statistics of 1987 China was on the fifth place of long-run of Economic Growth while America was on the forth after Japan, Brazil, Canada and Germany (Mankiw, 237). Nowadays the situation has not changed very much and both countries sit tight on their positions and develop successfully. China was not in an enviable position after World War II. Due to American efforts it was isolated not only from America but also from a number of European countries. Sino-Soviet Split was the last straw and there were even military tensions on the Soviet borders. It was necessary to improve relations with America because China’s security was in danger. The rapprochement with the United States was of great importance for China. Now China was in security during the Cold War and could extend its foreign policy. China was by American side in the Soviet war in Afghanistan and Cuban movements. China and the United States had little political interaction until the middle of the last century. They did not even have direct diplomatic contacts. Only after the 1960s the USA and China began active economical partnership. At the present moment they are major trading partners. These relationships survived confrontation during Taiwan crisis and Tiananmen massacre of 1989. Economic relations are not the only point, which unites these two great nations. It is hard to underestimate the impact of China, as the most populous country of the world, especially after rapid economic development (Mann, 146). At the same time the United States of America is one of the most powerful counties of the world. Relationship between these two counties guarantees not only economical privileges for both of them, but also becomes important for maintaining peace in the world. The United States wanted to use China as a counterweight to the USSR during the period of the Cold War. It was difficult to develop relations between such closed political, social and economical unit as China, but President Nixon put much effort to develop this relationship. Henry Kissinger, State Secretary of the USA also put much effort in building relationship with China. His mission to Beijing was aimed to build the basis for future fruitful relationships between two countries. Relationships between the U. S. and China have become so useful for both countries that they continue them after the end of the Cold War. Economy is a strong basis for Sino-American relationships but conflicts between two values systems can become a serious problem in the future. All hopes of American government that Chinese authoritarian political system will gradually be transformed, like it has happened in other authoritarian countries, have gradually faded away. America, which serves a democratic ideal for the rest of the world, has to tolerate bad violations of human rights in China. In the 1960s, when relationships between these two countries were only developing the American government had very strong determination that China would turn to Western value system and switch to democratic principles. â€Å"Stolidly eyeing the authoritarian reality behind all the fine words and sumptuous banquets that Beijing bestows on influential visitors, it is necessary to remember how sorry has been Chinas record on human rights in recent decades and how cravenly Washington has sought to sweep that record under the carpet† (Mann, 112). China shows strong determination in its ruling regime and value system. Since situation is not likely to be resolved in the nearest future, it depends mostly on the United States: how long it will tolerate such state of events. Directed by economic profit, the United States during the long period closed eyes on the political aspect of the problem. If such a tendency continues, the U. S. will experience a threat to lose a status of the carrier of democratic ideals all over the world. Close relations with the one of the most authoritarian counties of the world will finally compromise the United States. Governmental regime which exists in modern China is a mixture of communism and Nazism. Such a regime has nothing to do with western democratic ideals. In addition, China used such tricks as military and industrial espionage against the USA. The concept of human rights practiced in these two countries are completely different and even incompatible. Nowadays it becomes more and more evident that Sino-American relationships are based on completely different goals. During the long period of time the U. S. was expecting liberalization of the Chinese government and modernization of its policies. As to China, it gladly accepted any kind of help in modernization but did not let interferer within inner policy of the country and rejected any attempts to liberalization. Since it becomes more and more evident that China is not going to change its governmental regime and economic structure, the United States has to choose if it is ready to prolong its relationship with this country or not. One of possible solutions would be a picky attitude, proclaimed by Harding. He proposes to develop realistic and nuanced policy toward China, and I agree with him. (Harding, 214). It is quite evident the U. S. will not be able to break its relationships with one of its major trade partners. On the other hand, it also evident that China becomes a dominant power in Sino-American relationships and if the situation is not changed recently, it will gain more and more power and knowing about the authoritative nature of Chinese governmental power, it is hard to predict all possible bad consequences of such interaction. First of all it is necessary to get rid of romantic vision of China as a country with the â€Å"developing† democracy. Rational attitude to China, as to an independent counterpart in a complex balance of power » can help the United States to renew health balance in these relationships (Harding, 217). In this way in 10 years Sino-American relationship will depend on the role the U. S. chooses inside of these relationships. It is quite evident that such kind of relationship is satisfactory for China and not satisfactory for the United States. If the U. S. does not agree to stand its role in these relationships any more, it will have to build a thoughtful strategy aiming to make China accept not only economical interaction, but also political ideas. If this happens, relations, despite they will be transformed, will stay in the form of close partnership in many fields. If this does not happen we can expect cold and estrangement in the relationships between these two countries. It is obvious that such close economical ties, which exist between China and the United States can not be broken in one day but they will be gradually reducing and this short down will be initiated by America. By that time China will have to make a difficult choice. It is evident that it needs American support and funding for the economical growth and development. On the other hand China is very reluctant to seek any compromises when it comes to internal political changes. In the case this country does not decide to make any changes towards liberalization, we will most probably face the decline of Sino-American relationships. This crisis will be hard to overcome, so America has finally to get rid of its idealistic hope that China will turn to liberalization and democracy. It will count only on concrete facts and numbers and if China does not provide sufficient proves, crises will not be overcome. So, next ten years promise to be very important for Sino-American relationships. After these ten years we can expect two results. Either China turns to liberalization and enters world of Western ideals of democracy as a peer, or it returns to its estrangement from the world culture, policy and economy. The impact of these two scenarios on the Sino-American relationships is evident. In the first case (if China turns to liberalization and democracy) these relationships will become even closer and bring profit to both countries. In the second case these relationships will gradually decline and even lead to serious conflicts. Works Cited: Bunton, T. S. , and Kathleen J. Michels.â€Å"2005 REPORT TO CONGRESS OF THE U. S. -CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION. † 2005. China Economic and Security Review Commission. 27 April 2007 http://www. uscc. gov/annual_report/05_annual_report. php. Buxton, Leonard H. China: The Land and the People. New York: Gallery Books, W. H. Smith, Pub. , 1988. Cohen, Warren. America`s Response to China. Columbia University Press, 2000. Eckholm, Erik. Clinton Urged to Meet Top China Dissident. New York Times 20 June 1998. Friedman, Milton and Anna Jacobson Schwartz. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. New York: Gallery Books, 1963. Harding, Harry. â€Å"A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China Since 1972. † Brookings Institution Press, 1992. Hsieh Chiao-min and Jean Kan Hsieh. China: A Provincial Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing, U. S. A. , 1995. Mankiw, N. Gregory, et. al. , Principles of Marcroeconomics. First Canadian Edition, Dryden, Harcourt Brace Company, Canada, 2003. Mann, James. About Face: A History of America`s Curious Relationship with China, from Nixon to Clinton. Vintage, 2000. Vogel, F. Ezra. Living With China: U. S. /China Relations in the Twenty-First Century. W. W. Norton Company, 1997..

Customer Perception Towards The Japanese Automobile Marketing Essay

Customer Perception Towards The Japanese Automobile Marketing Essay LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction The purpose of this study is to investigate the customer perception towards Japanese automobile. This chapter reviews the relevant journals and case studies pertaining to brand name, features, consumer behavior, reliability and price, and customer purchase satisfaction. The sources of these literatures obtain from many sources such as ebscohost.com and emeraldinsight.com. Previous experimental findings relating to each construct will be explored. Next, theoretical supporting that form the basis of the current study will be provided. In the end, hypotheses and brief definition and for this study will be presented. In fact, the historical approaches allow us to create a richer mode of description and understanding (Booth, 2003) This chapter include the proof regarding of the factors that influencing the Malaysians in choosing Japanese automobile. As all industries trying to move forward to gain competitive advantage, it is necessary for the car manufacturers to know about the factor such as brand name, features, consumer behavior, reliability and price that playing a vital role affecting the customers decision-making in choosing Japanese automobiles. The automobile industry is considered the single largest manufacturing sector in the world (Turnbull et al., 1992). More than 10 percent of the Japanese and American output and employment are derived from this industry. Its contribution to the European Unions trade surplus amounted to ECU22 billion in 1991 (Wells and Rawlinson, 1994). The car industry might be the most outstanding and develop industry in the world with dominated by three forces which is USA, Japan and Europe (Donnely, Mellahi and Morris, 2002). The Malaysia automobile industry can be dividing into 2 stages. The first stage was started from 1960s. At that time, most of the car was imported in Completely Built up (CBU) form (Siti Iswalah Arshad, 2009). After year 1966, many of the foreign car manufacturers is import using Completely Knock Down form (CKD), which is import the raw material and assemble in Malaysia. For example, Peugeot was assembled by Asia Automobile Industries Sdn. Bhd. and Nissan cars which assembled by Tan Chong Motors. According to Siti Iswalah Arshad (2009), the second stage is from 1984, at that time Malaysian have launch the National Car Project and have own brand of the car which is Proton. This program is joint-venture with Japans car manufacturer which is Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. In year 1992, the second national car was built which is Perodua. Nowadays, Malaysian automobiles market share was dominated by this two local car. Recvently, Malaysia is one of the biggest car market in ASEAN, accounting for one-third of sales in the region by volume (Automotive Forecast World, 2005). Malaysia exhibiting a strong driving culture and one of the highest penetration rates of cars per capita in the world (Bonami, 2005). Therefore, there are various stimulatory and protective measures, such as investment incentives, a local content policy, and tariff and non-tariff barriers were implemented to stimulate the development of both local automotive and parts production (Rosli and Kari, 2008). The automobile plays a virtual role to Malaysian daily life (Momeni and Nazemi, 2009). According to the result from Malaysian Automotive Association (2010), the total vehicle sales in Malaysia has dropped from 605,156 units in year 2010, surpassing the previous record of 552,316 units achieved in 2005. (Thestar, 2011). The Japanese automobile, Toyota had the third highest sales volume at 91,559 units and this accounted for 15.2 per cent share of the overall industry sales. Toyota has been the leader for the non-national makes for 20 consecutive years in Malaysia and it is just a challenge behind the national carmaker Proton and Perodua. Non-national makes Honda and Nissan maintained their second and third positions within the non-national car segment. The Japanese car manufacturers which are the Toyota, Honda and Nissan also gain a large market share in Malaysia although Malaysian automobile market is still dominated by Malaysians national car which is Perodua and Proton. The industry of automobile can be seen as an important sector in the world. Especially in Malaysia, this industry is to be entrusting to accomplish the vision 2020 that can let Malaysia become developed country by that time (Siti Iswalah Arshad, 2009). According to Shamini (2008), the imported of the foreign car also allows the country to earn huge taxes which is to protect the market share of the local car. According to Mahidin and Kanageswary (2004), Malaysian local car was protected by Malaysian automotive policy which collects the import taxes for foreign cars to increase their selling price. Others than that, the local content policy set a minimum value of local parts that automobile producers have to source from local parts suppliers to be assembled in their end automobile units (Rosli, 2006). This statement will cause a big decrease on the competitiveness between the Japanese and local car in Malaysia. Table 1.1: The top 10 total vehicle sales by make (year2010)c:usersdarkheavendesktopvehiclesales2001.jpg Sources: Malaysian Automotive Association (2010) According to Malaysian Automative Association (2010), it shows that the Proton and Perodua have the largest market share and sales in year 2010. The local car market share is more than 50% of total sales. Besides, Japanese car manufactures Honda and Toyota are among the top competitors for the local car in Malaysia. From the table 1, the overall sales of the Japanese cars increase rapidly from year2009 to year2010. This can consider as a threat for the Malaysian local car. According to Ahasanul et al (2007), different customer will have a different perception when come to decision-making. Sometimes it can be related to different culture diversity. Malaysia has three major races which are Malay, Chinese and Indian (Krishnan, 2004). Their factor of consideration may be different from other country before make the purchase decision. This research is aim to examine what factors affecting Malaysian to go for Japanese cars in Malaysia automobile market. History of Japanese automobile industry The  Japanese  automotive industry  is one of the most prominent industries in the world and has grown constantly over a long time and has finally surpassing U.S. auto industry as number one producer of cars in world at 2006, according to a recent survey by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. (Kyodo News, 2007). Major manufacturers of cars in Japan Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, and Mazda are also amongst largest manufacturers of cars in world (EconomyWatch). The Japanese automotive industry began in 1902, with limited production of small (12 horsepower) vehicles by a number of companies on a trial basis but they were unable to compete against imported cars after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. (http://www.roaring.jp/jp-car-technology.html). By late 1910s, Japanese zaibatsu (business conglomerates) began building their first automobiles in the middle and they were involved in joint ventures to produce and sell cars in Japan under license. (http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Japanese_automobile_industry). Overcoming ill effects of defeat in Second World War that had destroyed national economy, was not an easy process on part of Japanese industries. Car manufacturers belonging to Japanese auto industry were commissioned to supply army trucks to South Korea by Federal Government of U.S. during Korean War between 1950 and 1953. This was main reason behind upswing of Japanese auto industry that began in 1960s. (http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/automobile/japanese-auto-industry.html) During the 1960s, Japanese automakers launched a bevy of new kei cars in their domestic market. These tiny automobiles usually featured very small engines (from 360cc to 600cc) to keep taxes much lower than larger cars. The average person in Japan was now able to afford an automobile, which boosted sales dramatically and jumpstarted the auto industry toward becoming what it is today. (http://automobile-information-update.blogspot.com/2010/06/automotive-industry-in-japan.html) Rapidly increasing domestic demand and the expansion of Japanese car companies into foreign markets in the 1970s further accelerated growth. Automobile production in Japan continued to increase rapidly after the 1970s, as Mitsubishi (as Dodge vehicles) and Honda began selling their vehicles in the US. Even more brands came to America and abroad during the 1970s, and by the 1980s, the Japanese manufacturers were gaining a major foothold in the US and world markets (http://www.roaring.jp/jp-car-technology.html). After 1980s, the Japanese automobile industry is moving into a new era of internationalization when the US automobile began to lose its competitiveness and went into decline after the second oil crises. Compared with the late 1940s when just 20,000 units or so a year produced in Japan mainly small and medium trucks- the output, mostly of automobiles, surpassed 13 million in 1991 for thirty year in succession, making it largest in the world. (http://books.google.com.my/books?id=6O7ZnT018z0Cprintsec=frontcoverdq=japanese+automobile+industrysource=blots=QeNDqiVUousig=YZPgsbRUC5iWSN-ngnR5dBYFJPghl=enei=ay2ATeOrGcWtrAep3KTIBwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=13ved=0CIcBEOgBMAw#v=onepageqf=false) 2.1 Definition 2.1.1 Consumers decision-making Consumers decision-making can be defined as a mental orientation characterizing a consumers approach for making choices (Sproles and Kendall,1986). This mean that when a consumer would like to have or to make the purchase decision, they will pass through the process through recognition, search information, evaluation, purchase, feedback (Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel, 1995). Therefore, the consumer will choose a product or brand to consume from various choice that available in the market. According to Bettman, Johnson and Payne (2000), different situation will be affected by different factors. One of the problems that may encounter by consumer during decision making process is information overload. Information overload will increase the complexity of the consumer decision-making (Bettman, Johnson and Payne, 2000). The information can be obtained by advertisement, display, brochures and etc. Lynch and Srull (1982) suggested that decision-making can be categorised into 3 categories which are stimulus-based, memory-based and mixed. When consumer is being affected by the some outsource or external information or factor can be categorized in stimulus-based. When consumer makes certain decision based on their memory or internal perception, it can be classified in as memory-based. The combination of this two is mixed. Consumer has different tastes, needs, motivation and lifestyle when they want to purchase a product (Chisnall, 1985). There are some of consumer preferred high qualities and they are more willing to pay more in term of price but some of them are not (Monroe, 2003). Furthermore, the consumer decision-making can be investigated through the consumer characteristics. It includes brand conscious, price conscious, quality conscious, recreation conscious, innovation conscious, confused by over choice, impulsive and brand (Leo, Bennett, and Hartel, 2005). Therefore, it is important to find out the relationship between those characteristics and the consumer decision-making. Consumers are demanding an increased variety of products and customized products (Ahlstrom and Westbrook, 1999). Furthermore, customized producers tend to involve consumers early in the production process in order to increase the degree of customization (Duray, 2002). In order to operate in a truly customer-oriented way, a companys goal is not to be led exclusively by consumers expressed needs butto amaze consumers by anticipating and fulfilling their unarticulated needs (Stalk, 1988). Consequently, understanding decision process by which consumers purchase customized products is of practical importance. The decision of selecting the most effective positioning strategy constitutes a main challenge for marketers since it is central to consumers perceptions and choice (Aaker and Shansby, 1982; Pham and Muthukrishnan, 2002). If positioning is done effectively it has the potential to build powerful brands; however, if done incorrectly, it can also result in disaster (see, for example, Haig, 2005; Ries and Trout, 1986). 3 2.1.2 Brand name According to Rotfled (2009), brand name is a unique and is to mark off product itself to the consumer. The main advantageous of brand name is that it can help the company to deliver the information and communicate quality to the market (Hoyer and Brown, 1990). The recognition of brand name is half the battle for a business (Church, 2008.) because it helped to create a brand name with well-established associations. It is one way to create competitive advantage for the firm in competitive market. Somehow, it is a very costly process but has many returns once success is achieved. ( Arslan and Altuna, 2010 ). It provided the primary point of differentiation between competitive offerings and so such they can be critical to the success of companies (Wood, 2000). Consumer may tend to perceive the product from an overall perspective, associating with the brand name of all the attributes and satisfactions experienced by the purchase and use of the product (Murphy, 1990; Ambler, 1996). They normally based their purchasing decisions on information cues; either intrinsic cues (e.g. product design) or extrinsic cues e.g. brand name (Jacoby et al 1977). Brand image research has long been recognized as one of the central area of the marketing research field but somehow not only because it serve as a foundation for tactical marketing mix issues but also because it play an integral role in building long term brand equity (Keller, 1993). High brand equity implies that consumers may look upon a higher positively association that may related to the brand name, over and above those of the product itself (Rio, Vazquez and Iglesias, 2001). Brand-origin is defined by Thakor and Kohli(1996) as the place, region, or country where brand is perceived to belong by its target consumers. There has a strong relationship between the brand and brand-origin. The research on effects of country of origin has made up the largest number in international buyer behavior (Heslop et al 1998; Verlegh Steenkamp, 1999). Somehow, there are some effect he effect of country image on brand image which moderated by both brand and country reputation (Hui and Zhou, 2003). It can be summarized that the brand image of a product produced in a establish or developed country is likely to be affected differently from the brand image of a product produced in unknown country. Keller (1993) mentioned that consumer brand knowledge may determine on how consumers think about a brand. According to Durgee (1988), images of brands often create notions about the performance of their product stereotypes, their key characteristics, and benefits and related services. Consumers base on their level of preferences to see whether the brand is fulfilling their requirement or not (Urbany, Dickson, and Wilkie, 1989). According to Hutchinson (1983), the knowledge of the consumer has a positive relationship with the brand name. According to Srinivasan and Till (2002), the consumer will perceived the globalisation (foreign) product have a better quality than the local product. As a result, the consumer who is required high quality will prefer to select the foreign car. The power of brand lies in the minds of consumers or customers (Keller, 2000). Brand name assures customers that they will receive the quality that the product claims to deliver (Miranda and Konya, 2007). According to Baltas and Saridakis (2009), for those consumers who are affected by brand-name and will only buy branded good usually is more concern on the quality of product rather than the price of the product. That is because brand names play a traditionally important role in purchase car decisions because car quality is often difficult to evaluate prior to purchase and buyers may have to rely on carmakers reputations. (Baltas and Saridakis 2009). For some consumer, they are not willing to pay more to purchase the brand name but some will (Monroe, 2003). According to Muncy (1996), consumers are more flexible in selecting lower price product and normally are lower brands loyalty, more prices sensitive for perceived the different between products. Brand name exerts a significant inf luence on new car prices (Baltas and Saridakis, 2009). . 2.1.3 Features Features can be defined as something that to satisfy the customers needs and wants through the belonging, use, consumption for a product (Kotler, Philip, Armstrong, and Gary, 2007). According to Mowen and Minor (1998), the product attributes can be seen as a feature that might have on a product. This can actually influence the consumer on their decision making during purchase. Prior to product evaluations, consumers are often exposed to data that permits them to judge the covariation relationship among different  product attributes (Jacoby, Szybillo and Busato, 1977). The features of an automobile which can be provide include customer services, fuel efficiency, safety, quality and design of a car. Those features will be investigating detail in this research. The customer services can be consider as a feature of a product (Chung and Young, 2003). According to Lohse and Spiller (1998), consumer wants the customer services which include careful, valuable and continuous. Salespersons recommendations or suggestions are important especially before consumer make decision. This can help as a main factors that can influence the consumer decision-making process besides price, features and brand (Karjaluoto, Karvonen, Kesti, Koivumaki, Manninen, Pakola, Ristola, and Salo, 2005). In addition, Yi and Gong (2008) stated that although company offered the low prices, promotion and competitive advantage may not gain market if they neglect the customer service. Somehow, feature may relate to complementary product. The fuel efficiency affects the demand. The price of gasoline rise during this few years. According to German Agency of Technical co-operation (2005), the price of gasoline in year 2004 in Malaysia is USD 0.37 per litre, and then increased about USD 0.20 per little if compared with year 2002. Therefore, it also directly affects the demand of automobile of the market decreased (Kandapa, Thanyawee, Vanvisa and Yingyot, 2009). As result, some of the consumer will choose the car which are more fuel efficiency or the car which are use diesel or gasohol. Furthermore, the consumer will consider the safety of the car. The airbag of a car can provide the safety of the driver and passenger when the car was accident. Some of the consumers are willing to pay to obtain the safety when choosing between local and foreign car. It has a positive relationship (Kandapa et al., 2009). According to Liu and Bai (2008), the consumer will take safety as an important factor when they make comparison between local car and foreign car. Thirdly is the quality of the product. Different brand have a different quality (Obermiller and Wheatley, 1985). The foreign car and local car are different especially in term called quality. According to Steenkamp (1989), the quality of the product can influence the consumer decision. Steenkamp (1989) also categories the consumer into 2 groups with is the consumer who is high quality conscious and low quality conscious. The people who are in high quality conscious category are willing to pay more to have a better quality product, and the consumer who are falls into low quality conscious will not willing to pay more to obtain greater quality brand (Nor Khasimah et al, 2007). According to Uncles and Saurazas (2000), the consumers who are living in developing countries will perceive foreign product have a higher quality than local product, therefore the consumer in Malaysia who falls into high quality conscious categories will preferred the foreign car which includes Japanese car rathe r than local car. Lastly is the design of a car may be one of the feature. The consumer will tend to choose a larger car and which are more have a fashionable design that is attractiveness (Liu and Bai, 2008). According to Liu and Bai (2008), the design of a car also can let the consumer have an image which is discussion earlier in the brand name. They will feel have imaged if their car have a good design. It can let them have the greatest satisfaction (Chung and Pysarchik, 2000.) 2.1.4 Price Price Nagle and Holden (2002) stated that price can be seen as a monetary value that seller must give to consumer in order to exchange it with the services or product provide. Price always is the major concern of customer for making purchase decision (Smith and Carsky, 1996). Price has been one of several product attributes considered relevant (Voss et al., 1998).When faced with performance or quality uncertainty, consumers are more likely use external indicators, such as price, in order to compare and take a decision (Urbany et al., 1997). Importance of price as a quality indicator is likely to be greater, when there are only a few other attributes that indicate quality, or when the product is difficult to evaluate. ( Mitchel and Greatorex 1997). According to Munnukka (2005), customer can be divide into 2 categories which are moderate usage customer and intensive usage customer. It was discovered that consumer differ significantly in their price sensitivity levels when choosing between foreign car and local car. The consumer with moderate usage of the product will be less sensitive of the price but the consumers who are intensive users will be more sensitive to the price changes (Munnukka, 2005). For the moderate users of consumer, the marketers will focus on quality rather than price. For intensive users the marketers will focus on low price rather than quality (Munnukka, 2005). In this research, it is important to find out our target respondent whether they are moderate user or intensive user. The price of a product is one of the most important marketing-mix tools (Vogel et al, 2004). That is because it influences consumers willingness to paid and buying decision (Monroe, 1973). According to BusinessDictionary, Price promotion is the sales promotion  based  on  a  price  discount  offer. Retailers use various types of advertised price reductions to boost store trsaffc and increase sale (Messinger et al, 2010).By some estimates, price promotions account for almost a quarter of the marketing budget of some companies (Blattberg and Neslin, 1989). Despite the positive effect price promotions have on consumers perceptions and purchase decisions, they also have some negative effect such as lowering consumers perception of quality (Dodson et al., 1978), lowering consumers expectations for the brand (Monroe, 1971), and doubting the value proposition, that is positioning of the brand and creating a perceivable distinction in the competitive market, of the firm (Daun and Klinger, 2006) Therefore, knowledge on how consumers respond to price promotions is essential in making critical decisions concerning price promotions (Oliveira-Castro et al., 2008). Understanding how consumers perceive price promotions and respond to them should be of interest to retailers. It is important for researchers to understand the appropriate match between price promotions and the specific product types. The level of price is found to positively affect behavioural intentions mainly because price establishes image of the brand in the eyes of the consumers (Yoo et al., 2000). Consumer consistently used price as a predictor of quality, particularly when they have limited knowledge of product category offerings (Bredahl, 2003). Conspicuousness (willingness to spend a great amount of money to demonstrate their social status) plays an important role on brand purchases. (Swani, 2010). Wilcox et al. (2009) found that high-priced brands are highly related to consumer conspicuousness. When price deals lower the final price they pay, conspicuousness will be damaged, which makes consumers unhappy. Low-priced brand buyers are not concerned with conspicuousness or exclusivity desires. Instead, they would be pleased with the increased value garnered by the price deals. Consumers looking for quality, status, self expression, and image will gravitate toward high-priced brands to fulfill their goals. In contrast, price deals are expected to have a positive effect on low-priced brands because they provide transaction value, the major purchase goal towards low-priced brand s. Negative consumer reactions to perceived unfair prices can result in customer boycotts and lower sales (Grover, 1994). Buying a new car is an important decision for most consumers (Herrmann et al., 2007).That is because they perceived the risk for buying a car is relative higher than other product such as food or clothes. The complexity of buying process makes the consumer had to consider many factors before make the purchasing decision. Therefore, when they face the uncertainly information such as the features of the car or the quality of the car, they will consider the price for making comparison (Urbany, Bearden, Kaicker, and Smith-de-Borrero 1997). According to Aliman N. and Othman M. (2007), the local product normally will have a price advantages if compared with the foreign product. Aliman N. and Othman M. (2007) stated that if the foreign product would like to maintain the competitiveness, they should have the advantages of brand name and features. Besides, price and quality also have a positive relationship (Etgar and Malhotra, 1981). Consequently, if the price are high but the quality or features are aim to fulfil the expectation of buyers, the consumer will perceive that it is fair and more willing to pay a higher price for the quality demanded (Monroe, 2003). It means that most of the consumer will perceive high price as high quality. In Malaysia, the local car normally has a lower price than the foreign car. It is dangerous that the consumer perceive local car has a lower quality compare to imported car. Voss et al. (1998) stated that satisfaction is a function of price, performance and expectation with support for the expectation- satisfaction link being weak.In contrast to performance, perceived price fairness an important factor influencing overall customer satisfaction judgments. (Herrmann et al., 2007). This influence is both direct, and indirect via price fairness perceptions. If consumers perceive that the price they are charged for a given service or good are unfair, they are likely to adopt behavior that is directed against the interests of the selling company (Xia et al., 2004). The study of Bolton et al. (2003) showed that consumers decide their minds about what prices should be charged for a service or a product. This evaluation is important because it implies that consumers may care for the input and output ratios comparison with the seller in the absence of a comparative other. For example, a car dealers price offer for an automobile may be accompanied with an explanation of the prices of various options and delivery charges, as well as required down payment and financing arrangements. In such situations, both the initial price of the car quoted by the sales person (i.e., price offer) and the terms associated with the price and how these terms are handled and explained to the consumer (i.e. price procedure) will influence consumers fairness perceptions (Herrmann et al., 2007) Lastly, the depreciation value of the car also can influence a consumer decision to choose between local and foreign car (Baltas and Saridakis, 2009). The consumer will choose the car which are have highest depreciation values. According to Terry (November 1, 2005), the foreign car has an annual depreciation rate which are about 13% to 16%. The Malaysian car has a depreciation rate which about 40%. The foreign car have a highest depreciation values, therefore those consumer will be affected by this issues. 2.1.5 Reliability 2.1.6 Consumer Behavior According to the American Marketing Association, consumer behavior is defined as the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behavior, and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives. Examples of consumer behavior include watching a TV commercial, visiting a store, or purchasing a product. Chinese consumers typically pay more attention to the informational content than entertainment features of the advertisements. One study found that Chinese customers considered themselves to be sophisticated and knowledgeable in their purchasing choices (Shen Zhao, 1995). According to Rosenblatt (1964), the ethnocentrism will usually have a positive attitude or manner for same group or the product made by their country, and a negative attitude toward the different group or the product made by different country. This means that a customer will make purchase decision which consider of the country of product or country-of-origin. Country of origin is generally described as the source country for a product or service provider, which may differ from the country of brand, assembly or design. Several studies has been found to significantly influence consumer perceptions of product performance and quality, these include price, brand, retail outlet and country of origin (Veale and Quester, 2009). According to Safiek et al. (2001), those consumers who are having high tendency of ethnocentric will more prefer to buy domestic product. They will feel that if buying foreign product will hurt their countrys economy. In essence, a highly ethnocentric people was proud to their own values, culture, symbols and hold in values and object for the different group because they will feel that buying foreign or import product will directly hurt their countrys economy and bring the impact such as unemployment. In contrast, low tendency of ethnocentric are more preferred to purchase the foreign products. They will view the foreign product or import product as a symbol of status, and they are more prefer to buy foreign product to make them have a highest status. According to Triandis (1994), collectivism means that the people will dependence with other people in the same group and get together with group which include their family and friends. Besides, according to Sharma et al. (1995), collectivist will consider the outcome before they take the actions. Consumers who are collectivism will choose the product which are easily accept by other people (Wickliffe and Pysarchik, 2001). In Malaysia, some of the research has found that there are more influenced by the collectivism culture (Burns and Brady, 1992; Bochner, 1994). The people who are collectivism also try to look for the similarity with other people and concern about the view of others people (Wickliffe and Pysarchik, 2001). The consumers who are more importance of the others people in the society, they will also more considered against the result of brand selection that decoded by them (Wickliffe and Pysarchik, 2001). The collectivism will influence the consumer when make choice between local car and foreign car. The marketers also can use advertisement if they are targeting those are collectivist (Kropp et al, 2005). The people who are highly collectivism will easily influence by the opinion leader, therefore the marketers of local ca

Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's, Hamlet is a tragedy of failure, the failure of a man placed in circumstances and faced to deal with them successfully. Shakespeare uses different techniques to develop the characters in Hamlet. Throughout the play dramatic irony is used by allowing the audience to view the true actions of the characters before the characters disclose them. Shakespeare toys with the idea of appearances versus reality in the play, among these are Claudius, the play within the play, and Rosencrantz and Guildernstern.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet's father, the king of Denmark, has suddenly died. Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, hastily marries Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and more importantly they become the new king and queen. King Claudius is viewed as legitimately gaining control of the throne by everyone except Hamlet. Hamlet knows that there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark." His belief is verified when the guards inform him of a ghostly figure with close resemblance to the late king. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that while in the garden, Claudius poured poison in his ear. Claudius prays to be forgiven but his prayers are not sincere. Claudius, overcome with guilt, would prefer to keep his status then reveal what he did to King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The play within the play is useful because it allows Hamlet to verify the validity of the ghost. Usually plays are intended for entertainment purposes. The play is not real and the actors are playing a role.   In reality Hamlet makes it so that it is similar to what really happened to his father. Hamlet even goes as far as to instruct the actors appropriately.   He will prove that the ghost is truthful by the reaction on Claudius' face. The play appears to be harmless but it has a close parallel to what really happened to the late King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rosencrantz and Guildernstern, who are the king's spies, pretend to be friends to Hamlet. The king has sent for them to investigate Hamlet's madness and what he suspects about his father's death. This is a contradiction because later Claudius says that Hamlet's troubles are unknown. Hamlet not being the fool also pretends to be friends to Rosencrantz and Guildernstern. He reveals to them that he is aware of their intentions when he says "were you not sent for." Claudius, fearing Hamlet knows too much sends him with Rosencrantz and Guildernstern to England to Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's, Hamlet is a tragedy of failure, the failure of a man placed in circumstances and faced to deal with them successfully. Shakespeare uses different techniques to develop the characters in Hamlet. Throughout the play dramatic irony is used by allowing the audience to view the true actions of the characters before the characters disclose them. Shakespeare toys with the idea of appearances versus reality in the play, among these are Claudius, the play within the play, and Rosencrantz and Guildernstern.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet's father, the king of Denmark, has suddenly died. Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, hastily marries Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and more importantly they become the new king and queen. King Claudius is viewed as legitimately gaining control of the throne by everyone except Hamlet. Hamlet knows that there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark." His belief is verified when the guards inform him of a ghostly figure with close resemblance to the late king. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that while in the garden, Claudius poured poison in his ear. Claudius prays to be forgiven but his prayers are not sincere. Claudius, overcome with guilt, would prefer to keep his status then reveal what he did to King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The play within the play is useful because it allows Hamlet to verify the validity of the ghost. Usually plays are intended for entertainment purposes. The play is not real and the actors are playing a role.   In reality Hamlet makes it so that it is similar to what really happened to his father. Hamlet even goes as far as to instruct the actors appropriately.   He will prove that the ghost is truthful by the reaction on Claudius' face. The play appears to be harmless but it has a close parallel to what really happened to the late King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rosencrantz and Guildernstern, who are the king's spies, pretend to be friends to Hamlet. The king has sent for them to investigate Hamlet's madness and what he suspects about his father's death. This is a contradiction because later Claudius says that Hamlet's troubles are unknown. Hamlet not being the fool also pretends to be friends to Rosencrantz and Guildernstern. He reveals to them that he is aware of their intentions when he says "were you not sent for." Claudius, fearing Hamlet knows too much sends him with Rosencrantz and Guildernstern to England to

History of Geisha Essay

Geisha recruitment seems to be a business wherein the indigenous people were the victims. Unfortunately this is the reality of life; one suffers while the other prospers. Another important contribution of Geisha is the preservation and performance of many Japanese dances. Dances like Mivako Odori and cherry dances which are based on Japan’s cultural value were the most common dances performed by Geisha. The red costume of the Geisha had a great significance in the Japanese culture and society. The use of red in their dress and makeup signifies beauty and happiness. The red underclothing was believed to ease the menstrual pain and maintain the good and healthy functioning of female reproductive system. Red is an erotic symbol for men. In fact they wear red lining under their own kimonos and apply red lipsticks made from petals of red flowers. In early times, the costumes of Geisha girls have warrior motifs which include hats and swords. But as time passes by and culture progresses, Geisha’s dress became feminine. Geisha is a culture which permits Japanese women to become independent and economically stable. It is believed that this is the only profession in which they are above men. It is one of the most important role of Geisha in society; keeping women at the height of men. Being intimate with men are part of the being a Geisha. Nearly all marriages in Japan were arranged by families of both parties. These marriages main goal is to preserve the present rank in the society rather than to seek peace and happiness. In this kind of situation, the man would normally have two women in his entire life. It was a common practice that wealthy and powerful men have a relationship with geisha. On other culture and religion this set up do not conform to morality. The Christianity sector would surely say that this is immoral. Unfaithfulness to your wife is considered a sin but still other may see it as something normal. Geisha is mysterious but beautiful creatures that represent the very old traditions of the Japanese. Now, modern geisha still reside in what they call okiya in flower towns especially during mentoring era. Most old and experienced geisha decide to live independently. They are often hired in parties or exclusive events at the tea houses and also to high-class restaurants in Japan. An incense stick serves as their clock for determining the spent time of each geisha in entertaining guest and visitors. Confusion still remains on what is really the nature geisha profession. An awful view about Geisha is that they serve as prostitutes. In western perspective, Geisha are known as expensive prostitutes. Geisha are entertainers and they are expected to entertain their customers in many ways such as reciting verse, playing musical instruments or simply by giving a good conversation but not to serve as sexual workers. Geisha’s arrangement also includes flirting with the customers and to do some playful and fancy innuendos but nothing more can be expected. Geisha strongly do not engage with sex with the customers even with money offerings. What they believed is that geisha are entertainer particularly sexual entertainers. This common notion about geisha made this decent and simple tradition to be a tradition full of immorality and sins. To attract costumers, prostitutes dressed and posed as a true geisha. Actually, a true geisha do not engaged with sexual relationship with her costumers. What they usually do is just entertainment. In fact, they were first and foremost entertainers. Geisha were invited to gatherings to keep thing in harmony and lively. They dance together with the guest, sing with them and played drinking games. Clearly, geisha are there for mere entertainment. The success of parties and celebrations are determined by the presence of geisha. Having several geisha in a party meant that the party host was wealthy and powerful. Geisha and the traditional high-class courtesans also know as oiran have similarities which lead to confusion. Like geisha, oiran also have their elaborate hairstyles and wear white make-up. Geisha are truly different with orian in a simple manner. Oiran tie their obi in the front and serve as prostitutes while Geisha in contrast usually tie their obi in the back. Prostitution was legalized during the Edo period. Prostitutes like orian were given license by the government. On the other hand, geisha were strictly prohibited to hold such kind of license and eventually forbidden to have sexual engagement with their customers. Any geisha holding the prostitution license is referred to be promiscuous. During the Japanese occupation, several Japanese prostitutes sold themselves to American to become sexual slaves. These prostitutes are termed geisha girls which lead to the conception of geisha as prostitutes. Also, those geisha working in onsen towns give a bad reputation to geisha because of the prevalence of prostitution. They used the name and character of a geisha in order to have a good market. Geisha indeed are not prostitutes. They are just victims of wrong conception. But sadly, although the nature of geisha is really good many are still doubt the nature of geisha’s profession. We can now infer that being a geisha is tough job. A geisha needs to be beautiful all the time and must undergo hard trainings to perfect the geisha’s required talents skills. We can see the good and bad accounts of being a geisha. It is a good tradition of Japan. It reflects all the prosperous cultures and traditions of Japan; from dancing, singing, conversing to the various arts. Also geisha’s dedication to work really manifest that Japanese are disciplined person. Generally, geisha plays an important role in Japanese culture. Geisha are entertainers not prostitutes. Although most people considered them as sexual workers, we cannot take away the fact that they bring happiness and pleasure to people. Although the nature of geisha’s work is closely similar to prostitutes we must not immediately pre-judge it. Geisha is a wonderful culture which is full of creative stuffs. From the dress, hairstyles, and other attributes of geisha we can see how diverse the Japanese culture is. Those bad accounts to geisha will be polished by its amazing structure. Eventually and hopefully people would fully accept the truth that geisha are made for merely entertainment. Instead of looking at it that way, looks at it other perspective or maybe people can even look deeper to the inner core of it in order to see its real purpose. References: History of Geisha. Retrived November 14, 2007, from http://marian. creighton. edu/~marian-w/academics/english/japan/geisha/history. html.

Free Essays on The Sotah Ritual In Ancient Israel

Introduction The ritual of the sotah from the book of Numbers is a fascinating passage to read in the Hebrew Bible. For one thing, this ritual deals with the idea of a man being able to bring his wife to trial, even if he has no evidence against her. While such an instance might be seen as negative treatment of women, others might explain it as the Israelites’ constant concern over the idea of impurity. Another interesting aspect of the sotah rite is that it is the only example of an ordeal similar to those practiced in other cultures of the Ancient Near East. While other ordeals are told mostly in story form, Num. 5:11-31 is the only instance in which the actual process of an ordeal is laid out point by point. Finally, the ritual merits attention due to its continued practice even after the Temple was destroyed, as is depicted in the Talmud. These reasons and more are evidence as to why this small 20 verse passage has been subject to such scrutiny and study over the course of the years. Adultery in the Hebrew Bible The ritual for the â€Å"errant woman† in Numbers 5:11-31 is only one of many instances in the Old Testament that deals with the crime of adultery. The crime is described throughout the books in the Hebrew Bible, such as Genesis 20:6, Lev. 18:20, Ezek. 18:6, Ps. 51:6, and Mal. 3:5. A variety of texts discuss the evil of adultery. The Israelites held the act in such harsh light, that a commandment against committing adultery is found in the Decalogue. This certainly indicates that extra-martial affairs were viewed in a severe manner. In the Hebrew Bible, adultery is considered a capital crime, punishable by the population stoning the adulterous wife and her lover to death. Deut. 22:20 commands this communal punishment in order to â€Å"sweep away evil from Israel.† The question remains as to why this crime was considered to be such a transgression. Several explanations exist to account for the seriousnes... Free Essays on The Sotah Ritual In Ancient Israel Free Essays on The Sotah Ritual In Ancient Israel Introduction The ritual of the sotah from the book of Numbers is a fascinating passage to read in the Hebrew Bible. For one thing, this ritual deals with the idea of a man being able to bring his wife to trial, even if he has no evidence against her. While such an instance might be seen as negative treatment of women, others might explain it as the Israelites’ constant concern over the idea of impurity. Another interesting aspect of the sotah rite is that it is the only example of an ordeal similar to those practiced in other cultures of the Ancient Near East. While other ordeals are told mostly in story form, Num. 5:11-31 is the only instance in which the actual process of an ordeal is laid out point by point. Finally, the ritual merits attention due to its continued practice even after the Temple was destroyed, as is depicted in the Talmud. These reasons and more are evidence as to why this small 20 verse passage has been subject to such scrutiny and study over the course of the years. Adultery in the Hebrew Bible The ritual for the â€Å"errant woman† in Numbers 5:11-31 is only one of many instances in the Old Testament that deals with the crime of adultery. The crime is described throughout the books in the Hebrew Bible, such as Genesis 20:6, Lev. 18:20, Ezek. 18:6, Ps. 51:6, and Mal. 3:5. A variety of texts discuss the evil of adultery. The Israelites held the act in such harsh light, that a commandment against committing adultery is found in the Decalogue. This certainly indicates that extra-martial affairs were viewed in a severe manner. In the Hebrew Bible, adultery is considered a capital crime, punishable by the population stoning the adulterous wife and her lover to death. Deut. 22:20 commands this communal punishment in order to â€Å"sweep away evil from Israel.† The question remains as to why this crime was considered to be such a transgression. Several explanations exist to account for the seriousnes...

Management of Halliburton

Management of Halliburton Free Online Research Papers Individual Management Planning: Halliburton This paper will discuss the planning function of management of Halliburton. Within this paper I will analyze the impact that legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility has had on management planning, and the three factors that I believe influence the company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. Halliburton has had a great deal of legal issues that have been dealt with since the beginning of the operation. Political influence has also played a big part within the Halliburton franchise. First I would like to show some insight into Halliburton was started and founded. Halliburton was founded in 1919, by a man named Erle P. Halliburton. He started the company in Duncan, Oklahoma by borrowing a wagon, a team of mules, and a pump. He built a wooden box and started an oil well cementing business. Today Halliburton employs more than 50,000 people in approximately 70 countries (Halliburton, 2009). In 1926 Halliburton took the initial steps in becoming a worldwide organization by selling five cementing units to an English company, which was the start of the Eastern Hemisphere. After that Erle’s brothers were sent to Canada to open a business there as well. Halliburton expanded to Venezuela in 1940, and by 1946 they had expanded into Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and the Middle East. Other franchises of Halliburton have been started and opened all over the globe. When evaluating the planning function of management I have noticed that by being stationed all over the globe, Halliburton has many different departments tailored specifically for the geographical area that the company is in. Each place that Halliburton is located is an office for that location. Halliburton’s main office was in Houston, Texas but they have relocated their headquarters to Dubai, which is in the Middle East country. Halliburton holds annual planning processes for improving HSE and Service Quality. The performance Improvement Initiative (PII) was introduced in 1997 and helps to ensure organizational alignment. â€Å"The PII includes a review of past performance, and assessment of currently available tools, and the development of objectives and strategies for continuous global improvement† (Halliburton, Introduction). In the planning function within the Halliburton organization, the company also incorporates risk identification, risk control, and contingency plans. Incorporating these risk control factors allows the company to control and mitigate risk. Their planning function incorporates the company mission and vision into strategy and action plans that responds to customer wants and needs. The planning function of Halliburton has allowed the company to expand and grow into a multibillion dollar company today. Without planning and using the strategies Halliburton would not have made it in the world today. The planning function includes â€Å"What, why, when, where and how to do it. Who is responsible for what and who to interact with, how to know that we have done it right, and how to make it better† (Correia,P; Lastra, E; Nino, J.M.). The impact that legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility have had on management planning within Halliburton have been tremendous. During the company’s process of having the headquarters stationed in Houston, TX the organization was not happy about having to pay such high taxes or even any taxes to speak of. Therefore, the company relocated to Dubai. Dubai is located in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia. The reason for the relocate was to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. By moving the headquarters here and the CEO and other top executives the company can argue â€Å"a portion of its profits should be attributed to the no – tax jurisdiction† (Cray, C.). Dick Cheney has also had a big impact on the issues surrounding the management planning. Dick Cheney was appointed CEO from 1995 to 2000 and Halliburton’s revenue from the federal government contracts almost doubled. Cheney used his political influence to bring in government contra cts. This has impacted planning within Halliburton because of the issues they are now dealing with. There stocks have fallen and with Cheney’s departure the company share prices started to sink. Halliburton had to initiate the PPI in order to keep things afloat while Cheney was there and even more so after he left. Another legal issue that has impacted the planning function of management would be not keeping honest records of their sales and costs from 1998 to 2001. Halliburton expected workers to keep fraudulent records to make the company look more profitable than it was to keep share prices high. This has led to the company having to do quarterly reports to see where the company is. Halliburton has been investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and by the Justice Department for making fraudulent records and the company has even paid out $7,500,000 and never admitted any wrong doing. Halliburton has paid out millions of dollars to make the lawsuits disappear a nd not make headlines for a great deal of time so that the stock prices stayed up and they would not lose their shareholders. â€Å"In 2001 a court ordered the company to pay $130,000,000 and the decision was kept secret. When the judgment later became public the company’s stock price dropped forty -two percent† (Outen, Gwen, 2004). The examples I can provide for the ethics would be that Dick Cheney was involved with Halliburton and used his political influence to secure federal and government contracts. This is very unethical for an organization to do. If the organization cannot secure the contracts without the influence of the political aspects then they should have not received the contracts to begin with. The legal issues would be that the organization did not pay their fair share of the taxes and relocated to avoid paying them. Another example would be that they falsified the books in order to look more profitable then what they were. The social responsibility I would have to say would be the relocation to avoid paying the taxes. They are avoiding social responsibility here by not paying the taxes that are due. Instead the company has set up off shore accounts in the Cayman Islands so that the money they receive on contracts completed cannot be taxed by the government in the United States. This money that is in the Cayman Islands accounts does not have a corporate tax and the United States cannot impose a tax on money that is not here (Cray, C.). The three factors that influence the company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning would be shareholders, growth in customer satisfaction, and stock price, without these three factors Halliburton would not be the company they are today. Halliburton is a Fortune 500 company and the ownership status is that the company is publicly traded. The shareholders help with keeping the company operational along with the growth and customer satisfaction of their work. The stock prices determine the planning that will take place and where the company needs to go and how to get there. These three factors I believe are the most important regardless of what organization it is. Without these three factors the company would not be able to stay afloat as customers, shareholders, and stock prices allow the public and the company to know where they are and where they are going. Halliburton may have done some things that are unethical, immoral, and have raised some legal issues but they are the second largest oil services company in the world (Outen, G., 2004). The management planning that has been implemented has helped Halliburton and this has made them see that making fraudulent claims to raise their stocks has only caused legal issues. Chuck Dominy, Halliburton’s vice president for government affairs said it best â€Å"We are the only company in the United States that had the kind of systems in place, people in place, contracts in place, to do that kind of thing† (Cray, C., 2004). With the new planning system in place Halliburton may see their fair share of legal issues again but they will survive and continue to keep thriving and profiting in today’s economy. References Correia, P.; Edgardo, L.; Nino, J.M. (no date). Halliburton management system: Lessons learned during deployment and implementation. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from http://biblioteca.iapg.org.ar/iapg/ArchivosAdjuntos/CongresodeCalidad/089.pdf Cray, Charles. (no date). CorpWatch. Holding corporations accountable. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from corpwatch.org.article.php?list=typetype=15printsafe=1 Cray, Charles. (2004). Dissecting Bush. Bush administration policies under the microscope. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2004/05012004/may-june04corp1.html Halliburton. (2009). History of Halliburton. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from halliburton.com/aboutus/PrintPreview.aspx?navid=970pageid=2312 Halliburton, (no date). Introduction. Doing the right thing. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from halliburton.com/public/tttcp/contents/Books_and_Cataloge/web/ServiceTools/H03280_intro.pdf Outen, Gwen. (2004, August). Economics Report. Halliburton’s legal troubles. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2004-08/a-204-08-13-2-1.cfm?renderforp Research Papers on Management of HalliburtonThe Project Managment Office SystemLifes What IfsMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalPETSTEL analysis of IndiaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Themes Identified and Character Analysis in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein essays

Themes Identified and Character Analysis in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein essays Knowledge, social responsibility, society's view of beauty, and secrecy are major themes that occur in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein. Shelley is able to identity some of the most hideous of human characteristics in her characters, focusing on how easily an obsession can become a blinding, dangerous force. Frankenstein and his monster represent the good and the bad that can come from the reckless pursuit of knowledge. Frankenstein's inability to accept his responsibility leads to endless suffering. This paper will examine how Shelley develops her characters throughout the novel and will also explore the important themes Shelley focuses on to make her We can clearly see how the theme of knowledge is intrinsically connected with scientific exploration in this story. This is significant because during the nineteenth century, many new scientific endeavors included the ability to "create artificial men and automations" (Johnson xiii). Additionally, favorite topics of the time included alchemy and galvanism. It is also important to note that Shelley adopted her father's belief that society was a corrupting force. (xiii) According to Martin Garrett, author of Mary Shelley, many conversations revolved around "the nature and the principle of life, and whether there was any probability of its ever being discovered or communicated . . . perhaps a corpse would be reanimated with the aid of electricity, or perhaps the components of parts of a creature might be manufactured, brought together, and endued with vital warmth" (Garrett 33). In addition to being a part of such lively conversations, Shelley had also read Sir Humphrey Davy's Discourse on Chemistry prior to penning her novel. Davy's notes conclude that chemistry grants man " powers . . . which have enabled him to modify and change the beings surrounding him, and by his experiments to interrogate nature with power, not simp...

Modern marketing techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modern marketing techniques - Essay Example This imply that consumers are driven by some preconceived ideologies about goods or services and this influences the decision making process by the consumers. Attitude would refer to the ideological conception that exist in one’s mind about the product and which greatly influence the buying habits of the consumer. They sought to study the consumer behavior and the green marketing through special focus on gasoline products. By collecting data through surveys and then analyzing them through regression method, the group found supportive evidence that the consumers’ behaviors have greatly influenced the marketing procedures within the context of gasoline products in that most preference is now banked on the environmental friendly gasoline products. This has therefore the implications that majority of suppliers of the energy products such as the gasoline products are driven to market their products in ways that are most appealing in manners of environmental appeal. This expl ains the modern branding mechanisms that are adopted by the firms dealing with these products (Singh et al, 2011, p.101). The character or traits that are exhibited by consumers are what is called the consumer behavior and is revealed while searching for, purchasing, using, disposing and evaluating products as well as services that are useful and through which they gain the utility required. Through these considerations then, consumers are influenced in making decision as well as spending their resources for the satisfaction of need and wants. The information that marketers get from the consumers is thus seen to be very important while directing o n the appropriate marketing procedures as well as practices in order to achieve efficiency within the market. This describes why majority of modern marketing revolves around consumer behavior while carrying out a market analysis, target market selection, market-mix determination as well as the marketing strategies mostly reliable within a certain market segment (Bello, 2008, p.1-4). This therefore explains the various marketing mechanisms that are in use today, and which are determined by the consumer behaviors exhibited. Advertising is one tool of marketing and which describes a mechanism that is employed by marketers to pass across valuable information to the potential customers in a bid to win their attention in purchases. As an avenue for informing, advertising is efficient in customizing the consumers’ behavior through appealing to their emotions as well as through group identity. A study carried to ascertain the relationship between effective advertising and the behavior of consumers in buying revealed that there is actually strong evidence to link the consumers’ behavior to the advertisement activities. An in depth analysis also revealed a strong relationship between emotional appeal as well as the consumer purchasing behavior (Abideen and Saleem, nd, p. 55). This therefore revealed that there is a strong base to ascertain that consumers purchase more the goods or

The rise and influence of Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War 2 Essay

The rise and influence of Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War 2 - Essay Example Franklin Delano Roosevelt, America’s longest serving President, is one of the most important political figures of the twentieth century. He led the USA through twelve years of domestic and international disorder and war. It is a general perception among people that no American President is more concerned about how he is portrayed than Franklin Roosevelt. He shrouded himself in dozens of disguises, including Sphinx, Father, Doctor, and Captain of the Ship of State. One main theme was consistent. Franklin Roosevelt invariably represented himself and was portrayed by others, as hale, hearty, optimistic, and healthy, his most brilliant disguise. That image of vigor makes ironic the debate over the depiction of Roosevelt in his memorial statues in Washington, DC, and raises complex issues about the portrayal of the best known but most enigmatic president of the twentieth century.Historians have always ranked Roosevelt as one of the greatest presidents of the United States along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Franklin Roosevelt and World War II Between 1929 and 1945 the United States experienced a global depression and another world war. During t his time of grave calamity almost everywhere, economic collapse called forth political instability and nationalist movements. In Europe and Asia the rise of Italian fascism, German Nazism, and Japanese militarism intensified economic competition over markets and scarce resources, resulting in conflict and war . In the countries of Latin America the Great Depression led to breakdowns and political difficulties, the consequences of which encouraged the United States to respond in distinctive ways by fashioning a Good Neighbor policy. The Great Depression, which set in after the historic Stock Market Crash of 1929, and World War II would bring substantial expansion of the practice and its concepts. President Franklin D Roosevelt, a consummate practitioner who had been tutored in public relations by Louis McHenry Howe since 1912, would lead the way. He was elected four times against the strong opposition of the majority of American newspapers by using his true strong leadership and taking his message to the people on the nation's front pages and on radios. The term "good neighbor", a kind of commonplace in diplomatic language, took on actual meaning during the presidencies of Herbert C. Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. For Latin Americans the term signified the end of an era of direct intervention by the United States in Latin American affairs. For the Roosevelt administration the Good Neighbor policy also functioned significantly in other ways: It served as an international counterpart of the New Deal by attacking the economic effects of the Great Depression and later as a means of mobilizing resistance among the nations of the New World against the Axis powers during the Second World War. As the historian Robert Freeman Smith explains, taken together the various components formed "a massive, although ill-defined government effort" under U.S direction to create "an integrated hemisphere system" characterized by high levels of "political, economic and military co-operation". FDR's success in winning public support spurred the efforts of the conservative forces, particularly Big Business, to develop programs to counter his appeals. To bring the United States out of the Depression, President Roosevelt initiated a number of actions agencies - the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Project Administration - that required extensively publicity in order to gain cooperation and acceptance. Thus, the public information system in the federal government was greatly enlarged in FDR's administration. In a sense and to oversimplify - the Second World

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Imaginary Small Business KraftyKidz.com - Essay Example Books: there should be a selection of books that appeal specifically to the parents and educators of the target market, so that these interested adults can go to this site and order books about their children. In addition, of course there is also a selection of books to be ordered by and for the kids to read. The Internet reinvents itself every three months, or even faster. Therefore, our strategy for future development is to remain positioned with enough flexibility to adapt new technologies, and adapt to changes quickly. The Krafykidz.com market would be expanding exponentially with the advances of technology in the teaching sectors and the acceptance of technology as a teaching aid. The critical component to our entrance into the market will be approval and support from the school communities - including teachers, the PTA, and special education programs. While we have plans to expand into international territory, our initial launch will target our most important market - the American upper class. We know that most of our clients would drive BMW's and have very good taste - they spend money on their children because they can appreciate the technology that we have created. They also generally have high bandwidth connections, and are impressed by first-class design. The Break-even Analysis is a good f... We know that most of our clients would drive BMW's and have very good taste - they spend money on their children because they can appreciate the technology that we have created. They also generally have high bandwidth connections, and are impressed by first-class design. Financial Considerations Our start-up costs would come to $33,750, which are high because of our commitment to dominate the Internet market place. The Break-even Analysis is a good financial indicator. We show break-even with a sales level of about $265K per month, even assuming a fixed cost of $169 per month, which is high. Given those assumptions, we would reach steady-state break-even in December of the first year. Some companies can raise funds under the Enterprise Investment Scheme. The scheme applies to trading companiesbut not generallyto service or investment companies. There are potential tax advantages for individuals - including sole traders and partners acting in their capacity as individuals -who invest in such companies, such as - The buyer of the shares get tax relief at the lower rate of income tax and when they sell the shares it is also possible that they can defer the capital gains tax on any gains on those shares. Interest on loans taken for the purpose of investing in qualifying companies is not tax deductible. Government Regulations KraftyKidz.com would also need to consider trademarks. Trademarks and service marks may be registered in a state for a term of ten years as per the regulations involved. KraftyKidz.com would be required by law to withhold the following from the wages paid to employees: federal income taxes, state income taxes and FICA (Social Security) Insurance. Income taxes will also be levied by the federal and

Salary Disparity in USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Salary Disparity in USA - Essay Example It is widely known that in the labor force of the United States, women are compensated less than men. According to the report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 1997, full-time working white women had weekly salaries equal to roughly 75% of white men’s weekly salaries (Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000). The gender disparity in salary has shrunk slightly during the recent decades. In spite of this trend of lower salaries among women, investigations of salary satisfaction have discovered that women are not less discontented with their salary than men. In line with this report, when salary grade has been regulated, women have disclosed greater salary satisfaction than men (Figart, 2000). Because it is believed that salary satisfaction rests on whether salary received is equivalent to salary expected, it means that if women have lesser salary expectations, women are contented with lesser salary. Major and Konar (1984 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) studied probable roots of gender disparities in salary expectations undergraduate and graduate students. Similar to previous empirical findings, women had lower salary expectations. The suggested explanations for these disparities in salary expectations were that females might be different from men in job value, comparison criteria, job inputs, and career directions. In relation to career direction, women and men may choose dissimilar areas of interest in school and may pursue dissimilar industrial areas and jobs (Gasser, Oliver, & Tan, 1998). Milkovich and Newman (1996 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) claim that men are more probable to pursue high-paying jobs and industries. Job inputs as a predictor of pay equity have been taken into account mostly from the point of view of equity theory. Although equity theory premises put emphasis on comparing a proportion of a person’s inputs and outputs to a related other, Jacques (1961 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) claims that workers may develop salary expectations founded on job features only, and discount what other workers are performing. The empirical reports are varied. Hills (1980 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) located no substantiation for the notion that people draw upon an internal, self-assessment to identify salary equity. Nevertheless, Berkowitz and colleagues (1987 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) discovered that the satisfaction of respondents with their salaries was linked to what they believed they are ought to receive, irrespective of what other workers were paid. Major and Konar (1984 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000), in line with this argument, propos e that gender disparities in job inputs may clarify portion of the gender disparities in salary expectations. Females may have lesser job inputs and hence feel they really ought to be paid less. Adam Smith, more than two centuries ago, proposed that employees take into consideration the entirety of the disadvantages and advantages of various occupations in making choices about employment, and that a person is pulled towards those prospects that offer the highest total benefit (Gibelman, 2003). Smith stated that employers regulate salaries to correct the weaknesses and drawbacks of particular forms of employment. If an occupation is dangerous, for instance, higher salary is needed to attain a specific salary satisfaction level than when an occupation is

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Master Level - Academic Marketing - Research, Theory and Practice in Essay

Master Level - Academic Marketing - Research, Theory and Practice in Marketing - Essay Example The strategy therefore, was viable in the given restrained parameters and yielded results that satisfied both the customers and the retailers of the time. On the contrary, today, the technological advancements have brought forth an explosion of information that is easily accessible to public through the internet and other media like television, radio, mobile phones etc. The internet has made it easy for the customers to become aware of the product details including its availability at competitive prices which has precipitated the need to develop a whole new perspective for a new marketing technique. Hence one needs to be more open when Shultz say that it is the end-users who now control the markets rather than the marketers. It is equally true that though, the technology in its wake has inundated the market with variety of products which has given the customer plenty of option, the seller is left with the cut throat competition that must be met urgently. It therefore becomes all the more important that the sellers need to introduce new techniques and brands that would, not only attract the customers but also retain them. The customer, while remaining the main point of any marketing techniques, no more commands the sole attention. The emerging technology has necessitated the incorporation of the whole system within which the product is marketed. Hence any successful marketing must address the system as a whole. Shultz has come up with the theory of ‘triad’ comprising of marketers, customers and the employees who must be considered as a unit for a market strategy to succeed. Shultz asserts that these three elements where employees also include the retailers, distributors, agents and the sales force, play a vital role in marketing of the product. Today the concept of market has changed so much so that instead of customer going to the ‘product’, the product ‘comes’

Salary Disparity in USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Salary Disparity in USA - Essay Example It is widely known that in the labor force of the United States, women are compensated less than men. According to the report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 1997, full-time working white women had weekly salaries equal to roughly 75% of white men’s weekly salaries (Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000). The gender disparity in salary has shrunk slightly during the recent decades. In spite of this trend of lower salaries among women, investigations of salary satisfaction have discovered that women are not less discontented with their salary than men. In line with this report, when salary grade has been regulated, women have disclosed greater salary satisfaction than men (Figart, 2000). Because it is believed that salary satisfaction rests on whether salary received is equivalent to salary expected, it means that if women have lesser salary expectations, women are contented with lesser salary. Major and Konar (1984 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) studied probable roots of gender disparities in salary expectations undergraduate and graduate students. Similar to previous empirical findings, women had lower salary expectations. The suggested explanations for these disparities in salary expectations were that females might be different from men in job value, comparison criteria, job inputs, and career directions. In relation to career direction, women and men may choose dissimilar areas of interest in school and may pursue dissimilar industrial areas and jobs (Gasser, Oliver, & Tan, 1998). Milkovich and Newman (1996 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) claim that men are more probable to pursue high-paying jobs and industries. Job inputs as a predictor of pay equity have been taken into account mostly from the point of view of equity theory. Although equity theory premises put emphasis on comparing a proportion of a person’s inputs and outputs to a related other, Jacques (1961 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) claims that workers may develop salary expectations founded on job features only, and discount what other workers are performing. The empirical reports are varied. Hills (1980 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) located no substantiation for the notion that people draw upon an internal, self-assessment to identify salary equity. Nevertheless, Berkowitz and colleagues (1987 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000) discovered that the satisfaction of respondents with their salaries was linked to what they believed they are ought to receive, irrespective of what other workers were paid. Major and Konar (1984 as cited in Keaveny & Inderrieden, 2000), in line with this argument, propos e that gender disparities in job inputs may clarify portion of the gender disparities in salary expectations. Females may have lesser job inputs and hence feel they really ought to be paid less. Adam Smith, more than two centuries ago, proposed that employees take into consideration the entirety of the disadvantages and advantages of various occupations in making choices about employment, and that a person is pulled towards those prospects that offer the highest total benefit (Gibelman, 2003). Smith stated that employers regulate salaries to correct the weaknesses and drawbacks of particular forms of employment. If an occupation is dangerous, for instance, higher salary is needed to attain a specific salary satisfaction level than when an occupation is