Discuss how the framers created a strong government limiting its own powers and those of the people.

Discuss how the framers created a strong government limiting its own powers and those of the people. When the framers created the constitution, they created a division of powers that where divided between National, State and local government. This helps more people to get represented by the government and brings government closer to people, it also limit's the power of government and they protect people by creating the "Bill of Rights". Some of the constitution principles was the idea that people have the right to vote, also that government has the consent of the govern, having a limited government, and the separation of powersEvery branch of the government has limited powers, the delegated powers are powers given to the National Government and they are found on the constitution on article 1, section 8. They are 3 types of delegated powers: the express powers are those that are listed on the constitution, the imply powers are those that are not listed on the constitution but they are based on the elastic clause "congress can do what is necessary and proper for the well of the nation ", and the imperative power that it says that only national government is capable of dealing with this problems.Diagram of the Federal Government and American Uni...The powers of the state and national government are separated, the reserved powers are those that belong only to the states and the concurrent powers are those that belong to both state and national government. The powers of branches are also separated and that the powers of each branch limit's the power of the other branches. There are 3 branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch.The executive branch can limit the powers of the other branches by either appealing to the people, recommending legislation to congress, call for a special session of congress or the president can vito, the executives also appoints members to the government, appoint judges...

Perl String lc() Function

Perl String lc() Function Starting out with a new programming language can be challenging. Learning the functions is one way to go about it. The Perl string lc() function and uc() function are two basic functions that are easy to understand- they convert a string to all lowercase or all uppercase respectively. Perl  String lc() Function The  Perl  lc()  function takes a string, makes the entire thing lowercase and then returns the new string. For example: #!/usr/bin/perl $orig_string This Test Is Capitalized; $changed_string lc(  $orig_string ); print The Resulting String is: $changed_string\n; When executed, this code yields: The Resulting String is: this test is capitalized First, $orig_string is set to a value- in this case, This Test Is Capitalized. Then the lc() function is run on $orig_string. The lc() function takes the entire string $orig_string and converts it to its lowercase equivalent  and prints it out as instructed. Perl  String uc() Function As you might expect, Perls uc() function converts a string to all uppercase characters in the same manner. Just substitute uc for lc in the example above, as shown: #!/usr/bin/perl $orig_string This Test Is Capitalized; $changed_string uc(  $orig_string ); print The  Resulting String is: $changed_string\n; When executed, this code yields: The Resulting String is: THIS TEST IS CAPITALIZED About Perl Perl is a feature-rich programming language that was originally developed for use with text. It is cross-platform and runs on more than 100 platforms. Perl works with HTML and other markup languages, so it is frequently used in web development.

Term Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research - Term Paper Example However, during the party, where Madame Loisel has an amazing time, she loses the necklace. In a haste to replace the necklace without Forestier knowing, Loisel and her husband spend all of their money, as well as money they do not have, to buy this new necklace. The debt puts the Loisels into poverty. The irony of this story is seen at the end, when Loisel meets up with Forestier after many years, only to find that the necklace that was lost was hardly worth a percentage of the one used as a replacement. The themes found in â€Å"The Necklace† are irony and greed. Madame Loisel longed for a life of luxury. She refused to go out because she felt that she did not meet any of the standards of the â€Å"rich women,† as was stated in the story. She lusted after what others had, and cared not for all that she had in her average life. It was Madame Loisel’s greed that caused the ironic outcome of the story. Had she not been so set on being charming and living, if only briefly, the life that she had longed for, she would have not lost the cheap necklace and gone on to replace it with a much more exquisite piece of jewelry. Her greed brought in the irony of her and her husband having to live worse than ever for ten years. Her greed blinded her of just how precious life was despite all of the material possessions. It was because of this that enabled her to witness how others below her were forced to live. From the first paragraph of the story, â€Å"The girl was one of those pretty and charming young creatures who sometimes are born, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no way of being known, understood, loved, married by any rich and distinguished man; so she let herself be married to a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction,† it was clear that Madame Loisel was a self-spoiled girl. This is shown in the way that she automatically links being pretty to having a perfect, rich

Becoming an ATF Agent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Becoming an ATF Agent - Essay Example All ATF agents are required to receive at least a bachelor’s degree. The individual must be at least twenty-one years old and no older than thirty-seven. There are a number of smaller requirements as well. In these regards the individual must, â€Å"Complete and pass the ATF special agent assessment test and the Treasury Enforcement Agent exam† (Jess, 2011). Potential ATF agents also undergo stringent background testing, including a polygraph test. In addition, it’s noted that you will need to, â€Å"undergo a physical exam and drug screening. If you are selected to become an agent, you will also participate in a much more specific law enforcement training program† ("Criminal justice degrees," 2011). While ATF agents must receive a four-year degree, there is not a specific major or degree the individual must receive; although many ATF agents pursue studies in criminal justice, law, or related fields. In addition there are specific paths within the ATF that require post-graduate coursework. In terms of cost, there is a great amount of cost differential based on the type of education – public or private – the individual seeks. In addition, concerns related to room and board also make the cost highly relative. Once individuals are hired as ATF agents there is also a considerable amount of training. It’s noted that the individual undergoes, â€Å"9 weeks in Glynco, GA where new agents are trained in surveillance, arrest techniques, firearms training and other skills.   New agents then spend 13 weeks at FLETC where they are trained on explosives, bomb scene investigation and other similar areas† ("Atf agent career," 2011). Even as there are considerable requirements to become an ATF agent, the beginning salary is commensurate with the extensive training; in these regards, beginning agents make approximately $25,000 per year, but within a few years can make nearly $50,000. In conclusion,

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