The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirate of Penzance is a movie rendition of the operetta of the same title by Gilbert and Sullivan. The said film was released in 1983 and tells the story of Frederick, a young pirate who decides to change his ways when he meets Mabel and falls in love for the first time. As a comedic opera, the movie is worthy of the great reviews it receives from present day critics. However, I personally think that the director did not take advantage of the film techniques that could have smoothened the whole thing. He wanted to catch the raw aspect of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work, to a point that the settings were way off key; there’s a cinematic experience missing. Aside from being both musical factors, I think that the Little Stores of Horror and the Pirates of Penzance shared little in common; unless of course we entertain the general theme of romantic relations. In terms of power struggles, we could see the attempt of two individuals to overcome the control of people and plant they have come to love. In contrast however, the musical score of the two films differ. On one hand is a more classic, theatric composition/performances and on the other is a more modernized and jazzed up Little Shop of Horror. Both movies did epitomize the absolute masculine as the protagonist but instead chose to have a â€Å"nerd† and Frederick was not played out in a machismo kind of way. All the three films; Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man, and The Pirates of Penzance include love between two rather unlikely couple. Little shop is a cult movie by people’s standards today and does not really offer bright approach to it self. We see a person eaten up, or the dentist body being cut up. This is something one would never expect to see in the other two films. The Music Man offers a tad bit more similarity in plot and characters with the Pirates of Penzance. In terms of the inner conflicts of both films; there is sameness in manner which the two protagonists are at a state of leaving and evolving from their old and assumed to be bad lives. A key element in their desire to turn a leaf is two women. One is a daughter of a Major General, Mabel; while the other is the town’s librarian. In comparing we could say that Mabel and Ms. Marian accept the conflict of the two heroes differently. Mabel is more accepting and shows her self to be the first person to answer Frederik’s request. Ms. Marian on the other hand was the one insistent in the fraud nature of Professor Hill. While one seeks for her lover’s acceptance, the other asks for change and even agrees to hide the salesman’s identity. Being the con-artist salesman shares a resemblance to being a pirate if we think about it; coming in an innocent town and pillaging or deceiving in order to gain and then get up and leave. I would not have believed that Kevin Kline would ever sing in a film, especially an operetta on which he plays a Pirate King. The latter was able to capture the aim of showing these particular band of pirates as non-ferocious kind, who really are not as buccaneer as they would want to be. There is this particular charm in the manner in which Kline handled the role. The Pirates of Penzance does not bank on realism; however the portrayal of Pirate King had a certain kick to the whole flick. In terms of singing voice we could easily see that this man can; compared to Matthew Broderick and James Seymour. Kevin Kline took on the role and revealed the comedic and some what joke like layer that surrounds the Pirate King. One of my favorite characters of the Play is the Major General played by George Rose. As we could see his voice is able to replicate the demands of the original operatic performance. There is versatility in the type of tones he could play with in his character. One may take him as the little funny man of the show but at the same time when he explicitly shifts to his authoritative position as Major General, he is still able to bring out the rawness of the humor and the performance. These two individuals tended to carry the show especially where the hero, Frederick lacked. I am unsure if he played his role according to specifications or the actor playing the part simply was an amateur and did not know how to attack the character. He seems to be one of those 1980’s aspiring rockers who are a tad bit effeminate. The initial coming together of Gilbert and Sullivan was through the opera Thespis (1871) at which their approach then was spontaneous and risquà ©. The Producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte was a key figure in shaping and maintaining the creative collaborations of the two. the age difference of the two men probably helped in providing a balance the works they worked together. Gilbert was hand on in his approach to theatre and made sure that everything was in order. He wanted actors to imbibe the absurdity of the characters as if they were more real and no logical alternative is possible. Sullivan on the other hand focused mainly on the musical scores; meaning the two kept clear to a certain extent of each one’s area of responsibility. However in later years, we are able to see falling out between the two due perhaps to their difference in theatrical direction. One did not see the point of working with the other. It was unfortunate since the humor and crispness of Gilbert’s craft is dressed well with the fresh notes of Sullivan. To be honest, I found the spectacle of the movie quite cheap. Perhaps this was due to the desire to maintain the authenticity of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera; however in terms of set, things could be way better. It turned out to seem like the scenes are shot on a studio crafted for a local children’s program. The pirate king and Frederick had on something that cuts across old pirate with 80’s new wave. Fredrick’s costume is not really reminiscent of the stereotypical pirate, resembles more of a Spanish Bull Fighter crossed with a Spanish gun fitter I think that the color of his shirt and the dual belts and the knee high boots give this impression The theme is a coming of age, love and honor despite what one has grown to live as. There is of course the factor of finding humor and humanity in those we have often deemed to be scoundrels. The relationship between collective belonging and individuality is seen. Reference: Wilford Leach (1983),   The Pirates of Penzance, film, original from Gilbert and Sullivan.

Is technology really benefitting society

Destruction due to TechnologyIs engineering truly profiting society or merely prima to its ruin? This is a inquiry one must inquire themselves. Everyone has in one manner or another been affected by engineering whether bad or good. What was the impact of that experience like? Mary Kolesnikova, writer of the essay â€Å" OMG! If LOL, so KMN! â€Å" , explains the negative impacts engineering has on society and its communicating accomplishments, giving existent life illustrations of incidents that are abashing and black. â€Å" I ‘ve been asked how to spell â€Å" here † and â€Å" one † by high school seniors and seen more your/you ‘re, there/their, to/too confusions than homophone workbook † ( Kolesnikova, 623 ) . Those are lone communicating accomplishments that have been affected. Imagine how many more countries it can hold an influence on. This is merely one of many capablenesss which have gone down the drain due to the maltreatment of engineerin g. Similarly, Eric Brende writer of the essay â€Å" No Technology? No Problem † stresses the usage of engineering as good and how it should non be made a necessity in life and is non required. Many feel and agree that engineering is a great assisting manus in our society and plays a major function throughout day-to-day lives. This is a valid point and engineering is decidedly good in mundane lives, but when abused it leads to these negative impacts. Due to the fact of the society non utilizing engineering in a practical manner, persons from ages eight to fifty are missing basic accomplishments required on a day-to-day footing. While the usage of engineering may be helpful and a necessity in society today, if continually abused, will take to a negative impact doing a deficiency in everyday required accomplishments. Kolesnikova in her essay, stresses the function engineering has on a society ‘s authorship accomplishments and how it has affected her and those around her. She sums her point up into one chief factor, this factor being that engineering is doing the population to decrease the art of authorship. â€Å" Chat slang is killing the trade of composing † ( Kolesnikova, 623 ) . In her essay she explains how the effects of engineering and confab speak led to her depression. After a canvass held by the Pew Research Center concentrating on 12 to seventeen twelvemonth olds about their usage of chat-speak, about 30 eight per centum said they let it steal into their prep and essays ( Kolesnikova, 623 ) . Kolesnikova is an occasional coach in San Francisco public schools and she ca n't conceive of how far chat speak has spread. Along with chat speak, she elucidates the usage of emoticons in prep and essays every bit good. For those who may non cognize what emoticons are, they are defin ed as a crabwise facial glyph used in e-mail to bespeak an emotion or attitude, as to bespeak wit [ : – ) ] . Harmonizing to the Pew Research Center, a canvass resulted in 20 five per centum of teens utilizing emoticons in their trials, prep, and essays ( Kolesnikova, 623 ) . Kolesnikova states how it ‘s a shame that the popular civilization today is promoting this lunacy and is traveling every bit far as making chat talk its ain wiki-dictionary. The U.S. Department of Education released the Nation ‘s Report Card on Writing 2007 and merely 30 three per centum of eight graders demonstrated abilities at or above proficiency degree ( Kolesnikova, 623 ) . This is yet the beginning and needs to be brought to an terminal before made worse. Brende, in his essay, discusses a different, yet similar instance of how engineering is non a necessity and can take to negative results. After having his alumnus grade in political scientific discipline from MIT in 1992, he and his married woman moved to an Amish-type community where they spent 18 months populating without technological progresss. â€Å" As MIT graduates go, I realize how unusual I am. I run a jinrikisha service in downtown St. Louis, where I live. I make soap at place, and my married woman sells it at the local husbandman ‘s market on Saturday ‘s † ( Brende, 619 ) . After returning place he goes on to state that these wonts stick with him and him and his household do n't truly experience a demand for such progresss. He besides states that engineering deprives an person of needful physical activity and can take to future issues. In the past persons would ramble on, thrust to the gym, or possibly even play athleticss in order to acquire in some exe rcising and remain healthy. Brende stresses that it has gotten to the point where some people perform hand-squeezing modus operandis since computing machine keyboards do non offer the physical opposition they need and can take to carpal tunnel syndrome ( Brende, 621 ) . In add-on, he explains how engineering is taking off choice clip from households every bit good as impacting the human mental powers restricting the usage of multiple capablenesss. These are merely a few of many factors that can take to a ruin due to the maltreatment of engineering. Harmonizing to the texts stated above, a decision can be reached: the maltreatment of engineering is go forthing a negative impact on society. Both writers, though from different scenarios, have from personal experience recognized that engineering is doing society to miss accomplishments required on a day-to-day footing. These accomplishments include mental, communicating, and physical capablenesss. Kolesnikova ‘s experience as stated above was as a coach and she discovered that the pupils were missing basic communication/writing accomplishments. On the other manus, Brende took a entire opposite position and unusual attack. Although an MIT alumnus, he decided to populate in an Amish-type community with his household for 18 months without any technological progresss. He came to recognize that non utilizing engineering came to his benefit, and for those who were continually around engineering, they seemed to be missing multiple capablenesss. While both took different attacks, the consequences were the same. To carry the reader and go forth a long permanent feeling they besides ended their essays with an appealing last sentence. Kolesnikova ended saying that both parents and teens either battle now or confront a sentence-less hereafter of the three missive word OMG ( Kolesnikova, 624 ) . Brende, on the other manus, stated something rather different, yet relevant to the impact of engineering. He stated that in a universe superabundant in appliances and doodads, the richest among us are those who have mastered the delicate art of thinning out the extra, doing manner for the look of their full humanity ( Brende, 621 ) . It can be agreed that both writers make valid points in their essays. The usage of engineering has changed from what it may hold been in the yesteryear. Younger and younger ages are being affected daily due to the usage of these technological progresss. Progresss such as computing machines, cellular devices, and telecastings have gotten to the point where people are incapacitated without them. Harmonizing to free-lance author Leigh Goessl, childs today would hold a reasonably hard clip imaging life without such points ( Goessl, n.pag ) . In the past kids would pass their clip running about, playing athleticss, and siting bikes. Video games were played in the signifier of out-of-door activities and everything was more relaxed. In present times about every adolescent has some kind of technological device and ne'er truly takes the clip to travel out and acquire some fresh air. They are stuck on these digital playthings all twenty-four hours and dark without recognizing it. Statistics sh ow that in September 2008, Nielsen Mobile announced that adolescents with cell phones each sent and received on norm, 1,742 text messages a month. At the clip the figure sounded high, but merely a few months subsequently Nielsen raised the run to 2,272. A twelvemonth earlier, the National School Boards Association estimated that middle- and high-school pupils devoted an norm of nine hours to societal networking each hebdomad. Add electronic mail, blogging, IM, tweets and other digital imposts and you realize what sort of hurried, 24/7 communications system immature people experience today ( Bauerlein W.11 ) . These progresss are taking over lives and non being noticed. Harmonizing to the American Record Guide the technocrats want an person to believe engineering is neutral-want them to believe that they are in charge. But more and more the persons are engineering ‘s victims. Persons are non running it ; it is running them ( Vroon, 53 ) . It has besides resulted in a major fact or of emphasis, particularly for parents. One may inquire why? This is due to the fact that their kids are more technologically advanced than they are. It is difficult for a parent today to maintain path of their kids when they themselves are non capable of some of the progresss their childs have adapted to. Aside from the parents, instructors excessively are accommodating to the emphasis. Students continually make the same authorship errors on their prep and documents and neglect to acknowledge it. This is due to their technological progresss, leting them to utilize chat speak, about a whole new linguistic communication. Mark Bauerlein, a professor of English at Emory University states that among the many effects of pupil careerism, campus selling, Facebook, texting, and other philistine forces set uping undergraduates today the chief force is the level inconsideration to linguistic communication ( Philology, Etymology, and Phoneticss, n.pag. ) . Harmonizing to the District Adminis tration Magazine pupils are taking advantage of engineering. â€Å" The job is pupils are utilizing and mistreating engineering without understanding digital citizenship † ( Ribble, 85 ) . The abuse of engineering is non merely impacting an person at present clip, but can ensue in a long term issue every bit good. They adopt bad wonts such as confabs speak, which causes proper English to melt out of their lives, the inordinate usage of a reckoner, which limits their mental capablenesss, every bit good as being lazy and non traveling out-of-doorss to acquire some needed exercising which may take to future wellness related issues. Harmonizing to the American Record Guide, the job with most of these engineerings is that they isolate people, kill conversation, and promote sedentary behaviour ( make people lazy and fat ) . They besides waste clip that may be utile ( Vroon, 53 ) . One illustration given by the writer is telecasting, which he feels leads to a overplus of jobs. â€Å" Television, for illustration, isolates people and destroys conversation. These yearss the household rarely even watches telecasting together-there are excessively many sets in every family. Television destroys attending span-just another manner it turns people against reading. It creates passiveness, controls people ‘s ideas, sets the footings of political relations, Teachs people to desire things they do n't necessitate, and stimulates the appetency for debris nutrient. It is mind-numbingly intrusive and invasive. Its velocity and aggression are downright hard-bitten. It is even turning people into chickens † ( Vroon, 53 ) . Brende in his essay makes a great mention to this explicating that these accomplishments may non be as easy to get or retrieve after they are lost. â€Å" Multimedia devices erode and wasting human mental powers and accomplishments like reading and, possibly because these are even harder to retrieve or even place, these losingss can lend to a obscure sense of inutility which our antidepressants have n't been able to bring around † ( Brende, 621 ) . Technology is non needfully a bad thing, but inordinate usage of it is ensuing in negative results. New technological progresss are created daily to assist heighten the manner we live and factors related to it, but the inordinate usage of it is merely doing it debatable. Who does n't desire to utilize a reckoner for those hard jobs, or utilize a cell phone to acquire a speedy response? These progresss are decidedly good, it ‘s merely when it becomes accustomed that it causes issues. Harmonizing to a survey in Britain, the British are looking for a manner to farther incorporate cell phones into their lesson programs for the hereafter. â€Å" We hope that, in the hereafter, mobile phone usage will be every bit natural as utilizing any other engineering in school, † says Elizabeth Hartnell- Young, University of Nottingham research chap and analyze co-author ( Docksai, 10 ) . Technology can ever ensue in benefits if used in a peculiar mode ; America merely has a wont of mist reating anything it can come across which consequences in the ruins. â€Å" It ‘s like everything else ; you have to be careful about it. There ‘s proper and improper usage † ( Docksai, 11 ) . Technology is decidedly a major factor in the day-to-day lives of many, but if continually abused it could ensue in negative results. Kolesnikova and Brende stress the impact it has left on them and society in general. Changeless usage of technological progresss can take to issues affecting an person ‘s mundane accomplishments and capablenesss. It ‘s up to the user to utilize it with cautiousness and understand the dangers of it. If twenty-four hours by twenty-four hours illustrations and incidents go to demo the impact and devastation it has caused already, than why farther encourage it? These progresss are to be used with bounds, and should be taken into consideration when operated. Overall, it is up to those who are already mistreating it to cut down. If continually abused, such progresss may be banned.Plants CitedBauerlein, Mark â€Å" Why Gen-Y Johnny Ca n't Read Nonverbal Cues. † Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition 28 Aug. 2009: W11. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.Brende, Eric. â€Å" No Technology? No Problem † . Readings for Writers ( 13th Edition ) . Ed. Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell and Anthony C.Winkler. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. 618-621.Docksai, Rick â€Å" Teens and Cell Phones. † Futurist 43.1 ( 2009 ) : 10-11. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009.Goessl, Leigh. â€Å" Technology: Its effects on kids. † www.Helium.com. 3 Nov. 2009.Kolesnikova, Mary. â€Å" OMG! If LOL, so KMN! † . Readings for Writers ( 13th Edition ) . Ed. Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell and Anthony C.Winkler. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. 623-625.â€Å" Philology, Etymology, and Phoneticss. † History of Higher Education 56.4/5 ( 2009 ) : B2. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009.Ribble, Mike S. , and Gerald D. Bailey â€Å" Districts should learn their pupils digital smarts. † District Administration 40.10 ( 2004 ) : 85. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009.Vroon â€Å" The Distracted Generation Victims of Technology. † American Record Guide 72.3 ( 2009 ) : 53-54. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.

Capacity Building as an International Response to Cybercrime Assignment

Capacity Building as an International Response to Cybercrime - Assignment Example From the srudy findings it is clear that technologies used by people globally are required to be organised for better usage in terms of social consideration. It is apparent that Information and communication technology (ICT) has been rapidly transformed over the past two decades especially in the northern and southern regions of the world owing to which numerous development has been observed in various domains. Notably, the development of ICT has enlarged the choices of people, which further helped them towards personal and professional growth. This discussion stresses that cybercrimes are offences against computer systems, which are conducted within or via computer networks. It affects the security along with the rights of the people living in a society and on the hand, it further strengthening the presence of crime within a society. It has been analysed that cybercrime raised considerable risk for infrastructure to which the people in a society are dependent that further impact the aspect of security and trust in a negative manner. Cybercrime is a particular crime that is conducted with the use or within computers and internet networks. It is regarded by legal authority as a punishable crime and is one of the major issues to be resolved in the contemporary scenario. Cybercrime is also often regarded as computer crime, which involve the use of computer, as a particular instrument to conduct illegal activities such as fraud, child pornography and unauthorized access or damage of other’s property among others.

Leadership and Leadership Development Assignment

Leadership and Leadership Development - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that the ability of an individual or an organization to influence workers working at different levels in a way that enables them to deliver the desired results is the aim of managing leadership development. Leaders working at different levels have to adopt different working techniques to influence their workers to achieve a collective aim. This is due to the fact that every level of work poses its unique challenges and the leader has to act in accordance with the requirement of circumstances to fulfill the desired goals. The duty of the first-line supervisor is to get a pre-defined amount of work done by using the workforce that is available to him. He is also responsible to oversee the working and conduct of his workers. Keeping in view this description, it is logical to assert that a first-line supervisor deserves to be trained to allow him to supervise effectively during his job hours. He should be motivated by informing him about the po ssibility of his growth and by evaluating his performance and rewarding him if he performs better. The leader of this level can opt for an autocratic leadership style since it is important that his orders be obeyed to ensure smooth productivity of the firm. At middle manager level, the nature of responsibility changes and such a manager has to coordinate between the works of different working groups within the organization.

What do the sounds in White Noise foreshadow Essay

What do the sounds in White Noise foreshadow - Essay Example This may mean his work has enhanced his art to, a significant level, or his work has accomplished larger commercial achievement than his previous works. This paper analyzes the significance of sounds in White Noise. White Noise made tremendous sales and got terrific reviews all through the career of Don DeLillo. It is straightforward to understand the reasons that made it one of the best fictional works of the time. A number of factors contributed to its superior position over other similar works. They include its crafty satire of academia, advertising, and television, its letter-perfect illustration of the sights and sounds of malls and supermarkets, its ironically humorous structure of the post nuclear household, and expression of events that strongly relate with contemporary Americans. In addition, Don DeLillo has focused more on the need for association between the world, the national communities and the self, survival and the subtle, and culture, than with character. People are technologically oriented, and elements of nature entangled in the riddle of history, therefore, the superhero, the outlaw and the notion of man against other elements exist as fiction in the contemporary world (DeLillo 6). DeLillo’s work illustrates a form of intelligence and suspense, a feeling of the tight-drawn net and widening gyre. White Noise is a story based on a professor of Hitler studies, Jack Gladney, in an institution, in America. The life of the professor with his family is pervaded by the ubiquitous complain of technological advancements. The radio and television offer constant commercials and commentary. This helps unite Jack’s family with the other parts of America in a significant cover of consumerism. The professor is enjoying his life, only indistinctly traumatized by the concern of his ultimate death (DeLillo 8). This changes when a chemical discharge emits a dark cloud of insecticide elements. The in the air poisonous condition makes the professor and his family leave their home. John and his family’s peaceful life are interrupted, in spite, the permission to return to their home one week after the toxic event. His contact with the toxic event makes him concentrate on the probability of his looming death. In addition, her fourth wife is also affected by her concern over death. A possible solution for their fear of death is in the form of medicine that guarantees to deal with the fear of death, Dylar. Jack turns to tremendous solutions to lessen his pain when the medication is unsuccessful. The hum of technology continues to engross Jack all through his troubles. The book is more than a deliberation on death. White Noise is a reflection of the impact of commercialism and technological activities on an individual’s everyday life. The professor is not afraid of his natural demise. It is only after Jack has contact with a manmade disastrous event that he is worried of his unnatural death. The toxic activities seem t o remove excitement about life. The author shows that the white noise engrossing Jack had started to demean his survival. The toxic events make jack conscious of demeaned existence (DeLillo 117). The professor’s associations are characterized by technologically related activities. The ease and comfort provided by all the gadgets encircling John and his family is attractive but dulling in the long run. It conceals the line between projected situations and

Principal Structural and Demographic Changes That Characterized the Essay

Principal Structural and Demographic Changes That Characterized the Period From 1865 to 1892 - Essay Example Changes occur where the democrats broke down the policies that the Republicans have imposed. The Democrats rewrites the constitution and the social programs. They also lower taxes and cut the state budgets. They impose various laws meant to curb the tenants and sharecroppers rights with the aim of ensuring a black labor force. One of these laws forces the debtors to work in the land until they settle their debts. The following is a discussion of the movements that manifest these changes that occur during this period. During this period, the United States experiences reconstruction, industrialization, and immigration. The state experiences rapid economic growth and emerges as the world’s dominant, agricultural, economic, and industrial power center. The annual income of workers after inflation grows by 75% between 1865 and 1900. It later recorded a growth of 33% by the year 1918. After the victory in the Civil War, the state emerges as a powerful and united nation characterized by a strong government. Reconstruction ends slavery and the slaves acquire citizenship in the United States. The European immigration brings 2.5 million new arrivals between 1865 and 1918. The arrivals provide the required labor force to expand agriculture and industry. They also provide the population base for the urban America that is fast growing. The country took part in two fundamental wars. The US entered a war with the German military. The industrial growth fuels efforts to bring the country back into alignment with an American definition of freedom. Availability of abundant resources, cheap energy, new technology, fast transport, and availability of labor and capital made an outstanding contribution towards the success. Livestock mines and forests provide raw materials for most of the industries in the country. Local-level political machines A political machine is an organization that has control over sufficient votes to maintain administrative and political control of the society. In the United States, the rapid growth of towns and cities creates problems for the government responsible for the cities. These city governments are unable to provide services due to poor organization. Politicians offer favors by offering patronage housing and jobs and thus win support. Despite that, the machines help to restructure the city governments; they result in poor service, aggravation of ethnic and racial hostilities, and corruption. The Irish and Democratic party dominates in politics until elections and civil service brings about its demise. The Irish is among the first immigrant group in the American cities that are large and capable of challenging leadership. The Democratic Party makes a substantial contribution court, the urban immigrants, hence acquiring the power for local bosses. As the number of immigrants grows, the cities become ethnically diverse, and the newcomers dominate the largest population. Efforts at middle-class reforms People like Lincoln ca me up with Freedman’s Bureau to aid the slaves with education, employment, and healthcare. The Radical plan of reconstruction allows the coalition of Freedmen to take control of the southern state government. This gives the federal courts power to deal with justice at a state level. The state passed the Civil Rights in 1875 to give people rights to access public facilities without considering their race or servitude. The state passed

Regional integration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regional integration - Essay Example The unique example that will be under discussion as far as this paper is concerned would be the south east asian region that is one of the fastest growing economies of the world along side the mighty economies of the united states and the european union (UNESCAP, 2005, pp.145). The South east Asian region comes directly under the ASEAN which stands for the Association of the South East Asian Nations. The formation of the alliances has made it possible to forge strong aliances with one another and has encouraged enhanced volumes of foreign direct investments. The region is today a preferred economic and technological investment hub and preference is mad on the basis of highly skilled human resuorces of the region, which has been possible through sustainable development initiatives of these organizations. The ASEAN has ensured that the financial and judicial backbone of the countries is strengthened, which has ensured an enhanced security to people as well as the industry. Rapid economic development of the region has led to a phenomenal rise in the standard of living of the people and creation of economic hubs such as singapore and hong kong (UNESCAP, 2005 pp.145). But, any such development has a dark side as well. The rising incomes have contributed to the widening of the gap between sections of the society. There has also not been a uniform development between countries and all this has resulted in a greater difference between the economies of any two countries. This is evident in the growth rates of China and hong kong when compared with that of singapore or malaysia wherein the former's growth is presently the highest in the world. But, the implementation of the ideas of regional integration have not been implemented to the optimum levels, with economies such as indonesia and burma (present day myanmar) left behind in the race towards economic development. The mistakes lies both within the framework of these regional organizations as well as due to a lack of initiative on the part of the respective governments of these countries (UNESCAP, 2005 pp.145-146).The seven major companies within the ASEAN have an estimated holding reserves of arou nd $100 billion, which is now many times than that of the acia-pacific region put together. The South east asian region has an annual growth of aroung 5.1% since the last 5 years. But, the most striking factor since the last 5 years has been the emergence of new countries such as China & India into the economic fora, so much so that today they are a force to reckon with. As has been previously mentioned, China has en estimated annual growth rate of aroung 8.5 %, which is the highest in the world today. Following in its footsteps is the economy of India, which has the second highest growth rate of 5.1%. Both play a major role in maintianing the economic stability of the region and are active participants in the annual ASEAN summits (UNESCAP, 2005 pp.145-146).For developed countries in the region such as singapore, malaysia and the island city of hong kong as also korea and taiwan, the real challenge as of now, is to sustain their economic growth and maintain their prosperity in the e ventuality of stiff competition from India & China, which are the most preferred destinations for FDI (UNEASCAP, 2005). The situation with the underdeveloped economies of the region is that they continue to remain underdogs and are in no

Liberty and equality in French revolution Essay

Liberty and equality in French revolution - Essay Example Liberty and equality in French revolution There lots of downfalls regarding the state of economy which had be corrected to averting the anger from the general population .Economic volatility indeed was the factor that preceded the revolution. Improper usage finances coupled with deficit made it hard to provide for people who faced economic hard ships. Therefore the suffering of many peasant continued to reveal unfair weighty taxation that peasant have to bear. This resulted in more hardships because of the equalities between the rich and poor. Agricultural advance in agriculture in late 17th century and early 18th century couple with the birth of trade spurred the manufacturing sector that existed at the time to rapidly expand and increase production. Therefore agrarian revolution indirectly contributed to industrial revolution because agriculture provided the raw materials that were required by various manufacturing and processing industries hence contributing to their growth and expansion. Trade in Britain led to private banking as a result of the expansion. This also led to money economy characterized by trading organizations. Credit facilities appeared such as the promissory notes, bourse, state bank and other exchange media. This stimulated the economy to grow and people had more money to spend on new investments that later were turned to industries through growth.

Sex is a natural preoccupation Essay Example for Free

Sex is a natural preoccupation Essay Sex is a natural preoccupation. It is on everyones mind from birth to death. For human beings sex can have a variety of meanings: instinctual, spiritual, pleasurable, an act of love to even one of power. Like most things untamed and complex, many feel the need to carve a different understanding of what sex means and define it to values most often rooted in religious philosophy, language and behavior. James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) is an intimate look at a young Irish writer, Stephen Dedalus, whose narrative becomes a fictional adaptation of Joyces own life as a young man. Throughout the novel, we read of Stephens conflict between his lust for women and his passionate devotion to the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith. His struggle is palpable and begs the question: Why? Julienne H. Empric articulates one theory in her essay The Mediation of the Woman and the Interpretation of the Artist in Joyces Portrait saying, [Women are] the magnetic force of that sensual creativity an artist must both court and reject in order to accomplish his purpose (Ben 11). Essentially, the characters inspiration and transformation comes from his fantasies of women (sexual and romantic) and his refusal to be too enchanted by such fantasies. To understand Stephens apprehensions about his sexuality, one must first have a fundamental understanding of the way Catholic ideology defines sexuality and the context by which sexual acts can be accepted. Catholicism has long encouraged careful and at times rigid expectations of its parishioners when it comes to sex. Catholic doctrine accepts sex for procreation within a heterosexual marriage. Religious leaders are asked to commit themselves to a life of celibacy. Carnal desires must be suppressed and homosexuality is forbidden. For difficult or troubled unions, divorce is not an option, only annulment, a process where a couples relationship is proven invalid of the real love that truly sustains a marriage. In another example, the act of masturbation is considered selfish pleasure and runs against conjugal purpose; therefore being unacceptable. Why is sex and sexuality so defined? Several points can be made. M. K. Hellwig suggests, The immediate results are depicted in the story [of creation]. They [Adam and Eve] become painfully aware of their nakedness, their vulnerability; they are embarrassed or afraid to be under scrutiny simply for what they are. They lose the experience of Gods friendship and intimate presence with them not because of Gods anger but because of their own fear, which drives them into hiding. (Hellwig 1981, p. 46) The humiliation of nakedness was a step in making sex taboo. When we engage in sex, we are naked, vulnerable, and surrender to inquiry and carnal desire. In Catholic doctrine, its acceptability is clearly limited to behaviors that serve a particular purpose unique to marriage. But in many respects, one can argue that sex, like religion, is also powerful, emotional, and susceptible. Therefore, it can to some become its own path to deeper meaning and connection, a part of life that can be seen and felt, and easier to commit to. We have inherited a world in which sex itself is a conflicted enterprise. It is no longer (if it ever was) an activity used solely as a means of reproducing the species. 2 Yet few think of sex as simply a way to obtain pleasure and enjoyment. In some ways, we are told that sex is the only way that each of us can truly be known and defined, that we are not truly coupled with another unless we are sexually active with that person. In other conversations (especially those associated with the sexual revolution), indiscriminate sex becomes the route by which we mark our liberation. As Christians, we are charged with the difficult task of sorting out which constructions of sexual activities belong in the new creation as outlined for us by Christ, and which concepts must be rejected. (Rudy 1997, p. xiv). So what does all this have to do with Stephen? His Catholic upbringing appears considerably stricter than one would expect from the average Catholic today. The process of assigning value to personal philosophy and behavior in reaching a higher purpose is vital to him. For Stephen both the church and [his] art become means not only to acquire nobility, but to enter a realm of pure spirit, shedding the repellant flesh forever (Benstock 124). He knows that to be sexually vulnerable is a one-way ticket to a hell he describes as a field of stiff weeds and thistles and tufted nettle bunches. Thick among the tufts of rank stiff growth lay battered canisters and clots and coils of solid excrement and this horror is incessantly grating on his conscious. Chapter 2, section five reveals to us Stephens first sexual experience. He wanders the streets for hours and finally one night a young prostitute dressed in a long pink gown, which he equates with the obscene scrawl which he had read on the oozing wall of a urinal propositions him and he uncomfortably accepts (Benstock 124). Her round arms held him firmly to her and he, seeing her face lifted to him in serious calm and feeling the warm calm rise and fall of her breast, all but burst into hysterical weeping. Tears of joy and relief shone in his delighted eyes and his lips parted though they would not speak. She passed her tinkling hand through his hair, calling him a little rascal. -Give me a kiss, she said. His lips would not bend to kiss her. He wanted to be held firmly in her arms, to be caressed slowly, slowly, slowly. In her arms, he felt that he had suddenly become strong, fearless, and sure of himself. But his lips would not bend to kiss her. With a sudden movement, she bowed his head and joined her lips to his and he read the meaning of her movements in her frank uplifted eyes. It was too much for him. He closed his eyes, surrendering himself to her, body and mind, conscious of nothing in the world but the dark pressure of her softly parting lips. They pressed upon his brain as upon his lips as though they were the vehicle of a vague speech; and between them he felt an unknown and timid pressure, darker than the swoon of sin, softer than sound or odour (Joyce 70 71). In surrendering, he exercises sexual freedom and yet again obsesses over his sinfulness. His romantic viewpoint soon diminishes his experience with prostitutes as cold, empty motion because he wants more. He needs love. When Stephen embraces the prostitute, we remember that this is the youth who is to announce his determination to press in his arms the loveliness which has not yet come into the world. In retrospect, the arms of the prostitute seem a poor substitute (Ryf 145). In other words, Stephen wants to make love, not just have sex to have sex. The act of making love seems to be the only thing worthy of standing up against his religious conviction. In the following paragraph of chapter three, section one, Stephen is again on a nightly prowl of the red light district. It is important to note how far his imagination takes the severity of his sin, as he increasingly feels handicapped by [his] sex and youth. He would follow a devious course up and down the streets, circling always nearer and nearer in a tremor of fear and joy, until his feet led him suddenly round a dark corner. The whores would be just coming out of their houses making ready for the night, yawning lazily after their sleep and settling the hairpins in their clusters of hair. He would pass by them calmly waiting for a sudden movement of his own will or a sudden call to his sin-loving soul from their soft perfumed flesh. Yet as he prowled in quest of that call, his senses, stultified only by his desire, would note keenly all that wounded or shamed them; his eyes, a ring of porter froth on a clothless table or a photograph of two soldiers standing to attention or a gaudy playbill; his ears, the drawling jargon of greeting: (Joyce 72). We soon see that Stephen never understands the opposite sex nor the mystery of the Church. His confusion leads him to a vacuum where the sacred and the mundane can interpenetrate. This unreal perspective he does develop and consequently it shapes his personal interpretation of Catholicism (Ben 14). By the end of chapter three, Stephen gives further elaboration on the hellish outcome that will befall him should he continue his current path. In chapter four, he attempts to rigorously discipline and engross himself in the ways of the Church in an effort to save his devious soul. He is racked by guilt and self-doubt. However, by now, the reader knows Stephen well enough to predict he will fail to meet the rigid standards he has made for himself. Bernard Benstock suggests, The rise of sexual desire in Stephen can be tracked from the photograph of the beautiful Mabel Hunter with demurely taunting eyes to the whore with frank uplifted eyes who first seduces him, to the imagined harlots in his guilty mind with gleaming jewel eyes (Benstock, 188). So distracted by the surreal nature of his fantasies, Stephen is unable to seriously commit to anything. His weakness reveals itself while he discussed the possibility of the priesthood with a senior deacon at his school. The priest idly mentions discovering priestly robes to be somewhat absurd. Just imagine, he tells Stephen, when I was in Belgium I used to see them out cycling in all kinds of weather with this thing up about their knees! It was ridiculous. LES JUPES, they call them in Belgium (Joyce, 111). The young man smiles politely but at the mention of robes, his mind begins to wander into sexual fantasy making his failure inevitable. The names of articles of dress worn by women or of certain soft and delicate stuffs used in their making brought always to his mind a delicate and sinful perfume It had shocked him, too, when he had felt for the first time beneath his tremulous fingers the brittle texture of a womans stocking for, retaining nothing of all he read save that which seemed to him an echo or a prophecy of his own state, it was only amid soft-worded phrases or within rose-soft stuffs that he dared to conceive of the soul or body of a woman moving with tender life. But the phrase on the priests lips was disingenuous for he knew that a priest should not speak lightly on that theme. The phrase had been spoken lightly with design and he felt that his face was being searched by the eyes in the shadow (Joyce 11). Even though he would have himself believe that the proper artistic response is a dispassionate stasis, most of Stephens attempts to write poetry are intimately linked with his sexual needs (Benstock 126). Stephen eventually denounces the Church, but when asked if he would convert to become a Protestant he responds by saying he did not reject a logical absurdity only to embrace an illogical absurdity. Nevertheless, his dilemma is real; that is, that he rejects the Church but cannot forget it. He goes out of his way to satirize its rituals and thereby has the Catholic faith still a living thing within him, and not to remain indifferent to it (Ryf 204). At the end of the novel we enter Stephens point of view through some of his journal entries. He writes, MARCH 21, NIGHT. Free. Soul free and fancy free. Let the dead bury the dead. Ay. And let the dead marry the dead. It appears Stephen has finally found peace. But can we trust that Stephen will remain true to his course? He then writes: MARCH 24. Began with a discussion with my mother. Subject: B. V. M. Handicapped by my sex and youth. To escape held up relations between Jesus and Papa against those-between Mary and her son. Said religion was not a lying-in hospital. Mother indulgent. Said I have a queer mind and have read too much. Not true. Have read little and understood less. Then she said I would come back to faith because I had a restless mind. This means to leave church by back door of sin and re-enter through the skylight of repentance. Cannot repent. Told her so and asked for sixpence. Got threepence (Joyce 182). If Stephen leaves the Catholic Church, he must completely break philosophically and culturally from the one constant he has known in his life. New ground will need continuous validation before any enrichment can occur. Essentially, one needs to have an amazing amount of conviction to feel complete indifference towards your original creed. Whom will he love and what will explain his existence? Can he replace a 2,000-year faith and formation tradition that he is still ambiguous about? I doubt it. However enterprising and articulate Stephen may seem, it is literally too early a period in his life as an artist to suggest that he has settled doubt with Catholicism or is realistically prepared to forge a new path about the wisdom of living anyone could follow. Work Cited 1. ) Ben, Diana A. James Joyce and His Contemporaries. Westport, Connecticut. Greenwood Press, Inc. 1989 2. ) Benstock, Bernard. Approaches to Joyces Portrait: Ten Essays. University of Pittsburgh Press. 1976 3. ) Hellwig, M. K. Understanding Catholicism. New York: Paulist Press. 1981 4. ) Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man . New York, New York. Dover Publications, Inc. 1916, 1994 5. ) Rudy, K. Sex and the Church: Gender, Homosexuality, and the Transformation of Christian Ethics. Boston, Mass. : Beacon Press. 1997 6. ) Ryf, Robert S. A New Approach to Joyce: The Portrait of the Artist as a Guidebook. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California . 1962.

A P by John Updike Analysis

A P by John Updike Analysis In the short story A P, John Updike explains how Sammy is a young man working as a cashier. One day three young ladies come into the supermarket half dressed wearing only their swimsuits. Sammy is intrigued by these young women, along with everyone else in the supermarket. Sammy watches their every move, as the girls made their selections. Sammy tries to play the hero at the end of the story; however he may have been his own worst enemy. Sammy describes the three girls in great detail throughout the story. The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white Just under it, where the sun never seems to hit at the top of the backs of her legs (496). Sammy refers to the next young lady as, one with chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadnt quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long-you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very striking and attractive but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much (497). Last but not least, there was Queenie. She didnt look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs. She came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didnt wa lk in her bare feet that much (497). He had nothing better else to do than to day dream about the three young ladies, and ponder what to do next. From the third slot I look straight up this aisle to the meat counter, and I watched them all the way (498). It was a small town with not much to do. Sammy was not trying to make a career out of working at the A P supermarket. From the moment the girls walked into the supermarket Sammy was checking them out. The ladies were walking towards the meat department, being led by Queenie of course. They stopped and asked McMahon a question about somethings whereabouts in the supermarket. The moment the girls turned and started walking away from McMahon, Sammy noticed that McMahon was checking them out from head to toe. Sammy said, Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldnt help it (498). In this moment, Sammys feelings for the girls changed, and he started to sympathize with them. He forms a different perspective of the girls. He feels sorry for them because of the way McMahon is gawking at them. Up to this point he has been looking at the two girls and Queenie the same way as McMahon did. Maybe Sammy did not see it that way just by looking at himself. He noticed how McMahon sized up their joints (498), and he did not approve. The girls make it to the check out aisle with their Herring Snacks. Sammy proceeds to check the snacks out for the young ladies. Lengel is Sammys manager, who is also a friend of Sammys family. Sammy spotted Lengel, as he made his way over to the check out aisle and the girls. Sammy immediately starts thinking oh great, here we go. Then everybodys luck begins to run out. Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages on the lot and is about to scuttle into the door marked MANAGER behind which he hides all day when the girls touch his eye. Lengels pretty dreary, teaches Sunday school and the rest, but he doesnt miss that much. He comes over and says, Girls, this isnt the beach. Lengel continues to repeat himself over and over again. The only time someone repeats themselves, is when one does not understand what the speaker is saying. This is not the case. Queenie and the girls understood what Lengel told them. But this isnt the beach (499). The girls were almost out of the store. They were not on this huge shopping spree. We werent doing any shopping. We just came in for one thing (499). Lengel would not leave the situation alone, he kept pushing the issue. That makes no difference, we want you decently dressed when you come in here (499). After arguing with Queenie, Lengel throws in the white flag. Girls, I dont want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. Its our policy (500). Sammy does not approve at all. He was offended by the way Lengel treated the girls. Sammy feels they were treated to harsh. Policy is what the kingpins want. What the others want is juvenile delinquency (499). As, Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony, were leaving the supermarket Sammy decided to quit. He thought it was best to stand up for what you believe in. You didnt have to embarrass them (500). He did consider for a moment what he was doing was wrong, but he talked himself out of it. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture its fatal not to go through with it (500). Lengel was trying to talk him out of it. He was trying to make Sammy think about what he was fixing to do. Lengel said, Youll feel this for the rest of your life (500). Sammy thought about that for a second but he remembered how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside (500). Some people may argue Sammy was a true hero. He displayed a true act of heroism that day in the supermarket, and stood up for what he believed in. Sammy did not approve of the way everyone was gawking at the girls, and the way Lengel embarrassed. He felt protective of them. Sammy made the decision to quit his job based on what he thought was the right thing to do. However, Sammy got himself into this situation. Sammy quit so abruptly. He did not think of the consequences. If he hated his job that much he could have given them a two week notice. Sammy did not dwell on what type of stress this would put on his parents, or how hard it would be to find another job after quitting on a whim. He let his hormones get the best of him. The girls gave him a way out, gave him an excuse to quit the AP. Sammy acted immaturely, which is why he lost his job. Sammy showed throughout the story some heroic traits. His innocence and immaturity got the best of him. When Sammy left the supermarket he realizes what just happened. My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter (501). Sammy comes to the realization that he has to grow up now. And that being an adult is hard work. He is no longer working for friend of the family. That he is not a child anymore, My white shirt that my mother ironed the night before (500). And Sammy did not want to be like his coworkers. Sammy did not regret the decision he made. He wanted to achieve bigger goals in his life than just being a store manager at the AP. Sammy quit his job because of his innocence and lack of maturity. Work Cited Updike John. AP. Exploring Literature. Writing and Arguing about Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Frank Madden 4thed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 496-501.

Understanding The Current Trends In Product Placement Media Essay

Understanding The Current Trends In Product Placement Media Essay Product placement is a paid product message aimed at influencing movie (or television) audiences via the planned and unobtrusive entry of a branded product into a movie (or television program). (Balasubramanian 1994, 29; Immonen 1998, 14) These are the prominent definitions given for the concept of product placements by academicians in the past. The pertinent points that relate to product placements in these definitions are that a) its used in entertainment programs/productions b) its paid for by the brands involved. Entertainment mediums like television and radio have long been targeted by advertisers to pitch their products in the mindset of the consumers. Initially these took the form of Spots on these mediums between the programs. They were specialized productions in themselves whose whole purpose was to advertise these products. However with time this method started getting increasingly cluttered. First there was an inherent mental switching off by the viewers during the advertising. The viewers paid little or no attention during the breaks of the program. Morever with technological advent, viewers had the option to switch to another channel, both for television and radio, known as the phenomenon of zapping. Product placements presented a way out of this problem of zapping. The appearance of the products is incorporated as a part of the program itself. Therefore there is no chance of the viewer leaving it for something else. Also the audience is in a high state of involvement, so it is easier to for the brand to leave a mark on the mind space of the viewer. The viewer is also generally very involved with certain characters in a program. If the product is placed in conjuction with the character, it becomes a sort of endorsement by a loved character, which can be very desirable. An example is the placement of Mars chocolate in E.T, where the product got linked with the kids and E.T itself. Another example is James Bond being with a lot of products in the movies. The products acquire a different aura when they are associated with a strong character like James Bond. From the perspective of the producers of the movie/television program product placements are a source of income. In the present times, when the shelf life of the movies has decreased and the budgets have sky-rocketed it makes sense to indulge in this process to make some money even before the movie has even been filmed. The concept of product placement has become so popular that it has started being incorporated during the scripting stage of the movie or T.V program itself. There are specialized agencies which broker between production houses and the brands the following diagram illustrates how this works. Product placement and AIDA model The AIDA model of consumer behavior is as drawn above. Product placement can be used in all of these stages to pitch a product to the potential viewer. However in most of the cases, product placements are used in cases where awareness regarding the brand is to be generated or interest is to be generated regarding it. Awareness In a lot of instances, product placements have been timed to coincide with the launch of a new product. The goal is to integrate the product placement with the other activities related with creating awareness of the new product. With an established actor mentioning the product or better using the product, the launch creates a huge buzz. An example in the Indian context was product placement of Maruti Swift in the hit Bollywood movie Bunty and Babli, coninciding with the launch of the product. The characters of Abhishek Bacchan and Rani Mukherjee are shown to run from the police in a Maruti swift in the climax. Amitabh Bacchan specifically mentions the name of the brand in a subsequent scene. Thus the viewer gets to actually look at the product for the first time. Interest In this case, a brand which has already been launched for quite some time, benefits from product placement by having its working explained for the first time. This works very well for the technology products, where the features of the product get explained when the user is in a very high involved state of mind. However the example which I will quote is that of a services firm, Western Union money transfer service. In the movie Virudhh, the character of John Abraham is shown to transfer money using the service. The character explicitly mentions that with Western Union money transfer, the transfer gets done efficiently and instantly. Desire Product placements lend themselves very nicely in situations designed to provoke desire among the viewers. By nature movies and television characters have an aspirational air about them. Therefore when they use products on screen it creates a desire among the viewers to own the product. Examples are the high end automobiles used in the Bond franchise over the years. This works very well for products like apparel or accessories because of the perception of good looks attached with the stars on screen. Ray ban has extensively been placed in movies over the years. A notable example is Slyvester Stallone using Ray Bans in the Rocky franchise. Product placement and FCB model Affective Informative Thinking Feeling Self-satisfaction Habit forming High involvement Low involvement If we analyse product placements by the lens of the FCB model, examples can be given for each of the quadrants. Starting with the bottom most quadrant of self satisfaction, cigarettes were one of the earliest users of product placements, with the lead actor of the hit T.V show I dream of Lucy smoking a prominent brand on the show. These days, Coke is placed on the American Idol. Also in a lot of movies, the banners of Coke are placed in the background suggesting subliminal advertising. In the affective quadrant, these are products which evoke very strong feelings and are high involvement. Here automobile has been another sector which has bet heavily on product placements. Examples have already been given above. The products in the informative category are a little tough to push in a product placement scenario since it will require quite an amount of screen time. Also unless the product is highly engrained in the plot, the placement for a large screen time may actually become jarring. In spite of this, it has been tried quite successfully. The Western Union money transfer example has already been taken previously. Also Microsoft has plugged its software in the hit T.V series 24. However the limitation of screen time and plot involvement restricts itself in categories of products which are habit forming. There are no prominent examples of product placement which can be given in this category. Global vs Local In the Indian landscape product placements have mostly been done till now. However, now regional movies have started to tap this source of revenue as well. Examples include the recent Bengali film Antaheen where the hair oil Nihar was placed in a prominent manner. In the Telugu movie, Â  Anukokunda Oka Roju, actor Jagapati Babu is seen carrying a pack of Real juice most of the time. However the very nature of product placements means it can be done for mass produced entertainment productions, and therefore cannot be used at a more local, say a town level because the number of eye balls captured will be much too less. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages Product placement can offer many advantages over other forms of advertising media, especially cost efficient communication. Over the life of a film, including its theatrical run, premium cable appearances, other televised broadcasts and home video rental, cost-per-thousand exposures continues to decrease, eventually declining to mere pennies on the dollar. Product placement also narrows (and often obliterates) the gap between movies and the rest of our marketer-dominated culture. Films can be selected that target consumers who may be difficult to reach with more conventional advertising methods. Nearly three-fourths of the audience for theatrical films is 16-39 years old, a group highly prized by advertisers. Associating brands with particular actors, films or contexts allows the marketer to associate a brand with congruent lifestyle or usage situations. Films offer these brands the full sight, sound, and motion capabilities they do not have access to in radio and television. Finally , product placements are one means for overcoming the all-to-common problem of advertising avoidance via zipping, zapping and muting. Additionally during movies and television shows, viewers are in a very involved and perceptive state of mind, thus making it easier for a product to leave an impression. Disadvantages With the increase in use of product placement, analysts fear that consumers will develop ad-blindness, becoming so accustomed to ads that they stop noticing them. This may happen because when an ad is repeated too often, people adapt to their presence and start filtering them out of their vision. The movie E.T. and Reeses pieces were an example of successful product placement. The use of a recognizable candy added to the appeal of the story. However, poor use of product placement can compromise the integrity of the story. The latest James Bond movie Casino Royale, has been lambasted in the movie for being too much like one long commercial. Although at that time most of the release had used more product placement yet probably due to the way is was done, product placement id Casino Royale led to ad-resentment; the audience to felt like they were being cheated and the whole movie was an ad. Comparison of TV commercial and Product placement Parameter TV commercial Product placement Cost Very high (usually millions `) Low compared to TV commercial Viewers high Very high % viewers watching Very low, usually less than 10% at a time Very high, chances of missing the product are too less, usually 90-100% watching CPM High compared to product placement Duration of Advertisement Very less Extremely high, can be many years Investment to create the commercial yes no Number of Countries Usually One Can be in many countries Number of times shown Once Hundreds to thousands of time Conceptual Model for effectiveness measurement A three dimensional model is used for product placement and the best methodology to capture the user response on product placement is lab experimental A Three-Dimensional Construct Product placement can be categorized along three dimensions i.e. Visual, verbal and plot connection. Video dimension relates to screen placements which depend upon number of appearances on the screen, the style of camera shot for the product etc. The verbal refers to the brand being mentioned in a dialogue. Its variation depends upon the context in which brand is mentioned, frequency and emphasis placed on brand name (tone of the voice, place in the dialogue, character speaking at the time, etc.). Third dimension, plot connection refers to integration in the plot of story1. The relevance of product placement can be judged by the level of plot placement, a high plot placement is done by taking major roles in story or building persona of the character and a mere mention of the name is considered lower plot..Cases of higher plot placements are where a character is clearly identified with the brand, e.g. James Bond with his Aston Martin, then BMW Z3, or where the brand becomes a central part of the plot, as in the Pottery Barn episode of Friends or the Kenny Rogerss Roasted Chicken episode in Seinfeld. Most of the empirical studies on product placement tried to measure its effectiveness in term of how well it is remembered.These measures assumes that effects of memory are similar to effects of attitude but there are counterviews which dictates that there is no correlation between memory and attitude measure. Since recall may be a poor predictor of persuasion, research on the effectiveness of product placements should investigate both memory and attitude effects. This model focus by determining not only how a placement is cognitively processed and thus whether it will be recalled but also how it affects consumers attitudes The Theater Methodology Traditional approach of experimental testing the theoretical framework involved quasi-experimental e.g. finding existing TV shows with product placements which goes well with script, screen and plot dimensions. This procedure was complicated and also introduced noise, making it imprecise. These issues were removed and a new methodology was developed i.e. called theatre Methodology It uses a videotaped screen play as the setting for presentation of stimuli. The branded product are strategically placed inside some written original screenplay The main motivation for using a theatrical setting is to increase the level of experimental control while providing an environment similar to existing television shows. These days a huge chunk of brand placements happens through television shows or movies, so the experiment had to be conducted in audio and visual environment. Moreover, developing a new script and videotaping different versions of the plays allowed the production of multiple treatments. In addition, the use of a specially developed screenplay eliminated any contamination related to prior exposure. This methodology provided a unique environment for the empirical testing of product placement. By placing different brands within the same environment, it offered an opportunity to experimentally test messages that varied only on certain specified dimensions, thus maximizing the internal validity of the experiment. Suggestion for experimental design We have found that some of the previous studies have used experimental design so we are suggesting one of those. Experimental designs which can be used to test the effectiveness of product placement. The design would includes Modality We have studies earlier that key component of Tripartite Typology of Product Placement, has focused primarily on programming differences between visual and auditory information. Research on modality of presentation in audio-visual contexts suggests that the visual and auditory channels indeed differ in the amount of meaning that they carry. The visual channel serves to create the perspective in which the story is set and auditory channel, on the other hand, carries the script of a television program, and, as a result, serves as a conveyor of semantic information through speech. Modality signals how much meaning a stimulus carries, modality of presentation will thus be crucial in determining the effectiveness of a placement. Plot Connection Plot connection is third dimension of the product placement framework, which is discussed earlier. The level of plot connection will determine the role and importance of a placement in a story and will qualify the effects of modality. Now for experimental design, we can use within-subjects design i.e all the subjects saw all the brands. Each placement can be considered to consist of a different combination of modality and plot connection level which can be shown on a 2X2 matrix with each cell represented by one or more brands. We can ask different subjects about the product placement of similar brand sin different categories which will help us in identifying the effectiveness of the product placement Sample Revenue Model There are many different models followed by the parties to product placement and the model shown above is an example of one of these models. This advertising model is based on 30 second time slot for product placement. It is centred on the broadcasters, which includes TV networks, cable and satellite service providers. A broadcaster usually buys the airing rights for different TV shows and then airs the shows for consumers. To make a profit, the broadcaster sells placement spots to advertisers or ad agencies. The cost for the ad spot varies with the Tv channel and the kind of program. Some of the examples of cost of slot is from year 2005-2006, the cost of a 30-second ad spot in the top-10 shows ranged from $705,000 (American Idol) to $293,000 (Two and A Half Men). In this model, the broadcaster sells all the ad spots, and earns all of the advertising revenue. The only revenue source for the content creators, or the production studios, is the licensing fees broadcasters pay for the r ights to air their shows. Compatibility with other form of communication Maximum value can be created out of product placement if it is integrated wit other forms of communication. The key is to avoid using isolated product placement opportunities and create connections to other elements of advertising plan. Product placement can be combined with celebrity endorsement for instance to create much better communication e.g. Santro being used in a Shahrukh Khan movie will be much more noticeable than with other actors or Scooty pep+ being used in Priety Zinta movies. In addition, a product placement can be just the right thing to complement other advertising initiatives that attend the launch of new products. At other places the product placement itself can be used at other places or in other forms of communication e.g. Ray Ban glasses used in Men in Black were used in print media Examples Movies: Movies are the most common place of product placement. The appearance can be traced back to as early as 1920s but it became a commercialized business only after 1950. Of many new product placements in movies few are Aston Martin in Casino royale, iPhone in Gulliver, Everlast and Budweiser in Jackass. Television: Product is very common on television. It can be done on reality shows like big brother which often features one of the participants stating something along the lines of: Oh, did you check out the new product X by company Y yet? after which the camera zooms in onto the named product. It has been claimed that the participants get paid for it. Other example is placing Coca cola in American Idol Comic publishing: SA football comic uses product placement to promote many brands, and the comic is distributed free of cost to all its readers around the world. Product placement occurs at many places in the publication; on the shirts of the players, through placed billboards, and through the branding of locations or scenarios. Music and recording industries: This type of product placement is fairly newly and has not been used much even though the viewership is fairly high. A recent example is the song of movie Dabangg, where Mallaika Arora mentions Zandu Baam.

The Jonestown Massacre :: Papers

The Jonestown Massacre The Jonestown massacre was a horrible tragedy, which took the lives of over 900 innocent people and could possibly be the most corrupt and horrific experiment the American government has ever done. To get to know about the massacre, you have to know a little about the man behind it all, Reverend Jim Jones. Jim Jones was the son of a Klansman and considered himself to be a reincarnation of both Jesus and Lenin. (Lenin was a Russian revolutionist who helped bring about socialism in Russia.) They say he was paranoid of the American government, but later, it was found that he worked for it. He was a well-known person in San Francisco because he was the leader of the People's Temple and also because of the fact that he was the Chairman of the Housing Department and he and his church won many humanitarian awards. He was called "Father" by members of the People's Temple. The People's Temple was the so-called "church" that Jones established. People joined the People's Temple for different reasons; a political statement, structure, discipline, or a way to escape from violence, alcohol and drugs. Whatever the reason they joined for, when they got in something kept them there. Jim Jones was a mastermind at brainwashing, and that's just what he did to all of his followers. He had many tactics; he was an excellent speaker and was amazingly convincing, he staged fake healings, and used narcotics on his followers, so they would believe almost anything. As he was doing all this brainwashing he was stealing money from the people, raping the young women and girls of his church, and on top of it all, murdering those who seemed a threat to his church or attempted to leave. Eventually, The People's Temple was being investigated by the police, so Jim Jones moved it to the jungle of Guyana, he called this place Jonestown. Jonestown was his idea of the perfect community. It was based on the ideals of socialism and communism, and everyone worked

Animal Farm - Knowledge Is Power Essay -- essays research papers

George Orwell’s novel ‘Animal Farm’ is an allegorical fable of the Russian Revolution. It depicts the Revolution in a way that is inoffensive to people and also very easy to understand. This controversial novel also teaches many valuable lessons, all very true in man’s past and also in the present. In all of man’s histories, there are legends of tyrannical kings and merciless emperors, corrupted with the thirst for ultimate power. Education also played an important role in the subjugation of mankind; the intelligent and educated use their knowledge to undermine and control the naà ¯ve uneducated proletariats. The naà ¯vetà © of an ignorant working class is detrimental to any society; neither communist nor democratic societies are unaffected. Power is a blessing and also a curse, cast upon man and affecting us all, nevertheless, it affects those without power, as well as those with power. All great leaders had and have great power. Power is not biased, it does not make a good leader a good person, but it can make a good person a tyrannical and merciless leader. For example, Adolf Hitler was a great leader, but he was a very bad man. Due to the knowledge, cunning and coaxing of education, leaders can become corrupted and tainted, tainted with the poison of corruption laced in their meal of power and control. Such was what occurred in ‘Animal Farm’; the pigs who were educated gained power and control over Manor Farm, which under the concept of Animalism, they called Animal Farm. Fro...

My Dinner with Andre Essay

This is defiantly a hard to pick which side to go with. With Wally if you in a comfort spot or you feel comfortable then you have to be happy because you’re in your comfort zone. He and his wife got an electric blanket as a gift and he doesn’t know how he could live without it. With the electric blanket they can depend on it staying with the cold weather in New York. In a way it protects him because if wasn’t warm then he could die of hypothermia. He also feels a whole lot better when he wakes up. His dreams are also better. It just seems like everything is better. With Andre he says that you don’t get to the world. It’s not only dangerous because you could get electrocuted but also it could kill you. You don’t give what your body needs. He says the body needs different things like how Lady Hatfield only ate chicken. Since she only ate chicken her body starved and then she died. You also don’t get to experience the world. You get to think of things like I get to snuggle with cause its cold or you find out that you like the cold. I could how Wally is right because if you’re comfortable then you must be happy. I could also see how Andre is right because then you get to experience things you wouldn’t of before. I would have to choose Andre on this subject. If you’re in your little bubble you don’t get to do thing that are fun to do. You just kind of sit there with yourself and what like Andre said it’s like your dying. It is a little murder. Of course you wouldn’t be arrested for because well you’re dead and it would kind of pointless to arrest a person that is dead. You don’t get to live life to the fullest. You can’t visit China or bungee jump if you’re under the electric blanket. You don’t fill yourself up if you just eat chicken every night for so many years. You’re just not giving the body what it needs. How could you be really living if you’re sitting there under an electric blanket? Yeah you are happy because you’re in your comfort zone under the warm blanket but just sitting there can’t really be living. The human body wasn’t meant to just lie around and just sit there like a couch potato. That’s way on peoples bucket list its not I want to sit around watching SportsCenter (which in my opinion isn’t a bad choose), its things like climb Mt. Everest, run with the lions, play a round of golf with Arnold Palmer, or go visit the country side of Italy. You have to get out from under the blanket and go do stuff. See what the world has to offer. Do the bad, do the good, and do whatever you can do now. This is way I choose to go with Andre. To live life or to say what is really good is to do stuff from under the electric blanket.

Relativism in Culture and Morality

It is said that morality is nothing more or less than obeying the rules imposed by one’s own culture. With this in mind, the most fundamental premise is that there must be culture prior to having a morality, or similarly, culture gives way to morality. It is also said that if one’s culture requires that a certain act be done or be refrained from, then doing that act or refraining from doing is one’s moral duty. Thus, doing or refraining from doing things as moral precepts entail the presumption that it should or should not be done because culture espouses that thought. If a certain culture does not prohibit or allow a certain act from being done or otherwise, it must be the case, then, that the act cannot be attributed to any moral boundaries.Moreover, it has also been said that all of one’s moral duties are not absolutely held by all people for there are cultural variations across various civilizations. Suicide in the contemporary times may be an immoral act, but in earlier times the Japanese culture may even allow suicide and treat it as morally required. These things point the idea that there is no encompassing morality transcending time and regional boundaries.As more and more people grow and as nations rise and fall, one can hardly contest the idea that the morality held by the people centuries ago may be found to be obsolete these days. This is in the sense that not only does culture vary among societies. Culture also varies from within these respective societies, evolving with time and thus creating a corresponding paradigm shift in those societies’ perception of morality.How, then, should we treat and differentiate moral relativism and cultural relativism? In order to have a better grasp of the question at hand, it should be noted that the idea of relativism is that nothing can be taken as absolute and that variations are present and indicate that things are relative. The idea of moral relativism then becomes an idea w hich opposes the absoluteness of moral precepts, or of a single arbitrarily given morality as supreme and the only morality held by different societies.On the other hand, cultural relativism would then present itself as an idea which indicates that, in much the same way as moral relativism, no single culture is exactly the same as another culture, and that the idea of a single and unifying culture is bound to be dissolved precisely because cultural variations are present everywhere.The essential difference between cultural and moral relativism stems from the core terms ‘morality’ and ‘culture’. It has been said beforehand that culture gives way to morality and that moral standards are dependent on the cultural foundation of certain societies. This being the case, the difference between morality and culture is that the latter is the foundation of the former and that the former will disintegrate or would have not come into existence without the latter. For in stance, the moral precept that â€Å"cheating is bad† would not have come into what it is when there is no culture which believes in that precept, or when there is no culture which treats it as a moral principle.To put things in another way, the sense of rightness or wrongness is not entirely absolute or binding to all individuals. What is right for an American may not necessarily be right in the sensibilities of and moral doctrines subscribed to by Japanese citizens. It would likewise be not fitting to view and justify the actions of Nigerians from the moral perspective of a Norwegian precisely because what goes for Norwegians only befits Norwegians at least in terms of moral doctrines. The relativism of morality is even truer from within the ranks and files of nations. Even from within societies, not all people have the same moral beliefs, and that their sense of rightness or wrongness does not necessarily fit into a single and unified moral scheme.Apart from the fact that not all people subscribe to the same and exact moral doctrines whether in the past or today, the multiple moral doctrines we have today reinforces the idea that morality emanates from a single cultural system alone. The main premise behind this is that every nation or perhaps every society is culturally unique. It has been said before that culture gives way to morality, and the mere existence of many different moralities only suggest the corresponding idea that all of these moralities came from a single cultural source.Indeed, it would be dangerous to assume that, in one way or another, the moral dogmas of Chinese are entirely related to the moral dogmas of the Afghans, or that these two nations hold the same source for their moral foundations, which is a single culture. Not only is it difficult to comprehend and accept even its hypothetical validity, it is also dangerous precisely because two distinct cultures would essentially put forward their own moral doctrines which blend well enough with the structure and inner workings of their societies.Cultural experiences of individuals also vary, depending on the situation or on the society in which one belongs. For many centuries, civilizations have given birth to people who have strong ties to the culture they grow up with, eventually giving these people a strong sense of attachment to the culture they belong. The best way to understand or at least see the distinctness of a culture is through its people who eventually will signify that no two cultures are exactly the same, although it can be accepted that there may be certain overlapping features or similar characteristics.Yet it must be reminded that being similar does not necessarily mean being the same. Taken collectively, the various cultures may appear to be a large fabric of many different colored patches. The same can also be said about cultural experiences, and the extent of the differences among the specific cultures may extend indefinitely for one solid reason: cultures evolve through time.To say that there is cultural evolution implies that moral precepts are continuously evolving, or changing, as well. It would suffice to say that a change in cultural entities, whether large or small, entails a consequent effect on moral entities. That is, people may start thinking and acting newer forms of their culture, in some or in whole parts, abandoning old customs or merging them with new ones. One result would be that the moral beliefs of these people would also begin to change. For instance, technological advancements have given rise to certain cultural ideologies not present in the past.We now have societies whose culture has been deeply embedded in the information and communication technology era like that of the Japanese who constantly harbor advanced forms of technology and applying them to their lives. The sense of right and wrong have been affected by these forms of technology, paving the way for new ethical standards which seek t o foster the delicate balance between doing what is right and doing what is just. More specifically, the use of the internet has created a new moral field in terms of the ethical standards which envelop the user’s experience of the internet.At this point, the relativism of a changing culture is emphasized more and more by the sharp contrast between the nations which have a strong technological grasp and the societies which still lack these things. Even more so, it should be clear that the nations with strong technological grasp are the ones which are most likely to realize the ethical standards drawn upon by the use of these technologies.On the other hand, nations which are yet to experience these technologies may not be aware at all of any ethical standards directly related to these technological benefits. These things only show that the relativism of both culture and morality is not only emphasized by their variations among societies but is also highlighted by the changes i n culture and, consequently, morality brought about by the experiences of the society and the changes which take place through time and development.One argument which can be posed as a challenge to the relativism of culture and morality is the idea that even though there are differences, it still does not warrant the idea that culture and morality are both relative. That is, even if there are perceivable specific differences to the culture of a certain society to that of another, or to the morality of one community to that of the other, the general presumptions of morality and culture remain the same across these unique societies. For example, Indian and Saudi Arabian societies may hold specific differences with regard to their moral and cultural precepts.But when these two precepts are viewed from a larger and more general perspective, one may observe that morality remains the sense of right and wrong and that culture remains the way of life. The argument being posited against the relativist claim is that differences arise in the specific details of culture and morality to every society yet these differences do not altogether warrant the idea that everything else in morality and culture is relative. Specific differences do not guarantee relativism and that a more general understanding of the culture and morality of different societies remain the same—morality remains the sense of right and wrong while culture remains as the way of life.Such an argument against the relativism of culture and morality is bound to encounter at least two criticisms: first is that it abandons or neglects the factual differences of cultures and moralities by reverting to a more general perception of the two and second is that it also confuses the idea of differences and its implication of relativism.By reverting to a general perception of culture and morality, the argument against relativism neglects the fact or sets aside the fact that there are differences between cultures and moralities both within and without the societies in order to serve the purpose of refuting relativism. While the argument does not put forward any claim for absolutism for culture and morality, it can be understood that such an argument nevertheless seeks refuge in the thought of a general culture and a general morality. By simply positing the definitions of culture and morality, it appears that the argument is a mere tautology which does not argue well.Further, the argument against relativism asserts that the differences do not guarantee relativism. Such an argument may only gain merit if there are no factual differences which, in, reality, signifies or espouses relativism. Apparently, there are factual differences and that these differences do not only stand by themselves as mere differences but more importantly as indicators that cultures and moral doctrines are relative.Moreover, the argument fails to take into consideration the fact that certain cultures and moral doctrines have also changed albeit gradually. These changes further strengthen the fact that there are wide differences even today as societies continuously evolve. If it is indeed true that there is no relativism in both culture and morality, it must also be true that the things that Japanese citizens hold to be right and wrong are also in line with what the rest of the world holds to be right and wrong. Apparently, this is not the case precisely because there are factual differences and that these differences are precisely the reason why there is relativism in culture and morality.In conclusion, culture gives rise to moral precepts and that changes in culture would eventually spur corresponding changes in these moral precepts. These changes may not necessarily occur simultaneously across various societies, which is why there are differences among cultures and moral precepts at the least. The evolution of societies from past to present have correspondingly caused changes in cultural beliefs as well as moral perceptions of people, thereby positing the fact that culture and morality have been relative since early years.BibliographyOppenheim, Felix. â€Å"In Defense of Relativism.† The Western Political Quarterly 8, no. 3 (1955): 411-417.

Too Big To Fail – Andrew Sorkin, Book Review

Too Big to Fail is the book that has most clear explanation event by event about the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Even though Too Big to Fail is Andrew Sorkin’s first book, he made it possible to most of readers understand what really happened in 2008 with the failure of Lehman Brothers and the resulting misfortunes. Coming out in less than a year after the disaster, the book covered the whole catastrophic event, thanks to the meticulous research and countless interviews (made by the author) with those involved in the hassle. The title of this book basically covers what is spoken throughout the course of the story; companies that believed to be Too Big to Fail. Sorkin starts writing about the months after the sale of Bearn Stearns that was a global investment bank and securities trading and brokerage sold in 2008 to JP Morgan Chase at the low price of 2$ per share then introducing us to the collapse of the Lehman Brothers and finally leading us to the bailout or how the government officially call it; TARP or Troubled Asset Relief Program, a program that was announced on 9-19-08 by Secy Paulson that basically consisted in a series of grants and outright purchases of illiquid assets that would extricate the problem areas weighing down the economy. In addition, money funds were to be guaranteed. The details that make the history so interesting are the detailed information provided by the book of the behavior, personality and way to make decisions of the main characters. Sorkin focus seems to be almost exclusively on the human failings and human suffering on Wall Street that the fall of Lehman Brothers caused. In the story there are no specific villains but plenty of arrogant, blind and irresponsible decisions taken by some. However there are some people such as Henry Paulson, Timothy Geitner and Ben Bernake that may be considered heroes for their wise way to make decisions on pressure moments. The book would be a handy guide to people who want a clear and concise picture of the series of decisions that led Lehman Brothers directly go to bankrupt and of course the resulting chaos that this situation meant to Wall Street and the rest of the world. The book pleased me personally because it was very realistic in all it was the attitude of each character on the problem itself. I liked how in some cases it became reflected how the main U. S. business leaders were unable to conceal their greed when it came defending their interests.

Medical Tourism Marketing Strategy in Thailand Essay

Abstract Thailand has emerged as a leading medical tourism destination in recent years. The increase in the number of international patients shows that Thailand has great potential for medical tourism and the improvement of its marketing strategies will further increase the image of Thailand as a medical tourism destination. In order to face off the challenges of growing competition form India, Singapore, Malaysia and other destinations, Thailand needs among other things to improve its marketing as a favourite medical tourism destination in the region. Therefore, this exploratory research was set to evaluate the current marketing strategies of healthcare providers and intermediaries through interviews with stakeholders and observation, and to propose effective marketing strategies for preserving and enhancing Thailand’s position as a leading medical tourism destination. This qualitative research employed semi-structured interviews to examine the current marketing strategies of Thailand’s healthcare service providers. Interviews took place with healthcare service providers (public hospitals, private hospitals, and clinics), medical travel agents and related parties, at several popular tourism destinations of Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya. Respondents were selected through purposive sampling. In addition, observation of stakeholders’ websites and online marketing of service providers of competitors (Singapore, India, and Malaysia) took place. The paper identifies the strengths of Thailand’s healthcare service providers and points at a number of problems that may reduce the growth opportunity of this industry. These include lack of practical government policies with regard to medical tourism and of other supporting regulations, lack of organization as a cooperation centre aimed at promoting the medical tourism industry as a whole, remaining low awareness of the opportunities presented by the industry among potential foreign patients, and shortage of doctors and qualified medical staff. Measures for improvement are suggested. Keywords: medical travel, medical tourism, Thailand, marketing strategies 1. Introduction Medical tourism is a new form of a niche tourism market which has been rapidly growing in the recent years. The term â€Å"Medical tourism† describes tourists who travel to oversea countries to obtain healthcare services and facilities such as medical, dental and surgical care whilst having the opportunity to combine it with visiting the tourist attractions of that country. The main groups of Medical tourists come from the industrialized countries of the world especially Europe, the UK, Middle East, Japan, U.S. and Canada where the cost of medical treatment is very expensive and there are often long waiting times for treatments [1]. Other than Thailand, countries that are currently promoting medical tourism are Bolivia, Brazil, Belgium, Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore and South Korea. The main reasons for the growing popularity in medical tourism are: 1.) The long waiting lists in the developed countries, 2.) The low cos t of medical treatments in developing countries, 3.) The affordable international air fares and favorable exchange rates, 4.) The Internet; with the development of communications, new companies have emerged who acts as middlemen between international patients and hospital networks, giving patients easy access to information, prices and option, 5.) The state-of-art technology that has been adopted by the new healthcare services [2]. Thailand has emerged in recent years as one of the leaders in the industry. Data collected from 30 private hospitals by Department of Export Promotion of Ministry of Commerce shows the increasing number of international patients who came to obtain the medical treatments in private hospitals in Thailand. In 1997 only 120,000 patients came for medical treatment; since then, the number has drastically increased to 975,532 in 2003 and 1,356,000 in 2006 (see Figure 1). Source: Data collected from 30 private hospitals by Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce (cited in http://mrd-hss.moph.go.th/ac/download.asp) Thailand has a number of competitive advantages: it is already a well-known tourist destination; it is one of the first countries which entered the medical tourism market; it is known for its unique culture of service – the renown Thai hospitality; and also provides high quality services by qualified staff at a reasonable price. Under the guidance and regulation of the Ministry of Public Health, some Thai hospitals have been recognized and approved for the standards set by the Hospital Accreditation of both Thailand and International (Joint Commission International or JCI), and also other international standards such as ISO and Hazards and Critical Control Points Principle (HACCP). Thailand’s main Asian competitors in the industry of medical tourism are India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong [3]. India, with its lower cost of health services, has recently emerged as an important competitor to Thailand. It had approximately 150,000 patients in 2004 and the Indian government predicted that this industry could grow by 13% per year in the near future [4]. Despite this, India still lacks the quality of standards and infrastructure, and suffers from a negative image due to the low hygiene and sanitation perception of travelers. Singapore has high living standards, a strong government support for the medical tourism industry, excellent English speaking communication and high quality medical services. Their services are offered at somewhat higher prices than in Thailand but are still much cheaper than in developed countries. In 2006, 410,000 patients traveled to Singapore specifically for healthcare and the country hopes to attract 1 million medical travelers annually by 2012 (www.singaporemedicine.com). Malaysia also offers low prices for healthcare services, and as a predominantly Muslim country has a competitive advantage in attracting patients from the Middle East [5]. According to the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia [6], the number of international patients seeking medical services in Malaysia has grown from 75,210 patients in 2001 to 296,687 patients in 2006 and generated 59 million USD in revenue. In order to face off the challenges of growing competition, Thailand needs among other things to improve its marketing of healthcare services. Therefore, this research was set with the objectives to study and observe the current marketing strategies of service providers in medical tourism in Thailand (public hospitals, private hospitals, clinics, and medical travel agents) and related parties such as the Ministry of Public Health, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and to analyze and evaluate the marketing strategies of Thailand and its main competitors in the region (Singapore, India, and Malaysia) in order to come up with a proposal of effective marketing strategies to develop and promote medical tourism in the country. This is the first such study carried out in Thailand, and is expected to enhance knowledge as well as to contribute to the development effective planning in the future and to enhancing the co-operation between stakeholders. current marketing strategies of Thailand’s medical tourism service providers. Interviews took place with healthcare service providers (public hospitals, private hospitals, and clinics), medical travel agents and related parties, at several popular tourism destinations of Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya. Respondents were selected through purposive sampling, based on information from secondary data and the researchers’ experience in the area, as well as observation of healthcare providers’ websites. Criteria for inclusion in the interview list included: membership in Thailand Private Hospital Association, high number of international patients who received medical treatments, active marketing on the Internet, and non-medical care serviced provided to the patients. The interview topics included questions related to current and future target markets and marketing strategies, channel distribution, positioning, main competitors, threats to medical tourism in Thailand, industry collaboration, involvement of new stakeholders, medical travel packaging, and other relevant topics. In addition, observation of stakeholders’ websites and online marketing of service providers of competitors (Singapore, India, and Malaysia) was used to accomplish the objectives of the study. 3. Results and Discussions The findings from the interviews with the healthcare service providers and observation of stakeholders’ websites about the current marketing strategies used by Thailand’s healthcare service providers are described based on the 7 Ps of marketing mix: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence [7], [8]. Product: Thailand’s healthcare service providers offer a wide range of tertiary and elective medical treatments such as Cardiology, Orthopedic, Cosmetic and 2. Methodology This qualitative research employed semi-structured interviews to examine the Plastic surgery, Dental care, Eye treatment, and etc. to attract the international patients. Well-trained medical staff with international board certification (US, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan) are considered as a valuable asset of the companies and used as an important tool to promote healthcare services. The patients of Bumrungrad Hospital and Bangkok Hospital Medical Center (the major player of Thailand’s medical tourism business) can select their required doctors through their websites by name, gender, photo, medical qualification, their specialty, language spoken, and even the working day. Moreover, the cutting-edge technology and equipment available made by each service provider was also used as one of the major products in this industry. Quality of treatment in a less-developed and developing countries is the major concern raised by the medical travelers from industrialized countries. Most of respondents commented that Thailand is still considered as developing country among Westerners, especially those who have never been in the country before, so the availability of high quality medical care services is not easily recognized – unlike Singapore, with its positive image of high living standards country. However, the results of previous research [2] about satisfaction with health service in Thailand indicated that most of the patients who have been treated were very satisfied with facility of hospitals, medical staffs’ professionalism, and quality of medical treatments and willing to recommend to their friends/relatives which spread word of mouth information to more potential patients Another marketing strategy used by service providers is to create more value through services. Superior value-added services have been created to differentiate themselves from their increasing competitors, increasing its efficiency, creating convenience for the patients, and developing and strengthening the customer relationships. These non-medical care services are services such as, on-line service for medical arrangement, travel arrangement, interpreter services in many languages (Arabic, Burmese, Bengali, Bhutanese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and etc), luxury service apartments for patients’ relatives adjacent to the hospital, hotel selection and reservation, sightseeing tour services, medical transportation both on land and air, one-to-one nursing care service, and etc. Major healthcare service providers in Thailand have started expanding their business to other countries by investing in and/or operating hospitals or medical center overseas. These hospitals function as a diagnostic center for screening cases and also for follow-ups in medical treatments. Bumrungrad Hospital invested in the newest private medical center in Manila, Philippines and is investing about US$ 10 million into a new hospital in Dubai, as well as having plans to manage other two new regional hospitals in Yangon, Myanmar and Dhaka, Bangladesh to expand its operations in other potential countries. Moreover, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Group (a listed holding company operates 17 hospitals in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, and Koh Samui which also includes Samitivaj Hospital, Bangkok Hospital Center, and BNH Hospital) already operates the Royal Angkor International Hospital in Siem Reap, Cambodia and also has future plans of setting up diagnostic centers in Abu Dhabi, and the United Arab Emirates which will be a joint venture hospital network to the UAE and the Middle-East. It also plans to open a boutique hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia which will offer health check-up programs, investigating diseases and primary treatments as well as making referrals of patients to Bangkok Hospital Medical Center in Bangkok for further secondary treatments if needed in the near future. Price: Thailand’s healthcare service providers have a competitive advantage among their competitor due to its high standard of medical treatments and services offered to the patients at a very competitive price. Singapore offer medical treatments at a higher price than Thailand because of its positioning as a high-end complex quality acute care [9]. India offers lower price than Thailand but still has the negative image of poor hygiene and sanitation. India complicated medical procedures are being done only at one tenth of the cost in industrialized countries but in terms of infrastructure facilities such as roads, sanitation, power backups, accommodations, and public utility s ervices much more is needed for the country to become a medical tourism destination [4]. Malaysia offers prices lower than Thailand, partly due to the favorable exchange rate but its focus is mainly on the Muslim patients from Indonesia, Brunei and the Middle East. Place: Internet is the main means for disseminating information related to medical and non-medical care services offered by each of healthcare service providers (both hospitals, and clinics). It is the most effective and inexpensive way to reach the product to its target customers directly, and at the same time helping patients acquire correct and valuable information allowing them to make an informed decision. Informative online marketing of each service provider creates awareness of the medical treatments available and reassures potential patients. Interactive communication, treatments description, description of services and facilities, quality assurance other concierge services were also presented on the websites to attract the patient who are on medical traveling program. At the moment Thailand does not have a central organization to publicize valuable information on the health care services to the medical travelers. Singapore established the outstanding websitewww.singaporemedicine.com as the center of the country’s healthcare services. It aims at promoting Singapore as a world class medical tourism destination, and has proved very successful in this respect. All the healthcare service providers mentioned that there is the increasing use of agents in the target countries to be representative for them. These agents provide information and recommend the patients regarding their treatments to the hospitals. They work as a center cooperating between patients and hospitals for screening cases, sending all the necessary me dical reports of the patients to the hospitals. And at the same time agents have the responsibility of advertising and doing marketing in those countries for healthcare service providers, spreading word of mouth advertising of service assurance and reliability. Some respondents expressed concerns about the services of the medical travel agents, with regard to low accuracy in the medical correspondence and overpromising to the patients which both lead to overall patient’s subsequent dissatisfaction and create negative image of the medical service provider. Promotion: Most healthcare service providers particularly hospitals participate in travel marts, travel fairs, trade fair, exhibitions, seminars, conferences, and advertise in travel magazines in countries with the supporting from the government. With the cooperation from the Ministry of Public Health, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Department of Export Promotion (DEP) organized these activities for promoting healthcare services to in ternational markets. In addition, other informative materials such as brochures, booklets, video-cds, paper bags and t-shirt with logos were also used to create awareness of the available healthcare services as well. Moreover, some healthcare service providers build up cooperation with the local institutes, universities, medical schools in other countries to establish collaboration in education, exchange of knowledge and training as well as to promote their alternative healthcare services. Advertising about medical and nonmedical services in both local and international media are used by healthcare service providers. The advertisement has to be based on Thai laws and regulations about how to advertise healthcare services. Media such as magazines, newspaper (both in Thai and English), television etc. are used to target local people and expatriates who work in Thailand. For the international market, most of respondents stated that they let medical travel agents do the marketing in each target country whic h is based on their professional background and knowledge about those people’s behavior. Articles, video, news related to their high quality and standard of medical treatments and services, health issues, latest medical technology equipment, quality assurance/awards/accreditation available on their own websites and also to the international media. These help to create awareness of the available alternative medical treatments as well as to build up a positive image of the high quality and international standard of medical care in Thailand. People: Another strategy that healthcare service providers use to attract the international patients for their treatments in Thailand is to emphasize its well-trained medical specialists, over with degrees from well-known overseas institutes. It was acknowledged by all the health care service providers that having specialized and qualified doctors and staffs proved a competitive advantage for the hospitals. This has been observed for example on the websites of Bumrungrad hospital and Bangkok hospital, where the qualifications of doctors and hospitality of nurses and the medical staff were intensively promoted to attract and capture the potential patients. However, shortage of doctors and trained medical staff was the major concern currently commented by the respondents. Moreover, language communication skills – sometimes of doctors, but more often of nurses, receptionists, and other relevant staffs – and misunderstanding of the patients’ culture were still considered as problem and challenges for the medical tourism business for both hospitals and clinics. Process: Patients who seek medical treatments abroad are mostly concerned with the quality of treatments and have to make sure the hospital they select is licensed and preferably accredited by a recognized international organization that audits medical quality. Therefore, acquiring the international accreditation with Joint Commission International (JCI) which recognizes that the standard of the hospital meets or exceeds the standard of medical facilities in the US was used as one of the marketing strategy tools by healthcare service providers. Currently, in Thailand Bumrungrad Hospital, Samitivej Hospital, and Bangkok Hospital Medical Center attained this JCI accreditation, compared to 11 hospitals in Singapore (accounting for one-third of all JCIaccredited facilities in Asia), and 8 hospitals in India [9]. There are other hospital assurance schemes and awards which are also important to guarantee the quality of medical care services, such as Thailand Hospital Accreditation Program (HA) conducted by the Institute of Hospital Quality Improvement & Accreditation, and ISO. Moreover, the result from observation indicated that the websites of the major hospitals display not only JCI accreditation but also other awards and Thai government’s accreditation treatments such as ISO, HACCP, HA (Thailand Hospital Accreditation Program), and so on to reassure the standard and their high quality of medical treatments. Physical Evidence: Because the healthcare system has developed relatively recently in Thailand, it has been observed that the major healthcare service providers have developed significantly in both infrastructures and facilities. Most hospitals have a good ambience in their buildings with spacious, luxury rooms and excellent amenities same as that of a five star hotel for patients and relatives, and also come equipped with cutting-edge technology. This is a competitive advantage of Thailand in order to gain the confidence and build up the trust of international patients, making a decision to choose Thailand as their preferred choice. References [1] Connell, J. (2006). Medical tourism: Sea, Sun, Sand and †¦ Surgery. Tourism Management , 27 (6), 1093-1100. [2] Suthin, K., Assenov, I., and Tirasatayapitak, A. (2007). Medical Tourism: Can supply keep up with the demand. Proceedings, APac-CHRIE & Asia Pacific Tourism Association Joint Conference 2007, May 23-27 May, 2007, Beijing, China. [3] Bangkok Bank. (2005). Health Products and Health Services: Another Industry in which Thailand is Competitive. Retrieved August 25, 2007, from http://www.bangkokbank.com/download/Hea lth_Products_and_Health_Services.pdf. [4] Kaur, J., Sundar. G H., Vaidya D., and Bhargava S. (2007). Health Tourism in India Growth and Opportunities. Proceedings, International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 415-422. Retrieved September 2, 2007, from http://dspace.iimk.ac.in/bitstream/2259/345/1 /415-422.pdf [5] Tirasatayapitak, A., Suthin, K., and Assenov, I. (2007). Medical Tourism in Thailand: Meeting Better the Needs of Japanese Tourists a nd Patients. Thailand: Prince of Songkla University. [6] Advertising and Publicity Division, Tourism Malaysia. (2007). Media Info Health Tourism in Malaysia, Retrieved April 4, 2008, from http://www.tourism.gov.my/tourismbiz/medi acentre/articles/travelideas/PR%20Health%2 0Tourism%206%20Nov%2007.pdf [7] Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (2008). Principles of Marketing. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. [8] Chartered Institute of Marketing. (2005). Marketing and the 7Ps A brief summary of 4. Conclusion The medical tourism industry in Thailand is still growing and expanding in spite of the high competition. Both online and offline promotion tools were used to create awareness of the availability of high quality medical care and non-medical care services, reassure patients about the standards and quality of medical treatments, and offer alternative healthcare services for selection by potential target customers. This research had recommended marketing strategies for further promoting medical tourism in Thailand. These include building and promoting the image of Thailand as â€Å"High quality medical tourism destination†, creating and promoting new combination of medical tourism products, promoting as health and wellness destination, exporting healthcare business to other countries, keeping up the high standard of quality treatments at a reasonable price, providing informative online and offline materials and make them available to the potential customers, emphasize on patients ’ testimonials (word of mouth), attaining the accreditation/standard to reassure the quality of treatments as well as emphasizing on the needs and demands of the existing target markets and also the potential target markets. This research also identified some issues related to the development and expanding of medical tourism in Thailand which may slow down the growth of this business. The researcher hopes that these issues will be given immediate attention and addressed responsibly and appropriately by the government, healthcare services providers and the other related stakeholders in the nearest future. marketing and how it works. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from www.cim.co.uk/MediaStore/FactFiles/Factifi le7ps.pdf [9] Boston Consulting Group. (2008). Overview of Medical Tourism – Give back deck. BCG.