In some countries such as MEDCs population is stabilizing due to low birth rates and low death rates

In some countries such as MEDCs population is stabilizing due to low birth rates and low death rates. However, other countries, mostly in LEDCs, the population isn't stabilizing and instead is increasing. Reasons for this are that people are now living longer due to better health care, while poor education and poor knowledge of birth control means that birth rates are increasing while death rates are decreasing leading to overpopulation. Governments have now begun to recognize the problems caused by population growth and have introduced anti-natalist policies aiming to reduce fertility. Countries suffering from overpopulation are India, Singapore, Nigeria, China and India. Here the governments have implied policies such as later marriages, birth spacing and inheritance laws. Also in India, if a man volunteers for a vasectomy he would receive a free transistor radio. However, perhaps the most famous policy of all is China's ‘one child policy'. China is the third largest country in terms of areas – 9596960 km2. In terms of population it is the biggest nation with 1.2 billion people, who make up 21.5% of the world's total population. The problems China faced were that only 7% of China is land area. While only 50% of this land is farmable and only 13% suitable for arable farming. This situation is then made worse by 94% of the Chinese population living in the badly overpopulated southeast of the country, which consists of 43% of land. While only 6% live in the northwest of the country, which consists of 57% of land. This has led to an imbalance between population and resources. Secondly in 1949, China was made a communist country. At this stage, China sought to maximise its population for military and strategic strength. By 1960 CBR had peaked at 45/1000. The sheer size of the Chinese population put increased demands on services such as food, housing, education and employment. In fact during the 1970s the government feared that further population increases would result in mass starvation by the end of the century. This triggered the government to enforce anti-natalist policies. Options were considered such as: Increase death rate – however not a legitimate government policy. Encourage out migration – too many Chinese for this to be successful. Import more resources – implications for the rest of the world, especially LEDCs. Therefore the only option was to reduce the birth rate, which led to the 1979 ‘one child policy'. This included: Compulsory abortion if a couple already had one child (if a couple managed to escape abortion and have more than one child then there were economic penalties). The introduction of ‘Granny police' – who were older women who went round checking younger women weren't pregnant. Compulsory sterilisation – the government would send in the army to gather men and sterilize them. Later marriages and the use of contraception were also encouraged. The one child policy found greatest success amongst the urban population – where it was more strictly enforced and accepted. Therefore in 1994 the government introduced the ‘new family plan'. This aimed to educate farmers, in rural areas, on the basis that they will naturally come to understand why fewer children means achieving prosperity sooner. The outcomes of the one child policy were that the Birth rate was reduced from 45/1000 to 22/1000. In this respect the policy has therefore been regarded as a success. Couples are wealthier due to economic improvements while they no longer fear the official penalties of increased housing, schooling and medical costs for larger families. However, there have also been a number of problems with the policy. Firstly, there is now an ageing population, which have a number of potential problems in itself. In the early 90s there were about 100 million Chinese people over 60 – which encountered for 9% of the population. By 2030 it is expected to have increased to 25% of the population. This is likely to lead to a limitation in the labour supply. While pensions and retirement benefits are few, and there has never been much state pension for the elderly. Other problems are that most Chinese families want a son. This has led to some female babies being allowed to die after birth through deliberate exposure, neglect or in some areas the feeding of poisonous berries. This leads to a gender imbalance. This could cause problems for China, as it is likely to lead to a considerable amount of unmarried men, causing social instability and a growing demand for prostitution. There is also the tendency for the child to become spoilt. This will be the only child a couple will ever have, therefore all their ambitions and money are channelled into the child's education, well-being and comfort. However, in the course of time such a spoilt child could become the sole support for up to six aged people. In conclusion, without the one child policy china would almost certainly be chaos and an economic mess. Therefore although there are serious problems with the policy, the success of dramatically reducing the population outweighs the potential consequences that China now faces. However, it is not only China who have introduced dramatic anti -natalist policies to reduce the population. Indonesia attempted to even out its differences in population density between its inner and outer islands through a transmigration scheme.

With which client would I have the most difficulty working?

According to my beliefs the negative member is the most difficult to handle. According to Jacobs, Masson and Harvill the negative client is one who has a tendency to find problems with everything. A negative client is capable of transforming a group session into a gripe session. (Jacobs, Masson and Harvill, 2006) A negative client causes a negative influence on the group as a whole and is capable of instigating a feeling of discontent among other group members. Presence of one or more negative client in a group may lead to lowering of the groups morale.How would I handle a negative client in a group? My reactions against unreasonable demands of a negative client would probably be instinctive. I would resort to direct confrontation with the negative client, although this would not be the ideal course of action since Jacobs, Masson and Harvill have recommended that group leaders should refrain from direct confrontation because it only leads to time consuming arguments between the leade r and a negative client. How would Jacobs, Masson and Harvill have handled a negative client?Jacobs, Masson and Harvill suggest three alternative courses of action which will enable the leader to effectively handle a negative client. The first course of action is to talk to the negative client outside the group and try determining the reason for his unacceptable behavior. In most cases negative clients suffer from lack of attention and the problem can be solved if they are offered an important role. The second option as suggested by Jacobs, Masson and Harvill involves identifying the positive members of the group (ie those members who are contented with the group).By talking to the positive members in a group a leader can motivate those members who have been influenced by the negative client. The third option calls for de motivating and isolating a negative client. This goal can be achieved if the group leader avoids making an eye contact with the negative client while addressing th e group as a whole. Incase neither of the 3 courses of action are successful in improving the negative client, Jacobs, Masson and Harvill suggest that asking the negative client to leave is only option that the leader is left with. If there are any members in my group who have taken up the role of a negative client?What effect has it had on the group? I have encountered negative clients in my group; such group members cause a lot of problem. They create a wide spread feeling of discontent among the group which leads to fragmentation of the group. The group gets subdivided into two sections one of which harbors feeling of negativity and discontent and the other section comprises of positive members who are satisfied with the current state of affairs. Fragmentation of a group results in loss of productivity. Therefore it is important to prevent the group member from acquiring negative tendencies.

Ingredients for Success of Five Guys Burgers and Fries Essay

Determine how Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. In my opinion what makes Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries different from other fast food chains are the following characteristics: a) Quality: Ingredients such as meat which cannot be frozen, bread which has to be made at least the night before and potatoes produced in locations that allow them to keep their richest nutrients, do not come cheap. But, the fact that Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries decided to make their food only out of fresh products, regardless of the cost, indicates that their target market is people who care about taste, which is why Jerry Murrell focus on â€Å"NO cut corners, but the best is priceless†. (Welch. 2010) b) Options: The customers have the opportunity to customize their burgers to their preferences, choosing from seventeen toppings without extra charge. This is also an example of a new strategy used to capture higher market share in the industry, in which companies are force to come up with, constantly, due to the intensive competitive characteristic of the fast food industry. (Hussein, Et all. 2011) c) Dedication: At Five Guys they take their time to prepare everyone’s meals according to their particular preferences even though it demands extra time and dedication. It is this dedication and time what separates them from common fast food chains where time is measured and food is already prepared or frozen, thereby losing its original flavor. (Burke, Monte. 2012) d) Their type of Marketing: Based on what Jerry Murrell said about treating the customer right and he will sell for you. (Campbell. 2011), I believe that the Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries focus their marketing on customer service and the word of mouth. While others expend a lot of money in marketing, they take certain amount of money and encourage their employee s to earn it by successfully complying with the company’s standards of customer’s satisfaction. (Welch. 2010) Analyze the Original Values for the Start-up company and how it remains strong today. The Values of Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries for start-up were: a) Make good food with good Ingredients: Michael Murray (Manager of Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries at Mabry Village location) said â€Å"We are not a fast food restaurant we are a casual dining place where we offer 100% fresh food, we have no freezers†. (Odish. 2012). They consider their food good because by working with fresh ingredients they can keep the original flavor and its value. (Heffern. 2002). Things like frying their potatoes with peanut oil as a way to reduce cholesterol and control the consumption of fat, is a considerable way to differentiate them from the fast food industry. As it is described in the vol. 8 of SJ Magazine, the fries are hand-cut; the potatoes sticks keep their skin and are soaked in water then partially cooked and sunk into hot peanut oil in order to get the golden brown color. They then come up crispy, creamy, sweet and are seasoned with salt or Cajun spice mix and shaken in a cup that is placed in a paper bag. (Palermo.2007) About the meat, this magazine also mentions that it is different because it is crunchy at the edges and tender inside (SJ Magazine, 2008, Vol. 8) which happens because the meat is prepared from fresh ground beef, not frozen. Also, the bread is made every day from the same bakery and distributed to the closest stores. The owner of one of these bakeries was once an employee of the Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries until the Murrell family made him part of their business. Taking this into account, the bread will have the same quality for every store. (Sailors. 2011) a) Family oriented business type: The Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries treat their employees with respect and also encourage them to keep the values of the business by expending 1.5% of their revenues in bonuses for their best employees instead of expending 3% on marketi ng. Michael Murray also said: â€Å"They come and visit us, they know who we are†. (Odish. 2012). Furthermore, in my opinion, the fact that the Murrell family keeps the control of the franchises by making the rules the same for everyone has busted their success. Wherever you go, you will find the same quality of food and the same flavor. The aim to make franchising work on their terms. (Rosenwald. 2006). Janie Muller explains the way her family sees and manages their business when she said: â€Å"We are a family and we have gone in this journey together†. (Rosenwald. 2006). Jerry Murrell also explains that it is important to have the employees feel a sense of ownership and accountability (Wiley Plus, 2012). This behavior toward the employees is also a good strategy because when the employees feel that they are treated like partners, they act with consideration and respect for the business and the one those who have given them the opportunity. a) Quality and Care: Overall, these qualities have made of The Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries special and different from others in the fast food chain. â€Å"Whoever cares for its customers received appreciation in return† Murrell said (Welch.2010). Encouraging their employees to keep their stations clean, auditing them twice a week from two different third parties, guarantees that the employees will comply with their duties not only for responsibility but also for bonuses. Enumerate three factors that contributed to Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries success in such a short time and what effect, if any, external markets had on these factors. Rogers (1995) refers to innovation as a new idea by someone and diffusion as a process through which an innovated idea is delivered, however Schumpeter, (1939); Tidd, Besant, and Pavitt, (1997) explain that Innovation is a process that includes the creation of a new idea into a product or process that is marketable. (Hussein, et all. 2011). The three factors that have contributed to their success in a short time would be: a) No extra charge for the toppings, 3 refills for their 24 oz. drinks, Customers get to eat peanuts while they wait for their meal to be done. (No cut corners). (Sailors .2011) b) High performance in customer service which produces good word of mouth and eliminates the need for marketing. (All of the money goes into the food). (Wiley Plus) c) Fresh food for the consumer and incentive for their employees to maintain a good customer service standard. (Quality). Five Guys has perfected the art of the burger, by keeping its beef fresh [never frozen] and cooking your meal while you wait. (Palermo.2008).This is the way many people picture the Five Guys and their business. How external market has influence on the Five Guys success would be the differentiation between the types of products the rest of the market provide (fast food chains), and the way Five Guys does it. â€Å"We carry the burger alternative to fast food† said Todd Stalling. (Michael Rosenwald. 2006). Assess how ethical and social practices are part of the Five Guys’ culture and provide examples to support your choices. The fast food industry is everyday more competitive due to a large number of fast food chains joining the market and expanding with new ideas. That is why information, ethic, and quality, are important issues. However, some studies have demonstrated that in certain regions some of these issues are more important than others. For example, in Malaysia the information of the product can influence on the consumer’s preferences and therefore, on their shopping behavior, so packaging, for Malaysians, is very important rather than innovation or advertisement. (Hossein; et all. 2011). This competition in the fast food industry has forced companies to develop marketing strategies to approach and capture higher market share. (Hossein, Et All.2011). But, innovated ideas and products are still failing because they haven’t reach the right target or found the right channels of communication to get to the right customer. That is where certain companies like the Five Guys’ have successfully broken the schema of modern marketing buy focusing on the conventional word of mouth. To be able to choose the word of mouth as a marketing strategy, the company must be sure that its products and services have no equal comparisons with other companies, Five Guys’ show this confidence when they put out a board indicating that there is good fast food around the corner if you are in a hurry. (Liz Welch. 2012). The Five Guys’ Team basically believes that once you treat a person right, that person will do the marketing for you and that is why they also focus on putting all of the money in the food instead of dà ©cor or marketing. For example, they only use potatoes from Idaho, where they grow slowly and therefore, more solid. They also based their prices on the margins, the price is raised or lowered to reflect their costs. For instance if the tomatoes are scarce and the price is high they will raise the price of the burger instead of eliminating the tomatoes or minimizing the amount of it. (Welch.2010) As explained above, their ethic in keeping quality of their product is so strong that they even made sure that all of the franchises are regulated by the same policy of quality, before they sign a contract with any franchise buyer. The Business Plan is sell a really good, juicy burger on a fresh bun, make perfect French fries, and do not cut corners. (Sailors Jimmy. 2011) REFERENCES Burke, Monte. (2012). Five Guys Burgers: America’s Fasted Growing Restaurant Chain. Forbes Magazine. August 6, 2012. Retrieved on October 18th from http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0806/restaurant-chefs-12-five-guys-jerry-murrell-all-in-the-family.html Campbell, Twyla. (2011). Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries: The American Invasion. It’s a Weird, wild, and wonderful Life. Retrieved October 20, 2012 from http://weirdwildandwonderful.blogspot.com/2011/02/five-guys-burgers-and-fries-american.html Five Guys Burgers and Fries: A recipe for Success. Economic Challenges Facing Contemporary Business. WileyPlus. Retrieved on October 15, 2012 from https://blackboard.strayer.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_168_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_77589_1%26url%3D Heffern, Rich.(2002). Dinners and Dining; Ethics; Food; Aesthetics.The Ethics of Eating. Vol. 38 p 13. Hossein, Nezaki; Noor, Ali; Shaheen, Mansori; & Amirhossein, Noghondari. (2011). Adoption and Diffusion of Innovations in Fast Food Industries. Australian Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences, 833, INSInet Publications. Hossein, Nezaki; Noor, Ali; Shaheen, Mansori; & Amirhossein, Noghondari. (2011). Market Value; Convenience Foods;Food Industry; Australian Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences. P 1271-1276. INSInet Publications. Palermo, Jennifer. (2007-2008). For a Great Hamburger: â€Å"Five Guys† In Somers Point. SJ Magazine. 8th Annual Best Of SJ. July, 2008. Vol.8. Issue 7. Retrieved on October 16th, 2012 from http://www.jerseyshorejournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=7&Itemid=53&limit=9&limitstart=45 Rosenwald, Michael. (2006). Five Guys, Taking a Bigger Bite.Washington Post. Staff Writer. Retrieved on October 15, 2012 From

Compare and Contrast the drive participatory styles of management, Essay

Compare and Contrast the drive participatory styles of management, describe which one would you use and why - Essay Example Such an approach encourages the employees to improve their productivity and performance because when they do their job well, they are rewarded. In such a participatory management style, employees can see the way their contributions add value to the organization. Yet another style of participatory management is the shared decision-making management style in which employees complete surveys, take part in focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and achieve specific tasks in self-monitored groups. A common feature of all the different styles of participatory management is that they consist of a type of share decision-making (McQuerrey). I would use the recognition management style of participatory management. I prefer this style of management because this provides the employees with incentives to improve their productivity and efficiency at the workplace. Sometimes, it is in the best interest of the management to control the level of transparency in the workplace. Too much transparency becomes the cause of undue conflicts and misunderstandings. I believe that a manager should be in charge and control the discipline and work, and reward the ones that deserve according to his/her judgment and criteria. Such a positive attitude fosters trust between the manager and the employees (Raeside

FM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

FM - Essay Example An increase in the scale of production could likely result in changes to both fixed and variable cost. Increasing the scale may lead to increased fixed cost. Additionally, buying more raw materials could result in a lower cost per unit. Furthermore, producing more of an item could lead to higher hourly rate for labour as overtime may be necessary. Overtime is normally charged at a higher rate of time and a half. Break even analysis, assumes that the quantity of Racey that is produced will be sold. It may not be possible for JxCorp to sell all the products produced. Profit is calculated on the quantity of goods sold and not the quantity of goods expected to be sold. Additionally, JxCorp may not be selling Racey to one customer. Other customers may demand a lower price per unit. Break-even analysis breaks down as it assumes there is only one market for the product and all units are sold at the same price. It does not take into consideration that JxCorp may have to sell Racey to different customers at different prices. It uses only one selling price to determine how changes in volume sold will affect profits. It is common practice to sell goods at different prices to different customers. The weighted cost of capital is the weighted average of the components of capital (Brigham and Ehrhardt 2005). In this case, the components are equity and debt. The calculation of the weighted cost of capital WACC is shown in Table 4 below. The calculations in Table 4 indicate that WACC is 11%. The weight of each component is 50% (0.5). The symbol Wd represents the weight of Debt and We the weight of equity. The symbol rd represents the interest rate on the debt which is 9% and re the return on equity which is 15%. The corporation tax rate, T is 22% or 0.22. The information in Table 5 indicates that capital allowances of  £100,000,  £75,000, and  £56,250 were charged in years 1, 2 and 3 respectively and balancing charge of  £168,750 in year 4. The

Twenty Years at Hull House Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Twenty Years at Hull House - Essay Example The changes brought about in the living of thousands of people and the education and training that was provided in the Hull House which served as a centre for social work is also explained. The book serves to analyze the social injustices that are prevalent in our surroundings. It presents the conditions in which the immigrants of different countries had to live in the United States. It presents the silence of the government on these issues which are left for the people to deal with themselves. The necessity of proper education, proper health and environment are emphasized in this book. The importance of proper social gatherings and training of social skills is also embedded in this book. Jane Addams worked towards achieving a goal for the improvement of the living of many people and presenting many important concepts of health and the steps that needed to be taken by the government to curb such issues. Hull House was a place which was open for all and did not have any religious affiliation. It served as an important centre for the social gatherings and social development of individuals. With time, the Hull House matured and the services improved and it attained a cent ral position in the American society. It worked for the purpose of solving important matters of the society which included the laws against child labor and laws for improving the working conditions of the laborers. The period when the Hull House came into existence was a time when the American society was becoming industrialized and harsh labor laws were a part of the society. A very important event that Addams presents in the book assists in totally understanding the conditions of those times is: Our very first Christmas at Hull-House, when we as yet knew nothing of child labor, a number of little girls refused the candy which was offered them as part of the Christmas good cheer, saying simply that they â€Å"worked in a candy factory and could

Case Analysis - Is there a Hybrid Automobile in your Future Essay

Case Analysis - Is there a Hybrid Automobile in your Future - Essay Example As automobiles cannot be done without in modern life, the natural choice would be to design and build vehicles which could run on some miraculous, alternative, non polluting fuel with minimal or zero emission. Such miraculous discovery, if possible, could kill two birds with one stone. Hybrid cars are a venture in this direction. As it is not possible to build an automobile which could run solely on electric, solar or any other source of power immediately, as it would put tremendous strain on research, development and financial resources, the availability of hybrid cars is a welcome transitory stage into the future. After the successful launch of the Prius model by Toyota, many other automobile giants have leapt into the fray of manufacturing hybrid cars for the future. To be successful in the market, a hybrid car has to appeal to the general public in terms of cost of ownership as well as performance. 2. Key Problems To be successful in the market, a hybrid car has to appeal to the general public in terms of cost of ownership as well as performance. 2. Key Problems To be successful in the market, a hybrid car has to appeal to the general public in terms of cost of ownership as well as performance. As evident from previous research, only people with education and annual income in the range of $ 100,000 have bought hybrid vehicles available in the market at present, as they come at a premium. People with lower incomes and low education level have to contend with cheaper gasoline models as it is beyond their pocketbooks to buy hybrid cars, as well as fully comprehend the advantages of owning one. The key problems are therefore increasing the awareness about the benefits of a hybrid model, and putting a cheap hybrid model within their financial access and range. Rising fuel prices will automatically force people to seek cheaper alternatives and it is a good marketing strategy for the future to design a car to fulfill this need. 3. Possible Solutions Solutions to t he problem are already in place as awareness about the greenhouse effect has been boosted by the efforts of governments and international bodies. It is also becoming more difficult day by day to own and maintain traditional gasoline guzzling giant cars. Smaller fuel efficient models are more marketable as well as affordable for the end users. However, government efforts to divert the public to use public transportation as an alternative have proved futile as people feel the need for independent control of their movement (Doll, 2008). Already the sales figures for hybrid models are increasing steadily in the US. In the year 2006, a total of 262,000 hybrid cars, primarily the Toyota Prius and other models from the company were sold nationwide (Doll, 2008). Companies like Honda, GM, Ford and Lexus soon came up with their own hybrid models in the market. Toyota, which overtook General Motors as the world’s largest automobile company however has experienced some hiccups since then . One problem it faced was the recall of some of its models due to faulty design and a patent lawsuit against its hybrid cars by a Florida based company, Paice LLC (Web, 2009). Such obstacles need to be sorted out between competing manufacturers in the greater interest of fuel efficiency and a healthy environment for the present and future generations. Innovations are already underway for developing fuel cells to power electric vehicles which cause the least pollution and are more energy

Compensation and Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Compensation and Benefits - Essay Example In this case, in order for an organization to appeal to such employees, and keep them after hiring them, it is essential for them to provide them with competitive compensation packages, including benefits (Ulrich, 2011). Nonetheless, provision of benefits cost money. For instance, health insurance in the United States is quite expensive. As such, it is true that benefits may result to increased costs, making a firm to incur higher costs and hurt its competitiveness. In this case, it is appropriate for firms to calibrate in a careful manner based on the number of benefits it wishes to offer its employees. An enterprise should be generous enough for it to attract qualified and competitive labor force. However, it should refrain from overpaying employees who are less productive and not worth additional money (Ulrich, 2011). In a firm, it is true that higher pay and benefits play a major role in attracting and keeping quality employees. Nonetheless, I do not belief that pay is the primary motivating factor for existing employees and job applicants. They look for those firms that are capable of providing them with benefits, such as health insurance, which are some of the most challenging areas for employees to

China - Literature Development, Confucianism and Revolutions Essay

China - Literature Development, Confucianism and Revolutions - Essay Example Additionally, the essay discusses the philosophy of Confucius herein referred as Confucianism and how it has influenced the lives of the people of China in reality to date. Finally, the paper provides an in-depth analysis of the 1911 – 1949 revolution as the revolution with the greatest impact on China socially, economically and politically. A brief summary conclusion shall be provided that summarizes the thoughts in this essay. Redness or red as it were was a term used to refer to certain attitudes that were political and ideological. They were prescribed by the doctrine of Maoist. The expert on the other hand usually juxtaposed with the reds was used to denote special skills or knowledge in science or technology. As such tension existed between the two groups in the twentieth century in China with the two terms used in juxtaposition to one another (Schoppa, pg.112). Therefore redness had to do with the political and ideological attitudes while experts were intellectuals in this period. As such during the twentieth century, the two sides conflicted with beliefs that the two were mutually exclusive and could not be combined. Strauss, (578 -580) explains: As the two sides differed in ideologies it became difficult for them to strike a balance between the two in China. Chinese literature was indeed very crucial for nation building having a very resilient traditional cultural legacy. Thus it defined Chinese nationalism. Therefore striking a balance between reds and experts became one great challenge for this nation. The nation then took to carry out education reforms from the 1950s onwards and Chinese literature entangled with the nation building. As such the nation’s culture was defined by its literature. In the wake of a movement called the new culture, Kaozheng (reds) method came to be first provided. This was in 1917. Through this, a novel was written in vernacular focusing on canonizing the literature of Chinese.

Martin Luther King Jr. Headed Research Essay Example for Free

Martin Luther King Jr. Headed Research Essay Martin Luther King Jr was a well known civil rights leader in the 1960’s. He inspired many African Americans with his speeches and his non-violent movement. He had vision, courage and concern three out of the six characteristics mention by Campbell (2002) that create a leader. Even though he was well know for stopping segregation it is important to study his effective leadership. Many High School students have studied about Martin Luther King Jr. However, there is much more to King. We need to study his courage to step up and create sit-ins and protest, concern for others right and vision to tie all these in and make them possible. In addition, we need to look into these characteristics that made him a strong catalyst for change. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the findings about the leadership and characteristics of Martin Luther King Jr. Also adding to how this leader improved the reading and writing skills to this papers author. The questions posed for the research described here are the following: 1. What important findings were made during this research? a. Why was he concerned about the rights they had? b. How did sit-ins and boycotts help King? c. What did it take to accomplish his goal? 2. Which of the leaders personal characteristics seem to be most important for his success as a catalyst for change? 3. What did the author of this paper learn about him/herself as the research, reading and writing for this assignment progress? 4. What conclusion can be drawn from this research? Findings about the Leader Martin Luther King Jr most important accomplishment was concerned about the civil rights that black people had King tried to protect the freedom of discrimination based on â€Å"gender, religion, race, national origin, age or sexual orientation.† (History Alive ch. 46) King wanted to give African Americans their rights to freedom of speech. he saw to gain equality through the world. also King wanted to stop the discrimination that was mostly based on race. this would stop the segregation that was going on and open the doors of opportunity and a better community. Much of Kings work was controversial during the time in which he lived. People opposed King because he encouraged sit-ins and boycotts. In one of the many sit-ins four college students sat in white people spots and refused to move because they were not getting served. The students dressed like they were going to church and the sit-in lasted for almost two weeks. Many white people fought the black people and the black people were arrested. They were able to get bailed for fifty dollars or do the thirty-three days in jail. Then the marches started and one girl marched up to the mayor and she said that it was unfair. Three weeks later black people got served.(History Alive.p 69) In the Montgomery Bus Boycotts was organized because of the segregated buses. The boycott lasted 328 days with no one riding the bus. Martin Luther King Jr lead the black people in this boycott. In 1955 black people had to sit in the back of the bus and white people sat in the front, sometimes black people had to give up their seats. Black boycott leaders got attacked by white people. Some of which got their homes bombed. Even though they were attacked they stuck to their non-violent system. eleven months later the segregation was considered unconstitutional. King said that, â€Å"it wasn’t a victory for them or whites, but justice and good will.† (History Alive. p 69) Kings ideas were important for the time in which he lived. People opposed King because they knew he would accomplish his goals. It took a lot of Kings time to accomplish desegregation and equality, but he was able to accomplish all the sit-ins, boycotts and marches with the help and support from his family, church and his followers who wanted the justice that King wanted to achieve. The Leader’s Personal Characteristics The three personal characteristics that, according to Campbell are necessary to become a strong exceptional leader are vision, concern and courage. These three characteristics best describe Martin Luther King Jr. King’s vision was shown through his speeches, sit-ins and boycotts. King wanted the future of his people and the future generation of young African Americans to be better and equal. He wanted to put a stop to the segregation and the discrimination that was going on through this time period. King knew that his vision would come true when these problems would come to an end. King wasn’t concern for himself only. He was concern for the entire African American community. King tried to prevent the hate that was being shown by the white people towards the black people to stop. Once this stopped King knew that the children growing up in this time period wouldn’t grow up with the same hatred shown by their parents. He wanted to put a stop to all of it so it wouldn’t spread to the young minds of the children as well as in the parents. This was all accomplished by King through his courage. He went through many risks. King not only put his life in danger, but the life of his family and his followers. The sit-ins, boycotts and marches brought hate and violence to King and his followers as well. There were times that they experienced mob attacks and bombings on their own home. All of which put King in danger for following and making justice happen. Fighting for every ones rights using non-violent movement was difficult, but courageous. King using this type of movement was significant and brave because he didn’t fight back when they would get attack and going out with this movement in mind against all those people that apposed King showed his true leadership skills. Learning about Myself as a Reader and Writer This experience has made me a better reader because it helped me improve my note taking and helped me focus on a certain topic. My note taking has become more in depth and I’m able to pull out the important part or parts of the articles were are reading. Having focused notes also helped me stay focus on this topic. I learned how to focus on a specific topic for each paragraph in my essay. Writing was a difficult part for me because I didn’t know exactly what I had to write about sometimes, or I wouldn’t have a clear sense of direction, or explanation to what I was, or had to do. This caused me a lot of confusion, so that leads into why I didn’t do so well in my papers. It was the little assignments we got that confused me the most because I didn’t find a connection from the little assignments to the bigger one. Also because we mixed how to write the paper along with finding facts and integrating sources. It would have been more helpful if we had spilt that into two different sections and having one section to do with MLK, finding the facts and integrating sources as one section and how to write the paper as another. The things I need to work on the most are writing and making connections with the assignments provided. Due to the fact that, that was my point of confusion during the assignment. Also it was writing that I scored the lowest in and this shows that I didn’t become a better writer throughout the course of this assignment Conclusion Where are we in racial equality today? what would Martin Luther King Jr think or do? Today were are not as bad in racial equality as in the time of Martin Luther King Jr, but we do experience racial hate and judgement today, mostly against Hispanics. If King was alive today, his reaction would probably be the same as when he experienced the discrimination against African Americans. He probably wouldn’t like the way people are being treated and would feel the same type of tension he did when he was a catalyst for change in the 1900’s. King would try to find away to help and also make this stop by using the same method, such as non-violent movement. King would have to change his way of solving this to get the same success he had if he tried to be a catalyst for change during this era because of the different time periods Citations Campbell, Scott. Great Leaders Grow Deep Roots The Six Characteristics of Expectional Leaders. . N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan 2012. . King, M.. Letter from Birmingham Jail. letter from a birmingham jail. University of Pennsylvania, 1963. Web. 8 Dec 2011. Carson, Clayborne, et. al. of the Martin Luther King Research and Education Institute. The Martin Luther King, Jr. encyclopedia. Greenwood Press: Westport, Connecticut. 2008. Goff, Brent. History Alive!: Pursuing American Ideals. Teachers Curriculum Inst, 2008. Web. .

Influencing factors of consumer complaint behaviour in Malaysia

Influencing factors of consumer complaint behaviour in Malaysia INTRODUCTION If consumers experience dissatisfaction with products or services and are unable to obtain satisfaction from sellers or manufacturers, they may turn for help to a variety of consumer complaint agencies. Therefore, a third party can be the next step for consumers to improve their satisfaction if they still dissatisfied with the companys response. Few consumers actually complain directly to the manufacturer or service provider, so businesses may be unaware of consumer complaint actions (Day, Grabicke, Schaetzel, and Stauchbach, 1981; Stephens and Gwinner 1998). Franklin (1992) believes that consumer complaints is correlated with demands for more government regulation and intervention in the market place. From a managerial perspective, complaints represent potentially valuable information in guiding marketing strategy. Further, from a public policy perspective, complaints may aid the development and targeting of consumer protection and market regulatory programmes (Fornell and Westbrook , 1979). Hence, complaints can provide an alert to the distribution channel of the government regulation that needs correction in the business, and gives the company an opportunity to convince the customer to continue patronising their stores and buying their products. Thus, in the market place, effective complaint management must be a priority for every business, as the complaining behaviour provides companies with a chance to remedy the dissatisfaction and, ultimately, to retain loyal customers (Franklin, 1992; Davidow and Dacin, 1997). Balasubramaniam (1984) suggests that consumer protection may comprise polices and actions involving government intervention to ensure that all consumers obtain what they really want. The increasing demand for consumer protection is a modern phenomenon, and efforts are being made by governments to obtain greater enforcement from laws, however, these laws are not considered as particularly helpful to consumers for matters pertaining to trade descriptions (Financial services, housing, food, etc), door-to-door sales, distance selling, and safety of particular product; consumers should be provided more protection by statutes (Rachagan, 1998). Thus, several Asian countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Papua-New Guinea, have enacted statutes specifically titled as Consumer Protection Acts/Codes for consumers to solve specific problems. Most research on consumer complaint behaviour is conducted in the U.S. (e.g. Bearden and Mason, 1984; Day, 198 4; Davidow and Dacin, 1997), Canada (e.g. Barnes and Kelloway, 1980; Lau and Ng, 2001), and European countries such as Norway (e.g. Gronhaug and Arndt, 1980), the Netherlands (Morel, Poiesz and Wilke, 1997) and the U.K. (Crosier and Erdogan, 2001). Based on the different cultural settings, complaint issues in Asian countries are insufficient (e.g. Phau and Sari, 2004; Keng, Richmond and Han, 1995; Lau and Ng, 2001). Thus, to understand complaint behaviour and consumer orientation in the marketing system of Asian consumers is extremely important for their survival. Based on previous studies, this report provides a basic framework for seeking redress to show the main determinant factors that influence the ultimate decision to complain to the firms, third party agencies and take court action through the intention variable. The purpose of this study is to investigate the motivation for seeking redress from the firms and the third party complaint process, especially from the Malaysian consumers perspective. LITERATURE REVIEW In fact, the intention can change over time based on the individuals provisional nature. Human behaviour can be considered under volitional control since the individual is prepared to exert maximum effort. Thus, intention can affect human actions, and the relation between intention and action can be seen as the goals and plans that guide behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). Singh (1988) proposes a two-stage strategy explaining that consumers usually engage in multiple complaint behaviour. The first step is consumer complaint intentions. He reports the unique dimensions that support consumer complaint behaviour responses due to the relative intensity of the different consumer complaint behaviour options (i.e. intentions). It should not simply be based on the behaviour that they did/did not engage in. In the second step, consumer complaint behaviour is explained as consumers taking action for their dissatisfaction for an independent situation. Kim, Kim, Im and Shin (2003) also argue that consumer complaint intention is an outcome of the consumers attitude perspectives, rather than complaint behaviour, as they noted that intention is much better predicted and explained by attitude than behaviour. Thus, complaint intention plays the mediating role to explain the consumers attitude and complaint action in this study. According to the previous studies, the current study attempts to investigate how the variables, such as the knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies, perception of business practices and responsiveness to complaints and the importance of the product, influence the complaint intention and complaint action. Knowledge of Consumer Rights and Consumer Agencies Referring to social behaviour, Ajzen (1985) suggests that information that is recognized by the individuals will ultimately influence their further behaviour; Ormrod (1999) proposes that reinforcement responses only increase while the learner is aware of the connection. Singh and Wilkes (1996) suggest that an individuals learning about mechanisms and options of complaining affect consumer complaint behaviour, such as knowledge of unfair practices, consumer rights, and complaint channels. Agbonifoh and Edoreh (1986) argue that market imperfections are one of the market factors that make consumers feel helpless when they face discontent. Hence, consumer protection is one of the reactions to change the consumers helplessness. Guiding the consumers to enjoy their rights and the awareness of the existence of regulations and provisions becomes important when they encounter frustration or depression about the dissatisfied products or services (Agbonfoh and Edoreh, 1986). Thus, awareness of consumers rights and consumer protection agencies is important for consumers making the decision to redress their dissatisfaction to firms or third party. Moyer (1985) found that complainers with relatively good information concerning their consumer rights and who are more aware of possible help from third parties are more active in seeking information and more likely to express their dissatisfaction to sellers. Day (1984) suggests that consumers knowledge about where to complain affects the consumers complaint behaviour. Based on Haefner and Leckenby (1975), and Tipper (1997), in the current study, knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies is defined as the individual awareness and understanding of consumer rights and consumer protection agencies in Malaysia. An individuals knowledge or information is the basis for influence on human behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). Day and Landon (1976) suggest that consumers who are less knowledgeable will rarely seek redress for their discontent with products or services. Moyer (1985) found that complainers who seek more information and have more interest in the consumer protection laws are more active in expressing their dissatisfaction to sellers. Tipper (1997) found that knowledge of consumer rights has a significant positive influence on third party redress. It can be viewed that American consumers with more knowledge about consumer rights are more inclined to utilize federal agencies and legal action as their third party redress options than other consumers. Ajzen (1985, 1991) suggests that intention can be used as a mediating variable between the information variable and specific action. Referring to the limited previous literature, the hypotheses on knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies wit h complaint behaviour can be stated as follows: Hypothesis 1a: Consumers with more knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies are more likely to have high complaint intention. Hypothesis 1b: Consumers with more knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies are more likely to take complaint action. Hypothesis 1c: Complaint intention will mediate the relationship between knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies and complaint action. Perception of Business Practices and Responsiveness to Complaint Keng, Richmond and Han (1995) determine that market factors should influence consumer complaint behaviour, such as a businesss reputation for quality and service, and the responsiveness of the business to complaints. Moyer (1985) found that complainers hold negative expectations concerning an organizations responsiveness to their complaints, they feel that third party actions are on behalf of the consumer. Granbois, Summers and Frazier (1977) delineate that consumers perception about a firms willingness to provide redress has the most significant correlation with complaint behaviour. Jacoby and Jaccard (1981) discuss that marketing channel factors affect consumer complaint behaviour. Richins (1982) points out that the efficacy of complaining and the retailers willingness to solve complaints can be a major factor in consumers complaint behaviour. If the customer responsiveness or firm-related failure from firms or business causes the individual dissatisfaction, consumers are more like ly to tell others about their unhappiness since they tend to perceive the firm to be at fault, and consumers may feel angry and desire to hurt the firms business (Lau and Ng, 2001). Crie (2003) suggests that buyers and sellers interaction frequency plays a part in the preference for verbal complaint action. Based on the previous literature review, the reputation of the business practice and the retailers willingness to address complaints causes consumers dissatisfaction and may influence the consumers complaint behaviour (Richins, 1982; Keng, et al., 1995; Phau and Sari, 2004; Lau and Ng, 2001; Crie, 2003; Liu and McClure, 2001; Weiser, 1995). In the current study, perception of business practices and responsiveness to complaints can be defined as the consumers perception about firms practices and firms responsiveness to their complaint (Keng, et al., 1995). To examine the complaint intention, Richins (1982) found that if consumers perceive that a business is willing to remedy the complaint they are more likely to make a complaint, they feel that complaining is worth the effort. Regarding predicting complaint action from business practices and responsiveness to complaints, Richins (1982) found that if complainers believe that business responsiveness is low, they are more likely to take complaint action. Phau and Sari (2004) found that Indonesian complainers have a negative perception concerning business practice and responsiveness to complaint. Referring to third party complaint actions, Tipper (1997) found that American consumers with a negative feeling about business practice and responsiveness to complaint are more likely to address their complaint to the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Agency, State Attorney Generals Office, Federal Agency and take legal action. Ajzen (1985, 1991) suggests that intention can be used as a mediating v ariable between the attitudinal (perceivable) variable and specific action. Thus, the hypothesis in this study proposes that: Hypothesis 2a: Consumers with a positive perception of business practice and responsiveness to complaint will be more likely to have high complaint intention. Hypothesis 2b: Consumers with a negative perception of business practice and responsiveness to complaint will be more likely to take complaint action. Hypothesis 2c: Complaint intention will mediate the relationship between the perception of business practice and responsiveness to complaint and complaint action. Importance of Product Generally, consumers tend to perceive that high quality products or services have a high price and if the quality of the product or service is below their expectation they will be discontent. Day (1977) suggests that the higher the price of the products or services, the higher the expectation will be performed, and luxury products can influence the consumers status. Keng, et al. (1995) define the consumers perception of the importance of the product as the price of the product, how socially visible the product is, and the durability and frequency of using the product, all of which may influence complaint behaviour. Therefore, the importance of the product can affect consumer complaint behaviour (Keng, et al., 1995; Phau and Sari, 2004). In the present study, the importance of the product can be defined as the price of product, used frequently, socially visible and used for a long period. Day (1977) found that if the actual performance of the product or service dilutes the consumers status, they will be more likely to make a complaint. Jacoby and Jaccard (1981) argue that consumers with higher information regarding their dissatisfaction are more likely to take complaint action. Phau and Sari (2004) found that products that reflect the consumers status, or are used frequently, or over a long period of time, and expensive unsatisfactory products, affect the consumers complaint action for Indonesian consumers. Keng, et al. (1995) found that if the price of the product is high, the more socially visible the product, or the quality of the product is defective, consumers are more likely to take complaint action. Ajzen (1985, 1991) suggests that intention can be used as a mediating variable between the attitudinal (perceivable) variable and specific action. Thus, the hypothesis is stated as the following in the current study: Hypothesis 3a: Consumers with a perception that the unsatisfactory product is expensive, is used frequently, seen by others and is used for a long period of time, are more likely to have high complaint intention. Hypothesis 3b: Consumers with a perception that the product is expensive, is used frequently, seen by others and is used for a long period of time, are more likely to take complaint action. Hypothesis 3c: Complaint intention will mediate the relationship between the importance of the product and complaint action. Complaint Intention and Complaint Action In both the TRA (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) and TPB (Ajzen, 1991) models, the intention construct is considered as the mediation role between the beliefs and the behaviour. Godin and Kok (1996) define the intention as the expressed motivation to perform some behaviour or achieve some goal (p. 94). Ajzen (1991) suggests that intention can be referred to the amount of effort a person exerts to engage in actual behaviour. Ajzen and Driver (1992) argue that intention can be assumed to capture the motivational factors that influence behaviour, it is indications of how hard people are willing to try, of how much of an effort they are planning to exert, in order to perform the behaviour (p. 208). Hence, the more an individual intends to carry out, the more likely he or she will do. Ajzen (2001) suggests that intention plays an important role in guiding human action and it can perform a goal-directed behaviour in a specific context (p. 47). Ajzen and Driver, (1992) suggest strong intentions of individuals to engage in behaviour or to achieve their behavioural goals. Hurbes and Ajzen (2001) found that intention contributes significantly and gives a positive prediction of hunting behaviour. Singh (1988) found that consumers with private and third party complaint intention are actually more engaged in private and third party actions. Richins (1982) also suggests that a propensity to complain is significantly related with actual behaviour. Therefore, the stronger intentions from consumers to engage in complaint actions, the more successful they are predicted. The proposition between complaint intention and complaint actions shows as following: Hypothesis 4: Consumers with a higher intention of seeking redress for complaining are more likely to take action on their complaints. In accordance with previous studies, this study prefers to treat each factor as separate concepts that can influence the consumers intention and actions in the research framework (see Figure 1). H3b H2b H1b H3a H2a H1a H4 H1c / H2c / H3c Importance Of Product Complaint Intention Complaint Action Perception on Business Practices and Responsiveness to complaint Knowledge of Consumer Rights and Consumer AgenciesFigure 1: The Research Framework METHODS OF THE STUDY The data in this research was collected by a survey involving self-administered questionnaires. The population and sample were Malaysian citizens residing in Kuala Lumpur, Peninsular Malaysia. To provide an adequate level of confidence, this present research used 700 as the target sample size. In order to capture this targeted sample size of respondents, 1,200 respondents in three shopping malls, the Tribunal for Consumer Claims in Kuala Lumpur and the National Consumer Complaints Centre were intercepted and requested to participate in the study from February 2007 to the end of April 2007. Finally, a total of 834 survey questionnaires were found to be usable in this study. The constructs used in the questionnaire were derived from previous research based on the literature review. The questionnaires were produced in three languages English, Chinese and Malay. The final research questionnaire consisted of four parts. The first part included 7 statements to measure the knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies variables, which were adapted from Haefner and Leckenby (1975), and Tipper (1997). A 7 point Likert-scale from 1 = very poor to 7 = excellent were used in this section. The next section concerned 10 statements on the respondents perception of business practice and responsiveness to the complaint variable, which were adopted from Kim, et al. (2003) and 4 statements on the importance of product variable, which were adopted from Phau and Sari (2004). Seven point Likert-scales from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree were used in the second part. Another 10 statements of the complaint actions that consumers intended to take were adopte d from Singh (1988). Seven point Likert-scales from 1 = very unlikely to 7 = very likely were used to measure the complaint intention variable in part three. The last part included 5 statements which measured the complaint actions that consumers had taken (Yes/No) by using the Guttman scale, this variable was adopted from Singh (1988). FINDINGS OF THE STUDY As discussed in the study of Garver and Mentzer (1999), the Structural Equation Model (SEM) is a powerful technique that combines the measurement model (confirmatory factor analysis) and the structural model (path analysis) into a simultaneous statistical test and provides a measurement theory and a structural theory (Hair, et al., 2006). In this report, the SEM was used as the main statistical analysis tool to purify the measurement items and AMOS 5.0 was used for testing the hypothesis relationship. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) According to Anderson and Gerbing (1988), and Hair, et al. (2006), the first assessment should be any structural model that exists with an acceptable goodness-of-fit. Thus, it could begin by fitting a CFA model that includes covariance between all pairs of latent factors. In this paper, the overall fit for the base measurement model were poor GFI=0.886, AGFI=0.861, TLI=0.873, CFI=0.884, RMSEA=0.057 and CMIN/DF=2.693. In order to improve the model fit indices, items PBR4, PBR7, KNLEG2, KNLEG3, and KNLEG4 were deleted from the base model due to the lower factor loading and high modification indices. After deletion, the overall fit for final the measurement model in the calibration sample was excellent, with GFI=0.928, AGFI=0.913, TLI=0.917, CFI=0.927, RMSEA=0.045 and CMIN/DF=2.693. Testing the Hypotheses Once an acceptable measurement model is available, the structural model evaluation should be able to start. The results of the structural model show that the model achieved a good level of fit, à Ã¢â‚¬ ¡2 = 902.067, à Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ 2 / df = 2.693, GFI = 0.928, AGFI = 0.913, TLI = 0.917, CFI = 0.927, RMSEA = 0.045. The result also reported that 13.6 per cent of the variance associated with complaint intention was accounted for by its three predictors: knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies, perception on business practices and responsiveness to complaint and importance of product. Accordingly, it was determined that 35.3 percent of the variation in complaint action was accounted for by its four predictors including complaint intention. Testing the Hypotheses on the Complaint Intention Examining the relationship between the independent variables and the complaint intention, Hypothesis 1a, (see Table 1) regarding the knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies on the complaint intention, was supported (P = 0.000, ÃŽÂ ² = 0.295). It explained that if consumers with more knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies, they would be more likely to make complaints. This result approved the suggestion from Day and Landon (1976). The result did not support Hypothesis 2a (see Table 1) about the perception on business practices and responsiveness to complaint (p = 0.370, ÃŽÂ ² = 0.039). This means that consumers perception on business practices and responsiveness to complaints has no significant relationship with the complaint intention. This result was consistent with the study of Halstead and Droge (1991). Referring to Hypothesis 3a (see Table 1), the results show that the importance of product significantly influences the complaint intention (p = 0.000; ÃŽÂ ² = 0.219). This result indicates that if consumers perceive that the product is expensive, is used frequently, is seen by others and is used for a long period of time, they are more likely to intend to make a complaint. This result is proved in the study of Day (1977). Table 1: Hypotheses Test on Complaint Intention ÃŽÂ ² S.E C.R. P Support H1a CI KNLEG 0.295 0.018 5.715 0.000* Yes H2a CI PBR 0.039 0.071 0.897 0.370 No H3a CI IP 0.219 0.032 3.429 0.000* Yes *: p Testing the Hypotheses on the Complaint Action To test the hypotheses on the complaint action, Hypothesis 1b (see Table 2), regarding the knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies on the complaint actions, was supported (p = 0.000, ÃŽÂ ² = 125). It could be explained that consumers with more knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies are more likely to take complaint action. Referring to hypothesis 2b (see Table 2), the perception on business practices and responsiveness to complaint showed a negative marginally influence on the complaint action due to p = 0.000, ÃŽÂ ² = -0.063. This result is consistent with the findings from Richins (1982) and Tipper (1997). It could be explained that Malaysian consumers with a negative feeling about business practice and responsiveness to complaint are more likely to take complaint action against the firms or the third party. Testing hypothesis 3b (see Table 2), the importance of product showed a negative significant relationship with complaint action to the firms or the third parties (p = 0.000, ÃŽÂ ² = -0.211). This result does not support the hypothesis due to the negative relationship between the importance of product and the complaint action. Regarding the relationship between complaint intention and complaint action, the results (see Table 2) support hypothesis 4 (p = 0.000; ÃŽÂ ² = 0.552). This means that once the complainers have a strong intention to seek redress, they will definitely take action to get further satisfaction on their dissatisfied products or services from the third parties or the businesses. These results confirm the suggestion of Ajzen (1985, 1991) and Singh (1988). Table 2: Hypothesis Test on Complaint Action ÃŽÂ ² S.E. C.R. P Support H1b CA KNLEG 0.125 0.008 2.980 0.003* Yes H2b CA PBR -0.063 0.029 -1.829 0.067m Yes H3b CA IP -0.211 0.012 -4.575 0.000* No H4 CA CI 0.552 0.041 6.883 0.000* Yes *: p m: marginally significant Testing Hypotheses on Mediating Effect A mediating effect is created when a third variable/construct intervenes between two other related constructs that explain how or why each predictor variable influences the criterion. Testing the mediation effects, Hair et al. (2006) suggest that if the indirect effect of the variable is higher than 0.08, it indicates a mediating effect. If the p-value of the independent variable and mediating variable, mediating variable and dependent variable, independent variable and dependent variable, are significant, partial mediation will be proved; if the p-values of the independent variable and mediating variable, mediating variable and dependent variable, are significant, full mediation will be proved. Table 3 shows the hypotheses on the mediation effect in this study. Regarding Hypothesis 1c, the finding in Table 3 shows that the indirect effect of the knowledge of consumer rights and complaint agencies on the complaint actions was 0.163, which was higher than 0.08, and the p-value for knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies and complaint intention, complaint intention and complaint action, knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies and complaint action were all significant. Thus, complaint intention fully mediated the relationship between the knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies and the complaint action. Following the same procedure, the indirect effect of the perception on business practices and responsiveness to complaint showed 0.022 ( Table 3: Direct and Indirect Effect on the Mediation Variable Direct Effect Indirect Effect Total Effect Hypothesis Supported Type of Mediation H1c: KNLEGà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢CA 0.125 0.163 0.288 Yes Partial Mediation H2c: PBRà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢CA -0.063 0.022 -0.041 No H3c: IPà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢CA -0.211 0.121 -0.090 Yes Full Mediation DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS Most previous studies in the consumer complaint behaviour have focused on the two-group typology, which consists of complainers and non-complainers (Kim, Kim, Im and Shin, 2003, Keng, et al., 1995; Phau and Sari, 2004). This study offers a broader classification, which is consumers making complaints to the firms and third parties. The framework in the present paper has provided valuable information concerning the consumers motivation for seeking redress based on the consumers understanding of consumer rights and consumer protection, market factor and importance of product or services and level of dissatisfaction. Hopefully, the development of this model provides a basis for future research on exploring consumer complaint behaviour. Although a third party complaint agency is one approach to assist organizations handling the dissatisfaction with consumers together, it is unfortunate that many organizations never realize the importance of complaint handling. Consequently, for improving a complaint handling management programme, business, policy makers in governments and consumer organizations must understand how these factors influence complaint behaviour, and develop strategies for influencing variables and complaint behaviour as follows. According to the knowledge of consumer rights and consumer agencies, it contributed an important value to predict consumer complaint behaviour. The practical implication for policy makers in governments or consumer organisations is that they should provide more approaches to educate consumers about their rights and responsibilities as consumer education concerns the necessary skills, attitudes, knowledge and understanding to become an effective consumer (Brennan and Ritters, 2004). This education can help consumers to obtain the skills and knowledge needed to make adjustments to their choices and improve the consumers confidence to take action in their life. Thus, consumer education along with effective regulations and access to good quality advice and information from government or consumer organisations are essential components against the irresponsibility or unethical business in the marketplace. Referring to the market factor, the results show that consumers perception of business practice and responsiveness to complaints is not an important factor in examining the complaint action. Thus, as business managers and executives, they should realize the importance of complaint handling. Organizations can educate consumers by focusing the complaint process on removing the fear of confrontation and intimidation factors. Firms can offer some compensation to the disgruntled consumer and should not complain about the extra effort or cost involved, and consider each customer as a prospective buyer when they make a complaint. For consumers who perceive a higher cost of complaining when they are unable to contact the organization, the company can offer a generic booklet that is distributed to consumers explaining how to effectively get in touch with the organizations to increase consumer confidence and purchase intention (TARP, 1986). Businesses may encourage consumers to make a complain t by adopting strategies that shift the blame away from the consumers, such as by replacing the product or service with which they are dissatisfied for free. Therefore, the way of complaint handling can develop a good image for the firms and help enhance marketing effectiveness in the long run. Keng, Richmond and Han (1995) found that complainers are more likely to resort to complaint action if the price of the product is high or the quality of the product is defective than the non-complainers. This research found that consumers intended to making complaints if they feel dissatisfied with the product or the product was expensive, was used frequently, seen by others and was used for a long period of time. Thus, the firms should pay special attention to complaints concerning expensive durable products; the seller should be trained to handle complaints well, and the firm should not raise consumers

Contemporary Theories of Crime

Contemporary Theories of Crime According to the history and development of the criminological theory, the knowledge of crime theory has a tendency to include the past criminological theory that has been developed before. For example the labeling theory has a great influence from Chicago school, Durkheim theory and concepts, and symbolic interactionism (Plummer) Theory has the particularity of being the subject of constant renewal, like most of the knowledge in our society. One way of expressing this characteristic is by Thomas Kuhn in his book: structure of scientific revolutions. What he express in his theory is how the knowledge considered as â€Å"normal science†, is in a continuum spiral, according to how theory explains reality inside the framework of paradigms. Once these paradigms reach a point in which they cannot explain reality, normal science reach the point of a crisis. To explain this crisis the paradigms of the normal science must change, summarizing what is usable by the anterior normal scien ce and adding the new knowledge in form of paradigms that explains reality (Kuhn). This is exactly what happens with criminological theory, but still, besides all the progress theory has done, crime is still something hard to attach to a whole theory, and the combination of theory perspectives seems to be the most viable way to express the phenomenon of crime. On the contemporary criminological theory, one the perspectives that has a good approach to the actual context of crime is labeling theory. The labeling theory refers to the attachment of labels to a specific person in society according to the role he has on it. For example someone who commits a crime is recognized by the group of people around him as a criminal. But is not only the person who commits a crime, someone who is accused of committing a crime, doesn’t necessarily have committed that crime, but still he gets the label. Labeling theory refers to the identity that other people confer to one person. This identity is expressed as a label. The labels are stigmas inside society[1] that people must carry. This leads to the other part of the theory. Labeling theory, besides confer a stigma to the members of a society, also tries to explain another aspect of criminological behavior by opening the possibility of change in criminal behavior[2]. The stigma is hard to remove, but this theory proposes a way of reintegrating the members considered abnormal[3]: shaming is the process in which the person submit himself to a treatment or circumstance in which he resigns socially to crime, allowing him to reintegrate to society as a normal subject. The support of this theory is that bring an enormous quantity of material observation in other aspects of society, providing and using the concepts that society uses to determine the subjects inside it. For example the use of labels that are not only related to crime. Another contemporary theory with a wide perspective and more accurately related to actual crime is the environmental theory. This theory has a very situational approach to crime, because it is based on the characteristics that a special place must have for crime to be something executed. Crime occurs within the intersection of a space, time, a motivated offender, an attractive target, and lack of guardianship (Francis T. Cullen). The approach of this situational context has also the inclusion into theory of the daily activities of society, demarking the situation and the possibility of decrease crime by nullifying the situations in which crime can be committed, according to the routine people has. This theory has an opening to set crime as something different from the theories used before the 60’s. The possibility of seeing crime as something that may happen in every context, changes the relations of a stigmatized person to a situational expression of crime. Crime becomes the main subject of study, not the context[4] or the person who commit crime. When in this theory it is said that the focus is on crime, still a lot of concepts and ideas are part of the theory. For instance, the influences of Chicago school of mapping and characterizing crime zones. One contemporary expression of the applications of this theory is the broken windows theory[5]. The third analyzed theory in this text is the Developmental theory. This theory proposes the approach on how crime is explained by the whole history of one subject, group, and society. Crime is attached to every life expression that has happened since birth. Having a research of the main aspects of one person’s life, the individual expression and social values get mixed as the theoretical approach explains crime. This mixture of social and individual behavior is what allows this theory to be one of the most wider and contemporary (Paris). This theory is most applied to young people[6] and it takes into account the perception of the people who commits crime and the people who are victims of a crime. As other contemporary theories, there is possibility of change in the criminological behavior, allowing the criminal to be a normal individual. Some authors explain three ways in which this theory is applied to specific situations. The first one is the continuity of behavior in life course. The second one is that life course behavior might change or continue during time and on its characteristics. And the third one is that the life course behavior continues and changes. This theory is a multiple perspective to analyze crime, by studying the things to take into account to set an idea of how crime develops inside society by the life course of individuals, making a reciprocal analysis of the individuality and collectivity. All together These three theories provide a wide range of analysis, if the three of them are put together there are a lot of factor that would be covered by these theories. Still is not like just mixing the three theories. Each theory has a valid point and perspective to take into account. For example, the developmental theory takes into account the life course, which is an abstraction of the material and real life of the people. It is really a manifestation of the influence of all the material aspects under the mirror of time. This approach is quite accurate to study specific phenomenon because the analysis is deeper in context and it show the influences of society altogether with the individual tendencies. The approach of this theory at certain ages is what restrains this theory to be used. Because of its focuses on age, their analysis perspective loses weight when it is tried to be used in studying different groups, and in the theory itself. This loss of weight is because one of the main cores of this theory is the social development related to biological development. One of the tendencies of these three theories is to provide an option to explain how crime can be changed. Proposing a solution, like the shaming theory[7], or proposing new safety procedures to secure the environment. All these three theories keep the opportunity of becoming a normal[8] citizen or member of a society. Still, besides of the solutions proposed, the praxis of a theory can be very different from what the expectations are. One of the characteristics of these theories, is that are short in context matters. This means that theoretical explanations are only based as maximum to a nation level[9], provoking that many of the structural and contextual representations in politics, economics, culture, education, etc., in the world, cannot be part of the theoretical analysis. But still these representations have their manifestations even in small communities. This is impossible to not take into account macro-tendencies, but it is possible just to focus in micro-tendencies, even if this does not explain a complete context. Labeling theory, as the developmental theory, is not a completely sentence of explanation, but the analysis perspective that is valuable of this perspective is precisely the idea of a label. With the consent or without it, people always make judgments and make labels to identify other people, and to be identified among society as an individual. What criminological theory does is to focus on the labels related to crime. This is a much attached way in which theory explains reality with constructions of reality from society. One of the characteristics of this theory is also that label is just a value granted for the people participant in society, and because of that, according to the social capital[10] and possibilities of change that people have, they might change their label at will. Another fact of this theory, but no so attached to social reality is one of the manifestations of this theory, because of the idea of shaming, not because is not possible, but because is sometimes a motor to commit more crimes in certain contexts. The environmental theory has the possibility of treating crime as a situation with a specific context and circumstances that must be accomplish for the crime to be committed. The focus on the crime as a main subject allows this theory to be the bond for the combination of the other three theories, increasing the possibility of explanation and praxis that these theory have in total. These theoretical perspectives allow taking into account the elements of developmental theory, and use them together in the same explanations or theory. Of course in this conjunction of works, the aspects that restrain developmental theory must not be taken into account. The same goes for the labeling theory. Environmental theory has the possibility of being the connection between the individual perspective of crime in labeling and developmental theory, but at the same time it takes into account the idea of generality prescribed in both. Together with the perspective that environmental theory uses of situational context, crime becomes a definition with a lot of defined perspectives. Using the idea of label and the identity factor to set inside society, and as a representation to the outside society, the idea of crime explains one side of the individual behavior, by the representation that people has during a certain act. The environmental theory explains the event expressed as crime according to the material context in which people lives, but also making reference to another expression of behavioral crime conduct. Using some perspectives of the developmental theory, the factor explained before is part of a whole construction of life, providing a deeply analysis of a crime event, circumstance, conduct, behavior, context, social representation, and manifestation. Contexts and explanations The idea of the scientific revolutions explained at the beginning of the text, is to express one of the situation in which crime theory can be expressed more attached to explain reality. In case of the criminological theories, the perspectives are as many as a bunch. In the whole package of theories, the time has played a main role to develop each theory as the knowledge in crime situations and circumstances becomes wider. But there is a moment, and had happened before, that theory needs a new view and perspective. The citations and influences of the theories in the XIX are immersed in the theories of the XX, and now the contemporary theories are making improvements to explain by new paradigms the new circumstances that involve crime in our society. This, according to Kuhn’s idea, is the traditional process of making the scientific revolution. That is why is importance to pose a new circumstance that provokes a crisis in the criminological theory. Using these three theories may provide a great angle of perspective to analyze a concrete situation. But still the theories are short when it comes to practice. For example: the Mexican context. At first sight is a country like any other, but their main economic and political relations are with United States. The country has a first sight corruption; the police[11] are one of the main actors in these situations and are colluding with the narco[12]. The country is subject of constant violence, but the government is unable to solve the situation, because of the illegal trades and agreements that had surpassed the government power politically and economically. This is at macro-scale, but a micro-scale is almost the same, with the addition that is the poor people who gets involved in this violent context to have something to eat every day. So, how can these three theories make an approach to the context of Mexico? Evidently the crime is on one of the highest rates of Mexican history nowadays. But what is the work of the criminological theory when the established law steps aside and leaves the path to the everyday survival law? Criminological theory must be applied to the context in which it must[13]  be an explanation that requires a reaction from people. Criminological theory as it is right now, does not have the possibility of explaining the events that are happening in the world like Islamic State, Mexico’s violence, Ukraine war, and more. Criminological theory is being insufficient for the fast and changing environment in the world. The implications are every time wide in economy, politics, culture, etc. Using the actual theories to explain crime[14] may explain some aspects of reality, but recovering just the important aspects of each theory does not lead to a complete explanation and possibility of chang e of the real context. Being transdisciplinary is one of the new paradigms that criminological theory can use. Not closing the explanations of the criminal world to just the criminal theory. The possible revolution that criminology as a theoretical science can have is to be at the time of the context. References: Francis T. Cullen, Robert Agnew, Pamela Wilcox. Criminological theory: past to present. New York: Oxford university press, 2007. Kuhn, Thomas. Estructura de las recoluciones cientificas. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 2006. Paris, Jessica. Environmental criminolgy and crime prevention. n.d. http://legacy.usfsm.edu/academics/cas/capstone/2010-2011/criminology/paris-environmental criminology intel led policing.pdf?from=404. 29 09 2014. Plummer, Ken. Labeling theory. University of Essex, United Kingdom, 29 09 2014. http://www.sjsu.edu/people/james.lee/courses/soci152/s1/ajreading10labeling.pdf . 27 09 2014. [1] According to the criminological theory, this is focused on crime. [2] This is an implication that this theory has when is applied to explain crime. The results vary, because of personal behavior, situations, and social strains. Even, instead of reducing crime, these implications can even increase it. [3] Those who are consider criminals. [4] This does not mean that context is not taken into account. [5] The maintaining and safety control of urban environments may be a big influence to stop crimes. [6] There is a graphic that represents the main ages in which crime occur that set the age of 10 as the beginning and 20 when the young people stop committing crime. [7] Emphasize on social punishment to provoke shame. It focuses on the behavior on the offender. [8] According to the establishments of what normal is, and also if crime is considered as something abnormal. [9] Contextually, this is a big spectrum, but the political tendencies, economics, society and culture, in which crime is a subject of constant representation, are bigger than the idea of a nation. [10] Explained deeply in â€Å"Two concepts of social capital: Bourdieu vs. Putnam† By Martti Siisiasen, Department of Philosophy, Trinity College, Dublin Ireland. From: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.istr.org/resource/resmgr/working_papers_dublin/siisiainen.pdf [11] The public force that most stop the crime and apprehend the offenders. [12] Production and commerce of drugs, and traffic of people. [13] The using of this word emphasizes a moral reaction against crime. This must be included as a factor that may change according to the context. [14] Under the look of a moral conception of good and evil.

The Applications of ICT- Shopping :: ICT Essays

The Applications of ICT- Shopping Supermarkets and checkouts. The advancements in the technological world have allowed supermarket chains and other national stores to quickly dominate the market and are driving out the concept of the ‘local stores’. This surge in the market has seen shares rise and profits bulge with the three main contenders in mind being Sainsburys, Safeways and Tescos who now serve the whole of the UK between them and are the household names of the shopping world. The ICT input to these businesses is vital in that it provides speedy service; controls stock levels and will even allow bank balance transfers to be carried out with minimal difficulty or technical experience. The ‘till’, arguably a simple word has been given several names in the information technology world depending on the tasks, which the one in question can perform. Â · POS- Point Of Sale terminal (ordinary checkout) Â · EPOS- Electronic Point Of Sale terminal (Checkout connected to a computer data base using a laser scanner to read bar codes). Â · EFTPOS- Electronic Funds Transfer Point Of Sale (the same as EPOS with the capability to make transfers for customers to pay for goods via credit or debit cards. The checkout uses the ICC (integrated chip card which is very popular on the continent) or Magnetic strip on the card to request the information of the user to see whether or not they are eligible to make an EFT. The magnetic strip can only hold a limited amount of data such that an 11 or so digit code is sufficient to recall the same data from the bank servers. The ICC however can hold much more information and is much harder to copy or have data changed by criminals or hackers. The checkouts used in modern supermarket chains are all capable of EFT and are therefore all considered EFTPOS. In the next few years checkouts or ‘tills’ in all retail shops will use the ICC Barcodes The goods found in supermarkets are labelled with barcodes used to identify specific items on a central database. When the good is scanned a request is sent from the checkout to this main database where the request is handled and the appropriate information returned to that terminal and the correct amount reduced from the stock of that item. The bar codes are formed of lines of different widths and as each line represents a number the resulting code is the information sent to the main computer.

What Are The Major Components Of Biological Membranes And How Do They :: essays research papers fc

What Are The Major Components of Biological Membranes And How Do They Contribute To Membrane Function?. Summary. The role of the biological membrane has proved to be vital in countless mechanisms necessary to a cells survival. The phospholipid bilayer performs the simpler functions such as compartmentation, protection and osmoregulation. The proteins perform a wider range of functions such as extracellular interactions and metabolic processes. The carbohydrates are found in conjunction with both the lipids and proteins, and therefore enhance the properties of both. This may vary from recognition to protection. Overall the biological membrane is an extensive, self-sealing, fluid, asymmetric, selectively permeable, compartmental barrier essential for a cell or organelles correct functioning, and thus its survival. Introduction. Biological membranes surround all living cells, and may also be found surrounding many of an eukaryotes organelles. The membrane is essential to the survival of a cell due to its diverse range of functions. There are general functions common to all membranes such as control of permeability, and then there are specialised functions that depend upon the cell type, such as conveyance of an action potential in neurones. However, despite the diversity of function, the structure of membranes is remarkably similar. All membranes are composed of lipid, protein and carbohydrate, but it is the ratio of these components that varies. For example the protein component may be as high as 80% in Erythrocytes, and as low as 18% in myelinated neurones. Alternately, the lipid component may be as high as 80% in myelinated neurones, and as low as 15% in skeletal muscle fibres. The initial model for membrane structure was proposed by Danielli and Davson in the late 1930s. They suggested that the plasma membrane consisted of a lipid bilayer coated on both sides by protein. In 1960, Michael Robertson proposed the Unit Membrane Hypothesis which suggests that all biological membranes -regardless of location- have a similar basic structure. This has been confirmed by research techniques. In the 1970s, Singer and Nicholson announced a modified version of Danielli and Davsons membrane model, which they called the Fluid Mosaic Model. This suggested that the lipid bilayer supplies the backbone of the membrane, and proteins associated with the membrane are not fixed in regular positions. This model has yet to be disproved and will therefore be the basis of this essay. The lipid component. Lipid and protein are the two predominant components of the biological membrane. There are a variety of lipids found in membranes, the majority of which are phospholipids. The phosphate head of a lipid molecule is hydrophilic, while the long fatty acid tails are hydrophobic. This gives the overall molecule an amphipathic nature.

Just Cause, Just War Essay

Fighting among tribes, clans, and nations have occurred all throughout history. Civilizations have engaged in warfare to conquer new territories or defend their lands. Debates concerning the justness of war have been going on for many years. While some assert that a just cause is reason enough to engage in war, others believe that nothing can justify war. For my part, to know whether war is just is to understand its cause. In other words, to declare war against another is necessary when it seeks to protect rather than destroy. Based on the just war theory, or jus ad bellum, nations can wage wars when certain circumstances happen. For instance, the bombing of the Pearl Harbor and the threat presented to the nation during World War II were very justifiable reasons to involve the nation in war against Japan and its allies. It retaliation, the U. S. attacked enemy troops and enemy lands. If the United States did not actively participate in neutralizing the enemies, then, it probably would have fallen under the control of foreign troops. On Japan’s side, it attacked the U. S. naval base because it wanted control of a particular route. Its reason for starting a fighting with the U. S. is not justifiable because it sought to destroy and take control of something that does not belong to them. The roots of jus ad bellum came from St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings, which dealt with the moral side of war. Hugo Grotius, a Dutch jurist and philosopher of the seventeenth century, identified three instances wherein war can be considered just. First, it has to done as self-defense. A state attacked by enemies should arm itself and ward off the attackers. Leaders of countries who do not challenge invading forces should be held morally responsible for the fate of their citizens. Those who easily succumb to the will of foreign troops do not remain faithful to their duties of protecting their nations’ commerce, sovereignty, and the life of their people. Second, war is permissible in order to restore what has been lost, which implies that lands or properties taken by force by a foreign army should be retrieved using warfare. And lastly, war can be made against another state to exact punishment. In the case of Germany and its allies during the Second World War, they received punishment when the allied forces attacked their countries in order to make them pay for having started the war. Notable people since ancient times have believed that war is just. According to Cicero, war should have a clear goal by determining who and when to fight the enemies. Immanuel Kant notes that war is an important element of humanity. Without it, Kant thinks that people won’t reach their perfect state. On another note, Jihad is ideally fought to expand and protect Islamic states. It has to be conducted in such a way that it won’t kill women and children, nor destroy residences. Some extremists have used the Jihad as a means to incite war versus Christians. In this sense, the Jihad postulated by Saddam Hussein was wrong because it resulted to indiscriminate killings. Just like the Jihad, Christians too have their own religious warfare against heretics, Muslims, and pagans, among others. These wars are called crusades, which aimed to defend Christian lands from getting conquered by foreign armies and to recover territories that have been conquered by non-Christians. To conclude, despite the loss of lives as a result of fighting in large scales, it’s unavoidable for men to engage in war due of differences in cultures, goals, and values.However, war should only happen as a last course to resolve conflicts. References Grotius, Hugo. On the Law of War and Peace De Jure Belli ac Pacis. 11 April 2008, http://www. constitution. org/gro/djbp_101. htm Maiese, Michelle. Jus Ad Bellum. June 2003. Beyond Intractability. org. 11 April 2008, http://www. beyondintractability. org/essay/jus_ad_bellum/ Why War Home Page. Kant, Hegel and Deleuze on War. 11 April 13, 2008, http://www. why-war. com/commentary/2004/12/kant_hegel_deleuze_war. html

God’s Long Summer

God’s Long Summer The novel Siddhartha and God’s Long Summer both show commonalities of religion as being an important part in the main characters of both books. In God’s Long Summer, each of the main individual characters in the first four chapters like the character Siddhartha, all were consistent with the statement, â€Å"What we believe matters. † All of the characters from both books used religion for giving them the strength to speak their minds, move on in their lives, and fight for what they believed in or wanted to accomplish.Also, in this book there is the statement of, â€Å"What we believe affects out vocation in relation to culture† and this pertains to the religious ideas and people’s courses of action through their faith and experiences they have went through. A person’s background determines his or her perspective on faith, so this shows how everyone is different. The statement, â€Å"What we believe matters† is the first point that sticks out to me. It is portrayed in the novel Siddhartha multiple times when Siddhartha goes through his different phases of being the son of a Braham, to living with the Samanas, to finally living on his own.He needed to try out different paths, so he would be about to find his own enlightenment or meaning of life. He would not feel whole as a person or have peace, until he found a path that caused him to experience enlightenment. The characters in God’s Long Summer were the same way. Fannie Lou Hamer, Sam Bowers, Douglas Hudgins, and Ed King all were fighting for something, and did not want to give up until they were successful. An example of this is when Mrs. Hamer was being beat in the county jail after trying to vote. Even after being beat, Hamer still used God as her guide to influence other people.She never backed down, but instead was comforted by God and instilled her faith for strength and acted in what she believed. Hamer was different than Si ddhartha though, because she was out to change the world, and he was more focused on himself. The second important point that I found relevant of my understanding of the people and issues in God’s Long Summer was the way the characters in the books went about accomplishing their goals and got past obstacles they were faced with. Hamer was a selfless person who used God as her strength to change things. She puts herself out there, just as Siddhartha had when he lost himself.Siddhartha had to lose himself to accomplish his goal of enlightenment. Hamer knew that if she wanted to win the fight for her voting rights that she would have to have others band together too, by using biblical stories and freedom songs to sell her cause. She believed that others like herself could be empowered by God and if whites and blacks could both believe in such a high power, and then they can believe and get along when they are on the Earth. To accomplish Hamer’s goal, she needed to improve the world, and Siddhartha wanted to escape the world to reach his goal.Sam Bowers and Siddhartha are also examples of obstacles being thrown their way. Bowers hit rock bottom just like Siddhartha did after almost killing himself by the river. In the book, God’s Long Summer written by Charles Marsh, Marsh provides input in his first statement in the book pertaining to, â€Å"What we believe affects our vocation in relation to culture. † This whole idea is explaining how everyone has there a different way of thinking about a higher power and Marsh wants people to be able to explore and accept the different types of faith.In the book these varieties of faith cause blacks and whites to have disagreements on issues such as the civil rights movement. The first four chapters of the book support the illustration of what Marsh’s claim and task was. Hamer can see that the people who are discriminating against African American’s have a much different perspective on faith than she does. Bowers looks at his faith in a different way as Hamer because he doesn’t even believe that Jesus can be a Jew because if he were then he would be a part of the inner racial mix, which he was completely against. Ed King and Douglas Hudgins were also different from each other.King had been accused of straying beyond proper bounds of the Christian faith, and Hudgins had been accused of narrowing the bounds of Christianity. Hudgins was all about the understanding of Christianity through the cultural environment, while King thought you had to be prophetic and take action even if it was through just words. I believe that Fannie Lou Hamer is the best example of what Marsh is attempting to demonstrate about the various perspectives of faith. The example that comes to mind when explaining this is when Hamer was in the county jail and was talking to the jailor’s wife about faith and religion.Hamer used the verses from the Bible to go against the jailor†™s wife and her own feelings and ideas on faith. Hamer can see that the jailor’s wife thinks she is a Christian believer, but has a different way of acting as one of God’s children. Another example I found in the first chapter about Hamer was when she was in a disagreement with her pastor. She scolded him for not being willing to adopt her stance on the subject. This shows how you think someone who is interacting with your same faith, but when it comes down to it and his or her own lived experience, people react differently.I also found an example in Hamer’s chapter when Lyndon Johnson was running for office and he tried to tamp things down and shut up Hamer. Johnson was even supposed to be a civil rights activist and a believer in faith, but because of his the experience that he was having at the present time in his life, he was not able to be consistent with his beliefs. He said and acted, as he wanted, just so he could get elected into office. Fannie Lou Ha mer’s vocation is using God as her guide to influence other people. She feels like God appointed her, and this gives her a sense of closeness to him. She uses God as her strength to change things.Her goal is to improve the world, and help African American’s have an equal chance in the world as everyone else. Hamer is dedicated and relied on her faith for everything. The church and Christianity is a way for people to come together. Hamer feels that if both whites and blacks can believe in such a high power then they can believe and get along when they are on Earth. A contemporary social issue in which people use religion in opposing ways to support their views would be the topic of abortion. There are many similarities and differences between the issue of abortion and the civil rights issue detailed in Marsh’s book.Some similarities between the two issues are that people have very strong opinions on the issues and there are people out there that are fighting for one side or the other on the topics. People are having meetings on abortions talking about why it should be legal or not, and in the case of the civil rights movements there were meetings happening all the time like the meeting with the Credentials Committee in God’s Long Summer. There are also politicians out there like Lyndon Johnson who claim they are all for an issue such as the civil rights movement, but when it comes down to it they may have some restrictions about the issue.Johnson really did not want to have African American’s voting and having these kinds of rights because he didn’t want to make the larger population of people out there getting mad at him, so he could be elected into office. A difference between the two issues is the way people fight for what they want. During the civil rights movement many white people would go as far as abusing or killing blacks, so they could keep them as the lower class that is not as important. I have not heard abo ut people who are for or against abortion going to the extent of killing to get their way or point across.A person’s vocation usually shapes the way they think or feel about an issue. The issue of abortion means different things to different people because of their vocation. If a person feels that they have been put on this Earth to protect people and think that everyone should have an equal chance for living, then they are more likely to be against abortion. I am a Christian, and have been brought up by my parents to believe that everyone should be treated equally and can make their own choices. This means that I am not against abortions, and feel that it is the woman’s choice to make the decision.Reading Siddhartha and God’s Long Summer has brought a lot of insight to my beliefs in religion. I am more aware of other people’s feelings and the reasons for why they believe in what they do. Beliefs are formed from a person’s past experience. I also l earned how God or a person’s faith can play such a big role in being someone’s strength to fight as hard as they can in what the believe in, even when the greater population feels the complete opposite on an issue. Like in Siddhartha, everyone has different paths, and deciding on the right path is up to the person taking it.