The Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare - 977 Words

By looking at a culture’s epic tales and heroes one can get an insight to the culture’s values and traits that are noble to them. Beowulf, as an epic hero, is a direct representation of the ideal man as seen through Anglo-Saxon eyes. In looking at the poem Beowulf and analyzing the characteristics of the epic hero, it will become evident the desired attributes that were desired in the Anglo-Saxon culture: physical strength, pride, bravery, selflessness, and loyalty. An epic hero is a person that is admired for great achievements and inspires great events. Beowulf certainly fits into both of those categories with his incredible displays of physical strength, selflessness, courage, pride, and loyalty. An epic hero typically goes on a quest to fulfill his destiny by accomplishing a goal that has been bestowed upon him by fate. By completing this quest he gains everlasting fame and undying glory. Beowulf shows perfectly the style of an epic poem. Originally the only people who told stories were bards. They would travel from town to town making money entertaining the commonwealth in taverns, telling stories of the ages. While the story of Beowulf’s life descended down over dozens of generations of bards to where it currently stands, it picked up elements added by each new story teller. When a person adds elements to an epic to build it up they naturally try to make the hero look more perfect in the way that their society sees at the time, which changes asShow MoreRelatedThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare1549 Words   |  7 PagesBeowulf is one of the earliest and most famous works of English literature, and is still widely read today. However, over a thousand years has passed since it was written down in England, and even longer since it was originally spread by word of mouth in the old norse lands, and our values and concepts of the world are radically different than the people of Beowulf’s age. Alth ough the epic Beowulf shows their concept of simplistic duality, in which there is only black and white, good and evil, theRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare932 Words   |  4 Pageshave the values of being kind and modest. Before Beowulf arrived to Herot he was known for his heroism, which was shown again and again during the fight with Grendel, the fight with Grendel’s mother, and his final battle with the dragon. While his heroism was shown at each of these events, there were changes in his heroic nature over time. Regardless of these changes, he was still seen as the mighty hero throughout the epic poem of Beowulf. As Beowulf was making his voyage to Herot from Geatland toRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare939 Words   |  4 Pageswithout actually writing things down. These epics would be passed from one another through verbal communication and were based around different aspects of life for a someone of Anglo-Saxon descent. The story Beowulf is a perfect example of how Anglo-Saxons based their stories around their beliefs on how a hero should behave. Around the time the story was first told, people were often terrified of the horrible things in the world. The character Beowulf was built around how a hero would be representedRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare953 Words   |  4 PagesBeowulf is one of the most well known pieces of literature in history. Written between 700 and 1000 AD, this poem has captured the minds of scholars, historians, and readers across the globe. However, despite the fact that it has been passed down for numerous centuries, perhaps o ne of its most fascinating characteristics are the intriguing battles that Beowulf, the protagonist, takes on. Throughout this epic poem, Beowulf takes on many battles, all of which are practically unwinnable. Each battleRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare1549 Words   |  7 PagesBeowulf is one of the earliest and most famous works of English literature, and is still widely read today. However, over a thousand years has passed since it was written down in England, and even longer since it was originally spread by word of mouth in the old Norse lands, and our values and concepts of the world are radically different than the people of Beowulf’s age. Although the epic Beowulf shows their concept of simplistic duality, in which there is only black and white, good and evil, theRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare935 Words   |  4 Pageshis life for the good of others , well Beowulf was both. In the novel Beowulf , to me, the main theme of the ent ire story is heroism. Beowulf is your knight in shining armor or your fire fighter who goes into a living hell to save a kitten. Heroism is scattered all over this epic poem. Sure paganism and christianity are in it as well as good vs evil but they are not as i would say the backbone of Beowulf. to prove my opinion I shall gather quotes from the epic novel would strongly aid the fact thatRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare1176 Words   |  5 Pagesbeen nearly fifteen movies that were made after â€Å"Beowulf†. It may be due to the fact that â€Å"Beowulf† is one of the most famous epic poems in the English Literature history. It is also the oldest surviving epic poem to date. â€Å"Beowulf† was written in 10000 AD in Old English by an author who remains unknown. In â€Å"Beowulf†, there are many important literary elements that help empathize the main motif of the poem. The motif of this poem is courage. Beowulf is about courage and it is shown through the charactersRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare1401 Words   |  6 PagesAnglo-Saxon focus qualities. A champion amongst the most prestigious works from that time period is Beowulf. The story tells us of how one man, Beowulf, sails to the rescue of King Hrothgar and his kinfolk remembering the final objective to extra them from a horrifying beast that is undermining their lives and additionally their way of life. The warrior Beowulf without a doubt demonstrates characteristics of an epic legend through valor, dedication, generosity, family relationship, accomplishing somethingRead MoreThe Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare1836 Words   |  8 PagesBeowulf is one in a sea of many epic poems exemplifying battle, glory, great leaders, and, inevitably, death. Classic plot lines have followed the general flow of such stories from exposition to conflict to resolution, the majoity thriving off of a hero-villan mentality. The battle between good and evil has been perpetuated throughout history in literature and story. The media today suffers from the clear segregation of right and wrong just as much as society did in the days that Beowulf was firstRead MoreThe Heroes Of The Epic Of Beowulf By William Shakespeare1292 Words   |  6 PagesEpics consists of benevolent or disastrous intervention from the supernatural world, and the superhuman capabilities that the heroes and antiheroes occupy. Tales like these represent the characteristics of what heroes are considered to be during the time they were written; however, they follow a specific formula, namely that the Gods intervene in the lives of the hero and, that the hero is burdened with a tragic flaw. In Virgil’s Aeneid, it is Aeneas’ dangerous disobedience to the ordinances of the

Leadership Reflection - 1699 Words

Famous author Daniel Goleman said, â€Å"Self awareness means having a deep understanding of one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives.† This quote describes one of the most fundamental takeaways from my class: Religion, Violence and Strategy: How to Stop Killing in the Name of God. Professor Jerry White taught our class, when examining a conflict, is is essential to go beneath the surface, symptoms and effects and find the root cause. Albeit this way of examining conflicts in the Middle East and abroad is effective when trying to achieve impact, I now believe that this same root cause thinking can be applied personally when examining one’s leadership ability and potential. Using this strategy, I am now aware of my greatest†¦show more content†¦Not only he is a US Congressman, he is a former United States Navy Seal, Harvard Graduate, Congressional Freshmen Appropriator, and a combat vet who sustained a serious injury in Ramadi Iraq. And I cant count the number of times that someone has told me that I have a great leader to look up to, in part because of his incredible accomplishments. But for my hero and mentor that I adore, emulate, and aspire to lead in a similar manner, his most powerful leadership quality and the one that has made the most impact on me as a leader is his quality of LOVE. Naturally, when people hear that my Uncle is a US Congressman there is judgement. That judgement can be good or bad, helpful or unsympathetic. Yet when people hear the genesis of our story(it’s intertwined) something special happens. The humble story goes like this: Scott was a kid in a poor-working class family, whose single-divorced mother, worked hard to put food on the table and clothes on the back for the four kids in the house. Yet, people often assume that Scott has three sibling because he was one of four kids. This was not the case, as in 1994, Scott’s 13 year-old sister, Robyn, gave birth to a baby boy. This baby boy was me, and it is where my story begins. This difficult situation was filled with chaos, uncertainty, pain, and struggle. Yet, this is when, Scott(as a 14 year boy), stepped up and led his family. This leader of our family, would protectShow MoreRelatedReflection Of A Reflective Leadership Retreats1084 Words   |  5 Pagestemporary escapes create intentional time for individuals to reflect and assess their daily circumstances from a different perspective. Reflective leadership retreats can result in valuable insights for both individuals and groups. Description of Leadership Retreat Dreher Park in West Palm Beach, Florida served as the backdrop for the seven-hour leadership retreat that I took part in along with Mark Giarrizzo, Geralda Joseph, and Erik Thebeau on Sunday, November 16, 2014. During this full-day retreatRead MoreLeadership Reflection On Leadership And Leadership2843 Words   |  12 Pages Leadership Reflection Vincent E. M. Panuccio COM 610 Leadership Due: Dec 13, 2014 I’ve learned that there is no one leader in any team. There are many different things that someone can do within a team to be a leader and show their leadership skills. To me leadership is when someone in a team passes along knowledge or skills to someone else in the team. This knowledge or skill passed along must be beneficial and must be new knowledge and a new experience for theRead MoreReflection on Leadership1795 Words   |  7 Pages Leadership is defined as a process of increased social influence that exploits the efforts of others to accomplish certain goals or vision. It is derived from social influence, and not power or authority. Leaders motivate, inspire, convince, and coach others towards a certain vision. Leadership dwells on emotional intelligence that is the ability to manage oneself and one’s relationships. Emotional intelligence is achieved through social skill, self-awareness, self-management, and social-awarenessRead MoreLeadership Reflection Paper : Leadership851 Words   |  4 PagesLeadership Reflection Paper Leadership truly begins with understanding your strengths and is a continual process of learning how to use those strengths to influence others (Griffiths, 2014). To understand leadership the word leader has to be examined. Webster describes a leader as a guide, a person who has commanding authority or influence. Additionally, a leader must possess specific qualities and characteristics to be classified a great leader. I will future delve into these qualities andRead MorePersonal Reflection On Leadership And Leadership2297 Words   |  10 Pagesthis reflection is to expose critically how I could evaluate my own experience with relation to the theories and ideas about Leadership. In other words, how this lecture and insights changed my personal notion, as well, how I could amplify my knowledge about this subject. But I assume that the most important is to demonstrate how the application of Leadership skill is relevant in my career in the future. I have chosen three topics I thought was more relevant to develop my personal reflections connectingRead MorePersonal Reflection On Leadership And Leadership2162 Words   |  9 Pagesthis reflection is to expose critically how I could evaluate my own experience with relation to the theories and ideas about Leadership. In other words, how this lecture and insights changed my personal notion, as well, how I could amplify my knowledge about this subject. But I assume that the most important is to demonstrate how the application of Leadership skill is relevant in my career in the future. I have chosen three topics I thought was more relevant to develop my personal reflections connectingRead MoreLeadership Reflection863 Words   |  4 Pages I have learned and heard of several different definitions of leadership during my time in this class. First, during our group meeting with Chancellor Jack Hawkins he defined leadership as â€Å"the management of hope.† Next, when I was preparing my two-minute speech I found a definition by Dr. Ben Carson that I enjoyed. He said this, â€Å"I think one of the keys to leadership is recognizing that everybody has gifts and talents. A good leader will learn how to harness those gifts toward the same goal.†Read MoreReflection On Ethical Leadership946 Words   |  4 PagesPre-Course Reflection As early as I can remember, it has always been apparent to me that I was born to lead. Of course there is an ongoing debate arguing if leaders are naturally produced or formally taught; it is my assumption that both theories are of substance. For â€Å"natural-born leaders†, traits such as critical reasoning, problem solving, and the desire to be challenged are often noticed in children as early as pre-school (Karnes Bean, 1996). Other traits such as competence, focus, and effectiveRead MoreA Reflection On Strategic Leadership1276 Words   |  6 PagesA Reflection in Strategic leadership Before coming to USAWC I think that my experience and knowledge gained during the twenty-five years of service is an important quality to possess. At one point I thought: â€Å"A few years until retirement, and probably no special secrets for me to discover during academic year. I can only confirm what I know, gained some new knowledge and meet a bunch of interesting people before returning home. Much to my surprise, already after the first reading and discussionRead MoreThe Leadership Styles - Reflection1361 Words   |  6 PagesLeadership Styles - Reflection 1. Charismatic Leaders I d just like to start off by saying that charisma isn t always a positive thing. Some charismatic leaders do some pretty awful things. Take Jim Jones, for example - a leader of a troubled cult called the People s Temple. He used his charisma to brainwash them (really, there isn t a better word. He quite literally brainwashed them, playing his voice continually over a loudspeaker that was broadcasted around the entire town.) He leads them

Daniel the Prophet free essay sample

â€Å"God is my judge†. At a young age Daniel was carried off to Babylon where he became famous for interpreting dreams and rose to become one of the most important figures in the court. He began service to the royal court and abstained from unclean food (Daniel 1:8-16). Three years later, Daniel was brought before the King to interpret the Kings dream. The king was pleased and made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon (Daniel 2:48). In Chapter 4, we learn that Daniel interpreted another of Nebuchadnezzars dreams. Daniel remained in governmental service through the reigns of the kings of Babylon and into the reign of Cyrus of Persia after the Persians became the dominant world power (Dan 1:21; 10:1). Daniel was also a person of deep piety. His book is characterized not only by prophecies of the distant future but also by a sense of wonder at the presence of God. We will write a custom essay sample on Daniel the Prophet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page From his youth Daniel was determined to live by Gods law in a distant land (Dan 1). In moments of crisis, Daniel turned first to God in prayer before turning to the affairs of state (2:14-23). Daniels fidelity to God exposed him to persecution by jealous rivals within the kings administration but the grace of God protected him (Dan 6). Role in God’s Promise of the New Covenant Daniel exhibited his fidelity to God throughout the challenges of his life, showing that we, too, need to show our fidelity to God even in times of hardships. The Book of Daniel is more than a treasure of prophetic literature. It also paints a beautiful picture of a man of God who lived out his commitment in very troubled times. We should never get so caught up in the meanings of horns and beasts that we forget the human dimension of the book-the intriguing person whose name means My God is Judge. 8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, â€Å"My lord, what will the outcome of all this be? † 9 He replied, â€Å"Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. Daniel 12:8-10 (c) forschoolwork/oppapers. com

International Marketing Strategies of Hyundai in India free essay sample

The automobile sector of India is no exception and has seen drastic change in the last decade. Some of the largest and successful automobile companies in India are Maruti Suzuki Udyog, Hyundai India ltd, Honda India ltd, Fiat India ltd, etc. the completion in this market is sky high. Therefore to survive in such a competitive market every company needs to provide better services than the competitor with almost of the same price as of the competitor, which is not an easy job to do. The development of this sector is developing the economy of India as a whole, which is why government of India is allowing the foreign automobile companies to enter into Indian market with not many formalities. Competing in the Indian automotive industry is not an easy job as the largest portion of the population is middle class which cannot afford the luxurious vehicles. So, a company needs to analyse the Indian automotive market and should consider the segment strategies carefully. We will write a custom essay sample on International Marketing Strategies of Hyundai in India or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Relying just on one segment of vehicles is very risky in Indian automotive sector. Hyundai Motor India ltd is one of the successful automotive companies in India. It has been successful in winning the hearts of Indian customers and maintains its goodwill in the country. There are many internal and external environment factors which influence the performance of an automotive company. An automobile company should put more focus on the internal factors such as policies, plans or strategies of the company as they can be controlled, on the other hand external factors like government policies, competition, etc cannot be controlled. Hyundai has been able to strengthen its roots in the Indian automobile industry. However it still needs to modify some of its strategies to compete with other big players. 3 | P a g e PREFACE This paper is focussed on the Hyundai Motor India ltd which is one the leading automotive companies in India. This research discusses the growth of Hyundai Motor India in last few years. Also in this research Hyundai Motor India has been compared with the other players in the Indian automobile market to see where it stands. This paper shows which areas Hyundai Motor India needs to put more efforts in order to beat its competitors. They adopted new marketing Strategies to advertise their product in overseas markets such as from the year of 2002, Hyundai became one of the worldwide sponsors of FIFA World Cup and in united states they start giving 10 years or 100000 miles warranty for their manufactured cars. And at present Hyundai motor company is a sixth largest automobile manufacturer of the world and one of the top 100 most valuable brands worldwide. (Wikipedia, 2008) Hyundai philosophy- From the global point of view, Hyundai motor company? s philosophy is to give wealthy nd comfortable lifestyle to people of the world and contributing the harmony and co- 18 | P a g e prosperity with its shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders of the automotive industry. As the sprit of creative challenge was visited in the company from beginning, which helps to drive people lifestyle toward modernization and had also solved various challenges for company in business environment. Based on this strength Hyund ai motor company is playing its part to provide wealthy, comfortable, and stylish life style to people. In 2005, Hyundai launched its new corporate vision, which was based on „innovation for humanity? and due to this vision Hyundai motor company had created five core strategies †¢Global orientation- the strategy is to lead in the field of automobile makers, to build trust of people, and become first choice of everyone. †¢New culture creation-to create such an automobile culture among people so that they feel stylish with in there budget and needs. †¢Technical innovation- they had provided new advance technology in their vehicles while keep in mind the needs and mentality of people. Customers moving-they had given importance to customers to create good business culture which attracts more customers towards them. †¢Human respect-by providing environment friendly technology Hyundai had shown great interest in human co-prosperity. (Hyundai Company Website, 2008) 2. 2Research and development facilities As there is lots of competition in automobile industry due to i ts fastest growth and highly competitiveness, manufacturers always tries to provide best and new thing in market and this shorten the product lifecycle of the product. To provide competitive advantage to other competitors and to meet the desires of customers Hyundai motor company had invested in research and development centres in Europe, North America, and Japan. Hyundai motor company? s engineers and researchers always trying to provide stylish, good and quality cars within reasonable prices . they always tries to attract their customers by providing style, comfort and new technologies in their cars which add values in the people lives. Hyundai motor has their research centre named HATCI 19 | P a g e Hyundai America technical centre) was established in 1986 and wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai motor co. Hyundai had also opened design and technical centre in Irvine and California. Hyundai motor has spent US$ 1. 92 billion on RD for one year in order to introduce four or five new models. (Hyundai motor world) 2. 3Manufacturing facilities and capacity Hyundai has their manufacturing plants all over the world and they are selling their vehicles in 193 countries by around 5000 dealers and showrooms. Hyundai has their manufacturing plant in United States, china, India, and turkey and KIA is also upgrading its plants in china and completed an in Slovakia. In 2006, Hyundai had produce 964,842 units in their overseas plants and in 2005, Hyundai had sold 3715096 units and got the position of sixth largest automaker of the world(Hyundai Company Website, 2008) 2. 4Hyundai motor in India Hyundai motor India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Korea based Hyundai motor company and in India it is second largest and fastest growing car manufacturer presently serving market with 30 variants of passenger cars in 6 segments. Hyundai came to India in 1996 and opened their wholly owned manufacturing plant in Chennai and in 2008 Hyundai had opened second manufacturing plant in India. Company manufacture cars in their plants for both domestic and overseas markets. HMIL is distributing their motor vehicles and providing services to their customers in all over India by their strong network. At present Hyundai motor India is having 230 dealers and 138 service centres in 181 cities of India and planning to increase dealers up to 300 this year. With the opening of new manufacturing plant Hyundai motor? anufacturing capacity increased up to 600,000 units per year. In India Hyundai is having six different models in different segments which includes santro, getz, accent, Verna, elantra, sonata, and Tucson . At present Hyundai only produce passenger cars in India but now Hyundai is going to set commercial vehicles manufacturers plant in India. In 1998 Hyundai motor came in the market with Santro that became India? s largest selling car of India in 2005. ((Hyundai Company Website, 2008) 20 | P a g e 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 21 | P a g e 3. 1â€Å"The factors influences in development of a marketing strategy† . 1. 1Development of a marketing strategy To succeed in market it? s very necessary for an organisation to develop a proper marketing strategy and appropriate planning while introducing a new product. Strategy itself long term planning which is decided by the top management of the company and to develop an effective marketing strategy, organization needs to do a lot of research about market environment which includes targeting profitable customers and to create marketing mix plan and more importantly satisfy the needs of customers as well as make profits for corporation. It is next to impossible for an organisation to stick on same strategies. With the change of environment, organisations need to change their marketing strategies. Marketing strategies of the corporation are different from place to place and country to country. It can also be different by the thinking or mentality of customers. For example some people drink coffee because it keeps them alert and wakeup. But some drink it to relax and view it as a way to socialize (coffee breaks). Sometimes Company could not change their internal strategy but something are not in the hands of company they require changes to meet customers? atisfaction and to get desired output. There is an important issue to be considered by the companies? weather they will standardize its marketing mix strategies or will adopt or customize according to the local environmental structure. Then the question arise that how to build a proper marketing strategy and what are the key element which requires keeping in mind whi le developing marketing strategy. 3. 1. 2Standardization versus localization of international marketing strategy As we see from last four decades most of the companies have started their business in multination and became globalized. So the biggest problem that the companies are facing is standardization versus adaptation. There are lots of researches done on this topic but fails to get an appropriate conclusion. There are lots of factors in decision making when companies get confused that either they go for standardized or adopt the present situation. Whenever a firm decided to approach international markets, they basically got for alternatives to introduce their products (Carter, 1997) No change in product, sell the same product in international markets 22 | P a g e ? Upgrade or modify the product for international markets as per the countries or egion? s need. ? Produce new product for foreign countries. ? Or to fit in all the differences, they can design and introduce one global product. 3. 1. 3Factors encouraging standardization ? Saving of scale in production ? Cost-cutting measure in product R D ? Reduction of cost in marketing ? Make the whole world as one big market ? Global competition 3. 1. 4Factors e ncouraging adaptation ? Incompatible use conditions ? Influence of government and regulatory policies ? Different customer behaviour ? Local competition ? True general market concept ? History 3. 1. 5Standardisation potential of marketing programme These days most of the companies using standardisation tool to build their brand image. The core benefit of standardisation is to sell the same product worldwide which saves large cost in production and marketing. By standardizing marketing mix globally, marketers can make everything very simple but in terms of sales and profit it is consider as a false step of managing the complexities. If we conclude this in general companies are more customers oriented and they are always ready to adapt their mix according to the desire market to meet customer? s needs and to give as best they can to customers. If we look at automobile industry cars may be different by their body colour, shapes or sizes as per local demands but engine could be same in every county. The factors which cause an organisation to adapt according to the local awareness of the country are as follows 23 | P a g e MACRO-ENVIRONMENT Legal regulationsPolitical sensitivityTechnical and social Norms Geographical similarity Stage of life cycle Degree of urbanization Structure ofM A distribution R TechnologyK orientationE T Price sensitivity STANDARDIZATION OF MARKETING PROGRAME Nature of the product PProduct Runiquen Oess D U C TCultural specifici ty International Attitude of INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Goals of Cost of R D experience corporate mgmt internationalizati Figure 2 Standardization of marketing program source: (CIBS, 1999) 24 | P a g e 3. 1. 6Factors influencing the standardization potential of marketing program Organisation needs to consider all the above factor if they want to design successful marketing mix strategy for global markets, but these factors always different from place to place and to get better result organisations needs to change their strategies as per the local needs, then the adaptation comes in front of standardisation. Companies always consider three sets of factors while deciding which product have to market abroad- targeted market, product and its characteristics and companies resources and policies. Organisations always consider that, is the adaptation of local market is cost worth or beneficial for the company but more or less most of the companies always adapt local responsiveness. These adaptation may includes change in packaging of a product or modify the company? s whole international strategy. While planning and deciding a marketing mix of a company, organisation needs to consider on lots of factors. The first step towards development of a strategy is to scan external and internal environment of the company. These influences include technology, economical, social and political factors on any company. Not only this, organisation? s human and physical resources, reputation, market served and related market share of an organisation are also consider while constructing international strategy of a company. Therefore when a company decide to trade in international markets they have to consider all these issues very carefully to get a desired and better output from their business. It depends upon the organisation that they are going to stick on the standardisation or they find to adapt local responsiveness is more beneficial for their business. 3. 1. 7Interplay of three Cs while developing marketing strategy Due to globalization, the whole world looks like a one local big market. Most of the companies are doing their business in multi nations but every time while doing business in different countries, companies need to design market strategies while considering lots of factors. While designing a market strategy a company have to consider three factors- 25 | P a g e  ¬ Customer – It includes targeted market, customers desires and countries laws and policies  ¬ Competition – it includes completion with local and international brands  ¬ Corporation – it includes company? s own polices, funds and resources These three C plays an important role while developing a fine market strategy and to get better and profitable results. 3. 1. 8Characteristics of good marketing strategy  ¬ Satisfied market definition  ¬ Good combination of corporate strength and market needs Better performance among competitors 3. 1. 9Key elements of marketing strategy development In the development of marketing strategy, customer, corporation, and competitor are interrelated with each other. The best relation and satisfaction from all the factors result to good business output. While developing marketing strategy there are three decisions should have to fallow to get better result:  ¬ Where to compete- it need the description of market where you have to compete either you have to compete whole market or you only have to compete one or more segment. How to compete- it needs the meaning of competing, how to compete either by introducing new product in market or to set up new positions to existing product.  ¬ When to compete-it needs the proper timing for market entry, when you have to enter into the market either being 1st in the market or have to wait for the development of primary demand. 26 | P a g e 3. 1. 10 Key elements of marketing strategy formulation CUSTOMER MARKETING STRATEGY CORPORATIONCOMPETATION Figure 3 Key elements of marketing strategy formulation (Jobber and Fahy, 2006) It is necessary for an organisation to keep in mind the above factors while designing an international marketing strategy. All these factors may differ by countries, regions or by the laws and policies of the nation but without considering all these factors it? s not easy to design good marketing mix strategies. In nut shell to develop a good international marketing strategy, organisation needs to scan all the internal and external environments, they have to consider local responsiveness and the company? s human and physical resources, company? market values, policies and brand reputation while keeping these 3c in mind . Therefore while developing market strategy all the thing should follow and consider for getting the positive response from market. 3. 2Environmental analysis Without scanning and understanding environment, a company cannot intelligently plan for future. Environmental analysis of company is a first and very important step in the development marketing mix of a company. Thus most of the organisation creates a team of specialists to analyse environment before making marketing mix for any market. 27 | P a g e Environment analysis is consist of two parts: 1) external market audit 2) internal marketing audit 3. 2. 1External market audit External market audit means analysing the external factors of the company. To control these factor are not in the hands of company although the marketers can modify marketing mix according to these factors. In contrast managers can modify or reshape marketing mix to influence target market, such an environment is called as macro environment. On the other hand the elements which are totally in control of an organisation come under micro environment. Market environmental analysis helps to develop competitive market strategy and helps to identify future market opportunities and their 28 | P a g e [pic] Figure 4 External market Audit Source : (Wheelen and Hunger, Edition 1) 3. 2. 2Macro environment A market orientated firm looks outer to the environment in which it operates, adapt to gather advantages of rising opportunities and to minimize possible threats. Macro environment consist of number of factors which not only affect company but the other actor of microenvironment. While developing competitive market strategies there are so many factors should eep in mind which may affect performance of an organisation in its market. These factors differ according to markets, customers, laws, countries, and so 29 | P a g e many things but according to management terms PEST is a best model to assist external environment of an organisation. PEST stands for political, economical, social and technological factors. There is another model also f or the assessment of external environment it includes same factors but just two new factors added in that these are environmental and legal factors and it is called as PESTEL. PESTLE analysis is a best business measurement tool for analysing external factors of the organisation and we are using this one in our research. PESTLE ANALYSIS Political factor -Government polices -leadership style -international relations -taxation policies -political groups -inter-country relationships -international or national pressure group countries political issues -trade union powers -foreign trade laws -trade union laws -wars ,conflicts, terrorism Economical factors -inflation rates -specific industry factors -international trade and monetary policies -cash flow within country -unemployment and job growth exchange rates -finance within the country -production level -energy cost 30 | P a g e | | | |Social/culture factor |Technological factor | | | | | | | |-people? lifestyles |-technological development and research funding | | | | |-technology access, licensing , patents | |-education | | | | | | |-advance information technology | |-media views | | | | | | |- product life cycle | |-consumer attitudes, opinion, trends and buying access | | | | | |-diversification, fads, and lifestyle changes |-joint ventures | | | | |-demographic | | | |-e-learning, m-learning, emails, and software changes | | | | |-staff attitude and management style | | |Legal factors |Environmental factor | | | | | | | |-current company laws at home country market |-environmental issues-international, national, local | | | |-future legislations |-environmental laws | | | | | | | |-employment laws |-staff attitude, management style, organisational culture ,etc | | | | | |-market and stakeholders/investors values | |-trade union laws | | | | | | |-EU based factors | |-international business laws | | | | | | | | |-competitive regulations | | Table 1 PESTEL analysis for environmental scanning- (Wilson and Gilligan, 1998) 31 | P a g e 3. 2. 3Micro environment Microenvironment acts as an environment that affects the capacity of the organisation to operate effectively and efficiently in i ts selected market. Modification of these elements of environment is totally in the hands organisation. Microenvironment is the set of factors and forces which influence on marketing opportunities of particular enterprise, its customer, competitors, suppliers, intermediaries, and other contact audience. It includes the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, there physical and human resources, buyers, sellers, competitors and distribution channels of the company. The nature of microenvironment is considered as very important function of the microenvironment. It is very important for marketers to deal with all these situations to develop an efficient market strategy. 32 | P a g e 3. 2. 4Porter’s approach The competitive strategy is the firm? relative positions within the industry. Buying power of buyers and suppliers their bargaining power and the threats of new entrants and substitutes in the market. These all may be more less all depend upon the nature of industry you are dealing with. The state of competition in an industry is the effect of five forces as shown below. It is very difficult for a company to operate business activities in perfectly competitive industry with a no difficulty of entry, as weaker the effect of five forces on the market more opportunities for industry will come out. Threat of New entrants Industry competitor Bargaining power of suppliers Intensity of rivalry Bargaining power of customers Threat of substitute product or services Figure 5- Porter? s five force model source- (Jobber and Fahy, 2006) 33 | P a g e 3. 2. 5Internal market audit Internal marketing audit is all about analysing the issues inside the company and to find the way to cover up from them. So if we talk product standardization of the company, internal marketing environment also plays a major role in the process of decision making of company? s strategies. There are some factors below in internal market environment which effect decision making policy of a company: -Company? s own reputation in market -Company? international goals -Cost and R D -Company? s physical and human resources -Companies own policies and ethics When a company decide to go globalized, company have to decide their brand image. How they want to appear in international market, do they have enough recourse to maintain brand image, how do company design price and promotion strategies and where company wa nt to be after few years company? s aim mission and vision. 3. 2. 6Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning After analysing internal and external environment, company needs to analyse market segmentation so that the company can position themselves to serve targeted market. Market segmentation refers to the process of dividing a market into meaningful, relatively, similar, and identifiable segments or groups and Targeting is selecting one or more market segments for which an organisation designs, implements, and maintains distinctive marketing manner (Lamb, Hair et al. , 2005). In today? s epoch, the concept of STP is a tool to get desire result in the business in very efficient manner but there are still so many companies who do not show such believe in this concept. If we consider past researches on this concepts it shows that the organisation segmentation of market always play a major role in the success story of any company. Figure below show the eight stages of STP process in a very efficient manner. (Wilson and Gilligan, 1998) 34 | P a g e Situation analysis: Identify the organisation’s current position, capabilities, objectives and constraints. Market segmentation: †¢Identify the segmentation of variables and segment of the markets. à ¢â‚¬ ¢Develop profiles of each segment. Market targeting: †¢Evaluate the potential and attractiveness of each segment. †¢Select the target segment(s). Product positioning: †¢Identify the positioning concept within each target segment. †¢Select and develop the appropriate positioning concepts. The marketing mix: †¢Develop the marketing mix strategy. Table 2 stages of the segmentation, targeting and positioning process source- (Wilson and Gilligan, 1998) 35 | P a g e Market segmentation Market segment is a subgroup of people or organization sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product†(Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, 4th edition). Everyone in this world, it may be individual or organisation all comes under a market segment because they are only one of their kinds. As every human or organization have some similar characteristics among them, so the market segmentation helps marketers to identify and divide segments or groups in a very meaningful and respectable manner. It is the process of dividing a diverse market into a number of small sub-markets of common characteristics, so that they make marketing mix plan according to the nature of market and serve them efficiently. All the steps in segmenting a market is discuss in figure below: Select a market or product category for study. Choose basis or bases for segmenti ng the market. Select segment ation descripto rs. Profile and analyze segme nts Select target marke ts. Design, implemen t, and maintain appropria te marketing Steps in segmenting a market and subsequent activities (Lamb, Hair et al. , 2005) The core benefit of market segmentation drives a company to get hold and strengthen its position in market so that company can work more effectively and become a threat for their competitor. Beside these entire things this also provides a great knowledge about market and customer? s choice. There are three major approaches to marketing strategies which are: -Undifferentiated Marketing -Differentiated marketing -Focused marketing 36 | P a g e -Customized marketing 3. 2. 6. 1Undifferentiated marketing In this approach firms view whole market as one big market without any individual segments. These companies have a vision that the cost of developing separate marketing mix for different segments is much more useful then the gain occurs by meeting customer needs more closely. Mainly company with no completion adopt this kind of approach and develop same marketing mix for all the segments. Microsoft and coca-cola are the best example of this approach. 3. 2. 6. Differentiated marketing Differentiated marketing approach is very well- known market targeting strategy in cars, cosmetics, and fashion retailing industries. In this kind of approach company develops specific marketing mixes to meet with all or some of the market segments mainly when marketing segmentation expose sev eral potential targets. A cost economy is the one on of the potential drawback of this approach. 3. 2. 6. 3Focused marketing When a company identify lots of segments in market, it? s not necessary for the company to serve them all, depending on the company and nature of business that to which segment they want to target. Instead of targeting unattractive or non- profitable segment company target only one market and develop marketing mix for that. 3. 2. 6. Customized marketing In this type of approach the individual requirement of the customer is very rare but their purchasing power is more than sufficient that company can create different marketing mix for each customer. For example advertising and marketing research agencies, architects, solicitors. 37 | P a g e Undifferentiated marketing MARKETING MIXWHOLE MARKET Differentiated marketing MARKETING MIX 1Segment 1 MARKETING MIX 2Segment 2 MARKETING MIX MARKETING MIX 3 Segment 3 Customized marketing MARKETING MIX 1Customer 1 MARKET ING MIX 2Customer 2 MARKETING MIX 3Customer 3 Figure 6 Target marketing strategies source (Lamb, Hair et al. , 2005) 38 | P a g e 3. 2. 7Market segmentation approach Different markets are segmented in different ways; market segmentation is all depend upon the nature of business and strategy builders of the company. Marketers have to decide where they can find potential of company? s growth. After studying and analysing market, organisations have made the best segments to take the customers in to concern. If we talk about car industry, this market has a variety of segments. Whole market is split into different segments by their sizes, technical, or class to satisfy customers. When a company wants to launch its product in market the first thing they consider is segmented market and in car industry it is normally categorized with the following descriptions. CATEGORY |DESCRIPTIONS | |A |MINI CARS | |B |SMALL CARS | |C |LOWER MEDIUM CARS | |D |UPPER MEDIUM CARS | |E |EXECUTIVE CARS | |F |LUXURY CARS | |G |CABRIOLETS | |J |SPORTS UTILITY VEHICLES | |M |MINI VANS | |S |SPORT COUPES | | | | Table 3 Categorization of cars source- (Rawel, 2005) 39 | P a g e 3. 2. 7. 1Criteria for successful segmentation After segmenting a market, if a company want to determine whether company has properly segmented its market, five criteria are mainly consider: -Effective -Measurable -Accessible -Actionable -Profitable 3. 2. Target marketing Once the identification and selection of best market segmentation is done by marketer, the next step is to target market. By targeting a market company decide choice of particular market segment to serve customers efficiently so that they can meet the criteria of that particular segment. Before targeting any market a company need to consider some issues like organization? s objective and there physical and human resources ,structural attractiveness , size and growth potential of each segment. Organisation needs to evaluate their segments while considering all the criteria of successful segmentation. By evaluating segments, company gets the choice to enter into one or more segments and target market is the decision making moment for company to decide what and how many market segment in which to compete. 3. 2. 9Positioning After marketing segmentation and target market we come to 3rd important aspect of marketing management process. It is one of the most important and challenging aspect of marketing called as positioning. â€Å"The act of designing the company? s offering so that it occupies a meaningful and distinct position in the target customer? s mind. † (Jobber and Fahy, 2006) Positioning is all about holding a position in customer? s mind, so if customer thinks about such need the first image comes in his mind is your brand name. Positioning is a process of designing an image and value in customer? mind so that they can seek and ensure solution only from your brand rather then your competitor. For example if we talk about car industry, Volvo got a prestige image of s afest car in the world, Porsche 40 | P a g e got image of fastest car in the word so if we think about these needs these are the product which are going to come in mind first. Once the positioning strategy is decided then the next challenge is to develop successful positioning and the keys for successful positioning is described in figure below: [pic] Figure 7Keys to successful positioning (Jobber and Fahy, 2006) 41 | P a g e 3. 3MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES 3. 3. 1Marketing mix Marketing mix is defined as a tool used to reach company? objectives and goals in the target market. After analysing internal and external market, segmenting the market, targeting market, the next big and important step in formulation of marketing strategy is marketing mix. The marketing mix is a term used to describe the combination of tactics used by a business to achieve its objectives by marketing its products or services effectively to a particular target customer group. (Charted Institute of Marketing, 200 1) After knowing the target market, next task is then to describe what the target buys. The target buys a product at a place for a price after promotion brings it to the attention of the target market. Your marketing effort will not be centred around advertising alone because all components of marketing programs are essential, these components are generally known as the marketing mix, which are product, price, place, promotion. An effective marketing mix create effective product image in the minds of customers and also led company to be in the position to meet the needs and desires of the target market. Without having a good balance between the components of marketing mix, it? s very tough for any company to serve target market efficiently (Compucanada, 2008). Marketing mix is a mixture of marketing tools that are used to satisfy customers and company objectives. It is a framework for tactical management of the customer relationship, including product, place, price, promotion (the 4-Ps); but in the case of service three more elements are included in this model these are process, people, and physical evidence. (Jobber and Fahy, 2006) 3. 3. 2Components of marketing mix After a long time it is still the matter of debate that is marketing mix is consist of four, seven or ten elements. In general we consider there are only four Ps in marketing mix but if we talk about service sectors there are seven and ten in corporate marketing mix. 42 | P a g e Marketing mix is a framework which guides marketers to implement their marketing concept successfully. In general there is four component product, place, price and promotion that play a major role in decision making areas of company to at least satisfy customer? s need. According to (Kotler, 1998) The mix is a set of controllable tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. So by the effective mixture of element of marketing mix will led company to successfully achieve their marketing objectives. 3. 3. 3The 4-Ps of marketing The traditional marketing mix is consisting of four major elements, the â€Å"4-Ps of marketing†. These are defined below: 1. Product: â€Å"Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, services, places, organizations and ideas†. (Kotler, 1999) 2. Price: whatever values customers exchange while using any product or services is called as price. Usually it is the amount of money but it may be in different forms as well. 3. Promotion: Any activities that communicate advantages of the product or services to the target market and make insist customers to buy that product. 4. Place: where ever company offer their product or services to targeted customers. It represents the location where customers can buys product or services. (Centre, 2008a) As this dissertation is focused on automobile sector, so in this sector there is the need for marketing mix of product and services as well. They sell cars to customers as a product and processing the product till it reaches the customer, after sale services as the services to customers. These days almost every company is stressing on providing excellent service to customers and making service marketing mix because it helps company to compete in the fast competitive environment and build long term contact/relation with customers by providing best value to satisfy their needs better than competition. So in service marketing mix we consider three more elements and these elements are: The 7-Ps of services marketing 43 | P a g e 1. People: anyone who is directly or indirectly related to the consumption of service comes under people, e. g. employees or other consumers. 2. Process: â€Å"this is the procedure mechanisms and flow of activities by which a service is acquired. (Jobber and Fahy, 2006)Process decisions totally influence on how a service is provided to customers. 3. Physical evidence: the environment in which service is delivered which includes tangible goods and they help them to communicate and perform the service. The seven Ps are the factors that marketing can control, for better than as in internal and external marketing environment. The main aim of these factors is to make marketing mix strategies while keeping all these elements so that the company will get positive response. So these some elements of seven Ps which can be consider while decision making process as below: Product decisions: -Brand name and Functionality -Styling, quality and safety -Packaging -Repairs and support -Warranty Accessories and services Price decisions: -Pricing strategy (skim, penetration, etc) -Suggested retail price -Volume discounts and wholesale pricing -Cash and early payment discount -Seasonal pricing and Bundling -Price flexibility and discrimination Place decisions: -Distribution channel and market coverage -Specific channel members 44 | P a g e -Inventory and warehousing management -Distribution centres -Order processing and transportation -Reverse logistics Promotional decisions: -Promotional and advertising strategy -Personal selling, sales pr omotions and sales force -Public relations and publicity -Marketing communications budget (centre, 2008b) People decisions: -Employee selection -Employee training -Employee motivation Physical evidence: †¢Layout, decor and ease of access †¢Forms of presentation Process management: How customers are handled and managed the point of very first contact with the organization though to the point of very last contact. Product: The term Product doest only refer to physical goods but it includes intangible stuff as well that could be services or good? s packaging, warranty, after-sale services, brand name, company image, value and many more factors. It depend upon business to business that what they are offering to their customers, e. g. oca cola sells their cold drink as a physical good and Barclays bank sells financial services which are purely 45 | P a g e intangible but if u recognize they both are selling their brand name, company image, values and many more factors. Basically there are three levels of product: †¢Core product †¢Actual product †¢Augmented product(Mar keting Teacher, 2008) Core product: core product is intangible, not a physical product. No one can touch it, because core product is the benefit of the product. It is the benefit that makes that product valuable to customers. In case of car, convenience of transportation, speed of the car is the core benefit of car.

Airport Security Essays

Airport Security Essays Airport Security Essay Airport Security Essay The section of fatherland security has spent $ 40 billion reconstructing the air power security system since September 11. 2001. Since so airdrome security has changed drastically. changed the whole world’s attitude towards airport security. The terrorist onslaught besides showed the full universe how easy the old system was to pull strings and how much betterment airdromes need before they can genuinely be considered secure. The onslaughts forced the air hose industry to regenerate and beef up their focal point on security. Many airdromes in the U. S. have introduced cultural profiling since September 11. 2001 and the grounds shows this method has helped better airdrome security. The suspects who have since 9/11/01 been picked up are at least largely Arabs ( Gale Airport Security. Opposing Point of views Online Collection ) . Security cheques are non intended to abash or harm anybody ; they are a necessary safeguard to protect all riders including Muslims. Not merely does the TSA maintain an oculus on air hose security around the Earth. but besides they have many different beds of security in our nation’s airdromes. The newest and most polemically is the full organic structure scanner. These x-ray machines strip a individual down to their birthday suit. Airport screeners are now federal employees. Peoples are now holding to wait longer to be able to go through thru security line to look into in. many travellers get pulled aside for full organic structure hunts. There are 40 active full organic structure scanners at 19 different airdromes. by the terminal of the twelvemonth functionaries would wish 500 in topographic point. Today forty five 1000s employees are working as passenger’s screeners in more than four 100 airdromes around the state. Our top precedence is the safety of the going public. and TSA invariably strives to research and implement new engineerings that enhance security and strengthen privateness protections for the going public . ( TSA Takes Next Steps to Further Enhance Passenger Privacy. ) Though airport security was enforced. there was another incident. On Christmas December 25. 2009. a 23 twelvemonth old Nigerian named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to explode explosives aboard a Northwest Airlines flight going from Amsterdam to Detroit. Michigan. Abdulmutallab had hidden fictile explosives in his underclothes. which had gone undetected during the rider testing procedure. Abdulmutallab had besides been identified as holding connexion to the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda less than two months before the attempted bombardment. and his ain male parent had contacted the American embassy in Nigeria to warn them of his son’s extremist beliefs. The lone ground the bombardment Failed was because abdulmutallab did non decently trip the device. and other riders aboard the plane subdued him. Two hebdomads after that incident Obama disposal mandated excess scrutiny- including full organic structure glib downs- for people winging into the United States from 14 largely Moslem states. Under the new regulations. all citizens of Afghanistan. Algeria. Lebanon. Libya. Iraq. Nigeria. Pakistan. Saudi Arabia. Somalia and Yemen must have a rap down and an excess cheque of their carry-on bags before get oning a plane edge for the united provinces. functionaries said. Citizens of Cuba. Iran. Sudan and Syria- states considered state patrons of terrorism ( Airport Security January 6. 2010 ) . Airlines are still responsible for look intoing rider information against government-issued ticker lists intended to flag potentially unsafe travellers. Two of the lists are frequently referred to as the No-Fly ( Airport Security January 6. 2010 ) list. are the Terrorist Watch List . ( Airport Security January 6. 2010 ) and travellers looking on these lists are capable to more elaborate hunt or in the instance of the No Fly list. are denied the ability to go. We should appreciate that the airdrome security is doing our trip safe and unafraid. Any incommodiousness people feel is unimportant compared with salvaging lives by forestalling terrorist onslaughts.

Free Essays on Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson Marilyn Manson: Pushing the 1st Amendment Marilyn Manson is a name that has been a thorn in the side of society as a moral and ethical issue for the parents and kids of the generation â€Å"X†. He is one of the most controversial artists in the world today, one who chooses to express himself in a way that provokes in the most extreme methods possible. His methods are bizarre and shunned by most of society, as it cannot fathom what he is trying to accomplish. However, further research into his life and beliefs will explain that he is sending a very strong message to the world. A message that is firmly protect by the First Amendment in the American Constitution. This freedom has unleashed a number of technical issues, as well as indirect damage done by the people who would interpret his message incorrectly. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association (assembly). It also protects the rights of citizens to worship as they plea se and the right not to be forced to support someone else’s religion. The First Amendment also provides for the right to assemble and to demand a change in government policies. (Bill of Rights, Encarta 1999 CDROM). Manson uses this freedom fully, getting his message across by any means possible, mainly to the younger generation. These younger generations are more accepting of his attitude and beliefs, partly due to the fact that teens are more susceptible to mass persuasion and are easily confused. This has helped Manson conjure up a large loyal following of disgruntled teens that are called â€Å"Mansonites.† How Manson gets his message across has been the center of controversy revolving around the US ever since Manson’s rise to stardom. His moral, ethical and religious actions have been questioned repeatedly. His ethics may be a representation of how disorientated American society has become in the late 1990s. Alternatively, Manson may simply... Free Essays on Marilyn Manson Free Essays on Marilyn Manson Marilyn Manson Marilyn Manson: Pushing the 1st Amendment Marilyn Manson is a name that has been a thorn in the side of society as a moral and ethical issue for the parents and kids of the generation â€Å"X†. He is one of the most controversial artists in the world today, one who chooses to express himself in a way that provokes in the most extreme methods possible. His methods are bizarre and shunned by most of society, as it cannot fathom what he is trying to accomplish. However, further research into his life and beliefs will explain that he is sending a very strong message to the world. A message that is firmly protect by the First Amendment in the American Constitution. This freedom has unleashed a number of technical issues, as well as indirect damage done by the people who would interpret his message incorrectly. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association (assembly). It also protects the rights of citizens to worship as they plea se and the right not to be forced to support someone else’s religion. The First Amendment also provides for the right to assemble and to demand a change in government policies. (Bill of Rights, Encarta 1999 CDROM). Manson uses this freedom fully, getting his message across by any means possible, mainly to the younger generation. These younger generations are more accepting of his attitude and beliefs, partly due to the fact that teens are more susceptible to mass persuasion and are easily confused. This has helped Manson conjure up a large loyal following of disgruntled teens that are called â€Å"Mansonites.† How Manson gets his message across has been the center of controversy revolving around the US ever since Manson’s rise to stardom. His moral, ethical and religious actions have been questioned repeatedly. His ethics may be a representation of how disorientated American society has become in the late 1990s. Alternatively, Manson may simply...

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - Essay Example Womens roles were limited to that of a homemaker, where she took care of her children and husband without any complains what so ever. Education during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was not a state organized or centrally controlled affair. It was run mainly by the churches in the locality or by charitable organizations where children of the middle and upper classes were not sent for education. At this time class distinction was at its peak, great stress being laid on family wealth and powerful connections. Children of the affluent class were imparted education at the privacy of their homes and women were mostly taught lessons that would help them to run their future homes, like practical lessons related to cookery, sewing, singing, dancing and religious classes. Teaching Greek and Latin were a privilege kept mainly for the boys and the very few grammar schools that did exist did not admit girls. Well known educational institutions like the Eton, Oxford and Cambridge were special facilities reserved for the boys only. Higher education was seen as a completely masculine domain were women dared not to enter. Young men who wanted to further themselves in the social milieu opted for the church, law or the army. Women saw the scope of social advancement and wealth acquisition only through marriages and their social upbringing were aimed at this. With not much of a career and no political rights as such, higher education for women was not even considered an option during those times. The patriarchal nature is aptly shown in the starting lines of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, as Jane Austen tells us in a satirical tone â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife† (Austen, p.1). In this famous novel Austen paints a wonderful picture of the social fabric of the late eighteenth century England.

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Research Paper

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Sexual Response Cycle - Research Paper Example Knowledge of the terminology commonly used in sexual and mental health studies is crucial for the study of the interrelationship between the two. The physiology of sexual functioning can be best described through the sexual response cycle which is divided into four phases i.e. desire, excitement, orgasm and resolution. The sexual response cycle is regulated by a multi-component system involving endocrine glands, autonomic nervous system, sex hormones and neurotransmitters which intimates the relationship between sexual health and mental health. Sexual dysfunction refers to problems experienced during any of the phases of the sexual response cycle hence preventing an individual from obtaining satisfaction from sexual activity. Statistics present on sexual dysfunction indicate that about 41% of women and 34% of men in the general population experienced various manifestations of sexual problems ranging from diminished libido, vaginal dryness, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and anorgasmia (Outhoff, 2009). Further breakdown of the epidemiology reveals that 35% of women and 16% of men experience inhibited sexual desire; 10-20% of men experience premature ejaculation while a further 35% experience erectile dysfunction. The prevalence of orgasm problems among women is 5-15% (Baldwin et al. 2003). Among the several causes of sexual disorders, discovery of a link with psychopathology stands out with sexual dysfunction being a common symptom among depressed individuals as indicated by the fact that sexual dysfunction occurs in only 26% of normal individuals while it stands at 45% of depression cases. Widespread use of antidepressant medications also led to the realization that such drugs had an adverse effect on sexual functioning with several experimental studies confirming this (Jespersen, 2006). The strong link between depression, antidepressants and sexual dysfunction alongside the grave statistics of sexual problems are the considerations that informed t his study. Undertaking this study is important as more knowledge on the link between the two needs to be generated through experimental, meta-analytical and review approaches and the research findings communicated to medical practitioners especially with the growing importance of evidence-based practice. Such research findings have the potential of influencing the prescription and treatment decisions for depression. This study will undertake to review literature from experimental studies into the effects of depression and antidepressant medications on the sexual response cycle after which the implications of the study findings on sexual health intervention research and policy will be discussed. The approach of the literature review will be through analyzing information from experimental research into the issue with focus given to work from the turn of the millennium so as to get up-to-date findings on the subject. Each study will be analyzed in terms of research topic theory, the me thod undertaken for the research and finally the research findings and conclusions arrived at by the researchers. Review of Literature Peng et al. (2006) undertook a study to find out the relationship between physiological and psychological factors with sexual dysfu

Retail atmospherics are quite well studied but are poorly explained Essay

Retail atmospherics are quite well studied but are poorly explained - Essay Example Before examining the claim that retail atmospherics are thoroughly studied but not stated well, we need to define what is meant by retail atmospherics. According to Kotler (1974), it is the effort to design buying environments to produce specific emotional effects in the buyer that enhances his purchase probability. A renewed interest was created in retail atmospherics through the caricature reporting by the Wall Street Journal showing a bank manager asking a customer’s opinion on the background music, which the manager has boasted of selecting himself. Such complex decisions as presenting background music are made irrationally in retail ambience. It gives the impression that no serious thought is given on creating retail atmospherics to provide a memorable experience to customers in the retail industry. Such decisions if taken rationally and thoughtfully can create a positive impact on customer perceptions of service quality, purchase, and consumption behaviour (Chebat & Dube , 2000). Developing of a customer experience has become very crucial with the importance given to the purchase of commodities. Expectations from retail managers have increased to create an environment of understanding in creating the atmospheric resources for providing the desired customer experience. Challenges in the retail atmospheric research lie in understanding the psychology of consumer reactions on the one hand and the functional requirements and planning at the firm level to provide that experience to the customers on the other hand (Chebat & Dube, 2000). Babin and Attaway (2000) have specifically worked on developing a reliable mechanism tool to innovatively measure the customers’ behavioural outcomes. Customer spending is directly impressed by a store’s capacity to create value that benefits the customer. It was found that environmentally inspired emotions affect relative spending by the customer. Their research indicates that customer behaviour can be induc ed by developing the right retail atmosphere. The value of shopping through the relationship of the customer behaviour with the retail environment provided by the retailer is justified. Research has been done on the relation between shopping behaviour and environmental factors via transformations in emotional feelings. Shoppers’ behaviour was examined through fixed time and changing time during a simulated shopping test. It included listening experience of different but familiar music provided to the shoppers. Later on shoppers’ outlook on shopping time, their mental state and product appraisal were recorded, which indicated that shoppers spent long hours while listening to favourite music, which was their perception but actually they spent long hours shopping when listening to not-popular music. Limited actual shopping times in the known music scenario were associated with increased awareness. Longer assumed shopping hours by the shoppers in popular music listening ex perience were associated to unmeasured cognitive factors. Mental states of the shoppers played a part in taking a purchase decision on a product but these impressions were not directly associated to the playing of music (Yalch and Spangenberg, 2000). Research by Turley and Milliman (2000)) also shows that impact of music is not positive and good always. Their review shows weakness of the theoretical base. Majority of customer emotion measures depend on store type. Functional and job-oriented environments are related with lower levels of pleasure and arousal-related emotions, which provides an alternative to Mehrabian and Russel (1974)) model on environmental psychology. By changing the store design and settings, emotional shopping results can be

Competition law in Nigeria

Competition law in Nigeria INTRODUCTION SCOPE OF THESIS The area of Competition law in Nigeria remains an area of law that has not been fully tapped. Currently, there is no competition law operating in Nigeria and although there has been a bill, it is yet to be passed to law. The ongoing lack of a competition law regime has quite predictably led to price-fixing, excessive pricing of products , market concentration as well as domination being the order of the day, all to the detriment of the consumer. The primary objective of this thesis therefore, is to discover the value of introducing Competition law in Nigeria and indeed a sector specific Competition Law to the Nigerian Communications Industry. The theses will begin by examining the global significance of Nigeria and the position of Nigeria as a developing economy. This research further seeks to examine the state of the Nigerian telecommunications industry and the steps that have been taken by the Nigerian Government towards the opening up of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The thesis will also look at both the arguments for and against the introduction of a competition law in Nigeria and a specific competition law in the telecommunications industry which forms the main focus of this research. The present situation in Nigeria can be likened to a market where all the telecommunications providers provide their services at the same price, a price that always seems to be a little higher week after week, In such a case, what might have happened is that the telecommunications providers have formed cartels so that they can force up prices and make large profits. If such is the case, it is the welfare of the customers that suffers because of the lack of competition. Competition issues in various sectors of the economy are handled by other regulatory regimes such as The Special Trade and Malpractices Investigation panel, standards organisation of Nigeria, Nigerian Civil Aviation authority, Securities and Exchange commission, Central Bank of Nigeria, and of particular importance to this thesis, The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) which is the national regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The question that arises however is whether the regulations set out by the NCC are sufficient to promote and preserve competition. This thesis will analyse the position of the NCC as a regulator of the Nigerian telecommunications industry. RATIONALE AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In carrying out this research, the author will rely on a collection of theories, comparative study of the Law in different jurisdictions and Interviews with various individuals who have experience in this field. Primary and secondary sources of information will be used to collect and analyze data to come to a viable conclusion. The primary sources which the author will utilize include authoritative materials of the law such as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, statutes and legislations in force, official publications and judicial decisions relating to competition law, telecommunications law and Privatization in Nigeria. Books, journals, articles, dictionaries, periodicals, newspapers, The Federal Competition Bill and internet documents will constitute secondary sources of information. These are materials which pertain to law but are not themselves authoritative records of legal rules. A comparative study of competition law systems in other jurisdictions will also form a part of the study. In order to make this thesis logical, the author will sketch headings and arrange materials to accommodate research findings. Headings and cross headings will not only assist to readily identify where a particular point has been dealt with, it will also make the theses flow in a logical way and keep the readers interested. Because the area of law to being researched in this thesis is relatively young in Nigeria, it is necessary to perform foundation research and as such, secondary sources of research will be highly relied upon in this thesis. Challenges of Research Methodology: It is widely accepted that competition authorities in developed and developing countries alike encounter challenges and obstacles in their effort to promote competition and enforce their various competition laws. While the challenges faced are similar in nature their degrees vary across countries. It has been observed that Developing countries such as Nigeria do not generally place the implementation and administration of competition law on their priority lists. They are generally of the mind that it is like giving a silk tie to a hungry child. However, with the changing global landscape, trade barriers being removed and markets becoming more integrated, developing countries find themselves in the situation in which they now have no choice but to institute the relevant legislation. The implementation of institutional reform that the developed countries took several decades to accomplish is now being thrust upon developing countries which do not have the luxury of time, the requisite skill or the resources. In the same vein, in carrying out research on competition law in the Nigerian telecommunications industry, the author came across various research challenges. The main challenge has been the inability to get research materials. This is due to the fact that the area of research is still in its infant stage in Nigeria as a result there is not enough written material on it. Further, it is a very contentious and political issue as a result; companies, institutions and individuals who have access to necessary material or information are not willing to release information. The Bureaucratic nature of Nigerian Institutions also posed as a major challenge to this research. This is because there are many levels of management, much paperwork and impersonal officials working to a fixed routine who seem to find it difficult to provide necessary information or give necessary interviews which would be advantageous to this research paper. The unstable state of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) which operated monopoly status in the Nigerian Telecommunications industry for a long time also proved to be a challenge in getting research information. This is because as management of NITEL changed, the operations change and this makes it difficult to get information on previous happenings in the company. Other challenges faced by the author in the research process came in the telephone interview process. This is because some people do not have telephones or do not have their telephone numbers listed. People also often dislike intrusion of a call to their homes and never have time for a telephone interview at work. Also telephone interviews need to be relatively short or people get impatient or feel imposed on. The use of the internet as a form of research also came with its own challenges some of which include accuracy and reliability of information obtained from online sources and difficulties in verifying a writers credentials. COUNTRY PROFILE AND GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE OF NIGERIA The Federal Republic of Nigeria consists of 36 states and 774 local governments administrations. The Capital city is Abuja, located in the Federal Capital Territory and it is geographically situated in the middle of the Country. Nigeria has a population of over 148 million making it the largest market in sub-Saharan Africa with reasonably skilled and potential manpower for efficient and effective management of investment projects within the country. Nigeria is a regional power and it is listed among the Next eleven economies Nigeria is a nation blessed with an abundance of natural and mineral resources as well as renewable energy sources. Its oil reserves make Nigeria in the league of the top ten petroleum rich nations, and by far the most affluent in Africa. Nigeria is a member of the organisation of petroleum exporting nations which makes it significant to the world at large. The petroleum industry in Nigeria has brought unprecedented changes in the Nigerian economy, particularly in the past five decades when it replaced agriculture as the cornerstone of the Nigerian economy and contributes the lion share of in the nations gross domestic product, accounting for the bulk of federal government revenue and foreign exchange earnings. The Nigerian economy can be described as most promising. Nigeria has however been long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management. Nigerias former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from its overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 80% of budgetary revenues. Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in August 2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the Paris Club and a $1 billion credit from the IMF, both contingent on economic reforms. Nigeria has a mixed economy which accommodates all; individuals, corporate organisations and government agencies to invest in almost all economic activities. Over the last decade, the Nigerian government has introduced some economic measures such as liberalisation and privatisation of sectors that had been monopolies, with the purpose of introducing competition, wealth creation and encouraging foreign investors. In 2003, the Nigerian government instituted the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), a domestically designed and run program modelled on the IMFs Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for fiscal and monetary management[4]. NEEDS focused on four key strategies; poverty reduction, wealth creation, employment generation and value re-orientation. The initiative has recorded remarkable achievements, meeting most of its targets, and in some instances surpassing them. In November 2005, Nigeria won Paris Club approval for a debt-relief deal that eliminated $18 billion of debt in exchange for $12 billion in payments a total package worth $30 billion of Nigerias total $37 billion external debt. The deal requires Nigeria to be subject to stringent IMF reviews. OVERVIEW OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY The telecommunications industry forms a major infrastructural requirement for any meaningful economic development to take place in a country. The importance of a robust telecommunications infrastructure cannot be over emphasized as it is pertinent to economic growth, and constitutes a significant portion of the worlds economy. This chapter discusses the historical and present state of the global telecommunications industry with particular focus on Nigeria. The Chapter will consider the policy approach to deregulation of the Nigerian telecommunications industry, as well as provide an overview of the evolution of the Nigerian telecommunications industry from the colonial times to full liberalisation as is the position now Over the last one hundred and thirty (130) years, the global telecommunications industry has experienced an unprecedented growth from an almost unnoticed analogue telephony to a modern digital mobile communication with billions of subscribers worldwide. This is evident in the Europe and Latin American telecommunications market worth â‚ ¬424bn in 2007, with mobile services accounting for 51%. The Evolution of the Global Telecommunications Industry The African telecommunications market being the fastest growing telecoms market in the world plays host to the next wave of global competition. In 2006 alone, mobile companies signed up about 60 million new subscribers across the continent, as many people as the entire population of the United Kingdom. Africas unique infrastructure challenges have made telecommunications (particularly mobile phones) an indispensable business and social tool. Despite impressive recent growth in telecommunications, penetration rates in Africa remain relatively low, thereby suggesting a large underlying potential market in this populous continent. It is expected that 260 million new subscribers will be added across Africa by 2014, nearly equal to the present population of the entire United States of America. THE NIGERIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY In consonance with the global trend in the telecommunications industry, Nigeria shares a similar success story over the past 130 years of navigating its telecommunications operations. The figure below shows incremental successes achieved within the Nigeria telecoms industry. The Evolution of the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry HISTORY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN NIGERIA Telecommunications facilities came into being in 1886 by the colonial administration. The initial purpose was merely to carry out administrative duties as opposed to the provision of socio economic development for the country. Thus, the introduction of public telegraph services connecting Lagos by submarine cable along the west coast of Africa to Ghana, Sierra-Leone, Gambia and on to England was more important than an efficient telecommunications network. Subsequently, as at 1960 when Nigeria gained her independence, there were only 18,724 telephone lines available for a population estimated at 40 million people. This translated to a tele-density of about 0.5 telephone lines per 1,000 people. The telephone network consisted of 121 exchanges out of which 116 were of the manual (magneto) type and only 5 were automatic. Since independence, there have been a number of development plans for the expansion and modernisation of the telecommunications networks and services. Most of these plans were not fully implemented. After the Nigerian Independence in 1965 and up until 1985, the telecommunications industry was divided into: The department of Posts and Telecommunications (P T) and The Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET) Limited, P T took charge of the internal network while NET overlooked the external telecommunications services and provided the gateway to the outside world. By the end of 1985, the installed switching capacity was about 200,000 lines as against the planned target of about 460,000. All the exchanges were analogue, and telephone penetration remained poor equal to 1 telephone line to 440 inhabitants, well below the target of 1 telephone line to 100 inhabitants recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for developing countries. The quality of service was largely unsatisfactory, the telephone was unreliable, congested, expensive and customer unfriendly. These unsatisfactory services led to the split of P T in January 1985, it was divided into Postal Division and Telecommunications Divisions. The telecommunications division was merged with NET to form Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL),a limited liability Company, while the Postal Division was reconstituted into another organisation called the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST). NITEL On establishment, NITEL became the national operator for telecommunications services in Nigeria. Although efforts are being made to privatise NITEL, and indeed there was a recent privatisation attempt where by 51% equity stake of NITEL was sold to core investors, this privatisation attempt was reversed and NITEL remains wholly owned by the Government of Nigeria. NITEL was set up to reverse the defects which characterised telecommunications development from independence up until 1984[11]. Its main objective was to harmonise the co ordination of the external and internal telecommunications services, rationalise investments in telecommunications development and provide easy access, efficient and affordable services. The historical key businesses of NITEL include fixed telephony services including international, internet, payphone and interconnection; Long distance carrier including fixed international calls and satellite services; cellular, including all cellular activity carried out within M-Tel. After the inception of NITEL,little progress was made in the development of the telecommunications industry and it was still characterised with poor management, lack of accountability and transparency and inefficiency. At this time, NITEL occupied a monopoly status and being owned by the Government, this resulted in its having a weak infrastructure base, high unmet demand, Lines concentrated in selected urban areas, slow growth of subscriber base and limited investment into the telecommunications sector. In order to tackle these short comings, and in line with what obtains in several developed nations, The Government of Nigeria identified that Liberalisation of the Telecommunications market was essential for rapid network growth. Private sector participation was essential for attracting financial resources, innovation and new technology. The industry was thus deregulated through the establishment of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) by Decree No. 75 of 1992. The NCC has since approved almost 200 operating licenses for private providers of various telecommunications services, including internet services providers, which of course has in turn generated a high demand for telecommunications equipment, accessories, consultancy and technical partnerships. In addition, NITEL has approved various private firms to be connected to its switching systems so as to provide more lines (with greater efficiency and service) and thus act as a buffer for the grossly inadequate NITEL services. Despite all these efforts, it was quite clear that there was a dire need for the Nigerian Government to be more pro-active about improving telecommunications. As such, in 2000, the NCC awarded licenses for Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM) to NITEL by auction to two preferred bidders Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited and MTN Nigeria Limited. The licenses were bought at almost US$240million dollars, the highest amounts ever paid for such licenses in the world. The GSM technology has completely overshadowed NITELs land lines, as the demand is high for them due to efficiency, despite the astronomical tariffs its consumers are subjected to. These cumulative events eventually spurred the NCC, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (its secretariat) to seek to privatise NITEL by requesting for Core investors to acquire controlling interest in the entity and manage its day to day activities. The privatization of NITEL has always been shrouded in controversies and politics. Many people are of the view that the Federal Government has not shown enough seriousness or sincerity in the many attempts to sell the telecommunications company. The first attempt in 2002 to privatise NITEL could not materialise due to the failure of Investment International Limited (ILL) of Britain to pay the $1.317 billion it offered for the 31 per cent shares of the company. ILL paid up the mandatory 10 per cent deposit, but was unable to make up the balance by the end of several deadline Periods, thereby derailing the process. Another attempt was made in 2003 with the engagement of a Dutch company, called Pentascope to manage NITEL and put it on sound footing preparatory to its sale. This one also collapsed. In the third attempt, Orascomm of Egypt offered $256.43 million for 51 per cent shares of NITEL. This offer was considered ridiculously low, and, so the government cancelled the deal. This has been the story of the efforts to privatize this big and potentially rich government-owned telecommunications firm. One deal that stood out was the Pentascope agreement. While Pentascope was expected to revitalize NITEL, Pentascope ended up not only ruining the company but it mounting up huge debts for the company as well. In particular, when Pentascope took over NITEL in March 2003, NITEL had about N17.7 billion in its coffers. However about a year later when its agreement with NITEL was terminated, it had left NITEL with a debt burden of N38 billion and a reduction in the number of functional land lines from 455,000 to 288,000. It therefore seems correct to state that the singular error of picking Pentascope as the management consultant to NITEL in 2003 is largely responsible for the pitiable condition the company finds itself in today. In 2006, 51 per cent equity in NITEL was sold to another company, Transnational Corporation[16], (TRANSCORP), for US $ 500 million. However, this process also failed to turn around the operator as TRANSCORP has been unable to raise the money to overcome the many problems of NITEL. The Nigerian government holds 49% of NITEL. The government however, wants Transcorp to sell 27% of Nitel to a new investor, which would then purchase a further 24% from the government to take control. This new core investor was scheduled to take over in February 2009; however this has not yet happened. In the meantime, the NCC has awarded a second national carrier license to Globacom Nigeria Limited, the only company out of three who expressed an Interest that was able to come up with the US$20 million 10% deposit of the Auction price requested by the NCC. Government was of the belief that a second National carrier would offer much needed competition to NITEL. Globacom has since commenced operations and as of today, it has the third highest subscriber network in the Country. POLICY APPROACH TO DEREGULATION AND PRIVATIZATION Liberalisation and privatisation It was only a matter of time before it became clear to Nigerian policy-makers that a shift in its policies was required. The over-regulation of the economy had become unhelpful, the economy was anaemic, and the Government had trouble keeping up with subventions to State owned enterprises, many of whom, at any rate, were inefficiently and unprofitably run. For SOEs in the telecommunication sector such as NITEL, the implications of its inefficiency for the entire economy were very far-reaching as it contributed to the retardation of the countrys overall industrial development. The merits of a deregulated economy were thus too overpowering for the Nigerian Government to ignore: much-needed foreign direct investment was to be attracted, bringing in tow the required technology, management and technical skills that would not only boost the economy but would transform the SOEs. To achieve this, however, it was obvious that radical legal reforms would have to be undertaken. Following the collapse of communism and apartheid, more countries joined the race for foreign investors. Investment climates therefore needed to be competitive. Before then, through the indigenisation policy pursued since the early 1970s, foreign investors in Nigeria had to contend with ceding a portion of their business to local investors. The real challenge, however, lay in removing regulation and monopoly so that foreign investors could have a level playing field. What followed was a rash of laws designed to facilitate foreign direct investment in Nigeria. Significant among these reforms was the repeal of the Nigerian Enterprises Promotions Decree 1989 (under which the indigenisation policy was sustained), and in its place came the Nigerian Investment Promotion Decree No.16, 1995 which made it possible for an enterprise to be 100 per cent owned by foreign investors. Also, the Exchange Control Act 1990 under which foreign investors required the approval of the Minister of Finance in order to transfer profits abroad was repealed in favour of the Foreign Exchange Decree No.15, 1995 that guaranteed free transfer of capital. The Companies Act 1968 was also repealed in favour of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990, a more comprehensive and forward-looking company code. Against these reforms, Nigeria began its gradual journey towards deregulation, privatisation and a free market economy. However, as the free market was a model that had never previously been applied in Nigeria, its handlers had trouble grappling with it, and this led to the initial efforts being short-lived.This was followed by another privatisation law, the Bureau of Public Enterprises Decree, 1993. Privatization In every great monarchy in Europe, the sale of crown lands will produce a very large sum of money, which if applied to the payment of public debts, would deliver from mortgage a much greater revenue than any which those lands have ever afforded to the crownWhen the crown lands become private property, they will in the course of a few years become well improved and well cultivated ADAM SMITH, WEALTH OF NATIONS (1776). The term privatization is used to describe a range of different policy initiatives designed to alter the balance between the public and private sectors. It commonly refers to the transfer of ownership and control of enterprise from the state to the private sector.This may occur in various ways, such as, the sale of all or part of the privatized companys equity to the public, or the sale of the company as a complete entity. It may also take the form of joint ventures, where the private sector will invest in a public enterprise Privatization as a tool for economic management came about in the early 1970s when Chile became the first country to turn public businesses to private operators. Since then, over 140 countries have embraced privatization as a route to economic growth and prosperity. In the process of privatization, more investible capital has been injected into the various economies through local and foreign investors to the benefit of the country at large. In the process, funds that would have been committed to the maintenance of otherwise inefficient enterprises have been freed into more productive sectors of the economy. Privatization in Nigeria Privatization in Nigeria was formally introduced by the Privatization and Commercialization Act of 1988[25], This Act set up the Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization (TCPC) with a mandate to privatize 111 public enterprises and commercialize 34 others. In 1993, having privatized 88 out of the 111 enterprises listed in the decree, the TCPC concluded its assignment and submitted a final report. Based on the recommendation of the TCPC, the Federal Military Government promulgated the Bureau for Public Enterprises Act of 1993, which repealed the 1988 Act and set up the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to implement the privatization program in Nigeria. As at May 1999 the Federal Government investment in these public enterprises was in the region of US$100 billion. In spite of these massive investments, however, public enterprises have failed to perform the functions and attain the objectives for which they were set up. The gross failure of these enterprises to live up to expectations is partly responsible for the current move towards economic liberalization, competition and privatization. The philosophy behind privatization in Nigeria therefore is to restructure and rationalize the public sector not only to lessen the dominance of unproductive investments in the sector but also to initiate the process of gradual cession to the private sector of public enterprises which are believed to be better operated by the private sector. It is also expected that the privatization programme will provide the channel for reintegrating Nigeria back into the global economy as a platform to attract foreign direct investment in an open, fair and transparent manner. THE ENABLING PRIVATISATION LAWS Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act 1999 provides the enabling legislation for the implementation of the privatization and commercialization programme. This Act created the National Council on Privatization (NCP) whose functions include: making policies on privatization and commercialization; determining the modalities for privatization and advising the government accordingly; determining the timing of privatization for particular enterprises; approving the prices for shares and the appointment of privatization advisers; ensuring that commercialized public enterprises are managed in accordance with sound commercial principles and prudent financial practices; and Interfacing between the public enterprises and the supervising ministries in order to ensure effective monitoring and safeguarding of the managerial autonomy of the public enterprises. The 1999 Act also established the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) as the secretariat of the National Council on Privatization. The functions of the bureau include among others to do the following: implement the councils policies on privatization and commercialization; prepare public enterprises approved by the council for privatization and commercialization; advise the council on capital restructuring needs of enterprises to be privatized; ensure financial discipline and accountability of commercialized enterprises; make recommendations to the council in the appointment of consultants, advisers, investment bankers, issuing houses, stockbrokers, solicitors, trustees, accountants, and other professionals required for the purpose of either privatization or commercialization; and Ensure the success of privatization and commercialization implementation through monitoring and evaluation. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Nigerian laws dealing with the issues of privatization do not exist in a vacuum. It is part of the body of laws governing the transfer and acquisition of property in Nigeria. The most fundamental legal document in Nigeria is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. Under sections 43 and 44 of the Constitution, the right of the individual to own movable and immovable property is guaranteed by the Constitution. As a corollary to this guarantee, these properties cannot be acquired by the Government without the payment of compensation. The issue that has been discussed very frequently is whether the guarantees protect the sale of shares. This depends on whether the shares are movable property under the Constitution. It has been argued that since shares are choses in action they are not strictly so called movable property. They are special specie; consequently they are not protected under the Constitution. If this argument prevails it means that if a NEW Government which does not share the philosophy of the recent Governments ascends to power, it can reacquire the shares which it had disposed off through privatisation without any obligation to pay compensation for the share. At present the position of the Constitution should not create any serious alarm because, Under the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission Act, Decree No. 16 1995 (the law enacted to encourage inflow of investments in Nigeria) the Government of Nigeria guarantees expressly that no compulsory acquisition of enterprises and interests shall take place in Nigeria. This clearly includes chooses in action. Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Decree 1995 A major factor which provided a catalyst for the privatization process was the need to attract foreign investment. The commanding height of the economy theory had failed to attract investments. The oil boom had disappeared and it was necessary to augment national revenue through foreign investment. The laws governing the allocation of foreign exchange had to be adapted in such a manner as to make it very attractive to the foreign investor. Consistent with this spirit of liberalization and privatization of the economy the rules