China Country Identification Essay Example for Free

China Country Identification Essay The company has brought to our attention that it desires to expand into the Eastern Asian market where it is believed that the opportunity will be best and certainly more than double its profits by this venture. The Country of choice will be China; location is the city of Macau, which is an established trading center in Southeast Asia. B. Major Cross-Cultural Issues and Impacts: There are some marketing aspects to consider. Our approach must be culture sensitive to be successful. Insulting anyone in our business relations for work in China could end the deal or cause unnecessary delays. It is vital for all personnel involved in this venture to train with care in the marketing and cultural behaviors of the Chinese. Culture is a major issue and the company must be meticulous with training in order to be accepted. The Asian cultures are very careful about not losing face and this is critical. Keeping face goes back to Confucianism, which focuses on ones duty and loyalty, honor, sincerity, and keeping harmony with all those related to them through family, business, and social ties. This is strictly followed with respect for age first in any of these relationships. One must never lose face with any of these ties for to lose face is to lose honor. The concept of face translates as honor, good reputation, and respect. There are four types of face. Face behavior is power-oriented behavior with the purpose of maintaining stability or control of one’s self. Diumianzi originates from the word mian and directly relates to one’s reputation or place in society. It is actions or deeds, which others have observed, and it is earned. Geimianzi is response to or giving of face to another through showing respect to the other person. Liumianzi is developed by avoiding mistakes and showing wisdom in making decisions. Jiangmianzi, when face is increased through others by another complementing one to a business partner or associate. Saving face or reputation is very strong in the Chinese culture. People are generally reserved, quiet, and refined. No boisterous or loud behavior is acceptable and considered in poor taste. Another way to explain this is quiet dignity, always keeping control of one’s emotions. The personnel who are involved in this business venture will need to beware of the quiet reserved behaviors of the Chinese and adopt such behavior in respect and get to know well each Chinese in the business relationship. It is important to save face at all times and avoid blunders or mistakes of our  Western culture, and never criticize the Chinese or any others involved in the business or personal relationship in Macau, China. This includes any associates whether foreign or domestic (China 2010). When greeting in China, the eldest is always greeted first and though a handshake is most common among Chinese with foreigners, sometimes with the elderly or government officials a slight bow will be given. During the greeting exchange, it is the practice by the Chinese to look at the ground when shaking hands or bowing along while addressing the individual with their honorific title and surname (China 2010). Visiting and eating also have special rules. A guest always waits for the host to give direction for seating. Formal dinners have different rules on seating arrangements. The conversation at meals is light, no business, or personal talk. The host will always serve an abundance of food. The host will usually escort a guest outside their home a distance even down a street and the guest should politely resist with the special ritual of hospitality. It is customary to bring a wrapped gift presented with two hands when invited to the home of a Chinese. In China, they do not open a gift in front of the giver; this is to avoid embarrassment for gifts that are not needed. Both the giver and receiver will always use both hands for the gift. Another very important gesture is to refuse the gift three times before accepting it; this shows that one is not greedy. Once the gift is accepted, it is important to express thanks to them for accepting the gift. If giving money gifts around New Years for personal friendship, the bills must be even bills and there should be an even number of bills, and given in a red envelope. Do not use white, black, blue, or the number 4 for anything because it is associated with death and funerals. This would be very embarrassing. Unacceptable gifts include clocks which symbolize time is running out, a handkerchief suggests a farewell greeting, shoes, especially straw sandals, suggest sad memories, and do not give ink pens with red ink which signifies death. Sharp objects like knives and scissors are not appropriate as it represents severing of relationships (Roberts 1998). Dress is important, no bright colors or blue jeans are to be worn, and all colors should be neutral with business meetings or dinners. Women must wear modest heals, nothing sleeveless or sheer, modest necklines, even the jewelry should be modest and not flashy. Relationship is everything; to hurry would be a waste. The  impact of our approach on Chinese business with regard to cultural differences is everything, the dress, the greeting, visiting, dinners, and showing of respect to all parties involved both Chinese, and U.S. will affect the stability of the relationship (King 1999). If the relationship is not sealed in the beginning with saving face or respect and trust with the Chinese, then the business deal may never take place or may be a very weak deal. The Chinese find friendship and trust to be far too important to rush through a business deal. Respect or face must be earned over time and never lost. C. Cross-Cultural Communication: Macau, China has a very strong economy with a GDP of 21.8 percent growth currently, is not expecting a recession anytime soon and has a steady growth rate of double digits up to 21 or more percent per year (Economy 2011). The humid weather and subtropical climate will be a great help in the special heat hardening process, which is necessary to extend the life of the engine components. It is important for us to pay close attention to detail and avoid using black, gold, yellow, red, or white on the engine components for any identification of parts used. Our company will need to use colors that are low key, perhaps silver, grey, brown, tan, or green, for any differentiation used to identify parts. Red is overused and is considered a New Year’s awareness. The black as mentioned earlier represents death and is not a good omen. Do not use black or red print on any of the parts or packaging, this represents evil and death and does not work in the Chinese market. When promoting the product for selling, again, color is of utmost importance and it is important to be creative. No black borders and no black print can be used, it is considered to be a bad omen or evil. The same is true with red print, it is considered to be related to death of the person reading the red ink. White wrap signifies death of the person receiving the gift and is not a happy color. Yellow used in marketing generally relates to pornography, so it must not be used or it will damage the face of the new company and possibly be an embarrassment or cause it to fail. The colors purple for power and nobility, blue green, and some other colors can be used with marketing to promote our engine components, but red, yellow, gold, black, and white are best avoided entirely for marketing purposes (Gao 2011). The advertising name should involve only two perhaps  three syllables with the last syllable having inflection upwards with intonation of voice. The Chinese consider this necessary for a favorable impression and for recognition of a product or service. Chinese words are often very direct and it would be best to use such words to gain trust and immediate understanding, and to portray quality and enjoyment of the vehicle because of using Company A’s engine components. Another aspect to show purity and trust is a picture of a mountain in relation to televised advertising or media advertising on the internet, and in our promotional brochure (Lehman 1992). Manufacturing companies like Sinotruck Group, Qingdao Seize The Future Automobile Co. Ltd., and Special Truck Company China National Heavy Duty Truck Co., to name a few major manufactures for heavy-duty trucks, to market the engine components produced by Company A would be our target audience for this market (Brighter 2011). China is expecting an increase in unit freight mileage leading to long distance transportation implying a demand for high-end trucks in the next few years. China is an excellent market for our truck engine components and this is good timing with China’s economic growth and increased investment in the trucking industry (Intelligence 2011). Currently, in China, the demand for trucks ranked first and automobiles ranked second (Intelligence 2011). Pricing of the engine components is based on production and the shipping costs for China. Choosing to build a manufacturing plant in Macau, China would prove to be financially prudent and help to keep prices in line with other competing engine makers in the truck industry for China. To protect competition in China, the prices would need to be equal in revenue as that of other countries in which these engine components are sold. To distribute these engine components in China it is necessary to have distribution partners for acceptance in the different market areas. Company A will have to build a network of distributers among locals where face-to-face relationships can grow. It will be prudent to train local mechanics for problems with the engine components that may occur after the sale. It is important to have connections with individuals in all areas of the business for trust and friendliness to the Chinese country. They see life as a group connection in all associations. D. Cross-Cultural Ethical Differences: Introducing ourselves into the Chinese market is crucial and must be done through an intermediary, someone who will give face favorably about Company A’s reputation. Chinese do not like to do business with strangers. The meetings need to be requested in writing preferably one or two months in advance by someone that they know and trust who connects for Company A. Plan to arrive a bit early, do not be late as the Chinese perceive this as an insult and it could cause negative problems for the business relationship. Punctuality is considered a virtue in China. It is important not to wear bright colors for meetings; men should wear dark colored conservative business suits. Women should wear a conservative business suit or dress with a high neckline and flat shoes or not much of a heel. There is no gender bias in China. About the introductions, when greeting the Chinese, the highest official or eldest will start the introductions and will either bow slightly while looking to the ground or shake hands while looking to the ground, do not look them in the eye during the introductions but do state their honorific title and then surname. Example, â€Å"It is an honor to meet with you, President Chen.† They have a great sense of humor and like to laugh if they are comfortable. If it is appropriate on your behalf at any time, be sure to laugh at yourself. The names of all who will be at the meeting and their titles, of course, would be important to have in each member’s portfolio. Once the introductions have been made and you have been given the invitation, provide information about Company A and what is desired to be accomplished. If offered a business card always accept with both hands and look at it with interest on both sides and then place on the table in the front of the place setting o r in a suit pocket or briefcase, never in the back pocket. When giving a business card use two hands and place Chinese side up to the Chinese officer. Only the eldest officer from each business will hold the conversation for negotiation. All others will listen. Posture and facial expression is very important to the Chinese and persons attending the meetings must watch carefully and be aware of their posture and facial expressions to remain neutral. There should not be any staring into another’s eyes only concentration on what is being said and careful glancing to notice expressions. Tone of voice is of great importance and  should be closely noted. Relationship cultivation is first, no agreement will be made at this meeting. When the meeting concludes the Chinese will say they will think about it, accept that answer just as they say, thinking about it (Ltd. 2004) and be patient for the deal to close at another time. It may take several meetings to finish the business deal. When the Chinese diplomat in charge invites the visiting company to a banquet, this is a signal that they are ready to give their final answer. They use a banquet to celebrate (Ltd. 2004). Our company needs to be patient and ready. In China, it is not customary to give gifts; it is considered bribery and illegal. It is only acceptable to bring a wrapped gift for the most senior officer in the company after the business deal is complete and state that the gift is from your company and that it is wished for the senior officer to accept it on behalf of their company. If there are wrapped gifts for more than one individual in a group, all gifts must be different and monetarily representative of the status for each individual. It is disrespectful to give the same gift choice to several individuals, the gifts must be different, and the value spent commensurate with the associate receiving the gift. If meeting over dinner our members must remember to wait until the host shows them to their personal seat, and recognize that the executive who called the dinner will be paying for all, no one is going â€Å"Dutch.† Remember to talk about whatever interests them and the food. Generally, light talk is expected. No business will be discussed while dining. The seating behavior is much like it is in formal dining with the United States. Unlike the U.S., though take time with dining and eat all you can or at least make it appear that time is not important. Eating is a very social event with the Chinese, never a rush. They may not hurry to be at a dinner or meal for a certain time, but may be slightly late. Timeliness is not crucial as is expected for a business meeting. It is rare to be invited to a Chinese home. If this occurs, be on time, take a gift and offer it three times but do not expect them to open it in front of you. Take off your shoes and do not pay attention to slurping or belching noises, this is the Chinese way to show enjoyment with the food. All business personnel must learn to eat with chopsticks (Ltd. 2004). These culture differences are very important though strange to what our customs are here in America. All Chinese customs must be followed carefully to have a  successful business relationship in China. References Brighter, Mr. Made In China.Com. 2011. http://cntruck.en.made-in-china.com/ (accessed December 12, 2011). China, Neso. Social Norms, Saving and Losing Face. October 4, 2010. http://www.nesochina.org/dutch-students/preparing-your-stay/social-norms (accessed December 11, 2011). Economy, Macau. Macaus Economy Grows 21.8 percent from January to September. Macau Hub Magazine on line. December 1, 2011. http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/2011/12/01/macaus-economy-grows-21-8-pct-from-january-to-september/ (accessed December 11, 2011). Gao, Kane. Public Relations and Strategic Communications. Illuminant A Source of Light. January 17, 2011. http://www.illuminantpartners.com/2011/01/17/color/ (accessed December 12, 2011). Intelligence, China Research. Research Report on China Truck Industry. April 12, 2011. http://marketinfoguide.com/2011/04/12/research-report-china-truck-industry-2011-2012/ (accessed December 12, 2011). King, Susan. Facts About Chinese Business Attire. eHow Culture and Society. 199 9. http://www.ehow.com/about_5040513_chinese-business-attire.html (accessed December 11, 2011). Lehman, Edward. Media and Advertising. Lehman, Lee, Xu. 1992. http://www.lehmanlaw.com/practices/media-and-advertising.html (accessed December 12, 2011). Ltd., Kwintessential. Chinese Etiquette and Customs. Kwintessential. 2004. http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/china-country-profile.html (accessed December 13, 2011). Roberts, Kimberly. International Business Gift Giving Overview. 1998. http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/international_gift_giving.htm (accessed December 11, 2011).

Social Media In Marketing Communication

Social Media In Marketing Communication The technologies and tools people use to communicate online are referred to collectively as social media (Scott, 2010 ). Social media is not understood in terms of the different technologies and tools but, rather how those technologies and tools allow you to communicate directly with people or intended recipient. The term social media represents media that users can easily participate in, contribute to (Karjaluota, 2008), communicate with and congregate to have fun with friends and community (Scott, 2010 ). Social Media is an emerging phenomenon of recent times. Social media is a group of new kinds of online media embodied participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness as unique characteristics (Mayfield, 2008). Boyd (2008) refers social media is an umbrella term that refers to the set of tools, services, and applications that allow people to interact with others using network technologies. Social media encompasses groupware, online communities, peer -to-peer and media-sharing technologies, and networked gaming. Mayfield (2008) explain social media is all about being human like sharing ideas, cooperating and collaborating to create art, thinking and commerce, vigorous debate and discourse, finding people who might be good friends, allies and lovers, which our species has built since several civilisation. He further adds social media is becoming popular so quickly, not because its great shiny, speedy new technology, but because it lets us be ourselves. People can find information, inspiration, communities and collaborators faster than ever before. New ideas, services, business models and technologies emerge and evolve at fast speed in social media. According to Scott (2010) social media ; .provides the way people share ideas, content, thoughts and relationships online. Social Media differ from so-called mainstream media in that anyone can create, comment on, and add to social media content. Social media can take the form of text, audio, video, images, and communities (Scott, 2010 , p. 38). Social media is also known as user generated media (Mangold Faulds, 2009). User creates a network among friends, families, celebrities, and those who share common characteristics etc. that has built strong user base among different social media forms. It is becoming popular day by day due to its unique characteristics such as socialising, participating, freedom of expression, engaging, interactivity and easily accessible at fraction of cost. The main important features of social media is to keep in touch with friend, communicate with friend and share memories of good and bad experience through notes, post, blogs, video sharing and photo sharing etc. Social media is sometimes referred to as social software or social computing or computer-mediated communication (Boyd, 2008). In next section, social medias characteristic is explained. Characteristic of Social Media: The power of social media is rooted in its ability to connect people across time and space. The way these tools are used alters plethora of practices, including communication, collaboration, information dissemination, and social organisation (Benkler, 2006; Castells, 1996; Rheingold, 2002). Social media has affected how people interact with one another and, thus, it has the potential to alter how society is organised though they are simply the messengers, social media tools are revered for their potential to connect people( (Shriky, 2008; Tapscott Williams, 2006; Weinberger, 2008). Social media provides power to communicate one to literally hundreds or thousands of other people quickly and with relatively little effort. Participation and making connections are common characteristics among social media platforms. Part of this is informed by the notion of a flat community, in which all parties engage in open dialogue. Influence and credibility are prized in this arena, as the users reputation can often be a key motivator for one to remain active in the dialogue (Karjaluota, 2008). Some of the common characteristics of Social Media identified by Mayfield (2008) are; Participation, social media encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who is interested. It blurs the line between media and audience. Openness, most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encourage voting, comments and the sharing information. There are rarely any barriers to accessing and making use of content-password -protected content is frowned on. Conversation, whereas traditional media is about broadcast and in contrast social media is better seen as a two -way conversation. Community, social media allows communities to form quickly and communicate effectively. Communities share common interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue or a favourite TV show. Connectedness, most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other sites, resources and people. Common Forms of Social Media: There are various tools and format are in practice in the forms of social media. The commonly used or basic forms of social media (Karjaluota, 2008; Mayfield, 2008; Scott, 2010 ; Mangold Faulds, 2009) are; Social Networking Sites (SNS) are virtual communities that allow users to build personal profile, connect with friends, and cultivate a community of friends and to share information, content and communication. Some appeal to broad groups (i.e. Facebook) whereas others are built around particular niches and demographics (i.e. LinkedIn). The common SNS are Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn, Faceparty etc. Blogs are personal web sites written by somebody who is passionate about a topic, which provide a means to share that passion with the world and to foster an active community of readers who provide comments on the feature posts. Perhaps it is the best known form of social media, blogs are online journals, with entries appearing with most recent first. Blogs are vary widely in nature, but tend to be popular as they often provide an unvarnished, insider perspective on a particular topic. For example, user sponsored blogs (unofficial Apple Weblog, Cnet.com) and company -sponsored websites/blogs (Apple.com, PGs Vocalpoint). Content Communities are sites that allow users to post and share content. Such communities exist around anything from videos and photos to stories and links. Some of these sites include voting functions that allow the community to determine the relevance of content. Sites like YouTube, Flicker, Vimeo and Jamendo.com greatly simplify the process of sharing and commenting on Photos, Videos and Music. Other examples are content sharing combined with assistance Piczo.com and general intellectual property sharing sites Creative Commons. Forums are areas in which multiple users can create topics and then comment on these topics. They are commonly used as resources for those interested in particular topic. It is a place for online discussion, often around specific topics and interests. Forums came about before term social media and are a powerful element of online communities. It is also known as chat rooms and message boards, with the main feature being that anyone can start a discussion thread. Wikis are community -generated documents and databases. These websites allow people to add content to or edit the information on them, acting as a communal document or database. The best -known wiki is Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia which has over 2 million English languages articles. Virtual Worlds represent one of the most novel areas on the web, in which users can engage in immersive worlds. Some of these spaces closely mirror real-world notions such as community and economics. Second Life is an example of virtual worlds. Micro blogging are social networking combined with bite-sized blogging, where small amounts of content updates are distributed online and through the mobile phone network. Twitter is well known form of micro blogging. Social Bookmarking sites like digg, del.icio.us, Newsvine, Mixxit, Reddit allows users to recommend online news stories, music, videos and content to others and vote on what is interesting. Many other forms of social media exist are news aggregators, podcasts (Apple iTunes), mash-ups, company sponsored cause/help sites (Doves Campaign for Real Beauty, click2quit.com), invitation only social networks (ASmallWorld.net), commerce communities (eBay, Amazon.com, Craigs List, IStockphoto, Threadless.com), news delivery sites (current TV), educational materials sharing (MIT OpenCoourseWare, MERLOT), open source software communities (Mozillas spreadfirefox.com, Linux.org) , windows Live, Google community and Yahoo. The Use of Social Media in Marketing Communication: Communication has become more challenging due to rapid changes in technologies, multiple communication channels and consumers constantly changing preferences and media use for obtaining information. Effectiveness of communication will largely depends on understanding of consumers buying behaviour, indentifying their information need and provides them with the right information, in right time at right place. It is enormously important to make sure the appropriate media is used (Ennew, 1993). Selection of a medium is relative with the customer preference with that particular medium. In an interview by www.marketingprof.com , a marketing guru, Philip Kotler says; .major challenge today is getting people attention. Consumers are pressed for times and many worked hard to avoid advertising messages. The main challenge is to find new way to capture attention and position a brand in consumers mind.. (Kotler, 2005 ¶17) Multiple communication channels pose a challenge to marketers to select a right medium to reach their target consumers. Traditional marketing communication media are loosing thier importance and are being challenged by new media. The internet has replaced traditional media such as radio, newspaper, magzine and the TV as the preferred medium for advertising (Selek, 2010). TV advertising is loosing its effectiveness because of growing advertising clutter, the increeasing number of channels and reduced watching of television by certain group of people (Kotler, 2005). Social Media presence in marketing communication is increasing rapidly. Social media is becoming a part of the marketing strategies of organisations irrespective of shape, size, volume and purposes. Marketers are trying to make it as a part of the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and element of their marketing mix (Mangold Faulds, 2009; Li Bernoff, 2008). IMC is a guiding principles, marketers has been practising since its identification as a marketing tools to communicate with their target market. IMC is arguably the best tools, as of now, use to coordinate and control varying elements of the promotional mix- advertising, personal selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing, and sales promotion to develop customer focused integrated message and to achieve different organisational goals (Boone Kurtz, 2007). Social media is changing the landscape of marketing communication. Growing use and popularity of social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Flicker, Digg, Del.icio.us, Foursquare and others have compelled organisations use of social media as an integrated marketing communication tool. Consumers are making conversation on these platforms. Facebook alone has 500 million users worldwide, which accounts nearly 8% of world population and collectively, users spend more than 700 billion minutes a month in Facebook (Smith, 2010). The possibility of exposure to mass audience and high engagement are propelling organisations to use social media to communicate to their target consumers. Fortunes 500 companies have been using social media as one of the most important tool in their marketing strategy (Barnes Mattson, 2008). Increase in advertising spending on social media shows preference of marketers in social media against traditional media as a marketing communication tool.The growing popularity of internet business such as google and social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook have increased the use of social media in advertising. Advertising spending in the social networking area is estimated to be $865 million, with a projected value of $2 billion by 2011, or almost 8.5% of total online spending (eMarketer, 2006 cited in Gangadharbatla, 2008). Facebooks  £525 million revenue from advertising in 2009 (Smith, 2010) shows the magnitude of growing popularity of scoial media as a marketing communication tool. Marketers are shifting their marketing spending from traditional means of communication to digital ones, focusing on search, dispaly ads and social networking. Marketers who believe that most important way to improve communication effectiveness is to shift investment from traditional channels to digital channels are increasing. Another noticable changes is to shift advertising spending from awerness and brand building to promotional marketing (Ramsey Douglas, 2010). According to a 2009 survey, conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Marketing Management Analytics (MMA), most marketers say that they plan to increase their budgets for interactive marketing by pulling funds out of traditional media. Survey shows that U.S. companies moved total of $60 billion from traditional media into online marketing in 2009 itself, which represents a major shift from traditional marketing to digital marketing in an effort to increase marketing effectiveness. Research shows that after the corporate website, the most effective way to communicate with prospects is through social media. As many as 80% of U.S. companies are using social media in their marketing efforts, either placing ads on sites, monitoring sites for chatter about their brands, or engaging directly through sites like Facebook. For most marketers two prime objectives for usiing social media are enhancing brand awareness and deepening realationships with consumers. Many others use social media to expand to new audiences and acquire new customers (StrongMail, 2009). Social Media enables customer to talk to one another, which is an extention of traditional word-of-mouth communication (Mangold Faulds, 2009). The role of social media giving customer to communicate to one another is unique from traditional marketing communication. In his book The New Influencers, Gillin (2007) says that Conventional marketing wisdoms has long held that a dissatisfied customer tells ten people. But that is out of date. In the new age of social media he or she has the tools to tell [billions] consumers in few hours. The Internet has become a mass media vehicle for consumer-sponsored communications. It now represents the number one source of media for consumers at work and the number two source of media at home (Rashtchy, Kessler, Bieber, Shindler, Tzeng, 2007). Consumers are turning away from the traditional sources of advertising: radio, television, magazines, and newspapers. Consumers also consistently demand more control over their media consumption. They require on-demand and immediate access to information at their own convenience (Rashtchy et al., 2007; Vollmer Precourt, 2008). Social media is perceived by consumers as a more trustworthy source of information regarding products and services than corporate-sponsored communications transmitted via the traditional elements of the promotion mix (Foux, 2006). There are varying levels of trust and credibility among marketing channels: pretty low for ads, more so for traditional media and even lower for brand websites. Social media leverage the trust that users have with one another. This is well proven fact in marketing that most effective influencers in buying decisions are friends and family. Social media has been providing consumer different platforms to communicate easily with friends and family quickly and effectively. Recommendations from friends and acquaintances, particularly those people we think are most like ourselves, garner the highest trust. Almost three-fourths of customers consult product reviews before making a purchase, and more than half have made a purchase based on consumer reviews. They create transparency and establish trust to prospects (Ramsey Douglas, 2010). Marketers use several methods to improve consumer retention. Social media is becoming an important part of consumer retention and is giving companies new ways to tap into consumer mindset. A survey conducted by King Fish Media (2009) shows that 72% of US marketing managers, who participated in the survey, believes that social media is the most effective way to communicate with current consumers. Social media leave behind the old model of one- to- one communication and enable communication from one to many or many- to- many. Social media such as blogs, tweets, wikis, and social networks are all about speeding up and enriching communication. Social media tools bring the advantages of flatter, more democratic and presumably more effective communication networks (Hawn, 2009). The advent of social media challenge traditional type of intrusive and one way communication. Social media offer multi -dimensional communication among marketers to consumers, consumers to consumers and consumers to marketers. Social media is a great tool for listening to consumers and improving products and services using feedback and suggestion from consumers. Understanding the speed and breadth of response to a consumer issue is crucial in social media (Econsultancy, 2009). Mangold Faulds (2009) argue that social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because it combines characteristics of traditional IMC tools (companies talking to consumers) with a highly magnified form of word-of-mouth (customers talking to one another) wherby marketing managers cannot control the content and frequency of such information. Consumers ability to communicate with one another limits the amount of control companies have over the content and dissemination of information. In the era of social media, consumers have greater access to information and great command over media consumption than ever before (Vollmer Precourt, 2008). In the era of social media, marketing managers control over the content, timing, and frequency of information is being severely eroded. In the new communication paradigm, information about products and services also originates in the marketplace. This information is based on the experiences of individual consumers and is channelled through the traditional promotion mix. The traditional communication paradigm, which relied on the classic promotional mix to craft IMC strategies, must give way to a new paradigm that includes all forms of social media as potential tools in designing and implementing IMC strategies. Contemporary marketers cannot ignore the phenomenon of social media because it has rapidly become the de facto modus operandi for consumers who are disseminating information on products and services (Mangold Faulds, 2009). In this section researcher tried to gain insights about social media from available literatures and its uses in marketing communication. In following section researcher reviews of existing literature on social networking site Facebook and its uses by students, motives of use and use of Facebook in selection of universities, which is the main purpose of this study. The Facebook: Facebook is very popular social networking sites, which gives user an opportunity to create personal profile (include general information like education background, work background, and favourite interest), build a friend networks who have Facebook account, upload and share photos, put comment, show liking or agreeableness on any subjects, issues, comments, products and brands through like button, write notes and create news and many more. Facebook members can also join virtual groups based on common interests, see what classes they have in common, and learn about others hobbies, interests, tastes, and romantic relationship statuses through the profiles (Ellision, Steinfield, Lampe, 2007). It also has an option to add specific applications to further personalise ones profile (Rosmarin, 2007). People mostly use it to make friends, networking with friends, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet (Reuben, 2008). A Harvard undergraduate student and a programmer Mr. Mark Zuckerberg along with his friend Eduardo was set up Facebook.com in February 2004 at Harvard University dorm as an online student directory for only Harvard students (Cassidy, 2006; Mayer Puller, 2007; Boyd Ellison, 2007). To join a user had to have a Harvard.edu email address. Facebook extended beyond Harvard to other Ivy League school in spring 2004. In fall 2004 Facebook.com had added websites to several hundred of colleges and university, then later expanded to any university students having an university e-mail and now anyone over age 13 with an valid e-mail account can join Facebook (Reuben, 2008). Mr. Zuckerberg, who set up Facebook at his early 20 (now 26), has grown it into a business worth an estimated  £15 billion (Smith, 2010). Facebook has now become habitual and a part of everyday life for 500 million users worldwide. Facebook has reached almost eight percent of world population with meteoric rise of its users from 150 millions in January 2009 to 500 million in 2010 (Smith, 2010). Today, Facebook is the number one social networking site beating MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare etc. Facebook is third popular online brand after Google and MSN respectively. According to Nielsen survey (April, 2010) 54% worlds internet population visiting Facebook and spends 6 hours per person every month. On average user create 90 pieces of content every month, 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news, blogs etc) are shared each month, more than 3 billion pictures are uploaded every month, there are more than 60 million status updates a day and have an average of 130 friends (Smith, 2010). Collectively, users spend more than 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook. Alex Burmaster, of research agency Nielsen Online said: Facebook has become a phenomenon of our time, its become almost like a mobile phone, [and] people cant imagine their lives without it. Popularity of Facebook among Colleges and Universities Students: Origin of Facebook is directly associated with university students. Facebook was set up by a university student as an online student directory. Initially, it was restricted to users with a harvard.edu email address and was confined to colleges and universities students and staffs. It was officially open to non-academic and non-US based users in September 2006 (Joinson, 2008; Reuben, 2008). Facebook has become a number one choice among universities students. According to Pew Research Centers survey nearly three quarters (73 percent) of online teens and an equal number (72 percent) of young adults use social networking sites. The survey also reveals that among adults 18 and older Facebook is most preferred choice; 73% have profile on Facebook, 48% own profile on MySpace and 14% use LinkedIn (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, Zickuhr, 2010). According to previous survey by Pew Center 50% of young adult social network users had profile in MySpace, 22% had profile on Facebook and only 6% had a profile on LinkedIn (Lenhart, A., 2009). The recent survey also shows that among adult profile owners with high school degree or less, 64% have a profile on MySpace, 63% have profile on Facebook and just 3% have LinkedIn profile. Adults with at least some college experience, 78% have profile on Facebook, where 41% have a profile on my space and 19% have a LinkedIn profile (Lenhart, et. al, 2010). It shows the greater presence and growing popularity of Facebook among colleges and universities students. There is growing concern about universities students excessive use of Facebook. Sheldon (2008) states that 93% student had a Facebook account, on average they spent 47 minutes a day on Facebook and in overall 81% student logged into Facebook on a daily basis. Social networking sites are widely thought to have changed students communication pattern because many college/university students lives have an online component (Zywica Danowski, 2008). There is hard debate going on about the risk of students being addicted to, and spending too much time on Facebook. Those who argue about negative impact and against on students excessive use of Facebook are demanding control on students from using Facebook. Facebook has been met with criticism by educators, with suggestions that students spend too much time on Facebook and find it addictive (Bugeja, 2006). Others, who believe control is not the right options, are suggesting attract and encourage students for its academic and positive use. Some studies have shown advantages of Facebook use for undergraduate students to assist and adjust to university life, especially those experiencing low self-esteem (Ellision, et al., 2007). Lloyd, Dean, and Cooper, (2007) concluded that students can benefit and suffer from using technology [Facebook]. Positive effects of technology [Facebook] are knowledge acquisition, socialisation and entertainment. However, negative effects include that students tend to be less healthy and passive in off-line activities when their sole purpose is for entertainment, which has a direct effect on their academic success, personal relationships, and wellness. Students Motives for Facebook Use: People use media to gratify their various communication needs and wants. Uses and gratification is viewed as a psychological communication perspective which focuses on how individual use mass media and other forms of communication to fulfil their needs and wants (Sheldon, 2008; Rubin, 2002). According to the uses and gratification perspective, media use is determined by a group of key elements including peoples needs and motives to communicate, the psychological and social environment, the mass media, functional alternative to media use, communication behaviour, and the consequences of such behaviour (Rubin, 1994). McQuail, Blumler and Brown (1972) classified mostly found needs and gratifications in four categories; diversion (escape from problems, emotional release), personal relationship (social utility of information in conversation, substitute of the media for companionship), personal Identity (value reinforcement, self understanding), and information (as cited in Sheldon, 2008). These classifications were, basically, developed for audiovisual media use and researchers extendend it for internet use and developed different motivational scales for internet use over time. According to Morris, and Ogan (1996) internet fulfills interpersonal and mediated needs. Needs traditionally fulfilled by media are social interaction, time pass, habit, information and entertainment (Flaherty, Pearce, Rubin, 1998). Media fulfilled interpersonal needs such as companionship, maintenance of relationship, problem-solving and persuation (Flanagin Metzger, 2001). LaRose, Mastro, and Eastin (2001) found that the expectation of finding enjoyable activities online predicted the amount of online media consumption. Song, LaRose, Eastin, and Lin (2004) identified virtual community as a new gratification that strengthen comunication with people met on internet. This definition contrast with relationship maintenance focused to maintain relationship with existing acquaintances (Song et al., 2004). Uses and gratification research has usually focused on how media are used to satisfy cognitive and affective needs relating personal needs and entertainment needs (Rubin, 2002), which includes need for personal identity, escapism, and self presentation. Researchers found various gratifications of internet and SNS uses such as acquisition of information, ability to engage in interpersonal communication and socialisation (Stafford Gonier, 2004); interpersonal utility functions such as relationship building, scoial maintenance and social recognition (Leung, 2007); interpersonal relations, information, and entertainment (Ho Cho, 2006); infromation, interpersonal communication, and entertainment (Matsuba, 2006). There has lot of research done about students motives in using Facebook. Majority of the previous research found friending, time pass, flirt and find new friends are the students prime motives to use Facebook. According to Coley (2006) most students use Facebook for fun to organise parties, and to find dates. They use it to find people with similar interest, peer who are in same class, and with whom they feel a sense of community and connectedness and its become habit to those who are already in online. Urista, Dong, and Day, (2009) in their study what motivates young adults to use SNS (MySpace and Facebook) found that individual use SNS to fulfill their needs and wants, which includes efficient communication, convenient communication, curosity about others, popularity and relationship formation and reinforcement. Ellision, et al. (2007) suggest that Facebook is mostly used to maintain or reinforce existing offline relationships, as opposed to establishing new ones online. There is usually some common offline activity among individuals with friends one another, such as a shared class or extra curricular acitivity. Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfield (2006) found that Facebook users engage in searching for people with whom they have an offline connection more than they browse for new people to meet. Sheldon (2008) conducted a survey of 172 students and found that large porportion of students use Facebook to maintain relationship with people they already know, majority of students also visit Facebook for time pass like when feel bored or get wall post update notification, significant porportion of students use Facebook for entertainment purposes and a small porportion use Facebook to develop new relationship. According to Pew Internet American Life Project survey (2009) teens and adults use Facebook to stay in touch with friends (97 percent), make plans with friends (62 percent), make new friends (52 percent), organize with others for an event, issue or cause (56 percent), and flirt (22 percent) (Lenhart, 2009). 2,251 subjects were participated in the survey. Research on Facebook is starting to emerge along with its popularity. The applications and utilities of Facebook is also constantly being developed. Most of the previous studies about motives to use Facebook was done before 2008, when Facebook was just started to emerge and not much popular as now and not much applications as now. The researcher found limited limited predictors have been used to study students motive for Facebook use. In this paper the researcher try to find out university students motives of using Facebook using new predictors. The first research question of the study is; RQ1: What are the motives of university students for Facebook use? Students Use of Facebook in Selection of Universities and Colleges: Oklahoma State Universitys study highlights a typical lifestyle of a todays student. On average each day students sleep for 7 hours, spend 1.5 hours watching TV, spend 3.5 hours online, listen to music for 2.5 hours, talk on a cell phone for 2 hours, spend 3 hours in class, spend 2 hours eating, go to work for 2 hours and study for 3 hours. This totals 26.5 hours a day, nearly half of that involve technology. Students read 8 books a year, surf t

Cultures And The Globalization Of Mcdonalds Cultural Studies Essay

Cultures And The Globalization Of Mcdonalds Cultural Studies Essay In this essay I aim to develop a better understanding of globalization through studying something vital to globalizationMcDonaldization. I am focusing on a McDonald s in Bradford in the United Kingdom and the categories of people who frequent it and why they go there. Meanwhile, I will contrast the McDonald s in Bradford with McDonald s in China on the basis of questionnaires, observation, communications and memory, indicating whether McDonald s in the two countries is similar or different. By highlighting on customers as well as staff nationalities and behaviours, menu, decoration, I would advise that the influence of McDonald s as a symbol of American culture has been increasing throughout the world, and it is clear to realize that it comes under the heading of globalization. Subsequently, this study therefore gives some support to the cultural aspects of globalization including the theory about Mcdonaldization. Description of the ethnographic study in McDonald s I went shopping in the city centre of Bradford on 13th December 2009. I was attracted by the obvious logo of McDonald s, the striking festive menu drawing as well as free-wifi drawing in the transparent windows. Subsequently, I entered the restaurant, as usual in China in my memory and waited in the team line as well as prepared to order. Meanwhile, I found the menu in UK roughly the same in china except for a slight difference. For example, McDonald s hamburger in china will not directly put the raw cheese into hamburger. The staff with a Christmas hat and the McDonald s uniform smiled at me to help me order the menu. Surprisingly, the waiting time was relatively short, the same as the McDonald s in China. Thus, I am reminded of the four elements for the success of McDonald s business systems that refer to efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. The decoration in McDonald s is warm with golden, white or mirror walls, light ivory wooden table tops, blue or deep red cushion with golden blackboard wooden chairs and upholstered armchairs in deep red colours. Contemporary art or framed photographs handing on the walls are also attractive. It is worth mentioning that in the corner, many paintings are displayed on the walls around the children playground area, especially those of McDonald s Characters such as Ronald McDonald Grimace, Ham burglar and Birdie the Early Bird. In general, the decoration of McDonald s is aimed at making the store look more casual and sunny, which is similar to Starbucks. Compared with McDonald s in China, the decoration style is similar, but in the children playground area, there are more facilities like slides, wooden horses in China. Apparently the facilities are the same in Bradford and China. Behind the food serving area there are numerous technologies like automatic French fry machines and various c ertain products like happy meal which are available to the customers almost instantaneously through the carefully regulated and controlled system. With respect to people, there are several nationalities such as British, China, Pakistan, and Africa among the customers and the staff. Most people wear leisure clothes and overall the colours of people s clothes are drab. It is clear that the area of age is extensive, up to eighty- year- old people, down to two- aged children. Interestingly, the most frequent combination is an adult accompanied by her or his child, who plays the toy from happy meal as well as eats food. Meanwhile, McDonald s is the best choice for young people to enjoy the foods after shopping as the food is inexpensive and convenient. It is worth noting that both in Bradford and China I found people are more likely to be treated similarly in McDonald s, irrespective of their race, sex, sexual orientation, or social class. Accordingly, they have a high awareness to take the empty boxes and litters to the trash before they leave. Specifically, the staff with a smile to everyone and provide efficient goods and service s to meet the customer. A brief overview of the perspective A summary of my chosen theory of globalization would then follow. This is such a vast topic that I would have to focus on just a small part of globalization theory. I am particularly interested in theorizing the globalization of culture. Accordingly, I would be well-advised to consider the Mcdonaldization, as one of a number of globalization processes. Ritzer 2004 puts forward the view that globalization can be in general identified as the worldwide proliferation of practices, relations and social life, meanwhile, the people tend to share a new global consciousness across continents. In terms of the theorizing the cultural aspects of globalization, Pieterse (2003) suggests that there are three major approaches divided into cultural differentialism, convergence and hybrization. More specifically, first and foremost, with regard to lasting difference, Pieterse (2003) admits that the differences in culture perspective exist among the different regions and countries. To a great extent, in this theory area, some people like Huntington (1996) believe that the people tend to persist the local culture, civilization and remain culturally distinct. However, Ritzer (2004) believes that compare to the radically view of Huntington, the existence of a distinct attitude is due to a clash between the developed countries like the Unites States and the developing countries like China. With the advent of an increasingly modern development once the economic develop to a certain level, the developing countries like China will seek and adapt other cultures to enter the global market totally, while at the same time the developed countries tend to welcome what they provide. Therefore, in Ritzer s view, Huntington s opinion is likely to exist on the short time. Secondly, with respect to cultural growing sameness, Ritzer (2004) points out that global assimilation is a tendency, which means to some degree the cultures of the world are regarded as growing increasingly the same. To illustrate, Ritzer (2004) also figures that cultural convergence is characterized by the appearance of Cultural imperialism , westernization, Americanization, Mcdonaldization and world culture . Last but not the least, with regard to ongoing mixing of cultures, according to the view of Pieterse (2003), hybrization emphasized on growing diversity combination of the unique mixtures of local as well as global, thereby resulting in unique phenomenon in different areas. It is important to point out that to some extent it is the same meaning of the glocalization , which has been indicated by Robertson (2001). Also, Robertson (2001) distinguished the difference between globalization and glocalization, for example, the core concepts of globalization include capitalism, Americanization and Mcdonaldization whereas the main ideas of glocalization include hybrization, creolization and heterogeneization. To put it in another way, he believes that the outcome of globalization processes in future is likely to be the ongoing open-ended mixing that is glocalization. Accordingly, with respect to Mcdonaldization theory, it is critical to point out that the sociologist George Ritzer (1993) coins the McDonaldization in his book The McDonaldization of Society. He describes that McDonaldization is the process by which the beliefs of the fast-food restaurant seem to play a dominant role in the increasing number of sectors of American society and the rest of the world. On the one hand, Mcdonaldization is clearly closely related to a global cultural perspective as well as the influence of McDonald s and McDonaldization has a dramatic spread of the worldwide homogenization of societies. To illustrate, Bryman (2003) along with Ram (2004) indicates that McDonaldization is not only the extension of the sameness of food products but also the proliferation of a series of business principles as well as operation systems around the world. Moreover, it is worth noting that Big Mac Index is the significant index of McDonaldization, published by a prestigious magazine, the economist. It demonstrates the purchasing capacity of diverse currencies in the world dependent on the local price (in dollars) of the Big Mac as an identical basket of goods and services in each country. Meanwhile, Thomas (1999) in New York Times Magazine states that Big Mac Index creates the ubiquity and unique role of McDonald s around the world. On the other hand, Mcdonaldization may be considered as not only an illustration to drive the globalization process but also a major motor force in the future development of globalization. More specifically, according to the opinion of George Ritzer (2004), admittedly, a certain degree of glocalization happens with Mcdonaldization, but the majority of aspects of Mcdonaldization relate to globalization that the existence of homogeneity more than heterogeneity is related to the process of Mcdonaldization. For example, Robertson (2001) demonstrates that in glocalization theory, social processes are contingent and depend on the different geographic areas while in globalization theory, social processes are deterministic. Analysis of the McDonald s within Globalization model An analysis of McDonald s based on the theory of the globalization of culture as well as Mcdonaldization would then follow. To put it another way, the central issue would be discussed that the fact of ethnographic studies and a general sociological understanding of the globalization culture as well as Mcdonaldization, which is consistent or inconsistent. In terms of differences in cultures existing among the different regions and countries are demonstrated by Pieterse (2003), which is the same story. To illustrate, nowadays McDonald s for Chinese tends to be an excellent place to have fun together in particular the students group and parents comply with children while Mcdonald s for British is likely to be a convenient and inexpensive place to deal with hungry. More specifically, Mcdonald s for Chinese children is regarded as a pleasure ground more than a fast food restaurant. Thus, different cultures lead to the different decoration designs in the children playground area, which seems to provide more facilities like the slide and the wooden horse in China. However, whether Mcdonald s American culture will be constant in the long-term as suggested by Huntington (1996) or will last for in a short-term as indicated by Ritzer (2004) is still to be proved by time. It is worth noting the third possibility of Pieterse (2003), where it is may be likely to increase diversity association of the unique mixtures of local culture as well as Mcdonald s America culture and then leads to a unique phenomenon in Mcdonald s among different areas. With respect to Mcdonaldization and the influential globalizing flow, an illustration of global culture assimilation is argued by George Ritzer (2004), which is a true story. In the first place, it is universal acknowledge that McDonald s is the leading global foodservice retailer which occupies a central place in American popular culture. According to McDonald s official website, the statistics points out that McDonalds operates over 31,000 restaurants in 119 countries around the world and employs more than 1.5 million people. In the second place, in mentioning McDonald s worldwide operation system, the McDonald s staff in Bradford told me that in general McDonald s operation around the world is nearly the same because any McDonald s systems are associated with the centrally controlled system of American headquarters and every individual who is working in McDonald s knows what is expected of him based on uniform McDonald s operation and training manual. Specifically, the McDonald s staff in Bradford also told me some regulations and documents like 8 steps making a McDonalds Big Mac according to the McDonald s operation and training manual. Therefore, the situation in McDonald s for workers, customers and managers is around the same. For example, a year ago I lived in China or this year I live in England, McDonald s for me offers the best available way to get from being hungry to being full due to the similar convenience as well as efficiency both China and England. It is worth noting that it also corresponds to the theory of the dimensions of Mcdonaldization indicated by George Ritzer (2004), who claims that efficiency, predictability, calculability and control through nonhuman technology are the important elements of the McDonald s success. In other words, efficiency is generally beneficial to customers who are able to obtain what they need more quickly. As regards Mcdonaldization the core concepts of globalization demonstrated by Robertson (2001) during the observation, are found to be a little different. The main reason is that the local strategies of McDonald s in different countries reflect the integration of McDonald s American culture and local culture. For instance, McDonald s managers in 2008 realized that the spectacular Olympic Games would be held in Beijing began on August 8th 2008 at 08:08:08 PM, when the people around the world would be happy with excitement and pretension. Thus, McDonalds unveiled four new Olympic-themed television advertisements developing its im lovin it brand essence with the magic and ideals of the Olympic Games to attract people in particular Chinese. On the other hand, it is worth noting that George Ritzer (2004) who admitted there are some things which reflect the features of glocalization in Mcdonald s whereas the main characteristic corresponds to the globalization and the sameness more than difference in the process of Mcdonaldization in contemporary. To a great extent, it is true, that although there are some modifications based on different countries the demand for the marketing specific marketing strategies of Mcdonald s, the main business model and culture idea of Mcdonald s is constant like nonhuman technology service. Conclusion Overall, it is important to point out that the situation between McDonald s in Bradford and McDonald s in China was same similarities rather than differences, which takes into account abundant elements such as business system, nationalities, behaviour, menu and decoration based on the questionnaires, observation, communications and memory. Meanwhile, the fact of ethnographic studies and a general sociological understanding of the globalization culture as well as Mcdonaldization are likely to correspond with each other mainly. Subsequently, there are some points I am partial to reiterate as followed. First and foremost, admittedly, a comparison of McDonald s in Bradford and McDonald s in China on the basis of an ethnographic study reveals that McDonald s has become a symbol of American culture symbolising inexpensive, convenient and nonhuman technology service in people s minds with a global influence under the heading of globalization. Secondly, the situation of McDonald s and Mcdonaldization reflect the characteristics of global cultural homogeneity beyond the features of differentialism. To put it in another way, the Mcdonaldization is a type of the idea of worldwide homogeneity of societies through the influence of multinational corporations. Thirdly, in my personal perspective, the development process of McDonald s maybe considered as a process of dealing with the conflict of local culture and American McDonald s culture and assimilating each other in order to balance this paradox. Therefore, McDonald s paradox to a great extent can be considered as the rivalry between globalization and interregional in terms of cultural aspects. Last but not the least, nearly the same as Pieterse s (2003) opinion, as far as I am concerned, Mcdonald s in future may be likely to grow with diversity connection of the unique mixtures of local culture as well as Mcdonald s America culture and then create a unique phenomenon in Mcdonald s among different areas. Accordingly, the outcome of globalization processes is open-ended leading to a mixture in the future.

The Challenge of Communication between Men and Women Essay -- Personal

He looks at me with big puppy dog eyes and says,"Kate, do you really want me to stay?" HELLO! Now, you have to understand that I don't want to make decisions for him, and I don't want to be controlling, so I say, "It's your decision." Wow, that is the number one clue; if you get that line you'd better stay with her. Why can't you just listen to me? I don't want your advice; I just want you to listen!" I yelled. "I did listen to you; you could have done something to prevent that problem!" my boyfriend replied. That was the gist of our last argument. We concluded that we were just different people. Well, of course we are different people. I am a woman, and he is a man. That's right; I am a woman, and why can't a man understand what a woman wants? Come on--we give them all the right clues; we basically feed it to them. (They might as well just roll over and drool.) The truth is, men and women communicate in different ways; we talk, listen, and act differently. This fact can create some major misunderstandings and even arguments. I am a woman, so I have a pretty good idea of what a woman wants. So listen up boys! Men and woman actually think differently. For example, a man and a woman are having a professional conversation. As the man talks, the woman nods her head, and the man thinks, "Oh great, she agrees with me." (Where the heck does he get off thinking that?) The woman actually nods her head to show she understands what is going on. Now why don't men pick up this good habit of nodding the head? I mean, come on, when I am trying to explain something to a man he just stares at me. (Do I have to repeat everything ten times before a man says or shows me that he understands what I am saying?) Being a woman, I understand ... ... play dumb, so men you better start picking up the obvious clues we lay down in front of you. There is no other way to explain it--men and women are just simply different. We think, act, and talk differently, and overall we communicate differently. It's no wonder men and women get in so many arguments. To each man and to each woman, their point of view is very clear. However, every woman knows, just as every man knows, that a woman is always right, and that what a woman wants is just what she should get! Works Cited "English Language by Gender." Geocities.Com 26 October 2000 http://www.geocities.com/a3a17013/jokes/genderlang.htm Wood, Julia. Communication in Our Lives. New York: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000. Center for Applications of Psychological Type. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator. Gainesville: Consulting Psychologist Press, Inc., 1988.

Hacking Essay -- Technology, White Hat, Back and Grey Hat

Determine if hacking into a Web site is ever justifiable, applying your theory to a real-world case in which someone hacked into a system, including the name of the company and details. In general, hacking or more specifically cracking is not justifiable due to the negative connotations associated with the term. Hackers are generally categorized into three categories, white hat, black or grey hat (Arnone, 2005). White hats are personnel that are often employed to find holes, penetrate or exploit a security system so the company can take corrective actions. Black hats are typically associated will malicious activity (cracking) such as developing and deploying viruses, worms, theft or damaging a system. The gray hats are somewhere in between the white and the gray hats. Arnone discusses how the federal government is utilizing hackers to test their own security measures and learn how to secure their systems by understanding how hackers operate and gain entry into network systems (Arnone, 2005). The white hat hacker has proven value by showing a company where their security vulnerabilities lie. White hackers are also in demand. They are hired by consultants for many Fortune 500 companies to find external and internal weaknesses and report them in order for those holes to be closed (Wiles, 2008). There are some instances in which hacking can be justified. Hacking for National Security can be justified although controversial. The military has been using hacking techniques for decades. While not specifically tied to a computer, they have deceived the enemy using fake radio broadcasts, such as the preparations for the invasion of Normandy in World War II. The military has monitored radio conversations by eavesdro... ... constantly evolving threats and increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals, AT&T works to stay one step ahead. The company's sophisticated network monitors, probes, and algorithms to identify known or suspected viruses, worms, and other Internet attacks – often destroying them before they reach an enterprise† (AT&T, 2011). AT&T stresses individual vigilance regarding their personal account information. AT&T will never ask for any account information via e-mail or over the phone. Should you receive such inquiries, treat it as fraudulent. AT&T has alerted the cyber task force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide assistance and examine our security systems to prevent a future breach. We treat this breach very serious and maintaining your trust is our highest priority and we apologize for the incontinence this security breach caused. Sincerely,

Euro Disney

Case Study: 1 The Not-So-Wonderful World of Euro Disney BONJOUR, MICKEY: In April 1992, EuroDisney SCA opened its doors to European visitors. Located by the river Marne some 20 miles east of Paris, it was designed to be the biggest and most lavish theme park that Walt Disney Company (Disney) had built to date – bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, California; Disney World in Oralando, Florida; and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. Much to Disney management’s surprise, Europeans failed to â€Å"go goofy† over Mickey, unlike their Japanese counterparts.Between 1990 and early 1992, some 14 million people had visited Tokyo Disneyland, with three-quarters being repeat visitors. A family of four staying overnight at a nearby hotel would easily spend $600 on a visit to the park. In contrast, at EuroDisney, families were reluctant to spend the $280 a day needed to enjoy the attractions of the park, including les hamburgers and les milkshakes. Staying overnight was out of the ques tion for many because hotel rooms were so high priced.For example, prices ranged from $110 to $380 a night at the Newport Bay Club, the largest of EuroDisney’s six new hotels and one of the biggest in Europe. In comparison, a room in a top hotel in Paris cost between $340 and $380 a night. Financial losses became so massive at EuroDisney that the president had to structure a rescue package to put EuroDisney back on firm financial ground. Many French bankers questioned the initial financing but the Disney response was that their views reflected the cautious. Old world thinking of Europeans who didn’t understand U. S. -style free market financing.After some acrimonious dealings with French banks a two-year financial plan was negotiated. Disney management rapidly revised their marketing plan and introduced strategic and tactical changes in the hope of â€Å"doing it right† this time. A Real Estate Dream Come True : The Paris location was chosen over 200 other poten tial sites stretching from Portugal through Spain, France, Italy, and into Greece. Spain thought it had the strongest bid based on its yearlong temperate and sunny Mediterranean climate, but insufficient acreage of land was available for development around Barcelona.In the end, the French government’s generous incentives, together with impressive data on regional demographics, swayed Disney management to choose the Paris location. It was calculated that some 310 million people in Europe live within two hours’ air travel of EuroDisney, and 17 million could reach the park within two hours by car – better demographics than at any other Disney site. Pessimistic talk about the dismal winter weather of northern France was countered with references to the success of Tokyo Disneyland, where resolute visitors brave cold winds and snow to enjoy their piece of Americana.Furthermore, it was argued, Paris is Europe’s most-popular city destination among tourists of all nationalities. Spills and Thrills: Disney had projected that the new theme park would attract 11 million visitors and generate over $100 million in operating earnings during the first year of operation. By summer 1994, EuroDisney had lost more than $900 million since opening. Attendance reached only 9. 2 million in 1992, and visitors spent 12 percent less on purchases than the estimated $33 per head. If tourists were not flocking to taste the thrills of the new EuroDisney, where were they going for their summer vacations in 1992?Ironically enough, an unforeseen combination of transatlantic airfare wars and currency movements resulted in a trip to Disney World in Orlando being cheaper than a trip to Paris, with guaranteed good weather and beautiful Floridian beaches within easy reach. EuroDisney management took steps to rectify immediate problems in 1992 by cutting rates at two hotels up to 25 percent, introducing some cheaper meals at restaurants, and launching a Paris ad blitz tha t proclaimed â€Å"California in only 20 miles from Paris. An American Icon : One of the most worrying aspects of EuroDisney’s first year was that French visitors stayed away; they had been expected to make up 50 percent of the attendance figures. A park services consulting firm framed the problem in these words; â€Å"The French see EuroDisney as American imperialism – plastics at its worst. † The well-known, sentimental Japanese attachment to Disney characters contrasted starkly with the unexpected and widespread French scorn for American fairy-tale characters.French culture has its own lovable cartoon characters such as Asterix, the helmeted, pint-sized Gallic warrior who has a theme park located near EuroDisney. Hostility among the French people to the whole â€Å"Disney idea† had surfaced early in the planning of the new project. Paris theater director Ariane Mnouchkine became famous for her description of EuroDisney as â€Å"a cultural Chernobyl. † In fall 1989, during a visit to Paris, French Communists pelted Michael Eisner with eggs. The joke going around at the time was, â€Å"For EuroDisney to adapt properly to France, all seven of Snow White’s dwarfs should be named Grumpy (Grincheux).Early advertising by EuroDisney seemed to aggravate local French sentiment by emphasizing glitz and size, rather than the variety of rides and attractions. Committed to maintaining Disney’s reputation for quality in everything, more detail was built into EuroDisney. For example, the centerpiece castle in the Magic Kingdom had to be bigger and fancier than in the other parks. Expensive trams were built along a lake to take guests from the hotels to the park, but visitors preferred walking. Total park construction costs were estimated at FFr 14 billion ($2. 7 billion) in 1989 but rose by $340 million to FFr 16 billion as a result of all these addons. Hotel construction costs alone rose from an estimated FFr 3. 4 billion to FFr 5. 7 billion. EuroDisney and Disney managers unhappily succeeded in alienating many of their counterparts in the government, the banks, the ad agencies, and other concerned organizations. A barnstorming, kick-the-door-down attitude seemed to reign among the U. S. decision makers. â€Å"They had a formidable image and convinced everyone that if we let them do it their way, we would all have a marvelous adventure. One former Disney executive voiced the opinion, â€Å"We were arrogant – it was like ‘We’re building the Taj Mahal and people will come – on our terms. † STORM CLOUDS AHEAD Disney and its advisors failed to see signs at the end of the 1980s of the approaching European recession. Other dramatic events included the Gulf War in 1991, which put a heavy brake on vacation travel for the rest of that year. Other external factors that Disney executives have cited are high interest rates and the devaluation of several currencies against the franc.EuroDisney also encountered difficulties with regard to competition – the World’s Fair in Seville and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona were huge attractions for European tourists. Disney management’s conviction that it knew best was demonstrated by its much-trumpeted ban on alcohol in the park. This proved insensitive to the local culture because the French are the world’s biggest consumers of wine. To them a meal without unverre de rouge is unthinkable. Disney relented. It also had to relax its rules on personal grooming of the projected 12,000 cast members, the park employees.Women were allowed to wear redder nail polish than in the United States, but the taboo on men’s facial hair was maintained. â€Å"We want the clean-shaven, neat and tidy look,† commented the director of Disney University’s Paris branch, which trains prospective employees in Disney values and culture. EuroDisney’s management did, however, compromise o n the question of pets. Special kennels were built to house visitors’ animals. The thought of leaving a pet at home during vacation is considered irrational by many French people. Plans for further development of EuroDisney after 1992 were ambitious.The initial number of hotel rooms was planned to be 5,200, more than in the entire city of Cannes on the Cote d’ Azur. Also planned were shopping malls, apartments, golf courses, and vacation homes. EuroDisney would design and build everything itself, with a view to selling at a profit. As a Disney executive commented, â€Å"Disney at various points could have had partners to share the risk or buy the hotels outright. But it didn’t want to give up the upside. â€Å"From the time they came on, Disney’s Chairman Eisner and President Wells had never made a single misstep, never a mistake, never a failure,† said a ormer Disney executive. â€Å"There was a tendency to believe that everything they touched w ould be perfect. † The incredible growth record fostered this belief. In the seven years EuroDisney opened, they took the parent company from being a company with $1 billion in revenues to one with $8. 5 billion, mainly through internal growth. Telling and Selling Fairy Tales: Mistaken assumptions by the Disney management team affected construction design, marketing and pricing policies, and park management, as well as initial financing. Disney executives had been erroneously informed that Europeans don’t eat break fast.Restaurant breakfast service was downsized accordingly, and guess what? â€Å"Everybody showed up for breakfast. We were trying to serve 2,500 breakfasts in a 350 – seat restaurant (at some of the hotels). The lines were horrendous. And they didn’t just want croissants and coffee, they wanted bacon and eggs. † In contrast to Disney’s American parks where visitors typically stay at least three days, EuroDisney is at most a two- day visit. Energetic visitors need even less time. One analyst claimed to have â€Å"done† every EuroDisney ride in just five hours.Typically many guests arrive early in the morning, rush to the park, come back to their hotel at night, and then check out the next morning before heading back to the park. Vacation customs of Europeans were not taken into consideration. Disney executives had optimistically expected that the arrival of their new theme park would cause French parents to take their children out of school in mid-session for a short break. It did not happen, unless a public holiday occurred over a weekend. Similarly, Disney expected that the American-style short but more frequent family vacation, usually taken in August.However, French office and factory schedules remained the same, with their emphasis on an August shutdown. In promoting the new park to visitors, Disney did not stress the entertainment value of a visit to the new theme park; the emphasis was on the s ize of the park, which â€Å"ruined the magic. † To counter this, ads were changes to feature Zorro, a French favorite, mary Poppins, and Aladdin, star of the huge moneymaking movie success. A print ad campaign at that time featured Aladdin, Cinderella’s castle, and a little girl being invited to njoy a â€Å"magic vacation,† at the kingdom where all dreams come true. Six new attractions were added in 1994, including the Temple of Peril, Storybook Land; and the Nautilus attraction. Donald Duck’s birthday was celebrated on June 9 – all in hopes of positioning EuroDisney as the No. 1 European destination of short duration, one to three days. Tomorrowland: Faced with falling share prices and crisis talk among shareholders, Disney was forced to step forward in late 1993 to rescue the new park. Disney announced that it would fund EuroDisney until a financial restructuring could be worked out with lenders.However, it was made clear by the parent company, Disney, that it â€Å"was not writing a blank check. † In June 1994, EuroDisney received a new lifeline when a member of the Saudi royal family agreed to invest up to $500 million for a 24 percent stake in the park. The price has an established reputation in world markets as a â€Å"bottom-fisher. † Buying into potentially viable operations during crisis when share prices are low. The prince’s plans included a $100 million convention center at EuroDisney. One of the few pieces of good new about EuroDisney is that its convention business exceeded expectations from the beginning.MANAGEMENT AND NAME CHANGES Frenchman Philippe Bourguignon took over at EuroDisney as CEO in 1993 and has navigated the theme park back to profitability. He was instrumental in the negotiations with the firm’s bankers, cutting a deal that he credits largely for bringing the park back into the black. Perhaps more important to the long-run success of the venture were his changes in m arketing. The pan-European approach to marketing was dumped, and national markets were targeted separately. This new localization took into account the differing tourists’ habits around the continent.Separate marketing offices were opened in London, Frankfurt, Milan, Brussels, Amsterdam and Madrid, and each was charged with tailoring advertising and packages to its own market. Prices were cut by 20 percent for park admission and 30 percent for some hotel room rates. Special promotions were also run for the winter months. The central theme of the new marketing and operations approach is that people visit the park for an â€Å"authentic† Disney day out. They may not be completely sure what that means, except that it entails something American. This is reflected in the transformation of the park’s name.The â€Å"Euro† in EuroDisney was first shrunk in the logo, and the word â€Å"land† added. Then in October 1994 the â€Å"Euro† was eliminated completely; the park is now called Disneyland Paris. In 1996 Disneyland Paris became France’s most visited tourist attraction, ahead of both the Louvre Art Museum and the Eiffel Tower, 11. 7 million visitors (a 9 percent increase from the previous year) allowed the park to report another profitable year. THEME PARK EXPANSION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY With the recovery of Disneyland Paris, Disney embarked on an ambitious growth plan.In 2001 the California Adventure Park was added to the Anaheim complex at a cost of $1. 4 billion and Walt Disney Studios Theme Park was added to Disneyland Paris. Through agreements with foreign partners, Disney will open Disney-Sea in Tokyo and plans are underway for a theme park in Shanghai that Chinese officials hope will open in time for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and a park in Hong Kong is to open in 2006. A decade after being slammed for its alleged ignorance of European ways with EuroDisney, Disney is trying to prove it’s go tten things right the second time around.The new movie-theme park, Walt Disney Studios, adjacent to Disneyland Paris, is designed to be a tribute to moviemaking – but not just the Hollywood kind. The Walt Disney Studios blend Disney entertainment and attractions with the history and culture of European film since French camera-makers helped invent the motion picture. The park’s general layout is modeled after an old Hollywood studio complex, and some of the rides and shows are near replicas of Disney’s first film park, Disney-MGM Studios.Rather than celebrating the history of U. S. Disney characters, the characters in the new theme park speak six different languages. A big stunt show features cars and motorcycles that race through a village modeled after the French resort town of St. Tropez. Small details reflect the cultural lessons learned. â€Å"We made sure that all our food venues have covered seating,† recalling that, when EuroDisney first opened, t he open-air restaurants offered no protection from the rainy weather that assails the park for long stretches of the year.On the food front, EuroDisney offered only a French sausage, drawing complaints from the English, Germans, Italians, and everyone else about why their local sausages weren’t available. This time around, the park caters to the multiple indigenous cultures throughout Europe – which includes a wider selection of sausages. Unlike Disney’s attitude with their first park in France, â€Å"Now we realize that our guests need to be welcomed on the basis of their own culture and travel habits,† says Disneyland Paris Chief Executive.Disneyland Paris today is Europe’s biggest tourist attraction – even more popular than the Eiffel Tower – a turnaround that showed the park operators’ ability to learn from their mistakes. The root of Disney’s problems in EuroDisney may be found in the tremendous success of Japanâ₠¬â„¢s Disneyland. The Tokyo Park was a success from the first day and it has been visited by millions of Japanese who wanted to capture what they perceived at the ultimate U. S. entertainment experience. Disney took the entire U. S. theme park and transplanted it in Japan. It worked because of the Japanese attachment to Disney characters.Schools have field trips to meet Mickey and his friends to the point that the Disney experience has become ingrained in Japanese life. In the book, Disneyland as Holy Land, University of Tokyo professor Masako otoji wrote: â€Å"The opening of Tokyo Disneyland was, in retrospect, the greatest cultural event in Japan during the ‘80s. † With such success, is there any wonder that Disney thought they had the right model when they first went to France? The Tokyo Disney constitutes a very rare case in that the number of visitors has not decreased since the opening.While Disney Japan was a success the company also admitted making a major fina ncial error when the park was launched. It had licensed its name and image to another company that actually owns and operates the park as well as the land where it sits. Disney collects only a small fraction of the revenues that run into hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Since they were not certain of the success of the first international venture, it was the price they were willing to pay; however, it vowed never to repeat that error and to never have its hands tied again.As a consequence, when they began the jParis Park, they were fanatically intent on owning and controlling the park as well as enough adjacent property for its own exclusive hotels – â€Å"they were sure they had the right model and they were going to own it all. † Thus, they began planning EuroDisney. QUESTIONS 1. You as Disney’s Chairman Eisner Present the Euro Disney project as success of Global marketing. 2. To what degree, you as Eisner,consider the disturbing factors were (a) fo reseeable and (b) controllable by the parent company, Disney? 3. What then you think as the factors that stop standardized marketing practice.

Philosophy and Engineering Essay

Study is not only learning the facts but rather it is a practice the mind to think. This is my values in concerning Engineering course in my life not only do utilize the scientific knowledge to build something, but you also utilize philosophical wisdom in figuring out what to build, so that it will be valuable and new. The range of philosophical studies there is without limit of facts, thoughts, ideas and knowledge beyond existence or do without exist and act being exist. For us soon to be engineer, the first principle of high metaphysics is very important and significant for innovation. The first cause principle of all things is GOD. Without him we can’t innovate out which something is made, through which something is made, is that which something is made and on the account which something is made. In the act of â€Å"esse† the values is being mannered, through this we give respect, loyalty and wisdom in everything we do. We have to attain the highest form human achievements â€Å"the most universal science† since all reality is its object of study. Metaphysics relates the knowledge (truth) and to the will (Goodness). Aesthetic sense (beauty) is necessary for innovation. Beauty is imagination, without imagination you can’t create something is entice. Imagination is greater than knowledge. Connected values is based on interactivity, dialogue and participation. It connects people on a personal level, while recognising the importance of the values of the institutions they represent. It uses a cyclic, reflexive and action-learning methods. â€Å"I appreciate people who are electric and all engineering level, whether they mean it or not. I think: Be electric!. Do not cherish your opinion over my feelings. There’s a vanity to candor that isn’t really worth it. Be kind†¦