Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton Essay

The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton - Essay Example The author, Thomas Merton, vehemently declares the inevitable existence of the spiritual glow from heavens over human beings for their guidance and supervision to protect and shield them from going astray into the hands of evil because of the continuous temptations of satanic forces haunting the hearts and minds of the children of Adam and Eve. The book narrates, in a very strong manner, the always changing human nature while passing various phases of life. Merton explores the very reality that individuals witness divergent experiences during the course of their life, which certainly influence both their minds and activities. Merton also indicates the power of spirituality to keep the direction of activities towards the right way of commitment, truthfulness and faithfulness. The autobiography reveals the inner feelings of the young man while interacting with so many individuals and institutions prevailing in his surroundings, culture and environment. In the same way, the courageous a nd sympathetic words produced by the writer boost up the morale of the seekers of truth, justice, vigilance and wisdom for the perpetual peace and tranquility of head and heart. The autobiography under study discusses different aspects of the writer’s life from his birth onward. Merton submits him the descendant of the Kiwis, as his ancestors belonged to New Zealand. His parents had settled in France, where the writer was born in January, 1915. The autobiography concentrates on the troubles and problems faced by the writer in his early childhood. The first great tragedy of Merton’s life was the death of his mother, as his mother kicked the bucket in 1921, when Merton was a small child of six years only. He had become as a rolling stone because of remaining busy in traveling from France, to England and the USA to accompany his father on the one hand and for the completion of

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Pizza Corner Essay Example for Free

Pizza Corner Essay 2. Summary: a. Overall Score i. With this Competitive Profile Matrix, a couple of conclusions can be made. Firstly, when comparing Pizza Hut to its competitors, it can be seen that Pizza Hut had a higher score than Papa John’s but scored lower than Dominos. This shows that overall Pizza Hut is doing better than Papa John’s in terms of identifying strengths and working with weaknesses. When looking at Dominos, however, it shows that Dominos is a lot better at turning these success factors into strengths rather than weaknesses. b. Weights ii. When focusing on weights alone, however, some other conclusions can be drawn and also differ in outcomes when looking at the overall score. The most important things we identified in the pizza industry are product quality, price competitiveness, and advertising. As a group we weighted product quality and price equally with advertising being the second most important thing. For comparison, it can be seen that Domino’s takes the cake when dealing with product quality, price competitiveness, and advertising especially in the recent years as they have re-launched and revamped their entire recipe and product quality, advertising, marketing, and offering great pricing that are mostly the best deals around. They have owned up to the past disappointments and issues and have completely redone itself entirely for the consumers. By using quality ingredients and constructing their marketing to where the consumers drive their commercials and advertising they have definitely surpassed the other surviving pizza chains. Pizza Hut and Papa John’s comes in a close second to product quality as they are fresh and quality products. Pizza Hut ranks higher than Papa John’s for price competitiveness because as a group we see more Dominos and Pizza Hut deals versus seeing any type of Papa John’s coupons. Also, Papa John’s is priced fairly higher than either Pizza Hut or Dominos. Advertising, however, proves a minor weakness for Pizza Hut as very rarely do you see Pizza Hut commercials in comparison to Dominos and Pap Johns. c. Strengths iii. Pizza Hut is the leader in global expansion and correctly identifies its target market. The company will want to keep this apart of their strengths to keep up and always be a step ahead in these aspects. This will then ensure accessibility which is an important factor for generating revenues and thus creating a loyal customer base. d. Concerns iv. Some areas that Pizza Hut was rated lower than the other two competitors besides the ones addressed above is the organic foods factor. Many people want organic pizzas and the only chain coming close is Papa John’s which uses quality ingredients, some of which either local or organic. Although it does not seem like a huge deal in the present, eventually more and more consumers will be looking for this and have nowhere to turn but the company who falls close to the mark.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Conservation of historic buildings and monuments

Conservation of historic buildings and monuments Introduction Throughout the renaissance period, preservation and restoration remained an experimental process in which many of the tools, instruments and methods were selected at random. The process was pursued with very little critical or historical understanding. This led to many architects such as Viollet-le-Duc, Sir George Gilbert Scott, John Ruskin and William Morris voicing their perceptions of how preservation and restoration should restore buildings to how they would have appeared in their prime. Most of our modern principles of conservation arose from the ideas of John Ruskin and William Morris from the mid 19th century. They stated how we are merely custodians of the buildings left form our predecessors for our future generations. They also state how our intervention in historic buildings must be kept to a minimum and how continued repair and maintenance of these historic buildings must be valued. These ideas form the basis of modern perception of preservation and restoration of our valued historic buildings and monuments. What is Conservation? Conservation is a way of planning designed to conserve historic buildings, areas and monuments in an effort to connect a places historical background to its population and primarily its culture. Conservation is means of green building, that is, reusing the existing building as oppose to new construction for a modern purpose and use. The four main styles of conservation of historic buildings are preservation, rehabilitation, reconstruction and restoration. Preservation Preservation is the means of keeping an historic building a close as possible to its original state by means of continued repair and maintenance. This focuses on the stabilization and repair of the existing materials in the building and the retention of a buildings state as it has evolved over time. Restoration Restoration of historic buildings involves reconstructing parts of the building that have fallen into decay as imitations of the highest possible quality of the original building. This form depicts a building at one stage in time and often removes any evidence of any other period in which the building existed. Rehabilitation Rehabilitation sees the need to alter or extent to an historic building to meet modern demands while still keeping the historical character of the building. Reconstruction Reconstruction re-creates vanished buildings or parts of buildings by interpretive means. Criticisms of Conservation Like many developments in urban design and planning, conservation has had its share of negative perceptions. Such aspects if this criticism include; Cost Style Mistakes made Cost implications of Conservation There are many costs associated with the preservation or restoration of an historic building. Often they need specialist workmanship which can be both time and money consuming on a construction project. Delicate elements of the building often require propping or some sort of support which can take up valuable space on site. Many of the systems in an old building need upgrading which can be difficult to install. Requirements such as energy rating and fire certificates can be hard to upgrade as often the original design of the building did not consider such modern ideas. Elements such as cavity walls or wood cladding are expensive and difficult to bring up to modern standards regarding these requirements. Structural elements of an historic building are the most endeavouring aspects of the conservation process to get right. Foundations are a recurring issue with many of the buildings as newer structures with deeper and heavier foundations can often cause uplift of the older building. Th e cost of repairing the foundations of these buildings are astronomical so diligent design of new foundations and monitoring of existing buildings is paramount during construction. All this adds up on a construction project which has undesired implicated cost for both contractor and engineer. Modern style construction Due to property price rises and limitation of space in city centres our society has constructed its buildings higher and higher to meet its purposes. This popular style of higher buildings can often cause the older, smaller historic buildings to become dwarfed and ultimately undesirable for its occupants. As the push towards increased numbers of taller sky-scrapers in urban areas is inevitable, this leaves many of the smaller older buildings redundant. Critics also say that the older historic buildings cannot accommodate as many people or businesses as newer developments can. This increases the rent on these buildings and causes low income retailers and residents to relocate. This has a negative impact on a city centre regarding retailing. Mistakes in conservation Another criticism of conservation is that it is very susceptible to mistakes being made which are ultimately to the determent of the building. Inappropriate renovations can cause damage to buildings and put it worse off than it was before. According to the Tipperary county council website some of the most common mistakes made in small scale conservation in the area are; Removal of old 18th or 19th century windows to be replaced with new PVC, plastic or aluminium windows The removal of original slate and the replacement with imitation slate or tiles The removal of the render. The website says how these changes can affect the ventilation systems in the building and can exacerbate any decaying or rotting that is taking place in the building. Removal of render and replacing it with modern Portland cement which is a lot harder can cause cracking, admit moisture and trap it within the wall. This is just an example of a few of the mistakes that can be made during the renovation process. It is clear that a great responsibility is undertaken in conducting a conservation of a building. It is the utmost importance that the right techniques and products are investigated as to preserve the building and not to amplify or created any problems with the building or monument. Sustainability of conservation Historic buildings are inherently sustainable. The correct preservation can maximise the use of the existing materials and infrastructure and in return reduces waste caused by demolition and energy put into the production of new materials and construction. Many of the old buildings were designed with sustainability in mind. Many features of historic buildings were built with aspects like climate and site situation in mind to give a sustainable build. If correctly conserved, many old buildings can serve future generations for many years to come. Conservation versus New Construction Preserving a building is often referred to as the ultimate recycling project. Although, as I have already outlined it has its many sceptics who say that historic buildings are beyond their use and require significant corrective measure to make them viable as a functioning structure. However, Green and sustainable design has become ever more popular in todays new construction and preservation industries. A major aspect to this is the reduction in carbon that conservation brings when compared with new construction. Concrete products, steel, transportation, heating and electricity are the main factors contributing to a projects overall carbon emissions. Conservation of old buildings drastically cuts down on new concrete products and their inherent transportation costs as well as the use of electricity to operate plant that is associated with new construction. Conservation versus Demolition The conservation of old buildings is a much more sensible option than demolition in relation to sustainability. There are many times when a building is deemed structurally unsound and the need for demolition is unrivalled in the interest of public safety but this should not prevent our society from conserving many of our old buildings for continued use. Conserving greatly reduces the amount of construction material being dumped in landfill. Demolition creates vast amount of crushed concrete and stone that is often unusable for construction again. Ethics and conservation I have decided to divide ethics and conservation into two sub-headings that I will discuss, they are Ethics of conservation Ethics within conservation. Ethics of conservation Preservation of historic buildings and monuments plays a vital role in the growth of our civilization. It is oftentimes easy to disregard the accomplishments of past generations as we strive to change our societies and environments to be more suited to our present needs. John Ruskin (1819-1900) was one the first to develop the conservation movement whose ideals were that a historic building, painting or sculpture is a unique creation by an artisan or artist in a specific historic context. He believed that such genuine works of art resulted from personal sacrifice and it was based on mans perception of beauty on nature, where in itself existed as a reflection of god. (Jukka Jokilehto, A History of Architectural Conservation, 1999, page175) Such ideals led to him becoming a pioneer in help organise preservation of historic buildings and monuments writing many works on the subject. His principles form the basis on conservation in todays world where we see historic buildings and monuments as a link to our past and our culture. With ongoing development of our city centres and transportation networks it would be very easy to demolish the outdated and often useless buildings and monuments that get in our way. Therefore, the question arises why dont we? Conservation is an ethical subject with the decision to neglect our revered buildings and monuments a conscientious one. As John Ruskin said many of our monasteries and churches alike are works of art in the reflection of god. It is often said that age in itself contributes to beauty. Age is a thing that is associated with wisdom and many of our historic buildings add a feeling of intellect and enlightenment to an area. Often, historic conservation of city centre can help them become more competitive with regard to retailing and business as historic, unique buildings give areas more prominence in comparison to the homogeneous skyscrapers that dominate the skylines of many of our large cities. Ethics within conservation There are many ethical values within conservation itself that regulates the nature of the industry. As one would expect it is a delicate subject whether or whether not to intervene with the natural state of a revered building or monument. Therefore, many charters and polices have been developed and implemented over the years. The first time that an international agreement was made on the principles of conservation was the Athens charter of 1931. The charter was later review and update with the Venice Charter in 1964 which relates to historic buildings, the Burra charter which deals with places of historic significance and the Washington Charter which is relates to historic towns and districts. These charters were drafted by The International Committee for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). Conservation is regarded as the work done to prevent further decay of a building and to extend its life. Conservation can often be undertaken with the greatest of enthusiasm and best intentions. However, the conservation process should be carried out so that no damage is done to the building and no falsifying or destruction of historical evidence occurs. Lack of information or the use of incorrect in inappropriate techniques can often unintentionally cause both, aesthetic and structural damage. According to (http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Heritage), the main principles in these charters to help prevent unintentional damage from occurring are; Retention or restoration of historical significance Conservation process based on research Minimum physical intervention Maintenance of visual setting These are the basic principles outlined in the charters which help instil ethical practice of conservation works. Case Studies In this section I will report on two case studies which I researched which will highlight mistakes made in the past, ethics in conservation and the sustainability of conservation. The leaning Tower of Pisa The leaning tower of Pisa is one of Italys most infamous land marks. It attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Construction of the tower began in 1173 after a period of prosperity in Pisa. The tower began to sway soon after the beginning of construction due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower was built in three stages over 177 years. The tower began to sink after construction was completed on the third floor. In 1272 construction was resumed with architect Giovanni di Simone deciding to build one side taller than the other to compensate for the tilt. This caused the tower to lean the other way resulting in the tower having a curved shape. The curve and 3.97o angle to the vertical at which the tower leans caused inherent damage to structural elements of the tower as well as aesthetic damage. This led to the Italian government to seek international aid to prevent the tower from collapsing on February of 1964. They did, however, declare that they desired to retain a certain degree of the towers tilt because of it tourism viability. Many attempts were made to rectify the foundations. Deformations were made in the soil through vertical anchorages and forces were applied using weights. This was one of the most simplistic solutions but also the most ineffective as it only resulted in inducing further compression on the soil. This caused extensive damage to the tower where cracking and splitting of many of the mall columns occurred. In 1993 900 tonnes of lead weights were applied to oppose the tilt of the structure. Additional provisional strengthening of the structure was applied with a series of circumferential steel cables. The final measure in the stabilization of the structure is to be a new technique called under-excavation. This technique consists in pulling out, about 5 m under the upstream border of the foundation, small amounts of soils, through a series of casings drilled into the soil. (www.sciencedirect.com). This it is hoped will gently cause the tower to tilt towards its desired inclination without disturbing the fragile columns in the structure. The leaning tower of Pisa is an example of restoration attempts where experimental methods were used with almost dire consequences for the building. However, an ethical approached was undertaken which was based on research and an effort to minimize distortion of the appearance of the building. The Parthenon Besides the pyramids at Giza, the Parthenon is one of most revered monument in the world. It was built between 447 432 BC by Greek architects Ictinus and Callicrates. The structure underwent extensive damage over an extended period time. In 296 BC gold from the statues in the building was removed by the general Lachares to pay his army. In the 5th century AD the temple was converted into a Christian church. In 1460 it housed a Turkish mosque and in 1687 gun-powder stored by the Turks inside the temple exploded and destroyed the central area. (www.archive.com). A recent major influence in the increased deterioration of the monument has been the expansion and development of nearby Athens. Urbanization has caused increased amount of carbon dioxide in the air which has contributed to more intense acid rain. This has seriously affected the monument more so in the last 30 years than in the previous eighteen centuries. In 1975 the Greek government made a special effort to try and restore the Parthenon to some of its former glory. After some delay, a committee was set up in 1983 which later received funding from the European Union to carry out its works. It was investigated that some of the earlier works were incorrect and therefore carefully dismantled and a restoration process commenced. The preservation firstly involved rectifying mistakes made by conservationists in the past. Steel beams were places within the stone structure to help support it but these were not coated in lead and inevitably rusted. The rusted beams expanded and cause the stone to crack more than it was so previously. It is impossible to restore the building to exactly how it was built first day but the aesthetics of the building were preserved by replacing any missing columns and lintels with precisely cut marble from the original quarry. The overall idea behind the conservation attempt is to replace all missing pieces of marble in the structure where they would have been preserving the structural integrity of the building by supporting these with modern materials. The preservation of the Parthenon shows a standard of ethics that Ruskin and Morris adhered to. Although there were mistakes made in the past, a willingness to restore the monument to its former glory while still keeping the style of the original building intact is the way it should be done. Preserving this monument is paramount as it has a clear link to the nation of Greece and its culture and past. Future Ideas From researching this project it is clear to see that conservation of old buildings could prove extremely beneficial to society with regard to sustainable living. With a recent push towards eco-living, conservation of some of our older building as oppose to demolishing them and erecting a new structure would be a way forward. In my opinion, future policies could incorporate full structural analysis to look for potential conservation processes before any building is demolished. This could be especially beneficial in city centres where construction of new multi-storey buildings is quite challenging. Also, regular maintenance checks of all buildings, historic or recently built, should take place on a regular basis as to provide any preservation techniques that may need be applied. This would greatly help sustain the buildings we have and reduce the need for any new construction which would have a positive impact for the environment. References Websites http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main http://www.wbdg.org/resources/sustainable http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Heritage/ArchitecturalHeritage/ Conservation of historic buildings by Bernard m feilden, 1982 http://www.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=912 Ioanna Venieri, archaeologist www.preservationnation.org

Friday, October 25, 2019

History of American Politics :: essays research papers

Throughout American history there have been changes that have shaped the way we live today. Some of them are small things: for example the way we vote, the way requirements for a citizenship are obtain and other minor things that does not effect every person at any given time. There are also many consistent ways we have lived in America through our history such as: the two party systems and how we are represented have been constant for a long period of time in the United States. None of these things are as important as the end of segregation and our economic structure, capitalism. These two effect the entire country continuously throughout history, no matter who you are our what your beliefs or your political views. Capitalism is one of the longest and most important constants in America today. It's emphasis around the "America Dream" defines America and appeals to many countries, that you can own your own land, business, house, car, or almost anything you could ever want. This is the very essence that has separated the United States for the rest of the world for a long time. The idea that the harder you work and the better of a job you do will bring you financial success in your life. What would happen to America if we no longer had capitalism as our economic structure? There have been two times in American history when capitalism was almost taken away from us. If WWII had a different outcome, as it almost did, wouldn't the country be almost forced into Fascism? This may seem as a unlikely outcome but what would of happen to the "American Dream." During the Cold War it was a stand- off between Capitalism and Communism. If was a very tense time, and some say it was just luck or a toss of the dice that we didn't convert and the Soviets did. Since these changes would of happen in the last half-century the effects would still be felt in America. What would happen to the "American Dream"? The way that every one lived in this country would be completely changed. The way we did business, the way we bought clothes, when we went out to eat, everything. The reason of is because the Communism and Fascism are very extreme when compared to Capitalism. Fa! scism is extremely right wing and a dictator controls the government and his power is enforced by his military. Communism is extremely left of center which has many more citizen help programs such as: health care, medicare, welfare, in this country has a hard enough time dealing with

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Psychology Admission Statement Essay

As one of the aspiring psychologists, it has come to my understanding that such endeavour is never an easy task but is rather a long road of travel and a stage filled with challenges. In this regard, I truthfully believe that receiving formal studies in psychology course would render me to be more prepared in becoming an outstanding psychologist in the near future. Certainly, my interest in psychology has started and is already evident during my younger years wherein I have found my passion in analyzing human behaviour and the human mind. There are different interesting fields that provide me with much motivation to immerse myself in this field. This is the passion which still pushes me to remain in this field and become an expert in such. In light of my personal qualities and characteristics, I would say that a career in such industry is the best place for me as I am the type of person that is not easily disturbed by the actions of other people and is adequately patient in attending the needs of the people. Nonetheless, as an aspirant in this line of work, I am focused with my professional and personal mission, which is to attend and uplift the life of the people through the direct and indirect contributions that I make.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Journalism Essahe

Critically evaluate the extent to which the key economic/technological challenges facing political journalism in the UK democracy are undermining the ability of the quality news media to play the role demanded of them within competitive and participatory democracies (as defined by Stromback). The quality of the Uk’s new’s media is often scrutinised and mocked for their unashamed bias political opinions, going back to the fundamentals of journalism and the diversion of right and left wing politics, it was inevitable that quality news would disintegrate into a playing field for them to dig the opposition.However, the cause of this could be down to economical and technological challenges facing the news media today, along with the decrease in political interest came the rise in commercialisation. Competitive and participatory democracies include a range of requirements from journalists to act a certain role in society.As described in The Future of Journalism in Advanced De mocracies â€Å"a competitive democracy requires of journalism the following: it should act as a watchdog or burglar alarm† giving the public the honest and truths within politics for them then to make and adequate decision based on sufficient information. A participatory democracy â€Å"requires that journalism should mobilise the citizen’s interest and participation in public life† it also states that journalism should â€Å"focus on the solving of problems and not just the problems themselves. (Anderson & Ward, 2006: 47) There are a range of economical factors, which have affected the quality of news and the role in which they are depicted to play in competitive and participatory democracies, as defined by Stromback, therefore, these have effected the roles in which journalists play in society. Increased Leisure has become a challenging factor in competing with other entertainment provisions; the various opportunities such as Sunday shopping have proven a ne gative impact on Sunday newspapers.Sunday has always been a day of rest, therefore before technology had evolved people would spend this time reading newspapers and conforming an opinion based on the quality news provided, â€Å"if we are to understand what media communications people are actually exposed to and what message content they actually receive, it makes sense to ask how people come to pay attention to a particular medium; in short, why are people moved to watch, listen to, or read a particular program or story? † (Alger, 1995: 33) ince this as drastically changed it has resulted in the commodification of news media and undermining the quality of news by selecting stories and information which attract the public’s interest and not necessarily stories of important and prominence. â€Å"Journalism has always entertained and as well as informed. Had it not done so, it would not have reached a mass audience. But today, say journalism’s critics, the instin ct amuse is driving out the will, and depleting the resource, to report and analyse in depth. (Hagreaves, 2003: 104) In addition to this, social fragmentation has multiplied and caused a decline in cohesion; at one time it was clear that there was only a limited number of views, which brought together a large number of people who had the same ideologies and preference. Now, due the increased number of major media corporation and accessibility to over-seas news there has been a massive break down in social groups.This gives the market only to options, to either supply to a niche market, targeting a particular social clad which would cause a massive loss in profit and interest for the media corporation or, to continue to target the mass market and conform to commercialization and sensationalism to attract the reader. Large corporations need the funds to run the ‘business’ and without this would simply mean a decline and eventually a complete collapse and therefore they ha ve to rely on either readers or sponsor each wanting a certain type on context.Further economical challenges facing journalism today include that increased wealth has led to the ‘culture of contentment’ theory written by Galbraith. This has resulted in the lower-class, those with fewer beneficiaries has caused a lack of interest in news media, this is due to the under class choosing to almost ignore the current political situation as it does not affect them for any good reason. â€Å"Many of the national papers are overtly and emphatically partisan.The ownership and editorial orientation are overwhelmingly toward the Conservative party and ideology, and the trend toward ownership concentration over the past couple of decades has intensified the press skew towards the Conservative party. † (Alger, 1995: 408) This shows that the upper classes fail to think about the future consequences of political decisions, as all of the UK’s news corporation are privately owned it means that the ball is in their court, however, due to the decisions being made and the lack of public interest displayed in the news media today it has unintentionally ‘shot itself in the foot. This has then led to a reduction in political interest, due to the â€Å"compression of the gap between right-wind and left-wing politics† (Anderson & Ward, 2007: 27) this occurred as a result of commercialization, as news media started to concentrate on market values rather than the role they where traditional made for it became apparent that editors where increasing the number of stories which aligned with their political stance and more so, they would glamourize this by omission of important information.It system became blurred and peoples views on politics had changed, the traditional bonds and conformations had broken down. The under class would consider the future benefits of their decisions, they would condone things which in the long run would serve them greatl y however the upper class ignored the future consequences of their decisions and this led to a collapse in political conforms. Today is the perfect visual representation of the extent to which this has occurred; the current coalition government is a product of the news media and the lack of adequate and sufficient information.Other change that evolve and continually challenge political journalism are technological and at the fast pace it is moving news media is finding it difficult to conform to traditional news values and keep the quality of news among the most popular. The development in multi-channel television has created fragmented viewing habits for the audience; this has led to a decline in some of the highest forms of quality news such as, The 10 O’clock News.This has led to conglomeration and concentration of ownership, which creates a dominated market of privately owned corporations. Although this plays an essential part in reducing costs and pressures of news media it often conforms to market driven attitudes that are in complete opposition to the roles depicted by competitive and participatory democracies. â€Å"Murdoch’s orientation towards his newspaper â€Å"properties† is a centerpiece of the current trend. As he has said: â€Å"All newspapers run to make profits†¦.I don’t run anything for respectability†. Therefore, today’s quality newspapers â€Å"have descended to the slimy and sensational- a process that might better be called Murdochization. † (Alger, 1995: 408) This also led to the declining diversity in news provisions, as competition increased it was soon wiped-out by the conformation of large corporate companies which where then driven away from their traditional role to act as a watchdog and instead, more often than not, conform around commodification such as Murdoch’s. The most nfluential and fast-paced form of technology affecting the quality of news media has to be, the birth of the Internet; this offers unlimited access to news providers all over the world and outside of the journalism profession. â€Å" ‘What the hell were we all smoking that weekend? Is the question now asked at Time Warner, according to Rupert Murdoch, reflecting upon the decision by Time Warner to sell itself into a merger with American Online at the very peak of dotcom valuations, with the result that it inflicted huge, medium term misery on it’s own shareholders. (Hargreaves, 2003: 237) The Internet was curated by news media and only to be the destroyer, since the birth of the Internet the quality of news in traditional newspapers and television has plummeted only to become the start of another line of challenges facing journalist’s everyday. The internet expanded the news media market excessively creating a mass amount of jobs, â€Å"there were so many jobs, it became difficult to recruit people into journalism training courses† (Hargreaves, 2003 : 236) Newspapers where now battling not only with their paper based competition, but a whole new level of news media.As the online market grew at a phenomenal rate its affects on newspapers included trivialisation and commercialisation, as they had to compete for the readers. Newspapers where in decline â€Å"fewer people are reading these newspapers and circulations continue their steady decline from the peak year of 1989 reflecting, at least in part, the expansion of local radio, the spiraling costs of newsprint and growing access to the internet. (Allan, 2005: 140) Journalists ethics where thrown out the window and instead superiority was given to market values, again this moves away from the traditions of the news role in UK democracies. However, without the internet, news media would have never reached the mass audience it has. It became possible to communicate all over the world which led to word news, â€Å"the global nature of the new communications network means that ind ividuals can consume journalism all over the world. This allows journalists to, in one sense increase their skills to act as the watchdog role over society, â€Å"journalism today is a two-way street or rather a multidirectional process of boundaryless space† which gives them the ability to give us information which has prominence to us. Although this has created massive opportunities in some respect, it will always revolve around profit hungry organisations, one would not exist without the other. With the increase in technology an increase in a journalist skill also applies, the newsroom requires a multi-skilled journalist to be able to source and construct relevant stories.However, due to the decreasing news media market journalism has been led to ‘downsizing’ therefore, journalists are now required to do more, with this comes a failure in the idea of democratic media, omission being one of the key factors undermining todays news media quality. As journalists b ecome pressured it is apparent that a lack of important information can be an accidental mistake, â€Å"Evidently more journalists than ever are feeling alarmed about their professions credibility problems with the public, due in part to their perception that standards of accuracy are in decline. (Allan, 2005: 6) With an endless amount of content, this is inevitably going to apply to news media if they continue to make cuts; this in itself proves the undermining role of quality news in todays democracies, they are willing to sacrifice the important information and acting as a watchdog role, over making cuts to increase on profits. As the internet continues to build a news media empire, newspapers are inclined to follow suit and this is where the lack of journalist ethics appears. Editors, pressured by intense competition for readers, demand that staff cut ethical corners; and competition among staff encourages some to respond† (Hargreaves, 2003: 221) with the pressures to dow nsize journalists are forced to reconcile their role in society and conform to the multi-news corporations and their needs for increased profits.This has also resulted in a decline in independent journalist sources, newspaper are now relying on PR material to build a sustainable story, however, this causes the quality of news to disappear completely, they are building a headline to attract the viewer and then using bogus, second-hand information and sources to build the context. â€Å"The majority believes that the news media pay too little attention to complex stories. † (Allan, 2005: 7) This is a result off multi-corporate news organisations who often ignore the role in which journalism should play in the UK’s democracies defined by Stromback. Journalists in a commercial setting are primarily working for their shareholders’ profits† (Hargreaves, 2003: 178) as a result the quality of news has decreased and it merely concentrates on entertainment news. To conclude, quality news has decreased as a result of technological and economical challenges. The extent to this bares down to the journalist and their ethics, most of which have conformed to different ideologies by large news corporations.The role in which Stromback demands of the UK’s political journalism is highly unachieved in today’s society; this is due to the increased pressures from large competition in the global news media market today. â€Å"Underlying this global expansion are specific economic factors, First, media products have relatively low reproduction costs. Second, they can be resold without requiring any additional outlay by producers, and hence once production costs are covered, they generate pure profits for their owners. (Curran & Gurevitch, 2005: 94) It has become an unavoidable need to concentrate on the market values due to the high number of privately owned news corporations, as a result of this journalist ethics and intentions within a democ racy, outlined by Stromback are completely ignored. The news media is now in a situation where it coexists with market values, it is unavoidable and an inevitable fact that this has resulted in the commercialisation and sensationalism of quality news. British local press is characterized by a sustained decline in the number of published titles, publisher’s readers and circulations although, paradoxically, this decline coexists with robust and expansive advertising revenues and profits. † (Allan, 2005: 141) it is now unavoidable and can not be undone, without multi-channel television or the birth of the internet would not have come this global force which allows the public to explore willingly, the news media, whether it is written professionally or not. Word Count- 2265

Formalist Criticism Of Shine Essays - English-language Films, Films

Formalist Criticism Of Shine Essays - English-language Films, Films Formalist Criticism Of Shine Kelly Culbertson, Carnegie Mellon Univ, Pittsburgh SHINE Directed by Scott Hicks, the drama Shine is a formalist masterpiece. Writing the piece as a fiction film gave the author license to alter the events in the story of David Helfgott, a real musician who had a nervous breakdown on his way to magnificence. Geoffrey Rush's portrayal gave life and believability to David, and Rush won an Academy Award for his realistic method acting. He had not only to provide depth to the character, but had additional physical demands placed upon him due to David's irregular speech and his tendency to twitch. Both setting and costume are unobtrusive, allowing the audience to focus on the characters rather than their adornments. The formalistic style allows for manipulation of time, and the film begins in medias reas, jumping back and then foreward as it progresses. The structure is highly fragmented, and much of the action is cyclical. Every element of film composition is elegantly intertwined in this picture, mingling together to form connections and patt erns out of seemingly separated things. The film opens with a close shot side-view of the protagonist's face as he smokes a cigarette, smoke drifting up from his lips and into the surrounding darkness. He is talking, but that soon is faded into the sound of rainwater. The rain becomes visible as it replaces David's face in a fade technique, and David enters the frame and walks from the right of the screen to its left, suggesting change and action. He arrives at a restaurant window, peers in, and falls into a strange conversation with the employees. This is now the chronological middle of the story, and, while common in Medieval literature, is a highly unorthodox place to begin a picture. Though this film is more easily classified as a formalist piece, it has outstanding avant garde elements throughout. The transition from the restaurant to the car is masked by the dialogue covering it. Since the acting overrides editing as a way to convey meaning in Shine, Hicks employs many sound motifs to ease editing transitions and make them seem more natural. As the discussion fades and the rain again takes auditory prominence, the scene darkens and the water becomes the clapping of many hands. In this way David eases into a flashback of his childhood. He walks small and silent to the stage for his first competition, and a long shot is used to emphasise the fright and anxiety of the boy. Other transitory devices include David's glasses, his hands on the piano keys, and sometimes a change in his costume, such as when he first plays the restaurant in rags. When he stands to receive his applause, he is dressed much more nicely, now an employee of the establishment. Hicks also employs classical cutting techniques, which depend on the content curve (the moment when the audience has had a chance to assimilate all information presented but not analyse or become bored with it) to determine breaks in scenes. One example of this technique is after David presents his professor with the Rack III and asks Am I mad enough? The scene is cut before the professor answers, and the following scene is the professor intensively training David on the very piece. Cutting for continuity is commonly used to condense time while maintaining a sense of the actions taking place between two major events. Preparations for one of David's concerts are edited in such a manner, making a ritual out of the ordeal while not wasting too much time on it. Besides editing, relationships can be suggested through film devices such as proxemic ranges, angles, and reaction shots. After David loses his first competition, his father stares at the ground while walking well ahead of the boy. His father is disappointed, and David is rather unaware of any problem as he innocently plays hopscotch as he follows. The reactions of David's father and his instructor are shown through parallel editing when the announcement of the National Champion does not coincide with their hopes for David. Both are displeased, but Mr. Helfgott simmers with barely restrained anger. Since he was denied music as a child, he forces it upon David and demands greatness

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Free Essays on Flat Tire

Outline Jessica Reczek Topic: How to change a flat tire Specific Purpose: To inform the audience how to change a flat tire Central Idea: The five steps of how to change a tire include safety, loosening the lug nuts, jacking up the vehicle, putting on the spare tire, and lowering the car. Organizational Pattern: Chronological I. Introduction: You jump in your car headed for the airport to catch a plane bound for Hawaii. You get halfway there, and all of a sudden, your car begins to feel weird. . . it’s not handling like it should. You pull off to the side of the highway, and to your horror you have a flat tire. Ok, no big deal you have this nice cell phone. You can call for help. . . Oh, but where did you put it, rats. . . You left it on the dresser while hastily packing for your trip. Now what do you do? You’ve never changed a tire in your life. So you reach for the owners manual and you begin your first tire changing experience which includes safety, loosening the lug nuts, jacking up the vehicle, putting on the spare tire, and lowering the car. II. Body A. Choose your spot well. 1. Safely out of the flow of traffic. 2. Stop the car on a level spot. B. Loosen the lug nuts 1. Remove the hubcap if necessary. 2. Sometimes the lug nuts are difficult to loosen. a. try jumping on lug wrench (quote) b. don’t remove lug nuts, only loosen them C. Jack up the vehicle. 1. The jack contacts the car at a small plate. 2. Extend the jack until tire is six inches off ground. 3. Remove lug nuts from bolts set them aside. a. located behind front tires, front rear tires b. position jack under frame, raise until contact c. pull tire straight and off car D. Put on the spare tire. 1. Position the spare tire directly in front of tire. 2. Lift spare and position it on bolts. 3. Replace lug nuts on the bolts and tighten them. a. align holes with bolts on car b. push tire onto car until it can... Free Essays on Flat Tire Free Essays on Flat Tire Outline Jessica Reczek Topic: How to change a flat tire Specific Purpose: To inform the audience how to change a flat tire Central Idea: The five steps of how to change a tire include safety, loosening the lug nuts, jacking up the vehicle, putting on the spare tire, and lowering the car. Organizational Pattern: Chronological I. Introduction: You jump in your car headed for the airport to catch a plane bound for Hawaii. You get halfway there, and all of a sudden, your car begins to feel weird. . . it’s not handling like it should. You pull off to the side of the highway, and to your horror you have a flat tire. Ok, no big deal you have this nice cell phone. You can call for help. . . Oh, but where did you put it, rats. . . You left it on the dresser while hastily packing for your trip. Now what do you do? You’ve never changed a tire in your life. So you reach for the owners manual and you begin your first tire changing experience which includes safety, loosening the lug nuts, jacking up the vehicle, putting on the spare tire, and lowering the car. II. Body A. Choose your spot well. 1. Safely out of the flow of traffic. 2. Stop the car on a level spot. B. Loosen the lug nuts 1. Remove the hubcap if necessary. 2. Sometimes the lug nuts are difficult to loosen. a. try jumping on lug wrench (quote) b. don’t remove lug nuts, only loosen them C. Jack up the vehicle. 1. The jack contacts the car at a small plate. 2. Extend the jack until tire is six inches off ground. 3. Remove lug nuts from bolts set them aside. a. located behind front tires, front rear tires b. position jack under frame, raise until contact c. pull tire straight and off car D. Put on the spare tire. 1. Position the spare tire directly in front of tire. 2. Lift spare and position it on bolts. 3. Replace lug nuts on the bolts and tighten them. a. align holes with bolts on car b. push tire onto car until it can...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

MKT 310 MOD 2 SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MKT 310 MOD 2 SLP - Essay Example For instance during the winter period, a few tourists visit this region and hence targeting these foreigners will yield minimal returns. However, this is the time to maximize our potential in introduction of the alternative side through full embarking on the cab business. This explains why we are able to dominate this market region in all the seasons. In addition, the market development is enhanced by the fact that we are customer centered and hence bring to them the most unique services. Therefore, the most important approach involves highlighting the customer unrealized and hence unfulfilled needs; an approach that has helped us to highlight the unexplored market that we can strongly be able to exploit. Competitors The cab business in Seattle is flooded with high competition based on the fact that this is a service with high demand hence attracting many investors. At the Seattle locality, the competition is strong with some of the competitors having been in the business for a long period of time. For instance by the time of commencement of our operations, the Yellow Line Cab was already exploring the possibility of opening another branch office in the capital city with a record of 70 cars for cab business. Another major competitor at this regional level is Redys Cab Company which has dominated the market not only in this region but also countrywide. With such a competitor, the Comfort cab is forced to be innovative in frequently exploring unique approaches of emerging at the top in terms of services. Process The management intends to incorporate various marketing processes through mainly comparing its approaches with the processes adopted by the already successful competitors. In addition, the company will have its business listed with the directories available online to enable the potential customers, especially those visiting the country for the first time, to locate our business, the various ranges of services offered and the list of friendly prices that t hey can compare with the competitors. Basically, this is an appropriate marketing approach based on the fact that the cost incurred to have a business listed online is negligible. Distribution strategy The Comfort Cab business is currently distributed around the Seattle region. However, with time, we aim to establish more business branches in more towns in the country. This is a normal business growth trend based on the fact that for instance, the initial launching of the Yellow Line Cab is traced back to the Seattle but the business has grown massively with time, spreading to the other regions of the country. One of the reasons for the massive growth was based on the fact that this giant company had to initially buy the developing companies, amalgamate with others and even force others to exit from the business as a result of the massive competition. This is the distribution strategy targeted to be incorporated by Comfort Cabs with the growth being expected to cover the whole count ry in the next five years. Basically, it is apparent that our services are locally available and hence no extra effort is to be incurred by the company being forced to extend its

Friday, October 18, 2019

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

Short Story - Term Paper Example The reason was that she broke up the guy with whom she spent five years of her life. Each person from her circle knew about their relationship, and she was afraid to answer the questions that what happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? After having 2 cups of coffee and sitting for hours, Linda ordered some food. It was the place where She was used to coming with her ex-boyfriend on a regular basis. It was the reason due to which she was quiet and was trying to accept the fact that now she is alone. She wanted to be with that guy, but the situation and circumstances didn’t allow them to further continue the relationship. Suddenly, her friend came across and sat next to her and started asking about her life and her boyfriend Alex. When, Linda tells the whole story of her breakup to her friend, her friend says, â€Å"oh! It was not expected at all from both of you. You guys were so good with each other. You should have given him one more chance it might have worked out. But, I think if you are ok with it then enjoy as you are having fun here.† Linda had no answer, she suddenly started feeling regretful and then her friend moves to another table. She was there to forget about everything related to him an d wanted to live normal life with no regrets. But her friend just criticized her and it was very painful for Linda. Meanwhile, her ordered food arrives at her table, and she started eating that food. Then, one more friend saw her and come to her table asks her that why she has her food alone? Why her boyfriend is not here today? Why was she not coming here for many days? Linda again tells her breakup story and reasons to leave him, and she mentioned that she was depressed too. In response, her friend says, â€Å"It seems you are happy after the breakup, I hardly caught you this much dressed and accessorized you are looking pretty than before. It seems you are celebrating your breakup now and with this speed soon you will be with another guy.

The War on Terror Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The War on Terror - Essay Example It has been argued that 9/11 terrorist attacks gave impetus to what we call the "War on Terror." To what extent this US-led campaign against global terrorism would reflect the "opportunity and willingness" of president Obama to invest more resources from his "menu" of choices available? The â€Å"War on Terror† is a blanket cause that allows the United States to intervene on any activities it considers to be terrorism. The war is fighting a faceless enemy, therefore it could be anyone. President Obama has chosen to withdrawal troops as well as focus on humanitarian aid. What started out as the liberation of Iraq from Sadaam Hussein has developed into the United States being a peace keeping force in the Middle East. This includes both military and humanitarian efforts. The United States has been increasing the amount of troops being sent to Afghanistan in order to drive the enemy out of populated sectors. The United States increased the troop count by 30,000 in 2010 alone (Keye s, 2011). This increased military presence costs a lot of money as well as American lives in order to fight this invisible enemy. Obama has also been trying to recreate democracy in Iraq. The goal of President Obama was to bring peace and end conflict in the Middle East between the factions of Islam as well as eliminate the terrorist threat. As a result this would create a foothold for economic and stability to the region even though fighting has persisted in that region for thousands of years

Markting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Markting - Essay Example The organization operates with over 250 companies which are operating around the world. Johnson and Johnson has its headquarters in New Jersey and New Brunswick and has around 114,000 people as its employees according to the December 31, 2010 estimates (Datamonitor, 2012). The major three segments of the company constitute of consumer, medical devices and diagnostics, and the pharmaceuticals. The consumer segment of the J&J develops, produces and promotes a variety of oral care, skin care, wound care, baby care, and products for women’s health care. There are over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical products and the nutritional products offered by the company too. The major brands manufactured by the company include Band-Aid (adhesive bandages); Aveeno (skin care products); Clean & Clear (skin care products for teens); Carefree (panty liners); Motrin IB (ibuprofen products); Johnsons baby and adult lines of products; RoC (skin care products); Neutrogena (skin and hair care products); Stayfree (sanitary protection products); Listerine and Reach (oral care products); Tylenol (acetaminophen products)Zyrtec (allergy products); Pepcid AC (acid controller); Dabao (moisturizers); and Splenda (sweetener). The products of the company are supplied and sold to the wholesalers and the retail chain outlets which are independently functioning all across the globe. Johnson and Johnson aim to keep its pricing on parity with its competitors in the industry. It aims to undertake a penetration pricing strategy for its products and strives to enter new markets to market its new products. However for some established products like baby care products, the company has established the premium pricing strategy. The major competitors of the company lie in the pharmaceutical and drug industry. They include Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, and others operating in the

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Health Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Health Project - Essay Example nd community, development of belief systems, creative and stimulating mental activities, and the benefits associated with the regular physical activities. The six Dimensions of Wellness include physical, social, emotional, occupational, spiritual, and intellectual. The social dimension focuses on people’s contribution to their environment and community (Thompson 310). As people strive to achieve wellness, they become more aware of their importance and the impact they have on multiple environments. The occupational dimension recognizes people’s orientation towards satisfying and enriching their life through work, which is personally meaningful and economically rewarding (Thompson 313). The primary goal of spiritual dimension is to recognize people’s search for meaning in and purpose for human existence. The spiritual dimension exposes human beings to various feelings such as joy, dislocation, pleasure, doubts, disappointment, happiness, and discovery. The physical dimension emphasizes on the need for regular activity to enhance physical development. Having a good physical look causes psychological benefits such as enhanced self-esteem, sense of direction, self-control, and determination (Thompson 314). Intellectual dimension recognizes that people need creative and stimulating mental activities. The principle of intellectual dimension is to stretch and challenge people’s minds using creative pursuits as opposed to leaving them become self-satisfied and unproductive. Emotional dimension is concerned with awareness and acceptance of a person’s feelings; it focuses on the extent to which people feel positive and enthusiastic about themselves. Junk food is the greatest factor fueling obesity (Lacroix and Li-Chan 66). I am interested in this health aspect because I do not want to become obese. Physically, being obese will limit my movement and constrain my self-esteem. I believe in the principle of the physical dimension, which states that it is better to be

Serving High-Tech and Internet Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Serving High-Tech and Internet Companies - Essay Example An analysis of case data will follow as will a section on alternatives. The final section will conclude with recommendations and a summation of the information studied in this concise brief. Furthermore, we will conclude with answers to the questions found in the â€Å"CHECK IT OUT† and â€Å"A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE† articles. We now turn to a brief introduction to the Forrester Research Company.   In today’s competitive high-tech world, Forrester Research (www.forrester.com)has staked out a claim for itself as a leader in market research provision and market data analysis. With offices in places as diverse as Australia and Dubai, Israel and South Africa, Forrester Research is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Accordingly, this company has more than 1,800 clients around the world in the fields of marketing and informational technology, Forrester Research is presently traded on the US stock market (Nasdaq: FORR) and is a company which has exhibited tremendous potential and incredible growth in a short span of time. Forrester Research promotes what it calls the â€Å"Forrester Difference† and aims to be on the cusp of industry change. Thus, the solutions provided by Forrester are targeted toward marketing executives, strategic planners, and IT professionals to be at the forefront of technological change.   The major issues facing Forrester Research today include continued competitiveness in a changing market and the ability of this company to maintain its significance in the provision of market research to information technology companies. Can Forrester compete with the recent plethora of online survey companies which provide cash and a whole host of other incentives to get respondents? Does Forrester Research have an organizational strategy for revitalization?

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Markting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Markting - Essay Example The organization operates with over 250 companies which are operating around the world. Johnson and Johnson has its headquarters in New Jersey and New Brunswick and has around 114,000 people as its employees according to the December 31, 2010 estimates (Datamonitor, 2012). The major three segments of the company constitute of consumer, medical devices and diagnostics, and the pharmaceuticals. The consumer segment of the J&J develops, produces and promotes a variety of oral care, skin care, wound care, baby care, and products for women’s health care. There are over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical products and the nutritional products offered by the company too. The major brands manufactured by the company include Band-Aid (adhesive bandages); Aveeno (skin care products); Clean & Clear (skin care products for teens); Carefree (panty liners); Motrin IB (ibuprofen products); Johnsons baby and adult lines of products; RoC (skin care products); Neutrogena (skin and hair care products); Stayfree (sanitary protection products); Listerine and Reach (oral care products); Tylenol (acetaminophen products)Zyrtec (allergy products); Pepcid AC (acid controller); Dabao (moisturizers); and Splenda (sweetener). The products of the company are supplied and sold to the wholesalers and the retail chain outlets which are independently functioning all across the globe. Johnson and Johnson aim to keep its pricing on parity with its competitors in the industry. It aims to undertake a penetration pricing strategy for its products and strives to enter new markets to market its new products. However for some established products like baby care products, the company has established the premium pricing strategy. The major competitors of the company lie in the pharmaceutical and drug industry. They include Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, and others operating in the

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Serving High-Tech and Internet Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Serving High-Tech and Internet Companies - Essay Example An analysis of case data will follow as will a section on alternatives. The final section will conclude with recommendations and a summation of the information studied in this concise brief. Furthermore, we will conclude with answers to the questions found in the â€Å"CHECK IT OUT† and â€Å"A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE† articles. We now turn to a brief introduction to the Forrester Research Company.   In today’s competitive high-tech world, Forrester Research (www.forrester.com)has staked out a claim for itself as a leader in market research provision and market data analysis. With offices in places as diverse as Australia and Dubai, Israel and South Africa, Forrester Research is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Accordingly, this company has more than 1,800 clients around the world in the fields of marketing and informational technology, Forrester Research is presently traded on the US stock market (Nasdaq: FORR) and is a company which has exhibited tremendous potential and incredible growth in a short span of time. Forrester Research promotes what it calls the â€Å"Forrester Difference† and aims to be on the cusp of industry change. Thus, the solutions provided by Forrester are targeted toward marketing executives, strategic planners, and IT professionals to be at the forefront of technological change.   The major issues facing Forrester Research today include continued competitiveness in a changing market and the ability of this company to maintain its significance in the provision of market research to information technology companies. Can Forrester compete with the recent plethora of online survey companies which provide cash and a whole host of other incentives to get respondents? Does Forrester Research have an organizational strategy for revitalization?

Olson’s collection of short stories Essay Example for Free

Olson’s collection of short stories Essay One important aspect of the plot is the mother and her ironing of the dress. The narrator is a middle aged mother of five Olson makes her out to be the type of woman that was rare for that time in American History: a mother who works and cares for her children at the same time. This is a matter of necessity since the father left when she was one. This is a circumstance which mirrored Olson’s real life as well as a young mother in the early 1960’s when opportunities were starting to open up for women but were as they are today. In that spirit, the book serves as a portrayal as an example of the unfairness of women’s lives. In the book, the narrator who is left unnamed, reflects on her distant relationship with her eldest daughter named Emily. The book is an expansion on the story about mother and daughter and their need to identify themselves despite living in a broken home during the Great Depression and trying to make ends meet. Gradually, the mother reveals that she was only nineteen herself when Emily, the daughter was born and due to the fact that there was no welfare system in place at the time, she was forced to leave Emily with the family of the father who left her. The narrator recalls how different Emily was from her siblings; she did not smile or laugh easily. The narrator has loved her as much as the others but was unable to learn how to show this most important human affection. The narrator ties into this circumstance, the fact that Emily is very different from her siblings and does not laugh or show emotion easily. To make matter worse, Emily develops a severe case of the measles and she is quarantined from her mother and siblings again. The measles becomes too severe that Emily is sent to a convalescent home in the country. By the time she is allowed to come home, she is a skeleton of herself, both physically and emotionally as it is now impossible to give or receive any amount of physical affection. Later in Emily’s development, she is still finding her past as a major impediment to her personal growth. Emily has no concern for the future and for her schooling and exams as well. Despite all of the attempts by Emily’s family, no effort proves fruitful and the narrator informs the reader that the family has come to the consensus that they will let her be and will leave her alone. There is an unmistakable boundary between the identities of the mother and daughter despite the fact that they both have very similar pasts. But the asking for help is what the narrator finds difficult when it comes to the assistance needed to help her daughter. â€Å"You think that because I am her mother I have a key or that in some way you could use me as a key. She has lived for nineteen years. There is all that life that has happened outside of me, beyond me. † The story and the narrator present the development of both mother and daughter as incomplete. The daughter is still trying to find herself and her level of independence and the mother is struggling with her guilt that she feels by abandoning her daughter and the consequences Emily has suffered because of it. A deep sense of deprivation pervades I Stand Here Ironing. The mother describes numerous limitations she has had to confront: poverty, abandonment by her first husband, housework, and motherhood itself. The limited resources of the mother limit the daughter as well. The mother feels helpless to encourage her daughters budding talent as an actress. Both the daughter and mother appear to be apathetic about their circumstances and the future by the end of the story. The daughter decides to sleep late and miss her exams because she says that at atom bomb is going to hit and everybody is going to be dead anyways. It is a sad story and a story of two individuals, important to each other, never being able to connect as a family should because of their inability to rise above their circumstances which served as an impediment too great for them to overcome. WORKS CITED Byrne, Marie. The Essence of Tillie Olson. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press. 1999 I chose this book because I found the person of Tillie Olson, a person that I had never heard before, as a fascinating one. Her life and the decades of struggle for women’s rights was one that needed to be addressed and studied. In the situation that she came up in and the impediments that she faced by not only her time in American History but as a single mother as well was a story that I needed to first understand, as well as a third party could before I was to write on any of her works. Olson, Tillie. I Stand Here Ironing. New York: Dell Publishing, 1994 This book was chosen since it serves as the text for the book. This was read also to obtain direct quotes from the book and to reread a number of passages that I, at first, did not understand its importance in relation to the flow of the story. The book gives a brief summary of the biographical information of Tillie Olsen and the other accomplishments that she had other than her writing career. Revere, John. Charleston’s Times Courier: Tillie Olson: January 3, 2007. I was surprised to discover that the death of Tillie Olsen had only occurred last month. When this was discovered, I looked at some newspapers for the day in order to find any obituaries on this person. And to my surprise, an extensive version was found and I was able to put a name to a face; something that I have always found helpful when trying to understand a person. The article detailed the accomplishments of Tillie Olsen and what her peers and readers alike had to say about her in a contemporary context.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Effectiveness of Sports Sponsorship

Effectiveness of Sports Sponsorship Introduction â€Å"Few marketing platforms can match the brand building opportunities offered by sports sponsorships, with the guarantee of exposure in print, broadcast and new media. In the highly emotive world of sport, the audience sees sponsorship as support for something to which they feel great attachment. An average of more than 150 million viewers watched each football match in Euro 2004, with 273 million people tuning in for the final, and in the UK, the highest audience was 20.7 million.† (Margraff, 2005) However, advertising avoidance in the UK is now reaching terminal proportions. A recent study conducted by Continental Research found that 45% of UK adults agree with the statement â€Å"Given the chance I avoid TV ads as much as I can†.. (Evans, 2006) Despite this, and the fact that consumers are spending less and less time consuming traditional media, Evans (2006) reports that lazy marketers still siphon off the majority of their budget to TV and magazines. Smarter adve rtisers, however, are devising new ways to interact with their target audience. As a result the main feature of the course of the year will undoubtedly be in June, where the World Cup will break all sponsorship records, and will be the showcase for brands to interact with their consumers like never before. Brands will attempt to emulate Pringles, which partnered Yahoo! Sports coverage during Euro 2004 to build awareness around its ‘dream team’ concept. (Evans, 2006) For sponsors, such viewing figures underline why it is so important to be associated with football tournaments and indeed any sports tournaments of magnitude. As a result, Cornwell et al (2005) have concluded that sponsorship of sports tournaments has now become a mainstream marketing communications tool. However, whereas sponsorship involves a fee paid in advance for future potential communication values, advertising offers a more knowable and more controlled communication. Furthermore, whereas sponsorship requires leveraging: promotional spending in addition to the sponsorship fee to o btain the greatest value, advertising is often sponsorships most valuable leverage. Sponsorships may also be directed toward consumers, channel members, financial institutions, government, community, and employees. As a result, in order to gauge the full effectiveness of sports sponsorship on marketing and branding, this review will review several different academic journals with varying methodologies, from empirical studies to more pure theoretical approaches, in an attempt to judge the most successful approaches The methodologies of the journals will be examined in more detail at the end of the review, and the conclusion will attempt to uncover the most effective methods used, as well as commenting upon the true value of tournament sponsorship in the context of modern marketing. Whilst the main focus of the methodology analysis will be on the contrast between the empirical, practical, studies and the more abstract, theoretical models, there may be more important analysis contained within the articles which use marketing paradigms as their dominant approach. Within the context of tournament sponsorship, the paradigm approach focuses on examining the specific thought patterns, both of the marketers designing the campaigns, and the target audience experiencing them. As a result, paradigms offer a much greater insight into the effectiveness of the tournament sponsorship than pure practical or theoretical approaches. However, a multi paradigm approach provides even greater insight, as it looks at differing thought patterns within target segments, and between marketers in the same sector, or even the same firm. This degree of complexity means that multi paradigms have not often been used in the context of tournament sponsorship, but wherever they have been encount ered, they have been identified and analysed, using the four interacting paradigms defined by Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) work on multi paradigms Literature Review Sports Sponsorship Overview Grohs et al (2004) analysed recent surveys which found that, while managers tended to favour media coverage around ten years ago, now they rate sponsor awareness and image transfer from the sponsored event to the sponsor as the main reasons for engaging in sport sponsorship.. However, the evaluation of sponsorship has not kept up with this change in priorities, and companies often seem reluctant to evaluate sponsor and spectator awareness even though measurement is straightforward and not very costly. An important reason might be that previous studies showed the unsatisfying effects of â€Å"ambush marketing†, a form of marketing where other firms make consumers believe, incorrectly, that these companies are the actual sponsors of an event. This phenomenon will be covered in more detail later in the review but, in the case of image transfer, evaluation seems to be difficult due to a lack of a compelling comprehensive and testable model Despite these concerns, corporate spending on sport sponsorship continues to escalate: up 3.7% from 2001 to 2002, with several companies reportedly spending over $100 million each year (Stotlar, 2004). Sport sponsorship has been shown in the literature to be a viable component contributing to market strategy, however of late, the downward movement in many corporate stocks through 2003, projected earnings shortfalls, and decreased company profitability has caused some shareholders to question sport sponsorship as an appropriate expenditure of funds because little empirical evidence of return on investment has been provided. However, this can be primarily viewed as being because many corporations have failed to assess sponsorships effectiveness in meeting their objectives. Perhaps the lack of assessment exists because the process for evaluation has not been solidified in theory or practice; thus an evaluation model for sport sponsorship based on the myriad of contributing factors is ne eded. Stakeholder Perspectives Cornwell et al (2001a) reports that sponsorship of sporting and other events has become an increasingly popular marketing communications vehicle. However, Cornwell et al (2001a) join the ranks of academics who claim that precious little research has investigated how sponsorship participation is beneficial to a firm and its brands. Thus their study explores how managers view the brand equity building capabilities of their sponsorship linked marketing programs over time and, in a two-phase survey, fifty managers reported on the value of sponsorships in building brand equity. Findings showed that leverage, the use of advertising and promotion to support the sponsorship, and active management involvement are significant predictors of both the perceived differentiation of the brand from its competitors and adding financial value to the brand. To put tournament sponsorship in perspective, the sponsorship of sports, causes, and events has become an established communications tool seen as useful in building brand awareness, brand image, and corporate image (Javalgi et al. 1994; McDonald 1991; Quester 1997; Turco 1995; Witcher et al. 1991). Brand awareness and image, in turn, are integral to the idea of brand equity, the set of value-adding assets linked to a brand (Aaker 1996). Both academic (Keller 1993; Park and Srinivasan 1994) and business writers confirm the role that sponsorship can play in building equity for the brand. Indeed, Keller (1993, p. 10), in his theoretical development of customer-based brand equity, notes that anything that causes the consumer to experience or be exposed to the brand has the potential to increase familiarity and awareness. Likewise, promotion industry analysts find sponsorship popular as a platform from which to build equity and gain affinity with target audiences (Smith 1996, p. 15). Empi rical work, however, concentrates on only a few brand equity elements, for example, brand awareness Sandler and Shani (1992), brand preference Nicholls and Roslow, (1994), corporate image Turco (1995), and adding financial value to the brand (Cornwell et al, 2001b). As a result, Cornwell and Maignan (1998) claim that no study has considered a broad range of equity elements, thus Cornwell et al (2001a) therefore explore the potential of sponsorship to build various aspects of brand equity, with their purpose being to develop an understanding of how managers view the brand equity building capabilities of their sponsorship-linked marketing programs. However, of concern to managers is that, whilst the sponsorship of football is a multi million pound industry, with many sponsors hoping that supporters enthusiasm for their team will translate into long term benefits for the sponsor, the intensity of team rivalry means that a sponsorship may also alienate opposing supporters. Davies et al (2006) examined the rival Glasgow clubs, Celtic and Rangers, who undertook a joint sponsorship arrangement with the communications company NTL, investigating how the benefits obtained compared to those that may have been expected from a single sponsorship. While the sponsorship was very effective in creating awareness for NTL and very profitable for the clubs; Davies et al (2006) found ambivalent attitudes towards the company, with the most committed supporters being the least accepting of the sponsorship, and the expected positive relationship between support for the club and brand preference for NTL was not found. Of course, the companies and participants are not the only stakeholders in a sponsorship deal, especially for major events. One example of this is in tobacco sponsorship of sporting events, where the opinions of government, health activists, and sport organizers towards the concept have been widely discussed and debated. This paper Danyichuk (2000) contributes a new perspective to the debate by providing input from spectators at a major sporting event obtaining four hundred spectator respondents to a paper and pencil survey at a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) event that had a tobacco company as its title sponsor. The questions elicited demographic information in addition to spectator smoking habits, awareness of title sponsor, awareness of current tobacco legislation, opinion concerning tobacco sponsorship, and suggestions for alternative sponsorship. The final results actually indicated that 73% supported tobacco sponsorship; 11 % opposed it; and the remaining 16% had n o opinion. Those opposed to tobacco sponsorship cited health implications of tobacco use, negative influence on young people, and negative aspects of tobacco promotion in general, and some spectators provided specific examples of alternative sponsors whilst the majority of others indicated that the willingness and financial interest of a potential sponsor were key elements of the sponsorship arrangement. The final interpretation of this was that, whilst it would be better to have found another sponsor, it was better to have a tobacco company than no sponsor at all. Given that events would always prefer to have a sponsor, where possible, Westerbeek (2000) tested the hypothesis that â€Å"revenue maximization of the tenants of sports facilities is dependent on the geographical location of the facility, or the ‘location of distribution’†. To test this hypothesis, revenue maximization was operationalised pertaining to sponsorship, and a survey instrument was sent to all sponsors of a Melbourne based football club. The sponsors were grouped as location dependent and location independent based on the location of their head office and financial turnover achieved in the area around the sports facility. The survey thus collected information on three different steps in the sports consumption process including ‘coming to the sports facility’, ‘being in and around the sports facility’ and ‘being serviced in the sports facility, and found that revenue was geographically dependent when the sponsor was simil arly location dependent. Finally, Payne (1998) conducted a study into the practice of â€Å"ambush marketing†, and its effect on stakeholder, using the example of The Olympic Games which, as the world’s largest and most prestigious sports event, has been a major target for ambush marketing activity. The position of the International Olympic Committee is that the practice of ambush marketing represents a deliberate attempt to mislead consumers into believing that the companies involved are supporters of the Olympic Games. However, it was found that the effects were most marked on the other stakeholders: the activities of ambushers were found to erode the integrity of major events and lessen the benefits to official sponsors, who are the real supporters of such events. Ambush marketing has been criticised heavily as it breaches one of the fundamental tenets of business activity, namely, truth in advertising and business communications. As a result, the IOC, as custodian of the Olympic Games, succ essfully adopts a twofold strategy of protection and prevention to counter the threat of ambush marketing. Integrating the marketing approach Statistics show that sponsorship of sports and other events is one of the fastest growing areas of promotion, despite the fact that the importance of this persuasion strategy is not reflected in the amount of attention it has received in the marketing literature. Although some research has been done in this area, the majority of work has not employed the same theoretical and methodological rigor given other areas of consumer behaviour. Some scholars, such as McDaniel (1999) have suggested that sponsorship functions like celebrity endorsement advertising, where the perceived match, or mismatch, of brand attributes with the endorsers attributes influences consumer response to such marketing communications, and the marketing mix as a whole. However, one of the most difficult challenges for marketers remains the large, diverse means of communication and communication options that are available to support their brands: TV, print, and interactive advertising; trade and consumer promotions; arts, sports, and cause sponsorships; etc. Consequently, marketers must understand what various marketing communication options have to offer and how they should be combined to optimize their marketing communications programs. Towards that goal, Keller et al (2001) considered how to develop, implement, and evaluate an integrated marketing communication program, including event sponsorship. To provide both macro perspectives, especially relevant for managerial planning, and micro perspectives; they provided criteria as to how integrated marketing communication programs can be designed and evaluated as a whole, i.e. according to coverage, contribution, commonality, complementarities, robustness, and cost considerations. They also described how the two perspectives relate and conclude by discussing theoretical and managerial implications and outlining future research directions. The competitive strategy literature seems to offer two principal approaches to the problems of developing marketing strategy in volatile environments, labelled as the formal and informal approaches by Wilson (1999).. More recent research into managerial cognition provides promising possibilities for integrating formal and informal approaches to understanding strategy development in volatile conditions, and exploratory research by Wilson (1999) has shown that, in practice and in contrast to much of the strategic marketing literature, the response of organizations in volatile environments depends fundamentally on how the managers involved perceive their environment and that managerial perception can vary considerably between, and even within, rival organizations facing ostensibly similar environments. As a result, the effectiveness of an organizations strategy can depend crucially on these managerial perceptions, or paradigms, and that it may be more realistic to regard competitive str ategy as an organization’s response to the perception of competitive ‘threat’, rather than the more popular emphasis on ‘opportunity’; thus sponsorship is often undertaken as a response to a competitor pursuing a similar strategy, and reaping perceived benefits. Finally, although the importance of signs and symbols has been widely recognized in an integrated marketing approach, only a handful of consumer researchers have developed theory and research programs based on semiotics, the doctrine of signs. Mick (1986) outlined the emergence and principal perspectives of semiotics and then discussed its applications and implications for consumer research and marketing strategy Among its strengths, semiotics positions meaning at the nucleus of consumer behaviour, provides a rich ‘meta-language’ for semiotic consumer research, and recommends a multi-paradigm philosophy of marketing which can be applied to the effective integration of sponsorship into a wide ranging marketing strategy. Evaluating Effectiveness The use of sales figures, traditionally used to measure marketing effectiveness, as an indicator of sponsorship effectiveness is highly problematic in consequence of the possible influences of collateral marketing communications inputs, carry-over effects of past advertising, changing economic conditions, entry or exit of competing businesses, and so on. Hence, the results of sponsorship are typically appraised in terms of awareness levels achieved; attitudes created or altered; prompted and unprompted brand or company name recall; the extents of television, radio and press coverage, and cost per thousand prospects. (Bennett, 1999) A common approach is to measure the duration of television coverage of a sponsored event and the magnitude of press coverage obtained in terms of single column inches and then to compute the cost of purchasing corresponding amounts of space or broadcast time (Allen, 1990). This is convenient and practicable, but only indicates the extent of the publicity r esulting from sponsorship, rather than the impact and effects of the exposure (Meenaghan, 1991). Meenaghan (1991) in fact recommends a three-fold evaluation procedure: determination of a companys present position in terms of pre-sponsorship awareness and image with the target audience; tracking to detect movements in customer attitudes towards the firm; and the post-sponsorship comparison of performance levels against initial objectives. A number of theorists, primarily Thwaites (1995), have advocated the use of tracking devices to monitor sponsorship effectiveness, however Marshall and Cook (1992) found that although 78 per cent of a sample of 58 UK sponsoring companies evaluated their investments in some way or other, very few of them actually undertook specialised tracking. Allen (1990) similarly reported evidence to suggest that only a small number of companies completed any formal evaluation of their sponsorship expenditure, or engaged in any research whatsoever designed to identify the likely interests of target customers. The survey conducted by Thwaites (1995) found that while two-thirds of a sample of 30 companies sponsoring UK football teams attempted to evaluate their sponsorship activities, few went beyond the basic measurement of media coverage, and generally unsophisticated methods seemed to be applied. Reasons advanced by managers for not evaluating sponsorship effectiveness included the costs and uncertainties involved, technical research difficulties, absence of meaningful criteria for assessment, and lack of clear initial objectives (Allen, 1990; Thwaites, 1995). As a result, Bennett (1999), suggested that a sponsoring companys ability to create false consensus among spectators represents a concrete and useful device for measuring the effectiveness of sponsorship activities. In the absence of an external measure of validity of sports advertising effectiveness, alternative measures are often utilized. For example, John Hancock Financial Services measures the effectiveness of its bowl sponsorship by the number of stories and lineage in newspapers and magazines across the country (McCarthy 1991). For the 1990 ‘John Hancock Bowl’, an American football collegiate championship, 21 binders of newspaper clippings were collected, whose value the insurance company estimated at over $1 million of advertising equivalency. Another approach used by event sponsors is to compare sales in periods before and after the sponsored event, however such surrogate measures give no evidence of the size of the audience exposed to the promotion. Furthermore, Levin 1993), claims that measures such as these are incomplete because they do not tell â€Å"how event marketing shapes consumer awareness, attitudes and impressions of a company or its brands†.. It is possible to have on-site audience research that goes beyond mere number counting and studies consumer attitudes, interests, and opinions (AIO). For example, statisticians, including Sudman (1980), have developed techniques to make place-based media surveys conform to traditional norms Research has also demonstrated that audiences at particular events have varied demographic and lifestyle characteristics, as well as distinct AIO (Nicholls, Laskey, and Roslow 1992). This finding makes certain events more attractive to some sponsors than others. For instance, Nicholls and Roslow (1994) found that the Maryland Gold Cup steeplechase attracts spectators targeted by the local Mercedes-Benz dealers, whereas those attending the Indy CART automobile race in Miami have characteristics sought by Nissan. Even though Mercedes-Benz and Nissan understand the importance of demographics, lifestyles, and AIO, the impact of sponsorship and advertising in place-based media is still enigmatic. Where it is possible to make purchases on-site, sales measures are available and, moreover, can be related to the characteristics of customers. For instance, individuals who purchase particular items at a supermarket may be tracked by specialized Nielsen and IRI databases. (Nicholls and Roslow, 1994) In general, however, advertising effectiveness measures are not available for audiences at most place based sites, including sports events, unless they are specially commissioned. Thus, Nicholls and Roslow (1994) were most concerned with methods of measuring the advertising effectiveness of a specific sports event Traditional measures of effectiveness, beyond actual sales, include advertising exposure, consumer attitudes, brand recall, and purchase intentions, and Nicholls and Roslow (1994) collected and an alyzed brand preference on sponsor brands promoted at a professional golf tournament in order to build a model of sponsorship effectiveness. Examples from Specific Genres â€Å"Action sports†, an emerging genre of individualistic sports, increased immensely in popularity over the end of the last century (Bennett et al, 2002). Sponsorship of action sports events has likewise increased rapidly over the last few years, and these sponsorships are prevalent on most televised event broadcasts. Bennett et al’s (2002) research suggested that there is an expansive and increasing action sports industry and several major corporate sponsors have uncovered the benefits of advertising on ESPN, NBC, and others. Advertising research is replete with examples of utilizing intermediate measures to assess sponsorship effectiveness, and the literature base on intermediate measures in sport marketing has now been well established by the authors listed above, and has provided sport marketing and management practitioners with useful data on intermediate measures utilized by the LPGA, Olympic Games, and Gay Games, respectively. However, despite the development o f literature on sponsorship effectiveness within the sport industry, there is a relative paucity of original research on the action sports phenomenon. As such, Bennett and Lachowetz (2004) discussed the attractiveness of the action sports genre to the ‘Generation Y’ market, claiming that action sports events may increase in popularity even further over the next few years. Since action sports were founded by individuals seeking to be involved in participant-controlled sports, the genre will likely continue to have some mass appeal for the members of ‘Generation Y’, and therefore many companies and marketers will seek to benefit from the transfer of brand associations resulting from the firms aligning themselves with the events and athletes that appeal to the youth segment. Certainly, there are valuable lessons for all sports sponsorship marketing practitioners that can be learned from the substantial growth of the action sports industry, and since there has been such a dramatic rise in the popularity and strength of the genre, practitioners should analyze the efforts made by those responsible for expanding the industry. Obtaining sponsors that appeal to targeted markets or have the capability of transferring images is another objective that has been utilized by action sports marketers and managers, and marketers should consider being authentic or creating a cool image when attempting to influence the youth market, especially one so large and filled with cynicism toward corporate sponsorship. As such, Bennett and Lachowetz (2004) concluded that choosing sponsors that can deliver on authenticity rather than simply provide a revenue stream may allow greater return on investment in the future for those targeting ‘Generation Y’ Moving to looking at a more mature genre, certain professional sport organisations fall short of educating their corporate clients with respect to all of the benefits and attributes of the sport products they offer, including sponsorship programs, luxury suites and event sponsorship(Lachowetz et al, 2003). In response to this problem, theorists have developed a nine-step framework: â€Å"eduselling,† that identifies corporate sales activities designed to assist professional sport franchises in the education and retention of their corporate customers. Lachowetz et al. (2003) surveyed all 29 teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in an attempt to validate the nine-step process, with the purpose of the study being to collect more detailed information about the sales activities used by NBA franchises. As a follow up to the study, marketing directors were selected from five NBA franchises, with selection criteria including average to below-average team winning percentag e and average to above-average corporate customer retention rates, which indicated an effective corporate sales strategy. Methodology Theoretical Models A great deal of fieldwork has attempted to gauge the relative effectiveness of sponsorship in a marketing context, but theorists such as Cornwell et al (2005) claim that these â€Å"weakly controlled field studies contribute little to our understanding of how individuals process sponsorship-linked marketing communications.† By considering qualitative factors, including possible underlying information processing mechanics, individual and group level factors, market factors, and management factors, together with theorized sponsorship outcomes, Cornwell et al (2005) thus offers a theoretical model of consumer focused sponsorship linked marketing communications that summarizes and extends theoretical understanding of the topic. Grohs et al (2004) in contrast, examined these obstacles of assessing sponsor awareness and image transfer in sport sponsorships in two ways. Firstly, as a means of reducing the danger of ambush marketing, they analysed a qualitative model designed to identify what drives correct sponsor identification. Their empirical results, collected to test the model, indicated that event sponsor fit, event involvement, and exposure are the dominant factors predicting sponsor recall, thus offering sponsors a basis for successful sponsorship planning and execution through the selection of an appropriate sponsorship. Secondly, Grohs et al (2004) proposed and empirically tested a quantitative model that assesses image transfer in sport sponsorships, finding support for a basic level of image transfer for all sponsors. However, more detailed research and interpretation of results suggest that the magnitude of image transfer depended on two factors: sponsorship leverage and event sponsor fit. The other main theoretical pieces of work were conducted by Keller (2001) and Wilson (1999). Keller (2001) aimed specifically to provide micro perspectives especially relevant for academic research, and in order to achieve this, they introduced the Marketing Communication Tetrahedron, a quantitative model, as a marketing paradigm approach, as well as a means of classifying and analyzing factors influencing marketing communication effectiveness along four broad dimensions, i.e. factors related to the consumer, communication, response, and situation. In contrast, Wilson et al built a model based on research that suggested that organizations seem to respond initially to the perception of competitive threat by reinforcing previous behaviour patterns before later and often reluctantly adopting more innovative reforms, implying a cyclical pattern of paradigm adjustment. Implications for further research and for management practice are discussed including the need for multi paradigm models, to compensate for said cyclical behaviour. Survey, Questionnaire and Empirical Data Oriented One of the major quantitative, practical pieces of work on the subject was the on site survey conducted by Nicholls and Roslow (1994) at the Doral-Ryder Open Golf Tournament in 1992. At the time, this was a major Professional Golf Association (PGA) championship, held each year at the Doral Country Club in Miami, Florida, with the principal sponsor, Ryder System, being a major vehicle leasing corporation, headquartered in the United States, but with numerous operations abroad. Nine major sponsors were included in the analysis, and the survey was conducted on each of the four days of the actual professional tournament. The championship itself was preceded by several days of pro-am rounds and a musical evening so that the whole affair extended over ten days, and respondents were interviewed as the tournament progressed. Each of the interviewers was assigned to a specific location on the golf course and a total sample of 276 respondents was obtained during the final four days of tournament play. Interviewers were instructed to select the first person to cross a given point following the conclusion of each interview, and this procedure was found to have reduced bias with respect to the interviewer selection of the respondents. Respondents were asked their specific brand preference in the categories included in the study, and the analysis investigated whether the preference for advertiser sponsored brands was related to the number of days attended. Nicholls and Roslow’s (1994) stated aim was to establish whether there was any empirical relationship between spectators’ degree of preference for brands advertised on-site and the number of days these spectators attended the tournament, i.e. the number of advertising messages directed to the events audience. Their findings provided a link betw een the degree of brand exposure and the degree of preference however, despite the large number of respondents interviewed, the link was found to be equivocal at best. A more decisive piece of practical work was completed by Bennett et al (2002) who, after concluding that their literature review revealed no significant research involving sponsorship and action sports, undertook an investigation of the effectiveness of action sports sponsorships.. They claimed that such a study was both warranted and timely; and thus composed an original 19 item questionnaire in order to measure action sports sponsor and athlete recognition by members of the ‘Generation Y’ market. The results from these questionnaires were crucial in forming their conclusions about targeting younger people. Similarly, as part of their work, Lachowetz et al (2003) interviewed numerous individuals by means of a 45-60 minute phone interview. Data from these calls was qualitatively a