TMA 04 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

TMA 04 - Essay Example This provides a visual reinforcement of her miserable plight which in Ovid is done through the account of her tears and words. In Titian’s painting, Andromeda’s royal parents are left out entirely. The dialogue that takes place between Perseus and Andromeda’s parents, wherein he extracts the promise of their daughter’s hand in marriage from them before attempting to save her, is an important point of note; especially in the present literary milieu which encourages such gendered readings of myth. This possible source of feminist contention is done away with entirely in Titian’s work. Ovid’s account of Perseus slaying the monster is an amazingly descriptive, rapid piece of verse. Almost like cinematic action, Ovid’s account unfolds the event in blow-by-blow descriptions. This wonderful tactile and immediate quality of Ovid’s writing is transformed in Titian into the unrealistic, expressive postures of the characters painted. Titia n’s Perseus is depicted almost entirely upside down and his face is enraged, alive. The monster too looks poised, tightly coiled as if in fear and with a similar, intense look on its face. The effect of the colourful textual description is adapted and encapsulated into the painting by way of intense expressions, visual contrasts and exaggerated body postures. Even Andromeda’s physique in the painting looks robust and strong, even though feminine; unlike the more helpless Andromeda in Ovid. Titian’s painting allows a reader of Ovid’s mythical story of Perseus and Andromeda to visualise the most intensely alive moment of the narrative. The action-packed description in verse is aided by the vivid colours and extravagant detail in Titian. The foregrounding of Andromeda, her voluptuous and robust physique, and the absence of the mourning parents serve to create an alternative version of Andromeda. Andromeda is given a more liberated and central position in Tit ian as opposed to the meek Andromeda, helpless and largely without agency that we see in Ovid. To compare it with another famous painting of Perseus and Andromeda, one by Peter Paul Rubens, it is interesting to note the differences. Rubens selects a different moment in the myth to represent. The moment shown here is after Perseus has slain the monster and depicts his victorious conquest of both monster and Andromeda. The picture is busy and crowded with minor characters. There is the head of the monster in Perseus’s hand; there are cherubs and angels and even a flying horse in the picture. Rubens, having studied Titian, must have been aware of his version of the painting and yet chooses a much more tranquil moment to paint. [497 Words] Part II In what ways does Ovid manipulate myth in order to highlight his theme of metamorphosis? Do you consider that this technique can lessen the myth’s impact and coherence at times? Answer with reference to specific mythic narrative in Metamorphoses. Answer: In Metamorphoses, in a bid to highlight his chosen theme of metamorphosis, Ovid uses myth to substantiate his claims. Sometimes this is done at the cost of authenticity of myth; of course, authenticity of myth is in itself a rather problematic issue. Unlike in Amores, where Ovid claims to have been misled by Cupid into writing about love, in Metamorphoses Ovid invokes the gods to make him able to write about the history of transformation in the world: In noua fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora: di coeptis (nam

Collaboration and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Collaboration and Ethics - Essay Example Effective strategies should be learned as well in addressing possible conflicts, which they may encounter in each stage of the process. It is necessary for conflicts to be acknowledged and addressed instead of denying their existence. Failure to address the onset of conflicts may discourage educators from voicing out their standpoint towards an issue, which is the vital initial step in resolving conflicts, so as to establish lasting objectives and tactics that will settle issues and concerns in teaching and management of educational institutions. As a future licensed teacher, collaboration is a very essential tool in my personal and professional development. Although working generally on my own develops independence and mental creativity, working together with other educators could make me think more outside the box, promote social interaction, and give me ample opportunities to contribute my skills and ideas. Learning the concept of collaboration has provided me a concrete guide in conducting classes, creating projects, and evaluating students, to name a few. It has also improved my strategies in lesson planning and my approach on students from different levels and areas of study. Gaining knowledge about collaboration in teaching will certainly help my future students veer away from traditional or even obsolete methods which would in turn make them more equipped, advanced, and competitive. (Learning Forward,

Harley Davidson Supply Chain Improvements Essay Example for Free

Harley Davidson Supply Chain Improvements Essay In the early 1980’s Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the country’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles, was struggling to survive. Faced with an onslaught of sever competition from Japan and failing new products, †¦ Harley-Davidson was challenged to remain profitable. However, not only did Harley-Davidson survive, it became a huge success story, with sales increasing from 36,735 motorcycles in 1986 to 291,417 in 2003 to over 350,000 motorcycles in 2006. It has also expanded globally into Europe, China and India. A significant factor in its turnaround was the strategic changes it made in managing its supply chain during the next decade. †¦ In the mid-1990’s Harley-Davidson initiated sophisticated supply chain strategies to reduce inventory and purchasing costs while improving product quality and delivery times from suppliers. Harley-Davidson now expects suppliers to focus strategically on cost, delivery, and quality improvement and to hit established cost and quality targets. Suppliers are expected to meet â€Å"twice the level of quality† and to develop a written strategic plan to achieve goals for quality improvement. Suppliers are graded according to defective â€Å"parts-per-million† and it has a target goal of 48 defective parts-per-million that suppliers are expected to achieve. Harley-Davison sends suppliers a monthly report showing their quality and delivery performance, and if the supplier receives a bad report Harley-Davidson sends their people to the supplier to determine the problems and help them resolve them. If the supplier does not improve its performance, it is replaced. In 1995 defective parts-per-million for suppliers were generally around 10,000; however, by 2001 approximately 75% of Harley-Davidson’s supplier base was performing at 48 defective parts-per-million or better, and 36 suppliers were performing at zero defective parts-per-million. †¦ These objectives consciously reduced Harley-Davidson’s supplier base that could not meet expectations for cost, quality, and delivery by 80%, from 4,000 suppliers to 800. In some cases Harley-Davidson has moved toward single-source relationships with suppliers. In these instances, the company partners with one supplier for a part, system, or component – for example, lighting systems, instrumentation gauges, or ignition systems – and works closely with the supplier to develop technology that the company needs to remain competitive. Approximately 80 on-site (resident) suppliers take part in new product design, creating an interface between the company and its suppliers that helps Harley-Davidson improve quality and cut costs. In return, Harley-Davidson remains loyal to the supplier and reduces supplier uncertainty, provided of course that the supplier continues to meet the company’s objectives for improvement. In order for Harley-Davidson suppliers to remain competitive they must enforce similar exacting goals and standards on their own suppliers, thus creating efficiency and cost effectiveness along the entire length of the supply chain from Harley-Davidson’s suppliers to its suppliers’ suppliers, and so on. Harley –Davidson is using the Internet to further improve its supply chain performance. The company launched an interactive Internet-based supply chain management strategy that placed a large portion of the company’s supply chain management only to the Internet. It provided all suppliers with information they need to conduct online financial transactions and reduce the time spent chasing invoices. Suppliers are linked by a web portal to critical business transaction information, including data on delivery and quality performance and the status of financial transactions. In-house software reports defect rates that provides quick feedback to suppliers about bad components. Suppliers can look at production schedules and delivery requirements and assess their ability to meet those schedules. Documents and information previously sent using an EDI format are now sent more cheaply through the Internet, which is also more universally available to supply companies, particularly smaller ones. What has been the effect of these changes in supply chain management at Harley-Davidson? They reduced operating expenses by $161 million; the company now manages its inventory according to a JIT system, and it runs on 6. 5 to 10 days’ worth of inventory compared to 8 to 15 days of inventory before its supply chain initiatives; its logistics and distribution center costs as a percentage of sales decreased by 59%. By any measure Harley-Davidson’s supply chain management strategy has been a success.

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African-Americans, who only comprised 13% of regular drug users, made up for 35% of drug arrests, 55% of convictions, and 74% of people sent to prison for drug possession crimes. Also, three-fourths of all people incarcerated for drug offenses are either Black or Latino, the majority of illegal drug users are white. There is obviously something gone ridiculously wrong. Many African Americans that lived in the South were unable to vote, and even if they tried to, they had to pass literacy tests or even pay poll taxes. Also, places of employment were segregated as well; â€Å"White southerners refused to work under black supervisors and most white craftsmen strenuously opposed the hiring of African Americans in the skill trades† (Remembering 206). Kennedy states in his book that people of color were always â€Å"the last to get hired and the first to get fired† (Kennedy 113), so because of this it was extremely hard for African Americans to find employment or even keep a steady job due to discrimination they faced. This form of discrimination made it hard for African Americans to make a living for themselves during this time and is similar to how criminals are treated in today’s society. The practice of the Jim Crow Laws back during the 1870’s to the mid 1960’s is similar to how criminals are discriminated against today. Throughout America, prison inmates in 48 states, paroles in 33 states, and probationers in 29 states are not allowed to vote (Karjick). This is about 4.7 million Americans that are denied this right (Karjick). One may argue that the poor choices that these 4.7 million Americans have made make them untrustworthy to help make decisions for the country but labeling these people as criminals should not define ... ...ent opportunities, these children are forced to be raised in severe poverty. A theory that has been done by a researcher, who has been funded by the National Institutes of health, claims that the stresses of poverty can lead to impaired learning abilities in children (Stresses). The stress that is triggered by poverty is dangerous and can really affect our children’s future. The New Jim Crow system that has been redesigned in America leaves a lot of people with criminal backgrounds jobless and stuck in a second-class status. Discriminating against the criminals is morally wrong and it not only affects them but others such as their loved ones as well. â€Å"All men are created equal† is a famous phrase from The Declaration of Independence that America would like to believe, but it is clear that today’s society is unequal just based on how criminals are treated.

Discuss the treatment of women in society with reference to Charlotte E

Discuss the treatment of women in society with reference to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Margaret Atwood's A Handmaids Tale. In this essay, I will compare a pre-twentieth century novel with a modern novel, and examine the discussion of the treatment of women in society. 'Jane Eyre' was first published in 1847, and was written by Charlotte Bronte. It is the story of a young woman, Jane Eyre, ill treated through childhood, but determined and intelligent. Through the novel, the reader watches her grow and develop as a person, and overcome many problems, to become a respectable, independent woman. It is said that 'Jane Eyre' contains many autobiographical elements from Bronte's own experiences of life. Bronte uses this novel to observe and criticize oppressive social ideas that were common in nineteenth century Victorian society. Jane's position as a governess (another autobiographical element, as Charlotte too was a governess) is an imperative tool in the novel, as it provides a neutral vantage point from which to observe these practices of Victorian society. Governesses were expected to have the education and culture of the aristocracy, but were still looked at as the same status as servants, as they were paid employees. They were seen as lower class, as shown by Lady Ingram in chapter 17: "Don't mention governesses, the word makes me nervous. I have suffered a martyrdom from their incompetence." "In hers [physiognomy] I see all the faults of her class." Female oppression is another prominent issue in the book. Bronte creates struggles that Jane must overcome to achieve equality with men, and she resists the superior attitude of men who believe women should have submissive positions. For ex... ...ppressed. The message is that this balance between men and woman is delicate and its future uncertain. In reading the book you realise that it is entirely possible for woman to lose their rights completely, and the social clock, in relation to woman in society, could be turned back. The Handmaid's Tale is set in the future an any signs of the rights of women as we know them are banished and barren, except in the pain ridden memories of women living reduced roles. Charlotte Bronte, although more subtle in her approach than Atwood, displays just as much passion concerning rights of women. At several points she acknowledges that women's role in society is questionable, and should be a prominent issue in women's minds. I thoroughly enjoyed reading both books and feel that both are excellent pieces of literature that put across a strong, important message.

Ethical Issues in Marketing

TABLE OF CONTENT S. NO| Particulars| Page no| 1. | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY| 5| 2. | INTRODUCTIONETHICAL ISSUES IN MARKETING| 6| 3. | FAMOUS CASES(UNETHICAL MARKETING PRACTICES)| 9| 4. | PRIMARY STUDY| 12| 5. | REPRESENTATION OF DATA| 13| 6. | INTERPRETETION| 23| 7. | RECCOMENDATION| 24| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report outlines the concept of ethics in marketing and the famous cases that have emerged in the past regarding unethical marketing practices by businesses. hrough this report we have also tried to find out how sensitive are the common people to the issue of ethics in advertisements and how do they perceive the contents shown in the advertisements nowdays. For this purpose we had conducted a study amonga sample of 50 students of age group 20 to 24 yrs. The research tool used in the study was that of a questionnaire. The study reveals that while most of the people are sensitive to the issue of unethical advertisements, there are also a few who believe that nothing much can be done in t his respect and are a little ignorant towards such issues. They have been and will continue purchasing a brand even after perceiving its advertisement as unethical. Our recommendations to the companies that deal in such practices is that they should thrive to stick to their ethics and moral value and instead should concentrate on providing their customers with such services and products that will add value to them and their lives. MARKETING AND ETHICS Marketing industry is a very broad industry and also one of the core business functions that every business enterprise practices in order to effectively cater to the needs of the customers. arketing leaders thrive to create the look and feel of a brand and to make strategies to engage and inform customers about the same. for this purpose the marketers are today using print ,electronic and social media as their vehicles,as these mediums are pervasive and their powerful forces shape attitudes and behavior in today's world. The reason for this is the tremendous growth and development in the field of   Information and Communication technologies. If yesterday it was television that revolutionized the way advertisements could create a lasting impact on the consumer, then today the internet and phone text messages are doing just the same. also , Rapid economic expansions in countries like China and India have meant that marketers have to quickly respond to the changing socio-economic scenarios. But at the same time these developments have given rise to a number of ethical issues. the globe is indeed becoming a smaller place but the marketers have to bear in mind national, local and cultural sensitivities. Very often, in the hope of capturing a large share , marketers jump in new markets without keeping in mind ethnic and social issues associated to certain areas. marketers today ignore and exploit the social sentiments and factors of the customer groups ,in order to maximise their profits and make fast bucks. this leads them to engage in unethical marketing practices. unethical marketing decisions can be made in following marketing areas: * Supply chain * Advertising * Pricing * Product Supply chain: Only being an ethical company is not sufficient. These days, leading brands are judged by the company they keep. Consumers, investors, business partners, regulators, and media organizations now expect a company and its entire supply chain to be ethical. every company is a part of a supply chain since almost every company buys unfinished inputs provided by many other companies before refining them and passing the finished goods to the consumers. Supply-chain management is a strategic issue. It has an effect on a company's brand and it now concerns managers and board members. Excellent companies are the most ethical in their practices . Excellent companies lead on best practices. A business is said to be having an unethical supply chain if any of the elements of its supply chain ie suppliers/contractors/distributers/sales agents are practising unethical practices like, use of child labour or forced labour, production in sweatshops, violation of basic rights of workers, ignoring health safety and environmental standards. Advertising: Advertising is the most important tool for marketers to promote their products and to make the consumers aware about the same. Advertisements play an important role in inclining and attracting the potential customers towards the product. However nowdays advertisements are under scrutiny for being unethical. Unethical advertisements include misleading advertisements that make false claims, obscene /offensive and indecent ads that hurt religious or social sentiments of people. To sum up, some of the ethical issues in advertising are: Vulgarity/obscenity Misleading advertisements and deception Puffery Stereotype Racial issues Feature of Unethical advertisement on television has been a hot issue in the past days in our country,with the Advertising Standard Council of India receiving 777 complaints regarding 190 ads. it has been discussed later in the project and also a primary study has been conducted regarding the ethics in advertisements in our project. Pricing: Pricing is a very important part of marketing mix and is a decision of strategic nature. a company has to do sufficient amount of analysis to decide on the priceof its product. ompanies can sometime deal in unethical and even illegal pricing. Unethical pricing practices cause customers to believe that the price they pay for some unit of value in a product or service is lower than it really is. This might also include making false price comparisons, providing misleading suggested selling prices, omitting important conditions of the sale, or making very low price offers available only when other items are purchased as well. other unethical pricing stratgies include: price discrimination,price skimming,price fixing. Product: Several product-related issues raise questions about ethics in marketing, most often concerning the quality of products and services provided. Among the most frequently voiced complaints are ones about products that are unsafe, that are of poor quality in construction or content, that do not contain what is promoted, or that go out of style or become obsolete before they actually need replacing. An organization that markets poor-quality or unsafe products is taking the chance that it will develop a reputation for poor products or service. False or greatly exaggerated product or service claims are also deceptive. When packages are intentionally mislabeled as to contents, size, weight, or use information, that constitutes deceptive packaging. Selling hazardous or defective products without disclosing the dangers, failing to perform promised services, and not honoring warranty obligations are also considered deception. Other product related issues include animal testing and manufacturing products that harm the ecology and environment and exploit the already scarce natural resources. FAMOUS CASES LOREAL (UNETHICAL ADVERTISEMENT AND PROMOTION STRATEGY) Loreal is amongst the biggest brand names in personal care and beauty products in the world with a huge line of products and brands under its umbrella ,operating in over 130 countries around the world. However this company has been in news recently ,but for wrong reasons. The company has been time and again been accused of airbrushing its models in order to make them look fairer. The latest addition in its line of controversies is its advertisement that features indian origin actress Freida Pinto. This ad has created controversies because of the fact that the actress appears to be airbrushed as her skin tone has been lightened . Earlier same controversy of airbrushing happenend when singer Beyonce featured in one of Loreal’s ad. The company is seemingly promoting fair skin tones as compared to dark skin tones and is inculcating a sense of insecurity amongst women around the world with regard to their complexion. another case of Loreal’s criticism over fakery in its advertising is of year 2007. the company was condemned for producing ‘misleading' mascara adverts featuring Penelope Cruz. The TV and magazine advertisements claimed that women could have up to 60 per cent longer eyelashes with its Telescopic mascara. But actually it was later revealed that Cruz was wearing false eyelashes in the ads for Telescopic, and the company was forced to include disclaimers during its advertisements making such issues clear. It is for these reasons that the company is viewed by activists as the face of modern consumerism – a company that tested its cosmetics on animals, exploited the sexuality of women, and sold their products by making women feel insecure. Moreover, Nestle owned 26 percent of L'Oreal. Nestle was one of the most boycotted companies in the world for its alleged unethical business practices and aggressive promotion of baby milk in developing countries as discussed above. NIKE AND APPLE INC. (UNETHICAL SUPPLY CHAIN PRACTICE) Nike   has been accused of having a history of using  sweatshops, a sweatshop is a working environment or manufacturing centre where the working environment is considered to be dangerous and difficult because workers can be exposed to hazardous materials, harmful situations, extreme temperatures, and abuse from employers. Sweatshop  workers often work long days, sometimes exceeding 14 hours, and earn pay far below a living age. In 1990s ,Nike’s suppliers in developing countries like indonesia,china and vietnam operated sweatshops in which the workers were made to work in hazardous conditions with minimal wages. this case is an ideal example of unethical supply chain in marketing. a brand as big and famous as Nike has been associated with unethical practise in this particular field of marketing. It was unbelievable and shocking on part of the people who were its loyal customers. The company initially denied all such accusitions and then in the year 2001 a very irresponsible statement was made by Nike director Tom McKean saying that the company cannot control what goes on around the world as they do not own these factories. Another famous company involved in a similar unethical practise is Apple Inc. in the year 2010 ,one of Apple’s suppliers in china was accused of using child labor. since companies are under immense pressure to find lowest cost providers ,they end up dealing with suppliers in developing countries like china ,where such unethical practises are common. o this Steve Jobs (Apple head) said that this was not merely Apple’s problem but a world problem with regard to priorities and a lack of enforcement by local agencies in various deneloping nations. Too many companies are turning blind eye towards their suppliers and end up being associated with unethical business practices. May be this is the reason why Apple ,one of the most imag e conscious and credible company could not escape this trap. NESTLE (UNETHICAL AND IMMORAL PRODUCT ) Nestle a big name in FMCG industry ,has been involved in numerous unethical marketing practices. This company was highly criticed for its disregard for the health of infants shown by its irresponsible marketing of breast milk substitutes. it had been continously breaching the WHO code regulating the marketing of breast milk substitutes. it encouraged bottle feeding and carried on promotional and advertising activities for its baby foods by giving away free samples of baby milk to hospitals . also the company was accused of misinforming mothers and healthworkers during its promotions. It stated that malnourished mothers and mothers of twins and premature babies were unable to breastfeed ,despite health organisations claimimg that threre was no evidence to support such theory. Nestle advertised directly to mothers in over twenty countries such as thailand and south africa. Also the baby foods/milk product were sold in the market without any health warning and even instuctions on the packaging an if present they were in an inappropriate language. Thus company violated the code regulating the marketing of baby milk formulas. According to WHO bottle fed babies are up to ten times more likely to develop gastro intestinal infections. Therefore this company till date is highly criticised for its unethical practice of immoral marketing and promotion of an unethical product. Other accusitions of the company include exploitation of workers at its Brazil chocolate plant including dicrimination of women workers and supporting brutal and repressive regimes MICROSOFT (PRODUCT BUNDLING CASE) Microsoft is a large diversified computer software manufacturer with one of the highest valuations in the world. Microsoft produces the Windows family of operating systems for personal computers and servers. It also produces applications software that run on the Windows family of operating systems, most notably the very successful MS- Office Suite. Almost all Microsoft products are complementary to a member of the Windows family of operating systems for personal computers and servers. United states Vs Microsoft was a civil action filed against Microsoft Corporation by United States Department Of Justice(DOJ). The allegation on Microsoft was that it abused  monopoly  power on Intel-based personal computers. The issue central to the case was that whether Microsoft should bundle its Internet Explorer web browser software with its Microsoft Windows Operating System. Bundling IE with the operating system was considered as a victory of Microsoft in the browsers war as all the Windows users had a copy of IE which had started restricting the sales of the other web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Opera which were slow to download or had to b purchased at a store. Microsoft said that the bundling of IE with Windows was an innovation and the result of competiton and that now both were a same product. The opposition said that IE should not b bundled with Windows as a separate version of IE was available for Mac OS. They also countered that IE was actually not free with Windows as its development and marketing costs must have increased the price of Windows than what it might actually have been. This had put up a question that whether Microsoft was unethical in bundling its product or was it an innovation. Was it right to increase the sales by almost stopping the sales of others? The strategy which Microsoft adopted was not ethical as the others were suffering because of this and had no choice left before them. Hence what Microsoft did was against the ethics of the marketplace. RESEARCH STUDY (ADVERTISEMENTS AND ETHICS) In this project we have attempted to conduct a research concerning the public's opinion about the level of ethics in advertising. Through this study we want to address the problem of the level of ethics in advertisements nowadays and what is the people’s reaction and how sensitive they are towards the issue of ethics in advertising. For the purpose of this study, questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 50 students and were asked to give their honest opinion regarding this issue. DATA REPRESENTATION Q. Do Advertisement shows an accurate view of reality? Here , 15 people strongly disagree with the situation that advertisement shows exact reality and 10 people are strongly agreeing and 10 are disagreeing with the situation which shows that every individual is having different opinion according to their thinking. Q. Do you think general television advertisements promote materialism? In this out of 50 respondents , 27 respondents think that advertisements promote materialism while other 22 people think they don’t Q. How do you view the level of ethics in general advertising? Q. Which off the following issues in general advertising would you consider being unethical ? A relatively mixed reaction is noticed in this answer. while majority believed that they perceived â€Å"lack of trust† issue in advertisement as unethical. A good lot also believed that advertisements of cigrattes and alcoholic beverages were also unethical. Q. Mention a brand name in front of the product categories mention below ? Q Would you still buy the same brand of shoes if that company is dealing in wrong practices ? For e. g. child labor 43 of sample respondents said that they will not purchase a particular brand having known that the brand deals in unethical practise. Q. Have you ever decided not to buy a product or a service due to an advertisement that you perceived as unethical? 19 respondents said they have not purchased a product having perceived its advertisement as unethical while the majority continued purchasing . Q . Is it fine to use unethical practices to increase profitability of the company? Almost all the respondents believe that it is not right for business houses to engage in unethical practices to maximise their profits. INTERPRETETION AND CONCLUSION The survey done through the distribution of questionnaires revealed following facts: The students interviewed believe that advertisements today have a very unreal appeal to them and do not promote reality while there are a few who also believe that advertisements present a true picture of the real world. The students also believe that advertisements do promote materialism but there was a mixed reaction when asked whether such promotion is ethical. However majority of the people failed to justify their answer and give valid reasons for the same. A huge number of them also think that advertisements do not promote materialism. Also people’s view regarding the level of ethics in the general advertisements was very generalised, for them ethcal level in advertisements is neither too high nor too low. As far as unethical advertisements are concerned, for a majority lot, advertisements which lack trust quotient and are highly exaggerated and misleading are the most unethical. While for others, advertisements promoting cigarettes and alcoholic beverages are also unethical . When asked to name a brand that hit their minds instantaneously corosponding to the products : shoes,deodorant,fainess cream and mobile phone, people had different brand names in their minds as their favourites (most of them being big names). In continuation of this question, respondents were asked if they would still purchase the same brand if they discovered that the brand was associated with unethical practices. To this their response was predictable as most of them refused while a few were not sure. Majority of the respondents have responded that they have decided not to buy a product ,if they have perceived its advertisement as unethical . this shows that a lot of people are sensitive to such issues and have expressed threir dissatisfaction by discontinuing their purchase. While some of the respondents were ignorant and continued purchase. On the other hand most of the respondents believe that it is not right for companies to compromise on their ethical values in order to achieve high profits. RECOMMENDATIONS Considering the high level of unethical issues that are emerging everyday, businesses need to realise that they have to find an alternate to unethical practices. They need to realise that unfair practicse may help them earn profits faster,but the profitability would not last for long . The consumers today are becoming highly aware and such issues cannot escape their knowledge. Thus it is better if companies should strive for using ethical marketing practices . they should Focus on providing good products with lots of benefits, and in this way they will be able to make their marketing honest and irresistible for the customers. They shoiuld make sure there is always an exchange of value between two parties with their marketing efforts. Business houses should keep in mind that business tactics should always be ethical. hey should be persuading a person to buy a product because they really need it, and when the companies are certain that this product will bring value into their lives. Ethical business practice is the ability to truly give somebody the power of choice, and not forcefully loading a product onto the customers, which they know in the back of their minds they will never have any use for. QUESTIONNAIRE NAME:- AGE:- Q1) Advertisement shows an accurate view of reality? a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree ) No opinion Q2) Do you think general television advertisements promote materialism? a) yes b) No c) Can’t say Q3) if yes, do you perceive it as ethical or unethical and why? Q4) How do you view the level of ethics in general advertising? a) Very high b) High c) Average d) low e) Very low Q5) Which off the following issues in general advertising would you consider being unethical ? a) creation of irrational desires , and needs b) comparative advertisement c) advertisement with lack of truth d) puffery ( increased value or attributes) e) alcoholic beverage advertisement ) cigarette and tobacco advertisement Q6) Mention a brand name in front of the product categories mention below ? a) shoes b) fairness cream c) deodrant d) mobile phone Q7) Would you still buy the same brand of shoes if that company is dealing in wrong practices ? for e. g child labour a) yes b) no c) cant say Q8) Have you ever decided not to buy a product or a service due to an advertisement that you perceived as unethical? a) yes b) no Q 9) Is it fine to use unethical practices to increase profitability of the company ? a) Yes b) No c) Can’t say

Analysis Of Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman Essay

This American drama was first premiered in 1949. It was an instant success and it also won Arthur Miller a place among one of the best American playwrights of the 20th century. It was a satirical attack on the Great American Dream of prosperity and material wealth and had also challenged the ideals of the past 160 years that constituted such dreams. This exemplary play by Arthur Miller is a modern masterpiece, in which the inherent conditions of human existence and a fierce battle to fight through it, is lived by the protagonist Willy Loman, that finally ends in a tragedy called, death. Willy Loman is a disillusioned sixty three year old man who has trouble distinguishing between past and present, and reality and illusions. His illusory beliefs draw an iron curtain before his sensibilities and he refuses to see the reality of his abject conditions. His tragedy lies in the fierce determination to fight an impossible battle and to seek facile solutions to his severe economic problems. In his relentless pursuit of an unrealistic dream Willy Loman submerges himself in a complete disengagement from reality that brings an end even more tragic than his life. Being an irrepressible old man he never really evaluates or understands the false and incomplete values of a venal American society. He fails to understand the vacuous idea behind the ‘Great American Dream’ and his limitless hope. A similar theme had been portrayed in ‘The Great Gatsby’ (Fitzgerald) where Gatsby was corrupted by money and dishonesty, and the Great American Dream of happiness and individualism disintegrates into mere pursuit of wealth. Although Gatsby had the power to turn his dream into reality, the character of Nick discovers that both Gatsby’s dream and the American dream is over. In the same way, Will’s persistent struggle against the forces of entropy in his life leads him to neurosis, and finally suicide. Theater is an imagined world, inhabited by imaginary characters, but tragedy strikes one and all, and the nature of tragedy is to hit our deepest consciousness and invade our sensibilities with its prolonged stay. Robert A Martin says in his essay, â€Å"The Nature of Tragedy†: â€Å"What the performance of a play gives an audience is less a set of ideas, propositions or abstraction about life and how to live it than what Arthur Miller has called ‘ a felt experience’, the imaginative sharing and participation in the lives and actions of imaginary characters. † In support of what Robert A Martin says, Willy Loman’s character pulls the audience along with its chain of tragedies and leaves one with a feeling of acute distress, but more than â€Å"a felt experience† it also gives one an insight into the inherent realities of human tragedies. In â€Å"Death of a salesman† the audience watch the tragic collapse of a single individual and the tragedy of the entire family, right before their eyes. The audience leave the auditorium with a whole new set of lessons in life and as Martin says â€Å"how to live it. † In his article Robert A Martin also elaborates on the vicarious influences of a tragedy, on the person, who watching it with a detached sense of belongingness. He says, â€Å" Theatre is the art of the possible† and as we read the play we believe that Willy Loman’s tragedies are not unbelievable or fictitious although his character was an imagination of the playwright Arthur Miller. As Aristotle said that Tragedy is something that evokes the emotions of pity and fear in the presence of an action of a certain magnitude. Willy Loman also falls into the trap of tragedy and as the nature of tragedy is, it brings about a fear in him. Willy tries to run away from that fear and refuses to accept his misfortunes and his failures. It mostly happens with dramatic experiences that our thoughts and emotions often correspond with those of the characters we watch in a play –we weep, smile and get moved by their performances. It continues to stimulate and engage us directly in our social, moral and political questions. The audience too goes through an inveterate interchange of pity and fear inside his mind as he watches a human being go through a painful hell, which is in Miller’s view due to his own obduracy. â€Å"Death of a salesman† is not just a tale of tragedy that happens to a broken, exhausted man, but is also a caustic attack on the American Dream of achieving wealth and success with no regards to principals and values of life. Willy Loman became a household name after the play was released and became a profound example of a tragic life, bowed down by struggles to cope up with a capitalistic society. Willy Loman’s tragedy does not lie just in his miserable economic condition, but also in his misplaced sense of pride. In the play he takes loans from his neighbor Charley to make both ends meet, but refuses to accept the offer of a better job from him. His warped sense of pride comes in the way of his chances to improve his conditions. His refusal to accept reality is a tragedy bigger than his dismal life, and it exasperates his son Biff with whom he had a troubled relationship. Willy refused to accept that his sons are also ‘failures’ such as him, and in order to make their lives better he falls into a trap of further hopelessness. A man’s descent to failure is horrendous to contemplate. Whatever line of work you are in, we are all salesmen, selling our products, our services, our selves†. Says Will’s meighbor Charley , in a line that crystallizes the anxiety of uncountable men everywhere, not just in America: â€Å" And when they start not smiling back. † –employers, partners, customers- â€Å" That’s an earthqauke. † ( Kilnghoffer, Undying Salesman, 1999). Willy Loman suffered from a feverish and unrealistic hopefulness and guilt of having failed his sons, and also the refusal to accept certain facts of life. The neurosis that set in him affected his life, and also him led to suicide. His death was perhaps a bigger tragedy than his life because it proved to be the final blow to the grief stricken family. Due to his persistent stubbornness he believed the notion that one is often â€Å"worth more dead than alive† (Miller, Pg76) and commits suicide, so that his family gets the insurance money and his sons lead a better life with that money, than he did when he was alive. Willy did not realize that insurance money is invalidated when a person commits suicide. As Biff says at the graveyard, â€Å" He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong. † In this play tragedy is on two fronts. One is ‘literal’, when Willy dies after an unrelenting wrestle with his fate, and another is a ‘symbolical’ death, that was the death of the American Dream, or ridding of a false notion of perfection. Willy’s guilt, his idolization of his sons and his constantly haunting memory of his brother turns his life into a pitiful tragedy and he lives through it all with an immature sense of unreality. In trying to project himself as an ideal father and salesman he plunges himself into an illusory world where he never really grew up. â€Å"I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have- to come out number –one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him. † (Miller, Death of a Salesman, Act2) The misfortune of Willy was that he tried to retrieve his lost dignity and his family’s love and also a magnified image of himself as an ideal salesman and father, on the last day of his life, and loses all. His complete disengagement from reality is what the tragedy is all about. It evokes the pity and fear that Aristotle spoke about in ‘Poetics’ (330 BC). The character of Willy Loman is befitting the concepts of Aristotle’s’ Tragedy. â€Å"True to life† (realistic), â€Å"consistency† (true to themselves): meaning, once a character’s motivation and personality are established these should continue throughout the play. â€Å"Necessary or probable†: meaning, characters must be logically constructed according to the law of ‘probability or necessity’ that govern the actions of the play. Finally, â€Å"true to life† and yet more beautiful (idealized, ennobled). Death of a Salesman has that true to life aspect, depicting the fact that any middle class man with limited means, would get into the delusionary world of dreams and aspirations of more wealth and the terrifying darkness that lies coiled beneath such unrealism. Consistency of the portrayal is apparent in Loman’s relentless pursuit of an elusive life. The necessary probability is the fact that such a dogged belief in illusionary world nearly always creates a graph of downward slide in a person’s life. True to life, is the condition of tension that is life and human existence. Death of a Salesman is a modern masterpiece that celebrates, as Chris Bigsby expressively states, â€Å" the miracle of human life, in all its bewilderments, its betrayals, its denials, but finally and most significantly, its transcendent worth. † (Poet, 723).