Accounting Disclosures In Context Of Corporate Governance Coursework

Accounting Disclosures In Context Of Corporate Governance - Coursework Example Firstly, the framework of corporate governance should ensure that timely and accurate disclosures are made on all material matters. These matters relate to the financial situation of a company, its performance, ownership, and governance. This principle ensures that an entity will disclose all material information in its financial statements that will be used by shareholders or prospective clients to make decisions. Secondly, the corporate governance framework should ensure the strategic guidance of the company, the effective monitoring of management by the board and the board's accountability to the shareholders. This means that management will always be on their toes to ensure that the operations of the company are well coordinated since the board of directors monitors them. Hence, appropriate disclosures are likely to be made due to the oversight role of the board. In conclusion, the attempts that have been made to improve accounting disclosures have been beneficial to the business world. According to Oppermann, this is because; various stakeholders have attained their goals through appropriate disclosures. Through corporate governance, managers have taken more responsibility and accountability in their roles in businesses as well as the board of directors. In overall, the public has gained more confidence in financial information published by companies, as they are aware that disclosures have been made guided by corporate governance principles and the accounting standards.

Construction Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Construction Law - Essay Example In this case, the tender arrived on time, but lay in the letterbox, therefore it was deemed to be a valid offer. A unilateral contract would turn into a bilateral contract through a valid acceptance, signified by a performance of the stipulated terms within the offer. According to I.M. Wormser, the justification for fixing acceptance to a unilateral contract upon completed performance of the stipulated terms is based upon symmetry3. Therefore in terms of the tender, there is no obligation upon the offerer, neither is there any obligation upon the offeree unless and until the stipulated terms of the offer have been completed. An offeree need not perform the stipulated terms, in which case no contract exists. Therefore, the initial tender was sent to Widget by Dig-it Builders but when accepted by Widget, did not yet constitute a formal contract because Dig-it sent a counter offer and when it was not accepted within the stipulated time period, they sent the fax withdrawing their offer. However the original term of the tender is 60 days so the tender still remains open, since only one party has wi thdrawn the offer. The mail indicating acceptance by Widget was posted by the architect on the same day, and the courts have deemed acceptance when a letter is posted4. However it is received on the subsequent day (the 35th) day of the tender. Therefore, this will still be subject to the general rule regarding acceptance, which is the requirement of actual communication5. No legal commitment will be deemed to exist until the acceptance of the offer is communicated to the offerer and up to that point, either party is free to change their minds.6 However, Dig-it’s fax will be construed to be a counter offer in the sense that it is a withdrawal of the original offer, which no longer exists. But the tender is not yet closed because Dig-it has made a counter offer reducing the price, although this will still not be a contract until acceptance is obtained

Brand Placement in Bollywood Movies

Brand Placement in Bollywood Movies Do the Consumers get Sensitized towards the Brands by the Brand Placement in Bollywood Movies? Abstract The practice of product placement is seen everywhere in media across the world and is now ubiquitous. The same practice of Product placement in Bollywood is not new and the practice of placing the products in the bollywood movies is seen from the time of early 1970s. The movies produced in last ten years are seen with a lot of product placement and the practice of strategically planned product placement has grown to a major extent in Indian movies (bollywood). The practical implication of the methods of product placement is evidenced in the Indian Cinema but there is hardly any substantial evidence present for the product placement and its strategies in Bollywood. The research presents an overview of the strategies adopted by Hollywood for the product placement and consolidates the technique of product placement with the practical brand placement done in bollywood by assessment of a recently released bollywood movie ‘Blue. The brands placed in this movie are classified on the b asis of the methods of classification derived from the theories which are drawn from the literature based on Hollywood. The main objective of this research is to find out whether or not the consumers are sensitized by the practice of brand placement in bollywood, and if yes then which is the method which scores most number of recalls of brands shown in bollywood movies. The findings of this study indicate that the Indian consumers do get aware from the brands shown in the bollywood movies. The findings are based on the empirical study derived from three main methods which are used in this dissertation for the collection of data, those three methods are; Case study, semi-structured interview and questionnaire. The investigation led to the other findings as well which were indicating that the format of bollywood is very different than the format of Hollywood and brand placement can be experimented much more freely as there is another dimension of music in the bollywood movies; brand placement in the bollywood movie ‘Blue investigated as a case study provided a 100% recall on the brand ‘Kylie Minogue who was placed in a song; recalls from such placement are assumed to be long lasting as the songs are shown on satellite television generating frequent encounter. No theories or methods are found on this kind of placement as the methods are der ived from Hollywood format of which is different and does not includes songs. Dissertation concludes with providing the limitations of the research and directions for future researches. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 Synopsis This chapter provides with the introduction of the subject of the research and also looks at the background of the topic in brief. This chapter throws light on why I have chosen to work on this topic and what are the aims and objectives of the research made. This chapter takes into account the summary of chapters in the content which are to be followed further down in the dissertation. 1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND Indian Film Industry also popularly known as â€Å"Bollywood† is one of the biggest film making industries in the world and is the only other film making industry which can stand against Hollywood. Mishra in his work says â€Å"the massive size of Indian cinema is obvious from its statistics; eight hundred films a year shown in more than thirteen thousand predominantly urban cinemas, viewed by an average of eleven million people each day and exported to more than hundred countries.† Mishra (2002, pp.1) having considered this data which has grown to even much bigger numbers in year 2009, Indian Films have become one of the biggest instruments of mass communication. The commercial breaks on the satellite television are now avoided by the viewers as the number of channel on television have increased to huge extent which gives liberty to the viewer to flip to a channel which is more interesting and avoid the advertisement, the technology give the viewer the privilege of rec ording the programs without commercial breaks as well, factors like these has open portals for movies to become a new carrier for brand promotion. Being a mass media of this enormous magnitude, Bollywood has a lot of potential and a significant number of opportunities for In-Film planned brand placement also known as brand entertainment or brand integration (Glaiseter, 2005 ) and these opportunities are being well grabbed by the advertisers and marketers in the Indian market. In recent years a lot of research is done on Brand/Product placement in Bollywood films by marketers and advertisers so as to understand the concept and strategies of brand placement in movies. Although not many academic researches can be seen in the field of product placement in Bollywood, the practical usage of the practice of Brand Placement has grown significantly. Lehu in his work defines, â€Å"The expression ‘Product Placement or, ‘Brand Placement essentially describes the location, or more accurately, the integration of a product or a brand into a film or televised series.† Lehu (2007, pp.1) it can be understood from the work of other scholars like Kalish (1988), Gupta and (Gould 1997) Balasubramanian (1994) that brand placement is planned consolidation of brand with the elements of a feature film in return for money, service, barter, or any other kind of consideration. The research also focuses on the strategies of brand placement in Hollywood as no substa ntial academic can be found on classification of brands in the Indian cinema. The literature looks and analyzes the Tripartite typology of product placement by Russell (1998) , two dimensional approach to classify brand placement by Gupta and Lord (1998), Classification on the basic on Integration and explicitness by dAustos and Seguin (1999) and finally Shapiros (1993) classification of brand placement. 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The main aim at which the research focuses is to answer the question -â€Å"Do the consumers get sensitized towards the brands by the brands placement in bollywood moives?† Following are the main objective for this research * To know, does the Indian audience get aware of the brands shown in the movie through in-film brand placement? * Which method of brand placement leads to maximum number of recalls of brands by analyzing the data collected after conducting surveys and unstructured interviews? 1.3 KEY REASONS FOR RESEARCH The key reasons for research in this field are, not much research has been made on this field and it is a very interesting and challenging task and the field has a lot of potential for growth in future and substantial findings might prove to be an insight for marketeers and will be useful for the adoption of correct method of brand placement in future projects in Bollywood. 1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY The dissertation is divided into five different chapters; Chapter one is introduction which describes in brief the research background, aims and objectives of the research, why I have chosen this research and the structure of the dissertation. Chapter two reviews the literature and most of it is drawn from Hollywood. It begins with the definitions of Branding and Brand placement; it also draws the methods in which brand placement can be done and its classification. Chapter three of this dissertation depicts the methods used for the collection of data and also draws out the limitations of this research with other issues in detail. The fourth chapter will portray the research findings from survey and unstructured interviews. Chapter five of this dissertation is the final chapter which begins with consolidation of the research objectives with the literature review and concludes the dissertation with recommendation for future researches. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Synopsis: This part of the dissertation focuses on defining the two most important terms for this dissertation which are branding and brand placement. This chapter also reviews the existing literature on brand placement and the strategies for its classification. The chapter is divided as follows; the first section of this chapter defines Branding after understanding of which the section second of the chapter looks at one of the methods of Branding or brand promotion which is Brand placement. Section three of this chapter begins with describing the strategies for brand placement and critically analyzes work from different scholars with their classification techniques in the subsections of section three. Section four and final section of this chapter portrays the instances of successful brand placement in Bollywood. As there is hardly any literature available on Indian film industry and brand placement the theories and literature retrieved for this chapter is majorly captured from American film industry. 2.1 Branding The word so commonly used, yet not correctly interpreted by a lot of people. For the establishment of brands, companies around the world spend millions of dollars and formulate new strategies and techniques to market their product, this is what the common notion and understanding of brands for a lot of people is. (Levine, 2003) in his work says that the brand is not necessarily associated with a product or an organization or a title but anything that can be identified. One of the most popular footballers David Beckham is a brand and so is Mercedes Benz. De Chernatony and McDonald in their work define Brand as â€Å"A successful brand is an identifiable product, service, person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique, sustainable added values, which match their need most likely.† De Chernatony and McDonald (2003, pp.25) Taking this definition into consideration it can be said that consumers identify a product/services with its distinc t feature, an attribute which associates product with some quality which are distinguished from the rest in one way or the other. This unique association encourages the consumers to buy the brand and give the brand an edge over the other products in the market. Thus, it can be said that a brand is a product/service with some attributes or features that helps the product/service to stand out in the market for having such distinguished attributes. A few examples of most commonly known brands all over the world can be: Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nike, Adidas, Ferrari, Mercedes Benz, Michael Schumacher, David Beckham, Omega, Rolex, etc. It took a lot for the marketers and brand promoter to first establish these brands and a huge amount of money is spent for the promotion of these brands by using different strategies and techniques. One of such techniques is Brand Placement. 2.2 Brand Placement Also commonly known as Product Placement, the term Brand Placement has been defined by many scholars like (Steortz, 1987), (Balasubramanian, 1994), (Karrh, 1998), etc. This part of the dissertation highlights the definitions of brand placement by these scholars. (Steortz ,1987) defines Brand Placement as â€Å"the inclusion of a brand name, product, package, signage, or other trademark merchandize in a motion picture, television show or a music video†, another definition of Brand Placement is contributed by (Balasubramanian, 1994) who in his work said, â€Å"a paid product message aimed at influencing movie (or television) audience via planned and unobtrusive entry of branded product into a movie (or television program)†, the definition by Balasubramanian covers the concept of integrating brands as done in the definition by (Steortz, 1987), but it also considers the aspect of paid inclusion which is ignored by Steortz. (Karrh, 1998) defines the brand placement by covering almost all the dimensions associated with it, he defines Brand Placement as â€Å"the paid inclusion of branded products or brand identifiers, through audio and/or visual means, within mass media programming†, he further explains that the brand placemen t can also be obtrusive and is done to compliment the characters image and help in setting and filling up the elements in background. The purpose of brand placement is to promote the brand but the ways in which it is done also generates a hybrid message, it merges the major features of advertising, it give the sponsors privilege of retaining the control over the content and format but also increases the credibility by not identifying the sponsors directly. (Cohen, 1988) With the definitions above it can be drawn that the Brand Placement in movies is that technique of advertising in which the Brand or the owner pays a compensation for its integration in the movie for the exchange of marketable benefit that the brands enjoy after being noticed by the audience, however, these placements are sometimes done just because the plot of the movie requires them to be placed there, this way brand placement can also be of non commercial nature. 2.3 Strategies of Placing the Brands The practice of brand placement has been there for decades, the placement of brands in american feature films can be seen since the time of late 1940s and early 1950s (DeLorme and Ried 1999) One example of such placement is legendary actor Joan Crawford sipping Jack Daniels whiskey in the film â€Å"Mildered Pierce† in year 1948. (Nebenzahl and Secunda 1993) The evidence of brand placement in Hollywood can been seen in feature films produced in late 1940s but one of the earliest evidence of product placement in Indian cinema was seen in early 1970s when Rajdhoot motorcycles brand was placed in movie Bobby featuring one of legendary Indian actor Raj Kapoor. Brand placement in feature films caught the attention of marketers and companies when the sales of Reeses Pieces candy increased by 65% in three months after the successful placement of the brand in the American film â€Å"E.T†. (Reed, 1989) The strategies that help brand placement the most in regards to its impact and effectiveness are elaborated by Russell (1998) and Gupta and Lord (1998) further on, this research looks at classification of brand placement by dAustos and Seguin (1999) and Shapiro (1993). Russells argument for techniques of brand placement is three dimensional and focuses on modality of Visual, auditory and plot connection, whereas Gupta and Lord emphasizes on two broad categories Audio-Visual and the level of prominence. The studies from both the scholars are discussed below. 2.3.1 Tripartite Typology of Product Placement According to (Russell 1998) product placement can be classified on the basis of three dimensions visual, auditory and plot connection. Visual dimension enables the placement of the brand in such a way that the product is seen on the screen and these placements on the screen can also be further classified on the basis of their appearance. The auditory dimension or the verbal dimension refers to the mention of a brand in a dialogue these placements are also called as ‘script placements and the degree of such placements varies depending on the number of times the brands were mentioned, what was the tonality in which the brands were mentioned and in what context the brand was mentioned. The Plot connection dimension indicates the magnitude of integration of brand with the plot of the story. The dissertation will now look at the literature/the findings from previous researches, which point towards the combinations or particular method amongst the three methods stated above that migh t get the maximum recalls. Russell in his work says product placement modality and its effect is now expanded to a new dimension of elaboration, the difference between visual and auditory presented information can now be distinguished by exploring the audio-visual context of product placement. The screen placement and the script placement, or the visual and the auditory type of brand placement differ from one another especially in the terms of conveying a meaning. Visual placement of brands act as props in television and movies so as to make them more real and close to the practicality and visual channel leads to the creation of context in which the story is set whereas the audio channel is the medium through which the television program is scripted, narrated and is made audible, this makes the information received through this channel more meaningful. (Russell, 2002) The reception and processing of auditory information also happens when a person is not looking and the auditory moda lity conveys semantic information through speech. (Rolandelli et al., 1991) The reception and processing of such information which is audible is higher as it also posses the basic characteristics of intrinsic alerting and intrusiveness which also are the basic characteristics of auditory modality. (Posner et al. 1976) Using brands for representation in any of the modalities brings a relativity of the same to the story and brings more meaning to the presentation and gets deeply integrated to a persons cognitive structure. (Lehnert, 1981) Such stimulus generates deeper meaning and leads to greater recalls of brands. (Craik and Lockhart, 1972) The third dimension of brand placement also called as dimension of meaning is that of Plot Connection. The magnitude of such placement depends upon the integration of brand with the plot, the higher the connection of the brand with the story, the more significant the placement of brands is. The plot connection connects the brands with the macro s tructure of the story, with which are associated important information, hence increasing the significance and role of placement. (Russell 1998) The different combinations in plot connection and modality can also be of great significance. There can only be two situations in which the combination of modality and plot connections can be established; Match and Mismatch. The combination can said to be a ‘match when the auditory method of placement is higher in use than the visual and the brand names are audible in narration and is deeply linked with the story whereas the combination can said to be a ‘mismatch when the visual method of placement of brands is higher in application than auditory in plot connection. (Russell, 2002) A good example of a matched plot connection can be the movie â€Å"Cast Away† featuring Tom Hanks who by an accident gets left alone on an abandoned island. The two brands that were integrated well with the plot were one of the biggest courier c ompanies â€Å"Fed Ex† and another was sports goods brand â€Å"Wilson† which was integrated well in the narrative structure. A good example of a mismatched plot connection can be seen in the movie Transformers and its sequel Transformers Revenge of the Fallen in which the car which is major attraction of the movie and transforms itself into a robot is manufactured by Chevrolet, here more of Visual placement is seen and the brand is hardly mentioned in the narrative structure. Mandler in his work says lesser exposed information which is less congruent in nature is more memorable as it grabs the attention of the person by provoking his/her mind to elaborate the information. (Mandler, 1982) Modality of placement is thus a very significant factor in categorizing the recalls as it persuades and influences people and also shows the significance of stimulus. 2.3.2 Two Dimensional Approach After studying Russells approach of Tripartite Typology of Product Placement this part of the dissertation will look at Gupta and Lords Two Dimensional Approach. Gupta and Lord (1998) distinguish the product placement on two major categories Mode of Presentation and Level of Prominence. Mode of presentation further classified by (Karrh et al., 2003) as: Visual only, audio only and combined audio-visual. Visual only: this kind of presentation involves visibility of signage, hallmark, billboards, logos, or any other kind of presentation that is represents the brand. The presentation or the placement is only visual with no presence of audio or gestures. One example of ‘Visual-only placement can be seen in the movie Top Gun where the lead actor Tom Cruise wears aviator model of Ray-Ban sunglasses. Although, this method has comparatively low recall rate visual-only form of product placement is one of the most common methods for brand placements and can be seen in a lot of movies. â €˜Audio-only technique of brand placement represents the brand by transmitting the message in only auditory way. (Gupta et al., 2000) The name of the brand or a tune or even a jingle closely associated with it can be added to the script and also be a part of the narration. One example of such placement can be from the movie â€Å"The Aviator† in which the lead mentions the brand â€Å"Sears† in his dialogue delivery. ‘Audio-Visual method of brand presentation represents the brand by both, the presence of brands logo, billboard, signage, product, etc. on the screen with the mention of it in the narrative of the script. One example of such can be from the movie â€Å"James Bond-Die another day† in which, with the presence of Aston Martin, the narrative include the product name which was mentioned as Aston Martin Vanquish. This method of brand placement produce more recalls as compared to both ‘Visual-only and ‘Audio-only methods of brand place ment. The other major segment drawn out by Gupta and Lord (1998) for classification of brand placement is on the basis of level of prominence. The differentiation in this segment was on the basis of prominent placement of brand from the subtle placement of brand, wherein in prominent placement of brand the product or the brand is kept in foreground and is in the prime focus, the field in which the brand is placed is not shared and the visibility of brand is prominent, example of such brand placement can be seen in the Tom Hanks starrer movie terminal, when he is in office of immigration officer while he explains him the situation of his country he refers to a bag of chips, the bag of chips shown for over 30 seconds was â€Å"Lays†. On the other hand the subtle placement of brand is normally not prominent and does not catch attention, the visual field is shared with other brands and the products are placed in the background. Subtle case of brand placement can be seen in the mo vie ‘Hangover which shows billboard of brand ‘Riviera in background while the actors are driving in a police car in Las Vegas. Although the strategy which used prominent visual brand placement with properly exposed information and auditory mention of brands name and its attributes is said to have more effectiveness than just the visual placement, but it is not clear as the results from different academics do not coincide. (Law and Barun, 2000; Sabherwal et.al,. 1994; Galician, 2004: 188-190) 2.3.3 Brand Placement on the basis of Integration and Explicitness The brand placement methods defined by Russell were three dimensional, as by Lord and Gupta were bifurcated into two major segments based on audio-visual as mode of presentation and level of prominence. dAustos and Seguin (1999) in their work classify brand placement in three different ways. 1. Implicit product placement: The placement in which the presence of product, brand or firm is a part of the program and is placed there to fulfill the requirement of the context and plays a passive role and can be seen on the screen but the product name is not formally mentioning or demonstrating the product benefits, etc. 2. Integrated Explicit product placement: An integrated brand placement is the one in which the brand, firm, product placed plays an active role, the brand is formally mentioned and the attributes of the brand are clearly demonstrated. 3. Non-Integrated Explicit product placement: In this type of placement the brand, firm or the product is not related to the contents of program and no integration can be seen, but the name of the brand is formally expressed. Such placement is often seen in the title of the movie or in the beginning or in the end of the movie and it is seen that the brands placed in this kind of placement are often sponsors. (dAustos and Seguin 1999) The classification of brand placement by dAustos and Seguin classifies brands on the basis of their integration and explicitness whereas there can be seen similarities in the classification made by Gupta and Lord (1998) and Russell (1998) as they classify the placement using similar grounds of mode of placements which are audio and visual, though the approach of Gupta and Lords classification is simpler as the modes are clearly distinguished, the difference arise when Russell base the placement with the connection to the plot and Gupta and Lord ground their classification on prominence of brands. 2.3.4 Shapiros Method Shapiro (1993) relegates product placement in four different categories which were modified to three as practitioners agreed this classification to be the most suitable compilation for conducting the research at the initial most stage as it covers the spectrum of brand placement. The classification is grouped as: 1. Implicit: In this kind of placement the brand is visible on the screen, it might be foreground or background, etc. but brand name or benefits is given no verbal reference. 2. Used in a scene: In this kind of placement, the brand is visible and is used in the scene, but no verbal reference is given to the brand. Instance of such brand placements can be seen in movies when the characters are driving in a car or using a cell phone and the logo or name or identification of car is clear. 3. Integrated Explicit product placement: This kind of placement shows the lead actor or main characters of the movie using a product while mentioning and describing the benefits or attributes of the brands or the product. The brand placement method enunciated by dAustos and Seguin were quite similar to that of Shapiros classification as both the practitioners focused at the integration and explicitness of brand to major extent but the classification from dAustos and Seguin cover the dimension in which brand is place in the beginning or in end of the movie which he calls as Non-Integrated Explicit brand placement which is not discussed by any other scholar. The classification by dAustos and Seguin is very simple and can be used to sort and categorize the placement of brands in a broader way as it covers the major aspect of placement in a well defined manner. I adopt the usage of the classification techniques of brand placement portrayed by dAustos and Seguin (1999) as it will help me to create a clear distinction in the placement of brands and will be an optimum method to put into application for my research question. 2.4 Brand Placement and Bollywood The technique of brand placement in Indian film industry also called as Bollywood is not new, one of the earliest example of the same was seen in the film Bobby in year 1973 when the lead actor Raj Kapoor was seen riding on a bike which was ‘Rajdhoot Since that time a lot of brand placement can be seen for aerated soft drinks in a lot of Indian movies, brand like ThumsUp, Gold Spot, etc were commonly visible in movies in early 1990s, also the visibility of high ended cars during that time were prominent on the screen. Branded liquor with bottles was a common sight in many movies during this phase and the most common brands placed were Black Dog, VAT69 and Black Label. Latest examples can be seen in movies like Om Shanti Om (2007) with brands placed like Tag Heuer (Implicit), Nokia (Integrated explicit), Shoppers Stop (Implicit), etc, another instance can be seen in the movie Goal (2007) with integrated explicit brand placement of Reebok and Western Union Money Transfer. More th an 54% of Indian audience is under the age of 25 which comes under the target audience slab and of most of movie makers and the advertisement companies aiming of brand placement, and according to (FICCI and Ernst Young, 2003) this generation has more propensity and access to wide range of media and entertainment than the previous generation hence creating a lot of opportunities and scope for brand placement in the Indian Film industry from both Indian film industry and brand promoters point of view. Not only the access to modes of entertainment but also because the Indian middle class has grown more flexible and receptive towards international outlook because of the risen standard of living through increase in purchasing power (Varma, 1998) which is also another factor of supporting the growth. There are not many studies done on Brand placement in Bollywood and no substantial research can be seen focusing on the recalls towards the brands from the brand placement shown in the bolly wood movies. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.0 Synopsis This chapter focuses on the importance of research methodology and explains in brief why it is necessary to draw a frame work of the research before bringing it into practical application. This chapter clearly states the aims and objectives of the research and defines the research approach undertaken. Also this chapter looks at the research methods used for this research and explains in brief the reason for their implementation as well. As almost every other research this research also is encountered with some limitations which are stated in the end of this chapter. 3.1 Research Methodology Research literally means the search for knowledge, a systematic and scientific search for relevant information and answers on a specific topic, searching new facts in any new branch of knowledge through inquiry, search and careful investigation. (Kothari, 2009) It is of very importance to detail out the research approach and the methods used, as it helps the reader to understand the research in a much convenient manner. Research plan includes the instruments of research which will lead to investigation of data (quantitative or qualitative) keeping the research question as prime consideration so as to be ascertain of the information gathered is fitting in with the requirement of the research. (Chisnall 1997) The following chapter includes all the activities concerned with the research conducted for this particular academic work and also tends to draw out research method which sets up an appropriate frame so as to fulfill the objectives and aims of the research further stated. The stru cture of this chapter is as follows * Aims and Objectives * Research philosophy * Approach * Data collection techniques * Data Analysis * Research Limitations 3.2 Aims and Objectives The main purpose of this research is to work on the concept of awareness or consciousness of brands as people watch movies. The critical issue that the research focuses at is; do the consumers get sensitized towards brands after watching Bollywood movies. The main objectives of this research are; * To know is Indian audience/Bollywoods Viewers are getting aware of brands shown in the movies through in-film brand/product placement? * If yes, then which is the most effective method of in-film Brand/product placement by analyzing the recalls? 3.3 Research Philosophy Research philosophy helps the researcher to find out the ways in which his/her research will comprehend the development of researchers knowledge. (Crossan 2003) Three of the major reasons for which the research philosophy must be taken into consideration are; a) it helps the researcher to figure out the methods he can use to design and conduct the research and to chalk down a strategy, b) it helps the researcher to evaluate the limitations of the research by putting different methodologies to test, c) it helps the researcher to explore different methods beyond his knowledge or experience. Thus researchers perception towards the development

The Development of Racism Essay -- Slavery Racist Equality Segregation

The Development of Racism Slavery's twin legacies to the present are the social and economic inferiority it conferred upon blacks and the cultural racism it instilled in whites. Both continue to haunt our society. Therefore, treating slavery's enduring legacy is necessarily controversial. Unlike slavery, racism is not over yet. (Loewen 143) Racism can be defined as "any set of beliefs, which classifies humanity into distinct collectives, defined in terms of natural and/or cultural attributes, and ranks these attributes in a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority" (Blum 5). It can be directly linked to the past and still, centuries later, serves as a painful reminder that race continues to be one of the "sharpest and deepest divisions in American life" (Loewen 138). What were the causes of racism? How did it develop historically? In order to answer those complex questions, I plan to examine the conditions of America's history from colonialism to present day society. It was these conditions of America's past that promoted the development of racist practices and ideas that continue to be embraced by many to this day. The idea of superiority and inferiority of entire groups were largely the result of the encounters between the Europeans and the indigenous native peoples of the Americas. Christopher Columbus was one of the first individuals who played a chief role in the birth of both racism and slavery. Upon the so-called "discovery" of America, European self-consciousness rose to the point that Europeans began to notice the similarities between each other. "There were no 'white' people in Europe before 1492" (Loewen, 66). But after the beginning of transatlantic slave trade, Europeans began to "see 'white' ... ...mproved, especially as a result of the Civil Rights Movement, racial inequalities still remain; from income to IQ levels, to the number of the incarcerated and life expectancies. While Americans like to think of our country as the equal land of opportunity, clearly it is not. Racism continues to remain "our American Obsession" (Loewen 139). Works Cited Blum, Lawrence. I'm Not A Racist But: The Moral Quandary of Race. New York: Cornell University Press, 2002. 5 Chomsky, Noam. Understanding Power, The Indispensable Chromsky. Eds. Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel. New York: New Press, 2002. 135. Loewen, James. Lies My Techer Told Me; Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. 60-169. Zinn, Howard. A Peoples History of the United States. New York: HaperCollins Publisher Inc., 1999. 25-33.

Harvard Business Review Case- Revere Street Essay

After analysis of Mr. Alexander’s proposal, it is obvious why he should take advantage of a real estate investment opportunity. The experience he would gain coupled with the added income would establish a solid foundation for making more investments in the future. To this end, however, I find Alexander’s plan for the Revere Street property falls short. A major deficiency is that his projections are almost entirely predicated on estimates and assumptions that are neither conservative nor reliable. In a similar vein, Alexander’s â€Å"DIY† approach is not only exemplar of naivetà ©, but also suggestive of many implications that were overlooked in his proposal. And, even more discouraging, a best-case scenario analysis reveals that even without complication, there is little room for error afforded by the plan. Therefore, I would not advise Alexander to move forward with his investment strategy, as its potential for reward is far outweighed by its risk. In a vacuum, Alexander’s proposal would be very feasible and attractive, but in reality the real estate and rental industries are incredibly volatile and hard to predict even for specialists in those fields. The success of Alexander’s proposal is not just contingent upon a host of variables, but variables forecasted by an amateur lacking a sense of conservatism. To begin, the projected costs of the project include no allowance for incidentals. This is a giant red flag. Even if Alexander outsourced certain responsibilities to experts, the likelihood of error and unforeseen costs in bidding for a property, closing the sale, major construction and renovation, and managing a rental property is almost certain. So, without a contingency reserve, the problems are obvious. But even worse, Alexander, a nonspecialist in any of these pursuits, is the one handling a majority of these functions- this means it is no longer a question of will there be unforeseen costs, but actually how much should be anticipated? On this front alone I am incredibly skeptical of the proposal. To bring this project to fruition and realize the gains projected, the following processes need to occur without incident: Alexander’s bid must be accepted by the seller, which requires that he obtain an appropriate mortgage, and avoid forfeiting his deposit, which could be something to the tune of $17,500 or more. For the closing sale of the property to go smoothly, there mustn’t be any lien issues from the existing bank withholding loan proceeds to the architect, since the construction was not finished. After this, the construction needs to be essentially error free and at an expedited pace to be complete by the four month timeframe set- and this is without a professional general contractor. Additionally, the job must not exceed the $165,000 figure that was given by a non-independent contractor, who very likely may have given a low-ball estimate to seem like an attractive candidate. The last architect was off by $115,0001, indicating that the scope of the work necessary to complete the job may be deceptive and much greater than anticipated, however there is no reserve beyond budgeted amount, making this possibly the hardest mission to accomplish. If, however, the project is completed within the four allotted months, and without going over budget, the next phase is filling vacancies, which Alexander is also planning to have accomplished by the end of the fourth month. This means that during the construction process, Alexander must also be actively marketing vacancies, searching for, interviewing, and selecting tenants, and securing leases. These tenants must also be willing to accept the rental rates to achieve Alexander’s target level of rental income, which are almost $10,000 higher than the current owner’s figures. If this is not accomplished, he could be losing $2,000 per month on each unoccupied unit. Beyond these start-up efforts, Alexander’s plan will only be successful if the operating costs do not exceed what is specifically budgeted for in his cash flow assumptions- these do not include costs of fixing up the units between tenants, updates, reserves for evictions, bad tenants, or law suits, and any other unforeseeable expenses. Though possible, it is incredibly hard to imagine that the stars would align so perfectly that all the aforementioned conditions are met as forecasted and result in triumph. It seems much more likely that some unforeseen incident will paralyze the process, creating a rippling effect that throws off virtually all of Alexander’s predictions. For example, a delay in the closing process would delay construction, delaying when tenants can move in and therefore when income can start being generated, and so on. The plan is contingent upon virtually incident-free operation that is somehow achieved under the direction of an amateur- this is fundamentally flawed. As such, I believe Alexander’s proposal is far too deficient in and of itself to be used as a viable plan. Beyond the limitations of the actual plan, another shortcoming of pursuing this opportunity on Revere Street are the serious implications associated with Alexander’s â€Å"do-it-yourself† approach. By not outsourcing responsibilities to experts, he may be avoiding the explicit employment costs, but he is likely to pay more for doing the job himself later. For example, hiring a general contractor would ensure that the building is constructed to code, would be more efficient because the GC would know how to best handle subcontractors and manage the overall project, both of which would help expedite the process and give Alexander time to do other value-added functions. If not, Alexander risks serious code-violation liabilities, will probably manage less effectively, and the project could therefore take much longer than anticipated, which has the same rippling effect as in the aforementioned. Additionally, Alexander may have seriously underestimated how demanding the project will be, and did not consider anywhere in his proposal how this may compromise his current full time job. Even with a general contractor hired, he will still be tasked to find tenants to fill the vacancies, while juggling the rest of the logistics, and it seems like a tall order. Since it is already included in the budget, I would hire outside management at least for the duration of construction to help find tenants. One of the major issues being an amateur in this field is determining good tenants from bad, and the costs associated with bad tenants could be significant, and again are something that Alexander did not include in his projected costs. Management would be instrumental in mitigating this risk, as they are usually well versed in landlord-tenant laws that Alexander may not be aware of, and also add more time for Alexander to focus on other important responsibilities. In general, I disagree with Alexander’s plan to save costs by doing work himself, because this generates a greater risk for both explicit and implicit costs- i.e. bad landlord-tenant relationships could taint Alexander’s reputation and dissuade other potential tenants from renting. He also risks compromise to performance at his current job, general welfare, and all of his time. By outsourcing some of the responsibilities, many of these issues could be avoided. But, if problems do arise, is it worth the consequences? Though the risks are significant and abundant, the potential for profit is always worth considering before dismissing an opportunity. To assess the profitability of Alexander’s plan, I ran a best-case scenario analysis. By exclusively using the figures as set forth in the proposal, and excluding the additional costs I outlined above but were overlooked by Alexander, I determined the ceiling for profit potential. Exhibit 1 shows the cash flow assumptions, including costs and cash not included in Alexander’s cash flow statement, but included in his proposal. Holding all other factors constant, year 1 of operations would realize only $2,113 in NOI and year 2, and all subsequent years, would see $15,610. On a $99,000 cash investment, his pretax return in year 1 would only be 2.13%, and then 15.8% in subsequent years. However, this is a best-case scenario, and given the major caveats discussed in the aforementioned, I believe that Alexander will actually not break even in the first year, and be looking at a significantly lower rate of return in years to come. So, even if everything were entirely feasible and it didn’t come at such an immense risk, I would not say that the effort put into this project would even be worth it. One of the biggest risks concerning insolvency is that should Alexander not be able to cover his debts, under the bank’s law, he is personally responsible, which means that this investment could end up in devastation for him and his family. With so much uncertainty, and not a big return, the risk is just too great to justify pursuit of the reward. In sum, because of faults with the plan itself, the major implications of Alexander’s DIY approach, and a return greatly exceeded by the associated risks, Alexander should not invest in the Revere Street property. However, I do agree that pursuing a real estate investment opportunity is wise, but under certain conditions. One of the biggest conditions that must be met is that he base his projections and make his plans off of expert opinions- he should invest in help and recognize that as an amateur, he is neither qualified nor capable of making the best decisions, and would benefit from seeking expert advice. Similarly, he should place more emphasis on the value of outsourcing to professionals, and less on blind trust in his own capabilities. This will also help to see the inherent value in outsourcing as the opportunity cost of not doing so might eventually end up being greater. Lastly, Alexander should invest in a property where the reward   is worth the risk, and make more conservative estimates to determine profitability. By following these steps, I believe he will be able to successfully gain the experience and equity base in real estate that he was seeking.

Making Moral Decisions: George Orwell and Claire McCarthy Essay

When an incident occurs, people would like to deal with it in the way they prefer. However, there always are some situations that force people to make decisions that are opposite to their own will since people live in society and they need to consider other’s opinions. No matter if people realize or not, it is hard to make decisions totally in terms of if they like it or not, because there are many factors which need to take into consideration like moral and ethics and the effect exerted on whole society and other people’s opinion. Both George Orwell and Claire McCarthy faced the dilemma of making a choice between their feelings and other people’s thoughts. In Orwell’s article â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†, he describes a poor elephant that destroyed people’s homes and kills a man. The people in town wanted him, as sub-divisional police officer, to kill that elephant. Orwell in fact did not want to kill the elephant but he did because other peo ple wanted him to do and pressured him to make that choice. Claire McCarthy met a similar problem in her article â€Å"Dog Lab†. She knew dog lab was an efficient way for students like her to learn knowledge but she was feeling terrible and uncomfortable with killing dogs even though there were some values to do so. People in society approve of dog lab as the way to learn and they have not yet found other methods to substitute it. However, McCarthy believed in terms of morals and ethics she cannot kill an innocent dog. These two authors have no choice because they have to shoulder their responsibility. Orwell killed the elephant because he represented those people who dominate Burma and he needed to satisfy the masses in order to behave like the people in charge. McCarthy killed a dog during the experiment because she needed to well prepared for future operation on her patients. Making a decision is never easy especially when people faced with moral or ethical decisions, because those hard choices that could affect people’s lives always carried with obligations which people need to  shoulder. Choice is usually accompanied with conflicts since the one option people gain from choice is always at the cost of giving up another option. There are not always a way to obtain benefits from two o ptions just like that it is hard to satisfy two sides of people who hold different viewpoint. Orwell experienced a conflict and he wrote, â€Å"To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels†¦The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laugh at. But I did not want to shoot the elephant.† (461) Orwell as a white man, especially as a sub-divisional police, is one of the people who implement imperialism on Burma. He needed to behave like the way he should be and need to take his position and show his ability. All above point out a way for him that was to kill the elephant. However, he did not want to kill the elephant at all, because he believed the elephant was innocent and did not deserve death penalty. These two sides of thought cause a conflict. McCarthy agreed with Orwell’s feeling when she met the similar situation, which is the conflict between innocent animals and her own benefits. She stated, â€Å"I didn’t like the idea of doing the lab; it felt wrong. Yet for some reason I was embarrassed that I felt that way, and the lab seemed so important. The more I thought about it the more confused I became.† (482) McCarthy in terms of ethics felt uncomfortable with dog lab. It was not fair to take others’ life if they did nothing wrong. However, this is efficient way to learn knowledge as a medical student and she did not want to lose this chance. Both Orwell and McCarthy needed to make a choice between killing animal or not. This decision would be struggle since it related to morals and ethics and caused a conflict between people’s inner voice and what others want them to do. Following people’s inner feeling did not mean self-interest, because when conflicts occur people’s inner voice was more likely to be moral one rather than obeying others’ opinion. If people make a decision of conflicts, no matter which side they chose they have to accept the consequence their decision caused. It is not always right for a person to do most people want him to do but it is a safe way since most people stand in his side and the consequence may be better than the result of his own thought. At this point, when conflicts occurred both Orwell and McCarthy followed the way which most of people chose or wante d them to do since the  better consequence would caused. Orwell stated, â€Å" And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all. The people expected it of me and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly†¦that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East.† (461) Even though Orwell did not want to kill the elephant, he still did because he tried to make this incident to be simple and push it into a normal way. If Orwell kills the elephant, it will be reasonable and acceptable not only because the legal law but because satisfied Burmese desire as well, they got elephant meat as food. If Orwell did not kill the elephant the only result was Burmese would be more resentful to White men and may be cause further negative influence which would cause unstable of the society under imperialism. Compared with the consequence of two options, it should be better to choose to kill the elephant. Similarly, McCarthy chose to do dog lab after serious consideration and believe it should be better to do experiment. She stat ed â€Å"I was quiet during these discussions. I did not want to kill a dog, but I certainly wanted to take advantage of every learning opportunity offered me†¦Doing well had become so important that I was afraid to trust anyone; doing well had become more important than anything.† (481) Although McCarthy felt uncomfortable to kill the dog, she wanted to learn knowledge. If she did not come to experiment, others students would learn more knowledge than she did so that they can do much better in following study. In another aspect, she thought kill the innocent dog was not good but actually she did not experience dog lab before so that can not just deny the value of this experiment. She need to have a try to help her confirm what she real want to do in the future. Both authors take the consequence of their action into account and then make the better choice, because moral decision are not simply end by making the choice and it always followed by responsibility. Each decision people make will cause corresponding results which means people need to take responsibility when they are making decisions. However, shouldering responsibility not only happened when people are making decisions but happened after making choice as well. In Orwell’s article, he stated, à ¢â‚¬Å"I waited a long time for him to die, but his breathing did not weaken. Finally I fired my two remaining shots into the spot where I thought his heart must  be. The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet, but still he did not die†¦. I felt that I had got to put an end to that dreadful noise.† (463) When Orwell decided to kill the elephant and took his duty as police officer, he also needed to take responsibility for this elephant’s life. Based on morals and ethics, after shooting the elephant Orwell wanted end its life soon and did not make elephant suffering from pain. Even though he can not change others thoughts and save the elephant, he tried to shoulder responsibility for the elephant’s life after making decision. At this point, McCarthy behaved like what Orwell did after she decided to kill the dog. She said, â€Å"Helping with the anesthesia, I thought, would be taking full responsibility for what I was doning, something that was very important to me. I was going to face what I was doing†¦ Maybe in part I thought of it as my penance.† (482) McCarthy really struggled for choosing to kill the dogs or not. However, after making the decision, McCarthy insisted on helping with the anesthesia because she knew she needed to take charge of dogs’ lives. When she decided to kill the dog, it carried with responsibility which means to start an incident from the beginning to the ending and treat every part seriously. After this experience, McCarthy firmly thought dog lab was really wrong for her and she made a decision to make some changes which also can be regarded as the way to shoulder responsibility. It is not difficult to find the common point that both authors choose to take their responsibility after making the choice in terms of morals and ethics. As the member of society, people need to realize the significant of taking the responsibility after making decisions. In modern society, there are always conflicts occur between what a person want to do and what others or the society what him to do about moral problems. However, it is not hard to make the decision because when people compared with the consequence which two options would caused, they can always find the better choice for the situation. After making decisions, people need to think about their responsibility. Both George Orwell and Claire McCarthy show the good quality after making decision which is not only shoulder their responsibility but also try to make change when they feel their decision are not good at all. At beginning of Orwell’s article, it was easy to tell his resentful for imperialism and implied he would leave his job and sought for change one day. Similarly, at the ending of McCarthy, she suggested after  her experiment she realized doing dog lab was not the method she wanted to learn and she would like to change the other way to go. Accordingly, when people faced moral decisions, as the member of modern society, they need to choose they way which they can obtain better consequence and have ability to take the responsibility. These are people’s basic obligations to deal with moral conflicts.