Mandatory HIV/AIDS testing for Pregnant Woman

Today, anti retroviral therapies are being developed by several manufacturers, in a bid to finally be able to reduce the number of instances of the transmission of HIV from mother to child. The drug AZT, for example, has been successful at bringing the rate of such direct transmissions down, and this has given rise to a widespread feeling that if testing of pregnant women for the presence of the dreaded AIDS virus were to be made mandatory, then perhaps many lives could be saved. It must be remembered that before the year 1994, when AIDS became renowned for its impact on the human body, not much was known about the disease, often referred to as ‘the scourge of modern man’, and nothing at all was known about the transmission of this disease from a mother to her unborn child.It was in late 1994 that an American clinical trial known as ‘ACTG 076’ was able to prove the assumption that when a drug AZT was administered to a HIV positive pregnant woman, and also to her child immediately after its birth, it was able to lower the rate of transmission from a high of 25 % to a low of 8 %. The trial was based on the fact that the pregnant woman had to be given the drug during her pregnancy, during her labor, during her delivery, and for the newborn baby during his first six weeks of life.Immediately after the results of this trial were published, the US Public Health Service recommended that all HIV positive pregnant women must be given the drug, especially to those women who demonstrated a likelihood of developing the disease. This was to include women who had never taken drugs of any kind against HIV AIDS. The administration of the drug, of course, involved an invasion of the woman’s basic privacy, and this was something that created a stir at the time. Such invasion of privacy was not to be tolerated.   (Yovetich)As stated earlier, making HIV testing mandatory for a pregnant woman, in the hope that the woman’s unborn child could be given a better and more productive and disease free life was not as simple an issue as it may have sounded at the time. There was much opposition from several different quarters. The main reason for the opposition was that the woman’s private life would be exposed, as HIV was a disease that was clothed in much secrecy, and it still is today. Defenders of privacy of a human being fought a long war to oppose mandatory testing of all pregnant women for the dreaded AIDS/HIV virus.To test a woman against her will, and then inform her that she had AIDS, and that she must take the drug so that her unborn child would not develop the disease would be a rather intrusive method to follow, felt privacy defenders, even if such testing meant that the risk of transmission to others would be reduced, and many lives could be saved in the future. However, the several advances in science through the years until today have prompted many individuals to reconsider the issue today.Several peopl e ask themselves today, are the potential benefits of mandatory testing for AIDS/HIV in some contexts outweighing the privacy interests? Or, on the other hand, is such an invasion of privacy completely justified if the unborn child could be saved from a life of disease and eventual death?It must be noted that several experiments and trials have been able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that when a pregnant woman is tested for AIDS, and it is found that she is HIV positive, and she is then offered the drug that would combat the transmission of the disease to her unborn child, and she takes up the offer, then the chances of the unborn fetus being born with full blown AIDS would be reduced dramatically.Statistics have revealed that such therapy would successful bring down the rate of transmission from a high of a one on four chance, to a one in fifty chance. Such evidence has prompted a rash of proposals on the part of the governments to make the testing of HIV/AIDS mandatory for a pregnant woman. To date, it must be noted that only the legislatures of New York and Connecticut have been able to sanction mandatory programs that would impose HIV tests on a pregnant woman, without her consent, wherein she would be able to turn down the ‘offer of testing’ put forth to her.Although it may be true that at first glance, one would not be able to understand why anyone would wish to turn down an offer to save their unborn child, it is indeed a fact that science today has not yet advanced so far as to absolutely guarantee that the young pregnant woman would not pass on the disease to her child, like for example, statistics are able to prove that even if a pregnant woman has no medication at all for her AIDS, she still has only a one in four chance of transmitting the virus to her unborn child.This is because of the simple fact that a mother transmits the disease to her child during the process of delivery, which is the time when the infant would be exposed t o the blood of his mother, without the protection of the umbilical cord that has connected him to his mother all the nine months. In other words, statistics prove that intra-uterine transmission, that is, transference of the virus before delivery, of AIDS to the unborn infant is quite rare, and it does not take place in one out of four cases. AIDS and HIV can also be transmitted to the child after its birth, through breast feeding.Furthermore, it is important to remember that when an infant is born to an HIV-positive mother, HIV-antibody tests carried out on the newborn will always turn out to be positive, for the simple reason that the baby has would have inherited the HIV antibodies of its mother automatically during the birth and delivery processes, and this cannot be taken to mean that the newborn is infected with AIDS and HIV. In these cases, the antibodies that the baby has inherited would stay in his body for the first few months of his life, after which it would be replaced with his own. If the HIV testing is done on the infant at this stage, it would reveal the actual status of the child, rather than if it were to be done immediately after birth, which would often mislead the persons involved.     (The ACLU on HIV testing of pregnant women and newborns 2001)It is a sad fact indeed that the data on AIDS in America and in Canada indicated that almost 766 out of 824 pregnant and HIV infected women from twenty five states of the United States of America were aware of their HIV status much before their deliveries, yet there are about 280 to 370 peri-natal HIV transmissions in the country, every year. Researchers and scientists state repeatedly that the only way in which to control this dismal state of affairs would be to make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory for pregnant woman, despite opposition from several quarters.In Canada, for example, three different HIV testing approaches have been assayed, and medical records and relevant data have shown without dou bt that the so called ‘opt-in’ or voluntary testing approach, in which a pregnant woman is offered pre-HIV test counseling, and must give her consent voluntarily to an HIV test is generally related with lower testing rates than the ‘opt-out’ voluntary testing approach, in which the woman, who has had HIV/AIDS counseling, may choose to refuse HIV testing. As a matter of fact, even the mandatory newborn HIV testing approach proved to be ineffective, and the testing rates were much lower than expected, although they were better than the ‘opt-in’ testing method. (HIV testing among pregnant women, United States and Canada 1998 to 2001 2002)Today, with the governments across the world, especially in developed countries responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, women seem to be at the center of all the attention, and increasingly, global efforts at AIDS prevention seem to center on women, especially pregnant women who may transmit the dreaded AIDS virus to their unborn child, either before or after delivery. Most governments are taking advantage of the fact that medicines and drugs are available today, which would be able to effectively block the transmission of the virus to an infant, and these governments are using the drugs to make sure that the AIDS virus would not spread far and wide. One such government initiative is the ‘PMTCT Program’, or the ‘Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Program’.It must be stated here that although the benefits of this and other similar programs may be tremendous, it is very important that the government takes into consideration the experiences of a pregnant woman who lives with AIDS, and the trauma that she undergoes as a direct result. The government must also learn to adopt a human rights perspective when it deals with a pregnant woman, and issues that concern her privacy. As a matter of fact, several governments seem to have forgotten, state human rights personnel , about the woman with AIDS, so keen are they on the prevention of the transmission of AIDS to the unborn child.Herein lies the crux of the issue: if the woman were to be treated as a patient, who is suffering from a dreaded and fatal disease, who needs treatment for the disease, and who has human rights as an individual, then it would be infinitely easier to deal with the issue. In other words, if the governments were to respect the woman who is harboring the AIDS virus, and treat her with basic human dignity and respect, it would ensure that her unborn child who is the future citizen of the country, and the future of his family would be better served.When this is taken in light of the fact that women are three times as likely as men to develop HIV/AIDS, and that a woman is physiologically more susceptible than a man to developing the infection through vaginal intercourse, it would seem that according a woman the deference that she deserves would be the best approach to the problem . In certain under developed countries, women have been reported to say that when they were diagnosed with AIDS, they were asked to abort their unborn fetuses, as they supposedly ‘had no right to pass on the infection to their unborn baby’.   In such cases, it is evident that the feelings and the rights of the woman were not considered in any way, and this is by no means uncommon.Although PMTCT Programs have today gained in popularity, and it is being touted across the world as being the one surefire method to control AIDS, these programs do implicate a certain invasion of the privacy and dignity of the woman concerned, especially in countries where the woman is denied the right to give informed consent to HIV/AIDS testing and treatment, probably because of a lack of education, and she is also denied her right to confidentiality. When this is taken in context of the stigma associated with AIDS in several countries, it is obvious that the program must be refined and re stated, if it were to be a success.   (Pregnant woman living with HIV n.d)To conclude, it must be said that although mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS may be an excellent idea and that it would help prevent the transmission of the virus to a woman’s unborn child, the program must be implemented while keeping in mind the human rights, the right to confidentiality, and the basic human rights of the woman suffering form the disease. If this were to be done, then one can look forward to a world in which the awful HIV/AIDS virus would be eliminated, and the world would be a safe place once more.Works citedYovetich, Tasha â€Å"Making it mandatory, should HIV tests be required for pregnant women?† The Canadian Women’s Health Network (1999) 13 December 2007â€Å"The ACLU on HIV testing of pregnant women and newborns† HIV testing of pregnant women and newborns (2001) 13 December 2007â€Å"HIV testing among pregnant women, United States and Canada 1998 to 2001â₠¬  MMWR Weekly (2002) 13 December 2007â€Å"Pregnant woman living with HIV† Reproductive Right.org 13 December 2007 (n.d)

Management Institute Essay

In consulting Linton, there are two main components that would have to be closely analyzed: Deborah Linton’s leadership style and Lisa Benton’s ability to positively impact her new business environment. Lisa Benton is well educated and experienced in her field; yet, she allows dysfunction to distract her of her ability to contribute. Benton surrendered the power of her voice because she humbled to the intimidation perceived from her supervisor, coercive teammate, and questionable environment. LINTON MANAGEMENT PROFILE Deborah Linton is the average person in a leadership role who does not know the difference between management and leadership. Because she does not know the difference, her approach towards Lisa Benton is all wrong for the right reasons. Her initial address to Benton was out of fear versus confidence in her ability to manage a Harvard graduate. Linton’s fear warrants a close investigation of her management style, her conflict resolution, and her measurements of being a leader. Deborah Linton’s management profile has to be priority in order to accurately identify and effectively address in order to improve her effectiveness. If we were to complete a DiSC Assessment of Linton’s management style, Linton would most likely be a D (Dominance) style manager. Linton had a â€Å"sophisticated appearance and confident manner† by which she carried herself in the office. Upon meeting with Lisa Benton for the first time, Linton expresses her discontent with â€Å"MBAs [who] act like they know a lot more than they do† (Weber, 1994). This is reflective of the D style motivation of power and authority. And how blatantly noticeable Linton is  forceful and direct when addressing Benton. Immediately, she sets the tone of her position and authority by challenging Benton’s academic success with great insensitivity. Linton’s dominant management style is consistent throughout the article when she addresses Benton on a couple occasions or even her counterpart, Jack Vernon. The approach with Lisa Benton was misguided from the start which prompts the question, â€Å"Who would want to be led by [Linton]?† This question is significant because Goffee and Jones emphasize the importance of followers to leaders. They state that leaders â€Å"better know what it takes to lead effectively — they must find ways to engage people and rouse their commitment to company goals† (Jones, 2000). Linton does not give Benton any idea of the current state of the company or how she would like for her department to impact the company’s success. She did not share her vision for her department and what she expected to produce in a particular time frame. Benton had no clue as to how her role was to impact the Although Linton greeted Benton pleasantly, she negated the meeting by complaining her arrival was a week too early. Benton’s eagerness to contribute to the company’s success was not celebrated or welcomed. This attitude was perpetuated once Linton pushed-off Benton to another product manager, Ron Scoville. Linton has proven herself to be more of a manager versus a leader. Although Benton was new to the team, Linton places more importance on product management. Priority should have been placed on making sure Benton was properly trained. Linton focused her efforts on â€Å"the detailed steps that are necessary to get results† (Lecture, Wk 2). Benton felt like an intruder whenever she stepped to Linton’s office because she was refused regularly. Linton’s lack of concern towards Benton’s development further demonstrates her dominant management style. Linton not only managed with dominance, but also dealt poorly with resolving conflicts. Thomas and Kilmann would assess that Linton is unassertive and uncooperative when resolving conflict amongst subordinates. Evidenced when Linton resolved conflict between Benton and Scoville by adopting Scoville’s  perspective. She addresses Benton by stating â€Å"I understand you’re too good for copying† implying that Scoville’s assessment was accurate. According to Thomas-Kilmann, Linton sidesteps the issue and postpones dealing with the conflict. Linton expresses her knowledge of Scoville not being liked in the office despite her personal feelings towards him being â€Å"misunderstood† and â€Å"having a heart of gold.† In both instances, Linton never truly addressed or resolved the issues. She avoided the issues and encouraged Benton to do the same in the interest of results. Linton is weak in the area of emotional intelligence. She struggles in the key areas regarding emotional intelligence: Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill. Linton is not aware of her own emotional impact on her employees or their emotional challenges. Scoville definitely has emotional challenges made evident through his emotional outbursts with Benton. Benton herself dealt with a great deal of emotional challenges. Linton failed to recognize the emotional challenges and utilizing them to build up her team. Additionally, Linton did not motivate her team members to cooperate or collaborate. She is not able to motivate because she does not empathize with Benton. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LINTON Using Jack Welch Winning as a mirror to Linton, there are some basic principles that must be established and practiced. First of all, Linton needs to learn her new team. She has a close relationship with Scoville; yet, she needs to consider the chemistry of the team now that Benton is on board. Instead of demeaning Benton and her education, she should set the standard for her performance by giving her a vision, a goal. Linton does not†define where she wants her team to go† (Lecture, Wk 1). Benton never received her objectives or given a set of expectations from which her performance would be measured. Linton does not know what it takes to be a leader. As mentioned previously, Linton is a manager who believes her position qualifies her as a leader. My first recommendation is for Linton to understand the difference between a manager and a leader. Kotter makes an interesting distinction between  management and leadership as being forms of coping. Kotter states that â€Å"management is about coping with complexity. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change† (Kotter, 2001). Linton does not cope well with the change of Benton, an MBA graduate of Harvard, joining the team. Linton needs to better understand what is characteristic of a leader. Jack Welch specifically details what leaders do. I would encourage Linton to adopt and immediately apply these rules. Of the eight rules that Welch identifies, several rules need to take precedence. â€Å"Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team.† Linton spent time pushing Benton away versus taking advantage of the time to coach her. Rule #2 states that â€Å"leaders make sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it.† Benton did not receive her objectives let alone understand where Linton wanted to take the company. â€Å"Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit,† as stated in Rule #4. Candor will be addressed later; yet, transparency and credit seemed none existent. Linton rarely met with Benton, let alone, allow herself to become open and transparent. In fact, Benton often felt like she was intruding. Lastly, Linton needs to apply the last couple rules of â€Å"inspiring risk taking† and â€Å"celebrating† her team members. Linton has to celebrate her team members for their contributions and skills they bring. BENTON LACK OF LEADERSHIP Lisa Benton is an experienced and educated potential leader who over-analyzes her own situation. Not that she was not qualified for the position, but the she allowed the circumstances to have a â€Å"muzzling voice† effect over her. Her prowess and proven success were immediately diminished from her first day on the job. Benton was excited about the opportunity resulting from her interview meetings with energetic employees of Houseworld. If she was to take the DiSC Assessment, Benton would definitely fall in the C (Conscientious) management style. Before even accepting the position at Houseworld, Benton based her decision not on her ability, but on which company would provide the training she felt was necessary. Benton did not have a vision to buy into or objectives to guide her efforts. Benton falls prey to her limitations of her management style by â€Å"overanalyzing† her professional situation and isolating herself with  respect to her department. Despite her professional and academic achievements, Benton went from success to failure in accepting the position at Houseworld. Benton aborted her leadership potential by committing a significant sin of leadership. She did not â€Å"give her self-confidence its due.† Jack Welch says that â€Å"self-confidence is the lifeblood of success† (Lecture, Wk 8). Benton also made the mistake of listening to rumors about Linton and Scoville having a personal relationship. This dictated her interaction with them and took away her lateral persuasion. Benton was not able to â€Å"commit to the success† of Linton. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BENTON To sum up in one word a recommendation for Lisa Benton, believe. Benton needs to go back to believing in her own mastered knowledge and proven skills to succeed. Benton needs to identify a focus for her efforts. She attempts to invent work for herself absent of Linton’s objectives; yet, becomes extremely frustrated. Her frustration resides in Scoville’s condescending demands and Linton’s nonexistent leadership. Benton needs to follow the â€Å"10 Keys Transition Challenges.† She needs to â€Å"promote herself† to the ideal and expectations she had of herself coming into this position. Benton successfully â€Å"accelerated her learning, built alliances, and built her network† amongst colleagues outside of her department. Yet, Benton needs to step back and diagnose the situation at Houseworld so she can effectively apply her skills. Additionally, she needs to â€Å"build a good relationship with her boss, focus on strategic alignment, build her team, and secure early wins† for herself. Benton had already built the foundation of lateral leadership which she needed to trust more than fear. Because she feared it she was not able to have the influence with Linton and Scoville that was rightfully due. As suggested in the Art of Persuasion, Benton has to build â€Å"credibility† for herself by confidently performing for the reason she was hired. Then she needs to establish â€Å"shared benefits† and â€Å"memorable evidence† within her department. She has to â€Å"vividly describe a comparable situation† from her  prior professional successes. Lastly, Benton has to â€Å"show emotion† in a more passionate manner towards results and not the explosive fits of frustration. CONCLUSION Although it was not properly implemented, Benton’s performance evaluation was accurate. Linton identified that Benton possessed strengths that she refrained from using. Benton felt this was unjust because she was never really given true direction. Ultimately, Benton is well capable of performing the duties of the position she filled. Benton needed to rise to the occasion, utilize lateral authority and influence, and emphatically believe in herself despite the unfavorable environment. REFERENCES Welch, Jack,Welch, Suzy. (2005) Winning /New York : HarperBusiness Publishers Hill, Linda A. Lisa Benton (A). Harvard Business School Case 494-114, March 1994. (Revised May 1994.) Kotter, J. P. What Leaders Really Do. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1999. Thomas, K. W., & Kilmann, R. H. Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. Mountain View, CA: Xicom, a subsidiary of CPP, Inc. 1974. DiSC Management. Profile Summary Goffee, R., Jones, G. Why should anyone be led by you? Harvard business review, Vol. 78, No. 5. (Sep 2000)

Conservation of the environment Essay

Protection of the environment is very important as the world moves into a new era. This new era also seems to be presenting us with many major environmental issues. Some of these problems are: pollution, rapid industrialization, over population, deforestation and loss of important animal and plant species. The best way to protect the environment is to conserve and protect it by being more conscious of our impact on the planet. Conservation is the philosophy and policy of managing the environment to assure adequate supplies of natural resources for future as well as present generations. One way to be more environmentally responsible would be to cut down on undesirable C02 emissions and to put good things back into the atmosphere. One of the best ways to do this is by planting trees. Trees play a critical role in keeping our air clean, both by releasing oxygen into the air and by trapping carbon. The more trees we have, the better our air quality, and that’s why planting trees is an excellent step to take toward saving the environment. While you’re at it, plant a tree in a spot that will give your house shade, as that will help reduce your need to crank up your air conditioning in the summer months and be esthetically leasing. It’s also important to take a stand against deforestation. Losing large swaths of forest, such as the rainforest, to development or industry means that we’re losing millions of trees that would otherwise be purifying the air for us. Protesting deforestation, both through activism and by refusing to buy products that are created at the expense of the world’s forests, can help slow and even halt deforestation. Renewable energy is another great way to heal the environment. It significantly cuts down on greenhouse gases, air pollution and the amount of carbon emitted into the air. In the USA around 71% of electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels. Burning coal or other fuels emits greenhouse gases and pollution in the environment. An average home powered by a coal utility will burn twelve thousand pounds of coal a year and will cause about the same amount of pollution as two cars. By using renewable energy as the primary power source, the reduction of pollution per household would be equivalent to that of planting four hundred trees. We can each play a part in improving the amount of trash we throw away by reducing our waste. Buy fewer items and reduce the overall consumption of goods. If less is onsumed, then less energy is used and less waste is produced. Regardless of how consumption is limited, people are bound to produce some waste. We can buy in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging thrown away, but to make a difference, we also have to focus on recycling and repurposing the items that are consumed. Simple changes can be made, like shopping with reusable bags and keeping food and other items in reusable containers, rather than defaulting to plastic bags and disposable containers. Recycling refers to buying recycled products and sorting waste into the appropriate categories: aluminum cans, glass, plastic, paper and cardboard. However, the definition of recycling can be expanded to encompass donating items you no longer need or want to Goodwill or the Salvation Army so others can reuse them. Many cities have â€Å"freecycle† e-mail lists that fill a similar role. If you can’t reduce your consumption or tind a way to reuse a product, recycling is a better choice than simply throwing something into the trash. Gandhi wisely said, â€Å"You must be the change you wish to see in the world. † That’s certainly true when it comes to saving the environment, and each of us has an individual responsibility to make the changes and decisions that will benefit the natural world around us. Even our most concerted efforts will have a minimal impact if we’re the only ones making them, or even if we’re part of a small group making such environmental choices. The power in the steps on this list comes from getting everyone to take them together. After doing all the other things mentioned here cutting energy consumption, conserving water, driving less and everything else the most important thing is to be bold and vocal about encouraging others to do the same. The environment won’t be saved by a handful of activists or even by a collection of powerful world leaders. It will be saved by the collective action of mankind.

Our Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Our Event - Essay Example The decision to make the subject matter of the occasion to be global was reached upon putting into consideration political, social and economic factors. This was mainly because were from diverse backgrounds and regions of the globe. Our duty was to enhance the success of the occasion and as a result get rid of more or less 80 tickets. Nearly each day of the week, we had meeting with the members which was aimed at deciding the whole thing in an orderly manner and certainly for sure this was to form the most significant portion of organizing a fruitful happening which was how to sale extra tickets. The whole plan was to have a kind of advertising in areas around that place including shopping centers and municipality centers where it is most convenient to get connected to new people from different social classes, values and ethnic groups who might be in a position to pay attention to that occurrence. Each day of the week information was placed on social networks including face book and communication was done through mail to people we had never met before detailing them on the happening and if fascinated they could purchase the tickets. We positioned a piece of writing on the home daily paper. In an effort to ensure the success of the event, we had two promotions within our shopping center. For the first point in time when we arrived at the shopping center, a lottery was organized giving anyone an opportunity to participate with two tickets for our global daylight tea. This was a chance to create a center of attention for extra individuals to place their names, e-mails and telephone numbers. At the end of that day, we had succeeded in attracting 60 people in our lottery. It was one of our victorious days of the week as we had caught the attention of roughly 60 people who were extremely paying attention to our occasion, we had a

Positive effects for expressing respects for others ideas at workplace Essay

Positive effects for expressing respects for others ideas at workplace - Essay Example In the long run, most organizations such as the business oriented ones have looked forward to adjustments that enable them to keep abreast and meet expectations. Organizations are currently going extra miles to look to various techniques that are suited to functioning effectively. It is for this reason that current organizations are giving considerations to social intelligence. It has now been accepted beyond reproach that human behaviors can have far reaching impacts on the effectiveness of Organizations. One of the aspects of human behavior is respect for other people and their ideas in the workplace. Respect has been defined as giving considerations to oneself and to others. Respect entails giving consideration to the privacy of other people, their viewpoints, and personality and physical abilities. It is often the order that respecting other people begins with the acceptance that they deserve to be respected by others. However, many at times, the concept of respect at the workpla ce has been misunderstood or even manipulated for different purposes. This paper is aimed at reconstructing the definition of respect, as well as pointing out its pivotal elements and position to workplace environments. The topic is related to foundational leadership in the sense that it is an element that characterizes the behaviors of the organization. This topic is related to social intelligence in the sense it addresses an element (respect) that people need inter-relate in harmony. Social intelligence is understood as the ability of a person to get along with other well, in terms of human relationship (Kihlstrom & Cantor, 2007). In this regard, respecting the ideas of other people at the workplace can be considered as one of the dimensions of the social intelligence. Results There is a set of four social intelligence principles that could be utilized in approaching the subject of respect at the workplace. The first principle is humanization. The humanization social intelligence principle rules that it is crucial to recognize the humanity of other people. Such a form of understanding is considered to be undisputable in theoretical sense, yet is has often been overlooked in the daily practices. Perceiving other people as those with equal capabilities, anxieties, hopes and aspirations is considered as one of the crucial conditions for ensuring that respect is accorded in the workplaces. Another principle is that of unique perspective. This acknowledges the autonomy of every person; that every person has a unique perspective regarding the events that surround them. Such a perspective is a derivative of the personal experiences with the environment, including nature and nurture. The third principle is that the unconscious brains dominate the human mind. Human beings often guided by prior experiences and the frame of the things they expect are a subject of the prior experiences. This means that some of human behaviors are executed unconsciously. The fourth princ iple is socialization. Socialization is often perceived as the process where human behaviors are learned (Walumbwa & Christensen, 2012). People who are limited in terms of the skills of socialization often find it difficult to get along with other people. Lack of respect to other people’s ideas in the workplace arises because of limited exercising these principles. In this regard, it is imperative that when assessing the subject of whether workplace is characterized by respect, one should seek to know whether other

Macroeconomics Assignments & Disscussions Assignment - 1

Macroeconomics Assignments & Disscussions - Assignment Example Two years before Pearl Harbor, the United States was a neutral country, meaning it did not want to be involved in the war since the country was still recovering from the effects of the Great Depression. But after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt sought reason to enter the war. The president said that the only way to fight was to produce weapons and materials for war. This led to economic activities in the once sleepy towns of the U.S. which had been hard hit by the Great Depression (â€Å"PBS.org: War Production† par. 1). Production of war material such as aircraft and aircraft carriers, artillery pieces, tanks and hundreds of thousands of army trucks triggered the growth of the American economy. The United States manufactured more guns and ships than Europe and Japan did. The US had to shift from manufacturing agricultural products to war material (â€Å"PBS.org: War Production† par. 4). This is a report of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2014 which has registered at $17,311,300,000,000. GDP, the article explains, is the gross economic output of the country, which may include goods and services. GDP is an economic measure which tells whether the economy is doing fine or not good. The article also explains about nominal in relation to real GDP. Nominal GDP provides information about economic output, with some quarterly output statistics but with no inflation calculation, and is also used for U.S. debt comparison. Debt-to-GDP ratio, which has been calculated at 102%, is an important part of the nominal GDP report. On the other hand, the U.S. per capita for 2013, an economic indicator for every American in the U.S., was estimated at $52,800. The article clearly explains the amount of GDP the country attained for the second quarter which is more than $17 trillion, but only for the second quarter of this year. It does not only provide news about GDP but it also explains about the U.S. economic output. The

Pier scour in Coarse bed and cohesive materials Research Paper

Pier scour in Coarse bed and cohesive materials - Research Paper Example This is the overall mission of the United States Department of the interior and the United States Geological Survey. The two mentioned departments are responsible for bridges and scours which this paper seeks to discuss. Studies have evidently determined that streambed scours are the leading cause of bridge failure in the United States. This results to approximately 60 percent of all bridge failures. The societal repercussions that are associated with failures and the costs that are linked to repair are amplified in Alaska, alternate routes of ground transportation between several cities are not in existence. Bridge culvert damages cost a lot to the economy, for example, in 2002 the damage in Kenai Peninsula was estimated at about 19 million dollars. This led to bridge site examination for scour. Purpose This paper therefore seeks to discuss pier scour in coarse bed and cohesive materials. The purpose of this paper is very open: to know how scour works and why bridges fall down. This is an issue that everyone could be interested in. Several bridges have been witnessed fall down and it has taken my attention to study how the whole process takes place. Bridges are normally built by technical experts and are expected to stay for maximum periods as prescribed by the civil engineers and architectures; however, scour has remained a disappointment to such expectations. Justas the aim of the paper: to discuss pier scour in coarse bed and cohesive materials, I am interested in understanding every single detail about the entire process of scour, types of scour, and its fundamental equations. Background on Scour Scour may refer to as remove by washing hard and rubbing and/ or rub hard with a cleansing rough material. Basically it accounts for a hole that remains behind when sand and rocks, sediments are washed away from the river bottom. Even though scour often occur at any particular time, the scour action is strong especially during flood season. This is because swiftly flowing water has much energy than slowly flowing calm water to lift and wash away sediments from the river bottom. Scour is of a great concern to bridges. This is because if rocks or sediment on which bridge is supported or rest is scoured by the river, it is most probably that the bridge could be very unsafe for travel purposes. For example, in 1987 when the Interstate Highway bridge over Schoharie Creek in the state of New York collapsed following a flood, the Federal Highway Administration demanded that each state to specify bridges on the highway over water that are likely to experience problems of scour and to have the bridges with severe scour identified. This knowledge of bridge sites in which there are potential scour problems will enable the States to improve and monitor the bridge conditions ahead of time before they pose danger to travelers. Types of scour There are three main types of scour that affect bridges. The following are the major types of scour that may pose d anger to highway bridges over water: Local scour: this occurs when sediments are swept away from around bridge piers and/ or abutments: the pillars that support bridges and those that support the end of the bridge. Flowing water past abutment or pier may scoop holes out in the sediment resulting into an

Explanation of I Believe That Deep Down All Human Beings Are Really Essay

Explanation of I Believe That Deep Down All Human Beings Are Really Good Quote by Anne Frank - Essay Example The Holocaust, which claimed the writer’s life, involved the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent Jews. The author believed that the evil would soon end, and peace would prevail. She had the belief that the people who were undertaking the massacre would come to their mind and realize the harm that they cause, realizing the good that is still in their hearts. The quote means that people have two sides, the good and the bad, and no matter how the evil side is, the good side can still be portrayed. I disagree with this quote. People do certainly have good sides, but they do not apply to everybody that they interact with. For this quote to be applicable to all humans, people would be considering the implications of their actions on others before undertaking these activities. In the worst scenario, if all humans had some good on them, they would see how other people are suffering and have empathy for them. The mere assumption that humans are capable of changing does not mean that everybody can. Some people are stuck in beliefs that good will happen to them if they commit heinous actions. There are occurrences that prove not all humans have good in them. One critical phenomenon is the historical Johnstown massacre in the US 1978 which claimed the lives of over 900 people (The Guardian, n.p). The cult leader Jim Jones forced his followed to drink poisoned juice. Those who declined were injected with the poisoned or shot dead (The Guardian, n.p). Another issue that proves not all humans have good in them is the presence of terrorist organizations such as ISIS. The ISIS members behead people and kill people in painful and horrible ways. If these people had any slight good in them, these atrocities would not be happening. Â  

Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Engineering - Essay Example The few types of engineering that are minimally constrained by such issues are pro bono engineering and open design engineering. Engineering has often been seen as a more or less dull, uninteresting field in popular culture, and has also been thought to be the domain of nerds. For example, the cartoon character Dilbert is an engineer. Engineers are seen to be respected yet ridiculed for their intense beliefs and interests, which might owe its origin to the fact that they have deep understanding of the interconnectedness of many things. Thus, engineers such as Governor John H. Sununu, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Nuclear Physicist Edward Teller, are often driven into politics to "fix things" for the public good. While it appears as though Engineers still only need a bachelor's degree to obtain a lucrative position that receives respect from the public, in fact it is only through a life-time of devotion to their field and the further advancement of their own technical knowledge that they might arrive at such a destination. While the origin charts out as simply as possible, the journey of the engineer from days of stone tools to a variety of mechanisms and the mechanics that facilitate easy functioning, the category of "what makes an Engineer" shows us the ingredients t... ible, the journey of the engineer from days of stone tools to a variety of mechanisms and the mechanics that facilitate easy functioning, the category of "what makes an Engineer" shows us the ingredients that an engineer is made up and the factors that co exist in his professional live to churn out ideas, designs and actual solutions. Moving onto the issue of the importance of an engineer, one can safely state that engineers have an effect upon the kind of world we thrive in out of all proportion to their numbers, making it important for all of us to understand how they choose and plan the changes they make, for these are the things that influence, strongly and directly, the way we live from day to day. The Engineer's current plight is then described in terms of structural, administrative, participative and perceptional points. An Engineer's level of functioning is compared to various other streams in terms of his contribution and declining numbers. This point also serves as an introduction to the model proposed for the betterment of an Engineer's status in society today, in context of reasons as to why the world needs to sit up and take notice of the efforts of these professionals whose lives are dedicated to making ours' more worthwhile. Summary 4 The Socially Integrative Model covers the following points: Development of State of the Art Institutions Integrated Training Programs Orientation in Influence & Participation Issues Increased Cultural Presence Representative Bodies for Professional Engineers The synthesis of this study and presentation lie in this five tier model, which has been arrived at as a result of a great amount of research as well as interaction with various Engineers from varied streams, who have worked in various time periods ranging from

Show how Stevenson through themes, language and setting creates a world of double standards and hypocrisy Essay Example for Free

Show how Stevenson through themes, language and setting creates a world of double standards and hypocrisy Essay With titles such as Treasure Island and The Black Arrow, one expects to suffer complete infatuation when they pick up a book marked Robert Louis Stevenson. The Scottish author/poet published the world renowned novella Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886. The story tells of a scientist (Dr Jekyll), living within the respectable society of Victorian England, and his quest to prove to himself that he can master two opposing personalities without fault. It is told from the view point of John Utterson, lawyer and friend to the respected and brilliant scientist. From the unwanted arrival of the menacing character Mr Hyde comes a brutal crime followed by a barbaric murder. Suspicions begin to flare and before long Mr Utterson reluctantly discovers a horrific and terrifying story. Dr Jekylls theory that within every man lies a good and evil persona has lead to him create and consume a potion that changes him into an embodiment of his evil side; Dr Jekyll is in fact the sinister and menacing murderer Mr Hyde. This captivating story is perhaps the most famous in its gothic genre, selling forty five thousand copies within its first few months. Even now the term Jekyll and Hyde is used to portray someone with a dual personality, someone who lives a double life of respectable decency and unforgivable sin. At the time it was written Victorian life was governed by strict etiquette and repressed sexuality, Stevenson could not have written a book more controversial to the times. The very existence of the book was a sign of duality and double standards. It is rumoured that Stevensons wife burnt the first manuscript as she feared that the tale was too controversial, that the reserved citizens of Victorian England would take to it with an uproar far less than positive. Publishing the book was a huge gamble on Stevensons part; even his own wife doubted its success, but evidently its success was not to be doubted. The inspiration behind the story is a subject matter of great interest. To understand what made Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a classical story known by young and old alike, we must first look at where it began. As a child, Stevenson was obsessed with William Deacon Brodie, a cabinet maker/notorious criminal from Edinburgh in the 18th Century. Stevenson had a cabinet that was created by Brodies company in his bedroom, and was fascinated by the history behind it. Stevensons inspiration from Williams life is very much apparent in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with the idea of duality displayed in almost every chapter of the novella. William Deacon Brodie was a very respectable man, being a member of the local government and a fine gentleman, much like Jekyll. But this seemingly respectable faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade concealed a private life, which consisted of two mistresses with five children between them and a gambling addiction which he funded by carrying out a series of robberies on premises to which his official position had given him access to, this darker, criminal side is much like Jekylls counterpart Hyde. Something else that can be seen in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the main components that define the Gothic Genre. With Stevensons novella firmly situated within the borders that outline this genre, we expect before reading to be engaging in a story that features amongst other components: the supernatural, darkness, primitive behaviour and some degree of isolation. Supernatural is clearly shown from the transformation of Jekyll to Hyde and also the appearance of Hyde and the effect that he has on the other characters of the story. Hyde is described on page twenty-three as pale and dwarfish he is said to give an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation linking more obviously to the supernatural is the description that states Mr Hyde wears Satans signature upon his face as well as the description that states he wasnt like a man but like some damned Juggernaut. The effect that Mr Hyde has on the people that surround him is also rather unearthly. One the most respectable and unbiased characters, Mr Enfield, says that he has never seen a man he so disliked. Even the doctor who is described as being about as emotional as a bagpipe is turned sick and white with the desire to kill him whenever he sets his eyes upon the unnerving character. Mr Hydes appearance and his effect on others can also be linked into the next component; darkness. The idea of darkness is emphasised on every page of the book, the storyline itself is of a dark nature, and Stevenson emphasises this with use of intense imagery and descriptive language in just about every chapter. Primitive behaviour is perhaps the easiest component to pick up on, this component links directly to Mr Hyde as he is portrayed as primitive from the moment he arrives in the storyline. The novella goes out of its way to paint Hyde as animalistic. In chapter two Hyde is described by Mr Utterson as a troglodyte. Troglodyte is a word from Greek origin that when translated means cave-dweller. This translation triggers images of cave men to the readers mind, as we begin to think of humans who were less developed and therefore more primitive than we are in both looks and mannerism. The word is acting almost as a stimulus, a stimulus from which the reader derives a picture of Mr Hyde. In comparison the element of the gothic genre that is the most hidden is the theme of Isolation. It is shown in many parts of the book, in cases in a very simple way, but the reader does need to look deeper within the text to find the relation. Near the end of the book Jekyll who is slowly being eclipsed by Hyde confines himself to his laboratory to protect others from himself. This shows isolation quite simply, but the fact that Jekyll makes a potion that gets rid of the angel within man leaving isolated the fiend is an example of a relation that is hidden within the well written words of Robert Louis Stevenson. Though well written is quite the understatement. Stevenson employs a range of many techniques to make Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a novel that can most definitely be described as one of a kind. The change of narratives and the way in which the final chapters are structured like genuine documentations is a unique method that really gives the story a sense of authenticity. The novella plays host to an immeasurable amount of themes all of which coincide with the idea of double standards and hypocrisy. The foremost being the theme of duality. This theme is reiterated throughout the story in many different ways and at many different points, from as early as Story of the Door. In that first chapter we receive two detailed accounts of the streets that home Jekylls residence and his laboratory. The first account goes into great depth about the serenity and picturesque qualities of the street, the reader gets the feel of an aristocratic society, where everything down to the inhabitants is polished and as close to perfection as humanely possible. But Stevenson doesnt leave this string of happiness apparent for long. He is quick to give us his second account, an account that clashes with the first in every possible way. The second account gives the reader a feel of negligence and also a feel of darkness. Stevenson uses words such as dingy discoloured and blind to really emphasise just how dark and squalid the neighbourhood is. We can clearly see that the theme of duality is intended as Stevenson does not just describe the two scenes to us but also forces the reader to compare the two by saying the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood. Deriving from the theme of duality, is the duality of man, the story focuses on the notion that humanity is dual in nature. Though the theme is not fully emerged until the last chapter, when we find Jekyll and Mr Hyde are one and the same, it is always apparent to us, as we, in this day and age know of the concept the story holds before having read the book. When reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde it is important to realise that the book was intended as a mystery and though we know of the final conclusion, the Victorian reader did not and was not supposed to. With this in mind, we see that the theme is only really confronted after we have witnessed and formed opinions on all the events of the story. In chapter ten Jekyll states that man is not truly one, but truly two he imagines man as two characters as an angel and a fiend and it is this philosophy that leads to the potion that is supposed to separate each side. It is this philosophy that provides the basis for the entire story. Another theme which places a large emphasis on creating a world of double standards and hypocrisy is the theme of irrationality. Every character within Stevensons novella is or at least starts as a respectable member of the society in which they live. One could argue that Mr Hyde is anything but, and the reply to that would simply be that Hyde is Jekyll, and even before the potion, when Jekyll is engaging in activities acceptable by his peers, Hyde still exists within him. With this on-going faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade of respectable and gentlemanly stature, every irrational act that occurs within the eighty-eight pages of this celebrated novel is also an act of hypocrisy and of double standards. And irrationality does occur. The trampling of the girl in chapter one shows hypocrisy on Jekylls part; that hidden deep within him, underneath his courteous exterior is the urge to engage in reckless and uncivilized deeds. The murder of Sir Danvers Carew is similar in the way in portrays hypocrisy, and after this second act of maliciousness the reader is intrigued to look further into the irrationality of these acts. It appears that these brutal attacks are done for nothing more than joy. We get the impression from his assault upon innocents that Hyde seems to enjoy doing wrong, we see it is not just a case of Hyde being free from law, civilization and conscience but instead a case of Hyde going out of his way to commit violent crimes, just because he can. We get the impression that Hyde is immoral rather than amoral. Another side of irrationality is The Beast in Man. Again no-one portrays this better than Hyde. Stevenson wants the reader to think of a creature when they envision Hyde and he uses many descriptive devices to obtain this effect. Hyde is described as trampling over Sir Danvers Carew with ape like fury, in the third chapter and when Jekyll is describing his spontaneous transformation into Hyde he describes his fiendish counterpart as the animal within me in addition a general description of Hyde portrays his hand as corded and hairy. These examples of symbolic imagery help paint a picture for the reader by helping to depict the appearance of Hyde. Fitting in with the duality of man, Stevenson wanted to make sure that Jekyll and Hydes appearance were seen as completely different, therefore it is necessary for the constant references to Hydes appearance as animalistic as no character within in the entire book can give a detailed description of Mr Hyde, they all instead seem to conclude that he is ugly and deformed in some indefinable way. The Beast in Man is further emphasised when Poole and others begin to characterize Mr Hyde with the words it and thing: God know what it was, That thingwas never Dr Jekyll. Near the beginning of this Victorian Mystery Jekyll asserts the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr Hyde. Jekyll believes he has complete control over the situation that he has worked so desperately to create. He believes that he can switch in and out of his rivalling personas by merely drinking his concoction. When he decides he no longer wants to be Mr Hyde, he believes that by discontinuing the use of the potion, Hyde will cease to exist. The emphasis is on the word believe. Jekyll under-estimates the situation he has created, and as realisation hits him, it is already too late. He has wandered too far past the point of no return. This statement emphasises the theme of control and addiction. Jekyll is subject to addiction and as with all addictions he genuinely believes that he has total control. The notion of hypocrisy is in Jekylls certainty that he has control, when in fact he is as out of control as can be. It is unfortunate that his realisation of the fact that he is entirely out of control comes virtually before his death. The ending of this tragic story, really touches the reader as even though the hero and villain of the story are one and the same, there is still a likeness that the reader develops for Jekyll, and his death, though it means the death of Hyde, is not the happy ending that you would expect. The tragedy of Jekylls death is further accentuated by the reaction and sorrow that the friends of Jekyll feel at his loss. Friendship and loyalty is yet another theme that is apparent in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This theme harmonizes wonderfully with the element of decorum that runs throughout the novella. The two relationships that best define the word friendship are between Jekyll and Utterson and Jekyll and Poole. When Utterson suspects that Jekyll is being black-mailed and then later on when he suspects that Jekyll is sheltering Hyde from the police, he does not make his suspicions known. Knowing of the importance of reputation, he remains loyal to Henry Jekyll and keeps his friends secret, so as not to ruin his respectability. The idea of hypocrisy is shown through Utterson being an upright and respectable member of the community, whilst still being prepared to keep sordid secrets quiet, besides his instincts that something negative is taking place. The friendship between Jekyll and Poole is best shown when Jekyll has been fully extinguished. Poole has been a loyal servant to Jekyll for over twenty years and is the first person to realise Jekylls death. He with Utterson engages in out of character behaviour, when they pummel down the door of Dr Jekyll which again shows double standards as they are acting out of turn, in a way that suggests anything but respectability. More importantly it shows the strength of friendship that these two characters have for Dr Jekyll; that they would engage in reckless behaviour, set aside their morals, forget about their respectability, their stature and think of nothing but their dear friend. Stevenson uses all these themes skilfully and eloquently to portray a world of double standards, but the idea of hypocrisy is shown within this piece of literature through a number of different devices such as language and setting. Every scene that is introduced to us is shortly followed by the introduction of another scene that is always of a harsh contrast. Dr Jekylls home is described by Stevenson as having a great air of wealth and comfort. In a brutal comparison is his laboratory which is described as a certain sinister block of buildingwhich bore in every feature the marks of a profound and sordid negligence. The laboratory with its neglected aura and overt ugliness perfectly illustrates the malevolent and malicious character of Mr Hyde and the dark nature of the story as a whole. Whereas the respectable and affluent house portrays the respectable and upright Dr Jekyll and the dignified element to the story. The connection between the two buildings represents the connection between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The buildings are attached but they look out onto two different streets. Because of the layout of the streets, the fact that the buildings are two parts of a whole is undetectable without prior knowledge, just as the fact that Jekyll and Hyde are one and the same is undetectable. Another example of two scenes that illustrate duality is Hydes house; the interior and the exterior. Stevenson tells us in hindsight that Jekyll had bought and furnished a house to live in when he transformed into Hyde. We are given a description of the outside of the house, we are told that it is placed in a dingy street, a gin palace and that ragged children huddle in the doorways that surround this sorry excuse for a home. No sooner have we read about this distasteful house are we made subject to the description of the houses interior. The rooms are furnished with luxury and good taste. Adjectives such as elegant, good and agreeable are all used in the description of the interior of Mr Hydes house. The conflict between the inside and the outside of Mr Hydes house is a prime example of Stevenson trying to portray a world of hypocrisy and double standards to the audience. As well as themes and settings, Stevenson uses many literary techniques to get across the idea of double standards and hypocrisy. The first example of this is the descriptions of the street and Jekylls laboratory in the very first chapter. Stevenson describes the shops on the street as standing out like rows of smiling saleswomen. This simile creates a joyous mood, as does the statement the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood. The word shone portrays radiance and tells the reader that the street is much better and livelier than all around it. It almost gives an impression of the street being something special. When describing the dreary laboratory belonging to Jekyll, Stevenson uses powerfully depressing adjectives and personification to show just how sinister the laboratory is. It is described as having a blind forehead and a door that is blistered and distained. All of these descriptions depict human characteristics, especially blistered and distained. These adjectives bring about a depressing mood, and help in portraying the evilness and ugliness of the building. By using these contrasting accounts Stevenson is not only showing duality and hypocrisy but also emphasising and symbolizing the character and habits of Mr Hyde. The laboratory which appears as no more than a door is seen as different from all of the houses that surround it. It is not considered normal. This demonstrates the fact that Hydes principles are not normal, as the laboratory is where Hyde is situated for a lot of the book. The laboratory is neglected and uncared for unlike everything around it. During Victorian times outward appearance was very important amongst society, it was necessary that everyones appearance was very respectable, so that people would receive the right impression of them. Hyde is quite the opposite; he doesnt care about how he looks or how he is seen. The way the laboratory stands out because of it dingy manifestation shows how Hyde is different and the odd one out in society. The duplicity of Victorian society is also shown, by the quote Though so profound a double-dealer. This assertion by Jekyll in the final chapter of the book shows Jekylls motives for the extended research into the duality in man and the eventual potion making. It explains that his initial hypothesis was based on himself as he in public and in private behaved as though he were two people. The alliteration in this quote also helps to portray the theme of double as the very word is in the phrasing and the alliteration is on two words. Another way in which Stevenson uses literary techniques to portray his main theme is in varied sentences. Stevenson uses a lot of short sentences to create tension and to change the pace that the story is being read at. He uses sentences such as and his blood ran cold in his veins and theyre all afraid this helps builds tension and prepares the reader for climaxs within the story. Robert Louis Stevenson was a man with a definite flare for writing. He has managed to portray the theme of hypocrisy and double standards to his readers in a clever way and with a unique style. This theme could have been shown simply and entirely by the two main characters: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but Stevenson goes further with his work, he shows duality in every possible way he can, oxymorons, contrasting descriptions. The world of double standards is apparent from the very start of this eloquent novella. It is the passion and depth that you can so clearly see in his words that make Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a novella loved by all ages.

Brand Impact On Consumer Buying Behavior

Brand Impact On Consumer Buying Behavior Branding psychologyConsumer driven approaches is widely adopted by the companies in order to enhance countless emerging needs of modern customers. Branding becomes a crucial activities of consumer driven approach and its aim to build a loyal customer base and creation of an effective brand image. In this document, the author presents a research report complied after analyzing the effects of branding on the consumer purchase decision. The research had been carried at the shopping centre called Shoppers Stop in India. The research had attempted to find whether there is positive relation between the positive effect of the brand and the consumer purchase decision. There are so many parity products out there that the only way to differentiate yourself from the others is to create an aura, an image, around your brand. Consumers need a road map; they need to find a way to get from their need to a product purchase thats simple, easy, not full of a lot of noise, and most brands get lost somewhere between the shelf and the consumer mindset. -Karen Benezra, editor of Brandweek The paper also discusses the literature the importance of branding and the consumer purchase decision. It details the research rationale along with the research philosophy, the approach used, the context, sample and procedure. As well as It discussed the significance of the proposed research along with its limitation. A provisional work schedule is also provided. Aims The aim is to determine the extent of the correlation between the activities of branding and consumer purchasing as well as put into perspective the main functions and values branding can offer companies in term guiding valued customers through the often complex process of purchase decision-making. Thus the basic research question would be, how does branding affect the consumer purchase decision? Objectives This research will have the following objectives: To assess whether positive feelings towards a brand will translate into a consumer purchase decision. To establish the changes in the relationship between branding and consumers purchasing decision when other factors such as price are introduced. To examine the consumers tendency to recommend brands and its effect on purchasing decisions of their friends and family. Chapter 2: Literature Review Origin of Branding in Market. After the First World War, the whole world economy was under Great Depression during 1930s and also gives rise to socio-economy problems because of impact of war wages on the people and hence left a dent in peoples pockets and curbed the desire of society to spend and consume. Strangely, the Second World War and the period after the war had seen a different pattern in manufacturing industries that a increased capacity to produce goods whereas the society was left with an ingrained desire to be frugal. Bass Company, the British brewery, claims their red triangle brand was the worlds first trademark. Lyles Golden Syrup makes a similar claim, having been named as Britains oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. Source: http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/brewery/578 What is Branding? The word Brand the Germanic root meaning is burn. In commercial market branding is all about the product attributes that make a lasting impression in a customers mind. As per Karl Marx, people make their own decisions about who to be, how to live, and what to buy, but under circumstances shaped by brands advertising, marketing and publicity. Thus a brand exploits the underlying attribute that is storytelling and emotions which are the buying behaviour. James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining trademark advertising, in 1900. Thus Branding was coined for the first time with commercial explanation. Mr. Thompson appeared as the philosopher of Branding by drawing a straight line between the manufacturer and the consumer. Source: http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/hartman/guides/jwt-history.html Human civilization is dependent upon signs and systems of signs, and the human mind is inseparable from the functioning of signs-if indeed mentality is not to be identified with such functioning. Apple Logo Design Apple was selected as main form of branding depending upon the company name. Initially, the logo depicted a small apple shape sitting under a tree with Apple Computer Co set into the frame of the picture. It is this apple that has continued to be used. The first logo design was perceived to be a bit too complex and hard to view, so Regis McKenna worked on the logo some years later and added a bite mark to symbolize the concept of seduction of the customers and the marketplace in general. Next, the monochrome version was replaced with the rainbow-colored logo as a reference to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in which the apple represents the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. It brings to mind that people must pursue their dreams. While this was not initially a deliberate goal, it did encourage business and consumers to consider the Apple brand for the first time and was successful in generating increased profits.Source: Charles Morris, Foundations of the Theory of Signs. Source: http://www.logoorange.com/logodesign-A.php A brand is an end result. Branding is the process by which a brand comes to be. A brand is many, many things, but it is never an accident. Present Day Branding. A branding provides a platform for consumer choice process. Todays market offer different products among thousand for similar offerings, this complexity makes the users to follow their choice that have satisfied already in past. The pattern of this consumer behaviour was also supported by Assael in 1993 with a concept that in a situation of low-involvement of consumer, the consumers completely rely on past consuming experience; hence it provides a clue that consumers with minimum purchasing areas could be targeted by advertisement campaigns. Thus consumer plays a key important role product branding process in current market. Even nowadays a good number of consumer emotionally attach with the brand that helps to understand the impact of image among consumers. With this a natural differentiation concept was introduced by Adcock in 1998, with differentiation process , the company start developing a set of unique differences that help to provide a distinctive identity among other products in market. Hence, differentiation provides a cutting edge for the branding of product in present competitive market. As per Prof. Kevin Lane Keller, author of Strategic Brand Management: The trend in marketing of brand depends upon the changes in the environments around the consumers. A social, cultural, political, economic and technological environment changes the life of human and with this the branding need to adopt the trend for example Online Marketing Social Networking Online-Media such as Face book, MySpace, Google. A corporate social responsibility and sustainability impacting the product image. Philip Kotler in 1999, a brand captures consumers attention through a Six Dimensions of Brand: Attributes A brand will communicate specific attributes, such as prestige. Benefits A brand strengthens a products attributes by communicating a set of benefits that makes it more attractive. Values A brand represents a companys core value and belief system. Culture A brand is representative or targets a target audiences socio-cultural characteristic. Personality A Brand Project behavioural personality patterns of targeted consumers. User A brand can emulate the end user. Identification of Branding Differences step by step Difference 1: A Visual difference, Symbols and logotype. In the seventies, when the phrase generation was being coined and used in any number of contexts such as in movies, music, technology etc, Pepsi annex the beverage style of young adult segment of the inhabitants and dubbed them the Pepsi Generation, in an endeavour to make Coca-Cola seem old and staid. In the 1980s, Coca-Cola executed what was perhaps the most celebrated marketing mistake in history, discontinuing production on its core product, the most recognizable brand name in the world; in favour of a more Pepsi-like formula it dubbed New Coke. This Grand Canyon-size blunder eventually worked in the companys favour when consumers revolted with startling vehemence and Coca-Cola quickly announced it would bring back its revered product, now under the name Coca-Cola Classic. Sales rebounded, and more media attention was lavished on the Cola Wars. The campaign also managed to underline the loyalty and affection so many consumers had for original Coca-Cola-which might very well have been the goal of the company to begin with. Coca Cola eventually dropped the word Classic from its name, and remains the most widely recognized brand in the world to the present. Difference 2: Culture (Hofstedes onion) Difference 3: Personality (Aaker) Difference 4: Identity and positioning (Kapferer) Brand Equity and Brand Loyalty. Consumer Buying Behaviour : Branding a influencing factor What influences consumers to purchase products or services? The consumer buying process is a complex matter as many internal and external factors have an impact on the buying decisions of the consumer. When purchasing a product there several processes, which consumers go through? These will be discussed below. 3- COMPONENTS OF BRANDING Branding is a process of creating a product or company identity a personality creation and development by a number of differential professionals with same objective or goal. 1. Advertising. Its a wonderful thing to create a unique, user-friendly brand that the public is sure to embrace. However, if the public doesnt find out about the brand-and much of the public will find out through advertising-all that effort, time, and money will go to waste. The look and attitude of the advertising also help define the brand in the publics mind. Nike is well known for spending millions on celebrity endorsements for advertising. Its ads are legendary, and its swoosh logo is known the world over without a word being said. 2. Marketing. In devising the personality of the brand and determining how it will be presented to the public, marketing, which is usually done in-house and through consultants, helps to create the entity that the brand will become. Its a fine thing to own the recipe for Oreo cookies, but if you decided to sell the recipe and not the cookies, you would be making a very large marketing mistake. Marketing is not just selling; it knows what to sell and how to sell it as part of a larger plan. What marketing does is to determine the proper audience for a product, and then deliver to that audience what it wants. The target demographic can be as narrow as 15-year-old boys living in the suburbs, or it can be literally anybody. That will depend on the product. But once the demographic is identified, marketing professionals analyze it, make sure the characteristics of that demographic are compatible with the product, and then emphasize the strengths of the product. The strengths of the product here are very specific: They are the strengths that will best convey the personality the demographic wants to see in it. For example, if Philips had tried to market its flat-screen TV to an audience over 65, which traditionally is not warm to change, it might not have been successful, no matter how innovative the product may have been. Instead, the company aimed its ads at people in their twenties and thirties, emphasized the newness and difference of the product, and had a great success. 3. Public relations. If advertising is the juggernaut of public attention, public relations is the stealth bomber. PR generates publicity for the brand, helps solidify the publics opinion of the brand, and defines the brand-all without being perceived by the public A lot of clients dont understand the difference between Branding, PR, advertising and marketing, says Rob Frankel, author of Revenge of Brand X. Personally, I prefer PR to advertising. I like PR because a lot of my Branding program is based on third-party endorsement. Its way more credible and fast-acting than when you pay for ads. Problem/Need Recognition for Future Branding How do you decide you want to buy a particular product or service? It could be that your DVD player stops working and you now have to look for a new one, all those DVD films you purchased you can no longer play! So you have a problem or a new need. For high value items like a DVD player or a car or other low frequency purchased products this is the process we would take. However, for impulse low frequency purchases e.g. confectionery the process is different. Q. What are the new branding challenges and opportunities especially nowadays with the global economic crisis? The current economic crisis presents many challenges but also much opportunity for brand marketers at the same time. Research has show that in past recessions those firms that have been willing to invest in their marketing have emerged in a stronger position than those firms that have cut back spending and reduced their marketing investments. Obviously those marketing investments must be wise ones. Perhaps the most important branding consideration in tough economic times is to establish perceptions of good value. Being seen as low priced or less expensive is not necessarily the answer, the more important consideration is that consumers feel that they are getting appropriate value from a product or service. Value is basically all the benefits the consumer realizes versus all the costs that he or she incurs. It is important to view and these benefits and costs broadly. Benefits include the perceived monetary value of all the bundle of economic, functional, and psychological benefits th at customers expect from a product. Similarly, costs are not restricted to the actual monetary price but may reflect opportunity costs of time, energy, and any psychological involvement in the decision that consumers might have. Top marketers in a recession will be sure to develop marketing programs and activities that optimally balance that equation so that consumers feel the collective benefits outweigh the collective costs as much as possible. That my involve framing the brands costs and benefits so that they are seen in the most positive light possible. Q. What would you single out as the most important message out of your extensive experience in studying brands? The most important message for marketers these days is to make sure they have a deep, rich understanding of consumers and how they think and feel about brands and their products and services. It is so fundamental and may seem obvious, but unfortunately many marketers still fall way short on that score. Consumer Buying Behaviour Q. What is the future of branding? Brands will always be important given their fundamental purpose to identify and differentiate products and services. A good brand makes peoples lives a little easier and better. People are loyal to brands that satisfy their expectations and deliver on its brand promise. In an increasingly complex and busy world, the ability of a brand to simplify consumer decision-making is powerful. The predictably good performance of a strong brand is something that consumers will always value. What will change, however, is the means by which firms will build those brands. Marketers must always be adopting state-of-the-art branding practices to ensure that their marketing programs and activities reflect the always changing economic, cultural, technological, social, and legal environments. There are 4-Types of consumer buying behaviour: Assael 1987 Purchasing Experiences High Involvement Low Involvement Significant differences between brands Complex buying behavior Variety-seeking buying behavior Few differences between brands Dissonance-reducing buying behavior Habitual buying behavior Source: Assael 1987, Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Action, 6th edition, p. 67 There are four types of consumer depending upon the degrees of involvement and degree of differentiation amongst the brands as per Assael. A displaying Complex Buying Behaviour Pattern is a group of consumer who prefer to expand their beliefs regarding a particular product as a primary step and hence this process will lead them to develop positive attitudes regarding the product. Dissonance-Reducing Behaviour of consumer is classified as the trend in which consumers are highly involved in the purchasing experience but unable to compare among the brand of products offering similar services or features. Thus differentiation becomes the key point as consumers asks for the features or functionalities or price comparison among the brand but in a market which display low differentiation of brands, the consumer purchasing behaviour is influenced by convenience. Displaying Habitual Buying Behaviour is a behavioural pattern as a result of consumers condition where the consumer buying decision depends on the product information acquired passively or the information embedded in their mind via review electronic media or promotional efforts, also the user shows low-level of involvement products. Variety Seeker Buying Behaviour, the consumer buying reaction occurs because of low-involvement in a market that displays high levels of product differentiation , thus they prefer to follow Brand Switching , in order to satisfy their need for diversification. Chapter 4: Survey, Analysis and Findings Introduction The survey was performed in India at Shoppers Stop Mall (New Delhi Ansal Plaza Branch), which has many branches across the country at major cities and in United Kingdom, at St. Anns Shopping Centre (Harrow, London). The survey template was design to understand the relation between a product brand and consumer, in a sense that how much they trust or rely on the brand that they go for the product, in short the impact of branding on consumer purchasing decision. The research was to understand the influence of Brand in a developing and developed country. As the one could easily conclude that the consumer in developed country focus on more on brand image as the brand image define the quality of product whereas consumer in developing focus more on the need rather than quality for example a consumer in India purchasing a television will first look for the price and then maximum features within the price also the product should belong to reliable brand this is one of the key reason that even though India has certain level of free trade open market relation with china , still the Chinese cheap product unable to penetrate the Indian market. Questionnaires There are 150 and 180 interviews have performed in India and UK respectively, the pie chart display the same. The Number of interviews conducted with respect to different age group, the column chart below represent about the survey conduct in India at shoppers stop mall. The below graph display the number of interviews conducted, focusing the age group in UK at St. Anns Shopping Centre. In our survey we have put more focus on the young generation and middle-age group to understand their psychology while purchasing a product and how its being influences by the brand of the product. We also get to know the preference made by female and male group in India and UK. The female group in India and UK both spend their most of their shopping time in costumes and they prefer detail analysis or observation between different brands and they could easily compromise on the brand. Which brand do you use? Brand P Brand Q Brand R Brand S In case of others, please specifyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Age group? 16- 24 24 35 35- 50 50-70 What to you perceive to be the key attributes of a brand and what do you associate it with? Quality Price Status Personality Aesthetics To what extent brands are important to you? Very Important Important Neither Important nor Unimportant Not Very important Not at all Important 5. How does the Made in trademark influence your buying? Very Much Not much Doesnt Matters Matters Strongly Matters What is the key difference between International and Domestic brands? Quality Price Variety Services Does Culture difference play an important role in regards to your buying decision? Agree Strongly Agree Depends Disagree Strongly Disagree Do you agree shopping is different in abroad then in India? Yes No Do you feel changing market of fashion and technology plays an important role in your buying decision? Yes No What product of that particular brand do you use? Product 1 Product 2 Product 3 Product 4 In case of others, please specifyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. How long have you been using this product? 1 year 2 year 3 year 4 year 5 year In case of others please specifyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ How did you first chance upon the product? Advertising Word of mouth Display In case of others, please specifyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Please suggest, if you want to make any changes to the product and why? Are you satisfied with this brand? Extremely satisfied Satisfied Fairly Satisfied Not at all Satisfied Which Cosmetic product brand you prefer? Olay Dove Grainier A combination of mixed product brand. How long have you been using the product XYZ? First Time Regular user Never. What made you use the Product XYZ the very first time? Advertising Word of Mouth Display at shop If anything else, please specifyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Have you ever used competitors product? Yes No. If you have used competitors product, then please confirm which product is better in the following terms: Quality Quantity Brand Name Are you: Male Female How did you receive this product? Gift Purchase If other, please specify? How did hear about the sale of this product? Advertising-Newspaper, radio, TV Friend / family Article / magazine Store Others, specify__________________________________ From which store did you made the purchase of this product? Specify. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How many different brands did you look out for this product? Specify. ___________________________________________________________ Findings In developing nations such as European countries, a different trend has been seen because of globalisation and free trade, the market is flooded with many products offering similar features and because of competition, the price of the product has fallen down, European industries has to reduce their cost of goods sales by compromising with the quality of materials or setting up manufacturing industries in developing or poor nation where the quality of production much more oriented towards manufacturing the product instead of manufacture quality product , for example Automobile industries , the number of automobile industries has gone down significantly in past 50 years. As per the research performed by KPMG for Automobile industries, the future of automobile industries will not only be characterized by origin of OEMs. Recommendations Convergence: A Business Concept The concept convergence has already entered into the market with innovation ideas of doing business, in automobile industries; e-Mobility and Car-sharing business are the best example the convergence of brand and business ideas, e-mobility provides convergence between Fiat OEMs and Power Suppliers and Car-Sharing e.g Deutsche Bahan is the convergence between OEMs and mobility providers. From this we could able to figure out that convergence and innovative business ideas not only helps the Brand Convergence A New Business Player Convergence example: E-Mobility and Car-Sharing Assembled Product: Combination of Branded Products In coming future, one could imagine of a product developed like an IT product, for example an IT product such as cloud computing systems , IT for green , Client computing , Advance Analytics (Business Intelligence software) is a combination of many software product provided by different brand leaders. This could be a future business concept across all products , one could think of his own car made up of worlds different brand leaders. Conclusions Recommendations Personnel Reflections

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay 2.0 Introduction It is widely believed that, together with improvement in their geographical surroundings, micro finance is a powerful tool to alleviate poverty and empower women in their development. However these facilities are not restricted to women only. It is also extended to all those who are struggling to combat poverty or to indulge in their own entrepreneurship. Therefore, this chapter will review definitions in the field of microfinance and poverty. To enlighten further the study, empirical evidence are being analysed and discussed more appropriately below. 2.1 What Is Microfinance? image1.png The idea of microfinance started in Bangladesh around 1976 with Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank who has recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievement. Microfinance refers to the supply of loans, savings and other basic financial services to poor. With innovative means and development microfinance has been adopted and practiced in most developing countries where it has gained unbelievable success. Moreover, from December 1997 till December 2005 the number of microfinance institutions increased from 618 to 3,133. Supplementary evidences regarding its developments have been attached at Appendix I. However, different people have different views and opinions in respect of Microfinance. For instance, Otero (1999) classifies Microfinance as the provision of financial services to low income, poor and very poor self-employed people. Whilst Ledgerwood (1999) believes that it is a sustainable poverty solution and it includes savings, credit and other financial services such as insurance and payment services, on the other hand Schreiner and Colombet (2001) described it as an attempt to phase out poverty by improving the access to small deposits and loans for poor households who were being neglected by formal banks and financial institutions, mostly because of their poor credit worthiness. Generally speaking microfinance is becoming an imminent economic tool to politicians to up bring those people who are vulnerable or beyond the minimal level of income holders. It is a way to extract the arts, qualities and skills that these people possess in front of the society by upgrading their enterprise, image and standard levels. In some countries, during the financial crisis that hit the global economy, governments have emphasised heavily on these instruments to combat a way out of this turmoil. Such facilities, inclusive of small loans with low interest rates, counselling and bumper advertising campaign to promulgate the concept of microfinance were brought to the poorest, especially in rural areas. Microfinance involves short term savings and lending which are different to that of formal banks. Such facilities bear low interest rates and repayments facilities with the aim to cover the delivery costs only. The costs of capital are recouped upon maturity and whole administrative and transactions cost are ignored. Counselling is done through direct marketing where the cost involved in creation of awareness is low as these institutions target mostly low or no profit at all. Their main objective is to improve the living conditions of those being afflicted by the curse of poverty. 2.2 Historical Background on Poverty Poverty is a complex issue which has always existed at different levels of society and in various forms across the world. Poverty has always existed but the fundamental question what causes it. However, according to the western conception, poor people are themselves accountable for their precarious situation. As the source of poverty lies in the socioeconomic system, the solution also must be at the societal level. A brief sketch of povertys history is given in Appendix II. It is difficult to define poverty as there are various dimensions of poverty. Hulme and Mosley (1996) stated that microfinance is not a panacea for poverty alleviation and in some cases the poorest people were made worse off by microfinance institutions. On the other hand Rogaly (1996) argued that Microfinance Institutions had encouraged single sector approach to distribute resources to fight poverty. It did not prove to be beneficial to poor people as there was inadequate learning and change taking place. At times they even failed to reach the poor, the more so as they had a limited impact on income. They encouraged women to greater dependence on their husbands but were unable to provide additional services which were desperately required. Therefore, poverty is a growing concern for all governments. They have taken a multi-dimensional approach to reducing poverty, with efforts including: promotion of economic growth; delivery of public services to all; transfer of assets to poor people and introduction of a social protection system. Thus, the persistence of poverty and inequality is clearly a key concern for government policy. 2.2.1 Poverty Approaches The literature on poverty is divided into two categories namely the monetary approach supported by utilitarian, and the non-monetary approach supported by the non- utilitarian. This utilitarian approach places the conceptualization of welfare in the utility space where satisfaction determines the level of welfare. But since utility is not directly observable, resources .i.e. income has been used to measure welfare whereas the non-utilitarian view consists of the faith based, livelihood and capability approach. This is illustrated below. Figure 2.1: Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre From the above diagram, the monetary approach identifies poverty as a shortfall in consumption or income. An income below what is considered necessary to consume a minimum basket of basic goods would then be defined as the poverty line. The main assumption made by this approach is that consumers objective is to maximize their utility and that the ensuing welfare can be measured by their total consumption whereas the livelihood approaches emerged in the 1990s as a holistic framework for analyzing the factors that influence men and women in fulfilling their livelihoods, reflecting their perceptions of poverty and well-being. It also refers to the participatory approach of getting poor themselves to be able to understudy the root, causes and the victims of poverty. Poverty is not a modern day phenomenon. It has been around almost since the beginning of civilization from the time man was expelled from the Garden of Eden whereby he had had to start providing for himself. Poverty has always existed in human societies for thousands of years. This is all about the faith based approach of poverty. Moreover, the capability approach, pioneered by Sen in the 1980s and 1990s, argues that monetary poverty approach measures individuals well-being but fails to address the utility that individuals gain from others, their welfare. For Sen, capabilities are the abilities to satisfy certain crucial functioning up to certain minimally adequate levels. Thus according to him, poverty is the malfunction of some basic capability. The concept of poverty is universally regarded as a multidimensional one. There is no unique formulation but it may consist in any form of inequity, which is a source of social exclusion from the basic essentialities of human dignity. Thus, the Oxford Poverty Human Development Initiative (OPHI) uses an index namely the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)  [1]  index which complements a traditional focus on income to reflect the deprivations that a poor person faces with regard to education, health and living standard. It is the first international measure of its kind, and offers a valuable complement to income poverty measures because it measures deprivations directly. According to me, a multifaceted definition of poverty would be:- the lack of, and inability to afford, basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter; and the scarcity of opportunities that are important in improving human capital and facilitating social mobility. Thus, to address the dramatic effects resulting from poverty, various multilateral organizations such as the United Nations have left no stone unturned to combat this destitution. Moreover, different poverty reduction strategies and instruments have been developed in order to improve the poors standard of living and help them sever the vicious cycle of poverty. Moreover these approaches can be broken further. This can be shown in the following diagram. Figure 2.2: Factors Affecting the Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) The monetary approach includes all income in money metric and in practice omits social goods. Under this approach mainly income and consumption are affected. Whereas, the livelihood approach comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of living. It enhances livelihood opportunities and shows how they relate to one another. The faith-based approach consists of religious faith. Religious faith and humans have coexisted since the beginning of civilization and have played a very important role in human life. The religious attitude is always based on the belief that there exists an all embracing, transcendental, moral law and that we human beings are bound to submit to its commands. Moreover, capabilities included not only basic individual ones such as nourishment and health but also more complex social ones, such as taking part in the community and achieving self-respect. Health and education, for example, are both functioning achievements in themselves as well as capabilities that allow people to achieve other valued and crucial performance. For instance, a woman can have a monetary income but, because of gender discrimination, can be unable to buy food for her family: She lacks the capability to achieve a basic functioning for life. A capability seems to combine the concepts of ability and capacity. The main focus of the dissertation is based on this approach. 2.3 Conceptual Theory Since microfinance can make a contribution to eradicate poverty, to better understand its significance, each of the poverty approaches is considered below. 2.3.1 Link between Microfinance and Monetary Approach In terms of economic policy, it recommends the reduction of poverty by increasing labor productivity, through interventions of a general nature. Therefore, microfinance has evolved as an economic development approach intended to benefit low-income groups. These programs are an effective way to provide lowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ cost financial services to poor individuals and families as claimed by Miller and Martinez, (2006); Stephens and Tazi (2006). Once they benefit from microfinance services, they will be able to earn more, save more ultimately smooth consumption. In turn they will enjoy a good health conditions among family members. 2.3.2 Link between Microfinance and Non- Monetary Approach From the economic policy standpoint, the non-monetary approach usually proposes targeted interventions which have the advantage of reducing the selection bias in favor of the poor relative to general kinds of interventions. Each non monetary approach has been considered below. 2.3.2.1 Microfinance and faith based Poverty and prosperity were considered to be the will of God. Thus religion is defined as an all round movement in the light of faith in one God and a sense of responsibility for the formation of thought and belief, for the promotion of high principles of human morality for the establishment of good relations among members of the society and the elimination of every sort of undue discrimination and injustices including poverty. Thus with the help of microfinance, people are able to have a decent earning. 2.3.2.2 Microfinance and Livelihood Microfinance can help to establish or expand family enterprises, potentially making the difference between grinding poverty and economically secure life. Furthermore, these programs increase access to healthcare, making preventative healthcare measures more affordable to the poor. Alternatively, more children are sent to school and stay enrolled for longer periods. 2.3.2.3 Microfinance and Capability Approach Given that microfinance services are primarily focused on women, it is argued that women were empowered, through opportunities to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, breaking down of gender inequalities. Small loans can transform lives, especially those of women and children. The poor can become empowered instead of disenfranchised. Homes can be built, jobs can be created, businesses can be launched, and individuals can feel a sense of worth again. Woman are able to participate in the society, they are recognised for their help in their families. This in turn increases the monthly income for the family which ultimately increases standard of living. Generally, the most important crisis and the main reason for failure to repay loans by poor families is illness. However, households of microfinance clients appear to have better nutrition, health practices, and health outcomes than comparable non-client households. Larger and more stable incomes generally lead to better nutrition, living conditions, and preventive health care. Increased earnings and financial management options also allow clients to treat health problems promptly rather than waiting for conditions to deteriorate. Along with financial services, some microfinance institutions also provide health education, usually in the form of short, simple preventive care messages on immunization, safe drinking water, and pre-natal and post-natal care while other programs provide credit products for water, sanitation, and housing. A growing number of microfinance institutions have forged partnerships with insurance providers to offer health insurance to clients. Moreover, another use of the microfinance services among the poor people is to invest in childrens education. Children of microfinance clients are more likely to go to school and study longer ultimately student drop-out rates are much lower. Hence there is no disparity in education. Thus, it is clear that what microfinance can do for the poor depends on the poors ability to utilize what micro-finance offers them. In many countries, micro-finance provides a window of opportunity for the poor to access a borrowing. These facilities also provide organizational help, training, safety nets, empowerment, and financial and other help during crises. Once they benefit from these services, they will be able to make decisions that are better informed, smooth the consumption pattern, increase the expenditure on medical, education and other social occasions. 2.4 Empirical Evidence Most of these studies were carried out in least developed countries and developing countries where poverty is really a root problem for the country. These findings are the clearest evidence that micro finance is working in the way intended to bring sustained aid to those suffering from hardship cases. Thus the following sub sections are empirical studies performed in least developed country, developing countries and small island economies. They are classified by their corresponding approach of poverty namely the monetary and capability. 2.4.1 Developing Countries 2.4.1.1 Monetary Approach Joy M Kiiru, John Mburu, Klaus Flohberg (2007) attempted to measure the impact of microfinance on household incomes. They used a pooled data set collected from the south western part of Makueni district in Kenya to study the households access to microfinance credit and how the credit affects their incomes as Cross sectional analysis fails to show any significant positive impact of microfinance on poverty reduction. They found a weak positive significance of microfinance on household incomes, education and household head. Furthermore, in the research of Gertler et al. (2003), he found more positive conclusions in terms of the ability of micro finance to reduce vulnerability who find access to micro finance that helps households to smooth consumption despite declines in health of adult family members. These authors have tried to find a relation between access to a financial institution and consumption shortfalls associated with ill health. They used geographic distance as a measure of access and find that for households in an area with a BRI branch; health shocks have no effect on consumption. 2.4.1.2 Capability Approach K. Rajendran and R.P. Raya (2010) study the impact of microfinance on the empowerment in psychological, economic and social aspects and managerial skills of leaders of SHGs and their attitude in Vellore district. They surveyed 90 leaders and 90 animators of SHGs. Using the OLS they found that microfinance and SHGs are effective in reducing poverty, empowering women, creating awareness and ensure sustainability of environment which finally result in sustainable development of the nation. But age and education does not have any influence on empowerment among the rural women. Moreover, the case study carried out in 2007 by Eduardo C. Jimenez and Pia Bernadette Roman in Philippines found on average 96.2% of the people who borrow in groups pay back their loans on time. More than 160 microfinance institutions have adopted the principle of no collateral but weekly repayment of loans with lending at commercial rates so that they can cover their costs; and they were allowed to make a profit. During that period, they have been able to target 436, 000 clients, 98% being women. The loan repayment rates of 96.2% were far higher than that recovered by most commercial banks. Luckily the project had increased the clients income by more than 28%. Their spending was mostly on school and food. So, for Philippines, this had an impact on its economy, thereby enhancing the life span, the literacy rate and also improving the standard of living of those people. 2.4.2 Least Developed Countries 2.4.2.1 Monetary Approach Khandker (2005) reported the direct effects of microfinance programs on poverty. He examined 1,638 households that participated in two waves of the BIDS World Bank 1991/92 and 1998/99 surveys in Bangladesh and found that moderate poverty in the sample villages declined by 17% between the two waves of the survey, and extreme poverty declined by 13%. Among those households that participated in the microfinance programs, the poverty rate declined by 20% in the same period, with more than half of the nearly 3% annual moderate poverty decline among participants attributed to the microfinance programs alone. He further found that access to microfinance programs contributed to the reduction of both moderate and extreme poverty of individuals particularly women as well as for the village as a whole where inflow of microfinance funds to rural areas impacted the local economy and raised per capita household consumption for both participants and nonparticipants. Morduch (1998) attempted to look specifically at the role microfinance plays in helping the poor, and reported mixed results, including some positive and some negative impacts of microfinance in alleviating poverty and helping the poor. He used survey data collected in 1991/92 by the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies, in collaboration with the World Bank, covering 87 villages and nearly 1800 households. Survey data was collected at three points during the collection period to capture seasonal variations in household circumstances and found that the microfinance programs benefited the moderately poor more than the destitute. Further, he found that households that are eligible to borrow and have access to the programs do not have notably higher consumption levels that control households. Additionally, he found that households eligible for programs have substantially lower variation in consumption and labour supply across seasons. Thus the most important potential impacts of microfinance programs are with reducing ones financial vulnerability, and not necessarily poverty. 2.4.2.2 Capability Approach Morris and Barnes (2005) attempted to provide an overall assessment of the impact of microfinance, and examined the impacts of three microfinance programs in Uganda. Baseline data was first collected in the winter of 1997 following a survey via random sample in respect of three program areas from programs clients and nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ clients. To assess the impact thereof, the survey was repeated in the winter of 1999. The researchers found that microfinance programs did not help to alleviate poverty in program areas, though results from these impact studies indicated positive impacts on participants entrepreneurial business endeavours and within their own households. The authors further found that microfinance programs help to reduce financial vulnerability of poor individuals through the diversification of available income sources and the accumulation of assets. 2.4.3 Small Island Developing State (SIDS) 2.4.3.1 Livelihood Approach Paul B McGuire (1996) has provided an assessment of microfinance in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) namely Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Samoa. Thus, he concluded that these people faced a number of constraints to sustainable microfinance, including low and highly dispersed populations, the lack of transport and communications infrastructure in many areas, and the continuing importance of the non-monetised subsistence economy in many countries. Apparently, the stylised fact is less than clear. Despite the huge number of studies on microfinance and poverty alleviation in the developing countries, there exists little studies for small island economies. Thus this study attempts to fill the gaps by analyzing the impact microfinance on poverty and the welfare of households in Mauritius. As argued above, the facts and findings that were used have clearly indicated that microfinance is becoming a phenomenal contribution in building those economies that were previously struck by wars, natural calamities and turmoil. 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