How Important Are Ethics and Social Responsibility?

The research register for this journal is available at http://www. mcbup. com/research_registers The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www. emerald-library. com/ft How important are ethics and social responsibility? A multinational study of marketing professionals Anusorn Singhapakdi and Kiran Karande College of Business and Public Administration, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA How important are ethics? 133 Received September 1998 Revised March 1999 June 1999 September 1999 College of Administrative Sciences, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait, and School of Business Administration, University of Mississippi, USA Keywords International marketing, Ethics, Social responsibility, National cultures, Consumer behaviour Abstract States that in the present era of global marketing, as more companies enter international markets, ethical problems are likely to increase. As companies and their managers deal with their counterparts in different countries, there is a need to understand the latter's ethical decision-making processes. Divergence in ethical behavior and attitudes of marketing professionals across cultures can be explained by, among other variables, differences in perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. This study investigates the variation in those perceptions among marketing professionals from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA. The variation is explained by country differences (cultural differences, differences in the economic environment, and differences in legal/political environment), organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic characteristics of the marketer (gender and age). C. P. Rao Scott J. Vitell Introduction The study of ethics has become increasingly important with global business expansion, because of an increase in ethical and social responsibility  ± concerns that businesses face in different country environments. There exists, however, a wide divergence in the level of importance attached to these two issues in different countries (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1998). Moreover, vast differences exist from country to country in the economic development, cultural standards, legal/political systems, and expectations regarding business conduct (Wotruba, 1997). In addition, there is great divergence in the enforcement of policies (Mittelstaedt and Mittelstaedt, 1997). The authors would like to thank Mohd. Rashid Ahmed, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, Malaysia; Nicola Higgs-Kleyn, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; and Muris Cicic, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia for their assistance in the data collection for this study. The authors would also like to thank Janet Marta for her comments on the earlier versions of the manuscript. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35 No. 1/2, 2001, pp. 133-152. # MCB University Press, 0309-0566 European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 134 In the business ethics literature, ethical variations among marketers/ managers from different nations are documented in many empirical studies on various types of ethical issues (e. g. Armstrong et al. , 1990; Graham, 1985; Becker and Fritzsche, 1987). Variation in ethics across cultures was evidenced in a cross-national study of industrial salespeople by Dubinsky et al. (1991) where some significant differences in ethical perceptions were found among marketing managers from Japan, Korea, and the USA. A study by Singhapakdi et al. 1994) also revealed that American and Thai marketers differ on various components of their ethical decision-making process. However, international researchers have not investigated differences in the extent to which marketers from different countries believe that ethics and social responsibility are important for organizational effectiveness. An individual's perception about whether ethics and social responsibility contribute to organizational effectivenes s is likely to be a critical antecedent of whether he/she even perceives an ethical problem in a given situation (Singhapakdi et al. 1995). This is a pragmatic view based on an argument that managers must first perceive ethics and social responsibility to be vital to organizational effectiveness before their behaviors will become more ethical and reflect greater social responsibility. This view is consistent with Hunt and Vitell's (1986) depiction of ethical judgment as including a teleological evaluation, when an individual evaluates alternative actions by weighing the perceived probability and desirability of consequences. Essentially, a manager's choice of behavior in a situation that has problematic ethical content will be based on his/her perception of the likelihood that the actions will bring about a desired outcome. This view is also consistent with Jones' (1991) issue-contingent model where it is postulated that the â€Å"probability of effect† which is defined as â€Å"the probability that the act in question will actually take place and the act in question will actually cause the harm (benefit)† (Jones, 1991, p. 75) will affect an individual's ethical decision making. Intuitively, ethics and social responsibility should have a positive impact on the success of an organization, because consumers make ethical judgments that are likely to influence their purchases. As Laczniak and Murphy (1993, p. 5) put it: Consumers over time will normally recognize the organizations that attempt to be responsive to various ethical and social factors in the marketplace. Accordingly, it is vital for marketers to incorporate ethical and social considerations in their work. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate whether marketers from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA differ in the extent to which they believe that ethical and socially responsible practices are important in relation to various aspects of organizational effectiveness such as quality, communication, profits, competitiveness, survival, efficiency, and stakeholder satisfaction. Based on past literature that emphasizes cultural factors, corporate culture, and individual characteristics (e. g. Hunt and Vitell, 1986; Ferrell and Gresham, 1985), the cross-cultural variation in marketers' perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness is explained by country differences (including cultural differences and differences in the economic environment), organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic characteristics of individual marketers. The four countries included were judged appropriate because they are geographically separated and exhibit differences in terms of Hofstede's (1980) five cultural dimensions and the level of economic development, which are used to support the hypothesis about country differences. Theoretical foundation and hypotheses In this section it is proposed that the variations in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility as determinants of organizational effectiveness is explained by country differences (including cultural differences and differences in the economic environment), organizational ethical climate, and individual characteristics of gender and age. Figure 1 summarizes the proposed framework. Country differences Cultural differences. Hofstede (1980) and Hofstede and Bond (1988) proposed a typology for classifying cultures based on five dimensions: (1) individualism; (2) uncertainty avoidance; How important are ethics? 135 Figure 1. Theoretical framework European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 136 (3) power distance; (4) masculinity; and (5) Confucian dynamism. It is hypothesized that these cultural dimensions contribute to differences in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility. For example, marketers in collectivistic countries (such as Malaysia) would be expected to be more loyal to their organizations because of greater dependence (Hofstede, 1983), and therefore, concerned for their organization's well-being when making decisions that enhance organizational effectiveness. Consequently, collectivistic cultures would attach more importance to achieving superior organizational performance than to ethics and socially responsibility. Masculine societies encourage individuals to be ambitious and competitive, and to strive for material success (Hofstede, 1980), which may tempt marketers from countries ranking high on masculinity to achieve greater efficiency, at all costs. Therefore, they would attach less importance to ethics and social responsibility than to efficiency, competitiveness, and long-term survival. Individuals from cultures with high power distance (such as Malaysia) usually accept the inequality of power, perceive differences between superiors and subordinates, are reluctant to disagree with superiors and believe that superiors are entitled to privileges (Hofstede, 1983). Consequently, marketers from high power distance countries are likely to perceive a need to minimize disagreement with superiors and satisfy superiors through improved performance. In other words, organizational performance is likely to be relatively more important to them relative to the extent to which a decision is ethical and socially responsible. The risk-taking orientation of marketers from low uncertainty avoiding countries would lead them to believe that it might be worth taking the risk of unethical actions in order to improve efficiency and competitiveness. Therefore, marketers from low uncertainty avoidance countries are likely to attach less importance to ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. Individuals in countries ranking high on Confucian dynamism tend to adhere to the more future-oriented teachings of Confucius; those from countries ranking low on Confucian dynamism tend to be more present- and past-oriented (Hofstede and Bond, 1988). From the perspective of this study, marketers from cultures ranking high on Confucian dynamism have a strong sense of shame and are likely to be wary of actions that are improper or disgraceful. Marketers from high Confucian dynamism countries (such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea) would, therefore, believe that any actions bringing disrepute and shame to the company would be detrimental to organizational performance. This is also consistent with the greater future-orientation of individuals from these countries. Alternatively, it is also possible that marketers from high Confucian dynamism countries might be sensitive to the shame arising out of inferior performance and might therefore believe that greater efficiency and profits are important at the cost of ethics and social responsibility. In other words, the effects of Confucian dynamism might be expected in both directions. Table I summarizes Hofstede's ranking of the four countries on five dimensions of culture (Hofstede, 1980; Hofstede and Bond, 1988). It is apparent that, in general, Australians, Americans, and South Africans are higher on individualism and masculinity and lower on uncertainty avoidance and power distance than Malaysians. On Confucian dynamism, the USA and Australia rank very close. Although there is no ranking available for South Africa and Malaysia, Malaysians can be expected to rank higher because of a strong Chinese influence, especially in the business sector (Hong Kong and Taiwan rank first and second on Confucian dynamism). Based on individualism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance, Malaysian marketers would be expected to have lower perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility than marketers from Australia, South Africa, and the USA. Based on masculinity, it would be expected that Malaysian managers will have greater perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness than those from the other three countries, whereas based on Confucian dynamism it is only possible to hypothesize differences. Therefore, based on the cultural differences outlined above, we would expect Australian, Malaysian, US, and South African marketers to attach different levels of importance to ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. Economic environment differences. Countries also have different economic and business environments, including the legal environment and societal expectations about business ethics in a given country. In developed countries (such as the USA and Australia), the business environment is typically characterized by powerful business enterprises, a legal environment aimed at eliciting ethical behaviors on the part of businesses, and societal expectations that businesses should be more ethical and socially responsible. These environmental forces may make the marketers in developed countries attach greater importance to the ethical and social responsibilities of their respective businesses. In developing countries, on the other hand (e. . Malaysia and South Africa), the business and economic environmental forces are still evolving and hence the marketers' perceived importance of business ethics and social responsibility may be lower relative to their counterparts in developed Country Australia Malaysia South Africa USA Power distance Individualism 36 104 49 40 (41) (1) (36-37) (38) 90 26 65 91 (2) (36) (16) (1) Masculinity 61 50 63 62 (16) (25-26) (13-14) (15) Uncertainty avoidance 51 36 49 46 (37) (46) (39-40) (43) Confucian dynamism 31 (11-12) n/a n/a 29 (14) How important are ethics? 137 Note: a Ranks range from 1-53 for all dimensions except Confucian dynamism 1-20 Source: Hofstede (1980) and Hofstede and Bond (1988) Table I. Scores (and ranks) for the four countries on Hofstede's dimensionsa European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 138 countries. From another perspective, in developed countries the markets are likely to be more competitive, and therefore, issues of customer service and satisfaction might be relatively more important. Therefore, in making decisions, marketers from developed countries are less likely to take actions that are detrimental to the reputation of the company, fearing regulation as well as consumer dissatisfaction. In the context of this study, marketers from the USA and Australia should place greater importance on ethics and social responsibility as determinants of organizational effectiveness than marketers from South Africa and Malaysia. Differences in legal/political environment. In the Hunt and Vitell (1993) model, legal/political environment is depicted as a variable influencing ethical decision making. The relationship between the legal environment and ethics has been recognized by many business ethics scholars. For example, Beauchamp and Bowie (1993, p. 4) noted that: Law is the public's agency for translating morality into explicit social guidelines and practices and stipulating offenses. DeGeorge (1990, p. 14) noted that: Business is a social enterprise. Its mandate and limits are set by society. The limits are often moral, but they are also frequently written into law. Dunfee (1996, p. 18) stated that the legal system is sometimes required to nurture or implement the moral preferences of society, particularly with reference to universal moral prohibitions against physical harm. He also argued that where moral views have not converged toward a sufficiently broad consensus, the law may help to bring about a change in attitude. In the context of our study, these discussions imply that the legal/political framework within a country can be expected to impact a manager's perceptions about ethics and social responsibility. Business ethics scholars have also noted that the legal/political systems vary across countries (e. g. Vogel, 1992). In his analysis of the USA, Western Europe, and Japan, Vogel (1992) noted that in spite of globalization, the norms of business (as well as business and academic interest) in ethics were substantially higher in the USA than in other advanced capitalist countries. He attributed this to the distinctive institutional, legal, social, and cultural environment in the USA. In the context of this study, differences can be expected in the legal/political environments in the USA, Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa. While in the USA the legal/political systems are relatively well developed (and in Australia to a certain degree), the regulatory environments in Malaysia and South Africa are evolving, and therefore, the existence as well as the specificity of laws may vary across the four countries. The importance of ethics is also influenced by the degree of law enforcement, where we also can expect differences across the four countries. While elaborate legal/political systems prevail for enforcement in the USA, they are relatively less prevalent (and to varying degrees) in Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa. Vogel (1992, p. 32) pointed out that even compared to other advanced countries, the enforcement of law in the USA is more stringent, and gave the following example, In America each new disclosure of business misconduct prompts a new wave of public indignation, accompanied by numerous articles n the business and popular press which bemoan the general decline in the ethical conduct of managers and seek to explain â€Å"what went wrong† in the most recent case. This is frequently followed by Congressional hearings featuring politicians demanding more vigilant prosecution of white-collar criminals; shortly thereafter, regulatory standards are tightened, penalties are increased, and enforcement efforts are strengthened. How important are ethics? 139 It should be recognized that the potential influences of the legal/political environment are more complex than discussed here, because of the range of issues involved as well as the aspects of environment that cannot be measured directly, such as the enforcement of regulatory systems. However, differences exist between the four countries in the legal/political environment, which can be expected to influence managers' perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility relative to organizational effectiveness. In the preceding paragraphs, country differences were analyzed based on three aspects: (1) culture; (2) economic development; and (3) legal/political environment. Overall, based on cultural differences, we expect Australian, Malaysian, US, and South African marketers to attach different levels of importance to ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. Based on economic environment differences, we expect that marketers from the USA and Australia will place greater importance on ethics and social responsibility than marketers from South Africa and Malaysia. Given that legal and political environments tend to vary between the four countries, we also expect the managers from these four diverse countries to attach different levels of importance to ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. Thus, the following hypothesis was formulated: H1: Due to differences in culture, economic development, and legal/political environment, there are differences in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility among marketers in Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, and the USA. In analyzing country differences, it is evident that multiple aspects of country differences influence marketers' perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility, at times in conflicting ways (as in the effects of masculinity and individualism). Also, since this is the first attempt at investigating crosscultural variation in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility as determinants of organizational effectiveness, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the relative importance of differences in cultural European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 140 dimensions. Consequently, it is not possible to hypothesize the direction of differences, only their existence. Organizational ethical climate In the Hunt and Vitell (1986; 1993) models, organizational ethical climate is included as a background variable that affects a marketer's ethical decision making. Organizational ethical climate refers to the shared understanding regarding what is correct behavior and how ethical issues will be handled (DeConinck, 1992). It helps establish and maintain the standards that delineate the â€Å"right† things to do and the things â€Å"worth doing† (Jansen and Von Glinow, 1985). The ethical climate in an organization affects ethical attitudes and standards of individuals. An organization that seeks to foster an ethical environment will not only have a code of ethics, but also the willingness and commitment to enforce it. Managers consider modifying the morality of their actions not just because of stated organizational concern, but only when specific sanctions are attached for misconduct (e. g. Laczniak and Inderrieden, 1987). The contention that organizational pressures, and not individual moral deficiencies, account for unethical standards is held by several authors (e. . Ford and Richardson, 1994). Weeks and Nantel (1992) found that wellcommunicated codes of ethics led to higher ethical standards and superior job performance of salespeople in the USA. Consequently, marketers in companies with an ethical climate that encourages ethical and socially responsible behavior and that punishes unethical behavior would perceive ethics to be more important for orga nizational effectiveness. Research has shown that when ethical standards of an organization are widely shared, organizational success will be enhanced (Hunt et al. 1989). Relevant to this study, in a recent study of US marketers, Singhapakdi et al. (1995) revealed that marketers in organizations with high levels of corporate ethical values tended to assign a higher level of importance to certain elements of corporate ethics and social responsibility. Therefore, we hypothesize that H2: Irrespective of country, organizational ethical climate is positively related to managers' perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility relative to different aspects of organizational effectiveness. Gender Gender is generally recognized as an important personal characteristic influencing an individual's ethical decisions. For example, Gilligan (1982) argued that men and women differ in their moral reasoning. In particular, men are more likely to adhere to the â€Å"ethic of justice† by emphasizing rules and individual rights. Women, however, are more likely to adhere to the â€Å"ethic of care† by emphasizing relationships and compassion. In a recent meta-analysis, Franke et al. (1997) used data from more than 20,000 respondents in 66 samples nd revealed that women are more likely than men to perceive business practices as unethical. Although there has been no research directly investigating the effects of gender on perceived important of ethics and social responsibility, it has been incorporated in numerous marketing ethics studies. Based on the work of Gilligan (1982) and Franke et al. (1997), it can be argued that â€Å"the ethic of caring† exhibited by w omen would lead them to believe that taking actions in the interest of the customer would enhance company performance and would contribute to a perception of greater importance of ethics in organizational effectiveness. Thus, we would expect women to attach greater importance to ethics and social responsibility as determinants of organizational effectiveness. H3: Irrespective of country, women perceive ethics and social responsibility to be more important relative to different aspects of organizational effectiveness than men. Age Marketing ethics theories generally recognize personal characteristics as determinants of various aspects of a marketer's ethical decision-making process (e. g. Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Hunt and Vitell, 1986). Age could also directly influence an individual's ethical decision. According to Kohlberg's (1981) cognitive moral development theory, an individual's cognition, emotion, and judgment may change as he/she moves through stages of moral development. Given that an individual moves through stages of moral development and the changes are essentially due to life experiences, intuitively one would expect a positive relationship between age and ethical behavior. In fact, Terpstra et al. (1993) have argued that people tend to become more ethical as they grow older. A good explanation is that as people age they tend to become less concerned with wealth and advancement and more interested in personal growth (Hall, 1976). In other words, older marketers are likely to appreciate the long-term benefits (to organizational performance) of acting in an ethical and socially responsible manner. Accordingly, we would generally expect a positive relationship between a marketer's age and his or her perception about the importance of ethics and social responsibility. H4: Irrespective of country, a marketer's age is positively related to his/her perception of the importance of ethics and social responsibility relative to different aspects of organizational effectiveness. Methodology Sample A self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection technique for all four groups of marketing practitioners. For the US and South African groups, national mailing lists of professional members of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the South African Institute of Marketing How important are ethics? 141 European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 142 Management were used as sampling frames. For the Australian sample, a mailing list of recipients of the Australian Marketing Institute magazine was used. For the Malaysian group, the sampling frame consisted of managers responsible for making marketing decisions for companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. The questionnaire was administered in English for all four samples. Because Malaysia and South Africa are members of the British Commonwealth, English is a well-understood language, particularly in the business setting. The numbers of respondents were: 500 from Australia, 446 from the USA, 256 from South Africa, and 159 from Malaysia[1]. The response rates were 22. 7 percent (USA), 13 percent (South Africa), and 45 percent (Malaysia). Since questionnaires were not directly mailed to the sample in Australia, the response rate could not be assessed. The non-response bias for the USA and South African samples was assessed with an analysis of variance between the early and late respondent groups (Armstrong and Overton, 1977). There were no statistical differences among the two groups for either country[2]. The profiles of the respondents are summarized in Table II. They represent a range of age groups, gender, job titles, industry, and years of experience, with minor differences between the four sets of respondents. Age and gender were included in the analyses. Other variables (such as job title, education, and industry) were not included as control variables because educational systems, industry classifications, and job titles and functions vary from country to country. Measures Singhapakdi et al. (1995) developed a scale for measuring managers' perceptions about the importance of ethics and social responsibility (PRESOR) in organizational effectiveness. Seven of the 14 items from that scale were used, relating to specific aspects of organizational effectiveness such as output quality, efficiency, profitability, communication, long-term survival, competitiveness, and stakeholder satisfaction. Excluded items were statements such as â€Å"Good ethics is good business† and â€Å"Corporate strategy should include ethics and social responsibility†, which do not address specific aspects of organizational effectiveness. The scale items used in the analyses are shown in Table III. The factor structures were found to be similar across the four countries and the reliabilities were generally high[3]. It may be noted that the PRESOR scale has previously performed satisfactorily in terms of reliability, as well as content and predictive validity (Singhapakdi et al. , 1995, 1996). Organizational ethical climate, gender and age. The corporate ethical values (CEV) scale developed by Hunt et al. (1989) was used in this study to measure organizational ethical climate. The scale was designed to reflect â€Å"a composite of the individual ethical values of managers and both the formal and informal policies on ethics of the organization† (Hunt et al. , 1989). The five-item CEV scale[4] was developed to three broad-based perceptions: Characteristics of respondents Gender Male Female Age group Under 30 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 and over 50 Education High school or less Some college Bachelor's degree Master's degree Doctorate Othera Job title CEO/president/MD/director Marketing managers Others Industry USA Wholesale or retail Manufacturer or construction Services Communications Advertising or public relations Marketing consulting Other Malaysiab Consumer products Diversified Construction Trading services Finance Properties Plantation Mining and primary resources Notes: sample; a b Australia (%) Malaysia (%) South Africa (%) USA (%) How important are ethics? 73. 0 27. 0 20. 0 35. 0 29. 0 17. 0 11. 0 15. 0 58. 0 15. 0 1. 0  ± 37. 0 52. 0 11. 0 84. 0 16. 0 11. 0 39. 0 40. 0 10. 0 6. 0 10. 0 43. 0 24. 0 1. 0 16. 0 39. 0 30. 0 31. 0 80. 0 20. 0 4. 0 29. 0 40. 0 27. 0 6. 0 15. 0 30. 0 30. 0 19. 0 2. 0 44. 0 37. 0 19. 0 51. 0 49. 0 17. 0 37. 0 29. 0 17. 0 1. 0 6. 0 43. 0 43. 0 6. 0  ± 47. 0 43. 0 10. 0 143 3. 0 10. 0 20. 0 33. 0 7. 0 17. 0 6. 0  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ± 37. 0 4. 0 3. 0 28. 0 11. 0 13. 0 3. 0 1. 0 7. 0 20. 0 25. 0 7. 0 1. 0 5. 0 35. 0  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ± 12. 0 17. 0 35. 0 9. 0 7. 0 18. 0 2. 0  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ±  ± Other educational qualifications include professional education in the Malaysian This categorization of industries was appropriate in the Malaysian context Table II. Profiles of respondents in Australia, Malaysia, South Africa and USA 144 European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 Organizational effectiveness dimension Univariate tests Quality: while output quality is essential for corporate success, ethics and social responsibility are not NS Communication: communication is more important to the overall effectiveness of an organization than whether or not it is concerned with ethics and social responsibility 5. 1 0. 0001 Profits: The most important concern for a firm is making profits, even if it means bending or breaking rules 5. 45 0. 0001 Competitiveness: To remain competitive in a global environment, business firms will have to disregard ethics and social responsibility NS Survival: If survival of a business enterprise is at stake, then you must forget about ethics and social responsi bility 21. 25 0. 0001 Efficiency: Efficiency is much more important to the firm than whether or not the firm is seen as ethical or socially responsible 14. 1 0. 0001 Stakeholder satisfaction: If stakeholders are unhappy, nothing else matters 11. 19 0. 0001 Multivariate tests  ± F based on Wilk's lambda (21, 3,673 df) 5. 38 0. 0001 66. 43 28. 62 74. 24 49. 95 39. 79 29. 46 27. 17 0. 0001 0. 0001 0. 0001 0. 0001 0. 0001 0. 0001 0. 0001 Table III. Multivariate and univariate results Country Organizational culture Gender Age 17. 88 0. 0001 3. 68 0. 0552 8. 97 0. 0028 6. 46 0. 0112 17. 63 0. 00001 NS NS 2. 56 NS 0. 0535 NS NS NS NS NS 1) the extent to which employees perceive their managers are acting ethically in their organization (item 1); (2) the extent to which employees perceive that managers are concerned about the issues of ethics in their organization (item 3); and (3) the extent to which employees perceive that ethical (unethical) behavior is rewarded (punished) in their orga nization (items 2, 4, and 5) (Hunt et al. , 1989). The CEV was measured using a nine-point Likert scale with 1= â€Å"completely disagree†and 9= â€Å"completely agree†. For each respondent, the CEV score was obtained by summing all CEV items (with items 1 and 2 reverse-coded). A high CEV score means that the manager works in an organization with higher corporate ethical values. The similarity of factor structures of the CEV scale between the four countries was assessed to be moderate and the reliabilities of the scale were high[5]. The CEV measure has been used in the past (e. g. Hunt et al. , 1989; Singhapakdi et al. , 1995). Gender was measured as a dichotomous variable and age was measured in four categories. Results Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed using the seven PRESOR items as dependent variables, and the country of residence, organizational ethical climate, gender, and age as independent variables[6]. MANOVA results show that overall country of residence, organizational ethical climate, gender, and age significantly explain differences between marketers from the four countries in their perception of the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness (F = 5. 38 based on Wilks' Lambda, p < 0. 001). H1 states that there are country differences in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) identified significant cross-country differences between marketers on all PRESOR items except output quality and competitiveness. For example, there are differences in the extent to which marketers from the four countries believe that â⠂¬Å"the most important concern for a firm is making profits, even if it means bending or breaking rules† (F = 5. 45, p < . 001). Also, there are differences in the extent to which they agree with statements such as â€Å"if survival of a business enterprise is at stake, then you must forget about ethics and social responsibility† (F = 21. 25, p < 0. 0001), â€Å"efficiency is much more important to the firm than whether or not the firm is seen as ethical or socially responsible† (F = 14. 91, p < . 0001), and â€Å"communication is much more important to the overall effectiveness of an organization than whether or not it is concerned with ethics and social responsibility† (F = 5. 1, p < 0. 0001). Therefore, there is support for H1 (average scores for marketers from the four countries on each of the seven items are given in Table IV). How important are ethics? 145 European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 146 H2 states that the organizational ethical climate posi tively influences managers' perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility. In fact, results indicate it has a strong influence on all seven dimensions of PRESOR with F statistics ranging from 27. 17 to 74. 24 (with all p ; 0. 0001). Therefore, H2 is supported. Results also indicate gender differences in managers' perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness on the quality, communication, profits, competitiveness, and survival dimensions, but not on the efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction dimensions (F statistics ranging from 3. 68 to 17. 88). Therefore, H3 is generally supported. Also, results related to H4 indicate that, in general, there are no age differences in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. Therefore, H4 is not supported. The lack of significance of age in influencing PRESOR is probably a reflection of the greater impact of environmental factors such as greater societal expectations and awareness about ethical issues. Discussion and implications The current investigation into cross-country variation in perceptions of marketing professionals regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility as determinants of business success has potential implications for international companies. In the international marketing context, cultural, economic, and other gaps between international buyers and sellers create the potential for conflicts of values, which in turn hinder smooth business interactions between the parties. Whether a marketing organization engages in exporting, importing, joint ventures, licensing agreements or fully owns an overseas operation, the scope exists for conflict of values, especially in the areas of marketing ethics and social responsibility. For example, in recent years, companies in the USA have faced public disapproval of the unethical practices of their overseas suppliers. As businesses all over the world progressively globalize their operations, it becomes necessary that they understand whether there are significant gaps between their ethical and social responsibility perceptions and their overseas partners. Such perceptual gaps need to be systematically investigated and measures taken to reduce or, preferably, eliminate them in the interest of establishing enduring international business Organizational effectiveness dimension Australia 7. 67 6. 16 6. 93 7. 56 7. 22 6. 44 6. 82 Malaysia 7. 61 5. 27 6. 61 7. 27 5. 76 5. 12 5. 79 South Africa 7. 96 6. 40 7. 01 7. 71 7. 05 6. 26 6. 6 USA 7. 82 6. 23 7. 46 7. 69 7. 64 6. 72 7. 08 Table IV. Output quality Mean perceived Communication importance of ethics Profits and social responsibility scores on Competitiveness different dimensions of Survival Efficiency organizational Stakeholder satisfaction effectiveness relationships. This study identified three sources of gaps that can exist between marketers from d ifferent countries in terms of the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility as determinants of organizational effectiveness. They are: (1) Country differences in culture, economic development, and legal/ political environment. 2) Differences in organizational ethical climate. (3) Gender differences. Similarities and differences were found between countries in terms of the extent to which they find ethics and social responsibility to be important relative to some dimensions of organizational effectiveness. On two dimensions, output quality and competitiveness, there were no significant inter-country differences. It seems that output quality and competitiveness are universal business orientations exhibited by marketing executives, which is consistent with globalization of markets and the accompanying intensification of competition. International companies, therefore, may assume that their counterparts in different parts of the world will be as concerned with output quality and competitiveness (relative to ethical and social responsibility concerns). Hence, these two core business values can provide common bases for successful international negotiations and establishing long-term relationships, which are critical for success in the international business arena. While there are inter-country similarities on these two dimensions, significant inter-country differences were found with regard to other organizational effectiveness dimensions: communications, efficiency, profits, survival, and stakeholder satisfaction. Based on the findings of our study, multi-national companies who transfer employees between these four countries can help them anticipate differences in perceptions about the importance of ethics and social responsibility relative to different aspects of organizational effectiveness. For example, Malaysian companies posting managers in Australia (or South Africa or the USA) might want to educate them about the environmental differences that lead to Australian managers placing greater importance on ethics and social responsibility relative to profitability, efficiency, communication, survival, and stakeholder satisfaction. These perceptual differences can impact ethical attitudes and actions, and therefore, managerial expectations about overseas employees should be altered accordingly. Corporate managers should also give a thought to what can be done to overcome these differences in perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility. The content of ethics training programs can incorporate the findings of this study by developing scenarios and cases highlighting the tradeoffs between ethics and social responsibility, and specific aspects of organizational effectiveness, such as efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction. These scenarios can be extended by including cross-national differences in How important are ethics? 47 European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 148 culture, economic development, and legal/political environment, as well as differences in perceptions about ethics and social responsibility across countries. Organizational ethical climate positively influenced the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility across all four countries. Irrespective of the country, organizational ethical climate had a strong influence on all seven dimensions of organizational effectiveness vis-a-vis ethics A and social responsibility. Therefore, we can conclude that organizations from different countries with similar organizational ethical climates can find common ground on issues of ethics and social responsibility. Hence, international companies, when scouting for suitable partners in foreign markets, may look for overseas partners with similar organizational ethical values. This would ensure smoother business relations and interactions especially in the areas of ethics and social responsibility. Also, it is useful for international marketers to know that, in general, women perceive ethics and social responsibility to be more important in achieving organizational effectiveness than men, though there are no differences across age groups. This is particularly relevant given the increase in employment of women in the workplace. Limitations This study has some potential limitations. One concerns the limited number of factors investigated in our study. Ethical decision making is a very complex phenomenon, and exploring cross-cultural differences is even more difficult. For example, in addition to the variables we studied, marketing ethics theories have also specified moral philosophies, personal values, religion, professional environment, and organizational and industrial characteristics as important background factors underlying the ethical decision making of managers (e. g. Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Hunt and Vitell, 1986). However, the scope of this study is limited to cultural dimensions, economic environment, organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic variables as explanatory factors. It should be pointed out that in this study, some important demographic variables, such as education, were not included because of a lack of conceptual equivalence, as explained in the next section. Another limitation concerns the samples analyzed in this study. Although four relatively diverse countries were studied, the findings can not be generalized to other countries with different cultural characteristics and levels of economic development. Future research avenues This research can be extended in many ways. As a first step, a non-directional hypothesis for country differences was presented. This was necessitated by the fact that this was the first study dealing with the investigation of cross-cultural variation in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility as determinants of organizational effectiveness. Future research should investigate the direction of expected differences. A comprehensive framework modeling antecedents and consequences of the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility can be developed and tested. This will add another dimension to our understanding of ethical decision making. As pointed out earlier, one limitation of this study concerns its limited samples and, consequently, its limited generalizability. Therefore, there is a need to replicate this study using managerial samples from other countries with different cultural characteristics and/or levels of economic development. Given the complexity of the phenomenon under study, future research should investigate other determinants specified in marketing ethics models, such as moral philosophies, personal values, religion, professional environment, and organizational and industrial characteristics. Among demographic variables, education could be an important determinant but was not included because of a lack of conceptual equivalence. In cross-cultural research, conceptual equivalence in terms of the meaning of research concepts, stimuli, and materials must first be established before any meaningful comparisons are made (Malhotra et al. , 1996). In our study, the US sample is predominantly business-educated, which might not be the case with the other three samples. In addition to differences in the educational background of the managers, the lack of conceptual equivalence can also be attributed to: . The educational systems and curricula in the four countries being different. . Differences in the extent to which ethics is required to be emphasized in the curriculum content across different countries (for example, accredited business schools in the USA are required to incorporate business ethics into their curricula, and such requirements might exist to a greater or lesser degree in other countries). . Variation in the extent to which ethics is actually incorporated and emphasized in the curricula. Thus, it is not education per se, but the incorporation of ethics into educational curricula, the actual implementation, and its impact on the managers that is likely to influence their perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility. In the future, the cross-country differences in educational background of the respondents as well as the extent to which ethics is emphasized in education should be measured, and analyzed as a potential factor influencing a manager's perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility. Conclusion To summarize, this research investigated whether marketers from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA differ in their beliefs regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility as determinants of organizational effectiveness. The study was based on an alternative approach to studying perceptions about ethical issues and problems in business. Traditionally cross- How important are ethics? 149 European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 150 cultural researchers have evaluated ethical perceptions, attitudes, and intentions with regard to specific business/marketing practices involving ethical problems. Here, we investigate differences in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility in relation to various aspects of organizational effectiveness such as quality, communication, profits, competitiveness, survival, efficiency, and stakeholder satisfaction. The results of this study are important because perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility has been shown to influence ethical intention, when managers are faced with an ethical situation (Singhapakdi, 1999). Results indicate that differences in the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility among marketers from the four countries exist because of: . ountry differences in culture, economic development, and legal/political environment; . differences in organizational ethical climate; and . gender differences. There are not any differences due to age. Overall similarities and differences among the four countries emerged on specific dimensions of business effectiveness. On the dimensions of out put quality and competitiveness, there were no differences among the four countries. Inter-country differences were found on the dimensions of communication, efficiency, profits, survival, and stakeholder satisfaction. These findings regarding cross-cultural similarities and differences are useful in furthering our understanding and management of ethics and social responsibility in the international context. Notes 1. For subsequent analysis using LISREL, a sample size of 159 was judged adequate because it is close to the recommended level of ten observations for every parameter estimated (Haire et al. , 1998). 2. For the Australian and Malaysian sample, the non-response bias based on early and late respondents could not be assessed as this information (i. e. dates when the questionnaires were received) was not recorded at the time of data collection. . The similarity of factor structures of the seven-item scale for individual countries was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. Fit measures for individual countries, including chi-square per degree of freedom (range 1. 87-3. 32), GFI (0. 94-0. 97), AGFI (0. 890. 95), and CFI (range 0. 91-0. 96), for the four countries were high. The reliability of the seven-item scale ranged from 0. 73-0. 76 for the four countries. 4. The five items in the corporate ethical values scale were: . Managers in my company often engage in behavior that I consider to be unethical. . In order to succeed in my company, if is often necessary to compromise one's ethics. Top management in my company has let it be known in no uncertain terms that unethical behaviors will not be tolerated. If a manager in my company is discovered to have engaged in unethical behavior that results in personal gain (rather than corporate gain), he/she will be promptly reprimanded. . If a manager in my company is discovered to have engaged in unethical behavior that results in corporate gain (rather than personal gain), he/she will be promptly reprimanded. 5. The similarity of factor structures of the five-item CEV scale for individual countries was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. Fit measures for individual countries, including chi-square per degree of freedom (range 2. 00-35. 23), GFI (0. 88-0. 99), AGFI (0. 63-0. 99), and CFI (range 0. 74-0. 99), for the four countries were moderate. The reliability of the five-item scale ranged from 0. 69-0. 87 for the four countries. 6. Since a requirement of MANOVA is that the dependent variables be correlated, the appropriateness of the multivariate technique was tested by Bartlett's test of sphericity (Hair et al. 1998). The test (Bartlett's chi-square = 123. 7 with six degrees of freedom, p = 0. 001) indicated that MANOVA is appropriate for analyzing the data. . 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Environmental Pollution Essay

Los Angeles, California have been experiencing a growing population within our city. The growing population in this city has caused an increased pressure on the infrastructure and natural resources that are beginning to affect our environment. The expansion of the city has cut deeper into the rural areas that are causing problems to the environment, such as a loss in our wetlands, water pollution, biological habitats, and air pollution. The cause of the growing population has led to a high density of factories, automobiles, and commercial enterprises in Los Angeles. The population growth is beginning to create many environmental problems that are giving Los Angeles economic, and environmental consequences. Theresa Carter, an associate-level environmental scientist, has suggested four measurements of the city council for addressing the pollution management. She has suggested to Encouraging alternative transportation, walking, and bicycle use, Promoting fuel-efficient cars, Improving roads, and Encouraging carpooling. The encouragement of alternative transportation is great on the earth environment and the health of human beings. The improvement of better roads can also improve the transportation of people, reduce cars accidents, and can allow people to compost what was used. Compost helps improve soil, so it holds more water and plants grow better. Carpooling is a very effective climate change, because it allows one car to be used to carry different people to work and other places. For instance, eight people wanted to drive their car from Los Angeles to Apple valley. Los Angeles is an hour and a half drive away. Instead of using eight different cars and spending money on  eight different fossil fuels to fuel their cars, one person can use a van to carry all the co-worker to one location saving, hundreds of dollars and used of savable fossil fuels. When people use walking, bicycling, and carpooling at least twice a week it can cut the greenhouse gas emission at 1,600 pound per year. The promotion of fuel efficient vehicles allows the waste of fuel not to be used and helps protect the future cost of fossil fuels. When humans trade a car for a bicycle, it do not only improve their and the ecosystem health, It allows humans to fight obesity and rely on other ways to get around. Some persons may argue that fuel efficient cars are a great expense, but it can also be a significant improvement to get their health in order. It can do this by removing pollution from the air and gathering into their lungs. Bicycling is exercise, and many people have become obese by sitting around and driving, while not doing nothing to benefit their health. Pedestrian crashes are more than twice as likely to occur in areas without sidewalks; streets with â€Å"sidewalks on both sides have the fewest crashes. â€Å"Streets without safe places to walk, cross, catch a bus, or bicycle put people at risk. Over 5,000 pedestrians and bicyclists died on U.S. roads in 2008, and more than 120,000 were injured† (Reynolds, C, p. 22, 2009). Improvements of new roads and fuel efficient cars can be a massive expense, but the is an excellent conservation of people lives, and deter of greenhouse gases being released. Better decision making on environmental issues, allow people to make a better decision to live life on earth for a longer existence. The way the Earth works is to create and recreate, not for human to produce and destroys nature natural habitat. The following quote â€Å"Decision-making about environmental issues necessitates the maintenance of a good balance between the effectiveness of measures and the public reaction towards them.† In Theresa opinion mean that if human makes a valid decision on the thing that he or she find necessary, meaning something they can not live without Only then will they know how to keep the earth and its environment clean, and the general will began to follow. When the public sees the response of them destroying the environment personally, they can take the appropriate measure it take to have others combined with the contribute to restoring and  maintain a clean environment. Los Angeles economic and environmental hazard can become improved by encouraging alternative transportation, walking, and bicycle use, promoting fuel-efficient cars, improving roads and encouraging carpooling. Many hazards come from the emission of fossil fuels from the engines of cars, by implementing the use of people not using their cars or making fuel efficient vehicles, it helps improve the inconvenience use of vehicles. When the growth of population becomes larger, more people require unnecessary materialistic items, like cars, technology, and material that cut into the field and push down trees from growing. Animals start to get pushed out their habitats, and the earth begin to become small on their environmental structure. If Los Angeles complete or clean up their street, it may cost a profit, but it is a reduction in car accidents, better bicycling paths for bicyclist, and a cleaner environment so humans can respect and take care. Reference: Analysis shows promoting fuel efficient cars will keep fuel costs from draining illinois economy. (2011). Entertainment Close – Up, Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://search.proquest.com/docview/864596179?accountid=458 Botkin, D.B. and Keller,E.A. 2010. Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet 7th Edition. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Reynolds, C., et al. (2009). â€Å"The Impact of Transportation Infrastructure on Bicycling Injuries and Crashes: A Review

A Raisin in the Sun Book Review Essay

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a truly exquisite piece of literature that has influenced readers, young and old, for generations. It gives us a very realistic view of racial tension, as well as the socioeconomic struggles, African Americans faced during the late 1940s-50s. In this play we meet the Youngers, a lower-class, diverse-minded, African American family simply trying to survive in 1950s South Chicago. Together they face economic hardship, racial discrimination, and the constant struggle to keep a fragile family together as each member searches for their version of the â€Å"American Dream†. Hansberry did an excellent job in creating the Younger family to represent lower class African American families in the 1950s. The Youngers live in a rundown, two-bedroom apartment. The family consists of Mama, Walter, Ruth, Travis, and Beneatha. The economic aspect of the play is centered around the insurance check Mama will be getting for her late husband, the author uses this to create a foundation for the Youngers story; the money elicits conflict between the characters as each has their own idea on what to do with money that does not even belong to them. A major motif in this play is racism, the author allows for a bit of foreshadowing in the beginning of the play with the bombing of another African American family in Clybourne Park, a mainly white community and the area where Mama eventually buys the new family house. Hansberry uses Walter to tie these two themes together. After losing all of the money Mama gave him to invest in his business and to save for Beneatha’s college fund, he then goes to get more money by selling back Mama’s new house: he can either overcome the racism and be the man his mother always knew he could be, or he can take the money for another chance to pursue his dreams but at the same time he would essentially be selling his soul to the devil. Walter must choose to either satiate his thirst for wealth or maintain the pride of his race. Finally, Hansberry acknowledges the importance of family unity during  these times. Ruth and Mama are the two main characters attempting to hold everything together. Hansberry made these characters strong and full of hope, despite their situation in life. Created any other way and we would probably see the family fall apart as the story began to unfold. Money and racism are also huge tests on the strength of this family as they struggle through the hardships of poverty and realize the shortcomings of some of the family members. All in all, A Raisin in the Sun is a very well written book. It is written in such a way that really puts you in the cramped, living conditions with the Youngers and helps readers to understand what it meant to be a poor African American family in the 1950s. Hansberry did a great job in creating solid characters which help to develop the story smoothly and realistically. It was a play I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would readily suggest to anyone looking for a good read.

Aristotle and Modes of Persuasion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Aristotle and Modes of Persuasion - Essay Example This essay takes an inauguration speech of USC President C.L. Max Nikias, in which he was attempting to convince his audience that it is time for some sweeping change in direction at the university in just about every facet of its operation, and analyses it using Aristotle's modes of persuasion. It was Aristotle who first identified ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos sounds like ethics and can be thought of as the ethics or character of the person speaking. â€Å"Aristotle says that if we believe that a speaker has ‘good sense, good moral character, and goodwill,’ we are inclined to believe what that speaker says to us†. Since it is almost impossible for us to know people to the same degree as they might have way back then, we tend to depend on the speaker’s credentials – their professional associations, the work that they’ve done, any awards they’ve received. Pathos sounds a little bit like passion and refers to an appeal to the audienceâ €™s emotions. What Aristotle recognized was that people are often moved more by their emotions than they are by their reason. â€Å"Appeals to the emotions and passions are a very effective rhetorical technique, and very common in our society. Many advertisements for consumer goods aim at making us insecure about our attractiveness or social acceptability, and then offer a remedy for this feeling in the form of a product†. Some of the most common emotions that are appealed to are anger, fear and pity because these emotions move people most. Logos sounds like logic and that is what is intended. Logical reasoning means making an argument based on rational thought. An example might be â€Å"if A + B = C and D + B = C then A and D are the same.† Although it might be possible to prove this statement is true mathematically, it is not always the case that logical reasoning is undeniably true. â€Å"Rhetorical arguments are often based on probabilities rather than certain truth †¦ Persuasion, to a large extent, involves convincing people to accept our assumptions as probably true. Similarly, exposing questionable assumptions in someone else’s argument is an effective means for preparing the audience to accept your own contrary position† (Edlund, 2003). While these three elements of a persuasive argument can be pulled out and discussed individually, in reality, they tend to function together. Within his speech to the students, Dr. Nikias combines all of these elements together in his attempt to convince his audience that he is about to lead this

'Social divisions are now much less significant than they were fifty Essay

'Social divisions are now much less significant than they were fifty years ago' Discuss - Essay Example ago as each individual member of the community tended to judge themselves and others by how well they lived up to these expectations during what was considered the ‘golden age’ of community and society. These concepts were widely explored by social philosophers such as Max Weber (1864-1920) and Michel Foucault (1926-1984) as being integral elements of personality development and the structures by which modern society manages to function. Their theories provide a context by which change within the female gender identity over the past 50 years can be discussed. The changes within this single demographic demonstrate how globalization has significantly worn away at the sharp divisions between social groups that once were so formidable, introducing a great deal of uncertainly and confusion in its wake. As this study will demonstrate, social divisions are now much less significant than they were fifty years ago by tracing through these various elements. The so-called ‘golden age’ of modern society occurred as society became settled into expected roles and outcomes. As the country made its way into the new modernized age, the wealthier classes set the standard for acceptable living. Men were expected to hold respectable jobs in the city often working for the same company all of their lives. Loyalty and devotion to the corporation were often rewarded with lifetime support. They would go into work in the mornings, come home in the evenings, and expect to find their families clean and ready for them. Examining the letters and diaries left behind, Welter and others hypothesized that it became necessary for women to uphold the traditional ideologies the family had held dear while in a rural setting, thereby restricting them to a single idealized image of what embodies the True Woman. â€Å"The nineteenth-century American man was †¦ at work long hours in a materialistic society. The religious values of his forebears wer e neglected in practice if not in

B plan - additional payment Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

B plan - additional payment - Outline Example Expenses incurred on Petrol have been reduced to â‚ ¬40 per week based on a revised plan to focus on basic services. i.e. design and management building services engineering projects. Smaller projects will be sub-contracted to fellow engineers that cover Leninster, Connaught and North Munster. This will reduce travel time in conducting surveys on properties beyond a distance of 30 miles from the home office. The car is also being reconfigured to run on diesel, which is a cheaper alternative. There will be no expenses on advertising during year 1. The firm will continue to use word of mouth and tap into the existing customer base. Further, expenses on training and development are expected to reduce to â‚ ¬10 per week after the completion of the Masters degree in May 2011 by availing skills net funding wherever possible. Based on these revised estimates, expenses are expected to reduce by up to â‚ ¬77 per week. I request you to examine the enclosed spreadsheet for further information on specific revisions in all key areas. I would also like to emphasize that these estimates were solely revised to reflect more realistic projections and have not been made to reflect better profits on

Jeep Patriot Sports Car Advertisement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jeep Patriot Sports Car Advertisement - Essay Example Adverts employ a tool of art called semiotics that involves the application of signs and symbols in conveying messages. This advert has different categories of the message to the buyer. These categories consist of both the words and images. There is a whole range of captions in the advert that portray a denoted message targeted at the buyer. In addition, Michael’s wife, surprises him, by declaring that she bought a jeep in a conversation. The captions and labels, it becomes clear to the buyer that she bought a jeep patriot sport car. The word ‘jeep’ in the advert represents a connoted meaning. The term communicates a deeper meaning to the buyer because it has a long history of use in the market. Just by its mention in the advert, it conveys a certain message. A jeep is a car that belongs to specific classes of people in the society because of its features. The unique feature is the quarter-ton that defines a jeep. In addition, there is a connoted message in the de claration of the wife that she bought the jeep. It confirms to the audience that she ‘could not hold back ‘. This adds sense to the persuasion at the end urging the audience not to ‘hold back’ from buying the jeep. In addition, the advert contains a symbolic message. The pictured movement of the jeep patriot car signifies its capability on the road and emphasizes on the value of the four-wheel drive system. In addition, the woman in the advert implies that the car is suitable for the feminine gender. She is a symbol for the suitability of the car to women. This is a crucial aspect of the advert because different cars suit male and female. There is an evident gender preference of some car models and any advert should highlight this fact. Moreover, the advert has literal message that the audience can conceive easily. A real couple indulging in a usual conversation gets the buyer’s attention. The two are getting ready to leave the house. The wife brings up the idea that she bought a jeep. This fact mesmerizes the husband, as it is evident from his facial reactions. The advert then features a real image of the ‘jeep patriot sport car’. From this real image, the features of the car become evident to the audience. The car looks compact but being a jeep, has an economic engine. The couple rides in the car portraying its suitability as a family car. The car has unique features for families that prefer to own a car with multiple capabilities. This jeep has sufficient room to accommodate both the heads and legs. This offers sufficient space for rear passengers. In addition, the car has a high capacity boot that provides a family sufficient space to carry luggage. The family setting highlighted in the advert persuades families to consider the jeep patriot as a favorable choice. Through a combination of the different messages, the advert provides the audience with details about the car. In addition, there is a denoted message t hat informs the audience of the price of the jeep. With a glance, potential buyers gain awareness of the product price. The advert utilizes different efficient aspects of visual art to communicate with the audience. The advert targets families and emphasizes on the suitability of the car to women as well. The concept of commodity fetishism comes out clearly in the advert.  

Services in Your Area Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Services in Your Area - Assignment Example The home depicted in the above illustration can be represented as the cable organizations i.e. AT&T and Motorola which provides their respective services with the help of a router and a link is created with the help of a cable. By this way, the connectivity gets transmitted to a fiber node, thereby providing connections to home computers and telephones (LChu.net, n.d). Comparison and Evaluation of the Speed of DSL of AT & T and Cable Modem of Motorola In terms of speed, AT&T is regarded as one of the fastest providers of internet in the respective industry. The DSL service of the company has been viewed to deliver high speed that ranges from 200 Kbps -768 Kbps and even goes to 18.1 Mbps -24 Mbps (AT&T Intellectual Property, 2013). However, the cable modems of Motorola helps in delivering high speed data that offers the option of sharing a single data plan between multiple computers. Its data plans are used for delivering voice as well as data services. However, Motorola’s cabl e modems can fetch a speed of 38 Mbps which is far impressive as compared to the DSL of AT&T (Motorola Mobility LLC, 2013). Comparison and Evaluation of the Cost of DSL of AT & T and Cable Modem of Motorola After making a thorough comparison between the costs of DSL and cable modem of AT&T and Motorola respectively, it can be apparently observed that the price range of cable modems of Motorola is quite high. But, on the other hand, the cost of DSL’s belonging to AT&T is not so much high as compared to Motorola. A high quality wireless based cable modem of Motorola costs around 100 Dollars, whereas, most of the DSL’s of AT&T costs less than 50 Dollars which holds Motorola in a very high position in terms of pricing of the products (AT&T Intellectual Property, 2013). Comparison and Evaluation of the Reliability of DSL of AT & T and Cable Modem of Motorola In terms of reliability, both the products seem to deliver customer oriented services However, the services which del iver by Motorola are quite user-friendly and most significantly different options are provided for trouble shooting and diagnosing any sort of problem related to connectivity. In addition, the company also provides facilities for remote configuration of the devices. In comparison, AT&T also delivers services that are well suited with the convenience as well as the preferences of the customers. It has been viewed that the products of AT&T generally allows the multiple users to access the devices from different locations. Moreover, the DSL service which provides by the company enables to establish a strong collaboration within the employees by ensuring proper connection among them through incorporating wide range of connectivity. The services of the company are supported by global infrastructure of Internet Protocol which ensures proper reach to the consumers along with high performance and total security (AT&T Intellectual Property, 2013). Recommendations Based on the services that p rovides by both the companies, it can be recommended that Motorola must opt for making cable modems that best suits the preferences as well as the requirements of the consumers. The company can lower down the costs of its service i.e. cable modems in order to increase its profitability along with overall productivity. On the other hand, AT&T can follow extended efforts for making its DSL service more reliable, trustworthy as well as customized. However, the

Outsourcing And Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Outsourcing And Supply Chain Management - Essay Example India is one of the world’s top destinations for outsourced work. Companies along with manufacturing parts they also outsourced their services. Functions like customer service are often outsourced to call centers outside the United States. One of primary advantages of outsourcing is that it enables companies to reduce costs. One of the disadvantages of outsourcing work is that the company loses the ability to control its quality. Another advantage of outsourcing is that it creates flexibility for an enterprise. The cost savings achieve through outsourcing can be a critical success factor that keeps a particular company in business. In the auto industry companies often outsourced the production of auto parts. My sister was a victim of outsourcing because her company shut down operations in America to move to Asia. Answers.com (2011). Outsourcing. Retrieved February 13, 2011 from http://www.answers.com/topic/outsourcing 2. The supply chain management of an organization is a very important factor that can make or break a company. Supply chain management is the combination of art and science that goes into improving the way your company finds the raw components it needs to make a product or service and deliver it to customers (Wailgum, 2008). A company that in the 1990’s was able to separate itself from the competition due to its unique supply chain management techniques was Dell Corporation. Dell revolutionized the computer industry by becoming the first virtual computer company. The firm saved a lot of money in inventory costs by delivering turn-key computer products to its customers. A few years ago I worked for a company that changed its suppliers three times during a year due to the fact that none of the companies supplied raw materials would provide an adequate level of service. Wailgum, T. (2008). Supply Chain Management Definition and Solution. Retrieved February 13, 2011 from http://www.cio.com/article/40940/Supply_Chain_Management_Definition _and_Solutions 3. Outsourcing has gotten a bad reputation from many Americans who viewed outsourcing as an evil business strategy that is hurting the US economy by taking jobs oversee. The reality is that outsourcing is saving more jobs than what is taking away. If American companies did not utilize outsourcing on many occasions these firms would not be able to compete. Outsourcing provides companies with much needed savings. The savings achieved through outsourcing enables companies in America to keep their prices competitive. 4. Outsourcing has become a very popular concept that is gaining popularity across America. In 2010 the television broadcasting network NBC developed a parody series called Outsourcing. The series is a comedy that illustrates how American companies are moving their service operations to India in order to reduce costs. In the series only the manager is American, while the rest of the staff is composed of India workers. When I watched this series I sometimes as k myself how spread is the outsourcing movement in America. In the series the workers are highly competent salespeople that get the job done. 5. In a way outsourcing affects most businesses in America directly or indirectly. You mentioned that in your dentistry practice the business is affected by outsourcing from the material acquisition perspective. Many companies nowadays choose to buy parts and raw materials from China and India due to their lower costs. Purchasing materials from these countries enables American companies to be able to keep their prices low. Businesses are not the only ones looking for a bargain these days. The internet has allowed people to compare prices and find the lowest possible price on their purchases. 6. Your response was very insightful

Controlling Organized Crime Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Controlling Organized Crime - Research Paper Example In addition, the proponent also describes the legal limitations associated with combating organized crime, including a critique of major federal laws and strategies that support this effort. Furthermore, in this paper, the proponent also suggests a realistic solution to control organized crime by discussing and evaluating the effectiveness of organized crime prosecutions. Problems and relationships established by organized crime Since organized crime associates itself with violent behaviors and culture, it usually results to criminal activities (Mallory, 2007; Lyman & Potter, 2007). These criminal activities include but not limited to â€Å"drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, nuclear smuggling, refugee movements, uncontrolled and illegal immigration, environmental risks and international terrorisms† (Edgar & Ifantis, 2007; Dandurand, 2007). Not only that, there are remarkable proofs associating organized crime with major corporations in massive organized criminali ty, corrupt relationship development, money laundering and drug trafficking (Lyman & Potter, 2007). These are all corresponding problems associated with organized crime. However, the sad part of this story is that these problems associated with organized crime substantially mirror the international troubles or global massive occurrence of criminality. In other words, organized crime groups have become complex in their control and even parameter. This leads the authority to place its entire effort in a substantially challenging way especially in alleviating or controlling illegal and criminal activities associated with organized crime. The problems therefore associated with the establishment of organized crime have become remarkably complex, leading every concern or nation to take courage in doing their fair share in combating its existence. After all, organized crime could now readily associate itself in whatever illegal activities in the world for as long as there is involvement of the achievement of its personal gain. Legal limitation associated with combating organized crime Combating organized crime indeed has legal limitation. For instance, there are some problems associated with organized crime which must move beyond the bound of sovereignty and traditional state responses (Edgar & Ifantis, 2007). The case of proliferating weapons of mass destruction is somehow something old but new due to varying legal acts incorporated to it by every nation or state. Therefore, as organized crime and its problems grow into massive portion of society’s issue with criminality, legal concerns must significantly rise as well in order to continue maintain peace and order situation that every person deserves for the protection and preservation of life, which is the fundamental civil right. However, some federal laws emancipated for addressing this concern might not fit well due to some other relevant issues. For example, the Patriot Act for instance is something benef icial in solving problems associated with crime especially those generated by the institution of organized crime. However, some issues against this act primarily concerned with the right and protection of individual identity. In other words, there are some legal concerns that at some point would hinder the full coverage of federal strategies in combating organized crime. On the other hand, the act of prosecutions cannot actually guarantee indictment. After all, the burden of proof

Legal Strategies to Protect the Civilians in Syria Research Paper

Legal Strategies to Protect the Civilians in Syria - Research Paper Example The crisis in Syria has become a humanitarian crisis. The Syrian regime has committed mass atrocities against the population, most used one being the crimes against humanity. Some legal analysts argue that Syrian regime is on the verge of committing genocide, as the Alawi minority dominates the country and is currently fighting the Sunni majority. Moreover, a humanitarian disaster is present, as thousands have fled Syria and burdened neighboring countries such as Turkey. With only few solutions available under the international law to the Syrian conflict, even the ones at hand are either not politically feasible, or need UNSC authorization. Under the international law, military intervention in another country of any kind must be authorized by the UNSC, and it must be done in cases where human rights are in some way violated on a massive scale. The international community has a duty to protect Syrian civilians. There are many prerogatives that demand protection of civilians, two of wh ich are crucial for Syria. The first is the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), aiming to protect civilians from mass atrocities, and the second is elements of the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts (POC). Under elements of POC referring to a conflict, the international community is again obliged to assist civilians and address their most basic needs. The proposed solutions so far have been mostly focused on either intervention or diplomacy. Military intervention conducted in the same style as in Libya has been proposed by some legal analysts. However, others claim that Russia and China would never vote in favor of such an intervention in UNSC. Moreover, factors present in Libya are absent in Syria, and thus an intervention of any type cannot take place. Instead, others propose the use of diplomacy through sanctions and referral of the regime members to the International Criminal Court (ICC) under the Statute of Rome. Since Syria signed the Statute, even in the absence of its r atification, ICC is authorized to prosecute Syrian regime members. However, again, UNSC referral to ICC is needed. Russia and China will never interfere with Syrian sovereignty. A third solution, also based on diplomacy, would be more feasible. It would be to ignore the Statute of Rome and simply allow the Syrian regime to save face and find a common dialogue with the opposition through an organized ceasefire agreement and peacekeeping mission. This option would be based on diplomacy. Sanctions on Syria are crucial in this option, but so is the option offered to the Syrian regime to leave and let the opposition take over the country. Ceasefire agreement would be arranged through sanctions. Once it would take place, peacekeepers would enter the country. The latter would need to be authorized by UNSC, but chances are higher that the resolution would pass, as it is non – interventionist and it does not involve ICC. Kofi Annan or another high profile figure in the Middle East cou ld be used to mediate the negotiations. This option could include a gradual transition to a consolidated democratic system through retention of the former regime members who

On Arabian Culture Essay Example for Free

On Arabian Culture Essay The literature on social diversity and cleavages in Arab society and the Middle East as a whole suffers from several fallacies, two of which are most pertinent here. One is the tendency, particularly among Orientalists, to speak both of the mosaic nature of Arab society and of the existence of a unified mentality, or one Arab mind, without any awareness of the contradiction between these two abstractions. The other is the emphasis either on communal cleavages or on class conflicts, with the result that one becomes explanatory while the other is ignored. The interplay and coincidence of these two cleavages are rarely examined in their historical and social contexts. How can an individual define the diversity of Arab society? The diversity that characterizes Arab society needs to be analyzed within a three-dimensional framework: (a) a homogeneity-heterogeneity continuum; (b) the processes of conflict-accommodation-assimilation; and (c) social class cleavages. The continuum that covers the range from a completely homogeneous society to one of great heterogeneity encompasses a complex system of vertical loyalties and communal differentiations (ethnic, linguistic, sectarian, tribal, local, regional, and the like) that coincides as well as conflicts with social class cleavages. Arab society has historically been highly heterogeneous. Certainly, one may argue that there has recently been a resurgence of communal loyalties and mobilization, confirming the mosaic and segmentary structures of society. What cannot be granted is the static conception of these loyalties and cleavage as permanent, unchanging forms of differentiation. What is Arab society in general? The characterization of Arab society as heterogeneous, however, needs to be accompanied by an explicit clarification that not all Arab countries are similar in this respect. In fact, they differ widely in regard to their positions on the homogeneity-heterogeneity continuum. Compared to other Arab countries, Egypt and Tunisia, for instance, may be described as rather homogeneous as far as communal cleavages are concerned. These two countries tend to have fewer ethnic, religious, and tribal differences (and, hence, conflicts) than other Arab societies, and are characterized more by social complexity and social class cleavages. A second group of Arab countries, such as Lebanon and Sudan, occupy a position close to the opposite end of the continuum, each being more of a mosaic in structure and social composition. A third set, such as Syria, Algeria, Arabia, and Morocco, tend to occupy positions more in the middle of the continuum. Conventional Western literature on Arab and other Middle Eastern societies has persistently avoided any serious discussion of social class structure. Instead, it has conceived of Arab societies simply as a mosaic. At the margin of this mainstream discourse, however, there has been some occasional speculation on problems of social stratification. Whenever a discussion of this nature has taken place, it has evolved into a heated exchange. One point of view reaffirms the conclusions of the mosaic model and questions the relevance of class analysis. For instance, C. A. O. van Niewenhuijze and James Bill, in separate works, dismiss class analysis in economic terms and instead use Weberian concepts of status and power. Similarly, Iliya Harik has more recently dismissed the thesis put forward by some writers that the Lebanese civil war is actually a class struggle and expressed his â€Å"belief that class distinctions in Lebanon are too obscure to sustain the class struggle argument†. Bryan S. Turner, by contrast, has pointed out that anyone â€Å"who wants to develop a Marxist analysis of North Africa and the Middle East must start with a critique of the mosaic theory and all its related assumptions†. Such a critique, he explains, is required because mosaic analysts believe â€Å"that traditional Middle Eastern societies were not class dominated and that in the modern Middle East social class is only in the process of emerging alongside other forms of social stratification†. Nicholas S. Hopkins has applied ideas of class derived from the Marxist tradition to changes in the social structure of an agricultural town in Tunisia, concluding that essential changes in the mechanization of agriculture and in the improvement of communications â€Å"led to a shift in the organization of work away from a pattern based on mobilization of labor within the household or the extended kindred . . . and toward a pattern of labor determined by wage labor†. Consequently, this Tunisian agricultural town has shifted from a society in which rank was based â€Å"on vertical rather than on horizontal links† to one â€Å"based on class†. Hopkins argues further that not only is there class in the objective sense, â€Å"there is also class consciousness, at least in embryonic, symbolic form†. My own view is that the persistence of communal cleavages complicates rather than nullifies social class consciousness and struggle. This persistence of communal cleavages and vertical loyalties in some Arab countries is owing to the perpetuation of traditional systems in which communities are linked to their local zaims (traditional leaders) through patron-client relationships. To the extent that constructive change can be introduced in these areas, such traditional systems will give way, increasingly, to other social and class relationships. Reference: Gutas, D. (1998). Greek Thought, Arab Culture : The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early Abbasid Society (2nd-4th 8th-10th C. ): Routledge. Rejwan, N. (1998). Arabs Face the Modern World: Religious, Cultural, and Political Responses to the West: Gainesville University Press of Florida. Szarmach, P. E. (1979). Aspects of Jewish Culture in the Middle Ages: Albany State University of New York Press

What Are The Benefits Of Eco Briquettes Environmental Sciences Essay

What Are The Benefits Of Eco Briquettes Environmental Sciences Essay Unsustainable of earths resources and environmental problems are major current problems that occurred by over consumption and inefficient way of using. Climate change, resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, and air pollution has a major impact on many citizens and the earth which require people change their current behavior. Climate change and global warming are part of serious issues these days and are also part of the most important global environmental challenges, with implications for food production, water supply, health, energy and so on. Addressing climate change requires a good scientific understanding as well as coordinated action at national and global level from. PTT 328 PTT is the largest energy company in Thailand which the groups principal activity is the operation of petroleum business. The Group also engages in the exploration and production of petroleum, operation of natural gas, international trading of crude oil, condensate, petroleum and petrochemical products and investment in domestic refining and petrochemical industries. Its vision and mission are to be the preeminent Thai energy corporation, operating fully integrated oil and gas business, and total energy services. PTT has a clear goal over Quality, Safety, Health and Environment (QSHE). Regarded as the core component of sustainable development, QSHE has been analyzed and assessed with the needs of the stakeholders in mind. In conducting energy businesses, it is inevitable for operators to face risks concerning Quality, Safety, Health, and Environment (QSHE). Concerning this, PTT has constantly paid full attention to the control, prevention, and minimization of these risks faced by sta keholders; customers, suppliers, contractors, shareholders, communities, staff, and the environment as a whole. The company has applied productivity tools and QSHE management systems in all its units to improve its efficiency and the quality of life of staff and communities, and to steadily promote image in the companys social and environmental responsibilities. These measures have successfully instilled greater confidence in investors and favored PTTs international business undertaking. However, sustainable building of business also covers the product which its property and production process is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a buildings life-cycle. All of these elements have to concern of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Biomass briquette is an ideal biomass fuel which can enhance the PTTs environmental performance more effective and visual because this the product including raw material, production process and new technologies are develope d to create greener activities to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by: Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity Recycling waste, reducing pollution and environmental degradation. Biomass briquettes Biomass briquettes are an affordable alternative fuel to coal and other solid combustible fuels which are produced by converting low bulk density biomass into high density solid fuels (Werther et al. 2000). Biomass briquetting plants are consisted of various types of machines to support different raw materials (KriÃ…Â ¾an et al. 2009). Biomass briquettes are non-conventional source of energy, renewable in nature, eco friendly, non-polluting and economical (Wilaipon 2007). In addition, it has been claimed thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.the process of converting biomass to solid fuel is also non-polluting; therefore the process and product are 100 % natural. Briquette is an ideal Bio-fuel because of the following reasons: Eco friendly renewable energy fuel. Economical and cheaper than other solid fuels. Thermal calorific value approximately 4000 Kcal/Kg. Pollution free non-hazardous. Lower ash content 4% 8%. There is no fly ash when burnt. Consistent high burning efficiency. Easy for transportation, feeding, and combustion. Combustion is more uniform. Biomass briquettes are an alternative green energy to coal, and are usually used to fire industrial boilers that produce steam including business which requires burn. Production process 400 Every year Thailand has millions of tons of agricultural wastes are generated. These agricultural wastes are treated a waste with no economic value and either none used or burnt inefficiently in their loose form causing air pollution. However, this waste can be turned into a completely environment-friendly source of energy through briquetting (Biomass briquettes Replacing coal and LPG.article). Groundnut shell Bamboo dust Paddy straw Sunflower stalk Tea waste Tobacco waste Bagasse (Sugarcane waste) Saw dust Coffee husk Wheat straw Mustard Jute waste Forestry wastes Cotton stalk Palm husk Wood chips Rice husk Reeds Soybeans husk Other agro wastes Table1. Sorts of raw material (based on Werther et al. 2000) Biomass briquettes are manufactured by the process of recycling agricultural wastes and forestry wastes. The machinery used is compatible with multiple agricultural wastes. The agro waste is first pulverized, sieved and then dried to required moisture content. This is then fed into the hopper of fuel briquette machine, which uses high compression between die and punch resulting into cylindrical briquettes. Cylindrical briquettes are thus formed due to carbonization, achieved by heating of surface. Figure1. The Biomass briquettes production process (based on Callejà ³n Ferre and Là ³pez Martà ­nez 2009) Process of Briquetting: Firstly, crushing machine prepares suitable size raw material for biomass briquetting plant by shredding the raw material after it is fed into the machine. After that a tiled metal screen will vibrate shredded remains until it separates from soil. Then, the remains plant materials were passed into a tank of continuous washing consists of a pivot drum made of screen. After washing the plant material, water is contaminated and low quality, it is brought to purify by water-purification system which is contained in the lowest of the tank. This system allows reused water for briquetting process. Secondly, drying machine prepare suitable moisture raw material for biomass briquette press. For briquetting press, it is only to control the moisture of raw material at a reasonable range that can make good result of biomass briquettes. Or the briquettes will be broken because of too loose or too dry. Thirdly, briquetting press machine makes the biomass material into briquettes. After the well pr eparation of raw metarial, briquetting is easy at right operation of biomass briquette press. When machine rise to over 300 centigrade, the material can be feeding continuously into briquetting press. First, the color of briquettes may be a little dark even black, but after a while, the color will be light to normal level coming out of biomass briquette machine. Finally, packing is the last process of briquetting process which the packing machine will load final biomass briquettes and then wrap with a thermal shrink wrap by thermal shrink wrapping machine Finished Product Briquettes Briquettes are ready substitute of lignite, coal and wood in industrial boiler and brick kiln for thermal application including households daily life. Biomass briquettes are non-conventional source of energy, eco-friendly, renewable in nature, non polluting and economical. Its made through binder less technique without use of any type of chemical so it is 100% natural. Compared to fire wood or loose biomass, briquettes give much higher boiler efficiency because of low moisture and higher density. Marketing 200 Explain how it could be marketed (academic resources) According to (Suksumek 2007) pollution problem by using lignite at Mae Moh Power plant in Thailand in 1992 and causing bad effect to villagers, power plant employees and crop of local communities, it creates negative image of using lignite and coal which Thai government solves the problem by import coal from oversea. Therefore, it is a good opportunity to market biomass briquette product in Thailand. The manufacturing, located in Thailand, provides a geographical advantage to Tesco because it is populatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Moreover, demand consumption of coal is high while low competition in clean fuel product as biomass briquette. Unit: Ktoe Table1. Forecast on Primary Energy Demand (based on Suksumek 2007) The multiple usage of the end product enables us to exploit the opportunities in both commercial and industrial markets. Our plant will cater to the SA and UK industrial and domestic commercial market such as steel manufacturing plants or electrical plants.There are plenty of potential markets for fuel briquettes in the cities and in the rural areas. The potential customers for the briquettes: Refractory Industries Gasifies System App Lamination Industries Spinning Mill Leather Industries Ceramic Industries Textile units Vegetable Plants Solvent Extraction Plant Rubber Industries Food Processing Industries Dyeing Units Milk Plant Any Industrial Thermal App Brick Making Units Chemical Industries Marketing Approaches Sponsorship: The plan recommends motivating customers perception and also improves customer relationships in term of green company and green product by integrating green initiatives into every aspect of the organization which links the association of the company and briquette product with an individual, event or organization to display in social responsibility. Using eco-labels and eco-logos on products or marketing materials: The plan aims to emphasize in term of green product by putting eco-label and eco-logos on briquettes packaging to increase customers awareness. Engaging customers in green marketing: The marketing plan will motivate consumers by encouraging them to participate and engage in the campaign or directly with the product through green clubcard. E-marketing: In term of viral marketing, the plan will target online resources like Tescos website chatroom, article media, emails online events and will sell the product through Tescos own website. Personal Selling: Due to briquette is low-value product and it is required to use in many industries; therefore face-to-face contact provides better opportunity to sell briquette for large quantity to industries. Distribution 45% of the product is exported to the UK retaining 55% of it for the Thailand market. Distribution in Thailand will be done directly to clients upon placing an order or known as Just-In-Time because the briquette products lead time is short. Moreover, it is available in every branches of Tesco store in Thailand while it is available in Tesco extra in UK. However, there is some amount of product storaged in warehouse to support an emergency. http://refrigeratedtrans.com/2010-emissions/testa_produce_building_green_distribution_center_0412/ Packing: Due to property of product and distance of transportation, the biomass briquette product would require strong and waterproof packaging. For this reasons, Thermal Shrink wrapping which is inexpensive and environmentally friendly is used as packaging of product. This elastic plastic wrap can also used to protect product when it is not in use. Moreover, it can be used for big and small items; therefore it provides an advantage to product and company for future development. In this process, briquettes are fed into the packing machine, heat is used to condense the sheets of packing material to mold, or shrink to the form of the content it will protect. Delivery Briquettes have high specific density; therefore it can withstand the stocks of long distance transport, loading and unloading. Furthermore, transportation costs are much less and storage requirement is drastically reduced. For delivery both in case of shipment and transportation, this plan concerns about climate change and environment friendly, and purposes to improve carbon footprint. The product will be delivered with sharing lorry by working in partnership with other companies and suppliers in domestic and international.   For our own transportation, we will use more and more double-decker trailers, which carry 55 percent more products per journey (single deck: 45, double deck: 75 cages per trip). In addition, battery-powered vans are making deliveries for our online store, Tesco.com which will save around 180 tonnes of CO2 each year. From these effective deliveries, Tesco can reduce CO2 emission, save cost and gain higher profit. Conclusion 150