Same sex marriage Essay Example for Free

Same sex marriage Essay By making marriage the apex of intimate relationships and the primary site for interpersonal rights and responsibilities. Marriage is not â€Å"just† anintimate relationship or sacred institution but a nexus of the personaland the instrumental, the emotional and the legal. It can be whimsy andromance, but it can also be strategy and financial respite.Until your lifepartner lies dying in the hospital and you are barred from the room, oryou lose your job for taking time off to care for (and possibly grieve for)her, it may not be so immediately and painfully apparent how instrumentalmarriage rights are. It is striking, in fact, how quickly â€Å"rights†come to the forefront of the discourse for everyone, when the matterfor discussion is not simply (presumably heterosexual) â€Å"marriage† butis instead qualified as â€Å"same-sex marriage.† Put these phrases into everyday conversation and ones sees the point of departure: in a conversationamong heterosexuals, the word â€Å"marriage† is most likely broughtup when someone is talking about a â€Å"happy marriage† or a â€Å"bad marriage†Ã¢â‚¬â€an upcoming wedding or, perhaps, a marriage falling apart. Itis notably personal and relational. Add â€Å"same-sex† to the word â€Å"marriage†instead, and a political debate is invoked. It is no longer simplya personal relationship but a civil right, a â€Å"wedge issue,† or a subject oflitigation. The articulation of marriage as a right—and specifically one denied to gays and lesbians as a class—is not itself without controversy. Is the Philippines ready to frame thepursuit of marriage equality as a pursuit of â€Å"special rights† for gays and lesbians? 1.1 Statement of the problem 1. What are the factors that trigger same-sex marriage? 2. How many percent of the population are against or in favor in same-sex marriage? 3. How same-sex marriage affects society? 4. What would be the effect of same-sex marriage to Philippine society? 1.2 Significance of the study Thisstudy will help to prevent the idea of allowing two persons of the same gender to enter marriage. This prevents the trigger of dismemberment of each family. It will help the youths for not planning to enter same-sex marriage. It also helps them to recognize that same-sex marriage is showing immorality.

Consumer Buying Behavior Towards Chocolates Marketing Essay

Consumer Buying Behavior Towards Chocolates Marketing Essay As consumers, we play a very vital role in the health of the economy local, national or international. The decision we make concerning our consumption behavior affect the demand for the basic raw materials, for the transportation, for the banking, for the production; they effect the employment of workers and deployment of resources and success of some industries and failures of others. Thus marketer must understand this. In order to become a successful marketer, he must know the liking or disliking of the customers. He must also know the time and the quantity of goods and services, a consumer may purchase, so that he may store the goods or provide the services according to the likings of the consumers. Based on the attribute that different buyer seeks while making purchase decision, marketers has to device appropriate marketing mix to position their product in the targeted market(s). Through this descriptive study we have tried to analyze the various attribute that different buyer seeks while making purchase of chocolates of different size and quantity for different purposes altogether with significant differences in favorite brand; flavor; price and place of buying etc. Also, we have tried to examine the various degree of relationship that exist between the different attributes of the product that consumer favors and the brand loyalty that consumer have toward his liked brand. Also main emphasis is laid to find out what results in brand loyalty and is this relationship is significant with changing marketplace. Keywords: Chocolate, Consumer behavior, Consumption INTRODUCTION: If people thought that chocolates were just restricted to kids think again. According to a recent study conducted by a major chocolate brand in India the major consumers of chocolates apart from kids are teenagers and people between the ages of 15 35. Chocolates which were considered expensive once have now become affordable by one and all. Most of the chocolate brands in India produce chocolates in different sizes that are priced according to their sizes. Chocolates like Diary Milk and Five Star can be got for just  `  10. Chocolates in India are slowly and steadily substituting the mithai or traditional Indian sweets. Due to the increasing levels of social consciousness people prefer gifting well wrapped chocolate packets rather than sweets on occasions and festivals. Taking advantage of this situation the top chocolate brands in India are now concentrating on the packaging and are introducing well packaged chocolates for specific occasions.   OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to make generalization of consumers buying behavior towards the purchase of chocolates and than to measure the extent of brand loyalty, altogether with knowing what other marketing mix variable affect buyers decision regarding the purchase of chocolates. This study is a step toward generalizing the consumer purchase pertaining to following major set objectives: To know the customer behavior and to identify the level of customer satisfaction towards different brands of chocolates. To know the significant promotion mix that plays role in particular market. To test the brand loyalty among different gender of different age. CONSUMPTION OF CHOCOLATES IN INDIA Chocolate consumption is gaining popularity in India due to increasing prosperity coupled with a shift in food habits, pushing up the countrys cocoa imports. Chocolate market in India is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore and is growing at the rate of 18 20 per cent per annum. The global chocolate market is estimated around $80 billion. The Indian chocolate market is seen growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 15-20%. The Indian chocolate market is thought to be worth some R1,500 crore and has been hailed as offering great potential for Western chocolate manufacturers as the market is still in its early stages. Over 70% of chocolate consumption takes place in the urban areas. Chocolate consumption in the rural areas is negligible in India. Chocolate market is a highly concentrated market, with Cadbury having 70 per cent and Nestle around 20 per cent. The two giants have been instrumental in building up the chocolate market in India with huge investments in product development, advertis ing and brand building. Modern trade constitutes about 10% of the overall chocolate category, or roughly Rs 320 crore, according to Nielsen. Of this, brand Cadbury Dairy Milk has a share of 35%, while Bournville and Silk together account for 18%. Facts Figures: Indian Chocolate Industry as today is dominated by two companies, both multinationals. The market leader is Cadbury with a lions share of 70%. The companys brands like Five Star, Gems, Éclairs, Perk, Dairy Milk are leaders in their segments. Until early 90s, Cadbury had a market share of over 80 %, but its party was spoiled when Nestle appeared on the scene. The other one has introduced its international brands in the country (Kit Kat, Lions), and now commands approximately 15% market share.  Bars or molded chocolates like Dairy Milk, Amul, Nestle Premium, and Truffle account for 35 40 per cent of the total market (in terms of volume). The Count chocolates such as Five Star, Kitkat, Perk etc. is the next largest segment, accounting for 30 per cent of the total market. Panned chocolates enjoy 10 per cent of the total market share. In India, chocolates are consumed as excitement / enjoyment and not as snack. Therefore, more than 75 per cent of chocolate purchases are impulse. Ch ocolate consumption in India has nearly trebled since 2005, which is the reason why leading chocolate companies are investing in bringing premium brands such as Toblerone. Seasonal and boxed assorted chocolates have been experiencing the fastest growth, and sales are expected to expand 13% between 2010 and 2015. Cadbury India, which has been on an overdrive to promote its premium brands such as Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk and Bournville, is now rolling out Toblerone from parent Kraft Foods stable. The per capita consumption of chocolates in India, according to Chandramouli Venkatesan, director (snacking strategy), Cadbury India, has increased from 40gm per person per year in 2005 to 110-120gm. However, the launch of Toblerone is in line with Cadbury Indias business objective of growing the premium-gifting chocolate market. Gifting is a Rs 15,000-crore category in India, of which branded chocolate gifting is about 6%. Cadbury Indias share in branded chocolate gifting is 80%. Despite the fact that Indians have strong affinity for sweets, the size of domestic confectionery market is small on account of traditional consumer tastes and habits. The Chocolate market in India is a niche market penetrated largely in urban areas and per capita consumption is low as compared to those in developed countries of the West. Cadbury Indias main source of revenue is its 70% bite of the 23,000 tonnes Indian chocolate market. Advertisement Trends (AdEx division of TAM Media Research) Regional GEC took the second place with a 21 per cent share ad volumes of chocolates, followed by Hindi movie with 13 per cent share during January-November 2007. Cadbury India Ltd was way ahead of its peers with 66 per cent share followed by Nestle India Ltd and Parle Products Private Ltd during January-November 2007. As expected chocolate advertising skewed towards kids channels and regional GEC took the second position. Cadbury India Ltd rules chocolate advertising on television. Chocolate advertising rose by 30 per cent during January-November 2007 compared to January-November 2006. Maximum chocolate advertising was during Raksha Bandhan across 2005 and 2006 and January-November 2007. 17 per cent more advertising during third quarter 2007 (Raksha Bandhan festival) compared to first quarter 2007. LITERATURE REVIEW After having detailed study of Principles of marketing management book by Kotler and Keller, we came to know about consumer purchasing behavior and other various attributes of marketing mix like place and product strategy in alignment with promotion and pricing strategies and concept of brand loyalty with all the major attributes of a good brand. Beside this detailed study of various research papers and articles has also been made to know the practical applicability of the concept. Consumer leant about chocolate from many sources, mainly from friends and families, through advertisement and from their own experience. Whether a promotion and advertising hurt or help a brand is under-researched (Mela, Gupta Lehman, 1997). In the long-run, advertisement help brands by making consumer less price sensitive and more loyal. The purchase decision pertaining to particular brand and loyalty is a result of various attributes of the product. Advertisers must remember that advertising messages are interpreted differently between different genders (Maldonando, Tansuhaj Muehling, 2003; Hogg Garrow, 2003; Putrevu, 2001). Previous studies have proven that females were more likely to engage in elaboration than men (Maldonado Muehling, 2003). Hogg and Garrow (2003) found that women paid more intention about the details of the characters of an ad when asked to analyze advertising messages. They said that this may be explained by the fact that females have a greater tendency than men to consider external information and information related to others. Women are comprehensive processors who try to gather all available information about the product Advertisement can change consumers perception of a product in terms of attributes content and proportion and also influence consumers taste for attributes (Gwin Gwin, 2003). Brand preference and product attribute: Attributes are the characteristic or features that an object may or may not have and includes both intrinsic and extrinsic (Mowen Minor, 1998). Understanding why a consumer choose a product based upon its attributes helps marketers to understand why some consumers have preferences for certain brands (Gwin Gwin, 2003). Both tangible and intangible attributes of a product are equally important in choosing a product or brand (Myers, 2003). There is no evidence that certain attributes are more related to customer loyalty than others (Romariuk Sharp, 2003). Romariuk and Sharp (2003) suggested that marketers should focus more on how many attributes the brand should be associated with and not what attributes. For low-involvement products, consumers have more objective view of the nature of the attributes (e.g. food, cosmetics) because they are constantly being advertised and promoted. Price is another form of attribute used by consumers to evaluate a product. Price can sometimes be an indicator of quality; with a higher price indicating higher quality (Mowen Minor, 1998; Siu Wong, 2002). Consumers perceive that a higher price can be attributed to the higher cost of quality control (Siu Wong, 2002). Some consumers are highly price sensitive (elastic demand), whereby a high prices may shift consumers to competitive brands (Mowen Minor, 1998). Therefore price can have a positive or negative influence on customers. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In this study the problem pertains to both State of nature and relationship among the variable i.e.; what is general behavior of consumer and than inferenceing the relationship that exist among the different variables to test the extent of brand loyalty and influence of one variable over the other from the data. As the study is related to the study of consumer behavior toward chocolates thats why the appropriate research design used is Fundamental descriptive with the use of both qualitative and quantitative design with static research approach. Formalized research design is also taken into consideration in order to test the Hypothesis framed. In this cross sectional co-relational field study data related to various independent variables dependent variables was collected from the stratified sample of 100 individuals, including males and females of different age groups constituting the sample. All the respondents were approached on the basis of simple random sampling in convenient ma rket place to ensure the accuracy precision of results. Personally administrated questionnaires were used for conducting the survey. INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS: In our study 48% (41) of respondent are males while 52% (45) of respondent were females. In this 57% (49) respondent are student, 16% (14) were professional, 13% (11) were businessman while 14% (12) respondent were females. 33% respondent includes people of age group 10-18, while other includes those of age 19-59. Q.1 who do purchase how frequently and how much they purchase Out of 86 respondents 13 (15%) respondents buy chocolates daily while 35 (41%) of them buy it weekly compared to 16 (19%) who buy them monthly against 22 (25%) respondents who buys it occasionally. In this 12% of males buy daily while 14% of female buy it daily. While 42% of males buy chocolates in a week against 33% of females, whereas 31% of females like to buy chocolate in a month compared to 22% of males. The result of collected sample reveals that 62% (53) respondent buys less than 5 chocolates a week, while 28% (24) people buys 5-10 chocolates a week. Only 3% of respondent said that they buy more than 15 chocolates an week against 7% who buys 10-15 chocolates a week. The analysis of sample data results that females buy more chocolates than males in a week as 38% of them buy 6-10 chocolates while only 17% of males do so. 73% of males generally buy chocolate in between 1-5 packs a week compared to 51% of female respondent. It is analyzed that 21% (18) of respondent purchases chocolate costing between 5-10 Rs while 47% (40) buys chocolate that cost 10-20 Rs. Chocolates costing 20-50 Rs is preferred only by 24% (21) of respondent and only 7 (8%) out of 86 respondent buys chocolates costing more than Rs 50. Price of chocolate significantly affect different gender differently as 22% female purchase chocolates costing 5-10 Rs against 19% males, while 49% of females prefers to buy those costing in between 10-20 Rs as against 44% of males. 32% Males buy chocolates those costing in between 20-50 Rs compared to 18% of female buying the same. Q.2 For whom it is purchased In collected sample 41% (35) respondent buys chocolates for self consumption against 29% (25) who never buys for them-self. Among them 44% (38) respondent purchases for children against 15% (13) who never buys for childrens. 28% (24) of respondent buys chocolates only for the gifting. The percentage of those who buys always and never for special occasion is approximately 27% and 24% respectively. Analysis shows that 42% of females always buy choclates for self consumption where only 39% of males do same for self consumption. When it comes for buying choclates for children than insignificant of gender both have same buying behaviour. Males seems to gift chocolate more than female as 20% of them buy it for gifting compared to 12% of females. Q.3 what motivate to buy chocolate In a study of 86 respondent it was found that 17% (15)of the respondent were very tempted by the display ads while 34% (29) respondent are moderately affected by the display ads while it has no affect on purchase decision of 13% (11) of respondent. In the undertaken study visual ads highly affect 41% (35) respondent while only 9% (8) of respondent are not affected by it. 24% (21) of respondent perceives affect of family and friends on their purchase decision while it has no affect on 5% (4) of respondent. This shows that family and friends has very high affect on purchase decision of chocolates buyers. Very insignificant numbers of respondent only 2% are affected by sales-man persuasion while it has no affect on 49% (42) of respondent. Also celebrity endorsement has only a moderate influence on purchase decision of respondents. Only 9% respondent are affected by celebrity endorsement compared to no affect on 16% respondents. 42% females are affected by visual advertisment against 39% of males while the display ads affect male more compared to females with 24% and 11% of significant impact on purchase decision respectively. Also family and friend affect females(27%) more against males (22%). Q.4 Important Attribute of the chocolate It can be inferred from study that taste is very important for buying chocolate 95%males 93% females buy chocolates because of taste. 54% males 49% females are showing neutral response to availability, while 27% males 36% females say that availability is most important for buying chocolate. 19% males 15% females have least impact of availability. Price is most important consideration for 29% males 33% females. It affects 42% males 29% females moderately. For 29% males 38% female price is least important. Packaging seems to impact purchase decision of 49% males 58% females moderately during purchase of chocolates. For 22% males 27% females packaging is most important consideration for buying chocolate. 29% males 15 % females have least impact of packaging. Q.5 Advertisement seems to have moderate impact on purchase decision irrespective of gender; however 29% males 22% females are mostly affected by advertisement. 17% males 24% females are not affected by advertisement. Q.6 Forms of chocolate impact 54% males 44% females moderately while 24% males 27% females are mostly affected by form of chocolate. 22% males 29% females are least impacted by form. 80% chocolate buyer seems to buy particular brand against 7% who do not care for the brand name Q.7 how advertisements persuade consumers to purchase Sample in hands results that 20% of people like to buy due to emotion in their advertisement while 43% of respondent love fun in advertisement while only 27% of people like knowledge in the promotion mix against 10% of people who likes music/jingle. So it can be concluded that people watch and are persuaded due to fun content in the advertising of the chocolate more than any other factor. While analysing data on the basis of gender it can inferred that males (81%) like fun and emotional content in advertisement than females(47%), while female (33%) prefer knowledge content more than males (19%). While 20% of female loves music and jingles in comparison no male like it. Q.8 which brand mostly prefered by consumers In the undertaken study it was found that Cadbury is the most favoured brand with 70% of share as against 21% of Nestle, 4% 5% respectively for Amul and miscellaneous ones. It can be inferred from the collected data that females (71%) like Cadbury more than males (68%), while males prefer nestle (24%) more than that of females (18%). While demand for Amul chocolates is found to be very insignificant and equal in both the gender. Q.9 effect of increament in rates The sample analysis say that 82% respondent are highly brand loyal as 18% of them will buy the costly pack of same and 64% of them will not show any change in demand pattern. Only 5% of respondent are in favour of shifting brand against 13% who will reduce the purchase quantity if the rate increases by 2-5 Rs. The deep gender-wise analyses of result show that both genders are equally brand loyal towards price sensitivity. Results show that around 64% (in both gender) will have no change in their purchase decision while 19% of them show positive relation toward buying as they will buy more thinking quality has improved. Also its seems that Law of demand (increase case) operate on males more than females as 15% 11% of them will reduce buying chocolate with increase in prices. Q.10 from where consumers mostly buy The sample study results show that 35% (30) respondent buys from local shop against 49% (42), 7% (6) and 9% (8) respondent who buys from store, cafeteria and malls respectively. In this study, males (42%) prefer to buy more from local shop than compared to females (29%) while female (55%) prefer to buy more from stores against males (41%). While the ratio of buying from malls and cafeteria reveals there is no significant impact of it on gender as both have almost equal choices in this regard. Q.11 what consumers do if preferred bran not available The analysis of sample data says that 9% of total respondent will buy costly pack of same brand while 56% of them will move to next shop. This shows that 65% of respondent are highly brand loyal against those 30% who will buy another brand or other (6%) will postpone their purchase decision. The analysis of sample data gives result that females are highly brand loyal than males as 71% of them will buy the costly pack of same brand or move to another shop compared to 59% of males if that particular is not available. While36 % males 24% female say that they will shift to another brand while 6% of both genders will postpone their purchase decision. Q.12 how much customer are loyal to specific brand To check brand loyalty and competitive affect we has analyzed that 15% of respondent will not buy any other brand while 53% of them may consider the same against 35% who are not sure of taking decision. Our study 41 male 45 female respondents were there if another brand of the same product appears in the market then 7% males 22% females will not buy the new brand. 64% males 44% females may be considering the new brand. 5% males 18% females shall not consider new brand. 24% males 16% females cant say they will buy new brand or not. CONCLUSION: In study of 86 respondents it was found that 95% (82) respondents like Cadbury Brand, 68% (59) respondents like Nestle Brand, 24% (21) of respondents like Amul Brand 1% respondents like Other Brand. So it can be concluded that Cadbury is most famous brand among others. 50% Cadbury buyers like to buy Dairy milk out of 82 respondents 15% Cadbury buyers like to buy 5 Star out of 82 respondents. 10% Cadbury buyers like to buy Perk out of 82 respondents. So, the findings from study that most preferred chocolate are Dairy Milk out of Cadbury buyers. 36% of Nestle buyers like to buy Kit -Kat out of 59 respondents. 24% of Nestle buyers like to buy Éclairs out of 59 respondents. 20% of Nestle buyers like to buy Munch out of 59 respondents. 52% of Amul buyers like to buy Chocà ³ Mines out of 27 respondents. 48% of Amul buyers like to buy Chocà ³ Zoo out of 27 respondents. To be concluded that Kit -Kat and Chocà ³ Mines is most preferred chocolate in Nestle and Amul respectively. Also, it was found that 59% (51) of respondents like chocolate flavor, 23% (20) likes coffee flavor 20% (17) respondents like nuts flavor. So it can be concluded that chocolate is the most profitable flavor coffee second most profitable. APPENDIX 1. Ho = their exist no relationship between the gender who buy chocolate for self consumption, children, gift. Ha= Gender have significant impact on the purpose of buying chocolates. Gender Child Chi-Square(a,b) .186 13.000 Df 1 2 Asymp. Sig. .666 .002 Gender Gift Chi-Square(a,b) .186 34.907 Df 1 2 Asymp. Sig. .666 .000 Gender Self Chi-Square(a,b) .186 2.116 df 1 2 Asymp. Sig. .666 .347 After applying Chi square test on the data it is found calculated value of test is less than the tabulated one. It means that Ho is accepted thats prove that their is very insignificant difference in perception of both the gender and thus both gender buy chocolates for self consumption, gifting and children in a equitable amount. APPENDIX 2. Ho = their is no relationship in gender and frequency of buying chocolates Ha= Gender affect frequency of buying chocolates. Gender How Often Chi-Square(a,b) .186 13.256 Df 1 3 Asymp. Sig. .666 .004 our Ho is selected and Ha is discarded. Thus use of chi square test proves here that both the gender have similar frequency in buying chocolates. APPENDIX 3. Ho= Cost do not affect the purchase decision of diferent age group Ha = different age group have different perception towards cost Age Cost Chi-Square(a,b) 45.209 26.279 Df 30 3 Asymp. Sig. .037 .000 Here in this study it is found that the age and cost have significant relationship among them. It means different age group have different reaction towards different price levels. Thus our Ha is accepted and Ho is rejected. APPENDIX 4. Ho=Visual ads do not have different on different gender Ha=Visual ads affect different gender Gender Visual Ad Chi-Square(a,b) .186 32.256 Df 1 4 Asymp. Sig. .666 .000 Here Chi Square test show that tabulated value of Chi square is greater than calculated thats why our Ho is accepted, which means that there is no relationship betwen gender and visual ads. APPENDIX 5. Ho= The cost of chocolate do not affect the brand purchase Ha=The price of chocolate affect the brand purchased Cost Brand Chi-Square(a,b) 26.279 85.558 Df 3 2 Asymp. Sig. .000 .000 Here Chi Square test show that tabulated value of Chi square is greater than calculated thats why our Ho is accepted, which means that there is no relationship between cost and brand purchased.

A Reflective Account On The Decision Making Process

A Reflective Account On The Decision Making Process For this assignment, I have used Gibbs reflective cycle to reflect on the impact of psychosocial and cultural issues on decision making in dietetic practice. In this reflective piece, I have focused on how these factors contribute to malnutrition in the elderly. My patient was a 79 year old Caucasian lady, referred for nutrition support. She had experienced an unintentional weight loss of 10 kilograms (kg) over two years, since losing her husband. Her weight loss had become a serious concern for her, which led to her referral by her general practitioner (GP). During the consultation, she explained that she had lost 3kg in one month, which is when she started worrying as she noticed her clothes were loose. I examined her food diary and asked further questions to get an overall picture of how she was managing and if other factors were affecting her. She seemed to have an adequate diet, although at her last visit to her GP eight months prior, she was informed that she had impaired fasting glucose (IFG). She therefore decreased her intake of sugary foods for fear of becoming diabetic. When she mentioned she had lost her husband of 55 years, I immediately thought this was the reason for her weight loss. She admitted having battled with loneliness and depression for a while and that support from her son and family was helping her through this difficult time. However, although they visited at weekends, she had no other social support. She spent her time at home except for when she was out doing her weekly shopping. Several psychosocial factors emerged from this part of the consultation including bereavement and the state of depression, which she endured following this traumatic event . A significant attribute of bereavement and depression is appetite loss. She no longer had anyone to appreciate her cooking efforts and the deprivation of companionship at mealtimes became a reminder of her loss. A time of communication, joy and bonding had become a painful experience, leading to lack of interest in any activity related to food or eating, making it more of a chore . Eating is a social variable and part of our self and social identity, which also makes it a cultural variable. It is a structured part of ones everyday life and a valued social activity for most married people. Food habits developed throughout life are an important component of culture and strongly influence food decisions. The stress of bereavement can alter the social, psychological and cultural significance of food during this time . Other psychosocial determinants include access to food, and ability to cook and share meals with others . The patient was shopping for herself and consuming ready meals as she still struggled cooking just for one. It is common for elderly people to consume ready meals as it is convenient since they can buy and freeze them, and they are single portions . She only cooked when her son came to visit. I suggested joining a social club in the area, which could help improve her morale . Meal ambiance has been shown to improve levels of ingestion and is an important stimulus modulated to help increase appetite in places such as nursing homes . Unfortunately, she suffered from urinary incontinence (UI) and found it embarrassing to urinate so frequently when around people, so she declined. I decided it was best to encourage her in relation to her diet so that she felt she was already doing something to help herself and that her coming to see the dietitian would add to her efforts in trying to gain weight . Relocation and change of environment can also yield negative outcomes in terms of psychosocial disturbances such as, anxiety, depression and loneliness, associated with transferring from one place to another . She had recently moved to a smaller house, which was a stressful time for her. She had settled in but had had a hard time adjusting. This is an area I should have explored further. For example, had she made friends in the area; had she changed her eating habits due to limited access to foods she was used to having and so forth. These issues would have impacted on her intake and weight if they were causing her anxiety or depression . Financial constraint is another psychosocial factor to consider when giving dietary advice, as unaffordability affects intake . Cognitive decline is also associated with reduced intake in the elderly as they may not have the desire to eat or may forget to do so . According to her food diary and where she mentioned she was shopping from, she was not restricting herself. She was consuming three meals a day with snacks. However, as research suggests, misreporting of food diaries is common where patients try to present themselves more favourably . Alternatively, keeping the food diary may have acted as a reminder for her to eat. However, this issue was not explored on this occasion. Another psychosocial issue I considered was the food anxiety which had been created following the IFG test. Her GP had told her she was in the pre-diabetic stage and so she had eliminated most fruit and all high sugar foods from her diet as she was worried about becoming diabetic. Food habits are a set of culturally standardised set of behaviours which have been reared in individuals from childhood. Therefore, every person has a culture which dictates their eating behaviour . The burden of disease caused her to change her eating habits . She was anxious about eating foods with sugar, which formerly was a safe component of her diet. I explained that she did not have to exclude sugar from her diet completely. This created confusion as my advice was conflicting with that of her GPs. I clarified that she could still have small amounts of sugar in her but that she was wise to reduce on pure forms of sugar e.g. sweets. She was relieved to discover this and seemed happier that she could relax her diet. When negotiating her goals, I explored the cultural aspect of her diet as her compliance would be affected if I did not consider her current dietary habits. I looked at her meal pattern and food items. When discussing the food fortification process, I was able to relate this directly to specific foods in her diet. Using the appropriate wording is also important as for some, dinner may be evening meal, and tea may be a tea break mid-afternoon . By the end of the consultation, the patient said she felt better following our conversation as she had a clear idea of what she had to do. I wrote down her plan and she said she would buy herself some nice treats on her way home. I hoped that giving her tips on food fortification would give her more of an incentive to eat . Having explored this case in depth, I feel I could have been more thorough about her social life. I could have found out if she had close friends whom she could catch up with over cake and tea. Also, I could have suggested she see her GP about the UI as research shows that behavioural treatment, drugs, exercise or a combination of these can help better control UI. In turn, solving or reducing this problem could restore her confidence in leaving the house more often and lead to her increasing her social network . I could also have asked about her hobbies as this may have helped generate ideas to help improve her morale aswell . If I were to deal with such a situation again, in addition to what I did in this consultation, I would explore more of her cognitive function to see if this was having an impact on her intake. Decline in sensory function can also cause reduced intake as foods no longer taste or smell the same. Forgetting to eat is also common and may require distinct measures such as using an alarm clock as a reminder. I assumed that she was eating well from what she showed me in her food diary but I could have been more flexible in my questioning which may have helped to determine whether she was forgetting to have her meals .

The Hindenburg :: American America History

The Hindenburg The Inferno The arrival of the Hindenburg, thirteen hours behind schedule, at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on the evening of May 6, 1937, promised to be routine. The ship had an unblemished safety record on eighteen previous Atlantic crossings. In fact, no passenger had ever lost his life on any commercial airship. Still, because this was the beginning of the most ambitious season yet for airship voyages, reporters, photographers and news reel cameramen had their eyes and lenses focused on the great dirigible as it approached. When disaster struck it was sudden. Without warning flames gushed from within the Hindenburg's hull; thirty-two seconds later the airship lay on the ground, ravaged. Never had the sights and sounds of a disaster in progress been so graphically documented. Within a day, newspaper readers and theater audiences were confronted by fiery images of the Hindenburg. Radio listeners heard the emotional words of newsman Herb Morrison, sobbing into his recorder, "It's burning, bursting int o flames, and it's falling on the mooring mast and all the folks. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the world. . . . Oh, the humanity and all the passengers!(Marben 58)" When this floating cathedral, called the Hindenburg, burst into a geyser of flaming hydrogen there was a tremendous impact on the public, although two thirds of the people on board survived. Two theories about why it happened surfaced and this tragedy put an end to the short age of these massive airships. The demise of the Hindenburg had a searing impact on public consciousness that far surpassed the bare statistics of the calamity. Men and women escaped, even from this inferno. One elderly lady walked out by the normal exit as though nothing had happened and was unscratched. A fourteen-year-old cabin boy jumped to the ground into flames and smoke. He was almost unconscious from the fumes when a water-ballast bag collapsed over his head. He got out. One passenger hacked his way through a jungle of hot metal using his bare hands. Another emerged safely, only to have another passenger land upon him and cripple him. One man, at an open window with every chance to jump to safety, went back into the flames to his wife, both died. The final count was 36 dead, including 13 passengers. Nearly two thirds, of the 97 persons on board survived, but that fact was forever obscured, and the name Hindenburg became comparable only to the name Titanic(Abbott 69).

The Effects of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies on Humans Essa

The Effects of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies on Humans Abstract Humans have to deal with many different diseases and the ones most disliked are the ones with no cures. Like cancer, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies have no cure, but they are more rare. These diseases are prion diseases which cause the brain to deteriorate. Prions are proteins that sometimes behave like viruses, which mean that they should have some form of nucleic acid, but since they don’t, they cause abnormalities. The nervous system contains many normal prions, but when an abnormal prion comes along, it transforms all the normal prions into abnormal ones. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is found in cattle, but it can be transmitted to humans. The Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease affects the elderly for reasons unknown, while Kuru affects those who practice cannibalism. Scrapie is found only in sheep and the Chronic Wasting Disease is found in deer and elk. As of right now, Kuru and Scrapie are not known to infect humans. Prion diseases affect many animals, such as cattle, sheep, deer, elk and humans. All mammals have prions, which are proteins that are found abundantly in the nervous system. The brain contains the most prions and is therefore dominantly affected by disease. The prion disease found in cattle is called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. Humans contract this disease by eating infected cows. The elderly usually contract the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease for reasons unknown, and Kuru, which is extremely rare nowadays, is contracted by cannibalism. Scrapie infects sheep and the Chronic Wasting Disease infects deer and elk. Though there is no link to either Scrapie or Chronic Wasting Disease infecting humans, it is ... ...missible Spongiform Encephalopathies 6 References †¢ American Veterinary Medical Association. (2002, May). About Scrapie. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 7/25/05: http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/may02/s050102i.asp †¢ Australian Academy of Science. (1997, February). Mad Cow Disease-A Human Problem? Science. 7/25/05: http://www.science.org.au/nova/003/003key.htm †¢ CBC. (2003, December). Science and Symptoms. CBC News. 7/26/05: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/madcow/science.html †¢ University of Toronto. (2003, June). Researchers Discover Possible Diagnosis, Treatment, Vaccine for Mad Cow, Prion Diseases. Science Daily. 7/26/05: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/06/030602025719.htm †¢ U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2005, February). Prion Disease. Genetics Home Reference. 7/26/05: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=priondisease

Case Study Analysis on an Organisation Essay

Organisational change is something that occurs throughout an organisation’s life cycle and effects the entire organisation rather than one part of it. Employing a new person is one example. Change is increasing due to a number of forces including globalisation led by rapidly advancing technologies, cultural diversity, environmental resources and the economy; therefore the ability to recognise the need for change as well as implement change strategies effectively, in a proactive response to internal and external pressures is essential to organisational performance. Internal changes can include organisational structure, process and HR requirements and external changes involve government legislation, competitor movements and customer demand (Wood et al, 2010). Change does not need to be a painful process, as it may seem when observing the amount of failed change management initiatives with reports as low as 10% of researched success rates (Oakland & Tanner, 2007), when successful change management strategies are utilised and planned, including effective communication strategies, operational alignment, readiness to change and implementation, which all lower and overcome resistance (Wood et al, 2010). There is a great amount of literature on the negative aspects and difficult management with employees resisting change, however Wood et al (2010) challenge this notion by questioning the change management process as people do not resist change itself but aspects of the change that affects them personally such as fear of the unknown, status, remuneration and comfort. Resistance to these changes is a healthy reaction and can be managed effectively in the beginning by ensuring communication and using one of the change initiatives described here. Background Information Truelocal is based in Sydney, with small sales branches in Brisbane and Melbourne. It employs over 150 staff, an increase of approximately 50% over the past two years. It was founded in 2005 by NDM as part of an expanding operation of online websites to provide across the board consumer services, including news and magazine websites; online sport and weather information; and shopping comparison search engine, web-based recruitment, and travel search engine solutions [http://www. ewsdigitalmedia. com. au, accessed 25/08/2010]. As the world shifted into what is often referred to as the ‘digital info age’, consumer demand for online media as a way to source information significantly increased and demand for printed media decreased putting pressure on newspaper companies to expand to producing news and information online in digital format. This included News Corporation which decreased its newspaper operations and increased its digital expansion. As an employee at Truelocal for over six years, I have acquired this information presented here through interviews with management, company information and my own observations internally within the organisation’s sales department working in the roles of sales executive, account manager and senior retention account manager. The Need for Change – Management & Structure Truelocal needed to align its culture, values and structure with the parent company in order to meet strategic growth goals not long after it was founded. Wood et al (2010) describe the work of an author, Noel Tichey on managing strategic change. Experts use three fundamental sets of change in their approach; technical design, political allocation and culture/ideological mix problems. It is one of these problems that become a pressing issue at any one time of which then initiates the change. In Truelocal’s case there were a number of changes evolving and at this time it was culture problems. NDM has been growing in size since its establishment in 2006 with a number of acquired website operations, each operating as a separate business unit with the support of HR, Finance, IT, Commercial Operations and other support services provided by the parent company (NDM). A decision was made to align the organisation in terms of operations, culture and strategy so it could concentrate on innovation and performance to achieve its goal of becoming the number one provider of online information in Australia. As a result NDM redesigned its organisational structure as Truelocal and most of the other business units merged together in one location. Not long after this relocation, Truelocal began flattening out the company structure lead by a new management team and CEO. It has since been under constant change to achieve it’s goal to continue growth (both in number of staff and performance) and excel as a high performing and innovative company with an agenda of being the second largest online directory service in Australia after it’s competitor Sensis (Yellow pages online). Wood et al (2010) explain the performance gap is a desire to move from one less desired state to another. This can be seen by the increased performance after the change occurred and culture change was implemented. What changed Fundamental changes that occurred were a shift from the existing vertical, bureaucratic structure to a horizontal structure and change in specialist functioning of divisions creating a professional, corporate environmental culture that was customer focused. The existing culture was a casual attitude towards dress requirements, starting and finishing times, breaks, informal communication expression and channels and many staff were employed as friends of existing staff rather than based on competency and job skills. Some managers had their partners working for them and a few were family members. There didn’t appear to be any dress code and people came and left work at varying times. Additionally management employed more skilled staff, retrained existing staff and created processes of which procedures were then put in place. One of the ways these objectives were achieved was by the reduction of management layers resulting in more direct reporting. Wood et al (2010) explain as organisational size increases, the more interconnections and less direct communication between people takes place (Wood et al, 2010). Change Process When management at Truelocal uplifted existing management and reporting structures, staffs were initially left without direction, reporting channels, processes and goals were not clearly communicated causing a lot of uncertainty. Consequently many staff resigned as they felt upset and confused about what was happening. Truelocal however, retained some of the more experienced staff with new career development propositions and new managers were encouraging and open about future improvements that were to take place within the organisation. One of the ways Truelocal could have managed this change is by using the Freeze/Unfreeze concept; Wood et al (2010) explains Kurt Lewin, a famous organisational Psychologist’s three-force phase, which is needed for any organisation to be motivated to bring about the change of which are; 1) Unfreezing focuses on preparing people for change. This is a critical part of the change phase prior to implementation by analysing and influencing resistance and need to change. A common tool that is used at this stage is called Force Field Analysis, this measures these forces. ) Changing of people; tasks; structure; technology. Ideally the organisation will be completely unfrozen, ready for change and its goals made clear. It is recommended that staff are not perceived to have a sense of high or low security at this stage in order to avoid resistance. 3) Refreezing is the evaluation and reinforcement of the changes that took place. The new managers were recruited by Truelocal for their exp erience in organisational transformation within the type of professional, high performing, corporate environment the organisation desired and who worked at their competitor company. These managers were expected to manage the entire change process themselves. Change agents are people or groups who take responsibility for the change of behaviours and existing patterns in a supportive manner (Wood et al, 2010). The perceived risks however, are the responsibility of the organisation’s leader who decides on the direction of the change (Oakland & Tanner, 2007). Planned changes that took place were; Structure – change in organisational design by reporting systems, operational processes and size of teams, while roles were redefined by definition, job title and remuneration. Tasks – Most jobs were redesigned including more responsibility for staff in management roles and multi functional tasks for other staff. One of these job designs is called job enrichment, which is the increase and deepening of motivating factors built into a job (Wood et al, 2010). Some of these enrichments used by new management were increased responsibility and accountability, less control and more freedom in the job and more recognition. People – improvement of recruitment and selection process by advertising formal job vacancies on the organization’s intranet and incentives for staff to nominate candidates who were then formally interviewed by a number of managers. Additionally training sessions for new staff, coaching and certification courses were made available. Carless (2005) describes her research on the compatibility of job-person-organisation-environment fit. She believes a person must assess their attributes and personality with the job and organisational characteristics, which is likely to improve job satisfaction and adjustment to the environment. Culture – organisational values and beliefs were communicated from the parent company of which staff was rewarded when their behaviour displayed these values. Recognition was given in addition at meetings and performance appraisals. This is the observable culture, however as Wood et al (2010) explain, shared meanings and stories are other powerful aspects of culture and this can be observed at Truelocal by the high turnover of staff by both stories and norms that communicate the need to work hard to perform in the job or leave. Cultural symbols include trophies for ‘employee of the month’ awarded to the highest performer. These symbols serve to transmit cultural meaning (Wood et al, 2010). In the sales department a large subculture can be observed. Wood et al (2010) explain strong subcultures are often found in high performance task forces where people share similar values and backgrounds. This subculture included men between the ages of 22-30 yrs that have no formal education, drink alcohol excessively, and are passionate about technology, highly materialistic and view women as sex objects, which can often be observed by their language and behaviour. Moreover this culture is likely to be influenced by the national culture of which the organisation is embedded (Wood et al, 2010). In fact this subculture existed in the old culture before the restructure of which the company held ‘diversity training’ focused on discrimination and fairness within the workplace resulting in terminations. According to The Economist (2008), in the economic downturn companies need ‘Generation Y’ as hungry 25-35 year olds without commitment, for marketing and product innovation with emerging technologies, able to put in the time and energy to help them deal with recession hazards, especially in sales. Strategy – operations and planning were clarified at monthly and quarterly meetings including product changes. These were addressed by department managers regularly and CEO meetings irregularly, to engage staff. Wood et al (2010) explain leadership has changed from the traditional trait and behaviour approaches to transformational, charismatic, visionary focus and is separate from management. The leadership team at Truelocal formally includes the CEO and parent company (NDM) leaders. Their leadership function can be observed by their language and behaviours they use a transformational and visionary change approach. Objectives – specific performance targets were set allowing staff to earn a higher commission by overachieving set targets, recognition and prizes to increase motivation consistently. Purpose – both the CEO and the parent company made organisational goals clearly communicated vision and clarified progress regularly. Recognition was given for the contribution of each department and each business unit to the overall success of the organisation. These changes were managed by senior staff using a combination of change strategy approaches as explained by Wood et al (2010) that include a forced approach of top down command, one way communication, coercive reward and punishment approach, rationalisation approach and shared decision making, empowered approach. Of these approaches no single approach was concluded best by researchers on organisational change and it is advised that more commonly a combination will occur, however guidelines are offered to change agents and managers (Wood et al, 2010); – consider use of expert consultants – communicate the need for change feedback from employees – avoid changing for the sake of change – study organisational change and structures From this perspective Truelocal management took the right approach by varying the way they managed the change. Change Results The facilitation of clearer and faster communication channels enabled staff to work more efficiently and g et things done faster, along with improved technology. Further benefits of this structure were people collaborating in teams, using initiative and increased spontaneous communication while rules, procedures and close supervision were reduced as described in (Tushman, Anderson & O’Reilly, 1997). Wood et al (2010) describe the matrix structure is common in large organisations wanting to improve customer responsiveness. Truelocal’s reporting structure utilised this organisational design as part of the change, for example the finance manager reports to the CEO of Truelocal and to the Commercial Director of NDM, however Wood et al (2010) note each organisation’s structure is unique and there is no single observed design. This change is described by Wood et al (2010) as radical. Radical changes are fundamental reorientations and transformational, often initiated by the arrival of a new CEO. Culture & Performance Change Since the change occurred, Truelocal’s sales department recorded a growth rate of 15% per full time employee (FTE). Some strategies used were; – Performance appraisal review (PAR) – staff are asked to grade themselves on their performance and their use of company values of which are discussed by their managers. For example one of the values is ‘Impact’ and an employee is asked how much impact they contributed to the organisation since the last performance review and they are required to give examples of this behaviour. These PARs are held quarterly and annually. Reward and remuneration – staff are given targets according to their job level and experience with incentives to over achieve. These targets are called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The person’s job is broken into task components of which each component consists of a target behaviour that is rewarded. Remuneration is based on the overall percent age of KPI achievement. – Recognition – employee of the month award was created by encouraging staff to use an online submission for their preferred co-worker who had gone over and above their job requirement displaying one of the company values. In addition the company awards the sales department with the person with the highest dollar value in sales and yearly a larger reward of which one year was a new car. Similarly a newsletter recognises new sales people who achieve early in their job. All of these reinforcements are called extrinsic which are rewards given to someone by another person’s valued outcome and because they are environmentally impactful are valued in influencing behaviour through the law of effect (Wood et al, 2010). Cultural change can take years according to Wood et al (2010); however effective cultural change strategies can be used to shorten the timeframe. One of which is explained by Oakland & Tanner (2007), it is important to align the culture to support the desired change in behaviour. For example Truelocal needed a professional, customer focused culture which required staff to develop professional skills and behaviour. The result was all departments undertook a full training programme designed to increase awareness in communication, with a focus on questioning and empathy. Conclusion Truelocal is a young company and part of the larger and still relatively new parent organisation, NDM, operating under the global News Corporation. The industry it operates in, digital media is one of the fastest growing and changing environments globally. It changed from a structure and culture of casual, unprofessional work practices managed within a more bureaucratic structure that was under performing to a transformational, high performing, innovative and professional culture that is customer focused. Truelocal achieved its goal of growth, productivity and change in culture, however many staff were lost in the process and not much planning appeared to be in place. It is unclear as to the lack of planning, communication or use of external consultant in the case of radical change that occurred. One assumption might be due to budgetary restrictions as the company has been running at a loss since it started, reporting a loss this year of over one hundred million. Apart from the successful change management strategies that were used by the change agents, in particular the motivational strategies used by nominated change managers, numerous other approaches were identified that may benefit the organisation for managing future changes more effectively. Reference List Carless, S. A. (2005). Person-job fit versus person-organisation fit as predictors of organisational attraction and job acceptance intentions: a longitudinal study. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology. 78 (3), 411-429. Generation Y goes to work (2008, December 30). The Economist (US). Retrieved from http://www. economist. com/business/displaystory. cfm? story_id=12863573 Oakland, J. S. , & Tanner, S. (2007). Successful change management. Total Quality Management, 18 (1-2), 1-19. Tushman, M. L. , Anderson, P. C. & O’Reilly, C. (1997). Technology cycles, innovation streams and ambidextrous organisations: organisaiton renewal through innovation streams and strategic change. Managing strategic innovation and change. Oxford University Press, NY. 2-23. Wood, J, Zeffane, R. , Fromholtz M. , Wiesner R. , Creed A. , Schermerhorn J. , Hunt J. , & Osborn R. , (2010). Organisational Behaviour, Core concepts & applications. 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, Australia, Ltd. Milton Qld.

The Scramble for Africa

What were the major historical factors explaining ‘the scramble for Africa’? The scramble for Africa has aptly been described as the golden period of European expansionism in the 19th century. It was an age in which the continents of Africa, Asia and Middle Eastern states were brought under the control of European powers following the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. Eric Hobsbawm, one of the leading authorities on European imperialism, described the period as â€Å"the Age of Empire not only because it developed a new kind of imperialism, but also a much more old-fashioned reason†¦Ã¢â‚¬  referred to here as the age of â€Å"emperors† (1987: 56). It was essentially a period in which a handful of European powers (Great Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Germany etc), having emerged economically strong following rapid industrialisation, set out to pursue radical national interests overseas. The scramble for Africa began at a time when the benefit of industrial revolution gave rise to unprecedented expansion in the production of goods and services, which needed to be exported to outlandish markets. For, the partition and the haggling that went it did not come out of the blue. It was orchestrated by a combination of factors and conditions under which European powers faced in their metropolitan countries at the time. Having lost their North and South American colonies, Australasia and the Pacific rim interests at the turn of the century, the European powers turned their searchlight to Africa, Asia and the Middle East for new markets – consolidating previously held trading posts and sea route communications and grabbing new territories along the way – hence the scramble for Africa. The partition has broadly been described as one of the most turning points in the history of the relationships between the â€Å"Haves† – industrialised European powers versus the â€Å"Have-nots† – tropical Africa and the countries of Asia and the middle East (Padmore, 1972: 7). In his most eloquent work on the subject of partition – Africa and the World Peace (1972: 162), Padmore argues that â€Å"†¦ colonial policy is the offspring of industrial policy for rich States in which capital is abundant and is rapidly accumulating, in which the manufacturing system is continually growing and characterising, if not most numerous, at least the most alert and energetic part of the population that works with its hands, in which the countryside is obliged to industrialise itself, in order to maintain itself, in such States exportation is an ssential factor of public property †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Still, Jules Ferry, â€Å"who can fittingly be described as the father of French Imperialism, whilst addressing the Chamber of Deputies in 1885, summed up the need for colonies as follows: Is it not clear that the great States of modern Europe, the moment their industrial power is found, are confronted with an immense and difficult problem, which is the basis of indust rial life, the very condition of existence – the question of markets? †¦ Can we say that this colonial policy is a luxury for modern nations? Not at all †¦ this policy is for all of us, a necessity, the market itself† (p. 161). Ferry’s encapsulation of what the partition of Africa meant for the French and his fellow European powers are quite instructive here. Similarly, continental echoes of the partition policy were heard in ascending order. In the Island of Great Britain, Mr Joseph Chamberlain, â€Å"the radical mayor of Birmingham and a great advocate of liberal ideals, who later deserted the Liberals and became one of the most ardent champions of Toryism †¦Ã¢â‚¬ , accepted that â€Å"a forward policy of colonial expansion in Africa was now the order of the day†. He stated that: â€Å"it is the duty of the State to foster the trade and obtain markets for its manufactures† (p. 164). In Germany, Bismarck, who initially opposed colonial expansion, later became its advocate. Addressing the Reichstag in 1885, he declared that: â€Å"The goal of Germany’s foreign policy was to be economically independent. â€Å"Colonies†, he said, â€Å"would provide new markets for German industries, the expansion of trade, and new field for German activity, civilisation and capital †¦ Consider what it would mean if part of the cotton and coffee which we must export could be grown in German territory overseas. Would that not bring an increase in national wealth†? (Padmore, pp. 164 -165), he queried. H. L. Wessseling, in his Divide and Rule: The Partition for Africa (1996: 366), whilst analysing Hobson’s classic work on Imperialism: A Study, argued that the historical interpretation of the partition was based on â€Å"imperialism as a consequence of capitalism† and therefore, â€Å"primarily a struggle for profitable markets of investment†. He acknowledged the seminal work of John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson in their Africa and the Victorians – stating that it was not until the 1960s that a new approach began to be adopted by the leading discussants of the partition policy. He opined that aside from the economic motives upon which the partition was based, there was indeed, consideration of strategic and political motives as well, noting that early writers overlooked this fact. He summed up the views of the British political establishment thus: â€Å"The British policy makers were not so much concerned with Africa itself as with safeguarding British interests in Asia; the motive behind late Victorian strategy in Africa was to protect the all important stakes in India and the East† (p. 366). This view becomes clearer when juxtaposed with Hargreaves’ Chapter 3 in Decolonisation in Africa whilst discussing the logistics of the Second World War. He stressed that â€Å"the protection of African supply route was a crucial contribution to the Middle East war†, adding that â€Å"extraordinary efforts were made to develop the African Line of Communications by which bulky supplies were moved to Congo river, across to Juba in the Southern Sudan, and thence to Egypt† (Hargreaves, 1988: 54). Surely, there was no question of the strategic and commercial importance of Africa, Asia and the Middle Eastern territories to the Allied Powers prior to, and during, the Second World War. As M. E. Chamberlain succinctly attested here: â€Å"the possession of an empire came to be regarded as a kind of badge of great power status, important for prestige, irrespective of whether it was worth while economically† (Chamberlain, 1985: p. 3). Whilst huge merit pertains in this argument, there’s no doubt as Wesseling puts it: the policy of imperialism in Africa, Asia and the Middle East â€Å"differed from country to country, from period to period, and from place to place† (Wesseling, 1996, p. 366). The argument makes it clear: â€Å"economic motives such as the protection and encouragement of trade and industry did indeed play a part †¦ so also did such financial motives as safeguarding of loans and investments, such political motives as strategic advantage, national ambition, electoral appeal, such as ideological motives as bearing the white man’s burden, and many more† (p. 366). The method used by the European powers in gaining foothold into the African territories was generally regarded as underhand. Africans and Indians, it was assumed, only began to exist at the point they were â€Å"discovered† (Liebenow, 1986: p. 4). Accordingly, â€Å"treaties of friendship negotiated †¦ with local political personages, or evidence of conversations alone, became converted in the 19th century diplomatic scramble into European deeds of ownership to the land, the people, and all their resources† (p. 14). Following the inordinate ways used in slicing up African territories , the Berlin conference recognised Leopold’s claims over Congo, and the various spheres of British, French and German influence in the East, West and South Africa respectively. The period following the conference was marked by the rapid annexation of the territories involved. In order to consolidate their positions, England, France and Germany first resorted to the use of Chartered Companies (British and German East Africa Companies, the Niger Company of West Africa, and the South Africa Company), joint stock organisations with tremendous financial resources at their disposal, backed by the armed forces of their respective States. These monopoly concerns were the ones which laid the basis of government in the territories which were later officially declared as colonies and protectorates (Padmore, p. 168 – 169). Germany, although a late entry in the colonial race, acquired German East Africa (then known as Tanganyika) in 1844, South West Africa in 1885, Cameroons and Togoland in 1885 (P. 168 – 169). â€Å"By the time the process of carving up Africa was completed, England and France had emerged as the biggest shareholders of the continent†. â€Å"England acquired the colonies of Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (now Ghana), Nigeria on the West Coast, British Somaliland, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia), Swaziland and Basutoland, and the Union of South Africa. France, on the other hand, got most North Africa countries of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. On the West Coast of Africa, it secured Senegal and its hinterland, forming Equatorial Africa and the Congo, Dahomey, Ivory Coast and the large Island of Madagascar. After the World War, the German West and East African colonies were later divided between the British Empire and France following the Paris conference† (p. 169), using the League of Nations to consolidate their booties. Portugal, one of the oldest colonial Powers in the world got Angola and Guinea on the West Coast, Mozambique on the East, and the cocoa island of Sao Tome and Principe in the Gulf of Guinea† (p. 169). â€Å"Italy, having met military disaster in her early imperialist attempt at Abyssinia in 1896, as well as diplomatic defeat by France over Tunisia, acquired Tripoli in the north, Eritrea on the East Coast and Italian Somaliland on the Indian Ocean† (p. 169). It has commonly been argued that the ap proach used by the European powers in running their territories exacerbated local anger against colonial rule. Many ethnic groups with little in common were lumped together, thus creating confusion and rivalries, making the present day African countries extremely difficult to govern. Whilst Britain employed a mixture of direct (India) and indirect rule (Africa and others), using recognised local people to govern – the French and others tended to adopt a more direct approach. For example, the French and the Portuguese believed in the policy of integration or assimilation. This policy extended French citizenship to trained Africans whilst providing a token of autonomy to local representatives who, subsequently, were co-opted into French Parliament. While Africa provided the best example for studying the development and expansion of European Imperialisms in their quest for markets, sources of raw materials and spheres for investing capital, this overseas projection of European capitalism was not confined to the Dark Continent. Indeed, scramble incursions were made into Asia and other parts of New World. The chief amongst these was India, often referred to as the â€Å"Jewel in the Crown† because â€Å"it differed from all other colonies of occupation in its vastly greater size and population, reaching 200 millions in 1860s† (Fieldhouse, 1965/6: 271). According to Fieldhouse, â€Å"India provided Britain with political and military power†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ therefore, â€Å"its resources were harnessed to support a great military empire before the British arrived† (Fieldhouse: p. 271). In summing up, therefore, it has to be argued that the â€Å"European domination of Africa, Asia and the Middle East has been one of the most significant phenomena of the 19th century period called â€Å"the modern age† (Liebenow, 1986: 13). The technological superiority of the European powers and the age of industrial revolution led the West in believing that they were destined, as a matter of right, to govern people elsewhere on the globe. Regrettably, colonisation was â€Å"unable to shape African economic, social and political conditions to more than a very limited extent† (Wesseling, 1996: 372). â€Å"In economic or social respects, colonisation brought nothing essentially new †¦ but only led to the acceleration of social and economic process of modernisation† (p. 372). This led to the integration of Africa and the rest of the New World into the capitalist economy. If we have to look for any tangible benefit of colonialism, this has to be seen in the context of the multiplicity of states that sprung up in Africa with concomitant ethnic conflicts and political instabilities. The false notion of sovereignties accorded to African states and recognised by the United Nations, clearly shows that majority of these states are weak and unable to clear democratic legitimacies in their various territories.