Analysing The Concept Of Karma

Analysing The Concept Of Karma The Hindu and Buddhist religions both believe in karma. In the Hindu religion karma influences how you are born in your next life. You can be born in lower life forms such as an animal, plant, or insect. You could even be born into a lower caste system. It works the opposite way as well and can cause you to be reborn in a higher form even as a demigod or superhuman. Buddhists have a different take on karma. The Buddha rejected the notion of a soul but accepted some notion of rebirth. Buddha says that even though there is no soul the personalities of a being could recombine and continue from one life time to another. He uses the example of a flame going from one candle to another or the wind on blades of grass. To understand karma first it needs to be defined. Karma can be described as a form of cause and effect. The dictionary defines karma as sum of persons actions in one of his successive states of existence, viewed as deciding his fate for the next. In Sanskrit karma is defined as volitional action that is undertaken deliberately or knowingly. This also fits together as self-determination and a strong will power to abstain from inactivity. Karma also separates human beings from other creatures in the world. Karma is a notion that constantly proves the Newton theory of every action creates an equal and opposite reaction. Every time we do something we create a cause and in time will produce its corresponding reaction. It is the personality of the human that causes either negative or positive karma. Karma could be caused by both the physical and mental aspects of the body regardless of if it brings achievement now or in the future. Karma cannot be affected by the natural reflexes of the bo dy. A person is responsible for his or her own karma(Karma and Reincarnation, 2010). In other words it is up to a person to give themselves good karma and move to a higher form in the next life or their doing for bad karma and devolving to a lower form. There are three types of karma savtik karma, rajasik karma, tamasik karma. Savtik karma is without attachment, selfless and for the benefit of others. Rajasik karma is selfish where ones focus is on ones gains to oneself. Tamasik karma is undertaken without regard to consequences and is supremely selfish and savage. The ancient yogis have assigned three categories to karma. These are sanchita, prarabdha, and kriyamana. The first category, sanchita, is the sum total of past karma yet to be resolved. Prarabdha, the second category, is the portion of sanchita being experienced in the present life. The third category, kriyamana, is the karma you are currently creating. It is important to understand that past negative karma can be altered into a smoother, easier state through the loving, heart-chakra nature, through dharma and sadhana. If you live religiously well you will create positive karma for the future and soften negative karma of the past. Karma operates not only individually but also in ever-enlarging circles of group karma where we participate in sum karma of multiple souls (Karma and Reincarnation, 2010 ). So if we unconditionally love as individuals or groups we will be loved in return. The individuals and groups that act maliciously toward us create their own karmic creation. The people who affect our karma are also living through past karmic experiences and simultaneously creating future karma. Many people believe in the principle of karma but dont apply it to their daily life or lifes peak experiences. They cry during times of personal crisis asking why God did this or asking what they did to deserve this. While God is the creator and sustainer of the cosmic law of karma, He does not dispense individual karma(Karma and Reincarnation, 2010). He doesnt give one person cancer while making another person an Olympic gold medalist. We create our own experiences(Subhamoy, 2010). We really exercise our souls powers of c reation. Karma is our best spiritual teacher. We spiritually learn and grow as our actions return to us to be resolved and dissolved(Karma and Reincarnation, 2010). There is no good or bad karma there is only self-created experience that presents for spiritual advancement. Only when karma is wisely harnessed can the mind become still enough to experience its own super conscious depths. Karma is also misunderstood as fate(Karma in Hinduism, 2010). Something that is predetermined and unchangeable decreed many ages ago by some external force. Karma is neither predetermined or fate. Each soul has free will and its only limit is karma. During our multiple lifetimes on earth we experience a remarkable variety of life patterns. We exist and male and female, princesses and presidents, paupers and pirates, tribals and scientists, as murderers and healers, as atheists and eventually God-Realized sages. We take many bodies, races, religions, faiths, and philosophies on our journey to spiritual enlightenment gaining more knowledge and evolutionary experience. Hindus believe that secretly questioning the rule of karma will put him in a group of life minded individuals in his next life where Hindu beliefs seem foreign to them. They also know that death must come naturally in its own course and tat suicide only intensifies ones karma. If they were to commit suicide then they would digress and it would take many lifetimes to get back to evolve back to where they were at which time the karmic entanglements must still be faced and resolved. Two other karmically sensitive processes are artificially means of life sustaining life in a wholly incapacitated physical body through mechanical devices, drugs or intravenous feeding; and euthanasia or mercy killing. There is critical timing in the death transition. The dying process can involve long suffering or be a peaceful or painful sudden death all depending on the karma involved. To keep a person on life support with the sole intent to continue the bodys biological function nullifies the natural tim ing of the death. This also keeps the soul tethered to the body and unable to move on. An important lesson to learn here is that karma is conditioned by intent(Karma and Reincarnation, 2010). When the medical staff receives a dangerously ill or injured patient and they place them on a life-support system as part of immediate life saving procedure their intent is purely healing. If there attempt fail and then the life support devices are turned off the person dies naturally and there is no karma involved because this does not constitute euthanasia. If, however, the doctors, families, or patient decide to continue life support indefinitely to prolong the biological process, then the intent carries full karmic consequences. I think this is a very good belief and most religions believe in it in one form. Christianity has the golden rule(Subhamoy, 2010). Most religions have some type of karmic belief although they may not come right out and say it. Karma seems to really be about living your life in a good way. Be kind to other treat people with respect and help them. Nothing really confused me I did a lot of research on karma, however, I did learn a lot. I didnt know the different types of karma or how the belief in karma differed from the Hindu and Buddhist religions. I found it was very logical. Everyone believes in karma in some form. People say dont do something bad or wrong because it will come back around and get you in the end. I find it appealing because everyone wants to believe that when someone hurts you in some way that they will have something bad happen to them later on. One of my friends says that it is just a way of life some way to live with being good to everyone. He doesnt necessarily b elieve that something bad will happen but just that is how you should live our life by being a good person. This is an acceptable answer to me. It helps to explain why possibly some bad things happen to someone and that they should react positively to what happened.

Causes of Construction Delays

Causes of Construction Delays This chapter gives an idea of what construction delays are, how are they defined and what are their types and comparison of them. Delays can be seen differently from different point of views. Causes of delays and categorization of them in various international contexts are also discussed. 2.2 DEFINING CONSTRUCTION DELAY A lot of work has been done before on construction delays and every author came up with his/her own definition. Assaf and Hejji defined delay as Time overrun either beyond completion date specified in a contract, or beyond the date that the parties agreed upon for delivery of a project slipping over its planned schedule. (Assaf, Hejji, 2006) Stumpf defined delay as Act or event that extends the time required to perform a task under a contract. It usually shows up as additional days of work or as delayed start of an activity. (Stumpf, 2000). And many similar definitions were given. Therefore construction delays can be considered as time lag in completion of activities from a fixed time as per contract or they can be defined as late completion or late start of activities to the planned schedule or contract schedule. When project delay occurs it means project cannot be completed within stated time, which means there will be extensions of time required which will further result in fine, increased cost due to inflation, termination of contract, court cases etc. or combinations of above stated factors. Delay can be seen as risk for the project and could be handled at inception stage or at least one can try to mitigate or minimize it. Risk is an integral part of a construction project; it is well known that no project is risk free. If risk is analysed at inception or planning stage it could be managed, minimized, shared, mitigated or accepted to give some good results. Delay can be considered similar to risk or a type of risk; as no construction project is free from delays, delay is also integrated part of construction projects. It depends on size of project as well. Therefore it is expected to analyse and manage delay in same fashion as risk. Delays are often result of a mismanaged event which must have been managed in a systematic process so as to analyse the effect of that event on the project and how to minimize chances of further delay. (Keane, Caletka, 2008). 2.3 CATEGORIZATION AND TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION DELAYS Before getting on types of various construction delays there is a major categorisation which is required to be understood. Construction delays can be delayed in some major groups as listed below. El-Saadi (1998) categorized delay in four major groups. Critical or Non critical Excusable or Non Excusable Compensable or Non Compensable Concurrent or Non concurrent Alkaas S., Mazerolle M. and Harris F. (1996) and Ahmed S.M. et al gave following categorizations: Excusable Delays Excusable compensable delays Excusable noncompensable delays Nonexcusable delays Concurrent delays Fig. 2.1 Classification of delay based on their various attributes. Nuhu Braimah (2008) To achieve objectives of this dissertation and to consider delay as risk it is necessary to know about these types of delays and as per categorization in what category they lie. This basic knowledge helps in moving forward and determining strategies to mitigate these risks. Now in this part we will discuss these types of delay in detail: 2.3.1 CRITICAL AND NON CRITICAL In simple words Critical delays are those which cause delay to entire project completion date while Non critical delays not necessarily affect the project completion date but affects progress. In all the projects delays are considered at the project completion date. Delays can be combination of small and big delays that occurred during the whole project. Therefore critical delays are taken more into consideration then noncritical delays. 2.3.2 EXCUSABLE DELAYS Excusable Delays occurs due to events which are outside the control of contractor like heavy rains, storms, strikes, fire, client suggested changes, differing site conditions, change of government policy or their intervention, stakeholder intervention etc. Alkass S. et al (1996) says that when there are excusable delays, contractor is entitled to time extension in case date of completion is extended. Such delays can also affect non critical activities which must be considered with more detailed analysis or adjustment of float time. Excusable delays can be further classified in compensable and noncompensable delays. 2.3.2.1 EXCUSABLE COMPENSABLE DELAYS As name suggests excusable compensable delays are those in which contractor is entitled for extra payment (compensation) i.e. monetary compensation and time extension as well. But decision that a delay is compensable or noncompensable is taken as per contract between client and contractor. Natural disasters or some reasons which are out of control are not considered. Example of such delay could be that client doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t allow access to site even after notice to proceed is given; other such delays which are due to client are compensable. 2.3.2.2 EXCUSABLE NONCOMPENSABLE DELAYS Such delays are such where both contractor and client are not responsible for delay. Under such circumstances only time extensions are granted and no monetary compensation is provided. Such delays include act of God. 2.3.3 NON EXCUSABLE DELAYS As name suggests these delays are such that they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have any excuse or no excuse can be given for them. They arise due to carelessness or actions and inactions of contractors and subcontractors. For such delays no time extensions and monetary compensation is given to contractor if it has affected whole duration of project. In such cases client is liable to get liquidated damages. Example of such delay could be constructing something wrong which is not given in drawings, not completing work on time, improper resource allocation etc. 2.3.4 CONCURRENT DELAYS This is the most complex categorization of delay as it consists of two or more kind of delays regardless of their type which occurs at same time or overlaps some duration together. It is necessary to find out what type has caused overall delay in project completion. Therefore different factors like time of occurrence of delay, duration of delay, impact of them, float ownership etc. have to be considered carefully. Alkass et al (1996) said that; Concurrent delays which contains two or more excusable delays results in time extension. When compensable and nonexcusable delays are concurrent a time extension can be given or delay can be distributed between client and contractor. 2.4 CAUSES OF CONSTRUCTION DELAYS In section 2.3, categorisation of delays was discussed. Now in this section will deal with causes of delays. Lot of work has been done on understanding causes of delays. The two major categorization of delay causes one is Internal Cause another is External Cause. Internal cause includes delays caused by parties involved in construction project like Client, Contractor, Designer, Consultant these are four major parties then Subcontractors, material suppliers etc. comes. From external factors it includes act of God, strikes, stakeholderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s dissatisfaction etc. Assaf and Hejji (2006) reflected various causes of delays which occur in large construction projects. They had a field survey of 23 contractors, 19 consultants, and 15 owners and found out and reflected on 73 causes of delays under eight different groups. All those 73 factors are given in table below. NO. CAUSES OF DELAY GROUP 1 Original contract duration is too short. Project 2 Legal disputes b/w various parties. Project 3 Inadequate definition of substantial completion. Project 4 In effective delay penalties. Project 5 Type of construction contracts. Project 6 Type of project bidding and award Project 7 Delay in progress payment by owner. Owner 8 Delay to furnish and deliver the site to contractor by the owner. Owner 9 Change orders by owner during construction. Owner 10 Late in revising and approving design documents by owner Owner 11 Delay in approving shop drawings and sample materials Owner 12 Poor communication and co-ordination by owner and other parties Owner 13 Slowness is decision making process by owner Owner 14 Conflicts between joint ownership of the project Owner 15 Unavailability of incentives for contractors for finishing ahead of schedule Owner 16 Suspension of work by owner Owner 17 Difficulties in financing project by contractor. Contractor 18 Conflicts in subcontractors schedule in execution of project Contractor 19 Rework due to errors during construction. Contractor 20 Poor site management and supervision by contractor Contractor 21 Poor communication and co-ordination by contractor with other parties Contractor 22 Ineffective planning and scheduling of project by contractor Contractor 23 Improper construction methods implemented by contractor. Contractor 24 Delays in subcontractors work Contractor 25 Conflicts between contractor and other parties Contractor 26 Inadequate contractors work. Contractor 27 Frequent change of subcontractors due to their insufficient work. Contractor 28 Poor qualification of the contractors technical staff Contractor 29 Delay in site mobilization. Contractor 30 Delay in performing inspection and testing by consultant Consultant 31 Delay in approving major changes in the scope of work by consultant Consultant 32 Inflexibility (rigidity) of consultant Consultant 33 Poor communication and co-ordination by consultant with other parties Consultant 34 Late in reviewing and approving design documents by consultants Consultant 35 Conflicts between consultant and design engineer. Consultant 36 Inadequate experience of dsigner. Consultant 37 Mistakes and discrepancies in design documents Design 38 Delays in producing design documents Design 39 Unclear and inadequate details in drawings Design 40 Complexity of project design Design 41 Insufficient data collection and survey before design Design 42 Misunderstanding of ownerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s requirement by design engineer. Design 43 Inadequate design team experience Design 44 Un-use of advanced engineering design software. Design 45 Shortage of construction materials in market Material 46 Changes in material types and specification during construction Material 47 Detail in material delivery. Material 48 Damage of sorted material while they are needed urgently. Material 49 Delay in manufacturing special building material Material 50 Late procurement of materials Material 51 Late in selection of finishing materials due to availability of many types in market Material 52 Equipment breakdowns Equipment 53 Shortage of equipment Equipment 54 Low level of equipment-operatorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s skill Equipment 55 Low productivity and efficiency of equipment Equipment 56 Lack of high technology mechanical equipment Equipment 57 Shortage of labours Labours 58 Unqualified workforce Labours 59 Nationality of labours Labours 60 Low productivity level of labours Labours 61 Personal conflict among labours Labours 62 Effects of subsurface conditions External 63 Delay in obtaining permit from government External 64 Hot weather effects on construction activities External 65 Rain effect on construction activities External 66 Unavailability of utilities in site External 67 Effect of social and cultural factors External 68 Traffic control and restriction at job site External 69 Accident during construction External 70 Differing site conditions External 71 Changes in government regulations and laws External 72 Delay in providing services from utilities External 73 Delay in performing final inspection and certification by a third party External Table 2.1 Causes of delays as per group Assaf and Hejji (2006) Their work gave a broad view over construction delays and their causes. Though their classification is quite broad, but it gives a more insight to various causes. Odeh AM and Battaineh HT (2002) presented following 8 major groups of construction delay. Client related factors which include finance, payment of billed work, interference in work, slow decision making etc. Contractor related factors include site management, improper planning, insufficient experience, improper construction methods, insufficient and unskilled work force etc. Consultant related factors include contract management, improper drawings, approval of drawings, tests at site etc. Material related factors include availability, quality and shortage. Labor and equipment factors include supply, productivity, equipment availability, failure etc. Contract factors include changed orders and mistakes and disagreements in document. Contractual relationship factors includes, disputes, negotiation, improper management of information system, improper work breakdown structure and task responsibility matrix. External factors like act of god, strikes, accidents etc. Most of the work done in field of causes of delays reflects similar causes of delays and 8 major groups. They all gave recommendations related to these factors but very few scholars suggested to forecast delay in planning stage. Khalil and Ghaftly (1999) said delay is important issue. In order to manage it more properly and to mitigate them deep investigation to this area is needed. Having idea of frequency, extent and responsibility of delay can provide insights of early planning to control these factors and improve project performance. 2.5 PERSPECTIVE FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES Work from Chan and Kumaraswamy (2002) from Hong Kong industry gives four major causes of delay in Hong Kong industry which are as follows: Project scope Project complexity Project Environment Management related attributes The above four factors were studied with their constituent casual factors to gain more insight and understanding of their significance. They were summarized in following figure: Figure 2.3 Summary of principal factors affecting construction durations of projects He gave another table comparing factors causing delay in construction projects in various economies. It gives an overview of common factors in these economies. It gives a clear understanding of various countries at once. Factors Causing Delay Countries where survey was conducted US UK DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TURKEY NIGERIA SAUDI ARABIA HONG KONG INDONESIA Inclement weather * * * * * Labour shortage/ Low labour productivity * * * Poor subcontractorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance * * * * Variations (design change/ extra work) * * * * * Unforeseen ground conditions * * Materials shortage/ late material delivery * * * Inadequate construction planning * * * Financial difficulties * * * Delays in design work/Lack of design information * Poor site management * * * * Impractical design * Poor communication * * Inappropriate type of contract used * Lack of designerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s experience * Inaccurate estimating * * * Table 2.2 Source: Chan and Kumarswamy (2001) Ogunlana and Promkuntong studied and compared construction industry of Thailand and other economies. Study involved delays experienced in the High Rise Building construction projects in Bangkok, Thailand. According to them Resource supply problem were most acute problems of the construction industry in boom years. Project suffered delays due to inadequate supply of cement, technical personnel were overstretched, and demands from owners to do frequent changes etc. are the major causes for delay in developing economy. Sabasivan and Soon (2007) conducted study of causes of delay in Malaysian construction industry. They conducted a survey and 150 participants were involved. They came up with 10 most important causes of delay which are as follows: Improper planning of contractor. Poor site management from contractor Inadequate experience of contractor Improper payments and finance from client Subcontractors problem Material shortage Labour supply Failure and availability of equipment Improper management information system Mistakes during construction stage. COUNTRY RESEARCHERS MAJOR CAUSES OF DELAYS Saudi Arabia Assaf et al Slow preparation and approval of shop drawings Delays in payments to contractors Changes in design/design error Shortages of labour supply Poor workmanship Lebanon Mezher et al Owner had more concerns with regard to financial issues Contractors regarded contractual relationships the most important Consultants considered project management issues to be the most important causes of delay Saudi Arabia Al-khal and Al-Ghafly Cash flow problems/financial difficulties Difficulties in obtaining permits à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“lowest bid win firstà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? system Jordan Al-Moumani Poor design Changes in orders/design Weather Unforeseen site condition Late deliveries Kuwait Koushki et al Changing orders Owners financial constraints Ownerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s lack of experience in the construction business UAE Faridi and El-Sayegh Slow preparation and approval of drawings Inadequate early planning of project Slow decision making of owners Shortage of manpower Poor site management and supervision Low productivity of manpower Saudi Arabia Assaf and Al-Hejji Change in orders by the owner during construction Delay in progress payment Ineffective planning and scheduling Shortage of labour Difficulties in financing on the part of contractor. Hong Kong Chan and Kumaraswamy Project scope Project complexity Project environment Management related attributes Florida Ahmed and Azhar Design related Construction related Financial/economical Management/ Administrative Code related Acts of God Table 2.3 Summary of previous studies of the causes of delay in construction project some data from above table is taken from Sweis et al (2008) 2.6 SUMMARY: A total of 73 factors and 8 major groups of causes of construction delays were identified through intensive literature reviews in order to consider maximum factors. These factors will be helpful in data analysis so as to forecast delay at planning stage and treat it as risk so that risk management methodologies can be implemented to delay so as to mitigate and minimizing it. These eight major categories can be brought down as shown in figure. Fig 2.4 Classification of delay groups. All major 8 groups can be brought down to 2 major groups which are Internal and external causes. Internal is further subdivided in owner, consultant, contractor and resources. Resources are further subdivided in Material, equipment and labour. Overall if we need to classify groups for the causes of delay 5 major groups covers all 73 factors they are Owner, Contractor, Consultant, Resources and External. These causes and classification will help us to rank and treat delay as a risk at planning stage so as remedial measures can be applied. Though in spite of all studies and delay causes know till now it is hard to forecast delay because its very unpredictable, we cant analyse frequency of delay due to some reason in a project. Sometimes external causes are so dominating that co-ordination of internal groups get disturbed and project faces delay.

Essay --

In this novel the presentation of the father is portrayed as a father protecting his son’s innocence. It’s almost as if the man is placed on this planet for one major purpose to protect and keep his son alive. The burnt man passage gives the reader an insight into a world that has absence of culture and civilization in the post-apocalyptic world that both the boy and man inhabit, the role of the boy and the father are further established for the reader and many of the techniques that become typical of McCarthy’s style in the novel. Structurally the burned man scene is one of the horrific episodes that occur in the novel and it is the first to take place, foreshadowing, future horrific episodes that will take place later on in the novel. This essay will be exploring these ideas in more depth looking closely at how the father and boy are portrayed in this part of the extract. The passage begins with a typical series of simple sentences describing the boy and the man. †they went on the boy was crying. He kept looking back† McCarthy’s style of writing mainly consist of short, clear an...

Essay --

Every day, advances in technology lead us nearer and nearer to fully autonomous robots, but even today, robots play a huge role in our lives. Robots exist obviously in software, just look at your smartphone, but robots in hardware exist too, recently, robots such as â€Å"Asimo,† â€Å"Watson,† and â€Å"Deep Blue† were able to perform actions which were thought to be exclusively human such as scaling stairs, making meaningful conversation, and playing chess. But with so many robots already existing, and the rapid progress we are making in the field of robotics, will robots eventually become the dominant life form? This question has puzzled philosophers and sci-fi authors alike for decades; however, the truth of the matter is that robots already have taken over. Without robots in our lives, we simply could not survive as we are. Additionally, robots are not plagued by consciousness, and would never jeopardise their own existence as humans so often do. Finally, ro bots today have the ability to reproduce themselves; this innate and conventionally biological trait is what turns a mere object into an animate life-form. Robots play an integral part in our society, they run our businesses, maintain our economy and do our manufacturing, without them, the routines we have set would crumble. Robots however, are not dependant on human existence; they could theoretically remain self-sufficient forever. By 2014, active cell phones will outnumber humans. These devices are a prime example of consumer robotics and artificial intelligence; we are connected to them at all times, and could not communicate without them. Furthermore, we rely on our robots to run our industry, manufacturing, business administration and plant automation would not be possible without ... ...anufacture. This is shown in many robotic assembly lines, where robots are able to produce a product, or indeed another robot, in a fraction of the time it would take a human to do so. This vastly superior reproduction process not only qualifies robots as a bona fide life form, but also sets them higher from humans with respect to dominance. Robots play a huge role in the life of the human race, but robots, while they are the servants of the human race, are dominant already. Robots are quicker, smarter and more powerful than any biological life form, pocket calculators will outsmart even the cleverest humans, it is for this reason that we rely on them so much, and with them having a greater survivability and a better reproduction system than humans, it is obvious why robots already are superior, and therefore more dominant in numbers, strength and size, than humans.

Decision Making and Consumer Essay

What major psychological processes influence consumer responses to the marketing program? * How do consumers make purchasing decisions? * In what ways do consumers stray from a deliberate rational decision process? Contents Introduction4 What influences Consumer behavior? 5 Cultural factors5 Social factors6 Personal factors7 Key psychological processes9 Motivation9 Perception10 Learning11 Emotion12 Memory12 The buying decision process14 Behavioral decision theory & behavioral economics20 Introduction The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy target customers’ need and want better than competitors. Marketers must have a thorough understanding of how consumers think, feel, and act and offer clear value to each and every target consumer. Successful marketing requires that companies fully connect with their customers. Adopting a holistic marketing orientation means understanding customers-gaining a 360-degree view of both their daily lives and the changes that occur during their lifetimes so the right products are always marketed to the right customers in the right way. So we are going to explore individual consumer buying dynamism. Model of Consumer beha-vior Model of Consumer beha-vior Fig 1. 1 Fig 1. 1 The starting point for understanding consumer behavior is the stimulus-response model shown in figure 1. 1. Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the consumer’s consciousness, and a set of psychological processes combine with certain consumer characteristics to result in decision processes and purchase decisions. The marketer’s task is to understand what happens in the consumer’s consciousness between the arrival of the outside marketing stimuli and the ultimate purchase decisions. What influences Consumer behavior? Consumer behavior is the study of how individuals, groups and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods, services, idea or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. A Consumer’s buying behavior is influenced by cultural, social, and personal factors. Cultural factors Culture is the fundamental determinant of a person’s wants ;amp; behavior. Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more specific identification and socialization for their members. Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial groups and geographic regions. Virtually all human societies exhibit social stratification, most often in the form of social classes, relatively homogeneous and enduring divisions in a society, hierarchically ordered and with members who share similar values, interest and behavior. Social Classes Upper uppers Upper uppers Lower uppers Lower uppers Upper middles Upper middles Middle Middle Working Working Upper lowers Upper lowers Lower lowers Lower lowers Social factors Such as Reference groups, Family and Social roles and statuses affect our buying behavior. Reference groups A person’s references groups are all the groups that have a direct or indirect influence on their behavior * Membership groups * Primary groups * Secondary groups * Aspirational groups * Dissociative groups Groups having a direct influence are called membership groups, some of these are Primary groups with whom the person interacts continuously and informally such as family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. People also belong to Secondary groups such as religious, professional and trade-union, which tend to be more formal and require less continuous interaction. People re also influenced by groups to which they don’t belong. Aspirational groups are those a person hops to join; Dissociative groups are those values or behavior an individual rejects. Marketers must determine how to reach and influence the group’s opinion leaders opinion leaders are often highly confident, socially active. Family There are two families in the buyer’s life: * Family of orienta tion consists of parents and siblings * Family of procreation the person’s spouse and children Rules and status Role consists of the activities a person is expected, each role in turn connotes a status Personal factors Personal characteristic that influence a buyer’s decision include * Age and stage Our taste of food, clothes and recreation is related to our age. Marketers should consider critical life events or transitions like marriage. * Occupation and Economic Circumstances Marketers try to identify the Occupational groups that have above-average interest in their product and services and even tailor product for certain Occupational groups. Both product and brand choices are affected by economic circumstance: 1. Spendable income (level, stability and time pattern) 2. Savings and assets (percentage that is liquid) 3. Debts 4. Borrowing power 5. Attitudes toward spending and saving * Personality and self-concept Personality set of distinguishing human psychological traits that lead to relatively consistent and enduring response to environmental stimuli (buying behavior). Like self-confidence, dominance, autonomy, deference, sociability, defensiveness and adaptability. Brand personality is a specific mix of human traits that we can attribute to a particular brand. 1. Sincerity 2. Excitement 3. Competence 4. Sophistication 5. Ruggedness * Life style and values Life style is a person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in activities, interests and opinions. The ‘’ whole person ‘’ interacting with his/her environment. Life styles are shaped partly by whether consumers are money constrained (lower-cost product) or time constrained (multi-tasking). Consumer decisions are also influenced by core value the belief systems that underlie attitudes and behavior. Core values go much deeper than attitudes and behavior, people’s choices and desires over the long term. Key psychological processes Four key psychological process: Motivation, Perception, Learning, and Memory Motivation We all have many needs at any given time. Needs are: 1. Biogenic arise from physiological states of tension such as hunger. 2. Psychogenic arise from psychological states of tension such as the need of recognition. Three of the best-known theories of human motivation: Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, and Frederick Herzberg. * Freud’s Theory Behavior is guided by subconscious motivations * Maslow’s Theory Behavior is driven by lowest, unmet need Fig 2. 1 Fig 2. 1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs * Herzberg’s Theory Behavior is guided by motivating and hygiene factors. It has two implications: 1. Sellers should do their best to avoid dissatisfiers. 2. The seller should identify the major satisfiers or motivators of purchase in the market and then supply them. Perception Perception is the process by which we select, organize and interpret information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world. Perceptions are more important than reality because perceptions affect consumer’s actual behavior. People emerge with different perceptions of the same object because of three perceptual processes: * Selective attention Selective attention means that marketers must work hard to attract consumer’s notice * People are more likely to notice stimuli that relate to a current need * People are more likely to notice stimuli they anticipate * People are more likely to notice stimuli whose deviations are large in relationship to the normal size of the stimuli * Selective distortion Is the tendency to interpret information in a way that fits our preconceptions. Selective distortion can work to the advantages of marketers with strong brands when consumers distort neutral or ambiguous brand information to make it more positive. Selective retention We are likely to remember good points about a product we like and forget good points about competing products. It explains why marketers need to use repetition. * Subliminal perception Learning ((When we act we learn)) Learning induces changes in our behavior arising from experience. Learning theorists believe learning is produced through the interplay of drive s, stimuli, cues, responses ;amp; reinforcement. Drive is a strong internal stimulus impelling action. Cues are minor stimuli that determine when, where ;amp; how a person response. Discrimination means we have learned to recognize differences in sets of similar stimuli ;amp; can adjust our responses accordingly. Learning theory teaches marketers that they can build demand for a product by associating it with strong drives, using motivating cues ;amp; providing positive reinforcement. Hedonic bias occurs when people have a general tendency to attribute success to themselves ;amp; failure to external causes. Emotion Consumer response is not all cognitive ;amp; rational; much maybe emotional ;amp; invoke different kinds of feelings. A brand or product may make a consumer feel proud, excited, or confident. An ad may create feeling of amusement, disgust, or wonder. Memory * Short term memory (STM) a temporary ;amp; limited repository of information. * Long term memory (LTM) a more permanent, essentially unlimited repository. All the information ;amp; experiences we encounter as we go through life can end up in our long-term memory. Associative network memory model views LTM as a set of nodes ;amp; links. Nodes are stored information connected by links that vary in strength. A spreading process from node to node determine how much we retrieve ;amp; what information we can actually recall in any given situation. In this model, we can think of consumer brand knowledge as a node in memory with a variety of linked associations. The strength of these associations will be important determinant of the info we can recall about the brand. Brand association consist of all brand-related thoughts , feelings , perceptions , images, experiences , beliefs , attitudes ;amp; so on that become linked to the brand node. State farm mental map State farm mental map Fig 2. 2 Fig 2. 2 Memory process Memory is a very constructive process, because we don’t remember info ;amp; events completely ;amp; accurately. Memory encoding describes how ;amp; where info gets in the memory. The strength of the resulting association depends on how much we process the info at encoding ;amp; in what way. Memory retrieval is the way information gets out of memory. 1. The presence of other product info in memory can produce interference effects ;amp; cause us to either overlook or confuse new data. 2. The time between exposure to info ;amp; encoding has been shown generally to produce only gradual decay. 3. Info may be available in memory but not be accessible for recall without the proper retrieval cues or reminders. The buying decision process The five stage model of buying process: 1. Problem recognition 2. Information search 3. Evaluation of alternatives 4. Purchase decision 5. Post purchase behavior 1. Problem recognition The buying process starts when the buyer recognizes a problem or need triggered by internal or external stimuli. Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need by gathering information from a number of consumers. 2. Information search Information sources * Personal: family, friends†¦etc. * Commercial: ads, web sites †¦etc. * Public: mass media †¦. etc. Experiential: handling, examining†¦etc. Search dynamic by gathering information, the consumer learns about competing brands ;amp; their features. Successive Sets in Decision Making: 3. Evaluation of alternatives * Some basic concepts will help us understand consumer evaluation process: First, the consumer is trying to satisfy a need. Second, the consumer is looking for a certain benefits from the product solution. Third, the consumer sees each product as a bundle of attributes with varying abilities to deliver the benefits. Belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something. Attitudes a person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotional feelings, ;amp; action tendencies toward some object or ideas. Attitudes put us into a frame of mind: liking or disliking an object, moving toward or away from it. Expectancy-value model The consumer arrives at attitudes toward various brands through an attribute evaluation procedure, developing a set of beliefs about where each brand stands on each attribute. The expectancy-value model of attitude formation posits that consumers evaluate products ;amp; services by combining their brand beliefs according to importance. . Purchase decision In executing a purchase intention the consumer may make up to 5 sub decisions: Brand, Dealer, Quantity, Timing, and payment method. It is a Step between Alternative Evaluation and Purchase. Non-Compensatory Models of Choice: Conjunctive heuristic: the consumer set a min acceptable cutoff level for each attribute ;amp; chooses the first alternative that meets the min standard for all attribute. Lexicographic heuristic: the consumer chooses the best brand on the basis of its perceived most important attribute. Elimination-by-aspects heuristic: the consumer compare brands on an attribute selected probabistically ;amp; eliminates brands that don’t meet min acceptable cutoffs. Intervening factors Steps purchase intention between and Purchas: Steps between Alternative Evaluation and Purchase Steps between Alternative Evaluation and Purchase Fig 3. 1 Fig 3. 1 Attitudes of others Depends on 2 things: 1. The intensity of the other person’s negative attitude toward our preferred alternative. 2. Our motivation to comply with the other person’s wishes. Unanticipated situational factors may erupt to change the purchase intention (Perceived Risk): 1. Functional risk: the product doesn’t perform to expectations. 2. Physical risk: the product poses a threat to physical well-being or health of the user or others 3. Financial risk: the product isn’t worth the price paid. 4. Social risk: the product results in embarrassment in front of others. 5. Psychological risk: the product affects the mental well-being of the other user. 6. Time risk: the failure of the product results in an opportunity cost of finding another satisfactory product. 5. Post purchase behavior Marketer must monitor post purchase satisfaction, actions, uses ;amp; disposal. Post purchase satisfaction Satisfaction is a function of closeness between expectations ;amp; the product’s perceived performance. If performance falls of expectations the consumer is disappointed; if it meets expectations the consumer is satisfied; if it exceeds expectations, the consumer is delighted. Post purchase actions Satisfied consumer is more likely to purchase the product again ;amp; will also tend to say good things about the brand to others. Dissatisfied consumer may abandon or return the product. Private actions include deciding to stop buying the product (exit option) or warning friends (voice option). Post purchase uses ;amp; disposal Marketers should also monitor how buyers use ;amp; dispose of the product. Fig 3. 2 Fig 3. 2 How buyers use ;amp; dispose of the product How buyers use ;amp; dispose of the product Moderating effects on consumer decision making The manner or path by which a consumer moves through the decision-making stages depends on several factors including the level of involvement ;amp; extent of variety seeking. * Low-Involvement Decision Making Petty ;amp; cacippo’s elaboration an influential model of attitude formation ;amp; change, describe how consumers make evaluation in both low ;amp; high involvement circumstances. Central route in which attitude or change stimulates much thought ;amp; is based on consumer’s diligent, rational consideration of the most important product information. Peripheral route in which attitude formation or change provokes much less thought ;amp; results from the consumer’s association of a brand with either positive or negative peripheral cues. Marketers use 4 techniques to try to covert low involvement product into one of higher involvement: 1. They can link the product to an engaging issue. 2. They can link the product to a personal situation. 3. They might design advertising to trigger strong emotions related to personal values. 4. They might add an important feature. * Variety-seeking buying behavior Here consumers often do a lot of brand switching. Brand switching occurs for the sake of variety rather than dissatisfaction. The market leader will try to encourage habitual buying behavior by dominating the self-space with a variety of related but different product versions, avoiding out-of-stock conditions, & sponsoring frequent reminder advertising. Behavioral decision theory & behavioral economics Behavioral decision theory (BDT) has identified many situations in which consumers make seemingly irrational choices. 1. Decision heuristics. 2. Framing. 3. Mental accounting. * Decision heuristics 1. Availability heuristic consumers base their predictions on the quickness & ease with which a particular example of an outcomes comes to mind. 2. Representative heuristic consumers base their predictions on how representative or similar the outcomes are to other examples.

How Economic Growth Shaped Dubai as a City

HOW ECONOMIC GROWTH SHAPED DUBAI AS A CITY As powerful and influential as they are, history has shown us metropoliss are vulnerable to extremist alterations, albeit if they are good or bad, forced or uncoerced, they bear the capablenesss to transform the city. jpg" src="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/aaimagestore/essays/1499275.002.png">This essay aims to research how a metropolis can be transformed by a force, and as a premier illustration the designated metropolis chosen is Dubai. As one of the biggest and fastest turning metropoliss, the metropolis is an ideal illustration as Dubai has risen quickly to make a repute for itself. It is merely within the last 30 old ages, that the metropolis has witness rapid growing, chiefly due to income generated from oil gross but besides from economic sciences and industrial developments. Context – Dubai pre oil Located on the Arabian Gulf, Dubai began as a hamlets for travelers and bargainers, before it was subsequently established as a fish small town in 1830. The majority of income in the country came from fishing and pearling, while the initial primary motivation for control in the country was chiefly commercial. This was due to the purpose to order the spice trade ; a critical trade good during the clip due to its usage in the saving of nutrient. The Portuguese were the first to colonize the gulf, with the British subsequently emerging as a strong influence within the Gulf part for strategic grounds. The first stage of Dubai’s urban development occurred from 1900 to 1955 ; nevertheless the overall growing was slow and limited due to economic restraints and fringy growing in population. British influence remained strong during this period, highlighted through the country’s aid with a series of development undertakings. At the clip many of these undertakings were arranged in expectancy of fiscal addition from oil gross. However British hegemony finally weakened following WW2, taking to a planetary rise in anti-colonial motions, with the united provinces emerging as a replacing. Dubai as a part was divided into countries located at the oral cavity of the brook, by which the full population was confined to three little enclaves. This country was of great importance at the clip, as the chief gross of income came from fishing and pearl diving. Until 1955, the urban country did non transcend 320 hectare, with the big bulk of the land used for residential intents, while countries for commercial infinite were limited. Prior to the first building of a concrete edifice in 1956, the huge bulk of local dwellers lived in traditional ‘Barasti’ places, built from thenar fronds. The places were built in bunchs to supply the occupants with privateness, but besides tribal security as a group. Discovery of oil The find of oil in commercial measures in 1966, acted as the accelerator for rapid growing and substructure development within Dubai. Aware that the finite resource will finally go scarce, the pick was made to diversify the country’s economic foundations, with touristry the desired sector. The gross generated as a consequence, was invested into substructure developments such as schools, infirmaries, roads and besides a modern telecommunications web. This urban growing was allowed due to 3 chief factors ; economic richness, technological progresss in transit and besides political alterations over land usage. While the touristry sector generates the bulk of the city’s surplus, the province besides additions value through a series of free-trade zones and high tech bunchs. This attracts companies to put and re-located to Dubai, due to freedom and openness of Dubai’s trading Torahs, with the correlativity of greatest growing in mega enclaves or specialized bunchs. The first stage of Dubai’s urban growing was characterised as spacial enlargement established through size, visual aspect, and the city’s urban morphology, while the 2nd stage was focused on the thought of compact growing. This period extended from 1955 to 1970, during which British influence still remained strong, reflected through the states influence on assorted undertakings, such as that of British designer Jon Harris. In 1960 Harris manifested the thought of giving Dubai a more functional and modern layout, through the proviso of a route system, and specific countries for ; industry, commercial, public and residential countries, and besides the creative activity of a new town Centre. Dubai after oil The find of oil in commercial measures drove Dubai’s economic addition, leting the metropolis to spread out at a more rapid rate. In 1971, Harris’ new maestro program was introduced to better the city’s substructure, while his vision to spatially organize the metropolis into countries of different usage was besides manifested. Numerous developments besides occurred on the corridor along Skeikh Zayed Road, Nicknamed ‘new Dubai’ , the country emerged as the new commercial and fiscal Centre of the metropolis. There is an compulsion for everything to be monumental and record breakage, highlighted through the heroic proportions of Dubai’s undertakings ; the tallest edifice, the biggest unreal island, the largest subject park, biggest promenade and the largest international airdrome, are a few to the list. Dubai’s urban individuality is of all time altering, with the strive to make extraordinary architecture shown through the latest proposal of a 1:1 graduated table of the world’s best of, dwelling of landmarks such as the Eiffel tower and pyramids of Giza. Spatially, Dubai is divided into ‘city’s’ which cater for different industries, while many of the Dubai’s skyscrapers are located along Sheikh Zayed Road, a stretch of main road associating Dubai to Abu Dhabi. Of the assorted ‘city’s’ , the chief consist of an ‘internet’ metropolis, an substructure environment which caters for the city’s’ ICT on a local and planetary scope. Situated nearby is Media metropolis, which is arranged in a similar manner to internet metropolis, with the primary industry directed at media, while ‘studio city’ is a developed country which caters for production demands. Amidst the rapid enlargement of industrial metropoliss, and sky scrapers, there is an interesting deficiency of cultural undertakings such as museums and Centres, once more perchance raising the point of a soulless metropolis. The population of Dubai in 1995 counted at about 700,000, while the figure now stands at over 2 million, a drastic addition in a short period of clip. This figure is multi-cultural, with the locals organizing minority, and amidst this population combination, society is really unfastened minded. This free and unfastened political orientation has helped Dubai’s growing as it encourages investing and touristry. There are downsides, with the diverse population mix, and location of the metropolis at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, intending the part can be vulnerable to a figure of struggles. However these struggles have been resolved spatially, achieved through a policy which promotes co-existence, but can besides be defined as controlled segregation through defined lodgers such as enclaves and zones. While the rapid growing is monumental and without uncertainty impressive, there are critics to the Dubai’s growing. The mega undertakings are perceived as economic and corporately driven, with the metropolis missing distinguishable history and ‘soul’ . Even so that the Burj lead designer Tom Wright admitted he did non cognize where Dubai was located prior to the undertaking. The Sail and thenars are easy recognizable symbols, and have been used smartly as a selling gambit. Claimed as symbols of Dubai, they are act more as cosmopolitan characters and are non needfully entirely linked to Dubai or the UAE. Decision: It is without uncertainty that the find of oil on a commercial graduated table has been the chief drive force behind Dubai’s drastic alteration from a fishing small town, to planetary mega metropolis. The gross generated has acted as the springboard for investings, and development on big graduated tables ; nevertheless other complecting factors have to be considered for the city’s transmutation. The province control free market capitalist economy helps supply Dubai with an unfastened market to turn, really much like how China has, while in comparing to metropoliss such as London, which is restricted by its history. The strategic move to diversify and turn Dubai into a expansive tourer finish, was the concluding portion of mystifier as to talk, with the addition in monumental undertakings such as ‘The universe islands’ , ‘The Palm’ and Burj Khalifa, merely a few to call, which cater for tourers, and besides specify Dubai as a metropolis. Amidst the flashiness and glamor, the metropolis is non a functional as it appears to be, with many to the freshly formed edifices, aimed towards bring forthing gross, opposed to spacial jobs. There is an sole nature to Dubai’s mega undertakings, with many located offshore, and controlled entree thorough a assortment of agencies: security guards, entryway fees.While societal divisions have been created within the population due to the rapid growing, frequently between the privileged, and workers. As a whole metropolis lacks historical context and individuality prior to the economic roar, whether if that is a negative or non remains to be seen, with the metropolis turning at an dismaying yet impressive rate, the sky and sea is the bound †¦ Bibliography Text: Davis, M. , 2008.Evil Edens: Never-never lands of Neoliberalism.s.l. : The New Press. Elsheshtawy, Y. , 2004.Planing Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in a globalizing universe.s.l. : Routledge. Mangan, J. , 2008.Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management.s.l. : John Wiley & A ; Sons. Wright, H. , 2008.Instantaneous Cities.First edition erectile dysfunction. s.l. : Black Dog Publishing ; First edition. Brook, D. , 2013.nextcity.[ Online ] Available at:nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-dubai-became-dubai( Accessed 30 December 2014 ) . Images: Weburbanist. ( N.D )City image[ Online Image ] hypertext transfer protocol: //weburbanist.com/2011/02/21/then-now-the-stunning-speed-of-urban-development/ ( Acessed: 12 January 2015 ) David Teather. ( 2009 ) Palm Islands resort [ Online Image ] hypertext transfer protocol: //www.theguardian.com/business/2009/dec/21/dubai-world-dubai ( Acessed: 12 January 2015 ) Dubaiforvisitors. ( N.D ) Dubai Map [ Online Image ] hypertext transfer protocol: //dubaiforvisitors.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/dubai-map.jpg ( Acessed: 12 January 2015 ) 1

Calypso or Circe Essay

Nausicaa is the first normal woman Odysseus sees in nearly twenty years, the last of whom being the women from Ismarus, the city he sacks directly after leaving Troy, and understandably he is very weary of her. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, he treats her with the utmost respect and keeps his distance from her, both physically and emotionally. He admires her beauty, respects her decisions and listens to her like an equal, despite her age and sex, which shows respect, although not necessarily feelings. Despite his lack of show of affection towards her, he is kind and shows his appreciation for her saving him from death – ‘I do indeed pray to Zeus†¦ to let me reach my home†¦ If he does, then I will pray you as a divinity all the rest of my days. For it was you lady, who gave me back my life. ‘ showing how he does indeed respect what she has done for him, and is grateful towards her. After Odysseus leaves Nausicaa in the town, Homer does not mention her anymore but for their goodbyes, despite the fact they are staying under the same roof. This indicates Odysseus’s lack of interest in Nausicaa’s comings and goings. When Odysseus begins to explain his adventures to Alcinous, in particular he mentions Calypso and Circe, and how he never had any affection for them – ‘The divine Calypso was certainly for keeping me in her cavern home because she yearned for me to be her husband and with me the same object Circe†¦. but never for a moment did they win my heart. ‘ Here Odysseus states in his own words that he was never won over by either, and although he may have found pleasure in staying with them, it could never compare with the pleasure of seeing his wife again; any feelings he had towards Calypso or Circe were not genuine or heart-felt. Similarly to Calypso, Circe is first seen as ‘singing with her beautiful voice’ and ‘weaving one of those delicate, graceful and dazzling fabrics that goddesses make’, and the temptation to stay with her (as he then does with Calypso) would have been immense. Hermes warns her that ‘she will†¦ invite you to her bed. You must not refuse†¦ if you want her to free your men and look after you’. The fact that Odysseus obeys this shows the extent of what he would do to free his men and return home; going to bed with Circe would have been merely another obstacle for him on his journey home, his feelings towards her being limited. Although he describes the ‘comfortable heat’ and the way ‘all the painful weariness was gone’ from his limbs, his ‘thoughts were elsewhere’ and ‘mind was full of forebodings’ showing how he cannot feel content without knowing his crew is safe and his chances for ever reaching home are still tangible. In addition, the way in which he prioritises Circe’s actions towards him and his crew is also relevant, seeing as it is Odysseus recounting the story to Alcinous. He first says Circe ‘graciously bathed the members of my party in her palace and rubbed them with olive-oil. She gave them tunics and warm cloaks’, showing how to him, the women he encounters are mostly beneficial to him for the reason that they give him and his crew shelter, food and drink, and there is no implication of any feeling towards them. They stay on the island for a year, and by the end the crew are frustrated – ‘What possesses you to stay on here? It’s time you thought of Ithaca’. It is only when Ithaca is mentioned that Odysseus is persuaded to leave – ‘my proud heart was convinced’; if he did have any feelings towards Circe, he would have stayed, or at least contemplated staying for a little longer. Overall I consider that Odysseus does not care about these women. He loves his wife dearly – ‘[Penelope] is never out of your thoughts’- and is happy to leave every island he sets foot upon if he thinks he is heading for home. Circe does seem to hold a certain place in Odysseus’ heart, because she is the one he stays with voluntarily and has to be persuaded to leave, but Odysseus leaves the others without a backward glance – ‘with a happy heart’ in fact, in the case of Calypso. Odysseus’s affection and respect for Nausicaa seems to be purely polite and possibly only to suit his own means, or at the most brotherly- he wants the best for her. As for Arete, Odysseus never had affectionate feelings for her. He needs her support to get home, and this is the only reason he shows respect for her, except perhaps because she is a wise woman. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus longs for his homeland, and is unable to feel much but grief at his prolonged absence.