How did the western expansion heighten sectional conflict between Essay

How did the western expansion heighten sectional conflict between North and South - Essay Example The conflicts were so bad, though without the added political stresses that were in accompaniment of the territorial expansion, the civil war would not have occurred. The United States constituted of two clashing economies. The economy of the south was formed based on agriculture. Slaves became the chief source of labour in the South, for the sake of production of a suitable crop. The North, on the other hand, had an industrialised economy, that revolved around innovation of technology and had manufacturing factories. The North, however, did not make use of slaves to have a functional economy. This, as a result, left the South trapped in an agricultural system that was traditional, while the North seemed to advance on a daily basis. The economic discrepancies evident between the North and South were continually advancing and eventually climaxed in the Nullification Crisis in 1833. The United States had imposed protected tariffs on all goods that were being imported. This tariff proved disadvantageous to the Southerners because the prices of the many foreign goods they purchased hiked. Considering that the economy of the people of the South was not a manufacturing power, the Southerners had no option but to buy their manufactured goods from the North (Merk, 1995). The state of South Carolina then threatened to nullify the tariffs since they did not like the forced Northern convenience. Some days before the decision to nullify was made final, South Carolina suddenly ended the crisis to avoid facing the massive army of the US. The Nullification Crisis however, highlighted how different the economies of the North and South were. As a result, a tension, specifically between South Carolina and the union was created. South Carolina then realized that it had to convince more states from the South to join the rebellion if it had to override

The Effects of Global Warming on the Animals in the North Pole Essay

The Effects of Global Warming on the Animals in the North Pole - Essay Example This statement is significant as every living thing, undergoes the process of â€Å"inhaling† and â€Å"exhaling† carbon dioxide and oxygen, thereby resulting in a chemical balance in the earth’s atmosphere. Even a wide variety of human activities, which primarily include the burning of fossil fuels, industrial activities and the cutting down of forest for agricultural purposes and urbanization, are potentially increasing the volume of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thereby upsetting this atmospheric chemical balance. The details of our complex climate systems are not sufficiently known to facilitate us in the prediction of the precise consequences of global warming in our planet. Our ability to accurately measure the human influence on global climate variation is essentially limited. The forecasted signals are still rising from the phenomenon of variability in climate and the concerned uncertainties. These include the magnitudes and patterns of prolong natu ral variability and the evolving patterns through times; and responses to changes in the concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols. However, it is an essential fact to be noted that, not everyone agrees that the surface temperature of the earth is on the increase. ... Scenario of global warming in the Arctic Circle The Arctic region comprises of the area that is north of the Arctic Circle (66 °34’N), a latitude which is barely 600km from the Shetland Islands. The Arctic Circle covers an area that is approximately 6% of the Earth’s surface, and is populated by almost 4 million humans, which includes indigenous people who have been inhabitants of the Arctic since the past 10,000 years. At the centre are the Arctic Ocean, which partly encloses the five coastal states of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the United States of America. During the past five decades, the average annual temperature in the Arctic Circle has significantly increased by upto 3oC. It has been presumed that depending on the local areas and the carbon emissions in the future, the average annual temperature of the Arctic Circle will increase a further 2-9oC in the present year. The fact to be notified is significantly more than the average rise of annual tempe rature globally, which shows a rise of 1.8 - 3.4 °C. This significant rise in the temperature levels has inflicted global warming in the North Pole, which will also essentially feedback into enhanced global warming mainly due to the melting of ice and permafrost thaw. The degree of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean varies seasonally, portraying greatest in March and at the end of winter, while lowest in September at the end of summer. The analysis of the data of the past 3 decades which were obtained from the views of the satellites shows a significant decline in the sea ice. This decline was notified as beyond the natural variations, averaging 11.7% a decade in summer and 2.7% during the winter. It was

IT Governance Essay Example for Free

IT Governance Essay A governance view that consists of the business governance of IT – ensuring that IT supports and enables the business strategy – and the functional governance of IT – ensuring that the IT function itself runs efficiently and effectively (http://www.takinggovernanceforward.org). Executive Summary Successful enterprises recognize the benefits of information technology and use it to drive their stakeholders’ value. These enterprises also understand and manage the associated risks, such as increasing regulatory compliance and critical dependence of many business processes on information technology (IT). The need for assurance about the value of IT, the management of IT-related risks and increased requirements for control over information are now understood as key elements of enterprise governance. Value, risk and control constitute the core of IT governance. Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT ®) provides good practices across a domain and process framework and presents activities in a manageable and logical structure. COBIT’s good practices represent the consensus of experts. They are strongly focused more on control, less on execution. These practices will help optimize IT-enabled investments, ensure service delivery and provide a measure against which to judge when things do go wrong. For IT to be successful in delivering against business requirements, management should put an internal control system or framework in place. The COBIT control framework contributes to these needs by: * Making a link to the business requirements * Organizing IT activities into a generally accepted process model * Identifying the major IT resources to be leveraged * Defining the management control objectives to be considered An answer to these requirements of determining and monitoring the appropriate IT control and performance level is COBIT’s definition of: * Benchmarking of IT process performance and capability, expressed as maturity models, derived from the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM) * Goals and metrics of the IT processes to define and measure their outcome and performance based on the principles of Robert Kaplan and David Norton’s balanced business scorecard * Activity goals for getting these processes under control, based on COBIT’s control objectives The assessment of process capability based on the COBIT maturity models is a key part of IT governance implementation. After identifying critical IT processes and controls, maturity modeling enables gaps in capability to be identified and demonstrated to management. Action plans can then be developed to bring these processes up to the desired capability target level. Thus, COBIT supports IT governance by providing a framework to ensure that: * IT is aligned with the business * IT enables the business and maximizes benefits * IT resources are used responsibly * IT risks are managed appropriately Figure 1 Adopted for this study Governance Focus Areas * Strategic alignment focuses on ensuring the linkage of business and IT plans; defining, maintaining and validating the IT value proposition; and aligning IT operations with enterprise operations. * Value delivery is about executing the value proposition throughout the delivery cycle, ensuring that IT delivers the promised benefits against the strategy, concentrating on optimizing costs and proving the intrinsic value of IT. * Resource management is about the optimal investment in, and the proper management of, critical IT resources: applications, information, infrastructure and people. Key issues relate to the optimization of knowledge and infrastructure. * Risk management requires risk awareness by senior corporate officers, a clear understanding of the enterprise’s appetite for risk, understanding of compliance requirements, transparency about the significant risks to the enterprise and embedding of risk management responsibilities into the organization. * Performance measurement tracks and monitors strategy implementation, project completion, resource usage, process performance and service delivery, using, for example, balanced scorecards that translate strategy into action to achieve goals measurable beyond conventional accounting. COBIT Framework A control framework for IT governance defines the reasons IT governance is needed, the stakeholders and what it needs to accomplish. Why? Increasingly, top management is realizing the significant impact that information can have on the success of the enterprise. Management expects heightened understanding of the way IT is operated and the likelihood of its being leveraged successfully for competitive advantage. In particular, top management needs to know if information is being managed by the enterprise so that it is: * Likely to achieve its objectives * Resilient enough to learn and adapt * Judiciously managing the risks it faces * Appropriately recognizing opportunities and acting upon them Successful enterprises understand the risks and exploit the benefits of IT and find ways to deal with: * Aligning IT strategy with the business strategy * Assuring investors and shareholders that a ‘standard of due care’ around mitigating IT risks is being met by the organization * Cascading IT strategy and goals down into the enterprise * Obtaining value from IT investments * Providing organizational structures that facilitate the implementation of strategy and goals * Creating constructive relationships and effective communication between the business and IT, and with external partners * Measuring IT’s performance Enterprises cannot deliver effectively against these business and governance requirements without adopting and implementing a governance and control framework for IT to: * Make a link to the business requirements * Make performance against these requirements transparent * Organize its activities into a generally accepted process model * Identify the major resources to be leveraged * Define the management control objectives to be considered Furthermore, governance and control frameworks are becoming a part of IT management good practice and are an enabler for establishing IT governance and complying with continually increasing regulatory requirements. IT good practices have become significant due to a number of factors: * Business managers and boards demanding a better return from IT investments, i.e., that IT delivers what the business needs to enhance stakeholder value * Concern over the generally increasing level of IT expenditure * The need to meet regulatory requirements for IT controls in areas such as privacy and financial reporting (e.g., the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Basel II) and in specific sectors such as finance, pharmaceutical and healthcare * The selection of service providers and the management of service outsourcing and acquisition * Increasingly complex IT-related risks, such as network security * IT governance initiatives that include adoption of control frameworks and good practices to help monitor and improve critical IT activities to increase business value and reduce business risk * The need to optimize costs by following, where possible, standardized, rather than specially developed, approaches * The growing maturity and consequent acceptance of well-regarded frameworks, such as COBIT, IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), ISO 27000 series on information security-related standards, ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Systems—Requirements, Capability Maturity Model ® Integration (CMMI), Projects in Controlled Environments 2 (PRINCE2) and A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) * The need for enterprises to assess how they are performing against generally accepted standards and their peers (benchmarking) Who? A governance and control framework needs to serve a variety of internal and external stakeholders, each of whom has specific needs: * Stakeholders within the enterprise who have an interest in generating value from IT investments: * Those who make investment decisions * Those who decide about requirements * Those who use IT services * Internal and external stakeholders who provide IT services: * Those who manage the IT organization and processes * Those who develop capabilities * Those who operate the services * Internal and external stakeholders who have a control/risk responsibility: * Those with security, privacy and/or risk responsibilities * Those performing compliance functions * Those requiring or providing assurance services What? To meet the requirements listed in the previous section, a framework for IT governance and control should: * Provide a business focus to enable alignment between business and IT objectives * Establish a process orientation to define the scope and extent of coverage, with a defined structure enabling easy navigation of content * Be generally acceptable by being consistent with accepted IT good practices and standards and independent of specific technologies * Supply a common language with a set of terms and definitions that are generally understandable by all stakeholders * Help meet regulatory requirements by being consistent with generally accepted corporate governance standards (e.g., COSO) and IT controls expected by regulators and external auditors IT Resources The IT organization delivers against these goals by a clearly defined set of processes that use people skills and technology infrastructure to run automated business applications while leveraging business information. The IT resources identified in COBIT can be defined as follows: * Applications are the automated user systems and manual procedures that process the information. * Information is the data, in all their forms, input, processed and output by the information systems in whatever form is used by the business. * Infrastructure is the technology and facilities (i.e., hardware, operating systems, database management systems, networking, multimedia, and the environment that houses and supports them) that enable the processing of the applications. * People are the personnel required to plan, organize, acquire, implement, deliver, support, monitor and evaluate the information systems and services. They may be internal, outsourced or contracted as required. Processes To govern IT effectively, it is important to appreciate the activities and risks within IT that need to be managed. They are usually ordered into the responsibility domains of plan, build, run and monitor. The four interrelated domains of COBIT are: * Plan and Organize (PO)—Provides direction to solution delivery (AI) and service delivery (DS) * Acquire and Implement (AI)—Provides the solutions and passes them to be turned into services * Deliver and Support (DS)—Receives the solutions and makes them usable for end users * Monitor and Evaluate (ME)—Monitors all processes to ensure that the direction provided is followed Plan and organize (PO) This domain covers strategy and tactics, and concerns the identification of the way IT can best contribute to the achievement of the business objectives. The realization of the strategic vision needs to be planned, communicated and managed for different perspectives. A proper organization as well as technological infrastructure should be put in place. This domain typically addresses the following management questions: * Are IT and the business strategy aligned? * Is the enterprise achieving optimum use of its resources? * Does everyone in the organization understand the IT objectives? * Are IT risks understood and being managed? * Is the quality of IT systems appropriate for business needs? Acquire and implement (AI) To realize the IT strategy, IT solutions need to be identified, developed or acquired, as well as implemented and integrated into the business process. In addition, changes in and maintenance of existing systems are covered by this domain to make sure the solutions continue to meet business objectives. This domain typically addresses the following management questions: * Are new projects likely to deliver solutions that meet business needs? * Are new projects likely to be delivered on time and within budget? * Will the new systems work properly when implemented? * Will changes be made without upsetting current business operations? Deliver and support (DS) This domain is concerned with the actual delivery of required services, which includes service delivery, management of security and continuity, service support for users, and management of data and operational facilities. It typically addresses the following management questions: * Are IT services being delivered in line with business priorities? * Is IT costs optimized? * Is the workforce able to use the IT systems productively and safely? * Are adequate confidentiality, integrity and availability in place for information security? Monitor and evaluate (ME) All IT processes need to be regularly assessed over time for their quality and compliance with control requirements. This domain addresses performance management, monitoring of internal control, regulatory compliance and governance. It typically addresses the following management questions: * Is IT’s performance measured to detect problems before it is too late? * Does management ensure that internal controls are effective and efficient? * Can IT performance be linked back to business goals? * Are adequate confidentiality, integrity and availability controls in place for information security? Processes need Controls Control is defined as the policies, procedures, practices and organizational structures designed to provide reasonable assurance that business objectives will be achieved and undesired events will be prevented or detected and corrected. IT control objectives provide a complete set of high-level requirements to be considered by management for effective control of each IT process. They: * Are statements of managerial actions to increase value or reduce risk * Consist of policies, procedures, practices and organizational structures * Are designed to provide reasonable assurance that business objectives will be achieved and undesired events will be prevented or detected and corrected Enterprise management needs to make choices relative to these control objectives by: * Selecting those that are applicable * Deciding upon those that will be implemented * Choosing how to implement them (frequency, span, automation, etc.) * Accepting the risk of not implementing those that may apply The control objectives are identified by a two-character domain reference (PO, AI, DS and ME) plus a process number and a control objective number. In addition to the control objectives, each COBIT process has generic control requirements that are identified by PCn, for process control number. They should be considered together with the process control objectives to have a complete view of control requirements. PC1 Process Goals and Objectives Define and communicate specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, results-oriented and timely process goals and objectives for the effective execution of each IT process. Ensure that they are linked to the business goals and supported by suitable metrics. PC2 Process Ownership Assign an owner for each IT process, and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the process owner. Include, for example, responsibility for process design, interaction with other processes, accountability for the end results, measurement of process performance and the identification of improvement opportunities. PC3 Process Repeatability Design and establish each key IT process such that it is repeatable and consistently produces the expected results. Provide for a logical but flexible and saleable sequence of activities that will lead to the desired results and is agile enough to deal with exceptions and emergencies. Use consistent processes, where possible, and tailor only when unavoidable. PC4 Roles and Responsibilities Define the key activities and end deliverables of the process. Assign and communicate unambiguous roles and responsibilities for effective and efficient execution of the key activities and their documentation as well as accountability for the process end deliverables. PC5 Policy, Plans and Procedures Define and communicate how all policies, plans and procedures that drive an IT process are documented, reviewed, maintained, approved, stored, communicated and used for training. Assign responsibilities for each of these activities and, at appropriate times, review whether they are executed correctly. Ensure that the policies, plans and procedures are accessible, correct, understood and up to date. PC6 Process Performance Improvement Identify a set of metrics that provides insight into the outcomes and performance of the process. Establish targets that reflect on the process goals and performance indicators that enable the achievement of process goals. Define how the data are to be obtained. Compare actual measurements to targets and take action upon deviations, where necessary. Align metrics, targets and methods with IT’s overall performance monitoring approach. Effective controls reduce risk, increase the likelihood of value delivery and improve efficiency because there will be fewer errors and a more consistent management approach. In addition, COBIT provides examples for each process that are illustrative, but not prescriptive or exhaustive, of: * Generic inputs and outputs * Activities and guidance on roles and responsibilities in a Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed (RACI) chart * Key activity goals (the most important things to do) * Metrics Business and it controls The enterprise’s system of internal controls impacts IT at three levels: * At the executive management level, business objectives are set, policies are established and decisions are made on how to deploy and manage the resources of the enterprise to execute the enterprise strategy. The overall approach to governance and control is established by the board and communicated throughout the enterprise. The IT control environment is directed by this top-level set of objectives and policies. * At the business process level, controls are applied to specific business activities. Most business processes are automated and integrated with IT application systems, resulting in many of the controls at this level being automated as well. These controls are known as application controls. However, some controls within the business process remain as manual procedures, such as authorization for transactions, separation of duties and manual reconciliations. Therefore, controls at the business process level are a combination of manual controls operated by the business and automated business and application controls. Both are the responsibility of the business to define and manage, although the application controls require the IT function to support their design and development. * To support the business processes, IT provides IT services, usually in a shared service to many business processes, as many of the development and operational IT processes are provided to the whole enterprise, and much of the IT infrastructure is provided as a common service (e.g., networks, databases, operating systems and storage). The controls applied to all IT service activities are known as IT general controls. The reliable operation of these general controls is necessary for reliance to be placed on application controls. For example, poor change management could jeopardize (accidentally or deliberately) the reliability of automated integrity checks. Summary Establishing an effective governance framework includes defining organizational structures, processes, leadership, roles, and responsibilities to ensure that enterprise IT investments are aligned and delivered in accordance with enterprise strategies and objectives. Control over the process of providing IT governance that satisfies the business requirements for IT of integrating IT governance with corporate governance objectives and complying with laws, regulations and contracts. By focusing on preparing board reports on IT strategy, performance and risks, and responding to governance requirements in line with board directions. Achieved by * Establishing IT governance framework integrated into corporate governance * Obtaining independent assurance over the IT governance status. Measured by * Frequency of board reporting on IT to stakeholders (including maturity) * Frequency of reporting from IT to the board (including maturity) * Frequency of independent reviews of IT compliance References * Cobit 4.1 http://www.itgi.org * IT Governance Harvard University March 31, 2008 * Governance Objective and Governance views of IT (Mapping) http://www.takinggovernanceforward.org

Analysis of Brand Management Strategy for Shoe Company

Analysis of Brand Management Strategy for Shoe Company Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Introduction This dissertation is comprised of brand evolution and sum various steps involved to construct it. The creation and importance of Brand Awareness, Brand Image, and Brand Loyalty is discussed followed by the evaluation of Servis Sales Corporation as how successful Brand they are in Shoe industry of Pakistan. Servis Sales Corporation claims to be the largest retail shoe sellers of Pakistan therefore research is held on the company as what are the various marketing strategies SSC adopted to gain such a large market share. Steps to create brand loyalty amongst their target market and implementing effective brand management are part of this research. Branding is the main ingredient in the process of creating stable reputation, identity and strong image of a company and is always a first requirement to have competitive edge, this create awareness and work as a positive gesture towards customers to be product or brand loyal. As the Chairman of Quaker Oats Ltd, John Stuart said, if this business were to be split up, I would be glad to take the brands, trademark and goodwill and you could have it all the bricks and mortar and I would fare better than you . Leslie De Chernatony(2001 p1) In this era of globalization every company wishes to grow and expand their businesses in order to attain a healthy position in throat cutting world of business . In this effort companies faces many challenges and went through many challenges by their rivals and most of all providing customer’s satisfaction. 1.1 Background Study: The term brand arrived form the ancient Norse word meaning â€Å"to burn† Rita Clifton, John Simmons, Sameena Ahmad (2004 ;13). The original term was developed to signify the source or maker or owner of a product or item. Now a days brand is used to identify service or product’s manufacturer or seller, when we go through we see that many of the many modern concepts of brands and branding were formalised in the United States at a Procter Gamble company in the late 1800s. We get a good example of importance of brand when we talk about â€Å"Virgin† which is currently at the face of hundred business strategies. A brand will be a strong brand if people’s values match the values of brand. Branding’s means adding value to the product Marieke K de Mooij (2005: 96) Brand stands for a reputation, you are always reputed when you are always reputed when you make a promise and fulfil it. Brand is more like a human nature not just a visual, public identity or a picture. Every single who is part of the organization represents the brand of the company and pay its part to construct it. The brand is a performance measured and recorded in interaction of every area involves customers investors, employees business partners and media (www.thebrandconsultancy.com) Its quite clear that every company is conscious about its brand loyalty amongst its customers because they know this if they are successful in managing the brand loyalty of their existing customers which is company’s strategic asset it will automatically add huge value to firm. As Douglas B states that Brand Loyalty is the customer’s willingness to stay with brand when competitor come knocking with offering that would be considered equally attractive had not to the customer and brand shared a history. The degree of customer stickiness is the key to the brand’s market power. Douglas B. Holt (2004 ; p 149) Merlo (2003) mentions that the brand loyalty is rewarded by an increase in profit through repeat business, referral sales, decreased customer maintenance costs and reduced exposure to price competition. When we talk about creating and enhancing brand loyalty we see that there are not-too complex ways of increasing brand loyalty. Companies can learn to recover from mistakes. A good recovery can turn angry, frustrated customers into a loyal ones. â€Å"Companies must handle problems and complaints with Care- Communicate, Acknowledgement, respect and regard and empathy†(Merlo, 2003) 1.2 Statement of Problem: Global challenges today have forced companies not to have their business image within their home land but to spread their identity across the borders by managing brand, securing the product or a service of companies and building loyalty among customers to achieve maximum and lasting competitive edge. The aim of the research is to evaluate the brand management of Servis Sales Corporation by analyzing their marketing strategies. Research covers the analysis that how successful SSC today is in gaining brand loyalty as it is considered to be the biggest footwear seller in Pakistan. 1.3 Aim and Objectives: The main Objective of the research is the finding that to what level SSC is successful in imperialising Brand Management to embrace positive effect on their customer’s perception and has given SSC a competitive edge, as they are Pakistan’s largest shoe company. Core Objectives of Research: To analyze marketing strategies of Servis Shoes Company leading to effective brand management giving SSC a positive brand image amongst their target market. To observe various strategies adapted by SSC to enhance brand loyalty amongst their customers? To find out what steps Servis Shoes Company took to create its Brand awareness amongst it’s target market and what are the areas they still need to focus upon. To identify the involvement of consumers to the brand as in why they prefer a particular brand (Servis) on every other different brands available in the market. 1.4 Report Structure: This report will be organized as follows: Literature Review: The literature review of this report covers understanding and benefit of effective brand management that how people connect to them. Chapter includes importance of creating and enhancing awareness among consumers followed by the concepts and historical perspective of brand loyalty giving a wider view of the perception about brand loyalty and its strategic values. Company Introduction: This chapter consist of the brief introduction to Servis Sales Corporation, giving a wider view of their leading position in shoe line in Pakistan amongst their rivals. This chapter shows company background and demographics with the facts and figures about their expanded business nationwide. Research Methodology: In this chapter different method of research is discussed. It also focuses on research philosophy principle, quantitative and qualitative analysis and secondary and primary data. After studying the methods and techniques different methods are identified which is most suitable to get the reliable and most accurate data? Which is used in research? Finding and Analysis After completing the research, the data gathered through different sources from the company are analysed in this chapter, which is explained with chart and then it is moderated with the findings. Conclusion: This chapter involves conclusion and the result in the light of findings with literature. Analysis of research finding and result are discussed, Recommendation to company and further research is also the part of this chapter. Literature Review Scott Galloway stated a very good definition showing importance of brands in today’s world of marketing that â€Å"Brand is the face of a business strategy† ( Scott Galloway in Alker, 2000 :33) another well appreciated definition of brand given by American Marketing Association cited in (Kotler 2003: 418) â€Å" A brand is name, term, sign, symbol, or services of one seller or a group of seller to differentiate them from those of competitors†. A brand is essentially a marketer’s promise to deliver a specific set of features, benefits and services consistently to buyers. The marketer must think that he is offering a contract to the customer about how the brand will perform ( kotler 2003) Le Pla et ala, (2003: 3) give a more profound and in depth definition of brand: Brand is the interaction between core company ( product or service ) strengths and what is customer value . Company strengths are what company does well. The things that the customers value include the benefits of a products features, as well as what the customer see as the ongoing worth of a relationship with the company. According to Kapferer (1997 : 56), â€Å"Products are mute: the brand is what gives them a meaning and purpose, telling us how a product should be read. A brand is both a prism and a magnifying glass through which products can be decoded†. Renault invites us to perceive its models as cars for living’.. brands guide our perception of products†. Hence it can clearly be seen from the above paragraph that branding goes a long way in giving a distinct identity to a product. Rowley (1997) explains that brand communicates with consumers, according too him when consumers are familiar with a brand, they expect the same qualities, benefits and advantages from products or services which are provided under that specific brand, this easily makes their decision in favour of the brand instead of searching or gathering information regarding products fulfilling their requirements. Therefore, it can be suggested that brand accelerates consumers’ process of decision making as it provides two different ways of communication between suppliers and their consumers (Rowley, 1997) Effective Brand Management The concept of â€Å"brand management† was developed at Procter Gamble in the US in the year 1930 and is also knows as product management .Ambler (2003:82). The main reason behind Brand management is to secure the product’s future and services any company or organization, and this is only possible with the formulation loyalty amongst customers creating emotional as well as rational values. This results sales in market place and stimulating affect on the perception of a company’s products .If brand power is tied together in a proper way organization can easily maximize market share and corporate profitability. Brands if handled and managed sensibly can provide their owners a considerable benefits and rewards. Davis (2002 :6) says that the following benefits accure to the company that manages is brands effectively: Loyalty derives repeat business- A recent study by Bob Pasikoff, president of brand keys, shows that an increase in customer loyalty of only 5% can lift lifetime profit per customer by as much as 100%. Premiums price of brand allow higher margins – Starbucks represents the ultimate example of a strong brand driving a premium price resulting in greater profit. Strong Brands lend immediate credibility to new one in product introductions. A well established brands can provide instant credibility for a new product. Gillette’s Marc 3 became number one personal shaver within a month of its launch. Strong brand allow for greater shareholder and stakeholder returns. One can see a good example is Yahoo and GE are big brands with even bigger shareholder returns. Strong Brand embody a clear, valued, and sustainable point of differentiation relative to competition – No one can FedEx’s claim of overnight delivery. Loyal customer base and strong brand make customer forgiving for the the mistakes made by the company, if a company makes a mistake for instance, the strike at the Saturn car plant had little impact on Saturn’s loyalty or sales. The lever for attracting best employees along with keeping satisfied customers is Brand Strength – Companies like coca-cola, Microsoft, Intel, Disney etc. are almost always in the top bracket of survey which measures employee satisfaction. It is obvious that it’s a difficult thing to build and maintain a brand reputation like Coke, Microsoft, Nike, General Electric, etc and as David D’ Alessandro, President of John Hancock Mutual Life insurance, in Klein (2000: 145), â€Å"it can take 100 years too build up a good brand and 30 days to knock it down†. Effect of Brand on People ( How People connect to them) Scott Davis( 2002) says that, Brands are at least in part a set of promises made to consumer. The leading brand travel a particular PATH in the human mind. This PATH is an acronym for promise, acceptance, trust and hope. Certainly this PATH is intangible and cannot be co modified†. But he then mentions that these very intangibles make a customer choose Sony over JVC and Nike over Reebok. The following are the customers perceptions vis-à  -vis a strong brand (Davis, 2002) 72% of customer sat that they will pay a 20% premium for their brand of choice, relative to the closest competitive brand. 25% of customer state that price matter if they are buying a brand that owns their loyalty. Over 50% of purchases are brand driven. Peer recommendation influences almost 30% of all purchases made today. More than 50% of consumers believe a strong brand allows for more successful new product introductions and they are more willing to try a new product from a preferred brand because of the implied endorsement. The view of Le Pla et al, (2002 ; 3) is that a strong brand is much more than an image or a logo. People emotionally identify with a strong brand and relationship with such a brand makes them feel more secure and comfortable. This is completely in sync with Kotler’s ( 2003) example of a consumer buying a Mercedes because the car ( which is also a strong brand) makes him feel more important and admired’. Aaker (1991) suggests that anything which a consumer realises about a brand can be defined as brand association it according to him it create positive consumer attitudes towards brands, thus influence consumer buying decision process. Kapferer (1997) says that brand is like a living memory. The memory factor explains why individuals preferences endure and why within a given generation people continue to prefer the brands they liked between the ages of seven and eighteen ( Guest 1964, Fry et al., 1973, Jacoby et al., 1978 in Kapferer 1997). This is proof, if it was ever needed, that strong brands do have a long-term effect on people. It is imperative now to take a more focussed look on the three constructs that constitute the basis of this study. The first to be analysed will be brand awareness followed by brand loyalty and brand image. Brand Awareness a number of the definition if the term â€Å" Brand Awareness† abound, a fundamental definition of the term is given by Aaker(1991: 61) â€Å" Brand Awareness is the ability of a potential buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of certain product category†. David Aaker’s (1991) ground braking work â€Å"managing brand equity† details with the concept of brand awareness comprehensively. Hence, it has been use here as a main reference, although it has been complimented with other readings. Aaker says that brand awareness involves a link between the product class and the brand. For example, the use of the large balloon with the word Levi’s on it may make the name more salient, but it will not may necessarily help improve brand awareness. However if the balloon is shaped to resemble a pair of Levi’s 301 jeans , the link to the product is provided, the balloon’s effectiveness at creating awareness is enhanced. Aaker (1991). By using the brand, perceiving it and being confronted with it through advertising, consumers learn about its meanings. All this information is connected associatively to the brand name. the richer this associative network is, and the stronger the associations the greater the chance of consumers thinking. Levels of Brand Awareness â€Å"Brand Awareness involves the continuum ranging from an uncertain feeling that the brand is recognised, to a belief that it is the only one in the product class. This continuum is presented in the ‘ Awareness Pyramids’’’ ( Aaker 19991 : 62) Levels of Brand Awareness ( Aaker, 1991) Aaker stated that â€Å"the minimal level of brand is recognition which is based upon aided recall test where respondents are given a set of brand in a product category and asked to identify those that they had heard of before. Thus, although there needs to be link between the brand and the product class, it needs not to be strong. Brand Recognition is particularly important when a buyer chooses a brand at the point of purchases† (Aaker 1991 ;62). Franzen et al, ( 2001) stated that the situations in which none of the choice alternatives is well represented in or memory, brand familiarity ( recognition) will be the determinant in the choice process. The purchases in which consumers regularly choose and re-choose because of the awareness stored in his memory, aided brand awareness i.e. brand recognition has hardly any significance. If we see further we see that brand recall is the further level dependent on asking a person to name brand in a product class. This is â€Å"Unaided recall† because , unlike in the recognition task, the responded is not aided by having names provide. Unaided recall is a substantially more difficult task then recognition, and is associated with a stronger brand position. The first named brand in an unaided recall task has achieved top-of-mind awareness. (Aaker 1991) Strategic Value of Brand Awareness Brand Awareness provides a sustainable competitive advantage and can be a key strategic asset for the company ( Aaker 1998) The following are the banifits of creating a higher brand awareness ( Aaker 1991: 63) ( Figure 3); Anchor to which other association can be attached : Brand Recognition is the first basic step in the communication task. It usually is wasteful to attempt to communicate brand attributes until a name is established with which to associate the attributes. Familiarity/Liking: Awareness provides the brand with fimilarity and people like the familiar. They are prepared to ascribe all sorts of good attitudes to items that are familiar to them ( Aaker et al., 2000). Especially for low involvement products like soap, chewing gum, sugar , facial tissues etc., familiarity can some times drive the buying decision. Substance/ Commitment: Name awareness can be a signal of presence, commitment and substance, an attribute very important to consumer buyers of durables. The logic is that if a name is recognised, there must be a reason like: The firm is widely distributed. The firm has advertised extensively. The brand is successful-others use it. Even if the person has not been exposed to advertising and knows little about, brand awareness could lead to the assumptions that the firm is substantial and backs the brand with advertising. Brands to consider: The role of brand recall (discussed earlier) is crucial for frequently purchased products like coffee, detergent, serials et. Several studies have demonstrated the relationship between top of mind recall and attitude/purchase behaviour. One such study, of six brands in the three product classes (Fast food, Soda and banking), showed large differences in preferences and purchase likely hood, depending on weather the brand was first, second or third mentioned in an unaided recall task (Woodside and Wilson, 1985 in Aaker, 1991). Sometimes it is possible that people recall brands that they dislike strongly. Benefits of Brand Awareness (Aaker 1991) A number of researchers besides Aaker have also demonstrated that brand awareness is a particularly important concept relative to brand evaluation in predicting and explaining consumer choice behaviour. For instance, Arch G (1996 :38) refered to Axelrod (1968 , 1986) demonstrated that top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) of a brand is a sensitive and stable measure than can serve as an intermediate criterion for predicting brand-choice behaviour and brand-switching behaviour. Axelrod (1968) in Aech G(1996 ; 38) emphasized the needs for developing valid and reliable intermediate survey indicators of whether marketing and advertising influence product and brand choice behaviour because of the greater expense and time necessary for experiments to measure the impact of marketing and advertising actions on such behaviour. Haley et al, (1979 in Holden et al., 1992) postulated that brand awareness is more important than attitude. This nation was supported by Hauser (1978 in Holden et al ., 1992) who, using an information theoretic approach, reported that the probability of inclusion of the brand in the evoke ( recalled ) set accounts for more variation in brand choice thus brand attitude (Holden et al., 1992) Similar to Aaker ( 1991), Holden et al, (1992) also say that in the case of low involvement purchase, Brand recall may be reason enough to buy the brand ( that has been recalled Also a high degree of brand awareness is linked to higher sales due to the factor of â€Å" Social desirability† . Most people tend to behave according to the expectations of their social environment, even when it goes against their own opinion. If they are aware of the brand, they will have a tendency to buy it because it is the socially desirably thing to do ( Franzen et al., 2001). Copeland (1923: 287) talked about the benefits of brand awareness as follows â€Å" if the consumer’s previous acquaintance with the brand has been favourable, or if the manufacturer’s and dealer’s advertising has made favourable impression, other things being equal, the recognised brand will be selected from among other unrecognised brands†. Creating and Enhancing Brand Awareness Because consumers are bombarded everyday by more and more marketing messages, the challenge of creating awareness is considerable ( Aaker, 1996). The best approach for every brand to create and maintain brand awareness depends upon the context but the following do server as good points ( Aaker, 1991: 72) ; Be Different, Memorable: An Awareness message should provide a reason to be noticed and it should be memorable. There are many tacks that work but one key is to simply be different and unusual. Involve a slogan or jingle: A Slogan or a Jingle can make a big difference. Slogans like â€Å" it floats† or â€Å"Just do it† can help recall. For a product class like soap, it might be easier to come up with â€Å" it floats† and then Ivory, rather than to name Ivory directly. The link to the slogan might be stronger because it involves a product characterstic that can be visualised. Similarly, a jingle also is vey powerful awareness device. Symbol exposure: A symbol can play a major role in creating and maintaining awareness because it involves a visual image which is much easier to learn and to recall than a word or a phrase. Event Sponsorship: The primary role of most event sponsorship is to crate or maintain awareness. For example, the Benson and Hedges Cricket world cup, the Mercedes super 9- tennis tournament etc. It must be noted that the strongest brand are managed not for strategic awareness. It is one thing to be remembered ; it is quite another to be remembered for the right reason ( Aaker, 1996). Brand Loyalty Every company’s endeavour is to increase its brand loyalty in order to retain as many consumers as possible and it can be well assumed when we see that in 2000, the NDP Group, an international market research company in New York, conducted a survey that half of 20,000 respondents who described themselves as loyal to a company one year were no longer loyal the next. According to Frederic Rechheld, founder of Boston-based consulting firm Bain and Company, the average American company loses half of its customers every five years The next economy  By Elliott Ettenberg, NetLibrary, Inc (2001 ;34) The Brand Loyalty concept from Historical Perspective Contrary to what some people believe brand loyalty has existed for a long time in the realm of marketing. Copeland (1923) first introduced this concept around 80 years ago. He talks about three ascending stages of brand loyalty-consumer reorganisation ( when the product is recognised and bought from among a host of unrecognised products), consumer preference ( when pervious use or advertising has created a favourable preference in the consumer’s mind) and consumer insistence. The third stage is the pinnacle of brand loyalty where the consumer approaches the purchase of an article with the attitude that he will accept no substitute ( Copeland, 1923). Different Perceptions of Brand Loyalty â€Å" Brand Loyalty is the biased behavioural response expressed over time by some decision making unit with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands†. More recently, the concept of loyalty have evolved further, encompassing a rich diversity of dimensions underlying the relationship that a customer may entertain with a brand. Martin et al.,(2004:217) referred Oliver’s statement in his book â€Å"Loyalty involves a favourable attitude towards the brand or organisation and positive re-purchase intentions. This can be further understood by investigating the element of loyalty. Cognitive Loyalty, in which the brand is cognitively compared with alternatives ( generally on functional grounds); Affective loyalty, in which the customer likes the brand or organisation as a result of previous satisfying experiences; Conative Loyalty, which reflects an intention to re-purchase; action loyalty, which relates to a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronise a preferred product/services consistently in future†¦ despite situational influences and marketing effort having the potential to cause switching behaviour’ ( Oliver 1999 cited in Martin et al.,(2004:217) In (2001) Chaudhuri and Holbroo stated couple of characteristic of brand loyalty â€Å"purchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty mentioned by mentioned by Marion Maguire(2007), â€Å"Behavioural, or purchase loyalty consist of repeated purchase of the brand, whereas attitudinal brand loyalty includes a degree to the authors, purchase loyalty leads to greater market share because of higher levels of repeat purchase among their users†. It is found in the research that consumer’s perception about price of brands is not linked to brand loyalty. Another suggestion given by Dick and Basu (1994) says that â€Å"loyalty related marketing advantages, such as favourable word of mouth, which, in turn might increase market share†. But the findings of Dall’Olmo Riley et al. (1997) discerned that the attitudinal loyalty of many individual consumers appears to be fickle, According to them, various studies (by Achenbaum, 1982 repeat responses ranging about 50% in individual attitudinal answers (e.g. Taste Nice†) at two subsequent times, independent of the attitude scales used and from the length of the interval between interviews. Overall their interpretation was that specific attitudinal beliefs do not seem to be very strongly held but vary stochastically ( in random manner) (Dall’Olmo Riley et al., 1997) Rothschild (1987) at the university of Wisconsin, evaluated brand loyalty as encompassing only the behavioural aspect. He suggests that a psychological process that may explain brand loyalty is the one of behaviourism. The central concept of behavioural learning theory is that behaviour that is positively reinforced is likely to reoccur while that which is not reinforced, or punished, will be extinguished. Consumers become loyal to brands that are reinforcing to them: good decision are reinforces while poor decisions are not ( Rothschild, 1987). Dekimpe et al, (1997) also share Rothschild’s (1987) view and say that the approach is justified as behaviour is observable and hence easier to measure. Richard Elliott and Larry Precy quoted Franzen (1999) saying that loyalty brand users have a high degree of bonding with the brand and do not show much of an urge to switch. Its basically the bonding here meant was part of brand equity but it necessarily doesn’t need to be a function of brand equity. also if its contribution is there. Loyalty of a brand may be not habitual or it can be the high cost of switching to another brand. But when there is a genuine preferences involved it really contribute to brad equity. Quester et al, (2003) say that the behavioural approach to Brand Loyalty (taken by Rothschild, 1987 ; Dekimpe et al., 1997) many present an over simplistic view of the construct. Behavioural definitions are insufficient to explain how and why brand loyalty is developed and modified in consumers ( Dick and Basu, 1994 in Quester et al., 2003). Repeatedly buying a brand (behavioural approach) may reflect only the convenience inherent in the repetitive and habitual behaviour rather than any real commitment to the brand purchased (Quester et al., 2003). Habituals’ as termed by (Knox 1997) in Quester and Lim., 2003) display only behavipural loyalty and are very likely to switch brands if there routine purchases cycle is disturbed. â€Å"For ‘habituals’ and /or spurious loyals’. The brand is not closely tied to the consumers belief system, so they can be easily attracted by a competing brand that offers a better deal, a coupon etc. Behavioural definitions, therefore, essentially fail to distinguish between habitual or spurious loyalty and true ( or international) loyalty and it may be misleading to infer brand loyalty from merely overt purchase behaviour† (Quester et al.,2003 : 27). Fournier et al, (1997) have analysed the concept of brand loyalty in new light and have come up with some very interesting insight regarding the same. According to them, (1997) a major assumption while reaching the concept of Brand Loyalty is that loyalty process is a Black and white quality. This tendency towards dichotomy not only precludes attention to loyalty levels and type, but also blinds the researcher to the value that may exist in relationship classified as Disloyal ( Fournier et al. 1997) The research of eight brand loyal coffee drinkers by Fournier et al, (1997) revealed three intriguing loyal consumer-brand relationships namely martial commitment, falling in love consumers brand relationships namely martial commitment, falling in love and best friendship. Each of the above relationships share a strong and meaningful life theme connection that adds significant value in the consumer’s mind. On the other side, Fournier et al ., (1997) also found some rather piquant Non-Loyal Relationships. One of the interviewees shared meaningful relationships with not one, rather three coffee brands. Financial limitations prevented him from bonding exclusively to one brand. â€Å"By connecting at the level of kinship, a portfolio of brand candidates that at first glance appears as a set of interchangeable substitutes is revealed as a family of meaningful partners in the consumer-brand environment† (Fournier et al., 1997 :463). Fournier at al, (1997) say that the existing brand loyalty measurement process emphasizes share-of-use over the strength and character of brand relationship form. This approach is flawed in their opinion because â€Å"As with people expressions of loyalty need not be associated with exclusivity, but with emotional tenor and sincerity of intentions over time. Also, like normal human relationship, brand loyalty may sour overtime and subsequently change. In accepting the power of both Brand and Consumer to affect the relationship, loyalty is better appreciated as a dynamic phenomenon† (Fournier et al., 1997 :467). A consumer-based conception of loyalty that recognizes multi-brand relationlity and the delicacy of even a strongest of consumer-brand bonds seems more aligned with the realities of today’s variety-filled marketplace. (Firat and Venkatesh, 1995 in Fournier et al., 1997) The biggest criticism of the work of Fournier et al, (1997) is actually acknowledged by their own selves when

Lie :: essays research papers

Heart of Darkness By Joseph Conrad Main Characters Marlow - Young man who decides that it would be exiting to travel into Africa hunting ivory and does so by taking the place of a dead steamboat captain. Kurts - Famous man among the ivory seekers who has lived and hunted on the continent for a while and has exploited the savages becoming much like a savage himself. Russian fool - Man who is known by his clothes with many colorful patches making him look much like a harlequin. He works with Kurtz who proves to be poor company for him. The Intended - Kurtz ¡Ã‚ ¯s bride to be who at the end of the book still thinks that Kurtz was the great man that she remembered him to be and Marlow doesn ¡Ã‚ ¯t have the heart to tell her otherwise. Minor Characters Helmsman - Man who steers the steamboat but goes away from the wheel to fight the savages only to be killed by an arrow. Accountant - Accountant who takes care of the money matters for Kurtz and has lived on the continent for three years trying to keep his civilized nature. Settings Central Station - This is the station where Marlow meets the accountant and observes the way the whites do nothing but exploit the blacks to do pointless labor. Inner Station - This is the station where Kurtz works and where Marlow finds him being worshipped by the savages. Thames River - Marlow tells his story to various people here. Plot Marlow sits at the Thames River in the evening with several other people and begins telling the story about how he entered into the dark continent out of nowhere. No one wants to listen but he continues anyway. Marlow expressed a desire to go to Africa to his Aunt who got him a position as a captain of a steamboat of an ivory company. The previous captain Freslaven died in a scuffle with the natives and Marlow took his place. A few days later, Marlow travels to Africa and gets to the first station where he meets the accountant who keeps track of the funds in Kurtz ¡Ã‚ ¯s company. The man is interesting to Marlow since he ¡Ã‚ ¯s been on the continent for three years, yet he keeps himself clean and well dressed. Marlow finds the blacks being poorly treated and ordered to do meaningless work by the whites.

Why do females migrate to work as maids? Essay -- Immigration, Domesti

Why do females migrate to work as maids? In general woman will migrate to work as domestic workers for one of three reason. (i) limited or no jobs in their country of origin (ii) the income in there country of origin is not enough to sustain there family; and (iii) to get away from a volatile family situation. Women see working as a maid in another country as way to solve these problems and ways to support there families back home. However the question has arisen once these women from lesser developed nations arrive in the rich developed nations does working as a ‘maid’ offer greater independence or does it just lead to more oppression and exploitation? This essay will demonstrate using the United Sates of America and the United Arab Emirates as a case study,that there is no conclusive answer to the question posed; rather it depends on the country and the individual circumstances of each person. Does the employment offer them greater independence in the US? Domestic workers experience in the United Sates varies dramatically depending on the visa-status of women and the work arrangements in place for the domestic worker. In general Live in maids in the US are the most devoid of independence and control of their lives, and often work long hours without a day off. On the other hand live out domestic workers to some extent has more independence and freedom of their lives, but this is dependent on the worker being legally allowed to work and remain in the US. The common conception of a ‘live-out’ maid is that they are empowered and have control of lives, however in the US some women working as ‘maids’ are objectified and treated as commodity to be sold at auction. May women are exploited through labor agencies in the ... ...hem to help their families back home and improve their own financial situation. Another benefit from working in the UAE is that generosity is a social value within the UAE. Employers give tips to their employees, give them money to buy gifts and electronic once their contract ends for their families back home, and the domestic workers get to travel over summer with their employer (ilo report p.34). It could be argued that domestic workers in the UAE do have some sense of agency like the workers in the US, but no where near the same extent. Arguable the domestic workers have agency due to the fact that they had a choice whether or not to go work in UAE and they independently earning money for there family. Nevertheless they lack agency in terms of their freedom of movement thought and sexuality since they are ‘enslaved’ to their employer to the end of their contract.

How Thesis Statements Work In Your Writing

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing.After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper. WHAT IS A THESIS STATEMENT? A thesis statement: tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discuss ion. is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself.The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel. makes a claim that others might dispute. is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation. If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft.The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information. ) HOW DO I GET A THESIS?A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a â€Å"working thesis,† a basic or main idea, an argument that you think you can support with evidence but that may need adjustment along the way.Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming. HOW DO I KNOW IF MY THESIS IS STRONG? If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following: Do I answer the question?Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument. Is my the sis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like â€Å"good† or â€Å"successful,† see if you could be more specific: why is something â€Å"good†; what specifically makes something â€Å"successful†?Does my thesis pass the â€Å"So what? † test? If a reader’s first response is, â€Å"So what? † then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue. Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s o. k. to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary. Does my thesis pass the â€Å"how and why? † test?If a reader’s first response is â€Å"how? † or â₠¬Å"why? † your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning. EXAMPLES Suppose you are taking a course on 19th-century America, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: Compare and contrast the reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War. You turn on the computer and type out the following: The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same and some different.This weak thesis restates the question without providing any additional information. You will expand on this new information in the body of the essay, but it is important that the reader know where you are heading. A reader of this weak thesis might think, â€Å"What reasons? How are they the same? How are they different? † Ask yourself these same questions and begin to compare Northern and Southern attitudes (perhaps you first think, †Å"The South believed slavery was right, and the North thought slavery was wrong†).Now, push your comparison toward an interpretation—why did one side think slavery was right and the other side think it was wrong? You look again at the evidence, and you decide that you are going to argue that the North believed slavery was immoral while the South believed it upheld the Southern way of life. You write: While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions. Now you have a working thesis!Included in this working thesis is a reason for the war and some idea of how the two sides disagreed over this reason. As you write the essay, you will probably begin to characterize these differences more precisely, and your working thesis may start to seem too vague. Maybe you decide that both sides fought for moral reasons, and that they just focused on different moral issues. You end up revising the working thesis into a final thesis that really captures the argument in your paper: While both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny  and oppression, Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their own right to self-government.Compare this to the original weak thesis. This final thesis presents a way of interpreting evidence that illuminates the significance of the question. Keep in mind that this is one of many possible interpretations of the Civil War—it is not the one and only right answer to the question. There isn’t one right answer; there are only strong and weak thesis statements and strong and weak uses of evidence. Let’s look at another example.Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. â€Å"This will be easy,† you think. â€Å"I lo ved Huckleberry Finn! † You grab a pad of paper and write: Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel. Why is this thesis weak? Think about what the reader would expect from the essay that follows: you will most likely provide a general, appreciative summary of Twain’s novel. The question did not ask you to summarize; it asked you to analyze.Your professor is probably not interested in your opinion of the novel; instead, she wants you to think about whyit’s such a great novel—what do Huck’s adventures tell us about life, about America, about coming of age, about race relations, etc.? First, the question asks you to pick an aspect of the novel that you think is important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write: In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on t he river and life on the shore.Here’s a working thesis with potential: you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation; however, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal. Your reader is intrigued, but is still thinking, â€Å"So what? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify? † Perhaps you are not sure yet, either. That’s fine—begin to work on comparing scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions. Eventually you will be able to clarify for yourself, and then for the reader, why this contrast matters.After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write: Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave â€Å"civilized† society and go back to nature. This final thesis statement p resents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.