Market report about Opening a restaurant in London, ON Research Paper

Market report about Opening a restaurant in London, ON - Research Paper Example an easy accessible location and would be catering to all the age groups; families, business associates and students having a varied menu at reduced prices so that more people are able to approach it, increasing the business in the cosmopolitan area at Hyde Park. Furthermore, restaurant will have an innovative interior depicting infusion of cultures, warm ambiance as Tina has always been keen on designing interiors and also has an inclination to drafting appealing profile menu, so these will be the strengths of the restaurant. One of the weaknesses of the restaurant would be that as the company is new, Tina would need management teams that can run business effectively. That would be a difficult for Tina to approach candidates and select competent employees, provide training and supervise them to work effectively in the restaurant. The second weakness could be there would not be any relationship with the customers and the company is starting from scratch to establish a niche market so they have to build loyal customers. The biggest opportunity for Tina to build business was on the fact that she won a lottery ticket that she could use and invest money to start the restaurant business at a high profile place, which was her passion and dream. As a new restaurant, the company has the opportunity to attract people through promotional schemes and other marketing medium. The threat lies on the competitive forces that exist within the locality posing a threat to the new business. As restaurant business is new, Tina would require time and patience to establish a reputed name for her business. The locality where the business is set consists of a chain of reputed restaurants that may act as a barrier for customers to approach the new restaurant. The restaurant would be located at Hyde Park so there are three main competitors in the market, Montana’s Cookhouse, Kelsey’s and Boston Pizza. A competitive analysis of the three restaurants shows that there are certain

Indian Automobile Industry Essay Example for Free

Indian Automobile Industry Essay These include passenger cars which are divided into following 6 categories depending upon length: 1. Mini – Car length upto 3400 mm – Maruti 800 and REVA 2. Compact – Length between 3401 and 4000 mm – Maruti Alto, Tata Indica, Hyundai Santro 3. Midsize – Length between 4001 and 4500 mm – Maruti Esteem, Tata Indigo, Hyundai Accent 4. Executive – Length between 4501 and 4700 mm – Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic 5. Premium – Length between 4701 and 5000 mm – Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata 6. Luxury – Length above 5000 mm – Mercedes S-class 2. Utility Vehicles: Tata Sumo and Safari, Toyota Qualis. 3. Multi Utility Vehicles: Maruti Omni and Versa 4. Commercial Vehicles These are divided into 2 categories according to the loads they can carry: 4. 1. Light Commercial Vehicles – Gross vehicle weight limit is 7. 5 tonnes – Cargo, Tempo, Mini Buses, and Mini Trucks etc. Major players are Tata Motors Ltd. , Swaraj Mazda Ltd. , Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. 2. Medium Heavy Commercial Vehicles – Gross vehicle weight limit is above 7. 5 tonnes – Cargo, Trucks, Buses, Trailers. Tata Motors Ltd. and Ashok Leyland Ltd are major players. Scope of Study and Methodology. We begin with an overview of the automobile industry followed by a competitive analysis of the â€Å"Passenger Cars† part of the industry on the following criteria: †¢ Product †¢ Brand †¢ Pricing †¢ Distribution †¢ Marketing Communication In each of these contexts, we try to compare the strategies used by players in different segments: from entry level A segment, to most-competitive B-segment to niche SUVs. We cite examples from cars that have been really successful in any parameter as well as the debacles. Finally, we segment the consumer based on our primary research and discuss their distinctive characteristics. On the basis of our study, we infer the critical factors for success in market and derive insights out of the study. To carry out the above study, we carried out: Secondary research: We scoured the internet including industry data from SIAM and IBEF. We referred to old newspaper and magazine articles as required. This was primarily our basis for competitive analysis. Primary Research: To understand the consumer mindset, we carried out a survey. This survey was conducted online as well as in 14-sector market, Gurgaon. The survey had 94 respondents as below: [pic] We supplemented the survey with interviews Customer Relations Manager at Orion Hyundai and Apra-Motors Maruti showroom. Overview of Indian Passenger Vehicles Industry Indian economy has grown at an average rate of above 8% in the last 5 years and services followed by industrial production have made excellent contributions to this growth. Auto industry has contributed to the GDP to the tune of 5%. The Passenger Vehicles (PV) market grew 14% YoY to 1. 76 million units as against 1. 54 million units sold in last financial year(FY 06-07). It is mainly on account of the impressive growth in the passenger car segment which contributed 80% to the total Passenger Vehicle sales in financial year 2007-08. It (PV) was backed by healthy growth in its domestic sales and exports. Domestic sales grew 12% YoY to 1. 54 million units in financial year 2007-08, whereas the exports increased by 9. 4% YoY to 2. 1 lakhs units in the same time. Over the last five years total PV production has increased at a CAGR of 19. 5%, from 7. 2 lakhs units in 2002-03 to 1. 76 million units in 2007-08. The growth was mainly made possible due to 2 major factors: 1. The continuous improvement in the living standards of the middle class, and subsequent increase in their disposable incomes. 2. the liberalization steps taken by the Indian Government such as relaxation of the foreign exchange and equity regulations, reduction of import tariffs, and refining the banking policies have played an equally important role in bringing the Indian Automobile industry to present level. Add to this the easy availability of components and competence; the global auto companies are looking at India as the manufacturing hub for the next generation models. India is poised to become small car hub, not only in terms of production but also product development. Global car majors like Nissan, Hyundai, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Renault have made huge investments owing to the positive sentiment in the market. Major Manufacturers in Passenger Cars Industry in India are: †¢ Maruti Udyog Ltd. (45% market share) †¢ Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (16%) †¢ Honda Motors †¢ Tata Motors Ltd. (14%) Overall, there is still just 1 car per 100 people in India as against 74 cars per 100 in US. Thus, Indian market has a huge potential in future. Competitive Analysis Product level Analysis. Here, we study the product strategy of automobile industry from a marketing point of view. We begin with a study of customer-value hierarchy, of which the marketer needs to address each of the five levels while planning product offering. Then in product differentiation we study different factors on which car is differentiated. Customer-Value Hierarchy (Product levels): |Core benefit |It is the service or benefit the customer is really buying. In case of automobiles those benefits are | | |convenience, transportation, speed. | |Basic product |At second level the core benefit is turned into basic product. In the case the product is car. It | | |typically includes an IC engine, mechanism to provide motion and steering, chassis. | |Expected product |At the third level, an expected product is prepared which includes a set of attributes and conditions | | |buyers normally expect when they purchase a product. All car buyers expect comfort, safety and | | |functional characteristics (fuel economy, handling, repair frequency etc). Other expectations differ | | |from one segment of buyers to other. For a middle class buyer value for money is important for e. g. | | | Maruti 800 but for an upper class buyer where money is not an issue, prestige is the criteria for e.g. | | |Hyundai Tucson, Jaguar etc. Other expectations include good sound system, leather upholstery, more | | |seating capacity, more power etc. | |Augmented product |It is a product that exceeds consumer expectations. It is created by inclusion of additional features, | | |benefits, attributes or related services that serve to differentiate the product from its competitors. | | |For automobile industry these features include insurance service, test drive, attractive offers, after | | |sales service, availability of service centres, easy financing options such as EMIs, wide dealer | | |network etc. | |Potential product |It encompasses all the possible augmentations and transformations the product or offering might undergo| | |in the future. These include latest technology, design changes etc for e. g. Design of Maruti 800 has | | |changed consistently over the years. | Product Differentiation: |Features |Cars are often offered with varying features that supplement their basic function. For e. g. Hyundai i10| | |(a compact car) boasts of features similar to a sedan. | |Performance quality |Performance is becoming an increasingly important dimension for differentiation. Car companies invest | | |hugely on RD to come up with new improved engines so that performance can be improved. For e. g. Santro| | |Xing considers its eRLX engine as a differentiator. | |Reliability |It is a measure of the probability that a product will not malfunction or fail within a specified time | | |period. Maruti Omni is one such car; it is differentiated as a ‘faithful workhorse’. | |Style |It describes the product’s look and feel to the buyer. It is very important because even before | | |performance people judge a car by its look. Swift DZire from Maruti stable claims itself as ‘the heart | | |car’ with striking looks. | |Design |Apart from look and feel, this factor takes into account the function of the product as well. Maruti | | |SX4 claims of revolutionary European design. | Brand Maruti 800, the entry level car in the Indian market, has long been positioned as the family car. While it competes against bigger B-segment cars, its sales have been cannibalized recently by Alto whose basic model is priced jus Rs. 30,000 above the basic M800. Through the Alto, Maruti is trying to move the consumer up the value chain. M800 has also been targeting the semi-urban and rural areas where it is positioned as an alternative to two-wheeler. To see how to manage an automobile brand through its product life cycle, we look at Santro Xing and Tata Indica. Both were launched around 10 years ago, and have evolved and repositioned themselves successfully. Santro was launched in 1998 as an upgrade for the entry-level car and positioned as a family car targeted at 35-40 year olds. In 2003, the product was refreshed as Santro Xing. The brand now aimed to appeal to the first time car buyers rather than be an upgrade. To catch the young buyers in 25-30 year age group, the brand was positioned as the â€Å"Sunshine car. † Sunshine was communicating two intangibles: Freshness and youthful attitude. The brand moved to a Change your life positioning. Today, Santro is facing declining phase in maturity stage in its PLC. The sales have stagnated and price war from Maruti and a slew of new launches in compact car segment have hurt the sales of Santro. Santro is banking on price cuts and sales promotions to stay afloat. Hyundai has recently launched a new brand i10 to take the place of Santro. Similarly, Tata Motors recently launched the new generation Indica Vista. This is an update on Indica V2’s seven variants. Over the years, Tata has invested heavily in product and brand development, yet the sales of Indica have recently declined. This is because the product has reached the declining maturity stage. And to counter this, Tata’s have gone in for strategy of product modification. Indica Vista is Tatas entry into the luxury hatchback segment which is dominated by Maruti Swift and has new entrants like Hyundai i10. The original Indica has also been retained in the product line. These two product lines together offer a wide choice to the customers from price points of Rs 2. 80 lakhs to Rs 5 Lakhs. The Indica Vista has a new tagline of â€Å"Changes Everything† is used to communicate that the brand has changed. The ads are also more tuned to attract the new generation. However, the core strength of the brand remains its value proposition. In the C and D segment, the cars are positioned on distinct personalities rather than benefits or attributes. For example, when GM launched Optra against heavy-weights such as Honda City and Sonata, it aimed at an emotional positioning platform. The brand, which was targeted at executives in age 30-45, tried to communicate Love, Care and Warmth as its core values. To convey this, Optra used an apt tagline, â€Å"For a special journey called life. † Niche cars use their own unique appeals e. g. SUVs such as Scorpio position on their size and sense of adventure. Thus, we have seen that while brands manage to differentiate from each other through a unique proposition, there is some commonality in how cars are positioned within each segment. Pricing Pricing decisions are management decisions about what to charge for the products and services that the companies deliver. In car industry, the pricing decisions vary from segment to segment. In entry level cars, the companies price the cars low and give all basic features a car would offer. This segment had a monopoly in India with Maruti 800 being the sole player. Maruti has traditionally been employing promotional schemes to increase the sales of Maruti 800 rather than decreasing its price. In compact car segment, the cars cater to the affluent middle-class people who wish to graduate to cars which provide extra glamour compared to entry level cars. Due to fierce competition in this segment price emerges as an important factor affecting the purchasing decision of consumers. Hence the pricing decision is not only dependent on the perceived value of the customer but also dependent on the competitor’s pricing strategies. Maruti’s aggressive price reduction of Alto has displaced Hyundai’s Santro from No. 1 spot in 2004. In Mid-size segment, as the customers’ aspirations are more inclined towards design, advanced features and luxury the car offers, pricing doesn’t play as big a role as it does in compact segment. In fact, there is a tag of premiumness attached to the price in this segment. As an example, Hyundai Elantra’s sales dropped when its price had been reduced from Rs. 10lakh to Rs. 8 lakh. Distribution This section is explained through the study the supply chain at Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL). Logistics goes beyond mere distribution management. It is improving the quality of the supply chain itself to achieve a cost-effective distribution mechanism. This is the philosophy which drives Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), the countrys biggest passenger car manufacturer. Dependent on over 300 suppliers for some 7,000 components that go into its 9 major models and their 200 variants, the company keeps control over costs at every stage to remain competitive. This is achieved only through close coordination with the vendors. The streamlined state of supply chain at Maruti is achieved through following measures: †¢ It implements innovative material handling solutions which reduces wastage. †¢ It collaborates with its vendors to localize components supply. This not only increases productivity but also removes uncertainties in supply. †¢ The schedule for indenting components is precisely planned so that inventory holding process is optimized. The schedules issued every fortnight are further fine tuned by an online system for replenishment of inventory on an electronic card system. This avoids inventory build up or unanticipated deliveries by vendors as supplies are made only after receipt of the indent card from MUL. This brings inventory management down to the doorsteps of the vendors, who produce only what is indented †¢ The delivery instruction are revised daily and location wise to exactly meet the assembly line requirements. This strategy is adopted to tackle the fluctuating market demand, accentuated by the intense competition in the automobile business now. †¢ Various steps are taken to improve the productivity of operator and machine and reducing and recycling waste. Marketing Communication Hyundai, a Korean car company launched its first car, SANTRO in 1998. They had many challenges as Maruti had a strong hold over the car market, and people were not willing to accept the tall boy car. Moreover the customers were skeptical regarding after sales-service support and spares availability and had limited belief in the Korean car company. Hyundai came up with advertisements which focused on car quality. They had Shahrukh Khan as their brand ambassador. They started with teaser ads but later promoted it as the ‘Sunshine Car indicating freshness and youthful attitude Maruti, on the other hand, concentrated on its wide service network and spare parts availability, Hyundai gave a lot of stress on car features in its advertisement for e. g. Hyundai came up with Zip drive. In 2003 a new trend was seen where in advertisements of Mahindra Bolero, Mahindra Scorpio and Hyundai Santro, women were seen driving the car. Thus targeting the fast growing working women segment. Hyundai has come up with special schemes for working women. They are also offering loans to women at 0. 75% lower rate of interest than the market rate. MSIL and GM India have introduced special financing schemes to attract customers from semi urban and rural areas. In 2007 when Maruti launched SX4, they positioned it as a ‘manly car’ through their ads. Xeta introduced by Tata was aimed at rendering better fuel efficiency at a competitive price and the ads highlighted it. They aimed to create a unique brand identity in petrol segment and promoted it through ads, print media ads, internet and test drive. In 2002 Hyundai topped TV advertising in 2002 but from 2003 Maruti picked up and came to number one slot. About 50% of the advertisement is done during feature films and news bulletin. For the newly launched i10 Hyundai has aggressively advertised it by posters of i10 throughout the showroom and hanging banners. (see examples of print ads of cars in various segments in Annexure 2) Consumer Segments and their Distinctive Characteristics. Instead of developing segment profiles based on secondary research, we categorised consumers based on our interviews with car dealers and the survey we conducted across various consumer categories. Through this primary data, we identified three broad kind of customers based on their distinctive buying behaviours. †¢ Analytical customer: One who buy car after researching internet and other sources. These customers are aware of the various options available in the market and know what car they need to buy even before their first visit to the dealer. This is usually a middle-class price conscious consumer looking to obtain value for his money. †¢ Confused customer: The biggest category of consumers; those who don’t know which car to buy because they have been the target of a lot of promotions and heard Word-of-Mouth from friends, family and other influencers. These customers have a fair amount of idea of the price and other attributes of the car they want to buy but can’t decide on the actual model. These customers buy the car after a proper need analysis has been done at the car dealer’s showroom. †¢ Copy-cat Customer: The last is the category of the customers who buy a car after seeing a similar car with their friends or neighbours. These people want some exact colour and model and cannot be classified as rational consumers. This category is constituted of those customers who do impulse buying. Further, we look at the consumer for each segment. We observe that in the B-segment a customer usually goes for value-for-money proposition. 67% respondents gave a rating of 4 or 5 to price as a critical factors while buying a car while 74. 4% respondents gave mileage same importance. Most of these people preferred cars priced around 4-6 lakhs. The C and D segment cars sell because their various attributes communicate a certain image. Here, the customer looks for attributes like power, newest technology and exclusivity. Out of the 32 people who rated technology as 5 and 19 people who rated power as 5, majority of them considered buying a car in the price range of 6 lakhs and above. Resale value of the car and the number of service stations is crucial deal-maker. Most of the consumers and the company people also say that the ad campaigns and the endorsements don’t play a major role in deciding which car to buy apart from creating awareness about the launch and availability of the new model. Only 6% of people rated endorsements as 5 as a deciding criteria. SUVs are normally the second or third car in the family. These consumers do not buy on the value proposition but rather on the image proposition. Seating capacity, premium image, innovative features and a need to portray an adventurous image are some of the benefits that a customer seeks from the SUV that he is buying. The survey results also depict that consumers are more inclined towards new models launched in the market including new variants of old cars. Maruti SX4, Hyundai i10 and Maruti Swift are the cars that appeal to most of the respondents. Factors Critical for Success. Selling a car is part delivering product and part providing service. So the car manufacturer has to ensure both quality of the product and the experience of using it. However, we must understand that the typical customer for a B-segment car differs significantly from that of an SUV. His lifestyle, his car usage, and his expectations from his vehicle change. In the B segment, there are three factors critical for success: †¢ Value for Money- This is a price-conscious consumer. For a car, price constitutes one time purchase price, as well as the petrol costs reflected in the mileage. In our survey as well as our talk we the Hyundai dealer †¢ After sales service network- When we asked the Hyundai dealer, what was the one thing a new player needed to provide to compete with them or Maruti, we met one word response: service. In fact, the dealer provided the example of Ford saying, while their cars had great engine and quality, they couldnt compete nationally because of poor after sales service network. Ford has now made a tie-up with Tatas to rectify the same. †¢ Product Quality- Since, the car market works essentially through Word-of-Mouth, it is crucial that you product meets the consumer expectation. Else, you run the risk of losing the customer not only from this car, but your company altogether, and taking additional potential customers with him. As we move into C-segment, value for money becomes lower in priority for the customer. He is looking for a status symbol now. These critical factors come in †¢ Prestige- There must be a buzz around your brand and the brand should have a premium image. †¢ Power The cars in this category have more power giving a better pick-up and smoother drive. †¢ Latest technology- The sedans are known for newest innovative technology and the customers are seen to prefer product innovations. †¢ Safety Safety features have often been neglected in the Indian markets. But typically sedans come fitted with the state of the art safety features. Insights derived out of Study †¢ Buying a car is a family decision- this held true across the board in our survey, with majority of respondents owning one family-per-car. However, the women are not much of an influencer while buying a car- in fact, most hesitated to respond to the survey, pushing their accompanying male ahead. †¢ Hyundais strength is technology and product quality, while people look to Maruti for good after sales service and high resale value. †¢ Dealer-manufacturer relationship is crucial- car companies depend on the dealers to tap the nerve of the local consumers. So the relationship between the company and the dealer needs to be good. In most cases the companies allow the dealers to run local promotional schemes and take other such initiatives. †¢ Endorsements and advertisements have minimal influence on customer decision (the B-segment). From the survey, we infer that when a middle class customer is shelling Rs 4-6 Lakhs from his pocket, he normally does considerable research before buying a car. †¢ Safety provisions- Indian car manufacturers do not provide ABS and airbags as standard safety features in entry level and B segment cars, while they do so in models they export. The consumer is also not demanding these yet. †¢ Cars are still a prestige issue in the semi urban and rural areas. Many consumers in these areas buy those cars which their neighbours have bought. †¢ Car awards and launch of a new model boost up the sales overtime. But the real sales happen only because of the quality of the product and not because of promotion.

Challenges To Masculinity In World War 1

Challenges To Masculinity In World War 1 In the years 1914 to 1918 half of all men between the ages of 15-49 left behind their usual lives and jobs to toil on the battlefields and war related occupations during the First World War. Of 8 million men mobilised, some 1.7 million were wounded and 722,000 killed (Bourke, 1994). Sometimes referred to as the war to end all wars 5 million men served and survived and every frontline soldier experienced loss; it made an unforgettable impact on those who lived through it (Gregory, 1994). 7% of all men between the ages of 15-49 were killed in battle (Bourke, 1996). Men who fought in the trenches had memories of living with the dead, fears of death, close escapes of death, killing and bereavement. It is no wonder men were traumatised and broke down (Gregory, 1994). In this essay, I will show how this trauma challenged the idea of a man being masculine and how this is linked to challenges of ethnicity. Masculinity for many people is what differentiates men from women or femininity (Bourk e, 1996). Ethnicity is a social construction representing the cultural values and norms which distinguish members of a given group from others (Giddens, 2001:689). What was unbearable about modern warfare was its passivity in the midst of extreme dangers. Modern warfare was more psychologically difficult than warfare in the past because the men had to remain for days, weeks, months in a narrow trench exposed to constant dangers (Bourke, 2000). The trauma of world war one made society less secure, the period following the Great War is portrayed as the decline in Victorian values. The world wide economic depression meant fewer jobs and for those men who were unemployed found themselves no longer the breadwinner of the family (Bourke, 1996). Before world war one, those who were without limbs were mostly working class, for example children of the poor, adult factory workers, dock labourers and miners. However, after the war men who had been very fit had become war amputees, for example 70% war amputees were aged younger than 30 but also 10% officers (Bourke, 1996). The war affected all classes. The trauma of world war one made all men from different classes who were amputees invisible in the labour market. Labourers had no incentive to give jobs to disabled men. This became very embarrassing for soldiers; advice and help from officials such as the Heritage School at Chailey recognised that there was little they could do to eas e what must have been a difficult alteration for wounded men. Crippled soldiers had to be made in to men again, because they were often reduced to being children (Bourke, 1996). The war had a dissolving effect on the class structure of Britain, although still being a class-conscious society the emotional stress of war brought males classes closer together. Before the war, not having an arm or a leg meant you were poor but because of the war all classes were affected. Going out to work was an important milestone on the road to manhood and a source of pride, there was a link between masculinity and living wage that required defending (Bourke, 1994). Although the majority of disabled veterans found employment, 100,000 disable ex servicemen were unemployed in 1920 (Gregory, 1994). It did not matter about your class anymore, during the war all men had to live in the trenches regardless. Those men who had suffered losing a limb during the war regardless of their class faced challenges to their masculinity because they were no longer the breadwinner of their families (Bourke, 1994). For Irish soldiers the trauma experienced in world war one challenged their masculinity because their actions in wartime were not actually appreciated. The breakdown of Irishmen is linked to ethnicity because despite Irishmen having a reputation for being an aggressive race Irishmen, they were generally thought of as weak because pensioning authorities and the war office constantly asserted without statistical evidence that proportionally more Irishmen were driven mad in war than their English, Scottish and Welsh comrades. In Southern Ireland, the proportion of ex-servicemen receiving pensions for neurasthenia and other disabilities was said to be well above average. In an attempt to explain this prejudices started to emerge. There had been a common assumption before the war, for example according to one writer high lunacy levels in Ireland were a legacy of mental weakness dating from the sufferings of the famine years (Bourke, 2000: 61). Their ethnicity was legitimised with politics ; Irish soldiers were stereotyped because legislation passed at the time legitimised them as being prone to mental illnesses. It was British masculinity that helped to win the war rather than Irish people. Irish people were a site for ethnicity. Such assumptions about the social and ethnic characteristics of shell-shocked men meant they received poor treatment at the casualty clearing stations and later the hospitals, assumed to be trying to malinger. Emotional Irishmen and weak privates were given progressively more painful electric shocks in an attempt to help these men (Bourke, 2000). There was an added emotional stress for men/ex-servicemen, which challenged their masculinity because their actions in warfare were not appreciated. The neglect started the moment they stepped off the hospital ship. Pensioning officers never stopped in their attempt to prove that mentally ill men were liars and malingers. The ministry of pensions were obsessed with the problems of reducing the pension bill, for example as late as 1931 they were still warning medical officers to beware of shell-shocked men who exaggerated their symptoms so their pension would not be re-evaluated at a lower rate. Those ex-servicemen who had broken down in war were faced with a hostile attitude. Irish ex servicemen were not only outcasts for having fought for Britain, their maddened minds debarred them from participating in civil war and the war of independence in an increasingly militaristic society, which discredited their very masculinity. Returning home they found their masculinity challenged, every one from bureaucrats at the ministry of pensions to local employers seemed to gang up against them (Bourke, 2000). Therefore, Irishmens masculinity was challenged because of their ethnicity that was justified with politics. Similarly, by 1914 the vast majority of the Indian troops for the Indian army were drawn from the north and North West of the sub continent, the provinces of Punjab, the North West frontier and the independent kingdom of Nepal. The regional bias was the result of the martial races theory, which had influenced British recruiting strategy since the 1880s. A mixture of indigenous notions of caste and imported social Darwinism, the martial races idea had at its core the belief that some Indians were inherently more warlike than others. Very few troops were recruited from southern and eastern India because of the growing British conviction that southern and eastern Indians had become weak and powerless through racial degeneracy. By the time of the armistice, India had provided over 1.27 million men, including 827,000 combatants, contributing roughly one man in ten to the war effort of the British Empire (Omissi, 1999). For Indian men, there was an intense fear of shame because many troops often expressed contempt for those who ran away or deserted, or who otherwise failed their duty. It was better to die than to fail in ones duty (Omissi, 1999:12), for Indian soldiers shame could involve a loss of masculinity, given the highly gendered nature of military service. To be a coward was to be like a woman. The range of military behaviour was tightly constrained by the types of masculinity available to soldiers. The reputation of the regiment really mattered to the troops because shame like honour attached itself to the micro-identities of the regiment. In the few weeks after their arrival in France the soldiers letters were full of hope and good cheers. The censor believed the soldiers wanted to show their loyalty to the King and to prove themselves equal to white men. Above all Indian soldiers fought to gain and preserve their izzat (Omissi, 1999:12), in other words their honour and reputation. It was considered glorious and honourable to die in battle. This was not jus t about retaining their masculinity, but also their ethnicity. They not only had to prove they were masculine, but that they were equal to British men. War veterans were mentally and physically traumatised. Just as the outbreak of war in August 1914 drove many young men to recruiting offices because it was a sign of masculinity, this was also true of after the war. The images created to encourage young men to volunteer to go to war were posters of men who were brave and fearless; this painted a picture of what masculinity should be like. There was this idea of a compulsory masculinity (Barker, 1998). Therefore, when soldiers suffered from a host of new mental disease defined throughout the war, for example shell shock and war neuroses. The patients were thought simply as weak and cowardly men. Neurasthenia came to be treated as if it was a disease of the will rather than of nerve force (Barker, 1998:1). This made men blameworthy for their own illnesses. It appeared that mental illnesses were inherited. Men had huge pressure on them to behave a certain way in the heat of battle; the soldier should always confront dangers with steadfa st courage because of the posters that showed this compulsory masculinity. It is obvious that these social expectations of the masculine role in war were related to shellshock. World War one was a crisis of masculinity because suffering an emotional breakdown at the time made them be seen as less of a man because there was this idea of a compulsory masculinity, they had to act in a certain masculine way. The images constructed of men going to war were very manly; coming back all traumatised was a challenge to their masculinity. Trench warfare itself challenged masculinity, for example many jobs and tasks men had to fulfil were tasks their mothers, wives or servants would attend to at home. Female duties such as washing, mending, cooking and nursing were all tasks women would normally attend to. Men also mothered each other for example they had to nurse the sick and wounded and comfort men during times of stress and ordeal. This helped men create stability, which helped the soldiers to cope with physical hardship and emotional disruption. In addition, men received and sent letters, which enabled men and women during world war one to transcend the gender-bound categories because it helped women to experience the traumas of war; it brought men and women together. The traumas of world war one, such as illnesses and generally low spirits intensified the need to receive a letter from their loved ones. The moment where men felt there lowest was when they needed the image of home the most (Dudink, Hagermann and Tos h, 2004). By writing letters in showing attentiveness to their mother or loved one, men fostered a connection with a feminine sensibility. This was a sign of their masculinity being challenged because men wanting to go home were sign of weakness, something considered to be quite feminine. The closeness of the mother-son tie was something, which men replicated in their relationships with each other at the front. Men acknowledged that the depth of the maternal attachment and mothers remained important figures in emotional relations amongst men (Dudink, Hagermann and Tosh, 2004). Therefore to conclude, there were many challenges posed to masculinity by the experience of world war one, many men broke down during war and developed psychological illnesses such as shell shock and neurasthenia. It was considered unmanly to develop these and those who suffered from these illnesses were made blameworthy for them because they were considered hereditary. Furthermore, men who lost a limb because of the war had their masculinity challenged because if they were unemployed they were no longer the breadwinner of the family and this made them feel feminine. Irish men suffered the worst challenges to their masculinity and this is linked to ethnicity because for Irish soldiers to break down was a loss of their manhood but part of their ethnicity because politics legitimised them as prone to being mad.

Fashion Branding Essay -- Social Identity, Clothes

Fashion Branding "Clothing is primarily a means of communicating, not personal identity, but social identity" as, said by Noesjirwan and Crawford (1982) who defines clothing as a ‘code’ (McCracken and Roth 1989) or symbolic representation. Clothing has been spoken by many theoriest in the past and they refer clothing as a code, a language, which allows a message to be created and (selectively) understood (Hollander, 1978; Holman, 1980; McCracken and Roth, 1989). Compliance towards a brand today showcases the social strata of the individual or the social group they belong to. "If I'm wearing a white T-shirt and sneakers, that label [Armani] will fill in the rest of the information about me. I want to give out the right impression", says a customer in a London shop selecting her tenth pair of Armani jeans (Financial Times, 1995). This statement by an individual showcases the importance of branding. Today if we talk in any industry branding is playing a vital role. International brand devel opment or entry technique is employed by creation of brand that is recognized as a social brand. Consumers’ perception today, among the young youth as said by Belk et al., (1981) is "consumption-based stereotypes", which means creating a perception about a persons wealth by what they own and not knowing the person. It could be termed as unanimous judgements about the person without actually knowing the person. This paper will look into the academic literature available in consumption pattern in fashion brands and would further elaborate in the entry techniques in developing or emerging nation. This paper would also highlight the importance of building brand equity and maintenance of the same. In a put shell this paper would deal with the relations... ...in focus of these brand managers is the short-term financial gain rather than long-term customer relation and profitability. Branding, unlike brand, is a clearly defined and established research area, still it lacks in conceptualisation similarities (Blumenthal, 2004; Bridson and Evans, 2004). de Chernatony and Dall’Olmo (1998) say the available branding literature has been failed in developing the boundaries and brand construct that would allow for methodological, epistemological, semantical and formal sets of criteria. de Chernatony and Dall’Olmo (1998) through their research study proposed a model which lays the foundation for brand theory, thus support in defining construct and boundaries of brand. In order to set boundaries of the construct of brand twelve themes were proposed by them which, in the branding literature, were categorized as vital propositions.

Changes to the United States from 1770-1870 Essay

The United States changed so many things from 1770 to 1870. The population increased drastically, from 2,148,100 in 1770 to 38,558,371 in 1870. The increase in population is caused by immigration of people to the US and slavery was another cause. Slavery and population had a big affect on the next 100 years of the United States history. The US also changed diversely with new innovations like roads, waterways, railroads, steam boats, and refrigerated railroad cars. A few new innovations that changed or improved from 1776 to 1870 are the roadways, waterways, railroads, steam boats, and refrigerated railroad cars. Roadways were an innovation that created a way for easier, and faster transportation. Waterways were also a way for transportation, to cut out a lot of land, and cut out time. Waterways are a faster way for trade and barter. Steam boats were what pioneers used to travel down the waterways to trade and sell goods. Railroads were still used for closer travel, with items that did not need to get there as fast as possible, because railroad cars do not move very fast, although the steam engine improved the speed of transportation also. The United States did make rather large changes over 100 years, from 1776 to 1870. It all started with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which lead to us fighting for our freedom. During this period of time the constitution was ratified, the Revolutionary war ends, and the Louisiana Purchase takes place. Factories advanced and cities were industrializing, and many different machines were invented that changed the way the industrial world worked. Women played an important role in the changes that were made in the US during this century. Women were not just the â€Å"stay at home and clean† women anymore, they were aloud to join the workforce and take on roles that before, only the men were aloud to have. The constitution was ratified during this time also. The United States changed in so many ways over a century. People grew in knowledge and ability to create these machines that changed the workforce. Factories were improved and the cities industrialized and caused many people to migrate to the US causing the population to increase drastically. Slavery had always been a big issue in the US, and it was decreased immensely, although the blacks were still segregated. The machines that were built innovated the way the people thought and created a new ball park for new innovators to create new things to keep the world moving forward.

Genetic engineering, friend or foe? Essay

â€Å"By bringing in this technology to make the same crop that people eat and grow, make it more insulated against some of the elements of nature, more nutritious†¦ it will improve local production,† said Channapatna Prakash, professor in plant molecular genetics at Tuskegee University, Alabama. â€Å"If it does make a difference in their overall health and well-being with the least intervention, it needs to be looked at very carefully,† he said. â€Å"If it does provide some solution in certain places and circumstances, then why not? † Prakash is also a member of the U. S. Agriculture Department’s agricultural biotechnology advisory committee. Genetic modification (GM) involves exchanging or splicing genes of unrelated species that cannot naturally swap with each other and enthusiastic scientists say the applications are almost limitless. The species can be vastly different, for example, inserting scorpion toxin or spider venom genes into maize and other food crops as a ‘natural pesticide’ to prevent insects and birds from feeding on the plants, or fish antifreeze genes into tomatoes. So this is the positive side of the argument, however, others do not feel the same – recently trail GM crops have been destroyed even in ‘sleepy’ Devon in a trails site at Dartington. Fears were raised even higher because an internationally acclaimed organic farm was nearby. Insect or the wind could have carried genetically modified pollen to other farms thus creating unwanted and unsuspected mutations. Not everyone agrees that GM foods will necessarily become the saviour for the world’s hungry and people insist that there is, as yet, no conclusive evidence of the benefits of GM. The whole GM issue creates strong emotions, particularly among the more sceptic opponents to the technology who have been known to march across fields and rip up fledgling test plants, demanding that governments put a stop to â€Å"Frankenstein† foods by banning the import and the commercial use of GM crops. Apart from their charge that nobody yet knows how safe GM crops are, they also accuse powerful biotechnology multinational companies of using poor countries as a ‘dumping ground’ for products, which have failed to sell to lucrative but sceptical European markets. Already there are specific examples – there are problems with Genetically Engineered Soya Bean and Maize Imports. The first main genetically modified food was a tomato paste, introduced with careful consumer consultation, clearly labelled. It sold well until the current furore began. In 1996 the European Union [EU] accepted the import of US genetically modified Soya bean and maize, staple commodities which go untracked into a large number of processed foods. The US companies refused to label or segregate the new products, more concerned with winning markets than public attitudes. Ordinary people ended up eating modified food without knowing it, with any tangible benefit to them, and having no real say in the decisions. This major failure of democracy resulted in a huge consumer backlash. It also raised questions of environmental risks of GM crops spreading genes to other species and possible loss of biodiversity. As can be seen sharing understanding of the risks and labelling GM tainted or enhanced products has not happened automatically – there is too much money at stake. However, we should consider these issues carefully. There are risks far more complex than a blanket moratorium would solve. Different crops vary enormously over questions like gene flow [e. g. due to mode of pollination or unrestricted movement of GM animals for breeding] or wild relatives, which might become weeds or pests. So a plant like oil seed rape merits much more careful attention than other less genetically promiscuous species. Talking to ecological scientists, it seems clear that five years of research is not going to give a generic answer to tell us whether â€Å"GM is safe† or not. We know so little about either the ecology or safety of normal foods that we often do not have a yardstick to make meaningful comparison with GM foods. Much better than a crude moratorium is to be precautionary but on a case-by-case basis, rather than assume that everything is equally risky. Rather than swallow whole the current green position on GM foods, we need to recognise that it is just as easy to exaggerate risks as it is to ignore them or pretend they aren’t there. Current EU labelling is only mandatory if you can detect genes or the proteins in the food, but this only addresses a small minority of the concerns. If someone objects to GM food on ethical or religious grounds or to the effect of the crop on the environment, present labelling misses the point completely. Here is a fundamental injustice, which the Government has done very little to address. Genetic Engineering, Friend or Foe? Is still a question to be answered – the debate will continue, as will the research that pushes the boundaries of science. The answer lies in the far future! Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Variation and Inheritance section.