Line Manager Play Crucial Role in the Link Between HRM and Organisational Performance

According to CIDP definition, line managers are a manager who are responsible for an employee or work to a higher level of management. Generally, their management responsibilities would include people management, monitoring work process and etc (CIPD, 2010). Clearly, it generally be said that line managers are closest to employees and customers and occupy a key role in the general management job of managing people. Guest and Conway’s study (2004) showed that supervisory leadership was the strongest factor associated to organisation commitment. In other words the relationship between employees and FLMs is important in influencing the employee’s perspectives of the support received. Purcell et al (2007) suggest that the employee’s judgement of their FLM leadership behaviour was directed related, where positive, to higher levels of commitment and to better aspects of job experience. Indeed, Winkler said (ND) that if an employee feels supported by their line manager, they will feel engaged with and committed to their organisation. Consequently, this will improve attendance, reduce staff turnover and ensure that employees are willing to ‘go that extra mil’. Furthermore, in the UK WERS (1998) notes that in the handling of employee relations issues, line managers outnumber employee relations specialists at British workplace. MacNeil (2003) reveals that line managers may play a role in capturing employee’s tacit knowledge, which may be able to be transferred in to specific organisational competencies. For example, Lazenby’s research found that line manager behaviour has a significant impact on employee commitment, which has an impact on customer commitment, which has an impact on business performance (cited Purcell, 2003). In addition, some workers mention line incapability in HR as a significant and specific fact contributing to explaining why they left their old jobs (Taylor, 2002). From these perspectives, it is clear to say that line manager play a vital role in HR practices. However, in practice, there is a question arises as to which tasks they see as their priority and what effects the choices they make have in terms of HRM in general, and an employee well-being in particular. For example, they also get pressure on the productivity. Most importantly, they are normally in the lower layer of the management hierarchy and front managers are unlikely to have formal management education (CIDP, 2010). In other words, they seem to lack the capability to implement HR practices well. As they are given the responsibility for performance review, Latham et al (2007) claim that line manager’s training is seen as more important than choice of rating system. It is clear to say that line manager generally lack the knowledge of assessment method for employees, which may have strong impact on fair performance review. However, although there are some questions about the role of line mangers in the HRM, some studies are quite positive on such questions, and note the role of line in making HR strategies ‘come to life’ (Hutchinson and Purcell 2003, Purcell et al, 2003). Furthermore, in terms of HR line managers play as an important role on the implication of not only performance appraisal but also the process of learning and development. Purcell and Hutchinson (2007) believe that line manager’s leader behaviour is critical because their involvement in L&D leads to a wide range of benefits. For example, line manager in the best place to evaluate outcome of learning, both to the individual and the organisation (Wolff, 2007). Moreover, Line manager also be the part of induction training to support newcomer’s settlement. Liden et al (2004) argue that line managers also play a very important for role in socialising employees, not simply by ensuring that they understand the content of the job, but also in bringing them into organisation’s culture and social network in the organisation.

“Trifles”

Angel Parrett Professor Muller English 106/ Drama Essay 15 May 2006 Drama Essay Trifles Trifles, Susan Glaspell’s play written in 1916, reveal concerns of women living in a male dominated society. Glaspell communicates the role that women were expected to play in late 19th century society and the harm that can come of it to women, as well as men. The feminist agenda of Trifles was made obvious, in order to portray the lives of all women who live oppressed under male domination. John and Minnie Wright are two main characters who are never seen; however provide the incident for the play.In this play women are against men, Minnie against her husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters against their husband’s, as well as men in general. The men are arrogant and insensitive, while the women are sympathetic, as well as understanding and forgive Minnie for the murder of her husband. Trifles clearly addresses gender issues, emphasizing the oppression of women who lose their identity aft er marriage. This is depicted in the interactions between Mrs. Hale, the male characters, and Mrs. Peters. The play takes place in Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s abandon farm house, which is located down a hollow out of view from the road (1006).The setting is lonely and cold, which signifies Minnie Wright’s feelings (lonely) and describes John Wright’s character (cold). Mrs. Hale, the Wright’s neighbor states, â€Å"I’ve never liked this place. Maybe because it’s down in a hollow and you don’t see the road† (1006). This leads the reader to believe that Minnie was lonely and isolated. Mrs. Hale also states, â€Å"†¦. he was a hard man, just to pass the time of day with him (shivers). Like a raw wind that gets to the bone. † This statement was describing a character trait of Mr. Wright; he was thought of as cold.Again Mrs. Hale makes another statement in regards to Mrs. Wright’s surroundings saying, â€Å"It never see med a very cheerful place† (1003). All of these statements speak of how unpleasant Minnie’s surroundings were and signify oppression. Mrs. Hale goes on throughout the play remembering Mrs. Wright as Minnie Foster, who she was before her marriage to John Wright. For example she states â€Å"I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. † (1004). Glaspell uses past tense when describing Minnie’s character prior to marriage. Glaspell also compares Minnie to a bird, something that is carefree.This is stated by Mrs. Hale, â€Å"†¦. she was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and –fluttery. How she did change. † (1006). This statement signifies Minnie’s character prior to her marriage and states that she did change after marriage. The description of Minnie’s character prior to her marriage is positive; the ch ange after marriage has a negative connotation. Again Glaspell uses past tense when describing Minnie in a positive light.Toward the end of the play Mrs. Hale is still remembering how happy Mrs. Wright was as Minnie Foster, prior to marriage. She states to Mrs. Peters, â€Å"I wish you’d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang. † (1008). Glaspell uses vivid description such as the white dress and blue ribbons to paint a picture of how happy Mrs. Wright was before marriage. The color white signifies purity and brightness, it is a happy color. Both colors white and blue are used in our countries flag, which symbolizes freedom. The change in Minnie did not occur until she was married. She was no longer seen as bright and happy. Her happiness changed to loneliness. She lived in isolation on a farm down in a hollow out of site.It is obvious that Mrs. Hale was sensitive to Mrs. Wright’s character. Mrs. Hale knew Mrs. Wright as Minnie Foster. Knowing Minnie before marriage made her transformation from Minnie Foster to Mrs. Wright very noticeable to Mrs. Hale. However the male characters in the play had no recognition of any change in Mrs. Wright’s character. The male’s arrogance and insensitive attitudes toward women hinder their ability to gather evidence that ties Mrs. Wright to the murder of her husband. At the beginning of the play Mr. Hale acknowledges the males attitudes toward women without knowing. For example he states, â€Å"†¦.I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John. † (1001). This clearly signifies the male’s insensitivity to women. This statement that Mr. Hale made referring to John and how he does not care what his wife wanted or did not want does not even trigger the question, how was Mrs. Wright treated by her husband? Women were clearly not has important as the men. The men disregard women’s opinions and don’t give a thought to women’s needs or wants. Mr. Hale was speaking of John, Mrs. Wright’s dead husband in the above example; however Mr. Hale also expresses his insensitivity and arrogant attitude toward women.Mr. Hale states, â€Å"Well women are used to worrying over trifles. † (1003). Trifles something that is small, of no consequence, this is how Mr. Hale thinks of women. The things women are concerned with are of no importance, they are petty. This is an obvious illustration of the men’s arrogant and insensitive attitudes toward women. Mr. Hale was not the only male character who demonstrated arrogance and insensitivity toward women. The Sheriff who was investigating Mr. Wright’s murder also demonstrated arrogance and insensitivity, hindering his ability to tie Mrs. Wright to the murder.The sheriff states, â€Å"Held for murder and worrying about preserves. † (1003). This signifies how he feels that women worry ov er trifles, as stated by Mr. Hale. He insinuates that even when a woman is put in a very hard situation, she only worries over little insignificant things that are of no importance. It does not occur to the sheriff that Mrs. Wright would be worrying about the outcome of her future. This demonstrates his arrogance as well as his insensitivity. The county attorney who is also investigating the murder of Mrs. Wright’s husband adds to the male’s arrogant and insensitive attitudes.Toward the end of the play the county attorney states, â€Å"For that matter a sheriff’s wife is married to the law. †(1008). This statement contributes to the arrogant, insensitive male attitudes toward women. Again the men feel that they are the only ones of importance. This demonstrates male domination in the relation between husband and wife. Women no longer have their own identity after marriage; they are identified by their husband’s. Glaspell also uses the titles of the characters to portray this. All of the male characters in the play are identified by first and last name or career itle, (John Wright or Sheriff etc. ) which stresses importance. The women are identified by their husband’s last name only, except for Minnie (Minnie Foster) when Mrs. Hale is remembering her before marriage.Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s wife has accepted her identity loss and taken on her husband’s as her own. Throughout the play she only identifies with her husband, which demonstrates that she no longer has her own identity. During the scene when the men are going through Mrs. Wright’s kitchen cabinets and criticizing her domestic skills, Mrs. Hale defends Mrs. Wright. However Mrs. Peters agrees with the men. Mrs. Peters states, â€Å"Of course it’s no more than their duty. † This is one of the first scenes in which Mrs. Peters demonstrates that she has given up her own identity and taken on her husband’s, the sheriff. Th e men including, the sheriff, Mrs. Peters husband, are suppose to be investigating Mr. Wright’s murder, instead they are concerned with domestics. It is wrong for the men to be criticizing Mrs. Wright over things that don’t pertain to the investigation. The men are not doing their duty, which is to be investigating the murder; they are more concerned with the facts pertaining to Mrs. Wright being a good homemaker.Because of their insensitivity toward women, they do not even give a thought as to why the house was in disarray, which would have given them the evidence they needed to prove Mrs. Wright did murder her husband, because she was oppressed. Mrs. Hale acknowledges that the men are not doing their duty, however Mrs. Peters fails to see this. During the investigation Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find a half finished quilt that Mrs. Wright was making. This was a key piece of evidence due to the way she was piecing it together; she was knotting it, just like the knot in the rope that was used to choke the life out of Mr. Wright.However the sheriff just made a sarcastic comment toward the quilt, which all the men laughed at. Mrs. Hale was upset at the criticism, however Mrs. Peters stated, â€Å"Of course they’ve got awful important things on their minds. † (1005). Again Mrs. Peters defends her husband, the sheriff, not realizing if he were doing his job he would take everything in the home seriously. Due to his arrogant and insensitive attitude he passes up a crucial part of evidence. His doe s not even question that the quilt would link Mrs. Wright to the murder.His mentality when he sees Mrs. Hale and Peters looking at the quilt to see how Mrs. Wright was going to piece it together is that they are women worrying over trifles. Mrs. Peters has become so accepting of being less important than her husband, that she does not take any offense to how he views women. It is as if she views men thinking less of women, their duty. Toward the end of the play Mrs. Peters is brought to the realization that she has accepted her husband’s identity and no longer has her own. She describes Mrs. Wright’s life as stillness, subdued with no future advancement.In conversation with Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters states, â€Å"I know what stillness is. † (1008). Here she is recognizing that Mrs. Wright was oppressed, living dominated by Mr. Wright. However she goes on to say â€Å"I know what stillness is. The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale. † (1008). This demonstrates that she does acknowledge the life Mrs. Wright was living, however she still defends her husbands identity, rather than her own as an oppressed women living under male domination. Despite her feelings she still tries to reinforce the identity of her husband the sheriff, which society has cast on women. It does not occur to Mrs. Peters until the end of the play the she is only thought of as the sheriff’s wife, not a person with her o wn identity.The county attorney states â€Å"for that matter a sheriff’s wife is married to the law. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters? † Mrs. Peters replies â€Å"Not – just that way. † (1008). She did not have much of a reply regarding the county attorney’s question. This signifies that the realization was just brought to her attention, she was so accepting of males arrogant and insensitive attitudes toward women, that she did not realize that her own identity had been lost. The title, Trifles reflects how men viewed women in the late 19th century. Women were viewed as something small, unimportant, and of no consequence.This arrogant and insensitive attitude caused the men of the play to be clueless in their investigation of Mr. Wright’s murder. The women discovered the clues of the murder among what the men looked at as insignificant, women’s work. The feminist strategy was not only used to portray women who live under male do mination and oppression, but also as a message from women to men. It is a call for women to use their perceived powerlessness as a tool to manipulate the system, and a warning to men that a system where one segment of the population dominates and oppresses another cannot and will not be tolerated forever (hongik).Glaspell successfully portrayed the message. We have come a long way since the late 19th century in regards to the way men view women. Gender roles have definitely under gone major transformations. Unlike Mrs. Wright women no longer have to lose their own identity after marriage. Women are accepted for their own identity and are expected to have their own identity even after marriage. These gender roles are becoming more and more encouraged with every generation. We are all now free like the bird Glaspell compares Minnie Foster to before her marriage; we can have opportunities that are adventurous and the boundaries are wide. â€Å"Trifles† Angel Parrett Professor Muller English 106/ Drama Essay 15 May 2006 Drama Essay Trifles Trifles, Susan Glaspell’s play written in 1916, reveal concerns of women living in a male dominated society. Glaspell communicates the role that women were expected to play in late 19th century society and the harm that can come of it to women, as well as men. The feminist agenda of Trifles was made obvious, in order to portray the lives of all women who live oppressed under male domination. John and Minnie Wright are two main characters who are never seen; however provide the incident for the play.In this play women are against men, Minnie against her husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters against their husband’s, as well as men in general. The men are arrogant and insensitive, while the women are sympathetic, as well as understanding and forgive Minnie for the murder of her husband. Trifles clearly addresses gender issues, emphasizing the oppression of women who lose their identity aft er marriage. This is depicted in the interactions between Mrs. Hale, the male characters, and Mrs. Peters. The play takes place in Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s abandon farm house, which is located down a hollow out of view from the road (1006).The setting is lonely and cold, which signifies Minnie Wright’s feelings (lonely) and describes John Wright’s character (cold). Mrs. Hale, the Wright’s neighbor states, â€Å"I’ve never liked this place. Maybe because it’s down in a hollow and you don’t see the road† (1006). This leads the reader to believe that Minnie was lonely and isolated. Mrs. Hale also states, â€Å"†¦. he was a hard man, just to pass the time of day with him (shivers). Like a raw wind that gets to the bone. † This statement was describing a character trait of Mr. Wright; he was thought of as cold.Again Mrs. Hale makes another statement in regards to Mrs. Wright’s surroundings saying, â€Å"It never see med a very cheerful place† (1003). All of these statements speak of how unpleasant Minnie’s surroundings were and signify oppression. Mrs. Hale goes on throughout the play remembering Mrs. Wright as Minnie Foster, who she was before her marriage to John Wright. For example she states â€Å"I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. † (1004). Glaspell uses past tense when describing Minnie’s character prior to marriage. Glaspell also compares Minnie to a bird, something that is carefree.This is stated by Mrs. Hale, â€Å"†¦. she was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and –fluttery. How she did change. † (1006). This statement signifies Minnie’s character prior to her marriage and states that she did change after marriage. The description of Minnie’s character prior to her marriage is positive; the ch ange after marriage has a negative connotation. Again Glaspell uses past tense when describing Minnie in a positive light.Toward the end of the play Mrs. Hale is still remembering how happy Mrs. Wright was as Minnie Foster, prior to marriage. She states to Mrs. Peters, â€Å"I wish you’d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang. † (1008). Glaspell uses vivid description such as the white dress and blue ribbons to paint a picture of how happy Mrs. Wright was before marriage. The color white signifies purity and brightness, it is a happy color. Both colors white and blue are used in our countries flag, which symbolizes freedom. The change in Minnie did not occur until she was married. She was no longer seen as bright and happy. Her happiness changed to loneliness. She lived in isolation on a farm down in a hollow out of site.It is obvious that Mrs. Hale was sensitive to Mrs. Wright’s character. Mrs. Hale knew Mrs. Wright as Minnie Foster. Knowing Minnie before marriage made her transformation from Minnie Foster to Mrs. Wright very noticeable to Mrs. Hale. However the male characters in the play had no recognition of any change in Mrs. Wright’s character. The male’s arrogance and insensitive attitudes toward women hinder their ability to gather evidence that ties Mrs. Wright to the murder of her husband. At the beginning of the play Mr. Hale acknowledges the males attitudes toward women without knowing. For example he states, â€Å"†¦.I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John. † (1001). This clearly signifies the male’s insensitivity to women. This statement that Mr. Hale made referring to John and how he does not care what his wife wanted or did not want does not even trigger the question, how was Mrs. Wright treated by her husband? Women were clearly not has important as the men. The men disregard women’s opinions and don’t give a thought to women’s needs or wants. Mr. Hale was speaking of John, Mrs. Wright’s dead husband in the above example; however Mr. Hale also expresses his insensitivity and arrogant attitude toward women.Mr. Hale states, â€Å"Well women are used to worrying over trifles. † (1003). Trifles something that is small, of no consequence, this is how Mr. Hale thinks of women. The things women are concerned with are of no importance, they are petty. This is an obvious illustration of the men’s arrogant and insensitive attitudes toward women. Mr. Hale was not the only male character who demonstrated arrogance and insensitivity toward women. The Sheriff who was investigating Mr. Wright’s murder also demonstrated arrogance and insensitivity, hindering his ability to tie Mrs. Wright to the murder.The sheriff states, â€Å"Held for murder and worrying about preserves. † (1003). This signifies how he feels that women worry ov er trifles, as stated by Mr. Hale. He insinuates that even when a woman is put in a very hard situation, she only worries over little insignificant things that are of no importance. It does not occur to the sheriff that Mrs. Wright would be worrying about the outcome of her future. This demonstrates his arrogance as well as his insensitivity. The county attorney who is also investigating the murder of Mrs. Wright’s husband adds to the male’s arrogant and insensitive attitudes.Toward the end of the play the county attorney states, â€Å"For that matter a sheriff’s wife is married to the law. †(1008). This statement contributes to the arrogant, insensitive male attitudes toward women. Again the men feel that they are the only ones of importance. This demonstrates male domination in the relation between husband and wife. Women no longer have their own identity after marriage; they are identified by their husband’s. Glaspell also uses the titles of the characters to portray this. All of the male characters in the play are identified by first and last name or career itle, (John Wright or Sheriff etc. ) which stresses importance. The women are identified by their husband’s last name only, except for Minnie (Minnie Foster) when Mrs. Hale is remembering her before marriage.Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s wife has accepted her identity loss and taken on her husband’s as her own. Throughout the play she only identifies with her husband, which demonstrates that she no longer has her own identity. During the scene when the men are going through Mrs. Wright’s kitchen cabinets and criticizing her domestic skills, Mrs. Hale defends Mrs. Wright. However Mrs. Peters agrees with the men. Mrs. Peters states, â€Å"Of course it’s no more than their duty. † This is one of the first scenes in which Mrs. Peters demonstrates that she has given up her own identity and taken on her husband’s, the sheriff. Th e men including, the sheriff, Mrs. Peters husband, are suppose to be investigating Mr. Wright’s murder, instead they are concerned with domestics. It is wrong for the men to be criticizing Mrs. Wright over things that don’t pertain to the investigation. The men are not doing their duty, which is to be investigating the murder; they are more concerned with the facts pertaining to Mrs. Wright being a good homemaker.Because of their insensitivity toward women, they do not even give a thought as to why the house was in disarray, which would have given them the evidence they needed to prove Mrs. Wright did murder her husband, because she was oppressed. Mrs. Hale acknowledges that the men are not doing their duty, however Mrs. Peters fails to see this. During the investigation Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find a half finished quilt that Mrs. Wright was making. This was a key piece of evidence due to the way she was piecing it together; she was knotting it, just like the knot in the rope that was used to choke the life out of Mr. Wright.However the sheriff just made a sarcastic comment toward the quilt, which all the men laughed at. Mrs. Hale was upset at the criticism, however Mrs. Peters stated, â€Å"Of course they’ve got awful important things on their minds. † (1005). Again Mrs. Peters defends her husband, the sheriff, not realizing if he were doing his job he would take everything in the home seriously. Due to his arrogant and insensitive attitude he passes up a crucial part of evidence. His doe s not even question that the quilt would link Mrs. Wright to the murder.His mentality when he sees Mrs. Hale and Peters looking at the quilt to see how Mrs. Wright was going to piece it together is that they are women worrying over trifles. Mrs. Peters has become so accepting of being less important than her husband, that she does not take any offense to how he views women. It is as if she views men thinking less of women, their duty. Toward the end of the play Mrs. Peters is brought to the realization that she has accepted her husband’s identity and no longer has her own. She describes Mrs. Wright’s life as stillness, subdued with no future advancement.In conversation with Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters states, â€Å"I know what stillness is. † (1008). Here she is recognizing that Mrs. Wright was oppressed, living dominated by Mr. Wright. However she goes on to say â€Å"I know what stillness is. The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale. † (1008). This demonstrates that she does acknowledge the life Mrs. Wright was living, however she still defends her husbands identity, rather than her own as an oppressed women living under male domination. Despite her feelings she still tries to reinforce the identity of her husband the sheriff, which society has cast on women. It does not occur to Mrs. Peters until the end of the play the she is only thought of as the sheriff’s wife, not a person with her o wn identity.The county attorney states â€Å"for that matter a sheriff’s wife is married to the law. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters? † Mrs. Peters replies â€Å"Not – just that way. † (1008). She did not have much of a reply regarding the county attorney’s question. This signifies that the realization was just brought to her attention, she was so accepting of males arrogant and insensitive attitudes toward women, that she did not realize that her own identity had been lost. The title, Trifles reflects how men viewed women in the late 19th century. Women were viewed as something small, unimportant, and of no consequence.This arrogant and insensitive attitude caused the men of the play to be clueless in their investigation of Mr. Wright’s murder. The women discovered the clues of the murder among what the men looked at as insignificant, women’s work. The feminist strategy was not only used to portray women who live under male do mination and oppression, but also as a message from women to men. It is a call for women to use their perceived powerlessness as a tool to manipulate the system, and a warning to men that a system where one segment of the population dominates and oppresses another cannot and will not be tolerated forever (hongik).Glaspell successfully portrayed the message. We have come a long way since the late 19th century in regards to the way men view women. Gender roles have definitely under gone major transformations. Unlike Mrs. Wright women no longer have to lose their own identity after marriage. Women are accepted for their own identity and are expected to have their own identity even after marriage. These gender roles are becoming more and more encouraged with every generation. We are all now free like the bird Glaspell compares Minnie Foster to before her marriage; we can have opportunities that are adventurous and the boundaries are wide.

Comparisson of Film and aa Case of Racism Research Paper

Comparisson of Film and aa Case of Racism - Research Paper Example First, the plot of the film is discussed, which is necessary to develop a basic understanding of the backdrop of time and place of the story. This is followed by a discussion on the historical context of the film. Next, an analysis section has been incorporated to assess the effects of the film. Finally, the thesis concludes by justifying the opinion that the historical context of â€Å"The Color Purple† is related to settler racism. The Plot The film â€Å"The Color Purple† has been directed by Steven Spielberg. It is a film under the category of period drama. It is based on the famous novel having the same name written by Alice Walker. The background of the film is set in Georgia (Southern United States). The events of the story take place from 1880s to mid 1930s. The story is mainly centered on a black woman, Celie, who faces incest by her father in her own family. In an environment of isolation and poverty, she is deprived of education and does not know about her le gal rights. She constantly receives rude behavior and is beaten by her father. The same story continues even after she gets married to a widower, named Albert. For a short time, her sister Nettie comes to live with her and her husband. Nettie and Celie spend some good time together, but Nettie had to leave because of Albert’s sexual interest in her. Following several ups and downs, other black women like Shug and Sofia are also introduced in Celie’s life. These women give Celie confidence and help her to face the tortures of her husband. However, Celie develops homosexual relationships with Shug. Sofia, on the other hand, was victimized by circumstances and exploitation. She is beaten up, jailed, and tortured. The story advances through many other events, which exhibit the socio-economic situation of black people together with the plight of Celie. However, the film ends at the reunion of Celie and Nettie, and their children. Albert also changes from a harsh, abusive ma n to a kind and understanding person at the end of the film. Historical Context Prior to the Civil War of America, the black population in the country was subjected to direct slavery and they lived in sub-human conditions. In the middle of nineteenth century, Abraham Lincoln changed the situation significantly. However, political and constitutional changes took time to become socially effective in real sense and this was discernable in the 1880s too. The timeline covered in the film starts at this crucial point. Discrimination towards the black people, economic deprivation, and continued frustration might explain the intolerant and cruel attitude of the black males towards the women in the community at this stage. Socio-economic discrimination and deprivation might adversely affect the socio-sexual behavior of the black males, leading to incest, rape, and sexism. The fight for civil liberties had not begun at that time, and nobody like Martin Luther King had appeared in the scene. T he domestic violence faced by Celie, a black woman, is actually an internal manifestation of the settler racism faced by the black community itself. Notably, when black women faced torture and incest, their white neighbors did not come to rescue them. They did not arrange for economic parity and education †¦ neither for the black men nor the black women. The treatment

Information Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Information Policy - Essay Example All should protect copyrights especially by ISPs and the government. ISPs allow access to content, and, therefore, they must ensure that they do not promote piracy by supporting copyrights. I also agree that redirecting  a domain  is not sufficient, and the ICE should confiscate all servers and arrest domain owners that support piracy. Google does own YouTube, but both run on entirely different domains. Google and YouTube can both be easily shut down as they not top level domains. Top level domains are those that are owned by countries. Top level domains are protected by courts and cannot be shut down. Google is not a top level domain and can easily be shut down if it violates copyright law. However, the closure of a massive search giant like Google might vastly affect the internet. Copyright issues can easily be tracked through algorithms and digital signatures. Google already uses algorithms to track companies that violate copyright issues and blacklists them. Use of digital signature to accompany copyrighted products can protect copyrights. Programs are already in place to encode copyrighted materials with digital signatures. Materials without the signature are tracked to their source, and the pirates can then be apprehended. Post, D.  Are Internet domain names â€Å"property†?.  Washington Post. Retrieved 19 June 2015, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/01/are-internet-domain-names-property/ Post, D.  DC Court rules that Top-Level Domain not subject to seizure.  Washington Post. Retrieved 19 June 2015, from

Individual Personal Reflection Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Individual Personal Reflection Paper - Assignment Example ve learnt that Critical thinking, among other things, makes one think rationally and with more clarity irrespective of the field one is in; education, law, medicine, finance, or management. Critical thinking is a vital component as it enhances problem solving and proper thinking and can thus be termed as an asset. Secondly, it enables a person to have excellent communication skills. It improves language and comprehension abilities by aiding in the analysis of texts. Furthermore, critical thinking leads to self-reflection since we are able to reflect on our values and make proper decisions. With the changing, economic times which is driven by technology and information one needs to be able to effectively deal with these changes. This requires analysis of information thus pushing for intellectual skills, which we have learnt in this course. Since the start of this course, my critical thinking has vastly improved. It has helped me to think rationally and view things from a different perspective. I can now carefully reflect on my principles of reasoning and internalize them therefore, making me apply it in my day-to-day life. I am now in a position to expose fallacies and avoid faulty reasoning. I am able to come up with solutions to problems in a systematic way and prioritize ideas based on their importance. I have also been able to clearly come up with constructive arguments and evaluate them. More so, I am able to break down information into their constituent parts and logically understand the connections, relevance, and importance of these ideas. In the beginning, I was at the stage of unreflective thinker where I was unaware of significant problems in thinking, but so far I have advanced and I am now in the practicing thinker level. I feel I am at this level since I have recognized the need for regular practice in thinking. I am in a better position to solve problems by using the information that I have. However, limited it may be and to further deduce probable

Lectures review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lectures review - Essay Example Moreover, it has also been learnt from the study that brands are categorised into different categories including personal brands, cool brands, kids branding, nation brands and super brands among others. In this regard, according to brand managers, the brand is more than an entity which creates certain amount of awareness, prominence and reputation in the market. Brands play a very important role in the consumer life. Through the brands, customers can easily know about the products which they can purchase. Moreover, brands help the customers to reduce search cost along with helping them to identify the quality. Similarly, brands are very much an important factor for the organisations. It helps the companies to influence the customers and to generate the desired level of revenue. In today’s scenario, brand has emerged as the key term for any organisation. In this world, everything can be branded and branding is helpful for the company to reside in the minds of the customers. In the present scenario, from beer to vacuum cleaners everything can be branded and one of the top branded products is Coca-Cola in the current day context (Slade, 2013). Moreover, from the related study it is observed that according to American Marketing Association, brands and brand management is a tangible symbol that can differentiate from one organisation’s product to another. The main principle of brand management is to recognise strong consumer awareness about the brand. Moreover, brands are emotive to symbolize a promise and generate the uniqueness of idea. Similarly, brand is made distinctive by its positioning, relative to the competition and builds its personality through its images (Slade, 2013). It is further observed from the study that the notion of brand positioning signifies the manipulation of every element of the marketing mix to the segmented audience. In this regard, personality branding is the unique combination of functional attributes and values which hel ps the target audience to identify a company’s strategies. In this scenario, it has been learnt that brand image is the overall impression and the unique set of associations communicated to the public. Moreover, brand awareness refers to the consumer’s ability to recognise the brand under different conditions. Brand positioning facilitates to segment the market as per the consumers’ needs and wants. With the aid of a key focus on brand positioning and awareness, in the global arena McDonald’s, Davis Milling Co and Leo Burnett among others have evolved to be regarded as top brands in the present day context. Moreover, a few of the organisations follow certain key influences of the brand positioning and personality. Brand positioning helps these organisations to identify the competing products and attributes that define the product space. Brand positioning also helps to collect information from a sample of customers about their perception of each of the pro ducts regarding certain relevant attributes. It is also learnt that brand personality follows the five-scale-factor. These factors include sincere, exciting, competent, sophisticated and rugged. In brand personality scale, sincere signifies the brand that is down to earth, honest, wholesome and cheerful about its customers and manufacturers, for example, Kodak and Hyundai. Furthermore, the exciting scale means that the

Make a Case to Legalize Marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Make a Case to Legalize Marijuana - Essay Example In 1970, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act placed marijuana in Schedule I with heroin, mescaline, and LSD, perceiving the drug as low medical utility while highly liable for abuse, consequently rendering it unavailable for medical use. Despite this classification, the federal government permitted its use for a few patients as part of a compassionate use program. By the early 1990s, increasing numbers of people with AIDs applied for the compassionate use program for relief from nausea and loss of appetite. In 1992 the Department of Health and Human Services officially terminated the program. Opposing federal legislation, nearly half the states as initiated by California and Arizona legalized the medicinal use of the drug by the end of 1996. Although the â€Å"possession of cannabis , even for medical purposes, remains a federal offense† (Earleywine 169), its rates of use for medicine continues to be high. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to p ersuade the reader on the necessity for legalizing marijuana. The exploitation of drug cartels, the medicinal and economic benefits, and the requirement for responsible usage will be examined. Legalizing Marijuana: Elimination of Drug Cartels and its Black Market If marijuana prohibition ended, the black market in the drug would disappear to a great extent. Better and safer marijuana would be available to buyers, who will not be required to come into contact with criminals or hard drug users. Thus, â€Å"legalization would save society billions of dollars now spent on pursuing users, and a legal marijuana industry could bring in billions more in revenue† (Ruschmann 87). Further, the government would still be able to punish abusers of the drug, and educate the public about using marijuana responsibly. Moreover, businesses and schools could discourage the use of the drug and prohibit its use in their domains. Legalizing Marijuana does not Result in its Increased Use Other count ries have not experienced serious problems as a result of relaxing marijuana laws. For example, in Australia with tough mariguana laws, decriminalizing the usage of the drug in three states resulted in its increased use in all regions including jurisdictions with a total prohibition approach to cannabis, with the largest increase in Tasmania, a prohibitionist state. The Swiss government, as well as the Canadian Senate Committee have found that based on scientific studies there was no relationship between the harshness of marijuana laws and the percentage of people who use the drug. Similarly, in the United States itself, with the decriminalization of marijuana in some states for more than twenty years, the Connecticut Law Revision Commission found that â€Å"larger increases in marijuana use occurred in states that did not decriminalize than those that did† (Ruschmann 85). Further, although in the United States and Canada there are very restrictive laws on the use of the drug , it is used more extensively than in Belgium, Germany and Spain with highly liberal laws. Additionally, there was no consequent increase in hard drug use caused by the liberal policies of Spain, Italy and Portugal or from over thirty years’ experience of relaxed marijuana laws in the Netherlands (Ruschmann 85). Moreover, in Canada despite the increasing numbers of cannabis users, there has not been a proportionate increase in the users of hard drugs. The

The use of practical resources for supporting learning within Essay

The use of practical resources for supporting learning within Mathematics - Essay Example It could help those students that have special needs, like those who have difficulties with the other resources (such as having a hard time in seeing the board due to eyesight problems). It could also help in the development of understanding number and mental calculation for as long as the correct type of resource has been used (Resources to Support Teaching and Learning Mathematics, n.d.). To support develop and learning, the use of primary resources is very important. Recent studies show that the provision of resources helped kinaesthetic learners in making sure that they learn best through movement and manipulation (Education Review Office New Zealand, 2007). Thus, so much attention has been given to such studies who aim to look into the purposes of resources in supporting learning in various subjects such as mathematics. Aside from aiding the learning of students who learn best through manipulation and movement, resources also have different purpose. Firstly, resources provide a visual image. A visual image allows mathematical concepts to be seen and understood clearly by students. As this paper focuses on primary school students, this is vital in explaining to them the different concepts in mathematics together with the different mathematical operations. Secondly, resources could help in supporting a calculation. Using practical sources in supporting calculation c ould help learners follow the process of calculating something (Tanner and Jones, 2000). At the same time, it will guide them through every stage that you have been through, making it easier for him or her to perform the same calculation. This is also necessary in teaching primary school students as they are just beginning to learn the different processes in performing the different mathematical operations. The teacher could make use of number lines in showing how calculations could be broken down in different steps, and that each ‘jump’

Stereotyping Black People Essay Example for Free

Stereotyping Black People Essay Stereotyping is when something is believed about a group of people that is untrue or only partly true. When someone stereotypes against a group of people they tend to not understand that group or do not want to understand them. Black people, to me, are the most stereotyped race. They are stereotyped as being lazy, loud, they steal, love chicken and watermelon, the women get pregnant and the men are well-endowed. As humans we tend to allow negative stereotyping to determine our thoughts, feelings, and our lives in general. People start to believe things that are not true and teach others that it is acceptable and tolerable to do so. According to April Kemick, from the University of Toronto, it has been proven that stereotyping has a lasting effect on people’s lives. Black people are stereotyped and have to deal with what others think in their daily life. There is a negative stereotype that all black people love to eat chicken and watermelon. I want to challenge this. Looking at its backgrounds, the stereotype that all blacks eat chicken and watermelon came from the south as blacks were claiming their freedom and independence from slavery and Jim Crow laws. As blacks transitioned from slavery to freedom, many black families lived in unfortunate and unaffordable situations. Eating chicken and watermelon was less expensive, convenient and economical for poor black families. Black families could raise their own chickens and plant their own watermelon providing food for their families. They used these sources of food for survival not to be stereotyped. When I think about this stereotype, I image it to be as foolish as saying all Chinese people love to eat fish and oranges. What is so negative about that exactly? Fish and oranges have a lot of nutritional value, just as chicken and watermelon do. Chicken, when skinned, baked or grilled, is a great source of lean ample protein. It is rich in trace minerals like zinc, cooper, manganese and selenium. Eating chicken helps to slow down the aging process, no wonder black people look so young, and it is easy to digest. Some studies have proven that eating chicken legs and feet can contribute in the reduction of high blood pressure. Watermelon also has nutritional benefits being as it is full of vitamins like Vitamin A, C and B6. It is very low in calories and rich in potassium, even the seeds provide iron and fiber. Watermelon also aids in the anti-inflammation of arthritic joints. It is an antioxidant proven to help prevent heart attacks and cancer. Chicken and watermelon have plenty of wonderful qualities to keep a person healthy! There is a great deal of jokes and humility towards black people about this stereotype. There is a photo of a black man looking shocked and horrified because a watermelon is being chucked at him. On the bottom of the photo in bold letters it says â€Å"Flying watermelons if they only came with fried chicken this guy would shit himself. † There is also a white man standing behind him and another white person ready to catch the watermelon. In another photo there is an old white man holding KFC with two black men trying to beat him up to take his KFC. In the back ground there is a crowed of black people staring in awe of what is going on. In bold letters at the bottom of the photo it says â€Å"Bravery at its finest. † These photos represent what others think about black people. It is not right to only classify black people who love chicken and watermelon. Being a middle eastern I love to eat chicken and watermelon. Chicken and watermelon are so good! I would say that eating chicken and watermelon is not a negative stereotype at all. Maybe eating more chicken and watermelon is the solution to our obesity epidemic here in America. There is nothing wrong with eating chicken and watermelon. The stereotype is ridiculous being as it is a food that everyone enjoys regardless of race or culture. The chicken and watermelon experience surpasses all racial and ethnic appearances. If people say that it is funny or weird that black people eat chicken and watermelon maybe they should look at themselves first. Chicken and watermelon are two great and healthy food sources. This is the most ridiculous, immature and uncalled stereotype to be judging black people by. It does not make sense to me why others would do that. Just leave them be and let them eat what they want, it is their own dictions to make. They are not affecting others by eating what they please. It sucks that people are judged by the way certain people act in their race, not all act like their stereotypes. To change a person’s view of a stereotype, be regularly different from it. Beware of your own stereotypes that people think of your race and show them wrong. Stereotyping can be reduced by bringing people together. When they discover that other people are not as the stereotypes are believed to be, the instant evidence creates conflict that leads to changing thoughts about the other group. Stereotypes are true to a certain extent. It may be true to some of the people in the race but it should not be a general impression of the race. Everyone is their own person and has a unique touch to them. People are not mindful to other races or even try to know the race well. Stereotyping is hard to break but people should try and make an adjustment so others can see that stereotyping are judgments people make because we do not know how to interact with one another.

Postmodern Theory in Art Essay Example for Free

Postmodern Theory in Art Essay Philosophy refers to the search for truth, existence, knowledge and performance through sense and rationale. Philosophy attempts to study the nature of existence, soundness, impartiality, beauty, mind and language. Art on the other hand refers to the process of arranging elements in a creative manner that makes them appealing to the senses and the emotions. Art includes performance which involves the use of language. The artist Paul McCarthy, born in 1945 in Salt Lake City, learned his art skills at the University of Utah in the year 1969. On his further studies at San Francisco art institute, he studied painting and went further to study film, video and art at the University of Southern California. McCarthy majors his work in video and sculpture having taught performance, video, installation and performance art history at the University of California (Bronfen 214). McCarthy in his works institutes color as a central theme in his story of modern and contemporary work. McCarthy’s life and art works are connected to the practice centered on the role of artists within the cultures and the system of art. In his works he proves a bit of a chocker. The use of language and descriptions of all the American culture that he grew up with, he works towards bending and transforming the familiar into the disturbing. The works of McCarthy definitely removes the dark side of the American dream and presents a selection of postmodern works produced between 1966 and 2006. The philosophies of Kierkegaard involved a unifying factor which evolved around three spheres of existence, which is the aesthetic, the ethical and the religious choice in constant tension. According to Kierkegaard the personal aesthetic enjoyment is in the inconsistent search of pleasure which is self-centered. Comparing the artist Paul McCarthy to this philosophy, it is clear that the philosophy involved beauty and pleasure which is mainly egocentric just like the work of McCarthy which involves the provision of pleasurable activities, through performance and beautiful paintings (Robert Adorno 132). The ethical sphere however is not egocentric but impersonal. It involves a law centered on reasoning as opposed to personal inclination and expediency. Kierkegaard asserts that at this stage, life does not just involve a succession of separate moments of pleasure but is a long range venture which should be structured according to rational principles. The principles according to Kierkegaard’s philosophies do not only include the rules of eventual interest but the conceptual ideologies of morality that describe what an individual should do. Just like Kierkegaard’s ideals, in McCarthy’s attempts to reduce the disadvantages of painting, he resorted to using the body as a canvas. He later involved the use of bodily fluids and foods to act as surrogates in his work. Other than painting the work of McCarthy included transgressive presentation art, psychosexual events which were meant to test the emotions of both the artist and the viewer. McCarthy in his works was known for shocking, sexually charged pieces that feature benign cartoon and pop culture characters reflecting the ideologies of morality which teaches the viewers and the artist on what they should do (Glennie 34). Much of the works of Kierkegaard looks into religious premises like the faith in God, the organization of the Christian church, the Christian ethics and divinity and the emotions and feelings of different people when dealing with the choices of life. Kierkegaard remained the most influential figure in modern philosophy’s consideration just like McCarthy who remained the most influential artist in the postmodern artistry. Kierkegaard believed and insisted on individual rather than collective responsibility before God. In the stage of true religious choice, only a leap of faith that provides a ground for decision is employed, however there are no automatic rational decision procedures. According to the philosophy of Kierkegaard, acknowledgment of the need for religion as a personal dedication to truth is the major component of life. Relating to this principle of Kierkegaard, McCarthy centers his interest within the daily activities of life and the confusion created by such activities. Due to misinformation by people, McCarthy has been taken to be influenced by the Viennese Actionism. Due to his dedication to truth as his life component, McCarthy clarifies that he knew the activities of the group in the 1970s but there exists a big difference between the self deleterious activities of the Viennese and his own performances. This is a reflection that as Kierkegaard’s principle of individual responsibility to God, McCarthy obeys the same principle and would therefore not engage in the injurious activities of the Viennese (Ben 56). The view of Kierkegaard on the free press can be understood on why he hated the press. He was mainly concerned on the public sphere which had been a source of problem for many intellectuals in the middle of the 18th century before the democratization and the expansion of the press. In his view to the free press, Kierkegaard abandoned the use of internet with the claims that it promoted risk free ambiguity and idle curiosity that undermined responsibility and dedication. Kierkegaard’s opposition to the press is said to have had sociological, political and psychological motivations. He however claims that he does not attack the press because of the liberalism or any other political reason. As has been noted earlier, the works of Kierkegaard mainly revolved around religious issues. His view was therefore opposing free press because he believed that the press and especially the daily newspaper were making Christianity and religious matters impossible. Definitely from his political, sociological and psychological qualms, he considered the press as a threat to both cultural and religious practices. Because of these reasons Kierkegaard continued to attack the public and the press up to 1846 in his writings. With the democratization of the public sphere by the daily press, Kierkegaard felt that the public sphere was becoming a new and a dangerous cultural experience whereby the ranking created by the press was to produce something that was very wrong right from the beginning. In the modern society Kierkegaard gives his total view on the relation of the press, public sphere and the ranking taking place in his time. He considers the press mysterious and desituated with no obsession and dedication and combines in this philosophical age to produce the public. The ideals and the philosophies of Kierkegaard strongly affected the theologians and the existential philosophy. Even though Kierkegaard was a very strong defender of religious faith he was an unhappy, neurotic and a terribly suffering man (Ben 356). His belief was that the best way to disclose truth was through dramatic confrontation of conflicting practices to life. In addition to his ideals and philosophical works, Kierkegaard was a thinker and a genius. His philosophy despite having not been presented in a systematic and analytical manner, contain several wealth of sharp intellectual insights. Due to lack of coherent stance, the philosophies of Kierkegaard have remained questionable. Nevertheless according to Kierkegaard, his principles have been mainly on how one can become a Christian. Other than his philosophical work, Kierkegaard had complex poetic work which rewards careful reading. The totals of moral of his philosophy can be put into a single sentence that the existence of human beings needs real passion and thought. Conclusion Art and philosophy may be two different disciplines, but still some principles or morals of an artist and a philosopher may relate in some way. The revealed example is between the artist Paul McCarthy and the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. The ideals and the philosophies of Soren Kierkegaard match the artist Paul McCarthy for instance, both of them seems to value aesthetics, ethical values and religious choices and issues.

Strategies for Measuring Marketing

Strategies for Measuring Marketing â€Å"Conviction is the luxury of those sitting on the sidelines. For those of us who choose to play rather than watch, measurement is the compass that guides us through our mistakes.† Famous dialogue of movie A Beautiful Mind EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Business world has become very dynamic in current times. Technological advances are bringing changes in lifestyle of customers. It has generated necessity for introduction of new products in market or drastic changes in existing products so as to meet changing customer needs. It has made job of marketing department more challenging. Assessing customer needs, preferences, satisfaction and expectation level are few important domain, which marketing people has to handle at one hand. Whereas at the other hand, positioning product in market for particular customer segment and launching marketing scheme so as to enhance market share and profitability is other main area of working for marketing professionals. These twin tasks are very much essential for success of any business organization. There are other divisions also in almost every business unit like procurement, production, sales and marketing etc. Each one of these division contribute in making organization run profitability so as to meet the ultimate aim of establishing business i.e. maximizing profit of shareholders. Often there are discussions about contribution of individual departments in making organization successful and resources allotted to respective departments. Though, each and every department has its unique role to play in growth of business, few walk away with greater share of budget allocation while others have to manage their operations with lesser budgetary allocation. It has necessitated that work performance of each division should be measured in terms of revenue generation contribution. It will make budgetary allocation decision on more professional lines. It will also help individual divisions in measuring performance of various schemes and programs internally. It has been often observed that different work divisions allege for greater budget allocation to marketing division without rational but just on tall claims. Generally marketing professionals come to meetings without facts s and try to describe their achievements qualitatively. But finance division insists for factual position and achievement in terms of some well defined variable linking performance to financials. Though, marketing professionals have been found resisting this demand of finance professionals in general. But is has made a impact on general board room environment where marketing professionals are asked to bring in more credible feedback about their performance. But performance of marketing efforts cannot be measured simply as is the case of production or sales, where it is easy to make out every evening. So there is a need to first establish a performance metric for marketing, which may vary from one type of business to another type of business. But it is for sure tha t, once metric is established and performance evaluation for marketing starts, it will bring in more transparency, credibility, accountability and efficiency in marketing department operations. Each marketing efforts cost a lot in terms of manpower engaged and finances. A single slot of just few seconds in TV channel may cost thousands of dollars. So if company gets evaluation of its impact on sales, it may streamline its spending on it. Besides that few expensive media campaigns may be cut short or diverted so as to bring desired outcomes. A drastic shift in Coca Cola advertisement campaign to shift from costly family entertainment channel to some sport, movie and adventure channel was a result of one such marketing measurement campaign, which not only helped in saving lot of money, but gave better results also in terms of revenue generation. These measures help company in making budgetary allocations more professional and transparent, but are opposed by marketing professionals. It happens as they are made more accountable for expenditure. It necessitates involvement of change management professional also in the whole process. It has been observed that gradual changes supported with workshops and training programs are more likely to succeed then swift changes for marketing management adoption. Benefits of marketing measurement are immense, most prominent being smart use of scarce human financial resources. These can be deployed on schemes giving best returns rather than schemes of marginal success. It also helps in rev iewing performance of schemes at regular intervals and takes corrective action if required. So we find that marketing measurement is not only trend for present day business, but a necessity to make business more dynamic, result oriented and efficient. It helps in bringing in better coordination among various divisions so as to achieve business target of making organization more profitable. INTRODUCTION Gone are the days of stable and predictable business environment. Business world has become very dynamic with new technology playing greater role in our lives. (Kristy Sheppard .2009. Diversify your business to defy the downturn) World has turned in to a village, with the spread of internet and other related information technology far and wide in every part of the world. Communication and transportation is becoming easy and economic day by day. (Data monitor. 2009).It has opened new challenges and opportunities for the businesses all over the world. Companies are facing enhanced level of competition on account of newer options available to customers from other new entrants in market. At the same time companies are getting new opportunities in the form of newer markets. But either it is taking up competition with new entrants or approaching new markets, working of marketing professionals become of utmost importance. (James Walsh. 2009). What is the competitive position of company prod ucts with respect to rival companies, need to be analyzed so as to retain and increase present share. At the same time demography of new markets, customer needs and preferences also need to be investigated in details so as to bring in new products suiting customer needs in newer markets. It requires resources in terms of finances and manpower to be deployed so as to bring in positive outcomes out of whole marketing efforts. It is after some initial deliberation on the prevailing issues that funds are allotted so as to launch marketing campaigns in new markets and existing ones. But it can happen only in starting that funds can be allotted with a rough estimate reached on account of judgmental forecasting. But as time proceeds, it is desired that outcomes of previous and current expenditure is measured, before demand of more funds is put forward. It has been observed that divisions of work like sales, production, human resources and procurement etc. comes out with facts and s about p erformance outcomes leaving marketing division alone which depends solely on qualitative statements about their performance (Michelle 2005). Here comes the issue of measuring performance of marketing division functioning. Decisions regarding budgetary allocation to various business divisions must be very professional. Especially budgetary support to various marketing campaigns must be extended after getting the effectiveness measured in clear financial outcomes of these. In no case allocation should be extended on the basis of only qualitative explanation, tall claims not supported by any real time performance measurement. There is a need to not only measure performance, but it is also required that this measurement must be in terms of such variables, which can link up performance to financials. Operations of Coca Cola in Indian Territory are running in loss on account of smaller sales volume. To boost sales, company launched advertisement campaigns on prime entertainment TV channels. For months, these campaigns continued but sales did not pick up. It was only after few months that a survey was conducted to find out impact of these advertising campaigns. To shock of everybody in company, it came to notice, that actual consumer of Coca Cola, the youngsters, watch movie, sports and adventure channel more and les the news or family entertainment channels. It emphasizes the need of marketing measurement at regular intervals. If company were using marketing measurement at regular interval, this major drawback would have been detected at much earlier stage of campaign. Corrective steps at that stage would have resulted in saving lot of funds and streamlining marketing efforts so as to result in achieving required targets. Competition is increasing day by day and margins are shrinking, depleting finances in almost every business (Boston Consulting Group. Nov 2007). . As a result availability of funds has come down and there is emphasis on smart use of resources. In such a scenario, it becomes of utmost importance, that funds are used where they are not only needed most but are most productive also. It warrants that the mysterious world of marketing be mapped very carefully, schemes programs launched evaluated very systematically and free judgment be taken with rational so as to continue, strengthen or cut short designated programs. This will not only help in making smart use of resources, but also weed out less productive schemes and programs. Rudy Gulianui, former mayor of the Newyork, once said that whatever operations may be, if we do not measure, we cannot manage. Though his comments were more focused towards civic services, but these are equally applicable in business world. Management prime function is to control and direct the organization in right direction. But unless management gets feedback about various business activities I the form of performance evaluation, how can we expect them to give right direction as desired. So all these instances shows that measuring marketing is an essential activity which brings objectivity in functioning of marketing department but also prudent decision making of management. NEED FOR MEASURING MARKETING In everyday life, we see that that all the activities are directed towards some specific objectives. If we look at school children, performance of these is measured by way of examination at regular intervals. Performance of teachers are also measured by the way of results achieved so. Either it is civic authorities, policeman controlling traffic or the house keeping staff of the office, performance of everybody is measured and money spent of their functioning is accounted for. Then why the performance of the marketing professionals should not be put to measurement. There are efforts to determine economic order quantity for procurement department, machine utilization parameters in production floors as well as sales volume generated per sales personnel, then why should the marketing professionals not justify the funds spent in their operations and results achieved out of it. Once measuring marketing mechanism is put in place, it will clearly bring objectivity in the functioning of mark eting professionals and enhance level of accountability for them. Minimizing risk in the business operations is very important. But unless we generate expected results of various marketing activities, we may not be in a position to mark, various marketing activities on the basis of their expected returns (Tim Riesterer 1999). Once we start measuring output of various marketing moves, marketing vehicles and channels, it helps us in assessing the real output of each one. This way, it becomes comparatively lesser risky in starting new moves, as we are already aware of previous output of various constituent elements of a particular scheme to be launched. In measuring marketing mechanism, performance of various schemes is measured on continuous basis helping in controlling, modifying and changing course of action for various schemes. This way, it becomes easy to continuously monitor performance of select schemes and drop the programs not performing up to the mark and proving to be costly as compared to other schemes giving better returns. There remains divergent view all the time, in all possible areas of operations, if standards are not set so as to measure performance. It applies to marketing as well. If standards are not set, it will let senior level marketing professionals to look for many flimsy and personally convincing excuses to be put forward, as explanation for lesser impact of marketing programs. There are also chances that outcomes of various marketing schemes are mixed so as to show success of few programs for others also, where as not to indicate real poor performance for others. Measuring marketing mechanism let every scheme be monitored for real output of the concerned scheme only. It gives factual success rate of each and every marketing program in transparent way. Measuring marketing moves also reduces the chances of performance being misrepresented in terms other than those which represent true one. Once metric are decided for each specific type of program, it becomes less probable, that performance can be misrepresented. Once proper measurement takes place for each and every marketing initiative, it becomes more satisfying for the leadership as far as resource allocation and its utilization is concerned. (Demand Metric.2009.Measuring marketing governance maturity). Leadership takes decision regarding budgetary provisions on various facts and s generated out of measuring marketing campaigns. It also helps in midterm review of various marketing programs, especially those which are costly and whose success if critical for the growth of the organization. In todays business scenario, when business is so dynamic and competition so stiff, it is not possible for the companies to wait for long to get results of marketing moves. In such case, measuring marketing helps companies in evaluating the performance on continuous basis and taking corrective measures as and when required without waiting till the end of the marketing programs. It not only helps company in acquiring competitive edge over other rivals, but in making smart use of resources. Surveys conducted recently by various research bodies have found that companies practicing measuring marketing moves remain confident and clear about their budgetary allocations at various point of time. Their financial decisions remain more prudent and productive as compared to companies not adopting measuring marketing moves. It is also found that marketing operations became more transparent in due course of time since adoption of measuring marketing techniques. Surveys have also pointed out that top leadership became more confident and positive about their marketing division as every investment made is accounted for. Top leadership also feels confident that metrics chosen so gives performance of marketing team in terms of revenue parameters, which help top management in taking decision regarding investment more rationally without getting entangled in technicalities of marketing. SCHOOL OF THOUGHT FOR MEASURING MARKETING There are basically three schools of thought for measuring marketing concept. Fist one focuses on return on investment, where as second one focuses on brand equity being created out of adverting campaigns. The third and last one is the concept of considering customer information as asset. In the first school of thought investment in marketing is considered just like any other investment. How much return a marketing campaign will give justifies the investment made there. There is no long term gains considered here in this school of thought. There is very plain relationship of investment and return in particular campaign itself. No looking beyond the life of particularly targeted marketing move. Generating brand value or establishing a brand is not the concept over here. Measurement remains focused on just the return a particular campaign makes. Developing measuring marketing metric is most easy in this type of school of thought as performance has to be evaluated in terms of incrementa l revenue for every investment made in the marketing efforts. In the second school of thought, brand value has been given the prime focus. Here prime target of the marketing is considered as creating brand value and further value addition to it. It generally happens with the fast moving consumer goods companies that brands are established more prominently rather than anything else including products itself. Here products keep on changing over period of time as per consumer preferences and life style but brand remains the same. Here focus of marketing campaign remains on establishing brand value, which remains there for longer period of time, though the products may keep on changing. Developing measuring marketing metric is most difficult task in this domain. There is no consensus among industry experts as to what are the parameters, which help measure performance of marketing campaigns in the area of brand management. Otherwise also, brands value is not created for certain short period only. It is a long term process to create a brand which ben efits company over life time of the business. Third school of thought for measuring marketing is of consumer equity school. Here focus of the marketing activities remain on generating loyalty of the customer towards company by way of exploring consumer details and customizing services suitable to him. Telecom services and financial services are the most glaring example of this school of thought. Here focus remains on generating information of the customer so as the products can be customized to his needs. It is the information of the customer which helps in retaining him or enabling company in cross selling other allied products to customer. Developing measuring marketing metrics in this domain is comparatively easy as compared to brand equity school, but a bit tougher to return on investment school of measuring marketing concept. Brand equity school of thought proves to be most difficult challenge in developing measuring marketing campaigns. Though in present times, this school of thought has got limited applicability, but in c oming years, it is expected to gain not only popularity but enhanced level of applicability on account of increasing domain of customer centric services. INSTANCES OF DILEMMA FOR MARKETING PROFESSIONALS Whenever the issue of measuring marketing is raised and efforts are initiated so as to measure performance of the marketing programs, the most likely answer which comes is the focus being on creating brand and enhancing brand value. Measuring brand value, which is a part of the measuring marketing exercise, is not the job of marketing division, is the way, marketing people comes out generally. It is true also to some extent. Ultimately conducting surveys are not easy and is a reasonably costly affair. So companies, and especially marketing divisions, already in financial stress to meet the expenditure of currently running programs, try to avoid measuring marketing. It is true that measuring marketing do involves the process of survey and then finding out the enhancement in the value of brand as a result of marketing campaign. But dilemma here comes for spending fist to bring in efficiency, which may come for saving later. This dilemma f faced more in medium size companies where inves tment in marketing campaign is not huge, and conducting surveys to measure performance of marketing initiatives may cost a certain noticeable percentage of total budgetary provisions of marketing department as a whole. In case of smaller companies, measuring brand values through surveys or other applicable techniques may even cost re than creating it. As smaller companies have limited market, so while creating brand they look for targeted markets only. This allows them to create effective brand for themselves in limited market space and in particular segment to create brand in lesser cost. But if the go for measuring its effectiveness, the budget required may go well beyond original allotted for creating and establishing brand. There are many instances, when company do not benefit by being there, such as trade fairs and exhibitions etc. Company does not get many business leads from few of these exhibitions which may not be very focused or targeted. But even then, general business environment warrants, company presence in these exhibitions, so as to negate any possible rumors about company performance or financial health of company. These are few instances, where company has to invest in marketing moves, even if it knows that not much of return is there by going ahead with these marketing moves. All these exercises do cost company and expenses falls under the head of marketing division only, though the purpose served may be in larger interest of the company itself not the marketing side of the company only. So care, must be taken while putting in measuring marketing mechanism in place, so that these do not discourage some activities, which may not be translating in revenues in immediate times but are for lar ger interest of the organization. It is also a fact that in exhibitions, though company may bit get buying leads in immediate future, but it helps in generating profile of the prospective customers in near future. How many people are visiting company exhibition stall, of what age group and with what income level are some crucial questions about demography, which can be answered by collecting data over here. Processing of this data and subsequent business intelligence developed helps marketing division in taking strategic moves, which may be of crucial business importance. So though these exhibitions may not be turning in to revenue generation, but proves to be of utility in other way for marketing people. Measuring marketing mechanism may rate these activities as low profile as these are not directly related to revenue generation but are oriented for long term planning and strategy. So there is a need to take care for this situation, while developing measuring marketing metrics in organization. It is often argued that not many people respond to the e-mails sent to them asking their feedback about marketing related areas. But the point here is that it does not cost heavy to do online marketing related survey. Besides that a lot many people can be sent e-mails at comparatively less cost. Out of this, if even a fraction of people respond to e-mail campaign, it gives fair idea about the opinion of concerned people. If care is taken is selecting the sample frame carefully, it can lead to generation of very useful information for the further marketing programs. Here stress should be that sampling of the whole sampling population should be done with care that statistical parameters are satisfied so as to give accurate representation of target market. Another area of dilemma comes from business analysts side. It is for sure and well established that business analyst do affect the fortunes of company to some extent. They also help leave their impact on some high profile clients, who may be of importance for the company. But main issue raised here is that, it may not happen in immediate time, that analyst meet effect the business. Sometimes it also becomes difficult that which client has been referred by business analyst at at what point of time. So it makes more difficult to measure the net impact of business analyst meet. So there comes a stage of dilemma for marketing professionals, as to what extent these meets are successful in affecting business of company and in turn the growth of revenue. We find that in all these cases, company faces a situation of dilemma so as to either adopt the measuring marketing for above mentioned situation or go ahead with traditionally accepted norms practices. But it has been argued all the time by measuring marketing people that measuring or generating some estimate is always better than not to have even a rough estimate of impact, which marketing programs leaves behind. Measuring marketing opens a scope where a selection among the various marketing options can be made more rationally logically based upon facts s rather than just on the views of professionals. It also opens scope for midterm review of expensive marketing campaigns and related corrective actions, which can be taken to avoid big failures or less impressive results at last. Measuring marketing mechanism just ensures lightning up the mysterious world of marketing and its impact on companys fortune. ELEMENTS TO MEASURE OF MARKETING PERFORMANCE There are various parameters to measure the effectiveness of the marketing programs. One of the most important parameters which show the performance of marketing programs is sales and resultant revenue generated out of it. Prime target of any business establishment is to generate profits, which is possible only when sales are there. Net result of marketing campaigns should come in the form of sales. This is one of the most important parameter to measure effectiveness of marketing programs in immediate future. Other important parameter is generation of leads for sales to take place. It may be that products of company are not very much competitive, cost wise and value these offer to consumer. But if a marketing campaign is able to generate quality leads, we can safely say that marketing campaign is serving the basic purpose for which it was launched. But sales leads so generated must be of potential that if followed seriously then can be converted to actual sales. Especially the exhibi tions, workshops and seminars are the events , performance of which can be measured effectively by way of focusing on the leads generated so. Sometimes we find that company has very specific business objectives to be served. In such cases to measure performance of marketing operations, specific parameters related to these objectives are taken in to consideration while developing metrics. But one almost universal goal for any business organization is to get returns of the investment made in it. So, one very objective measurement for performance can be finding out return on the investment made on marketing programs. There have also been seen that out of some mass media campaign, there comes lot of leads for products and services offered by company. But how many of these leads actually get converted to sales reflect, the performance of marketing team. It is also true for business ventures that it is not the volume of total profit, but in essence the profitability of organization, which matters most. Smart investment is the most sought after feature of today business world. So is the marketing efforts resulted in enhancing profitability of organization as a whole, is one such parameter for measuring performance and effectiveness of various marketing programs. Conducting surveys so as to find out awareness about company products and services can also help in measuring performance of marketing programs focused on generating brand value. It is also very important for marketing division to make reach of company in media, which help generate awareness about company in general public. Sales to cost efficiency are another important parameter, which can form the basis to evaluate the overall performance of the companys marketing programs. Stock prices are also taken as a measure of effectiveness of marketing programs, though not directly. Among all the parameters mentioned above, few have high degree of correlation with marketing performance whereas other parameters have comparatively lower degree of correlation with marketing programs performance. Marketing related data is generated at every stage of customer engagement cycle. This data becomes very voluminous for companies having larger customer base. But not all the data generated is useful and serves the purpose of measuring marketing. There is need to segregate data and categories in such a way, that it can be used effectively and logical inferences about marketing activities can be drawn out of it. In each area of marketing, there are few parameters which can be used to measure performance. For each area, certain parameters are selected to develop metrics. Basically whole marketing exercise can be divided in following domains of activities. Establishing brand identity and enhancing brand value on continuous basis. Product and services marketing management Public relationship of the company Developing business in newer and unexplored areas Various advertisement campaigns Product promotion through various events resulting in leads generation. Making company website popular, attractive and rich in features Managing sales operations Managing customer relationship. Brand Management Important variables which can be used to measure performance of marketing performance in this domain are as brand equity, brand awareness, brand preference, brand image and brand loyalty. It becomes imperative that measuring marketing exercise should try to pick up right variables, which reflect true performance of the brand management team in marketing department. Each area of brand management can be evaluated by specific variable, which correlate to enhanced brand value. Product Marketing Manager Products and services of the company are most important and pivotal link between customer and company. It is products and services, around which whole business is woven. It becomes of utmost importance that product design is done in such a way, that it meets customer requirement completely. Pricing of the products and services should also be kept at a level which gives customer satisfaction for the needs fulfilled by these. It is prime job of the marketing division that it keeps track of the customer preferences and needs arising out of changing lifestyle of consumer on account of technological advances and other developments. Marketing departments are supposed to keep close track of the level of customer satisfaction. Various important domain, in which marketing team is supposed to work here are like customer satisfaction, market share, price sensitivity, overall sales and sales by various channels. Public Relations Management Managing public relations is another important domain for marketing division. Especially the lifestyle of customers has become fast and it is observed that company image do affect buying decisions. So it becomes more important that customers are made to receive good image of the company as well as its products and services through various public relations programs. Various parameters which can be used to measure effectiveness of the marketing department in this domain are like media mentions, size of audiences for each of such happening, number of interviews conducted on reputed media channels and nature of these occurrences. All these may happen in different media channels like print media, television or magazine etc. But care has to taken as which media channel is popular and effective in targeted population. Elements of reputation and popularity of the channel, in which company is getting mention, should be taken in to consideration. Important point is that channel is popular and reputed among the targeted audience. As a survey found that coca cola was focusing on popular family entertainment channels for public relations management, but it was found later that English movie channel and sports channel were more popular among targeted youngsters forming major customer base. So while forming metric for measuring marketing, care must be taken so as to include all these factors. Business Development Division Business development division helps company in exploring possibilities of business opportunities in newer areas. Few important functional areas, where performance can be measured are as follows. How many new business partners have been added so as to develop business in new areas? Out of new business partners added, how many actively participated in dev Strategies for Measuring Marketing Strategies for Measuring Marketing â€Å"Conviction is the luxury of those sitting on the sidelines. For those of us who choose to play rather than watch, measurement is the compass that guides us through our mistakes.† Famous dialogue of movie A Beautiful Mind EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Business world has become very dynamic in current times. Technological advances are bringing changes in lifestyle of customers. It has generated necessity for introduction of new products in market or drastic changes in existing products so as to meet changing customer needs. It has made job of marketing department more challenging. Assessing customer needs, preferences, satisfaction and expectation level are few important domain, which marketing people has to handle at one hand. Whereas at the other hand, positioning product in market for particular customer segment and launching marketing scheme so as to enhance market share and profitability is other main area of working for marketing professionals. These twin tasks are very much essential for success of any business organization. There are other divisions also in almost every business unit like procurement, production, sales and marketing etc. Each one of these division contribute in making organization run profitability so as to meet the ultimate aim of establishing business i.e. maximizing profit of shareholders. Often there are discussions about contribution of individual departments in making organization successful and resources allotted to respective departments. Though, each and every department has its unique role to play in growth of business, few walk away with greater share of budget allocation while others have to manage their operations with lesser budgetary allocation. It has necessitated that work performance of each division should be measured in terms of revenue generation contribution. It will make budgetary allocation decision on more professional lines. It will also help individual divisions in measuring performance of various schemes and programs internally. It has been often observed that different work divisions allege for greater budget allocation to marketing division without rational but just on tall claims. Generally marketing professionals come to meetings without facts s and try to describe their achievements qualitatively. But finance division insists for factual position and achievement in terms of some well defined variable linking performance to financials. Though, marketing professionals have been found resisting this demand of finance professionals in general. But is has made a impact on general board room environment where marketing professionals are asked to bring in more credible feedback about their performance. But performance of marketing efforts cannot be measured simply as is the case of production or sales, where it is easy to make out every evening. So there is a need to first establish a performance metric for marketing, which may vary from one type of business to another type of business. But it is for sure tha t, once metric is established and performance evaluation for marketing starts, it will bring in more transparency, credibility, accountability and efficiency in marketing department operations. Each marketing efforts cost a lot in terms of manpower engaged and finances. A single slot of just few seconds in TV channel may cost thousands of dollars. So if company gets evaluation of its impact on sales, it may streamline its spending on it. Besides that few expensive media campaigns may be cut short or diverted so as to bring desired outcomes. A drastic shift in Coca Cola advertisement campaign to shift from costly family entertainment channel to some sport, movie and adventure channel was a result of one such marketing measurement campaign, which not only helped in saving lot of money, but gave better results also in terms of revenue generation. These measures help company in making budgetary allocations more professional and transparent, but are opposed by marketing professionals. It happens as they are made more accountable for expenditure. It necessitates involvement of change management professional also in the whole process. It has been observed that gradual changes supported with workshops and training programs are more likely to succeed then swift changes for marketing management adoption. Benefits of marketing measurement are immense, most prominent being smart use of scarce human financial resources. These can be deployed on schemes giving best returns rather than schemes of marginal success. It also helps in rev iewing performance of schemes at regular intervals and takes corrective action if required. So we find that marketing measurement is not only trend for present day business, but a necessity to make business more dynamic, result oriented and efficient. It helps in bringing in better coordination among various divisions so as to achieve business target of making organization more profitable. INTRODUCTION Gone are the days of stable and predictable business environment. Business world has become very dynamic with new technology playing greater role in our lives. (Kristy Sheppard .2009. Diversify your business to defy the downturn) World has turned in to a village, with the spread of internet and other related information technology far and wide in every part of the world. Communication and transportation is becoming easy and economic day by day. (Data monitor. 2009).It has opened new challenges and opportunities for the businesses all over the world. Companies are facing enhanced level of competition on account of newer options available to customers from other new entrants in market. At the same time companies are getting new opportunities in the form of newer markets. But either it is taking up competition with new entrants or approaching new markets, working of marketing professionals become of utmost importance. (James Walsh. 2009). What is the competitive position of company prod ucts with respect to rival companies, need to be analyzed so as to retain and increase present share. At the same time demography of new markets, customer needs and preferences also need to be investigated in details so as to bring in new products suiting customer needs in newer markets. It requires resources in terms of finances and manpower to be deployed so as to bring in positive outcomes out of whole marketing efforts. It is after some initial deliberation on the prevailing issues that funds are allotted so as to launch marketing campaigns in new markets and existing ones. But it can happen only in starting that funds can be allotted with a rough estimate reached on account of judgmental forecasting. But as time proceeds, it is desired that outcomes of previous and current expenditure is measured, before demand of more funds is put forward. It has been observed that divisions of work like sales, production, human resources and procurement etc. comes out with facts and s about p erformance outcomes leaving marketing division alone which depends solely on qualitative statements about their performance (Michelle 2005). Here comes the issue of measuring performance of marketing division functioning. Decisions regarding budgetary allocation to various business divisions must be very professional. Especially budgetary support to various marketing campaigns must be extended after getting the effectiveness measured in clear financial outcomes of these. In no case allocation should be extended on the basis of only qualitative explanation, tall claims not supported by any real time performance measurement. There is a need to not only measure performance, but it is also required that this measurement must be in terms of such variables, which can link up performance to financials. Operations of Coca Cola in Indian Territory are running in loss on account of smaller sales volume. To boost sales, company launched advertisement campaigns on prime entertainment TV channels. For months, these campaigns continued but sales did not pick up. It was only after few months that a survey was conducted to find out impact of these advertising campaigns. To shock of everybody in company, it came to notice, that actual consumer of Coca Cola, the youngsters, watch movie, sports and adventure channel more and les the news or family entertainment channels. It emphasizes the need of marketing measurement at regular intervals. If company were using marketing measurement at regular interval, this major drawback would have been detected at much earlier stage of campaign. Corrective steps at that stage would have resulted in saving lot of funds and streamlining marketing efforts so as to result in achieving required targets. Competition is increasing day by day and margins are shrinking, depleting finances in almost every business (Boston Consulting Group. Nov 2007). . As a result availability of funds has come down and there is emphasis on smart use of resources. In such a scenario, it becomes of utmost importance, that funds are used where they are not only needed most but are most productive also. It warrants that the mysterious world of marketing be mapped very carefully, schemes programs launched evaluated very systematically and free judgment be taken with rational so as to continue, strengthen or cut short designated programs. This will not only help in making smart use of resources, but also weed out less productive schemes and programs. Rudy Gulianui, former mayor of the Newyork, once said that whatever operations may be, if we do not measure, we cannot manage. Though his comments were more focused towards civic services, but these are equally applicable in business world. Management prime function is to control and direct the organization in right direction. But unless management gets feedback about various business activities I the form of performance evaluation, how can we expect them to give right direction as desired. So all these instances shows that measuring marketing is an essential activity which brings objectivity in functioning of marketing department but also prudent decision making of management. NEED FOR MEASURING MARKETING In everyday life, we see that that all the activities are directed towards some specific objectives. If we look at school children, performance of these is measured by way of examination at regular intervals. Performance of teachers are also measured by the way of results achieved so. Either it is civic authorities, policeman controlling traffic or the house keeping staff of the office, performance of everybody is measured and money spent of their functioning is accounted for. Then why the performance of the marketing professionals should not be put to measurement. There are efforts to determine economic order quantity for procurement department, machine utilization parameters in production floors as well as sales volume generated per sales personnel, then why should the marketing professionals not justify the funds spent in their operations and results achieved out of it. Once measuring marketing mechanism is put in place, it will clearly bring objectivity in the functioning of mark eting professionals and enhance level of accountability for them. Minimizing risk in the business operations is very important. But unless we generate expected results of various marketing activities, we may not be in a position to mark, various marketing activities on the basis of their expected returns (Tim Riesterer 1999). Once we start measuring output of various marketing moves, marketing vehicles and channels, it helps us in assessing the real output of each one. This way, it becomes comparatively lesser risky in starting new moves, as we are already aware of previous output of various constituent elements of a particular scheme to be launched. In measuring marketing mechanism, performance of various schemes is measured on continuous basis helping in controlling, modifying and changing course of action for various schemes. This way, it becomes easy to continuously monitor performance of select schemes and drop the programs not performing up to the mark and proving to be costly as compared to other schemes giving better returns. There remains divergent view all the time, in all possible areas of operations, if standards are not set so as to measure performance. It applies to marketing as well. If standards are not set, it will let senior level marketing professionals to look for many flimsy and personally convincing excuses to be put forward, as explanation for lesser impact of marketing programs. There are also chances that outcomes of various marketing schemes are mixed so as to show success of few programs for others also, where as not to indicate real poor performance for others. Measuring marketing mechanism let every scheme be monitored for real output of the concerned scheme only. It gives factual success rate of each and every marketing program in transparent way. Measuring marketing moves also reduces the chances of performance being misrepresented in terms other than those which represent true one. Once metric are decided for each specific type of program, it becomes less probable, that performance can be misrepresented. Once proper measurement takes place for each and every marketing initiative, it becomes more satisfying for the leadership as far as resource allocation and its utilization is concerned. (Demand Metric.2009.Measuring marketing governance maturity). Leadership takes decision regarding budgetary provisions on various facts and s generated out of measuring marketing campaigns. It also helps in midterm review of various marketing programs, especially those which are costly and whose success if critical for the growth of the organization. In todays business scenario, when business is so dynamic and competition so stiff, it is not possible for the companies to wait for long to get results of marketing moves. In such case, measuring marketing helps companies in evaluating the performance on continuous basis and taking corrective measures as and when required without waiting till the end of the marketing programs. It not only helps company in acquiring competitive edge over other rivals, but in making smart use of resources. Surveys conducted recently by various research bodies have found that companies practicing measuring marketing moves remain confident and clear about their budgetary allocations at various point of time. Their financial decisions remain more prudent and productive as compared to companies not adopting measuring marketing moves. It is also found that marketing operations became more transparent in due course of time since adoption of measuring marketing techniques. Surveys have also pointed out that top leadership became more confident and positive about their marketing division as every investment made is accounted for. Top leadership also feels confident that metrics chosen so gives performance of marketing team in terms of revenue parameters, which help top management in taking decision regarding investment more rationally without getting entangled in technicalities of marketing. SCHOOL OF THOUGHT FOR MEASURING MARKETING There are basically three schools of thought for measuring marketing concept. Fist one focuses on return on investment, where as second one focuses on brand equity being created out of adverting campaigns. The third and last one is the concept of considering customer information as asset. In the first school of thought investment in marketing is considered just like any other investment. How much return a marketing campaign will give justifies the investment made there. There is no long term gains considered here in this school of thought. There is very plain relationship of investment and return in particular campaign itself. No looking beyond the life of particularly targeted marketing move. Generating brand value or establishing a brand is not the concept over here. Measurement remains focused on just the return a particular campaign makes. Developing measuring marketing metric is most easy in this type of school of thought as performance has to be evaluated in terms of incrementa l revenue for every investment made in the marketing efforts. In the second school of thought, brand value has been given the prime focus. Here prime target of the marketing is considered as creating brand value and further value addition to it. It generally happens with the fast moving consumer goods companies that brands are established more prominently rather than anything else including products itself. Here products keep on changing over period of time as per consumer preferences and life style but brand remains the same. Here focus of marketing campaign remains on establishing brand value, which remains there for longer period of time, though the products may keep on changing. Developing measuring marketing metric is most difficult task in this domain. There is no consensus among industry experts as to what are the parameters, which help measure performance of marketing campaigns in the area of brand management. Otherwise also, brands value is not created for certain short period only. It is a long term process to create a brand which ben efits company over life time of the business. Third school of thought for measuring marketing is of consumer equity school. Here focus of the marketing activities remain on generating loyalty of the customer towards company by way of exploring consumer details and customizing services suitable to him. Telecom services and financial services are the most glaring example of this school of thought. Here focus remains on generating information of the customer so as the products can be customized to his needs. It is the information of the customer which helps in retaining him or enabling company in cross selling other allied products to customer. Developing measuring marketing metrics in this domain is comparatively easy as compared to brand equity school, but a bit tougher to return on investment school of measuring marketing concept. Brand equity school of thought proves to be most difficult challenge in developing measuring marketing campaigns. Though in present times, this school of thought has got limited applicability, but in c oming years, it is expected to gain not only popularity but enhanced level of applicability on account of increasing domain of customer centric services. INSTANCES OF DILEMMA FOR MARKETING PROFESSIONALS Whenever the issue of measuring marketing is raised and efforts are initiated so as to measure performance of the marketing programs, the most likely answer which comes is the focus being on creating brand and enhancing brand value. Measuring brand value, which is a part of the measuring marketing exercise, is not the job of marketing division, is the way, marketing people comes out generally. It is true also to some extent. Ultimately conducting surveys are not easy and is a reasonably costly affair. So companies, and especially marketing divisions, already in financial stress to meet the expenditure of currently running programs, try to avoid measuring marketing. It is true that measuring marketing do involves the process of survey and then finding out the enhancement in the value of brand as a result of marketing campaign. But dilemma here comes for spending fist to bring in efficiency, which may come for saving later. This dilemma f faced more in medium size companies where inves tment in marketing campaign is not huge, and conducting surveys to measure performance of marketing initiatives may cost a certain noticeable percentage of total budgetary provisions of marketing department as a whole. In case of smaller companies, measuring brand values through surveys or other applicable techniques may even cost re than creating it. As smaller companies have limited market, so while creating brand they look for targeted markets only. This allows them to create effective brand for themselves in limited market space and in particular segment to create brand in lesser cost. But if the go for measuring its effectiveness, the budget required may go well beyond original allotted for creating and establishing brand. There are many instances, when company do not benefit by being there, such as trade fairs and exhibitions etc. Company does not get many business leads from few of these exhibitions which may not be very focused or targeted. But even then, general business environment warrants, company presence in these exhibitions, so as to negate any possible rumors about company performance or financial health of company. These are few instances, where company has to invest in marketing moves, even if it knows that not much of return is there by going ahead with these marketing moves. All these exercises do cost company and expenses falls under the head of marketing division only, though the purpose served may be in larger interest of the company itself not the marketing side of the company only. So care, must be taken while putting in measuring marketing mechanism in place, so that these do not discourage some activities, which may not be translating in revenues in immediate times but are for lar ger interest of the organization. It is also a fact that in exhibitions, though company may bit get buying leads in immediate future, but it helps in generating profile of the prospective customers in near future. How many people are visiting company exhibition stall, of what age group and with what income level are some crucial questions about demography, which can be answered by collecting data over here. Processing of this data and subsequent business intelligence developed helps marketing division in taking strategic moves, which may be of crucial business importance. So though these exhibitions may not be turning in to revenue generation, but proves to be of utility in other way for marketing people. Measuring marketing mechanism may rate these activities as low profile as these are not directly related to revenue generation but are oriented for long term planning and strategy. So there is a need to take care for this situation, while developing measuring marketing metrics in organization. It is often argued that not many people respond to the e-mails sent to them asking their feedback about marketing related areas. But the point here is that it does not cost heavy to do online marketing related survey. Besides that a lot many people can be sent e-mails at comparatively less cost. Out of this, if even a fraction of people respond to e-mail campaign, it gives fair idea about the opinion of concerned people. If care is taken is selecting the sample frame carefully, it can lead to generation of very useful information for the further marketing programs. Here stress should be that sampling of the whole sampling population should be done with care that statistical parameters are satisfied so as to give accurate representation of target market. Another area of dilemma comes from business analysts side. It is for sure and well established that business analyst do affect the fortunes of company to some extent. They also help leave their impact on some high profile clients, who may be of importance for the company. But main issue raised here is that, it may not happen in immediate time, that analyst meet effect the business. Sometimes it also becomes difficult that which client has been referred by business analyst at at what point of time. So it makes more difficult to measure the net impact of business analyst meet. So there comes a stage of dilemma for marketing professionals, as to what extent these meets are successful in affecting business of company and in turn the growth of revenue. We find that in all these cases, company faces a situation of dilemma so as to either adopt the measuring marketing for above mentioned situation or go ahead with traditionally accepted norms practices. But it has been argued all the time by measuring marketing people that measuring or generating some estimate is always better than not to have even a rough estimate of impact, which marketing programs leaves behind. Measuring marketing opens a scope where a selection among the various marketing options can be made more rationally logically based upon facts s rather than just on the views of professionals. It also opens scope for midterm review of expensive marketing campaigns and related corrective actions, which can be taken to avoid big failures or less impressive results at last. Measuring marketing mechanism just ensures lightning up the mysterious world of marketing and its impact on companys fortune. ELEMENTS TO MEASURE OF MARKETING PERFORMANCE There are various parameters to measure the effectiveness of the marketing programs. One of the most important parameters which show the performance of marketing programs is sales and resultant revenue generated out of it. Prime target of any business establishment is to generate profits, which is possible only when sales are there. Net result of marketing campaigns should come in the form of sales. This is one of the most important parameter to measure effectiveness of marketing programs in immediate future. Other important parameter is generation of leads for sales to take place. It may be that products of company are not very much competitive, cost wise and value these offer to consumer. But if a marketing campaign is able to generate quality leads, we can safely say that marketing campaign is serving the basic purpose for which it was launched. But sales leads so generated must be of potential that if followed seriously then can be converted to actual sales. Especially the exhibi tions, workshops and seminars are the events , performance of which can be measured effectively by way of focusing on the leads generated so. Sometimes we find that company has very specific business objectives to be served. In such cases to measure performance of marketing operations, specific parameters related to these objectives are taken in to consideration while developing metrics. But one almost universal goal for any business organization is to get returns of the investment made in it. So, one very objective measurement for performance can be finding out return on the investment made on marketing programs. There have also been seen that out of some mass media campaign, there comes lot of leads for products and services offered by company. But how many of these leads actually get converted to sales reflect, the performance of marketing team. It is also true for business ventures that it is not the volume of total profit, but in essence the profitability of organization, which matters most. Smart investment is the most sought after feature of today business world. So is the marketing efforts resulted in enhancing profitability of organization as a whole, is one such parameter for measuring performance and effectiveness of various marketing programs. Conducting surveys so as to find out awareness about company products and services can also help in measuring performance of marketing programs focused on generating brand value. It is also very important for marketing division to make reach of company in media, which help generate awareness about company in general public. Sales to cost efficiency are another important parameter, which can form the basis to evaluate the overall performance of the companys marketing programs. Stock prices are also taken as a measure of effectiveness of marketing programs, though not directly. Among all the parameters mentioned above, few have high degree of correlation with marketing performance whereas other parameters have comparatively lower degree of correlation with marketing programs performance. Marketing related data is generated at every stage of customer engagement cycle. This data becomes very voluminous for companies having larger customer base. But not all the data generated is useful and serves the purpose of measuring marketing. There is need to segregate data and categories in such a way, that it can be used effectively and logical inferences about marketing activities can be drawn out of it. In each area of marketing, there are few parameters which can be used to measure performance. For each area, certain parameters are selected to develop metrics. Basically whole marketing exercise can be divided in following domains of activities. Establishing brand identity and enhancing brand value on continuous basis. Product and services marketing management Public relationship of the company Developing business in newer and unexplored areas Various advertisement campaigns Product promotion through various events resulting in leads generation. Making company website popular, attractive and rich in features Managing sales operations Managing customer relationship. Brand Management Important variables which can be used to measure performance of marketing performance in this domain are as brand equity, brand awareness, brand preference, brand image and brand loyalty. It becomes imperative that measuring marketing exercise should try to pick up right variables, which reflect true performance of the brand management team in marketing department. Each area of brand management can be evaluated by specific variable, which correlate to enhanced brand value. Product Marketing Manager Products and services of the company are most important and pivotal link between customer and company. It is products and services, around which whole business is woven. It becomes of utmost importance that product design is done in such a way, that it meets customer requirement completely. Pricing of the products and services should also be kept at a level which gives customer satisfaction for the needs fulfilled by these. It is prime job of the marketing division that it keeps track of the customer preferences and needs arising out of changing lifestyle of consumer on account of technological advances and other developments. Marketing departments are supposed to keep close track of the level of customer satisfaction. Various important domain, in which marketing team is supposed to work here are like customer satisfaction, market share, price sensitivity, overall sales and sales by various channels. Public Relations Management Managing public relations is another important domain for marketing division. Especially the lifestyle of customers has become fast and it is observed that company image do affect buying decisions. So it becomes more important that customers are made to receive good image of the company as well as its products and services through various public relations programs. Various parameters which can be used to measure effectiveness of the marketing department in this domain are like media mentions, size of audiences for each of such happening, number of interviews conducted on reputed media channels and nature of these occurrences. All these may happen in different media channels like print media, television or magazine etc. But care has to taken as which media channel is popular and effective in targeted population. Elements of reputation and popularity of the channel, in which company is getting mention, should be taken in to consideration. Important point is that channel is popular and reputed among the targeted audience. As a survey found that coca cola was focusing on popular family entertainment channels for public relations management, but it was found later that English movie channel and sports channel were more popular among targeted youngsters forming major customer base. So while forming metric for measuring marketing, care must be taken so as to include all these factors. Business Development Division Business development division helps company in exploring possibilities of business opportunities in newer areas. Few important functional areas, where performance can be measured are as follows. How many new business partners have been added so as to develop business in new areas? Out of new business partners added, how many actively participated in dev