This research can focus on any historical topic related to the Essay

This research can focus on any historical topic related to the course.that is, on any topic covered in class or in your dossie - Essay Example In addition, irrespective of certain female stars’ legendary statuses, gender roles have been firmly reinforced by the roles these women, who are judged on their appearances, have played (Dawson 1995, p.71). This research paper provides a detailed analysis of how Hollywood portrayed women in film, focusing particularly on the 1930s, using Gold diggers of 1933 as a framework. Four themes will be discussed in the paper: the representation of women in early 1930s film, the portrayal of women, and the real-life role of women and criticism of women’s role in 1930s films. The 1930s is infamous as the era of the Great Depression and, therefore; it provides an interesting backdrop to research how women were portrayed as a result of the globally changing morals and cynicism. Representation of Women in 1930s Film Kaplan (1994, p.3) states that Hollywood cinematography in many instances objectified women for the pleasure of men. Mulvey (1989, p.56), argues that the role women play ed is worth looking at but not worth giving a listening ear. As these scholars indicate, during this era men viewed women in limited dimensions, referred to as the Madonna (housewives) or whore complex. To many, women were objects of sexual fulfilment, hence sexually active whores, or simply pristine and powerless Madonnas. Arguably, it is for this reason that Gates (2011, p.23) argues that the manner in which images of women are presented in Hollywood film aims solely at gratifying male viewers. As evident in Gold diggers of 1933, the role of women as sex objects in films is displayed freely and fully. Ginger Rogers, Joan Blondell and Ruby Keeler play the major roles and appear as stereotypical bombshells, slender and beautiful, in many of their appearances where they are dressed in skimpy costumes. Another example of how the characters are presented as sex objects is the presentation of Rogers and Blondell as platinum blonde. Aline MacMahon is the only female character not part of this characterisation. She serves as the sole voice of cynicism and the hard-boiled attitude that prevailed from the start of the 1930s as a result of the Depression. Further, she appears to have a superior intellect as compared to the other female characters. Aside for MacMahon, all female characters in the movie represent the characterisation of Madonna/ whore. For instance, they appear independent, and Lawrence Bradford views their morals from a negative perspective. As the embodiment of the 1930s elite, Bradford indicates the elite opinion on the female role during this era. Interestingly, as the film ends, all the women become Madonnas, since they are no longer showgirls filled with loose morals, but wives. Trixie marries Lawrence’s lawyer, Carol marries Lawrence and Polly marries Brad, therefore, it is arguable that their transformation from whores to Madonnas is thus complete. In short, women’s roles in the 1930s were often stereotypical, with women portrayed i n a sexualised manner for the benefit of men. The way women were shown to choose

Statement of Purpose Essay Example for Free

Statement of Purpose Essay Alvin Toffler once said that all education begins with a dream for the future and, simultaneously, all education creates a dream of a new future. I have also read an article in which he said that modern industry is on its third wave but that our country’s education still remains on its second wave. I do not need to rely only on the words of the eminent futurologist: it is simply undeniable that our society has reached an overall crisis with regard to education. In such circumstances, the social responsibility of teachers who take charge of actual educational fields is desperately demanded. It is my goal to improve the reality of English education in my country and to create educational programs that will appropriately serve students in the light of social changes. I chose the MA in TESL course at 000 University because I truly wanted to be a teacher—specifically, an English teacher. I zealously focused on my studies and enjoyed making preparations to become the kind of teacher I had been dreaming of becoming. With a strong sense of responsibility as a teacher, I always thought deeply about how to teach students effectively and about which method I could use to inspire them with positive academic attitudes. In that process, I gradually became most interested in developing an effective English education method. When I was a middle school student, my English teacher always played pop music or showed videos containing simple English to capture the attention of the class before lecturing. While studying various teaching methods in college, I realized how important it is to motivate students before starting the class. Actually, motivation might be the most important factor in learning a foreign language, because spending a whole hour can be meaningless if the students fail to concentrate in the class. There is also research that proves that highly motivated students study hard of their own accord. With that in mind, I came to the understanding that it is necessary to break away from the old, traditional English education methods and develop methods that well suit the changing times. Now I particularly look forward to studying efficient teaching methods in depth. Currently, the educational system of Korea has strayed from practical methods, suited for modern society, of studying English, and it is entangled with unchanging grammar study and uninteresting reading comprehension. While teaching, I’ve been upset by the fact that while students might have an advantage in grammar and reading, they considerably lack the ability to freely communicate orally with English speakers and to express their opinions logically and fully in writing. Therefore, I highly concentrate on the importance of speaking and writing when I teach students in the institute. I help the students to improve their writing, and I also try to give them opportunities to speak freely with native English speakers in the institute. I also do my best to interact with my students and help them to become familiar with English studies by preparing materials from famous U.S. TV dramas and animations. The students at first felt awkward with my efforts and had trouble adjusting; however, they later understood my genuine intentions, and my method eventually made an immense impact even on the students with low scores who was not interested in or fond of studying English. One unsatisfactory thing was that some students could not fully catch up because of other extracurricular activities, and I did not have sufficient experience to care for them fully. Because I have experienced such successes and failures, I have been constantly researching to discover a more advanced teaching method. I personally agree with the current TOEFL system, because it evaluates the student’s practical ability to speak and write English in addition to having a good command of grammar. After deeply studying TOEFL, I still felt that I lacked the ability to speak English fluently, even though I am an English major, and that is the crucial reason I resolved to study abroad. While going to an institute to study TOEFL, I have met many fellow students who are not majoring in English, and I feel sort of sad that they indeed have great potential but are frustrated by the huge barrier of the English language. After I successfully complete every course of your graduate school, I plan to return to my country to devote myself to helping non-English majors, so that TOEFL will not be an obstacle when they decide to study abroad to pursue their dreams. I want to cultivate my ability as an English educator at XXX University. By taking your Ph.D program, I will expand my capacity in English and research teaching methods for effective English education. The future-oriented curriculum of your Ph.D program seems quite suitable for training top quality educators by focusing not only on the theory and practice of English education, but also on the development of English speaking. To make the best of this program, I will acquire the quality of a native speaker and instill a sense of duty in myself. I believe what the 21st century demands is an expert who does not remain still, but keeps developing. Considering an old saying that education is a plan that spans a hundred years, I argue that a person who aspires to be a teacher should try very hard. While studying in your school, I want to do my best to develop and research the English education method that suits my original style. To make this happen, I am open to pursuing diverse academic activities, and, if necessary, I will extend my academic aspiration to a doctoral program. If I am given an opportunity, I long to be a professor who inspires students who want to be English teachers while never neglecting my duty as a scholar to keep researching. Lastly, I will provide students with more than just language skills by obtaining an international sense and playing the role as a mediator of English culture who teaches what they truly need to know.

Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market

Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market For the abnormal return in stock market, investor attitudes will become increasingly important. This paper attempts to analyze the impact of investor attitude towards risk that have a greater influence on stock market .In this study researcher focused on particular Islamabad stock market and obtain primary data based on five point Likert scale from investor of ISE. The data indicate that investors have substantially different attitudes toward various investments. However, there are significant statistical differences between attitudes of the investor groups in their attitudes toward three risk types. These data also show significant differences in attitudes toward risk. After analyzing the data through the Regression and Correlation, including ANOVA test, the result found the significance impact of variables on stock market. Introduction The whole financial theory is based on the basic hypothesis of rational investor on the financial markets. This rationality is characterized by a continuous quest of the investors to maximize their utility function (actually maximizing the return of the investment for a given risk level or minimizing the risk for an expected return level). In spite their rationality; investors have a different perception over risk, its bearing having an important psychological factor. Most investors show different attitude towards risk like motivated risk aversion, but we can find on the financial markets. While risk behavior has been studied intensely and a large number of risk perception. Through attention to risk perception and risk propensity which are mediators in attitude transaction, financial institutions can realize the effects on investor behavior and their returns expectations. The first section of this paper is the introduction, the second section is the literature review, the third secti on establishes hypothesis model, the fourth section presents the study results and the fifth section is the conclusion and recommendations.Different Studies are available; far less research exists regarding peoples mind-sets towards risk taking, i.e., risk attitudes, such as, risk aversion, risk tolerance and risk neutral. These can be conceptualized as two poles of a one-dimensional attitude towards risk-taking but also as two separate concepts. It is widely assumed that people differ considerably in their attitude towards risks, ranging from good sense to risk-seeking and even pleasure in risk-taking. The first trial of conceptualizing the investors risk aversion belongs to Milton Friedman and Leonard Savage (Milton Friedman, Leonard Savage Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk, JPE, 1948) who defined the risk aversion by using the following decisional situation: an investor who can chose among comparable investments will always chose the one with the lowest risk. Explaining the investment behavior using the returns of risky financial investments utility function brought a new perspective to the risk aversion theory. Further studies showed that there are also other factors with direct impact over the attitude towards risk (economic growth forecasts of a market, the level of training and the experience gained, fluctuations of the exchange market, psychological factors, biases and heuristics etc.). This paper follows studies conducted with investors to examine investor attitudes and behavior towards inherent risk and potential returns in stock market. Statement of the Problem The problem statement of research was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor Attitude towards Risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Major variables used in this study include stock market return volatility and risk attitude i.e risk tolerance, risk aversive, risk neutral variables that are the indicators of investor attitude. Objective: the objectives of research are:- To study how these attitude types are affecting the stock market. To find whether there is any relationship between stock market index and investor behavior. Significance of the Study The market return fluctuate according to events and trends , the human mind also have some psychological factor that can be influenced or might directs towards good or bad decision making regarding investment. From this study individual investor can get knowledge how their behavior that can maximize or minimize their utility in investment plan in market portfolio. They can change their behavior accordingly. Every Kind of individual like small investor including Man, Women with different status i.e. single or Martial with different age can change their mind set and able to understand how they should make decision to see the market trends or events. Review of Literature There is lot work has been done so far in this regard. Now we have overview some of researcher works in this section of the paper as review literature. With the reference of research topic, some of studies are being done in which all the variables includes Risk attitude factors i.e; Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk are taken into consideration to define the impact of those variables on stock market. Levin, Synder and chapman (1975) were concerned with the differences between men and women in accepting the risks of financial investments, they focused on a group of 110 students using a questionnaire regarding lotteries to check the more risk aversive according to gender differentiation. the results indicating that women are more risk aversive than men Powell and Ansic (1997) questioned a small group regarding property insurance and the exchange market and again found that women are more aversive than men (this study was among the first which analyzed individual aversion towards speculative and pure risks); using information regarding the weight of the funds invested in risky assets. Jaimie Sung and Hannna (1996) analyzed the risk tolerance corresponding to four ethnic groups: Caucasian, Hispanic, Black and others. Given the substantial differences among risk tolerance capacities of these groups (the Caucasians have the highest risk tolerance and the Blacks the lowest) we may assert that this factor has a direct impact on the way investors accept and perceive the risk attached to financial investments. Education also has a direct influence on risk tolerance, as several studies prove a direct link between higher education and the acceptance of higher risk related to investments. The analysis was conducted on four education levels: primary school, high school, college and postgraduate studies. The results demonstrate an intense and direct impact on accepting financial risk: the higher the subjects education, the higher his tolerance to risk. Sitkin and Pablo (1992) developed a model of determinants of risk behavior. In this model, personal risk preferences and past experiences form an important risk factor in which to frame the problem, and social influence also affects the individuals perception. Sitkin and Weingart (1995) extend the Sitkin-Pablo model leading to the definition that risk perception and propensity are the mediators in risk behaviors of uncertainty decision-making. Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) has done research on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Investor Attitudes and Behavior towards Inherent Risk and Potential Returns in Financial Productsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. They establish a model by which to measure attitudes and behavior towards investment risk.They used variables: Risk propensity, Risk perception, Behavior finance, Decision making. They study to form a framework (framing) for interpretation of their respective populations attitudes and behaviors. Empirical results found no difference by gender to investor propensity to take risk, nor in cognitive perception of such. However, higher and lower perceptions of risk were indicated by investors according to their personal investment experience. Investors with little experience in stocks and structured notes were found to have significantly sensitive perception of risk. Thus the model proposed is relevant in finding a positive correlation between experience and propensity of risk, though the un derstanding of such remains uncertain. In respect to financial products other than mutual funds, investor propensity and perception of risk tend to show a negative correlation. Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman (1974) defines in their research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biasesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that Heuristics that are important feature of the individual decision-making process which may be considered to include thought representativeness and availability. They founded that there is anchoring bias in the decision-making process which arises due to factors such as overconfidence, loss aversion, status quo bias, mental accounting, framing and so on. Investors in the process of assessing the risks and returns are influenced by this anchor effect. All these studies proved the complexity of risk aversion and its subjective dimension, as the estimates are difficult to obtain accurately. Investors have ultimately a unique behavior which results in un balanced price, no matter how adverse they are to risk. Understanding risk aversion offers another perspective for constructing and optimizing risky financial portfolios. Theoretical Frame work Our theoretical frame work is as under: (Independent Variables) Risk Aversion Risk Tolerance Risk Neutral (Dependent Variable) Stock Market Explanation The possibility of physical or social or financial harm /detriment / loss due to a exposure. This is the (dominating) negative perspective; however, there is also a neutral perspective, i.e., risk = uncertainty about the outcomes (good and/or bad ones) of a decision; and a positive perspective. A persons opinion belief about how large the risk associated with a hazard is (regarding negative outcomes) A general perspective of humans mind towards taking or avoiding a risk when deciding how to proceed in situations with uncertain outcomes. Risk Attitude towards taking risks or avoiding risk are; i.e, Risk aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral. So, all decisions about how acceptable a risk is in individual or societal terms deepened on market events or trends. The actual behavior of people when facing a risk situation, each investor has unique personal risk tendencies, investment style, and level of risk awareness. These characteristics, in addition to the expectation of returns, help investment decision making and portfolio construction. According to traditional finances capital asset pricing model, due to investor risk aversion, rational investors understand that increased investment risk demands return with a higher premium. Diagrammatical Expression of Variable:  [1]   Purpose of the study (Hypothesis Testing) Hypothesis testing offers an enhanced understanding of the relationship that exists among variables. It could also established casual and effect relationship. The research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor attitude towards risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, includes there are certain variables upon which the growth of Stock Market depends; these are interest rate, Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral ,Uncertainty. Research is being carried out to analyze the nature of the relationship between all these variables. Hypothesis Risk Tolerance Investor: Investors who tend towards higher risk are more adventurous and so are willing to attempt high-risk, high reward investments. H1: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have significant impact on stock market volatility H2: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Aversive Investor: People who tend towards lower risk behavior are less willing to engage in risky adventurous behavior due to their low risk tolerance. That is, this kind of investor has a high degree of risk perception in financial products. H3: Investor who are risk aversive has significant impact on stock market volatility H4: Investor who are risk aversive has no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Neutral Investor: Someone is completely indifferent to the risk involved an investment and is only concerned about expected return. H5: Investor who are risk neutral has significant impact on stock market volatility H6: Investor who are risk neutral has no significant impact on stock market volatility Methodology: (Sample Data Collection) Sample is taken from Islamabad stock exchange and data collection is based on primary data using questionnaire consist of five likert scale including Strongly Agree, Agree, No Strong Opinion, Disagree, Strongly Disagree to analyze the dependent and nondependent variables. The questionnaire sample obtained from the valid source à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Scottish Life Risk Attitude Profiling Questionnaire is based on the Byrne Blake Risk Profile Questionnaireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?  [2]  . The Respondents which have obtained during the research work are 30 that included 20 brokers, 10 small investors i.e Man, Woman having different qualification, age and income groups. To analyze the data being a researcher we used Regression and correlation in SPSS to see the impact and relationship between variables. Data Analysis and Discussion The results drawn from statistical analysis is based on regression analysis. As the independent variable is comprised of three facets i.e, risk aversion, risk taking and risk neutral so several hierarchical regression analyses are performed to formally check the hypothesis. Separate regression analyses are run for analyzing independent-dependent relationship. Regression has been used in order to measure that how much variation in dependent variables has been caused by independent variable. The results are as follows: Risk Aversion (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .467(a) .218 .048 .48900 Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.218 which is equal to 21.8 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk aversion is accounting for 21.8 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.535 5 .307 1.284 Residual 5.500 23 .239 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk aversion b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 1.284 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. RISK Tolerance (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .442(a) .195 -.025 .50735 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.195 which is equal to 19.5 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk tolerance is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.372 6 .229 .888 Residual 5.663 22 .257 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 0.888 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. Risk Neutral (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .687(a) .472 -.056 .51517 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.472 which is equal to 47.2 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk neutral is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 3.319 14 .237 .893 Residual 3.716 14 .265 Total 7.034 28 Predictors: (Constant), risk neutral Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F (1. 101) = 0.893; P CONCLUSION This study uses the questionnaire approach to test the risk attitudes and returns expectations of investors of particular Islamabad stock exchange. There are different trends and economic crisis that rapidly changed the attitude of investors of male and female. Variance analysis also found that less experienced investors have lower risk propensity and higher risk perception. However, considering individual attitude and perception about returns of stock market either influenced positively or negatively that assessed during research questionnaire. In the test model, investor experience and their risk propensity is in positive correlation. So, the conclusion of this study is consistent with recent literature, however the relationship between risk attitude and expected returns has not yet been determined as successful and strong empirical result. RECOMMENDATIONS Researcher recommended the followings ways to gain higher return from their investing attitude. Compare current stock value with historical results of securities or bonds markets. If you are risk aversive and need higher income during shorter period of time and at low risk, you will need to find other financial instruments.   As we know that, there is direct correlation between risk and income. The higher is income, the higher is risk so investor should ensure about their instruments worth in which he/she going to invest such can be divided as follows: bank savings, bonds and shares.   Another issue is that somehow media reports negatively about stock market return so, investor rapidly change their mind set as the framing heuristic applied without thinking the validity of information. So investor should protect his or her investments. Having purchased securities, keep monitoring securities market periodically. Other Recommendations are that Do not spread the whole money in the market and prefer to invest in only those companies that pay a dividend and that have a history of raising their dividend every year. Investor should forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided from the stock portfolio and make every stock purchase with the intent that the purchase will be a long-term investment. Develop a savings plan to add to your holdings each quarter to help dividend reinvestments to accumulate more shares on a cost averaging basis. REFERENCES Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman Science, New Series, Vol. 185, No. 4157. (Sep. 27, 1974), pp. 1124-1131. Jaimie Sung, Sherman Hanna, Factors related to risk tolerance, Financial Counseling and Planning, Vol. 7,1996, pag. 14). Levin Irwin P., Mary A. Snyder and Daniel P. Chapman (1975), The Interaction of Experiential and Situational Factors and Gender in a Simulated Risky Decision-Making Task, Journal of Psychology, 1988, 122(2),pp. 173-181) Powell Melanie, and David Ansic (1997), Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour in Financial Decision-Making: An Experimental Analysis, Journal of Economic Psychology, 18(6), 1998, pp. 605-628. Risk Attitude Profiling questionnairehttp://www.scottishlife.co.uk/scotlife/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?fileName=Risk_Attitude_Questionnaire.pdf Source:http://www.emeraldinsight.com/books.htm?chapterid=1760442show=html Sitkin and Pablo (1992) Review of management Review-1992.vol 17, No.1, p-38). Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 44 (2010)  © Euro Journals Publishing, Inc. 2010. http://www.eurojournals.com/finance.html) Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market For the abnormal return in stock market, investor attitudes will become increasingly important. This paper attempts to analyze the impact of investor attitude towards risk that have a greater influence on stock market .In this study researcher focused on particular Islamabad stock market and obtain primary data based on five point Likert scale from investor of ISE. The data indicate that investors have substantially different attitudes toward various investments. However, there are significant statistical differences between attitudes of the investor groups in their attitudes toward three risk types. These data also show significant differences in attitudes toward risk. After analyzing the data through the Regression and Correlation, including ANOVA test, the result found the significance impact of variables on stock market. Introduction The whole financial theory is based on the basic hypothesis of rational investor on the financial markets. This rationality is characterized by a continuous quest of the investors to maximize their utility function (actually maximizing the return of the investment for a given risk level or minimizing the risk for an expected return level). In spite their rationality; investors have a different perception over risk, its bearing having an important psychological factor. Most investors show different attitude towards risk like motivated risk aversion, but we can find on the financial markets. While risk behavior has been studied intensely and a large number of risk perception. Through attention to risk perception and risk propensity which are mediators in attitude transaction, financial institutions can realize the effects on investor behavior and their returns expectations. The first section of this paper is the introduction, the second section is the literature review, the third secti on establishes hypothesis model, the fourth section presents the study results and the fifth section is the conclusion and recommendations.Different Studies are available; far less research exists regarding peoples mind-sets towards risk taking, i.e., risk attitudes, such as, risk aversion, risk tolerance and risk neutral. These can be conceptualized as two poles of a one-dimensional attitude towards risk-taking but also as two separate concepts. It is widely assumed that people differ considerably in their attitude towards risks, ranging from good sense to risk-seeking and even pleasure in risk-taking. The first trial of conceptualizing the investors risk aversion belongs to Milton Friedman and Leonard Savage (Milton Friedman, Leonard Savage Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk, JPE, 1948) who defined the risk aversion by using the following decisional situation: an investor who can chose among comparable investments will always chose the one with the lowest risk. Explaining the investment behavior using the returns of risky financial investments utility function brought a new perspective to the risk aversion theory. Further studies showed that there are also other factors with direct impact over the attitude towards risk (economic growth forecasts of a market, the level of training and the experience gained, fluctuations of the exchange market, psychological factors, biases and heuristics etc.). This paper follows studies conducted with investors to examine investor attitudes and behavior towards inherent risk and potential returns in stock market. Statement of the Problem The problem statement of research was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor Attitude towards Risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Major variables used in this study include stock market return volatility and risk attitude i.e risk tolerance, risk aversive, risk neutral variables that are the indicators of investor attitude. Objective: the objectives of research are:- To study how these attitude types are affecting the stock market. To find whether there is any relationship between stock market index and investor behavior. Significance of the Study The market return fluctuate according to events and trends , the human mind also have some psychological factor that can be influenced or might directs towards good or bad decision making regarding investment. From this study individual investor can get knowledge how their behavior that can maximize or minimize their utility in investment plan in market portfolio. They can change their behavior accordingly. Every Kind of individual like small investor including Man, Women with different status i.e. single or Martial with different age can change their mind set and able to understand how they should make decision to see the market trends or events. Review of Literature There is lot work has been done so far in this regard. Now we have overview some of researcher works in this section of the paper as review literature. With the reference of research topic, some of studies are being done in which all the variables includes Risk attitude factors i.e; Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk are taken into consideration to define the impact of those variables on stock market. Levin, Synder and chapman (1975) were concerned with the differences between men and women in accepting the risks of financial investments, they focused on a group of 110 students using a questionnaire regarding lotteries to check the more risk aversive according to gender differentiation. the results indicating that women are more risk aversive than men Powell and Ansic (1997) questioned a small group regarding property insurance and the exchange market and again found that women are more aversive than men (this study was among the first which analyzed individual aversion towards speculative and pure risks); using information regarding the weight of the funds invested in risky assets. Jaimie Sung and Hannna (1996) analyzed the risk tolerance corresponding to four ethnic groups: Caucasian, Hispanic, Black and others. Given the substantial differences among risk tolerance capacities of these groups (the Caucasians have the highest risk tolerance and the Blacks the lowest) we may assert that this factor has a direct impact on the way investors accept and perceive the risk attached to financial investments. Education also has a direct influence on risk tolerance, as several studies prove a direct link between higher education and the acceptance of higher risk related to investments. The analysis was conducted on four education levels: primary school, high school, college and postgraduate studies. The results demonstrate an intense and direct impact on accepting financial risk: the higher the subjects education, the higher his tolerance to risk. Sitkin and Pablo (1992) developed a model of determinants of risk behavior. In this model, personal risk preferences and past experiences form an important risk factor in which to frame the problem, and social influence also affects the individuals perception. Sitkin and Weingart (1995) extend the Sitkin-Pablo model leading to the definition that risk perception and propensity are the mediators in risk behaviors of uncertainty decision-making. Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) has done research on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Investor Attitudes and Behavior towards Inherent Risk and Potential Returns in Financial Productsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. They establish a model by which to measure attitudes and behavior towards investment risk.They used variables: Risk propensity, Risk perception, Behavior finance, Decision making. They study to form a framework (framing) for interpretation of their respective populations attitudes and behaviors. Empirical results found no difference by gender to investor propensity to take risk, nor in cognitive perception of such. However, higher and lower perceptions of risk were indicated by investors according to their personal investment experience. Investors with little experience in stocks and structured notes were found to have significantly sensitive perception of risk. Thus the model proposed is relevant in finding a positive correlation between experience and propensity of risk, though the un derstanding of such remains uncertain. In respect to financial products other than mutual funds, investor propensity and perception of risk tend to show a negative correlation. Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman (1974) defines in their research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biasesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that Heuristics that are important feature of the individual decision-making process which may be considered to include thought representativeness and availability. They founded that there is anchoring bias in the decision-making process which arises due to factors such as overconfidence, loss aversion, status quo bias, mental accounting, framing and so on. Investors in the process of assessing the risks and returns are influenced by this anchor effect. All these studies proved the complexity of risk aversion and its subjective dimension, as the estimates are difficult to obtain accurately. Investors have ultimately a unique behavior which results in un balanced price, no matter how adverse they are to risk. Understanding risk aversion offers another perspective for constructing and optimizing risky financial portfolios. Theoretical Frame work Our theoretical frame work is as under: (Independent Variables) Risk Aversion Risk Tolerance Risk Neutral (Dependent Variable) Stock Market Explanation The possibility of physical or social or financial harm /detriment / loss due to a exposure. This is the (dominating) negative perspective; however, there is also a neutral perspective, i.e., risk = uncertainty about the outcomes (good and/or bad ones) of a decision; and a positive perspective. A persons opinion belief about how large the risk associated with a hazard is (regarding negative outcomes) A general perspective of humans mind towards taking or avoiding a risk when deciding how to proceed in situations with uncertain outcomes. Risk Attitude towards taking risks or avoiding risk are; i.e, Risk aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral. So, all decisions about how acceptable a risk is in individual or societal terms deepened on market events or trends. The actual behavior of people when facing a risk situation, each investor has unique personal risk tendencies, investment style, and level of risk awareness. These characteristics, in addition to the expectation of returns, help investment decision making and portfolio construction. According to traditional finances capital asset pricing model, due to investor risk aversion, rational investors understand that increased investment risk demands return with a higher premium. Diagrammatical Expression of Variable:  [1]   Purpose of the study (Hypothesis Testing) Hypothesis testing offers an enhanced understanding of the relationship that exists among variables. It could also established casual and effect relationship. The research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor attitude towards risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, includes there are certain variables upon which the growth of Stock Market depends; these are interest rate, Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral ,Uncertainty. Research is being carried out to analyze the nature of the relationship between all these variables. Hypothesis Risk Tolerance Investor: Investors who tend towards higher risk are more adventurous and so are willing to attempt high-risk, high reward investments. H1: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have significant impact on stock market volatility H2: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Aversive Investor: People who tend towards lower risk behavior are less willing to engage in risky adventurous behavior due to their low risk tolerance. That is, this kind of investor has a high degree of risk perception in financial products. H3: Investor who are risk aversive has significant impact on stock market volatility H4: Investor who are risk aversive has no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Neutral Investor: Someone is completely indifferent to the risk involved an investment and is only concerned about expected return. H5: Investor who are risk neutral has significant impact on stock market volatility H6: Investor who are risk neutral has no significant impact on stock market volatility Methodology: (Sample Data Collection) Sample is taken from Islamabad stock exchange and data collection is based on primary data using questionnaire consist of five likert scale including Strongly Agree, Agree, No Strong Opinion, Disagree, Strongly Disagree to analyze the dependent and nondependent variables. The questionnaire sample obtained from the valid source à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Scottish Life Risk Attitude Profiling Questionnaire is based on the Byrne Blake Risk Profile Questionnaireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?  [2]  . The Respondents which have obtained during the research work are 30 that included 20 brokers, 10 small investors i.e Man, Woman having different qualification, age and income groups. To analyze the data being a researcher we used Regression and correlation in SPSS to see the impact and relationship between variables. Data Analysis and Discussion The results drawn from statistical analysis is based on regression analysis. As the independent variable is comprised of three facets i.e, risk aversion, risk taking and risk neutral so several hierarchical regression analyses are performed to formally check the hypothesis. Separate regression analyses are run for analyzing independent-dependent relationship. Regression has been used in order to measure that how much variation in dependent variables has been caused by independent variable. The results are as follows: Risk Aversion (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .467(a) .218 .048 .48900 Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.218 which is equal to 21.8 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk aversion is accounting for 21.8 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.535 5 .307 1.284 Residual 5.500 23 .239 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk aversion b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 1.284 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. RISK Tolerance (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .442(a) .195 -.025 .50735 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.195 which is equal to 19.5 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk tolerance is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.372 6 .229 .888 Residual 5.663 22 .257 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 0.888 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. Risk Neutral (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .687(a) .472 -.056 .51517 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.472 which is equal to 47.2 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk neutral is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 3.319 14 .237 .893 Residual 3.716 14 .265 Total 7.034 28 Predictors: (Constant), risk neutral Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F (1. 101) = 0.893; P CONCLUSION This study uses the questionnaire approach to test the risk attitudes and returns expectations of investors of particular Islamabad stock exchange. There are different trends and economic crisis that rapidly changed the attitude of investors of male and female. Variance analysis also found that less experienced investors have lower risk propensity and higher risk perception. However, considering individual attitude and perception about returns of stock market either influenced positively or negatively that assessed during research questionnaire. In the test model, investor experience and their risk propensity is in positive correlation. So, the conclusion of this study is consistent with recent literature, however the relationship between risk attitude and expected returns has not yet been determined as successful and strong empirical result. RECOMMENDATIONS Researcher recommended the followings ways to gain higher return from their investing attitude. Compare current stock value with historical results of securities or bonds markets. If you are risk aversive and need higher income during shorter period of time and at low risk, you will need to find other financial instruments.   As we know that, there is direct correlation between risk and income. The higher is income, the higher is risk so investor should ensure about their instruments worth in which he/she going to invest such can be divided as follows: bank savings, bonds and shares.   Another issue is that somehow media reports negatively about stock market return so, investor rapidly change their mind set as the framing heuristic applied without thinking the validity of information. So investor should protect his or her investments. Having purchased securities, keep monitoring securities market periodically. Other Recommendations are that Do not spread the whole money in the market and prefer to invest in only those companies that pay a dividend and that have a history of raising their dividend every year. Investor should forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided from the stock portfolio and make every stock purchase with the intent that the purchase will be a long-term investment. Develop a savings plan to add to your holdings each quarter to help dividend reinvestments to accumulate more shares on a cost averaging basis. REFERENCES Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman Science, New Series, Vol. 185, No. 4157. (Sep. 27, 1974), pp. 1124-1131. Jaimie Sung, Sherman Hanna, Factors related to risk tolerance, Financial Counseling and Planning, Vol. 7,1996, pag. 14). Levin Irwin P., Mary A. Snyder and Daniel P. Chapman (1975), The Interaction of Experiential and Situational Factors and Gender in a Simulated Risky Decision-Making Task, Journal of Psychology, 1988, 122(2),pp. 173-181) Powell Melanie, and David Ansic (1997), Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour in Financial Decision-Making: An Experimental Analysis, Journal of Economic Psychology, 18(6), 1998, pp. 605-628. Risk Attitude Profiling questionnairehttp://www.scottishlife.co.uk/scotlife/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?fileName=Risk_Attitude_Questionnaire.pdf Source:http://www.emeraldinsight.com/books.htm?chapterid=1760442show=html Sitkin and Pablo (1992) Review of management Review-1992.vol 17, No.1, p-38). Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 44 (2010)  © Euro Journals Publishing, Inc. 2010. http://www.eurojournals.com/finance.html)

Self-Defeating Ideals in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and The Pr

Self-Defeating Ideals in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and The Price When people accept an ideal to live by it can be a glorious and noble thing unless they become so obsessed with the ideal that it becomes a yolk and they are unable to realize their dream. This is especially true for two characters in Arthur Miller's plays Death of a Salesman and The Price. In these two plays Miller portrays two lower-middle class men, Willie Loman and Victor Franz, respectively, who each live by an ideal that ultimately is self-defeating. Willie lived to pursue the American dream rather than living the American dream and Victor lived to serve and be decent rather than living a noble and decent life. They pursed their ideal rather than living it and thus they are unable to succeed. Willie Loman, in Death of a Salesman,, has lived his life in pursuit of the American dream. Traditionally the American dream meant opportunity and freedom for all, and Willie believed that. However, hard work could not earn him everything that he wanted or thought he deserved. Willy judged himself and those around him by their material accumulation, as is demanded by capitalism and the protestant work ethic. The ethic demands accumulation and work as signs of favor in the eyes of God. Thus in order to please God and himself he had to accumulate wealth and objects. The consumer oriented society in which Willy lives will not allow him to live the American Dream. Willy is fascinated by accumulating things. His desire for goods makes him want objects that he neither needed nor could afford. Willy thinks that he needs to buy his wife a new refrigerator and new stockings even though she is content with what they have. As he tries to live the America... ...- middle working class. Just as Willy does, Victor too, adopts a quest for himself however, he pursues that quest to the point that he loses sight of his original goal - to please others, and ends up hurting them. Both men have decent and noble intentions however, they both live to fulfill those intentions rather than living and fulfilling the intentions. As a result they both fail to accomplish what they had intended, hurt the ones they love, and themselves. Willy's obsession with acquiring wealth and being a salesman made it impossible for him to do so. Victor's insistence on helping others made it impossible for him to provide the life his wife wanted and deserved. Both men failed because they lived by impossible standards that they were never able to meet. Â  It was to late before they realized the harsh penalties for failure to meet impossible standards.

Half-Caste and Nothing’s Changed Essay

Following that the third and fourth build up to the short fifth and sixth three line stanza turning round the poem showing that it isn’t him that is half a person but the ones that are biased are. Both structures of the poem are quite different but both do use the structure as a climax. Both poems create different moods maybe because of the period of time. Also Nothing’s Changed is more serious. Half-Caste has both a humorous and questioning mood. ‘Ah listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear’ makes you think that it is ridiculous and wonder they are not half a person. By saying outrageous things like that John creates a mood. In contrast Tatamkhulu isn’t humorous in ‘Nothing’s Changed’ but in a protesting manner. Half-Caste is in a Caribbean dialect which makes it a quite fast paced poem. The rhythm is relatively exhilarating. The phrase ‘Explain yuself wha yu mean’ is emphasised because of the dialect and is repeated plenty as well. John gives importance to this phrase because he is reaching out to the reader to make them understand why people judge mixed race people to be ‘half-caste’. He doesn’t believe just because they are mixed race that they are half a person and by turning it around in the last stanzas he shows how it feels to go through what he goes through. However Nothing’s Changed has nor a lively or upbeat tempo but more of a slow rhythm because then Tatamkhulu can emphasise most of the words in the poem because of the slow pace to it making the reader acknowledge every word and recognise his aim. The rhythm helps the reader value his rage in various parts of the poem such as ‘and the hot, white, inwards turning anger in my eyes’. Also the four consecutive ‘ands’ in the 2nd stanza before the phrase quoted before really give the anger its climax. Nothing’s Changed captures all the words making you reflect about every line in more depth then usual. On the contrary Half-Caste being in a Caribbean dialect is more dynamic, but in this circumstance it helps the poem. For instance ‘wid de whole of yu eye n de whole of yu ear an de whole of yu mind’ would be difficult to comprehend but reading it promptly and in a Caribbean dialect would make it comprehensible. Both poems paint pictures in your mind of images that John and Tatamkhulu create with their poetry. Nothing’s Changed give details to most of the environment in which the poet go through and come across, like when he is striding above the ‘hard stones’ and ‘amiable weeds’. As a reader you can picture Tatamkhulu looking up from the ‘grasses’ and have a image of a board saying ‘District Six’ but then disappearing like it was never there but just in his mind’s eye. In addition his hands metamorphosing from his accustomed colour to white illustrating his fury, transforming the complete atmosphere very cold. Half-Caste alternatively doesn’t produce images seen by John in real life but generating pictures of examples of features in the world that have a combination like ‘half-caste weather’ or ‘half-caste symphony’. He constructs visions of a ‘cast half-a-shadow’ of a ‘half-caste human being’. Half-Caste uses repetition for its key features, in addition to catch the reader’s attention. It is also in a Caribbean dialect. John exploits the phrase ‘Explain yuself wha yu mean’. He emphasises his point by having a none stop twenty six line stanza which clarifies all his various fusions in life which are a mixture like ‘half-caste canvas’. In contrast Nothing’s Changed uses the structure as a approach to get his key features at certain points. ‘No sign say it is but we know here we belong’ is isolated into a two line stanza. John Agard in a manner has an absolutely different way of expressing his key points. In conclusion both Half-Caste and Nothing’s Changed has very serious issues in which they write about. Both being from the party in which are being attacked. Being from different time periods makes it slightly diverse. Tatamkhulu has been influenced by his culture and background in the way that there were only non-whites and whites in that particular area. Taking that into consideration most non-whites would have despised all whites thinking all of them would be against them so the anger in his poem would explain that. Whereas John’s culture and background does have some bearing on his opinion but he in fact knows that not everyone would think of him as half a person to another human being or any other mixed race individual. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Agard: Half-Caste section.

Distribution Channel Management Essay

BMW Motorcycles is a division within the BMW Group. As such their mission is tied to that of the parent company. On the BMW Group website it is noted as follows:†Identifying potential and encouraging growth. Knowing what we represent. Recognizing where our strengths lie and making the best use of every opportunity. Following a clear strategy. Goals we have attained are in essence the point of departure for new challenges. This is the philosophy that inspires every individual at the BMW Group. It influences the company’s structure and it plays a vital role in the decision-making process. Our corporate ethos finds its expression in the uncompromising pursuit of the superlative. The result? Outstanding brands with an unmistakable profile. Automobiles and motorcycles which fascinate people all over the world and which win legions of new admirers every day. And a degree of success which sees the BMW Group go from strength to strength. With the three brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the BMW Group has its sights set firmly on the premium sector of the international automobile market. To achieve its aims, the company knows how to deploy its strengths with an efficiency that is unmatched in the automotive industry. From research and development to sales and marketing, BMW Group is committed to the very highest in quality for all its products and services. The company’s phenomenal success is proof of this strategy’s correctness.†BMW Motorcycles provides a robust product line following three general categories: Touring, Sport, and Enduro. Touring bikes are built for the long haul, with rider comfort as the premium. These are the motorcycles you would take on a cross country trip. Sport bikes satisfy the â€Å"need for speed† and styling trends for the younger crowd. Enduro bikes are for the adventurer is us all; these bikes are built for on or off road travel. BMW Motorcycles’ main competition comes from Japanese motorcycle companies. Most American motorcycle companies produce cruiser style bikes; BMW offers little choice in this style of motorcycle. However, each of the main Japanese manufacturers (Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki) offers motorcycles that are very similar in style and performance. Although BMW has  historically had its own niche in the market, that of the older male, it has recently branched off into more dedicated off-road and super-sport bikes. These are categories that have been historically dominated by the Japanese manufacturers. Throughout the years, BMW motorcycles have been renowned for their durability and engineering. BMW has always been on the forefront of motorcycle engineering. BMW was the first motorcycle manufacturer to offer ABS on a motorcycle. They have also revolutionized motorcycle suspensions with their Telelever anti-dive suspension and Paralever single-arm suspension. Although BMWs are more costly, that price is offset by the life cycle of the motorcycle. Until recent years there hasn’t been much of a rivalry between the Japanese manufacturers and BMW Motorcycles. BMW had its small place in the market and was not a threat to the Japanese firms. BMW Motorcycles were not known to be stylish or fast, the two categories that attract the majority of motorcycle buyers. BMW attracted more mature owners who were impressed by the machine’s reliability and durability, and who had more money to spend on a new bike. The lack of power was partly due to BMW self-imposed limitations on horsepower in motorcycles. However, these limitations were lifted in the late 1990s, and BMW began to produce super-sport bikes that rivaled the Japanese bikes, and even surpassed the Japanese competitor’s performance. Up to this point, young males were rarely interested in purchasing BMWs. They cost twice as much as the closet Japanese bikes, they were slower, and they were less attractive. In essence they were the Volvo of the motorcycle world. However, like Volvo, once BMW redesigned their product line into more powerful and stylish motorcycles, they began to quickly cut into the Japanese manufacturers’ market share. BMW motorcycles have consistently won â€Å"Best Bike† awards in various categories within the past few years. Several of these awards include â€Å"2005 & 2006 Best Touring Bike† for the R1200RT, and â€Å"2005 Best Adventure Bike† for the F650GS. BMW Motorcycles reported December 2006 sales up 36.8% over the same period in 2005. In 2005, annual sales worldwide for BMW topped  100,000 motorcycles. In 2004, approximately 5.7 million motorcycles were sold in the US, of which 12,825 were BMWs. Estimates of market share for 2005 show Honda in the lead with 24% of the market, followed by Harley-Davidson and Buell with 22.6%, Yamaha at 15.9%, Suzuki at 11.8%, Kawasaki at 9.1%, KTM at 1.7%, BMW with 1.2% and â€Å"Other† at 13.7%. Although BMW gains less than 2% of total US motorcycle sales market, they only reflect less than half of BMW’s worldwide sales. BMW sold more motorcycles in Italy (13,651 bikes), than in the US, and Spain was a close third wit h 10,002 bikes. The BMW R1200GS has been the top selling bike worldwide for the past several years. As a result, Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have recently introduced large engine dual sport bikes to their lineups to compete with the BMW. The BMW R1200RT has been increasingly sought after by police departments as their bike of choice, replacing the mainstay Kawasakis. With their ever increasing popularity and sales, BMW is becoming a threat to the Japanese manufacturers and the rivalry is growing. Two of the primary attributes for motorcycles are durability and performance. Durability is defined as the capability of withstanding wear and tear, it is measured by a products ability to perform or compete over a long period. For a motorcycle this can include engine life, the ability to conduct repairs, and retention of market value. Performance is defined as the way in which someone or something functions. For motorcycles it includes horsepower, acceleration, cornering ability, and maximum speed. Target MarketsTarget Market 1: Young Males 18-25- Generally college age males, style and performance are the biggest factors for this group. Cost could be an exclusionary criterion, as this group may not have a large cash base. Target Market 2: Adult Males (25-40)- Established professionals. Performance not as big a factor as durability or economy is. This group is willing to spend more for a higher quality product. They are style conscious, but style is not necessarily a prime factor. Target Market 3: Females (all ages)- Female motorcycle buyers are a growing market, but still small enough to treat all ages as a singular group. Female riders generally are looking for something economical and stylish. Performance is low on the list of criteria. Primary Product Categories. -Enduro . These are dual purpose motorcycles that are built for both on and off road. -High Performance. Specialized off road motorcycle. -Tour. These are bikes built for long distance rides. Comfort is number one on these bikes. -Sport. These are your speed bikes. They are built to go fast and look good. -Urban. These are the bikes built to cruise the road and get good gas mileage while they are at it. This is the commuter bike category, not flashy but dependable. EnduroHigh PerformanceTouringSportUrbanYoung Male21 / 3Adult Male11 / 3Female221Core products2Rarely sold to these individuals3Biggest purchaser of items in this categoryImportant Cells:Young Male /Sport. This is the primary product line for this target market. They are looking for style and speed. This is the category that provides those. This line is very important, as this is the largest share of the entire market. BMW has been behind in this line, and only recently become competitive within the past few years. Although they now have one of the highest performing motorcycles, it is difficult to overcome the brand recognition the Japanese motorcycles have built up in this line. The competitive advantage in this line is gained through a mix of performance and appeal, with cost also a major factor. Perceived performance and style may be more important than true performance and style. Young Male / Urban. This is a growing market the past few years. BMW is neck and neck with all its competitors to grab a share, due to the newness of this motorcycle category. This is important, because getting the recognition and sales in this product line can affect the sales of the other lines. No company currently has an advantage. The advantage can be achieved by offering a motorcycle with excellent handling, great gas mileage, at a low cost. One of BMW’s products, the F650, has been seeing robust sales due to the high MPG. BMW is poised to gain an advantage in this market, the key will be to ensure the BMW name recognition is realized within this target market. Adult Male Enduro. BMW has had the leading product in this market since the introduction of their R – GS line of bikes. This award winning product has been continually recognized and awarded for its attributes. It is the king of the hill of enduro bikes, with no true competition in sight. This bike has become on of the cornerstones of BMW motorcycles, and thus its continued success will be a direct reflection of the company. BMW has been able to sustain their advantage in this market / line by continually improving the product. Adult Male / Touring. This category has seen large growth in the past few years. BMW is poised to gain an advantage here, due in large part to the recognition they are gaining by the police forces. Police forces have been buying their R-RT models in increasing numbers for the past five years. This has had a direct impact on the sales volume of not only this product, but the touring line as a whole. The police usage has given BMW greater brand recognition. Keeping the bikes visible within police forces will be the key to maintaining their competitive advantage. There are only two real competitors in this category, the Kawasaki Concours and the Honda Goldwing. The Honda has been the leader in this line until several years ago when BMW sales began to overtake them. BMW provides better durability, performance and comfort than the competitors. These are all key attributes for this target market. BMW has been pursuing new markets and products; they also have opportunity to develop both, especially in the female rider market. In the past few years, BMW has introduced improved models of their existing motorcycles to increase their appeal to younger markets. They have greatly increased their performance and styling, both key attributes sought after by this largest target market. As a result of developing this market, profits in the young male market have soared. In addition, BMW has introduced all new models of motorcycles. Of these new models, the most notable are high performance sport bikes to appeal to the young males, and less powerful, smaller frame bikes to increase appeal to beginners and females. Since 1999 BMW has developed close to 15 new motorcycle products for introduction. Each of these bikes has seen brisk sales. BMW does not hold a competitive advantage in the motorcycle market; this is due to several factors. BMW motorcycles are expensive. In many cases they cost more than $10,000 more than their market competitor. Although BMWs are more durable than their less expensive competition, the prime market does not appear to be willing to spend the increased cost for a higher quality product. In motorcycle sales, no company holds a sustained competitive advantage. The Japanese motorcycle companies, with their powerful, inexpensive motorcycles share the competitive advantage over the American and European motorcycle companies. However, this advantage tends to shift to a different company each year as new bikes are introduced. The price points for Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki are all similar for each comparable product; with generally only several hundred dollars difference. Any competitive advantage among these companies will rarely last over a model year or two. Thus there is no sustained competitive advantage among these rivals. Due to the similarities in the product offerings between all these companies, unless some revolutionary technology is developed, it will be nearly impossible to sustain any competitive advantage. Customer satisfaction is a high priority with BMW; in 2001 BMW Motorcycles introduced the â€Å"Customer-Oriented Sales and Production Process†. This process is used from customer order to delivery. It begins with an online  ordering system which allows a BMW Motorcycle dealer to send a customer’s order directly to the manufacturing plant, eliminating wholesalers or resellers and providing instant delivery status. This system also allows the customer to change any detail of his order, up to the minute that production is begun. All BMW motorcycles and parts are built at the BMW plant in Berlin, Germany. BMW motorcycles were originally built in BMW’s historic Munich plant until the 1960s. BMW concentrates all motorcycle related production, to include many component parts in the Berlin plant. This plant can build up to 500 motorcycles a day. BMW motorcycles are built to general specification and also may be custom designed from anywhere in the world. The Berlin plant builds motorcycles to the specific requirements of the over 20 countries they deliver to. The BMW motorcycle plant in Berlin uses state-of-the-art technology. It has been recognized as the most modern motorcycle manufacturing plant in the world. Like their motorcycles, the production plant is focused on ergonomics and efficiency. In addition, the factory incorporates numerous environmental friendly processes. Many of these processes, including production water recycling, also help to cut production costs. The BMW logistics division is responsible for organizing the motorcycle production. Together with marketing, sales and production departments it plans the production schedule, generates the best production sequence and ensures timely delivery of the motorcycle to the customer. Logistic specialists plan and coordinate the delivery of material to assembly and make sure that quality parts are cost-efficiently delivered to the production line. BMW Motorcycles has more than 400 external suppliers provide some 9,000 different parts and components. These parts are delivered to BMW’s Berlin plant on time and in the correct quantities. Most of the suppliers specialize in motorcycle parts for BMW. 65 % of the suppliers are located in Germany, 34 % in Europe and 1% in USA and Japan. In 2001, BMW reengineered its distribution process to reduce costs and improve response time for dealers and parts vendors. Once the motorcycle is completely assembled, it is transported from the factory direct to the retailer who placed the customer’s order through a â€Å"Retailer Channel† method. BMW uses a variety of transportation methods including truck, rail, and sea lift ; depending on the destination of the product. In the USA, BMW motorcycles are received and distributed out of two warehouse locations in New Jersey and California. From there, they are delivered direct to the retailer. BMW Motorcycle dealers are authorized by BMW to sell the motorcycle product line, and to also provide an after sales service to BMW customers. To maintain brand image and ensure customer satisfaction is met, the dealers comply with corporate requirements and guidelines in the presentation of their facility. BMW considers corporate identity and brand image to be paramount to maximize awareness of the differences between it and its competitors. These guidelines establish standards for interior and exterior design, levels of customer service, signage, typefaces and advertising. The goal of these requirements is to maintain BMW’s prestigious reputation. In addition, BMW provides management support, training courses for all dealer staff, recruitment assistance, marketing support, and an internal comprehensive online reference system which gives immediate access to up-to-date product and corporate information. BMW’s dedication to customer service, both service visible to the consumer and services which are transparent, give it a decisive advantage within its distribution channels. By striving to provide the customer the exact product desired, in a timely manner, they have streamlined their distribution processes. In addition to providing satisfaction to the consumer, this retailer channel process has cut transportation and resale costs to the benefit of both BMW and the customer. The benefits of BMW’s â€Å"Customer-Oriented Sales and Production Process† are  that the consumer can get an individualized BMW motorcycle without having to purchase a cookie-cutter motorcycle and numerous after-market products. The customer gets his one of a kind motorcycle right off the production line. In addition, he can order his customized motorcycle and receive it in a comparatively short period of time, with instantaneous production progress status available upon request. These are benefits to the consumer that the competitors cannot provide. With Japanese manufacturers, they sell the base motorcycle with very limited options. It is a dice roll that the configuration you want is in stock locally. This level of customer service, along with the high quality of the motorcycles, creates a rabid dedication to the BMW brand. BMW motorcycle owner typically will purchase another BMW over any of the competitor’s brands. This is decidedly one of the factors giving to the steady increase in market share of BMWs, and thus proof of BMW’s competitive advantage. References1. BMW Group. http://www.bmwgroup.com2. BMW Group Mission. http://www.bmwgroup.com/bmwgroup_prod/e/nav/index.html?http://www.bmwgroup.com/bmwgroup_prod/e/0_0_www_bmwgroup_com/unternehmen/unternehmensprofil/strategie/strategie.html3. Web Bike World. http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-news/blog/4. Hoffman, Nicole P. An Examination of the † Sustainable Competitive Advantage† Concept: Past, Present, and FutureAcademy of Marketing Science Review [Online] 20005.BMW Berlin Manufacturing Planthttp://www.bmw-werk-berlin.de/berlin/htdocs/english/produktion/logistik/index_logistik.htmlThe Motorcycles:1.BMW Motorcycles. http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/index.jsp2.Suzuki Motorcycles. http://www.suzukicycles.com/3.Kawasaki Motorcycles. http://www.kawasaki.com4.Yamaha Motorcycles. http://www.yamaha-motor.com5.Honda Motorcycles. http://powersports.honda.com/motorcycles

5 Reasons You Feel Trapped in Your Job

5 Reasons You Feel Trapped in Your Job No matter how much you love your job, it’s easy to feel trapped. You wake up going through the motions and dreading getting dressed; you just want to crawl back into bed and stay home. This is human, and it happens to us all.But if you really do feel trapped and find that you’ve completely lost track of your ambition or your drive, this list might be helpful in sorting out why- and helping you to fix it.1. Everybody else is better than me.If you feel that everyone is more capable, more skilled, or more talented than you are, youll edge yourself out of the spotlight and into isolation. Instead of constantly comparing yourself to your coworkers, remember that everyone is different. Their skills may be flashier, but that doesn’t mean that yours are any less useful or important. Concentrate on doing what you do best and apply yourself to shoring up your weak spots. And trust, deep down everybody else probably feels the same!2. You tell yourself its tough out thereThe economy is terrifying. Debt levels and unemployment have reached terrifying highs. You know you’re lucky to have a job, so you couldn’t possibly look anywhere else. You’d be crazy to leave! Right? Wrong. The market is always scary. If you truly believe you can do better, more rewarding work, you owe it to yourself to try. Sometimes believing it can happen is enough to take the step!3. I should just wait untilUntil the new year. Until I have my next review. Until I’ve been here for three years. Until, until, until. Biding your time and waiting for opportunity to come to you is only a good strategy if you’re saving money, say, to start your own business. Otherwise, you should make decisions based on what’s best for you overall, not necessarily what leads you down the path of least resistance.4. You dont know what else you wantIt’s hard to get what you want when you don’t even know what that is. But you owe it to yourself to find out. Don’t just stick with the devil you know. Ask yourself the hard questions and then do something about it if you don’t like the answers.5.   I have to prove myself.No, you don’t. You have to follow your path and find a way to do your best work- regardless of whether you feel your version of life matches up with someone else’s checklist of success.You have to be brave enough to get yourself un-trapped. No one else will do it for you.