1. To what extent could the United States between 1776 and 1865 be Essay

1. To what extent could the United States between 1776 and 1865 be described as a house divided against itself - Essay Example Slavery resistance began when people started to deny support, overturn the already established orders and more importantly challenging them. Slavery significantly contributed to division among the US citizen (Lowance 45). Political representation was another cause of the division among the Free States and Slave state. Politicians between the Free states and slave states were concerned about power balance in the Senate. The politicians were appealing that every state should be represented by two members of state and more importantly, there should be an equal number of free states and slave states. Resistance became violent when the population of Free States became more than that of slave states in the House of Representatives (Farmer 213). Abolitionist movements were also a contributing factor to the division Americans. In the year 1830, individuals who wanted to see various institutions abolished within the US started becoming more influential and strident. These individuals claimed they preferred obedience to higher law over having obedience to a constitution. When the constitution was passed, it made some explicit mention of slavery. It allowed slaves to be counted as a third of a person. This activity was meant to determine the representation, as well as the population in the House of Representatives. This Act was not supported by everybody especially individuals residing in slave states. The resistance turned out to be more severe in effort to bring more slave states. For instance, resisters sought after to make Missouri a slave state. Instead of making the region a slave state, a Missouri compromise was developed. Missouri Compromise was as federal law that regulated slavery in the western US territories. The law, passed in 1820 restricted slavery in the north region in the former Louisiana Territory. The only areas that were allowed to conduct slavery were the boundary of Missouri State (Lowance

Slavery Without Submission Essay Example for Free

Slavery Without Submission Essay In chapter 9 of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of The United States, Zinn analyzes, in details about the tough and troublesome living arrangements the slaves had to endure during the early 1800’s, the slave revolts that were started because of these living conditions, and how Abraham Lincoln was elected President, which led to the Civil War because the Southern States thought Lincoln was siding with the northern states about the slavery issue. In this Chapter, Howard Zinn is comparing what happens with the smaller slave rebellions that happened earlier on to what Abraham Lincoln eventually did, except Lincoln having done it on a much, much larger scale. The slave system was such an in depth system that made an abundance of money for the country. Southern states relied heavily on cotton, which was picked by the slaves. Since the southern states did depend on slave labor so much, Abraham Lincoln knew that these would be key reasons as to why abolishing slavery would be incredibly hard. Zinn talks about how the majority of slaves would either run away from their masters or physically revolt against their masters. Eventually, slave masters started to worry about slave revolts since they had started to become more popular in America. Zinn wrote†¦ â€Å"Religion was used for control. A book consulted by many planters was the Cotton Plantation Record and Account Book, which gave these instructions to overseers: You will find that an hour devoted every Sabbath morning to their moral and religious instruction would prove a great aid to you in bringing about a better state of things amongst the Negroes. I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. In my opinion, The Bible’s words have been twisted ever since it has been written and in the article â€Å"How The Bible Was Used To Justify Slavery†, it talks about how slave owners would have essentially used fear in the words of scripture on the slaves to scare them into not revolting against their masters (Blake). The main reason that these revolts never developed into anything serious is because the national government would not allow it. Even the more educated African Americans tried to rebel against the practice of slavery but in more civil terms. David Walker, a free and educated African American wrote a pamphlet called Walker’s Appeal. This pamphlet was not one of the more civil anti-slavery documents of this time. The pamphlet focused on a kill or be killed attitude if slaves wanted to obtain their freedom from their masters. This pamphlet did not go over well with southern slave holders. The state of Georgia offered money for the death of David Walker, who was later found to be dead. This was another form of fear that was used against slaves and another example of the national government, not allowing a revolution to take place. The national government’s stance was that slavery was not going to end, unless they agreed to it. Even Abraham Lincoln was not for the equality of African Americans, at least at first. Lincoln is quoted as saying â€Å"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people, and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything. † (Lincoln, 145-146). Lincoln was for the progress of the country, first and foremost. Lincoln knew that slavery was a subject that could divide the nation and that slave labor was making the country money, so he could not just outright abolish it or let these revolutions of the slaves succeed. Zinn reiterates this fact when saying†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"He opposed slavery, but could not see blacks as equals, so a constant theme in his approach was to free the slaves and to send them back to Africa† Lincoln was somewhat of a flip-flopper when it came to whom he was talking to about the subject to. It was not until the Civil War started and the casualties were getting higher and higher that Lincoln decided to enact the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation obviously did not go over well with southerners, but Lincoln did it to preserve a win for the Union, but it also did not go over well with anti-slavery forces, because for good reason, they believed that everyone should have the right to be free. This led to the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, which officially abolished slavery. With all of this happening, resentment towards African Americans continued to grow and this time in the northern states. Poor northerners started looking at the war as liberation of African Americans that they had been dying for, so they started a riot against many African Americans. After all of this had happened, Lincoln was eventually assassinated, and Andrew Johnson became president and somewhat hurt the progress of African Americans. The government tried to give more rights and privileges to African Americans, but had a hard time keeping the situation under control. Black codes were started up, as well as the Ku Klux Klan. The government wanted to keep the white elites happy, but this in turn would usually mean something not appealing for African Americans, which would make it into a vicious circle. Howard Zinn’s point of this whole chapter was that for anything to actually change, something monumental would have to happen, not a revolt, not slaves running away, but a full fledged war. Even with this actually happening, with the Civil War, it was not fully accepted till years later. The slave system was in place such an in depth labor system that made so much money that people could not fathom a world without slaves, even though most knew it was morally wrong.

Essay --

From Poverty to Powerhouse: Michael Oher’s Story Michael Oher was from an all-black neighborhood located in the third poorest zip code in the country. By the time he was a sophomore, he’d been to 11 different schools, he couldn’t read or write, and he had a GPA of 0.6. In his first-grade year alone, he missed 41 days of school and ended up repeating both the first and the second grade; he didn’t even go to the third grade. Oher was one of the thousands of children that have been identified as having four or more of the at-risk factors mentioned by the National Center of Education and Statistics (NCES). According to the NCES, poverty and race are high on the list of things that negatively affect students’ ability to succeed at school. Other risk factors include changing schools multiple times and being held back from one or more grades. Oher’s biography, The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, proves how socioeconomic status impacts a child’s academic success because placed in perspective, educati on is not as important as the hardships of reality. Before explaining how The Blind Side depicted the effects of socioeconomic status on Michael Oher’s education, it is important to make clear what it means to â€Å"prove.† According to Oxford Dictionaries, â€Å"prove† means â€Å"to demonstrate one’s abilities or courage† (â€Å"Prove† 1.5). The Merriam Webster Dictionary gave other definitions including â€Å"to show that (someone or something) has a particular quality or ability (â€Å"Prove† 1); â€Å"to test the worth or quality of, specifically: to compare against a standard† (â€Å"Prove† 2b), and â€Å"to show oneself to be worthy or capable of† (â€Å"Prove† 4). All of the above definitions of â€Å"prove† have a form of the words â€Å"quality† or â€Å"ability† in them. An example of this is when... ...nomic status. In 2012, 26.5 million (13.7 percent) of people ages 18-64 were in poverty. Also in 2012, 16.1 million (21.8 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty. The hardships this creates causes education to suffer. It has to take a backseat to finding food or a place to sleep. These children’s families are at-risk for dropping out of school compared to higher socioeconomic students. That number is going to continue to grow with the current rate of population growth. In contrast, children from higher socioeconomic families do better in school. When the Tuohy’s brought Michael into their life, his opportunities for education improved. What happened to Michael Oher was unique because of his special abilities, his courage, and the help from the Toughy’s. Michael’s story shows how socioeconomics can impact students’ academic success. Appendix

Accounting Fraud through Product Costing

Fraud is a malicious obtaining of money or property by deception then accompanied by concealment of theft and translation of stolen property or money into personal resources for private use. The costs of fraud are difficult to estimate because not all uncovered fraud is disclosed for correct action to be pursued. Most fraud is committed by the trusted and valued employees and it leads to shock and disbelief when such cases are discovered Cones, 2011).Such fraudulent behavior may include cutting costs, spending corporate and shareholder money on personal expenses, and manipulating financial records for personal needs. Through fraud examination, organizations can be able to determine if fraud occurs and in such case help to gather relevant evidence for the crime, the financial records are analyzed by financial detectives and relevant surveillance conducted to mitigate such hideous acts. A comprehensive review on the organizations internal control is carried out to ensure all workers co mply with the relevant regulatory standards and industry benchmarks.This process also conducts analytical review on key accounting areas to reveal Seibel fraudulent activities. Forensic accountants can investigate frauds, investigate accountants, forensic auditors or fraud auditors. Scientific knowledge can be used to relate and investigate crimes through Interactive process and assess evidences of crimes committed. According to Siltstone & Sheets (2012), these experts have analyzed several cases and most fraud In product costing results from overstatements of revenues or understatement of receivables and Inventory. References Siltstone, H. , & Sheets, M. (2012).

Arbitration Agreement

BY: ISAAC, OKORONKWO . C. HEM/1137 ABSTRACT This paper seeks to look into the issues concerning arbitration agreement under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (ACA). It identifies the categories, forms, parties and highlights of the arbitration agreement. It also examines the enforcement of an arbitration agreement. This paper reveals that arbitration is a major attraction as being the most flexible way of settling dispute. Thus, it was suggested that arbitration agreement is a vital component of an arbitration proceedings. 1. 0INTRODUCTIONArbitration has continued to maintain the lead as the preferred mechanism for resolution of domestic and international business disputes in the Nigerian legal system. An arbitration agreement means a voluntary agreement to submit to arbitration present or future disputes, â€Å"whether contractual or not†. It is clear; therefore, that a claim in tort or fraud may be the subject matter of an arbitration agreement (Udechukwu, 2008). An arbit ration agreement can be included in the original or be in the form of a separate agreement, either at the time of the contract or subsequently.Therefore, even in the absence of an original integrated arbitration clause the parties can still decide to settle a presently existing dispute by arbitration. The arbitration agreement is the document, which is normally in writing containing details about the reference of the disputes for resolution by the arbitrators. It is an agreement on paper containing information signed by the parties; containing and providing records of the arbitration agreement (Oyegbile, 2000). It is a very important document guiding the entire process of arbitration.It also includes any reference in a contract to a document containing an arbitration clause which constitutes an arbitration agreement if such contract is in writing and the reference is such as to make that clause part of the contract. Unless a contrary intention is expressed in the arbitration agreeme nt, it shall be irrevocable except:- i. By agreement of the parties ii. By leave of the court or a Judge iii. Even, the occurrence of death of either of the parties does not automatically revoke the arbitration agreement.Rather, it shall be enforceable by or against the personal representatives of the deceased. In the past, arbitration agreement could be in oral but the present arbitration act only recognized written agreement to arbitrate. The implication of this is that only written agreements are enforceable by the courts or Judge. 1. 1AIM AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this work is to provide information on arbitration agreement under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (ACA) CAP A18 2004.To achieve the above aim, the specific objectives are to: * Identify the categories of arbitration agreement * Examine the enforcement of the arbitration agreement * Identify parties to the arbitration agreements * Identify the major highlight of Arbitration and Conciliation Act (ACA). 2. 0LITERATU RE REVIEW 2. 1CATEGORIES OF ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS There are two basic types of agreement: [1] the arbitration clause and [2] the submission agreement.An arbitration clause looks to the future, whereas a submission agreement looks to the past. The first, which is most common, is usually contained in the principal agreement between the parties and is an agreement to submit future disputes to arbitration. The second is an agreement to submit existing disputes to arbitration. Arbitration clauses are usually short, whilst submission agreements are usually long. This is not because of any particular legal requirement. It is simply a reflection of the practicalities of the situation.An arbitration clause that deals with disputes which may arise in the future does not usually go into much detail, since it is not known what kind of disputes will arise and how they should best be handled. Indeed, although the parties to a contract may agree to an arbitration clause, they hope that there will be no need to invoke it. Usually they insert a short model clause, recommended by an arbitral institution, as a formality. By contrast, a submission agreement deals with a dispute that has in fact already arisen; and so it can be tailored to fit precisely the circumstances of the case.In addition to indicating the place of arbitration and the substantive law, it generally names the arbitrators, sets out the matters in dispute and even, if thought appropriate, provides for exchange of written submissions and other procedure matters. 2. 2ENFORCEMENT OF THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS Nigerian Courts have adopted a positive approach to the enforcement of arbitration agreements. A review of the decided cases shows a general recognition by Nigerian Courts of arbitration as a good and valid alternative dispute resolution mechanism. In C. N.ONUSELOGU ENT. LTD. V. AFRIBANK (NIG. ) LTD, the Court held that arbitral proceedings are a recognised means of resolving disputes and should not be taken lightly by both counsel and parties. However, there must be an agreement to arbitrate, which is a voluntary submission to arbitration. Where there is an arbitration clause in a contract that is the subject matter of Court proceedings and a party to the Court proceedings promptly raises the issue of an arbitration clause, the Courts will order a stay of proceedings and refer the parties to arbitration.SECTIONS 6(3) and 21 of the Lagos State Arbitration Law 2009, which â€Å"empowers the Court to grant interim orders or reliefs to preserve the res or rights of parties pending arbitration. † Although the ACA in section 13 gives the arbitral tribunal power to make interim orders of preservation before or during arbitral proceedings, it does not expressly confer the power of preservative orders on the Court and Section 34 of the ACA limits the Courts’ power of intervention in arbitration to the express provisions of the ACA.The usefulness of section 6(3) of the Lagos State Arbitration Law 2009 is seen when there is an urgent need for interim preservative orders and the arbitral tribunal is yet to be constituted. In this regard, such applications find no direct backing under the ACA and have always been brought under the Rules of Court and under the Court’s inherent jurisdiction to grant interim orders. However, in AFRIBANK NIGERIA PLC V HACO, the Court granted interim relief and directed the parties to arbitrate under the provisions of ACA.Upon the publication of the award the parties returned to the Court for its enforcement as judgment of the Court. The Courts in Nigeria are often inclined to uphold the provisions of Sections 4 and 5 of the ACA provided the necessary conditions are met. A live case in point is the case of MINAJ SYSTEMS LTD. V. GLOBAL PLUS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS LTD. & 5 ORS, in this case, the Claimant instituted a Court action in breach of the arbitration agreement in the main contract and on the Defendant’s application , the Court granted an order staying proceedings in the interim for 30 days pending arbitration.In NIGER PROGRESS LTD. V. N. E. I. CORP. , the Supreme Court followed section 5 of the ACA which gives the Court the jurisdiction to stay proceedings where there is an arbitration agreement. In the owners of the MV LUPEX V. NIGERIAN OVERSEAS CHARTERING & SHIPPING LTD, the Supreme Court held that it was an abuse of the Court process for the respondent to institute a fresh suit in Nigeria against the appellant for the same dispute during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings in London. In AKPAJI V.UDEMBA, the Court held that where a defendant fails to raise the issue of an arbitration clause and rely on same at the early stage of the proceeding but takes positive steps in the action, he would be deemed to have waived his right under the arbitration clause. 2. 3THE PARTIES TO AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT The parties to a contract must have legal capacity to enter into that contract, otherw ise it is invalid. The position is no different if the contract in question happens to be an arbitration agreement.The general rule is that any natural or legal person who has the capacity to enter into a valid contract has the capacity to enter into an arbitration agreement. Accordingly, the parties to such agreements include individuals, as well as partnerships, corporations, states and state agencies. If an arbitration agreement is entered into by a party who does not have the capacity to do so, (the law where applicable) may be invoked either at the beginning or at the end of the arbitral process. If it is invoked at the eginning of the process, the party requesting for it would ask the competent court to stop the arbitration, on the basis that the arbitration agreement is null and void. Where the validity of the arbitration agreement is raised at the end of the arbitration process, the requesting party would ask that the competent court to refuse the recognition and enforcement of such an award, on the grounds that one of the parties to the arbitration agreement is â€Å"under some incapacity† under the applicable law. 3. 0MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ARBITRATION ACT a) The Arbitration Clause: The Arbitration and Conciliation Act (â€Å"ACA†) CAP.A18 2004 mandates that all arbitration agreements must be in writing and signed by the parties, in an exchange of letters, telex, telegram or other means of communication; or point of claim or defence. In Nigeria, arbitration clauses are irrevocable except by the leave of court or mutual agreement of parties. Even where parties had no prior agreement, with a submission agreement, parties may still submit to arbitration; b) Subject-matter Arbitrability: The â€Å"ACA† does not stipulate any particular subject matter that may not be referred to arbitration.The question of whether or not a dispute is arbitrable has therefore been left at the discretion of the Courts. In ARAB REPUBLIC V. OGUNWALE(2002 ) 9 NWLR (PART 771) 127,the Court of Appeal held that the test for determining whether a dispute is arbitrable or not is that the dispute or difference must necessarily arise from the clause contained in the agreement. However not all disputes are necessarily arbitrable c) Binding Nature: The â€Å"ACA5† provides that every arbitration award in Nigeria shall be binding on the parties.This is to preclude a recalcitrant party from preventing a successful party from enjoying the fruits of his judgment. d) Number of Arbitrators: In Nigeria, the number of arbitrators is either one or three. The parties to an arbitration agreement may determine their preferred numbers of arbitrators to be appointed under the agreement, but where no such determination is made, the number of arbitrators shall be deemed to be three. e) Challenge of an arbitrator: Parties may determine the procedure to be followed in challenging an arbitrator. Where no such procedure is determined a party who intends t o challenge an arbitrator shall, within ifteen days of becoming aware of the constitution of the arbitral Tribunal or becoming aware of any of the grounds, send to the arbitral Tribunal a written statement of the reasons for the challenge. f) Preservative Orders: The provisions of the ACA cloths the members of a Tribunal with the requisite powers to grant preservative orders during an arbitration reference. These orders however do not include granting injunctions etc. The Act provides that in such circumstance, the Tribunal can remit that portion of the reference to a proper court for the grant of such injunctive relief. ) Language to be used in Arbitral proceedings: In Nigeria, the parties may, by agreement determine the language or languages to be used in the arbitral proceedings. But where they do not do so, the arbitral Tribunal shall determine the language to be used bearing in mind the relevant circumstances of the case. h) Legal Representation: In Nigeria, the parties to an a rbitral proceeding may appear for themselves or be represented or assisted by a legal practitioner of their choice. i) The Award: An Award may be interim, interlocutory, or final. Any award made in Nigeria must adhere to the following: * It must be in writing; It must be signed by all the arbitrators (if they are more than one); * It must be delivered with a reason (except where parties agree otherwise); * The place where the Award was made must be stated on the award. j) The enforcement of an Award: An arbitral award shall, irrespective of the country in which it is made, be recognised as binding on the parties. This is made possible by the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcements) Act, Cap 152, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which makes foreign arbitral awards registerable in Nigerian Courts if at the date of registration it could be enforced by execution in Nigeria. . 1THE DOCTRINE â€Å"SEPARABILITY† It is also known as the doctrine or principle of autonomy or independence of the arbitration clause. Separability means the arbitrability clause in a contract is considered to be separate from the main contract of which it forms part and as such, survives the termination of that contract. It noteworthy to mention that arbitration agreement can be in form of an arbitration clause in a contract or in a separate agreement addressing disputes that have already arisen.The doctrine of separability is most relevant to arbitration clause in a contract an underlying contract. At the outset it must be recognised that this doctrine is inextricably linked with the doctrine of kompetence-kompetence which empowers the arbitrator to decide his own jurisdiction in the first instance. While kompetence-kompetence empowers the arbitration tribunal to decide on its own jurisdiction, the doctrine of separability affects the outcome of this decision.The doctrine of separability is provided for under Section 12(2) of ACA: For purposes of subsection (1) of this sect ion, an arbitration clause which forms part of a contract shall be treated as an agreement independent of the other terms of the contract and a decision by the arbitral tribunal that the contract is null and void shall not entail ipso jure the validity of the arbitration clause. For arbitral tribunals whose seat is in Nigeria (including under domestic arbitration) the source of this doctrine is article 12(2) of ACA quoted above which is a mandatory provision.Parties cannot therefore as a matter of contract, derogate from this provision and agree otherwise. Finally, separability thus ensures that if, for example one party claims that there has been a total breach of contract by the other, the contract is not destroyed for all purposes. Instead: â€Å"It survives for the purpose of measuring the claims arising out of the breach, and the arbitration clause survives for determining the mode of their settlement. The purposes of the contract have failed, but the arbitration clause is not one of the purposes of the contract. † 4. 0DATA AND METHODIn bid to gather information for this study, the secondary source of data collection was utilized, which includes – journals, textbooks and other relevant document from the internet (web sites and e-library). 5. 0CONCLUSION The importance of the arbitration agreement is imperative and vital to the success of an arbitration proceeding. The arbitration agreement represents the wishes of the parties to submit future dispute to arbitration while submission clause attends to disputes that have already arisen. REFERENCES ACA. (2004). Arbitration and Concilation Act CAP A8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) .Nigeria. National Open University. (n. d. ). Alternative Disput Resolution II. Retrieved 02 23, 2013, from www. noun. edu. ng Oyegbile, S. O. (2000). An Introduction to Arbitration and Conciliation. Minna: Jameson Graphic Publishers. Tolulope, A. (2012). Arbitration in the Emerging Markets. The International Charmber of Commerce Clyde & Co. Conference (pp. 2-4). London: Aron. Udechukwu, C. E. (2008). Professional Practice for Real Estate Professionals. Lagos: Treem Nigeria Limited. Wikipedia. (2013). Web Encylopedia. Retrieved 02 14, 2013, from www. wikipedia. com: http://www. wikipedia. com

Business intelligence (BI)and business alignment, maturity and appropriate organisational diffusion models The WritePass Journal

Business intelligence (BI)and business alignment, maturity and appropriate organisational diffusion models Background Business intelligence (BI)and business alignment, maturity and appropriate organisational diffusion models BackgroundProposed Null and Alternative HypothesesMethodological Approach Research Design ApproachResearcher’s Previous Related Work Significance of this Study ConclusionRelated Background Companies invest millions of dollars in business intelligence (BI) systems to gain useful BI data that helps leaders/managers to make management decisions and build predictive models of what may or may not happen in order for the company to gain a greater competitive advantage. Implementing such systems is no easy task (CGI Group Inc. 2004; Hedgebeth 2007). Studies have shown that there are a limited number of factors that make or break the success of BI within the organisation (Yeoh and Koronios 2020). To analyse the process more closely and ensure an organisation gets the greatest return on investment (ROI) and on the limited resources available, this study will contribute to these studies through highlighting the success factors and barriers faced by businesses. It attempts to provide better understanding for BI systems adoption, as well as the challenges when BI diffusion does not go well. Proposed Null and Alternative Hypotheses This proposal presents a quasi-experimental, time-study methodology to confirm the diffusion model and maximise successful implementation of a BI system as measured by return on investment (ROI). H01 –Businesses do not put more emphasis on accurate and timely data to make operational decisions to gain a competitive advantage. HA1 -Businesses do put more emphasis on accurate and timely data to make operational decisions to gain a competitive advantage. H02. The factors affecting business intelligence implementation do not affect managers’ business decision-making ability.   HA2. The factors affecting business intelligence implementation affect managers’ business decision-making ability.   H03.   Change management skills are not required by users adopting a new business intelligence system as measured by increased utilisation of BI system by the user. HA3 Change management skills are required by users adopting a new business intelligence system as measured by increased utilisation of BI system by the user. H04.   Human resource management skills are not required by users adopting a new business intelligence system as measured by increased utilisation of BI system by the user. HA4 Human resource management skills are required by users adopting a new business intelligence system as measured by increased utilisation of BI system by the user. H05 A model for implementation of BI is not needed for smooth diffusion and maximum results of the BI system as measured by ROI.   HA5 A model for implantation of BI is needed for smooth diffusion and maximum results of the BI system as measured by ROI. Methodological Approach Research Design Approach The conceptual framework for this study is utilising the positivist assumptions to determine as much as clear cause and effect as possible for a smooth diffusion process. The emphasis throughout will lead to a clearer understanding of the cause of successful BI system implementations and the effect of successful and unsuccessful BI implementations (Swanson and Holton 2005). The cause and effect will also be studied regarding use of a framework/model during a BI implementation. To get to the primary factors, the positivist approach is the proper choice to. If this factor is present (x) then a smooth BI diffusion will take place (y) and the organisation will see improved results and increase its’ competitive position. This cause and effect, positivist framework will lead to a quantitative, longitudinal study. A quasi-experimental, time series design will be employed in this study which will be conducted over several years. This will be done to assess the progress of business results and BI data results as an outcome from the BI model diffusion, i.e. â€Å"to determine the influence of a variable or treatment on a single sample group† (Swanson Holton, 2005, p. 91). The data analysis is measured before and after the intervention or treatment. In this case, that would be the BI model of diffusion with changes as a result of the literature analysis. A limitation to the time series is that it is difficult for the researcher to â€Å"separate out interaction effects out of the organisation or (some) other environmental reason† (Swanson Holton, 2005, p. 91). This correlates to the literature as this is the area that has not been studied for a great length of time. This study will be conducted over a 3-year period as the longitudinal method gathers measurements over an extended period of time so as to be able to study long-term ROI with the main concern being dealing with the attrition factor which makes such studies more expensive. Opinions will be elicited from IT executives representing two types of companies: those which adopted BI systems and those which have had problems doing so or have not done so yet. Two questionnaires will be used, one for each type of organisations. The first questionnaire will be organised into four sections: general data; BI success measures; factors for BI adoption; and challenges to BI adoption. Previous surveys will be used to create the survey tool and modified to fit the context (Kamhawi 2008). The second questionnaire will be organised into four sections as well: general data; reasons for problems with implementing BI systems; attitudes; and future intentions towards BI systems. Measurement items for such se ctions will be developed using previous studies (Kamhawi 2008). The questionnaires will be field tested and pilot tested to ensure validity and reliability. Based on the pre-test and pilot test minor changes may be made to the phrases used in the scale questions of the questionnaire, how worded, and how questions will be classified and may be made clearer. Responses to the phrases of both questionnaires will be given through a 5 point-Likert scale. Researcher’s Previous Related Work This researcher has been involved with business and information technology alignment since the mid-1990s which is the area which this research falls into. After having returned from academic studies abroad to southern Africa the researcher was confronted with the task of having to evaluate projects from international donor organisations such as German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), projects that would otherwise be classified as white elephants because the technology used was too advanced for a developing country. This resulted in this researcher submitting an MBA project to Nottingham Trent University in 1999 entitled â€Å".† This area of interest was further enhanced as the researcher was a lecturer on the MBA programme of the University of East London responsible for a course on â€Å"Organisational Change and Business Processes.† As the researcher has been working with SAP BI for a few years the implementation of such complex system has further enhanced the interest i n researching in this area, defining the linkage between business and technology in BI. Though the writer has not come up with any publications due to the nature of his work, this research would correct that and lead to publications of the researcher’s expertise. Significance of this Study The real world of the organization change management can prove challenging and this study could contribute significantly to the existing literature by filling gaps within existing studies and creating new knowledge. As well done as the qualitative study was by Yeoh and Koronios (2010) their model does not account specifically for the effects of human resource management or for the unexpected. The critical and unique elements that this study will be provide: Conclusion Conclusions and perspectives from a global standpoint as a result of retrieving samples from locations worldwide as opposed to one-country focused literature review. This study will be a quasi-experimental, time-series study as a result of the literature review where previous studies have been from one point in time. Create a weighting system for the success factors to determine which one has the most impact on a successful diffusion process. This will be helpful for organisations that have limited time and resources when implementing the BI into the company. Determining the position of change management and human resource management in the BI diffusion model. Many of the model or studies reference training for users as an example, or change management in broad terms, but few are specific about the position of change management in the model or the position of the needs of the people during the transition.

Quotes from Anti-Slavery Activist Angelina Grimké

Quotes from Anti-Slavery Activist Angelina Grimkà © Angelina Grimkà © and her older sister Sarah Moore Grimkà © were born to a slaveholding family in Americas South. They became Quakers, and then became antislavery and womens rights speakers and activists - in fact, they were the only white Southern women known to be part of the abolitionist movement. Grimkà ©s family was prominent in Charleston, South Carolina, society, and were major slaveholders. Angelina was the youngest of fourteen siblings and was always closest with her older sister, Sarah, who was thirteen years older than her. As a teenager, she began her first anti-slavery activities by teaching her familys slaves about religion. Her faith became a major part of the foundation of her abolitionist views, believing that slavery was an un-Christian and immoral institution, although other Christians of her time had found Bible verses and interpretations that they could claim supported slavery. Because of the way that her fellow Presbyterian endorsed slavery, Grimkà ©s abolitionist beliefs were not welcomed, and she was expelled from the church in 1829. She became a Quaker instead, and realizing that she would never be able to change the beliefs of Southern slaveowners, she and Sarah moved to Philadelphia. Even the Quakers slow reform proved too gradual for Angelina, and she became involved in the radical abolition movement. Among her most famous published letters was An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, published in 1836 to try to persuade Southern women of the evils of slavery. She and her sister Sarah both became abolitionist speakers throughout New England, sparking new discussions (and controversies) about womens rights as well as abolition. In February 1838, Angelina addressed the Massachusetts State Legislature, defending the abolition movement and womens rights to petition and becoming the first American woman to address a legislative assembly. Her lectures drew some criticism, as she pointed out that passive complicity, not just active slave-owning, propped up the institution of slavery, but she was generally respected for her eloquence and persuasiveness. Even after Grimkà ©s health declined in later years, she still corresponded with activist friends and continued her activities on a smaller, more personal scale. Selected Angelina Grimkà © Quotations I recognize no rights but human rights I know nothing of mens rights and womens rights; for in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female. It is my solemn conviction that, until this principal of equality is recognized and embodied in practice, the church can do nothing effectual for the permanent reformation of the world.Women ought to feel a particular sympathy in the colored mans wrong, for, like him, she has been accused of mental inferiority, and denied the privileges of a liberal education....thou art blind to the danger of marrying a woman who feels and acts out the principle of equal rights...Hitherto, instead of being a help meet to man, in the highest, noblest sense of the term, as a companion, a co-worker, an equal; she has been a mere appendage of his being, an instrument of his convenience and pleasure, the pretty toy with which he whiled away his leisure moments, or the pet animal whom he humored into playfulness and submission.Abolitionists never sought place or po wer. All they asked was freedom; all they wanted was that the white man should take his foot off the negros neck. Slavery always has, and always will, produce insurrections wherever it exists, because it is a violation of the natural order of things.My friends, it is a fact that the South has incorporated slavery into her religion; that is the most fearful thing in this rebellion. They are fighting, verily believing that they are doing God service.I know you do not make the laws, but I also know that you are the wives and mothers, the sisters and daughters, of those who do.If a law commands me to sin I will break it; if it calls me to suffer, I will let it take its course unresistingly. Selected Sources Grimkà ©, Angelina (1836). An Appeal to Christian Women of the South. http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesaegat.html Grimkà ©, Angelina (1837). Letter to Catharine Beecher.  Quoted in American Political Thought: New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Grimkà ©, Sarah Moore (1838).  Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman: Addressed to Mary S. Parker. Archive.org. Weld, Theodore Dwight, Grimkà ©, Angelina, Sarah Grimkà © (1839). American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses. https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/weld/weld.html

Life Cycle of Fireflies and Lightning Bugs

Life Cycle of Fireflies and Lightning Bugs Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, are part of the beetle family (Lampyridae),  in the order Coleoptera. There are about 2,000 species of fireflies worldwide, with over 150 species in the U.S. and Canada.   Like all beetles, fireflies undergo complete metamorphosis with four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Egg (Embryonic Stage) The firefly life cycle begins with an egg. In mid-summer, mated females will deposit about 100 spherical eggs, singly or in clusters, in the soil or near the soil surface. Fireflies prefer moist soils, and will often choose to place their eggs under mulch or leaf litter, where the soil is less likely to dry out. Some fireflies will deposit eggs on vegetation rather than directly in the soil. Firefly eggs usually hatch in 3-4 weeks. The eggs of some lightning bugs are bioluminescent, and you may see them glowing dimly if youre lucky enough to find them in the soil. Larva (Larval Stage) As with many beetles, lightning bug larvae look somewhat worm-like. The dorsal segments are flattened and extend to the back and sides, like overlapping plates. Firefly larvae produce light and are sometimes called glowworms. Firefly larvae usually live in the soil. At night, they hunt slugs, snails, worms, and other insects. When it captures prey, the larva will inject its unfortunate victim with digestive enzymes to immobilize it and liquefy its remains. Larvae emerge from their eggs in late summer and live through the winter before pupating in the spring. In some species, the larval stage lasts well over a year, with the larvae living through two winters before pupating. As it grows, the larva will repeatedly molt to shed its exoskeleton, replacing it with a larger cuticle each time. Just before pupating, the firefly larva measures about  ¾ in length. Pupa (Pupal Stage) When the larva is ready to pupate, usually in late spring, it constructs a mud chamber in the soil and settles inside it. In some species, the larva attaches itself to a trees bark, hanging upside down by the hind end, and pupates while suspended (similar to a caterpillar). Regardless of which position the larva assumes for pupation, a remarkable transformation takes place during the pupal stage. In a process called histolysis, the larvas body is broken down, and special groups of transformative cells are activated. These cell groups, called histoblasts, trigger biochemical processes that transform the insect from a larva into its adult form. When the metamorphosis is complete, the adult firefly is ready to emerge, usually about 10 days to several weeks after pupation. Adult (Imaginal Stage) When the adult firefly finally emerges, it has only one real purpose, to reproduce. Fireflies flash to find a mate, using a species-specific pattern to locate compatible individuals of the opposite sex. Typically, the male flies low to the ground, flashing a signal with the light organ on his abdomen, and a female resting on vegetation returns his communiquà ©. By repeating this exchange, the male homes in on her, and the rest of the story is happily ever after. Not all fireflies feed as adults- some simply mate, produce offspring, and die. But when adults do feed, they are usually predacious and hunt other insects. Female fireflies sometimes use a bit of trickery to lure males of other species closer  and then eat them. Not much is known about firefly eating habits, however, and it is thought that some fireflies may feed on pollen or nectar. In some species, the female adult firefly is flightless. She may resemble a firefly larva but have large, compound eyes. And some fireflies dont produce light at all. For example, in the U.S., species found west of Kansas dont glow.

Starting a New Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9500 words

Starting a New Business - Assignment Example This research will use the mixed-method design, but will lean more toward the evidences that have been quoted in various financial and management accounting studies. The research mainly focuses on historical information that is available. Secondary sources like books, journals and the internet are also used as part of this research. The entire research revolves around issues relating to accounting and financing of new business. Additionally, the research also focused on contemporary issues in management accounting. People planning to set up a new business need to find out a lot about various issues that could affect their new business, local laws, rules and regulations etc. The people also should acquaint themselves about various finance related issues which may influence the company that is going to be newly set up. Long-term finance is absolutely essential for any operating concern. A lot of contemporary issues and development in the field of finance and accounting, especially in t he field of management accounting have also been identified and discussed in detail. The main reasons behind writing this research paper is to address certain issues relating to accounting and finance and also some of the contempor... Additionally, the research also focused on contemporary issues in management accounting. People planning to set up a new business need to find out a lot about various issues that could affect their new business, local laws, rules and regulations etc. The people also should acquaint themselves about various finance related issues which may influence the company that is going to be newly set up. Long-term finance is absolutely essential for any operating concern. A lot of contemporary issues and development in the field of finance and accounting, especially in the field of management accounting have also been identified and discussed in detail. Introduction The main reasons behind writing this research paper is to address certain issues relating to accounting and finance and also some of the contemporary issues in management accounting faced by today's accounting consultation firms. Entrepreneurs and business minded people who propose to start a new business usually go in for a piece of advice before actually getting in to planning and organizing their new firm. People prefer to approach consultants to know about certain important aspects relating to finance and accounting issues for their new firm. Some such issues are sources of long term finance, budget and budgetary controls etc. These days there are also certain contemporary issues with relevance to management accounting that may be having an effect on businesses. The main aim of this research paper is to address these issues stated above. The objective of this paper is to discuss the various issues in each of the above stated aspect and provide solutions and recommendations as applicable. Research Methodology This research will use

Effect on British Business for Joining Euro Zone Essay

Effect on British Business for Joining Euro Zone - Essay Example Labour Productivity: The output per worker is the ratio of total output and total employment and the unit labour cost is total labour costs-to-output. The output per worker has remained unchanged in the last two quarters but unit labour costs have increased by 0.3% in the last two quarters (ONS, 2011, p.8). Labour Disputes: These are associated with the strikes with respect to the terms and conditions related to employment. During the last 12 months before October 2011, there were 417,000 lost working days from 135 strikes (ONS, 2011, p.9). Unemployment: This measures the unemployed people who are actively seeking work and ready to join work immediately. The unemployment rate was up 40 basis points from previous year leading to 8.3% unemployment rate. The unemployed youth formed 22% of economically active population. As per the international guidelines, people in full-time education are unemployed if they are looking for jobs since last four weeks (ONS, 2011, p.11). It can be seen th at the public sector cutting of jobs has worsened the employment situation in Britain. The Conservative Party seeks to bring down the deficit to maintain the record low interest rates and avoid situations faced by Greece, Spain and Portugal (Politics.co.uk, 2011). Some people view the reasons for unemployment especially youth unemployment is because of too much reliance on unemployment benefits provided by the government and unwillingness to accept the jobs offered whereas the corporate sector believes the burden of red tape, taxes and minimum wages have tied up their businesses and prevented them from hiring more people (Palmer, 2011). Measures for Reducing the Unemployment There are three types of... Based on this research, the British economy has been affected at first due to joining the Euro Zone as the government has to cop up with the new policies of the regulatory body which make the laws for the Euro Zone. The British government has to incur certain costs for adopting with the new policies, for educate the people so that they can cop up with the new currency and new policies. Though the government had to face some initial costs but the economy are benefited from a long term view. The businessman of UK would get the new opportunity for enhance their business in the other Euro Zone countries. As the currency of 17 countries is same the transaction cost of the business has got lower. The interest rates of the country’s central banks getting lower, the mortgage also get down. Along with this the credibility of the Euro currency is improving as the same currency is used by 17 countries. The currency is not fluctuating as the previous so the investor doesn’t have to hedge their investment. The opportunity for the business owners is that they have access for a larger base of customers as well as they can utilize the larger workforce available to them. The British small and medium companies will have the opportunity to get the foreign funds as the transaction costs are not as high in the Euro Zone as there is the same currency operating in every country. The UK business owners can also have the ideas and the technologies which can enhance the revenue and subsequently profit of the company and thus the gross domestic product of the country can be improved.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - Essay Example Her novel My sister’s keepers also deal with moral, ethical and psychological consequences of situation that have a contradicting point of views. This novel was published in 2004 initially and raises many contradicting issues pertaining to genetic engineering and rights pertaining to control of minor over her body. This novel tells the story of a family whose daughter has been suffering from extremely harmful form of cancer and genetically designed other daughter is brought to the world for sake of saving her sister and help in recovery (SparkNotes, n.d.). The protagonist of the story was Anna Fitzgerald who plays a role that is argued by many. Her character is defined by her link to elder sister Kate, whose health depends upon her and her efforts for fighting for her rights as an individual and battle of getting freedom from this special link. These efforts and willingness can be seen in her chat with Campbell that how much she wanted to be a sister to Kate in all the past te n years and she couldn’t achieve that status in anyway. The tragic and sorrowful reality of Ana’s character can be seen in her efforts of getting freedom and treated as an independent person rather than being used for a purpose only, which was keeping her sister Kate alive. These contradictory thoughts complicates her character and mind by making herself guilty for thinking of getting an independent identity unrelated to her sister when she knows only she can be source of health to her sister. It forces her to think of herself as a selfish person and feeling less. All of these negative feelings lead her to engage in harmful activities that could affect her health such as smoking with Jess. Anna is shown as a helpless and disputed soul as she is willing to help her sister as well to combat this disease by donating her kidney to Kate, but the Kate is destined to die in any way later or sooner. And at the same time she is willing to be independent of this issue by filing a lawsuit against her parents that states and provides all rights of Anna on her own body and helps her in not donating her sister the Kidney. She is actually shown as fulfilling her sister’s desire as well as Kate herself wants to die because she is tired of fighting against this cruel disease. This represents the righteous side of Anna and love towards her sister. Therefore, it is the lawsuit filed by Anna that is targeted towards completing the wishes of both sisters at a time (SparkNotes, n.d.). Since Anna is a product of genetic engineering and an unwanted and undesired child in her parents life, which is solely brought to this world by her parents with the help of science for sake of keeping her sister alive. Therefore she is also shown as a point of node between science and compassion through out the story. The extent of using Anna by her parents can be seen in Sara’s in form of desires for using Ana’s body organs for the health and safety of her elder da ughter Kate only and she had never thought of Anna as a person or her own child. Therefore, it can be concluded that the character of Anna has been represented as a person who is sacrificed her life and happiness for her sister to the readers and her family. Her character is respected for her great deed, loving and devoting attitude so she can be considered as a source of light and happiness to her family. She is also shown as a joyful person who is funny and a very sympathetic person. She has not only physically helped her sister to remain healthy

Business ethic homework 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business ethic homework 2 - Essay Example hical principle of deontology which states that actions as well as decisions can be regarded as ethical or morally correct if the maxim which refers to the intention as well as the reason of that particular act or decision is based on doing well to the society (Shaw 66). One of the critics of Kant’s ethical theory is that not all actions are considered ethical or legal in all regions, actions are considered as ethical or unethical depending on where they occur. 3. The two ways through which Kant believes that categorical imperative can be formulated is that while an individual takes an action, the reason behind that particular action should be that he/she is ready to face the same action when it is carried out against him in same or any other situation (Hayden 18). The second way of formulating the categorical imperative is that people should take actions while considering other individuals as ends and not simply considering them as means to achieve

Managing asmall business Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing asmall business - Dissertation Example While this study will focus on all important aspects of managing a halal business, management techniques and business practices related to the successful operation of a local, small halal foods store will be the primary interest of this study. The focus of this research will be one such local Halal food shop serving both Muslims and general halal food purchasers, Marhaba. 2.3 What will the general topic area be, and can you give us a general overview of the developments to date in this area? What is already known about the area/industry/issue? The academic focus of this dissertation will be management. Specifically, this dissertation will analyse the management techniques and business stratigies employed by Marhaba, a local halal foods shop, to appeal to their unique customer base: Muslims seeking to purchase halal food. The specific industry being studied will be the local halal foods industry, and the specific organization to be considered will be Marhaba shop. Before a basic liter ature review can be conducted, halal food needs to be defined. The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council describes halal food in specific terms by saying, â€Å"Halal is an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted. The opposite of halal is haram, which means unlawful or prohibited. Halal and haram are universal terms that apply to all facets of life,† (IFANCA). The IFANCA goes on to describe some common haram foods, such as pork, alcohol, and birds of prey. The idea of halal comes from the Al-Baqara of the Quran, which says, †O, ye men! Eat of what is in the earth lawful and wholesome and follow not the footsteps of Satan; for verily he is an open enemy to you,† (Quran). According to a recent report conducted by the government of Canada, the 1.6 billion Muslims currently alive are the engine behind a growing $580 billion halal food market. This report gives an encouraging take on the market saying, â€Å"There is strong commercial potential for halal certified produc ts, with consumers looking for safe, genuinely certified and diversified halal products,† (Canada 2008, 4). This promising market data shows that the market is growing, and remains already large. While a local halal grocer will only take in a miniscule fraction of this \market, a growing market is encouraging for any business, no matter the size. One of the biggest concerns for any management is whether or not the current customer base will be there in the future. Bubbles pop, booms die, and fads fade, yet a true niche market will serve a business for years. (please write source These sentences were not drawn from a source, this is using common knowledge which is acceptable according to MLA standards. If you were citing specific bubbles or niche markets you would need to cite this, but in this context, these sentences are just a general introduction to the main point.)The question facing halal food shops across the UK is will the European Muslim population remain as large as i t has been in the future, or will this population dwindle in size? According to a 2011 article by Steve Doughtry for the Daily Mail, the answer to this question is no. According to Doughtry, the UK will have 5.5 million Muslims within 20 years, forecasting England to have more Muslims than Kuwait in the year 2030. While these statistics certainly draw up an immigration conversation, in terms of the halal foods industry, they couldn’

Theories and idiology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Theories and idiology - Essay Example An individual, a group, nation or state might believe in theory or ideology because of many reasons such as injustice, or any form discrimination practiced against them. It also might be the economic situation that helped this theory or ideology to be espoused. Another reason is the greed of colonialism from one state to another practiced by a leader or dictator such as Hitler. This essay ‎will be discussing three of the most popular ideologies, which are feminism, nationalism and globalism. In addition, a review and examination of each of the theories’ core ideas and its primary variations will be done. A comparison of those core ideas across the three theories and ideologies will be provided. It will go in depth to discover any commonalities or sharp distinctions between the theories. Feminism is one of the controversial theories among feminists or non-feminist. From the non-feminist perspective that women are humans as men and the declaration of human rights ensures all rights for both parties. On the other hand, feminists do not agree with that and ask for rights that were not given to them. Females do not look at themselves as sex objects, rather they recognize their gender dynamics and what they want to consider as their choice and as what they can do to their societies. Feminists want to free women from the dominance of masculine systems. They are not equal, even with the language, for instance, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence and wrote, â€Å"All men are created equal,† (Sargent, 166). Another example of the language used by system For example, â€Å"a female first-year university student is called a freshman. Why? Not long ago women could not attend the universities, and the term implies that. Of course, language use change s, and most people now use freshman to refer to both male and female first-year students; but the word is a relic of past sexual discrimination† (Sargent, 166). More than

Managing asmall business Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing asmall business - Dissertation Example While this study will focus on all important aspects of managing a halal business, management techniques and business practices related to the successful operation of a local, small halal foods store will be the primary interest of this study. The focus of this research will be one such local Halal food shop serving both Muslims and general halal food purchasers, Marhaba. 2.3 What will the general topic area be, and can you give us a general overview of the developments to date in this area? What is already known about the area/industry/issue? The academic focus of this dissertation will be management. Specifically, this dissertation will analyse the management techniques and business stratigies employed by Marhaba, a local halal foods shop, to appeal to their unique customer base: Muslims seeking to purchase halal food. The specific industry being studied will be the local halal foods industry, and the specific organization to be considered will be Marhaba shop. Before a basic liter ature review can be conducted, halal food needs to be defined. The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council describes halal food in specific terms by saying, â€Å"Halal is an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted. The opposite of halal is haram, which means unlawful or prohibited. Halal and haram are universal terms that apply to all facets of life,† (IFANCA). The IFANCA goes on to describe some common haram foods, such as pork, alcohol, and birds of prey. The idea of halal comes from the Al-Baqara of the Quran, which says, †O, ye men! Eat of what is in the earth lawful and wholesome and follow not the footsteps of Satan; for verily he is an open enemy to you,† (Quran). According to a recent report conducted by the government of Canada, the 1.6 billion Muslims currently alive are the engine behind a growing $580 billion halal food market. This report gives an encouraging take on the market saying, â€Å"There is strong commercial potential for halal certified produc ts, with consumers looking for safe, genuinely certified and diversified halal products,† (Canada 2008, 4). This promising market data shows that the market is growing, and remains already large. While a local halal grocer will only take in a miniscule fraction of this \market, a growing market is encouraging for any business, no matter the size. One of the biggest concerns for any management is whether or not the current customer base will be there in the future. Bubbles pop, booms die, and fads fade, yet a true niche market will serve a business for years. (please write source These sentences were not drawn from a source, this is using common knowledge which is acceptable according to MLA standards. If you were citing specific bubbles or niche markets you would need to cite this, but in this context, these sentences are just a general introduction to the main point.)The question facing halal food shops across the UK is will the European Muslim population remain as large as i t has been in the future, or will this population dwindle in size? According to a 2011 article by Steve Doughtry for the Daily Mail, the answer to this question is no. According to Doughtry, the UK will have 5.5 million Muslims within 20 years, forecasting England to have more Muslims than Kuwait in the year 2030. While these statistics certainly draw up an immigration conversation, in terms of the halal foods industry, they couldn’

Greek and spanish economy over the past three years Essay

Greek and spanish economy over the past three years - Essay Example The year 2007 saw one of the most devastating of all financial crises of all times, which swept over the entire globe. Greece was in a rather juvenile phase during that time as it had not gained ample experience over its past phase of recovery, when the nation had depended substantially on transfer payments from its neighbours. Hence, it was expected that the nation could not avoid a financial crisis. The Ministry of Economy of Greece expected a fall in the annual economic growth rate from 3.6% to 2.4% between 2007 and 2011. Prior to the shock, the nominal economic growth rate in Greece was found to be 4% in the first quarter of 2007. However, given the high rate of inflation integral to that of the nation, the real economic growth rate turned out to be much lower than was officially recorded. The true figures have been presented in the underlying graph. The annual average growth rate, adjusted for inflation, had been recorded at 0.95, 0.18 and -0.65 respectively during 2007 to 2009. These extremely low figures give a hint about the failure of the national government in reviving the economic conditions of Greece. In addition to the poor GDP growth figures, the problems of unemployment and inflation had plagued over the economy since 2007, though improvements have been made in various developmental aspects like those of education, poverty and health. The rate of inflation had reached a peak during 2008, when the average rate had lingered around 4% throughout the year, i.e., by the middle of the term of the newly elected ND government. Though the situation slightly improved by the middle of 2009, it again went unbound by the end of the year (refer to Figure 1.2). Philips curve model of inflation imposes the fact that the rate of inflation prevailing in a nation is inversely related to the rate of unemployment it is experiencing. A similar

Video Games Cause and Effects on Children Essay Example for Free

Video Games Cause and Effects on Children Essay Video games have come a long way since they were introduced to the mainstream Audience. Video games are increasingly using advanced technology, they have come closer to reality than ever before. They are creating the idea that video games cause violence. When these realistic violent video games are become popular, these games have caused children and teenagers to become addicted to playing it. These are the causes of video game addictions on children and teenagers. The high score, because the high score is one of the most easily recognizable books. Trying to beat the high score, even if the player trying to beat his own score can keep them playing for hours. Beating the game found in nearly every gaming system. The desire to beat the game is keeping the player to level up, or find the next hidden clue. Role playing, allowing players to do more than just play. They get to actually create the characters in the game that matching on an adventure, and the story makes it much harder to stop playing. Discovery, The exploration or discovery tactic is most often used in role playing games. And relationships, this is the primarily an online hook. Online role playing games allow people to build relationships with other online players. There are the effects of video games on children and teenagers. Tend to be more aggressive, kids spending too much time playing video games may exhibit impulsive and attention problems. Failing grades, too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated. Also, he may spend less time in other activities such as doing homework, reading, sports, and interacting with the family and friends. Violent behavior, some video games teach kids the wrong values. Violent behavior, vengeance and aggression are rewarded. Negotiating and other nonviolent solutions are often not. And also bad health effects, video games may also have bad effects on some children health, including obesity, and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders.

Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Animal Farm Essays

Animal Farm was written by George Orwell and published in 1946. This story is about the Manor Farm in England, around the time of the Russian revolution. The animals on this farm started their own revolution because they were so irritated with the way they were being treated. At the beginning of the story, the Old Major calls a meeting in the barn and speaks about Rebellion and Animalism. Shortly after that the Old Major died’s and then the rebellion starts to take place. Mr. Jones is like a bad guy to the Animals. Napoleon to is also another major villain. But after Jones is gone, all of his tools are burned, and now its time for the animals to take a look around the farmhouse. The name Manor Farm is changed to Animal Farm and the Seven Commandments are established. They then start to begin the hay harvest. During the hay harvest Boxer says, â€Å"I will work harder† as his personal motto. The harvest turned out to be a success. At this point the pigs are now beginning to abuse their power. Pretty soon the pigeons are sent to spread the word of the rebellion to other animals. And Mr. Jones tries to recapture the farm in the Battle of the Cowshed. Mr. Jones was unable to defeat the animals, therefore the animals got a boost of confidence. Now at this point Mollie runs away and Snowball begins his plans for a windmill. When Snowball’s plans are finished, Napoleon’s dog’s start to chase him off the farm. The farm just lost the best leader they could have had. They loose their chance to give input on what direction the farm should go, and Napoleon begings blaming Snowball for all the things that he did not do. Now Napoleon sets the animals to work on Sundays again and acquires Mr. Whymper as the farm’s broker. Napoleon starts to sell some of the farm’s produce. And the pigs start sleeping one hour later, and in beds. Then the windmill gets blown over and Snowball gets the blame. At this point the pigs still continue to abuse the power and stealing from the other animals. Napoleon stops making appearances to the other animals and makes a deal with Mr. Whymper to sell 400 eggs a week. Napoleon also gets some animals to confess of wrong doings and then â€Å"makes examples of them,† by killing them.

Barack Obama :: American Politics, Leadership

In 2007 when then Senator Barack Obama announced his run for the presidency of the United States, the country was experiencing great turmoil and people were ready for a change in leadership. No matter what political party you held, it appeared to be an overwhelming sentiment that people were looking for a shift in direction, especially relating to the bad economical positions a lot of Americans had found themselves in. All of the challenges that the country was experiencing was a sign that the next President would have to lead based on social, political and economical environments. This diverse demand was aligned with the more contemporary study of match the leader’s style with the demand of the assignment. To better ensure a leader’s effectiveness, many high profile leaders are being singled out as a way to correlate success with a leader’s approach. As a contemporary leader, President Barak Obama’s leadership style is constantly being critiqued. Although many still debate the effectiveness of his presidency, most people agree that his transformational leadership approach was the prescribed style the country was in need of. Leadership Traits I believe that defining a leader by one set of traits can be challenging, if not impossible. That is mostly likely that when you research leadership traits you come across various opinions; among them is Baker (2001) who believes that when leaders are defined they should be defined based on the traits associated with three systems. These systems (Baker, 2001) include the classical system, the equilibrium system, and the transforming system. Each of the systems (Baker 2001) has traits associated with them, for the exception of the transforming system. If we buy into Baker’s trait theory (2001), the transforming system would be the group that would set the stage for defining the leadership needs that the United States was experiencing when President Obama took office. In the transforming system the leader’s role cannot be defined in advance, but emergences from the dissipative or transforming processes (Baker, 2001). As we see the constant introduction of challenges since President Obama took office his leadership style has had to adjust to function effectively. Leadership Styles As defining what leadership traits are has evolved, so follows the leadership styles and how they are best used. Some of these styles include charismatic leadership, transformational leadership, transactional leader, situational leaders, directive leadership style, coaching leadership style, supporting leadership style, and delegating leadership style.

Ap Civil War & Reconstruction Essay

Course Description Advanced Placement United States History is a fast-paced and rigorous course designed to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to critically examine various issues in American History and relate them to events today. Because of one’s opportunity to earn college credit, dependent on one’s performance on the AP exam (May 11, 2012 @ 8am) and your college’s admission standards, this course is considered a college-level course. Hence, the workload and required student responsibility reflect college-level expectations. In addition to the academic content, this class will work on developing the skills necessary to perform well on the AP exam and which will benefit you in your future academic pursuits. These skills include writing analytically, interpreting historical documents, evaluating history from multiple perspectives, public speaking and critical thinking. The creation of our nation occurred only a few hundred years ago. The origins of the American Story will include many groups that inhabited the American continents for hundreds of years, as well as rival European nations fighting for supremacy that ultimately culminated in the rebellion of the thirteen colonies against the British Empire in 1776. While the study of our history includes dates and facts about Presidents and wars; our story is the story of legends, curses and folk tales that have originated here in the Americas during the past three centuries and have stood the test of time. Names like Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, and Roosevelt are synonymous with American History, but it is also the â€Å"common man’s† journey that makes our history captivating, tragic and beautiful. Course Objectives Students will: Master a broad body of historical knowledge Demonstrate an understanding of historical chronology Use historical data to support an argument/position Have a sense of geographic literacy, political dynamics, economic patterns, religious influences, social and cultural trends, intellectual developments, and the influence of the arts Interpret and apply data from original documents (primary sources) Interpret and apply data from historical scholarship (secondary sources) Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, and compare and contrast Work effectively with others to produce products and solve problems Write effectively to show a clear understanding of material and assignments Prepare for and successfully pass the AP exam Class Text Divine, Robert A. et al. America Past and Present (AP* Edition) 9th Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2011. Supplementary Texts These will be provided to the students through handouts and/or the class website. Barbour, Michael K et. al. AP* Exam Workbook to Accompany America Past and Present (AP* Edition) 7th Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. Fernlund, Kevin. Document’s For America’s History Volume 1: Since 1865 7th Edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Yazawa, Melvin. Document’s For America’s History Volume 1: To 1877 7th Edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Historiography A number of readers will be utilized to provide different interpretations of US History. These supplementary materials will enable students to fully grasp the concepts and information which will be on the AP exam. The list is also subject to revision. Errico, Charles J. And Oates, Stephen B. Portrait of America Volumes 1-2 10th Edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth CENGAGELearning, 2012. Madaras, Larry And SoRelle, James. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in United States History, Volumes 1 and II: The Colonial Period to Reconstruction, 14th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2010. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States, 1st Edition. NY: Harper Perennial, 1999. Materials I suggest you maintain a large binder divided by unit (keep at home) in which you collect all materials. It is mandatory that you keep an organized small binder with dividers and bring to class that just includes materials from the current unit divided into the following sections: Unit Study Guides Big Picture Key Terms Timelines Lecture Notes Handouts You are required to submit your Reading Journal in a folder dedicated solely to this task. BLUE or BLACK ink pens, pencils, paper, highlighters, post-its, flash drives, etc are also recommended. Instructional Strategies Although the amount of content we must cover dictates the frequent use of lecture, these periods will be supplemented with discussion and questioning. Additional strategies will be used including: document analysis, analytical reading, writing in various formats, debate, presentations, simulations, and collaborative and individual research. Additionally in order to prepare for the AP* Exam, students will use: past AP multiple choice questions free response to outline and map essay answers past AP DBQs and FRQs to learn how to interpret and analyze historical documents Continuous Assignments Homework: You will always have something to read, either assigned that day or text that you are responsible for over the course of the unit. All readings must be done BEFORE the due date. Most writing and research will occur outside of class. However, time will be allocated in class for brainstorming and conference. Unit Study Guides You will be given a Unit Overview Study Guides. Unit Overview will include a timeline activity to complete which will be due the day before the unit exam Unit Overview will also contain Key Terms Terms must be written in the notebook you bring to class every day Terms must be written in blue/black ink Define and state the significance of the terms No credit given for incomplete answers Due day before units exam Reading Journal: You must keep a reading journal, which serves both as a means to give you credit for your reading and as a resource for review and preparation for the exam. You are required to make an entry into the reading journal for each chapter of required textbook reading and each assigned primary document (PD). You will use a specific format for textbook chapters. Annotating or APPARTS is recommended for the PDs. A model of a textbook chapter and lists of reading journal entries are located on the website. The reading journal is due the day of each unit exam. Article Reviews In addition to the chapter readings, periodically you will be assigned supplemental reading that may be downloaded or read from the internet. You must read the article and complete the Article Review Worksheet which is found on the class website. These reviews will be due the day before a unit test. Quizzes and Unit Exams Brief quizzes are given on the reading assignments on a weekly basis. Why? To keep you honest! There is too much to cover by the teacher alone. You must do your part and there is no substitute for reading. These quizzes will consist of m/c questions and relate to the assigned reading. Please note these quizzes assess your reading, not just your ability to listen in class (i.e. material not covered in class may be on quiz Unit exams will be given at the end of the unit and will replicate an AP exam (80 m/c, FRQ and DBQ). Some unit exams may be take home exams. Some of the material tested will not be covered in class.

Gilgamesh and Odyssey Essay

Gilgamesh is an ancient poem that significantly marked its name as somehow being the first major heroic narrative in the world literature. Fractions of this literature were discovered uniquely carved in tablets even before the Roman, Hebrew and Greek civilization appeared. Gilgamesh depicts a unique and propinquity story of Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu that transcribed a complex and moving gist of bonds of friendship, of the pursuit for prominence and of the enduring and timeless attempt to escape death, of which considered to be the common fate of humankind. On the other hand, Odyssey, an epic story by Homer, is concerned on the idyllic events proceeded after a war and mainly on the significant return of the heroes who survived the war. The main subject of this written epic work somehow focus on the enduring, drawn-out return of one of the heroes named Odysseus of Ithaca, whose fate is to amble in unknown seas for ten years before he returned to his rocky kingdom. This paper will provide detailed and comprehensive comparison between the two main characters from both epics Gilgamesh and Odyssey. Motivation, goals, self-control, pride, outside influences, behaviors and personal and social relationships will serve as points of comparison being grasped in this paper. Motivation and Goals Gilgamesh, as described in the transcription, was provided with bizarre and astonishing strength, courage, and beauty by his divine and great creator. He is portrayed to be more of a god than a man. These characteristics of him profoundly surpass all circumstances all throughout his journey, a journey that significantly paved the greatest aspiration that probably mankind would have wanted – how to escape the universal fate of the human race. Simply, Gilgamesh wanted to run away from death and have eternal life. One of the tablets inscribed the mere dialogue between Gilgamesh and Utanapishtim (The Distant One). Utanapishtim is descriptively the wisest man who ever lived. Gilgamesh’s search for eternal life led him to ask Utanapishtim the greatest question, how to escape the universal fate of mankind? On a tablet transcribing such meeting, Gilgamesh apparently questions Utanapishtim of how did the latter join the ranks of the gods and find eternal life, though Gilgamesh described him not different; physically indifferent and yet his eart drained of battle spirit. And as response to the wondering question of Gilgamesh, Utanapishtim told him the â€Å"story of the flood†. Utanapishtim profoundly stated that he was commanded to build a boat to save everyone from the wrath of a devastating flood made by a god named Enlil, the chief god living on earth to wipe out human race. This story somehow illustrates events similar to the biblical script â€Å"Noah’s Ark†. The punishment to human race by Enlil gave Utanapishtim the opportunity to have eternal life. Gilgamesh’s greatest achievement though was bringing back to the human race this untold and unknown story. Gilgamesh, by some means, got hold of a plant that can likely grant rebirth to those who eats it, but unfortunately, a serpent stole it from him. With greater wisdom, Gilgamesh returned to Uruk knowing that only the gods are immortal. The goal of seeking immortality is what made both Gilgamesh and Odysseus, from Homer’s epic Odyssey, distinct and divergent with each other. Unlike Gilgamesh, whose goal is to seek and find answers on how to become immortal, Odysseus’s goal, on the hand, is merely the fact that he wants to find his way back home after a long and bloody war. During his voyage towards home, several temptations tested his mental qualities and physical endurance. Circe offered him the Lotus flower that endows forgetfulness of home and family. The greatest temptation however is offered by the goddess Calypso, whom he spent his seven years with – immortality. Instead of accepting such promising offer of immortality, he somehow denied such and still chooses the human conditions in spite of struggles, difficulties, disappointments and even its foreseeable death. Odysseus’s motivational force that drives his willingness to go back home is his wife, Penelope. Self-control Gilgamesh was first described as a king without self-control, rash and violent. People of Uruk, his kingdom, often complained about his absence of self-control towards oppressiveness to the Sumerian gods. Due to this aggressiveness, the gods created Enkidu as counterweight to Gilgamesh. But surprisingly, both Gilgamesh and Enkidu became best of friends; they fought together in every battles and wars, and found in each other the true companion they both sought. In an event where both took an adventure to seek universal fame and immortality pictures out the harsh and uncontrollable oppression to the gods overwhelmingly end the curtain to Enkidu. Enkidu’s death and his continuous and sole journey to seek immortality cause personal transformation. This change and transformation broaden his perception towards greater acceptance and recognition of reality and man’s mortality. On the other hand, Odysseus has extreme sense of self-control. Within the epic story, his remarkable self-control was described and admired. Again, during his adventures on the voyage home, his mental abilities and his physical endurance were tested. Instances occurred that tempted him to descend from his struggle towards home. A Lotus flower is said to suggest forgetfulness of home and family. Circe, goddess of magic, offered a pleasant life in the island of Lotus eaters. In the Phaeacia, he once offered the love and marriage of a young princess. Calypso is an immortal goddess whom Odysseus spent his life with for seven years offered the most significant and most tempting proposal, which probably all of mankind cannot resist. Calypso offered eternal life for Odysseus that will make him immortal. But all of these temptations were single-handedly denied by Odysseus as he preferred more to be mortal and be human amidst varied struggles, disappointments and the predictable end called death. Self-control might be a struggle for every man, but if every man has the drive to hold on to their will and embrace limitation, it will never be too late or too impossible to resist and deny any temptations. Pride The story of Gilgamesh started out as depiction of his arrogance of power. Because of his extraordinary capabilities endowed to him by his divine creator, his egotism of power endangered the relationship between mankind and the Summerian gods. To end Gilgamesh’s arrogance and injustices, gods then created Enkidu. His arrogance and pride concerning his power and unusual capabilities were continuously tested all throughout their journey in quest of rejuvenation of life and immortality. But then again, as mentioned earlier the previous section, after Enkidu’s death changed his perception not only towards man’s mortality but also the perception of one-self. One of the most significant limitations that Odysseus possesses is his pride which Odysseus had much. Part of the story somehow depicted Odysseus’s pride, particularly on the Cyclops’ island. When Odysseus and his men escaped safely from the island, Odysseus surprisingly brags and boasts about his exploit. Cyclops heard him and tossed huge rocks into the ship and some almost sing the ship. Effect of circumstances surrounding the character There are several external influences that bounds and affects the transformation of the once-known arrogant and violent king of Uruk. Due to the egoistic personality of Gilgamesh, it resulted to the discontentment and complaints from his people in which Summerian God interfered. The effect of these external events somehow paved a new path towards the overall impacts of Gilgamesh’s journey that led to his transformation from an arrogant king to a more unselfish and wisdom-filled individual. Another circumstance that greatly affected the character is the death of his supposed and destined enemy, Enkidu. Enkidu was a god-like mortal created by the gods intended to end Gilgamesh’s injustices and arrogance. Both somehow became friends and found a true and deep bond of friendship with each other. Death of his friend allowed him to solely seek answers for mankind’s immortality, which led him to his astonishment that there should no more battle to be fought and needs answers not surpassing violent circumstances. His continuous journey to seek answer guided him to Unatapishtim, the Divine One who could answer Gilgamesh’s wonderings, and which that this Divine One is blessed with immortality and abundance from the gods. Their conversation drew in new and significant events of the Divine One that gave him unending mortality. This occurrence surprisingly influenced and changed Gilgamesh’s perception on man’s mortality and broadens his acceptance to reality. Odysseus’s journey back home from the Trojan War somehow had endowed circumstances that might affect his own beliefs and characteristics. For example, when tempted by different immortal goddesses, most especially on the offering by Calypso to have everlasting and unending existence, he still grasps tightly to his humanity and instead chose to be human than immortal. His faith and dedication somehow proved that every obstacles and disappointments can be surpassed if he is optimistic enough to exceed and outdo every ounce of it. Behaviors In the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh’s subservient behavior is steered by his own self-contentment and self-sufficiency. Arrogant, violent, harsh, and no self-control are self-seeking behaviors and characteristics being affixed to the king, in which all these opened doors to discontentment and dissatisfaction from people. Gilgamesh’s behavior guided him to destruction. This ego-centric manner blinded Gilgamesh from reality that his conscious tried to make him see. For an instance, Gilgamesh tried to strike down on Ishtar during their second adventure to Cedar Forest with Enkidu. Ishtar cannot handle Gilgamesh’s harsh rejection and provoked to send the Bull of Heaven against the people of Uruk. Although they succeeded, it brought terrible damage to his kingdom and brought about the painful death of Enkidu. Unlike Gilgamesh, who is depicted as ego-centric individual, Odysseus has the contrast of this characteristic. Odysseus is optimistic and altruistic as he struggles not only for his own survival during the war, but also for his shipmate’s personal survival. Odysseus is described having versatility which either way compliments his physical strength and courage in battle, skills he showed during the war at Troy. These behaviors somehow resulted from his eagerness to return home to his wife and from his perseverance to preserve and finish the heroic reputation and dignity that he won in war at Troy. The same scene that illustrated Odysseus pride also depicts his care and being concerned to his fellow shipmates. After Cyclops threw boulders to the ship, Odysseus hastily gave his identity to Cyclops and the latter called Poseidon, his father, to punish Odysseus who brought harm to him. That incident hurt Odysseus more than losing his fellow men. This showed Odysseus’s heed towards his fellow shipmen. Personal and Social Relationships The Gilgamesh poem depicted not only ancient Mesopotamian myths and legends, but also endowed diverse and complex relationships and dealings between people involved in the epic story, particularly the main character, Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh’s relationship towards his people as a king is somehow in deep and shaky condition. There have been misunderstandings and lack of sense of unity between the king and its people that hindering a kingdom to flourish due to Gilgamesh’s disturbing and arrogant means of ruling Uruk. Another unstable relationship is with Gilgamesh and the Summerian gods. Gilgamesh tends to oppress the gods which led to the creation of Enkidu. Although Enkidu was created as a counterweight of Gilgamesh, unpredictably, both became friends. Relationship between the king and the supposed enemy is probably the most light and happy relationship made by Gilgamesh. They think of each other as brothers and a true companion in which their common journey indeed deepened their brotherly bond and friendship. There are also different relationship built all throughout the story between Odysseus and other characters in the epic. Again, he built a strong and deep bond and camaraderie with his fellow men. He even risked himself just to keep other from falling in the hands of Cyclops. Odysseus somehow has heart of gold for those who treasure him and appreciate him from his doings. His relationship with his wife, Penelope, also is as strong and sturdy as a diamond which no one can break even through rough and long times of being away from each other. To show his commitment and love to his wife, he even tricks his wife’s suitors and disguised himself as beggar.

Customer Complaint Behavior

Consumers’ complaint behaviour. Taxonomy, typology and determinants: Towards a uni? ed ontology Received (in revised form): 16th August, 2003 Dominique Crie ? is Professor of marketing at the University of Sciences and Technologies of Lille, in the Business Administration Department (IAE). He manages the postgraduate degree course: statistical specialisation for marketing databases. He is also a marketing consultant and statistician, member of the Association Francaise de Marketing and of the Societe Francaise de Statistiques. ? ? ? ?His research focuses on the customer relationship, particularly in relation to satisfaction, loyalty and retention. Abstract Complaint behaviour is a set of consumer dissatisfaction responses. It is an explicit expression of dissatisfaction, but dissatisfaction is only one determinant of this behaviour. Complaint behaviour can be analysed as various types of response but also as a process. This paper proposes an integrated framework of the various theories of complaint behaviour leading toward a uni? ed ontology and to interpreting it from a new perspective. Dominique Crie ?IAE de Lille, 104, Avenue du Peuple Belge, 59 043 Lille Cedex, ? France. Tel: 33 (0)3 20 12 34 64; Fax: 33 (0)3 20 12 34 48; E-mail: [email  protected] com INTRODUCTION This paper reviews a concept still relatively rarely considered by companies: consumer complaint behaviour. Within the framework of the relationship paradigm, complaint behaviour is a powerful signal which companies should take into account. On the one hand, it gives an organisation a last chance to retain the customer, if the organisation reacts appropriately, on the other hand it is a legitimate and ethical act toward the consumer.Generally, but not exclusively, complaint behaviour is one of the responses to perceived dissatisfaction in the post-purchase phase. In the ? rst section of the paper, a taxonomy of response styles used by dissatis? ed consumers is proposed. Then consumer com plaint behaviour (CCB) is de? ned and situated with regard to these various types of response. Finally, after clustering ‘complainers’ and ‘non-complainers’, this paper tries to track down the main dimensions of the CCB taxonomy through a structuralisation of its determinants within a diachronic approach — the objective being to propose a clari? d conceptual and theoretical framework to integrate the large variety of works on the subject. The conclusion highlights a synthesis of this conceptual structure with regard to a uni? ed ontology. A TAXONOMY OF THE TYPES OF RESPONSE TO DISSATISFACTION A dissatis? ed consumer may adopt several types of response, classi? cation of which may be delicate. The taxonomy of responses ? rst requires a distinction between the notions of response and of action to be established. Indeed, the term ‘action’ implies a very speci? c behaviour, 60Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60â €“79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour Table 1: A taxonomy of the types of response to dissatisfaction Towards enitity Response type Behavioural Public (Sellers, manufacturers, of? cial organisations, associations, justice) Complaint Legal action Return of the item Request for repair No action, with or without modi? cation of the attitude Forget or forgive Private (Family, friends, relations) Word of mouth Boycott/leaving Non-behavioural hile the term ‘response’ contains several modalities which are not exclusively behavioural, notably change of attitude or inactivity. This distinction establishes a ? rst dimension. The second is represented by the entities towards which responses are directed: the public one includes sellers, manufacturers and consumer associations or legal action; the private one includes family, friends or relatives. Finally, responses show different intensities according to the two previous dimensions. Responses may vary from inactivity to legal action — either simply to express dissatisfaction or to obtain repair or compensation (Table 1).The heterogeneity of these various response types may be partially explained by the cause and intensity of dissatisfaction and by the nature and importance of the product or service of concern. On the other hand, consumers may mix or connect several response types for the same dissatisfaction. This aspect is relatively neglected by the literature, although Hirschman1 notes that complaint and exit are not two symmetric elements: when a customer leaves the company, he/she loses ‘the opportunity’ to use their voice, while if he/she uses the complaint ? rst, he/she is always free to leave later if the complaint does not succeed.So exit can be a substitute for and complement to a complaint. The more expensive and complex the product, the more consumers are inclined to initiate public action, however the greater likelih ood is that they will stay inactive or choose private action. 2–4 The authors of the ? rst stream of literature are numerous, but Hirschman’s work remains standard in the conceptualisation of responses to dissatisfaction through the model ‘Exit, Voice and Loyalty’. Exit is an active and destructive response to dissatisfaction, exhibited by a break of the relationship with the object (brand, product, retailer, supplier. . ). The verbal response (Voice) is a constructive response with an expectation of change in an organisation’s practices, policies and responses; it is characterised by complaints towards friends, consumer associations and relevant organisations. The third type of response (Loyalty) has two aspects, constructive and passive, the individual hoping that things will evolve in a positive way. For Brown and Swartz,5 it is especially a feeling of impotence that is the cause of this behavioural loyalty. ‘The neglect of the incident and the inherent inactivity’ can, however, be considered as evidence for loyalty.Research designed to explain the various types of response to dissatisfaction is limited. Scales have been created for this purpose by Day et al. 6 but they are without methodological and Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 61 Crie ? psychometric validation. Only Bearden and Teel7 have investigated the various types of response using a Guttman scale. The data are collected from ? ve items of increasing intensity: (1) family and friends warning, (2) return of the item and/or complaint, (3) contact with the manufacturer, (4) contact with consumer associations or of? ial organisations and (5) legal action, notably when the customer does not obtain satisfaction with the seller. 8 Empirically validated, this scale does not, however, take into account the non-behavioural responses highlighted by previous research, and a sin gle item relates to private action. 9 Of a rather formative nature, every item contributes in its own way to the development of the intensity of the responses. Day10 con? rms the relevance of the use of such a scale. The main aim of this taxonomy is to clarify the various responses a dissatis? d consumer could use, in order to track down more precisely those which the company can observe directly. DEFINING CONSUMER COMPLAINT BEHAVIOUR Among the various types of response to dissatisfaction, some of them more direcly concern CCB. The ? rst conceptual base of this phenomenon concerning post-purchase was stated at the end of the 1970s. 11 Jacoby and Jaccard12 de? ne it as ‘an action begun by the individual who entails a communication of something negative to a product (service), either towards the company or towards a third entity’. For Day et al. 13 it is the consequence ‘of a given act of consumption, following which the consumer is confronted with an experience gen erating a high dissatisfaction, of suf? cient impact so that it is, neither likened psychologically, nor quickly forgotten’. Fornell and Wernerfelt14 consider that the complaint is ‘an attempt of the customer to change an unsatisfactory situation’. Finally, Singh15 suggests that this behaviour, activated at an emotional or sentimental level by a perceived dissatisfaction, is part of the more general framework of responses to dissatisfaction which consists of two dimensions (see also Day and Landon16).The ? rst dimension, grounded completely or in part in actions initiated by the consumer (conveying expression of his/her dissatisfaction not only to the seller, but also to third parties, friends or relations17,18), is behavioural but does not necessarily entail action towards the company; it is essentially within this dimension that CCB should be considered. The second dimension refers to absence of action by the consumer, for example when he/she forgets a generati ve episode of dissatisfaction. 19,20 In this way, CCB must, rather, be conceived as a process, ie its ? al manifestation does not directly depend on its initiating factors but on evaluation of the situation by the consumer and of its evolution over time. So, CCB really constitutes a subset of all possible responses to perceived dissatisfaction around a purchase episode, during consumption or during possession of the good (or service). In fact, the notion of ‘complaint behaviour’ includes a more general terminology which also involves the notions of protest, communication (word of mouth) or recommendation to third parties21 and even the notion of boycott.This notion is conceptually inserted in a set of explicit demonstrations, generally towards the seller, of a consumer’s dissatisfaction. It seems then that it is necessary to include in the de? nition of CCB a set of responses, heterogeneous in their targets — the study of this behaviour not being separable from understanding of all the responses to dissatisfaction. 62 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour DISSATISFACTION Behavioural response Non-behavioural response Towards company Perceptible by the companyTowards market Not perceptible by the company Inactivity Change of attitude Complaint Legal action Leaving Negative word of mouth Repeat purchase or behavioural loyalty Simple complaint Repair compensation Figure 1: Responses to dissatisfaction and complaint behaviour In the rest of this paper, therefore, the term ‘complaint behaviour’ is used in the conceptual meaning of a public behavioral response to dissatisfaction. So, for a company, only part of these responses will be perceptible, including complaint in the sense described previously (Figure 1). On the other hand, it is the retailer who will be most affected by CCB.The manufacturer is se ldom sought out, so such crucial information reaches him only rarely, and often not at all. 22,23 A TYPOLOGY OF DISSATISFIED CONSUMERS Several authors have tried to individualise groups of consumers with regard to the type of response adopted in the wider framework of dissatisfaction. Most researchers offer a ‘normative typology’ within which the ‘complainers’ can be placed but without really distinguishing particular groups. These are opposed to the ‘non-complainers’,24–27 in this way these works are more concerned with responses to dissatisfaction than CCB in its strict sense.They are poor in terms of possible categories and are not grounded in a rigorous analysis of response styles. Certain typologies nevertheless allow a few speci? c behaviours in the expression of CCB to be extracted, for example the ‘irritated actives’,28,29 the ‘activists’,30 the ‘complainers’, the ‘irates’,31 th e ‘voicers’,32 the ‘slightly offended’ or the ‘champions’. 33 For Hirschman34 the complaint must be considered as feedback on the quality delivered by the company, the ‘complainers’ are called ‘alert customers’ (because they allow the company to improve the product or service) asHenry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 63 Crie ? Table 2: Main types of complainers Behaviour Complaint (prostestation) Public action Voicers Champions Complainers Authors Dart and Freeman Weiser36 Etzel37 Shuptrine38 Bearden39 Day40 Gronhaug and Zaltman41 Singh42 Keng43 Masson44 Warland45 Singh46 Weiser47 Pfaff48 Warland49 Singh50 Dart51 Lost in action Weiser55 35 Private action Slightly offended Irates Authors Weiser52 Dart53 Singh54Request for repair Measures of retaliation Active upsets Irritated Detractors Activists opposed to ‘inert customers’. Th e complaint is then a factor of enhancement for company performance. Taken as a whole the typology of dissatis? ed consumers overlaps with that of the responses to dissatisfaction and develops its structure at the same time as the intensity of the CCB modalities chosen by consumers, going from simple complaint to retaliatory measures in a register of public or private actions (Table 2).Generally speaking, the various typologies outlined do not allow retailers or manufacturers to appreciate the complexity and variety of CCB in order to respond in an effective way, but it is likely that certain behaviours will be more speci? c in a given situation. For example, within the framework of a dissatisfaction bound to durable goods (high price and high commitment), one would tend to observe among ‘complainers’ a stronger proportion of ‘irritated actives’ or ‘irates’. In a weakly competitive market they will tend to be ‘activists’.If the usu al quality level of products is weak, ‘detractors’ and ‘irates’ will be observed. Finally, within the framework of a well-established relationship a majority of ‘champions’ or ‘slightly offended people’ would be expected. TOWARDS A DIACHRONIC APPROACH TO CCB The literature does not propose a systematisation in the organisation of antecedents and determinants of CCB. This de? ciency is essentially due to the fact that CCB is regarded as an immediate act and not as a process. In fact, this concept lacks a clearly identi? ed theoretical framework which allows the rganisation of a heterogeneous set of factors that initiate and modulate it and which can take into account resemblances and differences that also comply with the more global notion of dissatisfaction responses. Indeed, an ambiguity in the study of CCB results from the fact that it should not include, by semantic de? nition, the non-behavioural aspect of responses to dissatis faction or customers leaving. The 64 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour iachronic nature of the phenomenon of complaint could probably explain similarities and differences which exist between these two concepts. The number of implied variables strengthens the idea that CCB is not an instantaneous phenomenon, it is the outcome of a process of preliminary evaluations under the in? uence of initiating and modulating factors. This approach also raises the question of the effect of time on a consumer’s initial impulse to complain. CCB occurs after increasing re? ection by the consumer. 56–57 and Stephens and Gwinner,58 offer the ? rst longitudinal approach to CCB on the basis of in-depth interviews.For them, CCB results from a double cognitive evaluation. 59 The ? rst is de? ned as a process by which the individual estimates how much in? uence a p articular situation, in a given environment, has on his/her well being. The second may be analysed as a problem resolution strategy. The CCB depends then on the situation and on the psychological resources of the individuals. Within this framework, it is then relevant to think that generally the intention to complain or protest must occur at the same time as dissatisfaction and under the in? uence of initiating factors.This primary intention is then the object of various distorting or modulating factors meaning that the ? nal outcome is often different from that intended, it can be highly altered or just not come about at all. This idea then leads to the consideration of a number of non-behavioural responses to dissatisfaction or responses not perceptible by the company (cf. Figure 1) as being in some way failed CCBs. It is thus relevant to analyse how this intention arises and changes over time. After a phase of initiation represented by the initial level of dissatisfaction, then a phase of re? ction necessary for the integration of its cause and for the evaluation of the possible responses, there follows a phase of decision and of action which will in fact re? ect only the residual dissatisfaction at the conclusion of the process. This remaining dissatisfaction can nevertheless be reinforced to reach a higher level than that of the initial dissatisfaction, for example if the consumer is strengthened in his/her decision, either by the problem worsening, by the salesperson’s attitude or by the encouragement of third parties. In that case, measures taken by the consumer can be more signi? ant than those initially intended. Nevertheless the process does not stop with the voicing of the complaint, it also includes evaluation of the company’s response and concludes with the ? nal behaviour which ensues from it (repurchase or exit). It is then advisable to restore, in a diachronic framework, various streams of literature whose main object is to explai n the result of this process. Indeed, when researchers take time into account in CCB, it is essentially the available time to protest that is considered60 and not the period separating the episode of dissatisfaction from the response to it.But, the procedural knowledges are connected in time. They echo information relative to processes, that is to say sequences of actions, or sequences of reasoning in the sense that they order, or at least structure, the progress of several operations, possibly several procedures. This cognitive approach to complaint behaviour places it totally within the framework of a decision process. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATION OF THE VARIOUS ANTECEDENTS AND DETERMINANTS OF CCB In a simplistic way and besides its diachronic aspect, it is possible to distinguish within the conceptual part of the literature related to the determinantsHenry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 65 Crie ? Psycholo gical sphere – Sociocultural factors – Frustration/assurance – Learning – Attribution – Attitude/complaint – Experiences – Educational level DISSATISFACTION Negative word of mouth Economic sphere – Structure of the market – Frequency of purchases – Interactions buyer / seller – Costs of the complaint – Probability of success – Expected profit – Incomes – Switching barriers – Equity – Loyalty – InformationTYPE OF RESPONSE Complaint Legal action Inactivity Leaving Ethical sphere Figure 2: Antecedents and determinants of CCB of CCB, three spheres of factors which interact with different weights to lead, eventually, to CCB or to other modalities of response to dissatisfaction such as de? ned above. The psychological sphere is made up of individual variables re? ecting the propensity to CCB. The economic sphere groups together elements of cost and exchange structu res. Finally, the ethical sphere incorporates transactional equity, concentrating on the erception of the value of the link with the company and on the accuracy and helpfulness of the information given, for example, regarding ways to resolve the disputes, etc (Figure 2). On the other hand, the diachronic approach to CCB requires its various antecedents and determinants to be anchored on two points: ? rst on the initiating factors and secondly on the factors modulating the mode of complaint. This point of view allows not only integration of the various explanatory theories and the synthesis described above but also for a short path to complaint to be distinguished from a long one.This distinction, notably, can take into account the role of time and of both types of factors on CCB. In a short path the in? uence of the modulating factors is less, the complaint occurring mostly at the sale point, almost simultaneously with delivery of the product or service. It is an immediate emotional reaction rather than an extended process. In a long, extended path, however, there are more modulating factors which seem to shape the type of response. (The variables of the ethical sphere work as initiators, those of the economic sphere have a modulator role and those of the psychological sphere can be classi? d as either type. ) On the whole, four entities are directly involved in CCB: the product or service, the customer, the supplier and the episode of dissatisfaction. These various actors allow, within the framework of a diachronic approach, the multiple antecedents and determinants of CCB (Table 3) to be re-ordered. 66 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour Table 3: Various determinants of CCB according to the stage and the actorStage of CB Actor Product/service Initiation of CB Dissatisfaction level Modulation of CB Structure of the market Alternative s Purchase rate Price, complexity of the product/service Attitude, Experience/CB Learning, Information/CB Loyalty Education, Age, Sex Ethnicity Way of life Secondary evaluation of response possibilities Absence of management of post purchase Ease of access to the company Switching barriers Switching costs Customer/seller interactions Size of the company, business sector Expected pro? t Transaction costs of CB Probability of success Importance of consumer organisations CustomerPerceived frustration Perceived inequity Assurance (self control) Will to act Primary evaluation of the dissatisfaction Supplier Quality defect Incident/product or service Episode Situation, circumstances Dissatisfaction attribution Time-spatial simultaneity of the dissatisfaction and response possibilities Initiating factors of CCB Several factors may lead to CCB. Introducing and determining, partly, a consumer’s choice of a given type of response to dissatisfaction, they allow on the one hand a better understanding of consumers’ motivation for CCB and, on the other hand, a forecast of what response will be the most likely to be adopted.Ordinarily consumers need to be dissatis? ed in order to complain but other variables are necessary to switch from dissatisfaction to complaint. Such variables may lie in attribution of the cause of dissatisfaction or in psychosociological characteristics of the individual consumer (see Table 3). Dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction is a necessary antecedent of CCB, but is often not suf? cient61,62 (see also Jacoby and Jaccard,63 Westbrook64 and Ping65 on the notion of complaint without dissatisfaction66). It is the activating factor of the process. 7 Besides, Oliver68 underlines the existing relationship between the intensity of the dissatisfaction and this behaviour. 69 Grandbois et al. ,70 Richins,71 Maute and Forrester72 prove that the gravity of the problem is correlated in a positive way with the various responses to dissatisfaction includi ng CCB. The more the dissatisfaction increases, the more the verbal complaint strengthens and the more the probability of leaving the company grows. For Singh and Pandya,73 the relationship ‘intensity-type of response’ is not linear and admits threshold effects.When the level of dissatisfaction exceeds a given threshold consumers tend to use either negative word of mouth or leaving or appeal to a third party. On the other hand, the relationship between attitude to the Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 67 Crie ? complaint and CCB itself can be modulated by the intensity of the dissatisfaction. 74–76 Attribution of the cause of the dissatisfaction Psychosociological factorsTo lead to CCB, the consumer has to identify clearly the party responsible for his or her dissatisfaction during a given consumption episode (Table 3). In numerous cases it is the consumer himself/herself, for ex ample when he/she judges he/she did not make the right choice. So, even if for Valle77 the attribution of responsibility for dissatisfaction operates as an intermediary between the confusion and the response which follow, it is advisable to classify it as an initiating factor of CCB. According to Weiner et al. 78 a success or failure can be attributed either to elements under the control of the individual (internal cause[s]), or to environment or situational factors (external cause[s]). On the other hand, the performance can be attributed to invariant factors (stable) or evolving with time (unstable). The type of attribution achieved by the consumer determines a priori the response that may be chosen. If an external attribution is necessary for a private type action, a legal action or a request for repair, in the case of an internal attribution it is especially inactivity which dominates. 9 Usually, consumers who perceive the cause of their dissatisfaction as being stable (the same problem may recur) or controllable (the individual thinks that the retailer could have prevented the trouble) are more inclined to leave the product or the company and to engage in negative word of mouth than those who think that the problem has little chance of recurring and that the supplier could not prevent it (see also Folkes80). Some individual characteristics are to be considered as initiators of CCB, although they can also play a modulating role according to the situation (Table 3).Fornell and Westbrook,81 according to Mischel,82 associate CCB with the feeling of frustration felt by a dissatis? ed consumer. Frustration arises not only when the objective assigned to a given behaviour is blocked or interrupted before its ful? lment, but also when the result achieved has a lower level than that sought, or when its realisation requires more resources than the consumer can, wants or expects to spend to reach the desired objective. This feeling is also present when the means to re ach the satisfaction, both at the resources level and at the wanted object level (product or brand), are reduced or suppressed.Along the same lines, frustration can arise in situations of purchase intention (unavailability of the product or of the brand) or in post-purchase situations (dissatisfaction of use or of ownership). The more substantial the frustration, the greater the risk of aggressiveness and CCB. For Stephens and Gwinner83 the stress of dissatisfaction adds to the daily stress and CCB is connected to a double evaluation of the situation during a cognitive process. Three constituents form the primary evaluation of the stress: (1) the level of modi? ation of the individual objectives; (2) the incongruity between these objectives and the incident; (3) the level of the person’s ego infringement (humiliation, self-esteem, ethical values). A second evaluation of possible response strategies is then initiated according to: (1) the responsibility attribution for the con fusion; (2) the possibility of solving the problem (capacities of the individual, probability of success); (3) the feeling that things will go better afterwards. If 68Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour the resulting stress of the primary evaluation can be reduced by a solving strategy (secondarily estimated), the probability of CCB is great. If, on the other hand, this strategy risks increasing the initial stress, the main probability turns out to be a non-behavioural response or a response towards the market (see Figure 1). Other individual characteristics may also in? ence the start of a complaint process,84 eg loyalty to the brand, product or supplier; the level of quality assessment, the educational level and tastes; the ability to detect quality differences (a function of experience) and the acquired level of information; perception of the ‘cost /pro? t’ ratio of the possible actions. For Lapidus and Pinkerton,85 the consumer–retailer relationship is one of social exchange and, therefore, equity theory may be applied in order to explain the initiation of CCB.The consumer compares his/her inputs/outputs ratio with those that he/she perceives to be received by the seller. Naturally this comparison can be biased according to the trend (positive or negative) of the revealed inequity. The complaint appears then as an attempt to reduce the perceived inequity (see also Blodgett et al. 86). Secondly, the costs inherent in the complaint and its perceived outcome can be considered as inputs and outputs of this theory. Finally, learning theory can also be mentioned: the inclination to CCB is essentially a function of past experiences87–90 and of their outcome. 1 Modulator factors of CCB Dissatisfaction can be organised around two congruent factors: the former is situational, the latter temporal. It can indeed occu r where the product is purchased or the service is delivered and thus be immediate, but it can also take place at a distance from the act of purchase. In the same way, the response to dissatisfaction can be either immediate or deferred. So the CCB can consist of rather a short path in the case of a dissatisfaction on the spot and of an immediate response, or a long circuit in the case of delayed dissatisfaction with regard to the purchase act or of a postponed response.It is then, especially in this last situation, that numerous variables can intervene to modify the consumer’s actual response, by moderating or aggravating it: ultimately the intensity of the CCB will thus depend on an evaluation of the situation during a temporal process. The market structure, sociocultural characteristics or evaluation of the various costs associated with CCB will act as modulators of the process outcome. The market structure The market structure can be regarded as an element in? uencing the response type choice adopted by a dissatis? ed consumer (see Table 3).For Hirschman,92 consumers are ready to voice their complaints in two circumstances: (1) the way they balance the certainty of leaving and the uncertainty of an improvement in the product or service quality and (2) the estimation they make of their capacity to in? uence the organisation by voicing their concerns. These two factors are far from being independent. Fornell and Didow93 situate CCB in the larger ? eld of rational choice — with the slight difference that choice in economic theory is in the pre-purchase period, while CCB is generally a post-purchase phenomenon.The objects of choice are also different: products and services in the ? rst case, type of response in the second. In this theoretical framework, they show that verbal action can be Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 69 Crie ? expressed as a preference functi on and as the possibility of purchasing elsewhere. Indeed, in a restricted competitive environment, verbal action will be the only possible action for a dissatis? ed consumer. 4,95 In contrast, when competitors are numerous, the customer’s leaving becomes the most likely reaction and his/her action is then situated at the market level (see Figure 1). Therefore, the market structure appears as a powerful determinant of CCB. On the other hand, and within this framework, sensitivity of the various customer segments, either to price or quality, shapes the dominant response type to dissatisfaction. Those sensitive to price may leave the company, those sensitive to quality are more inclined to complain. 6 It also seems that buyer–seller interaction frequency (ie purchase rate) plays a part in the preference for verbal action. 97 The more frequent these interactions the fewer the public actions. 98 On the other hand, Barksdale et al. 99 report that the lower the level of purc hase at the same supplier, the greater the tendency to CCB. New purchases lead to more complaints and the usual suppliers receive more complaints than the new ones. For Weiser,100 the degree of ease of access to the company and the willingness of the customer to complain are determining elements in the choice of a response type. In a more speci? way, Andreasen101 emphasises, within the framework of nearly monopolistic markets or markets perceived as such, that the response type is a function of the: perceived heterogeneity of the offer quality; level of knowledge; level of perceived switching costs; probability of success of a verbal action both for the individual and the community; supposed complaint level of other consumers; and the degree of loyalty to the product, brand or supplier. The attractiveness of the alternatives or the availability of substitutable goods shows a strong relationship with the response type adopted by the consumer. 02 In the same way, the more important th e company the more the number of complaints. 103,104 Day et al. 105 classify in three categories the factors which can in? uence the propensity to CCB: (1) the circumstances de? ning the interests at work and evaluation of the costs and likely pro? ts of a search for compensation; (2) the characteristics of the individuals or the situation surrounding the costs and the purely psychological pro? ts of alternative actions, as well as the general tendency of the mediation interventions; (3) market conditions and the legal climate.For Day et al. , this latter category determines the probability of a favourable outcome to the action taken. Generally speaking this type of action will also depend on the nature of the product or service, the usable channels of complaint and the third parties which could intervene. On the other hand, for Andreasen and Best,106 the inclination of consumers to perceive problems depends on the nature of the exchange. For services this propensity is greatest, be cause they are, by nature, more dif? cult to assess (see Shuptrine and Wenglorz,107 Bearden and Masson108).But there is also a unit of time and place during service delivery which favours CCB. Referring to the attribution theory, Zeithaml and Bitner109 consider that because the customer is an actor in service delivery, the customer appropriates more willingly a part of responsibility in his/her dissatisfaction and tends to protest less often. Sociocultural factors Some sociocultural factors have to be acknowledged as modulators of the complaint process (see Table 3). For Day 70 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003)Consumers’ complaint behaviour et al. ,110 (1) the standards of life and the effectiveness of the marketing system, (2) the degree of regulation and control of economic activities and marketing practices and (3) the availability of information to help consumers make their choice or to know where to complain, represent three groups of characteristics to be taken into account for a cross-cultural approach to the phenomenon. Richins,111 within the framework of an international comparison, shows that in the USA the factors most correlated to CCB are price, the dif? ulty the consumer faces in resolving the confusion by himself and the attribution of the cause of dissatisfaction. In the Netherlands Richins found the correlating factors were price, responsibility for the damage and its felt intensity. The most determinative variables remain the attribution of responsibility and the perceived consequences of a complaint, two variables less correlated to CCB in the American sample. Cornwell, Bligh and Babakus112 clearly highlight that ethnic origin plays an important role in CCB especially through values and the way of life.Webster113 also ? nds an in? uence of ethnic factors when the effect of social variables is controlled. Furthermore, women generally have a grea ter inclination to complain and people living in rural areas are more prone to negative word of mouth. 114 For Farhangmehr and Silva,115 educational level is a determining variable; the higher it is the more consumers tend to complain in a dissatisfaction situation (see Gronhaug,116 Morganosky and Buckley117). In their study, the reasons for silence on the part of the consumer are: the effort and waste of time involved (44. per cent) which can be compared with the expected gain; the feeling of not being understood or that the problem will not be resolved (30. 3 per cent); and not knowing where and how to complain (21. 1 per cent) which is related to the consumer’s information level. Obviously these proportions can vary with the opinion that consumers have about the possibility of resolution of their problem according to the sector or company concerned. 118 Gronhaug and Zaltman119 show that economic indicators such as income have only a weak explanatory power and that it is th e same for demographic factors. 20–123 For Singh124 the ‘complainers’ tend to have superior incomes, a higher educational level, are still working and are younger (also Bearden et al. 125). Laforge126 indeed shows that elderly people complain less, this in agreement with the sociological theory of learned helplessness which makes the individual passive because he/she perceives the situation as uncontrollable. The costs of the complaint In reference to the works of Landon,127 the pro? t of a complaint is a function of the result minus the cost of complaint.This result is itself estimated with regard to the importance and the nature of the damage sustained. The consumer’s preference for verbal action is then related to the expected value of the complaint outcome (connected with the importance of the dissatisfaction) minus the associated costs. 128 The latter depend notably on the image of the company, especially in the resolution of disputes, on the consumer ’s experience of CCB and on the nature of the dispute. An arbitration is thus achieved between cost and pro? of every possible action so as to gain maximum utility. 129 Gronhaug and Gilly130 use transaction costs theory131 in order to explain the various consumer responses to dissatisfaction. Three dimensions of this theory (speci? city, uncertainty and exchange frequency) can be invoked to Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 71 Crie ? explain CCB. Does approaching the distributor or manufacturer entail speci? c costs? Generally, CCB requires time and effort thus generating a mixture of ifferent types of costs, eg opportunity cost of the elapsed time, deliberation costs, transportation costs — these can be called CCB transaction costs. These costs are speci? c to the envisaged response type whether it is actual or not. They cannot be paid off afterwards, at best they could be used as a l earning stage in order to reduce them during a later complaint. Uncertainty arises from any transaction (ie complaint) and the consumer looks for information to reduce this uncertainty to a bearable level. Finally, the complaint frequency has a direct in? ence on its organisation, possibly becoming a ‘routine’, thus reducing the associated costs. This theory thus explains more frequent CCB when consumers have superior educational level: they know their rights so the level of uncertainty associated with the complaint is reduced and there is, therefore, a global decrease of the perceived costs of a complaint. Nevertheless, as a general rule, the majority of dissatis? ed customers do not complain. Kolodinsky132 insists moreover on the assessment, by the consumer, of the temporal cost of the choice of an appropriate response.Furthermore, as the search for a new product or supplier also generates numerous costs, it is often the case that the dissatis? ed consumer refrains fr om any action. 133,134 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR HANDLING COMPLAINTS Businesses are, too often, completely hopeless at dealing with complaints, although complaint management has become an important issue for many companies. Some elements of the various theories mentioned above allow managers to understand better the complaint process in order to cope with it better.First of all, and within the framework of relationship marketing, complaint management is a major strategic issue. On the one hand complaint management has a retention function in the sense that where a customer satis? ed with the treatment of his/her complaint gets a second-order feeling of satisfaction his/her con? dence with the company is strengthened. Thus companies that respond to consumer dissatisfaction and complaints with appropriate recovery strategies and satisfactory complaint resolution can turn dissatis? ed consumers into satis? ed ones, positively in? uencing repurchase rates (eg Bearden and Oliver135).To decrease the effect of dissatisfaction and the incidence of further negative actions, companies need to show, at the least, that they are responsive to legitimate complaints. But, if problems are resolved poorly, they are only the beginning of a multitude of ‘hidden’ actions which do not come to the attention of the business. So, proper handling of customer complaints improves repeat patronage intentions and reduces negative word of mouth. 136 Finally, in dealing with complaints, truly marketing-oriented companies must examine not only the costs of the remedy, but also the cost of not settling the complaint.The usual rationale is that complaints represent valuable feedback to companies that allows them to take corrective action vis-a-vis the defective product or ` service as regards either the critical incidents137 or adjustment of the offer to match customer expectations. Both actions are of strategic nature: the ? rst is concerned with customer relationship managemen t and retention, the second with an equally long-term strategy, ie continuous improvement of the product or service in order to ? t customer expectations. 72 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy ManagementVol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour From an operational point of view, the complaints handling process begins before the customer addresses his/her complaint to the seller or manufacturer. All must be done in order that the various costs associated with this behaviour are reduced, so that complaints are encouraged, facilitated and even solicited in order for companies to take corrective action. Kotler138 suggests that the best thing a retailer can do is to make it easy for a customer to complain.For example, Saint Maclou, a French nationally-advertised carpet manufacturer and retailer, indicates on each bill the name of the person to contact if a problem arises and, if the trouble remains unresolved, th e name of a more empowered executive is given. Access to the company thus has to be multichannel. The customer must be assured that he/she will be listened to and that his/her problem will probably be successfully resolved. Lastly, and according to justice theory, the consumer must be conscious that the failure will be corrected fairly, that is to say with impartiality, transparency, effectiveness and fairness.As the majority of dissatis? ed consumers leave the company without complaining, managers have to overcome customers’ natural disinclination to complain. Thus this process is concerned with service recovery, that is to say, the recti? cation of mistakes or compensation of customers. Service recovery is de? ned as the response a provider makes to a service failure;139 service failure usually requires dissatisfaction on the part of the customer. It begins with thanks for the approach by the customer: salespeople or staff need to learn to use ‘complaint welcomingâ₠¬â„¢ procedures.Then the complaint must be listened to. Psychologically speaking it is important for the customer to cope with his/her frustration through a kind of debrie? ng by oral or written expression of the trouble. For instance, complaint letters to Railtrack in the UK rose to an all time high in 2001, without the writers realistically expecting any immediate bene? t other than the ability to articulate their frustration. Complaint, especially voice, gives the customer an opportunity to ‘tell their side of the story’ which serves as a kind of reward for the customer. 40 Furthermore, Levy and Weitz141 argue that a salesperson’s willingness to listen can be an important source of consumer dissatisfaction and complaint intentions. A salesperson’s willingness to listen has been described as the degree of attentiveness a person shows. 142 According to Palmroth,143 a salesperson must ask questions until s/he understands the full nature of the complaint wi thout appearing to place blame on the customer. These salespeople should be seen as trustworthy, friendly, expert, honest, helpful and concerned.The third step is concerned with the acknowledgment of the failure, if justi? ed. (If not, it is necessary to explain why and, according to the attribution theory, to gently point out the misuse of the service or product. It should also be noted that some consumers may complain not out of dissatisfaction but in an effort to gain fraudulently from retailers or manufacturers. ) This is, however, related to the salesperson’s familiarity with the product and awareness of any possible problems with the merchandise in question.Apologies are the next step and empowered contact employees must be able to offer immediate redress where possible or advice on the way to proceed, always in order to reduce customers’ costs and frustration. Indeed, of customers who register a complaint, about 60 to 75 per cent will do business with the provid er again if their complaint has been resolved, and this Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 73 Crie ? gure goes up to 95 per cent if the customer feels that the complaint was resolved quickly. Furthermore, providing compensation is a common response to customer complaints. In addition to the tangible bene? ts received, customers typically see the compensation as a symbolic expression of regret by the provider. 144 In a word, courteous and fast treatment by front of? ce personnel can enhance favourable post-complaint responses145 and staff must persuade the customer that all will be done to ensure that the trouble does not recur. Other authors provide some rules of thumb.For example, Davidow146 presents a model framework that divides the organisational responses to complaint into six separate dimensions: timeliness, facilitation, redress, apology, credibility and attentiveness. Nevertheless, according to Mitchell,147 a study shows that 51 per cent of his sample who had complained about a service and 23 per cent about products were less than completely satis? ed with the responses they received. The importance of regulatory authorities in determining how complaints should be managed in a marketing sense, and their active involvement in researching this area and etting standards should also be noted. Generally speaking the legal analysis assumes that it is important that companies are involved in ? xing problems with consumers. But more often, sector-based organisations are proactive and promulgate codes of conduct or of deontology in order to provide a conventional frame for a wide range of business activities, including complaints. For instance, Consumer Complaint Form (CCform; coordinated by the Federation of European Direct Marketing) is a European Commission Information Society Technology funded project to reach a consensus between business, consumers, academics and egulators on new, more ef? cient and transparent processes for complaints management. The CCform project aims to develop an online, multilingual complaint form and a best practice business process. With CCform, consumers will be able to make complaints in their own language, and then the form will be translated into the companies’ preferred tongue. Note that cultural norms appear to change the way people react to dissatisfaction and so the response type. Consumers will be able to track the progress of their complaint, and, if necessary, escalate their grievance to a dispute resolution service or regulator.CCform can be used by any company doing business by e-commerce, distance selling or local retail operations. 148 Complainants may have recourse to a third party and an escalation in the process can result. In this sense, the complaint handling can also be seen as a dispute prevention mechanism. On the other hand, and from a customer relationship management point of view, CCB is an imp ortant early warning. Furthermore, Powers and Bendall-Lyon149 have shown that the number of complaints increased as a result of the introduction of a complaint management programme in an hospital context.Complaint management programmes enable organisations to receive complaint information in order to identify and accommodate dissatis? ed customers and identify common failure points in order to improve service quality. Each complaint either by phone, face to face, letter or e-mail, should be recorded in the database. The manager should be able to link each product, customer and complaint together. For example, a customer with an increasing complaint rate may be in a leaving phase and should be carefully monitored. Indeed, and although customer 4 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour relationship management aims to establish and maintain ongoing customer relati onships by focusing on the speci? c customer’s needs in order to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction and company loyalty, one major aspect of customer relationship management is the effective handling of customer complaints. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH This paper allows CCB to be placed and de? ed within the larger framework of responses to dissatisfaction and then suggests an integrating framework of diachronic nature. Until now research into CCB has taken a deductive approach, researchers trying to deduce its causes from contextual or individual elements without being really interested in the process taking place in a temporal space of variable duration. The various works of literature studied offer different explanations for CCB but few of them consider the sequence and interaction of initiating or modulating factors in a process.CCB is indeed essentially described in its immediate nature, that is to say as an instantaneous event. Nevertheless, the nature and i ntensity of response to dissatisfaction certainly depend on the type of experience and on the responsible product/service but they also involve two other actors (the supplier and the customer) in a diachronic framework. The variability of individual reactions, notably revealed by the lack of a clear typology of ‘complainers and noncomplainers’, results from a different weighting of constitutive elements of the process over time.The joining together and organisation of these elements, from which three large areas can be isolated (the utilitarian sphere of the economists, the ethical sphere of equity and the psychological sphere, notably represented by attribution), supply a synthetic approach by describing CCB in two stages: initiation and modulation. The initiation phase is related to the dissatisfaction level which determines the opening of the process. It is then followed by a search for attribution of the problem and by the perception of the inequitable character of the transaction engendering frustration or stress which the individual will try to minimise.It is during the evaluation of the problem resolution strategies that modulators, such as experience and attitude towards the complaint, personality of the individual and his/her sensitivity to quality, will or will not allow the process to evolve towards the actual complaint. Other factors of this type can be isolated, such as loyalty level and information level, the degree of nearness (commitment) in the relationship with the supplier, the market structure (particularly the possibility of choice alternatives) and ? ally, the hoped/expected utility of the complaint with regard to the perceived costs as well as the accessibility of the company for CCB. If CCB is taken to be a process it becomes easy to link together all the response types following an episode of dissatisfaction and this knowledge is helpful for complaints handling, eg in encouraging the customer to complain or in avoiding his leaving. The TARP study150 indeed indicates that 90 per cent of dissatis? ed consumers initiate no action and leave the product, brand or company.So, the managerial implications arise not only from contextual factors but also from the diachronic aspect of the phenomenon. Although initiators are only weakly accessible to action by the manager, except by avoiding dissatisfaction and by strengthening the perceived equity of transactions, some Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 75 Crie ? modulators can be amended so as to lead the dissatis? ed customer to complain more frequently. Thus the company can contribute to the modi? ation of consumers’ attitudes towards CCB by: rendering more favourable the perception of previous experiences; restoring a feeling of equity after a complaint; decreasing the costs, particularly the psychological ones; and ? nally, establishing interpersonal relationships th at reduce the attraction of alternatives. It is necessary to reward customers who complain by including them in this step and by getting them used to this cultural change. It is necessary to insist on the urgency of a dissatisfaction communication to the company and to shorten the response delay (free phone number, speci? coupon, website, CCform. . . ) in order to minimise the negative constituents of the modulators. From a passive role of complaint reception, the company has to evolve towards a proactive stage in the genesis and the actual expression of CCB. It is then necessary to gather information about dissatisfaction as quickly as possible in order to divert a process which would otherwise probably lead to the customer leaving. So, complaints must be regarded more as a marketing tool than as a cost (better service to the customer and customer retention); they constitute a fundamental element of relationship marketing.This synthesis should encourage the number of research studi es into the diachronic side of CCB, in the sense that any dissatisfaction (of external attribution) requires that the consumer get in touch with the company. So, the relationship between dissatisfaction, complaint intention and actual response deserve to be clari? ed in connection with time. It is also advisable to analyse more exactly consumers’ expectations of complaints. It is indeed by satisfying these expectations that marketers can hope to increase the number of ‘complainers’. References 1 Hirschman, A. O. (1970) ‘Exit, voice and loyalty: Responses to decline in ? ms, organizations and states’, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. 2 Day, R. and Landon, E. Jr. (1977) ‘Toward a theory of consumer complaining behavior’ in Woodside, Sheth and Bennett (eds) ‘Consumer and industrial buying behavior’, North Holland Publishing Co. , Amsterdam, pp. 425–437. 3 Richins, M. L. (1987) ‘A multivariate analysis of re sponses to dissatisfaction’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 24–31. 4 Levesque, T. J. and McDougall, G. H. G. (1996) ‘Customer dissatisfaction: The relationship between types of problems and customer response’, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 264–276. 5 Brown, S. and Swartz, T. (1984) ‘Consumer medical complaint behavior: Determinants of and alternatives to malpractices litigation’, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Vol. 3, pp. 85–98. 6 Day, R. L. , Grabicke, K. , Schaetzle, T. and Staubach, F. (1981) ‘The hidden agenda of consumer complaining’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 86–106. 7 Bearden, W. O. and Teel, J. E. (1983) ‘Selected determinants of consumer satisfaction and complaint reports’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 21–28. 8 Barnes, J. and Kelloway, K. R. 1980) ‘Consumerists: Complaining behavior and attitude toward social and consumer issues’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 7, pp. 329–334. 9 Singh, J. (1988) ‘Consumer complaint intentions and behavior: De? nitional and taxonomical issues’, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 93–107. 10 Day, R. L. (1984) ‘Modeling choices among alternative responses to dissatisfaction’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 11, pp. 496–499. 11 Day and Landon (1977) op. cit. 12 Jacoby, J. and Jaccard, J. J. (1981) ‘The sources, meaning and validity of consumer complaining behavior; A psychological review’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 57, No. , pp. 4–24. 13 Day et al. 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(1995) ‘Usefulness of economics in explaining consumer complaints’, The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 29–54. 23 Lovelock, C. H. (1996) ‘Services marketing’, 3rd ed. , Prentice Hall, New Jersey, pp. 473–480. 24 Day, R. (1980) ‘Research perspectives on consumer compl aint behavior’, Lamb and Dunne (eds) ‘Theoretical developments in marketing’, AMA, Chicago IL, pp. 11–215. 25 Shuptrine, K. and Wenglorz, G. (1980) ‘Comprehensive identi? cation of consumer’s marketplace problems and what they do about them’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 8, pp. 687–692. 26 Gronhaug, K. and Zaltman, G. (1981) ‘Complainers and non-complainers revisited: Another look at the data’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 8, pp. 83–87. 27 Bearden and Teel (1983) op. cit. 28 Masson, J. B. and Himes, S. H. (1973) ‘An exploratory behavioral and socio-economic pro? le of consumer action about a dissatisfaction with selected household appliances’, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. , No. 1, pp. 121–127. 29 Warland, R. H. , Hermann, R. O. and Willis, J. (1975) ‘Dissatis? ed consumers: Who gets upset and who takes action’, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 148–163. 30 Pfaff, M. and Blivice, S. (1977) ‘Socioeconomic correlates of consumer and citizen dissatisfaction and activism’, in Day R. ‘Consumer satisfaction, dissatisfaction and complaining behavior’, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, pp. 115–123. 31 Singh, J. (1990) ‘A typology of consumer dissatisfaction response styles’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 57–98. 32 Dart, J. and Freeman, K. 1994) ‘Dissatisfaction response styles among clients of professional accounting ? rms’, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 75–82. 33 Weiser, C. (1995), ‘Customer retention: The importance of the ‘‘Listening Organisation’’ ’, Journal of Database Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 344–358. 34 Hirschman (1970) op. cit. 35 Dart and Freeman (1994) op. cit. 36 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 37 Etzel, M. and Siverman, B. (1981) ‘A managerial perspective on directions for retail customer satisfaction research’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 124–136. 38 Shuptrine and Wenglorz, (1980) op. cit. 39 Bearden, W. , Crockett, M. nd Teel, J. (1980) ‘A past model of consumer complaint behavior’, in Bagozzi, R. P. (ed. ) ‘Marketing in the 80’s: Changes and challenges’, AMA Proceedings, Chicago, IL, pp. 101–104. 40 Day (1980) op. cit. 41 Gronhaug and Zaltman (1981) op. cit. 42 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 43 Keng, K. A. , Richemond, D. and Han, S. (1995) ‘Determinants of consumer complaint behaviour: A study of Singapore consumers’, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 59–67. 44 Masson and Himes (1973) op. cit. 45 Warland (1975) op. cit. 46 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 47 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 48 Pfaff and Blivice (1977) op. it. 49 Warland, R. H. , Hermann, R. O. and Moore, D. E. (1984) ‘Consumer and community involvemen t: An exploration of their theoretical and empirical linkages’, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 64–79.. 50 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 51 Dart and Freeman (1994) op. cit. 52 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 53 Dart and Freeman (1994) op. cit. 54 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 55 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 56 Kolodinsky (1995) op. cit. 57 Conlon, D. E. and Murray, N. M. (1996) ‘Customer perceptions of corporate responses to product complaints: The role of explanations’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 1040–1056. 58 Stephens, N. and Gwinner, K. P. (1998) ‘Why don’t some people complain? A cognitive-emotive process model of consumer complaint behavior’, Journal of The Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 26, No. 3, 172–189. 59 Lazarus, R. S. (1966) ‘Psychological stress and the coping process’, McGraw Hill, New York. 60 Kolodinsky (1995) op. cit. 61 Day (1984) op. cit. 62 Oliver, R. L. ( 1987) ‘An investigation of the interrelationship between consumer (dis)satisfaction and complaint reports’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 14, pp. 218–222. 63 Jacoby and Jaccard (1981) op. cit. 4 Westbrook, R. A. (1987) ‘Product/consumption based affective responses and postpurchase processes’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 258–270. 65 Ping, R. A. (1993) ‘The effects of satisfaction and structural constraints on retailer exiting, voice, loyalty, opportunism and neglect’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 320–352. 66 These authors mention the possibility of complaint by satis? ed consumers, either to try to obtain more from the company, or for fear of a future breakdown or because of doubt in the performance of the product or because of propensity to complain. 67 Singh, J. 1989)