Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Why Did the Nationalists Win the Spanish Civil War?

Achilleas Sarantaris 2/10/11 | Republicans| Nationalists| Political Strengths/weaknesses| *Caballero’s rule weakened because Republicans were politically divided due to different ideologies; communists vs. socialists who believed revolution should be postponed, anarchists who believed war could only be won through revolutionary policies. *Terror tactics to control increasing population led to resistance*’May Days† street fighting: communists and socialists vs. narchists enhanced disunity| *main strength was their unity. Franco would assume political and military command because Nationalists wanted unified command. Falange Espaniola Tradicionalista, Franco’s new merged party, had 1,070,000 members. *Supported from the church which opposed the left*Franco gained power and authority from his victories in the battlefield| Military strengths/weaknesses| *Lacked strong military leadership, no unified command; anarchists and Basques refused to be led by a central command structure. Loyal army officers were not trusted by the Republic. Dependent on hazardous ineffective militia units, different fronts operated separately| *Even though initial disunity, Africanistas contained the best troops in the country thus they could cover other forces. *Key to success was unified command. Franco’s leadership was accepted by other right-wing parties, including Italians. *Sound communicators, military equipment and large amount of junior officers together with Franco’s ability as a military leader were decisive factors. | Economic advantages/disadvantages| *Under anarchist control utilities worked by workers’ committees, collective farms set up. However they could not supply the needs of the republic to fight the war. *Production in Catalan fell by 2/3 between 1936 and 1939. *Due to Non-Intervention Committee trade only with USSR, which led to the entire gold reserves of Spain being used up| *Backed by business community, hence they could buy war supplies. *Main industrial areas under their control. *Benefited from unrestricted international trade. USA gave $700 million in credit to the Nationalists. | Foreign Assistance| *Far more limited than that of the Nationalists; main ally USSR. *No Soviet troops send to fight, only 1000 aircrafts, 750 tanks and some advisers, which had to be aid for. *International Brigade sent 35. 000 foreign volunteers with limited impact. 1938 Soviets withdrew support and IB left. Francs initial aid ended when it joined Britain’s Non-Intervention| *Foreign aid was a crucial factor in the Nationalist’s victory. *Rebels benefited from more aid of better quality than that given to Repub licans. Franco’s army airlifted by German’s to mainland. *German condor legion; 10,000 troops, 800 aircraft, 200 tanks. Italians 75,000 troops, 750 planes and 150 tanks. Portuguese 20,000 troops. *Key factor not man power, but advanced technology and equipment they received. | p

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

A Book Review on “Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”

In the political and social satire A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur†s Court, Mark Twain demonstrates his excessive pride and glory in the political, economic, and technological advances of his time by developing an interesting plot in which an 19th century mechanic travels back to the time of a cruel feudalistic Camelot and attempts to modernize and improve it. Overall, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur†s Court, Mark Twain compares the basic political, social, and technological principles of the 19th America to the medieval ages of Great Britain. On a political scale, the novel denounces that the medieval period exemplified strict rule by the monarch, unity between church and state, and showed that many of the people had extremely harsh judgment. On a social scale, Mark Twain demonstrated that the Middle Ages carried a strict separation of classes where the nobility and clergy had much control, while the peasantry had almost non. Last, on a technological scale, Mark Twain implies that magic is not real and he goes on further to prove that the technology and tools of his time frame could have greatly improved the Middle Ages. All in all, Mark Twain creates an ideal character from his time that ends up creating a semi-utopian environment in Camelot. When Hank Morgan awakened into the medieval world of King Arthur and Camelot, he saw political injustice. To compensate for this injustice, Morgan used his status as a beneficiary tool and combated against the church and the royal privileged. Overall, he made the people of Camelot aware of the injustice of their time and gave them the hope for an optimistic future. From this, we can see that Mark Twain believed that his time frame possessed the best type of government in which church was separated from state. Furthermore, Mark Twain implies that the people of his time had better judgment. For example, in order to save himself from death, Morgan remembers that an ellipse occurred on that day and informs the people that he will cover the whole world in darkness. As he said those words, the ellipse occurred thus making all the gullible citizens of Camelot to believe that he was extremely powerful. As a result, he was spared. Thus from this example, it is evident that the people of the middle ages were quick to rational supernatural phenomenon even though it was just pure science at work. Conclusively, Mark Twain glorified his time period to an extent that the he used the horrid faults of the Middle Ages as an example in his novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur†s Court. The next major point that Mark Twain wanted to concentrate on was based on the social conditions. In the novel, Hank Morgan is a witness of injustice and social inequality that he believes needs to be altered. Once again, it is noticeable from this that Mark Twain shows bias towards all other types of social distinctions, and rather favors the American democratic way. Furthermore, Twain enforces various principles of what he believes to be â€Å"good government† in which the nobility and commoners alike enter into a life of respect, dignity, and purpose towards each other. Moreover, through Morgan, it obvious to see that Twain is against slavery and is pro-education. All of these characteristics are evident because Morgan eventually abolishes slavery and builds various schools including West Point. Lastly, Mark Twain shows great respect for the technological advances of his time through the characterization of Morgan. For example, as a mechanic, Hank Morgan realized that his life would be unbearable with out technology. As a result, he begins inventing various equipment like telephone, telegraph, and even bicycles; inventions that otherwise would seem preposterous to exist at that time but were greatly revered in the 19th century. It also becomes evident that Mark Twain had great respect for education and very little in superstition or magic. For example, because of Morgan†s scientific knowledge, he was able to predict the eclipse and he was even able to turn aside a half-dozen charging knights by simply blowing a column of pipe smoke from beneath his armored face shield. Furthermore, another example of where education outpoured magic was when Morgan restored the flow of water to a fountain by simple mechanics, while Merlin†s â€Å"magical† methods did not work. In conclusion, the social and political satire, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur†s Court, by Mark Twain, uses a character from 19th century America as a type of savor to the horrible feudalistic times of the Middle Age Camelot. By stressing bias beliefs about the political, social and technological advance of his time, Mark Twain creates a nearly utopian environment for Camelot. Oppression, social injustice, and slavery were abolished, while education, inventions, just government, new professions like engineering and even belief of a virtuous approach to life was introduced. All in all, by showing mans inhumanity and then its victories through a utopian type of middle age society in a satirical fashion make this literary pieces one of the best literary works of our time.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Accounting Standards at Bank of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Accounting Standards at Bank of China - Essay Example The PROC (hereafter China) has been undergoing a transformation when the Communist Party decided to open up the country’s economy to the world in 1978. Since then, China has become a socio-economic miracle: a communist-socialist country of over a billion people transforming its economy into the 2nd largest in the world after that of the United States, and an economic superpower that accounts for significant economic developments in the world such as the recent increases in the price of oil, metals, and other commodities to the lowering of production costs for global products such as clothes, appliances, and machineries, amongst many other things (World Bank, 1993; Stiglitz, 2002). The Bank of China Ltd. (hereafter BOC) was founded in 1912, and until the 1949 communist takeover has performed various functions: as China’s central bank, a foreign exchange bank, and a commercial bank specializing in trade finance with branches all over China and in the major financial capitals of the world. After 1949, BOC was turned into a specialized foreign exchange bank. In 1994, it evolved into a state-owned commercial bank; in 2002, its holding company that was majority-owned by the Chinese government was listed on the Hongkong Stock Exchange; and in 2004, it was again transformed into a joint stock commercial bank in preparation for its initial public offering sometime after 2008 (BOC, 2006, p. 2-5). China has a communist form of government and a socialist market economic system with capitalist features: the factors of economic production such as enterprises, land, and capital are owned by the proletariat but managed by the government that allows the people their use and usufruct.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Personal statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Personal statement - Essay Example My dream goes on to include a specialization in the field of law. The reason behind my dream is quite simple. I want to be set apart from every lawyer pounding the pavement of the court houses and law offices. That is why I am intent on attending a year long Masters of Law post graduate degree. Okay, I admit that I am an Asian immigrant with UK citizenship status. I will be the first to acknowledge that I have some difficulty in expressing myself in the English language. By now you are probably wondering what I am doing in the legal field of studies when I am sure to shine brightly if I concentrate on the area of Math or Management. Let me put it this way, my language handicap has never been a barrier for me towards achieving any of my dreams. I managed to keep my grades at a decent average as a Law student at the University of York. I may have struggled to express myself in the English language during certain instances of public debate and other spoken avenues of my subjects but I n ever lost heart. My Law studies posed the biggest challenge of my life. I may have had a difficult time in most of my classes and my scores may have been only average but what mattered the most what that I never gave up. I gave my studies everything I had and managed to come out of it with remarkable improvements in my class grades that continue with every semester that I complete. Even more amazing to my professors at York is the fact that I manage to somehow keep my grades up while I participate in various sports activities on campus. I am an active participant in table tennis matches and other British and University College Sports. These are after class activities that I enjoy participating in because it helps me relax and forget all of the legal studies that take up most of my student days. After all, I am no good as a student if I am burned out. Neither will I be good lawyer if I do not know how to relax and take some time off in order to get a fresh perspective of the cases I am working on. I have never been faced with a challenge that made me turn away. I have always faced my fears head on and plunged into seeking solutions to them rather than cowering in one corner, wondering what other people can do to help me overcome my difficulties in class and other avenues of life. I believe that this go-getter attitude comes from the fact that I am a person who is always eager to learn and excited about discovering new avenues of learning that can bring me new life experiences at the same time. Having mentioned before that I am of Asian descent, it is pretty obvious that I can easily excel in anything related to Maths. So, not wanting to waste my inborn talent for numbers and analysis, I have decided to pursue a LLM degree in order to become a very competent commercial lawyer. It seems like the most logical step for me because I can see and understand the way the world economies are balancing on the brink of bankruptcy and the banks are caught in the middle of i t all. As a LLM lawyer with a specialization in the commercial field, I will easily be able to defend the financiers of the world when they need legal help the most. With such a highly specialized degree, I do not even have to be a lawyer all my life. Having a LLM will allow me to pursue other career avenues in the legal field such as tax and international law. But most importantly, the LLM will give me an upper hand when enticing other companies to hire me for upper management positions. After all, a

Saturday, July 27, 2019

News Corp's Buyout of BSkyB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

News Corp's Buyout of BSkyB - Essay Example It will be pertinent to take a note of Rupert Murdoch's British operations, which started a way back in 1969 when the Mirror group wanted to relinquish from its mid-market daily newspaper The Sun. It is precisely at this time when Murdoch acquired it and made it thumping success with the passage of time by selling three million copies per day. Murdoch's control on the print media of UK became more prominent when he acquired The Times and The Sunday Times from Canadian publisher. During the time Murdoch's UK based satellite network Sky television was making huge losses which compelled him to agree for a merger with British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990. The merged company came to be known as BSkyB which is now considered to be the most dominating company in the British pay-TV market. When seen in the above perspective, the news of proposed buyout of BSkyB by Murdoch’s News Corp has far-reaching implications as it may facilitate a near monopolistic control to Murdoch on print a nd electronic media of UK. The point to be noted here is that BBC and other competing media groups have raised their opposition to the deal. It is not surprising that Business Secretary Vince Cable had to bow down on public uproar and ask Ofcom to investigate the matter on the media plurality issues that may arise after this proposed takeover by News Corp. European Union’s antitrust competition regulator also plunged into action to investigate the matter on the grounds of competition. It will be worthwhile to go through some of the important developments that have taken place in the last few months regarding this complete control and take over issue of News Corp. (Prodhan, Georgina et al 2010) The European Commission The European Commission gave its report in the third week of December, 2010 approving the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation. The commission in its report concluded that the said transaction of complete control of BSkyB by News Corp is not going to hinder the competition in the European Economic Area (EEA). Its findings were only restricted to the competition aspects and has nothing to do with the proposed investigation carried out by UK regulatory body on media plurality aspect to protect legitimate interest of British nationals. It is pertinent to note here that media plurality assessment and competition assessment are two different areas of investigation. The Competition assessment mainly focuses on whether consumer would be facing any hike in the pricing structures or any forced featureless offerings. On the other hand, the issues related to the media plurality are concerned with the role played by media in relation to the democratic fabric of the various institutions and further their capacity to influence them in their own interests, which may be in the long run detrimental to the health of country. The European Union’s antitrust commission’s main findings are listed as per the following. 1. BSkyB and News Corp are in competition with each other to a limited extent as they are active in different markets in the UK and the Ireland. 2. The commission is of the view that the proposed transaction is not likely to improve substantially BSkyB's existing share of the market in the supply of basic pay-TV channels. 3. Both the parties have a small combined market share in TV advertising hence not going to affect the balancing act in competition concerns. 4. The Commission also investigated the possibility of offering mixed bundles of subscriptions for its print and online versions along with satellite pay channels. The commission is of the view that it will not be possible for the vast majority of newspapers' on line editions are currently free of charge and this equation is not likely

A guideline on the privacy of personal data stored on company-owned Essay

A guideline on the privacy of personal data stored on company-owned mobile devices - Essay Example In terms of maintaining company privacy, the company can use IT experts to track their employees. This is useful for knowing the location of employees at a particular time compared to where they are supposed to be. Employers sometimes allow employees to carry company-issued mobile devices such as iPhones and iPods. It has been in the news that iPhones and iPods are able to track the physical location of the person possessing them secretly. These types of devices can be used for business purpose and track personal information of the user blurs privacy between corporate information and personal information. This is because the devices can track personal location of the user and store it in unencrypted files found in the devices and on the owner’s computer. As a result, the organization IT experts can obtain this data from the employee’s computer according to Bidgol. This type of device is usually equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) that tracks the individualâ €™s location. This proves to a threat to personal privacy of employees and thus the need for organizations to come up with a policy and a legal guideline on the type of information to be gathered using such devices. For instance, there should be a guideline on maintaining an employee’s privacy when using a personal Smartphone while conducting company business. Employees need to know how much to share with organization clients when using either personal device or company device. Organizations further, need to consider the issue of transparency if they are determined to track physical location of their employees or get customers. This will involve informing employees about the policies on how to shield their privacy while using company devices or while conducting company business with personal devices. There is also need for organizations to equip their mobile devices with mobile payment system that will discourage employees from misusing the devices. IT managers have estim ated that employees often spend more than an hour every day on non-work related web services. These include online games, internet surfing, gambling and shopping among others. The downloading and storage of such personal data results in various internet based threats on critical company data stored in the devices misused. The threats include susceptibility to virus and worm attacks, malware infection, and hacking of private and restricted company sites and passwords. In most cases, this leads to the organizations taking tough measures of protecting their devices by installing GPS functionality that later hinders the privacy of the user. The advantages gained by organizations in having their employees work at different locations at different time brings out the need for protecting personal information used by employees while at work. For the same purpose, both the organization and employees should understand the limit and the technical control needed when using such mobile devices. T his includes the organizations coming up with policies based on technical control of their mobile devices to provide about the extent that the device as suggested by Garfinkel and Spafford (2002) can control the personal data of the employee. This may include providing a set download of a specific capacity before a using a personal device for connecting the network of the organization. An organization is required to draw a line regarding personal privacy infringement. Infringement of personal data occurs when the organization exposes personal information that may be a threat to their safety. In order to avoid this,

Friday, July 26, 2019

Testing the Stability of Okuns Law Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Testing the Stability of Okuns Law - Term Paper Example However, this inverse relationship was not replicated in the year that followed. In other words, while average growth in real Gross Domestic Product slowed down in the year that followed, the downward trend in the unemployment rate continued. Many economists could easily view this situation as an anomaly. Given the importance of economic growth and job creation to both policy makers and the citizenry, it is important to study the relationship between the two in order to ensure a more effective and efficient decision-making. Okun (1962) made the first attempt to study this relationship and he found that real GDP and unemployment are inversely related to each other and this has come to be known as the Okun’s Law. More specifically, a 2% rise in output is associated with a 1% decline in the unemployment rate. In another version, a 3% rise in the Gross National Product is associated with a 1% decline in the unemployment rate. While the relationship determined by Okun appears to have some empirical deficiencies, it, nonetheless, serves as a guide to policymakers in making crucial economic decisions. This paper seeks to determine whether or not there is some variability in the relationship between changes in real GDP growth rate and changes in the unemployment rate over an extended period. It is done by means of a recursive Ordinary Least Squares or rolling regression techniques.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

The current status of childhood obesity on measured outcomes Essay

The current status of childhood obesity on measured outcomes - Essay Example A child who attends a public school and is eligible for national school lunch and school breakfast programs has a higher prevalence of BMI than one attending private school (Hooker, 2009, p. 100). Approximately 70% of the children being obese have a cardiovascular risk while on the other hand, 30% of them are at risk of hypertension (MMWR, 2011, p. 42). Due to increased concern about the condition, an initiative needs to be started to reduce child prevalence of obesity. The research indicates that the obesity levels are increasing tremendously especially with the increasing low child activity with one hour on TV and playing games being associated with 0.08%-1.4% increase in obesity (MMWR, 2011). For the condition to be reversed, children are to be encouraged to participate in physical activities such as games. This will play a great role in reversing the condition and reducing the escalating

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Discuss the factors influencing the entrepreneurs demand for a Essay

Discuss the factors influencing the entrepreneurs demand for a specific source of finance at the startup stage, with respect to Meyers Pecking Order Hypothesi - Essay Example The following paragraphs explain what is in the mind of the managers when they decide whether to use the Pecking Order Model or the Trade -off Model are used. Myers (1984) stated that the company's managers have to exert all efforts to maintain the status quo in their dealings with the market. Thus, many the managers prefer to apply the pecking order theory than the trade off model in seeking additional funds to be used in their business operations (Scott, 1972;p. 45-50). The pecking order means that the company prioritises generating funds from internal sources. These internal sources include the net income or retained earnings from operations, dividend withheld from its stockholders (Baskin, 1989; pp. 26-35). If this choice is not possible, then the second source of income is borrowing money (Marsh, 1982; p. 121-144). The lenders become creditors and not owners of the company. If this second choice is also not possible, then the last choice would be to offer stocks to the public so that new investment money will flow in (Bradley, Jarrell and Kim, 1984;pp. 857-878). To reiterate, the pecking order is the preferred choice of many managers because they do not want to go through the rigours of having to place themselves under the scrutiny and investigative discipline the law when money is borrowed such as the banks request for a feasibility study to determine if the company will be able to pay their loans when the due date arrives (Ferri and Jones, 1979;pp. 631-644). Likewise, the company will not have to go through the difficulty of submitting to the stock exchanges and the government regulating agencies the reasons for their planned offering of stocks to the market (Mikkelson and Partch, 1986;p.31-60).But in this occurs, then the company would rather offer preferred stocks before offering the common stocks the public. For the common stock gives the investors the right to vote in the management's business plans. Whereas, most preferred stocks do not permit the stockholders to vote in the management plans. For, many managers abhor the presenting o f confidential financial statements to the lenders and general public when stocks are offered in the exchanges (Myers and Majluf, 1984; p. 187-221). For, the pecking order shows that generating funds associates the gearing ratio to the company's retained earnings which is the accumulation of the yearly net income of the company and distribution or withholding of dividends to the stockholders on record and the offer of stocks to the general public in stock exchanges (Jalivland and Harris, 1984;p.127-145).Reasonably, management will prefer to pay dividends to their stockholders and expand its business operations through additional investment from its current stockholders on record instead of offering new stocks to the general public who are complete strangers to the company (Taggart,1977;p.1467-1484). For, internally generated money will do away with the usual problems and obstacles when external money is chosen as a fund source. Furthermore, externally -generated funds like bonds and long term bank loans could place an additional requirement that all company business decisions in terms of expansion or closing down shop will have to be approved by the

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Consumer behavior apply to e-dating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consumer behavior apply to e-dating - Essay Example The study will take an investigative approach, which involves the use of conceptual models aimed at boiling down to the aptitude to endow with appropriate matches through successful business to customer services enhanced by the internet and based on the sound customer relations administration practices. The models used in this survey include the Nicosia model, the HowarthSheth Model, and Bettman processing model, which facilitate privacy and secure oriented environment for customers. It is imperative to note that the whole study of consumer behaviour blends diverse opinions and views from sociology, social science and anthropology, psychology and economics (Rosenthal & Knighton, 2002). On the other hand, consumer behaviour can be defined as the process or study aimed at understanding diverse decision-making procedures embraced by buyers at dissimilar situations. Similarly, the buyer’s individual features are included in the consumer study (Conti, 2009). Such characteristics in clude demographics and other variables correlated to the behavioural variables aimed at determining what the consumer wants. It is observed that the customer behaviour analysis has re-discovery of the real meaning of marketing through the reaffirmation of the significance of the buyer (Out of Pocket, 2009). For instance, a lot of emphasis is given in the customer relationship management, customization and consumer retention. Nicosia model Consume e dating refers to courting a partner with an anticipated aspect over the internet. The Nicosia model describes the relationship amid the firms and the consumers. The model focuses on the conscious decision making behaviour of the consumers, where the act of purchasing is only one stage of the wholly ongoing decision process of consumers. The flowcharting perception by Nicosia simplifies and systemizes the variables, which affect the consumer decision making. Consider the illustration below, which help in understanding the process of e dati ng Courtesy of HAINES, G. H. (1969). Consumer behaviour: learning models of purchasing. New York, The Free Press [etc.]. The internet complements the conventional business strategy in business to customer relations establishment, and this is particularly the online dating. The web-enabled expertise does not eliminate the need to design a sustainable cutthroat benefit and does not revolutionize the configuration of an industry (Gao, 2005). It is imperative to note that, the internet and online business fits well in the Nicosia model. The internet serves well in as a tool and firms are required to share this perspective for the successful application and maximum benefits. This study establishes that, five forces determine the configuration of any industry (Gao, 2005). They include the level of rivalry amid contenders’ barriers to entry, peril of proxy products, the bargaining power embraced by buyers and the bargaining power of suppliers. It is observable that, numerous compani es, which have been, designed exclusively on the internet, with no authentic value and lofty price ratios have remained dotcoms, which have failed miserably (Gao, 2005). On a similar note, a couple of successful online companies have fallen victims of similar situations,

Monday, July 22, 2019

Aging Healthy and Securely Essay Example for Free

Aging Healthy and Securely Essay Abstract Every individual reaches prime of life. Inevitably, we can not escape old age, unless a person dies young. The decision of where to live is one of the most challenging ordeals to cope with as one grows old. As the elderly individual grows old, their time on this earth becomes very valuable, thus, they want to spend their remaining lives securely and healthy.   Accordingly, it is of great importance that the government should provide housing options which recognize the value placed upon the latter years of ones’ life. Most importantly, housing programs must be created which answers the need for health care and security as well. One best program that this paper wishes to propose is to put up a housing community which incorporates the two most important needs of an elderly- medical attention and safety. The target population for this program would be those elderly individuals, particularly those in poor health, who can not afford to seek nursing care as well as those who do not have family members whom could attend to their needs. The selection of these elderly individuals whom the housing units will tend will be based on family backgrounds, economic status, financial capacity and other material details collated by an assigned committee. If funded sufficiently, this project will answer the needs for elderly housing and elderly care given the rapid growth in elderly population having the need of integrated services since the costs of isolated services are too high. Statement of Purpose To combat the problems introduced above, the (Name of submitting organization), proposes to have an elderly housing and health care program. As the elderly population continues to grow in number, and accordingly the need for adequate elderly housing services build up, the resources to offer services will drop off (Travis, 2006). Looking for a more effective technique of service delivery is of extreme importance. At the moment, on the other hand, the existing connections between elderly health and housing are weak at best. Seldom can you find a successful yet reasonably priced housing program that incorporates efficient health care for the elderly. In view of that, the most pleasing and most cost-efficient method of aging — aging in place — is not easy to attain, even under the most ideal conditions. Health and housing concerns of an elderly individual are frequently interconnected. To improve an effective method of service delivery, the long-term care system must mirror this interrelationship between health and housing. For this reason, the (Name of submitting organization) will propose to develop a stimulating and competent initiative for elderly housing with health care in the economically distressed neighborhood in Washington. This elderly housing and health care program will provide medical attention to the elderly individuals especially those who are weak or sick and at the same time the housing units will securely roofed them as they spend their precious years. The main objective of this program is to offer housing for the elderly since one of the most depressing problem that Washington now faces is the lack of elderly housing. What is more, this program aims to provide health care that the elderly individuals need. Similarly, the main goal of this program is to increase housing options for the elderly individuals. With this program sufficiently funded, it is expected that the outcome would be to have a health-friendly environment which eventually would lead to healthier and safer elderly individuals. Moreover, elderly individuals who have health problems or are looking for information concerning housing options must be able to get in touch with an on-site resident manager or with other program members on duty and be given the support and care that they need. The elderly housing and health program would surely bring about loads of benefits for the elderly individuals. As a result, problems like untimely death of elderly, increase in mortality rates, widespread of diseases, population congestion, increase in the number of persons with poor health conditions and other dilemmas related to elderly housing and health care would be worked out. Statement of Need   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Over and above the unpredictability of aging, one must be concerned with the actuality that the average life expectancy for the elderly is increasing, which results to higher possibility that the elderly these days will have to cope with some sort of chronic health condition.   For this reason, one’s ability to keep up the well-being and self-sufficiency while living out one’s abridged life tends to become a very expensive aim. This expense has an unfortunate effect on the majority of the elderly owing to the decreases in income after retirement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The elderly population is fast expanding while the core tax-paying population is decreasing. As the elderly population increases, and consequently the need for adequate elderly housing services intensify, the resources to offer services will drop off. There 34 million Americans over the age of 65. On average they constitute 10 to 13 percent of each state’s population. Those states with the highest concentration of the elderly are Florida, the northeastern region and the Midwestern corridor. Nevertheless, the number of elderly in Washington becomes alarming as well as its number rapidly increases. In 55 years, the number of people aging 65 years and above will more than double, the number of those 75 and older will triple and the number of people 85 and older will quintuple. The elderly population is projected to multiply twice as much in size to well over 70 million by 2025. The states that will experience the greatest growth in the number of residents over the age of 65 are in the west and south. As a percent of the total state population, states in the west and southwest will experience the greatest increases ( Lawler, 2001). Nearly all seniors own the homes in which they reside. The home-ownership rate for individuals between the age of 62 and 74 is 81.2 percent; between the ages of 75 and 84, it remains high at 76.9 percent. As these homeowners age and their bodies become weaker, the regular maintenance and preservation of a home can become bodily demanding to manage. As the health needs of an aging senior and the repair needs of an aging house increase, both place necessitates on the fixed income of a retiree (Lawler, 2001). The lack of housing for the elderly is one of the most depressing problems Washington DC is facing today. This situation exists because lesser priority is given to this problem. External researches reveal that there may be housing for the elderly like home for the aged yet it does not have the comprehensive health care program. Just the same, health care programs do not provide proper housing needs of the elderly. Hence, the program proposed above incorporates the housing and health care needs of the elderly individuals. In line with this dilemma, the Housing and Urban Development had also been advocating projects which concern elderly housing. The Section 202 program gives capital advances (no interest loans that are forgiven given that affordability requirements are met for 40 years) and Project Rental Assistance Contracts (PRACs) for the construction or extensive rehabilitation and operation of residential projects and other related facilities for the elderly. Housing financed under this program may consist of proper support services for elderly persons who are weak or at risk of being institutionalized. A possible problem that may arise in connection with this project would be the difficulty on selecting potential participants or elderly who will benefit the project. Moreover, not all elderly in need may be facilitated or accepted since the project is just starting out. The number of elderly individuals that could be accommodated will be limited. The Aging Healthy and Securely program aims to solve the problems presented above. The (Name of submitting Organization) wishes to complete the project, financially supported by the government, within the time allotted for the aforementioned project. We expect the fervent involvement or support of the HUD, State Housing Authority, city funds and other related organizations. Procedures Washington is one of the many cities faced with problems on elderly housing. The elderly population rate is overwhelming. Over 33 million people in the United States are now above 65 years of age and by the year 2020 it will increase to about 53 million, or one in every six Americans. To add, a great number of these elderly individuals need nursing care or health care. In spite of the relationship between health and housing, the health concerns of an aging individual are attended to by one agency or set of services while the same individual’s housing concerns are tackled by different sets of nonprofit and/or government organizations. This separation is directly related to the way the housing and health industries were planned and considered and continue to function in distinct markets. While the private sector has created a greater number of models that unite both health and housing services, the public sector has continued to branch out the two. Public subsidies are intended to create either health or housing services but not both. Government-sponsored health programs and housing programs were devised to give off distinct public goods (Burkhardt, 1999). They were formed in isolation, as different line items in local, state and federal governments. Public housing programs and government mortgage subsidies were shaped to increase the number of inexpensive and sufficient housing units. The public system of health services was set up to support general public health and well-being, to offer health care for the very poor and to lessen the possibility of an outbreak or epidemic. The undertakings of public health and housing agencies were not only independent but mutually exclusive. From the information and figures presented at the current time, the future for the elderly individuals appear vague and unclear The need for a healthy, safe and decent reasonably priced housing and related services for the elderly is very critical. This alarming statistics gave the drive to (Name of the submitting Organization) come up with housing community consisting of 40 rooms (ten for offices and 30 for the elderly) which not only shelter these individuals but also provide staff that could attend to their health needs. Approach Driven by the best intentions, the (Name of the submitting Organization) envisions the program to be multifaceted, wide-ranging and innovative. The city has an immense necessity for additional reasonably priced or affordable housing for the elderly. The (Name of the submitting Organization) had identified a strategic location and will put up a 30 units/rooms elderly housing community. The location in which the housing community will be located is one sit which elderly housing has been identified as an essential need. Above and beyond the transitional housing, there will be a wide-ranging medical and social service and housing component involved in the program. Albeit the Washington state has homes for the aged, there is difficulty in looking for an elderly housing which is affordable and provides health care at its best.   Most of the new constructed buildings in the city are for market rate units or commercial ones. This will have no effect on the increasing elderly population requiring housing and health assistance. There great numbers of depreciated buildings or deserted residences which if given attention and financed adequately, can be converted into elderly housing units. Target Population/Participants   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The target population for the Aging Healthy and Securely program are those elderly individuals who are in need of medical or nursing assistance and who can not afford to stay in expensive elderly housing and health care units. To note worthwhile, the program will house those physically, financially and economically underprivileged elderly individuals with ages of 65 years and above. Elderly individuals with ages 60-64 years may be selected provided their illnesses call for immediate rehabilitation and care. Selection and screening of these elderly will not be very easy for the staff members assigned or the selection group. The selection of those individuals will be based on the family backgrounds, economic status, health records, financial capacity and other details or information material to the program’s criteria collated by an assigned committee. Materials or records from the following may be used to select those elderly individuals that may be housed; community or local agencies like health centers/hospitals for medical records, National Statistics Office for identification and personal records, social service and welfare agencies, public and privately-governed homeless centers, nursing homes, etc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, over and above being in poor health condition, the elderly individuals must have a very low income and neglected by their family members. Only the sickest and the poorest seniors will be selected for the program. All selection works are to be carried out without consideration of an individuals ethnic group, civilization, race, sex, or sexual orientation, and a statement to this effect will accompany all public service announcements, advertisements, and locally-placed flyers or posters. All selection will be done without bias and prejudice. Work Plan Activities The schedule below shows the various informative, motivational, spiritual and educational activities of the elderly housing and health care program. Morning- Evening Daily Activities * Spiritual Healing (includes praying, sharing or reading of inspirational passages)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   * Personal Hygiene check up (includes medical treatment, bath for the elderly, etc.) * Meal time (serving of food in accordance to the health diet prescribed and suggested by attending doctor and nutritionist respectively) * Leisure/Recreational (includes watching TV, socializing with co-elderly and staff, reading books, strolling, etc.) Deliverables   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aside from the nursing and medical team whom will take care of the elderly, the housing units also observe infrastructure design and housing needs of the elderly. The building includes features like handrails or grab bars, raised lettering or Braille, elevator or stair lift, faucets, or cabinets, special sinks, specially equipped telephones, extra wide doors or hallways, ramps, push bars on doors, flashing lights, special wall sockets or light switches and the like. Sustainability   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If funded sufficiently, the elderly health and housing care will tend to a lot of elderly individuals in need. After the construction of the housing units and when the operation   is on full blast already, the (Name of submitting organization) will conduct a fund-raising activities every now and then for the maintenance of the housing community. Moreover, the (Name of submitting organization) will continue to seek financial assistance from the government from time to time to meet the program’s financial obligations with the staff members as well as for the maintenance of the units and facilities. Program Activities Elderly individuals will be categorized or leveled when deciding for the room assignments. Those with chronic and contagious diseases must be isolated from the rest. Female elderly must be separated from the male elderly in terms of room occupancy. As to food serving, nutritionists must take into consideration the sickness or health conditions of these elderly. To add, attending doctors/nurses must have seminars on motivational skills every now and then to apply such I their workplace. They should encourage these elderly individuals to manifest their talents. Motivational and recreational activities must be tolerated and accordingly, the (Name of the submitting Organization) can conduct a program presenting these elderly individuals with their skills and talents. This could not only lead to a fund-raising activity but an enjoyable and remarkable activity for the elderly individuals trying to make the most out of their remaining precious years. Evaluation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The (Name of submitting organization)’s housing and health management program will be measured in terms of efficiency and performance by submitting a project report upon the end of the fiscal year. The details, figures and information presented will be accurate, material, timely, consistent and will reflect the program’s outcomes and achievements. Likewise, program’s activities will be evaluated upon the end of the fiscal year. What is more, audited financial statements will also be presented so as to monitor expenses and clearly trace the breakdown of the requested amount or the grant money. Dissemination   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The administrator, managers and board of directors as well as the staff members will promptly hold meetings and conferences to voice out problems, discuss concerns and devise plans and actions to further improve the housing and health programs suitable for the elderly and to achieve desired outcomes, objectives and goals. Performance appraisal and evaluation will likewise be conducted every now and then to measure who among the staff carries out his/her duties well and who does not. Qualifications/Personnel The community would be managed by an administrator having 4 managers, 5 department heads, 30 professional caregivers/nurses, 20 clerical and technical staff and 15 maintenance staff.   Forty employees would be working full time and the remaining 35 employees would be working part time. Selection of the staff members will be done rigidly since the main aim of the program is to deliver a quality service. Interviews, exams (technical and psychological) and background investigations will be carried out accordingly. Staff members recruited for the elderly housing and health program will be required to work efficiently as a team. Team effort is a main consideration to come up with a friendly working environment.   A lot of the staff will work with the elderly individuals in more than one assignment area and all will be expected to deliver elderly nursing care, therapy and related tasks with the group as well as a traditional elderly training and nursing roles. Each and every one of the staff members will have to spend substantial individual time developing elderly motivational and educational skills and activities or materials. With the purpose of making the team-building process possible, all elderly housing and health care staff members will take part in a one-week seminar/conference consists of workshops and deliberations paying attention on the elderly community, the nursing care provided to elderly, fund-raising activities to be done, the programs population, and the mission and goals of the project. The (Name of the submitting organization) will seek assistance from local homeless institutions or centers once in a while like (please indicate a name of existing housing institution in the city which caters to the same category). This institution had helped lots of elderly individuals concerning their housing problems. They already developed a lot of activities beneficial for the elderly individuals. This institution had been a recognized center in affordable elderly housing and care management programs. Budget   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The grant funds from the Housing and Urban Development will be utilized for the construction of new elderly community (with 30 rooms) building and some will be used for Non-Housing component of the program. The estimated elderly individuals that can be sheltered within a year would total to 200-300. The programs Administrative cost will be approximately 14 percent of the grant budget. The planning procedure has taken into consideration all realistic and reasonable expenses to be incurred in relation to the implementation of the elderly housing and health care program. The (Name of the submitting organization) has had far-reaching knowledge and experience in overseeing, implementing and directing instruction and medical/nursing or social programs and these expertise and experiences have been already applied to work out both the program and the budget. The (Name of submitting organization) had come up with a comprehensive or thorough program model which takes into consideration all of the measures and decisive factors like salaries, medical/laboratory tools and equipments, medicines, staff uniforms medicines, operational costs, overhead costs, program activities, insurances, and the like. This program model serves as the basis for the cost estimates to be incurred by the elderly and health care program. Some other costs that will be incurred will consist of motivational and recreational activities/programs, therapy and counseling/support services, management development and housing management program. The program is based on long-term goals and foresees to help a lot of elderly individual. Safety and good health will be given emphasis all throughout the program’s existence and all development in the course of the program will be anchored in competence, facility, attention and reliability. Quality service will be the aim of the staff members at all times. Condensed Housing and Urban Development grant cost breakdown is as follows: Housing Component- $100,000.00 Non-Housing Component $200,000.00 Administrative Cost $100,000.00 Total Grant Budget $400,000.00 Administrative costs consist of all of the financial and program reporting guidelines as it should be, accounting and auditing costs, payroll and secretarial work and other standard administrative costs. References Burkhardt, John. (1999). Mobility Needs in a Maturing Society. Coming of Age, Federal Agencies and the Longevity Revolution. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (1999). Housing Our Elders. Washington. Kochera, Andrew. (2001). A Summary of Federal Rental Housing Programs. AARP Public Policy Institute. Lawler, Kathryn. (2001). Aging in Place, Coordinating Housing and Health Care Provision for America’s Growing Elderly Population. Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development. Washington: Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. Smith, Gary, et al. (2000). Understanding Medicaid Home and Community Services: A Primer. Department of Health and Human Services. Soldier, Travis W. Housing options for the Elderly. Retrieved June 19, 2006 from http://www.usd.edu/elderlaw/archives/housing_options_for_the_elderly.htm

Media portrayal of young people today Essay Example for Free

Media portrayal of young people today Essay Adolescents- threat or asset to society? Discuss how media portrayal of young people today and in the past influences the concept of adolescence. This assessment will look at the various media that was used in the past and is used presently and consider the influence that it has on the perception of adolescence. Whether or not they are portrayed as an asset or threat to society will also be looked at. The essay will discuss both past and present media influences and state how there has been a change in both the use of media and the growth. Also why the media portray adolescence in particular ways. The way in which teenagers view themselves will also be briefly touch on. There is an array of media that produces information about adolescents these can include radio, newspapers, magazines and television documentaries. The media tends to create stereotypical images of young people that generalise and brand all young people even though they are part of a much broader group. Young people often find ways to express themselves, which are different to the generally accepted culture of their society. The various means by which they express themselves and mix are known as youth culture. (Jahsonic. com, 1996) There is no single youth culture in modern society, instead there is a variety of different youth subcultures. There are many reasons for this, such as there are more styles available and also a higher disposable income in family households to spend on todays fashions and the media is a bigger influence than it use to be on young people too. (Direct essays) In the 1960s there was a rebellion that swept across North America and Western Europe the term that is commonly used to refer to this is counterculture. The counterculture included the sexual revolution which started in the late 1960s and early 1970s this change in sexual behaviour in young people took place mainly in the wealthy western countries but in particular the U. S. A. and the U. K. especially after the introduction of the birth control pill. (Jahsonic. com, 1996) The violence in the 60s and 70s was limited to a small sector of young males but it wasnt as prevalent as it is now or as documented. Female youths were rarely involved or it was relatively unheard of but now there is a small sector of violent female gangs. In the Sunday Times in 1994 the title Sugar n Spice but Not at all Nice was used to describe the growth of girl gangs in society in which the girls would have convictions of assault, GBH, criminal damage and being drunk and disorderly. (University of Leicester, 2001) Books: Santrock, J. 2005, Adolescence 10th Edition, McGraw Hill. WebPages: Direct essays, A Single Youth Culture? http://www.directessays.com/newpaper.php?request=16662 Accessed 18/04/2005 Jahsonic.com, 1996, A vocabulary of culture 60s, 70s and 80s http://www.jahsonic.com/

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Uses of Brand Extension Strategies

Uses of Brand Extension Strategies 1- PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND This chapter contains background of our study, statement of the problem, significance and delimitation of the study. Furthermore Definitions of the terms used in this dissertation are also explained in this chapter. 1.1 Introduction One of the most famous strategies to leverage brand equity is brand extension. It is believed that consumers will favor new extension if new products are under the label of already established brand name.Familiarity and trust with the parent brand is one of the factor due to which companies hope that their consumers will react in a favorable manner. It is beneficial for the companies because of the positive association which consumers already have with the parent brand. A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. (Kotler 1996). Brand extension denotes to the corporate activity in which companies bring in new products, new product variants or product improvements by leveraging the brand equity of the existing parent brand. It is believed that instead of establishing an entirely a new brand, extension of brands can be favorable for companies in terms of promotional and awareness activities, distribution, customer perceived risk in buying any product of service. (Keller, 2002) stated that another major factor for which Companies prefer to use brand extension is lower cost. Introducing a new brand into consumer market can be relatively much higher than introducing new product or product variants under the same brand name. This cost can range above millions of rupees and can not guarantee of any success. So instead of launching entirely a new product, most companies prefer brand extension. Successful examples such as Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke benefited from the brand franchise of their parent products. Coca-Cola introduced six extensions and captured a larger market share than the original brand. For example, Cokes extension, Cherry Coke, was successful even without considerable advertisement. Apart from benefits of brand extension there are some potential problems associated with brand extension, such as failure or semi failure of brands like brand dilution or brand cannibalization. Rather than success of brands, failed extension might maculate the parent brand name thus the result would be reduced market share of the parent brand. Brand association in terms of quality and consistency are crucial for any brand extension to be successful in the eyes of the consumers. Association with the brand is also dependent on consumers own values, preferences, taste, buying situation and manager should always focus on what these dependent variables are and when they come into action. Take an example of new Coke; Coca Cola did not pay attention to what the core brand meant to stand for. It mainly focused on the taste and thought that the taste is the only factor which consumers are looking for. This concept was wrong. Coca cola was unable to identify the attachment of the consumer with the original coke before launching New coke, even though Coca Cola spent a lot of money on conducting research before launching New coke. Brand dilution occurs when consumers loss the original grasp of brand perception on their minds and no longer associate the brand with a specific product. For instance, Sunsilk may experience brand dilution by loosing its strong identity of hair care and shampoo range by running a number of different categories like mashed potatoes, powdered milk and soups. Too broad varieties of product categories run under same brand can frustrate consumers in thinking which variations of products that actually fit to their perceptions. For Example, too many ranges of Sunsilk shampoo include Sunsilk black, pink, white, yoghurt, dandruff can make customers confused in buying a suitable product which actually fit to their needs. Consumers these days have now become selective and demand innovative products. Those brands which are not unique or innovative in any means eventually got tarnished. Consumers do not prefer such extensions which do not offer any innovation or new features in extended brands. Consumers perception about parent brand and extended brand is one of the factors which may lead to either success or dilution of brand. Success and failure of brand is also dependent on familiarity with the parent brand and concept of fit between parent brands and extended brand. Brand loyalty by a consumer can be changed in case of brand extension. If brand extension is favorable it may lead to more loyalty towards the parent brand and if brand extension in unfavorable then the effect would be opposite. As per early research regarding brand extension leads to brand dilution, Aaker and Keller (1990) found insignificant evidence between unsuccessful brand extension leads to brand dilution. Conversely, in a research (Loken and Roedder-John 1993) pointed that inconsistency of product and brand beliefs may lead to brand dilution. Brand dilution and failure of brand can occur when consumer find it difficult to associate the extension with the parent brand, a lack of similarity and familiarity and discrepancy between Integrated marketing communication messages. Brand extension is a strategy which most of the companies are using to minimize risk associated with introducing an entirely new brand and to maximize their profits from the new brand. But in some of the cases brand extension fails, and the reason is the weak brand equity of the parent brand that bears upon the success of the brand extension. If the equity of parent brand is strong, brand extension can be successful and vice versa. Both Functional and non functional attributes of a brand can harm and eventually dilute the equity of an integrated oriented brand, which means due to the weak brand equity, brand dilution can occur across the parent brand. Such kind of failures of extensions can make customers to create a negative association with the parent brand or even with the brand family. These failures can also agitate and blur the original identity and meaning of a brand even positioning as well. Brand managers already know that there are some advantages and disadvantages associated with brand extension. Nevertheless couple of unsuccessful brand extension in past years was noticed. To be successful in brand extension knowledge related to brand extension should be refined. Brand extension is successful or not is decided by what factors? One of the most important factors is concept of fit. Fit with the parent brand in terms of quality and image. It is customer perceived fit which plays an important role in making consumers to decide whether extended products are favorable or unfavorable. If fit between parent brand and extended brand is as per consumers perception then consumers will respond more favorably to that extension and if fit between parent brand and extended brand are not as per consumers perception then consumer will respond to that extension unfavorable and it might lead to the failure or dilution of the brand. According to Martinez and de Chernatony (2004) brand image has two types: the general brand image and the product brand image. According to them there would be no negative impact on general brand image if the brand image is strong for example, Nike or Sony. Dilution effect would be more on product image instead of general brand image. Therefore, mostly the customers would stick to their beliefs about the parent brand with respect to its attributes and feeling. Nevertheless their study shows that â€Å"brand image can be diluted by brand extension, and beliefs and association with the parent brand can also be changed. In Pakistani environment companies especially MNCs prefer brand extension because they consider it more convenient. Top most cause for this is that products from multinationals already have an image of developed countries. Due to the past record of products from these developed countries, consumers give them positive response. Due to the image of product from these countries in the mind of the consumers, less cost is incurred by the companies on creating awareness and communicating about the product message with the target audience. These products already have good market share and media coverage; therefore it becomes easy to launch brand extension in Pakistan for such companies. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Since last couple of years, new product failure has been observed quite a few times. As a result companies now are relying on brand extension instead of launching new products. There are couples of other reasons instead of new brand failures, which companies consider for brand extension, such as low promotion and awareness cost, acceptance and less chances of being failed. Though these advantages are considered by companies to use brand extension as a part of their branding strategy, but apart of these advantages there couple of failed extensions have also been observed in last couple of years. Researchers are now focusing to identify the factors which are useful in evaluating brand extension and factors which play a role in either failure or success of brand extension. In this Thesis we will also try to find about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension. Most of the researches which were conducted to know about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension were focused on consumers point of view about brand extension. But as a matter fact it is quite difficult for consumers to evaluate whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. They can not evaluate it in undifferentiated fashion (Aaker and Keller, 1990, Keller and Aaker, 1992; Dacin and Smith, 1994; Smith and Andres, 1995). Brand extension according to consumers point of view was taken into consideration many a times, but very low attention was given to the managers point of view about brand extension (Nijssen and Agustin, 1999).Managers point of view regarding brand extension can give an extensive knowledge about brand extension because of their deep analysis about consumers and competitors and their personal experiences about the market and the brands. Hence in this thesis we will focus on managers perspective about brand extension along with consumers point of v iew. Both local and multi nationals are into brand extension from a long time. Such as Nestle , Pakola (Pakola, bubble up, Applesidra, double cola, Pakola milk), Sunsilk (Sunsilk black, Sunsilk white, Sunsilk pink, Sunsilk yoghurt, Sunsilk egg), Haleeb food Pvt Ltd (Milk, Juices, Cream, yoghurt), National Food (Pickle, salt, spices), Shan Food(spices, pickle, food), Unilever Pakistan (Lifebuoy, Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder), PG (Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder) Pakistan By keeping above relation in mind, it will be beneficial to have brand managers point of view about the success or failure of brand extension. 1.3 Significance of the Study The significance of this thesis is to explore the use of brand extension strategies in the Pakistan context. Whether the strategy of brand extension is favorable or not, or due to brand extension, brands gets diluted or cannibalized? Since brand extensions is one of the most popular strategies for leveraging brand equity, this study will also focus on brand extension effect on brand equity. This thesis will focus on brand extension strategies of products from various companies which include Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan, Nestle, Pakola and Head Shoulders. Various companies insights regarding brand extension will help us to study favorability or unfavorability of brand extension in a well manner. We will try to achieve this purpose by answering the following research questions. RQ1. What are the reasons to choose brand extension as a part branding strategy? RQ2. Is brand extension favorable or Unfavorable? Above mentioned two research questions were divided further into a set of questions. Purpose was to gain a deep insight to answer these two research questions. By answering above question, we will come to know whether brand extension is favorable or it leads to brand dilution, and whether brand extension is favorable for those companies who prefer extension and are involved in brand extension from couple of decades. We will also come to know that for what reasons companies in Pakistan are using brand extension, and whether brand extension is in accordance with the successful brand extension concept or not. This thesis will be beneficial in indentifying the success rate or failure rate of brand extension of those companies which have been chosen for this thesis. 1.4 Scope and Delimitation This thesis focused on brand managers of those companies which are operating here in Pakistan. Only four products have been chosen for which research is conducted to identify whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. So the product range is limited to four companies only. Another limitation faced during the course of this study was that brand extension strategy for most of the multi national companies are crafted in their home country and then implemented here in Pakistan. Furthermore, Interview process is chosen to know about brand managers point of view about failure or success of brand extension. Out of 4 brand managers, 2 interviews were taken on telephone and 2 were taken face to face. Due to the limitation of telephonic interview, non verbal responses could not be gauged. Other limitation confronted during the course of research was the fact that majority of multinationals (MNEs) formulate brand extension strategies at their head quarters abroad. Lastly, we came to k now that in Pakistan brand extension responsibilities is handled by marketing managers instead of brand managers in some companies. 1.5 Definitions 1.5.1 Brand According to (American Marketing Association 2007 brand is: A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition†. 1.5.2 Brand extension According to (Aaker 1991) brand extension can be defined as utilizing an already established brand to enter from one class of product category to another class of product category. (Kotler 1991) defined brand extension strategy as exploiting a well known and successful brand name either to launch a new or modified product can be termed as brand extension process. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined brand extension strategy as an expansion strategy, where companies try to further extend their already established and well known brands into either different other categories or in same category with some modification. 1.5.3 Product Line Extension (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined product line extension as a process of using already established brand name to introduce new items with some extra innovation or modification in the same category. For example Pakola has extended its soft drink named â€Å"Pakola† into Pakola raspberry, Pakola leeche, Pakola orange, Pakola lemon. (Aaker 1991) elaborates product line as line extension occurs in the form of introducing new items under the same brand name in the same category with some modification in flavors, colors, specification, ingredients and package sizes. Product line extension is somehow differs with brand extension because brand extension is about using an established brand name to introduce new product and brand in different categories, while line extension leveraging and established brand to introduce new products in same category with some improvements, modification and enhancements. 1.5.4 Brand Dilution According to (Aaker 1991) brand dilution is depraving of a brand via its overexploitation. This failure of brand occurs when extension is done in a poor manner, or when a brand with poor equity is leveraged to extend it into different other categories. This failure can also occur when an extension becomes unfavorable in the mind of consumers. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990), unfavorability of a brand in the mind of the consumers can be due to lack of quality, over pricing, lack of consistency with the parent brand, lack of innovative feature and lack of trust. Brand dilution can be a disaster for a company. Companies use their well known established brands to leverage their equity and image to further extend it for entering into different market segments, which gives them a chance to earn higher profits. This can be true when parent brand equity is strong. But if equity of any brand is weak, then consequences might include dilution or failure of a brand. 1.5.5 Brand Cannibalization (Kotler 1991) defined brand cannibalization as reduction in sales revenue and diminishing of share of market resulted as the introduction of new products in the same category For example, when diet coke was introduced by Coca Cola, sales for original coke diminished, but eventually it led in expansion of diet soft drink market. In case of Haleeb food, introduction of tea whitener diminished the sales of UHT milk, because consumers previously were using milk for making tea, but with the introduction of tea whitener, some consumers started to prefer tea whitener instead of milk, which resulted in cannibalization of milk category. 1.5.6 Brand Equity According to (Wood 2000) brand equity can be defined as a profitable relationship between a brand and its consumers. (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) reported that it is quite difficult to measure equity of a brand. Yet a strong brand results in strong brand equity which can be leverage to extend into different other categories. Conversely weaker brand means weak brand equity which can result in failure if extended into different other brands. Strong brand equity may lead to achieve brand loyalty, quality, brand association and awareness. These benefits help companies to incur less cost on communication and awareness. 1.5.7 Brand Association (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) defined brand association as refers to a degree where consumers discern a brand in rich fashion. Positivity of any brand depends upon how deeply that brand is penetrated in the mind of the consumers in positive fashion. Brand associations are the properties of a brand which consumers recall whenever brand is talked about. Consumer relates a brand name with its implicit or explicit meanings. Brand association can also be termed as the level to which a specific product/service is acknowledged amongst its product or service family. When choosing a brand name, it is important that the name selected must reinforce an essential dimensions and specification or benefit association that forms the position of a product. 2- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY PROCEDURE In this chapter we will discuss and justify methodological choices which we have made for our research. Below mentioned figure presents an overview of the research method which will be used in this chapter for our research. Source: Adapted from Foster (1998), p.81 2.1 Research Purpose (Yin 1994) and (Wiedersheim-Paul and Eriksson 1998) found in a research that there are basically three types of research: Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive According to (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksson, 1998) basis purpose of the explanatory research is to craft and specify the issues of the research. This type of research is beneficial when the problem is quite difficult to analyze. According to Patel and Tebelius (1987) explanatory research is used when researcher want to gain more and more information about any specific issue. Moreover, Reynolds (1971) said through explanatory research, researcher can get comprehensive information about research defined problem. (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2000) found that descriptive research is useful when the problem of research is properly defined and crafted in a well manner. For this purpose, researcher must have complete information about the problem defined in the research. Collection of data must be started after having a clear understanding about the problem defined form research. Furthermore, (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksonn 1998) described that the main objective of descriptive research is to iden tify the applicable facets of the problem of the research. For conducting descriptive research researcher has to deeply define these facets, and there must be a relation between and describe these aspects more thoroughly without researching connections between reasons and indications. For our research we will initially try to define the reasons behind brand extension. Why do companies in Pakistan prefer engaging in brand and line extension activities? Furthermore, we will also try to identify the favorability and un-favorability of brand extension in Pakistani markets and companys perspective. For gaining deep understanding about the research question defined previously, we have considered exploratory research as a part of our research. The reason is that before this research no study has been taken into consideration to know about brand extension activities in Pakistan and we want to gain as much information as we can. Along with exploratory our research is explanatory as well. We will try to explain the result which we will get through our research. On the basis of our respondents responses we will try to draw a conclusion. 2.2 Research Approach To gain a deep information about brand extension strategies in Pakistan and whether it is beneficial or not beneficial for Pakistani market we have to consider two approaches, First one Qualitative and second one is Quantitative research. (Ponteerotto, 2006) found that quantitative research approach is used when we have to gain lean descriptions and we use qualitative research when we have to gain comprehensive descriptions. In our previous chapter, we explained our research question which includes the reasons behind brand extension in Pakistan and advantages and disadvantages of brand extension in Pakistani markets perspective. We will also try to know about the factors leading to the success and failure of brand extension. (Ponterotto 2006) found that to conduct qualitative research, most beneficial instrument can be in-depth interviews because in-depth interviews researcher can define the different facets of human experiences which results in having a deep understanding about the research topic. (Holme and Solvang 1991) compared quantitative research as a conventional and integrated research approach. In quantitative research approach final results can be presented in the forms of facts and these results are also measureable. One of the main purposes of quantitative research approach is make the consequences of the research of few variables to higher numbers of entities. According to (ibid 2000) qualitative research approach uses qualitative data to draw a conclusion. It draws conclusion on the basis of factors like peoples attitude, perception, values, likes and dislikes. By using qualitative research approach, results can be drawn by gather information through specific number of entities. This process can provide us the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the research. By keeping the above mentioned description in our consideration, our research focus would be qualitative. One reason for choosing qualitative research approach as our research approach is that we want to gain as much information regarding our topic as much we can. This research approach would give us deeper information regarding brand and line extension activities in Pakistani perspective. For conducting our research for brand and line extension activities in Pakistan and its favorability or un-favorability, initially we approached many companies, out of which four companies agreed to provide us information regarding our research topic. Before conducting our interviews with our respondents, we sent a questionnaire to our respondents.. These interviews were not recorded and average time for an interview was approximately thirty to fifty minutes. Finally, to clear some doubts regarding the first three telephone interviews the companies were re-contacted to clear the doubts in some ques tions. 2.3 Respondents of the study Following companies were chosen to gain an insight about brand extension favorability or un-favorability from brand managers perspective. Initially, we approached many seasoned companies, out of which four companies brand manager agreed to give us time for interviews. Haleeb Foods Limited Pakistan Pakola Nestle Head Shoulders (PG) 2.3.1 Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan Haleeb Foods Limited is one of the biggest Dairy company of Pakistan which is operating in many different categories such as Juices, UHT milk, Tea whitener, and other dairy products. Haleeb foods came into existence in 1986 Haleeb foods initially started to produce Haleeb Milk. Later on Haleeb foods entered into different other segments of the market and different other categories. Since from its establishment, Haleeb food came up with many of brand and product line extension which Haleeb foods did successfully. Mr. Adil Suleman brand manager of Haleeb foods limited Pakistan was contacted via telephone to have this interview and to gain insight about brand extension of Haleeb in Pakistan. 2.3.2 Pakola Pakola is a beverage company which came into existence in 1950 by Haji Ali Muhammad. Initially Pakola focused on producing a soft drink which represented the drink of Pakistan. Later on as a part of brand and product line extension, Pakola introduced couple of other products which includes flavored soft drink and milk range, mineral water and juices. Mr. Mubeen Munnawar Marketing Manager of Pakola was contacted to have an interview to gain information regarding brand extension activities of Pakola in Pakistan. It was a face to face interview, and during the course of this interview, we gained deep insight about brand extension activities, favorability and unfavorability of Pakola brand extension. 2.3.3 Nestle Nestle was founded in 1866 by Henry Nestle and today Nestle if one the worlds largest beverage and food company. Nestle since from last couple of decades is into brand extension and product line extension. As a result of brand and product line extension Nestle has introduced couple of successful brands. Nestle has integrated innovation and renovation techniques in its principles. Nestle extend its brands through innovation and renovation. Mr. Adnan Tariq, brand manager of Nestle was contacted via telephone to get an insight about Nestle brand extension activities in Pakistan. During this interview Mr. Adnan Tariq gave us some valuable information regarding brand extension activities of Nestle in Pakistan and favorability and unfavorability of Nestle brand extension in Pakistan. 2.3.4 Head Shoulders Head Shoulders is an anti dandruff shampoo range introduced by PG. After a thorough research a new anti dandruff formula was developed which they used in developing Head Shoulders and it was first introduced in 1950. Head Shoulders have got a ranges of shampoo which includes classic clean, citrus breeze, refresh, extra volume, dry scalp care. Mr. Shaif Shafiq, who is associated with PG from a long time, was contacted to gain valuable information about brand extension strategy of Head Shoulders in Pakistan. Information the success or failure of Head Shoulders was also gained. During the course of this interview questions related our topic were asked and responses were noted down for future consideration. 2.4 Research Instrument 2.4.1 Interviews As per (Breakwell 1995) interviews as a research instrument can be useful because it is considered as a very flexible tools and due to its numerosity of phase in the research work. According to (ibid 2000) it is easy to use interviews as a part of research instrument because of its multi faceted nature of the research design. Observations and questionnaire can be used as a part of interviews to collect data for our research approach. Using interviews as a part of our research, we first took our research framework into our consideration. By keeping our research framework in our mind we developed a questionnaire which consisted of series of questions regarding reasons for brand extension and its favorability or unfavorability. Some irrelevant questions were late on excluded from our questionnaire before conducting our interviews. 2.5 Sources of Data (Wiedersheim-Paul and Erikson 1997) purposed two types of data collection method. First one is Primary data and second one Secondary data collection. Primary data is the first hand information which is collected for some specific purpose while second hand data is already published data which was collected for some other purpose or some other research. Moreover, (ibid 2000) shed some light on data collection methods as, there can be three different types of data collection method. First one is observation, second one is interviews and the last one is documentation. As per (Yin 1994) interviews can be one of the most reliable source for collecting data. Using interviews as a data collection method, interviewee and interviewer both can focus on the topic. Furthermore, (ibid, 2000) elaborated that interviews can be useful when it comes to gain insights of the interviewee about any specific topic. 2.5.1 Primary Data In previous section we focused more on that secondary data collection method for research can not be ample to identify more accurate and reliable information about any specific topic of research. When it comes to identify about the reason behind brand and product line extension and its favorability or unfavorability, it is important to determine what companies and their brand managers think about brand extension and product line extension. For this purpose use of primary data collection can be beneficial. Thus interviews are selected as an instrument for primary data collection method. These interviews include face to face and telephonic interviews. According to (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005), â€Å"proper communication can be a reliable and beneficial instrument for data collection. The reason is that in communication method no one forces researchers to wait for a certain event to be occurred†. (p. 167). Nevertheless, communication techniques have some drawbacks. In communication techniques it is not confirmed whether the answer to the research question will be obtained in an accurate manner. Using communication has some weaknesses. One of a reason for this is that responses are dependent on interviewees will to pass on the expected information. 2.5.2 Secondary Data For our research regarding brand extension and product line extension in Pakistani perspective, we also focused on collecting some secondary data. As per (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005) â€Å"for conducting any research, we must begin with searching for secondary information†. (p, 167). Using secondary data collection for gaining information can be beneficial in terms of having an initial idea about what have already been researched about the topic. Some useful information about research topic, already published information can also be gained in a timely fashion. Apart from advantages of secondary data collection method, there are some drawbacks associated with secondary data collection method. Secondary data can not be sufficient to give complete information regarding specific question of research. Furthermore, already published information was collected for some other purpose which not necessarily answers the question which you have included in your the sis. Indeed, according to them first of all, the data had been â€Å"collected for someone elses p Uses of Brand Extension Strategies Uses of Brand Extension Strategies 1- PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND This chapter contains background of our study, statement of the problem, significance and delimitation of the study. Furthermore Definitions of the terms used in this dissertation are also explained in this chapter. 1.1 Introduction One of the most famous strategies to leverage brand equity is brand extension. It is believed that consumers will favor new extension if new products are under the label of already established brand name.Familiarity and trust with the parent brand is one of the factor due to which companies hope that their consumers will react in a favorable manner. It is beneficial for the companies because of the positive association which consumers already have with the parent brand. A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. (Kotler 1996). Brand extension denotes to the corporate activity in which companies bring in new products, new product variants or product improvements by leveraging the brand equity of the existing parent brand. It is believed that instead of establishing an entirely a new brand, extension of brands can be favorable for companies in terms of promotional and awareness activities, distribution, customer perceived risk in buying any product of service. (Keller, 2002) stated that another major factor for which Companies prefer to use brand extension is lower cost. Introducing a new brand into consumer market can be relatively much higher than introducing new product or product variants under the same brand name. This cost can range above millions of rupees and can not guarantee of any success. So instead of launching entirely a new product, most companies prefer brand extension. Successful examples such as Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke benefited from the brand franchise of their parent products. Coca-Cola introduced six extensions and captured a larger market share than the original brand. For example, Cokes extension, Cherry Coke, was successful even without considerable advertisement. Apart from benefits of brand extension there are some potential problems associated with brand extension, such as failure or semi failure of brands like brand dilution or brand cannibalization. Rather than success of brands, failed extension might maculate the parent brand name thus the result would be reduced market share of the parent brand. Brand association in terms of quality and consistency are crucial for any brand extension to be successful in the eyes of the consumers. Association with the brand is also dependent on consumers own values, preferences, taste, buying situation and manager should always focus on what these dependent variables are and when they come into action. Take an example of new Coke; Coca Cola did not pay attention to what the core brand meant to stand for. It mainly focused on the taste and thought that the taste is the only factor which consumers are looking for. This concept was wrong. Coca cola was unable to identify the attachment of the consumer with the original coke before launching New coke, even though Coca Cola spent a lot of money on conducting research before launching New coke. Brand dilution occurs when consumers loss the original grasp of brand perception on their minds and no longer associate the brand with a specific product. For instance, Sunsilk may experience brand dilution by loosing its strong identity of hair care and shampoo range by running a number of different categories like mashed potatoes, powdered milk and soups. Too broad varieties of product categories run under same brand can frustrate consumers in thinking which variations of products that actually fit to their perceptions. For Example, too many ranges of Sunsilk shampoo include Sunsilk black, pink, white, yoghurt, dandruff can make customers confused in buying a suitable product which actually fit to their needs. Consumers these days have now become selective and demand innovative products. Those brands which are not unique or innovative in any means eventually got tarnished. Consumers do not prefer such extensions which do not offer any innovation or new features in extended brands. Consumers perception about parent brand and extended brand is one of the factors which may lead to either success or dilution of brand. Success and failure of brand is also dependent on familiarity with the parent brand and concept of fit between parent brands and extended brand. Brand loyalty by a consumer can be changed in case of brand extension. If brand extension is favorable it may lead to more loyalty towards the parent brand and if brand extension in unfavorable then the effect would be opposite. As per early research regarding brand extension leads to brand dilution, Aaker and Keller (1990) found insignificant evidence between unsuccessful brand extension leads to brand dilution. Conversely, in a research (Loken and Roedder-John 1993) pointed that inconsistency of product and brand beliefs may lead to brand dilution. Brand dilution and failure of brand can occur when consumer find it difficult to associate the extension with the parent brand, a lack of similarity and familiarity and discrepancy between Integrated marketing communication messages. Brand extension is a strategy which most of the companies are using to minimize risk associated with introducing an entirely new brand and to maximize their profits from the new brand. But in some of the cases brand extension fails, and the reason is the weak brand equity of the parent brand that bears upon the success of the brand extension. If the equity of parent brand is strong, brand extension can be successful and vice versa. Both Functional and non functional attributes of a brand can harm and eventually dilute the equity of an integrated oriented brand, which means due to the weak brand equity, brand dilution can occur across the parent brand. Such kind of failures of extensions can make customers to create a negative association with the parent brand or even with the brand family. These failures can also agitate and blur the original identity and meaning of a brand even positioning as well. Brand managers already know that there are some advantages and disadvantages associated with brand extension. Nevertheless couple of unsuccessful brand extension in past years was noticed. To be successful in brand extension knowledge related to brand extension should be refined. Brand extension is successful or not is decided by what factors? One of the most important factors is concept of fit. Fit with the parent brand in terms of quality and image. It is customer perceived fit which plays an important role in making consumers to decide whether extended products are favorable or unfavorable. If fit between parent brand and extended brand is as per consumers perception then consumers will respond more favorably to that extension and if fit between parent brand and extended brand are not as per consumers perception then consumer will respond to that extension unfavorable and it might lead to the failure or dilution of the brand. According to Martinez and de Chernatony (2004) brand image has two types: the general brand image and the product brand image. According to them there would be no negative impact on general brand image if the brand image is strong for example, Nike or Sony. Dilution effect would be more on product image instead of general brand image. Therefore, mostly the customers would stick to their beliefs about the parent brand with respect to its attributes and feeling. Nevertheless their study shows that â€Å"brand image can be diluted by brand extension, and beliefs and association with the parent brand can also be changed. In Pakistani environment companies especially MNCs prefer brand extension because they consider it more convenient. Top most cause for this is that products from multinationals already have an image of developed countries. Due to the past record of products from these developed countries, consumers give them positive response. Due to the image of product from these countries in the mind of the consumers, less cost is incurred by the companies on creating awareness and communicating about the product message with the target audience. These products already have good market share and media coverage; therefore it becomes easy to launch brand extension in Pakistan for such companies. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Since last couple of years, new product failure has been observed quite a few times. As a result companies now are relying on brand extension instead of launching new products. There are couples of other reasons instead of new brand failures, which companies consider for brand extension, such as low promotion and awareness cost, acceptance and less chances of being failed. Though these advantages are considered by companies to use brand extension as a part of their branding strategy, but apart of these advantages there couple of failed extensions have also been observed in last couple of years. Researchers are now focusing to identify the factors which are useful in evaluating brand extension and factors which play a role in either failure or success of brand extension. In this Thesis we will also try to find about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension. Most of the researches which were conducted to know about the favorability or unfavorability of brand extension were focused on consumers point of view about brand extension. But as a matter fact it is quite difficult for consumers to evaluate whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. They can not evaluate it in undifferentiated fashion (Aaker and Keller, 1990, Keller and Aaker, 1992; Dacin and Smith, 1994; Smith and Andres, 1995). Brand extension according to consumers point of view was taken into consideration many a times, but very low attention was given to the managers point of view about brand extension (Nijssen and Agustin, 1999).Managers point of view regarding brand extension can give an extensive knowledge about brand extension because of their deep analysis about consumers and competitors and their personal experiences about the market and the brands. Hence in this thesis we will focus on managers perspective about brand extension along with consumers point of v iew. Both local and multi nationals are into brand extension from a long time. Such as Nestle , Pakola (Pakola, bubble up, Applesidra, double cola, Pakola milk), Sunsilk (Sunsilk black, Sunsilk white, Sunsilk pink, Sunsilk yoghurt, Sunsilk egg), Haleeb food Pvt Ltd (Milk, Juices, Cream, yoghurt), National Food (Pickle, salt, spices), Shan Food(spices, pickle, food), Unilever Pakistan (Lifebuoy, Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder), PG (Soaps, Shampoo, Ice creams, Washing powder) Pakistan By keeping above relation in mind, it will be beneficial to have brand managers point of view about the success or failure of brand extension. 1.3 Significance of the Study The significance of this thesis is to explore the use of brand extension strategies in the Pakistan context. Whether the strategy of brand extension is favorable or not, or due to brand extension, brands gets diluted or cannibalized? Since brand extensions is one of the most popular strategies for leveraging brand equity, this study will also focus on brand extension effect on brand equity. This thesis will focus on brand extension strategies of products from various companies which include Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan, Nestle, Pakola and Head Shoulders. Various companies insights regarding brand extension will help us to study favorability or unfavorability of brand extension in a well manner. We will try to achieve this purpose by answering the following research questions. RQ1. What are the reasons to choose brand extension as a part branding strategy? RQ2. Is brand extension favorable or Unfavorable? Above mentioned two research questions were divided further into a set of questions. Purpose was to gain a deep insight to answer these two research questions. By answering above question, we will come to know whether brand extension is favorable or it leads to brand dilution, and whether brand extension is favorable for those companies who prefer extension and are involved in brand extension from couple of decades. We will also come to know that for what reasons companies in Pakistan are using brand extension, and whether brand extension is in accordance with the successful brand extension concept or not. This thesis will be beneficial in indentifying the success rate or failure rate of brand extension of those companies which have been chosen for this thesis. 1.4 Scope and Delimitation This thesis focused on brand managers of those companies which are operating here in Pakistan. Only four products have been chosen for which research is conducted to identify whether brand extension is favorable or unfavorable. So the product range is limited to four companies only. Another limitation faced during the course of this study was that brand extension strategy for most of the multi national companies are crafted in their home country and then implemented here in Pakistan. Furthermore, Interview process is chosen to know about brand managers point of view about failure or success of brand extension. Out of 4 brand managers, 2 interviews were taken on telephone and 2 were taken face to face. Due to the limitation of telephonic interview, non verbal responses could not be gauged. Other limitation confronted during the course of research was the fact that majority of multinationals (MNEs) formulate brand extension strategies at their head quarters abroad. Lastly, we came to k now that in Pakistan brand extension responsibilities is handled by marketing managers instead of brand managers in some companies. 1.5 Definitions 1.5.1 Brand According to (American Marketing Association 2007 brand is: A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition†. 1.5.2 Brand extension According to (Aaker 1991) brand extension can be defined as utilizing an already established brand to enter from one class of product category to another class of product category. (Kotler 1991) defined brand extension strategy as exploiting a well known and successful brand name either to launch a new or modified product can be termed as brand extension process. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined brand extension strategy as an expansion strategy, where companies try to further extend their already established and well known brands into either different other categories or in same category with some modification. 1.5.3 Product Line Extension (Kotler Armstrong 1990) defined product line extension as a process of using already established brand name to introduce new items with some extra innovation or modification in the same category. For example Pakola has extended its soft drink named â€Å"Pakola† into Pakola raspberry, Pakola leeche, Pakola orange, Pakola lemon. (Aaker 1991) elaborates product line as line extension occurs in the form of introducing new items under the same brand name in the same category with some modification in flavors, colors, specification, ingredients and package sizes. Product line extension is somehow differs with brand extension because brand extension is about using an established brand name to introduce new product and brand in different categories, while line extension leveraging and established brand to introduce new products in same category with some improvements, modification and enhancements. 1.5.4 Brand Dilution According to (Aaker 1991) brand dilution is depraving of a brand via its overexploitation. This failure of brand occurs when extension is done in a poor manner, or when a brand with poor equity is leveraged to extend it into different other categories. This failure can also occur when an extension becomes unfavorable in the mind of consumers. As per (Kotler Armstrong 1990), unfavorability of a brand in the mind of the consumers can be due to lack of quality, over pricing, lack of consistency with the parent brand, lack of innovative feature and lack of trust. Brand dilution can be a disaster for a company. Companies use their well known established brands to leverage their equity and image to further extend it for entering into different market segments, which gives them a chance to earn higher profits. This can be true when parent brand equity is strong. But if equity of any brand is weak, then consequences might include dilution or failure of a brand. 1.5.5 Brand Cannibalization (Kotler 1991) defined brand cannibalization as reduction in sales revenue and diminishing of share of market resulted as the introduction of new products in the same category For example, when diet coke was introduced by Coca Cola, sales for original coke diminished, but eventually it led in expansion of diet soft drink market. In case of Haleeb food, introduction of tea whitener diminished the sales of UHT milk, because consumers previously were using milk for making tea, but with the introduction of tea whitener, some consumers started to prefer tea whitener instead of milk, which resulted in cannibalization of milk category. 1.5.6 Brand Equity According to (Wood 2000) brand equity can be defined as a profitable relationship between a brand and its consumers. (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) reported that it is quite difficult to measure equity of a brand. Yet a strong brand results in strong brand equity which can be leverage to extend into different other categories. Conversely weaker brand means weak brand equity which can result in failure if extended into different other brands. Strong brand equity may lead to achieve brand loyalty, quality, brand association and awareness. These benefits help companies to incur less cost on communication and awareness. 1.5.7 Brand Association (Kotler and Armstrong 1996) defined brand association as refers to a degree where consumers discern a brand in rich fashion. Positivity of any brand depends upon how deeply that brand is penetrated in the mind of the consumers in positive fashion. Brand associations are the properties of a brand which consumers recall whenever brand is talked about. Consumer relates a brand name with its implicit or explicit meanings. Brand association can also be termed as the level to which a specific product/service is acknowledged amongst its product or service family. When choosing a brand name, it is important that the name selected must reinforce an essential dimensions and specification or benefit association that forms the position of a product. 2- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY PROCEDURE In this chapter we will discuss and justify methodological choices which we have made for our research. Below mentioned figure presents an overview of the research method which will be used in this chapter for our research. Source: Adapted from Foster (1998), p.81 2.1 Research Purpose (Yin 1994) and (Wiedersheim-Paul and Eriksson 1998) found in a research that there are basically three types of research: Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive According to (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksson, 1998) basis purpose of the explanatory research is to craft and specify the issues of the research. This type of research is beneficial when the problem is quite difficult to analyze. According to Patel and Tebelius (1987) explanatory research is used when researcher want to gain more and more information about any specific issue. Moreover, Reynolds (1971) said through explanatory research, researcher can get comprehensive information about research defined problem. (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2000) found that descriptive research is useful when the problem of research is properly defined and crafted in a well manner. For this purpose, researcher must have complete information about the problem defined in the research. Collection of data must be started after having a clear understanding about the problem defined form research. Furthermore, (Wiedersheim-Paul Eriksonn 1998) described that the main objective of descriptive research is to iden tify the applicable facets of the problem of the research. For conducting descriptive research researcher has to deeply define these facets, and there must be a relation between and describe these aspects more thoroughly without researching connections between reasons and indications. For our research we will initially try to define the reasons behind brand extension. Why do companies in Pakistan prefer engaging in brand and line extension activities? Furthermore, we will also try to identify the favorability and un-favorability of brand extension in Pakistani markets and companys perspective. For gaining deep understanding about the research question defined previously, we have considered exploratory research as a part of our research. The reason is that before this research no study has been taken into consideration to know about brand extension activities in Pakistan and we want to gain as much information as we can. Along with exploratory our research is explanatory as well. We will try to explain the result which we will get through our research. On the basis of our respondents responses we will try to draw a conclusion. 2.2 Research Approach To gain a deep information about brand extension strategies in Pakistan and whether it is beneficial or not beneficial for Pakistani market we have to consider two approaches, First one Qualitative and second one is Quantitative research. (Ponteerotto, 2006) found that quantitative research approach is used when we have to gain lean descriptions and we use qualitative research when we have to gain comprehensive descriptions. In our previous chapter, we explained our research question which includes the reasons behind brand extension in Pakistan and advantages and disadvantages of brand extension in Pakistani markets perspective. We will also try to know about the factors leading to the success and failure of brand extension. (Ponterotto 2006) found that to conduct qualitative research, most beneficial instrument can be in-depth interviews because in-depth interviews researcher can define the different facets of human experiences which results in having a deep understanding about the research topic. (Holme and Solvang 1991) compared quantitative research as a conventional and integrated research approach. In quantitative research approach final results can be presented in the forms of facts and these results are also measureable. One of the main purposes of quantitative research approach is make the consequences of the research of few variables to higher numbers of entities. According to (ibid 2000) qualitative research approach uses qualitative data to draw a conclusion. It draws conclusion on the basis of factors like peoples attitude, perception, values, likes and dislikes. By using qualitative research approach, results can be drawn by gather information through specific number of entities. This process can provide us the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the research. By keeping the above mentioned description in our consideration, our research focus would be qualitative. One reason for choosing qualitative research approach as our research approach is that we want to gain as much information regarding our topic as much we can. This research approach would give us deeper information regarding brand and line extension activities in Pakistani perspective. For conducting our research for brand and line extension activities in Pakistan and its favorability or un-favorability, initially we approached many companies, out of which four companies agreed to provide us information regarding our research topic. Before conducting our interviews with our respondents, we sent a questionnaire to our respondents.. These interviews were not recorded and average time for an interview was approximately thirty to fifty minutes. Finally, to clear some doubts regarding the first three telephone interviews the companies were re-contacted to clear the doubts in some ques tions. 2.3 Respondents of the study Following companies were chosen to gain an insight about brand extension favorability or un-favorability from brand managers perspective. Initially, we approached many seasoned companies, out of which four companies brand manager agreed to give us time for interviews. Haleeb Foods Limited Pakistan Pakola Nestle Head Shoulders (PG) 2.3.1 Haleeb Foods Ltd Pakistan Haleeb Foods Limited is one of the biggest Dairy company of Pakistan which is operating in many different categories such as Juices, UHT milk, Tea whitener, and other dairy products. Haleeb foods came into existence in 1986 Haleeb foods initially started to produce Haleeb Milk. Later on Haleeb foods entered into different other segments of the market and different other categories. Since from its establishment, Haleeb food came up with many of brand and product line extension which Haleeb foods did successfully. Mr. Adil Suleman brand manager of Haleeb foods limited Pakistan was contacted via telephone to have this interview and to gain insight about brand extension of Haleeb in Pakistan. 2.3.2 Pakola Pakola is a beverage company which came into existence in 1950 by Haji Ali Muhammad. Initially Pakola focused on producing a soft drink which represented the drink of Pakistan. Later on as a part of brand and product line extension, Pakola introduced couple of other products which includes flavored soft drink and milk range, mineral water and juices. Mr. Mubeen Munnawar Marketing Manager of Pakola was contacted to have an interview to gain information regarding brand extension activities of Pakola in Pakistan. It was a face to face interview, and during the course of this interview, we gained deep insight about brand extension activities, favorability and unfavorability of Pakola brand extension. 2.3.3 Nestle Nestle was founded in 1866 by Henry Nestle and today Nestle if one the worlds largest beverage and food company. Nestle since from last couple of decades is into brand extension and product line extension. As a result of brand and product line extension Nestle has introduced couple of successful brands. Nestle has integrated innovation and renovation techniques in its principles. Nestle extend its brands through innovation and renovation. Mr. Adnan Tariq, brand manager of Nestle was contacted via telephone to get an insight about Nestle brand extension activities in Pakistan. During this interview Mr. Adnan Tariq gave us some valuable information regarding brand extension activities of Nestle in Pakistan and favorability and unfavorability of Nestle brand extension in Pakistan. 2.3.4 Head Shoulders Head Shoulders is an anti dandruff shampoo range introduced by PG. After a thorough research a new anti dandruff formula was developed which they used in developing Head Shoulders and it was first introduced in 1950. Head Shoulders have got a ranges of shampoo which includes classic clean, citrus breeze, refresh, extra volume, dry scalp care. Mr. Shaif Shafiq, who is associated with PG from a long time, was contacted to gain valuable information about brand extension strategy of Head Shoulders in Pakistan. Information the success or failure of Head Shoulders was also gained. During the course of this interview questions related our topic were asked and responses were noted down for future consideration. 2.4 Research Instrument 2.4.1 Interviews As per (Breakwell 1995) interviews as a research instrument can be useful because it is considered as a very flexible tools and due to its numerosity of phase in the research work. According to (ibid 2000) it is easy to use interviews as a part of research instrument because of its multi faceted nature of the research design. Observations and questionnaire can be used as a part of interviews to collect data for our research approach. Using interviews as a part of our research, we first took our research framework into our consideration. By keeping our research framework in our mind we developed a questionnaire which consisted of series of questions regarding reasons for brand extension and its favorability or unfavorability. Some irrelevant questions were late on excluded from our questionnaire before conducting our interviews. 2.5 Sources of Data (Wiedersheim-Paul and Erikson 1997) purposed two types of data collection method. First one is Primary data and second one Secondary data collection. Primary data is the first hand information which is collected for some specific purpose while second hand data is already published data which was collected for some other purpose or some other research. Moreover, (ibid 2000) shed some light on data collection methods as, there can be three different types of data collection method. First one is observation, second one is interviews and the last one is documentation. As per (Yin 1994) interviews can be one of the most reliable source for collecting data. Using interviews as a data collection method, interviewee and interviewer both can focus on the topic. Furthermore, (ibid, 2000) elaborated that interviews can be useful when it comes to gain insights of the interviewee about any specific topic. 2.5.1 Primary Data In previous section we focused more on that secondary data collection method for research can not be ample to identify more accurate and reliable information about any specific topic of research. When it comes to identify about the reason behind brand and product line extension and its favorability or unfavorability, it is important to determine what companies and their brand managers think about brand extension and product line extension. For this purpose use of primary data collection can be beneficial. Thus interviews are selected as an instrument for primary data collection method. These interviews include face to face and telephonic interviews. According to (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005), â€Å"proper communication can be a reliable and beneficial instrument for data collection. The reason is that in communication method no one forces researchers to wait for a certain event to be occurred†. (p. 167). Nevertheless, communication techniques have some drawbacks. In communication techniques it is not confirmed whether the answer to the research question will be obtained in an accurate manner. Using communication has some weaknesses. One of a reason for this is that responses are dependent on interviewees will to pass on the expected information. 2.5.2 Secondary Data For our research regarding brand extension and product line extension in Pakistani perspective, we also focused on collecting some secondary data. As per (Churchill, Gilbert A., Iacobucci and JR. Dawn, 2005) â€Å"for conducting any research, we must begin with searching for secondary information†. (p, 167). Using secondary data collection for gaining information can be beneficial in terms of having an initial idea about what have already been researched about the topic. Some useful information about research topic, already published information can also be gained in a timely fashion. Apart from advantages of secondary data collection method, there are some drawbacks associated with secondary data collection method. Secondary data can not be sufficient to give complete information regarding specific question of research. Furthermore, already published information was collected for some other purpose which not necessarily answers the question which you have included in your the sis. Indeed, according to them first of all, the data had been â€Å"collected for someone elses p