Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance

Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance Acknowledgement Apart from the efforts put by me, the success of any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of my Thesis. I am heartily thankful to my Thesis Guide- Prof. Robin Thomas, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of this subject. The guidance and support received from all the members who contributed and who are contributing to this research, was vital for the success of this Thesis. I am grateful for their constant support and help. OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance in the organizations in todays scenario. Also, to study the impact of effective Employer Branding on perceptual and objective areas of Performance Management. ABSTRACT Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys the organizations value proposition the totality of the organizations culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging its people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding represents a firms efforts to promote, both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes it different and desirable as an employer. In recent years employer branding has gained popularity among practicing managers. The importance of managing employee perceptions has given rise to the contemporary notion of Employer Brand. This is essentially the brand the employer projects to existing and potential employees via the chain of communication touch points ranging from recruitment intermediaries through to line managers. However one of the major issues in Employer Branding is how to measure an employer brand, what value does the employer brand have? Ultimately, a strong employer brand should contribute to the performance and success of the organization. The workforce is the real driver of profits in todays business world. Employer Branding helps in recruitment and retention of the best of talents. It has its impact in many areas of Human Resource Management like Employee Loyalty, Employee commitment, Employee retention and one of these areas which should get highly affected by this concept is Employee Performance. The strength of an organizations brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees. A strong Employer Brand has a significant influence in the employees performance and that a strong product brand can essentially support the development of the employment brand. These days companies make a lot of investments in this concept of Employer Branding, thus studying the extent of its impact on Employees Performance in these organizations has become a vital need in todays scenario. THE SCOPE/COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF THE STUDY * To study the concept of Employer Branding and its evolution over a period of time. * To study what it takes for an organization to build a magnetic Employer Brand. * To study the causes that lead organizations to focus more on this concept of Employer Branding. * To study the extent to which this process of Employer Branding helps the organizations to improve Employee Performance and what impact it has on other areas like Employee Loyalty and Employee Retention. * To study Employees Brand Based Equity and its impact on Employee Performance. * To study the benefits gained by the organizations as well as the obstacles faced by the organizations in the development and implementation of this process of Employer Branding. * To study the ways by which the impact of Employer Branding Process can be measured with Employee Performance being a major area of focus. METHODOLOGY The conceptual study of the thesis will be done through literature reviews. Descriptive research design will be used to get an idea of the implementation of this concept. Also, Causal research design will be used to understand the relationship between the variables under study to reach reliable and valid conclusions. The method of Probability sampling will be used to carry out the required surveys. Hereby, the method of Stratified Random Sampling will be used. The use of these methods and Research Designs would make the study more concrete and reliable. SOURCES OF INFORMATION  · Secondary data collection will be done through websites, literature study, journals, magazines and articles.  · Primary data collection will be done through interviews of professionals and subject experts. Also, the questionnaires will be used to carry out the surveys of the Target Audience. * The target audience would be the H.R [Senior Level] and Subject Experts. Study would be conducted across sectors and around Five Industries would be taken under study. Five Firms would be taken for survey purpose under each Industry. So in all, 25 H.R [Senior Level] across sectors and Five Subject Experts would be surveyed. Sample size would be 30. Note: The thesis has to be divided in three parts. The first part would talk about the following: * The meaning and background of Employer Branding, the dimensions of Employer Branding, etc. * The meaning and background of Employee Performance and how it is defined. * How are Employer Branding and Employee Performance related. The second part would be of Industry research which would include study of various industries taking into consideration various units under various industries. It would include data analysis and data interpretation. The third part would include the derivations of the study. It would include key findings and learning and suggestions. Chapter 1. Introduction to Branding 1.1 Defining a Brand Branding has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. In fact, the word brand is derived from the Old Norse word brandr, which means â€Å"to burn, as brands are the means by which owners of livestock mark their animals to identify them. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) a 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.† Technically speaking, then, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand. Thus, the key to creating a brand, according to the AMA definition, is to be able to choose a name, logo, symbol, package design, or other attribute that identifies a prod ­uct and distinguishes it from others. These different components of a brand that iden ­tify and differentiate it can be called brand elements. A brand is therefore a product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be rational and tangible—related to product performance of the brand—or more symbolic, emotional, and intangible—related to what the brand represents. One mar ­keting Observer put it this way. More specifically, what distinguishes a brand from its unbranded commodity counterpart and gives it equity is the sum total of consumers perceptions and feelings about the products attributes and how they perform, about the brand name and what it stands for, and about the company associated with the brand? 1.2 Why Brand? More and more firms and other organizations have come to the realization that one of their most valuable assets is the brand names associated with their products or services. In an increasingly complex world, individuals and businesses are faced with more and more choices but seemingly have less and less time to make those choices. The ability of a strong brand to simplify consumer decision making, reduce risk, and set expectations is thus invaluable. Creating strong brands that deliver on that promise, and maintaining and enhancing the strength of those brands over time, is thus a management imperative. Emile Durkheim in Elementary Forms of The Religious Life explains the religion of the Australian Aborigines. The concept of a church as Durkheim defines it is ‘a shared feeling of a special kind. It is group dynamics, the act of assembling for a common purpose, that creates the feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling that strikes a chord with our deepest longings. Brands, too, strike chords. However, striking the right chord is both difficult and often costly. There are no guarantees of the result, although there is a clear difference in the growth of financial value if we compare companies that have done at least a little branding and those that havent branded themselves at all. 1.3 Why do Brands matter? Creating a successful brand entails blending all these various elements to ­gether in a unique way—the product or service has to be of high quality and appropriate to consumer needs, the brand name must be appealing and in tune with the consumers perceptions of the product, the packaging, promo ­tion, pricing and all other elements must similarly meet the tests of appropri ­ateness, appeal, and differentiation. An obvious question is why are brands important? What functions do they per ­form that make them so valuable to marketers? One can take a couple of per ­spectives to uncover the value of brands to both consumers and firms themselves. 1.3.1 To Consumers As with the term product, this book uses the term consumer broadly to encompass all types of customers, including individuals as well as organizations. To consumers, brands provide important functions. Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers to assign responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Most important, brands take on special meaning to consumers. Because of past experi ­ences with the product and its marketing program over the years, consumers learn about brands. They find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not. As a result, brands provide a shorthand device or means of simplification for their product decisions. If consumers recognize a brand and have some knowledge about it, then they do not have to engage in a lot of additional thought or processing of information to make a product decision. Thus, from an economic perspective, brands allow consumers to lour search costs for products both internally (in terms of how much they have to think) and externally (in terms of how much they have to look around). Based on what they already know about the brand—its quality, product characteristics, and so forth— consumers can make assumptions and form reasonable expectations about what they may not know about the brand. Brands can also play a significant role in signaling certain product characteristics to consumers. Researchers have classified products and their associated attributes or benefits into three major categories: search goods, experience goods, and credence goods. With search goods, product attributes can be evaluated by visual inspection (e.g., the sturdiness, size, color, style, weight, and ingredient composition of a product). With experience goods, product attributes—potentially equally important—cannot be assessed so easily by inspection, and actual product trial and experience is necessary (e.g., as with durability, service quality, safety, and ease of handling or use). With cre ­dence goods, product attributes may be rarely learned (e.g., insurance coverage). Because of the difficulty in assessing and interpreting product attributes and benefits with experience and credence goods, brands may be particularly important signals of quality and other characteristics to consumers for these types of products. Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions. Consumers may perceive many different types of risks in buying and consuming a product: *Functional risk: The product does not perform up to expectations *Physical risk: The product poses a threat to the physical well-being or health of the user or others *Financial risk: The product is not worth the price paid *Social risk: The product results in embarrassment from others *Psychological risk: The product affects the mental well-being of the user *Time risk: The failure of the product results in an opportunity cost of finding another satis ­factory product Although there are a number of different means by which consumers handle these risks, certainly one way in which consumers cope is to buy well-known brands, espe ­cially those brands with which consumers have had favorable past experiences. Thus, brands can be a very important risk-handling device, especially in business to business settings where these risks can sometimes have quite profound implications. 1.3.2 To Firms Brands also provide a number of valuable functions to firms. Fundamentally, they serve an identification purpose to simplify product handling or tracing for the firm. Operationally, brands help to organize inventory and accounting records. A brand also offers the firm legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product. A brand can retain intellectual property rights, giving legal title to the brand owner. The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks, manufacturing processes can be protected through patents, and packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs. These intellectual property rights ensure that the firm can safely invest in the brand and reap the benefits of a valuable asset. As noted earlier, these investments in the brand can endow a product with unique associations and meanings that differentiate it from other products. Brands can signal a certain level of quality so that satisfied buyers can easily choose the product again. This brand loyalty provides predictability and security of demand for the firm and cre ­ates barriers of entry that make it difficult for other firms to enter the market. Although manufacturing processes and product designs may be easily duplicated, last ­ing impressions in the minds of individuals and organizations from years of marketing activity and product experience may not be so easily reproduced. In this sense, brand ­ing can be seen as a powerful means of securing a competitive advantage. 1.4 Can anything be branded? [Can organizations be branded?] Brands clearly provide important benefits to both consumers and firms. An obvious question, then, is, How are brands created? How do we brand a product? Although firms provide the impetus for brand creation through their marketing programs and other activities, ultimately a brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers. A brand is a perceptual entity that is rooted in reality, but it is also more than that, reflecting the perceptions and perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of consumers. To brand a product it is necessary to teach consumers who the product is by giving it a name and using other brand elements to help identify it—as well as what the product does and why consumers should care. In other words, to brand a product or ser ­vice, it is necessary to give consumers a label for the product (i.e., heres how we can identify the product) and to provide meaning for the brand to consumers (i.e., heres what this particular product can do for we and why it is special and different from other brand name products). Branding involves creating mental structures and helping con ­sumers organize their knowledge about products and services in a way that clarifies their decision making and, in the process, provides value to the firm. The key to brand ­ing is that consumers perceive differences among brands in a product category. As noted earlier, brand differences often are related to attributes or benefits of the product itself. In other cases, however, brand d ifferences may be related to more intangible image considerations. The universality of branding can be recognized by looking at some different product applications. As noted previously, products can be defined broadly to include phys ­ical-goods, services, retail stores, online businesses, people, organizations, places, or ideas. Brands extend beyond products and services. People and organizations also can be viewed as brands. The naming aspect of the brand is generally straightforward in this case, and people and organizations also often have well-defined images understood and liked or disliked by others. This fact becomes particularly true when considering public figures such as politicians, entertainers, and professional athletes. All of these different public figures compete in some sense for public approval and acceptance and benefit from conveying a strong and desirable image. 2: Introduction to Employer Branding 2.1 Defining an Employer Brand Like a consumer brand, it is an emotional relationship, but between an employer and employee, one that radiates out from this core to other stakeholders, to the community at large, and obviously to potential employees. Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys a value proposition the totality of a culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging a people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding is the essence of the employment experience, providing points that commence with initial employer brand awareness, and continuing throughout the tenure of employment, even extending into retirement. Employer branding is a distinguishing and relevant opportunity for a company to differentiate itself from the competition creating its branded factors as its USP for employee satisfaction and happiness resulting in retention, productivity and efficiency. 2.2 Elements/ Essentials of an Employer Brand Few things that form an Employer Brand are:  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST ARTICULATE A PROMISE TO EMPLOYEES. Just as every business has a customer brand, every business has an employer brand, too. Whether or not a business has ever spent any time developing it. Thats because every business needs employees. And as it recruits and retains and motivates, a business needs to clarify what it stands for. Why it must exist. What difference it can make. What it believes in. How its offerings align with its values. And if a business doesnt define an employer brand, just ask the recruiters. They will tell the story based on their own experience. In fact, more than 90 percent of people on line looking for jobs say they must very closely or closely understand the value of working for a company, according to the 2005 poll by Yahoo! Hot Jobs. An employer brand is a promise to employees to provide an experience that, in return, will motivate their commitment to deliver a customer brand. The real spirit of a employer brand is a combination of what a business may promise and deliver, inside and outside. Essentially, its about a relationship, between a business and a people. How business generally approaches people, or talent, has actually changed a bit over the years. We can remember when business viewed employees as followers in a campaign—people who simply did as they were told. Then, as time passed, business progressed to considering employees as partners in the implementation of strategies. This led, in recent years, to a consideration of the exchange between employees and business—sort of a we do this in exchange for this—to express the relationship. But that was primarily a financial transaction. And over time the old ways of framing the relationship functionally became outdated. Employees began to demand a relationship that reached for something more: an emotional connection. Thats where employer brand makes a difference. An employer brand can be a magical combination of what a business values, offers, and rewards—marrying what a brand promises outside with what a experience demands inside; what a business believes in and how we fundamentally respect the people who deliver a brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST SUPPORT A BUSINESS STRATEGY. But one cant just build an employer brand because everyone else does. Its too important. Theres too much it must accomplish. The need must come from a business strategy. The key to a successful employer brand is alignment with the business strategy, says Yvonne Larkin of Diageo. Together the business and organization strategies give the employer brand a reason for being. The power of employer brand is how it connects the internal experience to the external business need. How it grounds the necessity for this internal experience in the economic realities of the buying decisions a customers make. For example, is a business in a phase of rapid growth? An employer brand is essential to a growth strategy. Thats because growth will demand that a business continue to hire the right people in the right jobs at the right time. And keep the people we currently have. This constant effort to recruit and re recruit demands that a business enjoy a reputation in the marketplace that will support am bitions for growth. An employer brand can help a business clarify what will and will not change as we grow. And what growth means to the people who choose to work for we. Or is a business shrinking? An employer brand is essential to a strategy for stability. It can, simply, give employees something to hold on to during periods of significant turbulence. An emotional connection with employees will be tested as a business faces challenges, such as reducing a size without cutting out a heart, or shifting a direction from what employees may consider sacred. And is a business changing? Considering or pursuing new strategies? An employer brand is essential to any change strategy simply because it provides a focal point for employees. An employer brand is a touchstone for a employees, as their willingness to emotionally connect may be tested with each action each day. The essence of effective change management is effective stability management, giving people things to protect as they adjust to things that change. An employer brand can give people that emotional anchor as they may emotionally react to how they are expected to change. It can help people sing off the same page and embrace a common vision.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE, FOR EMPLOYEES, WHAT A CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE. An employer brand will never thrive if its only an HR thing or a Communications thing. If its only purpose is to make people feel better. It will only thrive if it makes a difference in results by making a difference to customers. If it supports every touch point a customers have with a business. Such importance is a key reason why Hallmark, as part of its internal efforts to excite employees about its consumer brand, annually gives each employee a card pack as a friendly way to tell others of sending greeting cards. The card pack is just that—an attractive folder with three greeting cards inside, along with a note to the employee suggesting that they share this pack with someone outside Hallmark and their immediate family, such as a new neighbor, the person sitting next to them on an airplane or bus, or the helpful sacker at the grocery store.† The approach clearly connects employees to consumer touch points to help share Hallmarks mission of enriching lives. A customer who has a positive experience will be more likely to return. But that positive experience doesnt simply happen. People make it happen. And most of these are employees of a business. A customers experience, regardless of the product or service a business offers, is a series of reactions and observ ations at each touch point: how people notice, observe, hear, experience, and talk. Every brand experience has a defining moment. An authentic brand experience will be consistent from one person to the next because employees internalize what they must accomplish at each customer touch point. And ultimately they will tell others what they think based on what their experience. Commitment to the brand is just as important for an employee who touches customers as for an employee who never sees a customer. People who work with customers must live the brand in every interaction they conduct. Others, at the same time, work behind the scenes to make sure customer-facing employees have the tools and support they need for a positive interaction. Any business has people who never see a customer but who, in every interaction, represent the brand. Regardless of where an employee works, the commitment to deliver the brand involves internalizing the promise the brand makes, developing the skills necessary to deliver the promise, and displaying the behavior necessary when implementing those skills. At every touch point.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE WHAT A BUSINESS NEEDS FROM AN EMPLOYEES. All the magical things that can happen when a brand connects with customers dont simply happen. Employees make them happen. An employer brand is more than simply articulating what the customer brand is all about. A employer brand must define what a business needs from employees to deliver the brand Two things must happen for any employee of any business— from the smallest gas station on the corner to the largest global business—to live the brand. First, the employee must understand what the brand is all about. The employee must understand and internalize the essence of what a business is about—how that essence authentically applies to the products and services and experiences a business offers, and how the customer brand articulates this essence. What customers expect. To successfully deliver the brand promise to customers, the employee must understand the difference a business makes to customers—through its brands as well as what employees are expected to deliver. Which is the difference between doing the job and delivering the brand? Second, the employee must believe how the brand differentiates from what else is available on the market. Its not enough for the employee to believe the product, service, or business is a better choice. The employee must seriously believe it is the only choice. How the brand is aspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the pictures the brand can create. The idea the brand promotes. How the brand reaches beyond a single product or service to articulate the cumulative purpose of a business behind the brand and how it connects to what people aspire to be. How the brand is inspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the brand. What a business stands for. How it differentiates from others, not just in products and services, but in fundamental integrity. How its business proposition stands apart. What is unique in how a business inspires people to connect? How the brand is emotional. The employee must feel a sense of ownership in the brand, how the brand represents a business and anyone who works for a business. As if each employee wears the brand on his or her sleeve. And it certainly involves more than wearing a logo on a shirt. This has everything to do with the values of a business. Its as if, to strongly believe in the brand, the employee must believe there is something at this business they simply cannot find anywhere else. This has everything to do with how the employees values align with the values of a business. And if everyone in a business shares and aligns with these values, the brand will grow stronger. How the brand is functional. Finally, the employee must believe the products and services a business produces will actually work. They must believe in the functional integrity of what a business delivers.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE ON-BRAND BEHAVIOR. On-brand behavior is what brand is all about. Any business needs specific behaviors from employees to deliver its brand promise to customers. This on-brand behavior occurs when an employee acts (or delivers) in a way that is consistent with what the brand is all about. And its important because customers experience the brand only when employees deliver the characteristics the brand promises—when the behavior of employees supports the promise of the brand. The key to delivery of the brand is the on-brand behavior of employees at each touch point. PG carefully outlines the principles for creating exciting, memorable PG experiences—in short, a summary of on-brand behavior. In materials distributed to employees, the company says, â€Å"To make the experience personal for a consumer, the employee is encouraged, for example, to anticipate, appreciate, and respond to diverse styles, needs, and motivations. To put the guest in the center of the experience, the employee is encouraged to be genuine and authentic in actions and behavior. To deliberately build a consistent delightful experience for the consumer, the employee is encouraged to define and execute a total experience from the very first moment the guest is made aware through the final follow-up. To make the guests experience comfortable and seemingly simple, the employee is suggested to put the guest at ease. And to respond generously and selflessly to delight, and go beyond what is expected, the employee is encouraged to always look for ways to improve an experience .† The role of the employee to deliver the brand will differ from one business to another, simply because of the differences in what businesses offer. On-brand behavior is just as important in businesses whose employees never see a customer. Employees create what a business sells to customers. And customers experience the brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST CONNECT WHAT HAPPENS OUTSIDE TO WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE. A business has a customer brand as a place to buy—and an employer brand as a place to work. While a customer brand focuses on specific products or services available externally, an employer brand may highlight distinct experiences or opportunities available internally. An employer brand, on the inside, frames the experience a business creates for employees, so they in turn deliver the brand promises to customers. In fact, the only way an employer brand can authentically reflect a business is if it articulates an identity, mission and values. That can happen only if an employer brand builds from the inside—to incorporate an essential identity, mission, and values. But its not just about what happens inside a business. To fully picture the potential of an employer brand, we must focus on what happens outside—and what an employees must deliver.  § A EMPLOYER BRAND MUST FOCUS ON EMPLOYEE CHOICE Every day, employees make choices about where and how to work. They view each stage of their relationship with a business as a brand experience that a business delivers. Some may consider new opportunities they believe may better meet their personal expectations. Some may wonder Whats in it for me? if they contribute to the demands of the job and a business. Some may decide to depart a business about which they hold memories of what they experience—and they likely will share those experiences with others still actively connected to or certainly considering a business as an employer. Thats why a business needs to use its employer brand no matter what it is doing or w Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance Acknowledgement Apart from the efforts put by me, the success of any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of my Thesis. I am heartily thankful to my Thesis Guide- Prof. Robin Thomas, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of this subject. The guidance and support received from all the members who contributed and who are contributing to this research, was vital for the success of this Thesis. I am grateful for their constant support and help. OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance in the organizations in todays scenario. Also, to study the impact of effective Employer Branding on perceptual and objective areas of Performance Management. ABSTRACT Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys the organizations value proposition the totality of the organizations culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging its people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding represents a firms efforts to promote, both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes it different and desirable as an employer. In recent years employer branding has gained popularity among practicing managers. The importance of managing employee perceptions has given rise to the contemporary notion of Employer Brand. This is essentially the brand the employer projects to existing and potential employees via the chain of communication touch points ranging from recruitment intermediaries through to line managers. However one of the major issues in Employer Branding is how to measure an employer brand, what value does the employer brand have? Ultimately, a strong employer brand should contribute to the performance and success of the organization. The workforce is the real driver of profits in todays business world. Employer Branding helps in recruitment and retention of the best of talents. It has its impact in many areas of Human Resource Management like Employee Loyalty, Employee commitment, Employee retention and one of these areas which should get highly affected by this concept is Employee Performance. The strength of an organizations brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees. A strong Employer Brand has a significant influence in the employees performance and that a strong product brand can essentially support the development of the employment brand. These days companies make a lot of investments in this concept of Employer Branding, thus studying the extent of its impact on Employees Performance in these organizations has become a vital need in todays scenario. THE SCOPE/COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF THE STUDY * To study the concept of Employer Branding and its evolution over a period of time. * To study what it takes for an organization to build a magnetic Employer Brand. * To study the causes that lead organizations to focus more on this concept of Employer Branding. * To study the extent to which this process of Employer Branding helps the organizations to improve Employee Performance and what impact it has on other areas like Employee Loyalty and Employee Retention. * To study Employees Brand Based Equity and its impact on Employee Performance. * To study the benefits gained by the organizations as well as the obstacles faced by the organizations in the development and implementation of this process of Employer Branding. * To study the ways by which the impact of Employer Branding Process can be measured with Employee Performance being a major area of focus. METHODOLOGY The conceptual study of the thesis will be done through literature reviews. Descriptive research design will be used to get an idea of the implementation of this concept. Also, Causal research design will be used to understand the relationship between the variables under study to reach reliable and valid conclusions. The method of Probability sampling will be used to carry out the required surveys. Hereby, the method of Stratified Random Sampling will be used. The use of these methods and Research Designs would make the study more concrete and reliable. SOURCES OF INFORMATION  · Secondary data collection will be done through websites, literature study, journals, magazines and articles.  · Primary data collection will be done through interviews of professionals and subject experts. Also, the questionnaires will be used to carry out the surveys of the Target Audience. * The target audience would be the H.R [Senior Level] and Subject Experts. Study would be conducted across sectors and around Five Industries would be taken under study. Five Firms would be taken for survey purpose under each Industry. So in all, 25 H.R [Senior Level] across sectors and Five Subject Experts would be surveyed. Sample size would be 30. Note: The thesis has to be divided in three parts. The first part would talk about the following: * The meaning and background of Employer Branding, the dimensions of Employer Branding, etc. * The meaning and background of Employee Performance and how it is defined. * How are Employer Branding and Employee Performance related. The second part would be of Industry research which would include study of various industries taking into consideration various units under various industries. It would include data analysis and data interpretation. The third part would include the derivations of the study. It would include key findings and learning and suggestions. Chapter 1. Introduction to Branding 1.1 Defining a Brand Branding has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. In fact, the word brand is derived from the Old Norse word brandr, which means â€Å"to burn, as brands are the means by which owners of livestock mark their animals to identify them. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) a 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.† Technically speaking, then, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand. Thus, the key to creating a brand, according to the AMA definition, is to be able to choose a name, logo, symbol, package design, or other attribute that identifies a prod ­uct and distinguishes it from others. These different components of a brand that iden ­tify and differentiate it can be called brand elements. A brand is therefore a product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be rational and tangible—related to product performance of the brand—or more symbolic, emotional, and intangible—related to what the brand represents. One mar ­keting Observer put it this way. More specifically, what distinguishes a brand from its unbranded commodity counterpart and gives it equity is the sum total of consumers perceptions and feelings about the products attributes and how they perform, about the brand name and what it stands for, and about the company associated with the brand? 1.2 Why Brand? More and more firms and other organizations have come to the realization that one of their most valuable assets is the brand names associated with their products or services. In an increasingly complex world, individuals and businesses are faced with more and more choices but seemingly have less and less time to make those choices. The ability of a strong brand to simplify consumer decision making, reduce risk, and set expectations is thus invaluable. Creating strong brands that deliver on that promise, and maintaining and enhancing the strength of those brands over time, is thus a management imperative. Emile Durkheim in Elementary Forms of The Religious Life explains the religion of the Australian Aborigines. The concept of a church as Durkheim defines it is ‘a shared feeling of a special kind. It is group dynamics, the act of assembling for a common purpose, that creates the feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling that strikes a chord with our deepest longings. Brands, too, strike chords. However, striking the right chord is both difficult and often costly. There are no guarantees of the result, although there is a clear difference in the growth of financial value if we compare companies that have done at least a little branding and those that havent branded themselves at all. 1.3 Why do Brands matter? Creating a successful brand entails blending all these various elements to ­gether in a unique way—the product or service has to be of high quality and appropriate to consumer needs, the brand name must be appealing and in tune with the consumers perceptions of the product, the packaging, promo ­tion, pricing and all other elements must similarly meet the tests of appropri ­ateness, appeal, and differentiation. An obvious question is why are brands important? What functions do they per ­form that make them so valuable to marketers? One can take a couple of per ­spectives to uncover the value of brands to both consumers and firms themselves. 1.3.1 To Consumers As with the term product, this book uses the term consumer broadly to encompass all types of customers, including individuals as well as organizations. To consumers, brands provide important functions. Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers to assign responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Most important, brands take on special meaning to consumers. Because of past experi ­ences with the product and its marketing program over the years, consumers learn about brands. They find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not. As a result, brands provide a shorthand device or means of simplification for their product decisions. If consumers recognize a brand and have some knowledge about it, then they do not have to engage in a lot of additional thought or processing of information to make a product decision. Thus, from an economic perspective, brands allow consumers to lour search costs for products both internally (in terms of how much they have to think) and externally (in terms of how much they have to look around). Based on what they already know about the brand—its quality, product characteristics, and so forth— consumers can make assumptions and form reasonable expectations about what they may not know about the brand. Brands can also play a significant role in signaling certain product characteristics to consumers. Researchers have classified products and their associated attributes or benefits into three major categories: search goods, experience goods, and credence goods. With search goods, product attributes can be evaluated by visual inspection (e.g., the sturdiness, size, color, style, weight, and ingredient composition of a product). With experience goods, product attributes—potentially equally important—cannot be assessed so easily by inspection, and actual product trial and experience is necessary (e.g., as with durability, service quality, safety, and ease of handling or use). With cre ­dence goods, product attributes may be rarely learned (e.g., insurance coverage). Because of the difficulty in assessing and interpreting product attributes and benefits with experience and credence goods, brands may be particularly important signals of quality and other characteristics to consumers for these types of products. Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions. Consumers may perceive many different types of risks in buying and consuming a product: *Functional risk: The product does not perform up to expectations *Physical risk: The product poses a threat to the physical well-being or health of the user or others *Financial risk: The product is not worth the price paid *Social risk: The product results in embarrassment from others *Psychological risk: The product affects the mental well-being of the user *Time risk: The failure of the product results in an opportunity cost of finding another satis ­factory product Although there are a number of different means by which consumers handle these risks, certainly one way in which consumers cope is to buy well-known brands, espe ­cially those brands with which consumers have had favorable past experiences. Thus, brands can be a very important risk-handling device, especially in business to business settings where these risks can sometimes have quite profound implications. 1.3.2 To Firms Brands also provide a number of valuable functions to firms. Fundamentally, they serve an identification purpose to simplify product handling or tracing for the firm. Operationally, brands help to organize inventory and accounting records. A brand also offers the firm legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product. A brand can retain intellectual property rights, giving legal title to the brand owner. The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks, manufacturing processes can be protected through patents, and packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs. These intellectual property rights ensure that the firm can safely invest in the brand and reap the benefits of a valuable asset. As noted earlier, these investments in the brand can endow a product with unique associations and meanings that differentiate it from other products. Brands can signal a certain level of quality so that satisfied buyers can easily choose the product again. This brand loyalty provides predictability and security of demand for the firm and cre ­ates barriers of entry that make it difficult for other firms to enter the market. Although manufacturing processes and product designs may be easily duplicated, last ­ing impressions in the minds of individuals and organizations from years of marketing activity and product experience may not be so easily reproduced. In this sense, brand ­ing can be seen as a powerful means of securing a competitive advantage. 1.4 Can anything be branded? [Can organizations be branded?] Brands clearly provide important benefits to both consumers and firms. An obvious question, then, is, How are brands created? How do we brand a product? Although firms provide the impetus for brand creation through their marketing programs and other activities, ultimately a brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers. A brand is a perceptual entity that is rooted in reality, but it is also more than that, reflecting the perceptions and perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of consumers. To brand a product it is necessary to teach consumers who the product is by giving it a name and using other brand elements to help identify it—as well as what the product does and why consumers should care. In other words, to brand a product or ser ­vice, it is necessary to give consumers a label for the product (i.e., heres how we can identify the product) and to provide meaning for the brand to consumers (i.e., heres what this particular product can do for we and why it is special and different from other brand name products). Branding involves creating mental structures and helping con ­sumers organize their knowledge about products and services in a way that clarifies their decision making and, in the process, provides value to the firm. The key to brand ­ing is that consumers perceive differences among brands in a product category. As noted earlier, brand differences often are related to attributes or benefits of the product itself. In other cases, however, brand d ifferences may be related to more intangible image considerations. The universality of branding can be recognized by looking at some different product applications. As noted previously, products can be defined broadly to include phys ­ical-goods, services, retail stores, online businesses, people, organizations, places, or ideas. Brands extend beyond products and services. People and organizations also can be viewed as brands. The naming aspect of the brand is generally straightforward in this case, and people and organizations also often have well-defined images understood and liked or disliked by others. This fact becomes particularly true when considering public figures such as politicians, entertainers, and professional athletes. All of these different public figures compete in some sense for public approval and acceptance and benefit from conveying a strong and desirable image. 2: Introduction to Employer Branding 2.1 Defining an Employer Brand Like a consumer brand, it is an emotional relationship, but between an employer and employee, one that radiates out from this core to other stakeholders, to the community at large, and obviously to potential employees. Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys a value proposition the totality of a culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging a people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding is the essence of the employment experience, providing points that commence with initial employer brand awareness, and continuing throughout the tenure of employment, even extending into retirement. Employer branding is a distinguishing and relevant opportunity for a company to differentiate itself from the competition creating its branded factors as its USP for employee satisfaction and happiness resulting in retention, productivity and efficiency. 2.2 Elements/ Essentials of an Employer Brand Few things that form an Employer Brand are:  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST ARTICULATE A PROMISE TO EMPLOYEES. Just as every business has a customer brand, every business has an employer brand, too. Whether or not a business has ever spent any time developing it. Thats because every business needs employees. And as it recruits and retains and motivates, a business needs to clarify what it stands for. Why it must exist. What difference it can make. What it believes in. How its offerings align with its values. And if a business doesnt define an employer brand, just ask the recruiters. They will tell the story based on their own experience. In fact, more than 90 percent of people on line looking for jobs say they must very closely or closely understand the value of working for a company, according to the 2005 poll by Yahoo! Hot Jobs. An employer brand is a promise to employees to provide an experience that, in return, will motivate their commitment to deliver a customer brand. The real spirit of a employer brand is a combination of what a business may promise and deliver, inside and outside. Essentially, its about a relationship, between a business and a people. How business generally approaches people, or talent, has actually changed a bit over the years. We can remember when business viewed employees as followers in a campaign—people who simply did as they were told. Then, as time passed, business progressed to considering employees as partners in the implementation of strategies. This led, in recent years, to a consideration of the exchange between employees and business—sort of a we do this in exchange for this—to express the relationship. But that was primarily a financial transaction. And over time the old ways of framing the relationship functionally became outdated. Employees began to demand a relationship that reached for something more: an emotional connection. Thats where employer brand makes a difference. An employer brand can be a magical combination of what a business values, offers, and rewards—marrying what a brand promises outside with what a experience demands inside; what a business believes in and how we fundamentally respect the people who deliver a brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST SUPPORT A BUSINESS STRATEGY. But one cant just build an employer brand because everyone else does. Its too important. Theres too much it must accomplish. The need must come from a business strategy. The key to a successful employer brand is alignment with the business strategy, says Yvonne Larkin of Diageo. Together the business and organization strategies give the employer brand a reason for being. The power of employer brand is how it connects the internal experience to the external business need. How it grounds the necessity for this internal experience in the economic realities of the buying decisions a customers make. For example, is a business in a phase of rapid growth? An employer brand is essential to a growth strategy. Thats because growth will demand that a business continue to hire the right people in the right jobs at the right time. And keep the people we currently have. This constant effort to recruit and re recruit demands that a business enjoy a reputation in the marketplace that will support am bitions for growth. An employer brand can help a business clarify what will and will not change as we grow. And what growth means to the people who choose to work for we. Or is a business shrinking? An employer brand is essential to a strategy for stability. It can, simply, give employees something to hold on to during periods of significant turbulence. An emotional connection with employees will be tested as a business faces challenges, such as reducing a size without cutting out a heart, or shifting a direction from what employees may consider sacred. And is a business changing? Considering or pursuing new strategies? An employer brand is essential to any change strategy simply because it provides a focal point for employees. An employer brand is a touchstone for a employees, as their willingness to emotionally connect may be tested with each action each day. The essence of effective change management is effective stability management, giving people things to protect as they adjust to things that change. An employer brand can give people that emotional anchor as they may emotionally react to how they are expected to change. It can help people sing off the same page and embrace a common vision.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE, FOR EMPLOYEES, WHAT A CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE. An employer brand will never thrive if its only an HR thing or a Communications thing. If its only purpose is to make people feel better. It will only thrive if it makes a difference in results by making a difference to customers. If it supports every touch point a customers have with a business. Such importance is a key reason why Hallmark, as part of its internal efforts to excite employees about its consumer brand, annually gives each employee a card pack as a friendly way to tell others of sending greeting cards. The card pack is just that—an attractive folder with three greeting cards inside, along with a note to the employee suggesting that they share this pack with someone outside Hallmark and their immediate family, such as a new neighbor, the person sitting next to them on an airplane or bus, or the helpful sacker at the grocery store.† The approach clearly connects employees to consumer touch points to help share Hallmarks mission of enriching lives. A customer who has a positive experience will be more likely to return. But that positive experience doesnt simply happen. People make it happen. And most of these are employees of a business. A customers experience, regardless of the product or service a business offers, is a series of reactions and observ ations at each touch point: how people notice, observe, hear, experience, and talk. Every brand experience has a defining moment. An authentic brand experience will be consistent from one person to the next because employees internalize what they must accomplish at each customer touch point. And ultimately they will tell others what they think based on what their experience. Commitment to the brand is just as important for an employee who touches customers as for an employee who never sees a customer. People who work with customers must live the brand in every interaction they conduct. Others, at the same time, work behind the scenes to make sure customer-facing employees have the tools and support they need for a positive interaction. Any business has people who never see a customer but who, in every interaction, represent the brand. Regardless of where an employee works, the commitment to deliver the brand involves internalizing the promise the brand makes, developing the skills necessary to deliver the promise, and displaying the behavior necessary when implementing those skills. At every touch point.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE WHAT A BUSINESS NEEDS FROM AN EMPLOYEES. All the magical things that can happen when a brand connects with customers dont simply happen. Employees make them happen. An employer brand is more than simply articulating what the customer brand is all about. A employer brand must define what a business needs from employees to deliver the brand Two things must happen for any employee of any business— from the smallest gas station on the corner to the largest global business—to live the brand. First, the employee must understand what the brand is all about. The employee must understand and internalize the essence of what a business is about—how that essence authentically applies to the products and services and experiences a business offers, and how the customer brand articulates this essence. What customers expect. To successfully deliver the brand promise to customers, the employee must understand the difference a business makes to customers—through its brands as well as what employees are expected to deliver. Which is the difference between doing the job and delivering the brand? Second, the employee must believe how the brand differentiates from what else is available on the market. Its not enough for the employee to believe the product, service, or business is a better choice. The employee must seriously believe it is the only choice. How the brand is aspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the pictures the brand can create. The idea the brand promotes. How the brand reaches beyond a single product or service to articulate the cumulative purpose of a business behind the brand and how it connects to what people aspire to be. How the brand is inspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the brand. What a business stands for. How it differentiates from others, not just in products and services, but in fundamental integrity. How its business proposition stands apart. What is unique in how a business inspires people to connect? How the brand is emotional. The employee must feel a sense of ownership in the brand, how the brand represents a business and anyone who works for a business. As if each employee wears the brand on his or her sleeve. And it certainly involves more than wearing a logo on a shirt. This has everything to do with the values of a business. Its as if, to strongly believe in the brand, the employee must believe there is something at this business they simply cannot find anywhere else. This has everything to do with how the employees values align with the values of a business. And if everyone in a business shares and aligns with these values, the brand will grow stronger. How the brand is functional. Finally, the employee must believe the products and services a business produces will actually work. They must believe in the functional integrity of what a business delivers.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE ON-BRAND BEHAVIOR. On-brand behavior is what brand is all about. Any business needs specific behaviors from employees to deliver its brand promise to customers. This on-brand behavior occurs when an employee acts (or delivers) in a way that is consistent with what the brand is all about. And its important because customers experience the brand only when employees deliver the characteristics the brand promises—when the behavior of employees supports the promise of the brand. The key to delivery of the brand is the on-brand behavior of employees at each touch point. PG carefully outlines the principles for creating exciting, memorable PG experiences—in short, a summary of on-brand behavior. In materials distributed to employees, the company says, â€Å"To make the experience personal for a consumer, the employee is encouraged, for example, to anticipate, appreciate, and respond to diverse styles, needs, and motivations. To put the guest in the center of the experience, the employee is encouraged to be genuine and authentic in actions and behavior. To deliberately build a consistent delightful experience for the consumer, the employee is encouraged to define and execute a total experience from the very first moment the guest is made aware through the final follow-up. To make the guests experience comfortable and seemingly simple, the employee is suggested to put the guest at ease. And to respond generously and selflessly to delight, and go beyond what is expected, the employee is encouraged to always look for ways to improve an experience .† The role of the employee to deliver the brand will differ from one business to another, simply because of the differences in what businesses offer. On-brand behavior is just as important in businesses whose employees never see a customer. Employees create what a business sells to customers. And customers experience the brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST CONNECT WHAT HAPPENS OUTSIDE TO WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE. A business has a customer brand as a place to buy—and an employer brand as a place to work. While a customer brand focuses on specific products or services available externally, an employer brand may highlight distinct experiences or opportunities available internally. An employer brand, on the inside, frames the experience a business creates for employees, so they in turn deliver the brand promises to customers. In fact, the only way an employer brand can authentically reflect a business is if it articulates an identity, mission and values. That can happen only if an employer brand builds from the inside—to incorporate an essential identity, mission, and values. But its not just about what happens inside a business. To fully picture the potential of an employer brand, we must focus on what happens outside—and what an employees must deliver.  § A EMPLOYER BRAND MUST FOCUS ON EMPLOYEE CHOICE Every day, employees make choices about where and how to work. They view each stage of their relationship with a business as a brand experience that a business delivers. Some may consider new opportunities they believe may better meet their personal expectations. Some may wonder Whats in it for me? if they contribute to the demands of the job and a business. Some may decide to depart a business about which they hold memories of what they experience—and they likely will share those experiences with others still actively connected to or certainly considering a business as an employer. Thats why a business needs to use its employer brand no matter what it is doing or w

The Stranger, Albert Camus | Themes of Existentialism

The Stranger, Albert Camus | Themes of Existentialism Existentialism is often defined as a philosophical movement or tendency, emphasizing individual existence, freedom and choice. As a result of the diversity of positions associated with this term it is impossible to define precisely. As is evident through the root of the word, exist, there is a stress on definite individual existence and freedom of choice. Certain aspects of existentialism are witnessed in The Stranger. Existentialists attempt to direct our attention to ourselves as individuals. They force us to think about our relation to such topics as the existence and nature of God, what it is to be Christian, the nature of values, and the fact of ones own death. Man is the only known being, according to the philosophers, that defines itself merely through the act of living. In other words, first you exist, and then the individual emerges as life decisions are made. Many existentialists believe the greatest victory of the individual is to realize the absurdity of life and to accept it. Existentialism is liberating for those of us who do not rely on fate, God, or chance to guide us through the path of life. One aspect that is questionable is our ability to continuously reinvent ourselves through our actions. While this is possible, the majorities of people stick to old ways of doing things, or follow others blindly. Despite encompassing a staggering range of philosophical, religious, and political ideologies, the underlying concepts of existentialism are simple. Mankind has free will. Life is a series of choices. Few decisions are without any negative consequences. Some things are irrational or absurd, without explanation. If one makes a decision, he or she must follow through. The decisions you make are whom you are, so decide accordingly. In The Stranger Meursault embodies all of the six existential themes. The first existential theme is freedo m. Freedom means that whatever happened prior to now do not influence what your next choice in life will be, we are free to make any choice we want. Meursault displays Freedom by just doing as he wishes to do. In part one of the novel Maman dies so he attends the funeral, nothing out of the ordinary. While attending his mothers funeral, Meursault decides to smoke cigarettes, drink a cup of coffee, and he fails to show emotion. This just shows how Meursault is displaying his free will; he does not let the influence of his mother dying effect what he wants to do. The second and the third themes Meursault displays together. These themes are existence which is the awareness of our choices, and passion which are psychological feelings that we understand before thinking kicks in. Meursault displays both of these themes at the end of the novel. Meursault wants his life to be here and now, he is not concerned with the hereafter. Meursault wants the remembrance of his life. Through this thinking Meursault displays Existence and Passion. The fourth theme is contingency. It basically says that life is unpredictable, prone to chance happenin gs, also to the unexpected. Meursault displays this theme at the very end of part one of the novel. Meursault is so content with walking back down to the spring unaware that he is going to end up destroying his happiness by shooting the Arab. This is a very unpredictable event because Meursault is just so happy and content with the sun shining on him, then all of a sudden something unexpected happens and his happiness is gone. I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where Id been happy. The fifth theme is individuality. An individual is a single unique member of a collectivity. Meursault lives out his individuality. The strongest display of individuality is at the very end of the novel when Meursault wants a large crowd of people to witness his death, and he also wants them to greet him with cries, but those of hate. I had only wished that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate. By being hated Meursault retains his individuality. If Meursault goes out there begging for forgiveness he would just become a member of a collectivity. The final theme is reflection. It refers to the capacity to bring that which we are unaware of into awareness. Meursault leads a pre-reflective life. He goes through his daily events and is so absorbed in each moment that he never reflects on them. Meursault does this until he looks at a reflection of himself for the first time in prison. Meursault looking at himself shows his transition from pre-reflective to reflective. He begins to become aware of what he was unaware of. The main theme in The Stranger is that life is absurd. Reason is incapable of explaining human nature. Meursaults absurd beliefs are that life is meaningless and without purpose. The meaninglessness implies absence of any obvious meaning to our life. This cannot be explained, because no one can explain someone elses sense of meaning or meaninglessness towards life . Camus The Stranger presents the character of Meursault who, after killing an Arab, is sentenced to death. This conflict portrays the stark contrast between the morals of society and Meursaults evident lack of them; he is condemned to death, less for the Arabs murder, than for refusing to conform to societys standards. The discussion of Meursaults responsibility takes place at the end of the novel. Meursaults execution symbolically brings forth emotion, as Meursault confronts his nothingness and the impossibility of justifying the immoral choices he has made, he realizes the pure contingency of his life, and that he has voided, in essence, his own existence by failing to accept the risk and responsibility that the personal freedom of an existentialist reality entails. Meursault never really takes responsibility for his actions, all Meursault does is wish that his life could go back to the way it used to be. Meursault is an anomaly in society; he cannot relate directly to others bec ause he does not live as they do. He cannot abide by the same moral confines as the rest of the world because he does not grasp them; he is largely indifferent to events occurring around him. Meursaults entire being is unemotional. He derives a certain level of pleasure from eating and drinking, smoking cigarettes, sitting on his balcony. Yet all these things are tactile; Meursault derives physical satisfaction from them, but there is no emotion attached. This is in direct contrast to society, whose strict guidelines focusing on right and wrong depend on an individuals sense of these concepts. Meursault is perfectly capable of analyzing the situation, but not of responding to it as society wishes him to. Life or death, and anything in between, makes no difference to him. Meursault sees the outcome as inevitable. He cannot perceive any right or wrong in killing the Arab. The action in itself was not out of deep hatred for the man but, as he reveals at the trial, because of the sun. The sun at the beach, similar to the sun at his mothers funeral, was beating down on him. The sun represents Meursault emotions, which he cannot deal with. Likewise, he cannot deal with the intense heat, the light reflected off the Arabs knife which seems to stab at him. Meursaults senses are being overwhelmed, and the only way to handle the situation is to end it so he fires the gun. The death of the Arab in itself is not crucial to Meursaults fate. Meursaults true undoing comes from his lack of emotion. At the beginning of the novel, Meursault sits at his mothers funeral, quietly analyzing det ails of the scene. The onlookers present do not understand him; in fact, they are afraid of him. The prosecutor says, I look into a mans face and all I see is a monster. What Meursault has realized, by the end of the book, is that any meaning he finds in life he must create. Meursault is the absurdist, explaining the philosophy of existentialism: Mans isolation among an indifferent universe. There is no inherent meaning in life its entire value lies in living itself. Meursault feels he has been happy, and longs to live. When he must die, he wants a crowd to greet him with cries of hate; they are screaming because they want life and the world to have meaning; they need this because that is what their entire existence is built upon. As the magistrate asked of Meursault, Do you want my life to be meaningless? Meursault understands how estranged the individual truly is from society. Until the conclusion, he was a stranger to himself as well as to the rest of the world. In the end, he o pens himself to the gentle indifference of the world, and finding it so much like myself, he feels he has been happy, and is again. Society finds this unacceptable, and by refusing to conform to its face-value standards, Meursault must die. Albert Camus believed that to be a true existentialist you had to remove yourself from society as much as possible since a belief in the foundation of government was to conform. Conforming to society norms is considered bad, it doesnt allow the individual to progress and reach his own decisions Camus realized, however, that restricting himself from all social conformity was impossible. Camus depicts a man with very little emotion. Once in a while he shows a bit of heart, but for the most part, he gives a robotic appearance. The character expresses no feeling about anything except that light is a sign of evil or annoyance, while the dark becomes a place of calm and seriousness. In society, the common idea is that light is good and evil grows in the darkest of places, but in Albert Camus novel, evil is good and the light is bad. In The Stranger, Albert Camus uses Mersault and his experiences to convey the philosophy that man is full of anxiety and despair with no meaning in his life ex cept for simple existence. The concept of existentialism is reflected through Mersaults experiences with his mothers death, his relationship with Marie, the killing of the Arab, and his own trial and execution. Camus uses the death of Mersaults mother to convey his existentialistic philosophy. He seems more concerned about the time of death, and not the fact that he just lost a loved one. It also conveys the existentialist idea that reason is powerless to the idea with the depths of human life. Furthermore, Mersault shows no compassion at his mothers funeral either. He does not cry or behave the way that society expects him to. This leaves the impression that Mersault is insensitive, or that he did not love his mother. As an existentialist, he accepts life as it is without seeking deeper meaning. Mersaults murder of the Arab is another example of existentialism. The absurdity of the murder is what makes it a good portrayal of the concept of existentialism. This part of the novel sho ws how Mersault is not only a stranger to his experiences in life, but also to nature. For the first time, the sun and his sensual pleasures begin to act against him, and cause him to lose control. Most of Mersaults actions have no true conscious motives. Mersault shoots the Arab because of his physical discomfort with his surroundings, but in any case he consciously makes the decision to shoot the Arab. When he is taken into police custody and is asked if he would need an attorney, he is genuinely confused. It is simple to him: he murdered a man and is now ready to face the consequences. The second half of the book begins after Meursault is put in jail and is awaiting his trial. Rather than being on trial for the crime, he is on trial for his values, like the lack of grievance of his mothers death. Meursault is found guilty and he is convicted and sentenced because of his lack of moral feeling. While awaiting his execution, he thinks about how his life has no meaning besides just living and how death does not scare him. He realizes that life is meaningless and the world is irrational. This suddenly makes him happy and he accepts his death. There are numerous meanings to the title, The Stranger, one is that if you live a life different than what society accepts, then you are a stranger; an outcast, and will be punished by the rest of society. In other words, the title means that Meursault is a stranger to society. Nothing discussed in the trial had anything to do with the murder. It was all about the way he acted and how different he was. This was used to prove that p eople who are different are judged by their character over their actions. Also, most of the society was Christian in the book and held Christian values. They believed in an afterlife and a heaven while Meursault did not, since he was an atheist. Since society does not understand him, they cannot know him and therefore hes a stranger. Another meaning of the title is that he is also a stranger to himself. He did not make any personal connections to the things he has done, only indifferent observations. He seemed unaffected by his mothers death, the killing of the Arab, and his trial. Being a stranger to himself leads to the final meaning, which is a stranger to life. At the end of the novel Meursault is able to understand the meaning of life. He was able to do so because he was approaching death, which is an existentialist principle; death is the one certainty of life. Before, when his mother died or when he killed the Arab, he did not have any feelings. When he thought about his own life and that he was about to die, he accepted it. He realizes that one can truly enjoy their lives when they approach and accept death. The understanding of this allowed Meursault to be at peace with himself. Albert Camuss philosophy in the novel can be related to the philosophy of existentialism, which stresses that the individual is solely responsible for the choices they make, there is no predetermination and there is no supreme being who decides morality. This philosophy is extended with the philosophy of the absurd, which states that human beings live an essential isolation in a meaningless and irrational world and people being able to accept that everything cannot be controlled in your environment, which is how Meursault live his life. In existentialism, you believe that there are some things that cannot be rationally explained and just happen out of your control. The Stranger was an unusually good book, which made me think. A majority of the book made me feel like the rest o f society, which was not accepting Meursaults behavior. However, the ending changed all of that and further analyzing gave me the real reasons for his actions. When I started reading the book for the first time I jumped in right away and didnt want to close it because I never read anything like it. I had to go back a few times to re-read it to understand it better and every time I re-read it, I got a different message. Meursault was an interesting character to read about. His ideas and beliefs seem wrong but are very right. I was able to understand what Albert Camus was trying to say with his philosophy. In fact, I have never heard of existentialism or absurd philosophy until I researched the author to see what he wanted to tell us. Meursault is able to accept the fact that everyone dies and realizing this allows you to live a better life. He lives a life that he controls and accepts all his actions that he does. I cant say that I understand everything about him, like how he uses Marie for sexual reasons even if she tells him her love and commitment to him. Nonetheless, this character had the most interesting conflicts that kept me reading. I do feel, however, that the second part dragged on and got a bit dull. The first half of the book was filled with action and there were no direct reasons given for certain actions. In the second half, it is mainly of his self-realization about society and life, which I feel, could have been approached another way by the author, like being shortened. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thinking after reading a book or even coming to his or her own realization like Meursault. Work Cited Andrew Irvine, Basic Themes of existentialism, http://people.bu.edu/wwildman/WeirdWildWeb/courses/wphil/lectures/wphil_theme20.htm Crowell, Steven, Existentialism, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2010/entries/existentialism/ Existentialism Philosophy: Discussion of Existentialist Quotes, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Existentialism.htm/ New World Encyclopedia, Existentialism http://HYPERLINK http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Existentialism/www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/HYPERLINK http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Existentialism/Existentialism/ Solomon, Robert C. Wyatt, C. S. (1999). Existentialists: a primer to existentialism http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/exist.html

The Madness Of Playing :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites If a lone, unkempt, person, standing on a soapbox were to say that he should become the Prime Minister, he would have been diagnosed by a passing psychiatrist as suffering from this or that mental disturbance. But were the same psychiatrist to frequent the same spot and see a crowd of millions saluting the same lonely, shabby figure - what would have his diagnosis been? Surely, different (perhaps of a more political hue). It seems that one thing setting social games apart from madness is quantitative: the amount of the participants involved. Madness is a one-person game, and even mass mental disturbances are limited in scope. Moreover, it has long been demonstrated (for instance, by Karen Horney) that the definition of certain mental disorders is highly dependent upon the context of the prevailing culture. Mental disturbances (including psychoses) are time-dependent and locus-dependent. Religious behaviour and romantic behaviour could be easily construed as psychopathologies when examined out of their social, cultural, historical and political contexts. Historical figures as diverse as Nietzsche (philosophy), Van Gogh (art), Hitler (politics) and Herzl (political visionary) made this smooth phase transition from the lunatic fringes to centre stage. They succeeded to attract, convince and influence a critical human mass, which provided for this transition. They appeared on history's stage (or were placed there posthumously) at the right time and in the right place. The biblical prophets and Jesus are similar examples though of a more severe disorder. Hitler and Herzl possibly suffered from personality disorders - the biblical prophets were, almost certainly, psychotic. We play games because they are reversible and their outcomes are reversible. No game-player expects his involvement, or his particular moves to make a lasting impression on history, fellow humans, a territory, or a business entity. This, indeed, is the major taxonomic difference: the same class of actions can be classified as "game" when it does not intend to exert a lasting (that is, irreversible) influence on the environment. When such intention is evident - the very same actions qualify as something completely different. Games, therefore, are only mildly associated with memory. They are intended to be forgotten, eroded by time and entropy, by quantum events in our brains and macro-events in physical reality. Games - as opposed to absolutely all other human activities - are entropic. Negentropy - the act of reducing entropy and increasing order - is present in a game, only to be reversed later.

The Genetic Screening Debate :: Biology Biological Genes Papers

The Genetic Screening Debate Within the past thirty years, researchers have found strong evidence linking genes and disease. The development of predictive genetic tests followed shortly after the isolation of certain candidate genes. Although predictive genetic screening is only available for a handful of diseases, its effects and ramifications have become hotly debated issues in a wide range of areas, from government to religion. The debate began in the 1993 when researchers isolated the BRCA1 gene, which is associated with increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The discovery of this gene led to excitement and speculation of developing a predictive genetic test to identify those women at risk for these cancers. In this paper, I will first describe the biology of genetic testing, and then discuss the pros and cons of predictive genetic testing. Before we start discussing how genetic tests are developed, let us discuss how genes can trigger disease. A sound body requires the action of many proteins working together. For a protein to function properly, an intact gene must encode for that specific protein. A mutation describes a gene which has been changed. The most common type of mutation is a single change of a nucleotide of DNA. Other types of mutations include the loss or gain of a nucleotide and the disappearance or multiplication of long segments of DNA. Mutations can have three effects: beneficial, harmful, or neutral. Mutations are beneficial if the fitness of an individual is enhanced. Harmful mutations can either slightly alter a protein, where the protein may still minimally function, or they may totally disable a protein. In this instance, the outcome is not only based on how a mutation alters a protein’s function, but on how important the protein is to the body (Understanding Gene Testing). Since we have determined how genes can trigger harmful effects in the body, we can now examine how scientists look for specific genes that cause diseases. Scientists, looking for a diseased gene, study DNA samples in individuals where the disease has been present in the family for many generations. They look for specific genetic markers, which are DNA segments that are identified in individuals with the disease, and not identified in healthy individuals. Scientists then narrow down the area of DNA by mapping a gene. If a disease gene is mapped to an area, then the genelike sequences become candidate genes for a specific disease gene.

An Analysis of PepsiCo and Coca-cola Essay -- Business Analysis

Since the mid 1980’s many of us have become familiar with the terms â€Å"the Cola Wars† (Wikipedia, 2010). Coca Cola and Pepsi have been the two largest soft drink competitors in the world for quite some time now. What makes these companies successful? What gives them the retention to prosper for years across the globe? For this project I analyzed the financial statements from 2003 through 2005 of both companies to gain insight as to these questions and others. By reviewing and then analyzing the data it becomes visible that these two companies are still standing strong in a market that is still dominated only by each other. To begin we will examine three ratios for each company. The first ratio is a liquidity ratio. Liquidity focuses on the reliability or availability of a borrower to pay back the loan they borrowed. A common liquidity metric is ccurrent ratio. Current ratio measures a company’s ability to pay back short term obligations or debts. We get this calculation by taking the current assets and dividing by current liabilities. For instance, PepsiCo’s current ratio is equivalent to current assets in 2005 (10,454) divided by current liabilities in 2005(9,406) which equals 1.11:1. Their current ratio in 2004 was 1:28:1. (Current assets for 2004/current liabilities for 2004; 8639/6752). Coca Cola’s current ratio for 2005 was taken by computing their current assets for 2005 (10,250) and divided by the current 2005 liabilities 99836) which equaled a ratio of 1.04:1. In 2004 Coca’ Cola’s current ratio was equal to current assets for 2004 of 12,281 divide d by current liabilities for 2004 of 11, 133, which totaled 1.10:1. What this means is that for every dollar of current liabilities, Coca Cola has $1.04 of ... ...ges and soft drinks. They have ventured out to non carbonated beverages like iced tea and juices but now need to move into the food market space. My final recommendation for Coca cola is to stay with their product. One of the biggest setbacks for Coca Cola occurred when they introduced their â€Å"new coke† in the 1990’s. (Wikipedia, 2010) This new formula did not go over well with their consumers and they were forced to quickly stop the new Coke production. In conclusion I think both companies are stable and strong. Obviously both companies are able to compete globally which in and of itself says an awful lot. Each company has its strengths and minor weaknesses but their overall financial success has been proven. Their ability to remain the only two competitors amongst their carbonated beverage industry is a strong indicator of their future potential.

Evaluate the External Corporate Communications of an Existing Product or Service

Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product or service Types of external corporate communications Write down the meaning of each and give examples Related to CWOA * Advertising – Advertising is a way to inform in a way of notice or announcement to the public or businesses about promotions, services and products. Other can be information about upcoming events or a massive sale. Advertisement can be informed through TV, leaflets and Radio. CWOA inform their customers about new events taking place via Television advertisement as well as posters on public transport vehicles and on their websites.Their recent service is the Zufari which is a bit like a safari but at the CWOA location. CWOA will inform families and their loyal customers about this new and exciting service that they will start providing over the Easter Holidays through TV advertisement, leaflets and their website. * Packaging – Packaging is a process to which business follow in order to protect their products from damages and ensure the product is safe and clean which stays fresh. Packaging sells a product more effectively for a business that it would without it.Customers feel more confident when purchasing products because they know that the product is safe, clean, and best of all brand new. Packaging mostly is process by plastic but can be corrugated board as well as metal glass and paper. CWOA have their souvenir shops that have products all packaged with good aesthetics. They are packaged in clear plastic bags. For example their T-shirts will have the CWOA logo and will be in a clear plastic package for the customer to see and handle properly whilst the t-shirt also being protected from dirt. Logos – Logos are a form of identify to differentiate a business from its competitors. It helps consumers recognise all types of businesses and therefore competition rises as well. If one logo is better than another either because of the way its name is or the st yle, it makes a lot of difference to the sales and profits of a business. For example the Armani logo is very famous and therefore has expansive products. On the other hand, George a clothing line that sells at retails of Tesco is not as popular, however their products are very cheap but may not live up to its expectations of high quality.CWOA have a recognisable logo that is easy to read and understand globally. It is very attractive logo that has been designed for years that consumers instantly recognise the great quality experience at the attractions. * Methods – There are different types of methods to communicate with the outside or external of the business such as the public to inform of new products and sales and or publish sales figures on the internet which has to be met by law. There are methods to inform people of their new products to ensure they are attracted to it and its value by its price.CWOA are currently launching their new service called Zufari which is a f amily adventure that looks at all the different kinds of animal in the same theme of a Safari. CWOA will use methods to attract their customers to its new service. On their website they would use large, bold and colourful colours to attract readers, pictures to engage their mind and theme styles that relate to animals. Pricing methods to attract them to purchase and book online which may be a cheaper alternative such as a family deal of 4 with 20% off before a certain date. Mission Statements –Mission statements are a summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual. It is a statement of their core purpose and focus that doesn’t change for a very long time. These statements can be found on any organisation website. The mission statement for CWOA can be found on their Merlin entertainment group website as well. ‘Its aim is to deliver unique, memorable and rewarding experiences to millions of visitors across its growing estate’. Missi on statements underline the purpose of the business.It gives them a direction and its customers as external commuters to see what the business’s aims is that relate to the customer. Missions statements shows customers how passionate a business is for thriving in success and in favour of the consumer with excellent services that is promised to be provided to each and every customer. However if CWOA don’t reach their goals then this can question CWIA’s abilities in proving the great customer experience they promised. This can affect their brand and its reputation. Livery –Livery is a way to distinguish colour and, style and theme to their customers from other companies. CWOA do this to many of their souvenir products so that customers are reminded of how much great fun they had from their experience at the attraction. This may ‘re-awake’ their senses and encourage them to go back to experience the same fun they had on their last visit. The live ry on their products can be of their colour schemes or logo for example a teddy bear would have a logo on the shirt and a red and yellow colour background of the hirt to represent its home as CWOA. However a livery can be somewhat of a disadvantage to the business. CWOA may change their logo style, theme and or colour scheme as well as the whole logo design due to change in leadership, partnership and or takeover by another firm. This will mean that CWOA may have to change all their designs on their souvenirs as well as their products. High costs can result of this action. If logo and design is changed then customers may not be able to recognise the brand as well as they did with the first logo design.Memories of great fun and experience may not be the same when looking at a different style logo. * Strap Lines, – Strap line is another way of saying a slogan that is a method to catch a reader’s attention and persuade them to buy their product or service. An example of a strap line used by CWOA for their new service called Zufari ‘Ride into Africa’. Slogans are a way of saying something is alike and the experience will be of a replica. The same goes to CWOA of their new service which will offer a similar real Safari experience. This kind of slogan attracts customers to visit the attraction.Some strap lines may not be appropriate for come consumers so business need to be careful of the way they use the strap lines. A good strap line is Tesco’s ‘Every Little Helps’. This is because Tesco is a large firm with products at very cheap prices and also competitive. It is a way of saying every little saving helps make larger saving on other things. It also outlines Tesco’s objectives of cheaper products than their competitors. * Endorsements – An endorsement is an approval, from a third party or an important person, of a service or product is a way of support and or a recommendation of the business’s pro ducts and or services.Endorsements work like an advertisement except it is less of a persuasion and more of a personal recommendation. If CWOA asked Jonathan Ross to endorse their attraction along with his family then that would make CWOA’s reputation high. Families would want to go to CWOA simply because a famous person has visited that attraction which to them can mean that the attraction is worth going to because of higher status of approval. Endorsements generally are an excellent method to increase sales fast. The endorser of CWOA, which could be Jonathan Ross, receives a fee or payment of endorsing the brand and material.Endorsing a famous or well-known person like a celebrity is not cheap; many of them demand high fees. People will believe an outside person that they know, which they can relate to; about a business that they are not related to such as Jonathan Ross is a TV presenter of his own family show. * Sponsorship – Sponsorships are increasingly getting bi gger and better. Organisations and events can run with the help of sponsorship. It is more of a promotional activity which is a form of corporate communication.Sponsorships work like this; an organisation supports an activity, event or another organisation by giving them money and or other valuable recourses which may relate to them and in return they may want advertisement on space on their boards or area of event. And if it is another organisation than it generally requires advertisements space. An example of this is a football team such as Arsenal Football that has been sponsored by Fly Emirates which is an international airline service and has their logo on the Arsenal jersey and on around their stadiums.CWOA are sponsored by many organisations such as EDF energy, Cornetto, MasterCard, Nintendo Wii and other smaller companies. In return CWOA puts their logos on their website, event leaflets and on their rides. Advertisements of Chessington World of Adventures Chessington World o f Adventure has produced a TV advertisement of their Halloween special event taking place during the Half term. The event is called Halloween Hocus-pocus. The video is on the CWOA’s website and on TV 2 weeks before the actual event taking place. TV is a good way for advertisement because the message gets across to a wider audience.TV advertisements are better effective because they are memorable, especially to children, because they use sound and colourful vision. This video was due for half term of October 2012. Presentation methods: Presentation methods to meet the needs of the customer – how the use of style and use of images, use of language are all targeted at specific customer groups TV is watched by many people at home and during the evenings when the family are all together at tea time, there are many family type advertisements that go on at that time of period.TV is colourful with lots of sounds to engage the listener. CWOA have a dark Halloween theme that rel ates to their event. The dark theme uses darker colours, images of moons, witches, animals, people in costumes that look surreal, decorated hotel rooms and the theme park is set during the night. With many muted colours and flashing images along with multi images of animals and witches and monsters, it grabs a lot of the audience’s attention who are sitting in the comfort of their own home.Images that are suitable for all audiences are the best to gain all target consumers. TV advertisement shows good quality images, as most families now have access to HD TVs that enable higher quality videos and images. The styles of texts they have used are very bold and gothic. The sound track has been adapted to a dark and scary theme with a few spooky laughter sound and tense tones. There are also animal sounds, such as bats and owls. Sounds like these engage the audiences well and interact with their hearing senses.In the video are also a few animated clips that have been integrated wit h real life videos of the resort. These animated clips are of Halloween characters such as witches and monsters. The videos of the resort show some of their special Halloween plays and events along with new rides. Some animals are shown to show those audiences that know very little about COWA. The events show examples of Halloween parties, dress up, plays and characters in play whilst hosting families around their resort experience.The advertisement is a good quality however I believe that the video could have been more informative rather than just showing clips of rides, animals and people in costumes. The vieo could have informed parents of ticket prices, were to look for further information details, special offers and the exact events and new features of this Halloween special and what makes it special than an ordinary day at CWOA. The clip does engage the younger audiences to carry on watching the clip and still be interested. picture/advertisement video source from: http://www. chessington. com/plan-your-trip/chessington-videos. aspx#content

Chaucer’s Pardoner’s tale Analysis on lines 520 through to 602

Chaucer's depiction of everyday life demonstrates the mockery, or even disregard for kindness, honesty and the other virtues that balance the sins prone to human error and judgment. With impiety being flaunted openly in society, this shows times of rebuke and alarm in the church, even man's faith in God's ruling. The connotation of the extract given is simply the ease of sin and how good men can without difficulty be undone by moments of weakness and foolery. He moulds the inner thoughts and desires of his characters intimately, summarising their nature rather than their movements and opinions. The rapidity of pace deciphers the verses as the tone strengthens the moral undertones. His anger shows through, particularly from lines 531 to 540 resulting in the highlighting of Chaucer's main frustration, – avoidable wickedness – whereby they lose themselves and everything they hold dear. The sins that cause the most damage to man are pride, wrath and gluttony. These sins, along with others, diminish souls and ultimately the prospect of eternal life and happiness in heaven. The narrative is in the first person, believed to be Chaucer's own voice and how he views people who openly sin. Chaucer's moralistic beliefs are being highlighted through the denotation of the pardoner's character's actions. The pardoner seems to be the puppet outlining the loneliness of transgressions gone awry. â€Å"Now lat us sitte and drynke, and make us merie, And afterward we wol his body berie. † The church was a place of redemption in those times, people turned to the followers of God as their moral compass but the pardoner openly flaunts his lack of guidance and even his lack of guilt for his actions. He acknowledges that good doing is rewarded in the end but then is the last one to learn from his own words. Irony is rife in the pardoner's tale as the young men all vowed to each other that they would protect and look after each other as brothers but the irony is that they have barely just sworn the oath when it is already falling apart after the first hurdle. â€Å"That oon of hem spak thus unto that oother, Thou woost wel, that oure felawe is agon, And heere is gold, and that ful greet plentee, That shal departed been among us thre. But nathelees, if I kan shape it so That it departed were among us two,† The irony of their being told that they would find death if they went the ‘crooked way' by the old man also demonstrates their behaviour being that of a morally crooked person. When the rioters all find the money, they all draw lots for who will go and find food and drink, and who will look after the money. In the end the youngest goes to the village and requests rat poison to get rid of vermin. This suggests that he believes his ‘brothers' to be moral vermin, which is ironic because he is already plotting the same crime as them. In each section of the passage there is a distinct expression of interaction between the two brothers and the third with the owner of the ‘pothecarie'. In both scenes they are talking about death but in different terms. The brothers are convincing one another that killing the third is appropriate, meanwhile the third brother has already convinced himself that the others must go and so is now explaining to the owner that he wants to buy poison and even refers to the brothers as vermin that bother him. This ironic turning from one brothers vow to the others as embracing them as blood, to plotting and acting out their demise. In both scenarios the link to loyalty and decency has altered to tie them together to fulfil the old mans promise of finding death. The pace is solid and rhyme continuous as it keeps the rigidity of poignant blows and references to death. The repetitiveness in mentioning death keeps it fresh and lingering in the foreground of the tale. The narrative voice morphs from character to character, expressing their views and opinions till the collective conclusion with the brothers lying deceased. The verse collects to form this imagery of shadows caressing their resting place, deep in the woods, hidden to outside man with no one to care for their wounds. References like â€Å"Arys, as though thou woldest with hym pleye, And I shal ryve hym thurgh the sydes tweye, Whil that thou strogelest with hym as in game, And with thy daggere looke thou do the same;† conjures up man wrestling for life, prehistoric society to find leaders, betrayal and dark tones. Each word strips the men of their innocence in the eyes of the reader, losing empathy and respect as Chaucer had intended. The main reason for Chaucer to react so fervently about gluttony is because it is a passage-way to sin, often prompting another sinful action. Sins are closely linked to one another, so one situation can easily escalate quickly, leading to other greater sins. â€Å"Ther is no man that lyveth under the trone Of God, that sholde lyve so murye as I. And atte laste the feend, oure enemy, Putte in his thought that he sholde poyson beye,† The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, avarice, and lechery. Geoffrey Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, provides an excellent story about the deadly sins. Focusing mainly on the sins of pride, gluttony and greed, the characters found in The Canterbury Tales, particularly The Pardoner's Tale, are so overwhelmed by their earthly desires and ambitions that they fail to see the effects of their sinful actions, therefore depriving themselves of salvation. With the summary of the tale coming to a close, God's image is distorted by their immoral actions, with inebriation being the initial start to the deadly seven vices. This delivers the first of human failings, sin, thereby setting the tone of guilt, showing the listener the need for remorse. Chaucer reaches this with the opening to the studied passage ‘To gete a glotoun deyntee mete and drynke! Of this matiere, o paul, wel kanstow trete — Mete unto wombe, and wombe eek unto mete, Shal God destroyen bothe, as paulus seith. Showing the drink as an accompaniment to sin, gluttony reminds each individual that sins all lead to each other as they conjure up associated personal painful experiences. These brought up alongside the counterbalanced seven virtues gives great strength to salvation. Chaucer shows himself as the narrator, or man's conscience, as he personifies the voice of logic and reason, and so guides the reader to the inevitable conclusion. Gluttony is defined as the over-indulgence of food and drink. The pardoner said that gluttony was the sin that corrupted the world. The first form of gluttony is drunkenness. ‘o dronke manb, disfigured is thy face, sour is thy breeth, foul artow to embrace, and thurgh thy dronke nose semeth the soun as though though sedest as sampsoun, sampsoun! Drunkenness is sinful because man loses his ability to reason. The three men were guilty of gluttony when they over indulged in wine at the tavern that eventually led to swearing, lechery and the desire to harm one another, even unto death. The pardoner claimed that drunkenness played a big role when Lot committed incest with two of his daughters. Drunkenness influenced Herod's decision when he ordered John the Baptist beheaded. With gluttony unknowingly being the passage sin committed, these two examples lead both to incest, rape and murder. The pardoner, however, did not practice what he preached. He couldn't proceed with his exemplum until he had had something more to drink! The youngest brother is the one that most of the focal point for evil can be centred upon because he is alone in his convictions to murder. The other two have each other to coax each other on, and derive grave unfortunate conclusions but the youngest has set out, even being told by the owner â€Å"This poysoun is so strong and violent. This cursed man hath in his hond yhent†, meaning that he knows they shall suffer, feel the pain and have them know it was him that had ended their lives for his selfish gain, but still â€Å"To sleen hem bothe, and nevere to repente†. Lines 531 to 535 shows Chaucer's complete shock and disgust, connecting alcohol with promiscuity and fake idols, which leads to being corrupt enemies of Christ. ‘I seye it now wepyng, with pitous voys that they been enemys of cristes croys, of whiche the ende is deeth, wombe is hir god! O wombe! o bely! stynkyng cod, Fulfilled of dong and of corrupcioun! The sin of lust is introduced in this verse as the men favour the satisfactions of the flesh rather than the purity of their souls, showing that they have spiritually rejected heaven and Christ. Lines 542 to 550 depicts the gluttony of their characters as painted by Chaucer's narrative, ‘The Mary, for they caste noght awey that may go thurgh the golet softe and swoote. Of spicerie of leef, and bark, and roote shal been his sauce ymaked by delit, to make hym yet a newer appetite. But, certes, he that haunteth swiche delices is deed, whil that he lyveth in tho vices. A lecherous thyng is wyn, and dronkenesse is ful of stryvyng and of wrecchednesse. ‘ The verse portrays the men as selfish; the moral portrays their characters as turning from focused to sloth from the time they find the money. Each man believes he should have the money and so their pride and greed get in the way of their judgment, leading to wrath. The verses keep their symmetry in theme, rhythm and dark undertones. Each man set out on a different path but each with a similar goal in mind. Some plot together, â€Å"Thou knowest wel thou art my sworen brother; Thy profit wol I telle thee anon. † others convince themselves â€Å"O lorde,† quod he, â€Å"if so were that I myghte, Have al this tresor to my-self allone,† but all come to the same conclusion. The balance of good intent, to corrupt from sinful gains shadows the story that was told by a man so worthy of pity and hatred that the ironic twist is not lost, even though the men found their fate. The pardoner lives on to tell the tale and grasp his forgivable life of emotionless riches. The style carries their deceit and sins. They declare they are good but the narrative makes liars of them as their tongues no longer know what they speak. Each narrative voice shows the central characters as bad, if not misguided and foolish men, directed only by the pleasures of the material world rather than the spiritual. Their comparison of themselves to honourable men, which are good and noble, plays to their pride and make them almost boastful, if the text had been in, the first person. Alas, the raconteur continues to show the men up, following every prideful sin. For the verse to finish with the men still being wicked, deceitful, and even turning against each other, they are shown as doomed. This is the message that I believe Chaucer is trying to scream out at us; Love God, love thy neighbour. Unfortunately there is always temptation but if you follow it, it will never take you to where you thought you would end up; instead, evil will take over, strip you of your soul and leave you bare and alone. â€Å"To take the botel ther the poysoun was, And drank, and yaf his felawe drynke also, For which anon they storven bothe two. â€Å"