Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 18

Case study - Essay Example Some of his character traits that contributed to his recognition as a unique leader are compassion, forgiveness and humility. On his first day in office, Mandela gathers his staff for a meeting to express his expectations of his staff. Mandela takes charge and develops a plan to accomplish goals to show his duty as a leader. Integrity is portrayed when Mandela’s staff expects him to retaliate for decades of apartheid but instead he shows compassion and gives them the option to stay and rebuild the country. To show respect, Mandela leaves his body guards out in the hall because he wants to face everyone on an even level. Throughout Mandela’s speech the body language of the staff changes from expecting to be fired to realizing that they are welcome to stay on and work for a common goal. Mandela interrupts the meeting of the National Sports Council to persuade them to rescind their vote on changing the name of the Springboks, their uniforms and their emblem. He go es ahead and asks the captain about leadership, "How do you make them better than they think they can be?† in this case Mandela tries to practice the job of a leader in which it is to make the followers in believing that they are capable of doing more than they think it’s possible (Carlin, 2009). In order the organization to achieve its noble quest, the leader is required to not only see the horizon but also make what is over the horizon tangible. Mandela wanted to use the rugby team to reconcile the country and bring them together instead of resorting to petty revenge. Mandela’s actions demonstrate integrity by choosing the difficult right over the easy wrong. Transformation is one of the contemporary theories that is seen being applied to Mandela’s leadership. Mandela acts as a transformation leader for example in an individualized consideration. Mandela greets each player by his or her names, showing he respects each one individually.

The Operations and Performance of the Hilton Hotel Case Study

The Operations and Performance of the Hilton Hotel - Case Study Example The purpose of the Hilton Hotel is to provide adequate accommodation facilities, quality food, and drinks along with recreational facilities to their visitors. The hotel aims to be constantly pleasurable to the visitors, invest in their workers and innovate better and newer products for their visitors. They also intend to augment their owners' value and reinforce their loyalty to their constituents. The manager considers the management of supplies to the hotels the most difficult challenge he encounters. This is because the products have to meet certain standards before the business makes their purchases. There are also many suppliers willing to provide their supplies to the hotels and this makes the approval of their tenders a tiresome activity. The products have to undergo several tests to determine their quality and safety before they are purchased. The process of getting approval for the funds to be spent is also very long. These tenders have to be approved by the management comm ittees before the funds are released. This also takes a lot of time and hampers the operations of the hotel. The Hotel’s profits have been on the rise over the years and their financial performance is relatively good. The shareholders of the hotel also receive substantial dividends on their investments. This is because the hotel accommodates many visitors throughout the year from all around the globe. The business owns over three thousand hotels in seventy-four countries that have a very good reputation for their services and products. The financial condition of the hotels enables the managers to effectively carry out the activity of running the business. He is able to pay the workers, purchase supplies on a regular basis for the hotel and renovate the premises regularly. The profitability of the organization has enabled the hotel's management to open up new branches across the globe.

Semi-structured interviews | Analysis

Semi-structured interviews | Analysis An exploratory use of semi-structured interviews Introduction This essay reports my understandings of interview as a qualitative research method and the experience of an exploratory use of it. Considering the broad research area of my PhD study, learning and assessment, the key knowledge I am going to reveal will be learners own perceptions of their learning. Some data could probably be excavated from the products of their learning, such as learning logs, workbooks, or teachers feedbacks, that indicate their experiences and evaluations of their learn. If the data are insufficient, however, I have to carried out interviews to gather the data needed. As a result, I chose semi-structured interview as the method I would try out for this assignment. The usability of semi-structured interviews There are many types of interviews which are differentiated by how much the interviews are structured and how many participants are involved in one interview (Fontana Frey, 2000; Punch, 2005)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚  . Although interviews are basically asking questions and receiving answers using the media of language, different types of interview are based on different assumptions (Punch, 2005, p. 169)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚  . Mason (2002, pp. 63-66)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚   points out that the choice of semi-structured interviews is probably an indicator to the following beliefs and reasons: Peoples understandings, feelings, perceptions and other inner thoughts as well as the interactions with other people are parts of the social reality. This reality could be revealed by representations and interpretations through language. What has been revealed is situational knowledge which will be more likely to be reconstructed under its due context. In appropriate design, the desired context could be brought into the interview conversations. Qualitative interviews do not aim to standardise but to achieve more in terms of depth, nuance, complexity, and roundedness of what is to be understood. Interviewing is a process of data generation and the interviewer plays an active and reflexive role in it. Interviewees should have more controls and freedoms throughout the interview interactions. Taking Masons view, if a research shares part or all of the above descriptions, it would find appropriate to employ semi-structured interviews as a data generation method. The exploratory inquiry I have carried out is exactly one of these cases. Conducting the interview After listening to me talking about my teaching experiences in and viewpoint on Taiwanese schools, a British fellow student, George (name changed) said he believes that there should be different types of schools. This response kindled my curiosity because he was the third British people who concluded our conversation in such idea that quickly transcends the dichotomy of good or bad. This rarely happened while I was involving in similar conversations in Taiwan. I wonder how his belief on education was formed. So I invited him to participant my interview, and he agreed. The themes and the participants I chose this theme and this participants to interview based on a pragmatic consideration. There are limited people conveniently available to be interviewed by me and there are also a few themes related to my research, but it will be a meaningful inquiry only if any of these people has something to say about any of those themes. When they are matched, the interview is more likely to be made enjoyable to the participant and, thus, will be more ethical, too (Mason, 2002)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚  . My invitations of interview had been refused twice until I luckily identified the current participant matched with the current theme. Questions for the interview I then made a plan of interviewing consisting with three parts. At the beginning, I would remind George of our previous conversation by recapitulating it. After confirming that he remembered it, too, I would raise my initial question: what did you mean exactly by I believe there should be different kinds of schools in our previous conversation? I expected this question to bring back the context of our previous talk, and clarify his own interpretation of that expression. Secondly, I would explain that the key question of this interview is how do you think this belief was form? And I would ask further questions according to Georges responses explore more deeply until the answer satisfies me or noting a scent of Georges having nothing or not willing to go further on this topic. Finally, I would invite him to comment on one the Summerhill School, as well as to estimate how many British share similar beliefs with him by his own perception. I expected his commenting on one of the most extreme cases of schooling in England and self-positioning among others could help me revealing more of his stance of educational philosophy. Recording I have also considered the technique used to record the interview. The choice of recording method was subject to both the availability of equipment and the purpose which the interview would be analysed for. Considering that the interviewee would be reflecting on his comment on my previous talk from the aspects affected by my questions, the content of the interview conversation would probably not exist yet and I would be involved in the process of its generation. The value I hold prior to the interview would constrain my aspect to perceive the conversation and. Therefore, I need the spoken words and their sequences in the conversation to be recorded independently from my judgement. I thought a voice recorder would do the job well. Voice recording, like other recording method, could only partially record the interview (Mason, 2002; Silverman, 2001)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚  , nevertheless, the voice record could be replayed as many times as I need and it also keeps the original sequences of conversation which set each single sentence into the context (Silverman, 2001)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚  . That would enable me to analyse the conversation with perspectives that I was hardly to have while interviewing. Interviewing The interview was taken place in the ground floor at 35 Berkeley Squire with coffee and snacks during lunch time and lasted about 30 minutes. After some small talk, a common start of interviewing (Bogdan Biklen, 2003)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚  , I turned on the voice recorder, shifted the topic to the conversation we had had and asked him to explain more about what he meant by I believe there should be different types of schools? His answers are firstly that no child is the same some child[ren] will do better in one sort of schools and secondly that if you got lots of schools, you got lots of experimentsassuming you can compare them then you can get some interesting findings. In the UK we have lots of different schools within our education, and that difference will not be necessarily a bad thing, that could be a good thing. Then, when I asked about how his belief was formed? He give me a general, rational description of the advantages of having various types of school. This though provided a deeper explain of his thought but still not sufficed what I was seeking for, so I asked him in another way that in what age you began to see education in this way? Instead of answering my question, George wondered whether I wanted to put his thoughts in the very personal context. After my affirmation, he then continued to tell me that he has followed his own way since quite early age. He chose to teach, which most graduate and also his family wont considered as a good job, in the UK and soon went to teach in a developing country. How early do you mean by quite early age? I asked. Probably sort of I went to secondary school, he said, its your education environment encourages sorts of ways of thinking. Are there any one else told you about this sort of ideas? I followed. I was in a boarding school and we had what we call house master I have quite lot of contact with this person, he [told us] not to accept what the state or other people said [without questions][this has ] the impact on me and other people] he answered. Since he mentioned the boarding school, I then jump and ask him about his opinions on Summerhill school which was in the third part of my original plan. Though he made it clear that I am not saying that Summerhill should be closed or any thing like that and I have not been to the Summerhill school so I cant comment on it, he maintained that I think children need to be systematically taught [if] children just be left too do what they want to do for children who have certain personality that could be generally quite good thing, for other children it could be absolutely disaster there is sort of children need quite lot of structure. I have sensed that George was making the judgement based on some tacit value which was slightly different from the articulated beliefs. This added more tense into our conversation and made it more meaningful to me. So I pointed this difference out and shared my experience of similar discussions in Taiwan. Responding to my comment, George raised a new topic. Despite many developing countries, probably including Taiwan, blindly copy the western education into theirs, there must be some good in theirs that worth the western educations to learn. We talked about this topic for a while ( that was very interesting, too) then I ask him the final question about his estimation of how many British share similar views with him. Experience of this interview My question has been answered satisfactorily by this interview in most extent, and there are several things I can learn from it. My experiences might be organised into the following two aspects. Preparations Carefully preparations in advance are helpful and essential. I found that to acquaint my self with the theme, including the plan of asking questions, the relevant cases such as the Summerhill school and my experiences in Taiwan, have indeed facilitated the management of the conversation to involve the participants as much as possible but still keep it focused. Voice recorder also need to be tested in advance. I found my voice recorder set in a wrong mode which ruined the first ten minutes of my recording and I had to interrupt to conversation and corrected it. Interviewing as a conversation Semi-structured interviews are not just data collection tools but data generation events. I assumed that my experiences in Taiwan and perhaps my attitude toward these experiences triggered our discussion on copying education from other countries. If I did not share these experiences, I would probably get different interview data. Apart from the interviewer, the interviewee has his own intention in the interview conversation. George wanted to know what these questions for (thus he confirmed my research context before answering) and he also has assumptions about how I might interpret his words (thus he maintained his scepticism over the uncritical appreciation of western education). In this point, I would agree what Bogdan and Biklen (2003)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚   suggest on an effective and comfortable approach to do interviewing: explain to the interviewee all necessary information about myself and my inquiry like we might do to an expert. This will facilitate the understanding to the others of both participants, which is the centre part of interviews. and give the interviewee more control over how his view was understood, which could be seen clearly in my case. Conclusions From the exploratory interview and several interview related chapters (Bogdan Biklen, 2003; Fontana Frey, 2000; Mason, 2002; Punch, 2005; Silverman, 2001)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚   , I found semi-structured interviews as a qualitative research method is good at a) revealing peoples knowledge, views, understandings, interpretations, [and] experiences (Mason, 2002, p. 63)à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚   , especially their situational aspects; b) giving interviewees opportunities to actively participate in and have some control over the interviews. However, when involving interviews, it is worth being cautious that a) the power (or other kinds of) relationship(s) between interviewer and interviewee have to be counted as part of the context which the interviews has been set in, otherwise, it might turn up with unexpected or even distorted result; b) one to one interviewing has some but limited ability to create a desirable context, particularly, in researches looking at peoples interactions or how people respond in social context, where group interviewing might be a more powerful approach. c) interviewees might just say what they want to let us know rather than what we intent to know; d) the represent-ability of any reality might be constrain by the capability of language of both interviewers and interviewees and, when looking at those past things, affected by the accuracy of interviewees memory. The complexity of the connection between language and reality is itself also an issue needs further inspections. e) method of interview has little validity over peoples behaviour which might more appropriately be gathered by observations or document analyses. REFERENCES: Bogdan, R. C., Biklen, S. K. (2003). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Fontana, A., Frey, J. H. (2000). The interview: From structured questions to negotiated text. In N. K. Denzin Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 645-672). Mason, J. (2002). Qualitative researching. London: Sage. Punch, K. (2005). Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. London: Sage. Silverman, D. (2001). Interpreting qualitative data: methods for analysing talk, text and interaction. London: Sage.

Stereotypes About People With Disabilities Essay -- Stereotypes of Dis

Disabled people are often stereotyped. A stereotype is an over simplified mental picture of a person or group. Stereotypes of disabled people are things such as; they should be pitied; they are receivers of charity; they are brave; 'super crip' or even aggressive and angry, an example of these stereotypes are put to use in Forrest Gump. It shows Lieutenant Dan as being bitter and having a chip on his shoulder; it also shows Forrest Gump as being like a super crip an extraordinary person who does marvelous things without meaning too. Stereotypes probably originate from feelings like fear; superiority; repulsion and pity. These feelings are likely to have been given through primary and secondary agents of socialization, i.e. parents, friends and the media. I have watched a film advertisement for multiple sclerosis, which has stereotypes within it; I will analyze it and write about any changes that could be made to estimate stereotypes To make a film representation of an issue several elements are involved. Firstly there is editing controls, what happens between shots, it helps control time and space and highlight similarities and differences between shots. In the multiple sclerosis advert editing is used to cut between a long shot of a woman, to an extreme close up of her eye, this shocks the audience holding their attention as well as showing the women's pain. Secondly camera shots decide on how you look at something, how far or near, from what angle and how the camera moves. In the advert, extreme close-ups are used to show the lady's hand clenching some fabric; it has the effect of showing the audience she is in pain. ... ...they have different physical and mental characteristics  · Show the societal barriers that keep them from living a full live. Disabled people face more barriers in life then most people, barriers from prejudice to a door that can't be opened, these should be highlighted and tried to be amended or solutions found.  · Disabled people are not sexual; show them as having loving relationships and the same sexual needs and desires as someone who isn't disabled.  · Show them as being part of life in fictional and factual representation because they are part of life and this should be accepted.  · Most importantly, train them, cast them and write them into scripts programmes and publication just like everyone else, this way disabled people can present themselves These will all improve representation in the media. Stereotypes About People With Disabilities Essay -- Stereotypes of Dis Disabled people are often stereotyped. A stereotype is an over simplified mental picture of a person or group. Stereotypes of disabled people are things such as; they should be pitied; they are receivers of charity; they are brave; 'super crip' or even aggressive and angry, an example of these stereotypes are put to use in Forrest Gump. It shows Lieutenant Dan as being bitter and having a chip on his shoulder; it also shows Forrest Gump as being like a super crip an extraordinary person who does marvelous things without meaning too. Stereotypes probably originate from feelings like fear; superiority; repulsion and pity. These feelings are likely to have been given through primary and secondary agents of socialization, i.e. parents, friends and the media. I have watched a film advertisement for multiple sclerosis, which has stereotypes within it; I will analyze it and write about any changes that could be made to estimate stereotypes To make a film representation of an issue several elements are involved. Firstly there is editing controls, what happens between shots, it helps control time and space and highlight similarities and differences between shots. In the multiple sclerosis advert editing is used to cut between a long shot of a woman, to an extreme close up of her eye, this shocks the audience holding their attention as well as showing the women's pain. Secondly camera shots decide on how you look at something, how far or near, from what angle and how the camera moves. In the advert, extreme close-ups are used to show the lady's hand clenching some fabric; it has the effect of showing the audience she is in pain. ... ...they have different physical and mental characteristics  · Show the societal barriers that keep them from living a full live. Disabled people face more barriers in life then most people, barriers from prejudice to a door that can't be opened, these should be highlighted and tried to be amended or solutions found.  · Disabled people are not sexual; show them as having loving relationships and the same sexual needs and desires as someone who isn't disabled.  · Show them as being part of life in fictional and factual representation because they are part of life and this should be accepted.  · Most importantly, train them, cast them and write them into scripts programmes and publication just like everyone else, this way disabled people can present themselves These will all improve representation in the media.

Case Study in Baguio

INTRODUCTIONSocio-cultural can be easily understood by anyone because it only defines  the interaction of people and different kinds of culture and tourism is one of the reasons there have been a generation of socio-cultural impacts. Socio-cultural impacts of tourism are described as the effects on the host communities of direct and indirect interaction with the tourists and the relation with the tourism industry. The impacts arise when tourism brings about changes in value systems and behavior and thereby threatens indigenous identity.Furthermore, changes often occur in community structure, family relationships, collective traditional life styles, ceremonies and morality. But tourism can also generate positive impacts as it can serve as a supportive force for peace, foster pride in cultural traditions and help avoid urban relocation by creating local jobs. As often happens when different cultures meet, socio-cultural impacts are ambiguous: the same objectively described impacts ar e seen as beneficial by some groups, and are perceived as negative – or as having negative aspects – by other stakeholders.OBJECTIVEThis case study aims to address the socio-cultural impacts of Tourism on researcher’s chosen host community which is Baguio by going on the place, doing observation, information gathering and interviewing indigenous people. Another reason is to generate or create possible strategies in giving solution to the negative impacts and to strengthen the positive impacts that has been observe in the area. This case study also aims to explain this issue with our fellow Tourism Students that will help in giving better understanding with the subject.OBSERVATIONFrom the long span of time that we have spent in observing the changes happened to the â€Å"summer capital of the Philippines†, we have determined positive and negative impacts of tourism in the socio-cultural aspects of Baguio. These are the results:POSITIVE NEGATIVE Cultural Pr eservation Congestion of Residential Construction and Overpopulation Preservation of Man-Made Attractions Prostitution Strengthening Communities Production of Prohibited Drugs Generating Work for Local Communities Pollution and Waste Development of Facilities Traffic Peace Undergoing Transportation infrastructure Increasing Crime Rate Cultural Diversity Figure 1. Positive and Negative Impacts of Tourism in Socio-CulturalANALYZATIONBy going personally at Baguio city, we’ve been capable of analyzing positive and negative impacts of tourism in socio-cultural aspects and to fully understand the identified impacts. Here are the explanations: On the positive impacts:Cultural preservation – Tourism helped boost the preservation and transmission of cultural and historical traditions, which often contributes to the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, the protection of local heritage, and a renaissance of indigenous cultures, cultural arts and crafts. P reservation of Man-made attraction – Aside from preservation of cultural arts, they also become aware of making different places in Baguio beautiful and well preserved for a long time because these are one of their ways in facing the demands of the tourists Strengthening communities – Tourism can helped in adding vitality in the city of Baguio in many ways.One example is that events and festivals of which local residents have been the primary participants and spectators are often rejuvenated and developed in response to tourist interest. Generating work for local communities – To fulfill the needs of the tourists, tourism created jobs for the local residents that gave answer also to the needs of the community and the economy. Local residents also don’t need to be away from their families  to look for a job. Development of facilities – the development of the tourism in the city of Baguio gave benefit to the local residents because tourism helped i n the improvement of infrastructures, health, and transportation facilities. Also, new sport and recreational facilities, restaurants, and public spaces as well as an influx of better-quality commodities and food bringing Baguio to a higher and better standard of living.On the negative impacts:Congestion of Residential construction and Overpopulation – Baguio is very blessed in natural resources specially the weather and because of these one of a kind asset that can’t be found in other places, a lot of people wished and moved to Baguio to experience and enjoy the gifts of God to Baguio but because of that interest. A lot of people are already congested in the mountains of Baguio and they are the reason why some of the natural resources are already destroyed. They keep on building housing infrastructure in Baguio that we can’t even find an open space. Prostitution – we can’t change the fact that in most of the famous destinations in the Philippines that had been fully affected by the changes of this generation and influenced by the liberation of other culture became prone to prostitution. This kind of impact lowers the morality of the community which is not good for the residents of Baguio.Production of Prohibited drugs – from what we have heard, drug dealers can produce good quality of prohibited drugs because of the convenient weather and to think of it, it has also the same impact of prostitution. It lowers the morality and drives the younger residents of Baguio to this unlikely nature. And it also brings criminal rate of the city to a higher scale. Pollution and waste – there are ton of people visiting and living in Baguio and that gives a ton of waste to land and air. Hotels and other establishments assessing the needs of the tourists is the primary contributor of these waste but it can be solve with the participation of the residents and tourists in Baguio.Traffic – it doesn’t really concern i n the cultural aspects that Baguio have but it does concern in the society. The primary mode of transportation going to Baguio is by car and since there are hundreds of people with cars are going to Baguio, it causes traffic and congestion that also results to the inconvenience of  everyone. Undergoing transportation infrastructure – In relation to the traffic, we have observe as we travel going to Baguio, there are a lot of roads that are either wrecked or under construction making the travel time a lot longer. Baguio is a famous destination and it is much better if the roads are fixed and there are lights on the side of the roads that can give safety to the visitors travelling to Baguio.Cultural Diversity – Cultural diversity has a different case, it has both the positive and negative impacts in the socio-cultural aspects. Baguio always faces different kinds of culture for a long period of time already and as everything is improving, Baguio also improves with it. L ocal residents learned how to make their lifestyles much better and try to be in with the current trends today but because of that, some of the cultures in Benguet are already fading and almost forgotten which is the bad side of the improving society. Some of the local residents are already socialized and the number of pure natives is decreasing fast due to the time and the influence of tourists that has different cultures. Increasing Crime Rate – with a lot of tourist, we can’t really be sure that all of them have good intentions and some of them became snatcher and holdapers. With these incidents, it became a threat to some tourist and this gives them the reason not to go to Baguio. It lessens their security and safetyCONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONWe concluded on the end of our observation that Baguio still has rich cultural arts that should be seen by more future generations and the local residents of Baguio are very good at preserving their cultural heritage. Even t he society is being more into the current trend, it is nice that they still treasure their culture and they are also proud of it. It terms of finding solution and suggestions to the problems and to improve their strengths, the only possible answers we can get are these: More support from the Government in implementing further rules and regulations Participation and Discipline of both Local Residents and Tourists Cooperation of the Hotels, restaurants and other service facilities in Baguio Awareness of everyone to the environmental issues

Black Friday

The phenomenon of Black Friday Bustling city streets, hour-long lines, and retail store chaos: only one scenario explains the commonality between these situations, shopping on Black Friday. For half a century Black Friday has become an unofficial retail holiday in the United States. It is a day that offers incredible discounts and killer deals, and most notoriously, it brings a frenzy of crazed shoppers to local retailers looking to save on purchases.Marketing strategies, paired with consumers’ need to locate the best deals on Christmas gifts has led to Black Friday being celebrated as a consumption ritual comparable in importance to Thanksgiving Day. (Thomas and Peters, 2011) How has Black Friday become the largest retail sales day of the year? What is it that drives people to artificially induced hyper consumption, almost like an annual ritual? Many scientist and psychologists have many different theories and conclusions of why Black Friday has become the biggest shopping da y of the year.In this paper, I will take your through the research and conclusions that many psychologists have produced and the advantages and disadvantages of Black Friday. Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, Ph. D. explored the work of Jane Boyd Thomas and Cara Peters, professors at South Carolina's Winthrop University, who spent two years in research trying to find common traits in Black Friday shoppers. They conducted thirty-eight extensive interviews with â€Å"experienced† Black Friday shoppers and found four recurring themes: 1. Familial bonding (multiple generations and close friends) 2. Strategic planning . The great race 4. Mission accomplished But how do the four themes they came up with relate to one another? Thomas and Peters figured that all the traits when analyzed together showed one commonality. They wrote, â€Å"the traits are coalesced around a military metaphor, and is a bonding activity Shoppers prepare for the ritual by scanning Black Friday ads, and they map out th eir strategy. † (Sarkis 2011) In essence, the family is a type of team that scans adds, plans their route and potential purchases, executes their plans by buying products, and rejoices in their accomplishments.When all of these traits are analyzed individually, they mean little to main the main outcome, bonding. But when all the traits are looked at collectively, they all contribute to the overall success and goal of bonding. Besides giving us a breakdown of bonding activities, the analysis also shows how the average consumer plan for Black Friday. Just as Sarkis found themes that make up this military metaphor, Byun, professor of consumer affairs at Auburn University came up with her own theory on why people react the way they do on Black Friday. Crowds create a sense of competition — such as when hundreds of shoppers are rushing to collect marked-down goods — they generate a different feeling entirely. Competition creates what’s called hedonic shopping v alue, or a sense of enjoyment from the mere process of buying goods. At certain levels, consumers enjoy arousal and challenges during the shopping process. † (Khazan 2011) In essence what Byun is saying is consumers get more enjoyment because the crowds create an obstacle, which hinders the execution of the plans and preparations made. The crowds make getting what they want harder, which creates more value for the goods purchased.Just as Byun noted that crowds contribute to the Black Friday Craze, Kelly McGonigal, Ph. D. describes another factors that plays a big part in the â€Å"Black Friday frenzy†. Retailers, she notes, use innovative designs to lure customers into their stores and keep them there. McGonigal says â€Å"time pressure sales on limited products or scarce resources† triggers a negative physiological affect on the consumer. Scarcity for a certain commodity creates a sense of urgency to act now, a natural instinct to survive. This survival instinct can be related to hunting for some people.Black Friday is â€Å"hunting for women,† said Leisa Reinecke Flynn, professor of marketing and fashion merchandising at the University of Southern Mississippi. â€Å"It’s so much like deer hunting it’s hard to tell the two apart. † (Khazan 2011) Unfortunately, shopping on Black Friday is not motivated by survival instincts or a life in death situation. This paradox stimulates unusual behavior in consumers that creates disadvantages and potential dangers for those that are not necessarily into the hunt. The concept of Black Friday creates a â€Å"perfect storm† for consumer misbehavior.Misbehavior, as defined by Lennon, Johnson, and Lee is, â€Å"acts that violate accepted norms of conduct in consumption contexts. † (Lennon, Johnson, Lee, 2011) This compulsive behavior, or compulsive consumption, feeds off of the idea of scarcity. It induces people to act inappropriately harming others and often the mselves. â€Å"For many, if not most compulsive purchasers, buying is a reaction to stress or unpleasant situations. Compulsive consumption is a type of consumer behavior which is inappropriate, typically excessive, and clearly disruptive to the lives of other individuals. (Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond 1987) Both hunting and shopping hinge on long-standing traditions and generally involve pursuing a goal as a group. Whether the group actually hits its target is secondary to the fun of the chase. Hunting and shopping as shown above are very closely linked and motivated by the idea of scarcity. Just like there are limited deer in the forest, there are limited goods in the stores. The result is paradoxical in nature. People are fraudulently deceived into acting compulsively. (Herpen, Pieters and Zeelenberg 2005)Just as Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond concluded that compulsive behavior negatively affects the lives of others, Peter McGraw, Ph. D. drew a similar connection. He focuses more on social trends and pressures being the root of the problem. In The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity, McGraw makes a connection between Black Friday shopping and Thanksgiving Dinner. He explores the idea that once a year, people will consume more calories in one meal, than the average person consumes on a normal day.The next day they wake up, or sometimes not sleeping at all, and go shopping for hours on end. (McGraw and Warner 2011) Dr. McGraw’s research shows us that in a short period of forty eights hour there is over consumption of food on Thanksgiving and the hyper consumption or shopping on Black Friday. McGraw believes that the cause of this phenomenon is social influence and pressure. He writes, â€Å"One of the hallmarks of psychological science is that we are influenced by the actions of others—often more so than we'd like to admit.Sometimes we're impelled to take positive actions, such as switching to reusable bags or cutting down on littering. Other times, social influence can be quite negative. When it comes to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, unfortunately, the influences skew more toward bad than good. † (McGraw and Warner 2011) In other words McGraw places responsibility of hyper consumption on social trends, pressures, and even perhaps familial rituals for the ever-popular Black Friday. Another concept of Black Friday is one of mutual benefit for both consumer and retailer.Consumers’ benefit from large discounts on all sorts of items including clothing, electronics, furniture, and literally any other commodity available on the market. Retailers’ benefit by getting out of the red zone, finally making a profit for the fiscal year. The opportunities available on Black Friday is what drove 212 million shoppers to stores during Black Friday weekend in 2011. (Wilson, 2010) Retailers experience surging sales during Black Friday and the days that follow. This monetary benefit is what drives t heir extensive promotion and deal offerings, further influencing the consumer’s willingness to partake in the shopping frenzy.In a society where a corporation or business’s main purpose is to grow profits for the benefit of its shareholders, a company’s number one purpose is to increase sales, in order to increase profits. According to a New York Times article written by Adam Davidson, approximately one fifth of retailer’s total annual sales are made during the holiday shopping season. (Davidson, 2011) In conclusion, we can see that shopping on Black Friday brings people together in one way or another. For some, it brings people together in a positive way.Families and friends are able to work as a team who plan, prepare and execute their plans to achieve their goals. For others, Black Friday shoppers experience the negative affects of other people’s behavior. There are also advantages and disadvantages for both the consumer and retailer. Consumers get amazingly cheap prices on products while retailers experience a massive surge in sales. However one may look at Black Friday, it is a day that cannot be ignored. It’s influence and popularity are ever growing and expanding. Reference Page Davidson, Adam. The Black Friday Effect: Let’s Stimulate the Economy with Inflation. † The New York Times, 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Herpen, Erica van, Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg (2005) ,†How Product Scarcity Impacts on Choice: Snob and Bandwagon Effects†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32 : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 623-624. Faber, J. Ronald, O’Guinn, C Thomas, and Krych, Raymond. (1987) â€Å"Compulsive Consumption†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14, eds.Melanie Wallendorf and Paul Anderson, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14: Association for Sonsumer Research, Pages: 132-135. McGonigal, Kelly, Ph. D. â€Å"The Science of Willpower. † Comments on â€Å"Black Friday Shopping: How Stores Use Psychology to Fill Your Cart† N. p. , 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . McGraw, Peter, Ph. D. , and Warner, Joel. â€Å"The Humor Code. † The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity. N. p. , 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Ridgwar, Nicole, â€Å"Black Friday Sales Hit Record. † CNNMoney. Cable News Netwrok, 26 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Sarkis, Stephanie, Ph. D. â€Å"Here, There, and Everywhere. † Black Friday: A Collective Consumption Ritual. N. p. , 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Thomas, Jane Boyd, and Peters, Cara. (2011) â€Å"An exploratory investigation of Black Friday consumption rituals†, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 39 Iss: 7, pp. 522 – 537 Wallendorf, M. , Arnould, E. â€Å"We gather together: consumption rituals of Thanksgiving Dayâ € , in Journal of Consumer Research, (1991) Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 13-31. Wilson, April. â€Å"By the Numbers: Black Friday Shoppers and Their Impact on the Economy. † The Luckie ReTink Tank. 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct 2012. . Black Friday The three sources to be compared are all in relation to the events that occurred on â€Å"Black Friday†, particularly surrounding the conduct of the metropolitan police. Source 10, taken from â€Å"The Times† newspaper presents the view that the police were more victims of the women and raiders that they were trying to control, and that it took some effort to restrain the women that were protesting on that day.Whereas source 11, taken from a memorandum that was sent to the home office after ‘Black Friday† gives the view that the police were acting violently towards the women protesting and that the women in this situation were the victims. Source 12, a statement from a suffragette who participated in â€Å"Black Friday† presents a similar opinion to that in source 11, indicating that the woman in question received several injuries from a police officer.The events that occurred on â€Å"Black Friday† and the conduct of the police have been under dispute by many historians, which some taking the side of source 10, and others agreeing more with the recollections presented in sources 11 and 12- it can therefore be argued how much sources 11 and 12 challenge the view contained in source 10 about the conduct of the police on â€Å"Black Friday†. Source 10, taken from â€Å"The Times’ newspaper on 19th November 1910 is an extract from a report covering the events of what eventually became known as â€Å"Black Friday†.It presents the view that the police â€Å"kept their temper very well’ towards â€Å"the ladies who flung themselves against (them)†. It also speaks of how â€Å"several police had their helmets knocked off in carrying out their duty† and later mentions that â€Å"one was disabled by a kick on the ankle† and another â€Å"was cut on the face by a belt† therefore implying that the women who were present on Black Friday were acting violently towards the police , and that any rough handling of the police towards the protesters was only in response to the treatment they were receiving.It could be said then, that this article presents the police in a positive light and shows the suffragettes to be the ones at fault on â€Å"Black Friday† which comes as no surprise given that the article comes from â€Å"The Times†- a newspaper that would have been primarily aimed at educated men, and its purpose therefore would have been to share the opinion that women were out of control and lacked the dignity to receive the vote. Source 11 on the other hand disagrees with the view presented in source source 10.It is an extract from a memorandum by the Parliamentary Conciliation Committee for Women’s Suffrage send to the Home Office after â€Å"Black Friday†. It agrees with the source ten in the sense that it admits a â€Å"relentless struggle† occurred between the police and the suffragettes, but it disagrees with source 10 because it presents the view that it was the police acting violently towards the women, who it says were â€Å"flung hither and thither amid moving traffic, and into the hands of a crows which was sometimes rough and indecent†.This opinion is presented because the purpose of the memorandum sent to the home office was to request a public inquiry into the conduct of the police on â€Å"Black Friday†, because they did not follow their â€Å"usual course of action† which â€Å"would have been to arrest the women on a charge of obstruction† but they â€Å"had been instructed to avoid, as far as possible, making any arrests† which is why, the women argue that the police were so violent.Also, this article presents the events of â€Å"Black Friday† in such a different light, because it was written by those who sympathized with Suffragettes and therefore supported them, the Committee was set up in 1910 to encourage support for women’s suffr age, so it would have wanted to make the actions of the police look bad in order to gain support for the women who were protesting. Similar to source 11, Source 12, from a statement by a 60 year old suffragette who had participated in the demonstration on â€Å"Black Friday† is of the opinion that it was the police who acted wrongly during the events, and not the women protesting.The suffragette talks about how she was â€Å"seized by several policemen† and how â€Å"one twisted (her) right arm behind (her) back with such brute force that (she) really thought he would break it†. She also mentions that â€Å"another policeman gave (her) a terrible blow in (her) back, which sent (her) whirling into the crowd†- clearly presenting the view that the police were acting violently and out of conduct towards the women and as a result disputing the viewpoint held in source 10.However, it must be taken into consideration the purpose of this statement, which was a te stament before the Parliamentary Conciliation Committee for Women’s Suffrage, who we know from source 11 sympathized with suffragettes and were trying to gain support from them. Therefore, the women who gave this testament would have been trying to give as much evidence against the police as possible in order for the Committee to have a case against the police and order for an inquiry to be made.In addition to this, it was the aim of suffragettes at time to create as much publicity towards their cause as they could, whether good or bad, they wanted attention, and by complaining about the police it would have prolonged the time that â€Å"Black Friday† was publicized in the media which was what they wanted. In conclusion, sources 11 and 12, which present the view that it was the police who acted wrongly on â€Å"Black Friday† disagree with the view presented in source 10, which is that it was the women who were at fault.This is because the purpose of both sources 11 and 12 was to create sympathy for the suffragettes in order to gain support for their cause, whereas source 10 was aimed at an audience who did not support women’s suffrage, and by publishing an article presenting women in a bad light, â€Å"The Times† newspaper would have been ensuring that it’s readers remained loyal. Although sources 11 and 12 agree with source 10 in the fact that a violent dispute took place, they differ in opinion of who was the victim in the situation, therefore sources 11 and 12 challenge the view presented in source 10 about the conduct of the police on â€Å"Black Friday†. Black Friday The phenomenon of Black Friday Bustling city streets, hour-long lines, and retail store chaos: only one scenario explains the commonality between these situations, shopping on Black Friday. For half a century Black Friday has become an unofficial retail holiday in the United States. It is a day that offers incredible discounts and killer deals, and most notoriously, it brings a frenzy of crazed shoppers to local retailers looking to save on purchases.Marketing strategies, paired with consumers’ need to locate the best deals on Christmas gifts has led to Black Friday being celebrated as a consumption ritual comparable in importance to Thanksgiving Day. (Thomas and Peters, 2011) How has Black Friday become the largest retail sales day of the year? What is it that drives people to artificially induced hyper consumption, almost like an annual ritual? Many scientist and psychologists have many different theories and conclusions of why Black Friday has become the biggest shopping da y of the year.In this paper, I will take your through the research and conclusions that many psychologists have produced and the advantages and disadvantages of Black Friday. Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, Ph. D. explored the work of Jane Boyd Thomas and Cara Peters, professors at South Carolina's Winthrop University, who spent two years in research trying to find common traits in Black Friday shoppers. They conducted thirty-eight extensive interviews with â€Å"experienced† Black Friday shoppers and found four recurring themes: 1. Familial bonding (multiple generations and close friends) 2. Strategic planning . The great race 4. Mission accomplished But how do the four themes they came up with relate to one another? Thomas and Peters figured that all the traits when analyzed together showed one commonality. They wrote, â€Å"the traits are coalesced around a military metaphor, and is a bonding activity Shoppers prepare for the ritual by scanning Black Friday ads, and they map out th eir strategy. † (Sarkis 2011) In essence, the family is a type of team that scans adds, plans their route and potential purchases, executes their plans by buying products, and rejoices in their accomplishments.When all of these traits are analyzed individually, they mean little to main the main outcome, bonding. But when all the traits are looked at collectively, they all contribute to the overall success and goal of bonding. Besides giving us a breakdown of bonding activities, the analysis also shows how the average consumer plan for Black Friday. Just as Sarkis found themes that make up this military metaphor, Byun, professor of consumer affairs at Auburn University came up with her own theory on why people react the way they do on Black Friday. Crowds create a sense of competition — such as when hundreds of shoppers are rushing to collect marked-down goods — they generate a different feeling entirely. Competition creates what’s called hedonic shopping v alue, or a sense of enjoyment from the mere process of buying goods. At certain levels, consumers enjoy arousal and challenges during the shopping process. † (Khazan 2011) In essence what Byun is saying is consumers get more enjoyment because the crowds create an obstacle, which hinders the execution of the plans and preparations made. The crowds make getting what they want harder, which creates more value for the goods purchased.Just as Byun noted that crowds contribute to the Black Friday Craze, Kelly McGonigal, Ph. D. describes another factors that plays a big part in the â€Å"Black Friday frenzy†. Retailers, she notes, use innovative designs to lure customers into their stores and keep them there. McGonigal says â€Å"time pressure sales on limited products or scarce resources† triggers a negative physiological affect on the consumer. Scarcity for a certain commodity creates a sense of urgency to act now, a natural instinct to survive. This survival instinct can be related to hunting for some people.Black Friday is â€Å"hunting for women,† said Leisa Reinecke Flynn, professor of marketing and fashion merchandising at the University of Southern Mississippi. â€Å"It’s so much like deer hunting it’s hard to tell the two apart. † (Khazan 2011) Unfortunately, shopping on Black Friday is not motivated by survival instincts or a life in death situation. This paradox stimulates unusual behavior in consumers that creates disadvantages and potential dangers for those that are not necessarily into the hunt. The concept of Black Friday creates a â€Å"perfect storm† for consumer misbehavior.Misbehavior, as defined by Lennon, Johnson, and Lee is, â€Å"acts that violate accepted norms of conduct in consumption contexts. † (Lennon, Johnson, Lee, 2011) This compulsive behavior, or compulsive consumption, feeds off of the idea of scarcity. It induces people to act inappropriately harming others and often the mselves. â€Å"For many, if not most compulsive purchasers, buying is a reaction to stress or unpleasant situations. Compulsive consumption is a type of consumer behavior which is inappropriate, typically excessive, and clearly disruptive to the lives of other individuals. (Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond 1987) Both hunting and shopping hinge on long-standing traditions and generally involve pursuing a goal as a group. Whether the group actually hits its target is secondary to the fun of the chase. Hunting and shopping as shown above are very closely linked and motivated by the idea of scarcity. Just like there are limited deer in the forest, there are limited goods in the stores. The result is paradoxical in nature. People are fraudulently deceived into acting compulsively. (Herpen, Pieters and Zeelenberg 2005)Just as Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond concluded that compulsive behavior negatively affects the lives of others, Peter McGraw, Ph. D. drew a similar connection. He focuses more on social trends and pressures being the root of the problem. In The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity, McGraw makes a connection between Black Friday shopping and Thanksgiving Dinner. He explores the idea that once a year, people will consume more calories in one meal, than the average person consumes on a normal day.The next day they wake up, or sometimes not sleeping at all, and go shopping for hours on end. (McGraw and Warner 2011) Dr. McGraw’s research shows us that in a short period of forty eights hour there is over consumption of food on Thanksgiving and the hyper consumption or shopping on Black Friday. McGraw believes that the cause of this phenomenon is social influence and pressure. He writes, â€Å"One of the hallmarks of psychological science is that we are influenced by the actions of others—often more so than we'd like to admit.Sometimes we're impelled to take positive actions, such as switching to reusable bags or cutting down on littering. Other times, social influence can be quite negative. When it comes to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, unfortunately, the influences skew more toward bad than good. † (McGraw and Warner 2011) In other words McGraw places responsibility of hyper consumption on social trends, pressures, and even perhaps familial rituals for the ever-popular Black Friday. Another concept of Black Friday is one of mutual benefit for both consumer and retailer.Consumers’ benefit from large discounts on all sorts of items including clothing, electronics, furniture, and literally any other commodity available on the market. Retailers’ benefit by getting out of the red zone, finally making a profit for the fiscal year. The opportunities available on Black Friday is what drove 212 million shoppers to stores during Black Friday weekend in 2011. (Wilson, 2010) Retailers experience surging sales during Black Friday and the days that follow. This monetary benefit is what drives t heir extensive promotion and deal offerings, further influencing the consumer’s willingness to partake in the shopping frenzy.In a society where a corporation or business’s main purpose is to grow profits for the benefit of its shareholders, a company’s number one purpose is to increase sales, in order to increase profits. According to a New York Times article written by Adam Davidson, approximately one fifth of retailer’s total annual sales are made during the holiday shopping season. (Davidson, 2011) In conclusion, we can see that shopping on Black Friday brings people together in one way or another. For some, it brings people together in a positive way.Families and friends are able to work as a team who plan, prepare and execute their plans to achieve their goals. For others, Black Friday shoppers experience the negative affects of other people’s behavior. There are also advantages and disadvantages for both the consumer and retailer. Consumers get amazingly cheap prices on products while retailers experience a massive surge in sales. However one may look at Black Friday, it is a day that cannot be ignored. It’s influence and popularity are ever growing and expanding. Reference Page Davidson, Adam. The Black Friday Effect: Let’s Stimulate the Economy with Inflation. † The New York Times, 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Herpen, Erica van, Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg (2005) ,†How Product Scarcity Impacts on Choice: Snob and Bandwagon Effects†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32 : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 623-624. Faber, J. Ronald, O’Guinn, C Thomas, and Krych, Raymond. (1987) â€Å"Compulsive Consumption†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14, eds.Melanie Wallendorf and Paul Anderson, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14: Association for Sonsumer Research, Pages: 132-135. McGonigal, Kelly, Ph. D. â€Å"The Science of Willpower. † Comments on â€Å"Black Friday Shopping: How Stores Use Psychology to Fill Your Cart† N. p. , 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . McGraw, Peter, Ph. D. , and Warner, Joel. â€Å"The Humor Code. † The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity. N. p. , 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Ridgwar, Nicole, â€Å"Black Friday Sales Hit Record. † CNNMoney. Cable News Netwrok, 26 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Sarkis, Stephanie, Ph. D. â€Å"Here, There, and Everywhere. † Black Friday: A Collective Consumption Ritual. N. p. , 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Thomas, Jane Boyd, and Peters, Cara. (2011) â€Å"An exploratory investigation of Black Friday consumption rituals†, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 39 Iss: 7, pp. 522 – 537 Wallendorf, M. , Arnould, E. â€Å"We gather together: consumption rituals of Thanksgiving Dayâ € , in Journal of Consumer Research, (1991) Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 13-31. Wilson, April. â€Å"By the Numbers: Black Friday Shoppers and Their Impact on the Economy. † The Luckie ReTink Tank. 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct 2012. .