Thursday, October 24, 2019

Negative Impact of Advertisement Essay

Advertising is a tool widely used by businesses and the media to promote their products. Unfortunately, advertising is pushing America more and more into a quick downward spiral. Advertisement acts like a fish hook for consumers. They have baits about the interest and wants of their consumers. Then when consumers grab a hold of it, advertisers reel them in on buying the products. The majority of advertisements are alarmingly misleading. They also convey an unrealistic view of certain products. Companies pay millions of dollars a year on advertising and go beyond the limit to persuade their customers. Little do consumers know they are indulging in this unnecessary luxury with nothing to gain. Advertising is unethical due to its negative impact on children, false images, and unrealistic expectations; however, advertisements do perform an important role on providing services to society. Without a doubt children are affected the most by advertising. At a young age, a child allows their mind to be molded and constructed. They don’t have much understanding of all the negative effects of the media and its advertisements. Children grow up to be everything they are surrounded by, as they are very susceptible to all outside influences. In many cases, children are most likely tended to misinterpret the messages conveyed through the advertisement. They end up having misinformed beliefs about many issues, which creates a desire to own a particular product being advertised. Joseph McLaughlin, a researcher from Fordham University, stated that â€Å"Children younger than 6 are especially susceptible to television advertising because many of them can’t tell the difference between a commercial and a program.† Because they are not able to distinguish the difference, glossy images in magazines, billboards, or flashy advertisement on television only create the im pulse for excessive desire to buy. Eric Schlosseris a well-known journalist that wrote the article â€Å"Kids Kustomers†. Along with McLaughlin, Schlosser shares a similar statement about advertising toward children. He  says, â€Å"The aim of most children’s advertising is straight forward: get kids to nag their parents and nag them well† (521). This means that advertisers are trying to focus their attention to make kids want their products and nag their parents until they get it for them. Children are the future, and an important part of the present as well. With these kinds of effects of advertising on them, this only creates a very wrong impression on their young minds about living without the needs of materialistic joys. Above all else, advertising is unethical. It creates an unrealistic image that urges people to buy in on the product. It gives them a natural high from the initial â€Å"new† or â€Å"delicious† feeling and leaving them unsatisfied after the feeling has worn off. Fast food advertisements are well known for exaggerating their products. Katie Robbins from Delish, wrote an article called â€Å"Fast Food: Truth behind Advertising†. In the article she says, â€Å"It looked so juicy and hearty, piled high with crunchy pickles and onions and resting on a soft, pillowy bed of a bun. But the actual sandwich that greeted when we ordered it at the Golden Arches didn’t look quite like the images we’d been seeing on billboard. Tired and limp, it was the anemic younger brother of the plucky McRib of our dreams† (Robbins). This means that people invest in a product they believe they saw in the advertisement but in reality, it’s just a pathetic excuse for fast food joints to make money. False beauty in advertising and pressure to look good caused many women to strive for the ideal perfection. Like Robbins, Jo Swinson, a writer from CNNopinion also wrote an article about how advertising contains false images. She stated: For some, the desire to look as perfect as these models can become all-consuming, and a wealth of evidence suggests that people in the UK are experiencing serious body image problems — a trend undoubtedly replicated around the globe. People unhappy about their bodies can develop eating disorders, turn to diet pills or steroids, or try cosmetic surgery and Botox injections. This means that women everywhere are willing to starve themselves or go beyond the limit to get the perfect body, to make them look like their favorite celebrities even. Advertising create unrealistic expectations. Ads for prescription drugs aimed directly toward consumer have resulted in unrealistic expectations  about the effectiveness of the drugs and its side-effects. In these kinds of advertisements, the visual images only show healthy, happy people. It never truly shows the actual downside effects of the drugs. Beauty and health products share a similar component by not living up to their promises; therefore, resulting in wasting consumer’s money once again. Herman CP, a psychologist from PubMed stated, â€Å"The false-hope syndrome suggests that unrealistic expectations in advertising about dieting set dieters up for failure.† This shows that fitness and health ads set consumers up to failure when they don’t see a change in their body, thus lead them to lose hope and give up. Gina-Marie Cheeseman from TriplePundit, shares a similar argument with Herman about unrealistic expectations. She says, â€Å"One of the implicati ons is that is creates an unrealistic expectation about the product that the company is advertising. Airbrushing sure does create unrealistic expectations, and U.S. women are shelling out money to meet those expectations.† This means that women everywhere are spending money on products to enhance their beauty to look like the one they see in the advertisements. Little did they know, advertisers used Photoshop and airbrushing to enhance the look of their models. Advertising however, still plays an important role on providing services to society. It offers social benefits. Along with that, advertising can be used to promote free speech since it is free speech: â€Å"This is especially true in countries where free speech has been suppressed. Advertising there, especially when it comes from the Western world where free speech is embraced, can encourage the idea that free speech is important,† says by Miranda Morley, a writer from SmallBusiness. This shows that advertising can be influential to foreign country that doesn’t allow freedom of speech. Like Morley, John E. Calfee also talks about how advertising is useful. He says, â€Å"But advertising does much more. It routinely provides immense amounts of information that benefits primarily parties other than the advertiser. This may sound odd, but it is a logical result of market forces and the nature of information itself† (98). Through providing information, it gives it a reason for research, and that research is backed-up by a firm sponsor thus creates credibility through its products. Although advertising plays an important role in society, unfortunately it is one of the major reasons why America is spinning into a downward spiral, doing major harm with little positive intention. Murray Lunn, a writer from Helium says, â€Å" Deceitful advertising, over the years, have caused consumers to associated the majority of advertising as a â€Å"sleazy† attempt to make them buy a product or service; participating in these types of advertising methods can cause a â€Å"black eye† on a business to the marketplace.† This means that businesses may put themselves in danger in the marketplace if they participate in these deceitful advertising. An article written by Shelly Frost, a writer from SmallBusiness, talks about how advertising affects businesses. She stated, â€Å"The Company is sometimes charged a fine for both current false advertising and any future incidents of deceptive advertising. If the company is sued, additional expenses come in the form of legal fees and money that must be paid to consumers who filed the suit.† Companies could lose more many than what they spend on making the advertisements if they’re caught false advertising. Advertising has long been seen as a way to convince consumers to spend their dollars on products or services they may not truly need. It is unethical. Women, who would see beauty ads, would want to emulate the thinness and beauty of such models. Today’s society has become cultures of consumerisms, and it is teaching children the false sense of self-worth. Also those consumers that were given the false impression about a product through various forms of media tend to suffer the most from society’s portrayal of the perfect body. Advertising is unethical and if not monitor carefully, it can affect and individual more negatively than for the better. Works Cited Calfe, John. â€Å"How Advertising Informs to Our Benefits.† Common Culture: Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture. 4th Edition. Ed. Micheal Petracca and Madeleine Sorapure. Upper Saddle River, NJ. 2004. 97-109. Print. Lunn, Murray. â€Å"The Negative Effects of Advertising.† Helium. N.p., 03 Feb. 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2013. Frost, Shelley. â€Å"Negative Effects of False Advertising.† Small Business. Chron, 05 June 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. McLaughlin, Joseph. â€Å"Researcher Shows Negative Effects of Advertising on Children.†Fordhamn.edu. Fordham University College, 17 May 2010. Web. 08 Apr. 2013. Morley, Miranda. â€Å"The Positive Effects of Advertising.† Small Business. Chron. N.p., 11 June 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. Robins, Kate. â€Å"Food in the News.Fast Food: Truth in Advertising?† Delish. N.p., 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 02. Apr. 2013. Swinson, Jo. â€Å"False Beauty in Advertising and the Pressure to Look ‘good'† CNN. Cable News Network. 10.Aug. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. CP, Herman. â€Å"Effects of expose to unrealistic promises about dieting.† PubMed. National Center for Biotechnology Information, 25 Mar. 2009. Web. 08 Apr. 2013. Cheeseman, Gina-Marie. â€Å"British Regulatory Agency Bans Christian Dior Mascara Ad.†TriplePundit. N.p., 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2013. Schlosser, Eric. â€Å"Kid Kustomer.† From Inquiry to Academic Writing A Text and Reader. 2nd Edition. Ed. Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 519-526. Print.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Management Information Systems 12th Edition

1. What are reasons behind Collection services in your library (Pl. put ‘ ‘ on appropriate number) 1. Book Acquisition/ Collection Development 6. 1. 1. Quick response from suppliers [pic] 6. 1. 2. To save money and time of library [pic] 6. 1. 3. To reduce procedure and workflow to get books [pic] 4. To achieve greater efficiency [pic] 5. To get much discount [pic] 4% says yes for the quack response from the supplier and 64% says that it is save the time and money of the library and 71% says that it is also reduce the workflow of the gets books to the library and get more discount for the purchases the book for the library and 86% says the achieve greater efficiency for the book acquisition or collection development. 1. Books Processing Related Function 6. 2. 1.To get books in Ready-To-Shelf position [pic] 6. 2. 2. To reduce time in book processing tasks [pic] 6. 2. 3. TO concentrate on core services/function(Core means LIS education is required to understand the service/f unction) of library [pic] 4. Lack of staff with library [pic] 5. Lack of time with Library staff [pic] 6. To allow users to get book issued from library within sort span of time [pic]Book processing related function means To get books in Ready-To-Shelf position is 57% yes and other says no, To reduce time in book processing tasks is 64% says yes , TO concentrate on core services/function(Core means LIS education is required to understand the service/function) of library is says 43% yes and other 57% says no, Lack of staff with library is 43% yes and, Lack of time with Library staff is says 79% yes, To allow users to get book issued from library within sort span of time is says 71% yes and remain no. 2. Books arrangement and maintenance 6. 3. 1. Lack of Library staff [pic] 6. 3. 2.Concentration on core services/ function of library [pic] Book arrangement and maintenance have to problems one is lace of library staff and other is concentration on core services79% library staff says tha t the library staff is required more for the arrangement and 79% says no for the concentrate on the core services of the library. In the library the staff is not available for the arrangement of books and other core services . 3. Book Preservation and Conservation 6. 4. 1. No expertise with library staff in preservation and conservation tasks [pic] 6. 4. 2. Rare materials needed special care to preserve [pic] 6. 4. 3.Photocopying, digitization, binding, deacidification etc are considered technical jobs [pic] The book Preservation and Conservation is consider 79% yes for No expertise with library staff in preservation and conservation tasks, 71% yes Rare materials needed special care to preserve and 71% no for Photocopying, digitization, binding, deacidification etc are considered technical jobs. 4. Circulation 6. 5. 1. Lack of library staff to performed this task [pic] 6. 5. 2. To run library for late hours [pic] 6. 5. 3. To concentrate on core services/function [pic] Circulation is most important function of the library it is says that 71. 9% says yes for the lack of the staff perform the task of the circulation, 71% no for the run library for the long period of the time means late time and 50% for the concentrate the core services of the library. 5. Classification/Re-classification 6. 6. 1. Reclassification from one classification system to another [pic] 6. 6. 2. To complete the backlog [pic] 6. 6. 3. For completing the classification task within stipulated time [pic] 4. Lack of staff [pic] 5. Lack of time [pic] 6. Cateloguing /Re-cataloguing 6. 7. 1. For Completing of backlog [pic] 6. 7. 2. For completing the cataloging within stipulated time [pic] 6. 7. 3.For cataloging of foreign language materials [pic] 4. Lack of staff [pic] 5. Lack of time [pic] 6. Reducing cost in cataloging [pic] 7. Periodical subscription 6. 8. 1. Lack of time with library staff [pic] 6. 8. 2. To reduce burden on periodical subscription and follow-ups tasks [pic] 6. 8. 3. To concent rate on core services/functions [pic] 8. Reference/e-reference Services 6. 9. 1. Due to increasing of inquiries from users of library [pic] 6. 9. 2. Due to opening Distance education centres [pic] 6. 9. 3. TO increase number of working hours (late evening and early morning) [pic] 4. Lack of professional staff in library [pic] 5.Due to increasing research projects in institute [pic] 6. 10. Indexing 1. Lack of staff to perform the task [pic] 2. To complete backlog of periodical articles indexing within stipulated time [pic] 3. TO uses standard terminology while indexing of periodical articles. [pic] 4. TO concentrate on core services/functions of library [pic] 10. Translation Service 1. Lack of translator in library [pic] 2. Due to increasing demand of translation among library user [pic] 3. Lack of translating skilled and subject’s knowledge in library staff [pic] 4. Translation job is non-library activity and it should be performed by translator pic] 11. Photocopying 1. Due t o increasing price of photocopier machine [pic] 2. To reduce burden of maintenance [pic] 3. To reduce risk of technology that becomes obsolete [pic] 4. Lack of quality if it performed in-house by library staff [pic] 5. To reduce operational and capital cost [pic] 12. Stock verification 1. It is labourious and non-routine (once a year)job. [pic] 2. Library does not want to use its staff in this job [pic] 3. TO avoid burden of staff recruitment for this job [pic] 13. Computer Desktop related functions 1. Lack of skill or knowledge of computing functions [pic] 2.Lack of computers, equipments, softwares and hardware in library [pic] 3. To concentrate on core areas of library [pic] 4. Lack of staff [pic] 14. Automation 1. Lack of expertise on this area in library staff [pic] 2. Lack of time [pic] 3. Lack of library staff [pic] 4. Lack of resources, equipments and technology in library [pic] 5. Concentration on core services/functions of library [pic] 6. Increasing efficiency in library s taff [pic] 15. Digitization 1. To get good qualities in digitized work [pic] 2. Lack of knowledge/expertise in digitization work [pic] 3. To complete digitization in stipulate time pic] 4. To complete the backlog [pic] 5. Lack of knowledge of standard of digitization [pic] 6. Lack of software, Hardware and other equipments with library [pic] 7. To concentrate on core services/functions of library [pic] 16. Retrospective Conversion of Records 1. To convert the data (backlog) from one system to another (e. g. Libsys to KOHA) [pic] 2. Lack of manpower [pic] 3. Lack of knowledge of concern software/system [pic] 4. Lack time with library staff to convert data form one system to another [pic] 17. OPAC/Bar Coding/RFID 1. To resolve trouble shooting in library software [pic] . Barcoding, labeling etc are laborious jobs [pic] 3. Library staff has not enough knowledge to maintain RFID [pic] 4. To make stock verification (automatic) process fast [pic] 18. Webpage Designing/Library Portal Creat ion 1. Lack of knowledge in webpage designing with library staff [pic] 2. To give professional touch to the library portal [pic] 3. To concentrate on core service services/functions of library [pic] 19. Data Server/Data Storage 1. To reduce risk of the software, hardware that become obsolescence [pic] 2. Lack of skilled or expert persons in Library [pic] 3.To gain benefits of resources, investment and expertise of agency [pic] 20. Digital Archival Management/Institutional Repository 1. Lack of knowledge of software among library staff [pic] 2. Lack of time to create digital library [pic] 3. To reduce risk of media, hardware, software become obsolescence [pic] 4. Lack of knowledge of international standards to create metadata [pic] 21. Entire Library/Library Management 1. To reduce responsibility of administration works [pic] 2. To concentrate on core services/functions of library [pic] 3. To reduce burden of employee related issues [pic]

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

All About the Empire State Building

All About the Empire State Building The Empire State Building is one of the most famous buildings in the world. It was the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1931 and kept that title for nearly 40 years. In 2017, it was ranked as the fifth tallest building in the United States, topping out at 1,250 feet. The total height, including the lightning rod, is 1,454 feet, but this number is not used for ranking. It is located at 350 Fifth Avenue (between 33rd and 34th streets) in New York City. The Empire State Building is open every day from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., making possible romantic late-night visits to the observation decks. The Building of the Empire State Building Construction began in March 1930, and it was officially opened on May 1, 1931, when then-President Herbert Hoover pushed a button in Washington and turned on the lights.The ESB was designed by the architects Shreve, Lamb Harmon Associates and built by Starrett Bros. Eken. The building cost $24,718,000 to build, which was nearly half the expected cost because of the effects of the  Great Depression.   Though rumors of hundreds of people dying on the work site circulated during the time of its construction, official records say that only five workers died. One worker was struck by a truck; a second fell down an elevator shaft; a third was hit by a hoist; a fourth was in a blast area;  a fifth fell off a scaffold. Inside the Empire State Building The first thing you encounter as you enter the Empire State Building is the lobby - and what a lobby this is. It was restored in 2009 to its authentic art deco design that includes ceiling murals in 24-karat gold and aluminum leaf. On the wall is an iconic  image of the building with light flowing from its mast. The ESB has two observation decks. The one on the 86th floor, the main deck, is the highest open-air deck in New York.  This is the deck thats been made famous in countless movies; two iconic ones are An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle. From this deck, which wraps around the spire of the ESB, you get a 360-degree view of New York that includes the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Times Square and the Hudson and East rivers. The top deck of the building, on the 102nd floor, gives you the most stunning view possible of New York and a birds-eye view of the street grid, impossible to see from a lower level. On a clear day you can see for 80 miles, says the ESB website. The Empire State Building also houses shops and restaurants that include the State Bar and Grill, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in an art deco setting. Its off the 33rd Street lobby. Besides all these touristy attractions, the Empire State Building is home to rentable space for businesses. The ESB has 102 floors, and if youre in good shape and want to walk from street level to the 102nd floor, you will climb 1,860 steps. Natural light shines through 6,500 windows, which also afford spectacular views of Midtown Manhattan. Empire State Building Lights Since 1976 the ESB has been lit up to mark celebrations and events. In 2012, LED lights were installed - they can display 16 million colors that can be changed in an instant. To find out the lights schedule, check the Empire State Building website, linked above.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Womens Suffrage and the Seneca Falls Convention

Womens Suffrage and the Seneca Falls Convention The Seneca Falls Convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Many individuals cite this convention as  the beginning of the womens movement in America. However, the idea for the convention came about at another protest meeting: the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention  held in London. At that convention, the female delegates were not allowed to participate in the debates. Lucretia Mott wrote in her diary that even though the convention was titled a World convention, that was mere poetical license. She had accompanied her husband to London, but had to sit behind a partition with other ladies such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They took a dim view of their treatment, or rather mistreatment, and the idea of a womens convention was born. The Declaration of Sentiments In the interim between the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention and the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed the Declaration of Sentiments, a document declaring the rights of women modeled on the Declaration of Independence. It is worth noting that upon showing her Declaration to her husband, Mr. Stanton was less than pleased. He stated that if she read the Declaration at the Seneca Falls Convention, he would leave town. The Declaration of Sentiments contained several resolutions including ones that stated a man should not withhold a womans rights, take her property, or refuse to allow her to vote. The 300 participants spent July 19th and 20th arguing, refining and voting on the Declaration. Most of the resolutions received unanimous support. However, the right to vote had many dissenters including one very prominent figure, Lucretia Mott. Reaction to the Convention The convention was treated with scorn from all corners. The press and religious leaders denounced the happenings at Seneca Falls. However, a positive report was printed at the office of The North Star, Frederick Douglass newspaper. As the article in that newspaper stated, [T]here can be no reason in the world for denying to woman the exercise of the elective franchise....   Many leaders of the Womens Movement were also leaders in the Abolitionist Movement and vice-versa. However, the two movements while occurring at approximately the same time were in fact very different. While the abolitionist movement was fighting a tradition of tyranny against the African-American, the womens movement was fighting a tradition of protection. Many men and women felt that each sex had its own place in the world. Women were to be protected from such things as voting and politics. The difference between the two movements is emphasized by the fact that it took women 50 more years to achieve suffrage than it did African-American men.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

James Clerk Maxwell, Master of Electromagnetism

James Clerk Maxwell, Master of Electromagnetism James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist best known for combining the fields of electricity and magnetism to create a theory of the electromagnetic field. Early Life and Studies James Clerk Maxwell was born- into a family of strong financial means- in Edinburgh on June 13, 1831. However, he spent most of his childhood at Glenlair, a family estate designed by Walter Newall for Maxwell’s father. The young Maxwell’s studies took him first to the Edinburgh Academy (where, at the astounding age of 14, he published his first academic paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh) and later to the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cambridge. As a professor, Maxwell began by filling in the vacant Chair of Natural Philosophy at Aberdeen’s Marischal College in 1856. He would continue in this post until 1860​ when Aberdeen combined its two colleges into one university (leaving room for only one Natural Philosophy professorship, which went to David Thomson). This forced removal proved rewarding: Maxwell quickly earned the title of Professor of Physics and Astronomy at King’s College, London, an appointment that would form the foundation of some of the most influential theory of his lifetime. Electromagnetism His paper On Physical Lines of Force- written over the course of two years (1861-1862) and ultimately published in several parts- introduced his pivotal theory of electromagnetism. Among the tenets of his theory were (1) that electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light, and (2) that light exists in the same medium as electric and magnetic phenomena. In 1865, Maxwell resigned from King’s College and proceeded to continue writing: A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field during the year of his resignation; On reciprocal figures, frames and diagrams of forces in 1870; Theory of Heat in 1871; and Matter and Motion in 1876. In 1871, Maxwell became the Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge, a position that put him in charge of the work conducted in the Cavendish Laboratory. The 1873 publication of A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, meanwhile, produced the fullest explanation yet of Maxwell’s four partial different equations, which would go on to be a major influence on Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. On November 5, 1879, after a period of sustained illness, Maxwell died- at the age of 48- from abdominal cancer. Considered one of the greatest scientific minds the world has ever seen- on the order of Einstein and Isaac Newton- Maxwell and his contributions extend beyond the realm of electromagnetic theory to include: an acclaimed study of the dynamics of Saturn’s rings; the somewhat accidental, although still important, capturing of the first color photograph; and his kinetic theory of gases, which led to a law relating to the distribution of molecular velocities. Still, the most crucial findings of his electromagnetic theory- that light is an electromagnetic wave, that electric and magnetic fields travel in the form of waves at the speed of light, that ​radio waves can travel through space- constitute his most important legacy. Nothing sums up the monumental achievement of Maxwell’s life work as well as these words from Einstein himself: â€Å"This change in the conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.†

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Barnsieydale Sales-Related Data for 2004 and 2005 Report Research Paper

Barnsieydale Sales-Related Data for 2004 and 2005 Report - Research Paper Example There are various ways of adding and counting data (Microsoft Corporation 2006), the most appropriate are a simple addition and addition with one or more criteria. Subtotals by quarter for all persons are shown in the Sales Summary for 2005 in(000's) in Table 1. For example, Subtotal 815 means that all salespersons together have sold office furniture on 815,000 in the first quarter in the Commercial sector. Then, Sector subtotals (sales volumes by sector) are added. For example, Sector subtotal 3429 means that all salespersons together have sold office furniture on 3,429,000 in the Commercial sector in 2005. Then, 6,555,000 is annual sales result in 2005. Then formatting should be applied to the report to make it easy to read and understand. There are many basic formatting options available at the cell and worksheet level. Most are available on the Format Menu located on the Standard Excel toolbar. (Sandhills Publishing Company 2005) Pie charts and bar charts are very useful for analysis and easy to interpret. Peltier (2006) concludes that pie charts are good when you are showing the relative proportion of numbers that add up to a total, for a single series of data and when there are not too many wedges, particularly too many small ones. They show a good qualitative view of the data. Bar charts are good for quantitative displays, at showing progress toward a goal, especially if you've exceeded that goal (for this you should use a bar chart with a horizontal line at the goal). Sales by sector chart (Figure 1) shows the dynamic of sales of office furniture by a quarter in each sector. It shows that sales in Commercial sector are  £815 ,000 in the 1st quarter, then they grow to  £849,000 in the 2nd quarter, then they decline to  £799,000 in the 3rd quarter, and then they grow again to  £966,000 in the 4th quarter. Sales in the Commercial sector are higher than sales in other sectors in each quarter.

Friday, October 18, 2019

How does a study of popular culture help researchers understand how Essay

How does a study of popular culture help researchers understand how financial reporting information is valued by society - Essay Example Financial reports are then prepared to mirror the popular culture that prevails in monetary terms. Thus, ideally these reports should replicate the popular culture and should tell if that suits the well being of a country or not. Critical theory encompasses the idea of popular culture. It involves the examination and analysis of a society and its culture. Recently, Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have been used to describe national or, better put, popular cultures. Hofstede’s ideas are based on a large scale research project to bridge cultural differences globally and to come up with a global popular culture! It uses data obtained from sixty-four countries. These studies identify five dimensions. These dimensions can be used to analyze how similar or different countries are. Based on these, their financial reports should mirror the popular trends that prevail and should compare the financial status of the countries in a considerable time period. The first dimension is of power distance, second one being individualism, third masculinity, fourth uncertainty avoidance and last one being long term orientation( Hofstede, Geert). Power distance index is used to measure the degree to which author ity is distributed lopsidedly within an association or an institution (and even in families). It also implies that a society’s degree of disparity is authorized by the supporters as much as by the leaders. The analysis of power distance shows significant differences amongst countries, Germany has a power distance index of 35 while Arab countries have a power index of 80. The second dimension of assessing the popular culture according to Hofstede is individualism. In this, it is compared whether the citizens prefer to look after themselves only, i.e. if they prefer individualism or if they prefer collectivism and like to help others. On the individualistic side, we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose. Everyone takes care of himself