What Is New Public Management?

What Is New Public Management? New Public Management, what is it? We have heard the term throughout the first semester and have endeavoured to understand its historical and present relevance as well as its various facets that are supposedly favourable in reforming inefficient public sector enterprises, making them leaner and more efficient. But is New Public Management, all that it is made up to be, is it up-to the tasks it is set, is it the new paradigm for public sector reform in developing countries? These are the questions well be tackling in this paper. The Wikipedia defines New public management (NPM) as a management philosophy used by governments since the 1980s to modernise the public sector. It is a broad and very complex term used to describe the wave of public sector reforms throughout the world since the 1980s. The main hypothesis in the NPM-reform wave is that more market orientation in the public sector will lead to greater cost-efficiency for governments, without having negative side effects on other objectives and considerations.  [i]   The World Bank group thinks that NPM is used to describe a management culture that emphasizes the centrality of the citizen or customer, as well as accountability for results. It also suggests structural or organizational choices that promote decentralized control through a wide variety of alternative service delivery mechanisms, including quasi-markets with public and private service providers competing for resources from policymakers and donors. NPM does not claim that government should stop performing certain tasks. Although the New Public Management often is associated with this policy perspective, NPM is not about whether tasks should be undertaken or not. It is about getting things done better.  [ii]   It is supposed to have evolved as a consequence of the emergence of globalisation and as a response to policies of structural adjustment. NPM was conceived as a means to improve efficiency and responsiveness to political principals. Its origins were in Parliamentary democracies with curiously strong executive powers, centralized governments, and little administrative law. In this archetypal setting, NPM seems to embody the idea of a cascading chain of contracts leading to a single (usually Ministerial) principal who is interested in getting better results within a sector portfolio over which he or she has significant and relatively unchallenged authority.  [iii]   NPM, is a much more outcome oriented and efficient theory than earlier public management theories because it entails a more judicious disbursement of the public budget. It is supposed to be achieved by applying some attributes of the private sector into the public sector, such as competition etc. it can be said to be a policy to run the public sector as though it was the private sector but keeping public sector considerations in mind at the same time. The basis of NPM lay in reversing the two cardinal doctrines of progressive public administration (PPA); that is, lessening or removing differences between the public and the private sector and shifting the emphasis from process account-ability towards a greater element of account-ability in terms of results.  [iv]   It endeavours to better the public sector by restructuring, using tactics such as deregulation, decentralisation, promotion of autonomous agencies, output based evaluation, contracting, introduction of competition between agencies and enterprises etc. From the end of the 1970s to the 1990s governments around the world were engaged in widespread and sustained reforms of their public administration. These reforms started in the USA and the United Kingdom, where the Republican and Conservative governments that came to power championed the New Right campaigns for reforms. In New Zealand, however, where the most acclaimed reforms took place, the political force behind them was a Labour government, i.e. a leftist power. The reforms immediately aroused academic interest and research was carried out and theories developed. Perhaps to facilitate academic discourse, the reforms collectively came to be called the new public management (NPM).  [v]   The major driving force behind the reforms was economic stagnation in many countries. The New Right blamed this economic stagnation seen in huge national debts, balance of payment Sowaribi Tolofari problems, high rates of unemployment, underperforming industries, etc. on the excessive scope of governments engagement in business, mediocrity in administrative performance and the lack of accountability, among other things. In addition, there was also new intellectual thinking developing on how public services should be organised and delivered. This was probably because the populace in various countries were now better educated and more sophisticated in their thinking, tastes and demands.  [vi]   New Public Management has been a worldwide phenomenon in some form or other. Democratic regimes in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom have all implemented some range of reforms consistent with NPM. Malta and Austria have also implemented NPM elements. Each of these initiatives has had some combination of elements including cost cutting, creating of separate agencies or business enterprises to eliminate traditional bureaucracies, separating the purchaser of goods from the provider of those goods, introducing market mechanisms, decentralizing management authority, introducing performance-management systems, moving away from tenure-like civil service systems to contractual and pay-for-performance personnel systems, and increasing use of customer-focused quality improvement systems. Credit for the impetus of these reforms is given to American ideas, particularly the ideas of American public choice economists  [vii]   The philosophy seems to be based in the greatness of private management over public management and therefore suggests that the only logical thing to do is to transfer control to the private sector. Since all government activities cannot be transferred into private hands the theory suggests the next best thing, the application of business management into government. However, public management is different from public administration: the former is derived from commercial operations and is meant to bring about a new mind-set, a new vocabulary and a proliferation of management techniques. It is also meant to debureaucratize government operations and to reduce red tape substantially.  [viii]   If only one element is to be pointed out as characterising the reforms, it would be marketisation. The administration of public services was now benchmarked against private business power should be exercised by those who give the service; the consumer should have choice; the reason to exist should be determined by how well the organisation performs; there should be measures of performance and public accountability. These characteristics were based on certain theories: mainly public choice, transaction cost economics and principal-agent theory.  [ix]   The reforms have majorly been driven by a combination of socio-economic, political and technological factors. One of the similarities between countries going down the NPM route has been the experience of some sort of economic or fiscal crisis, which speeded up these countrys will to streamline their enterprises and cut back costs wherever possible, basically to stabilize their economy any-which way possible. With crisis looming overhead the tenacity of the welfare state came under fire and with it the institutionalised form of state run enterprises. One can say that these reforms are not purely the work of political will, other more sinister external factors were in play. In the case of most developing countries, reforms in public administration and management have been driven more by external pressures and have taken place in the context of structural adjustment programmes. Other drivers of NPM-type reforms include the ascendancy of neoliberal ideas from the late 1970s, the developm ent of information technology, and the growth and use of international management consultants as advisors on reforms. Additional factors, in the case of developing countries, include lending conditionalitys and the increasing emphasis on good governance.  [x]   The literature provides evidence that in many, if not the majority of, developing countries, economic crisis has been by far the most important factor driving the introduction of ambitious reforms in the public sector since the early 1980s. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) economic and fiscal crises preceded economic reforms, which also triggered public sector management reforms. Many African and Latin American countries suffered from unsustainable external and domestic debts, deteriorating real terms of trade, increasing real interest rates on international financial markets, high inflation, low levels of savings and investment, and shortages of basic consumer goods. More recently, the economic and fiscal crises in the Asian tiger economies have promoted major reforms in the public sectors of countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea. Most countries, especially in Africa, had debilitating underlying problems à ³ severe institutional weaknesses, fiscal indiscipline and weak e xternal competitiveness.  [xi]   Larbi describes the economic and fiscal situation that was the harbinger of NPM reforms in Africa and Latin America. He records that many African and Latin American countries suffered unsustainable rates on international financial markets, high inflation, low levels of savings and investments, and shortages of basic consumer goods. It should be noted, however, that in these cases external pressures from so-called donors and lenders initiated the reforms. Kiiza accounts for the effect of this difference by saying that available comparative evidence shows both a handsome and an ugly face of the reforms: The handsome face of managerialism appears in the developed countries where the review of Weberian public administration has been done deliberately in search of excellence. The ugly face appears in the developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where Managerialism has been religiously spread by the IMF/World Bank fraternity.  [xii]   Internally, in these countries, policy deficiencies, bad and excessive management of the economy, large-scale institutionalized corruption, weak and demoralized public services, low productivity and political instability, all contributed to a worsening of the crises. Loss-making SOEs contributed significantly to budget deficits and thus to the fiscal crisis.  [xiii]   Going first to the IMF and then to the World Bank meant accepting stabilization and structural adjustment packages with their accompanying conditionalitys in order to obtain credits and debt rescheduling from creditor banks and multilateral lending institutions. Policy-based lending by multilateral institutions was used as an instrument to encourage crisis states to embark on reforms that were pro-market and pro-private sector.  [xiv]   Thus it can be said that in a way NPM was stuffed down these nations throats. But the most primary mistake committed was that the policies and the structures utilized in implementing the NPM in these countries were the same that were proven successful in their more developed counterparts. What was not realized or was ignored was that the manner of functioning of the countrys beuracricies their market, the level of development of their private sectors was markedly different from the developed countries and the same ideas were not liable to work here. Despite all its advantages, one of the premier drawbacks of NPM most of the time was its very little contribution to actual policymaking. Instead, seeing as its main emphasis is private sector managerial techniques, it emphasizes the need for fewer thinkers and more doers. However, if one defines success as substantive involvement of citizens in shaping the direction of policy that affects their lives, there is little indication of such involvement beyond what existed before NPM implementation began. As Pollitt (1993) notes, citizenship is an awkward concept for those promoting managerialism, where the term customer is more common. He argues that the collectivist view of citizenship is alien to an individualist model where the market is the chief focus of transactions and values (125-6). Armstrong (1998) notes in his assessment of Australian implementation of NPM that the concept of meeting customer needs ignores the ability of customers to articulate their needs or make choices, either because they are uninformed or do not have the resources to do so . Rhodes further argues that in Australia, there is no evidence to show that (NPM) has provided customers with any means whatever of holding the government to account (1996, 106-10). Those claiming success for NPM have focused on short-term effects and on issues of efficiency. While it may be too early to assess the long-term impact of NPM in countries such as New Zealand and Australia, the evidence supporting democratic accountability and citizen engagement is not encouraging. This concept of management has little to do with democracy and democratic values, shedding the reality or the facade of democracy found in earlier public-sector reforms. What is left is a core of market orientation to economic efficiency in the public sector. As Borgmann (1992) argues, when citizens are recast as consumers, they operate within an attenuated form of democracy: But to extol the consumer is to deny the citizen. When consumers begin to act, the fundamental decisions have already been made. Consumers are in a politically and morally weak position. They are politically weak because the signals that they can send to the authorities about the common order are for the most part ambiguous. Does the purchase of an article signal approval, thoughtlessness, or lack of a better alternative?  [xv]   Dunleavy and Hood (1994) note concerns among traditional bureaucrats or hierarchists about the potential destabilizing effects of NPM if the processes of change should get out of control, become unmanageable and do irreversible damage to the provision of public services. For developing countries, but not for the World Bank and donor agencies, the price to be paid for such policy mistakes may be great in terms of threats to political stability and loss of economic wellbeing. In the United Kingdom, one of the leading exemplars in NPM applications the internal market in the NHS has been criticized as concentrating too many The New Public Management Approach and Crisis States resources on management and paperwork rather than on front-line service provision. This is illustrated by the almost fourfold increase in the number of managers in the NHS between 1991 and 1994, with administration absorbing 10.5 per cent of all NHS costs in 1994, compared to 6 per cent before the reforms. Overall, public sector managers are seen as a gaining group in the managerial emphasis in reforms.  [xvi]   But at the same time NPM will also be causing problems of morale in the public services because of the basic premise of NPM being the superiority of private sector over the public sector. Moreover, because it also suggests that whenever possible its activities should be transferred to the private sector, the implication is that public service has no intrinsic value. It also belittles the noble side of the public-service profession: public servants became public servants because they wanted to serve their country. If they had wanted to become entrepreneurs, they would have joined the private sector or started their own businesses.  [xvii]   Critics of the NPM, lamenting the collapse of the welfare state, have referred to the increasing inequality that market-type mechanisms produce market niche-seeking behaviour by public service providers. Whereby, conditions of social exclusion may be created given the organizational and cultural changes in social provision, expressed in the concepts of markets and individualism. Thus, those who need state provision and welfare safety-nets most viz a viz the poor and the vulnerable will be harmed by such reforms. Accountability and monitoring becomes tougher with fragmentation. Furthermore, since governments and other purchasers struggle to monitor contracts in various provider organisations, there is a risk of incurring huge transaction costs. According to Le Grand and Barlett (1993) quality in service provision may decline since minimalist, economizing standards are replacing aspirational professional standards. The pursuit of efficiency in flawed policies with short-term gains will be encouraged by NPM, undermining states capability to take a continuing standpoint on education, technology, health and the environment, given the heavy emphasis on cost reduction. One needs to consider these issues before seeking to transfer NPM to crisis states.  [xviii]   When assessing NPM critically, it is noted that there might be a promotion of corruption and self-interest by the senior bureaucrats and policy makers, who will opt for contracting out and for privatization in lieu of opportunities for rent-seeking and other forms of misdemeanour. Furthermore, greed, favouritism and conflicting interests in NPM has also piloted in a decline in ethical standards of public life. In case of developing countries, adopting the NPM will lead to more arbitrary use of judgment since the accountability mechanisms are weak and patronage systems more prevalent. The NPM method may work better in some frameworks than others. Like the public service which covers various activities, some of which are person-centred like, education, while some are not. Some are competitive, others are hard to mould into the competitive format, some high technological content (telecommunications), and others low. Thus, these factors should be kept in mind, as they affect the chances of NPM being a good fit in crisis states. Clarke and Newman have also argued that NPM à ¬is often portrayed as a global phenomenon à ³ a core element in the process of convergence between states, overriding distinct political and cultural characteristicsà ®. Given the different and difficult circumstances of reforms in adjusting economies and the potential risks mentioned above, it is doubtful whether a universalistic and à ¬evangelicalà ® approach to NPM is a tenable option. Even in developed countries such as the United Kingdom, experience suggests that change toward NPM à ¬has not been smooth and linear, but uneven and contestedà ® and that social actors are not shaped unambiguously by large-scale trends or forces for change.  [xix]   NPM-related reforms generally might undermine political control, meaning that administrative leaders in the central departments and agencies, such as leaders in public commercial enterprises, are gaining influence, but also private commercial actors and consumers more generally. The reforms have created more skepticism towards collective solutions, a depolitization of the public sector and increasing conflicts over what is public.  [xx]   While there is relatively little NPM to be found in developing countries when compared to the early predictions, there is even less evaluation of NPMs impact. The most comprehensive overview of NPM type reforms is offered by Batley (1999). Summarizing the conclusions from a 5-year review of the changing role of government in adjusting economies in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, Batley finds that the effect of NPM reforms has been mixed, at best, with some improvements in efficiency and mixed effects on equity. On the downside, he notes that the transaction costs of radical reforms to autonomize service delivery agencies tend to outweigh the efficiency gains of unbundling, and that reforms that seek to separate purchasers from providers sometimes reduce accountability.  [xxi]   Refocusing on the effective state is given prominence in the 1997 World Development Report, The State in a Changing World, which marks a significant shift in thinking about the state and its role in development: the need to factor the state back into development. There is now some recognition by the Bank that reforming the public sector the NPM way does not lend itself to clear, unambiguous solutions. NPM is not a panacea for all problems in the developing economies. conclusion The above-mentioned criticisms of NPM and concerns about social solidity, parity and steadiness have rejuvenated interest in the dynamic role of the state again. The debate has changed. It is how do we re-empower the state so that it is able to do its job effectively. While the new public management method may not be a answer for the problems of public sector management in developing states, a cautious and selective variation of some features to selected areas may be advantageous and their employment needs to be subtle to operative reality. The enthusiasm for neoliberal policies and NPM practices that characterized most of the 1980s and early 1990s is now tempered with caution and, in some cases, rejection of the more extreme forms of the NPM approach. There is recognition that imposing one template of reform on all, irrespective of context, is unwise and unimplementable, and may even breed conflict and undermine stability. The way forward is to make the state work better, not to dismantle it. The Bank suggests two strategies. The first is to match the states role to its capability; the earlier mistake was that the state tried to do too much with few resources and limited capacity. The second approach is to strengthen the capability of the state by reinvigorating public administration institutions to enable them to perform their enabling, regulating, monitoring and co-ordinating roles. This will entail creating effective rules and restraints, encouraging greater competition in service provision, applying measures to monitor performance gains, and achieving a more responsive mix of central and local governance by steering policies in the direction of greater decentralization.  [xxii]   NPM-type reforms in developing states seem to be based on a common framework with those in developed countries and seem to follow a blueprint rather than a process or contingent approach. Yet these countries differ widely in terms of their institutional conditions and their capacity to implement public sector management reforms based on NPM principles and practices.  [xxiii]   There is a need to give consideration to problems of how to implement rather than just what to implement. For some time now, too much attention has focused on the plan content of reforms without suitable attention to suitable preparations for application, partly due to the domination of outside organizations in the design of reform bundles and the resultant dearth of resident ownership and promise to reform.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Essay -- Sexual Harassment in the Wo

Obviously, it is a very natural thing for men and women to be attracted to each other in sexual ways. Men, more than women, have been historically known to be far more aggressive in their advances toward women sexually and it varies from each woman as to how these aggressive advances make them feel. Advances such as whistling, bottom pinching and glaring are the types of things some men do to women in an attempt to show they are sexually attracted to them. These types of advances can be attempted just about anywhere; the beach, the mall, in night clubs, walking down the street, or even in their place of employment. Where should the line be drawn as to where these advancements are appropriate and what can a woman do to protect herself from feeling uncomfortable while trying to make a living? Women experiencing this type of treatment is a real problem in the workplace today and has been for many years. It has become to be known as sexual harassment and was given a widely used definition by Michael Rubenstein as 'unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or conduct based on sex which is offensive to the recipient'(Collier 3). However, the term often has a very unclear definition in the legal since. Harassment is only harassment if it is felt to be so by the recipient(3). With that said, there is a very large range as to what could be felt as sexual harassment and that creates a great concern for men in the workplace and a need to be extremely careful as to what is said, the way you look, as well as what and where fellow employees are touched. A small, innocent touch on the shoulder could be seen as harassment just as a crude sexual pinch on the bottom by some women. Because of that, sexual harassment, rightfully so, is appro... ...others and I think that new and improved programs should always be implemented because many people find ways around the system. In order to learn more about sexual harassment and prevent fraud, detailed reports should continue to be kept for every case filed and each one should be investigated thoroughly. There are some women who will file false sexual harassment charges against someone for personal reasons. If this does happen, the male usually never comes out on the good end and the women remains employed at the company. Complete investigations will attempt this from happening and will assure that justice be kept in the workforce as well. Again, sexual harassment is always going to be a part of our world, but the companies that research and address the problem properly will remain on top while those who ignore it will loose more than they can imagine.

Grandma and Grandpa - My Grandfather, A Man of Respect :: Personal Narrative Profile

My Grandfather – A Man of Respect Winds scratch his hands and his sharp bones deeply assert their lineaments. He stands like a trembling leaf on the branch of an evergreen, and will not fall. (Emmanuel di Pasquale, "Old Man Timochenko") This stanza from Emmanuel di Pasquale's poem "Old Man Timochenko" portrays my grandfather well. My grandfather is a man of respect because he never gave up on life, not even when his friends and family were burned alive on a train traveling from East Punjab to West Punjab during the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. He immediately understood that emigration from this Hindu dominant country to a Muslim state was important for his family's safety, faith, and future. My grandfather was nineteen years old when he moved from India's Punjab to Pakistan's Punjab; he was able to escape and obtain border passes from high authorities because his father was a wealthy landlord. After three days, he arrived in the city of Lahore with his mother, three brothers, and one sister, but they were shocked when they saw small houses overburdened with people like fish in a tuna can. The biggest misfortune struck when they found out that they were not going to be fully compensated for all the property they had left behind. During this entire incident, my grandfather did not shed a single tear because he knew that this migration was his family's choice, and they had to pay a price for a better life. Throughout his life he valued one thing the most: respect. In fact, he thought of it as a reversible equation; you give respect and you get respect, and that is what he me throughout his lifetime. My grandfather always taught me to respect people regardless of their religion, status, and color. He said that these are man-made boundaries and differences, and in order to socialize in this world, one must learn to accept people in all forms. For example, on the day of Eid-ul-Fitar, a religious day observed by Muslims, my grandfather would embrace his servants, wish them a happy and prosperous year ahead, and give them presents.

Taming of the Shrew Essays: Katherinas Development :: Taming Shrew Essays

The Taming of the Shrew Essay: Katherina's Development Katherina's development in the play, The Taming of the Shrew, is a complicated dilemma for the reader to figure out. Is she really tamed by Petruchio? Or does she figure out his game and decide she's better off playing along? Or does she recognize her own excessive behavior in his and decide to change of her own free will? Or does she really fall in love with Petruchio and wish to please her lord? I think her evolution is a combination of all of the above. But do we, as readers, want her to be tamed or was her initial independence a virtue? It's obvious that Katherina's father, Baptista Minola, hasn't treated her as well as he treats Bianca, her younger sister. On the other hand, is her "shrewishness" a cause or a result of this favoritism? Katherina is obviously a highly intelligent woman whose gifts have no outlet in the domestic company of the household. For example, in their first meeting, Katherina keeps up with Petruchio pun for pun and insult for insult. Perhaps her fury is simply the result of having no outlet for her feisty wit. And when Petruchio comes along and treats her as an equal (the opposite of taming), I think she is taken aback and that is how he is able to swoop in and win her. In this first encounter, Katherina is, for the first time in her life, spoken kindly to by a man. She seems moved by Petruchio's praise. Also, when it appears she has been left at the altar, she weeps and wishes she had never met him. I think her grief is a sign of her genuine affection and perhaps even love for Petruchio. By the end of the play and in her final speech, Katherina may seem genuinely tamed, depending on your interpretation of the soliloquy -- is it genuine or tongue-in-cheek? Is she really her lord's noble servant or is she pandering to him and what he wants to hear? I think she wants to give her husband happiness, but knows that her husband will do the same for her. I think Petruchio and Katherina would actually have a very balanced marriage of mutual respect, because they each know what the other is capable of.

The Bermuda Triangle

â€Å"Only God and the Sea knows what happened to those great ships†- U. S. President Woodrow Wilson . By this quote Woodrow Wilson argues that while having so many incidents over the pass century within the area of the Bermuda Triangle; many people make inferences on what they believe is true , but no one actually knows the truth behind it all . The Bermuda Triangle is a triangular area of the North Atlantic Ocean and it lies between Miami ,Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico, and of course the Island of Bermuda. The Bermuda Triangle is 140,000 Sq. miles in size . (Paranormal Encyclopedia . om) The Bermuda Triangle has become a controversial issue world wide. The Bermuda Triangle is a social issue due to: The history of it, Paranormal Activity, and how it has effected people in strange ways. . The Bermuda Triangle was first discussed by Christopher Columbus in the late 15th century . Christopher Columbus first wrote about it in a journal entry in 1492. He wrote that . â€Å" A Gr eat flame of fire crashed into the sea one night and that a strange light appeared a few weeks later. †After hearing this story many people thought it was a meteor and left the story alone for years and years.In 1918 when a Navy seal ship; the Cyclops with 300 men aboard and 10,000 tons ore on board sank somewhere between Barbados and Chesapeake Bay. However, the ship never sent out an SOS distress call. ( â€Å"But the region didn't get its name until August 1964, when Vincent Gaddis coined the term Bermuda Triangle in a cover story for Argosy magazine about the disappearance of Flight 19. †) The disappearance– of the aircraft (Flight 19) was flown by Amelia Earhart from Fort Lauderdale to start her (Around the World journey) but was never completed because in 1965 her plain had circumnavigation and disappeared within the Bermuda Triangle area.Strange history waled to the Bermuda Triangle has also led to many nicknames and paranormal theories. The Bermuda Triang le has many different names such as : â€Å"The Twilight Zone†, â€Å"Port of Missing Ships†, â€Å"Hoodoo Sea†, â€Å"Triangle Of Death†, â€Å"and â€Å"Limboo Of the Lost† but the most famous name is â€Å"The Devil's Triangle,†(TDT). They call it that because many people came up with the theory that the devil is at play and has a lot to do with the deaths within the Bermuda Triangle area.However others think that it's a black hole sucking the ships into another dimension or others theories state that the lost city of Atlantis and possibly UFO's (Unidentified Flying Object) have a lot to do with the disappearances. Many people have different answers but who are we to say if it's true or not . There has been record of proof to show that someone has survived a wreck in the Bermuda Triangle. People pass through The Bermuda Triangle everyday and come home alive (Cary Gordon) her plane lost control when flying over the Bermuda Triangle and sh e was able to control the plane and land it in Miami in 2007.There is still unknown information left unsolved about the Bermuda Triangle and many people are willing to continue their research until they find out the real mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. There has been stories of how the Bermuda Triangle has affected people in a lot of ways like in a book based on the Bermuda Triangle (â€Å"Secrets and Mysteries of the World†)- Author Sylvia Brown wrote that â€Å" My doctor friend reported seeing a pyramid crystal on the top under the water. He tried to get closer to it but was repelled by what seems to be an electric force that went through his body and apparently cured his cancer. In conclusion the Bermuda Triangle has been a social justice issue due to: paranormal activity; the history of it; and how it has effected people in many ways. The Bermuda Triangle is one of the most famous phenomena in history to have as many disappearances ;ship and plane wrecks in the history of wrecks. The Bermuda Triangle will be discussed for years to come due to it's controversy and many different theories. To the mystery is still left unsolved and still will be forever unknown until it has been solved.

Research of Bottled Water Essay

1.0 Introduction Water is one of the people basic needs. All people need water to survive and no one can live without it. So, they are willing to pay the money to purchase water. From the secondary data market research, most of the American consumers drink bottled water more than tap water because they feel that tap water not safe. Many companies are reputation have filtered water until pure. So, the bottled water will bring safe and attractive package that make very people when drink something that is healthy for their body (Department of Health, 2006). Besides, in order to let consumer more convenience, most of the company will provide bottled water in everywhere. Hence, all consumers will pay the attention about the bottled water. This report is to investigate attitudes towards three leading brands in a bottled water product. This is because the most important attributes in the bottled water product category, their relative influence on consumer decision making and consumer perception of the leading brands. According Ajzen (1988) and Werner (2004), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) is an attempt to provide consistency in studies of the relationship between behaviour, beliefs, intentions and attitudes (Ajzen 1988; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Werner 2004). In TRA, there are 2 main concepts which are â€Å"principles of compatibility† and â€Å"behavioural intention† (Ajzen 1988; Fishbein&Ajzen, 1975). The principles of compatibility will require that in order to forecast a specific behaviour directed to a specific target in a given circumstance and period, specific attitudes that identify to the specific target, time and circumstance should be assessed. For the concept of behaviour intention states that a personal’s motivation to engage in behaviour is defined by the attitudes that influence the behaviour. Behaviour intention indicates how much achievement an individual would like to commit to complete such behaviour. Higher commitment which means that behaviour performs will more likely. Behaviour intention is determined by attitudes and subjective norms (Ajzen1988; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). An attitude refers to an individual’s perception toward specific behaviour (Werner, 2004). ‘Subjective norm’ refers to the individual’s subjective judgment regarding others’ preference and support for a behaviour (Werner, 2004). 2.1 Research Objectives The objective of this research is to investigate attitudes towards three leading brands in a bottled water product category. Besides this research also determine which of the brands in a bottled water product category that most of the consumers interested because different brands provide bottled water will affect the choices of consumers. 2.2 Research Questions During this research, there are find out the factors that affect choosing the bottled water. Besides, this research also can find out how to promoting the brands of bottled water to consumers. Furthermore, this research finds out the effective way to success the brands provide bottled water. 2.3 Significance of the Research The major significance of the study regarding the â€Å"Attitudes towards three leading brands in a bottled water product category† is hope through the research to identify the most important attributes in the particular category, their relative influence on consumer’s decision making and consumer’s perception of the three leading brands performance in term of those attributes. Attributes in the bottled water category is an important that can impact on consumer’s buying decision making. This is because the between brand’s price of bottled water is only a bit different, so most of the consumers will choose the best quality brand. Besides, the research will examined the three leading brands company able to improve their performance in order to attract more people to buy their product. 2.0 Review of Literature 3.4 Issues of using bottled water The main issues of using bottled water is because convenience. When the consumer driving in the car or hiking in the mountain, bottled water is very comfortable to supply drinking of water for them. The size of bottled water will make it easy to suitable let consumer carry to everywhere. Furthermore, bottled water can be purchase at anywhere. The consumer can buy the bottled water at convenience store, supermarket, hypermarket and grocery store. In some countries, the tap water is unsafe to drink due to water pollution and contaminants. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controls the production of bottled water in order to let all people can be sure the water in the bottle is safety, cleaner and free of contaminants. In addition, the taste of bottled water is better than tap water because bottled water does not have chlorine (Melanie, N.D). When the natural disasters, it may be cause water pollution, which mean that the water supply into people home will pollute or completely non-existent. So, in these cases, bottled water will become a lifesaver for those people. As the secondary data market researcher, the tendency in bottled water consumption in the global keep increase almost ten successive years now (Rodwan, 2009). Furthermore, the price of bottled water is very cheap. Most of the consumers also can afford it. For example like the 500ml size of bottled water is about RM1.00 and 1.5 litre size of bottled water is about RM2.00. Compare with soft drink, there are more expensive than bottled water and unhealthy for consumer body. Therefore, this is a reason why most of the consumer will purchase bottled water. Lastly, the bottled water can be reduce, reuse and recycle (3R). Therefore, the bottled water can save the environment and clean. Most of the shopping centres, they will put a recycle bin in order to let consumer convenience to drop their bottled water when they are finish their water. Besides, most of the consumers will purchase bottled water and refill it from the tap water in order to save cost and the environment. 3.5 Consumer buying behaviour The consumer buying decision is very important. Understanding the consumer buying behaviour is not very easy. Consumer buying behaviour is referring the people make the decision buying process of the end consumers like personal and household who buy goods and services for own consumption(Kotler, Armstrong, Wong & Saunders, 2008). According to marketing guru Philip Kolter (2008), consumer will pass through several stages before buy the goods and services. Some consumers will vary their decision making is because in age, education level, tastes, income, and other factors. Some consumers will vary their decision making is because the brand name, quality, reputation, and price. Consumer behaviour will cause the consumer characteristics and the consumer buying decision process. There are 4 main factors in consumer characteristics such as cultural, social, personal and psychological. The culture is the most basic cause the consumer wants and behaviour. Every group or society also have a culture and cultural to cause on buying behaviour decision may vary greatly from country to country. Furthermore, each culture has contains subculture such as racial group, religion, nationalities and geographic region. Most of the subculture will emphasize the market segments. Therefore, the marketer must often to design product in order to fulfil their needs. Moreover, social class is also one of the factors to influence consumer buying behaviour. For the social class, there are contain high class, medium class and lower class. The marketer must to understand which social class is their target market. This is because when the product is high price, lower class people won’t purchase it. For the social factors, there are include small groups, family and social roles and status. The social factors are one of the factors to influence consumer behaviour. Most of the small groups influence consumer behaviour. The marketer should identify the group of their target market. Furthermore, family is strongly affecting consumer behaviour. The marketer must to make husband, wife, and children interested on the product in order to increase rate of success. Besides, the position of person in each group can be defined to roles and status. The personal factors also are one of the factors to influence consumer behaviour. The personal characteristics like age, lifestyle and occupation. The buyer age will related with tastes in food, cloth and recreation. The marketer must to develop marketing plan for them. Moreover, the lifestyle will vary is because the age. Some consumer will like to eat McDonald, but changes along with age, the consumer will change their lifestyle and dislike to eat McDonald. Besides, the marketer must to focus on occupation factor. This is because a buyer occupation will influence the goods and services purchase. The marketer must to know which occupation will more purchase which product. Furthermore, psychological factors also can influence consumer buying decision which is motivation, perception, learning and beliefs and attitudes. For the consumer perception, they are obtained information through their 5 senses such as touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing. Therefore, they will follow their perception do a final decision. Besides, some of the consumer will do a decision making through learning. For example once the consumer has tried Starbucks coffee, they will consider their next purchase based on the first experience. The consumer buying decision process have 5 stages which is need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase behaviour. For example like the people recognition want to buy something. Then the people will do information search. They will obtain information from other people such as family, friend and neighbours. Besides, they also will obtain information from commercial sources like advertising, salesperson and websites. All of information will be used to evaluate of alternative which brand should to choose. After evaluation, the people already have purchase decision. After purchase the product, the people will be satisfaction or dissatisfaction post purchase behaviour of the marketer. If the marketer have given the people after sales services, the people will satisfaction when purchase that product. 3.0 Methodology 4.6 Problem Statement In this research, the marketers should identify the factor influence choosing the shampoo. Furthermore, the marketers also should identify the consumer buying behaviour process when buying shampoo. Lastly, the marketers should identify the effective way to improve quality of shampoo. 4.7 Sampling Technique Adopt a good sampling technique, it is one of the important cannot be overemphasized. The non-probability sampling technique is used when the individual members of the population do not have an equal likelihood of being selected to be a member of the sampling. Normally, this technique is used is because it tends to be less expensive, fast, easier and the respondents were readily available (Castillo, 2009). Furthermore, the convenience sampling involves getting participants wherever the individual can find them and typically wherever is convenient (Sherri, 2008). This research wants a sample of 150 respondents, so the individual should stand at outside of the shopping centres and asks people who pass by to participate. 4.8 Questionnaire Questionnaire on Appendix 1 were used in this research to collect data from respondents. This research was divided into four sections at where Section 1 is respondent’s detail, Section 2 is brands, Section 3 is buying behaviour and Section 4 is quality improves. In Section 1, respondents will required to fill in their personal demographics which is gender, age, race, religion, academic qualification, occupation and income level. In Section 2, the research examined the attitudes towards three leading brands in bottled water, what are the factors that affect choosing the bottled water. In Section 3, the research will examined the consumer buying behaviour when choose the brands of bottled water, how to promoting the brands of bottled water to consumers. In Section 4, the research will examined the consumer do some quality improves, what the effective way to success the brands provide bottled water. 4.9 Method of data collection The method of data collection is used by paper based survey and face-to-face questionnaire. For the paper based survey, it will be sent to a large number of people in order to save time and cost. Most of the people are more truthful when responding to the questionnaires about controversial issues in particular due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. 4.10 Limitation of the research As the research, it is limit to the Malaysian consumer who between the age of 18 to 58 years old, because different part of world may be have different cultural factors. Besides, this research that show all the data information and result are only available in Malaysia. Furthermore, this research is only identifying the consumer buying behaviour of bottled water, because different product may different consumption pattern. Lastly, this research only selects some demographic and psychological factors. Even other types of factors also will influence consumer buying behaviour, but this research only limit two type to be investigation. 4.0 Finding Table 4.1: Demographic Factors of 150 respondents In this research, the 150 respondents have 21% female and 79% male. Besides, the age between 18-28 years old have 57%, 29-39 year old have 23%, 40-50 year old have 18% and 51-58 year old have 2%. So, from this data information can know more teenagers are like do survey. For race of respondents, Chinese respondents have occupied about half of percentage, Malay respondents have 33%, and Indian respondents have 17%. The religion of Buddha has 43%, Islam has 33%, Hindu have 17% and Christian have 7%. For academic qualification, SPM respondents have 30%, certificate respondents have 5%, diploma respondents have 29%, degree respondents have 25%, postgraduate have 8%, and others have 3%.About occupation of respondents, student occupied 63%, non-executive have 16%, executive have 11% and professional have 10%. Most of the respondents are student. Therefore, the income level less than RM1500 respondents have 63%, RM1501-RM2500 respondents have 29%, RM2501-3500 respondents have 6%, and above RM3500 have 4%. Figure 4.2: Percentage Brands Bottled Water choose by 150 respondents Figure 4.3: What type of Bottled Water normally purchased by respondents? In this research, there are 3 brands bottled water to investigate which are Sea Master, Dasani and Spritzer. In figure 4.2, the most respondents to purchase brand is Sea Master which is 55%. The Dasani brand is 24% and Spritzer is only 21%. Besides, from the figure 4.3 show most of the respondents will purchase mineral water more than drinking water. This is because they think mineral water is nature water and more healthy for their body. Figure 4.4: Factors boost respondents purchase Bottled Water The figure 4.4 show which factor will affect respondents to purchase bottled water. Bottle design have 36% is the main factor to influence respondents to purchase bottled water. Brand reputation has 21%, bottle quality has 14%, brand name has 13%, taste has 11%, and price have 5%. Therefore, the bottle design will influence consumer buying behaviour. The marketer must understand the bottle design to attract their target market in order to increase sales. Figure 4.5: Where respondents purchase bottled water? The figure 4.5 shows where the respondent will buy bottled water. Place is the one of the factors to influence consumer buying decision. In order to become successful marketer, the marketer must put their product at the right place and at the right time. From the figure 4.5, the convenience store which is 44% is most popular to purchase bottled water. The grocery store has 22%, hypermarkets have 19% and supermarkets have 15%. Therefore, convenience will affect consumer buying behaviour. Figure 4.6: Which factors will cause respondents switch cost? The figure 4.6 shows the factors affect respondents switch cost. From the figure 4.4, bottle design will affect consumer buying behaviour. Hence, bottle design also will affect respondents to switch cost. Besides, some respondents will choose bottle quality. This is because some respondents will reuse their bottle when finish water. Therefore, the marketer must understand consumer needs and wants in order to prevent customer to switching to competitor product. Figure 4.7: What respondents expected from Bottled Water? The figure 4.7 shows what are the respondents expected. Most of the respondents will purchase bottled water is because healthy. This is because most of the respondents will care their body health. Besides, some respondents will like do sport, so they need some energy come from bottled water. Figure 4.8: Pay extra for increase quality of Bottled Water Figure 4.9: Increase consumption for Quality of Packaging The figure 4.8 shows how many respondents will agree pay extra to increase quality of bottled water. 74% of respondents will agree to pay extra to increase quality. This is because the respondents will care about their health. In addition, the respondents will think money important than healthy. On the other hand, some respondents will increase consumption because the quality of bottled water. The figure 4.9 shows how many respondents will increase consumption because the quality of bottled water. The result show only 25% will choose yes. 75% respondents choose no is because quality of bottled water is only can reuse. Therefore, it doesn’t increase consumption is because the quality of bottled water. Figure 4.10: Re-use and Recycle Bottled Water The figure 4.10 shows the percentage of respondents to reuse and recycle of bottled water. As the result, most of the respondents will reuse and recycle the bottled water. This mean most of the respondents will know 3R reuse, recycle and reduce. This is because all people have responsible to protect earth. 3R will help everyone have a healthy environment and happiness. Figure 4.11: Consumption household of Bottle Water The figure 4.11 shows the consumption household of bottle water. As the result shows 33% of respondents will purchase bottled water more than their family. Besides, mother have 25%. This may be because she take care their health of family. Some respondents comment their mother will purchase 15litre per day. It is because one person at least must drink 8 cup of mineral water (Peter 2005). Therefore, respondents will purchase more water is because they take care their own body. Figure 4.12: Spokesperson will impact decision making of respondents? The figure 4.12 shows spokesperson influence decision making of respondents. 85% have agreed spokesperson will agree because respondents will think can same healthy and happiness with the spokesperson in the future. So, the marketer must hire spokesperson to help them create awareness and increase sales. Besides, spokesperson also can attract and convince more consumers to buy their company product. Figure 4.13: Recommend to friends or family The figure 4.13 shows the respondents would recommend their friends or family purchase bottled water. The result shows 84% of respondents will recommend their friends and family. This is because sharing is caring. So when the respondents caring their friends and family body health and happiness, they will share their knowledge and own perception to them. On the other hand, 16% of respondents would not recommend to their friends or family is because they think bottled water is only low involvement product. Therefore, they would not waste their precious of time to share information. Figure: 4.14: Advertisements influence Decision Making The figure 4.14 shows advertisement would impact the respondent’s decision making. In this result, most of the respondent will agree and strongly agree advertisement will influence their decision making when purchase bottled water. The advertisements will be use such as TV, radio, newspaper, magazine and broadcasting. Most of the respondents comment TV is main factors influence their buying decision. This is because the advertising of bottled water is creative and attractive. Therefore, total 62% of respondents have agreed advertisement will cause their decision making. Figure 4.15: Event and Activities impact Consumers Behaviour The figure 4.15 shows event and activities influence respondent’s decision making. As the result, there are total 56% agree some event and activities will influence their decision making. For example like promotion, role play, and some competition. The promotions such as buy 1 get one free (BOGOF), free gift and free sample. Some respondents comment sometimes the free gift and sample will impact their switch cost and influence decision making. Therefore, the marketer must create some promotional and advertising in order to increase rate of sale. Furthermore, promotional and advertising also can help company to crease brand image and long term relationship (Wayne, 1983). 5.0 Conclusion & Recommendations In this research, it can investigate the attitudes towards three leading brands in a bottled water product category which is Sea Master, Dasani and Spritzer. Besides, this research will determine which factors will impact the consumer buying behaviour. This is because the consumer buying behaviour is one of the important to increase the company sales. The marketer must understand their target market needs and wants. They need to create a business plan in order to fulfil their target market needs and wants. Therefore, the marketer wants to use consumer buying decision process which is need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase behaviour to determining the consumer. Moreover, the Fishbein model also is one of the important factors. According Ajzen (1988) and Werner (2004), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) is an attempt to provide consistency in studies of the relationship between behaviour, beliefs, intentions and attitudes. For the recommendation, the marketer must provide more promotion and advertising to create awareness and brand image. This is because most of the respondents will switch cost is because the promotional. Besides, water quality is also important. The marketer must improve their water quality and make sure their water is filter until pure. This is because most of respondents want healthy life. Lastly, the marketer must use the stainless steel to do bottle water. This is because 3R reuse, recycle and reduce is all people responsible. In addition, the consumers purchase will reuse and refill water again in order to save cost and reduce pollution. Finally, all bottlers of water should be controlled by a separate institute to guarantee the quality of the product and prevent misleading advertisement. 6.0 List of References 1. Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M., 1980, Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 2. Ajzen, I. 1988, Attitudes, Personality, and Behavior, Open University Press, Milton-Keynes. 3. Ajzen, I. 1991, ‘The Theory of Planned Behavior’, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 179-211. 4. B, G.D & James, J.P. 1999. Quality costing. 3rd Edition. Gower Publishing, Ltd. 5. Davis. L., 2004, Consumer Perception on Tap water, Bottle water and Filtration Devices, IWA Publishing, London. 6. Dillman, D.A., 1978, Mail and telephone surveys: The total design method, Wiley, New York. 7. Edwards, W., 1966, Some Theory of Sampling, John Wiley & Son. Inc, New York 8. Fishbein, M. & Ajzen, I. 1975, Belief, attitude, intention, and behaviour: Am introduction to theory and research. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 9. Graham & Skinner, 1991, Handbook for Research Students in the Social Sciences, The Falmer Press: London. 10. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Wong,V., Saunders, J. (2008). Principles of Marketing. (5th ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited. 11. Malcolm. J., 1998, How to Collect Data: Measurement & Evaluation, ASTD Press, United States 12. Miller, K. 2005, Communications theories: perspectives, processes, and contexts. New York: McGraw-Hill. 13. Nicosia, F., 1966, Consumer Decision Processes, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs. 14. Peter, T. 2005. Introduction to radar target recognition. IET 15. PeterH. Glrick, 2007, The World’s water 2008-2009: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, Pacific Institute, Washington. 16. Robert, B., 1982, A Handbook of Social Science Methods, Volume 3. Prayer: New York. 17. Sherri, L., 2008, Research Methods and Statistics: A Critical Thinking Approach, 3rd Edition, Cengage Learning, p. 96 18. Simon, H. 1947, 2nd Edition, Administrative behaviour, Macmillan, New York. 19. Subhash, J. & David, G. 2012. Handbook of Research in International Marketing. 2rd Edition. Edward Elgar Publishing 20. Wayne, C.B. 1983. The rhetoric of fiction. 2rd Edition. University of Chicago Press 21. Werner, P. 2004, ‘Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior’, in S.J. Peterson & T.S. Bredow (eds), Middle range Theories: Application to Nursing Research, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, pp. 125-147. 22. Sustainabletable., 2009, The issues water, Available on: http://sustainabletable.org/issues/water/, ac cessed on 23rd March 2012 23. Anonymous, 2007, Market Research Society Malaysia, Available on: http://www.mrsm.org.my/home.html, accessed on 23rd March 2012 24. Anonymous, 2011, Water Quality, Available on: http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/water/wattap.html, accessed on 23rd March 2012 25. Castillo, J., 2009, Convenience Sampling. Experiment Resources, Available on: http://www.experiment-resoucres.com/convenience-sampling.html, accessed on 23rd March 2012 26. Department of Health, New York State, 2006, Bottled water frequently-asked questions, Available on: http://www.health.state.ny.us/, accessed on 23rd March 2012 27. Melanie, C., N.D, Advantages of Bottled Water, Available on: http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Advantages_of_Bottled_Water&articleid=235600&from=PROFILE, accessed on 23rd March 2012 28. Peter Y., 2010, Marketing Research, Available on: http://www.slideshare.net/marcelobrescia/marketing-research-evian, accessed on 23rd March 2012 29. Rodwan, J., 2009, Confronting Challenges; U.S. and International Bottled Water Developments and Statistics for 2008. Available on: http://www.bottledwater.org/public/2008%20Market%20Report%20Findings%20reported%20in%20April%202009.pdf, accessed on 23rd March 2012 30. Sean, G., 2011, Bottled Water Scorecard, Available on: http://static.ewg.org/report/2010/bottledwater2010/pdf/2011-bottledwater-scorecard-report.pdf, accessed on 23rd March 2012 7.0 Appendices Appendix 7.1 Theory of Reasoned Action (adopted from Fishbein & Ajzen 1975) Source: http://systemscraft.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/theory-of-reasoned-action-tra-and-theory-of-planned-behavior-tpb/ (Accessed on 23rd March 2012) Appendix 7.2 Consumer Buying Decision Process Source: http://marketingfaq.net/2011/12/consumer-buying-decision-process/ (Accessed on 23rd March 2012)

Guidelines for Completing the Observations of Children Essay

You are required to submit a report on your observations (labeled observation report) of 2 young children. As discussed in class, the subjects of your observation should be one boy and one girl who are 3 and 4 years of age. The report should be presented in narrative format and include a description of the center in which the study took place. Included in the report should be a description of each student studied, and the notes on how well the children performed the milestones in the four categories of child development (language, physical-gross motor plus fine motor skills-, cognitive and psychosocial development). Under each category, you need to explain how the individual child performed the milestones by using the specified chart. The key to your description should be guided by the labels (acquired, emerging, and strategies for home/school). Write a conclusion for each of the summaries. In closing, provide a reflection (labeled reflection) on how this experience benefitted you as an educator who may one day work with young children. Consult your book and or an internet source to make recommendations for home/school. The due date for this report can be found in the course syllabus. Put the report in a folder and separate the work with tabs and dividers according to the age of the child. Place the completed grids found in the LAP-3 behind the report. Below please find an outline that can be used to assist in writing the report: Title – Observation Report First Section(all alone)—-Name plus description of the Center and selected personnel. TAB/Divider-Identity and description of the 3 year old. Please include background info about the family, if obtainable. In narrative format, present information categorically (labels from the end of the year assessment) labeled identifying the skills of the 3 year old, i.e. if it is  (1) language skills– acquired – why do you say it is acquired, (2) physical development–emerging-why do you say that it is emerging, (3) cognitive–strategies for home/school-why do you say that the child needs extra work and specifically what activities can be used to help him or her move into the acquired category, (4) psychosocial—acquired-why do you say it is acquired? Write a conclusion. TAB/Divider-Identity and description of the 4 year old. Please include background info about the family, if obtainable. In narrative format, present information categorically (labels from the end of the year assessment) labeled identifying the skills of the 4 year old. i.e. if it is (1) language skills– acquired – why do you say it is acquired, (2) physical development–emerging-why do you say that it is emerging, (3) cognitive–strategies for home/school-why do you say that the child needs extra work and specifically what activities can be used to help him or her move into the acquired category, (4) psychosocial—acquired-why do you say it is acquired? Write a conclusion. Reflection-How will this activity help me to become a good inservce teacher. The completed LAP-3 Grids (End of the Year Summary Sheets-2-one for the 3 and one for the 4 year old)