Art in culture essays

Art in culture essays Art is an expression of a particular person, or group of people. Art can have a large effect on culture, as it can be symbolic of traits, morals, and religious characteristics. An artist is defined as a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination.1 That sensitivity and imagination is what can make a culture. Artists have the ability to manipulate the form of their art therefore manipulating the experience of that art.2 Art is everywhere ; it is in the car we drive, the magazine we read, and in the food that we eat. Art is something that influences many parts of our lives. Art is what drives us to be creative. To make a car better, we need to have an impeccable design. To build a better house, we have to have an imagination to construct. Art is in everything around us whether it is the car we drive or the house we go home to, it is someones artwork. It took someones creativity and thought to fabricate the masterpiece. The arts provide a way for people to explore new possibilities to notice the world.2 Art defines a culture because culture is a pattern of behaviors, ideas, and values shared by a group.3 Without art, what is a culture? A way of life? Culture is sometimes defined as the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group.1 Some would come to the conclusion that there isnt culture without art. If you take away all man made things, do you have culture left? Culture is an expression, and without art, there is nothing left but survival. Art offers a type of release, whether through song, paint, clay, or simply writing in a diary. Everyone has a passion for a type of work, whether it be crunching numbers on a calculator or spraying paint all over a canvas. Everyone likes to think that their work shows sensitivity and imagination. People also like to strive to ...

Essay on Speakers review (Aja Rose Bond Gabriel Saloman)

Essay on Speakers review (Aja Rose Bond Gabriel Saloman) Essay on Speakers review (Aja Rose Bond Gabriel Saloman) Essay on Speakers review (Aja Rose Bond Gabriel Saloman)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Historically, art played an important part in the life of society. speakers recognize the importance and role of art still raise the question that begs whether art is still important or not and whether art has preserved its power and capacity to influence the public opinion as it once used to do. In fact, speakers offer the negative answer to both of these questions since they believe that art as a form of protest cannot gain the mass support as political movements for example. Instead, art that challenges conventional norms, that rebels and protests is likely to remain misunderstood by the audience and artists are likely to remain outsiders, whose work are unknown not only to the mass audience but also to critics. Therefore, speakers shape the main problem of the modern art, the problem of the widening gap between art that protests against the rise of the mass culture and consumeris m leading to the devaluation of basic humanistic values and degradation of the population and the enhancement of the mass culture, which steadily takes niches once held by true art.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Speakers focus on the problem of the relationship between art and profound social processes that take place in the society. They view art as a form of the manifestation of the position of artists in relations to the existing social order, culture, politics and other issues. Art was a form of the self-realization for artists and the way of the communication between artists and the audience. Artists used their creative works to communicate their ideas, messages and vision to the audience. In such a way, they attempted to share their ideas and form new values, ideals and aspirations in people. However, speakers point out that today artists have lost their impact on the audience because they slip to the marginalization in the time of the overwhelming power of the m ass culture.At the same time, speakers views art as a form of protest of artists against the emerging consumerism, the domination of material values and the widening gaps between the ruling elite and the rest of the society, especially the poor. For example, speakers stand on the ground that artists of the 1960s – 1970s basically stood on the leftist ground and attempted to draw the public attention to problems of the working class by means of their art. Protests and strikes of artists aimed at the change of the attitude of the public to art and artists. In fact, those protests and strikes were probably last attempts of artists to win the struggle against mass culture and what speakers define as ‘amateurization’ of art, when people, who are not professional artists, try to become ones, although with little success from the artistic point of view. Nevertheless, the emergence of mass culture and amateur artists resulted in the devaluation of true art and profession al artists became marginalized and lost their position as representative of the mainstream art and culture. Instead, they became in the position when they created art for the art’s sake being misunderstood by the public and being unable to attract the public to their works, because the public was just unable to understand those works.Challenging artistic forms and unusual works of art were challenging but their main point was to attract the public attention and to confront the emerging mass culture, which artists viewed as a threat to the true art and society, where individuals are individuals but not objects to mass culture and consumerism. Speakers place emphasis on numerous attempts of artists to draw the attention of the public by means of unusual and unexpected experiments in the field of art. However, their experiments still had little success because they were separated from the real, regular life of the average people. As a result, people were unable to perceive art a s artists intended the audience to perceive it because their creative work was too complicated, while people were inclined to the perception of the mass culture, which was simple and easy to understand.At the same time, speakers stand on the ground that the artistic protest is virtually impossible because art always stays aside of the real life. Art is the personification of the beauty, aesthetics and non-material world and people cannot change their view on art. As a result, people often simply fail to understand art, especially modern one. The widening gap between art and people has opened the way for the mass culture. Speakers warns against the risk of transforming mass culture into the means of propaganda of certain ideology, while art always contributed to the freedom of thought and speech and stimulated diversity in society.At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the widening gap between modern art and the mass audience became the major driver of the weakening of t he impact of art and artists on the society. More important, the widening gap between art and mass audience has opened the way for the emergence of the mass culture, which artists have attempted to struggle against but all their efforts have been in vain so far. Modern art remained and still remains incomprehensible for the average viewer, where the working class artists used to stand for has vague ideas about art and cannot understand even the most evident and eloquent artistic forms, while mass culture is almost the only artistic form that can reach the working class and the mass audience, although mass culture has little to do with true art.In addition, art has always been in the conflict between the emerging ideology and attempts of artists to stand on their ground and manifest their ideas openly and in contrast to the dominant cultural views and values, especially those shaped by the mass culture. In fact, speakers view the failure of artists’ protests against the rise o f the mass culture, consumerism and decreasing role of art as the major loss of artists and art in the 20th century but this loss was predetermined by the intrinsic inability of art to strike since any forms of art that are not conventional and beyond the understanding of the average person, remains outside the public ideological framework, while mass culture takes niches, which artists has fled from because of their protests against mass culture and devaluation of art along with the rise of consumerism. Thus, speaker develop the idea of the decline of art as a protest movement that juxtaposes to the mass culture and consumerism that prevail in the modern society.

The Caroline Doctrine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Caroline Doctrine - Essay Example As a result, they believed the conduct of the British force had been, under the circumstances, justifiable by the Law of Nations1. Harrison administration was of the opinion that while the Constitution of the United States created very clear fields of jurisdiction, Federal Government was the one concerned with foreign relations and as a result it was to intervene with the State of New York and obtain the release of a foreign national. NATIONAL SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE POLICY "What an immense mass of evil must have result from allowing men to anticipate what might happen" Leo Tolstoy. Hans Blix, Chair of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, stated that it would be a violation of international law to take military action against Iran in response to its pending nuclear weapons program because such action would fail to comply with the international law doctrine of self-defense against imminent attack2. However, if so, the international community should revisit this doctrine in the context of nuclear counter-proliferation to ensure that there is a legal and practical doctrine of international self-defense. This has influenced the Americans allot when Caroline doctrine was cited with approval by Iraq. Therefore, the Caroline doctrine was to be modified for purposes of counter-proliferation3. The practical inability to sufficiently eliminate a nuclear threat once a nuclear weapons program by an aggressor state has been fully developed. For instance, taking the actual words used in the NSS itself, various commentators describe the situation as preemptive self-defense or rather Bush doctrine. However, others think that the NSS can be interpreted as promoting the doctrine of preventive self-defense which a number of present writers are in agreement with. present writers hold a belief that the term anticipatory self-defense is well documented and

Challenges of Internet Marketing and Customer Empowerment Essay

Challenges of Internet Marketing and Customer Empowerment - Essay Example The use of the Internet as a central point for businesses and consumers has boomed since 1995 and is now becoming a central area for businesses to work toward specific solutions. In recent years, there has been a large amount of growth with individuals connecting online as well as searching for online strategies that have been developed to assist businesses in connecting with others that are online. The use of the Internet is one which has not only developed in given areas, but is becoming a global way of connecting to businesses and to individuals for information. As seen in figure 1, the use of the Internet is continuing to evolve with millions of individuals in every region of the world using this particular tool as a main method of connecting. The growth that is occurring with the Internet is then being noted as a primary force for businesses, information and connections that are needed for the evolution of different needs on a global level. The growth by region has furthered with changes that are now affecting businesses as a main way to connect online and to connect with others. Businesses are using this as a main proponent for a variety of reasons. The first is based on the economic recession which began in 2008. ... s connecting online as well as searching for online strategies that have been developed to assist businesses in connecting with others that are online. The use of the Internet is one which has not only developed in given areas, but is becoming a global way of connecting to businesses and to individuals for information. As seen in figure 1, the use of the Internet is continuing to evolve with millions of individuals in every region of the world using this particular tool as a main method of connecting. Figure 1: Use of the Internet by Region The growth that is occurring with the Internet is then being noted as a primary force for businesses, information and connections that are needed for the evolution of different needs on a global level (Internet World Stats, 2011). The growth by region has furthered with changes that are now affecting businesses as a main way to connect online and to connect with others. Businesses are using this as a main proponent for a variety of reasons. The fi rst is based on the economic recession which began in 2008. Many businesses are finding that Internet marketing is a way to leverage the costs and businesses from different levels while finding new opportunities that are needed in the area. The second is based on advertising opportunities, such as social media and connecting with others at a global level. For businesses, this is a simplistic way of expanding into the market and across regions. It is also noted that there are changes in consumer behaviors that lean toward the use of technology, specifically with growth of consumption on the Internet by 27%. This is inclusive of e-Commerce sales that are continuing to rise across the Internet. Within this are new forms of advertising that are now expected, including video and mobile

Issues In Managed Care Health And Social Care Essay

Issues In Managed Care Health And Social Care Essay Managed Care has increasingly become prevalent in the United States. Overtime, it has continued to evoke strong ethical concerns regarding its applicability in our contemporary society. Such instances have been exemplified by the issue of efficacy; provision of a product or service with minimum input in terms of resources. Efficacy, as postulated, conjures more pressure on the medical practitioner to increase his/her productivity with minimized incentives. Moreover, Managed Care has been associated with capitation of contracts by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) where medical officers are paid not to attend to patients. However, a clear understanding of this practice would be essential if we were to term it as ethical or unethical. The history of Managed Care can be traced back to early 19th century, when a number of healthcare structures and systems emerged to provide subsidized health services for impoverished communities. These structures appeared in different communities across the United States with the aim of helping a few selected groups access medical care. This initiative was mainly meant for rural and marginalized communities in mining, lumbering, and railroad areas. Locals were asked to pay a small amount of the fee so that they could conveniently get access to medical care. However, in urbanized societies, charitable institutions settled the fee for marginalized communities. It is believed that Health Maintenance Organizations evolved from these practices and thus later came to be known as Managed Care (Wolff Schlesinger, 2002). Nonetheless, with the different faces that Managed Care has adapted over the years, criticism for such practices has been heightened. Inasmuch as many communities have benefitted from this initiative, medical practitioners and professionals have sounded an alarm over the continued adoption of this practice. Health standards have been lowered due to the subsidized medical services. Physicians have been forced to offer their professional services at lowered prices thereby rendering poor services. This is one of the most notable ethical concern that has been associated with Managed Care. Moreover, a number of misconceptions have also been insinuated that try to render Managed Care inappropriate. However, there is need for clarifying some of these ethical concerns by determining whether they have impacted negatively on the society and as to whether its continued practice would compromise societal ethical norms. In this regard, this paper will define the social understanding of Managed Care, identify more instances where it has been associated with unethical practices, clarify such instances and describe its positive contributions towards the development in the faculty of medicine. Some of the issues to be discussed will include: efficacy in medical practice; capitation of contracts; quality in medical care and exploitation of these services. Furthermore, positive attributes such as cost-effectiveness; guarantee of medical attention; provision of preventive services and care coordination will also be evaluated thereby elucidating clear perceptions on Managed Care Plans. Therefore, the purpose of this paper will be to outline past, present and future trends in Managed Care. Furthermore, it will acknowledge the contribution made by Managed Care towards general health sustainability and clarify some of the social misunderstanding associated with it. It shall also seek to clearly distinguish between negative and positive attributes of Managed Care, thereby reducing fallacious thinking regarding universal and social approval of this practice. Lastly, it will provide a schema for further research on this subject by determining some of the areas that need further research. Conclusion Through Literary review, we have observed a number of past trends and issues in Managed Care as well as discovered present and future trends that will continue to affect Managed Care systems. Such trends include the collapse in relationships between a patient and a doctor. This has been attributed to the fact that, through Managed Care, patients are restricted to a particular doctor under a companys payroll. If a patient opted to visit a doctor that is not necessarily linked with the organization, he/she either accommodates the demands of the extra service or the company contributes just a small percentage (Wolff Schlesinger, 2002). This affects doctor-patient relationship. Moreover, patients cannot develop lasting bonds with their doctors since the company may decide to terminate the services of a particular physician or seize to be identified with a specific medical group. It is in such a case that Managed Care impacts negative in the medical field. Secondly, through capitation, some forms of Managed Care have created the provision through which doctors can now spend very little time on a particular patient. This trend has been observed in the Preferred Provider Arrangement system where for a physician to compensate for the little incentives he received, he would make sure he sees many patients. For him to see many patients, it would mean that he would spend the minimum time possible on a particular patient. Consequently, this also affects the patient-doctor bonding process, exploration of available treatment options for the patient and does not guarantee exhaustive analysis of the patients problem. Furthermore, the doctor may end up making the wrong diagnosis hence put the life of the patient in danger (Bierman, A. S., Haffer, S. C., Hwang, Y. T., 2001). There have been cases where patients have been diagnosed with the wrong illness and thus ended up succumbing due to wrong prescription or treatment. Mental care plans have been greatly discriminated by Managed Care plans. Mental problems are far much financially demanding as compared to other illnesses. Therefore, many health management organizations have tried to avoid the inclusion of this package in their Managed Care system. The gravity of this issue prompted the drafting of a number of legislations which were presented to Congress for deliberation. For instance, the watered-down parity law, which was effected in 1998, prohibited companies from defining the maximum financial limit for mentally ill patients. Currently, many insurers are championing against this law by weakening it in a bid to render it inapplicable. In this regard, Managed Care programs seem to have failed in establishing parity in all health related illnesses. This is a huge shortcoming for Managed Care practices as it exhibits aspects of biasness. Lastly, one striking trend that will pose a great challenge to Managed Care structures in the future is the issue of Medical practitioners in Medical schools influencing their students thinking towards Managed Care. Presently, it has been established that most medical students across the United States are anti-Managed Care. This is attributed to the fact that most lecturers, who are health practitioners outside lecture rooms, are influencing their students thinking towards this practice. With this trend, physicians who are in the making will ravage this practice in the future thus hurl impoverished communities back to their medical poverty. Therefore, the imparting of negative ideological mindsets by lecturers and faculty members in medical schools should be stopped before it spills out of control. We need to safeguard the much we have achieved and work towards providing more that we could provide. However, Managed Cares influence on the issues outlined below has shown its positive c ontribution towards general health sustenance. Positive conclusions can be drawn hence act as an advocate for the maintenance of this practice. Throughout history, people have struggled to gain adequate medical assistance and this has been linked to lack of financial stability. Managed Care has created a cost-effective working environment where patients, regardless of demographic, racial or cultural background can get convenient healthcare. Structural cost-effectiveness has been realized with incentive impacted cost and inter-group negotiations being simplified. The task of negotiating the price for medical services has been left for the employer and the physician thereby offloading some of the financial burden from the patient, (Bierman et al., 2001). Moreover, in extreme circumstances, patients are able to get access to professional medical care, with modern equipment, medication and follow-up activities that would guarantee a patients full recovery. This is one of the most significant achievements realized through the application of Medical Care. Quality medical practices can be defined in terms of customer satisfaction and medical outcomes, or both. Studies have indicated that Managed Care has heightened responsiveness in creating value products thereby broadening provider networks. Furthermore, it has enhanced corporative relationships among providers and consumers. Utilization controls have also been loosened as compared to fee-for-service systems. A more notable finding postulated that there was not much, if any, difference in terms of quality of services offered between Managed care and fee-for-service schemes. Moreover, a tremendous increase in quality of medical services has also been observed in marginalized areas where such services were minimal. This growth has reduced health vulnerabilities in such areas thus augmenting the general quality of health in the area. Counter claims have been made imploring whether the quality of healthcare has been lowered or raised. Nevertheless, with a reflection on the customer satis faction model and medical outcomes, most communities have acknowledged a tremendous positive growth. Lastly, perhaps the most significant contribution of Managed Care is the ease of access to medical services. Medical practitioners defined access to medical care as the ease of patient entrà ©e to medical providers and procedures. We can all affirm that the initial aim of Managed Care, which was to provide access to medical facilities, especially for impoverished populations, has been achieved. Insured and uninsured company staffs are legible for Managed Care as long as their affiliate company has provisions for Managed Care (Bierman et al., 2001). Initially, most employees opted to have their own health insurance programs which locked out those who could not afford an insurer. However, Managed Care, with some minimum fee, each employee becomes technically insured. Therefore, Managed Care has eased the way in which people get access to medical care thus achieved its primary goal. In conclusion, having critically looked at the trend that is affecting Managed Care today and which may as well pose a great challenge in the future, we are still left with one question that remains unanswered. What criterion could be used by employers and medical practitioners in selecting viable Managed Care systems? Managed Care is prone to exploitation by both employers and physicians. Moreover, while physicians are crying foul, they should have an opportunity of drafting their demands, which are reasonable and considerable, especially for the poor man, hence stop providing poor services on the pretext of underpayment. Therefore, a study should be carried out that would seek to find a neutral way of assigning medical affiliations. Patients, employers and physicians interests should be evaluated and generate a possible strategy that would be less controversial in Managed Care. This research, therefore, will also offer recommendations for proper legislation of its implementation.

Fair & Lovely

in newspapers or on the Web that are used by families to arrange suitable alliances, and you will see that most potential grooms and their families are looking for â€Å"fair† brides; some even are progressive enough to invite responses from women belonging to a different caste. These ads, hundreds of which appear in India’s daily newspapers, re? ect attempts to solicit individuals with the appropriate religion, caste, regional ancestry, professional and educational quali? cations, and, frequently, skin color. Even in the growing numbers of ads that announce â€Å"caste no bar,† the adjective â€Å"fair† regularly precedes professional quali? ations. In everyday conversation, the ultimate compliment on someone’s looks is to say someone is gora (fair). â€Å"I have no problem with people wanting to be lighter,† said a Delhi beauty parlor owner, Saroj Nath. â€Å"It doesn’t make you racist, any more than trying to make yourself look you nger makes you ageist. † Bollywood (India’s Hollywood) glori? es conventions on beauty by always casting a fair-skinned actress in the role of heroine, surrounded by the darkest extras. Women want to use whiteners because it is â€Å"aspirational, like losing weight. Even the gods supposedly lament their dark complexion— Krishna sings plaintively, â€Å"Radha kyoon gori, main kyoon kala? (Why is Radha so fair when I’m dark? ). † A skin de? cient in melanin (the pigment that determines the skin’s brown color) is an ancient predilection. More than 3,500 years ago, Charaka, the famous sage, wrote about herbs that could help make the skin fair. Indian dermatologists maintain that fairness products cannot truly work as they reach only the upper layers of the skin and so do not affect melanin production. Nevertheless, for some, Fair & Lovely is a â€Å"miracle worker. A user gushes that â€Å"The last time I went to my parents’ home, I go t compliments on my fair skin from everyone. † For others, there is only disappointment. One 26-year-old working woman has been a regular user for the past eight years but to no avail. â€Å"I should have turned into Snow White by now but my skin is still the same wheatish color. † As an owner of a public relations ? rm commented, â€Å"My maid has been using Fair and Lovely for years and I still can’t see her in the dark . . .. But she goes on using it. Hope springs eternal, I suppose. † The number of Indians who think lighter skin is more beautiful may be shrinking. Sumit Isralni, a 22-year-old hair designer in his father’s salon, thinks things have changed in the last two years, at least in India’s most cosmopolitan cities, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Women now â€Å"prefer their own complexion, their natural way† Isralni says; he prefers a more â€Å"Indian beauty† himself: â€Å"I won’t judge my wife on how fair her complexion is. † Sunita Gupta, a beautician in the same salon, is more critical. â€Å"It’s just foolishness! † she exclaimed. The premise of the ads that women could not become airline attendants if they are dark-skinned was wrong, she said. Nowadays people like black beauty. † It is a truism that women, especially in the tropics, desire to be a shade fairer, no matter what their skin color. Yet, unlike the approach used in India, advertisements elsewhere usually show how to use the product and how it works. Cultural Norms, Fair & Lovely, and Advertising CASE 2? 2 Fa ir & Lovely, a branded product of Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL), is touted as a cosmetic that lightens skin color. On its Web site (www. hll. com), the company calls its product â€Å"the miracle worker,† â€Å"proven to deliver one to three shades of change. While tanning is the rage in Western countries, skin lightening treatments are popular in Asia. According to industry sources, the top-selling skin lightening cream in India is Fair & Lovely from Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL), followed by CavinKare’s Fairever brand. HLL’s Fair & Lovely brand dominated the market with a 90 percent share until CavinKare Ltd. (CKL) launched Fairever. In just two years, the Fairever brand gained an impressive 15 percent market share. HLL’s share of market for the Fair & Lovely line generates about $60 million annually. The product sells for about 23 rupees ($0. 9) for a 25-gram tube of cream. The rapid growth of CavinKare’s Fairever (www. cavinkare .com) brand prompted HLL to increase its advertising effort and to launch a series of ads depicting a â€Å"fairer girl gets the boy theme. † One advertisement featured a ? nancially strapped father lamenting his fate, saying, â€Å"If only I had a son,† while his dark-skinned daughter looks on, helpless and demoralized because she can’t bear the ? – nancial responsibility of her family. Fast-forward and plain Jane has been transformed into a gorgeous light-skinned woman through the use of a â€Å"fairness cream,† Fair & Lovely. Now clad in a miniskirt, the woman is a successful ? ight attendant and can take her father to dine at a ? ve-star hotel. She’s happy and so is her father. In another ad, two attractive young women are sitting in a bedroom; one has a boyfriend and, consequently, is happy. The darkerskinned woman, lacking a boyfriend, is not happy. Her friend’s advice—Use a bar of soap to wash away the dark skin that’s keeping men from ? ocking to her. HLL’s series of ads provoked CavinKare Ltd. to counter with an ad that takes a dig at HLL’s Fair & Lovely ad. CavinKare’s ad has a father–daughter duo as the protagonists, with the father shown encouraging the daughter to be an achiever irrespective of her complexion. CavinKare maintained that the objective of its new commercial is not to take a dig at Fair & Lovely but to â€Å"reinforce Fairever’s positioning. † Skin color is a powerful theme in India, and much of Asia, where a lighter color represents a higher status. While Americans and Europeans ? ock to tanning salons, many across Asia seek ways to have â€Å"fair† complexions. Culturally, fair skin is associated with positive values that relate to class and beauty. One Indian lady commented that when she was growing up, her mother forbade her to go outdoors. She was not trying to keep her daughter out of trouble but was trying to keep her skin from getting dark. Brahmins, the priestly caste at the top of the social hierarchy, are considered fair because they traditionally stayed inside, poring over books. The undercaste at the bottom of the ladder are regarded as the darkest people because they customarily worked in the searing sun. Ancient Hindu scriptures and modern poetry eulogize women endowed with skin made of white marble. Skin color is closely identi? ed with caste and is laden with symbolism. Pursue any of the â€Å"grooms† and â€Å"brides wanted† ads cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 25 cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 25 8/27/10 2:05 PM 8/27/10 2:05 PM Part 6 Supplementary Material three-month Home Healthcare Nursing Assistant course catering to young women between the ages of 18 and 30 years. According to HLL, the Fair & Lovely Academy for Home Care Nursing Assistants offers a unique training opportunity for young women who possess no entry-level skills and therefore are not employable in the new economy job market. The Fair & Lovely Foundation plans to serve as a catalyst for the economic empowerment for women across India. The Fair & Lovely Foundation will showcase the achievements of these women not only to honor them but also to set an example for other women to follow. AIDWA’s campaign against ads that convey the message, â€Å"if she is not fair in color, she won’t get married or won’t get promoted,† also has resulted in some adjustment to fairness cream ads. In revised versions of the fairness cream ads, the â€Å"get fair to attract a groom† theme is being reworked with â€Å"enhance your selfcon? ence† so that a potential groom himself begs for attention. It is an attempt at typifying the modern Indian woman, who has more than just marriage on her mind. Advertising focus is now on the message that lighter skin enables women to obtain jobs conventionally held by men. She is career-oriented, has high aspirations, and, at the same time, wants to lo ok good. AIDWA concedes that the current crop of television ads for fairness creams are â€Å"not as demeaning† as ones in the past. However, it remains against the product; as the president of AIDWA stated, â€Å"It is downright racist to denigrate dark skin. † Although AIWDA’s campaign against fairness creams seems to have had a modest impact on changing the advertising message, it has not slowed the demand for fairness creams. Sales of Fair & Lovely, for example, have been growing 15 to 20 percent year over year, and the $318 million market for skin care has grown by 42. 7 percent in the last three years. Says Euromonitor International, a research ? rm: â€Å"Half of the skin care market in India is fairness creams and 60 to 65 percent of Indian women use these products daily. † Recently, several Indian companies were extending their marketing of fairness creams beyond urban and rural markets. CavinKare’s launch of Fairever, a fairness cream in a small sachet pack priced at Rs 5, aimed at rural markets where some 320 million Indians reside. Most marketers have found rural markets impossible to penetrate pro? tably due to low income levels and inadequate distribution systems, among other problems. However, HLL is approaching the market through Project Shakti, a rural initiative that targets small villages with populations of 2,000 people or less. It empowers underprivileged rural women by providing income-generating opportunities to sell small, lower priced packets of its brands in villages. Special packaging for the rural market was designed to provide single-use sachet packets at 50 paise for a sachet of shampoo to Rs 5 for a fairness cream (for a week’s usage). The aim is to have 100,000 â€Å"Shakti Ammas,† as they are called, spread across 500,000 villages in India by year end. CavinKare is growing at 25 percent in rural areas compared with 15 percent in urban centers. In addition to expanding market effort into rural markets, an unexpected market arose when a research study revealed Indian men were applying girlie fairness potions in droves—but on the sly. It was estimated that 40 percent of boyfriends/husbands of girlfriends/wives were applying white magic solutions that came in little tubes. Indian companies spotted a business opportunity, and Fair & Handsome, Menz Active, Fair One Man, and a male bleach called Saka were introduced to the male market. The sector expanded dramatically when Shah Rukh Khan, a highly acclaimed Commenting on the cultural bias toward fair skin, one critic states, â€Å"There are attractive people who go through life feeling inferior to their fairer sisters. And all because of charming grandmothers and aunts who do not hesitate to make un? attering comparisons. Kalee Kalooti is an oft-heard comment about women who happen to have darker skin. They get humiliated and morti? ed over the color of their skin, a fact over which they have no control. Are societal values responsible? Or advertising campaigns? Advertising moguls claim they only re? ect prevailing attitudes in India. This is possibly true but what about ethics in advertising? Is it correct to make advertisements that openly denigrate a majority of Indian people—the dark-skinned populace? The advertising is blatant in their strategy. Mock anyone who is not the right color and shoot down their self-image. † A dermatologist comments, â€Å"Fairness obtained with the help of creams is short-lived. The main reason being, most of these creams contain a certain amount of bleaching agent, which whitens facial hair, and not the skin, which leads people to believe that the cream worked. † Furthermore, â€Å"In India the popularity of a product depends totally on the success of its advertising. HLL launched its television ad campaign to promote Fair & Lovely but withdrew it after four months amid severe criticism for its portrayal of women. Activists argued that one of the messages the company sends through its â€Å"air hostess† ads demonstrating the preference for a son who would be able to take on the ? nancial responsibility for his parents is especially harmful in a country such as India where gender discrimination is rampant. Another offense is perpet uating a culture of discrimination in a society where â€Å"fair† is synonymous with â€Å"beautiful. AIDWA (All India Women’s Democratic Association) lodged a complaint at the time with HLL about their offensive ads, but Hindustan Lever failed to respond. The women’s association then appealed to the National Human Rights Commission alleging that the ad demeaned women. AIDWA objected to three things: (1) the ads were racist, (2) they were promoting son preference, and (3) they were insulting to working women. â€Å"The way they portrayed the young woman who, after using Fair & Lovely, became attractive and therefore lands a job suggested that the main quali? ation for a woman to get a job is the way she looks. † The Human Rights Commission passed AIDWA’s complaints on to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which said the campaign violated the Cable and Television Network Act of 1995—provisions in the act state that no advertisemen t shall be permitted which â€Å"derides any race, caste, color, creed and nationality† and that â€Å"Women must not be portrayed in a manner that emphasized passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate secondary role in the family and society. † The government issued notices of the complaints to HLL. After a year-long campaign led by the AIDWA, Hindustan Lever Limited discontinued two of its television advertisements for Fair & Lovely fairness cold cream. Shortly after pulling its ads off the air, HLL launched its Fair & Lovely Foundation, vowing to â€Å"encourage economic empowerment of women across India† by providing resources in education and business to millions of women â€Å"who, though immensely talented and capable, need a guiding hand to help them take the leap forward,† presumably into a fairer future. HLL sponsored career fairs in over 20 cities across the country offering counseling in as many as 110 careers. It supported 100 rural scholarships for women students passing their 10th grade, a professional course for aspiring beauticians, and a cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 26 cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 26 8/27/10 2:05 PM 8/27/10 2:05 PM Cases 2 The Cultural Environment of Global Marketing 2. Is it ethical to exploit cultural norms and values to promote a product? Discuss. 3. Is the advertising of Fair & Lovely demeaning to women, or is it promoting the fairness cream in a way not too dissimilar from how most cosmetics are promoted? 4. Will HLL’s Fair & Lovely Foundation be enough to counter charges made by AIDWA? Discuss. 5. In light of AIDWA’s charges, how would you suggest Fair & Lovely promote its product? Discuss. Would your response be different if Fairever continued to use â€Å"fairness† as a theme of its promotion? Discuss. 6. Propose a promotion/marketing program that will counter all the arguments and charges against Fair & Lovely and be an effective program. 7. Now that a male market for fairness cream exists, is the strength of AIDWA’s argument weakened? 8. Comment on using â€Å"Shakti Ammas† to introduce â€Å"fairness cream for the masses† in light of AIDWA’s charges. Sources: Nicole Leistikow, â€Å"Indian Women Criticize ‘Fair and Lovely’ Ideal,† Women’s eNews , April 28, 2003; Arundhati Parmar, â€Å"Objections to Indian Ad Not Taken Lightly,† Marketing News , June 9, 2003, p. 4; â€Å"Fair & Lovely Launches Foundation to Promote Economic Empowerment of Women,† press release, Fair & Lovely Foundation, http:// www. hll. com (search for foundation), March 11, 2003; Rina Chandran, â€Å"All for SelfControl,† Business Line (The Hindu), April 24, 2003; Khozem Merchant and Edward Luce, â€Å"Not So Fair and Lovely,† Financial Times , March 19, 2003; â€Å"Fair & Lovely Rede? es Fairness with Multivitamin Total Fairness Cream,† press release, Hindustan Lever Ltd. , May 3, 2005; Dr. Deepa Kanchankoti, â€Å"Do You Think Fairness Creams Work? † http://www. mid-day. com/metro, July 13, 2005; †CavinKare Launches Small Sachet Packs,† Business India , December 7, 2006; â€Å"A nalysis of Skin Care Advertising on TV During January–August 2006,† Indiantelevision. com Media, Advertising, Marketing Watch, October 17, 2006; â€Å"Women Power Gets Full Play in CavinKare’s Brand Strategy. The Economic Times (New Delhi, India), December 8, 2006; Heather Timmons, â€Å"Telling India’s Modern Women They Have Power, Even Over Their Skin Tone,† The New York Times , May 30, 2007; â€Å"The Year We Almost Lost Tall (or Short or Medium-Height), Dark and Handsome,† The Hindustan Times , December 29, 2007; â€Å"India’s Hue and Cry Over Paler Skin,† The Sunday Telegraph (London), July 1, 2007; â€Å"Fair and Lovely? † University Wire , June 4, 2007; â€Å"The Race to Keep up with Modern India,† Media, June 29, 2007; Aneel Karnani, â€Å"Doing Well by Doing Good—Case Study: ‘Fair & Lovely’ Whitening Cream,† Strategic Management Journal 28, no. 3 (2007), pp. 1351–57. Boll ywood actor likened to an Indian Tom Cruise, decided to endorse Fair & Handsome. Euromonitor International forecasts that in the next ? ve years, spending on men’s grooming products will rise 24 percent to 14. 5 billion rupees, or US$320 million. A recent product review in www. mouthshut. com, praises Fair & Lovely fairness cream: â€Å"[Fair & Lovely] contains fairness vitamins which penetrate deep down our skin to give us radiant fairness. â€Å"I don’t know if it can change the skin color from dark to fair, but my personal experience is that it works very well, if you have a naturally fair color and want to preserve it without much headache. † â€Å"I think Riya Sen has the best skin right now in Bollywood. It appears to be really soft and tender. So, to have a soft and fair skin like her I recommend Fair & Lovely Fairness Lotion or Cream. † Yet â€Å"skin color isn’t a proof of greatness. Those with wheatish or dark skin are by no way inferio r to those who have fair skin. † Here are a few facts from Hindustan Lever Ltd. s homepage: Lever Limited is India’s largest Packaged Mass Consumption Goods Company. We are leaders in Home and Personal Care Products and Food and Beverages including such products as Ponds and Pepsodent. We seek to meet everyday needs of people everywhere—to anticipate the aspirations of our consumers and customers and to respond creatively and competitively with branded products and services which raise the quality of life. It is this purpose which inspires us to build brands. Over the past 70 years, we have introduced about 110 brands. Fair & Lovely has been specially designed and proven to eliver one to three shades of change in most people. Also its sunscreen system is specially optimized for Indian skin. Indian skin, unlike Caucasian skin, tends to â€Å"tan† rather than â€Å"burn† and, hence, requires a different combination of UVA and UVB sunscreens. You may w ant to visit HLL’s homepage (www. hhl. com) for additional information about the company. QUESTIONS 1. Is it ethical to sell a product that is, at best, only mildly effective? Discuss. cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 27 cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 27 8/27/10 2:05 PM 8/27/10 2:05 PM

Introduction to Export Finance Essay

Credit and finance is the life and blood of any business whether domestic or international. It is more important in the case of export transactions due to the prevalence of novel non-price competitive techniques encountered by exporters in various nations to enlarge their share of world markets. The selling techniques are no longer confined to mere quality; price or delivery schedules of the products but are extended to payment terms offered by exporters. Liberal payment terms usually score over the competitors not only of capital equipment but also of consumer goods. The payment terms however depend upon the availability of finance to exporters in relation to its quantum, cost and the period at pre-shipment and post-shipment stage. Production and manufacturing for substantial supplies for exports take time, in case finance is not available to exporter for production. They will not be in a position to book large export order if they don’t have sufficient financial funds. Even merchandise exporters require finance for obtaining products from their suppliers. This project is an attempt to throw light on the various sources of export finance available to exporters, the schemes implemented by ECGC and EXIM for export promotion and the recent developments in the form of tie-EXIM tie-ups, credit policy announced by RBI in Oct 2001 and TRIMS. Concept of Export Finance: The exporter may require short term, medium term or long term finance depending upon the types of goods to be exported and the terms of statement offered to overseas buyer. The short-term finance is required to meet â€Å"working capital† needs. The working capital is used to meet regular and recurring needs of a business firm. The regular and recurring needs of a business firm refer to purchase of raw material, payment of wages and salaries, expenses like payment of rent, advertising etc. The exporter may also require â€Å"term finance†. The term finance or term loans, which is required for medium and long term financial needs such as purchase of fixed assets and long term working capital. Export finance is short-term working capital finance allowed to an exporter. Finance and credit are available not only to help export production but also to sell to overseas customers on credit. Objectives of Export Finance: * To cover commercial & Non-commercial or political risks attendant on granting credit to a foreign buyer. * To cover natural risks like an earthquake, floods etc. An exporter may avail financial assistance from any bank, which considers the ensuing factors: a) Availability of the funds at the required time to the exporter. b) Affordability of the cost of funds. Appraisal: Appraisal means an approval of an export credit proposal of an exporter. While appraising an export credit proposal as a commercial banker, obligation to the following institutions or regulations needs to be adhered to. Obligations to the RBI under the Exchange Control Regulations are: * Appraise to be the bank’s customer. * Appraise should have the Exim code number allotted by the Director General of Foreign Trade. * Party’s name should not appear under the caution list of the RBI. Obligations to the Trade Control Authority under the EXIM policy are: * Appraise should have IEC number allotted by the DGFT. * Goods must be freely exportable i.e. not falling under the negative list. If it falls under the negative list, then a valid license should be there which allows the goods to be exported. * Country with whom the Appraise wants to trade should not be under trade barrier. Obligations to ECGC are: * Verification that Appraise is not under the Specific Approval list (SAL). * Sanction of Packing Credit Advances. Guidelines for banks dealing in Export Finance: When a commercial bank deals in export finance it is bound by the ensuing guidelines: – a) Exchange control regulations. b) Trade control regulations. c) Reserve Bank’s directives issued through IECD. d) Export Credit Guarantee Corporation guidelines. e) Guidelines of Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India.