The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children Parental Viewpoint Free Essays

O Springer 2009 Journal of Business Ethics (2010) 91:299–311 DOI 10. 1007/s10551-009-0084-2 The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children: Parental Viewpoint ABSTRACT. The children’s market has become significantly more important to marketers in recent years. We will write a custom essay sample on The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children: Parental Viewpoint or any similar topic only for you Order Now They have been spending increasing amounts on advertising, particularly of food and beverages, to reach this segment. At the same time, there is a critical debate among parents, government agencies, and industry experts as to the ethics of food advertising practices aimed toward children. The present study examines parents’ ethical views of food advertising targeting children. Findings indicate that parents’ beliefs concerning at least some dimensions of moral intensity are significantly related to their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions of food advertising targeting children as well as the perceived moral intensity of the situation. KEY WORDS: parents, children, ethics, food advertising The children’s market has become signi? cantly important to marketers (McNeal, 1998). Many marketers spend millions of dollars on advertising to reach this growing segment (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). More speci? cally, food and beverage companies in the USA spend an estimated US $10–12 billion targeting hildren and adolescents (McKay, 2005). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, children are exposed to more than 7,600 commercials on candy, cereal, and fast food in any given year (Kotz, 2007). The effects of advertising on children have been highly debated among various groups, including parents, researchers, industry experts, and governme nt agencies. One of the primary debates has been the potential impact of food advertising directed at children. A variety of institutions are involved in this debate. Some of these organizations such as public advocacy groups criticize the food companies and elevision networks concerning the increased amounts spent as well as the types of promotional efforts targeted Aysen Bakir Scott J. Vitell at children (York, 2007). Furthermore, statistics provide substantial concern about obesity, showing that approximately 50% of elementary-school children and 80% of teenagers will battle obesity during their lifetime. There is also debate among practitioners on advertising practices directed at children, with even marketing professionals indicating concern about advertising targeted at children. When interviewed, 35% of them consider the general ethical and moral tandards in the industry to be ‘‘lower than in the past,’’ with 40% believing that these standards are ab out the same (Grimm, 2004). Thus, only 25% believe the standards are improved. Some companies have already started taking actions to deal with criticisms and even with government warning. In Europe, soft-drink companies have developed self-regulatory measures to stop advertising junk food and to help tackle child obesity. To avoid stricter laws, soft-drink companies have pledged to stop marketing towards children under 12 years old. The companies also have pledged to limit soft-drink sales at schools (Wentz, 005). Other countries in Europe, however, have been taking an even stricter stance on regulations; for example, starting in 2005, Ireland introduced a ban on celebrities who appear in food and beverages targeted at children (Jardine and Wentz, 2004). Furthermore, some companies have also responded to government calls by promoting active lifestyles when targeting children in food ads. McDonald’s, in the UK, ran a campaign that featured Ronald McDonald and used animated fru it and vegetable characters which were called Yums. These characters urged children to eat right and stay active (Jardine and Wentz, 2004). Given all these statistics showing the potential impact of food advertising targeting children, parents 300 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell are concerned over whether or not marketers have been conducting ethical practices in promoting their products. However, this issue has not received signi? cant attention in the marketing literature. This paper attempts to ? ll this apparent gap by examining parents’ ethical views of food advertising targeted at children. In doing so, it also examines the potential impact of parents’ attitudes toward food advertising and toward the use of nutrition information on their thical judgments and behavioral intentions. Marketing ethics and advertising to children Advertising to children has long been one of the most controversial areas of marketing. The debate ranges from whether or not it is even ethical to advertise to children and includes the types of advertising practices that might be considered ethical. At the center of this debate is food advertising targeted at children. The impact of advertising to children has been shown in previous studies (Goldberg and Gorn, 1974; Gorn and Goldberg, 1977). Findings include the fact that low-income children exposed to a commercial just nce had favorable attitudes towards the advertised product (Gorn and Goldberg, 1977). Furthermore, these authors found that exposure to television ads among 5- and 6-year-old children directly in? uenced breakfast food and snack preferences (Goldberg et al. , 1978). Finally, exposure to advertisements has also been shown to in? uence the frequency of snacking among children (Bolton, 1983). Advertising has been criticized for promoting materialism, persuading individuals to buy things they do not need, and providing false or misleading information (Pollay and Mittal, 1993). Parents’ concerns toward the impact of advertising directed at hildren have risen signi? cantly in the last decade (Hudson et al. , 2008). These concerns have also been expressed by academicians (Moore, 2004). However, only a limited number of studies have examined ethical issues aimed at the children’s segment (Ahuja et al. , 2001; Hudson et al. , 2008). Despite these increased concerns and the ensuing debate, parents’ ethical views of food advertising targeting children have not been examined in the marketing literature. Ethical judgments and behavioral intentions Understanding how parents view and make decisions about ethical issues targeted at children is important to marketers. Several factors might in? uence ethical decision-making, including situational factors (Hunt and Vitell, 1986) and individual differences (Hunt and Vitellm, 1986; Jones, 1991). Ethical (or unethical) behavior is in? uenced directly by the ethical judgments and behavioral intentions of the individuals. An individual’s ethical judgment is de? ned as ‘‘the degree to which he or she considers a particular behavior morally acceptable’’ (Bass et al. , 1999, p. 189). Ethical judgments have been considered a central construct in several ethical decisionmaking models (Dubinsky and Loken, 1989; Hunt and Vitell, 1986; Jones, 1991). These decision-making theories provide an understanding of how an individual’s behavioral intentions and ethical judgments are relevant to making decisions in situations involving ethical issues; for example, the theory of reasoned action suggests that individuals act in a manner consistent with their attitudes. On the other hand, other factors might cause individuals to develop behavioral intentions that might be inconsistent with their attitudes (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Past research has also shown that individuals are more likely to state their behavioral intentions if they perceive the situation as ethical (Bass et al. , 1999). Furthermore, Hunt and Vitell (1986, p. 9) de? ned behavioral intentions as ‘‘the likelihood that any particular alternative will be chosen. ’’ The authors also suggest that ethical judgments would impact the individual behavior through behavioral intentions. Overall, ethical judgments and behavioral intentions are important constructs to gain insights regarding advertising directed at children. Attitude toward food advertising As noted, research examining parents’ attitudes toward advertising, particularly to food advertising, directed at children is limited. Past studies examined the relationship between family communication atterns and parental reactions toward advertising (Rose et al. , 1998), and parental involvement The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children and authoritative parenting and attitude toward advertising (Carlson and Grossbart, 1988). Only one study examined the relationship between attitude toward food advertising and p arental styles (Crosby and Grossbart, 1984). The authors found differences regarding attitudes toward food advertising based upon parental styles, with more authoritative parents being more concerned about children’s food advertising as compared with more permissive parents. Governments and health advocates in different countries are trying to introduce stricter regulations on food advertising targeting children since they blame marketers for increased levels of childhood obesity. In France, food marketers are faced with choosing between paying a 1. 5% tax on their ad budgets to fund healthy-eating messages or else adding a health message to commercials. In Canada, one-third of children between 2 and 11 years old are overweight and some marketers are promoting healthy lifestyles for children. Given the different proportions of childhood obesity problems from ne county to the next, multinational food marketers such as McDonald’s now have differing strategies in each country based on how they must undertake this global challenge (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). Clearly, advertisers have been questioned about their ethical standards. Although there is increased discussion among parents regarding the potential impact of advertising and concern about how eth ical (or unethical) advertising practices are towards children, this issue has not been adequately researched. Since the relationship between parents’ attitude toward food advertising and ethical judgments and behavioral intentions f the advertising tactics targeted at children has not been examined in the marketing literature, this study focuses on those parental perspectives. Therefore, based upon the previous discussion, it is hypothesized that: Parents’ attitude toward food advertising will be positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H2: Parents’ attitude toward food advertising will be positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H1: 301 Attitude toward use of nutrition information Concerns about children’s nutrition include multiple actors. Some of these concerns are centered on nutrition de? ciencies in children’s diets due to economic facto rs, poor eating habits, and inadequate nutritional knowledge of parents. The government has taken several steps to deal with children’s nutrition problems by being involved in school lunch programs, regulation of children’s advertising, and nutrition education in schools (Crosby et al. , 1982). Research has also shown the positive impact of parental in? uence and nutrition education (Grossbart et al. , 1982). Parents’ attitudes toward the use of nutrition vary from one parent to the other. Furthermore, parents, particularly mothers, wield a signi? cant impact on children’s consumption of a balanced diet and exposure to a variety of foods. Previous research has shown that mothers who endorsed nutrition information had more positive attitudes toward nutrition and expressed more concerns about food advertising targeted at children (Crosby et al. , 1982). Therefore, it is further hypothesized that: Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information will be positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H4: Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition nformation will be positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H3: Moral intensity Jones (1991) de? nes moral intensity as ‘‘the extent of issue-related moral imperative in a situation’’ (p. 372). Furthermore, he suggests that ethics-related contexts vary with their level of mo ral intensity. Jones (1991) identi? ed six categories (magnitude of consequences, probability of effect, temporal immediacy, concentration of effect, proximity, and social consensus) of the moral intensity construct. The ? rst four items refer to the various dimensions of harm the action might cause. More speci? cally, magnitude of consequences refers to the cumulative 302 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell harm (or lack thereof) the action might cause. Probability of effect refers to the likelihood that the action will cause harm (or lack thereof). Temporal immediacy refers to ‘‘the length of time between the present and the onset of consequences of the moral act in question (shorter length of time implies greater immediacy)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376). The concentration of effect refers to the number of people who would believe that the action would cause harm (or lack thereof). Proximity is the ‘‘feeling of nearness social, cultural, psychological, or physical)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376) that the individual has for those affected by the action in question. Finally, social consensus is the extent of the feeling that action taken is good (or not). Moral intensity is a multidimensional construct that measures the moral intensity of the si tuation. Ethical decision-making process must be in? uenced by the perception that the potential action has a moral or ethical facet that needs to be evaluated (Barnett, 2001). For marketing practitioners, studies have shown that perceived moral intensity affects the perception of ethical problems in various situations Singhapakdi et al. , 1996a; Singhapakdi et al. , 1999). Furthermore, past studies also have shown that moral intensity in? uences behavioral intentions of the individuals in ethics-related situations (Robin et al. , 1996; Singhapakdi et al. , 1996a). Also, Hunt and Vitell (1986) suggest a theoretical link between intentions and ethical judgments. Therefore, moral intensity would also be expected to in? uence ethical judgments. The relationship between moral intensity and ethical judgments and behavioral intentions has also been empirically shown (Barnett, 2001; Vitell et al. , 2003). Thus, it is hypothesized that: Parents’ attitude toward moral intensity will be positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H6: Parents’ attitude toward moral intensity will be positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H5: contexts (e. g. , Singhapakdi et al. , 1996c; Singhapakdi et al. , 1999). Forsyth (1980) suggests that idealism and relativism can be considered as individual differences that might impact individuals’ judgments of moral issues. Idealism measures an individual’s acceptance of universal moral absolutes. This construct focuses on the assumption that, if ight actions are taken, this will lead to desired outcomes. On the other hand, relativism measures individual’s rejection of universal moral tenets (Forsyth, 1980). Therefore, the conceptualization of these constructs might suggest that individuals who are more idealistic would be more likely to have higher ethica l judgments and behavioral intentions. Previous research provides some support for these relationships (Singhapakdi et al. , 1996c). Relativism is de? ned as a belief that moral standards are relative to one’s culture or society. Forsyth (1992) also indicates that relativistic individuals might ormulate their decisions based on skepticism and evaluate situations based on other than ethical principles. Furthermore, relativistic individuals evaluate what is right or wrong based on the speci? cs of the situation (Park, 2005). Forsyth (1992) also indicates that idealism and relativism are not contrary concepts, but rather independent of each other; for example, an individual might have high scores both on idealism and relativism, which indicates that the person might simultaneously accept absolute moral rules and yet also evaluate the alternatives available based upon the speci? c situation and its possible onsequences. Therefore, parents would evaluate each of the advertising ta ctics directed at their children on a situation-by-situation basis. Since food advertising directed at children has received signi? cant attention recently due to the health concerns of children and increased obesity rates (York, 2007), speci? c types of advertising tactics such as potentially developing unhealthy eating habits might be received more negatively due to their apparent impact on children. Therefore, it is hypothesized that: Parents’ idealism will be related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at hildren. H8: Parents’ idealism will be related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H7: Idealism and relativism Idealism and relativism have been used to measure moral philosophies in various marketing-related The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children Parents’ relativism will ethical judgments of the geted at children. H10: Parents’ relativism will behavioral intentions of targeted at children. H9: be related to their food advertising tarbe related to their the food advertising Method Sample The survey was sent to parents at several schools ocated in the Midwest. The researchers contacted the schools and got permission to send the survey to parents at the schools that agreed to participate in the study. The number of schools that participated in the study provided signi? cant diversity in terms of economic background. The majority of the sample included educated and employed middle-income families. Of the 1,020 surveys sent, 189 surveys were completed, for a response rate of 18. 52%. Of the 189 surveys, 28 surveys had missing data for individual questions. Among the respondents, 78% were mothers and the rest of were fathers. Table I isplays the complete demographics of the respondents. Procedure Once the school principals gave permission, the researchers contacted the teachers from kindergarten to eighth grade. The teachers in each grade sent the ques tionnaires home to parents with the children. Once the parents ? lled out the questionnaires, the children returned the completed questionnaire to the schools. Measures and reliability The dependent variables were behavioral intentions and ethical judgments. The independent variables were moral intensity, idealism, relativism, attitude toward food advertising aimed at children, and ttitude toward the parents’ use of nutrition information. 303 TABLE I Demographics of the respondents Variable Parent Mother Father Age of the parent 29 years old or under 30–39 years old 40–49 years old 50–59 years old Education level of the parent High-school degree Some college degree College graduate Some graduate study Graduate degree Household income (US $) 100k Work status of the parent Working full time Working part time Not working No. of children One child Two children Three children Four children More than four children % 78. 1 21. 9 4. 8 48. 9 39. 8 6. 5 5. 4 19. 4 38. 7 5. 4 31. 2 12. 2 14. 5 26. 6 3. 9 22. 8 67. 9 17. 1 15 18. 7 42. 2 27. 3 7. 5 4. 3 Moral intensity This scale measures parents’ attitude toward moral intensity in a given situation. This construct was developed by Jones (1991) and includes six dimensions. However, the scale used to measure the construct was developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1996b). Responses were measured by a seven-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The harm dimension included three variables: magnitude of consequences, temporal immediacy, and concentration of effect. The other two items were proximity and social consensus. The reliability of the harm scale was 0. 85 for the 304 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell ?rst scenario, 0. 91 for the second scenario, and 0. 86 for the third scenario. Idealism and relativism This scale measures the extent of individual’s acceptance of moral absolutes, whereas the relativism scale measures the extent of individual’s rejection of universal moral principles. The two scales were developed by Forsyth (1980). The ten items for each scale were measured utilizing a seven-point Likerttype scales, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 83 or idealism and 0. 84 for relativism. Attitude toward food advertising This scale measures parents’ attitudes toward food advertising directed at children. The scale is adapted from a Carlson and Grossbart (1988) study and includes six items. The parents’ extent of agreement was measured by a ? ve-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 80. Attitude toward use of nutritional information This scale measures parents’ use of nutritional information. The scale was originally developed by Moorman (1998) and includes four items. The parents’ extent of agreement toward the use of nutritional information were measured by a ? ve-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 82. Scenarios This study utilized three scenarios to measure parents’ behavioral intentions and ethical judgments relative to speci? c situations. Ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were then measured by using a seven-point Likert scale asking the respondents the extent they agree/disagree with the questions. For measuring ethical judgments, the following statement was used, ‘‘I consider the action taken to e very ethical,’’ whereas for measuring behavioral intentions, the following statement was used, ‘‘I would be likely to take the same action in this situation. ’’ Therefore, a greater degree of agreement with the action taken indicates that the respondents had higher ethical levels of behavior al intentions and ethical judgments. At the end of each scenario, the action taken by an advertiser was presented. The scenarios focused on addressing some of the current advertising practices used to target children. The ? rst scenario addresses the use of ‘‘advergames’’ targeting children. Children are playing these games n the Internet in a branded context. The games provide product-related information and even ask children to contact their friends. The second scenario focused on some of the highly debated advertising practices at schools. A food company sponsors programs at schools and child care centers. During visits, the company provides entertainment with well-known characters and exposes children to samples of their potentially unhealthy food products. The third scenario centers on a candy and cereal company who is considering selling books that spotlight the client’s brand. Children can play and learn counting by using sugar-? led sweets an d cereals. The books use the company’s brand as an example in their plays and counting. The scenarios were pretested. The results indicated that most respondents believed that the actions taken by the advertisers in all of the scenarios were unethical. The majority of the respondents also indicated that they disagreed with the actions taken in the three scenarios. Data analysis and results The hypotheses were tested separately for each of the three scenarios. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. H1 measured whether parents’ attitude toward food advertising is ositively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. The three scenarios tested did not indicate signi? cant differences. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p 0. 926; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p 0. 933; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p 0. 724. Thus, parents’ attitude toward food advertising was not related t o their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H2 measured whether parents’ attitude toward food advertising is positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. Again, none of the three scenarios resulted in signi? cant differences. The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children 305 TABLE II ANOVA analysis: scenarios 1, 2, and 3, dependent variable: ethical judgments Variable Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Idealism Relativism Attitude toward Attitude toward Scenario 1 p Value harm consensus proximity food advertising use of nutrition Scenario 2 p Value Scenario 3 p Value 0. 000 0. 095 0. 288 0. 206 0. 200 0. 926 0. 093 F(7, 152) = 26. 835 0. 000 0. 037 0. 772 0. 166 0. 006 0. 933 0. 822 F(7, 158) = 11. 334 0. 000 0. 000 0. 255 0. 633 0. 60 0. 724 0. 127 F(7, 160) = 21. 468 TABLE III ANOVA analysis: scenarios 1, 2, and 3, dependent variable: behavioral intentions Variable Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Idealism Relativism Attitude toward Attitude toward Scenario 1 p Value harm consensus proximity food advertising use of nutrition Scenario 2 p Value Scenario 3 p Value 0. 000 0. 000 0. 091 0. 732 0. 162 0. 854 0. 223 F(7, 153) = 18. 707 0. 000 0. 002 0. 539 0. 186 0. 036 0. 643 0. 116 F(7, 157) = 17. 721 0. 000 0. 005 0. 809 0. 567 0. 081 0. 554 0. 004 F(7, 160) = 16. 315 The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 8. 707, p 0. 854; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p 0. 643; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p 0. 554. Thus parents’ attitude toward food advertising was not related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. Tables II and III display these ? ndings. H3 measured whether parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information is positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. The three scenarios tested did not indicate signi? cant differences. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 35, p 0. 093; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p 0. 822; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p 0. 127. H4 measured whether parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information is positively related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. There were no signi? cant differences regarding the ? rst two scenarios, but there were signi? cant differences on the third scenario among parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information and its relation to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. The ANOVA esults were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p 0. 223; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p 0. 116; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p 0. 004. H5 measured whether parents’ attitude concerning moral intensity is positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. Moral intensity was measured by three separate dimensions: harm, social consensus, and proximity. There were signi? cant differences on the harm construct among three scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 8 36, p 0. 000; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p 0. 000; 306 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p 0. 000. Furthermore, there were signi? cant differences on the social consensus construct for the second and third scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p 0. 095; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p 0. 037; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p 0. 000. Finally, there were no signi? cant differences on proximity among three scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p 0. 288; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p 0. 772; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p 0. 55. Thus, overall H5 was at least partially supported. H6 measured whether parents’ attitude concerning moral intensity is positively related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. Parents’ attitude toward the harm and social consensus dimensions indicated signi? cant differences among three scenarios. The ANOVA results for harm were: scen ario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p 0. 000; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p 0. 000; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p 0. 000. The ANOVA results for social consensus were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p 0. 00; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p 0. 002; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p 0. 005. On the other hand, parents’ attitude toward proximity did not indicate any signi? cant differences among three scenarios. The ANOVA results for proximity were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p 0. 091; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p 0. 539; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p 0. 809. H7 measured whether parents’ idealistic moral philosophy is related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. Parents’ idealism was not signi? cantly related to their ethical udgments. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 835, p 0. 206; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p 0. 166; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p 0. 633. H8 measured whether parents’ idealistic moral philosophy is related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. Again the results were not signi? cant. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p 0. 732; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p 0. 186; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p 0. 567. H9 measured whether parents’ relativistic moral hilosophy is related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H10 mea- sured whether parents’ relativistic moral philosophy is related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H9 and H10 were partially supported. Parents’ relativism was signi? cantly related to ethical judgments and intentions for the second scenario. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 835, p 0. 200; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p 0. 006; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 2 1. 468, p 0. 060. There were no signi? ant differences among parents’ relativism regarding the behavioral intentions for the ? rst and the third scenarios. The ANOVA results for relativism were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p 0. 7162; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p 0. 036; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p 0. 081. Discussion This paper examined parents’ views of the ethics of food advertising targeted at children. The marketing literature, surprisingly, has not examined this topic. This study attempts to ? ll this gap by examining how parents view various types of food advertising directed at children. Children as consumers have ecome signi? cantly more important to marketers in the last decade. Marketers have heavily promoted their products to this segment and spent millions of dollars on advertising to reach this segment (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). Food advertising represents a signi? cant portion of all advertising spending for marketers while food a dvertising targeted at children has received signi? cant criticism from both parents and public policy-makers. The ? ndings of the study provide interesting insights. Parents were asked to respond to three different scenarios outlining various food advertising strategies directed at children. Furthermore, parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were measured for the three scenarios. One of the independent variables was parents’ attitude toward food advertising. The ? ndings indicated that parents’ attitude toward food advertising did not affect their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions concerning speci? c food advertising directed at their children. One of the reasons for not ? nding a signi? cant relationship might be due to the measurement of other food advertising practices targeted at children in the scenarios that was not included in the The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children cale measuring attitudes toward food advertising. This ? nding provides important implications for marketers which might indicate that parents evaluate speci? c food advertising targeted at children independently of their potential views on general food advertising directed at children. Thus, marketers who are cognizant of the potential harm of advertising to children might still be highly regarded by consumers even if the consumer, in general, has negative or skeptical views of advertising to children. Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information displayed interesting ? ndings. The third scenario, in particular, focused on speci? c implications of a food product that might have unhealthy eating implications for children. Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutritional information for this scenario was related to their behavioral intentions. On the other hand, there were no signi? cant relationships between an attitude toward the use of nutrition and ethical judgments of food advertising targeted at children for any of the scenarios, including scenario 3. Parents might have not perceived using well-known characters to distribute food company products at schools and child care acilities to have any potential harm. The lack of a relationship between an attitude toward the use of nutritional information and ethical judgments of food advertising targeted at children should be considered on a scenario-by-scenario basis; for example, for the ? rst scenario, it might be that parents did not really think the advergames and the use of well-known characters to distribute food company products at schools and child care facilities presented any potential unethical practices. Particularly, advergames are new promotional tools used on the Web to attract adults and children within a branded context. Advergames are somewhere between advertising and computer games and include product-related information from the companies with the use of games or part of a game (Nelson, 2002; Mallinckrodt and Mizerski, 2007). Past studies also suggest that advergames might be more persuasive for young children than traditional advertising (Oanh Ha, 2004). Parental awareness of advergames targeting children needs further investigation in future research. Future research should also examine how parents use nutritional information in their food purchase decisions to have a better understanding of the relationship between attitude 307 oward use of nutrition information and ethical perspectives regarding food advertising. Moral intensity signi? cantly affected parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. This ?nding offers signi? cant implications for marketers and public policy-makers. Parents indicated concerns regarding the potential harm of various food advertising targeting childre n in the three scenarios. It is important that marketers should be more careful when they create their advertising tactics targeting children. It might also be that more regulations might be needed to address parental concerns regarding the potential effects of food dvertising. The moral intensity measure of proximity was not signi? cantly related to the ethical judgments and behavioral intentions of parents. Proximity measures the ‘‘feeling of nearness (social, cultural, psychological, or physical)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376) that the individual has for those affected by the action in question. It might be that parents considered the action taken unethical whether the results affected their friends/relatives or not. The ?ndings relative to social consensus and its effect on their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were signi? cant, in most instances. Thus, parents did consider what others might think about a speci? c situation when forming their ethical judgments and intentions. The ethical perspectives of idealism and relativism also provide some insights regarding parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Findings indicated that there is no signi? cant relationship between parents’ attitude toward idealism and their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Parents, in this study, may not have perceived the scenarios as situations that should carry universal moral absolutes. On the other hand, parents’ attitude toward relativism signi? antly affected their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions but only for the second scenario. Relativism might be more likely to in? uence opinions on a situation-by-situation basis. The second scenario in particular expressed potential unhealthy effects on children. Therefore, parents might have perceived this scenario as involving questionable ethical pr actices. Our study has some limitations. Although parents were instructed to ? ll out the questionnaire individually or as a couple, we could not verify whether or not they communicated with each other. This raises the 308 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell possibility of a potential demand artifact. Secondly, although survey methods provide important information on individuals’ perceptions and beliefs, qualitative methods would bestow more detailed information on parents’ perceptions and attitudes. Future research should focus on more qualitative techniques to have a deeper understanding of perceptions and attitudes. Third, our ? ndings provide insights only from parents in the Midwestern USA. These ? ndings are not yet generalizable to other cultures or subcultures. Understanding parents’ perspectives on advertising directed at children is important. Future research should focus on a more detailed parental perspective to uncover how parents make judgments on whether advertising directed at children is ethical or not. Qualitative studies might provide more in-depth understanding. Uncovering these issues might minimize the discrepancy between parents and marketers. The debate on the effects of food advertising targeted at children has intensi? ed in the last several years among academicians, public policy-makers, and marketers. Companies need to respond better to the food-related debates in society, particularly to those related to healthy eating and ethical food marketing. In conclusion, our ? ndings assist both research and theory in the children’s advertising ? eld. With the increasing prominence of ethics in business/ marketing research, this study presents important ?ndings that advance our understanding of the potential antecedents to the ethical decision-making process for parents in situations involving advertising directed toward their children. We trust that the results generated by this research can be successfully used to guide future ethics research projects in this growing ? eld. Appendix A: scenarios Scenario 1 A food company whose products are, in part, argeted at children is planning to use ‘‘adver- games’’ (online games in which a company’s product or brand characters are featured). It is also considering encouraging children to contact their friends about a speci? c product or brand as part of their new advertising campaign. The company is considering using the internet, rather than more traditi onal media such as television, due to the highly debated relationship between aggressive food advertising and increased obesity among children. Action: The company decided to use Internet advertising for their new campaign. Scenario 2 An advertising agency recommended that their client sponsor programs at schools and visit child care centers. These sponsored programs would make a ?nancial contribution to each school and child care center. During these visits the company would provide entertainment with the company’s wellknown characters and provide a sample of the company’s food products to children. If they do this, children who are less than 5 years old would be introduced to a range of products that might be considered ‘‘unhealthy. ’’ Action: The sponsor decided to conduct these visits to the child care centers/schools and provide a sample of their products. Scenario 3 A candy and cereal company is considering selling books that spotlight the client’s brand. These children’s books provide content on ‘‘counting and playing. ’’ Children can play checkers with various fruit-? avored candies and can learn to count using various forms of calorie and sugar-? lled sweets and cereals. The books use the company’s brand as an example for the ‘‘counting and playing’’ content. Action: The candy and cereal company decided to sell these books to children. The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children Appendix B: scale items 309 APPENDIX B continued Moral intensity 4. The overall harm (if any) done as a result of the action would be very small Harm 2 The action will harm very few people, if any Harm 3 The action will not cause any harm in the immediate future Proximity If one were a personal friend of the person(s) harmed, the action would be wrong Social Most people would agree that the action is consensus wrong 5. Harm 1 6. 7. 8. Idealism 9. 1. A person should make certain that their actions never intentionally harm another even to a small degree 2. Risks to another should never be tolerated, irrespective of how small the risks might be 3. The existence of potential harm to others is always rong, irrespective of the bene? ts gained 4. One should never psychologically or physically harm another person 5. One should not perform an action which might in anyway threaten the dignity and welfare of another individual 6. If an action could harm an innocent other, then it should not be done 7. Deciding whether or not to perform an act by balancing the p ositive consequences of the act against the negative consequences of the act is immoral 8. The dignity and welfare of people should be the most important concern of any society 9. It is never necessary to sacri? ce the welfare of others 10. Moral actions are those which closely match ideals of the most ‘‘perfect’’ action 10. Attitude toward food advertising 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 2. 3. There are no ethical principles that are so important that they should be part of any code of ethics What is ethical varies from one situation and society to another Moral standards should be seen as being individualistic; what one person considers to be moral may be judged to be immoral by another person There is too much food advertising directed at children Advertisers use tricks and gimmicks to get children to buy their products Advertising to children makes false claims about utrition content of food products There is too much sugar in the foods advertised to children Advertising teaches children bad eating habits Advertising directed at children leads to family con? ict Attitude toward use of nutritional information Relativism 1. Different types of moralities cannot be compared as to ‘‘rightness†™â€™ Questions of what is ethical for everyone can never be resolved since what is moral or immoral is up to the individual Moral standards are simply personal rules which indicate how a person should behave, and are not to be applied in making judgments of others Ethical considerations in interpersonal relations are so complex that individuals should be allowed to formulate their own individual codes Rigidly codifying an ethical position that prevents certain types of actions could stand in the way of better human relations and adjustment No rule concerning lying can be formulated; whether a lie is permissible or not permissible totally depends upon the situation Whether a lie is judged to be moral or immoral depends upon the circumstances surrounding the actions 1. 2. 3. 4. I usually pay attention to nutrition information when I see it in an ad or elsewhere I use nutrition information on the label when making most of food selections I don’t spend much time in the supermarket reading nutrition information I read about nutrition in magazines or books 310 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell References Ahuja, R. D. , M. Walker and R. Tadepalli: 2001, ‘Paternalism, Limited Paternalism, and the Pontius Plate Plight When Researching Children’, Journal of Business Ethics 32, 81–92. Barnett, T. : 2001, ‘Dimensions of Moral Intensity and Ethical Decision Making: An Empirical Study’, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 31(5), 1038–1057. Bass, K. , T. Barnett and G. Brown: 1999, ‘Individual Difference Variables, Ethical Judgments, and Ethical Behavioral Intentions’, Business Ethics Quarterly 9(2), 183–205. Bolton, R. N. : 1983, ‘Modeling the Impact of Television Food Advertising on Children’s Diets’, in J. H. Leigh and C. R. Martin Jr. (eds. ), Current Issues and Research in Advertising (Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI), pp. 173–199. Carlson, L. and S. Grossbart: 1988, ‘Parental Style and Consumer Socialization of Children’, Journal of Consumer Research 15(June), 77–94. Crosby, L. A. and S. L. Grossbart: 1984, ‘Parental Style Segments and Concern About Children’s Food Advertising’, in J. H. Leigh and C. R. Martin Jr. (eds. ), Current Issues Research in Advertising (Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI), pp. 43–63. Crosby, L. A. , S. L. Grossbart, J. L. Robb and L. Carlson: 1982, ‘Mothers’ Support For Nutrition Education: A Segmentation Analysis’, in B. J. Walker, W. O. Bearden, W. R. Darden, P. E. Murphy, J. R. Nevin, J. C. Olson and B. A. Weitz (eds. ), An Assessment of Marketing Thought and Practice, American Marketing Association Educators’ Proceedings (American Marketing Association, Chicago). Dubinsky, A. J. and B. Loken: 1989, ‘Analyzing Ethical Decision Making in Marketing’, Journal of Business Research 19, 83–107. Fishbein, M. and I. Ajzen: 1975, Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA). Forsyth, D. R. : 1980, ‘A Taxonomy of Ethical Ideologies’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39(1), 175–184. Forsyth, D. R. : 1992, ‘Judging the Morality of Business Practices: The In? uence of Personal Moral Philosophies’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 461–470. Goldberg, M. E. and G. J. Gorn: 1974, ‘Children’s Reactions to television Advertising: An Experimental Approach’, Journal of Consumer Research 1(September), 69–75. Goldberg, M. E. , G. J. Gorn and W. Gibson: 1978, ‘TV Messages for Snack and Breakfast Foods: Do They In? uence Children’s Preferences’, Journal of Consumer Research 5(September), 73–81. Gorn, G. J. and M. E. Goldberg: 1977, ‘The Impact of Television Advertising on Children from Low Income Families’, Journal of Consumer Research 4(September), 86–88. Grimm, M. : 2004, ‘Is Marketing to Kids Ethical? ’ Brandweek 45(14), 44–48. Grossbart, S. , L. A. Crosby and J. Robb: 1982, ‘Parental Diffusion Roles and Children’s Responses to Nutrition Education’, in B. J. Walker, W. O. Bearden, W. R. Darden, P. E. Murphy, J. R. Nevin, J. C. Olson and B. A. Weitz (eds. ), An Assessment of Marketing Thought and Practice, American Marketing Association Educators’ Proceedings (American Marketing Association, Chicago). Hudson, S. , D. Hudson and J. Peloza: 2008, ‘Meet the Parents: A Parents’ Perspective on Product Placement in Children’s Films’, Journal of Business Ethics 80, 209–304. Hunt, S. D. and S. Vitell: 1986, ‘A General Theory of Marketing Ethics’, Journal of Macromarketing 6, 5–16. Jardine, A. and L. Wentz: 2004, ‘Marketers Brace for Food-Ad Rules’, Advertising Age, September 13 issue. Jardine, A. and L. Wentz: 2005, ‘It’s a Fat World After All’, Advertising Age, March 7 issue. Jones, T. M. : 1991, ‘Ethical Decision-Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model’, Journal of Management Review 16, 366–395. Kotz, D. : 2007, ‘How to Win the Weight Battle’, U. S. News and World Report, September 10 issue. Mallinckrodt, V. and D. Mizerski: 2007, ‘The Effects of Playing an Advergame on Young Children’s Perceptions, Preferences, and Requests’, Journal of Advertising 36(2), 87–100. McKay, B. : 2005, ‘Do Ads Make Kids Fat? ’, Wall Street Journal 245(19). McNeal, J. U. : 1998, ‘Tapping the Three Kids’ Markets’, Am Demographics 20(4), 37–41. Moore, E. : 2004, ‘Children and the Changing World of Advertising’, Journal of Business Ethics 52, 161–167. Moorman, C. : 1998, ‘Market-Level Effects of Information: Competitive Responses and Consumer Dynamics’, Journal of Marketing Research 35(February), 82–98. Nelson, M. R. : 2002, ‘Recall of Brand Placements in Computer/Video Games’, Journal of Advertising Research 42(2), 80–92. Oanh Ha, K. : 2004, ‘Neopets Sites for Children Stirs Controversy’, Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, September 14. Park, H. : 2005, ‘The Role of Idealism and Relativism as Dispositional Characteristics in the Socially Respon- The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children sible Decision-Making Process’, Journal of Business Ethics 56, 81–98. Pollay, R. W. and B. Mittal: 1993, ‘Here’s the Beef: Factors, Determinants, and Segments in Consumer Criticism of Advertising’, Journal of Marketing 57(July), 99–114. Robin, D. P. , R. E. Reidenbach and P. J. Forrest: 1996, ‘The Perceived Importance of an Ethical Issue as an In? uence on the Ethical Decision-Making of Ad Managers’, Journal of Business Research 35(1), 17–28. Rose, G. M. , V. D. Bush and L. Kahle: 1998, ‘The In? uence of Family Communication Patterns on Parental Reactions toward Advertising: A Cross National Examination’, Journal of Advertising 27(4), 71–85. Singhapakdi, A. , S. Vitell and K. L. Kraft: 1996a, ‘Moral Intensity and Ethical Decision-Making of Marketing Professionals’, Journal of Business Research 36, 245–255. Singhapakdi, A. , S. Vitell and K. L. Kraft: 1996b, ‘The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Scale Development’, Journal of Business Ethics 15(11), 1131–1140. Singhapakdi, A. S. Vitell, K. C. Rallapalli and K. L. Kraft: 1996c, ‘The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Scale Development’, Journal of Business Ethics 15(11), 1131–1140. Singhapakdi, A. , S. J. Vitell and G. R. Franke: 1999, ‘Antecedents, Consequences and Mediating Effects of 311 Perceived Moral Intensity and Personal Moral Philosophies’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 27(1), 19–36. Vitell, S. , A. Bakir, J. Paolillo, E. R. Hidalgo, J. Al-Khatib and M. Y. A. Rawwas: 2003, ‘Ethical Judgments and Intentions: A Multinational Study of Marketing Professionals’, Business Ethics: A European Review 12(2), 151–171. Wentz, L. : 2005, ‘Pop Stops Kids’ Marketing In Europe’, Advertising Age, January 30 issue. York, E. B. : 2007, ‘Another Study Slams Food Ads Aimed at Children’, Advertising Age, September issue. Aysen Bakir Department of Marketing, Illinois State University, Campus Box 5590, Normal, IL 61790-5590, U. S. A. E-mail: abakir2@ilstu. edu Scott J. Vitell School of Business Administration, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, U. S. A. E-mail: svitell@bus. olemiss. edu Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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CVM and Managerial Leadership Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the CVM and Managerial Leadership. Answer: Introduction The competing value framework is an effective tool utilised by the organisations for determining the efficiency of the overall organisation and efficiency of the individual involved. This according to Quinn et al., (2007) was initially developed for understanding the performance of the organisation. The tool has utility for understanding various organisational and individual phenomenons like theory of effectiveness, organisational culture, competencies of leadership, organisational design, organisational quality, stages of life cycle development, organisational design, financial strategy, leadership role, brain function, and information processing. Managerial leadership on the other hand is an integral part of organisational management. Organisationalmanagement is the combined process of planning, organising, leading and controlling the resources held by the organisation with the aim of gaining productivity to attain the objectives. Hence, the managers are empowered with a vast range of responsibilities to fulfil the business needs. The responsibilities of the manager exceed beyond planning or risk assessing and include giving direction to the workforce towards the aim of the organisation. This requires the managers to develop various kinds of leadership style for addressing various workplace situations. This report will focus on identifying the importance of competing value framework in the organisation with particular focus on the managerial leadership. Competing Value Framework The determination of the organisational efficiency that is identified using competing value framework is calculated under two major dimensions that are organisational focus and organisational preference for structure. Efficiency of the organisation under each dimension is determined between two extents under each dimension. The organisational focus incorporates internal emphasis and external emphasis. Internal emphasis speaks for the well-being and development of the individual stakeholders within the organisation; whereas, the external emphasis focuses on the well-being and development of the organisation itself. The preferred structure on contrary focuses on the two contrasting end, which are flexibility and control or stability (Quinn et al., 2007). This forms fur quadrants of the model that helps determining the state of the organisation. It is important for an organisation to be flexible for adapting rapid change in the society in the competitive market. However, it is also impo rtant formanagement to have significant control over the business process, which creates a paradox condition in the organisations. Four majormanagement models such as human relation model, open system model, rational goal model and internal process model again represent each of the quadrants. The first model lies between the flexibility and internal emphasis and strains on the morale, cohesion, and human resource development within the organisation. The open system model on the other hand stands between flexibility and external forces. This focuses on the external factors that are growth, readiness, resource acquisition and external import with more flexible approach. The rational goal model as identified by Lavine (2014), focuses on the external factors of the organisation with a more controlled approach. This requires the managers in formulating plan, setting goal, and increasing productivity and efficiency in order to increase the affectivity. Lastly, the internal process model as mentioned by Ferreira (2014) represents the internal factors with greater control. This is helps in communication, information man agement, stability and control. Managerial leadership Leaders and managers are broadly segregated from each other and they are defined separately due to their role and approach taken. The responsibilities of a managers lies with controlling, directing and managing the activities in the organisation that helps to achieve specific goals of the organisation. The roles played by the leaders are more inspirational that helps in motivating the subordinates and guide them throughout the work. The contemporary trend and situations in the market make it more necessary for the managers to incorporate leadership approach in order to attain the goal of the organisation. Managerial leadership, as defined by Galvin et al., (2014) is the combination of both that enables the manager to reshuffle their roles depending on the demand of the situation. It is important for the managerial leaders to develop flexibility, humble and down-to-earth approach as leadership may involve incorporation of culture, belief and ethics. The leaders should value subordinat es opinions and belief to develop a healthy managerial relationship in the workplace. Disrespecting others values and culture can lead to conflict in workplace. Managerial leaders can adopt any of the available styles of leadership as per the requirement of the situation. Importance of Competing Value Model in Managerial Leadership The competing value model has its usefulness and can be implemented in various grounds in an organisational context. One of the major areas of implementation of CVM framework for both identification of the efficiency and development of the process is the managerial leadership roles. This further helps in developing better understanding similarities and differences of the leadership applicability in various grounds. Galvin et al., (2014) in his study described eight different categories of roles. The criterion of an effective leader is to develop the ability in playing these multiple and competing leadership roles. Interpretation of CVM for Managerial Leadership As described earlier, the CVM framework has two major dimensions that are organisational focus and organisational preference for structure. This can be implemented in case of managerial leadership, which can further be studied in accordance of the four quadrants mentioned. As communicated by Melo, Silva and Parreira (2014) the four quadrants or model of CVM represents eight leadership roles. This helps the managers under any organisations to efficiently handling the uncertainty, disruption and competing demands. The human relationship model as communicated by Melo, Silva and Parreira (2014) seeks the managers to take a more flexible approach and work as an empathic mentor and process focused facilitator. This helps the managers in keeping the employees motivated all time for gaining greater performance. The leadership approach here requires encouraging the employees for collective efforts, promoting cohesion and teaming work, and managing conflicts. This requires managers to develop communication among the team members for avoiding undesired circumstances. Communication of the vision and mission with the employees helps aligning their focus towards productivity (Purce, 2014). This also helps in encouraging them. The motivation on the other hand helps the managers in developing team and managing possible conflict that might occur in the workplace. This requires the manager in adopting the transformational leadership that allows him or her attain success through greater communication and inspi ring ability. Open system model on the other hand focuses on innovation and negotiate the approach of the managerial leaders. The leaders in this case have to address the innovation in respect to market demand for avoiding the downfall of the organisation. Innovation of the products is of optimum priority of comparative market settings that requires the managers to appreciate change in the market as well as modifying the business process accordingly to the change for gaining competitive advantage (Sapra, Subramanian Subramanian, 2014). Various case exists in that can be referred as the strategic leadership failure due to the lack of adaptability of the managers to the upcoming change in the market trend. The leaders that ultimately led the company can consider Nokia and Blackberry case as one of the cases of adaptability failure by the management. The key processes of the bringing change in the organisation are problem-solving, adaptation, innovation and change management. The external resource m anagement and sustaining legitimacy on the other hand is another responsibility that helps the organisation to hold competitive advantage. This further requires the communication skill for effective negotiation and value proposition in the market. The leader under the rational goal model plays the role of producer and director for determining the productivity and profit of the organisation. This is known as the organisation for both identifying risk and implementing strategy. This strategic management involves the leaders in risk assessment, market analysis and strategic planning for avoiding the undesired circumstances that may lead to the strategic failure. (Melo, Silva Parreira, 2014) Failure of the appropriate strategic planning for both external and internal process in directing towards the organisational goal attainment leads to the business failure. The producers, on the other hand, are responsible for task planning. This is similar to the overall strategic planning, which requires focusing on the risk assessment for identifying the potential threat of a particular task, and planning accordingly to hold high productivity of the team. Leaders in the internal process model lastly require the managers to monitor and coordinate the employees for tracking and increasing the productivity. Monitoring includes the review of performance matrix for understanding organisational efficiency (Krishnaiah et al., 2014). This further includes the concept of communication for transferring the results that in turn fulfils the need of motivation in the organisation for gaining greater productivity. Conclusion It is possible to conclude from the above discussion that managerial leadership is of critical importance in determining the organisational efficiency. The contemporary competitive market scenario makes it necessary for the managers to reflect efficient leadership approach in various aspect of the business process. Competing Value Model is an effective tool in identifying the effectiveness of an organisation, which can be used identifying the compatibility of managerial leadership in an organisation. The above study reflects that various quadrants of the CVM framework successfully communicate numerous roles of the managerial leaders in handling different aspects of the business operations, which ensures the success of the organisation. However, failure in adopting proper managerial leadership approach can result into strategic failure that ultimately reduces the productivity of the organisation. The leaders need to address necessary management theories gaining success in the operatio ns. References Ferreira, A. I. (2014). Competing Values Framework and its impact on the intellectual capital dimensions: evidence from different Portuguese organizational sectors.Knowledge Management Research Practice,12(1), 86-96. Galvin, T., Gibbs, M., Sullivan, J., Williams, C. (2014). Leadership competencies of project managers: An empirical study of emotional, intellectual, and managerial dimensions.Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance, and Marketing,6(1), 35. Krishnaiah, Y. S., Xu, X., Rahman, Z., Yang, Y., Katragadda, U., Lionberger, R., ... Khan, M. A. (2014). Development of performance matrix for generic product equivalence of acyclovir topical creams.International journal of pharmaceutics,475(1-2), 110-122. Lavine, M. (2014). Paradoxical leadership and the competing values framework.The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,50(2), 189-205. Melo, R. C., Silva, M. J., Parreira, P. (2014). Effective leadership: competing values framework.Procedia Technology,16, 921-928. Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals),67. Quinn, R. E., Faerman, S. R., Thompson, M. P., Clair, L. S. S. (2007).Becoming a master manager: A competing values approach. John Wiley Sons Inc. Sapra, H., Subramanian, A., Subramanian, K. V. (2014). Corporate governance and innovation: Theory and evidence.Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis,49(4), 957-1003.

Buying vs Leasing free essay sample

What would be the best option for a company to lease or purchase equipment? Each business owner’s situation is different. The decision to buy or lease business equipment is unique. It must be made on a case-by-case basis. Leasing equipment preserves capital giving the business more flexibility. While leasing can be good in the short run it can cost you more in the long run. We will look at the advantages and disadvantages of leasing. My research will look at the different options a company faces if they lease or buy and why it has become more attractive to lease. First let’s start by describing the basic concept of a lease. Some leases are merely rentals, whereas others are effectively purchases. FASB classifieds lease as an operating lease or a capital lease. A lease must meet one of the following criteria’s to be considering a capital lease. The lease is greater than 75% of the property’s estimated economic life, the lease contains an option to purchase the property for less than fair market value usually at a bargain price, ownership of the property is transferred to the lessee at the end of the lease term, or the present value of the lease payments exceeds 90% on the fair market value of the property. The lessor transfers the right to use the property to a lessee. Lessor is the finance company and lessee is the person leasing. The lessee makes one-time or periodic payments to the lessor in return for the use of the property. Leased asset can either be tangible property such as a home, office, car, airplane or computer. If you run a business and have to decide to lease or buy here are some benefits of leasing to consider. Less cash up front means conserving capital. A lease can also provide services to the equipment by giving it maintenance. Lease payment terms tend to be longer which makes payment more attractable. The ability to upgrade equipment is a benefit in growing businesses that need to keep up with technology. One advantage of leasing business equipment is that it allows you to acquire assets with minimal down payment or no down payment at all. This is good to your cash flow. The more cash your company shows and has makes it more attractive to its investors. Lessor has certain roles, they are customers to the manufacturers, and they are customers offering a crucial distribution. Leasing equipment provides he lessee with all the following benefits utilizing the equipment without having to pay the up-front costs or assuming the risk of ownership. A lease is one of the best ways for businesses to stay on top of the development curve. With so many new developments that occur specially in technology areas equipment leasing is less financially expensive. To the airlines they are a more affordable method of supplying what they need. While there continues to be turmoil in the financial markets commercial lenders focus premier on credits and a lot of the airlines won’t qualify to buy an airplanes. That is why leasing has become popular among the airline. The airlines are coming to the conclusion that it might be better for someone else to own the assets. Let’s take into consideration why airlines would lease its commercial jets. When making the decision to buy or to lease the company must consider financial implications and options including the value of the money. Operating leases are for terms shorter than expected life of the aircraft, and the asset typically need not appear on the balance sheet. A capital finance lease covers the useful life of the aircraft. A sale-leaseback arrangement involves purchase of the aircraft and use for a short period of time, followed by sale to the lessor who then leases the aircraft back. Airlines are more increasingly turning to operating leases to bear the risk of a slump. American Airlines is one example of having the flexibility of going bankrupt and tear up leases and return the planes back. While it makes sense for airlines to rent airplanes the case can be made in the opposite direction. Airlines can also be better off buying planes and keeping them for their full lifespan of 30 years or so. Like house, then, buying is cheaper than renting in the long term. While leasing has both advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a look at the disadvantages. The lack of ownership would be a main disadvantage. You are obligated to make payments and when a lessee encounters financial distress, the lessor typically becomes its largest creditor. If a lessor decides to reduce exposure and recall its leased aircraft, an airline can no longer operate. Lessors require payments for all aspects of airplane utilization and rent, meaning maintenance reserves and so on. The cash flow becomes much tighter while if they own their own jets they have much more flexibility. According to Boeings Zolotusky, it comes down to two basic considerations, the quality of the aircraft involved and the customer involved. Businesses can change operations and it may be expensive and difficult to terminate a lease before the end of the term. If the business owns the property it might be easier to sell and make money rather than losing all of its assets and getting nothing in return. In some cases of leasing when it’s time to renew the owners might demand higher rental payments putting the lessee at a disadvantage. Lessors offer a very sensible business proposition. For airlines that want to be primarily airlines, it’s a very attractive and efficient service. If the operators want to focus on the service of getting people on planes, they don’t want to focus on the business of asset ownership and management. Most states charge substantial sales or use tax on the purchase of or use of an aircraft’s. However in the case of leasing the aircraft the tax can be avoided entirely. An aircraft leasing company can create a win-win situation for both the aircraft investor and the State. The rules are good for the state because the state charge sales tax on interest payments, which would not be taxable. The tax deferral can have permanent benefits where as is often the case, the investor only holds the aircraft for a few years. However, if the investor uses a leasing company, the tax cost will be unchanged. The other advantage to using an aircraft leasing company is the resale exemption to purchase parts and labor tax-free. It would also reduce the risk of other states imposing a tax. Using the aircraft leasing company will not generate any negative FAA and income tax consequences. Income tax consequences can me more complex because of the special rules that apply to leasing companies, including the passive activity loss rules. One way to avoid this problem is by a leasing company which is a single member LLC owned by the user. The single user is ignored for tax purposes and treated as a separate company for sales tax purposes. However it may not be the case for all States. In conclusion aircraft leasing can save companies thousands of sales tax dollars. Being an owner of an aircraft can give you the right to depreciate it for tax purposes but only the interest, no principal will be deductible. While for some companies facing potential alternative minimum tax issues, a lease payment would fully be deductible. Lessors assume a residual value to the aircraft being leased; they can typically offer a lower rental payment. However to optimize the cash flow benefit, leases usually must be for a longer term. It not only allows more cash in your pocket but it can also your lines of credit open. Leasing can remove long-term debt from the balance sheet. Many lease agreements qualify as an expense, no debt. Companies like this because it makes the balance sheet seem more attractive. In the end I think airlines have fewer cost if they lease rather than buying their commercial jets. Leasing can also take away the financial burden of buying them and to provide temporary increase in capacity. My findings let me to the conclusion that leasing can be a better option for business owners. Owners can have more capital and grow more rapidly by leasing. While leasing businesses are generating revenue by benefiting from equipment. Lease payments are considered expenses rather than assets, which can offset revenue when calculating taxable profit at the end of the tax period. In the airlines case if they wish to grow they have more flexibility by leasing the aircrafts. Also, a company with international operations may have options, in terms of structuring the acquisition, that make the option of leasing more desirable option. Since the leases for aircraft typically offer a lower rental payment it can increase the airlines cash flow. Leasing can also help the airlines by keeping their credit open making it easier to borrow. Its relative easier to lease in the credit market than buy using the credit. A lot of airlines file for Chapter 11 and don’t have sufficient credit to borrow later on. Leasing gives them an option. In my opinion leasing is best option and offer many financial benefits. Your business can grow by leasing. It can help businesses safeguard cash flow by paying for equipment as it generates revenue. If the equipment gets outdated leasing gives businesses the option of updating it. Depreciation also is a major consideration. For assets that depreciate rapid due to wear and tear or through becoming obsolete leasing can prevent significant loss on value. Leasing could permit the use of the equipment while it’s new and then on completion of lease it can be updated or returned. Maintenance is also another advantage. Lessors try to give best maintenance since they are still the owners of the property. Leasing provides the flexibility to businesses that want to grow. It is why I conclude that leasing is the best choice in this competitive market place where technology is constantly changing and businesses must keep up with improvements to stay competitive. References Earl K. Stice, PhD: Intermediate Accounting:2010,2007 South-Western ,Cengage Learning The Economist Newspaper: The Economist, 2012,Buy or Rent? Pam Newman: Entrepreneur :2006 Leasing Vs Buying: Which is Best for You?

The Jungle 2 Essays - Meat Packing Industry, The Jungle,

The Jungle 2 Sinclair's book ,The Jungle probably had to do the most with the fact that he himself was a Socialist. He was brought up in Baltimore, and his family was considerately poor. His father was not very successful at his job and for this reason it seems good to believe he became a Socialist because in communist countries it is said that all people are treated equal. An opposite of this book would be "?Animal Farm", which Sinclair has probably never read. This other novel shows the bad sides of Socialism and it ends with the rules saying, "All animals are considered equal, but some are more equal than others". In this book it shows that a hard worker is not rewarded and is only disposed of once he becomes a burden. The life of Sinclair and his book is reflected upon only because he uses his opinions in the book. In his book, he made a financial breakthrough and had his first successful novel. Sinclair has written many books dealing with the problems of capitalism and the solutions of commu nism which is not fair because he writes nothing good of capitalism and it's benefits. He also wrote other books on his wisdom he had gained and relegion. He frequently tried for office but never succeeded. His publications were originally made mostly by publishing them himself. The story itself takes place in Chicago with a group of immigrants. They come to the U.S. and discover it's a cruel, harsh world. First, though, this group goes through a series of trials. The first is a marr iage which costs much money, and the second is a death. After this, comes a house which is sold to the one couple for three times the value of the house. It's at this time that the parents and other groups move into this house. One character goes into a meat packing business where he learns of unsanitary conditions. The second is a musician which is currently down on his luck and his wife goes out to work. After a while the first character breaks his arm and loses time at work and is then not received back. He learns at this point when you are new, they will accept you, but once injured they throw out the crippled. At this point this character talks to a Socialist and begins to travel to meetings. But first he returns to his job. And at the point of return he becomes a manager. After his first Socialist rally, he listens mainly to two people, one a ex-professor whose has become a philosopher and the other who is currently an evangelist who has become a traveler.

11 Facts on Non-College Education for a Persuasive Speech

11 Facts on Non-College Education for a Persuasive Speech If you are looking for facts on non-college education for a persuasive speech, consider the information below: The majority of non-college educated Republicans in America view racism as less of an issue compared to those who have a college education. In places like South Carolina, most non-college educated Republicans took no issue with a Confederate flag being hoisted on statehouse grounds. Perhaps the most shocking find of a recent Pew Research Center study was that white Republicans who do not have a college education do not feel that voting gives any voice to the people. They believe that there is no point in voting and will not go to the polls because of it. This level of ignorance is pervasive and continues to undermine legitimate government systems around the world. Today 62% of non-college educated Republicans saw immigrants as a significant burden on the country. Only 26% of non-college educated Republican thought that immigrants strengthen the country. But among those white college graduates who were Republicans, the opinion about whether immigrants are a burden or whether they strengthen the country was relatively divided. White Republicans without a college education were more skeptical about whether voting actually gives citizens a voice. In fact, 44% claimed that voting by average people does not impact how the government is operated, and 3% of white Republicans with a college education claimed the same. Only 38% of Republicans like the elected officials who have ever compromised compared to 59% of Democrats who like it when their politicians compromise. Those without a college education strongly disliked any politician who compromises, and only 1/3rd of voters see any politician who compromises in a positive light. In contrast, only half of college educated participants had favorable views of those who compromised. White Republicans without a college education are more likely to be critical about the business and economic fairness in America compared to those white Republicans with a college education. Half of those white Republicans without a college education believe that businesses make reasonable profits, but the other half said they made too much. 68% of white Republicans with a college education believe that corporations have reasonable profits with 27% believing their profits are excessive. The majority of white Republicans without college education have doubts about the equality of the U.S. economic system, with 60% believing that it favors the most powerful citizens and only 37% believing it is fair to the majority of Americans. But among those white Republicans with a college education, 55% view the system as fair. Among the Republican Party there is widespread dissatisfaction with the politics, with 79% of all Republicans stating that their side loses more often than it wins in political arguments. Both educated and non-educated white Republicans were angry with the federal government. However, among white Republicans without a college education they were more likely to view politics today as a struggle between what is right and what is wrong. Those white Republicans with a college education only felt in 35% of cases that the political issues facing the Republican party were issues of right versus wrong. Studies have indicated that there is a strong difference between the political views of people who have a college education and people who dont. There is also a difference between the amount of money which can be earned by those who have a college education vs. those who do not, a difference which only continues at the mid-level and top-tier levels of a given career. Today, college graduates between the age of 25 and 32 who are working full-time will make roughly $17,000 more than their peers to only have a high school diploma. Naturally those who begin earning a college degree at the age of 18 will be better off compensating for the cost of Education compared to those who complete a degree later on and lose valuable years at a mid-level pay scale. Today many people are questioning whether receiving a college education is worth the cost for particularly with regard to what career potential is available after graduation. The annual cost for undergraduate tuition as well as room and board reaches $12,000 for public institutions and $32,000 for private institutions each year. This means that a modest education, that which is defined as a bachelors degree from a public university, will cost $50,000 minimum. Attending a top-tier private university will quadruple this expense. Adding to this the opportunity cost, which means the amount of money a person could have earned over the span of 4 years by working at a job rather than studying, and this money begins to add up quite quickly. The real question on many peoples minds today is how long it takes a new graduate to recuperate from all of these costs. Individuals who have no degree but are willing to complete Advanced Training such as a technical school can earn roughly $30,000 a year as a beginner. This means that over the course of 4 years they can make $120,000 while the college enrolled counterpart will make next to nothing and will earn a great deal of debt in the process. In fact, the average debt for student loans is around $25,000 and those who earn advanced degrees often have $100,000 on average in debt. The beginning earning for a non-college graduate starts at about $28,000 with a mid-level earning potential of $47,000 and a top level earning potential of $79,000. Somebody with a 4 year degree or higher will start earning $51,000 a year making $85,000 per year at the mid-level point and averaging $130,000 a year at the top level. The math indicates that those who have a four-year degree will earn over 1 million dollars more compared to those who do not during the course of their career. This of course does not necessarily apply to people who have a short career and decide to stop working just a few years after they graduate, in which case the degree does not pay off. It also does not apply to those who are enlisted in the military as it can take several years to earn a college degree while working in the military. Hope these 11 facts gave you a better grasp over the topic at hand. They were selected specifically to get you up the speed. If you are still feeling lost with your task we also have 20 sub-topics and a manual on a  controversial persuasive speech for students. References: 20 Great Jobs Without A College Degree | Careercast.Com.  Careercast.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 12 May 2016. Brodhead, Richard H.  The Good Of This Place. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. Print. Conchas, Gilberto Q and James Diego Vigil.  Streetsmart Schoolsmart. Print. New Study: The Scary Difference Between Non-College Educated White Republicans- And The Educated.  Daily Kos. N.p., 2016. Web. 12 May 2016. Nisen, Max. Google Has Started Hiring More People Who Didnt Go To College.  Business Insider. N.p., 2016. Web. 12 May 2016. Smith, Samantha et al. A Divide Between College, Non-College Republicans.  Pew Research Center. N.p., 2016. Web. 12 May 2016. Strayhorn, Terrell L and Melvin C Terrell.  The Evolving Challenges Of Black College Students. Sterling, Va.: Stylus, 2010. Print.

Literary criticism of exegesis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Literary criticism of exegesis - Research Paper Example Luke’s gospel has many features, distinguishing it from other scripts. Since Luke explicitly says that it intends to describe everything in order, the great interest is dedicated to the structure of his Gospel and its comparison with the other parts of the Holy Bible. He uses the same general scheme as Matthew and Mark, although the details of the structure have a lot of specific features. Analyzing the verse of Luke 9:18-36, we can see a lot of peculiarities, which arise during the reading of the script. The context, preceding this verse reveals the following. Sending to the service his twelve disciples, Jesus gave them two assignments. They were to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick people. They were able to commit this will, because Jesus gave them power over the world of demons and above the sphere of physical ailments. Christ Himself has revealed His power over both of these areas. Healing must have been performed particularly by the disciples as the evidence of their faith. That fact that Jesus gave them the appropriate "power" represents Him as the Messiah, who has the ability to enter a person into the kingdom of God. From this moment people had to show their faith also in relation to the twelve disciples, because in this way they would have revealed their faith in the Messiah. Hosting the disciples was the indicator, which revealed the confidence of people in them. The mission of disciples was not long and soon they returned to Jesus with the report.

Effective and non-effective medications used to treat OxyContin Research Paper

Effective and non-effective medications used to treat OxyContin addiction - Research Paper Example Effective and Non-effective Medications Used to Treat OxyContin and Opioid Addiction OxyContin is an extended release form of oxycodone, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995 for the treatment of chronic pain. The FDA approval of this drug has played a role in overdose and death, as well as addiction, in the recent past (Okie, 2010). The molecular structure of OxyContin is similar to that of morphine, and is a member of the Phenanthrene family of compounds. OxyContin, or oxycodone, is a schedule II drug according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, and is used to treat moderate to severe pain and is DEA listed as a highly addictive medication. The drug itself, and not the metabolites, is the main cause of analgesia (Trescot et Al., 2008). Oxycodone and morphine were compared for similar psychotropic effects and dosage in healthy humans. It was found that the dosage ratio of oxycodone and morphine was approximately 3:1, as had been established in previous studies, but that the subjects experienced more pronounced psychotropic effects with oxycodone. The relief of pain, however, was similar with both drugs. Psychomotor impairment was similar with both drugs as well (Zacny and Lichtor, 2007). Intravenous administration of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine was studied in healthy individuals to determine effects and potency. It was discovered that all three drugs had similar effects inducing dysphoria. However, potency was determined to be greatest in oxycodone, then morphine, then hydrocodone (Stoops et Al., 2010). The effects of oxycodone were compared to those of lorazepam and morphine in healthy individuals. Psychotropic effects were more pronounced in oxycodone treated patients compared to those treated with lorazepam. Unpleasant effects as determined by the patients were greater in oxycodone treated patients compared to those of lorazepam (Zachney and Gutierrez, 2002). Opioid withdrawal suppression was examined in healthy individuals wi th tramadol. After a regimen of oxycodone higher doses of tramadol suppressed withdrawal effects, as studies indicated. Feelings of sickness and nausea were initially associated with these effects, followed by suppression of oxycodone withdrawal effects. It was suggested that tramadol may be an effective drug for treating oxycodone withdrawal effects in humans (Lofwall et Al. 2007). Tramadol has low rates of diversion and abuse and mixed pharmacologic actions, including modest opioid agonist activity, and is an unscheduled atypical analgesic. To characterize the opioid withdrawal suppression efficacy of oral tramadol was the purpose of the study. Opioid dependent, residential adults were maintained on morphine for approximately six weeks. Substituting placebo for scheduled morphine doses 17.5 hours before experimental sessions that occurred twice weekly was the method for producing spontaneous opioid withdrawal. Under double-blind, double- dummy, randomized conditions, the acute eff ects of placebo, tramadol, naloxone, and morphine were tested. Outcomes included physiologic indices, psychomotor/cognitive task performance, and observer- and subject-rated measures. Prototypic opioid antagonist and agonist effects were produced by naloxone and morphine, respectively. Effects most similar to placebo were produced by Tramadol 50 and 100 mg. Tramadol 200 and 400 mg initially produced significant dose-related increases in ratings of â€Å"