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Constant Capital, Variable Capital, and Surplus Value

Constant Capital, Variable Capital, and Surplus Value

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Constant Capital, Variable Capital, and Surplus Value

Introduction

Constant capital is the total cost of a production process at a given time that does not change, referred to as the fixed costs of production. This could cover the costs of machinery, setting up the plant, equipments, new technology, computers, fixed assets like furniture, etc. These costs do not change whether production has taken place or not. On the other hand, variable capital is the costs that change with the level of production. This could include cost of raw materials, electricity, fuel, employee wages, etc. Surplus value can be defined as the new value created by workers in excess of their own labour cost or simply referred to as gross profit. This surplus value is the basis of capital accumulation. Thus, capital accumulation is the gathering or amassing of objects of value that increases wealth through concentration. Capital accumulation is the creation of wealth or financial asset which is later invested for the purpose of making more money. Human capital is another form of capital where one can invest to improve his or her abilities through education.

Capitalism from an economic viewpoint is the economic activity that is structured around capital accumulation. Factors of production are those variables that enable inputs to be put in place with the ultimate result of finished goods or services. Therefore, input determines the quantity of output. In economics, factors of production are the inputs into the general production of other useful products, they include, land, capital, labour and the entrepreneur organizing the factors together. Stocks like land and labour and capital goods are referred to as primary factors of production because they facilitate production, but neither becomes part of the product, e.g., Raw materials or become significantly transformed by the production process such as fuel or electricity. Other factors of production include include natural recourses, human capital (Stock of knowledge), state of technology, entrepreneurship, etc.

Role of Constant Capital on Capital Accumulation

Combining certain materials, tools, machines, and labour produces goods and services that people wish to purchase since they consider these goods and services essential. Some economist refers this attribute of commodities as use value, i.e., The production process of combining these different factors of production to make something useful. Therefore, labour power, tools, and machinery are all indispensable factors that can not be made. The problem is how can these factors of production be most efficiently combined by using the fewest input factors. Efficiency is using all the available factors of production to produce the highest possible output. Sometimes the level of unemployment prevails to contain workers’ demand for higher wages, fewer working hours, and better working conditions. Labour power is also wasted workers who are able and willing to work cannot find jobs. This implies that unemployment is foregone production, and cannot be referred to as efficiency. Labour power can be used in a way that it harms the health of workers who will need medical services. This can be averted if higher standards of occupational safety and health are put in place.

Efficiency can be defined economically as the costs a company must incur without considering the side effects the effects the business might have on the environment, health of workers, and the society. The neglect of social costs in mainstream economics leads to aspects of the process of production that will go beyond the minimum input. All companies are concern with profit maximization; therefore, costs must be as low as possible. Economists define profit as the difference between between company revenue and the cost of buying materials, machines, hiring workers, etc. Is labour the ultimate source of a company’s profits? To answer this question, a basic distinction must be made between the working class and the capitalists.

Alot of the money goes to speculating in land, financial assets, and commodities, but these speculations do not produce items of value. So they do not generate profit. It just involves moving existing values amounts from one pocket to another. It is important to note that, money is used to purchase a means of production and hiring employees who produces sellable goods and services can create value. Only when the original value of capital is smaller than the value of the commodities produced, and then revenue a company receives by selling these commodities can be termed as profit. Therefore, the difference between the revenue and the original capital is called the surplus value. Thus, the profit accumulation process begins when with money spent on markets, i.e., labour power and other means of production, and ends with money earned when a firm sells these commodities, i.e., goods and services. A company pays for the means of production and labour power according to the exchange value of these factors. Labour power is quite crucial as the value of raw materials is determined by the time and labour required to extract and process them.

Capitalists force workers to work more hours, and considering the principle of equal exchange, the worker is paid according to the value of his or her labour power (Wage Goods). If they work for more time than are needed to make those wage goods, additional wealth, surplus value is produced.

Rosefielde, (2001), argue that the production of surplus value is the principle reason to hire workers. A company realizes this wealth when it sells all the goods and services that are made within a given time. This labour that produces a value that is higher than the money invested originally, and that portion of the outlay is termed as variable capital. It should be noted that only constant and variable capital represents the cost of buying the means of production. Hiring labour power and the surplus value represents the additional value. Companies use this surplus value to pay dividends for shareholders, interest to creditors, rent to land owners, and salaries to managers, who are the capitalists’ class. The capitalists’ class lives off the surplus value that is produced by the working class. What the capitalist’ class do with the surplus value is up to them, as they own the means of production and the labour power, as well as the commodities produced by their companies. They can hire more managers, live in luxury, invest in additional means of production and labour power, and keeps the process of capital accumulation going. The only factors that can limit this process of capital accumulation and disposal by the capitalists’ are competition from other capitalists’ enterprises and certain technologies.

Neoclassical economic theories analyses inequality, underemployment, poverty, and wages as objectively, yet they are wrong. Inequality manifests differences in productivity. It is imperative to note that minimum wages, and union negotiated wages cause job losses. Welfare and social welfare programs drive people out of the labour force. People are poor and underemployed because they are unproductive. Poor nations will become rich if they accept the neoliberal programs such as free markets, deregulation, privatization, foreign investments, and free trade.

Capitalists’ economies are expansionary in nature, and the rule of the market will always follow. Capitalists will put everything everywhere for sale so long as it brings in profits, and commoditisation of everything, everywhere is as natural, inevitable and good. Neoclassical economics made people believe that it is the system that maintains capitalism. Capitalist economies are engines of economic growth, even the industrial revolution occurred among the capitalist, not in feudalists. Capitalism paved way for technological innovations and rapidly rising output. Growth is uneven among nations, with most of the growth concentrated in few rich capitalist countries. The output produced in capitalist economies could be harmful to human beings and the natural world.

According to Keen,(2004), Compared to other economic systems, capitalism can deliver lots of goods and services. What makes the growth of output possible in capitalists’ societies is the difference between radical economics and neoclassical economics, i.e., the profits of the capitalists. Only if, they make profits will they produce output; and will they invest these profits in new means of production and cause the economy to grow. They begin with some money and end up with a larger sum. Profits are made possible by the exploitation of wage workers, therefore, capitalism can be described as a system whose motto is the accumulation of capital. This ceaseless drive by individual capitalists to make money and achieve growth, (accumulation of capital) is predicated upon the extraction of a surplus from the labour of the workers (Rosefielde, 2001).

Accumulation of Capital

To become a capitalist, it is important to have enough money as it is the main stay of such organizations or systems. Capitalist enterprises cannot be started without money; money is the starting point of capitalist production. This capital money is the one that is used to organise the production of output, i.e., the money capital must undergo a series of transformation with the ultimate aim of converting the original sum into a large sum of money. When they still have capital, the means of production are acquired to facilitate efficiency in production. These inputs are called commodity, capital which includes all nonhuman means of production: factors such as land, buildings, equipment, machinery, and raw materials (constant capital). Others will be used to purchase human means of production, i.e., labour power, which is purchased like any other commodity (variable capital). Once the required amounts of variable and constant capitals are bought, under the control of the capitalist, it is used to produce the desired output. The output is considered as commodities of sale which are returned into the market for selling. If the money obtained from the sale is successful, profits are made accumulation of wealth (Karl, 1997).

Conclusion

Businesses must use a large part of the profits to begin another process of capital accumulation. Capitalists must not only make profits but must see that their capital grows. This is not based on greed, but the kind of competition they are facing. If capitalists do not invest profits in expanded production, and their rivals do. They will not be able to compete effectively in the long run. They may not acquire the best equipment, develop a research facility, enlarge their advertisement budgets, or get bank loans at favourable terms. Failure to do so might lead to disastrous consequences such as closure or bankruptcy, and all amenities such as prestige, high incomes, and political power. Competition forces each capitalist to make profits grow, i.e., accumulate capital.

References

Keen s. (2004). Debunking Economics; The Naked Emperor of the Social Sciences, 2004, p. 294

Karl M., (1997)”Constant capital and variable capital”, in Capital Vol. 1, Chapter 8

Rosefielde, S., (2001), Premature Deaths: Russia’s Radical Economic Transition in Soviet Perspective. Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 53, No. 8 (Dec., 2001), pp. 1159-1176 : Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Consulting Company

Name

Course Name

Case Study 2

Date

Instructor’s Name

Consulting Company

Early Riser Consultants is a company that offers organizational behavior consulting practice. The organization specializes in cross-cultural group as well as team dynamics and problems. As organizations are going global, there is need to successfully manage cross-cultural teams. The company is in need of an organizational behavior practitioner who will be responsible for identifying, documenting, analyzing and assessing behavioral problems and issues and recommending intervention strategies, tools and methods for successfully restructuring the company, enhancing team effectiveness and performance and hence organizational performance. Bon Vivant Specialties on the other hand is a company in need of an OB specialist who will offer the services offered by Early Riser Consultants. As the manager of Early Riser Consultants, I am the best candidate that Chinn needs to be hired by Chinn.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Some of the knowledge, skills and abilities that I possess include the following:

Self-competency

I have applied the knowledge, skills and abilities for assessing my own weaknesses and strengths, setting and pursuing personal and professional goals and balancing personal life and work.

Communication competency

I have applied knowledge, skills and abilities that can enable me to use electronic, written, nonverbal, verbal and listening modes of communication to transmit understand and receive feelings, thoughts and ideas. This greatly facilitated the communication in the company that I was working for (Nelson & Quick, 2012).

Diversity competency

I have applied the knowledge, skills and abilities for valuing unique organizational, group and individual characteristics and embracing such qualities as potential roots of strength and appreciating the uniqueness of each.

Across cultures competency

I have applied knowledge, skills and abilities for recognizing and embracing differences and similarities among cultures and nations and approaching key issues with a curious and open mind. This enabled cultural diversity where different cultures came together and worked without any consideration of the existing differences (Schermerhorn, 2012).

Team competency

I have applied the knowledge, skills and abilities for developing, supporting and leading groups to achieve their goals. The teams in the organizations that hired me became very effective and productive and the organization achieved its performance goals.

Change Competency

I have applied the knowledge, skills and abilities for recognizing and implementing new transformations or needed adaptations in the technologies, structures, strategies, tasks and people. This brought a lot of positive change in the company that hired me (Nelson & Quick, 2012).

Problems associated with cross cultural team

1). Misunderstandings: This result from inadequate information or communication problems in the organization. Different cultures have different beliefs and tastes. If these cultures are not well managed, the differences can bring a lot of misunderstanding as the company is going global and embracing diverse cultures (Nelson & Quick, 1996).

2). Parochial self-interests: this arises when individuals in the organization are more concerned with the personal implications.

3). Disagreement over the necessity for change: This arises from no justification for change from some of the board, and the possibility of an outcrop in the disagreement between the advantages and the disadvantages of the proposed change (Schermerhorn, 2012).

4). Low tolerance for the proposed change: this might result from the difference in the assessment of the solution or the perception of sense of insecurity among the employees in the organization.

5). Possible organizational changes to change: existing power structures, resistance presented by the work groups, failures from the previously tried change initiatives, and the already existing power structures in the organization (Nelson & Quick, 2012).

Recommendation

1). Relationship management: This action will be helpful because it aids in the development of relationship contracts and networks that are necessary for the achievement of the set goals in the team

2). Change leadership: Change leadership will enable an effective communication of the team’s initiatives in an approach that aids in the inspiration of adaptive action.

3). Team facilitation: Team facilitation generally aids in the utilization of group processes skills in the inspiration of better working relationship among team members who are diversified in order to achieve the goals of the team (Nelson & Quick, 1996).

4). Empowerment: The inclusion of empowerment in the effective leadership will enhance the ability of sharing information, delegation of meaningful responsibility, participitative soliciting of the ideas, and enabling employees to feel motivated and capable of assuming greater responsibilities (Schermerhorn, 2012).

5). Flexibility: This enhances the ability to change procedures and processes whenever they are necessary in the organization.

6). Interpersonal Understanding: This enables the ability to value and understand the inputs of the diverse individuals in the organization.

7). Entrepreneurial Innovation: This enables the championing of new production processes, services, and products in the organization.

8). Strategic Thinking: this enables the ability to study and understanding the changes in the conditions in the markets, the trends, opportunities, and the identification of optimal conditions.

References:

Nelson, D. L., & Quick, J. C. (2012). Organizational behavior: Science, the real world, and you. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

Schermerhorn, J. R. (2012). Organizational behavior. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

Nelson, D. L., & Quick, J. C. (1996). Organizational behavior: The essentials. Minneapolis, MN: West Publ.

Consulting Project

Consulting Project

Name

Institution

Year

Part 1

Employee selection is a very complex process that seeks to identify talents, abilities, and skills that the job seeker brings to the organization. One of the main merits used when look for an employee is the skill level that can be measured from different angles. The employee section at the organization takes many forms and guided by how and where the value of talent or productivity lies. One of the prime avenues to make value in an organization is to always derive and get the best skills or talents that can help drive the agenda or objectives forward. In line with this, the progressive growth and goal accomplishment relies on the talents that an organza ion relies on in the delivery of tasks. Right from the managerial task to minor tasks, skill searching is done with a key focus on the best persons to deliver the tasks. Being a legal profession, employee selection is first done on the basis of the persons who are eligible in legal matters.

The selection is thus done on the line of value addition that has to be derived from the most inclusive values and talents. To select the employees, key strengths like cognitive ability, personality, interests, values, physical abilities are utilized. One of the most important of this is the cognitive and personality values that are key in this profession. The other key aspects in the selectin is the person’s interest and ascribed values that have to be tied to what and how they value the profession. Area of interest is vital when looking at the key elements of performance that a person needs to deliver the given tasks. The other major parameter used in the employee selectin is the values and level of profession. An individual seeking to work in the organization is required to have attained the minimum professional or academic merits. The other aspect would be the level of experience for those who have worked in other organization. The minimum requirement in terms of years of experience is three years. These requirements are key when determining those who qualify and can deliver to their best.

To improve the organization’s employee selection methods, I would propose for a review of the merits that are applied in every job rank. In particular, I would recommend for a more skill-based selection approach than the level of experience. This would ensure that the selected persons have what it takes to run the tasks given. The other change would be to focus on one’s interest and passion that would help recognize those who have the right spirt to do the job. I believe that passion and interest are key to defining one’s love for the job that would help measure how best they will freely deliver on the given tasks. In addition, the best avenue to attaining the right results and performance is to have the most qualified persons. This brings the need for in-depth analysis ad review of what the employee can do even without close supervision. There is therefore a need to employ persons based on their level of skill and passion or interest in the profession.

Part 2

Question 4

Job training is a key aspect of value addition that ensures good performance. The performance is centered on a valid and integral aspect of improving skill level of the workforce. The key to ensuring that the workers have the right skills is by adding value to what they already pose (Rawat et al., 2016). The training and value addition are thus a key component of the performance improvement. Training at the organization has been the pillar to good performance and efficiency. Over the years, training has been done with an objective to build talents and to enhance efficiency that is the root to good performance. To ensure that training is effective and directed to its intended areas, job evaluation and performance is done at a regular pattern. The areas of weakness are noted and more efforts directed to putting the right efforts and building the right avenues to skill enhancement. One of the key values of a strong training model is to have the talent identification process through which skills can be directed and enhanced. This makes training at the organization effective on the aspects of creating an outlet for stable and productive workforce. The other approach to training is having a goal directed factor that seeks to ensure that every employee performs within his or her area of expertise. This makes training easy because the value addition process is directed towards the intended area. Another way to look at training at the organization is its inclusivity to all areas of performance and departments. The key here is to build a strong work development module that is centered around talents and productivity of the workers. One of the guiding principles in the way the training is done has always been the performance rate or effectiveness ratio. The input-output approach has proven an effective value when creating the right talents and improving the worker performance.

The training programs were in particular effective as they were the basis to the creatin of the right skill enhancement. The skill improvement under the training programs was mainly directed to creating the right outlet for ideas and helping improve on work delivery

(Bryson et al., 2017). The training also helped create the link between the output and efficiency where the performance was measured through the task delivery and ease of carrying out the various roles. In most cases, the value for an inclusive module and the derived skill improvement as stated in the training modules weas greatly encouraged. The training was thus a vital channel to add value to the talents at the work place as well as improving how the tasks were delivered. In particular, the training helped model the workers to positive thinning and productivity that was greatly needed in the delivery of the tasks. One of the key areas that the training helped was in diverting the energy and talents to one point or the right channels to enhance productivity as well as in improving the task delivery. The training programs were beneficial when looking at the inclusive learning and skill improvement platform they provided. In particular, the training helped create the right value for key skills where people could not understand and generate the right efforts to learning.

To improve the training skills and the approach to performance enhancement, I would propose some key changes in regard to the program structure. First, the training should be hinged on ensuring that the workers understand the tasks they should handle. The second approach is to ensure that there is adequate information sharing that will help link the workers and thus improve ideas are passed on easily (Nielsen et al., 2017). The other major step would be to create the right avenue that would be vital in enhancing the effectiveness of the raining. The training should also be geared towards enhancing the areas of weakness that should be directed to the most urgent needs.

To improve on this job, I would propose for an inclusive review of the key performance evaluation. Performance has to be hinged on the real and inclusive modules that are directed to the right areas. One of the ways to boost performance is to look at how and where the workers are failing to deliver. The performance enhancement methods should also be inclusive and have the full capacity in improving the key areas (Bryson et al., 2017). One of the best ways towards this is to look at what and how the performance can be laid down and directed towards the right areas. Still, there is need to have the best task delivery modules as noted above that have to align and pinpoint to what is needed in the current modules. Another area of concern is the inclusive and diverse mechanisms that can be applied when looking at both the input-output element of task delivery that should be directed to making sure that there is efficiency and productivity. In order to boost the value of the task delivered, there should be regular assessment that can and must align with the laid down objectives.

Part 3

Question 1

SMEs operate under a very tight and competitive niche in the field of business or corporate sector. The key to good performance is always about the motivation and the boost to work that comes with various values tied to results (Nielsen et al., 2017). The employees as the key factor in an SME have a key role to play but must also be motivated to work. One of the main ways to motivate the employees is to reward them for the good results they produce. Additionally, the performance should be measured and rewards given as a way to encourage others to do their best. The idea of having effective reward system should be upheld as it is one of the main ways to boost performance (Gerhart & Fang, 2015). Rewarding employees on performance basis is key to deriving the right productivity in an SME. The other main approach is to create the right work environment that will be conducive to productivity and thus motivate performance.

Conducive working environment goes a long way in motivating the employees to deliver good results. Just like in a reward system, good working environment helps induce good work spirit and thus the workers are able to produce good results. To boost work delivery or motivate workers in this organization, I would propose that the management adopts the right reward systems. This can vary from monetary to non-monetary rewards. For example, the management can create the right performance timeline where results are measured at a given time and rewards given to those who give the best results. The reward system should also be base don improvement basis where those who add value to their previous results get recognized and rewarded. Such measures will also encourage the other employees to work hard in a bid to get recognized and rewarded.

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory best fits the explanation for motivation at work place. The theory states that performance is always an end result of motivation that a worker gets when performing a task. The theory helps explain how people derive good sprit in work with the focus on the reward they will get when the deliver the needed results (Ojo et al., 2018). Abraham Maslow’s theory argues that humans have a series of needs, some of which must be met before they can turn their attention toward others. Certain universal needs are the most pressing, while more “acquired” emotions are of secondary importance. Motivation and Performance. Motivation is the combination of a person’s desire and energy directed at achieving a goal. It is the cause of action. It is the cause of action. Motivation can be intrinsic, such as satisfaction and feelings of achievement; or extrinsic, such as rewards, punishment, and goal attainment. Collective and performance-based rewards can help motivate the employees in task delivery (Gerhart & Fang, 2015). For example, the management at the firm can establish means of rewarding like in cash, paid holidays, or job promotion. These direct and strong reward models have proven to be effective avenues to motivating workers to do better in their respective tasks. Most importantly, the reward should target the low ranks or junior employees who should be encouraged to do better to rise in ranks. The job promotion is always strong way to reward the best performing employees and thus boosting performance.

Question 2

One of the main job stressors is workload that often results from accumulated tasks. The job stressor can be termed as the tedious aspect of the profession mainly in terms of time constraints. The major source of stress in the job is the time pressure where the workers find themselves cornered by time and job overload (Nielsen et al., 2017). The issue hinders effectiveness in task delivery thus putting the works under more pressure. Stressors at work place can vary in terms of intensity and nature. One of the main ways to identify the stressors in the workplace is to look at how and where the employees are complaining on the work lateness or time pressure. These factors can help identify the various stressors that hinder effectiveness at the workplace.

Job stressors also arise from the increased tasks that often lead to pressure in the delivery. In some cases, some workers are forced to work overtime thus adding more pressure to their schedules. The issue is often caused by the lack of effectiveness when dealing with the added tasks as well as the time limit during weekdays. To fight this work stress, the management lays down the work protocol by prioritizing on the most demanding tasks. Task urgency is also a vital aspect when allocating the various duties that have to be done. In line with this, the management has derived the right procedures that can be applied when there is work overload. These aspects of work division and sharing of tasks has helped minimize cases of work overload stress. The other aspect is the maximizing of the available time that has added to the task delivery efficiency. These factors are key when addressing the issue of work stress as well as improving work delivery.

References

Bryson, A., Forth, J., & Stokes, L. (2017). Does employees’ subjective well-being affect workplace performance?. Human relations, 70(8), 1017-1037.

Gerhart, B., & Fang, M. (2015). Pay, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, performance, and creativity in the workplace: Revisiting long-held beliefs.

Nielsen, K., Nielsen, M. B., Ogbonnaya, C., Känsälä, M., Saari, E., & Isaksson, K. (2017). Workplace resources to improve both employee well-being and performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Work & Stress, 31(2), 101-120.

Ojo, S. O., Bailey, D. P., Chater, A. M., & Hewson, D. J. (2018). The impact of active workstations on workplace productivity and performance: a systematic review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(3), 417.

Rawat, P. S., & Basergekar, P. (2016). Managing workplace diversity: Performance of minority employees. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 488-501.

Consumer blogs have a great impact on company strategies

Consumer blogs have a great impact on company strategies. Consumer blogs are very important sources of feedback gathering and as such consumer should be asked to blog their views of the product on the internet or on the blogging sites created by the company .Blogs are a good source of feedback for the company and shows the real feel of the market. It can be seen that blogs have become a very important source of information gathering especially for testing the market for the feedback on the product and service. These blogs also help the firm to advertise their products as almost all firms have their own online presentations in the form of blogs an since the internet provides a greater coverage to people who remain connected throughout and consumers rely more on peer group reviews , the blogs from a very potent source of getting information from the public. . Blogs also design very important feedback systems and invoke generic responses to the product. It can also help in designing and changing marketing strategies because many of the bloggers are quite honest in their views.

Blogs create unnecessary rumors about the product. If a consumer has had a bad experience with the firm he may blog the same and then it is viewed by so many people leading to bad reputation. Blogs can also make competitors write misleading statements about the firm. Blogs also make consumers vary about product and services.

Consumer Decision Making Process Grading Guide

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Consumer Decision Making Process Grading Guide

MKT/435 Version 7

Consumer Behavior

Copyright

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Individual Assignment: Consumer Decision Making Process

Purpose of Assignment

The assignment due in Week 4 provides students with an overview of the consumer decision-making process. Students apply this understanding of the purchase process by applying it to their own recent purchase of a durable good. By applying a personal real world example, the idea of a purchasing process converts from theory to practice.

Grading Guide

Content Met Partially Met Not Met Comments:

The student analyzes a recent purchase they made of a durable good.  

The student reviews the steps taken in making this purchase decision: (1) Problem recognition, (2) Information search, (3) Alternative evaluation, (4) Purchase, (5) Use, (6) Evaluation.

The student discusses which steps they went through and which steps in the purchasing process were most important. The student, if certain stages were skipped, reviews what marketing or previous experience influenced them to skip this stage. The student discusses what the selling organization could have done more effectively from a marketing standpoint to help move through these stages. The paper is 1,050 to 1,400 words in length. Total Available Total Earned 7 #/7 Writing Guidelines Met Partially Met Not Met Comments:

The paper—including tables and graphs, headings, title page, and reference page—is consistent with APA formatting guidelines and meets course-level requirements. Intellectual property is recognized with in-text citations and a reference page. Paragraph and sentence transitions are present, logical, and maintain the flow throughout the paper. Sentences are complete, clear, and concise. Rules of grammar and usage are followed including spelling and punctuation. Total Available Total Earned   3 #/3 Assignment Total # 10 #/10 Additional comments:

Consumer Power

Name

Professor

Course

Date

Consumer Power

Introduction

There has been a growing sensation of consumers to use their shopping baskets to drive their point home, about the products or services that they are spending their money on. This increasing tide of these consumers is making companies to respond by increasing have to watch evry consumer’s steps. Consumer power can be defined as the collective influence consumers can have on an industry locally or internationally. The consumers can exert their power upon the industry by lobbying, letter writing, or boycotting.

Hughes, &, Allen, (173–183) argue that Companies which wish to remain in business must consider the customers as partners in business. To equally compete for the market share, they must continually adapt their policies and working methodologies as they respond to the ever changing demands of the consumers. When consumers feel strongly about a particular issue in relation to a product or service, they may stop using the product or stop interacting with the business. They generally form consumer pressure groups such as Greenpeace, The National Consumer Council, Friends of the earth, and the Fair Trade federation, to actively lobby businesses and governments to convince them to change their policies and procedures. Consumer power thus makes companies and businesses to react positively to social and environmental responsibilities. There is a general trend of marketers shifting their marketing management strategies to developing markets, therefore, advertisement agencies and other marketing organisations must follow suite

Crowned at Last

In the ever changing market place, consumers have the power to choose the types of products and services they want as never before. Businesses always have the quote that the customers come first, and therefore, is the king, or is the reason why the business is in existence. The advertising industry has responded to this paradigm by producing advertisements that are very creative and entertaining. The question most market researchers or market insight analyst ask is whether this advertisements translates into improved sales (Welford, 1-7).

The new trends in consumer power have changed the shopping landscape worldwide, with the consumers having the capability of obtaining information about whatever they need, whenever they want it, and this has given buyers unprecedented power. In markets that are highly transparent in pricing, the consumers surely have been crowned. Today’s consumers are not just influenced by the advertisements they see, before they buy any product or service, they want to see exactly what the product or service package covers, and to refer to what other users are commenting on their proposed purchase. Marketing, advertising, and communications firms must come up with innovative ways to promote their products and services if they hope to pass the right message home, as the consumers are becoming increasingly empowered (Tapper, 351-366).

Most companies in the United States are still mainly focused on business footprint and management structure. This needs to change and marketers should adapt appropriately. Consumer power is highly related to consumer protection laws. Marketers should deliver advertisements that that are transparent on the pricing, quality, and product information. In developing new ways of behavioural targeting, advertisements should be relevant to groups of consumers with common interest, and as the world is becoming more and more digital, many consumers are able to access not only the sales blurb, but also how other consumers are viewing the product or service. The growing consumer power is evident from the fact that customers are spending more time with a variety of media, and measuring the effectiveness of advertisement efforts easy. Marketers must catch up with the new media (Azamat, 377-386).

Warfare in the Aisles

Competition is getting stiffer among the variety of products and services available for the consumers to choose from. Competition has given rise to state on the consumer that he or she gets confused at what they want, depending on the many brands or variety of the product or service that they might require. For example in supermarkets, the so many items on offer are so jumbled up that a customer cannot really find what he or she is looking for. Considering TVs available, there are so many High Definition TVs that the consumers gets confused at the wide choices they have. With immense levels of choice and information available, shoppers cannot just ignore brands, as much as they need to make purely rational, economic decisions on the items they want to purchase. Brands offers trust, and companies should invest more in brands, because consumers are shifting their interests from traditional media like TV, radio, print, and other forms of promotions (Ritzer, 193−209)

Man’s Best friend

The mobile phone has replaced the dog as the man’s best friend, and mobile telephony has become a powerful marketing medium, as more and more people getting access to them. Mobile media consumption is likely to overrule many marketing assumptions. Therefore mobile marketing advertisement must evolve with the changing mobile media consumption. Given that mobile phones are a very personal gadget, mobile platform marketers must be very respectful to the mobile users and their time, demonstrating consumer power. The service providers should not let annoying advertisements reach the consumers (Kotler, & Lee, 2006).

Motoring Online

Automobile manufacturers have realized that the website has become a core part of doing business with customers, and therefore, all their advertisements provide their website addresses. Websites are more effective than TV advertisements since the internet can hold the customers attention for more time than a few seconds that TV advertisements provide. Many customers are using the internet to plan their purchases, and thus marketers should adapt from using traditional media such as television, print, or outdoor advertisement. A website can be equated to a living brochure, many car dealers have resisted giving consumers power to road test, perform vehicle comparisons, check trade in values, and compare average selling prices. The consumers now have the power to do this online (Miller, 589–598).

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Target Practice

The advertisement landscape has changed over the period, now it has to be a variety of different things to different people. The advertising industry has changed the rules, such as previously they used to publish the top advertisements houses, but now they include creative side variable such as expertise in various related disciplines, interactive advertising, direct marketing, and public relations. Most networked media will be applying internet based technologies and protocols. This will improve consumer experience with advertising. The consumer has been crowned since he or she does not want to be bombarded by numerous advertisements, and on the other hand, measuring the return on investment on advertisements is not easy.

Buying the Future

Now that the customers have the consumer power, the question remains on how they will apply the acquired power. Consumer power has been beefed up by a myriad of legislations such as the consumer protection laws. There is so much information available for the consumers, and the internet makes it easy for consumers to discover what they need, and who is offering the best deal where. This shift of power has been brought about by competition (Ajzen, 665-68).

E commerce is growing tremendously fast globally, and spending patterns on the internet nearly resembles street hawking. Having achieved this power, the consumers will not let it go easily, this will in turn lead to more market fragmentation, consumer’s wants will be more diversified, consumer sophistication will continue to grow, and their empowerment will continue. Advertisers will also have to change with the changing consumer preferences, and they may need permission to let their advertisement s reach individual consumers, and offer more incentives such as attractive bargains.

Conclusion

Consumers will remain the King, and so consumer power will continue to evolve in mundane ways. The consumer may decide not to watch Super Bowl on TV, which offers very expensive advertisement rates for producers. As the media becomes more interactive, will give the consumers more power of choice on what they want to consume. So advertisements must adapt to be more relevant, educative, and make advertising optional. Consumer power will definitely influence the prices charged on products and services , and will encourage innovation and product development.

Work cited

Ajzen I. Perceived Behavioural control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol., 32: 665-68. (2002).Print

Kotler P, Lee N (2006). Corporate social responsibility: doing the most good for your company and your cause. Hoboken: John Wiley. Print

Miller G. Corporate responsibility in the UK tourism industry. Tourism Manage., 22(6): 589–598. (2001).

Ritzer M. Rethinking globalization: Glocalization/ grobalization and something/ nothing. Soc. Theor., 21(3): 193−209. (2003).

Azamat F. Exploring social responsibility of immigrant entrepreneurs: do home country contextual factors play a role? Eur.Manage. J., 28(5): 377-386. (2010).

Tapper R. Tourism and Socio-economic Development: UK Tour-Operators’ Business Approaches in the Context of the New International Agenda. Int. J. Tourism Res., 3: 351-366. (2001).

Hughes H, &, Allen D. Cultural tourism in Central and Eastern Europe: the views of ‘induced image formation agents’. Tourism Manag., 26: 173–183. (2005).

Welford R.Globalization, corporate social responsibility and human rights. Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Manage. 9(1): 1-7. (2002).

CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS IN THE UK

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CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS IN THE UK

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Literature Review

Introduction

Today, different statutory instruments, Acts of parliament, and government institutions effect customer protection in the United Kingdom. These, mechanisms, which ensure fairness and quality of services and goods bought by citizens, did not just emerge from thin air but from processes and jurisdictions in the past. This literature review provides an overview of the evolution of the United Kingdom consumer protection regime and its current status is imperative.

Evolution and Development of Customer Protection

The advent of the United Kingdom customer protection regime is not regarded as a recent phenomenon as the development of customer protection legislation dates back to the late 17th century and mid-18th century during the pre-industrial era. Studies on the genesis and development of the customer protection regime show that since then, numerous jurisdictions have culminated in the development of a plethora of jurisprudence on the liabilities and rights that United Kingdom buyers and sellers have. Research by Muhammad Akbar concentrated on examining the origin and emergence of the customer protection regime. This work confirmed that the current customer protection legislation in the country is an outcome of imperative developments that occurred from the pre-industrial era to the post-industrial revolution. According to Muhammad Akbar, the pre-industrial period was characterised by low consumption levels within a simple social set up and fewer products than it is the case today. Later, the principle of caveat emptor within the English law was developed and incorporated to deal with this situation. This doctrine upheld the philosophy of individualism where customers had to look after themselves as laws to protect consumers were few and those that existed only dealt with measures and weights of basic commodities. With the growth in consumption and the number of services and products available for consumption, the principle of caveat emptor lost its relevance as sellers assumed greater responsibility in sales transactions. This necessitated the enforcement of specific customer protection legislation in the United Kingdom.

During the industrial revolution of the 18th century, urbanisation and manufacturing intensified, augmenting consumption. Sellers and product consumers began bargaining from long distances, with the former recognising the need for product quality to maintain market competitiveness. This furthered the need for a regime to safeguard the trading standards to ensure that they enhanced public health and customer protection, along with protecting honest traders from unfair competitor practices. During the period of the industrial society in the 19th century, more developments in customer protection laws took place in England, including case law revolving around buyer-seller relationships. However, consumer legal rights to safe products and services remained unrecognised. In the 20th century, mass production emerged, causing a consumer revolution as many products and services became available to consumers. During this time, large-scale developments occurred in consumer protection law, litigation, and the laws of negligence. Also, a movement initiated by an NGO stimulated the development of laws to protect consumers against unfair commercial and trade practices and defective services and products. This led to the development of customer protection laws used today, although they continued to undergo reforms to fit contemporary needs. From a critical stance, Muhammad Akbar’s work is valuable because it provides an informative and comprehensive account of the evolution of UK consumer protection, which enables one to grasp the changes that have occurred in consumer protection over the years.

Current Status of UK Customer Protection

Numerous researchers have focused on the current status of customer protection in the United Kingdom from different perspectives. For instance, Cliona examined customer protection from the perspective of the various reforms the regime will undergo within the context of the UK and Ireland considering the ongoing Brexit debate. According to this researcher, momentous regulatory divergences will be witnessed in customer protection before, after, and even without Brexit. Two of the most significant divergences before Brexit will be the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) 2015 and the Consumer Rights Bill 2015. The CRA 2015 was established to overhaul the contractual rights of consumers in the supply of digital content, goods, and services, together with regulating unfair contract terms in the United Kingdom. The CRA also integrated new rules relating to digital content, which the rest of the European Union is now catching up with as suggested by Taylor Wessing. On its part, the Consumer Rights Bill 2015 was published to reflect to consolidate the current customer protection law, along with endorsing new consumer rights and remedies in Ireland and the United Kingdom. As Cliona suggests, one of the divergences likely to be witnessed between Ireland and the United Kingdom as regards these two laws before Brexit include the objectives and scope of the CRA and the Consumer Rights Bill. Other divergences in implementing reforms of consumer law cover the areas of privity of contracts, jurisdiction relating to the supply of services and digital content, unfair contract terms, sale of gift vouchers, and transparency in contracts. The divergences possible after Brexit (if it happens) will include the areas of language and concepts utilised, the structure of consumer protection law, and the interpretation of the domestic provisions of the law in both the UK and Ireland. Finally, the divergences in implementing consumer law if Brexit becomes impossible will encompass the areas of the models of consumer protection adopted and modes of mapping amendments against the existing legal framework, which is the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Cliona’s research is critically valuable because it provides adequate illumination of possible differences in consumer protection likely to be experienced in Ireland and the UK if Brexit becomes effective.

Louise Nahon argued that reforms in consumer protection laws will have a significant impact in the United Kingdom, irrespective of whether Brexit is effected or not. This author suggests that some of the reforms proposed to come into effect in 2022 include the introduction of new digital consumer protection rules, revision of rules that impact digital service supply, and augmented transparency obligations on online endorsements and reviews. Also, this author suggested that changes will occur in the enforcement and penalty regime relating to unfair commercial practices and unfair contract terms within the harmonised framework across the entire EU. Wessing also acknowledges some of these consumer protection reforms that will occur in the wake of the recent Brexit referendum. These include the integration of the digital content directive and changes in consumer contracts associated with the online sales of goods. The works of both Louise and Taylor appreciate that the United Kingdom consumer protection regime is one of the most advanced regimes in Europe, which will augment consumer confidence when the proposed reforms are attained. Even so, the two differ in that while Louise believes what Brexit will have significant impacts on this regime, Taylor feels that Brexit will not cause great changes to the regime.

Malte Kramme investigated consumer protection from the perspective of the ramifications that Brexit would have on the area of consumer protection. This scholar examined Brexit consequences to consumer protection under three scenarios, namely, UK membership to European Economic Area (EEA), relationships administrated by World Trade Organisation’s rules, and relationships directed by mutual recognition rules within a tailor-made agreement. Based on the EEA model, the most favourable Brexit scenario would entail UK membership of the EEA. The eventual consequence of this membership on consumer protection would the application of high consumer protection standards in the UK. However, Brexit provisions for strengthening the sovereignty of the United Kingdom are incompatible with the EEA agreement, which compels member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to adopt EU legislation strictly. This incompatibility will augment the complexity of the UK consumer protection regime if Brexit becomes effective. From a WTO-model outlook, the consequence of Brexit to consumer protection will include difficulties in interpreting EU consumer protection directives within the UK legal context and uncertainties of conflict-of-laws, enforceability, and jurisdiction associated with the applicability of EU consumer protection law in the UK. Lastly, from the tailor-made agreement model, the consequence of Brexit on consumer protection is the failure to achieve harmonisation of standards provided by both the EFTA and EU in all consumer protection areas. While Malte offers vital details of some Brexit consequences on UK consumer protection, his work has one weakness, which is the failure to identify the specific consumer protection laws directly impacted by the consequences addressed under each model.

Survey-based research by Oya Pinar, Ibrahim, and Mylenko addressed consumer protection regulations from the outlook of cross-country analysis. They examined the applicability of consumer protection principles and laws in deposit and loan services in 142 countries, including the United Kingdom. The outcomes of their study were that many countries have consumer protection legislation in place, but these laws fail to address specific issues in financial consumer protection. As regards the United Kingdom, these authors appreciated that the country has comprehensive consumer protection legislation. This is because the UK has consumer protection legislation with explicit references to financial services and consumer protection regulations outlined within the financial section legislations framework, besides having general consumer protection law with no explicit references to financial services and other forms of consumer protection legislation. The work of this scholar is dependable because it adopts a valid research instrument and is informed by a broad gamut of datasets, which reflect its reliability. The only problem with the study is its focuses on consumer protection regulations in only two financial services, which implies that its outcomes cannot be generalised to all financial services, especially in the United Kingdom.

In another research effort, Mark and Vickers furthered research on consumer protection in financial services. Specifically, these scholars explored the relationships between consumer protection and the contingent charges for financial services within the United Kingdom context. These authors established that the failure to regulate contingent charges can breed significant economic inefficiencies that compromise consumer protection. Further, they confirmed that contingent charges in conventional settings with sophisticated consumers are efficiently executed because these types of consumers are well informed about consumer protection and can hence influence prices, compared to settings with naive consumers, who are less informed about consumer protection. They concluded that sophisticated consumers use awareness of consumer protection regulation to protect naïve consumers when it comes to implementing contingent charges in UK financial services. Also, they suggested that markets dominated by sophisticated customers can perform inefficiently because these consumers can adopt socially ineffective approaches to evade the high contingent charges that naïve consumers pay. Their conclusions corroborate the claims by Matthew Hilton that the United Kingdom’s consumer protection regime is based on information, where information is provided to individual economic actors to prevent market failures. For this reason, consumer protection regulation in such a scenario would be vital in offsetting the distributional concerns. This study is important because it provides a new perspective for consumer protection policymakers that can be useful in designing policies for curbing monopoly of pricing in the financial sector in the United Kingdom towards ensuring consumer protection against exploitative contingent charges.

Bibliography

Books

Ardic, Oya P, Ibrahim A. Joyce, and Mylenko N ‘Consumer protection laws and regulations in deposit and loan services: A cross-country analysis with a new data set’ (The World Bank 2011).

Journal Articles

Armstrong, M and Vickers J ‘Consumer protection and contingent charges’ Journal of Economic Literature (2012) 50 (2) 477-93.

Hilton, M ‘Consumer protection in the United Kingdom’ (2006) 47 (1) Economic History Yearbook 45-60.

Kelly, C ‘Consumer reform in Ireland and the UK: Regulatory divergence before, after and without Brexit’ (2018) 47 (1) Common Law World Review 53-76.

Khan, Muhammad A ‘The origin and development of consumer protection laws in united kingdom’ (2017) 3 (3) Journal of Asian and African Social Science and Humanities (ISSN 2413-2748) 38-52.

Kramme, Malte F ‘Consequences of Brexit in the area of consumer protection’ GPR: (2017) 14 (5) Journal of European Union Private Law 210-222.

Electronic Source

Nahon, L ‘Consumer law reforms will impact UK regardless of Brexit’ (15 Nov 2019) Out-Law Analysis Pinsent Masons https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/consumer-law-reforms-will-impact-uk-regardless-of-brexit.

Wessing T ‘UK Consumer law in the wake of the EU referendum (17 Jul 2016) University of Oxford, Faculty of Law https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2016/07/uk-consumer-law-wake-eu-referendum.

Oedipus Blindness vs Sight

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Oedipus: Blindness vs Sight

Pride is Oedipus most significant flaw, and it leads him to many misfortunes. He presses on with the investigation to find out his father’s killer, leading to the discovery that he is the guilty party. Throughout the Oedipus stories, he refuses to listen to anyone but always tries to prove his point. Despite the negative connotation to Oedipus’ pride, there is also an upside. Oedipus solved the greatest pestilence on the kingdom of Thebes by following his pride blindly. A pestilence had struck Thebes for some time, and the people desperately wanted to find out its cause. Even before they got to him, Oedipus was already determined to find out the cause. He had his bother in law, Creon, consult the oracle and he returned with the news that for the plague to end Laius’ murderer had to be found. Oedipus made it his mission to investigate what happened and find the murderer, not realizing that he was the guilty one.

Oedipus asked Tiresias the prophet for his insight into the murder of the former king, but Tiresias refused to give him a direct answer. Furious, Oedipus would not relent until he got the answers, he found out the painful truth that he had killed his father and married the king’s wife; in essence, he had married his own mother. The situation is a two-faced one; it rid Thebes of its plague, but at the same time, it destroyed Tiresias. Despite Tiresias’ warning that his pursuit of the truth would bring only pain, Oedipus chose to move on Looking at the greater good, Oedipus; pride, in this case, saved the kingdom and its people from further suffering. However, Oedipus’ family was destroyed. He learned the truth of his childhood and the unfortunate prophecy that had come true.

Works Cited

Sophocles, E. A. Oedipus the king. Classic Productions, 1994.

Offensive Humor on Body Image

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Offensive Humor on Body Image

Humor has often been seen as way of bringing people together or rather a form of entertainment. In most major cities standup comedy often happens almost daily. However, there are rumors that often been termed as offensive. When talking about offensive humor, there are people who think sexist or racist jokes can be used in tackling prejudice or breaking down barriers. However, there are people who think that these jokes are really appalling at times it’s not just a joke as many think (Bemiller, 459-479). The topic has often been seen to be a sensitive one as debates such as political correctness, right of speech as well as the moral values will often arise (Hall, 351-373). One of the offensive humors we have seen are often on body image and while some may find it funny, there are certain jokes that really hit hard on some people and should not be really said. This research paper will explore how popular media uses body image as comedy yet this is a sensitive topic to most people.

Popular media has often been one way which stereotypes about certain things have been created this includes Body image jokes whether about skinny or fat people. There has been argument that offensive humor be it racist or sexist can be able to break barriers as well as challenge prejudice. Those who have often used body image as humor have often done so stating that it may help more people embrace who they are and love themselves. Some researchers have pointed out that offensive jokes often have no consequences as they are just jokes but is this really the case. Some researchers have also pointed out that criticizing offensive humor may be seen as political correctness, a movement that tends to encourage censorship threatening freedom of speech and liberty. However, the truth of the matter is that at times this jokes maligns or belittles individuals in this social group.

Comedians over the years are using disparaging humor without really thinking of the consequences or what people in this position may feel. Those that get to enjoy this humor will often tell those offended to stop being too sensitive. But the real question is “are they too sensitive and do they lack a sense of humor? However, this claims may be completely false (Burmeister, pg. 223). At times these humors are often too offensive such as when one uses jokes to body shame a person who is fat. Fat men are often on the receiving end of these jokes when compared to the women probably because in most cases a man is more likely to brush it off or laugh it out although it may heart. However, for women this is different, jokes on fat women are likely to cause a craze with most women online terming this jokes as body shaming and sexist (Graefer, pg.14). An example of a fat joke that is clearly offensive is “Why is it that pubs won’t serve me if I’m drunk but McDonalds continue serving the fat fuckers? It’s hardly fair”. By just reading the joke you can already see the prejudice and the hate from the tweet. It seems offensive that the joker is insinuating that any fast food that sell junk such as McDonalds should stop serving food to “fat” people. This is offensive especially in a society that is always judging fat people for eating take out or junk foods. There are fat people who cannot eat in public because of the gaze they get from people.

It is for a fact that there are fat people joke that may be funny. Whether you will laugh or not, it will often depend on the relationship that you have to the joke and the joker (Smeltzer, 295-304). When somebody jokes are from friends or people who are close to you, one is more likely to take it on a lighter note. However, when it is someone not so close, it is likely that one may be offended by the joke (Beard, pg. 1-17). Jokes on weight are also quite edgy because weight is often a sensitive matter that may stem from complex deep-seated psychological issues. In our heads we have often equated eating too much with being fat but research has showed that being overweight may be due to psychological issues that one may be going through. In such sensitive issues then as a comedian you really need to reflect on the joke before putting it out there (Luellen, pg. 87).

There are movies that have used fat individuals for comedic effect a perfect example is Pitch Perfect. When Pitch Perfect aired on the TV, Fat Amy was a character who stood out as she gave herself that name so that other girls would not call her behind her back. The first installment did not have as much comedic effect as Pitch Perfect 3. In Pitch Perfect 3, Amy belongs to a rock band group and one thing that stands out is her hat that had been written “Make America eat again” and responds “If I joined your group, I could be Obesity.” The movies directors have often pointed out that the movie was not intended at shaming any one or making a joke out of it but rather it was to bring out a character Amy who is “badass” and confident about herself and one who realizes that there is nothing wrong with being fat as the society has made it. Although this is true, it is for a fact that what Amy often portrays on the screen is not always what goes on in the real world. For example, in very rare occasions will you find a fat person calling themselves “fat X” as fat Amy referred to herself. Some people however have applauded the movie as a great way to break barriers in the Hollywood world where most plus size girls and women do not get opportunity to premier on the screens unlike skinny girls.

There has been research that have been conducted on movie film scripts to identify movies that have contributed to offensive body humor images. Bill Murray who is a Hollywood actor has topped highest on the number of body shaming remarks that he has ever made. Weighing in on Movies was research that was conducted on 1223 film scripts and the result was comedy tipped the scale when it came to derogatory remarks on image and body weight. Comedies have most weight related mentions with 23.86 percent remarks. According to Sarah Silverman, most body related jokes made are at times made to overcome pain, most cases a fat kid makes a fat joke first. When people make fat jokes about themselves it is a defensive tactic thus it is sad when comedies and movies use these real scenarios that apply in people’s life for comedic effect. We may want to use political correctness to defend the body shaming humor but making jokes on people’s body is quite unfortunate. The pop culture is widely consumed even by children and young teenagers and the message that they get from the comedies or movies in Hollywood are often quite unrealistic. There are casting agencies that have often been pointed out for the type of body images or casting calls that they advertise out there at times these are roles that need to be played by background actors but if you look at the requirements, a person who may not fit in may feel heavily discouraged.

Although most body image jokes may be directed to fat people slim people are also attacked with certain jokes that may be quite offensive. This is often termed as skinny shaming as the jokes make skinny people uncomfortable in their own body. Skinny people have often wondered why skinny shaming is often given a pass than fat shaming. An example of a skinny joke that I found offensive was “You are so skinny, your mom actually enjoyed child birth”. This joke is wrong in all ways and offensive as it insinuates that the mother to this skinny person most likely did not have any labor pains or simply had it easy during child birth because of how tin he is. We all know child birth or labor pains no matter the weight of the baby when born is so painful. Secondly a person may be skinny as an adult but while young they were not skinny and the mother might have even developed complications during child birth. As stated earlier, an offensive humor will most likely be offensive unless it comes from someone close or someone wo you know are stating the joke but on a lighter one.

Body jokes are sensitive because of self-esteem issues. You may identify a fat or a skinny person who you may think that they are okay or rather confident enough in their body but this may not be the case. Many people struggle to accept how the feel about the way they look and as comedian it is wrong to use body humor and later state that it was only a joke yet it hit a nerve for some individuals. A comedian intention may not to hurt anybody feelings or cause harm, as eventually his goal is to make people laugh but these actions and words may affect a listener emotionally and psychologically leading to a lower self-esteem. In a family setting, at time you may find people teasing each other and these jokes may include body image jokes. The individual who the joke is intended to may laugh along to the joke but deep down may be uncomfortable. When you are around people chances are you may smile or laugh long to a joke even though it may have made you uncomfortable or nervous. It is therefore important to be mindful of the body image humor that we use or how we tend to tease people close to us.

Body jokes image also entail jokes on people’s skin color. Most jokes on skin color have often been seen to be racist (Rosenthal, pg. 126). Kevin art is one of the comedians that have made body jokes that were seen as offensive. In his twitter account, Kevin Hart wrote “Light-skinned women usually have better credit than a dark-skinned woman…Broke ass dark hoes…lol”. Many dark skinned women definitely found the joke to be extremely offensive. Most black women attacked Kevin Hart for this and termed the joke to be offensive. This aspect shows how most people are now standing up against jokes that they think are prejudiced. Trevor Noah is another comedian whose jokes have been found to be misogynistic, fat shaming, anti-Semitism as well as homophobic. He has often been criticized for making this jokes and over time it seems he has dropped them (McKinney).

Tannishtha Chatterjee was angered by the show Comedy Nights Bachao Taza who seemed very obsessed with her skin color. She pointed out that at no point should skin color ever be used as a source of jokes. Tannishtha had gone to the show to promote a movie that she had premiered on and had been told that the show would be like a roast that happens on American shows such as Saturday Night Live. Although she was ready for the roast, the only thing that the host focused on was her skin tone. Tannishtha pointed out that her anger was because skin color and tones is sensitive as we live in a generation where people of certain skin color and tone may not get job opportunities. Often dark skin girls have often felt as if they have been marginalized and thus making fun of ski tones is nowhere close to funny. Jokes that involve skin color may be an offence that someone may not take at a personal level but at a social level because of the many prejudice that is associated with skin color. We live in a society that has constantly pointed out how being dark skin is a short coming and thus it may be difficult to understand why people still want to continue making jokes that seem to mock certain individuals, devaluing their identity.

In conclusion, it is for a fact that there is a thin line between being funny and offensive. AS a comedian it is important to recognize that there are certain jokes may prove a stereotype or prejudice towards a certain group. It is important to keep in mind that there are certain ways that the society is set up and some jokes will be not funny as will be considered a way being used to target a certain group. It is high time we discuss the impact that body humor has without classifying every conversation as political correctness. Although most offensive humor is often not told to create prejudice, then it is most likely to cause a social impact as a releaser of prejudice.

Works Cited

Beard, Fred K. “Advertising and audience offense: The role of intentional humor.” Journal of marketing communications 14.1 (2008): 1-17.

Bemiller, Michelle L., and Rachel Zimmer Schneider. “It’s not just a joke.” Sociological Spectrum 30.4 (2010): 459-479.

Burmeister, Jacob M., and Robert A. Carels. “Weight-related humor in the media: Appreciation, distaste, and anti-fat attitudes.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture 3.4 (2014): 223.

Graefer, Anne, Allaina Kilby, and Inger-Lise Kalviknes Bore. “Unruly Women and Carnivalesque Countercontrol: Offensive Humor in Mediated Social Protest.” Journal of Communication Inquiry (2018): 0196859918800485.

Hall, Jeffrey A., and Ken Sereno. “Offensive jokes: How do they impact long-term relationships?” (2010): 351-373.

Lockyer, Sharon, and Michael Pickering, eds. Beyond a joke: The limits of humor. Springer, 2005.

Luellen, Morgan. “That’s Not Funny.” ENGL 4384: Senior Seminar Student Anthology. 2016.

McKinney, Kelsey. “The Line between Funny and Offensive Is Thin. Trevor Noah Is on the Wrong Side.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 31 Mar. 2015, www.vox.com/2015/3/31/8319065/trevor-noah-twitter-offensive-jokes.

Rosenthal, Angela, and David Bindman, eds. No Laughing Matter: Visual Humor in Ideas of Race, Nationality, and Ethnicity. Dartmouth College Press, 2015.

Smeltzer, Larry R., and Terry L. Leap. “An analysis of individual reactions to potentially offensive jokes in work settings.” Human Relations 41.4 (1988): 295-304.

Online Learning

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Online Learning

With the coronavirus pandemic spreading around the country, the majority of schools have shifted to online learning as a safety measure for both students and teachers. Everyone has been advised to stay home to avoid catching the highly contagious virus. Although many schools around the country have reopened for in-person learning, online classes have become the first choice for most others. The shift from in-person to online learning is both exciting and challenging. Students and teachers can stay safe at home while still catching up on their learning and teaching, but this requires many adjustments. For students, online learning, if not taken seriously, can turn into a web-surfing session where the student does what they want and ignores other requirements. Given the current situation, Ellen Laird’s article titled ‘I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider’ in the Chronicle of Higher Education website couldn’t be more relevant. In the article, Laird argues that students treat their online classes as the rest of the internet, expecting absolute freedom to do what they want and immediate responses to their needs.

Laird’s article summarizes some of the critical differences between in-person and online learning. One of these is the non-verbal cues that students and teachers both benefit from during in-person learning in the classroom. Laird says that in class, students can read her bearing; therefore, she does not need to share a lot of personal information. In the online courses, however, students cannot see their teacher face-to-face. Therefore, the instructor has to give detailed information about their availability or lack thereof. Laird also explains that online classes’ diversity can be challenging because students come from different backgrounds and situations, all of which affect their learning process and ability. Additionally, Laird is concerned about the students disregard for deadlines and consideration of reading materials with online learning. With in-person learning, students take things more seriously and will often dedicate enough time to their work, offering explanations for any missteps and challenges. The article is an honest review and analysis of students’ attitudes to online learning compared to in-person learning.

As an online student, I agree with Laird’s points. Taking classes online reduces the sense of urgency and seriousness of the class. For example, students do not have to get up early and show up for their classes. Physical class presence helps students take their work more seriously. Taking an online class also reduces the urgency to complete and submit assignments. Hearing a teacher remind me in person to present my work or inquire about my progress in class is motivation to do all my work in time or explain why I cannot. Laird also points out that online class forums lose their professionalism, and this is because students begin to treat them as a social platform rather than an academic one. Because students spend a lot of time interacting on social media, they forget that online class forums are not just any other webpage. Students tend to become overfamiliar with both each other and their instructor, which takes away from the seriousness of the class.

Laird’s argument that students treat their online class differently from a brick-and-mortar classroom is accurate with regard to deadlines. Laird writes, “Students in my traditional classes certainly miss deadlines. But they generally regard deadlines as real…..Not so with my online students.” (Laird 1) The main reason for this disregard for deadlines is the lack of urgency and seriousness within online classes that students expect to see in in-person learning. Pearl Jacobs carried out a study into the various challenges that come with online learning, and the findings support Laird’s arguments. Jacobs points out that interaction is essential for success in learning (Jacobs 3). Online classes do not have the same interaction level that would allow instructors to remind students of deadlines as in-person classes would. The minimal interaction in online classes creates a sense of laxity, which makes students disregard deadlines.

Students treat online and in-person classes differently with regard to their expectations of feedback. They expect their online instructors to respond to their questions and concerns immediately, just like a Google search would. However, the reality is that instructors need more time to respond to their students. Laird explains, “The speed of Internet transmission seduces them into seeking and expecting speed as an element of the course.” (Laird 1) These expectations from students are normal, given the quick results they are used to from the internet. Whenever one types in a query into their search engine, they get millions of results within seconds. They expect the same from their tutors, which is obviously impossible. Laird writes, “It takes me a long time to respond thoughtfully to students’ work, particularly their writing.” (Laird 1) With in-person learning, students would expect faster feedback. For example, students can ask questions during class time, which can be answered immediately, unlike online learning, where the instructor could find a large number of questions and concerns, which takes time to sort through.

Laird also explains that unlike in-person classes where students remain mostly formal, online classes tend to take on the over-familiarity that students are accustomed to when using the internet. Many students are used to spending a lot of time on social media and other online platforms where they interact informally, which lulls them into thinking that their online classes are a similar space. Laird explains that “The egalitarian atmosphere of the Internet chat room transfers rapidly and inappropriately to the online classroom” (Laird 1). This issue goes back to the idea of interaction that Jacobs analyzed. With in-person learning, Students see their professor’s authority from their interaction. As Laird says, seeing her graying hair and mode of dress would show her students that she is not a peer but an instructor (Laird 1). One-on-one interaction between instructors and students asserts authority, and lack of this interaction with online learning erodes the authority and respect accorded to the teachers.

Students also treat learning materials very differently in online learning compared to in-person classrooms. This applies to materials such as handouts ad textbooks. Online learning avails all the learning materials in electronic form, making it easy for students to click on a button and download what they need. However, many online students do not make use of such resources (De Paepe, et al. 130). As Laird highlights the difference with in-person learning, writing, “In traditional classrooms, students do not pick up or download only the handouts that appeal to them; most do not try to begin the semester’s final project without instruction in the material on which it is based.” (Laird 1) Online students in comparison, only make use of the materials which appeal to them, resulting in shallow learning and inability to complete their assignments as expected.

In conclusion, online learning is very different from the brick-and-mortar classroom. Although students are expected to put the same effort into their learning regardless of the instruction mode, this is rarely the case. Some of the significant differences between online and in-person learning arise with deadlines, learning materials, overfamiliarity, and unrealistic expectations. Before taking up online learning, both students and instructors need to be aware of the challenges that come with different modes of learning so that they can adapt accordingly. Works Cited

De Paepe, Liesbeth, Chang Zhu, and Koen Depryck. “Online language teaching: Teacher perceptions of effective communication tools, required skills and challenges of online teaching.” Journal of Interactive Learning Research 29.1 (2018): 129-142.

Jacobs, Pearl. “The challenges of online courses for the instructor.” Sacred Hear University. (August 2013). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=cj_facLaird, Elle. “I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider.” WebCT.3 January 2003. Retrieved from http://celt.cui.edu/celt/webct_for_instructors/Laird_Article.htm