A Brief Description Of Singapore

A Brief Description Of Singapore A Journey into Singapores Past While the earliest known historical records of Singapore are shrouded in the mists of time, a third century Chinese account describes it as Pu-luo-chung, or the island at the end of a peninsula. Later, the city was known as Temasek (Sea Town), when the first settlements were established from AD 1298-1299. During the 14th century, this small but strategically located island earned a new name. Legend, Sang Nila Utama, a Prince from Palembang founded a city The Lion City or Singapura, from the Sanskrit words simha (lion) and pura (city). At this time, the city was then ruled by the five kings of ancient Singapura. Located at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, the city served as a flourishing trading post for a wide variety of sea crafts, from Chinese junks, Indian vessels etc. The next important period in the history of Singapore was during the 19th century, when modern Singapore was founded. At this time, Singapore was already an upcoming trading post along the Malacca Straits, and Britain realized the need for a port of call in the region. British traders needed a strategic venue to refresh and protect the merchant fleet of the growing empire, as well as forestall any advance made by the Dutch in the region. The then Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen (now Bengkulu) in Sumatra, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore on 29 January 1819, after a survey of the neighboring islands. Recognizing the immense potential of the swamp covered island, he helped negotiate a treaty with the local rulers, establishing Singapore as a trading station. Soon, the islands policy of free trade attracted merchants from all over Asia and from as far away as the US and the Middle East. In 1832, Singapore became the centre of government for the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca and Singapore. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the advent of the telegraph and steamship, Singapores importance as a centre of the expanding trade between the East and West increased tremendously. By 1860, the thriving country had a population that had grown from a mere 150 in 1819 to 80,792, comprising mainly Chinese, Indians and Malays. But the peace and prosperity of the country suffered a major blow during World War II, when it was attacked by the Japanese aircrafts on 8 December 1941. Once regarded as an impregnable fortress, Singapore fell under the Japanese invasion on 15 February 1942. It remained occupied by the Japanese for the next three and half years, a time marked by great oppression and an immense loss of lives. When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the island was handed over to the British Military Administration, which remained in power until the dissolve of the Straits Settlement comprising Penang, Melaka and Singapore. In March 1946, Singapore became a Crown Colony. In 1959, the growth of nationalism led to self-government, and the countrys first general election. The Peoples Action Party (PAP) won a majority of 43 seats and Lee Kuan Yew became the first prime minister of Singapore. In 1961, Singapore joined Malaya and merged with the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo to form Malaysia in 1963. However, the merger proved unsuccessful, and less than two years later on 9 August 1965, Singapore left Malaysia to become an independent and sovereign democratic nation. On 22 December that year, Singapore finally became an independent republic. Today, you can experience Singapores rich historical heritage by visiting many of the national monuments, museums and memorials located around the city. On your trip here, remember to take a walk along one of the many heritage trails or visit the well-known landmarks for a complete Singapore journey. ECONOMY OVERVIEW Singapore has a highly developed and successful free-market economy. It enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP higher than that of most developed countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in consumer electronics, information technology products, pharmaceuticals, and on a growing financial services sector. Real GDP growth averaged 8.6% between 2004 and 2007. The economy contracted 1.0% in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis, but rebounded 14.8% in 2010 and 4.9% in 2011, on the strength of renewed exports. Over the longer term, the government hopes to establish a new growth path that focuses on raising productivity, which has sunk to a compound annual growth rate of just 1.8% in the last decade. Singapore has attracted major investments in pharmaceuticals and medical technology production and will continue efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asias financial and high-tech hub. ECONOMIC SITUATION OF THE COUNTRY Singapore is widely acknowledged as having one of the best business environments in the world one of the worlds most competitive (Institute for Management Development World Competitiveness Year book), most profitable (Business Environment Risk Intelligence Report), most transparent (Transparency International Survey), with world-class intellectual property protection and enforcement (World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report). The presence of many leading global companies and local enterprises here is a testimony to Singapores excellence in manufacturing and services. There are more than 7,000 Multi-National Corporations in Singapore now days. Singapore is an attractive and competitive manufacturing location, possessing world class capabilities in the design, development and manufacture of cutting edge products for the world. As MNCs are always looking for the most cost efficient for its investment, Singapores high labor rate loses out to other developing countries e.g. Vie tnam and China. As some manufacturers have left Singapore to other countries with cheaper labor, we can see the transformation from the manufacturing activities into trading and services. In addition, by leveraging on its strength as the regional hub for services such as logistics and education, Singapore is poised to become Asias leading services hub, providing an array of world-class services. The following sections will analyze the factors (Politic, Economy, Social and Technology) that influence the business environment in Singapore and also its limitation. PEST ANALYSIS POLITICAL/LEGAL Singapore is an enterprise friendly country. The government has set up several organizations in helping the business in a very systematic way. Regulation Structure Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has its vision to make Singapore a leading global city of talent, enterprise and innovation. Its mission is to promote economic growth and create jobs, so as to achieve higher standards of living for all. It was tasked with anticipating problems ahead, identifying opportunities for growth, rationalizing existing policies and giving broad directions for the economy. The main tasks are categorized as below:- Growing economy Expanding trade Developing industries Fostering pro-enterprise environment Statutory boards are semi-independent agencies that specialize in carrying out specific plans and policies of the Ministry. One of such agencies under the MTI is SPRING Singapore. SPRING Singapore (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board) is the enterprise development agency for growing innovative companies and fostering a competitive SME sector. SPRING works with partners to help enterprises in financing, capabilities and management development, technology and innovation, and access to markets. As the national standards and accreditation body, SPRING also develops and promotes internationally-recognized standards and quality assurance to enhance competitiveness and facilitate trade. It has many programmes to encourage entrepreneurship and assisting the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). These are two available financial incentive schemes:-i) Business Angels Scheme (BAS) where they will provide Innovative Singapore-based young companies a matching dollar for every dollar invested by pre-approved angel groups, up to $1.5 million. ii) Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Startups (YES! Startups) Where they will provide youths with grants of up to $50,000 to start their innovative business. SPRING also provides business leadership and capability development where a number of training courses are conducted to improve leadership and business management skills. Several available programs are:-i) Advanced Management Programme (AMP) where it will help tobuild management capabilities of SME leaders through postgraduate and executive development courses that focus on the business management needs of SMEs. ii) Management Development Scholarship (MDS): Designed to Nurture the leadership of tomorrow for growth-oriented enterprises where it provides MBA scholarship to help the SME to develop their talent for the future. Enterprise One (One Network for Enterprises) is a multi-agency initiative managed by SPRING Singapore. Enterprise One aims to help local enterprises find the answers they need to start, sustain and grow their businesses. Its resources pose:- Rich and Deep Content Over 20 sections covering a comprehensive range of topics such as venturing abroad, hiring people, Government tenders, loans, taxes and regulations. It pulled together information from different Government agencies so the business owners dont have to trudge from agency to agency to look for answers. Industry Guides Topics are grouped by industries and organized in sections so that the business owners can easily find information relevant to your sector. The Competition Commission of Singapore (under MTI) who is a statutory body established to enforce the Competition Act and ensure a fair competition environment. Any unfair business practice can be prevented and this can ensure a healthy competition and business growth. Another MTI agency is Public Service for the 21st Century or PS21 It is about the Singapore Public Services commitment to Anticipate, Welcome and Execute change, influencing developments in order to provide Singapore with the best conditions for success. One of its main objectives is to cut red tape to achieve service excellence and efficiency. Red tape reduction definitely will encourage entrepreneurship, foreign investment and positive growth of the business sector. Ministry of Finance (MOF) The main regulatory statutes under MOF are the Companies Act, Business Registration Act, Currency Act and Accountants Act. The emphasis of the regulatory policy is on development, rather than control. MOF aims to collaborate with industry experts to make Singapore a world-class financial and business hub. The main strategy in helping the business in the Singapore is building a Conducive Business Environment by Facilitate growth of businesses and nurture an entrepreneurial environment Under the MOF, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Directorates role is: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To drive the development of a holistic and cross directorate/ agency approach to the FTA issues à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To shape and balance the outcome of the issues in the FTA negotiations to align with MOFs policies and goals à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To function as a centralized focal point within MOF for information on all FTA issues. The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) is one of the statutory boards under the MOF with mission to provide a responsive and forward looking regulatory environment for companies, businesses and public accountants, conducive to enterprise and growth in Singapore. The focus of the statutory board will be on issues concerning businesses, such as developing the corporate law framework, accounting and corporate governance. Government E-Business Portal In an effort to promote transparency, the Singapore government has setup GeBIZ (Government E-Business Portal) who is the Singapore governments one-stop e-procurement portal. All the public sectors invitations for quotations and tenders are posted on GeBIZ. Suppliers can search for government procurement opportunities, download tender documents, and submit their bids online. Enforcement Singapore is a country where the enforcement units are very efficient and with very low corruption rate. The Singapore Police Force enjoys a relatively positive public image, and is credited for helping to arrest Singapores civic unrests and lawlessness in its early years, and maintaining the low crime rate today. Another example is the taxi services where the drivers collect fares by using the meter and do not cheat the passengers. Taxi in Singapore is regulated by the Land Transport Authority. This gives the passengers especially tourist peace of mind in using taxi service. Any bad taxi service may hamper the tourism industries. Corruption Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) Singapore is reputed to be one of the few countries in the world where corruption is under control. This is due mainly to the strong political will to curb corruption, firm actions taken against the corrupt regardless of their status and background, and the general public who do not accept corruption as a way of life. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) is an independent body which investigates and aims to prevent corruption in the public and private sectors in Singapore. The bureau is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of the public service and encouraging corruption-free transactions in the private sector. Deregulation Liberalization Singapore has deregulated several markets, e.g. the electricity and telecommunication. The government no more monopolized these markets, but it is open for competition among the industry players. Even since 1989, the government of Singapore started eliminating restrictions on the sale of telecom consumer goods to make businesses more competitive. From this we can see the competitive telecommunication markets nowadays, which benefit to the end consumer and the business as well. Singapore is reliant on foreign direct investments and exports so competition from countries with lower costs such as China and India is exerting pressure on the government to reduce the costs of doing business here. Electricity cost is one of these. Deregulation is believed to be able to bring about lower electricity costs due to the various efficiency gains possible. Since corporatization the power industry has become more efficient and more reliable. Customer service has improved. Investments in new power pl ants and transmission network infrastructure have increased significantly. The industry is also making healthy profits through efficiency and productivity gains, and lower cost of purchase of power equipment and cables. One of the deregulation result is YTL Power of Malaysia has acquired 100% interest in Power Seraya Limited recently. Also the China Hua Neng Power has acquired100% stake in the Tuas Power Ltd. We can see the deregulation has attracted foreign direct investment into the countries and thus accelerate its economic growth. Being Asias first liberalized electricity market, the Singapore government has liberalized the electricity wholesale and retail market. This means contestable consumers will have greater choice about how they purchase their electricity. Non-contestable consumers continue to buy electricity from SP Services Ltd at regulated tariffs. Eventually, all consumers in Singapore will become contestable. This certainly has reduced the electricity bills for the i ndustrial/ business user and consumer. The government must be very careful and governing the deregulated market and not to repeat the failure encountered by the US deregulated energy market, where expenditures become higher and consumers suffered from the higher energy cost and was a failure in the USA energy policy. Another example is the liberalization of the civil aviation industry where the flyers can fly at lower cost. Tiger Airways, the major airlines also reduce the air fares significantly and this help in driving down business expenses and accelerated growth especially in the tourism related industries e.g. hotel, FB services and local retail business. Licensing Singapore government has been very careful in allowing foreign hyper market to operate in Singapore. So far only the Malaysians Giant (4 outlets) and Frenchs Carrefour (2 outlets) are allowed to operate on the island. Strict control has been taken to protect the retailer especially. Non Government Organization (NGO) NGO play an important role as pressure group in the government policy and implementation. As part of an effort to bolster tourism as more manufacturing jobs shift to countries with lower labor costs and in view of the possibility that Singapore would lose out in its status as a tourist hub as well as the economic benefits from tax revenues, Singapore government has revisited the idea of building casino in Singapore in 2004. This had generated substantial and intense public debate and objection from the NGOs as this was not just a socio-economic policy dilemma, but has potential to touch the sensitive nerves of social identity, public morality and values and has bad implication on Singapore as a clean, sterile, corruption-free and crime-free city. Further the NGOs protested that this development will be at the expense of the environment as the developer has to reclaim the sea for extra land where ecology system will be spoilt. However, after much debate about the tangible and intangib le facts and costs, the government finally approved the casino plan and it is now under construction. The completion of this casino together with the entertainment resort and other infrastructure will certainly attract more foreign tourists and boosting the domestic economy once the plan is completed. ECONOMY The Singapore economy is an example of a vibrant free-market economy that is developing at a rapid pace 1. The per-capita income of the country is the highest in ASEAN. The business sector has been supported and strengthened by a corruption-free environment, an educated and motivated workforce, and well-established legal and financial business framework. In recent years, the Singapore government has invested heavily in diversifying the economy. This has led to growth in the tourism industry, the pharmaceutical industry with a particular focus on biotechnology, financial services, business consultation services, education, multimedia, retail and leisure, and the medical technology industry. Productivity Significantly from 2008-Q3 onwards, economic growth was rapidly slowing down because of the financial crisis, while commodity prices hit unprecedented heights, creating sharp inflationary pressures in Singapore and other economies. The data for this section are for the year 2010. Singapore achieved GDP (current market value) of S$257,419 million, which is a 2.3% increment from the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the economy contracted by 4.2 per cent, after posting flat growth in the third quarter. Unemployment rate as of end 2008 is 2.3%, which is a 0.2% increment from year 2007. However, the retrenchment rate has almost doubled from year 2009s 7,700 to year 2010s 13,400 workers. This is certainly the consequence of the global economic crisis, where almost not a single country can be escaped. Gross national income per capita was S$51,739 which is the highest per capita income in ASEAN and making its citizen income on par with the developed nations. In fact, the city st ate is the only developed country in ASEAN. The services producing industries made up 68.8% of the overall economy and manufacturing weighted at 19.4%. Financial services and business services has become more and more important and made up 13.1 and 14.0% respectively of the overall economy. We can observe a transition from the manufacturing based into services oriented and this demands more professional and intellectuals. The government spends a lot of effort to attract foreign professional and talented individual to work and migrate to Singapore to support the local business. Of course they do not left out to attract foreign direct investment. However the drawback will be the outflow foreign exchange. Petroleum refined products top the export list with 23.7%. This can be attributed to the petrochemical complexes in Jurong Island. This initiative has boosted the heavy petrochemical industries in the country and has attracted foreign direct investment like the Exxon-Mobile Refinery. The limitation will be the pollution to the environment which will increase the social cost like healthcare services. Exchange Rates Currency exchange rate is about US$1.00 to S$1.50 range lately. Due to its high exchange rate to the Ringit Malaysia (S$1.00 = RM2.40 approximately), many Singapore residents like to cross the Tebrau Straits to Malaysia for weekend spending. Additionally, the comparative cheaper petrol price in Malaysia has attracted Singaporean to fill up their vehicle fuel tank in Malaysia. These have directly affected the Singapore domestic businesses and the petrol retailers. Therefore the government has set the rule for the car owner to have at least the fuel tank  ¾ filled when travelling outbound to Malaysia. On the other hand, the high exchange rate to Ringgit Malaysia and Indonesian Rupiah has attracted many white and blue collar labors from these two neighboring countries. Especially the high numbers of skilled workers from Malaysia has contributed to Singapores GDP growth but on the other hand remarking loss in foreign exchange. On the other hand, construction and heavy industries in Sin gapore are over dependant on foreign workers which in one hand has become a threat to the social identity and safety. Monetary and Fiscal Policies The success of Singapores fiscal policy over the years lies in the governments prudent expenditure patterns and conducive taxation policies that have complemented monetary policy in promoting sustained and non-inflationary economic growth. Singapores tax policies, although providing the main source of funding for the government, seek to enhance its economic competitiveness and attract foreign investments to Singapore. In its Budget 2009, the Singapore government has announced The Resilience Package totaling $20.5 billion to help Singaporeans preserving their jobs and helping viable company stay afloat. The government spent S$5.8 billion to stimulate bank lending. It also would spend S$2.6 billion to enhance business cash flow and competitiveness. Further, it also allocated S$4.4 billion to develop Singapore as a global city and best home for Singaporean. Under the severe global economy crisis, Singapore government has justified withdrawal from its past reserves to fund the Jobs Credit Scheme and Special Risk-Sharing Initiative to ensure that the Resilience Package will stimulate the business sector. This combination of fair tax policies and prudent expenditure programs, augmented by high economic growth has enabled Singapore to enjoy consistent budget surpluses over the years. Singapore is one of the very few countries who enjoy surplus in its economy nowadays. In 2008, as part of the governments move to share the nations surpluses with its citizens, the government has allocated S$1.06 billion as growth dividend for this purpose which benefited about 2.4 million Singaporean, especially those of the lower income. This allocation has help the lower income group to cope with the higher living cost and in turn has stimulus the buying power in the market. However, the effectiveness for the market stimulation is only for the short term. Th e Official Foreign Reserves at Feb 2009 is US$163,549.4 million and Singapore government does not bear any foreign debt. This again proves that Singapore economic and financial performance is well managed and the local business can enjoy strong support and enterprise friendly policies from the government. International Trade International Enterprise (IE) Singapore is the lead agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry spearheading the development of Singapores external economic wing. Its mission is to promote the overseas growth of Singapore-based enterprises and international trade. At the same time, IE works to position Singapore as a base for foreign businesses to expand into the region in partnership with Singapore-based companies. In championing international trade, IE Singapore contributes to the Singapore economy through active promotion of export of goods and services, and offshore trade. Singapores Global Trader Program (GTP) which provides incentives to attract international trading companies to set up their base in Singapore. The IEs Enterprise Group manages and develops a range of broad-based services for Singapore-based companies wanting to export internationalized goods. In 2007, Singapore was ranked the 14th largest trading nation in the world, amounting to total of $846.6 billion of external trade, with Malaysia remained as the biggest trade partner, followed by EU. The Port of Singapore is the world busiest port in term of total shipping tonnage. It is also the world busiest container port and transshipment port. The Port of Singapore is not only a mere economic boon but an economic necessity as it is lack of natural resources and land. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore was established with the mission to develop Singapore as a premier global hub port and international maritime centre. The establishment of Malaysias Port of Tanjung Pelepas has threaten the Singapore Port status as the rival has attracted prestigious maritime companies like Maesk and Evergreen to switch over to Tanjung Pelepas. Surely, the Singapore Port operator will be facing more fierce competition ahead. The Singapore Tourism Board aims to triple tourism receipts to $30 billion and double visitor arrivals to 17 million visitors by 2015. It is working closely with international in vestors to develop new world-class attractions (e.g. the casino), and attract strategic business and leisure events to Singapore. SOCIAL CULTURAL Singapore is an eastern country who still follows the traditional family values, but the younger generation has started to adopt to western culture and values. Society Values and Principles As nowadays, many Singaporean have the mindset of Kia-su which means afraid of lose out to others. Many Singaporean works very hard to retain or fulfill their materialism desire. In some extent this has positively increased the nation productivities and the business sectors can expect a higher purchasing power from the consumers. On the other hand, some family and social values have to be sidelined. Demographic Profile The current population is about 5,353,494 (July 2011 est.). Singapore ethnic mix is Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9%, other 1.4% (2000 census). Most of the Singaporean dislikes blue collar works like construction and other works in hard environment. These are considered hard and dirty works and therefore not welcome especially by the younger generation. This created the window for importing foreign workers to fill up blue collar vacancies. With the cheaper labor from neighboring countries, the business sector has enjoyed cost saving and therefore more can be reinvested for further expansion. Education Singapore has codified compulsory education for children of primary school age, and made it a criminal offence if parents fail to enroll their children in school and ensure their regular attendance. English is the primary language used in Singapores education systems. Good command of English has given Singapore an edge advantage for attracting foreign investment and international trade. Further the Chinese language proficiency among the Chinese ethnic has attracted the investor from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong and on the other hand enable investing ventures into these countries easily. The latest statistic shows that the literacy rate stands at 92.5% whilst secondary or higher qualification holders are 89%. This is the driving force for the government to promote knowledge. Economy which is less labor incentive but more talent and intellectual are on demand. Besides, owing to the kia-su mindset, the parents here are very concerned about the performance of the kids in school. This has led to blossoming of tuition centers and other arts/musical learning classes. TECHNOLOGY Technology is the power behind to change our life style and improve out quality of life. The Internet Comprehensive infrastructure setup has been a fundamental attractiveness for foreign investment and local business establishment, not to mention about the IT infrastructure. Currently, the household broadband internet penetration rate has achieved more than 70%. The successive of e-commerce and e-B2C model highly relies on the broadband internet. As of latest, 10 Mbps of broadband internet service is available. The comprehensive IT infrastructure also has encouraged MNC to setup their regional operation in Singapore. The successful of the financial and IT services business are highly rely on the state of the art IT infrastructure. On the other hand, the Singapore government is moving towards an electronic government era. Many useful resources and information are available in the relevant ministries/ department or government agencies website. For instance, the Customs Office of Singapore has provided e-service, these are few examples:- Application for: Manufacturers Registration New Product Line(s) Application for Registration of Companies/ Firms and Signatories for Customs and/ or GST Transactions Application for GST relief on household articles and personal effects. This approach enables to cut red tapes and enhanced the efficiency. Water Due to its lack of water resources and the government would like to reduce its dependence on the Malaysian supplied water, the Singaporean has ventured into water recycling and desalination. NEWATER is the brand name given to reclaimed water produced by Singapores public utilities. More specifically, it is treated wastewater (sewage) that has been purified using dual-membrane (via microfiltration and reverse osmosis) and ultraviolet technologies, in addition to conventional water treatment processes. Many experts suggested that Singapore could become the worlds water hub for water recycling and desalination technology and could export this technology to the world including China. With the new technology in water reclamation, waste water would become the most important sustainable water resource in the future. Singaporeans expertise in the water recycling will definitely give its edge advantage if its exports this expertise and technology in the future. SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTH Manufacturing constituted 26% OF Singapores GDP in 2005. The manufacturing industry is well diversified with significant electronics, petroleum refining, chemicals, mechanical engineering and biomedical sciences manufacturing sectors. Singapore has been rated as the most business-friendly economy in the world, with thousands of foreign expatriates working in multi-national corporations. As of 2009, Singapore has 16 bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with 24 trading partners. Singapore is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. About 10.2 million tourists visited Singapore in 2007.

Little Green Men Or Just Little Microscopic Organisms? :: essays research papers fc

Little Green Men or Just Little Microscopic Organisms? The question of life on Mars is a puzzle that has plagued many minds throughout the world. Life on Mars, though, is a reality. When you think of Martians, you think of little green men who are planning to invade Earth and destroy all human life, right? Well, some do and some do not. Though believing that there are little green men on Mars is just a fantasy, or is it? The kind of life that may have lived there is the kind you would never consider of giving the name "Martian" to. They are small organisms such as microbes or bacteria. Proof of this was found in a meteorite containing the fossils of the microscopic organisms intact. Two highly regarded chemistry professors from Stanford, Claude Maechling and Richard Zare, dissected three meteorites that were about 2 to 8 millimeters long and found trace elements of a big mumbo jumbo word— polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. That pretty much means that there once was a warmer climate and maybe even lakes or oceans. Life on Mars is now a real idea. The climate of Mars about 3.8 billion years ago was much similar to the young Earth. Microbes and bacteria probably sprouted everywhere in the warm and wet climate. Although now we only see a cold red planet, which was probably due to a collision of an astroid that would have set back the evolution process of Mars, causing it to be a harsh planet. A Viking spacecraft which landed on Mars in 1976 found that the planet was bathed in ultraviolet radiation, "intense enough so it would probably fry any microbe we know on this planet,"says Jack Farmer, an Ames researcher who calls himself an "exopaleontologist"—a searcher for fossils on other worlds. The redness of Mars is due to the chemical assault known as oxidation, which turns iron compounds into rust, and it would surely kill anything that sticks its head up. "So why do you still believe that there is life on Mars?" you say. Life on Mars is not located on the ultraviolet radiation oxidized surface. The microbes are found below it, probably located in the boiling hot springs, or in frozen time capsules. Life here on Earth are located in some strange places so why wouldn't the Martian microbes be found in strange places if they were trying to survive? Scientists have found bacteria here on Earth that were living inside rocks where they got all of their nourishment from the rocks and from some water. Martians probably do the same thing.

Culture Is Pervasive in All Marketing Activities Essay

It is a widely accepted tenet of marketing that consumers are not homogenous and that their specific tastes, characteristics and desires will influence their response to marketing activities and advertising (Jeannet and Hennessey, 2004; Kotler and Keller, 2006, p. 52). At the same time, it is also accepted that consumers in different cultures tend to have different demographic profiles, lifestyles, values and economic priorities (Yucelt, 2000, p. 59). As a result, it is clear that consumers in different cultures are very likely to have different needs and responses to marketing and advertising. This in turn implies that culture will have a pervasive impact in influencing marketing activities, and businesses will have to take account of cultural factors if they are to successfully advertise to consumers in different cultures. This piece will critically review the extent to which culture is pervasive in all marketing activities; particularly in the creation and implementation of advertising strategies, and the implications for marketing and advertising activity. Culture is pervasive in all marketing activities Not only is this argument supported by the theory, but it has also been strongly supported by the empirical evidence. For example, studies of marketing in the European Union, which is generally seen as a single market, have shown that â€Å"national differences are more important than similarities when marketers are planning to approach the European consumers† (Yucelt, 2000, p. 59). These differences become even stronger in other contexts such as Asia. In particular, the response to television, radio, newspaper and magazine advertising has all been shown to be influenced by cultural factors, and all of these factors can have an influence on the strategies used by companies to market and advertise their products. Given the significant impact of these differences, it is hardly surprising that studies have looked to use cultural frameworks to analyse the impact of culture on marketing, with Hofstede’s (1980, p. 1) cultural values being one of the most widely used concepts. In particular, research by Murphy and Scharl (2007, p. 97) has shown that Hofstede’s dimensions of individualism and masculinity strongly related to how innovative products and the marketing and advertising of said products is received. This finding is specifically applied to the online setting, producing the argument that â€Å"in countries with strong cultural values of masculinity and collectivism, international business managers should consider paying homage to local domain names for web site and email addresses† in order to reach customers in that country more effectively (Murphy and Scharl, 2007, p. 97). This implies that not only is culture an important factor in marketing activities and advertising, but that specific cultural factors can have specific impacts on a given marketing campaign or advertising strategy. These specific impacts can be even more important in the case of multinational corporations and their subsidiaries. In particular, they raise the question of how multinational corporations and their subsidiaries should best market and advertise their offerings across a range of environmental contexts. The question that is often raised in the literature is how best for these companies to achieve their global vision, whilst also paying attention to cultural factors in the target market and remaining responsive to local environmental conditions. According to a study by Boojihawon et al (2007, p. 549) the majority of successful multinational companies tend to strike a balance between these two factors, attempting to create a sound global strategy whilst also using entrepreneurial behaviours and management practices to encourage local cultural responsibility in their subsidiaries and advertising strategies. Despite adhering to a unified theme in order to build a distinctive global brand identity, there were significant variations in how Nintendo launched the â€Å"Nintendo Wii† in 3 westernised yet, culturally different countries (Figure 1). The innovative segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies of Nintendo Wii, and the localised campaigns focusing on the most important attributes of the product in each country/culture, helped to make Wii the success it is today. Figure 1: Comparison of TV advertising launch of Nintendo Wii in USA, Japan & UK (2006) The importance of culture also pervades the development, management and advertising of a company or product’s brand image. Managing brand images in global markets is a major concern for businesses, who wish to avoid embarrassing incidents where their brand image turns out to be inappropriate or offensive in some cultural contexts. Wonderbra is only too aware of this (www. adsoftheworld. com). Every magazine that enters the United Arab Emirates is censored using black markers. Before Wonderbra launched into the UAE, they issued a strategic tongue-in-cheek press release depicting a woman wearing a blacked-out Wonderbra. They deliberately added large amounts of â€Å"marker† to the ad to cheekily communicate the increase in size when a lady wears their product. However, their advertising strategy backfired when the UAE advertising authorities blacked out the rest of the â€Å"naked skin† leaving only the face visible, thus totally diminishing any intended marketing message. Indeed, Roth’s (1995, p. 163) use of Hofstede’s (1980, p. ) dimensions indicates that both the power distance and individualism dimensions have strong impacts on the interpretation of sensory and novelty based brand image strategies. In other words, these two dimensions strongly impact on consumer responses to brand advertising strategies that are based on sensory stimuli and novelty value. This implies that managers marketing brands internationally and across different cultural contexts need to be aware of how their brands and advertising will be interpreted in these contexts, in order to maximise their marketing and advertising effectiveness. The impact of cultural factors can even be seen in the case of word of mouth advertising strategies, and customer referral programs. In particular, in recent years the role of cultural factors and cultural differences in the use of word of mouth as an advertising tool has become of increased importance. Whilst positive word of mouth tends to have a positive effect on customer service quality perceptions in all cultural environments, Schumann et al (2010, p. 8) showed that received word of mouth â€Å"has a stronger effect on the evaluation of customers in high uncertainty avoidance than in low uncertainty avoidance cultures†. This implies that even if companies are not engaging in direct advertising campaigns in a cross-cultural context, they still need to be aware of the impact that cultural factors can have on their general marketing and any word of mouth advertising or referral marketing strategies, and match these strategies to the target culture’s uncertainty avoidance level. â€Å"One World Culture† However, it is important to note that whilst national cultural factors and differences have a strong impact on the marketing and advertising of products in the contemporary environment, the increasing globalisation of the world economy is also having a strong impact on the cultural characteristics of people around the world. As global capitalism and communications become more advanced, so consumers around the world are becoming used to similar styles of marketing and advertising. This is acting to dissolve some of the cultural boundaries of advertising, and in ome areas creating a homogeneous global consumer culture (Cleveland and LaRoche, 2007, p. 249). Whilst this trend is still not dominant, and many individuals continue to define themselves by their cultural environment and heritage, there is a growing degree of variance in the extent to which other individuals do identify with these norms. In particular, younger people are increasingly defining themselves as global consumers and individuals, and hence feeling a greater affinity to the global community, with a lesser degree of attachment to their local and national cultures. This implies that not only do managers need to be aware of the different cultures that pervade the markets in which they operate, but they also need to be aware of the potential impact of this global culture on consumer responses to advertising and marketing strategies. Indeed, whilst the growth of this global consumer is a relatively new concept in marketing, it should be noted that globalisation has long been accepted as creating â€Å"global consumer segments that associate similar meanings with certain places, people, and things† (Duncan and Ramaprasad, 1995, p. 5). To date, these segments have largely been limited to specific consumer products and brands, such as Apple, Nike and Coca Cola. However, as these segments have grown, so they have also helped drive the emergence of global consumer cultures, and the growth of shared sets of consumption related symbols. These symbols are often brands, but can also be product categories, or even consumption activity. In 2009, Guinness launched their first ever global advertising campaign for â€Å"Arthur’s Day† (Figure 2). It was a â€Å"groundbreaking consumer promotion promoting annual ‘Arthur’s Day’ events on 24th September, being held around the world in cities including Dublin, New York, Lagos and Kuala Lumpur† (Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA, 2009). Guinness wants their global consumers to celebrate the consumption activity of drinking Guinness on the same day of the year, worldwide; thus trying to influence global culture and consumer behaviour. Figure 2: Arthur’s Day â€Å"Toast†, Jakarta, 2010 With the continuous growth of mass media, and the dominance of this media by a few large economies and cultures such as the United States (Walker, 1996, p. 42), these symbols have become ever more significant, and their impact on global culture has become ever more pronounced. This implies that marketers and advertisers need to be aware of the specific influence of culture across different product categories, and the potential cultural impacts of entering or leaving one of these categories. The growth of these shared meanings also has implications of marketing managers, who often find themselves competing in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, where competitors can come from a range of backgrounds, economies and cultures (Aaker, 1991, p. 46). As a result, marketers may need to develop new strategies for coping with the widespread changes in culture, particularly when the global culture changes in a way that is not conducive to their existing marketing strategies. According to Alden et al (1999, p. 75) such changes will require companies to adopt a strategy of â€Å"global consumer culture positioning†, whereby businesses not only position themselves in domestic markets and foreign markets, but also position themselves in the global market. This will obviously complicate marketing activities in the short term, with marketers forcing to tailor their advertising strategies to three distinct market segments, all of which may respond to brand messages and advertising in different ways. However, in the long term, marketers are likely to benefit from following such a strategy, as their positioning will be better able to move with shifts in the global market, and the various local markets in which they operate. As such, it can be seen that the impact of culture on contemporary marketing and advertising will not be static, but will rather be ever changing and hence will require marketers to anticipate and react to changes in the global cultural makeup. The potential for such changes to occur can be seen in a recent study of the use of soft sell advertising and hard sell advertising across different markets. According to most theoretical work on advertising and the prediction of global consumer culture theories, soft sell advertising should be more uniformly accepted across markets, whilst hard sell advertising should struggle in some cultural contexts such as the Far East, where confrontations are not culturally acceptable. However, the results of Okazaki’s (2010, p. 0) study into the use of soft selling and hard selling in the United States and Japan produced quite surprising results: â€Å"The results indicate somewhat more homogeneous acceptance of soft-sell appeals but, surprisingly, also show relatively homogeneous acceptance of hard-sell appeals across markets. These findings are suggestive of both types of appeals having the potential to be used as part of a GCCP across the United States and Japan and perhaps other markets† (Okazaki, 2010, p. 20). This implies that even two culturally dissimilar nations such as the US and Japan have developed similar responses to certain types of advertising. As such, marketers who had not kept abreast of these cultural and market developments could have found themselves left behind and unable to compete as the market moved on and left them behind. Conclusions In conclusion, it is clear that culture is pervasive in all marketing activities, and particularly in the case of advertising strategies. Not only does culture impact on how advertising and marketing is perceived in different countries and cultures, but it can also in turn be influenced by advertising and marketing strategies. In addition to this, the globalisation of marketing, advertising and business is causing the emergence of a global culture, which requires its own unique form of marketing and advertising. These different cultures are not remaining static, but are increasingly changing and developing over time, forcing advertisers to constantly renew and re-evaluate their advertising strategies. As such, the main impact on culture on marketing activities is that it prevents them from becoming static and consistent, and forces regular reviews and updates to ensure that the activities remain culturally relevant.

Globalization And The Human Development Index ( Hdi )

Globalization is something to be said to have either brought the world together or brought us apart. It is a debate that has been going on since it first began and how it is has affected the world has brought controversy as well. Mainly, this paper will be focusing on the economic growth that globalization has influenced. As the world is developing and has been over the past decades, certain countries have had a significant increase in economic growth but it is said that there are risks and effects of globalization. This paper will talk about how globalization effects developed countries and what countries need in order to benefit from it. Globalization is defined as a process that, based on international strategies, aims to expand†¦show more content†¦As mentioned earlier, it is believed that globalization benefits world economies. This is because it can increase their standard of living, creates access to new markets, and even widens the wage gap, but there are some conseq uences as well. In the long term, there are many beneficial outcomes but short term, people may suffer, especially the poor. The poor will ultimately become poorer because there will be a decrease in employment. Globalization has often been thought to be the primary reason for income inequality within a nation. Take for example the United States of America. A growing number of American’s believe that globalization is increasing the gap between the rich and poor, even depleting those who are already poor. Essentially, making the rich even richer, and the poor even poorer. â€Å"A famous result due to Wolfgang Stolper and Paul Samuelson states that some groups will necessarily suffer long-term losses in income from free trade† (Rodrik 2011, 38). The technological advances take the jobs away from the people but make it easier for the country in the long run. A popular criticism of globalization is outsourcing. While outsourcing provides jobs to people in one country, it takes away those jobs from people of another country, leaving many without opportunities. The opposing side would point out that American consumers are able to benefit from lower prices which were made possible because of cheaper labor. Defending either side of thisShow MoreRelatedPositive Impact Of Humans On Environment981 Words   |  4 Pages Positive Impacts of Humans Activity on Environment Student’s Name Institution of Learning Positive Impacts of Humans Activity on Environment Above all, there are a lot of articles and books that discover the negative impacts of humans’ activity on environment. Undoubtedly, healthy food is a very important thing for our future, especially in conditions of great pollution of the natural environment. 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