Chick-Fil-a Market-Oriented Strategy

Case Study: Chick-fil-A â€Å"Eat Mor Chikin† (Except on Sundays) 1. Chick- fil-A is following several market-oriented strategies that differentiate it from its competitors. Looking at page 33, a marketing strategy specifies a target market and a related marketing mix. Its primary target market is more adult and female as it is offering mainly chicken products: â€Å"healthier† alternative to hamburgers. They also advertise using high-quality ingredients. Following this strategy, Chick-fil-A is mainly located in malls and in neighborhoods that have high concentration of its target customers.Chick- fil-A also positions itself as a strong Christian company and closes its stores on Sundays. It creates an emotional connection with local communities by supporting local schools, churches, and organizations. Chick- fil-A also differentiates itself from other fast food restaurants by offering a one of a kind experience by focusing on a strong commitment to customer service, making customers feel like they are in a fancy establishment. It does so thr ough intensive training and customer surveys. It also is targeting small children by offering educational books in its kid’s meal while fulfilling its social responsibility2.The political environment can affect the marketing strategies implemented by Chick-fil-A. Dan Cathy recently said that Chick-fil-A supported the â€Å"biblical definition of the family unit†. While this single statement crystallized its position in the market, rallied its loyalists, and started a national conversation, it did not go so well with Disney, which booted Chick-fil-A off its grounds. I can imagine that it would not go so well in states, which are less religious and more spiritual.3. Chick- fil-A believes in achieving greater quality before expanding, and has so far been mostly located in the South while slowly expanded to other states.While closing on Sunday is a competitive advantage in the South, I don’t believe it would be in States in the North East and out West, where religio n is less prevalent and spiritually more pervasive.4. I don’t think other retailers should consider closing stores on Sunday unless they are primarily located in the South and are planning on staying local. In that case, I would recommend calculating the expected sales and costs over 5 years for each scenario and see which one is more beneficial.

Walt Disney Biography

Walter Elias Disney was born on the 5th of December, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Elias Disney was of Irish/Canadian descent and his mother Flora Call Disney was of German/American descent. Walt Disney had three brothers and one sister. The Disney family were raised on a farm in Missouri, USA where the young Walter developed an interest in drawing and trains. The Disney family moved back to Chicago where Walt attended the McKinley High School and took night classes at the Chicago Art Institute. At sixteen years of age Walt Disney dropped out of school to join the army but was knocked back because of his age. Instead, he joined the Red Cross and was shipped to France for one year, where he drove an ambulance. When Walt Disney returned from France he moved to Kansas City where his brother Roy Disney was working at a bank. He began his career as an advertising cartoonist at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio where he created commercial works for magazines, newspapers, and movie theaters. But he was keen to have his own business. Disney briefly started a company with the cartoonist Ub Iwerks, called â€Å"Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists†. The venture did not take off and the pair were forced to seek alternative paths to put food on the table. Disney and Iwwerks would later work together in creating some of the earliest popular Disney cartoon characters, including â€Å"Oswald the Lucky Rabbit† and â€Å"Mickey Mouse†. Walt became a pioneer of the animation industry, working his way through from silent cartoons, to sound, from black and white to Technicolor. He created the first full length animated musical and went on to combine cartoons with live action. A surprising switch of focus led to the creation of Disneyland in 1955, the first theme park the world had ever seen. It was a squeaky sounding mouse with big ears that would go on o be Walt Disney's biggest success. â€Å"Mickey Mouse† was born on the 18th of November, 1928. Mickey first appeared in a silent short called â€Å"Plane Crazy†, but it would be the â€Å"Steamboat Willie† cartoon with sound that made Mickey Mouse famous. Even though Walt Disney gets much of the credit and acknowledgment for creating the famous mouse, it is believed that his friend Ub Iwerks actually created Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney was the voice of Mickey Mouse up until 1946. Mickey Mouse would go on to become a symbol for the Walt Disney Company. The little mouse that started the company appeared in many cartoons, full feature films, comic strips, books, video games, toys, and was made into every piece of merchandise imaginable. Mickey Mouse became bigger than just the Walt Disney Company, and even came to symbolize the country of America. The mouse went on to become a cultural icon. Other popular cartoon characters that the Walt Disney Company went on to create include Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Butch the Bulldog, Scrooge McDuck, Clarabelle Cow, and many more. The company also animated other characters like Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Hercules, and more. The Walt Disney company received many Academy award nominations and was nominated for seven Emmys while Walt was alive. Disney's company had to overcome challenges like the workers strike in 1940, but the company mostly grew forward in leaps and bounds. The company went public in 1957 and continues to be a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange to this day. Disney was working on plans for a theme park when he died from lung cancer complications in 1966. His brother Roy would follow his plans through and the Walt Disney World theme park was opened to the public in 1971. The company continued to grow after the death of Walt Disney and is now one of the largest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. II. Problem During his working animated through from silent cartoons, to sound, from black and white to Technicolor and also created the animated musical and went on to combine cartoons with live action, there were some problem that he had faced it. †¢ When he started a company with the cartoonist Iwerks, the Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artist was failure. With all his high employee salaries unable to make up for studio profits, Walt was unable to successfully manage money. As a result, the studio became loaded with debt and wound up bankrupt. Disney then set his sights on establishing a studio in the movie industry's capital city, Hollywood, California. †¢ By 1927, the new series, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was an almost instant success, and the character, Oswald drawn and created by Iwerks became a popular figure. The Disney studio expanded, and Walt hired back Harman, Rudolph Ising, Carman Maxwell, and Friz Freleng from Kansas City. In February 1928, Disney went to New York to negotiate a higher fee per short from Mintz who was the distributor animated to Universal Pictures. Disney was shocked when Mintz announced that not only he wanted to reduce the fee he paid Disney per short but also that he had most of his main animators (notably, except Iwerks, who refused to leave Disney) under contract and would start his own studio if Disney did not accept the reduced production budgets. Universal, not Disney, owned the Oswald trademark, and could make the films without Disney. Disney declined Mintz's offer and lost most of his animation staff. III. Analysis There are several things that made Walt became success. Along his journey to make his dream came true, he through up and down in the business. But Disney has a spirit and believes that he could make his dream come true. And there were some character he had that brought Disney become big today and it described as below. †¢ Personality of Leadership Walt Disney was a leader who exemplified many leadership capacities throughout his 43-year Hollywood career. He demonstrated a strong moral purpose and worked hard to make a difference in the lives of everyone who had interactions with Walt Disney Productions. His moral convictions were instilled in him by his parents at a young age. Walt was always striving to make people happy. His first priority was always to his family. Although he struggled to balance work and family at times, he was always there for his wife and daughters. Walt also had a strong commitment to his employees. He knew each person by name and insisted that everyone call him Walt. Throughout his life, and since his death, Walt Disney did more to touch the hearts and minds of millions of Americans than any other person in the past century. †¢ Knowledge of the Business After the failure of the Iwwerks-Disney Commercial Artists venture, Walt did not give up and went to Hollywood. Walt realized that creativity and enthusiasm were not enough in the business world and then he went into partnership with his brother Roy and started what would eventually become the Walt Disney Company. His friend and previous business partner Ub Iwerks also came to Los Angeles and played an important role in the success of the company. †¢ Self Concept Walt Disney developed a philosophy that anyone who wants more success would do well to adopt. He was growing through self-criticism and experiment. He admitted that this is not a genius or even remarkable. It is the way people build a sound business of any kind, through sweat, intelligence and the love of the job. Thing that made him success was his ability to come at a problem from different mental perspectives. He developed three distinct mental methods and gave them name that is the Dreamer, the Realist and the Spoiler. o The dreamer represents unrestrained creativity that exemplified what he loved to do. Walt Disney saw the creative dreamer as the starting point for his success. He could never stand still when the ideas come. He might explore and experiment and never satisfied with his work. Walt Disney was motivated by creative achievement and was comfortable in an uncertain business environment. o The realist represents how he made ideas as a concrete reality. And he could be as hard-deaded as any accountant when do something. Walt Disney was aware about technology changed and he was ready to evolve with it. He thought that his business will grow with technical advances. And should the technology advance come to a stop, prepare the funeral and they need new tools and refinements. He was aware of the human factors that drove his commercial success. His success was built by hard work and enthusiasm, clarity of purpose, a devotion to his art, confidence in the future and above all, by a steady, day-by-day growth. o And the last but not the least, is the spoiler. Walt Disney was a critical thinker and perfectionist person. He needed to be because he knew his audience would see the errors from the cartoon movies. He never spared feelings because his interest was in product. If a fellow went off on his own developing an idea that had not been approved, he was asking for trouble, and got it. The spoiler critically evaluated the work of the realist and the dreamer. †¢ Cognitive and practical intelligence Walt Disney understood and embraced the process of change. He knew that in order to continue to progress and find success, he needed to be one step ahead of change. This was evident through his willingness to take chances on innovative technologies as they developed in his field. When others expressed concern over perceived risks, Walt was always optimistic and had faith in his convictions. †¢ Drive Integrity Walt offered the chance for his employees to attend art school, at his expense. Many of his animators took advantage of Walt’s offer, and as a result, their work improved greatly. They were enthusiastic about this opportunity and were grateful to Walt for taking an interest in their futures. Walt always shared his ideas and concerns with his employees. He believed that the company would work best in an environment where a company worked together in all aspects of the business. †¢ Emotional Intelligence Walt had a good Emotional Intelligence. His Relationship Management’s personality could bring him managing other people emotion. Walt worked hard to build relationships, especially with his employees. He wanted his employees to be happy and he worked closely with everyone in his company. One of the best examples of his willingness to develop relationships is evidenced by his eagerness to help his employees learn more about animation. †¢ Leadership Motivation Walt had a profound effect on the people he worked with. His particular leadership skill lay in convincing people they could do thing far above what they thought they could do. Developing talent for the future was Walt’s passions. He himself held evening classes to train employees, teaching his team to embrace the future and strive for perfection. The culmination of his ideas was realized in the creation of the California Institute of Arts, a project he believed would ensure a whole new approach to arts training. IV. Conclusion Coherence making is possibly the strongest leadership capacity that Disney possessed. He was constantly able to bring things together to stimulate conversation. Walt knew how to prioritize and focus his work as a result of his moral purpose. He exemplified all of the capacities needed to be considered a true leader. Perhaps the best example of Walt’s leadership is the fact that over forty years after his death, his company has continued to be a pioneer in the field of animation. After Walt died at the age of 65, his brother Roy promised that all of the plans Walt had for the future would continue to move ahead. As stated by Thomas in 1966, Mickey Mouse will continue to endear himself to children everywhere with his lovable antics, Donald Duck will go on delighting them with his squawks and flurry of feathers; and millions of people the world over will, in Walt Disney’s own words, â€Å"know he has been alive. †

LC Financing. Comparison between an Islamic and a conventional bank in Essay

LC Financing. Comparison between an Islamic and a conventional bank in Qatar - Essay Example It is a financial agreement – a secure mode of payment - between an importer and exporter for goods shipped (Finance). In Wall Street Words, David L. Scott defines a letter of credit as â€Å"a promise of payment in the event that certain requirements are met. A letter of credit essentially substitutes the credit of a third party (usually a large bank) for that of a borrower. In the case of municipal bonds, an LOC generally permits a trustee to draw six months' interest and sufficient funds to retire outstanding bonds at par in the event of default† (qtd. in Letter of Credit). Since L/Cs carry a risk for the issuing bank in case the client defaults, the bank assesses the client’s creditworthiness and financial position to evaluate his ability to pay in the future. In some cases, the bank may ask for a security to minimize chances of loss. There are various departments within the bank which cater to such analysis and evaluation in order to judge whether the custom er is worthy of providing credit or not. If the customer simply is asking for a letter of credit then the bank assumes responsibility for the traded goods coming into the country. In that case, checks and balances are even stricter and require that the customer is of extremely good credit worthiness based on which financing and LC facilities are then provided. Corporate and commercial banking departments are formulated where teams sit and evaluate companies for their creditworthiness as well as their capacity to pay back the loans that they have taken. Other departments that may be involved in this case may include Risk Management department, Credit management department, Commercial Banking and Audit as well as a committee that is formulated especially to evaluate credit packages that are developed through the corporate or commercial banking departments. (Islam). Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600), issued by the International Chamber of Commerce, includes the latest rules which govern letter of credit transactions in international trade finance worldwide. What are  L/C finance contracts? There are various financial solutions offered by banks for trade financing. L/C finance contracts are one of them, with modern banks offering a wide range of L/C financing products to meet complex needs of traders. One of these is export contracts through which the exporter's bank extends a loan to him. Trade loans are regarded as an important trade finance technique. They are especially suitable for wholesalers and manufacturers as they can be utilized for both one-off and regular purchases of raw materials, goods, etc. The bank can extend finance until payment from the on-sale of goods is provided by the client (Barclays). L/C finance contracts in Islamic bank Muslim jurists believe that reward for capital needs to be linked to the outcome of any project if financing is being extended by the bank. They are of the view that gains should be made v ia trade involving sale and purchase (Hanif 3). Islamic banks have thus come up with alternate, Shariah-complaint financial solutions for customers as compared to conventional banks. Murabaha is one of the most commonly used principles in Islamic trade finance. It refers to: â€Å"†¦a contract of sale and purchase at a profit margin between the supplier and the purchaser of the good. The

Regarding Teslas direct to consumer expansion into China via opening PowerPoint Presentation

Regarding Teslas direct to consumer expansion into China via opening 12 new stores - PowerPoint Presentation Example We shall be using search research instruments like questionnaires which will have clearly defined questions. Other tools of collecting data to be applied include observation. All areas of the study will be defined before the collection of data. If we are successful the study will be able to copied or proven by future researchers. As well, it can be used to foretell future outcomes and investigate causal outcomes. According to University of Southern California Online Library for a research paper to be effective there are some rules that need following. For starters, the methodology must be reliable so that its results are not questioned. Secondly, it is imperative that readers be aware of how data being presented to them was gathered. This will give them confidence in knowing that the data is varied. A researcher must justify why they chose one methodology over another (libguides.usc.edu) Accepted standards of data collection must be applied if a methodology such as a questionnaire is used this is to make sure that the respondents were given ample time and space to answer. In deciding the research method it’s important to keep the end goal in mind this will help determine factors such as sample size. Problems incurred in the period of data collection must be accessed and with this the outcome of the final project

Process-Centered Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Process-Centered Management - Essay Example This kind of management is one where all activities leading towards the achievement of organizational goals, are process driven with a deep-rooted influence on the channelization of material and information along the way. This has been regarded as an emerging trend where work in progress is concerned owing to the fact that it provides observations of a revolution that's only just begun. The natural leaders are among the first to have taken to and moving already from a procedure-based culture towards a process-based culture; from micro to macro; from a microscopic view to a telescopic view. Procedure-based task analysis has now been very systematically replaced by process-related performance technology where it is now believed that the kinds of work that people do, the jobs they hold, the skills they need, the careers they follow, the roles managers play, the principles of strategy that enterprises follow will shift towards handling processes that they are most suited to. The shift ha s been carried forth from the revolution of ideas, in which the keyword is radical, to the organized reworking of a society in need, in which the keyword is processed. Apart from banking, process centered management has been extremely effective in the IT industry as well. It is in this context that the as an invisible economic asset, there are important opportunities that are inherent in the concept of process-centered management. This has been triggered by the paradigm shift discussed above, where the time spent in inventory cycle is more important than the size of inventory held. We will now regard the company we are studying in order to reach more understanding of core processes as well as the marcoms outcome and other projections. Marcoms may be defined as the tryst between communication and marketing, a proportionate combination of which is required to give sales that vital push.

Case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Case analysis - Essay Example Thus, Yurukova has a responsibility to come up with a brilliant strategy that can be implemented in order to improve the fundraising process. At the moment, Trinity University mainly relied on using telefundraising channels. This is a marketing approach that uses telephone to reach different people in different parts of the country. The targeted people are mainly graduates from Trinity University. Mariya is contemplating segmenting the targeted donors by using different strategies in order to make generate as much money as possible. One of the segmentation methods is to target the people by either alumni or by graduation year. The other strategy used to segment the targeted people is by using their faculties. It has also been envisaged that the targeted people can also be segmented on the basis of extracurricular activity as well as Trinity University involvement. The other marketing strategy used is direct marketing and this involves face to face interaction with the targeted people. The marketing mix approach (price, place, product and promotion) of the university involves different strategies. The price for conducting clients using direct mail is pegged at $0.88 while the price of doing the same using telefundraising is estimated to be $5.60. The product involves donations made by the targeted people to the university. The place for this activity is centralised since it is coordinated from the institution while targeting people from different places across the country. As part of its promotion strategy, the university is also contemplating to use direct mailing strategy where direct mails are sent to the people found in the institution’s database. The other promotion strategies include online giving and telefundraising. The real issue is finding and training quality telefundraisers. At the moment, the university is relying on a single individual alone. This initiative requires the the efforts of many

St. Bernard's Catholic Church Bazaar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

St. Bernard's Catholic Church Bazaar - Essay Example We have an outreach program there that works with the local missionaries." The health and well-being of the people of Haiti has become one of the Catholic Church's principle concerns in recent years. The annual bazaar's main event is the chicken dinner that is catered by JoJo's Bar-B-Que of nearby Linden. The menu offered both fried and baked chicken, side dishes, and deserts that were donated by the Women of St. Bernard's, a Catholic auxiliary group. Because of the record numbers that attended this year's event, there was a fear of running out of desert. However, Ms. Kiefer quickly organized a group that headed back home to put together some of the best homemade pies and cakes available anywhere. In keeping with its focus on children, the fair offered several unique activities to get the attention of the younger set. John Parker, a church member and Wabash College professor, put on several regular displays of the 'Wonders of Science'. The children were awed by his demonstrations that involved dry ice, liquid nitrogen, and static electricity. Though the shows were designed for children, the adults were equally impressed with the professor's shows. In addition to the science display, there were activities such as an art gallery, cake walk, musical chairs, and games where children could win prizes such as stuffed animals, books, and toys.

Analyzing the Advertisement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyzing the Advertisement - Research Paper Example Sometime, there is also a difference seen in the advertisement of same product on internet, newspaper, magazine and television. People have different attitude towards advertisement while watching television, reading newspaper or magazine and while surfing internet. Following is the descending order of major media through which advertisement reach its viewers, newspapers, television, direct mail, radio, magazines, business publications, outdoor advertising, and lastly farm publications. To catch the attention of the viewer there are different strategies which are used.Therefore, advertisers uses different techniques of colors, texts, images, languages and layout, if put together efficiently can easily catch the reader's attention. It results in influencing the opinion of the viewer, thus persuading them for buying that particular product rather than any other in that particular category. Â  I have chosen this picture advertisement from Diesel's recent advertisement campaign famous as "Global Warming Ready". This ad campaign received a lot of media attention for the fact that they used unique idea for advertising their new clothing range. It used the word Global Warming while trivializing the matter to sell clothe. Personally global warming is noticeably an imminent crisis, which world is threatened of. So I think sometimes by taking a revitalizing step and usually start being ironic about the whole thing can result in catching the attention of the audiences - a moronic way of laughing at ourselves.... So I think sometimes by taking a revitalizing step and usually start being ironic about the whole thing can result in catching the attention of the audiences - a moronic way of laughing at ourselves is also used in stand up comedies. There is actually no harm in using this idea but advertisers use obvious hidden messages and sometime undertones, so that viewer is stopping to read and find out that message. And so it worked wonders in this ad campaign as well. The creative strategy is really effective because the advertisers are using a combination of two three strategies like it looks generic (showing global warming message for the whole range), pre-emptive (in words as well as in pictures) along with the unique selling proposition (people can feel the difference in the campaign when comparing with other brand) keeping the brand equity balanced. Strong resonance is found in the advertisement which is appealing the central theme of the receiver's life by using the word ' Global Warmin g Ready' The advertisement is using complex theme which the background is taking over while the advertisement is stuff with all the connotations which include, status, power, sex and luxury. The language used in the advertisement is figurative. For, the target audience being young women and men, this advertisement iswell designed and juxtaposed to attract the right audience. This advertisement is using colors using earthy color tints like skin which is actually revealing the heat up of 'global warming'. Contrasting is done by using greys and blues in the background which is evoking the required murkiness in the environment and highlighting the rise in the water level in New York in the background. It is showing that

Superfund Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Superfund - Research Paper Example The result is the superfund, specifically which is placing funding and aid to stop the toxins and chemicals from being dumped into various regions. The approach is one which is furthered by the pressured cleanups by corporations throughout the different regions. This paper will examine the approach which is being taken by the EPA and how this is linking to the superfund. Background of the Superfund The superfund was established in New York City in 1980. It consists of a program that is based on offering monetary support and initiatives to clean up toxic waste and chemicals that are hazardous around the area. The project began after it was noted that over 22,000 tons of toxic waste were dumped by Niagara Falls, New York, in the known Love Canal. The Love Canal was completed and purchased for the use of different environmental needs. However, corporations began to pile toxic waste and chemicals into the canal. After the inability to move the toxins, the corporations covered the canal a nd sold this to the city of New York for $1. After a certain period of time, an explosion resulted from the large amount of chemicals and toxins in the area. The Love Canal continues to be hazardous for the environmental area it surrounds and directly affects the land which one is in. The superfund was established to force companies to clean up these areas and to tax those who were not complying with the law. Today, over 1,000 sites have been cleaned with billions of dollars being spent. Over 70% of the funds are going to corporations that began to the toxic waste and chemical buildup. The money is combined with government initiatives and companies which are linked to the polluted sites (New York Times, 2011). The initiatives which began with the funds and the need to clean up various areas has continued with specific policies and procedures offered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill was originally introduced by a bipartisan leadership group of senators and passed by t he Senate with limiting measures for the cleanup. The House amended this and approved the final alternatives in 1980 through S.1341. However, it was also noted that the final bill and law was sidetracked and moved into different departments because of the other proposals taken earlier. In the Carter Administration, a similar bill was being passed, specifically which was based on toxic waste and oil spill cleanup. This bill had been bypassed during the time because of other political objectives which would not provide the right cleanup. The problem which arose then created Congress to approve the bill with limited measures from the past history, specifically to take care of the problem with the Love Canal without considering the overall task of the Superfund and the extra requirements and provisions from the final bill and law which would be passed. This has led to a variety of amendments as well as questions of responsibility, taxation and corporate responsibility linked to the main bill (Grad, 1982). The approach which was taken in 1980 and the outcomes have resulted in political economics that have become a part of the Superfund and initiatives which have been taken. The approach which is now being taken is to develop the activities as a space for the contaminated sites that are continuing to have waste, as opposed to being active in the continuous dumping of the

Advertising, Social and Economic Costs and Benefits Essay Example for Free

Advertising, Social and Economic Costs and Benefits Essay Tesco is in private sector, but it is a PLC, a public limited company, this is an international business, also it is in primary. Tesco is doing service by providing food to its customers. Tesco exist, so people can buy food, they do their own products also, this company exists for making profit. Tesco makes profit by selling its products or making deliveries to customers. Tesco is trying to achieve , to be the best company Our vision is for Tesco to be most highly valued by the customers we serve, the communities in which we operate, our loyal and committed staff and our shareholders; to be a growth company; a modern and innovative company and winning locally, applying our skills globally. Tesco is a global business. Tesco is a public limited company (PLC) this means that the owners of Tesco are the shareholder. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service- This is a public sector organization, it doesn’t make profit, because it’s service costs more than the amount of money people pay them for fire. This organization exist so when the people have fire or extreme situations they call fire and rescue service and they help them. In 2004 North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority developed a new focused Vision to reflect their broader function within the modernisation agenda. Over the 10 years to 2014, in North Yorkshire and the City of York, 125 more people will still be alive through the work of the new Fire and Rescue Service. This will be due to the Service having significantly reduced the likelihood and severity of fire and other emergencies. We will achieve this through the dedication of our staff working in partnership with other agencies in the community. This is a local company because it is North Yorkshire. Simply summarised as The term 125 Alive captures the Authoritys Vision in one simple phrase. It means that 125 people who might otherwise have died in an accident will be alive because of preventative action taken by the Fire and Rescue Service working in partnership with other agencies. The target will be achieved by a steady reduction year on year in fatalities in road traffic collisions and fires. The aims and objectives of this organization are to help people to rescue them away from dangerous things, and also to remove the fire away, so the people will be in safe. They are trying their best , so they will be the best from their competitors. P2 â€Å"describe the different stakeholders who influence the purpose of two contrasting organisations† M1 â€Å"explain the points of view from different stakeholders seeking to influence the strategic aims and objectives of two contrasting organisations† Stakeholders: A person, group, or organization that has direct or indirect stake in an organization because it can affect or be affected by the organizations actions, objectives, and policies. Key stakeholders in a business organization include creditors, customers, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources. Stakeholder Grouping| Interest| Tesco PLC| NY Fire amp; Rescue Service| Consumers/customers| They want high quality, value for money products. Customers often identify with the brands they buy. They like to see improvements that give them better value for money. | People who want to buy high quality food or other staff| This are the local people in the local area who wants to take the fire out| Employees/workers| The company provides them with a salary/money to live (a livelihood). They seek security, promotion opportunities, job satisfaction and rewards. | This are the workers in the stores, they are interested in security| This are the firemen, their job is to rescue people and to remove the fire for safety. | Suppliers| They want steady orders and payment for supplying stock. They also want to feel valued. People which supply different staff like water, food, drinks etc. They do it because they are sure that Tesco Is a successful business and if they are successful so they have a lot of profit , and suppliers are sure in Tesco and they have more orders cause Tesco has more customers| People, who supply the equipment, like the extinguishers. | Owners| They may be a sole trader or in a partnership. In a company it would be the shareholders. Often thought to be the most important stakeholder. They see themselves as the principal risk taker. They want to see share of profit increasing and the value of the business rising. So the owner of Tesco is the shareholders, they are interested in success of their business, they want Tesco to be the best, as every shareholder does. | The government is the owner of the NYFRS. The government wants to succeed this organization in their job, so people will be in safe. | Trade Unions| They represent the views of the employees of the business. They want higher wages and better conditions. | They want Tesco to be successful, because if Tesco is successful, so workers conditions will be better, because this stakeholder is interested in employees comfort and life. They are interested in firemen success and conditions, wages etc. So if firemen start to rescue people or removing fire more and more, so they could get salary and this is good for Trade Union, this is what they want. | Employer Associations| They are the employer’s equivalent of the TU. They represent the employer’s interests in specific associations. | Basically this stakeholder is equivalent Trade Union, they have quite the same interests, they also take care about the workers, but in specific way. | They are looking for the comfort of the firemen, in specific associations. Local communities| The actions of businesses can have a big effect on communities around them. They want improved facilities and provision of jobs. | Local communities wants Tesco to be considerate about the people who live nearby, considerate about the emotions and feelings. | This are the people who live near by the fire rescue service base, so when they have an emergency call they start to drive fast and a lot of noise etc. People want them to be considerate about them and to think about them, that people could be sleeping now, or doing something different when they can’t be disturbed. Governments| They want successful organisations which contribute to economic growth and provide jobs and tax revenue. They also like businesses that contribute towards the welfare of the country’s society. | Government wants Tesco to succeed, so the economy of the country would improve more and more, and more employees would be needed as the company will grow, so less unemployed people would be. | The government wants to succeed this organization in their job, so people will be in safe, and the country’s level of popularity would increase. Tesco: 1) Owners 2) Workers 3) Supplies 4) Customers 5) Government NYFRS: 1) Government 2) Workers 3) Suppliers 4) Customers 5) Local communities D1 â€Å"Evaluate the influence different stakeholders exert in ONE organization Tesco: 1) Directors To be as strong in everything we sell as we are in food Directors are the stakeholders which have the most influence of the Tesco, because they can do everything what they want with the business, because it is theirs. They have ultimate control and power. If they want for example they can change the name from â€Å"Tesco† to something else etc. 2) Workers- To build our team so that we create more value Workers are the second most influence stakeholders in Tesco. This is because if there is no workers so the business can’t grow at all and it will fail, no workers, means no job done. But also if the workers would leave the Tesco, it is not such a big problem, because â€Å"Tesco† is well known successful business, and a lot of employees want to work for them. 3) Customers- To grow the UK core Customers are 3rd important stakeholders which have influence on Tesco. So if there would not be customers the business would not be able to make profit at all, so customers are also really important part of each business. If the Tesco loses the customers , so they will go to theirs opponent businesses, such as â€Å"Asda† and â€Å"Sainsbury’s†, and this could be because their would be not enough workers, or the customer service would be at low level. 4) Suppliers- To put our responsibilities to the communities we serve at the heart of what we do. Suppliers are last important stakeholders with influence on Tesco, because if the suppliers wont supply any products so Tesco would have to use its own products, but that wouldn’t make a lot of profit, and won’t be sustainable. If â€Å"Tesco† loses the suppliers, it is not a problem, because there are a lot of suppliers which are free and waiting for their chance, but if the suppliers were too good, this would be sad. P3 â€Å"Describe how two businesses are organised† TESCO: Span of control: The number of subordinates that a manager or supervisorcan directly control. This number varies with the type ofwork: complex, variable work reduces it to six, whereasroutine, fixed work increases it to twenty or more. Chain of Command: The  order  in which  authority  and  power  in an  organization  is wielded and delegated from  top management  to every employee  at every  level  of the organization. Instructions flow downward along the chain of command and accountability  flows  upward. The chart shows that Tesco has a different level of workers in its organization. These shows the mangers and members, whom they control. The managers take responsibility of what their assistants do. Manager of one job can’t control the assistants of other job manager, so everything is equal. The boss of everyone is the store director, after him is regional manager as you can see, and later is the store manager, and only than other managers of different jobs, and on the bottom of the chart are all of the assistants of all of the mangers. So in Tesco and in all other businesses the member of the working team can’t control anyone above him, or anyone or the same line, he can control only the people who are under him. It is very hard to control big organization. So, it will be better to break the organization into smaller parts. There are 4 main ways of breaking a business down into smaller sections: 1) By Function- What is the sense of each section? 2) By Location- Where is the section situated on the map? 3) By Product- Which service does the section belong to? 4) By Process- A customer staying approached on the other customers who are interested in Tesco. There are 2 main types of organizational structure: 1) Tall 2) Flat The difference between this two is that tall has more levels than flat , however in Flat Mangers there are wider span of control. . So, we can say that Tesco has Tall structure, because in Tesco’s Organizational Chart has a lot of levels. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service: It is really hard to understand who is who, who is controlling whom, the table is a bit messy, and so I created a better one for you: But on Structure of Commission we can see that Director General has two lines. First, is that he should control 3 Directors, Corporate and Forestry, Central Services (HR, IT, Finance), Business Units, Forest Research. The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is looking so different comparing to Tesco’s. . In Forestry Commission General Director works with more employees, however in Tesco Director works just with managers. But The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s type of organizational structure is Tall, because it has many lines. And Forestry Commission is organization by Location, because they are separated on different locations, they have 3 directs in same country. Task 2 1) Finance addresses the ways in which individuals, business entities and other organizations allocate and use monetary resources over time. It helps Tesco with finance. 2) Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. ) The act or process or producing, bringing forth, or exhibiting to view; as, the production of commodities, of a witness. That which is produced, yielded, or made, whether naturally, or by the application of intelligence and labor; as, the productions of the earth; the productions of handicraft; the productions of intellect or genius. 4) Customer S ervice is the commitment to providing value added services to external and internal customers, including attitude knowledge, technical support and quality of service in a timely manner 5) Sales- Total dollar amount collected for goods and services provided. While payment is not necessary for recognition of sales on company financial statements, there are strict accounting guidelines stating when sales can be recognized. The basic principle is that a sale can only be recognized when the transaction is already realized, or can be quite easily realized. This means that the company should have already received a payment, or the chances of receiving a payment are high. In addition, delivery of the good or service should have taken place for the sale to be recognized. ) Human resources- is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals. Task 3 I will tell now, what makes Tesco and Forestry Commission similar an d what makes them different. Firstly, they both have General Director, and he has helpers. But in Forestry Commission General Director has more employees (they are: 3 directors and other staff members), however in Tesco, Director has just one helper. Secondly, this two organizations have two different, smaller parts. Tesco has broken down on process and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service by Location. Last thing which I want to say is that, they have the same type of organization – it’s â€Å"Tall†. They have many levels and lines, which helps them to control their business. P4 â€Å"explain how their style and organization helps them to fulfill their purpose†

Kellers Model Of Customer Based Brand Equity Marketing Essay

Kellers Model Of Customer Based Brand Equity Marketing Essay How do consumers evaluate service brands: An investigation of the performance of Harrods as a service brand to get their brand image Background of the Research Branding has been one the most exciting yet phenomenal marketing concept of the 21st century. A brand can be viewed as a promise made with consumers, the promise of providing consistent quality and satisfaction (Balmer Greyser, 2003). Therefore the term brand can be defined as a name, symbol, design or a combination of these to identify a product in the marketplace (Keller, 2006). Brands have become very important in recent years and are part of our everyday life and with so much choice available it becomes difficult to choose a particular branded product. Usually consumers tend to select products that are familiar to them, products that tend to have a clear meaningful set of values, attributes and brand names that are trusted (Keller, 2006). Both physical goods and services can be branded, however there has been a vast focus towards the branding of physical goods and very little work carried out on the branding of services (OCass Grace, 2004). The growth of services has been rapid across the world and it has become important to understand the tools that can be used to brand a service to initiate differentiation. Branding of physical products tends to be simpler because the consumer is able to hold, touch and feel the end product. Branding a service is slightly more complicated due to its intangible nature, because youre not going home with an item but more of an experience that occurs with services. Many scholars such as de Chernatony and DallOlmo Riley (1999), Berry (2000), McDonald, de Chernatony and Harris (2001) and OCass and Grace (2003, 2004) have taken an approach to create a framework that can be used towards branding a service. Most of these frameworks are created to measure services that are intangible such as banks, hotels, airline, financial and consultant services. This study will be focusing on the branding of Harrods services. The study has been motivated by the nature of service branding and the frameworks that have been created by scholars previously mentioned. However not all of these frameworks are applicable for this study and therefore will be concentrating only on the framework created by OCass and Grace (2004). The main reason being the framework created by OCass and Grace (2004) is the only one that measures service brands from the consumers point of view. The service brand model by OCass and Grace (2004) will be used against services being offered by Harrods. Harrods is basically famous for the luxury and high class products it offers, however this research emphasises on the services it offers. The main services Harrods offers are as follows: Karim Fayed hearing centre Beauty Sports Fitness Financial and property services Home lifestyle The studio Interior Design Innovation Furniture and interior design Food Fashion and accessories Fine Jewellery Weddings Occasions Corporate gifting services Healthcare Airport Services This research is not particularly focusing on one service it provides, rather it takes all these services in general and the respondents would be the customers of Harrods who have used any of its services. Aims and Objectives The main aim of this project is as followed. What are the service branding factors taken into consideration by consumers when selecting a luxury brand service provider; Harrods? The following objectives have been suggested and need be reached for a successful achievement of the project aim a) To identify, examine and discuss the relevant service branding associations consumers hold towards service brands b) To identify and discuss all the relevant service branding associations directly linked towards Harrods Services c) To examine how important are the service brand association for Harrods service consumers d) To evaluate the influence these associations have on the purchase of services from Harrods Literature Review Overview What is Brand? A brand is basically a trademark or a distinctive name of a product or manufacturer, it conveys and portrays the image of the product; word brand refers to a name, term, symbol, sign or design used by a firm to differentiate its offerings from those of its competitors, to identify a product with a particular seller, Kotler, (1999) stated. Developing a good brand has become a major task for many organizations today because it provides a number of advantages. Strong brands help the firm establish an identity in the market place (Aaker, 1991). A successful brand has a recognizable name which provides specific attributes to the consumer (i.e. quality, elegance, value). According to The Economist (1988) the basic purpose of branding is to build the products image, this image will influence the perceived worth of the product and will increase the brands value to the customer, leading to brand loyalty. From the marketing perspective, Kotler (1994) believes brands convey a few meanings to th e consumers like: Benefit: The help and benefit sought provided by the firm to its consumers, which is transformed by its attributes Culture: The brand reflects an organizations image and equity Personality: The brand is regarded with certain characteristics Users self-image: The brand reflects or consistent with consumers self-image Brand Value: Both physical and mental values provided by the brand to its customers Attribute: The functions of the product brand provide Companies normally develop brands as a source or mode to attract and keep customers by promoting value, image, prestige, or lifestyle. Hence, a brand is not just a symbol but comprises of core product, packaging and marketing communication, which includes many important meanings and values of a firm; the objective of brand building is to develop more valuable profits and benefits to the company. Relationship of Brands and Their Equity According to Motameni and Shahrokhi (1998) today brands play an important part in marketing strategy because it has become an important marketing component for the company and a source of information for the consumers. Branding and brand equity has been a key topic of interest to the researchers of marketing for many years. The term brand can be explained as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combinations of them which is intended to identify the goods and the services of a seller or a group of sellers to differentiate them from those of competitors (Kotler, 2005. pp 42). This topic of branding and brand equity has been a detailed research topic in the marketing literature. Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) have gave some thorough insight into brand equity, and both have provided theoretical schemes that link brand equity with various consumer response variables. Brand equity has emerged as a marketing imperative, so too has the need to fully understand and manage brand associations (OCass Grace, 2003). Aaker (1996) has defined brand equity as a set of assets (and liabilities) linked to a brands name and symbol that adds to (or subtract from) the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or that firms customers. Aaker has also identified five assets of brand equity: brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand associations and other proprietary brand assets. Aaker (1996) also presented brand isentity model which is very important in elaborating the concept of brand identity. Fig. 2.1 Source (Aaker 1996) The brand is a very important tool for marketers as consumers use it as a reminder to conclude certain product attributes such as quality (Krishnan Hartline, 2001). Lim OCass (2000) stated that brands are seen to be valuable assets and sources of differentiation that plays a vital role in marketing strategy. Branded goods make it simpler for consumers to identify the product in the marketplace (Lassar et al, 1995), brands also reduce the consumers search costs, perceived risk and signals the quality of the product (Keller, 2006). Kellers Model of Customer Based Brand Equity On the hand Keller (1993, 1998) has proposed a knowledge based framework which is a customer based brand equity model. The framework consists of two dimensions commonly known as brand awareness and brand image. The model consists of product related and non product related attributes (OCass Grace, 2003; Keller, 2003). The product related attributes are explained as the components of the core product or service wanted by consumers (Keller, 1993). The related attributes of service can be described as the process that takes place before, during or after receiving the service. For example when a customer uses a dry cleaning service they are paying for getting their clothing cleaned and the price charged is usually for the unseen elements such as the use of premises, detergent, cleaning equipment and employee expertise (OCass Grace, 2003). The non product related attributes refers to all other attributes that are external to the function or the process of the service offering (Keller, 1993). The four non product related categories are: price, user and usage imagery, brand personality and feelings and experiences. Price is considered a non product related attribute as it remains external to the purchase or consumption of a service (Keller, 1993, 1998). In terms of branding the price does not directly reflect the service or performance. Moreover price is established as an important association in brand image evaluation and a strong quality indicator (OCass Grace, 2004, Keller, 1998). User imagery is related to the type of person who is going to use the product or service (Keller, 1998). The attributes are usually formed by the consumers own experience via contact of brand users or by the image represented by marketing communications. On the other hand usage imagery illustrates the situational factors in which the brand is used (Keller, 1998). For example time of day, week or year, location, or type of activity. The user and usage imagery typically reflects the conventional users of a product or service in the context within which it is used. Brand personality has been defined as set of human characteristics or traits that consumers attribute to a brand (Keller, 2006, p.369). In simpler terms brand personality can be expressed by both demographic and psychographic characteristics, providing a concept upon which the brand can be positioned in the consumers mind. Brand personality or personality characteristics are used to target consumers, hence attracting that particular market where the people can relate themselves to how they see their ideal self (Keller, 2006, p.66). A well established brand personality has the ability to increase emotional ties with the brand along with developing trust and loyalty. According to Keller (1998) feelings and experiences which are also non product related attributes, have become important in terms of consumer evaluations of brands, often occurring through the evaluation of advertising. In the context of services, it is important to evaluate the feelings and experiences of service brands. For the reason that production and consumption occur simultaneously in services, the service experience is the active structure of meanings associated with the behaviours, thoughts and feelings that occur during consumption, which directly impacts on the consumers perceived brand image (Keller, 1998, 2006). The measurement of brand equity has also been a high interest area of study. There are direct and indirect measures for brand equity. The direct approach is an attempt made to assess the value added by the brand to the product (Keller, 1993). The indirect approach focuses on the identification of the potential sources of brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). Both these approach can be given a merit, however Keller (1993) argues that direct and indirect approach to measuring brand equity are complementary and should be used together. Concept of Service Branding in the Marketing Literature Basically branding is basically an effective marketing strategy, tool and technique which have been utilized with great results for organizations and enormous success in the past (Rooney 1995). Nowadays, branding is facing a new popularity due to new and innovative applications. Though there have been times when branding was less than successful. Now marketers are working to get the appropriate applications in the given settings. All the problems regarding branding strategy in current time include the selection of a proper brand name. Coonan (1993) stated that this fundamental issue will impact on the success of a branding strategy. Marketers have to choose the advertising strategy to support and communicate the name, once a name is selected. Hence keeping the brand in a strong position is a critical concern. New areas of branding include corporate, industrial, and service branding. These non-traditional branding environments are becoming the future for marketers using branding strategy. To add to the new branding areas, there are new branding techniques. These techniques include brand extensions and ingredient branding. New strategies, techniques, and arenas for branding have to be managed. The organization must support and identify with the strategy. The goals, objectives, and mission of any organization should be in line with the branding strategy employed. There has been a lot of work carried out on branding and brand equity by academic researchers like Keller (1993, 1998) and Aaker (1991, 1996), but majority of their work has been focused on physical goods branding. In the last decade there has been many frameworks created to assist marketers to realise how consumers think about, and respond to brands, as a result enabling marketers to implement effective consumer centred marketing activities. Turley and Moore (1995) have stated that there is an increased growth of service economies throughout the world, but the branding literature has mainly explored branding in terms of physical goods, whereas the branding of services has been minimal and left out of the picture. Several researches have been done on services marketing that has focused on topics such as measuring service quality, service failure to service switching but the examination into branding of services has not been undertaken (OCass Grace, 2004). Keller (1993, 1998) and Aaker (1996) have suggested branding frameworks that can be applied to measure brand equity, however these frameworks are excellent when used towards physical goods but are not fully adaptable for service brands as some attributes need to be taken out or completely adjusted. Keller (1993, 1998) has created a construct known as dimensions of brand knowledge which is an in-depth analytical view of the brand from the perspective of the consumer. The model has been criticised because only a small section of the model has been empirically tested to date and the model overlooks the variations found in the area of consumer evaluation concerning goods and services (OCass Grace, 2003). Keller (1998) has however argued that hi s model can be applied to both branding of goods and services. With respect Berry (2000) has criticised that these models by Keller (1993, 1998) and Aaker (1996) have some aspects in common across the two domains of goods and services, but the application of these models can be questioned. The reason being the marketing principles of goods and services are inconsistent because the difference between the two domains. The core offering of goods is different from the offerings of a service, because core service offering of a service is more complex and largely compromises of elements such as processes, people and physical facilities (Tax Stuart, 1997 cited in OCass Grace, 2004). As a result the evaluation of service brands by consumers maybe different as there maybe the need for more or newer attributes required in examining service brands than physical goods brands, hence the models by Keller (1993, 1998) and Aaker (1996) are inconsistent and cannot be completely relied on when eval uating consumer perceptions of service brands. Service When exploring the concept of service Youngs contribution is very important. Youngs (2000: P 43) says, A service, combined with goods products, is experienced and evaluated by customers who have particular goals and motivations for consuming the service. Gronroos (1990) stated that service is an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature. He also stated that service normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between the customers and the service employees and/ or physical resources of goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customers problems. Young (2000) has mentioned three areas of service, to elaborate it in much better way. First is that service takes place via interaction of consumers and the service provider, it can be a company or an individual. The other factors are the physical resources or the environments playing a vital medium role in the process of service production and consumption. Third service is needed by consumers to provide certain functions such as problem-solving. Boone and Kurtz (1994) have worked on services and according to them each of service characteristics is as follows: 1. Intangibility: Customer cannot sample a service before purchasing it that appealing to customers sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. 2. Inseparability: Customer perceptions of the service provider become their perceptions of the service itself. Often Customers are unable to judge the quality of a service before purchase. 3. Perish-ability: The organization cannot put an unsold service into storage. 4. Difficult to Standardizes: It is mostly impossible to standardize offerings among sellers of the same service or even to standardize the service of a single seller. 5. Buyer Involvement: It is very important that buyers are often involved in the development and distribution of services. 6. Service quality is actually high variable in all aspects. When goods and services are compared on the grounds of their characteristics following table can be helpful in doing comparison. Fig. 2.2 Comparison of products and services and service branding implications (Source Grace and OCass 2003) Kristen (2008) stated that when its about providing service, knowing the expectation of customers and the customers perception of the service encounter is a vital component to delivering superior service. Delivering superior service, especially in the hospitality industry creates a myriad of opportunities for the service organization to surpass the competitive and become a recognized leader in the service industry. It only stands to rationalize that the concept of the service encounter directly affects satisfaction, loyalty and future behavioural intensions; which in turn, has a direct affect on the organizations success and financial stability. There are four basic unique features of services: intangibility, inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity and perishability. Heterogeneity of Service Brands The advertising that positions the brand should be met by frontline staff as if imitating the brand. Regular planning, control, automation and regular reviews of performance improvement and consumer reaction should be made use of to overcome heterogeneity and quality control difficulties of service brands (Chernatony Riley, 1999). The human element in service condition cannot be subjected to quality control measures as a product from a factory, thus each service experience is potentially distinctive, where consistency can prove difficult to achieve on a regular basis (Berry, 2000). Berry (2000) believes the concurrent product and consumption of services can enable to customise the service brand to serve the needs of particular consumers better, thereby making the practice of marketing the responsibility of every employee. The previous branding strategy is unlikely to accommodate differing consumer needs because of the rigid structure and almost inflexible approach. By making brandin g an internal as well as external activity, may help ensure consistency across time and differing situations (Chernatony Segal-Horn, 2003). Internal branding also known as internal marketing, has received great deal of attention and an area of vast interest, which has created a consistent organisational culture revolving around the brand concept. Within the service company the brand concept needs to be understood, which allows the brand to become an internal cohesive device, enabling employees to retain flexibility to deal with different people and situations, while conforming to the brand concept. As a consequence employee relations and internal communications are essential means to motivate and retain consumer conscious employees and ensure greater consistency in service quality (Chernatony Riley, 1999). Employees with positive attitudes and behaviour can increase consumer satisfaction with the service brand, which results in increased market share and sales. Intangibility of Service Brands The factor of intangibility of the services of the organization makes it hard for customers to identify and assess the quality of a service and differentiating between other competing brands. There is also a concern to firms as they find it difficult to set accurate prices for services. To overcome this problem number of branding strategies can be implemented. It has been suggested the size and reputation of companies, which are perceived associations of the firms brand name, that are used by consumers as an indicator to measure the quality when selecting between very intangible services (Chernatony Riley, 1999). It has also been noted by Balmer and Greyser (2003) that consumers are willing to pay higher premiums for services of a company with a strong reputation. Moreover firms that recognise the company name as the brand name, categorised by a distinctive corporate identity, personality and image is considered an important service branding strategy, providing endorsements recognit ion and acceptance as well as making the service more meaningful hence tangible (Balmer Greyser, 2003; Berry, 2000). Another service branding strategy that has been encouraged is the use of unique logos or physical facilities that consumers can immediately associate with specific service providers by offering relevant tangible clues (Chernatony Riley, 1999). Many researchers have considered the branding of goods and services have their similarities; however specific nature of services requires tailored approaches (McDonald, de Chernatony and Harris 2001). Since every service is based on series of performances, service brands become a target of being perceived as commodities. To overcome this problem McDonald, de Chernatony and Harris (2001) have taken a different approach and recommended to make service brands more tangible to provide consumers with favourable set of perceptions. The authors have distinguished an effective way to carry this out is by using physical components associated with the service. For example making changes to the physical elements associated with the brand such as staff uniform, consistent office decorations to the type music played in store. However making these changes doesnt assure that consumers will have a positive view when assessing the service, because the actual service the company provides cannot be imp roved due to these changes being made. Inseparability of Service Brands As consumers are involved in services production, their expectation usually differ between encounters, mainly due to the fact how they interact with different service providers. The main influence of satisfaction with a service brand is caused by the similarity between expected and perceived behaviour, making it complex to control service quality (Summers, 1996 cited in Chernatony Riley, 1999). Moreover there is an increased emphasis towards selecting and training staff to provide a service that is consistent, however it has been argued firms should emphasis the use of corporate branding to establish a favourable consumer nature towards the company (Balmer, 1995). According to this perspective, the company brand provides consistency to the employees behaviour while maintaining consumers expectations. On the other hand it has been stated that by involving consumers in the production process, firms are better able to adapt services to individual needs. Perishability of Service Brands Service brands face a great challenge not only does the firm have to build a strong image and reputation to attract consumers (Balmer Greyser, 2003), but also preventing competitors from making promises that attract consumers away, even before the service brand has been experienced. Services cannot be stored and the service encounter often does not involve any transfer of ownership. In services such as life insurance or pensions the service is purchased long before the benefits have been received and evaluated. To overcome these difficulties it has been suggested the company should build strong brand image and reputation as one of the branding options available. Another problem arising from the characteristic of perishability is the difficulty in synchronising supply and demand. Service firms need to formulate strategies either to cope with fluctuating demand or make adjustments to match capacity and demand more closely, or they will not only face financial problems but branding iss ues as well (Chernatony Riley, 1999). The brand as recognised by consumers, encapsulates both the quality of the service and the efficiency with which the service is provided. Chernatony Riley (1999) have provided an example that the brand image of a supermarket chain depends not only on the price and the product they stock , but also how quickly and efficiently customers can pay for the good and exit the store. Long waits at queues can adversely affect the image, unless ways are found to speed up the queues or persuade consumers to shop outside peak times. Therefore organisation systems become part of the branding process that enable the delivery of promises with regards to service quality, speed and efficiency. Frameworks of Branding of Services Because of the unique features of services, consumers have a complex time evaluating the content and quality of a service prior to, during and after the usage of the service. It has been stated by Krishnan and Hartline (2001) branding is more important in services due to the complexity faced by consumers in assessing the purchase of a service. Branding of services is critical for the reason that consumers view services as a commodity. Branding of services has not been a well researched area; hence the literature is slow in development and primarily basic in nature (de Chernatony Segal-Horn, 2003; Grace OCass, 2002). Berry (2000) has suggested service brands should be distinctive, relevant, memorable and flexible and should be named same as the company rather than another name. The intangibility of services makes it difficult for consumers to evaluate the quality of the service. Regarding the growth of services across the world and the incompatibility of brand equity frameworks used for services, academics such as Berry (2000) Chernatony and Riley (1999) McDonald, Chernatony and Harris (2001) have tried to resolve this issue by creating a framework that can be examined towards consumer service branding. Chernatony and Rileys model Chernatony and Riley (1999) have carried out research with brand consultants about what they thought the difference is between goods and service brands and how they address this issue and in doing so they have come up with the double vortex brand model. The study was implemented using qualitative approach consisting of semi structured in-depth interviews with selected brand consultants in the UK. The purpose of the interview was to find out how brand consultants make sense of brands and do consultants have similar views regarding the components of the brand. The aim of this model is to find out can branding be equally used towards goods and services, and consultants perceptions towards the principle of branding a service is similar to branding for goods. In order to describe in simple terms the complex nature of brands the authors Chernatony and Riley (1999) had discovered that all participants had adopted a mental model of some description. Brand elements such as functional capabili ties, symbolic features, signs of ownership, distinctive name, service, shorthand notation and legal protection were all referred by consultants that were interviewed and these elements are used to make the double vortex model. Service Branding of Service Brand Equity Berry (2000) has taken a different approach by analysing strategies of 14 mature service companies and has created the service branding model of service brand equity. Berry (2000) believes that brand equity is made up of two components: brand awareness and brand meaning (brand image). The following has also been argued by Berry (2000) that the most important source of brand awareness is the companys presented brand, being the companys controlled communications. The controlled communications typically consists of advertising, service facilities, the appearance of service providers, the company name and logo (Brassington Pettitt, 2006). The secondary impact on brand awareness is the external communications, which is usually information consumers receive about the service that are uncontrolled by the company. Brand meaning on the other hand is said to be mainly influenced by customers experience with a particular service company (Berry, 2000). The reason being service businesses are sa id to be labour intensive, consisting of human interactions and performance, rather than machinery. Berry (2000) has emphasised that this construct plays a critical role in building the brand. The secondary influence on brand meaning is said to be the companys presented brand and the external communications. The service brand model by Berry (2000) has introduced new conceptual elements such as servicescapes, controlled and uncontrolled communications, which are significant towards branding of services. These are the typical elements which are missing from the brand knowledge model constructed by Keller (1998). Service Brand Model In response OCass and Grace (2003, 2004) have created their own version of the service brand model. This model has been constructed by adopting various measures from other branding models and potential branding dimensions applicable for services to create an integrated approach to resolve issues in consumer service branding. The authors believe by identifying the dimensions within the consumers consciousness they can gain greater knowledge of what brands mean to consumers as well as begin to understand to what extent such dimensions impact on the brand attitudes and purchase intentions of service consumers. This construct specifically gathers first hand responses of consumers evaluation of service brands in terms of how they see the brand, what expectations they have and overall feelings attitudes towards the service brand. This model by OCass and Grace (2004) includes the following dimensions: core service, interpersonal service, perceived values, se

Analysis of Curiosity by Alastair Reid Essay -- essays research papers

The poem entitled â€Å"Curiosity† written by Alastair Reid is a symbolic poem that uses cats as a metaphor for humans. It relates felines to people in the sense of curiosity, and what could be considered actually living life to the fullest. Essentially, this work contradicts the popular phrase, â€Å"curiosity killed the cat† by placing it within a broader context. Instead of discouraging curiosity, Reid explains why people should embrace it. In the first stanza, the author argues that the cat may have died from curiosity, but that it may have been a chosen death. â€Å"Or else curious to see what death was like, having no cause to go on licking paws, or fathering litter on litter of kittens, predictably.† (lines, 2-5) Basically, the author is relating a cat’s lack of interest in life and curiosity in death to a suicidal situation. He is using predictability and boredom with life as a justifiable excuse to explore the depths of death, purely out of curiosity. The second stanza is the author’s first admittance that curiosity can be dangerous, but only when one is constantly distrusting what is ...

Free College Essays - The Sun Motif in The Stranger by Albert Camus :: The Stranger The Outsider

The Sun Motif in The Stranger Many artists, authors, and composers have put the beauty and warmth of the sun in their work. The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh created landscapes that expressed his joy with bright sunshine. The American poet Emily Dickinson wrote a poem called "The Sun," in which she described the rising and setting of the sun. The Russian composer Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov included a beautiful song, "Hymn to the Sun," in his opera The Golden Cockerel. Uniquely, Camus' usage of the sun opposes its warmth and beauty in The Stranger. The sun is a symbol for feelings and emotions, which Monsieur Meursault cannot deal with. There is a sun motif present throughout the novel, which perniciously characterizes the usual fondness towards the sun. The sun is a distraction from Meursault's everyday life and he cannot handle it. The sun first presents a problem to Meursault at his mother's funeral procession. Even before the procession embarks, Meursault remarks of the sun, calling it "inhuman and oppressive." Meursault has shown no emotion towards his mother's death and he directs his bottled-up anxiety at the sun. To Meursault, the sun is an influence on all his senses, as he cannot hear what someone else says to him. He pours with sweat, symbolizing the flow of emotions. Meursault constantly thinks about the sun when one would expect him to be mourning his dead mother. He says, "I could feel the blood pounding in my temples," which is strong imagery. At the beach with Raymond, the sun provokes Meursault to commit a crime. He says, "(the sun) shattered into little pieces on the sand and water." While going to get a drink of water, the foreign Arab uses a knife to shine the sunlight in Meursault's face. Meursault knew that all he had to do was turn around and walk away. His emotions (again not shown externally and reserved) took over. Camus states, "All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and, instinctively, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me. The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes." This strong imagery forces Meursault to fire and kill the Arab with a revolver. What makes it worse, he fires four more times to make sure the sun is dissipated for good. In prison, Meursault changes his views on both the sun, and on his view of life, which are similar.

Edna and Conformity in Chopin’s The Awakening Essay -- Chopin Awakenin

Edna and Conformity in Chopin’s The Awakening The passage of The Awakening which truly marks Edna Pontellier’s new manner of thought regarding her life revolves around her remembrance of a day of her childhood in Kentucky. She describes the scene to Madame Ratigonelle as the two women sit on the beach one summer day. The passage opens with a description of the sea and the sky on that particular day. This day and its components are expressed in lethargic terms such as â€Å"idly† and â€Å"motionless† and suggested a scene of calm sleep. Such a depiction establishes an image of serenity and tranquility, in other words the calm before the storm which derives from Edna’s â€Å"awakening.† As the passage continues Madame Ratigonelle asks Edna â€Å"of whom- of what are you thinking?† It is of interest to point out that she initially inquires â€Å"of whom† as if to impose her knowledge on Edna that she believes Edna may be thinking of a particular person such as Robert. Edna answers â€Å"Nothing,† but then catches herself in an answer that comes from simple habit and decides to retrace her thoughts. She rememb...

Blaine Kitchenware Assignment

Blaine Kitchenware, Inc. : Optimal Capital Structure For this case study you will take on the role of the investment banker introduced at the beginning of the case study. A week following your first meeting with Mr. Dubinski, he has called to request your assistance with the analysis of a stock repurchase. He has operational experience, but little financial management experience (he does not have any debt on his balance sheet! ). As a result, he needs your help convincing his board of directors that the stock repurchase is a good idea. The board is more financially conservative than Mr.Dubinski. Mr. Dubinski wants you to evaluate a scenario where Blaine Kitchenware, Inc. (BKI) will repurchase 14 million shares at $18. 50 per share. To do so, BKI will borrow $50 million at an interest rate of 6. 75% (this is your stake in the deal because your bank will make the loan). Consider the following questions that are likely to be raised regarding the analysis: What effect does the proposal h ave on the balance sheet? How is operating performance impacted? How are earnings per share and ROE impacted? How is leverage affected? How is interest coverage affected?What is the expected cost of financial distress? How is the cost of capital impacted? What happens to the family control of the business? For this assignment you should write a memo to the board of directors. None  of these directors are  well versed  in finance and all are skeptical of using debt. Space dedicated to explaining leverage concepts in layperson terms and the calculations involved will prove to be very relevant and well received. Board members are also looking for advanced analysis with evidence of critical thinking, particularly as it regards optimal capital structure.They always appreciate well written memos that make appropriate use of correct grammar and spelling. They are also very busy running their own corporations, so memos written in a concise manner are better received. However, as state d in  Keys to Successful Case Studies: Write-up Tips, â€Å"if you have just one page of analysis, I will not read it. You will earn a zero. †Ã‚  While your memo should be concise, it should also contain a detailed appendix of your calculations. The course website will only allow you to submit one document. Thus, you will need to â€Å"insert† your Excel tables as objects† in your word document before uploading your write-up to the course website. I must receive both a hardcopy and electronic version submitted through the course website by 2:00pm on the due date. Otherwise, the write-up is considered late and will not be graded. Extra Credit Opportunity:  I will grade the assignments. Then I will go back through the assignments and award an additional 5 points (essentially half a letter grade) to any memo that properly references  at least two relevant  Harvard Business Review  articles and/or Wall Street Journal articles. See the attachment for the gra ding  rubric.

V.Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning

With more than 4 million copies in print in the English language alone, Man's Search for Meaning, the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl's struggle to hold on to hope during his three years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, is a true classic. Beacon Press is now pleased to present a special gift edition of a work that was hailed in 1959 by Carl Rogers as†one of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought in the last fifty years. † Frankl's training as a psychiatrist informed every waking moment of his ordeal and allowed him a remarkable perspective on the psychology of survival.His assertion that â€Å"the will to meaning† is the basic motivation for human life has forever changed the way we understand our humanity in the face of suffering. Man's Search for Meaning AN INTRODUCTION TO LOGOTHERAPY Fourth Edition Viktor E. Frankl PART ONE TRANSLATED BY ILSE LASCH PREFACE BY GORDON W. ALLPORT BEACON PRESS TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER, B eacon Press 25 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108-2892 www. beacon. org Beacon Press books are published under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.  © 1959, 1962, 1984, 1992 by Viktor E.Frankl All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First published in German in 1946 under the title Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager. Original English title was From Death-Camp to Existentialism. 05 04 03 02 01 Contents Preface by Gordon W. Allport 7 Preface to the 1992 Edition II PART ONE 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Experiences in a Concentration Camp 15 PART TWO Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Frankl, Viktor Emil. [Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager. English] Man's search for meaning: an introduction to logotherapy / Viktor E.Frankl; part one translated by Use Lasch; preface by Gordon W. Allport. — 4th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 0-8070-1426-5 (cloth) 1. Frankl, Viktor Emil . 2. Holocaust, Jewish (1939—1945)— Personal narratives. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)— Psychological aspects. 4. Psychologists—Austria—Biography. 5. Logotherapy. I. Title. D810J4F72713 1992 i5o. ig'5—dc2o 92-21055 Logotherapy in a Nutshell 101 POSTSCRIPT 1984 The Case for a Tragic Optimism 137 Selected English Language Bibliography of Logotherapy 155 About the AuthorPreface Dr. Frankl, author-psychiatrist, sometimes asks his pa ­ tients who suffer from a multitude of torments great and small, â€Å"Why do you not commit suicide? † From their an ­ swers he can often find the guide-line for his psychotherapy: in one life there is love for one's children to tie to; in another life, a talent to be used; in a third, perhaps only lingering memories worth preserving. To weave these slender threads of a broken life into a firm pattern of mean ­ ing and responsibility is the object and challenge of logotherapy, which is Dr.Frankl's o wn version of modern exis ­ tential analysis. In this book, Dr. Frankl explains the experience which led to his discovery of logotherapy. As a longtime prisoner in bestial concentration camps he found himself stripped to naked existence. His father, mother, brother, and his wife died in camps or were sent to the gas ovens, so that, except ­ ing for his sister, his entire family perished in these camps. How could he—every possession lost, every value destroyed, suffering from hunger, cold and brutality, hourly expecting extermination—how could he find life worth preserving?A psychiatrist who personally has faced such extremity is a psychiatrist worth listening to. He, if anyone, should be 8 Preface able to view our human condition wisely and with compassion. Dr. Frankl's words have a profoundly honest ring, for they rest on experiences too deep for deception. What he has to say gains in prestige because of his present position on the Medical Faculty of the Universit y of Vienna and because of the renown of the logotherapy clinics that today are springing up in many lands, patterned on his own famous Neurological Policlinic in Vienna.One cannot help but compare Viktor Frankl's approach to theory and therapy with the work of his predecessor, Sigmund Freud. Both physicians concern themselves primarily with the nature and cure of neuroses. Freud finds the root of these distressing disorders in the anxiety caused by conflicting and unconscious motives. Frankl distinguishes several forms of neurosis, and traces some of them (the noogenic neuroses) to the failure of the sufferer to find meaning and a sense of responsibility in his existence. Freud stresses frustration in the sexual life; Frankl, frustration in the â€Å"will-to-meaning. In Europe today there is a marked turning away from Freud and a widespread embracing of Preface 9 existential analysis, which takes several related forms—the school of logotherapy being one. It is characteristi c of Frankl's tolerant outlook that he does not repudiate Freud, but builds gladly on his contributions; nor does he quarrel with other forms of existential therapy, but welcomes kinship with them. The present narrative, brief though it is, is artfully constructed and gripping. On two occasions I have read it through at a single sitting, unable to break away from its spell.Somewhere beyond the midpoint of the story Dr. Frankl introduces his own philosophy of logotherapy. He introduces it so gently into the continuing narrative that only after finishing the book does the reader realize that here is an essay of profound depth, and not just one more brutal tale of concentration camps. From this autobiographical fragment the reader learns much. He learns what a human being does when he suddenly realizes he has â€Å"nothing to lose except his so ridiculously naked life. † Frankl's description of the mixed flow of emotion and apathy is arresting.First to the rescue comes a cold de tached curiosity concerning one's fate. Swiftly, too, come strategies to preserve the remnants of one's life, though the chances of surviving are slight. Hunger, humiliation, fear and deep anger at injustice are rendered tolerable by closely guarded images of beloved persons, by religion, by a grim sense of humor, and even by glimpses of the healing beauties of nature—a tree or a sunset. But these moments of comfort do not establish the will to live unless they help the prisoner make larger sense out of his apparently senseless suffering.It is here that we encounter the central theme of existentialism: to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering. If there is a purpose in life at all, there must be a purpose in suffer ­ ing and in dying. But no man can tell another what this purpose is. Each must find out for himself, and must accept t h e responsibility that his answer prescribes. If he succeeds he will continue to grow in spite of all indignities. Frankl is fond of quoting Nietzsche, â€Å"He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how. In the concentration camp every circumstance conspires to make the prisoner lose his hold. All the familiar goals in life are snatched away. What alone remains is â€Å"the last of human freedoms†Ã¢â‚¬â€the ability to â€Å"choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances. † This ultimate freedom, recognized by the ancient Stoics as well as by modern existentialists, takes on vivid significance in Frankl's story. The prisoners were only average men, but some, at least, by choosing to be â€Å"worthy of their suffering† proved man's capacity to rise above his outward fate. As a psychotherapist, the author, of course, wants to 0 Preface know how men can be helped to achieve this distinctively human capacity. How can one awaken in a patient the feeling that he is responsible to life for something, however grim his circumstances may be? Frankl gives us a moving a ccount of one collective therapeutic session he held with his fellow prisoners. At the publisher's request Dr. Frankl has added a state ­ ment of the basic tenets of logotherapy as well as a bibliog ­ raphy. Up to now most of the publications of this â€Å"Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy† (the predecessors being the Freudian and Adlerian Schools) have been chiefly in German.The reader will therefore welcome Dr. Frankl's supplement to his personal narrative. Unlike many European existentialists, Frankl is neither pessimistic nor antireligious. On the contrary, for a writer who faces fully the ubiquity of suffering and the forces of evil, he takes a surprisingly hopeful view of man's capacity to transcend his predicament and discover an adequate guiding truth. I recommend this little book heartily, for it is a gem of dramatic narrative, focused upon the deepest of human problems.It has literary and philosophical merit and pro ­ vides a compelling introduction to th e most significant psychological movement of our day. GORDON W. ALLPORT Preface to the 1992 Edition This book has now lived to see nearly one hundred print ­ ings in English—in addition to having been published in twenty-one other languages. And the English editions alone have sold more than three million copies. These are the dry facts, and they may well be the reason why reporters of American newspapers and particularly of American TV stations more often than not start their in ­ terviews, after listing these facts, by exclaiming: â€Å"Dr.Frankl, your book has become a true bestseller—how do you feel about such a success? † Whereupon I react by reporting that in the first place I do not at all see in the bestseller status of my book an achievement and accomplishment on my part but rather an expression of the misery of our time: if hun ­ dreds of thousands of people reach out for a book whose very title promises to deal with the question of a meaning to life, it must be a question that burns under their fingernails.To be sure, something else may have contributed to the impact of the book: its second, theoretical part (â€Å"Logother ­ apy in a Nutshell†) boils down, as it were, to the lesson one may distill from the first part, the autobiographical account (â€Å"Experiences in a Concentration Camp†), whereas Part One 11 Gordon W. Allport, formerly a professor of psychology at Harvard University, was one of the foremost writers and teachers in the field in this hemisphere. He was author of a large number of original works on psychology and was the editor of the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.It is chiefly through the pioneering work of Professor All ­ port that Dr. Frankl's momentous theory was introduced to this country; moreover, it is to his credit that the interest shown here in logotherapy is growing by leaps and bounds. 12 Preface to the 1992 Edition Preface to the 1992 Edition 13 serves as the ex istential validation of my theories. Thus, both parts mutually support their credibility. I had none of this in mind when I wrote the book in 1945. And I did so within nine successive days and with the firm determination that the book should be published anonymously.In fact, the first printing of the original German version does not show my name on the cover, though at the last moment, just before the book's initial publication, I did finally give in to my friends who had urged me to let it be published with my name at least on the title page. At first, however, it had been written with the absolute conviction that, as an anonymous opus, it could never earn its author literary fame. I had wanted simply to convey to the reader by way of a concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones.And I thought that if the point were demonstrated in a situation as extreme as that in a concentration camp, my book might gain a hearing. I ther efore felt responsible for writing down what I had gone through, for I thought it might be helpful to people who are prone to despair. And so it is both strange and remarkable to me that— among some dozens of books I have authored—precisely this one, which I had intended to be published anonymously so that it could never build up any reputation on the part of the author, did become a success.Again and again I therefore admonish my students both in Europe and in America: â€Å"Don't aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience comman ds you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of our knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run—in the long run, I say! —success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it. † The reader may ask me why I did not try to escape what was in store for me after Hitler had occupied Austria. Let me answer by recalling the following story. Shortly before the United States entered World War II, I received an invitation to come to the American Consulate in Vienna to pick up my immigration visa. My old parents were overjoyed because they expected that I would soon be allowed to leave Austria. I suddenly hesitated, however.The question beset me: could I really afford to leave my parents alone to face their fate, to be sent, sooner or later, to a concentration camp, or even to a so-called extermination camp? Where did my responsibility lie? Should I foster my brain child, logotherapy, by emigrating to fertile soil where I could write my books? Or should I concentrate on my duties as a real child, the child of my parents who had to do whatever he could to protect them? I pondered the problem this way and that but could not arrive at a solution; this was the type of dilemma that made one wish for â€Å"a hint from Heaven,† as the phrase goes.It was then that I noticed a piece of marble lying on a table at home. When I asked my father about it, he explained that he had found it on the site where the National Socialists had burned down the largest Viennese synagogue. He had taken the piece home because it was a part of the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. One gilded Hebrew letter was engraved on the piece; my father explained that this letter stood for one of the Commandments. Eagerly I asked, â€Å"Which one is it? † He answered, â€Å"Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land. At that moment I decided to stay with my father and my mother upon the l and, and to let the American visa lapse VIKTOR E. FRANKL Vienna, 1992. PART ONE Experiences in a Concentration Camp THIS BOOK DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE an account of facts and events but of personal experiences, experiences which millions of prisoners have suffered time and again. It is the inside story of a concentration camp, told by one of its survivors. This tale is not concerned with the great horrors, which have already been described often enough (though less often believed), but with the multitude of small torments.In other words, it will try to answer this question: How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner? Most of the events described here did not take place in the large and famous camps, but in the small ones where most of the real extermination took place. This story is not about the suffering and death of great heroes and martyrs, nor is it about the prominent Capos—prisoners who acted as trustees, having special priv ileges—or well-known pris ­ oners.Thus it is not so much concerned with the sufferings of the mighty, but with the sacrifices, the crucifixion and the deaths of the great army of unknown and unrecorded victims. It was these common prisoners, who bore no dis ­ tinguishing marks on their sleeves, whom the Capos really despised. While these ordinary prisoners had little or noth- 18 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 19 ing to eat, the Capos were never hungry; in fact many of the Capos fared better in the camp than they had in their entire lives.Often they were harder on the prisoners than were the guards, and beat them more cruelly than the SS men did. These Capos, of course, were chosen only from those prisoners whose characters promised to make them suitable for such procedures, and if they did not comply with what was expected of them, they were immediately demoted. They soon became much like the SS men and the camp wardens and may be judged on a similar psychologi ­ cal basis. It is easy for the outsider to get the wrong conception of camp life, a conception mingled with sentiment and pity.Little does he know of the hard fight for existence which raged among the prisoners. This was an unrelenting strug ­ gle for daily bread and for life itself, for one's own sake or for that of a good friend. Let us take the case of a transport which was officially announced to transfer a certain number of prisoners to an ­ other camp; but it was a fairly safe guess that its final destination would be the gas chambers. A selection of sick or feeble prisoners incapable of work would be sent to one of the big central camps which were fitted with gas chambers and crematoriums.The selection process was the signal for a free fight among all the prisoners, or of group against group. All that mattered was that one's own name and that of one's friend were crossed off the list of victims, though everyone knew that for each man saved another v ictim had to be found. A definite number of prisoners had to go with each transport. It did not really matter which, since each of them was nothing but a number. On their admission to the camp (at least this was the method in Auschwitz) all their docu- ments had been taken from them, together with their other possessions.Each prisoner, therefore, had had an oppor ­ tunity to claim a fictitious name or profession; and for vari ­ ous reasons many did this. The authorities were interested only in the captives' numbers. These numbers were often tattooed on their skin, and also had to be sewn to a certain spot on the trousers, jacket, or coat. Any guard who wanted to make a charge against a prisoner just glanced at his number (and how we dreaded such glances! ); he never asked for his name. To return to the convoy about to depart. There was nei ­ ther time nor desire to consider moral or ethical issues.Every man was controlled by one thought only: to keep himself alive for the fami ly waiting for him at home, and to save his friends. With no hesitation, therefore, he would arrange for another prisoner, another â€Å"number,† to take his place in the transport. As I have already mentioned, the process of selecting Capos was a negative one; only the most brutal of the pris ­ oners were chosen for this job (although there were some happy exceptions). But apart from the selection of Capos which was undertaken by the SS, there was a sort of selfselecting process going on the whole time among all of the prisoners.On the average, only those prisoners could keep alive who, after years of trekking from camp to camp, had lost all scruples in their fight for existence; they were pre ­ pared to use every means, honest and otherwise, even brutal force, theft, and betrayal of their friends, in order to save themselves. We who have come back, by the aid of many lucky chances or miracles—whatever one may choose to call them—we know: the best of us did not return. Many factual accounts about concentration camps are al ­ ready on record. Here, facts will be significant only as far as 20 Man's Search for MeaningExperiences in a Concentration Camp 21 they are part of a man's experiences. It is the exact nature of these experiences that the following essay will attempt to describe. For those who have been inmates in a camp, it will attempt to explain their experiences in the light of present-day knowledge. And for those who have never been inside, it may help them to comprehend, and above all to understand, the experiences of that only too small per ­ centage of prisoners who survived and who now find life very difficult. These former prisoners often say, â€Å"We dislike talking about our experiences.No explanations are needed for those who have been inside, and the others will under ­ stand neither how we felt then nor how we feel now. † To attempt a methodical presentation of the subject is very difficult, as psycholo gy requires a certain scientific de ­ tachment. But does a man who makes his observations while he himself is a prisoner possess the necessary detach ­ ment? Such detachment is granted to the outsider, but he is too far removed to make any statements of real value. Only the man inside knows. His judgments may not be objective; his evaluations may be out of proportion.This is inevita ­ ble. An attempt must be made to avoid any personal bias, and that is the real difficulty of a book of this kind. At times it will be necessary to have the courage to tell of very in ­ timate experiences. I had intended to write this book anonymously, using my prison number only. But when the manuscript was completed, I saw that as an anonymous publication it would lose half its value, and that I must have the courage to state my convictions openly. I therefore refrained from deleting any of the passages, in spite of an intense dislike of exhibitionism.I shall leave it to others to distill the c ontents of this book into dry theories. These might become a contribution to the psychology of prison life, which was investigated after the First World War, and which acquainted us with the syndrome of â€Å"barbed wire sickness. † We are indebted to the Second World War for enriching our knowledge of the â€Å"psychopathology of the masses,† (if I may quote a varia ­ tion of the well-known phrase and title of a book by LeBon), for the war gave us the war of nerves and it gave us the concentration camp.As this story is about my experiences as an ordinary pris ­ oner, it is important that I mention, not without pride, that I was not employed as a psychiatrist in camp, or even as a doctor, except for the last few weeks. A few of my colleagues were lucky enough to be employed in poorly heated first-aid posts applying bandages made of scraps of waste paper. But I was Number 119,104, and most of the time I was digging and laying tracks for railway lines. At one time, m y job was to dig a tunnel, without help, for a water main under a road.This feat did not go unrewarded; just before Christ ­ mas 1944, I was presented with a gift of so-called â€Å"premium coupons. † These were issued by the construction firm to which we were practically sold as slaves: the firm paid the camp authorities a fixed price per day, per prisoner. The coupons cost the firm fifty pfennigs each and could be ex ­ changed for six cigarettes, often weeks later, although they sometimes lost their validity. I became the proud owner of a token worth twelve cigarettes. But more important, the cig ­ arettes could be exchanged for twelve soups, and twelve soups were often a very real respite from starvation.The privilege of actually smoking cigarettes was reserved for the Capo, who had his assured quota of weekly coupons; or possibly for a prisoner who worked as a foreman in a warehouse or workshop and received a few cigarettes in exchange for doing dangerous jobs. The only exceptions to this were those who had lost the will to live and wanted to â€Å"enjoy† their last days. Thus, when we saw a comrade smoking his own cigarettes, we knew he had given up faith 22 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 23 n his strength to carry on, and, once lost, the will to live seldom returned. When one examines the vast amount of material which has been amassed as the result of many prisoners' observa ­ tions and experiences, three phases of the inmate's mental reactions to camp life become apparent: the period follow ­ ing his admission; the period when he is well entrenched in camp routine; and the period following his release and liberation. The symptom that characterizes the first phase is shock. Under certain conditions shock may even precede the pris ­ oner's formal admission to the camp.I shall give as an ex ­ ample the circumstances of my own admission. Fifteen hundred persons had been traveling by train for several days and nights: there were eighty people in each coach. All had to lie on top of their luggage, the few rem ­ nants of their personal possessions. The carriages were so full that only the top parts of the windows were free to let in the grey of dawn. Everyone expected the train to head for some munitions factory, in which we would be em ­ ployed as forced labor. We did not know whether we were still in Silesia or already in Poland.The engine's whistle had an uncanny sound, like a cry for help sent out in com ­ miseration for the unhappy load which it was destined to lead into perdition. Then the train shunted, obviously nearing a main station. Suddenly a cry broke from the ranks of the anxious passengers, â€Å"There is a sign, Auschwitz! † Everyone's heart missed a beat at that moment. Auschwitz—the very name stood for all that was horrible: gas chambers, crematoriums, massacres. Slowly, almost hesi ­ tatingly, the train moved on as if it wanted to spare its passengers the dreadful realization as long as possible: Auschwitz!With the progressive dawn, the outlines of an immense camp became visible: long stretches of several rows of barbed wire fences; watch towers; search lights; and long columns of ragged human figures, grey in the greyness of dawn, trekking along the straight desolate roads, to what destination we did not know. There were isolated shouts and whistles of command. We did not know their meaning. My imagination led me to see gallows with people dangling on them. I was horrified, but this was just as well, because step by step we had to become accustomed to a terrible and immense horror.Eventually we moved into the station. The initial silence was interrupted by shouted commands. We were to hear those rough, shrill tones from then on, over and over again in all the camps. Their sound was almost like the last cry of a victim, and yet there was a difference. It had a rasping hoarseness, as if it came from the throat of a man who had to keep shouting like that, a man who was being murdered again and again. The carriage doors were flung open and a small detachment of prisoners stormed inside. They wore striped uniforms, their heads were shaved, but they looked well fed.They spoke in every possible European tongue, and all with a certain amount of humor, which sounded grotesque under the circumstances. Like a drowning man clutching a straw, my inborn optimism (which has often controlled my feelings even in the most desperate situa ­ tions) clung to this thought: These prisoners look quite well, they seem to be in good spirits and even laugh. Who knows? I might manage to share their favorable position. In psychiatry there is a certain condition known as â€Å"delu ­ sion of reprieve. † The condemned man, immediately before his execution, gets the illusion that he might be reprieved at the very last minute.We, too, clung to shreds of hope and believed to the last moment that it would not be so ba d. Just the sight of the red cheeks and round faces of 24 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 25 those prisoners was a great encouragement. Little did we know then that they formed a specially chosen elite, who for years had been the receiving squad for new transports as they rolled into the station day after day. They took charge of the new arrivals and their luggage, including scarce items and smuggled jewelry. Auschwitz must have been a strange spot in this Europe of the last years of the war.There must have been unique treasures of gold and silver, platinum and diamonds, not only in the huge storehouses but also in the hands of the SS. Fifteen hundred captives were cooped up in a shed built to accommodate probably two hundred at the most. We were cold and hungry and there was not enough room for everyone to squat on the bare ground, let alone to lie down. One five-ounce piece of bread was our only food in four days. Yet I heard the senior prisoners in ch arge of the shed bargain with one member of the receiving party about a tie-pin made of platinum and diamonds. Most of the profits would eventually be traded for liquor—schnapps.I do not remember any more just how many thousands of marks were needed to purchase the quantity of schnapps required for a â€Å"gay evening,† but I do know that those long-term prisoners needed schnapps. Under such conditions, who could blame them for trying to dope themselves? There was another group of prisoners who got liquor supplied in al ­ most unlimited quantities by the SS: these were the men who were employed in the gas chambers and crematoriums, and who knew very well that one day they would be re ­ lieved by a new shift of men, and that they would have to leave their enforced role of executioner and become victims themselves.Nearly everyone in our transport lived under the illusion that he would be reprieved, that everything would yet be well. We did not realize the meaning beh ind the scene that was to follow presently. We were told to leave our luggage in the train and to fall into two lines—women on one side, men on the other—in order to file past a senior SS officer. Surprisingly enough, I had the courage to hide my haver ­ sack under my coat. My line filed past the officer, man by man. I realized that it would be dangerous if the officer spotted my bag.He would at least knock me down; I knew that from previous experience. Instinctively, I straightened on approaching the officer, so that he would not notice my heavy load. Then I was face to face with him. He was a tall man who looked slim and fit in his spotless uniform. What a contrast to us, who were untidy and grimy after our long journey! He had assumed an attitude of careless ease, supporting his right elbow with his left hand. His right hand was lifted, and with the forefinger of that hand he pointed very leisurely to the right or to the left.None of us had the slightest idea of t he sinister meaning behind that little movement of a man's finger, pointing now to the right and now to the left, but far more frequently to the left. It was my turn. Somebody whispered to me that to be sent to the right side would mean work, the way to the left being for the sick and those incapable of work, who would be sent to a special camp. I just waited for things to take their course, the first of many such times to come. My haver ­ sack weighed me down a bit to the left, but I made an effort to walk upright.The SS man looked me over, appeared to hesitate, then put both his hands on my shoulders. I tried very hard to look smart, and he turned my shoulders very slowly until I faced right, and I moved over to that side. The significance of the finger game was explained to us in the evening. It was the first selection, the first verdict made on our existence or non-existence. For the great ma ­ jority of our transport, about 90 per cent, it meant death. Their sentence was ca rried out within the next few hours. Those who were sent to the left were marched from the station straight to the crematorium.This building, as I was 26 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 27 told by someone who worked there, had the word â€Å"bath† written over its doors in several European languages. On entering, each prisoner was handed a piece of soap, and then but mercifully I do not need to describe the events which followed. Many accounts have been written about this horror. We who were saved, the minority of our transport, found out the truth in the evening. I inquired from prisoners who had been there for some time where my colleague and friend P had been sent. â€Å"Was he sent to the left side? â€Å"Yes,† I replied. â€Å"Then you can see him there,† I was told. â€Å"Where? † A hand pointed to the chimney a few hundred yards off, which was sending a column of flame up into the grey sky of Poland. It dissolved into a sinister cloud of smoke. â€Å"That's where your friend is, floating up to Heaven,† was the answer. But I still did not understand until the truth was explained to me in plain words. But I am telling things out of their turn. From a psycho ­ logical point of view, we had a long, long way in front of us from the break of that dawn at the station until our first night's rest at the camp.Escorted by SS guards with loaded guns, we were made to run from the station, past electrically charged barbed wire, through the camp, to the cleansing station; for those of us who had passed the first selection, this was a real bath. Again our illusion of reprieve found confirmation. The SS men seemed almost charming. Soon we found out their rea ­ son. They were nice to us as long as they saw watches on our wrists and could persuade us in well-meaning tones to hand them over. Would we not have to hand over all our possessions anyway, and hy should not that relatively nice person have the watch? Maybe one day he would do one a good turn. We waited in a shed which seemed to be the anteroom to the disinfecting chamber. SS men appeared and spread out blankets into which we had to throw all our possessions, all our watches and jewelry. There were still naive prisoners among us who asked, to the amusement of the more sea ­ soned ones who were there as helpers, if they could not keep a wedding ring, a medal or a good-luck piece. No one could yet grasp the fact that everything would be taken away.I tried to take one of the old prisoners into my confi ­ dence. Approaching him furtively, I pointed to the roll of paper in the inner pocket of my coat and said, â€Å"Look, this is the manuscript of a scientific book. I know what you will say; that I should be grateful to escape with my life, that that should be all I can expect of fate. But I cannot help myself. I must keep this manuscript at all costs; it contains my life's work. Do you understand that? † Yes, he was beginning to understand.A grin spread slowly over his face, first piteous, then more amused, mock ­ ing, insulting, until he bellowed one word at me in answer to my question, a word that was ever present in the vocabu ­ lary of the camp inmates: â€Å"Shit! † At that moment I saw the plain truth and did what marked the culminating point of the first phase of my psychological reaction: I struck out my whole former life. Suddenly there was a stir among my fellow travelers, who had been standing about with pale, frightened faces, help ­ lessly debating. Again we heard the hoarsely shouted com ­ mands. We were driven with blows into the immediate anteroom of the bath.There we assembled around an SS man who waited until we had all arrived. Then he said, â€Å"I will give you two minutes, and I shall time you by my watch. In these two minutes you will get fully undressed 28 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 29 and drop everything on the floor wh ere you are standing. You will take nothing with you except your shoes, your belt or suspenders, and possibly a truss. I am starting to count— now! † With unthinkable haste, people tore off their clothes. As the time grew shorter, they became increasingly nervous and pulled clumsily at their underwear, belts and shoe ­ laces.Then we heard the first sounds of whipping; leather straps beating down on naked bodies. Next we were herded into another room to be shaved: not only our heads were shorn, but not a hair was left on our entire bodies. Then on to the showers, where we lined up again. We hardly recognized each other; but with great relief some people noted that real water dripped from the sprays. While we were waiting for the shower, our nakedness was brought home to us: we really had nothing now except our bare bodies—even minus hair; all we possessed, literally, was our naked existence.What else remained for us as a material link with our former lives? For me there were my glasses and my belt; the latter I had to exchange later on for a piece of bread. There was an extra bit of excitement in store for the owners of trusses. In the evening the senior prisoner in charge of our hut welcomed us with a speech in which he gave us his word of honor that he would hang, personally, â€Å"from that beam†Ã¢â‚¬â€he pointed to it—any per ­ son who had sewn money or precious stones into his truss. Proudly he explained that as a senior inhabitant the camp laws entitled him to do so. Where our shoes were concerned, matters were not so simple.Although we were supposed to keep them, those who had fairly decent pairs had to give them up after all and were given in exchange shoes that did not fit. In for real trouble were those prisoners who had followed the ap- parently well-meant advice (given in the anteroom) of the senior prisoners and had shortened their jackboots by cut ­ ting the tops off, then smearing soap on the cut edges to hide the sabotage. The SS men seemed to have waited for just that. All suspected of this crime had to go into a small adjoining room. After a time we again heard the lashings of the strap, and the screams of tortured men.This time it lasted for quite a while. Thus the illusions some of us still held were destroyed one by one, and then, quite unexpectedly, most of us were overcome by a grim sense of humor. We knew that we had nothing to lose except our so ridiculously naked lives. When the showers started to run, we all tried very hard to make fun, both about ourselves and about each other. After all, real water did flow from the spraysl Apart from that strange kind of humor, another sensa ­ tion seized us: curiosity. I have experienced this kind of curiosity before, as a fundamental reaction toward certain strange circumstances.When my life was once endangered by a climbing accident, I felt only one sensation at the critical moment: curiosity, curiosity as to whether I should come out of it alive or with a fractured skull or some other injuries. Cold curiosity predominated even in Auschwitz, some ­ how detaching the mind from its surroundings, which came to be regarded with a kind of objectivity. At that time one cultivated this state of mind as a means of protection. We were anxious to know what would happen next; and what would be the consequence, for example, of our standing in the open air, in the chill of late autumn, stark naked, and still wet from the showers.In the next few days our curi ­ osity evolved into surprise; surprise that we did not catch cold. There were many similar surprises in store for new ar- 30 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 31 rivals. The medical men among us learned first of all: â€Å"Textbooks tell lies! † Somewhere it is said that man cannot exist without sleep for more than a stated number of hours. Quite wrongl I had been convinced that there were certain things I just could not do: I c ould not sleep without this or I could not live with that or the other.The first night in Auschwitz we slept in beds which were constructed in tiers. On each tier (measuring about six-and-a-half to eight feet) slept nine men, directly on the boards. Two blankets were shared by each nine men. We could, of course, lie only on our sides, crowded and huddled against each other, which had some advantages because of the bitter cold. Though it was forbidden to take shoes up to the bunks, some people did use them secretly as pillows in spite of the fact that they were caked with mud. Otherwise one's head had to rest on the crook of an almost dislocated arm.And yet sleep came and brought oblivion and relief from pain for a few hours. I would like to mention a few similar surprises on how much we could endure: we were unable to clean our teeth, and yet, in spite of that and a severe vitamin deficiency, we had healthier gums than ever before. We had to wear the same shirts for half a year, unt il they had lost all ap ­ pearance of being shirts. For days we were unable to wash, even partially, because of frozen water-pipes, and yet the sores and abrasions on hands which were dirty from work in the soil did not suppurate (that is, unless there was frost ­ bite).Or for instance, a light sleeper, who used to be dis ­ turbed by the slightest noise in the next room, now found himself lying pressed against a comrade who snored loudly a few inches from his ear and yet slept quite soundly through the noise. If someone now asked of us the truth of Dostoevski's statement that flatly defines man as a being who can get used to anything, we would reply, â€Å"Yes, a man can get used to anything, but do not ask us how. † But our psychological investigations have not taken us that far yet; neither had we prisoners reached that point. We were still in the first phase of our psychological reactions.The thought of suicide was entertained by nearly every ­ one, if only for a b rief time. It was born of the hopelessness of the situation, the constant danger of death looming over us daily and hourly, and the closeness of the deaths suffered by many of the others. From personal convictions which will be mentioned later, I made myself a firm promise, on my first evening in camp, that I would not â€Å"run into the wire. † This was a phrase used in camp to describe the most popular method of suicide—touching the electrically charged barbed-wire fence. It was not entirely difficult for me to make this decision.There was little point in commit ­ ting suicide, since, for the average inmate, life expectation, calculating objectively and counting all likely chances, was very poor. He could not with any assurance expect to be among the small percentage of men who survived all the selections. The prisoner of Auschwitz, in the first phase of shock, did not fear death. Even the gas chambers lost their horrors for him after the first few days—afte r all, they spared him the act of committing suicide. Friends whom I have met later have told me that I was not one of those whom the shock of admission greatly de ­ pressed.I only smiled, and quite sincerely, when the follow ­ ing episode occurred the morning after our first night in Auschwitz. In spite of strict orders not to leave our â€Å"blocks,† a colleague of mine, who had arrived in Auschwitz several weeks previously, smuggled himself into our hut. He wanted to calm and comfort us and tell us a few things. He had become so thin that at first we did not recognize him. With a show of good humor and a Devil-may-care attitude he gave us a few hurried tips: â€Å"Don't be afraid! Don't fear the selections! Dr.M (the SS medical chief) has a soft spot for doctors. † (This was wrong; my friend's kindly 32 Man's Search for Meaning words were misleading. One prisoner, the doctor of a block, of huts and a man of some sixty years, told me how he had entreated Dr. M to let off his son, who was destined for gas. Dr. M coldly refused. ) â€Å"But one thing I beg of you†; he continued, â€Å"shave daily, if at all possible, even if you have to use a piece of glass to do it . . . even if you have to give your last piece of bread for it. You will look younger and the scraping will make your cheeks look ruddier.If you want to stay alive, there is only one way: look fit for work. If you even limp, because, let us say, you have a small blister on your heel, and an SS man spots this, he will wave you aside and the next day you are sure to be gassed. Do you know what we mean by a ‘Moslem'? A man who looks miserable, down and out, sick and emaciated, and who cannot manage hard physical labor any longer . . . that is a ‘Moslem. ‘ Sooner or later, usually sooner, every ‘Moslem' goes to the gas chambers. Therefore, remember: shave, stand and walk smartly; then you need not be afraid of gas.All of you standing here, even if you h ave only been here twenty-four hours, you need not fear gas, except perhaps you. † And then he pointed to me and said, â€Å"I hope you don't mind my telling you frankly. † To the others he repeated, â€Å"Of all of you he is the only one who must fear the next selection. So, don't worry! † And I smiled. I am now convinced that anyone in my place on that day would have done the same. Experiences in a Concentration Camp I think it was Lessing who once said, â€Å"There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you have none to lose. An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior. Even we psychiatrists expect the reactions of a man to an abnormal situation, such as being com ­ mitted to an asylum, to be abnormal in proportion to the degree of his normality. The reaction of a man to his admission to a concentration camp also represents an abnormal state of mind, but judged objectively it is a normal and, as will be shown later, typi cal reaction to the given circumstances. These reactions, as I have described them, began to change in a few days.The prisoner passed from the first to the second phase; the phase of relative apathy, in which he achieved a kind of emotional death. Apart from the already described reactions, the newly arrived prisoner experienced the tortures of other most painful emotions, all of which he tried to deaden. First of all, there was his boundless longing for his home and his family. This often could become so acute that he felt himself consumed by longing. Then there was disgust; disgust with all the ugliness which surrounded him, even in its mere external forms.Most of the prisoners were given a uniform of rags which would have made a scarecrow elegant by comparison. Between the huts in the camp lay pure filth, and the more one worked to clear it away, the more one had to come in contact with it. It was a favorite practice to detail a new arrival to a work group whose job was to clean the latrines and remove the sewage. If, as usually happened, some of the excrement splashed into his face during its transport over bumpy fields, any sign of disgust by the prisoner or any attempt to wipe off the filth would only be punished with a blow from a Capo.And thus the mortification of normal reactions was hastened. At first the prisoner looked away if he saw the punishment parades of another group; he could not bear to see fellow prisoners march up and down for hours in the mire, their movements directed by blows. Days or weeks later things changed. Early in the morning, when it was still dark, the prisoner stood in front of the gate with his detachment, ready to march. He heard a scream and saw how 34 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 35 comrade was knocked down, pulled to his feet again, and knocked down once more—and why? He was feverish but had reported to sick-bay at an improper time. He was being punished for this irregular attempt t o be relieved of his duties. But the prisoner who had passed into the second stage of his psychological reactions did not avert his eyes any more. By then his feelings were blunted, and he watched un ­ moved. Another example: he found himself waiting at sick ­ bay, hoping to be granted two days of light work inside the camp because of injuries or perhaps edema or fever.He stood unmoved while a twelve-year-old boy was carried in who had been forced to stand at attention for hours in the snow or to work outside with bare feet because there were no shoes for him in the camp. His toes had become frost ­ bitten, and the doctor on duty picked off the black gan ­ grenous stumps with tweezers, one by one. Disgust, horror and pity are emotions that our spectator could not really feel any more. The sufferers, the dying and the dead, be ­ came such commonplace sights to him after a few weeks of camp life that they could not move him any more.I spent some time in a hut for typhus pati ents who ran very high temperatures and were often delirious, many of them moribund. After one of them had just died, I watched without any emotional upset the scene that followed, which was repeated over and over again with each death. One by one the prisoners approached the still warm body. One grabbed the remains of a messy meal of potatoes; another decided that the corpse's wooden shoes were an improve ­ ment on his own, and exchanged them. A third man did the same with the dead man's coat, and another was glad to be able to secure some—just imagine! —genuine string.All this I watched with unconcern. Eventually I asked the â€Å"nurse† to remove the body. When he decided to do so, he took the corpse by its legs, allowing it to drop into the small corridor between the two rows of boards which were the beds for the fifty typhus patients, and dragged it across the bumpy earthen floor toward the door. The two steps which led up into the open air always constit uted a prob ­ lem for us, since we were exhausted from a chronic lack of food. After a few months' stay in the camp we could not walk up those steps, which were each about six inches high, without putting our hands on the door jambs to pull our ­ selves up.The man with the corpse approached the steps. Wearily he dragged himself up. Then the body: first the feet, then the trunk, and finally—with an uncanny rattling noise— the head of the corpse bumped up the two steps. My place was on the opposite side of the hut, next to the small, sole window, which was built near the floor. While my cold hands clasped a bowl of hot soup from which I sipped greedily, I happened to look out the window. The corpse which had just been removed stared in at me with glazed eyes. Two hours before I had spoken to that man.Now I continued sipping my soup. If my lack of emotion had not surprised me from the standpoint of professional interest, I would not remember this incident now, because there was so little feeling in ­ volved in it. Apathy, the blunting of the emotions and the feeling that one could not care any more, were the symptoms arising during the second stage of the prisoner's psychological re ­ actions, and which eventually made him insensitive to daily and hourly beatings. By means of this insensibility the pris ­ oner soon surrounded himself with a very necessary protec ­ tive shell. 6 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 37 Beatings occurred on the slightest provocation, sometimes for no reason at all. For example, bread was rationed out at our work site and we had to line up for it. Once, the man behind me stood off a little to one side and that lack of symmetry displeased the SS guard. I did not know what was going on in the line behind me, nor in the mind of the SS guard, but suddenly I received two sharp blows on my head. Only then did I spot the guard at my side who was using his stick.At such a moment it is not the physical pain which hurts the most (and this applies to adults as much as to punished children); it is the mental agony caused by the injustice, the unreasonableness of it all. Strangely enough, a blow which does not even find its mark can, under certain circumstances, hurt more than one that finds its mark. Once I was standing on a railway track in a snowstorm. In spite of the weather our party had to keep on working. I worked quite hard at mending the track with gravel, since that was the only way to keep warm. For only one moment I paused to get my breath and to lean on my shovel.Unfortunately the guard turned around just then and thought I was loafing. The pain he caused me was not from any insults or any blows. That guard did not think it worth his while to say anything, not even a swear word, to the ragged, emaciated figure standing before him, which probably reminded him only vaguely of a human form. Instead, he playfully picked up a stone and threw it at me. That, to me, se emed the way to attract the attention of a beast, to call a domestic animal back to its job, a creature with which you have so little in common that you do not even punish it.The most painful part of beatings is the insult which they imply. At one time we had to carry some long, heavy girders over icy tracks. If one man slipped, he endangered not only himself but all the others who carried the same girder. An old friend of mine had a congenitally dislocated hip. He was glad to be capable of working in spite of it, since the physically disabled were almost certainly sent to death when a selection took place. He limped over the track with an especially heavy girder, and seemed about to fall and drag the others with him. As yet, I was not carrying a girder so I jumped to his assistance without stopping to think.I was immediately hit on the back, rudely repri ­ manded and ordered to return to my place. A few minutes previously the same guard who struck me had told us deprecatingly tha t we â€Å"pigs† lacked the spirit of comrade ­ ship. Another time, in a forest, with the temperature at 2 °F, we began to dig up the topsoil, which was frozen hard, in order to lay water pipes. By then I had grown rather weak physi ­ cally. Along came a foreman with chubby rosy cheeks. His face definitely reminded me of a pig's head. I noticed that he wore lovely warm gloves in that bitter cold. For a time he watched me silently.I felt that trouble was brewing, for in front of me lay the mound of earth which showed exactly how much I had dug. Then he began: â€Å"You pig, I have been watching you the whole time! I'll teach you to work, yet! Wait till you dig dirt with your teeth—you'll die like an animal! In two days I'll finish you off! You've never done a stroke of work in your life. What were you, swine? A businessman? † I was past caring. But I had to take his threat of killing me seriously, so I straightened up and looked him directly in the eye. â⠂¬Å"I was a doctor—a specialist. † â€Å"What? A doctor?I bet you got a lot of money out of people. † â€Å"As it happens, I did most of my work for no money at all, in clinics for the poor. † But, now, I had said too much. He threw himself on me and knocked me down, shouting like a madman. I can no longer remember what he shouted. I want to show with this apparently trivial story that 38 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 39 there are moments when indignation can rouse even a seemingly hardened prisoner—indignation not about cruelty or pain, but about the insult connected with it. That time blood rushed to my head because I had to listen o a man judge my life who had so little idea of it, a man (I must confess: the following remark, which I made to my fellow-prisoners after the scene, afforded me childish relief) â€Å"who looked so vulgar and brutal that the nurse in the outpatient ward in my hospital would not even have admitted him to the waiting room. † Fortunately the Capo in my working party was obligated to me; he had taken a liking to me because I listened to his love stories and matrimonial troubles, which he poured out during the long marches to our work site. I had made an impression on him with my diagnosis of his character and with my psychotherapeutic advice.After that he was grate ­ ful, and this had already been of value to me. On several previous occasions he had reserved a place for me next to him in one of the first five rows of our detachment, which usually consisted of two hundred and eighty men. That favor was important. We had to line up early in the morn ­ ing while it was still dark. Everybody was afraid of being late and of having to stand in the back rows. If men were required for an unpleasant and disliked job, the senior Capo appeared and usually collected the men he needed from the back rows.These men had to march away to an ­ other, especially dreaded kind of work under the command of strange guards. Occasionally the senior Capo chose men from the first five rows, just to catch those who tried to be clever. All protests and entreaties were silenced by a few well-aimed kicks, and the chosen victims were chased to the meeting place with shouts and blows. However, as long as my Capo felt the need of pouring out his heart, this could not happen to me. I had a guaranteed place of honor next to him. But there was another advan- tage, too. Like nearly all the camp inmates I was suffering from edema.My legs were so swollen and the skin on them so tightly stretched that I could scarcely bend my knees. I had to leave my shoes unlaced in order to make them fit my swollen feet. There would not have been space for socks even if I had had any. So my partly bare feet were always wet and my shoes always full of snow. This, of course, caused frostbite and chilblains. Every single step became real torture. Clumps of ice formed on our shoes during our m arches over snow-covered fields. Over and again men slipped and those following behind stumbled on top of them. Then the column would stop for a moment, but not for long.One of the guards soon took action and worked over the men with the butt of his rifle to make them get up quickly. The more to the front of the column you were, the less often you were disturbed by having to stop and then to make up for lost time by running on your painful feet. I was very happy to be the personally appointed physician to His Honor the Capo, and to march in the first row at an even pace. As an additional payment for my services, I could be sure that as long as soup was being dealt out at lunchtime at our work site, he would, when my turn came, dip the ladle right to the bottom of the vat and fish out a few peas.This Capo, a former army officer, even had the courage to whisper to the foreman, whom I had quarreled with, that he knew me to be an unusually good worker. That didn't help matters, but he n evertheless managed to save my life (one of the many times it was to be saved). The day after the epi ­ sode with the foreman he smuggled me into another work party. There were foremen who felt sorry for us and who did their best to ease our situation, at least at the building site. 40 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 41But even they kept on reminding us that an ordinary laborer did several times as much work as we did, and in a shorter time. But they did see reason if they were told that a normal workman did not live on 10-1/2 ounces of bread (theoretically—actually we often had less) and 1-3/4 pints of thin soup per day; that a normal laborer did not live under the mental stress we had to submit to, not having news of our families, who had either been sent to another camp or gassed right away; that a normal workman was not threat ­ ened by death continuously, daily and hourly.I even al ­ lowed myself to say once to a kindly foreman, â€Å" If you could learn from me how to do a brain operation in as short a time as I am learning this road work from you, I would have great respect for you. † And he grinned. Apathy, the main symptom of the second phase, was a necessary mechanism of self-defense. Reality dimmed, and all efforts and all emotions were centered on one task: pre ­ serving one's own life and that of the other fellow. It was typical to hear the prisoners, while they were being herded back to camp from their work sites in the evening, sigh with relief and say, â€Å"Well, another day is over. It can be readily understood that such a state of strain, coupled with the constant necessity of concentrating on the task of staying alive, forced the prisoner's inner life down to a primitive level. Several of my colleagues in camp who were trained in psychoanalysis often spoke of a â€Å"regression† in the camp inmate—a retreat to a more primitive form of mental life. His wishes and desires became obvious in his dreams. What did the prisoner dream about most frequently? Of bread, cake, cigarettes, and nice warm baths.The lack of having these simple desires satisfied led him to seek wishfulfillment in dreams. Whether these dreams did any good is another matter; the dreamer had to wake from them to the reality of camp life, and to the terrible contrast between that and his dream illusions. I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the groans of a fellow prisoner, who threw himself about in his sleep, obviously having a horrible nightmare. Since I had always been especially sorry for people who suffered from fearful dreams or deliria, I wanted to wake the poor man.Suddenly I drew back the hand which was ready to shake him, frightened at the thing I was about to do. At that moment I became intensely conscious of the fact that no dream, no matter how horrible, could be as bad as the reality of the camp which surrounded us, and to which I was about to recall him. Because of the high degree of undernourishment which the prisoners suffered, it was natural that the desire for food was the major primitive instinct around which mental life centered. Let us observe the majority of prisoners when they happened to work near each other and were, for once, not closely watched.They would immediately start discuss ­ ing food. One fellow would ask another working next to him in the ditch what his favorite dishes were. Then they would exchange recipes and plan the menu for the day when they would have a reunion—the day in a distant future when they would be liberated and returned home. They would go on and on, picturing it all in detail, until suddenly a warning was passed down the trench, usually in the form of a special password or number: â€Å"The guard is coming. † I always regarded the discussions about food as danger ­ ous.Is it not wrong to provoke the organism with such detailed and affective pictures of delicacies when it has somehow m anaged to adapt itself to extremely small rations 42 Man's Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp 43 and low calories? Though it may afford momentary psycho ­ logical relief, it is an illusion which phy