General Motors Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

General Motors Corporation - Essay Example GM’s six main automaking divisions have catered to its manifesto of â€Å"a car for every purse and purpose† (Monks & Minow, 2008: 414). Statement of Purpose: This Case Study on the General Motors Corporation is for the purpose of investigating the company’s downward spiral into possible bankruptcy. Using appropriate theories and literature, investigation of the What? Why? and How? of the organization will help to determine the reasons for the auto giant’s decline 0ajjind the implications for the future of the company. The reasons for and the processes by which the United States’ auto giant General Motors Company deteriorated to a position of near-bankruptcy, can be determined by investigating various factors based on relevant theories of corporate collapse (Fig.1). These would include corporate governance, organisational culture, leadership styles, operational risk management and financial risk management pertaining to the functioning of General Motors. The underlying concepts pertaining to risk management, financial markets and products, and global perspectives on risk are important aspects. A widely encompassing approach that associates the causes of bankruptcy to the characteristics of the company and to the financial symptoms of distress, is essential, in examining the company’s financial decline (Thornhill & Amit, 2003). Besides the financial situation of the company, other crucial factors include the time dimension of failure, and the influence of key non-financial factors such as managerial error which is found to be one of the main reasons (Balcaen & Ooghe, 2006). Over the decades, from the time of GM’s inception in 1909, the company has suffered numerous set-backs which destroyed its ability to control the cost of its workforce. Roger Smith as CEO started downsizing the manufacturing units from 1985, with a commitment to revolutionizing the organization.

Slavery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Slavery - Essay Example Even prior to the establishment of these factories, the demand for slaves was still high all over the world. In the United States, the demand for slaves increased with the growth of the industrial revolution which saw large-scale textile industries emerge. The main reason why slavery grew was the fact that in the federal government, created after the freedom of the American nation as an independent set of states, most of the representatives were large-scale farm owners from the south (Hammond 176). As such, in the presence or the absence of the textile industry, slaves would still be shipped to the country to assist with household chores and the likes. Regardless, the growth of these industries prompted the establishment of the slave trade as a lucrative business venture. Which mainly became competitive, led to the increase in violence subjected among slaves. The increase in violence subjected on the slaves was mainly a strategy that had been developed by plantation farmers to ensure that the cotton picked was more than enough and this thus led to the increase in immorality and inhumanity among the southern states. The rise in the prices of slaves equally motivated the violence subjected upon them, since the white men understood that they were their property and after being sold for such a high price, the slaves were expected to be equally productive which thus stimulated the use of violence as a way to improve productivity, which was later a power used by the southerners for their pleasure or to exert power.

Impact of Latest Advances in Technology on the Recruitment and Essay

Impact of Latest Advances in Technology on the Recruitment and Selection Process - Essay Example In this regard, the aim of the current discourse is to review how the latest advances in technology have impacted on the recruitment and selection process. Likewise, the benefits and challenges of using new technological applications would be presented and expounded based on contemporary organizational experiences. Impact of Technological Advancement on Recruitment and Selection Process In a study conducted by Piotrowski and Armstrong (2006), the authors revealed that current recruitment and selection practices, based on the national survey of 1000 firms included in Fortune’s top organizations in the United States, included â€Å"personality testing on the Internet and the use of online testing for selection purposes† (Piotrowski and Armstrong, 2006, pp. 489-490). Organizations were thereby cautioned on their effective applicability due to lack of regulations imposed on online selection firms. Likewise, the authors cited the works of Barbian (2001) and Bates (2002) whos e studies contend that â€Å"most person job-fit tests have not been standardized, lack norms, and developers have not presented predictive validity data on their selection measures† (cited in Piotrowski and Armstrong, 2006, p. 490). Parry (2010) has cited that â€Å"70% of the organizations surveyed used the Internet or Intranet to deliver HR services to employees with most respondents planning to enhance substantially their e-HR capabilities over the two years† (p. 522). On the other hand, Capelli’s (2001) research indicated that a staggering 90% of U.S. organizations have already shifted to online recruiting due to the benefits in costs and efficiency accorded by this technological advancement (p. 140). There are options open to contemporary organizations regarding the use of technological applications to service HR functions. As Cappelli (2001) averred, organizations could use HR software programs that â€Å"automate the entire hiring process: they collect applications in a standardized format, screen them, determine where they came from (such as through job boards or classifiedads), monitor the progress of applications, and calculate how long it takes to fill various jobs or to get a new employee working productively† (p. 143). Concurrently, other organizations opt to outsource the hiring function through the use of external vendors, which would be discussed under challenges that these new technology presents. The website of Global Recruiting Roundtable (2011) indicated that â€Å"80.2% of companies are using Social Media to recruit and another 8.7% of companies are planning to begin this year (results of Jobvite survey, July 2011)† (Valkenburg 2011, par. 1). The percentage was a dramatic 18% increase from the 68% of the companies that used social media in 2009 to the 80.2% in 2011. The survey results from Jobvite revealed remarkable statistics that validate the effectiveness of using social networking sites such as Link edln, Facebook and Twitter; where Linkedln topped the survey at 95% of the respondents indicating that they have successfully hired through this social networking site (Jobvite, 2011, p. 8). Benefits of Using Technonological Advancement Parry

Management case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management case - Essay Example Most of its offerings already had significant margins, and those that werent at this level were close or were expected to in the near future. The challenge that Newell Company faced was trying to remain the market leader for all of its industries at the same time. 2) Newell Company has many distinctive resources due to the strong credibility the brand has built up over the years. Because the company has many different product categories, a strong management style is necessary to ensure that every sector runs smoothly. In addition, Newell Company has good relationships with its supply partners, and these relationships help the company to remain number one in all areas of its business portfolio. Finally, Newell Company has access to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which helps the company to organize all of its purchase orders, invoices, and payments to and from its retail partners. Because most of Newell Companys orders are placed through this system, the company is able to keep track of all of its deadlines and needs. 3) Newell Company does seem to have a successful corporate level strategy because the management and administration is interlinked, which helps to build a solid kind of corporate culture. Another area that shows Newell Company is successful in the corporate area is through acquisitions. The company buys other companies that can add value and expand the operation of Newell Company. This is a very difficult process because the new acquisitions need to be the right fit. If a new acquisition is not up to the same speed of Newell Company, then that acquisition has the potential to bring the whole company down. 4) I feel that Newell Company acquiring both Calphalon and Rubbermaid are good business decisions for a variety of reasons. First of all, Calphalon is a good fit for Newell Companys housewares division because the company has access to the high end of the market where Newell Company has not been so successful. Also, Calphalon has strong

Assignment Mulally Essay Example for Free

Assignment Mulally Essay Assignment # 3 ‘’ Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor company â€Å" Leadership and organizational behavior- BUS 520 Abstract Leadership is guiding people towards productive results to achieve the goals of the organization. An effective leader has the ability to motivate and influence others. The following sources of power represent the engine of influence that they use effectively and ethically to achieve their goals, however, true leaders are supposed to make the employees work hard by giving their efforts and making sure that the goals and the mission of the organization are achieved. To be effective every leader should have the following competencies: Vision, Integrity, Honesty and Values Releasing Potential and Energy. The content of this paper is to outline the roles of leadership and how it affects organizational performance. It then discusses the role of Allan Mulally’s, CEO of Ford Motor Company, and leadership style. The paper also presents how mulally decision to set a goal has increased the company’s performance and mentioning how Allan Mulally’s openness has gained him trust and helped him to reach his goal. Alan Mulally moved to Ford in 2006. He had worked at Boeing since 1969. He had been chief engineer for development of the 777, and was later Vice President of Engineering for commercial aircraft. Mulally had no sales experience, and he wasnt a Detroit car man, â€Å"Much less a car man at all. He sold his Lexus after moving to Dearborn. Whats most impressive is Mulallys results oriented leadership style. His management is crisp and authoritative, although he defers to the firms design experts on the minutiae of the product lines. But on the big questions of the companys past mistakes and where its headed, Mulalley made key decisions that placed Ford in good stead. When mulally testified before Congress in December 2008, along with GMs Rick Wagoner and Chryslers Robert Nardelli, he announced that Ford would be able to survive the recession without a bailout. In 2006, Alan Mulally became the CEO of Ford. At the time, the company was relying heavily on their truck revenue and had several other lines that were not properly supported to earn the best revenue. Some of Mulally’s first decisions were to sell off some of their sub brands, namely Jaguar and Land Rover, and focus more on the small car lines that are becoming more popular with consumers. With a focus on the small cars, this would allow for the company to benefit from economies of scale and increase the profits from selling those cars. He also took out a $23 billion loan to help avoid needing the bailouts that would come 2 years later. Mulally threw away the politics involved in the vice president structure, forcing the weekly leadership meeting to be more about the success of the company than the squabbles of those leading it. He insisted that the vice presidents actually admit to their problems so they can be handled; having operations be labeled either green for going well, yellow for caution, and red for problems. The vice presidents were apprehensive of this at first, afraid to admit their problems and failures, but Mulally made it apparent he wanted to know these issues to resolve them, instead of to sweep them under the rug or assign blame. Finally, Mulally put forth a new mind set for the company; One Ford, involving a One Team, One Plan, One Goal setup. One Team focused on uniting the individual group in Ford into one cohesive team, each member helping out other members, no matter what project they are on or division they are in. One Plan was about restructuring to operate profitably, accelerate development to get new products that customers would want to buy out sooner, finance the plan, and work together as a team. Finally, One Goal was all about developing an exciting viable Ford with profitable growth. Mulally have a more hands on approach to leadership. He wants to know exactly where the company is and how they were going to get someplace better. This is shown with his color coded operations technique with the vice president meetings. His answers to problems weren’t just to shrug them off and go back to the status but rather how to proceed from where those problems brought them. Alan Mulally demonstrated organizational innovation; he used different methods of production and administration. Conveying his ideas and leadership, mulally exhibited his innovation that comprised the ideas from outside Ford in conjunction with those ideas from within Ford Motor Company. The message he portrays involves  planning initiation, execution, selection, and implementation of the objectives to achieve the goals set forth by his administration The success of an innovation is connected to a market forecast of customer needs and wants as well as effective management of the innovation  process. Concentrating on a fewer products to produce with a lot of improvement and service innovation involving the introduction of a new service that meet the customers’ expectations. He has high regard for executive management and maintains open communication. Mulally has an agenda to serve and satisfy not only customers, but employees as well, increase market share, increase profits, and communication is at the top. Alan Mulally has a proven effective leadership style. He is persistent with innovative  processes that address issues within the organization to ensure successful development. His management responsibilities include reducing the risk; managing the customer interface; training and managing staff performance; and engaging Ford’s executive team. Highlighting how successful his tactic can be Mulally has insured his reputation as one of industry’s great leaders; it is well worth paying attention to what he says and learn from his leadership skills. Any successful leader has to know the plan, and areas that need special attention. There are challenging times to be a leader whether it is a cultural crisis, financial crisis, or environmental crisis, but, if one can learn from the experience of a leader such as Alan Mulally, an organization will do just fine and be one of the respected models to follow and learn from.

Driving Under the Influence Essay Example for Free

Driving Under the Influence Essay 1. A. A trip to the ocean can be a relaxing escape from the everyday pressures of life. B. You should always be careful to avoid overexposure to the sun at the beach. 2. Check for correct punctuation, including capitalization. Learn to spell the words you use. Learn the spelling rules and the exceptions to those rules. Keep a list of words you’ve misspelled and looked up. Use your list as a reference when you write, edit, and proofread your work. Watch for grammatical errors. Keep an alert eye out for errors such as fragments, run-ons, faulty agreement, and incorrect comparisons. 3. A sentence or phrase usually used expressing a popular or common thought or idea, which has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse. Opposites attract: This means that people who like different things and have different views are likely to fall in love or to become friends. 4. Brainstorming: Where you right down what you think might be a focus for your paragraph in which some will end up not being used. Webbing: A web in which it shows a relationship between some of the ideas you have. 5. C. How to make my favorite sandwich: First, lay out the bread on the preparing surface. Second, take out the sliced meat, making sure to get as much of the liquid off as possible. Third, put the meat on the sandwich until the desired thickness is reached. You can also add cheese at the point, if you want it to be soft and melted. Fourth, put the sandwich in the microwave for 40 seconds, flipping it once every 10 seconds. Fifth, let cool and enjoy. 6. The best way to stop drunk driving is to enforce stiffer penalties for anyone caught drinking and driving. The fines need to be much higher and their license should be much harder to get back. It should be made that a zero tolerance breathalyzers machine should be mandatory in every new vehicle that you buy. Make it so that the car just wont start even if you have a drink or two. There should also be designated drivers in every town and city all over the world. A designated driver is simply a person who agrees not to drink alcohol and be responsible for driving others home. The clubs should also have it in place so you cant leave and drink and drive. Then just maybe if we get this all in place, maybe we can save a lot lives each year and keep the drunk drivers off the highways.

The Collectivisms Versus Individualism Appeals Cultural Studies Essay

The Collectivisms Versus Individualism Appeals Cultural Studies Essay Love the Internet, love being free-spirited, love getting up late, love the late night food stands, love car-racing and T-shirts for 29RMB as well. I am not a standard-bearer, nor am I someones spokesman, I am HanHan, I just represent myself. When you read this script, do you think that it is an advert launched in the western markets? Actually, it is an advert campaign of a fashion apparel B2C company in China. It is quite interesting to launch an ad which claims I-conscious in a highly collectivistic country. In this essay, the writer will mainly analyze the cultural values behind the ad and discuss how this ad is trying to change the attitudes of the Chinese from group-oriented to self-oriented by using consumer behavior frameworks, such as Maslows hierarchy of needs, Fishbeins behavioral intention model and advertising engagement modes. Background Vancl is a B2C company who sells quality fashion clothing and accessories on-line in China (Appendix 1). It was founded in 2007, and now it has become the NO.1 Chinese fashion apparel B2C enterprise who is occupying 28.4% market share, according to the Report of e-business on fashion apparel industry in China 2009-2010 (http://en.vancl.com). As the concept of the company is to provide quality and stylish apparel at a reasonable price, it considers urban young adults from 18 to 28 years old as its target audiences (http://en.vancl.com). In order to target more consumers and enhance the influence of the brand, Vancl launched an advertising campaign (Appendix 2) in 2010, which achieved a huge success in China. This study is aim to analyze the culture behind the ad campaign based on consumer behavior area. Literature Review Collectivism versus Individualism Appeals in Chinese Adverts Hofstede (1980) developed an individualism-collectivism dimension to differentiate culture. This concept was concluded by Oyserman et al. (2002) that collectivism could be considered as the opposite of individualism, which was usually reflected in the East Asian culture. In thecollectivistic culture, concept of self is relevant to others and the society as a whole (Mooij 2004), which cannot be separated from their social context (Phillips 1976; Shweder 1984). Thus, Families, work groups, social roles, positions, or relationships should be offered as the top priority in an individuals behavior (Mooij 2004, p.96). In the communication level, Individualism-collectivism dimension divides the self-concept into independent self and interdependent self appealed by low-context and high-context communication, affecting in the communication behavior (Mooij 2004). In general, high-context communication occurs more prevalent in collectivistic culture while low-context communication reflects a communication style in individualistic culture (Hall and Hall 1987, Zandpour et al. 1992, Mooij 2004). Therefore, more copy is used in adverts developed in the individualistic countries. By contrast, collectivistic countries use more visual elements in their ads (Mooij 2004). According to Hofstedes (2001) framework of culture dimensions, China is a highly collectivistic country. Collectivism concept congests in the daily life of Chinese. For instance, people are more likely to say, I often watch basketball games with my family and friends. instead of I am a sports fan.' (Liang and Joseph 2010, p.189). Consequently, the level of collectivism may have an impact on the design of local advertising. A host of researchers (for example: Dana et al.1993; Han and Shavitt 1994) have found that collectivistic ideas appear in adverts are more prevalent in the higher collectivism countries, such as China, Japan and South Korea, etc. Similarly, Carolyn (2001) pointed out that group consensus appeals more in Chinese adverts than in American ads. And unlike the commercials in U.S., Chinese were generally we-conscious instead of I-conscious. A research, conducted by Cheng and Schweitzer (1996), identified three main cultural values, in terms of modernity, youth and family dominated in Chinese advertisements, which were much different from the results in the United States (enjoyment, modernity and individualism). Besides, the study also found that comparing with the idea of individualism and manipulation over nature, harmony of social status and oneness with nature were much more frequently discovered in the Chinese advertising (ibid.). Some researches (for example: Belk et al. 1985; Belk and Pollay 1985; Belk and Bryce 1986; Mueller 1987; Paek et al. 2004), however, revealed that the style of the advertisements in some eastern countries was tending to be Americanized and becoming more individualistic orientations. Zhang and Shavitt (2003), for instance, analyzed 463 Chinese advertisements and found that both modernity/individualism values and tradition/collectivism values existed or dominated in Chinese Ads. The former values were more prevalent in personal use products ads, while the latter were more common in the ads promoting shared products. Difference in Appearance and Fashion Advertising Appeals across Culture Mooij (2004) used three culture dimensions, in terms of uncertain avoidance, power distance, and individualism-collectivism, to explain the different needs of appearance in different countries. A map (Appendix 3) was designed to illustrate the importance of appearance in the different cultural valued countries by using individualism-collectivism and uncertain avoidance dimensions, according to the country scores calculated by Hofstede (2001). Mooij (2004) claimed that the degrees of uncertain avoidance determined the proportion of consumption spending of individuals, while the dimension of individualism-collectivism differentiated the purpose of well-dressing between suitability of occasion and earning face. Besides, the higher power distance of culture was, the more degrees people would depend on others. Moreover, Mooij (ibid.) mentioned that self-consciousness was another factor to identify the differences in appearance. Similarly, Phillips and McQuarrie (2010) reviewed numerous of researches (for example: Green and Brock 2000; Holbrook and Hirschman 1982; Petty and Cacioppo 1981) and concluded five modes of fashion advertising engagement (Appendix 4) to illustrate the current situation of fashion ads worldwide. Among these five modes, many scholars (e.g., Murray 2002; Bannister and Hogg 2004; Thompson and Haytko 1997; Richins 1991) found that the engage for identity mode was the most common and traditional model appealed in the fashion adverts, which exactly coincided with Evans (1989) conclusion of three trends in fashion industry: (1) Peoples use of fashion reflects a desire to manifest the self; (2) the desire for self-expression is growing; and (3) there is a continuing need to match female (still the main buyers of clothing and cosmetics) self-images and brand images in more congruent ways (p. 10-11). Evan (ibid.) also suggested that self-expression and branding image were more important than fashion and styling newness when promoting a fashion brand. In General, the advertising appeals in collectivistic counties were more group-identity, while self-identity adverts worked more efficiently in individualistic countries (Cheng and Schweitzer 1996). However, Vancl uses a contrary ad appeals to promote the brand. In the next part, a detailed semiotic analysis will be conducted to explore the different appeals in this advert. Semiotic Analysis According to Solomon (2008 p.103), semiotics is a study of the correspondence between signs and symbols and their roles in how we assign meanings ¼Ã…’which can be interpreted into different information based on the knowledge, culture values, personality and skills of different interpreter. Therefore, analysis of semiotic elements containing in the advert, can help the researcher understand detailed information the advert wants to deliver. There are three components in every marketing message, which should be combined when analyzing an advert, namely an object (product), a sign (symbol), and an interpretant/meaning (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). Vancls advertising campaign is developed to two versions divided by gender. Each version includes large amount of signs and symbols which ccn be interpreted. For example, the price of the clothing marked in the advertisement gives a rough idea of the target audiences. Then the audiences analyze this information using their knowledge, persona lity and skills based on the different culture, such as considering the average price of this kind of clothing in the market, and calculate that the price is affordable and reasonable. Another interpretation of price can be considered as high uncertain avoidance. More specifically, if consumers have known the price before they purchase, they can avoid the risk of buying inappropriate products. Thus, in this ad, marked price can be interpreted into both price-friendly and avoidance of risk (Figure 1). Adapted from Solomon, 2008. A Semiotic Relationship. Object Vancl clothing Sign Marked price Interpretant Price-friendly Risk avoidance Personality Skills Knowledge Culture Figure 1: An Example of a Semiotic Relationship in Vancl Advertising In order to understand the messages interpreted in this advertising campaign by different targets, the writer interviewed five people who spoke Mandarin by asking them to use three words to describe the personality containing in this ad. The top three personalities referred most frequently were self-conscious, lively and enjoyment in life. Here, self-conscious means that the ad is I-conscious oriented, expresses a sense of confidence, self-respect and self-fulfillment. Lively can be explained that the ad appeals are more related to daily life and realistic, while enjoyment in life means that a sense of fun, enjoyment and happiness towards life. Based on this interview result, a detailed semiotic analysis is conducted and summarized (Appendix 5). According to Maslows hierarchy of needs theory (1987), clothing can be categorized to the physiological needs, which is the most basic need of humans. However, from the results of semiotics interpretation, the writer found that Vancl focused on targeting the audiences to the forth level needs self-esteem needs (Appendix 6). As it is shown from the survey, Vancl encourages people to be confident and self-respect, clothing is no matter the basic needs of human beings. Wearing Vancl apparel can help the consumers achieve to self-esteem level. Moreover, another finding is discovered. The three personalities concluded by the respondents are much similar to the elements (excitement, fun and enjoyment in life, self-fulfillment, self-respect, etc.) of the List of Value (LOV), a value approach developed by Kahle and Timmer (1983). Surprisingly, these three personalities, which generally occur in the most western counties, are opposite to the culture value in China concluded by Hofstede (2001, Figure 2). As it is shown by the individualism index, the score (20) is lower than the average of other Asian countries (24), which means that China owns a highly collectivistic culture. Chinese consider group as their priority, focus more on their families, friends and society as a whole, than themselves (Mooij, 2004). The writer analyzes the ads in depth on the basis of the Hofstedes culture values (Appendix 7) and finds that, although collectivism deeply influences on the development of Chinese advertisements, Vancls ad campaign, howeve r, pays a lot attention to self concept. Take the script as an example. The copy of two versions keeps the format of Love à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, I am not à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, I am à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, which is much different from the we-conscious adverts in collectivistic countries. It emphasizes self, and gives the opinions of the individuals instead of groups, which reflects an individualistic cultural value. Individualism Masculinity Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Time Orientation China Low Individualism (20) Masculine (66) High (80) Low (30) Long (118) Figure 2: Hofstedes Framework for Assessing Culture China Furthermore, this campaign seems to reform the advertising layout from a traditional way to a new style. As it is shown, there are two versions exclusively designed by gender. The layout of these two versions is similar: there is an image of the spokesman in the left of the picture, while a script containing large information in the right. This is also an uncommon way of the traditional Chinese advertisements. Lastly, according to Fishbein and Ajzen (1980), brand attitude and subject norm are two components which influence the intention and finally determine the purchasing behavior. In highly collectivistic countries, subjective norm stands for an important position in this evaluation process (Lee, 1991). In this case, however, Vancl shifts consumers focuses from subjective norm to brand attitude (Figure 3). Therefore, it can be considered that Vancls ad is trying to change Chineses attitudes from collectivism to individualism. Adapted from Fishbein and Ajzen, 1980. Fishbeins Extended Model of Behavioral Intention. + + Behavioral Intention Vancl Normative Beliefs Friends recommend the brand to me, it seems suit me. Norm Evaluations When wearing Vancl, I am more acceptable among friends and feel that I am one in the group. Collectivism Subjective Norm + Brand Beliefs Just be yourself Belief Evaluations When wearing Vancl, I seem to achieve a unique and self-esteemed life like the celebrities own. Self conscious Brand Attitude Figure 3: Model of Behavioral Intention of Vancl How to Change Attitudes Undoubtedly, it is not facile for a brand to change the attitudes of consumers, especially changing an ingrained notion which has rooted for thousands of years. Harmony is a central concept of Confucian, which results in the group-oriented behaviors in Chinese. According to the appearance map (Mooij, 2004), China is categorized in the left-bottom quadrant, represents a culture of low uncertain avoidance and highly collectivistic. People in this kind of culture pay a lot attention on face, context, low-structured and conformity, who generally buy clothing based on others opinions. What is Vancl doing is to shift the appearance concept of Chinese from the left-bottom quadrant to the right-bottom quadrant, where UK and U.S. are, representing an individualistic culture. Consequently, Vancl engages the ad with self-identity concept. During this attitude changing process, the ad focuses on the elements of celebrities and scripts to evoke the ideal self of the consumers (Figure 4). Adapted from Phillps and McQuarrie, 2010. Modes of Advertising Engagement in Womens Fashion. Mode of Engagement Ad Element Focus Processing Style Conceptual Metaphor Engage to Self-identity Celebrities Scripts Attitude Changing Process Ideal Status Figure 4: Mode of Advertising Engagement of Vancl From analyzing the ad, some clues of the reason why Vancl successfully changes the attitudes of its consumers can be discovered. Firstly, the boom of Chinese economy contributes to the process of culture exchange. An Increasing number of foreign enterprises develop their business in China and bring their culture. Besides, the development of technology helps Chinese access to the culture from different countries via TV, Internet, etc. All these are unconsciously influencing the cultural values of Chinese, which provides a prerequisite for Vancl to implement this advertising campaign. Moreover, the effect of celebrity plays an important role in the attitudes changing process. As what suggested by Malhotra (1988), using a spokesperson was an essential marketing strategy to help to match the brand image with consumers self-concept. HanHan and WangLuoDan, the two spokesmen Vancl selected, own high preferences among Chinese youth, and their characters meet the image of Vancl as well. As celebrities represent a sense of credit, attractiveness and power (Kelman, 1961), consumers can be easily influenced. Especially in the collectivistic countries, consumers are eager for the acceptance from peers and society, following celebrities is a clever way to make them acceptable. Finally, the execution of the ad assists in achieving the purpose of attitude changing. The different version by gender designed on the basis of different cultural value of males and females, targets to audiences widely and accurately. The scripts express the opinions of a unique attitude towards life from the celebrities, which influence consumers powerfully. Since China ranks high score in collectivism, the scripts are designed on this special situation: claim to be I-conscious; meanwhile, meet the traditional cultural values of Chinese. More specifically, although most of the scripts advocate self-identity, at the end of the scripts, Vancl utilizes the collectivistic culture to call for in-group and offers a sense of involvement. The last sentence, I am like you; I am Vancl (common people), gives the consumers a hint that it is not difficult to achieve such life as the two celebrities own, wearing Vancl helps to be this ideal self both in the private context and social context. Thus, it can be concluded that three factors contribute to help Vancl change the attitude of Chinese consumers, namely impact of other culture, influence of celebrities, and elaborate ad execution (such as scripts and visual design, etc.). These three factors combined as the persuasion stimuli, affect on the attitude changing process from collectivism and group-oriented to individualism and self-conscious. This impact is not only influence the target audience, but also powerful to publics. Consequently, wearing Vancl is a personal choice, which helps consumers achieve their ideal self. As the attitudes of publics are changed as well, it unifies the opinion of what others think of you and what you really want to be (Figure 5). Actual Self Collectivism Group-identity Impact of other culture Elaborate execution of ad Influence of celebrities Attitude Changing Focus on self Just be yourself Self-oriented Idea Self Self-esteemed Confident Enjoyment of life Social Self Unique Confident Enjoyment of life VANCL Appeal to Individualism oriented Involvement In group Figure 5: Framework of Attitude Changing Process of Vancl Advert In conclusion, self-concept plays an important role in Vancl advert campaign. The ad delivers the message that Vancl represents who you are and what you are not' (Rune and Rosemary 2006, p.868). Thus, wearing Vancl can promote self-concept of consumers, and correspondingly bolster up their actual or ideal view of themselves (Fournier 1998). Based on this purpose, Vancl uses two spokespersons, who own high reputation among Chinese youth and also have a unique lifestyle, to help the brand promote self-concept. As Carroll (2009) referred, this is an efficient way for a brand to shift the culture from that brand to consumer. Moreover, using celebrities also helps Vancl persuade or change the attitudes towards their consumers (Kardes et al. 2010) from group-oriented to self-conscious. Just like Kelman (1961) claimed, attitudes could be changed through three processes: internalization, identification and compliance. For consumers, HanHan and WangLuoDan represent a credible, attractive and powerful image. Thus, their persuasion could help the brand reform a new attitude or behavior to attract the consumers to imitate through the referred three processes (ibid.), and finally achieve the purpose of changing the attitudes of their consumers. Limitations Admittedly, the article may not have analyzed the advert roundly, and still have some limitations as well. Firstly, as it is an ad in China, the translation of the copy may not very accurately due to different language expression, which may cause some different interpretations of signs or symbols and correspondingly influence the different understanding of this advert. Moreover, the frameworks developed in this study are exclusively suitable for Vancl. Although celebrity endorsement has become increasingly popular since 1970s (Tom et al., 1992; Agrawal Kamakura, 1995), there are not enough studies to prove that it works on most of adverts which try to change the attitudes of their consumers. Thus, Further quantitative and qualitative researches are required for determine whether the model of this study also suit for other brands or industries in China. Finally, consumer behavior across is a deep and wide topic, which can be reflect to other subjects, such as psychology, sociology and history, etc. Therefore, there may be still some factors across other subjects influencing the attitude changing process of Vancl advert. Conclusion This article begins with a rough introduction and background of the Vancl advert campaign in China. The literature review part focuses on collectivism-individualism culture dimension and cultural appeals in Chinese adverts, difference in appearance and fashion advert appeals between different cultural values. Moreover, self-concept and celebrity endorsement are also included. Semiotic analysis gives an outline of the advert and helps to understand the advert thoroughly. In order to acquire more accurate message and cultural values containing in the ad, a survey is conducted among five Chinese speakers. Consequently, three main advert personalities are determined, namely self-conscious, lively and enjoyment in life, which could be explained to the self-esteem needs by Maslows hierarchy of needs. Then Fishbeins extended model of behavioral intention help to define the influence of the Vancl ad on the purchasing behavioral intention. The next part explains the methods Vancl used in the ad to change the attitudes of consumers from group-conscious to self-conscious by using an adapted advertising engagement model. And then a framework of attitude changing process of Vancl advert is finally developed. Recommendations Based on the limitations and conclusion parts, the writer summarizes some recommendations both for further research and brand managers. For further research, more quantitative and qualitative researches should be conducted to create a model, which suits for different brands in other categories who want to develop a self-identity advert campaign in a highly collectivistic country. Besides, more subjects, such as psychology, sociology, history, economics, etc., should be related to determine other factors which affect the attitude changing process, so that the model can be modified. For managers, the collectivism level of different products is different. Thus, claiming self-identity in the ad is another way when promoting a less collectivistic product in a highly collectivistic country, such as clothing and cosmetics. In the collectivistic countries, it seems to be a unique way to promote a brand and help the advert outstanding among other ads, however, it is not omnipotent. What should managers do, is to analyze the market accurately and frame an advert campaign which precisely suit the brand.