Communications and Media

For a number of years the concept of evolution has always been debated, no single dispensation has ever been accepted or regarded in total as the all inclusive interpretation. Several reasons such as religion, scientific as well as historical factors are commonly cited as the rudimental challenges that make interpretation of evolution to be inconsistent. However, a number of researchers have attempted to provides us with a considerable explanation of evolution, supported by both scientific and behavioral aspects but the resultant effect remains, no definite Interpretations of evolution. It is on such a situation that, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell emerged with a more concentrated interpretation, however, they also disagreed on some grounds.

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell 
According to Charles Darwins theory of evolution, some species survives and flourishes in their diverse environment, while others systematically disappear due to lack of sufficient strength to survive. Therefore, the selective procedure determines which species lives and those which become extinct, and this is determined by their resistance.

Darwins conclusions by investigating the selective process were based on the comprehension of his time. He couldnt deduce that there are numeral programs in the wake of the selective process that sets up each species to oppose natural selection. Therefore, Darwins concept asserts that, only the fittest organism overcame the turbulent forces of nature.

Whether through mutation or adaptation to the prevailing conditions, he seems to have reached to a conclusion, where he interpreted evolution to be both physical and biological changes which are effected by circumstances. Despite Darwin understanding of evolution which he so vehemently argued through his qualified analysis of natural selection, Alfred Russell had his distinct opinions which greatly differed with Darwins understanding of evolution.

Russell presented a deeper and broader argument in regard to evolution. This can be linked to the fact that he examined or rather he defined evolution by concentrating on greater human levels beyond physical growth and development. Though both men agreed on the concept of evolution to be a reality, Russell did not accept the Darwins theory in total, more so he opposed the concept of natural selection by asserting that, natural selection as Darwin had attempted to present was not sufficient ground for evolution and in particular in issues regarding human race (Oppenheim 1985).

Most scholars have made unswerving conclusion that, Russell changed his mind about the theory of natural selection which he had originally pioneered-perhaps due to lack of ability to bring together the survival for the fittest theory with his utopian concept of social views and more so his juxtaposition with his personal adoption of spiritualist beliefs. Therefore, unlike Darwin who drew his conclusions from detailed studies and examinations, Russell seems to have anchored his interpretation of evolution on cosmological stand which was in total dissimilar from Darwinian principles (Mitchell 1992 Burkhardt 1974).

Comparing the two scientists, there is a clandestine differences between there understanding and interpretation of evolution, it should be noted that, Darwin believed that natural selection could help to explain the presences of mans growth and development (Poulton 1896). While on the other had it is instrumental to realize that, Russells approach to evolution was defined by his youthful rejection of the doctrines primary causes as well as a refuting the concept of continuity. Regarding the above observation, The Ascent of Man documentary presents a sharp contrast of what Russell interprets as evolution (Wallace 1891). It is instrumental to argue that, Darwin anticipated it might be feasible that all life is descended from a novel species from primeval times. DNA verification supports this idea (Ospovat 1981). Doubtless all organic mortals who have constantly lived on this earth have originated from various types primordial life form.  Therefore, reflecting on the concepts which Darwin based or interpreted his argument, it apparent that, Russell reaction propelled him to build a unique brand of anti-first foundation teleology. Hence, this whole idea developed to become a body of ideas companionable with acquisitive logic on his acknowledgment of principles of natural assortment and his approach and adoption to spiritualism (Osborn 1894).

Contrasts
Russell is interpreted as having discarded the spat of essential utility of adaptation before 1858 these principal which were held in principle in almost all aspects pertaining to evolution, it is apparent that, at that time he associated such recognition with approval of first causes-based dogma (Kauffman 1993). Russell attempted to develop an evolutionary model that defined continuity of causality going beyond the instantaneous sphere of influence within which natural selection is typically credited as operating. Also he never viewed his espousal of spiritualism as recoil from natural selection rather, he reflected on spiritualism the best obtainable accounting of the general course of evolution at the ethicalintellectual level, and sanctioned it accordingly (Gould 2002).  Therefore, it is prudence, to state that, despite the fact that, both Darwin and Russell explored on the same concept of evolution, individually they provided distinct disparities which clarified their interpretation. Hence, Darwin seems to have offered or interred evolution more authoritatively than Russell who diverged to approach the whole issue on the concept of spiritualism (Slotten 1979).

Therefore, reflecting on the various theories presented by both Darwin and Russell, it is paramount to note that their differences form a significant variance even more than their similarity. This is attributed to the fact that, where Russell dwelt on issues pertaining to such issues as art and literature in the development of man. Darwin attempted to understand the natural rudiments that influenced the various scope of natural selection and why the nature favors the fit. More so, examining the argument presented in the video The Ascent of Man, this video presents a solid indication of how nature has a tendency of giving place to the fit. Therefore, it is such observation that Russell tends to vehemently disagree, however, the path he opted to follow, significantly follows the same principles of natural selection that Darwin established. Am of opinion that, both Darwin and Russell in one way or the other developed the almost the same theory which accounted for their interpretations of the diverse wealth of data they collected.

In conclusion, as the documentary indicates, the relationship between the two scientists can be said to fundamentally imprinted the manner they approached and viewed the powers of natural selection individually. Their thinking was not similar, and perhaps thats why they also disagreed on the purpose of sexual selection in evolution. While Darwin presented sexual selection as a procedure that could determine some specific features, Russell thought otherwise. Despite their disagreements, they do agree and accept that species do evolve (Gould 2002).

Women nowadays compose a larger percentage of the total work force than in the early years. Women even participate in the fields where they are competing with men like in the political and economic arena. Women are able to take on challenges and do what men can. They are able to take on jobs that before were seen as a job for the male. Womens essential participation in the different societal aspect has become very helpful in establishing a stronger society where equality is almost achieved. Women have undergone various struggles in attaining parity in gender in the contemporary society. Womens history has many pivotal events that are the milestones of their gender history in trying to achieve equality in rights and prerogatives.

In the traditional society, women are always depicted as the inferior sex. Males are considered as the dominant and superior in every field. Male are perceived to be strong because their masculinity and physiological configuration. Women, on the other hand, are perceived to calm and nurturing in nature. Because of their femininity, women have subtle and tender attitude. This is the reason why women are deprived of some rights and privileges enjoyed by men. Before, women were not allowed to participate in male-dominant fields like economics and politics where major decision making process is involved. Conventional members of society undermine the capabilities and potentials of women. The qualities of women were often disregarded and remain unnoticed. Women are seen and regarded as homemakers and as domestic providers.

Media create a major alteration in the peoples acquisition of information. Information before are difficult to obtain due to the restrictions and control imposed by the government, manipulating the feed of news and information to people. Now, we live in a society where facts and data concerning relevant things are accessible and can be readily obtained by people. Mass media plays an important role in peoples lives as they serve not only as a channel of communication but serve as source of information and influence the creation of public opinion (Lane 2007). Mass media took many forms books, newspapers, magazines, and recordings, radio, film, television, and the Internet are among of the known mass media tools. Advertising is slowly entering the arena but still in argue because of the business and profit aspect of advertising. Mass media are able to cater all kinds of people and pacify the cultural, racial and gender differences of its audience. People are unaware of the significant impact of media in their lives. People tend to only watch soap operas and reality TV drama not scrutinizing the content of these various TV shows. We do not mind how reality is depicted or distorted as long as it serves what we want to see and hear. Never mind if it reflects despairingly on the truth.

Women are constantly portrayed in the mass media. One of the distorted representations of women in the media is being sex objects. Sex objects mean they are portrayed as sexually attractive and exposing more skin. The mass media plays an immense role in the proliferation and the prevalence of this practice wherein the women are depicted as sexual objects. Media like television, advertising and films are some of the places wherein women are seen with provocative images. Seeing women as sex objects significantly affect the perception of the audience towards women.

Women and Gender Parity
In a contemporary society like ours, we are aware of the acquisition of gender parity among nations. Gender equality promotes the fair participation of men and women in formulating significant decisions and in male dominant fields like economics and politics. One of its aims is to reduce the widening gap between men and women in access and control of various resources and benefits brought by development (Equality between Women and Men, 2008). When we talk of gender issues, it is inevitable to not discuss women and their struggle for womens rights. The prevalent gender equality is the product of the long struggle of gender groups that are fighting for parity rights. History taught us of the hardships and sacrifices of people, especially of women in attaining gender parity. But can we truly say that we there is no gender inequality in the modern society.

In some parts of the world, women are still experiencing lesser benefits and fewer rights compared to men. Women are characterized with lower recognition and status when it comes to education and healthcare. They also have less income and less access to resources and decision making than men. Women are viewed mostly in their stereotypical roles such as the domestic providers and homemakers engrossed with the never-ending and tedious tasks at home and rearing of children. These portrayals of women can be attributed with their feminine qualities like nurturing and caring individuals. Nevertheless, women play significant roles as they comprised the majority of the total workforce today. They also have a vital participation in various areas of countries development like food production, income generation, management of natural resources, community organization and domestic responsibilities are relevant for sustainable development (Equality between Women and Men, 2008).

Throughout the history of the western world, roles played by are limited due to the inherent values and beliefs in the society. It was believed that the main role that women should play their duty as a mother and a wife that involves tasks particularly the household chores and rearing of the children. This was because of the perceived qualities of women that were thought to be more appropriate in taking on those jobs. The prevailing inequality of women before was addressed by infrequent uprisings and protests from a few number of women and catch little attention from the people. This is due to the lack of educational background and depleted financial resources of women groups in sustaining a long-term campaign advocating gender parity (Schultheiss 2008). Eventually, after various obstacles that hinder the acquisition of gender rights, the whims of women were given considerable attention. Women nowadays enjoy rights that before were exclusive for men.

Progress of Human Communication
We are currently living in a dynamic digital society wherein the technological advances were so rapid and unstoppable. We could see new models of cellular phones and laptops in the market almost every week. These things intercepts the traditional human communication as it was continuously changing and man are now able to communicate across the limitations of space and time due to the influx of new technologies making it easier and convenient for them to get in touch with someone.

One aspect of communication is the mass communication. It is the process of transferring or transmitting messages to a large group of people. Mass communication requires the use of tools and media in order to convey the message to the large and diverse audience. Some forms of media are newspapers, television, and the internet (Rai 2009). Mass communication is one of the important aspects of mass media as it is an essential process in sending out messages, ideas and principles and in reaching a wide, diverse audience.

Due to the rapid and unprecedented advancement in the field of science and technology, there are a lot of tools and gadgets that are utilized for mass communication. Cellular phones and the Internet are some of the technologies that are widely used in todays modern society. Todays mobile phones have a lot of features that enable its user to receive and send messages. Some phones also allow access to the World Wide Web and retrieve information and data. The Internet, on the other hand, is one of the most popular technologies nowadays, as it enables the user to access a wide array of information and data from various sources. Due to the large number of people who have access to the Internet, a lot of people can be reached through this technology and can access the information and facts posted on the Internet.

Mass media plays a very important role in society as a channel of communication. They serve as the main source of news and influence the public in forming opinions, as well as in making decisions. For instance, during election, people get information about the candidates on TV and newspapers, after which they decide who to vote. Mass media in a modern democratic society are considered as the fourth branch of the government and perform an independent and equally important role as the government (McChesny 1989). Media also serve as the watchdog of the government to prevent irregularities on the political machinery. Undeniably, mass media reach all walks of life, regardless of their race, age, and gender. Media mutes all differences and caters to all kinds of individual.

Producers, businesses, and advertisers also find a way to utilize the breadth of mass media to reach their respective consumers. Therefore, we are bombarded by different advertisements of various products whenever we watch or read. Advertising or commercial mass media is regarded as the lifeblood of publication. Advertising includes all form of mass paid communication intended to influence consumers. Through advertising, publications and other forms of media obtain funds to continue the publication. Mass media gets half of their revenues from advertisement and sponsorship (Wilson  Gutierrez 2002). Therefore, networks and publishing companies must maintain a harmonious and productive relationship with businesses and advertisers. In this way, business owners and advertisers will be encouraged to keep on placing their ads on the publication and in effect, keep the cash flowing.

Women as Sex Objects
Media reflects what is happening in the society. It mirrors the events and scenarios in the real society. However, due to the advancement of technology and the wide imagination of producers and creators behind the mass media, some of these reflections are distorted and not in line with the real characteristics of the characters that it portray. One of the distortions in the mass media and common in all types of media is the portrayal of women. Women are generally portrayed as sex objects or with provocative images to either attract consumers or lure audiences. Due to the prevalence of different technologies that can cater our different communication needs, mass media became an inherent part of our lifestyle. We can no longer live without these communication tools that serve their function of informing, educating and entertaining the members of the society. Because of the wide prevalence of mass media, it became influential in our lives. Mass media largely influence our decisions, choices and perceptions. Seeing women as sex objects in the media significantly affect the perception of people, especially men. The portrayal of women as sex objects in the different types of mass media affects the peoples perception towards women.

Media is one of the responsible in proliferation of the stereotypical roles of the sex and genders. Media come in various form such as TV, radio, newspaper, magazines and ads. Due to its wide coverage and the breadth of the audience it could reach, they were able to disseminate information in no time. Some of this information may be distorted like the visual representations of sex and gender. It is evident that media, specifically in advertising, show the wrong depiction of women in the contemporary society as they showcase the stereotypical roles of women of the conventional society.

There is a pressure put on women to be sexually active in ads, films, television and the new media is intense. Statistics released by the National Eating Disorders Association shows that there are one out of four TV commercials send some kind of attractiveness message, telling viewers what is and is not attractive. (Media Awareness Network 2010n.pag.). A lot of ads, television shows and films try to convey the message that being beautiful means being thin and sexy. Provocative images of women slowly dominate the different types of mass media. The womans body is often dismembered into certain parts such as legs, thighs, breasts and buttocks that reinforce the notion that women are objects and not whole beings. Although womens sexuality is no longer a taboo subject and has been out in the open for quite some time. There are still some concerns raised on this practice. Depicting women as sex objects perpetuate the idea that women are docile to mens pleasure. The images of women as sex objects convey the single vision that women should primarily be concerned of making themselves attractive and sexy and concede to sexually satisfying men. The problem with this representation is the transcending of misinformation and portraying media stereotypes that is quite disturbing as many people, especially youngsters and teens, turns to media for information about sex and sexuality. In 2003, David Buckingham and Sara Bragg reported that two-thirds of young people turn to media when they want to learn about sex - the same percentage of kids who ask their mothers for information and advice. (Media Awareness Network 2010n.pag.).

Some of the determinants if a woman is being a sex object in any form of popular media are when she has a suggestive facial expression or posture, doing an act that shows some sort of adoration or sexual moves towards a man, wearing of make up or clothing that is associated with sexuality such as lingerie and red lispstick, the angle of the shot and if it focused or centered on a particular body part as well as the amount of skin shown. The portrayal does not necessarily should meet a number of determinants. All of the aforementioned determinants can qualify as depiction of women as sex object.

There is evidence that a stereotypical view of gender role may influence the viewers, especially the young. There have been studies done on the effect of television messages on young viewers, but the data is inconclusive. However all of the studies indicate there is a strong possible connection with stereotypical ideas. The ideas of traditional roles of the genders are very misleading. There are no limits to what the genders can do. Now days you find most women out in all of the workplaces which were once deemed male oriented. And you find men staying home and raising families, doing the job that once only women did (Television and Gender Roles n.d.).

 Women in Advertisements
As we carelessly browse the different cable channels and looks for shows that will satisfy our daily dose of TV home viewing. We tend to pass by different advertisements that present various items that may appeal to our needs and inform us of the latest products that are out in the market. Advertisements have a strong influence on consumers. Advertisers, in order to sell their products, create strategies that will make buyers to patronize their products. They create the buying mood, which make consumers avail of the product as a result. These advertisements make individuals think that their product is essential and necessary in their daily lives. In the variety of ads people often see on TV and in print, we can see the creativity of the advertisers on the strategies in which they make the products in demand. In these advertisements, we see different portrayals of women and how they are being perceived by the public. Despite the influx of women in the workforce and the emergence of Womens Liberation Movement, there are still stereotyped gender roles in commercial ads. Many of the womens roles portrayed in ads are traditional and very limiting.

Advertising, technically is not a medium of communication, but is often associated with it for it sustains the financial resources of publications and other media industries. Advertisements are considered as the lifeblood of the media companies. Aside from being the primary source of income of media industries, commercial media offers the various publications their distinguishable characteristics and give cue on the range of its informational content determining the particular audience that the advertisers and business firm want to reach (Sinclair 2006 209). Advertising utilizes media in bridging the consumers and producers of various goods. Producers are looking for their possible markets where they will be able to sell their products. Consumers, on the other hand, are looking for informational background of the products that they might consider buying.

Advertising is not addressing to a large number of people, but it is thinkng the most appropriate medium in which their message would be conveyed to reach a particular audience. Different kinds of media reach different kinds of people based on the information and entertainment the medium holds. This is why it is regarded that the existence of advertisers is to attract people and media can sell their products (Sinclair 2006 209-210). The advertisers can make used of different strategies and methods just to increase the sales of their product. Among the various strategies that advertisers may employ is making use of storylines depicting the daily lives of people to create a feeling of proximity to buyers. This strategy may involve reflecting different roles played by each and one of us. Women are always present in various advertisements. But their reflection has a discrepancy on their real identity. Women in advertisement often depict their traditional roles that have been changed and no longer applicable in todays society.

Provocative images of women with partly clothed bodies are prevalent in the field of advertising. Using womens attractiveness is one of the major concerns in advertisement. Thighs, breasts and butts lies in your TV screen. Women become sexual objects when their sexuality is linked to the products that they are trying to sell. Women scantily clothed are used to attract prospective men buyers. A documentary about women exploitation of women in advertising has been made and showed in high schools to present the significant impact of advertising these images of women and how it affects societys view of women. In advertising, womens bodies are sexualized or ads portray womens sexy bodies in order to attract the consumers attention. Sex being one of the human needs is manipulated by the advertising companies to sell their products. A new outlook developed in the minds of the people, those big advertising companies and giant business firms make a lot of money and high profits at the back of women. It was then believed that advertising use a systematic approach in using and abusing womens rights just to sell their products and impose values. Some advertisements show how women suddenly become ornaments in ads of cars, liquor
and other mens products and how they turn into sex objects (Alexandre 2007).

One of the disturbing representations of media in women is that they utilized women as sex objects to lure customers in purchasing their products. Big business firms and companies used women as accessories mostly in men products such as liquors, cigarettes and cars. Scantily clad women can be mostly seen in these types of advertisements. Here are some of the examples of advertisements that show women as sex objects.

The women are often showed in bikinis and sometimes topless that is degrading and humiliating. The negative depictions of women connote the downgrading perception of people towards womens capabilities and potentials.

One of the undesirable implications of the negative depictions of women is the increase in sexual activity and violence among people. Some studies show that exposure to media showcasing women in humiliating and embarrassing portrayals, even if the content is not really violent or sexual in nature increases the violent behaviour of men towards women in the society (Lukas 2002).

A research conducted in finding out the effect on body dissatisfaction of depiction of women as sex objects shows that these ads have an influence on the perception of women and their self-concept after viewing these kinds of ads. Women tend to be self and figure conscious due to the proliferation of thin models that are marketing the products. They thought that men like thinner girls and dislike their own body though there is nothing wrong with it. These kinds of ads have a significant implication in our psychological way of thinking
about ourselves and of others (Tygart n.d.).

Women in Magazines
We often see in bookstores a wide array of adult magazines or top-shelf magazines that contain contents of sexual nature. Most adult magazines are for men and that is the reason why the covers of these magazines are mostly naked women. Many men had their first sight of womens body through these types of magazines. Adult magazines conventionally contain photographs of nude women or scantily clad women. Some magazines contains articles that is also sexual in nature. These magazines may contain softcore or hardcore pornography. Softcore magazines may not show the female genitalia and sexual intercourse. However, hardcore magazines may show it. These types of magazines primarily served as an aid to masturbation and other sexual activity. Some magazines may be general in their content while others may be specific of their content serving the different fetishes of consumers. For example, Asian Babes is a magazine focused on Asian beauties. Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler are only some of the popular adult magazines. Adult magazines may also contain different articles on various topics such as culture, lifestyle, cars, computers or other interests of their target audience (Childs  Storry 1999). Women adorn the magazine covers of most magazines and most images of women are full of sensuality and sexuality. Here are some of the examples of magazine covers of some of the top adult magazines.

Adult magazines are not the only magazine that portrays women as sex objects. Contemporary magazines aimed at preteens or teenagers encourage young girls to dress and behave in a sexual manner. Magazines give out the notion of what is beautiful and sexy through their covers and photos. Moreover, some of these magazines even have sections about grooming and beauty as well as about relationships even with older men. A research found out that mens, womens fashion and female adolescents magazines were more likely to portray women as sex objects and as victims than news, business, special-interest, or womens non-fashion magazines. (Stankiewicz  Rosselli 2008 579). Magazines are also the channel of advertisements that may be inappropriate for the target audience. However, magazines insert these ads in order to run the publication. Because these magazines are highly accessible to their target audience and the wholesome image of these magazines that parents let children to grab a copy without examining first the content of the magazine. The magazines proliferate ideas about sexuality and sex at an early age. In many cases, the effects of this prevalent notion is that mothers dress and even apply make-up to their young daughters in order for them to be sexy and beautiful according to the criteria set by the popular media.

Women in Television
Television is a powerful communication tool that can be used to inform and entertain its viewers. Television has the powerful influence in determining the roles of men and women in the society. Young people often learn through the television as they are the age group that are highly expose to this type of media. Television has been the main source of information when it comes to issues about gender roles and sexuality. Although television has improved its portrayal of gender, women are still typecast in traditional roles, and underrepresented, while men are portrayed as dominant figures. Women are stereotypically represented as dependent, emotional. Women are the mothers, and men are the bread winners. (Television and Gender Roles n.d.).

Soap Operas
Continuing the tedious experience of pressing the channel button of the remote control, you again browse the TV set looking for programs that may satisfy your taste. Programs that will rekindle your consciousness. Sexual violence is one of the major dilemmas in the reflection of women in TV. In TV series chained, battered and raped women are showed that implicitly suggest control and domination, this have a psychological implication on psychological aspect of a person (Riley 2007).

Soap operas tend to portray women more fairly as women mostly watched this category of entertainment media. The portrayal of women as sex object in soap operas is not as rampant as in advertisements and magazines. However, the sex role stereotyping is still present in this genre of television. It used to be the case that such women were presented as sexless, that once they have had a family, they lose all sexual desire and attraction. This is still the case in much of prime time television, but in recent years, has changed to accommodate the housewifes sexuality. A good example would be Cheryl fromNeighbours. But while the subject is spoken about openly between herself and her husband, she comes across more as a bimbo owing to the way she seldom speaks of much else except for that and her baby. (Ingham 1995n.pag.). However, most of the domestic soaps, women appear sexless, innocent and nave. Most of the characters and scenarios do not often mention sex, especially if the character portrays being a lovely wife and the protagonist.

There are also characters that are characterizing a lot of sexuality. Most of this type of characters is single women that play the character of being a mistress or a manipulative woman that aims to attain her desire no matter what. These young, single women tend to portray the image of being tall, thin and beautiful and these characters often initiate sex through their seductive acts that lure men and in return will give her what she wants. In the world of American soap operas, women of all ages tend to utilize their sexuality to gain power and authority. Moreover, middle aged women are depicted as sexually desirable compared to the portrayal of conventional soap operas.

We also see women in a position of power more regularly, although these characters tend to be invariably aggressive, and are often portrayed as the villainess a woman who turns her traditional feminine characteristics into a source of strength. Often she will use pregnancy and  or insight to manipulate people. She uses her sexuality for herself, and not for the pleasure of men. An example of such a woman would be Alexis from Dynasty. She is a reversal of male and female roles. Indeed, Modleski argues that the final control the villainess strives for is control over passive femininity rather than control over men. (Ingham 1995n.pag.).

Here are some of the examples of sexuality in some soap operas and TV series.

The representation of women as sex objects is highly prevalent in soap operas in Asia. In countries like Thailand and Philippines, there is a greater tendency to define women exclusively in sexual terms. Women are used as sexual commodities in order to support the growing sex tourism industry in these countries. The situation is exacerbated by the acceptance of the mainstream media in showing sexual representation of women to support the sex tourism industry. In Asian soaps operas, women are routinely exploited as sex objects to heighten the plot of the story and to attract more viewers (Kramarae  Spender 2000).

Reality TV Programs
Television also offers their share of sexism to the mainstream media. Many television shows cast female characters that are in subservient positions. The television shows imply that women are always dominated by men in the society. Even variety shows have utilized sex in order to boost their ratings. For example, The Sonny  Cher Comedy Hour was put to the number one spot as viewers waited each week for Cher to tear off the overlay wrap and to reveal the latest seduction dress. Reality television programs are quite popular in prime time television. We now have WWE, The Bachelor, Survivor and other reality television programs that are slowly dominating our TV sets. However, even these programs used sex to attract audience and to shoot up their ratings. Reality TV programs shove sexual exploitation in our faces through the activities and behaviour shown by the participants of the reality TV. The National Organization for Women conducted a survey of network programming and significantly found out that the aforementioned shows represent the highest level of exploitation that is available to the audience in a regular basis (Magaro n.d.). For example, the reality TV program Survivor is mostly composed of participants that are sexy. Since the setting of the television program is on a remote island and they act like castaways, they wear mostly swimwear such as bikinis and trunks. Here are some of the photos of the reality TV program Survivor that shows women as sex objects.

Television networks fail to see the harm of these programs and argue that it is the viewers choice what is to watch and what not to. The entertainment media uphold the consumers ability to choose what programs to watch. Though there is a freedom of choice in television programming and viewers have this inherent right, it is still extremely difficult to choose among the programs as majority of programs are racist, sexist or violent in their contents. Thus, it forces viewers to watch programs that are less harmful, which is also a positive entertainment (Magaro n.d.).

Music Videos
Sex and issues about sexuality are everywhere in the popular media. Teens said that most of the information they know about sex and sexuality is coming from the media. It is undeniable that sex has become the widely marketing tool that fuels the insatiable cravings of a sex-obsessed society. This practice is evident in music videos that can be seen in the television and on the Internet.

Music videos are popular in the mainstream media as the music industry continues to grow. There are a lot of singers in the present music industry. A lot of performers have great voices and strong subjectivity throughout their songs and performances. There are artists who are respected because of their talent and tenure in the industry. These singers have proven themselves and considered as pillars of the industry. The younger generation of singers are the troublesome. There are a lot of young artists who started out with a dream of being one of the greatest performers. They vow to make it through their talent. However, record companies invest trust, time and money to a singer and when there is a decrease in popularity and record sales, changes must be incepted. One of the most crucial changes in a singers career is the shift of focus from her talent to her body and sexuality. Singers tend to sexualize themselves to appeal on a large male audience, hoping to obtain a number of fans who are not attracted with her music in the first place. Britney Spears, Cristina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson are only some of the female artist who started with a wholesome, innocent image and quickly transitioned to highly sexualized objects (Peters 2008). Here are the examples of the drastic transformation of some of the female artists that started as innocent and nave and turn into sexual goddesses.

MTV or Music Television is one of the popular networks to teens and youngsters. MTV includes women in their stereotypical role as sex object as seen in features on the network as well as on the majority of the music videos. A study showed that when men are shown in the background, they are often fully clothed. However, when women are in the background, they are dressed in a way that it expose of focused on their breasts and butts. (Whats the Problem Facts about Girls, Women  Media n.d.n.pag.). It is not only in the videos that women are portrayed as sex objects. Even in the lyrics of some songs. Most of the contemporary songs playing in the radio talks about a girl and her physical attributes as if it is something of vital importance. The song rarely talks about the personality of the girl and her intelligence but only talks about the size of her breasts and her behind. The reason behind this portrayal is that the music industry is dominated by men and men are not sellable to the consumers (Vanegas 2009).

It has been an appalling trend that the music industry will do everything to promote their female performers, even if it means sexualizing her to boost her career and record sales. These artists serve as role models of many young females all over the world. Young females respect these artists and they start to dress and act like them unaware of the potential risk that may be associated with their decision. Males, on the other hand, look at these female artists with lustful desire. Males tend to objectify them. Thus, there is a greater chance that males will also treat young females imitating and acting like these female artists as sex objects (Peters 2008).

Women in Films
Films tend and should reflect and reinforce the dominant ideology. This applies on womens portrayal in films. Women are underrepresented in films and are compounded by the issue of the stereotypical portrayal of women. One of the common portrayals of women in films is being sex goddesses who are sensual and oozing with sexuality and is capable of manipulating men through their beauty and sex appeal. Sexuality in films was popular during the 1950s when women were shown as sexual and seductive. Today, we live in a society where women are constantly perceived as sex objects. Even after years of struggle and feminist movement, the same theme applies and women are still inferior to male supremacy. This notion is reinforced by the contemporary films where we see women play unimportant roles of being manipulators, sex objects or just mere helpless victims. Some movies portray women as seductive, devious, sexual and unimportant individuals. Thus, women are depicted as sex objects instead of playing strong roles.

When movies portray sex, women are portrayed as male driven fantasy. One of the bases of this role of women in films is that women are only there for the amusement of men. This kind of movies do not only proliferate the representation of women as sex objects but also portray sex through the mans perspective. These depictions of women formed a fabricated society and highly influence peoples attitude and perception. People tend to disregard healthy and nurturing relationships and there is a tendency that women are seen as sex objects instead of persons with equal status in the society. Thus, women are devalued in their societal roles.

Films or the movies have their own share of portrayal of women as sex objects. Women have been constantly portrayed as a sexual object in most male-oriented films and movies. Nudity and sexuality help the increase in ticket sales and to make the film a box-office hit. Some of the plot of male-oriented movies tends to showcase beautiful and sensual female Hollywood stars, sometimes in illicit love affairs, usually depicted as being very sensual and sexual (Daigneault 2010). The reason behind this practice is that writers need to establish characters, plot, conflict and resolution in a short period of time. In order to save some time in creating a complex character in the movie, the writers adhere with the conventional and stereotypical roles of women. The women in most movies are neither thoughtful nor strong individuals and they only exist to titillate and satisfy men. Women in films are degraded further by sexualizing and objectifying them. Selling sex in movies is one of the rules adhered to by many film industry executives. Women are commonly portrayed as silly, ignorant and unable to do much but gaze into the face of the man while stripping his shirt off. Even family-friendly films have women characters that provocatively dressed and play the archetypes of females in degrading and subservient manner. Here are some of the films with sexual objectification of women.

Effects of Objectification of Women
The popularity of the different types of media has raised a lot of concern from the different sectors of the society. These popular media have different detrimental effects to the people expose to such media. One of the main concerns raised in popular media is the sexualisation of women. Sexualisation occurs when a persons value is measured through his or her sexuality and sexual behaviour and not through his or her other characteristics and when a person is sexually associated with something. The portrayal of women may have significant mental, physical and emotional effects to young women. The provocative images of women have negative effects on the healthy sexual development of young girls. Sexualisation of women can lead to lack of confidence of young girls. Thus, they tend to develop insecurity of their own bodies and develop eating disorders and emotional difficulties in dealing with the problem (BBC 2007).

The effects of objectification of women are different between men and women.  In women, sexual objectification has a direct effect of eating disorders. Women seen on TV are more often pop stars, supermodels and actresses. Many of these women are seriously underweight that tends to transcend the implied message that being thin is beautiful. Thus, a lot of s girls who look up to these women are going on a diet. Women on a diet may be undernourished and can cause loss of menstrual period. Prolonged loss of menstrual periods can lead to fertility problems.

For women, physical self-concept is much more important than their other attributes. Moreover, women are affected emotionally because they feel conscious of their looks and their physical appearance and women tend to feel anxious of the way they look. Studies show that all plastic surgeries among teens increased by almost 50 from 1996-1998 mostly for girls (newswecanuse.org 1901) at the same time there have been more advertisements for breast implants and other surgeries, and more models, actresses, and singers as advertisements for the surgeries (think Cher, Pamela Anderson, Demi Moore, Mariah Carey, and as some have suggested, Britney.) (Whats the Problem Facts about Girls, Women  Media n.d.).

Men, on the other hand, experience lesser levels of self-surveillance as females are portrayed as subservient individuals to men (Greening n.d.). Another implication of sexual objectification of women is the alteration of peoples, especially mens, perception towards women. Women are perceived as sexual objects in the real society and men tend to treat them as possessions that will satisfy their sexual needs. Because of this prevalent notion of sexual objectification of women, there is a rise in number of cases of rape, domestic violence and disrespect to women.

Conclusion
The rapid and unprecedented advancement in technology allows the emergence of different tools and gadgets that are beneficial to the society. These technological advances greatly benefitted the field of mass communication. There are a lot of ways through different media that can convey the message to a large, diverse audience. Mass media is responsible of transcending messages to the public. It is also responsible in as being a source of information and public opinion. However, due to the emergence of different mass media, a lot of concerns are also raised concerning their function to the inherent society. Treating women as sex objects has been around for decades. Women are often seen in distorted and stereotypical portrayals in the popular media. Women are people with a lot of potentials and capabilities that needed to be utilized. Women have been very helpful in the contemporary society since the acquisition of parity in gender and they were given equal opportunities and prerogatives that men used to enjoy.

Media plays a vital role in the society through providing information and news that are very relevant to people for it affects their lives in one way or another. Through media, we obtain information that could help in making daily decisions. Media has always been utilizing women in different aspects. The most prominent is through advertisement wherein women are used as ornaments in cars, liquor and men products ads. They were also stereotypically depicted as homemakers busy with endless household chores and rearing children. Women also become sex objects and objects of violence that is projected in TV daily. The depiction of women become far from the real life situations and it greatly affects the societys view on women by creating false facts. Our inherent culture influences our media. If we change some aspects of our culture concerning our women, our media industry will soon follow.

There is a discrepancy in the visual representations of men and women in various media and their significant real life roles played in the contemporary society. Our society and history is shaped by males. The acquisition of gender parity is one of the essential improvements in the global society. But there is still the prevalent inequality between genders showcased in our media, especially in advertisements. Women are depicted as sex objects, as homemakers and domestic providers, abused and battered and are narcissist. Men, on the other hand, are always portrayed as dominant and superior than the other sex. If progress and growth is to be achieved, it is only righteous that the status of our women should also be improved and respected and their essential contributions be recognized.

Social networking platforms are gaining popularity. The name  Facebook is worth mentioning as it is one of the leading website that facilitates online social networking. Alluring features of this web portal makes the process of communication lucid by remaining within the basic model of communication. The enhanced interpersonal and group communication processes are noteworthy. Even, with the drastic change in the communication processes intrapersonal communication has also undergone a swing.

Since last few years the popularity of social networking portals are going uphill. Facebook is one of the popular social networking platforms that facilitate interaction among peers. According to the Linear Model of mass communication the social networking websites can be considered as communication can be continued between the communicator and communicatee, where information is transmitted from sender to receiver. The social networking portal Facebook offer several features that help to perform interpersonal and group communication. Even there are several activities offered by Facebook that involve intrapersonal communication. It is prudent to take a quick look at the alluring interactive features of Facebook.There remain plenty of groups and each group is followed by number of users who signs in with secured password and user ID.  Any user can create or join a group as per freewill, while joining a group at times the moderator of the particular group monitors and decides whether the user is eligible to join or not. In this regard the moderator effectively plays the role of Gatekeeper during the communication process. A communicator wishes to join a community or group with the purpose of initiating group communication. But the process of participation gets managed by the moderator of the group. It can be specified that in case of mentioning or citing particular web portal, it is necessary to validate it by typing in the provided text. This is just a security process but indeed it is a gatekeeping.

Finding the nearer ones and friends is possible by keying in the name of the profile with which specific profiles are maintained. In such circumstances after identifying that any profile belonging to the closer ones it is possible to send a friend request. Thus two users get involved in interpersonal communication process. When two profiles get connected, the information gets reflected in the wall of the linked profile. In turn this is again a group communication.

A wide array of personal activities and games are offered to the users. And these games are indeed interactive. While playing these games it intra personal communication process takes place. The message option facilitates with the messaging facility. With this a user can send messages to another one and similarly the messages can be replied back. For immediate communication purposes social networking sites like Facebook have attained huge popularity. On the cultural skyscraper it can be posed in the middle rung. There are several positive sides of using the networking sites. These sites help to remain connected with friends, colleagues and nearer ones. At the same time latest updates about different social activities can be known from the groups and communities. In case of informing or reaching friends or for updating them it is possible to write the message in the walls of Facebook.

The positive and negative issues are debatable. With much inclination upon online communication the face to face interaction is at a decrease. Sitting in front of the personal computer to interact with the social networking sites removes users from physical activities. Again, accessibility to the internet is mandatory for continuing the use of Facebook. Nowadays Facebook is also accessible from the mobile devices. With the increasing use of social networking platform people are becoming more and more technology dependent. Still, it is heartening that use of technology helped to remain connected with friends and foes.

Effective communication is one of the most pertinent and challenging tasks for managers at any level in an organization. Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages (Bovee, Thill,  Chaturvedi, 2007). Effective communication is more complicated. Essentially, it is being able to share information in such a way that it is understood by the sender and the receiver, benefitting both parties. Communication plays a vital role in every business because most of a managers work time is spent in exchanging information with others.

Moreover, the dynamics of todays business world are evolving rapidly. As businesses become more decentralized and globalization continues to prevail, distances between cultures are becoming smaller and diversity among people at the workplace is growing. The result of all this is the increased complexity of the communication process and likelihood of communication barriers arising.

TRG Customer Solutions (TRG), headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, is the leading Business Process Outsourcing organization in its industry, hiring over 5000 employees across the globe. It offers on and off-shore equity capital, strategic advice, customized outsourcing solutions, and proprietary technology to its clients (The Resource Group, 2009).

Having such large and diverse group of human resource and a presence around the world, it is crucial for TRG to structure its environment in such a manner that the interaction of the various cultures present at the organization and the culture of the organization itself do not hinder the communication taking place. Failing to recognize the barriers to communication and addressing them can and does produce negative results, observable from the cases below.

Since communication is a dynamic process, obstructions can result due to many factors. Many of the barriers to communication arise due to organizational factors. Daft (2002) lists four major factors stemming from an organizations structure as the causes of communication barriers, namely Status and Power Differences, Differences across Departments in Terms of Needs and Goals, Absence of Formal Channels, and Poor Coordination.

Status and power differences
Employees at various levels of power tend to be selective when communication to other employees of unequal status. People at lower levels of the hierarchy have to be careful about what they are communicating to their managers. They may be hesitant to send any information indicating bad news and may only want to send messages which they think the managers will be interested in. In the same way, managers may feel that lower-level workers play an insignificant role and not pay attention to their needs. They may also screen what is being communicated down the hierarchy to avoid undermining the organizations stability and their own authority.

TRG provided its services to a variety of clients at any given time. The clients who outsourced some function of their business typically did so to reduce costs and meet certain short term goals. After these objectives were achieved, the partnership between TRG and the client would draw to a close, temporarily until new objectives were designed, or permanently. The direct effect of these outcomes was on the Tele-sales Executives (TSE), who were hired for these clients. Managers would often be reluctant to disclose the termination of the clients partnership and would not share any related information with the TSEs until it was absolutely necessary to. Many TSEs felt their importance was ignored by restricting information being communicated to them. This created an atmosphere of distrust and created distances between the management and the TSEs.

In order to overcome this communication barrier, the organization has to develop a culture of trust and candidness among workers across the hierarchy. Lower-level employees should be encouraged to share their point of view and managers should be respectful and open to their opinions. Managers also need to make sure that their subordinates do not develop fear of reprisal while conveying any information as this will allow them to express both good and bad news without hesitation.

At TRG, managers would do well by sharing as much information as they can with the subordinates. This will allow the TSEs to develop a sense of contribution to the organization and motivate them to cooperate with the management while facing complex issues such as transferring employees to other departments.
 Thus, creating an atmosphere of open communication and trust among the various power levels will ensure that all workers feel comfortable and are willing to contribute valuable input into the organization.

Differences across Departments in Terms of Needs and Goals
In every organization, there are various departments responsible for specific components of the business process i.e. production, HR, finance etc. As such, every department has its own needs and goals which it works to achieve. When a problem occurs, departments may take different approaches to resolve them and if the need of interaction between departments arises, the different interpretations can become barriers to effective communication.

The differences which arise between departments due to communication barriers are evident from the following example. At TRG, the Outbound Sales department worked in close relation with the Quality Assurance department. The two departments had different objectives, to maximize sales and to ensure quality and customer protection respectively. At several occasions, the TSEs misrepresented or used unreasonably pressure o the customer in order to make a sale. The Quality Assurance Representative (QAR) would be compelled to cancel the sale and perhaps take corrective action against the TSE. This information would be communicated informally to the TSE directly by a QAR, which would often result in conflict because each party would be keeping its own departments goals in mind.

To avoid such conflicts, the organization needs to develop formal channels of communication. By doing so, the various departments can communicate more clearly and consistently with each other and also avoid any differences of interest.

To make the communication between the Quality Assurance and the Outbound Sales department seamless, the management introduced a weekly newsletter which communicated valuable information like areas of opportunity for the TSEs. The newsletter was distributed to all employees and served as a common channel for all departments to send information across the organization. Also, the practice of informal interaction between the Quality Assurance and Outbound Sales department was replaced with communication permitted only via email.

By taking these measures, the organization was able to promote increased cooperation between the two departments and increased the level of information being shared throughout the organization, thus making the employees more informed.

Absence of Formal Channels
In any organization, there are more than one channels of communication, typically formal and informal ones. Also, communication flows upward, downward, and horizontally in an organization. For a long time in the history of management, informal communication was seen as having negative results on the organizations performance (Baker 2002). The major concern of informal communication is the potential contradictions it may have with its formal counterpart. This may result in disparity among the organization as a whole as complete information may never reach all employees.

Informal communication, especially at the lower levels of the hierarchy at TRG was abound. This was largely due to the fact there was little information being sent down from the management in the form of letters, memos, etc. During vacancies in the management, for which TSEs were the potential candidate for the promotion, no formal message was communicated regarding this matter. This created much gossip at the workplace and distracted the TSEs from focusing on their primary tasks.

The most appropriate approach for this barrier would be to set up more formal channels of organization in all directions i.e. upward, downward, and horizontally. Larkin and Larkin (1994) recommend that downward communication works best when immediate supervisors communicate directly with their subordinates. This communication can be further improved by using formal channels such as bulletin boards, emails, and open door policies which allow not only managers to communicate directly to their subordinates but vice-versa as well.

At TRG, once the management realized that not communicating directly to the employees caused hindrances in performance, it introduced a number of initiatives to overcome this problem. All new vacancies in any department of the organization were formally announced via email and one-page memos were placed throughout the organization, with details of the requirements potential candidates should meet and instructions on how to apply for that position. Secondly, top management established an open door policy, allowing employees at the lower levels to be able to approach them directly. At the same time, immediate supervisors were given more authority to share key information with subordinates.

This was in line with the theory that supervisors with more power are believed to be more credible and are able to inculcate a greater desire and satisfaction of communication between their subordinates and themselves (Roberts and OReilly 1974).

Poor coordination
A major problem related to communication that many organizations face is due to poor coordination. This mean that different departments are not aware of what other functions of the business are involved in and the role they play in making the system work as a whole. Also, top management is usually occupied with strategic decision and planning and is out of touch with the lower levels. This is usually found in organizations with a centralized structure where the flow of communication may not be adequate to solve non-routine problems.

All new employees hired at TRG were initially put through a training period where they were instructed on matters of general customer service etiquettes and selling techniques. Subsequently, the TSE was provided any information about the client and its business that heshe would need to be equipped with in order to carry out the services. Once the new recruit passed the training programs, heshe would go on to work for an actual client. The training sessions were conducted by the Training  Development department while the actual client services were the responsibility of the Outbound Operations department. This is where the dilemma lied. The two departments carried out their functions with very little interaction amongst each other. This created a problem because the information provided by the Training  Development department was not in sync with the requirements of the Outbound Operations. The training provided consisted of very general information which did not adequately prepare the TSEs for the clients requirements.

In order to remove these discrepancies, the organization needs to go through a major restructuring phase in which teams are designed to assist the flow or information for better coordination and problem solving. The structure should be based on the combined needs of all the departments. Another measure an organization must implement is the use of feedback. Feedback is an essential part of the communication process (Daft 2002). This will allow managers to improve the overall flow of information and close any gaps.

In the case of TRG, a team was constructed with members from the two departments, which put in combined efforts to develop a training program. The training manuals were rewritten, and the training sessions were conducted by a member from both departments as well. Also, all recruits attending the training session were regularly asked to fill forms evaluating the training programs and their effectiveness. Managers were easily able to spot any shortcomings in the information being communicated to the new employees and were able to improve the overall efficiency of the training programs.

Conclusion
Organizational communication is an integral part of any business. With the increased diversity found at the workforce in the present age, people coming from various cultures interacting and the complexity of the communication process, it is becoming increasingly difficult for managers to handle and overcome communication barriers.

The major barriers to communication which arise from organizational factors are Status and Power Differences, Differences across Departments in Terms of Needs and Goals, Absence of Formal Channels, and Poor Coordination.

All of these barriers can be overcome by taking strategic measure to change the organizational environment. The key to overcoming these communication challenges is to bring about a major change in the organizations culture. The environment should be such that it fosters trust among managers and subordinates, consist of formal channels of communication, and facilitate communication in all directions. Steps should be taken which allow the flow of communication to fit the needs of the various departments. Doing so is the responsibility of not only the top management but all managers and even subordinates, to an extent. This was evident from the examples of TRGs communication barriers and the actions through which the communication process that takes place at an organization was improved, discussed above.

Therefore, it is essential for any organization to consider the key role communication plays, recognize the barriers which may obstruct it from flowing effectively, and address them with the appropriate courses of action.

Purpose To shed light on the environmental (cultural issue) that must be considered for MNEs and their expatriates working in the Gulf Region therefore, the paper is addressing a gap and deficiency in the field of International Human Resources Management (IHRM)

Rationale
It is an exploratory research, which builds its theoretical perspective on the Ministry of Lab our Law prevailing in the UAE, and the researchers understanding and experience of the variables effectiveness in the literature concerning the field of International Business. Human Resources Management policies have to consider that managing cultural differences in businesses in the Gulf Region is very challenging, and it should be noted that none of the majority studies focus on the practical level of Human Resources Management.

Methodology
Exploratory Research, Literature Review. Literature review focuses on findings that outline the advantages and disadvantages of hiring expatriates to work in UAE businesses.

Analysis
As the economic climate of the world continues to change because of the global economy and technological advances there are more opportunities to enter into business agreements with individuals and organizations around the world. Some of the advantages that may come from such arrangements are reduced fees for services, expanding ones professional network, and potentially client base. However, one of the primary drawbacks that frequently arises is ineffective communication, which can lead to further conflict, if not managed in an efficient manner. In many cases, the ineffective communication is not intentional  its often a result of cultural differences. If either party is not aware of the communication styles of the other, a gesture that was meant with good or neutral intention may be perceived with offense. Outdated psychological frameworks that play up cultural differences as opposed to similarities are another.  In the article International Dimensions of Human Resource Management Gaining a Competitive Advantage, author Khalid Alrawi from the Al-Ain University of Science and Technology conducted a literature review of the strategies that worked best in UAE businesses that hire expatriate managers. He states that one of the concerns that business in the UAE have with expatriate managers is that many have an ethnocentric approach to work (Alrawi, 2008),
or they believe that the practices that they employ in their home country for task accomplishment is the bestor only way to meet their objectives. He offers a solution to this approach by encouraging training of expat mangers in a geocentric approach for task management where they learn to evaluate a task based on the best approach, as demonstrated by people around the world (Alrawi, 2008). This psychological process is called reframing.

Findings
Further reasons for expatriate failure include spousefamily dissatisfaction, inability to adaptadjust to the culture or management styles, and difficulty learning the language (Alrawi, 2008).

Conclusion 
Globalization has been driven largely by issues of marketing, cost and competition. International HRM is a subject that has developed in the wake of these driving forces. Consequently, people management on the international scale has often lagged behind other management functions such as production and finance at both practical and theoretical levels language (Alrawi, 2008).  The need for more effective integration can best be advanced through the use of the geocentric approach, which uses the best available managers without regard for their countries of origin, and allows for the development of international managers and reduces national biases (Alrawi, 2008).

There are a number of resources in the organization which have to be managed in most efficient way to achieve the pre determined objectives of the business. We have basically made list of main techniques to understand the feasibility of resources in an organization and accordingly analysed them. The major resources into our consideration could be analysed by

RBV technique The RBV (Resource Based View) is the exercise done from the part of the management of the company to take into account all kind of strategies, policies and strategic resources which a firm could use in order to attain the goals. Most often than naught, it is seen that this technique is used to attain competitive advantage by the firm as it analyses both human and non human resources of the business important for attainment of the business goals.  (Thompson, Strickland, Gamble III, 2007)

Let us take the case of Wal-Mart, the organizations best managed and talked about resources are its supply chain management and the logistics management department of the company. The purchase control and the inventory management of the company is also managed in a wonderful way. Given the huge size that the organization has, the things which we have mentioned should be flawless. Putting forward all the steps in an integrated way makes sure that Wal-Mart gets competitive advantage at the end of the day.

Apart from the RBV of the organization, there are resources which are helpful in attaining the objectives of the firm. We have taken some of the prime examples into account

Tangible Resources The resources which are virtually seen by everybody and whose presence and absence could be really felt. For example the financial resources which includes debt and equity funds which are important for the company for managing day to day transactions along with taking new contracts and projects. (Carpenter 2007)

Human Resources The people are the biggest resource for companies today. In the era of globalization and rapidly growing international trade, there is always the availability of diverse workforce which makes sure that the objectives of the business are achieved through better participation in the management affairs and decision making.

Intangible Resources The technical knowhow of the process of production along with other fixed assets obtained by the organizations through research and development are known as intangible resources. They include patents, copyrights, labels and trademarks. They gives the company the assurance that their products and processes shall remain their intellectual property.

Goodwill The reputations of the organization build over the years by striving hard for excellence through brand building and other innovative methods.

There are distinctive capabilities limited to a particular concern for production of goods and rendering of services. These are known as core competencies of particular company. Core competencies shall not be confused with the intellectual property rights or intangible assets. The core competencies include
Products and services which provide gains to the customers
b) Innovation in ideas and ideas are strictly with the company- patents, copyrights etc.
c) Expansion could be possible in new markets. (Barney, 1986)

Analysis SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is the all round study of almost all the aspects. The best thing about a SWOT analysis is the fact it is easy to carry out and covers all the positive and negative aspects of the business organization.
It is important for an analyst to understand that there is not one or other method better or worse than another. It purely depends on the needs and nature of the organization how the things are seen and analysed. In most common case, if the organization could really afford to develop core competencies, it is assumed that the organization would be able to get all the other pre requisite resources for success. It is quite broad concept and something which ensures success of the organization. In any case, these resources are pretty helpful in understanding the internal environment of the organization along with making sure that the analyst is able to understand the core areas along with functional aspects of the business.

Media is considered to be any form of mass communication as well as all the people involved in it.  In recent years, mass media included journalism, broadcast media like television and radio, as well as the World Wide Web. Now, many other forms of mass communication have been included as mass media.  Film is now considered mass media as well.  However, with these various forms of media delivering information on a daily basis to the second, and even sometimes to the millisecond, it cannot be avoided that one media will influence another.  In many cases, the way news is delivered on television is influenced by print media, for instance, a television show is formatted according to a format known as a news-magazine-show, which as the name connotes is based on the actual news magazine of print media.  This influence between the various media of mass communication is currently widespread.  Another example of this intermingling is glossy magazines that are laid-out to look like internet web pages.  The influence of one media on another is on various elements of media in general.  It is on this premise that the assumption is made that media influences the content, the format, and the theme of television and film.

Understandably, the creation of television shows and movies involves many processes of which the collection or the decision of content is one.  Producers and network big bosses have to first decide what to show.  This particular process involves research the studies of what would sell to an audience at a certain period of time.  Television and film are both very commercial forms of media and in most cases the objective of creation of these two media would be for television, to boost ratings and attract advertisers, and for film, to sell in the box office.  As such, both of these media have to put extra attention into deciding what content should go into their shows or their movies.  The process involves painstaking research and surveys that determine if the product they are marketing, in this case, the television shows or the movies, are products that the general public would want seen on TV or on the widescreen.  Aside from just research and studies, producers also need to consider the type of audience that the content will be shown to or otherwise, would have to contend with regulatory boards of all sorts and result to their product not being sold to the largest audience possible.

Another process involved in the creation of television shows and movies is deciding what format to use.  For television, the format is quite like the lay-out of a newspaper and the editors and creative staff of any television show will have to decide on what format to use to make the show consistent its content.  For instance, if the content is mostly informative instead of entertaining, preferred formats are talk shows and documentaries.  In any case, the element of entertainment has to be considered anyway.  In movies, the format is often translates into cinematography which involves how the content is presented.  For example, if the film is a very early period film, then it could be presented in black and white, or if it is ultra modern, then perhaps heavy use of computer generated images (CGI) may be used.  Then, there is also the matter of whether all or part of the film is presented in CGI, or straightforward animation, or classic actor-driven moviemaking.  Finally, the third process that is essential to television and film is the decision of the theme of the show or the film.  This means that although the content and the format have been decided, the creative team should also consider consistency throughout the entire show and determine what the theme of the content is.  For instance, if the television show is about movie stars, the theme could be about their pets or their houses.  In film, most of the time, the theme precedes the content, so if a producer decides to produce a love-themed film, then the content may be the stories of many other things, such as Romeo and Juliet or Cinderella.  These are love themed stories, and the story is the content, while the theme is what drives the story.  All these three processes involved in television and film are now currently heavily influenced by other forms of media and even influenced by the identical media as well hence, other movies can influence other movies and other television shows can influence other television shows.

Medias influence on the content of television and film is steadily increasing.  Print media has had various influences on television in the past.  The coverage of the domestic woes of high profile people like Bill Clinton and other Hollywood celebrities have spurred the creation of talk shows that feature ordinary couples battling with their own domestic problems, to the point of even yelling at each other on national television in the last decade or so a good example of this would be the David Letterman Show (CBS)  Recent advancements in technology featured in science journals and magazines have resulted to numerous television documentaries that feature technological and medical breakthroughs such as the Popular Science Television Show (Marcott)  Even the proliferation of web cams and the marketability of live feeds on the internet have given rise to what is now known as reality TV.  In film, media has influenced content in more ways than one as well.  About ten years ago, a film which was based on e-mail (IMDB) was released to the public.  It was called Youve Got Mail (IMDB) starring Meg Ryan.  Only five years ago a film entitled, Must Love Dogs (IMDB) was about the proliferation of internet dating ads, (IMDB) then there is the more recent, Julie and Julia (IMDB) which is a true story based on an actual internet blog. (IMDB)   All these are films with content based on a recent addition to the family of mass media  the internet.  Prior to these films, there have also been films based on television shows like Quiz Show (IMDB) in 1994 which is a movie about joining television game shows, (IMDB) then there is The Truman Show (IMDB) which is a full length movie starring Jim Carrey (IMDB) based on reality television shows.  Pleasantville, (IMDB) another hit movie happens to be about television shows.  In Pleasantville, there is a journey which starts with materializing a TV-series into life and ends up with materializing the life into this TV-series. (Vercan)  Other films with content influenced by other media are those that are based on books and novels like the Harry Potter series, the Star Wars Trilogy, Dracula, as well as animated films that are based on fairy tales like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

Books are considered mass media and when these are made into movies, they go from one media to another, and more than just influencing the latter, these materials get reinvented and presented in a different way.  In effect, what most of us would consider as other media influencing other media is in fact an intermingling of media, which of course begins with one media influencing the content of the other.  On the matter of media presentation, it is mostly the format that is influenced by other media and not the content.
Medias influence on the format of television shows and movies is also significant because people are more hooked on the internet now, television formats have been modified to become interactive.

Telecommunications have also influenced television in that nowadays, certain shows have formats that allow immediate communication or polls through text messaging.  Of the most popular of these is American Idol.  In film, the influence of other forms of media is also evident.  Video games, which are a popular form of mass media among young people is also beginning to invade Hollywood with such movies as Super Mario Bros., (IMDB)   Dungeons and Dragons and Mortal Kombat (IMDB)  all these films have formats that are similar to playing the game on a console.  The formats of these films have been designed to mimic the format of video games as accurately as possible so that they would appeal to the console gaming crowd.  There are even films with formats based on comic books like Sin City (IMDB) and Cool World(IMDB)  which employ graphics that remind one of reading comic books or comic strips.  There are movies as well that are based on popular book formats called anthologies.  These books feature a number of stories compiled in one collection, often intended for the impatient reader.  So, for the impatient moviegoer, there are also movie anthologies which are films that are formatted in such a way to accommodate three or more short films.  Among the most popular of these are the Amazing Stories (IMDB) series, Creepshow (IMDB) series, and the Urban Legend series.  Film formats can also be based on television shows like the television series The Twilight Zone which was based on a popular anthology by Rod Serling, and is now a basis for Twilight Zone  The Movie which is formatted in exactly the same was as its television cousin.

The theme of television and movies is also influenced by other media.  In television for instance, cookbooks have influenced the bumper crop of cooking shows and food-themed documentaries such as Discovery Channels Food Safari (Discovery Asia) and Glutton for Punishment (Discovery Asia) then with the slew of environmental awareness and protection media campaigns, television has come up with hour after hour of environment-themed shows like Living with Ed   The movies are no different when it comes to theme.  With war always on television, it has also become the inevitable theme of many movies to include the remake of Platoon. (IMDV)  Then, when it comes to the greenhouse effect, good films to watch would be 2010 (IMDB) and The District. (IMDB) These movies merely demonstrate how other forms of media can cause the production of television shows and films that are based on relevant themes that are tackled in some other media except television and film.

What has to be understood in the field of mass communication is that it will continually grow and consistently influence other forms of media.  A unidirectional influence however, is not the kind of influence that is most likely to develop in media.  As mentioned earlier, what happens is an intermingling of elements of the various media, in this case, the content, theme, and format of other forms of media carried over to other, distinctly different media.  It is very interesting to notice how media, in its own right is not only able to influence people but other media as well.  This makes the fourth estate exceptionally powerful.  Our lives nowadays are influenced by media in its many forms and the fact that this influence seems to be able to pervade everything from the toothbrush that we use to the breakfast that we eat can be both disturbing and amusing.

Often, we tell ourselves never to be slaves to the media.  However in a world where every move is an act to become acceptable in society, media has the upper hand.  If media is carefully analyzed it is actually like a virus that has contaminated every aspect of our existence.  The way we perceive our selves is influenced by media through the establishment of stereotypes that result from media, our faith is a result of the proliferation of the bible, the Quran, and other religious documents our lifestyles are dictated upon by advertisements and the internet  practically everything that we do, we hope for, and we envision is a product of the influence of media.  Being a slave to media means not being able to maintain individuality because individualism is probably the first thing that will disappear if media is allowed to overrun society and the public at large.

Fortunately, there are many things one can do to ensure that media does not gain the upper hand.  Each of us should learn how to deal with media in a way that we get from it instead of media stealing from us  yes, media, in its most harmful form can cause use to make unwise investments, waste valuable money on things we dont really need, and even give up our perfectly normal human lives for things that we probably did not even think about only five years ago.  The one danger that media has on us is its ability to create a need.  As humans we have basic needs and if we are able to prioritize our needs according to their degree of importance, then perhaps we can be able to beat the media in claiming the unique us.

Imagine a world where the media rules  this would probably be a world where globalization begins to destroy the cultural and social constructs of every nation.  We are individual, just as our countries are diverse and it is within us to protect this individualism as much as we can from the influences and temptations of media.  Beauty is not always the glossy picture of some skinny model on a celebrity magazine  in some parts of the world, beauty is dark skinned, filed teeth, or circumcised clitori these are indications that apart from geographical distances, individualism can be due largely to the diverse cultural landscape, the landscape that we should protect from the harsh and undesirable effects of slavery to the media.

Media does have positive effects to include its main purpose which is mass communications but in this world where the only constant is change, there is a very real risk of media being able to do more than what it should and such is entirely dependent on how it is perceived individually.  If it is perceived as something that should be the basis of every single life decision, then everybody should stay home when the weather report says that there would be heavy rains.  With media totally controlling humans, there is no reason to elect a president.
Let us put media in its rightful place, as a means of mass communication.  Medias influence on television and film is precedented it is an occurrence that has existed for many decades in the past.  The sad fact is when we allow media to influence not only television or film but us.  Let us learn from media and not derive our lives from it.  After all, learning from media is something that will build for us a society that is intellectually strong, individually aware, and psychologically stable.  Let media influence other media, but let not media influence our uniqueness.