Biology, How Body Shape Affects Heat Loss Essay Example for Free

Biology, How Body Shape Affects Heat Loss Essay Introduction Small organisms have a surface area that is large enough, compared with their volume. As a results they lose heat rapidly when the environmental temperature is lower than their body temperature. However when the animal gets bigger their volume increases at a larger rate than their surface area, so the surface to volume ratio decreases. Adaptations help organisms to survive in their habitats. Adaptations can be structural, behavioral and physiological. Cold resistant organisms evolved in various ways to cope with very low temperatures. Some animals hibernate, take shelter or migrate to warmer countries. Others, such as Antarctic seals have warm fur and a thick layer of fat for insulation. Antarctic seals are adapted to live in the sea and on the land. They’re big mammals which can survive in the cold and are adapted to not lose heat. For example in comparison to their bodies their heads are really small which decreases the heat loss. Also they have a large and thick layers of fats which insulated the animal on land and in water. Their fur is another characteristic that helps the seal to stay warm. The seal’s black skin reduces heat loss as it absorbs light from the sun and it does not reflect it. Another example of Antarctic animals is a penguin. They have a compact shape, low surface area to volume ratio to reduce heat loss. They also have very thick specialized feathers and a layer of fat which is used for insulation. An example of an animal which lives in hot environment is a desert tortoise. They can be active during the day or the mornings and evenings, it all depends on the temperature. They burrow under the sand to protect themselves from extreme hot temperatures. They can survive without water for nearly a year, they are able to obtain water from their diet as well. They can withdraw their head, legs, and tail into the shell providing themselves protection against other animals, mainly predators. Another example could be the fennec fox. They have large ears, which are 15cm long, those help the fox to lose heat on hot days in the desert. This fox is the only carnivore living in the Sahara desert, and they’re able to survive without free water. They kidneys are adapted to limit water loss. Their burrowing lifestyle helps t decrease the water loss. The thick fur helps insulate them from the cold deserts nights. They sandy fur helps to reflect the heat, and also provides excellent camouflage. The thick fur on the soles of their feet insulates against the hot sand of the desert. Hypothesis: As the surface area of the beakers will increase the time taken to lose the heat from 50 to 40 degrees will decrease. Method: Equipment required: 3 different size beakers like shown in Figure 1, thermometer, timer, ruler and measuring cylinder. 1. Pour 50ml of hot water in one of the beakers, it has to be above 50 degrees. 2. Place the thermometer into the beaker with the hot water in it. Check the temperature, if it’s above 50 degrees wait until it gets to 50. If it’s under 40, heat the water again. 3. As soon as the temperature it’s at 50 degrees, switch on the timer and wait until it gets to 40 degrees. Record the time. 4. Before pouring the water away measure the height of the to the point where the water reaches and the diameter, so the surface area can be calculated. 5. Repeat the entire experiment for each beaker.

World Population Essay Example for Free

World Population Essay Today all over the social media, whether a local TV station or a well known magazine such as New York Times, there have been repeated stories and articles circulating through regarding extreme poverty, sanitation and water problems in suffering countries, and other environmental issues such as global warming and possible extinction of many species due to loss of their habitat and water. We have seen it advertised and addressed everywhere. But many of these issues may be contributed to the major problem of our expanding world population. According to studies, the world population will be reaching 7 billion individuals this month. Our knowledge of how to control our increasingly high rate of world population may hold a significant solution on how these world conflicts may be controlled. If the knowledge and prevention of our expanding population seizes to act, our earthly planet may be in for a long road of unfortunate and threatening consequences. The two articles discussed in this essay address how citizens need to take on the challenge of reducing world population and what problems may continue to arise if we do not take action on such matter. First, in Jeffrey Sachs article, he notably states that with the rise of the world population reaching 7 billion that there are many consequences that must be stabilized in order to avoid major issues for our own humanity. Sachs begins his article with clearly discussing the environmental conflicts that we are and will continue to face with a growing population. Sachs states how the worlds agricultural systems are depleting our natural world. Species are becoming extinct with loss of their habitat due to expansion of our industrialized agriculture. As well, greenhouse gases are altering our climates and fertilizers are poisoning our natural elements. Sachs then goes on to discuss how the overbearing population rate is affecting our planets poorest and undeveloped countries. He describes how the poor societies suffer from high child mortality rates, lack of contraception methods, and failure of parents to provide adequate nutrition, education, and health care to their children. Jeffrey Sachs believes that there are two key factors to maintain a planet for a sustainable development. The first part is that he feels there needs to be a technological change to help avoid more environmental harm. Second, there needs to be stabilization in our world population by reducing fertility rates through family planning and contraceptive methods. Next, David Crary discussed the world population hitting 7 billion and also the challenges that are ahead of us as humans. Crary also makes a focus of how a rising population is affecting our undeveloped countries such as sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In these poor conditions with a growing population rate, many of the undeveloped countries will be suffer from food and water shortages. In Crarys article, he discusses different issues in various parts of the world. First, Crary discusses the most populous countries on our planet, India and China, and how the overpopulation of humans is causing a gender-gap between the young females and males. This could be a future threat to these countries because there might not be a large enough young population to support the elderly. Although these countries have been reducing female fertility rates, family planning is still crucial. Cray also discusses how Europe and the United States will also have challenges among them with an overbearing population. In Europe, efforts have been made to shrink the birth rate. In Spain and Italy, many couples are finding that they are not having children due to economic issues. In the US, there is a significant population increase, and we are seeing this not through only high fertility rates but also illegal immigration. Overall, Crary does feel that the issue of our population increase is also a challenge that needs to be provided with a solution. Not only does Crary support the importance of family planning, use of contraceptives, or the goal to reduce birth rates, but he also supports the impact of saving our planet environmentally. We need to preserve our natural elements and focus on prevention of saving our Earth. In conclusion, I feel that the issue of our high rising population rates needs to be addressed. I do not feel that this issue is something that should be overlooked. When reading both articles, I was informed of the importance of family planning and the use of contraception. I feel that by providing modern methods of contraception to our un-developed countries, that we would see a significant reduction of birth rates. I feel that this is necessary to keep the poor societies from starving or dying from lack of food and water due to lack of resources. Also, in Crarys article, Crary provides various stats to promote the importance of stabilizing our population. I was shocked by the fact that the International Water Management predicts that 1. 8 billion people will suffer from water shortage. This to me really impacted me, and furthered my support to take action. I truly believe after reading both articles that we as humans need to take action. Our world is going to be impacted environmentally and economically negatively if we do not step up to the challenge of reducing our world population. I hope that all humans will be influenced by this issue, and as well take their part in bettering our world and our future.

Security Issues of Social Networking Sites

Security Issues of Social Networking Sites C. Divya Gowri, K. Rajalakshmi, PG Scholar, S.Suresh AbstractSocial Networking Sites (SNS) are a platform to build social relationship or social networks among people. It is web-based service which allows people to create public profiles; it is similar to online community. The only difference is social network service is individual centred whereas online community is group centred. It groups the individuals into specific groups for communication purpose. Millions of people like to meet other people, share and gather information, share information about their work like cooking, finding employment, e-business, e-commerce, etc., SNS involves getting access to the website you wish to socialize. Once you are granted, you can read the profile pages of others and even contact them. These SNS has greatest impact on the people who use them. Today billions of people across the world have their profiles in social networking sites. SNS becomes reason for addiction and anxiety. It starts affecting the personal relationship. This paper focuses on th e impacts of these social networking sites. Key Tems: Social Networking Sites, Personal privacy, Security issues. I. Introduction Social Networks [13] involves use of Internet to connect the users with their family, friends and acquaintances. Web-based social networking services connect people to share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders. Online Social Networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace have become popular in recent years. Social Networks have become a personal fabric of the world. In such SNS, each of your Followers (Twitter) or Friends (Facebook) will be friend with your other friends just like in real world. The connection between people is not one-on-one but a network of connection. These social networks keep track of all interactions used by their users on their sites and save them for later use. It allows users to meet new people, stay in touch with friends, and discuss about everything including jokes, politics, news, etc., Using Social networking sites marketers can directly reach customers, this is not only benefit for the marketers but it also benefits the users as they get more information about the organization and the product. There is absolutely no doubt that online social networks have become part of every individual. Though the use of these SNS is increasing day by day, the users are not aware of risks associated with updating sensitive information. Facts prove that majority of people post information like photos, share location unaware of security and privacy concerns. SNS definitely needs many security policies to keep user’s information secured. II. Literature Survey 2.1 Privacy Issues Security Risks With the use of SNSs, the security risks [4] [12] associated is also increasing rapidly. Some of the risks include cyber stalking, phishing, location disclosure, identity theft, Phreaking, Spoofing, Doxing, spam issue, profile cloning, fake product sale and cyber bullying. People provide their personal data while creating account on SNSs like Facebook, Twitter, etc. The secured data is stored in SNS and because of poor security; the data stored are not secure. Cyber Stalking It is the use of SNS to harass/stalk an individual, group or organization. It includes monitoring, vandalism [15], and gathering of information that may be used to threaten the SNS users. Phishing Phishing [7] is attempting to acquire sensitive information like username, password, and credit card information by masquerading through SNS. Location Disclosure SNS can disclose user’s information [10]. An application named ‘creepy’ can track location of the user on a map by photos uploaded in Flicker or Twitter. Identity Theft Some hackers attack through application in which they ask permission for accessing their profile of SNS (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). When SNS users allow doing so, hackers get all information so that they can misuse users’ information without their knowledge or permission. Phreaking It is gaining unauthorized access to a user’s profile. It is advisable not to give phone numbers, passwords that provide direct access to a user’s profile. Spoofing Some attackers deceive computers by faking one’s identity. IP spoofing masks or hides computer’s IP address. Doxing It is publicly posting a person’s identity including full name, address, pictures, date of birth typically retrieved from any social sites. Spam Issues SNS is widely spread with spam. It includes message spam and content spam [5] [6]. Spammers attack legitimate users account and post unwanted messages/comment on their wall or send those content to their friends so that the reputation of the legitimate users is spoiled. Profile Cloning Profile Cloning [3][8] is that the hackers retrieve the profile information of the SNSs users and make a clone of the profile. They make this clone to spoil the reputation of the users. This is one of the most popular risks associated with the SNSs and it is also done without the permission or knowledge of the SNS user. Another form of profile cloning is â€Å"Cross-site profile cloning†. In this method, hackers steal information from one social site and make this information to create a profile in another SNS. Fake Product Sale The hackers advertise on the SNSs for selling products by offering huge discount and free products. When users try to purchase these products, they are asked to provide account information which is retrieved by attackers and they misuse the information. Cyber bullying Cyber bullies [10] often post information that spoils the reputation of a SNS user; also they spread lies about them, write hateful comments, and upload disgusting photos or abusive images. 2.2 Attacking scenarios Click Jacking In this type of attack, attackers post videos and when the users click on the page, some malicious actions takes place. This type of attack is common in Facebook where users like a page or a picture or a video and the users are trapped. Content Based Image Retrieval In this attack [9], the attackers match the patterns of images associated with the profile of the SNS users so that attackers know the current location of a user. De-Anonymization Attack In this De-Anonymization attack [1] the user’s anonymity can be revealed by history stealing and group membership information. Neighbourhood attack In this attacker [2] finds the neighbors of the victim node. Based on user’s profile and personal information, attackers are attracted by user’s personal information like their name, date of birth, contact information, relationship status, current work and education background. There can be leakage of information because of poor privacy settings. Many profiles are made public to others i.e. anyone can view their profile. Next is leakage of information through third party application. Social networking sites provide an Application Programming Interface (API) for third party developers to create applications. Once users access these applications the third party can access their information automatically. Malicious Software updates An attacker may deliver malicious software to update the system. This may be used to disrupt computer system, obtain sensitive information or gain access to any private information. Evil Twin Attack In this attack [11], it allows attackers to impersonate people or companies in SNS. This is used for the purpose of financial gain, physical crimes, defamation and information gathering. The attackers create a twin profile in the name of other person (legitimate user) and send friend request or messages to get money or just gather information. 2.3 Prevention strategies Internet is always â€Å"Public† SNS users post anything on the internet and it is always available in public. Thus it is user’s responsibility to post information that users are comfortable with. This may include their personal information and photos in which users are tagged in. Also once when users post information online, it cannot be deleted. Even if the information is deleted from a site, cached copy remains on the World Wide Web. Limit the amount Always limit the amount of personal information you post. Do not disclose private information such as your residential address, contact number, etc. Assess your settings Users must be aware of their privacy settings. The default settings of the site will allow anyone to see your profile. But you can customize your settings to restrict certain people from seeing your profile. Be cautious of Third party applications Some third party applications will ask for your private information while you run those applications. Avoid running those applications that are suspicious and limit the amount of information that the applications can access. Create secure passwords provide your account with passwords which are hard to be guessed. If user’s password is compromised, somebody may access your account and pretend to be like you without your knowledge. Always provide different passwords for different accounts which may confuse the cyber criminals. Combine upper and lower case letters with symbols and numbers to create secure passwords. Change your passwords frequently. Activate your firewall Firewalls are considered as the first line of cyber defence. They block connections to unknown sites and will protect the system from viruses and hackers. Avoid being scammed Prevent viruses/malware infecting your system by installing and frequently updating antivirus software. Beware of things you post Whatever you post online, it remains in cache even if you are not able to see. It is advisable to think before posting pictures that you don’t want your employers or parents to see. Know your friends Online friends should not be taken as real friends unless you know them personally. Beware of what you share with those strange friends. Install from Trusted source- Install applications or software’s that comes from well- known or trusted sites. Remember that free software may come with malware. Once you install an application, keep it up-to-date. If you no longer use an application, delete it. Avoid Wi-Fi spots Avoid accessing your personal accounts from public computers like Internet centres or through public Wi-Fi spots. It is always preferred to use high security settings on any SNS. IV. CONCLUSION SNS have become a likely target for attackers due to sensitive information available. The growth of social networking sites shows tremendous changes in personal and social behavior of internet users. It has become an essential medium of communication and an entertainment among adults. Though it affects the daily activities of the users, many cyber crime activities evolved, the popularity of such sites are not going to reduce. SNS can be used for sales and marketing, but the security risks can put a company or individual in a compromising position. Many cyber laws have to be fortified so that cyber criminals cannot escape from committing a crime. Many SNS are implementing different security mechanisms to SNS users. Also users must be careful and prevent themselves from being attacked. V. REFERENCES [1] Gilbert Wondracek, Thorsten Holz, Engin Kirda, and Christopher Kruegel, â€Å" Practical Attack to De-anonymize Social Network Users,† IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, 2010, pp.223-238. [2] Bin Zhou and Jian Pei, â€Å"Preserving Privacy in Social Networks Against Neighborhood Attacks,† Data Engineering, 2008. ICDE 2008. IEEE 24th International Conference on, Apr. 2008, pp.506-515. [3] M. Balduzzi, C. Platzer, T. Holz, E. Kirda, D. Balzarotti, and C. Kruegel, â€Å"Abusing Social Networks for Automated User Profiling,† Symposium on Recent Advances in Intrusion Detection (RAID), vol. 6307, Sep. 2010, pp. 422-441. [4] Dolvara Gunatilaka, â€Å"A Survey of Privacy and Security Issues in Social Networks†, http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse57111/ftp/social/index.html [5] Garrett Brown, Travis Howe, Micheal Ihbe, Atul Prakash, and Kevin Borders, â€Å"Social networks and context-aware spam,† CSCW 08 Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, 2008, pp.403-412. http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~aprakash/papers/cscw08_socialnetworkspam.pdf. [6] B. Markines, C. Cattuto and F. Menczer, Social Spam Detection,Proc. 5th Intl Workshop Adversarial Information Retrieval on the Web(AIRWeb 09), ACM Press, 2009, pp. 41–48. [7]T.N. Jagatic et al., Social Phishing,Comm. ACM,vol. 50, no. 10, 2007, pp. 94–100. [8] Khayyambashi, M.R.; Rizi, F.S. An approach for detecting profile cloning in online social networks,e-Commerce in Developing Countries: With Focus on e-Security (ECDC), 2013 7th Intenational Conference on,On page(s): 1 – 12. [9] A. Acquisti and R. Gross† Imagined Communities Awareness, Information Sharing, and Privacy on the Facebook†. In 6th Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, June 2006. [10] D. Rosenblum., â€Å"What Anyone Can Know. In The Privacy Risks of Social Networking Sites†, IEEE Security and Privacy, 2007. [11] Carl Timm,Richard Perez, â€Å"Seven Deadliest Social Network Attacks†, Syngress/Elsevier, 2010 [12] Dwyer, C., Hiltz, S. R., Passerini, K. â€Å"Trust and privacy concern within social networking sites: A comparison of Facebook and MySpace†. Proceedings of AMCIS 2007, Keystone, CO. Retrieved September 21, 2007 [13] D. D. Boyd and N. B. Ellison, ;Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship,; Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 13, pp. 210-230, 2007. [14] P. Heymann, G. Koutrika and H. Garcia-Molina, Fighting Spam on Social Web Sites: A Survey of Approaches and Future Challenges,IEEE Internet Computing,vol. 11, no. 6, 2007, pp. 36–45. [15]W. Xu, F. Zhang and S. Zhu, Toward Worm Detection in Online Social Networks,Proc. 26th Ann. Computer Security Applications Conf.(ACSAC 10), ACM Press, 2010, pp. 11–20.

Non-Violent Nationalism and Fundamental Change :: essays research papers fc

Nationalism as a concept is defined by the formation of a distinct identity for a certain population in terms of their religion, ethnicity or class differences. This term was used to describe the rise of movements along these distinct lines. Since then the connotations of the word may have changed over time but its essential meaning has remained unchanged. The term in essence refers to two varying sentiments. Broadly speaking, the first of these is a sense of identification with a certain nation based on ethnic, cultural or religious bounds. The second is a sentiment of loyalty to the nation as defined by these ethnic, cultural and religious bound. While the first only serves as a unifying factor in most cases, the second also serves as a rallying call for mass political mobilization. This has been obvious especially in the years immediately after the Second World War during the time of the disintegration of Colonial power structures and the subsequent creation of a bipolar world. The concept of the non-violent movement was introduced to these anti-colonial movements early enough. Gandhi, the tiny, old man of Indian politics came up with the idea of a non-violent independence struggle. This was a struggle which initially rooted itself in a secular context but gradually became known as essentially being a Hindu Nationalist movement. Gandhi ¡Ã‚ ¦s initial thrust had been towards unifying Indian natives under this banner of non-violence in order to garner support for an ouster of the British from India and an overhaul of the Indian government structure. What this meant was that Gandhi was looking for a  ¡Ã‚ ¥fundamental change ¡Ã‚ ¦ in the structure and hierarchies of the Indian state. This is highlighted in his writings:  ¡Ã‚ §The state after withdrawal (of the Colonizers) will depend largely upon the manner of it. If, as you assume, they (the Colonizers) retire, it seems to me we shall still keep their constitution and shall carry on the government. ¡Ã‚ ¨ Gandhi was then visibly looking for a structural uprooting of the British / Colonial system and aimed to replace it with one more contributory to the state and, hence, less extractory in nature. This for him was the fundamental change in the system that was required for a successful transformation from a colonized to an independent state. Gandhi ¡Ã‚ ¦s method of achieving this change was through the practice of nonviolent passive resistance.  ¡Ã‚ §Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by the personal suffering; it is the reverse of resistance by arms. Non-Violent Nationalism and Fundamental Change :: essays research papers fc Nationalism as a concept is defined by the formation of a distinct identity for a certain population in terms of their religion, ethnicity or class differences. This term was used to describe the rise of movements along these distinct lines. Since then the connotations of the word may have changed over time but its essential meaning has remained unchanged. The term in essence refers to two varying sentiments. Broadly speaking, the first of these is a sense of identification with a certain nation based on ethnic, cultural or religious bounds. The second is a sentiment of loyalty to the nation as defined by these ethnic, cultural and religious bound. While the first only serves as a unifying factor in most cases, the second also serves as a rallying call for mass political mobilization. This has been obvious especially in the years immediately after the Second World War during the time of the disintegration of Colonial power structures and the subsequent creation of a bipolar world. The concept of the non-violent movement was introduced to these anti-colonial movements early enough. Gandhi, the tiny, old man of Indian politics came up with the idea of a non-violent independence struggle. This was a struggle which initially rooted itself in a secular context but gradually became known as essentially being a Hindu Nationalist movement. Gandhi ¡Ã‚ ¦s initial thrust had been towards unifying Indian natives under this banner of non-violence in order to garner support for an ouster of the British from India and an overhaul of the Indian government structure. What this meant was that Gandhi was looking for a  ¡Ã‚ ¥fundamental change ¡Ã‚ ¦ in the structure and hierarchies of the Indian state. This is highlighted in his writings:  ¡Ã‚ §The state after withdrawal (of the Colonizers) will depend largely upon the manner of it. If, as you assume, they (the Colonizers) retire, it seems to me we shall still keep their constitution and shall carry on the government. ¡Ã‚ ¨ Gandhi was then visibly looking for a structural uprooting of the British / Colonial system and aimed to replace it with one more contributory to the state and, hence, less extractory in nature. This for him was the fundamental change in the system that was required for a successful transformation from a colonized to an independent state. Gandhi ¡Ã‚ ¦s method of achieving this change was through the practice of nonviolent passive resistance.  ¡Ã‚ §Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by the personal suffering; it is the reverse of resistance by arms.

Dune :: essays research papers

Dune The book Dune has a science-fiction story line that associates two major themes frequently in the book. The title and the setting of the book are used to establish the bleakness and isolation of the planet Arrakis. The plot and resolution bring together the multiple factions including the emperor and the two major houses for control of the spice production. The title of the book Dune, plays a major part of the story. The planet of Arrakis where most of the novel takes place, is a desolate, isolated spot in the universe which isn't valuable for anything, but the spice. The people on the planet have it hard because of the gigantic sand dunes and the indigenous sand worms which live under the sand. The planet has no source of water on it except that of underground, which is very hard to come by. As you can see, "Water is precious there." (pg. 30) The plot of this science-fiction story deals almost entirely of the two major houses that at this time are sworn to destroy each other and the emperor. The two major houses want control of the spice on the planet of Arrakis which allows anyone who has it to fold space. Folding space means traveling anywhere in the universe without actually having to move. The House of Attreides gets destroyed by the House of Harkonnens in the fight over the spice. But on the planet of Arrakis, the local people of that world known as Fremen had had a prophecy that one day a savior would come and make peace where there was war on the planet of Arrakis. The duke's son of the House of Attreides escaped during the fight for the planet and crashed landed on the dunes where the Fremen lived. The duke's son, Paul, became their leader because of his great knowledge. He learned to control the giant sand worms and use them to his own advantage. The Fremen were determined to get rid of all the Harkonnens that ruled the world for

Televisions Effect on Self Image Essay -- Beauty Media

New mirrors are in the market and many homes have been remodeled with these mirrors. These new mirror are like snow whites mirror, they tell you who the most beautiful one of all is. A little girl is looking at her new mirror that tells her she has to wear makeup and look a certain way in order to be beautiful. This new mirror is the TV and the voice that is telling her is the media. The media portrays the beauty of women a certain way that is distorting beauty. The media distorts image so much that women start to see an unrealistic beauty and think that all women should actually look that way. An experiment done by Mahler Beckerley and Vogel (2010) demonstrate that women’s attitudes about certain looks reflect on how they view the models. There were two groups of women and some saw photos of models that were tanned and the other saw models that were not tanned. The participants then were told to describe their attitude about tanning. The group of women that viewed models that had a tan had a more positive attitude toward tans and the group of women that viewed models with out a tan had a negative attitude towards tanning. This research demonstrates that the media has a big influence in the decision women make on their appearance. So what is beauty? Is beauty the perfect supermodel on a magazine? Is it the stunning actress on television? Do you have to be thin and tall? According to Dictionary.com Unabridged, beauty is â€Å"the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)†. However, the m... ...:10.1080/14680770903068266 Mahler, H. M., Beckerley, S. E., & Vogel, M. T. (2010). Effects of Media Images on Attitudes Toward Tanning. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 32(2), 118-127. Slater, A., Tiggemann, M., Firth, B., & Hawkins, K. (2012). Reality Check: An Experimental Investigation of the Addition of Warning Labels to Fashion Magazine Images on Women's Mood and Body Dissatisfaction. Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology, 31(2), 105-122. Solomon, M. R., Ashmore, R. D., & Basil G., E. (1994). Beauty before the Eyes of Beholders: The Cultural Encoding of Beauty Types in Magazine Advertising and Music Television. Journal Of Advertising, 23(2), 49-64. Bates, C. (2012, January 05). Mail online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2082500/A-quarter-children-10-diet-think-overweight-face-bullying-taunts-shocking-survey-finds.html

McDonalds Cross-Cultural Analysis Essay

Introduction The Internet has made the world a smaller place, especially when it comes to online business – it’s now just as easy for a company to attract customers in Nairobi as it is in Nevada. This technological globalization doesn’t translate to cultural homogeneity, though–while you might be able to find a McDonalds in nearly every city on earth now, that doesn’t mean that every city eats and thinks and shops in the same way. Every national and cultural group in the world retains its own language, its own metaphors, its own identity, and thus, its own way of shopping. At about the same pace as the popularity of the Internet increased, visions flourished of the World Wide Web as a tool for bringing the world together. The marketing world in particular quickly embraced the Internet as an ideal medium for reaching beyond domestic markets in order to disseminate products to foreign markets. By understanding how communication styles may be reflected on websites, we come a step further towards identifying, and subsequently realizing the potentials of, the interactive nature of the Internet. This would be rewarding not only from the marketing perspective, but also for those organizations that are working on bringing the world closer together through dialogue. Intercultural communication competence, as Chen and Starosta [1] note, is imperative for human progress, and it is by studying communication  styles and understanding how to use them that we may be able to communicate more clearly, and promote dialogue between â€Å"us† and â€Å"them.† The interactive and global nature of the Internet has fostered many visions of mutual understanding among cultures, although the means for achieving this are still at a very early, exploratory stage. A number of studies on the relationship between website design and cultural dimensions have been conducted. Studies like Marcus and Gould [2] and Sheridan [3] analyzed both commercial and non-commercial websites in an effort to identify relationships between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and visual presentation on the. In this work also were used Hofsted’s researches[4, 5], mainly his typology of cultures that is the most widely accepted and frequently cited theories. Also Hall’s description of some cultural dimensions was used [1, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Kluckhohn’s and Strodtbeck’s ‘Variations in value orientations’[11], Gudykunst’s [12] and Lewis’s [13] researches devoted to cultural specifics of different countries are mentioned in this study. In this work we will try to analyze the effectiveness of communication between company and customers on current websites of McDonald’s in the next five countries: Ukraine, Russia, Germany, America and Canada; and make some recommendations how to improve them according to their cultural specifics. 1 Theoretical Issues and Ideas 1.1 Website as Method of Communication between Company and Its Customers The Internet becomes more and more popular all over the world. People use it for communication, business or just to look for the information they need. The Internet is a truly global thing. Growing importance of Internet is making communication through websites between companies and customers more and more significant. The Internet environment is not only a simple tool to promote a business, but it also offers opportunities to supply information; it is an efficient platform to communicate with the clients. It’s great opportunity for companies to get feedback from their customers; attract them and improve the vision of the company. Significant result of effective communication is improved branding. If the message or purpose of the company is communicated effectively to visitors, it will leave an impression on them  that will help form their image of the company. Branding is important online and off, and the messages being sent are a major factor. Website is cost effective, pa per free communication. Using website, company can reach the wider audience and it’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so it can distribute information internally within the organization, as well as to share information with business partners, clients and suppliers. New customers will be able to locate company and company’s information and will always know where to contact the company. [14]] Company can inform customers about changes, sales, bonus campaigns, etc.; gain valuable market research, to build trust and finally reduce printing and mailing costs. A professional-looking site can help company to be taken seriously and build credibility and trust. Many consumers search for information online before purchasing at a physical store; company’s site can make a good first impression on a potential customer. At the same time customers can express their attitude towards company, their wishes and judgments about different campaigns or products proposed by the company. Developing a web-site makes it possible a very good communication with the clients and this leads, finally, to a constant adaptation of the company’s offer to the continuously changing customers’ requests. The most efficient web-site is the one that is integrated into company’s informatics system. By creating its own website, a company gets the possibility to influence in a positive way, the evolution of its activity. This way, the company becomes more efficient, with a more flexible internal functionality, more careful with the customers’ needs and expectations.[15] 1.2 McDonald’s Corporation McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries, and there is the same number of websites nowadays. Currently 1.7 million people work for Brand McDonald’s. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. Businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain  from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth. A McDonald’s restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself. The corporation’s revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald’s primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburger s, chicken, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, shakes and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, wraps, smoothies and fruit. McDonald’s has a charity organization Ronald McDonald House Charities which functions in 52 countries. Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent organization whose mission is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children across the world. Programs are grass-roots driven to enable the Charity to offer help where children need it most—right in their own communities. RMHC has three core programs: the Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. McDonald’s started its global diversity journey by creating the Global Women’s Initiative in 2009. This initiative is active in all of McDonald’s operating areas of the world and is sponsored globally by Don Thompson, McDonald’s COO. In each part of the world, this initiative supports the recruitment, development, and advancement of women at all levels of the company while creating a culture where wome n have the opportunity to succeed and grow. In 2011, the Catalyst organization recognized the Global Women’s Initiative as an innovative and systemic means through which women can thrive in the McDonald’s system and awarded the company the prestigious Catalyst Award. As a result of the global concentration, women’s business networks have been formed and have quickly grown. McDonald’s has for decades maintained an extensive advertising campaign. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and signage, sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the Olympic Games, and makes coolers of orange drink with its logo available for local events of all kinds. Nonetheless, television has always played a central role in the company’s advertising strategy. ‘I’m lovin’ it’ is an international branding campaign by McDonald’s Corporation. It was created by Heye & Partner, a longtime McDonald’s agency based in Unterhaching, Germany. It was the company’s first global advertising campaign and was launched in  Munich, Germany on September 2, 2003, under the German title ‘ich liebe es’. The English part of the campaign was launched in Australia on September 21, 2003, the UK on September 17, 2003, and in the USA on September 29, 2003 with the music of Tom Batoy and Franco Tortora and vocals by Ju stin Timberlake, in which the slogan appears. In 2007, after a public casting call which received 15,000 submissions, McDonald’s selected 24 people to appear as part of the campaign. Images of those chosen, who had submitted a story and digital photograph which â€Å"captured †¦ themes of inspiration, passion and fun,† appeared on McDonald’s paper bags and cups worldwide [16]. 1.3 Analysis’s Criteria In this study is used the collectivism versus individualism dimension, which was proposed by Geert Hofstede. Individualism is the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. Values in collectivistic cultures include training, physical condition and the use of skills whereas in individualistic cultures values are personal time, freedom and challenge. Another of Hofstede’s dimensions is power distance. This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalize the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power [17]. In F. Trompenaar’s interpretation there are the next cultural factors: equality and hierarchy. Equality corresponds with low power distance and hierarchy with high power distance. Equality is about all people having equal status. It assumes we all have equal rights,  irrespective of birth or other gift. Hierarchy is about people being superior to others. It assumes that order happens when few are in charges and others obey through the scalar chain of command [18]. One more dimension is uncertainty avoidance. According to G. Hofstede uncertainty avoidance deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man’s search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by stric t laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; ‘there can only be one Truth and we have it’ . The next criterion used in analysis is high and low context of culture, which was found by E. Hall. Hall observed that â€Å"meaning and context are inextricably bound up with each other† [19], and suggested that to understand communication one should look at meaning and context together with the code (i.e., the words themselves). By context, we refer to the situation, background, or environment connected to an event, a situation, or an individual. When communication is high-context, it is not only the non-verbal and para-verbal communication that comes into play. High-context communication draws on physical aspects as well as the time and situation in which the communication takes place, not to mention the relationship between the interlocutors. The closer the relationship, the more high-context the communication tends to be, drawing on the shared knowledge of the communicating parties. Gudykunst identified high-context communication to be indirect, ambiguous, maintaining of harmony, reserved and understated. In contrast, low-context communication was identified as direct, precise, dramatic, open, and based on feelings or true intentions. The next Hall’s cultural factor used is time. There are two types of time: monochronic time and polychronic time. Monochronic, as he called it M-Time, means doing one thing at a time. It assumes careful planning and scheduling and is a familiar Western approach that appears in disciplines such as ‘time management’. Monochronic people tend also to be low context. In Polychronic cultures, human interaction is valued over time and material things, leading to a lesser concern for ‘getting things done’ – they do get done, but more  in their own time. Aboriginal and Native Americans have typical polychronic cultures, where ‘talking stick’ meetings can go on for as long as somebody has something to say. Polychronic people tend also to be high context. According to Richard Lewis we can divide all cultures in three groups: monoactive, polactive and reactive. Monoactive cultures – it is cultures, where activity complies with clear planning and organized in definite orded, they do not approve distractions to other tasks and percept the time linearly. Polyactive cultures are people-oriented, talkative and communicative, can make several actions at ones. In reactive cultures activity depends on changing situation and appears to be a reaction on these changes. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck did some germinal work in drawing up a conceptual map which tried to include the complete range of values which it is possible for human beings to hold in relation to five key issues about which all human beings hold opinions. Orientation Postulated range of variations Human nature evil neutral mix of good and evil good changeable unchangeable changeable unchangeable changeable unchangeable Man-nature subjugation to nature harmony with nature mastery over nature Time past present future Activity being being in becoming doing Relational lineality collaterality individualism 2 Communicative Effectiveness of the Company Website in Various Countries 2.1 McDonald’s Site for Ukrainian Customers Ukrainian culture is more likely to be high-context than low context. By Hall high-context communication involves â€Å"more of the information in the physical context or internalized in the person†, that is why this cultures usually use more imagery and less text, people are expected to read between the lines and greater confidence is placed in the non-verbal aspects of communication. These features are notably represented on the ‘Ukrainian’ website: one can view the process of preparing food in stage by stage pictures with minimum accompanying text. One more example is a list of suppliers shown as a table of logotypes of these companies. Also the main page contains illustrations of dishes moving through the screen; links to other pages are given as small pictures connected with their content, for example if you want to go to the page where you can find more about quality of milk you should click the picture of a cow. So this site communicates by means of links a nd information stated in a limited amount of text with illustrations. This gives not very transparent overview of the content in the website and often requires that the user finds out the information placing the cursor over the link to reveal more content before finally clicking this link. The term transparency is borrowed from the usability field. Basing on the â€Å"Variations in Value Orientations† Ukrainians perceive an individual as a mixture of bad and good features. According to Terri  Morrison the level of trust is rather low: the Ukrainians are suspicious of other people and along with it they are likely to rely on objective factual information , based on their own experience [20]. There are a large amount of information devoted to the quality of milk and each component of food such as its composition and great diversity of food quality certificates. One more interesting feature is presence of variety of graphs which reflect the results of polls after Doors Open Day (DOD). But people in our country do not believe this information, they think it can be falsified and that the company deceives them just to gain profit. This part of content doesn’t work effectively. By Marcus & Gould strong focus on expertise, authority, certifications, official st amps or logos can be explained by high power distance. In addition the site contains a special section which describes you how to apply for participation in DOD and provides you with a video of the previous excursions. These features may appeal to relatively high level of uncertainty avoidance in Ukraine. 2.2 McDonald’s Site for Russian Customers Russia is collectivistic culture – it’s one of dimensions found be Geert Hofstede, which is characterized by tight social frameworks in which people distinguish between groups. The site promotes collectivistic values; it is reflected in the imagery of the website, such as images of the groups of people who involved in various activities like dancing, singing, coffee drinking and doing some sports. Values in collectivistic cultures include training and physical condition. ‘Russian’ website includes special section called ‘be active’, which offers different physical exercises for boys and girls and contains sets of photographs of competitions navigated in various cities. Russian culture is relatively high-context which according to E. Hall means that the most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the explicit, transmitted part of the message. Using this feature towards website a lot of animations and pictures are ex pected, and we can find a lot of them on the ‘Russian’ site. Animation effects are represented almost on each page and a lot of photos and bright, eye catching images are also placed. The power distance dimension offered by G. Hofstede is apparent in hierarchical structure of the website. According to Marcus  and Gould high power distance is reflected in tall hierarchical website structures, either through the implementation of many pages with unstructured layout, or the opening of new browser windows for new pages, instead of the same browser window. This description completely depicts the structure of ‘Russian ’site: there are many sidebars and menus, new browser window opens for each new page. The homepage features a large collection of links, and describes clearly what lays behind them though the use of headings, subheadings and illustrations. This makes it possible for the visitor to find what he or she interested in immediately, navigation schemes intended to prevent users from becoming lost. These features may appeal to two different parameters: high uncertainty avoidance proposed by G. Hofstede to explain a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; and by Lewis R.D. polyactivity – impatience and willingness to act quickly. 2.3 McDonald’s Site for German Customers German culture is more likely to be individualistic culture than collectivistic one, according to Geert Hofstede it means that individuals expected to be independent of others and look after themselves. We can see that pictures on the site promote individualistic values like personal time and freedom: individuals shown alone, enjoying themselves and usually products are placed with them. Individualistic culture is inclined to make a direct connection between the individual and the product. We can explain this effect by referring to Marcus and Gould, who suggested that the individualism and collectivism may influence the importance given to individuals versus products shown by themselves or in groups and that in individualism images demonstrated through materialism and consumerism. German is very low-context culture and as it explained by E. Hall more explanation is needed and very little is taken for granted in this cultures. As we can see the ‘German’ website is full of text information and large amount of wordage is used on each page, whilst only two pages have animated effects and on some pages the imagery is very poor. ‘German’ website can be described as a very transparent site, which may also appeal to the low context of this culture; so it provides a detailed overview of the rest of the site on the homepage and each subheading has a small picture  corresponding with the content of relevant page. It can also be explained by high uncertainty avoidance – there are attempts to reveal or forecast the results of implications of actions before users act. Navigation through the site is linear and new pages constantly open in the same browser window – this appeals to monoactivity of German culture, which by R. Lewis means that it can make only one action during definite time. In German time is monochronic and special attention devoted to the speed of actions; websit e with the structure mentioned above is not goal-oriented and users are expected to be willing to explore the site and seek for information. Social roles are not used to organize the information it means that all sections are obvious to all users and not sealed off from them; prominence given to customers and employees – these features may appeal to the relatively low power distance. 2.4 McDonald’s Site for American Customers In contrast to Ukrainian American is low-context culture. M. Hall described low-context cultures as those in which â€Å"the mass of information is vested in the explicit code† that is why these cultures are identified, direct, precise, dramatic, open, and basing on feelings or true intentions, people don’t communicate with gestures, the meaning depends on content and the spoken word, what means a verbal communication. These features are represented on the ‘American’ website: one can read a lot of information about different kinds of hamburgers, which is presented with text and with fewer occurrences of animations. Website is kept as practical as possible and has direct sources of information, for example additional information about components contained in food is placed below the page as boxes in which you can see the process of growth of this components and an information about it, and when you click this box a new page opens and the information appear a s text without illustrations. One more example is that only the main page consists of heavy images, pop-up effects, moving elements which accompanied by scaring music; this is one more proof of the low-context of American culture. On the ‘American’ website there is a promotion tab, when you click on it a new page opens as a game, this is a fast message for people. By Halls fast message are adept at creating quick  contacts, but may also be perceived as superficial. Based on the work of Kaplan [21] and Chen and Starosta, Choe [22] low-context culture tend to emphasize logic and rationality, based on the belief that there is always an objective truth that can be reached through linear processes of discovery. Choe said â€Å"thought patterns refer to forms of reasoning and approaches to problem solution and can differ from culture to culture†. ‘American’ website implies linear navigation throughout the site, with a consistent layout throughout the pages of the site. The website per forms the explorative function. 2.5 McDonald’s Site for Canadian Customers Canada is low-context culture. According to M. Hall cultural dimensions, in low-context cultures very little are taken for granted. Whilst this means that more explanation is needed, it also means there is less chance of misunderstanding particularly when visitors are present. Many overt and explicit messages that is simple and clear, outer locus of control and blame of others for failure; visible, external, outward reaction; flexible and open grouping patterns, changing as needed; fragile bonds between people with little sense of loyalty; low commitment to relationship (task more important than relationships); time is highly organized; product is more important than process. These features are represented on the ‘Canadian’ website: all pages are rich of text, especially a category Food Quality. Based on the work of Geert Hofstede low-context culture is more likely to be individualistic one, where emphasis is put on the goals and accomplishments of the individual rather than the group. Individuals are expected to be independent of others and look after themselves. When accomplishing goals, consideration of others is limited to include only oneself and one’s immediate family. Personal values include personal time, freedom, and challenge. For example on the ‘Canadian’ website there are some information that is family oriented. There is a section called Community in which one can find a subsection called Ronald McDonald House Charities which provide families of sick children a home-away-from-home or a place of peace and calm within a hospital. By Hall, perception of time is one more peculiarity of culture. Canada belongs to monochromic culture, where time is viewed as an  important, almost tangible phenomenon. People of such cultures are oriented towards planning and scheduling, so as to perform efficiency. As an example on the ‘Canadian’ website there is a category Restaurant Location, where you can put your address and site will show you the nearest restaurant. 3 Recommendations for Improvement of McDonald’s Websites 3.1 Cultural awareness in Web Design Nowadays a website is not just a collection of text; it is a conglomerate of images, multimedia, interactive features, animated graphics, and sounds. Cross-cultural web design nowadays requires dealing with design issues that include culture-specific color connotations, preferences in layout, animation, sounds, and other effects that are characteristic of today’s generation of websites. Formatting and navigation of the website also help attracting users’ attention and interest them in using the website. In order to do this successfully, the target group of the website must be studied. Research into how your target market’s culture affects their consumer behavior should be done. Conducting an ethnographic investigation — visiting the country, viewing how they shop and what they like, studying products which have been successful in the market and seeing how these strategies can be adopted is an important step for creating a multicultural website. Market rese arch can be done by surveying potential customers from the target market and interviewing cultural experts. While user participation is ideal in the designing process, a study of the design elements prevalent in the culture may also provide the web designer with some useful guidelines. Values and behavior indoctrinated through cultural influences may be reflected in design practices. Every national and cultural group in the world retains its own language, its own metaphors, its own identity, and thus, its own way of shopping Keeping abreast of cultural and current affairs in each of the target markets is one of the key factors, as a change in circumstances may necessitate changes to the site. Research has shown that certain colors have distinct connotations in different cultures. The implications should therefore be considered when choosing the palette for the website. Similarly to the impact of color, the appropriateness of the images across various cultures should be considered. Other symbols and  images just may not be culturally relevant in other areas of the world. Studies carried out into the impact of new technologies show that users show resistance to products with Western metaphors in favour of products localized according to their cultural customs and idioms. Choosing appropriate images for the site accordingly or being prepared to use different images in separate versions of the website can be useful while creating an effective one.[23] 3.2 Potential Improvements for the McDonald’s Websites of Particular Countries Before giving recommendations we would like to mention that we can assume that a successful and globe-spanning company such as McDonald’s has done extensive focus group testing of their website and consequently customized almost each website to appeal to its user group in each target culture, to ensure that product communication is as effective as possible. As a result it won’t be easy to recommend significant changes, but still there are some cultural issues that can be improved. Ukrainian website contains a lot of imagery, but taking into account the high context of this culture, it would be better to add more animation, because the site seems to be too constant. Taking into account that Ukrainian culture is collectivistic one not only logos of McDonald’s suppliers might be on the site; some images which corresponds with its values like family, physical condition and training could be used. Importance must be given to the products shown by themselves or with groups, not to the individuals. Also stress on the Ukrainian history and traditions should feature the site to attract users’ attention. In Ukrainian culture we can see high power distance, so the strong focus on expertise and certification might have been effective, but it’s not. This culture is suspicious about people so it is better to avoid too high concentration on this information; otherwise the site is unattractive and can arouse the suspicions. On the whole it can cause negative perception of the company; people may think that McDonald’s just trying to pool the wool over their customers’ eyes. One more important thing to be considered is opening of new page. On Ukrainian website new pages open in the same window but according to Marcus & Gould study for cultures with high power distance it is more convenient to use pages, which open in the new window of browser.  To match high uncertainty avoidance the site should be structured better: more sidebars and menus can be added to simplify the navigation across the site and to prevent the user from becoming lost. It is also important because of polyactivity of Ukrainian culture; people are unwilling to seek for information and to explore the site, they need to get the clear information quickly. On the Russian website more animation can be added, for example animation of moving people is really suitable for high-context culture and also some musical support on the main page is appropriate. Information should be organized according to social roles, for example there can be special section for managers or potential investors. Thi s can be effective because of high power distance inherent to Russian culture. Also according to these feature significant emphasis should be made on the social and moral order and its symbols like national colors or traditions. To correspond with high level of uncertainty avoidance in Russia the next improvements may be efficient: addition of tiny windows which will reveal more content information when placing a cursor over a link before clicking it, in other words forecast of the results or implications of acting before users act. Russian culture is relatively feminine it means that attention to the content of the site can be attracted by usage of poetry, common idioms, visual aesthetics and appeals to unifying values. German website contains a vast animation on the main page. It’s not the best choice for low-context culture like this one; it can bewilder people and decrease the attractiveness of the site. Low power distance also dictates some important characteristics: we can find a huge section devoted to the quality of food but for German culture it ’s advised to weaken the focus on the expertise, logos and certificates. Taking into account that German is individualistic culture we can say that more prominence should be given to youth and action, the section devoted to the employment can be expanded. Individualistic cultures are expected to be willing to provide personal information, so different employees can share their experience with those who want to start a job in McDonald’s. Emphasis might be done on what is new, unique and available only in this particular company. American website contains huge amount of animation on the main page, but for the low-context country it would be better if the site contains fewer amount of digital data, less-highly structured information, minor and infrequent emphasis on the  social and moral order (e.g., nationalism or religion) and its symbols, weak focus on expertise, authority, experts, certifications, official stamps, or logos. As an individualistic country the site should contain more information or pictures to maximize motivation of people, some i mages of success: demonstrated through materialism and consumerism. Also it’s good to use rhetorical style: controversial or argumentative speech and tolerance or encouragement of extreme claim. An important thing is to give prominence to youth and action. In American culture we can see low uncertainty avoidance, so to match this fact website should simplify the complexity with maximal content and choices (do more descriptions for quicker decisions). People from country with low uncertainty avoidance accept wandering and risk, so it would be good to do some quizzes online. Canadian website, as it is also low context culture, should give more prominence to citizens, customers, or employees. There should be no restrictions or barriers to access on the site; it should be transparent, integrated, implicit freedom to roam must be present. Taking into account that Canadian culture is individualistic one they should give importance for individuals, make an emphasis on truth and what is new and unique (on the Canadian site it is hard to understand which information is fresh, all articles are mixed and undated, so it is difficult to find something new. On the Canadian website here are no graphics, sound, and animation, but for masculine country it would be good for utilitarian purposes. Also it could contain game and competitions, because an attention gained through these features. The navigation should be oriented to exploration and control. Canada is a long-term oriented country, so in fact information on the site should be focused on truth and certainty of beliefs. It could contain some rules as a source of information and credibility, because the Canadian website is made a little freely, for example, when you what to return to the previous page the site let you on the other page, which you didn’t open and sometimes it hard to find what you saw before. Conclusion In the terms of globalized ways of satisfying people’ needs, there is a trend of gradual replacement of the companies’ market-orientation with the customer-orientation. Companies’ customer-orientation implies a continuous  and detailed process of analysis regarding the potential clients’ expectations, in this way, a strong connection between customers’ needs and the quality of offered products and services being assured. Learning the cultural differences in particular countries it’s easy to understand how to attract the customers and make their researching more productivity, funny and simple. When you understand the personal, national or organizational culture, then you can seek to align with them and hence gain greater influence. Hofstede notes that some cultural relativism is necessary: it is difficult to establish absolute criteria for what is noble and what is disgusting. There is no escaping bias; all people develop cultural values bas ed on their environment and early training as children. Not everyone in a society fits the cultural pattern precisely, but there is enough statistical regularity to identify trends and tendencies. These trends and tendencies should not be treated as defective or used to create negative stereotypes but recognized as different patterns of values and thought. In a multi-cultural world, it is necessary to cooperate to achieve practical goals without requiring everyone to think, act, and believe identically. By creating its own website, a company gets the possibility to influence in a positive way, the evolution of its activity. This way, the company becomes more efficient, with a more flexible internal functionality, more careful with the customers’ needs and expectations. But still, when creating a website, all features of particular countries must be considered to make clear appeal and improve the communication between company and customers. List of References 1 Chen, G., & Starosta, W. (1998). Foundations of Intercultural Communication. Boston: Allyn and Bacon 2 Marcus, A., & Gould, E. W. (2000). Cultural dimensions and global web user-interface design: What? So What? Now What? Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Human Factors and the Web. Austin, Texas.2 3 Sheridan, E. F. (2001). 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In L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural Communication: A Reader, 9th ed. (pp. 34-43). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co. 20 Christian Arno, 2010. Four Steps For Effective Cross-Cultural Website Design < http://aext.net/2010/03/effective-cross-cultural-website-design/ >19 21 Morrison, T. and Conaway, W.A. (2006) Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More Than 60 Countries. Adams Publishing Group. 20 22 Kaplan, R. (1966). Cultural thought patterns in intercultural education. Language Learning, 16, 1-20.21 23 Choe, Y. (2001). Intercultural conflict patterns and intercultural training implications for Koreans. Paper presented at the 16th Biennal World Communication Association Conference, Cantabria, Spain22