Impact Of Corporate Governance On Firm Performance Among Listed Comanies Of Pakistan - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3464 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? In recent past researchers show their interests in the field of corporate governance due to some reasons. It is due to financial recession and eruption of US scandals to protect the stakeholders interests. Such as the interests of investors, shareholders, and management and for the well being and survival of the firm. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Impact Of Corporate Governance On Firm Performance Among Listed Comanies Of Pakistan" essay for you Create order Good corporate governance leads to protect the interests of the shareholders. Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. Boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their companies (Code by SECP, 2002, p.9). Corporate governance normally means that outside rules and regulations and inside structure that are planned to reduce the agency problem and is the system by which companies are directed and controlled (Cadbury Committee, 1992, p. 15). Effective corporate governance ensures that firms try to reduce the losses and costs and maximizes the benefits for the stakeholders. Good quality corporate governance is based on the codes of accountability, transparency, justice and liability in the management of the company (Ehikioya, 2009). Corporate governance problems arise due to the following reasons. Separation of ownership and control leads to agency problems. Separation of ownership and control may lead to conflicts of interests among managers and owners. Managers may run the business to serve their own interests. Shareholders must compensate them financially to save their own interests, and to reduce additional costs incurred to monitor their activities to reduce agency costs. One of the most important factors of corporate governance which received much attention and requires reforms is the board of directors structure. A board of directors is a panel with tasks of leading, controlling and directing the administration of the company, with prime purpose to perform their jobs as the benefit of the firms owners. For effective governance, many researchers recommend the active participation of independent directors. Literature tells us independent board of directors is best to serve the interests of the owners. Leadership factor is also very important in the corporate governance. There are two major types of leadership structure (lee Lam, 2007). Leadership by the top management is very important while by the CEO it is also an effective one. CEOs have varying degrees of influence over the board in different firms structure and corporate environment. There are different types of corporate structures across the world. First CEO is the leader having both positions called CEO duality (duality structure) i.e. CEO as well as chairperson of the board having power to influence the board. CEO duality has been the dominant board leadership structure of US corporations, in which 70 percent-80 percent of them combine the roles of chief executive officer (CEO) and chairperson (Rechner and Dalton; Rhoades et al as cited in lee Lam, 2007). While the non-duality means both positions are held by separate persons. In non-duality leadership structure chairperson is the leader and CEO has no power to influenc e the board. The current study investigates the association among corporate governance characteristics and firm performance in Pakistan; it differs substantially from the other developing countries. Pakistan is a politically worried and unbalanced area of the world, has distinctive environmental characteristics. Additionally, Pakistan is a strict Islamic country. As a result, its societal and trade activities are based on fundamentalist spiritual laws and regulations. Chaudhry and Hoque (2006) argue that most important governance of the Islamic firm is by its direction toward the pattern of behavioral likings basis on the systemically natural sense of union of information by persistent relational association. The corporate governance are beached on such a perception of combining interrelationships involving the Islamic business and its inner and outer environing factors, via the strong set of Shariah mechanism that allow the corresponding relations to be recognized and achieved. The evolution of the Pakistani corporate entities has, historically, closely followed the path taken by English corporate entities. In 1984, the Companies Ordinance 1984 of Pakistan was promulgated, following lengthy debate; Pakistani companies were established and governed in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 1913. (Code by SECP, 2002). Pakistani firms have different structure to the developed countries. About 80% of all scheduled businesses on the Karachi Stock Exchange have relatives participation or ultimately allied to a big business relatives (zaidi aslam, 2006). This paper will follow following sequence (i) related corporate governance literature review (ii) methodology, sample data, models, and variables (iii) analysis (iv) empirical Results and discussion (v)conclusion of the study. Literature review Corporate governance is the course of action and composition through which a firms dealing and affairs are administered by enhancing business wealth and corporate accountability with the final aim of improving shareholders wealth (Mir and Nishat, 2004).A clear implementation of corporate governance assists a firm to magnetize investment, increase funds, and strengthen the base for firm performance (Ehikioya, 2009). Corporate governance major focus is on resolving agency problems. Agency problems are also called principal-agent problems. Shareholders (principal) are looking the ways to make sure the management (agent) grips on their funds in an approach to increase their wealth and firm performance. Corporate governance composition has an influence on firm performance (Ehikioya, 2009; Shaheen nishat, 2005). Research findings tell that the relationship among the different corporate governance factors and firm performance either can be positive, negative or none. Weir and Laing (2001) and Ponnu (2008) found that there is no obvious association among corporate governance and firm performance. Corporations are like republics. The final right rests with voters (shareholders). These voters elect representatives (directors) who assign most decisions to bureaucrats (managers). As in any republic, the actual power-sharing relationship depends upon the specific rules of governance. One extreme, which tilts toward a democracy, reserves little power for management and allows shareholders to quickly and easily replace directors. Corporate governance improvements are continuously happened in the world to improve the firm performance. There were different reforms regarding the different issues of corporate governance such as board composition, board size, CEO duality, ownership concentration, firm size and leverage. For decision making the corporate governance literature recognizes a range of diverse jobs of boards of directors (Zahra and Pearce, 1989; Gopinath et al., 1994; McNulty and Pettigrew, 1996; Hung, 1998; Maassen, 1999 as cited in Kakabadse, Kakabadse and Kouzmin, 2001). Board composition may be lead to recover the principal-agent problem. The involvement of outside independent directors can improve the firm performance itself against the outer pressure and use the firm resources to increase the wealth of the shareholders. It is very interesting that the research evidences are varied about the relationship among the outside independent directors and firm performance. Petra (2005) argues that the variation in results may be the variation of a company culture. There is positive link among outside independent directors and firm performance (Petra, 2005; Perry shivdasani, 2005). Laux (2005; Byrd, Cooperman Wolfe, 2007) argue that outside directors are more important to the owners of the firm. This positive relationship shows that directors are performing their duties honestly to protect the interests of shareholders. Some researches support the negative relationship among outside directors and firm performance (klein, 1998; agrawal knoeber 1996 as cited in Abdullah, 2004; yermack, 1996). Ponnu and KarthigeLam (2010) found that there is no positive clear impact of board independence on firm performance. However, it is clear from empirical evidence that independent directors perform significant role with firm performance, either positive or negative. So on the basis of above discussion we hypothesize that H1: Proportion of independent directors has significant impact on firm performance. Another feature of corporate governance that has got the attention of the researchers is the leadership structure. Discussion revolves around the duality, means that CEO is also holding the additional post of the board chairmanship. There are two theories regarding this issue (1) agency theory (2) stewardship theory (Lam lee, 2007). Agency theorists fight for the separation of the two posts to grant vital monitoring over managements performance. If not, a single person sharing both posts will dictate the board and it is generally the indication of a dominant CEO leadership. On the other hand, stewardship theorists argue that the separation of posts is not vital, because many firms are performing well with combined posts and have powerful boards fully competent of providing sufficient monitoring. Additionally, when the posts are combined, the CEO may be able to form the corporation to attain its affirmed objectives due to less hindrance. Literature does not suggest which leadership structure is best, either duality or unitary (single person holds single post). Research empirical evidences on CEO duality and firm performance are contradictory. Petra (2005) argued that conflicts of interests happened due to the dual leadership structure. CEO is in self evaluating position in dual leadership structure. If firm is adopted dual leadership structure, CEO may serve his own interests on the expense of shareholders and their interests may be compromised (noel, 2009). Petra and Dorata (2008) argued that CEO can make the decisions objectively short term for his own interests by compromising on the long term objectives in dual leadership structure. Alternatively firm performance is negatively affected if CEO duality exists in firm corporate leadership structure. Lam and Lee (2007) examine the relation between CEO duality and firm performance in Hong Kong. They found that neither agency theory nor stewardship alone significantly explain the duality performance relationship. Their empirical evidence tells that CEO duality has negative relationship with performance of the firm but insignificant for the whole data. They also found that CEO duality and accounting performance are negatively related for family controlled firms, while it is positively related for non family controlled firms. There is an inverse impact of CEO duality on firm performance (Ehikioya, 2009; Mir Nishat, 2004). Abdullah (2004) and Mashayekhi and bazaz (2008) found that both board independence and leadership structure do not affect the firm performance separately nor the combined effects of these two factors affect the firm performance. Dual leadership structure places CEO in powerful position of managing the operations of the firm and also overseeing the direction the firm will take into the future (Petra Dorta, 2008). So we can hypothesize that H2: Dual leadership structure has significant impact on firm performance. Another board characteristic is board size. Either large or small number of directors should be in the board. Either board size has significant relationship with firm performance or not. There are different findings of different researchers regarding board size and firm performance. The corporate governance structure such as ownership structure, board composition, board size, and CEO duality has a massive impact on a firms performance (Ehikioya, 2009). The number of directors in the board can be supposed to have a considerable effect on the firms performance because the board is having the huge responsibility for managing the firm and its operations. Some researchers suggest large board size for better corporate governance and firm performance while others suggest small board size. Raheja (2005) suggests that optimal board size and compositions are functions of directors and the firms characteristics. There may be some conflicts in larger board. The monitory expenses and poor communication in a larger board has been seen as a reason for opposing a larger board size (Lipton and Lorsch 1992). Anderson, Mansi and Reeb. (2004) suggests that firms with larger board size have the capability to drive the managers to chase for lower cost of debt and increase the performance. Ehikioya (2009) observes that ownership concentration and board size is positively related to the firms performance in three out of four cases. It means that concentrated ownership combined with finest board size tends to perform better then diffused ownership. Yermack (1996) like most of the other researchers found in his study negative relationship between board size and firm performance. Mashayekhi and Bazaz (2008) found that board size is negatively associated with firm performance. Bhagat and Black (2001) found that board size is not always in relation with the firms performance. Frick and Bermig (2009) after analyzing the effects of supervisory board size and composition on the valuation and firm performance and conclude that there is no constant impact of either board size or board composition on firm valuation and performance. Cheng, Evans and Nagarajan (2007) argue that huge information about firm and managerial performance and the changes in business atmosphere both add to the importance of rapid and effective actions by the board, while the capability of the board to make such decisions decreases with board size. They further argue that different costs like communication, co-ordination, and free riding costs increases as the boar d size increases. The benefits of these incentives are likely to be overcome by the increased costs as the board becomes sufficiently large. H3: Board size has no significant impact on firm performance. Methodology Sample and Variables This study concentrates on the corporate governance and firm performance of publically listed companies in Pakistan. Sample companies are chosen from the KSE 100 index listed during 2007 to 2009. Sample consists of 80 firms. Sample is chosen randomly from the different sectors of Pakistan economy. Non financial firms are included in the sample. Financial firms are excluded from the sample because of different capital structure and cash flows. We also excluded the firms having missing data. 15 companies are deleted from the original sample due to unavailability of the data and special capital structure. Our final sample consists of 65 firms of different sectors. Information related to these variables to measure the relationship among the corporate governance and firm performance is collected from the annual reports of the firms. The reports are collected from the kse-100 index and the respective firms website. Our study includes CEO duality, board independence, and board size as independent variables to measure corporate governance. Return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA) and earnings per share (EPS) are dependent variables in our study to measure firm performance. Leverage (debt/assets) and firm size (natural logarithm of total assets) are used as control variables in our study. Data Analysis We use descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis to analyze the data. The models which are used are given below. EPSi= ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ±0+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1 BSIZEi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2 RIDi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3 CEDi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 LEVi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5 FSIZEi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ µi -(1) ROAi= ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ±0+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1 BSIZEi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2 RIDi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3 CEDi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 LEVi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5 FSIZEi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ µi -(2) ROEi= ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ±0+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1 BSIZEi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2 RIDi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3 CEDi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 LEVi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5 FSIZEi+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ µi -(3) Where EPS in model (1) is calculated as net income divided by total number of ordinary shares of the firm; ROA is calculated as net income divided by the opening balance of the total assets in model (2); ROE in model (3) is calculated as net income divided by the total balance of total equity. BSIZE is the total number of directors on the board; RID is the ratio of independent directors on the board; CED is the CEO duality structure 1 for duality and 0 for otherwise; LEV is the leverage of the firm is the ratio of total debt to total assets; FSIZE is the firm size calculated as the natural log of total assets. Empirical Results and Discussion Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics in table 1 about the variables show that average number of directors in the board is 8.33, about 64% are the independent directors on the board and in 32% cases CEO is also the chairman of the board. Average leverage is 22% which shows that Pakistani firms less rely on debts; average firm size almost 16; ROE 31%; ROA 2% and EPS is Rs.11.45. All variables except Fsize have smaller meadians then their crossponding means. This shows that sample data is slightly skewed. Standard deviation of all variables is large except RID and LEV. Table 2 shows pearson corelation among the variables. RID is significantly corelated with EPS, ROE and ROA. This indicate that higher board independence has significantly positive corelation with firm performance. As the number of independent directors increase in the board the performance of the firm will be better. Our results are similar to other findings Petra (2005), Perry and shivdasani (2005) and Mashayekhi and Bazaz (2008) and inconsistent to Abdullah (2004) and Yermack (1996). This significant positive correlation shows the importance of the independent directors on the board. This indicates that there must be a sufficient proportion of outside independent directors on the board. Sufficient number of directors on the board will protect the interests of the shareholders. It also leads to better transparency in the firm ultimately firm performance will increase. CEO duality has negative and insignificant correlation with EPS, ROE and ROA. This implies that CEO duality has no significant association with firm performance. Our results are consistent with Lam and Lee (2007) and Mashayekhi and Bazaz (2008). This shows that dual leadership structure has neither positive nor negative relationship with firm performance in Pakistani companies. Board size has significantly negative correlation with ROA and insignificant correlation with EPS and ROE. Sometimes large board size negatively related with firm performance and sometime it is insignificantly related with fiem performance. This indicates that board size is not always related with firm performance (Bhagat Black, 2001). Leverage has no significant relationship with EPS, ROE and ROA. This implies that Leverage has no signifacant relationship with firm performance. Firm size has significantly negetive relationship with ROE and ROA. ROE , ROA and EPS have nosignificant relationship with each other except that ROE and ROA are positively corelated. Firm size has significantly positive relationship with ratio of independent directors (RID) and Dual leadership structure but significantly negetive association with board size. Regression Results Table 3-1, 3-2 and 3-3 show the results of regression analysis for each three dependent variables EPS, ROA and ROE separately. EPS, ROA and ROE explain 19%, 12.5% and 11.83% variations respectively. Board size is positive coefficient but insignificant values with firm performance measures (EPS t-stat= 0. 0.5511, ROA t-stat=- 2.21128 ROE t-stat= 0.234378) except ROA. It shows that board size is not always related with firm performance (Bhagat Black, 2001). This is inconsistent to H3: Board size has no significant impact on firm performance; Because ROA is showing significant impact on firm performance. Our findings are also consistent to Frick and Bermig (2009) who found no constant impact of board size on firm performance. Our findings are inconsistent with Yermack (1996) and Mashayekhi and Bazaz (2008) who found that board size is negatively associated with firm performance. Our findings are also inconsistent with Ehikioya (2009) who found that board size is positively associated w ith firm performance. Opposite to H2: Dual leadership structure has significant impact on firm performance. Our regression results do not show any significant relationship among the dual leadership structure and firm performance (EPS t-stat= -0.57958, ROA t-stat= 1.7605, ROE t-stat= 1.241707). it indicates that dual leadership structure neither positively nor negatively impact the firm performance. Our results are consistent with Abdullah (2004) and Mashayekhi and bazaz (2008) who found that leadership structure do not affect the firm performance. Table 3-1 Table 3-2 Table 3-3 There is an inverse impact of CEO duality on firm performance (Ehikioya, 2009; Mir Nishat, 2004; Mashayekhi bazaz, 2008). Our findings contradict them. H1: Proportion of independent directors has significant impact on firm performance. Our regression analysis shows positive coefficient of RID and statistically significant values of t-test for the performance measures (EPS t-stat= 3.18694, ROA t-stat= 2.8463, ROE t-stat= 2.9045). Our findings are similar to Petra (2005), Perry and shivdasani (2005) and Mashayekhi and bazaz (2008) who found positive relationship between proportion of independent directors and firm performance. This shows that outside directors are more important to the better performance of the firm. This positive relationship also shows that directors are performing their duties sincerely to defend the interests of shareholders. This result is also according to the prediction of agency theory that there is a positive relationship between outside independent directors and firm performance in Pakistan. Finally the firm size has negative and significant impact on firm performance in Pakistan. Only EPS value is insignificant. Our results oppose Mashayekhi and bazaz (2008) who found positive impact of firm size on firm performance. Leverage ratio has statistically insignificant effect on firm performance. This is consistent to Mashayekhi and bazaz (2008). Conclusion Our study investigates the impact of corporate governance on firm performance. For corporate governance measurement we use three variables Board size, dual leadership structure and Ratio of independent directors where as for Firm performance measurement Return on equity, Return on assets and Earnings per share are used and two control variables such as Firm size and Leverage are used. Our findings are similar to that of Bhagat and Black (2001) that board size is not always related with firm performance. Our findings are also consistent to Frick and Bermig (2009) who found no constant impact of board size on firm performance. This study also finds that there is a positive relationship between proportion of independent directors and firm performance. Our findings are consistent to Petra (2005), Perry and shivdasani (2005) and Mashayekhi and bazaz (2008). We find no significant relationship between dual leadership structure and firm performance in Pakistan. Our results are consistent with Abdullah (2004) and Mashayekhi and bazaz (2008). There are several limitations in the study such as time and data availability. Economic and political instability may affect the generalizability of the findings. Our results may differ from other studies due to the financial recession of near past. For future study one should use Growth ratios for firm performance and other Board characteristics for corporate governance measurement for more significant and long term results.

The World Will Have A Generation Of Idiots - 931 Words

â€Å"I fear the day that technology will surpass human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.† This unfortunate, but true prediction was made by the great physicist Albert Einstein. In today’s society, people are enraptured by their cellular devices, wherever they go, the phones goes with them. Whether it be in class, at work, in the car, or even on the toilet seat, people can not detach themselves from these material objects and now it is affecting other aspects of their character. Nowadays, most teenagers can’t hold an actual conversation with another individuals because they have become too accustomed to texting as opposed to having an actual conversation. Also many people also invest too much trust into their devices which can lead to the what is now commonly known as â€Å"catfish.† In addition, a conversation can also be taken the wrong way because of how it is typed in a text message as opposed to hearing the person s real voice and emotions through a phone call. As a result, the consequences of being attracted to texting greatly impacts our younger generation, and society as a whole. Something that is commonly an issue with texting is miscommunication. When in a conversation through a text message, a person’s tone of voice can not be indicated resulting in a misunderstanding in what the person really feels. For example, when writing a simple message like â€Å"I m fine,† the person receiving the message could think that the correspondent is really fine whenShow MoreRelatedThe World Will Have A Generation Of Idiots855 Words   |  4 PagesSave the Kids! Albert Einstein, a famous philosopher once said, I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots. Along the years, technology has increased immensely and has changed people lives. Some inventions that have made a big impact on younger generations are cell phones, video games and the internet. Nowadays, children prefer to stay indoors rather than going outside to play with other kids. As a consequence, obesity in childrenRead MoreThe World Will Have A Generation Of Idiots931 Words   |  4 Pageshuman interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.† This is a very interesting statement and in so many ways it’s true too. Nowadays, it is easy to see people sitting around each other but only staring at their cell phones without any conversation. The conversation between me and my family or friend’s decreases when we are using cell phones. Many people take their phones everywhere like classrooms, t he workplace, restaurants and bathrooms. Undoubtedly, we always have to be prepared for emergencyRead MoreThe World Will Have A Generation Of Idiots1563 Words   |  7 Pagesour human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.† Albert Einstein’s words describe a time where people are more focused on a virtual version of themselves than real human interaction. Some may argue that this time has already come, and some say this time will be upon us soon. The inevitable growth of video games will lead to children whose lives are dictated by video games. From mobile apps to consoles, video games have taken the world by storm. They have grown to become the pastimeRead MoreSocial Media Intervention : The World Will Have A Generation Of Idiots2056 Words   |  9 Pagestechnology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots. This quote does apply for this current generation, a generation that relies on technology for almost everything. Is that a bad thing? Are we those idiots Albert Einstein is talking about? Well that depends on how much we depend on technology on our daily lives. Most people agree that no matter how much excessive it gets, technology is the best thing discovered in the world thus far. On the other hand, others thinkRead MoreThe Film 3 Idiots, A Critically Acclaimed Film By Rajkumar Hirani904 Words   |  4 Pagestaking many steps towards modernizing itself for a better future for its younger and upcoming generations. One of these steps was the film 3 Idiots, a critically acclaimed fi lm by Rajkumar Hirani. Its story and morals not only expressed the hidden and, in some cases, ineffable opinions of the Indian youth, but challenged the traditional customs and practices of raising children performed by older generations. Similar to Akhil Sharma’s Family Life, the film tells the story of three boys and their experiencesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Idiot And The Idiot By Ernest Hemingway958 Words   |  4 PagesFyodor Dostoevsky’s The Idiot and Ernest Hemingway s A Farewell To Arms feature differing schools of thought in the ever-evolving world of literature; A Farewell To Arms depicting impressionistic realism through Hemingway s objective retelling of events in the First World War, and The Idiot conveying psychological realism In Dostoevsky’s projection of not only his epileptic behavior, but his idyllic sense of man (Neilson Kashdan). Despite these differences in writing styles, each author featuresRead MoreAmeric Land Of The Free And Home1076 W ords   |  5 Pagesthe essay Idiot Nation, is as anti-Republican as they come and not at all afraid to express his beliefs with overflowing passion. Over the past 20 years, both Moore’s popularity and notoriety have boomed to new heights as a film maker, writer, and social critic. From winning Oscars and Academy Awards for his films and documentaries to co-writing 8 renowned books, Moore has not stopped producing ways of expressing his thoughts on the government and society to the general public. In Idiot Nation, MooreRead MoreDisadvantages Of Technology In Education836 Words   |  4 Pagesinteraction. The world will have a generation of idiots† -Albert Einstein. Today’s day and age has produced, and still produces, some of the most intelligent people who have created and thought of the machines and theories that have forever changed life itself. With the creation of things such as computers, cell phones, television, and more, communication between people has never been easier, or so one would think. One popular interpretation of the quote describes the use of the term â€Å"idiots† by statingRead MoreIdiot Nation : Draft 1 Essay1325 Words   |  6 PagesAndrew Romero Prof. Cathy Arellano ENGWR 300 Purple 28 September 2016 Idiot Nation: Draft 1 Across America, you d be hard pressed to find a person that doesnt agree that everyone should receive a free education. Because of this, most everyone goes to high school, or at the very least receives an equivalent education. However, after this free education is done, many high school graduates are pushed to continue their studies in colleges and universities. And while these facilities are believed toRead MoreWatching Tv Makes You Smarter1392 Words   |  6 PagesEveryday people are shown what has been referred to as an idiot box, boob tube, or â€Å"telly†, but more familiarly known as T.V. There is something available on T.V. for almost all types of viewers. There are cartoons for children, shows for seniors, daytime series for housewives, wildlife programs for nature enthusiasts, and the list is endless. The question is, is watching T.V. helping or hurting us? While some people argue that watching television is counter-productive, stimulating and interesting

An Investigation Into the Language Used in Childrens Advertising Free Essays

An Investigation into the Language used in Children’s Advertising Contents Hypothesis Introduction Methodology Analysis Conclusion Evaluation Bibliography Appendix Hypothesis In my investigation I am going to analyse the language used in children’s television advertising looking specifically at whether the language used is aimed primarily at the children or their parents. Introduction I have chosen to look at the language used in children’s advertising because I am interested in how the language of advertising can be used to influence children and their parents and am specifically interested in trying to analyse this for girls. I hope that I can also draw on my own early experiences to help me with some of my conclusions. We will write a custom essay sample on An Investigation Into the Language Used in Childrens Advertising or any similar topic only for you Order Now When I was 4 years old I wanted the new ‘Baby Born’ doll really badly and kept asking my mum until I got it. When I did get it, I played with it constantly and gradually lost the different accessories that came with her. I remember clearly that when my little sister played with her Barbie dolls when she was younger that she would use an American accent when making the dolls speak. I was never sure why she did this but I did find it amusing. I am aiming to find out whether language in advertising is manipulative, whether it reinforces traditional gender categories and whether I believe it to be a positive force or not. The use of language in television advertising is influenced by other factors such as whether voices used are that of a man, woman or child. The studies I have read indicate that voiceovers given by men are far more effective for successful marketing than those by women. The 1979 study found that quite often even if the product was seen as female, most girl targeted ad’s used men for the voice-overs and that where women voice-overs were used they were only for girls products which would seem to imply that these products didn’t warrant the recommendation of a man. Studies found that people respond better to male voices than female voices. I have read some studies on children’s’ advertising and a book on advertising (see Bibliography) and the findings of these made me interested in finding out whether modern advertising supports the findings of these studies. ‘Children learn personality and behaviour patterns through the imitation of their own parents attitudes and behaviours and will acquire the patterns of behaviour more rapidly where there is an attractive model whose behaviour is rewarded’’ (Smith, 1994). As part of my work I am looking at whether my adverts support traditional gender roles. Methodolo gy I will watch advertisements on children’s television channels. The channels I am going to be watching are Nickelodeon and Nick Junior. To carry out my investigation I needed data and the only way for me to collect this was to watch children’s’ TV, record the advertisements, transcribe them and then analyse my findings. My transcriptions have been included in my Appendix. To ensure that my data and any conclusions drawn from analysing it are valid I have used actual adverts and transcribed them carefully, and not made up any of my findings. I must not over generalise as it is easy to assume that what I find from my transcriptions is true of all advertisements and this is incorrect as all adverts are different. To analyse my data I am going to look at pragmatics and grammar. I may also make observations on lexis and semantics. I decided to analyse my data this way because I am looking at the language of advertising, i. e. the words and how they are used and also how it influences and this will help me answer my key question. My data is organised by transcript and I am going to analyse each of my transcripts separately. I hope that this will give me common results that I can include in my conclusions. Analysis Transcript 1 Syllables |Total number of words | |1 |41 | |2 |16 | |3 |3 | |4 |0 | I was interested in seeing the complexity of the words used in these adverts and I looked at the number of syllables in each word in each advert. The table above shows the number of words with 1, 2, 3 and 4 syllables and clearly shows that simple words of 1 and 2 syllables comprise the major part of this advert. Only one of the 3 syllable words is used in the main part of the advertisement which is aimed at the child, the other two are in the end part which is delivered by and directed at adults. This advert is for a Chou Chou doll that has bruises that disappear when the area is warmed up. This is going on the idea that parents make their children ‘all better’ if they are hurt. This will appeal to young girls as not only is it a doll that they can play with but it is also something they can care for and ‘make better’ themselves, just as their parents do for them. The sing song voice used in the advert mirrors the way a lot of adults talk to their babies and small children and little children learn by copying or imitating their parents so this advertisement could influence little girls by letting them behave like a grown up on a doll that gives them a reaction. They want the responsibility of looking after something and this doll pretends that they are responsible for making it better. Depending on how old the child is, they may believe that they are actually making the doll better. Every time the sing song voice is used it is delivered in the same way, in the same tone of voice and is to the same tune. This shows prosodic features: the effect of the sing song voice followed by the child’s statement is almost one of versification, in the pattern of 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 4, 1, 5. The language used in the advertisement along with the visual triggers are likely to create desire for the product and if the parents feel that it will encourage their children to be caring and responsible then their purchasing decisions are likely to be influenced. It does encourage caring as the child playing with the doll makes the doll better and also reinforced caring by the use of caring language such as ‘Mummy be your doctor’, ‘Mummy make me better’, ‘Here’s your medicine’ (sing song voice) and ‘I love you’ (little girl). The language in this is not openly manipulative but the constant repetition of the name of the doll, ‘Mummy make me better’ will ensure the child remembers the name of the product even if they are quite small, and will want it. By casting the little girl as the Mother figure, and using the sing song voice to indicate the little girls role i. e. ‘Mummy make me better’, ‘Mummy loves her daughter’, it encourages the child to want to take on that role. I feel that this advertisement reinforces the traditional gender behaviour patterns because the little girl playing with the doll is being encouraged to behave like a traditional caring mother. There would be a very different impact if the sing song voiceover was that of a man because traditionally the parent that looks after sick children is the woman. I think that the language in this advert is primarily aimed at children. However because it encourages caring behaviour it can influence the parents Grammar This advertisement uses short sentences in the beginning which are aimed at the child watching the advert and at the end it says ‘bruises disappear with warm Chou Chou Mummy Make Me Better from Zaph Creation’, this is aimed at the parents as it is a longer and more complex sentence. The words used are mostly one or two syllables, with the exception of three which are three syllables, ‘medicine’, ‘disappear’ and ‘Creation’. The use of simple words with a small number of syllables shows us that it is primarily aimed at children. The sing song voice featured in the advert uses repetition, ‘mummy make me better’, ‘mummy be your doctor’, ‘mummy make me better’, ‘mummy loves her daughter’ and ‘mummy make me better’. This emphasises the name of the product and helps whoever is listening to store the name in their memory. Pragmatics The language is simple and active rather than passive i. . shows the child ‘doing’ mummy make me better ‘here is your medicine’. Active language is involving and shows ‘doing’ rather that watching. Transcript 2 |Syllables |Total number of words | |1 |45 | |2 |7 | |3 |1 | |4 |0 | Once again I looked at the complexity of the words used. The table above shows the number of words with 1, 2, 3 and 4 syllables and clearly shows that simple words of 1 and 2 syllables comprise the major part of this advert, with most of these being one syllable. This advert is for a digital house where the 6 pixelated girls living in it can earn points and get the best room in the house if they have the most points. Every pre-teen wants the best room with the best things and this is appealing to their interests. Im Queen of the house’ implies that the girl with the best room is the best and most popular out of them all. The fact that this advert is delivered mostly in song and in an American accent exaggerates its appeal because a lot of pre-teens use an American accent when they are playing because they imitate the role model in the advertisement, which in the case of this advert, is a teenage American girl. The language in this advert is aimed solely at children. It appeals directly to the interests of pre-teens. Grammar The slogan pick pick pixel chick roomies emphasised the name of the product by repeating the first sound of the product name twice before it and also by using alliteration. This advert mainly comprises of a single long sentence punctuated by one second pauses which help give the advert impact. The viewer has time to absorb one part of the advert before the next part is delivered. Pragmatics ‘’There are lots of games to play yeah the fun never stops. ’ This will appeal to pre-teens as it is an environment over which they have full control and there are no adult figures involved, and what pre-teen hasn’t imagined or even fantasised about the fun they would like to have in a house with no adults and how late they would go to bed! It is not openly manipulative but it plays on the (rather attractive) idea of having as much fun as you want in your own house and will therefore encourage pre-teens to want t his product. This makes it subtly manipulative. Transcript 3 |Syllables |Total | |1 |29 | |2 |11 | |3 |1 | |4 |1 | The language used is simple and comprises mostly of one or two syllable words. The table above shows the number of words with 1, 2, 3 and 4 syllables and clearly shows that simple words of 1 and 2 syllables comprise the majority of this advert, with most of these being one syllable. This is an advert is for a glittery temporary tattoo set. It openly reinforces traditional gender categories as it is clearly aimed at young girls, and girls trying to make themselves pretty and girls that are looking for the ‘wow’ factor. The language in this advert is aimed at children. Grammar This advert does use manipulative language ‘everything you need†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ indicated to the watcher that they need the product instead of just wanting it and ‘wow get these great glitter tattoos’ makes them more desirable and is almost acting as a command by using an imperative – get it, get it, get it! ‘They look so cool†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ all children want to be cool and will want a product that they think will make them cool. express your style’ gives the impression that this product will allow the user to be stylish by indicating that they have style and that this product will help them to express it. It is almost elliptical because it is economical with the number of words used and relies heavily on the visual accompaniment. Pragmatics It is delivered by a mature woman and shows the process of choosing and applying the tattoo. This makes the children watching the advert think that it is easy to use, fun, pretty and makes them want it. I don’t believe that the language used is a positive force because it is openly encouraging young children to want and use tattoos at an age when they are not mature enough to understand the difference between temporary and permanent tattoos. It could influence a rash decision in later life to get a permanent tattoo because they had a cool glittery one when they were young. Children are a very easy target for advertising and so are very vulnerable to suggestion. They then use their parents as an easy target for pester power. Transcript 4 |Syllables |Total number of words | |1 |34 | |2 |9 | |3 |1 | |4 |2 | The language used is simple and comprises mostly of one or two syllable words. The table above shows the number of words with 1, 2, 3 and 4 syllables and clearly shows that simple words of 1 and 2 syllables comprise the most of this advert, with a lot of these being one syllable. Both of the 4 syllable words are used in the end of the adverts which is aimed specifically at parents This is an advert for a doll that has over 80 sounds and recognises her accessories and the name you give her. This advert is delivered as if the doll already belongs to the child; ‘you can name My Baby’. This makes the child want it as it. Generally the language used is not manipulative but by saying ‘you can name My Baby’ it is making the statement personal to the viewer and is likely to create desire for the product. The majority of the language in this advert is aimed at children with the ending aimed at parents. Grammar The use of the word ‘can’ in this advert is makes the naming of the baby modal because it is allowing the child to choose the name of the baby. Personal pronouns play a great part in this advert as the word ‘you’ is used 3 times and is always referring to ‘you’ as the child. This involves the child and is likely to make them want the product more as they feel a sense of ownership. Pragmatics The doll makes over 80 sounds which would also appeal to the child as real babies make more than 80 sounds and the child wants a doll that is as real and life-like as possible. The doll also comes with accessories that it recognises. This is appealing as most parents want to spoil their child and the little girl will want to spoil her ‘baby’. I believe that this product will be attractive to parents as it encourages the child to be responsible as they can look after and interact with the doll. This makes the advert a positive force as it is teaching the child to be caring. This is stereotypical as there is the voice of a woman featured in the advert which acts like the mother figure of the child. The girl with the doll acts as the mother figure of the doll. Transcript 5 |Syllables |Total number of words | |1 |44 | |2 |7 | |3 |8 | |4 |0 | The language used is simple and comprises mostly of one or two syllable words. The table above shows the number of words with 1, 2, 3 and 4 syllables and clearly shows that simple words of 1 and 2 syllables comprise the most of this advert, with a lot of these being one syllable. Both of the 4 syllable words are used in the end of the adverts which is aimed specifically at parents This is an advert for a Baby Annabel accessory set consisting of a sheep toy that plays a soothing melody and a beautiful quilted bed set. It definitely reinforces traditional gender categories with the little girl ‘mother’ putting the baby to bed, playing a lullaby. I think that this is a positive force as it is making bedtime appear to be fun instead of something that young children avoid as best they can. This will make it more attractive to parents for the same reason that it might make it easier for them to put their own children to sleep. This advert is exploiting bedtime as it can be used as a fun time. The parents may see buying the doll for their child as an easier way of getting them to go to sleep, as Annabel is in bed, they should be too! In a way this exploits the parental desire to get children to bed as the advert implies that this product will help. The language used in this advert is aimed both at children and their parents. The majority of the advert targets the child but the ending targets the parents. Grammar The language is subtly manipulative as it says ‘you can lay your Baby Annabel in her bed’ which will make any child that already owns a Baby Annabel want the bed to put her in. The language used here is elliptical because the pauses in the advert create sentences which aren’t complete in their own right ‘but don’t be sad†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and ‘listen to the sheep†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ The sentences are a mixture of complex : ‘here comes the night but don’t be ad you can lay your baby Annabel in her bed, time for sleep I wish you sweet dreams’ and compound : ‘the baby Annabel bed with soothing melody and a beautiful quilted bed set sweet dreams for your baby,’ sentences. Pragmatics ‘Sweet dreams for your Baby Annabel’ suggests that if you have the bed to put your doll in she will have sweet dreams. If you don’t have one of these accessories then your doll won’t have sweet dreams. This brings up that everyone wants the best for their child and wants them to be happy and therefore makes this set a must-have for young girls and their Baby Annabel dolls. Transcript 6 |Syllables |Total number of words | |1 |37 | |2 |10 | |3 |1 | |4 |1 | The language used is simple and comprises mostly of one or two syllable words. The table above shows the number of words with 1, 2, 3 and 4 syllables and clearly shows that simple words of 1 and 2 syllables comprise the most of this advert, with the majority of these being one syllable. This is an advert for a beauty kit from Bratz and includes airbrush colour, lip colour, stencils and body glitter. This advert is delivered as a set of instructions, and as instructions are meant to be followed it is manipulative in the way that it is telling the viewer how to apply the make-up to the doll. There are only five instructions and not all of them are directing you to do something to the doll so it is attractive in the way that is simple. Parents may find this product appealing as if it is that simple it will keep the pre-teen safely occupied without parental assistance. The use of the word ‘magic’ 4 times in this short advert reinforces how amazing the product is. Anything that is magic is very likely to appeal to pre-teens. There are clues of traditional gender rules, a big one being that the advert is for a make-up product which is aimed at pre-teen girls. The Bratz products are a pre-teen version of Barbie products and allow the girls to apply the make-up themselves in a way they want to do it. For the reason above I think that this advert is a negative force. The language in this advert is aimed only at children. Grammar This advertisement uses alliteration in the product name, ‘magic make-up’ and this is repeated 3 times throughout the advert. There are a lot of imperatives used, ‘turn it up’, ‘draw it on’ and ‘stencil it there’. Generally pre-teens respond to commands and this may increase the influence of the advertisement. Rhyme is used in the middle of the instructions for the use of the product, ‘stencil it there†¦glitter everywhere’. Rhyme can make information more memorable which could increase the impact of this advert. Pragmatics Body image is an issue raised by this product as by glamorising airbrush techniques, girls may feel under pressure to look a certain way and to have matte skin. This issue is also big in the world of celebrities as women that girls look up to as role models never get seen without a perfect face as their pictures are airbrushed. The doll’s face is going to look matte and perfect as airbrush make-up is used and if the pre-teen’s own skin doesn’t look the same when she starts wearing make-up she may feel ugly. Transcript 7 |Syllables |Total number of words | |1 |37 | |2 |11 | |3 |2 | |4 |2 | The language used is simple and comprises mostly of one or two syllable words. The table above shows the number of words with 1, 2, 3 and 4 syllables and clearly shows that simple words of 1 and 2 syllables comprise the most of this advert, with a lot of these being one syllable. I have found that it is unusual to have words of 3 or 4 syllables that are not featured in the product name. This is an advert for a Polly Pocket product that is a nursery with 5 newborn Dalmatian puppies. The first thing that I noticed about this advert is the instant use of alliteration in the title of the product, Polly Pocket Puppy Playhouse. The language used by the young girl is delivered in rhyme; this makes it easier to remember as it is more likely to stick in your mind. It uses ‘young’ monosyllabic language such as ‘lots to do’, ‘so sweet’ and ‘fun for puppy and you’ so that the young girls understand exactly what the advert is trying to say. It also uses some slang, teen-speak, for example ‘wow neat’ It doesn’t teach the child to be caring as it is just a toy, they are not looking after the baby Dalmatians, they are playing with them on the Ferris wheel and the see-saw. I wouldn’t say that there is a positive or a negative force as the aim of the product is purely for fun. There is also no parental manipulation as there is nothing for them to gain or nothing for their child to learn by them having the product. The language in this advert is aimed purely at children. Grammar The grammar used is elliptical, when I looked at the sentences in the light of where the pauses are I noticed that they are not complete in themselves, for example ‘lots to do’, ‘look a ferris wheel†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, ’a see-saw that’s a table too’ and ‘dalmation babies’. Pragmatics There is a change of register at the end of the advert. The major part of the advert is delivered in a child-like way. The end of the advert, which is delivered by a male voice-over, is a complete adult sentence ‘puppy playhouse with 5 newborns other puppies sold separately’. There is no audio proof that this product is aimed at girls but as there are only girls featured in the advertisement we get the impression that it is, although the voice over is that of a man. Conclusion The language used in the majority of my adverts is aimed at children. Where the language is also aimed at parents it is usually towards the end of the advert, with the majority still being aimed at children. The following table shows a summary of whether the language used in my adverts is aimed at children, their parents or both children and their parents. Advertisement |Children |Parents |Children Parents | |1 | X | | | |2 | X | | | |3 | X | | | |4 | | | X | |5 | | | X | |6 | X | | | |7 | X | | | If I had chosen educational toys for my study of language in advertising I think that more of the language would be aimed at parents. I think this because the parents would make a purchasing decision based on the educational value of the product as opposed to the play value which is offer ed in my chosen adverts. Where my adverts are aimed at both children and their parents, there seems to be some positive benefit for the child, from the product. An example of this is My Baby Doll, see Transcript 4. It encourages the child to be responsible and caring and therefore appeals to the parents as well. Transcript 5 – Baby Annabel’s Bed Set, appeals to parents as well because it makes bedtime fun. The table below shows the total number of words in all the advertisements I looked at and shows how many syllables are in each. This shows conclusively that the words used in children’s advertising are generally very simple as there is a huge predominance of monosyllabic words. Syllables |Total number of words | |1 |267 | |2 |71 | |3 |17 | |4 |6 | Several of my advertisements were subtly manipulative, and appealed to the mercenary and materialistic side of the children. I found this interesting because the results of one of my studies showed that advertising directed to children made them more materialistic and acquisitive. This study found that because the children were more acquisitive, it encouraged conflicts with both their friends and their parents. This study said that as children have under-developed reasoning, they can’t work out whether information is rational or realistic and that they could easily be deceived and influenced by advertising. Nearly all of my advertisements definitely reinforce gender categories i. e. the traditional role of the female, whether this be caring for children or making themselves look pretty. One of the studies I looked at (Lois. J. Smith, 1994) showed that children learn a lot about sex-type behaviours from television and the characters used are attractive models to copy because they are generally good looking. Advertisements show children how to behave and they accept the images they see as real. Evaluation I think my study is quite effective in terms of looking at the language related to young girls. I think my study would have had more validity if I had used a much larger range of advertisements, and if I had covered both play value and educational toys. It would also have been interesting to have included an equal number of advertisements aimed at boys and at both sexes. This would have allowed me to compare the language used in different areas and would have made my results more valid. On its own my key question was a little vague and if I had only addressed this question my study would have been very short. By including whether the language was manipulative, whether it reinforces traditional gender categories and whether or not it is a positive force I made my study more effective. I collected my data by watching and recording advertisements and transcribing exactly the language used in them. I don’t believe that there could have been a more effective way of collecting my data. I analysed my data by looking at grammar and pragmatics. This was interesting; however I could have improved my study by making more specific observations on lexis and semantics. Appendix How to cite An Investigation Into the Language Used in Childrens Advertising, Essays

Animal Cloning Essay Example For Students

Animal Cloning Essay Is cloning necessary for advancements in improving the quality of life? Is cloning necessary for advancements in improving the quality of life? People often question whether or not we as a scientific nation are trying to play the role of God. Many people say that we should not try to interfere with nature. That is fine if in everyday life we did not try to change our habitat every single second of every single day. More than likely at one point and time the land on which your house sits was covered by a pasture of woodlands. That is interference. If we try to clone organs for transplant patients that are in their final hour then we are actually improving their life. If improvement in the quality of life is playing God, then is that necessarily a bad thing? Do we have the right to clone? We are all guaranteed rights by the fact that we are human beings. Those rights include the right to pursue areas of scientific study. Not many people vocalized his or her disapproval of space explora tion. At the time that there was no talk of how morally wrong Neil Armstrongs walk on the moon was going to be. They could have argued the fact we are created on earth we must stay here and not interfere with things beyond our comprehension. If they did, and the program did not lift off, then we would not have some of the technologies that we have today. Cloning can only yield new technologies that will be beneficial to society. One misconception that many people have is that this technology can fall into the wrong hands. We could not clone a person of history to be the same person that he or she was before. If we were to do that then it would be near impossible to reproduce the same character. They would like any other ordinary human; they would be conceived, developed, and then born as all other babies. They would have the same appearance and genetic makeup as their equal. This does not mean that they would have the same mental capacity as their previous life. There are many thing s that lead to a humans personality. Genetic makeup does not have as significant role as many believe. Organ cloning is something that would be extremely beneficial to society. Imagine the ability to create a liver for a child that has less than a month to live. In the medical profession the philosophy of every doctor is to improve the quality of life. Is giving a child a second chance improving the quality of life? Or is it playing God?Imagine if the technology was available to clone his liver in order to prolong his life. In this country there are thousands of people on waiting lists to receive new organs that will help prolong their life. Many of these people will die because there is not a suitable donor that matches their needs. Imagine the lives that will be saved if an individual can clone their own liver, or any other organ that is needed to survive an illness. As much as cloning is perceived as a good thing, it could change life to an entire new civilization. Cloning runs t he risk of creating a population that is entirely the same. This population would be susceptible to the same diseases, and one disease could devastate the entire population. One can easily picture humans being wiped out be a single virus, but more events could occur from a lack of genetic diversity. For example, if a large percentage of a nations cattle are identical clones, a single virus could effect the entire population. The result could be large food shortage in the United States. .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 , .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .postImageUrl , .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 , .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762:hover , .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762:visited , .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762:active { border:0!important; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762:active , .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762 .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u59f1ac8e2c1a715799758820f63ab762:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Drug abuse Essay Any research into human cloning would eventually need to be tested on human. The ability to clone humans may lead to the genetic tailoring of offspring. The heart of the cloning debate is concerned with the genetic management of a human embryo before it begins development. It is conceivable that scientists could alter a babys genetic codes to give the individual a certain color of eyes or genetic resistance to certain diseases. This is viewed as inappropriate, some look at it as playing God. Cloning might be used to create a perfect human, or one with above normal strength and sub-normal intelligence, a genetic underclass. Also, if cloning were perfected in humans, there would be no genetic need for men. As in the book, A Brave New World, they cloned people into classes that made an entire society of genetic humans that resembled nothing less than an ant-farm. In the Alpha Class the cloning conditioned one to have a great life just like the queen ant having hundreds protect her. Or i n the Epsilon Class being conditioned to think that being a janitor is a good thing or the equivalent to a worker ant. They go about their work as if its the best work possible. By creating the perfect clone and knowing the fact that men could be eliminated from existence is playing God. Cloning might have a detrimental effect on domestic relationships. A child born from an adult DNA cloning of his father could be considered a delayed identical twin of one of his parents. It is unknown as to how a human might react if he or she knew he or she was an exact duplicate of an older individual. Researchers say that within 5 years a pill that will help prevent cancer will be introduced on the market. That is great if you do not already have it. If we find the gene that has been mutated then we will be able to correct that, alleviating all of the signs of the cancer. Cloning will change the face of the planet forever. We should be excited that we are able to duplicate such a complex sequence of genes. Whatever you feel is morally right we should allow this to happen because if we never explore the risks then we can never enjoy the benefits. As previously stated the space exploration yielded many new technologies that will forever aid in the bettering of society. We cannot continue to prohibit the exploration of scientific study. If this practice continues then we will not be able to continue to develop advancements in the prolonging of the human species. We cant impose a ban on cloning, if we do then who is to say that we will not impose a ban on the research that will hopefu lly one day lead to a cure for cancer. Bibliography: