The Association For Manufacturing Technology - 1728 Words

The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT), a trade association located in Northern Virginia was established in 1902. AMT services over 600 member organizations who are engaged in the manufacture and or distribution of manufacturing technology commonly used by industries engaged in the manufacture of primary and fabricated metal products, power generation and industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, transportation equipment including motor vehicles, and medical equipment and supplies among others. â€Å"The Association For Manufacturing Technology’s members strive to be the global leaders in innovating, producing, and implementing advanced manufacturing technology solutions. In support of its members, AMT is an active†¦show more content†¦Perhaps not unlike many other organizations operating before the widespread use of powerful personal computing platforms and the internet, AMT was slow to move into the realm of business intelligence with analytical rigor. Around 2009 things started to change dramatically with AMT’s focus on leveraging data and information. At that time the organization hired a new president to lead the industry. He had come to the association from industry and had over 25 years of experience as a top executive leading for profit manufacturing technology companies. His insight was to acknowledge that the organization needed to diversify its revenue streams to help mitigate an unpredictable loss or reduction in the associations long standing primary revenue generator, the biannual International Manufacturing Technology Show or IMTS. The new revenue generating idea he championed and set in motion at that time centered on business intelligence. Thus, the MTInsight business intelligence platform was introduced. The MTInsight platform was designed to deliver customized business intelligence that members would pay for above and beyond what was covered by their annual membership dues. 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The Sorrowful Woman By Gail Godwin - 1376 Words

When it comes to marriage, we expect the fairy tale story that we grew up watching on tv and reading in books; stories such as Cinderella, Snow White, or Aladdin. We’re convinced that marriage will solve our problems. We have the false conception that marriage will bring us the perfect white picket fence, 2.4 kids and a nice dog; that our husband/wife will be ideal, and that we’ll live happily ever after. In the story The Sorrowful Woman by Gail Godwin; modern marriage is portrayed as the perfect fairytale that went horribly wrong. Godwin’s protagonist â€Å"The wife and mother† can be described as selfish and self-centered due to her unwillingness to conform to the fairytale that she finds herself resenting. In a structured family each person has their own role in order for the family as a whole to function properly. The wife is often referred to as the â€Å"Angel in the house†. Her designated role is to be the nurturer. A good mother is expected to contribute her whole life to her family. Mothers are expected to be the glue that holds a family together. It is their responsibility to provide the loving care and support needed for raising children, making her husband feel loved, and taking care of household chores and preparing daily meals. In the household the father also has a fundamental role. They play â€Å"the breadwinner†, their position in the marriage/ family is to care for the needs of their family by providing shelter, food, and safety. Neither the wife nor husband isShow MoreRelatedA Sorrowful Woman By Gail Godwin Essay1645 Words   |  7 Pages A Sorrowful Woman While reading many kinds of literature about women s rights and suffrages. One of them is call â€Å"The Sorrowful Woman†. The story is a mournful story presenting the readers the heart of a woman sometimes in the 1970s. 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These two narratives demonstrate how children can play a huge part in a couple s marriage from different perspectives. â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† and â€Å"A Secret Sorrow† demonstrate how the husbands so dearly loved their family, althou gh Godwin implies the marriage is slowly falling apart, Van der Zee revealsRead More Essay on Social Expectations in Story of an Hour and Sorrowful Woman1387 Words   |  6 Pagesand A Sorrowful Woman      Ã‚  Ã‚   Marriage does not always bring people happiness they expect.   A number of people feel trapped in their own marriages.   Mrs. Mallard in Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and the unnamed protagonist in Gail Godwin’s â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† are among those who experience such unfortunate.   Only one hour in her marriage did Mrs. Mallard feel really happy; that was, bizarrely, when she was told about her husband’s death.   For the female protagonist in â€Å"A Sorrowful WomanRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem A Sorrowful Woman 960 Words   |  4 Pagesmother one too many times† (Godwin 39). This short story begins with the famous opening, once upon a time, which foreshadows that the story line will be similar to a fairy tale. It raises expectations for the story that all will be magical and end happily. A typical modern-day fairy tale is that of a distressed character who overcomes an obstacle, falls in love with prin ce charming, and they ride off into the sunset; living happily ever after never to be heard from again. Godwin however, puts an unexpectedRead MoreSorrowful Women and a Story of an Hour842 Words   |  4 Pagessteady income to make the family financially stable. On the contrary, women were expected to raise the children, prepare meals and keep a tidy house. For most, this was the ideal life style that worked effectively. Throughout Gail Godwins short story, A Sorrowful Woman, the character is a component of a troubled family. Furthermore in the short story, The Story of an Hour written by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard is notified with information that is life altering. A characters

Project Management for the Built Environment - Study Notes

Question: Describe about the Project Management for Construction the Built Environment. Answer: Project management practices in the construction and built environment sector Project Manager role and responsibility A project manager may not direct affect any activities of a project but he or she works to maintain the progress by ensuring coordination among team members and assuring completion of activities as required. To do this, the responsibilities that the Project manager in a construction project assumes include: Develop a preliminary business case and project initiation document Advise the management on selection and appointment of construction consultants Identify and organization roles and responsibilities of all team members Develop an execution plan and identify required contract obligations to include Create and execute risk management plan Establish and manage change control procedures(Hills, Fox, Skitmore, K.H., Fong, 2008) Benefit of employing a project manager When a project manager is employed on a construction and build environment project, there can be several benefits for the project including: As the project manager would be continuously keeping the focus on client requirements and would keep communicating progress with clients, the customer satisfaction would improve. As project manager would be using cost control measures while maintaining progress of the project, there would be less expenses and profitability would improve with the use of more cost efficient processes. Project manager would strive to eliminate any redundant and non-value adding practices thereby reducing wastage in time and thus, project would be fast in achievement of its objectives. Through effective governance and human resource activities practiced by project manager, coordination would be improved as well as staff would remain more motivated which would improve their productivity (Delnavaz, 2012) Project management Function Key project management functions in a construction and built environment project include time management, cost management, integration management, scope management, risk management, quality management, communications management, human resource management, and procurement management. All these functions are planned in advance by the project manager and he has to ensure that they are taken care of as per planed as well as controlled as required on the project . The project manager has to ensure that there are least variations from planned appraoch and in case there exist any, the conflicts or causes are resolved as fast as possible so that the deliverables of the project are not affected in any major way. Both integration between these different project management functions as well as control of each of them is the responsibility of thee project manager. Role of project managers in the construction and built environment sector Project stakeholders team Major stakeholders in a construction project include Project Manager, Top Management, Investors, Suppliers, Contractors and Site workers. The project manager manages stakeholders of the construction project by keeping them informed about the progress of the project, providing consultancy to the project management on managing projects, involve them in decision making based on different power levels they are on, and collaborate with them treating them as project partners encouraging their engagement and seeking commitment from them(Littau, et al., 2015). Project risk safety A project manage creates a risk management plan which involves activities like identification of risks, their root causes and categories of risks, identification of response strategy, evaluate risks on the basis of probability of occurrence and the impact of the same and managing risks. Various risks that a project manager has to record and manage in a construction environment can be related to costs, time, quality, environment or safety Table 1: Construction and Build Environment Project Risks (Zou, Zhang, Wang, 2005) Risks Category Risks Cost disputes, price inflation, inaccurate cost estimation, scope variations adding cost Time Tight schedule, inadequate schedule, approval delays, Quality High expectations, low competency of contractors, lack of coordination Environment Pollution, safety laws governance procedures, insufficient site information Safety Unskilled labour, excessive approval procedures, accidents, unsuitable planning Constraints and limitation On a construction project, a project manager may face certain constraints and limitations affected by budget, legalities, environment, technicalities, and social aspects. Economic Constraints: If the budget allotted is low then the project manager may have to compromise in the construction methods and equipments that may not be at par with the requirements of the project goal. For instance, in case the building has certain target of achieving sustainability, with low budget sustainable construction methods may not remain economic feasible for use. With economic constraints, a project manager has to make trade-offs between products, performance, functions, and quality of work. Legal Constraints: Legal constraints can be posed by safety regulations and work related laws. For instance, a person working over heights as per law is required to be provided with Protective Equipments for which the project manager has to make provisions in terms of availability of equipments, assurance of usage, recording of usage and communication about the same going as report to the government officials. Similarly, law may require the project manager to follow certain administrative procedure that could not be avoided even when they consume time and other resources that project manager may not be willing to compromise normally. Environmental Constraints: The public regulations and concerns demand a construction project to be managed in a way that it allows for air protection, noise control, tree preservation and addressing of other environmental concerns. For this, the project manager has to ensure that appropriate procedure are being followed and specific approvals are taken in order to proceed with construction activities. This may require construction of temporary structures that would ensure public safety, planting of new trees in nearby areas, and so on. Technical Constraints: The construction site itself can presented some technical complications like limitations of storagespace, restrictions in transportations, and other requirements that are to be outsourced such as ventilation, electrical works, telephoning system, plumbing, fire services and so on which would add the contracting and sub-contracting burden on the project manager. Social Constraints: This could include the constraints of working environment that may be affected by social norms and concerns. For instance, a construction may not work in rural areas, potential residents may want builders to follow "Feng Shui' principles while making layouts and so on. Thus, a project manager would be required to assess the social aspects of a construction project to ensure that difficulties do not arise at later stages on the project(Lau Kong, 2005). Project management model In this construction project, the PMI Model described in the PMBOK methodology could be used in which the project would be managed as per the five process groups including initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. In the initiation stage, project manager would gather all the stakeholder requirements and would formulate a project management initiation document. A discussion then follows with the team in which details of the requirements would be used for identifying various activities required to be completed on the project using which a project management plan is prepared. Then, the plan is executed by the project manager upon assigning roles and responsibilities to all team members and at the same time, the project manager has to ensure that all activities are performed in a controlled environment as per schedule and within budget. Once all deliverables are met, a formal project closure process is followed and a project sign off is taken from the sponsor by the project manager marketing the completion. Effective project managers - key characteristics Approach to achieving goals Key characteristics of project managers that help project managers achieve goals include: They have a skill to develop foresights on how every activity can affect budget, deadlines and quality of construction project They are organised in their approach which makes them understand the big pictures and set priorities of goals and tasks They focus more on the work at hand and the available resources and are not too analytical but more of pragmatists Effective project managers achieve their goals by following certain approaches including: Project managers start their day with setting up of priorities for each tasks to be performed in a day They identify times when they perform at their best and accordingly develop priorities for tasks with varied levels of complications Business strategies are used as guide for taking decisions Project Manager education, training and occupational standards Engineering Industry Standing Conferences has introduced National Occupation Standards for Project management in 1996 and the same were approved by Regulatory Authorities in August 2002. The standard included qualification structures, assessment strategies, and skill indicators. 5 key components of units of competence were identified in the standard including: Context of a project management unit Listing of unpinning knowledge Statements of competent performance Listing of Scope Specific knowledge requirements A project manager is required to have the knowledge about general principles and project processes, idea generation, idea evaluation, legislative frameworks, regulatory frameworks, project specifications, communication techniques and presentation techniques. With this understanding, the manager must have the skills to be able to: Identify project stakeholders and how they could influence a project Identify needs and understand responsibilities of stakeholders Review the project scope Define project objectives considering input and sources requirements Identify as well as quantify the project benefits Keep stakeholders involved on project as per agreed terms (Shannon, Dodd, Feest, Watson, 2003) Features of the five project management processes Some features of 5 key project management processes are explained below: Time management: This involves development of schedule plan, including defining of specific activities required to be done on a project, developing of the sequence in which they would be followed, estimation of required resources and time durations for each of the activities, development and control of the developed schedules. Cost management: This involved cost management plan development, estimation of costs that would be incurred on project, determination of whole project budget, and establishing of measures to control costs. Integration management: This involves development of a project charter containing necessary information for the board to approve the project, development of project management plan, direct, manage, monitor and control the work requirements of the project, perform change control and close project in a formalized manner. Scope management: Scope management involves collection of project requirements, development of scope, building of schedule outlining specific work requirements, validation of the elements of scope through identification metrics that could later be used for assessment of performance and scope control by ensuring all goals are met as well as scope is not exceeded. Risk management: This included planning for risk management, identification of risks, qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, planning the responses in the cases of occurrence of these risks, monitoring and controlling of these risks. Duties and responsibilities of contractor's project managers Key functions of contractor's project manager include: Forecasting: A project manager should understand the implications of current decisions on future performance of an organisation and be able to quantify the same in terms of monetary gains and losses as well as in terms of variations in schedules, quality and other project parameters. Planning: Manager identifies all components and parts of the project in detail including its requirements for manpower, finance, materials, plants, and more such that a plan can be made to acquire required resources and performed activities required to achieve project goals. Organizing: Project manage must be able to identify all resources required by the project and organize them across the contract period as per the contractual needs Controlling: Project manager must employ a qualified document controller for controlling all contract related documents(Atout, 2008). Coordinating: The project manager has to ensure a coordination between all project teams and resources to ensure that all collective goals of the project are met within desired constraints and limitations. Communicating: The project progress has to be recorded and communicated to the stakeholders at decided intervals with appropriate information necessary for making assessments and taking decisions. The manager also has to communicate decisions to the teams and encourage to adopt the required changes to be able to achieve objectives of a project. Comparison of contractual implications of using external consultants or internal teams - Hong Kong Contractual implications that can be caused by certain challenges in the internal and external teams include: Internal team implications External team implications Lack of skills in project manager Unavailability of project managers Lack of skills in the internal staff Lack of coordination among staff Lack of sufficient budget Lack of sufficient time to complete project as per the requirements Occurrence of major risks that were not considered at the time of planning leading to delays in furnishing responses Lack of commitment and cooperation from sponsor or top management of the organization Supplier may not be equipped to make quality deliveries Delays from suppliers causing delays in construction Inability to get sub-contractors for some work Lack of coordination between contractor and sub-contractors Lack of understanding of stakeholder requirements by contractors Dispute related to deliveries or payment matters between contractor and client Relationship of project managers with the design and production teams Project manager can assist the design and production team by performing following functions: PM can ensure that all the requirements needed by design team for forming designs are received from the client PM ensures that the design developed by the team is approved by the stakeholder before a project begins The communication between the design team and the production team is managed by PM The feasibility of the production is taken care of while making designs by providing necessary inputs to design team by taking the same from production team Attributes, knowledge and skills required for a project manager Attributes Knowledge Skills Visionary Project management methodologies Ability to develop a foresight on project outcomes Organized in professional approach Stakeholder requirements Communication skills Reliable as a person understanding responsibilities Project management tools Coordination and team management skills Action oriented to ensure things are kept on track Quality standards in construction Ability to motivate teams Experienced and knowledgeable about project management practices in construction Construction processes Ability to assess project stakeholder requirements Highly skilled in communication Project tracking tools Ability to understand and respond to stakeholders concerns Client Role Client has specific role to play in a construction project and that includes (Olander, 2007): Taking responsibility for project execution from start to finish of the project Approving all contractors involved on the project after proper assessment Ensure that all the needs of the users of a building are met Ensure that all permissions required for building construction are met before starting the project Client can also a sponsor for the project. Advantages of using project management for client Advantages of using project management practices for a client are: Project can be completed faster with much organized and streamlined processes that are scheduled well Client can achieve some cost savings with the improved coordination and speed of the construction project. Quality of the finished construction would be better as the process would involve careful evaluation of skills and capacities of contractors Various aspects like safety and communication that otherwise may go ignored would be well taken care of leading to less of conflicts and complications arising on project. Improvements in quality and standards The project management when used in the construction projects, the quality standards are made mandatory to use and are reflected in the project documentations and thus, there is an improvement in the practice of standards. Moreover, the project management practice also ensures that all quality standards are met on the project at the time of its assessment before it can be approved by the project sponsor as completed. Not just that, even at the time of initiation, the quality considerations and expectations are well recorded and monitored throughout the project life cycle to ensure that they are met as per the plan. Revised project execution plan Project plan is revised based on the contractual challenges and skill requirements of the project team. priorities of the construction and built environment sector In the construction and built environment, there are certain priorities that are required to be addressed by the project manager and these include: Development of a sustainable design that renders benefits to environment or harms it least(Sexton, 2011) The outcome of the project must remain profitable for the sponsors The building must achieve all the stakeholder needs as documented on the project management plan including requirements of space, facilities and comfort needs (Clough, 1972). best practice in project management to develop KPIs Best practices of KPI development in construction industry include: People Management KPIs: Metrics are developed for measuring employee satisfaction, staff turnover, working hours, sickness absence and so on. Environment KPIs: Environment specific KPIs include energy usage, water usage, wastage production, commercial vehicles movements, habitat retention and product life cycle performance. Quality KPIs: These would include measurements of client satisfaction, resident satisfaction, defects at the time of project handover, and defects found during inspections. Deliverables KPIs: This category of KPIs include construction costs, predictability costs, reparing costs, rent loss costs, construction time, and repair time(Print, 2003). Value addition by Project Manager Project manager adds value to the construction project by (Bonnal, 2012): Bringing coordination among all the internal and external team members Ensure that the project is delivered within the schedule and within budget Save on costs by avoiding unnecessary expenses on project Ensure that all stakeholder needs are fulfilled by keeping a continuous communication with them Ensure that all project risks are resolved before any significant impact is being made on the project. Revised project execution plan Project plan is revised based on the KPI requirements of the project team such that the same would be measured to understand the performance of the project project outcomes assessment The project is assessed on the basis of the following: Schedule delays and compromises Profitability Risks resolved Deliverables Stakeholder satisfaction level Resident satisfaction level Lessons learned Unresolved conflicts References Atout, M. (2008). The obligations of the Contractor's Project Manager in construction projects. UAESoE. Bonnal, P. (2012). Project Management.Construction Management and Economics, 30(3), pp.248-250. Clough, R. (1972).Construction project management. New York: Wiley-Interscience. DELNAVAZ, M. (2012). Project Managers Role in Sustainable Building Process. Gteborg, Sweden: CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY . Hills, M. J., Fox, P. W., Skitmore, M., K.H., C., Fong, P. S. (2008). The role of project managers in construction industry development. AACE International's 52nd Annual Meeting ICEC's 6th World Congress on Cost Engineering, Project Managment and Quantity Surveying (pp. 1-13). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: In Bridge, Carolyn. Lau, E., Kong, J. J. (2005). IDENTIFICATION OF CONSTRAINTS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE . City University of Hong Kong . Littau, P., Dunovi, I. B., Pau, L.-F., Mancini, M., Dieguez, A. I., Medina-Lopez, C., et al. (2015). Managing Stakeholders in Megaprojects. University of Leeds. Olander, S. (2007). Stakeholder impact analysis in construction project management.Construction Management and Economics, 25(3), pp.277-287. Print, M. (2003). Overview of the Construction Industry KPIs. Department of Trade Industry, UK. Sexton, M. (2011). Sustainability: The changing built environment. Readings University. Shannon, D., Dodd, R., Feest, T., Watson, J. (2003). National Occupational Standards for Project Management. ECITB. Zou, P. X., Zhang, G., Wang, J.-Y. (2005). Identifying Key Risks in Construction Projects: Life Cycle and Stakeholder Perspectives. Sydney,Australia;: University of New South Wales.

Samsung and Financial Crisis Case Study Essay Example

Samsung and Financial Crisis Case Study Essay USC Marshall School of Business Marshall Research Paper Series Working Paper MKT 16-10 Brand Attachment and Brand Attitude Strength: Conceptual and Empirical Differentiation of Two Critical Brand Equity Drivers C. W. Park Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California Deborah J. MacInnis Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California Joseph R. Priester Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California Andreas B. Eisingerich Imperial College London Dawn Iacobucci Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Science Research Network electronic http://ssrn. com/abstract=1605782 1 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstract=1605782 1 Brand Attachment and Brand Attitude Strength: Conceptual and Empirical Differentiation of Two Critical Brand Equity Drivers May 12, 2010 C. Whan Park Joseph A. DeBell Professor of Marketing ACCT 306C Marshall School of Business University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089-0403 Phone: 213-740-7107; Fax: 213-740-7828 [emailprotected] usc. edu Deborah J. MacInnis Charles L. and Ramona I. Hilliard Professor of Business Administration ACCT 306C Marshall School of Business University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089-0403 Phone: 213-740-5039 ; Fax: 213-740-7828 [emailprotected]c. edu Joseph Priester Associate Professor of Marketing ACCT 306C Marshall School of Business University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089-0403 Phone: 213-821-5649; Fax: 213-740-7828 [emailprotected] usc. edu Andreas B. Eisingerich Assistant Professor of Marketing Imperial College Business School Imperial College London London, UK SW 7 2AZ Phone: +44(0)20-7594-9763; Fax: +44(0)20-7823-7685 a. [emailprotected] ac. uk Dawn Iacobucci E. Bronson Ingram Professor in Marketing We will write a custom essay sample on Samsung and Financial Crisis Case Study specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Samsung and Financial Crisis Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Samsung and Financial Crisis Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Owen Graduate School of Management 401 21st Avenue South Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Phone: 615-322-4075; Fax: 615- 343-7177 Dawn. [emailprotected] vanderbilt. edu Forthcoming, Journal of Marketing Electronic Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstract=1605782 2 Brand Attachment and Brand Attitude Strength: Conceptual and Empirical Differentiation of Two Critical Brand Equity Drivers Abstract Research has not verified the theoretical or practical value of the brand attachment construct in relation to alternative constructs, particularly brand attitude strength. The authors make conceptual, measurement, and managerial contributions to this research issue. Conceptually, they define brand attachment, articulate its defining properties, and differentiate it from brand attitude strength. From a measurement perspective, they develop and validate a parsimonious measure of brand attachment, test the assumptions that underlie it, and demonstrate that it indicates the concept of attachment. They also demonstrate the convergent and discriminant validity of this measure in relation to brand attitude strength. Managerially, they demonstrate that brand attachment offers value over brand attitude strength in predicting (a) consumers’ intentions to perform difficult behaviors (those they regard as utilizing consumer resources), (b) actual purchase behaviors, (c) brand purchase share (the share of a brand among directly competing brands), and (d) need share (the extent to which consumers rely on a brand to address relevant needs including those brands in substitutable product categories). Keywords: Brand management, consumer behavior, marketing strategy, brand attachment, attitude strength Electronic Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstract=1605782 3 Academic researchers and practitioners in marketing have shown significant interest of late in studying consumers’ attachment to brands (Chaplin and Roedder John 2005; Park and MacInnis 2006; Schouten and McAlexander 1995; Thomson 2006). As a construct that describes the strength of the bond connecting the consumer with the brand, attachment is critical as it should impact behaviors that foster brand profitability and customer lifetime value (Thomson, MacInnis, and Park 2005). At the same time, marketers have long invoked the constructs of attitude valence and strength as key antecedents to consumer behavior. Attitude valence is defined as the degree of positivity or negativity with which an attitude object (here a brand) is evaluated. Brand attitude strength is conceptualized as the positivity or negativity (valence) of an attitude weighted by the confidence or certainty with which it is held, i. e. , the extent to which it is seen as valid (Petty, Brinol, and DeMarree 2007). Strong attitudes result from effortful thought about the attitude object (Petty and Cacioppo 1986), most often given its personal relevance. This effortful thought, and the confidence with which the attitude object is held, guide behavior. Brand attitude strength has been shown to predict behaviors of interest to firms, including; brand consideration, intention to purchase, purchase behavior, and brand choice (Fazio and Petty 2007; Petty, Haugtvedt, and Smith 1995; Priester et al. 2004). The rich history of research on brand attitude strength raises questions about the need for a construct such as brand attachment. Does attachment provide value beyond measures of brand attitude strength? At present, the answer to this question is elusive, as research to date has not verified how brand attachment and brand attitude strength differ conceptually or empirically. Nor has research differentiated what unique consumer behaviors, if any, each predicts. The present research makes three key contributions pertinent to these issues. First, we differentiate the brand attachment construct from brand attitude strength conceptually, arguing Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstract=1605782 that the two constructs have distinct conceptual properties and entail different formation processes. Second, we validate this distinction empirically, developing a novel scale that maps the conceptual properties of brand attachment and assessing its relationship to attitude strength. Third, and most significantly, we empirically demonstrate that attachment and attitude strength have distinct behavioral implicat ions. Brand attachment more accurately predicts intentions to perform behaviors that utilize significant consumer resources (time, monetary, reputational). It is also a stronger predictor of actual consumer behaviors than is brand attitude strength. These effects are observed in terms of consumer purchase behavior, brand purchase share (i. e. , choice among directly competing brands), and need share (i. e. , choice among brands targeting similar needs), and they are observed even after controlling for consumer inertia (i. e. , past behaviors) and other potential factors. Beyond their theoretical significance, our results have significant managerial implications, suggesting that brand attachment serves as the ultimate destination for customer-brand relationships. As far as we are aware, this is the first article to examine this diverse set of behavioral outcomes from brand attachment and it is the first to demonstrate these effects in relation to attitude strength. Conceptual Distinction between Brand Attachment and Brand Attitude Strength Attachment Although research has examined attachment in interpersonal contexts, research in marketing suggests that consumers can also develop attachments to marketplace entities, including product brands (Fournier 1998; Keller 2003; Schouten and McAlexander 1995), celebrities (Thomson 2006), and special possessions (Ball and Tasaki 1992; Kleine and Baker 2004). Notably, despite 5 the growing popularity of the attachment construct, the conceptual properties of this construct remain elusive. Conceptual properties. Brand attachment is defined as the strength of the bond connecting the brand with the self. Consistent with attachment theory (Mikulincer and Shaver 2007), this bond is exemplified by a rich and accessible memory network (or mental representation) involving thoughts and feelings about the brand and the brand’s relationship to the self. Two critical factors reflect the conceptual properties of brand attachment: brand-self connection and brand prominence. Brand-self connection. First, the idea that attachment involves a bond (with the brand included as part of the self) suggests that a critical aspect of attachment involves the cognitive and emotional connection between the individual and the self, defined here and elsewhere as brand-self connection (Chaplin and Roedder John 2005; Escalas and Bettman 2003; Escalas 2004). By categorizing the brand as part of the self, a consumer develops a sense of oneness with the brand, establishing cognitive links that connect the brand with the self. Though cognitive in its representation, this brand-self linkage is inherently emotional (Mikulincer and Shaver 2007; Thomson et al. 2005), involving myriad and potentially complex feelings about the brand, including sadness and anxiety from brand-self separation, happiness, and comfort from brandself proximity, and pride from brand-self display. Consumers can be connected to a brand because it represents who one is (e. g. , an identity basis) or because it is meaningful in light of goals, personal concerns, or life projects (an instrumentality basis, Mittal 2006). Brand prominence. In addition to brand-self connection, previous research suggests that the extent to which positive feelings and memories about the attachment object are perceived to be top of mind also serves as an indicator of attachment. According to Mikulincer (1998) and 6 Collins (1996), positive memories about the attachment object (e. g. , another person) are more prominent for individuals who are highly attached to an attachment object than they are for individuals who show weak attachment. The fact that brand-self connections develop over time and through experience suggests that brand-related thoughts and feelings become part of ne’s memory and vary in the perceived fluency or the ease with which they are brought to mind. We call this component brand prominence: Prominence reflects the salience of the cognitive and affective bond that connects the brand to the self. This salience is reflected by the perceived (1) ease and (2) frequency with which brand-related thoughts and feelings a re brought to mind. Thus, consumers’ attachment in relation to two brands with the same degree of brand-self connection is greater for the brand that is perceived to be more prominent. Importance of both indicators. Brand-self connection is a core component of attachment since it centrally reflects the definition of attachment as the bond connecting the individual with the brand. However, we suggest that the inclusion of brand prominence adds precision in measuring the â€Å"strength† of the bond connecting the brand with the individual. This is so for two reasons. First, when thoughts and feelings about the brand are highly accessible, prominence may exert a disproportionately strong influence on decision making (Alba and Marmorstein 1987) and ultimately consumer purchase behavior (Akcura, Gonul, and Petrova 2004). Specifically, consumers for whom brand-self connection is high and for whom associations are also prominent may be more likely to engage in relationship sustaining behaviors than those for whom the brand-self connection is high but prominence is low. This is true because the brand’s prominence makes relationship sustaining activities salient as well. Hence, one might observe greater behavioral commitment in the form of brand loyalty and other behaviors (e. g. , positive 7 word of mouth, and more time, money, and energy spent on relationship sustaining behaviors) when both brand-self connection and prominence are high. This logic is also consistent with prior work (Akcura, Gonul, and Petrova 2004; Alba and Chattopadhyay 1986; Alba and Marmorstein 1987), which suggests that the prominence of feelings and thoughts can impact behavior by inhibiting recall of other thoughts and feelings (Alba and Chattopadhyay 1986). As relationship sustaining activities become more prominent, relationship inhibiting behaviors may be inhibited. Second, we noted earlier that consumers can develop a strong brand-self connection because (a) the brand is part of one’s self-conception and/or (b) it has instrumental value. The former emphasizes brand-self connections in terms of who one is and one’s identity. One might expect that when brands are identity based (i. e. , one’s iMac is seen as part of who one is and what one stands for) prominence is generally high since self-activation and brand activation cooccur. If so, adding prominence may add little to the assessment of attachment since prominence and brand-self connection covary. However, prominence may serve as an important indicator of attachment when consumers are connected to a brand given its instrumental value (i. e. one’s iMac is important to fulfilling entertainment and work related goals). That is, when a brand has instrumental value attachment should be stronger when brand-related thoughts and feelings are more vs. less prominent. As prominence increases, brand-related thoughts and feelings are part of everyday life tasks, making brand attachment stronger. Brand attachment emotions. Emotions are often evoked when att achment is strong, as emotions are inherent to brand-self connection and prominence factors. Indeed, the emotional nature of attachment has led to a measure of attachment based purely on emotions. Thomson et al. ’s (2005) 3-factor model characterizes brand attachment in terms of three emotional 8 components: (a) affection (characterized by the emotion items â€Å"affectionate,† â€Å"loved,† â€Å"friendly,† and â€Å"peaceful†), (b) passion (characterized by the items â€Å"passionate,† â€Å"delighted,† and â€Å"captivated†), and (c) connection (characterized by the items â€Å"connected,† â€Å"bonded,† and â€Å"attached†). Although we agree that attachments are emotional, in contrast to Thomson et al. (2005), the set of specific emotions underlying attachment is not central to our conceptualization (or measure) of attachment. Indeed, we are agnostic to the specific set of positive feelings linked to the brand. Feelings linked to brand-self connection and brand prominence could be numerous in type and different feelings may be idiosyncratically linked to specific person-brand autobiographical meanings and their prominence. Such feelings could include those noted by Thomson et al. (2005). However, they could also include joy, excitement, pride, contentment, relief, nostalgia, or any other feelings retrieved from brand-self memories. Second, while passion may indeed characterize strong brand attachment as Thomson et al. 2005) suggest, the degree of passion linked to strong attachment may depend on the relationship’s evolutionary status. Research indicates that passion may wane as relationships progress (Ahuvia, Batra, and Bagozzi 2009). At the same time, relationship progression brings with it more brand-self experiences that should deepen the brand-self bond and enhance its salience. Thus, while time may be associated with waning passion, it may also be associated with enhanced attachment. Representing attachment based on passion may not fully capture all relationships characterized by strong attachment. Third, attachment is more than emotions; it is reflected by mental representations (richcognitive schemata) that include brand-self cognitions, thoughts, and autobiographical brand memories (Berman and Sperling 1994; Mikulincer and Shaver 2007) that may not be captured by 9 measures of emotions. As such, we do not include emotions as factors that indicate brand attachment. Instead, we reason that our two factor model of attachment (brand-self connection and brand prominence) captures the emotions that accompany attachment. 1 Brand attachment and brand relationship quality. The brand attachment concept also shares some conceptual resemblance to Fournier’s (1998) seminal concept of brand relationship quality (BRQ). Both concepts propose similar outcomes (e. g. , accommodations, devaluation of alternatives). Furthermore, Fournier’s (1998) concept includes brand-self connection as one of the six indicators of BRQ, assessing the â€Å"quality, depth, and strength† of a consumer’s relationship with a brand (Fournier 1998, p. 363). However, our measure is designed to reflect only the strength dimension as it pertains to brand-self connection. Moreover, BRQ is designed to accommodate a host of relationships types (e. g. , best friends, kinships, dependencies, and enslavements) and thus accommodates relationships types that can be positive, neutral, or negative. However, brand attachment specifies neither relationship type, nor does it accommodate negative relationships. Differentiating Brand Attachment from Brand Attitude Strength Brand attachment and brand attitude strength share several similarities. Both are psychological constructs that reference a brand. Both involve assessments of â€Å"strength. † (i. e. , of the bond or the attitude). Both assume that high levels of their respective constructs are based on substantial processing regarding the brand. Both have implications for marketing-relevant consumption behaviors, such as brand purchase, repeat purchase, and willingness to recommend a brand. Moreover, we surmise that when consumers are strongly attached to a brand, they can also have 10 a positive and strong attitude toward it. However, we regard brand attachment and brand attitude strength as distinct constructs because they differ in several fundamental respects. First, the constructs differ in the nature of affect they implicate. Whereas attachment implicates hot affect from the brand’s linkage to the self (Mikulincer and Shaver 2007), strong brand attitudes reflect evaluations and cold affect (Cohen and Areni 1991) involving a judgment about the brand. This difference in affect has important implications for brand behaviors as discussed later. In this sense, the constructs differ in their motivational power, with the emotional and self-implications underlying attachment serving as a more powerful driver of behavior. Second, although both constructs involve assessments of strength, the entity to which â€Å"strength† applies differs. With attachment, what is strong is the bond that connects the brand with the self. Bonds are stronger (a) as connections between the brand and self become closer and (b) as brand-related thoughts and memories are more prominent. With strong attitudes, what is strong is one’s judgment of the goodness or badness of the brand. Thus, with attachment, strength references the brand self-relationship. Such strength is indicated by the connection between the self and the brand and a subjective sense of brand prominence. With strong attitudes, strength references the attitude object and the confidence with which it is held. Such strength is often indicated by objective indicators of attitude accessibility. Moreover, the factors that lead to variation in strength vary. With strong brand attitudes, strength varies not as a function of brandself connections or the prominence of brand thoughts, but rather as a function of the confidence with which the judgment is rendered (Petty, Brinol, and DeMarree 2007). Third, the constructs differ in their range of valence. Strong attitudes can range from positive to negative, such that attitude strength is conceptualized on a bi-polar valence dimension. Attitudes thus range from strong-positive to weak-positive to weak-negative to strong-negative. 11 Thus, positive and negative ends anchor the attitude strength continuum and behavior is linked with either end of that continuum. In other words, just as strong positive attitudes predict behavior (e. g. , purchase) strong negative attitudes also predict behavior (e. g. , purchase avoidance). In contrast, attachments are always positive. The opposite of a strong attachment is a weak attachment. What varies is not the valence of the attachment but rather the strength of the bond connecting the brand with the self and its prominence. Finally, whereas attachment is largely time-dependent, brand attitude strength need not be. Specifically, attachment includes relationship based working models (mental representations) that reflect prominent autobiographical and episodic memories concerning oneself and the attachment object. Such models also include procedural knowledge about how the brand can regulate one’s emotions (Collins and Read 1994; Mikulincer and Shaver 2007). Such self-brand links develop over time (Mikulincer and Shaver 2003). In contrast, strong brand attitudes need not be time dependent. They are based on thoughtful processing (elaboration) and can be formed in a limited time as long as the information on which they are based is both persuasive and the result of elaboration. Because attachments develop over time while strong brand attitudes need not, attachment may reflect a more advanced stage of relationship development. Predicting the Differential Impact of Brand Attachment and Brand Attitude Strength Having conceptually distinguished brand attachment from brand attitude strength, we turn now to understanding whether they predict different outcomes. This is a novel issue as prior research has not yet distinguished the differential effects each predicts. Thomson et al. (2005) have demonstrated that their measure of emotional attachment and attitude valence have distinct 12 effects, with attachment better predicting brand loyalty and willingness to pay a price premium. However, their research did not study attitude strength. Since attitude strength is more closely tied to actual purchase behavior than is attitude valence (Fazio 1995; Petty, Haugtvedt, and Smith 1995; Priester et al. 004), a more convincing case for the power of attachment would be made if its impact were different than that of attitude strength. Increasing research shows that attitude strength predicts purchase behavior, with the direction of the behavior (being inclined or disinclined toward purchase) varying as a function of whether attitude valence is strongly positive or strongly negative (Fazio 1995; Petty, Haugtvedt, and Smith 1995). Most often studied are r elatively simple behaviors, such as purchase intentions or product choice (Fazio, Powell, and Williams 1989; Petty, Haugtvedt, and Smith 1995). We add to the literature by suggesting that within a given consumption context, behaviors can be conceptualized along a hierarchy that reflects their enactment difficulty. Difficulty is conceptualized as the extent to which the behaviors expend economic, social, psychological, time, or physical resources. We use an extended version of self-expansion theory to develop these ideas. As described below, our theorizing predicts novel behavioral outcomes that have not been linked with brand attachment or strong brand attitudes, specifically, intentions and actual behaviors, including actual purchase, brand purchase share, and need share. Self-expansion theory provides a basis for these predictions. Self-Expansion Theory and Behaviors Self-expansion theory (Aron et al. 2005) posits that individuals possess an inherent motivation for self-expansion, a desire to incorporate others (here brands) into one’s conception of â€Å"self. † The more an entity (brand) is included in the self, the closer is the bond that connects them. 13 Attachment develops over time as relationships between the self and the entity evolve. Through time, a cognitive reorganization takes place such that the self expands to include the entity. Individuals develop a positive feeling of one-ness with the entity (Aron et al. 1992) and tend to view the entity’s resources as their own (Mittal 2006). We add to self expansion theory by proposing that consumers who are attached to brands are not just recipients of the brand’s resources (i. e. , consumers come to regard the brand’s resources as their own); they also actively invest their own resources in the brand so as to maintain their brand relationship. Thus, consumers who are highly attached to a brand are more motivated to expend resources of their own in the process of self-expansion. Such resources include the allocation of (a) social resources, like defending the brand to others and derogating alternatives (e. g. , Johnson and Rusbult 1989), (b) financial resources, as evidenced by a willingness to pay a higher price for the brand (Thomson et al. 2005) or the willingness to devote a greater share of one’s expenditures to the brand (as opposed to brands in the same or related product categories), and (c) time resources, as illustrated by involvement in brand communities and brand promotion through social media (Muniz and O’Guinn 2001; Schouten and McAlexander 1995). Hence, the more attached one is to the brand, the more likely the individual is to move from an egocentric to a more reciprocal brand relationship involving sharing one’s resources with the brand. As such, consumers who are highly attached to a brand should treat the brand preferentially and engage in restorative behaviors that ensure brand relationship continuation (Aron et al 1992; Aron et al. 2005; Mikulincer 1998). Impact on Intentions to Perform Difficult Behaviors 14 We expect that consumers’ intent to enact difficult behaviors (those that use more of their own resources) is greater when attachment is strong (vs. eak). This is so since a feeling of oneness is accompanied with hot affect, which is highly motivational (Mikulincer and Shaver 2007). Because attached consumers see brands as part of themselves and have salient thoughts and feelings about the brand, they should be more willing to utilize greater resources of their own; resources that require the enactmen t of difficult behaviors so as to maintain that relationship. The greater the attachment, the more difficult the behavior the consumer is willing to enact in order to maintain the brand relationship. Attitude strength should be less able to predict these relationship maintaining, sustaining and restoring behaviors because the brand is not connected to the self and hence is less strongly linked to resource allocation for the purposes of sustaining a brand relationship. This novel extension of self-expansion theory leads us to predict: H1: Brand attachment is a better indicator of a consumer’s intentions to perform difficult behaviors than is brand attitude strength. Impact on Actual Purchase Behavior Whereas H1 examines intentions, a long history of research shows that intentions and actions do not always correspond. This is because situational (e. g. , a brand unavailability), normative (e. g. , social constraints), behavioral (e. g. , habits), and financial (price increase) constraints may preclude intentions from being actualized into behaviors (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975; Shepphard, Hartwick, and Warshaw 1988). When the behavior itself involves significant resources, enactment difficulty will be even higher. We posit that brand attachment will act as a stronger predictor of actual difficult-to-enact behaviors compared to strong brand attitudes. Strongly 15 ttached consumers incorporate a brand as part of their self and hold salient thoughts and feelings about it. On the basis of perceived oneness with a brand, consumers should be more motivated to enact relationship sustaining behaviors that are difficult to perform than consumers with strong brand attitudes. Therefore, we predict: H2: Brand attachment is a better indicator of a consumer’s actual purchase behavior than is brand attitude s trength. Brand Purchase Share We also expect that brand attachment better predicts a brand’s purchase share, defined as the share of a brand among directly competing brands (e. . , if the number of competing brands a consumer purchases in a given product category is 0, the focal brand’s purchase share is 100%). When consumers are strongly attached to a brand, competing brands will be less prominent and linked less strongly to the self. As a result, competing brands will be less likely to be regarded as substitutes. Work in attachment theory and psychology indicates that individuals perceive attached objects as irreplaceable; other objects will not serve as substitutes (Bowlby 1980). Thus, a consumer who is strongly attached to a brand of running shoes (e. g. Nike) is less likely to use competing brands. In contrast, brand attitude strength does not necessarily have the same implications for brand purchase share. One can have a strong positive attitude toward one brand while also having a similar strong positive attitude toward another brand. Thus, we anticipate: H3: Brand attachment is a better indicator of brand purchase share (the share of a brand among directly competing brands) than is brand attitude strength. 16 Need Share We also expect that brand attachment better predicts the brand’s share of use among substitutable alternatives, specifically, need share. For example, a consumer who is strongly attached to a brand of soft drinks is not only less likely to buy competing soft drinks, but also less likely to buy other beverages (e. g. , tea, coffee, water, juice). Likewise, a consumer who is attached to her iPhone may not only be more likely to allocate more of her monetary resources to the iPhone (vs. competing cell phone alternatives), but also more likely to use her iPhone as a source of information and entertainment compared to competing need categories (e. g. , newspapers, TV, magazines). The brands to which consumers are highly attached capture consumers’ mind and heart. Therefore, attached consumers would be less likely to rely on alternatives, even in other categories that fill the same need. Thus, we predict: H4: Brand attachment is a better indicator of brand need share (the relative use of a brand compared to substitutable alternatives) than is brand attitude strength. Study 1: Measuring Brand Attachment We first developed a scale designed to map the conceptual properties of the brand attachment construct noted above. We generated a set of items designed to tap brand-self connections and the prominence of brand thoughts and feelings. Ten indicators of attachment were generated, five each for the brand-self connection and prominence components. All items were evaluated on 11point scales anchored by 0 (= â€Å"not at all†) and 10 (= â€Å"completely†). 17 We analyzed consumers’ responses to the 10-item scale using three very different brands (Quaker Oats Oatmeal, the Apple iPod, and a local university). Through exploratory factor analyses using oblique factor rotation, we reduced the 10-item scale to 8 items. The full list of items comprising this scale and analyses pertinent to this pretest is presented in Table 1. Although the resulting 8-item scale (5 items reflecting brand-self connection and 3 items representing brand prominence) is not unusually long for academic use, we sought to develop a more parsimonious scale that would lend itself to marketing practice. We therefore s