Empire of mALI essays

Empire of mALI essays The Empire of Mali Introduction In its peak, the people of Mali occupied land as far west as the Atlantic Ocean. They also traveled as far east as Gao, the capital of the Songhai, as far south as the Niger bend, and as far north as the Sahara desert. They built a great empire between 1240 and 1337 that underwent a course of slow decline until the seventeenth century. History The empire of Mali originated from a small country known as Kangaba. Its people where known as the Mandingo (they have also been called the Malinke and the Mandinka). After the breakup of Ghana, the Sosso, who had caused the breakup, were still in power. Apparently Sundiata, an heir to the Mandingo throne raised an army and defeated the Sosso in the battle of Kirina. Afterward, Sundiata established the empire of Mali. He converted to Islam for support of the Muslim peoples. When Mansa Musa came into power, in the early 1300s, the empire reached its height. Mansa Musa traveled through Cairo on his pilgrimage to Me cca. It is said that he gave away so much gold that it dropped in value in Cairo for 12 years. Afterward the empire slowly declined, until, in the 1600s it was no more than it had been originally when it originated: the small kingdom of Kangaba. Government The government of Mali was a dictatorship. The dictator, who had the title of Mansa, was the sole secular and religious leader of his people, though not he did not enjoy the same power as Egyptian Pharaohs did. The base of government was located in the capital, known as Niani. It was once written by a traveler that a person could travel safely without fear of harm, and that the people of Mali hated injustice and the Mansa did not tolerate injustice at all. The military branch of government was constant. There was a standing army of professional soldiers, so that Mali was ready for a battle without having to raise an army every time. Religion The religion in Mali was divided between two groups. The mercha ...

Free sample - Brand and Customer Behavior literature review. translation missing

Brand and Customer Behavior literature review. Brand and Customer Behavior literature reviewBrand and Customer Behavior in the contemporary corporate world has received a lot of attention and debate on whether the former affects the latter. As a matter of fact, there have been so many questions seeking to establish whether brands have any effect to the customer behavior. In regard to literature by Glynn (2009, p.97), brand is a market based asset which largely shapes the behavior of a customer. Arguably, brands are advertised so that they may influence the behavior of the customers. In some cases, customers have purchased products owing to the brand. For instance, a car that is branded with a brand reflecting status and reputation may influence a customer to purchase the car brand seeking to get the prestige promised by the brand. On the other hand, brands have effect on the customer behavior (Kumar, 2008). He supports this by presenting detailed information on brand attitude which is the attitude toward a brand by a customer. This attitude is attributed to the brand trust and effect altogether. The former refers to the customer’s willingness to trust the brand to satisfy his or her needs while the latter has to do with customer’s emotional response towards a brand. This makes it possible to generate an emotion toward the customer’s preference of the brand for use (p.193). Further in this context, Wilburn (2006) has examined in detail the factors that affect as well as shape customer’s behavior. As a matter of fact, he points out to brand image as the mental picture formed by a customer towards a brand. In this case, brand has been pointed out as to provide a customer with a reason to purchase a product in place of another. Traditionally, Wilburn (2006, p.2-3) states that brand images have been in use as a method of influencing customer behavior and as well acquisition of new customers of a product. Arguably Salver (2009, p.92-93), has provided literature on the effect that brand has on the customers. In this context, brand image has been associated with an ability to bind consumers on the basis of emotion and thus customers going for the very brands. Brand images have also been cited as powerful tools for establishing loyalty of the customer to the particular brand. From this point of view, it is evident from literature that there have been an academic background regarding brand and customer behavior which has previously tried to answer the research question whether brands affect the customer/ consumer behavior.      References Glynn, MS 2009, Business-to-business brand management: theory, research and executive case study exercises, Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley. Kumar, V 2008, Managing customers for profit: strategies to increase profits and build loyalty, Wharton School Publishing, New Jersey. Salver, J 2009, Brand Management in the Hotel Industry and Its Potential for Achieving Customer Loyalty, GRIN Verlag, Norderstedt. Wilburn, M 2006, Managing the customer experience: a measurement-based approach, American Society for Qualit, Wisconsin.