Research Paper on Environmental Factors in global and domestic marketing - Free Essay Example

ABSTRACT The research paper has been prepared on Environmental Factors in global and domestic marketing. The main objective of this research is to understand the complete meaning of this subject and analyze the current marketing fundamentals. Several evidences have been used to support the topic. It presents key concepts that are practical and useful. INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING Prior to starting with discussing the Environmental factors for domestic and Global marketing, we must get an understanding of what is marketing? And what is the significance of marketing in the growth of a firm? MarketingÂÂ  is the one of the most important process by which companies attract customer interest in goods or services. It generates the plan and strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments.ÂÂ  It is an integrated process through which companies retain the existing customers and attract new customers which is directly proportional to turnovers and profit. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus fromÂÂ  productionÂÂ  to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of stayingÂÂ  profitable. Marketing is used to identify theÂÂ  customer, to satisfy theÂÂ  customer, and to keep the customer. As a customer with respect to the market ing of a company, my expectation would be what new the firm has to offer. To keep the interest of customer a firm must keep on upgrading the feature of product or bringing new products and keep the marketing to the best. Marketing is based on various environmental factors which are Social Economical Technological Competitive Regulatory Social factor defines the demographic characteristics of population, gender differences, buying patterns of the customer, culture attitudes and diversity. Economical factor defines the standard of living on customers, purchasing power of the customers, expenditures, and resources that affect the business running cost. Technological factor defines the engineering work. Competitive factor defines firms which work in same area or in layman language produce same product or provide same services. Regulatory factor defines patenting of the product, licensing related, taxes, contracts, permits etc GLOBAL ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE Global Economic interdependence is all about the relationship between countries or regions that depend on each other for the business and product or service to be consumed. This interdependence comes with the skill of the labor, the availability of labor, cheap labor and natural resources used into manufacturing of the products etc. The manufacturer of product A is the buyer of B and the producer of B may be buyer of C, so this creates an interdependence cycle. If A is good in business then B business is enhanced as A has purchasing power to buy B. Let me explain this with an example.USA outsource the Information Technology related work to countries like India and China coz India and China has cheap labor which has expertise into Information Technology which is making US economy strong and also the development of these counties as it is generating job opportunities into Asian countries, with this increase in standard of living and purchasing power Indian and Chinese can af ford to purchase US products. IMPORTANCE OF DEMOGRAPHICS AND PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE Demographic and physical infrastructure has huge impact on the firms policy making and planning the lines on which the firm would work. For example there is a construction company Paul Constructions which is deciding which cities it should target for next 5 years to put on their project, for this Paul Construction has to consider which cities are growing in population and the standard of living of people of cities going up so that they can purchase the special product of the firm. Some firms start up their branch only in cities which has great infrastructure .Infrastructure is a main thing which support to a firm. An IT company which has all international clients then must be near to an international airport so that the client and employee do not take time in travelling. Good roads and other ways of transportation decide the time the product reaches market from the assembly line, any sort of delay is revenue losses. Suppose a luxury car company wants to set up a show room into a city then it has to consider the purchasing power of the people of the city or region. It doesnt make a sense that a manufacture set up a branch or show room where hardly somebody has the standard of buying the product. INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Culture relates to language, religion, values, education, social organization, technology and material culture, law politics and aesthetics. International marketing must keep in mind the cultural aspect of the region where they want to promote the business in coming time. The region which has a different language or style then marketing in same language or style has great impact on customers. The marketing manager must keep in mind that the marketing strategy has positive religious aspect, there should not be any hurting to religious feeling of the customers. There are vast variations of values and attitudes between nations and even within. Deep knowledge and detailed analysis of the local environment is needed prior to taking product or service to that locality. The level and nature of education vary between nations and regions, so with respect to marketing right medium and way has to be applied so that consumer gets attracted to the product, for example audio adverti sements are more significant in regions where literacy rate is low rather than printed. A marketing manager has to consider how a nations society is organized; the level of influence of class or casts upon a society needs to be considered. Technology and Material culture has to be also kept in mind while preparing the marketing strategy where in one must consider the power sources, roads, and other infrastructure and how fast in a region technology advancement would happen etc. The political ideology on which the society is based will impact marketing strategy for example UK has completely different political setup then an African country, Aesthetics is all about bringing the artist out of you through any medium may be smell, taste or color BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Business ethics and corporate social responsibility is a big factor in deciding marketing plan and strategy. Business ethics and corporate social responsibility is not about laws and regulations within the firm or the legal standards but it is gaining the confidence and respect of the consumer to sell the product. Firms are aiming towards better business practices and ethical behavior. Demand of a product of the company is directly promotional to the higher standard of corporate social responsibility. For example Indian IT companies believe in transparency of the funds it gets from the client so that the client gets a clear picture of what he is paying? Is he paying right? Such a practice earns them the respect and confidence of the clients. There are a number of actions which a company can take but they may legal but unethical. Some companies ignore this factor in order to earn right profits but have to face consequences afterwards. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 Foreign corrupt practices act was enacted by congress in 1977 to stop the bribery practices to gain foreign business. This act has two salient points 1) how to spot FCPA issues and 2) how to recognize a bribe violation. INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY Technology has great impact on marketing research and strategy. Technology changes or rather advances the ways in which the research is done, the way marketing manager gets tuned with advance technology coming in. There is a huge impact of technology in storing, retrieving the companies and consumers data which helps in vast way in doing marketing research. The advancement of technology has brought in the better ways of communicating with customers for example now customer do not have to go out to stores to buy a product rather they can order it online using internet. Internet is the biggest means of advertisements and marketing, sites for various companies and firm who maintains customer relationship where customer can input feedback s and complains of a product he/she has bought or get online assistance of how to use it etc. Search engines like Goggles etc help in great deal in finding the information and collection of raw, fact and figures to bring up the marketing strategy.

The Choosing by Liz Lochhead Anlysis - 1600 Words

‘The Choosing’ by Liz Lochhead is a poem which depicts the importance of the choices one makes in early phases of life. In this specific poem the main theme revolves around how wealth, family, different opinions about life and where a girl stood in the 80s influenced one’s choice; hence the title of the poem is ‘The Choosing’. In the poem the author compares her life to her best friend’s life. In their childhood days they were equal in almost anything they did including their appearance, behaviour at school, level in education and even houses because they were expected to be like that. As life moved on different decisions were made and the two girls had developed totally different characters. As the persona exposes the options that were†¦show more content†¦They lived in the same ‘houses’, another meaning for house is camera and we can associate that meaning with the fact that on the outside everything seemed to be the sam e just like looking at a picture. However, different homes meant that they were brought up and influenced by different people with different notions about life. So linking the two statements, â€Å"same houses, different homes†, it is known that the families of the two girls decided their future, â€Å"where the decisions were made†. This enables the reader to easily link back to the main theme and know that girls in the 80s usually did not have control over their lives. Moving towards stanza four, the author shows how wealth and different opinions about life influence ones choice. This stanza also highlights the fact that in the 80s decisions were made by the most dominant person in the family, a male or it can be known as modern type of patriarchy. The author uses a stereotype to emphasise on how her friend’s father was a typical ‘backward’ thinking man. The author was not sure why her friend had to leave, but had a clue that her father moved to a place where it was more affordable to live. We know that by the line, â€Å"I don’t know exactly why they moved, but any way they went. Something about a three-apartment ---and a cheaper rent†. This line refers back to the main theme as it shows how money influenced the family’s choice.

Strategy Formulation free essay sample

As defined by Andrew M. Pettigrew of United Kingdom, the formation of strategy in organizations is a continuous process. Specific dilemmas within the firm, or in the firm’s environment, may raise the organization members’ consciousness of strategy and allow us, as analysts, to think of strategy formulation as an intentional process built around certain discrete decisions; but strategy is being formed implicitly all time. Choices are made and acted upon in processes involving individuals and subgroupings, at various organizational levels, that develop into the pattern of thinking about the world, evaluating that world, and acting upon that world that we call strategy. Study of the process strategy formulation therefore involves analyses of both discrete and identifiable decision events, together with the connections between successive decisions over time. Strategic planning is a sequential process, with each part building upon the previous one. The initial step in strategy formulation is typically the compilation and dissemination of the vision and mission statement. It specifies the organization’s scope of activities and the market a firm wishes to serve. Follow-on strategy formation is a combination of three main processes which are as follows: Performing a situation analysis, self-evaluation and competitor analysis: both internal and external; both micro-environmental and macro-environmental. Concurrent with this assessment, short- and long-term objectives are set. These objectives should include completion dates. Implementation plans then detail how the objectives are to be achieved. The strategy hierarchy Most corporations have multiple levels of management. Strategic management can occur at corporate, business, functional and operational levels. Corporate strategy answers the questions, which businesses should we be in? and how does being in these businesses create synergy and/or add to the competitive advantage of the corporation as a whole? Business strategy is the corporate strategy of single firm or a strategic business unit (SBU) in a diversified corporation. Functional strategies are specific to a functional area, such as marketing, product development, human resources, finance, legal, supply-chain and information technology. The emphasis is on short and medium term plans. Functional strategies are derived from and must comply with broader corporate strategies. Defining an operational strategy was encouraged by Peter Drucker. It deals with operational activities such as scheduling criteria. Define the word strategy and formula and its history Strategy has been defined by Robert M. Grant as the match an organization makes between its internal resources and skills.. and the opportunities and risks created by its external environment. Understand the SWOT analysis and its relation to strategy formulation â€Å"Strategy formulation and implementation. † by Richard Daft. Prepared by Gregar Donaven E. Valdehueza, MBA (Lourdes College Intructor) S ? Strenghts Positive internal Characteristics that the organization can exploit to achieve its strategic performance goals. W ? Weaknesses Internal characteristics that might inhibit or restrict the organization’s performance. O ? Opportunities Characteristics of external environment that have potential to help the organization achieve or exceed its strategic goals. T ? Threats Characteristics of external environment that may prevent the organization from achieving its strategic goals. Learn the step by step strategy formulation 1 Understand strategy and its importance: You need a strategy that beats the market realities. There are certain common denominators for all the companies that operate like customers, suppliers, competitors, and potential entrants (competitive products). Now each of these try to demand and command attention in furtherance of their own cause. All these also can work towards reducing the gap between the capital investment and returns (profit/loss). It is prudent to manage these denominators in a way that reverses the trend and makes returns, a healthy multiple of capital investment. 2 Identify the source of advantage and exploit it: There are many sources of advantage for an entrepreneur two of the most important being, location and special capability. Now these are scarce commodities and any strategy plan conceived around attributes puts the organization ahead of the rest of the competition and positions you along with the best of the competition, and makes success that much less complicated. 3 Position the organization appropriately: Focus on the markets and the marketing factors that synch with the nature, culture, size and technological advantages and constraints. Determine and discriminate between the markets while allocating funds. The strategy should reflect a clear understanding of markets and should result in intelligent defining of the segments that could result in refined resource allocation. This should of course be preceded by microscopic market research at granular level to see direction of trends in those markets. 4 Do not follow the trends, but set one: Far too often it has been observed, that the strategies are woven around the existing market trends. This is considered a way of playing safe, but how safe it is, is the question. The word â€Å"trend† itself denotes a temporary existence and ease of replaceability (imminence of change). The strategy should be to peep into the future and identify what could be tomorrow’s trend. Identify and formulate the strategy accordingly, or better still plan a strategy that could make you a trend setter. 5 Base your team strategy on privileged insights into futures, not on past history: It is a common practice, to collect heaps of information on the history, do some arbitrary interpolation or extrapolation and then base team strategy on this data. This will no doubt allow your team to sustain past commitments without losses but if growth is your objective and market leadership the ultimate aim, youll need to have an insight into the future. A glance into people’s pulse regarding what they have versus new things they would like to have gives a fairly accurate insight into the future. It pays to organize frequent market research (controlled advancements are not moved forward randomly). With the availability of so many social media platforms, it is now easier to gauge people’s aspirations by seeing and assessing interests and frustrations in your network. 6 Plan to enable success, but respect the glorious uncertainties of the market. An all weather strategy often keeps you always afloat compared to one planned for normal (current) market behavior. Planning for the event of a failure (such as maintaining liquidity by renting or leasing versus owning capital assets) is always better than failing to plan. Uncertainties of the future can be classified into four levels. Level one gives a fairly clear view of the future, and an inkling of what to expect. Level two is a little more hypothetical about the action and outcomes, but rather concrete expectations. Level three works on the law of probability for likelihood of returns. Level four represents total ambiguity (on a hunch for example) about the outcome and delivers shockers. A formulated strategy can reasonably be expected to provide for the first two levels. Strategy for the third and fourth levels depends upon various factors, and should be best left to the ingenuity of the entrepreneur and enterprise. 7 Stage your strategy to have a correct balance of commitment and flexibility: Commitment (of resources) and flexibility (variations) are inversely proportionate and more often than not, they are malefic to each other (jumping in contravenes edging in, one toe at a time). It is all about trade-off between the two, and success depends on the timing and intuition. If it is a leap in the dark, how you land your market for your new product depends on your expertise and experience in creating a new markets or vice-versa. 8 Make your strategy to be understood and bought into by your team: Your planning should be done in such a way that it is backed by a strong conviction in the team who must deliver on the plans. This is possible, if you take into confidence the department heads during the planning stage, take their views, and where ever feasible implement them. Ownership at the planning stage naturally ensures ownership and informed support at the implementation stage. 9 Align plan and action Translate your strategy into an implementable action plan. First, define clearly what you are moving from and where you are moving to with respect to your company’s business model, organization, and capabilities. Develop a detailed view of the shifts required to make the move, and ensure that processes and mechanisms, for which individual executives must be accountable, are in place to effect the changes. Quite simply, this is an action plan. 10 Be sure that everyone knows the timetable for what to do and being proactive, not reactive. Be sure that each major â€Å"from–to shift† is matched with the energy and assets to make it happen. Since the totality of a major change often represents a corresponding organizational transformation, make sure you and your senior team: Draw on research and experience offering solid advice on successful change management revealed by the large body of information of actual, successful change. planning process 11 Align your strategy to the required resource allocation: That is the final but most important point don’t forget to make sure your ongoing resource allocation processes are aligned with your strategy so that when you do implement changes, you have the resources to fully take advantage of matching resources to the opportunities in your new niche, product and market. Appreciate the importance of strategy formulation

The Immigrant Experience-Coming to America. free essay sample

During the passage, immigrants-to-be experienced hunger, thirst, fear and a great percentage of them also experienced homesickness, Those people probably were not aware of the difficulties that they were going to face on the way to the New World ND some of them even regretted leaving home. When arriving in Philadelphia, those who had the money to pay for their freight were let off first. The next ones to be let off of the ship were the ones who were healthy and, consequently, had more chances of getting purchased (redemptions). The sick ones were left In the ship until they recovered or died. Those who were purchased had to work for their owners from 3 to 7 years depending on age and health. On many occasions, families were sold to different purchasers and they were not able to see each other for years or even for the rest of their lives. In this document, the author let us realize that the decision to come to America was not always worthwhile. We will write a custom essay sample on The Immigrant Experience-Coming to America. or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The distress immigrants had to experience during the journey and also the type of life they would have In America was definitely not what they were expecting at all. . Hugh Bottler Recounts the Discontent in Ireland that Resulted in Emigration In this document, Bottler describes the situations in which people in Ireland were currently living under and relates the emigration especially to poverty (the pull). He also says that many people had been migrating to America attracted by a better life ND more Job opportunities (the push). However, he Is aware of the fact that 1 In 10 men do well abroad and the rest lives In a horrible situation. Even being aware of these facts, people still wanted to migrate attracted by the story of those who succeeded.What I could learn from this document is that the factors that attracted people to come to this country back in the 18th century are still the same factors that attract people to this country in the 21 SST century. Stories of people who came here and made a lot of money or succeeded somehow are still the the push for those ho are unsatisfied In their home countries. The American Dream of having a better life, family and a house is still present in todays society, and even though people know that they may be explored, forced to leave family members behind, and suffer discrimination and humiliation wont stop them from coming to America.Back in the 18th century people would board on a ship and come to America to either sell their labor or to try to have a better life in this country. Nowadays, people do not pay to board on ships anymore. But they pay coyotes and agents to facilitate their entrance ears and years in order to pay for the Journey and in some cases, even use their family members as a guarantee. 3. J. Hector SST. John De Occurred Celebrates the Possibilities of America for Its Immigrants In this document, the author brings up the good aspects of immigrating to America.He sees America as the land of opportunities and freedom where there is no aristocracy, members of church or covet benefiting a certain class. In his opinion, the rich and the poor were closer to each other than they were in Europe and that allowed social mobility. He also mentions that an English man should no longer insider England his home country because it was not providing him with the basic needs for subsistence. He, then, introduces the creation of a new race- American. An American would be the mixture of a variety of races: Irish, French, Dutch, Scotch, Germans and Swedes.In his opinion, individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men. The most important points touched by the author are freedom and equality, and these are still reasons that make foreigners move to America. People come to this country with the hope to be whoever they want to be and be treated the ay that they deserve to be treated, regardless of race, creed or color. 4. Peter Calm, a Traveler, Observes the Variety of Labor in the Colonies Peter Calm analyses the different types of laborers present in the American colonies in 1750.He categorizes them into 2 groups: free persons (those who were able to pay for their passage and indentures) and slaves. Free persons who were able to pay for their passage usually had to work for their masters by the year; however, they were free to leave anytime they wanted. I they decided to leave before the year ended they were in danger of losing their wages. Another type of servant was the indentures. These people were the ones who did not have the money to pay for their passage and so had to get purchased. They usually had to work between 3-7 years.Some indentures paid for only half of the passage. By doing so, they would save some money, and in their conception, experience the culture and learn the language while working for their masters, what could help in the process of Americanization. This type of indentured was preferable to all others because not so much money had to be spent at one time. Negroes (blacks) were the most expensive type of servant. A lot of none had to be spent at the time of purchase and they would be under the responsibility of the masters until he dies or the masters decided to set him free.Peter Calm sees the labor in America from an analytical point of view and points out the pros and cons of having a specific type of servant. He also points out the fact that although there were laws protecting Negroes from getting killed, not a single white man had suffered punishment for killing a black servant. 5. Benjamin Franklin Opposes the Migration of Non-English into the Colonies, 1755 Franklins opposition to the migration of non-English into the Colonies is based on schism and natives.From his point of view, bringing Negroes, Germans, Spaniards, Italian, French, Russian and Sweden to the New World would Just contribute to the increase of the population in America by people that would bring their habits, Franklin defends the idea that America should be occupied Just by English because they are the only ones who, with the Saxons, are purely white. By doing this, America would have a brighter light to the eyes of the inhabitants of Mars or Venus. Today, I can only imagine how frustrated Franklin would be if he was still alive. Americas population is getting more mixed each day.

buy custom William Shawcross essay

buy custom William Shawcross essay This Book Report is about Allies by William Shawcross published by Publicaffairs published on January 6, 2004 in New York. In March 2003 the United States, England, and their coalition allies took massive perils in attacking Iraq. They jeopardized one of the most thriving coalitions in history. They jeopardized both the United Nations and themselves. And they periled forming a new marsh in which terrorists could breed and prosper. Allies by William Shawcross is an investigation of the risks taken in Iraq, the motive for them and the ways in which the confrontation posed by Iraq was different from anything faced by the post-war Western accord. Perhaps for that rationale, the choice to go to war in Iraq endangered, and to some level still intimidates, to obliterate that accord. William Shawcross, a notable foreign writer with an unrivalled viewpoint on international associations, shows why the United States had to take the path; why Britain-and many other countries pursued; and why Franco-German fabrication and hindrance had to be brushed aside. Without reducingthe realism of the continuing risks or rejecting that blunders were made along this most tricky of journeys, Shawcross disputes fervently that going to war in Iraq was the correct thing to do. William Shawcross first came to fame with Sideshow, a buzzing denunciation of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon's measures in Cambodia. This time he vigorously supports the armed forces actions of the United States administration as it attacks Iraq and overthrows the government of Saddam Hussein. Preventive war is not the uncharacteristic approach that some of George W. Bush's detractors might propose but rather an essential plan in dealing with perilous dictators. Shawcross tramples calmly on the argument over the reality of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and the anxious setting of post-Saddam Iraq while telling at length the human rights offenses committed by Saddam Hussain and his sons Qusay and Uday to make the point that that the war was necessary. France and Germany are cast here as ungrateful opportunists for their antagonism to Bush. Jacques Chirac, in particular, is on the receiving end of much hostility by Shawcross who neverr lets pass an opportunity to mention nickname s like "The Crook" or "Super Menteur" to illustrate the president of France. Strangely, given the book's title and cover photograph of United States President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, there is slight inside information on the bond between the two men and the American and British decision makers that hasn't been well recorded in conventional news channels reporting of the war. This inconsequentiality widens to the rest of Allies as well. I wished for some ground-breaking examination or radical study but Shawcross frequently just presents his view: that Saddam was treacherous, the Americans were correct to eliminate him, and that the UN and much of Europe were incorrect to object. Another dilemma with Allies is how fluid the condition in Iraq was as the book went to press. As a consequence, Shawcross's examination runs the possibility of being obsolete and inappropriate within a moderately short period of time. Allies is a swift read and Shawcross is a very good writer but one desires that he could have given more profundity to such a complex situation. Buy custom William Shawcross essay

Business Plan Master Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Business Plan Master - Case Study Example Furthermore, Ms. Thomas feels that her enthusiasm towards the task will enable her become a successful sole proprietor. However, there seems to be some drawbacks in that she has a dispute with her husband with whom they have separated but this does not seem to deter from achieving her goals. Ms. Thomas has never been an entrepreneur and therefore she does not have any records to indicate that she has engaged in business before. Financially, Ms.Thomas seems to have some financial commitment because as indicated, she has had a bank account for ten years. In her business proposal, she has left out some essential information, which would assist her in the in understanding the kind of business she wants to engage in. A business plan is also evaluated by looking at one's ability to run a business. In business, it involves one's ability to manage resources. From Ms. Thomas history, she has little or no experience that she can use to manage her business. This would be very challenging to her because, in order to run a business well, one needs to have knowledge that will assist her in the management of the physical, human and financial resources. Due to the fact that this is the first time that she is engaging in business, she may not have any business documents to support her claim that she has the ability to keep financial records. In this case, if requested by the bank to show the business records, then, she would not have any to show since this is one requirement that a bank would ask for when one is requesting for a business loan. Management would also be evaluated in a business plan. This would be done in terms of assessing the quality of the key personnel that she would employ the relevance of decision makers and also the level of education and training displayed by the key personnel. In Ms. Thomas proposal, she does not explain in any way in which the personnel would be recruited to assess their credibility in terms of offering quality service to the clients. In this case, she would not be in a position to know if the key personnel are helping her in making relevant decisions in the business. The purpose of a business should also be analyzed in a business plan. One needs to explain why a banking facility is needed, whether the facility will be based on serving the customers, whether it would be used for trading purposes or for purchasing fixed assets. Ms. Thomas proposal clearly outlines the purposes for which she would use the facility. For instance, she would request a mortgage from the bank to buy fixtures, fittings and stock and also in the acquiring of a premise. In business plans, an analysis is done on amounts. In this case, one has to balance between the customers stake versus the bank. Ensuring that all costs have been included and that they are correct would do this. When analyzing amount, one needs to ensure that the customers' money is injected into the business before the bank lends it money. In the case of Ms. Thomas proposal, she has stated that she would give all her customers priorities but she has not included the costs that would be incurred in running the business. Furthermore, her business is new so she does not have any money from sales that is essential to show to the banks that she indeed has a business that is going on and

Gender issues in asian traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Gender issues in asian traditions - Essay Example t, the dichotomy in the gender roles occur as the primitive societies have viewed men as ‘rational and capable of universally valid thought’ whereas women have always been thought as emotional, feeble and submissive. For them, â€Å"sex differences, the division into male and female bodies, were seen as biological differences†¦.Gender differences, however, behavioural and psychological traits associated with masculinity and femininity, were viewed as socially constructed† (Alsop &Lennon p. 26). This paper tries to analyse the gender roles in Hinduism and Taoism with special reference to the characterization of the feminine in both the religions. One has to keep in mind the fact that both Hinduism and Taoism flourished in highly patriarchal societies where women had minimal roles to play. It is said that Taoism characterizes the feminine as â€Å"passive†, while Hinduism characterizes the feminine as â€Å"active†. However, a close analysis of th e religious practices, gender and social roles of women in both the religions shows one that the characterization of women in Taoism better works in favour of women compared to that of Hinduism. The gender traits of Hindu women can be traced back to their early Brahmanical religion and Vedic inheritance. As Young suggests, the role of women and their rituals during this period was limited to maintaining ‘social and cosmic order’. Rg-Veda propagates the images of the maiden and the bride and praises women for â€Å"their youthful beauty, radiance, appealing adornment, sweet odours, ample hips, and broad thighs† which are evidently associated with â€Å"feminine sensuality and the child-bearing capacity of the girl† (Young 61). Even though the Vedic women’s role was esteemed as wife and mother, she had to remain as a silent partner in the Vedic rituals. The husband’s role was much prominent as he was the patriarchal head of the family and was â€Å"host of the guests, the gods, and was primarily responsible for pleasing