Tuesday, October 8, 2019

VRIO framework of Gillette Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

VRIO framework of Gillette - Research Proposal Example Gillette can also use its goodwill in the market to increase brand saliency. It can also show the bigness of the brand by telling people that it is a part of Gillette Family.. It should inform people that the raw-materials used by Duracell are better than those used by competitors. Using the VRIO framework, the firm can exploit its brand to help with the brand positioning. However, since competition threat is high, due to lack of barriers to entry, more competition is going enter the industry and will threat Duracell's position in the market. This will further drain the resources. However, looking from the SCP model, the firm cannot change much about the structure, it can improve its own conduct and start acting like a market leader. It can also improve the product's appeal to make it look better than competing brands of batteries. Duracell can also join hands with one of its competitor to share knowledge and technology to operate in the market as a bigger brand. This would also help the new bigger firm to exploit all the benefits of economies of scale and to lower its costs to compete with the cheaper brands of batteries. It will really helpful in improve the financial statements of the company and to tackle declining stock prices and deteriorating income statement. The company should try not to divest the brand as it would decrease the product line.

Monday, October 7, 2019

The effectevnice of the green building evaluate & labing system Article

The effectevnice of the green building evaluate & labing system - Article Example ilding formulated the green building evaluation and labeling system (GBELS) which uses nine indicators to evaluate if a building project is environmentally viable. After implementation in 1999, the government mandated that all state building should undertake the green building design. Green building labels were awarded to building fulfilling at least four indicators. Differing feedback have been received with some claming that some GBELS indicators cant be used at the initial design stages, neglects the designer, clients and contractor needs and is not effective. However, some positive feedback indicates that GBELS helped in power conservation, improvement of project life cycle and promotion of green building. In light of these, this research work evaluated GBELS by examining its effectiveness, implementation, application, scope, current practice as well as reveling its merits and demerits for the purposes of recommending on the methods of improving it and using it internationally. ( Chinese architecture and building center, 2007; Lin et al, 2006 and Vivian, 2007) The main aim of the research work was to evaluate and analyze the effectiveness and implementation of GBELS its terms of its applicability, suitability as compared to other environmental assessment tools, its merits and limitations as well as its applicability on an international level. After collecting the data, selection was done to discard wrongly filled questionnaires. For the comparative analysis the author compared GBELS with BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), HKBEAM (Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) (CET, 1999). Where W was the weight given by each factor by the respondent {1(least important)-5(most important)}, A was the highest weight, N was the total number of the sample and was the relative importance index. Administering of questionnaire provides for an adequate means of

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Business to Business Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business to Business Markets - Essay Example In the case of business-to-business, a manufacturer offers more attention to the requirements and demands of the wholesalers or retailers so as to retain its image and reputation in the market. Apart from this, in order to enhance its profitability and image in the market, a wholesaler needs to understand and identify all the changing requirements and preferences of the retailers or customers. This might facilitate the wholesaler to enhance its reliability and consistency within the minds of the customers thereby amplifying its profit margin and total revenue as well. Along with this, it might also amplify help an organization or a wholesaler to develop a good relationship with its customers or retailers thereby reducing its business risks. So, implementation of such a technique is extremely effective for any business enterprise or wholesaler to retain its portfolio in the market in future days (Christensen, 2003).  Moreover, it might help the wholesaler to enhance its position and dependency within the minds of the retailers and customers that may boost its portfolio in the market among others. For example: if a retailer or customer offers more concentration over the orange juices without pulps, then the wholesaler might place both pulpy as well as non-pulpy juices within his outlets. Only then, all the attributes or desires of the customers or retailers are offered equal weight-age so that the rate of switchover may be lowered as described by a non-compensatory model of marketing. Such a tactic is used to attract a wide range of customers or retailers towards the wholesaler thereby amplifying its market share and popularity among other rival players.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

China's business cycle and government policy in economy development Research Paper

China's business cycle and government policy in economy development - Research Paper Example There are many economic indicators that can be used to show the growth of a given economy. In this research paper, only three are discussed. Gross Domestic product(GDP), inflation and the unemployment rate are the major indicators of the economic change in the country. Gross Domestic Product of china The state council of China established a system of national accounting in 1985 to measure the gross domestic product of the people’s republic of China. In comparison, the Gross Domestic Product report produced by Fengbo Zhang in his measurements in 1980 and that of 1998, the difference in the economic levels is negligible. This is the period when the weighting factors underwent tremendous changes. The prices were amended year after another. Despite the great changes in technology in china, the Gross Domestic Product has shown negligible deviation since 1980. The chart below shows the changes in the Chinas GDP as compared to other economic growths in the first and second world countries. Proportion of world (countries with data) nominal GDP for the countries with the top 10 highest nominal GDP in 2010, from 1980 to 2010 with IMF projections until 2016. Grey lines show actual US dollar values China’s mean annual growth in Gross Domestic Growth was 9.90 % from 1980 to 2010. The highest it ever went in the history is 15% while the lowest was 3.7%. in 1984 and 1990 respectively. According to the research of 2013, Chinas nominal GDP by Expenditure approach is 9.2 trillion Dollars of the USA. Factors affecting the GDP in china and other developed countries vary. The first is growth phase and sector shares. Economic development in China and other developed countries have experienced changes, which affected the progress of growth through labor force, participation rate and economic sector relative sizes. Transition from agricultural activities to manufacturing saw the manufacturing industries

Friday, October 4, 2019

The growth in bond issues in Australia Essay Example for Free

The growth in bond issues in Australia Essay The stock of Commonwealth Government Securities rose rapidly in 1990 and peaked in 1997 and it the fell existed and continued till 2003. If the fall continued it would be harmful to the financial market and hence the government announced the it would maintain the viability of the CGS market. At present the value of such bonds exceeds $300 billion. The bonds in Australia in the market represented by Non-CGS and Semi issuance. The Stock of such $300 billion, which is more than 3 times of stock of CGS and Semis. In Australia, the government and non-government sectors issuing the bonds in order to raise the capital. The investors domestic or offshore markets are attracted with the issue of bonds, since the bonds provide secured amount with regular coupon payment for entire life of the bond. The minimum investment in bond is $500,000. For the domestic issue, the commonwealth bank was ranked in number one in the issue of bonds for 2004. It offered fixed and floating rate debt securities. GOVERNMENT During 1990s, the domestic market confined to government borrowers. There is a trend to issue of bonds by financial and non-financial borrowers occasionally issued the bonds into the domestic market only. But since past decade, the corporate bond market in Australia expanded rapidly. The non-government bonds equivalent to 25% GDP. Due to such increase the government bond outstanding fallen. It is an automatic incident since the non-government bonds increasing rapidly as they are capturing the offshore market. During 1990 the Australian government issued the bonds less than $50 billion and even up to 2005 it was continued with $50 billion. During 1995 to 1999 the bond issue was gone up to $100 billion. But the government want to be stable the issue of the bonds and to maintain $50 billion. It is a good sign to the government’s view because the issue of bonds indicates the debt ness of the organization. Due to stability of the issue of the bonds, the image of the government will be increased. STATE GOVERNMENTS In Australia, the State Governments also issuing the bonds and they are also mainlining the Australian government’s policy by maintaining that the debt issue i. e. bonds issue should not be more than $50 AUD billions. Since it is the government policy, they cannot issue more than $50 billion. The state government issues bonds called as Semi Government bonds. These are issued via State governments other than Federal Government. The credit rating varies for every state and hence normally there may be higher rate than commonwealth Government bonds. NON-GOVERNMENT BONDS The banks started to provide more housing loans and it reflected to fall mortgage rates due to lower inflation and increased competition. Of course due to good economic conditions. The banks also diversified its funds to other markets through the local and offshore issuance of bonds and asset-backed securities. With this effect, the non financial corporate increased their borrowing from banks, besides issue of their own bonds. Issue of bonds in such small country leads to beneficial, shift to low inflation and caused to issue of demand for fixed interest bonds. Issue of non-government bonds can be termed as Australian private sector. The issue of such bonds relates to domestic and offshore market. The private is institutions represented by financial institutions, predominant banks. They issued the bonds into offshore markets more than 80% of their total bonds. The issue of bonds in offshore market is rapidly developed from 1990 and at present the outstanding is $350 billions whereas the domestic market i. e. onshore market captures only $200 billion. KANGAROO BONDS It is an Australian dollar-denominated bond issued by a non-Australian entity in the Australian market. It is a bond issued by the foreign entity in Australia. The Kangaroo bonds are also long term debt security issued by the non-residents in the Australian domestic market. Kangaroo bonds play the major role in non-government bond market. During 2003-2004, with the issue of kangaroo bonds, the level of non-government bonds raised from $1. 8 billion to $15. 2 billion. Almost most of 70 percent of this amount contributed by the residents of Australia. The main reason for such contribution in Kangaroo bonds is since the government of Australia reduced the debt security. During that time the government has budget surpluses. Moreover the Australian government encouraged the privatization of some of public departments, which caused the privatization proceeds received. The most of the privatization proceeds and budget surpluses used for repaying the debt. Therefore government stopped to issue the bonds. Under this juncture, the kangaroo bonds were released and rapid growth is inevitable for kangaroo bonds. During that period, since there is other alternative, as the government is not issuing the bonds and highly credit rating given for Kangaroo bonds, Australian investors supposed to get Kangaroo bonds. FLOW OF FUNDS The non-government bonds increased significantly while the Treasury bonds declined. The Flow of funds represented by the non-government bonds, State Government and Commonwealth Government. The importance of bonds credibly increased since 1990 and the Commonwealth Government maintained such level, which is not, exceeded more than 60 billion dollars. The bond category increased since the bonds between money market securities and shares with strong guarantee, though it provides lower yield. Hence the flow of funds in the Australia rapidly increased with the cause of issue of bond securities. Since the investors seeking to avoid the losses of share prices, they shifted their platform to the bonds category. CONCLUSION Since the Australian government maintaining such policy not to issue more than $50 billion, it is inevitable to the other institutions to issue the bonds to get the funds. The domestic market is not having such funds, naturally the financial institutions, banks and other companies started to get the funds through offshore markets by issuing of funds. Due to increase of role by the non-government sector, the government bond out standings fallen as the budget surpluses available to both Central and State Governments. Consequently the role of non-government bonds has increased to become large segment in the Australian bond market.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Attitudes Towards Help Seeking Behaviour In Individuals Psychology Essay

Attitudes Towards Help Seeking Behaviour In Individuals Psychology Essay A questionnaire survey was conducted among the participants the Victoria University Students chose to determine whether attitudes towards seeking professional help changed when focusing upon certain situational variables. The 697 participants in this study each completed a questionnaire which evaluated on a 3 point scale their current attitude towards seeking professional counselling services, whether help had been obtained and their future intentions in seeking help. The study specifically focused on two age groups, 18-25 and 55+. Results indicated that females are more likely than males to have positive attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Also, consistent with the hypotheses, results also supported that younger adults will have a more positive attitude towards seeking seek than older adults and those with prior experience towards seeking professional help can influence an individuals future intentions on seeking help. This study attempts to focus upon the sit uational variables and avoidance factors that may influence attitudes towards seeking professional help. In a society with improved living standards and better access to healthcare, there is still a growing prevalence of men and women that display certain characteristics in their attitudes towards seeking professional counselling services. It is these people that seem to inhibit themselves from reaching out for beneficial services on a range of mental health issues and circumstances that need attention. Research psychologists and counsellors have reported that there are quite a number of factors and situational variables such as age, gender and prior experience that influence an individuals attitude on whether to seek professional help and the reluctance one holds attending such services. It is understood that when one experiences psychological distress, only after they have attempted to resolve their issues and failed will they endeavour to seek counselling or psychotherapy services. (Larson, et al., 2007) Help seeking can be generally defined as the specific behaviour an individual will exhibit when actively seeking help from certain people. Help seeking is a form of coping that opens the doors for communication with other people to gain advice, support and understanding on concerning issues that an individual will attempt to resolve. Counsellors have identified a number of avoidance factors that seem to directly influence an individuals pursuit in seeking help. Also identified are situational variables that impact the probability of an individuals reluctance to seek guidance such as sex/gender, race/ethnicity, treatment setting/treatment issue (Larson, et al., 2007) however, for the purpose of this report, sex/gender, age and prior experience will be focused upon and thoroughly discussed. The act of seeking professional help can come with many barriers and avoidance issues that seem to gain in intensity when an individual approaches the decision to seek such help. Larson, 2007 has summarised and interpreted the avoidance factors that are accepted by the mental health literature in the attitudes towards help seeking behaviours which include, social stigma (Komiya, Good, Sherrod, 2000), treatment fears (Deane Todd, 1996; Kushner Sher, 1989), fear of emotion (Komiya et al., 2000), anticipated utility and risks (Vogel Wester, 2003; Vogel, Wester, Wei, Boysen, 2005), and self-disclosure (Hinson Swanson, 1993; Vogel Wester, 2003) By identifying the above factors, it serves to be a useful function to counsellors that enables them to establish the potential barriers and reluctance towards help seeking. The attitudes and views held by an individual on help seeking are absolutely crucial and fundamental to their mental health and wellbeing. There is increasing awareness from professional and authoritarian bodies that encourages individuals to recognize the signs for help and to seek services from appropriate sources. Reluctance and attitudes towards seeking help will continue to be an obstacle unless counsellors and other professionals highlight and emphasise the importance of how vital it is to seek help when required. It is hypothesised that women have a more positive attitude towards seeking professional help than men. It is also hypothesised that younger adults will have a more positive attitude towards seeking seek than older adults. Finally, it is hypothesised that prior experience towards seeking professional help can influence an individuals future intentions on seeking help. There is growing research and evidence that suggests that the gender of an individual seems to have a correlative link in regards to attitudes towards help seeking. (Larson, et al., 2007) Many studies have concluded that men are more likely to seek professional counselling or psychological support for quite severe psychiatric conditions, (Leaf Bruce, 1987) whilst women are believed to have a more optimistic view in seeking help and are more inclined to seek help than men. (Fischer Farina,1995). It is worth mentioning that studies have also expressed that due to the stereotypes placed upon genders and their role within society, it has a direct impact in the attitudes of seeking help. Using the male gender as an example, a preconceived and stereotypical notion of men would suggest that they have a tough interior and succumbing to the thought that professional intervention may be required, can result in feelings of embarrassment and a sign of weakness as they must accept defeat. (Addi s Mahalik, 2003) Another preconceived notion held by society proposes that once all prior attempts at resolving issues have been exhausted, only in this instance is professional help ought to be sought after. (Angermeyer, Matschinger, Riedel-Heller, 1999) Holding such mentalities may bring the onset of social stigma associated with help seeking behaviours which can ultimately further increase an individuals reluctance in their search for resolutions. This is quite evident in a study that showed that men were more likely to place less important issues aside because of the increased social stigma involved. (Timlin-Scalera, Ponterotto, Blumberg, Jackson, 2003). It is clearly evident that the above findings support the hypothesis that women are more likely to have a positive attitude towards seeking professional help than men. Despite the results suggesting gender can play a direct role in attitude perceptions, studies of certain age ranges of males and females were also measured to investigate a possible correlation if age influences an individuals attitudes towards seeking help. Only a limited amount of research has been conducted investigating the possibility if age seems to play a role in the attitudes towards seeking professional help across different age spans. From the minimal demographic research findings that are available, studies have often used the specific views and attitudes of college educated students who range in 20 years of age and have found that this sample of people are more inclined to show positive attitudes towards seeking help and are more likely to attend services when being compared to individuals of similar age, with no college education and an older age range (Vessey Howard, 1993). Researches are also quite interested in the attitude perceptions of help seeking behaviours of adolescents and have found that despite counselling services being openly available to the majority of adolescents, there are a number of factors that will influence their intentions of doing so. (Boldero Fallon, 1995) Quite interestingly, with results simila r pertaining to that of adolescents, individuals who ranged 65 years of age or older were also found that in spite of professional assistance being easily accessible, an unwillingness was show in taking advantage of the offered services. (Andrews et al.,2001; Veroff, 1981) An interpretation of this finding can suggest that as a result of the increasing attitude perception of avoidance factors, reluctance can be expected. Due to a lack of basic education, individuals in this age range are not aware in recognizing the signs of when assistance is required for mental issues (Hasin Link, 1988) and as a result, individuals in this group were more likely to consult with general medical doctors relating their distress being linked to physical problems. (Leaf, Bruce, Tischler, Holzer, 1987) When comparing both age ranges, those 65 years or older were reported to have increasingly higher negative attitudes towards seeking professional help and counselling services. (Allen,Walker, Shergill, Dath, Katona, 1998). In lieu of the overall findings, the evidence and results clearly support the hypothesis however, age alone doesnt indicate overall attitudes towards help seeking. The decision process in which an individual comes to the conclusion that seeking assistance on mental issues has been characterised as a quite complex behaviour and not very straight forward. There are several factors that seem to intervene and delay the onset of progressing further in seeking help. Prior experience in seeking help and treatment is considered to play a major influence on the attitudes and intentions of individuals seeking such services or further increasing their reluctance to treatment. One of the most significant barriers to seeking professional treatment comes under the avoidance factor of social stigma. (Sibicky Dovidio, 1986; Stefl Prosperi, 1985). Social stigma is defined as the fear that others will judge a person negatively if she or he sought help for a problem. (Deane Chamberlain, 1994). Due to this preconceived idea, the fear of negative judgement from others deters an individuals attempt in help seeking (Overbeck, 1977). Studies investigating the relat ionship between help seeking behaviours and social stigma have concluded not only does social stigma predict ones attitude in seeking treatment, it may also directly affect their future intentions of counselling services. (Deane Chamberlain, 1994). An experiment conducted by Victoria University in the form of a questionnaire measured participants attitudes towards help seeking behaviours and their likely hood on future intentions to attend counselling services. The questionnaire specified and evaluated on a 3 point scale their current attitude towards seeking professional counselling services, whether help had been obtained and their future intentions in seeking help. Method Participants The 697 participants in this study consisted of males and females that were not related to the administers of the questionnaires. Of the two genders, there were 348 males and 349 females with ages ranging from 18 to 55+ years old. The study specifically focused two age groups, 18-25 and 55+. The younger age groups of 18-25 had a mean age of 20.59 (SD= 2.9) and 55+ older age group had a mean age of 60.70 (SD=6.62). The two age groups both consisted of subgroups comprising of younger males and females, and older males and females. The younger age group, 18-25, had 180 males with a mean of 20.70 (SD=2.23) and 185 females with a mean of 20.49 (SD=2.15). The older age group, 55+, had 168 males with the mean average of 61.34 (SD=7.25) and 164 females which had a mean age of 60.04 (SD=5.89) 50.1% of participants were born in Australia, 7.0% were born in Europe, 4.2% in Asia, 1.6% in Africa, 1.0% in North America and 34.4% participants did not indicate country of birth. Participation for thi s study was voluntary. Materials A questionnaire survey measuring the attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help was the selected medium. The questionnaire was designed to measure the responses of participants attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. The survey consisted of a series of 10 questions all relating to personal attitudes regarding seeking psychological counselling services. Participants were instructed to rate the strength of their agreement to the questions or statement on a scale from 0 (completely disagree) to 3 (completely agree). Scores for each attitude topic could theoretically range from 0 (being the lowest possible score) to 30 (being the maximum possible score.) A demographic data section was also included in the survey to collect information regarding gender, age, nationality, occupation, country of birth and previous counselling experience. Procedure All students received four copies of the survey questionnaire. They were instructed to recruit 4 participants from the following age ranges of 18-25 and 55+. Chosen participants had to be of strict criteria, one male of 18-25 years old, one female of 18-25 years, one older male of 55+ and one older female of 55+ and must not be related. Participants were instructed to complete the questionnaires and hand them to the students to bring them along to the next designated class. The questionnaires were collected and randomly given to the lecturer. The course lecturer scored and analysed the data using descriptive statistics. Results The statistical data analysed from the questionnaires proved that all the hypotheses were supported. Data for gender and age were pooled and results are presented for the combined presentation. As seen below on table 1, results indicate that younger males scored higher than older males on their attitudes towards seeking help with a total mean score of 15.12 (5.58). On the other hand, consistent the hypothesis, females scored much better than males on their attitudes towards seeking professional help with a total means score of 17.17 (4.77). Table 1 Age and Gender: The influence on age and gender on the attitudes towards seeking professional help MALES FEMALES TOTAL Younger 18 30 15.59 17.2 16.41 (5.16) (4.37) (4.83) Older 55+ 14.59 18.09 16.32 (5.88) (5.16) (5.85) Total 15.12 17.16 (5.58) (4.77) Note: All numbers in brackets are standard deviations. FIGURE 1: Prior Counselling History Results Results have indicated that those with little counselling experience had a total mean average of 15.4 (5.16). Those with little counselling experience have a total mean average of 17.92 (4.90) and those with a lot of counselling experience had a total mean average of 20.23 (5.27). Consistent with the hypothesis, those who had previous counselling experience were more likely to have positive attitudes towards seeking help in the future and attend future services. Discussion As expected, the questionnaire survey confirmed that females are more likely than males to have positive attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Consistent with the hypotheses, results also supported that younger adults will have a more positive attitude towards seeking seek than older adults and those with prior experience towards seeking professional help can influence an individuals future intentions on seeking help. The results clearly indicate that there are certain avoidance factors such as social stigma and any preconceived ideas to why the attitudes of men in seeking help have scored lower than that of women. Findings have found that women are believed to have a more optimistic view in seeking help and are more inclined to seek help than men (Fischer Farina,1995) because men have been reported to only seek help for quite severe psychiatric conditions. (Leaf Bruce, 1987) Certain age ranges seem to have a link to the degree in which younger and older generations attitude differ in their efforts towards seeking help. It was reported that college educated students who range in 20 years of age are more inclined to show positive attitudes towards seeking help and are more likely to attend services when being compared to individuals of similar age, with no college education and an older age range. An explanation of this could be due to the exposure of college environment and a growing emphasis of the importance of psychological and counselling services (Vessey Howard, 1993). Older adults not aware in recognizing the signs of when assistance is required for mental issues (Hasin Link, 1988) and as a result, individuals in this group were more likely to have negative attitudes towards seeking help. One of the most significant barriers to seeking professional treatment comes under the avoidance factor of social stigma. Due to this preconceived idea, prior experience in seeking help and treatment can be jeopardised because of fear of negative judgement from others which can sometimes deters an individuals attempt and their attitude in seeking professional help. Due to the samples being limited to those participants students chose, findings may not apply to other cultural background and also, only two age ranges were focused upon, 18-25 and 55+, in order to gain a better perspective into people attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help, an unrestricted view across the age spectrum would greatly influence the results. Moreover, although the results were approached from the perspective that certain situational variables and avoidance factors may influence people attitudes towards professional help, it can be argued that peoples attitudes towards seeking therapy themselves influence their reluctance in actually attending such services. Directions for future exploration can include incorporating larger cultural backgrounds to gain a better understanding of different attitudes towards seeking help from a larger population. It would also be beneficial to have an unrestricted view of all ages across the spectrum to see if the attitudes towards seeking help discriminate against only certain ages or if they remain consistent throughout all ages. Finally, an investigation into all the potential variables that may influence attitudes towards seeking professional therapy should be considered to determine their potential relation with those attitudes. Overall, results from the study reveal that attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help can change depending on situational variables such as gender, age and prior counselling experience. It should be noted that situational variables seem to influence the attitudes of individuals only to a certain extent, avoidance factors such as social stigma and any preconceived notions can also greatly influence people attitudes towards seeking professional help. Further research should be conducted that incorporates and measures all the known situational variables and avoidance factors and see how the results vary from the present studies accessible now.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Literature in No Drama Essays -- Literary Analysis

By nature, Japanese No drama draw much of their inspiration and influence from the classics. Many are based on episodes from the most popular classics, like Atsumori, based on the Tale of Heike, or Matsukaze, which was actually based on a collage of earlier work. Even within these episodes do we find references to yet more classic works of literature, from the oldest collections of poetry to adopted religious texts. That isn’t to say that No is without its own strokes of creativity—the entire performance is a unique adaptation, and the playwrights had to be both highly educated in the classics, yet geniuses at the creative aspect of weaving song/poetry, dance, religion and literature together into a heart-wrenching spectacle. It might be easier to behold the similarities between no plays than the differences. The basic plot changes little: there is a traveler or monk who encounters a restless ghost or ghosts whose restless souls must be put to rest. The religious implications here are major, and become a central theme of No. In both Atsumori and Matsukaze, the monk chants â€Å"Namu Amida Bu,† for the Pure Land sect of Buddhism, as well as recites verses from the Lotus Sutra. The commentary mentions that â€Å"†¦The monk invokes Amida for the spirits of the dead, although the dead are comforted more often with passes from the Lotus Sutra.† (p.41) Atsumori’s ghost, as character â€Å"youth,† and Rensho, a monk, both quote together: â€Å"If I at last become a Buddha/then all sentient beings who call my Name/in all the worlds, in the ten directions/will find welcome in Me, for I abandon none,† which is from the sutra known as Kammuryojukyo. The chorus expands o n this quote until the end of the scene, the song being the playwright’s own creati... ... have a friend.† (p.40) Matsukaze’s text refers to a great deal more older poetry than Atsumori, perhaps simply because it is more relevant and appropriate in the context of the story: Matsukaze is a love story, and there is a lot present in the classics about love. Another kokinshu poem found in Matsukaze: â€Å"From the pillow/from the foot fo the bed/love comes pursuing,† (p.202) for example. The examples of the samples of poetry, and allusions to other works of literature, are so numerous and some so subtle that they are countless in No drama. No could not exist without the classics that it constantly draws upon. This calls for a highly educated audience to enjoy the play in its entirety. However, for the medieval age, it was new and exciting to see these classics woven together in a stage performance, so gracefully and creatively by the playwrights of old.