Blue Cross

When several Blue Cross Blue Shield programs in upstate New York merged, each organization brought its own business processes and IT systems to the new entity. Because they were so different, yet had to be consolidated, the new entity, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, wanted to first implement a strong business analysis process to clearly identify company functions and processes. They wanted to be able to inventory and visualize their current state architecture in support of system modernization and SOA efforts. Problem Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield is part of a $4 billion family of companies that finances and delivers health care services across upstate New York, including the major cities of Syracuse, Elmira, Rochester, Utica, and Buffalo. As New York State’s largest nonprofit health plan, the organization provides health insurance to more than 2 million people, and employs more than 6,000 New Yorkers. It is the result of a merger of several health organizations serving upstate New York. Following the merger, Excellus found that there were few enterprise architecture (EA) standards embraced by all of the previously independent entities. The company formed a group within the IT department to focus on EA as it consolidated business and IT systems and reduced the amount of technical diversity within the organization. With multiple platforms and environments, it was extremely challenging to create smoothly running, cohesive business procedures, without a clear understanding of what processes and systems were serving each organization. Many of these legacy systems, some in place for 30+ years, didn’t have adequate documentation, so there were parts of the systems that were completely unknown. â€Å"Before making sweeping policy or platform decisions, we recognized the importance of identifying all company functions and the processes used to implement them,† explained Eric Stephens, enterprise architect, Enterprise Architecture and Integration Team at Excellus. â€Å"This was the first step in our effort to reduce duplicate processes that were a normal result of the merger. We had to develop single systems for claims processing, provider contracting, member registration, and more, but could not do that until we fully understood and mapped the existing processes. † Excellus recognized that a key success factor would be a service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach, offering the ability to devise flexible architectures that rely on smaller parts (services), rather than larger monolithic solutions. Being able to implement the architecture in parts gives the company more choices (buy vs. uild) and allows for variation in particular components to adapt to a shifting market demand for products. It was clear that going forward with big systems implementations would drive both risks and financial resources to unacceptable levels. In addition, the organization established a goal of standardizing practices so that customers and others outside the organization would feel like they were dealing with a single company, rather than multiple entities in a loose federation.

Communications: The Mechanistic Perspective Essay

‘Communication — – the process of transmitting and receiving ideas, information, and messages. The rapid transmission of information over long distances and ready access to information have become conspicuous and important features of human society, especially in the past 150 years.’ The encyclopedia definition of communication encompasses the ideas of exchanging a variety of messages with others. This is important to remember when looking at communications within an organization. The whole process of communications within organizations is very complex and is certainly one of the major factors in determining whether an organization will succeed or not. The following paper deals with the different types, influences and improvements within the realm of communications in organizations. Ways of conceptualizing communications It is necessary to look at the problem from many viewpoints to understand how communications are performed within an organization. These include psychological, systems-interaction, interpretive-symbolic, and mechanistic. All of these areas are very important to understand the ‘whole picture,’ but the focus of this paper will be in the mechanistic perspective. Mechanistic Perspective Information within an organization determines their ability to make informed decisions and the effectiveness of those decisions is based on the way they communicate. This mechanistic perspective on communications deals entirely with the message, the medium and factors that aid or detract from the process. In this model, communication is initiated by the sender through to the receiver. Each process is then broken down into bits of data that can be analyzed. The areas of importance are the ways in which the sender and receiver utilize perceptive processes to encode and decode the messages and  the fact that noise is in the system. Any message from a sender to a receiver would convey exactly what the meaning is intended in a perfect world. It is very important that the sender says exactly what they are trying to say and the receiver knows exactly what the sender is saying. The following example illustrates this point: Clear and concise is what is desired within a ship building contract. If the contract does not describe ‘exactly’ what is required, the contractor can get extra money for including those ‘extras’ during the building stages. The Irving led Saint John Shipbuilding organization has made much more than their original contract for building the Canadian Patrol Frigates due to these ‘arisings.’ It was even suggested that this was part of their contract plan from the beginning. In analyzing this situation, it was very difficult for the Canadian Department of National Defense (DND) to ask for everything because of the complexity of the contract, the number of personnel on the contract writing team, and the fact that many iterations were required for DND and parliament prior to letting the contract. In fact, the writing was started ten years prior to the contract being let, so technology had changed many of the basic assumptions about the type of work to be done. Verbal and Non-Verbal Communications Inherent to transmission of messages are the verbal and non-verbal cues which aid in helping to decode a message. Verbal cues are dependent on language. Nuances intrinsic to a language can make the decoding difficult if not impossible even by someone who uses the same language. This may be a local dialect or cross-country differences. Examples of cross-country differences would be English from England, Canada, and the United States. Each is the same language, but each has separate nuances that can make it very difficult to decipher by someone from another country speaking the same language. A personal example is asking for a washroom in Southampton, England, at a train station and being told that they did not have one. The word that I should have used was ‘toilet.’  Dialects within a country can make it impossible to understand the original message. Another personal example is attempting to decipher someone from northwestern Newfoundland; their dialect made it virtually impossible to understand. The point is to utilize the best transmission method in order to minimize the decoding difficulty for the receiver. Non-verbal cues are ‘those expressions of emotions and attitudes toward another person and in regulating the interaction between people.’ The text organizes the cues into seven categories and includes good examples, including: environment, proximity, posture, gestures, facial expressions, eye behavior and vocalics. One area missing within communications chapter was what the person is wearing, but was included in chapter 6, perception and performance evaluations. Many books advocate ‘dressing for success.’ Some examples include shopping, salesperson and the office. If you are going to shop at flea markets, dressing ‘down’ is a good way to start the bargaining process. A car salesperson should dress to show that he is successful, but not ostentatious. In my profession, I dress towards the client based on whether ‘suit and tie’ or ‘casual’ are the choice for the client’s organization. This non-verbal cue can aid in preparing the initial psychological base for the remainder of the conversation and ensure that it does not detract from the conversation while it is ongoing. Influences on Communication Physical and personal factors influence communications. Organizational design influences physical factors, which deals with layout of the office, networks for communications, and the media selected for the message. Personal factors include the differences between individual styles, men and women, and cultures. Organizational Design The design of the organization must be based on what the organization is attempting to accomplish. Technology can enable these designs to take on new meanings as methods become available to communicate as never before. The first place to look at is the design of the office. The typical office has space allocated based on position of the employee. A worker may be in a ‘bull pen’ type of environment whereas the president will have a large office to show their particular status. Two personal examples include the Ship Repair Unit and Deloitte and Touche Consulting Group. Each has a typical office layout; the workers are in offices with partitioned walls; managers have outer offices, some with windows; and the general manager has the largest, most pretentious office space. The communications tend to have very structured down and up paths. Methods of communications include computer email, voice mail, and written memos. ‘Most critically, however, the intelligent office building must clearly improve the quality of the workplace for the individual, representing a major philosophical change in the office design. After all, what is the electronically enhanced office intended to facilitate, if not the effectiveness, productivity, and well-being of the worker, and the ultimate effectiveness of the organization.’ Traditional organizational design ideas are being challenged with the concepts of tele-commuting and virtual companies and offices. Technology has enabled us to plug into the office place anywhere in the world utilizing advanced telecommunications and computer advances. Many offices now have flexible office areas for their workers where they can sit down, plug in a laptop and have a phone, desk, and general office requirements available. When they are at their other office locations, they simply plug in to that particular location. All of this is transparent to the sender or receiver of information from that individual. An example is an advertising agency where a friend of mine works for in Toronto which has other offices in New York and Chicago. When he commutes to  these offices, he has all of the these resources available to him. This is transparent to his clients, who just thinks he does a wonderful job from his home office in Toronto. The types of communications are similar, with more emphasis based on digital transmissions (email and voicemail). I utilize voice mail effectively when on a client site by having a location for clients to call in for me and I can vet and prioritize my calls. ‘Employment in the Information Age is undergoing a transformation which may cause as much dislocation as the move from farm to factories did in the 19th century. Studies predict that the ranks of those with alternative office arrangements will grow by 10 percent or more every year during the remainder of the decade.’ The virtual company challenges communications within an organization even greater than present designs. This entity has allowed small organizations to work as effectively through the use of advanced communications and allows larger companies to change the way they do business. Some of the requirements for a company to be effective in virtual space include: robust infrastructure for individual employees, including cellular phone, portable computer with communications; remote managing – how do you know the person is doing their work?; employees must have the correct attributes to make it all work. When it does work, it works very well. The employee is either on a client site or at home and is more effective A personal example is a company in which I was a co-owner. This virtual company was a computer consulting firm specializing in Microsoft Office Integration. We had a management team from within Nova Scotia (5 people), programmers from around North America, and clients from around the world. This organization was difficult to run from the perspective of handing off information and brain-storming, but was very good at allowing each employee to work in their space of choice to increase productivity. The majority of the clients were local; a firm handshake and the ability to look someone in the eye is still stronger than the pen and keyboard. The international clients tended to be software firms who were looking for someone to subcontract a small portion of a project. The reason the business ran  effectively was that the employees were suited to the environment. If the business was not as high tech orientated, I would be reluctant to state that it would work as effectively. The type of design of the organization must be orientated to their mission. As the communication network characteristics shows , the different types of networks are good at some things and poor at others. The tradeoffs are usually flexibility and satisfaction against errors with simple tasks. Risk to human life or catastrophic failure was a point missing in network design. The text makes a number of good points about network design, but did not have an organization with strong lateral dissemination of information. This is important in more and more organizations as downsizing is taking out layers of middle managers, the overall manager cannot control or handle all of the information volume, but the job must still be done. The new managers require a horizontal flow of communications to get their job done. Personal Factors The personal factors within communications are more difficult to define. Consequently, they are also more difficult to improve upon. The text outlines very briefly some of those topic areas, including individual difference, culture differences, and male and female differences. Listening and Responding Noise is another area that inhibits or distorts the transmission of a message. The text deals with ways to be more effective in listening and responding to messages. A way to further analyze the effects of noise and barriers to communications within organizations is to study communications systems utilizing radio frequency (RF) transmissions; they have well documented aspects of noise  which can be analogous to other mediums. Modulation is the technique of employing information (the message) on a carrier signal and sending that signal to the receiver who then decodes it and gets the original transmission. Noise is what distorts that transmission. Different types of modulation techniques are utilized to cut down on the noise inherent to the medium utilized. Analog and digital communications employ all of the different types of modulation. The easiest modulation type (within the electronics) is amplitude modulation (AM) but which has the highest degree of susceptibility to noise. This is based on noise thresholds and the fact that background noise can be so loud that the original message is lost. This is analogous to trying to tell somebody an important message in a busy, noisy room. The background ‘din’ can make the message almost impossible to hear and understand properly. The second technique is frequency modulation (FM) which is more difficult to encode and decode, but is less susceptible to noise. This is because the natural noises the stratosphere produces are not over broad frequency ranges. Phase based modulation employs similar techniques, but uses phase differences to encode the information. This is analogous to listening to FM radio, which is close to what the original sounds like, but still seems weak in comparison to the ‘real thing.’ Digital communications employ the same modulation techniques as analog communications, but have distinct advantages in conveying messages over analog systems. Analog transmissions have no discrete data; it is all based on ramps of information. This would be analogous to the difference between an analog speedometer and a digital one. The analog would give you a continuous representation, but has no distinct breaks; the digital speedometer can only show you discrete amount of speed indications. In a digital system, the discrete data is only ‘on’ or ‘off’. This makes it much easier to distinguish the actual data from the noise because the threshold between the two can be much greater (the terminology used is decibels – the difference between the receiving message and the noise). This discrete data can be manipulated to ensure that the message is correct; this is referred to as error correction. A communications system analogous to this would be downloading information off the Internet and it error-checking at the receiver’s end to ensure the file is correct. The situation analogous to this entire noise discussion is that we would normally write something down if it was critical in order to ensure the information is transmitted correctly (digital systems). If we are not worried about errors in transmission, we will convey our message through speech (analog systems). The other points, including fatigue, time pressure, selective listening, status, value judgments, and source credibility are very good observations on the barriers to messages. An example of using listening and responding within communications was the idea that I based my first company on; producing multimedia applications. What possessed me to orient myself in that direction in 1991 was a statistic from the MIT media lab: 10% of people remember what they hear, 20% remember what they read and 65% remember what they interact with. One area that was missing in the text discussion was that you can get people to remember by interacting with the message. This could be in the form of CD-ROM computer based training, seminar, or one-on-one where the person is forced to think about the information being presented. Application of Communications A good example of multiple types of communications within an organization is within a warship. A personal example is H.M.C.S. Nipigon; a Canadian destroyer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The primary purpose for a destroyer is for a weapons platform in which the Government of Canada can utilize to direct their policy. The organization must be robust enough to handle multiple contingencies, including loss of life, loss of systems, and loss of communications. There is redundancy within departments (supply, engineering, operations) in order  to minimize losing one critical person. Therefore, network design facilitated this by placing the key personnel at different areas in the ship during war time situations.. There are multiple ways to power systems via primary and backup power supplies. Again, to keep communications open within the systems in order to keep the vessel floating and fighting. There are also multiple ways for external and internal communications to occur. The communications control room (CCR) can patch a multitude of apparently dissimilar systems, including telephones, radios, and digital computers. To minimize errors, the organization has a strict hierarchy with instructions as to the types of information to be handled by each person with the organization and how it will be distribu ted. This is related to the network design and the media types for information. The crew will train repeatedly in order to minimize errors. This is related to how to minimize the noise within the system. In this case, the noise would be the amount of information available and the filter would be the voice procedures that personnel must utilize to talk both internally and externally. This is of vital importance if there are situations happening internally, including fires and floods, and externally, including incoming missiles, planes, ships and submarines. The communication does not stop within the ship. Depending on the scenario, it could be a contingency of Canadian warships, NATO warships, or another conglomeration where various platforms. Inputs could be coming from satellites, helicopters, intelligence, other ships, and planes. There are strict communications protocols and transmission types for this exchange of information employing cryptography and error correction in order to minimize the chance for error. Multiple forms of communications are at work in this scenario, but the reason it all works is due to the design of the organization. Critique This chapter on communications dealt primarily with the mechanistic perspective. The other areas are needed to balance this sole focus on linear communications. Within the mechanistic approach, there were some areas which were missing which I deemed vital. These included the network flow of the large horizontal organization, importance of reducing errors in mission  critical processes, and the application of technology. Communications in organizations having large horizontal movement of information is critical to its success. As previously stated, the reduction of errors can be critical to human life and also to the success of an organization. Technology enablers have evolved so quickly that the types of hardware and software the authors talk about have changed. Concurrent engineering is a term used to describe 24 hour production of engineering problems by handing over the problems to destinations throughout the world. Bell Northern Research utilizes this technique to dramatically improve their time to market for products. Not enough research was placed into the way new companies (virtual companies) can communicate more effectively. The world is getting smaller as communications become more effective and this text should reflect more of that type of communication.

Marx on Wage and Capital

7 PAGES 3,380 WORDS Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. [3] Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the â€Å"dictatorship of the proletariat†: a period sometimes referred to as the â€Å"workers state† or â€Å"workers' democracy†. 4][5] In section one of The Communist Manifesto Marx describes feudalism, capitalism, and the role internal social contradictions play in the historical process: We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal society produced and exchangedâ⠂¬ ¦ the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes†¦. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. 6] Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism: The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. —(_The Communist Manifesto_)[6] On the other hand, Marx argued that socio-economic change occurred through organized revolutionary action. He argued that capitalism will end through the organized actions of an international working class: â€Å"Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence. [7] While Marx remained a relatively obscure figure in his own lifetime, his ideas and the ideology of Marxism began to exert a major influence on workers' movements shortly after his death. This influence gained added impetus with the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian October Revolution in 1917, and few parts of the world remained significantly untouched by Marxian ideas in the course of the twentieth century. Marx is typically cited, with Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, as one of the three p rincipal architects of modern social science. 8] Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. [3] Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the â€Å"dictatorship of the proletariat†: a period sometimes referred to as the â€Å"workers state† or â€Å"workers' democracy†. 4][5] In section one of The Communist Manifesto Marx describes feudalism, capitalism, and the role internal social contradictions play in the historical process: We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal soc iety produced and exchanged†¦ the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes†¦. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as hey overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. [6] Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism: The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the b ourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. —(_The Communist Manifesto_)[6] On the other hand, Marx argued that socio-economic change occurred through organized revolutionary action. He argued that capitalism will end through the organized actions of an international working class: â€Å"Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence. [7] While Marx remained a relatively obscure figure in his own lifetime, his ideas and the ideology of Marxism began to exert a major influence on workers' movements shortly after his death. This influence gained added impetus with the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian October Revolution in 1917, and few parts of the world remained significantly untouched by Marxian ideas in the course of the twentieth century. Marx is typically cited, with Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, as one of the three principal architects of modern social science. 8] Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. [3] Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the â€Å"dictatorship of the proletariat†: a period sometimes referred to as the â€Å"workers state† or â€Å"workers' democracy†. 4][5] In section one of The Communist Manifesto Marx describes feudalism, capitalism, and the role internal social contradictions play in the historical process: We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain s tage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal society produced and exchanged†¦ the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes†¦. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. 6] Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism: The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. —(_The Communist Manifesto_)[6] On the other hand, Marx argued that socio-economic change occurred through organized revolutionary action. He argued that capitalism will end through the organized actions of an international working class: â€Å"Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence. [7] While Marx remained a relatively obscure figure in his own lifetime, his ideas and the ideology of Marxism began to exert a major influence on workers' movements shortly after his death. This influence gained added impetus with the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian October Revolution in 1917, and few parts of the world remained significantly untouched by Marxian ideas in the course of the twentieth century. Marx is typically cited, with Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, as one of the three p rincipal architects of modern social science. 8] Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. [3] Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the â€Å"dictatorship of the proletariat†: a period sometimes referred to as the â€Å"workers state† or â€Å"workers' democracy†. 4][5] In section one of The Communist Manifesto Marx describes feudalism, capitalism, and the role internal social contradictions play in the historical process: We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal soc iety produced and exchanged†¦ the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes†¦. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. 6] Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism: The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. —(_The Communist Manifesto_)[6] On the other hand, Marx argued that socio-economic change occurred through organized revolutionary action. He argued that capitalism will end through the organized actions of an international working class: â€Å"Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence. [7] While Marx remained a relatively obscure figure in his own lifetime, his ideas and the ideology of Marxism began to exert a major influence on workers' movements shortly after his death. This influence gained added impetus with the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian October Revolution in 1917, and few parts of the world remained significantly untouched by Marxian ideas in the course of the twentieth century. Marx is typically cited, with Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, as one of the three p rincipal architects of modern social science. 8] Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. [3] Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the â€Å"dictatorship of the proletariat†: a period sometimes referred to as the â€Å"workers state† or â€Å"workers' democracy†. 4][5] In section one of The Communist Manifesto Marx describes feudalism, capitalism, and the role internal social contradictions play in the historical process: We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal soc iety produced and exchanged†¦ the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes†¦. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. 6] Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism: The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. —(_The Communist Manifesto_)[6] On the other hand, Marx argued that socio-economic change occurred through organized revolutionary action. He argued that capitalism will end through the organized actions of an international working class: â€Å"Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence. [7] While Marx remained a relatively obscure figure in his own lifetime, his ideas and the ideology of Marxism began to exert a major influence on workers' movements shortly after his death. This influence gained added impetus with the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian October Revolution in 1917, and few parts of the world remained significantly untouched by Marxian ideas in the course of the twentieth century. Marx is typically cited, with Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, as one of the three p rincipal architects of modern social science. 8] Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. [3] Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the â€Å"dictatorship of the proletariat†: a period sometimes referred to as the â€Å"workers state† or â€Å"workers' democracy†. 4][5] In section one of The Communist Manifesto Marx describes feudalism, capitalism, and the role internal social contradictions play in the historical process: We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal soc iety produced and exchanged†¦ the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes†¦. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. 6] Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change. He argued that the structural contradictions within capitalism necessitate its end, giving way to socialism: The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. —(_The Communist Manifesto_)[6] On the other hand, Marx argued that socio-economic change occurred through organized revolutionary action. He argued that capitalism will end through the organized actions of an international working class: â€Å"Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence. [7] While Marx remained a relatively obscure figure in his own lifetime, his ideas and the ideology of Marxism began to exert a major influence on workers' movements shortly after his death. This influence gained added impetus with the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian October Revolution in 1917, and few parts of the world remained significantly untouched by Marxian ideas in the course of the twentieth century. Marx is typically cited, with Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, as one of the three p rincipal architects of modern social science. [8]

Demand Shock in Economy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Demand Shock in Economy - Assignment Example The movements from A to E represent the reactions of the parameters due to the demand shocks (Mankiw, 2006). At period t+4 since the DAS curve continues to move downwards as a result of the low inflationary pressure in the period t+3. As the negative demand shock that is described in this situation persists the DAD curve returns to its actual position which is DADt-1, t+4, thus the economy moves to point F. Since the DAS curve is lower than it was earlier, so a recovery process will cause the curve to move upwards to point A. This may be due the rise in employment level or an increase in the wage rate by the workers in the economy or a general rise in the output level owning to the inflation prevailing in the economy. Source: Mankiw, 2006 Answer to question 2 As the economy undergoes a demand shock, the central bank responds immediately to combat the ill effects of such a shock. Generally in real case scenario the shock persists for several time periods. A negative demand shock calls for a fall in the output and the inflation level. Therefore the Central bank responds by lowering the level of interest rate. Now as the interest rate falls, so the level of goods as well as services demanded rises. Thus the contractionary effect of demand shock is offset. As the inflation level falls, so does the expected inflation level. As a result of the demand shock the nominal and the real rate of interest falls, however as the shock disappears the interest rate too increases (Mankiw, 2006). From the adaptive expectation rule we have Et (?t+1) = ?t, so Et-1 =?t, or ?t = 2% i.e. 2 The nominal interest rate is given as i= ?t + ? + (?t –?*) + ?y (Yt – Y) i = 1.091+.02+0.5(1.091-0.2) + 0.5 (96.36 – 100) = -0.1745. Real rate of interest Rt =... As the economy undergoes a demand shock, the central bank responds immediately to combat the ill effects of such a shock. Generally, in real case scenario, the shock persists for several time periods. A negative demand shock calls for a fall in the output and the inflation level. Therefore the Central bank responds by lowering the level of interest rate. Now as the interest rate falls, so the level of goods, as well as services, demanded rises. Thus the contractionary effect of demand shock is offset. As the inflation level falls, so does the expected inflation level. As a result of the demand shock, the nominal and the real rate of interest falls, however as the shock disappears the interest rate to increases.Inflation targeting is basically an economic policy whereby the Central bank of the economy tries to project a targeted level of inflation and tries to drive the economy towards that level by using various monetary tools. If the prevailing rate of inflation is above the target then the Government raises its interest and the opposite happens when the inflation is below the target.A negative demand shock causes the inflation level of the economy to fall. Therefore the Central bank loosens the monetary policies so that the economy comes back to the targeted level of inflation, this further causes the economy to go back to the full employment level. Since the interest rate rises as the inflation are above the targeted level, this prompts the Central banks to go for inflation targeting.

What Maisie Knew Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What Maisie Knew - Essay Example As the child was at the garden she kept on looking on his legs and comparing to other children. Maisie parents (Beale and Ida Farange) had divorced, and the court ruled that each parent will spend six month of the year with the child. When Maisie was with her father, she developed body structure problems. Moddle was responding to the child’s question about the legs. The child had faced a lot of suffering by having the parents divorced and being exchanged between the two parents. Moddle was taking care of the child and had to protect her from developing psychological problems. Moddle was telling the child that she can not find another pair like her own in order for the child to understand that she is better and unique than other people. Maisie parents also were frivolous and immoral, and they used her to intensify the hatred they had for each other. The parents made Maisie suffer and it is more difficulty for a parent to inflict suffering to his or her own child. Moddle made th is statement also has a parable in which she meant that the character with Maisie parents can not be found elsewhere (James, 2013). Throughout the text book, this quote is significant because there are many circumstances with unique things that can not be found even in the society today. After Maisie’s parents divorced, they went ahead and remarried again without even considering the effect it had to their child. The two parents cheated to their new spouses which led to Mrs Farange having an affair with Claude. In the end, the child refused to stay with Sir Claude because she concluded that the relationship will come to an end just like her biological parents. As a result, she left and went to stay with her guardian Mrs. Wix. Just as the quote indicates the child realised that she can not find another pair of parents like her biological parents and decided to live with Mrs Wix. In the

Business&Management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words

Business&Management - Dissertation Example These five questions are very important as it covers all major areas for studying consumer behaviours. In order to cater to those five questions, this paper has presented and discussed important sections like literature review, primary research and secondary research. The literature review has presented important theoretical background to understand the mechanism behind consumer behaviour. The primary research has obtained important data for identifying the prevailing consumers’ behaviours and secondary research has provided the factual data to link with the primary data. The gathered primary data has disclosed major trends in consumer behaviour in car markets of the UK and on the Chinese people. These primary data are also discussed and analysed in the light of the given theoretical background and secondary data. The output of the primary data analyses has supported the consumer behavioural theories and secondary data. As per the discussions based on literature review, primar y and secondary data, this paper is able to cater to the five pre-defined research questions. The consumer behaviour in automobile industry of China and UK is influenced by a number of factors like culture, economic condition, brand, quality, price etc and these factors varies as per the national culture and system of the two countries. The successful automobile companies presented in both countries are able to differentiate and identify the multiple factors influencing the consumer buying behaviour. 1. Introduction The cultural paradigm of different markets like China and Britain reflect significant impacts on the purchasing behaviour of cars and domestic vehicles. The main aim of the paper revolves around understanding the reasons or factors which bring about cultural changes and thereby affect the demand for cars in the two markets. Chinese consumers in their activity of purchasing cars render special emphasis to the paradigm of quality and service. People of China tend to buy th e cars of those companies which tend to provide the best service available in terms of sales and customer service. Further, the Chinese consumers also entertain large amount of sales packages along with the products which help in enhancing the product attributes. The Chinese consumers in addition to enhanced quality and service parameters also desire better accessibility of the vehicles in the consumer markets. This signifies that the dealership factor with regard to the branded cars must be further enhanced to help the Chinese consumers gain easy and better accessibility to such products. Moreover, the Chinese consumers are also characterized as being effective negotiators while making a deal to purchase a new car. Thus, the car manufacturers who desire to enter

Witchcraft Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Witchcraft - Term Paper Example Witchcraft as is evident from its name is related to witches who are interested in making use of supernatural powers for their purposes. Witches gain knowledge of witchcraft in order to practice it. People relate witchcraft with devil forces while different religions have contrasting views about witchcraft and witches. This paper analyzes witchcraft, its different forms, its practice, people involved and the similarities and differences present between different forms of witchcraft. Witchcraft as seen historically was not always devilish or evil as many people benefited by this craft. Witches were also famous for restoring people back to health, which can be regarded as an advantageous feature associated with witches (Moore and Sanders, 2001). Witches also facilitated people with their wisdom and knowledge by giving them solutions for their problems. Although the image of witches as evil and demonic is much more reputed as compared to their good image. Witches exist in different form s due to which, their delivered witchcraft is also different. Pocs categorizes witches into three categories which are magical witches, social witches and supernatural witches (1999). The witches who helped people through different ways were termed as magical witches or sorcerers as they healed people from their physical problems, worked as midwives and fortune-tellers (Pocs, 1999). Social witches were those witches who used to curse people and cause troubles for them for their disapproving actions and supernatural witches were those who made use of supernatural powers for disturbing people and worked as demons. Supernatural witches also connected the natural world with the supernatural world. (Pocs, 1999) In different religions, witchcraft is regarded differently. Islam categorizes witchcraft as devilish and mischievous and all the practices associated to witchcraft or any such category, are regarded as anti-Islamic. Similarly, Christianity also regards witchcraft as an anti-religi ous activity and condemns it profoundly. In both the religions, witchcraft is looked upon as heretic by its scholars. The people following the mentioned religions get frightened by knowing about witchcraft and associated people and try to annihilate it. It is believed that witches get united with malevolent forces and work against the religious people and the religion as a whole to injure it due to which, witches and witchcraft are completed rebuffed in both the religions (Thomas, 1997). After knowing about witches or accused people practicing witchcraft, a major number of killings have come on the forefront historically describing the unapproved status of witchcraft in Islam and Christianity. In Christianity, witches are regarded as supporters of satanic deeds. Any work that is performed under the title of witchcraft is regarded as an anti-Christian work. Satan is thought to be working against Jesus due to which, any involvement in satanic works is again regarded as anti-Jesus (Tho mas, 1997). Christians because of their faith in Jesus and God pay attention to witchcraft as an activity that is against their religion. Like the followers of Christian religion, Jews, the followers of the religion of Jewish faith also regard witchcraft as an anti-religious activity. Such practices are linked with worshipping of gods and deities, which is a transgression from Jewish religion. To practice magic in Jewish religion is a crime as it relates to the rejection of the religion as a whole. According to the Judaism religion, witches should be punished and brought to death for their practicing the magic (Thomas, 1997). To learn about witchcraft

TPA6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

TPA6 - Essay Example The recent past has seen the failure of major IT projects like the Queensland Department of Health Payroll System and the US Combat Support System. Among the reasons that cause such failures, is the exclusion of a project Champion in such projects. IT projects are associated with a substantial level of complexities in terms of complex system interfaces, scarcity of IT resources like machines that need to be shared, data conversion to compatible formats, and the ever changing technology that calls for the need to upgrade systems. Most Project Managers do not have a clear understanding of such needs or if they do, only try to solve them in a tight timeframe, and when everything has gone out of control. Thus, a Project Champion is essential at this point to develop the project’s scope, define the objectives and metrics of the project and provide an accurate specification of resources like hardware and software. In addition, a Project Champion actively supports the system’s architecture to stakeholders in an effort to provide a clear understanding of the various states the project is supposed to undergo. For instance, in case there is a change in the project’s implementation, or the hardware and software that were initially stated, most stakeholders and project managers end up being confused and filled with fear. In fact, they tend to understand change in what can be called a fragmented format, in that the change is not uniformly understood. The end results are inconsistent compliance, agitation and failure of the project. Thus, a Project Champion is needed, primarily to play a critical role in ensuring a swift transformation of changes through clarifying each and every step taken to avoid any misconceptions that might arise from the project managers, project team or the customer (Chakrabart, 1974). Most IT projects fail due to technological complexities and over-optimistic habit of project managers without having a clear

Global Logistics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Logistics - Assignment Example Now the main reason behind this feasibility study is that an optimum route and port has to be selected for the transport and shipment of goods from factory and port to the warehouse at Jabel Ali. Also the transportation cost has to be kept in mind so that it doesn’t put load on the cost of the product. The transportation vehicles, their cost and size has to be aligned with the size of the lot produced and the cost incurred in transporting goods to the port in the longer run. This measure will be calculated by comparing lot size, minimum expenditure and time that will be incurred in transportation of material as time is the most critical factor in many cases. Also there are various type of options available during logistics and shipments of goods and various costs incurred with these. The main reason for mentioning this is that the new Factories have been established in territories which are new for the company and the company is not familiar with working of transportation, shi pment and labor costs of these regions. For this survey of these regions has to be done so that a tentative cost structure could be drafted. On formulation of this cost structure further measures will be taken to select an optimum line up or partners so the process of collection of goods from the manufacturing site to its transportation to port through logistic partners and then shipment to the distribution through freight forwarding partners is cost effective and has optimum time line. PROCEDURES (selection of Partners) : Next a suitable selection of trustful Freight forwarders will be done who shall transport the goods from India and Brazil. Now the selection shall involve various steps which shall be quite critical in finding the most suitable freight forwarder. First phase shall include pooling of such forwarders who have a reputable name in the industry and are capable enough to ship the given amount of container each week so that no delay is faced and no risk of inventory stoc k out is faced at the warehouse in Jabel Ali. Now this phase shall give us an opportunity to gather contact with forwarders which shall be useful in future and we’ll have a thorough idea of the market rates. In the next phase the forwarders will be requested to submit their bids for contract. These bids will be thoroughly checked and the one best suited to company’s policy shall be short listed. The criteria for short listing will not be only limited to the best rates given to us but actually the freight forwarding companies who have more inclination to make us their clients rather than just try to get this order. Third phase shall require short listing of the companies and terms will be dealt with them to form long term strategic alliance which shall be mutually beneficial for our company and the forwarding partner. Final phase will be to decide the most trustworthy and beneficial company to partner with. After final agreements and terms are settled the chosen forward er is given contract of forwarding the containers and in return the company promises us the best service. SELECTION OF PORT The selection of port shall be quite critical as it’ll decide the time required to ship container from source to destination i.e. from India and Sao Paolo to Jabel Ali. The main reason behind this step being the most critical is that even if every process i.e. production, logistics etc are following proper schedule but the port selected is a little far away than it’

Strategic Management Essay Example for Free

Strategic Management Essay Nintendo was founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi in Japan which started out by selling game cards. In 1974, Nintendo ventured into the video gaming industry and since then have been committed to creating innovative video games console and games like the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game boy, Nintendo 64, Game boy pocket, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Game Cube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS lite, Wii, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DSi XL, Nintendo 3DS, Super Mario Brothers game Series and Zelda Game Series. (Thompson, Strickland Gamble, 2010) Thompson, J. A., Strickland, I. A., Gamble, J. E. (2010). Crafting and Executing Strategy. New York, NY:McGraw-Hill Irwin. In 2006, Nintendo released the Nintendo Wii with the strategy of â€Å"fun for everyone† which captured majority of the video game market share. As of 2013, Nintendo is the longest running gaming company in the industry which operates in more than 35 countries such as Korea, USA, France and South Africa (Nintendo webbie). Nintendo is also the world’s largest video game company generating more than 6 billion USD in revenue, with more than 5,000 employees worldwide (financial statement 2013). The United States is the largest market for Nintendo which consist of more than one third of the sale in 2013. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2013/130424e.pdf Nintendo’s mission is to continue to produce and market the best products of the highest quality and to treat every customer with respect, attention and consideration (http://www.nintendo.com/corp/mission.jsp). Nintendo will continue to pursue their basic strategy of expanding the gaming population by offering products that anyone regardless of age, gender or gaming experience can enjoy. (financial statement 2013). Porter Five forces Threat of new entry – Low. The entertainment market is currently in an oligopoly with competitors such as Sony (playstation 3), Microsoft (Xbox and Kinect) and the latest competitor Apple (Ipads). Any new company who wants to be in the gaming console industry will face high barriers of entry and face these 3 companies which have huge amount of resources and technology. Unless a company has huge amount of resource and experience to produce in a large scale to compete against Nintendo or their competitors, they will not experience economics of scale thus lowering their profit as compared to the rest. Threat of substitutes – Medium. Nintendo’s main source of revenue comes from their portable gaming device, the DS, the home entertainment system, the Wii and their games. Substitutes such as the Ipad or PS vista post a high threat against the Nintendo DS for the portable gaming devices and Xbox Kinect also posts a high level of substitution against Wii for the home entertainment system. Gaming applications in the past few years have been on the rise, showing a strong competition against games from Nintendo. People can download games from their Ipads and use it as a substitute against Nintendo’s products. Prices of competitors are also priced at a competitive rate as Nintendo. Technology of smartphones and social media such as facebook are also getting better where consumers can play games on their phones and on the internet. Power of Buyers Medium. The switching cost from Nintendo to its competitors are not high to the extend where one is unable to afford. Due t o technology advancements, Ipad users could download applications to play games from Nintendo. There are no concentrated buyers which make up a huge share of Nintendo’s revenue Power of suppliers – low. Electronic components are generally inexpensive unless being customized. With globalization, Nintendo could easier find suppliers which have a lower producing cost with the same quality. Nintendo suppliers would try to use all means and ways to keep Nintendo as their customers as Nintendo produces their consoles in a global scale. Competitive rivalry – Medium. Although Nintendo been introducing unique and cutting edge technology to have a competitive advantage over competitors such as the Nintendo 3DS where consumers are able to play 3D games without wearing 3D glasses, competitors such as Sony and Microsoft have been steadily improving on their technology to increase their competitiveness in the gaming industry. Nintendo is constantly trying to differentiate the ir products in the gaming industry however technology advancement have been trying to integrate the gaming industry where consumers can play the games using just one console such as computers or tablets. Value Rarity – Nintendo 3DS Inimitability Non-substitutability –

Giotto Di Bondone: Art Style Analysis

Giotto Di Bondone: Art Style Analysis Giotto di Bondone (c. 1277-1337) was a Florentine painter who is widely celebrated as one of the most revolutionary and influential artists in the Trecento Italy. The 16th century art historian Giorgio Vasari praises Giottos gifted artistic talent, intellectual acumen, and pictorial precision: He became such an excellent imitator of Nature that he completely banished that crude Greek style and revived the modern and excellent art of painting. Giotto transformed the flat Byzantine approach by pursuing the naturalistic style that had been neglected by his artistic predecessors. Through close observation of nature, Giotto gave life to forms on a two-dimensional surface. Arguably, his most renowned work is the fresco cycle in Arena Chapel, Padua. Completed around 1305, the fresco paintings in the interior of Arena Chapel were commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni, who dedicated the chapel to the Virgin of Charity in order to repent his and his father Reginaldos sins of usury. In the thirty-ei ght scenes of the cycle, Giotto employed a dramatic narrative program. The episodes not only serve as a visual language showing the lives of the Virgin and Christ, but also reveal a sense of drama and display human interiority that demand the viewers intellectual and psycholocial engagment. How was Giotto able to convey drama and achieve communicative potential? This paper attempts to answer the question by analyzing his artistic style. Before embarking on our discussion of how Giottos artistic elements are dictated in Arena Chapel, we should first look at the organization of the fresco cycle. The thirty-eight episodes are arranged in three registers; the lives of Mary and her parents, Joachim and Anna, begin on the top level, the life and the mission of Christ are depicted on the middle level, and the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ are on the lower level. The base level below has grisaille paintings alternating with the Virtues and Vices, which are painted in shades of gray in order to mimic marble and sculpture. The Last Judgment, perhaps the climax of the narrative cycle, fills up the majority of the west entrance wall. The barrel-vaulted nave of the chapel is executed in blue-the color that is echoed in all of the backgrounds of the panels, thus enhancing coherence. Each fresco section is surrounded has ornamental borders that not only function as dividing frames but also serve to heighten the realisitc quality of the painted scenes. Emotionalism in Giottos narrative is strengthened by his technique of averting some of his figures from the viewers eyes. He does this consciously by positioning his figures on their backs to the viewers or showing figures only in their profiles. His treatment of figures shows his interest in revealing stories and portraying emotions by concealing some forms. Lamentation in the lower register of the left wall from the chapels entrance shows the essence of his technique. The two mourners who are seen from their backs are not incidental in their positions but play an important role in communicating human drama. The mourning figure in the left corner is holding the head of Christ while the other is holding his right hand. Although we as viewers are not able to witness their facial expressions, we are able to feel the presence of their grief in absence. Through inexplicit images, Giotto is allowing the viewers to internally create an image and feel their silent mournings. Perhaps the rea son that the seated mourners are so simple and voluminous is that Giotto expects the viewers to add details through our own imagining. A similar technique can be seen in Giottos Kiss of Judas, where a relatively small sized figure in a hooded cloak is turning his back to the viewers. Right in front of the figure is Peter stretching his right hand to cut Malchus ear. Giotto included the anonymous figure to let the viewers contemplate and imagine the face of a tormentor who participates in the atrocity. In this way, onlookers can experience deeper emotional responses and relate to the biblical narrative in a much more empathetic way. Baxandall calls such experience a visualizing meditation and states that by omitting details, an artist complements the beholders interior vision. Giotto renders psychological drama through striking gestures and facial expressions on his figures. These elements are the most evident in Lamentation. The ten angels above the body of Christ are frantically flying and thrusting their bodies toward the viewers. They are moving with such great speed and energy that their robes seem to melt into the sky as they dart through the air. Their ghastly expressions of grief allow viewers to empathize. It is also crucial to note that none of them looks the same; each is individualistic in his or her poses and expressions. The angel on the lower right side is wrenching her hair with her two hands while another has her arms outstretched. The one in the middle is dashing toward the viewers with his mouth half open while another covers his face with his drapery. The motions, contortions, and foreshortening of their bodies are so powerfully depicted that their agony and despair are almost palpable. The movement of Saint John the Evangelist is also dramatically represented. He is standing up and bending his body to look down at Christ while throwing his arms back as if in utter shock and disbelief. The pain is apparent in his contorted face. His posture is evocative of the cross, which symbolizes the suffering of Christ. The gesture of Saint John the Evangelist not only heightens the psychological drama but also tells us that he has the room to do it. Thus, it creates an illusionistic space, depth and perspective that make the narrative panel much more true to life. Through a combination of different gestures and expressions, Giotto offers a range of sadness that provokes a powerful emotional response. Giottos narrative is much more dramatized by its sensory impact. Giotto is successful in not only communicating emotions visuallly but also is effective in appealing to the tactile and olfactory senses. In Giottos Meeting at the Golden Gate, viewers can feel the affinity through the touch of Joachim and Anna at the bridge in front of the Golden Gate. Anna is wrapping her hand around the neck of Joachim and her other hand is embracing his cheek while Joachim is drawing Anna toward him. Giotto positioned them so close to each other that their bodies and faces seem to merge in to one flesh. It is the touch that intensifies the old couples blissful emotion. By stimulating the tactile perception of the viewers, Giotto is able to communicate with the psychology of the viewers minds. As Gombrich writes, it is touch that enable[s] us to reconstitute the three-dimensional form in our minds. Giotto has also captured the drama of human interaction in Raising of Lazarus. Here, Giotto included tw o figures on the right who stand directly beside Lazarus. Both have covered their mouths and noses with their cloaks and one of them is even turning away from the scene as if the odor emanating from the decayed body of Lazarus was too sickening to tolerate. Their reactions to the smell add a depth of reality and signal the interaction among the characters portrayed. Through the presence of the two covered figures, Giotto has captured the feeling of unpleasantness. In fact, by appealing to the olfactory senses, Giotto allowed the viewers to become active participants rather than passive observers. Giottos series of fresco paintings in Arena Chapel are the culmination of his artistic skills. Various techniques are combined to communicate with the viewers. Through the concealment, gestures, expressions and tactility of his figures, Giotto provokes a strong emotional response from the viewers who are led to meditate upon his paintings. He has consciously employed his intelligence, ability and precision to suffuse his narrative scenes with human drama, interaction and emotions. Indeed, they are not merely well crafted mural paintings to be passively enjoyed but are combinations of powerful narratives to be actively interpreted. Ultimately, Giottos interest in human experience and naturalism has made the narrative cycle in Arena Chapel so profound and communicative.

Political Representation in Everyday Life: Feminism

Political Representation in Everyday Life: Feminism Expanding upon Pitkins Concept of Representation in Everyday Life:  Feminist Politics and the Feminist Movement in United States History Background The notion of â€Å"political representation† is one that is misleadingly simple. In viewing this type of representation, it is clear that many people, including scholars, fail to come to an agreement as to a particular definition. Political representation seems to occur when political actors: speak, advocate, symbolize, and act on the behalf of others in the political arena, offering individuals a type of political assistance which they would otherwise lack.[1] However, much research notes that this understanding is not as straightforward as it may seem at first glance. Rather, it leaves the concept of political representation underspecified with â€Å"multiple dimensions competing† with on another.[2] In attempting to close the gap on this overarching definition, Hanna Pitkin offers a comprehensive discussion of the concept of political representation in her work: The Concept of Representation. Pitkin established four distinct theories of representation: formalistic representation, including authorization and accountability; symbolic representation; descriptive representation; and substantive representation. [3] One can begin to view real-life historical examples under the lens of Pitkins theory in order to see if these examples fit into Pitkins overall view. One example that seems to fit Pitkins theoretical model is that of feminism and the ongoing feminist political movement in the United States. But, in viewing Pitkins theories, it becomes clear that Pitkin is vague in certain areas. In viewing certain accounts by researchers on the topic of feminism, it appears that Pitkin doesnt bring her definitions together in the manner that is necessary. Rather, it appears that feminists who cite Pitkin in their assertions, find her to lack the real descriptive representation that feminism requires in the realm of U.S. politics. Political Representation in Everyday Life: Feminism Pitkins four types of representation, formalistic representation, including authorized, deals with a situation in which a representative is legally empowered to act for another. Symbolic representation, occurs when a leader stands for national ideas. Descriptive representation occurs in situations when the representative stands for a group by virtue of sharing similar characteristics such as race, sex ethnicity or residence. And, substantive representation takes place in situations when the representative seeks to advance a groups policy preferences and interests. [4] In understanding this theoretical basis in terms of the feminist movement throughout United States history, one can see that until fairly recently, â€Å"the assumed political actors, both represented and representative† were male.[5] And, at the core of feminism is the issue of representation itself. As seen in the aforementioned notion, feminism from an historical standpoint has always involved the â€Å"prope r representation of women,† and postmodernism itself tends to question this agenda, questioning â€Å"the very identity of womanhood itself† in its wake. [6] As such, the starting place for a discussion regarding feminist engagement within the realm of political representation can be dated back to Pitkins theories, as Celis and Childs claim that for Pitkin, the â€Å"crucial dividing line in forms of representation is the distinction between standing for and acting for representation. Pitkins argument is seen in feminist involvement in politics in the U.S., as only recently in U.S. history, have women been able to both stand for and act for themselves.† [7] Celis and Childs note: â€Å"Many feminist scholars emphasize a relationship, albeit half-fastened, between the descriptive and the substantive component of representation; being female – or standing for – is conceived as an enabling condition for the substantive representation of women – or acting for. Thus, the argument here is simple: women, when present in politics, are more likely to act for women than men. Crucially, though, this is not a guarantee that they will. Moreover, this relationship is underpinned not by sex, but by gender – womens shared experiences.†[8] As such, the idea of being a women equates to standing for women and more generally pushing for the representation of women within a larger group equates with acting for women, and this notion of the quest for extended feminism in the U.S. fits into the model that Pitkin has set forth in terms of representation. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that for Pitkin, disagreements about representation can be â€Å"partially reconciled by clarifying which view of representation is being invoked (formalistic, descriptive, symbolic and substantive), as each view provides a clearly distinctive view for examining representation. [9] In citing Pitkins theories in the realm of feminism, i.e. establishing citizenship for women and giving women the vote, the public has sought to establish a means of political representation that allows the people to decide, by establishing â€Å"fair procedures for reconciling conflicts, which provides democratic citizens one way to settle conflicts and issues about the proper behavior of their representatives.†[10] The U.S., as a nation, fueled by the will of its citizens, advanced the feminist movement by allowing women to achieve a status equal to their male counterparts. In many ways, the feminist movement in the U.S. falls in line with Pitkins overarching theory, making it easy to understand and apply, thus allowing her theories to be utilized by people whom they govern – women in particular. And, in this capacity, the notion of â€Å"acting upon† comes directly into play when viewing the female population in the U.S. and their historical fight for equality. Pitkin notes that a representative democracy, which is used in the United States, is based upon the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, and the two models that are often used to describe representative democracy are the â€Å"trustee model† and the â€Å"delegate model,† which are both present in Pitkins democracy. [11] The trustee model allows representatives â€Å"greater autonomy,† permitting them to make the decisions â€Å"actually going against the interests of their constituents,† other than the delegate model, which â⠂¬Å"requires representatives act as a mouthpiece for the wishes of their constituency.†[12] And, as these two models clearly place contradictory demands upon elected officials and political representatives, the journey to change the way representatives act upon and for the substantive representation of women has been a rocky one. Additionally, there is much to learn from the example of feminism as it relates to Pitkins definition of political representation, especially in terms of what Pitkins definitions leave out. Pitkin argues that formalistic (emphasizing institutions that facilitate representation – namely the rules that govern how representatives make decisions on behalf of others) and substantive (which includes all of the ways in which representatives â€Å"act for† or on behalf of the represented) representation are the most significant types, believing that a representatives identity is only relevant when it is related to his or her actions, noting: â€Å"A representative must first of all be capable of effective action, otherwise he or she is no representative at all.†[13] However, Childs and Lovenduski note: â€Å"The relative importance, indeed the practical applications and interactions of two of Pitkin’s concepts of substantive and formalistic have come under close feminist scrutiny. There is relatively little feminist scholarship, theoretical or empirical, on authorized representation. Conceptual, and to a lesser extent, empirical research on symbolic representation is also somewhat limited. For Pitkin, symbols are often arbitrary with no resemblance to the represented. Assessing the adequacy of symbolic representation relies on whether the representative is believed in, a criterion Pitkin found wanting. For feminists the notion that women are symbolically represented when they believe they are, even if all the representatives are men, is intuitively unsatisfactory.†[14] Additionally, as the feminist movement â€Å"vehemently argues for the importance of adding the who to the liberal notion of democracy, often criticizing the how, many have sought to genderize Pitkins categories in an attempt to connect the who to the what to the how and the where or representation.†[15] As such, there is a myriad of research which seeks to stretch Pitkins theories in order to better define them in the realm of womens substantive representation and the enhancement of the feminist movement. As many of the definitions of â€Å"womens substantive representation† seem to revolve around being a â€Å"representative of women† as well as a pillar of â€Å"womens interests† or working â€Å"on behalf of women,† studies that use the term â€Å"womens substantive representation† often take as their point of departure, Pitkins concept of â€Å"representing as acting for . . . in the interest of.†[16] This concept was developed in Pitkins text as â€Å"one of four different concepts of representation,† but many argue today that Pitkin never fully explained how these four different views of representation fit together, and as such, the question has become â€Å"central to the study of gender and politics today.† [17] Conclusion As seen, while Hanna Pitkins concepts of representation are applicable in viewing the history of feminism and the rights of women in the United States, there are certain facets of these concepts which must be adjusted in order to define the representation of women in the most accurate way and make Pitkins assertions less vague. In viewing Pitkins theories in relation to feminism and the feminist movement within the United States, it becomes clear that Pitkin is vague in certain areas. In viewing the aforementioned accounts by researchers on the topic of feminism, it appears that Pitkin doesnt bring her definitions together in the manner that is necessary. Rather, it appears that feminists who cite Pitkin in their assertions, find her to lack the real descriptive representation that feminism requires in the realm of U.S. politics. The question that arises then is how Pitkins notion of representation can be adjusted in order to provide women with the descriptive representation necessary. As with any definition comes certain limitation and questions that surround the finite nature of a term. This is applicable in viewing Pitkins theories in relation to feminism. References Celis, Karen and Childs, Sarah. â€Å"The Descriptive and Substantive Representation of Women.† Parliamentary Affairs. Vol. 61. March 2008. 419-425. Childs, Sarah and Joni Lovenduski. â€Å"Political Representation.† 2012. In Waylen, Georgina, Celis, Karen, Kantola, Johanna and Weldon, Laurel (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Escobar-Lemmon, Maria and Michelle Taylor-Robinson. Representation: The Case of Women. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2014. Print. Lovenduski, Joni, ed. State feminism and political representation. Vol. 315(1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pitkin, Hanna. The Concept of Representation. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1972. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. â€Å"Political Representation.† Stanford University. January 2, 2006. Web. Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/political-representation/#PitFouVieRep on 4 March 2015. Tisosky, Chelsea. â€Å"Is a Womans Place in the House? An Analysis of Shared Gender and Political Representation.† Cornell University Department of Policy Analysis and Management. May 7, 2014. 15. Web. Retrieved from: https://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/ 1813/36336/2/tisosky_thesis.pdf on 4 March 2015. [1] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. â€Å"Political Representation.† Stanford University. January 2, 2006. Web. 1. [2] Ibid. at p. 1 [3] Pitkin, Hanna. The Concept of Representation. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1972. [4] Pitkin, Hanna. The Concept of Representation. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1972. [5] Childs, Sarah and Joni Lovenduski. â€Å"Political Representation.† 2012. Waylen, Georgina, Celis, Karen, Kantola, Johanna and Weldon, Laurel (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2. [6] Lovenduski, Joni, ed. State feminism and political representation. Vol. 315. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. [7] Celis, Karen and Childs, Sarah. â€Å"The Descriptive and Substantive Representation of Women.† Parliamentary Affairs. Vol. 61. March 2008. 419-425. [8] Celis, Karen and Childs, Sarah. â€Å"The Descriptive and Substantive Representation of Women.† Parliamentary Affairs. Vol. 61. March 2008. 419-425. [9] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. â€Å"Political Representation.† Stanford University. January 2, 2006. Web. 1. [10]Ibd. at p. 1 [11] Pitkin, Hanna. The Concept of Representation. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1972. 67. [12]Tisosky, Chelsea. â€Å"Is a Womans Place in the House? An Analysis of Shared Gender and Political Representation.† Cornell University Department of Policy Analysis and Management. May 7, 2014. 15. [13]Pitkin, Hanna. The Concept of Representation. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1972. 67. [14]Childs, Sarah and Joni Lovenduski. â€Å"Political Representation.† 2012. Waylen, Georgina, Celis, Karen, Kantola, Johanna and Weldon, Laurel (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2. [15]Escobar-Lemmon, Maria and Michelle Taylor-Robinson. Representation: The Case of Women. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2014. Print. 62. [16]Ibid. at p. 62 [17]Ibid. at p. 62

African Art Essay examples -- argument essay

1. The pottery Seated Male Figure from Mali is an example of a non- frontal figure. This Sculpture displays a man sitting with his right leg bent and his left leg pulled up into his chest. He has his right arm over his heart and his left arm across his shoulder. There are many raised bumps on his body. His face id shifted slightly to the left and he appears to be concentrating. The caption explains that he is communicating with the gods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. The Orangun Eps Headdress from the Yoraba is a great example of a human figure with an entourage and a good display of hieratic scale. The ruler is sitting on a horse. Both he and th ehorse are greatly decorated in bright color clothing and the ruler is wearing a hat. In addition he is carrying a sword which is strapped to his arm. His entourage is amde up of numerous peolpe.Wives, children, musicains, messengers, soliders, and singers. this sculpture is a demostration of both social class and spirituality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3. The Yoraba divination bowl of the mother and the child does have a patina. It is located on the babies entire body, the face of the mother and on her breast. The divination tray also has a patina around the rim on the carved faces of the Esu, the turtle, curled mud fish. and the curled snail.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4. Many of the works in the gallery are made to display different qualities as a result they are not alwa...

Prokaryotes :: science

Prokaryotes Abstract/Summary: Changing our focus from the properties and functions that take place within the cell to the actual cell itself, we observed three specific bacterial types within this lab: Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and cyanobacteria. We closely observed the features of cyanobacteria and were able to differentiate them from other bacteria. We specifically observed gloeocapsa, merismopedia, anabaena, and oscillatoria. In addition to this we observed the different characteristics of prokaryotic organisms referring to size, form, color, elevation and texture, which helped us to understand the diversity of these cell types in the kingdom Monera. Through culturing samples from both the toilet and our own mouths, we were able to observe Gram-negative bacteria. We also sketched our two examples of Gram-negative bacteria. Though we failed to observe Gram-positive bacteria, this may have been due to our sampling and staining procedure. Because of the concentration of the sample towards the center, bacteria within this region are hard to see under oil immersion microscopy. If Gram-positive bacteria had been present, it was covered by layers of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria making it extremely difficult to differentiate while viewing under a light microscope. Introduction: Most of the experiments thus far in this laboratory have covered many of the functions carried out within the cell such as enzyme activity, photosynthesis, reproduction, and genetics. This experiment gave us a chance to examine the overall single prokaryotic cell in its entirety instead of just the functions it can carry out. We will encounter 4 groups under the kingdom Monera: archaeobacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria, and Mycoplasms. We will also examine the diversity of prokaryotic cell types. For example some are pathogenic, causing diseases, while other are saprophytic, breaking down organic material, and further still some bacteria are autotrophs, making their own food through photosynthesis or chemiosmosis (Lab Manual, 2001). We will also examine the characteristics of these prokaryotic organisms such as the visible size, form, color, elevation, and texture of a colony or colonies. To get detailed observations of these various organisms we will view their occurrence through the culturing of samples by adding microbes onto a sterile medium within Petri dishes and allowing them to multiply. Finally we will also examine the features of cyanobacteria that distinguish them from other bacteria, and their role in nature. Materials/Methods: First examine the plates prepared in the previous week and observe as many of your other classmates plates as possible.

The Soul Taker

It was a dreary night of November and I was on my way back from camp. On the long journey home my friends told each other scary stories based on a myth that Miss Maiden told us the previous evening. It was a warm evening at camp, Miss Maiden and Mrs Jane were roasting marshmallows as the girls played clap games and the boys swooped Poke-mon cards, I sat there silently bringing back to mind a dream that I had about the woods next to the camp on Friday the 13th †¦ It was about a ashy castle on top of a uneven hill, it was burnt down because of all the evil spirits that was said to be lurking in vengeances for anyone who try to claim the castle. When I entered the castle on my left was a room; I struggled to open the door, a repulsive smell made my skin cells repel. the brown tarnished door I woke up. Damn! I sat there daydreaming trying to remember what I saw in the room but it didn't seem to work. Was it because I was hungry and drooling over those soft marshmallows? I think I might take a break and after eating it might sort out my ‘amnesia'. We sat in a circle around the fire eating the hot marshmallows on sticks; Miss Maiden began telling a scary myth, I didn't see the point, she might as well read a fairytale because they were never scary! I didn't pay much attention to her until she said†¦ ‘a rigidly hill were a castle stands ‘ I suddenly stop gulping down my marshmallows and looked at Miss Maiden, Her eyes were luminously shining as the moon light reflected off her pupils, she looks around at us slowly purposely catching eye connections. She then sharply points to the woods behind us making us all jump in fear. There was nothing behind us Miss Maiden and Mrs Jane started to laugh, I was furious I dropped my marshmallows on the floor, Mrs Jane told us to settle down to continue the story. She explained about a young girl called marline whose parents died when she was at the age of 12 and left there family house in her name. Her auntie moved in shortly after the death of her parents. In those times the deceased were buried in their own home. Her auntie treated her like a slave and said over and over again that the house belongs to her. When Marline was 17 her auntie decided to sell the property to a young couple. Mr and Mrs Vale. They were planning to destroy the house and build a bungalow on top of the hillside as it had the most beautiful sights in the whole town. When her auntie told her about it Marline was outraged she stood up to her auntie referring to her parents will of the house. Her auntie responded showing her authority over her. Marline ran to her room crying thinking of many evil ways to stop the couple from buying the house. Then it suddenly came across to her†¦ She knew what she had to do. Marlines auntie cried out to her to get her a glass of ginger beer. Marline runs to the kitchen and gets a glass out the left cabinet on the wall. She looks around her to see if any one was there she then opened a bottle with the caution skull sign on it and poured it into the glass. She opened the bottle of ginger beer and poured it right up to the brim of the glass, bubbles foamed up and out. Marline ran to the sink grabbed a napkin and quickly wiped up the ginger beer. She goes to the room which was on the left side of the kitchen and gave her auntie the glass with a devilish smile on her face. Her auntie drank it breathing hard collapsed and died. Marline ran to catch her before she dropped on the floor because she knew that the weight of dead people are double there size. She lays her flat on the couch and covers her with a white lace. She calls someone and says her auntie dead. She then runs up to the 4th floor leaving the phone unhooked and hides in a secret closet trying not to breathe too hard. The door bell rang continuously then she heard a loud noise and voices became crystal clear. She looked through the little gaps between the closest and saw the police searching up and down to see if anyone was in. The noise all of a sudden stopped and the door shut she came out the closet and looked out the window discreetly she saw men put her auntie behind a carriage. Marline couldn't handle it she went into her mothers and fathers old room and took her fathers razor and slit her wrists, she vowed that no one would ever step foot into her property again. As Miss Maiden told us the myth I could feel myself turning dusky pale and barley white shivering next to the fire. Mrs Jane asked me if I was alright. I just stared at her like there was something on her face. She covered me with a blanket and patted me on top of my head. All that was running through my head was my dream†¦ I said to myself I am going to find that castle! But I didn't have a chance to I fell asleep and when I woke up it was afternoon and we were in a rush to pack our stuff to be on the coach promptly for 7pm. As I sat there leaning against the window sulking, . It was a full moon tonight, I looked up and the luminous moon was as bright as ever. Under the moon was a foggy mist and in that mist was like a shadow of some kind of triangle. I squinted my eyes to see if I could make out what it was. CASTLE! I shouted. Everyone immediately looked out the window. Mrs Jane looked above her glasses and told me to keep it quite, I smiled. When I get home that night I will come back and go to the castle. I couldn't wait. It was now 8:30 pm and we finally reached school, when I got out the coach it was lashing with rain and striking with thunder, I took my little hand luggage and put my coat over my head squinting my eyes to see if I could spot mummy's new black car.

Ralph Lauren Essay

Ralph Lauren Corp is one of the best-known fashion design and licensing company in the world. The brand was launched in 1967 founded by American designer Ralph Lauren. Prior to starting Ralph Lauren, he worked for Brooks Brothers. In 1968 he started a line of men’s ties. By 1969 he had a boutique store within the Manhattan department store Bloomingdale’s. In 1971, Polo Ralph Lauren launched its first women’s collection and his first store in Beverly Hills, California. Ten years later, in 1981, the brand went global with its first international store on London’s New Bond Street. The Polo Sport line was introduced in 1993. The brand’s mission is they are always standing for providing quality products, creating worlds and inviting people to take part in their dreams. They are the innovators of lifestyle advertisements that tell a story and the first to create stores that encourage customers to participate in their lifestyle. And their vision is planning to open more stores and increase market share in the next fiscal years, positioning to begin taking advantage of international market’s appetite for luxury goods. Ralph Lauren designs, markets and distributes luxury products domestically and globally. The company’s brand names include Polo by Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren, Purple Label, Ralph Lauren, Black Label, Blue Label, Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Polo Jeans Co. , RRL, RLX, Rugby, RL Children’s wear, Chaps and Club Monaco. The company offers, along with its licensing partners, broad lifestyle product collections in four categories: apparel, which includes collections of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing; home, which includes coordinated products for the home, such as bedding and bath products, furniture, fabric and wallpaper, paints, broadloom, tabletop and giftware; accessories, which encompass products such as footwear, eyewear, jewelry and leather goods, including handbags and luggage, and fragrance and skin care, of which products are sold under the Glamorous, Romance, Polo, Lauren, Safari and Polo Sport brands. The Company operates in three integrated business segments: wholesale, retail and licensing. The company sells the products through department stores, specialty stores, golf and professional shops, as well as its own stores and licensed retail stores, concessions-based shop-within-shops, and e-commerce Websites. Distribution is accomplished at a domestic and international level with the three business segments. Due to the business expansion and fast growing e-business, the company’s wholesale cited strong demand in U.  S and international market. As of the first quarter of 2013, Ralph Lauren had 329 retail stores around the world, and operated 240 wholesale of its own stores in the U. S, 100 retail outlets, 478 concession-base shop-within shops and 6 e-commerce websites. In the end of 2012, the total revenue reached to $6. 8 billion. According to Yahoo Finance, from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, the total revenue reached 992. 1. There are two main competitors towards Ralph Lauren. Tommy Hilfiger(THC), though its subsidiaries, designs, sources and market men’s and women’s sportswear, jeans wear and children’s wear under Tommy Hilfiger trademarks. THC offers the products in the global market and engaged in wholesale, retail and licensing, Tommy Hilfiger reported earnings results from the fourth quarter 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, the revenue increased 9% to $891. 1 million from $815. 8 million in the prior year’s fourth quarter. So THC is the biggest competitor of Ralph Lauren. And another main competitor is Liz Claiborne Inc. LIZ), its designs and markets branded women’s and men’s apparel, accessories and fragrance products. This Company is operating wholesale, retail also and reaching consumers of various age, gender, size or value preference. Due to stripping out unrealized foreign currency losses and other items, the company’s total revenue has decrease. But it still reached $307. 4 million from the end of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, which is the competitor for Ralph Lauren and share the market. Ralph Lauren’s strengths lie in its brand equity, infrastructure improvements, its history, and its financial strength. Ralph Lauren’s brand name and the logo are both recognizable and highly regarded in the fashion world. Polo Ralph Lauren’s classic style has allowed the company to expand its product portfolio into markets. High customer loyalty allows for a larger profit margin than most other companies in its industry. The powerful brand equity responsible for such a strong consumer following reduces the price sensitivity for retail sales, which was a strong factor in maintaining good performance. However, the weaknesses are in its dependence on department store sales and manufacturing. Sales from department Sales from department stores make up for almost one third of Ralph Lauren’s revenues. Sales in department stores can be uncertain due to market share with competitors and the financial stability of these stores. Moreover, manufacturers has resulted in limitations with manufacturing for situations of high demand. Due to the high standards of the Lauren fashions. Lauren’s designs sometimes create new methods for quality with manufacturing, which hinder future growth. Lauren’s opportunities for growth include brand extension, and international expansion. International expansion presents a wealth of opportunity for Ralph Lauren. Their approach to each region is specific to its business climate and structure, while the common goal is to broaden their reach through increasing direct brand ownership and control with new specialty retail store openings. The strong, flexible infrastructure allows Lauren to capitalize on opportunities to grow businesses around the world. Lauren has a strong investment of $1. 1 billion comes from its stakeholders and long-term debt ratio just 7% at the end of first quarter of fiscal 2013. The company’ financial and strategic fundamentals looks like very strong. It shows that Ralph Lauren is highly reliable. Wholesale and retail are the two main business segments of Ralph Lauren, accounting for about 97% of its revenues. About 45% of the retailer’s revenue comes from the wholesale segment, and the retail segment constitutes about 52%. In fact, the wholesale business’ contribution to overall revenues has been declining since 2008. It stood at 58% of total revenues in 2008 and 45% in 2012. On the other hand, the retail segment improved from 39% to 52% during the same period. So this trend will continue in the future with wholesale’s contribution coming down to as low as 30%. t Moreover, the department stores’ market share has been declining in the U. S. retail market and the market per share has decline from $179. 90 to $168. 41 between the end of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, which representing the percentage 6. 39% decrease. Due to the increase in the share of private label brands, such as the competitors expand their business by introducing the new lines for their products, Ralph Lauren’s specialty stores and other department store revenues will be impacted. Other factors such as the discontinuation of American Living brand and consolidation of China network will also weigh on the wholesale segment’s growth. The international revenue has decline from 10% to 8%, which dragging its overall revenues down by 2%, especially in countries in Europe. From 2012, Lauren witnessed a sharp decline in its revenues from Europe due to its over reliance on the region’s southern countries, which have been significantly impacted by the debt crisis. Lauren is facing problems in Europe mainly due to the increasing cost of wholesale hipments and tax cost. Lauren set a high retail price on its products but people don’t want to spend too much to buy it. Therefore, it result in the large surplus of the product. On the other hand, Lauren found out the high shipment and tax cost are mainly due to the unfavorable economic environment and its high concentration in the worst hit Europe. The retailer operates more than 600 stores in the region. As a result, it earns more than 60% of its revenues from this region and has high exposure to countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, where economy remains weak. In addition to this, the retailer runs the risk of self-cannibalization due to its high concentration in these markets. Since the European business accounts for an important part of Laure’s revenues, the decreased from 10% to 8%, dragging its overall revenues down by 2%. The counterfeit issue which affects the Lauren’s brand image, especially happened in Asian market, such as China. The evidence shows that Ralph Lauren being more focus on Asian market. For instance, in China, there are more than 16 retail stores and 23 factory stores opened in recent years. Therefore, the new problem counterfeit issue has shown up during Lauren’s expanding. It was reflected in people said that they have bought the counterfeit shirt in China. Even in the U. S, more and more counterfeit clothes which have the same label with the authentic ones entered into market. The reason that cause this problem in China mainly due to the position of Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren have three color label (purple, black and blue) series represent the different level of craft, but the retailer in the Asian market mix them together to sell. On the other hand, the â€Å"high class† series mainly remain in the U.  S, and just a small amount exports to China. Therefore, the blue series which represent the â€Å"low class† are sold more. So people regard Ralph Lauren as cheap and common and believe it can just fit for the young people. They don’t regard Lauren as one of the luxury goods brands. This opinion affect the position of the brand. The counterfeit products occur because the blue series it is easier to replicate. The retailer doesn’t classify the different Ralph Lauren labels probably because he lacking of strict requirements for the site selection of the retailers. With the large growing population of China, more and more U. S company aim China as their second large market and wants to earn more market share. Ralph Lauren’s retailer had to missed the opportunity in the big cities and choose the customers in smaller cities as the object aimlessly. And the economy situation is different between the big cities and medium-small cities; it is easier to sell their products in big cities in order to build the good brand image. Moreover, brand image usually is cognized in big cities and then spread to other medium and small cities. Therefore, the need of the Ralph Lauren is affected by the development of the cities and as the result affects its performance. Overall, the brand image is affected by the counterfeit issue. For increasing the market share, there are a number of potential solutions. Introduce new design for the existing product line, such as design more color on product especially for the apparel in different season. People’s need is always changing, different color on the product will give people more options. Besides, U. S retailers should get more focus on online sale. Online is important trade group, it can attract more people to buy if they publish its own online-holiday-sale. In addition, online sales were expected to continue to outpace the growth in in-store sales. To take an advantage of online sale, The potential solution for the counterfeit issue all over the world, especially for the China market is building a good brand image. The problem here for Ralph Lauren is, â€Å"people don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. † To build a good brand image, Lauren should stick to its commitment to the market and take more or direct control of its China operations, product, and quality. For example, close non-profitable stores and moving away from selling products in department stores to focus on setting up its own retail outlets. Due to the lacking of restrict requirement for the site selection and lacking of understanding of the brand for the retailers, Ralph Lauren now is probably a little behind the other luxury retailers in entering this market, so the they should consider the company’s new stores in China must be in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and surrounding regions. The other potential solution for the counterfeit issue is Lauren maybe can introduce the new unique product line for the international market. Such as the limit edition for the different product only for each foreign market or make more different label tags on the product so that it is not easy to replicate. However, this requires Ralph Lauren had better do a lot research on different culture in order to make the best product to meet people’s need.