The report should contain an evaluation of the most popular resources Assignment

The report should contain an evaluation of the most popular resources weighing the positives and negatives (critically analyse) - Assignment Example In this regard, the literature suggests that there are various options available for small businesses. Sources of Finance Available to Small Businesses The most important concern of an investor or a small business owner, like Thunder Egg, is the sources from where finance can be raised to satiate financing needs of the business. Among various options available for small business entrepreneurs, crowd funding, business angels, bank loans, government initiatives and private investments are considered as amongst the most preferred ones by them. Whether the business is small, medium or a large multinational corporation, the need for securing sufficient finances holds significant importance for the entrepreneur, which in turn determines the success of planned strategies and business plan (Rodriguez, 2003; Moles et al., 2011; Baker & Martin, 2011). The common sources of finance identified earlier have been discussed as follows: Crowd Funding It is often witnessed that small and medium enter prises rely on unconventional means of obtaining finance in most of the times. The conventional means can be considered as venture capital and/or obtaining loans from financial institutions (Lambert & Schwienbacher, 2010; Abdulsaleh & Worthington, 201

Commiuncation in business - case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Commiuncation in business - case study - Essay Example Also, workers belonging to different cultures may have different reasons for lack of motivation and may require different measures to be motivated. In fact, every individual has his/her own needs that need to be satisfied to motivate him/her. In this paper, one such project has been discussed as a case study, which suffers from a lack of motivation in the workers. This multi-billion project involves construction of a condominium. Star Construction Company (SCC) has been hired by Unique Lead Builders (ULB) to construct the condominium. In this paper, I have proposed a framework to SCC which it can apply in its organization to improve the workers’ motivation and hence productivity so as to finish the project within the deadline, and avoid imposition of liquidated damages. 2. Terms of Reference – state clearly: Who am I? I am a Business Consultant. I have formerly done Masters in Business Administration (MBA). I have my own firm that offers consultancy to the clients and/o r contractors for a fee. I have provided my services on a number of projects, and have done good business. My firm is quite popular in the market, and I am considered as one of the top business consultants in my region. Who is my client? My client is Star Construction Company (SCC). SCC is a Contractor that takes building contracts. Currently, SCC is busy constructing a condominium in the centre of the city. It is a multi-billion project, which requires SCC to retain a minimum of 2000 workers for the whole period of construction. Currently, SCC is lagging 5 months behind the schedule it was given by ULB in the start of the project. In order to identify the root cause of delay, SCC has conducted a self-audit of its performance. The biggest issue that the auditing team has come up with is lack of motivation in the workforce. Workforce’s reluctance to take interest in the work has declined its productivity, which has directly affected the schedule. The auditing team has suggeste d the General Manager (GM) of SCC to take measures to improve the workforce’s motivation so that their productivity may be enhanced and the project can be sped up. Why has SCC consulted me? In order to devise a strategy to improve the workers’ productivity, it is imperative that the issues workforce commonly encounters are identified. Unless the workers’ concerns are satisfied, they can not be made to work hard. SCC has, therefore, asked me to prepare a briefing paper which SCC may consult in order to solve its workforce related problems and increase their productivity. 3. Overview of the situation: SCC was given a work schedule by the client at the start of the project. The whole project schedule covers a period of 3 years. As of now, eight months have passed since the commencement date, and the productivity has been considerably lower than what was the demand of the original schedule. SCC lags behind the schedule to such an extent that the goal of no more than 3 months has been achieved in 8 months. The client has stipulated very strict rules against the delay. The liquidated damages will be charged at the rate of 1 per cent of the project’s cost per week of delay. Therefore, SCC can not afford to delay the project as a delay of only a month will consume 20 per cent of its profit. Accordingly, a delay of 5 months will leave

Corporate Responsibility Strategy Development For Maruti Suzuki Management Essay

Corporate Responsibility Strategy Development For Maruti Suzuki Management Essay The report is on Corporate Responsibility practice currently in Maruti Suzuki India Limited, review of their performance and recommending a strategy which delivers positive value with a sustainable competitive advantage. Maruti Suzuki India Limited is major concerns are the labour issues caused by the contract, young and restless and the environmental impact. With the awareness of environmental aspect, customers are shifting towards eco-friendly products and valuing product which are doing so. Regulation and global competition on becoming more environmental friendly organisation is pushing companies to do more on reducing consumption and waste. The corporate responsibility issues in value chain across the three category Environmental , Social and Economic is analysed and is tabulated with the prioritised impacts. Then the current performance highlights of the MSIL in the Environmental , Social and Economic from their annual Corporate Responsibility Report. The short comes and areas of improvement are discussed. With the issues and the present performance of corporate responsibility, a better responsible vision is created. A corporate responsibility strategy is developed to gain value. Introduction Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL, formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited) is a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan. Maruti Suzuki claims to be the leader of the Indian car market for over two and a half decades. The company has two manufacturing facilities located at Gurgaon and Manesar, India. Both the facilities have a combined capability to produce over a 1.5 million vehicles annually. The company plans to expand its manufacturing capacity to 1.75 million by 2013. Maruti Suzuki contributes 45 % of total industry sales in India. Maruti Suzuki is the only Indian Company to have crossed the 10 million sales mark since its inception since 1983. In 2011-12, the company sold over 1.13 million vehicles including 127,379 units of exports. (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012). The Company employs over 9000 people (as on 31st March, 2012). Maruti Suzukis sales and service network is one of the largest among car manufacturers in India. The Company has been rated first in customer satisfaction in the JD Power survey for 12 consecutive years (Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012). Figure Maruti Vision and Core Values F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworksvision-banner-bottom.jpg Source: (Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012) Maruti Suzuki has gained several awards for organisation performance and products. Maruti is be the leader in the automobile industry in India and doing their best to improve in their performance. Figure Certifications Source : (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012) Maruti has a strong presence of its network and availability across India. With a 1100 sales network in 801 cities and 2958 service station in 1408 cities. Figure Maruti Domestic Presence F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworksmap.jpg Source: (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012) The Maruti started exporting since 1987, as of 2011 the total units exported was 863,380. Europe has the highest share with 55 % followed by Asia 17 % , Africa 16 % and Latin America 10 % . Recently they have started exporting to Oceania. Maruti has expanded into Insurance , Finance , Used Care Sale and Fleet management keeping closely aligned with the core business. Maruti also has a Joint venture with its 19 suppliers who are considered to be vital among the 290 suppliers. Maruti Insurance Maruti Finance Maruti TrueValue N2N Fleet Management While working to enhance shareholder wealth, Maruti Suzuki will regularly engage with all stakeholders to assess their needs and through its products, services, conduct and management initiatives, promote their sustained growth and well-being (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012). There has been issues in the management do to the joint venture agreement between Suzuki and Government of India , until recently Government of India has sold its complete share to Indian financial institution. Due to the management changes and pose of job loses dude to the change there has been lot of unresolved issue with the work force. Since its first operations in 1983 there has been strikes , go slow protest by the labours. There have been many occurrence in the years 1984,1997,2000,2001,2002,2011 and 2012. The recent incident at Manaser shock the whole industry, leaving one dead and 100 injured when more than 500 workers broke the office and set it on fire. The reason of this from the labour side is that the contract works get only half the salary of the permanent employees also claim harsh working conditions. Discriminatory comments to a low-caste worker by the supervisors. The management disagreed to the cast discrimination. Corporate responsibility issues across value chain Clean, lean and safe cars are not only societally desirable but they also have the potential to create a competitive advantage for the industry, insofar as they meet these consumer expectations, are affordable and address needs which are applicable to, and have to be addressed by, the global community as a whole (European Commission, 2006). Environment Issues Environment issue is mainly in the Manufacturing of vehicles, inbound component and part manufacturing and Logistics. Electricity is consumed in both inbound and operations and their back up power supply is powered by fossil fuel both leading to Greenhouse gas. There are waste such as Hazardous waste from the production, shredded metals and residue from raw materials, Oil and lubrication from operation and service, package materials and water waste. Logistics is a major operation as the manufactured vehicles has to be delivered across the country and also to the harbour for exporting. With the just in time model the is an increases in the inbound logistic (India transport portal, 2010). The Fossil fuel is used for combustion and this leads to Greenhouse gas potential increasing the carbon foot print. Figure shows the important environment issues across the value chain. Figure Environmental issues across the value chain F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworkcsrSlide1.JPG Social Issues The recent incident in Manesar says more on the social issues which are involved with the workforce management. Even with the industry saying Maruti is best in wage payment they have workforce issue due to the contract workers, young and restless workers (Malini Bureau, 2012). Figure shows the key social impacts across the value chain, in social all the issues are taken as important as failing to respond to it will damage the reputation and decrees the brand value. Figure Social issues across the value chain F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworkcsrSlide2.JPG Economic Issues Economic issues concerns over the policies and the good practices in doing the business. The regulation which has to be obeyed in doing the action, this issue should not trigger companys image as corrupt and spoiled. Figure show the key economic issues across the value chain. Figure Economic issues across the value chain F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworkcsrSlide3.JPG Review of Corporate Responsibility Corporate responsibility practices of an organisation relies on the transparency of the practices as presented in corporate reporting and strategy documentation. Maruti Suzuki has well prepared and clear information on corporate responsibility which is published in their website and annual corporate responsibility report which are aligned to Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworksbanner-1.jpg Maruti Suzukis focus has been on growing together with its business partners. The Company is aware that in Giving support to its business partners on issues of sustainability, it will Get back in return manifold. This will naturally translate into an opportunity for Maruti Suzuki and all its partners to Grow together sustainably (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012). Transparency The corporate responsibility report generally tends to have its good deeds more on it and this is why there may be a lack in transparency. This report should be prepared as per the international Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. Based on environmental and social impact performance, Maruti Suzuki India Limited has received an overall Scientific Rating of 6.3, which is 26% higher than the average for all Company Ratings. Transparency related to environmental performance is 7.6 and Transparency related to social performance is 6.1 the full index is in the Appendix A (GoodGuide, 2012). Corporate responsibility report can be made more reliable when there is a check and reliability check by external authority . Having more indicators to compare and asses the position of the company within the industry. Environment performance Maruti has significantly brought down CO2 emission per vehicle in car manufacturing. At the Gurgaon Plant, CO2 per vehicle in 2010-11 came down by 15% compared to the previous year while in Manesar facility, CO2 emission reduced by 13% during the year. Maruti uses Natural Gas for power generation, which further limits CO2 emission. The use of waste fuel of turbines to generate steam and compressed air also helped bring down CO2 emission per vehicle. Maruti has registered its first Clean Development Project with the UN Framework for Climate Change (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012). In a significant initiative, a part of the hazardous waste generated at the plants is supplied to the cement industry where it is utilized for co-processing. The hazardous waste being sent includes paint sludge, phosphate sludge and ETP sludge. In all, 6,447 tons of such waste was sent for recycle/use in the cement industry in 2010-11, the first year of this initiative. The present landfills are also being emptied out, enabling efficient use of land within the facilities (Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012). The 42% of the total water requirement was met through recycled and reused water in 2010-11. Figure Environmental performance in 2011 Gurgaon plant Manesar plant F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworks15co2.jpg Reduction in CO2 emissions F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworks13co2.jpg Reduction in CO2 emissions F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworks5wa.jpg Less water used In manufacturing F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworks16wa.jpg Less water used In manufacturing F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworkstree.jpg 25,000 Tree Planted F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworksled.jpg LED lights for street lighting and meeting rooms F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworksindex.jpg 6,447 tons of waste recycle/re used F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworkslo.jpg 76% of suppliers within 100 kms of radius Source : (Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012) Environmental performance can be increased by reducing the logistic in supply chain and transporting the finished product. Recycling of the cars after its life cycle, Maruti Suzuki has to do much in their environmental aspect when it is compared with the Global terms. Social performance Maruti Suzuki spends Rs 15.2 crore on social responsibility projects in 2010-11, an increase of 34.5 per cent over the previous year. Employee volunteers remained the driving force behind the Companys social programs. They contributed about 2792 volunteer hours, at 24 volunteering centres. Road Safety is Maruti Suzukis (Q,N,C,F)* flagship national program for the society. The Company and its partners promote Road Safety by imparting driving training, awareness and advocacy (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012). The number of Maruti Driving Schools, set up and managed by its dealer partners, doubled to 166 during 2010-11. The Company also imparts driving training through Institutes of Driving Training and Research (IDTR), set up in partnership with state governments. These IDTRs trained 70,000 people during 2010-11. While working to enhance shareholder wealth, Maruti Suzuki will regularly engage with all stakeholders to assess their needs and through its products, services, conduct and management initiatives, promote their sustained growth and well-being (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012). The Company works closely with communities in four villages at Manesar. It runs education support centres, a computer literacy centres and vocational training programs including driving training, besides upgrading school infrastructure in these villages. Figure Social initiatives Maruti Suzuki is one of the best paid companies, with the economic and drops in sales figure it has been put in tough times. There have been rising issue with the management and labour in the past and in July 2011 the works broke the office in Manesar plant and set it on fire with took a life of a senior executive and left hundreds injured. This issue are due to the lack of management attention , having contact workers , young and restless workers. The loss in lockout of Manesar plant was more than 1 billion rupees (India CSR, 2012). Economic Performance Maruti Suzuki strongly believes in sustained business growth and works towards the well being of its direct stakeholders. It makes far-reaching investment decisions taking into consideration unmet customer needs, market growth potential, upcoming regulations and long term sustainability of the Maruti and its various stakeholders (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012). Maruti Suzuki is investing over Rs. 60,000 million in new manufacturing facilities, expansion of RD infrastructure and vehicle stockyards. Maruti registered its highest ever sales of 1,271,005 vehicles in domestic and export markets in 2010-11.Companys sales in the domestic market crossed the one million vehicle milestone for the first time in with the sale of 1,132,739 units, a growth of 30.1% over the previous year. Figure Economic performance ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS ACHIEVEMENTS 2009-10 ACHIEVEMENTS 2010-11 CHANGE Domestic Sales (nos.) 870,790 1,132,739 30.1% Export Sales (nos.) 147,575 138,266 -6.3% Total Sales (nos.) 1,018,365 1,271,005 24.8% Net Sales (Rs. mn) 289,585 361,282 24.75% Profit After Tax (Rs. mn) 24,976 22,886 -8.3% Reserves and Surplus (Rs. mn) 116,906 137,230 17.3% Market share (A+B+C)* 44.6% 44.9% 0.3 % Contribution to national exchequer (Rs. mn) 51,442 71,343 38.6% Expenditure on RD (Rs. mn) 1,733 4,163 140.2% Expenditure on CSR (Rs. mn) 113 152 34.5% Source : (Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012) Developing Better Vision With rapid economic growth and investment in new capacities, skill development is critical for the country and the manufacturing sector. While this requires a concerted effort at the national level, Maruti Suzuki is doing its bit in this area as part of its CSR program. With learning from the past Maruti has an issue which impact social dimension which in turn affects the economic dimension. With the growing awareness of environment, failing to act will bring in issues in long term. Stage 1 Maruti has its value since its launch and is said to be Indias Pride , on environmental impact the have to improve their indicators. Environmental and social performance can be only improved if the people who are involved are willing to bring in the process. They have ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management System Certificate for Gurgaon and Manesar Plants, Figure bring in the Human resource factor in the ISO 14001 in the stages will help in effective engagement of people. Figure Sustainability through human resource factors F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCoursework14001.jpg Source : (Bonnie Su-chun, 2001) Stage 2 Redesigning process, product and business to gain value, one of the causes for manesar Plants incident was the lack of ownership and executive decision. With the past experience the should be new process in place to avoid such fatal risk. Creating new ways for improving efficiency, adding more value for the customers will be achieved only with the interest of the stakeholders. Innovation in more energy efficient cars , Stage 3 and 4 are with the innovation and expansions of business aligning to its core business. This can be new venture dealing with the cars after their life cycle, this could bring in more value and reduce the waste. To have an effective execution of the vision there should be an integrated and systematic in the five critical areas. Figure Vision Vision Developing Corporate Responsibility Strategy The Corporate responsibility strategy could be implemented in 3 years addition along the way. Corporate Responsibility Drivers Stakeholders including consumers, investors, and employees pay increasing attention to the social and environmental footprints of business and corporate-responsibility (Bhattacharya, et al., 2011). The drivers for the corporate responsibility are Growing concern of the environment. Social wellbeing of the workers. Customers preference of products which are efficient and environmental friendly To improve the brand value Key Issues Objectives Improving workforce management by collaborating with the associations and satisfy the genuine needs of labours. Improving executive task ownership and responsibility through having a structure. Improving community through local hiring, working with NGOs to run education and health camps. Educating good driving habits through Road Safety Initiatives and Maruti Driving Schools. Compiling with governing body and organization for environmental impact assessments, social impact assessments and internal management systems. Research and development on bring out more efficient vehicles. Targets and Key Performance Indicators Training 3,00,000 people on Safe driving. Opening 50 more Maruti Driving Schools. Reducing CO2, electricity and water consumption by 3 % per vehicle in both the manufacturing plants. Improve workforce welfare, avoid strikes. To have 75% of suppliers with ISO 14001 certification. Reducing packaging material by 5 % and using bio degradable packaging material. Reducing employee injury rate by 10 %. Governance Stakeholder Engagement Maruti has a well-structured organization with good communication channel to perform. Figure Corporate governance structure F:MBAModulesSem 2NBS-M019 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYCourseworkcorprategor.jpg Source : (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012) To have an effective Corporate Responsibility there should be good engagement across all levels with the understanding about it. The Board of directors who look into the whole CR function and discuss with the committees for prioritising the issues and key activities. These committees are different for economic, social and environment they are responsible for the distributing the roles and responsibility to the staffs , achieving targets and reporting to the Board of directors. Control and audit looks into the performance of staffs, changes in the global stage and benchmarking. Figure Governance, Accountability and Reporting Structure Remuneration of executive and employees for achieving their targets will motivate them to carry on the good work. The Stakeholder engagement can be improved by does the activities in Figure Stakeholder engagement activities Figure Stakeholder engagement activities Stakeholder Activity Shareholders and Investors Annual General Meeting Investor Meets Suppliers Product Meeting Joint Venture HR Meeting Dealers Balanced Score Card Dealer conference Zone Meeting Social Meetings with Community NGOs meeting Environment Regulatory Authorities Community Feedback Management Systems The process of managing the sustainability should be headed by the Board of directors having the knowledge of the prioritise issues and key activities. Management communities get in the views and concerns from various elements, they then asses the importance and benefit of performing the action on it. The also look in for possible risk which will affect them. These are taken into account in the planning stage itself. Environmental , social and economic impacts should be open to scrutiny by government agency , independent regulatory bodies and other firm in order to have a transparency and increasing the confidence of the reliability in the performance figures. The risk management activity is reviewed by the Audit Committee through a management subcommittee, namely the Executive Risk Management Committee. It reviews risk management activities on a regular basis, in addition to scanning for emerging risks. Economic Social Executive Risk Management Committee Board Of Directors Assessment by Authorities and outside firms Environmental Stakeholder Concerns, Business Impacts, Risks And Opportunities Management Committee Adapted : (Maruthi Suzuki, 2012) Risk Risk is caused both from internally driven and externally driven. Figure Maruti Risk Economic Risks Environmental Risks Systematic financial failure Labour Strike Competitor Economy slowdown Carbon Positioning Flood and Land Slides Plastic waste Earthquake Land and water use management Geopolitical Risks Societal Risks Government Changes New policies and regulations Water supply crises Power supply crises Fire and Safety Reputation Technological Risks Failure of IT system Cyber attack and Data privacy Conclusion Maruti corporate responsibility is performing good at the moment when compared to its competitor in the domestic region. The major issue in the social are the labour unrest. With the improved vision the company will bring in more value. The process is improved with implying human resources factors and managing the at all levels. Transparency is gained by allowing the external firms and authorities to scrutiny. The new corporate responsibility strategy is aligned to the existing activities and issue. Stretching the environmental performance figures will gain brand value and compete with the international industry level . Bibliography Bhattacharya, C., Danie, l. K. Sankar, S., 2011. What really drives value in corporate responsibility?. [Online] Available at: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/What_really_drives_value_in_corporate_responsibility_2895 [Accessed 11 12 2012]. Bonnie, F. D. Su-chun, H., 2001. Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource. International Journal of Operations Production Management, 22(12), pp. 1539 1552. European Commission, 2006. A Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century, Belgium: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. GoodGuide, 2012. Maruti Suzuki India Limited GoodGuide Ratings. [Online] Available at: http://companies.goodguide.com/l/121398/Maruti-Suzuki-India-Limited [Accessed 11 12 2012]. India CSR, 2012. Lockout in Marutis Manesar Unit Costing Rs 90 crore Per Day: Assocham. [Online] Available at: http://www.indiacsr.in/en/?p=7334 [Accessed 10 12 2012]. India transport portal, 2010. A peek into Marutis supply chain management. [Online] Available at: http://indiatransportportal.com/2010/12/a-peek-into-maruti%E2%80%99s-supply-chain-management/ [Accessed 09 12 2012]. Malini, G. Bureau, E., 2012. Four reasons behind Maruti Suzukis Manesar problems. [Online] Available at: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07-22/news/32777541_1_maruti-suzuki-s-manesar-maruti-s-manesar-shinzo-nakanishi [Accessed 09 12 2012]. Maruthi Suzuki, 2012. Awards. [Online] Available at: http://www.marutisuzuki.com/sustainabilityreport/certifications.html [Accessed 10 12 2012]. Maruthi Suzuki, 2012. Maruthi Suzuki Sustainability Report 10-11, Gurgaon : Maruti Suzuki India Limited . Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012. About Us. [Online] Available at: http://www.marutisuzuki.com/about-us.aspx [Accessed 11 12 2012]. Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012. Annual Report 2011-12, New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Limited. Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012. Environmental Performance. [Online] Available at: http://www.marutisuzuki.com/sustainabilityreport/environmental.html [Accessed 10 12 2012]. Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 2012. Sustainability approach. [Online] Available at: http://www.marutisuzuki.com/sustainabilityreport/sustainability-approach.html [Accessed 10 12 2012].

Internet Piracy: Theft of Intellectual Property Essay -- Copyright Vio

Piracy is a form of theft. Specifically, it refers to the unauthorized copying or use of intellectual property. Intellectual property is knowledge or expression that is owned by someone. There are three major types of intellectual property: 1) creative works, including music, written material, movies, and software, which are protected by copyright law; 2) inventions, which are protected by patent law; and 3) brand-name products, which are protected by trademarks. Many of the issues surrounding piracy have to do with the difference between intellectual property and physical property. A CD, for example, is a piece of physical property, but the songs on the CD are intellectual property. A customer in a record store can purchase a CD, but someone else still owns, or more precisely, has the copyright to the songs on the CD. Piracy is primarily a problem for the entertainment and software industries, and therefore piracy most often involves violations of copyright law. Copyright is a legal right that protects creative works from being reproduced, performed, or disseminated without permission of the copyright owner. Essentially, a copyright gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of the material in question. Physical piracy-the copying and illegal sale of hard-copy CDs, videotapes, and DVDs-costs the music industry over $4 billion a year worldwide and the movie industry more than $3.5 billion. These numbers do not factor in the growing (and difficult to measure) problem of Internet piracy, in which music and movies are transferred to digital format and copies are made of the resulting computer file. Journalist Charles C. Mann explains why Internet piracy has the potential to be vastly more damaging to copyright industr... ...ple's physical property, there is clearly a social benefit from the wide dissemination of intellectual propertyÂâ€"i.e., ideas and their expressions. In Naughton's view, online file sharing does not qualify as "piracy" at all: We have to remind legislators that intellectual property rights are a socially-conferred privilege rather than an inalienable right, that copying is not always evil (and in some cases is actually socially beneficial) and that there is a huge difference between wholesale ‘piracy'Ââ€"the mass-production and sale of illegal copies of protected worksÂâ€"and the filesharing that most internet users go in for. Although online file sharing debuted in 1999, lawmakers and copyright industries are just beginning to address the myriad questions the practice has generated. In At Issue: Internet Piracy, authors attempt to answer some of those questions.

Bouncers Essay

BOUNCERS BOUNCERS John Godber’s play, ‘BOUNCERS,’ was written and performed in the year 1977 and captures the generalised stereotypes of a group of Bouncers, Girls and ‘Lagalads’ on a night out in the town. With only four members in the cast, Godber cleverly directs the performance to be comedic and easily understandable through the actors’ characterisation and clever use of lighting and set. The play takes you through a typical Friday night in town at a club called ‘asylum,’ which creates a strong reference suggesting it is a place where all the ‘crazy’ people go.It begins with each of the four bouncers individually walking on stage with a solid posture as a Bouncer. Each one would then suddenly break out into a dance move; the first bouncer was able to ‘lock and pop’ really well and as each one came out, the worse they got, immediately connecting with the audience as they found it hilarious. This is one of Godber’s techniques to keep the audience engaged at all times, as jokes are told that the audience understand and can relate to, ultimately making the performance more enjoyable for both the actors and audience.The play then continues on to tell the story in episodes due to its episodic structure, about a group of four girls who are preparing for a night out. Godber’s use of clean transitions allowed the plot to unfold fluently; the only four objects on stage (four beer barrels), were collected by the actors whilst they spoke, and two actors collected a beer barrel each to be placed into the centre of the stage acting as chairs and then would continue on to the next scene, making it clear to the audience that there was a scene change by introducing the characters they were representing.This is one of Godber’s techniques that was influenced by Bertolt Brecht, which is used to stop the audience thinking about what the characters are like and just concentrate on the performance. The lighting between transitions also indicated that there was a scene change, as it would either the whole stage would either be brightly lit or dimmer and more intimate, which is another influence of Brecht’s, as he would contrast and juxtaposition scenes. I found that by introducing the characters, the audience were able to enjoy he performance as they were constantly told who the actors were representing and didn’t get confused. However, I found that because the characterisation between each of the character’s they played was so different and you were able to differentiate between each one easily, the constant introductions were unnecessary. The acting style for all of the actors was very comedic throughout the play. This was portrayed extremely effectively, as their slick comedic timing between lines was fast and sharp making it very humorous.The characterisation of each of the characters also added to the comedy, especially when they were representing the female characters, as their bodies were very relaxed and they used exaggerated feminine gestures. Additionally, their versatile use of vocals created even further humour, as they could be loud and raucous ‘lagalads,’ contrasting to soft and gentle women and this created a lot of enjoyment for the audience, keeping them engaged throughout the whole play. Godber’s choice of a completely open setting worked effectively for this type of performance.The entertainment in the play was purely created by actors themselves, and the set didn’t detract away from this but emphasised it. By being completely open, the audience are able to see the good quality of acting the actors could do as they didn’t have any support from any sort of set. The lighting however, set the scene as much as the actors, as the flashing and changing lights indicated that they were dancing in the club, whereas the solid flickering lights positioned on each actor clearl y and effectively indicated that they were portraying a scene on a bus.This scene was also clear due to the actors jiggering up and down and miming holding on to a handle bar above their heads. This effective scene was one of my personal highlights of the play as it was a very clever technique used by Godber and was clearly recognised. My other favourite scene was the hairdressers near the beginning, and particularly in that scene one of the actors using their hands and clicking their fingers behind someone’s another actors head representing a pair of scissors cutting someone’s hair. I found this extremely effective and easily recognisable.I particularly liked the transition between the hairdressers scene into the barbers immediately after, as all of the actors simply stood up out of character and said ‘Barber’s,’ indicating the scene change, and this was emphasised by the physicality dropping from the women into loud and scrambling men. I thoroughl y enjoyed ‘BOUNCERS’ due to it’s comedy style and the actor’s excellent acting. As it was very up to date with the choice of music and clubbing scenes, I could engage with the play easily as it is what I am being brought up around in society today and this slowed me to enjoy it even further.

Explain, giving examples from the articles Essay

Explain, giving examples from the articles, what is meant by oxidation and show how oxidation reactions are used to cause explosions. Outline reasons why some explosive mixtures oxidise faster than others. [4] An element is oxidised if†¦ It gains oxygen. It loses electrons. Its oxidation state increases. Explosives such as gunpowder or black powder contain powdered carbon, sulphur and potassium nitrate. This can be ignited by a fuse where carbon and sulphur will be oxidised. Carbon will form into Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur will form into Sulphur Dioxide. > This reaction shows when a pure sample of carbon burns in air. C(s) + O2(g) i CO2(g) This is an oxidation reaction where carbon has gained oxygen and its oxidation state has increased from 0 to +4 The potassium nitrate in the gunpowder acts as an oxidiser and provides oxygen for the reaction. All the oxygen required is available almost instantly; therefore carbon and sulphur burn in a fraction of a second. > The reactants and products of this reaction are†¦ Reactants: KNO3(s) C(s) S(s) Products: CO2(g) SO2(g) N2(g) + Other solid products The volume of the reactants is very small. The products are mainly hot gases produced suddenly in a confined area. This rapid increase in pressure leads to an explosion. (132 Words) To maximise the force of the reaction, all solids involved are finely divided into powders and the proportions of reactants in the mixture are calculated very accurately. The power of the explosion is made greater by confining the reaction inside a restricted space e. g. Cannon. Fuels used in fireworks; Potassium Chloride (KClO3) and rockets; Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) are mixed with oxidisers to produce explosions. Some explosive mixtures oxidise faster than others if the reacting element(s) gains more oxygen and has a greater oxidation state.   Give an account of the development of chemical compounds for use in explosives. Describe the advantages of each new chemical explosive over its predecessors, and describe how the explosives were adapted to make them safer and more effective. [9] The very first discovery of an explosive chemical compound was unintended. In 1846 Dr Christian Schi nobein accidentally spilled concentrated sulphuric and nitric acids; he quickly cleaned the contaminated area with an apron made of cotton. Knowing that the apron would soon be destroyed by the acids, he rinsed it out with water and hung it up to dry in front of the fire. Moments later the cloth burst into flames. Dr Schi nobein was not aware that he had discovered â€Å"gun cotton† otherwise known as Cellulose Nitrate or Nitrocellulose. From 1860s onwards the military began investigating the possibilities of cellulose nitrate as a smoke-free gunpowder. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, black powder had been replaced as a propellant for military purposes by a smokeless powder based on cellulose nitrate. This substance catches fire very quickly and burns without lighting a fuse; produces very little smoke and creates an impulsive impact. Therefore, explosive shells were replaced by cannon balls and bullets replaced musket balls. This smokeless powder used by the British Army is called cordite and was invented in 1880s. It consists of Cellulose Trinitrate and Glycerol Trinitrate amongst other substances. This substance catches fire very easily and burns quickly. The powder was transformed into a jelly-like substance by adding an organic solvent propanone. This smokeless powder is now used worldwide as a military propellant. (253 Words) In 1847 an Italian scientist, Ascanio Sobrero was experimenting with concentrated acids. He combined together nitric, sulphuric acids with glycerine. The new substance formed was a yellowish oil. He had discovered Nitroglycerine. He experimented with a small sample and realised that was extremely unstable. Its behaviour was unpredictable. It could be detonated by the touch of a feather. Immanuel Nobel and his son Alfred Nobel from Sweden were responsible for controlling Nitroglycerine. Nobel made a deliberate explosion by mixing Nitroglycerine with (kieselguhr) which is a silica based mineral. He made a paste which could be shaped into rods. These would only explode when they are intentionally detonated. These are the very first safe high explosives. Nobel developed even safer ways to detonate these explosives. He found out that the most reliable and effective way to set off nitroglycerine was to use small quantities of gunpowder. He also invented the first percussion cap that gives out a small explosion when it is given a sharp impact. The caps were filled with a compound known as fulminate of mercury Hg(CNO)2. This substance is very sensitive that even a finger tap can cause it to detonate. This ignites the gunpowder or other explosives. In 1867 Nobel patented his dynamite. It was called Dynamite No 1. He soon realised that very effective mixtures could be made by replacing the inert kieselguhr by a substance that would itself burn or explode. He combined nitroglycerine with charcoal, barium nitrate and sulphur which led a new explosive product in 1869. It was called Dynamite No 2. This product was suitable for use in quarries and coal mines. Nobel patented another explosive product in 1875. He added 7 to 8 per cent of collodion (nitrated cellulose) to warm nitroglycerine forming a stiff jelly-like substance known as blasting gelatine. This product proved to be more powerful explosive than dynamite, because both nitroglycerine and collodion were explosive. During the Second World War, Trinitrotoluene (TNT) was developed. TNT contains nitro groups (NO2). It doesn’t react with metals therefore can be used in metal containers to produce bombs. TNT causes headaches, anaemia and skin irritation. Subsequently, workers in factories often suffered health problems. (280 Words)   Discuss, with reference to high and low explosives, the ideal features of an explosive reaction, explaining, with examples, how chemical reactions produce energy and how they cause increase in pressure. [6] Nitroglycerine is acknowledged as a high explosive. It produces a large volume of hot gas. Its decomposition only takes microseconds at a pressure of 275 000 atmospheres. Black Powder and Cellulose Nitrate are considered as low explosives. They produce a large volume of hot gas. The decomposition takes millisecond at a pressure of 6000 atmospheres. An ideal explosive reaction must take place very quickly. It must be an exothermic reaction where heat is given out. The products formed must mainly be hot gases produced in a confined space. This leads to a big rise in pressure which is the main cause of the explosion. > An equation for explosion of nitroglycerine C3H5N3O9 (l) 3CO2 (g) + 21/2H2O (g) +11/2N2 (g) + 1/4O2(g) 1 mol of liquid 7. 25 moles of gas No oxygen supply from air was needed for the reaction. The exact products are based on the actual explosion. In an oxidation reaction oxides of nitrogen such as (NO and NO2) may be produced. The amount of heat energy released from a nitroglycerine explosion is 6275 KJ kgi 1. The increase in pressure will produce greater energy from the explosion. Describe how UK methods of manufacture of propanone have changed since the beginning of the First World War. [3] Before the war propanone was manufactured by dry distillation of wood in a process that excluded air. This method was very inefficient. In 1914 a Russian chemist, Chaim Weizmann, developed a new process that produced propane by bacterial fermentation of starch in maize. This process was capable of producing 30 000 tonne. After the war propanone was manufactured from propan-2-ol by passing the vapour over a copper catalyst at 500i C and 400kPa. Propanone was produced from propene, a product of catalytic cracking of crude oil fractions. (230 Words)   Discuss how attitudes to health and safety in chemical research and industrial chemistry have changed over time. Use examples from the history of development and manufactures of explosives and medicines. [4] The discovery of cellulose nitrate was a hazard of health and safety. The discovery of nitroglycerine was another major hazard as it its behaviour was very unpredictable. Its discoverer Ascanio Sobrero was badly scarred as a result of an unexpected explosion that spattered glass fragments into his hands and face. He said â€Å"victims killed during nitroglycerine explosions† He was ashamed to be the inventor of such a deadly explosive. In Nobel’s nitroglycerine factory, there was an explosion that killed his young brother Emil and another chemist. However test on animals showed that nitroglycerine causes blood vessels of the brain and heart to flow with blood. Nitroglycerine was considered a possible treatment. Nitroglycerine is effective for treating angina pectoris; intense pain in heart. A medicine known as amyl nitrate similar to nitroglycerine are used as treatments to this day. (110 Words) OCR-AS Chemistry (Salters) Open-Book Paper (2005) 2852/01 – 1 – Name: Mohammad Ahmed Candidate No. 9023 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

Using Glob with Directories in Ruby

Using Glob with Directories in Ruby Globbing files (with Dir.glob) in Ruby allows you to select just the files you want, such as all the XML files, in a given directory. Even though Dir.blog  is like  regular  expressions, it is not. Its very limited compared to Rubys regular expressions and is more closely related to shell expansion wildcards. The opposite of globbing, iterating over all the files in a directory, can be done with the Dir.foreach  method. Example The following glob will match all files ending in .rb in the current directory. It uses a single wildcard, the asterisk. The asterisk will match zero or more characters, so any file ending in .rb will match this glob, including a file called simply .rb, with nothing before the file extension and its preceding period. The glob method will return all files that match the globbing rules as an array, which can be saved for later use or iterated over. #!/usr/bin/env ruby Dir.glob(*.rb).each do|f| puts f end Wildcards and More There are only a few wildcards to learn: * – Match zero or more characters. A glob consisting of only the asterisk and no other characters or wildcards will match all files in the current directory. The asterisk is usually combined with a file extension if not more characters to narrow down the search.** – Match all directories recursively. This is used to descend into the directory tree and find all files in sub-directories of the current directory, rather than just files in the current directory. This wildcard is explored in the example code below.? – Match any one character. This is useful for finding files whose name are in a particular format. For example, 5 characters and a .xml extension could be expressed as .xml.[a-z] – Match any character in the character set. The set can be either a list of characters or a range separated with the hyphen character. Character sets follow the same syntax as and behave in the same manner as character sets in regular expressions.{a,b} – Match patter n a or b. Though this looks like a regular expression quantifier, it isnt. For example, in regular expression, the pattern a{1,2} will match 1 or 2 a characters. In globbing, it will match the string a1 or a2. Other patterns can be nested inside of this construct. One thing to consider is case sensitivity. Its up to the operating system to determine whether TEST.txt and TeSt.TxT refer to the same file. On Linux and other systems, these are different files. On Windows, these will refer to the same file. The operating system is also responsible for the order in which the results are displayed. It may differ if youre on Windows versus Linux, for example. One final thing to note is the Dir[globstring] convenience method. This is functionally the same as Dir.glob(globstring) and is also semantically correct (you are indexing a directory, much like an array). For this reason, you may see Dir[] more often than Dir.glob, but they are the same thing. Examples Using Wildcards The following example program will demonstrate as many patterns as it can in many different combinations. #!/usr/bin/env ruby # Get all .xml files Dir[*.xml] # Get all files with 5 characters and a .jpg extension Dir[.jpg] # Get all jpg, png and gif images Dir[*.{jpg,png,gif}] # Descend into the directory tree and get all jpg images # Note: this will also file jpg images in the current directory Dir[**/*.jpg] # Descend into all directories starting with Uni and find all # jpg images. # Note: this only descends down one directory Dir[Uni**/*.jpg] # Descend into all directories starting with Uni and all # subdirectories of directories starting with Uni and find # all .jpg images Dir[Uni**/**/*.jpg]

Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan

Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan One of the greatest explorers of the Age of Discovery, Ferdinand Magellan is best known for leading the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. However, he personally did not complete the route and perished in the South Pacific. A determined man, he overcame personal obstacles, mutinies, uncharted seas, biting hunger, and malnutrition during the course of his voyage. Today, his name is synonymous with discovery and exploration. Early Years and Education Ferno Magalhes (Ferdinand Magellan is an anglicized version of his name) was born in approximately 1480 in the small Portuguese town of Villa de Sabroza. As the son of the mayor, he led a privileged childhood, and at an early age, he went to the royal court in Lisbon to serve as page to the Queen. He was very well educated, studying with some of the finest tutors in Portugal, and from an early age showed an interest in navigation and exploration. The De Almeida Expedition As a well-educated and well-connected young man, it was easy for Magellan to sign on with many of the different expeditions departing from Spain and Portugal at the time. In 1505, he accompanied Francisco De Almeida, who had been named Viceroy of India. De Almeida had a fleet of 20 heavily-armed ships, and they sacked settlements and established towns and forts in north-eastern Africa along the way. Magellan fell out of favor with De Almeida around 1510 when he was accused of illegally trading with Islamic locals. He returned to Portugal in disgrace and offers for him to join new expeditions dried up. From Portugal to Spain Magellan was convinced that a new route to the lucrative Spice Islands could be found by going through the New World. He presented his plan to the King of Portugal, Manuel I. He was rejected, possibly because of his past problems with De Almeida. Determined to get funding for his trip, Magellan went to Spain. Here, he was granted an audience with Charles V, who agreed to finance his journey. By August of 1519, Magellan had five ships: the Trinidad (his flagship), Victoria, San Antonio, Concepcià ³n, and the Santiago. His crew of 270 men was mostly Spanish. Departure, Mutiny, and the Wreck Magellan’s fleet left Seville on August 10, 1519. After stopovers in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, they headed for Portuguese Brazil. Here, they anchored near present-day Rio de Janeiro in January of 1520 to take on supplies, trading with locals for food and water. It was at this time that serious troubles began: the Santiago was wrecked and the survivors had to be picked up. The captains of the other ships attempted to mutiny. At one point, Magellan was forced to open fire on the San Antonio. He reasserted command and executed or marooned most of those responsible, pardoning the others. The Strait of Magellan The four remaining ships headed south, searching for passage around South America. Between October and November 1520, they navigated through the islands and waterways on the continent’s southern tip. The passage they found was named the Strait of Magellan. They discovered Tierra del Fuego as the sailed. On November 28, 1520, they found a tranquil-looking body of water. Magellan named it the Mar Pacà ­fico, or the Pacific Ocean. During the exploration of the islands, the San Antonio deserted. The ship returned to Spain and took too much of the remaining provisions with it, forcing the men to hunt and fish for food. Across the Pacific Convinced the Spice Islands were only a short sail away, Magellan led his ships across the Pacific, discovering the Marianas Islands and Guam. Although Magellan named them the Islas de las Velas Latinas (Islands of the Triangular Sails), the name Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of Thieves) stuck because locals made off with one of the landing boats after giving Magellan’s men some supplies. Pressing on, they landed on Homonhon Island in the Philippines. Magellan found he could communicate with the people, as one of his men spoke Malay. He had reached the Eastern edge of the world known to Europeans. Death Homonhon was uninhabited, but Magellan’s ships were seen and contacted by some locals who led them to Cebu, home of Chief Humabon, who befriended Magellan. Humabon and his wife even converted to Christianity along with many of the locals. They then convinced Magellan to attack Lapu-Lapu, a rival chieftain on nearby Mactan Island. On April 17, 1521, Magellan and some of his men attacked a much larger force of islanders, trusting their armor and advanced weapons to win the day. The attack was fought off, however, and Magellan was among those killed. Efforts to ransom his body failed. It was never recovered. Return to Spain Leaderless and short on men, the remaining sailors decided to burn the Concepcià ³n and return to Spain. The two ships managed to find the Spice Islands and loaded up the holds with valuable cinnamon and cloves. As they crossed the Indian Ocean, however, the Trinidad began to leak. It eventually sank, although some of the men made it to India and from there back to Spain. The Victoria kept going, losing several men to starvation. It arrived in Spain on September 6, 1522, more than three years after it had left. There were only 18 sickly men crewing the ship, a fraction of the 270 who had set out. Ferdinand Magellan Legacy Magellan is credited with being the first to circumnavigate the world in spite of two somewhat glaring details: first, he died halfway through the journey and second, he never intended to travel in a circle. He simply wanted to find a new route to the Spice Islands. Some historians have said that Juan Sebastin Elcano, who captained the Victoria back from the Philippines, is a worthier candidate for the title of first to circumnavigate the globe. Elcano had begun the voyage as master on board the Concepcià ³n. There are two written records of the journey. The first was a journal kept by an Italian passenger who paid to go on the trip, Antonio Pigafetta. The second was a series of interviews with the survivors made by Maximilianus of Transylvania upon their return. Both documents reveal a fascinating voyage of discovery. The Magellan expedition was responsible for several major discoveries. In addition to the Pacific Ocean and numerous islands, waterways and other geographic information, the expedition also sighted a great many new animals, including penguins and guanacos. The discrepancies between the log book and the date when they returned to Spain led directly to the concept of the International Date Line. Their measurements of distances traveled helped contemporary scientists determine the size of the earth. They were the first to sight certain galaxies visible in the night sky, now aptly known as the Magellanic Clouds. Although the Pacific had been first discovered in 1513 by Vasco Nuà ±ez de Balboa, it is Magellans name for it that stuck. Balboa called it the South Sea. Immediately upon the return of the Victoria, European sailing ships began trying to duplicate the voyage, including an expedition led by surviving captain Elcano. It wasn’t until Sir Francis Drake’s 1577 voyage, however, that anyone managed to do it again. Still, the knowledge gained from Magellans voyage immensely advanced the science of navigation at the time. Today, Magellan’s name is synonymous with discovery and exploration. Telescopes and spacecraft bear his name, as does a region in Chile. Perhaps because of his untimely demise, his name does not have the negative baggage associated with it like fellow explorer Christopher Columbus, blamed by many for subsequent atrocities in the lands he discovered. Source: Thomas, Hugh. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. Paperback, Random House Trade Paperback, May 31, 2005.

African American Reconstruction African American History

Once freed, African Americans believed that the rights of a citizen were granted to them. They truthfully believed this because after a brutally fought war, basic rights such as education, land, and employment were so modest, they were undeniable. Even though they were proclaimed as free, their place is society remained unaffected. The Freedmen's Bureau became one of the earlier agencies to provide support for newly freedmen. The agency offered education, advice and protection to its members. The most significant asset of the bureau was education. The literacy rate of African Americans rose about twenty percent due to the organization. Some freedmen even attended colleges to earn degrees. Many white Southerners viewed the African American attempt at education as a waste of time. They condemned the efforts of their social improvement. With much criticism by racist whites and inadequate funds, the Freedmen's Bureau concluded by 1872 injuring African American hopes of social equality. Another goal of African Americans was the ownership of land. To the freedmen, land ownership was equivalent to economic independency. However, they were mistaken. Economic independency was an unrealistic goal in the southern environment. As former slaves, African Americans were very familiar to the agricultural life style. As a result of Sherman's raids across the south, large plots of land were left uninhabited. Vast amounts of freedmen took the opportunity to occupy these lands. In 1866, Congress also passed the Southern Homestead Act giving African Americans access to public lands in five southern states. Contrary to what the freedmen believed, land ownership did not ensure financial success. Most land owned by African Americans was small and had an inferior value compared to white farms.

Ways Of Environmental Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Ways Of Environmental Protection - Essay Example The background of the article’s title holds significant meaning derived from Jean Rostand who said that â€Å"The obligation to endure gives us the right to know.† This is exactly where the main argument of the essay lies because Carson is correct in the presumption that people, in general, know very little of what’s inside a bug spray or a pesticide and how it affects our entire way of life as human beings. We are but too oblivious to go beyond the product label to scrutinize how these things affect us. The author is correct in saying that there must be more stringent policies and measures regarding the manufacture, sale, and distribution of these substances. Primarily, these harmful chemicals must not be allocated to industries or people indiscriminately. Next, there must be more investigation regarding how these biocides affect vital sources like the earth, water, animals and especially the health of man. All of these must necessarily be relayed to people who had been kept in the shadows. The ability of the people to grasp the extent of the problem and how it affects them must be factored in because they are the ones who are extensively affected. The current atmosphere of fear of diseases attributed to harmful chemicals best explains why there has been a recent increase in the demand for organic food and materials. There had been studies relating certain diseases like cancer to the harmful chemicals produced industrially. People are shedding out extra dollars just to be able to purchase food that is absolutely safe for consumption and this is correlated with eating only organically produced nourishment. There are little to no known legislation or policies regarding the use of insecticides and this is still yet to be fully addressed.

A Laboratory Scientist in the Organization Assignment

A Laboratory Scientist in the Organization - Assignment Example In a more general term, laboratory scientists in any institution are the head of an experiment and chemical keeping without which it should impact any danger to other members of the organization. a). According to Blanchard and Thacker (2007, p. 25), an employment contract refers to the signing of a paperwork between two parties (employer and employee) to set the commencement of a given work within the specified rules and regulations that seem acceptable and legal by the law and which do not infringe on anyone’s rights. The contract normally has a limit of time. The employers should be responsible for their health and safety. They should identify hazards in a systematic manner and eliminate or isolating those that are possible. For instance, employers may recognize the necessary steps to minimize the hazards, by providing information, as well as warnings. Also, by identifying whether there are any regulations covering their industry and complying with them. Providing protective equipment clothing or ensuring employee provided protective is suitable and ensuring that they are used effectively. They should also be trained in order to impart in them the necessary skills to manage their own safety. Employers should recognize any accident that might have occurred while been out keen so as to avoid the same in the future. Being keen on any signs of a disease and reporting to the clinic immediately in case of any signs. Responding to inspector’s advice and ensuring that work practices together with working hours are followed in a manner that enhances a safe-working condition. Environmental laws currently carried out in England covers the following key areas: waste management, water pollution, air pollution, noise, hazardous substances, contaminated land and the IPC/IPPC regimes. b). ISO is the International organization for standardization, a worldwide organization with representatives from 157 countries.  

Asian Indians Community of US Personal Statement

Asian Indians Community of US - Personal Statement Example Then, there are other Hindu important festivals Holi, Durga Pooja, Ganesh Chathuri which I celebrate with the rest of Hindu community while Christmas, Id, Easter, Hanukkah etc with the global community that resides in United States. But it is difficult at times, when we face discrimination at work place or called with funny names for our complexion, accent etc. However, these discriminatory acts were rare before 9/11 and even after the terrorist attacks on Twin Towers; we haven't been victim of any serious racism or prejudice compared to what our fore parents encountered when they moved first to the United States in early 1900s. The history of my community, Asian Indians, goes back to early 20th century when the first group of Indians from the province of Punjab arrived in America and worked as millers and farmers in California and Washington. They were mainly "Sikhs"-followers of Sikhism, a religion originated by Guru Nanak. They faced much difficulties and racist attacks because of their illiteracy and poor English-speaking skills. Associations such as Asiatic Exclusion League made serious efforts to prevent further immigration and property ownership of Indians.( Vinay Lal, 1999) The Sikhs were followed by large number of Indian students who demanded Indian independence overtly. They even formed their own political party to promote and forward their political ideas and demand for Independence. However, America who was strong and old ally of British, saw it as conspiracy of the Germany to overrule the British power in India-a colony within the British Empire. Thus organized attacks were made on these Indian students and successful prosecution of Indians took place. To add to the woes of Indian community, in 1923 the Supreme Court of United States ruled that Indians were ineligible for citizenship of the United States and that citizenship was only reserved for "whites" with European origins. They were also subjected to the Alien Land Law which prevented them from owning and leasing land and forced them to transfer their lands to the white Americans. As a result, the number of Indians sharply dropped from 10,000 in 1914 to 1,476 in 1940 in California alone.(Vinay Lal, 1999) But different Indian organization in America continued to fight for their rights to immigration and naturalization. By 1946, President Truman returned the right to immigrate and naturalize through Luce-Celler Act 1946. ("Indian American") After that, Indians actively participated in politics fighting for the end of British power in India. The most prominent among these politicians was Dalip Singh Saund who was also elected for US House of Representatives from California in 1956 and was also reelected for a 2nd and 3rd term. ("Indian American") Soon the number of Asian Indians grew well above 175000 (1975) and they demanded for minority status within American population. The Census Bureau declared them as a new category of minority group known as "Asian Indians". However, the conditions and performance of the existing Indian community wasn't impressive, to say the least. Unemployment and poverty was prevalent with most Indian employed for odd jobs as taxi drivers, gas-stations workers

International money and finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International money and finance - Essay Example Brewin Dolphin has functions in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Channel Island. For such transnational companies, foreign exchange exposure can be categorised as translational and transactional risks. Transactional risk arises when a firm faces possibility of monetary loss from its business transactions that has been undertaken in foreign currencies. The company is an international investment firm and consequently is involved in deals that require continuous purchase and selling of currencies (Kelley, 2001). On the other hand, translational risk exposure arises when firms invest in foreign assets and record it in firm’s balance sheet. For minimisation of translational exposure, firms should make minimum investment in foreign assets. However, these risks are countered by multinational companies by purchasing different swaps, options, futures and forward contracts (Erb, Harvey and Viskanta, 1996). The company primarily operates in the economic environment of the UK; hence, its functional currency is pound sterling for all kind of financial reporting. However, one positive point in this regard is that the company does not have operation in multiple bases and as a result, the exchange rate exposure for the company is relatively limited. In other words, degree of currency imbalance is less for the firm (Brewin dolphin, 2013). In this regard, management of foreign exchange exposure in the UK depends considerably on restrictions on net open position of working balances of firms. Minimisation of foreign exposure is a national concern and the Bank of England has made it certain for multinational firms that the net amount of foreign currency or currency that a firm transact in should be at least 10 percent higher than the firm’s own capital (Bank of England, 2011). It was determined that the company comply with the foreign exchange policies that have been

What it takes to be #1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What it takes to be #1 - Essay Example Determination leads the individual towards success despite of the failures that he comes across. Every cloud has a silver lining and determination is the mechanism that keeps a person’s morale high in finding a way to it. A person must be determined to achieve and should not step back even under the worst circumstances. A person needs to strive with the determination and confidence he has. Plans do not fulfill until a person practically puts some efforts to attain them. Goals are achievable only when plans are exercised. Hardworking makes individual’s way towards success. A hardworking person may distinguish himself from others by the way he acts under different circumstances. A person may attain a distinct position in any field by striving and achieving his goals. Competing with others for the reason of becoming the best in any field may lead to jealousy and selfishness. A person who is able to compete without letting these feelings harm anyone is the best. Morality and ethics should never be forgotten when dealing with situations where competition is high and determination is

Moral Implications of Media Violence and Its Affects On Society Research Paper

Moral Implications of Media Violence and Its Affects On Society - Research Paper Example The ability to produce and distribute independent content is among the most important rights in a democratic society† (Rand-Hendriksen: Long Version, 2011, par. 1). Despite support to freedom of expression, there is still a need to enforce gun control laws, for instance, where failure to restrict purchase and use have been proven to endanger the lives of children and those around them. As emphasized by President Clinton in response to the Littletons Columbine High School shootings, â€Å"access to weapons was greater in the United States than anywhere else in the world, and pledged to continue to work for legislation that would help keep guns out of the wrong hands† (CNN Politics, 1999). Media should also have the ethical responsibility to remind children of the danger of using guns and enforce strict restrictions to access and use through legislative policies that propose strict sanctions for violations. One therefore agrees that it is acceptable opinion based on moral reasoning to justify banning of violent content for programs that could be viewed and accessed by children and teen-agers on identified time slots, in addition to provision of classifying television programs to include strict parental guidance and restricted, as needed. According to a report published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), â€Å"the problem is not that the broadcast TV networks can no longer discern contemporary community standards. The problem is that they long ago stopped caring much about these standards† (p. 16). It finally confirmed that â€Å"among those very important tasks are maintaining a decent society, protecting the privacy of the home, and protecting children† (Federal Communications Commission, n.d., p. 35). CNN Politics. (1999, April 22). Clinton discusses school violence with high schoolers. Retrieved August 21, 2012, from articles.cnn.com:

What it takes to be #1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What it takes to be #1 - Essay Example Determination leads the individual towards success despite of the failures that he comes across. Every cloud has a silver lining and determination is the mechanism that keeps a person’s morale high in finding a way to it. A person must be determined to achieve and should not step back even under the worst circumstances. A person needs to strive with the determination and confidence he has. Plans do not fulfill until a person practically puts some efforts to attain them. Goals are achievable only when plans are exercised. Hardworking makes individual’s way towards success. A hardworking person may distinguish himself from others by the way he acts under different circumstances. A person may attain a distinct position in any field by striving and achieving his goals. Competing with others for the reason of becoming the best in any field may lead to jealousy and selfishness. A person who is able to compete without letting these feelings harm anyone is the best. Morality and ethics should never be forgotten when dealing with situations where competition is high and determination is

Rudolf Dreikurss Reasons for Student Misbehavior Require Essay Example for Free

Rudolf Dreikurss Reasons for Student Misbehavior Require Essay Many educators believe that students misbehave to achieve self-serving goals. These usually include: getting attention, seeking power, taking revenge and avoiding failure. When we look carefully at the misbehavior we can usually find that the reason lies in one of these four goals. Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, renowned educator, developed these four behavioral goals in the 1930s. He was a student and colleague of Alfred Adler, who believed that all behavior has a purpose. Dreikurs has written many articles and books on student behavior and much of his work can be purchased on the internet. His theories on behavior have had an enormous impact on the raising of children and classroom management models. A summary of Dreikurs four behavioral goals follow: * Attention Some students strive to be the center of attention. They do almost anything to be noticed from being argumentative to being funny. There is a lack of concern about following accepted procedure to gain recognition. Teachers and classmates find behavior by this student annoying and at times rude and unacceptable. The attention seekers may be disciplined for: disrespect, teasing, disturbing the class, being uncooperative, swearing, talking, being out of his seat, and making fun of others. Dreikurs said most students start misbehaving by seeking attention, and when this fails, they move on to more problematic goal-seeking behaviors, such as power. This is why it is important to find a thoughtful intervention in the first phase of misbehavior: attention seeking. Dreikurs believed that over 90% of all misbehavior is for attention. At the Interventions Central website, you can read some thoughts about how to break out of the attention cycle by using random positive attention with students. * Power Wanting to be in charge or in control provides the motivation for some student misbehavior. Students with this agenda simply want their way. They dont hesitate to take a stand on matters important to them and are often disruptive and confrontational in reaching their goal. The teacher may feel provoked, threatened or challenged by this student. The following reasons may be the basis for a referral to the office for a student who struggles for power: disobeying, disrespect, not cooperating, talking back and disturbing the class. Often power-seeking students dont act out until theyre assured of an audience. And from the teachers perspective, this is probably the worst possible time. * Revenge Lashing out or getting even is how some students compensate for real or imagined hurt feelings. The target of the revenge may be the teacher, other students, or both. Revenge may come in the form of a physical and/or psychological attack. Bullies often use revenge as their excuse for shoving or pushing, teasing, causing embarrassment and excluding others. The Teaching Help website has an interesting discussion of how revenge, defined in terms of escalating student misbehaviors must be dealt with by a systematic approach. * Avoidance of Failure Wanting to avoid repeated failure, some students appear to be discouraged and helpless. They falsely believe that they cant live up to expectations, either their own or those of others. To compensate for this belief, they dont attempt anything that might result in failure. They hope that others will forget about them and not hold them responsible for anything. These students may be disciplined for: not paying attention, not being prepared, being dishonest and wasting time. This phenomenon, decribed as learned helplessness by psychologists, is characteristic of students who fail needlessly because they do not invest their best efforts. Responding to Misbehavior No matter what the reason is for a students misbehavior, we are forced to respond. Some responses produce better results than others. Below is a list of both positive and negative responses by educators. Responses that usually get negative results include: 1. Reacting emotionally by being angry or making hollow threats 2. Handing out a punishment that is out of proportion to the offense 3. Reacting to misbehavior publicly 4. Reacting to a small incidence that often resolves itself 5. Making an accusation without the facts to back it up Responses that tend to get positive results include: 1. Describing the unacceptable behavior to the student 2. Pointing out how his behavior negatively impacts him and others 3. Talking with the students about what could have been a better behavior choice and why 4. Asking the student to write a goal that will help him improve his actions 5. Showing confidence in the student that his behavior goals are achievable 6. Positively reinforcing behavior that relates to student goals Dreikurs believes the best way to correct misbehavior is with logical consequences. For example, if a student doesnt finish his homework, he stays after school to complete it. This helps the student make an association between the misbehavior and the consequences.

Achieving A Congruence In Organisation Strategy Business Essay

Achieving A Congruence In Organisation Strategy Business Essay This essay first discusses about the importance of achieving congruence between an organisations strategy, structure and human resource management (HRM) practices. The author begins with defining strategy, structure and practices. The example of a software support organisation is used to illustrate the points in this essay; ensues by the outlining of its business objectives and strategies. It strives to be the leading integration software support service provider offering cutting edge service quality and achieving high customer satisfaction. Being in the service industry, the strategies revolve very much around human resource administration. The author subsequently delves into each strategy explaining why there must be congruence in order to accomplish the objectives. The second segment of discussion directs the attention to the relevance and effectiveness of HRM in achieving a competitive edge for the organisation. In the instance of the support organisation, information technology (IT) knowledge and customer service skills are a crucial part of work. Technology is ever-evolving and customers demands intensify in time. With proper management of skill and practices the organisation will be able to adapt well to external and internal changes giving it an advantage over other support organisations. As the conclusion, performance is obtained by systematic interactions and integration among the various HRM practices (Boxall, 2003). HRM has to be aligned to the corporate strategy and structure and this gives the organisation a competitive edge. First and foremost it is good to introduce and define the key elements of the essay. Organisational strategy defines the direction in which an organisation intends to move and establishes the framework for action through which it intends to get there (as quoted in Stone, 2008, p. 13). Organisational structure refers to the organisations framework or design (as quoted in Stone, 2008, p. 34). HRM practices relate to the human resource routines that are undertaken to manage specific skills, values and knowledge of employees (Ennen Richter, 2010). It is important to achieve congruence between these three elements to increase operational performance by meeting the organisational objectives and at the same time promoting achievement of employee goals (Stone, 2008). Advantage occurs when an organisation substantially builds the quality of its human capital and links it to the business and strategy (Boxall, 2003). Hence it can become a leader or winner in the industry. Work situation of a software support organisation will be discussed here. Its strategic business objectives are to be the market leader in integration software support excellence providing services around the globe 247, increase revenue opportunities and endorse effective cost control through: Understanding and growing the employee skills and interests. Retaining the right people by showing appreciation of their contribution. Empowering employees to provide value for achieving customers goal. Achieving high customers satisfaction and keeping them happy. Expanding the organisation in cost effective locations. The business strategy depends profoundly on the work force which is the organisation structure and the management of workers. The corporate business strategy of being the leader in customer service is to be achieved by first of all understanding and growing the employee skills and interests. This is in fact one of HRM practices and activities. Understanding the employee can be done by performing individual appraisal and growing them is a part of HR development and career planning (Stone, 2008). These days, less attention is paid to the persons position or tenure, rather the market value of skills is focused on (Cascio, 2010). Besides skills, their interests need to be taken care of, depending what they are. For example an employee that gets promoted is more committed to the companys goals attainment (Joseph Dai, 2009). A design that focuses on wellness of workers is more likely to be successful in achieving the operational goals. Without proper management of people who are going to run the organisation, its strategic business objectives execution would go the wrong direction. Secondly, the retaining and hiring of desirable skills directly affect the corporate performance (Wei, 2006). HRM strategies have to be aligned fittingly to this in order that the company does not dissipate unnecessary costs hiring new support engineers to replace those who leave the job due to feeling of disapproval. To keep capable workers, it is important for them to feel appreciated for their contribution. Engaging a reward system, incentives-motivated performance measurement is a good way to retain employees. Good organisation coordination can promote a trust environment that enables two way feedbacks between employer-employee (Collins, 2010). Constructive and beneficial feedback has to be acted upon to show that management is receptive to the peoples voice. HR activities such as recruitment and selection should aim to support the organisations strategy of focusing on the customer-employee relationship. Competent candidates ought to be selected for the job to ensure customer obt ain the service they seek from the knowledge workers. Thirdly, the researcher discusses why the empowerment of employee has to be fitted with the right HRM practices and organisational structure. The support organisation has offices in different parts of the world, therefore it is structured in the way that there is a Regional Time Zone Manager who heads the Product Line Manager who manages the Support Managers. The Support Managers deal directly with the Support Engineers. Communication is most of the time vertical and bureaucratic. The author thinks this design complicates the HR practices; for example there will be multiple level approval processes, hence employees are not empowered appropriately. Non-hierarchical decision making is becoming a more popular managerial structure because it is creating added creativity in workplace through proper delegation of work (Joseph Dai, 2009). The author thinks the support organisation could adopt this flat organisational structure. In this way there will be cutback of redundant escalation and reporting processes. Strategic plans can to be communicated immediately to the employees, who carry them out (York, 2010). Managers and employees should share a common understanding of execution plan details without obvious rank barrier. Then the engineers would know the main areas of concern. Keeping customers happy is one of them which will to be discussed next. The fourth strategic plan is to achieve high customers satisfaction. Managing human resource by adopting development-orientated practices is essential to improve the organisations capability in satisfying the customers. IT workers have to be developed regularly to keep up with the latest technological knowledge (Joseph Dai, 2009). Customer interaction effectiveness can be enhanced by communication training and development, hence boosting customer fulfilment. An open and interactive organisational design structure is helpful in building a good customer-support relationship. Customers are free to reach out to the Customer Services Managers for any conflicts or queries that occur during the support process so they get all the assistance they need. Consequently more new customers are attracted to sign up while existing customer stayed satisfied. The company will be able to meet its business objective of generating more revenue from the customers maintenance contracts. Finally, to promote cost effectiveness via the strategic decision to grow the support team internationally, supporting a global set of customers around the clock. One of the initiatives is to have more shifts in lower cost hub, providing customer service remotely through phone and email communication. HRM supports this by recruiting the required support engineers before the shifts start. HR planning of estimating how many workers are needed has to be done carefully to ensure cost efficiency. The planning would have to take into account the existing workers and the time required for the new workers to start contributing to the company (Ahmad, 2000). As the setup activity spans across the globe, the structure has to be in place before execution. The alignment of HRM practices and policies to the organisational strategy, design and structure will significantly increase productivity (Joseph Dai, 2009) especially in the condition where remote supervision is required. The author agrees with the statement One of the aims of HRM is to give an organisation a competitive edge. In fact HRM has to be strategized to help integrate the organisational strategy and polish its structure in a unique way that enhances the overall value to provide a competitive advantage. Human resources management focuses on managing the employer and employee relations and productively use it to achieve the strategic corporate strategy (Stone, 2008). Again in the example of the Support Centre, information technology (IT) knowledge and customer services skills are a crucial part of work. As described above, HRM activity such as training and development could improve these skills which add value to the customer. Customer usually tends to compare the quality of service provided among all other support organisations offering the same services. Distinguished service that stands out is in the advantage to keep the customers. HRM practices and policies describe factors that determine with what skills, values and knowledge organisational routines are implemented (Ennen Richter, 2010). A good HRM system takes care of changes that happen externally as well as internally. External factor such as technological divergence which is ever-evolving requires the attainment of new technical know-how for continuous improvement. With the right resource management, existing hardware and software can be replaced before they get obsolete. New technology can be acquired and utilized to create a better environment for support engineers to trouble-shoot complicated technical cases. Customers are always impressed with fresh ideas and fast resolution time. Transformation that happens internally for example team restructuring will probably affect day to day practices. HR administrative mechanism plays an important role to ensure employees adapt well to the changes. If a formal notification about re-allocation of duties is deli vered, workers will not be caught off guard and can prepare for the change. Productivity would drop tremendously if the various factors are not managed well. HRM that aligns to business strategies controls work activities and direct employees back on track for the organisation to stay competitive. Ennen Richter, 2010, through empirical research concludes that congruence practices, policies, strategy and organisational structure would give firms a competitive advantage over the organisations lacking such fit. The support organisation which is in the service sector covers a huge range of human services and practices. Productivity is best served by systematic interactions and integration among the various practices (Boxall, 2003). The support organisation focuses on human capital but at the same time it wishes to control cost in the most efficient way. Business hubs have been set up in lower maintenance cost locations. To have Asians providing support service to Europeans for example opens to issues such as cultural and expectation differences. HR strategy to hire the best job applicant with strong competencies such as good etiquette, resilience to cultural differences, strong verbal and written communication becomes a significant factor in ensuring the success of the organisati on. The author concludes that the aim of HRM is to achieve congruence between an organisations strategy, structure and its practices for inducing a competitive edge. When the human capital is taken care of, all other aspects such as technology, customer, culture, social and others will be handled appropriately by precise HRM strategy guidelines. The managers design the strategies and model then delegate the tasks. The workers follow instructions to achieve goal. The managers then collect feedback from the workers to continuously improve the system and produce result. Productivity is best served by systematic interactions and integration among the various HRM practices (Boxall, 2003). HRM has to be aligned to the corporate strategy and structure and this relationship gives the organisation a competitive edge. All said about having a system associated with strategies in place and the extensive information available today, the traditional multi-layer organisation charts value is declining ( Collins, 2010). As we move more into the knowledge age, managers role can be made redundant or will be trimmed down. Perhaps as food for thought, one day organisation would prefer workers performing their functional activities without the managers, but through forming multi-domains networked together by technological intelligence. Word count: 1754 (Excluding Abstract and References)

The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr :: essays research papers

In the months between and including May and September, in 1807, Aaron Burr was tried by the Supreme Court in Virginia on the count of treason against the United States. During the period of 1804 to 1807, Burr allegedly committed several overt acts, which are actions, that may be innocent in themselves, but in combination with the intentions and results of that act, become criminal actions. The trial was about treason, which the Constitution defines as â€Å"levying war against [the United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid or comfort,â€Å" (Art. III, Sect. 3) and the prosecution must prove that Burr committed the overt act with the testimony of two witnesses, for the treason conviction to stand. In this trial, Burr’s actions outside of the state of Virginia have no bearing on the overt act of assembling troops to levy war against the United States, and therefore the majority of his admissible actions occurred on Blennerhasset’s Island in Virgi nia. (Doc 108) Although the prosecution made a strong case for Burr’s guilt, the differentiation between his intentions and his actions, his background as an American patriot and the lack of concrete evidence, one must conclude that Aaron Burr is not guilty of treason. He perhaps was even the victim of a larger governmental conspiracy to rid him of all prestige, honor and legacy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The prosecution tried to prove that Burr used his power to assemble an army of men to conquer New Orleans, then Mexico and eventually found a new nation composed of the Western American states and Mexico. The fault in their argument is that his actions do not necessarily point directly towards this conclusion. It is true that Burr wrote letters and even discussed a new war with Spain and the formation of a new nation, but this does not constitute treason for â€Å"individuals may meet together and traitorously determine to make dispositions to bring forces into the field, and levy war against their country; this is a conspiracy, but not treason.† (Doc 108) Therefore, even if Burr intended to eventually enact his plan, the simple act of planning it does not constitute treason. But even the true intentions of Burr remain unclear, for he had recently purchased 400,000 acres of land in the Western states and perhaps he assembled these men to settle it. (Doc 33) His actions of enlisting men, arming them and supplying them does not constitute treason because the overt act remains innocent without confirmation of intent to harm the United States.

Okalahoma critical analysis Essay -- Drama

Okalahoma critical analysis The original production of Oklahoma opened at the St. James Theatre, New York, on Wednesday March 31, 1943. The top ticket price was $4.80. It ran on Broadway for over five years, besting the previous record holder Hellzapoppin by more than two years. For fifteen years, from 1946 until 1961, Oklahoma held the record as the longest running show in Broadway history. When Okalahoma closed on Broadway May 29, 1948 after 2,212 performances, more than four and a half million people had seen it there. In our expressive arts lesson we watched a section of Okalahoma. As our topic is dreams and nightmares, we watched the section where Laurey has her dream. In a swirl of dream images, Laurey sees herself marrying Curly when Jud invades the wedding; he carries her off, thwarts Curly's attempts to rescue her, and, after a horrific struggle, kills Curly. Laurey awakes from her nightmare with a start...and finds Jud ready to escort her to the Dance. In the beginning of this section we can see Laurey falling to sleep. Then the lights suddenly dim, this shows the audience that we have travelled from reality to her dream. The lighting plays an important part in this musical, as it communicates to the audience Laurey’s mood and feelings. When Laurey is dreaming the light dims to a blue. Then hands appear from the cornfields; they are being lighted up with gold spotlights. She then follows them to a large stage, which is filled up with blur light. In her dream they lighting is calm and cool, and the mood is happy but when it changes into a nightmare the lights suddenly switch red, and makes the atmosphere alarming and unsettling. A spot light is also used on Curley when he enters to dance with Laurey. This can symbolise that he is the one for her, and that he stands out from everyone else. By using a white spotlight shows the audience that he is pure and good. But the spotlights also build a feeling of confusion and distress. This is in her nightmare where the lighting is red and the white spotlights are darting around the stage. This shows the audience Laurey’s feelings towards her nightmare. Music is crucial in her dream as there is no speaking involved, so they music is the only thing that can be heard. In her dream they are playing the song â€Å"oh, what a beautiful morning†. This is played in maj... ...girls they dance in unison, to show they are together and under control. They use lots of turns, and leaps. They also use a lot of ballet movements. This shows the audience a calm, flowing and graceful dream. In the dance with the showgirls, they are all dancing separately with separate movements. They use lots of flexible movements, and balances. This can show the audience that they are separated and unorganised. When she dances the waltz with curly they use lots of lifts, turns and graceful movements, on the other hand when dancing with Judd she is being thrown around and manipulated like a rag doll. This also shows another contrast, which may relate to the contrasts in dreams and nightmares. The musical communicated to the audience her feeling and emotions through other means than verbal communication. They show it mainly through lighting, movement, and music. It relates to dreams and nightmares as is seems rather peculiar. The music seems out of tune and distraught. And strange things and people appear throughout to make the dream seem realistic. This critical analysis will help me to relate to dreams and nightmares throughout my performance without talking.

Renaissance Comparison Essay

Renaissance Comparison Essay Tom Barnes HUM/205 3-21-2010 Janet Florick In the broader scheme of things, the social changes in Italy were inspired, as we've seen, by Humanism. Italian artists, writers and philosophers were driven to study Classical antiquity and explore man's supposed capacity for rational choice. They believed that Humanism led to more dignified and worthy humans. In the north (possibly in part because the north did not have works of antiquity from which to learn), change was brought about by a different rationale. Thinking minds in the north were more concerned with religious reform, feeling that Rome (from whom they were physically distanced) had strayed too far from Christian values. In fact, as northern Europe became more openly rebellious over the authority of the Church, art took a decidedly secular turn. This plays a major role in how the arts impacted and what type of relationship the arts had in the culture of both the North and Italy. Another common factor of both during the Renaissance was the Guild system. The Guild system started to arise during the Gothic period, Guilds were the best path a man could go down to learn a craft, be it painting, sculpture, or saddle making. These Guilds were very similar to the trade unions of our modern day. Training in any specialty was long, rigorous and comprised of multiple steps. These Guilds had a self-policing policy, most of the money exchanging hands-when works of art were commissioned and paid for went to the Guild members. These Guild systems seemed to be more in place in Northern Europe than Italy. One last similarity of the two is they both had a definite artistic center. In Italy it was Florence were all artists looked for inspiration and innovation. In Northern Europe it was Flanders which was part of then the Duchy of Burgundy. This was a thriving city which like Florence made its money in banking and wool. Each of these cultures had their own specific style. Both cultures with similarities and differences set aside gave a new birth to the social and art movements in the world of that time period. These new movements are part of what has helped shape our modern era of art today. References Essak, Shelley. (2010). The Renaissance In Northern Europe. _About. com Art History Fine art touch (2010). The Venetian Renaissance. Retrieved March 19, 2010, from The City Review (2010). Retrieved March 20, 2010, from www. thecityreview. com