Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Versus Smooth Talk

The saying goes the only difference between a tragedy and a comedy is the ending. Meaning no matter how tragic or comedic a story begins, the ending is what determines what type of story was told (thus what genre it falls in). This concept of endings is greatly exemplified through the comparison of the short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and the film the story was based on called Smooth Talk. Both works contain an abundance of similarities but, due to slight yet critical changes made, the two stories become very different in their underlying themes/genre.The two stories differ in aspects such as (obviously) the title, character traits (i. e. June), certain plot details and most importantly the endings. They differ completely. The difference in endings change a horror story inspired by a real serial killer to a coming of age film for the American teenage girl. The short story Where Are You Going Where Have You Been like all short stories is short The short story is a total of twelve pages long and begins with roughly a two page description on Connie and her family.The short yet informational background helps the reader realize Connie is the typical fifteen year old girl whose main priorities are the same as most fifteen year old girls: need for attention, boys, and looks.. One day she doesn’t listen to her family and decides to stay home instead of bonding with her family at a relative’s barbeque.Connie’s fate begins its dark and bleak road when, like most horror stories, is home alone and a stranger comes to the house. The strangers name is Arnold Friend and his intentions though unclear at first, become more and more evident as the conversation between him and Connie unravels.Arnold talks in a tone that is both alluring and vicious, he tells Connie information about herself that just seems impossible for him to know giving him the characteristic of a hellish creature that sees all ( like the devil). Ar nold appears to have put Connie in a Dracula like dazed charm which makes her eventually get in his car where the story comes to an abrupt end. Though the ending is ambiguous, Connie is raped and killed by the monster Arnold Friend, or an old fiend (if one removes all the letter r’s in his name).Though the ending is vague, it is still haunting and horrific in the way that an evil creature posing as a teenager targets/abducts a young girl, violates her then kills her. This story is every parent’s nightmare and the scariest part about it is how achievable a heinous act like this is. The definition of horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; the ending of Oates’ short story does just that. The ending is gloomy, sad, and horrific which makes this story a horror story.Like most horror stories a lesson is taught, if one lies to their parents and act naughty, they’ll will eventually meet th e devil. The Film Smooth Talk starring Laura Dern, revolves around the same characters from the story Joyce Carol Oates wrote about, but takes a different approach. Smooth Talk is a ninety minute film based on a twelve page short story so it’s a no brainer that scenes were prolonged and added. The scenes that were prolonged/added do not focus on Oates’ Arnold Friend, but rather takes a more in-depth look at Connie’s family life.In the short story we are told certain characteristics of Connie’s family but, nothing more than that; nothing to make the mother, father or her sister June significant characters in the story. The story by Oates breifly touches on the subject of Connie and her mother not getting along, while the film constantly revolves around this mother-daughter conflict. Smooth Talk chooses to focus and explore more on the dysfunction between Connie and her family (especially the one with her mother) rather than for example finding out more abo ut the character Arnold Friend.After about an hour and ten minutes watching Connie’s naive adolescent persona constantly creating turmoil in her house, are we then introduced to the film’s antagonist, Arnold Friend. The confrontation between Arnold and Connie go exactly as they do in the short story, with one big exception, the story doesn’t end once Connie gets in the car. In Smooth talk, much like the short story, Arnold does indeed rape Connie, however, afterwards he returns her home alive. Once returned home, Connie’s naà ¯ve self centered take on life seems to have been left in the field Arnold molested her at.Connie walks toward the house where she is lovingly greeted by her remorseful mother apologizing for slapping her in an earlier scene. She has experienced the horrors of the outside world and realizes the good life and safety her family provides for her. The last scene in Smooth talk ends with Connie sitting in her room, not looking outside bu t, looking in. Then her sister June walks in, and instead of the two butting heads like they did throughout the entire film, Connie embraces her and they start dancing.What this nding shows is that the Connie from Smooth Talk, is no longer wishing to ‘be old enough to drive so she can leave her home’. She experienced the ‘harsh cruel world’ that Eddie from the earlier diner scene was talking about.Most importantly is this ending is not sad or monotonic, it is happy and hopeful, the complete opposite of the story it is based on What Smooth talk ends up being isn’t a horror story like Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been but, a story of a typical all knowing teenager who learns the hard way just how important family after she gets in a situation she can’t smooth talk her way out of.Although Smooth Talk is based on Oates’ short story, by the end of each story and because of the end, what one has is two completely different stories. One story is for a parent to scare their daughter straight, the other is to remind them that in life no matter what, one will always have family.

Enterprise Architecture as Strategy

Executive Summary This report is an examination of change process prompted by MEG International, a large and reputable Finnish IT organization. This report explains Enterprise architecture and how it can be applied as a strategy. It explains Coachman's â€Å"framework for enterprise architecture† (Coachman, 1987) and the components of its two dimensional matrix.Criticism that Coachman framework is only a taxonomy follows on identifying next framework â€Å"The Open Group Architecture Framework† (known as TOGA) and it's criticism that can act as architectural process rather than a framework, this report recommends to apply Coachman Framework for economy and TOGA as architectural process for MEG to implement Enterprise architecture as strategy. This report then follows on defining Re-engineering process from the key organizational change perspective.The report follows on the next section explaining the critical risks to re-engineer an organization and how to make sure the re- engineering process has been implemented successfully. While analyzing the implementation of re-engineering process this report introduces Muckiness's seven â€Å"S† (Systems, Structures, Staff, Skills, Strategy, Style, Shared Values). The next section f the report then provides the Justification that change is inevitable in an organization and identifies four main reasons for it.Although most people said MEG international is successful, its poor profit results, poor management practice and lack of communication and teamwork contrasted those statements. 1. 1 Enterprise Architecture as strategy Enterprise architecture is the practice of applying a comprehensive and rigorous method for describing a current and future structure and behavior for an organization's processes, information systems, personnel and organizational sub- units, so that they align with the organization's core goals and strategic direction (Shaw, 2007).Similarly, Coachman (1987) describes enterprise arc hitecture as it is to pep the business from disintegrating; the concept of information systems architecture is becoming less of an option and more of a necessity. Enterprise is an independent, standalone entity comprising set of business functions and architecture is the underlying framework that provides the ground for the enterprise to operate efficiently to achieve organizational goals.The primary purpose of creating enterprise architecture is to ensure that business strategy and IT investments are aligned and provide long-term view of a company's processes, systems and technologies (Ross, Well & Robertson, 2006). Enterprise architecture is important because organizations need to adapt increasingly fast to increased competition, changing customer requirements, and business goals. Since MEG international was showing signs of reduction in sales and threatening market position by foreign competition were perfect examples that MEG was not adapting to rapidly changing environments.Thi s need for adoption has influence over the entire business processes; change in one business process may influence other business process. To keep enterprise architecture coherent, change should be managed accordingly in all architectures, and the relations between different architecture just be clear so it is vital for MEG to implement enterprise architecture as a strategy to be able to gain competitive advantage. Main difficulty in adopting enterprise architecture as strategy is to match business architectural alignment and IT alignment because of the differences in architectural modeling methods.Business analysts build complex business process models; similarly IT architects can design complex applications. These two groups of people may be best at what they do but they lack common language to understand each other's design. Mona Lisa although being Information Systems consultant didn't have he leadership capacity or vision on how she is going to approach the issue of aligning th ese two processes, or what framework to use for the enterprise architecture and what IT strategy to choose to move forward towards the change process.Some of the well known examples of enterprise architecture frameworks that can help to build the strategies around enterprise architecture in MEG are: Coachman's â€Å"framework for enterprise architecture† (Coachman, 1987) (Figure 1): This framework is a logical structure for classifying the different perspectives involved in enterprise architecture in a two dimensional matrix that are significant to TTS stakeholders.The matrix consists of levels or player perspective (scope or planner, business model or business owner, system model or designer, technology or builder, detailed representations or subcontractor and Functioning Enterprise) and six columns or aspects (data, function, network, people, time, motivation). From the Business owner perspective â€Å"data† represents information about customers, products, suppliers and relationships between these entities (Session, 2007).On the other hand â€Å"data† from the perspective of technical person implementing the database is rows and columns in tables which are linked together by Joins (Session, 007). If we move left to right on the grid we see different system descriptions from one player view whereas if we move from top to bottom it changes the different player perspective of viewing the system descriptions. Both perspectives are therefore critical for understanding the system's architecture that Coachman tries to address in his architecture.There are some criticisms about this framework that it itself doesn't define the methodology of the framework and is a complex process and can be applicable for large organizations only. This framework mainly acts as a template where goals, ales, processes, materials, roles, locations and events that organizations require must be filled in. Session (2007) argues that â€Å"the Coachman Framework is ac tually taxonomy for organizing architectural artifacts (I. E. Design documents, specifications, models) that takes into account both who the artifact targets (e. G. Business owner, builder) and what particular issue (e. G. , data, functionality) is being addressed†. The Open Group Architecture Framework (known as TOGA) (Figure 2): This framework mainly has four components such as: business architecture, application architecture, data architecture and technical architecture. Business architecture explains how business processes are aligned to meet the organizational goals.Application architecture describes how the applications are designed and explains the relationship between industry wide applications. Similarly Data architecture explains how the enterprise data are stored and accessed and finally technical architecture is responsible for explaining the interactions between software and hardware infrastructure. It mainly relies on already existing, proven technologies and pro ducts and tries to give a well-tested overall starting model which can be further extended.Although TOGA describes itself as â€Å"framework†, Session (2007) categorized TOGA as architectural process rather than an architectural framework. Session (2007) further extends Coachman explains how to categories the artifacts and TOGA gives the process to create them. So for an organization like MEG international Toga's Architecture Development Method (ADAM) (Figure 3) provides a strategic process for moving from generic to specific enterprise architecture.Therefore taxonomy like Coachman and an architectural process like TOGA seem very much appropriate for MEG to adapt Enterprise Architecture as strategy. . 2 Re-engineering Re-engineering could also be interpreted as reverse engineering or radical redesign of a business process which disregards all the traditions and assumptions of the past business processes or procedures and develops new one aiming to leap forward in performance and this seems essential for MEG International.Reengineering process involves in identifying the characteristics of an already engineered product or services and the processes involved in developing those, then redesigning all the processes from the scratch to improve current productivity or customer satisfaction. Hammer & Champs (1993) describe business re-engineering as the â€Å"fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of an entire business system to achieve dramatic improvements in critical measures of performance. Reengineering is most often called business process reengineering which is aimed to accomplish tremendous changes within an organization and underpins all the possible outcomes to maintain a true competitive advantage among the competitors. Reengineering focuses on identifying and abandoning outdated rules and assumptions and creating new rules, work methods and workflow to achieve organizational goals aiming to increase productivity, product quality and customer satisfaction drastically. Firstly company need to identify the problems and what can be the solutions to fix them.If that cannot be fixed by some other meaner or change process then a basic re engineering model must be developed, then company's core processes should be redesigned and final stage is to adopt the new design. Re-engineering is not a simple task to accomplish, it requires fundamental rethink and radical redesign of business processes. For effectiveness it requires structured and analytic approach to generate aromatic improvements in cost reduction, quality improvements, customer satisfaction, speed etc. Epic] Reengineering (Hammer & Champs, 2003, p. 2) Companies that are in deep competitive differences with their competitors, companies who have managers who can see problems arising like MEG and start on re-engineer the business before all their competitive advantage are wiped off. Hammer and Champs (1993)g's rhetorical question of reengineering is that â€Å"If I were re-creating this company today, given what I know and the current level of technology, what would it look liker.Focus on fundamentals, radical redesign element, the potential for dramatic results and business process orientation must be addressed while answering the question. Fundamentals like what the organization does, why it is done that way, what are the tactical aspects, should be addressed while designing re-engineered process â€Å"what should be†. Superficial changes and quantum leap in performance is the must while re-engineering not only marginal enhancements and improvements. These changes should address current business process, plus implement improved and simplified processes that improve value to he customer. . Critical risks to re-engineer organization and successful change implementation Re-engineering the organization processes or business process reengineering (BPR) can produce drastic change and improvement in the organizational processes if implemented suc cessfully. However if it is not implemented correctly it will not work as advertised and fail to meet the high expectations. Recent surveys show that about 70% BPR fail and some organizations that have put massive effort in BPR are only able to gain marginal benefits (Davenport, 1993).These figures indicate that re- engineering has high risk but also organizations are ready to take the risk because the output when executed efficiently can be astounding. Some of the risk that could derail BPR process can be no support from senior managers, focusing on automating current processes before reengineering process is identified, making technology alone dependent on change process and not identifying the limitation of the current Information technology infrastructure.Other directly impacting difficulties that BPR can face involves employee resistance to change, not addressing employee concerns, schismatic of strategy & goals, lack of leadership oversight and commitment. Including all these risks main critical factor is that organization must be truly committed to change in the re-engineering process with full support of senior level management. At Meg international even though Latino thought that everyone would be excited by the prospects of organizational change, only few expressed any enthusiasm for understanding general management.Most of the divisional heads were not clear on what re-engineering process is and were misinterpreting the concept in their own words which created an anxiety among most of the employees which resulted in loss of number of good technical staff. These were clear signs that most of the divisional heads were not ready to help in the re-engineering process that was very bad sign for Mona Lisa to start with. Since the BPR is a high risk process and involves high level of tasks to achieve, it can never be one man Job; it stresses the use of team throughout the process.Lisa however didn't show any initiative in having a team; as a result her rig orous efforts were wasted and ultimately lead to her resignation. If I was in her position then my first priority of this project could be to create team of experts from different parts of organization to understand the business processes and technical infrastructure, and hire few members in the team from outside who have better understanding of re-engineering process who will be responsible for explaining the management team what re-engineering actually is and what we are planning to achieve.It is unlikely that an organization can ignore the existing infrastructure and implement a process from scratch. It is more realistic to acknowledge the resources available and any real constraints and develop fundamental understanding of their implications on the process redesign (Davenport, 1993). After the process is redesigned, available Information Technology should be used to facilitate the implementation of new process that rules out the possibility of technology to be the limited factor .While process re-engineering is not a technology endeavourer, IT is recognized as having a critical role to play in re- engineering efforts, primarily as an enabler of new operational and management processes (Davenport and Short 1990; Hammer and Champs 1993; Davenport 1993). However, IT in itself cannot be held responsible for the ultimate success or failure of the business strategy. When skillfully applied, IT can provide support for the intermediate processes that taken together comprise the execution of an organization's strategy.Since organization's culture is an important aspect and cannot be ignored in the change process, the framework that I will be using during re-engineering process is Muckiness's seven S diagram (Figure 4) because it encapsulates the key components of an organization and has Shared Values (or Culture) at its centre. 2. 1 Systems:- These are the processes, methods, procedures, rules, techniques, technology, manuals, etc. That ensures that work is undertak en efficiently and accurately. These are the essential part of an organization to guide the management and staff.Therefore key to BPR process is to understand current systems and redesign them, often as Davenport (1993) highlights, new processes are enabled by new technology which ultimately engages employees to learn new techniques. 2. 2 Structures:- After the key processes are redefined, the next step would be to restructure the organization to match along these processes. The new form of organizational structure that aims to break the traditional types of structure, particularly bureaucratic and divisional structures is required.Hammer & Champs (2003) recommend â€Å"a move to much flatter structures organized around the processes†, whereas Davenport (1993) recommends â€Å"a multidimensional matrix structure, with process responsibility as a key dimension† (p 160). To achieve this, Johansson et al (1993) states: â€Å"the new organization must accommodate a balanc e between functional expertise and process involvement† and goes on to say it is essential to remove functional barriers (IPPP). 3 staff:- As per Henley (1991) Staff is â€Å"the quality and quantity of people employed† and manager has the role of â€Å"motivation, reward systems, the structure of Jobs and team work† (pop). Davenport (1993) expresses â€Å"gain-sharing† (Pl 10), â€Å"lateral promotion†, upgrade from â€Å"role title to process title† (Pl 1 1), and interesting and challenging through â€Å"work role rotation†, he believes â€Å"encourages employees to redesign the processes to eliminate their own Job†. In contrast to Davenport's expression BPR to some extent will be involved in down-sizing and right-sizing the workforce. 2. Skills:- Henley (1991) defines skills as â€Å"The competences the organization needs in its people in order to perform difficult tasks to a high standard† (pop). The BPR redefines the roles that should enhance and provide space for skills development where Hammer & Champs (1993) add â€Å"New World of Work† where â€Å"Jobs change from simple tasks to multi-dimensional work†. This meaner â€Å"Job preparation changes from training to education, from rule following to exercising Judgment† and â€Å"manager's change from supervisors to coaches† and â€Å"executives change from scorekeepers to leaders†(p 169). . 5 Strategy:- The main task in BPR is to discover the organization's strategy and â€Å"of what drives competitive advantage in a particular industry; the industry's value chain and the basis for competition, and how a particular company seeks to gain competitive edge† Monsoon et al 1993, pop). BPR decisions and strategic decisions involving new processes new structure and new staff mindset is extremely difficult to achieve but managers should be trained to articulate their â€Å"Process vision† driven by â₠¬Å"Business Strategy† Davenport (1993, Pl 27). 2. Style:- By style Henley (1991) meaner â€Å"the philosophy, values and shared beliefs adopted y managers in their use of power† (pop). BPR should be able to change the way things are done in the organization and behavioral changes. â€Å"Process innovation involves massive change, not only in process flows and the culture surrounding them, but also in organizational power and controls† (Davenport, 1993, Pl 3). 2. 7 Shared Values:- Andrews & Stack (1994) state that in â€Å"successful reengineering business operations, individual belief systems become aligned with the stated beliefs of the organization† (Pl 15).Reengineering will definitely have a big impact on the cultural specs of an organization under new processes, structure, staff role, management strategy and style but â€Å"re-engineering demands that employees deeply believe they work for their customers, not for their bosses†(Hammer & Champs, 1993, pop). BPR should establish new process teams linked by common values where employees must believe in self empowerment, self management and rewards based on skills must be used.Following this structure would provide me path to develop perfect strategy that would enable me to lead my team to successful re-engineering process at MEG international that would significantly improve the performance of the equines processes. Change is inevitable in an organization, the organizations unable to keep up with the change; cannot match up with the fast changing market and their survival will be in question. There are many things, events, or situations that occur in an organization or its external environment that affect the way a business operates, either that can be positive or negative.To cope with these occurrences, situations or events; every organization has to fundamentally alter the way they do business. Thus we can say the statement ‘Change is an ever-present feature of organ izational life, both at an operational and strategic level. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to any organization of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how to manage the changes required getting there. Consequently, organizational change cannot be separated from organizational strategy, or vice versa' is very true.There are mainly four reasons that organizations need to changes that can be market changes, increased competition, external forces, and internal forces. 3. 1 Market changes The international demand for quality products, low prices, better service and increased level of client satisfaction are the key for the organizations change the way they do business in current global economy. To match these ever changing needs companies are forced to form collaborative arrangements, cooperative ventures and even alliances.Social and political pressures have always been there for the organizations. Employee values, needs, prioriti es and their motivations are always influenced by the political and social events. To match up with their needs it's essential for managers to adjust their management styles and arrange comfortable environment for employees. . 2 Increased competition In past where there were technology was not advance enough and there was less global competition with slower moving business environment where change occurred incrementally and infrequently.But now challenges organizations face is different, globalization has created both opportunities and challenges forcing firms to make drastic changes not only to compete but to survive in the market. Globalization is basically driven by technological advances, international economic integration and domestic market maturation (cotter 1996). Even companies operating in small entries can feel the impact of global competition. 3. 3 External forces External driving forces are those kinds of situations or events that occur outside of the company and they a re beyond the control of an organization.External forces can be expressed under these sub-classifications: Demographic Characteristics: The change in population and their density come under this classification that can trigger organizational changes. This mainly includes changes in age, gender, race, and increase in diversity. Technological developments: In current business environment technology plays vital role in any organization. The Internet has revolutionized the way in which information is exchanged, communication facilitated and commerce conducted.Technology is rapidly changing and effective management demands more knowledge in these areas in order for companies to manage their resources and develop, maintain or keep their competitive edge. It is essential for organizations to adapt technology to improve productivity and market competitiveness. Since technology is fastest changing entity, any business missing to follow the technological changes might loose their competitiven ess or wiped off completely from the market. . 4 Internal Forces Internal driving forces are those kinds of situations or events that occur inside the company and they controlled if there is proper initiative taken.Internal forces can be expressed under these sub Human resource factors: -classifications: People change more frequently and they bring in their changed perceptions in the organizations. Their perceptions about the work and work environment, their expectations from their managers and colleagues, flexibility and balance between work and their life etc could act as important factor for organizational change. To increase employee motivation, and improve their commitment and education towards work, their stresses, sources of conflict, work overload, and ambiguity need to be identified and eliminated.Managerial behavior/decisions: Excessive interpersonal conflict is often a clear sign that change is needed. Due to the important role of the manager in introducing and managing c hange in the organization, skills training and capacity building programmed for both manager and employee might be necessary. It is suggested that a better strategic approach to change is where organizations and heir people continually monitor, sense and respond to external and internal environment in small steps as an ongoing process (Burners, 2004).Early model of change was developed by Lenin (cited in Burners 2004, p. 985) consisting of three- stage process. First stage is â€Å"unfreezing† which is mainly aimed at overcoming or dismantling the existing â€Å"mind set† that are resisting change. Secondly the change implementation which can be of lot of confusions where old ways are challenged and new ideas have not been fully stable. Final stage he called is refreezing stabilizing hanged within organizational culture, norms, policies and practices in order to ensure the new behavior is sustained in individuals.The unfreezing process is extremely important when intro ducing new technology with most failures occurring at this stage due to two factors; a lack of effective communication at the beginning and a failure to involve affected individuals in the change process. Therefore Cotter (1996) identifies that successful transformational change requires all of the steps in (Figure 5) and that the total time for the change is considerable. Skipping a step never reduces a satisfactory result and ‘critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact' (Cotter, 199, p. 7). 4. Re-engineering Implementation In an organization there are various business processes which are usually fragmented into sub-processes and tasks. Re-engineering should identify these individual fragmented processes and tasks. Re-engineering should start with assessment of the organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer requirements main questions to be asked are â€Å"who are the customers? What are our strategic goals and are they aligned with our m ission? â€Å". According to (Hall, et al, 1993) five keys to re-

Economic Development and Industrialization Essay

The process in which a society or country (or world) transforms itself from a primarily agricultural society into one based on the manufacturing of goods and services. Individual manual labor is often replaced by mechanized mass production and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines. Characteristics of industrialization include the use of technological innovation to solve problems as opposed to superstition or dependency upon conditions outside human control such as the weather, as well as more efficient division of labor and economic growth. Industrialization is most commonly associated with the European Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The onset of the second World War also led to a great deal of industrialization which resulted in the growth and development of large urban centers and as well as suburbs. Industrialization is an outgrowth of capitalism. Before India was introduced to the industrialization or the industrial revolution, india was largely an agricultural country. Before the british invasion India became famous for her handicrafts and textiles too. During the Mughal Period, India had a considerable variety of arts and handicrafts and the products commanded wide range of foreign markets. At that time no other country produced products that could be imported to India in exchange for cotton and silk goods which were in world-wide demand. Europe had to pay in billions for the increasing volume of Indian exports. India was also famous for jewelry of exquisite quality made out of gold, silver, copper, brass and bell-metal.Many urban centers were famous for carving work in ivory, wood, stone and marble. In bigger towns each handicraft was organized into a guild which safeguarded the professional interest of its members. The emergence of modern industrial enterprises can be traced back to the end of the 18th century. The new industrial activity took two forms, plantations and factory industries. Real and satisfactory progress in the factory industries began only after 1875. During the next two decades, two textile units – cotton and jute- flourished. Initially, India’s domestic economy depended mostly on the agriculture. Globally, its textile and jewelry industry were very famous, but since all the industries were fully controlled by man, the speed of the produce could not match the growing demands of foreign merchants. Then began the industrial revolution in india, which was introduced by the british. The use of machines in the industries brought about great progress and economical growth to the country. One of the main reasons why India is a member of the BRICS nations[->0] and is tipped to be the next global superpower is its rapid pace of industrialization. India’s industrial growth was recorded in 2010 at 16.8%, highest in 20 years. Thus it has a major contribution to India’s economic growth rate in 2010-2011 which is measured at about an impressive 8.6%. The rate of investment in India has been found to have exceeded 36% of the country’s GDP and this has happened because India is making progress in the industrial sector by leaps and bounds. On the technology front, the biggest advancements were in steam power. New fuels such as coal and petroleum, were incorporated into new steam engines. This revolutionized many industries including textiles and manufacturing. Also, a new communication medium was invented called the telegraph. This made communicating across the ocean much faster. But, along with this great leap in technology, there was an overall downfall in the socioeconomic and cultural situation of the people. Growth of cities were one of the major consequences of the Industrial Revolution. Many people, who initially practiced agriculture, were imposed on with heavy taxes and unable to pay taxes to the british officers were forced to move to the cities. With the new industrial age, a new qauntitative and materialistic view of the world took place. This caused the need for people to consume as much as they could. This still happens today. The negative impact of industrial revolution on india is due to two major facto rs. ââ€" ªIndia’s large population and Introduction of alternative machinery which were more efficient than man– These two factors are closely interrelated:- ââ€" ª the introduction of finer machinery improved the production of goods and reduced the number of employees. Since a large number of indians who were once practicing agriculture were led to the factories, a major population was now going with the swing of the industrial revolution, i.e.. working in the factories.the introduction of finer machinery improved the production of goods and reduced the number of employees and adversely affected the middle class and lower sections of the society. One machine could perform what ten men could and eventually machine replaced man. Lots and lots of people were jobless. Indians suffer from the industrial revolution even today as a major portion of the indian population is unemployed. Industrialization plays a significant role in the process of economic development. The examples of developed countries indicate that there is a direct relationship between high level of income and industrial development. Industrialization has its own merits as well demerits. The merits are –job creation, development in science and technology,better infrastructure, better healthcare, more amenities and comfort to the masses, more affluence, better educational levels of the masses, good help to agricultural sector in terms of farm equipments, tractors, irrigation tools,pesticides, fertilizers so the country can achieve self sufficiency in food grains. The less developed countries are generally primary producers and import industrial output. With industrialization of their own economy they need not import industrial product from outside and this helps in reducing the trade gap. The question that now arises is â€Å"Is india a developed country?† The answer lies within, whether india is a primary producer or has a industrial economy. In fact, India has a balance of both kinds of economy because agriculture forms a major part of india’s occupation, which is primary produce but, of late, many industries are spreading from cities to villages like wildfire hence, increasing the industrial economy. India is actually developing at a very fast rate in the industrial sector, and at this rate of progress, India is estimated to be a developed superpower. Looking at India’s GDP, India is already a well developed nation, but the lack of well-maintained infrastructure and unorganized roads has prevented it from being titled as a ‘developed nation’. Industrialization also helps in satisfying a variety of demands of the consumer’s. With modernization of the economy the demand for industrial product has increased considerably. Industrialization brings a change in the socio-cultural environment of the economy. It makes people dynamic, hard-working, mobile, skillful, efficient, and punctual. It brings a change in the way-of life of the people and makes people more commercial. It also provides security to the economy by making it self-dependent. India has seen a rapid rise in industrialization in the past few decades, due its expansion in markets such as pharmaceuticals, bio-engineering, nuclear technology, informatics and technology-oriented higher education. These latest trends have made India more globally-minded as their desire to trade with the world increases. It is said that India has deliberately targeted markets they know they can make instant in-roads into. Industries such as pharmaceuticals and bio-engineering have been seen as ideal in increasing the national income using the country’s new-found expertise. Also, India now exports a whole variety of products and knowledge, including petroleum products, textile goods, jewelry, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather merchandise. There are a lot of comparisons drawn between India’s industrialization model and that of China. Both countries have realized the importance of the export market and how to capitalize on their huge workforces – allowing them to become leading powers in the global market on several fronts. Western countries look favorably to countries such as India and China due to their low production costs in comparison to European and US prices; again a favorable characteristic allowing the countries to build their economies. The industrialization of India looks set to continue for some time and the result could well be that India becomes a major player in many global markets in the future. Industrialization plays a vital role in the economic development of an underdeveloped country. The historical facts reveal that all the developed countries of the world broke the vicious circle of underdevelopment by industrialization. 1. Raising Income: The first important role is that industrial development provide a secure basis for a rapid growth of income. 2. Changing the Structure of the Economy: In order to develop the economy underdeveloped countries need structural change through industrialization. History shows that in the process of becoming developed economy the share of the industrial sector should rise and that of the agricultural sector decline. This is only possible through deliberate industrialization. As a result, the benefits of industrialization will ‘trickle down’ to the other sectors of the economy in the form of the development of agricultural and service sectors leading to the rise in employment, output and income. 3. Meeting High-Income Demands: Beyond certain limits, the demands of the people are usually for industrial products alone. After having met the needs of food, income of the people are spent mostly on manufactured goods. This means the income-elasticity of demand for the manufactured goods is high and that of agricultural products is low. To meet these demands and increase the economy’s output underdeveloped countries need industrialization. 4. Overcoming Deterioration in the Terms of Trade: Underdeveloped countries like India need industrialization to free themselves from the adverse effects of fluctuations in the prices of primary products and deterioration in their terms of trade. Such countries mainly export primary products and import manufactured goods. The prices of primary products have been falling or are stable whereas the prices of manufactured products have been rising. This led to deterioration in the terms of trade of the LDCs. For economic development such countries must shake off their dependence on primary products. They should adopt import substituting and export oriented industrialization. 6. Increased employment opportunities. Industrialization provides increased employment opportunities in small and large scale industries. In an agrarian economy, industry absorbs underemployed and unemployed workers of agricultural sector and thereby increases the income of the community. 5. Stimulates progress in other sectors.  Industrialization stimulates progress in other sectors of the economy. A developments of one industry leads to the development and expansion of other industries. For instance the construction of a transistor radio plant, develops the small battery industry (backward linkage). The construction of milk processing plants adds to its line of production ice cream. cone cream plants etc.. (forward linkage). 8. Rise in agricultural production. Industrialization provides machinery like tractors thrashers harvesters, bulldozers, transport, aerial spray etc, to be used in the farm sector. The increased use of modern inputs has increased the yield of crops per hectare. The increase in the income of the farmers has given boost to economic development in the country. 16. Increase in the Government revenue. Industrialization increase the supply of goods both for internal and external markets. The export of goods provides foreign exchange. The customs excise duties and other taxes levied on the production of goods increase the revenue of the State. The income tax received from the industrialists adds to the revenue stream of the Government which eventually is spent for the welfare of the people as a whole.

Protein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Death of a Salesman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Case Beverly Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Service visit and analyzes assignment - Essay Example As added proof of the almost excellent knowledge that Starbucks baristas have, he was able to prepare this drink without having to look up how it is mixed while all along explaining to me what went on in its making (Bussing-Burks 55). Another service aspect that I find to be particularly outstanding at Starbucks is the fact that the restaurant never sells any coffee that happens to have been sitting for more than 30 minutes. While on my visit to the shop I personally noted that the baristas would rather throw away coffee than attempt to serve anything old they deem to be old. There are however a number of aspects that left me with a negative perception during my service visit to Starbucks. The service at Starbucks can at times prove to be rude. One striking case that comes to mind is that while I was quietly seated at a corner sipping at my nutella latte while all along analyzing the service at the Starbucks store I was visiting. An incident occurred that I deemed to not be quite appropriate. During a rare lull when there were actually no customers waiting to be served at the store. The cashier started chatting with one of the barista’s, a lady walked into the store proceeded to go and stand in front of the coffee makers while awaiting to be served. Despite having noticed the presence of this customer, the cashier and barista continued with their conversation and ignored the customer who was rapidly becoming inpatient. After about two minutes of idle waiting, the customer demanded to know why she was not being served upon which the cashier rudely replied that the customer was not standing at the proper location where people order. This greatly infuriated the customer who walked out in anger and promised to file an official complaint. I found this to be quite unprofessional and it had the effect of negatively influencing my perception of the overall customer experience at the

Economic analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic analysis - Essay Example In normal circumstances, keeping other things constant (ceteris paribus), as the demand rises (the supply is held constant), the price of the good also increases. This is because as the demand for a good rises, the willingness and the ability of the buyers to buy rises. As a result, buyers are willing to buy more, and hence the price of the good rises. This can be shown in the diagram that is drawn below. From Figure 2.1 it can be seen that as demand rises (due to some exogenous variable), the demand curve shifts to the right (from AB to CD). The supply is fixed and so the new equilibrium is F instead of E that was initially the equilibrium. Since the supply is fixed it can be seen that the prices have risen from P1 to P2, such that P1 In the article, Erica Olsen, the marketing specialist for North Dakota Wheat Commission states that the prices of durum throughout the year 2009 have not been changed. In fact they have remained in a range of $4 to $ 4.20, so that the average price is $ 4.10.2 She states that the demand for durum has increased worldwide and so has increased the exports of America. The estimated number of exports was reported as 838000 bushels in the year 2009.3 Normally, this increased number of exports may lead to a shortage of durum in the domestic country. Consequently, the prices may increase more as the supply falls to the left (there is a shortage). This phenomenon can be seen in the figure below. In the figure, the demand is already high. With an increase in exports the supply in the domestic market should fall. (The supply curve should shift from UX to YZ). The equilibrium should shift to G from E. Hence the price should increase more, this time to P3 where P3> P2. However this is not what was observed in

Death Penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Death Penalty - Essay Example It shall discuss the different legal and academic papers which support this position and shall focus on the following issues surrounding the imposition of capital punishment: whether or not its administration is affected by race and whether or not it actually deters the commission of crimes. These concerns are crucial in determining the appropriate application of capital punishment and would help this student arrive at a logical conclusion to this paper. In Supreme Court of Louisiana No. 98-KA-1078 v. Allen Snyder (1998), Louisiana Supreme Court Justice J. Johnson entered his dissenting opinion to the court’s decision by firmly stating that he would â€Å"have more confidence in the fair-mindedness of this jury and the jury’s pronouncement of the death sentence, had the state not used its peremptory challenges to exclude every African American juror, resulting in an all white jury for this black defendant†. His statement provides one of the crucial reasons why the death penalty should be abolished in all fifty US states. There have been various instances of cases involving discriminatory juries. Such instances include the â€Å"Texas shuffle†, where African American jurors were not allowed to be part of the jury in death penalty cases (Miller-El v. Cockrell, 2003). District attorneys have a belief that black jurors often have doubts about a defendant’s liability for killing and that they also belie ve that such defendants are remorseful of their crimes regardless of their seemingly uncaring behavior. On the other hand, white jurors see these defendants as dangerous. And black jurors feel that the white jurors do not actually comprehend the environment where the black defendant comes from (Amnesty International, 2009). In a paper by Loury (2001) he assessed the trend in the felony division jury trials in Cook County Circuit Court between January 1 and June 30,

Reliable Sources Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Reliable Sources Worksheet Essay Source 1 †¢Author: Wilson, Wendy Bedwell †¢Date: March 2012 †¢Title: From Trash to Treasure †¢Publication: Dog World. 97 Issue 3, p20-21, 2p Write a 100- to 150-word response to each of the following questions: †¢Is the source reliable? How do you know? This source is very reliable; this magazine has been around for almost 100 yrs. Dog World is a monthly magazine aimed at the community of serious dog enthusiasts and participants, including breeders; conformation exhibitors; obedience, agility, herding and field trial competitors; veterinarians; groomers; and trainers. †¢Is the information relevant to the topic? Yes this story is about a dog rescuer from NJ who picks up dogs from high kill shelters down in West Virginia and brings them back up to be placed in foster homes. On her trip back up she witnessed someone tossing a dog out on the side of the road and leaving it there. Out of curiosity she pulled over where the dog was dropped off to investigate and found a malnourished and injured dog. After 20 minutes they were able to capture the dog and bring it to NJ where its was seen by veterinarians who were able to nurse the dog back to health. †¢Does the information reflect a bias on the author’s part? If so, what is the bias? I did not read any bias material within the article, there was no mention of any retribution toward the original owners. This article basically told a story about how a dog’s life was turned around after a person who carries about dogs rescued this dog and now uses it to help rehabilitate other dogs that have been abused. Source 2 †¢Author: Redwine, Arlo †¢Date: April 2012 †¢Title: Going the Distance †¢Publication: Dealernews, Vol. 48 Issue 4, p18-28, 7p Write a 100- to 150-word response to each of the following questions: †¢Is the source reliable? How do you know? Dealer News is a trade publication that has been around for 17 years. This publication provides news and information for dealers, manufacturers and distributors in the motorcycle and accessory industries. I do not know how reliable this source is due to this is a trade publication and can post bias reviews. †¢Is the information relevant to the topic? â€Å"Going the distance† is relevant to the topic because the author talks about how a young â€Å"go getter† started a motorcycle dealership in the late 70’s. The story tells how this young man grew his business from the ground up to one of the largest Harley Davidson dealerships in the Junction City, Kansas area. †¢Does the information reflect a bias on the author’s part? If so, what is the bias? Yes the information is bias on the author’s part due to the fact that he is telling a story from the eyes of the owner of this dealership. The author does not tell the readers the challenges that took place from competitors or the manufactures that he represented in his store.

Mission And Vision Statements Commerce Essay

Mission And Vision Statements Commerce Essay We hear the words vision and mission every day, but what do this words really mean and how are they different from each other. To understand this question we have to look at the larger purpose of defining these words and how to apply their meaning to ensure that everybody who comes into contact with the company knows the organizations overall purpose and its primary objectives. The prime function of the mission and vision internally is to define the key measure or measures of the organizations success and its prime audience is the leadership team and stockholders. If we look at the Mission and Vision of a company in more detail we see that the mission is what an organization does, its action and we should think of the MISSION as managing with greatness and strength and improving everything on a daily basis. The VISION however is leading with inspiration and courage, being obsessed with future possibilities and to be positive about change. It creates that momentum of growing anticipation about the future, where change is seen as a step closer to that ideal picture of whats coming next. In opposite where a mission is a companys action the vision is what an organization would like to see happen as a result of the action taken as specified in its mission and looks forward (5 10 Years from now). The need for a Vision and Mission Statement Companys starts as nothing but an idea in someones mind and then turn into a physical reality. In order to get others actively working towards creating that physical reality, they must be able to see the vision; therefore, you must be able to see your own vision and know how to convey it. It is a desired future and can help to guide all stakeholders in the company who accept and understand it. As a shared vision it can be a great tool for building a sense of belonging and community in the company. However, if it is not shared it could result in employees who dont believe in the company and wont give their best effort.. Vision Statements also define the organizations purpose in terms of how they belief things should be done.) It communicates both the purpose and values of the organization and gives direction to emplyees about how they are expected to behave and inspires them to give their best. Shared with customers, it shapes customers understanding of why they should work with the organization. The vision should describe the desired future of the company as clearly as possible in terms of things such as: Demographics Shape, size and boundaries Markets, industries and clients Key partnerships and relationships Products and services People and work Competitive advantage Values Ates a picture of what leaders want the organisation to be in time and assist to align people and create a shared understanding for decision making.   This promotes awareness and understanding and will enhance the ability of people to make decisions appropriate to the achievement of the vision.   The goal should be to spread this understanding as widely as possible to create a shared understanding. Building out the vision creates a clearer strategic framework and give guidance for strategic development decisions.   Leaders should constantly be translating the vision into strategic initiatives, tactical actions and operational priorities that make it easy for all the people in the organisation to perform their work in such a way that it drives the entire organisation to the point where the vision becomes reality.   Strategic priorities may then be identified and decisions may be made.  Ã‚   Tactical decisions can also be made according to the strategic framework, underpinned by the strategic priorities.   Operational priorities may then be aligned with the tactical decisions at the appropriate time.   At the same time, leaders doing strategic, tactical and operational work must be able to keep their eyes on the guiding star of the vision. Not only does this approach align and focus leaders, it allows leaders at all levels to align and focus their people in pursuit of a consistent goal, with a clear understanding of why certain things are happening, what, when, where and how they are happening and what their own particular roles are.   This promotes focus, integration and co-ordination and creates an environment in which people can be empowered to take true ownership of their work. Next we take a look at the mission of a company. A Mission Statement defines the organizations purpose and primary objectives. Its prime function is internal to define the key measure or measures of the organizations success and its prime audience is the leadership team and stockholders. It should be well defined, so it can guide your business planned actions. It is important for any organization to spend time figuring out what their vision and mission are so that all parties involve understand what is expected of them. This insures that everyone is moving in the same direction. Taking the necessary time to assess these is critical because a company should be a body with many - parts, but only one mind. In a way, a mission is also a motivational aspect of a vision: it defines why the vision matter? and implies a set of governing values or principles. Much of what motivates and inspires people to make meaning and take action is contained in this why aspect. It also defines why it all matters to employees, contractors, partners, and management the internal customers. As a mission reflects human motivation, hopefully it helps people feel good, maybe even to feel inspired, about it. It must be kept current and alive. Strategic planning process: Steps involved Strategic planning is the core function in any company. Without a strategic framework the company will never know where it is going or why they are going there. However, there are many different models and steps available for the strategic planning process of a company and depend on how the specific company wants to implement it. One approach is summarized below. Agree on a strategic planning process. In this step all key role players should be present and should involved the following: An understanding of what strategic planning is and how it is done; Discuss its potential value to the company, in terms of providing a common vision and mission; Consider the costs of doing strategic planning, and what might need to be given up in order to develop a plan; Consider whether it will be a long-range plan or whether it may best focus on a short-term plan; Agree upon a process and establish responsibilities for the various steps in the process Set up a strategic planning committee and choose Carry out an environmental scan. This helps provide an understanding of how the organization relates to its external environment. The scan usually includes an external component identifying and assessing opportunities and threats in the external environment and an internal component assessing organizational strengths and weaknesses. This process is often referred to as SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Identify key issues, questions, and choices to be addressed as part of the strategic planning effort. This may mean specifying strategic issues or questions that the organization should address, and setting priorities in terms of time or importance. Define or review the organizations values, community vision, and mission. Be sure there is consensus on why the organization exists, what goals or outcomes it seeks to achieve what it stands for, and whom it serves. 5. Develop a shared vision for the organization. In some strategic planning efforts, a vision for the organization is developed after a vision for the community has been. 6. Develop a series of goals or organizational status statements which describe the organization in a specified number of years assuming it is successful in addressing its mission. It is usually a short step from the vision to goals sometimes the statements describing the vision are essentially goal statements. It is extremely valuable to transform the vision into a series of key goals for the organization, preferably in the form of status statements describing the organization. 7. Agree upon key strategies to reach the goals and address key issues identified through the environmental scan. The major emphasis should be on broad strategies, including current and new program, advocacy, collaborative, or other approaches. These strategies should be related to specific goals or address several goals. 8. Develop an action plan that addresses goals and specifies objectives and work plans on an annual basis. Once the longer-term elements of a strategic plan have been developed, it is time to ensure a specific work plan to begin implementation. 9. Finalize a written strategic plan that summarizes the results and decisions of the strategic planning process. There is no set format, but be sure to include the outputs of each major step. 10. Build in procedures for monitoring, and for modifying strategies based on changes in the external environment or the organization. Be sure progress towards goals and objectives and use of strategies is monitored regularly, with strategies revised and annual objectives developed yearly, based on the progress made, obstacles encountered, and the changing environment. Resources Grant Freedman (2009) Leveraging the organisations vision to align leaders and unlock the organisations potential [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010] Elizabeth W. Gordon Vision Mission Purpose What Does It All Mean [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010] Carol Humphries (2005) Vision and Mission: Seven Suggestions Why You Need Both [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010] The Business Improvement Package What should the vision address [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010] Daniel Robin Vision, Mission and Values:Management Tools for Building a Better Workplace [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010] Carol Humphries Vision and Mission: Seven Suggestions Why You Need Both [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010] Emily Gantz McKay. Based on materials originally prepared for use with SHATIL, the technical assistance project of the New Israel Fund. Modified for the National Council of La Raza, and further modified for MOSAICA, May 1994 and July 2001. Strategic planning: a Ten-Step Guide [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010] Janet Shapiro Strategic Planning Toolkit [Online] Available from: [Accesed 26 January 2010]

Market strategy and recommendations to enhance the USP

Market strategy and recommendations to enhance the USP Air Asia share price has been volatile, with the possible reasons for this volatility. Marketing: Discuss the Market Strategy and recommendations to enhance the USP by using Models and diagrams. Operation Management: Analysis of prioritise operations issues which are of strategic nature for the company and possible solutions. Module Code: MGTM IM 002 Submitted to: Programme Administration Team (Kaplan Financial) Submitted by: Group 11 Group members Name: Student ID No. Chanakya C0346816 Buddha C0364220 Musharaf C0361333 Saif C0360683 Submission Date: Friday 23rd April, 2010 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1. Introduction: 3 2. Company Background 3 3. Meaning of Share Price Volatility: 3 3.2. Possible reasons for this volatility: 4 4.2. Mareketing Strategy of Air Asia: 8 4.3. Environmental Analysis of Air Asia on the basis of Porters Five Forces (Chart-3) 9 5.1. Air Asia Business Process 11 5.2. Air Asia prioritises issues: 12 5.3. Possible solutions 13 6. Conclusion 14 7. References: 14 1. Introduction: The company chosen for this report is Air Asia assigned by Kaplan Financial and assignment requirements as follow: A report of no more than 3500 words Possible reasons for the share volatility Market strategy to enhance USP Operational issues and possible solutions 2. Company Background Air Asia was initially established in 1996 as a full-service regional airline offering slightly cheaper fares than its competitors. It was not performing well and its turning point was 2001 when it was bought by Tony Fernandes. Tony Fernandes restructured the company and re-established in Malaysia by enrolling some low cost airline expert like Connor McCarthy (formal director of successful European LCC Ryan air) in late 2001 as first no -frills, low cost carrier(LCC) in Asia, then it got huge success and become awards winner and largest low fare airlines in the Asia. Now Air Asia flies to over 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes with its own 72 aircrafts and operates over 400 flights daily. Air Asia believes in the no-frills, hassle free, low fare business concept and feels that keeping costs low requires high efficiency in every part of the business. Through its unique selling point (USP), NOW EVERYONE CAN FLY, Air Asia gained a revolution in airline business with more and more people choosing as their preferred choice of transport. 3. Meaning of Share Price Volatility: Many of us use the word volatility in a loose sense, in a way that belies the accuracy with, which it can be calculated. In fact, volatility is a statistical measure of the scale of fluctuations in the price of a share, a commodity or a stock market index in the recent past. It is generally taken to be a good measure for the relative riskiness of an asset the higher the volatility, the greater the risk of losing money. Volatility, however, is not a static thing. It fluctuates sometimes quite sharply over time. (Peter Temple 02.08.2007) 3.1 Air Asia Share Price Volatility: As per Air Asia case study the share price of Air Asia has been volatile. Exhibit 5: Case Study Airline Price on 3Dec 2007 US$ Price on 11 Jan 2008 US$ Share Price Change Air Asia 0.52 0.43 -16% Period of Change in Share Price: In a very short term of a period share price of Air Asia goes down by -16% in a period of 1 month and 1 week this is extreme change in share price so this is the sign of high volatility in share price. Air Asia Volatility from 2005-2009 (Chart -1) 3.2. Possible reasons for this volatility: There are lots of reasons for share volatility here in our case study of Air Asia. We have calculated on the basis of each year that volatility graph of Air Asia shown above. Latest Information in Stock Market: Investing on share price needs lots of information about companys present situation. Investor always invests their money if they saw the potential of getting good return from that investment. So information plays vital role to attract the investors. |Market adjusts the prices up or down depending on the way the market interprets that the information will affect the companys future earnings ability. In Air Asia case study in November 2004 they listed in Malaysia Stock Exchange that air Asia is going to purchase 175-aircrft airbus A320-200 to replace Boeing 737-300s because A320-200 more fuel efficient. This information attracts the investors to invest their money because market interprets that this will affect the companys future earnings ability. We can see in chart-1 in 2005 how share price go up by +0.63% so it shows the latest information has direct impact on share price volatility. Uncertainty: Future is always uncertain some decision is made on the basis of future predictions. Investors are always keen on the past experience, current performance and future expectations of the company. Uncertainty is a major barrier for investor to make their mind to invest in share market. What exactly had happened in the Air Asia, in 2006 they choose to enter in to a domestic-route rationalising arrangement with MAS. Under this contract Air Asia took over more than two-thirds of MASs loss making routes assuming they can make profit from it as they are the LCC but this decision turns wrong because of uncertainty which is clear in chrat-1 that companys share price goes down by -5.03% . Psychological Issues on Stock Prices: Human behaviour is one of the important factor that affect the share price of the company how investor think about the company will determine whether to invest in it or not. Entering the British tycoon, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson with 20% stake in Air Asia X in 2007. Expansion of business with Sir Richard Branson attracts the large numbers of investors in the company because psychology of people believes the successful image of Richard Branson which as a result there is hike of share price by +6.62% in the year 2007. Inflation: The overall general upward price movement of goods and services in an economy, usually as measured by the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index. Over time, as the cost of goods and services increase, the value of money is going to fall because a person wont be able to purchase as much with that money as they previously could. Inflation is also one of the factors that affects the share price and leads to share volatility. As from the case study fuel cost had a significant impact on Air Asia, as it was the recession time occurs during the year 2008 were the international oil price reached at the high of about US $150 per barrel. So it was very costly for the airlines to purchase fuel at that high price which leads to increase the price of the tickets. As it was the recession time customers also could not afford the increased price plane fare so they used the alternatives way. Where there is less numbers of customers airline industries had lost Billions of dollars due to that occurrence. So inflation affected the share prices a lot. Although Air Asia tried to cover its operational cost by hedging, buying fuel-efficient airbus A320-200 and cutting fuel consumption by nearly and doubled the number of landing that we get from the tyre. They were not able to sustain on the same price of tickets. As per exhibit 6: case study. Following are the calculation: Fuel and oil ratio = fuel and oil cost à · Revenue (2008) Fuel and oil ratio= 74164.88à ·146731.5 (2008) Fuel and oil ratio= 50.5% (2007) Fuel and oil ratio= 44488.62à ·111346.3 (2007) Fuel and oil ratio= 40.0% Ά% = Current year ratio-base year ratio à · Base year ratio Ά% = 50.5-40.0 à · 40.0 Ά% = 26.25% So cost of the fuel increased by 26.25% due to hike in oil price in 2008 the cause of inflation has direct impact on companys net profit ratio if net profit is going to decrease so investor dont want to invest their money in non profit company. See chart-1 due to inflation the share price decreased by-45.34% in 2008. Demand and Supply: It is another important factor that affects the share price. Demand is willingness and ability to pay where as supply depends on the market demand and suppliers ability. When demand is high supply is less and vice versa and when demand is high price of the product is also high and is low. In case of AirAsia recession caused its demand per share down in 2008, entering of British tycoon Richard Branson increased the demand of share because of investors psychological beliefs. Restructuring of the no-frills, low cost in Asia increased the numbers of customers travelling with Air Asia which gives the US$6 million of profit December 2002 which obviously rise of demand of share which leads to increased in share price. Economic Strength of Market and Peers: Doing business in current market everyone should know the market strengthens and the competitors of the business without considering these things it is impossible to do business. The economic strength of the peers heavily affected the share price of the company. The strong competitor of the Air Asia is MAS, as it is national carrier of Malaysia. To promote healthy competition in 2006 Malaysian government brought MAS and AIRASIA together then government starts with route rationalisation of MAS where Air Asia took 96 loss making routes of MAS while these routes were operated by MAS government used to provide subsidies for the fuel cost. This is totally unfair competition which leads share price down of Air Asia in 2006 you can see in chart 1. In 2008 MAS come up with the unaccepted everyday low fare Campion .It received an over whelming response which was funded by the government it was totally win-win position for MAS and that caused negative impact on Air Asia in 2008 which is clear from chart-1. 4. Definition of Marketing Strategy: A marketing strategy is a process or model to allow a company or organization to focus limited resources on the best opportunities to increase sales and thereby achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. 4.1. Porter generic strategies: Strategy on the dimensions of strategic scope and strategic strength. Strategic scope refers to the market penetration while strategic strength refers to the firms sustainable competitive advantage. The generic strategy framework (porter 1984) comprises two alternatives each with two alternative scopes. These are Differentiation and low-cost leadership each with a dimension of Focus-broad or narrow. Product differentiation (broad) Cost leadership (broad) Market segmentation (narrow) (Chart-2) 4.2. Mareketing Strategy of Air Asia: After the restructured of the airline, the foundation is based on Low Cost and Strong Cash Flow,strategy is based on Low fare and service so goal is obviousely on high margin and sustainable growth and vision is continue to be LOWEST cost. So you can see they are totaly focusing on the Low cost Low Pricing so they getting strong cash flow sustainable growth. So they are following porters generic strategy. Their strategic scope is referring to market penetration and while strategic strength refers to the firms sustainable competitive advantage. (On the basis of chart-2) Product differentiation: Air Asia was the first airline operator in Asia to adopt with the low-fare, no-frills concept. It also becomes the regions first airline to introduce fully ticketless travel and implements free seating policy. Thats Product differentiations makes It a successful airline in the market. Cost leadership: Air Asia become the businesses that fully adopted cost leadership through operational effectiveness and efficiency. The cost advantages were enabled Air Asia to offered airfares 40% to 60% lower than those of its rivals. Some even cost less than bus fare. Even in 2008 when oil prices gone up they controlled over the cost by layered-hedge strategy to pay for fuel in advance and qualify for low price its pilots have cut fuel consumption by nearly 20%. Market Segmentation: Air Asia changes the human psychology in Asia by offering low fare and targeting middle class society. Earlier people think that only rich people can fly but then come with the No Frills, Low Cost Carrier under the tagline Now Everyone Can Fly. This whole idea captured the middle class and now no one is felling faired to fly. 4.3. Environmental Analysis of Air Asia on the basis of Porters Five Forces (Chart-3) The threat of the entry of new competitors: Air Asia is using penetration strategy under this there is always threat of the new entry exist because Air Asia is get success in the field of LCCs so now everyone want to do same business with same strategy. The intensity of competitive rivalry: Competition rivalry is currently in Air Asias favour. With price being the main battlefield of competition, Air Asia leads the way due to its low operating costs. However, there are more competitors entering the market that have major carriers as backers or owners which may lead to an unrealistic price war in the future. The threat of substitute products or services: Air Asia is domestic carrier so there is existence of substitute services are high customer can go for Bus services either for Railways or for their own transport facilities because of low distance if their services and prices are not effective. The bargaining power of customer: Today is world of Information Technology and communication everyone can find the world easily so easy availability of information and knowledge can make the bargaining power of consumer strong. E.g. customer can easily switch to other airlines by comparing the fares of different airlines. Even there are now lots competitors in LCCs so customer can easily move. The bargaining power of suppliers: For Air Asia bargaining of suppliers is major factor. In the airline industry basically there are only two major aircraft provider Boeing and Airbus. Although Air Asia is major customer of Airbus even than the bargaining power of suppliers is high due to expertise and few substitutes. 4.4. Unique Selling Proposition of Air Asia: Fernandes restructured Air Asia in 2001 , with the No Frills, Low Cost Carrier under the tagline Now Everyone Can Fly this unique selling point for Air Asia. This new business model was huge success. With this new unique selling point the company gained impressive profit. Then they come with Easy to Book, Easy to Pay Easy to Fly to encourage sale through online booking, telephone booking and through co-partner local banks and post offices. 4.5. Recommendation: Some modification in current market strategy on the bases of Marketing Mix (7Ps) to enhance Unique Selling Point. Product (service): There is a huge opportunity for Air Asia to expand its route and service and numbers of flights, they also lacking in good service in terms of flight delay. Because of it they get lots of complaints they should work on that to enhance good service Price: They are working on penetration price strategy and under this they are providing the cheapest price in the market and that is a strengths but if you see the margins per seat is very low it makes turn over high but not the net profit so they should control the operating cost to cover up that margin. So they should go with penetration. Place: Presently Air Asias putting more stress on Malaysia. Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia wherever Air Asia X only on Australia but low cost concept can also capture the market of India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh and for long haul they can go for Europe and US. Promotions: As LCCs they are moreover targeting the middle class so to keep up the sale and to enhance USP they should come up with the new promotions scheme after a certain period of time because middle class is major customer, they should know they like changes and savings in their purchasing. People: From the starting they are only providing standard-class service on board its seems they are not targeting business class so if they come up with some of its more business concerned routs with business class they must get positive response. Process: Refers to the systems used to assist the organisation in delivering the service. Process must be very easy so that customer feels comfortable and convenient and preferred again and again. Physical Evidence: Where the service is provided. Physical Evidence is factor which makes customer to make judgement on the company or service. E.g. Customer accept what he/she spent so from the starting Air Asias tag line is No Frill airline but if you provide the frills even in the low cost it makes everyone happy. My meaning for frills is good service with the outstanding staff presentation and an unexpected interior of the craft. 5. Operation Management: The collection of people knowledge, technology, and systems within an organisation that has primary responsibility for producing and providing the organizations products or services is referred to as operations. Operations management is the planning, scheduling, control and co-ordination of the activities that transform inputs into finished goods and services. It is important because it can reduce costs, differentiate the organizations products and services and impact upon quality and therefore may increase revenue through increased customer satisfaction. (Phil Kelly 2009). This section is a process analysis to identify and prioritise current strategic operation issues and possible solution for Air Asia. 5.1. Air Asia Business Process Air Asias Operations management is focusing carefully on managing the processes to produce and distribute its services. These processes include:- Procurement:- buying various materials from suppliers and vendors Management control and coordinating functions to ensure goals are being met. Product (service):- managing the service- creation, development, distribution and sales. Quality management: important to effective operations management by continuous improvement. Inventory management:-Method like JUST-IN-TIME inventory control saves costs and improves on quicker delivery to end customers. Logistics management: focuses on the flow of services from Air Asia to its customer prioritizing on efficiency and cost effectiveness. Distribution channels. 8) Booking by mobiles is also available. 5.2. Air Asia prioritises issues: 1. Air Asia always focused on how to reduce inefficiency and make it low possible fare in the airline business: As we know they are operating penetration on market strategy to reduced costs, they even reducing the salaries and incentives of the employees, cutting down the staffs and even cutting down this facilities given to staffs and implementing the new efficient system like YMS, CRS AND ERP, which were helpful to reduced the cost but not to that extent. 2. Higher fuel cost around the world: Frequent fluctuation in fuel cost is one of the major problem for Air Asia as its emphasis on low cost their profit margin per ticket is low as price of fuel goes up they have to charge tickets price which creates negative effects in customers eyes. 3. Complain: Its because of delay in flight and even cancellation is one of the major current issues in Air Asia. 4. No maintenance, repair and overhaul: As we know they dont have their own maintenance, repair and overhaul so they have to spend on maintenance, repair and overhaul. 5. Incresing competition: At present competition in the airline industries growing day by day many full service airlines start cut costs to compete and new entry of LCC. 6. Aviation regulation and government policy: Changing rules and regulation in aviation industry and government policies is also one of the issues that Air Asia facing today. 7. Easy to buy, easy pay and easy to fly: In Malaysia Air Asia company was the first internet ticket seller airlines company. They are offering Easy to Book, Easy to Pay Easy to Fly system for their customers. So customers are easily paying and booking their ticket by online 5.3. Possible solutions 1. Cost control: As we know cost is one of the main possible solutions that can save any organisation from loss and compete in the competitive market. Air Asia can save their cost by starting their own maintenance and repair wing and overhaul routes. 2. Implementing the APS system: Implementation of APS system will provide several new functions to Air Asia. The followings are several APS functions that can help Air Asia in increasing its performance: APS system will help Air Asia in assessing suppliers performance and providing the capability to streamline monitoring process. (Aberdeen Group, 2004). Supplier portal will provide information hub for airlines and their suppliers to prevent errors happened during operational activities such as order processing (Aberdeen Group, 2004) These functions enable airlines and aircraft manufacturers and other suppliers to have collaboration strategy in managing inventory (e.g. spare parts), maintenance schedule, and design collaboration. Route profitability analysis tools enable airline companies to conduct analysis for planning efficient routes. 3. Outsourcing: Air Asia can use outsourcing strategy to be a lowest carrier in airline industry. If they can implement outsourcing strategy then they will get some benefits like, Cost benefits It will reduce risk. Outsourcing can give competitive advantage in Air Asia. Air Asia can reduce cost for IT. 4. Expansion of Air Asia business: As Air Asia is focusing on middle class people its expansion towards Indian and China has potential to gather the huge success. We know the population of Asian middle class are rising very fast. So it is a great opportunity for LCC cost airlines including Air Asia to expand their business in Asia. 6. Conclusion As we know Air Asia is a leading low fare airline in Asia. Its low cost attracts more and more customers and its market value and has increased its revenue. But knowing it from near its share price is volatile so management should focused on sustainable development with utilising marketing mix as we discussed above and should focused on customers as customers are key point for the companys success. Only low cost will not sufficient to survive in the competitive market. Providing good services like as they are saying easy to book, easy to buy and easy to fly but it is not always the facts as they are getting complains of delaying flight and even cancellation which makes bad reputation in the eyes of customers. Thats why they need to operates APS systems to overcome such a problems.

The Role of the Nurse Educator in Prenatal Care Essay -- Healthy Preg

Many people view childbirth as a joyful and fulfilling event. Writer Paul Carvel stated, â€Å"To witness the birth of a child is our best opportunity to experience the meaning of the word miracle† (as cited in Brill, 2011, Well Pregnancy Links section, para. 3). Irish dramatist, George Bernard Shaw further explained, â€Å"Life is a flame that is always burning itself out, but it catches fire again every time a child is born† (as cited in Moncur, 2010, p. 1). Yet, along with the joy of bringing another human being into this world come concerns about the appropriate medical decisions that need to be made by the mother. It is not uncommon for women to have questions and concerns about what it is they can and cannot do throughout their pregnancy. Undoubtedly, the key to a healthy pregnancy is seeking adequate prenatal care. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [Office on Women’s Health] (2009), â€Å"Babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get care† (p. 1). This is where the prenatal nurse educator plays a major role. A prenatal nurse educator specializes in prenatal care and has acquired advance knowledge, usually a Bachelor or Master of Science in Nursing degree, that ensures that both the mother and the baby are healthy. The prenatal nurse job requirements include performing physical assessments, ordering and interpreting lab results, and teaching various childbirth techniques. The prenatal nurse educator helps aid the expecting mother throughout the prenatal period, during delivery, and even after the delivery of the baby. The nurse educator is able to bet ter prepare expecting mothers fo... ...regnant mother consumes alcohol, it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and crosses the placenta putting the fetus at risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which causes permanent birth defects. â€Å"Approximately 40,000 infants are born with a FASD, a number that has remained unchanged for the past 10 years in the U.S.† (March & Frozena, 2010). Childbirth is a very exceptional experience that comes with its own set of medical anxieties. Babies are continuously being born every day to frightened mothers who do not know what to expect. Prenatal nurses help make childbirth less terrifying by guiding mothers throughout the entire process. As a result, the prenatal nurse profession is growing significantly. Prenatal nurse educators are a great strength to expecting mothers. Prenatal nurse educators help make the experience of giving life more enjoyable.

The Cowardly Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Scarlet Letter:   The Cowardly and Weak Dimmesdale    In the book The Scarlet Letter, the character Reverend Dimmesdale, a very religious man, committed adultery, which was a sin in the Puritan community. Of course, this sin could not be committed alone. His partner was Hester Prynne. Hester was caught with the sinning only because she had a child named Pearl. Dimmesdale was broken down by Roger Chillinsworth, Hester Prynne’s real husband, and by his own self-guilt. Dimmesdale would later confess his sin and die on the scaffold. Dimmesdale was well known by the community and was looked up to by many religious people. But underneath his religious mask he is actually the worst sinner of them all. His sin was one of the greatest sins in a Puritan community. The sin would eat him alive from the inside out causing him to become weaker and weaker, until he could not stand it anymore. In a last show of strength he announces his sin to the world, but dies soon afterwards. In the beginning Dimmesdale is a weak, reserved man. Because of hi s sin his health regresses more and more as the book goes on, yet he tries to hide his sin beneath a religious mask. By the end of the book he comes forth and tells the truth, but because he had hidden the sin for so long he is unable to survive. Dimmesdale also adds suspense to the novel to keep the reader more interested in what Reverend Dimmesdale is hiding and his hidden secrets. Therefore Dimmesdale’s sin is the key focus of the book to keep the reader interested. Dimmesdale tries to cover up his sin by preaching to the town and becoming more committed to his preachings, but this only makes him feel guiltier. In the beginning of the story, Dimmesdale is described by these words; â€Å"His eloquence and religious fervor had already given earnest of high eminence in his profession.†(Hawthorne,44). This proves that the people of the town looked up to him because he acted very religious and he was the last person that anyone expected to sin. This is the reason that it was so hard for him to come out and tell the people the truth. Dimmesdale often tried to tell the people in a roundabout way when he said â€Å"†¦though he (Dimmesdale) were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.

In this portfolio I will take you on the journey which I myself have travelled on throughout my IB theatre programme Essay

In this portfolio I will take you on the journey which I myself have travelled on throughout my IB theatre programme. Within this portfolio I will portray the processes which we as a group went through in order to create our devised piece as well as how we applied our knowledge and understanding from our experiences into our performance design. The Stimuli Our production began with each member of the group producing a stimulus. Before presenting their ideas we decided that we should individually analyse the stimuli and see what we as individuals could come up with. We did this before the member of the group voiced their ideas on their chosen stimulus so that we had the opportunity to take the stimulus along different paths and elaborate different ideas and amalgamate them together. Belo is our stimulus’ and our ideas which we had on each. After having discussed the available options which included images, music and objects of sentimental value we decided to use my stimuli. My stimulus was of a newspaper article that had been widely distributed throughout the UK. We then discussed the direction we wished to take with our chosen stimuli. We again split into different areas of the room to individually assess our dilemma. Below is the mind map which I created at this time. After thorough discussion we agreed upon the concept of using a ‘current affairs dilemma’ in order to solve our own. Our group was fascinated by the political outrage that Iran had caused with America in regards to capital punishment on women. The Research and Development of the plot Thorough research shown how on the 20th September 2010 Iranian Government publicly accused the US of ‘Double Standards’ in a newspaper article published in ‘The Guardian’. Centred on a 43 year old Iranian, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and a 43 year old American Theresa Lewis. Ashtiani was issued with capital punishment in 2007 after it emerged that she had an illicit affair with a man after the death of her husband in 2006; this was later revoked and she was charged with adultery, manslaughter and the murder of her husband. After heavy media attention in 2010 and the international campaigns lead by her children, the US decided to interfere. It was at this point that the political and controversial debate first took form. Iran used the case of Theresa Lewis and the issues surrounding her low IQ of 72 in order label the US Government as a hypocrisy. As a group we decided to build upon the idea that this issue was now a well known moral dilemma in the eyes of the media and transfer this to our audience. Preparation of roles Due to a shortage in group members most people on role allocation ended up with multiple roles outside of casting. As a strong leader I was required to both direct and create our script. Other roles distributed included head of lighting, head of technology (computer, projections, music), Costume designer/set designer and also a physical movement leader. After having directed a scene in both our performances of ‘The Seagull’ Anton Chekhov and also our modernized performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I had already gained experience on my course for this role. Previously I had directed a scene from ‘The Seagull’ based upon the German movement in the 20th Century, Expressionism. I had began reviewing work from Georg Kaiser, Oskar Kokoschka and Ernst Toller whom were all highly influential playwrights. As I had already worked hard to gain understanding of this tradition I really hoped I would be able to use this experience. Following on from this I began thinking that maybe I could find a tradition for each country involved in order to uniquely apply my imagination to our piece. After thorough research however it was evident that Iran had not really adapted a specific practice in order for us to carry out this desire. Whilst researching I stumbled across the book pictured below and I was struck with the words â€Å"most people do not speak of theater and Iran in the same breath† By Willem Floor Because of this we decided to change tact and opt to symbolise the juxtaposition instead through lighting and staging. The Script As well as directing, my role was also to produce the script. After having seen a production of Willy Russell’s ‘Blood Brothers’ I was fascinated by the narration used. ‘Blood Brothers’ based upon the separation of two twin brothers at birth uses, a narrator to guide the play. I took inspiration from this and used the rhyming couplet format in order to symbolise the two women. Before penning the script we produced a flow chart collectively annotating the main plot and adding aspects of theatre which we had learnt on our journey. Below is a copy of our chart. After having an outline of things to be included in the script I began by listing all of the main things we wished the narrator to introduce in the play. We had a vision that the narrator would guide the play throughout through facts and that he would create a connection between the audience and the cast. Because of this the narrator’s speech was conducted first in its entirety. From here it really felt as though my script had a strong ‘spine’ on which to build our piece. As our piece began with a police interview we wished to keep it at a very simplistic level of speech just like that of a real interview. We decided on stage direction so that the interviewer was not visible throughout; leaving the actress playing Ashtiani alone on stage to symbolise how she was alone and not supported when interrogated. It was at this point that we reflected upon our past workshops based upon speech and theatrical forms in which we can convey speech. A workshop came to mind from the previous term where we had built upon the idea of a ‘sound collage’. A sound collage is where there is a build up of speech from multiple participants aimed at a particular subject. We decided that this would be a way of communicating to the audience a sense of anger or revolt; because of this we attached it to the chart in relation to the campaign against Astiani’s sentence as we felt this would have a strong effect. Another was that symbolism was used through my script writing was through Ashtiani and Lewis’ monologues; again showing how they were both alone yet in the same situation. We began our course creating a ‘one-person’ show based upon a real life event or experience which we had within our lives. Within my ‘one-person’ show I had a vast majority of my speech presented as a monologue and I wished to transfer my craftsmanship of producing monologues into our script. In order to create the monologues I first had to visualise the characters whom would be performing them. Because they were both real women I was able to complete a lot more thorough research into them gaining a better portrayal as them as individuals. From this I concentrated on themes and emotions which I wished to get across to my audience through the monologues. I learnt that Ashtiani and Lewis alike were very religious thus concentrated their monologues from a very philosophical and religious point of view: however I still kept in mind that their two religions were very different and ensured that I kept the appropriate context throughout (e.g. Allah instead of God for Ashtiani). Whilst researching our topic we had found that there had been a lot of media attention on both cases and we wished to portray to the audience just how much the media had been involved: also we wanted to show them how much people are influenced by the media. For the section of our chart where we introduce Teresa Lewis an idea was formed so that she would be introduced through a television broadcast. I began this section of the script by visualising a news reporter sat at a desk within the audience speaking directly at them. This idea developed and led us to have another cast member as a journalist actually interviewing Lewis at her correction centre. The idea of another interview type dialogue was to portray the two women’s differences in the way they were being interviewed and questioned. Allocating Roles To begin with it was decided that it would be best to create a mindmap of suggested roles that would need to be filled in order to go ahead with the production. Below is a copy of our mind map However we issued a problem when it came to the casting of roles. As we only had two female members of our group we were automatically cast as the two women. This then left us with three males to cover a total of six casting roles; because of this we had to organise ourselves in a way that allowed each male to cater to two parts without them conflicting. We managed to do this by using a theatre practice wisely after an idea emerged that the narrator would be in the style of a ‘Bunraku puppet master’ the ‘omozukai’. We were first introduced to Bunraku puppetry by our elder Baccalaureate students who provided us with a workshop. We decided that everything in the production should be under the narrators control like puppets would be; in a way the narrator could be seen as the controlling governments holding the women for their crime. Introducing this style allowed for a lot of stylised movement pieces throughout our performance. Characterisation After having been allocated our roles we wanted each cast member to fully understand their character whether it be an officer of the law, a journalist or one of the women themselves. We provided each member of the group with an image relating to their character Below is the image I was provided with along with how I answered certain questions given to me by my peers in order to develop my characterisation. It was at this point we experimented using a technique called ‘hot seating’ in order to enhance characterisation. We each took it in turns to be questioned in character. Everybody found it highly difficult at first however after a few minutes everyone managed to get the hang of it. We also brought in aspects we had learnt from our workshop on Stanislavski in how to apply his theories. We continued building on our characterisation by looking for resources. I found a particularly good resource online [2] from amnesty international which was not only personal but also highly emotive. In particular this helped me with my monologue as I was able to feel connected to my character in order to portray the appropriate emotions. There was a great discussion between the group as to whether we should apply accents or not. It was decided that we should not apply accents but that we should be highly expressive and use the gift of sound/speech in other more appropriate ways such as our sound collages. Movement From a very early stage of production I had a very vivid image of where I would ideally see the piece going in terms of movement. I really enjoyed both Kabuki theatre as well as improvised dance. We tried to incorporate the two into the scene that the Iranian officials came to collect Ashtiani’s lover. We tried a lot of improvised movements however found that the final product was much disorganised and we really wanted this scene to be both memorable and pivotal so we decided to journey down another path. Further discussion led us onto tableaux however after a short workshop this idea was also disregarded on the ground that the scene should have a content of movement in order to emphasise the brutal separation of the lovers. From this we organised a lesson where we explored the idea of using creative movement on the basis of a fight. We choreographed a routine using levels to show who was in control and also pace to highlight certain features. In the end the product for this movement piece in my eyes was highly effective in the way it showed the lovers being torn apart by their government and law. Masks Whilst developing our first scene we had to identify the difference in authority to the audience. We also had to show the difference in characters through this method due to the males playing more than one character. After having workshops on masks previously we were aware that the purpose of masks in Greek theatre was to signify the unity of a chorus: because of this we used them for our two Iranian officials as they had no speech during their time on stage. The idea of the masks was to create exaggerated facial features portraying the anger and authority associated with that scene yet at the same time disguise the actors true selves. The mask allowed us to show the contrast between the different levels of hierarchy within the scene as well as symbolise the isolation that the couple were feeling being faced with ‘masked intruders’. Music When devising our piece it was decided that our piece required two pieces of music. There was one necessary at the time of the movement scene where the Iranian couple are separated. We found a piece of music by ‘Radio head’ entitled ‘Talk show host’. The tempo of the song was highly appropriate to the atmospheric desire as it showed confusion, regret and desire all at once. The lyrics in the song such as ‘You want me? Well come on and break the door down†¦You want me?'[3] we believed were perfectly fitting for the scene. We were able to synchronise our movement so that our choreography was carried out in time to both the music and in time with other cast members. There was also another piece of music entitled ‘We are the World’ by ‘Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson’ to be played at the very end of the performance. This particular piece of music I believe thoroughly puts the world into perspective emphasising the importance of life which at the end of the performance is taken from the women. Lighting Due to there being two separate stories going on at one time on the stage the lighting was crucial. We used 2 spotlights (1 for each female character) with colour faded reflective lighting upstage. The flood lights used were chosen appropriately especially in terms of colour. For example green was used to portray coldness whereas red was used to show anger. We tried a variety of colours for the movement scene however in the end after a lot of trial and error we finally agreed on red fading through to blue to show the anger from the officials resulting in the blue for the loneliness and sadness. I really enjoyed experimenting with the lighting as not only did I learn a lot but we were also able to show the juxtaposition. Staging For our staging we tried to show the contrast through black and white flooring, curtains and backdrop. Not only did the black and white create the impression of harsh and soft but it also symbolised the two races. Below is a sketch of how we designed the set. The idea was that neither side crossed the boundary set out in the middle. We placed 2 old fashioned chairs back to back for the two women in the centre of the stage for them to be seated on at the end. Other than the 2 chairs there were no other props on the stage. Because we tried to use a very simplistic set design we compensated for this with a projector carefully placed to project newspaper headlines onto the white cloth background. Also attached to the backdrop was metal shackles which Ashtiani’s wrists were placed into to set the scene of her cell as well as show the restraints that she had against her: Lewis however had nothing but the chair and was not restrained in any way to show the two sides of the world two political views on law enforcement. As a whole I really enjoyed making the set as well as designing it. Although we encountered a few problems setting up the projector and laying out the flooring I was very happy with the outcome. The finished product was highly symbolic which was totally what we were aiming for. Bibliography [1] http://orangehouse.tumblr.com/post/778392704/campaign-for-iranian-woman-facing-death-by-stoning [2] http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=706 [3] http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/talk-show-host-lyrics-radiohead/193ae81bd7d8a3fb4825686600141d5f