Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Indian Famous Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Indian Famous Culture - Essay Example Indian culture is famous worldwide. When one finds a woman wearing a bindi on the forehead, we instantly know that she is a Hindu from India. Similarly, when we spot a man in a dhoti or when we picture kings mounted on elephants and living in exotic palaces, we certainly conjure the image of India. However, this is not limited to these expressions of culture. Inherently, the Indians are traditional and love keeping up their ethics and social traditions in spite of the modernisation. The Indian culture is not just pertinent to one religion and represents all the religions followed in India. It is this multi-culturalism that enhances the beauty of the Indian culture. Now, when we meet an Indian, we certainly assume numerous things about his culture, which is because we do conjure a picture of what India is. This is typical of a high culture context. 2. Consider the culture of the country you chose for the first question. If you classify the culture as â€Å"high context† or â€Å"low context† does this help your understanding of the culture? Does it offer any insight to help you be successful in business transactions with people from that country? Why or why not? The country chosen in the first question is India. Considering that fact that I  would like to   get  into a business  transaction with an  Indian company,   I  would definitely say that the cultural context of the country  helps  me  in  understand  the  business  interactions  with them,  as well.  When  international  business  is initiated,  research  on  the  host  country’s  culture  and  the societal  background  is  conducted,  besides various  other  factors  that  influence  the  setting  up  of  business  there.  

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Made In Chelsea Analysis of an episode Essay Example for Free

Made In Chelsea Analysis of an episode Essay From the episode of Made In Chelsea I watched, I can say that the representations we have of upwardly mobile young city dwellers are that they are social-oriented, whose lives seem to be some care-free that they can cavort around various places in London—and the world—without any problems. We also only see characters of a certain age range—none are, we assume, above the age of thirty—of which the majority have no jobs or business, leading us to believe that they come from families of ‘old money’, and so having a job themselves would seem rather pointless. Saying that, there are a few characters who do possess their own business or thereabouts. However, our perceptions of the characters are very one sided, as we are constricted to seeing only one side of that character—the one that fits their current storyline the best. This prevents us from seeing, per se, the kind heartedness of a character that has just cheated on their partner. The words ‘characters’ and ‘storylines’ fit well with my next point; the conversations and the events that take place throughout the episode seem far too rehearsed and coincidental for them to be actual ‘reality’. Location shots are used of London sights and attractions to establish the setting of the scene. They also are only of Central London attractions, and the shops and restaurants et al all seem to highlight the wealth of the individuals who shop there, eat there etc. Reactions, for the majority of the show, are shown using over-the-shoulder shots to portray the reaction of the person who is being told something. There is also usage of eye line matching shots that show you what the character may have been looking at from their angle. The episode seems to comprise of short segments that have then been edited in post production so that they can seek out the most entertaining of segments. This is obvious as the episode transitions from one group of people at a restaurant to a boxing arena and then back to the restaurant again. Tzvetan Torodov’s narrative theory that conventional narratives are structured into five stages; Equilibrium—disruption—recognition—repair—reinstatement, could be present within the episode, as you can apply it to the situation between Louis, Spencer and Jamie (the love triangle storyline). The fact that it fits so well with Torodov’s theory does support the question â€Å"How much of Made In Chelsea is actually reality?†

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Theories of Defence Mechanisms and Psycho-Sexual Development

Theories of Defence Mechanisms and Psycho-Sexual Development Psychoanalysis A discussion on what’s inside Chung Dennis Psychoanalysis’s definition is the study of a comprehensive theory pertaining to the process of understanding human nature, motivation, behaviour, development and experience through the exploration of the unconscious thoughts of the human mind. It is governed by rules of understanding whereby each individual is unique at birth, there social media, and other external factors outside and not within the persons awareness or control (Unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence his or her thoughts and actions, that what happened during the childhood and other early experiences echoes and affect the outcome of the individual during the adolescence and mature stage of life that ongoing experiences in a persons life are always engaged and ongoing in the process of development through their lives. (American Psychoanalytic Association 2009 2014) These are the 5 key concept of psychoanalysis that I am focusing on. First, there is the concept of personality construction regarding the 3 basic ideas of the ID, Ego and Super Ego as according to Sigmund Freud. The id is the component of a personality that is already there from birth. The aspect of personality is unconscious and includes the instinct and primitive behaviours. According to Cherry, K. (2014.), the id is a psychic energy that makes it the primary component of personality. This personality that drives the individual is instinctive and it is by Sexual and Aggression energy. The ego is a component of personality that is guilty for dealing with what is the reality. According to Cherry, K. (2014), the ego develops from the ID and ensures impulses of the id personality can be expressed possible and acceptable manner in society. This personality is shaped by the influences or the outside word by the means of society, trends and also social media. (Cherry, K. 2014.) In accordance in her book, Cherry, K. (2014) states that the Super EGO personality is broken down into two parts, the two parts that affect the outcome of the superego in the individual is firstly, The EGO idea, where it sets the rules and standards for good behaviours through the upbringing and social circles that the individual is in. These behaviours include those which are approved and set by the parents and other higher authority or social figures. And by so following the rules set by them it give the person feelings of value and accomplishment. The part of the conscience come into play whereby it includes information about things that are viewed as unaccepted in terms of the magnitude portrayed by the parents and by society. These behaviours and actions will then be followed on by bad consequences, punishments or guilt and remorse. The Second key concept is the presence of Defence Mechanism, Defence mechanisms are manners and methods in which we behave, think and react in certain ways to better protect and to distance one selves from a being fully awareness of unpleasant thoughts, feelings, actions, morals or behaviours. (Grohol, J. M. (2013)) In Grohol, J. M. (2013) article, he states that psychologists have categorized defences mechanisms depending on how primitive they are. The more instinctual they are the more effective they are against in the context of short-term denials, and hence are favoured by many people and amongst children especially. The few defence mechanisms are; Firstly denial, the refusing to accept the facts or reality. Therefore by so doing, arguing an anxiety and by provoking stimuli and in its reaction, stating it does not exist then thus blocking it out. (Heffner C.L. (2001)) Secondly, repression. It is a mental reaction state that returns the individual to a previous stage of development. Reactions varies from crying in a corner when being sad to throwing a temper when thing are not going their way. The third defence mechanism is intellectualization, it supplies a logical and or rational reason as in relations to the actual conscious reason, therefore, theories and logic are given for a clinical explanation to the situation of behaviour instead of reality The forth defence mechanism is projection, it is an extrovert reaction by throwing† the bad emotions (anger, frustration, sadness) unto another person feeling the opposite, by so doing, making themselves feel better than the affected individual. The last but not least defence mechanism is sublimation. It is the transferring the anxiety of the situation into a more positive energy and therefore coping with the problem better. For example as given by Heffner C.L. (2001) diverting ones aggressive impulses toward a career as a boxer, becoming a surgeon because of your desire to cut or by lifting weights to release aggressive energy We then move on to one of Freud’s theories which are the psycho-sexual development of an individual. It describes how personality develops during childhood. However, these are still a controversial theory. It revolves around the ID becoming very much focus on the specific erogenous areas. The psychosexual energy, also known as the libido, is the driving force behind behaviour in every individual. It revolves around these 5 stages: The Oral stage that revolves at the time of birth, it revolves around the mouth of the baby; fixation or restrictions in oral might result in having a passive, gullible, immature,manipulativepersonality. (Sim, M. 1974) The Anal stage revolves around the bowels and bladder eliminating of waste from the body. Being fixated at this stage might lead to being Anal Retentive (Being too organized) or Anal Expulsive (Being too unorganized or reckless) The Phallic stage starts at the age of six; the individual starts to discover the genitals of his or her body. Then after which he or she will compare it to their mother or father, whichever gender that poses a threat or competition. For example, the son is being jealous of the father for the right of the mother and the daughter being jealous of the mother for the right of the father. The Latent stage happens from age 6 to the stage of puberty. It is the consolidation of the entire lesson learnt and habits picked up from the previous three stages where the child would then develop his or her own thinking and therefore start consolidating it into his own EGO and thus creating his or her own drive with the influences of the ID. The last stage also known as the Genital stage, stretches across the spam of the entire life of the child as he or she breaks his bond and becomes independent from the parents both psychologically and sexually. The child then squares off with the ID and EGO to come out with a more intellectual side of his thinking process, to relate through friendship, love relationship. Psychoanalysis also emphasises on the role of the unconscious or according the Corey. G. (2012) a slip of the tongue is also known as the Freudian Slip is a lapse of the mind where by the unconscious is somehow surfaced without the person actually realising the meaning of it but to the therapist, he can interpret it as something hidden and known to the mind. It is influenced by a number of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, literature, and art. (Cherry, K. 2014.) According to Cherry, K. (2014) Freud divided it to three levels of mind in comparison to an ice burg. The top or the surface portion of the iceberg above water represents the conscious mind. The halves submerge part of the iceberg that is the bridge between the unconscious is also known as the preconscious, it is known to house the anxieties and defence mechanisms as the guardians of the bridge. The rest of the submerged part of the iceberg is hidden, unseen beneath and is known as unconscious, only by going through or in the absence of the ‘Guardians’ also known as the defence mechanisms and anxiety, only then will the unconscious can surface and be tapped into . The last factor is in relations to the childhood development is stating and supporting the theory that whatever happens during the psycho-sexual stage of the child’s development. It states that the fixations of the child when they are young will echo and cause them to construct habits of their own uniqueness according to what they were fixated with. Psychoanalysis in modern therapy revolves around the practice of free association and the skill of the therapist on how he deciphers and organise by working on and the interpretation of dreams and fantasies. This therapy is also costly and requires a lot of time as the deriving of the unconscious cannot be done at one go. The therapist must also try to identify the resistance and the defence mechanism in the client in order to allow the unconscious to be conscious and by so doing making him feel safe with no anxieties or criticism that will trigger him back into the state of psychological self-defence. For example in Newirth, J. (2013) book, he is using psychoanalysis in in the means of developmental hermeneutic approach. That is one way that modern practitioners are inculcating psychoanalytic therapy into their own way of therapy. Advantages of psychoanalysis are that through its therapy and analysis whereby through the unconscious opens up a window to get to the root of the problem. It helps control and constructs the ID, EGO and Super EGO of the individual. Through the construction of the individual’s personalities, it allow the change of feeling and also the change of the person’s behaviour and mentality towards all things around him as he is more in control of his ID, EGO and Super EGO However, there are disadvantages of this therapy as it requires a long time to treat the fellow individual and as it requires many sessions in order to understand and analysis the unconscious thoughts of the individual. Thus, having more session which requires more money per visit. It also states that there aren’t much therapist trained in the field of classical psychoanalysis as it takes loads of experience in the field in order to be good as a therapist in interpreting the unconscious thoughts of a person. Though analysing the unconscious and memories of others, it also contradicts to the memories as the person cannot recall till his childhood and in return tell fake memories to fit the bill. Last but not least, in this modern age where personal information is of a high privacy to us, tell someone that we do not know of, our memories, problems and the unconscious who make some of us very uncomfortable and more likely to not do the actions that make us reveal or private infor mation and that could hurdle the psychoanalysis therapist. In conclusion, psychoanalysis therapy is a foundation for all psychotherapy as it lays a firm and concrete concept in the evolution of identifying the roots and the analysis of the mind and personalities that an individual has. It also lays down the rules that every individual is unique and every problem can and must tackle and resolved differently.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Jesus Christ :: essays research papers

Jesus Christ   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think a great person to put on the postage stamp would be Jesus Christ. There are many reasons why Jesus would be a good choice. He was very influential to many people in the world. He was also a great person and a role model for a lot of people. Jesus changed a lot of peoples live and countless people praise him and honor him everyday. Jesus was a great person and leader to many. I think since Jesus Christ is such an influence he deserves the honor of being on a postage stamp.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jesus would be a great person for a postage stamp because he was a huge influence. Jesus Christ is one of the main figures of the Christianity religion branch. Jesus inspired many and was the son of God. He was perfect. Mostly everyone in the world knows that Jesus is an icon for the Christian faith and since over forty percent of the world’s population believes in Christianity, he is defiantly something many admire. There are an immense amount of places of worship called churches for Christians to praise Christianity. There are also radio stations and music as well as television channels and even movies. Vast amounts of people put Jesus to play major role as an influence to their life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another reason Jesus is a great person to put on postage stamps is because he was a great person and role model. Jesus was the only perfect human being. Jesus could do the impossible and make miracles happen. He was a supreme being. Jesus was the son of God and lived a simple life. He was not greedy, or selfish or promiscuous. Jesus was a wise and simple man who made all the right choices with the best intentions, he did not hate anyone. He only loved. Jesus would always end up being the better of the bunch by making good and righteous decisions. I think this is a very good reason why Jesus is a great role model. He was a kind, fair, and loving man. A man like Jesus should be on a postage stamp because he is an idol to many.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jesus should be on a postage stamp on account of the fact that he is a commendable person who many people look up to and are influenced by.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Why Fat People are Funny In Hollywood

The quote listed in the title comes from 2009 box-office hit The Hangover. The events that incite Mr. Chow (played by Ken Jeong) to say laughing â€Å"it's funny because he's fat† feature Alan Garner (played by Zach Galifianakis) charging at Mr. Chow, who is stomping on Alan's satchel, and exclaiming â€Å"Hey! There are skittles in there! † (Hangover 76:55; 76:45). In return Alan is punched in the stomach by one of Mr. Chow's henchmen, causing Mr. Chow to laugh hysterically and simultaneously slip â€Å"it's funny because he's fat† out of his mouth (Hangover 76:55).Clearly in the scene, the overweight character, Zach Galifianakis, is the butt of the joke as he is punched very hard in the stomach and then laughed at for his stupidity and weight. In modern movie making, overweight comedians have had a critical role in humor in films. Stars such as John Black, Seth Rogen, and Zach Galifianakis are modern examples of such characters, but in the last thirty years, ma ny other large comedians have developed and popularized similar roles in films.The overweight funny man in film has evolved into a more personal, relatable character due largely in part to their accurate reflection of the United States obesity problem. These characters have also created their own genre, a genre that has evolved out of slapstick comedy, yet remains in the realm of realism. This genre, which often involves immature and physical pain, yet remains plausible and not fake (like earlier slapstick humor), continues to bring new fans to the cinema and create greater love for this group of comedians.This paper will explain funny fat people's emergence, humor, and popularity in American cinema. Evolution of Slapstick Comedy in Films When was the first comedy film? John Montgomery suggests it â€Å"may well have been Fred Off's Sneeze, filmed in 1894 by William K. L. Dickson. The film was produced for Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope Company in the ‘Black Maria' Kinetographic Theatre which Dickson built for Edison in West Orange, New Jersey† (Montgomery 17). This film was released just three years after Edison's invention of the Kinetoscope in 1891.It is not a coincidence that a comedic piece of film was released soon after the production of the moving picture, but it simply suggests the necessity of comedic entertainment in American culture. From the early days of film, comedy became a staple on American cinema. In the early twentieth century, films were silent and featured many comedies. The initial type of comedy featured was slapstick comedy, which â€Å"was a gift to America from France† (Durgnat 67). The term slapstick evolved from â€Å"the double paddles formerly used by circus clowns to beat each other.The loud crack of the two paddle blades as they crashed together could always be depended upon to produce laughter and applause† (Dale 1). Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence and activities wh ich exceed the boundaries of common sense. The first American slapstick comedy producer was Mack Sennett, who with the help of actor/producer Charlie Chaplin, created many hilarious films loved by the American people (Durgnat 70). In these films, there was no audio component, requiring all humor to be dependent on physical actions (Montgomery 18).Raymond Durgnat states that â€Å"in early Chaplin, Dough and Dynamite (1915), the human body is all but reduced to an apparatus for punching, kicking, ducking and dodging† (Durgnat 69). Chaplin has been considered the â€Å"master clown† and in 1916, Chester Conklin, an actor and comedian, stated â€Å"without a doubt the one person who has been most successful in making people laugh is Charlie Chaplin† (Montgomery 108). Chaplin and others continued to produce silent slapstick comedy films through the Roaring Twenties, a time when film became increasingly popular and very successful.In 1926, Warner Brothers introduced the first film with audio attached. Because of the imperfections of the initial product and smaller budgets in the 1930s due to the Great Depression, films with an audio component remained imperfect, allowing silent films to retain their popularity and stay popular and not outdated. Following Chaplin and the others of the first generation of slapstick comedy was the Three Stooges: Larry Fine (born Louis Fienberg), Moe Howard (born Moses Horwitz), and Curly Howard (born Jerome Horwitz) (Matlin 163). This trio continued to produce popular short films and a few feature films until the late 1950s.The Three Stooges were the last true slapstick comedians, where Leonard Matlin argues that the use of â€Å"clever scripting and direction places the physical burden on others but still gives the Stooges elbowroom in which to clown† (Matlin 168). The Three Stooges were some of the last slapstick films, which essentially died out as many other forms of comedy emerged onto the film scene. One of these styles of humor Louise Dobson describes in a 2006 edition of Psychology Today as ‘hate-me humor', a style in which â€Å"you are the butt of the joke for the amusement of others† (Dobson 76).She continues stating this character is often the â€Å"familiar clown† or â€Å"fat guy† and includes examples like John Belushi and Chris Farley (Dobson 76). Dobson directly identifies the â€Å"fat guy† as an example of such comedy because of how popular these comedians have become. From this article it is evident that funny fat people are essential to American comedy, so much so that the author is able to classify them as the ‘fat guy' and American readers are able to identify with popular overweight comedians. Although there appears to be a reasonable argument that this comedy genre  falls into ‘hate-me-humor', I would suggest that these comedians exist as an of slapstick comedy.The laughs these characters receive come from the sa me qualities the original slapstick comedians, like Charlie Chaplin, shared. Raymond Durgnat describes this stating â€Å"Slapstick comedians are childlike, and in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress† (Durgnat 72). If you replace Durgnat's word ‘slapstick' with overweight, the sentence would read: overweight comedians are childlike, and in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress.Looking at many overweight comedians we see that this very well could be the case. The characters impulsive and childish actions are very common in their films (many examples to follow in next section) and generate laughs similar to those of traditional slapstick humor. In recent years, no director has released a true slapstick comedy film. The genre has been avoided (except in children's cartoons) in movies perhaps because the producers believe that the modern American culture is too advanced for this immature, simplistic, outdated humor.In reality, current comedy has progressed into a new form of slapstick comedy, where the exaggerations have been toned down and the humor has become a little more realistic. Looking through the last four decades we can see countless examples of films featuring this realistic slapstick humor. These characters tend to be lovable, goofy, wild and consistently overweight. Modernization of Slapstick Comedy: Realistic Physical Humor. In order to analyze the continuation of slapstick humor in American cinema, a look at the period immediately following the Three Stooges (the last true slapstick productions) is essential.In 1963, the release of the first Pink Panther film, starring Peter Sellers marked a new era for slapstick comedy. The Pink Panther series stretched nearly two decades with Sellers as the star, relied on slapstick humor, yet remained plausible. Most scenes from the Pink Panther movies are absurd and over the top in every manner, yet the events of the plot could be realistic, creating a new breed of slapstick comedy. At the end of the Pink Panther's dominance, National Lampoon released Animal House in 1978, starring several actors including John Belushi.Following the release of the film, Belushi evolved as the work’s centerpiece providing countless hysterical events. In the movie, John ‘Bluto' Blutarsky (played by John Belushi) appeared in about a dozen scenes, yet is the most memorable character of the film through his ridiculous actions. In the movie he rarely speaks, and acts very childish, both parallel pieces of the earliest slapstick comedians. Belushi has a handful of memorable quotes and scenes, most of which are truly ridiculous, yet believable.He has several immature one line quotes including: â€Å"Toga! Toga! †, â€Å"Blow-job!†, â€Å"Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! †, and â€Å"Food Fight! † (Animal House 44:00; 63:55; 30:25; 35:37). All of these quotes fit perfectly into the description of â€Å"childlike a nd in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress† that the classic slapstick comedians possessed (Durgnat 72). Bluto continues to act wildly doing many things including falling off of a ladder trying to peep in a sorority window, crushing a beer can on his head, smashing a guitar someone else is trying to play, and chugging an entire bottle of Jack Daniel's and smashing it on a car.All of these actions are absurd and exaggerations of what any human might do in a similar scenario, yet all are possibly plausible. A last scene from Animal House that demonstrates the evolution of slapstick comedy begins with Bluto (Belushi) going through the lunch line where he stacks a ridiculous amount of food on his tray and in his pockets. While doing this he also stuffs enormous amounts of the food in his mouth, including a hamburger in one bite. He then proceeds to sit down at a table filled with some clean cut preppy students.There he is ridiculed for his eating habits and called a â€Å"P. I. G. pig† (Animal House 34:35). In response to being classified as a pig, he attempts to be a zit, stuffing his mouth with mashed potatoes and spraying everybody at the table by mashing his cheeks with his hands as seen in the following picture (Animal House 34:55): The focus of the scene is the unrealistic quantity and grossly unhealthy quality of food Belushi eats as well as the animalistic, childish manner in which he feasts.Following the incident he proceeds to be chased around the cafeteria, ultimately ending in a brawl and food fight. The sequence of events in this scene all are extremely humorous, yet very childish and exaggerated beyond what any viewer would expect from a twenty year old man. However, all of the actions in the scene are perfectly capable of being true, making this portion of the film extremely humorous in its realistic slapstick fashion. Nearly a decade later, in 1987, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles featured John Candy, another ov erweight comedian.In this film, the progression of slapstick comedy continues paralleling Belushi's contributions to the genre. Candy acts extremely childish and wildly, yet his actions remain plausible, exhibiting similar humor to that of John Belushi. In Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Candy's humor can fully be grasped in a scene on a commercial plane flight. On the plane, co-star Steve Martin has just been downgraded from first class to coach seating, and finds his seat next to John Candy. It quickly becomes clear that Candy fills up way too much of the seat, creating an uncomfortable situation.To make things worse Candy proceeds to take off his shoes in order to help relax, clearly releasing a disgusting odor observed by others in seats around him. He continues his gross movements by taking off his socks and spinning them around to air them out. When doing so, his dirty sock is very close to Steve Martin's face, and based on the expression on Martin's character it is clear that the sock smells wretched. This act is unbelievable, childish, and ridiculous, all similar characteristics of slapstick comedy.Later in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, John Candy continues to provide humor through another similar evolution of slapstick comedy, where he accidentally spills several beers on the bed in which he (who barely fits on the bed alone because of his enormous frame) and a complete stranger share. The move is very careless and results in an incredibly uncomfortable situation that makes the audience laugh hysterically because of the continuation of unfortunate events all linked to Candy's childish careless actions.A last scene from this film takes place in a rental car, after the duo (Martin and Candy) have managed to run into every problem possible on a trip to Chicago to get home for Thanksgiving. In the car, Candy attempts to get comfortable by tampering with the seat position. He uses the buttons on the side of the seat, jerking the seat around for a few mi nutes, failing to find a satisfactory position. Although Martin has persistently told him to stop and that he will break the seat, he continues on until ultimately he breaks the seat, making it uncomfortable and unmovable.Following the seat incident, he continues his path of destruction. After smoking a cigarette, he drops the butt out the window. However due to the wind, it blows into the back seat of the car ultimately sending the back seat up in flames and roasting the entire car. In this quick scene, Candy manages to act immaturely and rambunctiously resulting in the destruction of the car. The remains of slapstick comedy are clearly evident in this scene, climaxing with the unreasonable fate of the rental car.The absurdity of someone so overweight that he breaks a seat and the reality of seeing a car explode in flames seem like a moment from a slapstick cartoon, yet the film is completely plausible due to the overweight and clumsy nature of Candy. Following John Candy's death i n the early 1990s, Chris Farley emerged as the next overweight star, both on television and in a few Hollywood films. His humor was similar to that of John Candy and also very comparable to the works of John Belushi.In an article praising the life of Chris Farley following his death in Rolling Stone magazine, the author states â€Å"we talked about his hero and Saturday Night Live predecessor, John Belushi. It was well known that Farley had been obsessed with Belushi, and people loved making much of this fact, since the two seemed to share a love of certain rather common excesses† (Hedegaard 39). Looking at Tommy Boy, produced in 1995, John Belushi's influence on Chris Farley becomes apparent through Farley's role and performance in the film.In Tommy Boy, Chris Farley stars as the protagonist, an immature and dimwitted heir to an auto parts factory who must save the business to keep it from take-over and away from evil relatives. Throughout the film, Farley's childish actions bring laughs to audiences of all ages. To begin the film, Tommy (Chris Farley) is shown in a flashback as a young school boy rushing to class, late as always. In this scene he runs full speed into a glass sliding door, shouting â€Å"Holy Schnike! † (Tommy Boy 0:44). The film then skips several years and shows an older Tommy, in his seventh year of college.Although the older character is much larger (Chris Farley was very large), he mirrors the young middle school version of Tommy because he is pictured doing the same action: rushing to class (late again). In this scene, he is scene trying to take a short cut through some hedges, but runs full speed into a newly put up fence, hitting his head very hard and exclaiming â€Å"Holy Schnike! † again (Tommy Boy 2:02). From these scenes which mesh together, we can clearly see the immaturity of the character, yet the viewer gets many laughs through the physical pain Farley endures.These actions take place in the first minute of the film, and really set the tone for the rest of the movie. In the film, Tommy is seen acting very foolishly on many accounts: he consistently runs into sliding glass doors, he gets hit in the head with a two-by-four piece of construction wood, he hits his head on a forklift after not listening to his father say heads up, he slips and gets covered in cow manure when trying to go cow tipping, and he rips his friends blue blazer because he is too big for it. Consistently, Tommy releases very childish comments, and he is largely responsible for destroying his friend’s beloved car.In the film, the actions Farley takes mirror concepts that defined slapstick comedy. His childish and extreme actions are all very similar to this genre of comedy. Farley extends this comedy to make it more personal and relatable as the protagonist becomes more developed. His actions are all very extreme and in many incidents would cause physical pain. Although painful or ridiculous, all actions tha t take place in the movie could take place in real-life, making the audience relate to the comedy. In one scene in particular, Tommy pushes the realm of reasonable office behavior.In an attempt to sell auto products for his company, he acts out an anecdote with his customer's nice model cars. In his story he gives two examples of how a similar scene could play out with two different brakes. In the first action, the car has on Callahan Brake Pads (his company’s) and is able to stop in front of a obstacle that is suddenly in front of the car (a lighter also on the desk). While showing this action he has a complete narrative stating â€Å"You're drivin' along, la-de-da, woo. All of a sudden there's a truck tire in the middle of the road. And you hit the brakes. EEEEEEEEE!Whoa, that was close† (Tommy Boy 35:30). He then proceeds stating â€Å"Now let's see what happens when you're driving with the â€Å"other guy's†[does quotation marks with fingers] brake pads. Yo u're drivin' along, you're drivin' along, the kids start shouting from the back seat, ‘I gotta go to the bathroom, Daddy! ‘ ‘Not now, damn it! ‘ Truck tire. EEEEEEEE! I CAN'T STOP! † (Tommy Boy 35:45). He then rams the model car into the lighter smashing the car of the customer. Farley then gets really into the story acting out voices of a narrator, the kids, the parents, and eventually the paramedics who respond to the scene.In the scene, some of his quotes include â€Å"No! I can't feel my legs †¦ Here comes the meat wagon †¦ And the medic gets out and says, ‘Oh my God. ‘†¦ New guy's around the corner puking his guts out† (Tommy Boy 36:05). He also finishes the crash by setting the crushed car on fire with the lighter and calmly collects himself making his point casually stating â€Å"All because you want to save a couple extra pennies† (Tommy Boy 36:20). This scene is a clear example of Farley taking over a sc ene that could have easily been executed much more peacefully, maturely, and professionally.But the director and Chris Farley decided to execute the scene wildly and immaturely so that viewers see the scene in awe as they cannot believe how overdone he makes the episode. The film is full of scenes like this one, which leave the audience in shock at how a human could act in such a manner. They key to the humor brought about in the film is much like that of Belushi and Candy, it remains believable: although unlikely, all actions in the film could possibly occur in a person's life. Through looking at these three overweight comedians we see the progression of the same genre of comedy.The slapstick comedy that first featured Charlie Chaplin and other silent film comedians progressed into slapstick comedy with audio, like the Three Stooges. Following the Three Stooges, the horseplay that was extreme and in many ways violent and not possible for a person to survive, died out. In return, se veral years later comedians like Belushi rediscovered the art of making a career out of horseplay in every film or television show in which they appeared. Following the mold Belushi made, many other actors have morphed their careers into similar roles.Through the years the importance of the overweight comedian has grown dramatically. In 1978, John Belushi was a minor character in Animal House. Although his few scenes (around a dozen) are the most memorable from the film, his role contained very few lines and he was never intended to be the star of the film. Looking forward nearly a decade later, John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles promoted his role to the supporting actor, though not the protagonist of the film.In this film, we learn much more about the character (a back story, his emotions, etc.) than we did of Belushi in Animal House. Belushi's character, Bluto, has apparently been in college for several years and the odds of him graduating appear slim. Other than this, we have no other information on the character. For Candy's character, Del, we find out much more about his life as a shower ring salesman as he appears in nearly every scene and is a much better developed character. Finally looking at Tommy Boy, released almost two-decades after Belushi, the American audience sees the fat wild character as the protagonist of the work.Chris Farley's character, Tommy, is the clear protagonist of the film (the film is even titled after the character's name). Farley's character has a well developed character, as the viewer is well informed of the character's entire family and Tommy's flaws and strengths. Why Overweight? Following in the footsteps of the unrealistic, unsurvivable slapstick comedy to the more plausible realistic feature films, the role of the fat comedian progressed to the center of the film. Perhaps the movement towards realism reflects American’s recognition of their own overweight society.The United States is the world's most ob ese country. In an attempt to explain this epidemic, Greg Critser published Fat Land: How Americans became the fattest people in the world. This work highlights new research that claims cheap fats and sugars as the source which causes our calories to stick and shows why children are too often the chief metabolic culprits of such foods. He clearly claims that we (Americans) have been telling ourselves lies about how much we can eat and how little we can exercise.He attempts to expose the nutritional value (or lack thereof) in schools as well as political and cultural forces that have caused American’s fitness to continue to decrease (Critser 23). Critser debunks all eating patterns and even diet books in an attempt to explain why they do not work and only supplement the obesity problem in the United States. Although a slightly humorous book, Critser's message is very serious; the lack of a balanced nutritional diet (which he provides to the best of his understanding) and reduc ed exercise has set a death trap for many people in America, leading to an obesity problem.Hollywood has capitalized on the acceptability of overweight people, and has used and continues to use actors bearing this unhealthy lifestyle in order to provide entertainment (usually humorous) to the United States (Critser 25). The comedians explored in the previous pages share one common obvious trait, their weight. John Belushi, John Candy, and Chris Farley were all obese. The reason why they were overweight will never be fully understood, whether it was genetics, poor eating, lack of exercise, pressures of society, or bad habits. The fact is that all these men were huge, and remained large until their respective deaths.Not only were all of these men overweight, they were also well loved. In a People Magazine article following the death of John Candy, the author concludes â€Å"in the end, of course, no one can say for certain whether diet and self-denial would have prolonged Candy's lif e a single day. Only one thing is sure: Already Candy is missed† (Harmes 97). Similarly in a Canadian magazine an author begins â€Å"While all of us feel as though we've lost someone we knew personally,† showing another example of the attachment fans had with such comedians (Candy in both of these instances) (The Untimely Passing 9).Like Candy, Chris Farley had his fair share of praises in a Rolling Stone Magazine stating â€Å"almost everyone loved Farley, and it was a genuine love, not a Hollywood love† (Hedegaard 40). Through these accounts praising the lives of such overweight comedians, it becomes clear that the actors really connected with their audience and gained a sincere affection from their fans. The love they generated came through both the laughs they consistently provided America as well as their big loving appearance.Perhaps people connected with the characters because they thought their enormous build made them more resilient and therefore they c ould endure the slapstick comedy they provided. Maybe the reason they were admired was because their large appearance was not the typical Hollywood ‘Barbie'-like figure that so many stars posses, but a reflection of how America really looks: overweight. Or, perhaps their size made them more human because they embodied the flaws in all of us. By the simple act of laughing at and with them, the audience is put at ease and feels better about their own shortcomings.In any case, the success of these comedians came through their realistic appearance on stage. The people and actions in these films could occur in everyday American lives. The men were not living a sophisticated lifestyle and did not have special skills; they portrayed an overweight male (which is common in the United States) and shined in immature and physical humor evolving the slapstick genre that has been a staple of American comedy films since their beginning a century ago.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

reforming the system essays

reforming the system essays There are many areas within the criminal justice system that warrant attention, but it would be impossible to formulate solutions for all the problems at once. I have chosen to discuss three problems that I think should be addressed. One is the publics ignorance of their rights, the second is community notification of sex offender arrival, and the third is the competition between prison industries and public industries. Most of the public is very ignorant about their basic rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. This is a very fundamental problem that results in the abuse of citizens by authority figures and each other. If citizens were more aware of their rights, they could better protect themselves from exploitation and abuse. There are several simple ways to ameliorate this problem. One way is to include or improve the section on basic rights in high school civics classes. The rights need to be explained in terms that the students can understand and remember. Another way to educate the public is to run community service television and radio commercials featuring a new right each week. Bulletin boards that explain rights in simple terms could be posted in schools and other public places. Personal stories of violations of these rights could be used in the classes and commercials, as well as on the bulletin boards, to capture the attention of the audience. I think explaining citizen s rights in simple, interesting ways could improve their understanding of these rights and could help them better protect themselves. The problem of notifying communities of the arrival of sex offenders is very controversial. Convicted sex offenders are required to register in a new community, but is this a great enough precaution? Some of these offenders are very deceitful and predatory in nature, and it is very easy for them to take advantage of the trusting nature of others. I think the com ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Make a Simple Weather Barometer

Make a Simple Weather Barometer People predicted the weather back in ye good olde days before Doppler radar and GOES satellites using simple instruments. One of the most useful instruments is a barometer, which measures air pressure or barometric pressure. You can make your own barometer using everyday materials and then try to forecast the weather yourself.   Barometer Materials glass, jar, or canplastic wrapa strawrubber bandindex card or lined notebook papertapescissors Construct the Barometer Cover the top of your container with plastic wrap. You want to create an airtight seal and a smooth surface.Secure the plastic wrap with a rubber band. The most important part of making the barometer is getting a good seal around the rim of the container.Lay the straw over the top of the wrapped container so that about two-thirds of the straw is over the opening.Secure the straw with a piece of tape.Either tape an index card to the back of the container or else set up your barometer with a sheet of notebook paper behind it.Record the location of the straw on your card or paper.Over time the straw will move up and down in response to changes in air pressure. Watch the movement of the straw and record the new readings. How the Barometer Works High atmospheric pressure pushes on the plastic wrap, causing it to cave in. The plastic and the taped section of straw sink, causing the end of the straw to tilt up. When atmospheric pressure is low, the pressure of the air inside the can is higher. The plastic wrap bulges out, raising the taped end of the straw. The edge of the straw falls until it comes to rest against the rim of the container. Temperature also affects atmospheric pressure so your barometer needs a constant temperature in order to be accurate. Keep it away from a window or other places that experience temperature changes. Predicting the Weather Now that you have a barometer you can use it to help predict the weather. Weather patterns are associated with regions of high and low atmospheric pressure. Rising pressure is associated with dry, cool, and calm weather. Dropping pressure forecasts rain, wind, and storms. Quickly-rising pressure that starts from average or high pressure during fair weather indicates a low-pressure cell is approaching. You can expect the pressure to start to fall as poor weather approaches.Quickly rising pressure (over a few hours or a couple of days) after a period of low pressure means you can expect a short period of good weather.Slowly rising barometric pressure (over a week or so) indicates good weather that will stick around a while.Slowly falling pressure indicates the presence of a nearby low-pressure system. Changes in your weather are unlikely at this time.If the pressure continues to drop slowly you can expect a long period of bad (as opposed to sunny and clear) weather.A sudden drop in pressure (over a few hours) indicates an approaching storm (usually arriving within 5-6 hours). The storm probably involves wind and precipitation, but wont last long.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Conecting history essays

Conecting history essays Throughout history, there have been rules that all people live by. The most important one can be shortened into two words supply and demand. For example if the people of a society suddenly demand the streets to be different colors, and if enough people or powerful people started demanding green left turn lanes the government will send a crew out with an assortment of colored paint to paint the streets. Even though color-coding traffic lanes seems like an ridiculous idea that would not help with any traffic problems, it could be done if there is enough power behind this demand. A good example of a situation where one man used his power to get what he wanted is the crusades. The Crusades were military expeditions planned and carried out by western European Christians. The crusades started around 1100. The purpose of these crusades was to overtake and gain control of the holy land of Jerusalem from the Muslims. The Christians believed that control of Jerusalem was their god given right. The pope (One of the big ringleaders) would gather the people together and incite them. Eventually the crusaders were sent out to recover what they thought was theirs. The crusades also provided almost nothing for the Christians therefore much time and money was wasted on them. The crusades are a perfect example of one man using his powers to gain something he personally desired. A good example of people that were powerless individually but because of their strength in numbers was able to demand reform. The French Revolution was a social revolution caused by the growing middle class. The Revolution caused a change of power in the government. The power went from the kings and nobles to the people of the country. During the revolution the Declaration of the Rights of Man was created. This declaration stated: All men are created equal, natural rights of liberty, security, property, and resistance to oppression were given to all citizens, ...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Read each article, and answer the questions in your own words Essay - 1

Read each article, and answer the questions in your own words - Essay Example It allowed the people to devour the freedoms offered to the society and live a respectable life. It provided the people with immense opportunities in the businesses, trades, and private employment. It also allowed the person to be recognized with dignity and honor in the society. On the other hand, the racial minority was put in chains with strict limitations to the freedoms: be it freedom of speech or freedom of expression. They were de-humiliated in the society and left with least honor. Their opportunities in the private sector as well as public firms were extremely limited. Therefore, the people chose to indulge in racial passing. 2. Are there any incentives for any racial minorities to â€Å"pass† as white in America today? Yes. Racial discrimination and segregation, though declining each year, is still persistent in the United States. There are people who make policies that are associated with the segregation of the black societies from the main-lands. At the same time, black people still have a hard time finding a decent job in the society. The insurance companies as well as the banks have standard policies that consistently segregate and differentiate between the races. The non-whites get fewer and smaller loans as compared to pure whites. Simultaneously, their insurance cover tends to be pretty low.

Friday, October 18, 2019

On chevron article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

On chevron article - Essay Example Trust leads to stakeholders commitment C. Commitments increases stakeholders efforts and D. Increased stakeholders effort increases corporate success. In other words, Hosmers theory bases its arguments on the fact that moral behaviours makes a business sound. Hosmer's text, in comparison to Kant, appears to be a managerial text that uses ethics in support of management, thus constituting 'knowledge in the service of power', i.e. ideology. But ethics is not ideology. Ethical philosophy was developed in Greek antiquity by great and renowned philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The maintain that ethics would; for example, demand that managers, IR experts, and trade unionists be honest, helpful, cooperative, sincere, open, benevolent, and modest. But, Hosmer avoids such a relevant list in his theory. (185) 2. Another challenge for management and its ideological outgrowth of managerialism--comes from utilitarianism theory as discussed by (Johnson, Hosmer, Pogge and Horton). Utilitari an ethics is directed towards creating the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Trade unions (Johnson) and many international organisations (Pogge/Horton) work towards this goal. Management according to (Hosmer 2008), however, has other goals and agendas which is primarily to the make profit. This sole purpose as an end in itself, rules out this theory as being ethically justifiable. (p14) and (P4) and (p1-14). 3.

Comprehensive School Health Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comprehensive School Health Program - Essay Example The second controversial issue is that with the healthy foods on the menu, students have a choice between vegetables or fruits, but they do not have to eat them. Research shows that many students do not eat two out of the five lunch options offered in a day. According to the journal Public Health Nutrition over five hundred elementary school trays studied, students throw away a third of the grain, vegetables, and fruits (Minelli & Breckon 2009). One of the most common budgetary constraint faced by most comprehensive school health programs is insufficient funds needed for evaluation. Often these programs and projects budgets are inadequate regarding the financial support they get. As a result, evaluation funds are usually relocated to other activities. The consequence of this is that the assessment designs are over simplified. It is a way in which schools find it easy to reduce the cost and time requirements that are associated with the valuation process. Oversimplification of evaluations, designs, and procedures of the CSHPs can result in the reciprocated controversies that are related to it. A decent example of an institute that implemented creative measures to tackle budget constraints is Woodland Hills School. The school was faced with budget shrinks and pension costs increasing; the institution had to come up with creative methods to raise funds to cater for the costs. One of the imaginative means applied is through fund raisers that the institution arranged in conjunction with the parents.

Curbing the Costs of College Textbooks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Curbing the Costs of College Textbooks - Essay Example The federal government has even involved itself in the issue by passing a recent law that forces publishers to tell professors how much-required texts will cost their students, and colleges must inform students during class registration what books they will need to purchase for each course. The best and most fair solution for everyone when it comes to textbook pricing is to move away from physical printed and bound books to electronic and downloadable texts. Publishers have every right to make money, but students should have the ability to save themselves money wherever possible while working towards their diplomas. Problems with the current system Students today spend a lot of time and effort when it comes to buying textbooks. Once their class booklists are in hand, the students have a few options as to where to buy their books. There’s the school bookstore, which will usually carry new and used copies of required books, and will buy back some books from previous purchases. S tudents may also look for their books online, at sites like Amazon.com or eFollet.com, which often offer a larger selection of used copies than the campus bookstore and often at a lower price (Bernard B5). Yet there are a lot of roadblocks when it comes to finding a cheaper, used copy of a textbook. According to a national survey conducted by the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) of required college texts, the books are revised and issued as new editions â€Å"every three to four years regardless of changes to the subject† (Allen 6). Why is this a problem? Because the older editions are then considered outdated and are made unavailable to students by the publisher. The older editions cannot be traded in for cash or credit at the student bookstore or sold online at Amazon.com or eFollet.com. Students enrolling in classes where the new editions are required must buy the books new since used copies are not available. Students also complain that many times they are only requ ired by their professors to read a couple of chapters in a single textbook – despite having to purchase the entire book (Allen 7). In the 1980s through the early 1990s, it was a fairly common practice for professors to offer â€Å"course packets,† which were photocopied chapters from several different textbooks and were made available to students for only the cost of the photocopies. These packets were widely considered by publishers to be a blatant violation of copyright law, leading to a lawsuit against a Kinkos in Ohio who was handling the photocopying order for Ohio State University. The publishers won the suit and course packets began disappearing not only from OSU but from colleges everywhere. (O'Shaughnessy 1-2) In 2010, the federal government passed a law as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requiring that book publishers tell professors up-front, in all marketing materials, how much the book will cost the student. The idea behind this provisi on of HEOA was described as â€Å"an effort to get professors to be aware of what their choices were really costing their students† (Smith A5).  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Comparative Mythology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Comparative Mythology - Essay Example In addition, there were also issues regarding rules being explicitly ordered to be complied; yet, were evidently broken. Finally, the symbols included fire for power or energy for warmth needed for existence, gods as possessing supreme power who enabled the creation of the world and everything in it. There were disparities between the myths in terms of characters and settings. For one, the three myths have diverse conceptual settings. In the Greek creation myth, everything was deemed to have started in darkness and nothing really existed except a bird with black wings. In contrast, the African myth indicated that there were already people and animals who existed underneath the earth. Moreover, the Japanese myth seemed to be initially vague on where life actually started. Understanding the discourse gave credence to life coming from a muddy sea which reportedly emerged from the mixing of elements stemming from a germ of life. Another disparity is the characters in the myths. The Greek myth include the bird, Nyx, as the origin; while the African myth’s main character was Kaang, the Great Master and Lord of Life. In the Japanese myth, the main characters were gods named Izanagi and Izanami. These similarities and differences revealed that different cultures have diverse beliefs and value systems that paved the way for their creation myths. The Greek myth focused on the gods as the source of power and origin of life; while the African myth could have been unclear on the origin of life due to differences in identifying a supreme power. On the other hand, Japanese culture have been clear that their emperor really descended from the gods. Some of the elements that are still relevant for consideration in contemporary times are the presence of gods or supreme power as enabling the creation of life, as well as the need for the sun (or fire) for warmth and to sustain life on

To what extent may several common mental disorders, as identified by Essay

To what extent may several common mental disorders, as identified by the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing - Essay Example This is because, it is clear that the thoughtless attitude that leaders of organisations adopt towards mental health has continuously compounded the effects of mental disorders, with stigma, dismissal from work, aloofness and ignorance being some of the commonest manifestations of this same attitude. Contrariwise, the need to tamper the quest for performance target with human dignity, corporate social responsibility and fairness compels a relook into organisational culture, as it relates to employees who may suffer from mental disorders, as shall be seen forthwith. Introduction According to the report that the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing released, there is a great extent to which several common mental disorders impact a person's performance at work. It follows logically that any mental disorder affects the brain and its function, with the brain being the central nervous system [CNS]. This means that it is important for the rest of the body to function well , if the CNS or a compartment of the CNS is not properly functioning. The same is also underscored by the fact that work, however manual it may seem, is seriously a mental affair. As a product of the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing report summarised and pointed out that the three chief mental disorder groups are: affective disorders [such as depression]; anxiety disorder [such as social phobia] and substance ab/use disorders [such as the harmful use of alcohol, marijuana and other forms of stimulants]. This report also divulged on the level of mental impairment, the accompanying physical conditions, the health services that are to be used to treat mental health complications, accompanying demographic and socio-economic characteristics and relating demographic conditions. These categories of mental illnesses and the prevailing conditions of mental health illnesses provide an insight into the manner in which common men tal disorders impact a person's performance at work. Substance abuse, affective and anxiety mental disorders are known to have the potency to undermine interpersonal relationships, yet interpersonal relationships are vital for the realisation of an organisation's performance target. Particularly, complications emanating from the use of marijuana as a form of substance abuse may manifest through withdrawal symptoms, violent or aggressive behaviour, or behavioural excesses. These manifestations frustrate interpersonal communication and thereby undermining intra-organisational relations. Anxiety mental disorders such as extreme shyness and affective disorders such as depression equally frustrate interpersonal communication at work, by hampering the flow of ideas, the channeling of operational command and personal confidence which is important. The place of interpersonal relations and intra-organisational communication is important in the attainment of both long-term and short-term perf ormance target since supervision, the induction of new employees and aspects of talent management such as training and workshop programmes are heavily reliant upon interpersonal relations within an organisation. Conversely, in the event that some of mental disorders persisting at the workplace, the organisation

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Curbing the Costs of College Textbooks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Curbing the Costs of College Textbooks - Essay Example The federal government has even involved itself in the issue by passing a recent law that forces publishers to tell professors how much-required texts will cost their students, and colleges must inform students during class registration what books they will need to purchase for each course. The best and most fair solution for everyone when it comes to textbook pricing is to move away from physical printed and bound books to electronic and downloadable texts. Publishers have every right to make money, but students should have the ability to save themselves money wherever possible while working towards their diplomas. Problems with the current system Students today spend a lot of time and effort when it comes to buying textbooks. Once their class booklists are in hand, the students have a few options as to where to buy their books. There’s the school bookstore, which will usually carry new and used copies of required books, and will buy back some books from previous purchases. S tudents may also look for their books online, at sites like Amazon.com or eFollet.com, which often offer a larger selection of used copies than the campus bookstore and often at a lower price (Bernard B5). Yet there are a lot of roadblocks when it comes to finding a cheaper, used copy of a textbook. According to a national survey conducted by the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) of required college texts, the books are revised and issued as new editions â€Å"every three to four years regardless of changes to the subject† (Allen 6). Why is this a problem? Because the older editions are then considered outdated and are made unavailable to students by the publisher. The older editions cannot be traded in for cash or credit at the student bookstore or sold online at Amazon.com or eFollet.com. Students enrolling in classes where the new editions are required must buy the books new since used copies are not available. Students also complain that many times they are only requ ired by their professors to read a couple of chapters in a single textbook – despite having to purchase the entire book (Allen 7). In the 1980s through the early 1990s, it was a fairly common practice for professors to offer â€Å"course packets,† which were photocopied chapters from several different textbooks and were made available to students for only the cost of the photocopies. These packets were widely considered by publishers to be a blatant violation of copyright law, leading to a lawsuit against a Kinkos in Ohio who was handling the photocopying order for Ohio State University. The publishers won the suit and course packets began disappearing not only from OSU but from colleges everywhere. (O'Shaughnessy 1-2) In 2010, the federal government passed a law as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requiring that book publishers tell professors up-front, in all marketing materials, how much the book will cost the student. The idea behind this provisi on of HEOA was described as â€Å"an effort to get professors to be aware of what their choices were really costing their students† (Smith A5).  

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

To what extent may several common mental disorders, as identified by Essay

To what extent may several common mental disorders, as identified by the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing - Essay Example This is because, it is clear that the thoughtless attitude that leaders of organisations adopt towards mental health has continuously compounded the effects of mental disorders, with stigma, dismissal from work, aloofness and ignorance being some of the commonest manifestations of this same attitude. Contrariwise, the need to tamper the quest for performance target with human dignity, corporate social responsibility and fairness compels a relook into organisational culture, as it relates to employees who may suffer from mental disorders, as shall be seen forthwith. Introduction According to the report that the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing released, there is a great extent to which several common mental disorders impact a person's performance at work. It follows logically that any mental disorder affects the brain and its function, with the brain being the central nervous system [CNS]. This means that it is important for the rest of the body to function well , if the CNS or a compartment of the CNS is not properly functioning. The same is also underscored by the fact that work, however manual it may seem, is seriously a mental affair. As a product of the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing report summarised and pointed out that the three chief mental disorder groups are: affective disorders [such as depression]; anxiety disorder [such as social phobia] and substance ab/use disorders [such as the harmful use of alcohol, marijuana and other forms of stimulants]. This report also divulged on the level of mental impairment, the accompanying physical conditions, the health services that are to be used to treat mental health complications, accompanying demographic and socio-economic characteristics and relating demographic conditions. These categories of mental illnesses and the prevailing conditions of mental health illnesses provide an insight into the manner in which common men tal disorders impact a person's performance at work. Substance abuse, affective and anxiety mental disorders are known to have the potency to undermine interpersonal relationships, yet interpersonal relationships are vital for the realisation of an organisation's performance target. Particularly, complications emanating from the use of marijuana as a form of substance abuse may manifest through withdrawal symptoms, violent or aggressive behaviour, or behavioural excesses. These manifestations frustrate interpersonal communication and thereby undermining intra-organisational relations. Anxiety mental disorders such as extreme shyness and affective disorders such as depression equally frustrate interpersonal communication at work, by hampering the flow of ideas, the channeling of operational command and personal confidence which is important. The place of interpersonal relations and intra-organisational communication is important in the attainment of both long-term and short-term perf ormance target since supervision, the induction of new employees and aspects of talent management such as training and workshop programmes are heavily reliant upon interpersonal relations within an organisation. Conversely, in the event that some of mental disorders persisting at the workplace, the organisation

Exile and Suffering Essay Example for Free

Exile and Suffering Essay Early scholars of Anglo-Saxon literature believed that â€Å"The Seafarer† represented an early pagan poem that had been adapted for Christian audiences by the insertion of pious formulas throughout and a moral at the end; accordingly, these scholars expended considerable ingenuity in attempting to excise the Christian elements to discover the â€Å"real poem† hidden beneath these composite overlays. Pound’s famous translation, in line with this emphasis, systematically removes or downplays many explicitly Christian elements of the poem and stops before the overtly homiletic conclusion, which features some dozen direct references to God and the heavens in the last twenty-five lines. Now, however, critics seem generally to agree that the two halves of the poem are unified by a movement from earthly chaos to heavenly order and that its coherent thematic thrust is the Christian message that the afterlife is more important than life on Earth. The poem is frequently discussed in conjunction with â€Å"The Wanderer,† another Exeter Book poem that shares many themes and motifs with â€Å"The Seafarer,† including the structure in which a specific treatment of biographical subject matter—the plight of a wanderer or Seafarer—is followed by a more general homiletic section that draws a religious meaning from the earlier material. The sailor, as a man required traveling over a hostile and dangerous environment, had always seemed to Christian poets to be a naturally apt image of the believer’s life on Earth, which should be viewed as a hazardous journey to the true homeland of Heaven rather than as a destination to be valued in itself. In this poem, the speaker seems to be a religious man (or reformed sinner) who has chosen the seafaring life as much for its efficacy as a means of spiritual discipline as for any commercial gain to be derived from it. The original opposition in the poem between landsmen and Seafarers gives way to the insight that all men are, or ought to think of themselves as, Seafarers, in the sense that they are all exiles from their true home in Heaven. As lines 31-32 (previously quoted) establish, the land can be just as cold and forbidding as the sea, and the virtuous, at least, should hope that they will be sojourning in this harsh world for only a brief time. True Christian â€Å"Seafarers† must psychologically distance themselves from secular life, as the Seafarer of this poem has done both literally and figuratively. The poet appears to encapsulate his theme at the pivotal midpoint of the poem: â€Å"therefore the joys of the Lord seem warmer to me than this dead life, fleeting on land. † This recommended ascetic withdrawal from worldly interests should enable the Christian to properly reject the comforts of life on the land as transient and seek spiritual rather than physical comforts.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Strategic analysis of Nokia Corp

Strategic analysis of Nokia Corp 1.0 Executive Summary The following is the strategic analysis of Nokia Corp., which discusses the external and internal environment. The first part, external environment, presents the opportunities and threats along with the political, economic, sociocultural, and technological issues of the handset industry. It provides Porters five forces framework for the discussion of the attractiveness of the industry. The second part of the report analyzes the main strengths behind Nokias success and leading position as a handsets manufacturer. We proceed with the analysis of Nokias weaknesses which may impede on its ability to utilize the growth opportunities. We also make recommendations regarding Nokias strategy for US market, converged handsets market, and acquisitions. Owing to the complex and self-motivated environment, Nokia faces numerous strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This report is to look for the best possible strategy of Nokia. Initially, the key strategic issues Nokia is facing today is acknowledged to be economy, technology, leading brand, scale, and number one market position based on the strategy analysis in Task A. Secondly, the imposing strategy that Nokia should take on is analyzed to be exhaustive growth strategy, and in particulars, the strategy options of Nokia today is illustrated to be cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategy. Among which Nokia should select a combination of the cost leadership and differentiation strategy according to its brawny assets, low fixed cost, and elevated research aptitude. The paper also discusses the relationship between Nokia management style, climate and its organizational structure. Strategy can be defined as â€Å"the basic characteristics of the match an organization achieves with its environment.†[1] Owing to the complex and go-ahead environment, Nokia faces several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This article is to seek the optimal strategy of Nokia. The investigation is affirmed in the following ways. Firstly, the key strategic issues of Nokia are acknowledged based on the strategy analysis in Task A. Secondly, the strategy options of Nokia are analyzed by the competitive generic strategies theory which has been promoted by Porter. Thirdly, after the illustration of the competitive generic strategies, the optimal strategies will be proposed. 2.0 Section 1 Company Background Nokia was established in Finland in 1865. Owing to its digital insurgency starting from 1992 by introducing its first GSM model as well as the new formulation of the key essentials of its strategy by sending-off the old businesses and progressively more focus on telecommunications in 1994, it helps Nokia generate the basis for a triumphant conquer of the world telecommunication market. Till now, Nokia is by now the world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth of the broader mobility industry. Fulfilling an elementary human necessitates for social connections and contact by connecting people is the mission of Nokia. Currently, Nokia comprises four business groups that are mobile phones, multimedia, enterprise solutions and networks. Being the forge of the mobile communication market in the world enjoying about 30% share of the worlds mobile phone market, Nokia is abiding to discover innovative investment opportunity. Teaming up with the Sanyo Electric Corp. Which ranked the 10th world while to shape a shared endeavor, Nokia will carry on to be outrival and advance in the world telecommunication market. 3.0 Assessment of Strategies 3.1 Business Level Nokias trade level strategy is based on a cost leadership. Nokia has an outsized product portfolio which would gratify consumers all over the world. It strives to keep low costs for its products throughout firm costs management and economies of scale. Nokia utilizes strategic suppliers all over the globe to attain extremely modified subassembly apparatus which are used to generate its elevated tech savvy devices. 3.1.1 Tactics Market location: Nokia counts profoundly on its sales in key market regions. More than half of sales arrive from operations in Europe. Another vital market for Nokia is China, and, finally, Asia-Pacific region. 3.1.2 Defensive In order to go with iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones and protect its share in the converged handsets market, Nokia introduced 5800 touchscreen. As a consequence, after the first quarter of 2009, Nokias market shares in smartphones augmented by 3%. 3.1.3 Corporate level On the corporate echelon Nokia is cultivating a growth strategy. Its growth is obsessed principally by acquisitions and concentrated RD. During the past few years Nokia has been vigorously obtaining companies with new technologies and competencies, including besides investments in alternative positions. All of these acquisitions and investments were embattled to improve Nokias ability to assist form the Mobile World. 4.0 Section 2: Eliciting and Evaluating Strategy All companies have their way of identifying and commerce with these, their mainly decisive strategic question. Though, this process of managing emerging strategic issues is typically non-structured, not essentially optimally appropriate to facilitate the efficient identification of the most significant questions and the suitable allocation of top management attention and corporate aptitude support to answer the recognize strategic questions. In spite of the post research during 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s into the domain of strategic issues (SI), strategic issues management (SIM), and strategic issue management systems (SIMS) there is an insufficiency pertinent approaches for firms to use in improving their awareness focus and distribution in strategic issue management process. 4.1 Key Strategic Issues Face Nokia Nokia should concentrate more on the electrical market during the financial crisis era because the financial tumult has absolutely predisposed the global economy. A report of Nokia which exposes a lower mobile device industry outlook for fourth quarter of 2008 than the previous estimate of roughly 330 million units. Nokia acknowledges a tough time for telecommunication industry in 2009 symbolized by an anticipation of mobile device volumes turn down 5% or more from 2008 levels which exposed the immense concern of recession (Nokia Capital Markets Day, 2008). In short, the mobile device market has declined. From the market prediction it will constantly decrease. Such state of affairs is caused by consumers pull-back in spending, legal tender unpredictability, and decreased ease of use of credit from the slowdown of global economy. Especially, Nokia believes the incremental collision affects the emerging markets more other developed markets (Nokia Capital Markets Day, 2008). Technology is the soul of telecommunication industry which is the reason why the RD investment of Nokia in the year passed is EUR 5.6 billion (Company information, 2008). Smart phones, 3G mobile phones and environment friendly mobile phones are the substantiation of technology progressing in telecommunication industry. Nokia Research Center make-believe many new technology reflected by the forthcoming innovations as well as indoor positioning, location sensing, mobile journalism and so on (Upcoming innovations, 2008). The most important brand, scale and number one market position is the most noteworthy strengths of Nokia (Nokia Capital Markets Day, 2008). As the most well-known brand of mobile device supplier in the world, Nokia is the representation of quality. Consumers are comfortable with its devices and services. Nokias highly variable, low fixed business model gives it the opportunity to scale to a declining market (Nokia Capital Markets Day, 2008). The mobile communications industry is changing quickly, for instance, network plays a more and more significant part and the market articulations have been introduced and are still being familiarized (Annual report, 2007). Nokias sales and profitability are considerably exaggerated by the growth and success of the innovative market division, which needs a distant outlook and sympathy of the market. Nokia lost the market share of 3G mobile phones once owing to the neglect of the significance of network. On the contrary, Apple experiential the tendency and brought out iphone. Competition is extreme in mobile communications industry. To shun the collapse the company should progress its market standing, or become accustomed to the changes in the spirited scenery which is very imperative for Nokias strategic marketing design. Though Nokia has already been the top one in the mobile communications industry. The existing the pressure is from other telecommunication providers such as Samsung, Motorola. Moreover, as the rising importance of network in mobile communications industry, the entrance of network companies becomes an enormous anxiety. 5.0 Strategic Options 5.1 The Grand Strategy of Nokia Considering the SWOT analysis of Nokia, the grand strategy Nokia should accept is growth strategies. And among which, exhaustive growth strategy is deserve to be paid immense consideration in order to reinforce the competitive position of accessible products or services of Nokia such as devices, PCs and the amalgamation with the Internet (Nokia Capital Markets Day, 2008). 5.1.1 Competitive generic strategies In particulars, the competitive strategies lead the success in the marketing. The key attitude for a competitive strategy is how to build advantages in market competition. Cost leadership〠differentiation and focus are three competitive generic strategies (Porter, 1980, 1985). Three of them let companies to gain the profits over the average level of industry and form steady competitive recompense. 5.1.2 Cost leadership Strategy Nokia claims a cost reducing on its capital markets day at the end of this year. Nokia CFO, Rick Simonson emphasized that Nokia is practicing a cost reduction which is effective now and is continuing to keep the strategy for 2009 and 2010 ((Nokia Capital Markets Day, 2008). Nokia is always using a highly variable, low fixed cost business model. The balance sheet of 2007 gives us a clearer view of this. The fixed assets and other non-current assets are 8305 EURm, but the current assets are 29294 EURm (Annual report, 2007). Mobile phones are identical products if you do not call for multifunction except sending massages or making calls. Thus, the cost leadership strategy is possible to follow and the switching cost for customers of mobile telecommunication industry is very low, almost zero. So its rather easy for a customer to purchase another brand of mobile phone only for a lower price. One of the risk of adopting a cost leadership strategy maybe the simulation of competitors which guide to a price campaign and lower the gainful aptitude for the whole market. And the change of technology can dissolve the low cost benefit. 5.1.3 Differentiation Strategy Differentiation strategy means providing diverse products or services from competitors to attain competitive advantages focused on enormous market. Modern telecoms market is changing quickly, grows up rapidly, and compete fiercer than most other markets. So it is quite vital to keep competitive by maintaining up to date and spotlight on modernization. The marketplace is shifting all the time and the conventional mobile device industry is implicated with internet services, therefore, the products and services Nokia offers should be totally change (People management, 2008). Seeing this trend, Nokia amalgamated with Nokia Siemens Networks. 5.1.4 Focus Strategy Focus strategy is using the cost leadership or differentiation focus on certain customer group, regional market and product segment market. It often applies to medium and small enterprises which are not able to achieve cost leader and differentiation in the whole industry (Lynch, 2003). As for a leading company of mobile telecommunication industry, the focus strategy is not appropriate for Nokia. 5.1.5 Optimal Strategy According to the analysis above, Nokia should acclimatize a mixture of cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy. Nokia has burly assets which craft the strategy is likely to carry out, and in the year passed total tangible assets are 33857 EURm (Calculated based on Annual accounts, 2007) comparing to 21777 EURm in 2006. Wherein, Property, plant and equipment amounts to 1912 EURm, Inventories is 2876 EURm, and accounts receivable is high to 11200 EURm (Annual account, 2007) Sometimes, an stress on cost leadership can perform as a shape of differentiation when the cost leadership strategy focused on providing value-oriented customers with products that are certainly value-for-money, relation to its competitors. And its guarantee is to help people sense close to what is imperative to them. Focusing on customers rather than the competitors is vital when deciding differentiation strategy. Several customers apprehension the design, quality or customer services of a company. Consumers needs are constantly what Nokia anxious the most. Continuous of innovation is critical in a company adopted differentiation strategy. Nokia put its priorities for 2010 in increasing Services Software and mobilizing customer email and consumer instant messaging for millions of Nokia product purchasers. 6.0 External environment and organizational audit 6.1 PESTEL (located in Finland) 6.1.1 Political and legal Finland has the steady economics and policies. Finland is exceedingly open to investment and free trade. Finland has peak levels of economics sovereignty in many areas, although there is a profound tax load and nonflexible job market. Finland has topped the patents per capita statistics, and overall efficiency growth has been brawny in areas such as electronics. The legal system is obvious and business bureaucracy less than most countries. Poverty rights are able-bodied confined and contractual agreements are severely honored (CIA World Fact book, 2007). From that, it is straightforward to see that Nokia can befall reputation because of the steady policies and economics of Finland, where head office of Nokia is situated. Moreover, Finland constantly tries to expand job market regulation. Finland increased job market regulation in the 1970s to offer steadiness to manufacturers. 6.1.2 Economic The global financial disaster exaggerated most companies all over the world. Constant economic downturn has unfavorable effects for Nokias business. Moreover, exchange rate fluctuations interrupt the repatriation of profits earned abroad. A change in incomes is definitely associated to Nokias sales. Nokias profits are contingent on the costs of their inputs, profits will likely decrease if the input increase. 6.1.3 Socio-cultural According to document searched, labor force had 2.68 million people in 2007. In labor force by profession, industry has 17.5% labor, finance, insurance, and businesses devices are 12%, and public services are 30.2% (CIA World Fact book, 2007). This statistic proves that income of end is higher than Europeans income. In addition, finish has elevated living situation. According documents, in 2006, there were 2,381,500 household of average size 2.1 persons; and approximately 92 percent has mobile phone (CIA World Fact book, 2007). Therefore, it is easy to see that this is immense market for mobile manufacturers as Nokia. 6.1.4 Technological Finland is extremely incorporated in the global economy, and global trade is a third of GPD. In a 2004 OECD assessment, high technology built-up in Finland ranked second biggest after Ireland (CIA World Fact book, 2007). Nokia realize that technology is really essential for their expansion so that they have slogan: 6.1.5 Environment Firstly, substance management means that they try to work closely and create the friendly environmental with their suppliers. Second issue is energy effectiveness, to make sure devices use as little energy as possible. Finally, it is to get back and recycling. They want to boost customer responsiveness of recycling, recommend better recycling in all markets and encourage the recycling of used devices through precise initiatives and campaigns (Nokia, 2008). 7.0 Nokia Value Chain An evaluation of Nokia value chain is displayed in Fig 7 based on work by Porter (2004: p.38), who describes it as: The linkages show how distinct key and supporting actions interrelate to generate value within the industry. 8.0 Section 3 Core Competence Core ability of Nokia is scheming and executing extensive term expansion programs employing core competence of interacting in-house and outside capability in conditions of Nokias name of the most victorious (Marshalls plan) and consistent global growth leader. This mixture of assets represents Nokia core competence since it could not be simply copied or imitated while meeting two theoretical situation of a resource-based potential formulated by Teece at al. (1997). Competitors cannot build up similar combination competences and capabilities promptly (Dierickx and Cool, 1986). â€Å"Nokias core competencies approach in three main fields mobile handsets, network technology and middleware. When deciding on the development and manufacturing of innovative products, speed is the serious factor in this quickly changing technological environment. For example, when deciding whether to work together on a product or software development, we will mull over if we are able to create the product alone fast enough and do we have the competencies to create it within a short time frame. If it is a core product, that is mobile telephony, Nokia will manufacture it internally because it is much well-organized and the finish product will also be of enhanced quality. But on the other hand if the new product is not within our capability and core product range, our next step will be to decide on the form of association or outsourcing with a company that can create it quick adequate. And if a new technology emerged and is not shaped by Nokia, Nokia will work together and subcont ract for the technology† (A manager at Nokia Group). 8.1.0 Example 1 In 2000 Nokia initiated SyncML a usual for universal of synchronising far-flung data and personal information crossways multiple networks, platforms and devices, while a range of companies sponsored for the standard. These companies comprise Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Matsushita, Motorola, Operwave, Starfish Software, and Symbian whilst the technology is supported by frequent most important wireless companies. Outsourcing to external vendors however not a well-liked choice within Nokia and prior to 2002 is, this activity contributed only about 15 to 20 percent. 8.1.1 Example 2 Nokias two key core competences are GSM handsets assembling and the mainly wide-ranging distribution network building up. Early before 1998 in India, Nokia had mastered on designing GSM handsets. It had been the top one worldwide on making the paramount excellence and the most creative GSM handsets. Besides, it rolled out the distribution network by partnering with HCL ([emailprotected], 2007). The network now is the most extensive in Indian market and it at least involves over 90000 retailers to market Nokias handset over India, compared to Samsung, which is the third top handset seller in India and only has the distribution network that associate 35000 retailers (Rao, 2007). With these two core competence; Nokia had succeeded in creating a brawny charisma from zero ground between its rivals since 1997 (Datta, 2004). By looking within Nokias core competence, we see that Nokias in-house organization operation is too successful feature for supplementary it to govern handset market. It constantly at once adjusts itself to adjust any environment changes. In operating in early time in 1990s, being short of local a talent that was common. For avoiding lack of local talents, Nokia established an art studio and add program into Indian university to train locals and attract them work in Nokia (Pahwa, 2007). Further, for its auxiliary more intensely understand the Indian culture mechanism, it reduce the number of Finnish expatriate and boost the amount of hiring Indian as local managers. In addition, it also accomplishments to alter its shortage. For atoning for the short of technology that making CDMA handsets, it in 2004 established RD center for developing CDMA technology (Staff Writer, CNET News, 2004). Although it regained market share of CDMA in India from Samsung (Grinsven, 2003), the circumstances becomes worse in 2008. So far, they have held very little number of CDMA handset models. As a result, they lose the chance that work with Sprint and Verizon and thus they indirectly lose U.S. market (Gardiner, 2008). Their newest handset models- n96, n95, n85, n79, Nokia E series handsets, and typically Nokia 4 digit number of model dont support CDMA (http://www.Nokia.co.in/products). 9.0 Appendix 1 Strategic Evaluation Tools, Techniques Artifacts and applicability to Ladbrokes LBO business stream Positioning School BCG portfolio matrix (Henderson, 1979) Experience curve (Henderson, 1979) Game theory tools (Von neumannn and Morgenstern, 1944) PIMS (Buzzell et al., 1975) Porters 5 forces (Porter, 1980) Porters generic strategy model (GSM) (Porter, 1985) Strategic groups (McGee and Thomas, 1986) Value chain (Porter, 1985) 5 Forces: external environment exerts pressure over betting and gaming industry especially legislation and pure economies of scale. This is not a high velocity environment due to relatively slow moving changes in numbers of overall LBOs in the UK. Changes to legislation which govern the industry are also slow moving. It is a low knowledge intensive environment where key skills are concentrated in risk management and trading departments concentrated in Head office. Value Chain: value is created through use of financial resources and technological assets to add value to management of risk, store level efficiencies and customers experience in-store. Game Theory: The relaxation of the ‘demand test in the Gambling Act 2005 has allowed the key operators to play a strategic defensive/offensive ‘game with shop locations, thereby making it harder for smaller operators to compete in popular locations Strategic Groups there is some evidence to support the grouping of the three key operators in the UK betting industry: Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral in a Strategic group as described by McGee and Thomas, 1986, given that strategic decisions Ladbrokes make, cannot be easily replicated by firms outside this ‘key operator group due to the nature of the regulatory environment and essential economies of scale required in the industry. Barriers to entry or ‘mobility barriers as described by Henderson and Thomas, are high. While in other industries, this could be considered an ‘oligopoly, it is not the case in the betting industry because the betting firms are primarily price takers, not price setters, therefore cannot control prices. Experience Curve: This does not primarily apply to the Betting industry because supply prices are fixed and are the same for all firms, resulting in no gain through a superior ‘experience curve. Other costs, however, could be less in firms with more experience, but some of these are costs levied by industry legislation and do not reduce over time due to the experience curve of individual firms. PIMS: Profit Impact on Market Share as described by Buzzell et al, provide some explanations for profit increases as a result of scale. The comparison of profitability between the three key operators demonstrates that market share will not deliver profitability in the betting industry unless they manage their financial resources and capital structures in an efficient manner. Note the similarities in operating margins based on similar gross margins, market share and market capitalization. Costs, including interest payments are potentially profit sapping in this industry, especially as products are homogeneous and supply price is fixed. Capability-building School Porters Value Chain See above Core competences (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990) Dynamic capabilities (Teece et al, 1997) Knowledge management (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) RBV: Valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable (Barney, 1991) Value chain (Porter, 1985) Sample of textbook schemata: Resources, capabilities and rents (Grant, 2002:153) Resources, competence strategic capability (Johnson and Scholes, 2002: 146) The contextual Not particularly relevant to the LBO operations due to low levels of environmental velocity and low Knowledge intensity (source for argument in main doc). RBV the analysis of Ladbrokes LBO operations suggests that advantage is primarily gained through greater financial resources. This is not a resource which meets the VRIO test as it is a fundamental economic and static resource and (arguably) easy to acquire. In terms of rent extraction this is down to leveraging scale to achieve higher value of margins through increase volume properly risk managed. Additionally, Ladbrokes display capabilities designed for sustainability, defensibility and ultimately market dominance. Core competences in general, there is little innovation required in the LBO business due to the homogeneous nature of the products and the economic structure of the pricing. Being a low knowledge intensity business, the tacit and intangible knowledge inherent in the definition of core competences further supports the lack of applicability of this concept in the LBO business. VRIO/Dynamic capabilities again, the contextual environment of low KI low EV reduces the need for Ladbrokes and other betting companies to be truly learning organisations or organisations creating dynamic capabilities which meet the VRIO characteristics and definitions. It could be argued that Ladbrokes do not create competences as defined by Prahalad and Hamel but possess a number of capabilities designed for margin protect and greater financial resources. High Velocity School Cycle-time reduction (Stalk, 1988) 7S Disruption: speed, surprise, shifting the rules, simultaneous and sequential thrust, signaling, strategic soothsaying, and stakeholder satisfaction (DAveni, 1994) Market disruption analysis (Bower and Christensen, 1995; Rigby, 2003) Patching flexible modular organizational design for rapid entry and exit of markets (Eisenhardt and Brown, 1999) Real options to negotiate favourable environments (McGrath, 1997)d Simple rules to facilitate speed and flexibility (Eisenhardt and Sull, 2001)e Time-pacing (Eisenhardt and Brown, 1998; Stalk, 1988) Delta model (Hax and Wilde, 1999) Ladbrokes operate in a low velocity environment with regards to LBO operations and these concepts are less appropriate for that contextual environment. Applicability would be more relevant in the ‘remote business operations: Internet Sportsbook and Exchange (see figure Core betting industry) however, there would still be imposed constraints on the velocity due to industry regulations. Complex ecosystem school Co-evolution (Eisenhardt and Galunic, 2000) Knowledge management tools Managing the system architecture (modular design, reward systems, team processes, strategic language) to ensure diversity and increase within-firm and extra-firm interactions (Eisenhardt and Galunic, 2000; Moore, 1993; Nahapiet, 2001; Pascale, 1999 and Stacey, 1995) Porters diamond (1990) explains ecosystem competitive advantage as complex interactions between co-evolutionary pockets (McKelvey, 1999 and Thomas, 1996) Real options and multiple scenarios to capture emergent learning in complex conditions (Bowman and Hurry, 1993, Copeland and Keenan, 1998, Luehrman, 1998 and Miller and Waller, 2003) Simple rules to condition system interactions (Eisenhardt and Sull, 2001, Macintosh and Maclean, 1999 and Sanchez, 1997) Supply chain integration and simplification (Levy, 1994, Harvard Management Update, 1999 Harvard Management Update (1999) And now: Complexity theory. Harvard Management Update, 4(3), 8-9.Harvard Management Update, 1999; Whiting, 2001) Labrokes does not primarily operate within a high knowledge intensive environment. While there is clearly are need for knowledge to flow from the wider bet-taking channels to Head Office to ensure adequate risk management, most of this information is done via the use of technology. It could be argued therefore that Ladbrokes core knowledge is concentrated in the central trading functions. In this context therefore, complex ecosystem theories are a less relevant strategic influence for the Ladbrokes LBO business. 9.1 Appendix 2 Competitors Analysis Ø LG LG is a Korea based company which provides ranges of mobile phone for customers to choose. Since its establishment, LG has evolved a lot according to the trend of mobile phone in Hong Kong. However, instead of putting all emphasis on 2-G GSM mobile phone, LG has put more focus on the 3-G mobile phone market and worked closely with the Hutchison Group, The 3 Hong Kong service provider, to provide high quality 3G mobile to customers. LG has used different means of marketing strategies including print advertisements, TV advertisements and celebrities to promote the products. Ø Motorola Motorola introduced the first mobile phone in Hong Kong in the 1980s Motorola emphasizes on the transformation of device formerly known as the cell phone into a universal remote control for life by adding more functions and innovations in the mobile phone. Motorola won the Asian Innovations Award by the technology of the product A668 with a â€Å"finger writing board† on the mobile phone, also, with the integration of the technology of iTunes ® by cooperation with Marc ®, Motorola launched the product ROKR E1. Motorola aims to be the leader in multi-mode, multi-band communications products and technologies. Ø Samsung Samsung provide a wide range of products for customers to choose from, including the 3G mobile phone, the MegaPixel Camera Phone, the Camera Phone and the Color Display Phone. No matter from the prime mobile phone of the latest 3 G mobile phone, Samsung provides choices for customers to deliver the desirable benefits and solutions for different customers. Ø Sony Ericsson Sony Ericsson has the mission to be the most attractive and innovative brand of mobile phone in the world. To achieve this goal Sony Ericsson integrated design into every step of the process intelligent features, user-friendly applications, innovative materials and attractive visual appearance. Design is the essential differentiator when comparing mobile communications products. The attractive good looking appearance and the sophisticated integration of technology has contributed to the success of Sony Ericsson, some products like W800i and W55