Thursday, October 31, 2019

Music, Performance and Authenticity in Films Essay

Music, Performance and Authenticity in Films - Essay Example In addition, rock film performance has been encrypted from Quadrophenia, the album of the group The Who, to the film bearing the same name as the album. This transformation of recorded audio music pieces into films did not bring any disparaging change in the rock culture; rather, it boosted and made rock performance more livelier and entertaining, attracting more and more enthusiasts. Initially, rock artists recorded music without the inclusion of videos and other display features that would make it more appealing. While rock music performance concentrates on the rock culture promotion through recording the audio pieces, the film performance is greatly involved in the use of visuals to promote the same culture. This paper will critically compare and contrast the differences and similarities in the music, the authenticity, and self-conscious film performances of Pink Floyd and The Who. Pink Floyd – The wall The film Pink Floyd-The Wall was adapted from the album The Wall. The w riter of the film utilized the music lyrics to convey different themes as represented in the original songs. Some of these include the theme of isolation, cruelty, insanity, fascism, and hard mentality as fashioned by the wall. Notably, throughout the film, there is an expression of a sad and brutal mood of the music as depicted by the author’s feelings in his school day poems. ... While music metaphorically illustrates this social alienation, the film projects the character into the real emotional situation (Kaarki 2002, p. 184). There is an illustration of severe emotional suffering that revolves in the abyss of loss and isolation resulting from fatherless childhood (due to his father death in the British war) and the domineering, overprotective, and phobia-filled love of his mother. As noted, Pink built a mental wall that could allow him to live a life free of the emotional troubles caused by the failing education system which concentrated on producing societal compliant sycophants, by police brutality, estranged marriage, and uncontrollable drug abuse (Pink Floyd 1982). Remarkably, not only does the film performance demonstrate the ability of the writer to describe the moods of the song but also evokes the emotions of the film viewers. Through the evaluation of the harmony of the film performance, viewers are able to observe the relevance of the musical per formance which develops and maintains the psychological wall built by Pink to run away from his pains. Significantly, the film performance brings out a better understanding of the music themes with an illustrative depiction of the continuous piling of problems as one runs away from their effects rather than finding solutions. In the film, the author excellently matches the themes present in the music with the film performance, giving insightful, enigmatic, and arresting images. Factually, critics have been of the view that the lifestyle as described in the song perfectly suits the film performance with its spectacular ability to conjure captivating and memorable images that elicit lingering and

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Entrepreneurship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example There are several applications that can provide a better outlook while ensuring that there is the ability to receive better alternatives with the competition. By working with a consultant, there is the ability to analyze and identify the problems which are occurring in a business as well as change several aspects to ensure that easier functioning occurs. When looking at the situation with News 4 U, it can be seen that alterations in the main system will also assist with a higher profit, ability to grow substantially and will help with alternatives in the business and the needs that are associated with this. 1.1 Company Background ‘News4u’ is a family newsagent business which was established in 2006 by Tanveer Ahmed. The independent sole trader is located in Southbridge of Edinburgh. There are four members of staff to help to run the business and to help assist with the store who are all members within the family, ‘News4u’ is open daily for fourteen hours bet ween the hours of 8-10pm. The newsagents provides to their customers daily products such as News papers, cigarettes, juice, crisps, stationary and a wide variety of Scottish Souvenirs. 1.2 Problem Background There are two areas that are continuing to provide complexities with â€Å"News 4 U† one which is based on the internal environment, and one which is based on the outcome from the external environment. The internal environment is currently having issues with the staff, specifically because of the small size of the business. There isn’t the ability to keep enough staff available for continuous shopping and to meet the demands of those that are in the store. This has created complexities in keeping the shop open for a longer period of time and is not allowing customers to receive the necessary support. Parallel to this problem are also issues with the paper work, which is currently out of date, and doesn’t provide a systematic way for employees and those overl ooking the business to keep up with the changes being made in the store. The second level of problems is based on the return from customers as well as the inability to keep up with competitors who are offering similar alternatives. Promotional deals are not providing the right alternatives for those working within the store. There are also difficulties with customers that are shopping in the store, specifically because of a lack of space that is available and a layout which is not conducive to seeing the variety of items which are available. By examining these aspects, there will be the ability to change the way in which the News 4 U works and to make the return more effective from customers and into relation to the competition. 2.0 Problem Exposition When looking at the particular problems with News 4 U, it can be seen that there needs to be an alteration first in the internal environment while connecting this to more efficient means with the external

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Role Of A Strategist Of Today Business Essay

Role Of A Strategist Of Today Business Essay ABSTRACT: Strategists are the people who implement the powerful strategy which consists of ingredients like information, imagination, purpose and action. There are various kinds of strategists in any kind of organization like board of directors, chief executive officer, entrepreneurs, senior management, SBU-level executives, corporate planning staff, consultants, middle level manager, and executive assistants. Each one plays a different role in an organization. Apart from the specified roles and functions for a strategist, the common and general important roles are sooth sayer, sculptor, politician, guru and jail buster. As a sooth sayer strategist must helps his team to imagine the future world within which they will be competing. The sculptor strategist creates a unique role or purpose for the organisation. They forecast the reason why the organisation will be successful within the soothsayers imagined future. The politician strategist knows the power players in the organisation. They know what drives each leader and they also know who is motivated by ego, who by money, who needs to be recognised, who thrives on making a difference. The jail buster strategist shows employees how to escape from their prison of boredom and fear without alerting their fearful managers. They provide the key to unlocking their talents, creativity, and energy. This paper presents a framework to aid in understanding the seven major deadly traps prevailing in any organization and how a strategist can overcome the negative outcomes of those poisonous traps which are taking deep roots in the organizations worldwide. Some basic human intellectual tools like Intellectual Intelligence (IQ), Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and Spiritual Intelligence (SQ).,which are necessary for a strategist also discussed. INTRODUCTION: The work a strategist did yesterday, Set the foundation for the achievements and challenges of today. The work a strategist does today, Creates the world of tomorrow. Ruth (Placeholder1)Tearle Strategists are individuals or groups who are primarily involved in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of strategy. There are various kinds of strategists like managers, board of directors, chief executive officers, entrepreneurs, senior management, SBU-level executives, corporate planning staff, consultants, middle level managers, executive assistants. (Terry Mcnulty 1999) Boards of directors are the owners of an organization such as shareholders, controlling agencies, government, financial institutions, etc. They are responsible for governance of an organization, technology collaboration, new product development and senior management appointments. They guide the senior management in setting and accomplishing objectives, review and evaluate organization performance.The chief executive officer is answerable for all aspects of strategic management from the formulation to the evaluation of strategy. They play a major role in strategic decision making and provide the directi on for the organization so that it can achieve its purpose. They assist in setting the mission of the organization. They are responsible for deciding the objectives, formulating and implementing the strategy. Entrepreneurs are strategist who starts a new business, initiator, searches for change, respond to it and exploits its as an opportunity. By their nature, entrepreneurs play a proactive role. They are implementers and evaluators of strategies. Senior management or top management consists of managers at highest level managerial hierarchy. They look after renovation, technology up progression, diversification and expansion and also focus on new product development. They assist the board and chief executives in formulating, implementing and evaluating the strategy. SBUs are profit center heads or divisional heads. They manage a diversified company as a portfolio of businesses, each business having a clearly defined product-market segment and an unique strategy. SBU executives maintain harmonization with other SBUs in the organizing, formulating and implementing the SBU level strategy. Corporate planning staff plays a supporting role. They put in order and communicate the strategic plans. They make available administrative support and fulfill the function of assisting the introduction, working and maintenance of strategic management system. Consultant may be individuals, academicians or consultancy companies who are specialized in strategic management activities. They will advise and assist managers to improve the performance and effectiveness of an organization. They provide services of corporate strategy and planning. Middle level managers look after operational matters, so they rarely play an active role in strategic management. They are the implementers of decision taken by top level and followers of policy guidelines. They contribute to generation of ideas and in development of strategic alternative. They also help in setting objectives at departmental level. An executive assistant will assist the chief executive in the performance of his duties in various ways. They assist the chief executive in data collection, analysis and in suggesting alternatives. Coordinating activities with internal staff and outsiders and acting as a filter for information are also performed by the executive assistant. The role of a powerful strategist: A powerful strategist plays the major important roles like sooth sayer, sculptor, politician, guru and jail buster. A strategist must be a soothsayer or seer who helps his team to imagine the future world within which they will be competing. They begin by reading the palm of the organisation and also identify its competencies and unique strengths. They then use the crystal ball of scenarios, and imaginative thinking to help the team to visualise the future within which the business will operate. A strategist should also be a sculptor like an artist who carves a form out of raw materials. The sculptor strategist creates a unique role or purpose for the organisation. They predict the reason why the organisation will be successful within the soothsayers imagined future. The sculptor begins by defining the organisations future target markets. They then provide the future shape of the organisation by defining why its future customers will choose to support it, rather than any future imagined competitor. So the strategist changes systems, structures, rewards, alliances, products and services to ensure t hat everything supports the organisational purpose. A politician is someone who is skilled in the art of manoeuvring and manipulation. The politician strategist knows the power players in the organisation. They know what drives each leader and they also know who is motivated by what external and internal factors. A guru is a person who gives personal spiritual guidance to his disciples. The strategist guru, shows how each individual employee in the company, can contribute to the greater, noble goal. They help individual employees to discover their inimitable personal purpose. Then they show them how to channel their energy and talent towards living their purpose, whilst acting in ways that support the companys goal. A strategist must also plays a role of jail buster, while at work, many employees find that their talents, passions, creativity, imagination, and energy are locked behind bars of the company culture. Timid managers who want to be in control, and avoid making mistakes, often hide the keys to creativity, energy, passion, self-assurance, and innovation. The jail buster strategist shows employees how to break out from their prison of tediousness and fear without alerting their fearful managers. They provide the key to unlocking their talents, creativity, and energy. Strategy in companys perspective- Strategy is about choice. The heart of a companys strategy is what it chooses to do and not do. (Rivkin 2005).They develops a long-range course of action or set of goals to align with the organizations vision. (LOREN APPELBAUM n.d.) Problems: Strategist should avoid the seven main deadly traps of strategy effectuation. The seven deadly traps are squeeze strategy in between other more important events dates are booked for a strategy session, but there is little dedication or energy from the leaders. The strategy sessions get negated, or delayed. The time available to do strategy is reduced from three days, to two days and finally to the afternoon just before a public holiday. The second trap is doing strategy through presentations and debate. The leaders go away for a 2-day strategy conference. They spend one and a half days listening to presentations and asking questions of the presenters. The last half a day is spent with a catalyst engaging the group in a debate. Somehow, a few strategic focus areas become known. These are written into the companys strategic plan, but nothing really changes. The next trap is delegating strategy to a project team. A team of potential leaders is given the task of formulating strategy. They begin with hope, enthusiasm, and by doing research and analysis. They use every model available: Trend analysis, Porters 5 forces, scenario development, SWOT analyses, balanced scorecard and financial analyses. They analyse their current mission, objectives and strategies. The strategist develops strategic options. They evaluate these options and present their findings to the administrative management. The leaders demonstrate through their questioning (or an interrogation) who holds the power in the company. The youngsters leave with their self-esteem in tatters. The fourth is doing strategic analyses without a solid foundation of research, leaders analyse trends, markets, and competitors. They do scenarios and SWOT analyses. But they do this without any research. The outcomes of their analyses are indistinct and nothing really changes. The fifth is ignoring the creative side, while the strategic research, and analysis may be excellent, little creative thinking takes place. No paradigms are broken. No excitement is generated. The strategies that emerge are predictable. People leave with a feeling of why did we bother? The next trap is failing to act on a brilliant, inspiring strategy, the focus then moves to the question of what do we need to do, to make the strategy work? Leaders suddenly become aware of how the strategy will impact on their power bases, and their careers. They then try to find flaws in the strategy or the process to rationalize their need to sustain the status quo. The last deadly trap is failing to motivate the people, the CEO and the team go on exhausting road shows to communicate their strategy to their people. A quiet comment is heard after the presentation. Why should I encumber myself with additional work to make the CEO richer? What are the chances of this strategy being? Suggestions: A strategist is like a root of an organization. In order to overcome the deadly traps in any organization a strategist must first think outside of the box and they must focus on both forest and the trees They must need to concentrate on three aspects of human intelligence like intellectual Intelligence (IQ), Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). The mind of strategist must try to decide when to do strategy and when not to do strategy, clear target markets, competitive advantage, 80/20 focus and alignment. They need to do research, analyse the given situation with the available informations and comes out with the best solutions. The heart of strategist must have the concepts, rules, power and politics play an important role in the development of any strategy. The end result of a strategy (the strategic plan) determines what is, and what is not important to the companys future, who will get scarce resources such as budgets, and skills, who will be gain and who will lose power. The soul of strategist must have ingredients to inspiration include energy, creativity, action or doing, wisdom, purpose, fun, awareness of the mystery, caring, motivating the people, stimulating the new innovative ideas.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Hardys Presentation of Bathsheba and Fannys Experiences in Far from t

Hardy's Presentation of Bathsheba and Fanny's Experiences in Far from the Madding Crowd How does this novel reveal the social reality of the time? In this essay I will look at Thomas Hardy's 'Far from the Madding Crowd' in the first section, I will look at the different ways Hardy portrays Bathsheba and Fanny's experiences. Since Hardy based this novel in the 1840s, and being true to history, it does reveal a lot about the social reality of the time. However, Hardy could have a different perspective, as he is writing in the 1870s, which may have affected his view on the 1840s social ideal. Fanny is offered almost as a complete contrast to Bathsheba Fanny wants to get married (though this could possibly be because she is pregnant), she has no money, no home and no family, while Bathsheba has everything (except the family) that Fanny doesn't have, including her boyfriend too, Troy. Bathsheba at the beginning represents a very rare kind of Victorian woman, one who is proud, strong and independent. While Fanny is the naÃÆ'Â ¯ve and 'fallen' woman. As you progress through the novel, you see a peculiar change coming over both women, they seem to change their characters, Bathsheba becoming more like Fanny, and Fanny becoming more like Bathsheba. Fanny shows her strength as she almost pulls herself down the road by the will of her mind, 'holding onto the rail she advanced, thrusting one hand forward, then the other, leaning over it whilst she dragged her feet on beneath' a lesser woman would have just sat down and given up, but she shows us her strength of character as she tricks her body into making the steps, that would take her ever nearer, to her death, so to speak.. Bathsheba however, allows herself to b... ... Even through the action of the characters, especially the males, you can see how difficult it was for a female in the 1840's society, the stir Bathsheba cause when she walks into the farmers market 'for at her first entry the lumbering dialogues had ceased, nearly every face turned towards her' and again at the farmers market your attention is brought to the fact she is the only woman there 'the single one of her sex that the room contained' a sign that woman were not readily accepted in the farming world, or any place that had money as its bases. So in conclusion to be a woman in 1840's based on Hardy's description would have been a very trying experience, a woman's role was to be dressed up in pretty clothes and displayed, never to do anything but sit at home and do the needle work, never to go and try something different. To be seen and not heard.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Case to Keep Drugs Illegal

The Case to Keep Drugs Illegal The article, â€Å"Don’t Legalize Those Drugs†, by Barry McCaffrey was made to claim that the current United States policy against drugs is indeed successful and should not be abolished. McCaffrey claims, â€Å"Drug use imposes an unacceptable risk of harm on the user and others,† then proceeds to provide substantial support for this claim. He also claims â€Å"harm reduction†, or the softening of the drug laws, would have a negative effect on our countries well-being.The strength of McCaffrey’s argument is his ability to support his claims. One of his main supports is that â€Å"Substance abuse wrecks families†. He then provides perceived facts about child maltreatment, death rates, and other problems in families with substance abuse issues. He also discusses crime outside of families and how having legal drugs, our crime rate would actually increase because people on drugs are more likely to commit crimes.He u ses the statistic that says â€Å"in 1997, a third of state prisoners and about one in five federal prisoners said they had committed the crimes that led to incarceration while under the influence of drugs. † There are many warrants that connect McCaffrey’s evidence to his claim. The most obvious one is the accuracy of his sources. There are many facts that are based on percentages and surveys but there is not a clear sample size. How many people are being surveyed or where are the statistics being gathered are all valid questions.He also says that â€Å"studies show that the more a product is available and legitimized, the greater will be its use†. This needs many warrants, what study actually shows this and how can it be proven that use will be more common? Finally, he stands firm against â€Å"harm reduction† and claims this will make drug use greater, but one could definitely argue that â€Å"harm reduction† would help drug abuse. McCaffrey dis cusses how he believes drug policies can be improved without being abolished as a counter argument to those who believe the current system is unsuccessful.He talks about how prevention is the true solution to our country’s drug issues. Also, his defense to those who argue for choice, he says that we have agreed consistently against things that can cause harm to us. Fore example, wearing a helmet when on a motorcycle therefore, the drug issue is no different. Overall, this is a well written argument and McCaffrey does a great job supporting his claim and making claims against counter arguments. Works Cited McCaffrey, Barry R. â€Å"Don't Legalize Those Drugs. † Washington Post June 1999, n. pag. Print.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

How successful the D-Day landings were

There were different levels of successes and failures at different areas of D-day. The British airborne had many successes. Not only were they the first units to fly over the Channel Islands, dropping ruperts and windows on Roven, but they captured all their targets (including the town of Sainte Mere Englise). The Germans thought there was no chance of attack due to the abominable weather conditions that day which left them venerable. They did, of course, also experience failures. There was fierce German resistance. This obviously made it very difficult for them to reach their specific targets. Source G mentions that â€Å"much has been made of the poor quality of the German troops defending the Channel coast† I think this probably depends in which country you are in. If you are German then the story is probably told very differently. Even here in England we know that the resistance form the Germans was fierce and was indeed hard to overcome. However, with the allies good troops and their excellent new technology they managed to overcome this obstacle. Source G also mentions that the German troops brought the allies close to defeat on Omaha beach. I don't believe this too be true. Although Omaha was one of the most difficult areas of D-day, the allies won the battle and the defences were breached. Overall, the British airborne area of D-day was very successful. Helping to capture many of the D-day targets. The US airborne was not as successful as the British. They landed 25 miles off course and lost 60% of their equipment. The postponement of D-day had meant a 48 hour vigil on the sea floor, crews endured horrific cramped conditions. The US could have been more organised, this may have led to less mistakes. However, they did eventually recoup and secure their targets. At Utah, troops pushed inland and secured the beach. US reports said operations at Utah were â€Å"smooth, perfectly coordinated and magnificent†. Nevertheless, the beach was heavily lined with mines. Overall, all went well, only real problem was with the mines, but even that was overcome. At Omaha the battle was won and the defences breached. Anyhow, there were huge amounts of casualties. Some were caused by rough seas, some by underwater beach obstacles and some by enemy fire. Lots of tanks were lost and fog and heavy cloud made off course bombs. In conclusion, although there was a devastating amount of casualties, they did finally liberate Omaha beach. At Gold the troops used Hobart funnies, which helped to keep the losses relatively light. The troops pushed into Bayeux and by 8. 00am villages were celebrating liberation. The beach was extensively mined and covered by heavy guns and the villages provided cover for the German snipers. Moreover, although there was strong resistance, the losses were relatively light. At Juno beach the Canadians also used Hobart funnies to get round the huge obstacles. By the evening the troops were heading for Caen. Although the area was protected by heavy guns, perhaps the most difficult part was getting around the obstacles such as a tall concrete wall, which all made up parts of the Atlantic wall. Source H shows some of those parts. The pictures infer ally failure. They also seem to be posed, as if they are trying to impress people with their fierce looking defences. You can see this because in the first picture, for example, there is no one on the beach, and on the third the soldier looks like he has been told to stand there for the picture. Even with all these drastic defence mechanisms, the allies still managed to clear them using the Hobart Funnies. At Sword, the biggest worry was the very strong Le Havre battery, with guns across the landing area, there was also very poor visibility. Even so, the seafront defences were breached and the population of Ouistreham was delighted to find that their liberators included a â€Å"free French† battalion. The mulberry harbours were constructed, and the teams of surgeons came over with them. Both the Americans and the British used Mulberry Harbour's. Despite the American harbour being wrecked by heavy weather after 4 days use, the Harbours played a vital part in the success of ‘Operation Overlord'. In the first 6 days of use of the British Mulberry, 326,000 troops, 54,000 vehicles and 100,000 tons of supplies were handled. Source D is the British harbour at Arromanches. The mulberry in the picture looks very successful, with everything appearing to be in working order. Some people even go as far as saying that mulberry harbours were the greatest invention that came out of D-day. In conclusion, I think the D-day landings were very successful for the allies. After all, not only did they breach all of the German defences, they fought a victorious and courageous battle.