Commentary – Staring At The Sun by The Offspring

Maybe life is like a ride on a freeway Dodging bullets while you're trying to find your way Everyone's around, but no one does a damn thing It brings me down, but I won't let them If I seem bleak Well you'd be correct And if I don't speak It's cause I can't disconnect But I won't be burned by the reflection Of the fire in your eyes As you're staring at the sun When I ran I didn't feel like I ran away When I escaped I didn't feel like I got away There's more to living than only surviving Maybe I'm not there, but I'm still trying Though you hear me I don't think that you relate. My will is something That you can't confiscate So forgive me, but I won't be frustrated By destruction in your eyes As you're staring at the sun Commentary (Staring At The Sun) The Offspring are commonly known to be a punk-rock band but they have taken up so many different styles in their albums that many would agree that they sing something unique which cannot be fitted fully in a specific genre of music. But the core of almost every album has been fast songs with really meaningful lyrics (and not just something that rhymes which can be often heard in punk-rock). Their album, Americana not only sold over 10,000,000 copies worldwide but also presented the band in a new light and served as a development of Californian punk-rock. In Americana, the band sings about different events that happen in the life of ordinary American families and teenagers. Staring At The Sun is one of my favorite songs not only because of the music but also because of powerful lyrics which combines well with the rhythm. Generally, the song is about trying to figure out your identity and how you fit in the world. It is especially evident for teenagers that are growing up and trying to fit in everything they do. The song also tells us of people who want to fit in so desperately that they compromise their interests and transform their character in order to fit in. The lyrics remind me of a narrative poem. The first line sets the mood of the song and suggests that the persona is in deep thoughts about life. Simile â€Å"life is like a ride on a freeway† reflects the subject of persona's thoughts. Freeway† suggests freedom in choosing your way of living or your place in the society. â€Å"Ride† links to the idea of searching for something in this society. The second line completes the idea raised in the first line that life is searching for your place, trying to fit in the world. â€Å"Dodging bullets† suggests rage which could mean difficulties that can be encountered when trying to â€Å"find yourself† and that irrespective of anger or grudge that you may have you should continue to seek for your place in society. The next two lines link to the idea that it is important for anybody to be who he/she is and do not care what anyone else thinks. This is suggested by the third line that although â€Å"everyone's around†, there is really no help from them in selecting the path of your life (â€Å"no one does a damn thing†). The next line extends the idea slightly suggesting that being yourself while all the rest turn against you is very hard but you should not quit the path you have selected. The end of the third line and the beginning of the fourth are loaded with â€Å"heavy† words. This becomes even more evident as the singer stresses these words when singing the song. Repetition of â€Å"d† and â€Å"g† in the words â€Å"damn†, â€Å"thing†, â€Å"brings†, â€Å"down† emphasizes the fact that there is no help from the people surrounding you and that they essentially try to stop you from selecting your path (â€Å"bring†, â€Å"down†). But this is then contradicted by â€Å"I won't let them†. The second stanza emphasizes persona's unwillingness to conform to everyone else. This is suggested by the first four lines. The last three lines of the stanza are very significant. In these lines persona is trying to say that if someone is going to destroy himself, he is not going to drag the persona down with him. This is suggested by â€Å"I won't be burned by the reflection of the fire in your eyes†. The words â€Å"burned† and â€Å"fire† are significant here as they emphasize burning, dying out, destruction of character and identity of somebody who is trying to fit in something unnatural for himself. â€Å"Staring at the sun† is a metaphor or analogy for people that are being self-destructive or compromising themselves. The persona says that he is not a part of this and appeals to people to stick to their own paths that they have selected and not compromise themselves. The â€Å"burning† of these lines suggests persona's fury about this situation. The third stanza is about persona in the actual search for his path of life. The first two lines of the stanza suggest that you may be uncertain or doubt the path you have selected when all the people around you are trying to stop you. Echoing of running away (â€Å"ran† and â€Å"ran away†) and escaping (â€Å"escaped† and â€Å"got away†) in the same lines emphasizes your tireless search for the true path, that you may not know what to do or where to go but you should keep seeking for it. This idea is also confirmed by the last two lines of the stanza that you should live in the way you want and not to conform to somebody else's style of living (â€Å"there's more to living than only surviving†) just because you have to, if it is unnatural for you. The last line of the stanza confirms the idea that although you realize you have not found your path yet you should continue seeking for it. It is also significant that the idea of searching, emphasized by the first two lines (â€Å"ran†, â€Å"ran away†, â€Å"escaped† and â€Å"got away†) also links it to the idea that your mind could be confused by other people's opinions. The last stanza again emphasizes the fact that the persona is not going to be dragged down by self-destructive people who compromise themselves. In the first two lines persona is suggesting that although these self-destructive people may understand him they cannot take any action towards changing it as their identity and character are already tied in with the thought that they have to compromise themselves. The third and fourth lines of the stanza signify the fact that persona will not be a part of that by admitting that â€Å"my will† will be guiding him in search for his path and that it cannot be manipulated or â€Å"confiscated† unlike the minds of people who compromise themselves. This is also confirmed by stressing â€Å"my will† which emphasizes strength and endurance. The last three lines of the stanza repeat the end of the second one and thus emphasize the persona's thoughts that it is important for anybody to be who they really want to and not to try conforming to or to fitting in somebody else's style.

Macbeth: a Timeless Tale

Shakespearean Macbeth tells a timeless tale of ambition, greed and treachery. Its themes are universal in nature, as Is the construction of a tragic hero and for these reasons It continues to be relevant to audiences today. The litany of Interpretations and adoptions such as Polonaise's 1 971 classic, give credence to the argument that Macbeth remains relevant. Macbeth, In a fashion similar to modern teens (or so the media would have us believe) has a great deal of trouble deciding the difference between moral and moral during his rise to power. Consequently, Shakespearean message is as relevant today as it was during the Elizabethan era.Macbeth is introduced as a kinsman to the Scottish King and a brave and successful military general (l,ii, 15-23), thus earning the praise and esteem of the unfortunately though, he (perhaps Like many In my audience) allows himself to be Influenced by those â€Å"whose horrid image, doth unfix† his hair and â€Å"make his seated heart knock a t his ribs†, who prophesy both further titles and kingship, immediately arousing Machete's ambition (l, Ill, 127-129). This conflict between good and evil is not only confined to Shakespearean play. It is a theme that we see repeated over and over again in contemporary literature and film.As a character, Macbeth is magnificent. He represents the Internal battle that forms the plot for the ma]orally of highly regarded modern films and texts such as Pollack's Macbeth. Initially Macbeth is ambitious, but lacks the evil qualities that often see ambition fulfilled. He also, as his wife points out, is not unscrupulous enough (l, v, 4-24) nor ready to give up the honor and ‘golden opinions' he has won. He has hysterical courage but not the moral courage needed to stand against his more determined, strong willed wife who questions his love for her and his manhood (l, vii, 39-50).In committing regicide he violates the better part of his nature; he is so bent on putting evil on ev il he becomes â€Å"steeped â€Å"so far in blood that â€Å"returning were as tedious as go lb, 136-138). The troubling question of gender representation is one that continues to be debated. 1 OFF audiences. Initially, characters in Macbeth dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, wishes that she herself could e â€Å"unsexes,† and does not contradict Macbeth when he says that a woman like her should give birth only to boys.Similarly, Macbeth provokes the murderers he hires to kill Banquet by questioning their manhood. Such acts show that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity with violence and aggression. Their understanding of manhood allows the political order depicted in the play to descend into chaos. As in the multitude of controversial texts today, female characters are the source of violence and evil. The witches' prophecies arouse Machete's ambitions and then encourage his violent behavior; Lady Macbeth provides the brains and the will behind her husband's plotting.Macbeth traces the root of chaos and evil to women. While the male characters are Just as violent and prone to evil as the women, the aggression of the female characters is more striking because it goes against prevailing expectations of how women ought to behave. Ultimately, however, the play ends with a revised and less destructive definition of manhood. Malcolm consoles Macadam on the news of his family murder by encouraging him to take the news in â€Å"manly' fashion, by seeking revenge upon Macbeth. Macadam indicates however, that Malcolm has a mistaken understanding of masculinity.To Malcolm suggestion, â€Å"Dispute it like a man,† Macadam replies, â€Å"l shall do so. But I must also feel it as a man† (IV. Iii. 221-223). Also, at the end of the play, Seward reacts to his son's death complacently. Malcolm responds: â€Å"He's worth more sorrow [than you have expressed] / And that I'll spend for h im† (V. 1 1 . 16-17). Malcolm comment shows that he has learned the lesson Macadam gave him on the sentient nature of true masculinity. It also suggests that, with Malcolm coronation, order will be stored to the Kingdom of Scotland.Macbeth with its frightening paranormal undertones will pique the interest of a generation already obsessed with the supernatural. No remake can match Shakespearean representation of the witches. Polonaise's opening scene for example, , was rather poorly done. He made the witches look so grotesquely ugly that they distracted the audience from the important plot element of the scene: what they were saying. Unfortunately, this too was clouded: their screeching voices and constant giggling made them difficult to understand.A witness to the film unfamiliar tit the play or Shakespearean dialogue would have been left without any idea as to the importance of the scene. Undoubtedly the underlining of the plot of Macbeth is highlighted with events that have paranormal roots. The witches, both the bloody dagger that entices Macbeth towards Dunce's chamber and the ghost of Banquet are mystical in origin. â€Å"Art thou not a fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight†¦? Or false creation† (II, l, 41 , 42). Shortly after Dunce's death, his horses eat each other in frenzy, symbolizing the murder of the king, which leads to this imbalance in nature.Another relevant lesson on life, we can learn from Shakespeare, is that appearances are often deceptive. In Macbeth, things are seldom what they seem; â€Å"Fair is foul and foul is fair†. From the beginning, the play is full of ambiguity and double meanings. The play opens on a day that is extremely foul in weather and extremely fair (the battle has Just been won). The subsequent prophecies â€Å"cannot be ill, cannot be good†. In order to disguise their real motives, Lady Macbeth advises her husband to ‘look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under i t†. One of Dunce's sons ladled out â€Å"Murder! In his sleep, but the other one laughed! Does Lady Macbeth really faint? Or does she simply pretend to faint to divert attention from her husband's overacting? Does Lady Macbeth commit suicide? What is Lady Macbeth writing in her sleepwalking scene? A confession? A suicide note? A last love letter to a neglectful husband? There is also much discussion about clothing clothes provide both an identity but also conceal who you are. Point being? Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing! In conclusion, Shakespearean deeper purpose is to show us our own lives and make s think.The key question that Shakespeare seems to ask is this: is human society fundamentally amoral? This is a question that continues to challenge audiences. Consequently, Shakespeare movies are so numerous; they form their own sub genre. With over 250 Shakespeare movies produced, Shakespeare film adaptations such as Bag Loran's â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, prove that S hakespearean plays have an enduring appeal. Macbeth is the Dearth Evader of Star Wars, or if you like, Lord Voltmeter of Harry Potter; ignore his lessons at you own peril. Thank You

Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 29

Business - Essay Example The aspect of King Arthur to be fully owned by employees implies that all its operations are done in accordance with the decisions of the employees. This model implies that employees are provided with ownership interest. The firm provides the employees with aspects like stock ownership, which may hardly have any up-front cost to such employees. In such a case, the employees take a key role in running the business organization including making informed decisions. Again, unlike other models where employees are completely kept out of issues concerning the business management, employees would have a feeling of accountability and would be pressurized by not only motivational factors but also factors associated with business ownership (Lewis,11). Working at the King Arthur Flour has a number of benefits. Unlike working in other business organizations where employees are kept in the dark as far as decision-making processes are initiated, working in this business organization would provide an employee with the advantage of being in a position to contribute to the business success. In cases where employees have no ownership to the firms they work in, it follows that the only motivational factor is the compensation. In the case of King Arthur Flour, employees understand that their efforts would yield some personal benefits. To the firm, benefits such as retaining good employees are achieved. This kind of ownership attracts and retains good employees. Small businesses or some business organizations that are perceived to have less attractive working environments have difficulties to attract or retain good employees (Lewis pg9). This happens as every good employee strives to get a bright chance in a good organization. Another benef it would be the aspect of buying out ownership. This happens when the original owners intends to leave

Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Global Warming - Research Paper Example This paper stresses that the IPCC regards the act and measures made to counter increase in temperature as mitigation and these activities include attempts made to reduce emission of greenhouse gasses and enhancement of the ability of carbon sinks in order to increase the absorption of GHGs that are found in the atmosphere. This report makes a conclusion that IPCC created a report according to which policies need to be made in order to decrease the emission of greenhouse gasses. Another method through which the effects of global warming can be offset is through the method of adaption to changes in the climate. Adaption can be conducted in three ways, it can be planned beforehand as a reaction to changes to the climate that have already occurred or climatic changes that are yet to occur. This method is still in the process of research where its costs and outcomes are yet to be figured out but this method have been adopted on small scale basis. Global warming can be countered at the individual level as well as the organizational and the state level. If individuals, organizations and state conduct certain activities they can counter the challenge of global warming. Opponents of global warming even state that activities conducted by human beings are not the major contributors of increase in emission of carb on dioxide and instead it is the natural events that are resulting in increase in carbon dioxide. They even state that it is natural for the earth to warm and cool over different time periods because of the natural process and if currently the earth is warming.

TD 3 HRM - 404 How much (time, cost, scope) is enough or can you take Essay

TD 3 HRM - 404 How much (time, cost, scope) is enough or can you take 9 women and make a baby in one month - Essay Example 2003). Complexity of this time is due to a complex nature of software projects (Walker et al. 2006). Another justification for the law is the fact that additional staff increases communication expenses and thus delay in result. Most projects require a team that will ensure coordination of all its aspects from start to the end. Project management will, for this reason, require proper integration of people to ensure success of people (Lunce, 2003). Integration of many people into a project affect the outcome by geometrically increasing communication expenses and by reducing the number of experienced personnel need for the actual project development. A geometrical increase in communication overhead will reduce development productivity and the amount of time available for the development of the project (Walker et al. 2006). Experienced personnel also are reduced since they take their time to train new personnel. These new tasks burden the already overloaded workers. Giving these tasks also comes with a need for added coordination and re-planning and more time lost in interchanging development and training. The whole project development is likely to over-react if the adjustments triggers the schedule pressure (Walkewr et al. 2006). The worst case can be an increase in the estimated project duration. Integration of many people, for this reason, hinders the faster realization of the intended results. Brill, J. M., Bishop, M. J., & Walker, A. E. (2006). The competencies and characteristics required of an effective project manager; a web-based Delphi study. Educational Technology Research and Development, 54, 2,

Technology in retailing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Technology in retailing - Essay Example Retailing can take many form depending on the individual concerned since he/ she may decide to take on a door-to-door delivery system where he/ she goes to the consumer even if they at times might not have ordered the same (Baker, Grewal & Levy, 2004). This at times influence impulse buying. Another form involves the use of a given permanent location that may be a shop, mall or even market place. In this second scenario the customer only buys when they themselves have gone to the said place. From the above small description of what retailing is we can proceed and take a keen look at the various models of retailing we have. The first model involves independent retailers who are basically ones who have built a given business from its inception to its current state. They are those who we call the entrepreneurs who see to it that a business grows from an idea they had, its early stages of growth until it is fully established (Emmitt, 2012). Independent retailers are very different from t he second group of retailers who only acquire an already existing business. These retailers either acquire the business through buying the said business or at times it through inheritance. We can see that these group does not have the difficulties of coming up with a plan and executing it to inception. Theirs is just to maintain and improve on an already existing business. In this group we can say in one way or another may entail franchise where there is a purchase of a franchise which is like buying the legal approval to use a brand name, or the concept and business plan of an existing business. The final model of retailing we look at is the technology based business which involves the use of technology in the acquisition, retaining and servicing of consumer needs. Thus due to a still competition from already existing models of retailing, technological retailing has to establish and follow given guidelines in order to stay among the top models. After all is said and done we have to take a look at the E-strategies used in retailing to one way or another ensure the success and practicality of the retailing business (Baker, Grewal & Levy, 2004). The first option involves offline shopping which we have looked at in detailed in the previous paragraphs. It is also known as bricks where consumers are at liberty to try, feel and even measure or fit on product before they can acquire the said product. This is not to mean that they may accept returns from consumers as this varies depending on the terms and conditions of the retailer. In this category as we have seen may involve clothing stores, supermarkets and malls among other on location retailers. Another very familiar option involves the seeing of the products online and buying the same offline which is commonly known as bricks and some clicks.in these scenario, consumers tend to gather information about a given service or good online via the internet and after some comparison and analysis goes ahead to buy the sa id product in a store that has the same. This strategy might not work for the website operator especially if the site is not part of the ownership of the store (Emmitt, 2012). This is because a consumer might research on a given alien site and proceed to buy the product from a different store thus the website operator gets nothing. Another issue with online research before purchasing is that if the information on the site is

Choose a PROFESSIONAL TELESCOPE here on earth, or in space around the Essay

Choose a PROFESSIONAL TELESCOPE here on earth, or in space around the Earth, with which to observe Charles Messier's Butterfly Cluster - Essay Example â€Å"Most of the bright stars in this cluster are hot, blue B type stars but the brightest member is a K type orange giant star, BM Scorpii, which contrasts sharply with its blue neighbors in photographs. BM Scorpii is classed as a semi regular variable star, its brightness varying from magnitude +5.5 to magnitude +7.0.Estimates of the Butterfly Clusters distance have varied over the years, with a mean value of around 1,600 light years, giving it a spatial dimension of some 12 light years. Modern measurements show its total visual brightness to be magnitude 4.2† (www.answers.com....) Butterfly Cluster is â€Å"an open cluster in Scorpius 4 ° northwest of M7 which contains about 80 stars roughly in the shape of a butterfly. Visible to the naked eye, it was first noted by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654. Its most conspicuous star is an orange giant K star of magnitude 6.2.† (daviddarling info†¦.) California Association for Research in Astronomy, own and operate the Keck Telescopes. It is an association of the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. I conducted my observations from the Keck Telescope in this institute. My choice was for this

Business Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Case Analysis - Essay Example The accounting industry was controlled by the Big Six firms. These six firms in 1994 obtained $33 billion of the total $43 billion in revenues that the industry generated. One of the advantages of forming Nexia International was that it increased the market presence and branding value of the company. The use of a branding strategy can help attract a lot of business because it creates a reputation and recognition that can be used to gain a competitive advantage. A second advantage of the creation of Nexia International was that the company expanded its reach and clientele base. Accounting services to a certain extend are homogeneous products that can be easily transferred to other marketplaces. A disadvantage of the formation of Nexia International is that the company increased its overhead due to the fact that the company needed more employees, managerial talent, and physical infrastructure to handle the expansion. Another disadvantage associated with Nexia International is logistica l challenges and constraints. Nexia International faces many strategic challenges. The company has not figured out how to effectively take advantages of its resources to serve an international clientele base. One of the issues that have made things harder for the company is the fact that the different Nexia firms across the world are not communicating or cooperating well with each other. On many instances instead of giving a referral to a Nexia establishment in another country the firm that gets the contract prefers to create a subsidiary in the country to keep the contract themselves. The executive management team of the company lacks the authority to intervene with the network partners. The international management team has little influence over the actions of the members of the network. The efforts of the offices of Nexia across the world do not seem to be coordinated. In the case study I did not see any evidence or statements in regards to the marketing, public relations, and ad vertising efforts of the company. For the company to build its brand value and attract many customers the firm has to change its marketing strategy. The company has to become more aggressive and proactive in its marketing efforts. Due to the intense competition in the accounting industry Nexia International has to differentiate itself to ensure that the firm is able to attract and keep more customers. The biggest threat to the company’s effort is the existence of the Big Six firms. These firms are taking the majority of the business away from small and medium size accounting firms such as Nexia International. Nigel Hodges has the opportunity to transform Nexia International to convert the firm in one of the industry leaders in the mid-tier category. I was astonished when I read that the company does not have the capability at all its locations to prepare computerized financial statements and audits. A firm that generated $562 million in 1994 had sufficient income to make the necessary investment to improve the software and information technology capabilities of the company. During the 1990s the cost of technological computers solutions was higher than in the 2012, but there is not excuse for the lack of compliance by Mr. Hodges in keeping up with the technological trends in the accounting industry. The firm has to make the capital investments necessary to update the information system of the company. If the firm lacks the cash

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Korean War - Annotated Bibliography Example As a result, the Korean Peninsula was divided into half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied area north of the line, while the United States of America occupied the south. In this book, the tensions and the political environments leading up to the war are described in detail. Both the North and the South were under dictatorial rule. In the South, there was the anti-communist dictator Syngman Rhee, while in the North, there was the communist dictator Kim Il Sung. It is observed that neither of the dictators was content to remain on his side of the 38th parallel and border disputes were rampant as a result. The connection of this invasion of the South by the North and the rising conflict thereof and the ongoing cold war is given in this piece. The war is said to have come as a surprise to the U.S. who considered it malicious and more than a mere border dispute. To them, nonintervention in the dispute was never on the table as they regarded it as a deliberate offensive in a communist campaign to take over the world. The Gays give more in-depth analysis of the situation between the United States and Russia particularly, prior to this war and the inevitability of these two nations’ role in the dispute. The warring nations are differently backed by two quarreling nations and so, when one invades the other, there is bound to be suspicion of a wider play. The stands taken by America and the Soviet Union are discussed in greater details. In April 1950, a National Security Council report known as the NSC-68 recommends the US to use military force to counter communist expansion anywhere it was perceived to be occurring. As a result, then US President Harry Truman is quoted as saying that if they let Korea down, the Soviets will keep on going and swallowing up one place after another. Lee talks about the difficulties and the armies of the war. North Korean army is seen as

English writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

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Rules of high performance Essay Example for Free

Rules of high performance Essay This week our text discusses the definition of organizational behavior and in particular its applied focus, and our lecture focuses on high performance organizations (HPOs). Right at the intersection of those would be the â€Å"Ten Golden Rules of High Performance† listed below. What do you think should be added to the list? Is there anything on the list that you disagree with? Please support your opinion with evidence from our readings and also from your own work and life experience. Please also remember to respond to your classmates’ posts to stimulate further discussion. Ten Golden Rules of High Performance Organizational Dynamics The future of every organization is built around continuous development and improvement as most people are already aware however there are some who forget that one of the most valuable assets in a company are the people that are involved in every day operations. This includes every person no matter what position they might hold within the company whether its the president or service personnel. Each individual brings forward unique skill sets and abilities that can impact the development and direction of a company. Their individual development and well being are important considerations in any change in organizational dynamics. Many people still believe that businesses operate in an employers market though I would tend to disagree with that assessment, but not in the view that most people might have on the state of hiring even in tight markets. I tend to side with individuals like Laura Butler, Vice President of Talent Acquisition for TeleTech. While it is true that it has been more difficult than ever before for unemployed individuals employers are also scrambling to find qualified personnel and even after finding those candidates hanging on to qualified personnel is a difficult task. If you are an employee you are concerned with your individual perspective and effects change have on your personal stability, which is an important consideration in future change initiatives as companies work to maintain a competitive edge in shrinking markets. In order to ensure that a company can sustain itself now and in the future it must be prepared to invest in its workforce. That includes continuing education and employee retention as well as a big picture view of future operations. I personally like to pull a page from Googles philosophy on operation and continued  development as listed below. 1. Hire by Committee Make sure your new recruits talk to their future colleagues I believe that this is an important part of continued organizational development. Ensuring that new hires and existing members of your team and workforce can work well together will ensure that the projects they work on can be performed efficiently and quickly. It is important to remember that the moral and performance of your workforce hinges on the way in which team members communicate and interact. This includes 2. Cater to their every need Make sure it is, not hard, for them to perform Making sure that your employees have the tools and resources they need to perform jobs also ensures that they meet your expectations. If you fail to manage resources effectively operations can quickly grind to a halt and your employees morale will quickly slip as they fail to meet not only your expectations of performance but their own. Building an environment that fosters individual growth can bring forward a variety of unexpected opportunities in the continued growth of an organization and a workforce. 3. Pack them in put people to work close to one another This is certainly a debatable concept but the general idea is that having individuals within reach of each other ensures more effective communication. While it is true that electronic communication systems like email and instant messaging systems can help to unify a large and expansive workforce there is no real substitute for person to person interactions. Electronic messaging systems do not accurately convey the emotional context nor the associated body language the accompanies it. These components of communication can provide an individual with important insights into the true direction and meaning of the information being presented. 4. Make coordination easy use technology to keep people talking together This ties back into packing people together, large organizations need to effectively communicate important information among themselves. This includes email communication, shared calendaring systems, CRM, ERP and highly functional intranet systems that are both internally and externally accessible. Having on-demand access to this information on the go allows your workforce to be  better prepared for change and unexpected shifts in project development. 5. Eat your own dog food make use of company products This is another important one, make sure that the products you sell and produce are also available and in use by your workforce. This is an effective method of quality control, no one wants to purchase or use products of poor quality and your workforce is the same. If you make your products easily accessible to them they will ensure that the products they purchase and actively use or of a quality that meets or exceeds their own expectations. 6. Encourage creativity allow freedom to come up with new ideas Environments that stifle innovation and creativity often lose their ability to maintain a competitive edge in todays rapidly changing business environment. Organizations that allow their employees to provide feedback on processes and bring forward new ideas often achieve higher performance standards, higher workforce productivity, and again often find new and unexpected opportunities emerge for the company. Creativity extends into many areas of development including product development, process modification, and more. 7. Strive for consensus remember many are better than the few Strive to move forward as a group rather than individually, ensuring that everyone from the bottom up is on the same page with what we want to achieve is important. Making changes on your own without the input or approval of those who would implement those changes often result in failure. Almost 80% of all change initiatives fail because the people who were meant to implement those changes did not understand, support, or see a reason to implement the change. 8. Dont be evil live tolerance and respect This is one of the tougher aspects of normal operation, this extends into ethical behavior as well as how your business interacts with the community it is in. Its important to remember that a business is much like living and breathing person and the impact it can have on local as well as regional communities can reach quite far. How your company represents itself also reflects how your workforce represents itself, no one really wants to be part of something no one likes even if there are great incentives. 9. Data  drive decisions do analysis and stay on track This comes back to using electronic systems effectively, while in most cases I tend to focus more in qualitative information it is important to track performance quantitatively so that changes in performance can be reported effectively. There are many easy to use systems that will allow you to follow workforce readiness, project performance, financial performance and a range of other pieces of information that can contribute to making informed decisions both in the present as well as for the future. Whether its decision trees, spreadsheets, or custom DBM systems they all have a role to play into the development of a feature rich intranet and ERP system. 10. Communicate effectively hold many stay-in-touch meetings One of the most important things you can do in attempting to implement change or in managing continued development is to ensure that everyone is heard, whether its lowest man on the totem pole or the president of the company. Meetings both physical and virtual allow individuals to provide feedback on the assessments you make as well as provide direction for future developments. There many different ways to communicate today, far more than there were in history, including teleconferencing, video chat, email, instant messaging, social media, and more.

Ford Upmarket Essay Example for Free

Ford Upmarket Essay History In 1989 Ford bought Jaguar for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2.5 billion as the vehicle to take Ford upmarket into the luxury car market. After three years of Ford been in charge sales had plunged and Ford was losing à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1 million a day from Jaguar. Ford saved Jaguar by cutting jobs and replacing nearly all of the facilities and procedures. Now 80% of the workforce has been replaced by Kawasaki robots with are cheaper in the long term, able to work constantly and are accurate to a tenth of a millimetre. They started making cars with the aim for the cars to be the best quality and therefore more desirable. With better quality and brand sales increased and Jaguar started new models e.g. the S class and increased production and within the next few years hope to be top in the luxury car market. Ownership The owner Ford holds a larger market share which includes: Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo Cars and a 25% share in Mazda. This could be good and bad for Jaguar. Ford might see Jaguar as expendable and might be willing to dissolve the company or to sell it to another of the big car companies as it has Aston Martin and Land Rover for its luxury target group or if the company is not profitable. So Jaguar needs a strong emphasis on profit. If the company was taken over there might be a divorce of ownership where control and objectives might not be achieved therefore weakening the companies position. This is where the board do not act in the interests of the shareholders and managers may try to improve their own careers or bank balances while not worrying about the companys interests. Jaguar is a self-contained business that makes all their own decisions from designing new models, their finance and producing cars through their own board of directors who are elected at Jaguars annual general meeting by their shareholders. These directors would have contact with Ford so they would know what Fords plans are for Jaguar and departments e.g. Finance would interact with Ford to update them with Jaguars current performance. Ford has incorporated Jaguar, which means they have a separate legal identity, which diminishes some of their responsibility. So if Jaguar where to go bankrupt Ford would only be responsible to pay back the money they have put into the company. Because the company has limited responsibility it is able to gain wider borrowing opportunities, this allows the business to grow easier. This also has its disadvantages this adds to the administrative costs due to the accounts need to be audited. They also have to hold annual meetings of shareholders and they must publish annual reports to the general public when requested. Because Jaguar is independent to ford it is able to make its own decisions while enjoying the additional skills e.g. parts, contacts, technology, and higher skilled staff. This was especially import in the early years when Ford bought in specialist managers reform the companies employee structure and cultures and to overturn the company into a profitable organisation. With the extra skills Ford bring this improves the quality of the cars and increases sales. With the increased skills and capital Jaguar has been able to expand and grow. Jaguar is a public limited company where shares in the company can be bought across the stock market. Because of this Jaguar has to produce an annual report and detailed reports to shareholders and potential investors therefore this means extra administrative costs. Been a public limited company makes it easier for Jaguar to raise extra funds, they can sell more shares or they can get lower interest on loans because they are seen by lenders as a lower risk investment. Suppliers also offer listed companies better credit facilities because they are considered less likely to default payments. Like BAS Ltd in Gwent, Wales that produce trim for some Jaguar models. A company like this likes to have a guaranteed regular income and a big company like Jaguar provides this. To attract Jaguar BAS Ltd are likely to offer more attractive credit facilities. Because anyone is able to buy shares in the company it is open to takeovers. If someone buys 30% of the shares they must put an offer in for the whole company. The trouble with being a public limited company for Jaguar is the stock market investors place a lot of emphasis on short-term performance rather than long-term objectives. So if Jaguar invests a lot of money in the development of a new model the short-term performance might drop but will increase dramatically in the long term. Jaguar is very beneficial to its ownership. When Ford took over Jaguar it helped it upgrade its designs and manufacturing facilities as well as new models. It also provided high-class managers to revive the company and provided suppliers, technology while still allowing Jaguar to run its company itself. Controlling design, finance, production issues though their own board. The limited liability allows Jaguar to take reasonable business risks e.g. investing in a new car model. Jaguar been a plc allows it to raise funds if needed but leaves itself to takeovers which could lead to the companys position been weakened. Been a pubic limited company places emphasis on the importance of short-term performance. Objectives Each Organisation has objectives, which must be achieved in order to fulfil the corporate aims. The purpose of these is to create a common vision, which everyone in the organisation should work towards achieving. Businesses exist to provide goods and services these have to satisfy the customers wants and needs. The objectives of a business are set to show the employees the way they need to operate. The seven main objectives for any business are: * Making a profit * Increasing market share * Surviving * Providing services to the community * Offering non-profit services (e.g. caring for the environment) * Developing staff skills * Producing a high quality products or services Making a profit is key for a business to survive and prosper it allows the business to keep its shareholders happy, it can attract better employees by offering higher wages and it can invest in better technology and therefore producing a better quality product. The failure to make a profit leads to a loss of confidence within the company. This causes a ripple effect, if a business makes a loss the employees are less secure and fear they will lose their jobs which can lead to less efficient production, the shareholders profits go down so they sell the shares which devalue the company, the suppliers are worried if they will get paid for they parts or services and they might stop providing parts for the company until they are paid and the government are worried because they will receive less tax if the company is making a loss. Though the opposite happens if the company is making a profit the employees fell safe and secure so are happy and willing to work hard the shareholders dividends increase so they are happy and making a profit will make the business seem a good investment so more people buy shares and therefore the value of the company increases. The suppliers feel secure and believe they will get paid on time for their goods and services and the government are happy because they will receive higher taxes from the company. Profit can be closely associated with increasing sales/ or market share normally companies with high sales levels or which have a large share of a particular market are best placed to make high profits. Most large international firms like to have a high market share as an objective because it enhances the image of the organisation and places the business in a strong position compared with rivals. This makes the business look like it has ambition and makes the workers feel safe if they know the company is expanding rather than reducing jobs. Most small businesses starting ups main objective is usually to survive. Survival is about continuing into the foreseeable future, the company may not be the most profitable straight away but if it still exists there is a good possibility it will in the future when the company gets better known and gets more customers. For example Microsoft didnt make a profit in their first year but they survived and within years there yearly profit was in the millions. Survival is not necessarily only for small companies sometimes large companies need to survive. Currently Royals Mails main objective is to reduce the current loses in order to survive. They where losing a million pounds a day but due to job cuts, more efficient work practices and the increase in the price of stamps they are slowly reducing the losses. Most organisations include objectives related to developing people at work in their list of objectives. Businesses now recognise many new ideas come from the workers and it is usually the workers themselves who deal directly with the customers so it is important to develop the skills of the workers so they interact better with the customers and ensuring the customer is entirely satisfied. Workers would need to be trained to use any new technology and money can be saved if current employees can be trained to use the technology rather than new workers been needed. Many companies aim to produce high quality products but not all always succeed. Providing quality means the customers are totally satisfied with the product and the companies want the customer to keep buying their product. The most expensive product is not always the best quality the key for businesses is to make the best quality product they can for their cheapest price. Quality is very important because the customer will choose which organisation to do business with on the basis of their ability to satisfy customer requirements and usually the customer choosing the best quality product. Jaguars business objectives are: * To produce a high quality product * To create a good reputation for the company * To have high satisfaction * To be profitable and to keep costs under control * To recognise environmental issues * To train employees and to keep all staff completely safe in their working environment Jaguars aim to produce a high quality product is key to their success, they try to build their reputation on this and this provides customer satisfaction so customers repeatedly buy Jaguars. Jaguar try to keep a high reputation based on providing a high quality product, for a competitive price and to provide excellent customer satisfaction through the product, dealers and customer services. Jaguar been profitable is vital for the company to be able to expand and to keep the shareholders happy. If they are making a profit they will attract more investors, which mean extra money the train staff and integrate new technology into the production process. Jaguar aim to keep costs under control so the customers pay the least amount they have to it also allows the company to maximise its profit. Jaguars aim to recognise environmental issues is a non-profit making objective but it enhance the working environment making the workers happy and it improves the companies reputation Because it is seen to be caring for the local area. Jaguars aim to train staff enables them to make decisions on behalf of the organisation. This makes them more independent workers and more efficient workers. Functional Areas A business has several resources at its disposal known collectively as factors of production. For each production process the producer will need a wider range of resources before production is possible. Factors of production can be divided into land, labour, capital and enterprise. At Jaguar the land is where the factory is located, it is also all the resources of nature. Labour is the effort by worker to carry out specified tasks. Within Jaguar there are many functional areas and labour would be used on the production line, marketing specialists, car designers etc. The capital can be either physical capital in the form of machines and at jaguar the robots and production line. Capital can also be the money usually borrowed from banks to purchase the physical capital. Enterprise is the factor that brings the other factors together to produce the goods. At Jaguar the enterprise is the shareholders of the business and the management team s initiative in bringing together the various ele ments to form a successful business. Jaguar is split into several functional areas in order to carry out its operations involving the use of factors of production to produce a high quality product. Each of Jaguars functional areas needs to work together through good communication to process resources into final outputs. For example the human resource department needs information from the production department so they know what staff training is required or if any new staff are needed. The main functional areas within Jaguar are: * Finance * Production * Research and Development * Human Resources * Marketing * Administration Each department has a director or manager who has set responsibilities, which need to be carried out for the department to meet its aim. Production Department The production manager at Jaguar is responsible for making sure the components get turned into a finished car. The manager needs to ensure work is carried out efficiently and to the highest standard possible through checks and supervision. At Jaguar the production process can be split into five sub-functions: The production and planning department, The purchasing department, The store department, The design and technical support department and the works department. The production and planning department sets targets for each cell on the production line, each cell will have pre-set values of what the standard of the product must be when it leaves if its not up to standard it will be rejected. A comparator checks the product as it leaves the cell and checks it against the pre-set value. The comparator has the power to change the inputs or the processes in the production line to ensure outputs are of the expected quality and quantity. At Jaguar the production process has been refined so there is little chance of the product not been up to standard and they have researched and use the best suppliers, all this leads to the product been of the highest standard. The purchasing department is responsible in ordering the components for the cars from the different suppliers so the production process is kept running smoothly. The store department at Jaguar is responsible for stocking all the components used in the production process and to ensure the parts are transported onto the production line when required. At Jaguar this is vital, parts need to be on the production line so the line is kept running and doesnt need to constantly stop. The design and technical support department is responsible for researching modifications to working practices, the department is responsible for estimating costs of these new processes. The works department at Jaguar is split into small cells, which are responsible for their part in the production process. The cells are responsible for the maintenance of the production line, the actual manufacturing of the car and the quality control and inspection of the product. Finance Department The Finance department can be split in four functions: Financial accounting function, Management accounting function, the cashiers department and the wages department. The financial accounting function is responsible for keeping day-to-day records and is responsible for producing the annual reports and figures for directors meetings. Accounts must be kept of all money paid to suppliers and the money paid to Jaguar from dealers from sales. The management accounting function provides managers with figures to help them make decisions about the company. For example figures showing the best place to produce the cars to maximise profit while still keeping quality high. The cashiers department at Jaguar would be responsible for all the cash transactions and other payments through bank accounts. The wages department will be responsible for supervising the payroll. Calculations involving deductions for national insurance, pensions etc would be required. Human Resources The purpose of human resources is to recruit, develop and utilise the companys personnel in the most efficient way to meet the companys aims and objectives. Basically they recruit or train staff to make sure all work is done thoroughly so aims and objectives can be made. Companies recruit staff to ensure they have a suitable number of employees with appropriate skills for all tasks to be completed. The three stages are: 1. Researching from other departments to determine the requirements of the company. 2. Getting candidates with the right skills and experience to apply. 3. Choosing the best candidate for the job. Companies will need to recruit staff when: * An existing employee leaves due to retirement or going to another company. * An employee is promoted, creating a vacancy. * An increase in workload occurs. * The company requires employees with additional skills to develop a new project or control new technology. The best companies will have the best workforce and the most efficient workforce, which are able to adapt to tasks set and any difficulties if they occur. To do this they need to attract the best staff when a vacancy arises. Most human resource departments would produce an outline of the qualities they would look for in the applicant and would help produces criteria to select the best candidate. The vacancy can be filled to ways from within the company or from the outside. There are two types of training, which are on the job training and off the job training. On the job training is the process of instructing employees at their place of work on how a particular job should be carried out. This usually watching an experienced operative carry out a task, or actually undertaking the activity and been guide t the appropriate technique. Off the job training is any form of training not immediately linked to a specific task. It may take place within the firm or away from it e.g. at local technical colleges. Remuneration is the whole package of rewards offered by an organisation to an employee. This will include additional benefits, such as a pension scheme, share options, company car etc as well as basic pay. Administration The administrative department is important because it services the work of the organisation. The department deals with enquires, communicating messages and producing documents for the workforce. At Jaguar the admin department is responsible for communicating the times of meetings to employees and they produce word-processed documents for notice boards communicating safety issues etc. Problems can happen when administrators clog the process with red tape this is where administrative work moves the organisation away from its central objectives. Within the admin department the role of information and communications technology is important. ICT is the techniques by which information is obtained, processed and disseminated. ICT is important because it provides guidance, support and co-ordination necessary for t the companies to meet its objectives. Marketing The marketing department need to identify want the company wants and then needs to get the company to produce what the customer wants. They do this by carrying out market research to find out what the customers wants, the price they are willing to pay and what the customer would like the product to be. At Jaguar they recognise people want quality cars for affordable prices and Jaguar try to do this. They allow the customer to choose the specification of the product so they get want they want and don t have to compromise. It is important for the marketing department within Jaguar to communicate effectively with the production planning department so the customers wants and needs can be tied in with the product. The other main job of the marketing department is sale this is to get the customer to want what the company produces and this is usually done through effective marketing. Jaguar does this through television advertisements, the formula one car, sponsoring events, brochures etc. Research and Development At Jaguar the research and development is used to developing new ranges and models through concept cars, which are expensive to produce, but it is cheaper to produce a prototype then see what the public think of rather than mass-producing a new model and then it didnt sell because the consumers didnt like it, it would a financial disaster. Because in the car market there are always new cars been bought out by Jaguars competitors new improved products are vital for the company to remain successful. The R D department is also used to create new operational processes. The R D department of Jaguar also gets money to do exploratory work which produces no benefits in the short time but the development of new technology or better parts can be beneficial in the future of Jaguar. How These Functional Ares Help Jaguar Meet Its Objectives Because Jaguar had a clear set out list of objectives these can be translated down to the different functional areas, this allows each functional area to be driven by the companys objectives. Jaguars clear objectives of: * Producing a high quality product * Training employees and keeping a safe working environment * To create complete satisfaction These clear objectives allow the functional areas to combine effectively and allow to company to pull together and work in a co-ordinated way. Without these clear objectives Functional areas might have different views in how the company should move forward, this leads to areas creating there own objectives and cultures and they companies overall aims dont get achieved. The use of ICT within Jaguar allows the functional areas to work effectively and they dont have to be in the same building. For example the marking department in one place can tell the production-planning department in a different place what the customer wants so this allows the customer to be completely satisfied with the product. The cells in the production process allow Jaguar to effectively meet its objective of producing a quality product because the quality of the product is been checked at every stage on the production process. Jaguars marketing department sustains Jaguars high reputation through effective and positive advertising, and through promoting things like Jaguars aim to help environmental issues. Organizational Cultures The culture of a company is the attitudes and approaches that typify the way staff carry out their tasks. The culture type of a company depends on the companies objectives and the culture of a company, because of this there are four main culture types: Power, Role, Task, Person. Power cultures are usually found in small businesses where control rests with a single person or small group of people. Emphasis is on individuals rather than group decision-making so decisions are made quickly and they are able to react to dangers or threats. Because this style is autocratic and staff can suffer from low moral. Task cultures are usually found where work is organised into teams with people moving between tasks. The objectives will be related to the task the teams are performing. Teams have input in determining how a particular job will be done. In person cultures the objectives are related to meeting the needs of the individuals who make up the organisation. Person cultures are found within co-operative organisations or charitable organisations but not profit making enterprises. Jaguar has a role culture, it is structured in a hierarchical way and the organisation is divided into a number of functions. In Jaguars culture power comes from the employees position in the organisation. The organisation gets its strength from its functions, peoples jobs, what people do at different levels is determined by job descriptions and defined communication procedures. Rules and procedures are the main source of influence and power comes from the persons position in the company. Because Jaguar have this culture there administrative function need to efficient and the company need clear objectives because red tape can effect them meeting their objectives. From Deal and Kennedys model of culture based on Risk and feedback Jaguar has a work ha rd play hard culture. Jaguars employees take few risks, all with quick feedback; the primary cultural value is to supply the customer with a quality product. Management Style Management style is the way a management role is carried out over a period of time. There are three main types of management style: Autocratic, Bureaucratic and Democratic. Autocratic managers are used to giving instructions. There is a strong emphasis on authoritarian management and communication within the company is usually one-way. The advantages with this is there are clear lines of authority and everyone within the company knows who is boss, important decisions can be made quickly and if the leader is skilled and charismatic it can produce high quality work within the business. The trouble with this style is employees can feel frustration and resentment towards the boss, the employees can become too dependent on the leader and the employees have no participation in decision making. Bureaucratic management styles rely on doing thing according to the rulebook and because of this there is little opportunity for initiative to be shown. The advantages with this style are: it can produce consistency, everyone knows where they stand and employees can feel comfortable because of the predictable. Employees can show resentment towards the management because of the lack of participation, the rulebook doesnt always have the answers and this style is useless if there are circumstances of great change. Managers at companies need to adopt the necessary management style to develop a flexible workforce. When workers are allowed to contribute to decisions they feel more valued and more of a part of the company. The managers are responsible for achieving the overall objectives and strategy of the business. Jaguar has a strong emphasis on democratic management. Production line workers are grouped into cells with a team leader. The team is given production targets to meet but then decides how it will go about meeting these targets. The team meets to discuss what is going well and what is going badly and suggest ideas for improvement. The team then has the responsibility for putting their own ideas into practice. Several factors affect the leadership of the management these are: The skills of the manager and the workforce, the time constraints of the task, the risk and the nature of the risk. Within Jaguar there is plenty of time to discuss matters and only a low chance of it going wrong, the style is therefore democratic. Jaguars approach to management makes the employees more motivated and they show greater commitment. Managers need to be flexible to allow for change in circumstances in the company. Importance and Channels of Communication at Jaguar Communication is important within a business because it allows management to plan, coordinate and control a business but this needs high quality two-way communication. For communication to be effective it needs to be communicated the best way and at the most effective time through the best channel. These factors will depend on the type of information which is needed to be passed on with Jaguar large amounts of data in accounts would be best communicated in a report but a reminder of a cell meeting might be better in a notice on a board or through face to face communication. There are many channels of communication used within Jaguar and different types of communication. The methods of communication at Jaguar are: * Downward communication * One-way communication * Two-way communication * Formal communication * Informal communication Downward communication is where information goes from the top down, from superior to subordinate. One-way communication is when information is passed on with no feedback at Jaguar this communication is used when notices are put up. Two-way communication is where information has feedback through discussion. This allows Jaguars employees to suggest improvements or changes to managers. Formal communication is where information is passed on using the companies communication channels e.g. departmental meetings, cell meetings at Jaguar. Informal communication uses the workers own channels e.g. work of mouth. The methods of communication at Jaguar are: * Corporate videos * Annual reports * Team briefings * Memos * Letters * Faxes * E-mails * Internet * Television * Brochures The methods of communication are not only to allow the workers to know what is going on in the company. It is also is important to communicate to existing and potential customers. They do this television adverts, brochures, the Jaguar website, and promotional tours and videos. Effective communication can improve motivation and lead to better decision making internally; it can also provide better links and feedback with external groups such suppliers and consumers. Because Jaguar has a strong democratic management style it is vitally important to have effective two-way communication because the views of the employees are vital for improvement and motivation. Jaguar is a large company with many layers in their employment structure, which can cause problems with communication. Poor communication can lead to poor motivation, co-ordination and control difficulties. The employees can also get confused of what is required from them and what input they have. How the production process adds value Adding value to a product simply means making it more desirable to the final customer so the customer is willing to buy more products at higher prices. To add value to a product the product needs to meet the customer requirements or inputs need to be combined to create a physical change in the product. Most businesses use one of the following methods of production * Project production * Job production * Batch production * Line production * Continuous flow production. Project production involves binging people with different skills and different resources to complete a one off project. Job production is where a company produces one or a small number of items. The company may work on several jobs at a time so it is important that they have new jobs to replace the ones that are nearly completely. Batch production is where a number of identical or similar items are produced in a set or batch. Batch production involves work being passed from one stage to another each been highly planned. The items need not be for any specific customer but are made at regular intervals in specific quantities. Continuous flow production involves producing for twenty-four hours a day, using automatic equipment in a standardised way. Continuous flow is entirely controlled by computers and humans do not touch the product. This means there are fewer labour costs and very few mistakes the production line is also quicker and more efficient. Jaguar use a line production process this is where the product goes along a production line going through the same sequence of operations. The trouble with this has been the car buyer wants there car to be different and distinctive in some way. Jaguar have recognised the customer requirements and now allow the customer to personalise there car, by allowing them to choose interior, colour and mechanical spec. Customers appreciate this and are willing to pay slightly higher for this. Nowadays the customers recognise good quality and are willing to pay extra for it. Quality Management is achieved by Jaguar by: * Quality Control- detecting and cutting out components that fall below set standards. * Quality assurance, which tries to stop faults form happening in the first place. Jaguars aim is to produce zero defects. * Total quality management is concerned with creating a quality culture. Jaguar try to get every employee to seek to delight customers. They aim to produce zero effects by ordering components from reliable suppliers who themselves have a total quality management culture. To improve quality Jaguar has introduced robots and automation into the production process. Automatics are when a machine can be set to do a particular job and robotics is an application of automatic control. The benefits of using robots are: * People can be replaced by robots in mundane jobs, where human intelligence is not required; at Jaguar this is the routine assembly work. * Robots can be used where working conditions are difficult or dangerous * Robots are used during the welding process and are accurate to a tenth to a millimetre and it takes them seconds compared to humans who make mistakes. The introduction of the robots requires large initial capital but they dont get paid wages or have days off. And are able to produce perfect work over and over again making Jaguars are of the highest possible standard. Jaguar uses CAD, CNC, CIM and CAM to improve quality and the product as a whole. CAM stands for computer aided manufacturing. It is the use of computers to support the manufacturing process. CAM controls the robots and the track, it controls the speed of the machine so they are working in the most efficient way and CAM is a driving force in line production because of its high levels of quality control. CAD stands for computer aided design and is the use of computers to assist in the production of designs and drawings for the use in the manufacturing. This allows Jaguar to test new production techniques on the computer to test them for faults and problems it is also used by the design team to view new designs rather than making models. It allows Jaguar to be more flexible and safes time. CNC is used to control machines for cutting and shaping metal. Jaguar uses this because it is more reliable than humans and improves quality and reduces waste. CIM stands for computer-integrated manufacture this is used to integrate various elements of the manufacturing process. Design is a key aspect of adding value; a well-designed product will stand out from rivals and win customer loyalty. Good design can offer functionality, style and visual impact. This is why Jaguars R D department and design and technical support department have large budgets and spend long periods of time perfecting the design so it stands out and adds value.

Moving Towards Convergence Convergence Trends Media Essay

Moving Towards Convergence Convergence Trends Media Essay The era of Gutenberg is virtually over. A brand new digital communications technology has emerged. An electronic superhighway is beginning to girdle the globe as voice, video and data converge, bringing in their wake a new basket of digital, multimedia and interactive communication technologies. But it is not just the technologies that concern us. It is the social change that accompanies the technologies that must be our prime concern. The new technologies are doing much more. They are changing the way we live-the way we work, relax, manage our money, trade and communicate with each other. The new technologies are changing the way we perceive people, cultures, countries and companies and our expectations of them and also our expectations of ourselves. With blurring of geographical boundaries, thanks to the distance insensitive Internet, majority of business and individual are becoming part of a high-speed networking fabric which will enable secure digital communication of voice, data, and video to or from anyone, any where and anytime. Till recently, it wold have sounded like a chapter straight out of science fiction fortunately, the technology now exists to deliver it. Customers now want to pick and chose from narrowcast and broadcast. They want a fusion of voice, data, and video in all possible mixes. In other words, this means the availability of multiple technology choices to fulfill the customers desire for anytime access to people, information, and commerce. But convergence does not necessarily sound the death knell of age-old-technologies. In fact, it leaves enough room for many technologies to co-exist and one will not replace the other outright. This is because no one technology can meet all the requirements of the market-place. Hence, each technology will find its niche and redefine new and old classes of service and user terminals. In this context one can safely assume that there will be a rash of new user terminals that will let us communicate in ways we dream. Convergence is the key today. We can think about convergence in several different ways. One is in terms of the actual industries converging, such as communication, entertainment, and computing. Another is converging voice, video, and data over a common infrastructure or within a common computing platform. One important factor during convergence is the transformation of the desktop computer through faster processors supporting advanced graphics and multimedia capabilities. The PC today is a collaborative communication and media tool . Another factor driving convergence is the cost of maintaining three separate networks for voice, video, and data. Corporations can realize substantial saving in equipment, staff, and services by using converged networks. Enterprises are looking at cost savings in the WAN as the first leverage point for convergence. Using Voice-over-Frame Relay, VOIP and Voice-over-ATM the same WAN lines can be used for voice as well as data, resulting in substantial cost savings. Next, enterprises want to install the LAN and WAN infrastructure to do real-time video and audio information delivery. For education, a professors lecture can be delivered to remote campuses live or as stored video-on-demand files on a web sites, Converged networks can also be used to deliver corporate communications, presentations, and training to employees directly at their desktop. 2. Points to ponder Changing Mindsets There is emerging evidence of the immediate benefits of convergence strategies, if investments are made strategically, but these short term gains are not the only opportunity. Our focus is to look at opportunity both short and long term, created by the emergence of hybrid media and how companies can capitalize on these opportunities. Now to look at the opportunities it creates for the future. Potential to increase revenue > Reaches both cyber and traditional segments > Achieved synergies between online and offline business to promote sales > Increase access to businesses anytime and anywhere > Premium services such as customization, home delivery and choice tools increase the stickiness and allow companies to charge a premium price Potential to reduce costs > Build on a common inventory, information and logistics base > Reduce cost of contacting customers and other interaction costs > Virtual communities can help reduce the company supplied information and support > Involves customers as co-producers, reduces RD and marketing costs Creating options > Allows the company to reserve future options > Creates opportunities to move into segments or strategies online and offline as the technology and consumers continue to evolve What is Converging? Convergence, as we are referring here, means more than fusion of technologies (television, computers, wireless etc). The focus area is more of a basic convergence within a consumer- the new possibilities created by technologies and the past consumption patterns of the consumer which was restricted to traditional media consumption. The convergence will shape how the internet and other technologies unfold, and the opportunities created for companies. These are some of the questions which need to be dealt in detail. To understand and analyze the impact of media convergence , I have done a detailed case study analysis of two classic modern day examples of media convergence strategies. The case not only helps understand the practical application of media tools but also gives a measurable index in terms of its success. 1. XBOX Launch Strategy Objectives To bring the XBOX console to India by introducing the category in an organized manner. To reach out to a fairly affluent, gizmo friendly and upwardly mobile audience. Implementation The launch of X BOX provides an illustrative case study for convergence and optimum use of various advertising mediums. The launch was divided into two phases First phase to focus on generating a pre launch buzz and demand through interactive medium, while the Second phase saw the launch campaign of the console focusing on brand building advertising and viral Marketing. First Phase: The first phase saw the use of primarily two interactive mediums Internet and Mobile (SMS+WAP). It focused on generating demand for a category and brand which was getting introduced in India for the first time. Since the objective was to reach out to a fairly affluent, gizmo friendly and upwardly mobile audience a combination of Internet and Mobile media was chosen to execute the campaign. Viral marketing was weaved at every step of the campaign to maximize the media reach both on internet and mobile platforms. Campaign was seamlessly integrated on web, mobile and on ground to synchronize the lead generation activity from across all the media platforms. Internet campaign: The internet campaign launch synchronized the outbreak of homepage banners on all the major portals in India like Rediff.com, MSN.co.in, Yahoo.co.in, Sify.com, Indiatimes.com etc. All the mass portals combined together provided reach to 80% of the Indian audience logging on to the internet on a particular day. The impact of through size and visibility of the homepage properties across the main portals made the X Box campaign an instant hit and a talking point in media circles. The response on the first day itself was very promising with almost 20,000 users visiting the website. Mobile campaign: SMS: A short code campaign was activated through all consumer-facing on ground collaterals. Users could know more about XBOX by SMSing XBOX to 8243. A similar viral marketing campaign was conducted on Mobile where users could win wireless keyboard and mouse by forwarding the SMS with the XBOX offer to their friends. More than 2,000 unique users referred the promo SMS to around 4400 unique users. In all, the SMS engine saw 24,000 Hits with 16,000 Unique Users asking for the promo details. WAP: WAP Platform was chosen to be used for the first time in any of Microsoft campaigns for X BOX since the audience browsing WAP sites fitted in perfectly with Xboxs target audience. The WAP Site powered by Yahoo was promoted on Yahoo and Airtel WAP Sites. The WAP page got close to 120,000 hits with 20,000 Unique Users visiting the page during the two month campaign. Second Phase: The second phase clearly chalked out the objective of introducing the product to the audience through brand building media properties and maximizing interactions. The launch phase saw a multi media campaign across radio, TV, OOH and Internet. The TVC was really clutter breaking and had a viral appeal and the same was used as a video banner with astounding results. TVC and Video Banners did exceptionally well for the campaign. Almost every impression resulted in some interaction from the user making the video ad i.e. the TVC reach to almost 700,000 unique users seeing it twice. Results The combined effect of radio, TV, OOH , mobile and Internet made X box launch , one of the most successful launch for Microsoft and provided the perfect example of the convergence of traditional and modern mediums of advertising and its implication , thereof. This helped in generating a lot of traffic to the microsite with 10 million impressions on the same. Also the number of interactions and queries were close to 150,000. Also this overall campaign helped in reducing the cost per interaction to USD 0.33 per interaction. Since the TG was affluent, gizmo freak and upwardly mobile population the use of digital media and mobile in combination with the older mediums like TV, Print, Out of Home worked wonders for the campaign. The interactivity levels went up so much that almost every impression resulted in either a comment or a query. There were as much as 700,000 impressions on the TVC for the campaign. This case study beautifully illustrates how both mobile and internet were interchangeably used and worked wonders for the brand. 2. Barrack Obama Presidential Election Campaign Objective Increase interactivity with all the sections of the society and of different age groups. Also to increase word of mouth advocacy for Brand Obama Implementation The Barack Obama Marketing campaign is the best example of how convergence of the media was used to promote him as the Americas next president. Multichannel marketing is best recommended but one cannot force people to use new mediums, masses need to be talked to with mediums you want them to use otherwise they wont notice you. They need to communicated in a way which is non intrusive but interesting and engaging at the same time. The Obama campaign had a widespread reach and was impossible to ignore. They used traditional media such as radio, television and direct mail and they used them effectively as they knew their target audience and delivered crisp messages to them. Traditional media was the best way to target baby boomers and older Americans. It was a strong campaign which covered the maximum reach in that for an entire half an hour blocked half an hour across channels for his own commercial in waning hours of the campaign. The Obama campaign could practically print money, this is one of the main reasons how the multichannel marketing campaign was possible. Obama for his campaign even bought a satellite channel for 24 hours Obama TV. The online campaign launched for promotion of Obama as a presidential candidate is an excellent example how internet as a medium was used mobilize audience and interact with party and candidate. The campaigns website was not normal brochure ware but an interactive tool where supporters could log in, find supporters in each area; help the campaign identify prospective voters and support volunteers for the campaign. These people could also help in canvassing and word of mouth publicity. The site also had functions and tools which could be used to enable supporters to successfully advocate for Obama online. The site had been designed to encourage contribution and donations at every click. EDMs and mailers were extensively used for promotion of agenda. Though these were agenda based the mailers were very informal and interactive. Each covered a single topic every time. They were short and to the point and were frequent enough for top of mind recall, and mostly included a link to a video with candidate talking directly to the subscriber. They also used Youtube, world largest video content website for its video infrastructure. They set up a YouTube channel through which they communicated with YouTube users. But because YouTube videos can be pasted anywhere, they used their YouTube videos on their Web site, in their blog, on Facebook, and anywhere else they needed video. For this they had a specialized team who took care of videos suited to the requirements of the Youtube campaign. The uploaded videos were primarily made for being uploaded on Youtube and were not just TV commercials. Not only did they have their Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, the Obama campaign established a social networking presence at ethnic social networks like Black Planet, MiGente and AsianAve as well as Eons, Faithbase and Glee. The Obama campaign used the text messaging brilliantly. They also had a mobile website which was used to generate database and interact with people through mobile and use it as a viral instrument. The iphone users among their supporters could download an Obama application that encouraged people organize and spread the word. The campaign not only was present on Search Engine Ads but also had a presence on online display banners. There was hardly any campaign related to politics online without Obama banners running on it. Through the database generated online and on the mobile content page, the campaign administrators used them to create Obama loyalists and supporters. For the youth community the campaign was also present on a highly targeted channel like gaming with display ads on gaming sites. Video game ads are a perfect example of getting the message before an audiences preferred medium. Adult Millennial men and young Gen X men are heavy gamers and, as a result, are hard to reach. Video game ads were the perfect medium to reach these voters. Social Media Marketing Barack Obama and his team actively used social media to connect with supporters and potential voters from every part of the country. On MySpace alone, Obama had over 350,000 friends, Facebook shows over 270,000, and YouTube shows over 24,000 in subscribers. The Obama site promotes its own group and event system with the my.barackobama.com section (you can set up your own group, blog, etc.) Baracks also integrated Flickr Videos into his website as well. They actively used Flickr to upload pictures of the campaign rallies, speeches and appearances. Not only had it helped in engaging people who were there in the event but also the pictures also provided the users to blog about the campaign and get a dialogue going on. Finally, and not insignificantly, the photos engaged the Flickr community itself, which is filled with very passionate photographers, amatuer and professional alike. Results About a million people signed up for Obamas text messaging program showing the amount of involvement of the people in the campaign. More than a 0.25 million text messages were exchanged by people to join the program showing word of mouth advocacy. The same was noticed for online and other mediums together. Obama was able to engage all the classes of audience through all the mediums together. People started blogging and discussing the political agendas and promoting the same. Brand loyalty built by engaging the users. The number of people who joined communities on facebook (5,969,069), myspace(13,50,000) and youtube(1,67,000 subscribers) shows the amount of support the campaign was able to generate amongst the users. Positive word of mouth publicity generated as the campaign was able to engage audience to do it for them rather than the brand publicizing themselves. Hence showing that the audience is more affected by peer pressure than anything else. New Media convergence and tools offered by the same gives freedom to the user which helps in generating honest feedback mechanism and engage audience with the brand more. The seed of effective convergence has to be nourished well today, so that the world and India as a nation reap its benefits in the future. Convergence as a tool should be regulated, governed and practiced in the right spirit to make it a part of the fabric of the nation. This convergence of technologies brings numerous benefits to consumers: Convenience, Random access, On-demand availability. It also facilitates the option of aggregation and collaboration of Information and giving an option of distributing and sharing of the same. Marketers today should look at chalking out strategies that are independent of a medium, instead take into account the several mediums that are at a users disposal each carefully tied in with a common message to give it a 360 degree exposure. The increasingly competitive environment in the multimedia industry promises tremendous user benefits through increased savings in time, greater choice, and an explosion of innovative services and products. This is the promise, to date, truly interactive services allowing the viewer to descend through a series of levels of information are still at the experimental stage. The development of multimedia services will not replace judgment value that is provided by the traditional media. Hence, the traditional media will still have a large role to play in the new multimedia world. Multimedia has the potential to vastly increase the range of services available, and offer its users a larger choice of applications but new technology alone will not ensure success; it is the people who use it who will decide the future of multimedia. The users wants and needs; how they will manage the flood of options; and, above all, whether or not they will pay for the freedom of choice are what counts. Â  

Revelation Essay -- essays research papers

"Revelation, n. A famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing."1 The book of Revelation, the only apocalypse among the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, has always occupied a marginal role within the field of Biblical interpretation. Its bizarre visions of beasts, dragons, plagues, and cataclysms have inspired poets and artists while confounding more traditionally minded scholars for centuries. England in the early seventeenth century proved an exception to this rule. The flowering of apocalyptic exegesis in this period among academic circles bestowed a new respectability on the book of Revelation as a literal roadmap of church history from the time of Christ to the present, and on into the eschaton. The principal writers in this field, including Arthur Dent, Thomas Brightman, and Joseph Mede, have been dubbed "Calvinist millenarians" by modern historiography. They were cer tainly Calvinist in their views on doctrine, and also in their melioristic vision of England as the consummation of the Reformation, as an elect nation with the potential to recreate the true church of the early Christians. Their intense belief in the imminence of the end of the world, however, along with the mode of interpretation which they applied to the Revelation, reflected trends in Christian thought redirected by Martin Luther, and largely ignored by John Calvin. In this paper I will examine Luthers role in three English interpretations of the Revelation, discussing both his influence as an intellectual precedent, and his appearance as a character within these texts. Luther himself never wrote a detailed commentary on the Apocalypse, but in a preface to the 1530 edition of his German New Testament, he outlined a mode of exegesis which emphasized the application of the Revelation to history. This literal approach first appeared in England in a 1545 commentary by John Bale, a transitional figure often considered the progenitor of the English apocalytic tradition. Later works utilized Luthers model more completely, and I will cite three of these in particular: Arthur Dents Ruin of Rome (1603), an excellent introduction to the mainstream of English commentaries; Thomas Brightmans Revelation of St. John (1609), which epitomized the Anglocentric slant inherent to the Englis... ...rines and works."16 Unlike some medieval commentators, who also identified the pagan Turk with Antichrist, Luther chose to apply the image strictly to the papacy, and associated the Turk with the beasts unleashed by the devil after his millennium of bondage.17 Thus Luther used both history and Scripture to attack the Pope, and this doctrinal foundation allowed him to carry his polemic one step further. He believed that under the influence of the ungodly papacy the Church had diverged from the true, "hidden" Church which continued to uphold the Word of God under persecution. Luthers reinterpretation of the two cities of Augustine appeared in his 1530 preface, where he stated that one could read the Revelation as a warning against the trials the church will face. In these battles, the enemies of the faithful will obscure the church under heresies and other faults, calling the elect "them damned heretics who are really the true christian Church."18 Luther was far from being the first to interpret history as Gods work, but his insistence on the agreement between the Bible and history led him to mount a novel, doctrinally based assault on the Catholic Church.

Charles Dickens Essay -- Biography

Charles Dickens the British Author of the Southwestern English town of Land port in Port Sea was a very famous and well known author during his time. As an author he traveled to many cities. During his travels he had many children. Some of his books include: Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol. The book, Oliver Twist, was about a boy who grew up during hard times as an orphan struggling trying to find his way through life. Also, what most people do not know is that the movie Oliver and Company has relations to the book Oliver Twist. The plot of the movie centers on a cat, which is without a home, looking for a family to live with and call home. The cat in the movie spends a little of his life living with dogs, which becomes his closet family. Charles Dickens was on February 7, 1812, born to John and Elizabeth Barrow Dickens. He was the 2nd oldest child of eight children. His father John Dickens was a clerk in Navy Pay-office and his mother Elizabeth Dickens was a well appealing woman that was very educated. (Swisher 13) As Charles was growing up, his mother taught him to read. His father saw him as a future genius and would have him sit in a tall chair and tell stories to his co-workers at the office. In 1814 his father John was temporarily sent to the London office to work as a clerk. During this time, as a child Dickens attended the school of Williams Giles. Growing up he had many responsibilities that included attending school, college, and maintaining a professional job at the same time. His parent’s income started slowing down. Charles’s father decided to move and settled his family in a town called Camden in 1822 to accommodate their bare minimum finances. The town was the poo... ... that demonstrated Charles’ intense passion to showcase realism in his writings of life’s experiences. After the writings of A Tale of Two Cities, he also wrote, Great Expectations in 186I, over which there feel sorry for yourself the sad sense of the of the Lower Thames. He also wrote Our Mutual Friend in 1864, in which the seep and dirt of Rotherhithe, its boatmen and loafers, are made to pass through the book with swelling consequence. Charles Dickens writings made him very famous. He used his colorful life experience to express emotional plots in his writings. The British Author’s success through his writings helped him to overcome his own personal tragedies. Charles faced many tough obstacles, but always over came them, no matter how rocky the road was. Today Charles is still not forgotten as his famous books live on forever for many generations to read.

Technology and the Future of Work :: Robotics Technology Electronics Essays

Technology and the Future of Work Every society creates an idealised image of the future - a vision that serves as a beacon to direct the imagination and energy of its people. The Ancient Jewish nation prayed for deliverance to a promised land of milk and honey. Later, Christian clerics held out the promise of eternal salvation in the heavenly kingdom. In the modern age, the idea of a future technological utopia has served as the guiding light of industrial society. For more than a century utopian dreamers and men and women of science and letters have looked for a future world where machines would replace human labour, creating a near workerless society of abundance and leisure. (J Rifkin 1995 p.42) This paper will consider developments in technology, robotics, electronic miniaturisation, digitisation and information technology with its social implications for human values and the future of work. It will argue that we have entered post modernity or post Fordism, a new age technological revolution, which profoundly effects social structure and values. Some issues that will be addressed are: elimination of work in the traditional sense, longevity, early retirement, the elimination of cash, the restructuring of education, industry and a movement to global politics, economics and world government. In particular this paper will suggest that the Christian Judao work ethic with society's goals of full employment in the traditional sense is no longer appropriate, necessary or even possible in the near future, and that the definition of work needs to be far more liberal. It argues that as a post market era approaches, that both government and society will need to recognise the effects of new technology on social structure and re-distribute resources, there will need to be rapid development of policies to assist appropriate social adjustments if extreme social unrest, inequity, trauma and possible civil disruption is to be avoided. Yonedji Masuda (1983) suggests we are moving from an industrial society to an information society and maintains that a social revolution is taking place. He suggests that we have two choices ‘Computopia' or an ‘Automated State', a controlled society. He believes that if we choose the former, the door to a society filled with boundless possibilities will open; but if the latter, our future society will become a forbidding and a horrible age. He optimistically predicts our new future society will be ‘computopia' which he describes as exhibiting information values where individuals will develop their cognitive creative abilities and citizens and communities will participate voluntarily in shared goals and ideas. Barry Jones (1990) says we are passing through a post-service revolution into a post- service society - which could be a golden age of leisure and personal