Capitalism versus Socialism Essay

Budget deficit is just one of the many factors that negatively affect the provision of most of the government projects in the society. Without the sufficient amount of government funds, building of infrastructures and other public goods would be delayed or underprovided. As we can remember, there are some goods and services that can only be provided efficiently if the government is the one who supply it instead of the private firms to protect the rights and welfare of the consumer group. If there exist under provision of these public goods, the societal welfare would negatively be affected. In this regard, there is a question on whether what should prevail in our economy, capitalism or socialism? One may say that this debate between capitalism and socialism is already a cliche, but we cannot set aside the arguments and points of each side which could give us guide us in understanding what is happening in the real world. Let me discuss first capitalism. Capitalism promotes the concentration of the government in the provision of security in the society and not to intervene in the business world. Some capitalists say that, with the intervention of the government, person who wants to establish a business enterprise is being deprived due to the policies that are being implemented by the government. For instance, legal monopoly that was given by the government to some companies hinders other people from starting their own water/electric company. This failure of other people to start their own utility business, as capitalists believe, is a violation to their freedom. Socialism, on the other hand, is extremely the opposite of the capitalists thinking. Here, government intervention is very much welcome and the society is recognizing the ability of the government to efficiently handle companies and to equally distribute whatever the goods or service that they produce to their citizens. One good example to this is the provision of government of medical services and education. Since not all individuals can afford the costs of schooling provided by private firms, what the government does is they establish public schools charging at a minimum amount. As for the medical services, the government establishes public hospitals and clinics that would provide its citizens cheaper medical services and medicines for less capable people. With this, the basic right of human, to have education and access to medical services, is being fulfilled by the government. The reason why government provides efficient goods and services is due to the fact that they are providing the said goods and services at a reasonable price unlike private firms, especially monopolists, that charges above what is socially acceptable price. Now, based from the points of these two ideologies, therefore, it depends on the situation if whether a certain government intervention is good to the society. If the government interferes in the market in order to protect the welfare of its citizens, then, there is no room for capitalists to say that they are being deprived by the government to put their own business. In addition to that, establishing another utility business, like electric company, would be very costly due to the high fixed costs that they must face. This is the reason why it would be efficient if only one would continue ‘monopolize’ the production of electricity in the country. In this regard, if there would be an under provision of public goods like education, electricity, medical services and security due to budget deficit of the government; societal welfare would surely be greatly devastated. More people would be deprived with their basic human rights and might suffer to private firm’s abusing power. Only during instances wherein the private firms abuses their power and charge high to their customer by providing inelastic goods the government initiate actions to regulate the situation. Good Economics versus Good Politics One could say that an act promotes good economics if it aims for the maximization of the satisfaction of the society or market (Sharma, 2007). On the other hand, one could say that an act promotes good politics if it is backed up by a good policy for the welfare of the majority. Most of the analysts say that good economics leads to good politics and vice versa. Others believe that it’s the other way around. The point of the latter is that, making policies that promotes the no personal interest would lead to good economics since promoting the interest of the majority is tantamount to saying that they are maximizing the satisfaction of the society or they are after for the optimal level of societal welfare (Gittins, 2004). In order for each of the said ideals to exists, it must ensure the survival of one another. It seems hard for the politicians to set aside their personal political interest for the public interest but it should be done in order to attain what is really best for the economy and for the country. One way to promote the public interest is to lessen the burdens being imposed to the public like- tax (Gruen, 2007). Minimizing the tax rate would require a long battle and endless debate but the thing is, if all of the politicians would set aside their personal interest everything is possible for the government and they could act efficiently for the betterment of the economy. In this regard, there is no point arguing what is the best for the society- good economics or good politics, since one is needed for the existence of the other. Invisible Hand Principle Advocated by Adam Smith, invisible hand supports capitalist’s view. According to Adam Smith, the government must not intervene in the market and focus only on providing security and justice system to the society. They also believe that government lessens the societal welfare with their imposition of taxes. Taxes just add up to the operational costs of the businesses that in turn being passed to the consumers. In short, the burden of the taxes that are being imposed by the government goes to the end consumers. Adam Smith believes that market systems has its own mechanism to ‘heal’ itself and move back again towards the equilibrium condition even without the intervention of the government. By satisfying the ‘selfish’ motives of producers and consumers, they are unconsciously helping each other. Therefore, increasing the taxes rate collection of the government to cover the budget deficit would be an unwise idea since it would only add up to the burden of the consumers or the public. Government intervention must have the right timing and, as much as possible, impose less burden to the consumers. As what have been cited a while ago, government intervention depends on the situation and the condition between the private firms and the consumer group. Government intervention would only be sufficient if it uplifts the welfare of the consumer group with less negative effects on the private firms. But as for the increasing tax rate scenario, it seems that, although unintentionally, the government negatively affects the welfare of the consumer group while leaving the private firms unharmed since they only pass the taxes to the consumers. In this case, it would be better if the government let the ‘invisible hand’ or the free market system to put back into order the economy. Production Possibilities Curve There are some instances wherein private firms are being restricted in passing the added costs of government intervention to their consumers. Like for instance, the imposition of tariff on importers, tariff is another income generating activities of the government aside from taxation. With the extra expenses of the importers on every unit of goods that they are importing to the country, they can now only afford to buy less of the said imported goods depending on their allotted budget. In this scenario, the business would be producing below its production possibilities curve or PPF. This means that with the existence of higher tariffs on imported goods needed by local industries, the companies could only buy fewer imported raw materials and, therefore, producing fewer number of finished products than with the optimal level of production. This situation is treated to be inefficient, but since tariff is a form of income generation of the government, the only thing that the government could do is to find the efficient level of tariff rate wherein businesses could still produce closely to their PPF. With this, the value of the efficiency that is lost from the private firms would be justified and would return to them in a form of infrastructures in a form of roads and bridges which could alleviate the efficiency of their operation. In reality, it is pretty hard to produce within the PPF due to the existence of various intervening variables and tariff is one of them. The least thing that businesses could do is to produce closer to their PPF or their optimal level of production based on their capacity and capability. Opportunity Costs With the possibility of under provision of important government services, the government cannot afford to make it happen due to the high opportunity costs involved in the case. The government might forego the value of the welfare of its citizens in exchange of the improvement of the welfare of the corporations. If the welfare of the corporations and consumer group is to be calculated, the welfare of the consumer group is surely larger than with the welfare of the corporations in the market; and in the first place, it is the duty of the government to protect and prioritize the safety and welfare of the majority- citizens of their country. Just imagine the number of students that might stop schooling with the cutting of the budget for education; the number of sick and less capable citizens that only relies on the help of the government for cheaper medical services and/or medicines from public hospitals and clinics. To make the situation worst, the government prioritizes the welfare of Iraqis than with its own citizen. It was aired in the news that the government raised the amount of budget for the ‘peace keeping role’ of the government to Iraqi people. It is not bad to help other people, but ‘think first about the welfare of your own people before the others’ since that is the right thing to do. The point here is that, the reason why the government suffers to budget deficit is due to their wrong priorities. The government must not set aside the welfare of its citizen since it would bail them higher opportunity costs.

Learning Team Reflection Essay

Owners and managers in the business need to make working capital management decisions such as inventory management, cash-flow management, accounts receivables, and supplier or vendor trade credits to ensure the company has sufficient cash-flows to pay short-term obligations. There are a few different working capital strategies a business can employ. Flexible current asset management involves holding large cash balances and inventory. The restrictive current asset management strategy requires companies to keep current assets low. Finagle a Bagel is a young, growing business that applies the working capital trade-off strategy to manage their working capital (Parrino, Kidwell, & Bates, 2012). Married entrepreneurs purchased the business when it was a few years old and had four to five stores (University of Phoenix, 2014). The owners encountered many of the same issues commonly associated with running a young business. They had to learn to deal with customers, vendors, and suppliers; how ever, the larger issue was discovering how to manage their working capital. Maintaining and continually producing working capital is imperative for any business. Effective working capital management ensures the company has enough money to pay the bills. Managing their current assets, inventory, and liabilities are all part of working capital management (Parrino, Kidwell, & Bates, 2012). Finagle a Bagel owners focused on mapping out their future and ensuring the business would grow enough to produce a successful cash flow. A successful cash flow, and keen understanding of their banking relationship, will allow the companies to more comfort when taking on debt or liabilities. The strategies Finagle a Bagel use for managing working capital are no different from the plan many companies utilize. The owners established a good rapport with their bank, vendors, and suppliers (University of Phoenix, 2014) which enables them to create the opportunity for positive interest rates and  trade-offs. The good interest rates assist in the short-term and long-term when they need to acquire a line of credit to pay suppliers or to expand the business. The working capital trade-off strategy requires the manager to balance shortage costs against carrying costs (Parrino, Kidwell, & Bates, 2012). The business must be flexible. To allow for more time to pay another business back, trade credit is a strategy businesses extend to one another. Businesses work out a type of credit line to provide the other business with a suitable amount of time to pay their bill (Parrino, Kidwell, & Bates, 2012). Credit lines are ideal and prevent banks from getting involved. Finagle a Bagel uses the strategy of trade credit regularly. Improper working capital management may jeopardize a company to default or bankruptcy. Upon reviewing the working capital management video, it is inevitable that the owners and managers in a business should monitor cash inflows and outflows periodically by computing financial ratios such as efficiency ratios – inventory turnover, and account receivable turnover and working capital ratio to ensure that the company has adequate cash-flows all the time. References Parrino, R., Kidwell, D. S, & Bates, T. W. (2012). Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (2nd ed). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. University of Phoenix. (2014). Week 3 Electronic Reserve Videos. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, FIN/571 – Foundations of Finance course website.

Response to Don Marquis’ “Why Abortion Is Immoral”

Don Marquis' â€Å"Why Abortion is Immoral† In his essay â€Å"Why Abortion is Immoral,† Don Marquis argues against the morality of abortion on the premise that the value of a fetus' future is so great that it is immoral to take that potential future away from it. Essentially, he contends, abortion is tantamount to murder: killing an individual is prima facie wrong because the loss of the goods of one's future is the worst loss a human can suffer. He calls this potential future a â€Å"future-like-ours,† which is the basis for his contentions.In the next few pages I will delineate the general progression of his argument, and later, will evaluate the plausibility of said argument. Though Marquis makes both logical and compelling claims, there are several concerns and weaknesses that arise from his argument that must be considered. Marquis establishes his argument with the exploration of why killing humans is wrong, in any case. The clear answer, he says, is that k illing is wrong because of its â€Å"effect on the victim† (Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, 558).Taking one's life deprives the victim of â€Å"all the experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments that would otherwise have constituted one's future,† and this is the greatest loss that any human can suffer (558). This theory of wrongness can account for why it is also wrong to kill infants and young children, whereas other theories that make narrower claims (e. g. â€Å"It is prima facie wrong to kill only rational agents) do not stand in such cases. There are obvious implications concerning the ethics of abortion with this theory in place.Marquis contends that â€Å"The future of a standard fetus includes a set of experiences, projects, activities, and such which are identical with the futures of adult human beings†¦ † (559). It follows then, that because it is wrong to kill humans, it is also wrong to kill potential humans, and so abortion is prima facie seriously wrong. Fetuses have a viable, valuable future, which Marquis calls a â€Å"future-like-ours. † So, he adds, whether one has â€Å"immediate past experiences or not† does not matter when it comes to killing, because it is the value of the potential future that must be taken into onsideration (561). Marquis goes on to refute other theories of wrongness of killing. One such example is that valuing one's future implies a valuer, but fetuses obviously cannot value their futures, and so their futures are not valuable to them. However, Marquis counters this notion by providing us with an example: one may think during a time of despair that his â€Å"future is of no worth whatsoever,† but he is wrong to think so because â€Å"others rightly see value†¦ in it† (561).So, just because a fetus cannot appreciate its own future, we are aware of the value of its potential future, so abortion is still wrong. Other claims put forth that to be an actu al victim, one requires mentation. However, we still recognize that it is wrong to kill those that are unconscious or in a coma (who have prospects of emerging out of their states), so it follows that mentation is not a necessary condition to be a victim. Marquis' refutations provide for his very strong and compelling argument against abortion.I will grant Marquis that his progression of logic is rational; if a fetus were allowed to fully develop, it would indeed become a sentient being with the capacity of enjoying a prosperous future. However, some ambiguities arise as a result of his claims and it is difficult to say how Marquis would respond. The first concern I would like to address regards the case of a fetus with a debilitating disease. With today's technology, it is quite easy to detect any abnormalities in a fetus very early on in the pregnancy.Say, for example, a couple finds out that their fetus has some sort of affliction that will make him terminally ill. They want to a bort the fetus because they cannot stand the notion of bringing a child into the world that, although sentient and rational, will have a markedly reduced life span and suffer greatly throughout whatever life he has. How would Marquis respond in this case? He might argue that though the child will suffer, he still has a potential future in which he formulate goals, and have experiences and projects.However, we must note that during his argument, Marquis says â€Å"If the patient's future is intolerable†¦ we want our account to allow killing the patient† and that â€Å"it is the value of the patient's future which is doing the work in rendering the morality of killing the patient intelligible† (561). Obviously, a quandary arises. Does the fetus in our example have a future that is less valuable than that of a normal one? Can we justify aborting this fetus, because although he will be rational and most likely capable of having experiences, the scope of his suffering will be exceedingly great?Are we in any sort of position to prescribe the value of someone else's future without knowing exactly how it will play out? So while it is plausible that Marquis would still argue from an anti-abortionist stance due to its potential future, this decision will very probably not sit well with the parents who have to watch their child suffer throughout his shortened life. This is one ambiguity that exists in Marquis' argument that has no easy answer, and is worth noting. We must recognize that cannot say with such conviction that we know what a future-like-ours entails.It seems presumptuous to assert that a future-like-ours is always a positive thing; how can we account for the fetus in the previous example, or an inner-city child essentially having to raise himself because his parents are absent? What about the child who is stuck in a situation with abusive parents, with no one to turn to for help? Though I grant Marquis the soundness of his general argument , and the premise that all fetuses have a potential future, we cannot infer from this claim that this future will necessarily be a positive one.It becomes a murky and essentially taboo dilemma to even ask if the lives of these children are worth living, and if they would have been better off being aborted in the womb. Marquis may still claim that every fetus has a right to life no matter what, but because he does not consider these cases in his argument, it is worth noting that the answers might not be so straightforward and that more complicated cases do exist. The main concern I would like to note regarding Marquis' argument is that he does not once consider the rights of the mother and the value of her future.Although Marquis treats the fetus as an independent being, we must at least recognize that the fetus' life depends on its mother's: it receives all of its nutrition from her and it develops in her womb. So, how would Marquis respond to a situation in which the mother will su rely (or even has the remote chance) of dying in childbirth, even if the fetus will not? Here, we have two potential futures contesting each other, because this is a one or the other situation – either the fetus must die or the mother will in delivering it.Similar to the example mentioned previously of the sick fetus, it is not easy to simply prescribe one of their futures with more value than the other one. An anti-abortionist could possibly make the argument that the fetus' life should be saved because it has a longer future to attain, since the mother has already lived a significant portion of her life. However, one could contend that because the mother is already a sentient, rational being and already has goals and projects set in place for her life, her right to life should take precedence over the fetus, who still has no capacity to value its future.To take away the future of the mother would be more cruel than to take it away from the unaware fetus. Furthermore, what a bout a situation in which the mother is a teenager, and adoption is out of the question? Say, for example, she has to drop out of school and get a low-paying job, and struggles greatly for a significant amount of time trying to provide for herself and her baby. What has happened to her future-like-ours? Both the mother and the child are in dire situations, and it is obvious that the mother would have been in a better current situation had the fetus been aborted, as uncomfortable as that contention may make us.The case of the child, however, is much more complex because again, it is difficult to weigh his suffering with his capacity for potentiating a future. I would not like to argue one way or another, but would simply like to note that it is unclear how Marquis would respond to these predicaments and should have noted such in the essay. As I conclude enumerating the ambiguities that arise from Marquis' contentions, I would like to consider the hypothetical case in which Marquis di d allow for an abortion, in, for example, the case of the fetus that has some sort of debilitating disease.He might contend that the inevitable suffering in the fetus' â€Å"future-like-ours† outweighs the positive value of his potential future, so an abortion in this case would be permissible. However, what does this do for the integrity of the future-like-ours argument? If we can begin to make exceptions like this, where can we draw the line of what constitutes a â€Å"good† or â€Å"bad† future-like-ours? If Marquis begins to allow for such xceptions, it seems to diminish the value of his theory as a whole, because it connotes that the futures of some fetuses are less valuable than others even if they are both capable of having potential experiences, dreams, projects, etc. On a broader and related scope, if an anti-abortionist who argues on the sanctity-of-life theory makes an exception for the abortion of a fetus who was the product of a rape or is in a situ ation where the mother cannot provide for it, it invalidates their entire premise. Both fetuses are innocent and have equal rights to their future.So, if Marquis did make an exception, it would compromise the integrity of his argument. Marquis makes very compelling and interesting claims in his essay, and takes a novel approach in the controversy over abortion. He uses a strong premise that is not too broad or too narrow in scope, as some anti-abortionists and pro-life activists end up doing in their reasoning. However, as mentioned above, ambiguities do arise from his argument, the most significant of which being the consideration of the mother's right to a future.With this considered, it becomes clear that a â€Å"future-like-ours† may not be as clear-cut of an idea as Marquis would like us to think. The essay would have been stronger and more lucid if Marquis considered â€Å"futures-like-ours† that are not exactly futures like ours. By virtue of the sheer breadth a nd variety of experiences that humans experience as a species, it is much more difficult to define a future-like-ours than Marquis delineates in his essay.

Marketing Management Course Project wk6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Management Course Project wk6 - Essay Example e stages including the introductory phase where the users or the audience is unaware of the existence of the product and its category (McMillan, 2013). The audience buys mainly for experimentation purposes only and competition is high. The growth stages witness customers increase in numbers and appearance of segments. Maturity takes place, the segment becomes distinct and the loyalty of the customer is established. Understanding the audience (customers) location, their types, and their needs and distinctive uniqueness will accomplish marketing. Achieving substantial marketing, then the size and the structure of the audience, associated trends, needs, and characteristics of the target audience is vital (Haydu & Hodges, 2008). The association between your firm’s value suggestion and the target audience can be complex for communal enterprises because of the range of exterior stakeholders concerned who usually determine the progress and the success of the firms. The marketing strategy defines how to communicate with the customers and available plans to propel the value proposition to the target audience. This considers the brand identification, the position of the firm in the market, and the available channels to the market (Haydu & Hodges, 2008). The foundational features and remuneration of value proposition forms the basis of the product distinctiveness. Value proposition entails efficiency, leadership, and innovation and audience intimacy. The marketing plan ought to identify necessary realistic actions and methods to achieve the marketing strategy. Marketing objectives targets creation of new customers and or recipients from the target audience while maintaining the earlier customers in order to improve the delivery of the products (Mudambi, 2002) and improve on sales. To improve on the customers’ base, achieve the objectives and increase sales, then enhancing the tools of pricing, placing, and promotion in the firm and the market will be paramount.

Compairing and contrast (using car as a means of transport and using a Essay

Compairing and contrast (using car as a means of transport and using a motorcycle) - Essay Example Even in hot, humid or rainy conditions, car travel ensures a comfortable journey with the help of air-conditioning systems. The closed structure of the car helps the passengers to escape from rains. On the other hand, a passenger on motorcycle needs to face the eventualities with respect to climate changes. On hot seasons, the motorcyclist needs to suffer extreme heat and on rainy seasons, he has to face the problems associated with rains. The safety associated with car travel is more compared to a motorcycle journey. Car runs on four wheels and hence it is more stable than a motorcycle which runs on two wheels. The risk associated with car journey is less than the motorcycle journey. In case of an accident, car passengers have the assistance of different kinds of life saving supports, such as seat belts, airbags whereas a motorcyclist may not have the luxury of such safety measures. The only safety equipment and motorcyclist may have could be a helmet. Car travel cannot provide the thrill and entertainment associated with the motorcycle journey. It is easy for the motorcyclist to move rapidly on traffic filled roads because of the less space needed for it compared to cars. Even on roads where traffic is jammed because of some problems, motorcyclists can easily penetrate trough the jammed traffic because of the less space needed for its travel. Thus motorcycle travel ensures less delay in traveling and it eliminates unexpected road problems up to certain extent. â€Å"Motorcycles tell us a more useful truth: we are small and exposed, and probably moving too fast for our own good, but that’s no reason not to enjoy every minute of the ride† (Sanborn) Motorcycles need less space for parking compared to cars. In other words, a motorcyclist can park his vehicle nearer to his destination whereas a car owner sometimes forced to park their vehicles even hundreds of meters away from his actual destination because of parking problems nearer to

Why Do Teachers Plan Their Lessons Why is Planning Important Coursework

Why Do Teachers Plan Their Lessons Why is Planning Important - Coursework Example For a teacher to make a good lesson plan, it is necessary that he reflect on what the need of the students in that particular lesson will be so that he can be able to accommodate them in his plan. Although educationalist regards lesson planning as very important in ensuring an effective teaching a learning process during a lesson, some theorists suggests that it is not a good idea since it creates a more fixed teacher centered lessons thus reducing the chance of the students understanding (ITTT 2011). The reasons why lesson planning is an important task can be revealed by looking at the way in which the lesson plan helps the three categories of people involved in a learning process. These three categories of people include the students, the teachers and the principals and supervisors. These three categories of people derive different benefits when a lesson plan is used during a lesson. The reasons for the importance of the lesson plan contributed by its benefits to other people rathe r than the teacher himself who is making it can be regarded as external reason while those that result from the benefits that the teacher himself would gain can be regarded as internal reasons. ... As indicated by previous researches the teachers who prepare the lesson plans always go to class with a better understanding of what they are going to teach compared to those who do not. It also indicates that the teachers who use lesson plan are able to obtain a wide range of knowledge about the subject matter in which to teach about before undertaking the lesson. This enables this kind of teachers to be able to run the teaching process effectively and thus enhancing the learning process among their students. The lesson plan also enables the lesson to run smoothly. Since in a lesson plan each activity is allocated its time a teacher can easily be able to ensure that the lesson is ran smoothly without major interruptions. Moreover, since the activities in a lesson plan are sequentially arranged a lesson plan can help a teacher to avoid running his lesson in a confused manner thus increasing the effectiveness of his teaching process. When the teaching process is run in an orderly and smooth manner, the learning process among the students is enhanced and thus resulting to a greater understanding among the students about the subject matter being taught. Another internal reason why a lesson plan is important is that it can enable a teacher to anticipate problems before they happen.If a lesson plan is well prepared, it is believed that it can enable the teacher to reflect about what problems he anticipates to encounter during a lesson. This is because it reflects on the past such lesson that the teacher held with those particular student, what was achieved in those lesson and the problems that were encountered. When the teacher is able to

Japans right to whaling is legally justified Essay

Japans right to whaling is legally justified - Essay Example Whaling remains one of the most hotly debated topics amongst various global issues related to environmental protection, and revolves around the main question as whether humans should keep up the practice of hunting whales. Even though the scientists believe that under current wildlife protection management system it is unlikely that whales will become extinct, the practice of whaling is still widely condemned (Nagasaki, 1993). The anti-whaling sentiments took form mainly during the late 1970s when many anti-whaling and non-whaling countries joined the International Whaling Commission (IWC), in order â€Å"to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry† (International Whaling Commission, The Convention, 2003). In 1982, IWC members voted with three-fourth majority that brought forth a break on commercial whaling. In this context the text (paragraph 10(e)- classification of stocks) that implement ban o n commercial whaling states â€Å"Notwithstanding the other provisions of paragraph 10, catch limits for the killing for commercial purposes of whales from all stocks for the 1986 coastal and the 1985/86 pelagic seasons and thereafter shall be zero† (International Whaling Commission, The Convention, 2003). The 1986 moratorium banning commercial whaling led to the formation of a strong opposition against countries like Iceland, Norway and Japan that continue to hunt whales, which they claim to be primarily for scientific research work. Here the opposition to whaling now relates to a compete banning of whale killing in any form, commercial or for scientific reason. Countries like Australia and the US along with NGOs like Greenpeace claim that with some species of the whales being in list of endangered animals, whaling in any form must be banned.

Enterprise business continuity and disaster recovery plan Essay

Enterprise business continuity and disaster recovery plan - Essay Example Disasters which shut down the mission of the company crucial applications for any given period of time have bad indirect and direct costs to the company and its performance make Mematech come up with a disaster recovery and business continuity plan essentials. The company’s Chief Information Offer will have an obligation in ensuring that the company’s continuing in that position of emergency. It is therefore, appropriate that the company comes up with steps to prepare before, during, and after the crisis takes place. These planning offers framework of interim mechanism to recover the services of IT after the system has been disrupted. Some of the interim measures that the company will take include; IT system and operations relocation, to an alternative site, and the recovery of functions connected to IT using alternative machines and equipment, executive agreement with entities that are outsourced. This is because Mematech have vulnerable system to various disruptions that range from the minor outages to severe disruptions that involve destruction of equipments from various sources like natural disasters or even terrorist actions. While various vulnerable may be reduces or removed through operational solutions, management solutions, and technical solutions as part of the company’s risk management effort. It is quite impossible to eliminate the risks completely. In various scenarios, crucial resources may dwell outside the company’s control like electric power or even telecommunicat ion). (Fong, 2001). The company might be unable to ensure that it is available. Therefore, effective and efficient recovery testing, planning, and execution are important to mitigate the system risks and unavailability of services. Accordingly, for the disaster recovery to be successful the Information officer of Mematech will ensure that the critical employee must comprehends the information technology disaster recovery and business continuity planning

Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis - Essay Example The film has helped in bringing static pictures to life; something that did not seem possible until animated films from Pixar and the likes were being produced. The way Satrapi’s animation has been styled is simply a matter of grace and charm, leading a larger audience to watch and follow the life she led. The buildings of Tehran and Vienna, its people and emotions have all been portrayed so beautifully, that the film itself is more lyrical than a theoretical memoir of someone’s life. The humor and excitement that Satrapi feels as she grows up, has all been depicted marvelously. â€Å"Similarly, if the movie version had been conventionally cast and acted, it would inevitably have seemed less magical as well as less real.† (Scott, A. O.) Marjane’s family consists of leftist thinkers in the Shah’s regime, and they later live under the rule of the mullahs as the revolution takes place and people are forced to switch their lifestyles however Marjane tri es her best to remain unchanged as she takes her grandmother’s advice and maintains her identity the best way that she can. As she ventures to France to study she finds a whole new world where people live differently, and moreover, she is treated differently because of her religious and national background. The political repression has been showed wonderfully as the film moves into a world of colour; this further signifies Marjane’s personal voice growing and she becoming a woman of her own word. She grows into a rebel in a land where turning against the law is punishable by the minute. However, she stands for what she believes in, tries her best to get what she wants, and at the same time the same is depicted through a great amount of humour. Her love interests have also been portrayed in the movie; something a typical young girl would relate to. She is tells the story of how she believed in someone and felt affection for him because he showed her a different idea of living life. Later on however, her heart is broken and she realises the tough life one has to live. Her grandmother’s words keep coming to her as a revelation she keeps pushing off until she truly matures – owning up to her national and religious identity no matter however much a person might insult the same. However, this becomes a dilemma of her own as she is ridiculed in Vienna because of which she dramatizes her life’s situations and throws tantrums just like any other young woman. The music used in the movie is amazing; it truly matches the atmosphere being depicted in the background. Right from the history of how the Shah’s regime came into being to the wars and post war rebellion accountable to the citizens, the soundtracks are enough to give the audience goose bumps. However, at the same time, many critics state that the film went overboard in converting a graphic novel into moving images and thus was not so different from the books written by Sat rapi. This is because the film may seem to feel like meandering pages out of the diary of a young woman’s life, growing up in Iran and moving to France after that. The movie might seem to portray outbursts of her life unnecessarily and some even find the imagery to be very superficial, almost like a mix between a young infant’s animation film and an adult’

John Holland's Theory applied to secondary school in Hong Kong Research Paper

John Holland's Theory applied to secondary school in Hong Kong - Research Paper Example Rather than praising the theory per se, this paper further highlights its limitations in Hong Kong setting. John Holland’s theory of vocational choice has for many years been a dominant force in vocational psychology and careers counselling and guidance. The theory was originally formulated in the USA in the 1950s influenced by Holland’s experiences as a careers counselor (Gibson & Mitchell, 2006). Sharf (2006) further explains that this theory has subsequently grown significantly to become what it is today. Based on this theory therefore, John Holland holds that people and their occupational environments are clearly characterized by their close resemblance to each of the six identified ‘pure types’. Additionally, Holland believes that a good match between an individual and the environment will have a number of beneficial outcomes when other things are kept equal (Inkson, 2007). As observed by Herr et al (2004), Holland makes an attempt to explain that career decision making is an important aspect of career choice and career development. This basically forms the theoretical explanation of this paper in exploring the application of Holland’s theory in decision-making styles of career choice. The paper also attempts to relate the application of this theory to secondary school setting in Hong Kong and its limitations. John Holland’s theory has been cited by a number of researchers as the most studied amongst all other career counseling theories. Leung & Chen (2007) argue that Holland’s theory of careers portrays individuals and environments as a single set of six types into which most people across cultures of the world can be classified. In view of this, Holland classified people into six dominant types outlined below. The Realistic (R) type has frank, conforming, inflexible, practical, un-insightful and asocial individuals while Investigative (I) type is critical,

Revisions of Foundations of the Development and Functions of Police Assignment

Revisions of Foundations of the Development and Functions of Police - Assignment Example The political policing era of policing embraced the watch-man style, which embodied police discretion, and control rather than prevention a system, which is distant from society (Ken, 2009). In terms of discretion, police chose whom to serve and protect at their judgment with reference to politicians who had immense control over them. The approach of dealing with crime was often questioned because of its reactive nature. The control of crime was based on controlling rather than prevention and this hugely led to crime escalation (Ken, 2009). Second was the legalistic style, which made law enforcement the only concern of the police at the expense of social problems; by advocating only for the enforcement of the law to the letter. Politicians enacted several Legislations to establish full-time control over the police. A good example is the 1844 law in New York City that aimed at putting police under the control of city politicians and the government (Ken, 2009). Such laws disregarded public view, as they were the preserve of the political class. The police had no interest at all about the social problems in the country. The main agenda was to enforce and implement the law to the letter. Finally was the service style whereby police conceptualized themselves as helpers of the country when crime or war occurred. Service delivery was considered as a favor to the society rather than an obligation. It is often well-known as the systematic policing practice whose mandate was to reform the political-oriented police practice (Ken, 2009). It embraced the three styles but implemented each of them completely different from the political approach. Discretion exercised early was limited by far. The police schedule became standardized, as officers were now required to enforce the law and make arrests based on the crime committed lieu of the political power-play (Ken, 2009). More efforts were evoked to prevent crime rather making injunctions only after crime

Black People and Story Essay Example for Free

Black People and Story Essay What is the relevance of the title in Toni Morrison’s â€Å"Recitatif? † â€Å"Recitatif† is a short story written by Toni Morrison and first published in the anthropology â€Å"Confirmation: An Anthropology of American Women† in 1983. The author creates a pioneering story about the lives of two young girls, Roberta and Twyla, living in an orphanage during a period of racial inequality. Both girls had been taken away from their mothers, one for illness and one for indiscretion. What makes this story unique is that, while the characters are clearly separated by class, neither is affirmed as African American or Caucasian. In order to address the essential social issue of that time, Toni Morrison presents five sections that span many years; the author provides a clear insight of inequality between white and black people. Moreover, with the publication of â€Å"Recitatif†, â€Å"Morrison raised issues engaging middle-class black women whose education and personal achievements create tensions within and outside of the black community† (Fultz). A considerable aspect of this story is the title of the work. â€Å"RecitÐ °tif† is a derivation of the word â€Å"recitative† which may be defined as a spoken singing style used in opera and oratories. A now-obsolete meaning is the rhythm peculiar to any language; furthermore, this word uses the root â€Å"recite† which also has special meaning. To recite, or to tell from memory, exemplifies that the story written by Toni Morrison was from a series of memories. Both of these definitions suggest the episodic nature of this story (Kusumoto). The plot is the key to understanding the meaning of the title. There are five encounters that show what occurs when two people have contradictory memories about the same event. For example, when Twyla realizes that she and Roberta have completely different memories of a significant event, she asks, â€Å"I wouldn’t forget a thing like that. Would I? † (Bakara Bakara). Such uncertainty highlights to the main theme of the story. This instability of memory is expressed through narrative collage â€Å"Recitatif† brings together the rhythms of 2 different lives for 5 short moments that are narrated by Twyla’s voice. The story is, then, in several ways, Twylas â€Å"rÐ µcitatif. † The title of the story accurately conveys some changes in actual voice throughout the text; for example, when Twyla is a younger, it is obvious that the author â€Å"speaks† in a child’s voice. In some cases, it seems that this girl is too thoughtful to be the little child, but the author conveys her voice in such a way that there is no doubt that she is. The sing song voice applies to the narrator as well as to the nature of other characters in the story. Radical changes are visible during Robertas and Twylas meetings; moreover, the sing song nature of race is also a part of the character’s makeup. Each of them shows clues that may be interpreted as rÐ µpresenting a black or white race. That is why readers try to compare the various aspects of the story in order to identify the race it characterizes. This story develops like acts in an opera, presenting its characters at different points in life. Here is an interesting fact: the voice of the narrator grows with its character much as children grow throughout their life. The title describes Morrison’s prose narrative and provides that the use of â€Å"gaps† is an integral part of this story. They are left out purposely by the author so they can be filled in by readers. In the first lines of the story it may seems that â€Å"Recitatif† tells a simple story about the interactions of two girls. Toni Morrison divided this short story into five encounters which describe the ongoing narrative events from the lives of these two women. These interludes imitate the spoken singing style and narrative of the Morrison story implied by its title. The term â€Å"gaps† is suitable for this story because each encounter is separated by long periods of time that leave the reader guessing; as an example, Roberta’s reference to Jimi Hendrix at the meeting in the HÐ ¾ward JÐ ¾hnsons. Before the reference, readers are certainly unsure of the time period of this meeting, but with the mention of this famous pop star, everyone can fill in the gap and realize this part of the story takes place in the 1960s. In conclusion, it can be said that the title of Toni Morrisons story plays an essential role in the story. It accurately conveys the style of writing and the use of different techniques throughout the story. Works cited: Bakara, Imamu Amiri, and Amina Bakara. Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women. 1st ed. Morrow, 1983. Print. Fultz, Lucille P. Toni Morrison: Playing With Difference. University of Illinois Press, 2003. Print. Kusumoto, Jitsuko. Memories of the Daughters from â€Å"Recitatif† to Beloved. . 21-24, 2008. Web. 26 Feb 2013. .

Environmental conditions: Apple iTunes in the UK

Environmental conditions: Apple iTunes in the UK 1. Introduction The following report will carry out an assessment of the macro and micro environmental conditions that are likely to impact upon Apple iTunes within the United Kingdom. The analysis which will be carried out will include an assessment of the degree of the threat or the opportunities posed by the existing and potential competition. iTunes is a digital media player application which is used for playing and organising digital and video files. iTunes also connects to the iTunes store via the internet to purchase and download music, music videos, television shows, applications, games, audio books and podcasts. The Music industry has radically changed in the last couple of years, thanks to the increasing penetration of broadband, which has made it increasingly convenient for music lovers to buy via the web, this has the effect of promoting digital downloads. Content owners have been hit by the increasing problem of illegal downloading which has had the effect of devaluating the value of music for an entire generation of youth. (Mintel 2009) After its launch in 2002 Apples iTunes has come to dominate the music delivery business in many countries around the world, including the United Kingdom. Using a number of tools which look at both the micro and macro environment, and various analysis I will draw many conclusions whether there is a likelihood of continued success for Apple iTunes in the future. 2. What is Apple iTunes? iTunes is a free application for your Mac or PC it organises your digital music and video on your computer. It syncs all your media with you iPod, iPhone and Apple TV. It is also a store on your computer; it has everything you need to be entertained anywhere, anytime. (Apple 2010) Apple iTunes was developed in early 2002 and has developed ever since in relation to Apples continued success with their portable media player the iPod. Ever since 2002 many new features have been added to iTunes such as in April 2003 when version 4.0 of Apple iTunes was released which added the feature of the iTunes Store, to make it the success of what it is today. (Apple 2004) 3. Apple iTunes Market Position The music industry has witnessed a massive change over the last few years; this is due to many reasons. One fundamental change has been the increasing user usage of broadband technology, the increased speed and more people adopting the technology has led to consumers to view downloading music via the web to be convenient and simple. This development originally led many of the traditional high street retailers such as HMV to start selling music online in CD format. In more recent times music both single tracks and albums have become more and more easily accessible for the average consumer due to the continued popularity of services such as Apple iTunes. 3.1 Market Data on The Music Industry In January 2009 the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) predicted that the UK will spend over  £600 million on digital music in 2012 (Mintel 2009). As you can see from (Appendix 2) downloads are dominated by singles or the download of individual tracks. But iTunes and other digital competitors are looking at improving the way in which they are marketing to consumers hopping to persuade them to purchase more albums digitally. Also in (Appendix 2) using BPI figures it shows the demand for single downloads has increased by a massive 340% from 2004-2009, where by the sale of single music in physical format has decreased by 850%. The same trend can be seen for album sales as well. As you can see from the table in (Appendix 1) pre-recorded music sales are continually moving from the traditional music stores, supermarkets etc to the internet to services such as iTunes. Over a period from 2007-2009 there was a 6% increase of sales of pre-recorded music on the internet, where as other means of selling/distributing pre-recorded music saw a considerable decrease year on year over the same period. The music industry has seen revenue decrease by 4% in 2008 and it is predicted that this trend will likely continue. Although digital distribution of music will ensure the costs involved when selling music will be dramatically lower, this will lead to increased profit margins for legal music sales in the future. Mintel has forecasted that the music market will continue for the next few years until 2013 to continue to decline. The market will see a dramatic fall of 33% of current prices from 2008-2013, 2009 saw the biggest drop which was 16% (Appendix 3). This is all due to a number of contributing factors, the main being that economic conditions are poised to remain uncertain which hampers consumer confidence. (Mintel 2009) 3.2 Music Market Industry Key Points/Findings The music industry has changed in recent years due to the major rise in downloadable content which is seen as more appropriate due to the rise of the portable media player as well as it being much easier for consumers to get hold of music, by simply downloading. The following will outline some key findings from the Music Industry which Apple iTunes operate within. * The music market for digital download retailers market share will continue to grow with many new entrants looking to move into the market where Apple iTunes dominate by offering digital rights management (DRM) free tracks. (Mintel 2009) * The Dominance of iTunes will remain until new entrants are established. (Mintel 2009) Over recent years ever since the download revolution began there has been one major retailer, iTunes. They have been seen as a threat to major music labels, to counter this threat major labels have granter DRM free tracks to many other retailers to encourage completion in the market place. This move looks to have changed the market place in the future by allowing the consumer to have more choice where they choose to purchase/download there music. (Harvey 2009) 3.2 Competitors It is vitally important when analysing the market which Apple iTunes operate within to outline their competitors. Many different competitors can affect Apples performance within the market, the competitors can be categorised into direct, close, substitute or indirect competitors. It is vitally important to analyse all of these competitors because they will all affect Apple iTunes in some aspect. As you can see from (Appendix 5) it shows all of the possible competitors within the industry, Apple in 2008 had a market share of 80% Apple the market leader with an 80 per cent market share (Lynch 2009) which means there are at least 25 firms who are in (Appendix 5) and many other firms battling it out for the remaining 20% of the market. Apple have been able to gain such a large market share with little or no competition due the agreement they had with the major record labels such as Sony/BMG, Vivendi Universal, Warner and EMG up until 2007 Apple were the market leaders and were starting to begin to dictate prices to the record labels which began to make them worried that they had originally given away to much to Apple iTunes. The record companies realised that Apple had gained dominance of the music on-line delivery industry and could dictate prices to the record companies. As a result, the record companies decided to drop DRM completely and encourage other delivery companies to enter the industry they needed some competition for Apple. (Lynch 2009) Once DRM free music began to be readily available it enticed many new businesses into the market, in the table in (Appendix 5) you can see the many firms who have seen how successful iTunes has been and they would like to gain some of the success which Apple has created for itself with iTunes. Direct competitors are those who offer a very similar service to what iTunes offers firms such as Amazon, HMV Digital, and Tesco Digital are all looking to break the dominance of Apple by offering a similar service but by offering the tracks at much cheaper price, due to them wanting to break into the industry. While Apple raised prices, competitors cut theirs. Amazon, the online retailer, cut the price of many of its top-selling music downloads on Monday to 29p as it competes for a larger share of the digital music market. (Ahmed 2009) Close competition are businesses which offer a similar service to what iTunes offers but are not in direct completion, these are firms such as subscription based services of Napster, Sky Songs and eMusic as well as bundled download services run by both Nokia and Omnifone which are Comes With Music and Music Station respectively as well as services run by the major mobile networks within the UK such as O2 and Orange. Competition which is classed as substitutes to the service which iTunes offers are firms which offer a different service to iTunes but could be used instead by potential customers. These are businesses such as Spotify and We7 who offer free music for users but the service contains many adverts which make the service free, the revenue is all advertisement driven. Also substitute services are business which use the latest web technology which is streaming, firms such as YouTube, MySpace Music and Last.fm are all services which are free and legal allow users to listen to music online but not actually download and put onto a portable media player, such as the iPod. New services like Spotify give us hope for the future, but physical sales continue to fall and even digital services struggle to compete with free illegal music. (Mostrous 2010) Substitute services such as Spotify which are free to the consumer may the future of music as they offer a service which costs nothing and is legal. Indirect competition, is a service which is completely different to what is offered by iTunes. Sony has started to promote and sell the e-book reader, which is a similar idea to the iPod but instead of music allows users to download books and read them on a screen. It seems the traditional gift wrapped tome is being trumped by downloads, after Amazon customers bought more e-books than printed books for the first time on Christmas Day. The department store chain John Lewis highlighted the popularity of e-readers this Christmas, reporting a jump in sales of Sonys eBook readers. (Allen 2009) The music market when from physical music CDs etc to digital downloads, now the book market looks to go a similar way by offering the user to read books in a digital format. 4. Macro Environmental Factors The macro environment is the major external and uncontrollable factors that have an influence on the organisations ability to make decisions and also can affect the strategy and the performance. The macro environment looks to include many factors such as economic, legal, social, political and technological changes. (Grant 2005) Included in the following section of the report a PESTEL analysis will be carried out of Apple iTunes which is a framework which looks at the macro environmental factors any business faces in the external environment, also an industry life cycle will be carried out. 4.1 PESTEL Analysis This model is a way of looking at Apple iTunes macro environment; it looks at the six key factors of the external environment, Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. The following section of the report will use this framework to look at the key factors effecting Apple iTunes in the macro environment. (Masterson 2004) Firstly, political this looks at if there are any pressures from the government or associated bodies, also any potential pressure from other business such as the major record labels such as Sony/BMG in Apple iTunes case. A breakthrough occurred when Apple iTunes made a deal with the record industry in 2002 which revolutionised the music industry. For the first time it was possible to download music for a payment without the problems of DRM which had become frustrating for consumers. By 2008 iTunes was the market leader with a massive market share of 80%, before this in 2007 the major record companies began to realise they had given away too much to Apple. iTunes had gained dominance in the market and were in a position to dictate prices to the record companies, this had the result in record companies dropping DRM and encouraging new entrants into the market to compete with Apple iTunes. The first two new entrants which tried to break up the dominance of iTunes were Nokia and Amazon. (Lynch 2009) Censorship can cause a great deal of problems for a service such as iTunes, in the build up to the Olympic Games in Beijing, China iTunes was selling on its iTunes Store a Tibetan album. Due to the political unrest between Tibet and China, the Chinese government blocked the use of the iTunes Store Parts of iTunes are blocked in China; access to iTunes store is completely restricted in the majority of China. (Branigan 2008) Next is Economic, which looks at how Apple iTunes will be affected by the macroeconomic environment. The UK economy still remains in a recession which has effects for all of Apple iTunes potential customers within the UK market, consumers are unlikely to be willing to purchase luxury goods such as the music iTunes offer within its online store. This is due to levels of disposable income is not at the levels of previous times, also due to low levels of disposable income Apple iTunes will see very few new customers as people who have not experienced downloading music before may not even have a computer so will not go out and purchase one in these times. Although many experts believe the UK economy will begin to show some growth in the near future, the economy will still be in a recession, officially the recession has not yet ended. Analysts believe that fourth quarter figures will show the economy returning to growth. (BBC Business News 2009) It is extremely important for Apple to be a ware of the economic factors within the macro environment. Thirdly social, this looks at the demographics and the trends within the market which Apple iTunes operate within. This part of the PESTLE analysis will outline a few key trends which detail the market place Apple iTunes operate within. * 16-24 year olds are more likely to favour downloading music.(Mintel 2009) * Over 45s are less likely to download, due to being concerned about quality and equipment and compatibility issues, this is linked to the understanding of technical development, also unsure what is legal and what is not. (Mintel 2009) * The amount of Internet usage is a massive influence on consumers views. (Mintel 2009) The above trends allow Apple iTunes to target certain sectors of the market place, they would look to continue to target their products to the 16-24 market place, but would look to develop a bigger customer group within the over 45s by possibly educating these customers on how iTunes works. Next is Technological, technology is changing constantly at an unprecedented rate and has created many opportunities which Apple iTunes have adopted. The broadband revolution has meant a facility has been created for consumers to access music at a reduced price compared to standard hard copy media. Also continued innovation by Apple for new products, such as the lasts iPhone 3GS has meant more people are using the iTunes service, fastest, most powerful iPhone yet the 3GS (Blake 2009) The Music industry has radically changed in the last couple of years due to technology, thanks to the increasing penetration of broadband, which has made it increasingly convenient for music lovers to buy via the web, this has the effect of promoting digital downloads. Environmental is the fifth factor of the PESTEL framework this looks at the how the performance of Apple iTunes effects the environment which they operate within. Apple is aware of the environmental factors within the industry and is trying to offset the damages they cause, We account for everything, including out products. Apple reports environmental impact comprehensively, we do this by focusing on our products what when we design them, what happens when we make them and what happens when you take them home and use them. (Apple Environment 2010) Apple seems to be very aware about that negative impacts of production and of consumers using their products, they are aware of the need for themselves to be socially responsible. Finally legal, this is a massive aspect for a firm such as Apple iTunes as there are many legal aspects to how they operate within the market place. Also it is important they are aware of the illegal actions potential customers carry out within the market. Illegal downloads is continuing to grow despite the many actions carried out across the industry, The issue of illegal downloading remains a problem that is set to persist. Although various efforts are being made by those in the sector to minimise the problem there is no easy solution. (Mintel 2007) Below are two key findings for the UK market which Apple iTunes need to be aware of as it shows that UK consumers are attracted to the prospect of illegal downloads. * Consumers favour illegal downloads due to their lack of cost. * Heavy downloaders are further encourages to continue by the lack of legislation against file sharing from the authorities. (Mintel 2007) 4.2 Industry Life Cycle The industry life cycle is the supply-side equivalent of the product life cycle; it is made up of four key phases, Introduction (Emergence), Growth, Maturity and Decline. There are two main factors which are fundamental which lead to industry evolution; they are demand growth and the creation and diffusion of knowledge. Demand growth is when the life cycle and the changes with in it are defined primarily by changes in an industries growth rate over time. The second major driving force of the industry life cycle is knowledge. New knowledge in the form of production innovation is responsible for an industrys creation. The dual process of both knowledge creation and knowledge diffusion is to exert a major influence on industry evolution. (Grant 2005) Apple iTunes are positioned on the industry life cycle on the maturity stage, (Appendix 4) they have just entered the maturity stage from experiencing rapid growth to be the market leaders in digital music distribution. They show many of the characteristics of the maturity stage, they are dealing with the mass market having many millions of customers although they need to be aware that potential customers now are begging to become more sensitive to price due to the current economic climate but more so due to the ever increasing competition of price within the market place. The omnipresent iTunes has triumphed over its digital-market competition, providing three-quarters of the online sales in the market. But it isnt the only show in town: there is a huge amount of competition, not just on the service offered but mainly on the price which music is sold for. (Robin 2008) Other characteristics which show that Apple iTunes are in the maturity stage are that they are introducing new produ cts that are continually being innovative by adapting the iTunes service, such as adding additions to the iTunes Store and extra features. 5. Micro Environmental Factors The Micro Environment factors are that what affects an organisations immediate area of operations. It affects the decision making and the overall performance of the business; the factors which it looks at are customers, distribution channels and competitors. (Grant 2005) In this section of the report I will look to adapt the porters five forces model which will then be applied to Apple iTunes, which will allow for analysing the five key forces that shape the industry. 5.1 Porters 5 Forces Porters five forces analysis helps firms to analyse the strength of competitive threats and is particularly useful to Apple iTunes as it allows them to analyse the competitive environment. The model focuses on the competition and the bargaining power in the supply chain suppliers through to customers. The model is made up of five forces they are threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers and the industry competitors. (Masterson 2004) Firstly threat of new entrants this looks at the activities of potential competitors as well as existing competitors within the market place. In 2007 the major record labels began to realise that they had given iTunes too much power over the digital music market and were able to dictate the price they wanted to pay to the major record labels, Apple iTunes was now the biggest firm in the industry with over 80% of the market. As a result, the record companies decided to drop DRM completely and encourage other delivery companies to enter the industry they needed some competition for Apple. (Lynch 2009) DRM free tracks were introduced to create new entrants into the market, which it has succeeded in doing which has meant Apple iTunes now has many major competitors to its dominance. iTunes have the highest market share in the industry at present and due to the increased competition that has developed but they still have not taken away iTunes dominance, new firms who come into the market must be aware that the only way they are going to be successful is if they are innovative. Also to prevent new entrants into the market iTunes has the power to set a price for its downloads at whatever it sees fit due to how successful and respected the Apple brand is, this price may be lower than what new firms into the market may be able to afford which would prevent them from competing in the market. Next is the bargaining power of Apple iTunes suppliers this will look at the relationships developed between the record labels and how these relationships have changed over time. iTunes suppliers are the record labels such as such as Universal, Sony, Warner Music and EMI, in 2009 they believed that they could make more money out of the industry by making iTunes charge more for the tracks which they sell in there iTunes store. Apple were made to charge 99p for their highest price track, the music labels insisted that it would be in Apples interest for future development of the industry as it would mean more revenue to be available to promote new artists and prevent piracy. Apple iTunes caved in to pressure from the record companies and introduced variable pricing yesterday, raising the top price for a song to 99p. (Ahmed 2009) Originally before the record industry decided to offer DRM free tracks, iTunes were the only business in the market and they had complete control over the recor d labels and could charge the prices they wanted. But now due to the increased competition the record labels want to create iTunes now have to listen to their suppliers more, and sometimes take on board what they recommend even if they dont believe it will have a positive impact on their business. Thirdly is the bargaining power of the buyers these are customers who use the Apple iTunes service; this will look at what power the customers have over iTunes. iTunes is the largest service online which offers users the ability to download digital music, but customers within the UK are extremely price sensitive especially in this current economic climate where currently the UK is in recession (BBC Business News 2009) When services such as Amazon are offering users the chance to download identical digital music tracks which are DRM free for 29p compared to iTunes 99p consumers may wish to use Amazons service rather than iTunes. Amazon, the online retailer, cut the price of many of its top-selling music downloads on Monday to 29p as it competes for a larger share of the digital music market. (Ahmed 2009) The next force which the model looks at is the threat of substitutes within the market, the market is full of competitors but the majority are very similar to the service which iTunes offers its customers. The threat of substitutes though is great, due to the industry which iTunes operates within. Technology is ever developing, if a new firm was to enter the market and adapt new technology which no other firm had looked at, they would be an innovative service which may be looked upon by consumers as something different and one which they may want to try and use on a regular basis. It is vitally important that Apple iTunes continues to innovate by introducing new ideas and features to its products so that they continue to be the market leaders. As with Amazon in the Ahmed 2009 article, iTunes were persuaded to increase their prices even though Amazon who are trying to gain a foothold into the market continued to have their prices 70p cheaper per track, which could lead Amazon becoming a substitute to the service which iTunes offers. (Ahmed 2009) Finally the inter rivalry of competitors this looks at various factors such as competitive edge, price wars and the market growth rate etc. The digital music market is highly competitive; the market is growing very rapidly. The main aspect of the market is that every business within the market are selling the same digital music to which iTunes are offering all at different prices, this is due the record labels introducing DRM free tracks to create competition for iTunes within the music download market. iTunes are not the cheapest within the market place but have been able to develop a brand image which has led them to major success, they are the market leaders and continue to innovate new successful products. 6. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a general management tool, which consists of four main factors. Two of which are internal factors which look at the micro environment they are the strengths and weaknesses of Apple iTunes. Whilst the other two factors are external to the business looking at the macro environment they are the opportunities and threats of the industry Apple iTunes operates within and are unable to change. Strength is something that iTunes has or something that it carries out, that is considerably better than its competitors. iTunes is a service which is owned and run by Apple; they are a very successful company who have developed many different products such as computers and in more recent years the leading portable media player the iPod. (Apple 2010) The strength of their brand image and its loyal band of customers has meant that iTunes has been able to build on the success of previous products to ensure that Apple iTunes is a success. Relationships were created with the leading record labels early on in the development of iTunes so that they could become the industry leaders in the market; by 2008 they had 80% of the market. (Lynch 2009) The strengths of iTunes are that it is a service offered by a business which has already had major success in the market place with the leading digital music player the iPod, users who have an iPod automatically use iTunes to put music onto their pl ayer which has meant they have been massively successful. Weaknesses are parts of iTunes that are worse than the competition within the market or aspects of iTunes which they could improve upon. iTunes have been forced by record labels to make the cost of using their service higher than many of its competitors; iTunes highest price for the latest music in the charts is 99p where as the main competitor which is Amazon has their highest track at 79p. Amazon is already in second place in terms of market share for digital music, although it started its service only 18 months ago. (Ahmed 2009) In recent times it is believed that Apple are worried that they may be close to market saturation in the future due to not seeing any increase in the sales of their digital music player the iPod which is the hardware which is directly linked to iTunes. Traders were worried by news that iPod sales were no higher than in the previous year. It is vitally important that Apple continue to innovate new products to continue the dominance of Apple iTunes. (Clark 2 008) Opportunities are developments in the external environment which iTunes could look to adapt into their business to improve the service which they offer to their customers. Technology is ever developing and Apple iTunes continually need to be aware of the developments so they are early adopters and can implement the changes into the services they offer their customers. Recently iTunes has developed new features such as television episodes, video and applications which have been added to the iTunes service. But the next opportunity which they could look to adopt is the potential to read books, magazines and newspapers on say for example the latest iPod. Apple is believed to be looking into this, following the market leaders Sony into this market. There are electronic reading devices in existence already, such as Sonys e-Reader and Amazons Kindle. But, publishers hope the unquestioned design talents of Apple will ensure that its latest product is the vehicle that enables them to transfo rm their business models. After all, the iPod has converted millions to the idea of paying to download songs and, to a degree, has revived the music industry, becoming the worlds largest music retailer in the process. (Burrell 2010) Threats are something that is going on in Apple iTunes external environment which is likely to cause them potential future problems. Apple iTunes have been hit by the increasing problem of illegal downloading, which had the effect of devaluing the music for an entire generation of youth. It is estimated that over 95% of all music downloaded is done via illegal methods, which means the music industry and services such as iTunes lose out on the revenue gained by these potential extra sales. Despite strong growth in digital music sales, the industry body for world music estimated that more than 95% of downloaded music was not paid for. (Mostrous 2010) 7. Future Success for Apple iTunes There are many factors involved when discussing if there is potential for future success for Apple iTunes, the report above has look at the industry/market which Apple iTunes operate within and then used that analysis to look at both the micro and macro environment using various models to analyse the prospect of future success for Apple iTunes. There are many factors involved when discussing if there is potential for future success for Apple iTunes, in January 2009 the BPI predicted that the UK spend over  £600 million on digital music in 2012. (Mintel 2009) This should allow Apple iTunes to see that there is still some potential growth within the market even though Apple are worried that they may be close to saturation within the market, due to the sales of the iPod not increasing from 2008 to 2009. Continually there seems to be growth within the industry from 2004-2009 at a massive rate of 340%, (Appendix 2) this rate increase over that period is not going to be sustainable into the future in the current market place due the increased competition and the increased level of illegal downloading activity. iTunes should be aware of this, but if there are more and more successful artists being introduced into the industry there is still potential for more growth in the market for Apple iTunes. DRM free tracks introduced into the market in 2007 meant that Apple had gone from being the only major player in the market, to an industry which now has hundreds of competitors. This meant consumers had much more choice of where they should purchase there digital music from. The record companies realised that Apple had gained dominance of the music on-line delivery i

Risk Assessments Within The Criminal Justice System Essay -- Criminal

Risk assessments are an essential component to the criminal justice system because without them jails and prisons could not perform their duties and would not be as efficient. Risk in principle is a fact, yet danger is an issue of perception, how much will society tolerate. People tolerate a lot of risks without noticing the dangers. Risk assessments let us know what is not easily noticed though they still have some blind spots where studies need to be done. The ways that community correction agencies use risk assessments, the elements that are risk assessed, and strengths and weaknesses of most risk assessments will be discussed. Uses of risk assessments There are various risk assessments that exist. For example, there are different ones for pre-sentencing, parole, and in-between that time with prison and jail time served for appropriate measures to be determined. These will help the offender get what is needed based on the severity of their needs. For instance, the specific treatments and/or programs for rehabilitation to occur the offender will need to notify the right authorities and the way to do that is filling out an assessment of risk. The first issue to be tackled for an offender is a drug referral if needed since other interventions and programs will not have much effect if the offender will not retain them due to drug use. These treatment facilities communicate with the probation officers. They keep them informed on the offender’s progress and/or issues the offender has. The lower risk offenders are eligible for treatment programs. (Loftus, lecture) There are more opportunities that apply to lower risk offenders, not just treatments and programs. Only lower risk offenders in jail have a chance to volunteer for... ...ing education. The weaknesses that were touched upon were social groups, gender gap, and racial influences. Works Cited Gould A. Laurie, Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice, Vol. 6(3) (2010), P. 267–285, Perceptions of Risk, Need, and Supervision Difficulty in the Community Corrections Setting, University of Texas at Arlington, http://www.jstor.org/. Accessed: 9/10/11 Loftus Rebecca PH.D., Lecture on risk assessments, Fall 2011, Probation and Community Probations. Noted: 9/6/11 & 9/8/11 MILLS F. JEREMY AND KRONER G. DARYL, Criminal Behavior and Mental Health Vol. 16 (2006), P. 155–166, The effect of discordance among violence and general recidivism risk estimates on predictive accuracy, 1Bath Institution, Bath, Canada and Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada; 2Pittsburgh Institution, Pittsburgh, Ontario, Canada, http://www.jstor.org/. Accessed: 9/10/11

Mauna Loa: The Fiery Mountain :: essays research papers fc

Mauna Loa: The Fiery Mountain Mauna Loa is Earth’s largest volcano and most massive mountain as it takes up nearly half of the flourishing landscape of the island of Hawai’i. This island is actually made up of five volcanoes, Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea, all in such close proximity that they fused together to form one whole island. Mauna Loa is located in the south central area of Hawai’i, in the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and its coordinates are 19 °5' N, 155 °6' W. It is 13,680 ft above sea level, but if one measures from its true base on the ocean floor, it is estimated to be 30,080 feet tall. Its name is quite fitting as it means â€Å"Tall Mountain†. Mauna Loa is located on a hot spot in the Pacific Ocean. It is not near a plate boundary, in fact it is 3,200 km from the nearest plate boundary, and is situated in the middle of the Pacific tectonic plate. This is actually a rarity, as 90% of volcanoes are along a tectonic plate boundary. A hot spot occurs where long, stationary vertical pools of magma rise up and towards the plate. Movement of the tectonic plates above the hot spot created Mauna Loa, along with the other Hawaiian volcanoes. The older Hawaiian Islands were once above this stationary hot spot, but have been carried northwest by the slowly moving Pacific plate. As the plate moves, it carries the previously formed, older, volcanoes with it, creating a trail of younger, new volcanoes behind. The islands are lined up along the Hawaiian Ridge-Emperor Seamounts chain, which is 3,750 miles and includes Kauai, Maui, Oahu and Hawai’i, from north to south, respectively. There are around 80 volcanoes in this chain; most of them underwater, consequently the term seamount refer to submarine volcanoes. Three volcanoes of Hawai’i, Mauna Loa, Kilauea and Loihi seamount, are all currently sharing the Hawaiian hot spot. Although, recent evidence has shown that all three volcanoes use have separate plumbing systems to expel the lava from the pool of magma deep below them. It has also been suggested that Loihi is slowly moving Mauna Loa from the center of the island, thus shifting directly over the hot spot. The closer to the hot spot a volcano is, the more active it will be. The Hawaiian hot spot has laid down layers of lava, building up enormous islands from the ocean floor.

Racial Diversity and the True Colors of Life Essay -- Sociology Racism

Racial Diversity - The True Colors of Life    Think of the world as a box of crayons. A box in which each color stands in its own designated space. Like these crayons, we each have different shades, tints, and most importantly, we all leave marks on our world when used. Some of us will leave a bold, vivid mark that cannot be unnoticed. For others of us, our mark is soft and subtle. Alone, each crayon can only achieve so much in the expression it can make. The way we express ourselves is limited to our own color that is made up of our customs, culture and experiences in life. It is not until we learn to mix our understandings, beliefs, our experiences, that a new color and expression can be made by each one of us. If we do this, the realm of possiblities for the box expands.    Being a freshman in a new world where all is overwhelming and completely foreign has presented its share of challenges. I have been faced with academic demands that I never experienced in my high school career. Socially, I have strived to find a place to fit in and find acceptance. The challenge I did not anticipate meeting with appreciation, however, is the diversity I have encountered in my first semester of college. For this reason, I have been prompted to take note of the diversity on our campus and to write this essay in an effort to emphasize its cruciality.    A man stands in the center of the quad preaching. In a voice filled with urgency and depth he preaches his belief that Jesus Christ is his salvation and the world's only truth. A young woman asks a panel of her peers, resentment and anger trembling in her voice, why she can not display her lesbian pride sticker on her car without glances of disgust... ...nd success and their place in the crayon box.    I realize the importance of the diversity on our campus and have a gratitude I never new existed. Never before have I embraced meeting my peers with a desire to explore a new culture or discover something about myself never known before. The girl who expresses her sexuality, the man who preaches his faith and the hippies who bead their lives are all beneficial to each and every student who passes them in their rush to class. For the first time in our lives we are trying to find our true identity. We are faced with adverse situations and ideas we are presented with for the first time in our lives. We look at our peers judgments and are forced to make our own. Through those, we discover our true selves. After all, how does a purple crayon know he is purple until he has compared himself to a red?   

Impact of Social Classes Essay

The world that we live in is so immense, that the people who live in it is so diverse in culture, lifestyle, language and even skin color. We live in different environments and countries yet with all these dissimilarities, we share something in common. That is what we call social classes, which was practiced primarily during the beginning of world civilization. Our world began with this system and thereby influenced the generations after them. People were then identified simply as slaves or kings yet very unjust. People eventually awakened from a lengthy stupor and learned to fight for their human rights to exterminate these social strata and discriminations that exist in the society even until today. It is sad but factual and real. Even in the most democratic country, social classes still exist in modern times and manifest in terms of financial, cultural ethnicity and even racial aspects. We still have what we call as upper, middle and lower classes basing on their financial capacity. It is really part of our world but we have grown to be more considerate and tolerant to each other. In the story A&P, the setting of the story happened in a store in a small town five miles away from the beach. People here are generally conservative thus concerned about propriety. The story began when Sammy, who worked as a cashier in this grocery store called A&P saw three young girls who came in the store barefoot, wearing swimming suits. This of course does not occur everyday in this town, so naturally, Sammy and his co-worker Stokesie were stunned. Even the other grocery shoppers were surprised to these girls confidently walking along the aisles looking for something they need to buy. When the girls were on the counter being manned by Sammy, they caught the eye of Mr. Lengel, who manages the store. Mr. Lengel who also teaches Sunday school could not help but approach the girls and told them â€Å"Girls, this isn’t the beach. † This embarrassed the girls and one of them said, â€Å"We are decent†. The girls then paid and hurried to go back to their car outside and leave. Before the girls left, Sammy suddenly told Mr. Lengel that he is quitting his job, deliberately saying it while the girls were of hearing range to present himself as their hero but when he left the store, the girls left already, putting his efforts to nothing. Sammy then realized that his impulsiveness led his to lose his job which can greatly affect his life and his family. Living in different areas in the same country also means having diverse cultures. Urban areas especially the big cities have displays of a more liberated lifestyle compared to the rural ones. The contrasts of these two societies are very apparent in this story. These girls didn’t think they did anything wrong by walking in a store wearing swimming suits but for residents of that community, it was very improper and offensive. Sammy seemed in awe of these girls and impulsively quit his job just to become a momentary hero for them. Seeing this trio of girls who have been used to a different upbringing due to a social class they grew in opened Sammy’s eyes to something different from the one he is used to. The second story was entitled â€Å"Barn Burning† which happened in the 1930’s. It was about an impoverished family led by the father called Abner Snopes, who works for farmers in way of rental contracts. This family has been moving from one farm to another for several years because Abner always gets in trouble. Abner is so full of bitterness and insecurities that pushed him to do ludicrous deeds to the farm owners he works in. His temper heats up even with the slightest provocation and gets consumed with hatred which impels him to burn the barns of the farms who worked for. All these were done witnessed by his two sons, twin daughters, sister-in-law and his wife who tags along with him every time he needed to move. He was put in question in Peace’s courts several times because of his arsonist tendencies. One time, he burned a barn to get back at his neighbor named Mr. Harris because his hog strayed to his neighbor’s property and defiantly refused to return it if he would not pay the fine of a dollar. He then sent a black man whom he calls rudely as a nigger and asks him to pay the dollar to claim his hog and tell the neighbor, â€Å"Wood and hay kin burn. † Later the barn of that neighbor was burned. After the inquest the Snopes family had to move to another farm outside that county. When they arrived at another farm, he immediately paid a visit to the owner of the farm and insisted on going inside the white carpeted house with his filthy shoes and smeared dung on it from his shoes. He was later told in court to pay the farm owner ten bushels of corn which he obviously could not afford since they can barely put food on their table. He then later decided to burn the barn of that farm owner for revenge. The only person in the Snopes’ family, who truly asserted himself to correct the misdeeds of his father, was Abner’s youngest son who was a little boy named Colonel Sartoris Snopes. He wanted his father’s habitual barn burning to be stopped and so told the farm owner of what was happening. Colonerl Sartoris was righteous and did what he believed was the right thing to do even if his father’s barn burning is revealed. I am not trying to defend but understand Abner for the things he did in the story. What he did was wrong and there was no just compelling for his actions but Abner’s behavior was in some ways a result of what society laid as basis for a person’s worth. He became irrational and resorted to violence when he thought he was unfairly treated instead of trying to do things in a proper way. Social classification then was so vividly observable. The owners of a farm are far more affluent compared to the families in the likes of the Snopes’ who does the hard, laborious work of tilling the land, growing the crops then harvesting it yet earning so little for it. The unfairness of that era was evident and created a huge gap between these social classes which affects the lives of those considered as inferior like Abner’s family. They deserved equal opportunity to live a more comfortable and easy life. Sammy and Abner has the same impulsiveness to do what they think could put justice into a situation without thinking of the consequences of their action. Sammy quit his job to show that he dissented the way Mr. Lengel embarrassed the girls which was implied to be a decision that would affect his family. On the other hand, Abner resorted to violence to solve his predicament which apparently worsens his family’s situation. Social stratification affects the lives of the people. It may enrich their lives or curtail their opportunities. These days it is a relief to see that the lines between these classes are not as vivid as during the time of our forefathers and are now slowly fading into progression. There are still destitute men and women on the streets in most communities. There are still discriminations among races and gender. There are still people oppressed by their leaders. But it is evident that in our society today people are more aware of their rights and would definitely fight for it in whatever way they can. These stories showed the development in how people treated each other during these two eras and the history of social classes.

Art Impressionism Essay

Painting Technique & the Making of Modernity† Anthea Callen described the cultural zeitgeist in Paris that paved the way for Impressionism, saying: â€Å"The nineteenth history is characterized in art history as an era of innovation†¦. Science and technology provided painters with a greatly extended range of artists’ materials and pigments, and colour merchants retailed a burgeoning selection of ready-made equipment. It is essential to consider not only the relationship between technological change ad artists’ techniques, but also the new age of which both were a product. She goes on to describe how painting outside became possible with inventions that made it easier to transport easels and paint, which, in turn, aligned with a feeling of egalitarianism and increased democratization of art and of being an artist; the French national motto now is ’Liberte, egalite, fraternite’, meaning â€Å"Liberty, equality, fraternity (brotherhood)†. T his motto, though adopted in the late 19th century, was coined during the French revolution, which by Degas’ time, had had almost 100 years to seep into the collective French conscience. These ideals of overturning monarchy and rejecting hierarchal authority would parallel the perceived headbutting of Impressionist painters against the Academie des Beaux-Arts, the judging body that dominated over who and what style of painting could be shown publicly. The Academie held annual art exhibits that only featured paintings that conformed to its standards. For struggling artists, getting theirs works exhibited gave them a chance at exposure to patrons of the art and could make or break a reputation, start a career, and win admirers as well as fame. Parisian critics of the time largely aligned themselves with the Academie, and were preoccupied with keeping art within a strict and narrow set of guidelines. Anthea goes on to note the power of the art critics of the late 18th century in helping to shape public perception of paintings, stating: â€Å"†¦ The written language of the criticism had the power to interpret the new artistic trends†¦ to a a nineteenth century public both visually untutored and suspicious of change. Therefore art critics, by mediating the meaning of paintings, could successfully defuse the threat of the genuinely radical pictorial statement, disarming it’s political force†¦ † Originally, even the term â€Å"Impressionism† was invented in a critique by then-columnist and art critic Louis Leroy. His first article with the term for the new painting style appeared in the Le Charivari newspaper and used the word â€Å"Impressionist† from Claude Monet’s painting entitled â€Å"Impression Sunrise† (In french, â€Å"Impression, Soleil Levant†). In the article, he made fun of the new style of painting he was unaccustomed to, and sarcastically compared them to wallpaper and mere unfinished sketches. He wrote: â€Å"Impression—I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it †¦ and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape. † In 1874, Parisian artists from the Cooperative and Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers staged an exhibit at the studio of photographer and journalist Felix Nadar. A group of artists composed of Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and a few others organized the original group of paintings to be shown and were eventually joined by Paul Cezanne, Auguste Renoir and others. The exhibit was an open rebellion against the established artistic standards of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, and featured paintings that directly flouted the conventions of the period. The new style of painting, which featured unusual composition, bright paint colors, and prominent, noticeable brush strokes went against almost everything that the Academie stood for. Degas’ â€Å"The Dance Class† is a perfect example of this style. According to art historian Frederick Hart, Degas differs from the Impressionists in that he â€Å"never adopted the Impressionist color fleck† (Hartt 1976, p. 365 Hartt, Frederick (1976). â€Å"Degas† Art Volume 2. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc. : 365. ), but his use of bright colors, his delight at capturing everyday people in the middle of a moment, and his commitment to showing the effects of light and unusual composition were typical of the Impressionist movement. Even Degas himself did not like to align himself with the Impressionist movement, and historian Carol Armstrong points out in her biography of Degas that he did not like to be called an Impressionist: â€Å"He was often as anti-impressionist as the critics who reviewed the shows†¦. Degas was quoted as saying, â€Å"No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and of the study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing. † (Armstrong 1991, p. 22 Armstrong, Carol (1991). Odd Man Out: Readings of the Work and Reputation of Edgar Degas. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-02695-7) Although Degas did not originally like the term, now he is considered a large part of the Impressionist painting movement. Art historian Charles Stuckey defended Degas’ inclusion in the Impressionist cannon â€Å"it is Degas’ fascination with the depiction of movement, including the movement of a spectator’s eyes as during a random glance, that is properly speaking ‘Impressionist’. † (Guillaud and Guillaud 1985, p. 28Guillaud, Jaqueline; Guillaud, Maurice (editors) (1985). Degas: Form and Space. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 0-8478-5407-8) The Impressionist use of color was partly influenced by Japanese prints, in what it was called ‘Japonism’ in France; the late 1800’s was a time of European fascination with the Orient, and with Japanese art in particular. These Japanese prints often made dramatic use of the â€Å"cut-off† composition – where the subject is chopped off at the frame – and Degas uses this visual device in â€Å"The Dance Class† as well as throughout his work. Degas was also heavily influenced by the early years of photography, which by the time of the Impressionists, had technologically advanced to the point of the snapshot camera. The blurriness and accidental cropping off that happened in developing a photograph provided an intriguing new way to look at the world, and Impressionists patterned their compositions in ways similar to the new photographs that had captured the public imagination. Like those photographs and Japanese prints, Degas overturns traditional compositional rules, and does so in many ways in â€Å"The Dance Class†; the composition is asemetrical, the the dancers from unusual angles and viewpoints, as though Degas was trying to capture a glimpse that a passing viewer might have. These elements of composition were quite radical for those times, and critics reacted strongly and negatively to Degas’ depictions of ballerinas. In of Degas’ paintings, dancers were shown backstage or in rehearsal, emphasizing their status as professionals doing a job. This contrasted with their public, glamorous persona, and echoed the Impressionist idealization and infatuation with everyday situations–again, a turn away from the focus of the Academie’’s preference of religious and mythological themes. The subject matter of Impressionism is often casual, everyday life, captured with an immediacy enhanced by transient effects of light and atmosphere. In this work, it seems as though the moment depicted is one the viewer happened upon; perhaps walking backstage. In no way do the figures seem posed, or, for that matter, poised. This was a radical departure from how paintings prefered by the Academie treated their subjects, and critics strongly reacted. Wrote Camille Mauclair in 1903: Not only does he amuse himself with noting the special movements of the dancers, but he also notes the anatomical defects. He shows with cruel frankness, with a strange love of modern character, the strong legs, the thin shoulders, and the provoking and vulgar heads of these frequently ugly girls of common origin. With the irony of an entomologist piercing the coloured insect he shows us the disenchanting reality in the sad shadow of the scenes, of these butterflies who dazzle us on the stage. He unveils the reverse side of a dream without, however, caricaturing; he raises even, under the imperfection of the bodies, the animal grace of the organisms; he has the severe beauty of the true. † (THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS(1860-1900)BY CAMILLE MAUCLAIR Translated from the French text of Camille Mauclair, by P. G. Konody. 1903) â€Å"The Dance Class† shows many ballerinas at the end of a dance lesson. The asymmetrical composition has the whole bottom right completely empty space while the upper left of the canvas is full of figures. Several ballerinas are cut off at the edge of the painting (like photographs and Japanese prints), and they are in the middle of preening, slumping and seem completely unengaged while watching their teacher, the principal figure in the middle of the canvas. Degas closely observed the most spontaneous, natural, ordinary gestures, and was reported to regularly watch dance practices at the Paris Opera, and shows one ballerina scratching her back while looking on, disinterested and seated on top of a piano. Degas took pains to show these women as they really were: tired and inattentive ballerinas at the end of what undoubtedly was a long and athletically rigorous grueling rehearsal. This depiction exemplifies what Impressionism stood for: a desire for ordinary people to be elevated as worthy of being depicted in art, a desire to capture movement and vibrant color, and a turn away from the rules and confines of the desires of the art elite. Perhaps Degas himself might not like it, but he most certainly characterizes Impressionism perfectly!