Clean Edge Razor Case

Problem Statement: Paramount has become a market leader in global consumer products; but knows that innovation is vital to continue success. Paramount has used technology to create an innovative razor, but wants to make sure that it is positioned effectively. Situation Analysis: * Customers: Male consumer products have been trending upward in the last decade. The customer segments are broken up into three areas; social/emotional, involved razor users, and uninvolved or maintenance users. Social/emotional are responsible for 39% of Nondisposable razors, Involved is for 28%, and maintenance users account for 33%.In 2009 consumers razors and replacement cartridges at a higher rate than ever before. * Competitors: Competition includes direct competition as well as substitutes for Nondisposable razors. In 2010 the three major players were Paramount, Prince, and Benet & Klein (B&K). Prince mainly focuses on super-premium products. B&K entered the Nondisposable market in 1985. There are als o new entrants which account for the rest of the market. In 2010 Paramount is expected to have a 21. 4% dollar market share. * Company: Paramount is a large consumer products company with $7 billion in gross profit in 2009.The current Nondisposable razor line has products in both the market and value customer segments. The Clean Edge Razor is the first Nondisposable razor produced by Paramount that has a technological innovation. Paramount is relying on the Clean Edge Razor to increase sales and earn more market share in the Nondisposable razor category. * Context: In 2011 the effects of a recession are becoming less drastic than in years before. Customers have more disposable income and companies have more money to spend on investments such as media/advertising and R&D. Collaborators (retailers): In 2009 food stores represented 42% of all razors and cartridges. Other distributors include drug stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, and other distributors. As SKU’s increase, shelf space is increased to accommodate for all of the different products. Distributors are willing to increase shelf space because the margin on razors is high compared to other consumer products. Alternatives: Position the Clean Edge Razor as a niche product for highly involved groomers looking for a superior shaving experience. Pros * Less cannibalization. Social shavers right now aren’t interested in the Pro or Avail razor. Paramount is concerned with the overall profitability of all the razor lines. By positioning the Clean Edge Razor as a niche product, the brand equity of Pro and Avail won’t be as affected as if the Clean Edge Razor was positioned as mainstream. The current customer segment for emotional shavers is 39%. With over 1/3 of the customer segment involved with emotional razor purchases there is a decent sized market that could use the benefits of the Clean Edge Razor. * The net operating profit based on financial analysis is higher than the mainstrea m positioning strategy.There are advantages of positioning the as a niche product. Advantages * One advantage is that customers will be more involved, so they will take the time to research the product. After the consumer investigates the Clean Edge Razor, he will be able to tell that there is a clear advantage and the Clean Edge Razor is the best option. * Another possible advantage could be that Paramount could increase the size of the social/emotional market. Cons * Clean Edge Razor is losing out on potential sales because the market is much smaller. * Another con is the negative brand awareness.Even if Paramount created the greatest razor of all time, the brand wouldn’t become stronger because only people who know about razors would know that Paramount is making technological innovations. Through a niche market Paramount would need to rely on their other razors to remain relevant to the mass market. This could prove to be difficult as other companies continue to come out with new razors. Disadvantages * The investment spent on R&D to create the Clean Edge Razor was substantial; it will take longer to earn back the money spent on developing the Clean Edge Razor.Position the Clean Edge Razor to the Mass Market Pros * More people will be exposed to the product. This will lead to greater sales. This will also improve brand equity. Through this positioning strategy Paramount will have a razor in each segment. * Although not as profitable, this positioning strategy will still make a profit and build brand equity. Advantage * Paramount will be viewed as innovative and keeping up with competition. A company that is stagnant falls behind. Through marketing this razor to everyone, Paramount will be viewed as taking the next step to create the best razor.Currently Paramount isn’t working on any other innovative razors so this technology will have to be available to all different types of customers. Cons * One con is that not everyone will know how the v ibration will help prevent a better shave. There are also a lot of people who don’t need a superior razor; they are content with the razor the way it is. * Another con is that the razor will have to be priced lower than if it were a niche position due to competition. * Money spent on advertising. Based on the pro forma; it would cost roughly $12million more to advertise to the mass market.This is risky if the Clean Edge Razor doesn’t do as well as forecasted. Disadvantage * Cannibalization. Currently Pro and Avail have 22. 2% of the volume of razors sold, the largest of any pair or razors. Introducing a razor in the same market with more features will damage the sales of both the Pro and Avail. * This will also negatively impact the brand power of Paramount when the numbers are revealed and it shows that Pro and Avail are not doing as well as expected. * Based on financials this is the worst strategy to pursue. Recommendation: It is important for Paramount to grow the Clean Edge Razor as well as the Pro and Avail.I recommend that the company position the Clean Edge Razor for one year as a niche position and then position the Clean Edge Razor as a mass-market razor for everyone to use. Pros: * Through using a bit of both positioning strategies Paramount will receive the best of both worlds. One pro is less cannibalization of Pro and Avail in the first two years while consumers are adapting to the Clean Edge Razor. By the time the Clean Edge is positioned as a razor for everyone; the 39% of people who have already been exposed to the Clean Edge will be able to differentiate this razor from the Pro and Avail.The cannibalization after the first two years won’t be as severe because people will have already been exposed to the Clean Edge Razor. * A lower price when the product is positioned differently will lead to a larger share of social shavers. The social shavers that have been paying a premium price will be happy to pay less money. The othe r social shavers that don’t use the Clean Edge will be more likely to use the shaver because the price will be lower; meaning the consequence of the razor not meeting expectations will decrease. The sales will increase dramatically after the second year due to more potential customers. Based on my financial statements the net profit is slightly larger than the niche positioning strategy by itself. * Growing brand equity and positive word of mouth advertising through social shavers telling friends and family Cons: * Regardless of the positioning strategy there will still be some cannibalization. * Social shavers may see the change in positioning as a shift in quality and think that a lower price will equate to a bad razor. * The incremental net profit may be too similar to the niche positioning strategy to risk damaging brand power. Implementation Plan:On January 1, 2011 I will tell production to manufacture the Clean Edge Razor just as if we were pursuing a niche positioning strategy. We will spend the $14 Million dollars in advertising on specialty male health and fitness magazines, television shows, and radio stations. We will also be relevant on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. There will be contests with our razors and customers will get the opportunity to spread word-of-mouth about the Clean Edge Razor. Paramount expects to make over $52 million, with most of that coming in the second year because the first year is mainly niche positioning.It is safe to say that $20-$23 million will be made in the first year. During September we will launch a new campaign positioning the razor as the everyday man’s razor with advanced technology. During this time we will also run a smaller ad campaign for the Pro and Avail marketing the razors as reliable and a staple of the razor market. This is why advertising increases overall in the combination strategy. Paramount is expecting cannibalization regardless, but using a mix of both strategies will help offset the large cannibalization from just using the mass marketing strategy.This will benefit Paramount as a company because Clean Edge Razor will be exposed to every customer segment while still trying to maintain the brand power of Pro and Avail. This strategy will benefit the brands as much as possible. Also, the financials in the Appendix support this strategy over the niche and mass marketing positioning strategies. Cannibalization is inevitable; but it is vital that customers from all segments see that Paramount is an innovative company determined to find new ways to benefit their customers. Appendix

Statement of Purpose(S.O.P.).Doc

Statement of Purpose (S. O. P. ) Date:- 30-Aug-2011. I am applying for admission to the IIML – Executive Programme For Young Managers – EPYM – 01 I am interested in factors that affect the competitive performance of a business concern, and the manner in which changes in technology affect an organisation's structure, long-term business strategy, supply chains, distribution network, information needs and standard systems. In order to gain an appreciation of these and related issues, it is essential for me to have a strong grounding in Economics, Supply Chain Management, and issues connected with International Trade, as well as gain a General Management perspective. I believe that the Executive Programme For Young Managers – EPYM – 01 would be invaluable in helping me achieve these objectives. It would enable me to channel my quantitative and conceptual skills in analysing business issues. I would like to apply for the management position where I believe, the innovativeness and having capability of putting extra efforts would definitely help me to prosper personally and professionally. I take this opportunity to brief on my background, I had completed my Diploma In Course in Electronics and radio Engineering from Cusrow Wadia Institute of Technology, Pune. After passing out I have successfully completed various course related to International Business. One of the courses I had completed is a regular part-time one year course from a Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Trade, Pune. Presently I am Working In an Export firm called Indimet Pvt. Ltd, Pune having an overseas office Indimet Inc. in USA in our Organizations I am involved interaction with people at all levels of the value chain, and at organizational levels from the Chairman to a packing clerk. I am fully responsible for Import and Export of the Company from packing the goods upto payment receipt from the customer against our Exports. The time limitation on each level of Export and Import assignment has taught me to plan well, work systematically and keep my reports up-to-date. At the same time, having to defend my analyses and recommendations, during both internal discussions and presentations to clients, has taught me to think rigorously and creatively. Our extensive use of computers for analysis and preparation of presentations and reports has made me familiar with spreadsheet, word processing and presentation packages. Still there are some core areas to study International business and its related issues in depth. I realise that in order to be able to do so, I need a better understanding of the various facets of management; the interlinkages between different functional areas and between different business entities. I want to do an Executive Programme For Young Managers – EPYM – 01 from IIM Lucknow for many reasons. I heard about this course from browsing in to internet for a management programs from the reputed institutes. Through this course I believe that I could improve upon my skills in International; Trade and also in understanding the business in more depth. Learnnig from IIML is a need for a Middle level professional will help to achieve a lot in person as well as for the Organisation. Also the contributions by this institute to academics of business have been unique. The fact that your students would be future leaders to take on the real business experience gives confidence that my dreams would also come true. I believe it would provide increased opportunities and brand to be a global contributor . I hope you will take a favorable decision regarding my admission and I look forward to join such an esteemed institute.

Ethanol vs methanol as gasoline supplement Research Paper

Ethanol vs methanol as gasoline supplement - Research Paper Example The saturated hydrocarbons are the major components of gasoline mainly alkenes like 2-methyl-2-butene, alkanes like isooctane and cycloalkanes. In addition it also contains oxygenators which are pre used hydrocarbons that contain oxygen and are good substitutes for aromatics besides reducing the smog forming properties of exhaust gases. They include ethanol, methanol, methyl tertiary butyl ether and tertiary amyl methyl ether. Gasoline contains octane enhancers, aromatics like benzene, and blending agents to make high quality gasoline by adding preservatives. Methanol is used as safe way of storing energy. It is yielded by recycling carbon dioxide gas from its toxic state to inexhaustible carbon source. It is also environmental friendly due to its reductive conversion from carbon dioxide. It can also be converted to di-methyl ether which possesses a high calorific value and is an excellent diesel and house hold gas substitute. In addition methanol and related oxygenates can be made f rom carbon dioxide through aqueous electro-catalytic reduction without prior electrolysis of water to yield hydrogen leading to formation of oxygenated fuels through electrolytic conversion of water and carbon dioxide. ... When used as a fuel the engine of the motor vehicle must be designed to run on high alcohol levels (Dewick, Green and Miozzo 134). Also fuels containing ethanol release less energy compared to non-alcoholic fuels. Being an excellent solvent it dissolves fuel system parts, rubbers, plastic, fiber glass and to some extent aluminum. In addition the rubber that is used to in the fuel system parts shrink, swell or loose strength when exposed to ethanol reformulated gasoline. Methanol can be used as alternative fuel in small petrol engines having an advantage over gasoline because it is liquid under atmospheric pressure and also its energy density is about half of that of gasoline (Liu and Zhang 56). The distribution of methanol uses the same infrastructure as for distributing gasoline. The vehicles that are to use methanol needed to be installed with direct methanol fuel cells in contrast to hydrogen consuming devices which require liquid fuel to deliver power to run the automobiles. Use of methanol as fuel is eco-friendly hence posing intrinsic advantages to the environment than using gasoline as it enables efficiency of the engine, greater power density and it is cost effective (Liu and Zhang 55). DISCUSSION Ethanol is hygroscopic and an excellent solvent. Ethanol is added at gasoline pumps after the gas has been produced and delivered at the major gas refinery because of the risk of water contamination when traveling through the pipelines. Studies have shown that 10% ethanol gasoline dissolves 50 times more water than the conventional non-alcohol gasoline. Water dissolves in an ethanol blended fuel leading to the occurrence of phase separation (Miller and Spoolman 420-425). Phase separation of gasoline occurs because too much water is absorbed

Environmental Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Environmental Economics - Essay Example This paper compares Command-and-Control and Economic Incentive approaches. "Command and control" regulations focus on preventing environmental problems by specifying how a company will manage a pollution-generating process† (Stuart) In this type of approach to regulation of pollution, the companies which are responsible for pollution should take necessary precautions to prevent the environment pollution due to their activities. For example, industrial units mostly produce lot of toxic gases and solid wastes which generally they disposed to the land or sea improperly. Waste treatment plants are made compulsory with every industrial unit by implementing "Command and control" regulations. Command and control approaches were effective up to certain extent to reduce the industrial pollution. Periodical inspections from the governmental agencies forced the industrial units to keep tight control over the polluted materials it generated. Economic incentive approach is the way of controlling environmental pollution by offering economic incentives. In this approach, those who take effective measures to control environmental pollution will be rewarded and strict penalties will be enforced for those who destroy the environment. Pigovian Taxes, emission fees, abatement subsidies and tradable permit system are some of the common methods taken in the Economic incentive approach. Pigovian Taxes is a kind of special tax that is  often levied on companies that pollute the environment or create excess social costs, called negative externalities,  through  business practices. In a true market economy, a Pigovian tax  is the most efficient and effective  way to correct negative  externalities (Pigovian Tax) The main objective of this tax is to incorporate the social cost of the environment problems caused by the polluter. Thus the polluters will be forced to control their polluting activities because of the fear of the heavy Pigovian

Organizational Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organizational Theory - Essay Example These standards have arisen without sound testing of whether these standards are, in fact, objective measures of quality (Eichler 1988). Wilson's views are in part countered by Stephen Linstead who while acknowledging the quality of Wilson's work argues that it does a disservice to the main thinkers who laid the theoretical groundwork of the modern O.T. This paper will raise the arguments of these two views and attempt to evaluate them on their respective merits . Wilson's review goes over a great deal of research in the field of O.T and consistently finds evidence of gender blindness in O.T. In covering the research and challenging the assumptions of the studies from the perspective of her thesis of gender blindness she raises many questions for further research. Sometimes the questions raised contradict one another such as the indexing of absolute standards to male attributes and not to the consideration of the objective value of such indices's and whether sometimes so called female attributes may in some cases be the true standard(Eichler 1988); then she later calls into question the whole debate of the study of differences as a pursuit without rationale in light of changing workforce patterns, but to draw this out as a structural flaw in her argument is really not fair since she is challenging individual research conclusions on their original assumptions and not trying to make overarching conclusions about gender differences but rather asking researchers to at least adopt paradigms that allow for new questions(Wilson 1996). This spirit of valuable inquisition runs through her article. In an important highlight of this work She brings many strongly held notions to task such as the idea of assertiveness in itself being a virtue and asks why the relational aspect of O.T has rested on the male idea of hierarchy structures being based on power and authority rather than the attribute va luation emphasized in the female style of management( Rosener 1990) . This is in essence summed up as the difference between a hierarchal schema and a web based organization where relational values are emphasized(Crawford and Maracek 1989). Later she makes the strong argument that the traditionally thought of distinctions of male assertiveness is based more in power relations than in the notion of gender(Snodgrass 1992). To dismiss her review as a reflexive call to focus solely on the gender inequities is do her an injustice as she herself denigrates the notion of analysis based on that approach. Rather she calls for an actual consideration of gender in Organizational Theory especially in light of the increasing role of women in the workforce. This is especially important since the researchers such as Richard Brown (1976) and Janet Wolff (1977) have noted the inequities that Wilson argues for some time without much change. Stephen Linstead acknowledges the quality of Wilson's review and agreeingthat the modern technical studies of OT are guilty of the gender blindness that Wilson claims but he disagrees with Wilson about the early theorists such as Laslow and Weber , Taylor and Mayo. These men he argues were not gender blind but rather suppressed gender as they did other variables to arrive at a theoretical framework that was applicable in a

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

Resources - Essay Example It is an established fact that humans need certain basic things to survive in this world, which include food, clothing and shelter. Rapid population growth and increased urbanization have made shelter one of the most critical problems around the world. The earth’s carrying capacity or the amount of inhabitants it can sustain in terms of food, water and housing is limited and specific (Ehrlich, 1990). The increasing population does not commensurate with the resources as there is no change in resources. Resultantly, there is going to be an extreme shortage of resources with every passing day. Besides the reduced availability of land for accommodation, there are a number of other devastating effects of over population. All other resources like food, clean water are inter linked with the land; at present more than 99% of food supply comes from land and only 1% is obtained from oceans and other water habitats (Pimentel et al., 1994). The other implication of rapid growth and less land availability is the issue of human and factories’ waste, which if not disposed off properly, can cause a number of health problems like typhoid and cholera (United Nation, 1991, p. 219). The world is becoming a place where the human population is becoming more and more crowded thereby increasing the needs of life. The challenges for the engineers in provision of basic needs to humans like water, sanitation, nutrition, health care, safety are also increasing with every passing day. In next 20 years, expected increase in population is two billion, out of which 95% in developing and 5% in under developed countries. Such huge growth is going to increase the extraordinary requirement for energy, food, waste disposals, health care, ecological onslaught, telecommunication and transportation networks. The role of engineers in providing matching response to these requirements will be very critical and vital (Amadei,

Research Paper focusing on prison life and strategies to decrease

Focusing on prison life and strategies to decrease recidivism upon an inmate's release from prison - Research Paper Example Any action against the law comes under consideration as a crime and that person is liable of punishment. However, it can come under many arguments that whether a person’s behavior or perspective related to performing crime changes after getting punishment for the crimes he committed. Crime is a grave subject in the twenty first century that leaves an indelible imprint on not only the victims but also the person behind the crime and society as a whole. Due to the acceleration in the crime rate and criminals, the need for more and more prisons comes under the observation. The justice system in a society is present in order to alleviate crime and provide security to the denizens, which is their fundamental right. United States of America is one of those countries that have strong and powerful justice system. There are two types of courts, one is state court, and the other is federal court, and two kinds of trials, namely criminal and civil in U.S. justice system (Pierce, 2006). T here are many types of justice systems, out of which Criminal justice system is one to mention. The criminal justice system comprises of many aspects and prison is its one important feature. Imprisonment is a punishment given by law to a person who has committed crime. There are many reasons for having a prison in the U.S. Retribution is one of the prime reasons to have prison. The criminals involved in social crimes such as robbery, kidnapping, rape, murder etc comes under penalty by imprisoning them. By holding-back the criminals from their independence, law force them to pay for the loss or damage they made to the society. Another reason of having prisons in U.S. is incapacitation. In order to make the society free from the terror of criminals and to curb their activities, authorities throw the criminals into the prisons. Fear of punishment may develop amongst the prisoners while in the prison, which acts as a caution to prevent them from performing crimes in the future. This pur pose of prisons comes under the name of Deterrence. One more key intention of having prisons is Rehabilitation. It includes a series of activities and procedures where criminals undergo therapies in order to bring a change in their thinking and mindset. A psychologist or community activists are helpful in achieving this motive. Education and skill development programs can also play a vital role in transforming the criminals into disciplined denizens (Pierce, 2006). Though the purpose of making prisons is present in a fruitful manner, it is not necessary that the conditions to accomplish these objectives come under witness. The conditions of U.S. prisons seem to be horrible. According to sources (Barkan & Bryjak, 2011), the employee responsible for keeping an eye and managing prisoners tend to abuse them verbally, physically, mentally and emotionally. It has also come under observation that the prisoners get inhuman treatment by the authorities. In addition, discrimination on basis o f race and color exists between the prisoners and they form separate groups on basis of it. Food quality in the prisons of U.S. is low, causing multiple health issues, some of which results in deaths (Barkan & Bryjak, 2011). Convicts in high security prisons, come under deprivation from fresh atmosphere and socializing, as they stay in loneliness inside an undersized, dark room for whole day where they feel

Plantwide and Department Allocation Methods within an Activity Based Essay

Plantwide and Department Allocation Methods within an Activity Based Costing System - Essay Example Costs are first allocated from resource cost pools such as plant wide and department cost allocations. The resource cost pools may associate materials and labor costs. Second, resource drivers are identified. Resource drivers are also called cost drivers that measure the consumption of resources by an activity and assign costs to such consumption. The result of the assignment is an activity cost pool for each activity. Plant wide and department allocation methods are derived from the allocation of overheads to production and service departments and then reallocating service departments cost to production departments in order to obtain the plant wide cost allocation. On the other hand, the ABC system assigns overheads to each major activity instead of departments. Therefore, the plant wide and department cost allocations are primarily used during identification of resource drivers and assignment of costs of resource consumption by an activity. However, because of the complexity and large number of cost centers needed in an ABC system, plant wide and department allocation method are still widely used in performance measurement. The ABC system is utilized in strategic decision making processes such as pricing, cost reduction, and customer profitability (Drury,

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Research Proposal - Essay Example In essence, public policy has played a key part in addressing the issue of poverty (Lee 2006). Assessment of governments’ use of public policy in addressing the issue of poverty is a concern that needs to be articulated upon comprehensively since poverty has been widely known to carry luggage of other economic and social dev elopements. For example, studies have documented that if the issue of poverty can be solved, several other issues such as GDP can be partially be solved. In another dimension, study of how public policy can be used in eradicating poverty can be argued to possess great impact on identifying and raising issues that can help governments in making necessary measures that can help solve not only poverty issue but also other problems affecting the public (Chaturvedy 2005). In addition, in the process of investigating the phenomena at hand, it is apparent that different frameworks of how different governments have used in utilisation of public policy in addressin g public issues will be highlighted. This way, there will be a broader spectrum of how identified frameworks by successful governments can be applied by unsuccessful governments. In essence, the concern of the study will also try to interpret the differences that are recorded in different approaches of public policies in addressing public issues. 1.1 Research Questions Can public policy be used to solve the issue of poverty? In what ways can public policy be used to solve the issue of poverty? What are effects of failure to use public policy in solving the issue of poverty? 1.2 Objectives of the Study General objective To investigate if public policy can be used to solve the issue of poverty Specific objectives To assess ways in which public policy can be used to solve the issue of poverty To find out the effects of failure to use public policy to solve the issue of poverty 1.3 Conceptual Framework Independent variables Independent variable 2 Literature review Application of public policy in addressing public problems One of the apparent functions of public policy is the creation of legislations of social policies. In fact, as Lee 2006 asserted, the initial step in solving poverty issue is by putting social legislations in place. In this regard, the issue of public policy comes in. Nevertheless, focus on how an issue like poverty can be solved needs a clear articulation of several things. Basically, a government needs to conduct some research and evaluate the necessary steps to be taken in order to solve the problem. The below sections highlight some areas that governments can put public policy into action in order to curb the menace of poverty. 2.1 Creation of Labour Institutions One of the challenges of eradicating poverty is the issue of unemployment and poor employment conditions. Studies have indicated that countries with high unemployment rates experiences lower economic growth and are reported to have a higher level of poverty than counties with higher employment rates (Chaturvedy 2005). Poverty can be defined under

Critical response for spelling bee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical response for spelling bee - Essay Example The words in the script are hilarious; therefore the feedback from the audience only depends on how the actors just portray their characters and how the other elements on the stage coordinate with each other. After watching the performance, it seems like the playwright intends to provoke a light and interactive feeling between the actors and the audience. Empathy is prioritized than aesthetic distance, meaning the audience’s general response with the story must be more of involvement. On the other hand, the technical aspect of the performance corresponds to the stage elements. First is to evaluate the stage background. The stage background is a wall made of bricks installed with bulletins displaying protocols that must be followed inside the school. Along with these bulletins is the basketball ring board implying one of the activities at which students usually participate. Considering this view, it can be concluded that the background is sufficient enough to describe the setting of the story. Next to consider are the props or the properties of the stage. The props set on stage include the essential components of a typical classroom such as the chairs and the professor’s table. A trophy placed on top on the table located at the center of the stage is satisfactory to describe that the plot is all about competition between the characters. The position of the props specifically the arrangement of the chairs and the tables are definitely right to control the bl ocking of actors during the performance. The only conflicts that can be observed in the stage are the messy bottles of water used by the actors to quench their thirst and the monochromatic lighting pattern. The dim-focus lighting effect is not sufficient to support the dialogues of the actors at certain scenes. Overall, at this point, it can be deduced that the stage manager of the production is well informed in this type of craft. To complete this assessment, the

Kathak and Social Communication Essay Example for Free

Kathak and Social Communication Essay Social Science and Communication ‘Kathak’ is one of the most popular forms of Indian classical dance. We have grown up watching it in movies from UmraoJaanuptoDevdas. Most young girls in India even start learning kathak right from the tender age of 5 years. However is kathak just a simple cultural product of the country that can be counted among the artistic treasures of this land or is there a larger understanding to the same? Through this article we shall travel through the journey of time and see how a thing as simple and pure as an ancient dance form can tell us the stories of the cultural, religious, political transformations of the country. The Fifth Veda Traditionally the Hindu society was divided in five varnas – Brahmins (intellectuals), Kshatriya (warriors), vaishya (merchants), shudra (manual labourers), achoot (untouchables). The purpose of this form of division was to have a more organized society by distributing it on basis of the type of work performed. However with time this became a hierarchical division of the society which led to oppression of the lower caste (shudra untouchables) by the upper caste members. In this entire struggle for power the holy hindu scriptures (the Vedas) remained as the sole possession of the Brahmins or the educated class. Any attempt to even touch these holy texts by members of the lower caste was considered a crime. Even our holy text of Ramayana narrates an incident where lord Ram (mariyadapurushottam) chops of the head of a person from the lower caste when he attempts to read the Vedas. The shudra’s were forbidden to listen to these puranas (holy texts). (Massey, 1999) It’s believed that looking at this state of the society gods asked Lord Brahma to devise something which would be accessible to all and bind this society together. This is how the fifth veda or Natya Veda was born. The Hindu epics have stories of brahma teaching Bharata (the then king of Bharat what we know as India) the Natya Veda and later his 100 sons became the authorities of music, dance and drama. The Bharat NatyaShashtra has been variously dated from 2nd century BC to 3rd century AD. This Veda was common for all sections of society and all genders. Stories and teaching were told through dance. This is where we saw the birth of Kathak as a dance form. Kathak Kathak is derived from the root word Katha which means story. Kathak as a dance form was used to narrate stories mainly mythological stories primarily for the function of educating people. This was the only form in which people of all castes and genders could share their learning. This dance form was spread far and wide through abhinayawhich meaning ‘a carrying to the spectators’. This form of dance contained various components:(Massey, 1999) Kathak Abhinaya Sentiment and Mood Pure Dance Dramatic Element Vachik: poetry, song, recitation, music and rhythm Aharya: costume, make-up, jewellery Satvik: physical manifestation of mental and emotional states Angik: gestures of the body Nritya Nritta Natya Caste Politics The Hindu caste divide that Kathak tried to dissolve eventually took another form of dominations. The Brahmins saw this movement as a loss of their supremacy and power; hence they brought in another angle to the same. According to the Brahmins since dance was nothing but another form of worshiping god they had the supreme say in these matters. The social anthropology of Kathak dancers in history is thus highly fascinating as it got equated to the priestly caste and even the kathak gurus in the northern belt of india represented the Brahmin status.(Booth, 2005) The Brahmins not only separated this form of dance from its core purpose of binding people across various castes but also hit the gender angle by bringing in the concept of devdasi . These were women who were dedicated to dance and sing only for god. These women were neither allowed to marry, nor have have any form of physical relationships. Thus the power game was won by the Brahmins by playing their cards of caste and gender politics. Gender Politics Traditionally Kathak was meant to be a platform accessible to all. It defamiliarises the ordinary sexual and social experience of women and men as people. Indian mythology also reveals various stories exemplifying gender ambiguity, androgyny, sex transformations, male pregnancy, and erotica through some of the metaphorical discourses related to gods, goddesses, heavenly nymphs, and demons, as well as sages, ascetics and yogis. There have been innumerable examples of transcending gender in kathak. Men dressed like women and performed. The concept of gender in the Natya Veda is highly complex. It believes that gender is past our physical being, it is connected with our soul and souls aspire for the realisation moksha which can only be achieved when one can get free from the shackles of bodily existence. As per the Tantric school of thought the Supreme Being is conceptualised as one complex sex, comprises of both male and female (on the right and left side respectively). In order to attain salvation one must be able to transcend these shackles of one’s sex.(Shah, 1998) Even in the Pre-Vedic literature Shiva is known as ardhanarishwara, which means containing the polarities of both male and female force in the form of Shiva-Shakti. Dance is an important means by which cultural ideologies of gender difference are reproduced. Through movement vocabulary, costuming, body image, training, and technique, discourses of dance are often rooted in ideas of natural gender difference However as time passed Kathak also came under the purview of the political game of gender and it’s got labelled with the tag of being a dance form only for the females. Even the stories narrated through kathak like the stories of lord Krishna have got adapted. Earlier it was believed that Radha was Krihna’shladini Shakti and not different from him, hence the dance was performed in a semi-circular manner where the same dancer took the roles of both Krishna and Radha. However, now these roles are performed by different actors.(Chatterjee, 1996) CHANGING DIMENSIONS OF WOMEN The birth of Kathak took place with the Benarasgharana of kathak which was then ruled by the Rajputs. This dance form then travelled to Jaipur establishing the Jaipur gharana of kathak. Though both these forms were highly dominated by females they still had a great respect in terms of an art of telling stories of god and educating others on the powers of truth , righteousness etc. However when the Mughal’s invading our country and the marriage of JodhaBai and Akbar took place two cultured merged together. The Mughals got dancers from Persia and captured women form india and got them trained in kathak. It’s from this time onwards that Kathak got labelled as the courtesans dance what we today call as tawa’if or prostitutes.(Massey, 1999) The costumes changed and the new gharana of Kathak was born which is today the most famous one – Luckhnowgharana. The dressed changed from the ghaghra (like a long skirt) to chudidar. The dresses were tighter at the bust and presented the women as a sexually desirable object. A lot of change took place in the basic hand movements and presentation if the dance and a dance that used to tell the love story of Krishna and Radha at one time became a dance form with movements meant to entice men. In the whole power struggle and caste politics it was the women who suffered the most and were heavily exploited. DURING THE COLONIAL INDIA During the British colonial rule dance became a tool of rebellion and political resistance. It demonstrated unity and power. The dancing women’s position changed from ‘pure and pious’ to ‘fallen and sinful’ and hence either victims or perpetuators of the evil of dance. Women were encouraged to display their beauty, energy, skill, sensuality and seductiveness in dance. Thus for the fear of saving there girls from the being looked on as an object of desire dance became a tabooed activity for members of society especially the upper caste. This mindset exists even today, as we don’t see many girls from the upper class of society taking up dancing. However these mind sets are changing gradually.(Reed, 1998) GURU and SHISHYA As per Natyashashtra an acharya or teacher should have an intrinsic knowledge of vocal and instrumental music, dance, rhythm and movement. He should further have imagination, intelligence, creative faculty, memory, sharpness and capacity to shape the taught. The shishyas, or the taught, on the other hand should be intelligent, retentive, appreciative, devoted, enthusiastic and must have an innate desire to excel. This form of teaching has been continued over time however the essence of the relation has got lost with the loss of the pure and pious status of dance. CULTURAL SYMBOL Today Kathak has been attributed with various new meanings on the global platform like * Traditional heritage of India * Carrier of Indian culture * Indianness * Recounting the significant past Today kathak has become a cultural commodity that gets sold in form of a few dance shows and performances however it has lost its original purpose and ethos(Royo, 2004) KATHAK AND MOVIES Kathak has always been used as an important tool in cinema. In 1955 classic, JhanakJhanakpayalBaje by V. Shantaram the film’s hero, Ghirdar competes for artistic supremacy in Kathak dance against another dancer Ram Prasad. Ghirdar’s triumph is ensured during the last series of rhythmic systematic turns or chakkras which he performs elegantly, however his opponent is left all dizzy. Ghirdhar here is from Varanasi, the birthplace of kathak and the ultimate hindu city and his opponent is from Agra the Mughal capital which is associated with the more popular kathakgharana of lucknow. Thus kathak was used to demonstrate a state of communal tension in the country. This art form was also reduced to mockery when UstadHalimJaffar Khan, who worked on Kohinoor, and other films, with Naushad Ali (Kohinoors music director), explains that the singing in this scene was undertaken by Niyaz Ahmad: Naushad spoke to him about this scene. He said, Please forgive me Khan-saheb, but for this scene please sing some tans and things, but in a comic way, in a foolish way. And Nyaz Ahmad agreed to do that Even in later films kathak remained as a dance of the prostitutes through movies like umraojaan. And even today when we have become more liberal in our thinking and claim to have crossed these old regressive practices the choreographers still use kathak in a ovie like devdas only for the character of chandramukhi, who plays a prostitute. Also today’s concert stage kathak is more focused of fast, complex, rhythmic footwork and tracing handwork rather than the old ethos of the dance which had its core around freedom, liberalization, unity, storytelling, love and expression of oneself.(Chakravorty, 2006) CONCLUSION A cultural dance form created to unify everybody and give everyone a freedom to expression eventually got used as a tool for playing out caste and gender politics. Whether it was the sufferings of the women or the link of the dance to the Bhakti movement, Kathak has transformed with all these interactions. The various stakeholders of the society have also used this to their convenience as and when required. Initially the Brahmin established their supremacy over this pure and pious form of expression an today they are the ones who have started the movement to label this as a fallen and sinful act. Thus we have seen the journey of nation through one form of dance and the story of Kathak through the nation. Bibliography Booth, G. (2005). Pandits in the Movies: Contesting the Identity of Hindustani Classical Music and Musicians in. Asian Music, Vol. 36, 60-86. Chakravorty, P. (2006). Dancing into Modernity: Multiple Narratives of Indias Kathak Dance. Dance Research Journal, Vol. 38, 115-136. Chatterjee, A. (1996). Training in Indian Classical Dance: A Case Study. Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 13, 68-91. Coorlawala, U. A. (1992). Illustrating Kathak. Dance Chronicle, Vol. 15, 88-93. Lidke, J. S. (2006). DevÄ «s Dance: The Interweaving of Politics, Mysticism, and Culture in Kathmandu Valley. International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 10, 35-57. Massey, R. (1999). Indias kathak dance, past present, future. Delhi: Abhinav Publications. Pillai, S. (2002). Rethinking Global Indian Dance through Local Eyes. Dance Research Journal, Vol. 34, 14-29. Reed, S. A. (1998). The Politics and Poetics of Dance. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol 27, 503-532. Royo, A. L. ( 2004). New Directions in Indian Dance. Dance Research Journal, Vol. 36, 135-138. Shah, P. (1998). Transcending Gender in the Performance of Kathak. Dance Research Journal, Vol. 30, 2-17. WALKER, M. (2010). Courtesans and Choreographers: The (Re)Placement of Women in the History of Kathak Dance. New Delhi: Routledge.

Walmart analysis Essay Example for Free

Walmart analysis Essay Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart in 1962. He was a businessman who started working in retail in 1940 at a J. C. Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1945, he ran a retail store in Newport, Arkansas, part of a chain of variety stores named Ben Franklin. Instead of renewing his lease, however, he decided to open a new Ben Franklin franchise in Bentonville, Arkansas and called it â€Å"Walton’s Five and Dime. † He succeeded by selling at a discount. Wal-Mart’s purpose best exemplifies what the company still stands for today: â€Å"Saving People Money So They Can Live Better† (Walmartstores. com) Within five years, the company had grown to 24 stores throughout Arkansas, reaching sales of $12. 6 million. The company officially incorporated on October 31, 1969 as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In 1970, it opened its first distribution center and home office in Bentonville, Arkansas. By this time, it had 1,500 associates working out of 38 stores. Its sales were $44. 2 million. In this same year, it began to trade its stock as a publicly held company and was soon listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1971, it had stores in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma. It expanded into Texas in 1973, and Kentucky and Mississippi by 1974, and Texas in 1975. By this time, it had 125 stores and 7,500 associates, with sales of $340. 3 million. By its 25th anniversary in 1987, it had 200,000 associates working out of 1,198 stores. Sales were $15. 9 billion. It also completed a satellite network that linked all operating units with its Bentonville home office via two-way voice and data transmission and one-way video communication. It helped its home office to track inventory and sales and communicate instantly with its stores. In 1988, Sam Walton turned over the CEO role to David Glass. However, he remained the Chairman of the Board. In this same year, the company opened its first Wal-Mart Supercenter in Washington, Missouri. In 1995 it entered South America, beginning with Argentina and Brazil. In 1998, the company introduced the â€Å"Neighborhood Market† with three stores in Arkansas. In 2000, H. Lee Scott became Wal-Mart’s President and CEO. Sales increased to $165 billion. By 2002 it had been listed at America’s largest corporation on Fortune 500 list, with profits of $6. 7 billion. By 2005, it had sales of $312. 4 billion, 6,200 facilities worldwide and 1. 6 million associates. Back Ground and Purpose of the Study Wal-Mart is known as a store where you can go shop and save a buck. They are friendly to the average consumer of moderate income, and in this market they have thrived. The purpose of the study is to analyze why Wal-Mart stores Inc. has their own internal issue. This report will provide a back ground of the study and focus on the methodology, provide findings, recommendations and implementation plans for the root causes of internal issue. . Findings and recommendations Decision Making- RESOURCES A. Planning Findings They are a highly competitive company in an industry and economic time where lower prices are exactly what consumers are looking for. Wal-Mart has found that the reason they are so competitive is through their cheaper prices as compared to most of their competitors. This can create an effect so that many suppliers fight over their business. This in return gives Wal-Mart great bargaining power over whom they buy products from, and they can basically manipulate the original system/relationship of suppliers and retailers. They can almost in a sense control what price suppliers offer. Wal-Mart has great deals, and those deals can bring almost anyone into their store. Wal-Mart has a vast array of customers, most of which at some point or another probably were loyal customers of another company who opposed the idea of Wal-Mart entering in their community. At some point or another most of these same people have gone into Wal-Mart to see what all the hype is about and they found it in the low prices. Within this section is discussed Wal-Mart’s internal analysis of the value brought to and perceived by the consumers through the value and rarity of their products, limitability of their practices, and organization. By evaluating these four categories within their company it is easier to appraise which areas are strong and which are weak and, subsequently, need revision. To begin the main resources and capabilities of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must be identified. As with many companies a major resource of Wal-Mart’s is their human capital; another is their image – concerning their layout of their stores, product quality, and satisfaction of their employees; Wal-Mart’s products and brands are a valuable resource; and Wal-Mart’s geographic locations are an important resource. B. Direction As we have reviewed and studied the strategy, culture, finances and the challenges and successes at Wal-Mart, there are many strategies we see that the company must undertake to hold its dominate position and drive further growth. Herein, we define our top four. These core strategies include: rebuild and recreate its reputation in the face of recent challenges; continue to show price leadership; improve the customer experience; and drive international growth. The financial performance of Wal-Mart continues to be strong. It delivered another record year in 2008 as total net sales increased 8. 6 percent to $375 billion. Yet, earnings growth rates and same store sales have slowed. And, the company faces a number of challenges to its operating procedures, reputation and growth prospects. Given the company’s stated objectives of â€Å"growing operating income faster than sales† and increasing shareholder value, the strategies we recommend will directly affect the company’s ability to overcome present challenges and meet these primary financial objectives. Reputation and Brand A key strategic objective, perhaps the most critical for the company going forward, is to rebuild and recreate its reputation. While brand and reputation are closely interlinked, author and business consultant, John Foley, differentiates the two attributes in this manner: â€Å"Brand is inside out. Reputation is outside in† (Foley 3). Wal-Mart’s reputation has waned in the past several years and, according to Foley, â€Å"the company’s reputation problems are dragging down its brand and business performance† (Foley). This conclusion seems to be shared by a number of analysts. Further validation can be found in a recent report (written in May 2007) by the company’s former advertising agency, GSDM. This report plainly states â€Å"Wal-Mart’s #1 overall business challenge is reputation. † Among the conclusions, the report states â€Å"(a) Wal-Mart’s consumer ratings as a â€Å"company I trust and respect† have steadily declined over the last two years, and (b) Shopping at Wal-Mart used to mean saving money and being patriotic, being a member of the community, being a part of the â€Å"American Dream. † Today, it just means saving money. All value no values† (Kofinis). So, with this challenge facing the company, there are several areas where the company can apply focus and action to help recreate and strengthen its reputation. Our recommendations for this strategic objective are: Ensure that â€Å"associates† are compensated fairly and receive proper benefits. Put programs in place to improve healthcare coverage for the workers in the stores and throughout the distribution network. Sam Walton’s insistence at the formation of the company on treating employees as partners, or associates, was heralded for years. This approach to managing must be reinforced through new benefits and compensation programs. Demonstrate leadership in societal issues including the environment, energy and healthcare. Wal-Mart’s power and influence are awesome and these forces can each be used to positively impact a broad number of initiatives around improving the environment, reducing carbon footprints and making healthcare more accessible and affordable to consumers. The company has started programs such as â€Å"Sustainability 360† in which it focuses on selling environmentally conscious goods. In 2007, US Stores â€Å"sold 145 million energy efficient light bulbs – enough to eliminate the need for three new coal-fired power plants in the United States. † In healthcare, Wal-Mart initiated a $4 prescription program to help consumers save money on critical prescription drugs. We recommend that programs like these be expanded in scale and that marketing and public relations dollars be increased to improve visibility to this work. Companies possessing a strong brand can easily topple without the support of a strong reputation. Given this and our strong belief that brand and reputation are primary building blocks to company growth and customer loyalty, we absolutely believe that this is the #1 priority the company must address. Price Leadership The greatest area of emphasis in Wal-Mart’s brand and company history has always been â€Å"Low Prices – Always. † And, while this emphasis continues today, we believe the company must continue to demonstrate leadership in this area. Value shoppers still represent the largest consumer base at Wal-Mart stores. Fulfilling this strategy will involve continued â€Å"early adoption† of innovative technologies, such as RFID and a new work scheduling system to support increasing efficiencies that lead to lower consumer prices. Customer Experience The next strategic area for the company is the enhancement of the customer experience. Also playing a factor in strengthening reputation, the company must find new ways to make the customer experience more enjoyable and impactful. This suggests new ways to reach expanded customer segments beyond â€Å"low price shoppers. † Besides the obvious merchandising strategies of optimizing product mix and bringing in new products that attract these customers, Wal-Mart must consider changes to store layouts, expanding aisles, installing better lighting and improving checkout procedures. During last year’s shareholder meeting, CEO Lee Scott addressed this area of their business saying, â€Å"†¦we have to improve in our merchandising areas†¦And we have to get better at consistently executing store standards and customer service, especially around the checkout. † (Forbes) International Growth In fiscal year 2008, Wal-Mart opened its 3000th International unit and grew sales by 17. 5%, representing $90. 6 billion of its total revenues. (Annual Report) An existing priority for the company, Wal-Mart’s ambition for higher growth rates will most likely be found overseas. Thus, we recommend continued investment in and focus on international markets be the fourth of our key strategies. International growth should be pursued through organic means and acquisition, both of which Wal-Mart has executed successfully since first expanding overseas in the early 1990’s. Regardless of the means of entry into markets, the company must understand and adapt to local consumer preferences, customs, attitudes and expectations. A great example of this comes from Wal-Mart’s foray into China. Among many adaptations, â€Å"the company had to accept that most Chinese tend to buy in small quantities, and that language differences required tailoring marketing approaches for product labeling and brand names† (Govindarajin). The sheer size of populations in markets throughout Asia and other untapped markets make this a â€Å"must pursue† strategy for the world’s largest retailer. Organizing Organizing is defined as the assembly and coordination of the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 20) This function is also referred to as the function used to build a dynamic organization. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 20) When looking at the organization process Sam Walton the founder of Wal-Mart made sure from the very beginning to keep up with his competitors. In 1972 Kmart expanded and at that time there were 15 Wal-Mart stores and Sam Walton could not afford to expand by building so he offered Wal-Mart stock on the New York Stock Exchange. Due to the large profit that occurred because of the sales of stock Wal-Mart could expand and by the 1980s they had 276 stores. Organizing is comprised of several organizational resources: physical assets, knowledge, money, and human resources. Resources are organized effectively by the use of tools such as charts and or graphs. These tools will present the various functions of management for instance human resources activities and responsibilities, employee duties and responsibilities, recording relationships amongst upper and lower management. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 290) Within each department there are specific method being used which helps them in managing the resources provided to them. For example accounting and finance departments commonly use Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets and software such as QuickBooks. The management and maintaining of the human resources department is vital when evaluating the effectiveness of the organizing function. â€Å"People are assets not commodities†. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 337) Managers as well as their companies must work together to hire the right individuals for the job. Human resource management is responsible for staffing, training, performance appraisals, rewards, labor relations, wages, and benefits. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 354) Worldwide Wal-Mart employs about 2. 1 million associates, and depending on the size of the store there can be about 225 to 350 more associates in each store. According to Fortune Magazine 2010 reported that Wal-Mart ranked first on their list of most admired companies. This favorable rating is due to their sustainability leadership, corporate compassion, and employment opportunity. Wal-Mart’s staff practices the three basic beliefs and values established by Sam Walton in 1962. They are respect for individuals, services to our customers, and striving for excellence. Micromanaging is kept to a minimum and teamwork is highly encouraged by a style of leadership implemented back in the days of Mr. Walton called â€Å"servant leadership† where leaders work together with their employees. Wal-Mart also has an open door policy any issues which are questionable whether they ethical or immoral are brought to the attention of the store manager, market manager, and or the human resources department. In the past years Wal-Mart has faced several lawsuits in which their ethics has been questioned. Their policies of hiring, promoting, and equality have all been questioned in cases like the sexual discrimination of women in June 2001. Wal-Mart business practices article of 2010 reported that a survey conducted by Wal-Mart indicated a rapid turnover of 70 % of employees that leave the company within the first year of employment and stated that it is attributed to the lack of recognition and inadequate pay of the employees. (Business Practices, para. 5) Despite these various issues that Wal-Mart has been faced with and the speculation that the human resources department does a poor job is just that. Wal-Mart in fact aims to take very good care of their employees. They claim that their organization is one of the best to workplaces, which offers various health and wellness benefits. Wal-Mart offers 80 % coverage on to its eligible employees. Health care benefits such as doctor’s visits and annual checkups, pharmacy benefits, dental, business travel accident insurance, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment coverage (Walmartstores. com, 2010) Wal-Mart like many other organizations is affected by many factors such as competitive pressures, insurance costs, market trends, economic conditions, cost of goods and services, and unemployment. (Walmartstores. com, 2010) Yet another issue they are constantly faced with is their wages. Average Wal-Mart employees make anywhere from $ 12,000 to $ 17,000 which causes them to have to turn to the state for public assistance. Further reports show that employees on average take home less than $250 a week. (Business Practices, 2010) Full time employees make between $6 and $7. 50 an hour and work from 28-40 hour weeks. According to Business Practices 2010 this pay scale indicates that employees of Wal-Mart with dependents are below the poverty line. As mentioned previously the foreign exchange rate is a factor that Wal-Mart as a large retailer must beware of when maintaining their monetary and financial resources. Wal-Mart reported that fiscal year 2009 foreign exchange rates had a negative effect on international net sales by 2. 3 billion. (Walmartstores. com, 2010) When compared to overall company net sales there was still a slight increase indicated despite the negative effect. Wal-Mart also offer its employees various financial benefits to compensate stock option plans, employee’s discounts, profit sharing (401k plan), retirement accounts, and holiday and when determining the success of an organization. Being mindful and utilizing the organizing function will help not only determine and maintain current success but will aid in future and in preventing failure.

Hospitality and Tourism Communication Strategies

Hospitality and Tourism Communication Strategies Introduction of Communication The definition of verb to communication is, to impart , to transmit, to succeed in conveying Information In hotel there is a considerable amount of information to be transmit ted to and form staff in various department , as well as to GUEST, CUSTOMER , SUPPLIERS, and OTHERS. There are ,for example , the lines of communication to and from the reception office of a hotel. Communication can exchange of information ,idea, or feeling it involves at least two or more individuals and involves of communication by: VERBAL = FACE TO FACE. NON-VERBAL=COMMUNICATION WITHOUT WORDS ex: body language ,eye contact . WRITTEN=LETTER REPRESENTATIVE VISUAL=MORE IN DIAGRAM ex: no smoking, wet floor, REPRESENTATIVE AURAL=MORE ON MUSIC Information sought and given in a variety of ways :but whatever the form of communication , there are certain points that need to be established . WHAT IS THE MESSAGE ? WHO SHOULD RECEIVE IT ?WHEN SHOULD IT BE SENT?WHAT IS THE MOST SUITALBE WAY OF SEND IT? IS IT INTELLIGIBLE? HAS IT BEEN RECEIVED AND UNDERSTOOD? ANSWER Q1 Process of communication : 1.TRANSMITTER is a person or group of peopl who send the message to receiver transmitter an idea ad feelings.At the same time transmitter need to use the selected method or media to transmit through oral or written 2. MESSAGE is an idea that has been encode and forminto the message .It simple and easy to understand and it require knowledge and experience and objective of the message 3.RECEIVER is the person who receive the message from process one transmitter and process two message .Interpretation and assigning meaning. Receiver , receive the message according to the value . Communication fail due to barries Barriers of communication When the: 1) The transmitter is not clear lack of experience of knowledge and experience the transmitter dont have credibility and a poor communication skill 2) Receiver not decode the message if the interpretor never interpret the message correctly because he / she not concentrate the speaker it could be sleepy, boring or refuse to talk in manner way. 3)Message not reach to the receiver because not interested and the noise of fizikal noise (talking) , technical noise(radio) and visual noise A communication is an interaction between a sender and a receiver .In a successful communication , the sender direct a clear message to someone and the receiver gets the message accurately and it sound simple enough. The problem lie the words that we use to spoke with someone .Here are the six elements of a successful communication. Think meaning of message Expresses meaning in words, symbols Transmits message (tells, write / sends) Receives message (hears or reads) Translates message symbols Understand and accepts meaning An effective communication is a good communication. Communication is thee general term that sums up the sending and receiving of messages The way employees communicate can make or break a company think of the different between courteous and surly employees and the message they convey to guests. We want to business with people who able to communicate the company philosophy to guests and give outstanding service. This information is a formal communication and is given in via meeting, personal correspondence, e-mail, notice board and so on. Supervisors are vitally important as they are the one who explain the mission, goals, and company policy to their associates. We human beings communicate all day every day and spend over 70 percent of our hours sending or receiving messages: an example speaking , listening , writing reading , pushing keys on computers ,watching the television screen .Since we communicate so much ,we ought to be pretty good at it but badly we dont because there are pr obably as many opportunities to be misunderstood as there are people with whom we communicate an example different people interpret what we say in different ways and not really what that you meant and sometimes we did the same what they say to us. Until NO ONE HAS YET FOUND a theory or method or set of communication principles guaranteed to be 100-percent effective BUT the expert know a lot about why why people FAIL IN COMMUNICATION and they can explain the ingredients for SUCCESS. Communication play a main role in hospitality industry it because we will be communicating constantly and at the same time we will be both a sender and a receiver of messages, and a both roles will be very important it because we must understand what comes down to you from the top so that we can carry out the INSTRUCTIONS and the POLICIES of the company. We cannot manage effectively ii we cannot communicate effectively. Conclusion Communication is the transference of understanding and meaning between two or more people .Supervisors are involved in interpersonal communication, organizational communication, small group communication, and sometime mass communication. Communication is an important because supervisors spend most of their time communicating ,as when directing people at work ,giving instructions, training , interviewing , hiring, firing and so on .The following can be done to remove many obstacles to good communication build a climate of trust and respect : send your messages clearly : use language the receiver can understand : dont assume anything : take into account receivers ability to receive : send your message at the best time : send your message at the best time : send your message to the right person : choose the best mean of sending your message : check for understanding : listen: be objective : avoid slang : and disrespectful terms: and dont communicate when you are upset . Listening is the second half of the communication process- the most neglected half and sometimes the most important. Bad listening process include going off on tangents, reacting , emotionally and cutting the flow of the message .Five principles of good listening giving the other person your undivided attention , hearing the person out , looking for the real message , keeping your emotion out of it and maintaining your role Question 2 Motivation is the key to keeping performing continuously at the highest standards. How organization motivate their employees to excel at their jobs. Introduction of Motivation The;success;of;any;organization;largely;depends;on;the;motivation;of;its;employees.;Unfortunately,;there;is;no;exact;formula;to;determine;how;to;motivate;any;particular;group;of;people.;The;fact;is;we;are;all;motivated;by;different;things.;Still,;there;are;some;key;concepts;to;keep;in;mind;when;developing;a;plan;to;motivate;employees,;regardless;of;the;organization. Every small business wants motivated employees. They work more efficiently and produce better results. Using monetary and other rewards to improve motivation is a simple idea, but doing it fairly and effectively can be challenging. The majority of small businesses distribute payments to whoever is the golden child of the week, a principal and senior consultant at Compensation Resources .How can you create a compensation program that motivates employees, results in a more productive staff and is administered fairly and effectively? The secret, it seems, lies in the details. Here are four steps to follow. Answer q2 Motivation is the willingness to effort an organition goals, conditioned by the efforts ability to satisly some individuals needs. Motivation can influence people at the work place The role of motivation is to achieve effective performance by ability, direction, motivate, and support Perspective motivation to individuals, group, organization,Individuals is to desire to do well in some work linked to desire by meet someone personal needs.Group is to ensure the employees work and the manager should understand the employee need and job design and work place and while an organization is to ensure employee to work by increase productivity by programe and training it because different people different needs. MOTIVATION THEORIES MASLOW HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY HERZBEGSWO FACTOR THEORY MC CLELLANDS MANIFEST EXPECTANCY THEORY HAWTHORE EFFECT EQUITY THEORY JOB-ENRICHMENT JOB DESIGN THE SCANLON PLAN REINFORCEMENT THEORY ;Establish an action plan.;While the goals that you want to achieve may vary from one project or staffer to another, the process that you follow can be duplicated each time. Andrew Broil, president of Broil Growth Consulting in Cleveland, breaks the process down into five steps: These are the most important details of any Compensation plan. You must always reward top performance and must be as clear as possible to your staff on just what you consider top performance. You also must have a plan and culture that motivates less-than-top performers to strive to compensation plan. You must always reward top performance and must be as clear as possible to your staff on just what you consider top performance. You also must have a plan and culture that motivates less-than-top performers to strive. Motivation at work group an important to ESTABLISH EFFECT AND PRODUCTIVE WORK GROUP. Motivation also helps GROUP INFLUENCE Conclusion Motivation is the driving force which allows us take action on our desires or goals. There is always a motivating force behind anything we do and it is the intensity of our motivation which determines how well and how fast we succeed at obtaining what we wish to achieve. There are many opportunities in the world today but these opportunities are totally dependent upon our awareness of our surroundings. Once we recognize an opportunity, our success is determined by our motivation for the desired outcome. Our success is also dependent upon our ability to meet the challenges of life. Many people become cowards and lost their motivation during challenging times. Motivated people, who experience challenging times will create a plan, prepare themselves, and take action. Life is often challenging and many obstacles are thrown at us almost daily. We blame bad luck, are often ready to give up, and become pessimistic of the world. During these situations, we should realize that it is a fact of life that obstacles were, is, and will always be a part of our life within our thoughts so when we endure more obstacles, we are more prepared. When we use our motivation to work through the obstacles in our life, we use a positive personal attribute and we benefit from the experience as do those around us. It is lifes obstacles which build our character, allow us to grow, and give us the strength to move on. Most people will follow the path of least resistance. They want an easy and wealthy life free from lifes obstacles. But take away the obstacles, and we take away growth and strength, because it is the obstacles which make us strong. When we lose our motivation, we lose everything because we fail to grow and move forward. We see examples of this in people who try to escape life by living their comfort zone. Those who lack motivation and continue to live in their comfort zones often act like victims of life. This becomes a hard to break habit and is destructive to their life.It requires motivation to tackle lifes surprises and to work around the obstacles which life throws at us. Those who lack motivation often act selfish and burden those around them when they share their discomfort. This disrupts everyones peace and happiness. Highly motivated people never indulge in self-pity. Instead, they shine like a beam of light and guide others by inspiration. Motivation is positive in nature and others are not only attracted to it, they are also inspired by it. They respect us for it. It also allows us to overcome any negative obstacles and is an essential part of our life .Everyone is entitled to peace and quiet, and it takes motivation to work through the evils of the world and rise above them. When people around us become depressing and annoying, we must rise above them. If we join then, we become the cause of our own downfall. Instead, we must maintain our happy state of mind. In meeting lifes challenges, we must face reality and control it. We must not allow reality to control us. We must conquer lifes obstacles or be conquered by them. Bibliography Ebrary, International Motivation Steps, 2009, Human Resource Development, 17 September, 5th Edition, South Western, http://library.olympia.edu.my:2051/lib/olympia/docDetail.action?docID=10348707p00= Ebrary, Bhimani, Alnoor, 2006, Communication Important in People Management , 2 November , 5th Edition, Oxford University press, http://library.olympia.edu.my:2051/lib/olympia/docDetail.action?docID=10283759 Ebrary, Berry, Eugene Leonard, 2005,People Management , 1st March, 6th Edition, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, http://library.olympia.edu.my:2051/lib/olympia/docDetail.action?docID=10156016 INTRODUCTION OF MARKETING: The philosophy of marketing needs to be owned by everyone from within the organization. Marketing focuses on the satisfaction of customer needs, Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all It encompasses the entire business wants and requirements. Future needs have to be identified and anticipated. The marketing concept is a philosophy. It makes the customer, and the satisfaction of his or her needs, the focal point of all business activities. It is driven by senior managers, passionate about delighting their customers.Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customers point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.This customer focused philosophy is known as the marketing concept. The marketing concept is a philosophy, not a system of marketing or an organizational structure. It is founded on the belief that profitable sales and satisfactory returns on investment can only be achieved by identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs and desires. INTRODUCTION OF Q1; Lost World of TambunTheme Parks in Malaysia The latest attraction from Sunway City;Ipoh;in Tambun, the Lost World is a new water theme park in Perak set to provide you a fun-filled adventure for friends and family! Nestled among lush greenery and limestone hills, the Lost World has a host of exciting activities to keep you coming back for more. . From my own research, there is five main elements which make up this world of adventures which is as stated in the structure Question 1: Your role: You are required to select a theme park of your choice. You are required to determine their organizational structure, products, markets, and competitors. Introduction As part of your research, you will need to define the structure of the franchise and the product that is being offered to the consumer. Content You are required to analyze: Their market strength Their zone of natural expansion Brand positioning and marketability of their brand Suggest steps to improve their sales and profits Suggest how they can take their business to a global scale Summary Conclude your research by summarizing all the above and provide a final solution on how the theme park may thrive in a completion market place. All cost for the event and portfolio must be self funding. Olympia College will not be responsible for any cost or any unforeseen circumstances occurred during this event. Answer Q1 As part of our assignment, I have chose the Lost World of Tambun theme park as my choice for doing my assignment. From my own research, there is five main elements which make up this world of adventures which is as stated in the structure belowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Jungle Wave Bay CLIFF RACER Tiger Valley Water park Hot Springs Spa FIVE ELEMENTS Water Park An exquisitely beautiful Waterfall Beach Garden exhilarating water rides in the theme park for everyone at the water park and where the water beach garden were the biggest wave pool in Malaysia where the waves could swell up to 3 feet high. At there, you could find a absolutely perfect landscaped beach which surrounded by 20 feet twin waterfalls with two rivers flowing into the pool. There is also a musical body wash as a refreshment before to the caption of Sandy Bay. Explorabay, a kids only zone which is specially designed for kids while Cliff Racer are intend for a adult and youth. And of course, the longest inflatable tube ride in Malaysia, Tube Raiders which is the family favourite giant slides while Adventure River is more on relaxing water ride. Cliff Racer Sail through the jungle canopy in an old mine cart after a drop from dizzying heights; just like in the old Wild Wild West movies! The park is perfect for those family escapades. Be sure to bring spare clothes for a change after a whole days fun on the numerous water slides and water games. The park also plays host to a few tigers and albino tiger cubs and visitors can witness the tiger feeding times between 11.30am to 5pm every day. The park is open everyday except Tuesdays (school/public holidays excluded) from 11am 6pm. One can have a cocktail at the Rum Jungle Bar between 6pm 9pm every night. Entrance tickets start at about RM25 per adult and RM 19 per child (children under 90cm gets free entrance). The park also offers special food, entrance and rides packages.; Lost World Hot Springs Spa As the latest supplement for the visitors to enjoy the inimitable feel of the hot spring, the water in the hot spring come from a natural source, and this is a sanctuary for the visitors to relax and enjoy and to experience hygienic and rejuvenating hot water. Besides, there are many other elements which are catered for the visitors presenting the ultimate relaxation experience Tiger Valley There are feeding tigers show and their handles at play in the tiger valley. You can learn abit about how the tigers are cared through the valleys educational program where you will be able to get close and personal with one of these exquisite tigers. Lost World Petting Zoo Visitors can take a walk on the wild side and The Petting Zoo allows the public to touch, feel, feed and play with the animals; giving those looking for a more personal encounter, a closer perspective. Body Market Strength So many words packed into one, the Lost World of Tambun, where providing an action packed with exciting adventures with the most sensational rides and glamour in Ipoh, Malaysia. A 60 million Ringgit theme park which located in this historical town of Ipoh, in the middle of the North South corridor in Perak; and is set in the inborn landscapes of Ipoh, surrounded by exquisitely breath taking limestone features. The Lost World of Tambun has its own market strength just like the other theme park as well. As my research all over these theme parks, The Lost World of Tambun is the best theme parks if compared to all the competitors around within the northern region in Ipoh example like Bukit Merah. They has providing a variety services which provides leisure, relaxation, enjoyment as well as entertainment. Moreover, the price are quite reasonable for the services they are providing. As another market strength, Lost world of Tambun is the only theme park with natural hot spring and the water come from natural source and the thermal water in the pool are not recycled. Furthermore, they got a formation of the stand alone rock formation 10 storey building within the theme park. Based on the 4Ps, place, people, promotion and products, Lost World of Tambun had provides all these 4Ps if compared to other competitors as their market strength. Place 800 parking spaces provided Good transportation Natural pleasant landscape People Good services Caring from staffs Friendliness from staffs Promotion Invite international performance during parties; beach party Promote online through hot websites; facebook, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Promote through travel and tour agencies for packages Product Water Park Amusement Park Lost World Hot Springs Spa Tiger Valley Lost World Petting Zoo Zone of Expansion For your information, Lost World are exposed to the nature. Therefore, it has ample of natural resources around and within the park. As for the future expansion, they should take this advantage to make more for its zone of natural expansion usage from the natural sources. Currently, they are building a hotel of themselves which are rated as 4 5 star grades; visitors like foreign visitors do not need to look for other accommodations and can just stay inside the Lost World of Tambuns Hotel which are surrounded by natural source. Besides, they are also upgrading the hot spring spa section. As their future expansion, it could build up a monorail system for the overall accessibility within the theme park itself; visitors are able to travel from the theme park back to the hotel after explorer. Moreover, wide natural resources in their theme park which enable them to have their own cave which creates jungle tracking and cave exploring experience for customers. They should expand more on dry rides in did of only focus in wet rides as there is already a lot of wet rides. This will enable the visitors to have more choices during their explorer and will not feel boring. Brand positioning and marketability of their brand A great theme park which have its own nature and gave us a refreshing feeling when you are living in a hectic lifestyle; a way to expose yourself to the nature. Besides, it is a time for every member in a family to spend their time together and have fun in Lost World of Tambun. This is a way for family bonding to happen. Moreover, we can spend our time with our friends during holiday at there for entertainment and leisure. And of course, it is a good place for a couple to have a great day. What are they famous for? Their natural resources and it located in a historical place in Ipoh with natural thermal water sources. They are also considered as under the umbrella of Sunway Groups which lead them to success because Sunway group had prove themselves in Sunway Lagoon. Steps to improve their sales and profit In order to improve their sales and profit, they should depend on the economy scale which is reduce their cost in order to get more people. Besides, its also depends on how they generate their profit through the existing products. They can also provide more new family packages and teenage packages. Another step to improve their sales and profit is to extend business hour for dry parks and more events should be organize example like beach party. International performances should be invite example like super junior, wonder girls and big bang in order to attract more visitors. And of course, special rates for senior citizen should be apply and toys should be given to kids to show that the management is caring enough even to every single matter. How they can take their business to a global scale Extend their business to global scale, they can deal with the travel and tour regencies for packages and brings the tourism to Lost World of Tambun and let them recognize it and bring back this information back to the country. Moreover, they can have a deal with a country ambassador to promote their theme park in their own country and to attract foreign investment example like an big organization and this will lead them to develop another branch in their country by the help in modal from the organization; targeting hot weather country like india. Besides, it should have a deal with large organization to have a big retreat ( international conference ). And of course, the lost world management should also advertise their theme park through hot websites example like facebook.com, youtube.com, twitter.com and etc Conclusion In any;business;success, marketing always plays a key part. You have to make a good relationship with your customers. You need to work out how you will reach and win new customers and make sure that they will be happy and remain satisfied of the services you are providing them. You need to always review and keep on improving everything you do to stay ahead of the competition.Although marketing plays an important role, it will not guarantee sales unless by doing it with a laid out plan. A well-researched and logical plan is important to have a better chance of building a long-term profitable relationships. A marketing plan will serve as a reference or your basis to execute a marketing strategy. By laying out plans, it will set out a clear objectives and explains how you will achieve them. You can define your business well if you have a written document that details the necessary actions to achieve your marketing goals. A marketing plan is considered a part of an over all business plan .;

Aztec Art and Culture :: essays papers

Aztec Art and Culture The Aztec nation is one of the largest and most advanced Indian nations to ever exist on earth. Just about every part of the Aztec life was advance to such a state that at that time of the world the people were living better than many European nations. The Aztec nation is unique in its history, economy, environment, and way of life then any other nation at that time. The Aztec Indians, who are known for their domination of southern and central Mexico, ruled between the 14th and 16th centuries. They built a great empire and developed very modernized ways of doing things. The Aztecs had phenomenal architectural skills and waterway systems. The Indians also had very developed social class and government systems and practiced a form of religion. To begin with, the Aztecs were very skilled in the art of Architecture and waterway systems. â€Å"An example of the monumental architecture within the Aztec society is the great pyramid of Tenochtitlan. Montezuma I, who was the ruler of the Aztecs in 1466, created it. The pyramid was not finished until the rule of Montezuma II, around 1508. Aztec cities and towns also had working drinking water and waste treatment systems. An intricate plumbing system using clay pipes ran down from the mountains around Mexico valley to all of the towns and cities in the valley. As the water ran into each town or city it was dispersed to 10 or 12 places around town were it flowed into a pool for drinking water or was pumped into public baths and toilets. Only nobles had working drinking and bathing systems with running water in their homes. The sewage system worked much like today, having human wastes carried to a collection pool where solids were collected, and then having liquids run off into a series of terraces which filtered the water. Solid wastes were allowed to sit in a collection pool for about six months and then were brought to the lake gardens to be used as fertilizer†(Jennings, Aztec, Pg. 220). At the bottom of the heap were slaves and serfs, or the Tlacotli, who worked the private lands of the nobility. Next came the Macehualtin, ‘the fortunate,’ as they were called because they were equally free of the heavy responsibility of the nobility and of the slave’s liability to being basely used. They were the merchants, shopkeepers and artisans that made up the bulk of the population.

Katherine Anne Porters The Jilting of Granny Weatherall Essay

Stream of Consciousness in Katherine Anne Porter's The Jilting of Granny Weatherall In "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," Katherine Anne Porter applies the rhetorical technique stream of consciousness to guide her audience through the last sixty years of a leathery, bitter woman jilted in life, and finally in death. The seemingly aimless and casual technique, similar to a human's thought pattern, effectively develops the exposition, conflict, and denouement. By using the stream of consciousness technique, Porter establishes Granny Weatherall's background. The occasional glimpse into the main character's past reveals the demanding responsibilities of a young widow. She reflects on how digging post holes, riding country roads in the winter, and sitting up nights with sick horses, negroes, and children, changed her from the bride her late husband had known. Furthermore, the technique challenges the reader to draw conclusions from the vague references of death of her husband, John, and her daughter, Hapsy. Granny Weatherall imagines seeing John again, pondering on how her children a...

Essay --

France is a very large and well-known country. It is one of the largest European countries in land, after Russia and Ukraine. Twenty percent of France’s territory lies outside of Europe, known as â€Å"DOM-TOM.† The European territory of France covers 211,209 square miles. France is also one of the oldest states in Europe, founded in 843. French is the official language of England as well as 300 other countries. It is spoken by 270 million people worldwide. France has a population of 2.5 million citizens and twenty percent of the citizens live in the Parisian region. Paris, the capital of France, was founded by Celtic tribe, Parisians, and settled around 4,200 BCE. France shares borders with several other countries. Those countries include Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain, and Andorra. France is 15,782 feet above sea level. The highest point is in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, between France and Italy. The lowest point is Rhà ´ne river delta, measuring only two meters above sea level. The Rhà ´ne is one of the major rivers of Europe, measuring 505 miles, starting in Switzerland and running through southeastern France. Near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, the Great Rhà ´ne and the Petit or Little Rhà ´ne. Some other river systems including Seine, Loire, and Garonne, divide the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Western France’s climate consists of a high amount of rainfall, mild winters, and cool to warm summers. The climate of inland France tends to be more continental with hot, stormy summers, colder winters and less rain. Some natural hazards in France include flooding, avalanches, windstorms, droughts, forest fires, and e... ...e’s most popular theme park is Disneyland Paris, with fifteen million visitors. Disneyland Paris was the second Disney park to open outside of United States, after Tokyo Disney Resort. Another tourist attraction is Europe’s oldest functional canal, Canal du Midi. The canal was built from 1666 through 1681 and is 150 miles long. It has sixty-three locks, 126 bridges, seven canal bridges, and one tunnel. France’s major transportation is rivers. Overall France has twenty-four rivers that add up to 300km in length. In addition to rivers, railway is also major way of transportation in France. There is a total of 40,300 miles of railway, mostly operated by SNCF, the French national railway company. The trains can travel up to 199 miles per hour. France also has 475 airports. The most popular airport is Charles de Gaulle Airport, located in the vicinity of Paris.

Irony and satire are prominent themes throughout Anthony Burgess’s

Irony and satire are prominent themes throughout Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Joyce Cary’s The Horse’s Mouth. Burgess’s novel satirizes the world as Burgess viewed it in the mid to late 16th century. It was a world in which individuality copped out to societal norms. Wolf attempts to illustrate the irony of the tenuous connection between the age of reason and the modernization in her work To the Lighthouse which was published in 1984. Like Woolf and Burgess, Cary too takes an entirely satirical approach to the early twentieth century in his work The Horse’s Mouth.Each work published at different junctures in the twentieth century offers unique parodies of the times and the direction each author saw society following. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Irony, is perhaps the cornerstone of A Clockwork Orange. It is most frequently demonstrated through Alex who prior to his government mandated t reatment repeatedly refers to violence as a thing of beauty. For example, after hitting Dim Alex goes on to note that his victim â€Å"is singing blood to make up for his vulgarity.† (Burgess, 28) In another example of irony, prior to his treatment, Alex looks upon those things that most people deem desirable such as religion, education and reason as purely undesirable. In other words, Alex sees things in reverse until the government reforms him. After his treatment he adapts an entirely passive outlook manifested by the following excerpt: â€Å"And what, brother, I had to escape into sleep from then was the horrible and wrong feeling that it was better to get the hit than give it. If the veck had stayed I might even have like presented the other cheek.† (Burgess, 121) This turn in Alex’s attitude toward violence comes as a result of a rigorous two week treatment in which Alex while incarcerated for crimes of violence is injected with a drug. The drug makes Alex ill and during the effects he is forced to watch tapes containing excessive violence. The technique known as associative learning forces Alex to become ill at the thought of violence. Ironically, following the treatment, Alex who was an ardent admirer of classical music cannot stand to listen to classical music since he associates it with violence.Irony and satire is further illustrated by the name attached to a cottage where Alex and his gang members, called droogs, entered and committed crimes of rape and assault. This was prior to Alex’s arrest, incarceration and eventual associative learning treatment. The cottage is named Home and Alex describes it as â€Å"a gloopy sort of name. † (Burgess, 19) The word home is associated with comfort and safety and naturally an escape from the abrasive outside world. At Home, Alex and his droogs turn the concept around by beating the man of the house and raping the mistress.Ironically the master had written a manuscript in prot est against the treatment that the government used to reform Alex. While at Home committing violent crimes, Alex burnt the manuscript which is the very thing that might have spared him the treatment that he received in prison. In the final analysis, the government, by brainwashing Alex for the collective good of society had ironically dehumanized him. This dehumanizing took the form of robbing Alex of free will and free choice.He had not elected to abstain from violence he had been programmed to do so and as such was no more than an animal or a thing. The greatest irony of all is that the very violence that Alex perpetrated had been regarded as non-human. His treatment did no more than suppress his desire for violence leaving no less human than before his treatment. Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange therefore offers a satirical indictment of modern approaches to order in society. Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey represent the gap between realism and mod ernity with an ironic undertone.While Mr. Ramsey is apt to rely upon his intellect and Mrs. Ramsey relies on her emotion, both characters are keenly aware that their existence is profoundly transient. For instance Mrs. Ramsey is weighed by concurrent thoughts of her sons’ growth and the inevitable dangers in the outside world. Mr. Ramsey is constantly obsessing over his inevitable demise. In many ways this approach to modern day chaos is reflected in Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange. Man’s attempt to modernize and grow threatens the very essence of humanity.In A Clockwork Orange the dehumanizing impact of technological progress was epitomized through Burgess’s Alex. Woolf’s approach is slightly different but is nonetheless satirical. Despite the advances in technology humanity is characterized by its flaws. A flawless society is impossible despite the perfection offered by modernity. Woolf highlights this satirical approach in a scene where Mr. Ramsey is observing Mrs. Ramsey and James, (their son) through a window as he strolls through the lane. Woolf writes the following:â€Å"Who shall blame him? Who will not secretly rejoice when the hero puts his armour off, and halts by the window and gazes at his wife and son, who, very distant at first, gradually come closer and closer, till lips and book and head are clearly before him, though still lovely and unfamiliar from the intensity of his isolation and the waste of ages and the perishing of the stars, and finally putting his pipe in his pocket and bending his magnificent head before her—who will blame him if he does homage to the beauty of the world?† (Woolf, Ch. VI) Obviously, Woolf is demonstrating that humanity is flawed and no amount of science can prevent the inevitability of mortality. For Burgess humanity is endlessly flawed by free choice and no amount of scientific procedure can correct that flaw without substituting one problem with perhaps a larger proble m. For instance the treatment given to Alex only robbed him of human traits while attempting to make him more human by eliminating his desire to commit acts of violence.While Burgess uses Home as a symbol of irony in that it typifies a place of order and peace yet becomes a place of great violence and upheaval, Woolf takes a more traditional approach. At her dinner party, Mrs. Ramsey poignantly observes that despite the outside chaos and the turmoil of the outside world there is some peace at home. Reflecting on the dinner party Woolf write: â€Å"It partook . . . of eternity . . .there is a coherence in things, a stability; something, she meant, is immune from change, and shines out (she glanced at the window with its ripple of reflected lights) in the face of the flowing, the fleeting, the spectral, like a ruby; so that again tonight she had the feeling she had had once today, already, of peace, of rest. Of such moments, she thought, the thing is made that endures. †(Woolf, Chapter XVII) Although this aspect of the home can be distinguished from Burgess’s satirical approach to the home the message is nonetheless vastly similar. Certain elements of humanity cannot be usurped by modern technology.As advanced as the sciences may become, human nature remains sacred and necessary for a cohesive society. As collective as society has become at the heart of society there are individuals with human desires, the hub that successfully turns the wheel of humanity. As Mrs. Ramsey observes, some things cannot change and that is human nature. For Alex, human nature required free choice. For Mrs. Ramsey human nature required peace and rest. Ironically, free choice, peace and rest are all compromised in Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange and Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.For Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, humanity was threatened by modern technology as evidenced by Alex’s treatment. For Woolf, humanity was likewise threatened by modern technolo gy at a time when the world was at war and the industrial revolution was in full swing. The Lighthouse in Woolf’s To the Lighthouse can be compared to the Home in Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange in that they both represent the irony of contradictory nature of things. As previously observed the Home, traditionally a place of refuge became the scene of heinous crimes in A Clockwork Orange. A similar, yet not so dramatic contradiction and irony surrounds Woolf’s Lighthouse.For instance, James observes as the Ramsey’s boat approaches the Lighthouse: â€Å"The Lighthouse was then a silvery, misty-looking tower with a yellow eye, that opened suddenly, and softly in the evening. Now— James looked at the Lighthouse. He could see the white-washed rocks; the tower, stark and straight; he could see that it was barred with black and white; he could see windows in it; he could even see washing spread on the rocks to dry. So that was the Lighthouse, was it? No, th e other was also the Lighthouse. For nothing was simply one thing. The other Lighthouse was true too. † (Woolf, Chapter VIII)