Why Did Bradbury Use the Title ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’

The book ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ is a Dystopia about how humans will all die out leaving no trace and effect on nature and the world around us. There Will Come Soft Rains† concerns the technological revolution, as well as the atomic warfare, and its effect on our society, how it isolates us from one another. It is about the last day in the life of a wonderful electronic home - after an atomic war. It is the only house left standing on its desolate, ruined street and is still running to capacity even though its inhabitants remain only as shadows embedded on its walls. The title is the same as of a poem written previous to the story being published. The title is not only interlinked to the story and the message in it but also to the†¦show more content†¦The death of the dog also resembles the way that humans died. The dog entered the house with technology cleaning up behind it. However, when the dog dies, the mice take it away and suddenly ‘the d og was gone’. This is like how humans died out without there being any remembrance for them or any trace of their living. Bradbury also makes oblique references to the family that once lived there. On the wall there was a black ‘silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn’. This silhouette stands as a remembrance to the people who used to live here but that is the only trace of them and there are no traces of them anywhere else. The fact that the family is just a memory on a wall reveals how humans would be another picture on a history line, with the wall resembling part of a long line of history to come. The city is often described as empty and dead. The city is described as ‘ruined’. The word ‘ruined’ is a strong word, which implies that the world is going to become so bad that there could be no recovering. Also, the city is described as having given off a ‘radioactive glow that could have been seen for miles’. The word ‘glow’ carries connotations with explosions and bombs. The word ‘radioactive’ is also associated with complex technology and Bradbury makes it seem that the technology will affect towns and cities very often and that atomic bombs will be very common. It is also very ironic that the poem chosen was a favourite of the lady. AsShow MoreRelatedThe World Is Too Much With Us, And Ray Bradbury s `` There Will Come Soft Rains ``2767 Words   |  12 PagesEarth offers. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birthmark†, William Wordsworth’s â€Å"The World Is Too Much with Us†, and Ray Bradbury’s â€Å"There Will Come Soft Rains† are all examples of why we should focus less on what humanity wants and more on what nature needs to thrive. Although each piece of writing presents nature in different ways, they all prove that nature needs to come before humanity, each giving a warning to what may occur if we try to put humanity’s wants first and alter, or do not respect, nature

Engaging Promoting Autism Wellness - 1746 Words

Engaging in Promoting Autism Wellness Introduction When one thinks of autism, many people do not fully understand the disorder, this is due to lack of research, media perception, and lack of involvement with these individuals. Hillman (2006) describes autism as, â€Å" a devastating developmental disorder in which children have core deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and pretend or imaginative play.† These difficulties prevent the child from interacting with individuals. They often avoid eye contact and lack of facial or emotional expression. Along with this, the absence of making friends or desire to even be in company can lead to lack of social interaction. Aside from developmental delay, children with†¦show more content†¦They can provide critical information about evidence-based treatment, offer assistance in overcoming barriers to intensive treatment, including personnel selection, and provide ongoing support to family members (Goodman, Reed, Athey-Lloyd, 2015). Case examples illustrate how psychologists can help families address specific barriers to intensive treatment. Treatment description One way to benefit the behaviors of autism is by using ABA, this form of intervention has been documented to have positive improvement with individuals with autism (Hillman 2006). ABA requires a team of Psychologists, behavioral specialists, educators, social workers, medical professionals, and most importantly the unlimited cooperation of parents. A positive outcome requires thirty to forty hours a week of intensive treatment. The process of starting new routines and time modifications of the parents’ schedules can be overwhelming, the support of psychologists is crucial for the parent’s support during this process (Erba, 2000). Other team members also have crucial responsibilities, educators are responsible for producing materials to motivate the client to engage during interactions. Behavior specialists personnel (BSCs) then can target skill development through one-on-one therapy (Hillman 2006). A case study by Hillman (2006), explained how a boy with autism, Johnny, often took three hours to get to bed becauseShow MoreRelatedMusic Therapy And Its Effect On The Quality Of A Person s Life1802 Words   |  8 Pageslives in a very powerful way, and science has shown us that it can have a positive effect on the quality of a person’s life. Music therapy is a healthcare practice that utilizes clinical and evidence-based music therapy methods to address stress, wellness, pain, physical rehabilitation, and to improve a person’s quality of life. It can have a significantly positive effect on people—physically and emotionally. While the earliest known mention of music being used as a therapy appeared in 1789 in a ColumbianRead MoreArt Therapy Essay2790 Words   |  12 Pageseducation system, focusing on children who are learning disabled, mentally challenged, emotionally disturbed, socially disadvantaged. According to the AATA, art therapy is practiced in ment al health, rehabilitation, medical, educational, forensic, wellness, private practice and community settings. Within these settings, art therapy can be applied to an extremely diverse client population in individual, couples, family, and group therapy formats. Art therapy is an effective treatment for people experiencingRead MoreGoodlife Fitness Essay12449 Words   |  50 PagesLife Kids Foundation. * The Kilee Patchell-Evans Autism Research Foundation (founded in 2003). * GoodLife labeled chocolate milk as their official recovery beverage in order to support the local Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC). Business Objectives/Mission amp; Unique Selling Proposition * To give every Canadian the opportunity to live a fit and healthy Good Life. * To help corporate Canada achieve health and wellness. * Simple Philosophy: Caring - unmatched customerRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesconsidered the standard for all organizational behavior textbooks, this edition continues its tradition of making current, relevant research come alive for students. While maintaining its hallmark features—clear writing style, cutting-edge content, and engaging pedagogy—the fourteenth edition has been updated to reflect the most recent research within the field of organizational behavior. This is one of the most comprehensive and thorough revisions of Organizational Behavior we’ve undertaken, and whileRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagesmay not be enough to determine whether a treatment really does have an effect. People sometimes respond merely to the power of suggestion! For example, suppose a study designed to determine whether a particular herbal supplement is effective in promoting weight loss uses an experimental group that takes the herbal supplement and a control group that takes nothing. It is possible that those who take the herbal supplement and believe that they are taking something that will help them to lose weight

Notes on the Economics of Game Theory Essay Example For Students

Notes on the Economics of Game Theory Essay Sam Vaknins Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web SitesConsider this :Could Western management techniques be successfully implemented in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) ? Granted, they have to be adapted, modified and cannot be imported in their entirety. But their crux, their inalienable nucleus can this be transported and transplanted in CEE ? Theory provides us with a positive answer. Human agents are the same everywhere and are mostly rational. Practice begs to differ. Basic concepts such as the money value of time or the moral and legal meaning of property are non existent. The legal, political and economic environments are all unpredictable. As a result, economic players will prefer to maximize their utility immediately (steal from the workplace, for instance) than to wait for longer term (potentially, larger) benefits. Warrants (stock options) convertible to the companys shares constitute a strong workplace incentive in the West (because t here is an horizon and they increase the employees welfare in the long term). Where the future is speculation speculation withers. Stock options or a small stake in his firm, will only encourage the employee to blackmail the other shareholders by paralysing the firm, to abuse his new position and will be interpreted as immunity, conferred from above, from the consequences of illegal activities. The very allocation of options or shares will be interpreted as a sign of weakness, dependence and need, to be exploited. Hierarchy is equated with slavery and employees will rather harm their long term interests than follow instructions or be subjected to criticism never mind how constructive. The employees in CEE regard the corporate environment as a conflict zone, a zero sum game (in which the gains by some equal the losses to others). In the West, the employees participate in the increase in the firms value. The difference between these attitudes is irreconcilable. Now, let us consider this :An entrepreneur is a person who is gifted at identifying the unsatisfied needs of a market, at mobilizing and organizing the resources required to satisfy those needs and at defining a long-term strategy of development and marketing. As the enterprise grows, two processes combine to denude the entrepreneur of some of his initial functions. The firm has ever growing needs for capital : financial, human, assets and so on. Additionally, the company begins (or should begin) to interface and interact with older, better established firms. Thus, the company is forced to create its first management team : a general manager with the right doses of respectability, connections and skills, a chief financial officer, a host of consultants and so on. In theory if all our properly motivated financially all these players (entrepreneurs and managers) will seek to maximize the value of the firm. What happens, in reality, is that both work to minimize it, each for its own rea sons. The managers seek to maximize their short-term utility by securing enormous pay packages and other forms of company-dilapidating compensation. The entrepreneurs feel that they are strangled, shackled, held back by bureaucracy and they rebel. They oust the management, or undermine it, turning it into an ineffective representative relic. They assume real, though informal, control of the firm. They do so by defining a new set of strategic goals for the firm, which call for the institution of an entrepreneurial rather than a bureaucratic type of management. These cycles of initiative-consolidation-new initiative-revolution-consolidation are the dynamos of company growth. Growth leads to maximization of value. However, the players dont know or do not fully believe that they are in the process of maximizing the companys worth. On the contrary, consciously, the managers say : lets maximize the benefits that we derive from this company, as long as we are still here. The entrepreneurs- owners say : we cannot tolerate this stifling bureaucracy any longer. We prefer to have a smaller company but all ours. The growth cycles forces the entrepreneurs to dilute their holdings (in order to raise the capital necessary to finance their initiatives). This dilution (the fracturing of the ownership structure) is what brings the last cycle to its end. The holdings of the entrepreneurs are too small to materialize a coup against the management. The management then prevails and the entrepreneurs are neutralized and move on to establish another start-up. The only thing that they leave behind them is their names and their heirs. We can use Game Theory methods to analyse both these situations. Wherever we have economic players bargaining for the allocation of scarce resources in order to attain their utility functions, to secure the outcomes and consequences (the value, the preference, that the player attaches to his outcomes) which are right for them we can use Game Theory (GT). A short recap of the basic tenets of the theory might be in order. GT deals with interactions between agents, whether conscious and intelligent or Dennettic. A Dennettic Agent (DA) is an agent that acts so as to influence the future allocation of resources, but does not need to be either conscious or deliberative to do so. A Game is the set of acts committed by 1 to n rational DA and one a-rational (not irrational but devoid of rationality) DA (nature, a random mechanism). At least 1 DA in a Game must control the result of the set of acts and the DAs must be (at least potentially) at conflict, whole or partial. This is not to say that all the DAs aspire to the same things. They have different priorities and preferences. They rank the likely outcomes of their acts differently. They engage Strategies to obtain their highest ranked outcome. A Strategy is a vector, which details the acts, with which the DA will react in response to all the (possible) acts by the other DAs. An agent is said to be rational if his Strategy does guarantee the attainment of his most preferred goal. Nature is involved by assigning probabilities to the outcomes. An outcome, therefore, is an allocation of resources resulting from the acts of the agents. An agent is said to control the situation if its acts matter to others to the extent that at least one of them is forced to alter at least one vector (Strategy). The Consequence to the agent is the value of a function that assigns real numbers to each of the outcomes. The consequence represents a list of outcomes, prioritized, ranked. It is also known as an ordinal utility function. If the function includes relative numerical importance measures (not only real numbers) we call it a Cardinal Utility Function. Games, naturally, can consist of one player, two players and more than two players (n-players). They can be zero (or fixed) sum (the sum of benefits is fixed and whatever gains made by one of the players are lost by the others). They can be nonzero-sum (the amount of benefits to all players can increase or decrease). Games can be cooperative (where some of the players or all of them form coalitions) or non-cooperative (competitive). For some of the games, the solutions are called Nash equilibria. They are sets of strategies constructed so that an agent which adopts them (and, as a result, secures a certain outcome) will have no incentive to switch over to other strategies (given the strategies of all other players). Nash equilibria (solutions) are the most stable (it is where the system settles down, to borrow from Chaos Theory) but they are not guaranteed to be the most desirable. Consider the famous Prisoners Dilemma in which both players play rationally and reach the Nash equilib rium only to discover that they could have done much better by collaborating (that is, by playing irrationally). Instead, they adopt the Paretto-dominated, or the Paretto-optimal, sub-optimal solution. Any outside interference with the game (for instance, legislation) will be construed as creating a NEW game, not as pushing the players to adopt a Paretto-superior solution. The Negro Artist And The Racial Mountain EssayThere are more serious problems, philosophical in nature. It is generally agreed that changing the game can and very often does move the players from a non-cooperative mode (leading to Paretto-dominated results, which are never desirable) to a cooperative one. A government can force its citizens to cooperate and to obey the law. It can enforce this cooperation. This is often called a Hobbesian dilemma. It arises even in a population made up entirely of altruists. Different utility functions and the process of bargaining are likely to drive these good souls to threaten to become egoists unless other altruists adopt their utility function (their preferences, their bundles). Nash proved that there is an allocation of possible utility functions to these agents so that the equilibrium strategy for each one of them will be this kind of threat. This is a clear social Hobbesian dilemma : the equilibrium is absolute egoism despite the fact that all the players are altruists. This implies that we can learn very little about the outcomes of competitiv e situations from acquainting ourselves with the psychological facts pertaining to the players. The agents, in this example, are not selfish or irrational and, still, they deteriorate in their behaviour, to utter egotism. A complete set of utility functions including details regarding how much they know about one anothers utility functions defines the available equilibrium strategies. The altruists in our example are prisoners of the logic of the game. Only an outside power can release them from their predicament and permit them to materialize their true nature. Gauthier said that morally-constrained agents are more likely to evade Paretto-dominated outcomes in competitive games than agents who are constrained only rationally. But this is unconvincing without the existence of an Hobesian enforcement mechanism (a state is the most common one). Players would do better to avoid Paretto dominated outcomes by imposing the constraints of such a mechanism upon their available strategies. P aretto optimality is defined as efficiency, when there is no state of things (a different distribution of resources) in which at least one player is better off with all the other no worse off. Better off read : with his preference satisfied. This definitely could lead to cooperation (to avoid a bad outcome) but it cannot be shown to lead to the formation of morality, however basic. Criminals can achieve their goals in splendid cooperation and be content, but that does not make it more moral. Game theory is agent neutral, it is utilitarianism at its apex. It does not prescribe to the agent what is good only what is right. It is the ultimate proof that effort at reconciling utilitarianism with more deontological, agent relative, approaches are dubious, in the best of cases. Teleology, in other words, in no guarantee of morality. Acts are either means to an end or ends in themselves. This is no infinite regression. There is bound to be an holy grail (happiness ?) in the role of the ultimate end. A more commonsense view would be to regard acts as means and states of affairs as ends. This, in turn, leads to a teleological outlook : acts are right or wrong in accordance with their effectiveness at securing the achievement of the right goals. Deontology (and its stronger version, absolutism) constrain the means. It states that there is a permitted subset of means, all the other being immoral and, in effect, forbidden. Game Theory is out to shatter both the notion of a finite chain of means and ends culminating in an ultimate end and of the deontological view. It is consequentialist but devoid of any value judgement. Game Theory pretends that human actions are breakable into much smaller molecules called games. Human acts within these games are means to achieving ends but the ends are improbable in their finality. The means are segments of strategies : prescient and omniscient renditions of the possible moves of all the players. Aside from the fact that it involves mnemic causation (direct and deterministic influence by past events) and a similar influence by the utility function (which really pertains to the future) it is highly implausible. Additionally, Game Theory is mired in an internal contradiction : on the one hand it solemnly teaches us that the psychology of the players is absolutely of no consequence. On the other, it hastens to explicitly and axiomatically postulate their rationality and implicitly (and no less axiomatically) their benefit-seeking behaviour (though this aspect is much more muted). This leads to absolutely outlandish results : irrational behaviour leads to total cooper ation, bounded rationality leads to more realistic patterns of cooperation and competition (coopetition) and an unmitigated rational behaviour leads to disaster (also known as Paretto dominated outcomes). Moreover, Game Theory refuses to acknowledge that real games are dynamic, not static. The very concepts of strategy, utility function and extensive (tree like) representation are static. The dynamic is retrospective, not prospective. To be dynamic, the game must include all the information about all the actors, all their strategies, all their utility functions. Each game is a subset of a higher level game, a private case of an implicit game which is constantly played in the background, so to say. This is a hyper-game of which all games are but derivatives. It incorporates all the physically possible moves of all the players. An outside agency with enforcement powers (the state, the police, the courts, the law) are introduced by the players. In this sense, they are not really an outside event which has the effect of altering the game fundamentally. They are part and parcel of the strategies available to the players and cannot be arbitrarily ruled out. On the contrary, their introducti on as part of a dominant strategy will simplify Game theory and make it much more applicable. In other words : players can choose to compete, to cooperate and to cooperate in the formation of an outside agency. There is no logical or mathematical reason to exclude the latter possibility. The ability to thus influence the game is a legitimate part of any real life strategy. Game Theory assumes that the game is a given and the players have to optimize their results within it. It should open itself to the inclusion of game altering or redefining moves by the players as an integral part of their strategies. After all, games entail the existence of some agreement to play and this means that the players accept some rules (this is the role of the prosecutor in the Prisoners Dilemma). If some outside rules (of the game) are permissible why not allow the risk that all the players will agree to form an outside, lawfully binding, arbitration and enforcement agency as part of the game ? Such an agency will be nothing if not the embodiment, the materialization of one of the rules, a move in the players strategies, leading them to more optimal or superior outcomes as far as their utility functions are concerned. Bargaining inevitably leads to an agreement regarding a decision making procedure. An outside agency, which enforces cooperation and some moral code, is such a decision making procedure. It is not an outside agency in the true, physical, sense. It does not alter the game (not to mention its rules). It IS the game, it is a procedure, a way to resolve conflicts, an integral part of any solution and imputation, the herald of cooperation, a representative of some of the will of all the players and, therefore, a part both of their utility functions and of their strategies to obtain their preferred outcomes. Really, these outside agencies ARE the desired outcomes. Once Game Theory digests this observation, it could tackle reality rather than its own idealized contraptions .

Strategies for Canadian Workers and Labour Unions an Example by

Strategies for Canadian Workers and Labour Unions in the 21st Century Every generation faces changes, so as organizations face different challenges throughout its existence. In his book, The Canadian Labour Movement: A Short Story, Heron cited that "three waves of major changes in the organization of work: after 1840, after 1940, and after 1975,". The story of trade and labor unions evolved in the development of organizations and has become an instrumental catalyst in the economic transformation of corporations and institutions. Need essay sample on "Strategies for Canadian Workers and Labour Unions in the 21st Century" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Labor unions nowadays have been more responsive to different issues like equity and gender. Aside from engaging into collective bargaining agreements with employers, like negotiating work security, conditions and pay, trade unions have also been actively participating in political issues that protect their rights and interests. Towards the 21st century, a quarter of Canadas workforce belonged to trade or labor unions (Encarta, 2008). I am part of the multi-national company and we are compensated well in our jobs. Benefits are at hand and it seems unnecessary to heed on the bargains of trade unions. However, my personal experiences on labor unions were from the project-based employees in our company. These workers were only paid per work basis meaning. The benefits were not available to them unlike the regular staffs. With this at hand, some workers would not step up to bargain since the top management would still dictate on what pay would be given to them, given the conditions mandated by the State or country. This brings to the idea that organizations nowadays are heading to a more competitive status as compared decades ago. Companies have to be conservative in their resources in order to survive competition and to make themselves sustainable. The challenge these organizations face also coincides with the future of labor unions. As mentioned by Errol Black and Jim Silver, the unions will have a difficult time to keep their egalitarian ideals in the face of rapid economic growth and technological change. Pressures are evident in the workplace, thus labor unions have to reinvent strategies to battle off problems like unemployment, downsizing and crises in management. One particular paradigm shift that companies are tackling right now is reducing work hours to create more yet temporary jobs to unemployed people (OHara, 1993). This may result to lower paying and non-permanent jobs, but this is seen as somehow a win-win situation for both the working masses and the company. However, unions are still considered as a factor of economic change for the company and to the rest of the labor force. The insights and skills of the workers still hold as the organizations biggest asset. Labor unions play a promising role to the labor scene. However, there are two propositions that Graham Lowe stated in his book, The Quality of Work: A People Centered Agenda that will keep the labor unions prosper and workers can enjoy a meaningful job amidst the changes in the economy: (1) job quality must be defined along side a wide range of dimensions and (2) the quality of jobs. Lowe, as a sociologist himself, believes that improving job quality will lessen turnovers and promote productivity, thus, giving the company in the better light. Critics may have attacked this idea, but it made sense in the view of management that truly productivity of workers has a direct positive payoff to organizations. Successes of companies and labor workers depend on how both sides cope up with the changing environment. As Peter Drucker puts it, it is the time to do what is for the future precisely since everything is in flux. Unions must have innovative strategies and must also continue to empower its worker-members to have a voice in decision making to balance the overpowering management ideals. What will even bring them to a brighter future is always having a clear vision for the organization, the union and the comprising labor force. Bibliography 2008. Labor Unions in Canada. Microsoft Encarta. Black, E., & Silver, J. (2008). Building a Better World: An Introduction to Trade Unionism in Canada. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing Co., Ltd.. Drucker, P. F. (1994). Post-capitalist Society. St. Louis: Butterworth-Heinemann. Heron, C. (1996). The Canadian Labour Movement: A Short History. Toronto: Lorimer. Lowe, G. S. (2000). The Quality of Work: A People-Centred Agenda. New York: Oxford University Press, USA. O'Hara, B. (1993). Working Harder Isn't Working. Vancouver: New Star Books.

Its Common Sense That Animals Do Suffer essays

Its Common Sense That Animals Do Suffer essays It's Common Sense That Animals Do Suffer Many people and animal right activists object to having animals used in experiments. The animals used in medical research are put through experiment to help find cures for the well being of mankind, but somewhere down the line, some of these animals are tormented and tortured. Most of the researchers or "animal abusers" are caught and brought to court because of the heinous acts committed against these creatures and the excuse most animal abusers use is that animals do not suffer because they cannot communicate or express feelings. The author of "Animal Liberation", Peter Singer, argues that animals do suffer and most animals can communicate and express their feelings, such as pain. He states this clearly when he says, "Most people agree unhesitatingly that animals like cats and dogs can and do suffer." Many animals, such as mammals and birds communicate pain through, whimpering, yelping, and whining. Also, if animals did not suffer, then why would there be a law that prohibits cruelty towards animals. This law fines and even incarcerates people who abuse animals. Moreover, this law infers that animals do suffer and also, that they do have rights against inflicted, and unnecessary pain. In addition, one reason why people experiment with animals and do not care if the are hurting them is because animals do not have a language and cannot voice their feelings so they say. Science research found that chimpanzees ( a species similar to humans) can communicate and have a developed language. But what about infants? Infants cannot talk. So, are the not able to suffer because they lack a language? Why are these medical experiments not performed on infants? If animals do not hurt because they cannot communicate, then why can we not say the same for human babies? All in all, medical researchers are using animals to come up with cure for the many diseases and viruses humans bear....

Free Essays on Psychology Research Project

When I began this research project I wasn’t sure how much information there would be on Childhood Behavioral Disorders, and I was afraid it would all be the same and I would already know most of it. I was surprised, then, to find a lot of new information on this topic. For my magazine article I chose a U.S. News article entitled â€Å"When Does A Child Need Help?†(11/11/02). It gave me some information on different types and causes of social and behavioral disorders in children, and it had examples of symptoms so one might be able to determine if their child has a disorder. It’s a good beginning for parents seeking a foundation of information, but there are no helpful numbers to call or organizations to contact. One fact that I had learned is that if a child is constantly insistent on doing everything by themselves then it could be possible that child has Oppositional Defiant Disorder. During my Internet search on my topic, I came across a website called â€Å"Understanding and Treating Childhood Behavioral Disorders†. This article provided the reader with eight different disorders, with a definition and/or symptoms. It was easy to understand, and it didn’t confuse me with a lot of â€Å"medical mumbo-jumbo†. One fact I learned from this article was that social phobia is caused by a fear of ridicule. I only knew that people with that disorder did not like to be around other people. This article also tells the reader that their child’s condition may be inherited. That is, one or more of the child’s blood relatives may also have it. When I looked for my peer-reviewed journal it was harder because there were a lot more resources, and the terms were harder to understand. I found one, however, entitled â€Å"Conduct Disorder†(Gale Encyclopedia Of Medicine, 1999). I chose this article because it included how to recognize a conduct disorder, who can diagnose it, and how it can be treated. One thing that this article offered that ... Free Essays on Psychology Research Project Free Essays on Psychology Research Project When I began this research project I wasn’t sure how much information there would be on Childhood Behavioral Disorders, and I was afraid it would all be the same and I would already know most of it. I was surprised, then, to find a lot of new information on this topic. For my magazine article I chose a U.S. News article entitled â€Å"When Does A Child Need Help?†(11/11/02). It gave me some information on different types and causes of social and behavioral disorders in children, and it had examples of symptoms so one might be able to determine if their child has a disorder. It’s a good beginning for parents seeking a foundation of information, but there are no helpful numbers to call or organizations to contact. One fact that I had learned is that if a child is constantly insistent on doing everything by themselves then it could be possible that child has Oppositional Defiant Disorder. During my Internet search on my topic, I came across a website called â€Å"Understanding and Treating Childhood Behavioral Disorders†. This article provided the reader with eight different disorders, with a definition and/or symptoms. It was easy to understand, and it didn’t confuse me with a lot of â€Å"medical mumbo-jumbo†. One fact I learned from this article was that social phobia is caused by a fear of ridicule. I only knew that people with that disorder did not like to be around other people. This article also tells the reader that their child’s condition may be inherited. That is, one or more of the child’s blood relatives may also have it. When I looked for my peer-reviewed journal it was harder because there were a lot more resources, and the terms were harder to understand. I found one, however, entitled â€Å"Conduct Disorder†(Gale Encyclopedia Of Medicine, 1999). I chose this article because it included how to recognize a conduct disorder, who can diagnose it, and how it can be treated. One thing that this article offered that ...

Discussion Board 8, Chapter 10 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Board 8, Chapter 10 - Essay Example But our group leaders had a tendency to challenge our abilities. They would often ask us how we knew something was too complex without even trying to accomplish the instructions for the experiment. Our leader chose to validate our concerns by understanding our point of view and then negotiated with us regarding how we could complete the chosen experiment. That is how we would find ourselves working out the â€Å"complex† instructions and actually getting the work done. Then we would find out that it was never too â€Å"complex† at all. Then there was the time when I was part of the school dance committee. Our theme was 80s retro. The cost of our decorations were beginning to skyrocket and our class president would often remind us that our budget was running low. Luckily, we were a highly creative bunch in the group who knew that just because something was expensive, that did not mean we could not have it. Rather, it just meant that we would have to improvise instead, and improvise we did. By getting everyone involved in finding a solution to the problem, the result was a highly cooperative group that managed to pull off a school dance that looked expensive on a shoestring

Total Quality Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Total Quality Management - Research Paper Example I. INTRODUCTION History OF TQM Basically, TQM is widely considered to be a management philosophy which revolves around improving the quality of products and myriad processes running within an organization prior to launching a product in the market. The term TQM refers to managing and maximizing quality at every level so that employee engagement could be raised, a wide collection of talented ideas could be formed, costs could be reduced by running processes based on short time periods, and top-quality products could be introduced in the market which would better adapt to the customers’ needs. The concept of TQM operates on the principle that everyone is involved in preparing a certain product and not any product can be considered the result of many efforts made by the top management. It operates on the principle that everyone, from grass-root level to authoritative level, working for an organization should be involved in the product-preparing process, so that everyone could be credited with success and glory and no big feat could be called a one-man’s achievement. ... ues within an organization and did not lay any stress on improving their quality in contrast to the philosophy of TQM, which lays stress on improving and managing the quality of every single process and relation within an organization. So, it remains a reality that TQM offers a much wider approach for looking at things in order to work upon their quality so that the product quality could be improved consequently. According to (Business Performance Improvement Resource 2011), though the roots of TQM can be traced back to early 1920s when the business focus was shifted more towards product quality control, it was in Japan during 1940s when this huge business concept was nurtured and polished in the more vivacious and realistic way. It was then that the focus shifted from product quality control alone and widened tremendously and ultimately, such a business management philosophy was introduced in the form of TQM which could be applied to every level from employee engagement and committe d management to quality products and customer satisfaction. Some critics also suggest that the roots of TQM are found embedded in the statistical theory which was applied to the management of product quality and focused on identifying the quality problems and relied mainly on quality control professionals. It was when the Japanese products began to be perceived as cheap imitations that the industrial leaders in Japan launched a program to produce high-quality products and later titles this program as TQM which ultimately became a whole philosophical domain. In the later years, the concept of quality control and management widened even more and the idea of overall quality control became the front theme of Japanese movement. The idea of the quality never stops at the management level or at

Courage Mother and her Children critique Essay Example for Free

Courage Mother and her Children critique Essay â€Å"Mother Courage and Her Children† by Bertolt Brecht took place during the 30 Years’ War in Europe. The whole play revolved around the survival of a lower class family, trying to live through the harsh war with their canteen wagon business. Each scene in the play contained the factors of religious, honesty, war, loyalty, and family. The theme of â€Å"Mother Courage and Her Children† was maternity, due to the fact that Mother Courage’s sense of coldhearted business caused her become unable to protect her children, which led to their deaths, leaving her all alone in the end. Mother Courage was always doing business while each of her children died during the play. This shows that she was more interested in her business and money than her own children, and an example of this can be seen when her thirst for money had caused Swiss to die because she took too long to decide whether or not to trade her money in for her son’s life. Mother Courage was the protagonist in the play, while the war was the antagonist. The war caused Mother Courage to base her living on it. Due to the fact that they were living during a war, this caused Mother Courage to be so focused on making money, that she ended up neglecting her children. It also caused her to be unable to watch her daughter get married, since Kattrin could only get married when peace returned and the war ended. War is also the antagonist, due to the fact that is also caused Mother Courage to lose her sons as well. The play was a tragedy because in it, Mother Courage’s children all perished, and she was left all alone in the end. In the play, Bretch assigned each of Mother Courage’s children with a â€Å"tragic flaw† as a result of her failure to learn to choose family over business. The tragedies that Mother Courage’s children suffered throughout the play were Swiss, with honesty, Eilif, with arrogance, and Kattrin, with pity. Mother Courage had to go through suffering of the death of each of her children one by one and was unable to do anything about it. The set of the play was a major contribution to the play. The use of a proscenium stage was the best fit for this type of play since it allowed the audiences to focus on the center of the stage where Mother Courage’s wagon was. Mother Courage’s family always moved around. However, their wagon was still placed at nearly the same spot on the stage, which tells the audience that they were not moving anywhere because no matter where they moved to, they still faced the same struggles and hardships. Even though the setting mostly remained the same from scene to  scene, backgrounds changed from one scene to another, which allowed the audience to know that the scene was taking place in a different location. There was almost always the same lighting throughout the whole play. The only thing that changed about the lights was the brightness; the lights were brighter during the day and dimmer at night. There were some spotlights. However, it only appeared upon the actors who came before each scene, in order to tell the audience what will happen in the upcoming scene. The lighting of â€Å"Mother Courage Mother and Her Children,† was different from the other play that I went to. Usually lights would go off when changing from one scene to another, so that characters were able to get on and off stage, in order to prepare the set for the scene. However, in this play, the lights were still on during scene transitions. Bretch made pulling the wagon in and out of the stage as an exit and enter for each scene, which didn’t require the actors to quickly change settings for different scenes. The background sound of gunshots and bombs that were playing throughout the play allowed the audience to feel as if the war was actually taking place during the play. The gunshots sounded very loud, making the audience feel as if it was nearby. Without the sounds, the audience would not have been able to feel the mood of the war. Sounds of gunshots added more effects to the mood of war, giving the audience an the image of how deadly the war was. The play was a musical play, since there were many parts where Mother Courage and some singers in the background sang and played instruments. The entrance to the play was also a song that expressed the mood and feeling of the war. Mother courage sang in almost every scene, to express her feelings. She also sang in the last part of the play when Kattrin died. The costumes of the play reflected the life of the characters in the play. The costumes did not really tell the time period in which the play took place because the characters were just wearing normal types of rural clothes that had many layers, and were attached with many pieces of fabric. The characters in the play had the same outfit throughout the whole play, and this outfit not only showed their poverty, but also the condition of life during the war, due to the fact that they were unable to have clothes to change into. The many layers of clothes worn were everything that the characters owned, and this showed their struggles, due to the fact that they are unable to buy any new clothes. Overall, the play was easy to understand because it was in modern  English and there were no accent in the characters’ pronunciation, which allowed the audience to understand what the characters were saying. Mother Courage struggled throughout her life with her business and children, but ended up with nothing due to the war, in which she was favoring. The war had brought Mother Courage the business she needed, but took away her children one by one.

An Analysis of Grand Strategy :: essays research papers fc

An Analysis of Grand Strategy through the Lens of Neo-Security Complex Theory   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde attempt to structure a fundamentally new approach to the study of security issues by attempting to incorporate traditional notions of security analysis into a broader understanding of international security that incorporates non-military threats. Their neo-security complex theory does provide substantive insight into how the process of securitizing issues occurs and how one can address non-military existential threats within a security studies framework; however, there are some substantive problems that require greater theoretical precision in order to prevent making the securitizing process they describe nothing more than a residual category. Ultimately, Buzan, Waever, and de Wilde need to incorporate both temporal elements as well as and probability into their approach in order to disaggregate existential threats. Without such modifications, the existential threat posed by an incoming nuclear or chemical warhead is equi valent to increased levels of radon in the home.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to show the virtues, flaws, and possible improvements that would allow neo-security complex theory to become a more powerful analytic tool in security studies it is first necessary to briefly explicate the core elements of the approach and show how it diverges from the traditional understanding of security studies. Then one must show how its application would provide substantive insight into particular security practices found in the literature, such as grand strategy. After doing so, we must address substantive problems generated from the application of the theory and then show how various improvements would strengthen the neo-security project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The neo-security complex theory revolves around an attempt to expand the possibilities of what constitutes a security threat by conceptualizing it as meaning solely a threat to one’s physical existence. While recognizing that there are many threats and vulnerabilities that arise both within and outside military issues, Buzan, Waever, and de Wilde argue that including all such events would ultimately prove the traditionalists’ critique that expanding security beyond military issues inevitably leads to a lack of coherence. The way out of this conceptual morass is to distinguish between political issues and construct security as pertaining to â€Å"existential threats to a referent object by a securitizing actor who thereby generates endorsement of emergency measures beyond rules that would otherwise bind.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Like neorealism, neo-security complex theory relies upon levels of analysis as a means to situate actors, issues that pose existential threats, and the interactions between them that constitute security. An Analysis of Grand Strategy :: essays research papers fc An Analysis of Grand Strategy through the Lens of Neo-Security Complex Theory   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde attempt to structure a fundamentally new approach to the study of security issues by attempting to incorporate traditional notions of security analysis into a broader understanding of international security that incorporates non-military threats. Their neo-security complex theory does provide substantive insight into how the process of securitizing issues occurs and how one can address non-military existential threats within a security studies framework; however, there are some substantive problems that require greater theoretical precision in order to prevent making the securitizing process they describe nothing more than a residual category. Ultimately, Buzan, Waever, and de Wilde need to incorporate both temporal elements as well as and probability into their approach in order to disaggregate existential threats. Without such modifications, the existential threat posed by an incoming nuclear or chemical warhead is equi valent to increased levels of radon in the home.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to show the virtues, flaws, and possible improvements that would allow neo-security complex theory to become a more powerful analytic tool in security studies it is first necessary to briefly explicate the core elements of the approach and show how it diverges from the traditional understanding of security studies. Then one must show how its application would provide substantive insight into particular security practices found in the literature, such as grand strategy. After doing so, we must address substantive problems generated from the application of the theory and then show how various improvements would strengthen the neo-security project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The neo-security complex theory revolves around an attempt to expand the possibilities of what constitutes a security threat by conceptualizing it as meaning solely a threat to one’s physical existence. While recognizing that there are many threats and vulnerabilities that arise both within and outside military issues, Buzan, Waever, and de Wilde argue that including all such events would ultimately prove the traditionalists’ critique that expanding security beyond military issues inevitably leads to a lack of coherence. The way out of this conceptual morass is to distinguish between political issues and construct security as pertaining to â€Å"existential threats to a referent object by a securitizing actor who thereby generates endorsement of emergency measures beyond rules that would otherwise bind.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Like neorealism, neo-security complex theory relies upon levels of analysis as a means to situate actors, issues that pose existential threats, and the interactions between them that constitute security.

Culture and Visual Entertainment Media

Generally speaking, visual media has shaped American culture and its values in many ways due to the fact an average American spends most of their free time watching television. In the aspect when television first came out they avoided controversial issues because it was considered taboo to speak about them. Therefore, they made shows geared towards families living the good life with a mom at home and dad at work. This era instilled values of respect and self worth with little controversy. However, as time passed technology evolved and so did visual media. Visual entertainment began to develop into more controversial issues that changed the way we viewed the world. For instance, entertainment media began to talk about racism and mistreatment towards others; this lead Americans into the civil rights movement and equal treatment for everyone regardless of their skin color. This became the foundation that allowed other shows to step outside the box and begin to broadcast more controversial issues. Shows began to reflect life as a single parent and women entering the work force; therefore changing the value of what people considered to be a normal family. In this era divorce rates went up and many women began working towards establishing careers outside the home. As years passed, so did visual media. Cable television began to dominate the airwaves and became a popular way for people to receive media entrainment. This form of entertainment had no problem broadcasting issues such as sex, drugs, violence, and politics. Cable also made it easy for viewers to watch adult content and violent films at any moment of the day; therefore changing the way we view ourselves, others, and the world around us. I personally believe most social influences are mainly negative because people enjoy the controversy of sex, drugs, and violence. Advertisement, movies, and music compete for your attention; therefore most of them are geared towards body image and violence. Not to mention, some celebrities can openly express their opinion to children on what is considered to be acceptable behavior and what is not

Causes Of Global Financial Crisis Economics Essay

About every corporate, company and person in this universe is good cognizant with the term Global Financial Crisis. However, there are several grounds for the causes of current fiscal causes and Global economic downswing. This assignment will be concentrating on few cardinal causes that led to the downswing of planetary economic system and brought a ne'er seen fiscal crisis state of affairs across the universe. Banks, companies, corporate, Multinational companies all felt quarries to it. United States and U.K and other few developed states majorly, witnessed the worst of the crisis and are still seeking difficult to retrieve from it. The 1990s and 2000s saw a planetary moving ridge of bad investing in fiscal assets and land, and the rise of the belongings developer as the key participant in urban development. US economic system went into problem in late 2007 when lifting trade good monetary values combined with the subprime mortgage crisis and finally triggered recession. In the background of fiscal crisis in US which started in 2007, the existent estate sector continued to bloom and give good returns to the investors. Banks and fiscal establishments seeing this as an chance reduced involvement rates and made mortgages easy available to common people. As a consequence many people bought houses for investing and made usage of easy recognition installations and mortgages. Fall of lodging monetary values and lifting involvement rates triggered mortgages refinancing jobs as investors found trouble in returning the involvement every bit good chief. This caused monolithic losingss for loaners and prostration of some Ba nkss and broader liquidness jobs in fiscal sector. ( Bunkley, N. , 2008 ) . Hamilton and Kim ( 2002 ) province that today the passage to post industrialism is about complete in the United States, as agribusiness and fabrication history for less than 10 % of the entire labour force ( and that per centum continues to fall ) . The twenty-first century has seen acceleration in this tendency: Between December 2000 and May 2009, the United States lost 5.25 million fabrication occupations, or more than 30 % . Securitization turned broad during the 1990s, driven by demand from institutional investors seeking mercantile establishments for their money, bringings from Bankss that got paid by the dealing and information engineering that enabled the rating of cryptic instruments. From place mortgages to car loans to recognition card receivables and concern loans, about everything with an income watercourse seemed to stop up as a bond, and the bond market enormously outstripped the stock market in value ( Pleven & A ; Silverman, 2007 ) . Large graduated table employers that provided occupation security, calling mobility through occupation ladders, and generous wellness and retirement benefits seem to hold been artifacts of the corporate industrial age in the United States and the United Kingdom. Many of the so called academy employers have explicitly renounced the former patterns that tied employees to their houses, through stop deading company pensions and phasing out retiree wellness benefits. General Motors, for case, notified its white-collar retired persons in July 2008 that in the New Year they and their dependants would no longer be covered by GM-financed private wellness insurance because it had become excessively dearly-won. Alternatively, they would be compensated with a $ 300 addition in their monthly pension cheques ( Bunkley, 2008 ) . Harmonizing to Ahrens ( 2002 ) , the crisis which proceeded this recession was by historical criterions barely a roar at all. The net growing in planetary employment in the 1990s and 2000s came near to zero, while mean GDP per capita really fell. Underemployment and concealed unemployment became common. Almost half of the universe ‘s occupations were classified by the International Labour Organisation as insecure. Defined-benefit programs provided employees strong inducements to pass their callings with peculiar employers. With the coming of the 401 ( K ) in the early 1980s, nevertheless, the big bulk of employers that still provided pensions began a displacement toward funding comparatively portable programs in which employees and houses both contribute to an separately owned pension that can be rolled over if the employee alterations occupations. These â€Å" defined-contribution † programs efficaciously transferred hazard from employers to workers, who were now respon sible for doing reasonable investing picks on their ain behalf from among the options offered by their employer ( Cobb, 2008 ; Hacker, 2006 ) . Although employers were motivated in portion by cost considerations, the consequence was to loosen the ties that bound employees to houses, farther reenforcing the tendencies described in the old subdivision. While the planetary economic system is demoing cautious marks of healing, hapless states are still enduring the effects of the world-wide depression and the nutrient, fuel and fiscal crises, which hit over the last two old ages. The poorest states will necessitate extra aid to travel in front of the planetary depression. states like UK, US can play a cardinal function in assisting to heighten international demand to bear planetary resurgence, but they will necessitate entryway to funding for old ages to come. The World Bank is working for a Crisis Response Facility to guarantee that rapid and helpful support can be provided to most incapacitated hapless states following dazes. Failure to cover with this demand could endanger the development achieved in many hapless states based on recent strong development attempts, and alternatively take to dearly-won reversals. ( Kotlan, V. , 2002 ) The positive side of recession is that it will convey new demands for be aftering to make what it has ever presented itself as making protecting the demands of ordinary people instead than privileged minorities, the populace instead than the private involvement, the hereafter instead than the present. New societal forces will impact on the behavior of contrivers and on be aftering results. And the recession will supply plentifulness of chances for these new forces to concentrate around and capitalize on ( Peel and Ioannidis, 2003 ) . No surprises so that some are already take a firm standing that the solution to the crisis is to work even harder at ‘Competitiveness ‘ than earlier. The old order, rational and institutional, will hang on every bit long as there are no possible options ( Andreou, et. Al, 2000 ) . For illustration, there will be no deficit of potentially utile infinite in the center of metropoliss everyplace. Already many authoritiess have targeted societal lodging and green substructure as the urban avenues through which to supply the necessary Keynesian injection to reconstruct macroeconomic stableness. The Obama disposal ‘s accent on environmental utilizations of the new public support raises the possibility of a turning consensus in favor of a Green New Deal within which the urban will be the cardinal graduated table in the United States. All of these will hold profound deductions for Planning ( Peel and Ioannidis, 2003 ) . Encourage nest eggs among the consumer base by increasing involvement rates so that consumers do non impart to a great extent on borrowing for their nutriment and stop up losing their net incomes on involvement or in the procedure of repossession of belongings and earning by Bankss which have lent them money earlier ( Davis, 2009 ) . To make this in a hazard free mode, recognition cheques should be made rigorous and incentive options should be given to people who maintain their evaluations therefore doing it a reciprocally organized attempt and non a exclusive run by the Government to cut down debitors in their state. In the capitalist universe in which we live the most of import influence on wellness and felicity at both the person and corporate degree is the handiness of occupations. In the new context of planetary recession, Kotlan ( 2002 ) argues the ILO has hence proposed that public policy should be readjusted to concentrate on low C employment intensive poorness cut downing growing. If planning is to repossess any credibleness as a concern devoted to societal betterment and environmental endurance it must set consequently. This implies a really different sort of planning, and contriver, from that of the recent yesteryear. In the immediate hereafter this would look to necessitate two new accents. First, cardinal strategic topographic point must be given to the end of maximizing local economic public assistance. Improved employment chances and a fairer distribution of incomes should go the premier mark of planning at all spacial graduated tables. Without this none of the other benign possibilities of be aftering base much opportunity of being realised. To be programmatic about it, the nucleus of planning at the urban and regional degree should be an expressed foundational Labour Market scheme to reconstruct and prolong an inclusive local labor market, as the UK All Party Urban Development Group has acknowledged, even if in mode that is already out of day of the month. The implicit in rule should be to maximize the sustainable employment impact of public disbursement and land usage ( Andreou, et. Al, 2000 ) . But this will merely impact those who get occupations. So, secondly, schemes should be developed to understate the negative effects of unemployment and low or insecure incomes by beef uping community resources and non-market chances. Bettering societal protection is an pressing precedence. There are many lessons of local authorities responses to earlier recessions and experiences around the universe that should be re-examined. Planners will hold to take on board a whole new universe of demands and responses.

Top Three problems facing the nation, the congress and the p essays

Top Three problems facing the nation, the congress and the p essays The land of Freedom, Equality, and opportunities, is what is known to the world about the United States of America from the beginning of its origin. Here people from all around the world come for higher education, for better living, and seeking more opportunities. Each people in this country can make up their life to their best because of the rules and regulation that are in favor of all, and are not bias. As for example they can work hard because there are opportunities available equally to all on the basis of their education, and capacity. Thus, the United States of America is the land of freedom, equality and opportunities. The United States of America is the dwelling place of all nationalities. However, the nation now is facing problems regarding the freedom which the congress were struck at in the decision making process. The three major problem facing nation today and also in the congress and the president in the policy making process are the same sex marriage, the illegal wo rkers, and the most high tech jobs going offshore. In the state legislatures this year, there is action related to gay marriage. In most cases lawmakers have been considering proposed amendments to their state constitutions that would tighten existing bans on the same sex marriage. It has become the problem for the congress to pass the federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. Different state has different decision, but most of the states have the same outcomes, that though the house has passed the bill to senate, its very hard for the senate to pass the bill. President George W. Bush hasnt formed the clear opinion on gay marriage. In some states, people are forcing congress to allow the same sex marriage. In my opinion peoples freedom is beyond the limit. Congress is on the horns of dilemma. Obviously it is the serious problem in the decision making process. If it is made legal, nation may face many problem...

A Five Forces Analysis Of Air Arabia Tourism Essay Essays

A Five Forces Analysis Of Air Arabia Tourism Essay Essays A Five Forces Analysis Of Air Arabia Tourism Essay Essay A Five Forces Analysis Of Air Arabia Tourism Essay Essay Harmonizing to this theoretical account any concern has 4 phases during its life rhythm. These phases are: Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline. In the debut stage a company merely starts offering its new merchandise or services in the market. At this phase the company might the lone 1 in the market or its services or merchandises might be wholly new. In the phase of growing the company has to do immense investings for the selling and research and development of the merchandise so that the merchandise can turn competitory in the market. The phase of adulthood the curve of the industry life rhythm becomes flatter and the rate of growing slows down. There are really few houses in this phase where the concern giant has a small competition from the new comers in the industry. At last the diminution stage of the life rhythm is about inevitable if there are no regular betterments are done in the merchandise or service. In this stage the gross revenues decline at a really gait. Every company, industry or concern goes through all these phases in their life rhythm but there are really few companies which have seen the adulthood stage. Air Arabia is one of those companies of the UAE which is in the phase of adulthood. The company is considered to be in the phase of adulthood as it fulfils all the demands to be in the phase. Air Arabia is the largest air power company that offers the lowest winging cost. The scheme of cost minimizing and stigmatization by increasing the figure of flights is to derive sustainable competitory advantage in the industry and competitory border over the new entrant rivals. Bing in the stage of adulthood of the industry life rhythm the company Air Arabia must lodge to its low cost bearer services and focused on the current concern theoretical account. Air Arabia has captured most of the concern hubs of the Middle East and North Africa part which has a possible developing market and prospective growing for the air p ower industry and LCCs. The concern scheme of the company should non be merely endeavoring for cutting down the operational cost to supply low monetary value bearer but to supply service which is more scheduled, convenient, more finishs it covers, and performs in clip. Analysis of the Air Arabia based on Michael Porter s five Competitive Forces : Menace of New Entrants The entry of new company in the industry influences the competition scenario in the industry. The air power industry has a high potency of net incomes so it may pull rivals in the market. These new entrants might be menace for the Air Arabia air power company which is the leader in the LCCs. These menaces might be in footings of better services, lower cost of merchandise and services. Air Arabia is a good established, profitable and most successful company in the industry so it would be hard for the new entry to prolong in the market. The barrier of entry in the industry is besides really high because of the immense cost of set uping the concern. The concern needs 1000000s of 1000000s dollars to be invested to set up a company. The cost of an aircraft is around $ 2 one million millions and to vie with the Air Arabia the rivals has to run the air hose at low cost and offering better client services. Air Arabia has a trade name name and client trueness in the concern which gives it com petitory advantage over the new entrants in the industry. Dickering Power of Suppliers Every industry and concern demands natural stuff to fabricate their concluding merchandise or service and this natural stuff is made available by the providers. These providers can act upon the net income involved in the industry by changing the cost or quality of the natural stuff. Thus the dealingss with between the maker and providers become of import for the industry. The air hose industry has really specific providers for the concern. One is the aircraft fabrication companies like Boeing and Airbus and fuel providers. Because of scarceness of the providers of aircrafts and limited production of units the providers can command the monetary values and dickering power will be higher with them. The fuel providers besides control the cost of the tickets of air hoses. This force is a menace for the Air India as the providers has more power so the company. Dickering Power of Buyers This force is stronger in the air hose industry in the Middle East and North Africa part. The purchasers have higher power of dickering for low cost, and better services. The state of affairs is because of the big figure of options available to the riders and the figure of riders going in the LCCs is really high which will impact the concern on a really big graduated table. Because of the handiness of several options of low cost air hoses and the installation of cyberspace engagement of air tickets the clients have many flexible options available. So to weaken this force of purchasers the company hour angle to keep the quality of services and the cost of the services should be kept minimal in the industry. Otherwise this force will besides move as a menace for the company. Menace of a Substitute Products or Servicess Substitutes for the air hose industry are trains or driving autos but handiness and feasibleness of these replacements varies from part to part. Cars and trains might be substitute for the regional and local flights but they can non replace international low cost flights. So the power of this force besides differs in parts like in Europe where going with trains is easier and cheaper the menace will be higher but in UAE where the train installation is non good and because of the hot and dry clime going with autos is besides non possible flights are the best option as it is more convenient and clip economy. So the power of force will be weak at that place and chances of concern will be higher. Rivalry among existing houses In the air power the competition degree is really high between assorted air hose companies. In the Middle East and North Africa part there are many international air hoses in the industry. All these companies are pulling clients by supplying best client services, best aircrafts and lowest monetary value in the industry. But the Air Arabia has been established in the part for the past many old ages and keeping the place of leader in the LCC air hoses. Business-Level Strategy The distinction scheme requires the development and betterment in the quality of merchandise or services. These merchandises are offered to clients with better and alone features which are wholly different and advanced from the rivals. The singularity in the services will add a value to them and this value may be charged as a premium monetary value of the service by the company. Air Arabia has been the leader f the LCCs for the past three old ages. Now the company can utilize is trade name value to cover up the excess cost of the sole services by the clients. The alone properties of the services provided by Air Arabia will be able to bear down some excess dollars from the clients if the providers increase the cost of their merchandises. The current concern scheme of Air Arabia is cost focused ; it provides services at the lower limit cost possible in the industry and is taking the LCC industry for the past 3 old ages. The company should now add some value to its services. These value added services may be better client service, rapid invention and advanced engineering. But if the company will pattern this new concern scheme along with its trade name image so the menaces and failings can be overcome. To be successful with the distinction scheme of concern an organisation might hold certain strengths: Use of best and advanced scientific and technological constructs. Expert and competent work force for developing value added merchandises or services. Gross saless squad should be skilled plenty to distribute the advanced characteristics and serviceability of the merchandise. Brand image and repute to better quality and promotions. Value in the service and merchandise can be created by implementing following stairss in the concern: Lowering Buyers Costss Improved quality will minimise the opportunities of jobs in the services and therefore the cost of purchaser will besides acquire reduced. Raising Buyers Performance The chief aim of increasing the quality of services is to entertain the clients with better services and allow them bask the service. Sustainability The uniqueness and repute of the merchandises will make barriers and high shift cost. Hazards of Using a Differentiation Strategy Hazards involved in utilizing distinction scheme in the air hose industry are high. Rivals of Air Arabia can get down copying its concern theoretical account or gustatory sensations and demands of clients might alter really often which might free the value the service so the service will necessitate alterations consequently. Functional-Level Schemes Internal analysis Business Model Mission, Vision, Values, and Goal Air Arabia is the taking house in the field of low cost bearers with the mission of revolutionising the air travel in the Middle East and North African part. The attack of the company will be fresh and advanced which will offer services fulfilling to the full value of money of clients. To accomplish the mission of the company it will utilize low menu operations to turn the profitableness of the organisation. The squads of the Air Arabia will be extremely motivated for client satisfaction which will showcase the highest criterions of operations and will pull off the operational cost of the company. The vision of Air Arabia is To be one of the universe s prima Budget Airlines with regard to: Profitableness and Margin Invention Repute Operational Excellence Air Arabia shows its trueness to its riders by offering them the minimal rates and best combination of rates and services which will pull them to go with Air Arabia more often. The organisation commits to its stockholders the highest and most unafraid return on their money. The company with its value Pay Less, Fly More offers safe, dependable and comfy air travel throughout its web more frequently. The company ever looks frontward to run into the demands and outlooks of its valued clients by offering assorted value added services and offers. The company ever invites the suggestions and feedbacks from the clients in order to better its services and offerings. The journey with Air Arabia should be a fantastic experience is the chief point of dedication of the company. Decision The Air Arabia must follow generic concern scheme of distinction in add-on to its current cost focused scheme. This mix of concern schemes will derive competitory advantage over its rivals to the company. The better quality of services will do it the best company in the air hose concern. Air Arabia s AcelAero was the multifunctional reserve system. It has offered and package solution endeavor: air hose for better operational services. The company offers flights to more than 65 finishs around the universe. Air Arabia understands the value of money of the clients and provides services that are compatible to the monetary value clients have paid. All these are the uniqueness and advantages of the company in comparing to other air hoses. Air Arabia will derive competitory advantages by concentrating on other market sections. Like supplying lading services to Aramex, partnering with Dubai bank and Dubai Islamic Bank for the on-line payment installation, offering assorted gifts and verifier s on the one-year jubilations of the company. All these stairss of the company are aimed to better the trade name name and corporate image of the company, regionally or internationally. These value added services of the company will assist in increasing the figure of clients and figure of repetition clients who were one time satisfied with the services of Air Arabia. The Air Arabia air hoses company is in the adulthood phase of the concern life rhythm so it will hold to confront strong competition with the viing air hoses companies. To derive competitory border over its rivals each company will be utilizing violative concern schemes instead than defensive one to stay competitory in the market. The research and analysis of internal and external factors impacting the place of company in the air hoses industry proposes following recommendations: The cost of operations of Air Arabia is increasing because of increasing fuel monetary values and elephantine investings in aircrafts and its services. The company must minimise the operational costs by bettering operations in the concern, peculiarly betterment in care procedure, aircraft use, and effectual programming of flights. Labor cost can besides be reduced by utilizing engineering in assorted distribution procedures. Although Air Arabia has menaces of the high category air hoses which provides high degree of services to the riders, the company is a leader in the low cost air hoses. So cost of tickets can be increased up to a certain extent in order to better the quality of services and add some value to those services. Air Arabia can stay competitory in the market because it is the leader of the LCCs and charges of other high category air hoses are excessively much for a normal non concern category client. By widening the roots of the concern in such a mode the company can tu rn its market portion in the concern category clients excessively. Air Arabia has paths in more than65 finish all over the universe but as the UAE is a chief attractive force of planetary touristry so the paths of the air hoses should be increased. The company should fall in some planetary confederations in order to widen the scope of monetary value and service offered by the air hoses.

Kurdish Terrorism in Turkey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kurdish Terrorism in Turkey - Essay Example Many are known to have prospered in this region, with some acquiring higher education to become doctors and government officers amongst other professions such as teaching. Those who remain in the Eastern part are usually compelled by circumstances to join the guerrilla forces of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which claims to fight for the right of the Kurdish people in the region which is largely under developed. This essay is a critical evaluation of Kurdish terrorism in Turkey. The manifestation of the issue in world politics has been explained using the liberalist as well as the realist point of view (Saeedpour and Beaudin 2003 p. 178). The remote Eastern part of Turkey lacks basic infrastructure that can encourage investment in the region. The Kurds view this as a result of government’s negligence and thus it forms the basis of their complaints (Edgar 1996 p. 339). The government favors the Kurds who do not assert their Kurdish nationality. These are mainly those who have migrated to the developed Western region of the country. This is one of the main factors that contribute to terrorism, being retaliation for the denial of what the Kurds regard as their rightfully owned country. The optimism that the terrorists in Turkey have in regard to the outcome of their struggle forms the basis of their realistic point of view. They believe that they will one day get back what they have been denied for years. The Kurdish terrorists initially demanded that the original names of the Kurdish names be restored. They believe that the names that were instituted by the government lower the dignity of the Kurdish people and that it will be restored once the towns’ real names are re-established. Their grievances are presented through the PKK party which was founded by Abdullah Ocalan, with a philosophy based on Kurdish nationalism. This party was mainly focused on the establishing a Kurdish nation believing that this would present them with a chance to manage

Common core Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Common core - Research Paper Example On the other hand, the Common core standard initiative conflicts the teachers instructional training that the teachers received during their teaching preparation training. This makes it difficult for the teachers to adjust to the new instructional requirement under the Common core standard (Sewall, 2014). Thus, this discussion seeks to assess the dangers that the Common core standard of education presents to children. The issue was selected because it is a nationwide concern for all educational stakeholders; parents, teachers, students and the employers have issues related to the overall impact of the introduction of the Common core standard on the high school graduate abilities and skills to cope with the requirements of the outside world (Exstrom & Thatcher, 2014). The discussion will first define the Common core standard problem, and then venture into the analysis of the available literature and studies that have explored the need, justification, benefits and dangers posed by the educational initiative to the students. Finally, the discussion will conclude with giving the suggestion for improvement. However, it can easily be concluded that the Common core standard poses some educational danger to school children. The need to adapt to the global working environment cannot be ignored at this time and age where globalization has made it essential for employment preparation and training to be shaped such that it does not only suit the local environment, but also the global working environment (Rycik, 2014). Thus, the establishment of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was a necessary move towards aligning the elementary and the high school education in the United States to match with the college education and the work expectations of the top performing countries globally (Boslaugh, 2014). Thus, the students were required to undergo the learning and

Should Supervisors and Employees be Friends Essay

Should Supervisors and Employees be Friends - Essay Example Should supervisors and employees be friends? If this was ought to be a question that one could ask, the answer to this would be in the positive. And there are reasons to prove how optimistic one could be with regards to the friendship factor between the supervisors and the employees in the workplace settings. This paper discusses the basis of supervisors and employees as being friends and how this relationship highlights the basis of success for the sake of the organization in the long run. Moving ahead with the understanding that the supervisors and the employees should be friends, one should delve deep into how this friendship could work to good effect for the sake of the employees and indeed the organization itself. The supervisors can extract the best possible value out of their employees if they know beforehand that their employees would be treated as friends and the same case could be applied backwards as well; where employees would know that their supervisors would take care o f their lawful requests and pay heed to their problems which arise every now and then. If the supervisors and employees are friends, this means that they are on the same wavelength as far as work domains are concerned. It also implies that they know what exactly their work manifestation is and how they would go about resolving the disputes that come about within the workplace settings. On the flip side, if the employees and supervisors have an edgy relationship this could mean that both of them do not believe in building the organizational value over a period of time, and thus want to run away from the organizational discourse in essence. Similarly if they have egoistic issues at each other’s ends, this would become very difficult for the organization to cater to the needs and requirements of both of them as well as their linkage that has come about with the passage of time (Ladany, 2001). One should believe that the balance should come about if the organizational employees a re sure about their own selves, and the manner in which they would be treated by other individuals that are present in any organization in the time and age of today. Good supervisors are very rare to find and this has been proven with the passage of time. The statement suggests that good supervisors are not born and thus they must not be looked within people right from their onset of starting their supervisory positions. What this means is that the supervisors need to be grown on the job. They might have the relevant talent to make it big within this field but what they direly need is polishing up on these skills so that their strengths benefit not only their respective bases but also of the organization for which they work. Just like good leaders who instill the much needed pride and confidence within the people who work within them, the supervisors have to carry out the tasks and delegate jobs to people who are best suited for the performance of the same. Supervisors need a good a mount of time before they could be remarked as successful ones. This is because these supervisors require understanding of different nuances, working regimes, process handling tasks and overall hands-on training to get

Truth and Lies Essay Example for Free

Truth and Lies Essay There are different types of lies. Distorted views and fabricated truths are two of them. Misunderstanding, on the other hand, is not a lie. Misunderstanding is a when we fail to understand something correctly and accurately. This happens a lot in our daily lives. A lot of conflicts and hard feelings are caused by this mistake. In order to avoid it, we should be more careful about the way we express our opinions and feelings. Simultaneously, we should listen to what people say and understand what they mean carefully. Sometimes, we misunderstand a fact. We can correct by asking others about that or study about it. C. G. Lichtenberg once said: â€Å"The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth†. When we see the reality through distorted eyes, it can have an extreme effect on our emotions, thoughts and our interactions with other people. Imagine you want to drive to school today. Surprisingly, you see the green lights red and the red lights green. Needless to say, you stop at green lights and pass the red lights. You will be shouted at both times. You wonder why people are shouting at you without any reason, and after a while you get anxious and angry. You decide not to pay attention to traffic lights anymore. The reason is obvious: accident. This is what happens in our lives when have distorted views toward facts and reality. We had better change our views and try to solve this problem. Fabricated truths are the lies that are used to mislead people for centuries. These are so-called truths that are invented in order to deceive. We can see them in all aspects of life from religion to science and politics. Telling these lies is not limited to authorities, scientist or religious people in power. Ordinary people produce lies everyday to achieve what they want. We can’t fight these lies. All we can do is to research and seek the truth ourselves or at least don’t accept them easily and without proof. The truth is hard to find for different reasons. First of all, all people want others to have a positive picture of them in mind. They don’t want their lies to be revealed and they try hard to maintain that positive image of themselves. This is why people try to show that they are not responsible when something negative happens. So they lie about it. When something positive happens, people want to take credit for it. They lie again! This is also the case for different groups, organizations, religions, etc. who claim to have the â€Å"truth†. They don’t have the complete truth. This is what gets people in trouble. These groups don’t want their followers to find out their weaknesses and stop their support. So they tell people a lot of lies and try to sustain them. In addition, lying is a part of human nature. Sometimes people say the same lie so often that they forget the real truth and start believing their own lies. Furthermore, people don’t want to hear the truth. We prefer a good story rather than the fact. We actually don’t like to deal with truth. We want to believe something, so we assume that it’s the truth. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: â€Å"We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves. † Another reason is that lies spread faster than truth, especially in the internet and other media. As Mark Twain said: â€Å"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. † Sometimes, there is enough so-called evidence to support both sides of the conflict, the falsehood and the truth. So people are actually sitting on the fences when facing them. So the truth won’t be revealed. Sometimes, the truth is out there, but we don’t seek for it and we expect others to provide it for us. These might be the reasons of most hidden truths. Whatever the reason is, people don’t want their lies and dishonest behavior to be revealed. When someone exposes the truth, their positive image is ruined. So they attack that person. People don’t try to disclose the truth when they are attacked. So some truths are not revealed because of this. Sometimes, the truths is easy to find, but hard to accept. We are lied to a lot and some of our beliefs are shaped according to those lies. When we find the truth, it seems like a vague idea that doesn’t fit the lies. So we can’t accept it and it’s like we have never found the truth. The complete truth is not told most of the time. Thomas Sowell said: â€Å"There are only two ways of telling the complete truth: anonymously and posthumously†.

Technologys Effect on the Future Essay -- essays research papers

I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds the future. Days go by and how time flies, seasons always changing. When we contemplate the future we envision mind-warping technology and global warming destroying the Earth. Change is inevitable but it's up to our supremacy what we and our planet Earth change into. Will we help or hinder our future survival? One sentence from America's Declaration of Independence has some relevance to this matter. 'But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security'. In other words if something is wrong, those that have the ability to take action, have the responsibility to take action. Technology! Yes, it has its positives, but like all other things is also has its negatives. Would we really need hover cars? They would still congest ?air space?. What would be the benefits of splitting the atom more that once (What was the point of splitting it anyway)? Or will ?Little Boy? the World War Two atomic bomb containing Uranium be resurrected from the Japanese city of Hiroshima and be upgraded to wipe out the brain stems of individuals whose unique brain patterns have been programmed into the device? For years technology has been cultivated. Powerful and ingenious it maybe, but in our hands this technology has been used for demoralizing war! If we carry on using these technological advancements for the use of hostilities on Earth (or maybe in space) then both parties will use their own weapons and both will be crushed, ground into tiny pieces and blasted into oblivion. As the saying goes... ... and video. Molecular teleportation is a long way away. One of the most talked about subjects on the future is climate. At this very moment the Earth is warming up and we are the cause. The warming of the Earth is known more commonly as global warming. Maybe this subject is going to be fought over for centuries while we squander the time we have left away, but even if we did stop doing the things that cause global warming it will not bring it to a standstill. The main cause is pollution, and although scientists say that crude oil will be a thing of the past, alternatives to it will be created. Whether you consider the future to be one hundred years away or just a second the conception of the future is always the same. There are numerous views on the future but each one says the identical thing. I don?t know what the future holds but I know who holds the future.

Greek drama Essay

In this essay, a companion piece to The use of set and costume design in modern productions of ancient Greek drama, I will discuss the importance of theatre space in contemporary productions of Greek drama. Of necessity, I have limited my choice of productions to a set of (around) a dozen examples; all of these can be found catalogued in the database. It is hoped that the reader will be able to apply the basic ideas expounded here to a fuller range of productions than those alluded to in the text. Live performance takes place in a three-dimensional space. The study of any period of theatre history will reveal that there has always been a constructed evolution of theatre space, both formal and informal. In all cases, the audience member, the spectator, becomes part of the performance, and is therefore an integral part of the space itself; for contemporary performances, the theatre space and the spectator’s relationship to that space can range from a strictly formalized proscenium-arch stage to a make-shift performance space in a busy street or in an abandoned warehouse. Whatever the logistics of the acting space, there is always some kind of visual setting in operation: in the case of the temporary and impromptu street performance, the visual setting might just be a circle or semi-circle of passers-by with carrier bags and the background of a shopping-centre; it might be a green lawn and shady trees set before a castle wall for a more formal open-air production; the visual setting might be the black walls of an indoor ‘neutral theatre space’, so popular at the moment with postmodern stage productions; or it might be the glitzy painted scenery of a West End stage. The concept of space is a very important one in the theory of theatre practice, and is used to identify very different aspects of performance. The notion of space can be broken down into several categories: there can be a dramatic space – an abstract space of the imagination, i. e. , a ‘fictionalization’; there is stage space, which is literally the physical space of the stage on which the actors move (this can include extending the acting space into the audience arena). Another concept of space can be termed gestural space, which is created by the actors and their movements. Finally there is theatre space, the area occupied by the audience and the actors during the course of a performance and which is characterized by the theatrical relationship fostered between the two. The theatre space is product of the interplay between stage space, gestural space and dramatic space and, according to Anne Uberseld, it is constructed, on the basis of an architecture, a (pictorial) view of the world, or a space sculpted essentially by the actors’ bodies. The focus of this essay is with this fourth definition of space. What I am not concerned with here is the idea of diegetic or narrative space, certainly not in the strictest sense of the term ‘narrative’ (for example, a messenger’s speech in tragedy which often narrates an event which has taken place off stage). The narrative cannot take on too much importance in the body of the play without running the risk of destroying its theatrical quality; therefore narrative is often confined to static monologues. However, in recent years there has been an escalating trend in Greek tragic performance for re-thinking the concept of narrative in visual and spacial terms. This usually employs the dramatic staging of an event which properly should only form a narrative recitation, an idea most fully developed in Katie Mitchell’s version of the Oresteia in which the long choral narrative recounting the death of Iphigeneia was played out in abstract form in the theatre space (and employing that space to its best advantage too (DB id nos. 1111 and 1112)). The figure of the mute Iphigeneia – a character who is, after all, absent from Aeschylus’ cast-list – was integrated into the main action of the drama throughout, silently commenting on or endorsing the narrative element. THEATRE SPACE On entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses. The reception of that space becomes part of the total theatrical experience. There are several dimensions that affect the audience entering into a space for the first time and several questions need to be asked. How, for example, is the space entered by the audience? Do they enter through grand wide-open doors or do they climb narrow stairs? Moreover, where has the audience come from before entering this specific space? In other words, is there a space before this space? Once the audience has entered into the theatre space it becomes important to note how is the space divided. Where do the audience sit (or stand) in relation to the performance area, if such a formal space exists? Bearing these points in mind, let us now examine the relationship of theatrical space, design concept and audience reception in modern productions of Greek tragedies, for it is evident that several contemporary directors have utilized theatrical space to full advantage in order to manoeuvre audience reactions in particular ways. The French company Le Theatre du Soleil, under the leadership of director Arianne Mnouchkine, famously created in the early 1990s a remarkable production of the Oresteia which was preceded by Euripides’ Iphigeneia at Aulis and performed under the banner-title Les Atrides (DB ref. no. 152). Mnouchkine’s vision was to create a theatrical experience where past and present intermingled seamlessly; she realized that the audience had to be transported to another conception of reality. . Her concept of mis-en-scene was of a kind of historical construction-site, and this was realized as soon as the spectator stepped into the theatre itself, at least in its original staging at Vincennes. In a large reception hall outside the auditorium, a huge map of the ancient Mediterranean world, highlighting the voyages of Agamemnon, was suspended against a deep blue wall. Around the room there were books and photo displays of ancient Greek life; in addition, Greek food was prepared, sold and eaten on site. In this way the audience was prepared, nurtured, and coerced into accepting the ‘other world’ waiting for them beyond the foyer. On their way into the performance area, the audience had to walk through an antechamber and along a path above what appeared to be (on first sight) an unfinished archaeological dig which was filled with recently unearthed life-sized terracotta human figures, resembling the famous Chinese terracotta army. The audience walked past this ‘archaeological site’ and entered the performance space from behind steeply raked seating-blocks; below the structure, the actors sat in little booths, fully visible to the audience, and applied their make-up and tied on their elaborate costumes. As they walked by, audience members were stopped by the performers who frequently engaged with them in some light conversation in a conscious effort to break the ‘us’ and them’ barriers of conventional Western theatre practice. Having crossed the ‘excavated’ transition space and the actor’s dressing area, the audience took their seats in the raised seating-blocks and waited for the performance to begin. They were aware of a low hum of gongs and other exotic instruments, and they could smell the perfume of burning incense. When the lights dimmed, the sound of a kettle drum rose to a thunderous roar and suddenly the dancers of the chorus rushed on from the back of the stage with exuberant shouts in a whirling blaze of red, black, and yellow costumes, as if the terracotta ‘army’ had come to life and had found its way up and onto the stage. The effect (and I experienced it myself) was breathtaking. Mnouchkine had succeeded in bridging the gap between the two worlds of past-theatrical and present-mundane and had persuaded her audience to accept the overtly theatrical conventions of her production. She also succeeded in transforming the theatrical space into a ritual space. Katie Mitchell’s productions of two Greek tragedies, one for the RSC (Phoenician Women, 1995; DB ref. no. 211) and one for the Royal National Theatre (The Oresteia, 1999 DB ref. nos. 1111, 1112) have been noted for their stark and minimalist use of theatre space. The audience entering Stratford’s The Other Place for the first performance of Phoenician Women were ushered into a bare black box and seated on hard backless benches. They were not provided with programmes, so that a familiar aspect of twentieth-century theatre-going was denied to them; instead they were handed simple sprigs of thyme, a kind of ritualistic gesture which was presumably intended to prepare the audience for the spiritual dramatic experience that awaited them. They were seated on three sides of the performance area which was backed on one side by a rudimentary kind of skene decorated with little lamps and terracotta figurines of ancient Greek and Near Eastern deities. This decorated back wall helped to transform the space into a place of holy ritual. Unfortunately, many audience members found the experience less than mystical, and critics voiced a common complaint that the design decisions about the use of the theatrical space were badly made. Nick Curtis of the Evening Standard noted that, There is little concession to comfort: the stringently minimalist design of Rae Smith and Vicki Mortimer extends to backless benches for the audience. For the Stratford Herald critic, Paul Lapworth, the emotional agony experienced by the characters in the tragedy was matched by the physical suffering of the audience, The pain . . . was . . . matched by the discomfort of the seating arrangements, the audience perched on blocks like tiers from a Coliseum. It was the least satisfactory adaptation in an otherwise fascinating renewal of an ancient dramatic experience. Others beside Lapworth attempted to justify Mitchell’s decisions to terrace the audience on uncomfortable benches by alluding to ancient theatrical tradition. Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph wrote a particularly virulent attack on the design decisions, but attempted to make sense of them: It would be dishonest to pretend that this is an enjoyable or even a physically comfortable evening. Euripides’ stark tragedy lasts more than two hours (sans interval) and the RSC has mysteriously decided to make the seats in the theatre even more uncomfortable by turning them into backless benches. I was all set to work up an indignant head of steam about this when a thought occurred. It can’t have been comfortable on the stone seats of Greek amphitheatres [sic] and in those days audiences sat through four different plays. Nevertheless, the use of theatre space in Mitchell’s Phoenician Women seriously marred the production’s other qualities. It was the discomfort of the performance that was remembered by most audience members, not the play itself. The public dissatisfaction with the use of space was clearly registered by the director who, despite any pretensions to artistic vision, was compelled to adjust her ideas when the production moved to The Pit at the Barbican in London in June 1996. As The Times critic Jeremy Kingston noted, Katie Mitchell’s . . . production is more audience-friendly in the basin-like pit than on the level floor in The Other Place. Learning from past mistakes, perhaps, Mitchell’s RNT production of The Oresteia was self-consciously more conventionally theatrical in its use of the theatre space. The black box of the Cottesloe Theatre was kept in its regular traverse stage orientation, with seating blocks erected on raised platforms on both sides of the acting space and mounted by black (comfortable) chairs. The upstairs gallery surrounding and overlooking the stage consisted of padded benches and high chairs. So theatre space is a very important element of the design process. It can successfully create a mood (as witnessed by Le Theatre du Soleil), but it must remain functional and comfortable. Directors and designers who do not acknowledge this are imprudent. An audience is prepared to undergo a transformation as it walks from foyer to auditorium, but there is little doubt that an audience will not put up with physical discomfort for too long. To justify pain by saying it was the common experience of the ancient Greek theatre-goer is perverse; it is probable that Greek audience members came fully prepared for a whole festive day at the theatre with cushions and blankets; besides which, audience etiquette, like that inherited by us from our Victorian ancestors, probably did not force the Greek audience to sit in reverential silence or stillness throughout the entire length of four plays. Each director and designer responds to space differently: famously, Peter Brook calls for an ‘Empty Space’, Josef Svoboda calls for a gigantic space, and Jerzy Grotowski calls for an intimate space. The use of space has a profound effect on the audience; in ‘orthodox’ theatre, the lit proscenium stage contrasts with the darkened space of the auditorium and the effect is one of alienation: the audience is aware of a barrier between themselves and the performers, a concept that was entirely absent from the ancient Greek theatre experience. Interestingly, directors often toy with the notions of audience visibility and the breeching of the invisible ‘us and them’ barriers. Peter Hall’s famous 1981 National Theatre production of the Oresteia (DB ref. no. 207) climaxed with the Furies (transformed into the Eumenides) progressing up the steps of the Olivier auditorium as the lights rose to incorporate both masked performers and the audience into the ritual as the audience found themselves cast in the role of Athenian citizens. This was also the case in Katie Mitchell’s Oresteia (1999). In the second of the two parts, The Daughters of Darkness, the theatre space was transformed into the Athenian Areopagus and, accordingly, Athene addressed the seated and visible audience (lit by the house lights) as ‘Citizens of Athens’ and instructed them, This is the first case of homicide To be tried in the court I have established. The court is yours. From today every homicide Shall be tried before this jury Of twelve Athenians. And this is where you shall sit, on the hill of Ares. Not all uses of theatre space or conscientious attempts to break down audience boundaries are as successful. The (2000) production of Aristophanes’ Peace by Chloe Productions at London’s Riverside Theatre (DB Ref. no. 877), in the scene in which the chorus drags away the stone that keeps Peace hidden within her cave, encouraged audience participation by handing them lengths of rope and asking them to haul along with the masked cast. As the cast moved among the audience and coaxed them into action, there arose (from personal experience) a distinct feeling of unease among the passive spectators. In this sense, the attempt to open up the use of theatre space unfortunately failed. In conventional modern theatre performances, the lit proscenium stage or other types of organization of space often allow for a broad visual perspective, but any communication within that space is usually one-directional – from stage to auditorium. The audience members sit next to one another in the darkened auditorium, but there is no communication between them, nor do they necessarily see one another. Interestingly, Katie Mitchell’s use of live video images in her Oresteia frequently highlighted blocks of the audience or even individual spectators and projected their images onto a giant screen, reminding other audience members that they were part of a wider group of spectators sharing a common theatrical experience. Unlike the audience of ancient Athens in the Theatre of Dionysus, modern audiences rarely sit within the scenic environment. The notion of environmental theatre is taken to its furthest extent by Grotowski, who often has his performers address the spectators directly as they walk and sit among them in a space that is totally devoid of theatrical formality. This may not be an appropriate way to best stage Greek tragedies (although it could work well for comedies), where a formal distance of time and space between the actors and audience is often necessary. Of course, there are numerous other spaces for performance: the apron stage, the thrust stage, the arena stage and the surround stage. The apron stage format is one in which the audience sits on three sides of the acting area or part of the acting area. This type of organization was utilized by the Glasgow-based theatre babel’s five-hour triple bill, Greeks (DB ref. nos. 2510, 2524 and 2521), and by Katie Mitchell’s Phoenician Women. The thrust stage is an acting space located in the middle of the audience who are placed on two opposite sides of the theatre space, as used by Katie Mitchell in her National Theatre Oresteia. An arena stage is one in which the audience entirely surrounds the acting space. This can be an effective way of mounting tragedy, but it is not often utilized. An arena stage was adopted by the National Theatre’s production of The Darker Face of The Earth (DB ref. no. 1089), at the Cottesloe in 1999 where the audience was seated on four sides of the acting space, which consisted of a central pit surrounded by movable wooden boardwalks. In a surround stage, on the other hand, the audience sits in the middle and the dramatic action occurs around them. To a certain extent, this (brave) staging was attempted by Nick Ormerod in his design for a production of Antigone in 1999 (DB ref. no. 1091). Here the vast set extended into the auditorium of the Old Vic while additional members of the audience were seated at the rear of the stage. Additionally, performances can take place in a found space, such as a church, a warehouse, or any other space which does not have any other major specifically designed theatrical pieces (sets, etc) imposed upon it, or in a converted theatre space. These are specially found theatre spaces which are transformed by adding designed seating and/or architectural or scenic pieces that help locate the action of the performance. Mnouchkine’s Les Atrides is an excellent example of the use of such a space. The Cardiff-based Welsh language theatre company Dalier Sylw produced its 1992 production of Bakkhai (directed by Ceri Sherlock DB. Ref. no. 2604) in a sparse, largely unadorned, warehouse with no specific audience seating areas; the audience was promenaded around the space which was separated into different (often elaborately designed) locations (the palace at Thebes was a parched stone harem building, Mount Parnassus was a vast mound of wet earth and grass) and was only settled into fixed seating towards the end of the performance in order to witness the Bacchic frenzy. Increasingly, highly specialized spaces for hosting athletic events are being temporarily converted for theatre performances. A Cambridge student production of Trojan Women in 1998 (DB ref. No. 952), for example, set the action in an empty swimming pool, which was awash with blood by the end of the production. Purcarete’s Les Danaides (DB ref. no. 153) was staged in vast exhibition halls in Vienna, Avignon, Amsterdam and Birmingham. Because theatre space dictates so much of the emotional and sensory impact on the spectator, directors seek the most appropriate space possible for each production. When considering a space a director must address a number of important issues, deciding, for example, if the audience and performers should be formally separated from each other and whether the spectators should be observers of or participants in the performance. The director must decide upon the number of entrance and exit locations to be used and whether the entrances will be the same for actors and audience. In addition, a director will engage with the emotional and psychological feel of the space and decide if it should feel open or confined, friendly or hostile. Once the guidelines for these spacial elements have been developed, the director is ready to explore the other visual sign systems: proxemics, picturization and blocking. PROXEMICS Proxemics is a recent discipline of American origin wherein the organization of human space is systematically analysed. As a study of space as it relates to physical distances, notions of proxemics are of fundamental importance to the director. In the theatre, the first step towards designing the production’s mis-en-scene is to determine the nature of the space that the performers will use. The ground plan of the space determines the possible movement of the actors and the special relationships of the characters, since the physical distance between people can relate to social, cultural, and environmental factors. Changes in those spaces can therefore stress character and plot development. A director uses proxemics in his/her manipulation of space and spacial relationships among the setting, objects, and actors. A stage space that is enclosed and cluttered with objects and performers creates a very different mood and atmosphere from one that is open and contains only one simple piece of setting and few performers. Together with the designer, the director will draw up a production ground plan to indicate the proxemic potential of the actors and the theatre space. The ground plan has to be a pictorial representation of the acting space, indicating entrances and exits; it must outline the set, indicate the location of doors, the floor area, any ramps, platforms, pits or trapdoors. The ground plan should also indicate the whereabouts of freestanding props and furniture. Below, a ground plan for the second part of Katie Mitchell’s Oresteia at the National Theatre, indicates her proxemic use of theatre space: The theatrical space consisted of a thrust stage measuring 9. 9m x 12m, with seven main entrance/exits for the actors: one main entrance through the huge steel door at the far end of the acting space and six entrances dispersed around the audience seating-blocks. At the opposite end of the performance area from the great door was a high and narrow platform reached by a stepladder. A trapdoor in the stage covered with a metal drain cover served as the grave of Agamemnon. In the ‘Eumenides’ section of the play, a section of the stage covering was removed to reveal an oblong pool of water. Behind this was a raised rostrum with steps on which stood the ‘statue’ of Apollo. The acting space, seating blocks and surrounding curtains were coloured black. There were several set pieces: upstage left of door was a piano and piano stool. There was a long table (actually composed of two tables) which was unadorned in ‘The Home Guard’ but surrounded with dining chairs in the opening half of ‘The Daughters of Darkness’. In Act II the same two tables were placed together to form a square. Ten chairs (which had first been set upstage, below the high platform, into neat rows and which had been used to seat the sleeping Furies) were placed around the edges. According to Edward Hall (‘The Father of Proxemics’) there are three types of space: fixed-feature space, semifixed-feature space and informal space. In the case of fixed-feature space, the parameters of the acting space are defined by permanent features such as walls, columns, and doorways. A good example of fixed-feature space is, of course, the ancient Greek theatre itself, which had an open thrust acting area (the orkhestra), two fixed levels above (the stage and the roof of the skene) and fixed entrances (into the skene by one or more doors and into the orkhestra via the two paradoi). Furniture and scenic pieces appear to have been kept to a minimum in the Greek theatre, and the playwright often created a change of dramatic location (i. e. scene) through dialogue alone. The acting space used in Les Atrides was also a fixed-feature space, consisting of a bare and sparse open acting area which had no curtains, no flies, and no wing-space, just a huge expanse of a dry, parched-looking sandy floor surrounded by a crumbling blood-splattered wall which was broken up by recesses and a double-doored gate upstage. It looked very much like a bullring. In fact, the acting space was an enclosure within an enclosure: the crumbling wall that enclosed the stage was itself enclosed by a huge wooden wall painted blue like sky or sea, in the middle of which was another big gate that sporadically opened to reveal an expanse of blackness beyond. John Napier’s set design for John Barton’s RSC production of The Greeks at the Aldwych Theatre in 1980 (DB. Ref. no. 138) can also be classified as a fixed-feature space. Enclosed within a fixed proscenium arch, his set was a permanent structure, which comprised of, A large black platform with a scooped-out area in the middle, worn by sun and usage. The Times Education Supplement critic, Bernard Crick, described the permanent structure as, [A] clean, uncluttered, open and steeply raked stage, basically a rectangle with a circle in it that can suggest, at different times, an arena, a meeting place, a secret grove. . . . There was a bare stage, except for a few bushes by a golden mask of bloody Artemis mounted on a totem pole. Dionysis Fotopoulos also created a fixed-feature space for the design of Tantalus (DB. Ref. no. 2578). Also enclosed behind a formal proscenium arch, a basic circle (or pit) of sand surrounded by curved metallic walls served to function as a modern-day beach on a Greek island, the palace of Mycenae, the Greek camp, the city of Troy, the corn fields of Phthia and many other locations. For The Clytemnestra Project (a working of Iphigeneia at Aulis, Agamemnon, and Electra. DB ref. no. 1029) at the Guthrie Theatre in 1992, set designer Douglas Stein created a proscenium arch fixed set that consisted of a sixteen-foot curved rake that resembled a hill or cupped saucer which was backed by two simple semi-circles of white starched curtains that extended the concentric circles of the stage up to the fly tower. Together they created a strong notion of a horizon. The inner circle at the center of the stage was given a polished black gloss so that it shone and contrasted to the white curtains. The overall effect was of restrained, almost Japanese, elegance. As Dramaturg Jim Lewis noted in his production notebook, There will be no mistaking this environment for a realistic setting. It is a sacred space in which actors will perform; the audience is included in this space, invited to observe the action of the plays along with the chorus. A semifixed-feature space identifies a performance area in which there are design elements (furniture, props, scenery pieces) that have size and/or bulk but which can be moved during the performance. This was a noticeable feature of Katie Mitchell’s Oresteia, in which a simple trestle table became the focus of major dramatic action: in ‘The Home Guard’ it became a catwalk for Agamemnon and a place of sanctuary for Cassandra, while in ‘The Daughters of Darkness’, as the action moved into the palace at Argos, the table was placed downstage (in the same position that it had occupied in ‘The Home Guard’) so that it dominated the action of the following scenes. It was surrounded with dining chairs and covered with a dazzling white tablecloth and napkins and set with elegant crockery, glass and silverware. The table played a vital part in the staging of the latter half of the ‘Choephoroi’ section of the play since it was here that the royal family sat to receive their foreign guests (Orestes and Pylades) and it was here that the ghosts of the dead Agamemnon and Iphigeneia (and the murdered old man of the chorus of ‘The Home Guard’) joined their living relatives for supper. When the bloodlust began, the order of the dining table was literally overturned and glasses, crockery and furniture were strewn across the acting area. The corpse of Clytemnestra was laid on the table and it was from this position that her ghost was reanimated at the end of Act I. In direct contrast to the fixed-feature and semifixed-feature spaces, an informal space is an open space with no structural definition at all. Open-air and promenade productions fall under this heading. An example of this kind of staging would be the Australian director Greg McCart’s production of Oidipus the King set within a basalt quarry and played at sunset (DB ref. no. 156). PICTURIZATION AND BLOCKING The theatrical process comes to life for the audience when they observe stage ‘pictures’, either in movement or in static formation; in other words, the audience witnesses either a series of frozen moments or a flowing sequence of movements which results in a constantly changing and developing significance to characterization and/or plot. ‘Frozen moments’ can be classified under the heading picturization (although the terms tableau or tableau vivant may be just as applicable). This is a major feature of Oriental theatre, particularly Japanese Kabuki productions, where the formalized frozen pose is given the name mie. Not surprisingly, picturization has been a major visual facet of ‘Orientalist’ productions of Greek tragedy, in particular Mnouchkine’s Kathakali-inspired Les Atrides and Ninagawa’s Kabuki-style production of Medea (DB ref. no. 177) and Suzuki’s Noh-style Trojan Women (DB ref. no. 1086), his Kabuki Dionysus, and his hybrid East-West Clytemnestra (DB ref. no. 1028). The nature of Greek drama, given the inherent elements of the chorus, is especially given to the creation of moments of picturization. The movement of actors around the stage is known as blocking. It is important that the director, sometimes in collaboration with the designer(s) and choreographer(s), using the ground plan as a tool and visual aid, ‘blocks’ the play in the early stages of rehearsal. Good blocking should allow the actors to be visible to the audience and enable characters to move around and on and off the stage. Blocking should also contribute to the communication of emotion and to plot development by tracing character relationships and focusing the action to give emphasis to an event or series of events. For Greek drama, the notion of blocking is intimately connected to the issue of choreography; in fact, the two are almost inseparable. This merging can take the form of strict ‘dance routines’ such as the powerfully evocative Kathakali steps employed by the stunning chorus of Les Atrides, the Oxford Playhouse corps de ballet of young girls in Helen Eastman’s production of Iphigenia at Aulis (DB ref. no. 966), and the Aboriginal chorus in Greg McCart’s Oidipous the King. Alternatively, the merging of blocking and choreography can result in carefully controlled movement utilized for comic effect, such as the Keaton and Chaplinesque slapstick routines of Dictynna Hood’s 1997 Birds (DB ref. no. 854), or the controlled wheel-chair manoeuvrings of Katie Mitchell’s chorus of war veterans in The Home Guard. Donald McKayle, the choreographer for Tantalus, recalls that movement, gesture, blocking and dance were indistinguishable and that, There are no set dance pieces in ‘Tantalus’. The dance is part of the dramatic fabric. It gives colour and weight and variety to the words. There are so many words. Sometimes the dance extends to one or two minutes but often it lasts just a moment or two. Sometimes I give movement a vocabulary to the actors to utlize within a scene. It’s a fascinating experience of underscoring dialogue with gesture as well as sound. As we have seen, space is central to the performance’s meaning(s). Directors acknowledge that the size, shape and layout of a theatre space directs, even dictates, a performance’s mise-en-scene. Some directors, like Greg McCart and Ceri Sherlock, even choose to look outside the traditional theatre space for an appropriate place to bring a concept, a script, performers and audience together. For others, like Katie Mitchell and Nick Ormerod, a more conventional theatre space is chosen, but used in imaginative new ways. In either case, however, space is seen as a pivotal element in the directorial relationship between the performance and its spectators.