Saturday, August 31, 2019

India’s large population †Asset or Liability? Essay

In his theory of population, Malthus stressed the need of keeping population within limits to the point he called Optimum. At this point in time, India has a population of about 1.27 billion people, and it supports upto 17% of the entire world’s population. Of these 1.27 billion people, 50% are below the age of 25, and 65% are below the age of 35. This means that the major part on India’s population are students and young workers. There are more workers than dependents, which is good for any economy. However, it is important to remember that while at this point in time, India’s vast population is a liability, it has the capacity to become an asset. How is India’s population a liability? 1] Limited resources –   In the recent years, India has been witnessing acute food shortages that has pushed up the prices of commodities like wheat, sugar, rice, pulses, making it difficult for people to get the basic necessities. As the population is growing fast, the same amount of food produced for years is no longer sufficient. This results in shortage of supply and prices increase. When a few areas are urbanised, all industries, plants and other institutions concentrate in these areas. The whole rural-urban migration trend depicts the same picture, where people from small cities and villages move to big industrial areas for work, business and studies often leaving fewer people taking care of farming and the underdeveloped areas. The major problem of resource scarcity is over-concentration of population in few areas; whereas resources may remain available in regions where there is shortage of people. How is India’s population an asset? 1] Labour – There are instances where lesser number of inhabitants is a dilemma. Countries like Canada, Australia and Libya are the examples where smaller population is a handicap. Many developing countries face scarcity of labour,  both of skilled and unskilled manpower. India, however, does not have this problem. We have many young and skilled labourers. There are many examples where big population is considered a desirable phenomenon for developing nations. For big manufacturing firms all over the globe, deficiency of cheap labour is one of the major issues. If a country has more labour force it can be availed by initiating different vocational training programmes. This will not only make these peopled skilled and productive but will also help them earn a good standard of living. For example, China has trained its manpower by efficiently utilising it and made it available for business firms as cheap and productive labour force. The giant multinationals have their plants and manufacturing industries in China. India is another major example; big foreign companies have their call centres operating in India just because India has large, cheap and skilled labour force.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Hawthorne Studies

This essay will review the writings of â€Å"Hawthorne, the myth of the docile worker, and class bias in psychology† an article by D. Bramel and R. Friend. It will then go on to further critique academic articles that both support and disagree with the primary source and demonstrate how the Hawthorne studies have influenced contemporary organizations. The Hawthorne experimental studies conducted at the Western Electric Company Works has attracted considerable amounts of sharp critical scrutiny; it has practically â€Å"become an intellectual battle† (Miner, J. 006. p. 68) as it has been interpreted in various ways. The studies basically concluded that social and psychological factors are responsible for workers productivity and job satisfaction. Many psychologists, sociologist and critics attack the research procedures and criticize the analyses of the data and their conclusions. Bramel and Friend (1981) are a classic example of those exact critics who consider the Hawt horne studies to be contradictive, distorted and overall undeserving of receiving recognition and respect for their research.Bramel and Friend’s main aim in the article however is to â€Å"show not simply that Mayo’s conclusions were unrealistic and politically reactionary† but to alternatively demonstrate that there is â€Å"bias at the level of interpretation of the available data† (p. 868) and how this had a negative influence in effecting the results, due to the assumption that their workers can be manipulated and fooled with ease (p. 869). There are many other critics that strongly support the views and opinions presented by Bramel and Friend in regards to the Hawthorne studies and how they consider the research to be insufficient and misleading.The article â€Å"Shining New Light on the Hawthorne Illumination Experiments† by M. Kawa, M. French, and A. Hedge (2011) reinforces the arguments that feature in Bramel and Friend’s work. Like them they agree that the studies performed at the Western Company Works provided inconsistent evidence and that all experiments conducted including the results were seriously flawed. Basically they conclude that the inadequacies in the experimental designs tell an incomplete and sometimes inaccurate story and show the inconsistent associations between working conditions and productivity. p. 546) The article â€Å"Questioning the Hawthorne effect† shares the exact same views that were established in â€Å"Hawthorne the myth of the docile worker†. It argues that the data collected from the experiments had never been analyzed rigorously, no systematic evidence was implemented and the inconsistent ways in which the experiments were executed has lead to a misleading interpretation of what happened. (â€Å"Questioning the Hawthorne Effect†, 2009, p. 74)Another article that strongly disapproves of the Hawthorne studies is A. Carey’s article â€Å"The Hawthorne Studies: a Radical Criticism†. In Carey’s (1967) opinion the research conducted is nearly absent of scientific merit and the conclusions drawn are supported by so little evidence that it’s basically inappropriate that the studies have gained a respected place within scientific discipline and have held this place for so long. (p. 403) However Carey does believe the importance of the studies is actually declining.In his opinion later studies are struggling to display any â€Å"reliable relationship between the social satisfaction of industrial workers and their work performance†(p. 403). Carey criticizes Mayo’s approach, research and assumptions and claims that his reports are completely bias and invalid. He states that the â€Å"Statistical analysis of the relevant data did not show any conclusive evidence in favor of the first hypothesis† (p. 405) which makes it extremely difficult to develop a correct conclusion.Although there are critics th at attack the Hawthorne studies and downplay the work of Mayo and Roethlisberger there is also many others that completely support the research conducted and believe it has been of crucial importance and consider it to be a â€Å"major intellectual building block of organizational behavior† (Miner, J. 2006. p. 68. ) A. Brannigan and W. Zwerman’s (2001) article â€Å"the Real Hawthorne Effect† completely disagrees with the arguments that were presented by Bramel and Friend. Their article in contrast strongly supports the Hawthorne studies and emphasizes just how valuable they.Brannigan and Zwerman actually view the studies as being â€Å"the single most important investigation of the human dimensions of industrial relations in the early 20th century† (Brannigan, A. Zwerman, W. 2001. p. 55). They recognize the fact that the Hawthorne studies have received harsh critical disapproval over the decades due to potential flaws in the research and experiments cond ucted. However Brannigan and Zwerman are able to look past that and purely see the innovative ideas that grew around these studies.They express that â€Å"the main idea should not be undermined by these shortcomings† and that sometimes the actual idea itself is more meaningful then the evidence on which it is based. (p. 59). B. Reiger’s article â€Å"Lessons in Productivity and People† also disagrees with the negative statements that are directed towards the Hawthorne studies. Reiger’s article aims to show how the studies executed had an enormous influence in the way managers and supervisors now interact with their employees.Which in result has positively affected worker productivity, Due to implementing a less mechanical view and paying more attention to the human influences within the workplace. Not only does Reiger (1995) view the studies as being critical to the positive change in the company and employee relationships but they also â€Å"provided so me clear insights into industrial operations and psychology, personal management, organizational development and human resources† (p. 58).Overall his intention is to show how the studies contributed to the improvement in manager and employee relationships by providing the employees with respect, attention and recognition will then in turn increase their productivity and efficiency. C. Hall (1984) further backs up the views of Reiger in his article â€Å"Hawthorne Effects- Still a Potent Supervisory Tool†. Although the experiments were conducted decades ago Hall still believes that they still have practical value today. (p. 6).Hall concludes that employees respond with greater job efficiency when they sense that they are being observed or â€Å"regarded as important valued members of an organization† ( p. 6) and that The behavioral approach can positively affect performance, group dynamics, encourage cooperation and overall increase work satisfaction. The Hawthorn e Studies and the behavioral approach has played a major role in shaping todays organizations, from the way manager interact with their employees, the way they use open communication and the way they design motivating jobs we are able to detect elements of the behavioral approach (Robbins, S. Bergman, R.Stagg, I. Coulter, M. 2012. p. 54) Telstra’s call centers are a classic example of a contemporary organization that has been influenced by the Hawthorne effect and the behavioral approach. Within the center they have managers, supervisors and team leaders that create a working environment that aims to provide a premium employee experience. More specifically their job entails implementing and executing programs, supervising and motivating their workers to ensure that they are effectively completing their tasks and meeting objectives and to basically respect and pay attention to their staff in order to establish good relations and co operation.The efficient supervision that take s place within the factories has definitely been influenced by the Hawthorne studies. They have recognized through the Hawthorne studies that subtly observing the workers and making them feel like a valuable member of the company keeps them motivated which in result maximizes employee productivity. The Hawthorne studies has played a fundamental role in the progression of organizational behavior and influenced the positive change in the relationship between managers and their employees.Although there have been flaws and inconsistencies in the ideas, research and conclusions that were developed they are still extremely influential. The results emphasized the value of group dynamics, interaction and applying a humanistic management approach. These factors overall are a crucial force of producing greater effectiveness and productivity in employees. Although there are critics that have attempted to crush the importance of the Hawthorne studies through their harsh criticisms it still has done little to shake the essential validity and influence of the research. (Miner, J. 2006. p. 67) References Bramel, D. & Friend, R. 1981). Hawthorne, the Myth of the Docile Worker, and Class Bias in Psychology. American Psychologist. 36,8,867-878. Brannigan, A. & Zwerman, W. (2001). The real â€Å"Hawthorne Effect†. Society, 38(2), 55-60. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM GLOBAL. (Document ID: 65713065). Carey,A. (1967). The Hawthorne Studies: A Radical Criticism. AmericaSociologyReview, 32,3,401-416. Finance and Economics: Light Work; Questioning the Hawthorne Effect. (2009, June). The economist. 391(8634),74. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM GLOBAL (Document ID: 1740340161) Hall, C. (1984). Hawthorne Effects- Still a potent supervisory tool. Supervision, 46 (10), 6.Retrieved from ABI/INFORM GLOBAL. (Document ID: 1322247). Izawa, M. French, M. Hedge, A. (2011). Shining new light on the Hawthorne Illumination experiment. Human Factors, 53,528. Retrieved from Academic Research Library. (Do cument ID: 2532057371). Miner, J. (2006) Organization Behavior 3: Historical Origins, Theoretical Foundations and the Future. America: ME Sharpe. Reiger, B. (1995). Lessons in productivity and people. Training and development, 49 (10), 56. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM GLOBAL. (Document ID: 7011573). Robbins, S. Bergman, R. Stagg, I. Coulter, M. (2012) Management: 6th Edition. Sydney: Pearson Australia Group.

Food Truck

Jennifer Collins Ent 1000 3-20-2013 Industry Paper Food Truck vs. Organic Trucks The street food trend has been a growing industry nationwide. According to American City Business Journal of Orlando, Fl. , â€Å"more than 3,000 street vendors made $1. 3 billion in revenue in 2010, a 12. 7% jump from the revenue from the prior year. The average startup cost of a food truck is only about $5,000-50,000 and the yearly profit potential can be anywhere from $100-250,000 per year. The list of costs for startup include fuel, maintenance, business permits, equipment, supplies, insurance, marketing and is still minimal in contrast to the fees required for a stand-alone cafe spot in a busy business area. This is good news. Organic food trucks have almost no competitive market compared to the food trucks that provide fan fair (unhealthy) fast foods. The mobility of this business provides a wider profit gross than a stand-alone brick and mortar business and the flexibility to drive wherever the c ustomers are can be a competitive advantage.I wanted to start an Organic Food truck business first rather than open a small restaurant for a few simple reasons. Startup costs are considerably less, and profit margins can be more. During my research of looking up for sale ads, I found that a used truck right now can be as low as $15,000 or a new one at $30-50,000. According to Forbes. com, I can move towards my market selling in more populated areas, whereas, â€Å"Purchasing a small cafe in my local area with twenty seats, around 2,000 square feet in size can cost upwards of $175- 300,000,† and then I am stuck in the same community for years.The basic food truck concept started way back in 1961 when New York began to regulate vendors selling food from push carts. Mobilecuisine. com- the History of American Food Truck article says, â€Å"Horse drawn chuck wagons started in 1866, sausage vendors sold quick hot foods to students at their dorms at Yale, Harvard and Princeton in 1974 and the first Taco truck in 2008 was regulated to sell food in a highly populated in Los Angeles, California. † The National Restaurant Association said, â€Å"The category tops $630 million in nationwide revenue in 2011. But when first introduced, a regular food truck selling the typical burger, taco or BBQ made about a third of that ten years ago. Currently there is no confirmed market spot for the vegetarian or organic food truck but this area is undefined. In the Western part of the U. S. , vendors who sold Asian, BBQ, or fair food sell the most products compared to the healthy foods that may be sold on a vegetarian or organic cart, yet there is a rise and a need lately in the health food industry with people trying to lose weight and eat better.Working in a health food kitchen for the past two years, I have realized how consumers have few choices in this area of eating out. Having the convenience of a healthy food truck alternative parked in â€Å"your area† is a perfect idea. Certain health risks and disease are on the rise and people love the idea now of having a gluten-free, soy or dairy-free, vegan or locally grown food choice in their own back yard where they can feel good about what they eat. Someone is looking out for them. According to Wikipedia. rg 2013, locally here in downtown Tampa; Mayor Bob Buckhorn organized a monthly food truck rally drawing thousands of coinsures. Saint Pete followed suit in 2011. â€Å"The biggest buyers of foods from mobile vendors are adults age 25-34 spending an average of $44 per month. † In Theresa Ehrlichs online article, she also ads, â€Å"major market area analysis shows that 55% of trucks park at a street corner, other venues or events such as rally’s are 18%, construction work sites 15% and shopping malls contribute to 12% of locations served. Right now, the phenomenon is gained so much buzz, that it’s difficult to accurately track the national sales. Yet as should be a ssumed with any business the first year, there are political, environmental, social-cultural, technological and competitive threats. Upon further analysis of my industry (Industry code #722211 mobile ready to eat pay first food service), and my industries trade associations (mymfva. org. Mobile Food Vendor Association MFVA or The NAC National Association of Concessionaires at naconline. org. , they outline a more extensive overview of the PESTC for further forecasting. POLITICAL: Some of my industries opportunities say that you will not have to purchase a separate kitchen to cook food in, as all the cooking can be done on the truck. There are rumors though, that these laws may change in the near future. Many truck owners may see parking tickets an s apart of an overhead cost. Parking at a free event saves cost of such fees. Permits to operate in the city are often affordable and I already possess a National Food Management License that is required by the state.I’m personally not ready to open a food truck but a few years from now when I am, permits and standards may change. ENVIRONMENTAL: Recently the economic state has plummeted and consumers are watching there money. They may not be able to afford eating out at ritzy cafes. A food truck offers unique food concepts at a more affordable price. Currently 70% of Americans are too busy to cook at home so they eat outside. On the other hand, if food truck owners do not keep up with trends and good locations in local areas to sell, consumers may not be aware of new foods.They would have to keep up with social media and marketing to promote themselves properly. Some vendors say they are using Twitter and Facebook to let customers know which location they will be serving next. SOCIO-CULTURAL: In my own experience with eating from a food truck, I see street vendors as fun and find the process is much like a â€Å"foodie groupie† in the game of searching out the locations where they may be this week. It b ecomes a fun weekend hobby. In the past Trucks were called â€Å"roach coaches. † I suspect that this stereotype deters some people from trying out a food truck.Owners must work extra hard to gain a positive reputation. TECHNILOGICAL: Technology is always changing and the prices increase for such equipment that may be needed to keep up with the times and customer demands. A food truck only has enough room for so much food, storage and equipment which is made to travel as simple as possible. Basic kitchen equipment based off of a standard menu is only required yet there may not be room for high tech registers or credit machines. Most food trucks use â€Å"Square†, with their mobile phone to process credit card payments.You won’t waste time counting cash or change for the customers and it works out just as quickly as any other process. COMPETITIVE: A competitive threat the local community might include a copy cat food truck that would force a new truck to step up his game, but as far as the threats of the environment in a competitive nature, I don’t see a lot. On contrary, the niche of having healthy food services is that it’s probably in no league of high competition with an actual restaurant. Because it’s mobile, this provides a direct link to the customer and find the most profitable areas to work in.If one area isn’t great, they can simply move on. Strengths within the food truck industry of â€Å"ready to eat foods†, I include lower overhead, creative menu options that can be changed, high brand recognition and lower start up costs that would also be affordable to maintain. Opportunities, I feel, are based on the individual business owners’ future goals. Moving into a tourist town where there are few trucks and less competition, offering something unique or replacing a truck spot that has just closed could bring more customers.Rising food costs or lack of expertise in financing or managing could pose as a Weakness. Rising gas prices, traveling expenses and county changes or restrictions could also become a Threat in the food truck business. On a better note, trends right now in the street food vendor industry are growing in our local area and are all the rage in western states. It is a competitive yet fun concept. In my personal opinion, the opportunities out weight the threats in this field so I look forward in learning more and producing a creative aspect to the ideas I already have in place.With the reputation that this concept first started with compared to the revenue its generated in the past recent years, the potential seems profitable enough and worthwhile. Food trucks have been around since 1866 selling ground chuck burgers and sausages but the vegan, vegetarian, organic trend has not been around too long making the potential gross profit almost unknown. I think this concept is a good thing to risk moving forward with. I see it as a win! BIBLIOGRAPHY â€Å"The co st of starting a food truck. † Forbes. com. Web. 27, September. 2012. Investopedia. Anjail, Fluker. Orlando Commisary Forms Association for Food trucks.Orlando American City Business Journal. Web. 14, March. 2012. Myrick, Richard. The history of American Food Trucks. Mobile Cuisine magazine. Take the Cannoli Productions L. L. C. MCM 2010-2013. Web. 2, July, 2010. Theresa, Ehrlich. Best Customers: Demographics of Customer Demand. 2008. Web. SBCC. net Pon, Jackie. 5 Things you should know About Starting Your Own Food Truck. Pbs. org. 2013 WNET. org. Web. 15, October. 2010. Myrick, Richard. Running a Food Truck for Dummies. Dummies. com. 2013 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Web. Wikipedia. com. Food trucks in Tampa. 14 February 2013. Web.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Political ideologies in Brazil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political ideologies in Brazil - Essay Example Brazil has become an important country not only in the Latin America but also in the world. In the Latin America, Brazil’s economy is the largest, and it is placed eighth worldwide by the nominal GDP. Additionally, it is currently positioned seventh in the world as per purchasing power parity. As of 2012, the country’s economy growth rate was 5%, and it surpassed United Kingdom’s though there has been a deceleration since (Kiernan, p.5). In light of these, the country’s politics tend to focus mainly on the management and improvement of the economy. To do so, two factions hold different views on the precise methods to improve the country’s economy. While one political group argues that only internationalism would remedy the country’s economic crisis, another vehemently opposes the notion. A statist nationalist is a political group whose ideology is that the government ought to control some areas that crucial to the economy (Almond, p. 45). Using the term, ‘interventionism’, and this political ideology holds the view that only an inward-oriented economy would improve the country’s economic and overall state. Some of the steps proposed by the group is that foreign policies ought to focus what will benefit the country first. The importance of interventionism, it is argued, is that the state corrects market failures while promoting general welfare.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Peer pressure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peer pressure - Essay Example In most cases, a young person’s personal values  are altered  and shaped by his peer group so as to increase his  similarity  with the other group members. Peer groups are usually well established in most high schools, workplaces and members of the  group  exert pressure to the new members joining the group. Friendship among teenagers is one of the most  important  factors during development. Friendship gives them  secure  venue to discover their identity and experience a sense of belonging. It also cultivates their social skills  relevant  for their future success. On the contrary,  friendship  can  influence  them negatively or positively whereby they end up submitting to negative or positive peer  influence. Young people  become  influenced because of their self-image and self esteem. This serves as a  motive  for them to  identify  with groups that they  fit  or groups that will  accept  them. Those dimensions of the  self  that  are valued  by one’s own peer group become  very  outstanding  in each young person’s self-assessment.   Some peer pressure can be  good. This  is measured  by their outcome whereby positive  influence  of friends  is seen  to play  important  roles among the lives of peers. Positive peers  set  good  examples among themselves, and they tend  to become  good  role models for each other. They can influence each other on goal oriented activities such as working together in  school  work, discussing problems and personal issues together that can help one to make  good  decisions, listening to each other, offering  good  advice and developing a positive  culture  among others. Positive peer pressure can be used to encourage and promote social behavior, because as observed peers can have a  powerful  effect  on self-esteem. Well accepted children can  display  positive  academic skills, social behavior and even

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Summary and Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Summary and Response - Essay Example The delegates argue that the rural areas receive fewer funds as compared to the big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Notably, the allocation of funds has been discriminating against the students who come from the neglected areas including Henan province. The poor funding of the university education in the remote regions has attracted complaints from the residents. In fact, people have demanded equality in the allocation of the funds for higher education. Such inequality resulted in delegates demanding for the equal treatment of the students from all the regions. The quota system of recruiting students to join the universities is discriminating. Primarily, the quota targets the students from the rich areas such as Beijing and Shanghai. According to the article, the political interference in the process of distributing the quotas tends to disadvantage the students from provinces with a large population such as Henan. The household registration that restricts free movement from one region to the other has advanced the discrimination against students from the rural areas (Buckley). The implication of the restriction in movement is that the students cannot acquire the best education in prestigious universities located away from the rural areas. Hence, students from the remote areas are victims of the unequal allocation of slots in the universities. The system of recruiting students to join the universities continues to widen inequality gap in education. Majorly, political favoritism affects the efforts of the China’s government to ensure all the students enjoy fair recruitment in the universities. The university entrance exams tend to reduce the number of the students joining the higher education. According to the article, Henan received 85 positions out of the 758,000 students who attempted the entrance examinations (Buckley). In contrast, students from Beijing got 226 slots out

Monday, August 26, 2019

Compensation Comparisons Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compensation Comparisons - Assignment Example Look at the 25th percentile for both base pay and total cash compensation for Bookkeeper. Both of these amounts are the same. This means that bonuses are influenced by several factors including responsibilities, performance, and longevity. I would be able to use the above information in negotiation my salary for a job right after graduation. First, I would assess my level of skills for the job I am applying. Second, I would compare this level with that of others in the field. Say, if my level of skills is deemed above average, then I can demand a salary near the 75th percentile base pay of the job I am applying in. To support the asking price, I would present letters of references from my professors in relevant subjects detailing my performance in the class. However, the asking price of other applicants can significantly impact whether I get what I am asking for. For these jobs, the relevant labour market includes all industries as all firms in whatever field maintain an accounting department. Moreover, there is no significant differences between salaries in different locations. These salary data were developed based on the review of available and applicable market data as gathered by Monster.ca and Salary.com’s team of compensation consultants. I believe that there is enough information to support the conclusion made by the team. This is so because given the speed with which people share information now data collection on sensitive issues is much easier. Nevertheless, the use of inaccurate salary data is a large financial impact. For example, if an erroneous salary data is used in negotiating one’s salary, then it is highly likely that the negotiated salary would also be incorrect. Given that this information is available for free, I wouldn’t bother with consultants surveys. However, if the job I am applying for is high level, say Chief Executive Officer, then this would be a time where I will use

Sunday, August 25, 2019

MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - Essay Example DMG’s goals are to upgrade healthy living by producing high quality products, to preserve the environment and to create sustainable returns for stakeholders. The model will focus on five attributes that make up the competitive environment namely supplier power, buyer power, competitive rivalry, the risk of substitution and lastly the risk of new entrants. With regard to the supplier powers, the suppliers play a minor role, if any, at raising the prices of DMG products (Oz, 2009, p.18). This is because the company owns most of the critical factors of production. For tea and Coffee production, DMG own farm estates for production of the crops, suppliers only provide packaging materials (Beynon-Davies, 2013, p. 376). A higher cost of the packaging materials would result in DMG transferring the additional cost to consumers by raising prices. The same applies for yogurt production, as the company owns dairy livestock, suppliers come in to provide flavours and packaging materials. Buyer power is detrimental to affecting the nature of prices within the market. DMG has a fairly larger number of consumers for its products. Essentially, the company cannot, under any circumstance dictate the terms of buying (Beynon-Davies, 2013, p.402). Given the fact that other brands of tea, coffee and yogurt the buyers may easily switch to other supplier of the same. Rivalry from competitors does not really lower the attractiveness of the market (Betz, 2001, p.29). Two firms in agribusiness provide competition to DMG but the major threat is one firm that enjoys a large market share because of an extensive information technology system (Proctor, 2011, p.16). DMG is taking measures to turn the tables in the industry and extend the domestic market share. Substitution seems to be a minor threat for DMG because of the coffee and tea are substitutes. In

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Leadership Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership Development - Essay Example The mode of leadership will to a significant extent influence organizational activities, operations, and performance. Management is critical to the welfare of shareholders and the stakeholders in general, who at times suffer the consequences of poor leadership and management in organizations. It is the managers that come up with critical decisions, and their main function is to plan, control, direct and make strategic plans and address issues affecting the firm (Kouzes & Posner 168). The production chain, distribution activities and final consumption of products by the consumer all fall under management, leadership, and operational functions of the firm. Should one chain break down, then the others begin to fall apart, and the eventuality is a disaster in organizational stability. Different departments within the organizational setting are run by various managers, whose duties will include the surveillance of their departments to ensure that everything is functional. That means shoul d any inconveniences occur, then the managers should be held accountable. For instance, the finance manager has a role to play in decision making regarding the financial activities of the firm and how the current and long term projects have to be managed with the limits of available funds. In this case, the manager has to be extra keen and store relevant data to eliminate any confusion and poor claims of mismanagement. Organizations in the twenty first century should strive to emulate the five Porter forces so as to make an organization expansion easy and become even more industrialized. Managers need to put an extra effort towards attaining any organizational set goals and objectives. It is vital that managers in the twenty first century focus more on their visions and those of the organization, as well as develop creativity and critical thinking tools for effective leadership. Leadership entails having a vision that should be in line with the corporate strategy and objectives of t he firm. Managers with visions will view and see the position of the firm in the future. They develop a positive attitude towards the vision, and it is such focus that drives them towards attaining the respective visions for their enterprises. Leaders with vision do not let anything get in the way of their dreams and will go an extra mile to ensure that they realize successful outcomes irrespective of all the challenges they face. They have in mind that nothing comes by easily and work hard to obtain what they want. Not only are they consistent in their work, they also work with teams of people towards a common goal. A leader with a vision will work with a team, create a positive attitude towards the subordinates, enhance a sense of transformational and transactional leadership, and encourage them to attain the set goals. Managers ought to have visions that guide them to attaining set targets and organizational objectives. Visions create desire and targets that need to be accomplish ed, and require hard work and consistency to attain them. Visionary leadership ensures that work and the paths through which leaders are treading are safe and clear, as well as impart the same to the subordinates. For effective and efficient leadership they have to see and know what they want and where they are going so as to lead the employees to the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Scaffolding Language Learning in an Academic ESL Classroom Assignment

Scaffolding Language Learning in an Academic ESL Classroom - Assignment Example This is in relation to the socialization processes. The poorly socialized individuals and students tend to lack a well-developed argumentative skill, which is the basis of interactions while discussing academic issues (Lantolf, 2000 p34). On the kindergartens, the English language learners should be taught by reciting various words they learn in class. This will allow the expansion of their brains as recited words always stick, in the memory, for a long time (Lantolf, 2000 p41). This will as well accompany communicative activities such as salutations the kindergarten language learners always take part in on a daily basis starting from their teachers to their fellow colleagues whenever they interact. In the studies of the ESL, the students especially in an academic oral class should aptly embrace the interaction between the students and teacher for steady uprise in the oral and language skills (Kayi-Aydar, 2012 p26). The power relations as a result of interaction are one of the key as pects towards healthier scaffolding. The power relations enhance effective participation of the ESL learners in an academic oral skills class. The scaffolding should, therefore, involve description of various learning activities and putting them into practice through the group discussions and debates. This will not only set strong academic oral skills, but also enhance a proper language and presentation skills development. This system of the academic oral skills is a socially arbitrated process thus involves much of communicative activities thus relates to the socio-cultural linguistic (McNeil, 2012 p402). The provision of the scaffolding information by the tutors should be well adopted to enhance there is a relationship... This essay approves that for any language to be effective, it should be critically analyzed by the learners and the learners should as well take part in the day-to-day searching of new vocabularies in the intended language structure. The ESL learners, to acquire one of the best language development and language skills, should indulge in the critical evaluation of the language and the new words learnt during class interactions amongst themselves. The classroom tasks should as well be distributed for an improved learning of the oral skills. The classwork should entail a small group work, the formal lectures as well as a student led session discussions. All of these aspects will bring various students together and interact in various ways, which may include through the ideological differences in explaining subjects, through dialogues and in their cognitive performances. This aspect of various interactions will pave the way for an improvement in the learner’s academic oral skills. This report makes a conclusion that learners should be highly appreciated whenever they make mistakes and encouraged to control their frustrations whenever they face difficulty in the use of vocabularies and punctuations. This will enhance a perfect and conducive classroom environment for the correction of various oral skills mistakes by the students hence giving room for the development of an appropriate academic oral skill in the students. This will also encourage the participation levels of the students towards every learning activity involving interactions thus nurturing their already existing socialised oral skills.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Halpern's View Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Halpern's View - Essay Example Through her article â€Å"Sex, Brains & Hands: Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities,† she has explained how the sex differences in cognitive abilities are not just because of ‘sex,’ but are also due to the role of ‘preferred hand’ and socio-cultural factors in development of cognitive abilities. With the help of in depth look at different research studies in psychology, sociology, biology and culture, Halpern has done an excellent job in convincing the reader that the sex differences in cognitive abilities are more a part of social and cultural influence than the ‘sex’. The article is an eye opener as it gives an insight on the truth related to the gender studies and also makes the reader realize that accepting the differences as sex related can prove disastrous for healthy development and progress of females. Hence, it sends a strong message that one should keep away from conclusions based on half true stories in media, and should r emember that females can be trained to develop equal abilities as males if they are given equal support and opportunities as males are given in the society. Weaknesses of research studies In her article â€Å"Sex, Brains & Hands: Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities,† Halpern has aimed to make the readers aware about the weaknesses in gender related research studies which try to send a wrong message that females are inferior to men in cognitive abilities. She has used different research studies, its results and its drawbacks, as evidence to explain her point of view. Different aspects of the gender studies which Halpern has used to prove her point are discussed below. Unreliability of tests Halpern has referred to the fact that even though there are various studies showing cognitive differences in males and females, there are also various studies which show no differences. According to Halpern, there are various â€Å"tests of verbal, visual-spatial and quantitative abi lities that show consistent sex differences† (Halpern 5). However, she also draws the reader’s attention to the fact that there are various other tests that fail to show these differences (Halpern 5). This proves that the sex differences in cognitive abilities are not a consistent. Unfortunately, only those studies which have shown sex differences in cognitive abilities are highlighted by the media for public attention. The studies which have proved that there is no difference were not given any space in media. This created a wrong notion that males are superior to females when it comes to cognitive abilities. Halpern later discusses the similar scenario observed in the field of mathematics. Differences in mathematical abilities To explain the sex differences found in mathematical abilities, Halpern has referred to study by Benbow and her colleagues. While referring to the results of this study, which showed great sex difference in ratios in high mathematics scores, she has highlighted the fact that it was not that â€Å"there were no girls in the group† who scored high (Halpern 5). It is just that girls were less in number than boys (Halpern 5). This proves that even girls can attain high scores in mathematics (Halpern 5). Sadly, as it happens always, even this study was highlighted in the media in wrong way. All kinds of media sent a wrong message that only boys are good at mathematics. However, Halpern has

Salem Telephone Company Case Solution Essay Example for Free

Salem Telephone Company Case Solution Essay In order to improve their net income, Flores has suggested three options as follows. Option 1 is to increase the price to $1,000 per hour while reduce demand by 30%; option 2 is to reduce the price to $600 per hour while increase demand by 30%; option 3 is to increase revenue hours by up to 30% through increasing their promotion cost. Each option will affect net income in the following ways: For option 1: Profit 1 = 205 hours * $400 per hour + $1,000 per hour * (138 * 70%) hours – total hours (205 + 138 * 70%) * variable cost $28.7 per hour – total fixed cost 2,939= -,994. 92 For option 2: Profit 2 = 205(400) +600(138 * 130%)-(179.4 +205)*(28.7) -212,939= -$34,331.28 For option 3: Profit 3 =205(400) +800(179.4)-(205 + 179.4)*(28.7) -212,939 = $1,548.72 In conclusion, for option1 and 2, both will decrease in net income. Option 1 will decrease net income by (-30,383) (-42,994.92) = $12,611.82, and option 2 will decrease net income by (-30,383) (-34,331.28) = $3,948.18. For option3, net income will increase to a benefit amount. If the promotion expense is equal to or less than 1548.72, this option should be taken consideration. On the other hand, if the promotion expense exceeds 1,548.72, the net income will turn into negative. However, as long as it is more profitable than -$30,383, option 3 is the optimal choice. Since option 1 and 2 make their net income even worse and option 3 requires them to spend very little on promotion, there is a suggestion to close SDS instead of keeping it. However, if they close SDS, the change in their net income will be: Exhibit 5 They will save costs in maintenance, power, and so on, but they will lose the rent profit $8,000 if there is no other company rents that floor. Besides, they need to outsource and the outsourcing cost will be 205 hours * $800 per hour = $164,000. Therefore, as it is shown in Exhibit 5, their extra cost of closing SDS will be $94,356. If they don’t rent the place to other companies, they will suffer more loss than keep SDS. As a result, they should keep SDS instead of closing it. What they can do to make their income better is to use option 3, which is to increase commercial revenue hours by up to 30% through putting more money on promotion. This may be unrealistic because if we look into their promotion cost in March, we find out that they spent $8,083 (increased 15% compared to February) on promotion and they increased commercial revenue hours by only very few percentages (only roughly 2%). In order to control their increase in promotion cost fewer than 1548.72, they need to increase only roughly 20% of promotion costs to reach a 30% increase in commercial revenue hours. Assume the relationship between promotion costs with commercial revenue hours is what we observed in February and March (15% increase in promotion cost brings an 2% increase in commercial revenue hours), they need to increase (30% / 2%) * 15% = 225% in promotion costs, which would be 8083 * (1 + 225%) = 26,270. Under this assumption, net income of choosing option 3 will turn out to be 1548.72 – 26,270 = -24,721.28. Still, option 3 would bring them least loss and it is the optimal choice.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Ikeas Entry Strategy In Russia Marketing Essay

Ikeas Entry Strategy In Russia Marketing Essay Globalisation is the growing trend towards worldwide markets in products,capital and labour,unrestricted by barriers.Globalisation is not a new process but it has accerelated in recent years with the rapid growth of multnational companies and expansion of free international trade with the key feature of Globalisation that have an impact on business strategy are; Increased international trade as barriers to trade are reduced. Growth of multanational businesses in all countries as there is greater freedom for capital to be invested from one country to another. Freer movement of workers between countries. Direct investment is when a business entering a foreign based assembly or manufacturing facilities.Globalisation is having a great impact on the marketing strategies adopted by businesses that trade internationally. One features of globolisation is that national and regional difference in tastes,culture,fashion and wants are becoming less obvious. According to some analysists (e.g Levitt) The world is becoming more standardised in the goods and services that it is demanding. If this is true, then the opportunies for companies to use technology to gain massive economies of scale by selling the same product across the globe are huge. Other writers ( e.g Donglas and Wind ) suggest that substantial differences still exist in consumer needs in different countries` markets.Standardisation is only one option for entering these markets and this will sometimes fail.The alternative is for businesses to adapt a global marketing mix to local needs and conditions this is called localisation. Product adaption involves changing the product to meet local conditions or wants. For example, finish cell phone maker Nokia customises its cell phones for every major market. Developers build in rudimentary voice recognization for Asia where key boards are a problem and raise the ring volume, so phones can be heard on crowded Asian streets. Nokia is also making a major push to create full featured but rugged and low cost phones that meet the needs of affluent consumers in large developing countries such as India,China etc. Product standardisation: The term `standardisation` indicates the presence ot certain desirable qualities like utility durability, safety and desirable features like design, weight, colour in a product. Standardisation refers to the process of setting standards for a commodity on the basis of its desire qualities. Standardized global marketing refers to an international marketing strategy for using basically tha same marketing strategy and mix in all the company`s international markets. IKEA is the Swedish home furnishing company having more than 200 stores in 32 countries selling a range of some 10,000 articles and having more than 84,000 employees within IKEA group. IKEA as a multinational company entering Russia with strategy based on adaptation and on standardisation. A strategy based on adaptation to meet local condition or wants in foreign market(Russia). This strategy is adopted to the larger extent as it is supported by the following evidences from case study. IKEA has an impression that few companies in Russia focused on solving the needs of the many people by offering attractive products at reasonable prices. It enters the market knowing exactly that there is a gap market demand left therefore decided to think global but act local. Entry strategy was based on the view that there is a need to live and learn about the new market before setting the strategies. Within IKEA, setting up a new bussiness was described as very little theory and very much practice. IKEA`s entry strategy based on taking stock of the existing situation. The mostly used technique is called SWOT analysis ,i.e strengths,weaknesses,opportunities and threats. IKEA identifies the key needs and wants of Russian, for example low level of education and lack of experienced management staff and takes the task to train and prepare the local people who will be ready to lead further expansion process. As a manager has commented about his management group My main task is really to make this group more Russian and export people for the upcoming expansion IKEA practesed home visits to customers inorder to talk to people see how they live and used their homes and to identify potential needs and wants not fully realised by customers themselves. Understanding local family conditions and furnishing traditions them provided as a basis for an effective introduction and marketing of the IKEA concept. A store manager pointed out that the main priority in Russia is the normal living costs and then comes the car and TV and afterwards may be a trip abroad. One example of how IKEA has considered the local preferences is in developing the room settings to refect local conditions in terms of apartment sizes and local traditionals of furnishing. It should also be possible to mix Mix and match the range with the Russian home. IKEA`s entry strategy for Russian based on standardization, the market concept holds that marketing program will be more effective if tailered to the unique needs of each targeted customer group. Consumers in different countries still have widely varied culture backgrounds.They differ significantly in their needs wants spending powers, product preferences and shopping patterns, because these differences are hard to change, IKEA adapt their products prices, channels and promotions to fit consumers desires in Russia. IKEA decided to apply adapted Global marketing strategy for adjusting the marketing strategy and mix elements to each international target market bearing more costs but hoping for a larger market share and return. Standardised marketing strategy for using basically the same marketing strategy and mix all the company internationally markets. IKEA`s basic strategy neither to adjust the style of the products of the local,needs nor follow the competitors`s product development was central preserving the IKEA concept and image the range is supposed to be ,IKEA unique and typical IKEA All range of product are divided into four major categories or styles, scandinavian country, modern and young Swede,which are clearly distingushed in all businesses areas across the store. One of the reasons why IKEA was successful with its standard product ranges in Russia was the fact that several of these IKEA ranges emphasise the morden style,which is very different from the traditional Russian style but is attractive and new for the Russian customers since it symbolises change. However, IKEA`s entry strategy on adaptation and standardisation was limited ,that the store played an additional role by becoming the training site for new employees. Since IKEA was totally new to many Russian customers to bring people as much as possible in the store in order to learn about IKEA becomes an additional task. IKEA is trying to strike the balance between adaptation and standardisation in the Russian market. IKEA introduces more or less the same product range in all new countries irrispective of what is considered popular by local customers. In Russia IKEA`s Scandinavian furniture design in some contract to the historically preferred dark wood, massive, lacquered, expensive furniture. In order to support this strategy IKEA most often identifies the potential needs that are similar across markets. 3. IKEA`S MARKET BEHAVIOR IN RUSSIA Selling in foregn market was once too risky and expensive for most firms, so only large businesses growing too large for their national markets are used to commit to this form of marketing. Improved communication, better transport links and free International trade. For many firms International marketing is now an opportunity to profitably exapand their sale indeed, for some firms it is no longer an option to remain based in just one country. Consumer make many buying decision everyday and the buying decision is the focal point of their market`s effort. Most large companies reseach consumers buying desicions in great details to answer questions about what consumers buy, where they buy, how and how much they buy, when they buy and why they buy. Market behavior depends on the factors that affect consumers behaviour. Culture is the set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviors learned by member of society from family and other important institutions. Failure to adjust to these differences can result in effective marketing or embarrasing mistakes. Company are always trying to sport culture shifts in order to discover new products that might be wanted. Cultural factors exert a broad and deep influence on consumer bahaviour. The marketer needs to understand the role played by the buyyer`s culture, sub culture and social class. IKEA company in Russia enters by recreating its company culture from scratch. In Moscow that included the replication of the store design and layout in accordance with the latest version in the existing store and extensive cultural education that was carried out by the team of experienced IKEA people. Another IKEA approach was to create needs that could be satsfied within the range and to inspire customers with numerous new solutions based on existing range. The theme Living with small spaces was one such solution used in Russia. Consumers` behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as consumer`s small groups, family and social roles and status. Marketers try to identify the reference groups of their target markets. Reference group expose a person to new behaviors and life styles, influence a persons attitudes and self concept and create pressures to confirm that may affect the person`s product and brand choices. The importance of group influence varies across products and brands. It tends to be strongest when the product is visible to other whom the buyer respects. Personal factor also influnce market behavior of the market. A buyer`s decision also are influenced by personal characteristics such as buyer`s age and life cycle stage, occupation ,economic situation, life style, personality and self concept. People change goods and services they buy over their lifetimes, taste in food, clothes, furniture and recreation are often age related. Buying is also shaped by the stage of the family life cycle the stages through which family might pass as they mature over time. Marketer also define their target and develope oppropiate products and marketing plans for each stage. IKEA`s market behavior in Russia has been different due to the fact that Russia ia an emerging market that has advanced. Since IKEA was totally new many Russian customers to bring people as much as possible in the store in order to learn about IKEA and get a positive attitude was a main goal from the very begining. IKEA put a strong emphasis on making the Russian customers feel welcome and important in the store which was very unusual for Russian stores at the time. The way the range was presented and the opportunity to touch and test everything in the store also made the products much more desirable to the Moscow customers. This was new and unusual retail approach. Another respect that IKEA company used, it considered the local preferences in developing the room setting to reflect local conditions in terms of apartment sizes and local traditions of furnishing. Also building an image of low price brand that guaranteed attractive and morden products of good quality. IKEA was completely to the journalists and introduced them to the IKEA way and values by organising press trips to Almhult in Sweden to learn how the range is created. The result was that the press coverage of IKEA in Russia become much more positive. IKEA operations in Russia was the fact that IKEA was the only company that stayed in Russia after the currency devaluation and subsoquent collapse in August 1998 when almost all the foreign companies left the country,that created an immediate effect of trust an willingness to cooperate with IKEA on the part of the major Russian politicians By concluding the IKEA marketing behaviour in Russia has been different in reapects of Russian culture, social factors, personal factors, economic situation and psychological factors. 4. IKEA`S VISION ,ITS MARKETING STRATEGY AND INFLUENCE IN RUSSIA Business vision is the statement of what the organisation would like to achieve or accomplish in the long term. Basically a vision statement is what the organisation wants to become (future) e.g Nokia-our vision is a world where every one is connected ,Minnesota Health Department(USA) the vision is to keep all residents healthy, McDonald`s Reustarants-Mc Donalds has a vision where the world buys more McDolnalds than any other fast food. A brand is the name sign ,symbol design or combination of all used to distinguish the product of one firm from others. A brand is the means by which the firm identifies itself with customers e.g ITC for Indian Tobacco Company, family names such as Tata steel, IBM Computers etc. Positive brand equity derives from customer feelings about and connections with a brand. Consumers sometimes bond very closely with specific brands.For example one Michigan couple had such a passion for Black Decker`s Dewalt power tool brand that they designed their entire wedding around it. Building a strong brands posses challenging decisions to the marketer. Major brand strategy desicions involve brand positioning, brand name selection, brand sponsorship and brand development. Managing brands companies manage their brand careful. First the brand positioning must be continously communicated to tha consumers. Major brand marketers spend huge amounts on advertising to create brand awareness and to build preference and loyalty. Such advertising compagns can help to create name recognition, brand knowledge and may be even some brand preference. However the fact is that brands are not maintaned by advertising but by the brand experience. To day consumers come to know a brand through a wide range of contacts and touch points.These include advertising but also personal experience with the brand, word of mouth, company web, pages and many others. IKEA can be regarded as a global brand because IKEA is a leading home furnishing company with more than 200 stores in 32 countries, sellimg a range of some 10,000 articles and having more than 84,000 employees within the IKEA group. IKEA marketing strategy in Russia influenced/contribute to the company`s brand vision by focusing on solving the needs of the many people by offering attractive products at reasonable price. IKEA enters Russia by recreating its company culture from scratch. In Moscow that included the replication of the store design and layout in accordance with the latest version of the existing store and an extensive culture education that was carried out by the team of experinced IKEA people. Marketing communications become an important means to create tha right image of IKEA .The ways to communicate the image through the out door products, image ads in the glossy magazines, TV, buzz network or word of mouth. Internal organisation processes also supported the positioning strategy. Common activities carried on a regular basis were informal and formal discussions at the store level where co-workers from once or several store depertments take part.The discussions covered different costomer issues the best ways to present the range to the customers. Market data and experience were also transfered and shared within and between different depertments and units at the company. By conluding the marketing strategy in Russia contribute to the company`s brand vision by focusing on solving the needs of the many people by offering eye-catching-product,communications,Internal organisations and positioning strategy 6. IKEASS OPPORTUNITIES TO ACHIEVE LONG TERM SUCCESS, MAIN CHALLENGES AND MEASURES IN RUSSIAN MARKET Identifying successfull business opportunities is one of the most important stages in being an effective company. Many compnaies say they want to work for themselves butthey do not make the leap to success because they have not been able to identify a market need that will offer sufficient demand for their product to allow thebusiness to become profitable. International business operate more than one country, these are often called multinational companies. Multi national companies are business organistaions that have their headquaters in one country, but with operating branches in other countries. IKEASS opportunities to achieve long term success in the Russian market was that the IKEAS owner saw Russia as a long term investment also enables the management to supply a long term view that may become a competitive advantages in the yearto come. IKEA was successfull with its standard product range which was the fact that several of these IKEA ranges emphasizes the modern style which is very different from traditional Russian style but is attractive and new for the Russian customers since its symbolise changes. Marketing communication became an importnat means to create the right image of IKEA in Russia. Government authorities and officials of different ranks were also critical stakeholders group. Their goodwill and support was crucial for IKEA expansion in Russia. However IKEA has faced some challeneges in Russia such as: Lack of experienced local workers, Totally new to many Russian customers, High customs fees , neccessity to purchase more from the local producers, difficult in finding and developing suppliers in Russia, Low buying power of Russin customers. Russian customers low price wasvery strongly related to unattractive products of poor quality and one of the challenges has been to overcome this and explain how it is possible to offergood products at low prices. Measures taken by IKEA to overcome the challenge were: providing training programs to local workers, improving market communications, adapting the local Russian culture, common activities carried out on a regular basis were formal and informal disccussion at there levels were co-workers from one or several departments take part.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Bartok And His Musical Language Film Studies Essay

Bartok And His Musical Language Film Studies Essay Bartoks music showed signs of a rejection of traditional tonality and growth in his individual harmonic language, giving a new rendition to tonal principles. This characteristic was very much due to the influence of Debussy, and also affected other composers such as Stravinsky. Additionally, after his several years of studying the German tradition at the conservatory in Budapest, he had picked up a manneristic sympathy towards this German late-Romantic style of composers like Wagner, Richard Strauss and Brahms. His earliest works show several stylistic influences present, for example his Piano Quintet (1904-5) which has a finale unquestionably modelled on that of Brahmss Second Piano Concerto. In time, Bartoks music was somewhat liberated from such influences due to his encounter with Magyar folk music in 1905. In spite of this, some influences remained, like the discovery of new harmonic possibilities in Debussys music which came about in 1907. Bartoks researches, which eventually encompassed the folk music not only of Hungary but the Slavic regions, Turkey, and North Africa, convinced him that the essential folk traditions were those having frequent contact with other cultures, allowing a mutually enriching exchange of ideas1. Bartoks compositional style reveals this outlook, which draws upon various, even seemingly contrasting, sources yet he manages to integrate them within a fully coherent frame while keeping in touch with his personal expression. 4.1.1 Tonal Language in his Piano Music 1 Morgan, Robert P. Twentieth-Century Music (W.W.Norton Company Inc., 1991). p.109Works like the Fourteen Bagatelles and Ten Easy Pieces were described by Bartok himself as experimental, reflecting this influence and revealing a certain affinity with Debussy like the use of parallel dissonant chords; except that the quality and colour of the dissonances in Bartoks music differs significantly from that of Debussy. Moreover, the Fourteen Bagatelles and the Ten Easy Pieces, small and early composed as they are, show stylistic homogeneity within each of the pieces and are more adventurous than, for example, the Debussy Preludes. The first composition which brings to light Bartoks research on folksong is shown in his series of piano pieces called For Children, based on Hungarian and Slovakian folksongs. Harmonies are usually simple but never predictable and conventional, making use of Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian and Mixolydian melodies, pentatonic and other modal tunes. Bartok comp osed three Burlesques, all of which were composed in different years, and these bring out the typical style of his development. They are slightly unpleasant in mood, with harsh clashes of dissonance and bizarre accents. In his Allegro Barbaro, he had established a complete assimilation of folk elements with authentic Magyar style, unrelated to the pianism of Hungarian characteristics found in Liszt and no signs of the impressionist keyboard music like Ravels. This work had brought out an immensely percussionistic sound through the martellato chords and the hammering rhythms. It marks Bartoks becoming of age, from whence his stylistic progress is outspoken, without trial and no going back to the earlier style in his music. He had recognized the piano as a percussion instrument, with works such as the Sonata, his Concertos, and the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion abiding by this idea. In his answer to a questionnaire about the Piano problem (1927), Bartok had stated the following : The neutral character of the piano tone has long been recognized. Yet it seems to me that its inherent nature becomes really expressive only by means of the present tendency to use the piano as a percussion instrument. Indeed, the piano always plays the part of universal instrument. It has not lost its importance for concert performances.2 4.2 Mikrokosmos Bartok was quite the innovator when it comes to writing what he wanted on the score, and in his Volumes of the Mikrokosmos, one might encounter special musical notation which indicate a specific sound that he had in mind such as newly devised key signatures (also including the use of two different key signatures at the same time), use of  ½ pedal, and the use of the  ¯ for the effect of harmonics, an effect generated by playing the selected keys without sounding them and producing harmonics as the other notes are played. Figure 4.1 First 10 Bars from No.102, Vol.4 2 Bartok, Bà ©la. Bà ©la Bartok Essays ed. Benjamin Suchoff. (University of Nebraska Press, 1976) p.288The first four books of the Mikrokosmos were specifically written for pedagogical reasons as they propose specific tasks which should prepare students as they take on new problems step by step in their first years of learning. Albeit this, Benjamin Suchoff had stated that: Evidence indicates that the Mikrokosmos was not conceived of as a piano method in 1926, the year of its origin, but as recital pieces to fill the need Bartok had of such material due to the increase in his concert bookings3. The exercises are supposedly put in progressive order according to technical and musical demands, although this order might be manipulated by the tutor with each individual student according to their abilities. Despite this, the value of these volumes lies not so much in the technical demands themselves, but it provides the opportunity for the player to encounter essential characteristics of twentieth-century music, for instance, harmonic practices like: bitonality, whole-tone scale, chords in fourths and major and minor seconds, or counterpoint methods such as: inversion, mirror and free canon, not to mention other devices like syncopation and irregular rhythms. 4.3 Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm Bartok ends his 153 pieces called Mikrokosmos with a set of six dances which he composed and dedicated to the British pianist Miss Harriet Cohen. As the title suggests, they are comprised of dances with folk flavour dominant throughout, containing a variety of rhythms commonly found in Bulgarian folk music. Bartok had already made use of the Bulgarian elements in No.113 and No.115 from the fourth Volume of Mikrokosmos, and he aptly named them Bulgarian rhythm I and Bulgarian rhythm II. This rhythm is frequently found in folk music from Bulgaria, and refers to a rhythm in which the beats within each bar are of dissimilar length, so that the subdivisions of each beat change in number. This set, all composed with quavers as the main beat, would therefore represent the Bulgarian rhythm grouped like this: qzzz qz qzz- corresponding to the time signature of 4+2+3/8, although the whole set of these last six dances exhibits a wide variety of possible groupings. The different rhythmic groupin gs give each of the dances a contrasting character, but still give a sense of a unified work, mostly due to a chromatic characteristic appearing in each piece and the fact that all six dances are full of energy. Figure 4.2 3 Suchoff, Benjamin. History of Bela Bartoks Mikrokosmos from the Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Sage Publications Inc., 1959) p.196The first dance opens with a mildly temperate mood, but still full of life as it introduces the main theme. The dance is polymodal, based mainly on the E-Phrygian/Lydian scale, occurring in the two main elements present, which are the melody (Fig. 4.2) using notes of the E-pentatonic scale and the accompanying scalar ostinato passages based on the E major scale (Fig. 4.3). Figure 4.3 This first dance makes consistent use of the 4+2+3 Bulgarian rhythm throughout the piece, and is the only work from the set of six that has the most distinct tempo changes. A variation of the main folk motif (Fig. 4.2) occurs in the slower section marked Meno Vivo (Fig. 4.4), which builds up towards a transitional energetic area, leading to yet another calm variation of the main theme with a sense of direction leading towards the closing of the dance which is contrastingly loud and decisive in mood compared to the previous soothing variations, but it rounds off the dance bringing it well into balance and aims directly towards the complementing second dance. Figure 4.4 Variation of the main melodic motif is marked with the brackets The second dance is lively and bright in mood, introducing itself with the main rhythmic element appearing throughout the piece which is based on the 2+2+3 meter (Fig.4.5). Figure 4.5 Bb.1-3 The first three bars of ostinato-like chords are immediately followed by another motif (Fig. 4.6a) containing a syncopated melody on the C-pentatonic scale which repeats soon afterwards; this time it is transposed a 4th higher on F-pentatonic scale and it is half the length of the previous phrase, almost as if it is getting slightly impatient and increasing in tension (Fig. 4.6b). Figure 4.6a Figure 4.6b Figure 4.7Subsequently, running scales appear (Fig. 4.7), which give a reminiscing sense of some parts from the first dance. This is followed by developing material of both the initial melodic material and of the running scales once again. The scale passages keep occurring against a thick chordal bass until eventually coming to a halt and transitioning to the coda which concludes with the introductory dance rhythm, slowly drifting away to the last to chords. The third dance acts like an extension to the second dance, with a similar energetic drive but with more added force to it. Its meter is marked as 5/8 and the rhythm is subdivided into two groups: 2+3. The first rhythmic motif is divided as shown (Fig. 4.8), using notes from the E-Lydian pentachord with a minor and major seventh degree4. Figure 4.8 The second thematic material that follows is based on a symmetrical 3-bar phrase:  Ã‚ ±Ã‚ Ã‚ ±. |  Ã‚ ±Ã‚ Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ ± |  Ã‚ ±Ã‚ Ã‚ ±. lasting until Bar 19, leading to four bars of ostinato rhythm using chords a 5th apart, based on the dominant (V) of the A-major pentachord5, employed in the second thematic material. Variations with development on both first and second motifs appear following each other with chromatic elements throughout, leading to the close which starts off with the same introduction as the beginning, followed by a short closure using the main dance rhythmic theme, rounded off by the concluding chord (Fig. 4.9). Figure 4.9 The next dance is more upbeat and cheery in mood compared to the previous dances. It has the form of a rondo-variation with the parts generally subdivided into four-bar sections. According to Bartok, this piece is Very much in the style of Gershwins tonality, rhythm, and colour. The American folk song feeling.5 The additive 3+2+3/8 meter grouped as such (Fig. 4.10), occurs in the first movement, second theme, of Gershwins Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra as 4/4  Ã‚ ¥ q  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ¥.6 The first theme (Fig. 4.10), consists of harmonies from the C-Lydian/Phrygian polymode, and the motif is soon repeated an octave higher. The same ideas soon answer in different registers transposed into the left hand almost upside down. Figure 4.10 In discussion to the Gershwin-related tonality as described by Bartok himself, there is a section in this dance where the same melodic motif appears in a slower area (as indicated by the composer; Meno mosso) with a jazzy colour added to it, accompanied by triads ascending in stepwise motion (Fig. 4.11). This area is followed by a brief recapitulation of the melodic introductory motif played in octaves with a small ritardando at the end of the phrase which jumps to a short but very energetic Coda that concludes the dance. 6 ibid. 5 ibid. p.158 4 ibid. 3 Suchoff, Benjamin. Bartoks Mikrokosmos: Genesis, Pedagogy, and Style (Rowman Littlefield, 2004) p.157 Figure 4.11 The fifth Bulgarian dance has a more varied rhythmic schemata, in the sense that it has at least three different sections which consist of diverse rhythmic groupings (Fig. 4.12a; 4.12b; 4.12c), but all under the same meter i.e. 2+2+2+3/8. Figure 4.12a i.e. qz  Ã‚ ±z  Ã‚ ±z  Ã‚ ±zz Figure 4.12b i.e.  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ¥ Figure 4.12c i.e.  Ã‚ ±zzz  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±zz Like the second dance, it has brisk, light steps, but is more playful, slightly more colourful in tonality but less ostentatious in character. The introductory material starts with a short passage of alternating chords between the two hands, eventually leading to a clearer melodic line in bar 7 which serves as the basic material for the entire piece. The middle section consists of brief dense phrases occurring in between short staccato areas, with the thick areas having a fundamental chromatic melodic line which corresponds to the whole element of the six dances. The sixth and final dance of the whole Mikrokosmos automatically shoots off with a jump start as a kind of reaction to the strong intervallic ending of the previous dance. The chordal motifs reflect a Debussy-like influence, with the striking rhythmic elements proving the underlying thoughts of having the piano regarded as a percussive instrument. The chords against a repeated 3+3+2 quaver movement grouped as such: qZZ qZZ qZ switch hands, increasing in thickness of sound the third time it appears, due to the lower register of the keyboard. The chords are the holders of the main melodic line in this dance. Repeated eighth notes occur throughout most of the dance with abrupt accentuated phrasings. Corresponding to the chromatic element of the whole set which links them together is an area full of melodic motifs displaying chromatic movement in both hands, with the phrases running on top of each other constantly, keeping a rhythmic flow (Fig. 4.13). Figure 4.13 The only section in this piece where there are not any running rhythms is in the extremely aggressive chordal area marked fortissimo (Fig. 4.14), halting abruptly on a dissonant chord which is followed by several bars of repeated notes, soon to have the other voice join in once again, both charging towards the flamboyant ending of the piece. Figure 4.14

Monday, August 19, 2019

An Overview of Reggae Music Essay -- Music

Reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. It is known for the heavy and strong emphasis on the bass within the background beat. Reggae was perceived as a kind of music used to express feelings about the social, political, and economic hardships in Jamaica during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was performed by musicians from black ghettos who used unhurried beats to make a style of music of their own. Reggae became an important part of the lifestyle of many Caribbean islanders; expressing a sense of pride of their Caribbean culture. Reggae was developed from ska and rocky steady. Ska consists of elements of Caribbean and mento, calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. Rocky steady uses musical elements such as jazz, R&B, African and Latin drumming and other genres. It is noticeable by the counted off beats with a slow tempo. A reggae beat is most distinguishable by having a slow tempo, bass beat within the background with an up-tempo beat over it. If you count 1 2 3 4 to the beats, the instrument’s accent is played on the off beats; giving it a relaxed sound. Reggae music consists of a relatively small variety of instruments because of its distinct sound. Bass drums, drum symbols, and guitars are the most common instruments used to play reggae songs. Bongos are used to play broken patterns with the usage of African style rhythms. An important factor to understanding Reggae music is having knowledge about the history of Jamaica. In 1962, Jamaica gained its independence from the British. Around that time, reggae music began to become prominent within the music industry. The most important form of reggae w... ...ic is an important aspect of the many cultures in and outside of the Caribbean. It instills different moods into people and comes in various styles. It has been used to express oppression and joy. No matter how people make or hear reggae music; it will be a distinct sound that lures one’s feelings towards the unique culture. Works Cited Bays, Barry, P. Renee Foster, and Stephen King. Reggae, Rastafari, and the Rhetoric of Social Control. University Press of Mississippi. United States of America. 2002. Chang, Kevin O' Brian, and Wayne Chen. Reggae Routes. Temple University Press. Philadelphia.1998 Jahn, Brian and Tom Weber. Reggae Island. Da Capo Press, Inc. New York. 1998 Latin Pulse Music, Inc. n.p. 2006-2011. Web. 2 April 2012. Sarno, Alberto, Sarno, Marcello. Reggaeton in Cuba. 2007. Sprachcaffe Sprachreisen.Web. 10 March 2012.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Ill Health Rates of Indigenous Australians Essay -- Sociology

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social Darwinism, early attempts of genocide towards Indigenous Australians, segregation and the ‘protection’ legislation, the assimilation policy, self-determination and â€Å"the emergence of Indigenous protest† (Psych ology and Indigenous Australians, Foundations of Cultural Competence, 2009, pp.84) as well as the limiting factors of being part of a low socioeconomic status group and statistical health differences between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians compared to other countries Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. By encompassing all of these details, we can begin to establish why Aboriginal’s tend to have more health issues and what can be done to improve these health inequities. When the English settlers arrived on Australian shores in 1776 (The Story of the Australian People, 2010), they didn’t see anything that represented that the land was owned, so they claimed it as their own under ‘terra nullius’ in 1776. â€Å"In International Law 'terra nullius' describes territory that n... ...indigenousrights.net.au/section.asp?sID=33 Australian Museum. (2011). Indigenous Australia Timeline - 1901 to 1969. Retrieved May 5, 2012, from http://australianmuseum.net.au/Indigenous-Australia-Timeline-1901-to-1969 Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. (2008). Wave Hill Walk-Off Route more information. Retrieved May 6, 2012, from http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/wave-hill/information.html Australia Bureau of Statistics. (2010). ADULT HEALTH: RISK FACTORS AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. Retrieved May 6, 2012, from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/lookup/4704.0Chapter750Oct+2010 Australia Bureau of Statistics. . (2010). ACCESS TO HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES: ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES. Retrieved May 6, 2012, from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/lookup/4704.0Chapter955Oct+2010

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Media †Gaga and Audience Study Essay

Lady Gaga is beyond just a modern pop star; she is a product as well. From literally selling singles, albums and concert tickets, Lady Gaga is also selling herself as a brand. She is a media construct who is artificial and created for a specific target audience in the effort for the maximum commercial gain. Her ‘Little Monsters’ are the ‘buyers’ in the product and purchaser relationship and they not only buy into the idea of her as an artist but also as an icon and a brand. Her brand and image is established in several ways through her design including how she portrays herself as a modern pop package and her personality. She spreads awareness of herself through market and promotion including social media and music videos in order to maintain a convincing relationship to her fans. There are three main parties involved with this relationship Gaga has with her fans. First of all, her record label, Interscope who signed her in 2007 are part of a conglomerate, Universal Music hence they have identified her as a way to make a financial return on their investment and look to benefit from this relationship financially. Secondly, Lady Gaga is another party in this relationship. She also similarly benefits financially as well as being able to live her dream and passion of music or at least that is hat she is trying to portray. Lastly, her ‘Little Monsters’ are the last party involved. Made up predominately of teenagers to mid 30’s and also the gay community, they benefit from contributing to her success and ultimately finding joy and happiness from this. The main aim of the relationship is to maximise the commercial success from increasing sales of her physical products. Her design is a way in which Lady Gaga endeavours to establish and maintain a relationship with her audience. Two main aspects of her design include how she is a modern pop package and her personality while others include her look, religious cult figure and her name. A modern pop package refers to how Gaga produces music within the pop bracket but also how she follows international and local trends in terms of fashion or technology. This is an effective way for Gaga to create the relationship with her audience because of several benefits of a modern pop package. Firstly, pop music reaches out to a large audience not only on Top 40 music stations but in mainstream media in general. As a result there is an increase in appeal from a wider audience allowing the relationship to occur on a wider scale. Secondly, because the target age demographic for pop music would be the 15-35 age group and they have the most income available to spend on entertainment, she is able to maximise sales hence financial return for herself and her record label. In general pop music refers to music that deals with typical topics like love or fame or having fun. Gaga’s debut single, ‘Just Dance’ is an example of her work to show how she fits into this genre of music. It speaks about being free, having a good time reinforcing this idea that pop music is usually made for listening ple asure as opposed to real craft or message sending and ‘Just Dance’ certainly fits into the category. An increasing part of a modern pop package is appealing genuine and authentic to their fans and ensuring them that the relationship is genuine. Personality is another aspect of her design that enables Gaga to have a relationship with her fans. Her personality refers to her portrayal of herself to be genuine and that she really cares about her fans. The way in which she advocates difference is a main method in which she does this. This allows her to develop the relationship because by making individuals feel included and important, fans then feel that they need to repay her by giving her unconditional support. Examples of this would be at her concert in Auckland where she sings Happy Birthday to one of her fans, Minisha. She took the effort to learn the correct pronunciation of her name and this shows the audience how she really cares about them individually. Another example would be when Gaga ask the girls, â€Å"How short are your skirts? † This again allows hr to develop the relationship by making her fans believe that she is genuine and different from other pop stars and they consequently buy into the idea of how she the perfect pop star and role model that they should support. Her design comes with several implications. Firstly, there are contrary messages from Gaga as a result of being in the modern pop bracket. While she preaches difference and the positive of being unique and different, she herself produces modern pop music. This causes a contradiction in her image and raises the idea that difference is okay if you’re still in the main bracket or if Lady Gaga says so. Another example of where this had occurred would be when a source quoted that â€Å"Gaga slams Adele all the time, even calling her a fat cow†. Adele is a modern day artist that literally promotes difference, as she is evidently larger than most other pop stars today. This may raise the idea that Gaga is becoming threatening by Adele due to the similarity in advocating difference and may be what is developing into commercial envy. Overall this implication is reflecting on Gaga’s fans because it shows that even though she advocates difference, it really doesn’t mean huge difference, just enough to appear different with the aim of financially capitalising on this idea. The way in which is advocating different also raises an implication on the music industry as a whole. It is a well known fact that unless an artist is expected to make money for the record label, they won’t be signed. This raises how they have formulas, which have proved successful in the past, and therefore how Gaga must fit into this formula This is further implications on the music industry as a whole as well. Because Gaga’s success has proven that the formula works, more and more acts are conforming to this idea of utilising a brand image of appearing different for commercial success. Another example would be One Direction. Similar to Gaga, they are also a product in the way that they are in the business of selling not only their music but also her image with a consumer driven formula. They claim to be â€Å"different from boybands past† but it is evident they have the same boy band pop music with a human driven personality similar to the likes of Backstreet Boys etc. This shows how modern day music is about trivial differences that are clearly not that much different and as long as management companies portray the image of the likes of Gaga and One Direction that they are different then the fans will believe it despite them all following the same money making formula that is truly tested throughout the years. The use of this formula raises the issue of longevity. When there is an increase in the use of the difference idea, there becomes a slight problem of repetition. If too many stars consistently advocate difference then in comparison the idea of difference doesn’t become as ground breaking and instead the new normal. Consequently, the press and also her audience may become bored of this idea of difference leading to a decline in popularity. As well as this, it again raises what the future may hold for the music industry. If teenagers are growing up yearning to be different yet the same as their idols it shows that how in the future we may e moving to an even more on sided one dimension celebrity culture where everyone is essentially the same yet trivially different to everyone else. Examples can be seen through the latest artists created through the X Factor USA especially in the Girl’s category. Similarities have been spotted between Cece Frey and Ke$ha. The way in which she is creating an animal branding to herself is incredibly similar to Ke$ha when she first began. This creates the allusion that Cece is different to her counterparts where in fact she is not as she still sings mainstream music. Gaga is known to be one of the acts to lead the way in this brand and cult establishment for fans and since her success, the X Factor is one of the singing talent shows which have followed her in doing the same thing to their contestants. A contestant with a sob story is more likely to do better than say a contestant with a quality voice. By having a story behind them, contestants can engage with their audiences and manipulate their emotions leading to them becoming more relatable to their audience. This raises how the music industry has become less about the music and rather the personality attached to it showing how it has evolved. A whole package is what budding artists need to be rather than just having the voice and in the future, people with real talent will be less represented. * Marketing and promotion is a way in which Lady Gaga spreads awareness of her design to establish and maintain the relationship she had with her fans. She achieves this in two main ways including social media and music videos, other ways are concerts, publicity stunts, merchandise and albums. Firstly modern day pop stars because of its accessibility and also how it allows direct contact between celebrities and their fans use social media widely. Twitter is a medium, which Gaga uses frequently. She was the first user to reach 10 million followers in May 2010 and had consistently been the top most viewed profile on the website. Despite sending on average 2 tweets a day, â€Å"Goodnight little monsters† is an example of a tweet which enables her to maintain this important relationship she had with her fans. Tweets like this make her fans believe they are part of her life and also that she cares about them. Consequently, fans feel special and buy into the idea of supporting her. Now, especially with the feature of Twitter with the ability to send tweets straight to mobile phones, a close bond between her and her fans is established because it makes them believe she is talking to the specially. As well as Twitter, her website is a way in which she targets her fanbase alone. It is by invite only, which is significant because it makes fans feel part of her inner circle and therefore increasing the closeness fans feel of the relationship. Also because she targets those who are different and on the fringe of society, and therefore presumed to be not included, by including them she is making sure that they feel included. She plays on the insecurity in everyone in that we have a desire to be included and therefore develops the idea she cares for the genuinely and in return should support her. Music videos are another way Gaga develops a relationship with her fans. Her music video for Telephone is a great example. 9 minutes in length, it had multiple occasions of product placement such as Wonder White Bread or HP Computers. Both of these features increase the views of her video and therefore awareness of her because it is different. The more views a music video has the more likely it will appear as a promoted video. This attracts more people that are not necessarily in her fanbase already and allows for more people to become her fans. Particularly the product placement, which turns her video into a game where people spot the different brands, views and awareness, is definitely achieved. Though product placement has a direct link to a profit motive, it also helps Gaga to develop a relationship with her fans. By promoting certain brands, her fans are more inclined to purchase them as they feel if they do they are better fans or similar to Gaga as they consume and like the same products. Meanwhile, those companies as well as Gaga are further benefiting financially from it. As well as that because her music videos are usually released to her website first rather than the likes of MTV. She is further improving the relationship because she is showing them that she really cares about them and is therefore rewarding their support with something tangible before the rest of the world. There are again several implications from her marketing and promotion. Firstly, the idea of social media pacing the way for a false relationship between idols and their fans has its own implication. The idea that an idol will reply to your tweets can be likened to a carrot analogy. The accessibility of social networking sites makes fans believe that one day they will notice them, if not today then tomorrow or the next day. This creates a false perception of the relationship fans have with Gaga. In the meantime, by using social networking sites they are freely promoting Gaga as a brand and as a product. Therefore it shows how Gaga is the one benefiting form the use of social networking financially where as the fans are being taken advantage of due to their free publicity for her. What used to be the job of management companies and what they had to pay thousands for in the past can now be done for free by her fans. Additionally, social media fosters the idea that pop stars are working for them. This is because when artists leak things like album artwork, or snippets of new songs, they automatically get feedback on social networking sites without directly asking for it and make changes accordingly. As a result, fans believe that their artist work to please them and because they are so wrapped up in the idea of them they ignore the real purpose behind the changes which is to increase sales and financial return for her record label and herself leading to manipulation of the trust between Gaga and her fans. Other pop acts such as Justin Bieber and One Direction use them in similar ways. Furthermore, there are social worries attached to this use of social media. There is a distortion of the idea that teenagers actually have this connection with their idols where in fact they haven’t. There then becomes a dependency of them on their idols with some fans even going as far as saying â€Å"Gaga saved my life† or similar claims. This is an issue due to the impacts this could have on them if their idol was to not be in the industry anymore. Besides other artists utilising social media for promotion and marketing of themselves, businesses have also followed Gaga in this way. Large businesses in New Zealand from banks such as ASB with 6300 followers to Vodafone with over 23 and a half thousand followers are beginning to capitalise on the use of social media for business also. E-commerce has become a huge part of business and more and more companies are aiming to create the relationship with their audience and target markets through these social media outlets in the effort to become more relatable and ultimately earn more sales from it. A issue becomes prominent as society becomes too over exposed to commercialisation and it becomes less about the product itself but how it’s sold to us sways whether we purchase it or not. Music videos also have their own implications. As said in an article by Jezbel. com, â€Å"If anything, he video simply amplifies what music videos have been all along: a giant commercial for an artist to sell records with† and this is more than true with Gaga but as well as selling music, music videos are also helping he sell concert tickets. Concerts are where the majority of the money is made in the modern industry due to the increase in piracy. Consequently, her music videos become promotion to her concerts and activitely act as a preview of what you can expect from her concert. An example would be the costume changes throughout her video for telephone. She changes from a telephone headpiece to a leopard print leotard. The multiple costume changes not only put into practice what she preaches but it becomes a preview of what fans can expect from her concerts which is excessive costume changes. This ultimately shows how the more physical products music artists make, the more they are just trying to increase their sales of other things in the effort to earn more money from their fans. The same conclusion could then be drawn from the latest thing of having lyric videos for singles could just be an encouragement for fans to purchase something else to increase the commercial success for artists and their labels. This raises a more significant implication of how more and more mediums are being created for fans to buy into and the impulsive buying from fans are further increasing the profits made from Gaga as a brand. Fans tend to buy merchandise and anything with their idols on them in the effort to prove they are the biggest fans and again like music, they are tangible things in which artists sell and no doubt contributed to Gaga’s $90 million dollar profit last year (according to Forbes).