Controlling (Principles of Management Mod 5 SLP) Essay

Controlling (Principles of Management Mod 5 SLP) - Essay Example In controlling, equity bank applies action accountability that holds each employee accountable for their actions. Having trained employees on their responsibilities, each employee is left to act under minimal supervision keeping in mind that the outcome of his/her action has either a positive or negative implication on his/her performance record. Operating in a very competitive industry, Equity Bank’s management uses controlling as business strength so as to move ahead of its competitors (Alembi, 2009), who seem to have similar strategic plans. As a matter of fact, all financial organizations in the region have almost equal capacities to acquire employees, resources and mobilize their clients. However, through action accountability, equity bank has managed to rapidly grow relative to other financial institutions. In implementing this control effort, the management allows for both internal and external control of their employees. Through internal control, the management relies on employees, especially heads of various departments but not restricting the lower class employees, to exercise self-control. In fact, the employees who are preliminarily motivate by the fact that they will be rewarded for extra ordinarily good performance, are allowed to fulfill their job expectations by their own will and procedures. Moreover, equity bank provides their employees with sufficient resources and clear performance objectives that enable them deal with millions of clients to whom they have to attend to. In addition to self-control, each employee is answerable to an administrator who minimally supervises him, and is linked with performance appraisal system and employee discipline system that reward or punish extreme cases of performance respectively. However, although there are rewards and punishments, the firm capitalizes on always correcting its employees in efforts to improving individual performance in

The Practice of Counselling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Practice of Counselling - Essay Example I might have a slight discomfort with the psychodynamic approach as the supervisor has to focus on student-counsellors' reactions to clients' transference/counter-transference issues. A supervisor should assist the student counsellor examine personal issues but only if these issues relate to problems occurring in the therapeutic relationship between student/counsellor and clients. Person-centred approach: the approach revolves around the self awareness of both the counsellor and the client. As such, it helps open door to such significant matters as power balance between the counsellor and a client, and the importance of communication between the two. I am more comfortable with the person-centred approach, as it lets a counsellor to exercise their discretion, thus allowing their patients to have authority over their experience regarding their problems. On the other hand, the psychodynamic approach helps break down a client's defences, as well as in the uncovering of unconscious motivations. The psychodynamic approach overemphasises on sex, aggression, and childhood experiences. It is also difficult to quantify and measure the concepts that are proposed, hence I not feel comfortable with this approach. On the other hand, the person-centred approach is more concerned with the attitudes and values of a therapist rather than their skills. The approach also disregards the significance of the past. What 5. What does this say about your personality What does it say about your approach to counselling What this suggests is that rather than being pragmatic, I value form. Additionally, this is an indication that as a person, I value listening and learning about others, as well as hearing from them what it is that they would wish to do with their lives. It is an indication that I like helping people to think about not just what they want with their lives now, but also in the future. It also indicates that my approach to counselling is one that is geared towards ensuring a coherent understanding of the communication process with a client. Chapter 5: Ethics Write a short essay (200 words) on the core ethical principals that were covered in Chapter 5 and if you have a personal example of an ethical dilemma, please include this - even if it has not been resolved. Ethics are not only guidelines but a personal philosophy and approach to the person's whole life. The counsellor cannot uphold being ethical in personal life and wear a different set of values in the professional life. The counsellor will certainly experience conflicts and lack of clarity in their work. The ethical principles provide guidance for accessing increased awareness and higher level of consciousness. The

A Violation Of Womens Human Rights

A Violation Of Womens Human Rights Violence against women commonly known as gender-based violence refers to violent acts ‎committed against women with the victims gender as a primary motive. ‎Violence against women is very common especially in developing third world countries and even ‎in countries with over suppressed societies for example in many regions of the Middle East. ‎Even in developed and modern nations still today gender- based violence is not totally ‎eliminated and still exists though comparatively the rate is lower than the underdeveloped and/ or ‎developing countries. ‎ It is like a plague that has engulfed and destroyed many homes and families and a situation that ‎needs to be addressed with complete focus as a healthy society produces healthy generations ‎which in turn results in healthy and prosperous nations. For years the problem has never been ‎addressed seriously and so far has ruined families and disturbed the society at large majorly due ‎to lack of awareness among the individuals.‎ The ever increasing day to day mechanical lives and expensive living cost is causing more stress ‎and depression in individuals, the matter instead of being curtailed by various relevant law ‎enforcing agencies, NGOs and concerned state organizations the occurrences of violence ‎incidents against women is on high increase. ‎There is a dire need to find ways to stop this as crises intervention cannot only address and ‎simplify the situation rather more serious steps are needed to curtail the devastating effects that it ‎has on children and families.‎ Every year millions of women are affected world over and majority of cases do not come on ‎record nor handed lawfully and this ignorance results in gradual increase in such unacceptable ‎acts against women. We will all agree here that such violence against women leads to physical ‎and psychological harm both, and at times the psychological scars are impossible to treat thus ‎damaging the personality of the subject woman for life time.‎ If a woman suffers such physical and emotional harm the whole society suffers and the final ‎impact is the suffering of the entire society. Thus this raises serious health concerns and requires ‎immediate action and prevention from violence from those who are the policy makers and various ‎agencies responsible for stopping this violence. ‎ The affected suffers from loss of trust, loss of dignity and a deeply compromised self esteem ‎that needs to be addressed along with factors like housing, economic support, social welfare and ‎legal issues being an integral part of the health promotion strategy. ‎The most common form of violence experienced by women globally is physical violence inflicted ‎by an intimate partner, with women beaten, forced into sex or otherwise abused.‎ In a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) it was found that between 15% ‎and 70% of women experience physical and/ or sexual violence by a partner. ‎ According to a United Nations report at least one out of every three women around the world ‎has been abused some way or the other in her lifetime and that too by someone known to her.‎ According to a WHO report the impact of this gender- based violence on the society is deep and ‎directly burdens the health care services as women suffer serious physical injuries, death, sexually ‎transmitted diseases, miscarriages, acute depression and many other psychological health issues ‎resulting in weak and low physical health. And the states have to bear heavy economical costs in ‎billions per year.‎ A 2003 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the ‎costs of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceed US$5.8 billion per year: ‎US$4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account ‎for nearly US$1.8 billion.‎ We can have an idea of existence of this gender-based violence in various parts of the world ‎from the figures collected by the WHO while carrying out a study in 11 countries and according ‎to this study; ‎ The percentage of women who had been subjected to sexual violence by an intimate partner ‎ranged from 6 per cent in Japan to 59 per cent in Ethiopia. ‎Several global surveys suggest that half of all women who die from homicide are killed by their ‎current or former husbands or partners. ‎In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, 40 to 70 per cent of female ‎murder victims were killed by their partners, according to the World Health Organization.‎ In Colombia, every sixth day one woman is reportedly killed by her partner or former partner. ‎Psychological or emotional violence by intimate partners is also widespread.‎ Up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime, according to country data ‎available.‎Women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car ‎accidents, war and malaria, according to World Bank data. ‎ Female genital mutilation (FGM), defined by WHO as the partial or total removal of the external ‎genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs WHO estimates that between 100 to 140 ‎million girls and women have undergone some type of FGM. Most of those affected live in 28 ‎countries in Africa, although there are some in the Middle East and it also happens among ‎immigrant communities in some countries in Western Europe.‎ Rape and dowry related violations are also very common resulting in harassment of brides and ‎also dowry related deaths, particularly in certain parts of India and other southern Asian ‎countries. This violence is exercised not only by the husband but also by the husbands close ‎relatives (mother, brothers, and sisters). ‎ Acid throwing in some Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, the disfiguring ‎of women by throwing acid or burning them are forms of violence rooted in gender inequality, ‎but the immediate reason for this is often disputes concerning marriage and dowry. While this is ‎not one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women, its consequences are dire for ‎those women subjected to it. ‎ ‎ Honor killings this is the murder of a woman, usually by a brother, father, or other male family ‎member, because she has allegedly brought shame to her family. This phenomenon is rooted in ‎the notion of male honor and female chastity that prevails in many countries in the Eastern ‎Mediterranean region. It means a mans honor is linked to the perceived sexual purity of the ‎women in his family. If a woman engages in sex outside marriage or even if she is raped, she is ‎thought to disgrace the family honor. In some societies, the only way to cleanse the family honor ‎is by killing the woman/girl.‎ This kind of violence against women and girls is exercised also in western European countries ‎within immigrant families. It is generally referred to as honor killings-a rather misleading ‎term as the connection with honor is difficult to understand in most cultures. The term murder ‎in the name of honor has been suggested. ‎ There was this case of honor killing of 3 daughters and their mother who was murdered in ‎Canada and bodies dumped under a bridge by their own father with the help of his second wife ‎who were immigrants there and belonged to an Asian country. ‎ In Saudi Arabia where I used to visit frequently almost every year as my spouse was working in ‎Jeddah I witnessed many cases where in men when going for work locked their wives from ‎outside till the time they were back home in the evenings the reason being lack of trust on their ‎spouse and during one such incidence the house caught fire due to short circuit and the wife, ‎maid and an infant child were rescued by the neighbors through apartment windows as the door ‎to the house was locked from outside by the husband who had left for work. I left the site ‎wondering how much black smoke these three must have inhaled especially the infant child and ‎what effect it would have had on their lungs?‎ With the passage of time and increasing awareness especially in girls / women due increasing ‎literacy rates among women such violation is now getting well recognized as a public health ‎problem and human rights violation of worldwide. ‎ The states and working organizations for prevention and betterment of societies are now realizing ‎how this relates directly to the public health sector.‎ More and more need have arise to take appropriate measures and proper trained health workers ‎are being placed close to the victims of such violation who are also well acquainted with the ‎community they work for and its inhabitants.‎ The local health services and communities need to play their role and create awareness among the ‎public to prevent such incidents. ‎ The Central and Federal government bodies need not only to make strict laws for the prevention ‎of gender-based violence but ensure effective implementation as well.‎ The most effective way to reduce tolerance towards violence against women is to openly debate ‎the subject as still there is limited knowledge regarding most workable interventions for the ‎prevention of gender- based violations.‎ References †¢ ‎ www.health.state.mn.us/divs/hpcd/chp/hpkit/index.htm †¢ http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/‎ †¢ http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/suppl_1/25.full †¢ Violence Against Women the United Nations ‎ www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday//UNiTE_TheSituation_EN.‎ †¢ Violence against women Gunilla Krantz, Claudia Garcia-Moreno †¢ http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/Violence_against_women

Management :: Business Management

Management Past Structure Marks and Spencer used to be structured under a Functional or U-Form design which works by breaking the company into departments like operations, marketing, finance, human resources, and research and development. This design works well with smaller companies but with bigger companies there is too much information for the top manager to handle and deal with. This is exactly what happened to Marks and Spencer. In 1991, Sir Richard Greenbury took over Marks and Spencer for seven years and structured the company to fit the Functional design. He made the company very aristocratic and rigid where by â€Å"Head office knows best† (The Economist). This created an atmosphere where by the company focused on their products instead of focusing on their customers. Although Marks and Spencer grew and made huge profits within this time, in 1998 their profits fell very quickly and sharply. Marks and Spencer closed a chain of stores which they owned in Canada and rumours were spreading th at they would also close two chains of stores which they owned in the United States. The combination of Marks and Spencer’s quick expansions and the aristocratic rule had definite visible implications on Marks and Spencer’s well-being. The combination of Marks and Spencer’s aristocratic rule and structure just couldn’t handle everything that was going on. Another one of Marks and Spencer’s weaknesses stemmed from their heavy reliance on inside promotions. The company would hire college students and have them work their way up the ladder. Very rarely did the company hire outside candidate for senior positions. This prevented outside innovations from coming into the organisation. Reformed Structure In 1998 Marks and Spencer needed to do something drastic because it was losing out on its market share and their reputation was going down the tubes. The company decided it was time to restructure. The new structure of Marks and Spencer would be more like the Conglomerate or H-Form design. In this design the organisation is set up basically as a holding company comprised of unrelated products. The new Marks and Spencer would have seven different business units: women’s swear, men’s wear, lingerie, children’s wear, food, beauty, and home. This would allow the company to create a more flexible structure which could respond to the fast changing environment. This flexible structure would give autonomy to individual business units helping them tailor to their customers better.

Psychological Factors: Axis of Healthcare Setting Essay

Even as the development of medical science and the technology of its instruments have taken modern healthcare system to a state-of-the-art height, the effective management of psychological factors still prove to be the axis of healthcare, where human touch and a thorough understanding of psychology are bare essentials to complement its other part. The medical science too admits it and accordingly various disciplines of study have come up to understand the finer details of human psychology that are entwined with the overall healing process. Thus this essay explores the necessity and scope of health psychology, besides its inherent elements that have bearings in healing process, before reaching its conclusion. What is Health Psychology? Bio-psycho-social factors create a lot of impact on our health and well-being. Health psychology studies those impacts with an aim to eliminate the negative elements in bio-psycho-social factors besides incorporating the positive ones. Accordingly it encompasses areas like stress, coping strategies, perception of pain, personality determinants of health etc. besides the immune response to stress (psychoneuroimmunology). Therefore, health psychology altogether covers a vast area of study and observation on human behavior, where it probes personality variables or traits and social environment before linking one’s impact on the other – as for example, whether stress in a person could lead to minor or major ailments, ranging from cold to cancer. In all, health psychology works on the interaction between physiological and the psychological system. Accordingly, â€Å"biopsychosocial paradigm of health based on a bi-directional model (Knight & Carnic, 2004), propelled by the concept that health psychology can be instrumental in detection and alleviation of disease, as there is a strong coordination between body and mind. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes it significance and in fact lamented that this area of healthcare needs more thrust, where it could forge a â€Å"new alliance between mental and physical health disciplines† (WHO, 1997). From this perspective, there is tremendous scope of development in the field of health psychology, as it a dynamic subject with a plethora of variable factors, which constantly hint on thousand of probabilities. How It Works While any illness is bound to create an emotional impact on the patients, the caregivers too cannot escape such effects. Thus coping with illness requires mental efforts from everyone involved in the proceedings. A study conducted over 150 patients affected with various forms of psoriasis identified the â€Å"existence of psychic stress in 69% of all cases†, which, with the â€Å"involvement of a Liaison psychiatrist† proved to be immensely important towards their cure (Simonic et al. , 2000). Besides these, there are ethical and practical consideration too command in-depth understanding of psychological factors that stand between illness and effective care – especially when the severity of illness can inject pessimism in the patients or when patients’ erratic behavior under circumstance can influence the caregivers’ behavior. Patients can emotionally be vulnerable due to physical conditions, and that can heavily influence their personality traits; in such situations, application of empathy and respect from the healthcare professionals’ side can help to restore the situation. Therefore, appropriate knowledge on health psychology can equip the caregivers for such situations. Significance of Psychoneuroimmunology Popularly known as PNI, psychoneuroimmunology deals with the interactions among behavior, brain and the immune system, aiming at determining its potential for mediating the effects of psychosocial factors in illness and disease. The significance of PNI can be understood from a single fact that stress alone carries the possibility of 68 diseases, most of which are deadly. This state of affairs definitely commands a thorough view of health from the biopsychosocial perspective of health to counter stress. A brief description of stress would be pertinent here to further explain the significance of psychological factors in healthcare. Stress, the Dreaded Menace  Hans Selye proposed one of the most acclaimed definitions of stress in 1926, in which he said, â€Å"Stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand placed upon it† (14 Day, 1991). He observed that stress stems out from the situations where humans face external changes or demands. This definition clearly indicates that no one can escape the influence of stress, as human life constantly faces such situations. This also clears the deck that external influence on humans will stay all along and thus biopsychosocial factors are embedded with any health problem. If stress is now considered to be â€Å"an excessive or inappropriate activation of the body’s fight-or-flight response† (14 Day, 1991), then it has to be given its due importance in sphere of healthcare, where it should be armed with adequate knowledge about how stress can aggravate the health problems and how it can be diffused. That is where â€Å"Psychoneuroimmunology† steps in, delving deep into the relationship between the immune system and brain and observing the outcomes of its chemistry. Psychoneuroimmunology and Healthcare  According to PNI, â€Å"every part of our immune system is connected to the brain in some way, be it via a direct nervous tissue connection, or by the common chemical language of neuro-peptides and hormones†, where it suggests that the immune system, â€Å"which keeps us free from external invaders besides maintaining internal homoeostasis, is sensitive to outside influences† (Kooker, 2001). This is substantiated by the fact that chemicals secrete in the brain in response to mental-emotional processing like moods and feelings. PNI was accepted as a new discipline in Yale University as early as in 1977, though then it was known as Behavioral Medicine, an outcome of the realization about its significance towards providing total therapeutic solution to patients. Boiling down to its simplest possible form, PNI collects healthy habits that can enhance the power of immunity in humans. This speaks of its broad range of activities, where it weighs the biopsychosocial factors to reach at the core of the health problem. In fact PNI provides much needed attention on the dynamics of body-mind interactions where it acknowledges the fact that â€Å"our brains secrete hormones in response to our thoughts† (Lorraine, 2003). Thoughts Hold the Key The discoveries through PNI have proved that it healthcare cannot afford to keep psychological factors out of consideration. It has shown that thoughts, no matter where it comes from outside or from the subconscious, can heavily influence the body condition. Alongside, researches to this direction have been able to bring out the positive application of thought. Thus the benefits of PNI have already been established. As for example, Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has able to determine the brain regions that respond to meditation, besides identifying the stress zones under duress (Lorraine, 2003). Findings like these would surely help in both enhancing immunity and preventing stress, as new techniques in stress management have already been stemming out of these findings. Benefits of Transcendental Meditation  Aligned to the progress of PNI as stated above, several techniques of thought regulation or control have been doing rounds. As for example, transcendental meditation has been found to produce a very beneficial state to human body, where it reduces blood pressure, respirator rate, oxygen consumption, blood flow to skeletal muscles, perspiration and muscle tension (Lorraine, 2003). This clearly shows that psychological factors are embedded with well being and in no way they can be kept outside the periphery of routine healthcare system. Physician’s Viewpoint â€Å"We must work as psychologists to erase the line between health and mental health in research, practice, and public policy†, says Norine Gl Johnson, the former president of American Psychological Association in 2001. In her presentation at prestigious Psi Chi Distinguished Lecture she clearly points out the necessity of intertwining health and psychology, where â€Å"educators must be at the forefront of presenting to students and future psychologists the latest in psychology health research and health practices† (Johnson, 2002). Nancy’s words only corroborates the age-old vision that medical treatment cannot be provided without the help of psychology, because psychological factors are the integral part of both illness and well being. Discussion On one hand the researchers have proved the deep impact of psychological factors on both patients and caregivers, while the discoveries regarding the efficacy of new techniques stemming out of modern research and study on biopsychosocial factors clearly show that they are no less potent tools towards managing illness as well as fostering well being. The negative impact of stress or the positive influence of transcendental meditation as cited by studies above amply proves this fact. Accordingly, these facts have already been doing rounds in social and academic circles, thereby convincing people about the impact of psychological factors on both illness and well being. This state of affairs virtually makes it impossible for any healthcare setting to do without any provision of measuring psychological factors involved in any illness. Besides this, the healthcare professionals too would be interested to be equipped with adequate knowledge and application techniques of psychotherapies, which would, in a way, work as their own shields against job stress associated with care giving. Conclusion Evidences show that psychological factors have great bearing on illness and its healing, thereby automatically qualifying them to occupy an important part in the healthcare setting. Going by the experts’ opinion, it can be said that recognition of psychological factors in healthcare setting would not be an encroachment in the domain of conventional healthcare, but would be the advent of a new horizon in its sphere, where it would add tremendous value to the healthcare processes. Therefore, psychological factors form the axis of healthcare in modern day setting, in spite of the presence of state-of-the-art gadgets and availability of effective medicines.

A Comparative Study between Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel

Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel were both Baroque composers who used the Italian and French styles that were the basic language of the Baroque. The study of Bach and Handel is interesting because of their marked similarities and subtle differences. Bach and Handel were of Saxon ancestry. They came from neighboring towns, Bach from Eisenach, Handel from Halle, and were born but one month apart in the same year, Handel in February, Bach in March, 1685 (Young, 1962). They were both masters of concerto in all its forms:sonata;suite;fugue;opera;cantata;both sacred and secular;oratorio;mass;passion.Both Bach and Handel learnt their art by making copies of all the works of acknowledged masters. Bach and Handel were studious copyists throughout their lives. Besides Johann Christoph, Bach took as models the Italians, Frescobaldi, Corelli, Vivaldi, Lotti, Caldara, Legrenzi, Marcello and many others. His special interests led to keyboard music, to violin music and to choral mus ic. Handel, under Zachau, made an anthology of excerpts from Froberger, Kerll,Strungck, Johann Krieger. During his later career he was influenced by Alessandro Stradella, Giacomo Carissimi, Georg Muffatt, Karl Heinrich Graun, Giovanni Clari and others.Though they sound like brilliant stars rising at the same time, they charted their different paths in music according to their individual natures. There was no musical tradition in Handel's family, his father was a prosperous surgeon who intended George Frideric for the Law; on the other hand members of the Bach dynasty had been for generations conspicuous in musical affairs in Thuringiaevering. Bach remained within the boundaries of his Saxon fatherland throughout his life and was a good citizen and was the father of twenty children.Handel, on the other hand was the man of the world, honored all over Europe. He was bold and outgoing in nature. The one tragic similarity in their lives is that they both went blind at the end of their li ves (Young, 1962). While Bach's grave was forgotten, Handel, who died nine years later, in 1759, was laid to rest in the English pantheon, Westminster Abbey. In those days, music was solely written for the sole purpose of immediate performance, its preservation beyond that moment being a secondary consideration. â€Å"Occasional† or commissioned work used to be the rule.Bach wrote his cantatas for the services of St. Thomas' Church in Leipzig, and Handel wrote his operas for special performances and strictly to suit the voices of the personnel that happened to be available. Bach’s work was mostly unrecognized and neglected for many generations till the 19th century. He was recognized as a great musician by the world only 75 years after his death. The later 18th century knew Bach mainly as an instrumental composer who wrote especially for the organ and the piano (Bekker, 1927). People tended to interpret Bach’s from diverse viewpoints.Bach used to be considered a contrapuntist pure and simple, a learned musician who treated music as a sort of mathematics (Bekker, 1927). From this viewpoint, Bach seemed to be principally a servant of the church, a sort of Protestant Palestrina who also wrote secular music. Later it became apparent that he could not after all be counted simply as a composer of Church music, so he was looked upon as a romantic poet. The romanticists, declared that Bach was the archromanticist, and should be interpreted with the utmost feeling and expression.Some felt that Bach's music was inherently emotional (Bekker, 1927). Whatever the angle of perception, Bach came to be regarded as the great builder of musical form. Contrastingly, Handel, the cosmopolitan composer and impresario, was internationally famous in his own lifetime. He was primarily a writer of oratorios (Young, 1962). His instrumental compositions were not considered serious enough for study. The Italian operas which he composed in were considered worthless in the eyes of the critics of that period (Bekker, 1927).Today however, things have changed and Handel's operas are in the repertoire of nearly every great opera-house (Bekker, 1927). Bach used a personal synthesis of the Flemish and Italian styles with German counterpoint, Handel showed a strong early inclination toward the extroverted and dramatic world of Italian opera (Krantz, 2007). In short, it can be said that Bach looked inward and Handel outward. Bach composed cantatas and organ music and, by his genius and talent for seeing holistic symbolism in words and music, he extended the character of his models (Young, 1962).Handel, more fluent, more rhetorical, and a free agent with his way to make in the world seized the formalized patterns of entertainment music in secular cantata, in oratorio, in opera, and in instrumental music (Young, 1962). Both Bach and Handel had different personalities. Bach was an introvert whereas Handel was an extrovert. Handel assimilated the various nati onal styles and specialized in each of them separately. Bach assimilated the various influences with his own personal style and arrived at a fusion of national styles in which the single elements are inseparable (Dorak, 2002).The main works of Handel are his operas, written from an universal perspective for an international public. The main works of Bach are his cantatas, written for the local churches, and his passions, the monuments of his liturgical severity. Handel, being a widely traveled musician has visited many international centers of music. Bach, on the other hand confined himself within the limits of central Germany. Bach’s great works include the Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, most of the great preludes and fugues, and the 45 chorale-preludes gathered in Das Orgelbuchlein [the little organ book].His instrumental compositions are the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; the English Suites; the French Suites; the Two-Part and Three-Part Inventions; and Book I of the cele brated Well-Tempered Clavier. He also wrote several unaccompanied violin sonatas and cello suites, and the Brandenburg Concertos, recognized as the best concerti grossi ever composed. The St. John Passion was performed (1723) at Leipzig and his Magnificat was presented shortly after he assumed that post.Many more of his superb religious compositions followed: the St. Matthew Passion (1729), the Christmas Oratorio, the sonorous Mass in B Minor, and the six motets. The principal keyboard works of this period were Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier and the four books of clavier pieces in the Clavierubung and the Goldberg Variations. His last notable compositions were the Musical Offering composed (1747) for Frederick the Great and The Art of the Fugue (1749). In all his positions as choir director, Bach composed sacred cantatas—a total of some 300, of which nearly 200 are extant.There are also over 30 secular cantatas, composed at Leipzig, among them Phoebus and Pan (1731). Th e bulk of his work is religious. In his instrumental and choral works he perfected the art of polyphony, displaying an unmatched combination of inventiveness and control in his great, striding fugues (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2004a). Handel's 46 operas include much of his finest music; among them are Julius Caesar (1724), Atalanta (1736), Berenice (1737), and Serse (1738), which contains the tenor aria now known as Largo. Handel's opera, ‘Messiah’ was presented in Dublin in 1742.An essentially contemplative work, it stands apart from the rest of his 32 oratorios, which are dramatically conceived, and its immense popularity has resulted in the erroneous conception of Handel as primarily a church composer. Other outstanding oratorios are Acis and Galatea (1720), Esther (1732), Israel in Egypt (1736–37), Saul (1739), and Judas Maccabeus (1747). He also composed about 100 Italian solo cantatas; numerous orchestral works, and the anthem â€Å"Zadok, the Priest† (1727) for the coronation of George II, which has been used for all subsequent coronations (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2004b).There is one particular text that was set to music by both Bach and Handel. This is Eilt ihr angefocht'nen Seelen in the Passion Oratorio (by Handel) and in the St. John Passion (by Bach). They used the same key and the same pictorial representation of ‘haste', and the choral interjections at dramatic points are also common. Bukofzer, however, has opined that Handel's music is inferior because it lacks the highly individual stamp that distinguished Bach from all other composers (Dorak, 2002). When one considers their particular musical styles, Johann Sebastian Bach's music is not pompous, not theatrical; it is not court music, not gala music.His music was essentially introspective music; he did not think of the audience for whom he composed; his music is the product of his inner reflections. It is an outward expression of his tender feelings. Even in the most grandiose and eloquent moments of his â€Å"Passions† he still remains intimate. Bach’s music thus addressed itself mainly to the connoisseur. Handel wrote for the world, for the court, for the stage. His music is naturally brilliant; he has the gift for clear sonorities and powerful rhythms, which make a physical impression on the crowd, exalt and carry it away.His breadth and simplicity of design make his work illuminating, he is popular. But Bach's art is one that aims to say many things in an instant – in a single word (Landormy & Martens, 1927). This richness sometimes made it difficult for people to understand and appreciate. Handel focuses most on the harmonic clarity of his ensemble; he makes choice of what he wishes to say, he is sober, concise; He prefers to use the simple air of accompanied monody rather than polyphonic complexities (Landormy and Martens, 1927).Dynamic patterns in music were principally of two types: the melodic, which made use mainly of the voice and is known as thorough-bass, and the contrapuntal, which made use mainly of instruments and is mistakenly called polyphony (Bekker, 1927). On the superficial level, one may find that Bach is a composer of instrumental music in contrapuntal style and Handel on the other, a composer of vocal music in thoroughbass style. Some might classify the work of Bach, the pious man as subjective and Handel, the worldly man as an objective type. But these distinctions are not firmly based.Both were religious men who were also practical in their approach. They were both introspective as well as objective and both wrote vocal as well as instrumental music, and both made use of thorough-bass as well as of contrapuntal forms. They figured bass and counterpoint, and although they performed individually, they were also teachers in singing. They even chose to specialize in the same musical instrument: the organ. Bach lead his congregation in the singing of cantatas on Sundays o r the Passions on high holidays at St. Thomas's church at Leipzig much in the same way as Handel conducted his operas and his oratorios (Bekker, 1927).Bach’s music can be termed as intensive melodies whereas Handel’s music can be termed extensive melodies. Bach uses very dense contrapuntal texture with complex and chromatic harmonies. On the other hand Handel uses a simple template for his expressions and hence his work is meant for instant sensuous appreciation. The extensive quality of Handel's melodies allows his music to be amplified whereas this is not possible in the case of Bach's music. Amplification would destroy the transparency of the contrapuntal process. The vocal component of Bach’s music is very difficult to perform.There are disjunct movements and awkward intervals. There is no overlapping between the instrumental and vocal lines. In fact, the free-voiced choral polyphony of Handel and the strictly linear, instrumentally conceived polyphony of Ba ch form the two poles of late Baroque music (Bekker, 1927). Handel considers the flow of ideas more important than elaboration whereas to Bach, elaboration is more important. The fast changing textures in his choral writing clearly indicate that for Handel, counterpoint is only a means to a dramatic end (Krantz, 2007). On the contrary, Bach takes it as an end in itself which must be consistent.By nature of its conception, Handel’s counterpoint reaches its apex through the vocal medium. Handel’s work depends so much on the vocal component so much so even his keyboard fugues seem to call for text and become most excellent in vocal form. This accounts for the success of Handel in vocal music (Krantz, 2007). Bach is more adept at the instrumental form. Bach prefers to submit his choral polyphony to an instrumental standard. To quote Tevfik Dorak: â€Å"In the flexibility of his choral idiom, Handel surpasses Bach in the same measure as Bach surpasses Handel in contrapunta l consistency† (Dorak, 2002).One of the major differences between them lay in their individual conception of tone. A person who conceives tone vocally will also feel instrumental music as vocal, and the person who conceives tone instrumentally will also feel vocal music as instrumental. Some comparative features among the two great masters are as follows (Dorak, 2002):Bach conceived tone instrumentally and Handel vocally.Bach focused a lot on spiritual music and created profoundly religious cantatas, passions and masses. Handel treated even religious theme based oratorios such as the â€Å"Messiah† with a theatrical effect. This was more popular to the middle class audience.The vocal component of his music was used essentially as a melodic instrument with the most intricate demands of counterpoint expected of it. Handel's writing for the voice is completely idiomatic and the freer contrapuntal textures are more vocally conceived and are contrasted with powerful choral w riting.Handel demonstrates the Italian conservatism in his music and uses very simplified form. Bach is conservative in his adherence to the complex polyphonic texture, but progressive in his choice of modern forms, such as the concerto form of Vivaldi. Similarly, the organ style of Handel is clearly influenced by the idiom of the harpsichord as the opposite is true for Bach.Bach is related to the immediate future in his attitude because of modern day focus on instrumental music, while Handel is related to the past. On the other hand the melodic, homophonic figured bass chosen by Handel is more relevant to modern music than Bach's contrapuntal style. Thus both these composers are in some ways relevant to the past and in some other ways relevant to the future. The two great masters of the Baroque period were not beyond criticism.Bach was criticized because he was too intellectual and, paradoxically, because an excess of reason conflicted with the aesthetic precepts of the Age of Reas on. Handel was criticized for exceeding the conventional in the extras which he introduced into his orchestration to underline his dramatic appreciation of scene and situation. Whatever be the criticisms, it remains undeniable that these two masters of Baroque were outstanding in their natural talent. Though they belonged to the same place and same period and produced musical works of similar genre, they differed in their styles of expression.This difference actually was a major asset to these great masters who remained true to their inner beliefs. The honesty of expression combined with their outstanding talents has helped define baroque music.BibliographyDorak, Tevfik (2002). Handel and JS Bach. http://www. dorak. info/music/jsbgfh. htmlBukofzer MF. Music in the Baroque Era. WW Norton & Company Inc. NY, 1974, pp. 345-9.Krantz, Allen (2007). George Frideric Handel. http://www. classicalarchives. com/bios/handel_bio. html Landormy, Paul and Martens, H. Frederick (1927).A History of Music. Charles Scribner's Sons. New York. 1927. The Columbia Encyclopedia (2004a).Bach, Johann Sebastian. Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press. New York. 2004 The Columbia Encyclopedia (2004b).Handel, George Frideric. Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press. New York. 2004. Young, M. Percy. (1962).The Choral Tradition: An historical and analytical survey from the sixteenth century to the present day. W. W. Norton Publishing. New York 1962. Bekker, Paul (1927).The Story of Music: An Historical Sketch of the Changes in Musical Form. Translated by Alice Kortschak and Herter Norton. W. W. Norton and Company Inc. New York. 1927.

World Stock Market Essays

World Stock Market Essays World Stock Market Essay World Stock Market Essay 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What has happened to the main World Stock Markets during this week? Give   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   brief reasons for the main stock market movements in the United States, UK,   Ã‚   Europe and Japan.The world of finance has a very strong tendency to fluctuate at slightest of the changes to major world currencies. The same behavior was observed in first week of March’07 beginning on 5th of the month. The market opened with strong yen and hence depreciated dollar, euro and other major currencies (Dennis, 2007). The US dollar showed a slump of 1.2 percent with one dollar yielding Y115.43. Euro also slumped to Y151.57 with yen gaining strength the global equity market. The stock markets all around the world showed a steep fall. Tokyo Nikkei225 fell to 16,642.25 and observed one of the biggest single-day losses for the current financial year and lost up to 3.3 percent.   Similar fall was observed in almost all major exchanges of Asia with Hong Kong’s Hang Sang Index leading the chart. This exchange suffered one of the highest single day losses of the history with index losing almost 4 percent. Major   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   exchange of Singapore, Taiwan and India also observed a fall of 3.1percent, 3.7 percent and 3.7 percent respectively. European stocks responded in the same manner following the fall of Asian markets. The major mining corporations and banks were the biggest loser and London’s FTSE 100 lost around 1.2 percent and slide to 6,043.5.us market losses were a bit mild and Dow Jones Industrial average shed 0.2 percent and at the same time NASDAQ composite lost 0.8 percent (Dennis, 2007). So stock market in almost all major industrial as well developing nations saw a fall. The rise of Yen caused major loss of wealth of investors both retail as well as institutional investors losing a considerable amount of money.But the global financial market continued to show its e rratic behavior and as a surprise for everyone, it calmed on the very next day. Though equities market gave varying results, the currency and bond markets got stabilized to a larger extent. The market surveyors had paused and very much unsure of how is it going to react now. The release of critical US employment data could be released on the very next day and the report will have its own effect on the performance of the markets comprising of equity as well as bonds and securities.On March 06, 2007, world equity market showed remarkable recovery and staged a rally with the end of yen’s rise (Shellock, 2007).The fastest among all were Asian stocks with Nikkei 225 in Tokyo ended 1.2 percent higher. This rise was mainly due to yen weakness and recovery observed in some sectors hence this gain was achieved after a five session losing streak. Other major markets which recorded a gain of 2 percent or more were Hong Kong, Seoul, Sydney, Mumbai and Shanghai European and us stocks also followed the same trend with new York’s NASDAQ composite saw a gain of 1.7 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average increased by 1.5 percent and Brazilian Bovespa index was 3.2 percent higher. In the end its was the end it’s was the recovery made by dollar and euro gains yen caused the improvement (Shellock, 2007).2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Briefly discuss the main developments in the foreign exchange markets and the    interest rates. Include references to the performance of the sterling and levels of     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   interest rates at home and abroad. Discuss developments and forecasts.Changes in the interest rate of different during the week starting 5 marches’07   Ã‚   and ending on 10 March’07, made by different national central banks played on   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   important role in the foreign exchange markets. Market performances also    become a reason behind speculation of internet rate hike U.K. re tail sector saw 5.6   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   percent growth causing 0.3% rise in sterling (Shellock, 2007). The sterling rise   Ã‚   kept forwarded another case to bank of England to raise U.K. interest hike.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Japanese’ yen’s rapid   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   rise caused the face in almost all major exchanges of the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   world. Japanese investor preferred to invest abroad for better return. With japans   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   interest rate at just 0.5 percent, investors’ interest in overseas market got a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   overshoot. But the very next day, yen’s lost its momentum and the market   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   showed some recovery, with   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   European shared showing better performance. at the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   end of last session on march   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   07, the previous forecast of bank of England raising   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   its benchmark rate become untrue and rate of interest remained at 5.25%.but   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   European central bank as suggested in a new forecast, was expected to raise   Ã‚   its benchmark interest rate by 25bp taking the rate to 3.75% so, the market   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   trend suggests the lower risk appetite among investors and even a minor rise of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   25 bp by a national central banks keeps the investors within the country (Dennis,     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007).3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Look at the section that lists all new international bond issues each day (Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and Markets Section). Discuss a few examples of major bond issues that were    launched this week. Highlight any special features of these bond issues.The week of March 5-9 2007, was abuzz with issue of a number of international bond each day with total number expanding to 42. out of 42 international bonds   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   25 were issued in euro with republic of France issuing bonds of worth 4 billion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   euro with maturity in 2040.other major euro bonds were of the value 2 billion by   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Daimler Chrysler 1.2 billion each by ATT and Commerzbank and santanfer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   insurance issued a bonds of the value 11.5 billion euros with maturity in march    2017. ATT also raised almost 600 pound sterling with maturity in march 2027.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   similarly Deutsche bank raised 22 billion yen on floating rate note with maturity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   in march 2012and 38 billion yen again with maturity in march2012. Deutsche   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   bank also raised around 150 million Swiss France with maturity in October 2011.    US dollar international bond were issued by only two borrowers with JBIC being   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the first and the value 750 million and maturity in march 2012 and Pusan Bank of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   South Korea issued international bonds of value 200 million with maturity in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   march 2017.4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Choose any article in the FT this week that relates to the role of the IMF or the   Ã‚   World Bank and provide a short explanation of the key aspects of the article.The financial Times on March 02,07 published an article â€Å"The Economy need to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   damp demand and boost investment†   Ã‚  by Christopher condom giving details of a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   robust performance of Romanian Economy .it joined the European Union and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   double digit growth in wages with rapidly increasing purchasing power of    common Romanian Public fuelin g massive growth in demand. the later pact of the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   article took a condition note of the above cautious   note of the above mentioned growth with an IMF mission using Romania’s Central Bank and government to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   make some change in Monitory and fiscal policy of the nation so that rising   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   demands caused (Condon, 2007).The article has talked massive foreign direct investment and remittance from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Romanians settled abroad thereby strengthening the Romanian currency against   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the Euro and making the Import a cheap proposition. Romanian investment sector   Ã‚  Ã‚   is abuzz with several investors namely Ikeas, a Swedish furniture retailer, Selgros   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and Tengelman of France. The year 2006 saw an influx of almost 9bn euro in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   form of foreign direct investment and out of these almost 15 per cent went to retail   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and other trading operations. The new picture depicts the economy as more of   Ã‚  Ã‚   shop oriented and the country is more like a shopping hub instead of a technology   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and manufacturing and service oriented. The approach economists have suggested   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   actually concentrates on heavy investment in manufacturing sector with the use of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   new technology. The focus should be more on new age factories with proper    impetus being given on service sector and employment generating options like   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   BPOs and call centers. The country should be viewed more as an export hub   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   rather than a centre for market places. The productivity gains need to be kept in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the same zone where the current state of wages are while harassing the benefits of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   cheap but productive labor. The investment in that form is arriving like the one   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from Microsoft. The newly created customer support facility is expected to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   provide employment to more than 100 people. This sort of investment will   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   actually create a new class of work force who are not only technically sound but also fit   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   enough to work in an environment best suited for the current information   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   based economy (Condon, 2007)..  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But the higher demand had been referred as a matter of concern and has a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   capability to widen the current account and will provide the declination of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   inflation an opposite thrust. IMF also approved the government is plan of higher   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   p ublic sector wage and reiterated the government to reduce demand and boost the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   new status of investment (Condon, 2007)..5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Look at the developments and news in the transport sector and prepare an   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   informative and concise briefing for the manager including a reflective analysis.Financial Times published a number of articles related to transport sector in the    week March 05 -09’ 2007. An article published March 05 talked about David   Ã‚   Miliband’s call for Emission reduction in the transport sector. He suggested the   Ã‚  Ã‚   inclusion of Road Rail Transport in European Union’s Emission Trading   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Scheme after 2012. Being the environment Secretary, he cited Sweden as an   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   example that UK should follow (Hall, 2007).The Geneva Motor show was abuzz with emission issue. a report by John Reed    gav e a detailed information of different concepts car based on Bio Ethanol Fuel.    Several prominent Vehicles manufactures displayed their Hybrid Concepts   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sports car. Honda, Toyota BMW are some of the reputed names working in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   this directions, Green commercial vehicles were also given complete coverage   Ã‚   with ENOVA System leading the chart (Reed, 2007).Another report published on March 06 talked of the processes involving    liberalization of Trans Atlantic Aviation. The talks for the same was making   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   round for the last four Years. And now after getting positive responses from Both   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   British Airways Virgin Atlantic, US negotiator John   Byerly called this treaty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   as a Cash generating Machine for the above mentioned   carriers   the deal is now   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   waiting for the approval by European Union Transp ort Ministers (FT., 2007).Under world news section, financial Times published a report aim aviation sector   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   woes in Indonesia. On March 10 2007, reported by John Aglionby, the article   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   talked about divided Expert opinions on safety factor in aviation sector in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indonesian Domestic region. In an exclusive interview to financial times   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indonesia Transport Minister Hatta Rajassa showed his concern in the rising   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   number of accidents among Indonesian domestic flights .the article also    mentioned about the experts who are lamenting on faulty safety norms by   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Domestic carriers (Aglionby, 2007).A report published on March 10, 2007 mention of the rising sales of new cars in Iran. The country is normally in news for its verbal conflicts with US on issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   related to U.S. policies on Iraq and the rising nuclear capability of Iran. The report has talked of the competition between the two international car manufacturers in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Iran’s domestic car market. The French carmaker the Renault started the pre-salesof Tondar-90 which is actually a locally manufactured version of an older model   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of Renault’s Romanian subsidiary production named Logan. The Iranian car   Ã‚  Ã‚   market is normally dominated by Iran’s top two car-makes namely Khodro and    Saipa with a market share of almost 60 percent. Renault is very much eager to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   lead the Iranian car market and is very much depending on low fuel price in Iran   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   as a reason for growing sales of cars. The company is investing a good amount of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   money in developing facilities for developing car s and other vehicles for sale in local market (Bozorgmehr, 2007).ReferencesAglionby, J (2007, March 10). WORLD NEWS: Experts divided on aviation sector woes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   in Indonesia [online] Available from: http://ft.comBozorgmehr, N. (2007, March 10) WORLD NEWS: Sales of new Iranian car soar, sight unseen[online] Available from: http://ft.comCondon, C. (2007, March 02). THE ECONOMY: Need to damp demand and boost   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   investment [online] Available from: http://ft.comDennis, N. (2007, March 05). Global equities slide as yen extends gains[online] Available from: http://ft.comFT. (2007, March 06). The Heathrow cash machine is coming up for grabs[online] Available from: http://ft.comShellock, D. (2007, March 07). FT MARKETS: Tentative rally marks the end ofyens rise [online] Available from: http://ft.comTurner, D. (2007, March 07). Tokyo stocks fall on concerns over US[online] Available from: http://ft.comHall, B. (2007, March 05). NA TIONAL NEWS: Miliband calls for a post-oil erainvestment [online] Available from: http://ft.comReed, J. (2007, March 06). FT REPORT MOTOR INDUSTRY: Fleets may usher in sea-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   change [online] Available from: http://ft.com

Negative Portrayal essays

Negative Portrayal essays Ken Keseys Negative Portrayal of Women Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest portrays women in a very unflattering fashion. In the book, all the women except for the two prostitutes and the Japanese nurse, are depicted as threatening, terrifying, controlling, evil beings. Nurse Ratched, Chief Bromdens mother, and Billy Bibbits mother are portrayed as women that cause men to suffer and lose their masculinity, whereas Candy and Sandy are portrayed as men's playthings. Women in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are pretty much divided into two categories: the older ones, like Nurse Ratched and Billy's mother, who believe in suffering and shame, and McMurphy's friends, prostitutes who are representations of men's needs. McMurphy's friend Candy's name itself represents a man's sexual desires, while her personality consists of her being flattered when men flirt with her. To the men, she is just a play thing and a person to act out their sexual fantasies with. Before Candy and Sandy arrive at the hospital for their "date", the men talk about one of the other nurses, discussing "how it would be to lay that little nurse with the birthmark who went off at midnight." The inappropriate talk shows the little respect the men have for a woman with authority over them. Nurse Ratched, is perhaps the most negatively depicted woman in the novel. When this novel was first written, women did not have the freedom that they have today. In that time, if women wanted to be successful, they would have to adopt the attitudes of men to be respected and accepted in the work place. Nurse Ratched took it one step further and also dressed the part to be seen as a more dominating woman and to hide her womanly curves. Because of her man-ish appearence, this made her terrifying to the patients. Kesey portrayed the nurse this way because if she was just another woman, the patients would not have treated her with the ...

Chinese Chops - The History and Usage of Chinese Seals

Chinese Chops - The History and Usage of Chinese Seals The Chinese chop or seal is used in Taiwan and China to sign documents, artwork, and other paperwork. The Chinese chop is most commonly made from stone, but can also be made in plastic, ivory, or metal. There are three Mandarin Chinese names for the Chinese chop or seal. The seal is most commonly called Ã¥  °Ã©â€˜â€˜ (yà ¬n jin) or Ã¥  °Ã§ «   (yà ¬nzhÄ ng). It is also sometimes called Ã¥Å"â€"ç «   / å› ¾Ã§ «   (tà ºzhÄ ng). The Chinese chop is used with a red paste called æÅ" ±Ã§  â€š (zhÃ… «shÄ ). The chop is pressed lightly into the æÅ" ±Ã§  â€š (zhÃ… «shÄ ) then the image is transferred to paper by applying pressure to the chop. There may be a soft surface beneath the paper to ensure a clean transfer of the image. The paste is kept in a covered jar when not in use to prevent it from drying out. History of the Chinese Chop Chops have been a part of Chinese culture for thousands of years. The earliest known seals date from the Shang Dynasty (商æÅ"  - shÄ ng cho), which ruled from 1600 BC to 1046 BC. Chops became widely used during the Warring States period (æˆ °Ã¥Å"‹æ™‚ä » £ / 战å› ½Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¤ » £ - Zhnguà ³ Shà ­di) from 475 BC to 221 BC when they were used for signing official documents. By the time of the Han Dynasty (æ ¼ ¢Ã¦Å"  / æ ±â€°Ã¦Å"  - Hn Cho) of 206 BC to 220 AD, the chop was an essential part of Chinese culture. During the history of the Chinese chop, Chinese characters have evolved. Some of the changes made to characters over the centuries have been related to the practice of carving seals. For example, during the Qin Dynasty (ç § ¦Ã¦Å"  - Qà ­n Cho - 221 to 206 BC), Chinese characters had a round shape. The need to carve them on a square chop led to the characters themselves taking on a square and even shape. Uses For Chinese Chops Chinese seals are used by individuals as signatures for many kinds of official documents, such as legal papers and bank transactions. Most of these seals simply bear the owners name and are called Ã¥ §â€œÃ¥  Ã¥  ° (xà ¬ngmà ­ng yà ¬n). There are also seals for less formal uses, such as signing personal letters. And there are seals for artworks, created by the artist and which add a further artistic dimension to the painting or calligraphic scroll. Seals which are used for government documents usually bear the name of the office, rather than the name of the official. Current Use of Chops Chinese chops are still used for a wide variety of purposes in Taiwan and Mainland China. They are used as identification when signing for a parcel or registered mail or signing checks at the bank. Since seals are hard to forge and should only be accessible to the owner, they are accepted as proof of ID. Signatures are sometimes required along with the chop stamp, the two together being an almost failsafe method of identification. Chops are also used for conducting business. Companies must have at least one chop for signing contracts and other legal documents. Large companies may have chops for each department. For example, the finance department may have its own chop for bank transactions, and the human resources department may have a chop for signing employee contracts. Since chops have such an important legal significance, they are carefully managed. Businesses must have a system for controlling the use of chops, and will often require written information each time a chop is used. Managers must keep track of the location of chops and make a report each time a company chop is used. Acquiring a Chop If you are living in Taiwan or China, you will find it easier to conduct business if you have a Chinese name. Have a Chinese colleague help you select an appropriate name, then have a chop made. The cost ranges from about $5 to $100 depending on the size and the material of the chop. Some people prefer to carve their own chops. Artists in particular often design and carve their own seals which are used on their artworks, but anyone with an artistic bent may enjoy creating their own seal. Seals are also a popular souvenir which can be bought in many tourist areas. Often the vendor will provide a Chinese name or slogan along with the Western spelling of the name.

Analyze white lies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyze white lies - Essay Example Her classmates assume that she Is white, as the classmate does when she holds her hand in an act of unity. she is though sad but optimistic in life. (Trethewey, Natasha) Trethewey has used color imagery in the poem constantly, especially in the first stanza. The poet mentions six colors, which are all different, and all describing the lies. "light-bright, near-white, high-yellow, red-boned, white, and black." It is an African American speaker who could lie frequently, though the lies did not mean anything much. She would lie about where she lived, and where she bought her clothes, "uptown ..home made dresses came out the window of Maison blande,"but would also lie about being African American. She did pass easily for being a white. It's actually really sad the way she describes lying about her skin color. She writes, "I could even keep quiet, quiet as kept, like the time a white girl said "squeezing my hand, Now we have three of us in this class." It is sad because she is lying to be part of the group. She writes "squeezing my hand," brings the sense that she only lied because she was amazed by the way the girl was behaving as a good friend. The fir st stanza does describe her as a light skinned for an African American.

Should People Use Animals for Medical Research Essay

Should People Use Animals for Medical Research - Essay Example This report approves that it is important for the medical researchers and scientists to choose the kind of animals to use in their research and experiments. The animals used for these purposes should not be exposed to unnecessarily sufferings. No regulations control to govern the treatment of animals as research models. Regulations are offered by the governmental agencies on the procedures to adhere to when using animal models in research. Animals ought not to be killed for use in medical research. Animals have been of immense importance for the development of therapies for treating cardiovascular problems and other deadly ailments besides the anesthetics used in surgery. In contrast, the animal rights groups dissent with this opinion. This essay makes a conclusion that the arguments exposed about the subject are diverse. A group of considerate individuals feel that it is important to use animals and not to treat them in inhumane way. The opponents detest the practice because it lacks moral reasoning. The proponents argued that it was of benefit to both animals and humans. The moral arguments are explored and the conflicting positions revealed in using animals as the only alternative in essential procedures without appropriate substitutes currently. There is an increasing and active need from the animal rights groups to find alternatives to for use in medical experiments. The use of animals is immensely accepted and supported because of the legislative regulations guiding the process, and the benefits that animal models have helped to achieve in medical knowledge. The use of animals for scientific research has been worthwhile for both animal and human health.

OLM Individual ASSIGNMENT Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

OLM Individual - Assignment Example These include process design and structure, human resource management, product design, location, capacity planning, supply-chain strategy, and partnering with outside agencies. Based on these factors, proven practices and principles have been linked with activities in operations management of the fast food concept that can help in achieving sustainability in the competitive market and the firm’s corporate strategy. According to Hill (1991), ‘The production/operations management (POM) task is concerned with the transformation process which takes inputs and converts them into outputs, together with the various support functions closely associated with this basic task’ (cited Brown, 2000; p.7). Such transformation processes can be applied to three main categories, materials, customers and information. Brown (2000) describes that Operations Management encompasses the most vital activities of production, beginning from and including, planning and design, production processes of goods and services, and also effective integration of marketing, finance, human resources management and strategy in order to enable a business to enter and compete with both new and existing markets. In other words, a business’s success and sustainability largely depend on the operational capabilities, including efficiency and quality. Based on a case adopted from Brown (2000; p.1), an attempt to establish a relationship between strategy and operations management through different ways in which an organization’s operations can add value to the delivery of goods and services has been coherently illustrated. The case is about ‘Sunnyside Up,’ a fast food concept in UK, a responsibility given to Chris Cowls, a former Franchise Director of Burger King. Chris Cowls and this team is responsible for designing and setting up the Sunnyside Up in UK market which already has well-established McDonalds

Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Egypt - Essay Example Its neighboring countries include Libya in the West, Israel and Gaza Strip in the East, and Sudan in the South. Egypt covers a total area of 1,001,449 km2 and is double the size of France in terms of area (â€Å"Geography of Egypt†, n.pag.). Egypt possesses a long coastline around the Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Suez, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aqaba (â€Å"Geography of Egypt†, n.pag.). The country has twenty six provinces, also known as governorates, among which the most prominent ones include the city provinces of Alexandria, Cairo, Port Said, and Suez. Furthermore there are several other governorates in the Upper Region and Lower Region of Egypt. Egypt essentially ahs a large area covered by deserts. Due to the arid and desert-like climate, a very small percentage of the total area of the land is fit for agriculture thus only a small fraction of land is cultivable. Due to the naturally unique location of the Suez Canal which provides a very short route to the East, Egypt benefits from the short trade link it provides thereby incurring lower transportation costs. The main physical regions of Egypt are divided into four parts consisting of the Nile Valley and Delta, the Libyan Desert, the Eastern Desert, and the Sinai Peninsula (Fig. 2). River Nile is the longest river of the world and its Valley and Delta are perhaps the most important regions to the country surrounded by areas of arable land. River Nile is an important source for fish and the area surrounding the river provides sustenance for majority of the Egyptian population. Nile Valley occupies a region which is known as the Upper Egypt whereas the Nile Delta occupies a place which comes under Lower Egypt. These two regions are of significant importance for Egypt as they make the surrounding area fit for agriculture and farming. Fig. 1. Physical Map of Egypt. [Map] n.d. Free World Maps. Web. 11 Dec 2013. Without the presence of River Nile, the vast area of land in Egypt would have been dominated by the Sahara Desert. The Nile Valley and Nile Delta have been a result of the flow of River Nile in the region. River Nile has three man sources which originate from the Central African sources: White Nile, Blue Nile, and Atbara. White Nile, which emerges from Uganda, contributes about twenty eight percent of River Nile’s water. Blue Nile originates from Ethiopia and contributes the largest amount to River Nile’s waters which accounts for about fifty eight percent. And the Atbara River starts in Ethiopia and supplies about fourteen percent of River Nile’s waters. Thus, River Nile receives water from all these sources which contribute a significant percent of the water during high seasons. The high volume of water in River Nile deposit silt and other minerals as Nile spreads out into a delta. Today, River Nile only has two branches called Damietta and Rosetta. A number of irrigation canals connect from these branches so as to provide water for the irrigation and farming of arable lands. Thus the silt deposited by the river and the water provided is imp ortant for farming and agriculture in the area as it supports almost the entire population of Egypt. The Art Art, music, and culture evolved greatly in Egypt particularly after the fall of the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt has also been a central place for the recording of Arabic music and Egyptian music derives greatly from Arabic music. In particular, the music reflects Arabic and Islamic influences. There are various genres of Egyptian music and they are

Identification of Reasons for Preference of Wholly Owned Subsidiaries Essay

Identification of Reasons for Preference of Wholly Owned Subsidiaries Compared to IJVs - Essay Example This paper illustrates that over the years international joint ventures have been a successful mode of entry into the host country. It benefits the foreign companies forming the joint ventures with the local company in two ways. Firstly, the advantage of the local partner’s knowledge about the political systems, competitive conditions, culture, and business system of the host country. Secondly, the benefit of development cost and risk sharing with the local partner. In some countries, these kinds of joint ventures are the only feasible market entry mode that is available to the foreign companies. On the contrary, the wholly owned subsidiary is the most costly mode of entry into the overseas market. However, wholly owned subsidiary or rather setting up independent company owned by the parent company gives the full control to the company in terms of its operation handling and gaining the whole profit from its operations. The companies who adopt this kind of entry mode should be prepared to bear the risk and cost associated with having its expanded operations in the overseas market. The companies in the past years thought that the joint ventures will give them the expertise to acquire a position in the market, but this was not as easy as the local partner tie down the new entrant to the direction of its operations in his own way. For instance, Proctor & Gamble failed in India where they entered the market through joint venture but succeeded in China through its wholly owned subsidiary. As the forecast states that China by 2050 would be a leading economy followed by U.S and India, so now the companies feel that setting up their own company in these markets would be necessary for their survival as well as for sustained growth. With the influence of WTO, which now provides less restriction on foreign-owned companies in markets of China and India, many companies are now focusing on establishing their wholly owned subsidiary rather than going into any kind of in ternational joint venture.

Gifts for Her in the Local Target shop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gifts for Her in the Local Target shop - Essay Example Customers of the shop have an opportunity to choose any gift from the wide range of presented goods. They are arranged at shelves by category so if customer knows category he or she needs, he or she may select more gifts from this category. Also there is a website www.target.com where customer can find suitable for him or her gift in electronic catalogue. There is a Gift Finder tool at the website that helps customer to find appropriate gift by price or by category. It is possible to get to know if any definite gift available in specific local Target store. There is a Wal-Mart supermarket not far away the local Target shop where a lot of gifts is sold. Also there are a lot of small souvenir shops in this quarter and in neighbor quarter where customer also can buy gifts. The supermarket is direct competitor of the local Target shop, while small souvenir shops are indirect competitors. However, a distinguishing feature of the local Target shop is special section of gifts especially for girls and women. Wal-Mart does not have specific section of Gifts for Her, it has only Gifts and Flowers section. So Target's competitive advantage is that customer will be sure that gift he or she select is suitable for girl or women. The target audience is habitants, tourists and personnel of numerous offices from this quarter, and from neighbor quarters. Also staff and students from the university are customers of the Target shop. Target market segments Target market of the local Target shop is people from 16 to 80. The research had shown that 60% of the customers are people mostly from 16 to 35, while 25% of the customers are people mostly from 36 to 50 and 15% of the customers are people mostly from 51 to 80. Students, post-graduates, tourists and staff of nearby offices are included in the first category of the customers. Customers of the second category are tutors, habitants of the quarter, tourists and personnel of nearby companies. Pensioners and tourists are mostly included in the third category. All these customers are people, who have female friends or relatives. The first category of the customers (students, post-graduates and staff of nearby offices) are most likely to buy strong gifts from Fashion+Beauty category. Tourists and businessmen prefer gifts from Electronics category. There are also returning customers who buy gifts from Hobbies category; they are mostly pensioners and staff of the university. Advertisement Currently the local Target shop is advertising in order to reach customers or to be seen by customers through: Mass media: advertisement on the local radio station Display: location, building, signing, window/counter/shelf display, environment, decoration, printed materials One-on-one: in person, by letter, and telephone

Identification of Reasons for Preference of Wholly Owned Subsidiaries Essay

Identification of Reasons for Preference of Wholly Owned Subsidiaries Compared to IJVs - Essay Example This paper illustrates that over the years international joint ventures have been a successful mode of entry into the host country. It benefits the foreign companies forming the joint ventures with the local company in two ways. Firstly, the advantage of the local partner’s knowledge about the political systems, competitive conditions, culture, and business system of the host country. Secondly, the benefit of development cost and risk sharing with the local partner. In some countries, these kinds of joint ventures are the only feasible market entry mode that is available to the foreign companies. On the contrary, the wholly owned subsidiary is the most costly mode of entry into the overseas market. However, wholly owned subsidiary or rather setting up independent company owned by the parent company gives the full control to the company in terms of its operation handling and gaining the whole profit from its operations. The companies who adopt this kind of entry mode should be prepared to bear the risk and cost associated with having its expanded operations in the overseas market. The companies in the past years thought that the joint ventures will give them the expertise to acquire a position in the market, but this was not as easy as the local partner tie down the new entrant to the direction of its operations in his own way. For instance, Proctor & Gamble failed in India where they entered the market through joint venture but succeeded in China through its wholly owned subsidiary. As the forecast states that China by 2050 would be a leading economy followed by U.S and India, so now the companies feel that setting up their own company in these markets would be necessary for their survival as well as for sustained growth. With the influence of WTO, which now provides less restriction on foreign-owned companies in markets of China and India, many companies are now focusing on establishing their wholly owned subsidiary rather than going into any kind of in ternational joint venture.

Importance of Educations Essay Example for Free

Importance of Educations Essay Education is a means for increasing knowledge. A popular saying is â€Å"Knowledge is power†. Without education, the training of the human minds is incomplete. No individual is a human being in the working world until he has been educated in the proper sense. Now Im not saying youre not a human being without education. The mind was made to be trained and without education, a person is incomplete. Without education, man, as it were, is locked up in a windowless room. With education, he finds himself in a room with all its windows open to the outside world. In other words, people who are not educated have less opportunity to do what they want to do. Therefore, education is one of the most important processes in today’s society. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s teachers. Education is important because it gives a better personal development, brighter future, and able to make inform decisions. We learn from the moment we are infants all the way to adulthood. Learning is a continuous process and a life long journey. There is no end to learning and it is vital for one to continuously seek to improve one’s self. Personal development is continuous and requires one to learn and re-learn new skills and knowledge. Education plays a pivotal part in personal development. Life-long education creates self-awareness and enables you to develop new talents which facilitates employability and improves the quality of life. Personal development is seen by some as a part of higher education and most companies often emphasise on the need for personal development in order to accommodate to the ever changing work requirements. Oscar Wilde a popular writer states that â€Å"you can never be overdressed or overeducated. † By empowering our mind, we would be able to positively contribute to society and the well-being of the entire world. Besides that, education gives a brighter future because it is one of the factors that affect job positions people hold, their salaries, and further careers. It is an open window to many opportunities in life. One of those opportunities is getting a good job which will provide security and assurance of a good life. Education can get you into jobs of high level with a good salary package. For most people, salary is a key to ensure that you receive compensation for what you have done. The salary that you will receive by professional job will represent a superior level of income in society. Being in a high profile job will also increase your status in the society. People would look up to you and you will gain the respect of others. Moreover, with the additional money earned one could save for the future. This will lead one to live a luxury life style without worrying on the expenses incurred. In addition, education enables one to make informed decisions. With proper education one is able to evaluate the pros and cons of decision and therefore make rational and sound decisions. This is essential in a working environment where decisions have to be made on an ad hoc basis and it affects others as well. Therefore education plays a vital role in making decisions as it enables him to analyse, evaluate and justify the decisions that he make. An informed decision is a decision made after learning relevant facts about the focus of the decision. For example, a person might make an informed decision to join the politics or not join after researching to find out if the lifestyle, benefits, and travel opportunities are what he wants. The importance of education cannot be measured. Its value is unmatchable. Without it stems ignorance, frustration, anger, and demise. With it, solutions, alternatives, and new ideas can be brought forth to further improve the evolution of mankind. With each generation we are making one step forward. As we learn from our mistakes, we are able to improve the next time around. Without education, improvement and progress would never be achieved. There is no greater purpose than using the mind to everyones best advantage. Education makes a man who he is and what he does. It chooses his faith and when he is on the right path, he leaves him on his own, to make his own decisions with his new life with Education. It shows the surrounding people who you are, what you like and what you dont. Education has to be used the right way to be drive out the most of life. Only education can help you in the future, so why abuse it, and take it if you can! By Raveena Aina

British Post War Mass Housing Cultural Studies Essay

British Post War Mass Housing Cultural Studies Essay In this essay, I will focus primarily on housing constructed during the decade or so after the end of the Second World War as part of the progressive, experimental establishment of the Welfare State in Britain. Although housing was constructed speculatively by private developers on a fairly wide scale with varying degrees of success (Span schemes like New Ash Green in Kent, by Eric Lyons being an obvious and commonly cited success story), it is social housing which is linked most fascinatingly to the evolving socio-economic landscape in Britain, as I shall demonstrate. Housing provision by the end of the war, particularly in urban centres, was considered inadequate, not only in quantity, but in quality as well. War damage had impacted the quantity of housing stock, but additionally, much obsolete housing had been earmarked for demolition since before the war. Nicholas Taylor, writing in the AR in 1967, in a discussion of what he called the failure of housing in the postwar period, cites the negative [postwar] reaction to the boom towns of the industrial revolution as the reason for this. In particular, he says, [we] have aimed to prevent epidemic diseases cholera, dysentery, rickets, scurvy, typhoid, all diseases which were propagated by overcrowding, by bad sanitation, by inadequate facilities for the preparation of food and by the pollution of homes from adjoining factories. Clearly, a commitment to addressing these public health issues must be commended what I will be discussing is whether the attempt to do so through the medium of housing, and specifically social housing, can be considered successful. It is important to understand at the outset the politically progressive nature of housing policy in the period, embedded as it is in the establishment of the Welfare State, which is based on the principles of, equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.[1] Architecturally, the modernist desire expressed by Le Corbusier to provide an environment that was spiritually fulfilling, creating harmony between people and their surroundings and freeing communities from the misery of poor housing[2] was perfectly in sync with the prevailing political commitment to decisively break away from unsanitary, overcrowded slums. I propose to discuss a handful of iconic/ notorious case studies of 50s and 60s mass housing, as they excite passionately polarized opinion and act as symbols for the wider debate. The first is Park Hill in Sheffield, built in 1960, which according to the Architectural Review (in 2011) marked the peak performance of Sheffields city architects office as run by J.K. Lewis Womersley, regarded by [Nikolaus] Pevsner as an outfit of national importance.[3] This building proved popular with its residents, who loved their flats and soon formed an effective association. It was also much lauded in architectural circlesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Its size and hillside location made it the prime example of streets in the air nationally, and for a decade or so it thronged with international visitors.[4] However, decline set in as the ideal of equality was eroded [and] social housing became the ghetto of a suppressed underclass, and the more active, capable and employed were encouraged to buy themselves out, leaving the disadvantaged in possession. This is the key trend not only in this case, but across the country, and my desire is to understand whether this was a reflection on poor architecture, changes in society, or both. In the case of Park Hill, a recent initiative, privately funded by the developer Urban Splash, to redevelop the building, has provoked fresh debate over its merits. A blog on the Guardian website[5] on the subject exemplifies this. One poster expressed typical views (my italics): As a foreigner from Leeds who has lived in Sheffield for 30 years I can support those who report that the people of Sheffield did not want Park Hill kept, and were mystified by the listing and bemused by the amounts of money, some of it public money, being spent on this eyesore. The bright coloured panels are not an improvement. Anyone in Sheffield with the money to buy one of the penthouses would be much better advised to spend it in one of Sheffields leafy and affluent suburbs, of which we have many, which also often enjoy superb views, as Sheffield is very hilly. This poster neatly expresses a popular verdict on dense, large scale urban social housing projects of the period, in which as long ago as 1967, It [was] easier to count the few unbroken panes of armoured glass on the staircases than the multitude which are cracked and splintered, and where economy on materials and inadequacy of detailing can be assessed as objective weaknesses, but what is perhaps more importantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is the subjective hatred of the tenants for the rough shuttered concrete that is thrust upon them.[6] Descriptions of inhumane proportions, undefined wastes, and, above all, women return[ing] from the shops to be blown about amid the appalling dinginess of rough shuttered concrete[7] (my italics) crop up again and again in discussing schemes like Park Hill, Robin Hood Gardens, Red Road etc. The posters views on the preferability of leafy and affluent suburbs to dense urban apartment typology for those who can afford it also reflect a lingering psychological scar in the popular psyche left by the memory of the descent of estates like Park Hill from source[s] of intense municipal socialist pride to dilapidated sink estate[s][8], as though by their very nature they preclude the presence of a functional, prosperous community. Is this the case? If it is, how could surveys at Park Hill show that through the 1970s residents remained consistently loyal and generally happy.[9] What caused the slide of schemes like Park Hill into dysfunctionality? The homebuilding drive, founded on the vision of spiritually uplifting accommodation for all, continued but à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the vision was damaged by lack of reform in the 1960s. Rather than opening up [the] low cost-balanced rented sector to supply the needs of a more wealthy and mobile population, it narrowed to serve the restricted needs of welfare housing.[10] This was a key error, and precipitated a vicious circle of decline. The 60s was a period of economic optimism, in which comparative affluence was accessible to many more families than previously. An aspirational desire among those in social housing developed to graduate to home ownership. Very large council estates, tower blocks in the cities and restrictive letting policies contrasted with the variety of choices available for home ownership. From the 1960s, the welfare characteristic (residualisation) of council housing began to develop as a stigma from which home ownership was the natural escape.[11] The original dream of social housing as a living tapestry of a mixed community[12] was replaced instead by welfare housing, which established a low cost rented stock but created deep social problems and lost the affections of the electorate. A different political vision could have avoided this. Pre-war restrictions, limiting public housing to the working classes had been repealed in the 1949 Housing Act, opening up a universally accessible rented council house sector. If public housing had remained just that, rather than seguing into welfare housing, the vicious circle of decline would have lacked the conditions to come into being. The living tapestry of a mixed community could have remained. With Park Hill and its cousins populated as a matter of new policy increasingly by those on welfare, however, financial structures of dependency [were] deliberately imposed on social housing[13]. An alienated quality grew as residents of the schemes became increasingly cast adrift from mainstream society. A further strand to this narrative was playing out in the form of a shift in the structure of the economy in Britain. Sheffield grew up producing steel, in the 18th century knives and tools, in the 19th century heavy industry, with a high population of low paid but skilled manual workers. As the 1970s drew to an end and Thatcher came to power, the shift in policy away from provision of affordable social housing accelerated against a backdrop of an increasingly deindustrialized economy. The original inhabitants of the Park Hill and schemes like it, who had once been a proud working class, increasingly found themselves unemployed and without prospects of employment. It is certainly arguable that problems in residualized estates in decline, like Park Hill would have been exacerbated by the scale of social problems developing independently of housing policy. In the public imagination, then, the built fabric of the postwar years has not only become synonymous with social failure and breakdown, it is perceived as a cause of it. Failed buildings are pulled down, and it is easy to speculate that they are being made scapegoats for wider problems. Can an architectural defense be mounted for schemes like Park Hill, or Robin Hood Gardens? The latter is similar to the former a serpentine, high density block, this time inserted into an area of bomb damaged terraces (the standard grain of working class England) in London. What the Smithsons [architects] wanted to achieve was intended to maintain community dynamics [of the bombed out terraces] rather than to replace them with something entirely different. However, what they had not expected, as Kenneth Frampton pointed out in his book Modern Architecture, a Critical History, was that three principal features of the by-law street would be absent in their proposed blocks: first, the dynamics associated with dwellings on both sides of a street, secondly, the community life associated with the street at ground level, and thirdly, the backyard, which played a crucial role in by-law housing and the life of its communities. [14] Robin Hood Gardens, then, contained inherently flawed logic. But the flaws were shared by Park Hill, which prospered during a period when it wasnt handicapped by other factors. [Park Hill] is commonly described as the largest listed building in Europe and the largest listed brutalist or 60s building. In fact, says Owen Hatherley, its none of those things, with all those titles being taken by Londons Barbican estate: a place that, like Park Hill, is full of bare concrete, open space, urban density, walkways, social and the separation of pedestrian and car. One is a problem that apparently had to be solved; the other one of Londons most prestigious addresses. Why? The obvious reason is that one is council housing and the other, from the very start, was built as private housing. Accordingly, the Barbican has always been cleaned and cared for; Park Hill has been left to rot.[15] Physically, the Barbican is a close relative of a Park Hill, or a Robin Hood Gardens. Socially, though it bears more resemblance to Park Lane. This constitutes evidence against the argument that the decline into dysfunction of large, dense postwar urban social housing developments was an inevitable consequence of poor design. Further support from this position comes from a comparison between Park Hill and many of todays luxury apartment developments. Park Hill was accused of being disconnected from the surrounding fabric, isolating its inhabitants from the life of the city at large but what of the urban regeneration of the last few years in the light of the financial crisis? What do the speculative redevelopments of inner cities look like now? They have become the new ruins of Great Britain. These places have ruination in abundance: partly because of the way they were invariably surrounded by the derelict and un-regenerated, whether rotting industrial remnants or the giant retail and entertainment sheds of the 80s and 90s; partly because they were often so badly built, with pieces of render and wood frequently flaking off within less than a year of completion; but partly because they were so often empty, in every sense. Empty of architectural inspiration, empty of social hope or idealism, and often empty of people, Clarence Dock and Glasgow Harbour had a hard time filling their minimalist microflats with either buyers or buy-to-let investors.[16] We can begin to see that although marketed and branded differently, contemporary developer led, aspirational urban regeneration, may in fact suffer from similar or worse problems relating to its context as the maligned social schemes of the postwar period. Think of Glasgow Harbour, stranded by the Clyde and cut off from the city by the Clydeside Expressway. Worse, analysis of the flats themselves reveals a shocking inferiority in terms of space standards in contemporary developments compared to the 60s schemes. The logic was straightforward says the Architectural Review in its analysis of Park Hills original planning principles: a slab block up to 13 stories high and about 10m wide would permit a habitable room each side and centrally serviced bathrooms, while gallery access was preferred to a double loaded corridor. By making maisonettes with internal staircases it was possible for one gallery to serve 3 floors. Greatest design ingenuity went into planning interlocking flats of different sizes, making best use of the limited spaceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. [space standards] now seem generous, in relation to the products of mass house builders[17]. This, they note, is still valid logic if you accept the inevitability of flats for high densities in urban situations, as exist in cities worldwide. Even much admired contemporary schemes, like the Panter Hudspith development at Bear Lane in London, feature double loaded internal deck access, permitting only single aspect flats, with cramped accommodation yet their skin is considered attractive, and they are praised, despite inferior circulation and planning principles. Before concluding, I wish to note that whilst I have tried to demonstrate that it is impossible to blame the general failure of British postwar social housing on its architecture, there is still a world of difference in quality between the Red Road scheme, for example, and a Lasdun or Lubetkin scheme. Lasdun, even within tight budgetary constraints and a density target set by the local council of 200 people per square acre, managed to apply intelligence and subtlety to his designs for Keeling House, Bethnal Green in 1958 for example: the scale of the 14 floors was purposely designed to reflect the two storey brick terraces around it, essentially like a row of houses tipped up on its end.[18] This is architecture as we are taught it thoughtful, embedded in context. We should remember as well that Park Hill is no simple monolith inserted carelessly into Sheffield ­. Its very form is a response to specific topography, with its well known horizontal roof datum capping a 13 storey str ucture at the bottom of the hill and nuzzling into a street of Victorian villas at four storeys at the top. In conclusion, there is never an excuse for bad design although the fact that mass social housing in Britain ultimately failed is, in the end, not due to design at all, but to policy.