Windows vs. Linux Pros and Cons

Unix VS. Windows Security Windows: Pros: File permissions (UAC) User account controls Antivirus to assist in the stopping of malware Supports many businesses related software’s and is used worldwide Cons: Infected account File permissions are vulnerable Antivirus is constantly required as well as updated definitions databases Most viruses target the windows OS because it is the most widespread OS on the planet. Viruses can be rewritten and hide themselves from antiviruses. Web application vulnerabilities Stability and Reliability, it has been proven that data loss has occurred mostly in windows based operating system environments rather than opposed to UNIX / LINUX based environments. Unix / Linux: Pros: Stability and Reliability are very HIGHLY rated for this OS File access permissions Linux = open source and can be altered to your liking All service daemons can be started and stopped via a terminal / bash shell scripting. Security tools are usually free and easy to download / update and maintain. Viruses and worms are less likely to be coded / formatted for the Unix OS due to the fact it makes for a more challenging environment to hack, and it is not as widespread as windows is so why waste time attempting to hack less than 5% of the earth’s population of people when you could simply code a virus for windows which is used more. Cons: Web application vulnerabilities Can have several compatibility issues for running certain software Large Learning curve if learned at an older age Ease of use can be a pain considering everything is performed from a shell.

Automobile Industry Essay

Strong demand growth due to rising incomes, growing middle class, and a young population is likely to propel India among the world’s top five auto-producers by 2015 Growth in export demand is also set to accelerate. Tata Nano and the upcoming Pixel have opened up the potentially large ultra low cost car segment Innovation is likely to intensify among engine technology and alternative fuels. Advantage India Rising investments Policy support India has significant cost advantages; auto firms save 10-25 per cent on operations in India compared to Europe and Latin America A large pool of skilled manpower and a growing technology base will induce greater investments. The government aims to develop India as a global manufacturing as well as R&D hub There has been a wide array of policy support in the form of sops, taxes and FDI encouragement. FY10 Market size: USD57.7 billion    Notes: R&D – Research and development, FDI – Foreign direct investment; FY – Indian financial year (April – March); FY16E – estimated figure for financial year 2016; estimates are from the government’s Automotive Mission Plan (2006 – 2016) ADVANTAGE INDIA. For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org. 3. Automotives AUGUST 2012 Contents ï  ¶ Advantage India ï  ¶ Market overview and trends ï  ¶ Growth drivers ï  ¶ Success stories: Maruti, Tata Motors ï  ¶ Opportunities ï  ¶ Useful information For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org 4 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Evolution of the Indian automotives sector 20.4 million units (2012) 11 million units (2007) 2008 onwards 0.6 million units (1992) 1983 – 1992 0.4 million units (1982) Before 1982 †¢ Closed market †¢ Only 5 players †¢ Joint venture (JV) Indian government and Suzuki to form Maruti Udyog; started production in 1983 †¢ Component manufacturers also entered via JV route †¢ Buyer’s market 1993 -2007 †¢ Sector de-licensed in 1993 †¢ Major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) started assembly in India †¢ Imports allowed from April 2001 †¢ Introduction of value added tax in 2005 †¢ More than 35 players in the market †¢ Removal of most import controls †¢ Indian companies gaining global identity †¢ Long waiting periods and outdated models †¢ Seller’s market Source: Tata Motors, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Aranca Research, Notes: JV – Joint Venture MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org 5 Automotives AUGUST 2012 The automotives market is split into four segments Automobiles Two-wheelers Passenger vehicles Commercial vehicles Three-wheelers Mopeds Passenger cars Light commercial vehicles Passenger carriers Scooters Utility vehicles Motorcycles Multi-purpose vehicles Medium and heavy commercial vehicles Goods carriers Electric twowheelers For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 6 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Revenues have been growing at a strong pace → Gross turnover of automobile manufacturers in India expanded at a CAGR of 17.7per cent over FY07-1 1 Excluding three wheelers, cars account for the largest share of revenues (66.2 percent in 2010) Revenue trends over the past few years in USD million 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.5 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 66.2% 36.6 33.3 21.5% Trucks Cars 58.6 CAGR: 17.7% 43.3 → Market* break-up by revenues (2010) 12.3% Two Wheelers Source: SIAM, Datamonitor, Aranca Research Note: *does not include three wheelers For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 7 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Sector’s growing strength evident from rise in total production figures Total production of automobiles in India (million units) 16.0 → → 12.0 7.6 8 8.4 10.0 8.0 6.0 1.3 0.4 0.4 1.2 0.4 0.4 1.6 0.6 0.5 1.3 0.5 0.6 1.8 2.4 4.0 6.5 8.5 Notes: CAGR – Compound annual growth rate 10.5 Passenger vehicles was the fastest growing segment during that period with a CAGR of 14.5 per cent 14.0 13.4 0.8 0.8 3.0 2.0 0.0 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 0.4 0.5 FY10 0.6 0.6 FY11 FY12 Passenger Vehicle Three Wheelers Commercial Vehicle Two Wheelers Source: SIAM, Aranca Research For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 0.8 0.8 3.1 15.5 Automobiles production increased at a CAGR of 13.2 per cent over FY05-12 18.0 8 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Market break-up by production volume → Two wheelers dominate production volumes; in FY12, the segment accounted for more than three quarters of total automotives production in the country Market share by volume (FY12) → In fact, India is the world’s second largest two wheeler producer; the country is also the fourth largest commercial vehicle producer 4% 4% 16% Two Wheelers Passenger Vehicle Commercial Vehicle Three Wheelers 76% Source: SIAM, Aranca Research For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 9 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Market break-up of individual segments by production volumes †¦ (1/2) Shares in production of passenger vehicles (FY11) Shares in production of commercial vehicles (FY11) 11.5% Passenger cars 8.1% 36.0% MCV & HCV Passenger Carriers MCV & HCV Goods Carriers LCV Passenger Carriers 49.7% 6.1% LCV Goods Carriers Utility vehicles/multipurpose vehicles 88.5% Source: SIAM, Aranca Research Notes: LCV – Light commercial vehicle; MCV – Medium commercial vehicle; HCV – Heavy commercial vehicle For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 10 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Market break-up of individual segments by production volumes †¦ (2/2) Shares in production of three wheelers (FY12) Shares in production of two wheelers (FY12) 15.8% Goods carriers 15.6% 5.3% Mopeds Motorcycles Passenger carriers Scooters 84.2% 79.1% Source: SIAM, Aranca Research For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 11 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Exports have also grown strongly †¦ (1/2) → Automobiles export volumes increased at a CAGR of 22.4 per cent over FY05–FY12 Over this period, the fastest growth was in the two wheeler segment (25.8 per cent) followed by three wheelers (21.9 per cent) Exports of automobiles from India (million units) 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 2 0.5 0.6 0.8 1 0.5 1.1 0.5 1.5 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.03 0.1 → 0.2 0.04 0.1 0.2 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.06 0.1 0.04 0.2 0.04 0.2 0.08 0.3 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 Passenger Vehicle Commercial Vehicle Three Wheelers Two Wheelers Source: SIAM, Aranca Research For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 0.1 0.4 12 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Exports have also grown strongly †¦ (2/2) → Two wheelers accounted for the largest share in exports (by volume) at 67 per cent in FY12 Passenger vehicles account for a sizeable 18 per cent of overall exports Exports shares by volume (FY12) → 18% Passenger Vehicle 3% 12% 67% Commercial Vehicle Three Wheelers Two Wheelers Source: SIAM, Aranca Research For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 13 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Presence of a clear leader in each segment of the market → The automotives industry is concentrated with market leaders in each segment commanding a share of over 40 per cent Market Leader Passenger Vehicles MCVs & HCVs LCVs Three Wheelers 45% 16% Others 15% 7% 63% 23% 7% 59% 30% 4% 4% 41% 40% 10% Motorcycles Scooters 59% 24% 7% 6% 51% 21% 14% Source: SIAM, Aranca Research Notes: Data is for FY10 10% For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 14 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Notable trends in the Indian automotives sector †¢ Large number of products available to consumers across various segments; this New product launches has gathered pace with the entry of a number of foreign players †¢ Reduced overall product lifecycle have forced players to employ quick product launches Improving productdevelopment capabilities †¢ Increasing R&D investments from both the government and the private sector †¢ Private sector innovation has been a key determinant of growth in the sector; two good examples are Tata Nano and Tata Pixel – while the former has been a success in India, the latter is intended for foreign markets †¢ In FY11, the CNG market was worth more than USD330 million and CNG cars Alternative fuels and taxis are expected to register a CAGR of 28 per cent over FY11-FY14 †¢ The CNG distribution network in India is expected to increase to 250 cities by 2018 from 30 cities in 2009 For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org MARKET OVERVIEW AND TRENDS 15 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Contents ï  ¶ Advantage India ï  ¶ Market overview and trends ï  ¶ Growth drivers ï  ¶ Success stories: Maruti, Tata Motors ï  ¶ Opportunities ï  ¶ Useful information For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org 16 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Sector has been benefitting from strong demand and product innovation Growing demand Growing demand Policy support Strong government support Increasing investments Rising incomes, young population Inviting Greater availability of credit and financing options Goal of establishing India as an automanufacturing hub R&D focus; GOI has set up technology modernisation fund Large domestic market Policy sops, FDI encouragement Resulting in Rising investments from domestic and foreign players Greater innovation in products; market segmentation Strong growth in exports as well Strong projected demand making returns attractive Notes: GOI – Government of India; For updated information, please visit www.ibef.org GROWTH DRIVERS 17 Automotives AUGUST 2012 Rising incomes and a growing middle class driving domestic demand growth Rising incomes; growing middle class †¢ Changing income dynamics of India’s population 70 million households Aspirers: annual income INR90,000200,000 Seekers: annual income INR200,000500,000 Strivers: annual income INR500,0001,000,000 Globals: annual income >INR1,000,000 Personal (nominal) disposable income is expected to rise annually at 8.5 per cent over FY11-15 Rising middle class – size of the middle class expected to touch 550 million by 2025 from 50 million in 2010 Favourable demographics – a young population is also driving up the demand for cars Demand for commercial vehicles have got a boost due to development of roadways and greater market access 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2005 Strivers 2010 Seekers 2015 Deprived    Deprived annual income

Forced distribution system

Though many researchers have pointed out several drawbacks in FADS, due to the absence of any suitable alternative, it has been (and continues to be) adopted by many industries over a long period of time. The purpose of this paper Is to point out some serious limitations of this system and propose a simple modification to overcome these limitations. Design/ methodology/approach – FADS determines the relative positions of the employees involved in similar work by comparing them against one another, and based on their performance, the employees receive different grades.Here the authors use the Likelier scaling method to convert these grades into numerical scores, then these scores are used to estimate the average performance of each group of employees, which Is referred to as the group Index. Taking these group Indices Into consideration, the authors propose a modeled performance score of each employee for their final evaluation. Efficiencies of the existing FADS and the propose d modified version are compared using a simple measure of rank correlation known as the Sandal's taut-statistic.Findings – Extensive simulation studies show that the modified algorithm is uniformly better than the existing one over different schemes for allocations of employees to deferent projects, and depending on the allocation scheme, It can lead to substantial Improvement. Relationally/value – This paper can be appraisal system based on a forced distribution and the first that provides a simple but effective solution which can be adopted by the organizations using FADS for performance appraisal.Keywords Performance appraisal, Statistical methods, Human resource management Paper type Research paper 1 Introduction Performance evaluation is regarded as one of the most powerful human resource raciest (Judges and Ferris, 1993; Murphy and Cleveland, 1995, p. 4). It provides a justification for human resource decision such as rewards, career planning, transfers, training , counseling, mentoring, termination, etc.Performance appraisal provides the employer an opportunity to communicate with the employees about the mission, strategy, vision, values and objectives of the organization, and it personalizes organizational strategy into individual performance criteria. It has been observed that employee motivations to perform, to develop capabilities and to improve future reference are influenced by the performance appraisal system (Land et al. , 1978; The authors thank the anonymous reviewer for providing several helpful comments and suggestions that led to substantial improvement of the article.Despite the importance of a performance evaluation system, extensive studies in this field have identified significant shortcomings in its applications that include different types of biases stemming from rating errors, sources of performance information and individual differences (Arrive and Murphy, 1998). Among these various shortcomings, rating bias is the most predominant area of research, which indicates the tendency of the raters to provide lenient or stringent rating (Beret et al. 992; Runes et al. , 2002). This systematic bias leads to lack of discrimination between high and low performance and automatically disrupts the whole essence of performance decades, several researchers have explored different methods to overcome the rating bias and to improve the accuracy of performance evaluation system (Goff et al. , 1996). Studies on performance evaluation are mainly focused on two types of appraisal systems – absolute and relative.In an absolute rating system, individual performance is evaluated against a pre-determined standard, whereas a relative evaluation yester determines the relative positions of different employees by comparing them against one another (Duffy and Webber, 1974). Though there are advantages and disadvantages in both of these systems, some studies have pointed out the superiority of the relative grading system over the absolute one (He-man, 1986; Nathan and Alexander, 1988; Wander and Goofing, 1997).Many renowned organizations including General Electric (GE), Hen, Microsoft, American Express and Goldman Cash have used and some still use relative grading system for performance evaluation in the form of a forced distribution system (FADS) (Grotto, 2005). FADS was developed in an attempt to directly deal with the problems of rater leniency and lack of discrimination while measuring an individual's performance (McCarty, 1988).This system forces the managers to discriminate between high and low performers either by sorting the employees into some pre-determined performance categories based on a pre-defined distribution or by ranking them on the basis of their relative performance (Gurgling et al. , 2004). The first process is also known as the criterion-reference rating, while the second one is known as the norm- reference rating (Visionary and Ones, 2000; Visionary, 2001).The wide use of FAD S as an objective measure of employee performance was mostly popularized by Jack Welch at the beginning of his tenure at GE under the name of â€Å"vitality curve† (Bossily and Charka, 2002; Itchy and Sherman, 2001). Welch introduced this system to develop an objective measure to discriminate between high and low performer so that the culture of â€Å"rewarding doers† can be established, which in turn can be helpful for â€Å"building muscle† of the organization. In GE and many other organizations, FADS is considered as a developmental instrument for achieving a performance-oriented culture.Though FADS has several advantages, many organizations have been observed to perceive this system negatively (Rock et al. , 2007). Many researchers and practitioners have also pointed out that a forced distribution in performance evaluation leads to extreme level of Job dissatisfaction among the employees with high potential to perform (Gray, 2002; Madman, 2006; Prefer and Su tton, 2006). In practice, a relatively low-performing member in a high- performing team can often be better than the best performer in an average performing team.The FADS is used to evaluate the members working in different roofs or teams separately, and the rigidity of this system forces the companies to reprimand all low performers of each and every group. As a result, some high-potential performers may be asked to leave the Job or they may leave the organization voluntarily due to dissatisfaction. The negative consequences of this performance evaluation system have been observed in many organizations. For instance, Ford had a well-publicized unsuccessful experience with a forced ranking support this ranking system at all.Many employees, who had received positive feedback for years, were suddenly categorized as under performers. As a result, dozens of Ford employees and ex-employees sued the company because of this system of evaluation. Vishnu et al. (2006) studied the long-term e ffect of the â€Å"bell curve†, which is a form of forced distribution, on organizational dynamics. According to their views, pressure of the bell curve can facilitate the performance to a certain level, but constant pressure demoralizes the employees. As the company shrinks, the rigid distribution of the bell curve forces the manager to categorize a high performer as a mediocre one.Also, it is often assumed that the employees identified as low reformers, on account of their unsatisfactory performance, are usually replaced every year by fresh talent, who can add up to the output of the organization. Here we may argue that the likelihood of the presence of poor performers amongst these new additions is another possibility, which can adversely affect the system. Moreover, from the financial point of view, replacement of the employees with the fresh talent is also a costly affair. Blame et al. 2009) conducted a study on a student population to understand their reactions towards different types of FADS, and pointed out that â€Å"less trending consequences for low performer† is the most powerful variable in determining the attractions towards different types of FADS. On the basis of this study, we may assume that the organization, where stringency is higher for the low performers, has less chance to get higher number of Job applicants. In order to overcome these limitations of the forced ranking appraisal system and to protect the employees with high potential, Vishnu et al. 2006) proposed to use an evaluation system based on the semi-bell curve, where instead of putting fixed proportions of employees into different groups of performance levels, an organization adjusts these proportions depending on the set of employees it is dealing with. However, the adjustment scheme they proposed was subjective and somewhat ad hoc. Instead of using the semi-bell curve, an organization can use any other curves as well, or it can even use different curves for diffe rent set of workers involved in different projects. It depends entirely on the company policy, and we have no prerogative to decide that.So, in this paper, we do not recommend the use of any particular curve. Here, we repose a modified algorithm for forced ranking performance appraisal that can be used irrespective of the nature of the curve(s) used by the companies for the evaluation of their employees. In the following sections, we assume the bell curve appraisal system for the demonstration of our method. However, the description of our method will make it clear that our modification is not limited to the bell curve system, and it can even be used when a company adopts different types of curves or distributions for evaluation of its employees involved in different projects. . Objectives of the study The main objectives of our study are given below: evaluation of the present appraisal system under different schemes of allocation of workers and identifying the limitations of the fo rced ranking appraisal system; propose a new method for performance appraisal to overcome these limitations; and extensive comparison between the proposed and the existing method of performance appraisal to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method. The next three sections address each of these objectives in turn. . Evaluation of the forced ranking performance appraisal system First, we carry out emulation studies to evaluate the performance of the existing forced ranking appraisal system. Let us consider an organization with 3,000 employees. Suppose that there are 30 projects run by the organization, and 100 employees are involved in each of these projects. For the time being, we assume that the potentials of these employees are known and they perform according to their potentials.We generate 3,000 observations from a normal distribution with mean 50 and standard deviation 10 (so that almost observation lie in the (O, 100) range) and consider them as true potentials of diff erent employees. Here we consider two different allocation schemes for assigning the employees to different projects, and we will refer to them as random allocation and extreme allocation, respectively. In random allocation, the employees are randomly assigned to different projects. In extreme allocation, employees having similar potentials are assigned to the same project.For instance, the 100 employees having the highest potentials are assigned to one project, the next 100 employees to another project and so on. In each of these two cases, we evaluate the performance of the employees involved in each project, and the grades are located to them following the bell curve system. Assume that the organization uses six different Grades A (best)-F (worst) for its employees, and in the bell curve system, the proportions of employees to receive these grades are PA h if h 1?F(2), BP h PEP h F(2)?F(1) and PC h PDP h F(1)?O. , where ? ) is the cumulative distribution function of a standard no rmal variant ( Johnson et al. , 1995). Now, one may be curious to know how FADS perform in such situations. In order to investigate this, we compute the correlation coefficient between the potentials of the employees and the grades obtained by them and use it as a measure of efficiency of the appraisal system. Same grade, we use the Sandal's t-statistic (Kendall, 1938) as an appropriate measure of correlation.Note that unlike the product moment correlation coefficient, this statistic is invariant under any monotonically increasing transformation. So, instead of normal distribution, if we generate 3,000 observations from any other distribution, the efficiency measure based on the Sandal's t-statistic will remain the same. In the case of random allocation, the existing method performed quite well, and it led to a rank correlation of 0. 716. But in the case of extreme allocation, it had drastically poor performance.The rank correlation turned out to be 0. 024. So, essentially there was no correlation between the potentials of the employees and the grades obtained by them, and the forced ranking system was as bad as random grading. Note that random allocation of workers to different projects is presumed rare in practice. Usually the employees are assigned to different projects based on their expertise, and also depending on the difficulty level of the project.Therefore, it is not so rare that the employees having higher potentials are assigned to high-end projects, and hose having relatively lower potentials are assigned to low-end projects. In such cases, the existing performance appraisal system will perform poorly, and as a result some of the high (low) potential workers will get lower (higher) grades. Being unsatisfied with the grading, some of these high-potential workers may lose motivation to work hard and some of them may leave the organization for a new Job.This is quite harmful for organizational functioning. In practice, in many cases, the allocation of the workers in an organization is somewhere between the totally random allocation and the extreme allocation. From the above discussion, it is quite transparent that in such cases, the existing appraisal system may only have a moderate performance depending on the extremity of the allocation scheme. This clearly shows the necessity to develop a new method for performance appraisal, which can have satisfactory performance even in the case of extreme allocation.We develop one such method in the next section. 4. Modification to the forced ranking performance appraisal system: a new method for performance appraisal The existing method of performance appraisal simply considers the present year's elating performance of the employees involved in the same project, and the grades are allocated to them only based on their present performance. Because of this relative grading, an employee in a high-performing team can get poor grades in spite of performing better than all other members in an average performing team.In order to overcome this limitation, here we take the previous year's grades of the employees into consideration. Suppose that there are n employees working in a particular project, and Gig is the grade obtained by the tit employee (I h 1, 2, y, n) in the previous year's appraisal. In order to develop a modified appraisal system, we assume that the individual performance of the employees may vary from their previous year's performance, but the average performance of these n employees remains almost the same. For computing this average performance, we follow the Likelier, (1932) scaling method.It is a statistical tool that converts the Grades Gig into numerical scores s(Gig) and makes it possible to calculate the mean score I h for this group of employees. Though here we assume that the performance evaluation is done once in a year, this method can be used when the evaluation cycle has shorter or larger eroticism or even when it is periodic. Let us assume tha t a company uses a total of K Grades AAA, AAA, y, AK in the appraisal system, where AAA and AK denote the highest and the lowest grades, respectively.Also assume that it puts the best performing Pl proportion of employees in AAA, the next up proportion in AAA and so on. Therefore, the worst performing PC proportion (here Pl up pep PC h 1) of employees receive the Grade AK. So, if we assume that the performance of the employees are normally distributed (this is the assumption the companies made when they adopt the bell curve system), the mean of a truncated tankard normal distribution with truncation at and above the (1 ?up)the quintile of the standard normal distribution can be used as the score function for AAA .

Financial analysis of Morrisons and comparison with Tesco Coursework

Financial analysis of Morrisons and comparison with Tesco - Coursework Example Ratio analysis of an organization presents facts on a comparative basis and enables the drawing of inference regarding the performance of a firm (Khan & Jain, 2006). This analysis gives a useful indication of the performance of the organization. Financial ratios are often used by shareholders, bankers, trade creditors, analysts, management and the general public at large to measure the performance of the company in various aspects such as liquidity, profitability, debt and market position (Stoltz et al., 2007). However, these ratios often should be analyzed keeping in mind the accounting policies and the principles used by companies and is dependent on the industries under consideration (Siegel and Shim, 2006). The objective of this report is to analyze the performance of Morrison’s. In order to do this, ratios will be calculated for the company over a period of two years: 2009 and 2010. The ratios will be compared to Tesco which is a leading competitor in the same industry. F our categories of ratio will be calculated for both the companies: 1. Profitability 2. Liquidity 3. Efficiency 4. Gearing ratios Analysis Profitability Ratios Profitability ratios can be used to measure how good the company is using its assets and how well the company is controlling its costs to generate an acceptable rate of return (Gitman and McDaniel, 2008). The various profitability ratios are given below Gross Margin Gross margin can be defined as the ratio of gross profit to total sales. The graph below shows the trend of the same: As can be seen from the graph, the gross margin of Tesco is more than that of Morrison’s in the year of 2009. However, while the gross margin has increased for Morrison’s from 2009 to 2010 while the same has decreased for Tesco. One point to note here is the sales done by both the companies. While Tesco had sales of the order of ? 56,910m in 2010, Morrison’s had just ? 15,410m. This difference is an indication of the size of the two companies. It is evident that in terms of sales, Tesco is well ahead of Morrison’s. Profit Margin Profit margin of a company can be defined as: The graph below shows the trend for profit margin for both the companies: Here again, the margin is more for Tesco as compared to that of Morrison’s in 2009. While the profit margin has increased considerably from 2009 to 2010, the same has remained almost equal for Tesco. The higher profit margin of Tesco indicates that the company is having a better control over its costs as compared to Morrison’s (Investopedia). Just like the gross sales, the value of net profit of Tesco (? 2,336m) is almost four times that of Morrison’s (? 598m). Return on assets and investments While return on assets measure the amount of net income generated for each unit of assets, return on investment measures the amount of income generated from each unit of owners’ equity. Return on assets is an ideal tool for comparing compan ies within the same industry. RoA is an indication of both the profit margin as well as asset turnover (Needles et al., 2010). The graph on the side here shows the Return on Assets for both the organization. The RoA is almost equal for both the companies. This indicates that both the organizations have almost equal efficiency in utilizing their assets. The graph on the side here shows the Return on Investment for both the organizations. RoI is more for Tesco in 2009 which indicates better return on investor wealth. One issue being faced by Tesco is a reduction in the RoI from 2009 to 2010. This imply that the average profit generated from the amount of income generated from owner’

Globalization in economie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Globalization in economie - Essay Example Globalization, however, is also an ideology with multiple meanings and lineages. Sometimes it appears loosely associated with neoliberalism and with technocratic solutions to economic development and reform. The term also appears linked to cross-border advocacy networks and organizations defending human rights, the environment, women's rights, or world peace. The environmental movement, in particular, has raised the banner of globalism in its struggle for a clean planet, as in its Think Global, Act Local" slogan. Thus, globalization is often constructed as an impersonal and inevitable force in order to justify certain policies or behaviors, however praiseworthy some of them might be. Not only capitalism or advocacy movements but also Christianity, Islam, and Marxism have made global claims and harbored global pretensions. The term "globalization" in the press appears associated with multiple ideological frames of reference, including "financial market," "economic efficiency," "negati ve effect," and "culture." The start of globalization is also a contested issue. One could argue that globalization begins with the dawn of history. The literature, however, has tended to date the start of globalization more recently in the experience of the West. The word "globalization" has attained significant affecting strength. Several inspect it as a technique that is helpful-a means to prospect global financial improvement-and also predictable and unalterable. Others consider it with antagonism, even terror, thinking that it enhances disparity in and between states, intimidates service and living principles and prevents societal advancement in other words, one of the ways by which the rich get richer (and the poor are made poorer) is through increased globalization. Globalization has been defined as the collapse of time and space, but more detailed explanations distinguish between "interdependence of markets and production in different countries;" "(perception of) living and working in a world-wide context;" and a "process that affects every aspect in the life of a person, community or nation. (Aart, 2005) There are also sources that use "modernization" as a synonym for globalization, and it is sometimes subsumed under "liberalization, " "Neoliberalism," and "post-modernism." Globalization may be seen as a structure, a process, an ideology, or a combination of these. Proponents of globalization see it as, "A force which is beneficial to all, individuals and states, in all parts of the world" (George& Wilding, 2002). Opponents of globalization see it "as of benefit to the upper groups in society, to the multinational companies and the affluent world; and as detrimental to the satisfaction of public needs," and as a "force for the perpetuation and accentuation of inequalities within and between groups of countries for the benefit of multinationals and the upper classes. Its constant emphasis on increased competitiveness involves a race to the bottom". Conversely, the term globalization should be used to refer to a set of social processes that are thought to transform our present social condition into one of globality. At its core, then, globalization is about shifting forms of human contact. Indeed, the popular phrase 'globalization is happening' contains three important pieces of information: first, we are slowly leaving behind the

Vonage current situation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Vonage current situation - Essay Example The company claims that its technology is unique as it allows higher flexibility, more features, low cost and ease in operation and size. It has reached higher number of customers due to announcement of free unlimited calling to landline phones in all cities and locations in more than 60 countries. It also provides important facilities like call waiting and call forwarding at an affordable price. It is in touch with all the customers of different nations through web and it connects to people in USA through national retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Recently it launched Vonage Mobile which is its first mobile calling service and it is considered to be a free downloadable service that enables low cost international calling through cellular network or Wi-Fi. Vonage Holdings Corp. has its headquarter in Holmdel, New Jersey. Its financial status has been improved considerably relative to previous year. Though its operating revenue recorded for the second quarter i.e. April-June 2009 was lesser ($222 million) than that recorded in second quarter of 2008 ($227.5 million), it recorded a net profit of $2.28 million in 2009 compared to a net loss of $6.88 million in 2008. This is due to reduction in operating expenses in 2009. The average monthly direct costs of telephony services per line was reduced to $6.76 in 2008 from $7.22 in 2009 resulting in reduction in operating expenditure which in turn resulted in higher net profit. Vonage has gone to public in May 2006 though IPO for raising $250 million and registered as public company with New York Stock Exchange. Around 13.5% of its shares were sold to the public and 60 % of its shares were retained with the directors of the company. It was quoted at $1.76 on 7th October 2009. Its 52 week high and low values were $2.63 and $0.31 respectively which indicate that the

Dell evaluating the potential outsourcing of the firms software Essay

Dell evaluating the potential outsourcing of the firms software development services in Russia, Brazil, and UAE - Essay Example The firm has managed to create a powerful network of branches internationally. However, its performance is not stable, meaning that the firm has been proved vulnerable to market pressures, as this problem can be identified in the firm’s financial statements, as, indicatively, analyzed below. The review of the firm’s financial and operational characteristics and challenges has led to the assumption that the outsourcing of the firm’s software development services would significantly strengthen company performance through the improvement of the rate of response to customers’ orders and requests. At the same time, the firm’s position in its industry would be stabilized and strengthened since the firm would be able to achieve an important increase of its profits even in the long term. At this point, the following issue appears: which country would become the firm’s most important supporter, in terms of the promotion of the particular business proj ect. The potential participation of a firm based on one of the following countries: Russia, Brazil and UAE is evaluated in this paper. It is concluded that all three countries have certain advantages for supporting such business project. However, seems that two of them, Russia and UAE would be preferred, as they are proved more ready to support the specific initiatives. The basis of this assumption is presented below. The characteristics of the company and of the industry involved are also explained at the level that they can justify the decision of the firm to outsource its software development services. 2. Dell – analysis of the aspects of outsourcing the firm’s software development services in Russia, Brazil, and UAE 2.1 Company characteristics Dell is a

SRD Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SRD - Assignment Example While a resume website provides me with the potential of targeting any web user, the website targets potential employees. In particular, my resume website targets employers in the business sector since my competencies are suited to this specific job environment. The resume website will provide me with the creative freedom that I need to express my personality, which is not possible through the conventional resume. In this case, I will ensure that every detail of the website from my bio to the design option I select says something about me and communicates my personality to potential employees. Besides, every detail of the website will pass the message that I take my career seriously. The different categories of information will start with the homepage. On this category, I will provide my extended professional summary. The other category will include the resume category, which will communicate the specifics of my resume with different subcategories such as my work experience, education qualifications, and skills. The website will also inform the target audience of the different ways in which they could connect with me either via a social networking site or through email. First, the resume website communicates my competencies and background to potential employees. Besides, it provides a record of accomplishment of my life, and the activities that I have engaged in that would help me fit in the job market and help an organization achieve its objectives. The resume website will also control my branding. While a resume presents an excellent opportunity to present my experiences, it fails to provide an opportunity for presenting a future that I would want hiring managers to see. Therefore, the resume website will present me as a brand, and not just presenting me as who I was, but whom I envisage on becoming. The website resume will also include my philosophy on life.

Long and Foster Real Estate Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Long and Foster Real Estate Companies - Essay Example The Siemens system after full incorporation will serve the Long and Foster Reston office agents with an aim to bettering their services. In order to efficiently use the services of the system, the agents will need to be trained in its operations so as to ensure the smooth incorporation of the system into their every day working environment. After the successful integration of the phone system into the organization’s system, the company will immediately notice changes in its productivity levels. This system will, in the long run, boost the productivity levels of the company by more than 30% as it ensures efficiency in every task that it is programmed to undertake, including but not limited to the forwarding of calls from the office to the agents in a timely manner. This ensures that the agents are free to execute the rest of their mandates tasks thus making them more efficient. The system will also allow for the optimization and streamlining of the business itself, as well as meet all of the needs of this growing business. With this in mind, I have chosen to undertake this study with a view to studying this magnificent system and the impact it is going to have to this company both immediately after incorporation and also looking at the company as an organization that has to survive. Technology is rapidly changing in our world and an organization must embrace this change or be left behind. For an organization to run efficiently while ensuring maximum productivity, it requires resources that will facilitate its functioning noting to increase its productivity. These resources are brought in to facilitate the smooth running of the organization while enabling it to meet its set objectives. The telephone system is very important to an organization. One of the obvious reasons for this is to ensure that the organization maintains contacts with its clientele.  

Ethical Principles and Knowledge of Self Term Paper

Ethical Principles and Knowledge of Self - Term Paper Example The next part will be a discussion on values, qualities and behaviors in relation to management process, communication, team building, orientation of new staff and caring and ethics and empowerment of staff from a personal perspective. In the management process, values refer to the principles that the manager upholds and advocates. Qualities and behaviors refer to personal attributes that make a person an authentic leader in the organization. These values, behaviors and qualities in management process include being of integrity, promoting open communication, teamwork and managing organizational change of the overall group. Â  In communication, the values and principles needed include the ability to foster communication throughout the organization. In nursing management practice, individuals must demonstrate application of key values, behaviors and principles in caring and ethics and this entails being supportive, upholding the professional code of conduct and being of integrity. Â  The issue of orientation and values will be discussed. Orientation is based on the value to promote personal growth and to help the staff attain their desired levels in the professional. Other strategies of enhance the performance of nurses and empowering them is to delegate responsibilities, offer periodic retraining and carry out employee surveys. The other areas include be a person of integrity, promote individual growth and that of the overall group empowering the team and emotional and cultural intelligence.... In the management process, values refer to the principles that the manager upholds and advocates. Qualities and behaviors refer to personal attributes that make a person an authentic leader in the organization. These values, behaviors and qualities in management process include being of integrity, promoting open communication, teamwork and managing organizational change. In communication, the values and principles needed include the ability to foster communication throughout the organization. In nursing management practice, individuals must demonstrate application of key values, behaviors and principles in caring and ethics and this entails being supportive, upholding the professional code of conduct and being of integrity. The issue of orientation and values will be discussed. Orientation is based on the value to promote personal growth and to help the staff attain their desired levels in the professional. Other strategies of enhance the performance of nurses and empowering them is to delegate responsibilities, offer periodic retraining and carry out employee surveys. The paper will be concluded by a metaphor of what is the vision for best practice in nursing management. In this, ten salient areas that managers should uphold are presented and they include be a firm decision maker, fostering teamwork, ability to communicate well, ability to manage conflicts, stress and crisis. The other areas include be a person of integrity, promote individual growth and that of the overall group, empowering the team and emotional and cultural intelligence. Introduction Nurses operate in an environment having diverse workforce and patients from varying backgrounds. Effective management of the

Describe the global issue of TB and the impact it has on the health Assignment

Describe the global issue of TB and the impact it has on the health system of the most affected region - Assignment Example It is third biggest cause of death, after HIV/AIDS and ischemic heart disease in the age group of 15-59 years. There are many undeniable reasons to urgently improve TB control. While millions of people transverse countries and continents every day by crossing borders, global security is at stake. Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne, potentially fatal infectious disease, acquiring pandemic proportion affecting almost all countries, is indeed a major global health concern. A third of the world’s population carries latent TB infection, which can appear at any time as symptomatic and at times life threatening disease when the immune systems of the infected persons are compromised. While many will never become ill, those who get are often suffer due to inadequate and incomplete treatment with an undesirable outcome because of their vulnerable and fragile health systems. A major cause of death, TB ranks as the eighth leading cause of death in low and middle income countrie s. It is third biggest cause of death, after HIV/AIDS and ischemic heart disease in the age group of 15-59 years (Lopez et al. 2006). TB, generally, is a curable disease; people with drug-sensitive type can be cured in six months. However, treatment of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) that are resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most important first-line drugs used in treatment of TB, is really challenging. There is around 0.4–0.5 million cases of MDR-TB each year. It requires use of second-line drugs that are costlier with severe side-effects, and treatment has to continue for longer period may be up to two years. Even then prognosis is not always very good for, with success rate of 50% to 70% (WHO 2010). Countries most affected by TB and populations most at risk According to the WHO (2010) each year, there are around 9 million new cases of TB, and about 2 million deaths due to TB infection. Almost every country of the world is affected by the TB, however, most cas es (85%) occur in Asia (55%), and Africa (30%) with India and China alone account for 35% of all cases. Of all the world’s TB cases, 80% of the cases are reported from 22 countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Vietnam and Zimbabwe), which are known as high-burden countries (HBCs) and have been given special attention in TB control (WHO 2010). Patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, TB infection is more fatal though such incidence is low, just over 10% of the TB cases that occur each year are among people living with HIV. Africa alone has 80% of such cases. The HIV epidemic caused a major rise in TB cases in Africa during the 1980s and 1990s with highest numbers reached in 2004, and have since begun to decline. There were around 1.3 million deaths fr om TB among HIV-negative people and around 0.4 million deaths from TB among HIV-positive people in 2009 (WHO 2010). TB is not restricted to low and middle income countries; it has affected the United States as well. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s (2010) report in 2010, a total of 11,181 (a rate of 3.6 cases per 100,000 population) tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported in the United States which was a

War and the pity of war Essay Example for Free

War and the pity of war Essay Owens use of the word pity in this quotation immediately reveals his opinion of war. In the dictionary pity is defined as sorrow and compassion aroused by anothers condition or something to be regretted. Owen incorporates both of these definitions into his poetry when describing war. I intend to concentrate on the various devices Owen uses to convey his opinion of War in three of his poems, Disabled, Mental Cases and Exposure. The titles of two of his poems, Disabled and Mental Cases tell of the effect that Owen believes the war to have on those who fought in it. He believes that it has a detrimental, crippling effect on such people and that many lose their sanity because of it. Owens poem Mental Cases focuses on those people who survive the war but are confined to a mental asylum because of it. He uses words such as misery, tormented, hideous and madness to describe the mental state of these men. Owens poems give the distinct impression that the men involved in it are constantly plagued by memories of those that they have killed. Owen writes effectively and truthfully about this because he fought in World War One himself. In Exposure the soldiers imagine the bodies of their comrades impaled upon wire: we hear mad gusts tugging on the wire, Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles. This shows that their thoughts always return to those who have died in the War. Owens use of the word mad is an attack on the cruelty and irrationality of War. In Mental Cases the survivors are described as purgatorial shadows. Purgatory was considered to be a place somewhere between heaven and hell, a place of indecision, an eternal hell. These people in the poem are experiencing a living hell. In fact, later in the poem Owen says that people who walk amongst these tortured souls feel as though they are walking hell. The description of the mental patients as shadows indicates that the War has turned them into apparitions who barely brush the boundaries of existence. These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished. This shows that the men are in fact being tortured by the memory of those they have killed in the war. In the quotation the dead people have been personified. This makes them seem more like one body rather than many individual men. By depriving the dead of their identity the mental cases are able to lessen some of the guilt that they feel, and the extent of the carnage incomparable is easier for them to comprehend. Having ended the line preceding it with a question, Owen starts the above line with a hyphen, to give the effect that he is answering the question. In the first paragraph of Mental Cases the identity of the men is repeatedly questioned. The above line provides these men with an identity Owens attempt to pay homage to all those who served in the War. The lack of appreciation for those men involved in the war is something that Owen often incorporates into his poems. For example in Disabled the young man is not commended by anyone other than a religious figure who thanked him for his efforts in the War. The word thanked is printed in italics to convey the mans (and therefore Owens) bitterness at this lack of appreciation. Similarly in Exposure it is said that those soldiers lucky enough to return home soon find that their families and friends have moved on without them: on us the doors are closed. This shows that Owen believes that the War cuts every man off from the rest of the world. The men have experienced something so terrible that no one else can sympathise with them, including their families. It should be clear to anyone reading Owens poems that he associates the War with pain and suffering. In Exposure he suggests that the impact of the War is so huge that even nature begins to become cruel. Owens association of the unkind weather to the cruelty of the War could be described as pathetic fallacy. The merciless iced east winds that knive us Owens use of the word merciless is typical of the vocabulary he commonly uses to describe a War that he views as callous and unrelenting. He says that the wind knives the soldiers, which is a violent human action, and he later describes it as mad. Such description is more suited to the description of a living thing and therefore Owen almost personifies the wind. In Disabled Owen dwells on the debilitating effect the war has on a young boy. He is changed from a handsome man for whose face an artist was silly into an insecure old man who will never feel again how slim girls waists are. The poem focuses on this mans life before and after the war in order to make the change in his life from good to bad seem more dramatic. The picture that is conjured in the readers mind by Owens poetry is lacking in colour. The image formed in the readers mind are grey bland and empty, not at all alive or vibrant. They therefore can represent the lives of those involved in the war. In Disabled the mans life before the war is described using colourful words. Trees are light blue and his blood is purple (the colour purple is considered to be prestigious, and therefore may be an indication that courage coursed through his veins before the war ruined him). After the war, his world becomes dull and grey. He wears a ghastly suit of grey (note the use of the word ghastly to represent the horror of the War). In Exposure a personification of dawn attacks the ranks on shivering ranks of grey men. This lack of colour is explained in Disabled, when Owen states: hes lost his colour very far from here, Owen explains that war strips the colour and life from all those involved in it. Owen often uses alliteration in his poetry to add effect. For example in Exposure: Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous. The repeated s sound in this line makes the reader feel that he/she can hear whispering. In Mental Cases the line: Rucked too thick for these mens extrication uses a lot of harsh ck sounds. The line is referring to the huge amount of human squander, and therefore such harsh sounds make the mood increasingly dramatic. Owens use of the word squander shows that he views the death of so many men in the war as wasteful and pointless. Similarly in Disabled the young man says that he threw away his knees. By using the word threw Owen shows that the man acted recklessly, wasting the gifts that he would not appreciate until he was without them. In Exposure there are many questions asked that Owen does not answer in the poem. For example What are we doing here? and -Is that why we are dying? The men in the poem are questioning the point of their fighting in the war. The fact that they are so unsure of their existence is pitiful. The rhyming and rhythm in Owens poetry is not always regular. Because it is satisfying for people to hear an perfectly rhyming poem with a regular beat, Owen makes sure that his work is not satisfying to the human ear. The almost disjointed manner in which many lines read makes the poems disconcerting, thus the war is less enjoyable to read about. Owen also achieves this dissatisfaction by varying the structure and length of the passages in his poems. For example in Disabled the length of each passage varies greatly. More time is spent reflecting on the young mans past, which gives the reader the impression that the man is regretful. The paragraphs concerning his present life are relatively brief and to the point, showing the extent to which his life has been cut up by the War. Owen uses para rhyming in Exposure, keeping the constanents of the rhyming words the same but changing the vowel sound. This technique is not satisfying to the human ear and therefore ensures that the reader feels troubled about what he/she is reading, i.e. the war. The rhyming and rhythm of Mental Cases is more regular. Therefore in order to ensure that his reader does not feel comfortable with what he/she is reading, Owen makes use of stronger, more shocking imagery such as leering skulls and men wading sloughs of blood. Owen also disrupts the order of the poem to some extent by starting lines with hyphens and punctuating the piece with questions such as but who these hellish? Owens message to his readers is that war is horrific. However the propaganda for the First World War during Owens time did not reveal such horrors, therefore many people joined for the wrong reasons. In Disabled the young man: thought of jewelled hilts For daggers in plaid socks. Owen wanted to reveal this to be a misconception of war. To me, Owens poems convey a strong sense of regret. In Disabled the young man ruins his life simply to please the giddy jilts. Because of this the man is eventually forced to: take whatever pity they may dole. Owens use of the word dole seems as though the people doling the pity are insincere, and it makes the man sound bitter and resentful. It is possible that the young man in this poem is a figurehead of Owen himself, who spent time in Craiglockhart War Hospital having been severely injured during the war. The above quotation uses the one word that Owen directly associates with war: pity. In Exposure the soldiers constantly ask questions, almost as though they are vulnerable (exposed) and in need of guidance. They are despairing and definitely regretful: We cringe in holes. This animal-like action reveals the soldiers shame at what they have been reduced to. They do not try to glorify or even justify their actions. They are forced to accept them. In Mental Cases there is no regret expressed on behalf of the mental patients until the very end of the poem. Throughout the poem the mental patients are described as purgatorial shadows and do not appear to have the state of mind to by conscious of their surroundings. However at they end they are described as: Pawing [those] who dealt them war and madness. This shows that they resent those people who caused them to end up as mental cases.

Literacy As Social Practice To Aid In Teaching Education Essay

Literacy As Social Practice To Aid In Teaching Education Essay The world has changed profoundly over the last two decades, and many of our longstanding notions about literacy need to be challenged. As a result, the definition of literacy is neither a singular or universal one, and it is often defined in contradictory ways. It is recognised that the teaching and learning of literacy is a major responsibility of the schools. While some children have some knowledge of literacy acquired before formal schooling, all will need the opportunities for learning to read and write that school provides. The term literacy has often been associated with the reading and writing stage of learning and it is no surprise that the way the community views how literacy is learned in schools can take vastly different viewpoints. It is important to note that the way in which it is defined will shape the kinds of policies and approaches to teaching and learning that are adopted by the field of education. Olsons definition focuses on literacy as a cognitive model, which is needed for work, education and social interaction. This view prevails that literacy is a simple, learned cognitive skill that one learns to read and write just as one learns to kick a ball, ride a bicycle or make a cake. It is clearly perceived, once the skill has been mastered. Street (1985) refers this view of literacy as the autonomous literacy where those who master this skill can use it to advantage of influence and prestige. In contrast, Street contemplates that literacy should have a more social focus, such as the assumption of it contributing knowledge according to social-cultural contexts. He defines this alternative notion as ideological literacy which refers to the social conceptions and uses of literacy. This viewpoint suggests that literacy is an aspect of defining framework of society. Street (1997) extents this notion by arguing that literacy not only varies with social context and with cultural norms and discourses, but that its uses and meanings are embedded in relations of power. This suggests that literacy is what society achieves, and society is, to some extent, what literacy contributes to it. Furthermore, another view of literacy is that of critical literacy that is informed by the work of Paulo Freire (1972), who conceptualizes literacy not as reading the word but as reading the world. This advocates the emphasis of the empowering role that literacy can and should play in reshaping the way in which one lives and works. Wallace (2001) explains that the empowering potential of literacy is articulated in difference ways to encourage new literates to use literacy as a means for educational change and for the literate person to reflect on what is wrong in their world and use the enabling power of literacy to change that world. Furthermore, Wallace views this potential as a means to reshape approaches to English language teaching, not just for first language learners, but for the majority of users of English who are second language English speakers. She proposes that the variety of labels given to English in its worldwide role be replaced by what she calls literate English, one with which it is not a reduced or simplified model of English which restricts communication to basic patterns of interaction, but a global English that should be elaborated to serve global needs. Luke and Carrington (2002) discuss this further with the notion of literacy as cultural capital by suggesting how to construct a literacy education that addresses new economic and cultural formations providing our students with the ability to think critically and globally in a world that, increasingly, will require a politically and socially active citizen (NOTE, 2007). Models of Literacy In the minds of many in the community, an important function of schooling is that it teaches literacy with the teaching of literacy this is often held to be the most important thing that schooling provides. As a result, literacy remains high on the educational and political agenda at national and international levels and continues to be contested and debated. There appears to be three main models of literary which have implications for policy-making, teaching and learning; autonomous, social and critical literacy. The first is the cognitive or autonomous model, which has dominated educational policy for the last two decades especially in the UK with the introduction of the National Curriculum which then was preceded by the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) in the late 90s. Both of which attempted to transform literacy teaching in the primary and secondary school. Goodwyn and Findlay (2003) are encouraged by the aim of the NLS to demystify subject teaching and to involve all subject specialist in helping pupils become literate within each subject. However, the emphasis on the autonomous literacy model is a failure to acknowledge the ever changing nature of literacy. This skills-based view of a universal or aptitude represents the meaning of literacy in terms of limited mental operations. Therefore, if we view literacy teaching and learning as a matter of mastering certain important, but essentially basic technical skills in control of such things as the spelling and writing system, and perhaps h ow to shape simple written sentences. Literacy becomes a relatively simple and unproblematic matter, learned in the early years and then used and reused in whatever ways appear appropriate. According to Street (1995), such traditional definitions of literacy are based an autonomous model, autonomous because it is extracted from its social, cultural, and historical context. When treated as a technical skill or mental operation independent of social context, literacy is associated with consequences that have no relation to the social situations in which it is embedded. In addition, Street (1995) explains, it gives limited attention to social structures within which the concepts and specific cultures are forms. Therefore, in an autonomous model, literacy is separated from its social context and considered an independent variable making it possible to associate literacy with symbolic elements such as progress, social mobility and economic stability (Gee, 1996). In our society, the benef its for being literate has taken on mythic qualities as Street suggests this literacy myth raises false expectations for those who do become literate in comparison to the illiterate who are branded as too lazy or, even worse unable to learn. This situation enables government to shift focus away from social problems onto individual shortcoming (Street, 1996) The second model of literacy is one that avoids the pitfalls of the literacy myth by capturing the complexity of literacy practices in the social contexts that make them meaningful. Street (1996) calls this an ideological model of literary, which concentrates on the social practices of reading and writing and the ideological and culturally embedded nature of these practices. In addition, the ideological model maintains a wariness of claims for literacy and distinguishes between these claims and the actual significance of literacy for the people involved. Literacy in the ideological model looks beyond a technical definition of literacy to consider literacy practices. Rather than limiting literacy to events that involve reading and writing, Street broadens the scope to literacy practices which take into account the behaviour and the social and cultural conceptualizations that give meaning to the uses of reading and writing. This concept of literacy practices gets us away from the liter acy myth by re-inserting social and cultural context and arguing that whatever benefits come from literacy also come from the contexts in which it is embedded. The third model critical literacy is one that as Wallace (2001) explains is powerful to the extent that it offers a vantage point from which to survey other literacies. Like the ideological model, critical literacy is understood as social action through language use that develops us as agents inside a larger culture. However, it takes us beyond this in providing an active, challenging approach to reading and textual practice by the analysis and critique of the relationship among texts, language, power, social groups and social practice. It shows us ways of looking at written, visual, spoken, multimedia and performance texts to question and challenge the attitudes, values and beliefs that lie beneath the surface. It has been suggested that critical literacy links with our modern lifestyles of a rapidly changing globalised world. Changing societal structures, increasing social and cultural diversity and the marketing of ideas and products through multimedia mean that we need to think a bout literacy for lifelong learning in new ways. The way that information is received today hadnt been invented twenty years ago. The world is becoming increasingly accessible because of instantaneous communications; the corpus of print literature is expanding almost exponentially because of the number of works either being written in English not just by authors from United States or the British Commonwealth but by major authors outside these regions. The consequence is that the technology is not only bringing global English (Wallace, 2004) into daily contact, the nature of digital communication is aiding in the demise of a standard English.   Instant messaging, text messaging, and other technological forms of communication are creating new writing practices that often undermine traditional, standard English for the sake of faster, more effective communication. English is becoming more complex than ever, and our students will need to be flexible and efficient users of a vast array of discourses that isolated, drill-oriented grammar lessons simply will not teach. We need to be able to make meaning from the array of multimedia, complex visual imagery, music and sound, even virtual worlds that confront us each day in addition to written and spoken words. Changes in society are occurring so rapidly that we need to take time to think about whether they will have positive or negative effects upon our ways of living. Conclusion Lonsdale et al (2004) imply that the meaning of literacy has changed over time from an elementary decoding of words to a range of more complex and diverse skills and understandings. There is a need for these changes to be understood, against a background of economic, social, political and cultural. Literacy as a social practice should be considered in context, rather than the convention of literacy as an individual, cognitive skill. The new skills are premised on the idea that much higher order skills such as critical thinking are now needed by all students. Goodwyn et al (2003) suggest that students once needed literacy to be told what to do; now they need it to know what to do without being told. Street (1985) implies that Ideological literacy requires that we view literacy as much more than the ability to decipher or encode messages on paper. We have to view literacy in the dynamic contexts of politics, social change, development, education, religion, philosophy, confrontation, and even war. Practitioners of critical literacy have forcefully made the point that literacy is a mechanism of political control as well as a tool for liberation. These views of literacy are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they represent points on a continuum between action and system. At one extreme, autonomous literacy is viewed as something isolated from everything else, as a personal skill or characteristic. At the other extreme, it is seen almost as a primal element in the construction of reality. (SIL, 1999) The teaching of critical thinking plays a central role in the teaching of critical literacy. As the world becomes more complex, increasingly flattened, and, one might argue, ever more interesting and challenging, our students must be prepared to enter it as competent, thoughtful, and agentive readers and communicators. In order to prepare them effectively, we as literacy educators must make changes to literacy curricula that traditionally view knowledge making and communication as straightforward, text-based, and individualized, a perspective that was only appropriate before the recent explosion in communicative technologies and resulting economic, social, and cultural realities. To prepare students who can be active and effective world citizens able to make thoughtful decisions and solve global problems, we must first help them to be critical, meta-aware thinkers and communicators. (NOTE, 2007) A consequence of these views of literacy has been that specialists in the field have become more aware that literacy, in both theory and practice, is more than a simple technical skill. Literacy, by itself, does not lead to health, wealth, happiness, and national development. Literacy is but one element in the development process. The other elements must be included if developmental aspirations are to be attained. (SIL, 1999) Word count: 2063

History And Contributions Of Helicopters History Essay

History And Contributions Of Helicopters History Essay The helicopter has earned a stout reputation as a workhorse for the myriad of tasks that they can perform. The ability of rotary wing aircraft to be able to not just fly in forward and reverse but to remain stationary in flight has helped American aviation in both the civilian and military realms. Tasks that would have previously required many more resources to complete or put additional workers at an increased risk have now been placed in the helicopters lap. Rotary wing aviation may be young in practical applications but the technology is not new. American aviation would be augmented not by space age marvels but from technology based off of an ancient toy. History Ge Hong It is thought that the first instance of a man-made rotary wing device dates back to ancient China. Around 400BC a man by the name of Ge Hong had noticed how a sycamore seed fell to the ground in a circular fashion. Using the sycamore seed as inspiration he built a toy called the bamboo dragonfly. It was a crude rotor system that featured feathers attached to a center stick. When spun in the hand the wings would lift the toy up and out of the users hands (Gibbs-Smith, 1962; Samuels, 2006). Leonardo da Vinci The next major instance of rotary wing design comes from the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci. In 1483 da Vinci had designed what was called the aerial screw (Samuels, 2006). Though it is not believed to have been built, the design for this crude helicopter did incorporate an onboard power unit (Gibbs-Smith, 1962). Some of his writings would go on to highlight the importance of some of the aspects of modern aerodynamics we understand today: center of gravity, center of pressure, and streamlining (Aerospace: The Flight of Discovery, 1992). Sir George Cayley Sir George Cayley, known as the father of modern aerodynamics, had also studied the design of helicopters. Cayley had designed and built an unpowered helicopter glider that did fly, albeit only a few feet (Tucker, 2010). This was done using a design based upon an earlier helicopter toy created by Frenchmen Launoy and Bienvenu which took their design ultimately from those ancient Chinese toys (Gibbs-Smith, 1962). He felt that the original design could be perfected. His new designs would feature counter-rotating blades to help with the torque produced by a single rotor (Seddon, Newman, Seddon, 2011) Sir George Cayley has been credited as stating To be of ordinary use, they [flying machines] must be capable of landing at any place where there is space to receive them, and of ascending again from that point (Gibbs-Smith, 1962). This would sum up precisely what helicopters should and would do. Igor Sikorsky Next we jump ahead to the 1930s with Russian immigrant Igor Sikorsky. Sikorsky had already established himself in aircraft design and construction through the S-38 clipper seaplane used extensively by Pan American Airlines as well as various other designs (Ingram Stansell, 2010). He had dreamed for a long time of creating a rotary wing aircraft and had studied Leonardo da Vincis designs (Turner, 2000). A German designer had created the first manned powered helicopter but it would be Sikorsky that would make the first mass produced design (Seddon, Newman, Seddon, 2011). His VS-300 would be the first of Sikorskys helicopters and through military support would become the R-4, a design using a single main rotor and a single tail rotor (Turner, 2000; Aerospace: The Flight of Discovery, 1992). Designs previous to this had two main rotors in tandem in order to counteract torque generated by a single rotor (Ingram Stansell, 2010). The Sikorsky R-4 would be one of the first designs to be u tilized in a theater of war. The U.S. Army and British Army would use them towards the end of WWII for rescue of downed aircrew in the Burma theater (Turner, 2000; Tucker, 2010). Civilian Applications We have seen how the modern design of helicopters progressed from simple toy to complex flying machine. The genie was out of the bottle and the capabilities were not lost on civil aviation in the U.S. The civilian populace has seen the helicopter used from rescue to construction work and agricultural use. It has helped to save countless lives and increase companies profits alike. Medical and Lifesaving The medical field has used the helicopter extensively in life-saving ambulance duties. With the introduction of helicopters first responders could now reach the scene of an accident in less time than a ground based ambulance. It would also allow rescuers to access areas that are either too remote or too distant (Chandrakanth Bangalore, 2011). A good example of this would be medical rescues from offshore oil rigs (Ozdamar, 2011). These air ambulances would carry all necessary lifesaving equipment to treat trauma patients enroute to the hospital for further care. Over the last few decades the number of helicopters being utilized for civilian air ambulance has increased to nearly 900 (Chandrakanth Bangalore, 2011). This increase in response time allows more lives saved through rapid treatment during what is known as the golden hour (Chandrakanth Bangalore, 2011). This is the critical time for a trauma patient to receive advanced care and surgical intervention to prevent long-term dam age to vital organs (Golden hour, 2009). Besides carrying patients onboard the helicopter, it can also be utilized to carry supplies for disaster relief on an external cargo hook. This can allow a greater amount of needed supplies, such as vaccines, to reach those in need than a ground vehicle can. This is especially true if the roads to access the disaster area are impassable (Ozdamar, 2011). Cargo Lifting It is from this external cargo capability where civilian aviation gains great use. Construction firms have used helicopters to aid in building construction where cranes might not be optimum or even possible. Igor Sikorsky again saw the potential of the helicopter in the cargo lifting role and designed what would become the crane helicopter or Skycrane (McKenna). During a dissertation Sikorsky would mention the need for a helicopter of this particular type to transport items that when preassembled were too bulky to transport by other means. His aim was to be able to deliver items that were preassembled and ready to use thereby cutting down the overall construction time required (McKenna). One incident that showcases the need for helicopters, as well as those with cargo capabilities, would be in December of 1967. A Chevron offshore oil rig experienced an emergency and required a replacement 8,000 pound hydraulic pump be delivered to restart operations. At the time the weather was foul and would not permit normal sea-bound delivery (which on a normal day could take up to 26 hours). Within 22 minutes a Skycrane had delivered the much needed pump and restored operations which in turn saved Chevron financially (McKenna). Utility Companies The electrical utility industry would utilize the unique capabilities of the helicopter but not for its cargo capability. Electric companies would seize the helicopter to perform daunting maintenance on high-power lines. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which contains a seven-state service territory and over 17,000 miles of power lines, has used helicopters for electrical line maintenance and inspection, setting poles, and stringing wire (Herring Feerst, 2005). This availability helps to reduce maintenance times and costs using minimal crew. This is critical especially in times of severe weather when needing to inspect and repair power lines. The TVA can get maintenance teams, with tools, to any spot on the line in quicker time than a truck and give the electrician a more stable platform to work from at height (Herring Feerst, 2005). Agriculture Farmers have used aircraft from an early start to help control their crops. Through the use of crop dusting farmers were able to keep pests from consuming crops and destroying a valuable source of income. Crop dusting would also be used to fertilize crops. Aviation had been seen as a time saver in that an airplane could cover a greater area in less time than a traditional machine. Helicopters would enable farmers to have even greater and more even coverage when spraying crops thanks to the ability to hover and enter tight, confined areas (Aerospace: The Flight of Discovery, 1992). The downwash created by a helicopters rotor system would be the key to an even distribution of chemicals. With this the chemicals would be dispersed more evenly to include the underside of plant leaves. Another of the advantages given a helicopter over an airplane is that a helicopter can refill at the farm without having to make a return trip to an airfield, thus saving time (Aerospace: The Flight of Disco very, 1992). Military Applications The U.S. military has always looked for what the next great weapon can be. The helicopter was certainly one of those. Almost as soon as Igor Sikorsky produced the R-4 in quantity the U.S. military has found ways to implement them to great success. Much like their civilian counterparts the military helicopter has been used in lifesaving, transportation of personnel and cargo, but also with a new combat role. The helicopter gunship has become an indispensable tool in the U.S. militarys arsenal. Medical Evacuation Before weapon technology advanced and military planners knew what helicopters really could accomplish they were being used as a rescue platform. Towards the end of WWII the U.S. used the Sikorsky R-4 to rescue flyers that were downed in the water or in other hard to reach areas in the Burma theater (Turner, 2000). This was normally accomplished through the use of PBY-4 Catalina seaplanes. The R-4 helicopter could get to those pilots that were in the dense jungle or near a coastline. This capability would decrease the amount of time that both the downed flyer and the rescue aircraft were subject to engagement or capture by the enemy. Also in 1944 an R-4 (belonging to the Coast Guard) helped to deliver blood plasma to sailors wounded during an explosion aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer (Seddon, Newman, Seddon, 2011). From these moments in the waning days of WWII the helicopter would always be seen as a method of saving lives on the battlefield. During the Korean War a Bell design would earn the moniker of Angel of Mercy. The Bell H13 (Bell 47) was utilized extensively to rescue wounded soldiers from the battlefield and deliver them to Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (Seddon, Newman, Seddon, 2011; Driscoll, 2001). Thanks largely to the use of helicopters the mortality rate during the Korean War was 2.4%, the lowest to date for any major war (Driscoll, 2001). From the WWII, to present day conflicts helicopters are still widely used by the U.S. military for medical evacuation contributing to continued low mortality rates. The Bell H13 would be replaced by the Bell UH-1 Huey and eventually the Sikorsky H-60 series. Cargo and Utility Helicopters The Korean War was the first war where the U.S. military found widespread use for the helicopter. The helicopter would be used for artillery spotting and observation giving the observer a better view of the battlefield for calling in artillery support. Unlike the fixed wing counterpart the helicopter could loiter for longer and operate from bases closer to the frontline (Samuels, 2006; Tucker, 2010). Ground based combat units would come to utilize helicopters to transport not only personnel but much needed equipment by helicopter. With the use of helicopters ground commanders could reach areas previously unreachable through ground transportation or at least risk to lose valuable resources in effort. Helicopters could airlift artillery pieces to hilltops to quickly aid in ground support from high ground or deliver troops far behind enemy lines (Samuels, 2006). The war in Vietnam would become largely known as a helicopter war due to the extensive use of helicopters to wage war. It was from this war that much of modern rotary wing warfare doctrine was derived. Though the U.S. Marine Corps had first pioneered airmobile helicopter warfare during the Korean War it wouldnt be until the Vietnam War that this practice was employed in a wide spread fashion (Tucker, 2010). Cargo would follow closely behind. Helicopters that were designed with cargo transport as a primary mission were entering the scene for much the same reason. In order to deliver crucial supplies to remote locations in substantial quantity the U.S. would use helicopters such as the CH-54 Tarhe (Sikorsky Skycrane), UH-34 Choctaw, SH-3 Sea King, CH-47 Chinook, and its smaller cousin the CH-46 Sea Knight (Tucker, 2010; Polmar, 2012). The CH-54 had a payload capacity of upwards of 20,000 pounds depending on the model (McKenna). Heavy lift helicopters could deliver artillery, light tank s, or even bridges to the frontlines. Very little was beyond the capability of the CH-54 (McKenna). To demonstrate the versatility of cargo aircraft the U.S. Navy utilized first the UH-34 then later the SH-3 for retrieval of crewmembers from the ocean as well as retrieval of NASAs Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space capsules after re-entry and splashdown (Polmar, 2012). Gunship The Vietnam War also saw the first uses of the gunship in combat. In previous wars the close combat support role was left to low flying propeller airplanes. The U.S. military found that helicopters could be a weapons platform given the ability to hover or operate in confined spaces without needing an improved airfield to conduct operations. Initially the U.S. military would use existing airframes such as the Bell UH-1 and attach offensive armament such as rockets and grenade launchers. Though crude it proved the gunships worth and would lead to development of more advanced purpose built gunships such as the Bell AH-1 Cobra, the first attack helicopter (Tucker, 2010). So important and versatile was the AH-1 Cobra that the U.S. Marine Corps still utilizes the Cobra today. It has gone through several avionics upgrades to meet current military aviation demands (Update on Cobra-Huey upgrade program, 1996). As technology advanced, with it too was the gunship. Using lessons learned from Vietnam the military looked for a new attack helicopter with even more capabilities. One of the early designs was the AH-56 Cheyenne. It could fly over 200 knots while carrying TOW anti-tank rockets and a 30mm cannon. It would also utilize advanced targeting systems. Ultimately this program would be cancelled in part to budget constraints (Prouty Yackle, 1992). The next gunship to be developed and used to this day would be the Boeing AH-64 Apache. It can fly 180mph, up to 1,100 miles in range, and carry 2.75 inch rockets, Hellfire anti-tank missiles, and a 30mm cannon (Aerospace: The Flight of Discovery, 1992). This airframe would become a flying tank killer. Presidential mission and the Osprey One mission that showcases how important rotary wing aviation has become to the U.S. was the decision to use helicopters to transport the President of the United States, the First family, and other members of government. The U.S. Marine Corps squadron HMX-1 has largely used the VH-60N, and the VH-3D (Corps unveils new presidential helicopter, 2005). Both of these were modified from existing airframes in service in the military to serve in Very Important Person missions. The U.S. Marine Corps has looked into replacing their current fleet of presidential helicopters with the MV-22 Osprey (Sanborn, 2011). The Osprey is already currently in use with the U.S. Marine Corps. This new airframe blurs the line between airplane and helicopter through use of large tilting engines and rotors. The MV-22 can start as a helicopter with the engines rotated vertically and mid-flight rotate the engines horizontal to fly as an airplane. This allows the Osprey great versatility in regards to areas of operation and mission types (Hanifen, 1995). The U.S. Marine Corps can use this airframe to transport cargo and equipment much like an airplane or cargo helicopter or insert a larger number of troops compared to the modernized UH-1 still in use by the U.S. Marines (Hanifen, 1995; Update on Cobra-Huey upgrade program, 1996). The U.S. Air Force has kept an eye on the Osprey as a contender for use as a combat search and rescue platform as part of its CSAR-X program thanks to its capabilities (Rotorcraft report, 2009). Summary and Conclusion Helicopter design started with humble beginnings as a toy in ancient China. Through the ages it has progressed to be a vital part of both civil and military applications. It has served in as many roles as the pioneers of the field can think of them. Countless lives have been saved by use of helicopters. Stranded mountain climbers and hikers or even people stranded due to natural disasters have come to expect rescue as a norm when before helicopters they would have been left to their own for survival. The U.S. military has seen helicopters as a vital tool to bring the war to the enemy regardless of terrain. With them the military can press the attack from a closer distance bearing powerful weaponry and just as easily ensure wounded receive critical care in a timely manner. Mortality rates are at their lowest thanks in part to the ability to transport wounded quickly from the battle to the hospital. Next on the horizon are unmanned aircraft to do those missions deemed dull, dirty, or dangerous. The hover capability of unmanned helicopters lends itself to observation, attack, or resupply missions without exposing crews to unnecessary risk. Same can be said for any utility companies that join in the project. Use of unmanned helicopters for wire inspection or even police duties would decrease the work hour cost while maintaining the same workload.

A look at Nora’s transformation from beginning to end Essay -- Literar

Many human beings, in particular women, are always searching for the especial individual and do anything in order to get what they expect. Love is a crazy feeling in which the heart leads the way and sometimes we can consider those in love under a spell. The brain has no saying and common sense is lost against this so-called â€Å"feeling of love.† I will be discussing the play a â€Å"Doll’s house† by Ibsen and in particular the transformation that Nora undergoes throughout the play until she recognizes that she is not in love with Torvald. This play was set in a time were women were dependent on man most of the time and were not able to define themselves. The only duties given to a wife, like Nora, were to be a good House wife, Take care of the children and satisfy Torvald. Hence, the name of the play â€Å" A doll’s house† in which Nora is depicted as a doll from beginning to the point in which she finds the real world that she lives in and deci des to run away. Nora Helmer, a beautiful woman that has dedicated the past years to be the perfect house wife and admirable woman to society. Her life has been filled with good clothes, enough to live with and the good reputation that goes along with being married to a prospective bank manager. Nora’s early years belong next to her father and the pampering and dependency began, she was then passed down to her current husband, Torvald. In the play we are introduced to Kristine, an old friend of Noras and a character that allows us to witness the way Nora speaks about her marriage life and it ultimately shows the dependency of Nora to Torvald. Nora greets Kristine and goes to talk all wonders about her family. Kristine announces that she has neither children nor husband and this to Nora is unbelieva... ...her head that she was nothing but a doll, someone who would do as told and a human being without any independence. This has made her realize she is not in love with Torvald and what she used to call home, is not home anymore. She has to get away and make up her own life, what she wants of it and how she wants to be treated. Indeed, Nora has transformed into a woman of choice and one that can make her own decisions in regards to her life. She has become free from Torvald and his â€Å"perfect life† and realized that maybe they were never in love. Nora becomes aware of the possibility that Torvald was never in love with her but with the idea of being in love with her. She never had a saying in their lives and the children’s life. She had no meaning to her life and she realizes at the end of the play that she needs to educate herself first and then take care of others.

Alcohol, Violence and Crime in America :: essays research papers

Alcohol is a dominant tool that controls the human’s body when it takes over its major systems. In addition, alcohol has a huge impact on people’s behaviors so that their behaviors go out of their control and could lead to things rather more serious. As a consequence of the impact of alcohol, crime rate increases dramatically under the influence of alcohol. On reason that supports this conclusion is that people who are addicted to alcohol but can’t afford buying would act aggressively to get access to alcohol by unmannered behaviors that some times could lead to serious crimes. In general, religions constitute the way of life humans should live no matter what kind of religion is that, and since the use of alcohol is either completely prohibited or not recommended, alcohol should be eliminated from any society to comply with god’s law’s just as people respect their government’s laws. However, the elimination of alcohol from a society at once is almost impossible and could result in severe incidents that could go beyond the control of the authorities. The best way to keep people away from alcohol is to make it hard enough for people to get alcohol; make them suffer to get the alcohol they need. Some of the ways a government could limit the use of alcohol is to increase its price dramatically by adding additional taxes and fees on those who sell alcohol so that its price will increase and wont be affordable for most of the people. The income of this increment should be spent on national awareness through media which would spread out the word about alcohol to people and warn them about the use of this evil product. Another restriction would be increasing the legal age of alcohol buyers from 21 to a higher age at which people would be responsible and think twice about the consumption of alcohol; a reasonable age would be around 25 I believe. Increasing the requirements of issuing alcohol licenses would limit the number of stores that sell alcohol so that people will need a bit more of time to get alcohol from a far place. In addition , limiting the quantity of alcohol sold to one individual would make him waste lots of time each time he wants to buy alcohol. Prohibition is not always the key of eliminating something from a society, but education is rather a better idea.

History of Broadway Essay

There have been many debates on whether or not Broadway musicals are considered â€Å"serious† art forms. People feel that a musical can never be taken seriously if the character is always singing sporadically, which is very unusual in real life. However, musicals have been around for quite some time now, many musicals are being adapted into major motion pictures, many children are raised on the famous Disney musical cartoons and everybody( whether they’ll admit it or not) has seen at least one musical in their lifetime and are able to sing some of the songs from it. It seems that musicals have made an impact on society but yet are still not taken seriously. The history of musicals dates back to the Greeks. It is a common known fact that the Greeks incorporated song and dance into their stage comedies and tragedies as early as the 5th Century B. C. Some used existing songs but it is known that Sophocles wrote his own. The Romans are also known for taking the Greek musicals and expanding on them. The Romans liked the idea of musicals so much that they attached metal chips to their shoes, creating the first tap shoes, so that there would be more focus on the dancing throughout the play. Of course musicals and the idea of telling stories through song and dance really became popular through the Renaissance era. During the 1700’s the two main types of plays were ballad operas and comic operas. Many people think that musicals evolved from operas however if you follow the history of musicals and operas you will learn that it is the other way around yet operas are much more respected than musicals. Musicals came to America during the mid-1800’s as saloon shows. They were also known as variety shows and consisted of everything from clowns, singers, dancers and chorus girls. In Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York (Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, New York, 1991, p. 92), historian Luc Sante, claims that variety shows were born in Manhattan’s Bowery saloons during the 1840s. One of the first and most famous variety houses was Koster and Bial’s on West 23rd Street in New York City. The variety shows were very distasteful and were later cleaned up and renamed vaudeville then in the 1900’s the shows were cleaned up even more and were then known as minstrelsy. While the minstrelsy shows were much cleaner than the original variety show they would still be considered extremely raunchy by today’s standards. Musicals later came to take the form of the misunderstood form of Burlesque performances. Burlesque shows became popular and kept America entertained from 1840 through the 1960’s. Many people identify burlesque with strippers or scantily dressed women. The burlesque shows however covered many topics of interest from Shakespeare to spoofs of the famous operas of the moment. In 1860 Burlesque made its appearance on Broadway with Lydia Thompson’s British burlesque troupe and their first hit entitled Ixion. It became clear that respectable people would pay lots of money for a sexy performance. The theatre group would use popular songs of that time and parts of operas to perform too which made some of the audience try to say made the Burlesque show more classy and easier to relate too. Soon the offended audience members began to raise their voices in protest of the performances saying that they were extremely inappropriate and tasteless. This of course only made people more curious about the performances and the crowds began to grow for the show. With the success of the shows people began to copy them and bring them back to their own communities. The majority of the managers and choreographers were women and finally women were beginning to gain respect in the theatre business. Men quickly began to see the success and start their own shows. The point of the shows were to hint at the idea of the women being naked and to show as much skin as was considered acceptable. The Burlesque shows, while being popular, were considered to be the lowest form of theatre, many of the actors would move on to vaudeville shows which were considered to be the top of the line where if a vaudeville actor would appear in a Burlesque show it was considered a step down and the actor was labeled as â€Å"washed up†. Burlesque soon took on comedy routines and would make fun of the current issues that the middle and lower class were dealing with. However in the 1920’s there began a raid and the police felt the need to shut down all of the Burlesque shows which was a major hit to the Manhattan society where most of the theatres were at the time. While the Burlesque scene was popular musical comedies were beginning to rise without the help of the nudity factor. The musical comedy was born on Broadway between the years 1878-1884 by the famous producers Edward (Ned) Harrigan and Tony Hart. Harrigan would write the lyrics and songs with some of the music he had taken from his father and add them to plays that would feature characters and situations that the everyday lives of New York’s lower class. They had one particularly famous bit entitled â€Å"Mulligan Guard’s March† which started in San Francisco and was quickly spread all across the country and reached New York where it ran for over a year in the most popular theatres. With the success of their short bit they expanded into a 40 minute performance which was greatly accepted and kept playing for a month which was considered a good run for that time. Their show became so popular that it started a seven year run of different shows with Harrigan directing, producing, performing and writing the scripts and lyrics. Their shows ran with much success on Manhattans downtown streets and overpopulated theatres. People quickly saw the success and began to try to create their own versions of this new style known as musical comedies. Some had success but were quickly forgotten or overlooked with Harrigan and Hart’s success. The more light-hearted and â€Å"cheesy† musicals began to pop up all over the Broadway scene in 1940. The Broadway producers felt that with America at war and people still suffering from the Depression audiences just wanted to be entertained and no longer wanted to see their troubles and everyday situations acted out on stage because they were no longer comical. There were still a few comedies left however, one of the most popular being This is the Army a comedy which spoofed the army life. This particular play had a huge success in America and also had successful run in London. This is the Army became so popular that they even made a motion picture out of the play which earned over $9 million and donated to the Army’s Emergency Relief fund. The 1940’s were filled with famous musicals all with the hopes of just being pure entertainment and losing the idea that only the most artistic performances would be well received. Two of the most famous musical writers in the history of the business made their debut during this time, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers and Hammerstein were friends in college and both agreed that the best way to approach a musical was with the lyrics first, which was rare for the time. When the two were ready to debut their loved musical Oklahoma the Theatre Guild was bankrupt so the two took the major decisions in their own hands. They took some major risks one being to not open with a big catchy theatrical number and the other being to cast smaller unknown actors instead of the guaranteed success of the more popular actors of the time. The play was something that had never been seen before; it was a well rounded well written musical. On opening night in New York the show however was not sold out, since there were no major known stars, however the show quickly became a huge success. The success of Oklahoma changed the quality of musicals forever. It was soon realized that musicals could contain more than just â€Å"cheesy† dance numbers; musicals could contain drama, comedy and all around quality acting. Future musicals had higher standards and required better and more talented actors. The actors had to be skilled dancers, singers and actors. There was a lot of talent discovered all over the theatre community during the 40’s while everybody tried to compete with and follow the success of Oklahoma, however most of the talent was quickly forgotten. The 1950’s were soon open the musical community and show tunes were considered the main source of entertainment. Even the smaller musicals that did not have the most talented actors could be very profitable because the audience hoped to discover another winning team like Rodgers and Hammerstein. The fantastic duo were still ruling the musical world of Broadway, at one point they had 4 successful musicals running at the same time. In 1959 one of the most famous musicals of all time was created and praised, The Sound of Music. Everybody loved the music and the story and it was an immediate success, however it is also remembered as their last great success together as Hammerstein died just a few months after it opened which brought the end of their ruling. The 60’s and 70’s also had some great success in the musical worlds with the idea of bring rock music to the stage. In the 60’s show tunes could not be found in musicals and were replaced by edgier rock songs. The 60’s are of course known as the years of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll and those ideas were put into story lines and portrayed on the stage. The 70’s had two major hits with Grease and The Wiz. However, the 70’s ended on a bad not for musicals because many people were tired of the shoddy performances being produced and their change in taste of music. There were some other great musicals that were produced in the 70’s but unfortunately they went overlooked. At the end of the decade revivals were beginning to pop up with famous actors playing the major roles in the musicals to boost up ticket sales. In 1980 the success of Broadway was revived with the huge success of Cats. The success and word of Cats spread all across the world and totally revived the spirit of the musical theatre. Many American composers debuted works after the success of Cats but sadly many failed. One of the biggest failures, Carrie, made its debut in 1988 which many considered the death of the Broadway rage of musicals. The main source of entertainment was now and movies and nobody paid much attention to Broadway anymore. Broadway however had one major hit left in The Phantom of the Opera. Andrew Lloyd Webber gave Broadway one last major success which is still running today. The Phantom brought in a new crowd and sold tickets at outrageous prices that the audience did not mind paying for at all, they also spent ton of money on the souvenirs. The 90’s saw a pretty bad drought in musical success except for the mid-90’s when it seemed like musicals were back with the success of Rent, Chicago, Cabaret and Bring in Da’ Noise, Bring in Da’ Funk. The success carried into 2000 and is still working it’s was on a comeback with a hot streak. With the huge success of Chicago being adapted into a major motion picture with huge stars like Rene Zellweger, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs and Catherine Zeta-Jones a new interest and spark was ignited in musicals. The theatre has also seen success recently with The Lion King, Hairspray, Aida, The Producers and Mamma Mia!. Musicals have overseen many changes and has a great history of success and failures just like any other type of theatre. As stated in the beginning many children are raised on musicals and grow up surrounded by music yet musicals are not seen as serious pieces of art. While the most popular musicals are the entertaining ones that don’t deal with any major issues that doesn’t mean that they can’t be serious as well. There are many types of musicals but why does that make them less important? Should comedic plays be seen as less artistic than dramatic pieces? Musicals have just as an important background and history as plays so I feel they should be viewed just as valuable to our society as any other piece of theatrical art. While it may be unnatural for a person to just burst out into song throughout their everyday life I don’t think it’s that far of a stretch if it did happen. How many times are we reminded of a song we hear earlier that day and sing it in our head? The only real difference between musicals and everyday life is that when we do sing our songs throughout our lives they aren’t always originals, everybody around you doesn’t join in and automatically know every word and we don’t have perfectly choreographed dance numbers to go along with them, however if we did have all that I think it would make life a lot more exciting and interesting. I am personally jealous of musicals for those reasons and wish they were given more respect.