The Card Players by Paul Cézanne Special Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Special Exhibition of Cà ©zanne’s work on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York until May 8, 2011 confirms the master’s importance and solidifies his influence on modern art as a whole.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Card Players by Paul Cà ©zanne: Special Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Pablo Picasso once characterized Paul Cà ©zanne ‘the father of us all’ – the â€Å"all† meaning every painter who identified with the modernist movement – and Cà ©zanne apparently â€Å"referred to himself as the Moses of Aix† (Feaver 128). Cà ©zanne is perhaps best known for his 1906 masterpiece â€Å"The Large Bathers,† a modern art essential work that served as the inspiration for Picasso’s later masterpiece â€Å"Les Demoiselles d’Avignon†. One of the paintings on displ ay in this exhibit is Paul Cà ©zanne’s â€Å"The Card Players,† which dates from 1890–92. It is oil on canvas and measures 25 3/4 by 32 1/4 inches. Cà ©zanne was in his early fifties and resided on his family estate at Aix en Provence in France at the time of its inception and execution. Aix en Provence provided the backdrop as well as the subject matter for the work; it was here that he used the local peasants employed by his family on the estate to sit for the paintings. â€Å"The Card Players† is part of the Metropolitan Museum’s Special Collection put together by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and The Courtauld Gallery based in London, England. This painting is part of an exhibition that opens with engraved reproductions that locate card playing in its historical and artistic context from Renaissance painters to Flemish and Dutch Baroque masters (Campbell n.p.). The exhibit also shows Cà ©zanne’s studies used for the Card P layers series, as well as three of his five major oil paintings that focus on card playing. The exhibit also houses portraits of some of the men who posed as the original Card Players (Campbell n.p.). In the â€Å"The Card Players,† three men sit playing cards at a table while a fourth watches from the rear of canvas smoking a pipe. Overall it is a monochromatic work: the colours stay within the blue palette, with subtle contrasts of light blues against darker blues, and colder blues that give way to warmer indigo and violet hues. Red is used to delicate effect – in the cravat of the pipe smoking spectator and upon the face cards on the table. â€Å"The Card Players† is a â€Å"single figure study,† and the cards at first glance appear to be little more than smudges (Schjeldahl 78). However upon close inspection it is apparent that the â€Å"clutter of coarse, arbitrary-seeming strokes† actually comprises flesh and blood men (Schjeldahl 78).Adverti sing Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The compilation of images seems to belong together and yet conflict and contrast with each other at the same time. The card players and pipe smoker, painted in a rich tapestry of bronzes and golds, fight the dogmatic nature of the colder blues and grays. In these paintings, the master detail reveals the painter’s obsession with reality, almost as if â€Å"Cezanne starts with a psychologically intense close-up and then steps gradually backwards† (Campbell-Johnston 15). The main draw of the work remains Cà ©zanne’s brushwork. The master was intensely exact and attempted to paint exactly as people saw, â€Å"to the testimony of eyesight,† thus the angles within the painting are slightly askew, testifying to the function of vision from the right eye as it moves to the left. The brushwork strikes bold forms into being with dark gl obs of colour, and he creates â€Å"surfaces so exciting that they seem almost to vibrate as you look† (Campbell-Johnston 15). Essentially Cà ©zanne points out to the viewer the illusion involved in the act of seeing. The net effect on the viewer of this brushwork seems simultaneously haphazard and intricately detailed, and the overall emotional impression of the canvas reflects this paradox. The viewer feels conflicting emotions while observing the canvas – the card players appear simultaneously thrilled and dejected, contented and forlorn, there and not there. Though he began as an Impressionist, Cà ©zanne doggedly worked through and surpassed Impressionism, as he was â€Å"dissatisfied with a style that sacrificed physical structure to retinal sensation.† Cà ©zanne’s goal was to find a way for painting to mirror the way of seeing, the way the human eye, optic nerve, retina and brain worked together to render meaning out of an endless series of dispa rate colours and shapes. Cà ©zanne articulated his artistic vision herein: â€Å"I want to make of Impressionism something solid and durable, like the art of the museums.† Cà ©zanne eventually grew to the stature of the â€Å"beau ideal of modernist values† (Schjeldahl 78). According to Schjeldahl, his work came to represent for the twentieth century what paintings by Raphael had represented for earlier movements in that Cà ©zanne’s paintings made â€Å"our perceptions of art inextricable from how it comes to be. Our eyes and minds, as we look, repaint the picture† (Schjeldahl 78). The exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art offers viewers a chance to see a modernist master’s work up close and personal. Works Cited Campbell, Thomas. â€Å"Audio Guide.† www.metmuseum.org. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Special Exhibitions. Web.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Card Players by Paul Cà ©zanne: Special Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Campbell-Johnston, Rachel. â€Å"Best show in London? It’s on the Cards; Cezanne’s Meticulous Studies Give his Gamblers a Human Dignity, says Rachel Campbell-Johnston.† Times [London, England] 20 Oct. 2010: 15. Web. Cà ©zanne, Paul. The Card Players. 1890-1892. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Special Exhibitions, New York. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. Feaver, William. â€Å"The Moses of Aix.† ARTnews Dec. 1995: 128. Web. Schjeldahl, Peter. â€Å"Game Change.† The New Yorker 28 Feb. 2011: 78. Web. This essay on The Card Players by Paul Cà ©zanne: Special Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was written and submitted by user Josiah Lang to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Pig-Footed Bandicoot - Facts and Figures

Pig-Footed Bandicoot - Facts and Figures Name: Pig-Footed Bandicoot; also known as Chaeropus ecaudatus Habitat: Plains of Australia Historical Epoch: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-100 years ago) Size and Weight: About six inches long and a few ounces Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Rabbit-like ears; narrow snout; long, spindly legs About the Pig-Footed Bandicoot As you can guess from its name, the Pig-Footed Bandicoot was one of the oddest prehistoric marsupials ever to grace Australias vast interior. This tiny plains-dweller had long, rabbit-like ears, a narrow, opossum-like snout, and exceptionally spindly legs with strangely toed feet, which gave it a comical appearance when hopping, walking or running. As far as is knownsince the last living individual was glimpsed over 100 years agothe Pig-Footed Bandicoot nested during the day in grass-lined burrows, and emerged at night to feed on grass seeds (though specimens in captivity enjoyed a more omnivorous diet). Its not clear exactly why the Pig-Footed Bandicoot went extinct. This tiny mammal managed to coexist, more or less, with the Australian aborigines for tens of thousands of years; most likely it was the much different farming practices of later European settlers that eroded its habitat and sources of food (it didnt help that the cats and dogs the settlers brought with them made quick snacks of the Pig-Footed Bandicoot, at least those individuals too slow to make a hasty escape). During the nineteenth century, a few European naturalists tried to study the rapidly dwindling Pig-Footed Bandicoot before it disappeared off the face of the earth. Amusingly, one adventurer went to great pains to obtain two live specimens from a tribe of Aboriginesand then was forced to eat them when he ran out of food! (See a slideshow of 10 Recently Extinct Marsupials)

Common Muslim and Arab Stereotypes in TV and Film

Common Muslim and Arab Stereotypes in TV and Film Even before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Arab-Americans, Middle Easterners, and Muslims faced sweeping cultural and religious stereotypes. Hollywood films and television shows frequently depicted Arabs as villains, if not outright terrorists, and misogynistic brutes with backward and mysterious customs. Hollywood has largely portrayed Arabs as Muslims, overlooking the significant number of Christian Arabs in the United States and the Middle East. The media’s racial stereotyping of Middle Eastern people has allegedly produced unfortunate consequences, including hate crimes, racial profiling, discrimination, and bullying. Arabs in the Desert When Coca-Cola debuted a commercial during Super Bowl 2013 featuring Arabs riding camels in the desert, Arab-American groups werent pleased. This representation is largely outdated, much like Hollywood’s common portrayal of Native Americans as people in loincloths and war paint running through the plains. Camels and the desert can be found in the Middle East, but this portrayal has become stereotypical. In the Coca-Cola commercial, Arabs appear backward as they compete with Vegas showgirls and cowboys using more convenient forms of transportation to reach a giant bottle of Coke in the desert. â€Å"Why is it that Arabs are always shown as either oil-rich sheiks, terrorists, or belly dancers?† asked Warren David, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, during a Reuters interview about the commercial. Arabs as Villains and Terrorists There is no shortage of Arab villains and terrorists in Hollywood films and television programs. When the blockbuster â€Å"True Lies† debuted in 1994, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a spy for a secret government agency, Arab-American advocacy groups staged protests in major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, because the film featured a fictional terrorist group called the â€Å"Crimson Jihad,† whose members, Arab-Americans complained, were portrayed as one-dimensionally sinister and anti-American. Ibrahim Hooper, then a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The New York Times: â€Å"There is no clear motivation for their planting nuclear weapons. They are irrational, have an intense hatred for everything American, and that’s the stereotype you have for Muslims.† Arabs as Barbaric When Disney released its 1992 film â€Å"Aladdin,† Arab-American groups voiced outrage over the depiction of Arab characters. In the first minute, for example, the theme song declared that Aladdin hailed â€Å"from a faraway place, where the caravan camels roam, where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. Its barbaric, but hey, it’s home.† Disney changed the lyrics in the home video release after Arab-American groups blasted the original as stereotypical. But the song wasn’t the only problem advocacy groups had with the film. There was also a scene in which an Arab merchant intended to hack off the hand of a woman for stealing food for her starving child. Arab-American groups also took issue with the rendering of Middle Easterners in the film; many were drawn â€Å"with huge noses and sinister eyes,† The Seattle Times noted in 1993. Charles E. Butterworth, then a visiting professor of Middle East politics at Harvard University, told The Times that Westerners have stereotyped Arabs as barbaric since the Crusades. â€Å"These are the terrible people who captured Jerusalem and who had to be thrown out of the Holy City,† he said, adding that the stereotype seeped into Western culture over centuries and is found in Shakespeares works. Arab Women: Veils, Hijabs, and Belly Dancers Hollywood also has represented Arab women narrowly. For decades, women of Middle Eastern descent have been portrayed as scantily clad belly dancers and harem girls or as silent women shrouded in veils, similar to how Hollywood has portrayed Native American women as Indian princesses or squaws. The belly dancer and veiled female sexualize Arab women, according to the website Arab Stereotypes: â€Å"Veiled women and belly dancers are two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, belly dancers code Arab culture as exotic and sexually available. ... On the other hand, the veil has figured both as a site of intrigue and as the ultimate symbol of oppression.† Films such as Aladdin (2019), â€Å"Arabian Nights† (1942), and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944) are among a host of movies featuring Arab women as veiled dancers. Arabs as Muslims and Foreigners The media nearly always portray Arabs and Arab-Americans as Muslims, although most Arab-Americans identify as Christian and just 12 percent of the world’s Muslims are Arabs, according to PBS. In addition to being sweepingly identified as Muslims in film and television, Arabs are often presented as foreigners. The 2000 census (the latest for which data on the Arab-American population is available) found that nearly half of Arab-Americans were born in the U.S. and 75 percent speak English well, but Hollywood repeatedly portrays Arabs as heavily accented foreigners with strange customs. When not terrorists, Arab characters in films and television often are oil sheiks. Portrayals of Arabs born in the United States and working in mainstream professions, such as banking or teaching, remain rare. Resources and Further Reading: â€Å"Arab-Americans Protest True Lies.† New York Times, 16 July 1994. Scheinin, Richard. â€Å"‘Aladdin’ Politically Correct? Arabs, Muslims Say No Way ⠁  - Criticisms That Kid Movie Is Racist Takes Disney by Surprise.† Entertainment the Arts, Seattle Times, 14 Feb. 1994, 12:00 a.m. â€Å"Veils, Harems Belly Dancers.† Reclaiming Our Identity: Dismantling Arab Stereotypes, Arab American National Museum, 2011.

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

Company Summary - Essay Example Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling. Microsoft has been known for its planning, organising, leading and controlling functions. Considering the most essential element of management – Planning, it has been seen Microsoft has a very strong planning process. The company’s planning is done only by the top management and all plans require to be consented by the board of directors and most essentially by Bill Gates. The plans are generally developed by the top level and then are passed down to the various departments of the company, where each of the plans is implemented. The second essential management function is organising. This function is another very essential element of the business and here the company require establishing the functions and assigning them to the respective teams. This is an essential element as it brings teams together to work towards the same goal. Microsoft pays a lot of attention to this and this is clear from the fact that the company is spread worldwide and the only focus of across the world is to ensure complete organisational success. Leading forms the third main aspect of the managerial functions of any business. The ability to motivate and lead the company to reach heights of success is where Microsoft and Bill Gates have been recognised to be the root cause for the immense success that the company faces. Bill Gates is the current chairman of Microsoft Company and has been ranked to be the wealthiest person in the world. He has been known to be one of the biggest revolutions in the computer industry. Bill Gates has built a strong image for himself and has grown to be recognised as the best entrepreneurs in the world. He has set down examples, is admired by many as well as has been criticized for his style of business (Lesinki, 2006). There have been mixed views on his style of working and he has been criticized of being anti

Major taste of technology or advancements of the world Essay

Major taste of technology or advancements of the world - Essay Example These tools included learning how to type, do power points, work excel, and surf the Internet for information. This is how I got my first major taste of technology or advancements of the world. Though technology is not only limited to computers but my first interaction with technology was way back when I first used the telephone later I also had the opportunity to use a cell phone which is another great leap by humans in communication technology and is still developing rapidly. In my opinion, technology is the development used by humans, in which they modify nature to meet their needs and wants. Most people, however, think of technology in terms of its artifacts, such as computers and software, aircraft, pesticides, water-treatment plants, birth-control pills, and microwave ovens, to name a few. But technology is more than these tangible products in my opinion. Technology has shaped the present of the human race, it is the key to development and growth. God gifted us with a prize named nature so now it's our duty to explore it and modify it in a sense that it helps us in numerous ways. Many including me sense that technology will help the humans in future for solving great complex phenomenon that are unexplained so far.

Peter Skyrznecki Essay Example for Free

Peter Skyrznecki Essay Our idea of belonging is a result of the choices that we make. We feel a sense of acceptance wherever we choose to belong. This is explored in Peter Skrzyneckis poem Feliks Skrzynecki and St Patricks showed the ides of alienation and belonging. They are shown through various techniques such as an allusion, direct speech and many more poetic techniques. Feliks Skrzynecki is a poem that shows a tribute to Peter Skrzyneckis father. Through the use of powerful and vivid imagery, the poet successfully conveys Feliks as a man who is comfortable, content and secure in his own identity. In this poem, concepts of belonging and not belonging occur within place, family, community and culture. The first stanza emphasizes the idea of belonging. Feliks sets standards of his own minds making. He is comfortable in belonging to his own world, his garden, family and cultural heritage. This is further emphasized through the use of the simile loved his garden like an only child which demonstrates the love he possessed for his garden. The garden can also be interpreted as Feliks constructed world: a place he escapes to in order to feel a sense of belonging. The garden is also the reward for his hard work. Skrzynecki’s poem ‘St. Patricks College’ displays how a sense of belonging is influenced by external forces. For someone to belong to something they must make their own decisions in life, understand their surroundings and build relationships with those around them. These qualities are lacked by Skrzynecki in ‘St. Patrick’s College’ which resulted in him not belonging. Skrzynecki was sent to this school because his mother was ‘only wanting, â€Å"what was best†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. The direct speech is a cliche as every parent wants what is best for their child. The irony of the situation was that ‘for eight years’ sending Skrzynecki to St. Patrick’s College ‘Wasn’t â€Å"for the best†. He did not understand the ways of the school which led to his lack of belonging. The repetition of the phrase ‘for eight years’ reinforces how long the alienation and detachment lasted for, the feeling of not belonging did not change for eight years. The use of the personal pronoun ‘I’ throughout the poem gives a dreary, detached tone which emphasises his loneliness. No relationships with students, teachers or anyone else at the school were formed over his time there. The time at the school was useless as highlighted by ‘I could say the lord’s prayer in Latin, all in one breath. ’ He claims that as what he received from eight years at the school, a useless skill. Skrzynecki found it so hard to belong to St. Patrick’s College because the decision to go to the school was not his own, he did not understand his surroundings and he did not build any relationships with those around him. In Conclusion the ability to belong can be affected by understanding, choices, culture, relationships and experience. In the poem â€Å"Feliks Skrzynecki† showed the sense of belonging in the respective place, like his garden. In contrast, the poem â€Å"St Patricks College† showed that Skrzynecki lacked in building any relationship with those around him. Peter Skrzynecki used various to show the alienation and belonging in the poems â€Å"Feliks Skrzynecki† and St Patricks College†.

Comparing Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now Essay -- Movie Film com

Parallels in Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In the interpretation and comparison of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now there begins to unfold a list of similarities that can be linked to Arturian legend, particularly the quest of the grail. Marlow, or Willard can be viewed as the knight who has been sent on a mythic quest, the specific task being the recovery or assassination of Kurtz, the mythic god-man linked to the Fisher King in Arthurian romance. Conrad specifically modeled his novel on these legends, while Coppola expanded on the concept, using Conrad as a stepping off point and drawing from J.G. Frazer's The Golden Bough and J. Weston's From Ritual to Romance. I will examine the questers purpose for traveling into the heart of darkness, a void in the midst of a burgeoning jungle that has become a fecund waste land. View the quester as he comes in contact with a mysterious god-man or divine king whose own demise has contributed to the demise of the surrounding atmosphere, and how Marlow, and in turn Willar d, deal with this figure, known as Kurtz. Finally I will discuss why Apocalypse Now fails as a recreation of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. top The Task of the Hero In Arthurian legend a certain task is placed, or rather imposed upon the grail hero, whether that hero be Gawain, Perceval, or Galahad. He sets out on a journey with no clear idea of the task before him, except that he, at the bidding of King Arthur, must find the grail, and that he is taking the place of a mysterious knight that set out before him but was killed. The quest of the grail eventually gives way, as the story unfolds, to the knights healing of the Fisher King (the watcher of the grail), who has fallen gravely ill and w... ... sun beats, And the dead tree gives us no shelter, the cricket no relief, And the dry stone no sound of water. Only There is shadow under this red rock, (Come in under the shadow of this red rock), And I will show you something different from either Your shadow at morning striding behind you Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust. (Eliot)    Works Cited Conrad, Joseph Heart of Darkness, New York, Penguin Books 1983 Weston, Jessie L. From Ritual to Romance, New Jersey, Princeton Press 1993 Frazer, James G. The Golden Bough(abridged version), New York, Macmillian Publishing Company, 1950 Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte d'Arthur, Oxford Press, 1967 Eliot, T.S. The Waste Land and Other Poems, New York, London, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1988      

Business Operations Strategies Essay

Cost Leadership- Cost Leadership is a way of getting a competitive advantage by finding the most efficient way of manufacturing the good or delivering the service in the industry. A cost leadership strategy is where a business aims to be the lowest cost manufacturer within its industry. Low costs can be achieved through economies of scale in production and distribution, access to cheaper raw materials or inventing an innovative way of producing a product. Visibility- Operations can be influenced with something such as what they can see from the operations in action. Service based businesses will have a higher based level of visibility, while customers will rarely see the operations process of a manufacturing based business. The implications for operations of a highly visible operations process are that the quality of labour will be significant. Operations will generally need to have well trained, highly skilled, adaptable staff that are able and willing to deal with the individual needs of customers. A close relationship with human resource will be essential. Speed is also a crucial factor in operations as customers usually have a much lower tolerance for waiting. Short time lags are important in operations between the customer ordering and the delivery. Otherwise the customer may get sick of waiting and move onto a competitor. Overheard costs- This refers to the ongoing expenses of an operating business. Overhead expenses are all costs on the income statement except for direct labour, direct materials & direct expenses. Overhead expenses include accounting fees, advertising, depreciation, insurance, interest, legal fees, rent, repairs, supplies, taxes, telephone bills, travel and utilities costs. Over-head costs can be classes under four titles such as Functional classification, Classification on the nature of expenditure Element-wise classification and Classification on behaviour of expenditure. Globalisation- Gives the consumer the opportunity to purchase products from the business will provide them with the best value for money. Globalisation is the integration of different national economies into a single market where goods and services can be traded easily. This can increase the flow of goods, services, people, finance, and information around the world. It refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people, and economic activity. Cost Based Competition- A business can keep it competitive edge by structuring a cost based competition with other businesses. A business can gain price advantage over its competitors by using operational strategies that lower costs. In this approach a business can reduce its prices lower than its rivals. This should increase the profit of sales and market share. Supply Chain Management The supply chain management includes all the businesses directly linked to one another to supply goods and services to one another. This is useful in way of a business being able to consume various resources necessary to produce a good or supply a service. Good suppliers are to be found that can provide good inputs with the best price and reliability. Technology Technology is the equipment and knowledge that are available to help businesses perform certain functions or make products. Technology is very important and very crucial in businesses. The most significant influence is on businesses that fail to keep up with the progress in technology by hanging onto equipment or operation methods where competitors have released new technology giving them an advantage. Adapting new technologies may make a business more competitive if the technology is widely adopted but it prevents the loss of competitiveness. Government based policies Government policies can be a very important influence on the operations functions of a business. They can impact on the operations function include regulation, subsidies and grants, and taxes and tariffs that encourage or discourage aspects of operations or ways the operations functions are conducted. Corporate and Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility refers to the relationship between business and the broad society and the way its relationship is perceived and managed. The focus of the responsibility is to ensure the business activities have a positive impact on society and the stakeholders in the business. These days the community have high expectations about the behaviour and the behaviour of a business. Volume Volume is that amount of a product that is produced. Sometimes a business will be better off producing more than what is needed to ensure they will have the products ready to be sold. This can work out to be cheaper in ways of getting the products made in bulk, this can be both convenient for the buyer and the seller. An example of this would be Dominos pizza. If they have their pizzas already made and cooked for people, it would be more convenient for them to just walk in and buy it straight out of the oven rather than ordering the pizza and having to wait for the usual waiting period. Quality expectations A business that is customer focussed will try to produce goods and services that will satisfy the desires of its customers. Customers always have their own idea of how a product should be and what quality it should be at. The business must keep their intentions in mind. An example of this would be at JB HIFI. A woman wants to buy a pair of ear phones. She enters the shop intending to buy a $20 headset but the shop does not have the product in her price range, the woman ends up disappointed and goes to another shop. Sequencing and Scheduling These are tools that are used to identify all steps in operations process and organise them into the most efficient way and order to complete. A key role of operations when scheduling and sequencing is to perform a detailed task analysis to determine the different parts of the entire process of making a good or providing a service. There are many factors come under scheduling and sequencing such as- What production and activities are used. – When a particular activity will occur. – How long an activity will take to finish. – What activities are independent and can therefore occur at the same time. – What activities are related so that one can occur before the other – What resources will be used etc. Legal Regulations Legal regulations are a very important influence on any business. It impacts on the operations functions of a business. Legal regulations are laws that regulate the ways things can be done. They are also important because of the potentially dangerous aspects with the use of the equipment in the business. Each State Government Have legal regulations that govern the behaviour of the employer and the employee in the work place, it is a legal requirement to provide a safe working environment. Logistics Logistics are a massive part of the functions of a business. It is a crucial aspect of the supply chain management. Logistics is important because it can be part of a source of a competitive advantage if a business can do their logistics activities more cheaply than their competitors. An example of this would be when Woolworths spent billions of dollars on overhauling their entire distribution system. This is what gave them their competitive edge over Coles. E Commerce This is one of the fastest growing aspects of supply chain management. The term E-commerce refers to the use of the internet for all aspects of commercial transactions. An example of this would be EBay. This is a website where you can buy and sell your own personal items. Businesses also use this site to sell their products too. This gives them a wider range to sell their products to all over the world. Global Sourcing Global sourcing is important in the supply chain of management because businesses are increasingly seeking raw material and component parts wherever they are cheapest. Buying and selling raw materials around the world is very useful in ways of saving money and making money. Buying raw materials from other countries may work out to be cheaper than to buy the products from the country the business is based at. Outsourcing Outsourcing is a very significant in the development in current business practises. It is a supply chain of management strategy that can provide very significant value to a business. Outsourcing is the term used when goods and services that would normally be part of the business are obtained outside of the business. Inventory Inventory is an area of operations that is undergoing significant change. It is often called stock and refers to the store of transformed resources waiting to be processed. To have an inventory can be very useful in the case of having an impulse of buyers. Having the stock already produced and ready for sale will be convenient for both the buyer and the seller. Economies of Scale (EOS) This is when the managers of a business design a factory to conduct the transformation process. They have to make the decision as to the capacity volume. Economies of scale in other words mean the expansion of a business to minimise costs through the use of high volume and production. An example of this would be Wal-Mart, they are a massive franchise and are expanding all over the world. Product differentiation The Product differentiation strategy and is a very different way of developing a competitive advantage. A product differentiation is concerned with developing products that are different from their competitors because they have benefits or attributes a customer values. This means that customers will be willing to pay more for a differentiated product. Visibility Customers appreciate being able to see what they buy and try it out before they get the product. This is an approach of having good customer service from the staff showing off the product to the interested customer. An example of this is at Athletes foot. The customer enters the shop and immediately gets attended from staff. The staff will then assist the customer in trying and showing the customer what he/she is interested in. Customer Service Customer serive is a massive part of running a successful business. With helpful staff that is able to assist you, this makes things much easier for the customer and will make them more willing to buy the product. So either way with this approach everybody wins depending on how well the customer service. Flexibility When a business is manufacturing a product or delivering a service in a dynamic environment the ability to change is important. A business must have the ability to make changes to suit the changes to keep up its competitive edge and keep up with the game. Flexibility is important for every business because businesses can fall behind and lose track of what else is happening within other businesses. Warranties Warranties are very important to customers. Potential customers often find that a number of competing products will effectively meet their needs. This is to do with products such as cars and white goods such as refrigerators, televisions etc. Warranties become an important part of the consideration in the customer’s choice. Speed Speed is a major factor within running a successful business. Customers appreciate quick service and prefer to be in and out of the shop as quick as possible. Speed refers to the time difference between a customer’s request for a good or a service to when it is actually received. Control Dependability Dependability is an important performance objective for many businesses. It means that the business is consistently good in its quality and its performance. This is a key performance indicator for all businesses. Having a dependable business will keep customers coming back for more, and will keep people talking about the reliability of the business. Environmental Sustainability Environmental sustainability is a massive concern to both the wider world and the community and of what the business has of impact on the environment. It is the ability to maintain the qualities that are values in the physical environment. – Climate chance, Water, Waste etc. Quality Assurance Quality assurance involves establishing and using a set of procedures and/or processes that will prevent product defects from occurring in delivering services. Global factors There are a number of global factors that influence operations strategies. They include global sourcing, economies of scale, scanning and learning and research and development. Global sourcing is where products are acquired outside the home country and are bought from overseas for cheaper sales. Scanning and Learning This is the competitive global environment within which many large businesses operate which is constantly changing. Technology as an example is changing at a very fast rate. Businesses need to scan and learn off other businesses what is going on in the market of other businesses.

Leadership Qualities Essay

Charisma and personality are two important traits of successful leaders. Many brilliant men and women have risen to positions of power based on technical skill and knowledge base; yet, these same people typically do not fully succeed in leadership positions unless charisma and strong personality traits shine. Without charisma and likable personalities, leaders cannot survive, inspire for long durations, and become superior leaders. The job of a successful leader is to â€Å". . . ommunicate where the business is going, why, and what the benefits will be if we accomplish what we set up to achieve (Bossidy 2007). † The best leaders communicate through charisma and strong, likable personalities. Without the ability to communicate effectively and inspire, leaders are left with good visions; no followers to get the job done; and no successes on which to build successful business. While successful leadership is certainly possible without charisma, â€Å". . . sing reasoning instead takes a lot more of what global companies don’t have anymore: time (Welch 2006). † Leadership without charisma is like traveling in a â€Å"slower, more challenging lane (Welch 2006). † In today’s business world, leaders are not afforded the luxury of time to lead companies to successes. Competition is so fierce in many industries that companies cannot afford to not have charismatic leaders that can affect immediate change. A leader must realize that having skills to execute a task is not the only requirement for successful leadership. A leader’s calling starts with evoking values; using these values to forge a vision; then finally inspiring collaborative action throughout the organization (Shenkman 2005). Charisma allows leaders to follow this path in a timely fashion and to superior successes. In all, without charisma and personality, leadership is possible, but very difficult over time. In today’s business environment, charisma is an essential quality for superior leadership in order keep up with market demands and maintain business successes.

How to Be a Good Freelance Writer

How to Be a Good Freelance Writer How to Be a Good Freelance Writer A freelance writer is a self-employed basis position that may include wide specter of writing activity. Usually, these people are not attached to one employer and work on two and more projects simultaneously. However, a freelance writer can build relations with a particular company that orders written content on a regular basis. Speaking about how to be a freelance writer, it is important to keep in mind that the job requires high self-discipline, excellent time-management skills, as the salary is heavily dependent on writer’s own productivity and motivation. Becoming a freelancer is challenging because this profession demands the ability to operate with priorities, self-organizing and constant self-improvement. Currently, there are thousands of office-based job places, but being a full-time freelance writer is not an easy thing to do. People choose this job either for part-time hobby or for an additional source of money. However, this occupation requires the specific set of skills or abilities which can help a person to be a successful freelancer, and create positive reputation and respect-worthy portfolio. First of all, being a good writer means being an expert in grammar, punctuation, and stylistic nuances. Moreover, the wide and rich vocabulary is a must for a writer, as it is the main instrument for making money. The writer’s profession requires deep expertise in the discussed topic and excellent knowledge of appropriate terminology. With preparation to becoming a freelancer a person has to consider following notes: Decide the direction to develop the text, either it is fiction or nonfiction, or even both. It is also worth mentioning that nonfiction genre, that corresponds with analytical or informative articles, is much easier to sell to people than imaginative papers. Thus, it is necessary to keep this in mind when making a choice, because in this way the writer has more job offers, consequently, more opportunities to earn money. A candidate for a freelance job should know why he or she needs this job. Whether there is a desire to write to make money for living, to get some extra money, or just for pleasure and self-education. The outcome of the choice can affect the level of efforts that a person needs to put into the freelance operations. Full-time workers apply additional force into their vocation than those who seek for extra cash. If a person has a diploma in the related field, it is important to that knowledge when necessary. In the modern freelance market, there are many people who cannot guarantee proficient expertise on specific topics. However, the academic degree can help person be a certified professional who can give the appropriate level of analysis towards specific topics. Finally, it is possible to conclude that a future writer should work on the personal portfolio. Thus, a freelance candidate should collect best-written pieces of text, however, unpublished texts are also worth the attention. However, he or she ought to adjust the portfolio for each job according to position requirements. For instance, it is not necessary to show poems if a person wants to get a job in writing analytical articles and essays in politics.

Okinawa Geography and 10 Fast Facts

Okinawa Geography and 10 Fast Facts Okinawa, Japan is a prefecture (similar to a state in the United States) that is made up of hundreds of islands in southern Japan. The islands comprise a total of 877 square miles (2,271 square kilometers) and has a population of over 1.3 million. Okinawa Island is the largest of these islands and its where Naha, capital of Okinawa Prefecture, is located. Okinawa made headlines around the world when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the prefecture on February 26, 2010. Little damage was reported from the earthquake, but a tsunami warning was issued for the Okinawa Islands, as well as the nearby Amami Islands and the Tokara Islands. There are ten important facts to know when learning about or  traveling to Okinawa, Japan: The main set of islands making up Okinawa is called the Ryukyu Islands. The islands are then further divided into three regions called the Okinawa Islands, the Miyako Islands, and the Yaeyama Islands.Most of Okinawas islands are made up of coral rocks and limestone. Over time, the limestone has eroded in many places throughout the various islands and as a result, many caves have formed. The most famous of these caves is called Gyokusendo.Because Okinawa has abundant coral reefs, its islands also have a plethora of sea animals. Sea turtles are common in the southernmost islands, while jellyfish, sharks, sea snakes, and several types of venomous fish are widespread.Okinawas climate is considered subtropical with an average August high temperature of 87 degrees F (30.5 degrees C). Much of the year can also be rainy and humid. The average low temperature for January, Okinawas coldest month, is 56 degrees F (13 degrees C).Because of its climate, Okinawa produces sugar cane, pineapple, pap aya, and has many botanical gardens. Historically, Okinawa was a separate kingdom from Japan and was controlled by the Chinese Qing Dynasty after the area was annexed in 1868. At that time, the islands were called Ryukyu in native Japanese and Liuqiu by the Chinese. In 1872, Ryukyu was annexed by Japan and in 1879, it was renamed the Okinawa Prefecture.During World War II, there was a Battle of Okinawa in 1945, which led to Okinawa being controlled by the United States. In 1972, the United States returned control to Japan with the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. Despite giving the islands back to Japan, the U.S. still maintains a large military presence in Okinawa.Today, the United States currently has 14 military bases on the Okinawa Islands, most of which are on Okinawas largest main island.Because Okinawa was a separate nation from Japan for much of its history, its people speak various languages that differ from traditional Japanese.Okinawa is known for its unique architecture that developed as a result o f frequent tropical storms and typhoons in the region. Most of Okinawas buildings are made of concrete, cement roof tiles and covered windows. Sources Mishima, Shizuko. The Okinawa Islands, Mapped Out. Trip Savvy, March 26, 2019.

EMC Certification For Laser Printer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

EMC Certification For Laser Printer - Essay Example esent satisfactory evidence from tests about their equipment complying with the requirements of the European Union EMC Directive display the CE mark on their equipment. The European Union will not permit sale or import of non-compliant equipment in the European Union and attempts to circumvent this requirement carry fines and terms of imprisonment for those involved. Thus, it is important for all those who want to sell laser printers or other similar equipment in the European Union to understand the process for issuing a declaration of compliance with European Union EMC Directive for a product. This brief report presents a discussion about fulfilling the requirements for declaring a product as EMC compliant to display the CE mark on the product. In the present age of ubiquitous computing, widespread use of electronic circuits of all kind for computation, communication and automation in close proximity to each other has meant that it is now necessary to ensure that devices containing various circuits do not affect each other adversely (Ott, 2009, Pp. 1 – 10). Electronic equipment, including equipment for interfacing with computers, must now operate in the real world environment without generating electromagnetic noise to pollute the radio frequency spectrum to affect adversely other devices or malfunctioning due to the affects of radio frequency interference from devices. The electromagnetic interference phenomenon has become a serious issue for design engineers and this issue is likely to become more serious as the proliferation of devices for various uses increases. Williams (2007, Pp. 1 – 2) states that electromagnetic interference can cause safety critical control systems to malfunction and this is the reas on why portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, are not permitted to be used on board aircrafts. In addition, high levels of electromagnetic energy can potentially cause harm to human health (Williams, 2007, Pp. 21). In view of the threat from