Wholeness and Alienation free essay sample

In this essay, I will show why his argument may be dated and no longer correct, that the desire for fame and having celebrity idols is not as alienating or detrimental as it once was, and that with the right mindset, it can actually be enriching to constantly challenge oneself, to try harder, and to reach out to more people. First, I will examine the theoretical perspective through which Stuart Ewen views celebrity culture, and I will further examine his theory of the â€Å"dream of wholeness† and why he believes it can be alienating.Next, I will briefly juxtapose Ewen’s theory to Karl Marx’s theory of the estrangement of labor, which will shed light on precisely what type of alienation to which I am referring in my argument. I will then provide a modern-day social context for these theories using statistics about celebrity culture and the demographics of those who follow it. We will write a custom essay sample on Wholeness and Alienation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Finally, I will back up my argument with excerpts from and photographic portraits of seven interviews I conducted with students who have aspirations of becoming famous. The first part of Stuart Ewen’s theory suggests that the dream of wholeness begins with a dissatisfaction with the self.In advertisements, when we see â€Å"perfection† in the images of models, we idolize these figures and subconsciously relate them to ourselves. This is silly of us to do, first of all, because stars are constantly told what to say and their photos are edited to the extreme. They are then mass-produced, at which point, Ewen suggests, the â€Å"aura† or intrinsic value of the original images are lost (Ewen 1988, 93). Still, as a result of these images, we Simonetti 2 constantly keep a tab on the way we look, and we start to see ourselves as â€Å"objects† rather than â€Å"subjects† (Ewen 1988, 89).We become more and more uncomfortable with our own skin, and in a ver y capitalist way, we thus buy products to fix what now seem to be mistakes on our bodies until we live up to the â€Å"beautiful thinghood,† or the fake perfection, of the images we see (Ewen 1988, 89). Because of these perfect, air-brushed images in the media, he argues, we are essentially dreaming of perfection in our own physical image. And because this is impossible, Ewen says, we are essentially alienated from our true selves (Ewen 1988, 91). Next, Ewen continues to focus on how celebrities affect style.He says that the â€Å"style market capitalize[s] on something ‘hot,’ to turn popular desires into demographics† (Ewen 1988, 97). When the public seems to like the clothing style on a celebrity, manufacturers make sure the style is available for the public to wear. Ewen also cleverly observes that for both middle class citizens and celebrities, the primary expression of wealth is consumption, so celebrities become models of a seemingly attainable but ultimately ridiculous way of life for the middle class (Ewen 1988, 100).Celebrity lifestyle is portrayed in movies as lavish, unrestrained, and endlessly wealthy, so these ways of life modeled for the middle cla ss tend to be very gaudy and expensive. People then start to buy knock-offs to make up for styles they don’t have, become over-obsessed with their appearance, and so on until they grow even more alienated from their true selves. Moreover, according to Ewen, capitalist consumer culture, which provides compensation for nearly any request in exchange for a sum of money, gives us all the freedom to desire (Ewen 1988, 100).As examples, if we want to look a certain way, we can buy into that image; if we want to fix the problems in our lives, we can pay others or buy products to solve those problems; and of course, if we want to be â€Å"famous,† we have (or at least we think we have) the ability to become famous. At the same time, the media constantly feeds us with images of cultural norms Simonetti 3 that dictate what we should â€Å"want,† such as clothing styles, products, services, and lifestyles-specifically, the celebrity lifestyle.We are bombarded with the notion that anyone, if he/she plays his/her cards right, can become a celebrity if they work hard and develop enough of a following. However, Ewen suggests that â€Å"becoming ‘someone’ is a gift bestowed upon people by the image machine,† so only a select few are â€Å"discovered,† and it is not nearly as easy to achieve as the middle class sometimes pretends it is (Ewen 1988, 96). Ultimately, though, our capitalist culture almost inherently forces us to imagine our lives differently, or to dream of a more â€Å"whole† life, and to strive to change our lives based on those new possibilities with which we are presented. Later on, I will refute these and a few other of Ewen’s points by examining interviews with students from my generation who, as we will see, have slightly different views about fame. Ewen believes as well that because our society makes us all feel extremely alone and our voices are seldom heard, we have more of a â€Å"desire ‘to be somebody,’† but perhaps a skewed view of the process to becoming â€Å"somebody. † (Ewen 1988, 94). This is also one of the main themes in Charles Derber’s study, The Pursuit of Attention, the first sentence of which reads: â€Å"Psychologists have treated attention as a fundamental human need† (Derber 2000, 9).If we need attention, it’s only natural for us to want to become famous, as famous people receive plenty of attention without even trying. Ewen also alludes to the image of, for example, a concert where an audience is at the feet of a celebrity, which symbolizes the â€Å"extrication [of an in dividual] from a mass of unknowns† (Ewen 1988, 95). This is a common discontent among young middle-class Americans: the tragedy of being part of the crowd–a â€Å"nobody† (Ewen 1988, 95). Success stories of â€Å"lucky breaks† and â€Å"chance meetings,† he argues, lead many who will probably never be recognized to believe that one day they might (Ewen 1988, 96).He notes that to become famous, once must find a way to stand out in institutions that are structured and have Simonetti 4 little room for individuality. The example he uses is Babe Ruth, the famous baseball player, who by simply playing the structured game of baseball became an individual by topping charts and creating statistics (Ewen 1988, 96). In a similar way, a singer, for example, can become an individual and stand out in the structure of a theory-based music industry by having a unique voice and making excellent music.In addition to our freedom of desire mentioned above, Ewen refers to Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, which presents a different way of thinking about freedom. Sartre believes that freedom is not simply being, but is maintaining â€Å"active, self-determine d engagement within the world† (qtd. in Ewen 1988, 102). Further, Ewen adds that the structures of work in America, which â€Å"are encompassed by acts which have little meaning in and of themselves,† can â€Å"fill a person with an †¦ insatiable hunger: †¦ to make meaning in one’s life† (Ewen 1988, 103).This notion that work is so dull that one becomes alienated from any meaning in one’s life is very similar to Marx’s theory on the estrangement of labor, in which he argues four key points: 1) In much of capitalist labor, man is alienated from the product of his labor because he is simply creating a product thought of by others, and being created for others. 2) In capitalist labor, man is alienated from the labor process because he is simply repeating the same actions over and over for the purposes of mass production. ) In capitalist labor, man is alienated from himself because â€Å"when he is working, [the worker] does not feel himself† (p. 3). 4) In labor, man is estranged from others in the labor process because he is working only as a means to happiness (for money, so that he can buy pleasurable commodities), instead of as happiness itself (for fun, to enjoy working with and for others) (Marx 1844). Marx’s theory of the estrangement of labor is similar to Ewen’s theory of the alienation of celebrity culture in that both labor and celebrity culture force us to aspire to a lifestyle that we do not currently have. Simonetti 5 However, Marx’s theory is about how man is alienated from his true self when he is making things for other men, while Ewen’s theory is about how man is alienated from his true self when he is consuming things made by other men. Put this way, it is a rather disheartening contrast because it implies that man is always alienated from his true self. Fortunately, though, I will show later on why Ewen’s argument may be considered slightly dated and thus no longer valid.Finally, Ewen finishes his argument about the dream of wholeness by referring to the â€Å"dream of identity† and the role of style in forming and expressing that identity. He goes on to make the connection that style fills the void described above that is created from meaningless work by providing some meaning in life through expression of one’s self (Ewen 1988, 106). He notes that â€Å"[s]tyle is a realm of being ‘exceptional’ within the constraints of conformit y,† so it ultimately acts as the expression of those who long for the wholeness that they believe would come with fame (Ewen 1988, 108).The last point Ewen makes is that as a result of our dreams of wholeness, alienation from our true selves, and overall discontent with the here and now, we are â€Å"caught between the polarities of doing and having,† which is to suggest that our competition for attention ultimately leads to consumption (Ewen 1988, 108). Now that I’ve established the theoretical basis of my argument, I will provide some information to help us see the modern-day implications of these theories and to show how dated and hyperbolical they can be in the context of today’s society.Being famous today is far different than it ever has been. If we like a musician, dancer, filmmaker, writer, or any other type of celebrity, we have the ability to follow every move they make with their lives’ increased coverage by â€Å"TMZ,† â€Å"Extra,† and other such entertainment news companies. According to Hall’s Reports, â€Å"entertainers and other celebrities appeared on the covers of nearly 40 percent of all American magazines in 2004†¦, while only 6 percent of covers were related to national Simonetti 6 affairs† (Altman 2005).In addition, â€Å"the percentage of pages in news magazines dedicated to celebrities and entertainment doubled from 1980 to 2003, while coverage of nation al affairs dropped from 35 percent of all pages to 25 percent† (Altman 2005). This alarming amount of celebrity coverage is a clear indication of how much more prevalent celebrities are today than they were when Ewen wrote his book. Further, a consequence of this prevalence is that we inevitably see more celebrity scandals and mistakes, which allow us to see them as they are: human. We are thus no longer alienated from them and we begin to see them as people, just like us. As well, the dream of becoming famous becomes less and less glorified as we see the lack of privacy and mystique that, in Ewen’s time, were so closely linked to the dream. Another consequence is that we start to see stories on celebrities that really are not important, such as meaningless gossip about which celebrities were with whom and when and where, etc. This can allow us to place less importance on and â€Å"see through† celebrity news as simply the desperate work of celebrity publicists.Comedian and pop-culture commentator Mo Rocca expands in Howard Altman’s essay, â€Å"Celebrity Culture†: â€Å"‘I have a strange faith in college students. They are both more optimistic and skeptical than everyone else. †¦ Essentially, students know it is all BS — they revel in the cheesiness of it. ’† According to Altman, celebrity gossip can bring people together: In a study published in March 2004, a group of British researchers found that gossiping about celebrities took up most of the social time of nearly one-third of a sample of 191 English youngsters ages 11 to 16.But these young people were far from being isolated; in fact, researchers found the gossiping children had a stronger network of close friends than their peers who were less interested in celebrities. Simonetti 7 Clearly, in today’s world, young people grow up very rationally, with most of Ewen’s illusions of celebrity culture exposed. When I was a preteen, for example, my mother told me her prediction of former superstar Miley Cyrus: â€Å"In a few years, she won’t have this much clout anymore. She’ll have grown up and moved on from stardom, just like her father. Sure enough, she was right. As a result of this common knowledge and long-term observation about celebrit y culture, today’s generation of college students have a better value system when it comes to personal success, in that they want less to be a â€Å"celebrity,† but more for their voices to be heard, whatever that may mean. Quite nobly, they care less about being famous and more about doing what they love: performing for others and expressing themselves. Most people with dreams of becoming famous also have celebrity idols.For the purposes of this paper, an idol is a figure in popular culture whom one has respected tremendously for a long time (i. e. , 5-6 years) and whom one will continue to respect after they are out of the public spotlight. Those who have celebrity idols normally have a standard for themselves to try to live up to those idols in some way. Whether they are trying to emulate their idols’ personalities or to sing, dance, write, or otherwise perform like their idols, the seven students I have interviewed all seem to be better people as a result of their idols. Josh, for example, who idolizes dancers Brian Puspos and Mike Song, thinks he would be a different person without them: â€Å"The way Brian and Mike are–they’re goofy. That’s why they’re so relatable and that’s why I love them. Even when they’re dancing, they’ll do a silly move which shows they love what they do. It shows me Josh, dancing like Mike Song Simonetti 8 that no amount of fame should change who you are, which has a big impact on my everyday life. † Next, Molly regards her idol, British actress Gemma Arterton, just as highly, if not moreso than Josh regards his: â€Å"She’s the person that I would like to be.She is a great role model figure for young women. I used to go to school for acting, and I was too afraid to do things because I thought I would fail so I transferred schools, but looking at her gave me the push to go forward with it and to do more with my life–to take more trips and chances. She also doesn’t take crap from anybody and is very eloquent, which are both Molly, admiring Gemma Arterton qualities that I need to work on. † Finally, Zack idolizes WWE wrestlers Ray Mysterio, John Cena, and C. M. Punk, not for their time in the ring, oddly, but for their contributions to charity and for their efforts in preventing bullying.

Here Are The Most Important Skills Needed For the Future

Here Are The Most Important Skills Needed For the Future For many decades now, people have been predicting the future of just about all industries: robots. And while that hasn’t quite come to pass, we’re already seeing automation and technology take over our working lives. More than ever, our work and communication are online, with fewer human touchpoints. Just look at email: if you were in the workforce 10  or 15  years ago, email was present, but not necessarily the driving force of office communication. And although we’re still a good way off from having a fleet of robots running our lives, it’s a great idea to start thinking about the kind of skills needed for the future.1. Technology Trends2.  Information Overload3.  Flexible Employees4.  Your BrandTechnology TrendsTechnology is the most obvious shift that will happen in all of our lives in the near future. After all, it’s only about 10  years ago that the iPhone was just a secret prototype kicking around Apple’s Cupertino campus. Cut to today: good luck finding people shuffling along a sidewalk and not gazing down at a smartphone screen.And while you’re not expected to be able to predict exactly what the hot new tech will be, you can make sure you’re aware of the cutting edge tech trends in your field right now, and think about where those might be going. For example, if you work in retail, POS (point of sale) software has really affected how salespeople work with merchandise and the public. Another example is office communication systems, like using Google’s Gmail, Gchat, and Hangouts to foster communication between people in the company.Regardless of your field, the trend is likely to be two-fold: a) bringing people together regardless of whether they work in the same office, state, or hemisphere; and b) finding ways to make manual processes, like payment or presentations, digital to free up resources for other tasks.If you’re the person who has 14  devices plus your fitness tracker linked up in one big web of efficient information harmony, great! You likely have the tools to be ready for whatever comes along, tech-wise. Keep an eye on trends in your field, like:New tools and software, especially ones that improve efficiency or customer service. What is your industry able to do now that it wasn’t able to do before?Social media. How is social media used by the movers and shakers in your industry?Security trends in your industry. How is customer or company data protected?Mobile technology, also known as the Internet of Things. Are there any particular apps or devices that are relevant to how your company (or your field) does business?Working to stay updated on trends can help you figure out where to target your attention as you move from one job to another, and can really help you flesh out your resume and/or your personal brand.If you’re not as tech-savvy as you would like, there’s nothing stopping you from fixing that! It just takes a little time and catching up, and then you’ll be ready to trendspot with the best of them. There are plenty of ways to bolster your tech creds:Take classesSites like Lynda.com offer online tutorials and classes that you can take at your own speed, on your own timeline. You can search for specific programs or general areas where you want to expand your knowledge. Also, productivity expert Steve Pavlina has a great to-do list for expanding your tech know-how: 10 Ways to Improve Your Tech Skills.Learn by doingFor example, if you want to learn coding to add it to your resume, all the online tutorials in the world aren’t the same as getting in there and figuring it out. Once you get a baseline sense of how to do things, either from research or a class you’ve taken, set time aside to get in there, play around with apps or programs, and really get a sense for how things work.Talk to expertsYou know what people really like talking about? Things they’re good at. Find people in your field (or your company), who really know their stuff, and ask them if they could walk you through their process for the skills you want to add to your own repertoire. BONUS: you also get to know people in your field, and build your network.Information Overloadâ€Å"Big data,† or using stats and information to make smart decisions about how to work efficiently, whom to hire, how to address new challenges, etc. will play a huge role in the workplace in the next ten years. Analytical skills and problem solving skills will come in very handy here. If these are areas you want to build, you can start now:Analytical Thinking: Why You Need It and How to Get BetterAmp up Your Career by Improving Your Analytical Skills6 Ways to Enhance Your Problem Solving Skills5 Ways To Hone Your Problem-Solving Abilities And Become An Expert In Your FieldFlexible EmployeesThe digital office looks less and less like the traditional one we all know, with a beehive of people typing away and gathering ‘round the coffee machine. With better connections and communication all the time, it’s less essential that everyone be physically in the same room to collaborate. As you move forward through your career, consider ways you might be able to adapt to that kind of changing office. Working remotely or working as a contractor are ways that your daily work life might change. Being open to flexible work arrangements can open up new opportunities that you might not have anticipated if you’re wedded to the idea of working 9 to 5 in a cubicle of office.Your BrandOne trend that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime is the one where you develop and live your own brand. Right now, this entails having clean, career-relevant social media profiles, and keeping up by creating new content that establishes you as a player in your field. Moving forward, the trick will be to keep pace with the hot social media trends of the time- you don’t want to be the guy on MySpace when everyone else has moved on to Twitter 2.0.If you are that guy (or gal) who’s a little behind the time, social media-wise, don’t fret- this is an easy fix! It just involves a little bit of legwork and spring cleaning.If you already have social media accounts:Make personal or social accounts private whenever possible, and untag yourself in those embarrassing photos of you doing a kegstand at Spring Weekend. Similarly, those posts about your hobby of making macramà © portraits of British royalty should be pushed behind the privacy wall as well. You want your career brand to float to the top of those search results.Expand your network. Start connecting with other people in your field- that way, you’ll be in a better position to start dialogues with influential people in your industry.If you want to increase your social media presence, Aaron Agius at Entrepreneur has some great tips for where to start building your brand:1. Choose sites that work well with your career and goals.For example: if you’re in an industry that values image and style, Instagram might be your best bet. If you work in a business that moves fast and values quick insights, Twitter might be the way to go.2. Keep posting content.A site with little traffic and nothing new to offer isn’t going to do much to help your personal brand.3. Leverage big voices.Follow (and engage with) people who are big fish in your industry’s social media pond. Depending on how big their following is, you may not get much one-on-one interaction, but retweets/sharing content shows that you’re active.4. Use marketing to your advantage by using campaigns and contests to get your brand out there.What it comes down to is this: none of us can predict the future, and no one should even try. What you can do is put yourself in a place where you have a base of skills, and the kind of flexible thinking that will allow you to take advantage of opportunities six months from now, or 10 years ago.

Bus/210 Week 8 Assignment Developing Good Business Sense

Name: Date: 04/28/2011 Course: BUS/210 Assignment: Developing Good Business Sense ? BUS/210 Week 8 Assignment Developing Good Business Sense There are three fast food restaurants that I chose as the businesses for this assignment; Sonic Drive-In, McDonalds, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. All three of these businesses are fast food restaurants. Sonic Drive-In is a curb side restaurant in which car hops bring the customer’s order to their car. McDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken are both dine-in sit down restaurants that also offer a drive-thru window in car service. The three businesses have similar operations involved in their inputs. The main goal of the employees is to make high quality fast food. While Sonic Drive-In prepares their menu items as they are ordered, McDonalds and KFC precook there items and use heat lamps to keep the food warm. McDonalds and KFC organize their employees in a very similar manner, while Sonic Drive-In is slightly different. McDonald’s and KFC utilizes the cook stay to prep and cook all the food items, the front counter and drive through staff run the registers, take order prepare drinks, and sack or tray customers’ orders. Assistant Managers and managers help out in all positions and oversee all operations of the restaurant. Sonic Drive organizes their cooks and Managers in a similar way, the difference is that Sonic Drive-In does not utilize a front customer counter and register. Sonic utilizes a curbside menu’s and speaker system for customers to place their orders. Carhops replace the counter help normal seen at traditional fast food restaurants. The carhops deliver the orders to the customer’s car. Sonic Drive-In allows their customers to custom order their menu items any way the customer wants. They also offer over 350,000 different drink combinations. That is something that is not offer by any other national fast food chain. The OMM costs of these three restaurants are very similar. The all three of them have operating costs such as rent, utilities, inventory, franchise fees, royalty fees and labor. I found it surprising that all three restaurants actually do not own the property that they are on. All three of them own the restaurants but rent the land that there restaurants operate on. With all three of these restaurants, the time of years and the weather have a huge effect on their sales volume. The lower their sales volume the higher percent of operating cost that they have. During the winter, sales are at their low and in the summer they are at their high. Each restaurant experiences high profits during the summer months and low profits during the winter months. Operating cost such as inventory and labor are the biggest monthly expense from all three restaurants. Since all three of these restaurants belong to national franchise chains they are required to pay franchise fees and royalty fees each month. The manager at Sonic Drive-In stated that their franchise and royalty fees are determine by their net sales each month. They are required to pay 15 percent of their net sales for franchise fees and 10 percent of their net sale for royalties. The manager at Sonic Drive-in also Stated that they are doing very good if they can profit 15 percent of their sales each month after paying all the expenses, and the best way to do that is by controlling the inventory and labor expenses. The managers of McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken were unwilling to release any of their business information to me. While the manger of sonic Drive-In was willing to answer some question, they were very restrictive of the information they did give. The way McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Sonic Drive-In all three conduct their business is very similar. They are designed to produce quality fast food at a price that is considered a value to the customer. They each use the small batch operating system to make customized products. In all three case their own customized food for individual customer orders. KFC makes small batches of fried chicken that is to be sold to individual customers. Because the time it takes to make the fried chicken, KFC cooks batches throughout the day so that it is ready when the customer orders it. This reduces the waiting time for the customer. McDonalds precooks their hamburgers and makes the sandwiches when the customer orders to reduce the waiting time for their customers. Sonic Drive-In cooks the customer’s food when it is ordered, but states that none of their menu items take more than three minute to cook, therefore the wait time for the customer should not exceed three minutes. All three of these businesses focus on delivering fast quality food at an affordable price to keep their customers satisfied and insure they maintain repeat business. This is what keeps their sales value up and allows them to be a profitable business.

Structured bimanual actions and hand transfers reveal population-level Article

Structured bimanual actions and hand transfers reveal population-level right-handedness in captive gorillas - Article Example Studies conducted of a similar nature have shown that approximately 95% of the population that predominantly uses the right-hand show language control and development in their left hemispheres. Recent hypothesis have suggested that an initial evolutionary section of cognitive function has assisted in the emergence of a left hemisphere inclination for human beings conduct supported by well-structured series of actions. The human left hemisphere bias for language development and handedness has promoted a perception of human brain lateralization functions. Some of these studies have suggested that there exists a direct relationship between handedness and linguistic development, such as spoken word. Different studies have however shown contradicting results and significant debate. In the present study, the author sought to investigate the naturalistic impulsive conduct of a biological group of gorillas (Tabiowo & Forrester, 2013). Data compiled from the study involved the observation of 13 Gorillas of a biological family in the UK. The gorillas were housed at Port Lympne Park in the UK. The Gorillas were given access to a wide range of tools that were used in assessing them throughout the duration of the study. The tools included ropes, tree stumps, a pile of boulders, and a couple of climbing frames. Different types of feeds were administered to encourage the usual scavenging behavior. The Gorillas were observed, and their behavior recorded in a motion video founded on a focal-sampling model. The average focus time on each subject was recorded low at between 55-215 minutes. Low visibility prohibited desired focal follow periods. For the two observable elements, namely handedness and actions that were bimanual in nature, frequencies rates, and sizes were computed. Statistical measures were employed to establish consistency of the results across a wide range of mathematical preferences. In particular, rates an d sizes

History rock and roll Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History rock and roll - Essay Example This was caused by the featuring of catchy grooves, hand-clapping, impulsive body moves and improvisational elements that swept all through. Sly& the Family Stone caught all lively and musical trends, resulting to a blend of Soul, Rock and Funk. The group has not only produce for, but also performed with black and white musicians just like Motown had incorporated white music into black radio stations. Sly and the Family Stone were driven by many cultural influences including Motown Sound among others. Sly had a short peak period, the least among its kind, falling both in value and critically. It was somewhat reported to be caused by rhythmically loose songs (Geels 1429). Brian Wilson postulates of his inspiration to make the record originating from the Beatles â€Å"Rubber Soul†, which presented the peak of his wave. Additionally, he successfully employed the use of inspiration from across to create a brilliant piece of amazing pop- Pet Sounds. Smiley Smile was a masterpiece, following suit like Pet Sounds- a contemporary classical that swept through, following the same

JC Penney Advertising Essay Example for Free

JC Penney Advertising Essay As time progresses, the world, in terms of business is rather contracting. There is growing communication, interaction and exchange between different parts of the world. Technologies that were once thought of as a far sighted notion are now being used like household commodities and communication mediums that were once considered luxuries available to few are now necessities needed to prosper. And as the world is becoming more integrated and countries are becoming more and more dependent on one another in terms of trade and business the concept of branding, advertising and promotion is becoming more prevalent and widespread. This paper will focus on the marketing of JC penny. It would elaborate on the print as well as online marketing. Moreover it would compare and contrast advertising of online and bricks and mortar companies. Discussion The demand for accountability of marketing is rising and also the pressure of having less absolute dollars to work with so there is utmost need to be sharper, more purposeful and more targeted with marketing. JC Penney is a general retail brand that specializes in clothing, accessories and home furnishing. It has been around for decades and has been catering the needs of consumers of all ages and backgrounds. JC Penneys main target audience at the present times is women as well as youngsters. JC Penney faced criticism for being a brand that accommodated only the high-end and older generation. However, they have been changing their brand image and have been successful in implementing an image that is portraying a more young and trendy vibe. It now focuses on providing products that have the characteristics of being conservative, traditional, modern or trendy. Fundamentally JC Penney has been escalated in the last years is through the fact that it has moved from mass marketing to a more targeted approach. The few reasons for this change is that JC Penney believes that when business is difficult there is a lot greater chance of success with getting the arms around the best customers and increasing frequency share of wallet and trips with the best customers then trying to recruit new customers in tough times that may not shopping the brand. JC Penney has managed to find ways to develop formats that allowed it to get more productivity out the money that is spend. It has also become more targeted in terms of customer selection through becoming much sharper about making sure the right customers get the right format in the right piece. (Fetterman, 2006) JC Penney is one of the brands that hold the significance of being a brick and mortar store as well as an online retailer. Hence, it follows branding through all of the sources of mass media. It publishes magazines and postcards for the promotion of its products. It also advertises it products and offers through newspapers, television ads and online ads. When comparing the online and print media usage it quoted by Mike Boylson the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of JC Penney that In the postcard you can deliver more of a sales message, or more of a discount message these postcards may drive the customers online to see the full assortment online where as the larger brand books of JC Penny show a much richer sense of the style that they have and they portray fundamentally completely different messages. The postcard includes the offer and a link to the website to go see the expanded content where as the book itself that goes out shows the product, the customer can then either come in the store or they can go online or place their order on the phone. Direct mail is very important because through versioning and through customer segmentation the company is able to send out more targeted messages that are highly accountable and are also able to track the results in direct mail to a degree that cannot be possible in a lot of the other traditional mass media used by JC Penney. JC Penney has been focusing a great deal over its brand image and has been trying to diversify and broaden its target audience. It has recently changed to a new brand motif; Every day matters along with the new tag line, the company has been working on enhancing its customers services and the opening of several temporary promotional stores. JC Penney is focusing on increasing the popularity of its brick and mortar stores as well as its online retailing through providing customers with latest offers, discounts and showcasing their product line online for ease of access. Sloan, 2007) As the world is advancing so are the technologies and the ease with which communication is possible among all parts of the world. With the advent of the internet and the upscale increase in its popularity, there has been almost nothing that is not available on the World Wide Web. The phenomenon of e-shopping emerged with the internet. The fact that customers could get what they want in the ease of their ho mes, increased the recognition of the internet and also of online shopping. There are numerous differences and similarities between online shopping and traditional shopping. But what holds more importance is the way the companies market their product online and how different it is from the marketing and promotion of brick and mortar companies. (Lowrey, 2008) Marketing over the internet is considered less costly, as it is holds a lower cost of distributing information on a global platform. More and more business are moving towards online retailing due to its outnumbered advantages in terms of cost, convenience and mobility of information over a great distance. One of the major focuses that companies including JC Penney is on the website. The success of online marketing is highly dependent over the outlook, design and the information provided by the website. Both the online companies as well as brick and mortar companies need to identify their target audience before they implement any marketing strategies. This lets them focus on the type of marketing tool they would benefit them. Brick and mortar companies offer a more traditional aspect of shopping and they also follow a traditional approach of marketing. This is mostly through mass media such as newspapers, television broadcast and magazines. With the passage of time, there are less and less companies that focus solely over brick and mortar business. Most companies are now available online as there is less overheads and larger audience prone to response through the internet. Conclusion In the end it is imperative to recognize the increasing importance of internet in business. Both, online retailing and brick and mortar companies hold their own set of characteristics that make them distinct. As the progress of online shopping is increasing there is still need for brick and mortar stores for traditional shoppers. Most companies, however, imply both the alternatives and hence, carry out their marketing accordingly.

Essay --

itle: The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles By: Padriac Colum Pages: 316 Sang Chung 7th period 1 Eng. RM.15 1/15/14 This book maybe retelling the story that has been told many times. No matter how many times you have heard or read the enchanting story of Jason and his quest to find the Golden Fleece, you will never discover a version more riveting than this one by Padriac Colum. If you have not yet to discover this rip-roaring adventure along with Jason and friends on his quest on the Argo to retrieve the legendary golden fleece. Will he succeed along with his allies? or will he fail and perish along with his allies? Read the book to find out! The obvious setting to this story would be Greek. To be more specific around the kingdom of Lolcus around a couple thousand years ago maybe even more. The setting to this story would be very important to itself because this story is a Greek myth. Where would a Greek myth take place? Hmm... I’d say Greek. If this story had not taken place in greek then obviously it wouldn’t be a Greek myth. The period of this story is also important to itself because this story was taken place in around the A.Ds.If it hadn’t it wouldn’t exactly be a myth. The main man, the most important character, the main character, and the protagonist whatever you want to call him is Jason. Jason, like Achilles and Heracles, was trained by Chiron the king and the best of all centaurs. Jason was brought to Chiron as a baby for him to train and foster until he was of age to fight and take back the throne of locus. Madea the daughter of the king Aeetes of Colchis went along with Jason after have been promised by Jason to be married to her and take her to Greece. Heracles the son of Zeus and Alcmene and gr... ...nce they reached Colchis, they met the king Aetes. Acting friendly at first but not wanting to give up the golden fleece, he tasked Jason and the Argonauts with an impossible task to plow the field with fire-breathing bulls and then to sow the field with the teeth of a dragon. Jason and the Argonauts managed to complete these tasks but the king quickly goes back on his word and has his army attack the argo at night. Madea knowing about the plan shows jason where the golden fleece is and sings the dragons to sleep. While Jason quickly seizes the fleece. Jason went back to lolcus with the fleece and won the respect of many men. Jason then got back his kingdom and marries madea. I think the artist wrote this story to teach kids about the story of the golden fleece and to pass it down. I would recommend it to people who like reading about greek myths and stuff like this.

History of West African dance, different type of dance and the drum Essay

West African dance reached the Americas during the slave trade. Slaves were often prohibited from dancing, but African-based movements found their way into European dance styles, quickly evolving into popular American dances. The influence of African dance can be seen in early American dances, such as the Ring Shout and the Cakewalk, and later dances such as the Jitterbug, and the Charleston. The influence is still visible in more contemporary styles of dance including hip-hop and jazz. West Africa is made up of 16 different countries containing multiple tribes and cultures, each with a different set of dance. Many dances are only known within the particular tribe they come from, but most share, the common element of drumming as the dancing music. Dancing in West Africa is a form of social interaction, where the whole tribe comes together. Different dances are also performed on different occasions, such as initiations, funerals and marriages. Adzogbo is an ancient ritual war dance originating in Benin. Dancers usually wear red and black when performing the Adzogbo dance. The Adzogbu is a dance of the Ewe people of Ghana and incorporates movements used in battle (throwing a spear, for example) into the dance. As with most West African dances, the Adzogbu is normally performed by a circle of dancers, and this particular dance has a very complex drum rhythm.†¨According to the California Institute of the Arts, Bawa is a traditional harvest dance of the Dagarthi people from Lobi, northern Ghana. The dance is performed as a ritual thanksgiving to the gods and ancestors, but also as an appeal for the success of next year’s crops. The Bawa incorporates many of the movements often seen in fieldwork, such as threshing and planting, in a stylized manner. The Bawa dance is performed by members of the community of all ages and sexes. The Mouwa dance is performed by the Minianka, Senufo and Bambara people of Mali. According to Kentucky Educational Television, the Mouwa is performed by those villagers whose are responsible for weeding the fields. The dance is a form of motivation that anyone initiates when the pace of work has slowed. It is also performed before beginning work, and during weeding the dance’s song is usually sung to help the work go faster.†¨The Gomba is a funeral dance of the Bambara people of Mali. The dance is taught over a period of seven years to members of the tribe, and the teaching is done in secrecy in the forest. The Gomba is not a dance performed in frivolity; rather it is undertaken in the utmost solemnity, to mark the seriousness of the occasion.†¨ Drums, played with hands and sticks, are a vital component of West African dance. The drum is the â€Å"language† that the dancer interprets. The drum patterns signify a dancer when to start or stop a certain move, and what moves to use. The dancer also challenges and directs the drummer through his or her moves. The drummer translates the dancers moves into rhythms. The drummer and dancer are interconnected. The largest of the three drums is dundumba, which has the deepest voice and typically plays phrases that accentuate the rhythm’s foundation and interact melodically with the sangban. The sangban, is the middle-size drum, is tuned to mid-frequency that matches the tone of the djembe, and often plays a lead role in creating the core identity of the rhythm, with specific calls and variations that communicate to the dancers. The smallest of the family is kenkeni, which has the highest voice best suited to keep the pulse, or downbeat, of the rhythm. Each distinct part played by dundumba, sangan, or kenkeni typically has a bell pattern related to the drum pattern.

Impact of External Environment to Business in China Essay

Introduction Nowadays, China is experiencing a rapid economic growth. By following the end of the eleventh National People’s Congress of People’s Republic of China recently, China is emphasizing to develop seven new strategic industries with the release of the Twelfth Five-Year Program. As China is achieving a low carbon economy, thus one of the new strategic industry, new energy is essential to the success of achieving the goal. Biomass energy is one of the new energy which generates electricity and biodiesel by burning agricultural straw, fruit, wood and animals waste (1). The following will be the analysis of Macro-environments for the China Light and Power Company Limited to enter the China market, and suggestions will be given at the end of the analysis. Company Background Champway Technology Limited is the only company who possesses an ‘Environmental Permit’ to recycle waste cooking oil in Hong Kong. Its primary objective is to recycle all local waste cooking oil and organic oil and grease into biodiesel. It contribute to save the environment by aiming at recycling all waste cooking oil in Hong Kong and stem the trend of re-using waste oil on the dinner table. It also committed to produce high quality biodiesel which is a clean and efficient fuel by using the collected waste oil (2). Macro-environment As China is a highly distinctive market, once foreign-invested enterprises want to enter the China market, there must be difficulties to be faced. However, there are still some favorable factors while they are entering such market, and they will be analyzed as follows. There are four macro-environments for Champway to enter the China market. Firstly, the Champway may benefit from the political and legal environment of China. During the release of the seven new strategic industries in the Twelfth Five-Year Program, the central government has put so much emphasis on the development of new energy, especially the development of biomass energy (3). Also, the State Forestry Administration has decided to reserve two hundred million acreage of forest land, for cultivating the plants that specifically for the extraction of biodiesel (4). As a result, the operation of Champway in China can benefit from the strong support and back up by the central government when entering the China marketing with biomass energy. Secondly, the Champway may benefit from the economic environment of China. As mentioned, China is experiencing a rapid economic growth with a GPD growth of 10.3 percent in January of 2011 (5). At the same time, Renminbi keeps appreciating against US dollar and Hong Kong dollar (6). As a result, the Champway may benefit from appreciating Renminbi, since Champway is operating business and selling energy for Renminbi in China. So the actual value of the profit gained is also appreciating. Moreover, refer to a speech of the Labor Department, the number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose by 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 397,000 recently (7). This implies that the unemployment rate in China is rising. Thus Champway can also benefit from this circumstance as it can hire sufficient work people for their operation in China. Thirdly, the Champway may benefit from the social environment of China. As people in mainland China become more educated and more environmental conscious (8). They are more likely to support products with environmental friendly features like biodiesel. As a result, the Champway may catch this opportunity to market biodiesel and benefit from the increasing demand for biodiesel. Fourthly, the Champway may benefit from the ecological environment. China is rich in raw materials. However, most of them are not explicated yet (9). With a great depletion of raw material, it is insufficient to support the energy consumption of about 1.3 billion population. As a result, biodiesel is acting as a perfect substitute of raw materials like petroleum. So Champway may take the chance to market biodiesel and benefit from the great demand it. Difficulty As mentioned, there must be some difficulties when entering such distinctive market. So here is the discussion of those difficulties. There are four difficulties to be faced when the Champway is entering the China market. Firstly, the Champway has to face an unfavorable political and legal factor. As the central government is deciding to even the income distribution in China, a new labor protection policy of minimum wage will be established (10). This policy will increase the wage level of workers. As a result, it is unfavorable to Champway, since Champway has to hire a great number of workers for building and operating the facilities of energy generation in China, and the increased wage level of workers may leads to an increase in the operation cost. So it is more difficult for Champway to survive in this sector. Secondly, the Champway has to face an unfavorable economic factor. As the increasing popularity of biomass energy in China, agricultural product will become more valuable, since agricultural product is one of the inputs of biomass energy generation. Also, the market price of agricultural product has increased due to the inflation. As a result, the operation cost for Champway to run the business in China increases and it may be difficult for Champway to survive with this industry in China. Thirdly, the Champway has to face an unfavorable social factor. Although the central government has emphasized to develop biomass energy, there is still no clear and definite guideline for supply of input and quality standard (11). Also, there is an unethical business culture exists in the China society due to the lack of well education. As a result, there is a disorder in the biodiesel market. People are pretending the original biodiesel with a fake one (11). This phenomenon may create an unhealthy image for the industry and the industry will be negatively affected. Fourthly, the Champway has to face an unfavorable ecological factor. China is one of the most suffered countries in terms of natural disaster. According to the statistical figure from the United Nations, in the year 2008, China has the world greatest loss of 110 billion due to natural disasters, which is 60 % of the loss of the whole world (12). So there is a frequent lost of agriculture exists. As a result, there will be an unstable supply of input for the biomass energy generation, and the company may unable to survive in China market with this industry. Suggestion After the discussion of the unfavorable factors for Champway to enter the China market, some suggestions will be given to overcome the difficulties as follows. Here are three suggestions that Champway can apply to overcome those difficulties. Firstly, in order to overcome the unfavorable minimum wage and increasing market price of agricultural product, Champway is recommended to enter the China market through equity joint venture with a greatly financed or a state-owned biomass energy company like the Everbright International (13). So that it can spread and share the costs and risks with its partner. As a result, the difficulty of high operation cost can be overcome. Secondly, in order to overcome the unfavorable counterfeit, Champway is recommended to deal with the problem with a well designed distribution and place of the biodiesel. The company can develop and sell its original biodiesel through biodiesel filling station or biodiesel specialty store. So that people can easily recognize the genuine one and avoid buying the fake. This action can improve the company image by building confidence for customer to consume our product. Thirdly, in order to overcome the unfavorable unstable supply of biomass. Champway is recommended to deal with the problem with the use of multiple suppliers from different region in China. Since China is a huge land, natural disasters often occur only in a particular area. So by using multiple suppliers from different region, the company can immediately seek for supplies from other suppliers in other region, when some of them are unable to supply the company due to natural disaster. Conclusion To concluded that, Champway can benefit from four macro-environments when entering the China market. They are political-legal environment, which is the support and back up by the central government; economic environment, which is the appreciation of Renminbi and the large supply of labor; social environment, which is the increasing environmental consciousness; and ecological environment, which is the great depletion of raw material and the great demand for substitutes. However, Champway has to face four difficulties too. They are the minimum wage, the increasing market price of agricultural product, the counterfeit biodiesel and the unstable supply of biomass due to natural disasters. In order to overcome the four difficulties, three suggestions are given as the solution. They are the use of joint venture, the development of biodiesel filling station and biodiesel specialty store, and the use of multiple suppliers from different region.

How to Use a Hurricane Tracking Chart

How to Use a Hurricane Tracking Chart A popular activity during hurricane  season is to track the path and progress of tropical storms and hurricanes. Known as hurricane tracking, its a creative way to teach hurricane awareness, learn about storm intensities, and to create and keep your own hurricane records from season to season. Materials Needed: Access to the latest tropical storm and hurricane forecastsA hurricane tracking map/chartA pencilAn eraserColored pencils (blue, light blue, green, yellow, red, pink, magenta, purple, white)A ruler (not required) Getting Started: Monitor the National Hurricane Center for current tropical cyclone activity. Once an invest develops into a tropical depression, subtropical depression, or stronger, its time to start tracking it.Plot the storms first position.To do this, find its geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude). (The positive () number, or the one followed by the letter N, is latitude; the negative (-) number, or the one followed by the letter W, is longitude.) Once you have the coordinates, move your pencil along the right edge of the chart to locate the latitude. Using a ruler to guide your hand in a straight line, move your pencil across horizontally from this point until you find the longitude. Draw a very small circle at the point where the latitude and longitude meet.Label the storm by either writing its name next to the first plot point, or drawing a small box and writing the storm number inside.Continue to track the storm by plotting its position twice daily, at 12 UTC and 00 UTC. Dots repres enting the 00 UTC  position should be filled in. Dots representing the 12 UTC position should be left unfilled. Label each 12 UTC plot point with the calendar day (i.e., 7 for the 7th).Use the Hurricane Tracking Chart key (at the bottom of the page) and your colored pencils to connect the dots with the appropriate colors and/or patterns.When the storm dissipates, write its name or storm number (like in step #3 above) next to its final plot point.(Optional) You may also want to label the storms minimum pressure. (This tells where the storm was at its strongest.) Find the minimum pressure value and the date and time it occurred. Write this value next to the corresponding section of the storm track, then draw an arrow between them.Follow steps 1-8 for all storms forming during the season. If you miss a storm, visit one of these sites for past hurricane data: National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Advisory ArchiveAn archive of advisories and storm summary information. (Click on the storm name, then choose the 00 and 12 UTC public advisories. Storm location and wind speed/intensity will be listed under the summary section at top of the page.) Unisys Weather Tropical Advisory Archive 404An archive of tropical cyclone products, advisories, and bulletins from season years 2005-present. (Scroll through the index to choose the desired date and time. Click on the corresponding file link.) Need an Example? To see a finished map with storms already plotted, check out the NHCs Past Track Seasonal Maps. Hurricane Tracking Chart Key Line Color Storm Type Pressure (mb) Wind (mph) Wind (knots) Blue Subtropical Depression 38 or less 33 or less Light Blue Subtropical Storm 39-73 34-63 Green Tropical Depression (TD) 38 or less 33 or less Yellow Tropical Storm (TS) 980 + 39-73 34-63 Red Hurricane (Cat 1) 980 or less 74-95 64-82 Pink Hurricane (Cat 2) 965-980 96-110 83-95 Magenta Major Hurricane (Cat 3) 945-965 111-129 96-112 Purple Major Hurricane (Cat 4) 920-945 130-156 113-136 White Major Hurricane (Cat 5) 920 or less 157 + 137 + Green dashed (- - -) Wave/Low/Disturbance Black hatched (+++) Extratropical Cyclone

Friction Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Friction - Lab Report Example Static friction is the friction that tries to hold the object in position. A book positioned on a table has a static friction. The coefficient of static friction is denoted by  µ. Dynamic friction is associated with the surfaces that in constant motion with each other. The friction force between the engine rotating parts is dynamic friction. The major aim of the experiment is estimate the coefficient of static friction. It can be evaluated by pulling a box with known weight along a surface with smooth flat symmetry. The coefficient of static friction and normal force (FN) are correlated to each other when one surface starts to slide over the surface. FF is the frictional force that is in opposite direction to the tension force. Force of gravity tries to pull the box down and normal pull force (FN) in opposite direction to the gravitational pull force. In this experiment we have to estimate the relationship between FN, FF and  µ (coefficient of friction). Friction of the object is directly proportional to the weight of the object; as the weight increase, the force of friction also increases. During the experiment, the box with more weight required more force to be pulled from its position. It means that the weight of the object increases its frictional value. On the other hand, comparatively less force is required pull the small box. This estimate can either be wrong as heavier weights require more force in general. Coefficient of friction also increases as the weight increases. We have estimated the ratio of FF and FN and found that as the weight of an object increases, the coefficient of friction also increases. The other observation is that the surface area of the object in contact with the other surface also influences frictional force on the object. In our experiment, the box with more weight has more surface area in contact with the surface below and thus produced more friction. On the other hand, the object

Consumer behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Consumer behavior - Essay Example There is a contrary perspective as well, which is, organization can straight way come up with marketing strategies, and then influence the consumer behaviour. That is, if the organization makes an all out ‘attack’ on the customers’ sense organs of eyes, ears and even nose, they can influence or tune the consumer’s behaviour and their buying habits. Either way, it is of paramount importance to focus on consumers’ behaviour and come up with marketing strategies, so the organization’s product or service can be made an enticing one as well as an optimally selling and successful one. In that direction, the focus will be on the British product or brand of BMW’s MINI or MINI Hatch, explaining how its marketing mix elements driven by psychological and sociological drivers has been working together to influence consumer buying behaviour, and thereby aiding it to become one of the most successful consumer products of the world. Background Mini (b randed initially as MINI, MINI Cooper and now as MINI Hatch) was originally a British automotive brand, but is now currently owned and manufactured by the German auto major, BMW Group. Due to its unique design and performance, Mini, since its launch in 1950s, became one of the most likeable and popular cars in Britain as well as throughout the world. It came under BMW’s control in 1994, when BMW purchased Minis’ then owner, Rover. However, with Rover facing massive losses at the turn of the millennium, BMW decided to sell Rover and thereby stop treating â€Å"'The English Patient†, as the struggling Rover subsidiary was nicknamed by the British Press. Even while selling off the Rover, BMW understanding the significance and potential of Mini as a brand made up its mind to hold it. They allowed Rover to sell out all the manufactured models, and when the last one was sold, the brand name 'Mini' got reverted to BMW. Under that brand name, BMW started manufacturing o f its version at Oxford plant in Cowley, United Kingdom, thereby launching what came to be one of the most successful brand plus iconic products out of UK. BMW’s MINI as an optimal PRODUCT With BMW reworking and re-branding an already successful product of Mini, it had in its hand an optimal PRODUCT, when it launched it in 2000 at the Paris Motor Show. During the launch, BMW modified the brand name as MINI Cooper, with the letters of ‘Mini’ capitalized, along the addition of the name Cooper. Both these changes were done to give it a makeover and importantly to differentiate it from the Mini was produced by Rover. This fresh avatar of MINI was unrelated to the old Mini in the technical and configuration sense, but still retained certain key, successful and iconic features like the transverse 4 cylinders, along with front-wheel-drive configuration and importantly the iconic as well as the unique "bulldog" touch. Although, they incorporated certain old features, the new MINI was an advancement or forward evolution of the old car, as many technologically advanced aspects starting from the high powered engine to various technical and non-technical aspects were featured. BMW MINI’s designer Frank Stephenson had this to say, â€Å"The MINI Cooper is not a retro design car, but an evolution of the original. It has the genes and many of the characteristics of its