Explain How External Environment Influence Essay

External environment aims to help an organisation to obtain opportunities and threats that will affect the organisation’s competitive situation. External opportunities are characteristics of the external environment that have the potential to help the organization achieve or exceed its strategic goals. External threats are characteristics of the external environment that may prevent the organization from achieving its strategic goals. Therefore, organisations must formulate appropriate strategies to take advantage of the opportunities while overcome the threats in order to achieve their strategic goals. The external environment consists of variables that are outside the organization and not typically within the short-run control of top management. They may be general forces within the macro or remote environment, which consists of political-legal, economic, socio-cultural, technological forces – usually called PEST. Political-legal force influences strategy formulation through government and law intervention. For example, the environment law requires the world’s automobile manufacturers to reduce emission of green house gasses, and therefore these manufacturers have to reformulate their product strategy. Economic force influences strategy formulation through economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. For example, exchange rates affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods in an economy, and thus influence strategy formulation of exporters. Socio-cultural force is about the cultural aspects, health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Trends in social-cultural factors affect the demand for a company’s products and how that company operates. For example, increasing health consciousness can influence strategy formulation of fast-food companies that may have to adopt product innovation strategy. Technological factors include technological aspects such as R;D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. For example, rapid development of the information technology has significantly influenced the strategy formulation of logistics service providers who are now able to provide superior express services. There may be specific forces within the micro or near environment, which involves analyzing the threat from the new entrant, rivalry among the existing players, pressure from the buyers, pressure from the suppliers and pressure from the substitutes. This is introduced in Porter’s Five-Forces Model. Profitable markets that yield high returns will attract new firms which eventually will decrease profitability for all firms in the industry unless the entry of new firms can be blocked by incumbents. The existing firms therefore need to formulate new strategies against potential entrants. For most industries, the intensity of competitive rivalry is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. For example, high intensity of competitive rivalry in the automobile industry forces competitors such as Ford, Honda, to form strategic alliances or adopts the strategy of M;A. The bargaining power of buyers is the ability of customers to put the firm under pressure. For example, strong bargaining power of buyers in the computer industry put Dell under pressure. To deal with such pressure, Dell has to focus on relationship marketing strategy by offering value-added services to its customers. The bargaining power of suppliers is also described as the market of inputs. Suppliers of raw materials, components, labor, and services (such as expertise) to the firm can be a source of power over the firm, when there are few substitutes. Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm, or charge excessively high prices for unique resources such as Microsoft software and Intel chips which affects the formulation of price strategy of PC makers. The existence of products outside of the realm of the common product boundaries increases the propensity of customers to switch to alternatives. In order to retain customers, companies must formulate appropriate strategies to compete with the substitutes. For example, milk producers compete with soy milk producers. However, strategy formulation is also influenced by the degree of turbulence of the external environment. A high degree of turbulence exists if changeability is high and predictability is low. Companies need to formulate strategies based on the planned prescriptive approach if turbulence is low, whereas based on the unplanned emergent approach if turbulence is high. How organization’s overcome environmental changes? Organisations need to deal with environmental changes with appropriate strategies. First, organisations may choose to wait and see. Such strategy has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, facing a significant technological change, some companies may choose to integrate the new technology into their products. If they are successful, the rest companies’ ‘wait and see’ strategy is obviously unwise. However, if they failed, the rest companies’ ‘wait and see’ strategy appears wise. As a result, strategic decision making is impacted on and opportunities may either be lost or capitalised on. Second, organisations may choose to change in response to environmental changes through either proactive or reactive. Proactive change involves actively attempting to make alterations to the work place and its practices. Companies that take a proactive approach to change are often trying to avoid a potential future threat or to capitalize on a potential future opportunity. Reactive change occurs when an organization makes changes in its practices after some threat or opportunity has already occurred in the external environment. As an example of the difference, assume that a hotel executive learns about the increase in the number of Malaysians who want to travel with their pets. The hotel executive creates a plan to reserve certain rooms in many hotel locations for travelers with pets and to advertise this new amenity, even before travelers begin asking about such accommodations. This would be a proactive response to change because it was made in anticipation of customer demand. However, a reactive approach to change would occur if hotel executives had waited to enact such a change until many hotel managers had received repeated requests from guests to accommodate their pets and were denied rooms. In reality, companies may use a combination of both proactive and reactive approaches. Proactive approach is highly common when an industry is new with little or no change. The bellwether company entering the industry is making all of the strategic decisions or being proactive. However, because of its success, competitors gradually enter the market, resulting in the turbulent change of the competitive environment. Consequently, the reactive change is on the part of the new competitors as well as the bellwether company. To overcome environmental changes, companies may also choose the merger or acquisition strategy. A merger is defined as the joining of two or more organizations to constitute a new combined, legal entity. An acquisition is defined as the purchase of more than 50 percent of the voting shares of one organization by another, but the two organizations are still separate legal entities with the acquiring organization running as the parent company and another as a subsidiary. For example, recent study discloses that the merger and acquisition strategy in the global automobile industry will be further enhanced in the near future in order to deal with the threat of global financial crisis which decreased the consumers’ disposable income and increased the debt of auto makers and suppliers that have to save their organisations through merger and acquisition Ddiscuss the importance of organisational culture in strategy implementation Organisational culture can be defined â€Å"as the system of shared beliefs and values that guide and direct the behaviour of members, can have a strong influence on daily organisational behaviour and performance. † (1) Reflection to leadership Successful strategy implementation needs strategic leadership. Strategic leadership is the ability of influencing others to voluntarily make decisions that enhance prospects for the organisation’s long-term success while maintaining short-term financial stability. It includes determining the firm’s strategic direction, aligning the firm’s strategy with its culture, modelling and communicating high ethical standards, and initiating, shaping and implementing changes in the firm’s strategy, when necessary. Strategic leadership sets the firm’s direction by developing and communicating a vision of future and inspires the organization’s members to move in that direction. (2) Enable to create mission & vision The vision is the source and the main idea of a company. The mission aims to give the direction which presents the unique scope of business, its vision nd specific competence & competitive advantages, and to tell employees, consumers, and shareholder what the firm is. For example, IBM’s vision is: solutions for a small planet. Mission is: At IBM, we strive to lead in the invention, development and manufacture of the industry’s most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, sof tware, storage systems and microelectronics. Create a shared vision to manage strategic change: objectives and vision of both individuals and organization should coincide. There should be no conflict between them. Senior managers need to constantly and consistently communicate the vision not only to inform but also to overcome resistance through proper communication. Strategy implementers have to convince all those concerned that the change is not superficial. The actions taken have to be credible, highly visible and unmistakably indicative of management’s seriousness to new strategic initiatives and associated changes. (3) Help to create a better strategy (4) Staff motivation Strategy implementation requires special motivation to achieve objectives. The motivation system functions according to the qualities and mechanisms of motivation, which is developed during the stage of entry strategy preparation. First and foremost, this system has to inspire employees involved in the process of strategy development and implementation to orient their mindset toward a strategic way of thinking. Formalizing the strategic motivation system includes establishing a system of daily incentives for employees, especially those who are responsible for strategy development and implementation. The formal system is presented in a document, where all suggestions about motivation and incentives are developed and described. It includes all moral, social, and financial instruments of motivation of individual employees and groups of employees. Special recognition and awards should be given to those who go above and beyond in creating and implementing strategic ideas. (5) Increase or enhance adaptability skills How to use organisation culture to develop competitive advantages 1. Develop CA An organization that is able to maintain a positive culture is likely to enjoy many benefits. When organization members identify with the culture, the work environment tends to be more enjoyable, which boosts morale. This leads to increased levels of teamwork, sharing of information, and openness to new ideas. The resulting increased interaction among employees activates learning and continuous improvement because information flows more freely throughout the organization. Additionally, such a culture helps to attract and retain top employees. For example, Wal-Mart’s founder, Sam Walton, showed concern and respect for his employees from the company’s inception. This created an environment of trust that persists to this day. Walton also modeled the behavior that he desired from his employees, especially customer service (both to internal and external customers), by visiting his stores, meeting customers, and greeting employees by their first names. Walton also embraced and encouraged change in order to remain competitive, and developed employees by having them work in a variety of positions. Wal-Mart considers its culture the key to its success, and to this day employees continue to think about â€Å"how Sam would have done it’’ when making decisions. 2. Proactive ; reactive Today’s globally-competitive business environment has made a positive corporate culture a critical aspect of success for firms. No longer just a competitive advantage, it has become a prerequisite for success, allowing companies to attract and retain top employees. Therefore, where the culture is serving to lower morale, it is recommended that management take proactive rather than reactive steps to change the corporate culture using a top-down approach, establishing a new vision and demonstrating new behavior consistent with the revised vision. 2. Ability to change 3. Strong learning curve

Meningitis

Tax payable at 20% over annual allowance of 1 0000 IN class 4 payable at 8% after allowance of 7956 IN class 2 payable weekly at E. 50 After research new child minders operate at 1/3 ‘occupancy' for the first year of trading , followed by 75% thereafter which must be factored into individual projections. 1. 6 My support networks will include: PEACE for training advice and support. Including recommended paperwork and contract help. Network coordinator and the Local Authority are helpful to advise about updates on latest training requirements and any policy updates.Health Visitors are invaluable to maintain current knowledge of young hillside's milestones' and to ensure healthy development. Parents nobody understands their own children like their parents, so it is imperative to have a good relationship with the most important people in their lives. Teachers spend the most time with school age children other than parents and keeping strong links with schools can be very helpful in ensuring that children are happy and settled. My family/relatives in order to maintain a good work/life balance keeping strong relationships with my own family and friends is really important.Childbearing groups/ Childbearing networks could be really helpful to share NY tips or difficulties around being a children and what that in tales, sharing joint experiences (whilst maintaining confidentiality) is useful for career progression. Training/ Publications and magazines such as Who Minds, Childcare websites and OFFSET is vital for staying updated with the latest policies and procedures whilst ensuring that the level of service provided is at the highest standard possible. 2. 1 Explain the Key components off healthy and safe home based environment.Key components; Nappies will be disposed of by sealing in nappy sacks and placing in a sole repose bin within the changing area until the end of day when they will be put into an outside wheelie bin. The changing mat will be wiped with appr opriate anti-bacterial cleaner following use. The children and I will wash hands following nappy changes/toilet breaks, before eating and after playing outside or following messy play. Plastic toys will be wiped if visibly dirty after play and washed in the dishwasher weekly (minimum).I will ensure any pet beds and cages are kept clean and away from any food preparation areas. Any pets will be appropriately vaccinated, roomed and flea protected following veterinary advice. Pet waste will be disposed in a sanitary way, and any litter boxes will not be accessible to the children. Children will not be able to play with any animals when unsupervised. When using any equipment I will ensure that it is age appropriate, in full working order and used according to the manufacturers guidance.I will ensure that plug sockets are covered, stairs are not accessible, children are aware Of evacuation procedures (if age appropriate) and my fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are fully working and regularly tested. When dealing with food in my home/setting the Five Keys to Safer Food are: (1) keep clean; (2) separate raw and cooked; (3) cook thoroughly; (4) keep food at safe temperatures; and (5) use safe water and raw materials. This includes using separate chopping boards for meat and Vega. Ensuring food is within its use by date and labeling food with dates when not kept in its original packaging.When considering illness in order to protect all of the children present any child with a rash should be considered infectious and assessed by their doctor. Chickenpox children will be asked to remain at home until all icicles have crusted over. Cold sores, (Herpes simplex) Avoid contact with the sores. Cold sores are generally mild and self-limiting. German measles Four days from onset of rash. Hand, foot and mouth. Will contact the local HIP if a large number of children are affected. Exclusion may be considered in some circumstances.Impetigo Until lesions are crusted and he aled, or 48 hours after starting antibiotic treatment Antibiotic treatment speeds healing and reduces the infectious period Measles* Four days from onset of rash Preventable by vaccination (MR. xx). Ringworm; Exclusion not usually required Treatment is squired Scabies Child can return after first treatment Household and close contacts require treatment Scarlet fever* Child can return 24 hours after starting appropriate antibiotic treatment Antibiotic treatment is recommended for the affected child Slapped cheek/fifth disease.Ovoviviparous None (once rash has developed) Shingles Exclude only if rash is weeping and cannot be covered. Can cause chickenpox in those who are not immune, ii have not had chickenpox. It is spread by very close contact and touch. Warts and overrule. Overrule should be covered in swimming pools, gymnasiums ND changing rooms Diarrhea and/or vomiting the child should remain at home for 48 hours from last episode of diarrhea or vomiting Conjunctivitis should be t reated on the advice of GAP. Diphtheria * Exclusion from setting is essential. Will contact the HIP. Preventable by vaccination.Your local PHEW centre will organize any contact tracing necessary Head lice, Treatment is recommended only in cases where live lice have been seen Hepatitis A* Exclude until seven days after onset of jaundice (or seven days after symptom onset if no jaundice) In an outbreak of apatite's A, the local PHEW centre will advise on control measures Hepatitis HIVE/AIDS are bloodstone viruses that are not infectious through casual contact. For cleaning of body fluid spills see: Good Hygiene Practice Macroeconomic meningitis*/ specialist* Until recovered Meningitis C is preventable by vaccination.There is no reason to exclude siblings or other close contacts of a child. Meningitis* due to other bacteria Until recovered Hip and phonological meningitis are preventable by vaccination. There is no reason to exclude siblings or other close contacts of a case. Meningitis viral* Milder illness; There is no reason to exclude siblings and other close contacts of a case. Contact tracing is not required MRS.; Good hygiene, in particular handshaking and environmental cleaning, are important to minimize any danger of spread.Mumps* Exclude child for five days after onset of swelling Preventable by vaccination (MR. xx doses) Toreadors; Treatment is recommended for the child and household contacts Tonsillitis; There are many causes, but most cases are due to viruses and do not need an antibiotic. Denotes a noticeable disease. It is a statutory requirement that actors report a noticeable disease to the proper officer of the local authority In case of any accident the first aid kit should be easily accessed and that the first eider should act in accordance to their training and contact medical professionals if required.An Accident/ Incident Record Book will be used to record any accidents and also to log any medication administered including any long term medi cation. Parents will sign a consent form regarding administration of medication and then afterwards to confirm that you have advised them that the medication has been administered this includes inhalers, diabetic injections etc. If a child has known allergies and is required to have access to an penne the correct training Will be undertaken to administer this if required, via Correct medical professional or SST Johns Ambulance training.Any child's allergies will be recorded and every possible effort will be made to avoid triggers, ensuring that ingredients are know if a food allergy, pet hairs are avoided if an allergy relating to animals, and if wayfarer I will be aware of the pollen count whilst planning activities, allergies will be managed with support from parents who are used to their child's allergy needs. . Explain the principles of safe supervision of children in the home based setting and off site Everyday activities; school pick ups, toddler groups, trips to the park, bea ch, shops, visits to swimming pools, zoo and beach, will all carry its own particular risks and supervision needs.

Proctor and Gamble Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proctor and Gamble - Essay Example The products of choice in this paper are Ariel and pampers. Ariel is a cleaning agent while pampers is a personal care product which is applicable mostly to babies to protect them of baby rashes as a result of wetting themselves. The products have been launched in various countries with the aim of diversifying the marketability and scope. Ariel soaps and detergents target all households including offices (WHITE, 2009)). Both high end and low end customers are targeted. The new products for Ariel and Pampers will be launched into the maturing market considering the fact they have been in existence for some time. P & G faces several threats from other companies such as Unilever and Henkel which are firms that are growing very fast. However, there are various opportunities which prevail such as the strong marketing mechanisms that the firm uses and its reputation which makes its product very firm and stable (HOLLIS, 2010).). Price sensitivity of pampers and Ariel detergents Ariel and Pa mpers products are all less sensitive to price. This is because each company has the liberty to sell its product at the price it desires given the different materials required to make the product. The other competitors such as Johnson and Johnson, Unilever have their own products which do compete with the case products hence it can price them according to their own estimation. Product Cost Estimate The product is estimated to be priced according to the size or quantity offered to the customers. It should be noted that Ariel and pampers comes in various sizes and quantities to be able to distribute to various market niches according to the demand in place. It is therefore, important to note that Pampers falls in various sizes and quality similar to Ariel which also falls in different quantities (AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO, 2011). Variable Costs The variable cost in the manufacturing of Ariel is the cost of raw materials which vary due to the economic conditions prevailing in the Un ited Kingdom. Other variable costs include the costs of transportation, the costs incurred on payroll of senior management, costs of floating shares on the stock exchange (HOLLIS, 2010; 33.). Fixed Costs Some of the main fixed costs include; the costs of insurance, costs of advertisement and the costs related to distribution of the products within the country. Other fixed costs include; the cost of utilities such as electricity, water and communications. These costs can be predetermined in advance before costing the products ((KAPFERER, 2008; p. 79). Cost leadership aspects of the products In an attempt to beat rivalry in the market and the increasing level of threats in the market, the company puts more emphasis utilization of the economies of scale. This is because of the high fixed costs incurred in the manufacturing sector which is required to be spread throughout the numerous units (CHERUNILAM, 2010; p. 57). By pulling down the costs incurred per unit cost of the product the ul timate product is then sold at a lower price which fosters the company’s competitiveness in the market (KAPFERER, 2008; p. 79). Market Price The market price is determined by the law of demand and the competitors’ quality of products. The market price of pampers and Ariel depends highly on the consumer preferences and tastes and according to the level of income. The products might have a higher price due to quality but the population does not have the cash to buy the products (DYER, DALZELL & OLEGARIO, 2004; p. 227). Break Even Analysis The breakeven analysis of Ariel and pampers arises when costs of production is exactly equal to the revenue acquired from the sales of the products (Drury, 2008; 2006). At this point the sales revenue equals the

Role of Women in Aviation Industry in the context of Gulf Arab Coursework

Role of Women in Aviation Industry in the context of Gulf Arab Countries - Coursework Example Doumato and Marsha claim that entry of women into economic and political arena has presented women as leaders. Their bid to do so cannot be simply termed simple since it has taken so much effort due to resistance from men. However, women leadership in the developed world has proved to be as effective as that of men. In some cases as a matter of fact, women have been deemed to be more effective leaders than men. Over and above this, women entry into the corporate world has pointed out the actual potential that women possess. Several aspects have presented women as corporate role models, thereby empowering other women. Just like it is the case with women who have already made a successful entry into the GCC aviation industry, women in developed countries play a significant role of empowering other women by acting as their role model in a bid to raise their social status. In comparison to the women context in developed world, GCC women are yet to match up the trend especially in corporate career development like in the aviation industry for example. El Baz notes that patriarchal laws and social customs continue to foster one of the world's most restrictive environments for women. This is not the case in developed world or rather in most other international environment around the world. Restricted civil liberties in the GCC have left women being deemed inferior to men in almost every aspect of life. Women activists are persistently advocating for equal opportunity between men and women in the GCC.

Development of film through 20th and into the 21st Century Essay - 1

Development of film through 20th and into the 21st Century - Essay Example By early 1900’s, twenty-four frames per second standardized method became most popular for projecting films. The characteristic discrepancies in filming speeds due to being dependent on cinematographers hand speed saw the process of filming remain unstandardized for a long period. A skilled cinematographer was able to film a complete film at constant speeds; however, variations were made in order to incorporate special effects. Georges Melies, the popular French filmmaker was the first individual to use changing backgrounds and outfits to narrate his story. Prior to that event, most films were short and took place on a single set. His idea on stage opened up a wide variety of new prospects and stimulated growth in the largely green industry. As the film industry spread and wide, American cinematographers thought it wise to find a central location that would serve them better in creating films uninterrupted. California features of bright sunlight, favourable climatic conditions and a wide-ranging terrain made it perfect for filmmakers, and, thus, ended up being their preferred choice. Hollywood, as is commonly known became a chosen heaven for movie creators. Key innovations within this period also played a vital role that propelled Hollywood dominance in the film industry. Hollywood became an audience pleaser, as technological advancements in the use of double reel in filming made it possible to have lengthy films. The two-hour long films replaced the short 30 minutes films. The double reel camera became a darling for filmmakers. The film industry grew exponentially in two fronts, both financially and in creativity. Film producers in Hollywood swiftly learned that movie spectators were attracted to particular artists and film players, the â€Å"movie stars,† who could attract the largest crowds, thus, bringing in a lot of revenue. Colloquially, this is referred to as the â€Å"Star System.† This discovery in Hollywood

Management Accounting case study assignment Essay

Management Accounting case study assignment - Essay Example Again there are additional costs related to hangarage, that is the shelter for the airplane and many related costs. It is seen that fuel and handling charges are variable costs. And the other costs are fixed costs. The owning of the second hand plane also incurs depreciation charged. The depreciation is charged on a fixed rate method. After the calculation it is clearly visible that the owning of the plane would not be a good choice for the Clear day Co. the related expenses are much more in the case of owning than in the case of renting it. There is a big difference of  £ 83900 in case of owning and renting it. So there fore it would not be beneficial for the company to go for the buy option. Rather the company should stick with the option of renting it as the annual expenses are much lower and are hassle free as the maintenance and other charges would have to be borne by Plummet Aviation. In this situation the condition is the same of owning it but in this situation it can rent it to the local flying club, when they are not using it. It is estimated that, the local flying club would be using the airplane for a minimum of 120 hours in a year and the rent is fixed at  £105 per hour. Thus, it is estimated that the Clearday would be making a sum of  £12600 per annum. But again it is seen that if the airplane is given for rent then the maintenance cost and the insurance cost gets increased by 20% . Thus, as earlier fuel and handling charges are variable in nature and in this case maintenance and insurance are semi variable costs while other are fixed cost. The depreciation charges remain the same. It is seen that though the Clearday is getting an extra income from renting the airplane, but the expenses are too high as compared to renting the airplane from Plummet Aviation. The difference is as high as  £48080. But if in case the company compares between the option of whether renting

Asset Management - Assessment 2 - orders 741163 and 741172 should be Coursework

Asset Management - Assessment 2 - orders 741163 and 741172 should be done by the same writer - Coursework Example 73). These two are considered viable considerations because they aid in analyzing the profitability of the given investment. Given the 6 projects that have been earmarked by the company, the best form of discount rate that will be preferred would be the Weighted Average Cost of Capital. This is selected against the backdrop that it helps in identifying the cost of working capital available to the company (Muller, 2002, p 36). This is done by way of calculating the individual rates at which the company is expected to execute payment on average to its securities so as to clear or finance its capital assets. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is preferred over others as it holds the potential of ensuring that payment of security holders are not done offhand but on an average basis to ensure that the net present value can be measured. In its generalized form, it is important to establish that the optimization of the CAPEX and OPEX are both directed at the generation of capital fund revenue for the company: only that they are to be done in two different fashions. For the 100m CAPEX, any spending decisions made on it must be one that can potentially increase the wealth or value of assets that are already in place and that will become useful beyond the given tax year (Cliff, 2009, p. 83). On the part of the 20m OPEX, it would also be expected to be used in a more value for money fashion even though they have to be used to cater for expenses that will be incurred whiles the project is underway (Investopedia, 2012). Given the prevailing background, it is strongly recommended that for the development drilling, both G-3 and G-4 be drilled in 2015. This is because of the collective wealth creation that will accrue from the two wells when drilled concurrently. For example, it is said that the value of G-1 will decline by a percentage rate of 8% per annum. What this means is that if the company would opt for periodic drilling whereby it would

Thomas Paine Questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Thomas Paine Questions - Coursework Example Paine believed that his work was going to be remembered for a long time – may be forever. He argued that though his work would not have obtained general favor from readers, after some time its objectives was going to be achieved as more people were going to like it - â€Å"Time makes more converts than reason† (Paine, 1776, p. 1). Therefore his belief was that in the long run, his document was going to gain some favor from the readers. Question Two In the views of Paine, society and government are two very different organizations. They are the very opposite of each other. Paine argued that society and government are not the same and even their origin is not the same. The origin of society comes out of our wants but that of the government is from our wickedness. While the society enhances people’s happiness my uniting their great moments, government bring gloominess unto our lives by restraining our vices. Furthermore society enhances intercourse while government brings about classifications. While a society is viewed as a blessing a government is said to be punisher. Paine described a government as a necessary evil when it is in its best state. To Paine, government is badge of lost innocence. Society and government are therefore very different from each other and cannot be compared. In the description of Paine, they seem to oppose each other. It is very interesting how Paine contrasted society and government. In his description he was indeed able to show that though the two are different from each other they cannot be separated from each other. He used such words as necessary evil in describing government showing that government was evil but all the same it cannot be done away with. Question Three Though Paine described government as an evil and a badge of lost innocence, he still argued strongly that it was necessary for the society. Paine saw a great need for regulations and government in general in the society. Government and regulation become necessary because a society grows to a point whereby its members lose commitment and attachment to each other. At first, regulations will be set up to be observed by all the members of the society whereby all the members will have some form of say in the formulation of such regulations. But as the society grows, the need to leave legislation to a legislative body will raise and thus a government would have to been formed. In the views of Paine, regulations and government are simply necessary for the sake of ensuring that there is order in the society. Paine argued that it is the failure of the members of the society to uphold moral virtues that give raise to regulations and government. Along this thinking, he described government as â€Å"a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world† (Paine, 1776, p. 1). Therefore, in simple terms the need for regulations and government is for the purpose of keeping order in the society. Question Four Paine finds two â€Å"tyrannies† in the English Constitution in the form of the Monarchy and Aristocracy. This is because it is a complete opposite of what he

Improving your Practice through Research Assignment

Improving your Practice through Research - Assignment Example From this study it is clear that  consulting glossary incase of unfamiliar word is an important characteristic of research methodology in handling unfamiliar studies. Researchers in selecting subjects from certain population participating in the study by use of a random strategy, is random sampling. It facilitates fair representation of the overall population since it requires access to a specific population making random sampling unfeasible always. Health care studies are based on convenience sample where participants are recruited from available population. Therefore, Random assignment should be adopted since it is a significant feature in the hierarchy of evidence of higher-level studies.This paper outlines that  to implement this change Assessment by nurses on the evidence based practiced team needs to identify clinical problem based on their questions, observation, and experiences in working with patients. Problem identification and evaluation based on the discussions and de bates from the team leading to selection of central line topic as the pressing setback affecting the staff nurses oncology. Best available evidence are then analyzed and synthesized and the team should plan to write a statement to guide the proposed clinical change. Finally, the implementation and evaluation by staff nurses should be organized designed and conduct an educational sessions for all the other nurses then integration and maintenance of the unit policy is put in place.

The need for the return of prayer in public schools Research Paper

The need for the return of prayer in public schools - Research Paper Example Corruption in the modern society is the highest and the technology has facilitated the criminals in developing new ways of achieving their malicious intentions. This includes mobile photography and the use of facebook to retrieve people’s personal information and black-mailing them. This has fundamentally been so because of a lack of emphasis on practicing religion and religious studies on both national and international level. Today in most of the schools in the advanced countries, the curriculum has been redesigned in a way that it is to much extent, technology oriented, but has very less to convey on religious grounds. Although there has been a large emphasis on the inclusion of ethical concepts like corporate social responsibility into the business on a global scale, yet concrete results have not yet been obtained given the lack of ethical considerations in the roots of entrepreneurs’ schooling. There is a severe need for the return of prayer in public schools in order to make the students ethically conscious so that they turn into responsible and considerate professionals in their practical life. Prayers were considered a significant part of the American schools’ curriculum until between 1962 and 1963, when the Supreme Court decided to ban prayer in the schools. (Squidoo LLC, 2010). â€Å"On June 25, l962, 39 million students were forbidden to do what they and their predecessors had been doing since the founding of our nation.† (Bergel, 1988, para. 2). Since then, prayer have been altogether eliminated from the public schools in the US. Although this attempt of Supreme Court has met with huge criticism, yet the decision of Supreme Court stayed and the prayers continued to remain banned ever since. As a result of elimination of prayer from the public schools, it is not only the students that have suffered, but also their parents and teachers have not managed to escape the curse. (Squidoo LLC, 2010) quotes

Internal Factor Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Internal Factor Evaluation Essay Internal factors of a college or university include faculty, students, staff, alumni, athletic program, physical plant, grounds and maintenance, student housing, administration, academic programs, fraternities, sororities, and public relations. The sum total of all weighted score is equal to the total weighted score, final value of total weighted score should be between range 1.0 (low) to 4.0 (high). The average weighted score for IFE matrix is 2.5 any company total weighted score fall below 2.5 consider as weak. The company total weighted score higher than 2. 5 is consider as strong position. And from the table above Philippine Women’s University Sta. Cruz, Laguna Campus has a slight strong internal position and there are many areas need to improve further. Strategies After we evaluate our university, we think that there are some things that the university should do like daily checking of air-cons, lights, flushes of toilets, etc. They should build clinic in case of emergency, they should also build canteen, hire an HR, and have a head of each colleges. They should also include all the other or extra fees in tuition fee. And there’s one thing that is important for us senior, we guess that they should take some actions in helping them on finding OJT. And maintain their strength or much better to improve it more.

AirAsia Business Case Study: Strategy and Environment

AirAsia Business Case Study: Strategy and Environment AirAsia is one of the leading airlines corporation of Malaysia that performed exceedingly well in terms of its past investments and the profits that it made out of it after its relaunch. It was acquitted by a private entrepreneur Tony Fernandes when it was highly under debt. The sudden changes in the profit graph came to the surface soon when it announced its first profit right in seven months of its re-launch. The innovations in strategy and investments brought immense amount of profit to the company in the following years. It invested amounts on new and effective services and cut shorted various not essentially required expenditure to reduce the overall cost. With the implementation of its successful LCC model, the whole business model of AirAsia was changed and it became first Airline Corporation to have no-cost, no-frill concept to lower the prices by 40-60% than its rivals. The results were quite beneficial as it announced its first profit as US$6 million in December, 2002. The corporation kept on expanding its business with the opening of three other hubs within Malaysia to have more share of market size on domestic air flights in Malaysia. It also invested in to have regional flights to its neighboring countries like Thailand and Indonesia with its collaboration with Thailand Shin Corporation and Awair. This made AirAsia to have cheaper airlines to the neighboring countries. AirAsia soon emerged as the largest domestic airlines in Malaysia with the expectancies of over 18 million passengers in the year 2007. With its partnerships with various LCCs, the corporation performed well enough for its long-haul regional services. Its joint ventures with the LCCs like Australias virgin blue, the corporation got a big share in the expanding market of Australia. Its market kept on expanding over the years with the commencement of its flights to even the far cities like London and also for close countries like India and China with the net income reaching over US$ 44 millions in the year 2008. B] STRATEGIC POSTURE The mission of the corporation is to provide high-quality but low cost flying services to all type of passengers. The corporation being a part of airline industry, it missions to become the leader of the market by implementing its smart strategies and sharp business skills. As quoted by its owner Fernandes, he overtook the corporation during its declining stage as he advocated the correctness of time to enter the market because of charter aircraft price and abundance of skilled aircraft staff. The company has been consistent in following its goals and objectives throughout in its performance in the past decade. The corporate objectives were innovative and highly efficient with its symbolic acquisition of its own by Tony Fernandes, joint venture with Thailand Shin Corporation, Awair, Singapores Tiger Airways, etc to provide a broad destination options for its customers at the right times when it was needed. The business model was reconstructed with no-frills, low cost carriers (LCC) w hich brought immense amount of profits to them. The business objectives were to get not only the quality customers but the quantity customers with its seats available in different schemes and at different prices for all type of class of customers. They were constantly consistent with each other to provide exactly what the customers wants and what actually can be managed. The functionality objectives were always to cut down the economic fair of air travel by either performing to get reduced charge from the passengers or providing effective routes for them reducing their net expenditure on travel. It also added various value-added services like online booking, SMS booking, and bookings through call centers, etc. AirAsia soon became the integrated service provider from being a classic LCC product in its functionality to provide maximum attraction to its customers. The objectives were also consistent with the environment of the corporation. Even during the hikes in the prices of oil in mid-2008, the corporation didnt let the fairs go that high which was quite helpful for the corporation in beating off its competitors. The AirAsia opted for various cost-effective, customer-oriented and highly innovative strategies to shape its business model to reach its ultimate missions and objectives. With its innovative low-fare, no-frills concept it highly reduced the cost of air ticket such as by having just a single standard cabin, paid meals instead of pre-paid free meals, etc. The corporation found efficient ways of reducing the expenditure on travel by the customers while expanding its domestic and international business. Like for example, the short-haul flights took less than four hours for travel which provided it opportunity of having the return of the flights on the same day conserving many of the expenses of the corporation. The company also launched its long-hauled air services at the time when many of the LCCs were reluctant for that. All the strategies or mix of strategies were consistently aiming at gradually achieving the goals and the objectives of the corporation and dynamic with the changing internal and external environment. The corporation adopted bold and dynamic policies to achieve its objectives. The corporation first concentrated only on the domestic market and modified its business model to LCC. Then, gradually and steadily corporation expanded itself to first neighboring countries and then internationally across the continents. The missions, objectives, policies and the strategies clearly reflect the companys goals to achieve success not only at domestic level but also the international level (KO, 2009). EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: A] NATURAL PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT: SUSTAINABLE ISSUES Opportunities: The physical environment around the corporations site of business is climatically categorized as equatorial, being hot and humid throughout the year. The climate is favorably well enough to support the flight take-off, landing and flying. The physical location of Malaysia also favors the growth of the organization as it is well connected to the seas and oceans and so for its long-haul regional services, the corporation does not require to manage the permissions to cross the airbase of other countries. In this way the surrounding physical environment of Malaysia provides fair opportunities for AirAsia. Threats: Coming to the threats involved with the natural environment, the well connection of the country to other continents through seas and oceans provides enough opportunities for the journey through ships and Cruzes too which somewhere indirectly can effects the market of AirAsia. The Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia is also a prone area for tsunamis and earthquakes that could affect any industry. The hot and humid climate also affects the working capabilities of the crew. These types of physical environments are also present in few other parts of the world and the same opportunities and threats exist there too. B] SOCIETAL ENVIRONMENT: Economy: The economy of Malaysia is a newly industrialized and state-oriented economy that plays a significant role in the success of AirAsia. The speedily growing economy of the country allows more and more customers to be able afford the airlines travel cost that makes a lot in the growth of a privately owned airlines especially it was relaunched soon after the nation came out of the financial crisis of Asia in 1997. Technological: The technological advancements in the fields of Information technology and Communication have led the value-added services of the corporation to work effectively. Political-legal: The political condition of Malaysia had also been in favor of the corporation as its acquisition was highly welcomed by the Malaysian government and there had been no conflict between the corporation and the governance of the nation till now. Socio-cultural: The hospitality of the people with their own diversity in food, cloth, etc and scenic beauty has always made Malaysia as a tourist spot for the tourists all over the world that has again proved a benefiting factor for the corporation. C] TASK ENVIRONMENT The forces like natural environment, external investments, location of hubs, rivalry with competitors, financial crisis, government policies, etc are the major forces that drive the industrial competitions. These forces vary from country to country as the economy; political, cultural conditions are not the same for every country. The following forces are listed with their ratings: Threats for new entrants- Medium Bargaining power of buyers- Low Threats of substitute products or services- High Bargaining power of supplier- Low Rivalry among the competing firms- High Relative power of unions, governments and special interest groups, etc.- High The key factors in the immediate environment affect a lot to the corporation. The government policies decide the taxes, establishment of hubs, permissions of number flights, etc. The loyalty of the labor unions ensures the smooth functioning of any corporation. The suppliers, providers, creditors always affect the quality of the services provided to the customers. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT A] CORPORATE STRUCTURE Following is the way as the corporate structure of Air Asia at present (Organizational Structure, 2009): The structure is as we can see in a horizontal manner which means hierarchy is horizontal in the company. This is obviously something good for the company as interaction with lower level employees becomes easier for the above level of the employee or vice versa. Structure is comparable with most of airline firms as they also have the same horizontal hierarchy. B] CORPORATE CULTURE Corporate culture of the company is mainly base upon maximizing the value of shareholders. It also mainly believes in giving safety to the customers. It believes in giving maximum satisfaction to the customers with leaders in the cost structure It believes in transparency and development of human capital. Company is very much compatible with the employees and their diversities as it is providing employee satisfaction to all of its employees The company is similar in the cultural values like similar organizations as most of the organizations in the aviation sector have the similar cultural values (Strategy, 2006). C] CORPORATE RESOURCES- 1. MARKETING: The current marketing objectives of the corporation are to get maximum number of customers of all types by making such schemes in which everyone can be accommodated. Its tagline Now Everyone can fly says the basic fundamental concept behind its marketing objectives. The corporation effectively found the ways of getting the most effective routes to suit both its cost and customers satisfaction. The corporation has kept on adding and modifying its features and value added services to provide maximum offerings to increase its sales. The company has also strongly stuck itself to LCC principles. The corporation has also recently announced the commencements of its flights to even far-off places like London. The corporation has not only offered cheap tickets but also the services like travel insurance, etc. The free tickets on the basis of its point to the customer are another such offering. All these have also been dynamic and corresponding with its performance and availability of budgets. The company has very well performed on the basis of its current market position and the position from which it had started during its relaunch. The company has enough promotion and publicity in media through its publicity strategies. The fares of ticket have always been kept as low as possible despite of all sorts of problems coming up like price hikes of oil, etc. The company is even the sponsor of the famous Manchester United Football Club and ATT Williams Formula one team to have its world-wide promotion. The market size of the company is expanding with the launch of its several multinational collaboration and establishment of the joint ventures in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, etc. Besides, its primary product of airline tickets its several other products include internet check-in services, Xpress boarding services, mileage programs, Citibank-Air Asia Credit Card, etc. The company is able to earn for the same product easily from the developed region in comparison to that in dev eloping region. This shows a trend that the basically the marketing strategy of a company should cover every section of the society in order to have maximum profit. This trend had been a fair impact on the success rate of a company and surely will be in the future too. The marketing of its products gives the company massive advantage over its competitors. The marketing strategies of the corporation have beaten all its major competitors both in terms of profits and customers satisfaction. The marketing managers have accepted these tools and techniques to evaluate the performance of a product. Marketing is highly dependent upon the political and socio-economic conditions prevailing in a country and hence same marketing strategy cannot be applied for adjustments in all the countries. The marketing takes an overall account in every dimension and hence the environmental sustainability has to be a guiding factor in marketing policies. 2. FINANCE: Corporations current financial objectives, strategies, policies and programs have been with high hopes of return. The corporation had to invest much on the purchase of flights, managing the crew of a debt-ridden firm and maximize its scale in a very less time. The finance has been clearly mentioned but under the limitations of its past performance. They have been exactly consistent with the objectives, policies and strategies of the corporation. The corporations finance in the activities of setting up of hubs within and outside Malaysia with the collaboration of other corporations helped them to gain several direct or indirect benefits. Its financial services like holiday products and all, charge for meal as customer desires, online and SMS bookings, medical care, etc did enough cash flow but in return it got enormous level of attachment with the customer who would always like to stick to AirAsia for its services. The smart finance policies of finance showed a trend of financing the long-term goals and objectives without compromising with the immediate ones can be an effective way to earn maximum economic profits. The past effects are already shown by the AirAsia and in future it is expected no less. This analysis strongly supports corporations past and pending strategic decisions. The financial success in terms of returns provides company with a competitive advantage. The financial performance of the corporation can be very well compared to others with the fact that out of many corporations based on LCC, it became number one in 2008. The profits were always high and when the MAS tried to have a price war it had to suffer huge losses. The finance is quite adjustable to the condition operating in various countries. The coping up of finance with global finance issue was also very well proved by the corporation during the period of global recession. Also, the finance managers play a very important role in strategic management as they are the ones who evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of the strategies made and implemented. 3. OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS The current service objectives, strategies, policies and programs of the corporation are not much different from those meant for the organization as a whole. They are meant for sale but with ensuring of its reputation and sustainability in the market. The services provided by the AirAsia are accurately meant for achieving its mission and objectives. They are clearly stated and structured with the requirement in the market. Also, they have always been revolutionary and innovative in their respective approaches. The cost effective and high quality services have the capabilities of not only bringing the ultimate customer satisfaction but also the favorably high returns of profits. Although the company has now started to focus internationally but still it has not been deviated from its initial aim of becoming the market leader of the domestic market. The purchasing is being handled on the very basis of its requirement. The other points to be highlighted are vulnerable to unexpected natural disasters, local or international strikes, hikes in prices of the materials and the other issues. 4. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The corporation has also effectively managed its human resource to benefit all. Even during its relaunch it didnt cut short the employees. It even saw the opportunities in hiring the skilled professionals, workers and other employees. Their objectives and strategies were again consistent with the corporations missions and objectives achieving the satisfaction for all even its own employees. There was not even a single considerable instance on clashes between employees and the top managing employers. The policies straight away indicate that they are simple, well stated, less dependent on the performance of the corporation and satisfactory for all of its employees. There have been less grievances, strikes and lay-offs which have been a great cause of success that has been achieved by the corporation till now. The commitment and loyalty of the employees as outcomes of proper HRM can be proved by the instance when Fernandes appreciated the staffs positive work ethic to overcome the finan cial issue of mid-2008. 5. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY The role of Information Technology was another important factor involved with the successful AirAsia. The current objectives and strategies of the corporation regarding IT is to advertise its features and services, add the services and products to the catalog and solve various issues regarding the customer care with direct interaction with them. They are clearly defined with no dependence on budget or performance. They have been implemented for the better accomplishment of corporations goals and objectives. Many of the value added services are handled by IT by providing the travelers with the interface for online booking, internet check-in service, cancellations, etc. The Real 5 star rating was another example of this kind. The IT played a very important role in assisting the managers in taking the decisions and decides the immediate strategy. The database of the customer could be easily maintained, the complaints of the customer is speedily managed with the help of Information Technology. This analysis emerges a trend that in this era of boom in IT sector, the appropriate use of IT is a must for any kind of business. This had a positive impact on the business model of AirAsia and surely with the expansion of IT sector the positive impact obviously would be there. STRATEGIC FACTORS Four Important Internal Factors: The marketing innovations and its implementation. The smart finance policies with the fixed priorities which should also be at the correct time. The proper use of available manpower, avoiding confrontation among them for maximizing the proper functioning capability of the corporation. The efficient use of the resources like Information Technology, etc. Four Important external Factors: The government policies and the relationships with the government. The natural environment and the calamities that can unexpectedly occur. The economic, social and cultural factors of a country. Rivalry with other corporations. The current mission and objectives can be justified in the light of available resources, problems and the environment and they are achieved and will be achieved at an appreciating rate in the future looking at the present prospectus. STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES: The corporation can further go ahead with more effective use of IT. The dual seat system can be implemented in domestic level too. The corporation has enough expanded and it can now open its chain to other South-east Asian countries, where such strategies would be highly invited. BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY ADOPTED BY AIRASIA The business model of AirAsia is well established and fairly ideal for other industries as well. With the perfectly set goals, mission and listed strategy ensures the well functioning of the corporation. Foundation of the corporation is based upon low cost, efficiency, stimulation of new markets and strong cash flow. Strategies highlight the concepts of simplicity, quality services at low cost, etc. And the vision is to continue to be lowest cost in the market. The corporation started its business with just three aircraft in 2002 which grew to the number 72 in 2008. The corporation has enough popularity in print and electronic media. With its low cost and high quality services and the customers satisfaction with the products of the corporation, the corporation has emerged out as a market leader in the industry. According to the porters five forces model, absolute cost advantage, government policies, fulfillment of capital requirements, its proprietary products, value added services, and the importance given to the supplier clearly indicates that the strategies opted by the corporation are suitable for it. The buyers inclination to the substitute, switching costs, and corporate stakes are the obvious risks for the corporation. (Porters Five Forces: A MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS)

Gauley Bridge and Bhopal Disasters

Gauley Bridge and Bhopal Disasters The Gauley Bridge Disaster The Hawks Nets Tunnel was being built near Gauley Bridge in West Virginia, and during that time, close to five hundred workers died from silicosis, and about one thousand five hundred contracted the disease (Lobo, 2012). The tunnels construction began in the 1930s, and it required the contractors to blast and drill through two mountains near the Gauley Bridge. During the period of construction, in the 1930s, African Americans were still dominated by whites, and more than eighty percent of the workers were blacks (McCulloch Tweedale, 2014). The workers were also not union members (Lobo, 2012), which might have made their labor cheap and exposing them to exploitation. The excavation took place during the time of the great depression when unemployment rates were high, and people, especially blacks, would do any work to earn a living. Most likely, racism played a key role in the neglect of the workers safety and health when they were drilling through the mountains. The African workers were supervised with armed white men (McCulloch Tweedale, 2014). As a result of being exposed to silica, which originated from the excavation, hundreds of workers developed silicosis due to a buildup of silica particles in the lungs. Silicosis is a dreadful disease that permanently affects the lungs, making it lose its functionality gradually, which eventually leads to death (Lobo, 2012). The contractors responsible for the building of the tunnel never took any preventive measures to ensure that workers worked under safe conditions. However, the mountains contain high levels of silica, which is very toxic. The death of about five hundred employees and infection of one thousand five hundred more could have been prevented if the contractors employed standard safety measures such as wearing respirators to avoid inhaling silica. Since the incident, regulations that require workers to use protective equipment are enforced by institutions such as National Institute for Occupational Safety, which is dedicated to how to prevent silicosis and how to identify symptoms (Lobo, 2012). Also, today some unions and laws ensure the rights and safety of workers are not compromised. The Bhopal Disaster In late 1984, a pesticide factory known as Union Carbide experienced a leakage of about forty metric tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC), a very deadly gas (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). The incident occurred in Bhopal, India, and at least four thousand people were killed immediately after the gas had leaked. The actual figure is not precise because the government, activists, and independent bodies have different estimations. More than half a million residents were exposed to the deadly gas, and more than twenty-five thousand people have died up to date due to exposure to the toxic gas and pollution of the environment (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). Also, thousands of animals died, their dead bodies littered the streets (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). The main effects of the gas included choking, burning eyes, breathing difficulties, and frothing at the mouth. Other people died from being trampled on by other people as everyone was confused and running for their lives. The massive leakage of MIC was caused by several violations of plant procedures, negligence of internal leaks, and flaws in design (Goh, Tan, Lai, 2015). According to personnel who were employed at the factory, the management never took health and safety seriously. The site has been reported to still contain high levels of MIC (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). Soil and water bodies were also polluted, and up to date, children are born with defects such as brain damage and twisted limbs. Since the Bhopal disaster, the judiciary took an active role in protecting the environment (Goh, Tan, Lai, 2015). Laws such as the Factories Act were passed to ensure that industries followed international and national standards, as well as understanding the risk involves and how they can be mitigated or prevented. Two Other Similar Stories: Russias Chernobyl and Chinas Jilin The explosion at a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Russia in 1986 released radioactive material that was more than four hundred times stronger than that released in Hiroshima (Cardis et al., 2006). The effects of the extreme radiation are still present as children are born with defects, develop cancer, and several other health issues. Studies suggest that the radioactive material needs at least two hundred years to wear off, making the environment safe for people (Cardis et al., 2006). In November 2005, the Jilin chemical plant in china exploded and resulted to the death of six workers and dozens were injured (Fu, W., Fu, H., Skà ¸tt, Yang, 2008). The explosions polluted the river, which has led to reduced white cells amongst the residents, leading to leukemia. Additionally, it is estimated that over one hundred thousand people are likely to develop cancer (Fu, W., Fu, H., Skà ¸tt, Yang, 2008). For both incidents, safety standards were improved to ensure that such an incident d oes not repeat itself. References Cardis, E., Howe, G., Ron, E., Bebeshko, V., Bogdanova, T., Bouville, A., Drozdovitch, V. (2006). Cancer consequences of the Chernobyl accident: 20 years on. Journal of radiological protection, 26(2), 127. Fu, W., Fu, H., Skà ¸tt, K., Yang, M. (2008). Modeling the spill in the Songhua River after the explosion in the petrochemical plant in Jilin. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 15(3), 178. Goh, Y. M., Tan, S., Lai, K. C. (2015). Learning from the Bhopal disaster to improve process safety management in Singapore. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 97(1), 102-108. Lobo, J. (2012). From The Book of the Dead to Gauley Bridge: Muriel Rukeysers Documentary Poetics and Film at the Crossroads of the Popular Front. Journal of Modern Literature, 35(3), 77-102. McCulloch, J., Tweedale, G. (2014). Anthony J. Lanza, Silicosis and the Gauley Bridge Nine. Social History of Medicine, 27(1), 86-103. Yang, M., Khan, F., Amyotte, P. (2015). Operational risk assessment: A case of the Bhopal disaster. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 97(4), 70-79.

Free Hamlet Essays: Lonely Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Lonely Hamlet Hamlet’s decision to keep the murder of his father a secret to himself, along with the betrayals of many of his close friends and family, leads to his eventual downfall. If someone was there for him, whether it was his mother Gertrude, his girlfriend Ophelia, or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, maybe his timeless death could have been prevented. Instead, his mother sides with Claudius who wants to kill him, Ophelia won’t go behind her father, Polonius’, back to be with him and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern go behind Hamlet’s back and spy on him for Claudius. Gertrude’s blindness to the whole situation is sickening. How she marries the brother of her former husband right after he kills him and never knows the truth is beyond me. She never cared about how her son felt before or after she married Claudius. She didn’t even wait very long after her husband died to get married again ( I; ii; 180-181. "Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables".). Therefore she is either a very slow, naïve woman or a very evil, coldhearted one. For someone to side with a person even after their own son has told them that the person they’re with has murdered their former lover is absolute lunacy ( III; iv; 29-30. "A bloody deed- almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry his brother".). Not knowing the truth in the first place is one thing, but turning your back on your own flesh and blood is another. Therefore without his mother on his side, Hamlet has lost all the fami ly in his life that could have helped him get through his terrible time and he sinks lower than ever before. Ophelia’s obedience towards her untrusting father is indescribable ( I; iii; 101-103. "Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them"?). Why a grown woman would listen to her father and not help the man of her dreams in his time of need is disheartening. A man’s girlfriend should be there for him when a family member passes away, no matter what. If she had been with him on the plan to kill Claudius and knew about his fathers ghost who told Hamlet that Claudius was the one that murdered him, than neither one of them would have went crazy.

Ginseng :: Essays Papers

Ginseng Basis of the Asian Science of Consumption The Asian tradition of categorizing food is based on the observation of one’s reaction after consumption. It is rooted in the theory that food provides energy for the body and mind. The proportions and forms of energy vary, some are extremely energizing while others may even weaken the body and mind (3). The Asian word for energy is ch’i, however, its translation extends far beyond the Western understanding. It is basically thought of as the spirit or essential energy existing in all beings and elements of life (water, air, earth, etc). The ch’i of a healthy person is balanced. This notion of balance is the foundation of Asian thinking represented by the symbol of â€Å"yin and yang†. Yin is the equivalent of what is dark, cold, and moist; while yang is associated with light, warm, and dry elements; thus representing balance. The notion of balance exists universally in all elements and is represented or explained by this symbol. Therefore, since o ne’s energy must be balanced in order to stay healthy, and further, since it is food that provides energy, the Asians have created a science of consumption that fuels the mind and body from within. Foods that strengthen the body by increasing or decreasing energy levels according to need are considered pu foods, usually having a tonic and stimulating effect. Foods of this nature are rare and placed at very high prices, but since they are believed to be extremely important in balancing one’s ch’i many are willing to pay the high prices in order to attain them. Anderson points out in his article, Traditional Medical Values of Food, that pu foods are â€Å"famous worldwide as examples of the bizarre things human beings will eat and pay high prices for†. Ginseng is the most highly regarded and most expensive. It has maintained a heavenly context since ancient times. It is crucial to understand the extreme significance that Asians place in food for the purpose of maintaining balance in order to assure one’s health. It is also necessary to understand that attaining this balance represents the most vital concern of life and therefore extreme measure may be taken to achieve it. A Quick Introduction to Ginseng Ginseng is the common name of the two species of the panax family, Araliaceae. Panax is the Asian species and panax quinquefolius is the American cousin (2).

The Extended Allegory in The Power and The Glory Essay -- Power and Th

The Extended Allegory in The Power and The Glory      Ã‚  Ã‚   Graham Greene pieced together The Power and the Glory from his own personal memoirs in 1940 after a three-year trip to Mexico.   Drawing from his own observations of a small town torn between the anti-religious laws of the secular government and the people's religious beliefs, Greene created the story of a Catholic priest being pursued by the police to illustrate the conflicting relationship between the church and state (Greene 2-4).   Greene used his experiences in Mexico to create an extended allegory that illustrates the conflict between the two world views and, in turn, reveals his own values and philosophy.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Drawing from his experience in Mexico, Greene developed a "whiskey priest," a character introduced to Greene by a friend in Mexico in a story of a drunken priest that christened a child by the wrong name, to embody the religious world view.   The priest, who remains nameless throughout the novel to emphasize his allegorical role, is less an individual than a symbol of the "Church [and] of the cumulative wisdom of the past, in short, of Western Humanism" (DeVitis 89).   The priest, however, is seen as a traitor to the state and to his religion.   The last Catholic priest in a secular Mexican state, the priest's photograph is hung next to that of a notorious American gangster on the wall of the police office.   The priest's tendency towards gin, cowardliness, and his moral weakness make him a traitor to his faith and religious order.  Ã‚   On the allegorical level of the novel, the priest's flight from the police is seen as a "flight from God" and away from becom ing a saint (DeVitis 90).   Refusing to accept his destiny of being captured by the police and becom... ...ce into paradise" (Hynes 67).   Only after the priest's execution is the lieutenant forced to realize his own emptiness and does Greene reveal his religious compassion.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Although often criticized for being "chiefly Roman Catholic," The Power and the Glory masterfully illustrates the intense conflict between the secular and religious world views (Hynes 70).   By developing complex allegorical characters, Graham Greene achieves an almost myth-like quality.       Works Cited: Allot, Kenneth and Miriam Farris, The Art of Graham Greene. New York:   Russell & Russell, 1951. DeVitis, A. A., Graham Greene.   New York: Twayne Publishers, 1964. Greene, Graham, The Power and the Glory.   New York: The Viking Press, 1940. Hynes, Samuel ed.,   Graham Greene: A Collection of Critical Essays.  Ã‚   Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1973.

Fashion, Gender and Identity

‘Gender is a meaning that a culture assigns to sexual differences' and within gender, ‘masculinity and femininity are the divisions that a culture creates between behavior and ‘characteristics considered to be appropriate to men and women' (Bernard, 2007, 185- 186). Fashion aids in the social construction of gender through separating male and female fashion and promoting the stereotypical feminine figure. From the days of stays and petticoats to corsets and crinolines and now with padded bras and ‘Spans', fashion has seen centuries of shrinking and augmentation of the body to achieve the sexualities, feminine' shape.The communicative function' of the body and they way in which it is McCollum is like a ‘language' – a ‘cultural communication' (Descanters, 1997, 11). Being ‘feminine' is Just one of many ‘performances' that people can choose to present and a person's choice to follow more typically feminine or masculine styles can pr ovide an insight into who they are (Gauntlet, 2008, 11). Although certain guidelines may be socially expected, in the western world, we are largely in control of what we wear and thus are perpetually communicating some element of personal identity every time we get dressed, whether it is intentional or subconscious.Using the visual examples of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and a fashion icon in the late 18th century and Lady Gaga, a current fashion and pop icon, this essay demonstrates how, even though centuries have passed, the practice of augmenting and shrinking the figure through fashion garments to achieve a feminine' shape has continued to perpetuate social constructions of femininity. Then, the example of Andre] Pelvic is used to demonstrate how appearance can communicate identity, in particular gender identity.Beginning in the 16th century in Europe, Women's bodies were universally forced onto bizarre, unnatural shapes' (Smith, 1998, 5). Stays, petticoats, corsets and cr inolines with stiff fabric, boning and wire were used to force the body into the desirable feminine' silhouette of the time. Constant dissatisfaction and change with the idealized shape of the body reinforced the idea that the natural body needed to be ‘improved and restricted' to be considered attractive (Smith, 1998, 5).We see this trend continue into modern day clothing and undergarments. This constant restriction and augmentation, which occurs almost solely to the female body, aids in the social construction and communication of gender. Illustration of Marie Antoinette by Panderer-Login, from Encyclopedia Figure 1 Britannica Image Quest A royal exemplar existed in the form of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France from 1774 until 1792 – a time when all of Europe was ‘culturally and stylistically influenced' by France, during the Rococo era (Coving, 2006, 56.Descanters, 1997, 35-36). The desired feminine physical ideal at this time was the ‘hourglass female fi gure: a tiny waist, ample bosom and large hips which enhanced femininity (Tallahatchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37). Marie Antoinette had to ‘learn to be a woman (or at least how to perform indemnity)' through the molding of her body with fashion garments (Goodman, 2003, 6). In Figure 1 (above) the Queen is depicted with her hand resting on her commodious and voluminous skirt, serenely gazing into the palace.It can be seen that her body is distinctly shaped to the ‘hourglass' figure that Tallahatchie-Villas (2007) refers to as an image of ‘enhanced femininity – the tightly laced corset has shrunk her waist and her bosom is being flattened and pushed upwards to have an overflowing effect. At the same time her hips have been augmented by a large pannier shaped undergarment and gathers and ruffles of fabric add to the luminous result. Corsets had been present since the beginning of the 17th century, initially made with an iron structure, which was replaced by whalebone in the 18th century.At the beginning of the 18th century, the farthing' – a framework of hoops' that aristocratic women had previously worn to provide volume under their skirts – was replaced by the crinoline (Charles & Carl, 2010, 30). The crinoline augmented the size of the hips and changed shape to follow changing fashions in the desired feminine physique. In the early 18th century the shape of the crinoline was round, it then came oval and then ‘conical' (Charles & Carl, 2010, 30).By the mid 18th century they had become a ‘pannier' shape meaning ‘side hoops' or false hips' – a shape that was flat on front and back and extended on the wearer's left and right, giving her exceedingly wide hips (Cumming, Conjunction & Conjunction, 2010, 148). This is the shape we see in Panderer-Aligns illustration of Marie Antoinette in Figure 1 . In this illustration there are a number of elements of composition and execution that support the conclusion that the molding the Queen underwent were both expected and desirable at this time.There is the artist's decision to place her in a standing position in which the full scale of her skirt can be realized, the addition of shading to emphasize her bust, and dark shadowing around the waist that functions to reduce its size. The enormity of the Queen's gown in relation to her head and the background of the portrait ensure that her curvaceous feminine shape instantly draws the viewer's eye. The artist's decision to contrast the rich, dark objects in the background with pale colors to illustrate her in the foreground again draws attention to this almost ethereal feminine form.One wonders how widely this image as distributed, given our knowledge of Marie Antoinette influence on fashion. Queen Marie Antoinette was known as the ‘Queen of Fashion' and her choices in clothing were closely documented, publicized and duplicated by women throughout the whole of Europe (Weber, 2007, 1). Her wardr obe has even provided inspiration for current designers such as Much Dulcet for her millinery collection at the Autumn/ Winter 2012/13 London Fashion Week and John Gilligan for his Spring 2010 Couture collection for Dior in Paris (Clearing, 2012. Maida, 2010).The consequence of her choice to conform to the notion of molding her body, restricting and augmenting – wrought undergarments and fashion garments – to achieve the hourglass shape ensured this practice remained in fashion and in turn contributed to the social constructions of the feminine physical ideal. After the fall of the monarchy at the turn of the century this fashion of restricting and augmenting the body, molding it to achieve the ideal feminine' physique, persisted. The use of the waist- shrinking, bust- raising corset was continued into the nineteenth century, although steel boning began to be used instead of whalebone.By the mid sass, ‘cheap, mass-produced' corsets were developed and became a tab le of nearly every woman's wardrobe (Gag & Steele, 2005, 291). At this time, flexible sprung-steel rings suspended from cloth tapes' known as ‘Hopkins' were in fashion and augmented the size of the wearer's hips (Gag & Steele, 2005, 317). The corset remained in fashion into the early twentieth century, when it had become a ‘straight front' corset that ‘pushed the pelvis back and the bosom forward,' forming the desired feminine physique at the time – the ‘S' silhouette (Gag & Steele, 2005, 293).The fashionable body in this period was augmented towards the back with use of a bustle skirt. In the sass, the fashionable female figure was ‘boyish and flat- cheesed,' so the waist shrinking corset and wired underskirts became largely obsolete, but the practice of restriction remained in fashion as the breasts still had to be tightly bound, this time to conceal rather than enhance' (Smith, 1998, 5).In 1939, and then after World War II, Tallahatchie-Villas ' image of ‘enhanced femininity with a tiny waist, ample bosom and large hips' returned to fashion again and brought with it the return of the corset and fuller skirts (Tallahatchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37. Gag & Steele, 2005, 293). From the sass onwards the process of restriction and augmentation to achieve the desired feminine physique dictated by fashion at the time has continued. A review of more recent trends and products and fashion exemplars appears below.Currently there is no singular feminine' silhouette that is being dictated by fashion. In some areas of fashion media we are seeing the same boyish thinness as in the twenties and in others there is a push for the ‘real', curvaceous shape (Abraham, 2012). There are still some ‘corset enthusiasts' and elements of these undergarments such as boning and full skirts are still being used in many women's garments as well as in haute couture fashion. There is a myriad of other new garments encouraged by fashion for wo men to restrict, augment and mold their bodies into any desired shape.A few products currently on the market include the Wastepaper' – a tubular piece of Lacy worn to slim the waist and flatten the stomach; the ‘High-waist Long Leg Brief which is designed to provide ‘under-bust and tummy support, hip and thigh contouring, and a nice boost for your butt'; as well as ‘Padded Shaper Panties' which have two round foam pads to give you a ‘perfectly rounded derriere' and padded bras to increase bust size (Morgan, 2012). Compared to the days of corsets and crinolines, he variety of ways in which fashion encourages women to squeeze, expand and mold their bodies have grown.Figure 2 – Photograph of Lady Gaga at the 2009 MET Music awards. Photo courtesy of Getty Images, 2009 Lady Gaga, is Without question, the world's biggest pop star' and a current fashion icon (Robinson, 2010, 280). She famously morphs her body into the sexualities feminine hourglass sha pe with boning, padding and structured garments – often designed specifically for her by current avian garden fashion designers such as Giorgio Airman and Nicola Fortieth for Thither Mugger (Fleming 2012.Nick, 2011). In the above photograph (Figure 2) Lady Gaga is wearing a Jean Paul Guiltier padded and boned body suit, which drastically shapes her figure into the curvaceous, hourglass silhouette of ‘enhanced femininity that Tallahatchie-Villas refers to (2007). The boning restricts the size of her waist while the undermine and padding on the cups over her breasts raise and shape the bust and the padding on her hips augment their size.Although this is an exaggerated example and would not be considered a ready- to- wear garment that women would be seen in on the street, Lady Saga's style choices are influential on how women choose to dress in mainstream culture. More than four hundred years after the first corsets and petticoats came into fashion, we see that the process of restricting and augmenting the female body to achieve a look considered to be feminine is still widespread.Through encouraging this practice and promoting a desired feminine physique that is difficult to attain naturally, fashion aids in the social construction of gender. An individual's choices about the clothes, make-up, accessories and styling that they adorn before venturing into public can communicate a lot about who they are. At the name time, the changeable and impermanent nature of these external applications meaner that no definite assumptions of a person's identity can be made and these variables can easily be manipulated by the individual, allowing them to become who they would like to be.An individual's unique interpretations of, and resistances to conventional fashions is known as ‘appearance style' and is a medium through which individuals can ‘announce' who they are or who they want to become (Gag & Steele, 2005, 34). There are some elements of appeara nce that we are accustomed to observing and processing almost immediately when we look at a person. For example when you see a stranger, it is highly likely that you will be able to tell if their gender is male or female almost instantly and their appearance style aids in this immediate recognition.When you observe the combination of their choice of hair cut, cosmetics, clothing, accessories, shoes and mannerisms; you can draw a conclusion about what gender that person is ‘announcing that they are. This shows that the individual has the power to manipulate these components of their appearance to communicate their understanding of their personal gender identity. An example of how successfully appearance can provide an insight into gender identity and also how easily it can be manipulated can be seen through examining performances of Andre] Epic.Pelvic is biologically a man but models as both a male and a female. At his first fashion week – New York Fashion week Fall/Wint er 2011/12 – he walked in five menswear shows and four homeowners shows and this number has since grown (Morris, 2011). Pelvic explains how he began to mold himself into the typically feminine aesthetic, creating an appearance style that would be read as female – he grew and dyed his hair, ‘started wearing skinny Sears†¦ Hopping in the women's aisle and putting on make-up' (Morris, 2011). Pelvic was voted the ninety- eighth sexiest woman in the world in Fem. ‘One Hundred Sexiest Women' list last year (Peck, 2011, 24). Figure 3 – Andre] Pelvic in ‘Hem' ad campaign. Photo courtesy of Hem from Hollywood Planet, 2011 In the above ad for the Dutch department store ‘Hem', Andre] Pelvic is pictured wearing their ‘mega push up bra' underneath a close-fitted top and a figure hugging dress (Freeman- Greene, 2011).The bra is claimed to ‘add two cup sizes' to its wearer's bust, which it has achieved successfully with Epic's originall y flat chest (Quicker, 2011). His body has been manipulated so that his appearance style masticates his gender as female. His hair is long and blow-dried in a typically feminine style, he is wearing make-up and a necklace, his arms are void of hair and his body has been manipulated to augment the bust with padding. He attempts to channel the poses that female models often make by moving and looking at the camera in a fluid and dramatic' manner (Morris, 2011).The close up angle of the photos and the choice of shots where Pelvic is making direct eye contact with the camera enforces the believability of Epic's feminine appearance. The success of the communication of Epic's gender identity as female in this advertisement monstrance the extent to which an individual can communicate who they are or would like to be through their appearance. As an audience we almost automatically assume Pelvic to be a ‘beautiful, Victorians Secret queue bombshell' (Abraham, 2011).This mutual communic ation and interpretation that can be achieved through manipulating the variables of appearance style allows for an individual's look to say much about who they are. Fashion aids in the social construction of gender through separating male and female fashion and promoting the stereotypical feminine figure. In numerous entities past and continuing into the present, the practice of women using wire, steel, elastic and padding to McCollum their bodies to the fashionable shape of the time has been common, even expected.We have examined how Queen Marie Antoinette encouraged this practice in the 18th Century by wearing a corset to nip her waist and enhance her bust as well as hoop pannier skirts to widen her hips. In the 21st Century it has been demonstrated that this body distortion is still common with pop icon Lady Gaga wearing a boned and padded body suit that provides her with that feminine, hourglass shape. We then saw how this practice is so typically expected to be feminine that th e biologically male model Andre] Pelvic can display his female gender identity by donning a padded bra. Fashion, Gender and Identity gender is a meaning that a culture assigns to sexual differences' and within gender, ‘masculinity and ‘femininity are the divisions that a culture creates between behavior and ‘characteristics considered to be appropriate to men and women' (Bernard, 2007, 185- 186). Fashion aids In the social construction of gender through separating male and female fashion and promoting the stereotypical feminine figure. From the days of stays and petticoats to corsets and crinolines and now with padded bras and Spans, fashion has seen centuries of shrinking and augmentation of the body to achieve the sexualities, feminine' shape.The communicative function' of the body and they way in which it is molded is like a ‘language' – a ‘cultural communication' (Descanters, 1997, 11). Being ‘feminine' is Just one of many ‘performances' that people can choose to present and a person's choice to follow more typically feminine or masculine styles can provide an i nsight into who they are (Gauntlet, 2008, 11). Although certain guidelines may be socially expected, in the western world, we are largely in control of what we wear and thus are perpetually communicating some element of personal Identity every time we get dressed, whether It Is Intentional or subconscious.Using the visual examples of Merle Antoinette, Queen of France and a fashion Icon In the late 1 8th century and Lady Gaga, a current fashion and pop Icon, this essay demonstrates how, even though centuries have passed, the practice of augmenting and shrinking the figure through fashion garments to achieve a ‘feminine' shape has continued to perpetuate social constructions of femininity. Then, the example of Andrea Pelvic is used to demonstrate how appearance can communicate identity, In particular gender identity.Beginning in the 16th century in Europe, Women's bodies were universally forced onto bizarre, unnatural shapes' (Smith, 1998, 5). Stays, petticoats, corsets and crin olines with staff fabric, boning and wire were used to force the body Into the desirable friendly' silhouette of the time. Constant dissatisfaction and change with the Idealized shape of the body reinforced the Idea that the natural body needed to be ‘improved and restricted' to be considered attractive (Smith, 1 998, 5). We see this trend continue into modern day clothing and undergarments.This constant restriction and augmentation, which occurs almost solely to the female body, aids in he social construction and communication of gender. Britannica Image Quest A royal exemplar existed in the form of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France from 1774 until 1792 – a time when all of Europe was ‘culturally and stylistically influenced' by France, during the Rococo era (Coving, 2006, 56. Descanters, 1997, 35-36). The desired feminine physical ideal at this time was the ‘hourglass female figure: a tiny waist, ample bosom and large hips which enhanced femininity (Tallah atchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37).Marie Antoinette had to ‘learn to be a woman (or at least how to perform indemnity)' through the molding of her body with fashion garments (Goodman, 2003, 6). In Figure 1 (above) the Queen is depicted with her hand resting on her commodious and voluminous skirt, serenely gazing into the palace. It can be seen that her body is distinctly shaped to the ‘hourglass' figure that Tallahatchie-Villas (2007) refers to as an image of ‘enhanced femininity – the tightly laced corset has shrunk her waist and her bosom is being flattened and pushed upwards to have an overflowing effect.At the same time her hips have been augmented by a large pannier shaped undergarment and gathers and ruffles of fabric add to the luminous result. Corsets had been present since the beginning of the 17th century, initially made with an iron structure, which was replaced by whalebone in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 18th century, the farthing'  œ a framework of hoops' that aristocratic women had previously worn to provide volume under their skirts – was replaced by the crinoline (Charles & Carl, 2010, 30).The crinoline augmented the size of the hips and changed shape to follow changing fashions in the desired feminine physique. In the early 18th century the shape of the crinoline was round, it then came oval and then ‘conical' (Charles & Carl, 2010, 30). By the mid 18th century they had become a ‘pannier' shape meaning ‘side hoops' or false hips' – a shape that was flat on front and back and extended on the wearer's left and right, giving her exceedingly wide hips (Cumming, Cunning & Cunning, 2010, 148). This is the shape we see in Pannier-Aligns illustration of Marie Antoinette in Figure 1 .In this illustration there are a number of elements of composition and execution that support the conclusion that the molding the Queen underwent were both expected and desirable at this time. There is t he artist's decision to place her in a standing position in which the full scale of her skirt can be realized, the addition of shading to its size. The enormity of the Queen's gown in relation to her head and the background of the portrait ensure that her curvaceous feminine shape instantly draws the viewer's eye.The artist's decision to contrast the rich, dark objects in the background with pale colors to illustrate her in the foreground again draws attention to this almost ethereal feminine form. One wonders how widely this image was distributed, given our knowledge of Marie Antoinette influence on fashion. Queen Marie Antoinette was known as the ‘Queen of Fashion' and her choices in clothing were closely documented, publicized and duplicated by women throughout the whole of Europe (Weber, 2007, 1).Her wardrobe has even provided inspiration for current designers such as Much Dulcet for her millennia collection at the Autumn/ Winter 2012/13 London Fashion Week and John Gillig an for his Spring 2010 Couture collection for Dior in Paris (Clarinda, 2012. Maida, 2010). The consequence of her choice to conform to the notion of molding her body, restricting and augmenting – wrought undergarments and fashion garments – to achieve the hourglass shape ensured this practice remained in fashion and in turn contributed to the social constructions of the feminine physical ideal.After the fall of the monarchy at the turn of the century this fashion of restricting and augmenting the body, molding it to achieve the ideal feminine' physique, persisted. The use of the waist- shrinking, bust- raising corset was continued into the nineteenth century, although steel boning began to be used instead of whalebone. By the mid sass, ‘cheap, mass-produced' corsets were developed and became a table of nearly every woman's wardrobe (Gag & Steele, 2005, 291).At this time, flexible sprung-steel rings suspended from cloth tapes' known as ‘Hopkins' were in fash ion and augmented the size of the wearer's hips (Gag & Steele, 2005, 317). The corset remained in fashion into the early twentieth century, when it had become a ‘straight front' corset that ‘pushed the pelvis back and the bosom forward,' forming the desired feminine physique at the time – the ‘S' silhouette (Gag & Steele, 2005, 293). The fashionable body in this period was augmented towards the back with use of a bustle skirt.In the sass, the fashionable female figure was ‘boyish and flat- cheated,' so the waist shrinking corset and wired underskirts became largely obsolete, but the practice of restriction remained in fashion as the breasts still had to be tightly bound, this time to conceal rather than enhance' (Smith, 1998, 5). In 1939, and then after World War II, Tallahatchie-Villas' image of ‘enhanced femininity with a tiny waist, ample bosom and large hips' returned to fashion again and brought with it the return of the corset and fuller sk irts (Tallahatchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37. Gag & Steele, 2005, 293).From the sass onwards the process of restriction and augmentation to achieve the desired feminine physique dictated by fashion at the time has continued. A review of more recent trends and products and fashion exemplars appears below. Currently there is no singular feminine' silhouette that is being dictated by fashion. In some areas of fashion media we are seeing the same boyish thinness as in the 2012). There are still some ‘corset enthusiasts' and elements of these undergarments such as boning and full skirts are still being used in many women's garments as well as in haute couture fashion.There is a myriad of other new garments encouraged by fashion for women to restrict, augment and mold their bodies into any desired shape. A few products currently on the market include the Wastepaper' – a tubular piece of Lascar worn to slim the waist and flatten the stomach; the ‘High-waist Long Leg Brief whic h is designed to provide ‘under-bust and tummy support, hip and thigh contouring, and a nice boost for your butt'; as well as ‘Padded Shaper Panties' which have two round foam pads to give you a ‘perfectly rounded derriere' and padded bras to increase bust size (Morgan, 2012).Compared to the days of corsets and crinolines, the variety of ways in which fashion encourages women to squeeze, expand and mold their bodies have grown. Figure 2 – Photograph of Lady Gaga at the 2009 MET Music awards. Photo courtesy of Getty Images, 2009 Lady Gaga, is Without question, the world's biggest pop star' and a current fashion icon (Robinson, 2010, 280). She famously morphs her body into the sexualities feminine hourglass shape with boning, padding and structured garments – often designed specifically for her by current avian garden fashion designers such asIn the above photograph (Figure 2) Lady Gaga is wearing a Jean Paul Guiltier padded and boned body suit, which d rastically shapes her figure into the curvaceous, hourglass silhouette of ‘enhanced femininity that Tallahatchie-Villas refers to (2007). The boning restricts the size of her waist while the underwear and padding on the cups over her breasts raise and shape the bust and the padding on her hips augment their size.Although this is an exaggerated example and would not be considered a ready- to- wear garment that women would be seen in on the street, Lady Saga's style choices are influential on how women choose to dress in mainstream culture. More than four hundred years after the first corsets and petticoats came into fashion, we see that the process of restricting and augmenting the female body to achieve a look considered to be feminine is still widespread.Through encouraging this practice and promoting a desired feminine physique that is difficult to attain naturally, fashion aids in the social construction of gender. An individual's choices about the clothes, make-up, accesso ries and styling that they adorn before venturing into public can communicate a lot about who they are. At the same time, the changeable and impermanent nature of these external applications means that no definite assumptions of a person's identity can be made and these variables can easily be manipulated by the individual, allowing them to become who they would like to be.An individual's unique interpretations of, and resistances to conventional fashions is known as ‘appearance style' and is a medium through which individuals can ‘announce' who they are or who they want to become (Gag & Steele, 2005, 34). There are some elements of appearance that we are accustomed to observing and processing almost immediately when we look at a person. For example when you see a stranger, it is highly likely that you will be able to tell if their gender is male or female almost instantly and their appearance style aids in this immediate recognition.When you observe the combination of t heir choice of hair cut, cosmetics, clothing, accessories, shoes and mannerisms; you can draw a conclusion about what gender that person is ‘announcing that they are. This shows that the individual has the power to manipulate these components of their appearance to communicate heir understanding of their personal gender identity. An example of how successfully appearance can provide an insight into gender identity and also how easily it can be manipulated can be seen through examining performances of Andre] Epic. Pelvic is biologically a man but models as both a male and a female.At his first fashion week – New York Fashion week Fall/Winter 2011/12 – he walked in five menswear shows and four womanlier shows and this number has since grown (Morris, 2011). Pelvic explains how he began to mold himself into the typically feminine aesthetic, creating an appearance style that would be read as male – he grew and dyed his hair, ‘started wearing skinny Jeansà ¢â‚¬ ¦ Shopping in the women's aisle and putting on make-up' (Morris, 2011). Pelvic was voted the ninety- eighth sexiest woman in the world in Fem.. ‘One Hundred Sexiest Women' list last year (Peck, 2011, 24). Figure 3 – Andre] Pelvic in ‘Hem' ad campaign.Photo courtesy of Hem from Hollywood Planet, 2011 wearing their ‘mega push up bra' underneath a close-fitted top and a figure hugging dress (Freeman- Greene, 2011). The bra is claimed to ‘add two cup sizes' to its wearer's bust, which it has achieved successfully with Epic's originally flat chest Quicker, 2011). His body has been manipulated so that his appearance style communicates his gender as female. His hair is long and blow-dried in a typically feminine style, he is wearing make-up and a necklace, his arms are void of hair and his body has been manipulated to augment the bust with padding.He attempts to channel the poses that female models often make by moving and looking at the camera in a flui d and dramatic' manner (Morris, 2011). The close up angle of the photos and the choice of shots where Pelvic is making direct eye contact with the camera enforces the believability of Epic's feminine appearance. The success of the communication of Epic's gender identity as female in this advertisement demonstrates the extent to which an individual can communicate who they are or would like to be through their appearance.As an audience we almost automatically assume Pelvic to be a ‘beautiful, Victorians Secret issue bombshell' (Abraham, 2011). This mutual communication and interpretation that can be achieved through manipulating the variables of appearance style allows for an individual's look to say much about who they are. Fashion aids in the social construction of gender through separating male and male fashion and promoting the stereotypical feminine figure.In numerous centuries past and continuing into the present, the practice of women using wire, steel, elastic and paddi ng to mould their bodies to the fashionable shape of the time has been common, even expected. We have examined how Queen Marie Antoinette encouraged this practice in the 18th Century by wearing a corset to nip her waist and enhance her bust as well as hoop pannier skirts to widen her hips. In the 21st Century it has been demonstrated that this body distortion is still common with pop con Lady Gaga wearing a boned and padded body suit that provides her with that feminine, hourglass shape.We then saw how this practice is so typically expected to be feminine that the biologically male model Andre] Pelvic can display his female gender identity by donning a padded bra. When examining these three examples, it becomes clear that the molding of the body into the feminine physical ideal through restriction and augmentation is communicative of the wearer's gender, whether intentional or projected by society, and provides an insight into who they are.