History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 45

History - Essay Example Hence, implying its recognition usually ceases when one abandons the position since the power’s basis is merely from delegation meant to oversee execution of certain responsibilities. Shihuangdis reign besides his power, which was inherent in him, he managed to unite China from diverse seven warring regions to a single state prior subdividing it again (ONeill 27). Besides, utilizing dictatorship like other rulers, for illustration, Egyptian pharaohs and Persian rulers, he was exceedingly wise and diligent in all his undertakings. This was evident especially in the way he managed to homogenize the then seven regions into one state by advocating the use of a common currency, writing and devising similar measures of scale (ONeill 35). Additionally, while still alive, he came with a plan to prepare his magnificent tomb for 36 years by compelling approximately 1,000 builders, which was not comparable with any other ruler of his time (ONeill 28). Shihuangdi’s reign, its basis was not on reverent power like other rulers who according to their subjects represented gods in their lands (ONeill 34). Hence, being the recipient of all the admiration coupled with divine obedience from the natives who used to see them as close to gods. Shihuangdi’s power was charismatic, which he earned by exemplary wisdom and diligence in the manner he executed numerous roles as a king. Shihuangdi’s autocratic rule especially on his enemies whom he wanted to bring under his power was similar to other early rulers (ONeill 35). Mainly, this technique was to conquer weak territories, which proved rebellious and could augment their military power in the future thus become a threat. Besides, Shihuangdi ensuring funeral arrangement ready for his end time, he was also eager to seek immortality, though deeply aware that was impossible (ONeill 35). This is evident especially in the way he sends trusted people to seek immortality for him in other states but fails to return

Exploring Marketing with Delta Airlines as a Case Study Essay Example for Free

Exploring Marketing with Delta Airlines as a Case Study Essay Tedlow, Richard S. believes that the history of consumer product marketing in the United States can be divided into three phrases.1 The history of marketing will aid us in understanding the business world today and is thus useful in this essay to explore this in brief before embarking on studying Delta Airlines as a case study to approach the topic of marketing, in the context of the U.S Airline Industry. Phrase 1 is that of fragmentation and this is purely due to logistics reasons, rather than the result of any marketing strategy. This results in transportation of bulky goods from one region to another being relatively expensive and for a consumer product to achieve national distribution, a favorable ratio of weight and bulk to value is required. This phrase happened before the 1880s and the market size is restricted due to a lack of information, and it is characterized by a high margin and low volume. The second phrase of unification is the rise of mass marketing, with high volume and a low margin, which is the direct opposite of the first phrase of fragmentation. The development of this phrase is possible due to firstly, the development of the railroad and the telegraph and secondly, innovations in manufacturing technology. All the above innovations led to a more effective transportation and communication network that lowered the cost of mass marketing products by significant percentages. There is a rise of standardization with advances in manufacturing technology, and it is now possible to produce in great volumes and also, in small packages. Phrase Two occurred in the period 1880s to 1950s, and during this period, brand marketing and management grew in importance. Manufacturers attempt to transform the name of his product into a kind of supername Ââ€" a brand.2 The products of this phrase not only aimed at national distribution, but also strived to attract all consumers using a single brand or product, that will be regarded as ‘standardÂ’. 1 Richard S. Tedlow, The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today, in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 19 2 Richard S. Tedlow, New and improved : the story of mass marketing in America (New York: Basic Books, 1990), p. 14 The third phrase is that of segmentation. The innovations that led to this phrase after the 1950s is made possible by radio and television advertising. There were also major changes in America culture that influenced consumer demand. Commercial advertising through television showed that certain programs appealed to certain classes of viewers. This meant that the opportunities for segmenting markets, that is, concentrating the selling appeal on one particular group of potential customers who might be defined by their age, income, and education ( known as demographics) or by their lifestyle ( known as psychographics) were greatly enhanced. 3 There is a rise in image advertising in this phrase, for example, Coca-Cola had always been “the symbol of the standard bearer of changeless, ageless Americana”.4 Commericals were no longer about characteristics of the products, but of the people portrayed as using them, and this led to the development of the “Pepsi Generation” for example. All this saw the breakdown of the whole American mass market developed in Phrase Two to spilt into numerous product categories from necessity items to up-market consumer-durables. Segmentation also occurs at the retail level. This phrase is characterized by high volume and value pricing. The key developments of the railway, telegraph, production technologies and television advertising, are external to corporations, but yet they manage to capitalize on them and turn opportunities into profits. This is how market segmentation evolved. Marketers are sensitive to changing times and they capitalize on opportunities and turn the situation around to a positive one, in terms of fulfilling the companyÂ’s objectives. This is the second proposition put up by Tedlow, that of “entrepreneurial vision”, of which risk-takers need to make investments and turn their visions into reality. 5 3 Robert D Buzzell and Jean-Louis Lecocq, “Polaroid France (S.A.),” in Steven H. Star, Nancy J. Davis, Christopher H. Lovelock and Benson P. Shapiro, editors, Problems in Marketing, (New York:McGrawHill, 1977), pp. 191-213 4 Richard S. Tedlow, The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today, in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 18 5 Richard S. Tedlow, The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today, in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 21 Another important proposition put up by Tedlow is that of “managing change”. Consumer tastes and the external environment are constantly changing. Corporations have to be flexible and adapt quickly to the unstable environment facing them. Competition can come from other corporations in terms of either trying to beat the firstmover with the same strategy, or trying to change the rules.5 Tedlow proposes a fourth phrase of marketing and this is due to information technology. “Inventory, is the price of the lack of information; and the information revolution is lowering that price in the factory, in the distribution system, and at the point of sale.”6 This is the stage of “micromarketing”, which is hyper-segmentation, of possibly every customer as a component of a segment of one. Supply is able to increase due to information technology, but, at the same time, demand for micromarketing is increasing. Consumers are becoming more and more demanding and they expect to get what they want, thus there is a rise in customization. Consumer choices will increase and it is every marketerÂ’s hope to sell any potential customer precisely what they want and to ensure they get maximum satisfaction. It is no longer necessary to convince consumers to purchase the standardized products that the factory has made. However, disadvantages of micromarketing must be noted. The latter may result in an overflux of choices and consumers become confused, as differences diminish. There is also the problem of shelf space or that of the limitations of distribution. Scarce resource in the form of shelf space has to be allocated by the retailers, and thus products canÂ’t just keep increasing. I will now turn my attention to the U.S Airline industry, where marketing is a framework for airline decision-making. During the period 1979 to 1983, the deepest world recession created many problems in the U.S Airline industry. Among these were rapid expansion of fuel prices, which increased the operating costs of airlines. Slot restrictions caused by the walk-out of air traffic controllers in August 1981 also posted a problem. The U.S recession resulted in a general weakness in air traffic and yields. This 6 Richard S. Tedlow, The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today, in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 27 is an indicator that the external environment that airlines are operating in, is thoroughly unstable. Economic upturns and downturns are expected. When the Airline Deregulation Act was passed in the United States on October 1978, the airline industry is faced with overcapacity and fare wars, and it is impossible to maintain yields. But, lessons have been learnt since the last world recession for the U.S airlines. One New York analyst comments that “I have never seen an industry so well prepared for a recession.” Airlines now are sensitive to the capacity cycle and even though the industry has a number of new aircraft on the way, there are no excessive commitments for new capacity. A lot of flexibility is built into the aircraft deals and airlines have older, fully depreciated aircraft that they can either hold on to or retire, in the face of overcapacity. There are now two new weapons open to the North American majors that they did not possess in the last downturn. The first is that of the regional jet that revived the regional airline industry, and is a potential new market. The second is the low-cost airline-within-airline operations, such as Delta Express and US AirwaysÂ’ new MetroJet. The majors are able to compete with Southwest, who can ride out a recession well because of its dedication to keeping costs down and knowing its markets well.7 Delta Express, the airline-within an airline, launched in 1996, was started not only to protect the mainline carrier from increasing low-fares competition in America but also to prove to Wall Street that Delta management can be innovative and progressive as well. The Just Plane Cookies, shaped to resemble aircraft, became the signature of Delta Express. Delta Express offers lower salaries than those at the mainline, but it is launched to motivate DeltaÂ’s employees once again, after the trust factor has been broken, with the 7.5 program as an attempt to cut costs drastically during the last industry downturn. Some 65% of Delta departures from Orlando are now delta Express flights and the market is so important to Delta Express that the carrier now occupies the whole wing of a terminal at Orlando Airport. Delta Express releases the creative skills of their people and this boosts employeesÂ’ morale. Innovations are created this way as the management is able to respond immediately. The key to making Delta Express work is to define the boundaries 7 “US majors aim to break the cycle,” Airline Business, January 1999, p. 52 so that the customer differentiates between their product and that of the mainline. Delta Express operates a point-to-point service that is not part of the mainlineÂ’s network. Delta Express gains leverage from being able to offer Delta Skymiles frequent flier points. About 70% of the customer mix is leisure and Delta Express has since moved from three fares to six fares and better yield management. They introduced seasonal fares, and they constantly reassess processes to keep costs down. Keeping costs down as an airline that is a business unit of a major carrier remains a serious challenge. However, the advance seat reservation facility that Delta Express offers is a useful advantage over both MetroJet and SouthWest, but the most obvious success of Delta Express is the way it has helped revived the spirit of Delta. 8 Even though the industry remains intensely competitive now, major carriers has a route system well suited to their individual strengths, and fewer carriers are on the verge of bankruptcy, unlike the financial crisis that we saw in the 1980s and early 1990s. “All carriers are using much stronger yield management systems which allow them to offer discounts without giving away their product through ruinous price wars”, says Raymond Neidl, an analyst at ING Barrings in New York.9 The problem of ticket discounting that led to great uncertainty in airlinesÂ’ revenue forecasts as a result of deregulation, is no longer a big problem now, as a result of stronger yield management systems. With a better outlook for traffic, the prospect of low rates of capacity growth in the near future and a manageable level of new aircraft deliveries, there seems to be better times ahead. 10 Successful airlines are market-oriented airlines, who are well-led with the topmanagement setting a clear, sound and long-term strategy. The potential available markets are identified and which market segments to exploit are decided, and the whole of the corporate resources are devoted to meeting the product needs of those identified market segments. This is the application of the marketing theory. But, first of all, what is marketing? “Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” 11 There is a need to differentiate 8 “Express Yourself,” Airline Business, February 1999, pp. 56-57 9 “US majors aim to break the cycle,” Airline Business, January 1999, p. 51 10 Chris Tarry, “ Time to Break the Cycle,” Airline Business, June 2000, p.94 11 U.K. Institute of Marketing, quoted in Wilmhurst (1978), p. 1 between consumer and industrial marketing. The former consists of items of a relatively low unit price and there is usually not much contact between the consumer and the producer. The latter is characterized by smaller number of buyers and unit prices are high higher and there is direct contacts between the producer and the buyer. What is being market-oriented? Marketing investigation is done to gain a thorough knowledge of the market segments that the airline is interested in going into, and areas of unsatisfie d consumersÂ’ wants and needs will surface. An airline may also consider going into a market segment where consumersÂ’ wants and needs are satisfied less than their expectations. A collection of competitorÂ’s actions is important also in this initial stage of the application of marketing theory to real-life corporations. Next, a firm needs to define its marketing strategy and this starts off with the firmÂ’s objectives, that include both corporate and social ones. The corporate mission is then established which defines the broad area of activity of which the corporation is concerned. The corporation then needs to adopt a marketing plan, that consists of what consumers want and need, competitorsÂ’ actions, the strengths and weaknesses of the corporation and the opportunities and threats posed by the external environment. Marketing communication is important to secure sales of products in particular markets and also to promote the corporate image of the firm in question. At the many stages of marketing, a corporation must make a choice between deploying its own resources or hiring services. The internal organization is important and thus the appropriate corporate management structure must be established and also the application of appropriate personnel recruitment and training policies. The external organization will consist of others not in the corporation, in the role of marketing, such as services of consultants in market research. The marketing mix is the combination of the four controllable variables, of product, price, place, promotion (the four Ps) that an organization creates to satisfy its target market. Airlines need to offer a range of products such that they are better placed due to the probability of a downturn in some markets being counter-balanced by upswings in other markets. An important reason for product and market diversification is due to “synergy”. “It is the term used to describe a situation where a firm producing several products is able to do so more effectively than a set of firms with each firm concentrating on a single item.” 12 Most airlines pursue the total market strategy, that is the attempt to provide services for significant parts of the business, leisure and freight segments. Even though this strategy gives great opportunities to airlines, there is the problem of designing products which meet the conflicting requirements of the different segments. The business market segment requires a wide route network with good interconnections and a high flight frequency, and thus costly products. High seat accessibility is required as well, but high prices are charged for this segment, due to the relative price elasticity of demand. The leisure market, on the other hand, competes based on prices and this results in price instability and very low yields, and leisure demand will only peak during only a few times a year. Its products can be offered comparatively cheaply though. However, the leisure market is potentially the largest segment of the total airline market, and its longterm prospects are better than that of the business segment. As for the freight market, an all-freight airline should concentrate on large and bulky items that are too large to fit into the lower holds of even wide-bodied passenger aircraft. Overnight delivery of urgent parcels by Federal Express, has also proved to be highly successful and passenger airlines canÂ’t compete since the proportion of their flying is done in the daytime. Frequent Flier Program(FFP) as an Airline Marketing Strategy The starting point of a successful FFP is to lay down the airlineÂ’s aims and structure first. The main goal will most likely be to increase seat sales through generating repeat business among loyal customers or attracting new customers. The FFP database can be a source of marketing information and it can be used as an additional source of revenue through the trade of FFP points with associated partners. There is also the opportunity for consumers to differentiate products in a world filled with too many consumer choices, as in TedlowÂ’s fourth marketing phrase. The program needs to be accessed regularly to adapt to constantly changing market conditions and redeveloped if necessary. Airlines should not focus too narrowly on one particular objective and risk damaging the whole scheme. Thus, they should work 12 Stephen Shaw, Airline Marketing and Management, (Malabar : Krieger , 1988, c1985), p.16 across all their strategic aims. Every department needs to recognize the loyalty program as a key marketing tool and internal support need to be won. The FFP also needs market acceptance and thus the program structure needs to meet the expectations of the consumer, who looks to the awards and service benefits. Flexibility is important in the unstable economy, as in TedlowÂ’s proposition of “managing change”. Delta has long introduced a non-expiring policy for its miles, and Air France was the first European major to adapt this change after being influenced by its alliance with Delta. Customer service is also very important in FFP programs and quality management needs to remain under strict airline control. The elite program catering for the customer segment of frequent high-yield travellers, enable the airlines to keep their best customers. “A successful FFP must be one that is based on clear strategic goals, and that achieves a balance between them supported by an attractive program structure benchmarked against best global practice.” 13 For example, Delta has started a strategic alliance with Aeromexico, Air France and Korean Air. They call themselves “Skyteam”. The agreement outlines the formation of an enhanced marketing relationship among the carriers. SkyTeam airlines have a reciprocal frequent flyer program, extensive codesharing network and the best growth potential of any global alliance. SkyTeam With four airlines now working together to continually improve customer benefits, SkyTeam compares very favorably. SkyTeam is the first alliance built around customer needs and is currently one of the world’s top three global airline alliances. SkyTeam has strong hubs in key markets where 80 percent of the world’s traffic flies. Passengers will continue to enjoy the benefits of their home airlines while traveling on any SkyTeam airline, with more choices of flights and departure times, plus all frequent flyer program and lounge benefits. SkyTeam offers customers worldwide access, improved choice and convenience, consistent service and the ability to be recognized and rewarded for their loyalty. Immediate benefits include reciprocal frequent flyer programs, worldwide lounge access, 13 Ravindra Bhagwanani, “ Keeping the high Fliers,” Airline Business, June 2000, p. 93 and the combined network of Aeromexico, Air France, Delta and Korean Air. By yearend, benefits will include priority baggage handling, preferred seating for our elite frequent flyers and other benefits based on our extensive employee training program. Aeromexico has long been recognized as a market leader and the preferred choice in air travel for passengers in the Mexican and Latin American markets. Joining the alliance with like-minded partners allows Aeromexico to expand its international route network and better serve the needs of passengers as they travel on both business and pleasure throughout the world. Air France’s hub at Charles de Gaulle International Airport offers an extensive schedule of connecting flights to points throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It is the best-positioned hub in Europe for transatlantic passengers traveling beyond a European gateway. In addition, the airport offers great potential for further capacity growth. Delta’s hub at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport offers passengers more connections than any other airport in the world, with 1,316 daily flights to 126 destinations. Customers have access to a global network of 5,390 flights each day to 356 cities in 57 countries on Delta, Delta Express, Delta Shuttle, the Delta Connection carriers and Delta’s Worldwide Partners. Korean Air’s hub in Seoul is the best Asian hub for SkyTeam, offering service to 78 cities in Asia. Korean Air’s upcoming hub at Seoul’s new Inchon Airport will be the future leading hub in Asia and one of the few major hub airports in the world with room to expand. SkyTeam is a multi-lateral, global alliance among the four airlines. In addition, each carrier will continue to have bilateral relationships with airlines in their respective markets. SkyTeam plan to explore all synergy possibilities. SkyTeam has tremendous potential in the area of cargo. Delta and Air France have already announced a joint agreement, and plan to expand this to a multi-lateral level. This is the fulfilment of the total market strategy mentioned above, and strategic alliances enable a pool of resources together to serve more routes and consumers, especially when SkyTeam is the first alliance built around customer needs. History of Delta Airlines Delta Airlines began modestly, as a crop-dusting outfit in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1928, the first professional crop duster in the nation. Delta was founded by C.E Woolman, who headed the company for 38 years, until his death in 1966. He moved DeltaÂ’s headquarters to Atlanta in the early 1940s and that hub became the heart of its operations and ultimately the course of most of its management. Even though Delta actively opposed deregulation, it entered deregulation with a number of strengths. By growing, it has elbowed its way into the “big five.” Delta has expanded significantly in the Southeast by acquiring Citizens and Southern Airlines in 1953. It expanded north with its acquisition of Northeast in 1972. And in 1986, Delta joined the stampede to merge by acquiring Western Air Lines, hubbed in Salt Lake City. Because Delta paid its workers well and had never laid any off, it enjoyed relatively amicable labour relations and had few union contracts. That enabled it to enjoy high productivity, excellent service, and high worker morale with little turnover. DeltaÂ’s greatest asset of all was its people. While deregulation has brought the industry tremendous labour strife, labour-management relations were goos at DelataÂ’s Atlanta headquarters. In 1986, DeltaÂ’s workers dug into their pockets and bought the company a jet. A job with Delta is security for life, but DeltaÂ’s salary expenditures were high and they were saddled with the largest labour expenditures in the industry. But, Delta has been blessed with profitability, except in 1983, when it made a loss. This loss is because a market survey in 1982 revealed that Delta had acquired a reput ation for being highpriced in the new regulated environment. Hubs The question of hub-and-spoke networks has been a central issue in route planning under deregulation. Many airlines have based their planning on the idea that if they build a major hub, with large numbers of flights in and out of it, it will be very difficult for a newcomer to break in, as they will be able to match the wide network. This is the first-mover advantage in one of TedlowÂ’s propositions, not mentioned above. The limitations to this concept is that passengers prefer to take direct flights rather than those requiring intermediate stops. At Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, Delta Airlines operates and it can claim to be the busiest single-airline hub in the world, with 600 daily departures. More than 20000 Delta passengers change planes in Atlanta each day. Each of DeltaÂ’s arriving and departing waves consists of over 50 aircraft, requiring all four runways to be used simultaneously for arrivals and then for departures. 14 DeltaÂ’s Mission Statement and Corporate Strategy Delta wants to be the “Worldwide Airline of Choice” and their strengths lies in the competitive edge of DeltaÂ’s people, customer service as the cornerstone of their company, a strong route system, outstanding operations and fleet and ethical and honest actions. DeltaÂ’s vision builds on DeltaÂ’s heritage and their vision results in sustained profitability that comes the opportunity for growth and advancement and the pride that comes from being part of an exceptional business organization. Delta has a Success Through Service training and that led to its achievement of a competitive advantage. Delta has built a legendary reputation for family-friendly, “deltastyle ” customer service. Employees are loyal and contented members of the “Delta Family”. Delta has also led the industry in customer satisfaction ratings, providing passengers with a consistent, high-quality flying experience. For example, Delta received the “2000 Grand Prix Customer Service Award”, whereby Teleperformance, a Parisbased customer relationship management company, honored Delta’s Online Customer Support Desk with the U.S. 2000 Grand Prix Customer Service Award, for superior email customer service support. Delta also took second in the T ransportation and Travel category for its telephone customer handling. DeltaÂ’s fundamental belief about service to people, customers and personnel, remains unchanged. Delta personnel treated one another as extended family and this concern is mirrored in the way Delta personnel treat customers. Delta hires at entry level, so thus, managers are able to handle problems of their staff with empathy since they have been through that before. There is a strong tradition of employment security in Delta. 14 Pat Hanlon, Global airlines : competition in a transnational industry, (Oxford : Butterworth Heinemann , 1996), p. 80 During economic slumps, extra staffing is redeployed into other jobs and creative options such as job sharing and voluntary personal leaves are also made available. Delta has a flat and thin management structure and engages in cross utilization and thus employees has a broader view of their company. Delta emphasizes a lot on the people side of the profit equation and thus, it has a strong compensation structure that acknowledges the people side of business and the value of experience and draws and keeps the best people on the team. Team work is inherent in Delta and everyone respects one another. There is empowerment in the job and employees are motivated to work harder and be more productive. The best measure of passenger satisfaction among U.S Airlines today is the number of complaint letters written directly to the Department of Transportation by consumers. Since 1971 when that reporting began, Delta has maintained the best overall record for passenger satisfaction of any major U.S airline per 100,000 customers boarded. “Delta knows the only way to achieve the goal of being the best and most respected airline in the world is to deliver excellent service, one customer at a time.” Importance of Information Technology Delta Airlines have exploited the challenges posed by the millenium bug to overhaul its obsolete IT infrastructure with leading-edge technology that will help achieve operational excellence and give a big boost to customer service and even contribute to revenue performance. The gate and boarding project which includes new computer systems and software, boarding documentation and procedures, is the cornerstone of the airlineÂ’s ongoing Airport Renewal program to modernize and standardized DeltaÂ’s ancient airport technology and physical plant. Not only is the system simpler but it greatly enhances DeltaÂ’s ability to recognize and regard its best customers or those needing extra attention. The system is tied to DeltaÂ’s customer database, and thus the customerÂ’s past history or possible dissatisfaction with DeltaÂ’s services could be established and corrected for in the customerÂ’s next flight. The systems greatest value will be when things go wrong and people wi ll be satisfied that they are handled well during those circumstances. Delta develops technology around process, rather than function. They have been planning and changing their technology around the customers, rather than the systems being functionally focused around reservations, airports and the Internet. Delta is ultimately interested in the “Customer Experience”. Delta cuts costs by $30 million per year, due to a standard technology infrastructure at all locations and thus expect to increase customer service significantly.15 Delta continues evaluating emerging technologies that may further increase its customer services. Conclusion As shown in DeltaÂ’s case above, Delta engages in information technology and now, they are able to focus individually on every customer, and increase their customer service and this is characterized by TedlowÂ’s fourth marketing phrase Ââ€" micromarketing. An airline is very service oriented and thus, consumers will not be confused in terms of numerous products emerging, but rather, they will be pleased by the excellent service they receive. Delta has also been a well-managed company, whereby employees are empowered and teams are used to facilitate brain-storming and everyoneÂ’s opinion is taken into consideration. Employment at the entry-level further enhances the ability to empathize with others working in other departments. Delta is also very customer-oriented and that totally encompass the marketing concept of putting customerÂ’s needs and wants first. Delta is able to compete globally and become one of the ‘big fiveÂ’ in America and has one of the busiest hubs in Atlanta. All this comes from sound marketing principles, a mission statement of being the “Worldwide Airline of Choice”, a total market strategy in the business, leisure and freight market segments. Delta has also gone into strategic alliances in SkyWest to further enhance customer service. Delta concentrated also on standardizing its operations through its technology infrastructure and this is part of TedlowÂ’s Phrase two where standardization is widespread. Delta also segments its markets into the three market segments and continues to serve its different market segments with excellent service and this is Phrase Three in what Tedlow comes up with. 15 King, Julia and Wallace Bob, Corporate standards are key to Delta plan, Computerworld, Volume 33, Issue 24 (Framingham, June 1999), p.16 The case on Delta has shown that focus on the customer is very important for any corporation to succeed. Management is also very important with the right corporate culture and structure instilled, and coupled with marketing strategies, can achieve a worldwide standard and accepted corporation. Bibliography Buzzell, Robert D. and Lecocq, Jean-Louis, Polaroid France (S.A.), in Steven H. Star, Nancy J. Davis, Christopher H. Lovelock and Benson P. Shapiro, editors, Problems in Marketing, (New York:McGrawHill, 1977): 191-213 Flint, Perry, Being last is not always the worst thing, Air Transport World, Volume 36, Issue 9 (Cleveland, September 1999): 68-69 Hanlon, Pat, Global airlines : competition in a transnational industry, (Oxford : Butterworth Heinemann , 1996). J. Paul Peter and Donnelly, James H., Marketing Management : knowledge and skills : text, analysis, cases, plans (Homewood, IL : Irwin , 1992). Jones, Patricia and Kahaner, Larry, Say it and live it: 50 corporate mission statements that hit the mark (New York : Doubleday , 1995). King, Julia and Wallace Bob, Corporate standards are key to Delta plan, Computerworld, Volume 33, Issue 24 (Framingham, June 1999):16 Shaw, Stephen, Airline Marketing and Management, (Malabar : Krieger , 1988, c1985). Spechler Jay W., Managing quality in Americas most admired companies (San Francisco : Berrett-Koehler Publishers ; Norcross, Ga. : Industrial Engineeering and Management Press, Institute of Industrial Engineers , 1993). Tarry, Chris, Time to Break the Cycle, Airline Business, June 2000: 95-96 Tedlow, Richard S., New and improved : the story of mass marketing in America (New York: Basic Books, 1990). Tedlow, Richard S., The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today, in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993): 8-35. Weaver, Nora and Atkinson, Tom, Training for Success Through Service: How Delta Air Lines Does It, in Zemke, Ron and Woods, John A., editors, Best practices in customer service (New York, N.Y. : AMACOM, 1998): 109-118

Ryanair and GE Total Quality Management (TQM)

Ryanair and GE Total Quality Management (TQM) Quality Management : History and Purpose All businesses are concerned with quality, usually because they have come to understand that high quality can give a significant competitive advantage.[2] Good quality products and services reduce the costs of rework, waste, complaints and returns and, most importantly, generate satisfied customers. [1] It is noticed that quality is considered as one of the most important factor as a competitive tool. Total Quality Management (TQM) that became popular with all types of business in the late 1970s and 1980s has its roots in earlier work by several management thinkers. Feigenbaum popularized the term total quality management in 1957. After that it was developed through the work of several quality gurus including Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Taguchi and Crosby. TQM can be viewed as a logical extension of the way in which quality-related practice has progressed. [2] Originally quality was achieved by inspection screening out defects before customers noticed them. Then the quality control (QC) concept developed a more systematic approach to not only detecting but also solving quality problems. Quality assurance (QA) widened the responsibility for quality to include functions other than direct operations, such as Human Resources, Accounting and Marketing[2]. Quality management has also made increasing use of advanced statistical quality techniques since 1980s through Six Sigma process input-output improvement to deliver quality. Some organisations such as Ryanair, Toyota etc. suggests and favour TQM as an outstanding turn around strategy where as some organisations such as GE, GM, Honeywell etc. has attained success through laying down Six Sigma in all its functional chains and processes and they firmly believe and live Six Sigma. Executive Summary This report follows my conclusions and understanding from readings and abstract from various reliable sources mentioned in the headers, footers and the dedicated referencing part of the report. The report introduces us to the quality approaches followed by Ryanair and GE who are from different industry having different orientations. The report also suggests why Ryanair has tag on TQM and how innovations, changes in business environment and competitiveness  are affected and later it is critically discussed that improvement is necessary in Ryanairs quality management to compete. Since the fashionable peak of TQM and Six Sigma, in general there has been some decline in its status, yet, many of its ideas included in this report, have become accepted quality practice. [2] Reflection in the Report: My perception before I started my studies and research into this subject matter, the Quality, was that the quality is found only in the expensive and branded products and that the Quality Control is the out put focused single method of quality management. My tutor, Mr. Sotunde, the guide to Operations and Process Management by Slack N. and co authors, various readings from Quality and Business magazines have clarified me the concept of quality and how it can be managed effectively. Firstly, I learnt that the quality is a value in product and/or service and it can be established by the customers expectations that are to be matched with the actual product and/or service. Secondly, quality cannot be measured with price alone as price is the major factor of companies strategy to exploit or to compete in the market and it is the financial factor to affect the profitability. But, quality can be found in low price products or services as well such as in Value for Money goods and services or it is found as a value that a company can deliver in its product or services for a justifiable price. I learnt that the quality function is not limited to the out put but it can be practised through out the organisation in to all its processes to produce or provide goods and services of the consistent quality as per the expectations of the customers. As it has to be practised universally it is the responsibility of all and the value of the quality should be understood and  communicated within and outside the organisation for example to the suppliers and distributors. Additionally, there are varieties of approaches to the Quality that are practised by different organisations. Though having similar functions, organisations in the same industry or in direct competition, it is seen that two different organisations follow different quality management approach and both are successful in terms of the quality goods and services it produce or provide. Establishing quality standards and following/meeting them sincerely is not enough for the organisations to stay longer on the edge because they could be copied or imitated by our competitors or new entrants or customers quality expectation might change. So, it is very much essential for organisations that they make every effort to improve their quality aspect. I have also learnt that the quality approach developed within the organisation such as TQM by Toyota and formalised Six Sigma by Motorola are difficult to be copied exactly overnight and if concepts adopted completely than too one cant beat them in their own game because they are constantly improving their functions and process to excel the customers perceptions, keeping them always a step ahead. It is also seen that quality standards are formalised by organisations such as ISO and ISI and organisations help each other by affiliations such as EFQM to improve the quality aspects in production or provision of goods and services. RYANAIR:[3] Ryanair, currently, Europes original and still largest low-fare, no frills airline with workforce of over 5,000 employees, around fleet of 250 aircrafts including new Boeing 737-800 aircrafts provide services to around 12m passengers every year to over 1,100 low-fare routes across 26 European countries. According to the CEO, Michael O Leary, Our customer service is about the most well defined in the world. We guarantee to give you the lowest air fare. You get a safe flight. You get a normally on-time flight. Thats the package. We dont, and wont, give you anything more. Are we going to say sorry for our lack of customer service? Absolutely not. If a plane is cancelled, will we put you up in a hotel overnight? Absolutely not. If a plane is delayed, will we give you a voucher for a restaurant? Absolutely not. [The other key information about Ryanair Ltd., please refer to Appendix 1] GE: [9] GE is a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the worlds toughest challenges. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, and television programming, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. Their businesses fuel the global economy and improve peoples lives. Their global research team with more than 2,500 researchers working towards the next breakthrough, GE is positioned to continually innovate, invent and reinvent. General Electric (GE) says that its commitment to quality is based on the ideas of globalization and instant access to information, and products and services that continue to change the way its customers conduct business. Their quality mission statement reads, in part, Todays competitive environment leaves no room for error. We must meet our customers needs and relentlessly look for new ways to exceed their expectations. Ryanair v/s GE Quality Philosophy and approach: For both Ryanair and GE, quality means the consistent conformance to customers expectations by laying down the concepts of service quality, process management, quality assertion and quality perfection, but, their approach to quality management is quite different. Ryanair and TQM: Ryanair offers value for money, point-to-point air travel and aims nothing close to luxurious service. Quality provision at Ryanair is intended from their point of view giving adequate consideration to the expectations and perceptions of their targeted segment for the fare it is offering and it is seen that Ryanair is delivering these expectations by its on time journeys, passenger and baggage safety, good appearance and attitude of crews, the way it meets the industry challenges and resolves the service failures. Since 1997, it has adopted and living the total quality management to deliver its quality objectives through its Lowest Fares and Passenger Service Charter. [6] The up to date highlights (non-exhaustive, for complete list please follow Appendix 1) from this charter stating their significant commitments are: To offer the lowest fares at all time on all routes. To notify passengers of known delays, cancellations and diversions. To allow reservation changes. To respond quickly to passenger complaints and provide prompt refunds. To take measures to speed up check-in. The success and growth that Ryanair is currently enjoying is due to providing the best value for money service as right first time in all its functions from booking the ticket to the baggage handling. It is universally understood within the organisation that little extra effort will bring big results and these efforts do not require a huge investment in training. The Ryanair control its functions and processes through its industry benchmarking and setting its own internal quality standards. It uses Servicemail and other performance statistics to evaluate their position in their highly competitive aviation industry. GE and Six Sigma: Most of the GE business segments are involved in large scale manufacturing activities at a greater extent. In 1988 with a program called Work-Out, GE started focusing on quality issues that has helped them to open its corporate culture to established ideas from any quarter regarding quality management that later created an environment that eventually led to Six Sigma. Work-Out was used to identify and eliminate unneeded processes and tasks by development teams from multiple departments to find a solution to a problem. Now, Six Sigma is embedding quality thinking into every level of operation around the globe. These uses statistical tools and systems to monitor and control processes and functions to have outputs close to zero defects. The three key elements that GE focuses to their quality initiatives are customers, processes and employees. Everything the company does in its quest for world-class quality focuses on these three essential elements. Customers are at the centre of GE universe and they define quality by their expectations of performance, reliability and other factors. To attain the level of quality that their customers require, GE conducts what it calls Outside-In Thinking. Outside-In Thinking calls on GE to look at its business from its customers perspective. By understanding the transaction lifecycle from the customers needs and processes, we can discover what they are seeing and feeling. With this knowledge, we can identify areas where we can add significant value or improvement from their perspective, GEs quality statement reads. The employees are a key to the quality approach and at GE, quality is embedded as the responsibility of every employee. Keeping this in mind, all GE employees are provided training in the strategy, statistical tools and techniques of Six Sigma Quality. Variety of training courses are offered at different levels including basic awareness to Six Sigma; basic tool introduction to equip employees to participate on Six Sigma teams; Master Black Belt, Black Belt and Green Belt Training for leader managers; and Design for Six Sigma training. Summing-up: Both, Ryanair and GE are trying to deliver exceeding quality products and services to both their internal and external customers, clearly understanding that quality is a consistent versatile activity having both quantitative and non-quantitative attributes such as re-visiting customer? Yes/No. They have emphasised and communicated throughout the organisation that quality is the responsibility of every individual and through these responsibility they ensures that all processes, inputs and outputs, maintain and produce consistent confirmative level of quality products and services. Is TQM really good for Ryanair? Ryanairs business strategy is based upon the product orientation for its air travel and quality strategy as the customer orientation. Ryanair is constantly trying to keep its costs as low as possible to transfer benefits of cost savings to its passenger in the form of low fares. The common misconception is that the quality comes for price. Critically, it can be argued that quality can be delivered for the low price service as well, rather again to say simply, Quality in Price. In these past 25 years, Ryanair has well balanced the expectations and perceptions by introducing revolutionary and innovative ways of providing low fare air travel. Keeping its target market in centre, they have defined and communicated the quality of their services in their own terms. Ryanairs customers know what they will get and their job is to deliver these expectations at its best by managing each and every, direct and indirect processes that are related to the passengers which are later judged by passengers experience. Ryanairs approach to its quality management as different from other successful organisations such as GE has serious implications on its innovations, changing business environment and competition. Innovations in Ryanair: Putting an innovative thought into quick action is the core competence of Ryanair. Most of the Ryanair innovative ideas have brought the revolution in the way people perceived travelling by air. For many successful companies such as GE, innovations has cost them fortune and these costs were recovered from customers in the higher prices, but, for Ryanair innovations were implementing a simple ideas bringing additional revenues that in turn benefiting customers in lowest price tickets. Firstly, with its turn around strategy of mid 1990s, Ryanair, apart from no frills has introduced no class, single model air crafts. These fleets of hundreds of aircrafts were ordered often and bought at a heavy discount. The overhead cost of training and cleaning were brought down to nominal because of these standardised aircrafts. The focus and resources were diverted to introduce new routes, increasing customer base and harnessing quality factors in its provision of services. From 2000 and onwards it started using the e-commerce tools and websites for online booking, check-in and informing customers about the special offers on its tickets. Ryanair was first to advertise third parties advertisement on its boarding pass and flights. The customer service were improved by introduction of web application, Bing, that updates air fares directly to its customers computer and by implementing a Servicemail, a point of contact and response for customers. Servicemail is then extended to collect data regarding customer choices, preferences, trend analysis and measuring KPIs. In future: The fare charged by Ryanair reflects the price of travelling from point A to B. It offers other ancillary services such as in flight meals, drinks, baggage costs etc. at a charge for those who want it. The lasting visionary CEO, OLeary has a vision that in coming years travel by Ryanair will be free and all its revenue will be streamed by providing ancillary services, third party advertisements, holidays, insurance, hotels and connections bookings sold through Ryanair website. Change: TQM approach adopted by Ryanair is a flexible approach to a change in external circumstances as it has to just focus do new thing at its best but at lower cost. Customers: Ryanair is a focused cost leader and open to customer fatigue so it has to understand that in the long run it has to move along with the taste of the customer that might be affected by pressure groups, regulators, EU and other regional governments. Currently, Ryanair is managed by an aggressive approach to capture market and in future it might require strategic rethinking, but, its approach to quality can stay the same to entice and satisfy passengers. [Please refer to Number 1 Customer Services Statistics in the Appendix 4][8] Suppliers: The advantage to Ryanair is that within UK and Europe, each major region of the countries has more than one airport, which can accommodate Ryanair at competitive rates on landing and handling fees, leaving Ryanair with the upper hand. The traffic at these secondary airports is low increasing the quality level of airport handling services and on-time departures enjoyed by the passengers. The other suppliers are caterers, maintenance and repair contractors. It is natural that Ryanair must be managing its suppliers relationship through service level agreements with a backed hefty compensation for the breach of service term(s). EU and Local Governments: The growth of the Ryanair rooted due to EUs deregulation of the aviation industry. EU court decision can negatively impact upon the way Ryanair is functioning. For instance, Ryanair was forced to refund against its non-refund policy for flight cancellations due to Icelandic volcanic eruptions and was charged 3m Euros by Italian Government for not helping passengers after its flight cancellations. To stay in business and avoid fines Ryanair has to comply with such unavoidable regulations but it could not impair its quality approach as others too have to comply. Quality and Competitiveness: Of course, quality products and services are the competitive advantage and Ryanair keenly has laid down this aspect into it air flights and routes. The key to success of Ryanair is implementing different marketing strategies over a period of time to survive the cut throat competition in the aviation industry. Ryanair is recognised as the most punctual flight from Dublin to London and Ryanair is top rated against its close competitors such as EasyJet, Virgin and British Airways. People made it possible statement is true for Ryanair because the success of Ryanair is behind its crew members as they are in the direct contact with the passengers. Ryanair has not spent much on the training but is paying modestly to its crew and this has encouraged them to behave as pleasantly as possible on the flights. There are concerns raised from some unsatisfied customers and dissident that the ancillary services provided by Ryanair are priced high and are of poor quality. Ryanair should deal with this issue as early as possible as the success of total quality management lies upon delivering quality in all aspects of its activities. Despite all cutting corners to save on ticket prices, more and more people are flying Ryanair, which, in the end, might be the ultimate validation of OLearys assessment of what travellers really want and how Ryanair is delivering it. [Please refer to the Appendix 3: The Customer Feedbacks][7] However, TQM is not the end in itself. Ryanair should continuously strive upon improving its quality standards that can help them to further reduce costs, increase revenues, reduce risks and improve the way it helps handle complaints and dissatisfied passengers. Improving Quality in Ryanair The ultimate aim of operations and process management is the performance improvement and Ryanair should consider this as an ultimate objective to improve its quality objectives of on time flights, speed, ancillary services and dependability. Despite of all efforts to manage its quality, Ryanair is seen and blamed that it sacrifices the quality in pursuit of minimising costs and that it fails to align the interests of its passengers well. These issues could be addressed by setting the minimum performance standards and outperforming them, as well said, promise little and deliver above expectations. One way Ryanair could win its goal to become worlds biggest and cheapest airliner is by aligning all its functions within the organisations to commit to quality levels and agreeing the quality deliverables with its contractors. Kaizen aka Continuous Improvement if adopted could blend well with the current TQM approach followed by Ryanair, however, this could affect the innovations, change an d current competitive position in a favourable manner. Kaizen involves focus on small but never ending improvements that will become part of normal culture for all operations. Innovations: We are aware that since 1997 Ryanairs passenger base is growing at a tremendous 20% average every year and it still has an appetite for growth and market to expand. It has become increasingly important that Ryanair addresses the improvement issue in its quality management to satisfy this increased demand, number of new routes, destinations and growth prospects with Kaizen. Ryanair could extend or assign the responsibility towards quality improvement to the regional processes owners affecting passengers quality perception. These processes owners would identify the performance gaps and recommend actions to fulfil them by innovative actions or contribute ideas for further analysis. A close contact is required with the crew members who will bring them the stories or experience they had with customers and how they overcame the demands or problems of different customers. We have Servicemail as a point of customer contacts and correspondences, but, we may need a system for internal communications that could be called a Central Information System (CIS). Through CIS every crew teams, employees and contractors as a lean system, directly submit key ideas, stories, experience to their respective process owner, who in turn filter the messages and re-post it that shall be compulsorily viewed, shared, commented and recommended upon by all regional process owners for further analysis that may involve the PDCA cycle or DMAIC cycle approach. This simple CIS should not cost much as it could be readily available or produced upon demand by the tendering process. Assuming that majority of them are computer literate and CIS very user friendly will require bare minimum costs for informing or training. The most contributing team or processes should be measured with process excellence index aka EPI and rewarded on quarterly basis. The other direct and simple approach for improvement is to circulate a postcard size blank form on flight with two columns to list down by passengers good about and dissatisfied about travelling with Ryanair. The employees should be encouraged to identify and forward negative feedbacks only using CIS with a confidence and surety that they will not be judged in any case against negative feedbacks and that the forms will be used for general improvement of quality standards as a whole. Change and Competitiveness: The improved quality means increased revenue and profits due to increased turnover. The Kaizen approach in low cost EU and UK Airline service segment will identify, distinguish and advantage Ryanair from its competitors. If, Ryanair act now and fully implement Kaizen by December 2011 then they could become a cost-cum-service leader, a fully innovative airliner, with the cheapest fares simply covering quality cost of travel and chargeable ancillary quality efficient services with a minimum premium for those who want them. This development will help Ryanair to become a worlds popular brand and will advantage Ryanair in 2012 when the number of international passengers will increase more than double due to London Olympics. In many instances Ryanair was criticised by the regulators and competitors for not giving any or enough quality in passengers safety and ancillary services. Now, with Kaizen all will be reversed and Ryanair will be considered as the industry leader setting the industry landmarks for benchmarking. Ryanair has publicly announced that by 2014 it will enter the long haul destinations market and this will require them for a parallel strategic thinking as this segment will bring new challenges in terms of quality management. These routes are proposed to be separately managed, perhaps with most traditional form of flights and some compulsory on board services which will require Ryanair to establish new service standards. There is a scope of success in this segment if it can effectively extend and use of then well functioning Servicemail, CIS and other critical success factors such as brand, price and well established quality standards using Kaizen. Word count: Executive Summary 121 Reflection in the Report 493 Ryanair and GE Introductions 297 Ryanair v/s GE 732 Is TQM good for Ryanair 1,117 Improving Quality in Ryanair 819 Total : 3,579

Sound on the Web :: Websites Internet Technology Computers Essays

Sound on the Web Transcript Using sound on the internet can greatly benefit and enhance a webpage (Teachernet). Sounds, rather they be background, core content, or music, create mood, theme, and help define the usefulness of the site (Farkas 94). Sounds can serve as core content. Sound can be used to introduce a site; either by music or a narrated welcome (Farkas 95). Narration can also serve as the content, like this site, or to help the viewer navigate the site and help the user make choices once viewing the site (Teachernet). Sounds can also be background noises. Rather these sounds be music, sound effects, or narration, background noise can help the user by reinforcing the website’s content (Teachernet). Narration is a very common way of adding sound to a webpage. As stated before, it can be used to welcome or introduce users to the website and can also give directions about how to use the website or inform or teach (Teachernet). But beware, using narration can be tricky. When using narration, one must be aware of the quality of sound that is being produced. As Farkas and Farkas state, â€Å"There are great differences in voice quality.† Some people may have a good speaking voice, but when recorded, it may not be clear, sound correct, or even be audible. Farkas and Farkas suggest that when using narration find a â€Å"trained† narrator, a drama, or communications student to narrate. Typically, these people have been coached on how to speak clearly and how to use techniques to record content well (Farkas 95). However, in some situations this may not be the case. If you or a certain person is required to do the narration, be sure to practice and work on the content to fit your or their particular speaking and recording style (Farkas 95). Supplemented sounds are typically background noises. These noises can be used to reinforce ideas, reward users, provide context or help explain ideas (Teachernet). By providing sound to accompany graphics, the user is able link a graphic with the context it is presented in. Using sound in this manner would either help explain the graphic or the function of the graphic within the website (Teachernet). If sound is used in a navigational sense, the sound could alert the user as to where to go on the page or what they have already chosen to do. Also, sounds can help explain ideas or teach concepts (Teachernet).

The Man To Send Rain clouds Symbolism and Obscurity Essay

In  her short story â€Å"The Man to Send Rainclouds† Leslie Silko writes about the burial of a dead native elder, stating that â€Å"he sat down to rest in the shade and never got up again† (Silko 1). Silko uses obscurity and symbolism to display her attitude towards culture. She was very open to different religions and ways of life because she was of a mixed descent.Obscurity is a recurring motif in the story. Silko uses it to show how blurred the lines of culture can really become. â€Å"The curtains were heavy, and the light from within faintly penetrated†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Silko 2) is an example of a quote that features the motif. It showcases that because there wasn’t sufficient lighting it was hard to see, which is a metaphorical way of saying that a clear decision couldn’t be made. It was unclear whether giving the natives the holy water was right or wrong in the priest mind and this quote highlighted that fact. Another quote is â€Å"They were nea rly hidden by the red blanket,† (Silko 2). It is an example of obscurity because the blanket is blocking the view of Teofilo and his moccasins which can be interpreted as the culture itself being hidden. Examples of the motif of obscurity can be found in many parts of the short story.Symbolism is a very prevalent literary element in Silko’s work. One example is in the quote, â€Å"Leon’s green arm jacket that was too big for her,† (Silko 2) where the jacket represented the western culture. It was something that Louise was not used to and it didn’t suit her. It seemed as though it was placed into her life unwillingly but she began to embrace the different way  of life. Another example of symbolism is Teofilo; it could be argued that he represented the native culture. With his death came the breakdown of his culture. His people began to incorporate the western ways of living into their own. Symbolism is a very important part of this story because Si lko uses it to communicate with the reader.All in all, â€Å"The Man to Send Rainclouds† is a piece of literature that is written with a motif of obscurity and a lot of symbolism. Both keeps the reader entertained and betters the work. Silko maintained openness to the cultures of both the western world and the natives while showing that one was beginning to overtake the other.

13 Successful People Who Overcame Homelessness

13 Successful People Who Overcame Homelessness People so often make assumptions about what homelessness is and means and who falls victim to it. Similarly, they make opposite assumptions about success. Before you decide you know what either means in life, consider this list of rich and famous people who formerly struggled with homelessness. 1. J LoWhen Jennifer Lopez left her mother’s house when she was 18 to become a dancer and lived on her own, some nights sleeping on a cot in a dance studio until she caught her big break.2. Steve JobsYou might not realize that Steve Jobs was a college dropout. He was also homeless for a brief period, having relinquished his dorm room. Leaving college was ultimately the right call for him, but he did have to spend a while collecting soda bottles to be able to afford to buy food for himself.3. JewelJewel lived out of her car as a teenager, and only pulled herself out of that situation when she got her first record deal.4. Sylvester StalloneBefore Rocky, the film star found himself homeles s and had to sell his dog for $50. After he sold the script, he bought his best friend back for $3,000.5. Halle BerryWhen struggling to make it as an actress, Halle Berry spent time in a homeless shelter. She went on to win an Academy Award.6. Chris PrattChris Pratt reportedly spent time living out of a van in Hawaii until he launched his career with Cursed Part 3. 7. Jim CarreyMaybe his great sense of humor comes from the fact that he and his family lived in a VW bus they parked all throughout Canada when he dropped out of high school. They even spent a while living in a tent on his sister’s lawn with their van parked in her driveway.8. Dr. PhilMr. Self Help himself was once homeless, and living in a car with his father in Kansas City as his father completed an internship in psychology.9. Suze OrmanWould you believe the financial self help star was homeless for four months in 1973 and lived out of her car? She’s worth about $35 million now.10. Daniel CraigBond, James Bond used to have to sleep on park benches when he was a struggling actor in London. He’s now 46 and worth over $65 million.11. Ella FitzgeraldElla had some very hard times as a young woman. And indeed was homeless for a period of time just before she headlined at the Apollo theatre in Harlem and debuting her career in 1934.12. Hillary SwankWhen she moved to LA to start her acting career, she and her mother slept in their car.13. Kelly ClarksonThe American Idol star lost her first LA apartment to a fire and had to live out of her car or in shelters before her big audition.

10 in demand skills you NEED to get hired

10 in demand skills you NEED to get hired If you feel like your job hunt is floundering or you find yourself in a position where you need to find a new job ASAP, one of the best things you can do is focus on your skills. Even more than experience, skills are often what gets you into an interview- and, ideally, into a new gig. LinkedIn recently did a survey of hundreds of thousands of job postings on their site and identified the skills most in demand by today’s employers. If you’re looking to get more impact on your resume and job applications, these skills are a great place to start. Hard skillsHard skills, or the specific, teachable skills that you’ve acquired through school, training, or experience, are the hardest to â€Å"fake it ‘til you make it.† Typically, these skills can be boosted through specific training or education, but this also makes them an easier skill type to build because they’re so specific. All of these skills can be learned through online courses. According to LinkedIn, these are the top five hard skills sought by employers.Cloud computingAll the data lives in the cloud now, which means people with engineering skills who can wrangle, understand, and leverage the massive amounts of cloud data in an efficient way will be highly valued.Artificial intelligenceFrom digital assistants in our home to hiring platforms, artificial intelligence is the method of choice for making work more efficient and accessible. Machine learning is taking over in every industry, as employers look for ways to reduce human effort (and human error) in their processes.Analytical reasoningNow that every corporate decision seems to be data-based, that means people with the skills to take all of that raw information and turn it into meaningful, impactful decisions will be in high demand with employers.People managementSomething that will never change is the need to manage people at all levels of an organization. And although â€Å"leadership† is a soft skill (more on that in a bit), you can build very specific skills that will make you a better manager and leader.UX/UI designUser experience design, or UX design, is crucial for the way people receive information, shop, organize their lives, browse online, or use devices. As companies put more resources into finding the right app layout or the best customer experiences, having design skills will make you a strong candidate in our digital-first society.Softs skillsThese are the less concrete skills- the people skills. Soft skills are the personal attributes you need to work with others and be successful in the workplace. Although they’re not as easy to learn as, say, a specific software platform or mastery of a tool, you can still build these as well through courses and practice. According to LinkedIn, these are the top five soft skills sought by employers.CreativityCreativity, or the ability to solve problems with basic human ingenuity, is one of the things that all the AI and data in the world won’t be able to replace completely. It’s also a challenge if you’re not already a creative problem solver. However, courses about the creative process, and how to generate ideas, can help train your brain to think more creatively.PersuasionAlways be selling, right? Whether you’re selling your team on an idea or a product to a customer, you’ve got to be able to identify why they need it, how it benefits them, and why it saves time/money/effort/etc. And oh yeah, you also have to present it in an engaging way. Persuasive skills will also help you when it comes time to negotiate for a raise or a promotion, by the way. Courses in human behavior or consumer behavior can help you refine your pitches and build your persuasiveness.CollaborationEvery employer out there wants people who can play well with others. You can hire all the hot shots you want, but if everyone’s butting heads all the time or doing their own thing without regard for others, no real work is going to get done. Collaboration and teamwork are one of the fastest-growing skills identified as high-priority by hiring managers. If you’re a lone wolf type or just want to learn how to interact with people more effectively, courses in effective communication, professional collaboration, or team dynamics can help.AdaptabilityLike teamwork, adaptability is highly prized by employers, who want to be increasing efficiency and results all the time. Adaptability is also a key element of innovation, another big-ticket priority for most employers. Flexible thinking may not be your default mode, though, so if you find yourself clinging to â€Å"the old way† of doing things, seminars on strategic agility and developing adaptability in yourself and others can make you a more flexible thinker and worker.Time managementThis is one of those skills that just about everyone could stand to improve. Balancing projects, balancing work and life, and managing deadlines so that things get done well and on time are all crucial skills in every industry. Building this skill is not quite a simple as writing up a calendar or schedule, but there are courses on finding time management strategies that work for your personality that can help you manage your time and count it as a marketable skill.Whether you don’t yet have these skills or just want to shine them up so that you can feature them proudly on your resume, online courses are an effective way to do that- especially if you’re feeling a time crunch. The more time you spend developing these skills now, the sooner you’ll have the most in-demand skills and opportunities rolling in.

Will the World Starve essays

Will the World Starve essays Looking out a window upon a barren desert, a dry wasteland unfolds as a carpet to nowhere. Abandoned cities dot the horizon, as the ruins speak volumes to the once populated extravagance of a country which lived on wealth and opportunity. The vision just described is not one out of a Hollywood movie script, but one that is not only possible but probable. Currently, the world population numbers over six billion, with China alone cradling over one-sixth of the worlds total population. With the world population increasing at a rate of one hundred million a year, the numbers are expected to hit ten billion by the end of 2040. Most scientists agree that the maximum number of people that the earth can sustain is fifteen billion, leaving the earth in a quandary before the end of the twenty- first century when the total world population is expected to reach a staggering sixteen to eighteen billion. The consumption of the worlds natural resources due to this exponential growth could result in worldwide famine, a complete breakdown in the world market, uncontrollable outbreaks of disease, and widespread crime and disorder. Currently, the ratio of land which can be used for agricultural endeavors is estimated to be one in nine acres. The worlds produce producer is only a small sliver of a total land mass apple pie sliced into nine equal, yet tiny slices and as the amount of soil suitable for agriculture dwindles, the slice with which the world relies on continues to shrink. Considering the little amount of available farmland, it should be expected that there would be more of an effort to conserve this vital resource, but unfortunately the issue has not yet risen to a level of global importance. The amount of fertile topsoil is becoming more and more unusable for agriculture. Water, used for the irrigation of the worlds life giving crops, contains naturally dissolved miner...

Cocoanut Grove Fire Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cocoanut Grove Fire - Research Paper Example According to Cochran (2003), the five deadliest fires that happened in nightclubs in the US are: Historically, the most grave fire accident that killed 492 people happened in Cocoanut Grove nightclub. Based from the event that happened last November 28, 1942, revisions in the NFPA codes were updated. The events on that day are recorded and can be accessed through archived newspapers and journals, and through the internet for anyone who wants to know about the incident. Cocoanut Grove was a nightclub and restaurant standing gallantly along the Piedmont Street of Boston. The place become colorful, lively and crowded with many party goers during the nights. During the 1940’s, the Grove was considered as the place to be. The place is only open during night time where food and liquor are served accompanied by various forms of entertainment. They are permitted by the Boston Licensing Board to sell food and alcoholic beverages (Reilly, 1943). Cocoanut Grove was erected around 1916 composed of first class single story building made up of reinforced concrete covering about 10,250 square feet. According to Boston Fire Historical Society (n.d), the first floor of the building contained the restaurant with a large dining room, a ballroom with a bandstand, and several bars. The roof overhead the dining area is retractable with automatic rolling device overhead which can be opened during warm season and summertime for direct and clear view of the sky at night. The center of the room was the dance floor. The Melody Lounge which was located at the basement was designed with an octagonal shape. The main entrance to the building was through a revolving door. The building allowed the public to have access only on the first floor. But there were other floors on the building that were intended for the business. The second floor was used to contain motors and a third floor was used for the

CHICANO 310 - Summary In Your Own Words Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

CHICANO 310 - Summary In Your Own Words - Essay Example At some points, one may be singing in a lower voice that uses chest breathing and one of the other performers is singing using falsetto. It is somewhat difficult to determine the breathing pattern since there is a trio performing the song. However, they breathe together in between the bridges. They annunciate the vowels very distinguishably at the end of each phrase. The tone was very upbeat and seemed happy. Though the tempo sounded happy, the falsetto in their voices almost resonated a sadness. The lyrics are very sad and painful as if the performer is leaving his love partner. There is imagery used in the lyricism such as â€Å"Now I feel in my soul to tell you my love dies as a cinder and little by little you run out of light.† This is a use of word play to express how his love for his partner is fading. The singer apologizes to keep his loved one suffering and desperately loving and wishes that the lover will not cry and

Why Evolution is True Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Why Evolution is True - Research Paper Example Discussion over truth of man’s existence and origin of life, evolutionism versus intelligent design, has long been held. Professor Jerry Coyne from the University of Chicago is on one side arguing and proving that evolution is true. Evidence is found in plants and animals and every living thing found in nature. This essay is about truth or falsity of evolution theory. Coyne has thoroughly dissected Darwin’s theory of evolution and the concept of natural selection. This will examine Coyne’s support of the evolution theory, provide a critique and apply philosophical, theological, and sociological reflections on Coyne’s views. Coyne summarized the modern theory of evolution and this is: â€Å"Life on Earth evolved gradually beginning with one primitive species – perhaps a self-replicating molecule – that lived more than 3.5 billion years ago† (Coyne, 2009, p. 3). Coyne further said that this molecular â€Å"thing† started to spread, giving various life forms and performing the acts of evolutionary change, guided by the principle of natural selection. Coyne’s summary of the evolution theory consists of 6 elements: â€Å"evolution, gradualism, speciation, common ancestry, natural selection, and nonselective mechanisms of evolutionary change† (Coyne, p. 3). His proposition that evolution is true simply means that the six elements are all true. ... Coyne (2009) adds: â€Å"Humans †¦ evolved from a creature that is ape-like, but not identical to modern apes† (p. 4). The various species evolved at different rate and for a long period of time, a matter of millions of years. Whales and humans evolved rapidly but not other living animals since some of them looked almost the same hundreds of millions of years ago. Some scientists believe that the whale’s flippers were used to be walking legs. Whether that is true, it is a theory, or part of the theory. The concept of gradualism, as one element of evolution, states that evolution takes place for many generations. Birds and reptiles evolved from something different before. The evolution of the teeth and jaws that distinguish mammals from reptiles occurred for hundreds or thousands, or millions, of generations. But there are some that undergo evolution for very short generations, or very short period of time. The microbes undergo a lot of evolution in just a few minut es. A considerable change due to evolution occurs for thousands of years. Different species evolve differently and requires different time interval. It depends on the evolutionary pressure. But when a species becomes well adapted to a permanent habitat, evolution mellows down. All of us, meaning all life forms, evolved from a single species but there have been over ten million species living on Earth today. The diversity of species seemed mysterious as we all evolve from one ancestral form. But from this one ancestral form evolved millions of species. This part of evolution is known as splitting. Creatures with recent common ancestors share many traits, while those whose common ancestors lay in the distant past are

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Marketing - Essay Example 13). Both definitions focused on the term being a philosophy or an orientation designed by management where the important elements for success and profitable financial performance of a firm is anchored in satisfying the needs of the target market or the potential customers – more than competitors do. Analysis of the Concept The marketing concept could be closely evaluated using an organizational example: Coke versus Pepsi. Bhasin (2010) described in his article that â€Å"the marketing concept proposes that the success of the firm depends on the marketing efforts of the company and in delivering a better value proposition as   compared to its competitors in its own target market† (Bhasin, par. 1). Coke’s marketing strategy is to provide customers with a product that has been envisioned to be timeless, not restricted in boundaries, applies to all ages and generations and is able to captivate and satisfy the thirst and refresh its clientele.

An analysis of the culture of an organization Essay

An analysis of the culture of an organization - Essay Example It also has an influence on group’s interactions. Ben and Jerry’s is an organization that has been in operation for over 30 years since its inception. It is an organization whose culture has been integral for its survival in a market where it faces so much competition from other heavy weight organizations such as McDonalds. It has innovative management strategies and they have brought much success for the organization. Its ice cream is said to be the richest in terms of flavors and calories (Andy, 2003; Liddle, 2011). In addition, the company sells its products at a price that is favorable to many customers (Heidrick & Struggles, 2000). A brief background to the organization and its environment Ben and Jerry’s is a company in the United States that manufactures and sells ice cream. The company also manufactures sorbet as well as frozen yogurt (Datamonitor, 2010). The company, founded in the year 1978 by two men, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield has its headquarters at Burlington, Vermont in the U. S. Its factory is in Waterbury, Vermont. The two guys had met in a gym class in the year 1966. Jerry wanted to be a medical doctor but after failing to succeed joining a medical school after a number of trials, he decided to take a course in ice cream making. They pursued the course with Ben who had lost several McJobs. This was in the year 1978. After the course they opened an ice cream shop in a gas station in Burlington, Vermont. They produced the finest ice cream and this made helped them become finest (Heidrick & Struggles, 2000). Ben did not have a sense of taste. As a result, he was relying on mouth feel. This resulted to the trademark they use to date which is big chunks of chocolate, nut and fruits. At times, they could disagree on the size of chunks. However, they both wanted to enjoy themselves and this kept them moving. The two were poor book keepers and therefore they were not able to account properly for their sales. As a result, they closed for some time claiming that they wanted to figure out if they were making money in their business. It was a period of learning and when they reopened in the year 1979, they started wholesaling ice cream. Since then, the company has grown to become one of the best ice cream selling companies in the United States of America. Ben and Jerry’s is part of the Unilever Group (Hays, 2000). It was acquired by Unilever in the year 2000 for a reported $326 (Glass, 2009). Introduction to the focus of the report Culture of an organization is an important issue in the business world since it has an influence on the organizational performance. Culture can be studied using a number of approaches. In the wake of globalization, it is important for business people as well as academicians to understand the culture of different countries. This is especially important for multinationals since they operate in different countries which have varying cultures. All the concerned parties have to see business as well as personal issues from a perspective other than one’s own cultural perspective. It is therefore imperative that studying culture from various frameworks will be highly helpful. This report focuses on the culture of analysis of an organization in the United States of America known as Ben and Jerry’s. The report will apply a theoretical framework to try and understand the cu

Memento (2000) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Memento (2000) - Essay Example These include a single problem facing the protagonist, comic relief and getting the audience to believe what the protagonist is fighting for. In Memento, Leonard’s mind is fixed on one thing only: track down his wife’s killer and kill them. There is comic relief in the story when Leonard’s details, such as having been an insurance investigator, and the story of Sammy, who also suffered a memory loss. The audience sympathize with Leonard. Leonard believes the second attacker’s name was John while the second name begins with â€Å"G†. He, therefore, embarks on an investigation to find John G. The plot of the film also details Leonard’s attempts to track down the second attacker with the name John G. The film develops in reverse sequence, showing the protagonist hot on the heels of a certain John G. He meets a man named Teddy whose full name turns out to be John Edward Gammell. Believing it is John G., he kills him. In the final black-and-white sequence, still in reverse, Leonard learns about another man, Jimmy Grantz and is told that he is a â€Å"John G† (memento, n.p.). Leonard proceeds to kill him. The film-makers have adopted a complicated narrative technique to tell the story. They present the film in two parts: the black-and-white section and color section. The black-and-white segment chronologically depicts Leonard as he hunts down his wife’s killer and ends when he kills Jimmy Grantz. The color segment, on the other hand, is presented in reverse. It begins with Leonard killing Teddy and works back in time to moment Leonard discovered that he had killed the wrong man, Jimmy Grantz (Memento, n.p.). Consequently, the events in the film are not presented chronologically as the two segments are intertwined throughout the movie. The film’s protagonist is Leonard Shelby. Leonard is hunting for his wife’s killer and the only clue he has is that the killer bears the name John and the second name begins

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Marketing - Essay Example 13). Both definitions focused on the term being a philosophy or an orientation designed by management where the important elements for success and profitable financial performance of a firm is anchored in satisfying the needs of the target market or the potential customers – more than competitors do. Analysis of the Concept The marketing concept could be closely evaluated using an organizational example: Coke versus Pepsi. Bhasin (2010) described in his article that â€Å"the marketing concept proposes that the success of the firm depends on the marketing efforts of the company and in delivering a better value proposition as   compared to its competitors in its own target market† (Bhasin, par. 1). Coke’s marketing strategy is to provide customers with a product that has been envisioned to be timeless, not restricted in boundaries, applies to all ages and generations and is able to captivate and satisfy the thirst and refresh its clientele.

Memento (2000) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Memento (2000) - Essay Example These include a single problem facing the protagonist, comic relief and getting the audience to believe what the protagonist is fighting for. In Memento, Leonard’s mind is fixed on one thing only: track down his wife’s killer and kill them. There is comic relief in the story when Leonard’s details, such as having been an insurance investigator, and the story of Sammy, who also suffered a memory loss. The audience sympathize with Leonard. Leonard believes the second attacker’s name was John while the second name begins with â€Å"G†. He, therefore, embarks on an investigation to find John G. The plot of the film also details Leonard’s attempts to track down the second attacker with the name John G. The film develops in reverse sequence, showing the protagonist hot on the heels of a certain John G. He meets a man named Teddy whose full name turns out to be John Edward Gammell. Believing it is John G., he kills him. In the final black-and-white sequence, still in reverse, Leonard learns about another man, Jimmy Grantz and is told that he is a â€Å"John G† (memento, n.p.). Leonard proceeds to kill him. The film-makers have adopted a complicated narrative technique to tell the story. They present the film in two parts: the black-and-white section and color section. The black-and-white segment chronologically depicts Leonard as he hunts down his wife’s killer and ends when he kills Jimmy Grantz. The color segment, on the other hand, is presented in reverse. It begins with Leonard killing Teddy and works back in time to moment Leonard discovered that he had killed the wrong man, Jimmy Grantz (Memento, n.p.). Consequently, the events in the film are not presented chronologically as the two segments are intertwined throughout the movie. The film’s protagonist is Leonard Shelby. Leonard is hunting for his wife’s killer and the only clue he has is that the killer bears the name John and the second name begins

Founding Brothers Essay Example for Free

Founding Brothers Essay The novel, Founding Brothers, written by Joseph Ellis is a thought provoking novel on the intertwined lives of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and Ben Franklin. Ellis calls the 1790’s the most decisive decade in our country. The author exemplifies three major points in our nation’s history: George Washington and his prominent legacy; the collaborative yet antagonistic relationship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams; and the many problems of the young union during its revolutionary era. George Washington was a monumental character and played a vital role in the molding of our country. Although, his reputation was nearly impeccable, he was great in stature, standing at six foot four. The farewell address was a key element to Washington’s legacy. In this he displayed how grateful he was to have such a remarkable opportunity to serve his country, although this only was the beginning part of his speech. Secondly he decided to stress the importance of the union. But it started in 1776 when Washington was being described as â€Å"Father of our Country† prematurely. Even Ben Franklin acknowledged Washington’s supremacy. In the 1790’s Washington was well known, he was the presiding officer at the Constitutional Convention and the chief executive of the federal government. â€Å"Washington was the core of gravity that prevented the American Revolution from flying off into random orbits, the stable center around which the revolutionary energies formed† (Ellis 121). He impacted the government tremendously with his way of thinking and his attitude toward the need for national unity. He talked about independence from foreign nations; he devoted several paragraphs to this in his in his address. Washington always made the well- being of the country first. For example, when Continental Congress wanted help the French with an invasion of Canada, Washington opposed. He feared that that putting the France in possession of that capital that they would become greedy, and doubted that they would withdraw once they were ensconced in Canada. I think that he may have felt that also, America was young and still growing as a country. He was criticized for this decision. In closing on Washington’s legacy, I feel that there were many reasons why he retired. In short, he was just getting old and probably couldn’t take the political pressure. He was also going through a physical decline. Washington intended for his farewell address to be advice to his countrymen. He wanted them to sustain without, and without a king. Adams and Jefferson were indeed friends but had different agendas on how the country should be run. Their relationship was unique; they were great friends but even better competitors. The presidency drove them apart. Adams was a federalist, and Jefferson was a democratic republican so to speak. Through the Continental congress and diplomatic missions they became close friends. As they worked more together Adams developed more respect Jefferson, although he was less effusive. The low point of their relationship was definitely after the election in 1800. After this their relationship became more antagonistic. As politicians and colleagues they went through many phases. After the election they did not speak for a long 12 years. Adams felt that Jefferson had betrayed their friendship. After the death of Jefferson daughter, Abigail Adams began to exchange letters of condolences. Jefferson confused it as an invitation to reconcile with Adams family. The two disputed briefly, John didn’t find out until several months later. Finally in January of 1812, Adams sent a letter from Quincy to Monticello. â€Å"Why then, did Adams take the fateful step, which led to a fourteen year exchange of 158 letters, a correspondence that is generally regarded as the intellectual capstone to the revolutionary generation and the most impressive correspondence between prominent states in all of American history† (Ellis 223)? For the last 15 years of their lives they contacted each other through letters and rebuilt their friendship. On the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of the Independence, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other. They will never be forgotten for the inevitable and timely contributions to our young country. In the introduction Ellis describes the American Revolution perfectly with the statement â€Å"No event in American history which was so improbable at the time has seemed as inevitable in retrospect as the American Revolution†. America’s victory seemed beyond improbable seeing as how England had the greatest army of the Revolutionary era. The young colonists chose to seek out alliances with the French, Dutch, and Spanish due to their lack of monetary resources, experience or even the pure man power. British beforehand, even tried attacking the colonists politically which had their in leading to an inevitable rebellion. They initiated taxes, and other events such as the Boston Massacre took place that ignited the young colonists to take stand against Great Britain. Though faith, inspiration and prosperity the Americans shocked the world, defeated the odds and took the victory in 1783, securing their new independent world. This victory inspired countries worldwide to rebel against the tyrannical empires that were controlling them. This victory is evident in today’s society as America thrives as country that influences others and still is, independent. Founding Brothers truly exposes a much more personal point of view of our founding fathers and their irrefutable destiny. Joseph Ellis targets critical elements of their and what they thought was best for the young country of America. They molded something bigger than themselves during this revolutionary era. The author really brings to life the intricate detail of Washington’s legacy and the partnership between two great leaders Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Joseph Ellis’ statement was more than valid; it justifies American in a few short words.

Use of the ‘mise-en-scene’ in TV Shows and Movies

Use of the ‘mise-en-scene’ in TV Shows and Movies The use of the ‘Mise-en-Scene’ in TV shows and Movies during the last 15 years: A Semiotic Comparison The mise-en-scene has been a huge part of film and television throughout the last century and it has vastly improved during the last fifteen years. TV series such as AMC’s the ‘The Walking Dead’ (2010-) and HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ (2011-) have created a cinematic universe, that can actually compete with block buster movies such as, ’28 Days/Weeks Later’ (2002/2007) and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (2001/2002/2003). I am going to identify how the use of mise-en-scene in these two television programs have affected the production values and semiology of recent television series, compared to the five noughties movies. Semiotics, or semiology is the study of signs and symbols and how they are interpreted by someone (Monaco, 2000). A sign is composed of two things: the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the form of the sign, whilst the signified is the idea or concept in which it is related to (Saussure, 1959). Using a trichotomy of semiotics, Saussure explains how there are three concepts of a signifier: the object – what the sign is, the sign – what we see, and the interpretation – the meaning/ metaphor behind the sign (Saussure, ibid). For example: using the following image from ‘Game of Thrones’ of The Wall (Appendix I), the object would be that the Wall/ and Castle Black from Game of Thrones, the sign would be that is a giant wall, and the interpretation would be that the wall was built there to protect Westeros from The Others, White Walkers and Wildlings beyond it. ‘The Wall’ can be seen both as denotative and connotative. They are the first and second orders of signification. Denotation is the most literal meaning of signs, whilst Connotation is more subjective and interpretive (Barthes, 1977). Furthermore, denotation is what the image significantly represents and connotative is what the image suggests as a symbol. For example: in ‘Game of Thrones’ using denotation the Kings Hand’s pin (Appendix II) represents a very high and important person next to the king. However when connotative, the pin is a circle with a hand in it, which symbolizes the ‘Hand of the King’. Language is a structure of symbols that prompt ideas [3] (Saussure, 1959). Ferdinand de Saussure was a semiotician whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in semiology in the 20th century. His modest yet well-designed idea was ‘to view language as simply one of a number of system of codes of communication’ (Monaco, 2000:58). Semantics, then became merely one area of the more general study of systems of signs. Codes come a number of areas: unique codes, established art forms and cultural codes. Unique codes tend to be a montage of the process of time moving forward. Established art forms are signs and symbols through artwork and theatre performances. Cultural codes is something that is done on an everyday basis, which ends up being the norm for people. Codes are critical constructions systems of logical relationship A great variety of codes combine to form the medium in which film expresses meaning (Monaco, 2000:175). Semiotics are used in television shows and movies to help the audience identify the meaning of what they are watching. For example: In the movie ‘The Lord of the Rings’, audiences can use the mise-en-scene such as, bows, swords, species and costumes to recognise that the film is a sort of medieval fantasy film in a un-real universe. Taken from the French meaning ‘to place in a scene’, the mise-en-scene is everything that appears in front of the camera and its arrangement (Monaco, 2000). For example: shot types, sets, props, actors, costumes, lighting etc. The mise-en-scene helps the audiences to learn about the film and television program without watching much, if not, any of the media. For instance: audiences can discover the genre and production values, just by the decoration of the costumes and sets. In the mise-en-scene, there are two diverse types of shots, the diachronic shot and the framed image. The Diachronic shot is the movement in shot, therefore the emphasis is aimed at the type of shot, focus, angles, and points of views. The framed image is one shot where the emphasis is aimed at colour, aspect ratio, compositional planes, and lighting (Monaco, ibid). Depending on the genre and whether the media is of a film or TV program, the mise-en-scene, furthermore the production values get altered and become completely different (Monaco, ibid). For instance: ‘Lord of the Rings’ is the fantasy/ adventure genre, so it could have a high budget because of the massive use of different locations, props, and special effects. Whilst, ‘The Walking Dead’ is the horror genre, meaning it could have different or less expensive use of the mise-en-scene. ‘Lord of the Rings’ is a film, and ‘The Walking Dead’ is a TV program, so naturally the use of mise-en-scene will be is completely different. The production value/budget of a film is very useful in pre-production. ‘The first phase is preparatory—the script is written, actors and technicians hired, shooting schedules and budgets planned’ (Monaco, 2000:128). Budgets tell a director/producer if the movie will be possible or high quality. Producers set a budget in preproduction, however the budget may increase by the end of the whole production because of un-expected circumstances such as dropped out actors, and expensive use of the mise-en-scene [1] (Monaco, 2000). Similarly, the genre is worked out during preproduction. Genre is useful because it is not only easy to write the story around a certain genre, but it also invites the correct audiences to watch the film, creating the fandom (Monaco, ibid). Research methods are split into two methodologies, primary and secondary. Primary research is research that is completed by a researcher, for instance: watching/ reviewing films, and reading newspaper/ magazine articles. Secondary research on the other hand is research that is gathered from an existing primary source, for example: surveys, and academic books/ journals. Content analysis can be both primary and secondary as it relies on a qualitative and quantitative technique. Qualitative research asks, what and why, and it is based off merely the beliefs and attitudes of a subject. Whilst, quantitative research asks, how many, as its data is formed by statistics and facts of the subject (Jensen Jankowski, 2002). As a quantitative method, content analysis’s finding usual are sorted into numbers and percentages (Jensen Jankowski, ibid). For example: the research of the amount of times a character is killed off in ‘Game of Thrones’, will be done using content analysis, by watching how every episode and counting every death, putting the results in categories, such as men killed by men, women killed by men, women killed by women, men killed by women, child death, murder, suicide, and race. This may take a while, but the results will tell the research the statistics of the different deaths in ‘Game of Thrones’. Results of this could look like the following, ‘in the first season 100 people died, 70% was a murder of men by men, whilst, 30% was a murder of women by men’. Some strengths of quantitative content analysis is that it is an inexpensive research method, that doesn’t really acquire much, if not any contact with people. Researchers can lea rn much about a media production’s target audiences and financial support (Macnamara, 2005). Weaknesses of quantitative content analysis is that the study is inadequate by availability of materials and movements in media may not be an accurate reflection of reality (Macnamara, ibid). Content analysis can be used as semiotic research by watching and analysing films and television to come up with facts about the research topic/ question. Semiotic research looks into the mise-en-scene and creates a conclusion by investigating the meaning or metaphors behind a symbol such as a prop, etc (Monaco, 2000). Strengths of qualitative content analysis are that it offers a good interpretation and explanation of a person’s personal experience of a situation. It is useful for studying a limited number of cases in depth, and it can conduct cross case comparisons and analysis (Brennen, 2012). Weaknesses are that researchers find investigating rather difficult to test theories with larger groups and the results of the research are more easily influenced by the researcher’s personal prejudices (Brennen, ibid). Film and television are full of semiotics, that create metaphors and meaning to the programme/movie. As they’re the zombie horror genre, ‘The Walking Dead’ and ’28 Days/Weeks Later’ need to set a certain tone to attract the correct audience and to give the precise symbolism to show history and maybe important information about locations, characters, and props. I’ve researched into this by watching season 1 and 2 of ‘The Walking Dead’ and both ’28 Days’ and 28 Weeks Later’. One of the things that I found is that they both show symbolism through their types of zombies. ‘The Walking Dead’s’ zombies are slow, and they only have one type, which is the typical decayed zombie corpse. This could symbolize that it is an incurable infection, more than an illness. However, the zombies in ’28 Days/Weeks Later’ are more fast paced, deadly, and with a more human look than ‘The Walking Dead’ zombies. This could symbolize that, unlike AMC’s zombies, it could be a mental illness like rabies. The Music of ‘The Walking Dead’ and ’28 Days/Weeks Later’ both signifies the tones of the scenes in the media. While watching the series 1 episode 4, ‘The Walking Dead’ uses fast pace music in a scene where the characters are trying to get a bag of weapons from the streets of Atlanta. Because the rest of the episode was without music, this created an atmosphere of tension for this particular scene, and identified that something bad could happen. Similarly, ’28 Weeks Later’ does the same in the scene where there is a zombie outbreak in the safe zone, and people are running around panicking, and dying. This doesn’t just give a tone of tension, but symbolizes that all hope of survival is lost. As ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ are both a completely different genres, which are Adventure and Fantasy, they will have different uses of signs and symbol. Both the movies and the series have many uses of semiotics, but while watching the media, I was most fascinated by the locations used and the characters. ‘Game of Thrones’ uses up to 26 filming locations to accomplish a cinematic use of the mise-en-scene (IMDB, 2011-). Locations such as the Hverfjall volcano in the Lake Myvatin region of Northern Iceland, which was filmed in most of the icy scenes that was beyond the wall (Appendix III IV). However, unlike ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ only uses the whole of New Zealand to film the movies. One location being Tongariro National Park, which was the main setting of the Land of Mordor (Appendix V). Both ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ use these locations to indicate a realism in a fantasy universe. ‘Game of Thrones’ has a lot of characters with unique personas. The Lannister’s are very unique characters, with their golden hair, and smug looks, they can symbolize a lot of things (Appendix VI) and they have a phrase that could imply two things. ‘A Lannister always pays his debts’, this phrase could mean either a threat to or about enemies, or a sign of loyalty, and however in most cases in the show, it is used as a threat. Cersei Lannister is nothing but a bad person, and by looking at an image of her could imply her personality. In a scene with her, she might raise her eyebrows and stare deep in to person she is talking to eyes. This could symbolize that she is deceitful, and ready for revenge. Similarly, ‘Lord of the Rings’ characters use looks and phrases to symbolize their persona. Golem/Smà ©agol is a sick little creature, who has multiply personality disorder. He constantly talks to him, and has the ongoing phrase of ‘my precious’, as he talks about the one ring. This could symbolize the illness of greed and selfishness that comes with the ring. Golem is obsessed with the one ring and is dishonest and double crossing, whilst Smà ©agol has a more friendly and playful personality. Has both personas have the same appearance, the only way to tell apart is his facial expressions. A creepy and demeaning face will show if Golem is speaking (Appendix VII), whilst when Smà ©agol is speaking, an innocent and approachable face appears (Appendix VIII) [4]. The mise-en-scene effects the production budgets of a film and television programme (Monaco, 2000). The television ‘The Walking Dead’ has its similarities and differences to the film series ‘28 Days/Weeks Later’. According to an article by Anthony Ocasio on Screen Rant, ‘The Walking Dead’s’ production budget in season 1 was $3.4 million for six episodes. The budget was decreased in season 2 to $2.7 million to increase the number of episodes to thirteen (Ocasio, 2013). This of course altered the mise-en-scene majorly, from having season 1 of the show based in many locations such as a city/ forest/ town/ etc, to having season 2 of the show in less locations such as the high way/ farm/ etc. Similarly like AMC’s series, ’28 Days Later’ had a smaller budget from its sequel. According to Box Office Mojo, ’28 Days Later’ had a budget of $8 million with a runtime of 113 minutes (IMDB, 2007), whilst ’28 We eks Later’ had a budget of $15 million with a runtime of 100 minutes (Nash Information Services LLC, 2015). This effects the mise-en-scene by the improvement in the acting and the special effects, however, the budget is still low, so the locations are pretty much the same. ‘The Walking Dead’ and ’28 Days/Weeks Later’ are examples of low budgeting in film and television. The HBO television series ‘Game of Thrones’ and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies are both highly budgeted. According to an article on ‘Winteriscoming’, ‘Game of Thrones’ had a budget of $60 million in the first season, with 10 episodes, whilst in season 2 it increased by 15% to $69 million with 10 episodes (WinterisComing, 2012). There is not much difference of mise-en-scene in each series, as the budget started high, so the sets/locations were good to begin with. As the production values increased each series, so did the sets, props, and extras. Similarly, the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy’s budget started off high in the first film, but it didn’t increase by much in the other two films. In ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, the budget was $93 million with a 228 minute runtime on the extended edition (IMDB, 2001). ‘The Two Towers’ had a budget of $94 million with a runtime of 235 minutes on the extended edition (IMDB, 2002). Lastly, ‘The Return of the King’ also had a budget of $94 million with a 263 minute runtime on the extended edition (IMDB, 2003). As the budget was high to begin with, the mise-en-scene was barley altered. The only explanation of the $1 million increase is the other two films had huge battle scenes, which needed the extra money for special effects, extras, and expensive camera shots [2]. In conclusion, the use of mise-en-scene has been affected in film and television during the last fifteen years, due to the increase in production values. The movies will always have a greater budget, compared to television, but there are still similarities. In both film and television, the budget can increase/decrease due to the amount of footage of a production, which can alter locations, props, actors, and any other uses of the mise-en-scene [2]. ‘Producers set a budget in preproduction†¦ expensive use of the mise-en-scene’ [1] (Monaco, 2000). Language is used in ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to symbolize meaning and metaphors for different characters [4]. ‘Language is a structure of symbols that prompt ideas’ [3] (Saussure, 1959). Lastly, ‘The Walking Dead’, ’28 Days/Weeks Later’ and ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ are all completely different ge nres of film and television, but they all use the mise-en-scene in some way to create meaning and metaphors behind different signifiers of the film or television. References Barthes, R. (1977) Image-Music-Text. London: Fontana Press IMDB. (2007) 28 Days Later. http://www.boxofficemojo.com [Accessed on 13/04/2015] IMDB. (2001) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. http://www.boxofficemojo.com [Accessed on 13/04/2015] IMDB. (2002) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. http://www.boxofficemojo.com [Accessed on 13/04/2015] IMDB. (2003) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. http://www.boxofficemojo.com [Accessed on 13/04/2015] IMDB. (2011-) Game of Thrones Locations. http://www.imdb.com [Accessed on 18/04/2015] Jensen, K Jankowski, N. (2002) A Handbook of Qualitative Methodologies for Mass Communication Research. London New York: Routledge. Monaco, J. (2000) How to Read a Film. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nash Information Services, LLC (2015) 28 Weeks Later. http://www.the-numbers.com [Accessed on 13/04/2015] Ocasio, A (2013) ‘The Walking Dead’: Why Frank Darabont Was Fired The Chaotic Aftermath. http://screenrant.com [Accessed on 13/04/2015] Saussure, de, F. (1956) Course in general linguistics. New York: The Philosophical Library. WinterisComing. (2012) The finances of Game of Thrones. http://winteriscoming.net [Accessed on 14/04/15] Appendix I Appendix II Appendix III Appendix IV Appendix V Appendix VI Appendix VII Appendix VIII Back to Top 223974262014/2015Mark Clintworth