Vapiano Restaurant

Vapiano Restaurant Introduction With the recent economic crisis across many countries in the world, one can easily give up an idea of starting a new business. Starting a business like a fast food restaurant can especially seem less appealing due to the high level of competition that already exists in this particular food restaurant market.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Vapiano Restaurant specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, as it has been proven again by the new and expanding Vapiano food restaurant, innovation is the most critical aspect that is required to grow and expand a business. The designers of the Vapiano restaurant concept have targeted and appealed to a particular segment of customers who have in turn continued to flood her steps in increasing numbers (Lam et al. 2011). Here, we will look at the range of unique services and technology that have been employed by Vapiano restaurant to attract customers. History and Con cept Vapiano restaurant was established in 2002 in Hamburg (Germany) by a man named Mark Korzilius (Kilian 2011). Mark wanted to introduce a concept whereby customers could order and enjoy fast foods with an Italian taste within an atmosphere that they could be part of (Kilian 2011). Here, the main menu that would be availed to customers includes pizzas, salads, and pastas. Apart from unique menus, Vapiano intended to provide unique services that would attract customers to visit her restaurants. Usually, meals are prepared in an open environment where customers can see. Besides, the design of the restaurants has been done with a focus on creating a modern atmosphere (Bowen 1986). Thus, the entire Vapiano package is intended to lure customers with her new, affordable, and casual eating experience within a modern environment (Lam et al. 2011). About two thirds of the customers that have been visiting Vapiano restaurants are women (Fama 2005). Vapiano has mostly targeted affluent indiv iduals with high incomes; the majority of these customers are aged between twenty five to forty five years. Most of Vapiano customers live in highly populated urban centres across Europe and the United States. Importantly, Vapiano has introduced an attractive technology experience through its payment method (Fama 2005). Here, customers use a chip card to charge and pay for services. With the mentioned unique services, Vapiano has been able to offer high value services to her customers (Head 2008). Having initially started in Germany, Vapiano restaurant has expanded to Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. With the help of other investors, Mark Korzilius designed the Vapiano business model for the purpose of continually expanding and refining the Vapiano business (Fama 2005).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Following the opening of the initial Dà ¼ss eldorf franchise in 2004, more restaurants were opened afterwards. As the Vapiano model has continually appealed to customers, it has also continuously expanded across Germany and the rest of the world. Currently, Vapiano has been targeting market segments across the world with the demography concept in mind (Head 2008). However, as it expands further, the company could need to design business concepts that would appeal to unique cultures across the world (Lam et al. 2011). Like most of the other markets where Vapiano has ventured, the German market is highly competitive with a range of restaurants that employ diverse approaches to attract customers. Some of these restaurants are run by international companies like the McDonald (Fama 2005). Here, many people are adopting changing lifestyles such as outdoor eating habits. Such a direction has thus expanded the market of fast food restaurants like Vapiano (Lehn 2008). One important approach that has been employed by Vapiano to target the expanding market of restaurant eaters has been to offer a package of affordable and quality restaurant services to her customers. Therefore, although the products and services of Vapiano restaurants are relatively affordable when compared to her rivals, customers here can still enjoy high quality services that match the restaurant concept (Kilian 2011). Services and Technology Vapiano restaurant provides customers with fast food Italian dishes within a modern environment. Although the design of Vapiano buildings may vary in style, all of them have a modern European architecture with at least one tree planted within the buildings as a symbol of freshness (Lam et al. 2011). Having started in Germany, Vapiano has expanded to over seventy locations across Europe and the rest of the world. Currently, the Vapiano Company is intending to add about one hundred more locations in the United States to its expanding franchise (Lehn 2008). Usually, Vapiano restaurants are in highly populated locations in urban centres. These urban centres must have a large number of high income earners aged between twenty five to forty years. Besides, Vapiano restaurants are usually located nearby a place of attraction such as a theatre where they can tap into the high number of customer inflow. So as to improve efficiency and serve her customers better, Vapiano restaurants have a layout that is specifically designed to increase efficiency (Lehn 2008). The layout of Vapiano restaurants is usually divided into two sections: the food section and the bar section. The food section is further divided into three counters that serve different types of dishes. The three dishes that are mainly served at the three different counters are pizzas, salads and pasta (Lam et al. 2011). Here, depending on the meal that they would like to be served, customers can move to appropriate counters for the services that they need. Usually, meals at the three counters are made on orders.Advertising We w ill write a custom report sample on Vapiano Restaurant specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Upon entry into a Vapiano restaurant, a customer will first report at a registry. Here, customers are given RFID chip cards for the processing of their meal payment (Lehn 2008). From the registry, customers move into the bar area. Here, customers are greeted and availed the option of taking drinks at this particular section. However, customers can decide to skip taking drinks and move directly to the food area. As I had mentioned, the food section is divided into three sections that serve different kinds of meals (mainly pasta, salads and pizza) (Frances 2006). Thus, customers can select specific counters where they can order their meals. Once customers report at specific counters, they are offered seats from where they can watch the preparation of their meals by cooks. Usually, customers will have a chance of interacting with cooks as they wait for their meals to be ready. As it is often the case, there is very limited number of waiters (whose work is primarily to clear the tables). Such an arrangement of cooking meals close to customers helps to reduce the number of waiters, and thus help in reducing labour costs for the restaurant (Lehn 2008). Moreover, cooks are thus given another role of controlling customer flow at their restaurants. Once they finish their meals, customers make payments at their respective counters. Here, customers have an option of moving back to the bar section to enjoy more drinks as they relax (Frances 2006). Usually, the number of available chip cards is equal to the number of seats that are available to customers for a particular restaurant. Since customers can sit anywhere they wish, it is common to see different customers share tables. I would like to mention that some Vapiano restaurants have a different layout from the on that I have mentioned above. For example, instead of having the bar section bef ore the food section, the Boston restaurant has a bar section on the side of the food section instead. Here, I would like to describe range of unique services that are offered at Vapiano restaurant. As I had mentioned earlier, Vapiano restaurants have been designed to present customers with an atmosphere that is stylish and modern. As such, all of the Vapiano restaurants have been built with an attractive European architecture. I had also mentioned about the presence of a tree in the restaurants as a sign of freshness.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Usually, the theme of the restaurants is a fast and modern theme. Apart from fast Italian dishes, which are usually ready in just a few minutes after an order, the music that is played at the restaurants is usually fast music designed to resonate with the fast and modern theme at the restaurants. With their luxurious architecture and style, Vapiano restaurants attract high class customers to their stores. Despite serving traditional Italian dishes, the environment at the Vapiano restaurants deviates from the traditional Italian environment to a modern environment. Thus, young people with high incomes will especially find the package at the restaurants appealing (Lam et al. 2011). Moreover, the quality of food that is served at Vapiano restaurant differentiates it from other restaurants. As I had mentioned, most of the food that is served at the restaurant consists of traditional Italian dishes like salads and pasta. One particular aspect however that differentiates Vapiano from othe r Italian restaurants is the quality of Italian dishes that are served at Vapiano (Lam et al. 2011). When compared to the meals that are served at the more traditional Italian restaurants, the meals that are served at Vapiano restaurants are of poorer quality. Usually, cooks at Vapiano restaurants are not as highly skilled in preparing dishes as their counterparts at the traditional Italian restaurants (Frances 2006). Actually, meals at the Vapiano restaurants are designed for quick preparation instead of quality. Thus, meals that are served at Vapiano restaurants are usually pre made and frozen; hence, they can be prepared fast by the cooks. As we had briefly seen, another aspect that is unique to Vapiano restaurant is the low number of workers at the restaurant. Apart from preparing fast meals, cooks are also responsible for handling traffic flow, interacting with customers, serving customers, and in handling communication flow at the restaurants where they work (Lam et al. 2011). On the other hand, with the duty of just clearing tables, the number of waiters at Vapiano restaurants is usually low (Charles 1998). The result of such an arrangement results in customers moving a lot. Customers are required to move to counters and make orders. Besides, they are also required to find an appropriate place where they can sit (Fazzari 2006). Once they have finished their meals, customers are also required to move to the register and make payments. Again, such a concept is appropriate for an energetic and modern youth (Bowen 1986). The unique environment at Vapiano restaurant results in relatively low prices for customers. First, since customers do a lot of the movement, waiters at Vapiano restaurant are few; thus helping the restaurants to cut on labour costs (Fazzari 2006). The cut in labour costs can then be passed to customers through low prices. Besides, since the atmosphere at Vapiano restaurant is fast paced, customers are served their meals fast after which th ey move out for more customers to be served. Such an arrangement helps to increase the efficiency of Vapiano restaurants; hence, creating a big volume of customer inflows (Cuthbertson 2008). With a high capacity for customers, Vapiano restaurants are thus able to reduce their operating costs; hence, helping to pass the benefits to customers by charging low process for their services. Moreover, since there is a low emphasis on very high quality of meals and a high emphasis on speed, Vapiano restaurants are able to reduce the time and energy that is required to prepare meals; thus, helping to cut their overall costs of service. Although customers are generally encouraged to take their meals and leave the restaurant, they have an option of returning to the bar section of the restaurant where they can enjoy more drinks (Frances 2006). When a customer spends more money in buying drinks at the bar, they contribute to more revenues for the restaurants. Generally, the whole arrangement at V apiano restaurant is to increase efficiency; hence, helping to cut costs and thus contributing to the relatively low prices at the Vapiano restaurants (Charles 1998). Despite the low number of waiters and other workers at Vapiano restaurants, customers can still interact with the usually warm and friendly workers at the restaurant. Most pf the workers at Vapiano restaurants are generally friendly, cooperative and warm. The good attitude of workers at Vapiano restaurant has been helpful in promoting a positive experience for customers (Fazzari 2006). Unlike the traditional Italian restaurants that rely on reserves bookings to make preparation for customers, most of the Vapiano customers do not make bookings before visiting their favourite restaurant. However, due to the high efficiency system that is employed at the Vapiano restaurants, most customers will find available sits when they visit. Such a direction has been helpful in removing any inconveniences that could otherwise have a risen due to the large number of customers that visit the Vapiano restaurants (Cuthbertson 2008). The management of Vapiano restaurant has seen it necessary to develop a discount plan for their customers. As we had seen, customers are usually offered chip cards when they enter Vapiano restaurants. These chip cards enable customers to accumulate points that they can use later to obtain discounts (Koller 2005). The offer of a discount mechanism to her customers is among the important directions that have been designed by Vapiano restaurants to attract and keep a large number of customers (Vapiano 2011). Besides, the discount plan has also been helpful in promoting customer loyalty. As it had been seen, the use of chip cards has also been fruitful in helping the Vapiano restaurants to monitor the flow of customers. When the chip cards are unavailable, it means that the restaurant has reached its full capacity. In such instances, customers can wait for spaces at the bar as they enjoy dr inks. The general approach of increasing efficiency at Vapiano restaurants can also be seen through the use of chip cards. Since information on the number of customers that have visited the restaurants, collected revenues, and preferred meals is electronically stored to a database by the chip cards, useful information is easily availed to the management of the Vapiano restaurant (Cuthbertson 2008). For example, the management of Vapiano restaurants can use information that has been availed by the chip cards to know about the types of meals that have been consumed most within a specific period; hence helping the management to buy future stocks. Likewise, the management can easily obtain information on revenues and profits that have been made from a database that has been linked to the chip cards (Koller 2005). Generally, the chip cards are useful in helping the management of Vapiano restaurant to obtain important information for the effective running of their restaurants (Charles 199 8). Currently, the cost of a single chip card is fifty dollars. A challenge that has been presented to the management of Vapiano as a result of using chip cards is the frequent loss of chip cards by customers. Here, an approach that has been employed is to trust customers, and therefore ask them how much they had spent earlier. Currently, plans are underway to introduce chip cards that are more personalised for customers with information such as the names of the customers and the foods that they like most. The relatively low price of meals at Vapiano restaurants has been helpful in appealing to customers who have been visiting the restaurant. Generally, the prices of pasta and pizza range from $7 to $12 (Vapiano 2011). Compare this relatively low pricing to an average of $ 20 in a traditional Italian restaurant. As a result many Vapiano restaurants have been seeing an increase in the number of customers that visit their stores with an average of about 500 guests per day in most rest aurants (Vapiano 2011). The average turnover per each of the Vapiano restaurants was about two million euros in 2011 (Vapiano 2011). The average operating costs for each of the Vapiano restaurants was about one million euros. Here, about 30% of the costs were as a result of material costs and the chip technology. A further 30% of the cost resulted from labour expenses. Thus, the Vapiano concept has been useful in expanding and managing Vapiano restaurants (Fazzari 2006). Conclusion Through an aggressive campaign that has marketed their unique concept: providing an Italian food experience in a fast food and modern environment, the management of Vapiano restaurants have been able to expand the volume of their customer segment across Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. Here, the management of Vapiano Company has especially introduced a package that has appealed to the young, wealthy, and modern populace that mostly resides in western countries (Koller 2005). Vapiano customers have been able to experience a stylish and modern atmosphere; besides, they have loved the unique services that incorporate technologies; moreover, they have also enjoyed the relatively low prices of meals at Vapiano restaurant (Cuthbertson 2008). Through carefully designed systems, the total arrangement at Vapiano restaurant has been for a youthful and energetic young person that loves to eat out in a modern restaurant. Such youths have not found it difficult to use the chip technologies, and to move from one place to another within the restaurants as they make their orders and payments. References Bowen, R. 1986 â€Å"Evidence on the Relationship between Earnings and management†, The Accounting Review, vol. 4, pp. 713-725. Charles H., 1998, Clock speed – Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage, Perseus Books, New York. Cuthbertson, K., 2008, Investments, Second Edition, John Wiley Sons Ltd, West Sussex. Fama, E., 2005, ‘Managing Restaurants†™, Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 60, pp. 3-43. Fazzari, S. M., 2006, â€Å"Financial Constraints and Corporate Investments†, Brooking Papers on Economic Activity, vol. 1, pp. 141-195. Frances, X., 2006, Breaking the Trade-Off between Efficiency and Service, HBS, New York. Head, T 2008, ‘Theory, Advantages and Disadvantages, Student Accountant Magazine, June/July 2008, p 50. Kilian, W, 2011, Vapiano: Creating a marketing-driven business, HBS, New York. Koller, T., 2005, Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, John Wiley Sons Inc, New Jersey. Lam, T, et al. Comparison study of two Italian restaurants: Vapiano and Trattora, MIT press, New York. Lehn , A., 2008, â€Å" Performance Measures and Signals for Strategic Change†, Strategy and Leadership, vol. 5, pp.34-38. Vapiano, 2011, Menus, Locations, Concept. Web.

Top 5 jobs that pay a lot more than you think

Top 5 jobs that pay a lot more than you think We’ve all had one of those moments where you look at someone and think, â€Å"That guy makes how much for that job? Crazy.† There are actually a lot of jobs out there that pay more than you might expect, based on the level of experience necessary to do the job or simply stereotypes about what we think certain roles are worth. Let’s look at some of the most unexpected-salaried jobs out there. Dental HygienistDental hygienists are often the unsung heroes of the dental world- after all, they’re usually the ones who have to listen to all the excuses about why you didn’t floss, or who hear the fibs about how much you did floss (Be honest!). But because it’s often a supporting role and doesn’t require a four-year degree to get started, you might be surprised at the salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, dental hygienists make a median annual salary of $74,070. (And given what they do to keep our teeth healthy and sparkling , they deserve every penny!)What they do: Dental hygienists clean teeth, perform dental exams, provide preventative dental care, assist dentists with procedures, and educate patients about follow-up care and dental health.What you’ll need: An associate’s degree in dental hygiene, which typically takes 2-3 years to complete. Some states also require additional licensing for dental hygienists, so be sure to check on your own state’s requirements.Elevator Repairer/MechanicThere are some repair jobs on which you can cut corners, and no one really notices. Elevator repair is not one of them. It’s a high-stakes mechanical job, so although it’s a career that can usually be started with a high school diploma and an apprenticeship or on-the-job training, it’s one that commands a high salary because it requires a high level of skill and attention to detail. In fact, elevator repairers make only a few thousand dollars per year less than the mechanical engineers who design the elevators themselves. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, elevator repairers make a median annual salary of $79,480- and demand is expected to grow faster than average over the next 10 years.What they do: Elevator repairers or mechanics are responsible for installing and repairing elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and other people movers, as well as ensuring safety.What you’ll need: A high school diploma or equivalent, plus an apprenticeship. You’ll also need strong mechanical savvy, and the ability to work in cramped quarters.Flight AttendantWith perks like free travel, you might think that working as a flight attendant might be one of those jobs where the perks make up for a not-super-high salary. But if you’re interested in the jet-setting life and want a solid median salary, you should consider becoming a flight attendant. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, flight attendants make a median annual sal ary of $50,500, with demand expected to grow faster than average over the next 10 years. Flight attendants who work for private or charter companies can also make more than that.What they do: Flight attendants manage airline passenger needs, safety, and comfort from (literally) Point A to Point B. In an emergency, they’re also first responders, assisting customers with any kind of crisis that happens in flight.What you’ll need: A high school diploma or equivalent, with significant on-the-job training provided by the airline. A good flight attendant also has stellar customer service skills (and the patience/good bedside manner to go with it).Technical WriterIt may not be the Great American Novel, but you see the work of technical writers everywhere: the instructions you get with your new assemble-it-yourself furniture, those tutorial PDFs on a company’s website, journal articles taking complex scientific or technical subjects and translating them for a wider audi ence. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, technical writers make a median annual salary of $70,930 (or $34.10 per hour), with demand expected to grow faster than average over the next 10 years. It’s also a versatile field, with technical writing positions open in a variety of industries (tech, healthcare, manufacturing, etc.).What they do: Technical writers prepare instruction manuals, how-to guides, or other supporting documentation to help guide customers or readers through a technical process. They translate complicated tasks for information for a particular audience. Technical writers may work full-time, or freelance.What you’ll need: A bachelor’s degree, helped by expertise in a technical subject like computer science, engineering, or web design.Theatrical Makeup ArtistGot a flair for the dramatic, but don’t have any interest in being onstage? Be the star backstage, and consider becoming a makeup artist. Makeup artists who specialize in theater, media, movie, TV, or other performance often make significantly more than their cosmetologist peers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, theatrical/performance makeup artists make a median annual salary of $69,310, with the 90th percentile making $127,030.What they do: Theatrical makeup artists create makeup looks to suit a particular production or performance design.What you’ll need: A high school diploma or equivalent, plus training in cosmetology. A background in theater or drama is also helpful, as is artistic creativity.If you’re looking for a job that carries a strong paycheck but falls outside the stereotypical â€Å"high-paid† spectrum, any of these jobs would be a great start.

Why Was America Taken by Surprise on 11 September 2001 Essay

Why Was America Taken by Surprise on 11 September 2001 - Essay Example The country itself is guarded by strong defenses. With a land army of total weapons of 56,269, air power of 18, 234 aircrafts and naval power of 2,834 ships1 she has become a symbol of military might. Furthermore, with a resilient intelligence network comprising of CIA, the country is apparently able to keep threats away. The story of 9/11 developed very interestingly. On the morning of September 11, 2001 four commercial planes were hijacked by terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group. The number of terrorists was expected to be around 19 that carried suicide attacks in three different places. The first two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the third destructed a part of the Pentagon while the fourth crashed in a field of Pennsylvania. This was a massive and atrocious attack on the land of America causing immense collateral damage.2 Who would have expected the day when America crippled into the depths of shock and horror with strong defens ive shields mentioned above. A major chunk of the American economy flourishing in the WTC was deflated. The Pentagon that is the central decision making body of the country was so vulnerable and the trans-border security on the airports was so weak that no one could keep a check on any unusual activities. All of these loopholes resulted in the death of more than 3000 civilians3 on 9/11. When the episode of 9/11 is dug deep, one comes across a lot of questions. For instance, why did a non-state actor attack America? How did it get the capability to penetrate inside the country? Was there an insider involved? Does it prove the failure of President George W. Bush’s administration or was it another excuse to wage war like the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941? All of these questions have affected the lives of Americans itself. Right after the country was attacked, President George W. Bush declared war on terror and put forward a proposal of â€Å"either you are with us or them (terror ists)† before the world making states choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. President Bush invested heavily to wage the war against Osama Bin Laden, the culprit responsible for planning and executing the attacks. He started off with bombarding Afghanistan in 2001 which hasn’t stopped yet even after a decade. The attacks had huge impact on the lives of each and every American. If one goes back in time, he will realize that the impact was equally large six decades ago when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor toppling U.S Navy on the Hawaiian coast. Like 9/11, the attack on Pearl Harbor came as a surprise and both the attacks took approximately 3000 lives. On the second day of the attack President Roosevelt declared war on Japan starting World War II4. It was the first time ever in the history of mankind that a nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Similarly, President Bush announced to hunt down every terrorist in the world right after the WT C crippled. Hence, the defense budget started increasing at the cost of human lives. The most striking and ironic fact about these two attacks was that both the Presidents knew about them in advance. They knew that their country was under threat and could be attacked at any moment. It was in a newspaper on 30th November 1941 that warned of Japanese strike on the American homeland when the naval fleet came under attack on 7th December 1941. The President was questioned regarding knowledge of the attack beforehand. It was later investigated and revealed that it was the President himself and some members of his administration that delayed the conveyance of the warning messages given by the United Kingdom to Hawaii. 5 President

Aerosol-Cloud InteractionsA Piece of the Climate Puzzle Essay

Aerosol-Cloud InteractionsA Piece of the Climate Puzzle - Essay Example There have been a number of potential effects about the aerosols that have been implied though there should be much more investigation and study in order for the size of these effects in a worldwide view. Therefore, for a much more improved model outcrop of future climate, there is much importance in the quantitative comprehension of these effects. There are findings that have been put into writing as well as pictures in regard to the aerosol and cloud properties during the previous years. Nonetheless, these types of seen connection are not essentially as a result of microphysical end products. They may relatively be as a result of retrieval errors, cloud flagging errors, seasonal factors, spatial climatological factors, humidity conditions or even synoptic effects. This report herein shows a discussion of the contribution of spatial climatological factors and synoptic effects to aerosol-cloud associations. Therefore, this paper is going to handle the needed aspects that deal with th e aerosol and cloud interactions, a piece of the climate puzzle. In addition, that will entail all the necessary details required. Aerosols in as much as is known always have an effect in the cloud formation in general. There are, therefore, specific aerosols that can be found in the clouds, whether they are organic or inorganic. The specific organic or inorganic aerosol found in the clouds is a sea salt, which is the most common CCN over the ocean. It is mostly how they aerosols affect or get involved in the cloud formation. To add to that, there is the question of what happens when these major oceanic clouds move over land and whether the aerosol interactions change (Bowler 76). The answer that comes to that question is that, once droplets of clouds have been formed, aerosols or CCN are separated by water of ice and would not be directly interacting with anything else. As a result, when cloud droplets or raindrops evaporate, aerosols are free and can be able to

Ten Most Effective Ways to Improve Your English Essay Example for Free

Ten Most Effective Ways to Improve Your English Essay 1. Read : Read anything and everything in English. You can read story books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, comics, English textbooks, instructions and ingredients on food packages, advertisements, etc. For story books, don’t force yourself to read something too difficult or something you know you won’t enjoy. Make reading fun! Read books that you ENJOY reading. I hate to read books that bore me too. Opening up books before you buy one and flicking through them to find one with lots of direct dialogue in it has several advantages. If there is less text on the page due to all the speech marks etc, this can make it easier to read and easier to write translations on. Dialogue is also much easier to understand than descriptive parts of a book, and is much more like the language you will want to learn in order to be able to speak English. 2. Start your own English language blog : Even for people who dont have to write in English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you need to describe your own life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they dont know what to write about. One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English is to write an English diary (journal), and a more up to date way of doing this is to write a blog. Popular topics include your language learning experience, your experience studying abroad, your local area, your language, or translations of your local news into English. This is one way for you to practice your writing. Blog on something that you love. If you are a fan of movies, start a blog and write about your favourite movies, your favourite characters, what you think could be improved in the movie, what new movies to expect next year, etc. Besides blogging, try joining online forums, engage in online chatting and more . 3. Be best friends with a good English dictionary : You can use Oxford, Collins, Cambridge, etc. Buy a dictionary that you’re comfortable with and USE it at all times. Keep it next to you when you’re reading. I always put my favourite Oxford dictionary by my side when I’m reading. So when I stumble upon a word I don’t know, I don’t have to get up and look around for it. It’s right there by my side. Thus, I have no excuse for not looking the word up! Try and familiarize yourself with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary. Look up the correct pronunciation of words that are hard for you to say. Write down words and their definitions in a notebook for future reference it may come in handy! 4. Watch English movies with subtitles : This would be my favourite way of learning English. Not only do I get to have a fun time watching the movie, I’d be learning new words at the same time and knowing how to pronounce them! Usually, you can get movies with English subtitles on DVDs. 5. Listen to English songs : Read the lyrics as you listen to the songs. Listen to your favourite songs and sing along to them. Although just listening to a song in English can be a good way of really learning the words of the chorus in an easily memorable way, if you want to really get something out of listening to English music you will need to take some time to read the lyrics of the song with a dictionary. Once you have read and understood the lyrics, if you then listen and read at the same time, this can be a good way of understanding how sounds change in fast, natural, informal speech. 6. Relax and have a positive, confident attitude : If you make a mistake or forget a word when you are speaking English – it’s OK! Don’t be nervous or afraid. The person who you’re talking to will understand and be patient with you. If you are insecure when speaking English, it will be even more difficult to think of the words you know. 7. Learn a new word a day : Keep your own vocabulary notebook and write a new word and its meaning in it every day. Refer to it as often as possible so that the new words will stick in your head. 8. Read aloud in English for at least 15 minutes every day : Research has shown it takes about three months of daily practice to develop strong mouth muscles for speaking a new language. Find something you enjoy reading especially if it has a lot of dialogue, and read it aloud. Even if you dont speak aloud, reading as many English books as possible will increase your vocabulary and knowledge of sentence structure. Make sure when you read these books that you understand what the author is trying to say. 9. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes : Many people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid listening to themselves speak. However, this is a very important exercise because doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes you are making. 10. Speak the language whenever you can : Speak it with friends and family. You can also sing along to English songs! Try karaoke! Don’t be shy to try speaking the language. Don’t be afraid that others will tease you. In fact, they’ll admire you for your courage and confidence. References: 1. http://www.malaysia-students.com/2009/08/10-simple-ways-to-improve-your-english.html 2. http://www.espressoenglish.net/speaking-english-10-ways-to-improve/ 3. http://english.learnhub.com/lesson/4231-10-ways-to-improve-the-way-you-speak-english?id=4231-10-ways-to-improve-the-way-you-speak-english 4. http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/70-ways-to-improve-your-english.html

Antigone: Hero Or Fool? Essay -- Greek tragic hero

In Greek literature, a tragic hero is based upon an individual having several of the following qualities: having a high social position in society; not being overly good or bad; being persistant or stubborn in their actions; having a single flaw that brings about their own death and the death of others; and obtaining pity from the audience. Antigone was a prime example of a Greek tragic hero. Antigone, being the daughter of Oedipus, obtained a high social standing in Thebes. Prior to his self-exile from Thebes, Oedipus was the city's king. Because of her high standing in society, Antigone was capable of great suffering, in that she had a reputation and a vast amount of respect to lose. Antigone's good side is demonstrated by her insistance on respecting her brother Polyneices' right to be buried in the religious tradition of Greece. The Greeks believed that it was of most importance to bury a person who died in battle so that their soul may continue on in the after life. Antigone is willing to risk her own life so that Polyneices can have to proper burial that she so strongly feels he deserved; "but I will bury him: and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be dear to him as he to me." (Prologue, line 57-59) Having a fatal flaw is one of the characteristics of a Greek tragic hero. Antigon...

Systematic Approach to Managing Ohs

MODULE 1 SYTEMATIC APPROACH TO MANAGING OHS ASSESSMENT Module 1 PROJECT 1 Write a detailed report on the implementation of a systematic approach to managing OHS. Your report might be theoretical or based on your specific workplace. Ensure that you include the following: ?Requirements for record-keeping ?Sources of OHS information and data ?Consultative arrangements ?OHS action plans ?OHS specialists (internal or external) and technical advisors ? Other functional areas ?Proposed changes to the workplace Stakeholders Construction Australia is the company that I am employed by. Our company offers services in refractory installation to all major industries. We are involved in the construction and maintenance of boilers, kilns, ovens, incinerators, etc. in power generation plants, heat treatment plants, chemical plants, steel mills, oil refineries and many more. We conduct high risk work such as demolition, confined space entry, working at heights, and work at extreme temperatures mainly in major hazard facilities.Due to the nature of our work it is vital that we have a system in place to manage Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). A systematic approach to managing OHS allows us to follow a structured framework that ensures primarily, we reduce the risks of injury or illness in the workplace or anyone affected by our activities and that we comply with all relevant laws and legislation. The main elements of an Occupational Health and safety management system (OHSMS) are: †¢Commitment and policy †¢Planning †¢Implementation †¢Measurement and evaluation Review and improvement These elements are incorporated into the system and involve consultation at all stages with stakeholders and key personnel of our organisation. The basis of this approach is a cycle of continuous improvement as illustrated below in fig. 1: When establishing a more systematic approach to managing safety, it is helpful to understand where your organisation is in terms of OHS mat urity. Four levels of system maturity can be considered: †¢Immature (Troubled) †¢Reactive (Responsive) †¢Attentive (Managed) Mature (Value-Adding) Our company is at a mature level as we have established structures, systems and processes in place. We also have a shared belief that OHS is a critical aspect of personal and organisational performance and focus continually on improvement and ways to reduce risks. An effective OHSMS requires the participation of all parts of the organisation. To gain this commitment from people, senior management takes an active role in leadership, allocation of resources, consultative meetings and regular reviews of OHS.The first step in the systematic approach to OHS is to develop a comprehensive OHS policy that states the overall objectives and sets out the company’s commitment to health and safety. The policy should be sufficiently clear and be capable of being read by all relevant parties, internal and external. The policy shoul d be endorsed by the most senior person, such as the CEO or managing director. Beroa’s OHS policy is attached to appendix A. Action plans are a vital part of the planning and implementation process.The organisation needs to determine the key regulatory requirements they must meet and also get an understanding of their major OHS risks and how they will be identified. Objectives, targets and key performance indicators (KPI’s) need to be set. These should incorporate both lead (e. g. number of safety audits conducted) and lag (e. g. number of lost time injuries) indicators. Lead indicators are commonly referred to as Positive Performance Indicators (PPI’s) that focus on assessing how successful an organisation is performing.Using a combination of both lead and lag indicators will provide the best outcomes. A plan is vital to ensure targets are reached in a systematic way and it should be linked to the organisation’s strategic plan. The plan should allocate r esources and timelines and can be used to monitor development of the OHSMS. Appendix B is a Beroa action plan that we have in place. It outlines the systems that we use to ensure that we are compliant with legislation and we are fulfilling the objectives of our OHS policy.We use policies and procedures, inductions, meetings, toolbox meetings, consultation, pre-start checks and regular training and development to deliver all our processes. Our documented policies for hazard identification and hazard/risk assessment, make sure that we remain regulatory compliant through our business activities. Consultation with workplace personnel, OHS professionals, insurers and other relevant group is undertaken to ensure that we develop a safe workplace and mentality. We aim to translate legislation into a language that can be comprehended at all levels.This allows people to understand and participate with feeling unsure or confused. Beroa has an open door policy on all aspects especially OHS. Con sultation is the best tool that we use in our workplace. The changing nature of our working conditions on a constant basis means that we need to know what is going on so we can make sure that we remain compliant and that our systems are working appropriately. Our consultation procedure (Appendix C) acts as an information highway between management and employees, so that if any changes are required they can be made, documented and then implemented into the system.We use the consultation processes with all stakeholders that are involved in our OHSMS, these include but are not limited to: †¢Management †¢Administration †¢Clients †¢Employees †¢Suppliers †¢Unions †¢Work cover and other relevant authorities †¢Insurers †¢Public †¢OHS and technical experts All information gathered from stakeholders is considered and used in the development of our systems, policies and procedures. The applied procedures that our company has in place allow us t o constantly monitor and evaluate our performance.Daily toolbox discussions, training, weekly meetings, management meetings, safety audits and safety checklists (Appendix D) are some of the tools we use to monitor and evaluate. Major policies are reviewed every 2-3 years or as required. The nature of our work requires that we retain specific records for specified times in order to comply with legislation. These include: Confined space entry- we retain entry permits for 1 month, risk assessments/JSA for 5 years, training records for the term of employees employment plus 7 years and any notifiable incidents for 2 years after the incident occurs.Health monitoring records- these must be kept for 30 years after they are recorded and 40 years for asbestos related documents. These records must be kept confidential. Hazardous chemicals register- we keep registers of any chemicals that are stored. We list them and keep material safety data sheets, which are readily available to employees or anybody that could be affected by the chemical. We have two methods of record keeping, hard copy and electronic. All documents are kept on both. Within the electronic system we have a sub-system called Timberline.This system is passcode protected and has restricted access; all personal details and personal health records are kept in this system for confidentiality. Our OHS manager has access along with relevant management. Project files for each client are kept and updated after completion of each project. Documents included include attendance sheets, JSA’s, toolbox meetings, materials and equipment, inductions, training, client feedback, performance reports, safety audits and observations. Employee records such as inductions and qualifications are also kept and updated when needed.We also keep lists of OHS safety representatives and are readily accessible and up to date. OHS affects all aspects of an organisation. An effective OHS system allows other functional areas to thri ve and exploit the benefits. The reduction and elimination of work place injuries will reduce the cost of workers comp premiums, limit sick days and reduce the money spent on rehabilitation, all this eases the strain of budgeting systems and also allows more resources for training and information of OHS.Public relations will find it easier representing our positive results in safety and compliance to existing and future clients, public and relevant authorities. It will also reduce the workload of administration allowing them time to work on other aspects of the business. Our OHS system allows our employees to take an active role in all aspects in relation to the system. This gives them a sense of ownership and the drive to make sure that we reach and outperform our goals and objectives.

Importance of Internal Communications Essay

Importance of Internal Communications for a company and two case studies. Internal communications is considered a vital tool for connecting people within the company. It does not refer only to those few â€Å"official† channels of communication in a company, it is also the strategic management of information flows to ensure the optima level of employee engagement. (Civicus, 2001) This business context of communication is a dual listening process. It is a top-down, bottom-up, side-to-side communication harnessed as a means of delivering messages, listening to concerns and motivating staff. Maintaining a good internal communications within a company could reinforce the vision, values and culture among employees, who can then communicate it to internal and external audiences. Internal communications aims to ensure that employees in the company work together towards the same goal, know what they should be doing and by when. Internal communication has evolved various ways of communicating internally. Traditionally, it started off with informal and formal one-to-one and one-to-many meetings where usually the ‘the boss’ would communicate in a highly one-way fashion with employees. Lee, 2006) In this case the message is mostly communicated in one way, it does not include feedback from the message recipients. When print materials were introduced, it was then involved for formal, top-down transmission, for instance, company annual report. Internal communication then evolved to the digital era where Internet was highly used as a communication tool. When email was in troduced into the business settings and with it the nature of communication has radically changed. Lee, 2006) As the digital technology advances, internal communication has evolved to the point where not only can employees and employers freely email each other, forward messages without any editing (showing the whole conversational trail), and forward those messages outside of the corporate walls, but also employees and employers can use these emails to bring about grievance procedures, litigation and dismissal. (Lee, 2006) It is seen that internal communication has undergone deliberately change and will continue growing. Today’s internal communication practitioner is focused on challenging and stimulating employees, managing change and gaining employee engagement and commitment. (Chalmers, 2008) The aim has moved from controlling and directing people, through providing information, making announcements and supporting industrial relations, to supporting the development of a flexible work environment which adapts to change, seeks improvement, shares knowledge and know-how, generates ideas and involves people in achieving strategic goals. Chalmers, 2008) Most of the people understand the significance of internal communication but very few could manage it efficiently. Many people think that internal communication is one of the functions that they think they can do well. In fact, when it comes to real situation on handling employees, certain strategies and techniques are needed to communicate and tackle. In talking to many individuals at very different levels in very disparate sectors, what has come across as crucial is the need for internal communication to be championed at the very top of the organization and also for senior management and the boardroom to respect the expertise of the specialist tasked to deliver, be they internally or externally placed. Smith, 2008) A large number of studies by both professional management groups and professional communications bodies consistently find that ‘communicating with employees’ is a useful and powerful way of engendering greater ‘engagement’ – the propensity of the employee to want to come to work and want to contribute to the success of the company. (Lee, 2006) Gauri Deshmukh, head of HR at SAS India states that internal communication is important for a company as it provides information and encourages sharing by driving and supporting the organisation’s short-term and long-term goals and objectiv es. In addition, Deshmukh also mentions that with effective internal communications, it ensures that knowledge-sharing and communication processes are part of the daily workflow across all functions of the business. By having good internal communication, a company ensures that in between employers and employees they are constantly updated with information. In fact, a good internal communications not only affects organizational and operational success, but it has a considerable impact on external functions such as marketing, community and government relations, nd investor relations. (Brown, 2002) Internal communication is significant in any company because it is the building block of the organisational culture. (Civicus, 2001) Furthermore, internal communication is important so that employees become advocates for company. It is important to create a ‘common purpose’ across the company – creating the sense of a team where everyone feels ownership in their roles and in a chieving the company’s goals. (WK, 2010) In this way employees feel accepted and being part of the company. Likewise, internal communication is one of the key ‘intangible’ factors leading to high performance. (WK, 2010) For instance, if communication in a company is managed well employees are more confident and clear with the company mission and vision thus makes excellent financial as well as business. Not only that, having good internal communication helps build out company’s brand internally as employees are the best ambassadors, and internal perceptions should mirror what the company is telling the world. Trout, 2012) When the company is communicating effectively with its internal stakeholders, be it employees, management or volunteers, programmes and departments share more resources and information resulting in less duplication of work and stronger impact as a whole company. (Civicus, 2001) Without an effective internal communications, a company allows others to determine what information (or disinformation) is communicated to employees about their company. Brown, 2002) Smart employers realize that in environments where employees are able to move from one employer to another with relative ease, it is in the company’s best interests to retain the smarter and more productive employees; doing all they can to communicate with them, inform them, influence them and enter into some sort of psychological contract with them is a wise move. Lee, 2006) Besides, without effective internal communications, the crisis of confidence in businesses and corporate leadership could hurt sincere efforts to build a positive corporate culture and to enhance employee morale and productivity, and devastate the overall image of an organization. (Brown, 2002) Case Study I: Nokia is one of the top mobile phone manufacturer favoured by many people. In order to compete with other mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is constantly improvising and upgrading their gadgets to serve people needs these days. The reason Nokia has been so successful is no doubt its creation on mobile phones, as well as the strong team in the company that has made where it stands today. In a technologically savvy company like Nokia, it’s no surprise that they’ve been successfully implementing social media into their internal communications. (Kass, 2012) Nokia’s motto is connecting people and exploring ways to enhance communication. (Kass, 2012) In order to realize that vision, Nokia uses a number of different vehicles for two-way and push or pull communications; social media plays a big part with fitting into that strategy. Nokia’s Social Media Communications team was established in early 2008, aimed to improve inter-company communications and engaging employees. The objective of the team is to: encourage the use of social media internally to bring out the company’s unique authentic voice and to engage in social media externally on behalf of Nokia, and contributing to product and service announcements by opening up a dialogue and driving online engagement. (Kass, 2012) Nokia has 125,000 employees around the world. It is the company’s utmost important task to engage all employees in order to achieve company business goal. There are a few platforms in Nokia allowing employees from global to connect as if they work in a small company together. According to Molly Schonthal who worked on the company’s Social Media team in North America, the BlogHub is Nokia’s most powerful and effective social media tool that is used internally. It has been said that BlogHub lowers the barriers for employees to find conversations relevant to them. In terms of interaction, employees are allowed to communicate freely via BlogHub. They could make comment on posts, share ideas and knowledge on issues that have been mentioned. In addition, BlogHub serves as a useful search engine for employees to seek out information relevant to them. From a management point of view, through BlogHub feedback on various issues are gained quickly and track the conversations that are happening inside the company. Voting and ratings on posts are enabled as well for employees to be part of the decision team. Nokia has also introduced Nokia Conversations blog where latest Nokia product news would be posted. Through this blog employees could find a big overview of all the topics going on in Nokia. Similar to any other company that is engaged on social media, Nokia has its very own YouTube and Twitter account. Other than that, VideoHub has grown increasingly popular with employees allowing for postings to be updated on a daily basis. Besides, Nokia’s Infopedia wiki allows employees to share knowledge inside the company. If someone needs to quickly check a piece of information, Nokia’s effective internal communication channel, Instant Messaging (IM) is available for employees. It claims to remove the barrier of more formalized communication in between employees. For global company like Nokia, in order to save cost and time, Nokia has it’s own video conference channel where annual communication meetings and real time conversations could be held. Considering people do not check their mailboxes as much anymore Nokia has slowly cut down prints publications in an effort to become more environmentally aware. In fact Nokia in North America has completely eliminated print publications. Newsletters are now kept to an electronic HTML format, which is e-mail so it is more easily distributed. Similar to every other company Nokia uses intranet communications as well. It is the center of where people go to get information on benefits or organization charts. Furthermore, to reach more employees, Nokia regularly posts relevant company announcements on plasma screens around regional offices, usually in cafeterias and breakout rooms, with its promise on going environmental friendly. At North America, leadership also encourages employees to speak directly with their line managers to better understand organizational strategy and what role they can play in that strategy. For all of Nokia’s Web 2. 0 tools, Schonthal is quick to point out that â€Å"social media is never a replacement for high touch engagement. † (Kass, 2012) Instead, it can contribute to various company events and other in-person initiatives. â€Å"Social media complements these things but doesn’t take away from the ability to internally engage and share ideas,† she further explains. Nokia provides many platforms for employees to stay engaged, all for one clear identified goal – connect all the people in the company. For such global company I believe Nokia in different countries or branches could decide on which channel they prefer but I believe as a whole, all the employees in Nokia stay connected via BlogHub. After reviewing how Nokia strives to engage the employees I could see that the management team work hard on receiving feedback as well. They listen to their employees. They make changes. All these actions give employees feel accepted and belonged to the company. The end result is the employees are clear with the goals, mission and procedures of the company, which can result increase their work effort and efficiency and boost business. Case Study II: â€Å"We were driven to connect the organization with itself, and realized enterprise social networking was the solution. I can truly say after more than two years that we have achieved an official internal communications channel. Socialcast lifted the boundaries and made our organization transparent. We connect daily with people from India, China, the US, and Brazil. Without Socialcast it would not be possible,† says Dennis Agusi, Global Internal Communications Officer, Royal Philips Electronics. Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of â€Å"sense and simplicity†. Philips Case Study 2012) In 2010, Philips began to explore how the company should help its employees spread around the globe to feel engaged, work like a small team driven by shared goals. On the way of researching, the Corporate Communications and IT department discovered that approximately 1,600 employees were actively using a free tool they had found on the Internet to communicate and collab orate. Knowing two platforms for collaboration would not be a great idea so the team took initiative to introduce a new platform to these early users. These early users provided positive and valuable feedback and recommendations on how to improve the enterprise social experience the best it could be. Then it led to a successful launch of an enterprise social network. The company adopted â€Å"Connect Us† and the network was launched with wide support. On launch day, Connect Us had 400 members. Within two months, 7,000 employees had joined the community. Through Connect Us they allow employee-to-employee exchanges as well as management-to-employee communications. Employees are allowed to post freely, share knowledge to make work easier. Connect Us helps to remove barriers between departments as well. Through Socialcast Reach, employees are allowed to share information and data in between departments resulting a more seamless flow of work. In addition, a new idea can be communicated more broadly, increasing sense of connectedness and engagement across the company. From management perspective, through Connect Us, the Communications and IT team could monitor what’s happening in the company, check trending topics or people, at real time. According to report, Connect Us has enabled new and sometimes unexpected forms of employee engagement. All Employee Jam† was a crowdsourcing project designed to bring to life the company’s new, refreshed Mission and Vision statement through dialogue, discussion and debate. This exercise has successfully drawn employees who had not yet joined the social community into Connect Us. According to feedback, employees who participated in this exercise were found to be far m ore aware of and aligned with the Philips Mission and Vision than those employees who did not participate. This resulted Philips truly believes that enterprise social networks help companies increase employee engagement and retention. I liked the idea of how Philips tries to maintain the communication channel as one, which is Connect Us. I believe there are other platforms available for instance intranet but Connect Us is actively used by people in the company. From not knowing employees are using free online tool to communicate to introducing socialcast network, Philips has come a long way into realizing the importance of internal communication. The All Employee Jam has definitely demonstrated the power of enterprised social networking. It encouraged the employees to share knowledge, to stay connected which resulted in a greater identity with the company. In this two case studies, both companies Nokia and Philips selected appropriate channels for communication according to its needs. Nokia has different communication platforms serving different purposes. For instance, BlogHub allows employees to find information they need and Instant Messaging is a tool for quick and easy communication. On the other hand, Philips focus mainly on Connect Us, from searching information to accelerating ideas to sharing data it is all done on Connect Us. However, on my opinion, Nokia has too many platforms it might be tough to engage all the employees in one platform, as the users are free to choose which platforms they get information from. Whereas Philips uses Connect Us, most of the employees are part of the community and anything they need require can be found on Connect Us. I think this is one of the advantages of having a focused channel. Likewise, the tools and tactics, both companies chose to be focus more on information technology. In terms of interactivity, both companies engage their employees as well as welcoming their feedbacks. The employees are encouraged to utilise these channels to feel more accepted and being part of the company. For instance, Philips Connect Us not only allows employees-to-employees exchange, as well as management-to-employees communication. In this case it removes barriers between management and employees so work can be done easier. As for Nokia, feedbacks are valued through voting and ratings on posts and comments, allowing management to understand the employees better. Besides, both case studies reviewed the importance of evaluation on internal communication. In order to improve, the management team has to constantly measure the effectiveness of the communication tools and find ways to improve. Nokia and Philips monitor their employees through these platforms to find out what is really happening in the company. This way they could make sure the employees are on par with company’s goals. In conclusion, internal communication has never been so important. Many people know what internal communication is and they think they know how to function this but they might not know the true meaning behind it. Effective internal communication does not mean to have a lot of communication platforms, spending big budget on this function but utilizing the appropriate communication tool for employees get involved. If you want to build brand for your company first you have to build your brand internally. After all employees are the representatives of your company, they are the brand. Internal communication comes a long way to build, it might need more time and effort to achieve the effective result as desired but the end result is always proven satisfaction, that I am sure. A combination of strong communication, teamwork and camaraderie framed within trusting relationships will help achieve remarkable results in times of large-scale change and uncertainty, writes University of Nottingham chief executive Peter Homa. And finally, in my own words, you can’t communicate with your audience until your internal message is crystal clear.

Art History Through the 19th Century Essays

Art History Through the 19th Century Essays Art History Through the 19th Century Essay Art History Through the 19th Century Essay Artists have forever been able to take us to places where we have never been or would like to go. They can make our fantasies come alive on the canvas and transport our thoughts to far off places. Real life is often harder to paint because you are bound by reality and your audience is not always willing to face it. Therefore, the artists that can paint reality but connect it in some way to our fantasies are the ones that truly understand the power of art. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres painted the Grand Odalisque in 1814 during the Romantic era of France. He uses a classical linear style and narrates morality, which is referred to as a poussiniste technique. France at the time was fascinated with the orient and other far off places and politically involved with Turkey and Africa. The erotica of this painting captured them and took them where one’s imagination could take control and forbidden things could be explored. Ingres uses a classically influenced body on the female with the volumetric, softly lit, warm skin that is revealed to the viewer. Her reclining pose is one so familiar to the art world and obviously referencing the earlier masterpieces Ingres studied during his life. He has idealized the woman’s shape by elongating her back and softening her curves. ( If you can mention elongated poses were often used because long limbs on a woman was considered ideal beauty. There is also a name for this kind of pose but I cannot think of it. Commonly found in mannerism but that was like 1520-1600, and was High Renaissance. That might help you find the term. High Renaissance features elongated, contorted poses, crowded canvases, and harsh lighting and coloring. You could use that to compare) Her face portrayed as more like those of the Renaissance, (nice you picked up on that) idealized, as well and looking straight out at the viewer. She is doing what the concubines did best, inviting us in to her private scene. With Mannerist (good) and Venetian colors, the background fabrics are cool and highly detailed to contrast the warmth and smoothness of the woman’s skin. Ingres’ hyper real details throughout the scene only help sell the illusion that this is something that could be in real life. The props placed in this harem complete the erotica of the scene and add symbolic reference to the romantic scene. A pipe is placed to the side symbolizing the euphoric atmosphere. The Odalisque holds a peacock fan in her hand and sensually brushes it against her upper thigh. The jeweled turban and gold bracelets are characteristic of the orient and add to the focus of her nude body. With all the erotic reference and symbolism the viewers were able to peek at a forbidden and immoral scene without having to confront the subject of sex. I remember this one and it was consider a Oriental nude, which in those times the idea of sex was lessen he does by showing orient artifacts the fan the turban placing her in orient setting was exploiting women trapped in their own closed world. She gases as if tired broken and worn down. ) Manet was a painter of the Realism era that referenced Ingres’ Grand Odelisque with his Olympia, painted in 1865. This painting is considered to be the very f irst truly modern painting. Here we have the reclining female nude again, but this time it is portrayed as never before. Much like the Odelisque, Olympia is a nickname of some of the prostitutes of the time. However, Olympia is an actual portrait of Victorine Meurent, a local French prostitute. Manet has not simply painted a female nude as so many before him, but instead he has taken it a step further and painted this female naked. This painting is closely modeled after the Venus of Urbino from Venice because of the position of the figure and the composition of the scene. Even though there are some large differences, Olympia has most in common with Ingres’ Odalisque. Both paintings show the figures with some ornaments and accessories on their nude bodies. Manet chose to put more focus on the fact this his woman was purposefully naked by leaving a ribbon on her neck and by having one of her slippers be carelessly dangling off her foot. He places an exotic orchid in her hair, which is considered erotic and sexual and a black cat at the foot of the bed the represents promiscuity. A clever opposite of the Venus of Urbino’s dog placed at the end of the bed for fidelity. Line was very important to Manet as it was to Ingres. His color patch technique and hard light earned more critisism for Manet. The Salon said that his figure looked flat and un-modeled, but Manet wasn’t trying to portray an ideal feminine embodiment. He was trying to show us the scene as it was seen it in real life. This was a look into another forbidden scene of fantasy except with the reality of the current indulgers. Unlike the Odalisque Olympia was not received by the public as a glimpse into forbidden pleasures, instead she was looked at as a public display of France’s immorality. While some critics labeled the painting as pornography, the crowds were very intrigued by Olympia and came in rushes to see her when she was finally displayed. This was not meant to through France’s moral faults at her but to capture the way she was at the time, life without idealistic cover-up. Although the people of France were disgusted that Manet would want to capture a prostitute, they were more appalled at her haughty gaze towards them. She was the one in control and the critics were not used to that kind of mood. Society was undergoing revolutions in the industrial, intellectual and working classes so control was a big concern. Realist painters like Manet were more concerned with making the everyday subjects be acceptable in art instead of playing to the ideal. I chose to write about these works because of the effect they had on me the first time that I saw them in this class. The Grand Odalisque was stunning and made me want to creep into the picture. It’s a beautiful work with captivating detail. Olympia was my favorite from this half of the semester class. She stares at you so matter of fact and as if to beg you to challenge her. Her small frame is so different from the voluptuous models seen so many times before. I think that the two offer a very intriguing comparison and are worthy of recognition. Both Ingres and Manet painted the reclining female nude, one as a concubine and the other as a prostitute. They focused the lighting on their figures and were concerned with the use of line. Although the detail that Ingres used did not match the brushwork of Manet, they still were both obviously concerned with symbolism. The biggest difference between the Grand Odalisque and Olympia is in how they were received by the public. Ingres harem was from somewhere far away in an exotic land where this scene was supposedly acceptable. The viewers were invited into the scene as bystanders and able to indulge the fantasies with imaginations of that place. Manet’s bedroom scene was just like the one that everyone had at home and very familiar. As the viewer you are locked into the gaze of the female as if you were there for her. She makes you part of the scene instead of a bystander. Your fantasies of her are laid out in plain view and reminding you of the current socially unacceptable prostitution taking place. Ingres was a master of fantasy and used hyper-detail to fake reality, but Manet could paint reality and connect it to the fantasies that we indulge in our everyday life. This association that Manet mastered between the fantasy world and the actual world makes anything possible for the viewer, and that is the true power of art.

Whats a Liberal Arts College Should You Attend One

What's a Liberal Arts College Should You Attend One SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’ve started researching colleges, you’ve probably seen the term â€Å"liberal arts school† thrown around quite a bit without really understanding what it means. What is a liberal arts college, actually? And how is it different from other sorts of colleges and universities? It’s hard to get a straight answer when it comes to defining a liberal arts college. In this post, I’ll dive a little deeper into defining the liberal arts before explaining what it means to get a liberal arts education. Then, I’ll talk about how these colleges differ from non-liberal arts schools and how that may affect your educational experience. What Are the Liberal Arts? To get a good understanding of the origins of the liberal arts, we have to go all the way back to classical antiquity - think ancient Greece in its prime. Participation in civic life was pretty important to many classical philosophers, who thought that a certain fundamental knowledge should be expected of active free citizens. In ancient times, liberal arts included grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, and even music and astronomy. The â€Å"liberal† in liberal arts has nothing to do with political liberalism, and everything to do with the original Latin roots of the words: artes liberales translates to subjects of the free person. Modern understanding of the liberal arts has, unsurprisingly, changed from that of ancient philosophers’. When we talk about the liberal arts today, we’re referring to a broad range of subjects: literature, languages, history, philosophy, math, and sciences. What liberal arts don’t include are any sort of vocational, technical, or professional studies. What Is a Liberal Arts Education? Now that you’ve gotten a mini-history lesson, we can get into what it means to get a liberal arts education in modern times. Different cultures sometimes have their own unique twists on what it means to offer a liberal arts education. In general, though, a liberal arts education is one that focuses on producing well-rounded individuals. American schools that provide a liberal arts education might aim to produce â€Å"global citizens†: individuals who are well-equipped to participate in an informed, ethical way in the world around them. One could say that the ultimate goal of a liberal arts education is to teach students how to think critically, and to effectively interpret and analyze new information they encounter as they navigate their environments. These programs tend to be flexible in the sense that there’s not only one career path you could feasibly pursue post-graduation. If you attend a liberal arts program, you might say you have a liberal arts degree.Examples of liberal arts degreesinclude languages and literature, biology and life sciences, philosophy, cultural studies, and psychology. What Doesn’t Count as a Liberal Arts Education A liberal arts degreeis not something you would receive in a vocational, technical, or professional program. These sort of programs exist to educate students with the purpose of preparing them for a specific career - that is, there’s a clear professional end goal. As such, these educations are generally more career-oriented. Examples of non-liberal arts educations include law school, medical school, engineering programs, and architecture programs. Architecture may be considered a form of art - it just doesn’t fall under the heading of liberal arts. What Is a Liberal Arts College? Like I alluded to in the introduction, there’s no set or standardized definition of a liberal arts college. In general, though, they are educational institutions that emphasize undergraduate education (as opposed to producing research) and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study (like I described above). Students generally pick one course of study to focus on, while also taking courses in other diverse subjects. Check out our post on top liberal arts colleges for examples. Liberal arts colleges tend to encourage their students to study a wide range of subjects instead of focusing solely on one field of study. The way schools actually do this varies, however - there are a few different paths that liberal arts colleges can take here: Core Curriculums - Core curriculums are set plans of study that include mandatory courses in different subjects that all students must take in order to graduate. An example would be the core curriculum at Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts within Purdue University. Distribution Requirements - Distribution requirements are plans of study that require students to take courses across a range of different subjects, but they don’t dictate exactly which courses a student must take in order to graduate. At Williams College, for example, students have to take courses in three different â€Å"divisions† (in addition to meeting requirements for their major of choice): Languages and the Arts, Social Studies, and Science and Mathematics. Open Curriculums - Open curriculums mean that students don’t have to meet any course requirements - either in the form of specific, mandatory courses or distribution requirements - in order to graduate. They are free to choose any courses available to them as long as they meet the requirements for their choice of major. An example of an open curriculum is the one offered at Amherst College. How Are Liberal Arts Colleges Different From Other Schools? Liberal arts colleges are often compared to research universities, although some schools exist as hybrids - both pushing to be research powerhouses while also striving to offer a liberal arts education. The traditional liberal arts college focuses primarily on undergraduate education, however, which means that professors tend to be hired and retained for their teaching and not necessarily for their research experience. This tends to affect student/professor relationships and overall student learning experiences. For example: Undergraduates may have more access to professors because there’s less of an emphasis on research and graduate programs. The colleges themselves tend to be smaller than research universities, with smaller class sizes and student: faculty ratios. There may be fewer research opportunities available. Access to research projects is one of the major differentiators between liberal arts colleges and other types of schools. To make this a bit easier to understand, here’s a chart with the typical characteristics of a traditional liberal arts college vs. a traditional research university: Liberal Arts Colleges vs. Research Universities Liberal Arts Colleges Research Universities Degree Program Offerings More limited, but sometimes unique, degree programs Wide selection of degree programs Pre-Professional Options Few (if any) pre-professional offerings More pre-professional degree offerings Research vs. Teaching Professors are generally focused on teaching over research Professors are generally focused on research and graduate students over teaching undergraduates Class Size Smaller average class size Larger average class size Research Opportunities Fewer research opportunities and less exposure to research More research opportunities and exposure to research Public vs. Private Usually private May be public or private Lectures vs. Seminars Many small seminar offerings More lectures, fewer small seminars Mentorship Career Opportunities Easier to form relationships with profs and peers for career professional connections More difficult to form relationships with profs, but more career fairs and recruiting events The issue with the above chart is that many of the top private research universities also pride themselves on providing liberal arts educations for undergraduates - there isn’t a clear delineation, then, between a liberal arts college and a research university in these circumstances. Top research universities may, for example: Have core curriculums, distribution requirements, or even open curriculums that are very similar to the ones you’d see at a traditional liberal arts college (Brown has a famously open curriculum, for example). Offer few (if any) pre-professional degree programs. You won’t find many business or finance degree programs, for example, at many of these liberal arts-minded research universities. Strive to offer smaller seminar-style courses to encourage student participation and class discussion. See Harvard’s freshman seminar program as an example. We can see, then, that there are really three options here when discussing this spectrum of school types: we have liberal arts colleges and research universities, but there are also hybrid options that tend to be pretty prestigious and highly-ranked. It’s important to keep these in mind when researching colleges, but remember that these hybrid options are often top-tier and shouldn’t be considered safe bets if you’re submitting applications. What Sort of School Is the Right Fit for You? If you’re leaning towards the liberal arts in general (or are even still making up your mind, but don’t know what type of college would be the best fit), these next considerations should help you figure it out. Career Goals Do you know exactly what you want to do after you graduate? Many students don’t know exactly what they want to do professionally when they’re just applying to college. If you’re not sure, it’s not just ok - it’s normal. Liberal arts educations (either at liberal arts colleges or hybrid schools) really encourage students to explore and develop their interests. If this sounds appealing, a liberal arts education will probably be a good fit. A liberal arts education is also a good option if you want a flexible degree that won’t necessarily hinder a variety of job prospects across fields/disciplines. Amherst College doesn’t have official pre-med or business majors, for example, but it still sends quite a few students to graduate programs in those fields. Alternatively, if you know specifically what you’d like to do and know that you need a pre-professional degree to pursue your career of choice, a liberal arts degree may not be the most efficient way to meet your goals. Engineering is a prime example - if you get a non-engineering degree (liberal arts or otherwise), you’d need to double-back to get the specialized education you need before advancing professionally. You also don’t need to attend a liberal arts college or hybrid university to get a flexible degree - many traditional research universities offer degree programs that aren’t necessarily pre-professional (like English, Economics, or Romance Languages). In sum: your career goals can inform whether you want to go the liberal arts route or not, but they don’t necessarily make a liberal arts college better or worse than other school options. Are you sure where you’re headed, or are you still figuring things out? Research Experience Is it important that you get research experience as an undergraduate? If you plan on pursuing a graduate degree in a research-heavy or competitive field (e.g. if you want to go to medical school or get a PhD), it’s important to get good research experience as an undergraduate. It’s easiest to do this at a research university. Some traditional liberal arts colleges offer these opportunities, but you’ll want to scope relevant departments before committing to a liberal arts college. For example, let’s look at Williams College (a top liberal arts college) versus Johns Hopkins University (a top research university that offers a liberal arts education to undergrads): Johns Hopkins University received 939 grant awards in 2014, making it the country’s most funded university by the NIH Williams didn’t make the list of the top 50 most-funded schools Put simply, more grant money = more research opportunities. Research universities tend to get more funding because they invest a lot of resources into producing research. Target Major Are you looking for something more general (e.g. English, Romance Languages, History) or something pretty specific (e.g. Cognitive Science, Integrative Biology, Slavic Languages Literature)? Liberal arts colleges tend to offer fewer and more general majors because they’re just smaller schools. Sometimes, though, they offer some unique and even niche options. For example, Amherst offers general options like American Studies, Economics, and English, but they also offer a unique major called Law, Jurisprudence, and Thought. In total Amherst only offers 28 majors, whereas Arizona State University offers over 300 options. Are you okay with not having a super specialized major (unless you’re into one of a college’s niche options)? You’d do alright at a liberal arts college. Do you want more variety and/or more opportunity for specialization? A traditional research university or a hybrid university may suit you better. Environment Educational Experience This is perhaps the most important consideration. Would you like the hustle and bustle of a big university, with big lectures taught by big-name professors? Or would you prefer something more intimate, with smaller seminars taught by professors who are dedicated to teaching? What really matters is what you are most comfortable with. The only way to really figure this out is to visit a few schools. To give you some examples, most of the top liberal arts colleges are relatively small, whereas the top research universities (hybrid or otherwise) are much bigger: Liberal Arts Colleges: Williams = 2,045 undergrads, Amherst = 1,792, Swarthmore = 1,542, Bowdoin = 1,805 Hybrid Colleges: Harvard = 6,694 undergrads, Princeton = 5,391, Yale = 5,447 Public Research Universities: UCLA = 43,000 undergrads, Texas AM = 49,000 If you want something small and intimate, you would likely be happier at a liberal arts college. If you want something bigger and busier, public universities may be best. If you want something in-between - a bigger campus but with opportunities for smaller classes - you might look into some of those hybrid options. Now would be a good time to think about whether you’re cool with crowds. What’s Next? Need more guidance when it comes to picking the school that’s best for you? We’ve got you covered. Read about whether it even matters where you go to college and how to get into your top-choice college. Set on a liberal arts school? Check out the top-ranked liberal arts colleges. One of the next questions you may have might rise out of a more practical concern - you know how your experience may differ at a private liberal arts college when compared to other types of schools, but should you expect any difference in cost? Learn more about different college expenses. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST - Essay Example th Zionist congress in Jerusalem in 1968.† It also plays a role in transforming Israel into a western state during World War I and II (Goldschmidt & Davidson, 2013). Gartner (1996) argues that, the ideology of Jews returning to their homeland is evident from biblical precedents where Moses leads the exodus of Israelite from Egypt to their promised homeland. In addition, the immigration of Israelite comes again in 641 BCE when Babylonians conquer Judea. However, in 1897 Theodor Herzl establishes the Zionist movement with the aim of creating a Jewish state. This state provides an opportunity for Jews to escape from anti-Semitism and join the family of nations. The world Zionist organizations are established and together with Birnbaum, there is establishment of Zionist congress to increase the effect of Zionism. Gottheil (1899) argues that, the 28th Zionist Congress of 1968 in Jerusalem adopts 5 principles as aims of the contemporary Zionism. These principles include: protecting the Jewish rights everywhere; returning the Jewish people into historic homeland; preserving the Jewish identity through fostering Hebrew, Jewish and Zionist education; strengthening the state of Israel; and centralizing and unifying the Jewish people. According to Goldschmidt & Davidson (2013), after Herzl’s death Zionism separates with Orthodox Judaism and shifts to Communism. This is as a result of cultural and language diversity which makes orthodox religious organizations opposes the Zionism. In addition, this opposition is influenced by Zionism’s secularism and the fact that Jewish rule will only be re-established in Israel by Messiah. However, after the Jewish separates with the Judaism they immigrate to Palestine to form a communism. The Jewish citizens are led by Zionist leader Jabotinsky and form a new revival for the Hebrew language. The Jewish organizations and migrants begin making vast land purchases. For instance, they purchase malarial swamps and drain them to create