Comparative analysis of formalist and realist film theory Essay

Current essay provides a comparative analysis of formalist and realist film theories, based on theoretical approaches, innovations, critical findings and film-making practice of such renowned representatives of both currents of the film theory as Eisenstein, Arnheim and Bazin. Before beginning the analysis of the abovementioned subjects, one should point out that the difference between form and real material in genuine film-making is dialectical. In cinematograph ideas and reality juxtapose to create certain synthesis. This effect is produced by means of formal processing of real visual content. Ideas of a director may be realized with the help of formal elements such as montage, focus, as well as additional means like sound and special effects. This means that even those directors that seek to portray objective reality do not merely reproduce it, but put into their films their ideas, thoughts and concepts. As any form of art, cinematograph heavily depends on its technical (instrumental) and artistic (ideal) means, which are realized with the help of the former. Formal elements are necessary means for every creative director to transmit his/her own ideas and vision of reality. This, however, should not overstate the fact that formal elements may be used to deviate objective reality and help construct ideological and biased vision thereof. The contrary may be also true with respect to pseudo-realist films, which pretend to portray objective reality, while in fact create mere copy of it, devoid of any intellectual content. This can be used for justification of existent reality. This is the case for the majority of commercial films and contemporary film-making industry in general, which is centered on using different forms and genres in the view of getting profit. These aspects and meaning of form and reality representation in the film theory should be taken in consideration in this comparative analysis of realist and formalist film theory. There is no denying the importance of the fact that Eisenstein was among the founding fathers of formalist film theory, as he was the first to develop the theory of montage and specific usage of film editing. These elements of cinematograph constitute the first cornerstone of formalist film theory, as it was developed in Eisenstein’s major works Beyond the Shot and Dramaturgy of Film Form. According to Eisenstein, cinema is mainly about montage (Beyond the Shot, p. 13). Using montage is both technical and artistic procedure, since it helps create meanings by means of combination/copulation of different images or situations. Thereby, as Eisenstein constantly states, the artistic effect is created, which is important in the visual type of communication provided by cinema. Eisenstein, for instance, tried to show this phenomenon referring to Japanese hieroglyphs, which often create new meanings by means of copulation (Beyond the Shot, p. 14). The most important thought Eisenstein tried to communicate was that formal elements of film production are central to realization of artistic greater ideas and the work with various materials ranging from historical scenes to innovative scenarios. Montage, according to Eisenstein, is not independent vis-a-vis objective and ideational representation of reality. Besides this, it should be noted that in correspondence with formalist film theory, the inability to use formal elements properly leads to degradation of films as the form of art, and moreover, this precludes realization of director’s ideas – that is ‘intellectual’ film-making. Arnheim, another noted representative of realist film theory, claimed that visual representation of reality in film radically differs from physical perception of reality. This difference, according to Arnheim, gives significance to formal elements of cinema, which create artistic effects. Arnheim’s thorough analysis of these formal features shows that, if properly used, they may produce interesting emotional effects on spectators (Film and Reality, 323). Arnheim claims that creating images in film is neither two-dimensional, nor three-dimensional, but represents golden middle. He provides us with example of the scene from Ruttmann’s film Berlin, where the director creates juxtaposition of the second and the third dimension by making a shot of two trains moving in opposite directions. Film representation of this movement, according to Arnheim, creates certain impression and that is, what differentiates film images from real ones (Arnheim, 324). This vision of form in the film production was often regarded as manipulative by such representatives of realist film theory as Andre Bazin, who claimed that formal elements preclude real communication between spectators and film’s images and plot (The evolution of the language of the cinema, p. 48). However, even so opposed to each other, formalist and realist tradition both criticize positivist realism in cinematograph for its ideological function and positivism. According to Arnheim, documentary genre is not the same as pure reproduction of reality; instead, it is difficult artistic work. Bazin’s great love for documentaries as the representations of objective reality should also be understood considering the abovementioned distinction. Eisenstein’s approach to film production unlike realist school represented by Bazin is based on dialectical theory, which sees the collision of opposites, their simultaneous integrity and negation as a cornerstone of every art. Eisenstein said that shot is not an element, but dialectical cell, which rests in organic unity with entire film. Contrary to that, realist film theory, represented by Bazin, draws on personalist perspective, which believes that a film should be a representation of auteurship. Bazin is deeply opposed to formalist perspectives, because he thinks that it breaks world in many little pieces and prevents genuine and autonomous perception of reality. Instead, Eisenstein puts particular emphasis on dialectical conflicts between shots, counterpoint of music and shot sequence etc. , which makes his formal approach look integral and all-embracing. As he claims, the knowledge of these formal dependencies is the core of genuine film production (Beyond the Shot, 16-17). Bazin in his rediscovery of realism in the history of art ends with a statement of great opposition between pseudorealism (which reproduces illusionary appearances) and realism which distributes the truth among spectators. According to Bazin, formalist film-making exemplified by Eisenstein and others extracts meaning from real images and makes it a product of subjective manipulation with reality, rather than its realist representation. Instead, Bazin claims that realism in film-making is focused on genuine representation of reality, which can be achieved by such technical means as ‘shot-in-depth’, focus or even wide shots (The Evolution of the language of the cinema, p. 49-51). Hence, Bazin does not reject formal elements as such, but transforms them to achieve the purpose of realist representation. The continuity of images and shots should not, however, be interrupted by montage manipulation like in formalist theory; the auteur should follow the unfolding of reality. This means that time and space should not be artificially separated by montage, which is the case with Eisenstein’s formalism, but instead, artistic truths should be found in the articulation of difficult relations between time and space. (As a result, a spectator has more possibilities of interpretation and autonomous understanding). Deep shot, according to Bazin, helps spectator to get closer to the image, which creates ambiguity of interpretation, which is more artistic than subjective manipulation (Bazin, p. 50). Moreover, it helps maintain the integrity of the image and specific elements in it, which is according to Bazin, no less important than montage (Bazin, p. 49). These are the basic similarities and differences between formalist and realist film theories. Main approaches of these theories are essentially exemplified by two famous films: Battleship Potemkin by Eisenstein (USSR, 1925) and Red Desert by Antonioni (Italy, 1964). Battleship Potemkin is a silent film by Eisenstein, which may be considered as practical realization of his formal montage theory. First of all, Eisenstein designed this film to be a propaganda of socialist revolution and, that is why, he put emphasis on emotional messages against repression and for heroism of ordinary people. Eisenstein extensively uses rhythmic and intellectual montage to create certain meaning and emotional effects. This can be best exemplified by famous scene on Odessa steps, where Tsarist forces massacred civil population. Eisenstein uses close-ups and montage juxtapositions of Tsarist’s forces and victims of massacre. The dramatic close-ups of victim’s faces and cold and brutal faces of the soldiers create deep emotional effects, which is the cornerstone of formalist film theory. Wonderful example of shot juxtaposition in the film is the image of baby carriage falling down the stairs and soldiers’ legs going down after it. The montage sequence of this scene has certain artistic meaning: it portrays the brutality of Tsarist regime and its inhuman character and articulates these features by showing the images of its innocent victims. The relations between these two shots are intellectual, that is they help spectators interpret separate images and give meaning to them. Opposite realist theory can be best exemplified by Antonioni’s Red Dessert. The film may be characterized by avoiding manipulation with montage. Instead, author’s realist vision of human alienation, loneliness and ugliness of modern civilization is realized through examining continuity of urban life, its relations and contradictions. Such elements of realist film theory as deep focus, wide shots, and color arrangements. Colors in Antonioni’s film also play formalist function, as he uses different tones and colors for depicting reality. For instance, plants in the film and surrounding objects are represented in red color, which creates certain emotional effects and embeds ambiguity. The result may be described as empathy into the destiny of man in industrial world, which helps poetically describe protagonist’s relations with it. To sum it up, main examples of realist and formalist approach were analyzed, and basic feature of both theories were revealed.

Arthur Millers Life and Influences Essay

Arthur Miller has been one of Americas best known play writers who emerged in the United States since World War II. He has been writing since the age of seventeen and bases his work on personal experiences while attacking political views. One of his best known works is The Death of a Salesman which is about a man named Willy Loman who tries to emerge in the business industry and present a better image of him in society. Another important play is The Crucible which is about the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts where people blame one another of being witches to save themselves. Through his plays, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, Arthur Miller expresses his own personal life and criticizes the events of the second Red Scare after World War II. As a young adult, Arthur Miller worked in his father’s textile mill and would observe the behaviors of the employees. Miller would analyze his father, relatives or other hired business men working for his father, and saw how these men tried so hard to become successful because some couldn’t even sell anything. He would recognize how fast they would age because of so much work they went through just to try and rise economically. During the 1920s people felt that if they had money they would be accepted by society. If not then no one would care. Like many people Arthur Miller realized that the people in his father’s factory are disillusioned by the fact of becoming rich, successful and beating everyone else at the business game. While working there Miller started writing a short story in which he was influenced by the salesman in the factory. Manny Newman was one of Arthur Miller’s uncles that worked as a salesman in his father’s textile factory and after writing the short story his uncle’s life influenced Miller even more. Newman was often very competitive with the other salesman in the industry, even his own sons Buddy and Abby Loman. Buddy was the oldest son of Newman who was very athletic and popular with the girls but didn’t end up graduating from high school. Abby was his youngest son who was well on his way but still wasn’t sure about his life career. Miller said that â€Å"The Newman house hold was one in which you dared not lose hope and I would later think of it as a perfection of America for that reason†¦ It was a house trembling with resolution and shouts of victories that had not yet taken place but surely would tomorrow. â€Å"(Arthur Miller 3) It describes the disillusionment of the Newman family which later caused Arthur Miller to rewrite his short story, turn into a play and name it The Death of a Salesman. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of Salesman, he reflects upon the society he observed and their determination to succeed even when their dream was not going anywhere they wanted it to be. In the play, Miller asserts that â€Å"the underlying struggle of all such dramas is that of the individual attempting to gain his rightful position in society. †(Thompson 1). He compares Willy Loman to Manny Newman, his uncle, and tells the story of the family and his struggle to achieve his American dream of wealth. Like Newman, the character, Willy Loman tries to fit into society because society would not accept him as a failure. â€Å"He has based his own identity and self-worth on social acceptance—on how â€Å"well-liked† he is† (Thompson 2). Willy Loman constantly tried to find ways to sell things or become wealthy but he never succeeded. This causes Willy to feel out of place in society just like Newman and other people who weren’t wealthy in the 1920s because society would not care for the common man. Willy Loman is the biggest symbol in The Death of a Salesman; he is an important figure of society and commits himself to a fake society which blinds him from the values of human experience. In addition through his whole life and career, he has wanted to be wealthy but never succeeded his â€Å"American Dream†. Willy Loman â€Å"†¦Has completely sold himself to what is at best an anachronistic dream—that anyone can get ahead. This is what he has been brought up to believe, the promise of his mythic (salesman) heroes. † (Gordon 3). This shows how he always compared himself to other wealthy people like his brother and complained how his brother became wealthy but yet he never did when he had the same choice as his brother. He was disillusioned by the fact that he wanted a successful family so he even tried to push his own sons into the business industry because he believed it was the best choice for them. His two sons didn’t want to be salesmen and weren’t even good at it especially his son Biff. Willy worried about who Biff was going to be because he was the oldest and still didn’t have a manageable career or life. â€Å"He commits suicide to give his sons the only thing his society respects—cash. †(Gordon 2). Willy believed that he was more valuable dead than alive and was the only way he could give money to his sons. He wanted them to be recognized in the civilization so killing himself was the only alternative. Using his life insurance he would give money to his family making them wealthy and cceptable in society just like in his â€Å"American Dream†. Miller was also influenced by McCarthyism an important event in history and his life during the 1940s and 50s after world war two. Ever since the end of WWII the United States citizens have been blaming the social unrest on communist. Many people were afraid that the communists would take over and no one knew what communist looked like so they easily blamed people for the smallest things. â€Å"Communist rhetoric became common among displaced workers as well as artist and intellectuals† (McCarthyism 2009). Anybody who questioned or protested against laws in the United States would easily be blamed as a communist because they would be going against their own country. There was a growing paranoia as the time went on and many people wanted to stop communism from spreading which became the central theme of American policy both at home and work. Even then the people had already been losing their rights and privacy â€Å"Smith Act was passed, making it illegal to advocate the violent overthrow of government. Various loyalty programs designed to weed out communist from jobs in the federal government were put into place†¦ (McCarthyism 2009). The United States was coming into full chaos because even at one point they were blaming European immigrants of being communist because that is where it first emerged. Even many Russians were being deported to keep communism away according to some people and make the United States citizens feel safe and secure. McCarthyism first started with the senator Joseph McCarthy accusing others of being communist to only make himself look better. Joseph McCarthy was not the best senator and had many problems like temperance. Many people did not like him and he was afraid of losing his position so his only alternative was to seem like a hero. â€Å"McCarthy and his allies claimed that communist had infiltrated the government and other institutions†¦the attacks were baseless but nevertheless destroyed the careers of thousands of individuals. †(McCarthyism 2009). Calming others were communist made it look like he was saving the world. Many people were intimidated by McCarthy and some told the truth but McCarthy took the alternative of not believing them because it was more reasonable for some Americans to believe they told a lie instead of the truth. As a result the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created which attacked anybody who was blamed of being communist and Joseph McCarthy was a member of this Committee because he was the first to raise this paranoia even more. He took the advantage of the second Red Scare to make himself seem like a more productive senator. â€Å"HUAC members would browbeat their prey-some of whom were there on the basis of the flimsiest of evidence. Admitting their own past ties to the communist party†¦others who participated with them. (McCarthyism 2009). HUAC had the right to question anybody for any suspicion and invade their privacy. It showed how much America has changed because of some hysteria that people fell into because of a man wanting to be a hero. Arthur Miller was one of the targets of the HUAC members who was committed of being a communist by Joseph McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy often went against artist and other media arts members because they were the ones who often criticized the society in the United States through their media works. Arthur Miller was a playwright and had plays to show his work live during this time and they felt that he projected communism at his own plays. â€Å"He admitted that he had attended a meeting of communist writers, he refused to identify anyone he had met there and denied ever having been a member of the communist party† (Baughman 3). This made Arthur miller realize that the society then was like the society during the Puritan Era when people blamed each other of being witches. This later influenced him to write his book The Crucible a year later after his conviction. Millers The Crucible first started because of the accusations in United States which reflected upon the Salem witch trials in 1692. â€Å"Millers play employs these historical events to criticize the moments in human kinds history when reason and fact became clouded by irrational fears and the desire to place blame for society’s problems on others. †(DISCovering Authross,2003). Puritans accepted accusations and anything that might seem unreal so people could easily tell lies. They wouldn’t take reason into consideration and it involved hunting down and exposing of people suspected of being witches exactly like HUAC hunting down communist. Arthur miller wrote The Crucible as a commentary on McCarthyism then the actual Salem witch trials. Although the book does take place in Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials he wrote the book to show what was wrong with the American society. â€Å"Miller illustrates his conviction that one can assert his â€Å"personality dignity† and â€Å"act against the scheme of things that degrades. † (Gordon 2). Miller expresses that idea through John proctor who won’t cooperate with the court on the witch trails and has his own opinion on what to believe. He doesn’t fall into the ideas that witchcraft is taking over just like Miller doesn’t cooperate with HUAC or falls into the chaos going on in his time period. As a result of this book miller was accused of being a communist again and later left the U. S. because he felt that everything in the society has gone too far and became a British citizen. Through his works we can see how Miller attacks the society that supposedly â€Å"rewards† the people with freedom because it is their right. Miller creates allusions through real life experiences that he has been through which is one of the reasons why his works have been so influential and prestigious. McCarthyism played a big role on The Crucible reflecting a modern society with the old Puritan era society saying that society has and never will change. As for The Death of a Salesman we can see how much the American dream has blinded people to try and achieve something they most likely never will and try to be fake to achieve it. People need to learn to face reality and accept it how it is because many people are lost only because they won’t accept their own.

Netflix: A Case Analysis Essay

Netflix offers a variety of product services to its customers. The company offers traditional DVD rental by mail, instant streaming of DVD content through home PCS, and streaming on Netflix-ready devices that could be hooked up to one’s TV. Netflix has a subscription based model, which allows customers to utilize their products/services through a per month fee rather than a pay as you go rate. Although the company offers eight different subscription packages, it derives its largest revenues from its $8.99, $13.99, and $16.99 subscription plans that include unlimited DVDs per month, 1-3 titles out at one time, plus unlimited streaming of online content. The Netflix Strategy Netflix’s strategy so far has been to focus on not just one or two aspects of their customer base, but to focus themselves in a number of directions in order to build upon and capitalize on a growing subscriber base. Their main strategy has been to build and maintain the most comprehensive selection of DVD titles in the industry, and they have done so by creating mutually beneficial relationships with a number of entertainment video providers. Their second main strategy has been focused on product differentiation- not only how customers receive content and consume it, but also how customers choose what to watch. Netflix’s number one competitive advantage is their unique software that takes what a customer has seen or rated, and based upon that information builds a list of suggested titles similar to ones they have just watched. While other companies like Blockbuster had begun to leak into the rent-by-mail niche category that Netflix had started, no other company had cus tomer profiling software quite like Netflix. U.S. Movie, TV, & Video Game Rental Market (2006-2009) Consumer Movie Rental Market Revenue ($ million) 2006 2007 2008 2009 In-store Rentals $7,030 $6,215 $5,674 $5,118 Vending Machine Rentals 79 198 486 917 By Mail Rentals 1,291 1,797 1,949 2,114 VOD (cable, digital, & subscription) 993 1,077 1,365 1,684 Between 2006 and 2009, the film rental market underwent a major shift. The in-store rental market declined by nearly $2 million, while vending machine rentals increased tenfold and by-mail rentals nearly doubled. However, VOD services through cable, digital, and subscription also saw major increases. All of these changes meant companies like Blockbuster and Movie Gallery had to either reorganize and make a complete business model shift- or face bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the increases in by-mail rentals and VOD subscription, two services that Netflix offered, meant that the number of Netflix subscribers more than doubled in that same time frame. Purchase decisions from customers were focused on convenient access, price, variety of DVD offerings, ease of return/return fees. Therefore, the key success factors within the U.S. DVD rental industry were quickly becoming: 1) A variety of distribution channels (mail, online streaming, streaming to TV, vending machine, etc) 2) Superior video libr aries (including new releases,  classics, hard to find) 3) Little to no fees associated with renting or returning DVDs 4) Ease of use (in terms of returning) 5) A strong network of entertainment video providers, i.e. suppliers Customers like variety; a video rental store that only stocks the newest releases will not appeal to all markets. Increasingly, customers are becoming more nostalgic in their movie preferences, searching for titles long past premiere. Customers have also become increasingly busy, often not having the time to go to a store to pick out a movie or remembering to return their rentals on time. We live in a world of instant gratification, where being able to click a few buttons and watch the latest Jennifer Aniston rom-com or an old cult classic like Rocky Horror is extremely important. Customers also do not like fees. More and more companies today are offering free shipping/return shipping, and the same is true in the DVD rental industry. Five Forces Analysis of the Industry Rivalry among competing sellers: High. Buyer costs of switching brands is low and product offerings are weakly differentiated. The number of competitors is growing and rivals have diverse strategies for providing their services. Competitive pressure from buyer bargaining power: Medium to high. The cost of switching to competing products is low, as well as the level of convenience for switching. Products are for the most part undifferentiated. Competitive pressure from supplier bargaining power: Low to medium. There are a large number of suppliers within the industry and a variety of ways in with to gain access to the needed material. However, most sellers cannot self-manufacture these movie titles; whereas the suppliers could easily begin offering these services themselves. Competitive pressure from substitute products: Low. The cost per DVD to buy is greater than that to rent or stream a movie. Buyer demand for purchasing DVDs is decreasing due to the lack of disposable income creat ed by the financial crisis, as well as the practicality of owning a vast collection of physical DVDs. Potential of new entrants: High. The market is growing at an ever increasing pace and barriers to entry are low. Buyer demand continues to increase as well, and existing industry members are looking to expand their market reach. (See Appendix 1 for a visual representation). There are a number of drivers of  change affecting the movie retail industry. As mentioned previously, there has been a shift in consumer’s willingness to go out of their way for certain products or services. The consumer climate has shifted to an instant gratification model, in which if acquiring a movie to watch requires more effort than clicking a few buttons, then it is no longer worth the consumer’s time. This force is somewhat unfavorable in terms of competitive intensity because it will drives firms within the industry to compete in a never ending sprint to offer the most titles in the shortest amount of time, which will eventually hit its peak and taper off. However, this force will also positively impact future industry profitability since the more streamlined the process becomes, the more users and more uses the industry will gain. Another force driving change is the switch from buying physical DVDs and acquiring movie collections to accessing them online as needed. This saves consumers valuable time and money, and they no longer need to worry about keeping their DVDs in good condition. This force will positively affect future industry profitability because it will reduce the number of distribution plants needed to sustain video libraries, thus significantly reducing operating costs. Not having to stock multiple copies of millions of DVDS will mean that companies will no longer have to spend money on: Multiple large plants Staffing said plants with a large labor force Operating said plants in terms of rent, utilities, etc Postage (in terms of Netflix specifically) DVD maintenance Mailing and location software One more force that is affecting the movie rental industry is the introduction and proliferation of VOD services offered directly from cable networks and providers. Barriers to entry for these already existing firms is extremely low, and if all networks chose to offer these services, a large portion of profits would be cannibalized from outside companies such as Netflix or Hulu. This force will negatively affect competitive intensity, but positively affect future industry profitability. If the large supplier companies (cable networks & providers) all started offering their own VOD, competition from smaller independent renting firms would disappear. Yet  profitability would increase due to the ease of access to entire network libraries. Mapping the Movie Retail Industry The competitive characteristics that differentiate firms within the movie retail industry are as follows: Use of distribution channels Product line breadth Price Geographic coverage Ease of access/use In conducting my analysis of the strategic positioning of firms within this industry, I chose to focus on price and use of distribution channels (See Appendix 2). Netflix and VOD providers are positioned most favorably on the map because both offer moderately priced subscription packages for access to a comprehensive list of movie and TV show offerings using a variety of distribution channels. Netflix is positioned most favorably due to its relative low cost compared to the variety of products it offers access to. Redbox is priced well, but it only offers one method of distribution. Whereas Blockbuster is priced higher than average, but has begun to offer streaming and mail rental options in addition to in store rentals. A Financial Analysis of Netflix Overall, Netflix has fared fairly well over the past several years, even surviving the financial crisis. They continue to generate a profit, and their revenue has grown at a steady rate indicative of the growth of the mail rental & online streaming movie retail market. The company has been growing at an average rate of 20% over the last four years. However, from 2007 to 2008, Netflix only grew at a rate of 13.22%. This noticeable fluctuation in their growth rate can most likely be contributed to the financial crisis that swept the nation during that year. Aside from that dip, Netflix can be expected to continue to grow at a rate indicative of the continued growth of mail and digital movie rental industry. Product costs for Netflix have remained relatively stable over the last four years at over 60% of revenue, fluctuating only by 4% or less. This is  despite the fact that revenues for the company have been steadily increasing. This clearly shows an inability to control manufacturing & operating costs. As Netflix expands, so does its physical DVD inventory and size/number of distribution plants. Although one of their strategies is transition subscribers to streaming delivery as opposed to mail delivery, it is obvious that they have yet to be truly successful in that endeavor. Netflix’s ROA hit an all-time high of 17.05% in 2009, which is somewhat surprising given that the company is deriving most of its revenues from a nubile market. The mail and digital movie rental industry is still growing, so to have an ROA that high is quite an accomplishment. It is clear that the company’s investments in new assets are succeeding in generating returns. (See Appendix 3 for a complete financial analysis of Netflix from 2006-2009). SWOT Analysis of Netflix’s Standing within the Market Strengths Opportunities Netflix cornered the market on direct mail renting before anyone else offered it Has a wide geographic coverage and the fastest turnaround rate Known for its 1 month free trials The brand has a following across a wide variety of consumer segments Their strong relationship with a large network of entertainment video providers Top management realizes the importance/emergence of the digital environment and is trying to shift subscriber use accordingly Netflix has developed unique and comprehensive movie selection software that customizes the consumer experience by capitalizing on their movie tastes and making accurate suggestions Netflix offers the most detailed movie information including customer reviews, critic reviews, etc The increasing demand for digital streaming is clearly an opportunity The shift from by mail rental to digital streaming gives Netflix an opportunity to restructure its subscription packages and price them even more competitively The firm can look at joining forces with some of the networks that are beginning to offer VOD streaming Weaknesses Threats Netflix is a market leader in by mail rental, which has now capped off and started to become a declining category The company’s comprehensive DVD libraries and distribution centers are eating up a large chunk of their revenues Unlike other movie rental/streaming companies, Netflix does not offer access to newly released films Changing subscriber preference towards online streaming will affect Netflix’s current portfolio mix The increasing intensity of competition from other companies, such as Hulu with their Hulu Plus program will eat into Netflix’s consumer base Increasing number of networks that are beginning to offer free streaming of content on their websites For the moment, Netflix’s overall situation is fairly attractive. Being the first company to introduce a new niche in a market is a huge asset. A company cannot simply ‘buy’ cornering the market on a good or service. Since Netflix already offers unlimited direct streaming, that puts it ahead of some of its competitors. However, Netflix will need to restructure and reevaluate the profitability of its by mail rental service in the near future. Compared with Blockbuster and VOD Providers, Netflix has the highest level of competitive strength at 46 points. Netflix by far has the most comprehensive number of products and distribution channels, given that consumers can either rent DVDs by mail or stream them on their PC or TV. The number of distribution channels factors into the company’s ease of use, as does the fact that their DVDs come with prepaid return envelopes. VOD Providers are a similar ease of use to Netflix given that consumers can just click a few buttons on the TV and instantly be watching their chosen film. Blockbuster is ranked lowest in terms of price & fees because their prices are based on a per DVD cost, and when sales began to decrease, the company increased its prices. Not to mention that there are late fees associated with renting, whereas with Netflix you can keep a DVD for as long as you like without incurring fees. Blockbuster also scores lower in terms of the number of products because their l ibrary is limited by store space, whereas Netflix and VOD Providers can have a virtually unlimited library of titles spanning the entire duration of the movie industry. Performance Concerns Overall, Netflix’s performance is quite satisfactory. The company persevered through the financial crisis and has managed to hold on to market majority despite growing competition from rival firms. a) My main concern for Netflix is the amount of revenue that is currently being eaten up by product costs. Despite steadily increasing revenues, Netflix’s COGS continues to take up more than 60% of said revenue. In the coming years when the market shifts entirely to direct streaming, Netflix will be left with millions of  DVDs and operating costs associated with the large distribution centers required to house these DVDs. If the company takes too long to phase out this aspect of its product/service portfolio, it could lose out on major profits and potentially wind up in debt. b) A second issue I see for Netflix is that more and more companies are beginning to offer streaming of their own content either for free to the public, or free to subscribers of certain cable companie s. Since Netflix has a cost associated with it, its customer base could be cannibalized by these new entrants. Recommendations a) Given that by mail renting is on the decline, Netflix should work quickly to phase out this service from its current offerings. Right now there are still companies out there willing to take on extensive DVD libraries- five or so years from now, that may not be the case and Netflix will have lost out on an opportunity to avoid a significant loss. b) Netflix needs to look at restructuring and re-pricing their current subscription packages. The number of packages and their prices that the company offers are no longer relevant to demand. With more and more entrants into the market, Netflix is losing its competitive pricing advantage. In sum, in order to remain competitive Netflix needs to restructure both its product offerings and pricing strategy. The company should be looking ahead to see what the next big thing in movie rental/streaming will be and capitalize on that, while other firms are still entering the market and developing what Netflix already has.

Hepatitis B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hepatitis B - Essay Example In this paper, the focus will be on Hepatitis B (HB) as it has been responsible for 600,000 worldwide deaths annually (Wasley et al, 2010). Like many other diseases, hepatitis B has its cause though this information is often known first by the health practitioners than the patients. As for this disease, a virus called hepatitis B virus, often abbreviated as HBV, causes it. Concerning its transmission methods, HB occurs whenever semen, blood or any other body fluid enters a non-infected person from a patient (CDC, 2015). That is to say, one could contact HB if there is a sharing of injecting equipment such as needles or syringes; sexual relations as well as while giving birth. It is worth noting that HB has two categories: acute and chronic infection. Acute infection refers to the first time a person realizes to be infected with HB. Often, this stage characterized by mild symptoms and only a few cases of serious illness. In fact, many people, especially adults, tend to recover from this illness with little intervention. Sadly, this is not the case with infants, and many could die even at this stage. If the acute infection is ignore or not treated for at least six months, the inevitable chronic infection materializes. Regardless of the stage, a person suffering from HB will exhibit various signs and symptoms including dark urine, joint fever, abdominal pain, appetite-loss and nausea or vomiting. In addition, a patient has jaundice and their bowel movement is clay-colored. Unfortunately, patients of chronic HB could be asymptomatic, lack clear liver-disease evidence and suffer from cirrhosis or another kind of liver-cancer called the hepatocellular carcinoma (CDC, 2015). Thus, it is imperative to ensure that once the signs are observed in the acute stage, treatment is sought quickly to avert the more deadly consequences in the chronic stage. Though early

Human development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Human development - Essay Example The sensorimotor stage starts from birth until 2 years of age. Preoperational stage lasts from the time child learns to talk to 7 seven years of age. From the start of school going age to adolescence is the concrete stage. Formal Operation is the stage of cognitive learning during adolescence. Lev Vygotsky’s theory of cognition relates cognition to be product of cultural influence on an individual thought. 2. What is a script (in relation to memory)? At what age to we typically begin to develop scripts? How might a script both support memory and interfere with memory? The term script was coined in relation to memory by Jack and Roepstorff. It is a response by the brain that allows the individual to retain particular information and regard it as relevant or irrelevant. It helps decide the brain to choose among what to retain and what to ignore (Frackowiak 1997). Children can develop scripts as early as 3 years of age, by forming a sequence of events and then recalling them the next time they are in that situation (Sigelman et al 2009). Scripts form the basis of memory as children recall more details of the events as their scripts become richer.

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 18

Marketing - Essay Example The disparity between international marketing and domestic marketing lies in the global markets complexity and multidimensionality. An international manager requires understanding of such complexities and the allegations they have regarding international marketing. When an organization moves from domestic to global market, different international strategies needs to be approached for getting an idea of the international marketplace. International companies such as Coca Cola, Gillette practices international marketing (Eid and Trueman, 2004). International marketing serves to be a good opportunity for the organizations to expand its business and make profits through overseas business. International competition comes with global cooperation. Organizations in order to establish business in foreign countries make greater efforts to understand cultures of those countries to develop strategies for success. Internationalization is affecting the interdependence of every country and makes att empts to promote global cooperation (Furrer, Liu and Sudharshan, 2000). The aim of the study is to understand the notion of international marketing and the environmental factors that favour the development of various international strategies. The strategies that indicate culture and its appreciation serves as a tool to ensure marketing success, will also be analysed in details. Evaluation of the environmental factors is crucial in developing international marketing strategies. An international manager requires a deep knowledge of the complexities of the environment and its implications in the international marketing environment. International marketing strategies takes into factors such as legal, economic, political and technological for gaining business efficiency (Eid and Trueman, 2004). Legal environment varies in both perspective and in elucidation. An organization besides being bound by its home country laws is also bound by the

Operating Systems and Networking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Operating Systems and Networking - Assignment Example To make computing technology effective, one of the leading giants, L'Oreal launched an online learning system for its 60,000 employees in 58 countries. The idea is to provide the employees an individual learning room. Moreover, in a broader context, the online system is designed to meet long term training requirements and expectations of L'Oreal employees. In addition, the online learning system will also support the functional requirements of the organization. The architectural benefit of the online system involves the creation of learning methods and tools including traditional classroom workshops, on job learning, distance learning, demonstration of training videos and creative learning of the web 2.0. Furthermore, the system will aid L'Oreal to modify and maintain training material whereas remaining elastic to meet training needs, that change from time to time (L'Oreal decides CERTPOINT is worth it for staff. 2009). Although there is no comparison of these two organizations, must an application operating on a computer network with loaded learning tools, will certainly add value to the company. The new network implementation will facilitate the company with intranet application, staff communication, and self-learning tools. The intranet application will aid in employees to communicate with each other via emails. The documentation is always a hassle when maintained manually, intranet application facilitates managed documentation with online filling of forms that can be saved in the hard drive or data storage. Moreover, sharing of these forms with almost anyone on the network is also an advantage. Furthermore, certain announcements and memos can also be received via email or on the dashboard of intranet applications. Information related to training center and student can be managed digitally, enabling the organization to maintain paperwork more efficiently. Online charts and graphs related to student performance, company performance, tutors performance and cha nges in higher management are viable on the site instantly that improves communication better within the employees. In addition, online surveys and suggestions are always considered due to efficient response and eliminate hassle of paper work (, Intranet - advantage, type, benefits, cost, Intranet applications, Designing an intranet, The cost of setting up and running an intranet ). Moreover, the computer network will provide shared resources and centralized administration. The shared resources may include videos and course material related to beauty training, which will assist students. Beauty Salons with IT Enabled Services Beauty Studio based in South Africa is aiding its employees and customer by Information technology integration. The business definition of the ‘Beauty Studio’ is â€Å"We are a established clinic that aim to provide clients with a professional service and a skilled touch† The salon covers almost all types of professional services including p ermanent makeup, lash extensions and ‘botox and filetrs’ (, Beauty Studio Salon). Moreover, the software incorporated in the salon is named as ‘body care gate’. This software is designed to cover beauty salon and spa facilitates with massage therapy software, practice software that is free in cost, it shares the feature of integration of customer data. Furthermore, billing, invoicing, scheduling appointments, monitoring receivables,

Analysis of Art Objects from Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome Essay

Analysis of Art Objects from Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome - Essay Example Its construction began in 70 AD during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. It took ten years to construct and Emporer Titus, Emporer Vespasian's successor inaugurated it after its completion. The Coliseum underwent further modifications between 81 AD and 96 AD under the reign of Emperor Domitian (Connoly 31).Architectural DesignThe Colosseum, as opposed to Greek theatres constructed before it, was a free-standing structure; the previous theatres stand on the sides of hills. Its interior and exterior architecture resemble two Roman theatres. It is elliptical in shape, 156 meters wide and 189 meters long. The base area is 24,000 square meters and the outer walls are 48 meters high. The outer perimeter of the Colosseum measures 545 meters. The central arena is oval in shape and has a width of 55 meters and length of 87 meters. A wall, 5 meters high, surrounds it. The outer wall consists of travertine stone. Iron clamps rather than mortar held the travertine stone together. This outer wall s uffered damage and collapsed during the 1349 earthquake.The Colosseum had 80 entrances due to its huge capacity (50000-80000), 76 of which were for ordinary spectators. The Roman Emperor together with his aides used the northern main entrance to enter and exit the Colosseum. The elite of Rome used the other three axial entrances. These four axial entrances had rich decorations, mainly painted stucco reliefs. The spectators would seat in a tiered arrangement which reflected the different social classes in Rome at that time.

Critical Appraisal of Business Plan Process Towards the creation of a Essay

Critical Appraisal of Business Plan Process Towards the creation of a successful entrepreneurial venture - Essay Example Because it is contained in a tangible document, it is open to critical examination by important third parties such as possible co-investors, creditors, venture capitalists, or banks which may be considering extending a loan towards the business (BC Ministry of Small Business, 2011, p.2). Elements The business plan is comprised of several elements, which may be described as follows: Idea generation, while not a tangible part of the business plan proper, is a vital phase of the planning process. It is the germination of the business intention, the idea that combines a perceived need in the environment with a recognized capability in the business proponent. Idea generation is the most difficult stage of developing a new product or service, whether it be for a new or existing business (Crane, 2010, p. 104). This is because it involves the creative process and is not defined according to any established procedure, but often occurs as a flash of inspiration or unique insight as to how a pa rticular need may be fulfilled. When an idea is first generated, there is usually no indication as to whether it will be successful or even feasible, thus embarking on a course of action on the bases of new ideas always involves a great deal of conviction and a leap of faith. Strategic objectives are set subsequent to the generation of the idea. Strategic objectives provide the overall mission or purpose of the business (i.e., a â€Å"philosophical† purpose, according to Piotrowski, 2011, p. 174), as against the operational objectives. Strategic objectives relate to the definition of four elements of the business profile, namely products, customer groups, market segments, and geographic markets (Robert, 1998, p. 234). As with all statements of intention, however, the statement of strategic objectives is always couched in general terms that may admit of many varied interpretations. As a guide, therefore, the strategic objectives are at best advisory, but cannot be held as defi nitive as promises or commitments for which the business may be held answerable. Therefore, the effectiveness of strategic objectives will only be as meaningful as the best intentions of the business proponents may hold them to be. Market analysis and research is the process of gathering information about the prospective market of the business and drawing important insights and observations about future prospects. Information about the market’s size, its location, its history, the competitive profile, and likely profitability, as well as its general strength and health, are described and assessed. The information gathered during this stage provides the foundation for forecasting sales volumes and revenues, for determining the capacity of the business, and consequently the amount of financing required (Ehmke & Akridge, 2005, p.3). Market research analysis has its limitations. Ideally, accurate knowledge of markets is very important, but such knowledge does not serve to reduce knowledge of the business into a single solution that solves all possible problems. It is a myth that a business cannot fail if it completely knows its market; this is because the market is just one aspect of the business, the others being the financial, technical operations, accounting control, and human resources aspects (Brown, 2008, p. 464). Furthermore, the market has too many factors that could not be forecast with certainty, that any feeling of possessing complete knowledge of the market is a certain

Comparison between the South Asia and East Asia during WW1 Essay Example for Free

Comparison between the South Asia and East Asia during WW1 Essay In the twentieth century, WWI was a political tornado of change, sweeping over the entire world, augmenting everything in its path. Although the Allied and Axis powers were affected the most by WWI, East Asia and South Asia were also transformed as well, through considerable social and political reform. In East Asia, China was the country outside of the Allied and Axis powers affected the most in WWI, through the creation of the Chinese Communist Party. After WWI was over, the Treaty of Versailles transferred all German holdings in East Asia, including those in China, to Japan. To China, this was an outrageous offense. Although China certainly didn’t enjoy Germany owning part of their land, to have their worst enemy, Japan, owning it would be positively loathsome. A demonstration broke out in Beijing in protest over Versailles. After being defeated by both Japan and the West, China had enough humiliation and demanded social reform. It was then that Mao Zedong came forth and established the Chinese Communist Party. Although the Nationalists would crush the Communists efforts to overthrow the government, the Communist Party would eventually return and take control, changing China forever, because of the outcomes of WWI. In South Asia, India was affected by WWI through the heightened support of the Indian Nationalist movement. When England forced their colony India to support the war effort, the Indians complied, and the Nationalist movement remained dormant during the war. After WWI was over, most of the world saw Europe as a time bomb of conflict, and this combined with the oppressive efforts to force Indian soldiers into the war cause the Indian Nationalist movement to return full force. Intellectuals like Gandhi appeared with ideas as to what a post colonial India would look like, and almost everyone in India, Muslims and Hindus alike, could agree they wanted England out. Soon, England complied with India’s cries for independence and simply pulled out of South Asia. After discordant internal conflicts, India finally stabilized, with its independence intact, because of the outcomes of WWI. WWI changed the world forever and left many problems unsolved that would return again more forceful than before. In China and India, WWI provoked  social and political reform, but the two outcomes were very different. India gained its independence and set up a Western-style democracy, whereas China would eventually be ravished by the tormenting policies and killing-spree of Mao Zedong. Both India and China were directly affected by the outcomes of WWI.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Tacit Knowledge

Advantages and Disadvantages of Tacit Knowledge The research work submitted here gives an idea about how to manage knowledge creation and how those methods used in knowledge management. Knowledge work in an organization and the key aspects tacit and explicit knowledge clearly explained. This paper gives explanation about tacit knowledge, how it is transformed into explicit knowledge among individuals, organization and uses of it, also explains about explicit knowledge working in an organization and what are the uses of it. How new knowledge created based on tacit and explicit knowledge in an organization. Knowledge creation is the main issue in any organization, this paper explains how knowledge creation made with tacit and explicit and how they applied, help organization according to the situation. What type of relation and communication should be maintained between the individuals or staff and also explains what are the key factors to implement knowledge management in an organization to get the desired outputs, results and succe ss. INTRODUCTION: Knowledge management play vital role in present competitive world. Knowledge is the source for any company or organization. It is stored mainly in human brains. Knowledge is a level which is higher than the information. Many humans agree that knowledge is not personal. Knowledge is mainly available in two forms tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is a knowledge which cannot be articulated and not available in the form of data, document. It is highly personal and need some experts to transfer information for tacit to another form of knowledge. It needs face to face communication to transfer knowledge. Second type of knowledge is explicit knowledge. It is quite opposite to tacit. Explicit knowledge can be articulated easily and available in the form of data, document and manuals etc. explicit knowledge does not required experts to transfer information. Every individual can get the required information at any time. Knowledge management is a work environment in which all information and knowledge updated, connected and distributed among individuals of an organization. It is also known as competitive advantage improvement. Knowledge management varies from organization to organization, it involves following factors mainly Creating new knowledge Using knowledge for decision making Processing knowledge Transferring existing knowledge into many forms. Knowledge creation is very important in every organization, this paper clearly explains about knowledge creation in literature review. Tacit and explicit knowledge play main role for the knowledge creation. It exists mainly in four forms socialization, externalization, combination, internalization. Depending on the requirement of tacit and explicit knowledge, knowledge creation is made in the organization. TACIT KNOWLEDGE: Tacit knowledge is a knowledge which cannot be articulated, not expressed in words. This knowledge will not be shown in document and it cannot be said by words. Tacit knowledge word came with Michael Polanyi (1891-1976), he was initially Hungarian medical scientist, his first interest was in physical chemistry and later he turned into philosophy. According to him knowledge is public and also very great extent personal, the basic fundamental point to tacit knowledge is explicit knowledge because tacit knowledge information can be known by learning the explicit knowledge and by doing that. According to Pan and Scarbrough (1999 p362) Tacit knowledge is not available as a text. . . .It involves intangible factors embedded in personal beliefs, experiences, and values. Main problem for tacit knowledge is that, it is not articulated in words. Tacit knowledge will collect the things that we know how to do but do not know how to explain to do that even by symbols. The person having tacit knowledge is very difficult to communicate with the others even by the expressions also. Tacit knowledge depends on some factors to share with others. Action speaks more than words so showing is very easier than telling to transfer tacit knowledge but to do so this one must need to be experienced and professional about that situation. Tacit knowledge is referred to as know how. Once tacit knowledge is transformed to other person it will create a new knowledge, this new one can be tacit knowledge or explicit knowledge and it will depend on other person who is receiving. Example for tacit knowledge is riding a bike even if anyone tells about it in a perfect way, telling will not be implemented in same way. It need some practice to do it. So practice is also plays an important role while implementing tacit knowledge. More examples for this is how to catch a ball, mark a line, tie a knot etc EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE: Explicit knowledge is contrast to tacit knowledge and the name itself says that knowledge something explicit. It can be described as well articulated individually and easily expressible knowledge. This can be expressed in words and verbalized easily in numbers also. Information of this can be shared in the form of data and this type of knowledge can be transferred from one person to another person. Explicit knowledge communicated in the form of hard data or documentation, for this no need of expert person to transform and no need of experience. Explicit knowledge can be conveyed in the form of articles, seminars, books and video presentations easily. Explicit knowledge and information have almost same meaning. In other way explicit knowledge can be regarded as implicit knowledge when expressed turned into information. IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE: Implicit knowledge is a middle level knowledge to both tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. There can be a type of knowledge which is tacit but it can be converted into explicit knowledge. Many organizations will not consider implicit knowledge because organizations need expert level knowledge and one more reason is that implicit knowledge need to be converted into explicit knowledge for this it need expert guide who know about situation. The main goal of organization is to find how much tacit knowledge is present in that data and try to transfer it to explicit knowledge. KNOWLEDGE CREATION: Knowledge creation is possible way to learn someone. There are mainly two types of knowledge, tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Combination of this individual knowledge with other in an organization will create a new knowledge to increase organizational knowledge. The main goal of knowledge creation is to develop business with customers in a well educated way. The following diagrams explains clearly about knowledge creation Knowledge creation in knowledge management is mainly divided into four types depending on the combinations of tacit and explicit knowledge, they are Socialization Tacit to Tacit Externalization Tacit to Explicit Combination Explicit to Explicit Internalization Explicit to Tacit. TACIT TO TACIT: Tacit to tacit knowledge is called as socialization. Socialization means sharing knowledge between individuals. This can be done by people coming together and sharing their personal tacit knowledge with other individuals by spending time living in same environment. Acquiring knowledge from other is not an easy task it involves large support of interaction between the customers and in an organization, in short fundamental part to transfer tacit knowledge in sharing with self-transcendence. In some cases tacit knowledge only shared if one becomes to be free to enlarge tacit information. Acquiring knowledge can be done by walking inside the company and capturing tacit knowledge of other person or transferring ones ideas inside the organization, this involve a great effort to acquire. Direct interaction sharing plays a vital role for this socialization in any organization. TACIT TO EXPLICIT: This type of knowledge creation is known as externalization. As name says it need to be externalized to transfer information from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. It can be done mainly by expression. So showing tacit knowledge rather than doing, by this process tacit knowledge can be easily transferred and understand by others and tacit knowledge will be converted into explicit knowledge Externalization can be said as difference between inner and outer boundaries of ones self. In this externalization individuals shares knowledge with group and become one in group. Externalization needs two main key factors, they are Articulation of tacit knowledge Translating the tacit knowledge of experts So externalization needs some exports to translate tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge EXPLICIT TO EXPLICIT: It is called as combination. It represents transferring some explicit information into more sets of explicit knowledge. Main issues in this are communication, diffusion process and systemization of knowledge. Transferring explicit knowledge into explicit knowledge involves three main steps. First capturing and integrating new explicit knowledge, in this collecting information from the company whether information may be inside or outside the organization. Next step is combining such collected information or data together as in the form of single data, next step is dissemination of explicit knowledge, and this can be done by transferring the knowledge directly or by arranging meetings. So by following these steps explicit knowledge will be converted into more explicit knowledge sets and new knowledge will be created and spread among the organizational members. Editing of collected explicit knowledge will be used as a more usable knowledge. EXPLICIT TO TACIT: Explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge conversion is called as internalization. This is a type of knowledge creation in which explicit knowledge converted into organizations tacit knowledge and for this one must find knowledge relevant to ones self. Internalization follows two steps to achieve it. First is explicit knowledge should be embodied in the form of action and next step is actualization of explicit knowledge tactics and strategic. For example trainers in an organization face some situations to explain organizations members in such case first trainers should understand the explicit knowledge of that situation and knowledge will converted into tacit knowledge. So trainers should have to learn knowledge and converts the explicit knowledge into his tacit knowledge first. Ba: In knowledge creation Ba model also have an important concept based on four characteristics of ba, as shown in below diagram As shown in above diagram clear explained about knowledge creation in Ba phases by using four specific characteristics, they are Originating Ba Interaction Ba Cyber Ba Exercising Ba Organization Ba: This phase involves sharing of knowledge with emotions, experience by the individuals in an organization. This can be represented as socialization. Face to face interactions with experience place a vital role between individuals. The key factor to transfer tacit knowledge is experience in any organization. Interacting Ba: Interaction Ba characteristic deals with tacit knowledge transformation into explicit knowledge. This phase represents externalization. Expert level communication, personal skills and dialogue are key roles in this phase of Ba for knowledge transformation into explicit. Selecting people with some specialized knowledge will be done to do so in an organization. Cyber Ba: Cyber Ba represents combination phase and in this characteristic interaction plays a vital role. In this explicit knowledge combines with the explicit information and creates a new explicit knowledge. Knowledge which is combined will be utilized in an organization in the form of document or database. Exercising Ba: In this phase explicit knowledge converted into tacit knowledge. This phase is also called as internalization. Trainers in an organization face situations like continue exercises to train people. In such situations trainers feel stress and that will turns to learn explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge for them. Different characteristics of Ba phase show a successful knowledge creation in an organization. Knowledge, which is created with-in ba will turn into tacit and process will go on in a cyclic way. So in this way initially tacit knowledge turns into explicit knowledge and then turns into tacit knowledge again. http://home.business.utah.edu/actme/7410/Nonaka%201998.pdf RESEARCH PROCESS: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN SOFTWARE ORGANIZATION: Knowledge is not visible. It tie-up with customers and relationship with customer. Software industries depend on resources and for this knowledge management is required. Knowledge management assigns right to the right persons. In a survey it is found that An average organization stores 26 percent of knowledge in the form of papers, 20 percent in digital way and 42 percent of knowledge management stored in employees heads. So incase if any damage occur and if any resource lost, I such case human recourses of knowledge play main role to get back information. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE: Knowledge management differs from one organization to other in practice. According to M D Agarwal A knowledge management practices that encompasses end to end processes owned by a department can go a long way towards boosting productivity. In practice knowledge management is a highly effected part to capture knowledge between different skill sets. In India as services of organization has huge number of software professional. So employees input information extremely responsible for organizational growth in practice. Knowledge management practice need some key factors to achieve and the factor issues are listed below Knowledge: In this factor first searching will done for vital knowledge, next process will be done how to use it in an organization. Human and organization factors: human roles and personal skills will help in this view and organizational requirements to develop knowledge sharing between members. Learning and improvement: in this point individuals have to learn new things in the organization and try to improve in better way to achieve good results. Key processes: business improvement way process by using knowledge process should be followed. Tools and techniques: tools are major techniques to know situations in a better understandable way to the knowledge management users. Examples and cases: Practice experiences give more clear explanation in organization and cases to learn from them. Learning and improvement: learning skills need to be known in organization to get own experience. http://www.skyrme.com/services/kmpract.htm KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: Experience of the people working for the company: Human cannot take advantage of information unless it is connected to any software as an information resource. People having expert level experience in a company will play an important role for the organization because they can transfer the information very easily as they have experience how to deal with the situation. So they can communicate easily face to face with any staff of the company and easily transfer the information even if there is any tacit information is present. Problem solving situations can be easily faced by the experience people. Learning skills of the individuals will be developed in multi tasking and multi-faceted. Employees commitment and goals of the company: Company having proper goals achieve good results. The main goals of any company would be money, travel, promotion etc. Most important commitment factor in any company is motivation. Buchannan defines motivation as an internal psychological process which starts, directs, and supports goal directed behaviour. In many engineering projects there will be a question often occurs is how to get people interested in project. So the answer is diffidently motivation. Motivation will keep people interest towards goal in any company to avoid difficulties. Commitment of the individual staff members turns the people to work hard to achieve desired goals in any company. So by the above discussion it can be conformed that commitment of individual team members and goals leads to technology success and to get the required knowledge. Interaction between people working in the company: Tacit knowledge must need to be interacting with the other people for knowledge conversation in a company. Interaction between team members should be clear and face to face. One must able to interact with any staff in the company. Every individual is responsible for the company and each one is working for company in different way, so there should be clear communication with each other to communicate. So key point in this interaction between people working in the company is face to face interaction to transfer tacit information. http://www.thestep.gr/trainmor/dat/%7B920e1adf-df3b-483f-a670-7184ed1a59e6%7D/article.pdf IMPLEMENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: Knowledge management information varies from one company to other company and one country to other country. It will change as per the requirement in any organization as well as place. Here some points that are used while implementing knowledge management Planning is initial thing in any organization to acquire knowledge management. Organization must have capability to take risk, Knowledge management users should have proper support and good communication with management or higher authority. If any problem occurs at any stage, organization should apply some easier ways to solve the problem. Once the knowledge management is implemented, it needs to be checked regularly to know whether the plan is working or not. Most importantly knowledge management should have determination and storing knowledge capacity of knowledge Initially organization may not get the results as quickly as expected. It may take some time to return knowledge management investment. Organization should have to keep in mind about predefined outputs and proper updates before knowledge management use. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WITHIN TECHNOLOGY FIRM: Knowledge management mainly depends on three concepts Experience Commitment Interaction Experience: It describes the quality and the quantity of the knowledge management and experience is a largely using method to transfer information in a better understanding way. People having experience about the knowledge can easily communicate with others. So this is mainly considered with memory system. Commitment: In any organization commitment is crucial part for the knowledge management. Team members of organization have to take commitment to achieve the goals which is needed, and staff has to take task to do well with commitment. So this issue mainly belongs to motivational part. Interaction: interaction between the people is the responsible for knowledge transformation in an organization or company, if the interaction is good between team members then automatically information will be transferred which is indirectly works as a part of knowledge improvement. So this issue is a part of interaction system. Example: let us consider a company which is having required level of experience, communication between team members is face to face and it is good but commitment of staff and goals are neither in sufficient way nor effective. So as a result of company will not produce efficient outcomes. So knowledge management within technology firm should have above three experience, commitment and interaction concepts. If anything misses for any company then the desired result will not be produced. SUCCESS FACTORS FOR TACIT KNOWLEDGE: Human involvement factors play a vital role in tacit knowledge such as Personal interaction: person has to meet face to face for knowledge sharing. Good management leader as a role model for organization to follow by members. Good human encouragement by the people in an organization. Motivation rewards and hopes. Relation should be good between sender and receiver when knowledge is in sharing. Such as trust and openness. Knowledge Management from Yaw Chooi Fun ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TACIT: Advantages: it is very important in knowledge management because overall information and benefits come from tacit knowledge only. Tacit knowledge tends to transfer knowledge directly from one person to another, later knowledge play vital role. Tacit knowledge returns great investment and it increases workplace efficiency. Tacit knowledge is canter of the research in knowledge management. In a company usage of tacit knowledge is the main source compare to competitive knowledge. Tacit knowledge is not much expensive and it is easy and it leads to employee satisfaction and motivation. Information is secured in an organization. Disadvantages: the main disadvantage in tacit knowledge is knowledge transformation. Knowledge will remains in tacit stage in knowledge is not transformed. To transform tacit knowledge need some experience and skillful person. Tacit information may remain in tacit stage if individuals not share the information. Face to face interaction shares the information only with one person at a time and other individuals need some time to gather tacit information. And one of the most disadvantages is that once tacit knowledge leaves it may convert into tacit again, in organization it will cause a huge damage. Tacit knowledge cannot be found in the form of document. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVATAGES OF EXPLICIT: Advantages: One of the main advantages in explicit knowledge is that, it can be found in the form of document or data and it can be used in an easy way. Information can be transferred quickly without any time waiting process. Knowledge transfer is made easy one to other in an organization. Information can be articulated in an organization systematically. Knowledge can be improved in further way explicit for learning. Disadvantages: the main disadvantage in explicit knowledge is information may not secure, as the information passes to many people. Information should remain within the boundaries. Many organizations need some expert to articulate knowledge, every individual may not have required skill to articulate in the organization. Documentations or database should be maintained securely because explicit knowledge may be codified as it is also available in documentation.

Ethics, Metaphysics and Epistemology

Ethics, Metaphysics and Epistemology Poyan Keynejad Group I: Ethics (#2) According to Aristotle, humans highest good involves the pursuit of deriving happiness from living and thinking well. To this end, Aristotle justifies this particular claim through explaining: the chief good is evidently something final. Now we call that which is in itself worthy of pursuit more final than that which is worthy of pursuit for the sake of something else. Now such a thing is happiness, for this we choose always for itself (Aristotle 570R/571L). In this light, Aristotles argument here is that the highest good can only be that which is achieved through actualizing something which is worthy of actualizing in and of itself, and for Aristotle nothing fits this description better than that of happiness, whether such happiness be derived from theoretical or practical pursuits. On the other hand, the Socrates of Platos Crito takes a slightly different approach to the highest goodness. Toward the beginning of Crito, Socrates remarks that the good life, the beautiful life, and the just life are the same (Plato 42R). To this end, the highest good for Socrates involves living responsibly and thoughtfully at all times and regardless of the context of ones circumstances. Socrates puts this idea of the highest goodness into action by refusing to flee his death sentence in Athens. Socrates makes the argument that in being an Athenian citizen, he has taken an oath to follow the rulings of Athenian law, regardless if such a law is used to condemn him to death. In defense of his responsibility to the rule of law, Socrates bemoans us to not value either your children or your life or anything else more than goodness, (Plato 46L) or, other words, living thoughtfully and responsibly. In weighing both of these arguments for the highest good against one another, I must say that while I do not inherently disagree with Socratess argument, I find Aristotles account of the highest good to be more compelling. This is because in Platos Crito Socrates only vaguely lays out a general philosophical conception of what it means to live a good life, whereas in Aristotles own conception of the highest good he lays out a structured argument for what such goodness entails, namely that the highest good must be something which is worthy of pursuing for the sake of itself, which for Aristotle is embodied in the actualization of happiness. In this light, I find Aristotles account of goodness more compelling than Socratess account because it is structured in a clear and logical manner. Though I will also qualify my remarks by saying that I do generally sympathize with Socratess conception of goodness; I just find it less compelling than Aristotles competing conception. Group II: Metaphysics (#4) Saint Anselm argues for the existence of god on the basis that god is something à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [of] which nothing greater can be conceived, and thus according to this line of thought such a god cannot exist just in the understanding, [because] we could conceive it to exist in reality too, in which case it would be greater (Anselm 40R/41L). To this end, Anselm is maintaining that if one accepts the premise that god is something à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [of] which nothing greater can be conceived, then it logically follows that such a god must exist, in that the only thing greater than having the concept of such a god in ones mind is the reality that that god exists outside of the mind, therefore fulfilling Anselms premise of god being something à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [of] which nothing greater can be conceived (Anselm 40R). On the other hand, Saint Aquinas argues for the existence of god on the basis that every cause must have an action and thus that there must have been a first cause that was caused by god, seeing as how, at least in Aquinass eyes, the universe is finite and as such it must have originated from a first cause. To this end, Aquinas maintains that everything has been changed by something else, But this cannot go back to infinity. If it did, there would be no first cause of change and, consequently, no other causes of change, (Aquinas 43L) meaning that without a first cause there would be no universe in the first place. In this light, Aquinas posits that the only thing capable of causing the first cause is god, and thus he bases his argument for gods existence on the idea that such a god would have been necessary to cause a finite universe. From my own amateur perspective, I find Aquinass aforementioned argument for the existence of god to be stronger than Anselms argument. This is because Anselms argument for gods existence seems grounded purely in rhetoric and semantics, as if his argument were just a word game. On the other hand, Aquinass argument for gods existence is grounded in a problem of physics that, short of modern science, only the existence of a god could reasonably resolve. The premise that a finite universe must have had a first cause is a premise that virtually any person could easily accept. Thus on the basis of its premise and its logical conclusion, Aquinass argument for god seems stronger than Anselms argument. With regard to persuasiveness, Aquinass argument for gods existence is certainly persuasive in the sense that one cannot rationally conceive of a finite universe that did not bear a first cause, in that such a universes very finiteness requires an originary causation. Thus, short of having any knowledge of the Big Bag, Aquinass contention that god must have caused the first cause is a reasonable one, as it would be difficult to come up with an idea of any other entity that could be capable of causing the first cause. Group III: Epistemology (#6) Descartes imagines an evil demon at the end of Meditation because he uses this concept to illustrate that most knowledge is dubious and that one must start from a position of skepticism if they are to be able to truly find a trustworthy foundation for verifiable knowledge. To this end, Descartes remarks how, in realizing that he would need to start his pursuit of knowledge from scratch, I would need to tear down everything and begin anew from the foundations if I wanted to establish any firm and lasting knowledge (Descartes 157L). Thus, in devising a theoretical evil demon that can mislead humans into positions of false knowledge, Descartes is beginning to tear down everything and begin anew in his pursuit of firm and lasting knowledge (Descartes 157L). Zhuangzi makes similar arguments in pursuit of establishing skepticism in his own scholarship. For one, Zhuangzi makes the skeptical argument that knowledge is ultimately impossible because, for him, the divide between subjectivity and objectivity cannot be overcome. He argues such because he maintains that Everything is merely subjective; there is no such thing as objectivity. So there is no such thing as knowledge (Zhuangzi 322). In this sense, he views knowledge as impossible because humans are only capable of having imperfect subjective perspectives. Building off of this contention of ultimate subjectivity, Zhuangzi makes another skeptical argument on the basis of universal variability, with universal variability being the notion that since everyone perceives things differently, There is no way to decide which perceptions ought to be trusted, (Zhuangzi 322) which again provides us with the implication that objective knowledge is impossible. The main similarity between Descartess skepticism and Zhuangzis skepticism is that both philosophers make certain theoretical arguments in order to illustrate how, in many cases (or in all cases for Zhuangzi), what we take to be knowledge is in fact quite untrustworthy. On the other hand, the main difference between Descartess skepticism and Zhuangzis skepticism lies in what both are trying to achieve through their skeptical arguments. Descartess only endeavors in skepticism so that he can weed out all false knowledge from his perspective and thereafter establish a firm foundation for real knowledge. On the flip side, Zhuangzi does not have a constructive end to his skepticism, in that he maintains his skeptical arguments solely for the purpose of illustrating how there can be no firm foundation for real knowledge. In this sense, Descartess goals and Zhuangzis goals are quite different when it comes to skepticism.

unforgiven and being there :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are four elements that I will discuss while writing this paper. These four elements will describe the hero’s plot. The two movies that I will apply these elements to are Unforgiven and Being There.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first element that I will discuss is origin. Origin is the starting point of the movie. It is who the character is at the time you meet him. In the movie Unforgiven, the main character is a man named William Munny. When we first see William Munny, he is on a small farm with his two children. He is not very wealthy and is working in the pigpen. His wife had died a couple of years ago and he is left to take care of a farm and his two children. In the movie Being There, the main character is a man named Chance the Gardner. When the audience first meets Chance, he is sitting on his bed watching television. Chance is a mentally challenged man. A black maid named Louise comes in and tells Chance that the old man has passed away. Louise is very upset and Chance does not show any kind of emotion. This is how both characters in the two movies are introduced to the audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second element, which is important, is the back story. The back story is the unseen but understood theme behind the movie. It is the meaning of the movie in a whole. William Munny’s background is introduced at the beginning of the movie. They portray him as an assassin and a die-hard cowboy. He murdered women and children and was the most feared man in Wyoming. Since then he has changed his life. After getting married to his wife he quit drinking and killing and tried to better his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chance the Gardner is described as being the caretaker of the garden. He lived with and old man who owns a very large estate. They suggest that he was taken into the house at a very young age. Being the gardener, this was the only life he knew.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third element is development. Development is the changes and challenges that the character faces. One of the challenges that William Munny faces is when a young man comes to Munny’s farm and asks Munny to join him in killing two men that sliced a prostitutes face. He says that he will give Munny five hundred dollars if he helped him kill these two men. unforgiven and being there :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are four elements that I will discuss while writing this paper. These four elements will describe the hero’s plot. The two movies that I will apply these elements to are Unforgiven and Being There.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first element that I will discuss is origin. Origin is the starting point of the movie. It is who the character is at the time you meet him. In the movie Unforgiven, the main character is a man named William Munny. When we first see William Munny, he is on a small farm with his two children. He is not very wealthy and is working in the pigpen. His wife had died a couple of years ago and he is left to take care of a farm and his two children. In the movie Being There, the main character is a man named Chance the Gardner. When the audience first meets Chance, he is sitting on his bed watching television. Chance is a mentally challenged man. A black maid named Louise comes in and tells Chance that the old man has passed away. Louise is very upset and Chance does not show any kind of emotion. This is how both characters in the two movies are introduced to the audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second element, which is important, is the back story. The back story is the unseen but understood theme behind the movie. It is the meaning of the movie in a whole. William Munny’s background is introduced at the beginning of the movie. They portray him as an assassin and a die-hard cowboy. He murdered women and children and was the most feared man in Wyoming. Since then he has changed his life. After getting married to his wife he quit drinking and killing and tried to better his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chance the Gardner is described as being the caretaker of the garden. He lived with and old man who owns a very large estate. They suggest that he was taken into the house at a very young age. Being the gardener, this was the only life he knew.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third element is development. Development is the changes and challenges that the character faces. One of the challenges that William Munny faces is when a young man comes to Munny’s farm and asks Munny to join him in killing two men that sliced a prostitutes face. He says that he will give Munny five hundred dollars if he helped him kill these two men.

Truth and Fiction in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood Essays -- In Cold Bl

How In Cold Blood Capote Desensitized Our Ability to Differentiate Between Truth and Fiction.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Reading In Cold Blood brought me a new literary and psychological understanding. I realized what such a heinous murder would do to a town like Holcomb, Kansas. I always took my childhood for granted; nothing bad happened in our town, nothing equal to the ugliness of the Clutter murder.   After rereading In Cold Blood, I read every piece of literary criticism on the book as I could find.   I began to consider the impact of Capote on today's based-on-fact books and movies. My goal was to discover whether the blurring of the line between truth and fiction has befogged how we, as readers and viewers, differentiate between truth and fiction.    What I learned (or didn't learn). Wendy Lesser, in an article for the Los Angeles Times, wrote of her interest in murder in literature. She went so far as to teach a literature class at UC Santa Cruz on murder. The class focused on works of fiction based on true facts (books that Capote would have said were non-fiction novels), books such as Norman Mailer's The Executioners Song, Joan Didion's The White Album, and Capote's In Cold Blood (par. 13). At the end of the semester, one of her students said, " 'I've really enjoyed this course, but I'm worried that it's hardened me. I mean, I don't know how seriously I take murder anymore'" (par.15). Lesser replied that by looking at murder as art, you move away from the seeing it as murder (par.16).    Truman Capote claimed to have invented a new type of literature with In Cold Blood, the non-fiction novel (Plimpton, par 2). Although others (particularly Daniel DeFoe in A Journal of the Plague Year) had used this technique b... ...into small-town Kansas with his long floating scarf and his negligees." The Guardian. 76 pars. 14 February 1998. Lexis-Nexis. Swanson, William. "Murder, He Wrote." MPLS-St. Paul Magazine. 14 pars. November 1995. InfoTrac. Yagoda, Ben. "In Cold Facts, Some Books Falter." The New York Times. 18 pars. 15 March 1998, late ed. Lexis-Nexis. Works Consulted Boxer, Sarah. "When Truth Challenges Fiction and Becomes Art." The New York Times. 13 pars. 8 May 2000, late ed. Lexis-Nexis. Fremont-Smith, Eliot. "Books of the Times: In Cold Blood." New York Times Book Review. 12 pars. 10 January 1966. Lexis-Nexis. King, Larry. "Truman Capote and the Murder that Horrified a Nation." Larry King Live. CNN. 25 November 1997. Transcript. Lexis-Nexis. Knickerbocker, Conrad. "1960's Kansas Death Trip." New York Times. 9 pars. 6 October 1966, late ed. Lexis-Nexis.

Writing Improvement Exercises

Save this file to your computer. Your assignment is to revise each of the following exercises to reflect your mastery of the concepts described in Chapter 2. Create your revisions directly on your screen, save your response, and send it to your instructor as a Word attachment in Blackboard mail.To help you, the solutions to several problems are already provided. Be sure to type your answers at the indented points after each enumeration to avoid the problem of automated numbering.AUDIENCE BENEFITS AND THE â€Å"YOU† VIEWRevise the following sentences to emphasize the perspective of the audience and theâ€Å"you† view.1. To avoid suffering the kinds of monetary losses we have experienced in the past, our credit union prohibits the cashing of third-party checks presented by our members. Our facility will be pleased to cash all properly executed checks other than third-party checks.2. To help us process your order with our new database software, we need you to go to this We b site, www.databasefullfillment.com, and fill out the customer information required. Please visit our website www.databasefullment.comto help us process your order.3. We are pleased to announce an arrangement with H-P that allows us to offer discounted computers in the student bookstore.4. Under a new policy, reimbursement of travel expenses will be restricted to those related to work only.5. We are pleased to announce that you have been approved to enroll in our management trainee program.6. I give my permission for you to attend the two-day workshop.CONVERSATIONAL, PROFESSIONAL TONERevise the following to make the tone conversational yet professional.7. Under separate cover the above-referenced items (printer toner and supplies) are being sent to your Oakdale office, as per your telephone conversation of April 1. As you requested in your phone call of April 1, we are pleased to send you the printer toner and supplies directly to your Oakdale office.8. Kindly inform the undersigne d whether or not your representative will be making a visitation in the near future.9. It is recommended that you conceptualize and submit your departmental budget ASAP.10. BTW, we’ve had some slippage in the schedule but don’t have to scrap everything and start from step zero.11. To facilitate ratification of this agreement, your negotiators urge that the membership respond in the affirmative.POSITIVE AND COURTEOUS EXPRESSIONRevise the following statements to make them more positive.12. Customers are ineligible for the 10 percent discount unless they show their membership cards. Please show your membership card in order to receive your 10 percent discount.13. Titan Insurance Company will not process any claim not accompanied by documented proof from a physician showing that the injuries were treated.14. If you fail to comply with each requirement, you will not receive your $50 rebate.15. We must withhold remuneration until you complete the job satisfactorily.16. We ca n’t process your application because you neglected to insert your telephone number.17. Construction cannot begin until the building plans are approved.18. All employees must return their health care packets by November 1, or they will not be able to change any options.INCLUSIVE LANGUAGERevise the following sentences to eliminate terms that are considered sexist or that suggest stereotypes.19. Any applicant for the position of fireman must submit a medical report signed by his physician. All applicants for the position of firefighter must submit a medical report signed by their physicians. OR Any applicant for the position of firefighter must submit a medical report signed by his or her physician.20. Every employee is entitled to see his personnel file.21. All waiters and waitresses are covered under our new benefits package.22. A salesman would have to use all his skills to sell those condos.23. All conference participants and their wives are invited to the banquet.24. How ma ny man hours are required to complete the project?PLAIN ENGLISH AND FAMILIAR WORDSRevise the following sentences to use plain English and familiar words.25. Please ascertain whether we must perpetuate our current contract despite perplexing profits. Please determine if we must keep our current contract despite uncertain profits.26. He hypothesized that the vehicle was not operational because of a malfunctioning gasket.27. Because we cannot monitor all cash payments, we must terminate the contract.28. The contract stipulates that management must perpetuate the retirement plan.29. I’ll interface with Mark to access his people.30. Unilateral nullification of the terms and conditions of the expiring agreement absent bona fide impasse is prohibited.

Enron’s Collapse Essay

Enron’s Collapse In the case of Enron’s collapse, many would blame the external auditor’s collusion with the management, the aggressive accounting policy it had adopted to manipulate its earnings or the Special Purpose Entity (SPE) it had created as a sham to conceal its debts. However, everything began from an internal environment with weak controls. The internal environment is the capstone of all other components within an organization’s ERM framework, influencing strategy formulation, objective setting, as well as risk management. The internal environment is largely shaped by the tone at he top. And in the case of Enron, its failure was primarily attributable to the board and management’s failure to take responsibility for the risks inherent in the company’s business plan and strategy. Various elements of the internal environment had contributed to Enron’s failure. Risk Management Philosophy and Risk Appetite Enron had a huge risk appetite which can be seen from its speculative trading activities as well as the use of â€Å"mark-to-market† accounting and SPE to manipulate earnings and conceal debts. The source of revenue was vague and highly volatile. It was almost like Enron was engaged in gambling. However, well knowing the nature of income, the management still continued to carry out such activities. Management’s huge risk appetite reassured the employees that Enron could easily handle these risks. Hence, everyone in Enron became risk-seeking. Board of Directors’ Attitudes One of the core principles of Anglo-American corporate governance is that â€Å"the board should maintain a sound system of internal control to safeguard shareholders’ investment and the company’s assets†. Enron’s board had defended itself by laiming that they had no idea about the unethical conducts Enron’s management was involved with. However, the board had, in the first place, failed to make an appropriate assessment of the risks to which the company was exposed of. And it did not put in place the procedures by which it could obtain the information needed to oversee and monitor the management. Moreover, the independence of the board was also questionable as they allowed own conflict of interest to get in the way of their monitoring role. The board members received substantial payments for consultancy service apart from their directors’ fees. In addition, they were indirectly compensated by receiving gifts made by Enron to their universities and hospitals. As a result, the failure of board’s monitoring role further weakened the internal control of Enron. Integrity and Ethical Values Integrity and standards of behavior are required for the organization to achieve an internal environment with strong controls. There should be a strong corporate Enron’s corporate culture was usually described as arrogant, where everyone in the company, employees, managers or directors, believed that they could handle ncreasingly toxic risk without danger of going bust. Besides the arrogance, greed was as well evident across the organization. Top executives made use of â€Å"mark-to- market† accounting and SPE to manipulate earnings and conceal debts in order to further enrich their compensation which was tied to the performance of the company. Top executive’s actions of striving to enrich personal wealth rather than generate profits for shareholders had set the tone at the top which in turn led to employees’ efforts of maximizing individual wealth instead of creating value for the ompany as a whole. Assignments of Authority and Responsibility Corporate officers owe fiduciary duties to the organization, hence they must act in the best interest of the company and avoid incidences where conflicts of interest would arise. Although this is not enforced by legislation, it is normally set out in the organization’s own code of conduct. A strong code of conduct is a critical element of assignments of authority and responsibility, not only in form but in substance as well. And Enron indeed had such code of conduct, explicitly restraining self-dealing. FastoWs involvement in LJM SPE’s management would amount to self-dealing, which was a clear breach of Enron’s code of conduct. However, the board had waived it under Ken Lays advice. Therefore, it can be seen that the tone at the top made Enron’s code of conduct form over substance, which as well contributed to the failure Human Resource Standards Jeffery Skilling was usually credited with creating a system of forced rankings for employees, under which the bottom 20% was regularly dismissed on the basis of performance rankings drawn up by peers and superiors. Whereas those remained ere rewarded with stock options and performance-based increments. Thus employees attempted to crush not Just outsiders but also each other. And it is not surprising that they would keep silent even that they well knew about the unethical behavior of management. As a result, the ranking policy contributed to the diminishing of the organization’s transparency and a widening communication gap between the board and the rest of the organization, making it even harder for the board to effectively carry out the monitoring role.