Stagecraft :: essays research papers

Sunrise in my Pocket, an American folk drama originally written by Edwin Justus Mayer, but adapted by Jeffrey Hayden for the Playmakers Repertory Company recounts the epic adventure of Davy Crockett, Tennessee statesman and frontiersman and his subsequent journey to Texas. Davy Crockett, portrayed effortlessly by Playmaker’s leading actor, Kenneth P. Strong, is accompanied by his faithful companion, Crawling Caterpillar, the gallant ex-pirate Hardin, the woman hating Thimblerig, and the man-hating Annie; each part was played respectfully by Douglas Spain, Mike Regan, Jeffrey Blair Cornell, and Jamie Rose.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The success of Jeffrey Hayden’s production should be attributed to the talented cast and their professional zeal that was evident in each individual performance. The main plot, the actual journey and the carefully woven sub-plots, between for example Thimblerig and Annie became the foundation for fun-loving adventure and perhaps in the imagination of the audience greater adventure upon arrival in the Texas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The audience and thus the play greatly benefited from the use of the thrust stage, extending beyond the proscenium arch, the stage was surrounded on three sides by the audience. The thrust stage moved the action into the crowd; the audience became an extra, part of the play, no longer an audience removed, but an audience part. The stage was also raked, or maintained a permanent slope atop a level auditorium floor. The sloped stage increased the effectiveness of the thrust stage, further projecting the action into the audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The task of simulating the American frontier was given to scene designer Narelle Sissons and lighting designer Mary Louise Geiger. Sissons created a beautifully naked set, backed by a grove of trees that was brought to life by Geiger’s gentle moonbeams, water reflections, and campfire light. Not nearly as empty as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot; however, both sets allow the imagination to improvise and individually interpret the play. Sissons and Geiger created an appropriately classy set and lighting scene that added to the plays performance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Costume Designer, Marianne Custer, continued with the idea of simplicity while selecting the worn frontier clothing. Annie became the notable standout however, with her tight fitting buckskins. The costume only added to the character, a frontier feminist, Annie could compete with the bravest of males, but was still very feminine and had the beauty only a woman could.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sound Designer, M. Anthony Reimer, provided the audience with a subtle, yet effective portrayal of backcountry sounds.

Farewell to Arms by Hemingway

Roxane Noffra Mr. Livingston 06/11/2012 Task 2 In uk/farewell-to-manzanar-2/">Farewell to arms, written by Hemingway, we can appreciate how the (Henry) protagonist grew due to his relationship with Catherine and his experiences in war. His growth represents a genre convention: a typical development in the characters, overall in the protagonists. At the beginning of this book, Henry is characterized as being a drunken, womanizer fascinated with the nightlife; in fact, when he knew Catherine, he considered her just as another adventure, as the women he used to meet in the brothel.In chapter 3, it’s easy to noticed how Henry indulged the temptation preferring to drink and having fun with girls, just for pleasure, without getting involved in a serious relationship â€Å" . . . and the strange excitement of waking and no knowing who it was with you . . . † (pag. 13). Through his best friend Rinaldi, Henry met Catherine, the woman that will influence his changed.She was a mat ure woman, a woman that had a fiancee who died in a battle before they could get married; In fact, she had a different perspective of war from Henry’s point of view, she was more realistic about it instead Henry was not even interesting in the war, he did not really know why he joined the war effort. However, as his experiences in war intensify, he became deeply pessimistic about the war. However, he realizes that his love for Catherine is the only thing he is willing to commit himself to, considering her as his religion.One of the relevant developments of Henry character is how his point of view toward war changed. On chapter 5 the difference between Catherine and Henry’s point of view is highlighted through their conversation in which Catherine looks more mature and realistic â€Å" . . . Let’s drop the war. † Henry said, Catherine answered, â€Å"It’s very hard. There’s not place to drop it† but on chapter 9 when Henry had more exp erience and is in love with Catherine his point of view changed, when he responded to Passini that omething worse than war is defeat (pg. 50). In point of fact, Henry became pessimist toward war. Some of his arguments were that he had not seen or appreciated any kind of glory or sacred (pg. 185), something that they were supposed to feel and go through in war. This conversation with the Italian soldier Gino, stand out how he was growing through his experiences. He claimed that the people sacrificed themselves for nothing; there were not results in war just more number of deaths.Previously, Henry did not consider his relationship with Catherine a serious one. However when he was wounded, learned to value life and to prepare him to enter into a love relationship with Catherine. His first step to realize, that his feelings toward Catherine were different can be read in the next passage â€Å"I had treated seeing Catherine very lightly, I had gotten somewhat drunk and had nearly forgot ten to come but when I could not see her there I was feeling lonely and hollow. † (pg. 41).Here Henry is realizing that with her he was changing his manner of treat women and that being away from her affected him. First of all, she was the first person whom gave him a reason of being scared of, since had something to lose; there is a quote on page 137 said by Catherine before she confessed his pregnancy â€Å"Life isn’t hard to imagine when you’ve nothing to lose. † Here she means that until that point they did not have any to loose but now they were going to have a baby: an objective in life.But for Henry the thing that he had more fear of losing was Catherine, as we can read in the last chapter â€Å" . . . you took the baby but don’t le her die. That was all right but don’t let her die. Please, please, dear God . . . † (pg. 330) also we can see how the character desperately pleaded with God to save his love, something that never occ urred in the novel before. On contrary, Henry never showed any kind of belief in God. In fact, his relation-ship with Catherine had been the main reason of his development.Being in company with a brave and mature woman taught him those characteristics. His growth is very clear: from a guy that did never feel in love, whom loved to drink and have fun, became a responsible and mature guy, something that even his closest friend noticed. Through his experiences, he understood that one must be engaged in life and be responsible. In fact, the development of this character represents a genre convention; the author used the relationship between Henry and Catherine to highlight Henry’s growing.

Television is unhealthy for children

Why spend life with hatred? Life is too short to have such negativity. It takes a lot of hurt, and anger, and betrayal for me to hate someone. Love and hate are two things that go hand in hand but in complete opposite ways. You can make me mad or say hurtful things and I will orgive you, but when you disappoint me and betray me over and over again is when hatred takes its place.When I think of the words love and hate I think of my father. It all began for as long as I can remember my dad always had a drinking problem. IVe never seen my father sober even till today every time I see him he has some kind of beer or alcoholic beverage in his hand. Alcoholism is a disease that my father is very sick with. He grew up with two sisters and a brother. He wasn't raised in a great household.My grandmother and grandfather got divorced when my father was about five years old but he was abused everyday by both my grandmother and grandfather. This brings me to my story. When I was about three years old my parents fought everyday about my fathers drinking problem as it progressively escalated with time. My mom worked overnights at children's hospital, while my father was supposed to be watching me and my sisters.

My favourite film Essay

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), poet, playwright, novelist, philosopher, composer, painter, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, was the towering figure of the Bengali Renaissance. Among his lasting achievements was the founding in 1921 of his â€Å"world university,† Visva-Bharati, at Santiniketan, some 120 miles north of Kolkata. In 1940, the nineteen-year-old Satyajit Ray enrolled there to study arts. Ray’s father, Sukumar—who died when his son was two—had been a close friend of Tagore’s. But by the time Ray arrived at Santiniketan, the Nobel Laureate had only a year to live, and the young student saw little of him, feeling daunted by his venerable status. Nonetheless, Ray always retained a deep regard for Tagore’s work, and when, in 1948, he was planning a career in the cinema, he collaborated with a friend on a screen adaptation of one of Tagore’s novels, Ghare baire (The Home and the World). The project fell through, and some years later, rereading the script, Ray found it â€Å"an amateurish, Hollywoodish effort which would have ruined our reputation and put an end to whatever thoughts I might have had about a film career. see more:essay on favourite movie † (Ray eventually did film the novel, from a totally new script, in 1984. ) In 1961, now internationally established as a director, with The Apu Trilogy, The Music Room (1958), and Devi (1960) to his credit, Ray returned to Tagore, filming three of his stories as Three Daughters (Teen kanya) and a documentary, Rabindranath Tagore, to celebrate the centenary of the great man’s birth. Ray described the latter film, an official tribute to India’s national poet, as â€Å"a backbreaking chore. † But there wasn’t the least sense of a chore about Ray’s next engagement with Tagore’s work. Charulata (1964), often rated the director’s finest film—and the one that, when pressed, he would name as his own personal favorite: â€Å"It’s the one with the fewest flaws†Ã¢â‚¬â€is adapted from Tagore’s 1901 novella Nastanirh (The Broken Nest). It’s widely believed that the story was inspired by Tagore’s relationship with his sister-in-law, Kadambari Devi, who committed suicide in 1884 for reasons that have never been fully explained. Kadambari, like Charulata, was beautiful, intelligent, and a gifted writer, and toward the end of his life, Tagore admitted that the hundreds of haunting portraits of women that he painted in his later years were inspired by memories of her. Right from the outset of his career, with Pather panchali (1955), Ray had shown himself to be exceptionally skilled at conveying a whole world within a microcosm, focusing in on a small social group while still relating it to the wider picture. Virtually all of his finest films—The Apu Trilogy, The Music Room, Days and Nights in the Forest (1969), Distant Thunder (1973), The Middleman (1975)—achieve this double perspective. But of all his chamber dramas, Charulata is perhaps the subtlest and most delicate. The setting, as with so many of Ray’s movies, is his native Kolkata. It’s around 1880, and the intellectual ferment of the Bengali Renaissance is at its height. Among the educated middle classes, there’s talk of self-determination for India within the British Empire—perhaps even complete independence. Such ideas are often aired in the Sentinel, the liberal English-language weekly of which Bhupatinath Dutta (Shailen Mukherjee) is the owner and editor. A kindly man, but distracted by his all-absorbing political interests, he largely leaves his wife, the graceful and intelligent Charulata (Madhabi Mukherjee), to her own resources. The visual elegance and fluidity that Ray achieves in Charulata are immediately evident in the long, all-but-wordless sequence that follows the credits and shows us Charu, trapped in the stuffy, brocaded cage of her house, trying to amuse herself. (At this period, no respectable middle-class Bengali wife could venture out into the city alone. ) Having called to the servant to take Bhupati his tea, she leafs through a book lying on the bed, discards it, selects another from the bookshelf—then, hearing noises outside in the street, finds her opera glasses and flits birdlike from window to window, watching the passersby. A street musician with his monkey, a chanting group of porters trotting with a palanquin, a portly Brahman with his black umbrella, signifier of his dignified status—all these come under her scrutiny. When Bhupati wanders past, barely a couple of feet away but too engrossed in a book to notice her, she turns her glasses on him as well—just another strange specimen from the intriguing, unattainable outside world. Throughout this sequence, Ray’s camera unobtrusively follows Charu as she roams restlessly around the house, framing and reframing her in a series of spaces—doorways, corridors, pillared galleries—that emphasize both the Victorian-Bengali luxury of her surroundings and her confinement within them. Though subjective shots are largely reserved for Charu’s glimpses of street life, the tracking shots that mirror her progress along the gallery, or move in behind her shoulder as she glides from window to window, likewise give us the sense of sharing her comfortable but trammeled life. The only deviation from this pattern comes after she’s retrieved the opera glasses. A fast lateral track keeps the glasses in close-up as she holds them by her side and hurries back to the windows, the camera sharing her impulsive eagerness. Under the credits, we’ve seen Charu embroidering a wreathed B on a handkerchief as a gift for her husband. When she presents it to him, Bhupati is delighted but asks, â€Å"When do you find the time, Charu? † Evidently, it’s never occurred to him that she might feel herself at a loose end. But now, becoming vaguely aware of Charu’s discontent and fearing she may be lonely, he invites her ne’er-do-well brother Umapada and his wife, Mandakini, to stay, offering Umapada employment as manager of the Sentinel’s finances. Manda, a featherheaded chatterbox, proves poor company for her sister-in-law. Then Bhupati’s young cousin Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee) unexpectedly arrives for a visit. Lively, enthusiastic, cultured, an aspiring writer, he establishes an immediate rapport with Charu that on both sides drifts insensibly toward love. â€Å"Calm Without, Fire Within,† the title of Ray’s essay on the Japanese cinema, could apply equally well to Charulata (as the Bengali critic Chidananda Das Gupta has noted). The emotional turbulence that underlies the film is conveyed in hints and sidelong gestures, in a fleeting glance or a snatch of song, often betraying feelings only half recognized by the person experiencing them. In a key scene set in the sunlit garden (with more than a nod to Fragonard), Amal lies on his back on a mat, seeking inspiration, while Charu swings herself high above him, reveling in the ecstasy of her newfound intellectual and erotic stimulation. Ray, as the critic Robin Wood observed, â€Å"is one of the cinema’s great masters of interrelatedness. † This garden scene, which runs some ten minutes, finds Ray at his most intimately lyrical. It’s the first time the action has escaped from the house, and the sense of freedom and release is infectious. From internal evidence, it’s clear that the scene involves more than one occasion (Charu promises Amal a personally designed notebook for his writings, she presents it to him, he declares that he’s filled it), but it’s cut together to give the impression of a single, continuous event, a seamless emotional crescendo. Two moments in particular attain a level of rapt intensity rarely equaled in Ray’s work, both underscored by music. The first is when Charu, having just exhorted Amal to write, swings back and forth, singing softly; Ray’s camera swings with her, holding her face in close-up, for nearly a minute. Then, when Amal finds inspiration, we get a montage of the Bengali writing filling his notebook, line superimposed upon line in a series of cross-fades, while sitar and shehnai gently hail his creativity. In an article in Sight & Sound in 1982, Ray suggested that, to Western audiences, Charulata, with its triangle plot and Europeanized, Victorian ambience, might seem familiar territory, but that â€Å"beneath the veneer of familiarity, the film is chockablock with details to which [the Western viewer] has no access. Snatches of song, literary allusions, domestic details, an entire scene where Charu and her beloved Amal talk in alliterations . . . all give the film a density missed by the Western viewer in his preoccupation with plot, character, the moral and philosophical aspects of the story, and the apparent meaning of the images. † Among the details that might elude the average Western viewer are the recurrent allusions to the nineteenth-century novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838–94). A key figure of Bengali literature in the generation before Tagore, Bankim Chandra (sometimes referred to as â€Å"the Scott of Bengal†) wrote a series of romantic, nationalistic novels and actively fostered the young Tagore’s career. In the opening sequence, it’s one of Bankim Chandra’s novels that Charu takes down from the bookshelf, while singing his name to herself; and when, not long afterward, Amal makes his dramatic first entry, arriving damp-haired and windblown on the wings of a summer storm, he’s declaiming a well-known line of the writer’s. The coincidence points up the affinity between them; by contrast, when Bhupati recalls incredulously that a friend couldn’t sleep for three nights after reading a Bankim Chandra novel (â€Å"I told him, ‘You must be crazy! ’†), it emphasizes the empathetic gulf between him and his wife. Music, too, is used to express underlying sympathies: Both Charu and Amal are given to breaking spontaneously into song, and two of Tagore’s compositions act as leitmotifs. We hear the tune of one of them, â€Å"Mama cite† (â€Å"Who dances in my heart? †), played over the opening images, and Amal sings another, â€Å"Phule phule† (â€Å"Every bud and every blossom sways and nods in the gentle breeze†), that Charu later takes up in the garden scene as they grow ever closer emotionally. (Manda, who has observed the pair together in the garden, afterward slyly sings a line of this song to Amal. ) Ray weaves variations on both songs into his score. Another that Amal sings for Charu was composed by Tagore’s older brother Jyotirindranath, the husband of Kadambari Devi. The film’s underlying theme of pent-up emotions trembling on the verge of expression is counterpointed both on a political level—Bhupati and his friends see in the Liberal victory at Westminster in April 1880 the chance of greater self-determination for India—and in the situation of Charulata herself, a gifted, sensitive woman yearning toward emancipation but slipping unconsciously toward a betrayal of her husband. To Western eyes, all three members of the triangle might seem willfully obtuse or impossibly naive. This again would be a misapprehension born of unfamiliarity with Bengali society, where, as Ray pointed out, a husband’s younger brother—in this case, a close cousin, which is much the same in Bengali custom and terms—is traditionally entitled to a privileged relationship with his sister-in-law. This relationship, playfully flirtatious, â€Å"sweet but chaste,† between a wife and her debar, is accepted and even encouraged. Charu and Amal simply stray, half unknowingly, across an ill-defined social border. Ray was always known as a skilled and sympathetic director of actors. Saeed Jaffrey, who starred in The Chess Players (1977), bracketed him and John Huston as â€Å"gardener directors, who have selected the flowers, know exactly how much light and sun and water the flowers need, and then let them grow. † Soumitra Chatterjee, who made his screen debut when Ray cast him in the title role of the third film of The Apu Trilogy, The World of Apu (1959), gives perhaps the finest of his fifteen performances in Ray’s films as Amal—young, impulsive, a touch ridiculous in his irrepressible showing off, bursting with the joy of exploring life in its fullness after his release from the drab confines of a student hostel. He’s superbly matched by the graceful Madhabi Mukherjee as Charu, her expressive features alive with the ever-changing play of unaccustomed emotions that she scarcely knows how to identify, let alone deal with. She had starred in Ray’s previous film, The Big City (1963); he described her as â€Å"a wonderfully sensitive actress who made my work very easy for me. † The other three main actors had also appeared in The Big City, though in minor roles. Shailen Mukherjee, playing Bhupati, was principally a stage actor; this was his first major screen role. Despite his professed inexperience (Ray recalled him saying, â€Å"Manikda [Ray’s nickname], I know nothing about film acting. I’ll be your pupil, you teach me†), he succeeds in making Bhupati a thoroughly likable if remote figure, well-intentioned but far too idealistic and trusting for his own good. Gitali Roy’s occasional veiled glances hint that Mandakini isn’t, perhaps, quite as empty-headed as Charu supposes; she certainly isn’t above flirting with Amal on her own account. As her husband, Umapada, Shyamal Ghosal expresses with his whole body language his envy and resentment of Bhupati—signals that his brother-in-law of course completely fails to pick up on. Ray rarely used locations for interiors, preferring whenever possible to create them in the studio, though so subtly are the sets constructed and lit that we’re rarely aware of the artifice. Charulata includes few exterior scenes; almost all the action takes place in the lavishly furnished setting of Bhupati’s house. As always, Ray worked closely with his regular art director, Bansi Chandragupta, providing him with an exact layout of the rooms and detailed sketches of the main setups, and accompanying him on trips to the bazaars to find suitable furniture, decorations, and props. The result feels convincingly authentic, evoking a strong sense of period and of a class that ordered their lives, as critic Penelope Houston has put it, by â€Å"a conscious compromise between Eastern grace and Western decorum. † Though he readily acknowledged the contributions of his collaborators, Ray came as close as any director within mainstream cinema to being a complete auteur. Besides scripting, storyboarding, casting, and directing his films, he composed the scores (from Three Daughters on) and even designed the credit titles and publicity posters. Starting with Charulata, he took control of yet another filmmaking function by operating his own camera. â€Å"I realized,† he explained, â€Å"that working with new actors, they are more confident if they don’t see me; they are less tense. I remain behind the camera. And I see better and get the exact frame. † Charulata was the best received of all Ray’s films to date, both in Bengal and abroad. In Bengal, it was generally agreed that he had done full justice to the revered Tagore—even if some people still harbored reservations about the implicitly adulterous subject matter. After seeing the film at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear for best director, Richard Roud noted that it was â€Å"distinguished by a degree of technical invention that one hasn’t encountered before in Ray’s films,† but that â€Å"all the same, it is not for his technique that one admires Ray so much: no enumeration of gems of mise-en-scene would convey the richness of characterization and that breathless grace and radiance he manages to draw from his actors. † From its lyrical high point in the garden scene, the mood of Charulata gradually if imperceptibly darkens, moving toward emotional conflict and, eventually, desolation—a process reflected in the restriction of camera movement and in the lighting, which grows more shadowy and somber as Bhupati sees his trust betrayed and Charu realizes what she’s lost. Inspired, as he readily admitted, by the final shot of Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, Ray ends the film on a freeze-frame—or rather, a series of freeze-frames. Two hands, Charu’s and Bhupati’s, reaching tentatively out to each other, close but not yet joined. Ray’s tanpura score rises in a plangent crescendo. On the screen appears the title of Tagore’s story: â€Å"The Broken Nest. † Irretrievably broken? Ray, subtle and unprescriptive as ever, leaves that for us to decide.

IKEA Brand Scorecard Final Essay

Introduction The brandscore card is an essential element used to evaluate the overall equity of a brand. The scorecard is an effective way to asses the unmet needs of the brands customers, it enables the brand to stay relevant and effective in the marketplace in a methodological manner. The scorecard should be able to fill any gaps that have developed within the brand’s approach to management and its strategic direction, as well as developing and maintaining a functional management system that can grow as the brand grows, while remaining comprehensive and completely brand relevant. (Kaplan and Norton, n.d.) In terms of evaluating the current situation of a brand, a brand scorecard enforces a successful management plan by directly addressing what is at the core of the brand. It allows for the brand managers to objectively rate their brand against their own set of standards, based on their strategy. Brand Planning 1 IKEA’s Mission & Vision In order to create a viable scorecard to measure against the IKEA Brand against, it is important to define exactly what the vision and the mission of the IKEA Brand is and if they honour their vision and mission. According to IKEA’s business concept , â€Å"At IKEA our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them†(Ikea.com, 2014). From their own definition of what their vision is it can be said that they aim to vastly improve the quality of the lives of people who are in a lower income bracket, whilst still maintaining a certain level of product superiority and status. The IKEA brands vision is to use the concepts of conservation and minimalism to their full potential, by focusing on the effectiveness of simplicity and the functionality of each product rather then purely the aesthetical components. The price of each IKEA product makes a large part of what their brand vision entails, â€Å"Low prices are the cornerstone of the IKEA vision†(Ikea.com, 2014). By using their low prices as the foundation of their brands vision, Ikea fulfils a widespread and need for product availability. 2 Potential Goals In line with the Ikea vision there will always be consumers in need of their products. By following their current goals such as: Keeping prices low – at design phase, there are strict product requirements which need to be met in terms of function, efficient distribution, quality and impact on the environment. A certain level of quality is always maintained – by using effective negotiation skills and carrying out rigorous quality control evaluations on their materials. Awareness and measurement of their brand environmental impact – Ikea are transparent in their approach to choosing suppliers and using sustainable materials that can be recycled and renewed as well as monitoring and controlling a high standard of their social and working conditions. Consumer friendly product – throughout the supply chain, Ikea is true to their environmentally friendly approach from raw materials all the way to the end user. Reduce carbon emissions – IKEA gave 9000 bycicles to their employees as well as subsidized their employees’ fairs to work. This increases healthy living for their employees and reduces carbon emissions. They also designed their water cans to stack on top of each other neatly, reducing the amount of trips it would take to transport them to the stores. Maintain existing stakeholder relationships – Ikeas ensures that the communication lines between suppliers, manufacturers and of their  stakeholders are clear and concise according to both their vision and mission. In order to access the potential goals of the Ikea Brand, it is necessary to consider the following statement â€Å"It’s not difficult to manufacture expensive fine furniture: just spend the money and let the customers pay. To manufacture beautiful, durable furniture at low prices is not so easy – it requires a different approach. It is all about finding simple solutions and saving on every method, process or approach adopted – but not on ideas.† (Ikea.com, 2014). We have identified two potential goals for Ikea: Simplistic Assembly Process – their assembling instructions are crafted so that consumer can easily interpret the instructions in a straightforward manor resulting in easy product assembly. Bettering current environmental impact – ensuring that they maintain their current best practice with specific reference to their means of distribution and manufacturing, by making sure that they are highly aware of the environmental impact of the resulting increased traffic that may occur from erecting stores. 3 Corporate Objectives To produce cheap and affordable product for the public and their customers To provide a better life for those who cannot afford expensive products To ensure that their customers find what they are looking for in their stores. To provide low prices without compromising on quality 4 Situational Analysis 4.1 Macro: Economical – High profits, high growth and good profit margins has contributed to the retail market. Social – IKEA have formed partnerships with WWF and UNICEF in order to educate others to be aware of child labor and destroying forests. Technological –IKEA have use excellent recycling methods and also encourage their stakeholders to use technology to their advantage in terms of efficiency. Environmental – IKEA have implemented regular measurement tools and inspection to monitor all noise, water, air pollution such as the â€Å"E-Wheel† (IKEA, the Times 100) Legal – IKEA has in store terms and conditions and abide by industry best practice in the suppliers that they choose to work with and the standards that they demand on manufacturers in terms of the law. 1.2. Market The market – 43 manufacturing units in 12 countries. The Chinese market has almost doubled due to large urbanization needs. (Li Fangfang, China Daily USA, 29 August 2013). IKEA has almost 300 stores in 36 countries and 42 distribution centres in 18 countries and over 1000 suppliers. (National Geographic, 2013, n.d) Competitors – IKEA’s main competitors are: Wal-Mart Stores, Ashley furniture industries, Howden joinery group. IKEA have the competitive advantage because they have researched where to find the best resources, they have developed the latest technologies in manufacturing, they have encouraged their suppliers to use the latest in research and development and the have built sustainable relationships with their stakeholders. Consumers – IKEA has a wide spread target market as they have such a vast variety of products that are trendy and extremely affordable. It appeals to those wanting the latest styles but also to the market that cannot afford costly furniture. Location – IKEAS stores are generally located just outside of the main town due to their stores being so large. 4.3 Micro – SWOT Analysis Strengths: Powerful Brand Image Wide range of products & Styles Funky up & up-to-date Swedish designs Cheap & Affordable Able to assemble your own furniture One stop shop Friendly atmosphere and layout of their stores They have restaurants and day care Strong global sourcing Weaknesses: Assembling furniture yourself may not appeal to certain clusters of consumers Not too many stores across the globe For those looking for a quick shopping experience, the store might be unappealing IKEA Swedish designs could limit their target market Quality of furniture is not built to be life long Opportunities Untapped Markets (Africa) Make consumers more aware of IKEA Open high end stores or smaller express stores Create more online store presence Threats Increasingly competitive pricing Social trends such as a slow down in first time home owner buyers Economic factors such as less spending power due to recession effects 5 Key Issues Quality of Products – some products may vary in quality from country to country. Things such as a countries standards for manufacturing may not be as high compared to another country and therefore the end product could be different. Size of organisation – if there are any changes implemented to IKEA’s strategy or operations, it is difficult to roll out to their entire organisation as they are so massive. Differentiation – with the current  economic climate, many furniture stores are producing low cost furniture but may not have the same sustainable values as IKEA. This makes it challenging for IKEA to keep their costs low as well as try and differentiate themselves from their competitors. Spending Power – The economic recession has hit consumers hard and therefore they have less spending power which has lowered expenditure on goods such as furniture. 6 Assumptions The Ikea brand assumptions are based upon their established and successful financial revenues: The Brand has remained current, both socially and culturally. The brand is empathetic and touches the consumers on an emotional level. There is a considered environmental plan that the brand is aware of in all of its practises. The brand focuses on upholding ethical business practises, it is transparent. 7 Segmentation, targeting and Positioning IKEA targets young and fashionable people as its main consumers; in particular those love modern furniture and accessories. Therefore, its products are more colourful and novel. In addition, IKE fixes the products’ prices at a lower level, which is quite attracting for the average consumers, such as white-collars. IKEA mainly target the younger market who like innovative products. 8 Brand objectives To increase market share in news segments such as Africa, Asia and South America. The benefits of this would be increased profits, brand awareness and increased market share. Reduce costs to appeal more to their intended target market in order to increase market share. One way in which IKEA are trying to cut costs is by 9 Strategies and plans IKEA plans â‚ ¬1.5bn investment in wind and solar energy through to 2015 as part of new sustainability strategy in order to be completely independent from using energy and resources. This will protect their consumer from price spikes and their own organization from fluctuating resource and energy prices. IKEA plan to become an energy exporter with their renewable energy.  IKEA has dedicated and committed themselves to making sure that delivery trucks are at least 60 to 70 per cent full. They will replace 1.2 million light sources in stores with low energy consumption LEDs, as well as only sell LED lights in their stores from 2016. (Will Nichols, BusinessGreen, part of the Guardian Environment Network theguardian.com, Tuesday 23 October 2012) 10 Communication Objectives To develop better communication and integration strategies so that IKEA has the same brand quality through their organisation internationally. 11 Task Budget The Ikea brand focuses on their project management, employee management and their resource management processes by directing all employees in a positive manner, â€Å"IKEA co-workers enjoy many advantages and opportunities from working in such a free and open environment – but all freedoms are counter-balanced with expectations. For example, the expectation that each co-worker is able to assume responsibility for his or her own actions. Although on the surface it is evident that we have a lot of fun together working at IKEA, at the same time all are expected to be very hardworking and conscientious. Here are some more examples to illustrate give and take, IKEA style.† (Ikea.com, 2014) By ensuring this positive management style they are able to entrust their business objectives to the right employees. Each task is managed and set according to specific and expected outcomes. The tasks and objectives can be achieved through their smart brand management and budgeting correctly. 1 – The IKEA brand makes a point of acknowledging its brand history and the various ways that it has left a brand footprint within its brand environment. There are however inconsistencies between what the employees think of the brand and what the consumers think of the brand. It can be recommended that the employee engagement efforts transcends into the appropriate marketing strategies targeted to the consumer. By doing so there will be a far more holistic brand perception. 2- The IKEA brand is targeted at a lower income bracket and it does this successfully by continuously seeking to source affordable and quality suppliers. The importance of continuously having their correct target market in mind is always a census thought in the mind of the brand managers. 3- The IKEA brand strictly sticks to their current corporate identity, all the brand collateral is consistent, they make a point of doing all marketing on an international level. However they must be couscous of their various contact points ( mainly at the smaller branches) as these are sometimes overlooked. 4 – IKEA is able to deliver a consistent product, there are various return policies in place that allows the consumer the ability to deal with any product issues in a simply and easy manner. 5 – IKEA is responsible towards all its stakeholders, it maintains the relationships by using proactive objectives to direct all of its future  interactions. The brand can improve its equity by reinforcing the current brand image internally, engaging with all the levels of employees. 6 – IKEA offers products that are appropriate to their brand visions, they better the lives of the consumers. 7 – IKEA offers various and innovation products. The brand should continue with their irreverent approach to innovation. 8 – IKEA has a pricing strategy that is unarguably inline with their brand identity. The pricing strategy has set a ideal brand expectation to the IKEA consumer, It is however of utmost importance that IKEA is alway consistent in terms of pricing. 9 – IKEA is aware of and involved with every product that they product, each is treated as potential development and there is no apparent product hierarchy. 10 – The IKEA brand is a green focused brand throughout its entire supply chain, it upholds a impeccable environmental process. However there is room for improvement within their distribution sector. References Businesscasestudies.co.uk, (2014). Introduction – Building a sustainable supply chain – IKEA | IKEA case studies and information | Business Case Studies. [online] Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/ikea/building-a-sustainable-supply-chain/introduction.html#axzz3BWC79qBb [Accessed 24 Aug. 2014]. Ikea.com, (2014). Our business idea – IKEA. [online] Available at: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_SG/about_ikea/our_business_idea/index.html [Accessed 24 Aug. 2014]. Ikea.com, (2014). Our low prices – IKEA. [online] Available at: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_SG/about_ikea/the_ikea_way/our_business_idea/our_low_prices.html [Accessed 25 Aug. 2014]. Kaplan, R. and Norton, D. (n.d.). The balanced scorecard. 1st ed. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/the-critical-issues-faced-by-ikea-marketing-essay.php Will Nichols for BusinessGreen, part of the Guardian Environment Network theguardian.com, Tuesday 23 October 2012 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2013-08/29/content_16929111.htm http://money.howstuffworks.com/ikea4.htm (National Geographic, 2013, n.d, http://www.natgeotv.com/ca/megafactories/ikea-facts) Essays, UK. (November 2013). An Analysis Of Market Segmentation Of Ikea And Bandq Marketing Essay. Retrieved from http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/an-analysis-of-market-segmentation-of-ikea-and-bandq-marketing-essay.php?cref=1 Essays, UK. (November 2013). Competitive Advantage And Problems Faced By Ikea Marketing Essay. Retrieved from http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/competitive-advantage-and-problems-faced-by-ikea-marketing-essay.php?cref=1

Literature Survey on Implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literature Survey on Implementation - Essay Example This volume intends to survey the means and insights in sending a wake-up call that moved the general observation and that goes beyond simple examination. On realization of a widening gap between the conception and implementation of policies, Mazmanian, Daniel, Paul (125) initiated a wave of critics in response to the noted political irresponsibility. In his book, Bardarch (55) imprints a deep message that sort to effect more congruence within the public policy processes to consequently ensure that the legislated actions and policies intentions were carried out in actual sense and in reality. They wrote their books based on the relevance basing their sentiments to the ongoing discussions and debates about the credibility of the government to challenge the true democratic reorganization (Mazmanian, Daniel, Paul, 124). The work is very relevant and extends a helping hand to assist in the much-needed debate concerning the administrative underpinning of the governance, which came at a time of the fall of the unresponsive, and unaccountable government had yet not found any lasting solution for public management. One cannot fail to note the compelling effect and clarity of vision they all bring to the issue. In their book, Pressman, Jeffrey, and Aaron (70) presents a picture the general society would not admire. The book is not optimistic at all; as the theme course along the concept of â€Å"declare it done and it will be done† method of central control that is mostly satisfied in just having a good policy or a great legislation without giving much regard to the means by which is will get executed. Denhardt (22) employs powerful stands and perspectives to develop and create a ground to consider critically the issue of implementation. As of today, he takes the task of redefining the study of the structure of administration in relation to public policy. He offers a detailed and refined examination of the vital elements about both the potential for success and

Second Industrial Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Second Industrial Revolution - Essay Example The first industrial revolution was brought about when the entire mode of work was revolutionized, with workers shifting massively from the agricultural fields to hard-core machine-equipped industrial units. People gave up agricultural labour and joined factories, because of which manufacturing became the major industry, especially in the United States. This led to the dwindling of the agriculture and farming sector. Machinery came to occupy an important position in man's life and everything began to get mechanized. The textile mills were the first to face this mechanization, which eventually spread to other industrial sectors as well. In addition to this, the invention of the steam engine revolutionized transportation and infrastructure. The first industrial revolution enhanced job opportunities and helped in doing away with unemployment to a large extent. It led to the rise of the middle class, which consisted of industrialists and entrepreneurs over the nobility and gentry. It also led to the betterment of the working class, who found a voice. However, what remained a sad state, was the working condition. The conditions of work remained akin to the pre-Industrial era, with long working hours, child labour and the like. People's lives changed dramatically and more stress was being laid on organisations, factory units and businesses. This is when the entire perception of earning a livelihood altered drastically. Thus, the first phase of t he industrial revolution was definitely an improvement over the already existent conditions of living. However, it gave rise to the second industrial revolution, which had far-reaching effects.The second industrial revolution came about, when people started concentrating more on the services, rather than manufacturing per se. The invention of electricity, the growth of railways, and other such details. This period, between 1865 to 1900 was marked by a change in the set-up of organisations and workplaces, that became quite different. This paradigm shift changed the equations once again and set the pace for a totally different kind of work system and environment. The rise of white-collar jobs and professionals and the catering to demand as per the demands of a country 's economic disposition was seen. In addition to this, there was a general form of unemployment, with urban industrial workers taking the main seat. The organisations came to be characterised by a strong working class. For instance, the growth of labour unions and the laying down fo strong principles on the conditions of work, the voicing of opinions and the unification of