Ruscha Formalist analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ruscha Formalist analysis - Essay Example The logo is coloured in red and orange tones, deferring to realistic lighting effects and shade variations as the colours appear slightly muted towards what is presented as being the logo's foreground. But other elements of the work are strangely inconsistent, perhaps in the interests of theoretical allusion, with what would be expected if the scene were viewed in reality. The eight yellow spotlights inter-crossing each other behind the logo are traditionally seen - when the logo is depicted before movies or on television - to penetrate, cross over and intermingle with the sturdy commercial monolith. In Ruscha's depiction, however, they are shown as being unable to penetrate the white opaque light source that projects the wording, and instead are partially blocked by its presence. The spotlights - supposedly for the purpose of illuminating desired features and drawing the attention of spectators - are feeble in comparison to the generating light force behind the imposing logo. Intrinsic within the marketing insignia itself seems to be an otherworldly, ethereal body of light - white and pure and absolute, while the accompanying spotlights possess a yellow, opacity that fails to lighten the nightscape, nor impinge upon the density of the red/orange hues of the logo. The juxtaposition seems to assert a difference between what is real, what is not real and what is contrived - what is genuine, and what is manufactured - positioned against the backdrop of the movie industry and its many illusions. Stylistically, Ruscha has adopted a rigid assemblage style without mergers - a compositional approach that adds to the artwork's impact with its clear lines and sure geometric delineations. Ruscha - Psychoanalytic analysis Ed Ruscha's Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights (1962) may at first appear to be a cultural snapshot of a piece of recognised movie industry iconography. But within this seemingly simple representation of a familiar symbol lie a plethora of contextualised meaning, sub-meanings and allusions.Within Lacanian psycho-analytic theory, the power of images as vehicles for multiple meaning is central to understanding the creative impulse. According to Kelly Oliver (177):"Lacan establishes a parallel between the figures of metaphor (the substitution ofone term for another, as in 'Juliet is the sun') and metonymy (the substitution of thewhole for the part, and the contiguous relations between chains of signifiers).These are described as the two main axes of language, and they are likened tocondensation and displacement (respectively the condensation of multiplemeanings into a single dream image, and the transfer of libido from one image toanother) . .In other words, for Lacan, the unconscio us is structured like alanguage." Within a Lacanian understanding - Trademark is a potent image reflecting a group consciousness that is interconnected with our own individual identities - and subsequently merging the

On the book Burr by Vidal Gore Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

On the book Burr by Vidal Gore - Essay Example mellow down in his usual satiric stance, this being a historical novel, an exposition of the political events that unfolded a few decades after the American Revolution. If the latter, consumed so much passion, turbulence, physical energy and liters of gore spilled, we expect a subsidence, a quieting down and pacification in the decades following. In †Burr†, we’re in for a big surprise for there was turbulence and passions galore beside the rampant jockeying for positions and power, intrigues, scandals and hypocrisy. Gore Vidal was still in his element here still witty, bitchy and sardonic. But what sets â€Å"Burr† apart is the rampant iconoclasm. Gore Vidal’s guns were trained not only to traditional political institutions but to American ‘greats’ such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, James Madison and Martin Van Buren, who happened to be rumored here as Burr’s bastard son. Irreverent and sas sy, practically no one was spared here as Vidal cannot be stopped from unmasking the weaknesses and follies of revered heroes. Vidal’s interpretation of early American history, was therefore on the dark side. This interpretation was best expressed when Vidal put the following words in Burr’s mouth i.e. â€Å"Between the dishonest canting of Jefferson and the egotism of Hamilton, this state had been no live in a good world† ( Vidal 156). Vidal postulated that in this era the new nation still had to grope for stability; to organize things that were still in disarray; and had to strengthen its newly acquired independence and institutions. The Constitution, the legal system and the system of a 3-powered government desperately begged for amendments and rectifications as these were far from ideal and were subject to abuse. Vidal exposed the absence of the separation of powers among the judiciary, the executive and the legislative departments. That was why, President Jefferson was able to actively pursue the

Company risk management analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Company risk management analysis - Assignment Example A year later in 1988 Vodafone was listed on the stock exchange. After three years in 1991, Vodafone separated from Racal Electronics and since that time, it was quoted as Vodafone in the stock exchange. In 1999, Vodafone merged with AirTouch Communication producing one company known as Vodafone Airtouch plc. The dawn of the twenty-first century saw greater developments for Vodafone Plc as it introduced Vodafone Live! in 2002 and went on to commercially launch its 3G services in Europe. A year later in 2005 the company launched a fixed mobile convergence product in Germany called Zuhause and acquired controlling interests on Hutchison Essar Limited in India. Since 2007, the company has been involved in a number of acquisitions and partnerships in Europe, Asia and Africa. Currently, Vodafone holds a market leadership position as the largest mobile carrier in terms of subscriber base. Vodafone’s Business Model Business models are very important for the existence of every business enterprise (Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Ricart 2011). Models give a business a sense of direction and purpose (Chesbrough 2010) and basically define what the business is all about, what it seeks to achieve and the steps it will take to achieve the outcomes (Osterwalder and Pigneur 2010). The business model of Vodafone Plc is quite simple; it consists of five steps with the shareholder in between. The first element in the model consists of Assets; these include networks, supplier relationships, distribution, people, and brand (Vodafone 2013). Vodafone aims to have a great mobile network in all of the markets in which it operates. This mainly involves providing their customers with far-reaching coverage, reliable mobile connections, and increasing speeds and data capacity. Figure 1: Vodafone’s Business Model (Source: Vodafone 2013) Vodafone plc indicates in its annual report (2013) that it combines ongoing high level of network investment with a commitment to securing the b est possible portfolio of the spectrum. The next asset for Vodafone is people; the company has a highly skilled, motivated and diverse workforce. Vodafone expects its employees to be key in advocating for its products and services. Distribution is the other asset owned by Vodafone; the company reaches its customers through the over 15 thousand stores it owns as well as through a broad network of exclusive distribution partners and third-party retailers. According to Vodafone (2013), the Internet is becoming an increasingly important channel for distribution. The fourth item is the brand; Vodafone is ranked as one of the first most valuable telecoms brands in the world being worth over US$27 billion. This brand strength is one of the major drivers of purchasing decisions for consumers and enterprise customers. The final asset listed by Vodafone is its supplier relationships, the company has a large-scale global reach and is a key strategic partner with a large number of suppliers wit h whom it works together to develop innovative services and offer many new innovations. The next element in Vodafone’s business model is it its customers. According to Vodafone (2013), the company boasts over 404 million customers globally making it one of the biggest mobile operators in the world. The ranges of its customer

A framework for knowledge based educational decision support system Literature review

A framework for knowledge based educational decision support system - Literature review Example In the modern world of technological development and growing need of easy maintenance of data Knowledge base system are in huge demand. The systems based on Knowledge base are known as Knowledge base system.It mainly comprises of storing, organizing and the retrieval of data in an efficient way. This gives an insight of the relations, patterns and the principles behind certain decisions taken in a practical manner through proper understanding. This system can also be applied in Educational Decision Support System (EDSS) for an easy decision taking procedure in the educational institute and normalizing the procedure for management of institutional admissions. Background of knowledge based educational decision support system Knowledge based decision support system is mainly concerned with taking decision in critical situation which are mainly done by skilled personnel on a specific domain. The success of such a system is mainly dependent on the knowledge it comprises of in the system w hich can generalize the variation in the decision of the management through a computerized way provided on time (CEBE, 2006, p. 1). But as stated by the author it is not about taking decision for the user rather it is just providing access to the database of information which will help the user in taking decision regarding an issue which might arise in the process. In educational institutes the process of admission is a difficult task for the management to handle due to the variation in the educational backgrounds of the students applying for different courses of the institutes and abiding by the policies of the institution, the management not always takes the right decision in the selection process resulting in the difficulty in managing the enrollment process for the higher education. This gave rise to the requirement of the relational database management system of the educational statistics of different universities, campuses, schools; faculty members etc. under a centralized dat abase for an easy access to the entire information at one place and establish a department of statistics for the planning process. To achieve an effective decision making process the personnel need to understand the basics of the process and past experience on same type of situation is an important tool for an efficient and feasible outcome of the problems (Pheng, 2005, p. 2). Need of educational decision support system The admission procedures of different countries in the word are not the same way everywhere. These variations in the admission procedure give rise to the need of standardization of the process to help students for a proper evaluation and understanding of their knowledge and skills. There are various problems which arise due to these variations resulting in the need of an efficient educational decision support system (EDSS). These differences can be described as follows- The huge demand in higher education in this modern world needs a proper implementation process for the specific major subject selection for the students according to their merits and credibility. The social impact of the family plays a vital role in the selection process of the students but proper selection is required based on merits rather than influence from family. The evaluation process of students in several countries like Saudi Arabia adds an extra overhead for the students and they lose unnecessarily one year in their career for the selection process in their eligible courses. The government and the private university difference in selecting the major based on the financial capabilities need a process of standardization of the whole system. According to UNESCO, various countries like Saudi Arabia are facing challenges from the growing need of improving the quality and

The Effects of Metformin on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Term Paper

The Effects of Metformin on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome - Term Paper Example Center of discussion in this paper is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) that actually indicates the presence of multiple cysts in the ovaries of certain women. This naturally impedes the normal ovarian function and also gives rise to a number of associated conditions in the physiology of such women. The presence of PCOS also induces the patients to develop diabetes mellitus. Metformin has been recognized as an effective medication for PCOS patients. There are a host of genetic, physiological and environmental factors behind the presence of PCOS in women. It has become a very common gynecological condition in most modern women. In the earlier days, physicians used the traditional method in the treatment of PCOS. This method consisted of suppressing the normal ovarian function of the patients with the help of a number of medicines. Oral contraceptives, progestins and GnRH agonists were prescribed to the patients to improve their physiological functioning. In recent times, the treatmen t of PCOS has veered towards the insulin sensitivity based treatment of the disease. Metformin is one such insulin sensitizing agent which mainly aims at reducing the insulin level of PCOS patients and thus generates beneficial effects to deal with their other medical conditions. It has gradually come to be accepted as an integral part of the modern nursing care. The review of the literature first endeavors to understand the emergence and complexity of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome reflecting on the factors which have made the disease more complex in nature. Secondly, it cites the various conventional approaches, pharmacological and non –pharmacological, which have been used in the past in an attempt to curb the incidence of the disease and assesses the efficacy of each. Finally, it focuses on the use of Metformin in the treatment of the disease, outlining the advantages and disadvantages associated with its use in treating Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in cases of pregnancy as w ell as in normal cases. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome PCOS should not in itself be properly described as a disease. Rather, it is observed as a combination of different symptoms, which in turn reflects various ailments. Radosh (2009) observed that Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is more complex during the reproductive stage of a women’s life. Multiple ‘cysts’ is one of the hallmark of PCOS. The emergence of ovarian cysts is due to the result of hormonal imbalances between the pituitary and ovarian organs. During the reproductive period, women affected by PCOS tend to have a plethora of problems. These include consecutive miscarriages, inability to conceive, extreme obesity, excessive hair on the body, face and chest, and prolonged menstruation. The existence of PCOS in women is increasingly linked to metabolic dysfunction leading to severe diabetic and cardio-vascular complications. It is further observed that the effect of such complications can give rise to excessive mental stress and loss of self – esteem (Radish, 2009). Age Groups Affected by PCOS PCOS affects the female population both in the younger and later years. Ushiroyama, Hosotani, Mori, Yamashita, Ikeda and Ueki(2006) observed that PCOS starts at a young age, revealing hormonal abnormality through symptoms such as menstrual

Importance of Measuring and Managing Performance Essay Example for Free

Importance of Measuring and Managing Performance Essay It is very important to measure and manage employee performance at Leyton Sixth Form College. The consequences if they don’t manage performance is that teachers won’t know whether they are progressing or not. Whether they’re way of teaching is effective or not. It is important for new employees to assess their performance so that management can make judgements on measuring performance will enable teachers to know where they stand and have a clear view on what skills they need to improve on. Motivation is important in LSC because it gets the employee to work as hard as possible. t helps push employees to achieve targets set. By identifying areas where an employee may be losing his colleagues, a personal development plan can be put in place. Similarly, if a negative trend is seen among a number of employees, company controls and procedures can be evaluated to address these problems at a general level. Measuring and managing performance helps LSC look at employee progress to see whether they are achieving all their targets. Also the importance of managing performance is to give good motivation for employees to work hard since they are being evaluated. LSC do an employee evaluation that gives teachers constructive criticism and an idea on what they need to work on and what they doing a good job on. Measuring performance benefit LSC as they reveal the good and bad aspects of a given job. They improve the relationships and moral within the organisation. Another important matter is that measuring and managing performance helps improve the performance of individuals to ultimately improve the efficiency and productivity of the company. Which in LSC case is the staff by doing performance developments and appraisals can help employees reach their full potentials.

Hypocrisy: the attitude-behaviour discrepancy

Hypocrisy: the attitude-behaviour discrepancy There are possibly no better examples of attitude-behaviour paradoxes than those of British politics: Diane Abbot, a Labour MP and avid socialist campaigner (who criticized Harriet Harman and Tony Blair for sending their children to selective state schools), created controversy when she sent her son to the private City of London School (Swift, 2003). Her actions did not correspond with her expressed attitudes; Diane was acting hypocritically. In general an attitude is defined as an overall evaluation of an object that is based on cognitive, affective and behavioural information (Maio Haddock, 2010, p. 4). Such attitudes can relate to abstract concepts (such as socialism) or concrete objects. An attitude is constructed of three distinct components; judgements of a cognitive, behavioural and affective nature (Breckler, 1984). Attitudes play a significant role in human cognition; particularly in attention (Holbrook, Berent, Krosnick, Visser, Boninger, 2005; Roskos-Ewoldsen Fazio, 1992), interpretation (Vallone, Ross, Lepper, 1985) and memory (Eagly, Chen, Chaiken, Shaw-Barnes, 1999). Attitudes influence information processing and therefore manipulate our subjective construct of reality. With attitudes conveying such influence over cognition we would expect their effects to be expressed behaviourally. However, despite such cognitive influences, attitudes are not always congruent with behaviour. A clear example of this was illustrated by Richard LaPiere (1934): Whilst travelling America with two Chinese individuals, in a time of heightened racial prejudice against Asians, LaPiere noted all 251 establishments they visited. Despite the current prejudice against Asians only 1 of 251 (0.004%) establishments refused service. However, six months later, when LaPiere sent questionnaires to the establishments 91% of 128 respondents claimed they would not accept Chinese patrons. The symbolic attitudes expressed in the questionnaire did not reflect the concrete behavioural actions. Such a counter-intuitive result prompted research in this area; in a review of 33 studies Wicker (1969) found the average attitude-behaviour correlations to be .15 (rarely exceeding .30, accounting for just 10% of variance). Such a low correlation led Wicker to suggest the rejection of the attitude concept. Yet for certain behaviours a strong attitude-behaviour link can be established. For example, Fazio and Williams (1986) found a strong correlation (r(121) = .782) in predicting individuals voting behaviour. In a more recent review, Sheeran and Taylor (1999) found a strong attitude-behaviour correlation (r+ = .45) in relation to condom usage; far exceeding Wickers (1969) analysis. Such inconsistencies illustrate the numerous complex processes that mediate the attitude-behaviour link. Subsequently, research turned to explaining under what conditions attitudes become action. Individual Differences Our behaviour is undoubtedly the product of thought and our thought processes can differ phenomenally from person to person (Cacioppo, Petty, Kao, Rodriguez, 1986). Thus, individual and cultural differences have been offered as an explanation to attitude-behaviour inconsistencies. Schwartz (1973) investigated the role of self-responsibility on the mediation of the attitude-behaviour link. The participants were measured for both their attitudes and the degree to which they assigned responsibility to themselves (to donate bone marrow). Schwartz (1973) found those high in self-responsibility ascription acted far more attitude consistently (r=.44) than those of low responsibility (r=.01); a significant contrast (p The degree to which an individual self-monitors has also been proposed as an attitude-behaviour moderator (Snyder Tanke, 1976). Those high in self-monitoring are more behaviourally variable across situations, as they are more aware of their expected character in a given social context, so attitudes are often overridden by social norms. Low self-monitors remain stable across situations, relatively unaware of the social context, acting in line with their attitudes. In an experiment where participants were requested to write counter-attitudinal essays (Snyder Tanke, 1976); low self-monitors were found to have high attitude-behaviour correlations (r(10) = +.65, p A further individual difference in attitude-behaviour congruence is cognitive processing; weather individuals engage in effortful issue-relevant cognition or not (Cacioppo, Petty, Kao, Rodriguez, 1986). Cacioppo et al (1986), in relation to a presidential election, found high-cognition individuals to have stronger attitude behaviour correspondence (r(40)=.86) than those of low-cognition (r(41)=.41); such a comparison was significant (Z = 3.71, p Weather it is due to cognitive preference, the degree of self-monitoring or responsibility ascription individual differences in attitude-behaviour congruence are clear. Individual preference for attitude inaction can account for some variation, yet the situation itself can also provide a bias. Situations Influence The power of the situation has been illustrated by many studies (for example: Asch, 1955; Milgram, 1963), it is therefore unsurprising that the situation can exert influence over attitude-behaviour congruency. The public or private nature of an attitude can influence overt behaviour. Public behaviour, due to increased salience of social norms, will involve more normative influence than private behaviour. Froming, Walker and Lopyan (1982) investigated the role of self attitude salience (using a mirror) or public salience (using an audience) on the attitude-behaviour link. Participants were selected based on their negative views of punishment and subject to an electrical shock teacher/learner task (similar to that of Milgram, 1963). The experimenter manipulated self salience against public salience whilst measuring what level of shock the teachers administered to the learners. Those in the mirror condition (attitude consistent) shocked far less than the participants in the evaluative audience condition (attitude inconsistent): t(23) = 3.64, p The reality of an attitude can effect behavioural outcomes; a bias to act unrealistically in hypothetical situations (Brown, Ajzen, Hrubes, 2003). In a contingent valuation scenario Brown et al (2003) found participants to be 48% more likely to donate $8 in a hypothetical senario in comparison to a realistic situation; indicating that more salient beliefs are activated by concrete situations than by hypothetical situations. Aditionally, Ajzen, Brown, and Carvajal (2004) illustrated that hypothetical intension correlate more so (r(120) = .51) than real situations (r(120) = .39). Such a bias could apply to socialism (being a theoretical construct) yet not to a childs education (a concrete action). The salience of attitudes and the salience of situational norms can influence attitude-behaviour congruence. In a court case scenario Snyder and Swann (1976) found that if attitudes were not made salient there was very little correspondence (r(56) = .06 .07, ns), yet if attitudes were made salient (with a short paragraph of text highlighting the importance of ones own view) attitudes did significantly correspond with behaviour, r(28) = .58, p The role of affective (the emotions associated with an attitude) and cognitive (attributes and beliefs associated with an attitude) control on behavioural action varies between situations. These two categories can be activated separately, by making a category salient. Millar Tesser (1986) successfully manipulated behaviour by making affective or cognitive controls salient; those made cognitively salient enacted more instrumental behaviour, whereas those made affectively salient enacted consumatory behaviour, F(1,59) = 8.85, p Another emotive motivator is that of vested interest. Vested interest essentially means that the consequence of a decision will personally affect an individual. The more than an issue directly effects an individual, the more logical processing that will take place and the higher attitude-behaviour congruence will be (Sivacek Crano, 1982). Sivacek and Crano (1982) analysed attitude-behaviour congruence in relation to vested interest of a proposed alcohol drinking age limit. Unsurprisingly, those most affected by the change were more attitude consistent (r(39) = .30) and those unaffected were most inconsistent (r(18) = .16). As the future of your child is somewhat determined by education, parents would likely have significant vested interest in this decision. Therefore, behaviour should be attitude consistent. The influences of the situation are huge; be it through the nature of the situation (its publicity, reality, potential affects or emotionality) or the salience of attitudes activated, it undoubtedly plays a role in mediating attitude-behaviour correspondence. Modelling attitude-behaviour congruence With the many factors that influence attitude-behaviour congruence a unified model seems doubtful. However, Ajzens (1991) theory of planned behaviour has found significant empirical support. The model focuses on the behavioural intention as a mediator between attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control (see figure 1). The model claims an attitude is the interaction between the individuals expectation of a behavioural outcome and its desirability. The subjective norms component refers to the normative beliefs about a given behaviour, in interaction with the motivation (i.e. high/low self monitors) to comply with these norms. The final component, perceived behavioural control, refers to the individuals judgement of their own ability to perform the behavioural action. Ajzen, Brown, Carvajal (2004) have shown that intentions correlate strongly with behaviour (r=.57), as do attitudes (r=.31), subjective norms (r=.27) and perceived behavioural control (r=.45). Since LaPiere (1934) and Wicker (1969) suggested the rejection of attitudes, research has established specifically when attitudes do lead to action. When facing the problem Why a socialist parent would send their child to a private school? many of the situational and individual variables mentioned could apply. For example, deciding a childs future is likely to be classed as a private behaviour and so should be less biased by social norms and more attitude dependent (Froming, Walker, Lopyan, 1982). Incongruously, the reality of such a situation is likely to dampen behavioural expression of attitudes (Ajzen, T. Brown, Carvajal, 2004; T. Brown, Ajzen, Hrubes, 2003). It is impossible to isolate why any behaviour is enacted as there are too many conflicting variables; behaviour is the sum of these many variables. Perhaps the principle of aggregation is more suitable for linking attitudes to behaviour: As any given behaviour is unlikely to relate to a single attitude; rather many attitudes, situations factors and individual differences interact to produce behavioural action (Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein Ajzen, 1974). The human mind subconsciously factors a huge number of variables producing a seamlessly effortless conclusion; far too many variables to consciously disentangle. Figures Figure 1 Reproduced from Ajzen (1991) p.182