Art from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

The transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance reflects a time of great change in the way of life at the time. During the Middle Ages life was in constant turmoil and bleak. After the Fall of the fall of the Roman Empire Europe suffered a multitude of tragedies, such as the black plague, Viking attacks and looting, and barbarian invasions. Throughout these hardships, the glimmer of hope that people clung to was the church. As dark times began to fade the people found a new hope â€Å"homo Faber est quisque fortunate Suae† This phrase is saying that each man is the creator of his own future. This is a juxtaposition to the common ideal in the Roman Catholic religion â€Å"God the Creator† and also exhibits the change in ideology between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages, there was a surplus in the faith of the Roman Catholic, this was in part because the primary unifying factor between the people happened to be religion. This allowed the Church to take more of an authoritative rule over society. Church officials kept records and acted as advisors to the monarchs. They were also the largest owners of land and even collected taxes, which greater added to their power and overall influence. There was also less of an emphasis on education during this era, and as a result, it leads to a majority of the population being illiterate. Surprisingly the illiteracy of the population, lead way for art to take a rather important role within society. Where there was such a heavy influence on the Church and religion the average person had no way of reading the bible, so paintings and other outlets of art helped get the churches ideas across through another platform. This is largely why the central topic seen within the art at the time revolves around the Roman Catholic Church. Another reason for the ideology seen within the art at the time is the use of art as a propaganda tool. Throughout time and in all societies you can see that art is one of the most useful forces in getting across ideas between all classes. Gothic and Byzantine art were the main inspirations for medieval architecture. The Byzantine influence can be seen in the Hagia Sophia, a cathedral commissioned by Emperor Justinian during the sixth century. This Humongous church was built in the city of Constantinople and became one of the largest cathedrals for years to come. The Cathedral has Large Granite columns, marble pillars, and beautiful religious mosaics, and possibly the most captivating its large dome. Although the original dome was too heavy and inevitably concaved, it was later rebuilt and improved in the late sixth century. One of the best examples of gothic influence on architecture at the time is the Notre Dame. The Notre Dame was built in Paris, France and initiated by the Bishop of Paris Maurice Sully. The Notre Dame is characterized by gorgeous stained glass windows, large flying buttresses (large arched external supports), and two towers one reaching 300 feet tall. The height and grandiose of these buildings were all just a symbol for the Catholic Church. â€Å"The Cathedral is an image of the City of God, the Celestial Jerusalem, an image of Paradise, as the liturgy for the consecration of churches affirms.† â€Å"The House of God must be illuminated by the rays of the sun, resplendent with a charity like Paradise itself because God is Light, the light who gives beauty to everything that exists†. â€Å"The stained-glass windows that separate us from the storms and let the light pour over us are the Doctors.† These are all but a few quotes that characterize the symbolism seen in the architecture at the time. At the end of the 11th Century, there was a campaign organized by the Western European Christians to reclaim the holy land, in particular, Jerusalem, from the Muslims who had conquered it at the time. The Crusades had a lot of positive effects on the western world as communication and supplies were reignited with the Middle East as it lead way for a lot of new technology and ideas in the west. Such as gunpowder, cotton, new spices, silk, and much more. The Crusades also began to use old Roman roadways to travel during the crusades and as trade routes as well. During the time of the Crusades feudalism also fell. The fall of feudalism gave way to more people becoming merchants because of the recent boom in commerce between the west and the Middle East. As the Merchant business boomed it also allowed for new career opportunities for prior serfs and peasants. It created jobs like bookkeepers, money exchangers, managers, and the making system. This newfound class mobility allowed the serfs to lead a better middle-class life as opposed to being at the bottom of the social pyramid within the feudal system. This change and exchange of new ideas and technology due to the crusades and also the Middle Ages as a whole was the catalyst for the renaissance. The Renaissance was a period in European history also known as the â€Å"rebirth† of European culture following the Roman Empire. This â€Å"rebirth† began in Italy of course. It began in Italy most obviously because of their geographic location. Italy being the boot of Europe was surrounded by water, which made it an excellent hub during the expansion of trade. Italy was the commerce capital between Europe and Eurasia, during this time period, from the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Painters, sculptors, and architects exhibited a similar sense of adventure and the desire for greater knowledge and new solutions. During the Renaissance, the artist was no longer regarded as mere artisans, as they had been to the medieval past, but for the first time emerged as independent personalities, compared to poets and writers. Many artisans merged mathematics with art, in order to become more precise in their measurements and to make sure an object was supported both rational ly and proportionally. However, Renaissance artists also placed human concerns and feelings at the center of their works. Such optimism combined with intellectual curiosity and increasing worldliness made it possible for art to be valued. Overall, the Renaissance art movement completely discredited the Middle Ages as being dead both intellectually and artistically, thus rendering the Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic style art as being without value. The Renaissance came from a revival of the Classical ideas, concepts, and knowledge. What had once been forgotten was once again the focus of society. It was also found that in Classical times artists enjoyed a much higher level of prestige than they did during the Middle Ages. Artists wanted to enjoy this status once again. The Renaissance took place over a long period of time. Maybe this is an indication of its immense popularity both then and now. However, the Italian Renaissance can be divided into three distinct periods known as Ea rly, High, and Late respectively. These stages were preceded by the Gothic art movement, which acted as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and was followed by Mannerism, which bridged the gap between the Renaissance and the Baroque. Mannerism hardly had an effect on the popular arts of the time and was not fit into the already neatly categorized art periods when historians looked back upon the era. Early Renaissance art took up most of the 15th century and was characterized by inspiration from antiquity. The movement was focused in Florence, Italy because this local had brought attention upon itself through various conflicts within the church and with its neighbors. The art form focused on the human body, space, and the laws of proportion when it came to architecture. The belief was that progress and development were the backbones of the evolution and survival of art. The primary painter of the time was Masaccio. His work was religious in nature and his inspiration came not from other painters but from the sculptor Donatello and the architect Brunelleschi. High Renaissance art was characterized by creating physical presence, drama, and balance than on the behavior and personality that were the focus of Early Renaissance art. The major painters of the time were numerous. There was Leonardo da Vinci, Donato, Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. This period was short-lived, lasting from about 1495-1520 and served as a transitional period between early and late Renaissance. Howe ver, although brief, the art that flowed from this period was exceptional and some of the most famous artists ever produced work during this time. After all, these artists had such a command over their talents that they were able to produce any natural effect they desired and they had an intellect that allowed for balance and harmony along with fine detail, also was created a term for some of them, Renaissance man. The term Renaissance man has come to mean someone with exceptional skills in a wide range of fields. The description applies to many people during the Renaissance, but there are two outstanding candidates for the title. They are Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The older man, Leonardo, is exceptional in that he excels in two entirely different disciplines, experimental science, and the visual arts. But on the artistic side alone, Michelangelo must be the man. He creates works, all of the highest quality, in the four distinct fields of sculpture, painting, architecture, and poetry. The late Renaissance began with the sack of Rome in 1527. Artists had to scramble to relocate throughout Italy, France, and Spain. This period led to what is now called Mannerism. Mannerism artists turned to produce paintings of people, often nudes, that were portrayed in strange poses and looking somewhat grotesque while odd themes were used and emotion looked horrifying. Michelangelo was the only painter from the High Renaissance to make into the late period. The growing emphasis on individualism during the Renaissance began a change of status for composers of music in society. Unlike their medieval predecessors, Renaissance composers were recognized more often during their lifetimes. The technology of printing permitted a much wider distribution of their works and enabled a larger public into the study of music. Even when spiritual music was still in a dominant position, secular music was becoming more common and its forms more cultivated than in the previous era. The repertoire of instrumental music became more varied, along with the i nvention of new instruments and many of the instruments of the period were improved. Humanism is considered to be the most significant intellectual movement of the Renaissance. As its name implies, humanism was a philosophy that was characterized by blending concern with the history and actions of all human beings, and their influences on the world with religious duty. Prior to Renaissance thinking, Medieval Europe considered life to be sinful that people should only be concerned about their duty to God and the afterlife. The humanists thought that every person has respect and worth and therefore should command the respect of every other person. The humanistic movement began during the early Italian Renaissance with the rediscovery of the writings of classical Greeks and Romans, which were not only models of literary style, but considered to be guided to the understanding of life. The Renaissance movement ushered in the use of oil paints. This was a boon to artists as, due to the sl ow drying time of oil paints, they could edit their paintings, making adjustments over a period of months. They could now focus more on the quality of light on their paintings and were also more in tune with the architectural accuracy of the buildings in the background of their work. Themes centered on Greek and Roman mythology as well as Biblical characters and the Madonna was a pre-eminent figure. When it came to depictions of the human body, the emphasis was often put on the nude form and the perfection of the body. Another important result of the Renaissance was that painters began to communicate more with poets, essayists, philosophers, and scientists. The boundaries between these disciplines began to blur and they began to share ideas with one another and recognized one another for the visionaries they truly were. What caused this rebirth of the visual arts is still unclear; the fourteenth century in Europe witnessed several catastrophic harvests, the Black Death (1346), and a continuing war between England and France. Hardly ideal conditions for an eruption of creativity let alone a sustained birth of paintings, drawings, sculptures and new buildings. Moreover, the Church, the biggest patron of the arts, was racked with disagreements about spiritual and secular issues. Prosperity was also coming to Northern Europe, as evidenced by the establishment in Germany of the Hanseatic League of cities. This increasing wealth provided the financial support for a growing number of commissions of large public and private art projects, while the trade routes upon which it was based greatly assisted the spread of ideas and thus contributed to the growth of the movement across the Continent. Allied to this spread of ideas, which incidentally speeded up significantly with the invention of printing, there was an undoubted sense of impatience at the slow progress of change. After a thousand years of cultural and intellectual starvation, Europe and especially Italy, was anxious for a re-birth. Overall, the Renaissance produced some of the most well-known art ever created in human history. It was a time of revival, of going back to something from the past that worked and bringing that past into new light. After more than five hundred years we still marvel at the works of artists such as Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Humanism downplayed religious and secular dogma and instead attached the greatest importance to the dignity and worth of the individual. This period was unique in its portrayal of the human body and in its enmeshment of art and science. It was proof that the old and the new can come together in harmony.

Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Discussion Questions - Essay Example (Craig Dobbins). This part has to do with the organizational structure of the said company. Organizational Structure is defined as â€Å"The  framework, typically  hierarchical, within which an organization arranges its  lines  of  authority  and  communications, and  allocates  rights  and  duties.  Organizational  structure  determines the manner and extent to which  roles,  power, and  responsibilities  are delegated, controlled, and coordinated, and how  information flows  between  levels of management.† (BusinessDictionary.com, 2012). If an organization has a flexible, decentralized organizational structure then it is easier for information to flow vertically through the different hierarchies and thus it’ll be easier for information about strategic environmental factors to come to the notice of strategy makers of the organization has a flexible structure. To make sure that the strategy makers use this information appropriately, top management can implement an internal audit/control system to keep check on subordinate management levels and what they are doing. Internal controls protect the organization against internal fraud, resource wastage, increases reliability, increases security and helps evaluate performance. (Internal Audit, Kansas State University, 2003). This way there is less chance of inefficiency and mismanagement. 2. Craig Dobbins. â€Å"Strategic Planning: External Environment Scanning†. Center for Food and Agricultural Business, Purdue University. Accessed on: June 20, 2012.

United States Military Foreign Policy Assignment

United States Military Foreign Policy - Assignment Example Aside from militaristic efforts, the federal government also sought to increase its own power and ability to utilize all of their resources in order to win the war on terror. The President’s power was Constitutionally expanded in a time of war, so 9/11 permitted the government to implement these wartime powers, including the increase of domestic and international surveillance (known by the Bush administration as the â€Å"dark side†) and the â€Å"secret document† signed by President George W. Bush (unbeknownst to many in the administration) instituting military tribunals to hold and try known terrorists, as opposed to civilian courts guaranteed by the Constitution. The events of 9/11 enabled the federal government and U.S. military to expand their interests and presence in regions which previously seemed impossible. In order to convince the recently-patriotic American people that U.S. military intervention was necessary, they focused on the oppressive governments of the nation’s enemies. They put forth the ideals and values evident in the American Constitution articulated over two hundred years ago, in which every nation must hold democratic elections and a certain set of basic rights should be guaranteed to all citizens despite race, creed or economic standing. The fascist regime of Saddam Hussein fit perfectly into the mold of murdering oppressors who must be ousted from power to help people incapable of helping themselves.  

Persuasive Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Persuasive Memo - Essay Example Furthermore, there will be reduced absences and turnovers. Consequently, there will be a stable workforce, which, in turn, would improve the public image of the company. Certainly, there are issues to be addressed ranging from the operating costs and insurance issues. Furthermore, there is the need to get relevant certification to run the childcare center. However, it seems to me that despite all these issues, there are obvious benefits to the company. Obviously, there are factors that are to be addressed before taking the step ahead. First of all, it becomes necessary to find extra space for the center. In addition, there is the need to arrange funds to pay for the space. The second issue is to find suitable personnel to manage the childcare center. Also, there is the need to ensure enough funds for the staff and maintenance of the center. Another concern is the fact that this new initiative will only benefit a minority in the workforce. However, it seems that starting an onsite chi ldcare center will of immense benefit to the company in the long term as it is highly likely that the number of female employees looking for onsite childcare facility while opting for job will increase in future.

SWOT analysis of Ryan Air and subsequent decisions to make business essay

SWOT analysis of Ryan Air and subsequent decisions to make business essay Business changes its style, shape and presentation. New technology, new methods, new strategy has made the difference. The entire way of business has change today. Now organizations can take decisions before they get entered into new market, they can be aware from the obvious dangers. Strategic management is very good subject to study in modern days business prospect. Through the assignment a lots of strategic matters came into knowledge, which was unknown before. Thanks to the institute and my lecturer to work with such an interesting subject. Introduction SWOT analysis is a simple framework for generating strategic alternatives from a situation analysis. It is applicable to either the corporate level or the business unit level and frequently appears in marketing plans. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The internal and external situation analysis can produce a large amount of information, much of which may not be highly relevant. The SWOT analysis can serve as an interpretative filter to reduce the information to a manageable quantity of key issues. The SWOT analysis classifies the internal aspects of the company as strengths or weaknesses and the external situational factors as opportunities or threats. Strengths can serve as a foundation for building a competitive advantage, and weaknesses may hinder it. By understanding these four aspects of its situation, a firm can better leverage its strengths, correct its weaknesses, capitalize on golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats.( Understanding Change, by Jane Edmonds, page no 22) The radical and ongoing changes occurring in society create an uncertain environment and have an impact on the function of the whole organization. A number of checklists have been developed as ways of cataloguing the vast number of possible issues that might affect an industry. A PEST analysis is one of them that are merely a framework that categorizes environmental influences as political, economic, social and technological forces. Sometimes two additional factors, environmental and legal, will be added to make a PESTEL analysis, but these themes can easily be subsumed in the others. The analysis examines the impact of each of these factors and their interplay with each other on the business. The results can then be used to take advantage of opportunities and to make contingency plans for threats when preparing business and strategic plans. (Industrial Marketing, by Krishna K. Havaldar, page no 45) (Havaldar, 2008, p45) http://www.welove2ski.com/images/news/ryanair_plane.jpg (Ryan Air logo, figure no-1) Primary collected datas of Ryan Air Ryan Air is an Irish airline with headquarter in Dublin and its biggest operational base at London Stansted Airport. It is Europes largest low cost carrier and one of the worlds largest and most successful airlines in terms of profits, number of flights and number of passengers flown. Today the carrier is the first airline in Europe per passengers traffic 66 million boasts more then 950 routes in 26 countries, 36 bases and it is recognised as one of the most punctual airline in Europe. (Strength: Growing number of passengers for Rayan Airways) http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/Ryan-s-july-traffic-grows-19-percent SWOT analysis of Ryan Air Strengths: Strong pan European brand (36 bases), Biggest and most profitable LCC Europe and Focused aggressive and innovative management system. Secondary and regional airports allow cost reduction and fast turnaround. Strong balance sheet and cash generation allow facing eventual problems, increase capability to attract finance, enhance capability to take risk and face new challenges and competitive price on aircrafts parches. Reduce barriers to its entry in new market, while contributing to increase barriers to new entrants. High seat occupancy rate and lowest seat mile in short haul flights. Uniform and modern fleet shaves on maintenance; training costs which is enhance safety and fuel efficiency. High rate on punctuality and low baggage lose rate give reliability to the organization. High rate of aircraft utilization allow the revenue to increase. Point to point flight as apposed to hub and spoke allows service cost reduction. Low labour non union cost, low cost due to flat and simple form of the organization. And major earning from innovative ancillary service. Weakness is seen as the organizations internal factor. Because organizations dont want to let the competitor know about their business weakness. The weakness of Ryan airs are bellow. Weakness: Exposed to regulation on airport deals and passengers compensation , the distance between secondary airports to the main location. Lacking of appropriate frequency in certain routes and brand is strictly linked to a low cost model and maintain the position could be challenging. Too much exposed to outsourcing. Market extremely sensitive to price elasticity, prone to bad press I that its top management is perceives as arrogant and provocative. Poor customer service is one of the big weaknesses of Ryan air. And high seat available could be a problem for when they flying to less popular destinations. Limited slots in main airport could be a big problem in the future. Constant innovation requirements to sustain the business model and low empathy for employees and high turnaround could increase the CO2 emission. Opportunity: European market still offers considerable for developing the business model, under way industry consolation offers opportunities for new routes and airport deals. EU enlargement allows expending in new markets; demand based on price should remain high independently of economic cycle. Bad condition of Italian air industry gives an opportunity for consolidation in Italian market. Threats: New entrants on the market and increased competition in the near future, some flag carriers have tried to reposition as low cost carriers. Some other tradition carriers have reduced fares which could undermine the market share. A serious accident could endanger trust on low cost industry. High speed trains and land transport, environmental taxes could be big threats for Ryan air. PESTEL analysis of Ryan Air PESTEL is the acronym for political, environmental, social, technological, legal and environmental, and all this tools devoted to carry out analysis considering the external influences to an organizations activity is of fundamental to properly develop a reliable strategy. Political: The political aspect of the tool considers the possible political influence on the strategy pursued by the organization. For Ryan air this aspect has represented a considerable advantage, in that the European Union is a completely stable political region and EU integration has allowed the carrier to expand its activity and route. Economical: The ageing population factor is likely to impact the travel industry in the next decade and to cause a shift in land transport, easier to access, to use and allowing movements from and to central city areas. Young generations like this carriers airline and because of its cheap ticket price it is become economically stronger. Social: Another uncanny social trend is represented by the tendency to the cocoon effect every time a terrorism act is carried out people follow events like these, prefer to avoid travelling then stay home. On the other hand it is very likely that the young generation are much more likely to use carriers fro their travel and are the more enjoying the benefits of a common European area where they can move from a capital to another in an average one hour to forty five minutes at very low price. Technological: As for the technological aspect the video conferencing system could deter business people to travel in many circumstances, but not leisure travellers. It must be said that technology been crucial for Ryan airs success and it is likely to be important in the future. Internet in particular has allowed the organization to avoid lots of cost. Environmental: The aircrafts new generation engine in terms of less emission and less fuel consumption will allow the organization to move on through its cost reduction strategy. Legal: The legal aspect has had and could still have negative effect on the carriers activity, the emission constrains set by European commission its actively on implementing and monitoring antitrust law and policies and the EU legislation on working time regulation and union recognition sooner or later will affects Ryan airs policies and this could seriously threaten its revenue result. http://solvay.ulb.ac.be/cours/alle/BuspPresRyanair04.pdf Porters Diamond and national advantage Increasingly, corporate strategies have to be seen in a global context. Even if an organization does not plan to import or to export directly, management has to look at an international business environment, in which actions of competitors, buyers, sellers, new entrants of providers of substitutes may influence the domestic market. Information technology is reinforcing this trend. (Advanced in statistics, comminatory and related area, by Chandra Gulati, Yan-Xia and Jonh Rayen, page no 53) Michael Porter introduced a model that allows analyzing why some nations are more competitive than others are, and why some industries within nations are more competitive than others are, in his book The Competitive Advantage of Nations. This model of determining factors of national advantage has become known as Porters Diamond. It suggests that the national home base of an organization plays an important role in shaping the extent to which it is likely to achieve advantage on a global scale. This home base provides basic factors, which support or hinder organizations from building advantages in global competition. Porter distinguishes four determinants and they are conditions Demand condition. (Michael Porters diamond model, figure no-3) Factor Conditions The situation in a country regarding production factors, like skilled labour, infrastructure, etc., which are relevant for competition in particular industries. These factors can be grouped into human resources like qualification level cost of labour, commitment etc, material resources or natural resources, vegetation, space acknowledge resources, capital resources, and infrastructure. They also include factors like quality of research on universities, deregulation of labour markets, or liquidity of national stock markets. These national factors often provide initial advantages, which are subsequently built upon. Each country has its own particular setoff factor conditions; hence, in each country will develop those industries for which the particular set of factor conditions is optimal. This explains the existence of so-called low-cost-countries (low costs of labour), agricultural countries large countries with fertile soil, or the start-up culture in the United States well developed venture capital market. Porter points out that these factors are not necessarily nature-made or inherited. They may develop and change. Political initiatives, technological progress or socio-cultural changes, for instance, may shape national factor conditions. A good example is the discussion on the ethics of genetic engineering and cloning that will influence knowledge capital in this field in North America and Europe. Home Demand Conditions Describes the state of home demand for products and services produced in country. Home demand conditions influence the shaping of particular factor conditions. They have impact on the pace and direction of innovation and product development. According to Porter, home demand is determined by three major characteristics: their mixture (the mix of customers needs and wants), their scope and growth rate, and the mechanisms that transmit domestic preferences to foreign markets. Porter states that a country can achieve national advantages in an industry or market segment, if home demand provides clearer and earlier signals of demand trends to domestic suppliers than to foreign competitors. Normally, home markets have a much higher influence on an organizations ability to recognize customers needs than foreign markets do. Related and Supporting Industries: The existence or non-existence of internationally competitive supplying industries and supporting industries. One internationally successful industry may lead to advantages in other related or supporting industries. Competitive supplying industries will reinforce innovation and internationalization in industries at later stages in the value system. Besides suppliers, related industries are of importance. These are industries that can use and coordinate particular activities in the value chain together, or that are concerned with complementary products like hardware and software. A typical example is the shoe and leather industry in Italy. Italy is not only successful with shoes and leather, but with related products and services such as leather working machinery, design, etc. Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry: The conditions in a country that determine how companies are established, are organized and are managed, and that determine the characteristics of domestic competition here, cultural aspects play an important role. Indifferent nations, factors like management structures, working morale, or interactions between companies are shaped differently. This will provide advantages and disadvantages for particular industries. Typical corporate objectives in relation to patterns of commitment among workforce are of special importance. They are heavily influenced by structures of ownership and control. Family-business based industries theatre dominated by owner-managers will behave differently than publicly quoted companies. Porter argues that domestic rivalry and the search for competitive advantage within agnation can help provide organizations with bases for achieving such advantage on a more global scale. Porters Diamond has been used in various ways. O rganizations may use the model to identify the extent to which they can build on home based advantages to create competitive advantage in relation to others on a global front. On national level, governments can (and should) consider the policies that they should follow to establish national advantages, which enable industries in their country to develop a strong competitive position globally. According to Porter, governments can foster such advantages by ensuring high expectations of product performance, safety or environmental standards, or encouraging vertical co-operation between suppliers and buyers on a domestic. (Government globalization and international business, by John H. Dunning, page no 31) Purpose and attributes of SWOT Once Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are listed, now the decision makers must go through the attributes in the listed categories. In each of the categories a more thorough analysis of each attribute listed must take place. The most important outcome from a SWOT Analysis is to determine if a goal or objective can be achieved. If it cant, it might want to repeat the process including new strengths and opportunities, digging deeper into analysis process. However, if looking at the SWOT Analysis, the decision makers feel that the goal or objective can be achieved, they can start by using the analysis to create a strategy to achieve the goal. One of the ways to get the most out of SWOT Analysis is to ask basic questions using SWOT. For instance, look at the strengths and figure out how organizations can maximize every steps of strength to achieve the goal. Continue on with external opportunities, figure out the best ways to take advantage of each opportunity and reduce the threats that can cause failure for the organization when trying to achieve organizational goal. (Dynamic SWOT analysis, by T. Richard Dealtry, page no 17) Environmental Change and the impact on the strategic dynamics The business environment of the firm consists of all the external influences that affect its decisions and performance. Given the vast number and range of external influences, how can managers hope to monitor, environmental conditions. The starting point is some kind of system or framework for organizing information. For example, environmental influences can be classified by source into political, economic, social, and technological factors PEST analysis or by proximity the micro-environment or task environment can be distinguished from the wider influences that form the macro-environment. Though systematic, continuous scanning of the whole range of external influences might seem desirable, such extensive environmental analysis is unlikely to be cost effective and creates information overload. (System Analysis and design level three, by D. Barnaed, page no 131) The prerequisite for effective environmental analysis is to distinguish the vital from the merely important. For the firm to make profit it must create value for customers. Hence, it must understand its customers. Second, in creating value, the firm acquires goods and services from suppliers. Hence, it must understand its suppliers and how to form business relationships with them. Third, the ability to generate profitability from value-creating activity depends on the intensity of competition among firms that vie for the same value-creating opportunities. Hence, the firm must understand competition. Thus, the core of the firms business environment is formed by its relationships with three sets of players: customers, suppliers, and competitors. This is its industry environment. This is not to say that macro-level factors such as general economic trends, changes in demographic structure, or social and political trends are unimportant to strategy analysis. These factors may be critical determinants of the threats and Opportunities Company will face in the future. (Understanding Organizational context, by Claire Capon, page no 15) Conclusion In different situation in business organizations need to take difficult decisions very prompt. But before taking the decision they need to confirm that they are taking the right decision in the right time, in right manner. It is important because the effect is diverted into the whole organization. Thats why they try to make the right decision through the help of various analyses. References Barnard. D (2008), System Analysis and design level three, 1st edn, Pearson publications ltd, Forest drive, Pinelands, Cape Town, South Africa. C. Claire (2004), Understanding Organizational Context inside and outside of the organizations, Ashford colour press ltd, Gosport, 90 Tottenham Court road, London, UK. D. Richard T (2002), Dynamic SWOT analysis, 2nd edn, DSA publications ltd, 43 Hunstanton avenue, Harbome, Birmingham, B17 8SX, United Kingdom. D. John (2004), Governments, globalization and international business, 2nd edn, Oxford University press, New York, United states of America. E. Jane (2005), Understanding Change, 4th edn, IMA publishing ltd, 200 Wheeler road, Burlington, Miami, USA. H. Krishna K (2008), Industrial Marketing, 8th edn, Tata McGraw-Hill publication ltd, 7 West patel nagar, New Delhi, India. R. John, G. Chandra and L.Yan (2006), Advances in statistics, combinatory and related area, 1st edn, Mainland printing press, 5Toh tuck link, Singapore.

Creative Writing: American Soldier in Iraq Essay -- Creative Writing Es

"RUN!!" I heard a fellow soldier screaming as I looked around. "RUN!" I started to take off but I was too late. I am an American soldier and I just got my leg blown off by a grenade. As I lay here crying, yelling out in pain, I think about why I am even here. The president thought that Saddam Hussein MIGHT have had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), so he sent me here to die. After we searched and found that Hussein did not have any WMDs, what did President Bush decide to do? Send more troops (SIRS). Many people, including a number of Christian leaders, have questioned whether the war in Iraq is justified (www.AmericanValues.org). They question if it is morally permissible to have used force to remove a tyrannical and aggressive regime from power instead of just disarming it (www.AmericanValues.org). A difficult moral calculus by liberal hawks led to the decision that the opportunity to free the Iraqi people from decades of oppression was worth the risk (Huang 1). Many people would agree that freeing the Iraqi people was a good thing, but they are free now, yet we are still there! I see that the sun is started to fall over the horizon and all I can do is what because it is impossible for me to move my leg. As I have nothing else to do I start to wonder. I wonder about how my family is doing, about how much pain there is in the world, and about the cost of the war. This war has cost the U.S. over four hundred and ninety billion dollars (www.costofwar.com). ?This same amount of money could have provided 39,240,332 people with health care or 142,451,458 homes with renewable electricity? (www.costofwar.com). As I look up into the darkening sky I hear help coming. The soldier helping me soon told me that my leg would have to be a... ...sh, because they no longer have a government, but whenever the U.S. tries to rebuild their government, the Iraqis always refuse. If we would leave immediately then that would let the Iraqis rebuild their own government the way they want it. Many people believe that the U.S. should create a fund for Iraq in order to help them get back on track. They could use the money to rebuild or reconstruct their country, their government, and anything else that the U.S. helped to destroy (Bennis 6). I slowly wake up, and it must have been hours later. I looked down and my leg was gone. I could feel a searing pain rush through my body. My leg was bandaged up around the cut, but I could still imagine how it looked. Blood was dripping from the bandages. I could not take it anymore. Right there I shut my eyes, and never again were they opened. My family was traumatized at my death.

DITSCAP/ Orange Book Essay

The difference between the Orange Book and the DITSCAP is that the Orange book depends on the information that comes from the computer software that are within the computer information systems for them to perform their tasks and to achieve their intended objectives. (Lee, 1999). On the other hand, DITSCAP gives a ground for assessing the security of the information systems that are within the organizations, business firms, individuals and other private firms that give support to the firm. However, DITSCAP is diminished in its efficiency due to lack of a combined certification and accreditation framework tool. When used alone, DITSCAPN can be a very tiring process to the user as it has numerous cross checks of the policies and the requirements. The complex and multiple information that exist between these diverse types of information hinder a person’s ability to understand, generate, and assemble and to give protection to the systems. (Lee, 1999). In other words, DISCAP gives the process that is to be used, the activities that are going to be undertaken, description of the activities to be undertaken as well as the type and method of the management structure that is going to be followed during the process of certification and accreditation of the information technology systems that help to give the necessary security to the computers. This process aims at ensuring that the security process that is used gives the best security to the computers throughout the lifecycle. The certification levels of the DITSCAP comprises of four phases where the first phase involves the definition of the process. This involves understanding the organization, the environment in which the organization is in and the architecture of the organization that helps to identify the type of the security that is required and the efforts that the organization is doing in order to achieve the accreditation. (Lee, 1999). The second phase, verification phase, involves an analysis of how the security systems have evolved or have been modified for them to comply with the System Security Authority Agreement. The organization uses SSAA to come up with a modified and binding agreement before there is any development on the system development or before making any change to the system. After the system accreditation, SSAA becomes the basis for the security configuration document. The third phase, validation phase ensures that there is a fully integrated information system as was earlier agreed on the SSAA. The fourth phase, post accreditation phase, gives the activities that are necessary for the continuity of the accredited information system to continue working in its computing environment and to face the challenges that the system may face in its entire life cycle. (Lee, 1999). The certification Levels relate to the graduations defined within the Orange Book in that the certification and accreditation process which are interrelated and which give feedback to the other earlier phases when it is necessary. (Wong and Yeung, 2009). Each of these phases has some of the activities that require to be undertaken. In addition each of the activity has a series of tasks that need to be undertaken depending on the requirements. Each of these tasks gives out the input which represents the type of information needed to complete a given task as well as the outputs which gives the product of the task or the information which may also serve as an input in other subsequent tasks. The certification and accreditation process has to be expanded in order to give more information about each of the stage and to ensure that the staff understand their role in the certification team. The value of the â€Å"Minimal Checklist† contained in Appendix 2 of the DITSCAP applications manual is that it establishes criteria to be used for certification and accreditation by giving a guide on the required efforts and other factors that are related to this system. Assurance is referred to as the confidence which the features of security, characteristics and the functions of these features give to enforce the security policy. The assurance can be established for the business, the components and systems of the security. Therefore, certification leads to the assurance of a certain system in relation to its environment whereas accreditation shows whether the impacts linked with the system are either weak, tolerable or if they cannot be accepted at all. (Wong and Yeung, 2009). References Lee, S. E. (1999). Essays About Computer Security. Cambridge. Wong, A. and Yeung, A. (2009). Network Infrastructure Security. Springer.

Choosing the Correct Daycare

Tyree’s Child Care 2 John and Sue have been seeking a new child care facility for their eight week old baby, Tyree. Unfortunately, they have been unable to come to a decision between two of the best centers. The high point of Center A is that there are many teachers and they are always speaking to and cuddling the infants. The high point of Center B is not only is it safe and clean like Center A, it is less expensive, as well. However, upon professional evaluation of the two centers, Center A was chosen for baby Tyree.The center meets the state licensing requirements, has a nice atmosphere, is safe, clean and has plenty of amiable staff members. A safe environment and trusted caretakers are factors in building resilience in children (Bukatko, 2008). Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity or trauma and most children are highly resilient because they generally feel safe and protected (Bukatko, 2008). The center feels like a safe place for Tyree, with plenty of safe people to cuddle her. Center A was the more expensive of the two because it has tunnels for crawling and extra play areas.Although this was not a factor for Tyree immediately as she is only 8 weeks old and is unable to crawl at this stage in her development, babies grow quickly and those areas will come in handy soon. Important to Tyree’s development, is the interaction with the many child care teachers that the center employs. The teachers enjoy talking to the babies during feeding times and diaper changes. They also are always available to hold and cuddle the babies and do so often. Tyree is in the first stage of Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development called Trust verses Mistrust (Bukatko, 2008).During this stage, a baby must find consistency and reliability in their caretakers so that they can develop a sense of hope and trust (Bukatko, 2008). This is a very important first stage that lasts for the first year. A failure to establish connections during th is stage could lead to trust and abandonment issues in adulthood. Luckily for Tyree, at this center, that will not be an issue. The center has many brightly colored objects and pictures. Bright colored toys and pictures stimulate a baby’s senses and help their brain’s develop.Cognitive development is imperative and Tyree is in the sensorimotor stage (Bukatko, 2008). She is responding to bright objects around her and soon enough, she will be grasping for those objects. The center also has safe, low shelves. This is important because as Tyree develops and her motor skills advance, she will begin to scoot and then crawl. Safety is extremely important when babies get mobile so it is important for shelves that contain toys Tyree will be interested in to be low and sturdy because during the sensorimotor stage she will have hand and eye coordination to grab whatever she wants (Bukatko, 2008).Tyree also could start using that same shelf to pull herself to stand. Finally, as Ty ree’s motor skills develop further, she will become more visually and physically coordinated (Bukatko, 2008). The sorting and stacking toys will challenge Tyree mentally and help her learn new skills. She will begin to interact with her peers and begin to learn what is socially acceptable as she makes friendships and enters Erickson’s second stage (Bukatko, 2008).Tyree’s Child Care 3 Tyree will then continue on her path of continuous development, reaching milestones, stage after stage. Tyree’s Child Care 4 Bukatko, D. (2008). Child and Adolescent Development. A Chronological Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.