Netflix Risks Essay

Netflix was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California. Netflix is a company that provides online movie rental subscription services in the United States. The company offers its subscribers access to a library of movie, television, and other filmed entertainment titles on digital versatile disc (DVD) and Blu-Rays. Its members can get DVDs delivered to their homes and can instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and PCs. It also partners with consumer electronics companies to offer a range of devices that can instantly stream movies and TV episodes to members’ TVs from Netflix. Netflix entered the rental entertainment industry at a time where Blockbuster was king and renting movies required the consumers to drive to the store. However, Netflix realized that through innovation there was a much more efficient and cheaper way to provide the same service than the typical brick-and-mortar companies of the time. Customers of Blockbuster and other store rental places were attracted to the new features (monthly subscription, no late fees) provided by Netflix. Through innovation Netflix basically â€Å"changed† the way movie rentals were done and eventually became the leader of movie rental industry while Blockbuster and many other companies eventually became bankrupt. Netflix’s story of success is also one of caution as Netflix realizes that they will continue to face many risks throughout their business cycle and if they don’t anticipate and/or respond correctly, they too could face the same result as Blockbuster. As of December 31, 2009, Netflix served approximately 12 million subscribers. Currently, Netflix claims on its website to have over 20 million members, making it the leader in rental movie industry. However, Netflix faces many competitors that provide similar services: Comcast, Redbox from Coinstar and even Amazon is planning on also offering streaming services to its prime members. Therefore, if Netflix is to remain as the industry leader and continue its earnings and membership growth it will have to continue to innovate with new ideas. Generally, innovation requires a huge investment from companies in their Research and Development departments. These investments can come out from the companies own cash flow or from issuing loans. In order for a Company to decide if an investment is worth the money it uses either Net Present Value or Internal Rate of Return techniques which basically state that if the return on the investment is greater than the cost, then the company should go ahead and invest. But what is the cost of the investment? If Netflix plans to borrow money, then the cost will be the prevailing interest rate at the time of Issuance of the loan plus a spread premium for specific characteristics pertaining to Netflix. This poses a financial risk on Netflix, more specifically this is called interest rate risk. Interest rates tend to be volatile and there are many different theories (expectations theory, liquidity theory, preferred habitat theory, market segmentation theory) yet nobody really knows 100% for sure if interest rates are going to go up or down and by how much. However, based on the expectations of Netflix’s analysts they have a few choices on dealing with this risk depending on their expectations. If they expect interest rates to go up, then they should issue a long term bond or note now, because if they wait and interests rates do go up then it will be more costly for them to borrow the money they need which might end up affecting the Net Present Value of their investment project. On the other hand, if Netflix expects rates to go down then it will not be a good idea for Netflix to issue out a long term bond or note because if rates eventually do drop then Netflix be essentially borrowing at a higher rate than the prevailing market rate. So what Netflix should do instead is to issue short term debt such as commercial paper and continue to roll it over until they expect that interest rates have reached the lowest and then issue a longer term bond or note depending on their investment project. Finally, the other option for Netflix is that, if they are not sure if interest rates are going to go up or down, they can still hedge against this risk by issuing a long term callable bond so that if interest rates do drop significantly Netflix can call its debt back and reissue at the lower rate. Another way that Netflix has been and plans to continue expanding its membership is by offering its services abroad. In fact, Netflix has already entered the Canadian market and is in the process of offering its services in the United Kingdom. Obviously this is great news for Netflix shareholders however going international also brings additional risks. One of the major risks that we foresee would be exchange rate risk. For example, when Netflix starts to offer its services in the United Kingdom, it will have to decide on what it will charge its British customers a month. However, it will have to do so in pounds, which is the local currency. If for example, we assume that Netflix charges its U. S. customers 10 dollars a month for its services and that it wants to charge the same real value to its U. K. customers, if the pound/dollar exchange rate is . 5 pounds for 1 dollar then Netflix would have to charge its U. K. customers 5 pounds a month. However, interest rates are constantly changing and if Netflix doesn’t do something about this risk then its cash flow would be constantly changing. For example if the pound depreciates against the dollar to . 75 pounds for 1 dollar then the dollar value from its U. K. customers’ 5 pound subscription will now be only worth $6. 67. Netflix could deal with this cash flow loss in two ways, a good way and a bad way. The bad way would be to constantly adjust the prices up and down to its U. K. customers so that the real dollar value remains about the same, however we feel that customers wouldn’t appreciate this price volatility and Netflix would potentially lose many U. K. customers. The good way for Netflix to hedge against exchange rate risk would be to enter the futures market on currencies and lock in on a pound/dollar exchange rate that way any future volatility on the exchange rate wouldn’t affect either negatively or positively on Netflix’s international cash flows. Netflix also faces several nonfinancial risks. Netflix began its ground-breaking entry into the movie rental industry with its mail order system, but the mail order system is not the sole source of its success today. In fact, Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings has admitted that a lot of Netflix success has been due to do their online streaming content. As an actual Netflix customer myself, I admit that I spend a lot of time streaming movies and shows online, in fact if Netflix were to only offer its mail order system, I would stop being a customer. If other Netflix customers’ value their online service as much as I do then this signifies the important value that the movie streaming services has for Netflix. But what if, something happens (virus, human error, etc†¦) and Netflix’s servers go down and they are unable to operate its streaming function for a couple of days? A couple days may seem trivial however it could potentially mean an enormous amount of lost profit due to unhappy customers. In order to avoid this type of scenario of ever happening, Netflix should think of ways to confront this operational risk. One idea would be to spend money in acquiring backup servers so that if the main servers were to go down for whatever reason, Netflix would be able to switch to their backup servers and therefore customers could continue to stream their favorite movies and shows online while Netflix worked on fixing the problem with the main servers. Even though Netflix is headquartered in Los Gatos, California, it has many â€Å"warehouses† around the United States that deliver movies to customers near their locations. Because of this, Netflix faces many different types of â€Å"pure† risks depending on the location in which their warehouse is situated. Pure risk is a type of risk that involves either a chance of loss or no loss. An example for Netflix would be an earthquake in Los Gatos California, or a tornado in its warehouse in Omaha, Nebraska. Pure risks have tremendous abilities for loss because they cause both direct and indirect losses. If for example, a tornado destroys the Netflix warehouse in Omaha, Nebraska, the direct losses would be the costs of the destroyed warehouse, but at the same time there would be indirect costs such as the costs of perhaps losing customers around the Omaha area because now their movies have to ship from a different warehouse which could potentially take many more days to arrive. Unfortunately, there are no ways to prevent catastrophes such as fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc†¦ However, these high severity, low frequency situations are part of life and therefore a part of Netflix’s business risk. The best way for Netflix to deal with these types of risks are either to self insure by saving a certain amount of money each month or they can do an insurance transfer and pay insurance premiums but not have to worry about these pure risks. As shown in the movie â€Å"Mind Over Money†, human emotions play a major role in driving the market. Netflix should pay attention to such matters as the company could be affected by the irrational decisions people make. Investors have recently been talking about Netflix prices being over priced and it depicts a bull market. Bull markets are characterized by optimism, investor confidence and expectations that strong results will continue. It’s difficult to predict consistently when the trends in the market will change. Part of the difficulty is that psychological effects and speculation may sometimes play a large role in the markets. Therefore, similar to what is shown in the movie people will make irrational behavior and it could lead to the sudden collapse in the market for Netlix. This can be a major risk to the company. Netflix started as a mail order movie rental company in 1997 and through much innovation it was able to not only establish itself in the movie rental business but actually be a leader. Throughout its path from rags to riches, Netflix faced many types of financial and nonfinancial risks and was obviously able to overcome them to reach where it is at today. However, the risks don’t stop now and Netflix is facing strong competition from other movie rental companies and in order for Netflix to stay on top it will have to continue to be innovative and also continue to properly deal with any forthcoming risks.

The Weather Underground

The 2008 U. S. presidential election brought the issue of domestic terrorism to national attention when it was reported that then-candidate Barack Obama was professionally linked to William â€Å"Bill† Ayers, co-founder of the Weather Underground. The Weather Underground was a militant faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a national organization representing the New Left on college campuses. The American public was forced to confront the actions of the Weathermen, as they were known, and decide whether or not these former terrorists could be accepted as members of society.Although 60 percent of voters said that it was not a valid campaign issue in an ABC poll, another 37 percent felt that it was. The Weathermen are unarguably an interesting lot, and a subculture worth exploring. At the time of their founding in the early 1960s, the SDS was a group that advocated nonviolence and followed the ethos of the civil disobedience. By 1969, the SDS had over 100,000 m embers, and was a leading anti-war group. At its peak, infighting severely fragmented the group during their 1969 convention.In the midst of the infighting, a sect that called themselves the Weathermen took control. They got their name from a Bob Dylan lyric, â€Å"You don’t need to know a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. † They were a group of college students that were keeping up to date with the revolutions in 3rd world countries, and believed that a world revolution was imminent. Bernardine Dohrn, a former leader and cofounder of the Weathermen, said that â€Å"White youth must choose sides now. We must either fight on the side of the oppressed, or be the oppressor. She believed that the Weathermen should join forces with the Black Panthers, but a prominent member said that he viewed the Weather Underground as a â€Å"kindergarten revolution,† and didn’t take them seriously.In the same year, several hundred Weathermen moved into houses, w hich they called â€Å"collectives,† in lower income areas because they saw working class youths as more valuable than students. Meanwhile, the privileged students already in the organization began learning to use weapons. Laura Whitehorn, one member who lived in a collective, said that they would â€Å"eat noodles with garlic butter every day for months. This was an attempt to harden them and â€Å"force us to give up our bourgeois luxuries. † In these collectives, monogamy was considered repulsive and Weathermen believed they were breaking repression with group intimacy. The mission was quickly underway in the collectives, with a campaign to â€Å"Bring the War Home. † The Weathermen attempted to make violence visible in U. S. cities by breaking windows while distributing their leaflets. One of the first major demonstrations the Weathermen planned was called â€Å"Days of Rage,† an uprising in Chicago where they planned to confront police using violenc e.Inflated reports from the various collectives led leadership to expect varying numbers from the 1000s to the 100,000s to attend the demonstration. In a â€Å"hard collision with reality,† only about 150 to 250 showed up. Leaders began to realize that they could be held personally accountable for the riot, but the event had become out of their control. The mob trashed windows while moving through the city of Chicago. After this, the FBI began to seriously assess the Weathermen. Don Strickland, an FBI agent in the 47th â€Å"Weathermen† squad, started conducting constant searches of the collectives.December of 1969 proved to be a difficult month in the United States. At a Rolling Stones concert, the Hells Angels gang started a riot. Charles Manson’s family had become news. Violent films from Vietnam were all over. Fred Hampton, a Black Panther in Illinois, was killed while in bed during a police raid of his residence. The last event in particular affected Bill A yers, as he realized that the U. S. government would kill people in it’s own cities when their power was threatened. The group began to divide again, this time because of fear. One faction felt that the bigger the splash, the better, while the other feared for their safety.The more radical element began to seriously arm themselves, with the slogan â€Å"Piece Now. † One member reflected on this buildup, saying that â€Å"When you feel that you have right on your side, you can do some horrific things. † Arguably the first major black mark in the Weather Underground’s history occurred in a Greenwich Village townhouse, where members were building bombs and planning to detonate them at a noncommissioned officers’ dance. A short circuit in the wiring caused the bomb to explode, killing members Theodore Gold, Diana Oughton, and Terry Robbins.This is when the FBI began to devote a large amount of resources to bring the organization to justice. In response , the leaders truly went underground and severed all ties to their families. They met at a collective in Northern California in order to reevaluate their mission. It was here that the Weathermen realized that it was wrong to commit random violence against ordinary people in order to penalize society for the war in Vietnam. Bill Ayers in particular began to ensure that no one would get hurt in future bombings and only chose relevant targets.Starting with a police station in New York City, the Weather Underground began bombing various police, military and other government buildings. Every time they’d call in to insist that everyone evacuate the building. It was here that the members of the Weather Underground became idealized, as most didn’t expect them to get away with it for more than a few months. Living as outlaws, they were often compared to Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Cassidy. The leaders, at the time called the â€Å"Weather Bureau,† began making trips to the various safe houses, sharing information with members on a strict â€Å"need to know† principle.This secrecy helped them elude the FBI’s standard law enforcement techniques, but the FBI was quick to adapt. They infiltrated the Weather Underground using undercover agents. These agents were accused of spreading â€Å"divisive stories,† and even physically attacking members. A group called the Citizen’s Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI office in Media, PA, and stole documents describing COINTELPRO, which covered a wide range of covert law enforcement tactics designed to divide both the anti-war movement and the black power movement.They leaked the information to the press. These techniques were effective, and the New Left began to lose its steam. As black power and anti-war sentiment faded, the left broke up into various causes, including the Women’s Liberation Front and gay rights. When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Weather U nderground had entirely lost its sense of purpose. First, Mark Rudd turned himself in to the District Attorney in NY. Bernardine Dohrn soon followed. Eventually, the entire leadership turned themselves in, but very few were prosecuted because of the FBI’s proven misconduct.Works Cited Berger, Dan. Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity. Oakland, CA: AK, 2006. Print. Rudd, Mark. Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen. New York: William Morrow, 2009. Print. Varon, Jeremy. Bringing the War Home: the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies. Berkeley: University of California, 2004. Print. The Weather Underground. Dir. Sam Green and Bill Siegel. Perf. Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Mark Rudd. The Free History Project, 2002. DVD.

Fashion & Marketing †Individuality vs Conformity Essay

A seemingly intractable paradox underlies Westerners choice of fashion in the twenty-first century. On the one hand, the democratic and social progress made in the West in the past fifty years has led to radical revaluations of, and profound reversals of attitudes towards, issues such as gender, class, race, social stereotypes, cultural identity and so on: in short, the Western citizen of 2005 has far greater personal freedom for expression than could have been conceivable for a Westerner in 1905 or even 2005 (Craik, 1994). The modern student of Western fashion trends might therefore reasonably expect to notice in the clothing choices and styles of twenty-first Westerners ever greater diversity and individuality – to notice a kaleidoscopic and multi-coloured efflorescence of personal freedom in fabric and cloth. And, indeed, in many instances in Western society there is a profusion of individual styles mirroring newly liberated individual personalities. Yet, on the other hand, despite this potential for individuality, the fashion student notices, paradoxically, that Westerners are exhibiting an ever greater homogeneity and similarity in their clothing choice – for instance, the ubiquitous presence, amongst certain definable social groups, of trendy brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Zara and FCUK. The principal force behind this homogeneity is argued to be (Miles, 1998 & Radford, 1998) the massive and all-consuming power of giant global fashion houses and their resources for mass branding and advertising. To many fashion critics and scholars these hugely powerful companies have come to swamp the potential for personal and individual expression that was made possible by social changes in Europe and America in the past fifty years. In a further paradox, it was these very changes themselves, and the liberation and emancipation of consumer power and choice which they released, which provides the consumer markets and spending-power which make these huge companies possible. In other words, for the gender, class, and social revolutions of the twentieth century to happen this required the protests and emancipation of Western masses; but this very freedom itself created a mass homogeneous market that could be exploited by fashion corporations themselves made possible by these changes. In a final paradox, Rosenfeld (1997) and Davis (1993) argue that modern man is free to choose the clothes he wears and so is himself responsible for submitting himself and his individuality to temptations of mass production and consumerism that surround him. The fascinating question before this literature review is then: why is it that Westerners, granted at last a large measure of personal freedom for expression, ‘choose’ nonetheless to submit themselves to mass trends and to enslave themselves to perhaps an ever greater extent than when such freedom was not obtainable? Of further interest is the question: how have particular cultural groups, and fashion trends, resisted mass consumerism of fashion, and gone on to use these new freedoms to establish exciting and original expressions of their personalities? Section 2: Sources A few words about the origin and authority of the sources used for this literature review are perhaps necessary before turning to the main themes of the review. The principal type of source discussed in this literature review are academic books and journals; in addition, some internet sources are employed also. The academic books referred to in this review are amongst the seminal texts in the literature of fashion and marketing, their authors world-class experts in their fields, and therefore the reliability and authority of their material is extremely high. The fashion student can have high, if not complete, confidence in his employment of these sources to illustrate his themes and arguments. Likewise, those texts from other fields in this review, such as Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams (Freud, 1900) or Lacan’s Language of the Self (Lacan, 1998), are usually included by critics and scholars in their lists of the most important works of the twentieth-century. They too then may be used by the fashion student with a high degree of trust in their authority and reliability. A note of caution might be sounded however about the employment of internet sources in any literature review. Whereas the process of publishing work in an academic book or journal is a lengthy one, requiring considerable cost and numerous stages of scrutiny by fellow scholars and experts, thus ensuring the quality of those sources, nonetheless, the standards required for publication on the internet are often lower and less vigorous. The vast profusion material released daily on the internet requires the conscientious student to subject the internet sources he employs to greater scrutiny and doubt than might be the case with academic books or journals published in the traditional paper-based way. Consequently, the internet sources used in this literature review have been vigorously scrutinised and tested for their reliability in the fashion described above. Section 3: Review The following literature review is discussed according to the following thematic schema in five parts: (1) The Paradox of Individuality and Conformity, (2), Global Trends and World Markets, (3) Semiotic Theories of Fashion Promotion & Visual Communication, (4) Popular Cultures and Distinctive Identities, and, (5), Sociological & Philosophical Views of Class, Gender, Social Stereotypes and Cultural Identity. The Paradox of Individuality and Conformity The contemporary situation in Western fashion and personal clothing choice is one of apparently irresolvable paradox: Westerners are today endowed with ever greater personal freedoms, extending naturally to their choice of personal clothing and one would expect this freedom to lead to a plethora and profusion of individual styles and manners of dress: these freedoms should result in less conformity of style than was present in say 1905 when gender, class and social prejudices compelled and forced a person to dress in a particular way and style. Yet, despite these abundant new-found freedoms, Western clothing choice in 2005 seems to display ever greater conformity and homogeneity. That is, Westerners are ‘choosing’ to dress more and more alike one another – Westerners’ expression of their personalities through their choice of style is showing ever greater similarities to one another. How then could this be possible? This question is discussed at the general level in great depth by F. Davis (1993) Fashion, Clothing and Identity and by Fiske (1990) in Introduction to Communications Studies. Global Trends & World Markets The most persuasive and frequently given answer to the above question is that the rise of huge fashion houses – such as Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani, Prada, Zara, amongst many others – along with their massive resources for branding and advertising, have drowned-out the recently attained freedoms of Western individuals to reflect their personalities in their choice of clothing. This point is powerfully made in D. Crane’s seminal text Fashion and the Social Agenda: Class, Gender and Identity in Clothing. (Crane, 2004). Crane argues that just at the critical historical moment (the end of the 20th Century) when Westerners were finally endowed with greater personal freedoms in fashion and personality expression than ever before, that these freedoms were immediately smothered by forces such as globalization and capitalism which gave birth to vast fashion corporations whose financial resources and advertising capacity have become too great and powerful for individual expression to poke through and flower. This point is corroborated and reinforced by numerous other scholars and authorities in fashion and marketing. F. Davis (1993) in Fashion, Culture and Identity, L. Rosenfeld (1997) in Clothing as Communication, and J. Craik (1994) in The Face of Fashion; Cultural Studies in Fashion all endorse Crane’s central premise that individual freedom of personality expression through clothing and style is suffocated by the capitally fuelled force of the major fashion brands to overwhelm this expression through relentless psychological pressure, carried by advertising, to conform to the style and choice ‘imposed’ and ‘decided’ by these companies and not by individuals themselves. M. Barnard in Fashion as Communication (1996) makes an interesting refinement of this basic premise by suggesting, in a further paradoxical statement, that it is the very freedom of gender, class, social status etc. , of the past fifty years which has led to ever greater conformity to popular styles and to an even greater imposition of style than existed before such freedoms were possible. In other words, to echo a sentiment expressed by Nietzsche in 1888 (Nietzsche, 1888) and Freud in 1900 (Freud, 1900) human beings have natural herd instincts which are present whether people are free or not, and these instincts generate the need for leadership and imposition from one source or another. Thus, whilst before the 1960’s style conformity was forced upon Westerners by gender and class stereotypes, nonetheless, after the 1960’s when these stereotypes were lifted, Westerners became susceptible to a new ‘authority’, ‘imposition’ and ‘leadership’ in the form of vast fashion corporations whose choice of style and expression is propagated through intensive branding and advertising. According to this philosophical view, endorsed by Bruce Stella and Pamela Church Gibson (2000) in Fashion Cultures Theories: Explorations and Analysis, the personalities of Westerners today and their choice of expression of their personalities through clothing, is largely decided by fashion corporations and advertising companies – thus resulting in the uniformity of style and expression which is so evident from a casual glance at our high-streets today. Semiotic Theories of Fashion Promotion & Visual Communication A interesting example of the practice of a semiotic theory of fashion promotion is that discussed in A. Rhodes’ and R. Zuloago’s paper ‘A Semiotic Analysis of High Fashion Advertising’ published in 2003. The chief motif of Rhodes’ and Zuloago’s work is that ‘Fashion advertising is an excellent example of identity-image producing media’ (Rhodes & Zuloago, 2003: p8). They state at the outset of their paper that ‘The nature of the product is tied directly to identity – those objects with which we encase our bodies for public display  ­- and fashion is acknowledged as a cultural language of style’; a little further on they add ‘Taken as a whole, high fashion media and advertising describe a spectrum of identity, unified in general types of signifiers – young women, high status, high sexuality – and through the constant repetition and variation of images on these themes serve to create this identity spectrum. ’ (Rhodes and Zuloago, 2003, p1). Thus, in their paper, Rhodes and Zuloago seek to define the symbiotic relationship between high fashion and the cultural and social identity of one particular social group: young, rich and sexually confident women. Rhodes and Zuloago argue that the advertising campaigns of companies like Prada, Donna Karen, Armani, Dolce Gabanna and others like them, speak so powerfully and seductively to these women, and that the images employed penetrate so deeply into their consciousness and social orientation, that they come to identify their personalities almost wholly with the product. Rhodes and Zulago recognise, nonetheless, that whilst the influence of major fashion brands over social groups like the one mentioned above is immense that these groups too, by their social characteristics and newly liberated personalities, constantly force the fashion brands to invent new styles and designs that evolve to reflect the changing consciousness of these particular and individualistic groups (Rhodes & Zuloago, 2003: p5). The symbiosis is nearly total; and similar relationships between major brands and other social groups are evident throughout modern Western culture. Popular Cultures and Distinctive Identities R. Radford points out in Dangerous Liaison: Art, Fashion and Individualism (1998) that the mass conformity of modern fashion style and personality expression is not of course universal, and many original and fresh styles – punk, gothic, ethnic, etc. , – have arisen from the social freedoms of recent decades, both in reaction to the preceding centuries of restricted expression and also in reaction to the monotonous uniformity of the mass-branded and consumer-based style. As suggested in the last sentence, Radford distinguishes between styles which are (1) a reaction to the restrictions of former centuries, (2) those which are defiances of the modern branded uniformity, and, (3), those which are a reaction to neither, but rather are healthy and original efflorescences of cultural uniqueness and individual expression. In the first category Radford places the astonishing growth in popularity of ‘gender-liberated’ products like bikinis, short-skirts and casual clothing which were, in other centuries, repressed by the authorities either because of gender prejudices or inequalities, or because of antiquated ideas about the morality or sexual imprudence of certain items and styles of clothing. To take an instance of gender discrimination cited by Radford (Radford, 1998: pp. 142-148), it was not socially or morally permissible for women in former times to wear beach attire (bikinis, swim-suits etc. ,) that revealed or celebrated anything of the sensuousness or beauty of the female figure; women were therefore universally condemned (in Western countries) to wear a single type plain, non-sexual beachwear. But since the lifting of this social prejudice and stigma, there has been a profusion of designers, from Gucci and Dolce & Gabana to Zara and BHS, who have produced modern designs which allow women to celebrate the sensuality and beauty of the female figure. Women today enjoy the same rights as men to wear what they like either to the beach, to the disco or to work; thus, in this instance, despite the domination of the fashion brands, women now have the opportunity to, and do indeed exhibit in practice, a greater expression of individuality of personality than was possible or permissible before the last decades. In the second category, Radford places fashion styles like punk and gothic: styles which rebel against the conformity of modern mass-consumer culture and relish in the controversy and upsetting of convention induced by the difference of their style. Studded clothing, fluorescent coloured hair, male make-up, cross-dressing etc. , are rebellions against the usual fashion paradigm and make the personality statement that some people disagree with popular sentiment and convention and express this in clothing styles that are often shocking and scandalous (Barthes, 1983). In the third category are individualistic styles, such as ethnic, which are neither reactions to historical repressions or to modern mass conformity, but which are rather healthy flourishing of individual personality or philosophy. For instance, contemporary Western style permits a greater exhibition of ethnic clothing or pride in national dress than was acceptable fifty years ago. F. Davis argued as early as 1988 in Clothing and Fashion Communication that clothing could be a vehicle for greater racial tolerance and for multi-culturalism and racial integration in modern Western society. A concomitant of this toleration is a celebration and pride in the wearing of clothes of national dress; clothes that display part of the person’s personality repressed for decades. Sociological & Philosophical Views of Class, Gender, Social Stereotypes and Cultural Identity Jacques Lacan in Language of the Self (Lacan, 1997) gives a fascinating philosophical and psychological interpretation of the individuality vs. conformity paradox, filtering it the prism of class, gender and social stereotypes, to argue that human beings are essentially language-animals and can be manipulated if one finds the key to the use of this language. Lacan argues in his seminal text Language and the Self (1997) that the social freedoms attained by Westerners in the past half century have given them Westerners unprecedented opportunities to reflect their innermost ‘self’, their basic human constituency, through new cultural media such as television, the arts, and by derivation, fashion and our choice of media. Lacan argues further that the ‘self’ of previously repressed groups such as women, homosexuals, African-Americans and so on is now able to manifest itself in cultural forms that had previously been repressed for centuries, and which are now bursting out in the diversity of artforms prevalent in our society today. Nonetheless, through his principal scientific and philosophical investigation into the language-animal, Lacan argues that Westerners have been seduced by the clever and innovative marketing campaigns of the major fashion brands, who use slogans and images to target specific social groups. Thus Lacan explains the phenomenal seduction of modern Western man to the worded slogans of designer labels and celebrity endorsed products. Lacan suggests that the advertising campaigns of major fashion brands seduce the consumer’s unconscious directly and that this explains the phenomenon of mass conformity to such a homogeneous type of personal expression through fashion as is evident in our society. Section 4: Conclusion In the final analysis, the literature of the fashion and marketing texts on the subject of individuality vs. conformity, and the influence of branding upon this relationship, reveals the following points. Firstly, that a curious and complex paradox deeply underpins the dynamics between individuality and conformity. To the one side, the liberation of women, homosexuals, formerly repressed racial groups, underprivileged classes and others, in the second half of the twentieth-century, has led to a huge mass of people in Western society who have previously unimaginable freedom to wear whatever styles and types of clothing they believe best express their individuality and uniqueness. For instance, gender prejudices removed, women can now wear trousers ; race prejudices declining, repressed groups can wear a city suit or opera tuxedo; in many other instances Westerners are free to dress as however their mood, philosophy and occupation inclines them. On the other hand, the ceaseless ascent to prominence and immense power of the great fashion houses and fashion brands has led to a blanket of homogeneity being spread over the personal expression of many Western consumers. Philosophers like Lacan, and psychologists like Freud and Nietzsche, suggest that man has an innate herd instinct that compels him to conform to the trends of the crowd and to seek a higher authority and leadership to decide and impose his personal expression upon him. According to this view, despite the newly attained freedom of Westerners, they have substituted for the old imposition of gender and class barriers the new authority of the mass product and the famous brand. Thus ‘personal choice’ and ‘freedom of expression of personality’ through clothing are merely illusions that do not correspond to modern reality. Furthermore, the conformity of modern Western dress is, according to D. Crane (Crane, 2004), even more intense today than in other centuries, since in 2005 particular styles and mass produced clothing items – Crane gives Levi’s jeans as an example – permeate all classes and genders of society and therefore have a ‘total sphere of conformity and influence’; in other centuries a particular item or style of clothing would only dominate one social group; today brands like Nike, Zara, Levi’s, Armani and so on, can penetrate the personal expression of every social group from top to bottom. Nonetheless, the flourishing of reactionary and rebellious fashions expressions such as punk and gothic, as well as the profusion of small individualistic designers and such styles as ethnic suggest that the mass produced fashion items have not and will not dominate totally and may even be forced back a little as personal expression is allowed to bloom in the new forms and clothing styles of the twenty-first century. Our final words might be these: that the question of conformity vs. individuality now hangs in a delicate balance and equilibrium, that Western society pivots at a vital moment in the history of its ability to be able to define itself. The opportunity exists for Westerners to dazzle the world with an efflorescence of new styles of clothing that reflect the cultural diversity, racial integration, and class assimilation achieved in the past fifty years. The danger remains nonetheless that these achievements and potential expression will be swamped by the relentless march of mass consumer fashion and our seduction to it. Section 5: Bibliography Academic Books, Journals & Articles – Barnard, M. (1996) Fashion as Communication, Routledge – Barthes, R. (1967, 1983). The Fashion System, New York: Hill and Wang. – Bruzzi Stella & Church, P. G. (2000). Fashion Cultures Theories, Explorations and Analysis, Routledge – Craik, J. (1994) The Face of Fashion; Cultural Studies in Fashion, London: Routledge. – Crane, D. (2004). Fashion and Its Social Agenda: Class, Gender and Identity in Clothing. Oxford University Press, Oxford. – Davis, F. (1985). ‘Clothing and fashion as communication’, in Solomon, M. R. (ed. ) The Psychology of Fashion, Massachusetts: Lexington Books. – Davis, F. (1993). Fashion, Culture and Identity, Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press. – Du Gay, P. (1996). Consumption and Identity at Work, London: Sage. – Fiske, J. (1990). Introduction to Communication Studies, London: Routledge – Freud, S. (1900). The Interpretation of Dreams. Penguin, London. – Lacan, J. (Reprinted 1997). Language of the Self, Baltimore, MD. : Johns Hopkins University Press – Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, Self and Society, From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviourist, Chicago, IL. : University of Chicago Press – Miles, S. (1998). Consumerism as a Way of Life, London: Sage Publications – Nietzsche, F. (1888). Ecce Homo. Peter Gast Books, Basel. – Quirk, R. (Et al. ). (1989). The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, Oxford. – Radford, R. , ‘Dangerous Liaison: Art, Fashion and Individualism’, Fashion Theory, vol. 2, issue 2, Oxford: Berg, 1998, pp. 151-64. – Rosenfeld, L. B. and Plax, T. G. (1997). ‘ Clothing as communication’, Journal of Communication, 27: 24-31. – Smith, A. (1759/1976). The Theory of the Moral Sentiments, Edinburgh. Internet Sources – Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, Self and Society, From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviourist, Chicago, IL. : University of Chicago Press http://www2. pfeiffer. edu/~lridener/DSS/Mead/MINDSELF. HTML – Smith, A. (1759/1976). The Theory of the Moral Sentiments, Edinburgh. http://www. adamsmith. org/smith/tms-intro. htm – Rhodes, A. & Zuloago, R. (2003). A semiotic Analysis of High Fashion Advertising. www. garhodes. com/Semiotics_of_Fashion. pdf

Video response assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Video response - Assignment Example For example, the video shows that before the Second World War, major economies such as America and Great Britain favored the Keynesian macroeconomic thought. However, immediately after the war, the effects of this approach were felt, and these were manifested through high levels of inflation. The counterapproach to the Keynesian macroeconomic principles is the idea of a free market as promoted by Hayek. As the video shows, one of the champions of a free market was Margret Thatcher who called for the liberalization of the British economy. Indeed, most countries, including the United States and Germany, adopted this approach and their economies were transformed. The documentary thus promotes the idea that market power and government control clash, making it difficult to successfully run a government controlled economy. However, whereas it might appear that a free market economy is the best option, the real issue lies in the balance of state power and freedom of the market. This will perhaps explain why socialist states such as china and Russia have remained successful to date. It can thus be argued that there is no single way of handling the economy of a nation, but instead it’s a careful balance of these two

Medievel Glass at Corning Museum of Glass Assignment

Medievel Glass at Corning Museum of Glass - Assignment Example . People who do not normally see glass as an artwork will be surprised to know that a museum of glass exists. The medieval glass collection of the Corning Museum of Glass (CMG, 2012a) displays a wide range of glass objects that had decorative and functional purposes during medieval times. After conducting a virtual visit of this museum’s â€Å"Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes and Peasants,† this writer realized how much glass can depict cultural and social beliefs, divisions, and struggles. Glass signifies cultural values and social divisions because its transformation across time depicts social stratification and social transformation. Medieval glass begins somewhere, and its humble beginnings reflect the practical needs and social concerns of its users. A 425-dated olive green glass, a Byzantine Cone Beaker, demonstrates a simple design that reflects its functional purpose (see Figure 1). After the Roman Empire disintegrated, tastes in glass varied. In locations where the Franks lived, simpler shapes and decorative styles were the norm. This Byzantine Cone Beaker is designed for convenience, which suggests how this glass expresses the pragmatic needs of its users. Glass art can be used as a â€Å"medium of learning† of another time and culture (Diffey, 1997, p.27). One can only imagine the working-class drinking their wine in pubs or homes and relaxing enough to forget their troubles. This glass stands for the practical demands of people making a living for survival. Nothing is simple with this simple glass. It is simple because life is hard. Figure 1: A Byzantine Cone Beaker, dating 425-599 Source: Corning Museum of Glass (2012b) The latest example of medieval glass in the exhibit is impressive because of its intricate design that depicts strong social changes and inequalities. A Baroque Ewer (see figure 2), a colorless glass with green tinge and numerous bubbles in color combinations, suggests aesthetic beauty and creativity. The top of the handle has a thumb rest, which is an innovation (CMG, 2012b). It signifies the changing society that demands creativity in its products. Moreover, this ewer has evolved a great deal from initial glass designs because it is multi-colored and intricately formed. Even when these things have simple functions, people craved for more beauty in their everyday objects. This beauty essentially represents their social identity. Their demand for more beautiful things in their lives connotes their need for asserting their social importance. Bourdieu talks about social and economic capital that reinforces social inequality (Dillon, 2010). Only the rich can afford this ewer, and design that is important to them becomes something coveted, and yet to the masses it is unimportant. Nevertheless, glass becomes a unique differentiating tool of their social status. Figure 2: A Baroque Ewer, dating 1550-1600 Source: Corning Museum of Glass (2012b) Glass objects represent a groups’ social status and identities. For instance, figure 3 shows a Behaim Beaker that might have been specifically made for a rich merchant’s daughter’s wedding. The wedding took place on July 7, 1495; it was the nuptial of Michael Behaim and Katerina Lochnerin, the daughter of a rich merchant, whose company monopolized the trade between Nuremberg and Venice (CMG, 2012b). This object shows that even the simplest things say something about the owner and his/her culture and society. The name Behaim Beaker belongs to a prominent family and its drawings of saints, birds, and helmets signify pow er. These are objects that help conceive self-identity with â€Å"images [that] shape an individual self-concept† (Freedman, 2003, p.2). It demonstrates power and majesty in

Critically examine the context of professionalism, core professional Essay

Critically examine the context of professionalism, core professional values in the Lifelong Learning Sector - Essay Example On the other hand, professionalism is a way that someone behaves appropriately in a way that is generally acceptable. In essence, professionalism entails contradictory processes that the practitioners undergo, as a way of achieving their strategic goals. Carr and Kemmis (1986) argue that, a profession must involve the use of theoretical knowledge and research, as the base of the professionals involved. They argued that occupations that can be regarded as professions or disciplines, include medicine, law and engineering. This is due to the fact that, these professions use techniques as well as skills. In addition, these professions involve commitment of the professionals, who are in these positions in a way that they capture the interest of their clients. Lastly, they argue that these professions are controlled through a set of ethical codes, which help them to achieve their goals. Therefore, looking at the teaching area, it can be referred as a profession, in the sense that it entails the above professional ethics, which are present in these other professions such as medicine and law. Considering a wider sociological thinking, there are greater challenges in terms of professionalism and practice by the professionals. Atkinson & Claxton (2000) argue that professionalism is one of the key factors to citizen’s modernization. Greater changes in the professional world, have been evident in the past 20 years, and this has led to the self-serving modernization in both civil society as well as other institutions (Clark & Newman 1997). The greater part of the organizations that has changed, is the view of the managers about different professionals, who have the competence to provide the required skills in their professions. As jobs are identified in different categories, they circumvent and maneuver within the professionals, and are based on the proliferation of the jobs given. Atkinson & Claxton (2000) believe that there is a need to define

Information Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Information Security - Essay Example Thus, saving it is as significant as caring their currency and other physical resource as well as necessitates just as a great deal of protection and arrangement (Motorolla, 2010). As information has turned out to be the most valuable resource for any business and extremely important for business in such scenario where an organization needs to take a great care of such resources. So to serve this purpose there is need for establishing and maintaining better security policy inside the corporation that offers enhanced awareness as well as insight into the corporate processes and departments. This paper presents some of the prime aspects of security and its awareness. The aim of this paper is to analyze the ideas which have been presented by Bruce Schneier. According to (Schneier, 2008), the security is a sense, which is not based on the likelihood as well as mathematical computations however on our mental responses to both dangers and countermeasures. In this scenario, we might experie nce horribly frightened of terror campaign, or else we might believe similar to it is not something value anxious about. Thus, the understanding and actuality of security is surely connected to one another: however they are surely not the similar as each other. We would certainly be more affluent if we had two diverse terms for them. Moreover, Schneier (2008) has tried to discover the sense of security (Schneier, 2008). The techniques that will most successfully reduce the capability of hackers as well as intruders to damage and negotiate information security are requiring wide-ranging user teaching and learning. Additionally, endorsing strategies as well as measures only would not be sufficient. Moreover, still by means of lapse the strategies as well as procedures cannot be efficient (iWAR, 2010). In this regard, a business security management team cannot simply offer the type of general corporate consciousness essential to keep away the large multiplicity of events a business mig ht experience. That type of responsiveness necessitates the dynamic contribution of every staff member in the corporation. Additionally, incidents happened through workers faults produces extreme harm to the company each year than outside attacks. In this scenario, getting the support as well as contribution of an organization’s workers necessitates an energetic knowledge program; one that is up-held through the entire layers of management (Olzak, 2006). Producing an information security and privacy knowledge as well as teaching program are not easy jobs to do. They are frequently annoying jobs. Additionally, a lot of times, unluckily, it is regularly a difficult job. Though, offering their employees with the security and privacy information they require making sure they recognize and pursue the necessities, are a significant part of an organization's dealing accomplishment. If the employees of an organization are not familiar with or recognize how to uphold privacy of data a nd information, or how to protect it properly, they not simply danger having one of their most precious business resources (information) mismanagement, acquired by illegal persons, unsuitably utilized but as well threat being in disobedience of a large number of rules and policies that necessitate certain kinds of data and information security as well as privacy knowledge and teaching procedures. Moreover, they also risk spoiling another precious resource or asset, business status. Thus, information privacy and security teaching is significant for a lot of causes (Herold, 2010). Schneier (2008) outlined four main features of the information secu

Sir Walliam Ramsay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sir Walliam Ramsay - Essay Example Till 1870, he imparted his early education in his native place. He spent his time at Fitting’s laboratory located at Tubingen at the time of preparing thesis on orthotoluic acid and its derivatives succeed him in having the doctorate degree (Tilden & Ramsay 2010, p. 28). Thereafter, Ramsay became the Anderson associate at the Anderson College. In the year 1879, he got inducted as Professor of Chemistry at the University College of Bristol (Tilden & Ramsay 2010, p. 30). Merry moments came in the life of Ramsay when he got married to Margaret, the daughter of George Stevenson Buchanan. They left behind them one son and a daughter. His passion was traveling and learning of different languages (Kauffman 2004, p. 378). When he came to Scotland in the year 1872, he joined as assistant in the chemistry department at Anderson College in Glasgow. Two years after, he acquired similar status at the University. In the year 1880, he assumed the office of Principal and Professor of Chemistry at University College, Bristol. In the year 1887, he joined the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at University College, London, a coveted position where he took his retirement in 1913 (Tilden & Ramsay 2010, p. 32). The initial work of Ramsay was in the field of organic chemistry. During the period of his doctoral assignments, he published his work on picoline with the connivance of Dobbie with regard to the product of the quinine alkaloids during the tenure of 1878 to 1879 (Thomas 2004, p. 6419). He had written number of articles on picoline and on the decomposed products of the quinine alkaloids. From the inception of eighties, he was actively involved in physical chemistry. His contributions towards chemistry, being the most rewarding contribution in terms of stoichiometry and thermodynamics are considered marvellous. It has helped him a lot for the investigations carried out with Sidney Young on the subject of evaporation and dissociation

Land law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 11

Land law - Essay Example Further, under section 59(1) of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act (1981)2, a non-entitled spouse who is legally married to the entitled-spouse has two rights as related to the property of the entitled spouse, namely (a) the right to continue to occupy the matrimonial home and (b), the right to enter and occupy the matrimonial home, if not in occupation. In this case, Marryam is not in occupation of the home, since she has been out of the home in a rehabilitation clinic recovering from depression. Therefore, Marryam can only have an enforceable right as provided in the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) Act (1981), if she is legally married to David. This is because, despite the fact that the two spouses contributed to the purchase of the Smithy House property, Marryam was not registered in the title deed as one of the owners, owing to the fact that she was handling the issue of divorce with her previous husband, and thus did not want to complicate the issue. Therefore, the fact that Marryam is not registered in the property title deed as one of the owners of the property means that she can gain a better and enforceable title to claim the property, if she is a legally married spouse to David3. The principle of property ownership is well provided for under section 52(1) Law of Property Act (1925)4, which provided that a conveyance into a better title for all claimants to a property will result from the registration of joint names in the property deed. Thus, according to the provisions of this law, for as long as the property title does not bear the joint names of the property owners, then the property owner whose name solely appears in the property deed has the right to (i) force the other party to live the property without a court order, (ii) rent out or sell the property without getting the consent of the other party and (iii) take out a loan against the property without consulting or seeking the consent of the other party5.

Death Investigations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Death Investigations - Assignment Example Mechanisms of death, on the other hand, are the preceding situations after the cause of death, for instance, is a person was shot on the head and the gunshot caused brain hemorrhage which leads the deceased to succumb to the injuries then blood hemorrhage is a mechanism of death. Mechanisms of death are not first degree factors that lead to death there must have been an initial incident which is a cause of death that will lead to mechanisms of death which will eventually transpire to the death of a person. Natural death is simply death, which is occasioned by natural causes such as terminal illness, ageing or situations like heart failure. This category of death is where the body of a human being ceases to function in its own without any external factor contributing to the same. It is commonly associated with the lifespan of an ideal human being when the body organs have performed their duties to their best capacity, and they would not function anymore. Homicide is where a person decided to take the life of another person purposely because of inherent reasons. This can be staged in a number of ways but the main point with homicide it is clearly planned and executed by those involved to kill innocent people in cold blood either by attacking him/her or using any physical or scientific means to execute the murder. Homicide may result from a person being poisoned by others or killed by police who were trailing maybe suspected gangsters, etc.. Suicide is a self-inflicted death that is purposely done by a person who wants to inflict self-harm or ultimately kill him/her through hanging, gunshot or even drug overdose.  

Multiculturalism in contemporary english literature(how to do a Essay

Multiculturalism in contemporary english literature(how to do a research for this topic) - Essay Example multicultural education, or multicultural menu.† As pertains to contemporary English literature, contemporary multicultural English literature would be that body of written work by authors whose work comes to fruition during the twentieth century, incorporating themes and characters of a cultural diversity; such as the works of Salman Rushdie, wherein Rushdie’s work, as Deepika Bahri (2004) suggests, is reflects a body of work that represents â€Å"’hybrid temporalities of ‘of colonialism.† Rushdie’s work, as Bahri suggests, falls within the â€Å"paleocolonial† era; or those post-colonial writers who by time and space in a post-colonial empire, whose work has not been the subject of post-colonial resentment and suppression.1 While there indeed exists a variety of contemporary English literary works from which to select that include a multicultural diversity by way of author and theme, with the exception of a limited, albeit growing, bod y of works, they tend to be works portraying the English protagonist in a foreign setting. The goal of this paper became one of searching the existing body of contemporary literature for a work of literature reflecting a multicultural setting, written by author of other than a British born English heritage, and whose story presents a protagonist as hero, or heroine of that story in a multicultural setting and of a multicultural heritage. To that end, the focus rested on the works of author Salman Rushdie, whose body of work emanated from lands other than England, and brought to the reader the opportunity to both discover the essence of a rich multicultural environment and tradition through interesting multicultural characters. Narrowing down the selection within Rushdie’s body of work to the multicultural work encompassing the goals previously discussed, the focus of this paper is Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh (1997).2 The selection of support materials for inclusion in this paper were made on the basis of

Simon Cowell Essay Example for Free

Simon Cowell Essay Simon Cowell was born on October 7, 1959, in London, England. Cowell started his career in the music industry working in the mailroom at EMI Music Publishing. He worked as a record producer, talent scout and consultant within the music industry before producing the hit British TV show Pop Idol and its U.S. counterpart, American Idol. Cowells scathing comments were famous during his 10 seasons as a judge on American Idol. He started judging The X Factor in 2011. QUICK FACTS: OCCUPATION: Music Producer, Reality Television Star BIRTH DATE: October 07, 1959 (Age: 53) EDUCATION: Dover College PLACE OF BIRTH: London, United Kingdom FULL NAME: Simon Phillip Cowell, ZODIAC SIGN: Libra Early Career: Simon Phillip Cowell was born on October 7, 1959 in London, England. His father, Eric Philip Cowell, was an estate agent developer and music industry executive. His mother, Julie Brett, was a former ballet dancer and socialite. Cowell attended school at Dover College, but dropped out at 16. He floated in and out of jobs, sabotaging several interviews for jobs set up by his father. He finally landed a job at his fathers company as a mailroom clerk at EMI Music Publishing. He managed to earn a position as an assistant to an AR executive at EMI in 1979, where he was promoted and given the job of talent scout. Cowell left EMI during the early 1980s to form ES Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich. The company created several hits, but Cowell left by mutual agreement a few years later. In 1985, he and a partner formed the independent label Fanfare Records, which enjoyed short-lived success. The company folded in 1989. In financial straits, Cowell was forced to move back in with his family. Undeterred, Cowell signed on as a consultant with BMG Records later that same year. He moved back into his own place, and gradually climbed the corporate ladder at BMG. He managed to sign a string of successful acts for the company, selling more than 150 million records and 70 top-charting singles in the UK and United States. | Sign In | Register MOBILE †¢ EMAIL UPDATES †¢ PEOPLE †¢ TV †¢ VIDEO †¢ PHOTOS †¢ GAME †¢ BLOG †¢ ON THIS DAY †¢ SHOP SEE WHATS ON TONIGHT! Mobsters Tune In Tuesdays @ 8/7c more sharing servicesshare Simon Cowell biography profile photos 1 photo QUICK FACTS NAME: Simon Cowell OCCUPATION: Music Producer, Reality Television Star BIRTH DATE: October 07, 1959 (Age: 53) EDUCATION: Dover College PLACE OF BIRTH: London, United Kingdom AKA: Simon Cowell FULL NAME: Simon Phillip Cowell ZODIAC SIGN: Libra BEST KNOWN FOR Simon Cowell is a record producer and television personality known for his scathing critical remarks as a judge on the television show, American Idol. QUIZ Think you know about Biography? Answer questions and see how you rank against other players. PLAY NOW Home †¢ People †¢ Simon Cowell Print Cite This Synopsis Simon Cowell was born on October 7, 1959, in London, England. Cowell started his career in the music industry working in the mailroom at EMI Music Publishing. He worked as a record producer, talent scout and consultant within the music industry before producing the hit British TV show Pop Idol and its U.S. counterpart, American Idol. Cowells scathing comments were famous during his 10 seasons as a judge on American Idol. He started judging The X Factor in 2011. CONTENTS Synopsis Early Career Pop Idol and American Idol The X Factor Industry Recognition Personal Life QUOTES In TV, film and music theres a lot of snobbery, and I dont like it. If I dont like French food, that doesnt make me a lesser person. – Simon Cowell Early Career Simon Phillip Cowell was born on October 7, 1959 in London, England. His father, Eric Philip Cowell, was an estate agent developer and music industry executive. His mother, Julie Brett, was a former ballet dancer and socialite. Cowell attended school at Dover College, but dropped out at 16. He floated in and out of jobs, sabotaging several interviews for jobs set up by his father. He finally landed a job at his fathers company as a mailroom clerk  at EMI Music Publishing. He managed to earn a position as an assistant to an AR executive at EMI in 1979, where he was promoted and given the job of talent scout. Cowell left EMI during the early 1980s to form ES Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich. The company created several hits, but Cowell left by mutual agreement a few years later. In 1985, he and a partner formed the independent label Fanfare Records, which enjoyed short-lived success. The company folded in 1989. In financial straits, Cowell was forced to move back in with his family. Undeterred, Cowell signed on as a consultant with BMG Records later that same year. He moved back into his own place, and gradually climbed the corporate ladder at BMG. He managed to sign a string of successful acts for the company, selling more than 150 million records and 70 top-charting singles in the UK and United States. Pop Idol and American Idol In 2001, Cowell teamed up with Simon Fuller to produce a show in which the public chooses Britains next big music performance star. The show, Pop Idol, debuted in the UK and promised a BMG record deal to the winner. With Cowell as a judge notorious for reducing contestants to tears, the show was an instant success, drawing more than 10,000 would-be stars to audition for the show. The American version, American Idol, debuted in 2002, with Cowell once again judging alongside singer Paula Abdul and producer Randy Jackson. The show drew in a record number of viewers for Fox, in addition to producing pop stars Kelly Clarkson (2002), Ruben Studdard (2003), Fantasia Barrino (2004), Jennifer Hudson (2004), Carrie Underwood (2005), Taylor Hicks (2006), Jordin Sparks (2007) and David Cook (2008), among others. Cowell has become known for combining his music and television interests. He set up another company, SYCOtv, in 2002. The company created the television shows American Inventor, Americas Got Talent and X-Factor. The group also produces records for many of the performers on Cowells shows including albums for Leona Lewis and Il Divo. New point: In 2011, Cowell helped import his hit British series The X Factor to America. The show is a talent search that awards a $5 million recording contract to  the winner. Cowell even gave up his judging duties on American Idol to sit front and center at The X Factor auditions. Television viewers loved this competition, which proved to be a success in the ratings. Cowells fellow judges included legendary recording executive L.A. Reid, former American Idol judge and singer Paula Abdul, and singer Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls fame. The X Factor kicked off its second season in September 2012 with a few line-up changes. Pop star Britney Spears and actress-singer Demi Lovato joined the show as judges, replacing Abdul and Scherzinger. For the third season, the series made yet another change to the members of the judges panel, replacing Reid and Spears for Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio. Mario Lopez also stepped in as the primary host for the show after co-hosting with Khloe Kardashian during the second season. Industry Recognition In 2004, Entertainment Weekly named Simon Cowell as one of the Top Entertainers of the Year. In 2006, he renewed his contract with American Idol for five more seasons; the deal gave him a yearly salary of $40 million. That same year, he was named Varietys UK Personality of the Year. In 2007, Cowell earned the No. 3 slot on the Forbes TV Faces List, and No. 21 on Forbes Celebrity 100 Power List. He also created an American Idol spin-off, Idol Gives Back, a two-episode special that helped to provide aid to children in Africa and the American poor. The show raised $76 million for charity. Personal Life Since his time on American Idol, Cowell has been romantically linked to several women in public relationships. Rumors began to swirl after Cowell was seen flirting with his Idol co-host Paula Abdul that the two were an item. However, both celebrities confirmed that they were merely friends, despite their chemistry on camera. In early 2010, Cowell announced that he was engaged to Idol makeup artist Mezghan Hussainy. The couple broke off their engagement in 2012, with Cowell saying, We came to the conclusion that Im a hopeless boyfriend. He also reportedly gave Hussainy a  £5million mansion in Beverly Hills as a parting gift. In December of the same year, Cowell confirmed that he was dating actress and model Carmen Electra. The relationship only lasted a few months, with Cowell confirming that the two  had separated in early 2013. In 2009, Cowell revealed that he had no intention of having children, stating, With kids, youve got a routine you cant escape from. Youve got to be up at a certain time, got to listen, when all you want to do is sit in a corner thinking. His position on kids softened three years later during an interview with AOL in 2012, during which he stated I do really, really like kids, because I can talk to them and listen toIve always dedicated all my life to work, and at 52, Ive probably missed the opportunity. Despite his views on parenthood, a source told US Weekly in July 2013 that Cowell was expecting his first child with Lauren Silverman, wife of his close friend Andrew Silverman. Although Andrew and Laura Silverman are technically still married, them. The problem has always been how much time you need to devote to bringing up kids. the source told Us Weekly that a divorce has been in the works for a while. Cowell has yet to comment on his alleged part in the high profile pregnancy.

Change Along The Production Possibility Curve Economics Essay

Change Along The Production Possibility Curve Economics Essay According to McTaggard D et al. (1999), production possibility curve shows all the possible combinations of two goods that a firm can produce within a particular time period with all its resources fully and efficiently employed. What is more, droughts and extreme climate conditions could shift the frontier to the left. However, technological improvement, the capital stock rise and grow in the amount of employees, in their skills and educational levels bring movement to the right. Moreover, increase or decrease in quantity of one goods leads to change along the PPF. When human capital in protest, there will be decrease in workforce. Therefore (→ production possibility curve will shift to within frontier. During the event of protest or strike, there will be drop in human capital. Furthermore PPF shifts to the left. In order to produce more of one goods, we have to give up the other goods because of scarcity. That is why, movement occurs along the PPF (from point A to B). As a mentioned in case c, if we want to increase one goods we have to decrease number of other goods. In that case, we face movement along the PPF(from point C to D) In this situation, female and male both prohibited from entering some occupations. Therefore they have less ability to access which means drop in number of workforce then PPF will shift to the left. Spending less on defence and more on education means they are giving up one good and service in order to increase other one. At a moment change occurs along the PPF (from point E to F). But supporting education level may bring economic growth in the future economy. When government giving higher rate of unemployment benefit, it discourages school-leavers from work. On the other hand, people seem to be preferred being unemployment. As consequence, in the economy there will be decrease in workforce. Therefore, it leads PPF shift to the left. Section 2 To define what is happening in France and Australias economy first lets examine what is supply, demand, and equilibrium and why they do change. Demand According to Begg D et al. (2003) demand refers the maximum amount of a product that consumers are willing and able to buy during a particular period at various prices, holding all other relevant factors constant. What is more, holding all other relevant factors constant as price grows quantity demanded drops and as price declines quantity demanded rises. In addition, demand curve shifts when its relevant factors change such as the price of other products, income, population, preferences and future price expectations. A shift of demand curve is change in demand. The shift to outward represent rise in demand and shift to inward is a decline in demand. Furthermore, when price of good and service change, we face movement along the demand curve. Supply Supply is the quantity of a good and service that manufacturers are willing and able to produce in the market at various prices, all other relevant factors being held constant. The relationship between price and quantity are positive. If price of good and service is high manufacturers are happy to produce more and more. On the other hand, if the price of good and service set low, they will supply fewer. Change in price does not shift supply curve but it leads to movement along the supply curve. Moreover, supply curve may shift because of change in substitutes and complements in production, price of factors of production, technology, future price expectations, effects of the weather and number of producers. Equilibrium According to Sloman and Hinde (2007) supply and demand both together describe market equilibrium. Equilibrium price and quantity exists where the quantity supplied exactly equal quantity demanded for the good and service. Therefore, when demand and supply curves change, equilibrium price and quantity change too. Because of the poor grape harvest the supply of French wine decreased which is supply curve shifted to the left. As a result of supplying fewer quantity of French wine in the market, its price increased. Therefore, equilibrium quantity and price both change as well. The graph below shows decrease in quantity supply leads to increase in products price. As consequence, decrease in quantity demanded new equilibrium price and quantity take place in the market.(E1-E2). Decrease in supply of French wine leads to increase its price. As result, there will more demand for Australian wine (Australian wine demand will shift to the right). Moreover, when demand increases products price and quantity will increase. Also, change in equilibrium price and quantity too.(E0 -E1) Section 3 1. C 2. D 3. A 4. A 5. B 6. C 7. D 8. B 9. A 10. D

The Lord of The Flies | Analysis

The Lord of The Flies | Analysis Lord of the Flies by William Golding is one of the most popular and endearing books of the twentieth century.   In part a morality tale, in part an analysis of the human psyche, it is also a supremely interesting and exciting adventure story.   All of these combined elements make the book a true classic and a perennial audience favourite.   The book also demonstrates its significance to today’s audiences via the many references made of it in popular culture.   Artists as divergent as U2, who named a song after one of the book’s chapters, through to the creators of cult TV drama ‘Lost’ pay testament to the value and resonance of William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’. Within its pages we see drama, tension, horror, cruelty and the extraordinary complexities that can occur when people are forced into unique situations.   This encourages the audience to philosophically engage with the book and look more deeply into it to find answers to the questions it poses â€Å"That work was Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. The book was the first novel that caused me to reflect for longer than I read† (Dalrymple, T, 2005) A plane crash strands a group of British schoolboys on an unknown island. In a society now shorn of traditional authority figures, it is up to the abandoned boys to establish some kind of working system to guide them through the dangers, inevitably inherent, in their new, unchartered existence.   The difficulties they encounter lead to violence and separatism and death.   At the beginning of the novel we are introduced to the key characters Ralph, Piggy and Jack.   Ã‚  Ralph and Jack are almost immediately engaged in a struggle for power thus emphasising one of Lord of the Flies’ key features, which is its ability to effectively mirror adult situations.   In this case it can be seen as indicative of a wider human inclination to become ‘top-dog’. Lord of the Flies is a novel that is filled with tension and drama. Defeated by Ralph in the election battle, Jack instead turns his attention to other, more dynamically fierce pursuits and becomes in charge of an almost-crazed hunting division of boys, thus finding a way to both proclaim his importance and issue a challenge to the incumbent as he satisfies his thirst for power in gradually more ominous and violent ways. The mandate for the group is created and the boys immediately decide to get on with the business of having fun and keeping the signal fire burning.   Therefore, this child-like perspective of leadership values and what is important in society is a fascination component of Golding’s work and accounts for much of its popularity and subsequent critical analysis due to its deft mirroring of many of today’s mores and traditions. A seemingly simple tale of schoolboys marooned on an island, Lord of the Flies has proven to be one of the most enigmatic and provocative pieces of literature ever published Olsen, K (2000). The other early principal character Piggy is almost immediately discounted by the boys due to his demeanour and appearance.   This further emphasises the plot’s reflection of ‘real-life’ patterns of behaviour and attitude where the ethos is often seen to be ‘survival of the fittest’ as Piggy, less physically impressive and worldly-wise than the power brokers now operating on the island,   is rejected â€Å"He is lacking in aggression, unwilling to adventure, cries easily, is not interested in competing .. As a result of his shortcomings, he is more than at the bottom of the hierarchy of the boys stranded on the island† (Berseka, T, 2003).   Once more, this facet of Golding’s work will engage with those who perceive contemporary society has an increasing penchant for populism and the triumph of aggression over civility. Already made to feel anxious by the inherent aggression in Jack’s leadership style and his bloodthirsty   proclivity for hunting pigs, the   younger members of the fledgling society are also made to feel insecure by the rumours of a ‘beast’ stalking the island.   This feral clamour for blood ultimately culminates in Piggy’s demise. Violence is shown to be a significant strategy in gaining power and influence, again echoing many such instances in the ‘real’ adult world. Although based on the dynamics of a group of schoolboys, the novel confronts profound questions of innocence, evil and the fall of man, casting doubt on the possibility of any lasting social progress Carter, R MacRae, J, 2001 This bloodlust reaches its nadir when one of the few left serving under Jack’s more traditional leadership, Simon, is savagely murdered by Ralph’s off-shoot ‘tribe’ in an almost ritualistic fervour.   This group are now distinctly separate and wilder than the others and are intoxicated by their own power.   As Ralph himself is about to become the third victim, the boys’ fire is spotted by a patrolling British Navy ship which effects a rescue. The somewhat ambivalent ending of Lord of the Flies further engages the audience by leaving them with unanswered questions and moral dilemmas. The leadership contest, the struggle for survival, the corrupting rush of power, the use of violence as a means to an end and the descent of the human species into an almost animalistic state raises questions relating to the very basic foundations of the human condition.   What do their actions tell us about notions of respect for one another?   How delicate is the balance between civilisation and savagery?   How damaging is their loss of innocence?   All of these questions serve to engage the reader in Golding’s classic text. BIBLIOGRAPHY Berseka, T, T. (2003), The Changing Boys World in the 20th Century: Reality and Fiction, The Journal of Mens Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 157 Carter, R. Macrae, J.(2001), The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and Ireland, Routledge, London Dalrymple, T. (2005), Desert-Island Reading, New Criterion, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 1. Olsen, K. (2000), Understanding Lord of the Flies: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.

Self-Reflective :: essays research papers

As I was flipping through my weekly subscription of US Weekly, I noticed a crossword puzzle featuring my favorite superstar, Britney Spears. The crossword was offering a $1 million prize to the 25th correct entry received. Breezing through the questions, I quickly mailed in my entry. About three weeks later, I received a check in the mail for $1 million! I decided to spend my prize money wisely by sharing with my family, investing it in a small business, and spending the rest for myself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First and most importantly, I gave my parents $300,000 so they can retire, put my brother through college, and maybe take a long vacation. I also gave both my brother and sister $50,000 each, so they can pay bills, or buy whatever they want. My extended family is also very important to me, so I gave each family a $10,000 Visa Gift Card, totaling $100,000 for 10 families.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After my family was taken care of, I thought very carefully about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I decided to open a beauty salon because cosmetology interests me and it can be good money. With the building costs, supplies, and licenses, I spent about $95,000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, after my financial situation and family has been taken care of, I could then concentrate on myself. The first thing I did was sold my car, which got me $6,000 cash. With this money and about $86,000 more, I was bought myself a silver BMW 745i, with black leather interior and a V8 engine. I moved out and purchased a condominium in Highlands Ranch that was well furnished for $250,000. Of course with my new car and a new home, I had to go shopping for a brand new wardrobe and accessories. After five rough days of shopping, my expenses totaled out to $40,000. At this point, I was left with $29,000, which I put in a savings account for emergency purposes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although it’s sad that most of the million dollars is now gone, and I was once considered a â€Å"millionaire,† the things I spent the money on turned out to make everyone who is important to me happy.

The Themes in Oedipus Rex Essays -- Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

The Themes in Oedipus Rex  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex, contains one main theme, which this essay will consider. The theme is the general doctrine or belief implicit in the drama, which the author seeks to make persuasive to the reader (Abrams 170).    In â€Å"Sophocles’ Moral Themes† Robert D. Murray Jr. cites a critic who is strictly moralist in the interpretation of the theme of Oedipus Rex:    Let C. M. Bowra speak for the moralists:    The central idea of a Sophoclean tragedy is that through suffering a man learns to be modest before the gods. . . . When [the characters] are finally forced to see the truth, we know that the gods have prevailed and that men must accept their own insignificance.    In short, for Bowra, the essence of each play of Sophocles is a message urging humility and piety (45).    Van Nortwick, seemingly in support of Bowra, describes Oedipus’ tragic flaw as something equivalent to the lack of modesty before the gods which Bowra refers to:    As ruler, he is a father to Thebes and its citizens, and like a father he will take care of his â€Å"children.† We see already the supreme self-confidence and ease of command in Oedipus, who can address not only other people’s children as his own, but also be a father to men older than he is. But beyond even this there is, in the sretched posture of the citizens, the hint of prostration before a deity. We are â€Å"clinging to your altars,† says the priest. . . . That he also exudes a godlike mastery in the eyes of his subjects only strengthens the heroic portrait. . . .(21-22).    The â€Å"godlike mastery† to which Van Nortwick refers is the same mastery which Creon in his final lines designates as the cause of the... ...of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. O’Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.    Jevons, Frank B.   â€Å"In Sophoclean Tragedy, Humans Create Their Own Fate.† In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.    Murray, Robert D. Jr. â€Å"Sophocles’ Moral Themes.† In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.    â€Å"Sophocles† In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.    Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. no pag. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed new?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedi    Van Nortwick, Thomas.   Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.   

Anxiety, stress and burnout in nursing Essay

Anxiety, stress and burnout in nursing is a significant issue, which affects many nurses during their professional career (McVicar, 2003). Graduate nurses transitioning from university education to a hospital setting face additional causes of stress and new challenges at this time and require accommodating measures such as a supportive work environment (Chang & Hancock, 2003). At present the nation is experiencing a severe nursing shortage that is impacting greatly on the work conditions of nurses that remain (Chang & Hancock, 2003). In this critical appraisal stress and burnout will be defined, as will all major terms throughout this paper. The author will discuss the critical nursing shortage and describe the symptoms of stress and burnout. Causes of burnout and stress will be discussed in relation to the graduate and experienced nurse. The author will present and discuss stress and burnout prevention strategies. Throughout this essay empirical evidence will be used to demonstrate validity of concepts. A literature search was conducted using computerized databases that were searched over the time period 2003-2008 and included Academic Search Premier, psycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, EJS E-Journals Database, Professional Development Collection, Medline, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Health Source: Consumer Edition and Cinahl. Key words searched included burnout, nursing, anxiety, stress, shortage, graduate, and strategies. Stress is thought to be connected to an individual’s response to specific demands, if the individual assesses the demand as beyond their resources this generates a stress response (Clancy & McVicar, 2002, as cited in McVicar, 2003). Stress responses include variation in an individual’s biochemical, physiological and behavioural processes (Billter-Koponen & Freden, 2005). According to McVicar (2003) the ability of the individual to handle the stress response is dependent on specific experiences, coping mechanisms and the environment where demands are produced. Stress is usually part of a larger problem and is noted as the first phase of a ‘chronic process’ (Gillespie & Melby, 2003). If severe stress and anxiety persist without interventions being implemented this may lead to burnout, which is typically characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment (Maslach & Jackson, 1986 as cited in Chang &  Hancock, 2003). Chang, Daly & Hancock et al., (2006) suggests that stress from work reduces the quality of work environment, job satisfaction, psychological wellbeing and physical health on nurses. Since stress has been identified as prevalent in nursing there have been various research studies discussing the causes and impacts of stress (Billter-Koponen & Freden, 2005). As well as the effects of work place stress on nurses, there is the larger issue of the consequences for the health care system, with many nurses finding the only way to cure burnout is leaving the workforce, this is further impacting the serious shortage of nurses world wide (Chang et al., 2005; Edwards and Burnard, 2003 as cited in Chang, Bidwell & Huntington, 2007). A literature review of stress in nursing by Chang, Hancock & Johnson et., 2005 commented that currently the severe shortage of nurses in Australia is the largest since World War II and reports that by 2010, there will be a shortage of approximately 40, 000 nurses (RMIT University, 2003 as cited in Chang, Hancock & Johnson et al., 2005). A report by AIHW (2005), found that the nursing work force has persisted to age, with the average age of nurses increasing from 42.2 years old in 2001 to 45.1 years old in 2005 and the amount of working nurses aged over 50 years has increased from 24.4% to 35.8%. The older population of nurses will eventually be leaving the profession in years to come when the shortage of nurses is at its worst, this will further compound the issue (Janiszewski Goodin, 2003). The Australian government has responded to the issue of an aging workforce by encouraging older nurses to continue with further study and actively discouraging them from retiring (Wickett, McCutcheon & Long, 2003). After many years of decline of enrolments to tertiary nursing courses there has been a considerable influx of applicants, this is thought to be created by the governments increasing media campaigns to generate interest in nursing as a career, however, the boost in enrolments does not necessarily solve the nursing shortage as the larger issues of why retention of nurses has not been successful have not been addressed and media campaigns could almost been seen as a ‘band-aid’ covering up the larger problems (Wickett, McCutcheon & Long, 2003). The nursing shortage has seen many ‘unskilled’ workers entering the aged care sector as a ‘substitution’ of registered  nurses; currently the aged care system is overwhelmed with demand and †˜patient complexity’ (Wickett, McCutcheon & Long, 2003). Duffield & O’Brien-Pallas (2002, as cited in Wickett, McCutcheon & Long, 2003) suggest three main reasons for the growing nursing shortage, these include, personal issues that pertain to stress, burnout and an inadequacy of balance in their personal lives. Secondly Duffield & O’Brien-Pallas (2002, as cited in (Wickett, McCutcheon & Long, 2003) cite organizational and management issues, which relate to workplace violence, either verbal or physical between patients or staff, as issues of concern in retention of nurses as well as professional issues with dissatisfaction stemming from the ability of the nurse to provide quality of care in circumstances of high demand (Chang, Hancock & Johnson, 2005; Wickett, McCutcheon & Long, 2003). These unresolved problems contributing to the nursing shortage emphasize the urgency of studying the nursing profession and environment so that the sustainability of the health care system can continue (Chang, Hancock & Johnson, 2005). There are multiple symptoms of anxiety and burnout, as noted, prolonged stress and anxiety can result in burnout. Physical effects of stress include persistently elevated arterial blood pressure, indigestion, constipation or diarrhoea and weight gain or loss (McVicar, 2003). In cases of severe prolonged stress physical effects can progress to clinical hypertension, gastric disorders, nausea, fatigue, headaches and exacerbated symptoms of asthma (McVicar, 2003; Billter-Koponen & Freden, 2005). The possible cause of fatigue in severe stress and anxiety is high levels of cortisol, which is a hormone that can be produced in excess when a person is stressed leading to cortisol affecting sleep patterns and resulting in sleep difficulties (Billter-Koponen & Freden, 2005). According to Hugo (2002, as cited from Billter-Koponen & Freden, 2005) symptoms of stress in European countries are rising, in 2003 over 5,000 nurses in Sweden were sick for over 30 days with approximately 40% of the diagn osis for the long-term absence from work being emotional exhaustion (burnout), the 2003 statistics were reported to have increased by 20% from the previous year. Billter-Koponen & Freden (2005) suggests that the larger proportion of demands for nurses are psychologically related and in turn this creates more psychological  disturbances than physical symptoms. The three core elements of burnout; emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment can produce various psychological effects. Emotional exhaustion may occur when the nurse experiences the inability to function professionally at a psychological level, the symptoms may include depression, sleep disturbances and the inability to control emotions (Maslach et al., 1996 p.4 as cited in Gillespie & Melby, 2003; Patrick & Lavery, 2007). A nurse who develops depersonalization may have feelings of irritability, anger and a general negative attitude towards clients, according to Leiter (1993, as cited in Patrick & Lavery, 2007) depersonalization transpires from a need to create distance from the work that is emotionally draining (Maslach et al 1996 p.4. as cited in Pa trick & Lavery, 2007; Chang & Hancock, 2003). Reduced personal accomplishment can create feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, low self-esteem and the predisposition to view their level of skill and care negatively (Chang & Hancock, 2003; Patrick & Lavery, 2007). These symptoms are especially worrying as they can reduce quality of care and decrease patient satisfaction (Janssen et al ., 1999; Garrett & McDaniel, 2001 as cited in Chang & Hancock, 2003). It is generally accepted that nurses who are excessively stressed or experiencing burnout typically have poor job satisfaction, high absenteeism rates and many nurses contemplate leaving the profession altogether (Larson, 1987; Callaghan & Field, 1991 as cited in Chang & Hancock, 2003). A qualitative study by Billter-Koponen & Freden (2005) interviewed nurses about their own experiences regarding work place anxiety, stress and burnout, the nurses commented they felt ‘powerless’ to avoid burnout and had inadequate time or energy to take on patient demands. The nursing profession involves demands beyond clinical technical skills, teamwork and constant care of patients; the role of nursing requires a high level of ‘emotional labour’, which can lead to many complex causes of stress and burnout (Phillips, 1996 as cited in McVicar, 2003). Gillespie & Melby (2003) found that the length of shifts and shift patterns, which included night duty contributed to emotional exhaustion, personal relationship problems, difficulty concentrating and fatigue. Similarly, Efinger et al., (1995 as cited in McVicar, 2003) reported shift work as  having a negative influence on social and personal aspects of the nurses’ lives, it was also mentioned that night shift work was particularly draining in terms of physical health and disrupted family life. Furthermore a study by Chang, Daly & Hancock et al., (2006) consisting of 320 randomly selected Australian registered nurses who were listed on the New South Wales registration board database found that workload was the most common source of stress with indications that high workload negatively affected the mental health of nurses. Chang, Daly & Hancock et al., (2006) also comment on the legal requirements of providing a safe work place in which workers are not under excessive stress, which is affecting their mental health. However, a study by Patrick & Lavery ( 2007) based on a random sample of 574 division 1 Victorian Australian Nursing Federation members were surveyed on burnout in nursing stated that hours worked by nurses have a weak correlation with emotional exhaustion. Yet it could be argued that these results are not a true indication of full-time nurses feelings as 65.73% of the participants worked part-time or casual nursing roles with the average amount of hours that nurses worked in this study being 32.17 hours, which amounts to a ‘lower average’ than full time work (Patrick & Lavery, 2007). A cross-sectional study by Spooner-Lane & Patton (2007) found that nurses who worked full-time experienced higher levels of emotional exhaustion compared to part-time or casually working nurses. Increases in workload exist in other areas such as recent updating of technology, extra responsibilities, paper work and increasing staff shortages (Chang & Hancock, 2003). A study by Gillespie & Melby (2003) that consisted of a triangulated research design, which incorporates both qualitative and quantitative methods as well as using questionnaires, focus groups and interviews found that staff shortages were cited numerous times as a significant cause of anxiety and stress. The nurses specifically identified the use of agency staff as a concern as many nurses expressed the issue of spending valuable time assisting agency staff in locating equipment and explaining the way that particular ward operated (Gillespie & Melby, 2003). A nurse that was interviewed in Billter-Koponen & Freden’s (2005) study reported trying to bridge the gap of time lost from extra demands by coming in early, working through meal breaks, and staying back to work longer. Nurses interviewed in  Gillespie & Melby’s (2003) study also stated that ‘junior nurses’ were forced to take on roles beyond their experience. A focus group by the Australian Governmen t further reports levels of growth in turnover and the increased amount of more acute patients as a source of stress due to staff levels remaining stagnant while demands escalate (Chang & Hancock, 2003). Considering levels of demand are high and staff levels are not increasing as well as substituting agency staff or pressuring junior staff to meet senior roles these pressures would certainly contribute to anxiety, stress and potentially, burnout. Role ambiguity can be described as insufficient information about specific responsibilities and roles that a nurse must undertake (Chang & Hancock, 2003). Role ambiguity can occur in the form of objective ambiguity, which arises from ‘lack’ of information for that particular role, and subjective ambiguity, which is associated with the ‘social’ and ‘psychological’ features of ‘role performance’ (Kahn et al., 1964, as cited in Chang & Hancock, 2003). Chang & Hancock (2003) conducted a qualitative study of 110 tertiary nursing graduates from 13 institutions across New South Wales, Australia who work in one of four teaching hospitals about role stress in graduate nurses, the participants were surveyed during 2-3 months of working and then again between 10-11 months. Chang & Hancock (2003) reported the graduates experienced role ambiguity within the first few months of working and this continued throughout the 12 months as well as being a contributor to lower job satisfaction. However, Chang & Hancock’s (2003) study was limited due to the use of self-reporting by the graduates, which is subjective and not objective data. Patrick & Lavery (2007) suggests role ambiguity is an extra stressor as graduates endeavor to fulfill their expected roles whilst experiencing new challenges. Role overload typically occurs whilst graduates are learning time management skills and learning new roles (McVicar, 2003). Chang & Daly (2001, as cited in Chang & Hancock, 2003) identify that role overload can intensify the effects of role ambiguity. Chang & Hancock (2003) found that role overload became a larger contributor to stress than role ambiguity in nursing graduates after 10-11 months of working. Gillespie & Melby (2003) notes a significant difficulty for graduate nurses  as they transition into a hospital environment as opposed to learning at university, this ‘gap’ between skills learned in theory within university education and the ability of realistic demands within the hospital environment could present additional stress on the graduate nurse. Madjar et al., (1997 as cited in Chang & Hancock, 2003) describes this as the ‘theory-practice gap’, which causes a clash between personal standards and own values (Jasper, 1996; Reutter et al., 1997 as cited in Chang & Hancock, 2003). Patrick & Lavery’s (2007) study supports this ‘theory-practice gap’ and goes on to further state that nurses who acquired their nursing degree at a university have higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than hospital-trained nurses. Graduate nurses also report low levels of confidence, lack of support, unrealistic expectations of other clinical staff, unexpected work situations, adjusting to shift work and the increase in responsibility as added sources of stress (Chang & Hancock, 2003; Kelly, 1998 as cited in Chang, Hancock & Johnson et al., 2005; Patrick & Lavery, 2007). Allenach & Jennings (1990, as cited in Chang & Hancock, 2003) explain that stress from these new challenges includes anxiety. It could be assumed that normal stressors that affect all nurses regardless of age and experience affect graduate nurses as well as other specific experience- related stressors. Patrick & Lavery (2007) found that age and experience was negatively associated with burnout, suggesting that young and inexperienced nurses have a higher rate of burnout compared to older and more experienced workers. This finding is consistent with Spooner-Lane & Patton’s (2007) study of 273 nursing staff, which reported age as a signif icant indicator of burnout. Jackson et al., (2002, as cited in Chang, Hancock & Johnson et al., 2005) suggest nurses are at risk of workplace violence in the forms of verbal or physical violence from their patients, relatives and staff. Participants from Chang, Daly & Hancock’s et al., (2006) study completed four different questionnaires regarding workplace stressors and findings suggested workplace conflict between nurses and physicians was a significant cause of stress. According to Ball et al., (2002, as cited in McVicar, 2003) conflict between staff has become a more important issue throughout the previous 10  years. Due to the nature of nurses’ work where patients’ emotions are highly sensitive, as they may be scared or have a higher expectation of required care than they are receiving, nurses can be venerable to violence and research by Carter (2000, as cited in Chang, Hancock & Johnson et al., 2005) comments workplace assault is more common for nurses than any other health professi onals. The consequences of workplace violence are increased levels of anxiety, high levels of sick leave, lower levels of job satisfaction, burnout and lower retention rates (Jackson et al., 2002 as cited in Chang, Hancock & Johnson et al., 2005; RCN, 2000 as cited in Gelsema & Van Der Doef et al., 2006). The flexibility of working hours and shift patterns was a significant cause of stress for nurses, it would be safe to assume that greater flexibility in working hours could possibly reduce stress, assist nurses in achieving a more balanced life as they contend with family and other personal pressures. Strategies to achieve greater flexibility in working hours will require a concentrated effort by management and staff to achieve ‘equity’ when allocating shifts and empowering nursing staff to have preferences regarding overtime and in particular, night shift (McVicar, 2003). The workload of nursing is consistently reported to lead to an increase in anxiety, stress and burnout, therefore lowering workload would be a reasonable intervention, however workload is a complex issue which includes determinants that can be influenced by the individual or organization in which they work (Gelsema & Van Der Doef et al., 2006). The main issue that needs to be addressed is to ensure staffing levels are sufficient for that particular setting, this would greatly reduce pressures relating to patient care and reduce the incidence of staff working outside of their roles (McVicar, 2003). Other measures such as time management skills and delegation skills may further assist in reducing workload pressures. Hayhurst, Saylor & Stuenkel (2005) recommends further research into workload pressures that are associated with specific specialty areas so that programs can be implemented to target the needs of that specialty. In Chang & Hancock’s (2003) study of role stress and role ambiguity in  Australian nursing graduates it was noted that graduates experienced a high level of role ambiguity in their transition from university to the workplace. A study by Mrayyan & Acorn (2004) assessed nursing students to determine causes of burnout and invited students to suggest solutions to stressors affecting burnout. The nursing students highlighted role ambiguity as a contributor to stress and suggested a comprehensive update of job descriptions that included the scope of practice, skills and experience needed, explanation of knowledge required and a regular assessment if changes of the job expectations change. Greenwood (2000. as cited in Chang, Hancock & Johnson et al., 2005) reported that preceptor programs, orientation programs, ‘open communication’, and staff development considerably aids graduates transition and experience of role ambiguity throughout the year. Violence in the workplace in the form of verbal abuse from other colleagues is a negative experience for nurses and is the cause of significant amounts of anxiety and stress Chang, Daly & Hancock et al., 2006). McVicar (2003) suggests that conflict with staff is the responsibility of management, nurses and all other professionals. Tourangeau & Cranley (2006) advise that relationships with co-workers have a potential influence on the retention of nurses and suggests further strategies, which include praise and recognition of co-workers as well as team building strategies that increase social interaction. A qualitative study by Abuairub (2004) surveyed 303 nurses from various locations throughout the world on the effect of social support from co-workers in which, participants who ‘perceived’ having additional social support from co-workers reported lower levels of stress. Abuairub (2004) comments that extra social support from co-workers may assist in creating a more friendly and pleasurable working environment as well as nurses feeling they could call on co-workers for assistance. Graduate nurses would benefit from social support as they are constantly challenged and require guidance from all staff. Chang, Daly & Hancock et al., (2006) further support the notion of social support by reporting that a positive social climate can decrease levels of stress and ‘prevent’ burnout. The leaders of the work  environment need to foster a more socially supportive culture by demonstrating co-operation, encouraging teamwork, social equality, supportive attitudes and ed ucation about stress education and helpful coping mechanisms (Abuairub, 2004; Hayhurst, Saylor & Stuenkel, 2005). Coping strategies can be defined as psychological and ‘behavioural efforts’ to control demands that are considered as â€Å"exceeding the resources of the person† and are either problem focused which attempts to deal with or alter the problem that is the source of the stress or emotionally focused which attempts to ease ‘emotional distress’ (Lazarus and Folkman 1984, p. 141 as cited in Chang, Daly & Hancock et al., 2006). Chang, Daly & Hancock et al., (2006) comment that many studies suggest problem-focused coping to be more effective in preventing burnout than emotion-focused coping. It would be beneficial to address coping strategies with nursing staff to educate them about different methods and to assist them in recognizing coping methods that are unhelpful so that they may employ personal control to their responses of stress (Chang, Bidwell & Huntington, 2007). These strategies would greatly assist nurses in reducing stress and burnout as well as providing graduate nurses with a firm foundation of clear guidelines and support. In conclusion, the nursing profession is under high demand as our population is growing older and the acuity of patients is increasing. To ensure sustainability of the nursing profession it is essential that graduate nurses are supported in their transition from university to a hospital environment so they continue to remain in the profession. To retain more experienced nurses there must be change within nursing environments and organizations to create a more flexible and supportive workplace. The main causes of anxiety, stress and burnout have been well documented, and it is the implementation of strategies that is lacking. Further investigation into the effectiveness of prevention strategies for burnout should be explored, as better working environments will encourage more people and ex-nurses into the profession and therefore lessening the staff shortages that directly contribute to anxiety, stress and burnout.