Friday, December 27, 2019

How Was Political Grandeur And Dignity Articulated Through...

How was political grandeur and dignity articulated through early 19th century civic architecture in Paris? Use specific examples. In the wake of the French revolution and King Louis XVI of France’s execution in 1773, 19th century France was a time of immense political, economic and social uncertainty as new political parties competed for power and attempted to reform Frances governing systems. The civil architecture and forms that were built during this period reflect these upheavals, as commissioned architects turned to new styles, city plans and construction methods in order to serve the political ambitions of the governing party. Architecture provided a means of articulating political grandeur and dignity both clearly and creatively,†¦show more content†¦Due to the instabilities caused by the Napoleonic Wars a new style of architecture did not develop during Napoleons rule, resulting in the continuation of pre-French Revolution classicism. With the intention of articulating imperialistic grandeur and referencing France as the â€Å"new Roman Empire† , an emphasis was placed on neoclass ical elements and the use of columns and arches becoming more liberal. Jean Chalgrin’s Arch de Triomphe provides an example of politically motivated neoclassical architecture. The triumphant arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to serve as an honorary monument and rallying point for the French military . Inspired in part by the Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum, decorative high-relief sculptures celebrating military victories from the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars adorn the structure . It is evident that Napoleon believed that as an empire that had annexed and made most of Europe into its satellites, the First French Empire deserved to have its grandeur reflected by a monument that referenced one of the world’s largest and most successful ancient Empires. Through large and imposing monumental structures, Napoleon sought to reminded French society of the military and political successes that had been achieved under his rule and consequently idealise his leadership, The First

Thursday, December 19, 2019

One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest and the Crucible...

Power and control are the central ideas of Ken Keseys One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest. There are examples of physical, authoritative and mechanical power in the novel, as well as cases of self-control, and control over others. Nurse Ratched is the ultimate example of authoritative power and control over others but R.P. McMurphy refuses to acknowledge the Nurses power, and encourages others to challenge the status quo. The other patients begin powerless, but with McMurphys help, learn to control their own lives. Many symbols are also used to represent power and control in the book, such as the ‘Combine, ‘fog, and the imagery of machines. Arthur Miller develops themes of power somewhat differently in his play The Crucible. Because†¦show more content†¦He rejects authority and ‘keeps them on their toes. The Chief sees McMurphy, like the Big Nurse, as ‘big. McMurphy teaches the men to gain control over themselves by questioning their compliance and apathy towards their own lives. Miller created Danforth to be similar to what Big Nurse is in Cuckoos Nest. Danforth is strict in terms of his authority in the court. And not only is he adamant about his own personal authority, he acts the same way about the authority of the institution of the court system. He thinks that the court is the highest authority in the land, and because he presides over it, he will not stand for people questioning the way he runs it. When anyone tries to speak out against how the court and Danforth are handling the witch-hunt, they find themselves accused of witchcraft. In his efforts to over-power the nurse, McMurphy learns to control his anger. The only times that he really loses self control are when the ‘Black Boys (aides) bully ‘rub-a-dub George - for which McMurphy receives EST (Electro-shock therapy) Ââ€" and when Billy Bibbit commits suicide - the incident following Billys death was what led to McMurphys own lobotomy and eventual death. Throughout the book, many symbols are used to portray McMurphy as a religious icon, which indicates he is powerful. He claims that a girl once referred to him as a ‘symbol, at his EST he asks for a ‘crown of thorns and at once stage he leads twelve patients (disciples) fishing (Christ hasShow MoreRelatedEssay Prompts4057 Words   |  17 PagesKing Lear Anna Karenina Madame Bovary As I Lay Dying The Mill on the Floss The Awakening Moby-Dick Billy Budd Mrs. Dalloway Bleak House Native Son Bless Me,Ultima One Hundred Years of Solitude Catch-22 Othello Crime and Punishment The Scarlet Letter The Crucible Slaughterhouse-Five A Farewell to Arms Song of Solomon Ghosts The Stone Angel The Great Gatsby The Stranger Heart of Darkness A Tale of Two Cities The House of Mirth

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

The Birth of the Swatch free essay sample

What changes in the production and marketing of watches led to Swatch? ?Before 1950s â€Å"home-made† effect Starting from 1950s watches were considered as very precious goods that only few people could afford. The production of watches was a craft that required accurate skills and mastery of jewels making techniques. Watches were considered as a luxury good as well as a â€Å"financial investment†. People spent a lot on them, had great care of them and used to hand them down from generation to generation. In this period the watch industry was dominated by Swiss producer, watch craftsmanship was developed especially in Switzerland; the country had a great â€Å"home-made† effect on consumers: people looked at Swiss watches as the best on the market and trusted the quality and value of such products. Although after the World War II many Swiss watch firms were forced to close because of the recession, almost the 80% of the world’s total production was Swiss: Switzerland was watch’s home country. ?From 1950s to 1970s low-price and new technology After 1950s the overall industry landscape changed, after-war time companies evolved into the development of low-cost watches. Such watches still used mechanical movements but were made by metals in place of jewels, so they were less expensive but still very precise. In this period Timex was introduced; it is a U. S. company that produces simply designed watches with cheap exterior, but durable and precise. Later, other Japanese companies entered this arena, selling low-price watches with good quality and they started to compete directly with Swiss manufacturers. Swiss watch producers started to fear competition coming from low-cost producers, and they felt this competition becoming stronger when Quartz technology was introduced. This new technologies created space in the market for Japanese and Hong Kong firms; such firms provided modern, precise and multifunctional watches that appeal customers of all over the world. Switzerland begun to be uncompetitive in the market, Swiss manufacturers refused to embraced the quarts technology because they believed that their wn watches were more sophisticated, more luxurious and more valuable than the Japanese ones; they believed that customers would have perceived the more value provided by their watch and felt like they were competing in an upper segment than other producers. But this was not the story; customers liked the new watches, they did not care anymore whether the watch was Swiss or Japanese, they wanted a nice- precise watch that could be provided by other than Swiss manufacturers. The new watches could also include jewels or fake jewels and this really appeal customers. From 1970s to 1983 – the newly born Swatch Looking at this situation Swiss watch manufacturers understood that something had to be done. First of all the two biggest companies of the industry- ASUAG and SSIH- merged and fought together against this new environment. It was perceived that a change was needed, not only a change in the product but also a change in strategy, in structure and in management. The new company’s objective was to have a wide presence all over the market, not only in the upper segment. At this point Swatch was born: to be present in the low end segment the company had to provide a new product that could be produced at low cost and that embraced the quartz technology, and Swatch was the right answer to all this needs. Basically three changes were carried on through Swatch: firstly the production was vertically integrated. In order to drive production costs down, the company had to rely a little on labor force and try to make the most of things automatic. Secondly, the material used was a cheap one: plastic; thirdly this new product had to have a new image, perceived as unique by all customers. Understanding these needs, and working on such changes Swatch started its way through the success. 2. Why was the swatch so successful? The success of swatch can be summarized from three perspectives, the first one is from Marco perspective, the second one is from industry perspective and the last is from the company perspective. ?From Macro perspective: When we talk about the success of swatch, the world’s economic development and the baby boom after the World War II can not be ignored. The following charts show that from 1950s the world’s population kept going up and the world’s GDP growth rate maintained around 4% annually. With the joint effect of the big population base and the increasing of personal incomes, the consumption goods industry got big step in its development. As case mentioned, some brand like Timex, Citizen and Seiko etc. , they segmented the watch market and threw the watch which had been considered as luxury goods into normal peoples’ life. Millions of thousands people can afford cheaper watches. It is the precondition of the success of Swatch. ?From Industry Perspective Referring to the industrial environment, the technology innovation and the stronger competitors pushed forward the Swatch’s success. First is the technology innovation. The new technology made SMH to bring its production costs down to Asian levels, so it became true that low price watch can be produced in Switzerland. People look at Swiss made watch as the best on the market in the same price level and trust the quality and value of such products. Most people chose to pay 10% more comparing with other low price level brand for Swiss made watch, so the new technology in watch industry help Swatch to succeed. Meanwhile, the emergence of some strong competitors such as Timex, Citizen and Seiko etc changed the traditional watch industry. By producing low price watch, those competitors segmented the watch market and created huge demand for watch as well as contributed to the technology innovation. As a giant in watch industry, Swiss watch companies may be just waiting to see what will happen and once they found the trend or real situation, they will try their best to win. The new technology and the stronger competitors, in some extent, gave the birth to the Swatch also contributed to the success of Swatch. ?From Company Perspective: As a later comer in low price watch market, Swatch got a big success and the management level’s wisdom is the key reason for its success. Followings are several main strategies which had been adopted by Swatch management level. a. Designs and Collections: Swatch got an immediate success when it gave birth in 1983 in most of countries where it began business. Dozens and dozens of models and several different collections which had been produced every year can be chosen by customers. When people especially for those who were born after the war stepped in to later 1980s, they were the biggest potential customers, and also the designs and collections were fit to their tastes. Swatch’s management level must find such kind of trend and made a right decision in the right time and finally got a big success in low price watch market. b. Conveying Swatch messages: By advertising, promoting and also setting up distribution channels, Swatch built its brand imagine to the world which made it different from other competitors’ brand. Through this strategy, Swatch offers its own culture to its customers and boosted the customers’ loyalty. Besides, there are other smart strategies we may dig further in the following section. All these mentioned are made by the excellent managers in SMH. The management level’s wisdom is the key reason for its success. 3. In what ways was the Swatch different than any watch the industry had ever seen? And how does its marketing mix serve this new image? The image of Swatch is high quality, low cost, personal culture, provocative and joy of life. All these messages conveyed to customers are strongly supported by its marketing mix. ?Price Revolution a. How low the price is? How much is the intended customer willing to pay for Swatch? As Swatch has is own loyal and stable buying groups, one of the main reasons for the success is its low price, just $40 in USA and SFr50 in Switzerland. The low price matches the groups’ buying habit, which refers to buying the favor on impulse without any hesitate. b. How can Swatch achieve this goal? Drastically reduce a watch’s number of components, cut costs by more than 30% in the competition, launch one of the cheapest watches on the market and position it as a fashion accessory. c. No discount There are no discounts about Swatch as the price is already low enough. There was no model for cheap watches as great sellers. Perhaps someone would come along and make cheap watches which looked very similar to the expensive ones and so take over the cheap watch market. However, the compensation is accessed: some sales activities, some little gift. ?Product a. Allowance Each pattern of Swatch has very limited numbers which make sure that each person wears different Swatch. b. Quality Although it has plastic shell, the quality is good. The good examples are anti-water, anti-heat and anti pressure watches. c. Function Recently Swatch begins to expand its market to more functional areas, such as sports, accouterments. d. Appearance and design Decorated by jewelry, it is one of the reasons that it is so popular. Nicolas Hayek, founder of the current Swatch Group, was convinced that the solution lay in a double-impact response: transform the watch into a fashion accessory, in such a way that each consumer can have more than one. It was clear to Hayek that the market was prepared to change its concept of the watch and pay little for a new aesthetic. With the born of the first line of Swatch watches in 1983, there was more than one and fulfill Hayek’s visionary idea: transform the watch into a fashion accessory. . Strong brand The idea has proved to be a powerful one. There was still another value to the Swatch concept. This was part of the strong branding. If Swatches were known to have a strong design element, then this became part of the branding. Swatches were recognizable both on the wrists and in stores. Others have tried to imitate the concept, but with less success. ?Promotion a. Swiss combination Could the Swatch have success if it had not been known to be from Swiss? The answer to this question is obvious. If a Korean company had started to produce Swatch-type watches, would there have been the same success? The combination of esteemed Swiss watch man-ship and the low price was needed for success. b. Confidence-high technology used If there is confidence at the value level then the other risks are reduced. Can values, as such, be pre-tested? This is not usually easy. There can be comparisons with similar values in other fields (like cheap airline flights) but the comparison may not be valid. You may want a cheaper holiday, but not a cheaper watch. With the Swatch the key point was the quartz accuracy. Without this high-tech ingredient, the cheap concept would never have worked. c. Advertisements In order to make more people know more about Swatch and match its fashionable concept, Swatch has the local and special ads in different areas in which all hires the big stars. For example, Li Yuchun was nominated as the first celebrity in Asia in 2006. ?Place a. Mono-brand store, the design of which can catch the customers’ attention at the first sight. b. Big cities, fashionable cities. Swatch chose location deliberately where they can target more potential customers. Trough a whole combination of marketing strategies, the Swiss company rescued an entire sector from disaster and invented a new concept of the watch as a fashion accessory, using a Pricing Strategy that was a precursor to the classic â€Å"good, pretty, and cheap†. 4. ZIPPO as another example as successful as Swatch Zippo, the famous lighter brand, is just doing the same thing as Swatch. ?Zippo’s History Zippo was created in 1932 by â€Å"Mr. Zippo†, George Blaisdell in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Since 1932 Zippo has produced over 400 million windproof lighters till September 3, 2003. And now Zippo produces about 12 million lighters a year. Zippo is similar to Swatch in many aspects a. High quality In many people’s mind, Zippo is a reliable fellow forever. World War II mostly increased the popularity of Zippo. US soldiers used Zippos to heat food in a helmet, light campfires, spark fuses for explosives, hammer nails, and also as the signal to fellow soldiers with the famous Zippo click and even save a life by deflecting bullets. High quality made Zippo experience tough test and acquired very high prestige. Nowadays, with modern technology and careful monitoring, it has achieved a very low reject rate of one in 50,000. b. Low price The original price for Zippo lighter was $1. 95. Zippo is mostly made up of brass or other cheap alloys. Some high-end models are made of gold, silver, titanium, or copper. Now the mainstream products of Zippo are sold at $15 to $80 each unit. Zippo is affordable especially for young men. c. Designs Collections Just like Swatch, Zippo delivers special message and distinguishes from their competitors by its provocative design. Many of their customers are attracted by the fantasy message. Zippo is also an emotional product. Each year Zippo designers create over 100 new and different case designs. Especially geared towards collectors, these are produced for a limited time or quantity only, and are generally replaced by newer designs the next year. A new design generally sells about 20,000 units, but with so many designs available there provides room for variety. d. Promotion Distribution As a kind of young fad, Zippo always adopts similar style of promotion campaigns with Swatch. Zippo has very similar distribution channel as Swatch. It is often pushed for shop-in-shop systems or mini-boutiques that exclusively on the Zippo brand in department stores. e. Collectors’ Club In 1990, SMH created a Swatch Collectors Club for its most ardent fans. Similarly, Zippo also formed the Zippo Click Collectors Club to better service these customers. 15 Clubs for lighter collectors have been organized in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and the United States. In 2003 Zippo founded the Zippo Click Collectors Club for Zippo lighter enthusiasts worldwide. Swatch is more than a watch. Zippo is more than a lighter. The most important elements of their message are the hardest for others to copy—they are offering their personal culture. That is the most similar and shining point of the two brands.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

The National Security Policy

Most Potentially useful Suggestions for Improving the National Security Policymaking Process Perfect goal setting is a useful suggestion that can aid in improving the policy making process. Goals should be articulated in a clear and concise manner. Clear goals should consider the vital priorities of the people in the country. A deep analysis and selection of the best options should be done to ensure that the government uses the best and the most effective approach towards the policy-making process.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on The National Security Policy-Making Process specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The other vital consideration would be a clear articulation of policy and rationale after the analysis. This refers to the process of making plans, programs and decisions needed in the policy making so as to ensure that the choices made cannot influenced by political malice and prevailing mindsets1. In addi tion, effective execution of the process is extremely vital. In most cases, there are problems concerned with breakdowns of communication and organizational issues about politics and media. There is a need to follow an honest way of executing the policymaking process and its implementation2. Without an effective execution, the goal of the policymaking process can be lost, and the results may become disastrous to the country. In addition, the policy making process should be monitored and appraised as required by law. There should be standards set to ensure that the process runs smoothly without distractions. There should be no rigidities during implementation, and this enabled by the use of monitoring mechanisms. After finishing the policymaking process, there should be clear feedback loops to assess the results of the policies concerned3. Another vital way of improving the national security policymaking is creating reliable memory storage and an ability to recall the most vital info rmation. Memory storage ensures that policy makers learn from experiences, and they use the experiences to make the best decisions in every step of policymaking. For example, a newly elected government can use information from the previous governments’ archives to create a perfect learning ability based on the experiences. The high technological improvement sweeps the world at large in storage of data and information for later retrieval. The above suggestions improve the security policymaking process in the country4.Advertising Looking for coursework on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The least potentially useful suggestions for improving the national security policymaking process Making the president be in control of the policy making process is not as vital as the above-mentioned suggestions. Policymaking needs control and a president can delegate those duties to a reliable body or person. It is vi tal to note that the president can lead a country, but that does not mean that he possesses the expertise needed to oversee policy-making process. In addition, a president usually has many responsibilities such that it becomes difficult to get enough time to oversee the policy making process in an effective way. This is the reason as to why the president does not have to be the one who controls the national security policymaking process. The only thing that he should do is to ensure that he gives the responsibilities to reliable persons who will oversee the process without external or personal influences. In addition, the president should ensure that resources are utilized in the best way possible to avoid malicious dealings. The president should also ensure that there exists a system of accountability, so that he can be aware of what those who are in charge do and do not do. Thus, a president does not have to be in charge of the policy making process, he only needs to ensure that h e gives the responsibilities to reliable persons5. Bibliography Goleman, Daniel. Social intelligence: the new science of human relationships. New York: Bantam Books, 2006. Hasler, Susan. Intelligence. New York: Thomas Dunne Books-St. Martin’s Press, 2010. Pfiffner, James P and Mark Phythian. Intelligence and national security policymaking  on Iraq:British and American perspectives. College Station: Texas A M University Press, 2008.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on The National Security Policy-Making Process specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Sarkesian, Sam C., John Allen Williams, and Stephen J. Cimbala. US national security:  policymakers, processes, and politics. 4th ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. Stern, Paul C and Daniel Druckman. International conflict resolution after the Cold  War. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2000. Footnotes 1 James P. Pfiffner and Mark Ph ythian. Intelligence and national security policymaking on Iraq:  British and American perspectives (College Station: Texas A M University Press, 2008), 45. 2 Sam C. Sarkesian, John Allen Williams and Stephen J Cimbala. US national security:  policymakers, processes, and politics (4th ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008), 37. 3 Paul C. Stern and Daniel Druckman. International conflict resolution after the Cold War (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2000), 64. 4 Daniel Goleman. Social intelligence: the new science of human relationships (New York: Bantam Books, 2006), 54. 5 Susan Hasler. Intelligence (New York: Thomas Dunne Books-St. Martin’s Press, 2010), 69.Advertising Looking for coursework on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This coursework on The National Security Policy-Making Process was written and submitted by user Moderate Pheasant to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.