Strategic Management Accounting and applying it

Strategic Management Accounting and applying it With the rapid development of the global economy, traditional management accounting has been difficult to meet the business strategic management and requirements. Strategic Management Accounting(SMA) for the modern enterprise is of great significance. However, it is a new techniques and approaches. Although strategic management accounting has been developed over 20 years, the SMA is still debatable. In addition, a number of scholars have experienced to define what SMA is, however, the opinions of the scholars is still not yet able to be generalized. Yet, strategic management accounting is still at the exploratory stage. Management accounting plays a crucial role in the business world. It provides important advice in order to make decision for the firms in the western society. The costs of offering excellent products strategically need to be fully integrated into the enterprise cost system and being reported by these systems. Management accounting helps monitoring the performance of the management. Therefore, the customers can then be securely kept in the same market. This could also be helpful on understanding the market in a better way. Strategic management market aims to obtain the information of the rivals in the same market; this provides support to their business when making decision since the owner could adjust their budget plan according the reports of the strategic management market. Strategic management accounting is recently developed in management accounting. It involved in planning, control and requires financial information. In the strategic management planning and control systems, R.N.Anthony believes that there are two different oriented processes which are externally and internally. Externally oriented process is a financial accounting. Moreover, an internally oriented process is including strategic planning, management control and operational control. During the strategic planning process, it is the role of formulating strategy and it emphasis on planning. Planning defines aims, objectives and targets of organizations and also does formulation, evaluation and selection of policies, strategies, tactics and actions to achieve them. The orientation is planning outside the organization which is relating to the organizations environment. Secondly, after strategic planning, management control would be followed. The main function of this process is implementing strategy which can be a part of the planning. In the final stage, operational control is mainly responsible for controlling however also performing the tasks as well as planning. In this process it ensure that resources and obtained and used effectively and efficiently to achieve organizational goals and procedures adhered to or appropriate remedial action taken. It normally occurs within the organization. Strategy orientated accounting complements the traditional concerns of the West accounting. It focuses on the additional costs in order to maintain competitive advantages of enterprises of actual and potential rivals. It focuses on the cost impact enterprise products and marketing strategies and it can be seen as an essence for success in todays meeting the challenges of an increasingly global market. Generally speaking, such re-orientation is another license management accounting focused on the value of consumer generated relative to its competitors. It also helps monitoring the companys performance in the market variables using a series of strategic decisions over the horizon which would be long enough to achieve the strategic plan. These concepts form the core of the new concept of SMA. In addition, there are 12 strategic management accounting practices. They are competitive position monitoring, strategic pricing, competitor performance appraisal, competitor cost assessment, strat egic costing, value-chain costing, brand value monitoring brand value budgeting, attribute costing, quality costing, life-cycle costing and target costing. However, the main methods in SMA which are strategic costing, target costing and product life-cycle. Although there are a lot of practices, there is still of a lower usage and recognized by a couple of organizations. In 1981, Ken Simmonds has firstly proposed the strategic management accounting, he developed the SMA definition. After his speech, SMA has been concerned day by day. In the speech, he mentioned to collect management accounting information about a business and the competitors for the uses in developing and monitoring the business strategy. He argues that management accounting should be more outward looking and should help the emphasis to place upon relative levels and trends in real costs and prices, cash flow, market share and stewardship of the resources available to the business. It can be developed and controlled the enterprise strategic. Ken Simmonds suggested that profits are not from internal efficiencies but from the companys competitive position in its market. He raised several ideas for the application of SMA in the business. He stressed the importance of the learning curve with respect to achieve strategic advantage by forecasting cost reductions and thus selling price reductions of competitors. He also drew attention to the importance of early experience to the new product as a meaning to give a unique advantage over competitors. Major competitor should be able to reduce the sales price of the products which should further increase its production and enhance its market share; which eventually force some competitors to leave the industry. Secondly, Simmonds shows that the cost-volume-profit relationship of competitors could predict the price response and management accounting functions to help assessing the cost structure of each major competitor and relating this to their prices. In addition to handling costs and prices, Simmonds concentrated on volume and market share by monitoring the movement of the market share as the main products, companies can see if it is acquired or lost status and competitors will show different strength in the market share. Including detailed information on the market, management accounting report will help to enable more strategic management accounting-related. Simmonds suggested that the market share of the statements may be included in managed accounts. He believes that SMA will develop in management accounting in the future. One of the main advocates of Strategic Management Accounting is M.E. Porter(1985). His argument on strategic management is considered as the important information. Porter mentions a two pronged approach. First, he assessed various aspects of the industrys long-term profitability. He believes the five competitive forces will contribute to strategic balance. This is a threat to new entrants, substitute products or services enter the market, competition among existing institutions within the industry, bargaining power of suppliers and consumers. These five forces fully reflect the competitiveness of many enterprises in an increasingly competitive. However, Porter has also raised the question of the relative position of the enterprise in the industry. This issue is important because it affects the ability of enterprises to create profits above or below the industry average. Returns may be higher than average to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. This is achieved by three basic generic strategies which are cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Cost leadership means that companies intended to serve as the lowest cost of production in the industries. This is achieved by economies of scale; capital of the experience curve effect, tight cost control and cost minimization. Also, the company aims to provide a number of different levels of product and service value to customers. It can generate a premium price. This is the differentiation part. Focus is another part of the bargaining power which concerns about the cost and differentiation focus. Porter mentioned that the value chain is needed to determine the future of the practice of strategic management accounting. Value is the customer willing to pay which is a function of the image products. In the value chain, there are nine elements. Some of these cost drivers may be controllable. The nine elements of the value chain can also be separated as either support activities or main activities. For the support activities, they are firm infrastructure, human resources, technology development and procurement. And the main activities are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and services. For example, Internal value chain analysis is the objectives of promoting enterprises to eliminate useless operations and reduce waste. The factory analyses the operating level step by step. The main reason is to focus on the market and customer. The operations and the activities of the business-internal price chain analysis enable the cost management of enterprises to maintain the basic operating level, and explore each layer of worth operations, eliminating useless operations. The value of Competitors chain analysis can identify the merits and shortcomings in the company. The conclusion of the market and competitors analysis that compared to the competitors on the market, production quality and diversification may not have too much effect. If the strategic can improve the quality or diversification in product to enhance competitiveness, it would be hard to achieve. On the other hand, if firm blindly relying on low prices to gain market share, it will lead to greater losses. In the analysis, the impact of the cost drivers on each of the elements must be assessed by efforts. Also, there must be a satisfactory margin which produced by the cost of the nine elements. Once this is completed, manager must try to make analysis of their own competitors in the same way. Strategic advantage will be able to establish if the elements of the total cost is less than competitors. It is necessary to adopt a more positive attitude to assess if the profit margins higher than those of competition. If not, it is needed to develop strategies to achieve the low cost advantage by controlling the cost drivers. The cost savings would lead to a reduction on costs or improve productivity. Marketing, sales and service costs may be reduced more efficiently, if the reduction in external fault. An obvious example provides a good customer support services to the public. If a Volkswagen breaks down occurs, while the car is in a warranty period, the rescue vehicles comes out and fix it. If it cannot be fixed, and then provide replacement. This is would be good way handle but the cost would be expensive (C.DRURY, 2008). Shank based on Porter (1985) proposed three generic strategies in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Shank also mentions the needs for management accounting to support the enterprises competitive strategy and clarify two different types of competitive strategy the first one is cost leadership and product differentiation. The second one is demand different cost analysis perspective. For example, standard product cost is likely to be a very important tool for management control in the company that pursuing a cost leadership strategy in a mature commodity business. On the contrary, standard product cost is probably not important after the differentiation strategy of enterprises. With the market-driven, there is rapidly changing and fast-growing business. A companys pursuit of product differentiation strategy may require more information than on the cost of the leading about new product innovation, design cycles, research and development expenditures and marketing cost analysis. The difference between the cost leadership and product differentiation which depend on the primary strategic thrust of the firm. Recently, Professor Bromwich(1994) further discusses strategic management accounting and definition of strategic management accounting such as the provision analysis of financial information on the firms product markets, competitors costs, cost structures, the monitoring of the enterprises strategies and those of its competitors in these markets over a number of periods. Bromwich found that SMA is a development of management accounting. This new techniques needed to be further discussed by the accountants in the future. Moreover, Bromwich mentioned that the role of accounting is going to extend in two directions when adding the strategic perspective to traditional management accounting. First, in strategic cost analysis, costs need to integrated into it and thus align costs with strategy. Secondly, in a fairly general way, the cost structure in competitors businesses and to record the changes over time. To achieve this, Bromwich also highlights this distinction identifying two domina nt approaches to SMA. One seeks to cost the product attributes offered by a companys goods. It is to attract customers. The other approach is to cost the functions in the value chain which provide value to the customer. (Bromwich and Bhimani ,1994) In the cost leadership strategy development trends, as well as obsolete the traditional cost accounting. SMA focus is based on the benefits and it is doubtful for the standard costing performance measurement; suspected the use of flexible manufacturing costs, budget control, a worship of the budget; strict adherence to the traditional product cost pricing decisions; one to consider the cost of competitors; the absence of formal consideration of the marketing costs. Roslender (1995) determine the target cost as a domain within strategic management accounting. This is the reason why focus on the external part and this is a market-oriented approach for product pricing and cost management. In addition, it involves the proliferation of management accounting throughout the organization and active participation of staff in a broad range of management functions. Their goal is to achieve the target cost, including the identification, evaluation and use of cost functional analysis of the product attributes and research opportunities to reduce costs throughout the value chain. Moreover, a recent contribution to the role of SMA, emphasizing the management accounting in the development and support the overall competitive strategy of an organization is the Balanced Scorecard. The purpose of the Balanced Scorecard is to encourage behavior consistent with organizational strategy. It includes a comprehensive framework for performance measurement to clarify, com munication and management strategy. (Kaplan and Norton, 1992). He sees SMA as an approach that to account for strategic positioning by the trials to integrate the views from the previous marketing texts into management accounting. Robin Roslender and Susan J.Hart mentions that SMA is intimately associated with both management accounting and marketing management because SMA is on a strategic level who attends to change in the environment outside the enterprise but not limited to this one part of the enterprise, SMA explore the whole industry value chain in the business information and improve the enterprises economic environment. It emphasis that enterprise development and environmental change are consistent, in order to achieve the optimal effectiveness of industry, SMA requires marketing management to collect the information of competitors. The management accountants collect, compare, and analyze the information. The analysis of SMA is depending on the information from marketing management. It is controversial that if it is necessary for the management accountants to handle to the marketing information or the marketing management can obtain the information with their own tool. Innes (1998) believes that strategic management accounting for the provision of information to support strategic decision-making in enterprise. Strategic decision-making usually involves in a long-term period, there is a significant impact on the organization, even though they may have an internal element, and they also have external factors. This definition was introduced that provide information in order to support an organizations principal long-term decisions, such as the use of activity-based costing information, provide the relevant information product structure, the introduction and abandonment decisions are the domain of SMA. This view is support by Cooper and Kaplan (1988) who state that strategic accounting techniques are designed to support the entire organizations competitive strategy. Generally speaking, the power of using information technology is to develop more sophisticated product and service costs. Despite strategic management accounting has received, there is still no comprehensive conceptual framework of what strategic management accounting (Tomkins and Carr, 1996). For example, Coad(1996) states that SMA is an emerging field whose boundaries are loose and there is still no unified view of what it is or how it might develop. The existing literature in the field is both disparate and disjointed (Coad, 1996:332). There is an exception such the survey which conducted by Guilding et al. (2000). The survey sample included 312 large companies. Guilding et al. found that recognition of what is difficult to determine the composition of the strategic management of generally accepted accounting practice. According to the review of the literature, they identified 12 strategic management accounting practices including value-chain costing, strategic costing, target cost, life-cycle costing, attribute costing etc. These are being used to determine the practice, it is a must demonstrate one or more of the following characteristics: the environment and market position focus on competitors; and long-term, forward-looking direction. At the end of the experiment, Guilding et al concluded that 12 strategic management accounting practices are of relatively low usage, there are two factors that should not dismiss their potential. First of all, all the evaluation of SMA practices may be significantly higher than expected utilization of the advantages of scoring points. Secondly, there are still many companies have abandoned the usages of the SMA. These findings showed that there is a difference between the neediness and the actual reports conducted. It finds that there the practicing accountants do not familiar with the usage of the SMA. This gives supports to the findings of Tomkins and Carrs (1996) while they believed that the SMA is ill-defined. In addition, it is still lacking of the strategic management accounting consensus. (Lord, 1996) stated that a number of strands have been used to describe the strategic management accounting. It magnifies the internal focus of traditional management accounting and the external information to competitors. The linkage between the strategic position which decided by the companies and the anticipated emphasis on management accounting and lastly obtaining competitive advantage by interpreting methods to reduce costs or to boost the varieties of the companies goods by exploiting the relationship between the value chains and generalizing the cost drivers. In conclusion Strategic management accounting is recently developed in management accounting. It involved in planning, control and requires financial information. Nevertheless, SMA have not formed a unified knowledge. While some firms may have heard SMA. They may lack for a clear understanding in SMA. Although SMA has lots of different views from various authors. For example, Simmonds is the earliest to introduce the strategic management accounting. He mentions to collect information on business competitors. Than Bormwich has further information SMA is not only to collect information . It still need to Research and competitors on their own competitive advantage and value creation process and research a long-term decision-making cycle in the enterprise perspective, for the marketing of these products and services give enterprises the total revenue. In addition, Porter identified 3 generic strategies in SMA to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. .However ,Innes (1998) believe that strategic management accounting for the provision of information to support strategic decision-making and Cooper and Kaplan (1988) views that Strategic Accounting technology is designed to support the entire organizations competitive strategy to develop more sophisticated products and services costs . On the other hand,lord (1996) identified SMA not only analysis external competitor information but also extend the main point of traditional management accounting. They are all authors who hold different evidence to support their own mind in SMA, so SMA is totally confide, it is remains a mystery .,In my opinion, the main reason of SMA occurs because Economic is developing very fast and SMA is reclamation and atone for traditional management accounting in a new environment. However,SMA has many of obstacles in developing process such as enterprise keep continue to apply the SMA in the practical application and do adjustment and innovation , thereby it can promote the development of SMA application to make it update. So I believe that Although SMA lack of consistent theory at this moment , it will be a big management accounting develop in the future. Bibliographies: Bromwich, M. Accounting information for strategic excellence Bromwich, M.,1990 The case for strategic management accounting : the role of accounting information for strategy in competitive markets.Accounting Organization and Society, Vol 15, No  ½ , pp.27-46 Cadez, S.,2008 An exploratory investigation of an integrated contingency model of strategic management accounting ,Accounting, Organizations and Society,33,pp.836-863 Drury,C. 2008, Management Costing Accounting, 7th ed. , London: South-Western. Horngren,C. T. ,1999,Management and cost accounting London: Prentice Hall, 1999 Lucey,T.,1988 Management accounting 2nd ed. London: DP Publications Roslender,R. and Hart,S.,2003 In search of strategic management accounting : theoretical and field study perspectives .Management Accounting Research 14 , pp.255-279 Ryan, B.,1998, Strategic Accounting for Management 5th ed ,Australia: Thomson Learning Tillmann, K.,2008 Strategic management accounting and sense-making in a multinational company, Management Accounting Research ,19,pp.80-102 Wright, D.,1996 Management accounting London: Longman

Theme Of Facade In The Harlem Dancer English Literature Essay

Theme Of Facade In The Harlem Dancer English Literature Essay Masks mean many different things to many people. They are used at parties, ceremonies, rituals, sports, and so many other things. Most people eventually take masks off, revealing who they really are. However, some people put masks on to conceal who they really are, shielding them from the world. The poems The Emperor of Ice Cream by Wallace Stevens and The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay both demonstrate the theme of faà §ade in different ways. The women depicted in the poems are completely different, however they both felt as if they needed to use a mask to go on with their lives in society. The Emperor of Ice Cream by Wallace Stevens portrays a woman who has passed away and the wake that is held for her. It is implied that she is nothing but a common woman who had no real achievements in her life. Her social status is revealed in the second stanza: Take from the dresser of deal, Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet On which she embroidered fantails once And spread it so as to cover her face If her horny feet protrude, they come To show how cold she is, and dumb. It can be understood from reading that her dresser is lacking the three glass knobs that the dresser is old and possibly falling apart, implying that this woman does not have the money to afford a new one. The sheet that was placed over her body also came from atop of the dresser. She had also embroidered fantails once. When someone does not have a lot of money, it makes them thrifty. She must have embroidered the birds onto the sheet to make it look nicer. Making herself appear to have more wealth and status seems like something she did often. However, when her horny feet are revealed her masquerade is over. Her callused feet reveal that she has had hardship and has done a lot of hard work in her life to just survive. The size of the sheet that covers her is also very telling. The fact that the sheet was not large enough to cover her entire body reveals that she was not quite what she let people think she was. It is as if the sheet covered the part of her that she showed to the worl d and in her passing revealed the part of her that she really was. Her death has finally revealed that she was just an ordinary woman who tried to make her life seem better by tweaking a few things to live her faà §ade. The first part of the poem is also very telling about how the people who knew her perceive her now as she lays deceased in her bedroom. Let the wenches dawdle in such dress As they are used to wear, and let the boys Bring flowers in last months newspapers. Let be be the finale of seem. The people that are attending her wake seem to be dressed in ordinary clothing. They seem unbothered by the fact that they are at a wake of a woman that they possibly know. They are in such dress as they are used to wear which means that this event is not of major importance to them. The boys also brought flowers that are wrapped in last months newspapers. The womans wake was not even important enough for them to wrap the flowers in something nicer than last months newspapers. Both the girls and the boys who attended her wake did not think it was important enough to do anything special. The most telling line of the first stanza is, Let be be the finale of seem. The finale of seem represents the finality of the mask of what the woman wanted people to perceive when they looked at her. The line is saying that it is time to let fall the mask that the woman put on for a large portion of her life. This line alone sums up the theme of faà §ade in this poem. The faà §ade that this woman has worked so hard to maintain is lifted and even as she is dead, she is left pathetic and in her true form. The people who knew her used her death as an occasion to eat ice cream, to relieve some of their own troubles. Another poem that explores the theme of faà §ade is the poem The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay. This poem is in the form of a sonnet, unlike the other poem which was free verse except a rhyming couplet at the end of each stanza. This poem captures what life was like for an African American woman during the 1920s. Being a woman in the 1920s was hard enough. When this poem was written women were given the right to vote two years prior, so tensions were still high. To add to the tension, an African American woman would have been given a harder time. Although no longer slaves, the tension between whites and African Americans still existed and would continue to exist until the Civil Rights Movement. This is the time that Claude McKay lived in. McKay used his experiences as a Harlem Renaissance writer to depict what an African American woman during the 1920s might have done in order to get by. The mask that the woman wears in The Harlem Dancer is much different than the mask the woman wears in The Emperor of Ice Cream. The mask the woman uses in The Harlem Dancer is used to protect her and save what little dignity she has left. Devoured her shape with eager, passionate gaze; But looking at her falsely-smiling face, I knew her self was not in that strange place. The woman in this poem is not being herself as she dances for the people throwing money at her. She had taken herself completely away mentally from the situation she is presently in and has put herself somewhere more comforting. She put on a mask to protect herself, instead of trying to make herself appear better than she really is. She uses her mask as a shield, making sure that no one will ever be able to get to the shred of pride and dignity in herself that she has left. It is obvious that this woman does not like dancing for money for these people that treat her terribly and ridicule her. It can be said that this is one of the few things that she is able to do to make ends meet. In order to support herself and possibly others, this is probably the profession that is the most lucrative for her during this time. The sad part of this is that she is not even earning much money. This is revealed in the line, Luxuriant fell; and tossing coins in praise. She is only earning petty coins and nothing of real monetary value that could be of use to her. Another part of the poem is also very telling about how resilient this woman is because of how she maintains her faà §ade. She sang and danced on gracefully and calm, The light gauze hanging loose about her form; To me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm Grown lovelier for passing through a storm. The woman seems to be weathered and has also gone through hardship much like the woman in the first poem. She has gone through things that have made her stronger in mind and body. It seems that because she has gone through such hardship, it has made her even more beautiful than she was. What has helped this woman become so strong and able to get through the tough times is that she can separate herself from the profession that she has to do any her actual self. It is akin to a victim of a murder or a rape that as it is happening, they block it out and put themselves somewhere else in their mind so they can get through the terrible experience. This woman is putting her mask on once again to get through her degrading job so she can support herself and possibly others. Her strength gives way to the hope that she will be able to stop dancing and be successful. The faà §ade presented in the poem The Emperor of Ice Cream has more to do with concealing and hiding away what the woman really was from the rest of the world. Her mask was like a security blanket, making sure that no one would ever see that she was just an ordinary woman with nothing to show of her existence. However, the faà §ade in the second poem The Harlem Dancer is more like a defense-mechanism. The woman in the second poem puts on the faà §ade to protect her dignity and to also transport herself away from the trauma. This faà §ade is used as a necessity whereas the faà §ade used in the first poem was a matter of pride for the woman. The women in both poems have seen many hardships and both struggle to survive in the world. They try to better themselves in hopes of living happily. The woman in the first poem hoped that the mask she put on would someday be who she really was. The woman in the second poem hoped that she would not have to wear a mask any longer. By using a f aà §ade, both women hid their true selves from the world.

Immigrants - Just Let Them In :: Immigrants Immigration Essays

Immigrants - Just Let Them In America is the land of the free, and a life full of opportunities for every American. The United States leads the world in its power and is seen by many as a way to escape the hardships of their countries. Would it be inhumane of a rich country to not help the other countries and people, who struggle in the world? But for an immigrant to enter the United States, he or she must have a one to two-year processing time, a three hundred and ten dollar fee, and a ten page form stating their reasons for entering the U.S. Most immigrants do not want or can find time to go through this process. Instead, they could come into the U.S. illegally and still receive a job without a problem. Immigrants help America prosper by increasing the purchasing of goods. This in turn makes the economy grow by demanding more jobs. Immigrants help America flourish and create a wide variety of people living the American dream as one nation. Most Americans relax in a state of comfort zone. They live their nice lives and forget about the world outside their eyes. Studying other countries gives a clear example of what horrible lives others live. Currently eighty-nine percent of Mexico lives in poverty. The average Mexican worker slaves all day for a pathetic forty pesos, (Mexico Child Link. http://www.mexico-child-link.org/mexico-factfile-statistics.htm). That is two dollars a day in America. If an American had a family with a wife and a couple kids, they could not support a family with such a lack of income. The American needs to put himself or herself in a position of an immigrant and asked the question what they would do. They would try to leave and go to a land where they hear of riches and luxuries. They would leave to a place where they could raise a happy family and obtain a steady job paying wages that they could support their family. The dream of any human being is not to suffer, but to live a joyful li fe. Many immigrants flee their countries because they seek asylum in the United States.

Richard Wagner :: essays research papers fc

Richard Wagner TIME LINE: Wagner’s Life 1813: Wilhelm Richard Wagner is born on May 22. Wagner’s father dies on November 23. ;1814: Wagner’s mother remarries  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1815: Wagner’s mother has a daughter Cacilie  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1821: Wagner’s step-father dies  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1829: Wagner composes his first music: two piano sonatas and a string quartet  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1830: Writes a piano arrangement for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1832: Begins work on first opera, Die Hochzeit  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1833: Begins work on Die Feen  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1836: Marries Minna Planer  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1839: Flees to London to avoid creditors, then to Paris  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1847: Takes an interest in Greek plays  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1857: Begins work on Tristan & Isolde  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1858: Minna finds love letter Richard wrote to Mathilde  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1859: Moves to Paris with Minna and completes Tristan & Isolde  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1862: Richard and Minna separate and Wagner moves to Vienna  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1864: Wagner begins affair with Cosima Von Bulow  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1865: A daughter Isolde is born to Richard and Cosima and he moves to Switzerland  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1867: A second daughter, Eva, is born to Richard and Cosima  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1869: A son, Siegfried, is born to Richard and Cosima  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1870: Richard and Cosima finally get married  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1878: Begins writing a series of reactionary essays  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1883: Richard Wagner dies of a heart attack in Venice on February 13. The funeral   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  was held at Bayreuth on February 18. WAGNER’S WORKS OPERA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  COMPLETED Die Feen  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6 Jan 1834 Das Liebesverbot  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dec 1835 Rienzi  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  19 Nov 1840 Der fliegende Hollà ¤nder  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  30 Oct 1841 Tannhà ¤user  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  13 Apr 1845 Lohengrin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  28 Apr 1848 Das Rheingold  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  26 Sep 1854 Die Walkà ¼re  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  23 Mar 1856 Siegfried  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5 Feb 1871 Gà ¶tterdà ¤mmerung  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  21 Nov 1874 Tristan und Isolde  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6 Aug 1859 Die Meistersinger  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  24 Oct 1867 Parsifal  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  13 Jan 1882 RICHARD WAGNER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Richard Wagner was one of the most influential and controversial classical composers of all time. Most of his works were operas and they addressed many aspects of his personal feelings: society, politics, religions, etc. Though many hated (and still hate) him and his work, most revere him to be a multitalented genius that brought 19th Century music to higher levels. Wagner’s Life Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 in Leipzig. At six months old, Wagner lost his father Frau Karl Friedrich to typhoid, which he caught from the corpses lying unburied in the streets after the Napoleonic War in Leipzig. Less than a year later, Wagner’s mother married Ludwig Geyer, who Wagner believes is his real father, even though nothing was ever proved. Geyer, like Wagner had an artistic gift. He was an actor a painter, dramatist, and singer. As a child, Geyer was determined â€Å"to make something† of Wagner (Jacobs 3). He failed at drawing and painting. Wagner did not realize he had a talent until Geyer was on his deathbed with collapsed lungs.

Consumer Culture and Identity Essay -- Cultural Identity Essays

Introduction Fonseca (2008) defines Consumer culture as a process that â€Å"represents a condition in which consumption is seen as having the role of increasingly mediating certain aspects of social relations and consumption has the symbolic ability to represent affiliation to a certain group and its lifestyles, as well as to generate a sense of identity.† The mention of identity in Fonseca’s definition brings about an understanding of the impact consumer culture can have on social agents, and not just on the economic or capitalism that comes with consumption. This essay will discuss the relationship between Consumer culture and Identity. The essay is divided into five parts; the first section is an introduction into what Consumer culture is, the second section is also an introduction into what Identity is and how it is used in the context of the essay, the third section deals with the crisis of identity in modern day, the fourth section introduces consumption in a contemporary society, the fifth section explains the impact consumption have on identity (how we reflect on ourselves and use goods to shape our identity). This essay concludes by using Giddens (1991) argument about the modern dynamic reflectivity has an impact in the process of reconstructing ones identity when it comes in contact with the post traditional setting, to show that the relation between consumer culture and identity is that Identity is formed as consumption takes place. Introduction to Consumer Culture The word â€Å"culture† has been defined as â€Å"one of the two or three most complicated words in English Language† (William; 1958). Over the years the meaning of the word has changed and varied in different parts of the world. In 1881, Taylor defined culture a... ...society: Myths and structures (Vol. 53). Sage. Beck, U., & Beck-Gernsheim, E. (1995). The normal chaos of love. Cambridge: Polity Press. Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Davis, J. (2007). The Promise of Potential. Minnesota: JD Coaching and Consulting. Dittmar, H. 1992. The Social Psychology of Material Possessions: To Have Is To Be, Hertfordshire, Harvester Wheatsheaf. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: self and identity in the late modern age. Cambridge: Polity. Lury, C. 1996. Consumer Culture, Cambridge, Polity Press. Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer culture: History, theory and politics. Sage. Slater, D. (1997). Consumer culture and modernity. Blackwell Publishing: Malden Stryker, S. (1980). Symbolic interactionism: A social structural version. Menlo Park: Benjamin Cummings.

India during rule from the British Essay

The East India Company established many things for India including telegraph, railroad, and irrigation systems. It also set up a large army called the Sepoys to defend its interests and India’s borders. The Sepoys were commanded by the British officers and were supported by the units of the British army. Although the Indians benefited from the British rule many resented British rule. The East India Company made sure that British colonist received most of the advantages from the new technology and industrialization. Indian factory workers and servants received very low wages. Farmers got very little for there harvest. Indians could not hold high level positions. Schools also taught English and Western ideas and paid little attention to the long history and advanced culture of India. Most of the appeal of Imperialism (when one government takes control over a foreign land and governs it as its own), most specifically British Imperialism was economic advancement; â€Å"to create large, self-sustaining trading blocks.† Britain exploited India, the crown jewel of their imperialist empire, for the export of many raw materials. In addition, they placed trade laws upon India that restricted its trade with countries other than Britain. India was eventually under the complete control, even the rule of Britain; you could even say that India was occupied by Britain, as there were both political figures, and military troops from Britain in India. Though they exploited India in a way that could have destroyed India’s economy, their presence helped boost India toward modernity with the construction of railroads and other new (at the time) technology. As the cotton trade declined, Britain, through the English East India Trading Company, forced many things upon India that brought them (Britain) economic benefit. They forced India to ship raw materials (such as spices and textiles) to Britain, rather than using them for their own production. The East India Company came to rise as the predominant trading company in all of India; Britain all but formally established a government in India (they even had their own army in association with the English East India Trading Company, in order to reinforce the laws set by the colonists). With the collapse of local governments, and the destruction of Indian factories and production companies, Britain’s gain of power in India became an easy task.  They in addition forced them to buy products imported from Britain that were made with the exported raw materials, rather than simply allowing them to produce the items themselves. At the same time, the English East India Trading Company participated in the illegal export of opium to China, resulting in the first â€Å"Opium War†, in which the Chinese were defeated, and the British trading rights were expanded. Before the establishment of English trading colonies in India, the prices they had to pay for Indian exports were extremely high, higher than they were willing to pay; through their control of the land, they were able to export these materials themselves. India was/is called â€Å"the brightest jewel in the imperial crown â€Å", and with control over India, the Indian Ocean, and parts of the African Coast, Britain maintained an incredibly large imperialist trading empire. The English justified their imperialist actions largely through Darwinism. Darwin stated in his works his idea of â€Å"Survival of the Fittest†. The English simply took this to mean that, as a result, they were so easily able to take control over India, that they were the stronger people, and therefore meant to be dominant. The second phase of British imperialism (which begins in 1858), is during a time of â€Å"Colonial Imperialism†. Colonial imperialism is when one government not only rules over a foreign land, but establishes an all out colonial government there, and runs the countries affairs. Members of the East India Company attempted to learn the languages of the Indians, but also tried to impose British culture upon the Indians. They encouraged the Indians to act like conformists and dress and act like them. In 1877, Queen Victoria was named the â€Å"Empress of India†. During this time, India was exploited for the exportation of even more raw materials such as spices, indigo dye, and textiles. Trade laws were reinforced, and the East India Company’s army enforced these laws. The Indians may have seen these acts as racist, as the British were obviously subordinating them. Once Britain had complete control of India, the construction of roads, railroads, and telephone/telegraph lines began. In 1869, the Suez Canal, an artificial water passage in Egypt which links the Mediterranean sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea all together, making trade in that area much easier) was opened, and increased India’s potential for trade dramatically. The British discouraged Indian  industry (obviously not wanting any competition over India’s raw materials, or exports), but encouraged production of crops that they could export for profit, rather than food crops for survival. In 1846, over five hundred-thousand Indians died from famine (in 1876-1879 ten million more Indians / Chinese people died from famine). The poverty level in India increased dramatically, as all of the profit went straight to British colonists. Britain’s Imperialism in India did have some positive effects on India itself. The English, during the time of their Empire, constructed large railroad systems in India, which connected factories inland with the coastal shipping ports; this railroad system was one of the most developed in the entire world. This rail system helped in the development of the trade industry in Indian, and also helped to prevent famines (food was transportable). The English also established a system of roads, as well as bridges, dams, and even irrigation ditches. They established centers for education, and the literacy rate in India increased significantly, as did health with the establishment of hospitals. With the newly trained professionals and businesspersons in India, a new upper class evolved. These positive effects did not come without a price. The British claimed all power over India, political and economic. The British’s export of crops left little for Indians to make money off of, and self-sufficiency suffered (especially since they were producing cash crops to sell to the colonists for minimum price, and didn’t even have time or land to produce their own food crops on). The Indians did not simply sit back and allow the British to walk all over them; as a result of growing resentment to the implied racism, and general control implemented by the British, the Indians revolted. In 1857, the Sepoys, a group of Indians hired by the English East India Company, revolted against the British. Through revolt, and others, followed by numerous Nationalist movements, Indians eventually gained independence for themselves in 1947. As it is shown, through the English East India Company, the British exploited India through direct and colonial imperialism, in order to bring Britain greater economic benefit. Britain came into India and just took control,  with no concern for the well-being of the Indians. They brought about the disintegration of Indian industry, and took advantage of India’s raw materials, and fertile land. Britain’s imperialist empire in the Indian subcontinent brought them countless economic benefits, as was the goal when they set out to establish such an empire; but more of the impact of this imperialism takes place in India. So much changes as a result of Britain’s empire. They left India with one of the worlds most advanced railroad systems (at that time), newly established schools and colleges, new hospitals and medical facilities, and new production factories, as well as a new feeling of class-consciousness. India was almost forced into a state of modernity through the presence of British imperialists. All of the positive effects Britain’s imperialism had on India were not intentional. Everything the British did in order to help India, was actually done in order to help themselves. The railroads, the telegraphs, the roads, the schools, all were done in order to further advance their own trading empire.

Hepatitis causes and effects

AbstractionHepatitis, one of the major incurable diseases, still exists presents jeopardizing many people ‘s lives. It has many types i.e. Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E and G. The nature of Hepatitis is viral which is caught by either through organic structure fluids or improper personal hygiene in add-on to other causes which remains unknown. This disease leads into serious physiological effects such as weariness, icterus and serious liver complication like liver Cirrhosis. Psychosocial consequence which is another result of Hepatitis includes societal backdown, anxiousness, depression and self-destructive inclination. Despite of the extended researches to happen a remedy for Hepatitis, there is still no effectual intervention for it so the duty of avoiding this infection is both on authorities and persons. Hepatitis is one of the most fatal diseases which was discovered in the early 1880ss ; it can be defined as an redness of the liver organ. Hepatitis is derived from the Latin words â€Å" Hepat † which means the liver and â€Å" itis † redness. The usual cause of Hepatitis is a virus that invades the organic structure through blood watercourse. This virus could acquire into the organic structure either through organic structure fluids or improper personal hygiene, taking to serious physiological and psychosocial effects. There are several types of Hepatitis, such as A, B, C, D, E and G. A, B and C viruses are the most common types of Hepatitis and all these viruses can do similar jobs and have similar symptoms, but they spread in different ways and have different effects on the organic structure. There are several manners of transmittal including contaminated organic structure fluids, improper personal hygiene in add-on to idiopathic causes. Contaminated organic structure fluids include spits, blood, fecal matters and piss. Blood transfusion is the most common method, where the blood is transferred from an septic patient to another patient what would be called â€Å" Horizontal Transmission † . Another method is the â€Å" Vertical Transmission † which occurs when a pregnant adult female base on balls it to her foetus. Furthermore, † contaminated acerate leafs shared by the drug maltreaters or in medical accidents such as needle pricks† is another manner emphasized by ( Nowak and Handford, 2004, p.379 ) . Having unprotected sex and multi-partners are other ways taking to this disease harmonizing to Nowak and Handford ( 2004 ) whom reported that â€Å" Sexual transmittal does happen, peculiarly among the homophiles. Note besides that 20 % of septic s traight persons pass the virus to their spouses. † ( p.380 ) . All of the above mentioned causes can take to Hepatitis B and C which are the most unsafe 1s. The 2nd major cause of Hepatitis is hapless hygiene, for case, personal and general. To get down with contaminated H2O such as sewerage lanes, rivers and public lavatories are topographic points of great hazard for hoarding Hepatitis A particularly to those who live nearby. This type of Hepatitis is normally transferred by fecal matters harmonizing to Fiore ( 2004 ) â€Å" HAV is chiefly transmitted by the fecal-oral path, either by person-to-person contact or by consumption of contaminated nutrient or H2O â€Å" ( p.705-15 ) .Moreover, common veggies and shellfish, such as boodles and oysters may be contaminated by sewerage to go beginnings of infection to worlds. Besides, personal hygiene is another component for reaching hepatitis and can happen by sharing razors, toothbrushes and towels, and leads to Hepatitis B and C. Despite antecedently discussed causes of this disease, there is still a great sector of hepatitis which remains unknown. Statisticss shows that â€Å" about 30 % of hepatitis B infection are of unknown beginning†¦ .40 % of Hepatitis C instances are idiopathic † ( Nowak and Handford, 2004, p.379-80 ) . Where another article points that â€Å" beginnings is unknown but could be considerable ; 50 % of reported patients with hepatitis A do non hold an identified beginning of infection † ( Fiore, 2004, p.706 ) . But McHutchison & A ; Bacon ( 2005 ) emphasized in their diagram of â€Å" Figure 2: Beginnings of Infection for Persons With Hepatitis C â€Å" that merely â€Å" 10 % of Hepatitis C infection are unknown † ( p.S287 ) . There are many effects of this disease which lie under the two classs: the physiological effects and psychosocial effects. Where the physiological effects contain all the symptoms of Hepatitis, the psychosocial effects indicate the emotional and societal effects of being a Hepatitis patient. The symptoms of the assorted signifiers of hepatitis are similar and they are caused by the harm in the liver. The most noticeable symptom is icterus which causes a yellowing of the tegument. Other symptoms associated with hepatitis include weariness, general organic structure hurting, sickness, mild febrility, and loss of appetency. As the infection spreads in the liver, the organ becomes enlarged. It may do hurting in the venters and in worst scenario can take to liver Cirrhoses which mean entire liver harm and finally decease. It takes seven to eight hebdomads after exposure to the Hepatitis virus for the symptoms to look. A patient with Hepatitis is non merely predisposed to physical symptoms, but besides to emotional and societal jobs. These complexnesss include depression and societal backdown as each one leads into the other, added to that depression and anxiousness which normally occur together. Anybody who suffers from Hepatitis will be dying and this anxiousness may take in to depression in sever instances, for illustration when a patient suffers from Hepatitis and he knows it is a serious unwellness rebelliously he will non halt badgering, these concerns can do the individual preoccupied with his unwellness and take him to depression. Furthermore, a Hepatitis patient societal withdraw as a consequence of being unable to happen a spouse who is willing to populate with this fatal disease. It is besides difficult to do people understand the nature of this serious disease and do friends and households accept and accommodate it. All this may drive the patient to be lonely and allure to be self-destr uctive. To sum up, Hepatitis is still one of our life clip enigmas to be solved. The spread of this disease is largely due to the natural or hygienic causes in add-on to some per centum of idiopathic causes which is still unknown. Like any other unwellness, Hepatitis has many drawbacks which could be listed under two classs physiological and psychosocial. Unfortunately, despite the advanced field of medicine Hepatitis remains un-ended and research continues in order to happen the ultimate intervention for it. Until a concluding remedy is found, precautional stairss should be taken by both authorities and persons. The authorities is responsible to guarantee infection control consciousness over this disease through its wellness system. But it is a personal duty to forestall oneself from this disease every bit good as any other disease by following the simple regulations of hygiene and guarantee to acquire proper wellness attention from dependable wellness constitutions merely.MentionsFiore, E. ( 2004 ) . Hepatitis A Transmitted by Food. FOOD SAFETY, 38 ( 1 ) , 705-715. McHutchison, J. G. , & A ; Bacon, B. R. ( 2005 ) . Chronic Hepatitis C: An Age Wave of Disease Burden. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MANAGED CARE, 11 ( 10 ) , S286-295. Nowak, T. J. , & A ; Handford, A. G. ( 2004 ) . Pathophysiology: Concepts and Application for Health attention Professionals ( Third ed. ) . New york: Mc Graw Hill. Prevention, C. f. D. C. a. ( 2009 ) . Disease load from viral hepatitis A, B, and C in the United States [ Electronic Version ] . Retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/resources/dz_burden02.htm.