Agora Swot Anlysis Competitive Advantage

Agora the brand name of Rahimafrooz Group is the first super shop chain in our country launched in 2000. The mission was to fulfill the everyday shopping needs of the urban peoples through fair price, right assortment, and best quality. The success was immediate as there was a demand for such business in the local market. And over time the number of outlets increased and currently there are nine outlets at Dhaka and one outlet in Chittagong. Many people thought that the name of the company is Agora. But actually, Agora is just the brand name. Agora is a Greek word, which means a marketplace where the people would meet together and talk. Company thought the environment at Agora should be nice and clean so that people will not only shop there but also want to stay and meet with other peoples there. And so they named the shops Agora. Their logo has a very interesting appeal and it contains the benefits being offered to the customers. The name is written in green color which is the color of freshness. A woman presumably a homemaker has happily finished all her shopping from under one roof is seen too. The statement says everyday quality shopping. It is very well thought out and gives a summary of what Agora is all about. SWOT Analysis of Agora: A SWOT analysis of Rahimafrooz Superstores Limited will show the internal and external factors. Some of these factors affect positively while some of them effects negatively. Important decisions can be taken after SWOT analysis. Strengths: 1. Established brand name. 2. Pioneer in the industry. 3. Concerned about quality factor than other super shop (Competitive advantage). 4. It is the largest retailer, both by local sales and by domestic market share. 5. Experienced top level management. 6. Wide product range. 7. Quicker and accurate costing process. 8. Effective and reliable supply chain. 9. Successful implementation of SAP (Standard Application Software) ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) the modules are: Financial and Controlling, Material Management and Selling and Distribution. 10. Effective training modules for employees, suppliers. 11. Agora is committed to sustaining and growing as the most trusted, loved and frequented retail chain 12. Agora believes in providing very good service to its consumers. 13. The technological development is very frequent. Weaknesses: 1. High price of products. 2. Poor financial position. 3. Less number of shops. 4. No or very less advertising. 5. Lower amount of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities. 6. In the mid-2000 Agora faced many cost problems associated with not properly integrating it’s purchased chains of store. 7. Still lack of competitive strength. Mainly in placement. 8. Supply and distribution of foreign products are very poor and so people can’t get unique foreign products in Agora but can be found in other mega shops like Meena Bazar, Lavender etc. 9. Customer Service technology is less attractive . 10. Market development in other cities is relatively poor as only Chittagong has Agora outlet. 11. Poor reliability of data, and plan predictability. 12. Counter management system relatively poorer than competitors. 13. Sometimes they gave offer to capture the General Customer bt they cant do that for their Bad system or service. 14. Struggles with preparing budget which was not very effective and management wants budget that would give better results. Opportunities: 1. Providing sponsorship to emerging agricultural business. Ex: strawberry was grown in Panchagar and Agora took all the responsibility for sales and it made a profit. . The largest retailer in Dhaka leaving behind PQS, Meena Bazar, Nandan Mega Shop, Pacific, Pick and Pay, Etc, Shop & Save, Lavender and others. 3. They created a life style trends by offering various types of products to its customers while maintaining high quality. 4. Big growth in developing market with nine outlets in Dhaka and one in Chittagong 5. New USP (Unique Selling Process) is the care for the quality has given Agora a big competitive advantage. 6. Agora conducts research and modifies their strategy according to the actions of competitors. 7. Agora provides product and service according to the seasonal, weather and fashion influences. For example, they provide chemical less fruits packages for summer season, provides instant made hygienic â€Å"Pitha† in winter and also provides CP chicken inside Agora as it’s been a trend now a days. 8. Recently bought PQS, one of its competitors to capture the customers those are interested to buy products from their nearest place. 9. Agora now comes together with bKash with a state-of-the-art payment platform that allows transactions via mobile phones, such that customers will not need cash or credit cards for payment at Agora points of sales. 0. Agora constantly launches attractive promotions like Bazimat, Value Week or Super Value Offer or Diamond Ring Offer. And a regular discount and points system attracts the customers to be more loyal. 11. With the SAP software system, there would be the capacity to enter newer products in the system. This would enable Rahimafrooz S uperstores to increase their product line, which they have wanted to do for a long time, because they were losing customers to their competitors and other big shops. Threats: 1. Fierce and unhealthy competition. 2. Threat of new competitors. 3. Surprisingly some popular local products and new products to arrive in the market, both foreign and local were not available. 4. Political instability in the country (continuous hartals). 5. In the recent years Agora had to be careful about delivering formalin free fresh food from the suppliers. 6. Many online stores are now entering the market. 7. As agora is primarily concentrated on food, it can be easily effected by the seasons and weather within the country. 8. Is faced with the need to increase the number of outlets throughout the country. 9. Agora must integrate more products according to the needs of its increasing number of onsumers keeping in mind their changes of lifestyle and preferences. 10. The competitors have responded to wide range of products and lower price. 11. Counters are not sufficient in shops so huge line occurs in the pick hours. 12. Some competitors are now in the market with more advanced Information Technology. 13. Agora can’t fulfill the demand of foreign and unique vegetables for the customers. 14. No home delivery system for loyal customers. Competitive Advantage: The relationship between a firm's environmental opportunities and threats on the one hand, and its internal strengths and weaknesses on the other is the competitive advantage. This traditional logic suggests that if Agora use their internal strengths in exploiting environmental opportunities and neutralizing environmental threats, while avoiding internal weaknesses, are more likely to gain competitive advantages than other kinds of firms. Agora super shop has one main competitive advantage. It is explained bellow: Agora was the first ever chain shop in the country which seceded in changing the people’s behavior towards the traditional shopping experience. Being the pioneer in its field, it has the trust and loyalty of its early consumers. It also has more experience in the field than its competitors. It has a strong brand image and therefore can charge higher price from the consumers in exchange of better quality products and better shopping environment. Agora on the other hand is constantly advocating about quality. The subtitle for Agora is â€Å"Enriching Lives with Your Trust†. The reason for asking a little higher price from the customer is the quality factor, which they are so concerned about. We think this care for the quality has given Agora a big competitive advantage. This is somewhat a unique selling approach taken by Agora. Bibliography: 1. SAP AG: To manage business operations and customer relations. Retrieved from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/SAP_AG 2. About Rahimafrooz: aspirations, vision, values, quality policy. Retrieved from: http://www. rahimafrooz. com/tabid/65/Default. aspx 3. Agora – Supermarket Chain & Superstore in Bangladesh. Retrieved from: http://www. reportbd. com/articles/149/1/Agora—Supermarket-Chain-amp-Superstore-in-Bangladesh/Page1. html 4. A report of agora. bd Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd. Retrieved from: http://bdmoneyidea. wordpress. com/2010/08/04/a-report-of-agora-bd-rahimafrooz-superstores-ltd-created-by-bubt-student-part-01/ 5. Agora BD super shop. Retrieved from: Online Dhaka Guide : http://www. online-dhaka. com/1_8_17507_0-agora-bd-super-shop-dhaka-city. html 6. Competitive Advantage. Retrieved from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Competitive_advantage 7. Agora- A new way to shop. Retrieved from: Bangladesh Inside, http://bdinside. net/? p=50 8. Agora-Facebook. Retrieved from: https://www. facebook. com/Agora. Rahimafrooz 9. Rahimaafrooz Superstores. Retrieved from: http://www. rahimafrooz. com/OurBusinesses/Companies/RahimafroozSuperstoresLtd/tabid/112/Default. aspx

Managing Business Problems Essay

What are the causes of poor productivity within large organizations and how can we look at trying to improve this? Productivity is the degree of output achieved in relation to a certain level of input. For example, in a call centre environment, productivity would be seen as the number of telephone calls answered per hour by a certain number of staff. The telephone calls are the output and the staff available to take the calls are the input. In order to improve productivity, one of the following has to occur: The level of input is decreased however the level of output remains the same, or, the level of output increases but the level of input remains the same. In relation to the example of the call centre, this would mean reducing the number of staff available to answer the phone but yet the remaining staff would still have to answer the same number of calls, i.e. they would have to answer more calls each to compensate for the decrease in staff. Or the other way to increase productivity in a call centre would be to keep the same number to staff available to take customer calls but the number of calls being answered in total would have to increase. Productivity is a major issue within any organisation but especially call centres. Call centres do try to forecast the number of calls they expect everyday and allocate resources accordingly to deal with these pressures, however there are still thousands of calls abandoned (where the customer hangs up before even getting through to an advisor) each and every day, this is sometimes referred to as â€Å"call leakage†. This is a growing problem for call centres across the country and it is surprising the amount of customers who will take their business elsewhere simply because they cant get through on the phone as they see it as poor customer service. In many cases it isn’t feasible for staff numbers to be increased in order to cope with the call volumes that are being received and so the only solution to reducing the call leakage is to increase the productivity of the existing staff. Working in a call centre environment myself I appreciate that this is a very challenging task as call centre agents generally feel overworked and underpaid already and trying to get more work out of them will be difficult. However my research into call centre life has thrown up some issues surrounding the task of increasing staff performance in order for your business to work smarter. My research examines the possibility of reward systems as a means of increasing productivity, how call centre staff view their own roles and changes they would like to see in order to help them perform better During my research I searched the Emerald website to find relevant journal articles to assist my studies. I came across an interesting one called † An exploration of managerial issues in call centres† by Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole and Jean Prescott. This paper consisted of two case studies carried out in two large organisations; these will be known as Case Study A and Case Study B. I found this article useful as it explores why people work in call centres, how they feel about their jobs and this research is spread over all levels from call centre agent to general manager. Case Study A provides a good background to call centre life and will aid understanding of what it is like to work in a call centre environment. In Case Study A, a total of fourteen staff members of all levels were interviewed, interviews lasted one hour and were all taped and transcribed. The interviews explored the initial decision to work for a call centre, the expectations they had before they started and the extent to which their jobs had lived up to those expectations. The authors also examined company statistics; they found evidence of high turnover in staff who had been employed for a few months then reducing to comparatively low turnover after they had been employed for more than six months. I found the findings from Case Study A to be very surprising having worked in a call centre myself and not having had very many positive experiences during my time there. The overall impression from those interviewed was that they felt very positive about their workplace. There were inevitable differences in how different levels of employees viewed certain issued but there were more similarities than differences. I was interested to see how employees had spoke about productivity and performance targets. It became apparent that performance targets were related to the number of calls answered, the time in which it took to answer the calls and also the levels of call leakage. It is very easy to monitor call centre agents against an array of time-related measures and staff felt under a lot of pressure at times due to this. I can relate to this, as this is exactly how I felt working as a call centre agent. One manager interviewed in Case Study A stated that the most important thing in managing call centre staff was â€Å"motivation, motivation, motivation†, yet the manager in question admitted he had little idea of how to motivate staff. I do agree that motivating staff to perform well is an issue and I appreciate that highly motivated staff will be more productive but I also think that if staff working in call centres had a better understanding of the bigger picture and knew how their actions impacted upon the business as a whole they may change their attitudes and automatically perform better and more efficiently. This is just my opinion from my experience of working in a British Gas call centre for almost three years I have been privileged enough to have been given an insight into the deeper realms of the business, something which frontline staff rarely come into contact with and I do feel this would be of benefit to them. As it stand now, staff are being thrown tough performance targets by management and expected to meet them without question, they have no understanding of why the business needs them to perform at a particular level and what the consequences will be if they don’t. I believe business awareness to be a vital part of representing a company to the public and the company I work for do offer a business awareness course, however this is e-learning based and has to be completed in your own time. Needless to say, there are not many staff who take advantage of this opportunity to understand the business they work for due to the above conditions and a lot of staff are probably unaware that the facility even exists. If British Gas were to allow the time for staff to complete this course during working hours or even to be paid overtime for the time they spend on it outside their scheduled hours, they would have a massive response and although this would be time consuming and possibly quite costly, I believe that the positive effects on how employees work would outweigh the costs. Productivity is very poor in the call centre I work in after reading relevant sections in a book called â€Å"Remuneration Policy† by Patrick McCauley I am under the impression that a successful reward system can help to improve productivity. McCauley defines motivation simply as â€Å"goal directed behaviour† and he makes it clear that employees will only be motivated to increase their performance by goals that are actually of interest to them, for example if a manager said to his team one day that the person with the highest productivity that day would be rewarded with a family ticket to the local pantomime then you would get Sandra, the mother with 2.4 children, husband and nice semi-detached house working her socks off, however, Matt, Gary and Emma, the three students on the team and Harold the grandad of the team who is six months off retirement would not be interested in the slightest by the managers offer of reward. McCauley states that the three key questions we need to consider when devising a successful reward system are: * What goals will employees actually pursue? * What factors will determine their success or failure in achieving these goals? * What will be the consequences of achievement or frustration for the employee and the organisation? As I have already mentioned, it is important to offer rewards that are of interest to the staff and that will actually motivate them to perform better and drive them towards goals which involve meeting productivity and performance targets on the way. It is important to offer generic rewards that are appealable to all or a choice of a few different rewards in order to cater for all the different ages, cultures etc. I have dome some research in to reward systems whilst working on a service excellence team in the British Gas call centre and the rewards that were constantly being requested by staff were things such as an extra days annual leave, high street vouchers, deputising for a higher level role for half a day as a development opportunity etc. These were things that the frontline staff were telling management would motivate them to work harder and to a higher standard, however management declined these requests as they saw them as too ambitious and they were especially against the extra holiday which unfortunately was the most popular suggestion. It was a shame these suggestions were declined as staff then felt that they were being ignored which in turn lowered morale and saw a drop in productivity for a short while, it would probably have been cheaper for the company to have allowed a small number of desired rewards which would have increased productivity for while and certainly wouldn’t have reduced it. Staff are already aware of what their targets are on a day to day basis and we need to remember that there will be a percentage of staff who do consistently meet these targets, therefore when setting criteria for a reward system we have to set it higher than daily performance targets to show that staff are being recognised for going above and beyond the call of duty and not just being coaxed into doing what is already expected of them. Staff will have to meet daily performance and productivity targets and then some before they can achieve a reward. If an employee successfully achieves a reward for their performance then not only will their productivity have had to increase to achieve the reward in the first place but as that desired behaviour has now been rewarded, the employee will be conditioned into repeating it in order to gain further rewards. If an employee either attempts and fails to reach the goal required to achieve a reward or doesn’t make the effort and sees his colleagues around him being rewarded for their increased effort and performance it will have one of the two following effects upon him: * He will become de-motivated as he is feeling left out or a failure as his efforts are not being recognised because he fails to reach the required standard and his performance will drop further. * He will become determined to work to the required level to achieve a reward to prove to himself and his managers that he too can perform well. If the latter of the consequences occurs then the reward systems is still being effective in all areas as even failures are being motivated to continue to strive for the reward on offer. However if the company begins to see individuals experiencing a drop in motivation and performance they may need to consider addressing this with a reward for example for the most improved productivity each month, therefore even those whose efforts don’t bring them above the required productivity level for a standard reward have a chance of recognition for their efforts alone. McCauley examines Vroom’s expectancy theory and this supports the issues raised above. Vroom does state though that the criteria that needs to be met in order to achieve a reward has to be very clear cut and communicated thoroughly to all levels of staff so as to avoid woolly areas where decisions to reward or not may be disputed. Throughout my research I have identified underlying issues surrounding the productivity of call centre staff and how to improve this by encouraging motivation amongst staff and providing them with personal goals that at the same time guide them towards achieving the productivity levels required by the business. I have come to the conclusion that productivity can only really be successfully increased in the long term by providing something for the individual to work towards, not just setting targets and expecting them to be met. I also think that increased business awareness amongst frontline staff would be beneficial to any call centre so then at least they know and understand why there are certain pressures placed upon them and they may be more welcoming to the challenge of attaining higher targets. Bibliography An exploration of managerial issues in call centres. (Journal Article) Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole & Jean Prescott. Remuneration Policy

Marketing for financial serivces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing for financial serivces - Essay Example The company faces in launching the new products and services for the customers in such economic conditions and therefore loses the retention rate of customers and faces many problems. Coming towards social conditions of the bank, the bank micro environment was enough good but its macro-social environment wasn't that much strong. However, the company launches many Acts against the unfair banking conditions and after 11 years the Act of Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection becomes a law in 2005. Similarly, the company launches the law of Frontline Pbs in 2004 again against the unfair banking services. The companies social condition was much better but its competitor when enter in the market in the year 2003, when these competitors introduces new services and products the company faces a huge lost. Coming towards the last agenda, Technology, the company didn't introduce the latest technology in the company and was unable to introduced latest products and services. This ma ke the competitor more strong and thus reduces the market growth of the MBNA. The major competitor and players in the Europe against the MBNA is HSBC and Barclay. Barclay mainly deals in personal loans, mortgages and basically deals in personal banking and same is the condition of HSBC. As in his competitor environment the MBNA needs some thing new that helps in achieving the market place. Therefore, MBNA launches insurance products and business credit cards in order to meet the political conditions of the Europe. In last few years the government has changed many rules and regulations in order to decrease the interest rage charging on credit cards and thus this directly affect the MBNA credit card services. Due to the low productivity of MBNA from the last few years there is a clear space between the market positions. Let involves the Porter's Model in it in order to understand the five forces. The threat of substitute products: there is the threat that the HSBC new product and services may capture the MBNA customers which may cause a huge cost to the company. Their product differentiation may cause a huge cost on the company. The HSBC is the key player that will affect the MBNA. The threat of the entry of new competitors: due to the new regulations of government the financial services of the Europe is becoming more stable. That is the reason that why the new companies are emerging and causing the switching cost to the MBNA. In 2003 and 2004 the government policies affect a lot on the success of MBNA and causing the customers to quit to other new opportunities. This causing a clear market space between the MBNA and its competitor. On the other hand the brand does matters a lot. Different services in credit card may cause in lowering the retention rate of the customers in the MBNA. The intensity of competitive rivalry: the competitors though are very few at present conditions but these competitors are very strong. On the other hand, many new companies are deciding to provide their services in the near future. The HSBC is offering international financial

Supertrends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supertrends - Essay Example 27). Del Pilar and Udasco (2004) further define deculturation as a situation "in which the people involved fail to acculturate to the dominant society and also fail to retain their own cultural identity" (p. 170). In the United States, both definitions seem to apply. On the one hand, we have many people coming into the country who feel they have to "give up" their culture in order to "fit in." Also, the United States has had an influx of Mexican Americans to such an extent that it has become the second most spoken language (Hochmuth, 2001, p. 1). Young (2008) suggests that deculturation and acculturation work together depending on when an individual enters another country. He suggests that "as new learning occurs, deculturation or unlearning of at least some of the old cultural elements has to occur.." (p. 360). This suggests that deculturation is something that is going on all the time when someone comes into a new place. As a Registered Nurse, I can see this happening daily because of the influx of people coming into the hospital. We have seen more Mexican people and many from the Middle East. This has created an opportunity for the hospital to bring in additional staff who speak Spanish and other languages to have more people on call who can interpret for us. My family has been affected because my children go to school with a more diverse group of children than they used to because of so many different people coming into the country. They have learned a little Spanish because of it and they are more curious about other peoples cultures. Cornish suggests that an individual can experience deculturation without leaving their native country. He says that "a new culture takes over much of their homeland †¦ " (Cornish, p. 28). This feeling is what is happening to many Americans because they feel that they are being replaced. Manicus (n.d.) saw this phenomenon when he studied deculturation in Hawaii. He suggests that in

Illegal immigrants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Illegal immigrants - Essay Example Those who favor amnesty for illegal aliens, specifically those crossing the southern border do not seem to realize that a crime has been committed and not, as they might have you believe, one without a victim. The massive numbers of illegal aliens pouring across mainly the southern border has and continues to cause substantial economic, social and physical harms to legal citizens. These harms occur predominantly to those who are among the most vulnerable segments of the population, minorities, children and the poor. Simply enforcing the laws presently on the books and deporting illegal aliens is an economic necessity that would also result in decreased crime rates. Illegal immigrants receive more from public monies than they contribute which lowers the standard of living for legal citizens. Illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the overall population growth and health care, education and employment are the most impacted. Salaries are driven down by illegal immigrants willing to work for much less while their children, illegal and legal, overcrowd the schools. It’s the U.S. taxpayer who is sent the bill for their health care services as well. In addition, the large influx of illegal aliens burdens the already inadequate number of units classified as affordable housing and other welfare resources such as energy, water and land usage (â€Å"Illegal Immigration†, 2003). If Congress were to put the country’s interests ahead of its own, it would pass an illegal immigration bill which grants no amnesty. Congress should also pass legislation amending the Immigration and Nationality Act eradicating the idea that children born of illegal aliens are automatically citizens. That privilege should be reserved for children of legal immigrants. Congress should also criminalize illegal entry into the United States which would force government administrators and health workers to report these people to the

Advanced Criminalistics - Document Examination Assignment

Advanced Criminalistics - Document Examination - Assignment Example Spacing, inks, dates, pen pressure, and numerals used are some of the subtleties that make handwritten transactions unique. Handwriting also helps investigators determine the date the transaction or any changes made after writing the paper. For instances, if the identity thief erased or made some content obscure, a forensic investigator may be able to notice through handwriting. Handwriting can denote numerous aspects of the paper transaction that range from simple records to whole contracts. Handwriting is the aspect of the identity criminal that makes distinguishes and offers the likelihood of detection as irrespective of how proficient they are at stealing identities. Often, a subtlety of handwriting gives the identity thief away. A second advantage of using paper for transactions is protection by state laws. State laws secure individuals and organizations against crimes committed by an identity thief who uses paper documents such as stolen or falsified checks. Although federal laws apply to identify theft carried out electronically, state laws apply to electronic transactions that the state considered paper. States allow this double application when investigators are unsure of the kind of paper transaction the identity criminal used to carry out the offense. Forgery is a means of committing identity theft, which occurs when the perpetrator forms or uses any counterfeit information identifying an unreal person or a real individual without his or her consent. Owing to such information is enough evidence for a conviction by the court if the individual means to apply the information illegally. In such a case, the person commits identity theft. In terms of document falsification, the identity thief changes modify or adjusts a document with the aim of misleading another individual.

Take a position on the death penalty Assignment

Take a position on the death penalty - Assignment Example In the case of murder, it posits that the threat of death penalty will stop people from killing other people. b. Definition and consequence Capital punishment is the imposition of death penalty to those who have committed capital crimes against the state. Death as a capital punishment has many rationale as a basis as enumerated by Garry Willis in his article The Dramaturgy of Death that ranges from killing as an exclusion, killing as cleansing, killing as execration, killing to maintain social order, killing to delegitimize a former social order but the most feasible of these reasons for imposing capital punishment is killing to maintain social order (1-3). The imposition of capital punishment to maintain social order is as old as history itself beginning from Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code, the Seventh Century B.C .'s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes, and the Fifth Century B.C.'s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement (History 1). But admittedly, punishments of torture are seen as unnecessary cruelty and were forbidden by the Constitution retaining only the idea of taking the life of a criminal in a less painful manner. c. value The imposition of capital punishment to maintain social order depends on the principle of general deterrence that intimidating and threatening people with the certainty of death will make them refrain from committing crimes. Its value is thought that by imposing punishment such as death penalty through a clearly written law and sanctioned by the state, people will be deterred from committing crimes which includes murders and their acts will be shaped according to a desired behavior that will produce an efficien t society. The imposition of death penalty as an instrument of general deterrence theory against murder is also argued to depend on the premise that a man acts out of self-interest or as Beccaria would put it â€Å"the despotic spirit which is present in every man† (Beccaria, 1764, p. 94). Beccaria proposed that for deterrence to be effective, the punishment that will be meted has to be proportional according to the crime; the severest punishment to be meted to those who commit the most heinous of crimes and the minor crimes should be meted with the least painful punishment (Beccaria, 1764). II. Evaluation This theory, however, was questioned and doubted by several scholars on the field of criminal justice. Among them is Von Hentig, a former editor of the journal who dismissed the validity of death penalty as deterrence in reducing the incidence of murder. According to Von Hentig, death penalty will not work because the threat of punishment is not immediate and distant to the would-be offender. The danger presented by the punishment to the offender is perceived as remote and thus, can be readily offset by the immediate advantage of committing to the crime (1938). Von Hentig also critiqued the philosophical foundation of death penalty which is general deterrence that there are individuals who are immune from the threats of legal punishment. He cited those who are motivated by â€Å"maternal instincts, the young and women who tend to be impetuous, those motivated by ideology, the â€Å"

Technical Analysis of Financial Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technical Analysis of Financial Markets - Essay Example I shall keep a target of $470 as it is the major resistance level for this. RSI - Relative Strength Index Model has the most effective results as in the past this method has yielded the best results in terms of identifying the trends and making profits. The other methods are not so effective to guide the investor for making the right trading strategy. Thus using the RSI model it would be advisable to go long on Q.CRB as it is close to its support level and has good potential for good returns. Also its RSI is around 40 which is an indication that it is a good buy. One can look for decent returns around 20-30% gain in a time span of 3 months and shall keep a stop loss of $210, which is major support for Q.CRB. One shall also keep a filter of $200, as this is being suggested by the weekly charts the turning point for the stock. Thus to conclude, It is advisable to use the RSI model for any investment decision. Out of given commodities investing in Q.CRB is advisable, by buying at the current levels and keeping a time horizon of three months. A return of 20-30% can be expected. References: htt

IT Wirless Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

IT Wirless Technologies - Essay Example Power received (d = 8km) is 10 times greater than power received (d = 25km) (v) Solution: No. of UWB devices in city = 2 * 1 million No. of UWB devices in town 2 * 6000 = 166.67 No. of UWB devices in city is 167 times greater than that in the town b) (i) Solution: From Tables 3 and 4 it is seen observed that, the maximum tolerable power density radiated by the UWB devices is higher in town compared to that in the city. That is, at the same percentage of activity, the maximum tolerable interference limit is lower in the city when compared to the town. This implies that, city is the greater source of interference and thus has tighter restrictions. (ii) Solution: Yes, the answer to part b) (i) is consistent to that of the answers in part a) (iv) and (v). Because, from part a) we know that the number of UWB devices in the city are 167 times greater to those in the town. Which implies the interference by 1 % of the devices in city will much greater than the interference by 1% of the devices in the town. Also as the city covers wider area, the signal that has to travel through the interference for a longer distance (in the city) will have greater path loss and hence lower power received. (iii) Solution: Four factors that might effect the accuracy of the prediction of UWB interference are, 1) If the UWB transmitters are installed outdoors 2) If the UWB devices are all "ON" at the same time. 3) If the UWB devices are distributed in clusters ad not randomly. 4) If the UWB devices are operated in a pre-designed manner and not at random times. (iv) Solution: If UWB devices transmitting at -41.3 dBm/MHz over the...Which implies the interference by 1 % of the devices in city will much greater than the interference by 1% of the devices in the town. Also as the city covers wider area, the signal that has to travel through the interference for a longer distance Detect and Avoid technique can be used only for those RAS signals whose frequencies do not fall into the frequency band of the UWB devices. The minimum power (of the RAS signal) that can be detected by the detectors to avoid the RAS signal also matters. Streaming Video means to continuously receive and display video to the end user while it is being transmitted by the source. This means that streaming video requires higher bandwidth and faster data rate. 802.11n is used for streaming video around the home as it offers a higher Bandwidth and highly reliable connection that can reach throughout the home and is compatible with various network configurations that might be used at home. Base Station is a transmitter that operates within a given frequency channel and antenna sector and is responsible for transmitting data to the subscriber station and is equipped to control the subscriber station. Base Station can transmit data independent of other stations, but will depend on the channel if it is a TDD channel. Subscriber Station is a transceiver that receives data from the base station and can also send requests to base s

The feminization of the Community Correction Work force by Jo G Case Study

The feminization of the Community Correction Work force by Jo G. Holland - Case Study Example The research problem of this research article is whether there is balance in the community corrections work force. The study used a number of questions to facilitate a systematic enquiry into the aforementioned research problem. The first question touches on the roles women have been given while participating in the corrections workforce. The second question enquires into the barriers that women have faced while pursuing careers in the corrections work force. The third question looks into how women counter barriers while engaged in the correctional work force. Support systems that provide opportunities for the enhancement of careers are the object of the fourth question. The last question is on the opportunities that the future holds for women to grow within the community corrections work force (Holland, 2008). This study’s data analysis used mean and percentages. For example, the average age of women working in the Virginia community correctional workforce is 35 years. Besides age, location is another demographic factor checked for in the analysis include in terms of whether urban or rural. The positions that the analysis considered are deputy and chief probation and parole officer and that of the administrator. The analysis considered the elements of ethnicity and population status (minority or not). This analysis also enquired whether respondents received mentorship or not. The need for networking among the women working in Virginia DOC was assessed. The analysis measured the percentage of women who received support from other women while participating in the correctional workforce. The study checked for the highest positions that women in the correctional workforce expected (Holland, 2008). The author makes a number of conclusions. She concludes that the correctional work force needs to be expanded in order to augment organizational processes. The

Human Resource as Most Important Essay Example for Free

Human Resource as Most Important Essay The importance of human resource (HR) can be explained through the analogy of a motorcycle. A motorcycle can’t run on its own without the function of its many parts. It needs to be serviced regularly, the parts oiled and sometimes, talking to it, helps in running of your motorbike. Trust me (I myself, own a Vespa). Ignorance of its squeaky brake pads, almost thread less rear tyres could hamper the motorbike’s performance on the road or worst; the death of its rider! These same principles apply for a company. An organization cannot unction without its employees as they are essentially its driving force. Patty (2010: 15) described employees as the ones that make decisions, negotiate and execute plans. An organization exists to deliver value for people, either as a single person or whole fully as a team (Mayo, 2001). As stated by Lawler (2003: 17), some organization’s market worth is in its intangible assets, such as its reputation, brand and human capital, are extremely vulnerable to sudden death spirals. These intangible assets wouldn’t exist if not for good performing employees. A company offering bike towing services wouldn’t be reputable anymore if its mployees start to not achieve its target of 30 minutes arriving at scene upon despatched. Alternatively, a cosmetic shop selling facial products when their sales assistant themselves do not have good facial complexions. As Mayo (2001: 26) states, â€Å"everything depends on people; their capability, motivation, creativity, passion and leadership. People manage the tangible assets, and they also maintain and grow the intangible ones. † Humans possesses unique feelings and emotions and when they are correctly identified and managed with the correct strategy, an organization is able to seamlessly attain its target without much problems. As Kant (1781) mentions, â€Å"Treat people as ends unto themselves rather than as means to an end. † Armstrong (2009: 14) then elaborates, ‘productivity is directly related to job satisfaction and the output will be high if they like their co-workers and are given pleasant supervision. ’ Employees share their personal human capital with their company as they believe they will be getting something in return. As a result, an employee in an organization becomes both the stakeholder and shareholder (Mayo, 2001). Employees are merely lending their personal human capital to their company and may switch so if they are not being treated right. Meanwhile, other assets of an organization do not have an emotional element attached to them. This refers to state-of-the-art technology that manufactures excellent, ‘clean’ products for mass selling. Companies such as Apple, Sony and Philips are all well renowned for their IT products. Big touch screen tablet computers. Bigger ‘LED’ Television screen and the list go on. However, it is by the use of the human resource that we are able to come out with such ideas and thinking on how our future daily products are to be like. Machines can never be exact substitutes for humans. It is the action of our own mindless workers in those factories hat we can control the technology to be turned on or off for exact made-to-order production figures. Those same workers will be the one to diagnose and repair the machines once they break down. The same applies to the rest of the assets. The organization’s financials, materials, and methodology couldn’t be derived without the help of the human resource. It is only through people that these factors could be idealised and generated. Stewart (2005: 3) defined intellectual capital as: ‘Intellectual material –knowledge, information, intellectual property, experience – that can be put to use to create wealth. An organization may start with zero capital but with honest, experienced and resourceful employees, their company might still be successful in the end. As highlighted, no other asset is as important as human resource in any organization. An organization needs the directives of its own staff as nothing else will drive the company forward. Employee actions are the mirror image of their organization. A good responsible, reputable and polite bike technician will give customer the same impression of the company. Good impressions will drive up the company’s monthly sales target. A bad reputation will lowly dwindle down sales targets and force customer to look for other better workshops. However, most companies think of fast super fast and easy methods of cutting down costs in times of crisis by letting go of their employees. It would only be common sense to cut down on your own staff as you’re now dealing with technologies and machines for your business but we are wrong. This perspective is also being supported by various accounting principles. Mayo (2001: 4) states that ‘They are much more likely to see the company being driven by efficiency and by minimizing costs. ’ This is largely due to the fact that human resource costs re easier to monitor, while the intangible values that they generate is not. So, human resources alone will not entail in good endings. It has to be nurtured properly from the start by a good human resource management (HRM). Only with good HRM will the company be recruiting the best talent for the job. With the proper strategy and fit in line, these ‘people’s managers’ will be the change agents for their employees and only then will their approach be fruitful. As stated by Armstrong (2009: 15), ‘the overall purpose of human resource management is to ensure the organization is able to achieve success through people’. As you can see, human resources are the most important asset in the organization. They are the one that drive the organization forward in making a significant contribution to their company’s success. The rest of the assets stated above are in pale comparison to human resource. However, only with a good HRM will the organization prosper. Given the proper infrastructure, high investment and even huge manpower but without a proper HRM, there is no way that organization could run successfully. Thus, human resource is the most important factor in determining the success and failure of any organization.

Case study of Etisalat

Case study of Etisalat 1. Introduction Etisalat is one of the biggest information transfers organizations on the planet and the heading administrator in the Middle East and Africa, headquartered in the UAE. Etisalat works in 18 nations crosswise over Asia, the Middle East and Africa, adjusting in excess of 100m clients out of an aggregate populace of pretty nearly 1.9bn individuals. In 2010, Etisalat reported yearly Net Revenues of AED 30.831billion and Net Profits of AED 8.836 billion denoting a 5% and 16% increment separately, contrasted with 2009. Etisalat is evaluated by Moodys: Aa2, Standard Poors: A + and Fitch Ratings: A+. Etisalat is a thorough information transfers supplier offering an one-stop look for versatile and settled line voice and information administrations to people, ventures and worldwide information transfers organizations, Isps, content suppliers and portable administrators. It offers a mixed bag of howdy tech complimentary administrations to the information transfers industry including managerial and specialized preparing, SIM card fabricating, installment results, clearing house administrations, peering, voice and information travel, and submarine and area link administrations. Etisalat has a notoriety for propelling the right administration to the right group of onlookers at the right market at the perfect time. This has been seen over and over, with the presentation of portable, GSM, Internet, NGN altered and versatile broadband administrations into the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Etisalat is likewise the real center in the Middle East, for web, voice, versatile broadband, show, wandering and corporate information administrations, with a broad provincial and intercontinental system. It is the biggest bearer of global voice activity in the Middle East and Africa and the twelfth biggest voice transporter on the planet. Etisalat is the biggest extensive supplier of bearer and wholesale administrations in the area with Points of Presence (Pop) in New York, London, Amsterdam , Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore giving a positively worldwide span. Etisalat has 525 meandering understandings joining 185 nations empowering Blackberry, 3g and voice wandering. Etisalat is a significant speculator in Thuraya, one of the worlds heading satellite geo-versatile correspondence frameworks coating more or less two thirds of the planets surface. 2. Importance and objectives of the report The fundamental execution targets for Etisalat are quality, expense, time, adaptability and trustworthiness. These targets of the organization may be compressed as takes after: Etisalat predominantly work with a specific end goal to get to more individuals to amplify the scope of the organization ceaselessly so as to develop all the more as the time goes Organization goes for the individuals to live in reality as we know it where the separation between them doesnt make a difference. This implies that organization need to perform in such a route, to the point that through telecom innovation, it can preclude the separation among the individuals Organizations goal incorporates full openness towards the client so that any client can arrive at to the organization in the event that he or she has nay issue Organization intends to open up the open doors for every single individual and affections to help the individuals keeping in mind the end goal to get the best yield and give the best execution to the business One of the primary execution targets of the organization is to achieve a large amount of vitality among the workers and other staff of the organization kee ping in mind the end goal to support the individuals with the best telecom administrations conceivable. 3. Literature Review Rivalry in the neighborhood market: Regardless of doubt concerning managed portable endorser development during a period when infiltration rate in the UAE was 130% at the end of 2006, with the dispatch of du, the second versatile administrator in February 2007, quarterly net portable supporter increments for the aggregate market practically multiplied, arriving at a rough 570,000 for every quarter throughout 2007, contrasted with a normal of 247,000 endorsers for every quarter in 2006. They dont hope to witness a value war between the two UAE administrators in the short term, given the altogether more modest scale of operations that du oversees, contrasted with Etisalat. Given that the level of engineering sent by both administrators is comparative, they accept that the quality and differing qualities of packaged administrations and advancements will be the base for rivalry in the short term. Union of global operations: All through 2007, Etisalat expanded its stakes in the vast majority of its global operations, empowering it to completely unite them into its money related proclamations which, they accept, will build the estimation of Etisalat in the medium to long haul. In the short term, in any case, they anticipate that Etisalats operational execution will decline or ease off, as the majority of these operations are still misfortune making. Solid money position: Preceding 2006, Etisalat had no obligation on its monetary explanations, producing every last bit of its money needs inside. Nonetheless, with Etisalats expanded concentrate on its global operations, administration embraced an outer financing approach to reserve its development method in these nations. Then again, notwithstanding Etisalats new obligation approach, net obligation/EBITDA stays negative, suggesting significantly more space for extra obligation limit and enhanced weighted normal expense of capital. Remote stock proprietorship boycott: As of now, Etisalat is in talks with both the UAE government and the capital business powers to transform it to a company administered by business law. In the event that Etisalat gets support to change to an organization authorized by business law, then it would get qualified for outside proprietorship. Right now, just UAE nationals are permitted to exchange the stock. On the off chance that the remote proprietorship boycott is lifted, they suspect an ascent in turnover and offer cost. Remote stock proprietorship blacklist: Starting now, Etisalat is in converses with both the UAE government and the capital business forces to convert it to an organization managed by business law. On the off chance that Etisalat gets backing to change to an association commissioned by business law, then it would get fit the bill for outside proprietorship. At this time, simply UAE nationals are allowed to trade the stock. If the remote proprietorship blacklist is lifted, they think a rising in turnover and offer cost. 4. Methods /sources of information There are a few attributes of the administrations gave by Etisalat. These attributes are connected with the execution of the organization. These are a portion of the critical peculiarities identifying with execution target of the organization. Aspects for execution objective for Etisalat are quality, taken a toll productivity, time, and adaptability in work and steadfastness in creation. We can have a polar representation of above portrayed qualities of execution targets. Methodology Mapping Process mapping in the organizations work burden process goes as per a legitimate planning work. Procedure mapping is otherwise called diagraming of the methodology. This technique is utilized essentially for the work to be stream lined. In Etisalat, the mapping of the procedure is carried out with a specific end goal to delineate the careful succession of the assembling the telecom benefits and get the sought result. All the extra data are included the procedure mapping to make it clear that nothing gets left under the whole usage of the methodology At long last fusing is carried out to join the sub administrations or sub items to make the item or administrations complete. Like so as to make a SIM, organization needs to do different sub administrations like including telecom office in it, web, GPS, and so forth. These all are joined and introduced. Cost Specialized administrations Speed steadfastness Generation administrations Quality Flexibility a. Secondary sources Optional information will be gotten from Etisalat and its rivals, for example, Handbook, which will be useful, to give the current status of Etisalats solidified charging framework. Data from other prestigious correspondence organizations, for example, BELL and Verizon, will likewise be utilized as a source of perspective point. Information Analysis, Evaluation and Presentation Any cross-classification or gathering will be inspected by the utilization of standard measurable bundles. A qualitative information examination programming bundle will aid in coding and inferring topics from qualitative information, for example, meetings. Information will be spoken to through table, diagrams and pie outlines. 5.Collection and analysis of data Before Du was dispatched, Etisalat was an imposing business model consequently; I might want to analyze Etisalat working as a syndication and its consequences for the maker and the purchaser. A restraining infrastructures principle intention is to boost benefit and in addition deals and being the single telecom administrator in Tourist Club Area, Etisalat caught every last bit of its market and by making cost on their own terms, could accomplish a supernormal benefit which is delineated in the 1.1. The main telecom administrator accessible, Etisalat was gone along to make an assortment of administrations to meet requests which just expanded their income. Here, p speaks to the cost at which the item is sold and q the amount of the item sold. Subsequently, pxq0 speaks to the aggregate income created by Etisalat from this item. Amount sold is controlled by drawing a line qx through the convergence of Marginal Revenue (MR) and Marginal Cost (MC). qx meets the normal expense bend at y and cyq0 connotes the expenses caused. To ascertain the supernormal benefit, we must subtract the expenses acquired from the aggregate income: pxq0 cyq0 which provides for us pxyc as the benefit earned. Being a telecom syndication in Tourist Club Area turns out to be invaluable in various ways including the capacity to deliver a lower enter and offer at higher costs, exploiting the nonappearance of substitute products and climbing costs, investigating new items and administrations with the confirmation of a solid purchaser base, high hindrances to entrance which chops down all conceivable rivalry and vast economies of scale displays how with considerable economies of scale present, syndication value may be lower than cost under rivalry; amount supplied is more than that under competition.8 Actually, in an imposing business model, cost is more prominent than minimal expense which shows the non-ideal distribution of assets. Be that as it may, working as a syndication hurts the buyer as they are compelled to conform to high costs and constrained customer decision. The vicinity of a solitary telecom organization likewise turns out to be inconvenient to the nation regarding monetary welfare. Because of the low include and high costs, designation of assets has not been carried out proficiently (as demonstrated in 1.2) and this is exhibited underneath. The zone under Xyz0 shows the real income expected to be produced as indicated by value X, the cost at which there is ideal assignment of assets. In any case, Etisalat has charged a value Y which permits them to accomplish more benefit at a lower information. (The addition in benefit is delineated and marked on the graph above.) The deadweight misfortune in the outline speaks to the monetary welfare misfortune because of wasteful distribution of assets and misfortune in customer surplus, which is moved into imposing business model benefit.The 26th of July 2007[11], Du was dispatched into the telecom business sector closure Etisalats close to three many years of restraining infrastructure presence. Being a newborn child organization, Dus essential go for the time of dispatch was to make due in the business sector, not contend with Etisalat. Throughout the time of its dispatch, Du has been encountering a misfortune which is exhibited in stage 1 above because of its prime shortcomings being its powerless system scope and the solid brand steadfastness of their rival Etisalat. At that point, Du continuously will receive administrations, for example, settled lines and web administrations, like its rival which will permit it to equal the initial investment and accomplish some benefit. At the point when Du achieves its most extreme potential as a telecom administrator by mastering the embraced administrations and picking up a stronger client base, it will move to stage 3 obtaining more benefit consequently, giving rivalry to Etisalat. In 2009, Du is considered to be in stage 3 as it is producing benefit after just two years of operation 6. Findings / Results of investigation A percentage of the criminal examinations completed by the police endure setback as a result of the refusal of some real information transfers organizations in the nation to chip in with security operators, Daily Independent has learnt. A senior cop at the Federal Anti-burglary Squad (FEDSARS) at Adeniji Adele in the Lagos Island Local Government territory of Lagos State, who argued obscurity, unveiled this throughout a selective meeting with Daily Independent. He likewise included that a portion of the examinations take more of a chance in light of the fact that a few information transfers firms would not supply security operators the vital data that could encourage examination. You strike a suspected equipped criminals refuge and, may be, recoup cell telephones with SIM cards; you now approach the information transfers organization for help, yet they turn you down, so all things considered what do you do? The police boss, who was responding to the widespread instances of hijacking in Lagos, focused on that the hazard would have been stamped out if organizations like MTN and Etisalat would cast off unnecessary convention and hard-line position and hold hands with the law authorization operators in battling the wrongdoing. He expressed that the late instance of hijack of a Chinese national endured this destiny, as MTN declined to oblige examiners access to the call logs of the suspected crooks which would have made it simple for the police to find the position of the offenders and the exploited person. When we went to the MTN, they declined to provide for us the call logs. In the interim, the hijackers were utilizing MTN number to speak with the relatives of the exploited person, however MTN demanded we need to persuade court request to have the capacity to enter into their framework, that is bad enough. Likewise, Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit, (SFU), Tunde Ogunsakin, additionally said his examinations of some prominent misrepresentation cases endured comparative destiny in the hands of a few information transfers organizations, particularly Etisalat. He said the office has formally whined to the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission (NCC) to predominate on the concerned information transfers organizations to see reason and help security agents in the release of their obligations. The police supervisor included that it was when agents debilitated to capture authorities of Etisalat as assistant in the wrongdoing that they reluctantly supplied the police with the data t hat were required for the examination. He requested the collaboration of the telecoms firm in the battle against wrongdoing in the nation. Be that as it may when reached, General Manager, Corporate Affairs of the MTN Nigeria, Funmi Omogbenigun, said the Inspector General (IG) of Police had affirmed a methodology for the arrival of Call Data Recording framework (Cdrs) to the Nigeria Police. I can guarantee you that MTN is completely agreeable and has been exceptionally strong of the security offices in the quest for their statutory obligations, Omogbenigun included. She demanded that the MTN gives the imperative support to help the police in the release of their obligations and has therefore gained a few honors from the Nigeria Police Force. We dont oblige a sworn oath from parts of the NPF, she said. All exertions to get the Etisalat administrations response to the police affirmation up to press time the previous evening neglected to yield result. 7. Recommendation In spite of exceptional rivalry and worldwide economic situations, Etisalat has reported united incomes of AED 26.21 bn in 2008 an expand of 22.4% in excess of 2007revenues. Income from global operations expanded by 14.7% and structured 9% of bunchs income. With the UAE portable business sector approaching immersion, the conviction is that the versatile administrators will concentrate on great quality included administrations. The movement to NGN (Next Generation Network) in UAE will empower Etisalat to further present more esteem included administrations. It is accepted that UAE will in any case be the income driver for Etisalat. A solid monetary position will empower Etisalat to keep seeking after its extension methodology and eye vital securing. The offer of global operations of the gatherings is relied upon to develop and in addition the incomes produced by them which is clear from the actuality sheets above. With the dispatch of du, the second versatile administrator in February 2007, quarterly net portable endorser increases for the aggregate market practically multiplied, arriving at a surmised 570,000 for every quarter throughout 2007, contrasted with a normal of 247,000 supporters for every quarter in 2006. They dont hope to witness a value war between the two UAE administrators in the short term, given the fundamentally more modest scale of operations that du oversees, contrasted with Etisalat. Given that the level of engineering sent by both administrators is comparative, they accept that the quality and differing qualities of packaged administrations and advancements will be the base for rivalry in the short term. 8. Conclusion Notwithstanding extreme rivalry and worldwide economic situations, Etisalat has reported merged incomes of AED 26.21 bn in 2008 an expand of 22.4% in excess of 2007revenues. Income from global operations expanded by 14.7% and framed 9% of bunchs income. With the UAE portable business approaching immersion, the conviction is that the versatile administrators will concentrate on top notch quality included administrations. The movement to NGN (Next Generation Network) in UAE will empower Etisalat to further present more esteem included administrations. It is accepted that UAE will at present be the income driver for Etisalat. A solid monetary position will empower Etisalat to keep seeking after its development technique and eye key procurement. The offer of worldwide operations of the gatherings is relied upon to develop and additionally the incomes produced by them which is clear from the truth sheets above. With the dispatch of du, the second versatile administrator in February 2007, quarterly net portable supporter augmentations for the aggregate market very nearly multiplied, arriving at a surmised 570,000 for every quarter throughout 2007, contrasted with a normal of 247,000 endorsers for every quarter in 2006. They dont hope to witness a value war between the two UAE administrators in the short term, given the essentially more modest scale of operations that du oversees, contrasted with Etisalat. Given that the level of engineering conveyed by both administrators is comparable, they accept that the quality and assorted qualities of packaged administrations and advancements will be the base for rivalry in the short term.

Franz Liszt: Biography and Works

Franz Liszt: Biography and Works Franz Liszt and the New German School In pre-modern Europe, most artists were content to follow a proud classical tradition, offering creative embellishments of their own as a contribution to the field and following the rules of composing a proper sonata, concerto, or waltz paying special attention to chord progression, harmonics, and tonality. Because much of the music was purely instrumental, each piece identified a theme in the title (i.e. Danse Macabre, Mephisto’s Waltz, Liebestraume, Moonlight Sonata etc.) and sought to bring it to life through music. While there were noteworthy artists in the field, very few had the creative ability to usher in a new era or popularise a new form of expression, which is probably why only a handful of Europe’s finest are known offhand today such as Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart and Wagner. In the mid-nineteenth century, the idea of the New German School was born and Franz Liszt was one of the most important members. It did not matter that he was not born in Germany, but bec ause the art and culture of Germany had such great influence over his work, he was claimed as one of the Great German Artists by Franz Brendel and other music commentators associated with him. Most classical aficionados have heard of Franz Liszt because of the dark dynamic quality of his work, and the artistic risks he had taken in many of his compositions—he broke conventions relating to harmonics, chord structure, tonality, and quite often did not give the work a suitable ending.[1] This is rather startling because most people settle into a routine at an advanced age—i.e. they would have ‘found their voice’ and spent much of their time refining the message—indeed, it was expected. However, many of his critics believed that Liszt’s later work was not the birth of something new. Instead, it was considered a diminishment of capabilities and a sign of some internal sickness that attacked one’s artistic sensibilities. According to Ernst Gà ¼nter, ‘the music of Liszt’s final decade (1876-1886) is the product of aesthetic weariness and distrust of the very principles of art. The disaffection of the later Liszt, which he vouched for only in isolated remarks, becomes effective in the compositions as the destruction of the aesthetic norms.’ However, one can argue that his later work was a natural progression of his earlier work and tragic events in his personal life and the rapid rate of change in the world may have had a greater influence on his later compositions than simply mere disenchantment with art itself. Instead, much of the research suggests a growing disenchantment with the world itself as he comes to face his own mortality and his interest and focus is further removed from the world around him to the afterlife instead. This paper will examine a sample of Liszt’s final works and attempt to answer the question of whether his change in style is the result of ‘aesthetic weariness’ or the next logical step in his creative path and reflective of his journey as an artist reflecting the times in which he lived. We will examine a few of his past compositions to establish a context and then discuss personal events that had taken place around the time he began to exhibit the noteworthy abandonment o f ‘norms.’ Liszt’s Persona Even today, scholars have a difficult time characterising Franz Liszt’s contribution to the musical world and what he stood for. He certainly had harsh critics and adoring fans during his stage career as expert interpreter and composer and his biography makes it difficult to put him into a box, personally or artistically. According to Liszt Scholars Michael Saffle and Rossana Dalmonte: ‘Here is where many differences of opinion concerning Liszt and his music originate. Liszt’s lifetime spanned the transitions from Napoleon’s Europe to Bismarck’s, and from the earliest railroad trains to electric lighting; his works reflect both romantic (which is to say, modern) and post romantic (which is to say, modernist) concerns. Thus, in the last analysis, it proves extremely difficult to place or describe Liszt, even through comparisons to other great figures of the past. So much is lost if we simply consign him to this or that box.’[2] During his career, he had become something akin to the nineteenth century equivalent of a rock star. Women would fight over his handkerchiefs and gloves, and the expressive passion he brought to his performances often reduced many a patron to tears. Not surprisingly, he was renowned as a ladies’ man and often found patronage (and love) from wealthy noble women. During his travels, he introduced much of the work of German composers such as Schubert, Schumann, Franz, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn to the rest of Europe, and when he switched gears from performance to composition, the German influence became evident although he hails from Hungary. As a composer, his primary aim was to wed music and poetry—a fact that he shared with Agnes Street-Klindworth, a woman with whom he had an affair and corresponded with until his death in 1886.[3] As with most poets, his songs reflected his internal state. At the time, he was absorbed in presenting dramatically flawless interpretations of the masters and he incorporated some elements of theirs into his music, though many of his critics believed that he had taken the wrong ones (i.e. Brahms).[4] Intriguingly enough, many of his contemporaries acknowledged that many of his transcriptions and interpretations of other’s works are so creative that they had taken on a life of their own. However, one can speculate that his early compositions reflected his own grand ambition to utterly master the piano as he rearranged the songs of many of the greats in his field into something that only he, with his unusual hands, could play.[5] Toward the end of his life, he had become much more contemplative, devoting much of his time composing spiritual choral pieces and wandering across Europe, which may also be considered ‘unconventional’ for a man in his mid-sixties (especially as most people did not get to live that long in the first place). Gunter notes that Liszt’s work began to ‘slip’ after 1876, however, it can be argued that his style began to shift radically from the mainstream to a new form of expression entirely. As with many artists, much of the inspiration from Franz Liszt’s music had come from his life experience, his natural temperament, and his passion for his art. In Ihr Glocken von Marling a late composition, it becomes increasingly clear that he is turning toward the more religious themes that started to creep into his work during the latter part of the 1860s. That decade brought much personal loss to Liszt. He had buried his son, daughter, and mother, his marriage to Princess Carolyne was thwarted, and he had to endure smear campaigns by a psychotic stalker.[6] At the same time, he began to turn away from the material toward the spiritual and he began to resemble more closely the archetype of the wandering ascetic. In 1876, he suffered an accident that left him the use of only nine of his fingers—even so, he was still the standard by which most pianists of his time compared themselves and composed at the speed most people write letters.[7] In his final decade, his compositions had become more concerned with the themes of death and dying as his growing ill health and spiritual sentiment was coupled with his belief that he truly had no talent. For instance, Ihr Glocken von Marling approximates the sound that calls the villagers to worship. The repetition of the chords imitates the pealing of the bells in the churchyard. The fact that it is more or less written entirely in the treble clef lends an ethereal sound to the work.[8] While that claim is ludicrous, it is a rather valid concern because he did spend most of his career creating transcriptions of other compositions. He has always had an obsessive and perfectionist streak, which he channelled effectively through his art. In one of his later letters he writes: ‘For the last two weeks I’ve been absorbed in cypresses†¦I have composed two groups of cypresses, each of more than two hundred bars, plus a postludium, to the cypresses of the Villa d’Este. These sad pieces won’t have much success and can do without it. I shall call them Therenodies, as the word elegie strikes me as too tender, and almost worldly. A few more leaves have been added to the cypresses—no less boring and redundant than the previous ones! To tell the truth I sense in myself a terrible lack of talent compared with what I would like to express; the notes I write are pitiful. A strange sense of the infinite makes me impersonal and uncommunicative.’[9] Perhaps his uncommunicativeness can be interpreted as his growing inability to conform to mainstream preferences. It is true that many of his later works focus on spirituality and Hungarian nationalism. This religious sentiment grew to a raging crescendo as he was writing the Via Crucis in which he was forced to contemplate the passion and death of Jesus and his own emotions on the matter, as he was a deeply religious man. ‘The Via Crucis possesses a complex cyclical structure unified on a variety of levels through precisely controlled motives and pitch relations, many of which take on an iconographic significance. This strange and profound work should silence those who cast doubt on the sincerity of Liszt’s religious beliefs. It is the product of deep, anguished contemplation of the passion of Jesus, a process during which one can well imagine Liszt came to identify strongly with the suffering Christ. Via Crucis conveys not only the horror and sorrow of the crucifixion, but also the wonder of God’s redeeming love for humankind.’[10] It is very clear that at this point in his career, he is finished competing with the greats of his age and is simply looking to express his true self through his art. In other fields, refusal to imitate was often seen as an affront to the scene and the fruits of one’s labour were not even considered art (i.e. Vincent van Gogh). Rather than simply producing brilliant transcriptions, he is looking to himself as a Christian, as a Hungarian, and a man that is looking at the winter of his life for inspiration. Instead of becoming despondent about his art, he was invigorated with passion, creating pieces that he intended for performance, particularly about the great Hungarian heroes in history, Mosonyi in particular. Although he had not previously done much work in the Hungarian style during the 1870’s, during the 1880s, he had become much more interested in freeing himself from the stylistic constraints of Western European music. When we had quoted him previously, Liszt said that he lacks the talent to express what he wants to say because there are so many tropes and ideas that he wanted to create through music and he simply did not have sufficient talent to carry it out. From what we know of him historically, he was never one to suffer from a lowered sense of self so he may have meant that his ideas have simply outgrown his ability to express them in art. Using the portrait theme was one of the defining art forms of the 1870s as Mussorgsky created his famous Pictures at an Exhibition ten years before. However, unlike the nationalist sentiment that had become a form of religion in modern Europe, it did not displace his faith in God as noted in Liszt’s letter to his publisher when he first brought up the idea in 1885.[11] As with Via Crucis, scholars concur that his Hungarian Portraits have the depth, resonance, and relevance to the period and served as a foreshadowing of other pieces of that nature. ‘The piece touches upon a number of harmonies which resonate with significant moments earlier in the cycle. It builds to a climactic apotheosis of the main theme in D minor, which subsides to a tender recollection of the contrasting theme in D major, and closes on a solemn note of faith and hope. In spite of the strong projection of the tonic at the conclusion, however, Liszt rigorously avoids stating the tonic root in the low bass, perhaps signifying that life is part of a greater continuum in which only God has the final word.’[12] Conclusion Much of Liszt’s work in the last decade of his life revealed an even deeper understanding of life than when he was younger. Although he was more likely to observe the conventions of composition in his youth (quite brilliantly in fact), he did not yet have more than the intellectual understanding that art was expressive and indicative of life—indeed, that it was not separate from that of the creator but instead flowed organically from his mind and his talents. Unfortunately for Liszt, his knowledge of life’s pain and the existence of other great talents in the arena (i.e. Wagner) led him to doubt his own abilities as an artist. Because he had experienced one of the most devastating losses of all—the deaths of his children, he may have lost all faith in the ‘natural order of things’ recognising that life was often chaotic, out of harmony, and progressed along unexpected paths. Because art is not formed in a vacuum, he poured his energy into crea tion, which is why the body of his later work is characterised by a focus on the sacred, death and dying. In his later years, he tried to turn these realizations into art, and indeed succeeded in creating poetry from his music. Do Liszt’s late compositions perpetuate the progressivism of the 1860’s? Not by a long shot: his songs are religiously themed with sub-themes of destruction, death, and dying in a time characterised by invention, discovery and increasing secularism. Nevertheless, it would not be fair to say that his works signalled artistic breakdown because his exploratory approach created the brilliant sacred pieces Via Crucis and Rosario, Years of Pilgrimage, and The Hungarian Portraits among many others. However, in an age where spirituality becomes increasingly unpopular, artists that reflect it in their work are often alienated by the mainstream and their work is deemed inaccessible. Bibliography Baker, James M. ‘Larger Forms in the Late Piano Works’ in Ed. Hamilton, Kenneth. The Cambridge Companion to Liszt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 Botstein, Leon. ‘A Mirror to the Nineteenth Century: Reflections on Franz Liszt’, Franz Liszt and His World. (eds. Christopher H. Gibbs Dana A. Gooley) Princeton: Princeton University Press: 2006 Gorrell, Lorraine. The Nineteenth-Century German Lied. New Jersey: Amadeus Press LLC, 2005 Hamilton, Kenneth. ‘Liszt’s early and Weimer Piano works’ in Ed. Hamilton, Kenneth. The Cambridge Companion to Liszt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 Liszt, Franz Agnes Street-Klindworth. Franz Liszt and Agnes Street-Klindworth: A Correspondence, 1854-1886. New York: Pendragon Press, 2000 Saffle, Michael and Rossana Dalmonte. Liszt and the Birth of Modern Europe. New York: Pendragon, 2003 Walker, Alan. Franz Liszt: The Final Years, 1861-1886. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 1997 1 Footnotes [1] Leon Botstein. ‘A Mirror to the Nineteenth Century: Reflections on Franz Liszt’, Franz Liszt and His World. (eds. Christopher H. Gibbs Dana A. Gooley) (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press: 2006) 518 [2] Michael Saffle and Rossana Dalmonte. Liszt and the Birth of Modern Europe. (New York: Pendragon, 2003) 8 [3] Franz Liszt Agnes Street-Klindworth. Franz Liszt and Agnes Street-Klindworth: A Correspondence, 1854-1886. (New York: Pendragon Press, 2000) 116 [4] Hamilton, Kenneth. ‘Liszt’s early and Weimer Piano works’ in Ed. Hamilton, Kenneth. The Cambridge Companion to Liszt. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 57 [5] Hamilton, 65 [6] Alan Walker. Franz Liszt: The Final Years, 1861-1886. (Cornell: Cornell University Press, 1997) 175 [7] Walker, 369 [8] Lorraine Gorrell. The Nineteenth-Century German Lied. (New Jersey: Amadeus Press, LLC, 2005 ) 246 [9] Liszt qt. Walker, 370 [10] James M. Baker. ‘Larger Forms in the Late Piano Works’ in Ed. Hamilton, Kenneth. The Cambridge Companion to Liszt. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 126 [11] Baker, 134 [12] Baker, 135

Catcher In The Rye :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Holden Caulfield is a sixteen-year-old prep school student who has flunked out of school the week before Christmas. Several days before he's expected home for Christmas vacation, he leaves school, planning to spend some time on his own in New York City where he lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though Holden is friendly with many people at school, and though he has several friends in New York, he's constantly lonesome and in need of someone who will sympathize with his feelings of alienation. The person Holden feels closest to is his ten-year-old sister, Phoebe, but he can't call her for fear of letting his parents know he has left school. He spends his time with a variety of people, but he can't make meaningful contact with any of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After a day of this futility, he sneaks into his home to see Phoebe, but she disappoints him by being annoyed at his being expelled from still another school. Holden decides that the only solution to his overwhelming problem is to run away and establish a new identity as a deaf mute who will not need to communicate with anyone. On the verge of a nervous collapse, Holden changes his mind and decides to rejoin his family. He then enters a hospital or rest home not far from Hollywood, California, and he is telling us his story while in this institution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the novel's close, Holden isn't sure whether he'll be able to handle things better when he leaves the institution, and he's sorry he told his story at all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Catcher in the Rye is a rich psychological portrait of a boy who's frightened at the prospect of growing up, a boy who has few of the tools necessary to face the world on his own.

television :: essays research papers

Television was not invented by a single inventor, instead many people working together and alone, contributed to the evolution of TV. 1831: Joseph Henry's and Michael Faraday's work with electromagnetism makes possible the era of electronic communication to begin. 1862: Abbe Giovanna Caselli invents his "pantelegraph" and becomes the first person to transmit a still image over wires. 1873: Scientists May and Smith experiment with selenium and light, this opens the door for inventors to transform images into electronic signals. 1876: Boston civil servant George Carey was thinking about complete television systems and in 1877 he put forward drawings for what he called a "selenium camera" that would allow people to "see by electricity." Eugen Goldstein coins the term "cathode rays" to describe the light emitted when an electric current was forced through a vacuum tube. Late 1870's: Scientists and engineers like Paiva, Figuier, and Senlecq were suggesting alternative designs for "telectroscopes." 1880: Inventors like Bell and Edison theorize about telephone devices that transmit image as well as sound. Bell's photophone used light to transmit sound and he wanted to advance his device for image sending. George Carey builds a rudimentary system with light-sensitive cells. 1881: Sheldon Bidwell experiments with telephotography, another photophone. 1884: Paul Nipkow sends images over wires using a rotating metal disk technology calling it the "electric telescope" with 18 lines of resolution. 1900: At the World's Fair in Paris, the 1st International Congress of Electricity was held, where Russian, Constantin Perskyi made the first known use of the word "television." Soon after, the momentum shifted from ideas and discussions to physical development of TV systems. Two paths were followed: Mechanical television - based on Nipkow's rotating disks, and Electronic television - based on the cathode ray tube work done independently in 1907 by English inventor A.A. Campbell-Swinton and Russian scientist Boris Rosing. 1906: Lee de Forest invents the "Audion" vacuum tube that proved essential to electronics. The Audion was the first tube with the ablity to amplify signals. Boris Rosing combines Nipkow's disk and a cathode ray tube and builds the first working mechanical TV system. 1907: Campbell Swinton and Boris Rosing suggest using cathode ray tubes to transmit images - independent of each other, they both develop electronic scanning methods of reproducing images. American Charles Jenkins and Scotsman John Baird followed the mechanical model while Philo Farnsworth, working independently in San Francisco, and Russian à ©migrà © Vladimir Zworkin, working for Westinghouse and later RCA, advanced the electronic model.

To Achieve both Power and Democratic Representation :: essays research papers

While the Constitution intentionally provides checks on congressional power, it also grants Congress significant powers in three important areas: economic affairs, domestic affairs, and foreign affairs. In addition, Congress is granted flexibility in the elastic clause that allows Congress to pass laws that are 'necessary and proper" for executing the powers explicitly assigned to it in Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution. It is not only the characteristics of congressmen that make Congress an imperfect mirror of the people; many congressmen do not see their job as one of simply reflecting the will of the people. While congressmen in marginal districts may see themselves as delegates of the people, reflecting the will of the majority of their voter; many other congressmen, usually those from safer districts, see themselves as trustees who can and will vote their conscience. It may appear that whatever role congressmen choose to play, their voters approve, with over ninety percent of incumbents winning re-election. Of course, there are many other factors at work. Incumbents have access to greater amounts of campaign money, media coverage, and have other privileges, for example free use of the postal system. In addition, congressmen do a great deal of casework on behalf of their voters. This may explain why polls consistently find that while Americans disapprove of Congress as a whole, they very much approve of their individual member of Congress. If the characteristics and roles of congressmen may exclude Congress from being a legislative mirror of the will of the people, the two-chamber design of Congress goes even further to deliberately create obstacles to the passage of legislation. These obstacles slow down the legislative process, leaving it more permeable to the many voices seeking to be heard. Congress is the repository of public opinion, but will be able to avoid domination by any one voice. The legislative process is somewhat streamlined by a variety of rules and norms. Seniority, political loyalty, civility, and other attempts to smooth the workings of the United States Congress make an unruly body somewhat less so. In addition, there are a number of influences working on congressmen to help them make sense of complicated matters and aid their decision-making when voting on legislation. Party affiliation, voter demands, presidential leadership, interest group lobbying, valued "cue givers," and even their own personal convictions can place complex issues in some meaningful framework. Candidates for congressional seats can be self-selected or recruited by the local political party.

Management styles Essay

There are two main data resources, secondary and primary data. Secondary data is the one that already exists from previous investigations and it can be found in books, journals and films (Saunders at al, 2003). Primary data is the one that is recollected from the research and it can be obtained by using methods such as questionnaires, interviews, focus group, and other (Collis and Hussey, 2003). In order to achieve the aim and objectives of this research, both data collection methods will be used. The secondary data will be mostly used to define and examine the concepts of multicultural workforce and management styles. On the other hand, the primary data will be collected from the interviews done to managers and supervisors in order to obtain their experiences of working with people from different cultural background and whether it influences on management styles. In this case, it will be important and relevant for this research to review studies of cross-cultural differences such as Hofstede’s, Trompenaars’ and Hall and Hall’s, in order to compare their findings with the ones that come up from this investigation. Moreover, it will be fundamental to identify the main aspects of cultural differences that influences on management styles in order to have a better knowledge of this subject and understand why people’s behavior change from one culture to another. Consequently, secondary data on its own is insufficient for the investigation and exploration of this study; for this reason the use of primary data helps to add and enrich information to that existent background on cultural differences and management styles. Primary Data Taking into account the already proposed sample characteristics, interviews will be considered to be the most appropriate data collection technique due to the exploratory and analytical research nature of this investigation. It involves more interaction by questioning and discussion between the interviewee and the interviewer that is something it can not be obtained using, for example, questionnaires and observation (Blaxter et al. , 2001). The interviews will be conducted in order to explore and discover participants’ attitudes, opinions and experiences toward cultural differences and its influence on their management style. Interviews According to Collis and Hussey (2003), interviews â€Å"are a method of collecting data in which selected participants are asked questions in order to find out what they do, think or feel†. Saunders et al. (2003) propose the idea that this method is an efficient way of collecting reliable and valid information, because the data gathered comes directly from the source in study, which certainly helps to achieve the research question and objectives of this project. Therefore, choosing interviews will be based on its suitability in finding what is happening and seeking new sights when exploring management styles and cultural differences. Moreover, Saunders et al (2003) stress that a more complete gathering of valuable information can be obtained by interacting more people inside an organizations, which in this case are members of ABC Superstore in the U. S. Interviews are classified based on the degree of flexibility as well as formality and structure that the researcher would like to apply. Therefore, there are three types of interviews, structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews (Kumar, 1999; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). In the structured interview â€Å"the investigator asks a pre-determined set of questions, using the same wording and order of questions as specified in the interview schedule† (Kumar, 1999, p. 109); in semi-structured interview, the questions are also prepared beforehand, but in contrast, they offer more flexibility in facilitating the interviewee to modify the questions to investigate new ideas that might come up during the interview; and the unstructured interviews are based on a general topic of interest, but the questions are spontaneously posed to the respondent (Kumar, 1999; Guillham, 2000; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). It has been suggested that for phenomenological approaches and exploratory researches, a semi-structure interview is the most suitable type since the interviewer can explore in-depth a specific area that might be of interest (Jankowicz, 1999). The interviews carried out for this research will be semi-structured and will be held face-to-face with individual participants. One of the reasons of choosing this type of interview is because they are more conductible and easier to control in order to establish and maintain empathy with respondents, so make the respondents be more comfortable and express their opinions more freely. It also gives the interviewer the opportunity to discover and understand the respondents’ points of view and beliefs about a specific situation (Zikmund, 2000). Saunders et al. (2000) mention that semi-structured are qualitative research interviews and are classified as non-standardized, where questions might vary from one interview to another since it depends on the course that the conversation takes, hence it would required of additional questions. In addition, Healey and Rawlinson (1994 cited Saunders et al. , 2000) point out that more than one type can be used within an interview, where one section may ask factual closed questions, such as personal details, and the next sections could explore more qualitative issues. In this case, a combination of styles will be adopted within the interviews that will be held. The first section will be consisted of a set of factual questions in order to find out the interviewee’s work position and background. The following sections will be based on qualitative responses where relevant topics will be taken under consideration accordingly to the literature review that will be developed in Chapter II as well as aim and objectives of the research. For instance, in the second section, cultural aspects within a multicultural workforce will be explored, while in the third section, examination of managerial skills will be enquired; and finally exploration of training programs will end the interview (Appendix B). Furthermore, the semi-structured interviews will allow a free-flowing discussion, which in turn will produce a better understanding of the way of thinking, opinions, and behavior of manager and supervisors in relation to their experiences towards differences in culture and its influence on their management styles. Data Quality Issues There are a number of data quality issues to be aware and consider when conducting an interview, otherwise it would put at risk the findings of the investigation. In this case information supplied to the interviewee, confidentiality, listening skills and recording of interviews is going to be considered for this section (Kvale, 1996; Saunders et al. , 2000). Information Supplied to the Interviewee An important issue to promote credibility to the investigation is the supply of relevant information to the participants prior the interviews. In this way, the interviewee will consider the information under study and will be prepared to discuss their experiences and opinions, which will help to develop the research credibility. This will be reached through a letter that will be sent to the participants, which can be seen in Appendix A. It will also mention the duration of the interviews, in order to let them organized their time and provide an approximately 30 minutes to the interview with no interruptions. Confidentiality According to Kvale (1996, p. 114) â€Å"confidentiality in research implies that private data identifying the subjects will not be reported†. The author also highlights that the change of names to protect the privacy of the participants is of an important issue, since encourages people to reveal experiences, feelings and facts which enrich the information given by the interviewee, facilitating the development of the research (Kvale, 1996; Guillham, 2000). Hence, it will be explained to the interviewee the purpose of the research and the use that it is going to have in order to gain their trust and confidence (Appendix A).

Life Signs †Poem and Summary By Mahapatra Essay

LIFE SIGNS Violence the day dims. When I open and shut my mouth the darkness chokes inside. The sad light pushes against a bullock-cart-driver’s whip which rests in a corner of the corridor, safe from the black pressure of dragging ribs. a country total solar eclipse It was the drawn-out cry of day that left behind no echo, day that became meek as a frightened child. A banner of pale human skin fluttered on top of the temple of Jagannath the vase a monsoon day fable The fable at the beginning of the monsoon choes alone, like a bell ringing in a temple far from home. in the fields of desolate rice captive air of chandipur on sea lost children of America dead river life signs grandfather again one day walking by the river. — Jayant Mahapatra Summary of â€Å"Life Signs† â€Å"Life signs† is the title poem of the volume Life Signs. The father-son relationship has been explored quite extensively and intensively in Indian English poetry, by Ramanujan, Parthasarathy, Shiv. K. Kumar and others and â€Å"Father† poems have become even a sub-genre of Indian Poetry in English. Life Signs† captures the central preoccupation of Mahapatra’s poetry, the irrevocable influence of the Father (by extension, the hoary tradition of the land) and the anxiety of the son-persona (the modernist, rationalist, unbeliever poet, by extension) to be freed of it Structurally, the poem is â€Å"a loosely connected set of evocative signs rather than a system and discourse† and such a poem with shifting metaphors may challenge neat interpretation; yet it â€Å"can have a great power to convey a highly complex experience and can acquire haunting beauty† (G. N. Devy). â€Å"The Cows† can be read as a companion poem. 11. 1- 2: What’s in my†¦: a blunt statement of the son-persona’s in ability to â€Å"occupy† the beliefs of the father 11. 3-5: a sense of loss caused by separation between father and son described in terms of the flowing river; the image of flow may also imply the passage of a major category in Mahapatra’s vision. 11. – 10: an associative cluster of signs: â€Å"sun†, â€Å"kites† and â€Å"clouds† evoking the sense of agedness of the traditions, which haunts him. 1. 15: â€Å"the odour†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦: another image evoking the sense of decay 11. 19-20: â€Å"come to rest†: typical Mahapatran obscurities which are the interpreter’s despair: 11. 23- 24: a conflict between the traditional beliefs and the rationalist skepticism of those beliefs- 11. 23- 24: the sense of loss and a discovery of a strange wisdom.