Professional Development Plan Essay

Introduction The Professional Development Plan (PDP) is a structured process made by an individual to reflect on their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan their personal, educational and career development. PDP complies a range of procedures, such as planning, doing, recording, and reflection. (The Higher Education Academy 2012) The objective of this PDP is to help improve existing skills or to develop new ones. In order to do so, a self-assessment, SWOT analysis, SMART and Belbin’s self-perception inventory will be completed, to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses. Section 1: Professional Development Plan For this PDP three distinct goals will be developed. * Individual Goal – Time Management and Personal Organisation * Group Working Goal – Searching databases * Academic Goal – Listen, read and take notes To help set the goals, three goals worksheets were completed and the SMART diagnosis was applied (See Appendix 1 and 2). SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. (Scanlon 2011) Time Management and Personal Organisation This goal was chosen as the individual goal because managing time and being organised was always a struggle, and therefore for several times in numerous occasions the effect was unpleasant. By being able to manage time and being more organised, opportunities will rise to have a more effective performance in personal, academic and professional life. This weakness was noted through the self-assessment comprised by a friend, a colleague and myself (See Appendix 3). This skill was not developed sooner out of pure laziness and lack of motivation. To achieve this goal I will do weekly schedules to see what was done during the week and check if certain activities were accomplished (See Appendix 4). This goal is set to be developed until 11th March 2012. Searching Databases This goal was chosen as the group working goal because searching databases was always a difficult task, either it was for personal, academic or work related purposes. Whenever there are group works, this task is always passed on to other members, which made my ability to improve less feasible. This weakness was noted through the Belbin Test (See Appendix 5). This skill was not developed until now because there was lack of knowledge of databases resources. To achieve this goal I will carry on a research about Miss Universe, looking for information in all resources I can find (See appendix 6). As there were no relevant books on the subject, I had to confine the search to the Internet. This goal is set to be developed until 12th March 2012. Listen, Read and Take Notes This goal was chosen as the academic goal because as English is not my first language, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with lectures and at the same time take notes, as well as it is difficult to read, comprehend in just one go, and take notes. By developing this skill, when preparing for exams, being in lectures, workshops and work meetings, listening, reading and taking notes, will become simple, efficient, quick and easy. This weakness was noted while in class, at home and at work, and later on identified in SWOT analysis and also through the self-assessment comprised by a friend, a colleague and myself (See Appendix 3 and 7). The SWOT analysis is a notably useful tool to identify and analyse opportunities for development and related barriers and challenges. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Being Strengths and Weaknesses internal factors and Opportunities and Threats external factors. (Scanlon 2011) To achieve this goal I will take notes from lectures and from a few pages of one of the recommended books for this unit (See Appendix 8). This goal is set to be developed until 12th March 2012. Section 2: Progress Review Time Management and Personal Organisation For this goal I did weekly sheets to see my development. I did the first weekly sheet in 19th December 2011. As I was not working at the moment my only responsibility was University, and seems like the less responsibility one has, the less he/she does. That is exactly what was happening. I was spending most of my days watching television and/or watching series online, or simply just spending days sleeping. I had my mother and a friend over for Christmas and New Year. With their presence here, I felt like doing even less, because all I wanted was to spend time with them or go out and show them Manchester. So basically all the activities I was always planning to do, I ended up not doing them. I knew I had an exam in early January, and yet I did not study until the week before the exam. I managed to pass the exam with a low pass, 44%, but I know I could have done much better if only I dedicated myself to study longer and in advance. So after this happened I realized it was time for me to stop being lazy and change my attitude towards the use of my time. I started watching less television and less series online. I started reading a novel ‘The Lucky One’, I started getting more worried with the planning of my PDP, I joined the gym and I was more focused in finding a job. For a while it was difficult having so many activities after not having basically none. I started going to the gym more often, like twice or three times a week. I started going to Church also; I did not go in a long time. I was more focused in classroom, and I understood more of the topics in study. I was feeling more motivated, less lazy, and I was managing my time very well. I was more organized with my studies, and personal life. I kept a diary so I would know what I did and what I needed to do. So in the end, I think the development of this goal helped me a lot, it improved my attendance in University, and also my productivity at home. Searching Databases For this goal I did a research on Miss Universe. Their history, how it started, who invented it, what is its purpose, previous contestants, the actual Miss Universe Leila Lopes, that is Miss Angola, from my birth country. I have to admit I chose this as my research topic because of how proud I am of her. She is a beautiful woman, and gave her best and deserved to won. As I was doing the research on the subject, I realized I did not choose the best topic to do a research, because I could only find information on the Internet. There are no relevant books on this subject, and even the news I found, were on online newspapers. But as I did not have more time to think of a new topic, and start doing a new research, because I still had my last goal to develop, I had to keep up with lectures of both units, and look for a job, I just kept this topic. I do not think I had great improvements with this goal, and it was mainly because of my topic of research choice. I could not explore others sources, and that confined me to the Internet, which has a wide range of irrelevant information. So this is one goal I will keep on developing because it is really necessary for the years ahead. Listen, Read and Take Notes For this goal I gathered as evidence all the notes I have from lectures I attended, and notes I made from a few pages of one of the recommended books: ‘Organizational Behaviour’ by Buchanan and Huczynski (2010). It was hard in the beginning because I did not know where to begin. I was trying to be more focus in class, by not having my phone close, and not talking with colleagues unnecessarily. As we only have 2 classes per week, it was hard to develop this skill, so I decided that notes from the lectures alone would not be enough. I started to do notes from the book referred above. And after a while I was feeling more confident, my notes were becoming good. I would write more in the lecture notes, instead of just listening and getting home, and not knowing what were the main points of that topic. I will still keep on developing this skill because it is non-stop, I know I am still far from excellent, but it was good to give it a go, and actually see some changes even though they are little. Goal Setting and S.M.A.R.T goals Specific – What (goal), why (reasons), which (constraints) etc.? Clearly stated outcome you wish to achieve. Measurable – Can progress be assessed? A goal that you can evidence, i.e., demonstrate its achievement in way and can show progress. Attainable – Can the goal be accomplished? The goal should not be too high or low. Goals that are set too high or too low become meaningless. It should stretch you a bit, without being too extreme. Realistic – Is the goal worthwhile? Make sure goal can be achieved within the framework of your life before the submission date, not as you would hope or would like it to be. You have to be willing and able to work on the goal. Time-bound – What is your target completion date? Make sure goal that you set for yourself can be achieved within the timeframe and before the submission deadline of 14 March 2012. You must have start and endpoints.

Cases in global marketing strategies Essay

If you call yourself a movie fanatic, then 21 August, 2009 was a day you will always have to remember. Movie lovers and anyone who love going to cinemas were defiantly in a rush that day to be in any near IMAX Theater. In more than a hundred IMAX 3-D cinemas all over the world watched just 16 minutes preview of the footage from the new James Cameron movie the Avatar. Just on the same day, Ubisoft debuted a preview on a video game based on the movie, and Mattel unveiled action toys based on the movie characters. On the other hand, a day earlier, the teaser made for this movie broke records on Apple.com, this was after the teaser was streamed more than four million times during the first day. On that day August 21, it was a celebration for all movie lovers and movie productions and for that it was a holiday and till now it is remembered as â€Å"Avatar Day.† Today it is remembered as the dawn of the most planned and successful digital marketing campaign ever created to support a movie (Evan, 2011). In this movie James Cameroon and his crew went to all limits and for sure they deserved what the movie gave them in return. For Avatar to stand out above the rest of the movies as it did, there are a lot of strategies and plans which were put in motion for all this to happen. Below are some of the details of key components of how the marketing campaign of the movie became such a success, in some I will illustrate with a character and creature within â€Å"Avatar.† The Home tree: Avatar’s Website The clarity and visual perfection of the home tree on Pandora portrays what has been cultivated on the movies official website. On the websites visitors have more than they can get on a standard trailer, this is by images and all background materials. In the website, you will find 14 side scrolling square boxes that will show a lot of digital products that make this movie different from the rest. On top of this the fans have the capability of accessing the story, character information, music, and picture downloads. And to make the website more interesting the fans can also be able to share their views and showcase their personal interests on the movie. In the movie just about when humans destroyed the home tree for wealth and pursuit of personal interests, the movies website home page had its own destructions in mid-August when the movie fans crushed the site in the process of trying to get free tickets for â€Å"Avatar Day.† The Banshee: The AIR Interactive Trailer The movies interactive trailer comes before other previous movie trailers, and this is all because of integration of social media feeds, and eleven points of interaction that gives viewers the opportunity for one click access to each character. This means that the fans can choose the characters they want to view in a trailer and by this they unlock additional contents. The creation of this trailer was made possible by the use of adobe AIR software, which creates a flexible platform for developers. The outcome of this achievement is that the fans get to enjoy more exciting experience like never before, which more of less the same as to the one is offered in Banshee skipping in the movie. The preview is a motion and frequently refreshed gateway to the movie, which appears to be real and capture the moment it begins. The other advantage is that the preview comes with three options to purchase tickets. The Tree of Souls: Social Media: In the movie the character Na’vi believes that in the tree of souls, which a resting place for the souls of ancestors, was the main link of what connected them to one another. Through this idea, there is a connection to social media that is always connected to our past in one way or the other. Social media being one of the fastest ways to pass information around all over the world, film movie makers had to use the advantage when marketing Avatar. The movies unbelievably got the attention it required on social sites for example it got about 1.5 million fans on Facebook alone, in Myspace the fans were about 800,000 and on twitter I gained about 26,000 followers. According to one of Americas social media analytic firm, they said that Avatar was the most talked about movie in the year 2010 in twitter. However, some tweets resulted to tweet and listen promotion that required the fans to send messages via twitter and after doing that then they will be able to listen to music used in the movie as soundtracks. The social media strategy Avatar used also extended to YouTube that gained over 12 million views, on flicker it got 1.5million people viewing the photos and a type pad blogging community of about 5000 people. Hallelujah Mountains: Augmented Reality In the movie, the gravity opposing Hallelujah Mountains appears to be challenging the ability to hear or see, which is also what had been made greater and reality pushes to do by tabling an interesting experience that floats in front of the viewer’s eyes. The creation of â€Å"Avatar† toys which could be activated and brought to life through the help of webcams and special product tags. While on the other side Coke zero introduced soda cans that opened up a world of Pandora. The final result is that â€Å"Avatar† is so far the biggest movie ever made in the box office of all times. This movie sold over $2 billion in tickets sales which was mostly influenced by 3-D taxes and international interests. Through â€Å"Avatar† James Cameron became one of the greatest movie makers of all time having two of the top-grossing movie topping on the box office at the same time. The question remains to be what lead to the success of this movie? The primary objective of any marketing strategy in the movie industry is to make sure that the fans get the product you are marketing. While at the same time gets to theaters to watch the movies that they have to pay about $10 to $15 and have to watch the movie for several hours. After the campaign made by the advertisers, millions of people all went out to theatres just to enjoy the movie and 3-D glasses, and the fans also got to bring a phrase from the movie to life which was used by Na’vi: Oel ngati kameie meaning â€Å"I see you.† This is the processes in which the improvements in the movie made it unique as compared to other films. However, they are not just the only methods James Cameron used to make â€Å"Avatar† a success in the digital movie era. The introduction of 3-D camera and stimulcam were not just the technology’s that turned James Cameron’s sci-fi unique and a success. Many other small movies have also turned to social media to spread the word guerrilla-style, but so far no other blockbuster movie has turned to social media marketing like Avatar did. After using this method to market its film, the results they got from the first opening weekend Avatar made $232 million and ranked the movie on #2 highest grossing movie of all times. Cameron’s $500million act of hubris finally bared fruits. Reinventing the Movie Trailer Online Knowing that Avatar was never the first film to make a trailer in a different manner online. Then it means that it was never the first to try out most of this things required for online advertising. But using an expensive strategy, and at the same time combine it with several existing ideas was what made this movie’s social media campaign go big. In the beginning it started with ideas which many movies use now: a preview debut from Apple, which was announced on twitter and the anxiety was too high from the fans to such an extent that the servers had to get the trailer out to the people who wanted it. Afterward, about a month later the movie released the second trailer, this became a success since many fans were eagerly waiting to see the trailer for a whole month and with that the fans made their own mash-up trailers which involved Avatar and other movies. However, after making the second preview they did not stop there and they went forth and made the third trailer and to their surprise the preview was the best they had achieved so far, and to an extend it blew everyone away beyond their expectation. An interactive preview was introduced using Adobe Air software and therefore in required one to download that is a bit hectic, but to all Avatar fans the download was worth it. The download had special features such as featured contend, and the fans could read all updated social media updates on the movie from the trailer. This move was the biggest move that Avatar had taken since it got press coverage and buzz (Dave, 2011). The Facebook and MTV Webcast On 3 December, Facebook joined forces with MTV.com and were sponsored by LG webcast known as â€Å"Avatar Live.† An interview was made to get word from the great minds behind the creation and success of the movie and this were people like James Cameron the Director, the producers Jon Landau, the Actors Zoe Saldana and Sam Washington. In this interview, the fans also got to ask them any questions they wanted to about the movie. Even though the interview can be said to have been short and brief, it is still considered to be one of the amazing webcast to have been seen up to date (Mitchell_A_Zucker) . This is because it is not always that simple to see big Hollywood names all sitting at the same place answering questions from their fans all at the same time. Even though having the community come to interact with a director of such caliber is a once in a lifetime opportunity, it made us remember of director Peter Jackson’s daily updates from the famous set of The Lord of th e Rings. What was experienced in both cases is the fact that people who did not know much about the movies also turned out for the sale and learn more about the film while on the other hand the fans also showed up in large numbers to also get to know all what they did not know yet and get new words to spread around to friends and other people they interact with. Broadcasting the Premiere Live On UstreamOne of the most respected way for any celebrity or movie to go down is by using the red carpet. Avatar was premiered at the red carpet and broadcasted live to the audience on a video streaming site Ustream. Besides the technology media coverage this pulled, this idea was not a new stunt since movies like twilight saga New moon had already put it on trial, however, we can say it made many people happy that day. The point is a movie should use all ways possible it gets to get the awareness of the movie out. This broadcast made at the red carpet was sponsored by Myspace, and with this it means that the move reached fans who got to miss the presentation in Facebook or any other social media site. The fans of Avatar had the opportunity to watch the preview and the video in bot Myspace web page in addition to Ustream website. The fact that the red carpet was one week before the movie was released and aired in cinemas was another way to get the awareness of the movie to the fans during the final days of marketing before the final release date of the eagerly awaited movie. Avatar is one of the most thrilling Sci-fi, fantasy, adventure movie ever made. The story line is with no doubt captivating to the audience. Due to these features it was made easy for Cameron and his crew to market the movie since all the fans were thrilled and eager to see the movie after watching the trailers offered on the movie. However, in marketing Avatar the movie had to also come up with action figures which would symbolize the characters and through this they got to attract more children fans to get to buy the toys and also want to watch the movie (Dave, 2011). Coming up with unique posters of the movie was also another marvelous move Avatar came up with, since everyone who was a fan wanted to at least have a poster of the movie in the house or even in their bedrooms and through that all the friend of people with the posters would end up being drawn slowly into liking the movie. According to (Mesa, 2009). another reason many people ended up liking the movie is the fact that we were all amazed by the work made by the make-up artist in the movie, actually they made the characters look so real in such a way that has never been seen before. The details on the characters and the make-up were just out of this world. Conclusion From this essay, it is evident that James Camron went to all measures to make Avatar such a success. However, many movies might have tried using the same marketing strategies but the little details and changes that James Cameron brought to the production and marketing of the movie are what actually made the difference and ended up make this movie the greatest movie of all times. However, this made it everyone’s business to play the marketing roles which were to be played by everyone during the movie sale and we even see how the fans got the chance to market the movie and also comment on live updates about the movie. This time it is with no doubt that James Cameron overdid himself in this movie. Having such a big movie is not something people see every day it takes practice and experience to be what James Cameron is, but we cannot be so surprised about this since James Cameron had another blockbuster â€Å"Titanic† which was also top of the box office before he broke his own record with Avatar. This movie â€Å"Avatar† did not just be successful it changed the movie industry as we knew it and for that I have doubt that Avatar will be a movie that will be remembered for several decades to come or even a century. Reference Jeannet, J. (2004). Cases in global marketing strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Evan, S. (2011). Avatar. Pittsburgh, PA: Six Gallery Press. Mesa, A. (2009). Brand Avatar: translating virtual world branding into real world success. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Kautonen, T. (2008). Trust and new technologies marketing and management on the Internet and mobile media. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Dave, D. (2011). Think before you engage 100 questions to ask before starting a social media marketing campaign. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons. Paul, A. (2009). Digital strategies for powerful corporate communications. New York: McGraw-Hill. Mattias, B. (2011). How Cool Brands Stay Hot. Kogan Page Matthew, S. (2011). Handbook of research on digital media and advertising: user generated content consumption. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Roger, A. (2009). Marketing. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Article Source: Mitchell_A_Zucker. http://teammaz.wordpress.com/about/oliveborden.blogspot.com/†¦/identify-your-target-market-with-this.html Marketing Strategies of movies —-Avatar. http://blogs.ubc.ca/daisydong/2013/02/24/marketing-strategies-of-movies-avatar/ Source document

Discourse Organization on Asian Fashion Blogs

Discourse Organization of Asian Fashion Blobs Introduction Background of the study Blobbing has emerged as one of the most popular forms of online discourse. The ease and lack of expense in setting blobs has raised intriguing possibilities for language learning in social media. The unique nature of its architecture and its low cost have not only affected how different floggers can publish and distribute their work to a wider audience but also how they see themselves as writers.According to Blood (2002), blobs have been used in various ways: as online Journals, a meaner of signing hypertext's, and more radically, to create what calls the first native form of discourse on the internet. She argues that blobbing best reflects the dream of Tim Burners-Lee (2000), who was one of the principal designers of the World Wide Web, to make the Web into something truly interactive both in terms of how texts are read and how they can be easily posted and accessed.The growing interest in blobbing ha s aroused the interest of English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language fashion floggers who see blobbing as a simple and low cost way of giving traders an access to publishing, advertising and distributing their writings on the internet as a method of providing them with the experience of writing in a digital format, and as a meaner of discussing issues related to their social and personal lives. According to Fleischman (2002), blobbing is the art of turning one's own filter on news and the world into something others might want to read, link to, and write about.The openness can give the floggers a greater sense of the variety of possible audiences they can reach, both for understanding these audiences and learning strategies to spoon to them. These types of on-line discussions have been referred to as â€Å"gated communities† (Lowe & Williams, 2004). With regards to world English, Karachi (1992) conceived the idea of three concentric circles of the language . The inner circle represents the traditional bases and is composed of native speakers of English (e. G.United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Anglophone Canada and South Africa, and some of the Caribbean territories). The outer circle includes countries where English is not the native tongue but they use it as a second language (e. . India, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong) while those that belong to the expanding circle are the rest of the world where English is used as the primary foreign language (e. G. Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Egypt, Indonesia etc. ). This idea has helped to classify the eight Asian countries that will serve as the subject in this study on how they use English as a language.Kaplan (1966) claims that English writing is characterized by directness and deductive reasoning, while other languages (e. G. Oriental languages and Arabic) favor indirectness and inductive reasoning. At the same time, he attempts to link the differences in discourse organization between English and other languages to their respective cultures and thought patterns. He marked the birth of the notion now known as Contrastive Rhetoric. It assumes that different languages had their own specific and culturally bound conventions and patterns of writing.This may also tell if there are such characteristics in Asian fashion blobs. Moreover, with regards to each Asian flogger's writing style, contrastive rhetoric should also be considered. Contrastive rhetoric is an area of research in second language acquisition that identifies problems in imposition encountered by second language writers and, by referring to the rhetorical strategies of the first language, attempts to explain them. As summarized by Connors (1997), some internal and external forces give rise to this change in perspective.The internal force comes from criticism of contrastive rhetoric, which has required it to go beyond traditional linguistic parameters of analysis to consider discursive features, processes and contexts of writing. The external forces come from new developments in discourse analysis and changing focuses in first language composition research. To enrich further the structure of each blob, genre analysis will also be considered. This may identify if fashion blobbing belongs in a specific genre by studying how the SSL and FEEL floggers use the language when writing. The focus of this study is on the discourse organization of Asian fashion blobs.Considering their writing style, comparing the blobs of these particular Asian countries that are categorized into two groups will be done throughout the study. Statement of the problem This study aims to answer the following questions: 1 . What are the structures of a fashion blob? . What are the similarities and the differences between the fashion blobs of SSL and FEEL writers? Significance of the study College students of English Language Related Programs Knowing that blob can also be studied as it is a part of our social world, this study can still be given more attention by giving further enrichment by the future researchers.They can provide new findings supported by different related literatures. As the traditional way of analyzing language data from academic institutions, this paper will thoroughly investigate the language used in fashion blobs. This will further explore the online discourse by plunging into the grounds of computer-mediated-communication (CM). Researchers in the Field of Linguistics This research paper will be able to support future research papers that are related to discourse analysis, world English, contrastive rhetoric and genre analysis.As most of us today enjoy the web 2. 0 which includes blobbing (http://www. Slideshows. Net/ muzzy/blobbing), it challenges the researchers to become more analytical in their field. As language researchers move forward by conducting thorough investigations, here will probably be new ideas that will be contributed to t he field of Linguistics. Teachers and Professors of Language The study on contrastive rhetoric among students has always been limited to the doctorate material for pedagogical purposes which is believed to limit learners' ability to express themselves.The paper will further explicate the online discourse specifically fashion web logging which has been considered as one of the tools to express oneself in social network. This would provide enough knowledge to expand the language teachers' repertoire in different writing styles. Floggers Whether these people are in different forms of blobbing, this study may inform them how important language is. In fashion blobbing, it is inspired with different marketing strategies boxed with pictures that are inviting, description of every detail of it and stories experienced by the flogger.Also, they may be informed that this style of marketing includes certain rhetoric in it. Furthermore, this style of writing can be one of the factors of the incr easing subscribers and viewers. A. Scope and Limitation With the number of studies about the circularity and linearity among the SSL and FEEL argumentative essays, court proceedings, business letters and newspapers, this paper focuses on the discourse organization of Asian fashion blobs. The study will only look into the structure of a fashion blob and to identify the differences and similarities of SSL and FEEL writers.The FEEL countries are Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand and the SSL countries are India, Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong. These countries are only limited for each group. B. Definition of terms Blob is another term for web log, a social networking site (http://www. Slideshows. Net/ cubic/blobbing) of discussion or information site published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete entries (â€Å"posts†) typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Usually, it is being used as an online Journal (ht tp://en. Wisped. Erg/wick/Blob). FEEL stands for English as a foreign language and pertains to how speakers use English for limited utilities, for example, for research references and sign boards. The countries that belong to this group are Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand while, SSL stands for English s a second language and refers to English speakers who could speak it intensely and intimately. In Cracker's concentric circles, this group encompasses the countries that were colonized by the Western countries such as India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Philippines ( Karachi and Nelson, 2006).

Philosophical Skepticism, Existence of God, Knowledge and Metaphysics Essay

Philosophical Skepticism, Existence of God, Knowledge and Metaphysics - Essay Example Descartes made it evident to the scientific researchers that the basis of finding the truth is doubt. Within the context of skepticism and doubting for finding the truth, the phrase becomes easy to understand. It shows that Descartes doubted his thinking ability which is the proof of his presence and existence. In other words, it could be said that if one is longing to find out about his own existence then it is the proof that he is alive because he is skeptical of his existence. In addition to the understanding of the phrase, it is important to understand the way Descartes has implied his philosophical statement on himself. Descartes makes a clear supposition that he has different biological senses including his sight, his touch, his ability to smell, his ability to hear and to think. These senses connect him to the logical world where he yearns to find out the truth in science. In this way, Rene Descartes proved his existence to be truth of science. Thinking is the basis of Rene De scartes belief on existence of humans. In simpler words, Rene Descartes claims every human to be conscious who is able to think. 2. Hume and Kant: A dogmatic Awakening: Immanuel Kant, being a philosopher who raised the curiosity regarding the relationship of cause and effect and scientific laws based his final publication on the analysis of David Hume’s skepticism towards reason. Kant referred that David Hume has â€Å"awakened him from his dogmatic slumber† (Kant). In literal meanings, David Hume basically raised awareness regarding future metaphysics. He claimed that experiences that one would go through in the past are less likely to repeat in the future. It is basically the conscience of humans to categorize their experiences. The beliefs of cause and effect regarding experiences and past had prevailed over the years merely because of the supposition of their occurrence in the future. In other words, it could be said that Hume made it clear that there is no justifi ed ground in metaphysics that shows relation between cause and effect. It is merely a human’s habit or conscience that stresses on him to believe that there is a cause and effect to every experience that has undertaken in the past and is likely to happen in the future. Most of the critics believed that Immanuel Kant challenged by David Hume. But the real context to the statement was that justification by Hume provided a logical ground to the metaphysics knowledge where the dogmatic slumber is referred to the idea of uncertainty. 3. World through the lens of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibnitz: The world and its creation is a truth in itself which has influenced many skeptics such as Descartes, Spinoza and Leibnitz. In the flair of pursuit of truth, Rene Descartes believed that world was a home to physical bodies, God and mind. This may also refer to substance pluralism that he believed in more than one material. The world through the lens of Descartes is supposedly based upon the understanding of one’s mind. The curiosity to know beyond one thinking is only possible for the God. Second to the thought of Descartes, it can be said that Baruch Spinoza claimed that world was a setting of God who is present philosophically. It is the belief of a person to think that there is such a setting of God. Gottfried Leibniz claimed his notion regarding the world and the rational belief on knowledge. He mentioned that

Consumer behaviour Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Consumer behaviour - Case Study Example A number of factories have been closed and retail network for distribution of its products reduced. The company just hired a highly competent CEO1 who has experience in business make ups and creating and sustaining brands, image and customer loyalty. A SWOT2 analysis of the company indicates that it stands to enjoy a number of business opportunities if certain things are achieved. The firm has several strengths that would increase its competitive advantage. The company, however, faces challenges in terms of potential threats from the market as well as internal weaknesses, which may be minimized. Several strategies and action points are suggested as measures to restore the company’s glory and regain its market share to improve business performance. Among them is the implementation of an elaborate marketing and promotion campaign, putting in place a comprehensive customer relations program, re-establishment of retail distribution networks, expansion to new markets and diversific ation of existing product range. Introduction Levi Strauss & Co is an all-time American brand clothing store that has been in the San Francisco apparel market for many decades. It faces a number of hurdles in sustaining business growth momentum. ... The company has for the last three years faced a rough business terrain with plummeting sales, layoffs, occasional plant closings, and a failure to woo certain market segments to take up its products. The company just appointed Mr. Philip Marineau, a vigilant and veteran marketing executive from PepsiCo Inc., as CEO to turnaround its fortunes and rejuvenate its presence in the market for growth. Philip’s mission is to bring back the company to its earlier business glory and more by re-establishing effective customer relations, launch more relevant products and improve existing ones guided by the needs of customers and undertake effective promotions, advertising and marketing for the products. This paper will provide an analysis of Levi Strauss by addressing the problem, conducting a situation analysis, assessing alternative options and making firm and implementable decisions to help the chief executive achieve his desired objectives (Case Study notes). Problem Statement The ma in problem of Levi Strauss as explained in the foregoing background is the failure to respond to different needs of different customer classes in its market. Specifically, the company has failed to quickly respond to fashion trends for its youthful market in the textile industry thus losing a significant market share to competitors such as JNCO and Kikwear among others. The fall of a majority of the company’s retail distribution networks has also been a big problem in terms of maintaining sustained or even stronger presence in the market. The company has continuously failed to embrace dynamic market needs and is stuck on traditional styles that currently

Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Information System - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that because of the security weaknesses in the information system, there lies a question about the quality of information used in professional studies. This is potent enough to cripple the organizational assets and degrade the reputation or image of the agency. Consequently, this leads to major economic losses. On the one hand, patients would only normally lose confidence or trust in the agency. In extreme cases, those who are especially emotionally unstable may experience severe physical and/or moral injuries which could lead to death. The HIPPA dictates that professionals in the field of health care must protect any pertinent health information, giving due respect to patients and his/her direct kins and relatives. Therefore, they are prohibited to disclose any information outside their line of duty for this kind of disclosure is not merely unethical, but it is both unlawful and unprofessional. However, even without the code of law, as an individual entru sted with sensitive information and in the right mind, this becomes an automatic moral obligation as a person in a value-driven society. Â  

Computer technology advancement in Forensic science Essay

Computer technology advancement in Forensic science - Essay Example The system was great for its time. System worked well. The image was not of best quality it worked, better then the old Identity kit. Nothing compares to a good forensic composite artist who can draw the image by hand. However, for those of us who aren't so talented with that medium, the computer and software became our medium and the results were excellent. Computer industry changed. The VISATEX program was in the DOS environment, everything was changing to a graphical environment, Windows. The costs of computers were dropping fast, the programs were cheaper and a lot of those in the industry just couldn't keep up with the changing technology, a financial drain. The "newer" composite programs were using a lot more memory, hard drive space and required better printers. When law enforcement finally caught up to the modern computer world the new composite programs matched the current computers capability. This is where we are today. Several composite programs are offering their composi te images in 16 bit, soon to change to 32 bit images. They are now photo quality, some are even in full color! Computer programs are available for sketching crime scenes and blood spatters by inputting certain measurements associated with the scene and the individual spatters. This blood spatter program will then calculate and draw the spatters' points of origin.

Accepted Accounting Principles related to Health Care Essay - 1

Accepted Accounting Principles related to Health Care - Essay Example Inother words, it separates the business from its owners and treats it as an economic unit. Only assets, liabilities, and owners equity related to the group or organization are on one financial statement. If there are sub entities, the financial records of these entities are maintained separately. The second principle is the going - concern concept which is a presumption that the group or organization will be running in the future and will not be liquidated in the next 12 months. It is a very concept in case of healthcare business because hospitals, nursing homes, etc. which do not intend to stay in business the net realizable value of the asset may be not ascertained and could be sold at a much higher price than they worth at the moment of sale. The third principle is the matching principle which is a combination of cash accounting and accrual accounting. The matching principle and cash accounting states that revenue or expenses are recognized only when the organization receives cash or pays cash. For example, medical equipments are recognized in the books of accounts only when the cash is paid out in entirety. The problem therefore is, all transactions that are not done on a cash basis and not done in the same accounting year are not recognized which gives a deceptive picture of what actually occurred a respective accounting year. On the other hand, when accrual accounting is done this gives the actual as to what occurred in that year. An example of this is if an organization provides care for a patient but does not receive reimbursement until the following year but the funds will be documented on the year the patient was cared for. The fourth principle is known as the historical cost principle and states that the cost of a resource is what the organization pays to receive the economic need. Historical cost does not reflect the current market valuation of the asset. Therefore the problem with the cost principle for example is if a hospital pays twenty

Employment law 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Employment law 3 - Assignment Example Karen files a complaint of sex/gender discrimination with the EEOC and Harrison is called to testify during the investigation. The EEOC decides not to pursue the matter. A month and a half after the investigation is closed, Tabernacle management moves Harrison from his cubicle to a cubicle on a vacant floor. All other aspects of his job remain the same. Harrison files a complaint of retaliation.   A.   Harrison cannot pursue a case of retaliation because the relocation of his work area between cubicles did not materially affect the terms, conditions, or privileges of his employment at Tabernacle. 10. Randi has been placed by a staffing firm in a temporary secretarial position with USD Industries. Randi is an employee solely by the staffing firm. The day after she reports, USD calls the staffing firm and requests that she be replaced due to her race. 11. In order to win a â€Å"quid pro quo† case, but not a â€Å"hostile work environment† case of sexual harassment, plaintiff must prove that some psychological injury resulted from the harassment. (F) 12. Maxwell Corp. distinguishes between applicants that it is willing to interview for any position, and those that it is not, on the degree to which an applicants handwriting is determined, by a qualified graphologist, to indicate high emotional stability and ambition. On the basis of this test, 70% of male applicants are deemed interviewable, while 45% of female applicants are deemed interviewable. The use of the handwriting analysis as a distinguishing factor has a disparate impact on women. (T) 15. Chip Onsholder is a welder for Mac’s Machine Tools. He cannot seem to please his new boss, Ms. Perfection. He suspects she doesn’t like him because she’s a liberal Democrat, and he’s a rock-ribbed Republican. One day, Chip makes a joke about the stupidity of donkeys and she fires him. When Chip sues for discrimination under Title 7, he will probably: 16.

Background introduction to Romans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Background introduction to Romans - Essay Example Written in A.D. 56-58, in Corinth, [Unger, 1959] Paul sought to address an audience of predominantly Greek and gentile followers, in a time when Christianity was still emerging from its origins in Judaism. The period it was written in can be easily and accurately verified in that it has dated mentions of the apostle's sojourns to Jerusalem on philanthropic missions [Rom15: 25], and repeated references of this particular epistle in Corinthian, which was written around the A.D. 57. The venue of authorship is proven beyond doubt as well: Through this gospel, Paul tried to reach out to the church in Rome that he had not visited so far, and attempted to establish a connection by praising the inmates and referring to his old acquaintances. This epistle is not meant to be a comment on an existing situation, like the one addressed to the Corinthians. It broadly engages in topics pertaining to theology, and its message can be found in the line: "The Gospel . . . is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith" [Rom1: 16-17]. The faithful in those years were separated by long distances, and were more or less disparate communities being touched up

Chinese popular culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Chinese popular culture - Essay Example Especially in immensely growing economies like China or India, college graduates are of pivotal importance. This is because college graduates are the source of talent for the countries. Due to unemployment for many reasons, the pool of talent at the college level is lost and their talents to ensure sustainable growth over the period of time go into the drain. In China, it is estimated that this year around 7 million students will pass out from colleges and universities. These numbers are the biggest since 2012, when 6.8 million students passed higher college or universities. Keeping this in view, unemployment rate in China will go above the current rate, i.e. 20%, as around 54% out of 7 million students would find it difficult to find a suitable job (Chan, 2010). In this scenario, where college graduates are still unemployed, the Chinese government has to step in and facilitate those students. Biggest advantage of unemployment that Chinese college graduates can receive is that, they are provided with funds by the government in order to empower them to start earning. But on the other hand, majority of the Chinese corporations and businesses are more leaning towards foreign talent than to trust their own pool of talent. As a result, this pool of talent is becoming a waste and the college graduates’ lifestyle has also gone below par. The perfect example of projecting this misery is that, Chinese unemployed graduates are forced to live in small colonies, where each apartment is filled with 8 to 9 college graduates. Despite of living difficulties these college graduates are facing, another dilemma they are indulging into is criminal activities. By adopting a wrongful path, these college graduates aim to make more money in a relatively less amount of time (Solinger, 1999). To meet their expenditures, these unemployed college graduates majorly depend upon the aid they receive from the government. This aid enables unemployed college graduates to fulfill their ex penditures for housing, education, food and travelling. But, due to increasing unemployment, the aid provided to the students is becoming a burden on national reserves. Chinese government reports millions of Yuan that are spent on the social security of these unemployed college graduates. On the other hand, other source of income for these unemployed college graduate is through criminal activities, purchase and sell of drugs, engaging into trash jobs which prevents the talent to reach at the top notch corporate level where the can prove to be more beneficial. Even if they find a job, it might be in the field for which they are not qualified or they do not have ambitions for. In this scenario, they fall victim to boredom at job place and their performance levels are decreased. Moreover, it causes severe depression and stress due to dissatisfaction form the job. Unemployed Peasant Laborers Peasant laborers are those laborers who work at a very basic level of country’s economy. These might include farmers and other self-employed basic level workers. These workers are considered as being the biggest victim of unemployment. This is because, these are the one who produce items of basic necessities and perform basic jobs that are pivotal for the growth of

Applying Ethical Theories Essay Example for Free

Applying Ethical Theories Essay Summary Plagiarism in todays â€Å"copy and paste generation† is an unremitting, complex issue that is not yet fully understood. The paper responds to this proposition with a thesis that understanding the ethical reasoning provided by students in defending plagiarism is crucial in preventing it in student populations. The reasons can provide the basis for specific action-orientated recommendations to reduce plagiarism and to design programs to encourage originality and academic honesty within the relevant educational institutions. Moreover, the authors explain that this study has broader implications, given the link between educational plagiarism and the organisation and profitability of businesses. The paper develops an ethical framework to analyse the reasons that students use when defending their plagiarism. This framework is based on previous research into the ethical reasoning of students in different contexts. The authors explain and apply six ethical theories in the paper: Deontology, Utilitarianism, Rational self-interest, Machiavellianism, Cultural relativism and Situational ethics. The paper uses content analysis methodology to implement the ethical framework described above. Consequently, the research evaluates the recorded content found in the confidential files of students found to have plagiarised work at a US university. This includes the formal process by which the students were charged with plagiarism and how they defended their actions. To ensure the research was not biased two judges were used to evaluate the reasoning. To ensure a sufficient level of inter-rater reliability, the judges evaluated 20 identical ads before being given the cases used in the study. Their results show students used all 6 ethical theories, deontology being the most common with 41.8% of using this reasoning. Variables such as â€Å"Sex, Ethnicity and GPA† had no effect on the student’s ethical reasoning. Students who used the Internet to plagiarize were more likely to resort to Situational ethics and Utilitarianism. The  paper concludes by listing a series of recommendations for each ethical theory on how to instil ethical behaviour and help prevent cases of plagiarism. Critical Analysis of the papers purpose Plagiarism and the internet Granitz and Lowey describe a new plagiarism epidemic in the paper subject to review. The analysis that they present, that plagiarism is increasing due to the ease of which information can be lifted from the internet, is justified by previous academic research. The Internet provides as huge source of information which is easily available to students for use in academic papers (Weinstein Dobkin, 2002.) Moreover, the way that information is presented and is accessible on the Internet has made plagiarism easier (Klein, 2011). Students have the opportunity to copy and compile information from a variety of sources with speed, particularly when compared with old-style plagiarism using hard copy sources. However, since the publication of the paper in 2006, it could be argued that many professors have become more tech savvy, particularly with the development of technology in electronic detection tools (Klein, 2011.) Consequently, it is less easy to sustain the argument that transgression may present an irresistible challenge to students, as technology improves and if teachers in academic institutions become more technologically adept. Applying ethical reasoning to plagiarism After a historical analysis of the development of the concept of plagiarism, the paper moves on to conclude that our modern perception of plagiarism is that it is morally reprehensible. I would critique this approach using the analysis of Morality and Ethics put forward by Klein in 2011. Granitz and Lowey do not appear to consider the extent to which the moral and ethical approach of students in academic institutions may differ from the general modern perception of plagiarism that they describe. Klein describes the research which suggests that there is ambiguity on what is perceived as plagiarism among learners. Quoting Weiss Bader (2003), [a]n example of an area of ambiguity might include peer collaboration and knowing to what extent the collaboration is considered inappropriate. Consequently, I would argue that the paper does not fully consider the extent to which the ethical  problems posed by plagiarism may be problematic because they are non-traditional and that they may not fit easily into existing and well used categorisation systems (Clegg et al., 2007). Instead, the paper seeks to apply ethical philosophies taken from different ethical contexts (albeit ideas used by students) and it maintains the general proposition that plagiarism is considered as morally wrong, without analysing this specifically in relation to students and academic institutions. Content analysis as a research methodology The paper applies a content analysis to review student files which record the formal process by which students in a large US West Coast university were charged with plagiarism and defended themselves. The article recognises the fact that students may disguise their true reasoning whilst providing the reasoning, but concludes that they are still exposing the logic that they use to defend plagiarism – and being able to counter that logic is valuable for the faculty. This problems has been considered in the business context, in which virtually every empirical inquiry of issues relevant to applied business ethics involves the asking of questions that are sensitive, embarrassing, threatening, stigmatizing, or incriminating† (Dalton and Metzger, 1992, p. 207). Furthermore, since the early 1950s researchers in organizational sciences have expressed concern that the â€Å"tendency of individuals to deny socially undesirable traits and to admit to socially desirable ones† may impair empirical studies based on questionnaires which require respondents to report on their own behaviour or attitudes (Randall and Fernandes, 1991, p. 805) Recommendations The paper outlines a basis of recommendations based on the results achieved by the content analysis. Given the above critique of the content analysis, and the limit that the context of asking sensitive or incriminating questions in a business, and I would suggest academic, context, one could critique the assumption put forward in the paper that the recommendations for each ethical theory will achieve the effect of reducing plagiarism in institutions and provide a basis for the implementation of clear academic policies. Moreover, expanding on what I have suggested above, given the critique forwarded by Weiss and Bader (2003), it could be argues that poor  public perception of plagiarism in academic institutions may make any changes difficult to implement. I would argue that a more useful critique would be to consider the reasons offered by students in a non-confrontational and stigmatizing context, which could be used to understand the specific ethical context of plagiarism and to p roduce more specific recommendations. References Clegg, Kornberger and Rhodes: 2007 Business Ethics as Practice: British Journal of Management 18: 107-122 Dalton, D. R. and M. B. Metzger: 1992, ‘Integrity Testing’ for Personnel Selection: An Unsparing Perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics Kaptein M and Schwartz S: 2008 The Effectiveness of Business Codes: A Critical Examination of Existing Studies and the Development of an Integrated Research Model, Journal of Business 77: 111-127 Klein D: 2011 Why Learners Choose Plagiarism: A Review of Literature, Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects 7 Randall, D., Fernandes, M. F. (1991): The Social Desirability Response Bias in Ethics Research. Journal ofBusiness Ethics Robertson, D.C. (1993). Empiricism in Business Ethics: Suggested Research Directions. Trevino, Linda K., ‘Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interaction Model’, Academy of Management Review, 11(3), 1986, pp.601-617. Weinstein and Dobkin: 2002 Plagiarism in U.S. Higher Education: Estimating Internet Plagiarism Rates and Testing a Means of Deterrence, USA: Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Weiss, D. H., Bader, J. B. (2003) Undergraduate ethics at Homewood. Standler, R. B. (2000). Plagiarism in colleges in USA

Keys To Success And Critical Issues Marketing Essay

Keys To Success And Critical Issues Marketing Essay Mcayain knives is owned and operated by Mark Hopper who is a Master Blade smith and experienced Blacksmith who has been in the Industry since the age of 15. Mcayain Knives will be a new venture for Mark Hopper whose main business is working on big architectural iron work for companies and home owners. Mcayain knives will be introducing a new product line of three designs of custom made knives that will target outdoor enthusiasts for example the fishermen, tactical groups and Hunters. The knives will be of high quality, tough, durable with a superb cutting edge. The knives will have edge holding abilities; this means with use they retain their sharp cutting edge and low edge wear guaranteed. The cryogenic steel making technology that Mcayain will use to make its knife is one that no other knife manufacturer is using at the present time, and will provide a knife that most outdoor enthusiasts will hopefully embrace to cater for all their needs without worry that they may have with other knives like edge holding capabilities. Mcayains marketing goal is to meet the needs of every outdoor enthusiast in the market in the future and to get their specialty knives out to every outdoor enthusiast including their target market of hunters, and fishermen. Mcayains will use pull strategy by advertising in Blade magazine, knife illustrated and Tactical knife Magazine which are the top knife magazines in the U.S on a monthly basis to drive consumer sales and brand awareness. Participating in trade shows and also driving consumers to check out their interactive website. Mcayain intends to sell 9,600 units and 10,560 units of Knives in 2009 and 2010 respectively. The units will bring sales of over one million dollars in the first year and hopefully increase at a 10% increase each year. As long as Mcayain keeps selling their knives at a steady rate then they will keep growing their profits as the years come. The most important factors for Mcayain to succeed in the business is for them to get notoriety for its quality of product being tough, offering a superior edge and having good design. With so many knife companies out there Mcayain will have to stand by their steel forging technology that provides a more superior outdoor knife that its competition and deliver the best interactive custom knives to their customers. Mcayain Knives fatal problems that they may incur would be Competition getting their technology and making similar products. Legislation of laws that may ban carrying and use of fixed blade knives. Mcayain would have to be a trend setter and move as the market moves and always be a step ahead of competition. Also a forum on their website for informing customers of existing laws and how it affects them then and how to lobby if needed. Product Mcayain specialty Knives will produce and Market a new product line of custom made knives that will target and appeal to customers, who are interested in high quality, tough, durable knife with a superb cutting edge. The knives will have edge holding abilities, this means with use they retain there sharp cutting edge and low edgewear guaranteed. Mcayain will offer designer style knives, which are not only good looking with great aesthetics but at the same time a knife that will function in any weather or climate. Through its marketing and promotion efforts, Mcayain knives will appeal to many customers who enjoy active outdoor lifestyles for example fishing, hunting and tactical exercises. The customers will have internet options that they can use to get interactive with the whole knife making process, they will have options as to what handle materials they want to use, the case materials and other accessories like fire starters and sharpening stones. Mcayain knives will offer three patterns of knives; the first one will be the skinning knife with a 3.5-inch blade, tactical life, with a 7.5-inch blade and the third one, which is a trout and stream knife with a 5.5-inch blade. The steel for the blades will be made using two types of technology mixed together, which are the old and the new. The old will be using forging techniques where steel is shaped by hammering and the new using cryogenic hardening which is using different temperature methods. These knives will have different steel finishes, one being a Teflon coating, which is a durable, non- reflective black finish which will appeal to a lot of the customers who enjoy hunting and who dont like a flashy knife. Another steel finish being offered is the tumbled finish, which is a matte, metallic finish. A mirror polish which has a high polished look and these will be targeted to customers who like shiny knifes. The last steel finish that will be offered will be the bead blasted finish, which is a satin metallic finish for all customers. As handle materials Mcayain Knives will offer black linen Micarta which is a tough durable synthetic material that is bonded together with linen cloth. This coarse texture helps for non-slip purposes and durability features. Another option will be the use of Cocobolo wood; this is a deep rich wood for those customers who want something pretty on their knife handles, paracord wrap/ carbon fiber and aluminum handles that are ductile, tough and offer non-slip features. The cases for the knives will be made from three different materials. The first one will be regular traditional leather. The next material for the cases will be Ripstop Nylon case, which is a lightweight case that packs close to the body and can be attached in different ways. The last option will be a Kydex case, which is a semi rigid form of plastic that is known to be tough and durable. All cases offer multiple hanging options, clips, leg harness and traditional belt loop. Mcayain Specialty Knives is offering its target market a product that is not being offered by the other knife companies in the business. The knives offered could withstand any climate or extreme condition and at the same time offer customers the options to build a customized knife according to their preferences from start to finish. A lot of Knives in the market which are being offered by top companies like Buck knives or SOG knives provide one or two of the options being offered by Mcayain knives. Industry Analysis The the last few years have been a time of transition for the knife industry. Forces within and outside the business have worked to reshape designs, materials and the industrys distribution channels (Calandra, B. (2006). On the cutting edge. Retrieved July 24, 2008 from http://www.sgblink.com). The fixed- blade segment of the industry, which is hunting, fishing and outdoor knives, has seen the most change. There has been increase in sales because of the new designs which use new technology, lighter, durable products with better cutting edges, (Calandra,B.( 2006). On the cutting edge. Retrieved July 24, 2008 from http://www.sgblink.com). According to ( Tabor, T.C. 2007).  January, Choosing the right hunting knife.  Countryside and Small Stock Journal,  91(1),  57-59.   Retrieved July 24, 2008, from Research Library  database) there is still the hardcore hunting, fishing and outdoor consumers who are buying the best quality, high tech knife with new steel and interesting blades and state of the art handles. With this in mind Mcayain knives as described in the product analysis will continue using the best steel and offer new designs that the outdoor consumer wants. The Knife industry continues to evolve with each passing, the outdoor market is looking at lightweight knives like water knives and durable, coated knives that can withstand a lot of water and tear, (Snow, J. 2007,  September. A Cut Above.  Review of Outdoor Life,  212(8),  78). Consumers of specialty knives are willing to spend money on a knife that will make their outdoor or everyday lives easier (Fowler, E. 2007). Knife Talk: The Art and science Of Knife Making. Iowa: Krause Publications). Many of them have multiple knives that they keep in their collections, trucks, boat or one on their belts (Fowler, Ed. (2007). Knife Talk: The Art and science Of Knife Making. Iowa: Krause Publications). Many people who are involved in outdoor activities or live in rural areas have a need for more than one knife and often make additional purchases where the initial purchase was made. A lot of business for specialty knives occurs during gift-giving occasions and when the hunting and fishing season begins (Fowler, Ed. (2007). Knife Talk: The Art and science Of Knife Making. Iowa: Krause Publications). A lot of businesses in the knife industry, even the small ones make sales in the millions each year, (Snow, J. 2007,  September. A Cut Above.  Review of Outdoor Life,  212(8),  78). Despite tight laws in knife carrying due to the senseless September 11 attacks, during which the knife industry worldwide experienced a slow in sales, knives are still selling and the knife market is here to stay with great potential for new businesses ( Kramer, B. (20   March). Buck Knives finds success through lean manufacturing.  Knight Ridder Tribune Business News,1.   Retrieved August 09, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Dateline  database). Market Summary According to Dan Bumps from Blade Magazine the average specialty knife buyer is male and between the ages of 30-70 years old, with education beyond high school. Most are professionals (23.4%), proprietor/ self employed (13.7%), Managerial (10.6%), Technical (14.8%) and Blue collar (19.3%) with other (8.4%) ( D.Bumps, personal communication, July 28, 2008) An average outdoor enthusiast owns an average of 132 knives in his collection; and has a knife collection worth 10,089 dollars; they purchase an average of 27 knives annually and spend an average of 1,473 dollars annually on their outdoor hobby (D. Bumps, personal communication, July 28, 2008). Dan Bumps from Blade Magazine continues to mention that the average household income of this industry is 84,507 thousand dollars and are willing to spend money on a knife that makes their outdoor life easier(D.Bumps, personal communication, July 28, 2008). Mcayain knives will fulfill market needs by introducing their knives to three subsets. The first sub-market is the hunting enthusiastic who comprises of roughly 15% of the total target market. These are the individuals who enjoy deer hunting and want a good working knife for dressing animals, while offering exceptional cutting edge advantage which is durable, comfortable and easy to use. The second sub-market is for those customers who enjoy fishing and comprise of another 15% of our market; these are the sports fishermen and casual weekend users on the lake. They will use the knife for cutting bait, preparing the fish (scaling and gutting) and a knife that is comfortable, light, with superb quality. The final sub-market is for the outdoor enthusiasts who make up the most of our target market at 70%. They are the customers who have to have these kinds of knives whether for show or use. They are the individuals who are perceived serious about the outdoors and use different opportunities to show their knives and skills in outdoor sports or other challenges. Market trends show that outdoor enthusiasts are after knives that are user friendly and can perform multiple tasks. Todays buyer is after as much versatility and quality as can be packed into one package (Fowler, Ed. (1998). Knife Talk: The Art and science Of Knife Making. Iowa: Krause Publications). Market trends also show that the consumer wants multi tools, which is essence is a pair of folding pliers high breed with a Swiss army pen knife. This knife has utilitarian tools such as a saw, bottle opener, screw drivers, knife blade, scissors, and files (Troy, M. DSN Retailing Today, Oct 2, 2000,, Retrieved on July 18, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FNP/is_19_39/ai_66034876 ). This market is something that has been well covered by other businesses and is not something Mcayain Knives is willing to venture into because the multi tool is essentially a pair of pliers and we strive to specifically make a hard working knife. Another trend in the knife industry is the tactical knife, which is a knife you have to make do with for whatever you need it at the time, whether that means to cut a person out of a wrecked car or defend yourself from an attack (Pohl, D. (2003). Tactical knives. Germany: Krause publications). This is going to be close to 50% of Mcayains Market. It is the fastest growing portion of the knife market today. According to blade magazine, 82% of consumers will increase or maintain knife buying level over the next 12months. There is potential Market growth in this knife industry that will come from new products, not old (Calandra, B.( 2006) On the cutting edge. Retrieved July 24, 2008 from http://www.sgblink.com ). Calandra says that this new growth will come from Outdoor recreationalist and not just from traditional hunting and fishing categories. The Competition Three companies lead the target market that Mcayain knives are venturing into. Primarily Buck Knives command the majority of all the recreational knife market in every genre. This for Mcayain knives would be like trying to topple coca cola but to steal 1% of their market would mean a huge profit to Mcayain. Buck knives competitive advantage lies in their over 100 years of knife making and 35million dollars in sales in the fiscal year of 2007 according to Hoovers(Buck Knives Inc. (July 15th). Retrieved July 23, 2008, from Hoovers Company Records  database). SOG knives are the second largest competition for Mcayain knives. SOG originally stood for Studies and Observation Group, an elite joint services military group designed for covert operations in the Vietnam War. Sanctioned to develop and purchase their own equipment, SOG created a knife for use in one of the harshest environments in the world. (SOGKnives, Retrieved July 23, 2008 from http://www.sogknives.com/store/index.html). SOG has a well established specialty market, they provide consumers with good quality products that have been brutally tested and designed by top military weapon designers (Hartnik, A.E. (2005). The Complete encyclopedia of Knives. New Jersey: Chartwell Books). SOG has an added advantage of having contracts with several areas of the military providing them with edged tools that can be used in combat situations or outdoor recreation. Cold Steel knives are the third largest competition for Mcayain knives. They are very meticulous in making their knives, there choice of metal is very specific and their hardening and tempering process is chosen for their superior qualities in cutting abilities and blade strength. Their steel is specially made; all their blades are forged and cryogenically hardened which provides them with a very innovative and technologically advanced process which most knife manufacturers have deemed too complicated and expensive to undertake (Pohl, D. (2003). Tactical knives. Germany: Krause publications). Cold steels market share includes the martial artist which opens up a totally untapped market by Mcayain Knives. Another added advantage is that cold steel offers San Mai III, which is laminated steel used in making their larger knives, tougher, more flexible and virtually unbreakable while still retaining their high quality cutting edge. No other knife manufacturers offer this because it is too complicated to do.( Pohl, D. (2003). Tactical knives. Germany: Krause publications). Future competition for Mcayain knives comes from Diamond Blade Company. This company is an up and coming company whose innovation in cutting edge technology has taken the knife industry by surprise (Knives Illustrated, 2008, Retrieved July 23, 2008, from http://www.knivesillustrated.com/ ). They have spent the last five years developing a way to create differential hardeners in their knives and improve the edge holding ability exponentially from traditional knives. Diamond Blade Company has managed to develop steel that is over 300% more wear resistant than conventional D2 steel but still flexible enough to bend at 90 degrees without breaking, which ensures a superior knife(Knives Illustrated, 2008, Retrieved July 23, 2008, from http://www.knivesillustrated.com/ ). Keys to success Critical Issues There are several things that Mcayain knives need to do to succeed:- Mcayain needs to get notoriety for its quality of product being tough, a superior edge and having good design. This will be done by editors of magazines having the product for destruction testing. Mcayain needs a superb advertising strategy that brings awareness of the quality and diversity of its products. This would be both in print media and electronic media targeting not only the conventional knife user for example the hunters, fishermen but also cyclists, gun collectors, golfers or runners who might be interested in a specialty knife. Mcayain will need to design and produce products that meet market demand. Mcayain has to pay attention to the following critical issues:- Constantly monitor customer satisfaction, ensuring that the growth strategy will never compromise service and satisfaction levels. Mcayain has to establish itself as a market innovator that listens to its customers desires and needs. Mcayain needs to pursue controlled growth that dictates that all expenses will never exceed revenue base, this will help protect against recessions. Marketing strategy Mcayain has a limited budget, so the marketing strategy will be simple. Mcayains goal is to meet the needs of every outdoor enthusiast in the market in the future and to get their specialty knives out to every outdoor enthusiast including their target market of hunters, and fishermen. Developing visibility and brand equity is the key. To do so, Mcayains will use pull strategy by advertising in Blade magazine, knife illustrated and Tactical knife Magazine which are the top knife magazines in the U.S on a monthly basis to drive consumer sales and brand awareness. Participating in trade shows and also driving consumers to check out their interactive website. Mcayain is offering three knife patterns, the skinning knife with a 3.5-inch blade, tactical knife, with a 7.5-inch blade and the third one, which is a trout and stream knife with a 5.5-inch blade. The pricing structure of the knives is based on a tumbled finish blade and a cast aluminum handle in a rip stop nylon case. The basic price for the skinner is 130 dollars, trout and stream price is 140 dollars and the tactical knife will be 150 dollars. Additional blade finishes, additional handle materials and case options are add- ons that will increase the price of the knives according to customer needs and preferences. Using its interactive internet site, Mcayain will offer consumers chances to win free custom made knives by having competitions on who will introduce the most customers to the site, discounts for customers who purchase knives on a regular basis using their customer database to increase and drive sales. Marketing objectives The Knife Industry is a very competitive industry which is always changing. It is vast and diverse with many different levels of businesses from the large manufacturer to the single custom maker. Over the next three years Mcayains is targeting a Market share of roughly 2%. This may seem as a small percentage but in actuality it will give Mcayains a profit in the millions. Considering our main competitor Buck knives Inc, made $35 million in sales in 2007, and just to claim 2% of their Market would give Mcayains a profit of $700,000. This would just be one of the competitors Market share not including the rest. This will be done by Maintaining steady growth in each month by developing new products and features and allowing the customers to have more influence in the creation process of their knife. Also Mcayain will grow through increase in new customers who are turned into long-term customers. Financial Objectives Table 1: Production cost for Mcayain Tactical Knife (Most Expensive in the line) Manufacturing cost $ D2 Steel 6 Aluminum Handle 1.50 Handle Bolts 3.50 Rip stop Nylon 1.50 Press studs .75 Drill bits 2 Carbide chip 5 Ceramic belt Forging time:- 5minutes Machining of blade:-30minutes Sharpening:- 15minutes Heat treating :- 10 minutes 7 1.70 10 5 3.40 Machining Handle:- 10minutes Making case:- 30 minutes Assembling parts:- 5minutes Power TOTAL COST 3.40 10 1.70 20 82.45 The price unit of a tactical knife is $150; it costs Mcayain $82.45 to manufacture it. Advertising, Insurance and Workshop Rent are ongoing monthly expenses which equate to $7640. From the Manufacturing costs calculations, Mcayain can make 800 knives a month this divided into the ongoing monthly expenses gives an additional cost of $9.55 per knife. The total production cost for a knife is 82.45+ 9.55= $92.00 This gives Mcayain a profit of $58.00 per unit. This is a profit Margin 38.7% Mcayains major in-house expenses would involve new dyes for the forging process, CNC programming for machining centers for blades and handles. The dyes would cost $2,000 a piece per design ($6,000). CNC programming would cost $1,000 per design ($3,000). This would be a total of $9,000 in expenses. Taking our profit of $58.00 per unit and dividing into our total expenses of $9,000 we would need to sell 155 units to make profit. Mcayain would expect to be profitable within two months of advertising. Positioning Strategy The knife Industry is quite competitive and always changing, in order for Mcayain to obtain a good market share it should create PODs (points of differences in their knives. The number one thing going for Mcayains knives is the superior quality of steel and the cryogenic way of forging it that no other knife company is doing right now. As a web-based company it will offer interactive features that the customer can get involved in. Customers will be able to go in and design their knife from scratch to finish and change features as they wish and Mcayain will custom make the knives according to the customers preferences and mail it to them. Mcayain intends to keep up with customer needs and add new features and interactive capabilities to their Website and Knives. Marketing Mix Mcayain intends to use more than one marketing channel to increase market coverage and decrease any channel costs that they may incur. To do so they will use a multi-channel market system (Kotler, P., Keller, K.L. (2008).Marketing Management, 13e. (p.468-470). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall). The company will use direct marketing by selling all its 3 kinds on knives on line. The customer as mentioned before will be able to design their knife from the first stage to the final stage according to their preferences. If customers do not want to custom make their own design then they will have options to simply buy the ready-made knives. Customers will be able to go online, read reviews and get every detail of information about the knives. If they have any questions they can either email write or call and customers will be able to order knives through mail and phone. Advertising is one of the major channels that Mcayain intends to use and spend a lot of money on in pushing their product and creating brand awareness. Mcayain intends to advertise in the top three Knife magazines in the US market which are, Knife Illustrated, Blade Magazine and Tactical Knifes. The advertising cost for a 4 color full page advertisement is going to cost Mcayains a total of $ 10,920 a month in all three publications. Mcayain intends to send samples of their knives to Knife magazine editors, outdoor teams and Military tactical teams to test their product. Mcayain believes their product is superior and will sell itself through these channels. Word of mouth will help spread the word about the knife and hopefully drive customers to the Internet site. The company will use the magazines advertising to promote sales by offering customers to send in design ideas and vote on the best, and whoevers design gets chosen receives a free custom made knife. This will drive traffic to the site and hopefully get Mcayain some sales. Mcayain also plans to attend craft/ trade shows to show case their knives to all the knife enthusiasts attending. In the US a lot of knife shows are held throughout the calendar year. This will introduce the knives to any new potential customers and anyone else who would be interested in knowing about the Knives. Financial, Budgets and Forecasts The following sections provide the breakeven analysis, sales forecast, and expense forecast for Mcayain Knives. As a benchmark Mcayain knives will use the Tactical knife pricing to calculate its profit and loss because this is the more time consuming of the three designs, so the comparable percentages or profits of the knives are the same which is 38.7%. 12.1 Break Even Analysis With an estimated fixed cost of $445,640 for, 2009, the breakeven is: Break Even = Total fixed costs/ Unit contribution= 445,640/ 58 =7684 units. Mcayain Knives targets to sell 9,600 knives this comes from calculating how many knives they can make in a year. (800* 12). Therefore the profit for 2009 becomes: Profit = (9,600* 58) 445,640) = $111,160 The calculations are same for years 2010 and 2011. Table 2 shows the break even and profit for the next three years. Table 2. Break even and profit Impact for the next three years. Year Units sold Fixed costs Break Even Profit 2009 9,600 knives $ 445,640** 7684 knives $111,160 2010 10,560 knives* $ 436,640** 7529 knives $175,798 2011 11,616 knives* $ 436, 640** 7529 Knives $237,046 **Fixed costs are estimated for all three years. * Units sold for 2010 and 2011 are estimated assuming 10% market increase every year. 12.2 Sales Forecast Table 4 provides the sales forecast for the next three years for Mcayain Knives. Sales for 2009 are calculated using the following equation: Sales= Price per unit* units sold= $ 150 * 9,600 knives = $1, 440,000 Table 3:- Sales forecast for the next three years. Year Units Sold Price Per Unit Sales 2009 9,600 units $ 150 $ 1,440,000 2010 10, 560 units $ 150 $ 1,584,000 2011 11,616 units $150 $ 1,742,400 12.3 Expense Forecast Table 4 gives the expense forecast for the next three years. Expense for 2009 is calculated using the following equation:- Expense = (variable cost per unit * units sold) + fixed costs = ($92 * 9,600) + $445,640 =$1,328,840 Table 5:- Expense forecast for the next three years Year Units sold Variable cost per unit Fixed costs Sales 2009 9,600 $92 $445,640 $1,328,840 2010 10,560 $92 $436,640 $1,408,160 2011 11,616 $92 $436,640 $1,505,312 Marketing and Sales Organization As of right now Mcayain Knives has no sales or Marketing force in the Organization. The manager/ Owner of Mcayains, Mark Hopper intends to do all the initial Marketing of the product by attending trade shows, dealings with knife magazines and sales pitches to any potential clients. The reason for this is that all the other staff are production staff except for the secretary who makes sure all knife orders are fulfilled and shipped to customers. Mark Hopper who designed and developed the products and the processes that involve in making the knives, feels that his knowledge and experience of theses knives puts him in the best position to communicate the qualities and the designs to his future clients. Therefore he is the best for Marketing Mcayain Knives. In the future Mcayain Knives would like to have a specialized team of people who move upward from their original production positions into sales, management and product design and development positions. This will give the staff in these positions in-depth knowledge of the production processes and the product, which will aid them greatly in their new roles. Contingency Plan Mcayain knives is versatile enough to move with the trends of the market as well as being a trend setter. This is due to the fact that coming up with a new product would only be a $10,000 investment in CNC programming, tooling and die making. Right now Mcayain knives produces only fixed blade knives rather than folding knives or multi-tools, so it does not cover all aspects of the knife market, this could be seen as only having a single sale strategy. Another risk could be caused by legal legislation outlawing the carrying and use of knives; this would have a detrimental effect on Mcayains market. Competition is always a concern; this is because it is very simple in the knife industry to take someones idea and develop it further. To minimize the Market moving and Competition, Mcayain Knives has to be a trend setter in the interactive designs of knives. They have to make sure their products are always exceptional and constantly developing. Keeping the customers excited in what they will do next. For legislation laws Mcayain Knives intends to open a forum on their website informing people of proposed legislations and possible movements within the law.

Post Modernism In Pop Culture

Post Modernism In Pop Culture Attempts to define post-modernism can come in many different forms as different people have different ideas as to what exactly the term means. This being said, most people who take part in the debate over modernism and postmodernism share a consensus that postmodernism might be many things, but it certainly is linked with the growth of popular culture in the late twentieth century in the West. In other words, postmodernism can be seen as a new historical moment, a new sensibility, or a new cultural style, but popular culture can be referenced as the site on which these changes can be most easily found. Postmodernism is a perspective which tends to reject many of the accepted values of modernism. It involves a reinterpretation of gender roles and the differenced traditionally applied to them. It takes a more global perspective in its view of ethnic and national distinctions, and rejects stereotypes of all kinds. At the same time, it embraces the notion of nostalgia in art (film, telev ision, advertising) and uses multiple referencing (among other strategies) to communicate on a variety of symbolic levels. This essay will research the nature of postmodernism and apply it to a body of film, television, or advertising material. It should the focus on a single example and analyze it as typical of postmodern artistic form. From this essay it will be clear that postmodernism represents a blurring of the boundaries between levels of culture, and The Simpsons is a typical example of postmodernist artistic form. It was the late 1950s and early 1960s that the movement that we now come to know as postmodernism began to emerge. In the words of Susan Sontag, a critic of American culture, it came with the emergence of a new sensibility, and this involves a blurring of the distinction between high and low culture. Anyway, the distinction becomes less meaningful. The post-modern new sensibility did not follow along the same lines as the cultural elitism of modernism. Although modernism seems to have an important place in popular culture, it is marked by a significant suspicion of all things popular. It was those items that were associated with elite culture that were accepted under modernism. Culture was that which would be readily accepted into a museum, it was that which had a homologous relationship with the elitism that is inherent in class society. What this means is that the drive towards post modernism in the late 1950s and 1960s was associated with the growing attack on the elitism of modernism. The emergence of postmodernism signaled a refusal of the great divideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a discourse which insists on the categorical distinction between high art and mass culture, moreover, to a large extent, it is by the distance we have traveled from this great divide between mass culture and modernism that we can measure our own cultural post modernity. A good early example of the new wave of post-modern popular culture can be seen in the American and British pop art movement of the 1950s and 1960s as it rejected the division between high culture and popular culture. This can be said to be postmodernisms first cultural flowering. One of pop arts first prominent theorist, Lawrence Alloway explains that the area of contact was mass produced urban culture: movies, advertising, science fiction, pop music. We felt none of the dislike of commercial culture standard among intellectuals, but accepted it as a fact, discussed it in detail, and consumed it enthusiastically. This acceptance of the new movement of postmodernism allowed people to treat popular culture in the realm of serious art, and not a second tier of culture. When seen from this perspective, postmodernism first came out of a refusal by the different generations to abide by the categorical certainties of high modernism. It came to be thought of as taboo to continue to maintain an absolute distinction between high and popular culture. This was very evident in the way that art and popular music merged. A good example of this can be seen in the way Peter Blake designed the front cover of the Beatles Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and the way Andy Warhol designed the cover of the Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers. By the middle of the 1980s, the post-modern new sensibility had become deeply engrained into popular culture, and for some, a reason to despair. The postmodern condition is one that is marked by a crisis in the position of knowledge in Western societies. This served to give intellectuals less eminence as the academy continually lost its credibility. Iain Chambers argues this point from a different perspective. He says the debate over postmodernism can in part be understood as the symptom of the disruptive ingression of popular culture, its aesthetics and intimate possibilities, into a previously privileged domain. Theory and academic discourses are confronted by the wider, unsystemized, popular networks of cultural production and knowledge. The intellectuals privilege to explain and distribute knowledge is threatened. Another cultural theorist, Angela McRobbie agrees with this as she sees it as the coming into being of those whose voices were historically drowned out by the (modernist) metanarratives of mastery, which were in turn both patriarchal and imperialist. She put forth the argument that postmodernism has enfranchised a new sect of intellectuals who speak from the margins from a perspective of difference, including ethnic, class, gender and sexual preference differences. These are the people whom she refers to as the new generation of intellectuals. A similar point is made by Kobena Mercer as she sees postmodernism as partially an unacknowledged response to the emerging identities and voices of those people who have emerged from the margins, and this opens a new way of seeing and understanding. Hyperrealism can be said to be a component of postmodernism. In the sphere of the hyperreal, the real and the imaginary continually come into contact with each other. Simulations begin to be experienced as something that is more real than real itself. The evidence in favor of this argument can be seen throughout our Western society. For example, we live in a society where people write letters to the characters they see on television, asking them out on dates, and offering them places to live. This can be called the dissolution of television into life, or the dissolution of life into television. It was said by John Fiske that postmodern media does not, like it once did, provide secondary representations of reality: they affect and produce the reality that they mediate. Additionally, Fiske argues that those events in our lives that matter must be synonymous with media events. The arrest of O.J. Simpson was a good example of this. As the news of his story unfolded, people in the area rushed to his house so that they could be part of the news cycle. They wanted to be indistinguishably live people and media people. This is an attribute of the postmodern era. These people were aware that the media was not merely reporting of circulating the news, they were creating it. Therefore, if people wanted to be part of the news of this event, it was not sufficient to be there on the scene, to actually be part of this event, they had to be on television. This is a testament to the fact that in the hyperreal world of the postmodern, the distinction between a real event and its media represe ntation loses its distinction. Frederic James who is an American critic of culture as is well versed in postmodernism argues that it is a culture of pastiche. To him, postmodern culture is a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, all that is left is to imitate dead styles, to speak through masks and with the voices of the styles in the imaginary museum. Postmodernism is a culture that is put together from many different places it can be said to be a culture of quotations. Our cultural production is the consequence of other cultural production. Postmodern cultural texts do not just quote other cultures, other historical moments, they randomly cannibalize them to the point where any sense of critical or historical distance ceases to exist there is only pastiche. This trend of the pastiche is noticeable in both the body of film and television. It can be seen in the nostalgia film that is evident in both television and film. Some movies that would fall into this category of the postmodern nostalgia film would be Back to the Future as it seeks to recreate the atmosphere and stylistic peculiarities of America in the 1950s. Other films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Robin Hood and Lord of the Rings act in a similar way as they induce a sense of narrative certainties of the past. In this way, the nostalgia film either recaptures and represents certain styles of viewing the past. These films seek to make cultural myths and stereotypes about the past. They offer false realism: films about other films, representations of other representations. As this study of postmodernism in popular culture progresses, it is useful to apply it to a single example, and then analyze it as typical of postmodernist artistic form. The Simpsons is a spectacularly popular show of the lat two decades and it represented the first prime time animated series since the Flintstones. Since its inception, this show has emerged as a cultural phenomenon. It is because of this immense success that The Simpsons represents a worthy object of study for cultural critics. There is no doubt that this television series can be placed in the category of the postmodern. All of the rhetorical devices that are synonymous with postmodern theory are present in The Simpsons: pastiche, quotation, intertextuality and reflexivity. The Simpsons, because of the way it uses reflexivity and intertextuality in particular is a great example of the postmodern at work. All elements of this show are related to a network of intertextual references to popular texts of other. In particular there are four ways in which The Simpsons uses intertextuality in recurrent forms. Firstly, there are single elements in the show that carry many intertextual references. A good example of this is the fact that the name of the town that The Simpsons live in is called Springfield. This is significant because it is the same name as the town that the vintage television show Father Knows Best was set in. This might be a rather obvious reference to the nostalgic, but there are much more subtle references in the show that make it surely a postmodern creation. For example, the curator of Springfields museum is named after a couple of dormitories at Harvard University. Also they build on nostalgic phrases on the past, two cars in every garage, and three eyes on every fish. In this way The Simpsons can be said to be a collection of quotations. Many of the scenes from The Simpsons are also taken from other movies or television shows. There is that episode that includes 22 Short Films about Springfield, and this in particular serves as a parody of Pulp Fiction, another important creation in the postmodern milieu. In fact, there are whole episodes of The Simpsons that are entire parodies of other shows. For example, the episode Bart of Darkness is a parody of Alfred Hitchcock, and there are even echoes of Jimmy Stewart in Itchy and Scratchy Land. Additionally, the show is one that heavily displays internal references. This builds on the fact that each episode is at its outset freestanding. Even though the main characters do not evolve, they posses a memory of past episodes and the supporting characters do change. The Simpsons can also be said to be postmodern because of the way that it is an example of reflexive television, one in which the text is a reference to its condition of consumption and production. This can be seen in four ways. First, The Simpsons can be seen to be reflexive from an examination of the opening credits where the family rushes home to crowd the couch and watch television. This highlights the fact that the show is about the process of watching television, and television consumption is a necessary component of family life. The Simpsons also possesses a commentary on the star system. In one way, the show contains a television universe where television stars are created. One such example is Krusty the Clown whose purpose is to fulfill the ongoing process of consumption and merchandizing. In another way, real stars make cameo appearances on the show giving their voices characters that either represent themselves of other figures. The show can even serve as a parody of the a nimation industry within the animation industry. There is an episode where the ratings of the new Itchy Scratchy Poochie Show has poor ratings. This episode is interesting because it highlights a caricature of a market research process which utilizes the pulse meter for assessing how new characters are received when they are seen by the audiences for the first time. This is a great example of how The Simpsons is reflexive television. The Simpsons can even refer to what has been dubbed postmodern hyperconscious. It is a type of commentary on the role that they play in popular culture. An example of this comes when Homer is enjoying a night out and Apu ask Homer if he is on television as he looks familiar. Homer says, sorry buddy, you got me confused with Fred Flintstone. This is reflexive in that it shows that the series creators are aware of the links between their show and their predecessors. These are just some of the many examples that make The Simpsons a great example of postmodern culture, although their use of these rhetorical devices is systematic. What is the reason for this shows particular approach, meaning that unlike the other cartoons on television, The Simpsons is very unique? This is because the show is not intended to attract the same audiences as other cartoons, it provide a social commentary and is thus attractive to the sophisticated public. The Simpsons actually works in an interesting way as its form serves to encourage the consumption of popular culture. The show uses postmodern strategies to make political and social commentary in a way that is non partisan and in a way that is appealing to the masses. The creators of the show clearly do not want to create divisions among its audiences. In this paper it has been shown that attempts to define postmodernism can be a difficult task, but there are simple ways to explain it. One thing for sure though is that postmodernism is linked with the growth of popular culture in the late twentieth century in the West. Postmodernism is a perspective which tends to reject many of the accepted values of modernism. It involves a reinterpretation of gender roles and the differenced traditionally applied to them. It takes a more global perspective in its view of ethnic and national distinctions, and rejects stereotypes of all kinds. At the same time, it embraces the notion of nostalgia in art (film, television, advertising) and uses multiple referencing (among other strategies) to communicate on a variety of symbolic levels. It was then shown that The Simpsons is a perfect example of postmodern pop culture as it is nostalgic and reflexive, and also uses rhetorical devices which are common in postmodernism. From this essay it is clear th at postmodernism represents a blurring of the boundaries between levels of culture, and The Simpsons is a typical example of postmodernist artistic form.