Principles of Marketing Management - Assignment 2

Principles of Marketing Management - 2 - Assignment Example The plan will cover different external as well as internal environmental analysis of the company for the purpose of having long term sustainability in the market and attain a better competitive position. Ikea Estates is a sister concern of Inter IKEA Holding. The company operates in a decentralised manner in which each division of the company owns its own responsibilities. In addition to this, different business lines and operations are handled by their own managements. In this context, Ikea Estates is a separate and independent concern under the flagship of Inter IKEA Holding. This division of the group deals in real estate properties like housing. The prime quest of this division is to create long term value for the division as well as entire group with the help of making investments in properties. In addition to this, the overall operations of the organisation includes the development of new properties, land banking and undertaking of the active management the portfolio of properties that can be proved quite efficient to retrieve maximum amount of returns from the investments (Property Division 2013). Ikea Estates was recognised as a separate division of the entire group in the year 1990, when housing and real estate market was on boom phase. This division of the country is quite expended and geographically diversified. There are 8 different European countries in which, the company has registered its footprint quite intensively. These countries are Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, Poland, Latvia, Belgium, Romania, and Lithuania ((Property Division 2013). The company is well known for its factory built housing schemes offered to the customers after the recent financial crisis. The concept of wood cladded and wonky roofed houses emerged by the company was exceptional and proved as one of the most successful business ideas after the recent financial crisis that has made the perception of people regarding real estate as an investment

Friends and the play of Nevilles Island Essay Example for Free

Friends and the play of Nevilles Island Essay The hit sitcom Friends started ten years ago when we were first introduced to Monica, Rachael, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey and today I am going to compare the sitcom of Friends with the play of Nevilles Island which was written by Tim Firth. Nevilles Island is not only a play. It has also been recently made into a film starring Timothy Spall, Martin Clunes, Jeff Rawle and David Bamber. Friends on the other hand was written and still remains for television and for the past ten years it has been broadcast over the Atlantic to millions of eager viewers both in America and the U. K. In America Friends is broadcast over the television network of NBC compared to the U.K where it is received through Channel 4. When we first observe the film of Nevilles Island we are introduced to four businessmen, who, when their boat sinks, find themselves stranded on a small island, called Rampsholme in the middle of the Lake Districts Derwent Water. The Four Characters in Nevilles Island are on a team-building weekend, they are Neville, (Jeff Rawle), has become the elected Captain of the group, who then proves he is unfit for his position when he leads the team in the wrong direction. He does his best to maintain order in the groups arguments, and works well as a go-between as he proves to be very reasonable with his fellow peers, and he seems to be the most adjusted member of the group to island life, He is dressed in an Anorak and wears glasses. He tries his hardest to keep the peace between Angus and Gordon, (Timothy Spall) who is extremely sarcastic towards his fellow peers and seems to pick up on every little flaw in their character, which later show him to be a bully, his cruel sarcasm gives us ma ny funny moments throughout the play of Nevilles island, such as all Christians are like Radio hams. Gordon seems to have many rants at his fellow colleagues most of which result in handbags at dawn style tension between him and Angus, (David Bamber) whom at the start of the play; he comes across as a good-natured person who is full of optimism. Angus seems to have dressed out of the camp shop side of his wardrobe so to speak as he is dressed constantly in cagoules, anoraks and knitted hats. Angus turns out to be a bit sad as he seems to bore everyone stiff, with his numerous attempts at cracking jokes. Also, later in the play where all hope seems to have to been lost he suddenly reveals a hidden sausage, which in the heating of proves to be very funny. He may also later have hindered the groups rescue as he seems to have bought the entire stock of a camping shop and told nobody about it, his shopping list includes a 18-inch knife, climbing ropeand for some reason unbeknown to his fellow standees..a dinner suit! Roy, (Martin Clunes), is a born-again Christian who has an un-kempt appearance. Roy has recently returned to work following a prolonged breakdown, after the death of his mother, Lucy, he literally hangs onto his sanity and Gordons rant about how old people only become religious because they are scared stiff, and there just grabbing, grabbing, grabbing at the rope, and no-ones holding the other end doesnt help either as this near-enough sends Roy into a relapse, and he disappears into the undergrowth with an 18-inch knife, so the group fear he may do something to harm himself, but later he is found, sat up a tree wearing only his underwear, but after he returns the knife to Neville, they fear he may take his own life again as Angus almost mile long piece of rope has gone missing, and they think he may hang himself he also reveals to Neville that he helped his mother to end her own lifeRoy is also a keen birdwatcher, and he takes his time on the island to observe a rare falcon, and is called amongst many other things by GordonDoo-lally Friends is all about 6 friends who all live in the same block of apartments in New York, the show takes us through their individual strengths, weaknesses, problems and goalsmost of all their intertwining relationships with each other. The characters in friends are Joey Tribbiani (Matt Leblanc.) Joey is broad-shouldered, wide-eyed and thick-headed. Joey comes from New York and is a lover who has had many partners. Joey is a not-so-good actor who never has to play-act being a good guy or a better friend, but he wants to hit the big-time as an actor. He is cheeky, and most of his jokes are sexually orientated, followed by hand gestures. Joey is sarcastic. Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) Wise-cracks, and sets off development in characters storyline. Chandler appears to be over-qualified at work and he seems to be afraid of wife Monica. Chandler gives really bad advice. Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) Ross is the personification of an intellectual geek as he is an expert in Palaeontology. Ross is still looking for love after 3 divorces. He has always loved Rachael. Ross is quite nerdy, and (most of the time) sticks to the rule book. Rachael Green (Jennifer Aniston), Rachael comes across as an IT/ Daddys girl. She dithers a lot, and is meant to be with Ross, even though they have drifted apart many times. Monica Geller Bing (Courtney Cox Arquette) used to be a high-school fatty, but now has slimmed down to obsessive and cleaning mad Monica. She is a good sister to Ross and a friend to everyone. After marrying Chandler, Monica seems to have made him find his maturity. Phoebe Buffay Hannigan (Lisa Kudrow) a hippie chick who has led a traumatic life, her mother killed herself, her stepfather went to prison, and she lived on the streets for some of her life. She drives people mad with her out-of-key folk songs that she writes with her guitar. Phoebe can be quite dippy, but she is kind-hearted, a good spirit, and seems to take everyday as it comes. She near enough floats around and I think would have fit in perfectly in the 60s. Very off-the-wall. The sitcom of friends is set in New York and it appears to be aimed at the younger generations of the 90s and 00s, this is mainly caused by its humour and that the characters themselves are very young. In comparison to this the play of Nevilles Island is set in a remote island in the middle of a lake in the Lake District and its characters are all middle-aged around 40 years old and Nevilles Island, I think can appeal to all ages as the comedy and mishaps that occur between the four characters of Angus, Roy, Gordon and Neville could almost happen to anybody of any age. The four men in Nevilles Island are all executives of a water company and they have been sent on this team-building exercise. The friendships in either drama are very different, as the 6 friends in Friends are all immensely close and after being so for ten years they appear to have a love for each other which comes with a bond that makes their friendships so special to them, even though the group is half men, half women apart from sexual tension between Monica and Chandler, Ross and Rachael this appears to not affect their friendships whatsoever. These bonds of friendship could not be more different than in the play of Nevilles Island by Tim Firth as the four colleagues seem to have been forced to be together and this creates lots of tension between them particularly with Roy and Gordon with his rants about all Christians are like radio-hams. The four colleagues seem to be each putting up with each other constantly and we get a sense that if they had not worked in the same workplace, these four individuals would never had considered becoming friends with each other. The Two dramas of Friends and Nevilles Island have been written in the same decade and they include many moral issues and information about current affairs for example the mood of Friends was slightly changed for a while during the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World trade centres. The home life/lifestyle has affected the personalities of all the characters in either drama such as Phoebe is slightly mad and sometimes eccentric. This may have been caused by her circumstances as a child as her mother killed herself, her stepfather went to prison, and she lived on the streets for some of her life. In Nevilles Island we see Gordon who appears to bully most people he sees by picking up on every flaw in their character and using it as ammunition against them, Gordon appears to be in denial as in fact he is very lonely but refuses to admit this. There are many themes/issues that arise from the two dramas of Nevilles Island and Friends such as Status; in Friends the 6 characters stand almost as individuals and they respect each other because of it and apart from minute outbursts from such characters as Monica giving rants about Crummies, but this is simply a part of Monicas character and does not distinguish her as having more power over fellow friends. In contrast to this there is use of Status/Power in Nevilles Island, and this comes mainly from the character Gordon bullying people and bossing them about. Gordon is not however the chosen leader of the group, who is Neville but Gordon, underestimates his given authority on the island and simply does what he wants and says what he wants regardless of their feelings. Gordon always makes sarcastic and negative comments about his fellow colleagues; this makes him feel superior and powerful to the rest of the group. Friendship is a key theme in both pieces of drama as in Friends, the entire purpose of the sitcom is to display the friendship between the 6 characters however Nevilles Island meddles with the idea of leaving work-place politics behind in order the group of them to survive, whilst on the island though we realise that this group of colleagues dont actually like each other and seem to have been forced into this team-building weekend. There are many relationships in both pieces of drama, some sexual but some arise form tension and the clash of personalities like that in Nevilles Island between Roy and Gordon. Gordon is convinced that Roy is faking his religion for attention/acceptance and goes on many rants about this for example when he tells Roy that all Christians are like radio-hams. Gordon continues to cause tension between the group when there is a clash of personalities between Angus and himself as Angus is constantly trying to tell jokes, but none of them are funny as Angus often gets the joke mixed-up, this irritates Gordon even further, and he reached the height of his irritation when he discovers that Angus seems to have an entire camping shop worth of supplies in his backpack, along with climbing rope, an 18-inch macheteand even a 3-piece dinner suit! Gordon continues to irritate Angus by simply picking on him, but this ends when Gordon accuses Angus wife of being adulterous and that right now she is screaming in ecstasy on the bread shelf in Sainsburys. Relationships in Friends that are of a sexual sense come from Ross and Rachael as since the beginning of the series they have been attracted to each other and after 3 divorces Ross seems to have found his perfect match, this applies to Rachael; and in the final episode Ross and Rachael finally get together. Another relationship in the sitcom Friends comes from Monica and Chandler, they get married and later find out that they cannot have children so in the final series they have a surrogate mother and she agrees to give them her baby, but when the baby is being born in the final episode they find out that instead of one baby, they are having twins. The two remaining friends who do not get it together are Joey and Phoebe, there has never been an attraction between them and Phoebe marries a man called Mike and becomes Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan. Co-operation plays a big part in the play of Nevilles Island by Tim Firth, the entire purpose of the team-building is to bring the four characters together as a team, so that they can co-operate together in this or any environment, but this proves difficult as the four colleagues are completely incompatible and in the end simply get on each others nerves. The characters in Friends co-operate completely with each other, they help each other out in any circumstances and they work together perfectly. The social context of the sitcom Friends by David Crane takes us through an entire decade of events through the years of 1994 -2004. Friends is set in the city of New York and focuses on city life and the glamorous lifestyles of 6 friends in coffee culture which is centred around their meeting place a coffee house by the name of Central Perk. The social context of Friends takes us before, during and through the aftermath of the 11th September attacks on the World Trade Centre, which all Americans including the characters in friends come out of this very patriotic. The Sitcom of Friends focuses more on the social lives of the friends rather than their work places, this is mainly shown through Chandler as we get a sense that he is successful in his job, but this is shrouded in mystery as we never find out what he does or indeed what his workplace looks like. A convention of an American sitcom is that it shows Americans in an ideal lifestyle and there is no hint of poverty or depravation and they appear to be at the higher middle-class and American viewers hope to aspire to this. These conventions are used in the sitcom Friends. Friends is filmed in a studio and no-matter-what shot is used, we never get to see that elusive other wall in contrast to this in the play Nevilles Island the weather appears to mirror the emotions of the characters, this is pathetic fallacy, and instead of being filmed in a studio, Nevilles Island is filmed in a natural environment on location. Nevilles Island is set in the 1990s and in a rural setting as the entire play occurs outdoors. Nevilles Island is set in the time where John Major from the conservative party was Prime Minister, and the negative attitudes towards the situations used through Gordon mirror that of the time as John Major was trying to shake off and fight Margaret Thatchers Everyone for themselves view. Nevilles Island is a black comedy as it uses the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements to give a certain effect. The humour within Nevilles Island is created because of the contrasting characters and the way that they interact with each other. Each character has their own individual sense of humour; Gordon possesses a sarcastic, negative and almost child-like sense of humour. Angus jokes are more centred on farcical subjects that when told arent very funny at all, but they appear to have been funny in Angus head as he laughs at his own jokes a lot. Roy doesnt really have a sense of humour as he appears to be too wrapped up in his religion, but sometimes he can appear to be quite argumentative and almost psychotic. The sitcom Friends is also centred on comedy and the humour is directed at and centred on the characters. The characters all respond differently to different situations but comedy is usually created by the use of facial expressions, accents, off-the-wall comments and the immense use of timing and pauses. From both plays there are many ideas that I would like to experiment with and include in my improvisation unit of Stranded, such as * Being stranded * Comedy/Sarcasm * Characters, with similarities to that of Nevilles Island and friends * One of the characters has a secret. * Tension * The types of characters that have been created for example Joeys use of timing and comments, Monicas obsessiveness, Phoebes eccentrics, Roys almost psychotic state of mind and his belief in religion or Gordons sarcasm and use of negative comments. The themes used within these two dramas, for example I have decided to base my Stranded improvisation work to create a piece that is focused on a shipwreck, like that of Nevilles Island. The different social settings have interested me and I understand how they affect the piece, we have decided to set our drama on a ship that is in the middle of the Irish Sea and it is full of escaped convicts/murderers that steal the boat and hold its occupier hostage, who for coincidence the criminals know, They are all Irish.

Shadows On The Wall by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Essay example -- Shadow

Shadows On The Wall by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Dan Roberts: Dan is the main character in Shadows On The Wall . He is constantly seeing and feeling some very strange things on his vacation . Every morning he takes a jog very early around Micklegate Bar . He also makes a new friend on his journey to York , England . Dan is 15 years old . Joe Stanton: Joe is a cab driver . He and Dan become really good friends . Joe is an old but wise man in many ways . He also takes Dan to see all the sites in York and drives all the people around , but mostly the people staying at the Hotel . Ambrose Faw: He was the leader in the Faw family . He and Joe are also very good friends and they have known each other for almost the whole lives . Rose: Rose was married to Ambrose and had four kids . She is also a psychic like her mother . She is a very kind person . Nat: Nat was Ambrose’s son . He wants to leave the gypsy clan and have adventures when he grows up . He and Dan become good friends and Nat shows Dan around their camp . Nat also keeps bothering Dan because he wants to trade for Dan’s belt , but Dan said no because it is the only belt he brought with him . In the end they end up trading anyway . Jasper: He is Ambrose’s oldest son . He is also a mute , but he could talk when he was younger . One day he came running out of the woods scared and never talked again . Dan sometimes hears him singing in the woods . When he told Joe he said it was more like a chant . Dan has also seen Jasper turn into a type of monster with lime-green hair . Jasper is always staring at Dan . Orlenda: Orlenda is Nat’s older sister , she is often looking at Dan . Her grandmother thinks that she is going to run away with a gorgio . The grandmother considers Dan a gorgio . She barely talks to him but they are always near each other . Granny: the granny is Rose’s mother and she can tell the future . She believes that everyone of the gypsies have a special power . She also knew exactly when she was going to die and she was right . Rachel: Rachel is the youngest of Rose’s children and doesn’t do much in the book but help around with the little things . Mr. Roberts: He is Dan’s dad . All through the book he is acting very strangely on the entire trip Mrs. Roberts: She is Dan’s mom , she is also acting very strangely and her and her husband are kee... ... into the soldiers face he turned Joe .They were both dripping with sweat and they sat there and talked until sunrise . In the moring the other gypsy clan came and they finished the funeral and burned the granny’s things . After Dan and Joe ate they left because Joe knew that they wanted to be alone . On the way home Dan told Joe about how he saw Ambrose in the tower and that he was getting soil . Then Joe told Dan that the old woman wasn’t born in the gardens(Museum Gardens).Before Dan had left the camp he traded his belt with Nat for an old Romany coin . That was the last day Dan was in York . When he got back to the hotel he took a shower then went to sleep . When his Parents got back They all packed and left . That night Ambrose went to the hotel and asked for Dan but Mrs. Harrison told him that they left . After Ambrose left the hotel he went to the stream and threw Dan’s belt in the deepest part of the water . That is how the book ends . VII. This was a really good book . There were some boring parts , but most of it was good . There were some really good parts in this book , and there were alot of adventurous parts . I think the ending is very confusing .

Discobolus by Myron (Ancient Greek Art)

In any history, and above all in the history of art, there are two main aspects, from which the subject may be considered. The subject may be either studied from the point of view of general tendencies, the development of types and ideas, their national character, and the circumstances that surrounded and fostered their growth; or attention may be given to the achievements of individuals, their personality, and the contributions that they respectively made to the general progress.It is true that in any comprehensive study the two must be blended, must supplement and confirm each other. Whichever principle is followed to guide the selection and arrangement of the facts, the study cannot follow it to the entire exclusion of the other. Yet the artist is no less dependent upon external circumstances for the occasion and the material of his works.Had not the predecessors worked through generations of experiment and observation to improve the familiar types, to attain mastery over the stub born substance of marble and bronze, and to acquire and perfect a skilled technique in the treatment of the nude and of drapery, no sculptor of the fifth century could have conceived or executed the bold yet symmetrical contortions of the Discobolus. Had Myron been born a century earlier, he could no more have produced these works than if he had lived at the present day.Before the study approaches the work of this individual master, it may be advisable to take a more general survey of the character of Greek sculpture, as contrasted with earlier and later styles. No art, and especially that of sculpture, can make true progress unless it is constantly kept in touch with nature by observation. Here again the social surroundings of the Greek artist gave him an immense advantage over all others. The daily exercises in the palaestra or gymnasium and the frequently recurring athletic festivals gave him constant opportunities for observing the human form both in rest and in action.This perf ection of condition and of all-round muscular development with the help of a well-trained memory is one of the chief attainments of Myron. For the observation of drapery, too, he had constant opportunities in the figures that surrounded him in daily life. There he could see a variety and grace of texture and of folds such as no draping of a model in unfamiliar garments and materials could ever have suggested. It is true that the same opportunities for varied observation did not exist in the case of the nude female figure.It is perhaps for this very reason that Greek statues of this type, however beautiful in form, rarely if ever impress us with the same breadth and nobility of conception as the corresponding male figures, whether of gods or men. The feeling of the Greeks themselves about the matter is well illustrated by the story of Zeuxis at Croton , how the people of that town, when they commissioned him to paint a picture of Helen, and wished to give him every opportunity for ex celling himself in such a subject, allowed him to see a selection of the most beautiful of their maidens just as freely as he could see their brothers exercising in the palaestra.This is evidently the meaning of the story, though it is misinterpreted by some later authorities in accordance with the eclectic spirit of their own age. Myron was a Greek sculptor. He is supposed to have been a pupil of Ageladas of Argos, but he worked largely in Athens. Sculpting in bronze, he was noted for his animals (of which no examples have survived) and for his athletes in action. His works are known through descriptions by ancient writers, such as Pliny and Pausanias, and two of them by copies, the Discobolus (Gr. discus thrower), the best copy of which is the Lancelotti Discobolus in Rome (Terme Museum), and Athena and Marsyas, of which there are also Roman copies . We know but little about Myron’s life. He was a native of Eleutherae, a town on the frontier of Attica and Boeotia. To judge from the list of his works and the places where they were set up, he must have enjoyed a reputation throughout Hellenic lands. The statues of athletic victors from his hand could be seen at Olympia and at Delphi. However, several of his most famous works were in Athens, and it is probable that his artistic career was mainly associated with that city.He is recorded, however, to have been a pupil of the Argive sculptor Ageladas, who was for a long time the acknowledged leader of the Peloponnesian School of athletic sculpture; and it is said that his fellow-pupils were Phidias and Polyclitus. The dates of Myron’s artistic career can be fixed with certainty by the Olympiads of the victors whose statues he made; Lycinus won in 448 B. C. , and Timanthes in 456; Ladas probably in 476; but so famous an athlete may have had a statue set up in his honor some years after the event.The traditional date given by Pliny, which makes Myron a contemporary of Polyclitus, is evidently wrong. Hi s son Lycius was employed on an important public commission, the statues set up by the knights of Athens at the entrance to the Acropolis, about 446 B. C. We must, therefore, assign the artistic activity of Myron himself to the first half of the fifth century. His early manhood must have coincided with the period of the Persian wars. Of the great men of this period, our knowledge, after all, is most unsatisfactory.Only one of the transitional sculptors who are mentioned by ancient writers, Myron, has a definite personality. He was clearly an artist of decidedly individual tendencies, who can hardly be called typical of any school. Though all of Myron’s works have perished, we have copies of at least two of them, from which we can gain a fairly clear idea of this ancient master. This is the first time that we have had to deal with copies, and it may be worthwhile, therefore, to digress for a moment and consider the nature of the copies on which much of our knowledge of ancient sculpture depends.In the later days of antiquity, especially after the Roman conquest of Greece, there was evidently an enormous demand for reproductions of the famous works of Greek sculpture, and numerous artists devoted themselves to supplying this demand. Some seem to reproduce their originals with considerable exactness; others are obviously far inferior to them. Often one copy was made from another, and sometimes the copyists did not hesitate to alter the originals in details, so that many of their productions are reflections rather than copies, in any exact sense.One very common alteration was the addition of a support in the form of a tree-stump or some other object. This was almost always employed when the copyist, as frequently happened, was working out a marble copy of a bronze original. Moreover, mutilated ancient statues, when they were dug out of the ground, were commonly handed over to a marble-worker for â€Å"restoration†, that is, for the addition of legs o r heads or noses, whatever, in fact, was necessary to make the statue complete.Thus, we have constantly to keep in mind that in dealing with copies, the problem often is to determine, from several widely divergent and differently restored copies, the general appearance and the details of an ancient statue. This method of procedure is excellently illustrated by the most famous of Myron’s works, the Discobolus, or Discus-thrower. The copies of this, which have been found, vary greatly in details. All are marred by the supporting tree-stump, though this was differently treated by different copyists.Only one has a head, which has never been broken off and which shows the original position, as it is described by Lucian. One fragmentary copy was completely misunderstood by the sculptor to whom it was handed over and restored as a fleeing Niobid! The Discobolus is justly famous for its splendid suggestion of vigorous manhood, its bold pose, and its perfect balance. If it were not fo r the formal locks of hair, the rather expressionless face, and some ancient evidence, which fixes the career of Myron in the first half of the fifth century, the statue might well be regarded as a work of the great age of Greek sculpture.As it is, we must probably assign the original to the years just before 450, and regard the unusual freedom with which it is conceived as proof of the originality of Myron rather than as evidence of a general adoption of such active poses by the men of the transitional time. Such an inference is borne out by some other works of the master, such as his group of Athena and Marsyas, and especially his Ladas, a statue of a runner poised on tiptoe just as he reached the goal, a work of which only literary accounts are preserved.Moreover, down to the time of Alexander the Great such violent action as is suggested by these works was rarely represented by the Greek sculptors. These particular innovations, therefore, were little imitated by Myron’s i mmediate successors, but there can be little doubt that much of the progress made during the transitional period was due to his initiative. In compensation for this cooling of ancient enthusiasm, we may perhaps extenuate the one weakness noted by the ancients. He was accounted a master of anatomy and action, but weak in the rendering of the face.Conceding that the faces are not very expressive, it may be doubted whether this is altogether a weakness. It is questionable whether the athletes whom he represents were very expressive of countenance, and it is altogether certain that their faces were not the subject of chief attention. In still further subordinating facial expression, Myron is but following the great law of concentration, which is recognized in all great art. Probably he could not in any case have been a master of psychic analysis, but it is more than doubtful if his themes would have gained by such mastery.Other masters of the same theme long betray the same tendency. My ron was the earliest of the great masters of Greek sculpture. That is to say, he was the earliest sculptor whose works appeared, even to critics who were familiar with the whole range of later art, to be admirable alike for the boldness and originality of their design and the skill of their execution, and who was spoken of in the same breath with Polyclitus and Lysippus, with Phidias and Praxiteles. Quintilian himself declares that to find fault with the Discobolus argues a lack of appreciation of art.The Dorian sculptor Myron specialized in athletes. A marble copy found in Rome demonstrates the way a sculptor may at the same time hold to conventions and reach out toward new forms. The Discus Thrower is really designed to be seen only from the front. Anyone who moves around to the side of this piece can see that it is all on a flat plane. The general line of the figure, which starts with the left foot and runs up through the arms, ending in the discus, suggests somewhat the tension of an opened spring, which will snap shut and propel the wheel into space.The muscles appear about as natural as those in the contemporary Olympian pediment sculpture, and yet this is a single figure. Up to that time, single figures had always some religious significance and therefore remained columnar or geometric. This one is frankly realistic and may have been made pretty much for its own sake. It was no new departure in art for Myron to represent an athlete practicing the exercise in which he excelled. His great attainment, as exemplified by the Discobolus, was the choice of a subject and a moment that was suitable to representation in sculpture.He appears to have been the first to realize the principle, never afterwards violated in Greek sculpture of the best period, that a statue or a sculptural group must be complete in itself, must possess a certain unity and concentration, so as to attract and contain the interest of the spectator within the work itself, and not to direct i t to other extraneous objects, nor even to allow it to wander away. In the Discobolus, the self-contained completeness in the action finds its expression and counterpart in the lines of the composition itself.It may be, as Quintilian says, labored and contorted, but the result is not, as might have been expected, restless in effect or tiring to the eye, because every part is in harmony with the whole, and the eye is carried on by an easy and pleasing succession of outlines round the whole contour of the figure . Beside this excellence of artistic composition, the clever choice of the right moment for representation and of an athletic exercise in which such a moment occurs must also be allowed their merit.The disc or quoit was not aimed at any mark, but merely hurled as far as possible in a given direction, as in the modern competitions of putting the weight or throwing the hammer. Therefore, there was no need for the eye of the competitor to be turned towards a distant goal, but the head could follow the motion of the arm that swung the quoit, the position of the feet sufficing to define the direction of the throw.A false restoration, which makes the thrower turn his head toward this direction, not only produces a painful and even impossible attitude, but also destroys the harmony of the composition, by breaking in upon the system of concentric curves in which every member of the body follows the swing of the extended arm. Athleticism, however, gave one important thing to the Greeks. It was from the models in the palaestra and the stadium that the sculptors of Greece drew their inspiration.It was of course an immense benefit to that art to be able to see the stripped body at exercise in the sunlight, and that, coupled with the natural Greek sense of form, is the secret of the unchallenged supremacy of Greek sculpture. Perfect anatomy of the body was achieved even before the face could be properly rendered. The nude male figure was the favorite theme of fifth-c entury art, and extraordinary perfection was reached by Myron. Myron’s Discobolus is, of course, one of the best known of ancient statues. There are few statues of the fifth century, which thus select an instant out of a series of movements.In the Discobolus, the clear lines of demarcation are not inconsistent with a correct and skilful modeling of the surface. The effect is perhaps somewhat dry, and suggests the appearance of a man in hard training, and even the tension of muscles that would not be exerted at the moment of action is portrayed. However, what convention is left is so thoroughly harmonized with the results of fresh observation as to give the impression of a living body, and to justify the criticism applied to Myron by ancient critics, that he â€Å"almost captured the souls of men and animals in his bronzes† .

Barilla Spa Case Study Essay

1. Diagnose the underlying causes of the difficulties that the JITD program was created to solve. What are the benefits and drawbacks of this program? One of the underlying causes of the difficulties that the JITD program was created to solve was the effects of inconsistent demand that came from Barilla’s distributors. The extreme demand variation strained Barillas manufacturing and logistics, and made very hard for Barilla to meet that demand. For example, as noted on the case â€Å"the specific sequence of pasta production necessitated by the tight heat and humidity specifications in the tunnel kiln made it difficult to quickly produce a particular pasta that had been sold out due to unexpectedly high demand† (Barilla SpA). One of the benefits of implementing the JITD is to reduce the manufacturing cost. As Brando Vitali then Barilla’s director of logistics explained â€Å"we could try to reduce our own distribution costs, inventory levels, and ultimately our manufacturing costs if we didn’t have to respond to the volatile demand patterns of the distributors† this meant JITD will help reduce the costs associated with distribution channels, likewise distributors would not need to stock inventory that exceeds their real demand, and intern help them reduce their cost. Another benefit is that JITD will help improve Barilla’s visibility with trade and make the distributors more dependent on Barillas. As Vitali said â€Å"I think JITD should be considered a selling tool, rather than a threat to sales. We’re offering the customer additional service at no extra cost. In addition, the program will improve Barilla’s visibility with the trade and make distributors more dependent on us-it should improve the relationships between Barilla and the distributors rather than harm them.† Though this would require daily sales data input from distributers on products they shipped out from their warehouse to retailers during previous day and their current stock level, this would help barillas own forecast and would be just one step behind the retailers sell-through information. JITD might also help the relationship between Barilla and its distributors, since Barilla won’t need to use pressure on distributors to hold more finished products than necessary. While the JITD program has many beneficial it also has its drawbacks. One of them is the perception that the power will be transferred to Barilla, as one of the distributors was quoted â€Å"we would be giving Barilla the power to push product into our warehouses just so Barilla can reduce its costs.† Another drawback is that some of the distributors are not comfortable or willing to share their warehouse data, which is a vital piece in order for JITD program to work.   Furthermore, it might be hard for some retailers to report daily sales simply because they might not have the point-of-sale technology at their stores. 2. What conflicts or internal barriers to Barilla has JITD created? What causes these conflicts? How would you deal with them? JITD created lot of internal barriers to Barilla; while some of the concerns are easy to overcome others would need more convincing. For example, the sales department, sales representatives receive more on their compensation through commission from their sales. JITD would cut or reduce to zero most of sales people responsibilities, which in turn will squeeze their commission, as one sale man said â€Å"Our sales levels would flatten if we put this program in place†. As noted in the case most of the sales come from the promotions or incentives that marketing department advertises or promotes, JITD program would heavily affect the marketing department, and would make their job almost an obsolete. As one marketing representative quoted â€Å"we wouldn’t be able to run trade promotions with JITD, how can we get the trade to push Barilla product to retailers if we don’t offer some sort of incentive?† These conflicts are mostly caused by fear of losing jobs. Since these are legitimate concerns and a very possible outcome if JITD is implemented, from my opinion there are only two options either retrain all the employees that would be affected in a different positions or get rid of the JITD program all together and if it was up to me I would scrub the whole program all together. 3. As one of Barilla’s customers, what would your response to JIDT be? This would depend on whether I am a big retail store or a distributer. As a Barilla’s Distributor, my response to JIDT would be, why would I share my sales data to a supplier who also supplies the same products to my competitors? In addition, what makes Barilla’s management think that they can do superior job by making a better demand forecast then I do. I would think that Barillas is only looking after their interest by trying to reduce their inventory cost and as result dumping their product on me. On the other hand if am a big retailer the JITD program would help me reduce my overhead that comes from keeping a weeks of supply from Barilla in my store, and if there are any time gaps between when product is out and when new comes in I can use the shelf to move other quick turnaround products. 4. How would you proceed?  I would cancel the whole JITD program all together. Although the program has some benefits, its draw back and difficulties to implement out weight more than the benefits. The main problem that Barilla has is there average lead time which is 10 days and their distributors would prefer three days lead time; this was caused mainly by Barilla’s production line and machines as noted previously in the case, the specifications of each pasta and the time it takes in the tunnel kiln made it hard for Barilla to quickly produce and keep up with the demand. Barilla should look ways to improve the production line, whether by adding more lines to the production or building a smaller factories allocated strategically in the country, since, most of the Barilla’s products is consumed with in Italy, and depending on the region north or south, each consumes more type of Barilla product than the other.