Romeo and Juliet Film Review

Probably the worlds most famous love story has been retold in 1997 under the watchful hand of Baz Luhrman (Also directed Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom) who is trying to give this old Shakespeare classic, a more modern touch. Baz Luhrman simply takes the tragedy from the past, and drops it into the 21st century. In this strange new setting, the swords are tossed aside for guns but the old language, remains. Also the film is refreshed by young popular actors such as Leonardo di Caprio. This creates a bizarre mix, where the audience is left to think whether this is still the same old tragedy or something completely different. The actors mostly play their parts very well, but I think that Pete Postlethwaite (Friar Lawrence) who was also seen in In the Name of the Father and Miriam Margolyes (Nurse) were outstanding at portraying their characters and the best actors on the set. On the other hand I found the performance by the main figures Leonardo Di Caprio(Romeo) and Claire Danes (Juliet) appauling and it kind of felt like they knew their lines, but had no idea what they were actually talking about. An example of this is how Romeo sometimes says his words without expression or with expression in the wrong place. I think that these roles should have been taken over by more experienced actors, who have played Shakespeare plays before but Leonardo Di Caprio will probably be a reason for many teenagers to see this film so the reason why he was cast is probably because he will attract a bigger young audience There are not many special effects in this film, but definitely many more than in other versions of the story. I think that the camera was one of the major participants in this film as Luhrman did so many different types of shots and scenes that it just makes this film much more viewable. Examples of this are at the very beginning of the film, there are about 30 different shots right after one another which creates a very fast pace. Other examples include long shots of Verona which are shown very often all through the film, where you can see two big buildings, one with a Montague sign and the other one with a Capulet and a twirl of the camera as transitions between scenes. As always in love stories or tragedies, music is also a major helper in this film. A slow, romantic song is played when Romeo and Juliet first meet and funky loud music when Romeo and his friends enter the ball. What Luhrman mainly tries to do with this film, is to make the story more interesting and more appealing to a younger audience, which has decided to try and achieve this with more action packed scenes and fighting. This does though sometimes make the film seem unrealistic, childish even, like a teenagers version of the tragedy. This is for sure the most modern and action filled version of the play and I think it can be described as something fresh and new and completely different. This film is a great way of getting a younger generation of people interested in Shakespeare, as it included lots of action and fighting but I am not sure if this film is really a better version of Romeo and Juliet. Although it may not be as interesting and action packed, I think I still prefer the old boring classic Shakespeare tragedy.

The Best Alaskan Salmon in Ohio

The Best Alaskan Salmon in Ohio David Johnson DeVry University The Best Alaskan Salmon in Ohio If I said it was possible to have fresh, never frozen, Alaskan salmon delivered anywhere in the United States within two days of the fish being caught, people might call me crazy. I know I would but that is exactly what I found being advertised when I began searching for online retailers of Alaskan salmon. I have been enjoying salmon for a long time and living in central Ohio has forced me to try many avenues for the best salmon I could find.My choices were often limited to whatever stock of salmon was available at local retail locations that were often previously frozen. What I needed was a service that offered me a wide variety of wild, fresh salmon and Great-Alaska-Seafood exceeded my expectations with the best tasting salmon I have ever had. The first thing I look for when I buy salmon is quality and to me that means wild-caught, not farm raised salmon. The problem here is the vast majo rity of salmon sold in stores is sold as being â€Å"wild† from the Atlantic Ocean but this is not completely true.The trick here is fisheries are allowed to market their salmon as â€Å"wild† as long as the fish is allowed to swim in the Atlantic Ocean. However, they are still being fed processed food pellets. The main difference between wild and farm raised is their diet, which affects the overall quality of the fish. There are even health considerations that should be taken if farm raised fish is frequently consumed. Wild salmon from Alaska are considered by many as the best source of quality salmon available.Since this fishery was based out of Alaska I had some confidence I would be paying for the best salmon out there and they delivered on their promise. The freshness of the fish was also a big concern when I began to entertain the idea of making an order for salmon online. Locally I am often left to pick from Alaskan salmon filets that were previously frozen for transportation to Ohio, on the other hand, the first thing I noticed was this company offered free overnight shipping with a minimum purchase that was in my price range. This almost seemed too good to be true.Amongst many other online retailers I could not find a single competitor offering this service. With their service offering free overnight shipping with special packaging that involves dry-ice, I was able to purchase a fresh, never frozen, salmon. When I received my first order I was almost stunned that I could have an Alaskan salmon, just caught a day or two before, delivered to my door. This exceeded my expectations largely because I would have never thought it was possible. As much as I love salmon, everything must be taken in moderation. Eating the exact same type of salmon every week might get boring fast.So, I also needed a good amount of variety available to purchase amongst the different salmon species native to Alaska. The main types between salmon are â€Å"whiteâ₠¬  and â€Å"red† flesh and they taste distinctly different. When parlayed with the different locations and diets of the Alaskan salmon species, this allows for a lot of different ways to prepare and cook the fish. This is very important to me and I was very happy to see this company offered 8 different species of salmon. To add even more variety the company offers over 10 different smoking methods that add incredible flavor to the fish.All of which I have tried and taste phenomenal, including a variety of other seafood items they sell ranging from colossal crab legs to prawns that weigh one pound each. When I began my search for a new source of salmon I figured I would not have much luck living in Ohio. What I found was a company offering one of the best online services I have ever seen. The free overnight shipping plus the large variety of fresh salmon was exactly what I was looking for. I did a vast amount of research on multiple retailers that sell salmon and other seafo od online and what I found is, for us salmon lovers far from the ocean, this is best option available.

The Operating Budget for the City of Cincinnati Ohio Research Paper

The Operating Budget for the City of Cincinnati Ohio - Research Paper Example Possessing the knowledge of budget is a pre requirement to have an impact on the city government. The local self government of the Cincinnati city is biennial. It can be seen that municipalities in Cincinnati have the power of the local self government to enforce sanitary regulations as well as other such regulations, which would not be in conflict with the general laws. Many of the important decisions regarding various operations in the city are done when creating the budget. The biennial has various responsibilities such as supplying clean and pure water to the public. In the city, various efforts were taken by the government to reduce violence through more stringent implementation of criminal justice system aided by law enforcement as well as other community organizations. 1. Budget Overview: 1. Financial Summary, including Revenue and Expenditures In the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, the biennial local governments utilize funds to maintain different types of revenue and expenditure a ccounts, keeping them separated from each other depending upon the goal of the fund. The budget of the city of Cincinnati is arranged on the basis of cash with the exemption of accrued employee benefit costs and personnel services. In the basis of cash accounting, revenue is identified when it is received and a cost is identified when it is paid. The city reports various governmental funds including General Fund, Capital Projects Fund, Debt Service Fund and other such important proprietary funds include Water Works Enterprise Fund. The city assembles, sells and purifies water to facilitate businesses and most importantly the residents of Cincinnati. Revenue consists mainly of user costs. 2. Department Budgets: The department budget of the city of Cincinnati permits to evaluate the costs and expenses connected to a particular section and whether the profits are adequate to convene these expenses or not. Furthermore, it allows the management to determine its financial performance. Fol lowing are the Department Budgets summary of the City of Cincinnati Ohio in Biennial. (financial plan) 2011 2012 2013 changes to 2013 Budget to 2012 Operating budget 28,120,790 29,221,010 28196430 (10245808) Other expenses 25,425,370 27,413,020 30,121,550 (2708530) Equipment 668,150 1,080,000 801,050 (278950) Operating total 54214310 57714030 59119030 (13233288) Employee Benefits 8, 5641,320 10,437,820 10,112,460 (325360) General Fund Overhead 1,403,550 1,421,590 2,424,890 1003300 Debt Service 2,403,550 2,421,490 2,324,790 (96700) Total 89448420 14280900 14862140 581240 3. Funding: Funding refers to the commercial action of providing capital and funds both in terms of fixed capital as well as working capital. The Cincinnati section of Community Development makes possible the process of funding as well as provides other resources that help in neighborhood revitalization, quality housing and human facilities. General Fund is the accounting unit in which every governmental activity is accounted for. Its incomes comprise intergovernmental shared revenues, taxes, investment income and charges for services. â€Å"General Fund expenditures represent costs of general government, economic development, public safety, public services, public health, parks and recreation, and other services† (City of Cincinnati, 2008, p.27). Capital Projects: Capital Projects are

Comprehension Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comprehension Critique - Essay Example In their findings, they noted that all students in the first two cohorts who had graduated were absorbed in the teaching jobs. Furthermore, since the deployments of the two batches, the number of nurses had increased, owing to the fact that now the faculty could afford to enroll more students as a result of availability of teachers. Thus, they concluded that the shortage in the number of nurse could be addressed by increasing the number of faculties since there was going to be a steady supply of lecturers. A lesson to the authorities in charge was to ensure there was to be an increase in the faculties of nursing if the shortage of nurses was to be solved. Their research was reasonably reliable but is not the lasting solution. This is because the funded students in the accelerated doctorate program may decide to down their tools after three years of service. If this will be so, then what will be the fate of the students already admitted into the nursing faculties? I bet they will lack tutors to foresee their academic needs. Furthermore, what will happen if the fund were pulled out? I guess that the doctorate students will pull out. Thus, this solution only applies if the said factors will not happen. Gerolamo, Angela, Roemer & Grace (2011), decided to establish if the key issues behind the shortages of nurse was connected to work load within the faculty. Using qualitative secondary literature review, they worked out on three main objectives namely: to establish the meaning of shortage in the faculty, evidence that shortage is affecting the work process, and analyze policies affecting the process of nurse activities. In their study, they compared the literature concerning work load and nursing and other faculties. In their findings, they noted that all literature concerning nursing shortages pointed to work load as the main cause. Furthermore, they established that

Self Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Self Identity - Essay Example It is an important aspect of the educational system to avoid breeding racial injustices into the newer generations so that a better balanced world can be expected in the near future. However, as a person steps into adolescence, one tends to become more aware about their heritage and racial background. It is essential that people are led the right way at this particular stage so that racial equality can be established. Race has been defined as â€Å"a sub-group of people possessing a definite combination of physical characteristics, of genetic origin, the combination of which to varying degrees distinguishes the sub-group from other sub-groups of mankind† (Casas 3). Hence any group of people that can be differentiated from another group of people on the basis of certain characteristics are said to belong to a specific race. These common characteristics are established more on a physical note than mental. Numerous materials and models are available online that help in racial identity development. The concept of self-identity is more often complicated and may include a combination of identities instead of a single identity. The self-identity generally encompasses three fields; the gender, the racial background and the sexual orientation. Biologically, I am a fit male in my early twenties. I recognize myself as an African American since I can trace back my origins to Liberia, Africa. I possess a distinctively dark skin color characteristic of African Blacks. I have lived a major part of my life in America, with my ancestral linage consisting of African Americans. Several of my distant relatives still reside in my homeland Africa. I do not feel ashamed to belong to the African American nation, and I am fully aware of my enslaved past. However, today, the scenario regarding â€Å"color† discrimination is very different from what it was before the Civil War. There are three traditional models of racial/cultural identity development; (Cass, 1979), (Cross, 1971) and

Leadership. How to Teach a Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership. How to Teach a Leader - Essay Example Before leadership can be taught, it must be learned. By observing the behaviour of leaders, academics and managers have identified the qualities that leaders have, but certain analyses of leadership issues contain conceptual flaws and reflect the biases of those who study it. Knowing what a leader is supposed to be is never a guarantee that one with the potential to be a true leader eventually becomes one for a long period of time. Some great people have exercised leadership but only for a short period of time. An important reason why most people do not become leaders and why some are able to lead for a short period of time is that some critical qualities a leader must have, such as self-awareness and humility, are difficult to practice. Leadership can be learned, but strictly speaking it can never be taught because not everyone has the potential to be a leader. What would be more effective is to identify those with the potential to be leaders by giving them opportunities to grow in self-awareness and develop the leadership qualities. This demands effort and sacrifice. The starting point of this paper is finding answers to the questions as to what leadership is, why it is important, and how leadership is distinguished from management. ... Management scientists quantify and tabulate it whilst philosophers and political scientists discuss it to no end. Kings and CEOs endlessly search for it to justify their rule, satisfy their enlarged egos, or to identify the head that would wear their crown after them. An extensive search of the relevant literature gives the following concise definition: leadership is a set of qualities a person has that makes others want to follow that person whether to do good or evil. A leader is someone who has followers, people who are led to reach a definite destination or attain a specific set of objectives. Leaders are judged by their followers. All other definitions of leadership are mere exercises in semantics: complex-sounding, confusing, and ludicrous intellectual posturing by management charlatans paid by the hour who receive outrageous fees to further complicate, instead of simplifying, what is inherently complex. The multifaceted nature of leadership gives these fad-driven management gurus an edge over their audiences, and in their efforts to maximise their profitable gains in teaching others what they themselves neither have nor cannot do, they write books, deliver lectures, and engage in speaking tours mouthing kilometric definitions and mind-numbing clich-driven sound bites. Why is leadership a complex thing A look at some universally acknowledged leaders at one time or the other gives a partial answer. Take, for example, Churchill, Britain's Prime Minister during the War. With his inspiring words, he helped save the kingdom from annihilation and later on helped win the War, but he lost the first post-War elections as the people tired of his leadership. On the other side was

Film Theory of Bazin and Eisenstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Film Theory of Bazin and Eisenstein - Essay Example All the arts are based on the presence of man. Only photography derives an advantage from his absence. Photography affects us like a phenomenon in nature, like a flower or a snowflake whose vegetable or earthly origins are an inseparable part of their beauty" Bazin (1967, p.3). Both appreciated the cinema and the inherent art in it; but their theories were very different from one another. At times, there is clear conflict with the other theory and the perspectives are very different. Eisenstein had the added distinction of being an extremely well-known director of many successful movies. Basin, in his short life, did not have any such practical involvement with the cinema, but his theories of the cinematic world stand apart above others even to this day. Andre Bazin, known as the best film authority the world has ever produced, was a film theorist, critic, and a humanist philosopher and has written many articles on film philosophy. His articles are translated into many languages, especially English. Basin is considered to be the sage of film philosophy and he has never been dethroned ever since he became popular, even though he was criticized for his theories by other film critics. He called cinema as 'an idealistic phenomenon'. He agrees that it is technical, but this factor is of secondary importance. Actually he agrees upon it after a pause, as an afterthought. His concentration on the technical side of the cinema is consequential and not primary. He always said that the mechanical mediation of the camera makes the cinema absolutely realistic. He placed cinema above the arts like painting, because he said, if the brush is pitted against the camera, camera makes a better job in duplicating reality than the brush, because camera is driven by technology, whereas the brush depends upon the eye and perspective of the artist, which could be entirely different from reality. No two people can have the same artistic eye sight. At the same time, cinema is capable of recording things and scenes better than a painting. While he does not deny the human intervention in the form of the person who wields the camera, he suggests that this should be kept to the minimum. "Although the potential for human intervention is always present, even granting the mechanical intervention, Bazin believes that the filmmaker owes it to the complexity of reality to refrain from false subjective manipulation and overwrought formalist mediation," http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/bazin_intro.html To him cinema is a tool that fulfils the psychological needs of the society. He considered it as one of the ultimate art forms. He was positive that cinema fulfils the artistic and ethical obsession of people, which is a compelling trait that has an urge to be fulfilled. "For Bazin the situation was clear: either a filmmaker utilizes empirical reality for his personal ends or else he explores empirical reality for its own sake. In the former case the filmmaker is making of empirical reality a series of signs which point to or create an aesthetic or rhetorical truth, perhaps lofty and noble, perhaps prosaic and debased. In the latter case, however, the filmmaker brings us closer to the events filmed by seeking the significance of a scene somewhere within the unadorned tracings it left on the celluloid" Andrew (1976, 145). Basin thought that human beings have a weakness for creative psychology and they like to visualise illusions. These illusions become ardent desires and demand to be fulfilled and under such circumstances, creative and innovative art forms materialise. "It is essential to emphasize the skeptical aspect of Bazin's affirmations about psychology, his manifest awareness of human vulnerability to illusion and ideology. For Bazin,

Synopsis and a critique Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Synopsis and a critique - Assignment Example Coppa asserts that Pius XI, according to the evidence, was outspoken about the problems of racism and anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. Against the advice from those closest to him, he condemned Hitler and his practices on numerous occasions. He, also, gives detailed account of how his opponents in fact undermined his intentions and worked toward Vatican’s policies of silence. With his death, Eugenio Pacelli, Secretary of State, was elected to be the new pope, and he reigned the Catholic Church till 1958 as Pius XII. New pope was quite different from Pius XI. He openly stressed many times that he liked German people, which was reflected in the fact that his housekeeper, private secretary, and confessor all hailed from the Reich. He, also, was punctual and well organized, a characteristic often associated with Germans. Pius XII implemented new policy toward both Germany and Italy, a one of impartiality and appeasement toward Nazis and fascist. Coppa writes that â€Å"Pius refused to alter his impartial stance even though he received repeated reports of Nazi crimes against humanity in 1940 and 1941, and a series of sources within and outside the church alerted him to the genocide of the Jews. In May of 1942, Pius was told of the mass extermination (uccisioni in massa) of Jews from Germany, Poland, and the Ukraine while the military chaplain Father Pirro Scavizzi personally reported to Pius of the almost-total elimination of Jews through mass murder.† His position never changed and scholars are still looking for answers to why that was the case. Coppa uses pope’s own words to clarify the issue- â€Å"First, there are over forty million German-speaking Catholics. If I should denounce the Nazis by name as you desire and Germany should lose the war, Germans everywhere would feel that I had contributed to the defeat, not only of the Nazis but Germany herself†¦.Second, if I denounce the Nazis by name I must

Fairy Tale Analysis Essay Example for Free

Fairy Tale Analysis Essay â€Å"Fairytales are unique, not only as a form of literature, but as works of art which are fully comprehensible to the child as no other form of art is. † we were introduced several versions of Cinderella in â€Å"Damsels in Distress†. For generations, the Cinderella story had been one of the most popular fairytales around the world; there are countless modified versions of it. For this analysis, I chose â€Å"Cinderella† by Charles Perrault and â€Å"Ashputtle† by the Grimm Brothers and applying them to the ideas from the article, â€Å"The Struggle for Meaning†. The most familiar version of â€Å"Cinderella† in western society was the written by Charles Perrault in 1667, it was then later used by Disney for a children’s film production. The Grimm Bothers’ modified version of the story is mainly based on Perrault’s version with a little twist in it. In general, both of the stories share a similar story-line. A widower with his daughter (Cinderella or Ashputtle) was remarried to a â€Å"stuck-up† woman and her two daughters. The man’s daughter are Cinderella or Ashputtle, they were named by their stepsisters, and have been treated poorly by their stepsisters. It happened that the King of the kingdom had a son who was anxious to get married; so he gave a ball, and invited all the ladies in the kingdom to go to it. Cinderella (or Ashputtle) was invited, but her evil stepsisters forced her not to go. Cinderella (Or Ashputtle) made a wish to go to the ball, and magic happened, it clothed her in a beautiful dress, but it will only last until midnight. The Prince fell in love with her at the ball at first site, but Cinderella (Or Ashputtle) ran home, leaving only a glass shoe behind, because it was almost midnight. The prince ordered every woman in the kingdom to try it on, he knew he found the real Cinderella (or Ashputtle) when no other woman in the kingdom could fit the glass shoe but Cinderella (Or Ashputtle). The authors made the morals of Cinderella and Ashputtle very clear. The story of Cinderella had one simple moral, always be generous to people, Cinderella accepted her sisters’ apologies at the end of the story. Ashputtle had the same moral but told in a different way, Karma will always strike back; Ashputtle’s sisters’ eyes were pecked out for treating Ashputtle poorly. â€Å"Many parents believe that only conscious reality or pleasant and wish fulfilling images should be presented to the child- that he should be exposed only to the sunny side of things. But such one-sided fare nourishes the mind only in one-sided way, and real life is not all sunny. † In Bruno Bettelheim’s â€Å"The Struggle For Meaning†, Mr. Bettelheim talked about how fairy tales can be so effective at grasping children’s minds into the ideas and morals of the fairy tales. â€Å"A child needs to understand what is going on within his conscious self so that he can also cope with that which goes on in his unconscious. † Cinderella is a very â€Å"effective† story, just like children’s fantasy, the setting of the story is in a kingdom involved with kings and queens. The magic is a crucial part of the story of Cinderella; it turned the ordinary story into a fascinating fairytale. Most fairytales gives the reader a straightforward message to the moral. This way, it allows younger audiences to relate to the main character or the hero of the story to him or herself to understand the story, â€Å"The more simple and straightforward a good character, the easier for a child to identify the hero from the villain. † Ultimately, the message sent to the child from Cinderella is, â€Å"bad guys die, I don’t want to die, I want to be good. Another reason that fairytales are effective, â€Å"In fairytales, as in life, punishment or fear of it is only a limited deterrent to crime† â€Å"Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life† (The Piccolomini,III,4. ) Fairytales portray realistic views of human nature and struggles while incorporating enchanting fictional themes and characters, after all it’s this fictious fantasy sparks the reader’s interest, as they may find some valuable meanings of life from the tale.

Allegorical on the Bell Jar Essay Example for Free

Allegorical on the Bell Jar Essay Just as all roads lead back to home, the protagonist exhibits that everyone will eventually become manifestations of the society it is born within. In this excerpt, the author uses the strong allegory of the protagonist plummeting down the slopes and skiing towards the inevitable end of conforming towards mankind and society. Although the protagonist’s gender isn’t explicit, we can assume that it’s a girl due to its unambiguous sub theme of feminine repression. The author presents the protagonists struggle in two distinct parts: the struggle to conform and the inevitable realization and acceptance of her fate. The author is able to do skilfully do so with a myriad of literary devices and extremely significant allegories. In the beginning, the protagonist is still struggling against the implications of society and is unwilling to accept her fate. The monotony of her â€Å"pale† life is emphasized by the repetition alliteration of â€Å"hill after†¦hill† and â€Å"great grey eye†. This shows the boring reoccurrence in the protagonist’s life and is constantly being overshadowed and judged by the watchful eye of society. Additionally, the protagonist is having an internal battle with doing what she innately feels is right against becoming what she knows everyone else wants her to transform into. Therefore, she has an â€Å"interior voice† that is persistently â€Å"nagging† her â€Å"not to be a fool† and conform and lose herself and â€Å"save [her] skin†. Obviously, she has fought hard to persist as her authentic self and is bitter about giving up who she really is. She feels like she has lost her sense of self and is no longer an individual, but merely â€Å"camouflaged† amongst everyone else as a product of society. The long sentence structure in the second paragraph of the excerpt displays that there was a very long and meticulous thought process about her present situation. She is â€Å"bordering† on the edge of a life changing decision. She has to decide – should she â€Å"kill [her true] self†, or should she resist the temptations of society? She is representing man’s struggle against oneself – the hardest battle to. However, she finally overcomes her inner battles and comes to realize that it is in her best interest to abide to society’s expectations. Henceforth, she tries to â€Å"measure the distance† and calculate how much of herself she will have to lose in the process. Buddy is a representation of society and the word is also slang for friend. â€Å"His†¦folded† â€Å"arms† signifying his lack of approval and his natural masculine instinct to repress femininity. As a result, we can understand the extent upon which female repression has been engrained into society and social stigma. Such is the product of a society filled with conformists and a lack of individuality – â€Å"numb, brown†¦ inconsequential† and boring beings. The next paragraph accentuates her defeatist attitude as the excerpt inches to the climax of the plot and has resolved to finally conform to the ‘American dream’ and fit into the mould society cast for her. Inevitably, she â€Å"aim[s] straight down† as she realizes that despite her best efforts at resistance, it is all to no avail. Once again, the short sentence structure is the implicit sign of the distinct change of internal character into one that has finally decided to join and become a part of society. Subsequent to the protagonist’s â€Å"descen[t]† into society, she â€Å"plummet[s]† herself straight into the heart of the situation. Nevertheless, even though she has physically committed herself he is still mentally â€Å"suspended† and trapped between what she wants and who she is. As a result, she represses those thoughts from â€Å"r[ising] higher†. This is the pivotal point upon which she consigns herself to follow society’s expectations because she understands that without social rules and stigma, â€Å"the world would not exist† and be able to function properly. Her â€Å"answering point in†¦[her] body† instinctually gravitates â€Å"towards† following social norms because despite the struggle against it, everyone will eventually cave to the expectations of others. She has become â€Å"inflate[d]† by the â€Å"inrush† of the external pressures of being part of a society . She realizes that she is finally experiencing the typical emotions, even though she feels removed from the â€Å"smiles† and â€Å"what it is [supposed to feel like] to be happy†. In spite of that, she feels â€Å"doubleness† as if it is not really herself going through the motions – she doesn’t feel true to herself and who she really is but simply sees a reflection of her figure that she can no longer recognise. On her way â€Å"hurtling† down, she has flashes of her â€Å"own past† that â€Å"recede[s]† and she has to make a decision between the light of the â€Å"white sun† and the darkness of an endless â€Å"dark tunnel†. Ultimately, she focuses on the â€Å"bright point at the end† of the tunnel and becomes a small â€Å"pebble† in the â€Å"bottom of [a big] well†, which is an analogy to her small and insignificant self in a world filled with billions of people. Her metamorphosis is paralleled to that of a rebirth into her new life. She has chosen the light and she is being christened into her new life as an innocent â€Å"sweet baby† that is being reborn again from â€Å"it’s mother’s belly†. All throughout this process â€Å"Buddy† and the â€Å"other faces† of society watchfully gaze and â€Å"h[a]ng over† her to ensure complete control. Gradually, she is transformed by the â€Å"strokes of [a] grandmother’s wand† creating a fairytale element to her change. The â€Å"familiar voice† of her conscience reminds her that she was doing â€Å"fine† by herself until â€Å"man[kind] stepped into her path† and created the platonic change within her. Society has already taken it upon themselves to â€Å"unfasten [her] bindings† of her previous ‘life’ and releasing her of her previous sins of not conforming. The â€Å"lodge fence† that blocks her way is a symbol of the white picket fence, which is a representation of the American Dream. She is finally being trapped into society’s expectations of what she should become. Yet she is still treated as an outsider and isn’t trusted and treated like an enemy with a â€Å"concealed weapon†. In the end, the light triumphs the dark and society overcomes her. The rising of the white sun shining in the sky displays her birth and final decision to conform to society. Even though she tries to challenge and return to her old self, she is unable to escape. Not only is she restricted by society itself but herself as well. She is â€Å"stuck† as society now has full reign over her. Thus, society and lack of freedom prevail and it’s triumph is evident in the â€Å"final smile†. In conclusion, the excerpt uses skiing as an allegory for mankind’s eventual and inevitable decline into conformity towards the American dream. There is no place in society for people who do not follow social rules and expectations. The protagonist is assumed to be a woman due to the stigma of females repressed role in society. She begins with the struggle between light and dark and the battle between being true to oneself and taking the easier path and following the well-worn road that society has taken. Later on, she understands and realizes that it is inevitable and ultimately conforms. Not matter how hard we may try to contend society, it will always prevail and have the power to manipulate us.

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif: Corruption in the Government

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif: Corruption in the Government Introduction: Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, a known politician, businessman and currently serving as the 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan, he was also elected as Prime Minister in 1990 to 1993 and 1997 to 1999. Sharif is the president of Pakistan’s largest political party known as Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) which has formed government in 2013 (Crilly, 2013). The case which I will discuss in this paper is related to the corruption in government sector. In this case Prime Minister Sharif is the key person who has misused his positions, authority and power throughout his political career. Sharif moved into politics in early 1980’s and in 1985 he was appointed as Chief Minister of Punjab the most populous province (Hindustantimes, 2013), his political career was just started and he realized the concept of getting rich through stealing money from national asset. History evidently says that he used different strategies to add up in his personal wealth which include kickbacks, bribe a nd stealing from public funds, money laundering, tax evasion and misuse of official resources and using them for personal use. All these acts has led Sharif Pakistan’s 4th richest person (Khan, 2013). The corruption: Sharif was already involved in his family business – Ittefaq Industries before entering to politics, but during his political control in Punjab in 1980 and early 1990’s Ittefaq Industries raised up from its original single manufactory into 30 businesses producing paper, sugar, steel and textiles with total $400 million of income, became one of the largest private multinational company in Pakistan (Baker, 2005, pp. 82-83). To enrich his personal wealth first thing he did upon becoming prime minister in 1990 was build a long super highway from Lahore to Islamabad city, the estimated cost of the project was 8.5 billion rupees, the project gone through 2 biddings. Daewoo a Korean company fortify its proposal in secret meetings, the job was done well but the cost of project went over 20 billion rupees. In actual the money over 8.5 billion was in the pockets of both the minister and the construction company. The same kind of scandal was done in wheat deal, Sharif purchased wh eat from a private US and Canada company which were close partner of him and paid $58 million from national asset which were way more than market value. By purchasing wheat from his associate benefits Mr. Sharif and half of the money were kept by him and his partner (Baker, 2005, p. 84). Another major scandal in which Sharif involved was of bribery. He and his fellows were involved in taking bribery. Lt. General Naseerullah Babar, the interior minister had revealed and prove evidence that the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) distributed money to acquire the loyalty of various politicians including Nawaz Sharif to control the elections of 1990 and bring about the defeat of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (another political party). This case is still pending in Supreme Court of Pakistan for the last 24 years (Jhootay Log, 2011). Tax evasion and unpaid bank loans were also the favorite ways for Sharif to get rich. On his loss of power the upraising political party came up with the list of 322 largest loan defaulters representing $3 Billion out of $4 Billion owned to banks. Sharif and his brother was labelled for $ 60 Million, Mr. Sharif was expanding his business and properties internationally by using public funds, 3 in British Virgin Islands by the names of Nescoll, Nielson, and Shamrock and other in Islands known as Chandron Jersey Pvt. Ltd. How things Revealed: In 1994 Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency started looking into financial affairs of Sharif and his family, the inquiry was supervised by Rahman Malik, Director General of the agency, the inquiry took 5 years and they came up with the shocking revelations in 1998. The records, includes signed affidavits from Pakistani officials, property records and bank files and other government document stated that Mr. Sharif and his family benefited from national wealth and all above scandals were revealed at that time. The report in the end state that â€Å"The extent and magnitude of this corruption is so staggering that it has put the very integrity of the country at stake.† (Baker, 2005, p. 84). Rahman Malik in an interview said that â€Å"No other leader of Pakistan has taken that much money from the banks. There is no rule of law in Pakistan. It doesn’t exist.† (Wwiner LeVine, 1999) The consequences: After things were revealed General Pervaiz Musharraf (former chief of army) and other political leaders and legislators convicted Sharif and penalized to life prison, but in 2000 deported him to Saudi Arabia. His wrong actions motivated other politicians to continue on the same track of corruption with the nation as later in 2008 another corrupt politician Asif Ali Zardari (former Prime Minister) appeared and looted the nation the same way Sharif did. The trust of people on politicians flew away as their money was misused by those with power and authorities, patriotism decreased and now people are more interested in personal growth rather than cumulative growth as nation. In addition to this mess in 2013, Sharif again become the Prime Minister of Pakistan and all the charges were cleared by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to let him take part in election , this has showed the nation that money and power speaks more than anything else. (Nasir, 2013) Ethical Issues: The key ethical issues which were violated in the case were betraying to the citizens of the country, misusing and stealing of national assets, theft, taking and giving bribe to accomplish personal interest and unethical use of power and authorities. The Prime Minister in a democratic country is elected by its citizens as they trust them and give the responsibility to use national assets for the growth of country and value the basic understandable principle and ideology of the nation but in Sharif’s case he did many unethical act for which he was supposed to be guilty but somehow he managed to escape and pushed the values and feeling of citizens into stake. His duty and principles ruined the phenomena of ethical politics his decisions in political career were neither systematic, self-conscious, or reflective nor well-reasoned. As it is said â€Å"Ice melt from the top† his acts also let other government officials to escape through the hands of law and continue to work u nethically. Laws are not made to break and in the eye of legislation everyone is equal. But in this case equality has disappeared like smoke in air. What’s greater than a loss of trust from citizens of a country towards it’s appointed leaders, current political condition had made a great impact on a nation’s social ethical dimensions, things that were supposed to be ethically wrong has now become a part of system, adding to this mess lack of literacy has contributed to choose a wrong political leader. References Baker, R. W. (2005). Dirty Money at Work. In Capitalisms Achilles Heel (pp. 82-83). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Crilly, R. (2013, May 11). Pakistan elections: Nawaz Sharif eyes return to power. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/10046017/Pakistan-elections-Nawaz-Sharif-eyes-return-to-power.html Hindustantimes. (2013, May 12). Once exiled, Nawaz Sharif makes triumphant return to Pak politics. Retrieved from http://www.hindustantimes.com/: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/pakistanpolls2013/once-exiled-nawaz-sharif-makes-triumphant-return-to-pak-politics/article1-1059015.aspx Jhootay Log. (2011, Dec). Retrieved from http://jhootaylog.wordpress.com/: http://jhootaylog.wordpress.com/nawaz-sharifs-corruption/ Khan, E. (2013). Top 10 Pakistani Richest People. Retrieved from http://www.wonderslist.com/: http://www.wonderslist.com/top-10-pakistans-richest-people/ Nasir, J. (2013, Apr 9). NAB, FBR clear Sharif brothers on charges of tax evasion. Retrieved from http://www.aaj.tv: http://www.aaj.tv/2013/04/nab-fbr-clear-sharif-brothers-on-charges-of-tax-evasion/ Wwiner, T., LeVine, S. (1999, October 21). Former Leader of Pakistan May Face Corruption Trial. New York Times. [Dirty Money of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif] – June 20141 The South-East of England: Land Development Issues The South-East of England: Land Development Issues Pressure on development land in the South-East of England: The need for sustainable architecture. Introduction Chapter One Literature Review Chapter Two Development Land Chapter Three Sustainable Architecture Chapter Four South-East of England The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss and evaluate the pressure on development land in the South- East of England, and how that pressure relates to the need for sustainable architecture. The reasons for there being pressure on development land in the South-East of England will be described and analysed, as will any differences with the other regions of Britain. The reasons for setting aside or using the available development land and why sustainable architecture should be adopted in the South-East of England will be fully evaluated. As will be demonstrated there are various and competing factors that apparently increase the pressure to make full use of all available development land in the South-East of England. The available development land in the South-East of England is in high demand to be used for the construction of domestic housing, as well as for commercial, leisure, and industrial building programmes. To a large extent central government and local authorities have attempted to control the construction of such new building programmes through systems of urban planning, as well as building regulations that have applied across the whole of Britain. The reasons why the South-East of England should have a need for sustainable architecture will also be examined in depth. The case for making all the new construction projects designed around the concepts of sustainable architecture shall also be examined, to discuss whether more environmentally focused building designs will lessen the impact of new construction programmes, as well as reducing long-term pollution. Introduction Sustainable architecture and the use of development land are closely linked with the practices and theories of what form the basis of urban and rural planning, as well as ideas concerning the necessity for long-term environmental sustainability. Urban, and to a lesser extent rural planning, became more widespread in their application throughout Britain after 1945, when increased levels of central government intervention were experienced in many social and economic fields. Planning was deemed to be the best way of solving Britain’s housing problems (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). Increased levels of urban and rural planning were justified at the end of the Second World War due to the need for extensive post-war reconstruction. The South-East of England in general, and London in particular had suffered from widespread bomb damage, which meant that fully or partially destroyed houses, factories, and retail units had to be replaced by well planned buildings which would be an improvement upon the previous buildings. In the immediate post-war period it was believed that a systematic use of town and country planning would be essential for the reconstruction of Britain, with a much higher standard of building to match higher employment, the welfare state, and the National Health Service. The purpose of these policies and institutions was to prolong life and promote good health throughout the whole population (Meller, 1997 p67). The increased use of urban and rural planning was not intended to protect the environment in an ecological way, or indeed to promote sustainable architecture, rather it was greatly expanded in scope to make the most rational use of scarce development land. However, there would be measures adopted which would conserve large areas of countryside, and give protection despite the need to re-house millions of families in 1945 (Southall, 2000 p. 336). There were groups that wished to conserve specific areas that supported rare forms of animal and plant life, and even groups that wished to preserve old historical buildings, as well as buildings distinguished by their architectural styles (Meller, 1997 p67). When added together such groups did not equate to an ecological lobby that intended to change agricultural, architectural, or industrial practices to protect the environment. These groups however, were able to heavily influence the decision to restrict urbanisation taking over the countr yside. Post-war reconstruction was the catalyst for the largest programmes of publicly funded construction in Britain. Public expenditure was needed due to the sheer scale of reconstruction required, with London and the South-East of England being a major beneficiary of those programmes. Architecture and planning were used for these large-scale programmes rather than just for individual buildings. The involvement of central government in the promoting and funding of large-scale public building programmes and the use of development land was high until the early part of the 1970s (Greed, 1996 p. 35). Such wide-ranging building programmes were not only intended to replace the buildings destroyed during the Second World War. The post-war building programmes were also intended to replace the slums in the inner cities of London, Birmingham, Liverpool, as well as elsewhere. The construction programmes were intended to make the South-East of England a much more hospitable place to live in, just as the rest of Britain was also intended to be like (Sheail, 2002 p. 62). New construction and renovation of existing houses was an imperative, as â€Å"2 million of them condemned and another 3 million lacking in essentials† (Southall, 2000 p. 337). The South-East of England also benefited from the construction of new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage that were planned as entire towns with purpose built domestic housing and business premises. The Atlee government was so keen upon the creation of new towns to solve the post-war housing shortages that it regulated such construction through the New Town Act of 1946 (Sheail, 2002 p. 62). The construction of the New Towns was considered to be essential for both high economic growth and for solving the national post-war housing shortage. The Atlee government regarded the new towns as being highly beneficial to people’s health as they moved away from major cities and industrial areas to places with cleaner air (Meller, 1997 p67). In ecological terms such construction was harmful to the environment as more land was built upon and it meant a greater amount of pollution from traffic emissions, though of course nobody understood such implications at that time. Improvements in transport infrastructure and increasing levels of car ownership meant that the new towns were economically viable, as well as allowing their inhabitants to commute to the major cities to work in them (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p. 147). Urban planning was thus considered to be very useful for the progress and development of Lo ndon and the South-East of England, which traditionally has been the most populous and prosperous region of Britain. Urban planning was also intended to increase the prosperity levels of the other regions in Britain to be as high as possible to match the levels achieved in the South-East of England (Southall, 2000 p. 337). Controlled expansion of urban areas into the new towns was intended to solve the immediate post-war housing shortage and revive the British economy, whilst leaving the great bulk of the countryside untouched by new housing construction (Taylor, 1998 p.3). Previous improvements in agricultural techniques meant that farming became more efficient nationally which had quickened the pace of urbanisation in Britain as a whole. Urbanisation in Britain had already had a strong impact upon the environment that went beyond the replacement of the countryside with polluting factories and unhealthy slum housing (Southall, 2000, p. 335). Higher crop yields from less land had the consequence that more land in rural areas became available to be used as development land. The greater availability of former agricultural land meant that is was easier to find enough land to construct new towns or expand existing cities across Britain. Urbanisation was a process that was accelerated by the need of industrial towns and cities to find workers to continue their expansion (Goudie Viles, 1997 p. 5). To begin with, the majority of new homes were traditional style houses that formed large council house estates right across the country, in architectural terms there was very little innovation or thought given to making the new housing stock architecturally sustainable or environmentally friendly. More attention was instead devoted to making all new houses comfortable, clean, and ensuring they were being built to last (Greed, 1996 p. 35). The new homes were intended to be better and larger than the ones that they had replaced. The majority of large cities and the new towns in Britain had millions of council houses built in their areas between 1945 and the early 1970s. However, it was much harder to find adequate amounts of development land in inner city areas which led to the building of high rise tower blocks which allowed a greater number of people to be housed without increasing the total area of the development land required (Sheail, 2002 p. 62). Unfortunately, high rise tower bl ocks constructed during the 1960s and the 1970s in the South-East of England, as well as nationally failed to be an adequate form of long- term and sustainable architecture that allowed people to be housed in safety or comfort. The failure of many high rise tower blocks to be sustainable forms of housing had the affect of increasing the pressure on development land. It has also meant that tower blocks have had to be refurbished or more frequently demolished (Meller, 1997 p. 63). As the picture below shows the 1950s and the 1960s also witnessed the construction of low-rise apartment blocks which have proved to be longer lasting than tower blocks built during the same period of time. The picture is of apartment flats constructed in Ham Common in Richmond between 1955 and 1958 (Frampton, 1997 p. 266). Although the amount of new housing construction was considerable not all the available land had been developed or built upon. Land remained set aside for agricultural purposes, whilst other land was left un-built upon and not always used for farming. The land that was left alone and was set aside and thus not allowed to be used for domestic housing or industrial sites were referred to as the green belt. The green belt was created to act as a buffer zone between urban and rural areas as a means to limit urbanisation (Greed, 1996 p. 82). Central government set aside areas that were designated as green belt zones to preserve the countryside nationally as well as solely in the South-East of England. Although, it was possible to build on green belt land the process of gaining planning permission from central government and the relevant local authority was a long drawn out one which deterred most property developers and construction firms from doing so. Local interest groups have often bei ng highly vocal in their opposition to any schemes that have been suggested (Clapp, 1994 p. 138). Clapp estimated that with national parks and designated green belt zones that in England and Wales â€Å"more than a fifth of the countryside now has stringent protection against development† (Clapp, 1994 p. 140). Therefore, the bulk of available development land was concentrated in urban areas, often referred to as brown field sites (Greed, 1996 p. 82). For central government there are advantages for using brown field sites (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). For instance, using such sites allows for economic regeneration, employment creation as well as less pressure to build on green belt land. Recycling land on brown field sites is a method of preserving rural areas being used as development land (Clapp, 1994 p.139). The pressure to use greater amounts of development land has arguably increased significantly in recent years throughout Britain as a whole. The pressure to use development land has risen due to a combination of social, economic, and political factors. For instance, in social terms the demographic changes to the British population have had significant, and it could even be argued, profound effects upon the demand for development for new construction programmes. These demographic changes have occurred as a consequence of the British population ageing, the increasing number of adults who live on their own, as well as the major increase in the number of immigrants who have settled in Britain in the past decade or so. These changes have meant that more people within Britain are seeking a higher number of places to live in. Another reason for the raised levels of pressure upon development land is caused by the potential financial gains from building new houses, as well as new retail or ind ustrial complexes. The level of financial gains that could be made has been boosted since 1979 by the shifting away from the publicly funded housing programmes to a market led approach to determining the rates of new housing construction and the ownership of existing housing (Allmendinger and Thomas, 1998 p. 5). Of course even greater numbers of domestic homes and retail premises has a knock on effect on the amount of infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and roads which are required in Britain as a whole. The building of new forms of infrastructure will only increase the environmental impact of new construction programmes (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). A fuller explanation and a more comprehensive examination of the increased pressures on the development land in Britain in general will be presented in the specific chapter on development land. The more detailed evaluation of the pressures upon development in the South-East of England will be presented in the specific chapter about the South-East of England. Not only has there been pressure to use more development land in Britain generally and in the South-East of England in particular, there has been more pressure for new construction programmes to use building techniques and technology linked with sustainable architecture. Sustainable architecture may have been a concept, which started in the United States, yet it could be very important to put its ideas into action across the globe (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). The notion of sustainable architecture is in itself influenced by ideas about making or enabling architecture maximise the utility and the subsequent life span of all new construction, whilst minimising the amount of resources needed in the initial construction and the maintenance of buildings. Sustainable architecture, when possible, uses resources that is renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable. There are various motivations for adopting sustainable architecture when it comes down to the construction and the completion of all new building programmes. Motivations that include the minimising of development land used, as well as making use of new technology to conserve energy, the conservation or recycling of finite resources, as well as reducing the levels of water consumption. Reducing the level of pollution and attempting to slow down the consequences of global warming are also factors in the promotion and implementation of sustainable architecture (Kim, Rigdon, Graves, August 1998 p. 5). Of course, there is the influence of legislation upon the use of sustainable architecture techniques to reduce the environmental and ecological impact of new construction programmes. Property developers and construction firms have to comply with measures to protect the environment introduced by the British government and the European Union (Hough, 2004 p. 190). As will be shown in the specific chapter about sustainable architecture the majority of methods used to improve environmental sustainability are relatively straightforward to incorporate into the designs of new building programmes, and in some cases into existing buildings. Sustainable architecture could be achieved by using construction materials that are less damaging to the environment, or materials that have been obtained from recycled and renewable resources. Making buildings as environmentally sustainable as possible during new construction projects (as will be examined in greater depth) will achieve the over all objectives of those that practice and argue for the implementation of sustainable architecture. It is most practical to install features or equipment which enhances environmental sustainability during new construction projects rather than afterwards. The pressures to adopt sustainable architecture in many ways are contradictory, yet are also connected with the pressure s to raise the levels of development land used up for new building programmes. Other motivations for adopting sustainable architecture include applying measures that are requirements for gaining planning permission, as well as ensuring that all new buildings comply with all the minimum standards for safeguarding the environment set by the British government and also by the European Union. The British government has set standards for domestic and retail buildings since the 1950s. For instance, to rid London of its previously renowned smog and fog by reducing smoke emissions from domestic homes and factories alike under the auspices of the Clean Air Act. The European Union has taken a greater interest in promoting environmental sustainability since the 1980s, believing that such actions to protect the natural environment on a regional rather than a national basis would be far more effective in doing so (Hough, 2004 p. 190). Chapter One Literature Review ‘Urban Planning and the British New Right’, by Allmendinger and Thomas was primarily used as a source of reference for the ways in which the Conservative governments between 1979 and 1997 altered housing and economic policies in Britain. This book also contained information about the introduction of more extensive government environmental protection policies, which were started during that period of Conservative administration. The book demonstrates the contradictions between the strong Conservative support for free market economics and the increasing understanding that central government needed to act to protect the environment. Brian Clapp’s ‘An Environmental History of Britain from the Industrial Revolution’ is a good source of information with regard to development land and the impact of the green belt zones on limiting building programmes to already urbanised areas. The book provides a useful insight into the establishment and the continued maintenance of green belt zones in modern Britain. ‘An introduction to Human Geography – Issues for the 21st century’ by Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, and Sidaway proved a useful source of information about development and the environmental impacts of human activity such as constructing buildings and using fossil fuel in buildings. The book assists in explaining why such impacts on the environment would provide a catalyst for sustainable architecture. ‘Modern architecture – a critical history’ by Kenneth Frampton was used as a source of pictures and reference for information about architectural styles and building materials. There was also a brief section concerning the planning of the new town constructed at Milton Keynes during the early 1970s. ‘The Earth Transformed – an introduction to Human Impacts on the Environment’ by Goudie and Viles was used to obtain information about development land and the impact of unsustainable architecture and building techniques upon pollution levels and global warming. The book contained information about the harmful consequences of global urbanisation and industrialisation. ‘Cities Natural Process – A basis for sustainability’, by Michael Hough was a useful reference book for discussing development land and issues that relate to enhancing environmental sustainability. This book was also useful because there was a greater focus upon Britain within it. The book contained suggestions and examples of how sustainability could be achieved with the help of sustainable architecture. ‘Postwar – A history of Europe since 1945’ by Tony Judt was solely used for information about immigration into Britain in the last decade or so. ‘Sustainable Architecture: Introduction to Sustainable Design by’ Kim and Rigdon is an article which explores the theoretical and practical background to sustainable architecture. It was used to gain information for the chapter, which dealt with sustainable architecture specifically. That information was also for the chapter concerning the need for any new construction programmes in the South-East of England to embrace sustainable architecture. ‘Pollution Prevention in Architecture – Introductory Module’ by Kim, Rigdon, and Graves provides further theoretical and practical insights into the ideas contained within the notion of sustainable architecture. This article contained strong arguments as to why sustainable architecture should be implemented across the world and not just in a single specific region of one particular country. This article proved a sound reference for the chapters concerning sustainable architecture and the necessity of its use in the South-East of England. ‘Towns, plans, and society in modern Britain’ by Helen Meller was used to gain background knowledge of the establishment of a more vigorous and restrictive planning regulatory framework brought into operation after the end of the Second World War. That information was then included within the introduction and the specific chapter dealing with the pressures upon the use of development land. ‘Urban and Environmental Planning in the UK’, by Yvonne Rydin provides useful information concerning the protection of the environment through planning regulations and restrictions. Provides good reference material as to how the British government and the European Union have attempted to reduce environmental damage through restrictions on development land and building or other regulations to cut pollution and enhance sustainability. ‘A History of Britain 3, End of Empire 1776 – 2000’, by Simon Schama was used to gain information as to why the Conservative party did not overturn the extended provision of council houses introduced by the Atlee government until after 1979. The book also had information about the ideological changes that Margaret Thatcher brought into Britain and the consequences of such changes. ‘An Environmental History of Twentieth Century Britain’ by John Sheail was a book, which discussed the developments within the environment of Britain between 1900 and 2000. Sheail examines how the understanding of environmental issues in Britain developed in the latter part of the twentieth century. The book was informative in relation to the development of policies that were intended to protect the environment and promote sustainability. ‘The City – In time and space’ by Aidan Southall was a book used to assist with the description and evaluation of the use as well as the restrictions placed upon the availability of development land within Britain. Southall’s account in particular provided information concerning the effective regeneration of brown field sites within the immediate vicinity of London besides providing an insight into the construction of the new towns in the aftermath of the Second World War. ‘Ecological Architecture: A critical history’ by Steele provided some useful practical and theoretical information about the concepts and the designs of sustainable architecture. ‘Life Cycle Analysis for Automobiles’, by Sulivan and Hu was used solely for the data concerning the amount of energy needed to produce aluminium, polyethene, PVC and steel, comparing the consumption to produce the materials new with when those products are recycled. ‘Urban Planning Since 1945’ by Nigel Taylor was a highly useful source of information with regard to the development and the continuation of planning restrictions as well as building regulations. The information about the uses of town and country planning besides the motivations for the establishment and the continuation of green belt land areas was of great use. Taylor also included some succinct information about environmental sustainability within this book. Brenda Vale’s ‘Green Architecture: Design for a Sustainable Future’ is a good introduction to the concepts and the designs most strongly linked with sustainable development. Chapter Two Development Land Prior to the start of the twentieth century there was very little formal or legal regulation or planning undertaken when it came down to the use of development land. There was in effect little to prevent the construction of new building programmes, let alone notions about limiting the size and the scope of such programmes to protect the environment or promote ecological sustainability (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). Central government by and large did not intervene to prevent individuals, businesses of various sizes, or indeed local authorities from using development land in any way that they wished to do so. The central government was willing to permit any parties to construct new buildings upon such development land, especially if the party responsible for constructing such buildings already owned the land, which was been built upon (Greed, 1996 p. 2). The freedom with which new buildings could be built was demonstrated by the ability of the majority of landowners to choose the style of archi tecture in the construction of their homes, factories, or shops. Landowners had the option of making their buildings as grand as possible or as cheap to construct as possible (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). They did not have to consider that their right to build on their land would be restricted by the location of that land in relation to the nearest city or its place in the countryside. Landowners and their architects did not believe that there was any profound need to change what they built or how they built it in order to protect the environment and promote sustainability (Sheail, 2003 p. 2). Those building regulations that did exist were generally very minimalist in their actual nature, and were usually introduced on an ad hoc basis. Architecture and the development of land were more likely to be influenced by changes in technology or improvements in economic development, as well as change in fashion and styles (Meller, 1997 p. 63). For instance, these houses started to have gas, electricity, and water supplies installed. These supplies of utility services were regulated by the central government (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p.115). Those services were also supplied to factories and shops, which were increasingly subject to health, and safety standards that were intended to prevent accidents, yet paid no attention to the land that they happened to be constructed on (Sheail, 2003 p. 2). The nineteenth century witnessed a quantum leap forward in the amount of land, which was built upon due to a raising population as well as increased levels of industrialisation . These factors happened to coincide with the development of improved infrastructure such as roads, railways, sewage systems, public hospitals, and schools. The development of such infrastructure required large quantities of land, labour, and resources to be successfully completed, whilst in turn promoting higher levels of industrialisation and the migration of people from the countryside to the expanding cities. Some cities and regions benefited economically from such industrialisation more than others did. In Britain, industrialisation benefited the regions surrounding Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Over all though London and the South-East of England retained their position as the most prosperous region within Britain. Industrialisation came at a cost, namely pollution and greater levels of social inequality (Southall, 2000 p. 335). The development of gas, electricity, and water supplies alongside sewage systems made domestic houses more comfortable to live in an d factories more productive due to having greater efficiency (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p.115). Before a system of urban and rural planning were introduced there was no specifically set aside development land. Market forces determined the use of land and what if anything was built upon it. If landowners found that their land was most profitably used for agricultural purposes then it would remain as agricultural land (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). If, however more money could be made from building houses, shops, or factories on their land, then that is what usually happened to that land. Landowners could also be tempted to sell their land to property developers, construction firms, or industrial enterprises if they were lucky enough to own land that those other parties felt in urgent need of developing (Meller, 1997 p. 62). It was market forces that drove the industrial revolution in Britain as well as also promoting the process of urbanisation. The processes of industrialisation and urbanisation meant that cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow greatly expanded in ter ms of both their geographical areas and their total population levels, which led to shrinkage in the size of rural areas in Britain as a whole (Southall, 2000 p. 335). It was also market forces that determined the location, size, and scope of housing, factories, and commercial buildings. There were no limitations to the size, location or scope of such buildings, and absolutely no attention was given to the environmental consequences of these building programmes (Sheail, 2003 p 2). The absence of building regulations and restrictions on the use of land meant that there was a great deal of unhealthy and substandard slum housing, which caused widespread illness. Illness occurred besides reflecting the poverty of those people that were unfortunate enough to have to live in such areas (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p.115). Planning regulations would have undoubtedly improved conditions, for instance introducing proper sanitation into the slums or having substandard housing replaced by higher quality houses for people to move into (Southall, 2000 p. 335). In rural areas fears that heavy industry and unsightly slums would eventually over take all the land within their close proximity prompted the foundation of organisations dedicated to the physical preservation of the countryside, the rural way of life, and its wildlife (Clapp, 1994 p. 138). The countryside preservation organisations would eventually have a strong influence on the establishment of the gree n belt zones and the restricted availability of development land in the more predominantly rural areas of Britain (Allmendinger and Thomas, 1998 p. 55). It was after the end of the First World War that the central government and local authorities took a greater interest in the construction of housing and how land was actually being used in domestic housing and industrial or commercial construction programmes. The role of the market in deciding how many houses were built and the location of where those houses were constructed was reduced with the development of council houses (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). The provision of affordable housing built by local authorities and subsidised by central government funding meant that there was increased public involvement in the determination of land usage. The use, abuse, or the non-use of land was no longer solely determined by market forces. The involvement of central government and local authorities was intended to reduce poverty, ill health, and social exclusion. At no point in the inter-war period were measures taken to introduce town and country planning with the intention of protecting the environ ment or promoting sustainability as nob

Vietnam War History :: essays research papers

Sometime between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200, the intermingling of the Red River Delta's early inhabitants resulted in a distinct Vietnamese people. Virtually from the outset, the Vietnamese were ruled by the Chinese, and they would continue to be until A.D. 938. During the centuries of Chinese control over the Red River Delta, two independent states rose to power in what is now central and southern VietNam. From the first to the sixth centuries, the kingdom of Funan held sway aver the Mekong Delta and the region that is now Cambodia; the kingdom was over thrown by the Mon-Khmer, who founded the Cambodian empire. Along the coast of central VietNam, the kingdom of Champa ruled from the late second century until the 15th, when it was conquered by the Vietnamese, who expanded steadily southward after expelling the Chinese. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the Vietnamese would wrest the Mekong Delta from Cambodia, essentially completing the formation of their country. Of the more than a dozen dynasties that have ruled independent VietNam, three are considered "great." The first was the Ly (1009-1225), whose rulers established Hanoi as their capital in the year 1010, naming it Thang Long, the City of the Soaring Dragon. (It was not until 1831 that the name Hanoi-City in a Bend of the River-came into use.) The Ly built new roads, dikes, and canals, and they vigorously promoted agriculture. In 1044 - 22 years before William the Conqueror invaded England the Ly founded VietNam's first postal service. The Ly dynasty ended in overthrow by the Tran, who established the second great dynasty (1225-1400). In 1407, the Chinese reconquered VietNam, but this time their rule lasted only two decades. In 1428, they were driven out by the Vietnamese hero who established the third great dynasty, Le Loi. The Le dynasty, which held power until 1524, introduced a series of remarkable reforms. Arts, literature, and education were promoted. Large landowners were forced to distribute their holdings to the land less. Legal reforms gave women nearly equal rights with men. In the 17th and 18th centuries, VietNam was split by warring factions. Northern VietNam was ruled by the powerful Trinh Lords, the south controlled by lords of the Nguyen line. In 1786, three brothers, the Tay Son, briefly reunited the country, but even as they fought to depose the Trinh and Nguyen lords, their empire began fragmenting.

Desire of Escape :: Essays Paper

Desire of Escape In Dubliners, James Joyce tells short stories of individuals struggling with life, in the city of Dublin. â€Å"It is a long road that has no turning† (Irish Proverb). Many individuals fight the battle and continue on the road. However, some give up and get left behind. Those who continue to fight the battle, often deal with constant struggle and suffering. A reoccurring theme, in which Joyce places strong emphasis on, is the constant struggle of fulfilling responsibilities. These responsibilities include; work, family and social expectations. Joyce writes about these themes because characters often feel trapped and yearn to escape from these responsibilities. In â€Å"The Little Cloud†, â€Å"Counterparts†, and â€Å"The Dead† characters are often trapped in unhappy living situations, often leading to a desire of escape from reality and daily responsibilities. In Dubliners, characters feel trapped in work related issues, which ultimatly results in unhappiness. In the story â€Å"Counterparts†, Farrington is unhappy with his job. Working as a copy clerk, does not provide Farrington with proper satisfaction. The mistreatment he receives from his boss, makes his job worse. Mr. Alleyne screams, â€Å"you have always some excuse or another for shirking work. Let me tell you that if that contract is not copied before this evening I’ll lay the matter before Mr. Crosbie... Do you hear me now?† (83). Farringtons boss is strict and demeaning. Feelings of worthlessness are quite evident. One might argue that Farrington abuses alcohol as a way to escape his work responsibilities. He does this by engaging in constant stops at the pub during his work day. â€Å"It’s alright Mr. Shelley, said the man, pointing with his finger to indicate the objective of his journey† (84). A similar type of entrapment in work, is also evident in the story, â€Å"A Little Cloud†. Chandler strives to be as successful as his old time friend, Gallagher. He constantly compares his job to that of Gallagher. Feelings of worthlessness take over, causing Chandler to be unhappy, contemplating ways to escape his reality. Chandler wishes he could be as successful as Ignatius Gallaher. He states, â€Å" There was always a certain... something in Ignatius Gallaher that impressed you in spite of yourself† (67). Constantly comparing his job, to that of Gallaher, Chandler becomes more depressed.

Nestle – Maggi Brand

History and origin of Nestle The company was founded in 1867 on the shore of Geneva vevey in Switzerland and its first product was â€Å"Farine Lactee Nestle† which is an infant cereal formulated by Henri Nestle to provide improved infant networks. Nestle has spread worldwide through various acquisitions and mergers from the year 1905-2007. It bears the name of a real man Henri Nestle. The company trademark is a bird in the nest derived from his personal cost of arms. This symbol invokes value upon which the company was build. The values are security, maternity and affectionate nature and nourishment, family and tradition. It is one of the leading branded processed food companies in the country with a large market share in products like instant coffee, milk products etc. It also has a significant share in the chocolates and other semi-processed food market. One of its most successful brands in India is that of Maggi. Nestle product list – Nestle India manufactures products of truly international quality under internationally famous brand names such as NESCAFE, MAGGI, MILKYBAR, KIT KAT, BAR-ONE, MILKMAID and NESTEA its products range from syrups, Nestle milkmaid, ice-cream, jams, honey, candies, Nestle fresh and natural dahi, , Nestle slim milk, Maggi sauces, Maggi pizza mazza, Maggi pichkoo, Nescafe cappuccino, Nescafe sunrise, Nescafe Munch, Nestle milo smart plus, Nestle iced tea with green tea etc The Brand – Maggi origins Maggi is a Nestle brand of instant soups, stocks, bouillon cubes, ketchups, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles. The original company came into existence in 1872 in Switzerland, when Julius Maggi took over his father's mill. It quickly became a pioneer of industrial food production, aiming at improving the nutritional intake of worker families. It was the first to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market, which was followed by ready-made soup based on legume meal in 1886. In 1897, Julius Maggi founded the company Maggi GmbH in the German town of Singen where it is still established today. In 1947, following several changes in ownership and corporate structure, Maggi's holding company merged with the Nestle company to form Nestle-Alimentana S. A. , currently known in its francophone homebase as Nestle S. A.. Today, Maggi is particularly well known in the Baltic states for its dry soups. In Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines, for its seasonings, such as Maggi sauce, which is a household product. And in Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Singapore for its instant Maggi noodles . In West Africa, and parts of the Middle East, Maggi cubes are used as part of the local cuisine. Throughout Latin America, Maggi products, especially bouillon cubes, are widely sold with some repackaging to reflect local terminology. In the German, Dutch and Danish languages, lovage has come to be known as â€Å"Maggi herb†, because it tastes similar to Maggi sauce, although, paradoxically, lovage is one of the few herbs not present in the sauce. In Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam Maggi seasoning sauce is a popular condiment used in flavouring meals, and the bottles are familiar sights on restaurant tables. Maggi in India- Maggi in India is best known for its flagship product of instant noodles with its various desi sub-segments such as the traditional dal atta, veg atta and rice noodles along with their various variants, Curry, Masala, Tomato, Chicken in the traditional and shahi pulao, lemon Masala and Chilly Chow in the rice noodle segments. Nestle unleashes brand maggi in India almost 25 years ago in 1983 with the launch of its traditional ‘2-minute noodles’ in its masala, tomato, chicken flavours, followed by its curry flavor some years down the line. Various products under Maggi – Noodles – MAGGI Vegetable Multigrainz Noodles, MAGGI 2-Minute Noodles, MAGGI Vegetable Atta Noodles, MAGGI Cuppa Mania Sauces – MAGGI Sauces, MAGGI Pichkoo, Tomato, Chilli garlic, Chilli, Extra hot chilli. MAGGI PASTA- MAGGI Pazzta Cooking Aids – MAGGI Magic Cubes, MAGGI Bhuna Masala, MAGGI Coconut Milk, Powder MAGGI Pizza Mazza, MAGGI Masala-ae-Magic, White rice seasoning, chicken stock, chicken stock less salt, beefand vegetable stock. Soups – Cook-up soups and instant soups, MAGGI Healthy Soups, Sanjeevani MAGGI Healthy Cup Maggi Noodles Brand Ambassador – Nestle’s Maggi Noodles has recently introduced a new range of ‘devilled’ noodles which is expected to ignite the taste buds of local youth. Coming under three categories – devilled chicken, devilled kottu and devilled chilli chicken – the range has been created to suit the local palate, which often craves hot and spicy food. Taking the new range forward, the company also introduced its Brand Ambassador for the devilled noodles, Sri Lankan-born Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez. Maggi Devilled Noodles are extremely youth centric with dynamic, vibrant, fun and hot brand personalities. Jacqueline Fernandez was choosen as Brand Ambassador as she fits very well with this youth-centric range. As a young, dynamic and vibrant youth icon of international fame with a strong Sri Lankan identity, she had blended with the essence of the Maggi Devilled Noodles. Strategies Adopted by Nestle’ for the Maggi brand Nestle’ managed to create new product categories under the brand name of Maggi. They adopted the following strategies : Maggi introduced the Maggi sauces category and promoted it under the brand name of Maggi. Since it is always easier to promote a product under the brand name of the established brand as the expenditure and people recognition time is less. More than it both are similar product category as sauces and noodles are interrelated to each other. Nestle’ also introduced the pizza variant by which one can be able to create the pizzas at home. It was also promoted under the brand name of Maggi. Nestle’ also used the cultural base marketing in India as knowing the fact that indian people like rice, they introduced Maggi rice noodle mania. Also Nestle’ was able to successfully use the umbrella branding for Maggi. They introduced many variants under the brand name of Maggi. By doing so, they were successful in making the product popular, there was a greater acceptance for the product, they required a relatively lesser time to be accepted, they did not need to spend so much on advertising and promotional activities, and also it gave strength to the Brand name and ncreased brand equity. Maggi was successfully able to postion its noodles in the minds of the consumers as fast food items that can be eaten for breakfast or even lunch. They introduced new categorieshaving a coompelete diet of protein, calorie level, which is a must for the children. By doing this emotional marketing they were successfully able to market this product. And now it has successfully enjoys a 90%percent market share in this segment Diversification strategies – The strategies of diversification can include internal development of new products or markets, acquisition of a firm, alliance with a complementary company, licensing of new technologies, and distributing or importing a products line manufactured by another firm. Generally, the final strategy involves a combination of these options. This combination is determined in function of available opportunities and consistency with the objectives and the resources of the company. For the brand Maggi development of new products or perhaps even increasing brand extension , focusing on health as well as even a wide variety of flavours like cheese etc could help maggi diversify. Target Market of Nestle for the Maggi brand At the initial stage Nestle targeted the working women, however soon it realized that in order to boost sales its target market should be the children and teenagers. So they changed their positioning and came up with two minute noodles as it could be easily made by teenagers within a short span of time. Nestle also has recently targeted housewives as by introducing the health noodles they can be consumed as the complete food which gives necessary calories to meet all health requirements. For these variants they introduced th new positioning â€Å"Taste bhi, health bhi†. Reasons for brand extensions- Maggi brand was extended to a variety of culinary products like soups, sauces, ketchups, and various cooking aids . they wanted to offer heathy products under the Maggi brand, in a bid to attract health conscious consmers. They were various health issue relating to the ingredient used that led to brand extensions. They also wanted a strong brand recall, since maggi was doin gvery well in the market they wanted to use this as a positive point and went for a brand extension. Maggi’s competitors- Maggi main competitors were that of ‘Top Ramen’and that of ‘Hakka Noodles’and ‘Chowmeen’ due to which it had witnessed a decline in sales however with the new strategies adopted and new promotional activites it was a]ble to get back on top. Various Tag lines of Maggi- Through its adds maggi has been positioned as a ‘fun’ food for kids which mothers could prepare easily. Some of the Tag lines used by Maggi for various add’s are- †¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœMummy,bhook lagi hai’(Mom I’m hungry) †¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœBas 2-minute’(only 2 minutes) †¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœFast to Cook Good to Eat’ †¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœTaste bhi, Health bhi’ Suggest a new product- Future plans of Maggi – The company continuously focuses its efforts to better understand the changing lifestyle of modern India and anticipate consumer needs inorder to provide convenience, taste, nutrition, and wellness through its products. The company will focus on changing lifestyles and innovate and renovate to create delight in everyday meals.

Change models Essay

Scenario Planning: Supplementing Traditional Strategic Planning It is clear the rate of change in today’s work environments has been aggravating with more emphasis nowadays on smaller teams, incremental and rapid delivery, faster payback, and frequent project status reporting. This acceleration has instigated uncertainty that forced organisations to start supporting their strategic planning with a longer term perspective of planning called scenario planning or scenario thinking/analysis. Scenario †¦ Read More A Simple Method to Split a WordPress Post into Multiple Pages One of the most effective ways to increase the number of page views and decrease the bounce rate of your site is by splitting your long posts into several pages. In the first part of the article, you will learn in 2 steps how to split a post in WordPress using the codex function wp_link_pages() and the tag. In the second †¦ Read More Boosting Your WordPress Site’s Performance By Enabling GZIP Compression Ever heard of GZIP? It is a simple software application that compresses/decompresses files based on an algorithm named DEFLATE. It works by finding similar strings in a text file and replacing them temporarily to make the overall file size smaller which would drastically improve the performance of your website. The algorithm perfectly works with CSS and HTML filetypes which typically †¦ Read More Improving Quality of Project Estimation It is clear that estimating a project is important for the project manager to determine how long the project would take, to figure out how much the project would cost, to decide whether the project is worth doing, to measure variances against the baseline plan, and to take corrective actions. However some project managers nowadays tend to put minimum effort †¦ Read More Avoiding Common Pitfalls of High Performance Project Teams Previously in one of my earlier articles, I discussed the key qualities required for a project manager to be effective in building a high performance project team. Believe it or not, though high performance project teams can produce incredible outcomes, there still remain some serious pitfalls that project managers need to be aware of in order not to fall victims †¦ Read More Contract Management Must-Knows For Project Managers Contract management constitutes a major component of a project procurement system. Most work done nowadays on projects involves dealing with contracts or has a contractual nature. Although some companies have purchasing departments that specialize in procurement, one of the basic knowledge and skills of a project manager is to be able to read and manage contracts. This post basically discusses †¦ Read More Understanding And Managing Your Boss The idea of â€Å"managing your boss† may sound quite unusual for some managers, considering the widespread adoption of the traditional top down management  approach in most organizations. Even though talented and aggressive managers nowadays carefully control and administer their subordinates, services, and products, they might reveal, on the other hand, a passive stand with their bosses (Gabarro and Kotter 1993). †¦ Read More Changes in Project Management Processes Between PMBOK 4 And PMBOK 5 This post presents a tabulated s ummary of differences in the names, inputs, tools, and outputs of project management processes between PMBOK 4 and PMBOK 5. Note that terms in Red which exist in PMBOK 4 have been removed or replaced in PMBOK 5, terms in Blue have been newly added into PMBOK 5, and terms in Black have not †¦ Read More Critical Analysis of Porter’s Five Forces Model – Information Technology (IT) Industry In order to appropriately formulate their corporate strategies and distinctively compete in the market, organizations are in a need for a framework that would help them in understanding industry structure and in overcoming rivalry. This essay aims at discussing, analyzing, and criticizing Porter’s Five Forces model using a wide variety of academic literature. The first part introduces the model, discusses †¦ Read More Key Qualities For An Effective Project Manager This post describes key qualities needed for an effective project manager. It discusses the differences between leading and managing a project, explains the importance of managing stakeholders, describes how to gain influence by reciprocity, stresses on the significance of leading by example and managing by wandering around (MBWA), explores how to deal with the contradictory nature of work, and finally †¦ Read More 12345678910 Home ; Change Management ; Change Management Diagnostic Models – Case Study â€Å"Jamie’s Food Revolution† Change Management Diagnostic Models – Case Study â€Å"Jamie’s Food Revolution† April 14th, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments This essay presents three different diagnostic models that serve as a change management guidance for organizations by helping them in considering what factors are important for this change and how these factors are interrelated together (Nadler and Tushman 1980). The main purpose of these models is to help in reducing the complexity of the change situation by identifying what change variables require attention by the organization, what sequence of activities to adopt in dealing with the change situation, and how the various organizational properties are interconnected (Ian Palmer 2009). The essay compares and contrasts Burke-Litwin, Six-Box Weisbord, and Congruence models, pinpoints their strengths and weaknesses, and then applies one of these models to the case study â€Å"Jamie’s Food Revolution†. The first organizational and causal model to be discussed is the Burke-Litwin model. The strength of this model lies on the fact that it consists of twelve key variables, at three different organizational levels (external environment, leadership, strategy, and culture at the total system level; structure, management practices, systems and climate at the group or work unit level; and tasks, motivation, needs, and values at the individual level)(Burke and Litwin 1992). The variables on the top have a stronger influence on systems than the bottom variables (Leadersphere 2008). The model is based on an open systems principle whereby it considers the external environment as an input and the organization performance as output with a bidirectional feedback between them (Jackie Alexander Di 2002). What makes this model unique is that it houses almost all of the variables considered in the 7-S, Six-Box Weisbord and Congruence models (Burke and Litwin 1992) and it also stresses on the point that changes can lead to transformational organization-wide (leadership, strategy, and mission) as well as internal transactional (management, structure, system, individual needs, tasks) dynamics which altogether affect individual and organization performance (Jackie Alexander Di 2002). Burke and Jackson (1991) demonstrated the scenario of a successful merge between two companies, SmithKline and Beecham, which concentrated on establishing a unique culture with a loose-tight behavioral leadership, and on adopting a customized Burke-Litwin model to increase its performance. This model however may impose some complexity in its usage. Dana (2004), in her study to apply this model to a quality management system, has limited her research to specific variables for this model because of the big amount of information required to be gathered on each variable. Also, a quantitative study done by Jackie Alexander Di (2002) on the model’s variables failed to reveal the hidden communication variable, which shows that this model may not foresee all organizational problems. The second model to be discussed is the one developed by David Nadler and Michael Tushman, the Congruence model. Like the Burke-Litwin model, the pragmatic Congruence model is based on the open system’s principle (input environment, transformation, output)(Nadler 1982) and deals with the organization as a whole dynamic and social system where the purpose lies in realizing the state of congruence among the various subparts or components of the organization (Nadler and Tushman 1980). The measure of organizational effectiveness depends on the total degree of congruence as a normative approach to ensure fit among these components (Hatton and Raymond 1994). Nevertheless adopting this model is dynamic (should be changed with time) and poses a lot of challenges including the management of political dynamics, the anxiety created by the change, and the control of the transition state (Nadler and Tushman 1989). Additionally, it requires special care to ensure appropriate fit between strategy and environmental conditions, as well as among the four organizational components (work, people, formal structures and process, and informal structures and processes). Burke ; Litwin (1992) state that the number of items to be matched for congruence is great and the Congruence model fails to provide a mechanism for determining which of these items are important and what level of congruence yields desirable results. For further help, several studies have presented major efforts to discuss strategies to attain the maximum congruence. Hatton and Raymond (1994) concluded with several postulates that describe how congruence can be achieved by interrelating together specific dimensions of these key variables (environment, strategy, technology, task, structure, and individual). Also, Nadler and Tushman (1989), in their view of organizations as political systems, posit that there is no general way for dealing with change. They stressed that managers should understand these political dynamics of change by diagnosing the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, developing a clear vision, creating energy within teams, and possessing active leadership, thus achieving the congruence between strategy and environmental conditions, as well as among the four organizational components.