Economic Systems Essay

Within the activity parameters of the economy, there come the economic systems. Economic system may be defined as an array and the nature of the interactive forces of the economic activity in the pursuit of the broad national resources in methods and means that brings the most optimal allocation within the economic units. In studying this concept, it remains solely an important factor to put into consideration the aspect of the limited resources. This attribute in an important enterprise that work to define the situational mobility in the use of these resources by the members of the society. In terms of economic systems, the capitalistic and socialist economies have certain features that may be voted as advantages and disadvantages in relation to one another. Since the ages of industrial revolution, these two systems have been developed. In the American enterprise, they have remarkably been in application. To define capitalism firstly, it is the market economic systems in which the decision about the market are decentralized to the firms and economic units with only a complimented influence by the government in supply of the public goods such as justice and national defense. The provision of the products and services are a decision by the owners of the factors of production (firms) that make rational decisions about what to produce, how much, when and whom to produce for. There is private ownership of the factors of production by firms with the main goal being profit maximization. (Foley, Pyle, 2003) On the other hand, socialist economy is the case where the resource package of the economy is deemed to be owned solely by the central government. The economy depicts a well planned system, with equality and equity been the presumptive decisions. Capitalistic economy is based on political frontiers which dictate that the ownership of the factors used in production is in the hands of the firms which use various investments schedules to increase their profit. In the due to process to strike a balance between these two systems, it is important to analyze the efficiency precept of the capitalistic economy. At one level, through personal persuasion in the conscience of his personal interest within the economy, he/she will help to bring a success to the broad economy as a whole and consequently benefit one another. When people choose to act on personal grounds without government regulation, there is a higher creation in the wealth factor by them then the consequence laxity that may be brought about if the ownership of these resources is by the government. Respect to more efforts into the economic activity at the personal level, the living standards will consequently improve. (Barnett, 2005) Within the economic framework, are the firms who own the limited factors of production. The economic activities are broad and intense with various packages of commodities and services as output. The market itself is competitive in nature with the price determination under the control of the existing forces of the market supply as well as the demand. Price level defines the level of consumption of the products by the rational consumers. When the prices are up, the consumers lower the level of consumption with the opposite still holding. However, in the capitalistic system, the price is determined by these forces which are never exploitation to the consumers or a loss to the firms. The equilibrium point between the demand function and the supply yields the equilibrium price. Sheridan, 1998) Generally, the national resources that involve both natural and human resources are limited. Consequently, such limitation to the level of resources implies the need for maximum exploitation. However, the capitalistic system is evident in the efficient exploitation and the use of these resources. At one level, these resources are owned solely by the firms. With the high population of such firms against the little package of the existing resources, there is an optimal subdivision of such resources between the firms. In there bid to create wealth on personal dimensions, the firms involve themselves in persuasive activities aimed at optimizing the scale of the available resources. On another scale, this can be related to the motivational aspect developed to them as reasoned to them been the owners of the state resources. Through this ownership, they apply various economies of scales and investment pattern that are adapted to providing the most optimal and efficient scale of output. Private ownership of resources seeks to fight the weaknesses found in the state ownership where there is generally a suboptimal scale in such resource use. Consequently therefore, the capitalist system signifies efficiency through optimal allocation of resources (Nash, 2003) Within their operation, is the competitive market comprised of many producers. The operating system is dictated by the market forces. For an optimal point within the equilibrium, the level of supply should be consistently equal to the level of demand. The assumption of a rational consumer is still prevalent with them choosing the best quality of product against the equilibrium quantity of demand and the supply. With their competitive nature, the firms employ the use of various methods aimed at improving the competitive age of their product. High quality increases this competition. With this factor in their mind, the firms employ various tools for achieving its success. Firstly, firms within this market are highly involved in market research. With this implement, they are able to study the market requirements in correspondence to the demand. Either, the aspect of innovation is highly developed with intense research on product competing within the market. Due to the competitive nature of this market, the firms are able and willing to invest more in the innovation process of their products which helps to create a reasonable state on their competition portfolio. Consumer sovereignty is an equally important tool. At the market place, consumer sovereignty implies the capacity under which the consumers are willing to consume the most desirable level of commodity at the prevailing optimal prices without any external dictate by the producers. Consumer sovereignty is synonymous to reducing their exploitation. However, exploitation comes when the supplies/firms wants to take various sales advantages in the sales activity to the consumers through increase in the prices of products. Due to the market forces, the capitalist system attempt to safeguard the interest of such consumers through the equilibrium determination of the price factor (Gianaris, 1993) Either, capitalist economy is a remedy to the weakness of lack in equal distribution of he available resources by the socialist economy. At times, the distribution of such resources by the socialist economies may be suboptimal. The capitalist economies come in to safeguard the interest of the people in the case of failed equal resource distribution by the socialist economy. To conclude, the capitalist economic system is a fundamental displine that is credited with various efficiencies. Such efficiencies help to rationalize the resource factor, the product output and the consumption pattern within the economic layout.

Cash Basis vs. Accrual Basis Accounting

Cash basis accounting predicts a periodic measure of performance that is used to predict future cash flows. This is the difference between cash receipts and cash payments from transactions related to providing goods and services during a reporting period. â€Å"Revenue is recognized when cash is received and expense is recognized when cash is paid†. (â€Å"Accrual basis accounting,†). â€Å"When transactions are recorded on a cash basis, they affect a company's books only once a completed exchange of value has occurred; therefore, cash basis accounting is less accurate than accrual accounting in the short term†. (Investopedia, 2013).Accrual accounting doesn’t just focus on cash flows, instead, it also reflects other resources that are provided and consumed by business operations during a period. This method measures resources provided by business operations by revenue. The measure of resources used to earn revenues is expenses. The difference between reven ues and expenses is net income/loss. Accrual basis net income provides a better measure of performance because it attempts to measure the resource inflows and outflows generated by operations during the reporting period, which may not provide the same amount of cash inflows and outflows.Accruals involve transactions where the cash outflow or inflow takes place in a period after the expense or revenue recognition. â€Å"Selling on credit and projects that provide revenue streams over a long period of time affect the company's financial condition at the point of the transaction. Therefore, it makes sense that such events should also be reflected on the financial statements during the same reporting period that these transactions occur†. (Investopedia, 2013). While cash basis is the difference between cash receipts and cash disbursements from providing goods and services.For cash basis accounting, a transaction happens only when money is exchanged. â€Å"Revenues are reported o n the income statement when cash is received from the customers. Expenses are reported on the income statement when cash is paid out. This is one of the problems with cash basis accounting because adjusting entries help ensure that all revenues earned in a period are recognized in that same period, regardless of when cash is received†. (Averkamp, 2004). For accrual basis accounting, â€Å"revenues are recorded on the income statement when they are earned, which more often than not occurs before cash is received.Expenses are recorded on the income statement in the period when they occur/expire which is often in a different period from when the payment is made. This method of accounting provides a better picture of the company’s profits during an accounting period because the income statement will report all of the revenues actually earned during the period and all of the expenses incurred in order to earn the revenues. This method also helps because it reports all the a ssets that were earned are reported and all the liabilities that were incurred are reported†. (Averkamp, 2004).

THE ECONOMICS OF HEALTH CARE Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

THE ECONOMICS OF HEALTH CARE - Term Paper Example s within the demand and supply model, the factors operating in isolation or together contribute to the shift in demand curve to the right, resulting in realization of higher price and quantity of medical care over time. In addition, expenditure on medical care, the product of price and quantity has at the same time increased (Santerre and Neun, 2009). On the supply side, when wages outpace productivity, the demand and supply curves shift to the left, and as a result, the price of medical care increase; however, since demand for medical care in most cases appear to be price inelastic, the increase in price leads to increase in healthcare (Santerre and Neun, 2009). Another factor on the supply side seen to contribute to increase in healthcare costs has been identified to be cost-enhancing technologies. Information asymmetry has been associated with imperfect market or malfunctioning of the market, as health care suppliers and consumers remain separated with degree of how they know each other. Theoretical economics and empirical data have postulated that an insurance market can distort and result into disequilibrium due to adverse selection whenever there are several plan options offering different benefits and pricing structures (Farley, Wynn and Rand Corporation, 2002). For instance, healthier people usually get inclined towards leaner, expensive plans while sicker people are willing to pay more for richer benefits (Farley, Wynn and Rand Corporation, 2002). As a result, richer plans may experience adverse selection and higher health care costs, which force an increase in premiums to cover for the costs. This leads to more undesirable selection and market segmentation (Farley, Wynn and Rand Corporation, 2002). In the process, some plans are forced to drop out of the market, leavin g high cost consumers with undesirable benefits options (Farley, Wynn and Rand Corporation, 2002). Information asymmetry therefore results into ineffective plan choices, where again,

Business memorandum Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business memorandum - Assignment Example 99). Therefore, Case 1 tries to evaluate the results of lowering credit sales from 75% of total sales to 60% with 20% of next months projected cost of goods sold being inventory at the end of each preceding month. Moreover cash payments during the same month are put at a modest 20% of total purchases. Consequently, these changes amount to various adjustments; the cash receipts budget records a positive inflation to $2,769,808 from $2,734,060. Moreover, summary cash budget also records a significant rise to $738,578 from $51,908. Case 2 evaluates the effect of a rise in credit sales collected during the month of sale from 10% to 15%, and also the effect of raising a month’s payment purchases from 40% to 50% within the month of purchase. This then results in an increase of the cash receipts budget from $2,734,060 till $2,769,808 while showing a drop in the cash budget to $46,102 from $51,908. The final case, Case 3, tries to simulate the possible result of a drop in requirements of equipment purchases from $250,000 down to $100,000. This alteration affects only the summary cash budget which inflates to the $205,658 mark. The first thing that the management should think of is ways of decreasing cost so as to maximize on profits and overall revenue. This can be attained through plummeting credit sales and also minimizing expenditure on the purchase of equipment. By doing this, the overall operating costs will reducing meaning that there will be more capital to be invested back into the business consequently leading to increased growth (Blais 2011, p.

Ismg Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Ismg - Essay Example looking at the fact that the internal human resource to man the institutionalization of the rewriting were not in a position to meet the enormous demand for the task. Outsourcing was therefore the right move. If there were any failures with the outsourcing, much cannot be blamed on its selection but on the approach with which the whole process was undertaken. Hrad Technika had had a reputation of delivering on time for other companies and Tegan itself and so if certain administrative duties on the part of Tegan had been discharged duly, there would have been better results from the outsourcing. The trade off involved in the requirements analysis would be intangible than tangible. This means that it would be more of non monetary benefit in that the requirements analysis if performed would give the developers a better understanding of the entire project they are to undertake. In the long run however, they would be assured of monetary benefits when due to the knowledge they develop on the project, they will not have to incur so much cost in getting the wrong stuff done and having to change everything all over again. Considering the fact that there was an existing system, which needed to be rewritten, it could be said that technically, the system development methodology or software development methodology in place and used by Hrad Technika was the prototyping. This is because there was not the need for the creation of a complete system that would function under different core duties other than what was already in place with the old account payable. And so though there was to be a new construction, this did not actually befit the description of a waterfall model. As noted by the Hrad tea admitted that there was much more rapid over-lapping model than the traditional waterfall system. again, it can be seen that the whole approach to the model was such there were characteristics of the prototyping model whereby selected parts of the larger system was handled. Also, the

The Failure of The War Powers Resolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Failure of The War Powers Resolution - Essay Example The joint resolution only allowed the president to take such an action, on the event that there is a war emergency that the army should respond to. Other instances include, should the US, its territories or its interests be attacked (David & Larry, 1996 p22). As the provision of the law, the president should notify the congress once his intention to place the armed forces into war, within a span of 48 hours. More to this provision is the fact that the armed forces are prohibited from remaining in the war zone abroad for a period exceeding two months. After the expiry of the first two months, the army is granted 30 more days within which all its soldiers and operations should be withdrawn for the territory (Gareth, 2007 p19). Since this joint resolution was passed by majority two thirds of the congress, then the president has no veto powers over the legislation and thus has just to agree with the terms as provided. However, some presidents of the US have superseded these provisions, a nd engaged in war, without strictly adhering to the legislation, under some circumstances. Notable are the examples of presidents Bill Clinton and Obama, whereby in 1999, Clinton authorized the bombing of Kosovo, in total disregard of these legislative provisions. In 2011, president Obama went ahead and approved to enforce a no-fly zone policy over Libya, as was required by the UN (Dinan, 2006 W6). While President Obama held the view that the legislation did not provide restrictions for such actions, many of the US presidents have also held the same viewpoint, arguing that the legislation is against the US constitution. As per the US constitution, the congress is mandated with the powers of declaring war, supporting the armed forces and also the budget for such wars, and making all the necessary legislations that oversees the execution of such wars. The institution of presidency on the other hand is mandated to lead the armed forces and repel any attack that may face the US (Glen, 2 011 p28). As a privilege added to this institution, the president can agree to or reject a declaration of war issued by the congress, as he deems necessary. Therefore, there has been a struggle between the congress and the US presidents on the constitutionality of such provisions, as provided for by The War Powers Resolution. This has seen the provisions undermined by the presidents, through taking such war actions without consulting the congress. Thus, a question arises as to which institution, among the congress, the Supreme Court and the president is responsible for this failure. The failure of The War Powers Resolution can be traced to the side of congress. These failures are both in the way the congress enacted the legislation and in its failure to enforce the enacted law subsequently, where it would be necessary to contain the actions of the presidents (Rumsfeld, 2011 p14). Though some US presidents have totally overruled the provisions of the legislation, there is a possibili ty that the congress could nave contained such undermining, through their legislative and consequent enforcement powers. Thus, even though the institution of presidency can be blamed for such failures through undermining the requisite laws, the congress bears the greater burden of failure. The major failure of the War Powers Resolution, as a legislation is in its objective, under section 2a, where the law meant to seek a collective judgment in matters pertaining to wars

Control of Flux in the Glycolytic Pathway Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Control of Flux in the Glycolytic Pathway - Essay Example In glycolysis, all the reactions that are catalyzed by phosphofructokinase, hexokinase, and pyruvate kinase are considered being virtually irreversible. These enyzymes would easily be expected to have both the regulatory, and the catalyzing roles. The enzymes will serve as a controlling site. All their functions are controlled by some reversible allosteric effectors binding or through the covalent modification. More so, the quantities of these vital enzymes are variable by the control of the transcription of meeting the shifting and altering metabolic needs. The amount of time that would be needed for the control of the reversible allosteric and the regulation by transcriptional and phosphorylation, is considered to be in seconds, milliseconds, and hours. In the mammalian glycolytic pathway, for example, phosphofructokinase is one of the most vital elements of control. Increased ATP levels allosterically inhibit the enzymes within the liver, thus reducing affinity for the fructose 6- phosphate. When the concentration of ATP is high, the hyperbolic curve binding of the fructose 6-phosphate will be converted to the signoidal one. This effect is elicited by ATP though the binding towards a specific regulatory site that would be distinct from the catalyzing site. The inhibition role of ATP, is reversed by AMP implying that the rate of activity for the enzyme will increase after the ratio of ATP/AMP is lowered. In this case, glycolisis will be stimulated once the charges of the energy are reduced. A reduction in the pH value will also stop the activity of phosphofructokinase. Once Phosphofructosekinase is inhibited by the hydrogen ions, excess formation of lactic acid will be prevented leading to a precipitous drop in the pH of blood. Thi s process is referred to as acidosis. In this case, some of the ATP will be salvaged from the initial ADP.

Employment Law Protects all Employees from Being Discriminated by Assignment

Employment Law Protects all Employees from Being Discriminated by Their Employers - Assignment Example The male employees who joined ABC after Ms. Riyadh have received promotions. However, Ms. Riyadh is still working in the same position despite her smart work. In this case, Ms. Riyadh can claim the practice of gender discrimination by her employer. Despite her good work to the extent of receiving three national awards, she has not been promoted. Her male counterparts have received three to four promotions within the time Ms. Riyadh has worked for ABC. It is also evident that few women hold higher positions compared to their male counterparts (Duddington, 2007). Ms. Riyadh can also claim the presence of religious discrimination in her workplace. Her employer says that Ms. Riyadh is too religious to hold a higher position within the company. Ms. Riyadh knows that in the employment act, an employer is not supposed to discriminate against any employee based on the employee’s religion. All employees should get equal chances for promotions. In this case, Ms. Riyadh will claim that h er employer has not been fair in considering her for promotion based on her strong religious beliefs (Herch, 2007). ABC can defend itself that it will endure business hardship in the process of considering to accommodate Ms. Riyadh’s complains. On the other hand, ABC might defend itself that there was no legally enforceable agreement that Ms. Riyadh’s promotion was an obligation to the company. The promise during the hiring time served to motivate Ms. Riyadh into working hard. Otherwise, there was no contract between the employer, which in this case is ABC, and Ms. Riyadh, the employee. Therefore, ABC is under no obligation of promoting Ms. Riyadh. Both the defenses will allow ABC to win the case and no benefits will be paid to the complainant (Herch, 2007, P.56). QUESTION B (1) In employment law, there is the act protecting special groups from workplace discrimination.

Learning Experience Essay Example for Free

Learning Experience Essay For the past years in college, I have faced situations that needed intelligent decisions. Though many times I have considered the possible consequences, nothing could prepare me when I faced them. In the end I always realize that I have made the wrong decisions, and I could not turn back time to change them. However, these experiences taught me lots of things that helped me to become a better decision maker. I admit that there is a part of me that always tries to avoid making the boldest decisions, despite the fact that they are the safest (Arsham, 1994), as it appears risky to me. Moreover, there were times when these decisions are nerve-racking and difficult and I was often left scared to deal with the outcome. At one point in my life, I experienced losing friends who have been with me for years. I did not notice that slowly they were pushing me down despite our friendship. And even if this one person who I just met for a few months warned me about how my ‘friends’ back-stabbed me, I did not believe her because I knew my friends better, or so I thought. It was hard for me to accept that they, out of envy, would tell bad things about me. I have confided in them, my life was an open book to them, and I trusted them with my whole life. Then one day, all of their hate words reached me. I was in shock, because my friends treated me well whenever I am around. I was in a state of denial for a few weeks. During those weeks, I was like another person. I was apathetic and unemotional (Messina, J, and C. Messina, 2007). It was like those years of friendship that we have built for almost three years were broken in just a few days. Later on I was angry at them. And then I realized that my anger was a reaction for being hurt and insulted (Richmond, 2008). The hardest part was turning my back on them because I knew I do not deserve to be friends with persons who would deliberately say bad things about me. It was really a difficult decision, because somehow I have treasured those moments when we were genuinely happy with each other’s company. What made it more difficult was seeing them in places where we have hang out before. Seeing them always reminded me how I was not careful in choosing people who would be a part of me and my life. Up to this day I am still hurt when I think about them. But the good thing is that I became better at choosing friends. I do not judge somebody easily, but since then I have found friends who are better than best. And that is enough for me. References Arsham, H. (1994). Leadership decision making. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://home. ubalt. edu/ntsbarsh/opre640/partXIII. htm Messina, J. J. , and C. Messina. (2007). Tools for handling loss. Coping. org. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://www. coping. org/grief/denial. htm

Sales Management Essay Example for Free

Sales Management Essay â€Å"It is any tension which is experienced when one person perceives that one’s needs or desire are likely to be thwarted or frustrated.† Eollett simply defines Conflict as, â€Å"the appearance of difference of opinions, of interest†. Features:– 1. Conflict occurs when individuals are not able to choose among the available alternatives courses of actions. 2. Conflict between two individuals implies that they have conflicting perceptions, values and goals. 3. Conflict is a dynamic process as it indicates a series of events. Each conflict is made up of a series of interlocking conflict episodes. 4. Conflict must be perceived by the parties to it. If no one is aware of a conflict, then it is generally agreed that no conflict exists. LEVELS OF CONFLICT 1. INTRA-PERSONAL CONFLICT: Some conflicts that affect behavior in organizations involve the individual alone. It can be of three of types:  (a) Approach-approach conflict: It occurs when a person must choose between two positive and equally attractive alternatives. An example has to choose between a valued promotion in the organization or a desirable new job with another firm. (b) Avoidance-avoidance conflict: It occurs when a person must choose between two negative and equally unattractive alternatives. An example is being asked either to accept a job transfer to another town in an undesirable location or to have one’s employment with an organization terminated. (c) Approach-avoidance conflict: It occurs when a person must describe to do something that has both positive and negative consequences. An example is being offered a higher paying job whose responsibilities entail unwanted demand on one’s personal time. 2. INTER-PERSONAL CONFLICT: It occurs between two or more individuals who are in opposition to one another. It may be substantive or emotional or both. 3. INTER-GROUP CONFLICT: It occurs among members of different teams or groups. 4. INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT: It occurs as the competition and rivalry that characterizes firms operating in the same markets. CONFLICT PROCESS The process of conflict management has the following steps:– STAGE 1 :– POTENTIAL OPPOSITION OR INCOMPATIBILITY This stage concludes the conditions that create opportunities for conflict to arise. The conditions are as follows: 1. Communication :– Communication becomes a source of conflict due to semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and â€Å"noise† (distortion) in the communication channels. 2. Structure :– The term structure includes variables such as size, degree of specialization, jurisdictional clarity, member-goal compatibility, leadership styles, reward systems, and the degree of dependence. 3. Personal Variables: – Personal Variables include individual value systems and personality characteristics. Certain personality types lead to potential conflict. STAGE 2 :– COGNITION AND PERSONALIZATION Antecedent conditions lead to conflict only when the parties are affected by and aware of it. Conflict is personalized when it is felt and when individuals become emotionally involved. STAGE 3 :– INTENTIONS The primary conflict-handling intentions are represented as follows:– 1.Cooperativeness :– â€Å"the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the other party’s concern.† 2. Assertiveness: – â€Å"the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns.† 3. Competing :– When one person seeks to satisfy his or her own interests, regardless of the impact on the other parties to the conflict. 4. Collaborating :– When the parties to conflict each desire to fully satisfy the concerns of all parties. 5. Avoiding: – A person may recognize that a conflict exists and want to withdraw from it or suppress it. 6. Accommodating: – When one party seeks to appease an opponent, that party is willing to be self-sacrificing. 7. Compromising: – When each party to the conflict seeks to give up something, sharing occurs, resulting in a compromised outcome. STAGE 4 :– BEHAVIOUR The behavior stage includes the statements, actions and reactions made by the conflicting parties. This conflict behavior s are usually overt attempts to implement each party’s intentions. STAGE 5 :– OUTCOMES Outcome may be functional—improving group performance or dysfunctional. Functional Outcomes are: 1. Improves the quality of decisions 2. Stimulates creativity and innovation. 3. Encourages interest. 4. Provides the medium through which problems can be solved and tensions released. Dysfunctional Outcomes are: 1. Undesirable consequences include a retarding of communications. 2. Reductions in group cohesiveness. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES These are two types of conflict management approaches Direct Conflict management approaches There are five approaches to direct conflict management. They are based on the relative emphasis on cooperativeness and assertiveness in the relationship between the conflicting parties. They are as follows: 1. Avoidance 2. Accommodation 3. Compromise 4. Competition 5. Collaboration Indirect Conflict management approaches It includes reduced interdependence, appeals to common goals, hierarchical referral and alterations in the use of scripts. Hierarchical referral means conflicts are reported to the senior levels to solve.

The Organizational Orientation Of Loreal Marketing Essay

The Organizational Orientation Of Loreal Marketing Essay In technique progress era, development of technology, science, education, economy and society offer people to have better quality of living. One part of this, it is high demands and possibility to satisfy them in terms of the external beauty and health. In our days, most of people would like to be attractive, fit and nice-looking. The global world we are living in sets stereotypes that become models. Models are represented extensive all around us in everyday life such as on the TV, in the commercials, in the magazines, on the billboard, in the fashion shows, in the streets and even at school or at workplace. Consequently, a lot of people want to look like models. Men and women would like to have a smooth and clear skin with a perfect body shape for a magnificent life. These desires and trends are rising and seen as a gold mine for the beauty care market. Concerning to the growth of purchasing power in customers and market trend that community turn out to be more conscious of hygiene and beauty, it affects to the quick growth in beauty care industry, particularly in this decade. Due to the characteristic of the market is quite high by value, thus it attracts many companies to enter to this market frequently. Huge number of domestic and multinational companies tries to take as much advantages as possible on the beauty market. Because of the attractiveness, rapid growth and high potential the beauty products market could be characterized like highly competitive and customer market. For achieve success on this field, company should have high level of technology and innovations, for be able to satisfy customers needs in high quality innovative beauty products. But staking only on technology will not bring victory. Nowadays, the most important capabilit ies for the company it is talent to market their product effectively by correctly using marketing mix, choosing right marketing strategy and determine strength, weaknesses, opportunities and treats of company. Correct applying marketing mix, which is a combination of main marketing elements (4 Ps): product, price, place and promotion, is a key element of companys success. In this coursework we are trying to explore and evaluate the Marketing activities of LOreal. LOreal is one most famous and largest and successful world player on cosmetic market, one of the biggest in the world due to the size, total revenue, profitability, and growth rate. We have analyzed the marketing strategies of LOreal throughout detection of the Organization Orientation, realizing the impact of the Marketing Mix and an internal and external (SWOT) analysis of the company will also be given in this paper. Companys History LOreal is one of the biggest companies in France, in the worlds largest manufacturing of high quality cosmetics and perfumes. LOreal registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-seine, France. The LOreal Company has 68900 employees worldwide. The lead the cosmetics worldwide and distributed the product 130 countries with 27 global brands. These brands annual sales are superior à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬50 million. They produced 5 key expertises for the customer they are hair care, hair color, skin care, make-up and Fragrances. It boasts a world-wide distribution network as well as the industrys highest research and development budget and the largest cosmetological laboratory in the world.(LOreal, 2012) LOreal is a listed company, but the founders daughter Liliane Bettencourt, her name is Eugne Schueller. On July 30, 1909, Schuller registered his company, the Socià ©tà © Franà §aise de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux (Safe Hair Dye Company of France literally French Society of Inoffensive Tinctures for Hair), the original LOrà ©al. The guiding principles of the company, which eventually became LOreal, were research and innovation in the field of beauty. The key people of this company are Jean-Paul Agon(Chairman and CEO), Lilliane Bettencourt(Non-executive director and major shareholder).LOreals story begins in turn-off century paris, at the time when women of the demi-monde dyed their hair, their choice restricted to fiery red or coal black. In 1907, Eugene Schueller, a young chemist, began to concoct the first synthetic hair salons in the morning under the brand name Aureole. His strategy was successful: within two years he established the societe Francaise des teintures in offensive Pour chevex, which soon afterward became LOreal.(LOreal,2012) In 1912, the company extended its sales to Austra, Holland and Italy and by 1920. LOreal products were available in a total of 17 countries, including the United States, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Equador, Bolivia, and the Soviet Union and in the Far East. The end of the world war LOreal was celebrated by the Jazz age, when short hairstyles became fashionable, with a new emphasis on shape and color. In 1920, the small company employed three chemists. By 1950, the research teams were 100 strong; that number reached 1,000 by 1984 and is nearly 2,000 today. By the end of the 1920, there were 40,000 hair salons in France alone and LOreals new product ocap, imedia Liquide and coloral captured the its first move toward diversification, purchasing the soal company Monsavon. LOreal has five worldwide research and development centers: two in France: Aulnay and Chevilly; one in the U.S.: Clark, New Jersey; one in Japan: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture; and in 2005. one was established in Shanghai, chi na. A future facility in the US will be in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. (LOreal, 2012) In the 1930s and 1940s, platinum-haired screen idols such as Jean Harlow and Mae West made blond hair especially popular and bleaches such as LOrà ©al Blanc sold well. LOrà ©al was quick to make use of both old and new media to promote its products. In 1933, Schueller commissioned famous artists of the time to design posters and launched his own womens magazine, Votre Beautà ©. Dop, the first mass-market shampoo, was promoted through childrens hair-lathering competitions at the highly popular French circuses and by 1938 LOreal was advertising its hair products with radio jingles.(LOreal, 2012) In 1953, LOreal won an advertisement Oscar, the first in a long series of awards. In 1994, LOreal buys control of corsair from Nestle, Bettencourt. On 17 marches 2006, LOreal purchased cosmetics company The Body Shop for à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤652 million. In October 2011 , the LOreal started the largest factory in the Jababeka industrial Park, Cikarang, Indonesia with total investment of US 50 million. The production will be absorbed 25 percent by domestic market and the will be exported. In 2010 significant growth occurred at Indonesia with 61 percent increase of unit sales or 28 percent of net sale. LOrà ©als structure remains unchanged, with the group consisting of a federation of competitive companies, including 147 production and distribution facilities worldwide, divided into five divisions. Only research and development facilities and overall management control are centralized.(LOreal, 2012) The current ownership of this company are 27.5pc by the Bettencourt family, 26.4pc by Nestle, 3.9pc by treasury shares and remaining 42.2 are public (LOreal, 2012). The Organizational Orientation of LOreal There are various types of business orientations 3.1 Production Orientation Production orientation is a marketing concept that concentrates on the interior capabilities of the firm rather than on desires and needs of customers. This type orientation means that management assesses its resources and reply on these questions: What is easy to produce using our equipment?, What services are most convenient for the firm to offer and Where do our talents lie (Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, 2011). According to Brassington Pettitt (2006), production orientation emphasizes on affordability and availability of the products and thus production oriented firms focuses on efficient production and distribution techniques. A production orientation short falls because it doesnt consider whether the products that the company produces most efficiently also meet the needs of customer. Sometimes when competition is weak, production oriented-company could survive. 3.2. Product orientation Product oriented company believes that they have a best product, based on the quality and features, and their consumers will like these goods and services. (Learn Marketing, 2010). Adcock et, al. (2001) state that product orientation is concentrated on products rather than needs and customers desires. Quality and design of products are main value categories for the companies which apply product orientation. Brassington Pettitt (2006) say that these companies suppose that the consumers are concerned in the products and that they are interested in the quality. 3.3. Sales Orientation The company with a sales orientation assumes that customers show buying inertia and have to be persuaded into buying more. According to Brassington Pettitt (2006) sales oriented firms thinks that the products are sold, not bought. They emphasize on advertising, direct mail, e-mail blasts and other sales techniques, assuming that the customers are reluctant to purchase. These actions can result in short-term gains in audience. But because of the company is not communicate with the consumers, the sales oriented companys constantly has to recruit a huge number of subscribers who do not renew (Byrnes, 2009). 3.4. Marketing Orientation Market orientation means put customer at the heart of business. Adcock (2001) says that market orientation takes place when the consumers identify the difference in a company and when all the advantages proposed to the consumers are measured. According to Jobber (2001) marketing oriented organizations concentrate on the consumer wants and for them the opportunities arise from the changing wants of the consumers or market. Brassington Pettitt (2006) believe that a company which is concentrated in its marketing and production activities with the understanding of the consumer wants and satisfaction is market oriented. The main benefit of a company being market oriented is that it would have a top consumer value and there would be a coherence in higher performance in the business. The concept of market orientation is laid on three pillars of customer focus, coordinated marketing and profitability. Customer focus: at the middle of creating future corporate strategy lay consumer centricity. To serve the clients rather than sell products is a main philosophy of the company. Realize consumers as a strategic assets companies establish long-term relationships with clients. Coordinated Marketing: marketing has to become a synchronized, cross-disciplinary function of company. Customers are duty of the entire company. These factors have together detained marketing from becoming a coordinated activity that involves supplementary functions such as finance, operations, human resources and strategy within any company. Profitability: profitability includes both financial dimensions (such as ROI, EVA, and market share) and non-financial dimensions (such as behavioral patterns, awareness and attitudes). This set observation would allow companies to make equilibrium between sh ort term and long term profitability with regard to the long term financial health of the company (Venture Republic, 2012). LOreal concentrates on their customers and tries to find out their material and emotional wishes. Company obtains a wide range of products and consumed by all age groups. According to LOreal (2012) mission of company: Beauty for all. LOrà ©al proposes women and men global the best of quality, effectiveness and safeness cosmetics innovation. It pursues this goal by meeting the endless diversity of beauty needs and desires worldwide (LOreal, 2012). Group enables to meet the expectations of every customer while adapting to local distribution conditions worldwide their organizations of groups divisions. LOreal has five main Business Divisions: LOreal Luxe, Consumer Products, Professional Products, Active Cosmetics and The Body Shop (LOreal, 2012). According to LOreal 2012 Beauty for all also means beauty for each individual. LOreal is influenced that there is no sole and unique model of beauty, but a limitless variety forms of beauty, tied to periods, cultures, history and individualities. LOreal try to realize strategy of universalizing beauty. Company wants to build a new respectful and more attentive globalization universalizing beauty model. Universalizing beauty is adapting beauty and make it accessible for everyone, without making it global or uniform. This aim means that they try to change the market wants and implement new beauty concepts. To achieve this goal, company has considerably reinforced Research and Innovation panelsl in all the main markets of tomorrow, whereas extending their industrial cover age. LOreal observes local beauty needs and customs. The centricity of the project of targeting new customers is a companys research, and is creating itself to take up the challenge: to produce cosmetics products modif ied to the enormous variety of the world, LOreal has set up research hubs in each region (LOreal, 2012). Company facilitates access to cosmetics products. To make the best in beauty availablae for everyone, LOrà ©al takes steps forward each year. Company are able to reach every customer with a portfolio of 27 international brands and an organizational structure, at the same time let be for the specifics of distribution in every country. In this terms LOrà ©al pushes back boundaries and takes up the challenge of more and more available innovation (LOreal, 2012). Thus its crystal clear that LOreal is a Market Oriented company whereas they attempt to understand the customer or market needs and manufacture products respectively to accomplish the companys goals. And they highlight that people are the major strength of the firm. Internal / External audit of LOreal 4.1. Brands and Products LOreal produces and distributes five main groups of products. Professional Products. The Professional Products Division sells its products via hair salons worldwide. The portfolio of professional products is able to satisfy the needs of all types of salons. Being a privilege partner of hairdressers, LOreal offers best technologies and high-level of education what allow provide customers with professional services. In this group include brands: Redken, Kerastase, Matrix, PureOlogy, Shu Uemura art of Hair, Mizani, Kerskin Esthetics. Total sales of these products in 2011 were 2 813.8 millions euro and growth 2011/2010 posted +3.6%. The biggest sales are in geographic zone North America 1 018.6 millions euro, but more quick growth of sales 2011/2010 was estimated by geographic zone New Market +6.3% and its sales 2011 accounted for 817.6 million euro (LOreal, 2012). Consumer Products. According to LOreal (2012): The Consumer Products Divisions mission is universal: to offer the best in beauty innovation to the greatest number of people on every continent at accessible price. Its brands are available in all mass-market channels (hypermarkets, supermarkets, drugstores and traditional stores). The division is the spearhead of the groups quest to win over a further billion consumers. This division includes the most famous brands of the group: LOreal Paris (premium brand with Elseve, Elnett, Studio Line, Perfection, Plenitude, Body Expertise, Dermo-Expertise, Solar Expertise, Kids, Progress Homme, Men Expert and Ombrelle), Garniere (includes brands like Ambre Solaire, Fructis, Nutrisse, Ultra Doux, Skin Naturals, Neutralia and Obao), Maybelline, Softsheen-Carson, Club des Createurs de Beaute and essie (LOreal, 2012). Total sales of division in 2011 were 9 835.2 million euro and were shown growth 2011/2010 approximately +3.2%. In geographic zone New Market was estimated highest sales (3 957.1 million euro), most successful business segment was Make-up (2 882.3 million euro sales 2011, +6.2% sales growth) (LOreal, 2012). LOreal Luxe. The Products Division the Luxury products division combines together a exclusive set of brands, concentrating particularly on three key business segments: skincare, make-up and fragrances. Products of this division are delivering throughout department stores, perfumeries and travel retail outlets, free standing stores and through e-commerce websites. Brands are: Lancome, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Biotherm, Cacharel, Diesel, Maison Martin Margiela, ViktorRolf, Ralph Lauren, Kiehls, Shu Uemura, Stella Mc Cartney. Based on reported figures sales 2011 this division amounted to 4 506.6 millions euro and increase of 6.5%. Like-for-like, i.e. based on the comparable structure and identical exchange rate, the sales growth was +8.2%. Dynamic New Market achieved sales growth of +12.3% based on reported figures and +14.0% on like-for-like. The most successful was Skincare business segment, it delivered sales growth of 14.6% like-for-like and 13.6% based on report figures (LOreal, 2012). Active Cosmetics. The active Cosmetics division sells its products worldwide in all types of health channel (pharmacies, drugstores, medi-spas and dermatologists). Its unique portfolio of six admiring brands (Vichy, La Roshe-Posay, Skinceuticals, Inneov, RogerGallet, Sanoflore). These products satisfy the need for beauty through the skins health and active cosmetics divisions works in close partnership with health professionals, dermatologists, paediatricians and doctors practicing aesthetic medicine. It is have made the division world number one in dermocosmetics. The Active Cosmetic Division delivered in 2011 growth of +3.2% like-for-like and +2.6% based on the reported figures, driven by its successes in New Markets and North America (LOreal, 2012). The Body Shop. The body Shop was established in 1976 in the United Kingdom by Dame Anita Roddick. The Body Shop has strong ethical commitment and well-known by its sensorial products stimulated by nature. More than 65% of the products contain Community Fair Trade ingredients. At the end of 2011, the Body Shop sales recorded like-for-like growth at +3.8% and 3.9% based on reported figures. The brand is delivering strong growth in the New Markets. (LOreal, 2012) 4.2. Marketing Strategy LOreal company is present in 130 countries in the world. It sells 130 products every second. The group have more than 50,000 outlets throughout the world. Now days, LOreal is the biggest international brand in Cosmetics. The marketing strategy of LOreal mainly depends upon customer needs. They had done in-depth research of all the cultures and people of different countries. According to the company, tomorrows beauty will be global and universal and will respect the unique nature of each region. LOreal Researchs mission will, therefore, be to understand and adapt to all women and men in order to offer the best of cosmetics in terms of quality, efficacy and safety. The ability to innovate for new markets must therefore rely on in-depth knowledge of the culture, needs and preferences of Chinese, Indian and Brazilian consumers. By placing the consumer at the heart of research and innovation, LOreal has decided to create the Consumer Insights International division as well as regional res earch and innovation hubs innovation will take place by knowing customers habits. For example in India from ancient days Indian women uses eye color by themselves. As we know innovation takes place on customer base. They took inspiration of this and planned new innovation of the product far Indian women in order to reach their expectation of the customers. By this we can know how LOreal company plans the innovation of product by having deep research of skin of different cultural people and also having knowledge about hair of different cultural people and reaches the customers expectations. So this is the LOreal intelligent business plan. The RD department of LOreal will release new formulas based on to enhance customers product experience because if they can know that it would be useful far them to innovate better product far customers (LOreal, 2012). Advertisement is the main strategy used by the LOreal company .It is one of the worlds biggest advertising spenders. The cosmetics giant adverts far Maybelline make up, Elseve shampoos, Lancà ´me perfumes, and other products. These will fill television mostly and magazine pages around the world. they spend 75% on television and 20% on the print magazine and others on billboards et LOreal shows low interest spending on internet (Marketing Planet, 2011). The LOreals new product development strategy. The way they have successfully managed and achieved the considerable market shares through RD efforts . LOreal innovations has been success in the diverse segments of global market Moreover, the company follows a three tier strategy for producing commercially viable products. The three structured strategy includes LOreals advanced research, applied research and product development, each stage having its own unique functions to perform in order to create successful innovations. LOreal is a Paris-based cosmetics company with having sales $ 26.96 billion in the year 2011. LOreal entered mainland of china in the year 1996 after that LOreal started growing successful market in china now it holds second highest percentage of market share and established three factories in china and they had released 17 brands within two local Chinese cosmetics brands created a successful market. LOreal targeted Chinese young women, but LOreal company have focus ed on male customers of china here they played a strategy. The Chinese younger generation was interested in tennis. So LOreal became the sponsor of the 2011 Shaanghai Rolex masters to attract the male viewers and company was cooperated with the most popular p2p steaming media site in China it is also called as pptv with the help this media LOreal launched a new product named hydra energetic anti-dullness moisturizing gel cream the choice of successful tennis masters after that the LOreal got tremendous viewers responses with the help of pptv from this they learn preferences and needs to innovate new products to target the market (LOreal, 2012). The global beauty company LOreal is looking for Africa to increase the market. The continent provides potentially huge market. The company was present since from 100 years Africa became strategically market of the LOreal group as the population of Africa is about a 1 billion people where LOreal product have good demand far products in the market LOreal will continue to launch technologically advanced products, backed by strategic marketing campaigns, into the African market. This will continue to give us a major competitive advantage that will ensure that LOreal maintains its leadership for the next 100 years. (LOreal, 2012). LOreal presently offers the following products in the Netherlands: Plenitude and Recital under the LOreal brand name, and Ambre Solaire under the Garnier Institute brand name. LOreal Nederland has been considering whether to introduce the Synergie skin care line and Belle Couleur hair colorants line into the Netherlands.synergie and Bele Couleur are marketed under the Garnier Institute name in France. The Netherlands market has several challenges new product launches are difficult (especially from a relatively unknown company like Garnier) and the distributor channel is becoming more powerful. Also, retailers have been offering their own private-label products and can develop them at lower prices within 6 months. We had first considered adding Synergie and Belle Couleur under the Garnier name and positioning them towards the lower end of the market price-wise. However, we feel this is inherently too risky. LOreal, even under the Garnier Company name, does not want to wage war in the commodity market of cosmetics. There may not be enough product differentiation to disallow the Garnier products from cannibalizing the LOreal products. People would eventually find out the Garnier and LOreal was the same Company, and that could cheapen the whole product line. LOreal is a premier supplier of quality cosmetics (LOreal, 2012). 4.3. Relationship Management LOreal, the worlds largest skin care and cosmetics company. This is wanted to enlarge the span of marketing for its extra products distribution. The customer relationship management is mainly targeting the customers for evaluating their products.CRM solution has to improve the customer reliability and decrease the agitate. Overall view is very important then, by standardizing on one database solution, there will be a need to develop our stiffness to react rapidly with new marketing campaigns and promotions. After that, the next part is to make new valuable use of marketing budgets through new accurate target. Escalating customer knowledge means increasing the efficiency of marketing investments. (LOreal, 2012) Circumstances: There are 18 global brands which include Ralph Lauren, Lancà ´me, and Garnier -LOreal is the worlds leading cosmetics, skin care, and luxury products producer. The company distribute their products to 130countries on five continents, moreover its also a essential business at Asia and also in the South Korea. LOreal frequently innovates to continue the marketplace share and, as a effect, required to extend its high performance in the industry by sharpening its knowledge of customers by rolling out a company-wide customer relationship management (CRM) system. The Paris-based company decided to focus on its luxury product division, which had an ideal customer basis and the most probable to enhance its marketing campaigns. Marketing experts were persuaded that the greater knowledge of the customer would increase the opportunity for cross selling. For example, a data-mining study on customer behaviours for Lancà ´me France showed strong cross-selling prospective to market beauty products for lips with other products such as nails. To cross sell effectively, LOrà ©al needed to create a single in-house database with all its customer data, which previously had been hosted by a number of different agencies. Example, it is useful to know which 20 per cent of customers are responsible for 50 per cent of the total revenue-this knowledge helps us target promotions and service dollars on our most valuable customers, says Giacchetti. Key factors: LOrà ©al previously worked with Microsoft for IT services worldwide, but the company turned first to Accenture for consultancy on implement a CRM solution.In adding to Siebel Business Analytics. The company is also using HP StorageWorks for its storage area network, as well as other HP hardware. Customer Manager says that the major benefit of Siebel Consumer Goods 7.7 is that advertising sales, and customer service are fully incorporated. This helps companies develop their product management, increase deal and customer marketing return on investment, decrease their customer service costs, and build customer loyalty and demand. The industrial planning was defined by Microsoft Services, aid by Avanade a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture that specialize in solutions implemented in a Microsoft environment. Together, the team designed and implemented a pilot CRM solution in South Korea, which was chosen because of its complicated multi-channel marketing including point of sal e, Web, e-mail, and wireless messaging.mInitially, Siebel Consumer Goods and Siebel Analytics were implemented on top of a Microsoft SQL Serverà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ 2000 database. Through the volume licensing Enterprise Agreement LOrà ©al has with Microsoft, SQL Server 2000 was later upgraded to Microsoft SQL Server 2005. LOreal also chose the Microsoft environment for the development of its Web sites. In December 2005, following the success of the pilot in South Korea, LOrà ©al extended the solution to support the mass-market domain in France, which is already increasing the customer knowledge segment of the database for direct-mail promotions. Giacchetti says: Were looking at a global rollout of the solution over three to five years. Change management in CRM takes time, especially when 99 per cent of promotions are targeted on the product rather than the customer. However, were working on introducing the CRM solution in the United States and China in 2006 and are starting several projects in Europe. Were seeking to cover half of the total number of country operations in three years and 70 per cent in five years. In some of the smaller centres, CRM will not be applicable. (LOreal, 2012) Benefits LOrà ©al has improved customer brand loyalty, benefited from a significantly improved response rate and lower cost of direct mail. It now has a consistent 360-degree view of its customers across multiple marketing channels. Customer Satisfaction Strengthens Loyalty LOrà ©al operates in a highly competitive market for luxury beauty products, where customer retention is a key performance indicator. Giacchetti believes the most significant benefit has been improved brand loyalty. We can now classify value customers more easily and aggressively retain them, she says. There is less risk of customers switching to other brands because of their disappointment at random treatment. Previously, we targeted customers based on their age, but now we consider past purchasing history and other benchmarks, which makes targeting much more effective. Higher Response Rate, Lower Costs Siebel Business Analytics is helping LOreal mount cost-efficient direct-mail campaigns and increase revenue per sale. Giacchetti says: With the Siebel solution running on Windows Server, we achieved a 57 per cent decrease in the volume of direct mail on one promotion. Through more accurate targeting, we achieved a remarkable 62 per cent response rate. In another campaign for skincare, we cut the volume of direct mail by half and achieved a 78 per cent response rate. 360-Degree View of the Customer LOreal is building a CRM system that provides a complete view of the customer, spanning all available brands across multiple channels, including the companys 200 Web sites and thousands of offline point-of-sale terminals and call centers. Giacchetti says: In the past, campaigns were product based, and we did not retain a history for each customer. With our knowledge about the customer, we can now integrate data from different channels and segment customers according to value and behavior. Georges-Edouard Dias, Strategic Business Development Division, LOrà ©al, says: Siebel is the best solution we have found to manage an end-to-end process from consumer analysis and segmentation to creation, execution, and measurement of the success of marketing campaigns. Product Campaigns Generated Faster By implementing a single CRM system and a powerful in-house database solution, LOrà ©al has improved time to market for its product campaigns. It is now easier to share best practice and make use of sophisticated data-mining scoring for targeting. Giacchetti says: We are now more agile as a business. We can accurately quantify the effectiveness of marketing investments and customer/segment profitability. 4.4. Corporate Structure Chairman and CEO. Jean-Paul Agon is energetic, constructive and unwavering always strives for tangible results. With a spanning background of challenges, environments and responsibilities, he has displayed his leadership skills by key expertise of in-depth knowledge of how the company works, an international approach and a global vision of major challenges ahead. He was born in France in 1956 and joined LOreal in 1978

Analysis of Red Sorghum Essay -- Red Sorghum Zhang Yimou China Movies

Analysis of Red Sorghum WHEN Zhang Yimou made his directorial debut, Zhang Yimou made his directorial debut, Red Sorghum, in 1987, he was better known as a cinematographer whose talent had been crucial to the success of critically acclaimed films like Zhang Junzhao's One and Eight (1984, released 1987) and Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth (1984). Not only did Red Sorghum become a seminal film of the Fifth Generation, it also won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 1988, becoming the first mainland Chinese film ever to be awarded the highest honour at a major international film competition. Set in the 1920s and '30s in northern China, Red Sorghum's narrative centres on the fate of a young woman who is forced to marry a rich old leper but who eventually falls in love with a younger man. The motif of female oppression in feudal China is repeated in Zhang's next two films, Ju Dou (1990) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991). The films form a loose triptych, linked not only by similar thematic concerns but also stylistic elements. The latter include the luscious use of colour, lighting and bold composition to create the sensuous images and metaphors which have distinguished Zhang as an original auteur. Equally prominent are the silences and spare dialogue; music and sound are used with precision -- nothing extraneous is added. This article focuses on how visual and aural components in Red Sorghum are employed to enhance the dramatic aspect of the narrative as well as to convey philosophical and metaphoric meaning. RED SORGHUM is narrated as much through its storyline as by its splendid images and aural qualities. The film is photographed by Gu Changwei (who also shot Chen Kaige's (Farewell, My Concubine) in Cinemascope; the music is composed by Zhao Jiping, who has since composed the rest of the music scores for Zhang's films. The opening sequence establishes the vibrant mood and mythical atmosphere of the film and introduces the themes of passion and freedom through powerful imagery and music. It also establishes Zhang Yimou as a visual sensualist. In a deserted setting comprising mainly sand and stone, a strain of wedding music grows progressively louder. A traditional red sedan chair carried by a group of shirtless men, followed closely by a retinue of trumpeters and drummers, enliven the harsh landscape. Inside the covered sedan chair, the pretty face of a young br... ...vineyard. The workers revolt against the Japanese, and after their uprising is crushed, the Japanese order two of the local people skinned alive in front of the others. This sequence, shocking in its detail, is a dramatic change from the fable that went before. "Red Sorghum" perhaps can be read as a parable of China's development, or as a hymn in praise of the way the workers resisted the Japanese invaders. Western audiences probably are going to be more interested in the melodrama and the overwhelming visual quality of the film. It is some kind of irony that when Hollywood switched over to cheaper and faster forms of making color films, classic Technicolor equipment was dismantled and sold to China - which now makes some of the best-looking color films in the world. The cinematography in "Red Sorghum" has no desire to be subtle, or muted; it wants to splash its passionate colors all over the screen with abandon, and the sheer visual impact of the film is voluptuous. If the story is first naive and then didactic, that is one of the film's charms; Hollywood doesn't make films like this anymore, because we have forgotten how to be impressionable enough to believe them.

The Outlaw Josey Wales :: essays papers

The Outlaw Josey Wales Dyin' ain't much of a living The movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales, is an epic tale of a man who lost all that mattered and now seeks revenge on the people that took it. The movie can be viewed as a typical revenge story, however it works at other levels too. After having his first family taken, he searches for something to offer him that comfort again. Josey Wales, the main character travels through the epic cycle of losing everything, but at the end gaining it all back in another form. In the beginning of the movie we are throw into a horrible scene where renegade Union soldiers kill Wales family and burn down his house. Obviously this is symbolic of his death as a farmer and his current life. We then see him sifting through the charred remains of his house, and lift a silver colored gun out of the black ashes. At this point he is reborn as a vengeful Josey Wales from the ashes of hatred and death. For now his sole purpose in living is to seek revenge on the people that took his pervious life away from him. Josey still needs a sense of unity, which a family brings. Jamie provided him this feeling of wholeness. However Jamie was shot, and slowly died. Ultimately his death brings Josey back to the beginning of his epic cycle. The period that Josey spends in the wilderness after losing his families is serves as the unconscious part of the cycle. During the dark phase is when most of the fighting occurs. Josey never killed without reason, and for that he kept the image of the hero intact. Laura Lee serves as the goddess in the epic cycle. Laura is what Josey needs to complete his search for family. By spending the night together, his past is cleaned from his mind. Laura also instills hope and a new credence. By the end of the movie Josey has found a new family. The fact he did not spit on the floor of the house displays that he respects it as a dwelling place for his new family.