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Semiotics in the Analysis of Popular Music Texts Essay

Semiotics in the Analysis of Popular Music Texts - Essay Example Musicology as a field of study has been in a condition of motion since the ascent of well known music toward the start of the twentieth century. Traditional musicology has been commanded by simply that: the investigation of old style music. The reasons given for this range from its dependence on formal structure and agreement (Carter, The Role of the Music Practitioner in the Examination of Contemporary Electronic and Experimental Music, ) to the way that well known music is progressively quick and sincerely associated with the lives of its audience members, to the reasons concerning class and worth (Middleton 1990). In fact, each of the three of these reasons structure a lucid entire to clarify the emphasis on formal musicology's have to reject mainstream music. However here in the 21st century another philosophy for dissecting music is solidly set up, one that fixes, as it were, the significance of those diagnostic establishments whereupon traditional musicology has been based. Sim ilarly as the focal point of basic hypotheses encompassing writing experienced an enormous change in the earlier century, moving endlessly from an increasingly conventional, structuralist, writer focused methodology, so has melodic investigation taken action accordingly. What it still uncertain, be that as it may, is whether the move away from conventional musicology has been made in light of the fact that it is totally lacking for the reason, or whether the semiotic methodology has flourished on the grounds that it speaks to an increasingly exact impression of music's importance. Musicology is, obviously, basically the investigation of music and all that music involves (Middleton, Studying Popular Music, p. 103) and semiotics is the investigation of signs and implications and how they are comprehended. Semiotics, in this way, is extremely less an investigation of the music itself than an investigation of how that music is deciphered by the audience. Along these lines, semiotics giv es a response to the subject of why customary musicology has flopped in its endeavor to grasp and comprehend famous music since it is less worried about convention and convention and open to more experimentation and translation dependent on incidental parts, for example, outfit, signal and execution, just as in light of the fact that well known music by definition claims to a more extensive crowd as is consequently a more extravagant asset for understanding contemporary societies and subcultures. The lacks of old style musicology as respect its capacity to completely dissect and clarify mainstream melodic writings is a subject that has gotten extraordinary consideration by such essayists as Richard Middleton and Philip Tagg, among others, and the general agreement by most pundits is that old style musicology experiences an overreliance on notational content just as on language and a rambling method that is ideologically unsound. The fundamental phrasing of musicology has stay unaltered for a considerable length of time and experiences an elitism that puts together the investigation of music with respect to a specific scholarly playing field that remaining parts shut to new players. Middleton declares that on account of this longstanding dependence on certain scholarly terms, customary musicology comes outfitted with a rich jargon with which to dissect certain components of old style music: agreement, harmony types and capacities, tonality, contrast, and so on, however then ag ain, the jargon is ruined in different zones, for example, mood, pitch subtlety and timbre ( Studying Popular Music, p. 104). Since, as a review of semiotics will instantly appear, a blend of a signifier and an implied make signs that are all we need to impart solid thoughts, the capacity to browse among a lot of signs-for this situation melodic terms-to depict something is basic to full correspondence. On the off chance that solitary certain words are able to do satisfactorily depicting music as a book then those words, similar to some other descriptors, will in the long run become confined to just a chosen few. Today we perceive these confined words as language and feel distress when two individuals are utilizing language we don't comprehend. The utilization of language or elitist phrasing fills in as a separating

All About Al-Anon and Alateen

All About Al-Anon and Alateen More in Addiction Coping and Recovery Methods and Support Overcoming Addiction Personal Stories Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Al-Anon and Alateen are two programs that are part of a worldwide fellowship which offers support to families of alcoholics. Al-Anon is designed to help spouses, parents, siblings, and other family members, while Alateen is geared specifically toward younger people living with an alcoholic. Both groups are based on a spiritual, non-religious ethos from which members derive insight from being part of a collective (as opposed to engaging in one-on-one support). While many people turn to Al-Anon and Alateen for help with a loved ones drinking problems, neither are intervention programs. Rather, they recognize that people living with an alcoholic can be traumatized and focus their efforts on caring for those individuals needs. As with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Al-Anon and Alateen are closely based on a 12-step model (known, aptly, as the Twelve Steps) which is designed as a tool for spiritual growth. History of Al-Anon and Alateen As early as 1939, families began to attend AA meetings along with their alcoholic family members. By actively engaging in the Twelve Steps, many of these people began to see the benefits of incorporating the principles into their own lives and family dynamics. Over time, some of these family groups formed their own independent meetings. In 1948, several of these groups applied to the AA General Service Office to be listed in the member directory. After being denied inclusion, Lois W. (wife of AA co-founder Bill W.) and Anne B., a close family friend, decided to create a committee to help coordinate and service these independent groups. In 1951, Al-Anon was officially established with 56 member groups across the continental United States. They chose the name from the first syllables of Alcoholics Anonymous and, in keeping with the founding principles, adopted the Twelve Steps (and later the Twelve Traditions) in a slightly modified form. The first Alateen meetings, meanwhile, were established in 1957 specifically for members between the ages of 12 and 19. While functioning on their own, these groups are facilitated by an adult Al-Anon member, called a sponsor. Al-Anon and Alateen Twelve Steps The Al-Anon and Alateen Twelve Steps are closely aligned to those of AA. The basic principle of the model is that people can help heal each other but only if they surrender to a higher power. While the Twelve Steps can be a force for good in families who are suffering, there are those who struggle with the spiritual, quasi-religious, male-centric premise of the program. For individual who dont feel comfortable with the spiritual elements of the Al-Anon and Alateen Twelve Steps programs, there are alternatives to the 12-step methodology which do not rely on the concept of a higher power. For those who embrace the Al-Anon and Alateen approach, the 12 steps are broken down as follows: Admitting that you are powerless over alcohol and that your life has become unmanageableBelieving that a power greater than yourself can restore you to sanityMaking the decision to turn your will and life over to the care of God in whatever form that may beTaking a fearless moral inventory of yourselfAdmitting to God, yourself, and others of the exact nature of your wrongdoingsBeing ready to have God remove these defects from your characterActively asking God to remove these defectsMaking a list of all those you have harmed and being willing to make amendsMaking amends wherever possible (except when doing so would cause harm)Continuing to take a moral inventory of yourself and admitting when you are wrongSeeking to improve your connection with God and to pray for knowledge and the power to carry out Gods willCarrying these message to others and practicing these principles in your daily life

Art And Abstract Art Renaissance Art - 1113 Words

Question #1. 20 points Renaissance Art was innovative. Renaissance artist illustrated natures beauty with biblical accounts. In addition, artist began to use oil painting which set Renaissance style apart. Additionally, renaissance art influenced society perception of the world with visual imagery by constructing detailed events, places, or objects. However, Cubism’s, transformed creation of images by utilizing geometric perception of natural description. Nevertheless, Renaissance art influenced society along with cubism. Question #2. 15 points Political art is important for create a message. An example is Maviyane-Davies’ 1996 piece â€Å"Article 15: Everyone Has the Right to Nationality and to Change It† (Art Forms 11th Edition pg.†¦show more content†¦Nevertheless 1930’s depression influenced Regionalism. Question #5, 20 points Threw out history humans have constructed great architectures for civilization. Two of these great constructions are pyramids and cathedrals. Although Pyramids were created in a different time zone than cathedral they share similar characteristics such as inside images. Pyramids include wall paintings exposing the pharos life while cathedral has stained glass images of biblical accounts. In addition, both architectures contain focal points. However, cathedral has arch point while pyramids building is shaped common to triangle. The Great Giza Pyramid (Art Forms 11th Edition pg.249), is example of triangular shape. Subsequently Notre-Dame de Chartres (Art Forms 11th Edition pg. 273) is example of focal points. Additionally, pyramids are tombs intended for pharos death while cathedral worship God with images of Jesus death. Nevertheless, Gothic cathedrals along with pyramids are great architectures presented by humans. Question #6. 25 points Ancient Greeks introduced classical architecture. This style consisted of column shaft, entablature which rested on columns, and pediment the triangular roof containing of sculptures. These characteristics gave ancient Greek a strong style of dominance. Additionally, the Greeks created the concept of the dome as well. Italy Renaissance artist utilized classic Greek style by Michelangelo St. Peters Basilica. This architecture contained aShow MoreRelatedAbstract Art : Art And Art1496 Words   |  6 Pagesmade art that was representational. Meaning, they did their absolute best to create art that closely resembled what was seen in the real world. They put as much time and effort into their work as they could; creating masterpieces that are now on display in museums across the world. In modern times, artists have turned away from the traditional way of making art, and are now creating art that is not constrained by the guidelines of representational art. This style of art is called abst ract art. AbstractRead MoreRoberto Matt Making The Invisible Visible1635 Words   |  7 Pageshorizons. Although he had a passion and a background of architecture, he also loved to sketch what he saw as he travelled, especially landscapes and cityscapes. From the beginning of his time as an artist, he drew and painted almost exclusively abstract works. While in Europe, he finished his term in the Merchant Marines and remained in Paris working as an architect under a modernist architect known as Le Corbusier. While in Paris, Matta became acquainted with the works of Salvador Dali and ReneRead MoreJohn Altoon s Jazz Players From 19501396 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Altoon’s Jazz Players from 1950 is an oil on Masonite painting located in the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, California. Altoon’s piece conveys a sense of art deco style with his use of bold contour line outlining geometric shapes along with his use of strong saturated colors. Altoon’ s Jazz Players reflects Modernism by exemplifying cubism as well as Harlem Renaissance art through the use of angular, geometric shapes and the depiction of the â€Å"New Negro.† John Altoon was bornRead MoreThe Last Supper Essay1440 Words   |  6 PagesThe Last Supper | February 8 2010 | [Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.] | Author: Alicia Grover | The Last Supper After the Black Death swept through Europe, killing off a third of its population by the end of the fourteenth century, people were ready for a change. Very slowly new ideas andRead MoreEssay on Renaisssance versus Baroque Periods967 Words   |  4 PagesThe baroque and renaissance periods are two different periods. The renaissance period rolled into the baroque era. There were changes made over the years from the baroque to the renaissance period. Differences in style accumulated along with views of art and music. Baroque era covers the period between 1600 and 1750 beginning with Monte Verdi (birth of opera) and ended with deaths of Bach and Handel. The term baroque music is borrowed from the art history. It follows the Renaissance era (1400-1600)Read MoreThe Harlem Renaissance : The New Negro Movement843 Words   |  4 Pages The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement, was an important time period for African American culture in the United States. It was an innovating period where many unknown artists became prominent for their talent and ethnic heritage, and brought upon many new connections between races. As a cultural movement, the Harlem Renaissance brought changes to America that would have long term effects on how art is created, viewed, and accepted. â€Å"The Renaissance was more than a literaryRead MoreEssay about Artistic comparison1419 Words   |  6 Pagesthe artists in the Renaissance, there are many differences between the two. There are some similarities h owever much of what the artist is expressing, and how they present their concepts are entirely different. Renaissance art appears to be more of a historic record, and heavily influenced by reason and mathematics. Modern art on the other hand tends to convey ideas, and emotions, leaving interpretation to the viewer, instead of being straight forward. The Renaissance art that Ive includedRead MoreComparison/Contrast Renaisssance and Baroque Essay967 Words   |  4 PagesThe baroque and renaissance periods are two different periods. The renaissance period rolled into the baroque era. There were changes made over the years from the baroque to the renaissance period. Differences in style accumulated along with views of art and music. Baroque era covers the period between 1600 and 1750 beginning with Monte Verdi (birth of opera) and ended with deaths of Bach and Handel. The term baroque music is borrowed from the art history. It follows the Renaissance era (1400-1600)Read MoreAnalysis Of The Lesson The Ring Of Recollection Essay936 Words   |  4 Pagesfundamental creative impulse ( 2 ). Her entity is purely abstract. I was inspired by abstract art when I was undergraduate student and it triggered to make abstract style art. Since then, I have focused and kept thinking about what is abstraction, or purity in fine art more than 10 years. During this time, couple of arts have touched my chord; Western classical music and Japanese tea ceremony. Several years later, I gradually hypothesise this two arts have something similar concepts that can be essentialRead MoreEssay on Surrealism and Harlem Renaissance Two Historical Art Periods973 Words   |  4 PagesSURREALISM AND HARLEM RENAISSANCE Surrealism and Harlem Renaissance Two Historical Art Periods Elisa Montoya Western Governor’s University RIWT Task 1 May 13, 2013 SURREALISM AND HARLEM RENNAISANCE Comparing and Contrasting the Two Art Periods â€Å"Surrealism and Harlem Renaissance† 2 While there are many different historical art periods I will bring together two that I found to be extremely interesting. There are so many wonderful facts about all the different art periods that I’ve chosen

Economic Development in Urban Areas Essay - 762 Words

Economic Development in Urban Areas Economic change has helped lead America into urban crisis for the following reasons. First of all, because urban problems are no longer confined to the inner city, but are regional in nature. The federal government has, also, largely drawn from the urban policy arena, thereby having cities and sates to develop their own solutions to local problems. Furthermore, the economy of cities is no longer organized around a central business district, but is dispersed throughout a metropolitan region. Next, the national economy has experienced a fundamental reorganization and many cities have experienced the direct effects of deindustrialization and disinvestments. Additionally, the fiscal crisis within the†¦show more content†¦Another problem that is contributing to the urban crisis is the rise of single-parent families and present-orientated values. The problem here is that the divorce rate in America is getting higher and higher, and also the amount of children being had out of ma rriage is greatly increasing also. This creates one parent raising a child. The problem here is that there is no proper care for children in this situation. The parent has too much responsibility. They are to provide for the family, as well as adequately care for their children. When the single parent has to go to work, to get money to pay for a place to live, food, and clothing, there leaves no time to watch and take care of the children, meaning children are left to take care of themselves after school is over, and this results in a lot of problems for the communities. These children cause trouble. They are the ones who commit most crimes in an urban environment. This is why in an urban city there is a lot more crime. There are a lot of children left unsupervised for most of the day and night. Another problem is the ethnic tensions that there are in America. There are many things that are wrong with this. The first problem is that because of racism, people are secluded. They are pushed to all live together, because people dont want to live next to them. This is how a ghetto is started, and slums. All the people of low incomes live in the same neighborhood together. They also contain the high crimeShow MoreRelatedwith reference to examples, discuss the degree to which the level of economic development in a country affects planning and management in urban areas1357 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿ With reference to examples, discuss the degree to which the level od economic development in country affects planning and management in urban areas. The type of urban problems that require careful planning and management are largely decided by the economic wealth of a countryside. LEDC countries have problems with rapid urbanisation into the cities. However, on the other hand the problems that MEDC countries face include; suburbanisation, counter urbanisation. Urbanisation is the processRead MoreWith Reference to Examples, Assess the Degree to Which the Level of Economic Development of a Country Affects Planning and Management in Urban Areas.1939 Words   |  8 PagesWith reference to examples, assess the degree to which the level of economic development of a country affects planning and management in urban areas. Planning and management needs to happen in all countries over the world because no matter how different the level of development between countries the problems will be same in urban areas. These problems that need to be planned and managed in the urban areas of the city are becoming increasingly significant due to the fact that there has been a hugRead MoreIndustrial Areas From Centralization And Neoliberal Globalisation1684 Words   |  7 Pagespart for various industry sectors. By 2000, more than 500 cities had more than one million inhabitants. According to the United Nations, 54% of the world’s population currently live in urban areas. Urbanization combined with the overall growth of the world’s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban populations by 2050, with close to 90 percent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. This significant change of urbanization will lead to challenges in satisfying the needs forRead MoreInterview Paper : Urb an Conflict And Peacebuilding1117 Words   |  5 PagesBriefing paper: Urban Conflict and Peacebuilding Over the Global South, urban areas are developing at a remarkable pace. Vast parts of these urban centres are situated in fragile states emerging out of conflicts. Thus, it is of critical significance to understand the particulars of violent cities and what strategies is viable in avoiding conflicts and making peace in urban space. Introduction Urban centres are presently developing at a remarkable rate across the developing countries. IndividualsRead MoreEssay on Urban bias as a major impediment to rural development1594 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Urban bias has been presented as a major impediment to rural development because it perpetrates discriminatory policies which create and perpetuate disparities between urban and rural areas and consequently the development of urban areas at the expense of rural areas. This paper examines how urban bias, to a large extent, is the major impediment to rural development owing to its skewed policies and to down development approaches. Urban bias proponents, chief among them Lipton (1977), argue thatRead MoreEssay about Local Economic Development Incentives in the US1460 Words   |  6 PagesLocal Economic Development Incentives in the US 1. Description of the Issue Local economic development incentives constitute essential aspects of urban development economic policies. Such incentives are meant to enhance the development of cities that are considered underdeveloped. The enticements assume different forms. However, the common ones are the policies for providing tax incentives together with improvement of infrastructure (Anderson and Wassmer ‘Bidding for Business 82). Government providesRead MoreThe Expansion Of Urban Development Essay1466 Words   |  6 Pageshas always shaped the evolution and economic position of cities. First, our major cities largely grew around seaports. Next, urban development took place along rivers that formed the backbone of the industrial revolutions in the United States. Railroads opened up landlocked interiors of nations, fostering a third wave of city growth outward from their main terminals. Then, the expansion of suburban roadway systems created a fourth wave of urban development. We are now well int o a fifth waveRead MoreUrban Development : The Asian Pacific Region1740 Words   |  7 PagesTopic 2 : URBAN DEVELOPMENT â€Å"The (Asian and Pacific) region remains host to over half of the world’s slum population...At the same time, the percentage of urban population living in slums (these are households with no durable housing, insufficient living area, no access to water nor sanitation) has skyrocketed since 1990 and reached 30.6 per cent in 2010 (about 500 million people). Poverty is now growing faster in urban than in rural areas.† STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE The Asian-Pacific region is uniqueRead MoreEducation And Skills Development : A Flagship Programme For Rural Poverty Alleviation1262 Words   |  6 PagesEducation and Skills Development: A Flagship programme for Rural Poverty Alleviation More than of half of the world’s population and nearly 70 per cent of the world’s poor made rural areas their home where hunger, illiteracy and low school achievement are ubiquitous. India lives in its villages where 68.84% of the country’s population eke out their living through agriculture and allied activities. For the economic development of our country, the development of rural areas and the standard of livingRead MoreEconomic Development And Economic Growth1664 Words   |  7 PagesEconomic development has the potential to transform regions as it creates an enabling environment for economic growth. Economic development is also associated with expanding the capacity of individuals and communities to maximize the use of their available resources. The extent of economic growth depends on the type of the additional products that the economy produces from its investment projects. It has been an instrumental aspect in the growth of Cincinnati. Cincinnati is com prised of a diverse

Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing Free Essays

string(26) " personnel on an account\." Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing Summary:  Offshore outsourcing is growing 20%-25% per annum, with little evidence of slowing. Indeed, while most enterprises experience initial resistance, most technical issues are readily resolved and geopolitical risk is deemed insignificant after careful evaluation. By Dean Davison | December 9, 2003 — 00:00 GMT (16:00 PST) Offshore outsourcing is growing 20%-25% per annum, with little evidence of slowing. We will write a custom essay sample on Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing or any similar topic only for you Order Now Indeed, while most enterprises experience initial resistance, most technical issues are readily resolved and geopolitical risk is deemed insignificant after careful evaluation. Even the current political fervor about jobs being moved offshore via outsourcing is not impacting the demand or strategy of IT organizations. Offshore outsourcing will continue to grow as a â€Å"labor arbitrage† model until 2008/09. META Trend: During 2004/05, outsourcing will divide into commodity and transformational services. Infrastructure services will mirror grid-computing structures and develop consumption-based pricing (a. k. a. , â€Å"utility services†). Through 2006/07, transformational services (e. g. application development maintenance and business process outsourcing) will segment along horizontal (function commonality) and vertical (specialized) business process/services outsourcing functions. Although vendors will attempt to bundle infrastructure with â€Å"value† services, clients will demand â€Å"line item† pricing by 2008/09. Through 2004/05, IT organizations will outsource discrete projects/functions offshore (e. g. , from applicatio n development projects to specific call center support). Growth will continue at 20%+. Offshore strategies by domestic vendors will shift business from large, integrated outsourcing contracts, but most IT organizations will still develop strategies that focus on pure-play offshore vendors. The top 10 risks of offshore outsourcing are as follows. 1. Cost-Reduction Expectations The biggest risk with offshore outsourcing has nothing to do with outsourcing – it involves the expectations the internal organization has about how much the savings from offshore will be. Unfortunately, many executives assume that labor arbitrage will yield savings comparable to person-to-person comparison (e. . , a full-time equivalent in India will cost 40% less) without regard for the hidden costs and differences in operating models. In reality, most IT organizations save 15%-25% during the first year; by the third year, cost savings often reach 35%-40% as companies â€Å"go up the learning curve† for offshore outsourcing and modify operations to align to an offshore model. 2. Da ta Security/Protection IT organizations evaluating any kind of outsourcing question whether vendors have sufficiently robust security practices and if vendors can meet the security requirements they have internally. While most IT organizations find offshore vendor security practices impressive (often exceeding internal practices), the risk of security breaks or intellectual property protection is inherently raised when working in international business. Privacy concerns must be completely addressed. Although these issues rarely pose major impediments to outsourcing, the requirements must be documented and the methods and integration with vendors defined. 3. Process Discipline (CMM) The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) becomes an important measure of a company’s readiness to adopt an offshore model. Offshore vendors require a standardized and repeatable model, which is why CMM Level 5 is a common characteristic. META Group observes that approximately 70% of IT organizations are at CMM Level 1 – creating a gap that is compensated for by additional vendor resources on-site (see  Figure 1). Companies lacking internal process model maturity will undermine potential cost savings. 4. Loss of Business Knowledge Most IT organizations have business knowledge that resides within the developers of applications. In some cases, this expertise may be a proprietary or competitive advantage. Companies must carefully assess business knowledge and determine if moving it either outside the company or to an offshore location will compromise company practices. 5. Vendor Failure to Deliver A common oversight for IT organizations is a contingency plan – what happens if the vendor, all best intentions and contracts aside, simply fails to deliver. Although such failures are exceptions, they do occur, even with the superb quality methodologies of offshore vendors. When considering outsourcing, IT organizations should assess the implications of vendor failure (i. . , does failure have significant business performance implications? ). High risk or exposure might deter the organization from outsourcing, it might shift the outsourcing strategy (e. g. , from a single vendor to multiple vendors), or it might drive the company toward outsourcing (if the vendor has specific skills to reduce risks). The results of risk analysis vary between companies; it is the process of risk analy sis that is paramount. 6. Scope Creep There is no such thing as a fixed-price contract. All outsourcing contracts contain baselines and assumptions. If the actual work varies from estimates, the client will pay the difference. This simple fact has become a major obstacle for IT organizations that are surprised that the price was not â€Å"fixed† or that the vendor expects to be paid for incremental scope changes. Most projects change by 10%-15% during the development cycle. 7. Government Oversight/Regulation Utilities, financial services institutions, and healthcare organizations, among others, face various degrees of government oversight. These IT organizations must ensure that the offshore vendor is sensitive to industry-specific requirements and the vendor’s ability to: 1) comply with government regulations; and 2) provide sufficient â€Å"transparency† showing that it does comply and is thus accountable during audits. The issue of transparency is becoming more significant as requirements such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act place greater burdens of accountability on all American corporations. 8. Culture A representative example: although English is one official language in India, pronunciation and accents can vary tremendously. Many vendors put call center employees through accent training. In addition, cultural differences include religions, modes of dress, social activities, and even the way a question is answered. Most leading vendors have cultural education programs, but executives should not assume that cultural alignment will be insignificant or trivial. 9. Turnover of Key Personnel Rapid growth among outsourcing vendors has created a dynamic labor market, especially in Bangalore, India. Key personnel are usually in demand for new, high-profile projects, or even at risk of being recruited by other offshore vendors. While offshore vendors will often quote overall turnover statistics that appear relatively low, the more important statistic to manage is the turnover of key personnel on an account. You read "Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing" in category "Essay examples" Common turnover levels are in the 15%-20% range, and creating contractual terms around those levels is a reasonable request. Indeed, META Group has seen recent contracts that place a â€Å"liability† on the vendor for any personnel that must be replaced. The impact of high turnover has an indirect cost on the IT organization, which must increase time spend on knowledge transfer and training new individuals. 0. Knowledge Transfer The time and effort to transfer knowledge to the vendor is a cost rarely accounted for by IT organizations. Indeed, we observe that most IT organizations experience a 20% decline in productivity during the first year of an agreement, largely due to time spent transferring both technical and busine ss knowledge to the vendor. Many offshore vendors are deploying video conferencing (avoiding travel) and classroom settings (creating one-to-many transfer) to improve the efficacy of knowledge transfer. In addition, employee turnover often places a burden on the IT organization to provide additional information for new team members. Business Impact: Offshore outsourcing can reduce IT expenditures by 15%-25% within the first year. Longer term, process improvements often make great impacts on both cost savings and the quality of IT services delivered. Bottom Line: As IT organizations consider the vast benefits and allure of offshore outsourcing, they must balance the risks and uncertainties with the potential for labor arbitrage. Strategic Decision Challenges Researchers have applied different perspectives to understand sourcing decision, the key among them being production and transaction cost economics (Ang Straub, 1998), resource-based views (RBV), and resource-dependence views (Teng et al. , 1995). The Resource-Based View (RBV) argues that a firm’s competitive advantage depends heavily on its resources, as well as how these are used. Resources that are valuable and rare can lead to the creation of competitive advantage (Wade Hulland, 2004). Competitive advantage can be sustained over longer time periods to the extent that the firm is able to protect against resource imitation, transfer, or substitution. The knowledge-based theory (KBV) of the firm considers knowledge as the most strategically significant resource of the firm. Its proponents argue that, because knowledge-based resources are usually difficult to imitate and socially complex, heterogeneous knowledge bases and capabilities among firms are the major determinants of sustained competitive advantage and superior corporate performance. There is certain level of paradox in outsourcing when viewed from RBV or KBV prisms. Proponents of outsourcing have often used RBV to justify outsourcing decisions. The lack of resources, or resource gaps, that a firm has can also be rectified by acquiring resources from outside the firm boundaries by souring arrangement (Teng et al. , 1995). Outsourcing has been considered as a part of the way that firms assemble knowledge from suppliers (Shi et al. , 2005). Thus, information systems (IS) outsourcing can be seen as a mechanism to integrate IS knowledge from IS vendors. Knowledge sharing by both, client and supplier sides, is considered to be a success factor in outsourcing (Lee, 2001). However, some researchers have raised concerns regarding the potential loss of internal know-how through IS outsourcing (Willcocks et al. , 2004) and the potential loss of intellectual property (Chen et al. ,2002; Evaristo et al. , 2005). Outsourcing involves the inherent risk of forgoing the development of the knowledge base of the firm. Hoecht and Trott (2006) argues that innovative capability of the firm is largely dependent on cumulative knowledge built up over many years of experience. Innovative ability cannot be simply bought and sold. Earl (1996) argues that innovation needs slack resources, organic and fluid organizational processes, and experimental and entrepreneurial competences – all attributes that external sourcing does not guarantee. Aron (2005) describes these risks as the long-term intrinsic risks of atrophy. These risks are an inevitable byproduct of the process of outsourcing. Over time, if a company outsources an activity completely, it loses the core group of people who were familiar with it. They retire, they leave for employment where their skills are more alued, or they simply become less technically competent and out of date. Reliance on outsourcing is problematic, not only because key areas of expertise may be gradually lost to the outsourcing organization but also because outside providers may not have the desired leading edge expertise over the long-term (Earl, 1996) or may spread their expertise among many clients so that it degrades from core competency to mere industry standard. Hoecht Trott (2006) remind senior managers of the harm that may be inflicted on the ability of the organization to survive in the long term if its core competencies are slowly eroded through outsourcing. A related issue is that of the strategic intent (DiRomualdo Gurbaxani, 1998) behind the offshore outsourcing decision by organizations. Strategic intent in this context can range from an improvement in the IS unit of the organization (which generally provides the lowest degree of benefits), an improvement in the business processes of the overall organization, or a commercial intent to generate profits by developing core expertise in the domain of outsourced IT service (Kishore et al. , 2004–2005). The commercial intent is exemplified in the oft-cited case of American Airlines who established a new subsidiary to sell airline reservation related services commercially to other airlines and travel agents using Sabre, its airline reservation system, and to generate new revenues and profits from this line of business. Strategic intent behind outsourcing is an important challenge as it has been shown that stock market reacts favorably and rewards companies when they outsource with an intent of creating the maximum returns for the firm (Agrawal et al. 2006). On the vendor side, vendors can develop their expertise through building knowledge from experiences and holding the knowledge for competitive advantage. Szulanski (Szulanski, 1996) identifies lack of incentives, lack of confidence, turf protection, and the â€Å"not invented here† syndrome as motivational factors potentially influencing knowledge transfer in outsourcing arrangements. This two-sided nature of knowledge transfer is expected to create asymmetric information leading to outsourcing failures. From a client’s view several challenges then arise including deciding what is the right proportion of IT function insourced or outsourced, and what IT application should be outsourced or kept within for strategic reasons. How to cite Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing, Essay examples

Supply Chain Management free essay sample

A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in the procurement of a product or raw material. Supply chain management (SCM) involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability. In the past, companies focused primarily on manufacturing and quality improvements within their four walls; now their efforts extend beyond those walls to influence the entire supply chain including customers, customers’ customers, suppliers, and suppliers’ suppliers. Today’s supply chain is a complex web of suppliers, assemblers, logistic firms, sales/marketing channels, and other business partners linked primarily through information networks and contractual relationships. SCM systems enhance and manage the relationships. Business Dilemma Netflix reinvented the video rental business using supply chain technology. Netflix, established in 1998, is the largest online DVD rental service, offering flat rate rental-by-mail to customers in the United States. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, it has amassed a collection of 80,000 titles and over 6. We will write a custom essay sample on Supply Chain Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 8 million subscribers. Netflix has over 42 million DVDs and ships 1. 6 million a day, on average. Netflix previously claimed to spend about $300 million a year on postage. On February, 25 2007, Netflix announced the delivery of its billionth DVD. The company provides a monthly flat-fee service for the rental of DVD movies. A subscriber creates an ordered list, called a rental queue, of DVDs to rent. The DVDs are delivered individually via the United States Postal Service from an array of regional warehouses (44 in 29 states). A subscriber keeps a rented DVD as long as desired but has a limit on the number of DVDs (determined by subscription level) that can be checked out at any one time. To rent a new DVD, the subscriber mails the previous one back to Netflix in a prepaid mailing envelope. Upon receipt of the disc, Netflix ships another disc in the subscribers rental queue. Netflix’s business is video rental, but it used technology to revamp its supply chain to completely disrupt the entire video rental industry. PROJECT FOCUS: Define a way that you can revamp or reinvent your cafe using supply chain technologies. Modern business environment, brings enormous pressure, not just sell products, but also for customers to provide satisfactory services to improve customer satisfaction. Although the Broadway Cafe is a local shop which has a long story and a majority of consumer has deeply trust in it, the Broadway Cafe has not catch up with modern technology and lost competitive strength. So as to remain competitive advantage, the Broadway Cafe should apply supply chain technologies to revamp the Cafe. Replenishment System In the past the Cafe has checked all inventory orders through a note pad and order stocks from suppliers manually by phone. Managing inventory in this traditional system can easily lead to wrong order amounts or items. Sometimes it causes human error such as not correctly counting of stock or forgetting to order on time. Therefore it is hard to keep our order and stock accurately when we needed with suppliers. These problems can be solved by using Dynamic Replenishment System (DRS). The proposed DRS is an integrated model that plans customer goods deliveries based on inventory and backorder levels (Magableh, 2007, 52-66). This system allows sharing information directly between both the Cafe and suppliers. It can improve the communication between the Cafe and supplier because this system will produce the requirements of stocks for next orders and transfer the needs to suppliers automatically. And supplier will implement the next stocks for us efficiently and effectively. This system can decrease the mistake of stocking such as ordered quantities and can ensure the right product that we ordered and to avoid waste and unnecessary cost. It will help us processing the same order at the same time every week or month and saving the process of potential human error as well(Magableh, 2007, 52-66). As a result, using this system would enhance customer satisfaction because we have sufficient items to provide consumers and also increase the sales. In order to make my  business succeed that I have to create a suitable competitive advantage to face modern business and keep developing new programs and resources to help in changing marketing conditions. Making Business Decisions I Business is booming. The Broadway Cafe is operating better than ever and you have achieved your goal of driving operating costs down, which helps to drive revenues up. One of your best new products is a small coffee press from China. Customer can create a drawing on a special piece of paper that is sent to China and created as the outside of the coffee press. Customers are ordering the presses for everything from children’s drawing for mother’s day presents to marriage proposals. You also have many customers participating in the coffee-of-the-month and tea-of-the-month club where they receive two pounds of a unique blend each month from Brazil Beans and China Teas. PROJECT FOCUS: Yesterday, a dock workers union strike began and shut down all of the west coast shipping docks from San Francisco to Canada. Work will only begin when the union agrees to new labor contracts, which could take months. You need to quickly assess the impact of the west coast dock shutdown on the cafe. How will you keep business running if you cannot receive your shipments from Brazil Beans, China Teas, and the custom coffee press machines? What strategies do you recommend to help the business continue working while the supply chain is completely disrupted by the dock workers strike? I will keep the business running by making sure all the steps are completed. First, I will try to contact other local suppliers who may stock and provide the same items. And it is better to order sufficient stocks to support about two or three months whatever the price would be higher except for doing harm to the profit. Furthermore, due to work will only begin when the union agrees to new labor contracts, which could take months, so we should also need to consider ordering or seeking similar substitute items from local suppliers. It is important that our Cafe doesn’t run out of our major products. Furthermore, we should inform customers that there is a problem to keep operating coffee press, coffee-of-the-month and tea-of-the-month club due to workers strike issue. Let customers know that we may not keep providing the original products and we may offer new range tea and coffee beans until the dock worker back to work. Moreover, we should create some promotions such as discount, give some free coupon to keep customer satisfaction and consume in our Cafe. Finally, we need to start planning to build warehouse and store sufficient stocks for at least three or four months, especially Brazil Beans, China Teas, and the custom coffee press machines in order to avoid this issue happening again. (Gold, S. , Hahn, R. , Seuring, S. 2013) Making Business Decisions II You have decided to try a new product called coffee-on-the-go. Each morning and afternoon, a Broadway Cafe truck will drive to the office park on the end-of-town offering coffee and other items for sale. This means that the truck must drive across-town four times each day. The cost of transportation to and from the sales area, plus the power demands of the truck’s coffee brewing equipment, is a significant portion of variable costs. You are wondering if it would be worth trying to reduce the amount of driving and, therefore, the variable costs, if you leased a small cafe closer to the office park. You currently have rent of $5,000 per month. The lease of a new cafe, closer to the office park, would cost an additional $2,500 per month. This would increase the fixed costs to $7,500 per month. Although the lease of new cafe would increase the fixed costs, a careful estimate of the potential savings in gasoline and vehicle maintenance indicates that The Broadway Cafe could reduce the variable costs from $0. 50 per unit to $0. 30 per unit. Total sales are unlikely to increase as a result of the move, but the savings in variable costs should increase the annual profit. Consider the information provided to you in SCM_MBD2. xls. Especially look at the change in the variability of the profit from month-to-month. From November through January, when it is much more difficult to lure office workers out into the cold to purchase coffee, The Broadway Cafe barely breaks even. In fact, in December, the business lost money. Develop the cost analysis on the existing lease information using the monthly sales figures provided to you in the file SCM_MBDII. xls. Develop the cost analysis from the new lease information provided above. Calculate the variability that is reflected in the month-to-month standard deviation of earnings for the current cost structure and the projected cost structure. Do not consider any association with downsizing such as overhead—simply focus on the information provided to you. You will need to calculate the EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes). Calculation can be made in spreadsheet as below; we can see the difference between using existing lease information and new lease information. We can see above is a cost analysis on the existing lease information. Above it is shown the cost analysis from the new lease information. Using information given the calculation of month-to-month standard deviation of earnings for the current cost structure and the projected cost structure can be made by using excel spreadsheet After analysing these figures above, a conclusion can be made that if the Cafe decide to move the annual EBIT total is $146,263, and if they don’t move the annual EBIT total is $151,393. It means the current cost structure is cheaper than the projected cost structure, and also we can see that standard deviation between current and projected one that current one is more stable than new project. As a result, it is better to remain in their current location. Apply Your Knowledge One of the main products that the Broadway Cafe sells are whole coffee beans. The beans are shipped from Guatemala to three distribution centers in the United States (Denver, Colorado; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Fort Worth, Texas) and are then shipped by truck to five roasting plants   before sent to the cafe. The roasting plants are located in Salt Lake City, Utah; Chicago, Illinois; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and Phoenix, Arizona. Since shipping costs are a major expense, you have begun an analysis to determine ways to reduce them. You have created an estimate of what each distribution center needs to order and how much each roasting plant will require to satisfy your orders. PROJECT FOCUS: A workbook, SCM_AYK. xls, of the shipping costs from each distribution center to each roasting plant as a baseline analysis has been created for you. Some business rules and requirements you should be aware of include: The problem presented involves the shipment of goods from three distribution centers to five roasting plants. Goods can be shipped from any distribution center to any roasting plant, but it costs more to ship goods over long distances than over short distances. Your goal is to minimize the costs of shipping goods from distribution centers to roasting plants, thereby meeting the demand from each metropolitan area while not exceeding the supply available from each distribution center. To complete this project it is recommended that you use the Solver function in Excel to assist with the analysis. Specifically you want to: Minimize the total shipping costs. Total shipped must be less than or equal to supply at a distribution centers. Total shipped to roasting plants must be greater than or equal to the roasting plants demand. Number to ship must be greater than or equal to 0. Below is a spreadsheet that displays the minimum shipping cost and meets the demand of distribution center and roasting plants. When you came into work this morning you found the following anonymous letter from one of your employees on your desk. I received a highly inappropriate joke from a fellow employee that I found extremely offensive. The employee who sent the joke was Debbie Fernandez and I believe she should be reprimanded for her inappropriate actions. Signed a disturbed employee. What is your opinion? Why do you have this opinion? What external factors influence your opinion? First, we need to investigate this issue and check whether this joke was sent from Debbie herself or Debbie’s account was hacked and sent from someone else. If we thought that Debbie is guilty, we should prepare sufficient evidences before talk to Debbie regarding the other employee’s concern, otherwise if she didn’t do that this action will break the trust between employees and employer. After confirming, we should discuss the reasons behind why she raising this kind of situation. Make Debbie pay some penalty for her mistakes and keep this incident as secret in order to avoid Debbie feels awkward. Finally, we will provide refresher training and collect feedback to make sure every employee is satisfied with workplace and their colleagues. Making Decisions I One day, a sophisticated business man walks into the cafe and asks to speak to the owner. He introduces himself as Brawner Smith and says that he would like to talk to you in private. Brawner has just opened a local record store down the street and would like to purchase your customer lists from music events. Brawner is offering you a rather large sum of money for the e-mail addresses and phone numbers for all of the customers who have attended concerts at the cafe over the past five years. What is your opinion? Why do you have this opinion? What external factors influence your opinion? According to Australian Government Office of Australian Information Commissioner that we are under privacy act businesses that sell or purchase personal information without the consent of the individual or where the disclosure or collection is not authorised or required by law. I will not sell my customers information for money, because all customers’ information is confidential and it is kind of our cafe asset and also I will never know what is he going to do and it is against the law as well. Instead of providing the customer details to him, we may ask him to pay us so that we can help him to advertise information in our cafe about his shop to my customers who are interested in music, and if they want they can contact him or his shop. Making Business Decisions II You have been asked to join a local organization, Net Neutral, that is comprised of numerous small businesses from around your district. Net Neutrals purpose is to save the public airwaves and keep net neutrality. If you are unfamiliar with net neutrality research the issue at  http://www. savetheinternet. com/. Problem Discussion Discuss how net neutrality could effect The Broadway Cafe along with the pros and cons of joining Net Neutrals organization. What is your opinion? Why do you have this opinion? What external factors influence your opinion? In this day, if you want to connect to the Internet, must go through Internet access services Internet Service Provider (ISP), and these ISP are able to control what website you can connect. For example, if MSN connection is closed, then you would never have the opportunity to connect to MSN, unless you change an ISP, or you have to use others such as Yahoo Messenger. Why I need to pay money for companies control what I can access for commercial reasons. it is unreasonable. And ISP is not foolish to let you sue against it, however, it will use some method to affect your connection and obtain benefits through the impact of traffic. Net Neutrality speak to those ISP company, the ISP should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site and application, provide connection services for taking a neutral attitude and should not affect the user through the control connection and access to benefits, so that we can have open and free internet connection. The Broadband Cafe is a small business and it is well protected under Net Neutrality. Therefore, we must join Net Neutral’s organization. Apply Your Knowledge You have a wide variety of employees at The Broadway Cafe. Some of the employees have been working at the cafe since before you were born and some are brand new. Some of the employees you trust as well as you trusted your grandfather, and others are new to the cafe and you are just starting to build a working relationship. Last week you were faced with a difficult situation and had to fire one of your employees. This particular employee had a bad attitude, continually showed up late for work, and was caught stealing money out of the cash register. When the employee cleaned out his locker you noticed him stuff a thumb drive into his pocket. You were suddenly concerned with other items he might have stolen while working at the cafe. What can you do to protect your data while still building a sense of trust among your employees? Discussing the importance of creating information management policies. Be sure to highlight each policy that The Broadway Cafe should implement and how the policy can protect the company, its employees, and its data. We should make sure we follow the discipline and dismissal procedures before fire the employee, the procedure might exist in this organization as following: First, give him a valid reason based on his performance why he is at risk of being dismissed. Second, give him warning either verbally or in writing that he risks being dismissed if there is no improvement. And then providing him with an opportunity to respond to warning and a reasonable chance to amend the problem. Finally, if he doesn’t have any improvement, write the termination letter. Make sure Termination Checklist is all tick and once we dismiss him we are facing potential risk which is company’s confidentiality might divulge, therefore we should ensure he returns all of business items and intelligence. â€Å"In information management policy is a set of rules that control the availability and behavior of a certain type of important content. Policy enables administrators to control and evaluate who can access information, how long to retain information, and how effectively people are complying with the policy† (Managing Information Management Policy in SharePoint Server, 2010). The most of position undertake for managing risk are compliance officers, records managers, IT staff, etc. We can set up different log in system between employer, senior employees, and brand new employee. We should separate owner system and employees system. In order to limit accessibility to sensitive data such as recipes, financial details, customers information. And all personnel have to have their unique ID number, when they want to access computer they should use their employee ID number to log in. Furthermore, as owner we are able to see and record people who has been using computer and how long did they use it. Data is essential to any operations and management should always make sure the data is secure, protected, and backed-up in order minimize any potential risk. Additionally, we should provide refresher privacy training for staff regularly, audit privacy risks and take steps to mitigate them, and keep updating the organization’s privacy policy. Reference list: Managing Information Management Policy in SharePoint Server 2010 (ECM), (2010). Retrieved from http://msdn. microsoft. com/en-us/library/ms499244(v=office. 14). aspx Social Networking Hiding the truth What things do you post on Facebook that might be a little ‘less truthful’? I often post things on Facebook which are self-pictures that I want to share with my family and friends and share the link that contain interesting contents. I seldom post my real personal details for examples like: phone number- 000 , address- homeless, school-sleeping school. Is this acceptable behaviour? Yes, I just don’t want to share my personal details in case get some trouble with strangers. What if it is a corporate social networking site? If it is just for social reasons they can post anything they like except illegal items, however, If it is for business, everything must be true and need to be aware about every words should be appropriate.