To What Extent Did The Valois

To What Extent Did The Valois-Habsburg Conflict We Essay aken The French Monarchy During The Period Of 1519-1529To what extent did the Valois Habsberg conflict, weaken the French monarchy during the period of 1519-1529?In 1515 Francis I inherited the throne of France. His kingdom covered 459,000 square kilometres with the majority of its population in widely spread towns and cities. The population was about 15million, recovering from the ravages of the Hundred Years war and the Black Death. This had stimulated a recovery of French agriculture. The mining industry was also receiving official encouragement, if only to remedy an acute shortage of silver and German miners were being encouraged to settle in France. The French economy was in good shape with trade booming. . Frances relative prosperity allowed the monarchy to effectively collect tax revenues by employing tax collectors. France was also largely self-sufficient so it didnt spend much on imports from other countries. Frances oversees trade was expanding as it had regular trade from the Levant, Netherlands, Scandinavia and England. As a result the crown achieved 1300 livres alone from harbour dues each year. But these factors alone did not make the monarchy strong so therefore I must examine the strengths of the monarchy. We will write a custom essay on To What Extent Did The Valois-Habsburg Conflict We specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Many factors combined to give the impression that the monarchy was in a strong position. Firstly, we have the leadership Francis I who saw himself as a contemporary monarch. He was a Renaissance Prince and took an interest in the arts and new learning. This is how he wanted people to see him. He considered himself as a first amongst equals. It can also be said that there was no opposition towards his accession to the throne even though Mary Tudor (who married Louis XII just before he died) could have had a son who would make his claim void. Louis XIIs second wife did have children but they were all female therefore they were debarred from succession by Salic law. Francis was intelligent, well built and quick-witted which made him a good figurehead. He had also learnt the art of being a king and was popular amongst the nobility because of his character. Politically, the position of the monarchy was very strong not only in France but also in Western Europe. The monarchy enjoyed many features of absolute control over the realm and its dominions. A sign of this strength can be shown by the fact that the Estates General, which was the French national representative assembly like the English parliament, was never called during the reign of Francis I. The French parlements were only required to ratify laws, pass papal bulls and perform limited administrative tasks. The monarchy had some control over the church. All papal bulls had to go through parlement before becoming effective in France and the monarchy had some influence in appointing bishops and other leading officials. The kingdom had thousands of paid officials owing their position to the king and his patronage. Much of the power and influence of the Kings council and Grand council had been reduced. In fact the judicial role of the kings council had been moved to the Grand council by 1519. To add further insult these two councils were expected to follow the king around the country. The nobles had no real control over central government but they were powerful in regions. These groups, such as the Bourbon faction (mentioned later), could seek more power if the monarchy was ever weakened and as such they were a potential threat to the monarchy. The French monarchy was in a strong financial position probably the biggest reason for this is that the crown could levy taxes without having to call the Estates-General. The tax that brought in the most money for Francis and the only direct tax was the taille, which brought in 2.4 million livres out of a total revenue of 4.9 million at the start of Francis reign. However, in 1519, Francis had to spend a large amount of money to the sum of 400,000 crowns on bribing the imperial electors to back him instead of Charles. However, because Francis could not raise enough loans from bankers he lost the election and was left out of pocket because of it. Frances military strength was also a force to be reckoned with. The military was built up of a nucleus of French gendarmerie, which made up a standing army. This army was also highly experienced from the campaigns in Italy during the previous 30 years. The French army was also confident after defeating the Swiss at Marignano. The Swiss were the most formidable fighting forces at that time. French confidence and experience had also increased after they successfully defended Milan against imperial troops. Because of Frances wealth, and the Perpetual Peace of Fribourg of 1516, the king could always hire Swiss mercenaries if he needed to. The military generals of France were also very competent in particular Charles de Bourbon, who became Constable of France. It was the diplomatic front, which allowed Francis to project not only his power and prestige but also Frances. This is probably best seen by his spectacular show at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. This wonderful event was staged to secure a treaty with Henry VIII of England. The monarchys relationship with the Pope was also good as Francis held the title of Most Catholic King. The Concordat of Bologna signed by the pope in December 1515 also legalised and enlarged royal control over the Church in France. In 1516 the Treaty of Noyon was signed between Charles I of Spain and Francis. Charles was to marry Francis daughter and pay a tribute for Naples as recognition of the French claim. This allowed Charles to establish his authority in Spain without a challenge from France. Another treaty between France and Spain in 1517 at Cambrai meant a state of peace existed between the two. This peace was, in fact, designed for Francis, Charles and Maximillian in the event of an attack by the Turk s, to join in a Christian crusade. This peace was recognised by the Pope in 1518 to further strengthen the monarchys diplomatic position. Overall, the monarchy appeared in a sound and secure position diplomatically by 1519. Unfortunately, Francis did suffer a personal and strategic set back after Charles was elected as Holy Roman emperor in 1519. Despite these features which made the French monarchy appear strong, there were potential challenges to its authority and prestige. Perhaps the biggest threat to the French monarchy would come from the aristocracy. There are many reasons why the aristocracy could have come to challenge the monarchys position. One reason could be because the Kings personal council was made to follow him around the country instead of having a permanent seat in Paris. This would mean that the council was always under close scrutiny by the King and was given little or no opportunity for courtiers to work on their own. The King also held the right to appoint his closest friend s onto the conseil secret. This was just an extension of the Kings council but it was a prestigious position. This could lead to rivalry between the nobles and possible resentment towards the King. The influence of the old aristocracy was also in decline as educated people were being used in these offices instead such as Chancery. H ostility could have also come from subjects of provinces and the Governors themselves as the Governors were often expected to be at court or fighting for the King. An example of the absenteeism of Governors can be found examining the career of Odet de Foix who was Marshall of France. He was often away from his province as he was expected to lead the Kings armies. These nobles were also expected to provide funds and gendamerie for the campaigns the King undertook. Perhaps the biggest threat to the monarchy from the aristocracy was that of Charles de Bourbon whom Charles appointed Constable of France in 1515. This was the highest military office under the King himself and he was an effective commander of the French army during peacetime. However, the first signs of discontent were found in 1521 when Francis gave command of the Vanguard to Alencon. Usually, the Constable commanded the vanguard and Charles clearly took offence but concealed his feelings. The final insult was when Charle s wife, Suzanne, died and Louise of Savoy contested the inheritance of the Bourbon lands, as she was the closest relative. Both claims had to go through Parlement but since Francis supported his mothers claim he started to divide up the lands of Bourbon between himself and his mother without Parlements verdict. Charles de Bourbons reaction could not have been more defiant when in 1523 he joined Charles becoming one of his most able commanders. .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 , .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .postImageUrl , .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 , .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4:hover , .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4:visited , .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4:active { border:0!important; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4:active , .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4 .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue3350d1d4d12a5289ce3ae44ead5aeb4:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Beloved And Toni Morrison EssayAnother potential challenge for the monarchy could have come from the Parlements. Francis tended to be very short with the Parlements when he dealt with them. Francis disliked the way Parlements magistrates who compared themselves to senators of ancient Rome. Furthermore, Francis even threatened to make Parlements follow him around the country if they didnt comply with his wishes. Francis also alienated crown lands by gift or sale to pay off debts or raise money. Since Parlement saw itself as the defender of the French crown against the personal actions of a particular monarch they thought that this was a breach of Fundamental Law. Parlement was often asked to raise money for the King. An example of this can be found when examining Francis reaction to the hostage situation involving his sons. He expected Parlement to raise the funds to pay for the ransom of his sons or to pay for an army to fight Charles in the event of Charles refusal to release his captives. It could also be said that because Louise of Savoy relied on the Parlement of Paris so heavily that they might have got a taste of power and wanted to keep it. Not only did Louise need the Parlement of Paris to make sure there was a steady supply of grain and food into Paris but she also needed it to fund the defence the north against a possible Anglo-Imperial invasion while Louise was in the south. Conflict with the papacy could develop due to the monarchys influence over the Church. Francis set up commissions to see if the Church was acquiring lands without paying its dues. These commissions were set up in 1520 and were called nouveau acquits and droit damortissement. These were designed to stop churchmen acquiring gifts without paying the correct dues. The monarchy also had a lot of influence over the appointment of the clergy as the bishops appointed could of received their position because of their relationship with the King rather than what they did within the Church. The Church was also taxed heavily in relation to raising funds for the ransom, which again could lead to discontent. The Church was also burdened with having to deal with heresy within the state leaving it with little time to influence politics. Normally, relations between the King of France and the Popes were good after all the French King did hold the title of Most Catholic King. However, when the pope saw the lands that Charles had acquired he decided that it would be a better idea to sign a treaty between the Emperor and the papacy. Francis took offence at this and stopped all revenues from the French church going to the papacy. The pope could also resent the concordat of Bologna in 1516. This was signed to stop the French invading the Papal States to get to Naples. This meant that Francis was more or less without allies in Western Europe leaving him vulnerable to attack. Other potential external threats included Charles V (now Holy Roman emperor since 1519), Henry VIII of England. Charles Vs reasons for being a threat were not his own doing. From Charles perspective Francis, perhaps out of jealousy, was the instigator for armed conflict. This is probably because Charles was not only King of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor but that he also had a strong influence in Italy. Nevertheless, Charles was aggressive, as he did want the lands of Navarre to be given back to Spain and wanted the lands of Burgundy returned and the French to renounce its claim to Milan. Henry VIII, on the other hand, also saw himself as a Renaissance Prince and also saw France as the old enemy. Henry VIII always wanted to restore the English empire and continue the campaigns into France like he and indeed Henry V had done years before. Henry VIII had also signed a secret treaty in 1521to attack France in May 1523. Henry could have also taken offence not only to losing to the King of France during a wrestling match at the Field of the Cloth of Gold but also in having his ambassadors kept wa iting when he offered arbitration between Francis and Charles. Henry VIII could also have been extremely jealous of Francis as they were both sporting men and Henry that he had to do better than Francis. Before looking at how the conflict affected the French monarchy I will go through the events that could have had an Impact from 1519 to 1529. After the election of Charles as Holy Roman emperor in 1519, Francis hoped to delay Charles journey to Italy to be crowned by the Pope. On the 29 May 1520 Francis also lost the support of Leo X, who signed a treaty with Charles and on the 28 June lightening struck an ammunition store killing 300 French troops. When Robert de la Marck, Lord of Sedan, invaded Luxembourg in 1521, few believed that Francis had nothing to do with it. Francis had in fact paid La Marck 100,000 ecus and twenty-five men at arms in return for serving him. Francis also took advantage of the Commeros Revolt to invade Spanish Navarre. Francis success was short lived as Imperial forces not only liberated Luxembourg but also the lordship of Sedan and threatened Frances northern border. The Calais conference in 1521 gave Francis until the following November to end hostilities or England would enter the fray. On the 23 September Seigneur de Lorges was successful in bringing supplies to the besieged town of Mecieres. On the 19 October Bonnivet captured the Key to Spain, Fuenterrabia, which meant the war was turning in favour of Francis. These victories had an impact on the talks in Calais, which meant that Wolsey was more reluctant to back Charles and Francis was even less interested in a truce. On the 23 October, Francis missed a unique opportunity to end the war quickly. The two armies met near Bouchain but because of bad weather Francis was unable to see the exact strength of the imperial army and did not risk an attack. The Imperial army was in fact a lot smaller that that of Francis and could have been easily routed but the opportunity was missed. Milan fell on the 19 November after Lautrec could not afford to maintain the troops there. Francis would not rest until Milan was recaptured and ordered 16,000 troops from Switzerland. The price was high. When his troops were received by Lautrec, he attempted to besiege Milan but found it too well defended and so he retreated. Francis was not happy with this and ordered Lautrec into battle. The battle of La Bicocca was a foregone conclusion with the loss of some 3,000 Swiss troops and many captains. The defeat in Italy brought England into the war but lack of money and supplies limited any real impact. In July, Francis prepared to invade Italy but soon found out about his Constables treachery. This threw Francis plans into disarray, which meant Francis had to stay in France. The invasion into Italy was then to be led by Admiral Bonnivet who was defeated by the Viceroy of Naples in April 1524. In July, an Imperial invasion led by Bourbon made ground in Provence. Francis took one last chance that year and crossed the Alps in record time to take Milan. Francis then decided to besiege Pavia, which meant his troops would have to suffer the harsh winter. The new Pope was beginning to favour Francis because of his successes in Italy but neither side wanted peace. On the 24 February 1525 the battle of Pavia started with the French camp being taken by surprise and ended with the capture of Francis himself. Amongst the dead were a number of Francis closes t friends and nobles. The only important noble to escape was the Kings brother in law, Charles dAlencon. The King was finally released from imprisonment by promising the duchy of Burgundy and his two sons as hostages to Charles in the treaty of Madrid. Meanwhile, Louise of Savoy, acting as regent, was successful in defending the Kingdom against an English invasion by detaching Henry from his alliance with Charles in the Treaty of More. As soon as Francis had regained his freedom he refused to honour the Treaty of Madrid. Instead of giving up the lands of Burgundy he offered the Emperor a cash settlement. Things once again turned in Francis favour when the papacy and other Italian states joined with Francis in the Holy League of Cambrai in 1526. This however, didnt avert the Sack of Rome by Imperial troops in May 1527. The Treaty of Amiens was signed on August 1527, as the Pope was practically the prisoner of the emperor. This also gave Francis an excuse to commit himself to an armed intervention into Italy commanded by Marshall Lautrec; the army crossed the Alps and took over the whole of Lombardy excluding Milan. As a result, Charles refused to release Francis sons as long as the French army remained in Italy. The French army besieged Naples but after the blockade was lifted an outbreak of plague or cholera in the French camp carried off Lautrec and a large proportion of the army lifting the siege. Peace talks commenced after Charles was promised to be crowned as Emperor by the Pope. Louise of Savoy and Margaret of Savoy negotiated the treaty of Cambrai on the 3 August 1529. .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 , .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .postImageUrl , .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 , .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8:hover , .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8:visited , .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8:active { border:0!important; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8:active , .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8 .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u1e04b8dc0ad301b430e4ec6d9c700ec8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Beyond Budgeting Debate Criticisms Of Budget Accounting EssaySo was the French monarchy weakened by these events of 1519 to 1529? It is true that financially the whole affair was very costly. It cost Francis 2 million gold crowns to pay Charles his ransom. Francis constantly needed money from somewhere. Francis would alienate crown lands to find the money he needed. He also got the support of the public and the church to raise funds. He also looked more closely at his financial administration in an attempt to reduce corruption. Before 1523 the financial administration was more or less the same as it was for Charles VII (1422-1461). It had to kinds of administrations, o ne for Ordinary revenues and the other for extraordinary revenues. The former was called the Tresor and was headed by four Tresoriers de France. Their job was to supervise collection and disbursement of revenues but the actual handling was done by Receveurs ordinaires. The Extraordinary revenues were looked after by four Generaux des Finances. Responsible for all revenues was the Receiver-General with the title Changeur du Tresor. He was based in Paris but little revenue actually got to him as many debts were settled by means of warrants (decharges) at a local level. This saved the expense of carting large amounts of money across the dangerous countryside of France. These two administrations were expected to come to court when they could and also to draw up a sort of budget based on the accounts from each district. The French monarch was virtually bankrupt in 1523 so to solve the problem Francis reformed his treasury and increased his revenues. Francis created a new office, the Tres orier de lEparge who reported only to the King. This new position destroyed the influence of the Tresoriers and Generaux and also eliminated most of the corruption. Revenues came in from the sale of annuities. These rentes de lhotel de ville were like loans for Francis. The French crown had to deal with the growing problem of inflation. The campaigning in 1523 had cost Francis 50 per cent of his annual income. So financially the monarchy was not permanently damaged by the war although it was a set back he was able to obtain money from nobility and the church to pay for his sons ransom. In fact the war had helped to develop a more financially secure system. The campaigns had also been costly on the military strength. Not only did Francis end up losing 16,000 Swiss troops after La Bicocca but at Pavia, it is thought that some 10,000 men were taken prisoner or killed. However, since tactics had changed after the first Italian campaigns, commanders no longer relied on their heavy cavalry. Instead, they would use infantry. Because the armies used were so large it was impossible a monarch to fund a standing army of that size. Francis was forced to use foreign mercenaries especially the Swiss and Germans. It would be these mercenaries that tended to take the heaviest losses. So there is no evidence that after the war, France was weakened militarily or that it could not re -supply its gendarmee. It had however lost some of its best commanders and closest advisors most notably Charles de Bourbon in battle or in treachery. Administantivly, the monarchy also kept its strength. Even without the King, Louise of Savoy was able to keep a disgruntled Parlement in check and gave it a warning not to trespass on the Kings authority. It is true that some people did not like the idea of a female monarch and thought that Charles de Bourbon should be regent. However, this was overcome and Parlement assured the King of its loyalty. This is probably down to the way Louise dealt with Parlement. She was more tactful with it and tended to flatter it. Nevertheless, there were no significant uprisings or political changes during this period to weaken the position of the monarchy. If anything, Francis captivity meant that the country could be run effectively without him being there. This can also be attributed to Chancery, which was responsible for the drawing up of laws. It was headed by the Chancellor and contained 119 notaries and secretaries. As the load of government business increased, the notaries or secretaries wer e allowed to sign the concilliar decisions to make them valid. The diplomatic position of the French monarchy ended more or less as it started. England and the Empire became enemies of France by the treaty of Bruges in 1521, as did the pope when he saw how powerful Charles was becoming. However, Louise was successful in prising Henry away from his alliance with Charles in the Treaty of More. France also joined the Holy League of Cambrai with the pope. So once again France was in a strong diplomatic position with both England and the Papacy at his side. Francis did lose Milan, which was a serious set back for him not only strategically but also personally. He had also lost his influence over Genoa by 1529 but there were new potential allies outside of Christendom in the form of the Turks to redress the balance. If the image of the monarchy had been seriously damaged then Francis wouldnt have been able to extend his grip on power as well as he did so. Surely, there would have been opposition to proposals he put forward or even for his continuing campaigns into Italy. The fact that there was only one notable act of treason is more proof that Francis still had the support of his political elite. No doubt his capture was a personal embarrassment but it didnt have a serious effect on the position of the monarchy. Another sign of its strength is the acceptance of a woman as regent so it is my opinion that the image of the monarchy was not substantially damaged either. It is true that the treaty of Cambrai was an embarrassment for Francis, however studying the decade it is my judgement that the conflict did not weaken the French monarchy. The areas of French society, which provided strength to the monarchy, were affected individually and French finances were seriously weakened. However, these weaknesses were only temporary and the French monarchy, probably, because it was so strong to start off with was able to recover and continue to develop in a similar way to the manner in which it had been changing since the mid 15th Century. However, recognition of the collapse of Royal power later in the 16th century, after the death of Henri II, could be linked to weaknesses already apparent in this period. European History Essays

Military Grave Markers and Tombstones

Military Grave Markers and Tombstones For many, the first introduction to an ancestors military service is at the cemetery when they discover a flag or military marker next to their ancestors grave, or an unknown acronym or image carved on the stone. Common Military Abbreviations United States - Military Abbreviations - Ranks, Units AwardsAustralia - Military Abbreviations TerminologyCanada - Military Abbreviations, Terms and MeaningsGermany - Glossary of Germany military terms and abbreviations Tombstone Symbols May Indicate Military Service Flag - liberty and loyalty. Often seen on military markers.Stars Stripes around an Eagle - Eternal vigilance and liberty. Often seen on U.S. military markers.Sword - often indicates military service. When found on the base of the stone might indicate infantry.Crossed swords - May indicate a military person of high rank or a life lost in battle.Horse - May indicate calvalry.Eagle - courage, faith and generosity. May indicate military service.Shield - Strength and courage. May indicate military service.Rifle - often indicates military service.Cannon - generally indicates military service. When found on the base of the stone it may indicate artillery. Acronyms for Military Groups Veterans Organizations CSA - Confederate States of AmericaDAR - Daughters of the American RevolutionGAR - Grand Army of the RepublicSAR - Sons of the American RevolutionSCV - Sons of Confederate VeteransSSAWV - Sons of Spanish American War VeteransUDC - United Daughters of the ConfederacyUSD 1812 - Daughters of the War of 1812USWV - United Spanish War VeteransVFW - Veterans of Foreign Wars

Exercise for Homework Time Management

Exercise for Homework Time Management Do you find yourself rushing to complete your homework assignment at the last moment? Are you always starting your homework when youre supposed to be going to bed? The root of this common problem may be time management. This easy exercise will help you identify the tasks or habits that take time away from your studies and help you develop more healthy homework habits. Keeping Track of Your Time The first goal of this exercise is to get you to think about how you spend your time. For instance, how much time do you think you spend on the phone per week? The truth may surprise you. First, make a list of common time-consuming activities: Talking on the phoneEatingNappingListening to musicLoungingWatching TVPlaying games/surfing webSpending time with familyHomework Next, jot down an estimated time for each one. Record the amount of time that you think you devote to each of these activities per day or week. Make a Chart Using your list of activities, create a chart with five columns. Keep this chart on hand at all times for five days and keep track of all the time you spend on each activity. This will be tough sometimes since you probably spend a lot of time going rapidly from one activity to the other or doing two at once. For example, you may watch TV and eat at the same time. Just record the activity as one or the other. This is an exercise, not a punishment or a science project. Dont pressure yourself! Evaluate Once you have tracked your time for a week or so, take a look at your chart. How do your actual times compare with your estimates? If you are like most people, you may be shocked to see how much time you spend doing things that are unproductive. Does homework time come in last place? If so, youre normal. In fact, there are many things that ​should take more time than homework, like family time. But surely there are some problem areas that you can identify as well. Are you spending four hours a night watching TV or playing video games? You certainly deserve your leisure time. But to have a healthy, productive life, you should have a good balance among family time, homework time, and leisure time. Set New Goals When tracking your time, you may find that you spend some time on things you just cant classify. Whether were sitting on the bus staring out the window, waiting in line for a ticket, or sitting at the kitchen table gazing off in the distance, we all spend time doing, well- nothing. Look over your activity chart and determine areas you could target for improvement. Then, start the process over again with a new list. Make new time estimates for each task or activity. Set goals for yourself, allowing more time for homework and less time on one of your weaknesses, like TV or games. You will soon see that the mere act of thinking about how you spend your time will bring about a change in your habits. Suggestions for Success Dont work alone. Some of us need support to stick to something. A little competition with a friend always makes things more interesting. Work with a friend, compare notes, lists, and charts. Make a game of it!Include your parent. Get your mom or dad involved and have them keep track of the time they waste. Now that might be interesting!Negotiate a reward system. Whether you work with a friend or a parent, work out a system for rewarding yourself for progress. If working with a friend, you could agree to provide lunch or dinner for the time-saving winner each week.If working with a parent, you could negotiate an extended curfew for every increased minute devoted toward homework. Perhaps you could even substitute dollars for minutes. The possibilities are endless!Have a party for reaching a goal. Even if youre working on your own, you could promise yourself a party as a reward for reaching a specific goal.Make it a class project. This would be a great project for an entire class. The t eacher or group leader could keep track of progress with a flow chart. When the class reaches a goal as a group- its party time!

Mobile web Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mobile web - Essay Example Fortunately, the ease of accessing resources to facilitate this process of developing mobile web presence is increasing with time. This will soon allow small business owners to be able to create a mobile presence. Unhelkar (2006) explains that mobile web presence is of critical importance in the world’s economy today. Developing organizations easily deploy many resources to ensure mobile web presence. The fastest growing businesses have become media savvy and attributed their fast growth to adopting the latest online platforms and the marketing tools available. This arises as an effect of competition in the economy. It, therefore, calls for the improvement of the market awareness strategies and the development of new and more efficient methods that would confer ultimate web presence. Incorporation of web presence is the ultimate tool to maintain information exchange by the business entities. Mobile Platform Mobile platforms allow businesses to access information. Further, it s erves the sole reason of gaining access to the largest market. Companies aim at taking advantage of this knowledge to give them an edge. Companies have also learnt that the mobile platform helps them advance their goals. Further, it allows them to widen or expand their reach to the most remote markets available. For most companies that have incorporated the mobile platform as a marketing strategy, it is evident that the mobile platform trumps the location-sensitivity created by most markets. This is particularly crucial for an organization as it aims at promoting its products and services. Most companies are embracing mobile platform to achieve the ultimate interaction with consumers. Zuckerberg Statement The so-called â€Å"Zuckerberg Statement† brings into perspective the use of web presence. This is evident in the massive acceptance of Facebook as social media. It is evident that the use of facebook as social media received quite a boost since the establishment of mobile w eb presence. This allowed most of the population to access the social media from their mobile phones. This statement, therefore, manifests the importance of a mobile platform. This is extremely essential for companies that aim at accessing the vast market that the mobile platform brings. Theories Underlying the Mobile Web Presence Mobile web presence confers quite an edge to any company or organization that utilizes it as a marketing strategy (Unhelkar, 2006). However, for the mobile platform to be effective in achieving its intended purpose, certain key aspects do apply. This renders every attempt to achieve mobile web presence subject to a given set of rules. Device Integration The mobile platform has to allow one to utilize all the device capabilities. This is mainly because most of the available devices include network communications. Further, they also confer the user certain interactive capabilities that the mobile web presence developers take advantage. This is evident in the most recent mobile applications. These utilize the current mobile device capabilities. Nevertheless, the developers are always free to take control of the mobile phone devices to manipulate them in such a way that the serve those who use it efficiently. Data collection is a priority, and the mobile web presence should allow one full access to such data when it hits the web. Consequently, the developer should ensure that the developed mobile web presen

Automatic Data Processing Company Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Automatic Data Processing Company - Assignment Example An HRIS system aids in simplifying the complex decision making processes that fall under the HR umbrella. The four principal areas that HR is benefited by the use HRIS are payroll, time and labor management, employee benefits and HR management. We will now look at HRIS vendors like the People Soft, SAP, Oracle, Ceridian, and ADP. Below are a few lines on each one of them with their unique features and advantages. People Soft: Originally owned by Circa is now owned by Oracle it initially constructed with just basic areas of payroll HR and benefit administration now was redefined and constructed in the year 2000 with multiple features for Global employee administration (People soft 2005) Oracle: The no: 1 in the relational database is currently the largest market shareholder. The company has multiple products and services range which includes oracle's green enterprise, unlimited applications, Fusion architecture, Oracle for midsize companies, Unbreakable Linux and Lifetime support. (Oracle 2009) SAP: Is the name of a company that deals with the development and deployment of Enterprise resource planning. The 50-year-old company gives customized solutions to companies seeking an HRIS. It also provides solutions to midsize companies and has a specialized team for the same.

Huntingtons’s Concept and Its Applicability to the Contemporary World Essay Example for Free

Huntingtons’s Concept and Its Applicability to the Contemporary World Essay Introduction Globalization and the trend in the politics has entered a new political schema after the World War II and as such, it is has drawn the interest of political theorists who had hoped to re-define and predict the future outcomes of global politics. Among the different approaches, what had really attracted the attention of the media and the interested crowd is Huntington’s concept on the Clash of Civilizations theory. Huntington’s stereotypical claims and predictions regarding future outcomes of global relations had uncannily matched with that of the drastic event of the Al-Qaeda’s attack on September 11 on the Twin Towers. The event, which had caught global attention,   is said to have been a direct pop-out from Huntington’s essay and that ‘event’ was resultant of the ‘clash’ between the differing cultures of the American superpower and the Muslims of Afghanistan. The ethnic conflict, albeit on global scale, would be the political pattern after the Cold War. The question is, is Huntington’s concept still applicable with the current trend of globalization? Here there is a basic assumption that conflicts arise from ethnic differences and it is on these differences which will feed the upcoming antagonism between the different nations. Al-Qaeda’s attack may have been likely ‘accidental’ and that his reasons were not purely ‘ethnic’ as in Huntington’s theory. In the paper, there is an attempt to investigate the flaws of Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations when placed in the larger context of globalization and international conflict. A thorough understanding of his paper first must be placated followed by criticisms and the more apt model that would fit the current trend for global political system. s The Clash of Civilizations is a theory proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington in 1993 as a reaction to Fukuyama’s book. Herein, Huntington expanded on the shift of global patterns after the Cold War from the economic to traditional; whereby conflicts are more of culture clash. The globalization trend would function in the traditional cultural sense and will no longer be confounded on ideological clashes as in the philosophcal claims before. Huntington’s thesis is relatively simple to understand in the manner that he had oversimplified and reduced everything: â€Å"†¦It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . His basic premise is the culture clash as a primary source of conflict and he divided the Globe into different ethnic groups representing the different civilizations, each embodying different religion: African, Hindu, Western, Sinic, Orthodox, Islamic, Latin America and Japanese. From these different ethnic frontiers, will arise the future conflicts and he had cited the cases of India and Pakistan. What is most daunting of his perceptions is that the Superpower of America will face a decline and the shift will be on the combined powers of Sino-Islamic group. Equally daunting is Huntington’s concept that what had fueled this antagonism is the purposive role of teology in the different civilizations, most particularly, that of the Islams.

The Transcontinental Railroad Essay -- Transportation, Railroad Compa

The Transcontinental railroad could be defined as the most monumental change in America in the 19th century. The railroad played a significant role in westward expansion and on the growth and development of the American economy (Gillon p.653). However, the construction of the transcontinental railroad may not have occurred if not for the generous support of the federal government. The federal government provided land grants and financial subsidies to railroad companies to ensure the construction. The transcontinental railroad contributed to the formation of industry and the market economy in America and forever altered the American lifestyle. The Pacific Railroad bill of 1862 launched the transcontinental railroad construction project. The Pacific Railroad bill granted 6,400 acres of public lands and government loans ranging from $16,000 to $48,000 per mile of track completed to the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad companies. (Pacific Railroad Bill) Following the Pacific Railroad bill a series of federal and state acts between 1862 and 1871 granted more than 130 million acres of public land and supplied additional monetary loans of approximately $150 million dollars to the expansion of the railroads. (Gillon p.652) There is no refuting that the railroad companies transformed business operations and encouraged industrial expansion. The raw materials required for construction of the transcontinental railroad directly resulted in the expansion of the steel, lumber and stone industries. (Gillon p.652) The railroad stimulated growth in manufacturing and agriculture providing an efficient manner to ship raw materials and products throughout the country. Which in turn, increased consumerism and introduced t... ...ich developed new corporations. (Gillon p.652) Many in the railroad industry and these newly developed corporations were accused of price fixing, providing illegal kick- backs and challenging government regulations. (Gillon p.652-657) Thus, one could argue that the railroad industry and the titans it produced had a monopolistic approach to business that actually challenged the free market system. In the end, the transcontinental railroad changed the American landscape both physically and culturally. It formed the foundation for the industrial economy, it produced new business practices and management style of large workforces. It helped established government regulations, taxation and support of public transportation. Above all it drastically changed the American lifestyle, changed where people lived, how they shopped, how they ate, and how they worked.

Celebrities: Perfection and Individuals

ENC 1101 March 24, 2013 Celebrities’ dysfunctions and transgressions In this age of the scandalisation of public life the media suffers from an overload of films stars, sport personalities, that is, celebrities, caught in socially unacceptable situations. Celebrity and scandal are closely linked, where scandal often enhances the celebrity quotient of the star (Nayard 2009: 112).In other words, even negatives disclosure and representation of their marriages (practically most film stars), their pedophilia (Roman Polanski), breaking the law (Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Charlie Sheen), are all important part of the celebrity culture that fans and spectator so love to hear about. The privilege of fame may act as a license to transgress meaning the can get away with a lot, resulting in greater tolerance for celebrity wrongdoing.However, paradoxically, it is also clear that, as an in? uential elite, celebrities are expected to conduct themselves with propriety, meaning that their be havior is closely scrutinized (Gieles). Most individuals love a scandal, barring the people caught in one, of course. The rest of society most often absolutely cannot get enough. Fans are mostly interested in the good and the bad actions of a celebrity. In the others, there are spectators that are only interested in the scandals about the celebrities.Whether one admit it or not, few things make a person feel better about them quite as intensely as seeing the people that society places on the highest of pedestals get knocked off of them in spectacular fashion. Celebrities’ dysfunctions and transgressions attract high audience interest not only from the celebrity fans , but other spectators. Celebrities scandals appeals to individuals. As a result, they show that celebrities’ larger-then-life figures are idolized by fans and envied by others, enhances that celebrities are ordinary individuals, and sparks curiosity and interest.First, audiences are highly interested in sc andal. The fans are very interested in the stars career and personal life either good or bad. Individuals, whom are not fans of a specific celebrity, are more likely to pay attention to this celebrity when they are spotted on the headline of the tabloids for doing something wrong. Both fans and other individuals pay close attention to those scandals which give these scandals a larger audience. Individuals obtain a certain amount of pleasure from hearing scandals about celebrities.Elizabeth Bird suggests that a scandal story evokes a pleasure derived from both fascination and revulsion for the social mess that scandals symptomatize (Bird 2003:45). Sensational headline build on ones fears, anxieties and desires. Indeed scandals appeal because they deal with the moral values, fears of the people as a whole (Bird 2003:32). Social values and norms are violated by scandals, and thus is what interests fans, that individuals are able to break social norms. Fans anxieties about broken marria ges or families of being failures’, even their own desire for wealth or fame, fuel their reading of scandals.In the case of scandals, it’s not simply media production. It is the sustained interest of the fans that generates. To continue, while some fans idealized a celebrity there are others who envy them. Joseph Burgo, a psychologist and author of â€Å"Why I Do That† argues that idealization and envy; are two powerful psychological forces that always go together. Fans often want to believe that some privileged people have perfect lives, full of satisfactions, without the everyday pain and frustration that they face in their own lives. In a way, fans take displaced pleasure in a celebrity glamorous existence.On the other hand, there are individuals that secretly hope that if those people manage to have a perfect life; it is always possible that they could eventually have one, too. However, fans and other spectators often grow increasingly envious of that perfec t life they do not have. Envy is a very negative force and one feel envious at one point or another. Because certain fans often envy celebrities with perfect lives, they take pleasure in reading and gossiping about their downfall. Individuals who are not fans of the celebrity often take the most pleasure on watching their downfall.When an individual want something that they cannot have, they often times tend to devalue it, make it undesirable so it is no longer envy. In addition, although mass media often represents a celebrity as perfect individuals, their transgression and dysfunction shows fans that they are ordinary individuals (Lieves). They are fantasy objects, perfection that ordinary individual can not hope to attained, and ‘hold out the lure of fully –achieved selfhood to those who yearn for such an impossible fullness and perfection (Gilbert 2004:91).This argument helps one better understanding the interest in celebrity dysfunctions or transgressions. Celebrit ies’ scandals, misbehaviors or faults show that they are not all perfect individuals. Messy marriages, financial bungling, substance abuse and mistakes humanize celebrities, bring them down to earth. Those transgressions help one identify with the celebrity. Individuals often identified with imperfect individuals. Their misbehaviors helps fans sees that they are ordinary individuals with everyday life problems just like them.Although, it is easy to see a celebrity culture as actively encouraging, constructing the cult of perfection and success by producing beautiful models, successful film stars, singers and sportsmen. Scandals about celebrities are highlighted, reported as a means of debunking the myth of human perfection. Furthermore, audiences always look for stories that spark their curiosity and interest. According to Tyler Cowen, all forms of sorts of behaviors both good and bad are used to attract fans.Right or wrong are blurred and subsumed into the general category o f a publicity folder (Cowen 2000: 17). Society often tends to want to hear about someone getting a divorce, getting arrested instead of stories about someone donating money to a charity or saving someone life; stories like that do not make the front page of the tabloids at the grocery stores. Fans might pay attention to the stories about a celebrity donating or saving someone life, but might not spark the interest of individuals whom are not fans of the particular celebrity.Seeing a tabloids headlining â€Å"Chris Brown abusing Rihanna and Rihanna getting back together with Chris brown† can definitely spark curiosity and interest. Hence, this headline can attract attention from a variety of different audiences whom shares different views and belief on the subject. These headlines fans of Chris Brown, fans of Rihanna and also the interest of those who are not fans of neither celebrities. Of course, these headlines will have hundred bloggers writing tortured messages about how concerned they are for Rihanna and the message she is sending to her leagues of fans.Stories about celebrities’ life and mistakes are all very entertaining. For example Lindsay Lohan’s drug addictions, Kim Kardashian’s reason for being famous, and Charlie Sheen crazy personality. Stories about these celebrities’ scandalous lives are engaging, stimulating and attract countless numbers of audiences. In conclusion, scandals about celebrities attract high audience interest because fans of the celebrity are not the only paying close attention to these scandals. People pay more attention to celebrities when they do something bad without even ealizing that they are doing so. While people are trying to raise a major point about how a celebrity action is immoral, incorrect, offensive, or corrupting, the rest of society are just giving it attention, increasing how well-known it is, and arousing people's natural curiosity as to why it is so offensive. Certain fans i dealize a celebrity, but there are those individuals whom take pleasure in judging them by especially harsh and oversimplified standard (Cowen 2000, 70).Citation Page Pramod, Nayard. Seeing Stars: Spectacle, Society and celebrity culture: SAGE, 2009. Print Bird, Elizabeth. The audience in Everyday Life: Living in a media World. Routledge, 2003. Print Cowen, Tyler. What Price Fame? Harvard 1999. Print Gilbert J. Small Faces: The Tyranny of Celebrity in Post-Oedipal Culture. Mediactive 2004. Print Gies, Lieve. â€Å"Stars Behaving Badly. † Feminist Media Studies 11. 3 (2011): 347-361. Communication ; Mass Media Complete. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.

028 Develop Positive Relationships with Children

Develop positive relationships with children, young people and others involved in their care. 028 Outcome 1: Be able to develop positive relationships with children and young people. A/C1; Positive relationships with children and young people are important as it has a huge effect on the way we can work with them. When a child is being left into my room in the morning I would go over to greet the child and lift them and make them feel secure. When the child trusts me it helps them to feel comfortable with me, making it easier for them to be separated from their parents.If a child feels emotionally secure they are more likely to participate in play and learning activities unlike a child that sits and cries for their mummy, I would try and bring the child into activities that I know that they enjoy. For example a child in my room was upset and wanted their mummy, I went over to the child and asked her â€Å"would you like to play with the sand. † The child was happy to as it is h er favourite activity. Children are less likely to show unwanted behaviour if they have strong relationships as I can recognise and meet their needs.The more a child feels confident talking to me it will help their language to develop quicker. I can plan more accurately as I understand a child’s developmental needs and know their interests. I am able to respond to children more effectively because I can recognise their expressions and emotions. The Principles of building and maintaining relationships are as follows: Communicating effectively is one of the most important aspects of building a relationship. The way we do this depends on the child’s age and stage of development.I also use facial expressions, body language and gestures. Identifying and sorting out conflicts and disagreements fairly to maintain the child/young person’s trust. I indentify the difficulties and help them to find ways to overcome them. I would always be consistent and fair as children re ly on this. Consistency means not only keeping behavioural boundaries in place but to make sure the staff are not excitable one day and then quiet and withdrawn the next. Showing respect and courtesy helps the children to copy our actions.For example when I hand out toast at break time I would always say `thank you` when I place it down on their tray. I always speak in a warm and friendly tone, and bend down to their level. Valuing and respecting individuality as each child has different strengths, talents and attitudes; by doing this I show that I am comfortable with their differences. Realising that a child has certain interests and building upon them. For example a child in my group loves Mickey mouse so I brought in a Mickey mouse teddy that helped him go down to sleep easier at sleep time.Keeping promises and honouring commitments are very important as children/young people need to know that can they rely on me. I have an understanding of confidentiality as this is essential ab out trust and respect. I need to know when it is ok to breach the confidentiality, aware that there may be a threat. I would never pass on anything said in private, do not gossip because once the breach of confidentiality is broken all trust is then lost. A/C2; Observed A/C3; Building relationships with children and young people change according to the age and stage of a child.It is important to think about their needs and interests. How I would respond to a 12 year old boy would be different to a 4 year old. Building relationships with babies is an absolute necessity as babies need to form an attachment or bond with the early years worker to make up for them missing their parents. The term `key person` is what the EYFS use to describe the role of a person who will take care of the baby or child and develop a special relationship with them. Constancy is important; babies can make more than one attachment although they do need to have one strong relationship.It is important to try an d encourage children to develop strong relationship with other staff so they feel comfortable and secure if the key person is absent. By holding or cuddling a baby this helps to build strong relationships as the baby feels wanted and reassured. Children under the age of 3 years need strong attachments to one person as the still stress over their parents leaving. This can happen during the settling in period. For example a new boy joined our nursery, at the start mummy stayed with him and he sat on her knee and I slowly introduced myself.Next day mummy had informed me that he loved play dough, so after bending down to the child’s level I asked would he like to help me get the play dough table set up. He followed me, giving mummy time to leave the room. The child was fine until he turned round and noticed mummy had gone. He cried, I offered my hand out and said not to worry as mummy will be back soon. I said to the child about making star shapes to show mummy. Mummy came back i n after half an hour. As the week went on, by the end the child came to me, we got his favourite activity and he was distracted.Now he comes into my room without stressing about mummy. I have always enjoyed working with children. I have three children myself and when they were in primary school I would have been a parent helper. I also became a reading partner. I have an understanding of how to approach children, I always smile and I always appear approachable. For instance if a child in my room appears sad, I would go over to where the child is, when I know the time is right I would give eye contact with a smile. I would then ask if there is anything the child would like to do, maybe do a painting or read a book.I always want the children to feel that they are not being excluded. I improve on building my relationships with the children by communicating with the parents. I work two days a week, I have been told a few times by different mummies that their child has missed me, one chi ld in particular kept saying â€Å"go to gems, see weese† the child’s mummy laughs and says that her child continuously tries to say my name â€Å"weese for Louise† I could do more by attending courses on how to understand relationships etc.I can always learn from communicating with my colleagues on how to sort out conflicts. 028 Outcome 2: A/C1; Positive relationships with people involved in the care of children and young people are important as the child’s welfare can be properly monitored, plans for the children`s care and education are more effective and children are given consistent care. Good communication with everyone in the workplace is important; it is also essential to ensure that colleagues work well together and can share our skills/ideas and gain information with each other.Everyone should work together to meet the needs of the children in the setting and find out what their interests are. If colleagues do not have good relationships then it may cause bad feelings and a divide between colleagues. It may be the case that you will all not work well together and are not able to share information, and then the parents and children may suffer. It is important to have good communication with the children in the etting as this ensures you will have a good relationship with them which will help them feel more comfortable when they are settling in or provide reassurance during transitions in their lives as well as supporting them in their play and learning. Good communication is needed to ensure that information is passed on correctly to the families that will benefit the children. Also if the parents see that you have a good relationship with the children it will help them feel more relaxed and helps them to trust us to care for their children. A/C2; Observed

Marks and Spencer Group Plc The WritePass Journal

Marks and Spencer Group Plc Introduction Marks and Spencer Group Plc IntroductionGenderManagementOrganisational CultureConclusions and RecommendationsReferencesRelated Introduction The objective of this paper is to provide an analysis of how three important organisational theories are applied in practice at Marks and Spencer Group Plc, herein referred to as â€Å"Marks and Spencer†. The organisation is U.K giant retailer of clothing, apparel and food items. Its shares are traded on major stock exchanges across the world and it is a member of the FTSE 100 Index. The paper looks at specifically how gender, organisational control theory and management theory are applied in practice at Marks and Spencer. The rest of the paper is organised as follows: section 2 provides a discussion of gender theory and how it is applied at Marks and Spencer; section 3 looks at Management and its application at Marks and Spencer; section 4 looks at Organisational culture and its application at Marks and Spencer; and section 5 provides conclusions and recommendations. Gender In the earlier years, the work force of many organisations was dominated by men. However, recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the labour force participation rate of women (Campo et al., 2004). Wagener et al. (1997) observes that the labour force participation rate of women has increased by 173 per cent since 1950. Despite the increase in the number of women in the labour force, evidence suggests that differences continue to exist between the experiences encountered by men and women at work (Reskin and Padavic, 1994; Valian, 1998). Many organisations are said to be characterised by gender inequality where women and men are treated differently. The main forms of gender inequality at work include differences in the types of jobs occupied by men and women, differences in pay between men and women and differences in leadership roles between men and women (Campo et al., 2004). The foregoing suggests that many organisations continue to practice gender segregation, which is defined as â€Å"the process whereby men and women work in different types of jobs and further that hobs where women predominate tend to be devalued† (Campo et al., 2004: 586). Most often women tend to have different experiences with respect to pay, promotion and decision making even in situations where women and men have the same job title (Messing et al., 1994). Women with the same education, job training and experience are offered less pay (Valian, 1998). In addition, most leadership positions are occupied by men (Wright, 1997). Catalyst (1998) provides evidence that 90 per cent of executive positions in top 500 firms are occupied by men. Despite the increase in the participation rate of women in the work force, most of the benefits associated with working accrue to men with a very limited amount of benefits accruing to women. Theory seems to suggest that women and men are treated differently in organisations. This paper provides an evaluation of gender inequalities at Marks and Spencer. At Marks and Spencer, job recruitment policies are the same for both males and females. There is no gender segregation with regards to who is qualified to apply for a job. In addition, Marks and Spencer does not segregate with respect to pay rates between males and females. All workers are treated the same when it comes to pay regardless of whether they are male or female.   Consequently, the gender segregation theory proposed above appears not to be applicable at Marks and Spencer at least with respect to recruitment, training, selection, induction and pay. There however, seems to be some level of segregation when it comes to leadership roles. At Marks and Spencer, most executive positions are occupied by Men with very limited number of executive positions occupied by women. Secondly, the board of directors is dominated by men. This suggests that while Marks and Spencer does not segregate with respect to lower level roles, there is some level of gender segregation when it comes to high level positions such as being a CEO and chairman of the board of directors. Management Management is employed in organisations as a means of bringing people together and ensuring that they work to accomplish the objectives of the organisation through an effective and efficient utilisation of the organisational resources. Management has a number of functions which include: planning, organising, leading, staffing, controlling and directing. In order to effectively carry out these functions, most organisations have three principal levels of management. These include top level managers, middle-level managers; and lower level managers (Juneja et al., 2011). Top level managers are made up of the board of directors (BoD), the Board chairman, the vice chairman and the CEO. Top-level managers are responsible for determining the goals and objectives of the organisation as well as designing and appropriate strategy to achieve those goals and objectives. Top level managers also design company policies, as well as make decisions with regards to the direction of the business. Top level managers are also responsible for securing access to funds necessary for executing the strategic plans of the organisation (Juneja et al., 2011). Top level managers report to shareholders and are also accountable to the general public. Top level managers must have a detailed comprehension of the impact of competition, global economies, politics and sociological changes on the organisation’s effectiveness (Kleiman, 2010). Knowledge of these issues enables them to adapt the strategy of the organisation to changes occurring within and outside the environment. Middle level managers are usually regarded as general managers, branch managers and heads of departments. Middle level managers are responsible for making tactical decisions. They are the ones who execute the strategies set by top level managers. They are also responsible for transmitting information from top level managers to lower level managers so as to ensure that they are working towards the common goals of the organisation. Middle level managers report to top-level managers. Lower (first) level managers are responsible for operational decisions. They are made up of supervisors, team leaders and foremen. Members of this level of management are primarily concerned with controlling and directing other employees. Their main responsibilities include the assignment of tasks to employees, guidance and supervision of employees, ensure that quality and quantity of production is achieved, recommend and suggest changes with regards to employees and production to middle level managers for subsequent transmission to top-level managers. Marks and Spencer has all three levels of management. The company has a board of directors made up of executive and non-executive directors. The non-executive arm of the board is headed by the chairman who is also the chairman of the entire board. The CEO who is also a member of the board is in charge of the executive directors. The Board of Directors of Marks and Spencer are responsible for setting the strategic plans and monitoring and devising strategies to manage risks. Marks and Spencer operates a number of divisions such as clothing, food, and apparel. Each division is headed by a middle level manager. In addition, Marks and Spencer operates across different regions. These different regions are headed by branch or regional managers who can be regarded as middle level managers. These managers are responsible for making tactical decisions. Marks and Spencer also has first or lower level managers who usually operate as store managers. They are responsible for supervising and direc ting employees on a day-to-day basis. These managers report to the divisional and regional managers who in turn report to the top level managers. It can be observed that management at Marks and Spencer is consistent with the description of the different levels of management discussed earlier. Organisational Culture Organisational culture has been defined in a variety of ways. One of the most commonly cited definitions is found in Baumgartner and Zielowski (2007: 1323) who describes organisational culture as a concept that is â€Å"holistic, historically influenced, related to anthropological concepts, socially constructed, soft, and relatively stable†. A more comprehensive definition is found in Johnson et al. (2008: 189) who state that organisational culture is â€Å"the basic assumptions and beliefs shared by members of the an organisation, that operate unconsciously and define in a basic taken-for-granted fashion an organisation’s view of itself and its environment†. Lundberg (1990: 20) suggests that organisational culture can be regarded as what an organisation teaches and reinforces to its members as proper ways of perceiving, thinking, feeling and acting when carrying out organisational tasks as well as when faced with crises in the organisation. Organisational cultur e is a direct result of the internal and external environment in which the organisation operates (Baumgartner and Zielowski, 2007). An organisation’s emerging patterns of success are important foundations for its culture. Emerging patterns of success can be regarded as those actions and processes that have enabled the organisation to be successful (Baumgartner and Zielowski, 2007). Organisational culture is critical for the design and implementation of corporate and business level strategies. Organisation culture shapes the procedures of the organisation (Yilmaz and Ergun, 2008). Organisational culture enables an organisation to group its core competencies into a single group of competencies thereby enabling the organisation to better serve its customers (Yilmaz and Ergun, 2008). Strategy formulation and design depend on organisation culture in that factors such as creativity, innovation and organisational structure depend in part on the culture of the organisation (Judge et al., 1997; Martins and Terblanche, 2003). Any organisation that wants to remain competitive must be creative and innovative. These two components must be incorporated into the corporate strategy of the organisation. The organisational culture has a critical role to play in determining whether the organisation will be creative and innovative. In other words an organisational culture that promotes creativity and innovation is required if the organisation is to remain competitive. However, a culture that discourages creativity and innovation will result to poor performance (Martins and Terblanche, 2003). An organisation that wants to succeed must therefore adopt an organisational culture that encourages employees to be creative and innovative rather than a culture that discourages them from being creative and innovative. Organisational culture also impacts on strategy formulation in that it promotes internal integration and coordination. Internal coordination encourages new employees to socialise with existing employees. It also creates the boundaries of the organisations and a feeling of identity among members of the organisation (Martins and Terblanche, 2003). In order to successfully formulate and implement strategies, the organisation must conduct a cultural audit. This enables the organisation to understand its culture and thus assess its impact on the future strategy of the organisation. By so doing, the organisation can decide whether to change or continue with its existing culture (Johnson et al., 2008). An understanding of organisational culture also facilitates the ability of the organisation to successfully manage strategic change. The organisational culture of Marks and Spencer has the following characteristics: Paradigm: Marks and Spencer states that it is the best, sets the best standards, knows bests, occupies the middle ground, synonymous with high quality, and respects its customers. Power: the organisation is very powerful with deference to a male dominated top management. Organisation: the organisation is a mechanistic, bureaucratic, top-down and hierarchical organisation. control: top-down control in detail both of the stores and of suppliers; insistence on conformity. Rituals and Routines: There are a number of rituals and routines where every employee knows his or her place, the store layout and the atmosphere is like a familiar to everybody. Story: the company has build a legacy which can based on its history. For example Simon Marks. These legacy has enabled it to gain power over suppliers. Moreover, top management have authority over lower level staff. Symbols: Marks and Spencer has a number of brands (e.g., the St Michael Brand) which and symbolic to it. In addition Simon Marks and CEOs appear as father figures. Finally, all its stores are identical in appearance. It can be observed from above that Marks and Spencer has a traditional and formal way of doing things as reflected in its organisation culture. The organisation is characterised by a huge amount of self-confidence. The system is an internalised one where everybody knows his/her place and role in the organisation. The advantage with this type of organisational culture is that in times of success, the organisation will continue to deliver high quality products to customers as well as success to employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders. However, by maintaining such a traditional and formal way of doing things, the organisation runs the risk of not being able to respond to changes in the environment which may be required to turn things around during a downturn. Moreover, in addition to making it difficult to respond to changes in the environment, such a culture may prevent the firm from seeing an emerging change in the environment thereby making it impossible to respond to the cha nge. Conclusions and Recommendations The objective of this paper was to understand how Marks and Spencer deals with gender, management and organisational culture. With regards to gender, much of the theory suggests that there are more women in employment today and argue that organisations continue to practice gender segregation where women and men tend to have different experiences at work. However, a review of the practices of Marks and Spencer suggest that Marks and Spencer provides equal opportunities for both male and female employees. The only area which seems to comply with theory is the fact that Marks and Spencer’s top level managers are predominantly male which goes to show that Marks and Spencer practices some form of gender segregation when it comes to organisational leadership. As regards management, Marks and Spencer has three levels of management as suggested by theory. Top level managers are responsible for strategic decisions; middle level managers are responsible for tactical decision while lower level managers are responsible for operational decisions. With regards to culture, Marks and Spencer has a very rigid organisational culture which derives mainly from its history. The culture has enabled Marks and Spencer to be successful. However, given the rigid nature of the culture, the organisation may find it difficult to manage an imminent change if things start to go wrong. In order to reduce its gender bias especially with regards to leadership, the organisation needs to relax rules that govern selection of members of the board as well as other top level positions so as to make it easier for women to occupy these positions. With regards to its culture, the organisation needs to make things a little flexible so as to make it possible for the organisation to respond quickly to changes within its environment. References Baumgartner, R. J., Zielowski, C. (2007), â€Å"Analyzing zero emission strategies regarding impact on organizational culture and contribution to sustainable development†, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 15, pp. 1321-1327. Campo, P. O., Eaton, W. W., Muntaner, C. (2004) Labor market experience, work organization, gender inequalities and health status: results from a prospective analysis of US employed women  Ã‚   Social Science Medicine, vol. 58, Issue 3, Pages 585-594 Catalyst (1998). The 1998 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of the Fortune 500: Fact Sheet. Catalyst, 120 Wall Street, New York, USA. Johnson, J., Scholes, K., Whittington, R. (2008), Exploring Corporate Strategy, Texts and Cases†, 8th Edition, Prentice Hall, Financial Times. Judge, W. Q., Fryxell, G.E. Dooley, R. S. (1997), â€Å"The new task of RD Management: Creating goal-directed communities for innovation†, California Management Review, vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 72-85. Juneja, H. J. , First, H., and Prachi J.. (2011) Management. Management Study Guide. WebCraft Pvt Ltd, Kleiman, L. S. (2010) MANAGEMENT AND EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT Encyclopedia of Business Martins, E. C., Terblanche, F. (2003), â€Å"Building Organisational Culture that stimulates Creativity and Innovation†, European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 64-74. Messing, K., Dumais, L., Courville, J., Seifert, A. M., Boucher, M. (1994). Evaluation of exposure data from men and women with the same job title. Occupational and Enviornmental Medicine, 36(8), 913–917. Reskin, B., Padavic, I. (1994). Women and men and work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. Valian, V. (1998). Why so slow? The advancement of women. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Wagener, D., Walstedt, J., Jenkins, L., Burnett, C., Lalich, N., Fingerhut, M. (1997) Women, work and health. Vital, Health Statistics, 3(31). Wright, E. O. (1997). Class counts, comparative studies in class analysis. Cambridge: University Press. Yilmaz, C., Ergun, E. (2008), â€Å"Organizational culture and firm effectiveness: An examination of relative effects of culture traits and the balanced culture hypothesis in an emerging economy†, Journal of World Business, vol.   43, pp. 290–306

Anne Truitt, Sculptor of Minimalist Form and Color

Anne Truitt, Sculptor of Minimalist Form and Color Anne Truitt was an American artist and writer, known for her work as a minimalist sculptor and, to a lesser extent, painter. She is perhaps most widely regarded for Daybook, a volume of the artist’s diaries, reflecting on the life of an artist and mother. Fast Facts: Anne Truitt Occupation: Artist and writerBorn: March 16, 1921 in Baltimore, MarylandDied: December 23, 2004 in Washington, DC, USAKey Accomplishments: Early contributions to minimalist sculpture and the publication of Daybook, which reflected on her life as both artist and mother Early Life Anne Truitt was born Anne Dean in Baltimore in 1921 and grew up in the town of Easton, on the Eastern shore of Maryland. The stark coastal style- rectangles of colored doors against white clapboard facades- influenced her later work as a minimalist. Her family life was comfortable, as her parents were well-to-do (her mother came from a family of Boston ship owners). She lived happily and freely as a child, though she was not unaffected by the poverty of which she caught glimpses in her town. Later in life, she would inherit a modest sum of money from her family, which financed her art practice- though not so much as to keep finances from being a constant worry for the artist. Truitt’s mother, to whom she was very close, died while Truitt was still in her twenties. Her father suffered from alcoholism, and though she pitied him, she wrote that she â€Å"decided† to love him despite his faults. This strength of will is characteristic of the artist and is seen in her staunch determination to continue in her work, even at times when her money dwindled and her pieces did not sell. After her first year at Bryn Mawr College, Truitt came down with a case of appendicitis, which her doctors handled poorly. The result, Truitt was told, was infertility. Though this prognosis ultimately proved to be false, and Truitt was able to have three children later in life, she attributes her career as an artist to this temporary sterility, largely because her focus was on her art at the time in her life when most women were expected to raise children. Early Career in Medicine After returning to Bryn Mawr to finish her undergraduate degree, Truitt decided to begin a career in psychiatric medicine. She felt a duty to help those who struggled in their lives. Though she was admitted to Yale to begin a Master’s in psychology, she turned down her scholarship and instead began work as a researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Already successful by the age of twenty-four, Truitt had a revelation one afternoon and immediately quit her position. She turned her back on a career in medicine, recounting later that something within her knew she had to be an artist. An Artist's Calling Anne married James Truitt, a journalist, in 1948. The two traveled often, following James work. While living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Truitt began to take art classes, and excelled in sculpture. When the couple moved to Washington, D.C., Truitt continued her art practice by enrolling in classes at the Institute of Contemporary Art. On a trip to New York in 1961 with her good friend Mary Meyer, Truitt visited the â€Å"American Abstractionists and Imagists† show at the Guggenheim. The experience would ultimately change her career. As she was rounding one of the museum’s famed curved ramps, she came upon a Barnett Newman â€Å"zip† painting and was stunned by its size. â€Å"I had never realized you could do that in art. Have enough space. Enough color, she later wrote. The visit to New York marked a change in her practice, as she transitioned into sculpture which relied on pared-down painted wooden surfaces to convey their subtle impact. The family moved to Japan in 1964, where they stayed for 3 years. Truitt never felt comfortable in Japan, and ended up destroying all her work from this period. Anne Truitts column sculptures.   annetruitt.org The Truitts divorced in 1969. After the divorce, Truitt lived in Washington, D.C. for the remainder of her life. Her separation from the art world of New York perhaps accounts for her lack of critical acclaim compared to her minimalist contemporaries, but that is not to say she existed outside of New York completely. She befriended artist Kenneth Noland and later took over his studio near Dupont Circle when he moved to New York. Through Noland, Truitt was introduced to Andrà © Emmerich, Noland’s New York gallerist, who eventually became Truitt’s gallerist. Work Truitt is known for her stark minimalist sculptures set directly on the floor of the gallery space, which mimic in verticality and proportion the shape of a human body. Unlike many of her fellow minimalist artists like Walter de Maria and Robert Morris, she did not shy away from color, but in fact made it the central point of interest in her work. The subtlety of color is applied precisely to the sculptures, often painstakingly and in as many as forty layers. Truitt was also notable in her studio practice, as she sanded, prepped, and painted each of her works without the help of a studio assistant. The structures themselves she sent out to a lumber yard close to her home to be made to her specifications. Daybook and Diaries Following retrospectives at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 1973 and the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1974, Truitt began to write a diary, seeking to make sense of the increased publicity her previously quietly shown art began to receive. How was she to understand herself as an artist now that her work was consumed and criticized by so many eyes other than her own? The result was Daybook, later published in 1982, which begins as an exploration of this newfound critical regard for her work, but ends up being an exploration of an artist’s day-to-day, as she struggles to find the money to continue her practice, all the while supporting her children. Due to Daybook’s critical success, Truitt would publish two more volumes of diaries. The language of the diaries is often poetic with frequent forays into Truitt’s past. Though she gave up a career in psychology, it is clearly still present in her thinking, as her analysis of her life and career relies heavily on the interpretation of her psychological motivations and the impact of her youth on her personality. Legacy Anne Truitt died in Washington, D.C. in 2004 at the age of 83. She was honored posthumously by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington in 2009 with a major retrospective. Her estate is managed by her daughter Alexandra Truitt, and her work is represented by Matthew Marks Gallery in New York City. Sources Munro, E. (2000). Originals: American Women Artists. New York: Da Capo Press.Truitt, A. (1982). Daybook. New York, Scribner.

Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing Research - Essay Example Due to this, the firm used a third party to come up with an infomercial to raise awareness and recorded sales. However, after a few months 25% of the initial sales have been returned by consumers. Golfers who had tried the Jacket before its debut didn’t show any sign of embarrassment while wearing the device nor did they find it uncomfortable. In addition, during initial stages of development, no problems were identified at all. The problem is that, before initial production, the company did not have requisite consumer information to inform the actual production. In this case, the firm has proposed a study in order to determine the causes of Swing Jacket return rates once purchases have been made. Research Objectives In marketing products, consumer behaviour is always an important aspect (Aaker 1991; Conover, J. N. 1982). According to Perner, L (2010), a market research is often carried out to ensure that what is produced is what customers yearn for and not what the producersà ¢â‚¬â„¢ term as the ideal product. ... t return rates once purchases have been made despite the fact that golfers who had tried the Jacket before its debut didn’t show any sign of embarrassment while wearing the device nor did they find it uncomfortable. In addition, during initial stages of development, no problems were identified at all. Further, it will be of importance to establish whether the information contained in the infomercial is coherent with the product. This as Bettman and Park (1980) puts it goes a long way in maintaining marketing ethics of beneficence, where the benefits and not risks are spread out uniformly between the sellers and buyers. This goes a long way in maintaining consumer trust. Importance/Benefits The study of consumer needs on a Swing Jacket will help Swing Jacket Inc. to improve the Swing Jacket with the understanding of how consumers perceive the product and how they make their selections between different alternatives, if any. The returns are made after several months of using the Swing Jackets. In this regard, the study will help the firm determine the level of influence from their environment e.g. culture, family, the media etc.). Such information will further assist the firm in understanding the behavior of consumers while making shopping and other marketing decisions as well as in gaining understanding on limitations hindering consumer access and processing of information (Perner, L 2010; Brucks, M. (1985). Swing Jacket Inc. is in dire need to cut a market niche and to reduce the return rate of the Swing Jacket which is at nearly 25% of the total sales. In this regard, the information from the study will enable the firm adopt new marketing strategies and campaigns to reach more customers effectively translating to more profits. An understanding of what brand was