Refocusing Sales Efforts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Refocusing Sales Efforts - Essay Example The more time that they can dedicate to that end, the more business we will generate. It would benefit the company if the sales staff limited their efforts to sales only. We are a small company by design. This allows us to be more flexible and responsive to our customers and the economy. But just because we are small in numbers does not mean we need to be small in revenue. The individual accounts that we have make up a large percentage of the total number, but they are only a small fraction of the sales volume. Though our business accounts usually require discounting to get their business, our greatest source of revenue is the few large corporate accounts that we serve. I suggest we make a move away from actively seeking new individual accounts and concentrate on acquiring new corporate accounts. With business accounts, we can service more revenue with fewer people and with the sales staff dedicated to pursuing new customers, we would have the time to cultivate these more lucrative accounts. The poor economic conditions in the area make it difficult to make a profit. However, these conditions will be temporary and the downturn will end in time. We should use this slow period to go out and meet potential customers and be ready to pick them up as clients when the economy turns around.

Globalizing an Australian Wine Company Essay Example for Free

Globalizing an Australian Wine Company Essay The company’s strategic vision is to become the world’s first truly global wine company. As CEO and managing director of BRL Hardy Europe, Carson’s contribution and achievements had been significant with a 10 fold increase in sales volume, in a tenure spanning just seven years. He successfully turned around Hardy’s U. K. business by implementing cost cutting initiatives and ensuring strong systems, policies, and control. Millar, CEO and managing director at BRL Hardy followed a decentralized approach to management. He believed in delegation and adequately integrated culture and management style into the merged corporation. The U. K. market contributed significantly to BRL Hardy’s revenues and represented 40% of Australian wine exports. In U. K. , the fighting brands, namely, Stamps and Nottage Hill, were positioned at price points of 2. 99 and 3. 69 pounds respectively. As low price good quality wines, they accounted for 80% of the value and volume of the Hardy brand sales. As the image of these brands began to erode, Carson decided to relaunch them by relabeling and repositioning the wines. Carson insisted that sales performance in U. K. depended on efficient labeling that should not be completely dictated by the Australian management. Although management was skeptical about local control over branding, labeling, and pricing decisions, the move significantly boosted the fighting brands’ sales. As the fighting brands gradually moved up the price points, there was an opportunity for an entry level wine that could be priced lower than 4. 9 pounds. In line with the company’s vision of becoming an international wine company, Carson decided to tap non-Australian wine sources and develop a line of branded products that could utilize the company’s strong distribution channels. This strategy would provide vital scale economies, minimize harvest risk, capture rationalizing suppliers, and avoid currency-driven price variations. Carson propose d the brand D’istinto, an Italian venture with a Sicilian based winery. He wanted to develop a recognizable brand which was easy to buy and had global potential. The wine would be positioned to the average wine consumer and would help the company leverage distribution. The Australian headquarters believed that D’istinto would eat into the fighting brands’ share as they were positioned at almost similar price points. Carson’s earlier Chilean venture, Mapocho had proven troublesome and Millar was doubtful if the European unit could support another brand. While Millar recognized U. K. s strong performance and wanted to give Carson as much freedom as possible, the reality was that the Italian venture would stretch the tight human resources of the European unit and dilute focus from the overall corporate strategy. While the Italian venture was being proposed, the Australian headquarters had launched Banrock Station, an environmentally responsible product at a similar price point. Australian management believed that the brand had global po tential and had instructed areas to launch it appropriately. Miller, away from the frontline and external demands of the local customers, has to support Carson’s entrepreneurial experimentation and dynamism. However, the proposal to launch D’istinto should not be approved. It is imperative that the business strategy fit within the broader corporate strategy of the organization. Although Carson’s proposal represented strategic interests, it ran counter the corporate strategy of maximizing global efficiency. D’istinto’s launch would certainly come with financial implications and would also stretch the operating capabilities of the European unit. On the other hand, Banrock Station had already established itself in a few markets and a strong launch in Europe would only increase scale economies. D’istinto had an innovative strategy with catchy and attractive labeling and a distinct image capturing the Mediterranean lifestyle. This positioning would definitely appeal to the mature U. K. consumer and also to the U. K. retailers, who represented the majority of sales. However, there is no certainty that this strategy would prove equally successful globally. While D’istinto would provide short term results, it is important to understand the long term viability that Banrock Station offers. Global consumers are increasingly emerging into environmentally conscious populations that expect corporations to take responsibility of natural resources and the environment. Although through D’istinto, Carson aims to build a global brand, Banrock Station appears to be better positioned in a converging global market. In order to build a true global brand, Miller must establish consistency across organizational units and ensure that the vision is shared by all.

Attracting More Fans to College Games :: Proposal Essays

Attracting More Fans to College Games    Where are the fans? That is the most commonly asked question at a University football game. During the past few years at University football games, the university has been lacking with their football fans. How come nobody comes to the games? At most universities, football season is the largest season of the year. People spend hundreds of dollars on season tickets and go out of their way to attend the games. What can the university do to attract more fans to their games?    It all begins with SOS and SOS+. Those are the freshman orientations. Every freshman has been through it and knows what I am talking about. Many of the SOS and SOS+ leaders told the freshman during orientation that nobody goes to the football games instead, they go to the basketball games. As a freshman you want to do everything that you can to fit into the crowd. Of course if an older student tells you that it is not "cool" to go to a football game, then most likely you are not going to go. Freshman Lucy O'Kelley says, "I was scared to go to the football games after my SOS+ leader told me that nobody went to them. I thought I would be they only one sitting in the stands, so I did not attend the games this past season." If most of the freshman felt that way then that was about 900 possible fans that the SOS and SOS+ leaders scared away. They are supposed to be leaders of the university, but yet they are scaring the fans away.    The game day needs to be changed. If the games were held on Thursday nights instead of Saturday mornings that would improve the turn out of fans. Most people want to watch their favorite football teams such as Alabama and UT play Saturday instead of going to our university football game. Former university football player John Autry says, "There were some games when the university players paid more attention to what was going on in the Florida game." A lot of university students go home on the weekends, so they are not even here on Saturdays. Friday nights are out of the question because that is when everyone wants to watch his or her brother or sister play high school football. If the game started at 7:00 p.

Abusive Parents :: essays research papers

Researchers at the University of Toronto have taken important steps toward producing a profile of an abusive parent. Prof. Gary Walters and doctoral student Lynn Oldershaw of the Department of Psychology have developed a system to characterize parents who physically abuse their children. This could ultimately allow social service professionals to identify parents in child abuse. Over the last five years, Walters and Oldershaw, in collaboration with Darlene Hall of the West End Creche, have examined over 100 mothers and their three to six-year-old children who have been physically abused. In the laboratory, the mother and child spend 30 minutes in structured activities such as playing, eating and cleaning-up. The family interaction is video-taped and later analyzed. The researchers have developed a system which allows them to record the effectiveness of parenting skills. They are particularly interested in disciplinary strategies because abuse most commonly occurs when the parent wants the child to comply. "It's a question of trying to determine which type of parent produces which type of child or which type of child elicits which type of parental behaviour," explains Oldershaw. As a result of their work, Walters and Oldershaw have identified distinct categories of abusive parents and their children. 'Harsh/intrusive' mothers are excessively harsh and constantly badger their child to behave. Despite the fact that these mothers humiliate and disapprove of their child, there are times when they hug, kiss or speak to them warmly. This type of mothering produces an aggressive, disobedient child. A 'covert/hostile' mother shows no positive feelings towards her child. She makes blatant attacks on the child's self-worth and denies him affection or attention. For his part, the child tries to engage his mother's attention and win her approval. An 'emotionally detached' mother has very little involvement with her child. She appears depressed and uninterested in the child's activities. The child of this type of mother displays no characteristics which set him apart from other children. In order to put together a parenting profile, the two researchers examine the mother/child interaction and their perception and feelings. For instance, Walters and Oldershaw take into account the mother's sense of herself as a parent and her impression of her child. The researchers also try to determine the child's perception of himself or herself and of the parent. Abusive parents are often believed to have inadequate parenting skills and are referred to

Bell v. Florida

The defendant, Mr. Gary Paul Bell, was charged and convicted with the crime of attempted kidnapping. At the trial, his victim, through her testimonies, claimed that the defendant exhibited attempted kidnapping in two counts to wit: (1) When the victim was walking along the street during daytime, the defendant drove up to her and offered to give her a ride to her destination, twice; (2) When the defendant forced the victim to get into the van by grabbing her around the neck and holding a gun to her head[1].The victim, who was able to break free from Mr. Bell, ran into traffic and tried to get the help of others in escaping the defendant. The defendant, on the other hand, remained standing nearby with his gun pointing towards his victim, threatening to shoot her. When the victim reached her house she called the police.The officer attending the case noted that the victim was in state of hysteria. The victim was found very upset and could not speak. Likewise, it was also noted that the v ictim was only made to give a statement after a series of attempts of making her relay the incident, which lasted for fifteen to twenty minutes[2].The testimonies given by the victim and the attending officer were admitted in the court as evidence on the basis of hearsay rules and exceptions. The defendant, appeals on the court’s decision on his conviction on the basis of contrive or misrepresentation and that the testimony of the attending officer on the accounts of the crime of the victim should be excluded as hearsay.Issue:Â  The issue is whether the testimony given by the attending officer regarding the accounts of the victim on the crime of attempted kidnapping should be excluded as hearsay.[1]Cases Relating to Chapter 12, 747.

Civil Action essays

Civil Action essays The legal system is an essential element in the successful operation of this country. It is a system that is utilized every day, by every type of person, from the average blue-collar worker to the average Wall Street broker. There is a multitude of ways that the legal system is put to use. One such way is the class action lawsuit. A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr, uses the account of a single case, Anne Anderson, et al., v. W.R. Grace The purpose of class action lawsuits is to give the common man the ability to take on the largest corporate or private entities, who can afford the very best legal services, and have a chance of redressing the wrong done by these entities (Clark, sec. 1). Without class action lawsuits, ordinary citizens acting individually would not have the means to challenge corporate and governmental wrongdoers. A Civil Action provides an in depth account of the life of one class action suit. It explores the role of the lawyer in litigating situations, focusing on the critical factor of proving causality. It brings to light numerous pitfalls encountered by both the prosecution and defense. In addition to exposing the potential pitfalls that can occur in a class action lawsuit, A Civil Action also touches on the motivation behind these cases. A definite motivation must exist for all persons involved in a class action lawsuit, since the uncertainty, stress, and pitfalls that accompany this form of civil action are tremendous. A Civil Action did not attempt to sugarcoat the process of trying a case such as the Woburn case. The complication were numerous and often hard to overcome. For the plaintiffs, the biggest hurdle faced was proving causality. Nearly all other obstacles Schlichtmann and his staff encountered were directly related to the attempt to prove causality. In a civil case, as...

Advantages and Disadvantages of Home Schooling Essays

Advantages and Disadvantages of Home Schooling Essays Advantages and Disadvantages of Home Schooling Essay Advantages and Disadvantages of Home Schooling Essay Homeschooling is an education option for children which means that the children do not have to go to school to study, but they study in their own home by the guidance of their parents or tutors. This education option is recognized and also accepted in many countries. For example in Indonesia there is a law that protects and accepts informal education such as homeschooling. It is written in UU No 20/2003 about Education National System article 27. In the past, some parents belive that it was not a good ideas to give the children homeschooling because they were worried if they give their children homeschooling then their children’s knowledge will not develop as good as other children who take common schools. Nowadays people seems to change their mind, they started to think about giving their children homeschooling. About 1, 35 million USA children in 2007 take homeshooling (Kompas news paper), and even more in present. In some parents’ opinion, they gave their children ho meschooling because they want to prevent their children from bullying that often happens in common schools. There are two advantages of giving children homeschooling. The first advantage that many parents think before they give their children homeschooling is that they want to prevent their children from aggressive environment for example is students bullying because so many cases about bullying that happens in school even though it had not been report in media. Usually the younger or smaller kids who become the victims of the older kids’ bad attitude, this can happen because in common schools the students are not in the same ages. There are age gaps among them and due to the age gaps, the bully action might happen because the older students see the younger students as weak people that will not fight back to the older students if they hurt them. This is what the parents are worried because they cannot always protect their children if their children take public scho

A Civil Action essays

A Civil Action essays This book is about a hotshot lawyer name Jan Schlichtman that gets involved in a lawsuit against two companies in Woburn, Massachusetts. The lawsuit was about toxic waste that was dumped by both companies, W.C. Grace and Beatrice Foods on their property that ended up contaminating the Woburn areas water supply. Eight families claim that the death of their children were caused by trichloroethylene (TCE) in the toxic waste which caused these children to have leukemia, skin rashes, nausea, burning eyes and other ailments. The story continues on to talk about how the families and lawyers try to convince the jury by using evidence that they got from medical experts, public health specialists, geologists, civil engineers, and government agencies to win the case. In the end the financial power and stonewalling of the companies, and the partiality of the presiding judge for one of the defense lawyers resulted in a verdict that favored the defense. At the end of the case Jan Schlichtman had to file bankruptcy because of all the cost. Only when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to launch a clean up and filed a suit against the two companies to pay a share of the cost was the only actual justice served. They said the project would last for 50 years but after they?re all done there will still be TCE left. After reading this book I came to realize that the justice system is messed up. People get favored over based on their reputation, where they went to school, the law firm they work at and etc. The lawyers that represented the two companies were from Harvard and part of a major law firm. The lawyer that represented the families was from a smaller firm and didn't go to a really good college and the judge treated them different in court. Another thing that I realized was that if you don't have specific evidence to prove your point in a case it could get dism ...

What is Indian philosophy Is there Indian philosophy Essay

What is Indian philosophy Is there Indian philosophy - Essay Example The orthodox schools include Mimamsa, Nyaya, Sankhya, Vaiseshika. The unorthodox schools re comprised of Buddhism and Abhidharma (Dasgupta 38). Further, Indian philosophy also incorporates the sceptical and materialist philosophies of Carvaka in addition to the religious schools of Jainism. Focus will be centred on the vigorous debates over argumentative strategies and conceptual analysis by which the Indian philosophical schools presented their philosophical positions, defended themselves against attacks from other philosophical schools and in turn mounted their own attacks. By analysing Indian philosophy this way demonstrates its existence and the way vital issues of philosophy have been addressed in India. All Indian school systems of thought agreed about reincarnation and karma (Dasgupta 45). Karma is a synonym for actions. They believed that individuals will experience consequences for their evil or good actions (fruits of karma). However, when the consequences â€Å"fruits of karma† cannot be experienced in a person’s present life, then he or she must die and be born again in order to experience them. In addition, apart from Buddhism, the Indian schools of thought agreed on the presence or existence of a permanent soul (Radhakrishnan 67). The soul had to go through some kind of purification for it to exist permanently. However, the thought on this differed from one school to another. The Indian schools of thought implied that ethically, desires and passions were to be put under check while no form of life was supposed to be harmed. Materialists and atheists were very common in India. As such, the schools of thought had to respond to non-believers arguments repeatedly. The materialist system was referred to as Lokayata. This is translated to mean, â€Å"that which is found among humans or people in general†. The scepticism of Lokayata about theology, reincarnation, and karma stemmed from its epistemology

Ninteenth Century Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Ninteenth Century Music - Essay Example Change, which is in most cases disliked by many, has to come and do its part in order to have a very meaningful life. The problem is, on how to go along these changes. Retaliation is just a part when new ideas are brought in the open to be deliberated, and it is only after the "trial" of such ideas can the real advantages be seen and appreciated. Music's global influence cannot be hidden since history for it had affected one's thinking and influenced life's perspective that made an impact in every society, community, and in every nation. Furthermore, in every office, organization, and in every government. In the occurrence of development, setbacks happen that becomes a key for future progressive developments. Though time and effort are crucial for the accomplishment, what matters is the influence of the legacy left that serves as springboard - for further progression or destruction. The debate raged through the 19th century as to the value of programme music versus absolute music, but the real question is not whether the music was inspired by some outside theme or event, or served as its own inspiration. Instead, it is whether the music moves the audience. A program could give an added value to both composer and listener, but a work cannot be a masterpiece based on that program. The musical merits of the piece alone can determine if it is destined for greatness or to be lost with the passage of time. Programme music is an instrumental music that attempts to convey a scene, feeling, or story to the listener. The "program" or theme of a piece can be simply indicated by its title, or it can be a complex story or poem provided in a separate text. In music theory, it is considered the opposite of "absolute music," that commands attention for itself alone without the support of secondary ideas or associations to give it other than musical meaning. Many different kinds of compositions can be "programmatic," including cantatas, operas, madrigals, overtures, and symphonies. As links were formed between music, painting and literature, composers started to compose programme music - music that tells a story. Issues involved in the debate over programme and absolute music in the 19th Century. Classic and Romantic are troublesome words used in literature and the fine arts and in general history that had great variety of meaning. "Classic" suggests something finished, perfect, exemplary, a standard against which later production may be measured. While the word "Romantic" is constantly used to mean so many different things that it is quite useless for describing a musical style until it has been especially defined for that purpose. Furthermore, the traditional antithesis Classic-Romantic causes confusion in music history because it is not a total antithesis. In a very general sense, all art may be said to be romantic; for though it may take its materials from actual life, it transforms them and thus creates a new world which is necessarily remote from the everyday world to a greater or lesser degree. From this point of view, romantic art differs from classic art by its greater emphasis on the qualities of remoteness and strangeness, with all that such emphasis may imply as to choice and treatment of materials. If remoteness and boundlessness are romantic, then music is the most romantic of the arts. Its material - ordered sound and rhythm

The CIO'S In Public Service Sector And Private Service Sector Assignment

The CIO'S In Public Service Sector And Private Service Sector - Assignment Example The role of the CIO in regards to public sector is at formative level but well developed in the private sector. It is through this fact, that challenges and opportunities ought to be identified in the public service sector. Despite the fact that government is viewed as the entire enterprise, some other departments in a government operate with their own mission, goals and visions with the CIO being a position. The CIO being an official government role, it has been present in most government enterprises for the last have a centaury. The organizations during this period were undergoing revolutions as far as Information technology is concern. More resources are being invested in the IT with the top executive officers being well aware of their business competitors by use of the information technology to have the upper hand in globally growing market place. On the other hand, the private sector being aware of the importance has experienced the gains of an officer who manages the informatio n technology and the assets of the organization for the last two decades. During the time the private sector were experiencing the gains of the implementation of the CIO in their structures, the public sector was still recognizing the new position of the executive. The interesting thing to note is that when the organizations in the private sector implemented the CIO’s as early as early 80’s, the government appointed the CIO as late as 2003. This therefore translate that public sector is two decades behind the counterparts in the private sector in the appointment of an executive in charge of the information (Portela, Carvalho, Varajao & Magalhaes, 2010). The recognition of the significance of the appointment of CIO is affected by the high rates of labor turnover in both public and private sectors. Particularly in the public sector, instability acquired as a result of high rate of turnover lead to the assumption that the crucial role at the infancy development stage has never been implemented sufficiently and aligned together with policies and the strategies of the government. Recognition of the role of the CIO is what has been considered to be a reticence in terms of the significances as it may be plagued by huge turnover rates both in the public and private service sectors. Specifically in the public service sector, there are severe rates of turnover which has caused instability can be assumed that the role in the publi c sector which is seen to be still at the infancy stage in terms of its development has not been fully implemented as I is suppose to be so that it can match with the policies and strategies laid by the government. In this paper, the role of the CIO will be discussed, in a further note; a comparison will be made on how the private and public service sectors grant authorities to their CIO and the roles they play in their organization. A future expectations of the CIO will also be give in the paper concerning their roles and responsibilities of the public service sectors as they are experienced by the private service sector. The paper will finally conclude by giving useful CIO roles that are emerging in the public sector (Schubert, 2004). Role of the CIO Early in the 80s, the CIO was considered to be responsible for the senior execution of corporate information policies standards and controlling of management in the information resources. In this case the CIO was considered not only a s a technical expert but also a manager. The attributes of a CIO at the time was management, information technology specialist, management, political, communication skills, and organizational skills in order to have an understanding of how to go about in

Reading journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Reading journal - Essay Example The government sees the covering of face using veil, mask, or any other such thing as a threat to national security. The author has raised two questions for this stance of French government. First question is that whether all French people wearing masks and helmets be punished or restricted the same way as in case of veils? Second question is that will the government force the Arab tourists to bare their faces? When these questions are there, why the government is creating such a fuss for a very less number of face covering women? The answers seem to be the cultural, historical, and political facts. In the French culture, conversations between strangers and eye contact hold a key place but Muslim women do not do this because of which the French values are at risk. Sartorial rejection of French values because of veils is another reason for the government to put a ban on face covering. The author sums up the article by stating the fact that France is a country where uncovered bodies, breasts, and buttocks are cheered and celebrated. Covering the face by veil does just opposite to that because of which the government cannot allow it in any case. The issues that the article summarized above raises for me or my classroom community are personal preference and culture. For example, if I am from a culture where covering the face is essential for a woman when she is in public, then what will I do when the government will not allow me to do so? Similarly, it can be my own choice to cover my face or not. Does not it go against the self-independence or self-freedom? Although such questions can rise in the mind of any person, but the issues associated with veils, such as, threat to security cannot be ignored. Female terrorists have been reported to be using veils and burkas while carrying out the terrorist attacks in different parts of the world. They can hide their identities using veils and can carry out any violent attempt on any one. This article by

Miguels Hourly Performance Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Miguels Hourly Performance Evaluation - Essay Example Moreover, this has gained a positive influence on my production efficiency the total output. Besides is the variety of duties and responsibilities that describe my job that necessitate properly organized planning of activities, which has been finely exhibited from end to end in my work priority and output. I have acquired business analysis to identify and define the action and potential consequences comparing and contrasting them against predetermined criteria, which help to identify task commanding more might than another does, and accomplish it effectively with efficiency and quality. The outcomes of these traits have been shown in my acknowledgement as the most prolific personnel for The Tech, most important, this has resulted to the gradual soaring of the company growth (DelPo, 2007). To enhance my achievements still maintaining an outstanding social collaboration with colleagues within the company, I possess a set of personalities that make my distinction from the rest of workforce attributed to my open mindedness and free for discussion. In addition, I voluntarily engage discussions with workmates and accept contrary opinions where it has proved worthy to converge to an amicable solution. I explore new knowledge from within and beyond the organization and appreciate new ideas in the spirit of cooperation. Furthermore, where opinions controvert and I am disapproved, I share the lessons learnt, credits for the team accomplishments, and recommend necessary improvement to facilitate the collaboration. Moreover, I am capable of undertaking challenging goals with simultaneous varied tasks and results of multitasking still fall within the threshold of superior quality. Conversely, I have not fully accomplished my excellence in team discussions though efforts to improve this for better results are still underway. However, I look upon teamwork when confronted by severe challenges in my

Reading journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Reading journal - Essay Example The government sees the covering of face using veil, mask, or any other such thing as a threat to national security. The author has raised two questions for this stance of French government. First question is that whether all French people wearing masks and helmets be punished or restricted the same way as in case of veils? Second question is that will the government force the Arab tourists to bare their faces? When these questions are there, why the government is creating such a fuss for a very less number of face covering women? The answers seem to be the cultural, historical, and political facts. In the French culture, conversations between strangers and eye contact hold a key place but Muslim women do not do this because of which the French values are at risk. Sartorial rejection of French values because of veils is another reason for the government to put a ban on face covering. The author sums up the article by stating the fact that France is a country where uncovered bodies, breasts, and buttocks are cheered and celebrated. Covering the face by veil does just opposite to that because of which the government cannot allow it in any case. The issues that the article summarized above raises for me or my classroom community are personal preference and culture. For example, if I am from a culture where covering the face is essential for a woman when she is in public, then what will I do when the government will not allow me to do so? Similarly, it can be my own choice to cover my face or not. Does not it go against the self-independence or self-freedom? Although such questions can rise in the mind of any person, but the issues associated with veils, such as, threat to security cannot be ignored. Female terrorists have been reported to be using veils and burkas while carrying out the terrorist attacks in different parts of the world. They can hide their identities using veils and can carry out any violent attempt on any one. This article by

Apple Inc. Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Apple Inc. Paper - Essay Example lifornia. The company was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the year 1976 as Apple Computers Inc. Apple Inc is involved in the manufacturing of digital electronics and computer hardware equipments. The company’s name was changed to Apple Inc in the year 2007. The company is listed on NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange. Apple Inc has become the synonym for innovation with its cutting edge technology (Apple, 2012). The company has been constantly delivering products and services as per its mission and vision. The mission and vision for the Apple Inc is to be the most innovative company and design and manufacture products that are innovative, unique and provides the customers a whole new experience. The company can be referred to as the pioneer of technology. Apple Inc has made the technology look simple yet distinctive through its products and services. The product of the company includes iPhone, iPod, iPad, Mac, iTunes, speakers, printers, etc. All the products of the company possess unique features and have become hugely popular amongst the people. The company has so far been able to increase the level of eagerness of customers with every product launch. Every product of the company set a new bench mark both in technology and sales across the globe. The products of Apple Inc are sold worldwide through its retail outlets, direct sales, online store, and through third party sellers as well (YahooFinance, 2012). Apple Inc may be leading the way in the technology field but still faces stiff competition from some major players such as Google, Research in Motion and Hewlett Packard. These companies are no less innovative with their products and services. They are amongst the most admired companies in the world and significantly have large number of customer base as well. To have an edge over its competitors Apple Inc has been following a generic strategy. The company’s generic strategy can be discussed below: Competitive Advantage Apple Incâ₠¬â„¢s competitive advantage over its competitors lies in providing high value to its customers which justifies the high price of its products. Cost Leadership Strategy Apple Inc’s cost leadership strategy has always to set average price of the products to garner maximum profit. This strategy has been successful because of the high value company offers to the customers through its innovative products. Example: Recently launched iPad offers great value to its customers through differentiating features such as 5 megapixel iSight camera, 4G connectivity for faster browsing (Apple, 2012). Differentiation Strategy The prime generic strategy followed by Apple Inc is the differentiation

Are students have changed Essay Example for Free

Are students have changed Essay Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. (Prensky,2001). Prensky further stated that children in the 21st century are classified as Net-gen, and digital-gen but the most useful description Prensky found for these children is Digital Natives. This is evident because in the 21st century children as young as three years are mastering the uses of computers, videogames, internets, tablets, mobile phones and other technological devices. According to Janssen (n. d) digital native is an individual who was born after the widespread adoption of digital technology. Technology is so advance and useful to students it seems like they get so addicted to it and felt like they can’t do without it and the other hand it helps students to improve in learning. Three changes that are seen with the first century learner regards to technology, they are more dependent on technology, misuse of information and unlimited thinking skills. Firstly, the internet is known as one of the greatest invention of modern age; a gateway that is magical to resources, information and communication unlike anything we previous dreamed of. It is claimed by many that it is the greatest single technological advance for education, as it opens opportunities for studying, learning and discovering. But as time goes by and the first generation of students grows up with modern internet technology from birth to teenage years, questions have been asking are children being dependent on technology. The internet provides students with  enormous advantage of a world of information at their finger tip. A single tap of the finger on the keyboard can deliver a hundred of articles under a second; far hours from when students would spend time spinning through library books and journals in days passed by. With the ease of access, the internet comes with disadvantages such as false and incorrect information that is easily distributed and can be difficult to trace sources and support the information. On, on the other side the volume of research materials online can make students to find information they need too easy, allowing them to compile these information by copying and pasting without understanding and analysing the information they are sifting through at all. While students from twent y years and beyond would have to read and absorb a huge amount of information such as putting together a report on tree frogs. These students have to use different sources for each part of the project; while on the other hand digital natives would discover everything needed to know by the internet site, picking up a little knowledge in the process. According to Jannsen (n.d) people believes that children who are digital natives think differently due to their early exposure to technology and have become accustom to using technology to solve the repetitive tasks that form the basis of traditional learning With the rise of different technology, and the fantastic way that produce communication from mobile phones to iPods to Skype and face book, modern students have become available to a wealth of education opportunities. Pupils from Jamaica can now hold an online debate with a class of their contemporaries in United States and others, interactive group webpage, class blogs, and programs that design interactive online animations which allowed educational communication to form. The reliance on the mobile phones and the laptops is taking toll on areas in education such as literacy and writing skills. This is said to be suffering as children write less and more text message expression take preference over their grammar. Also the suffering of simple communication skills and understanding of personal interaction as young people spend more time online communicating using their keyboards rather face to face contact. The reliance of such method for communication can cause students to form unhealthy relationships with others, concerned about critics that was said, and open up possibilities of cyber-bullying that is very dangerous and persecution of people online. Secondly, the expansion of the use and easy  availability of technology makes it easy for society to do negative activities that often violates the law. The main problems are the misuse of copyright, distribution of forbidden materials, violation of privacy or personal data and other serious activities. This activity can be seen in education field where the increase of plagiarism among students. Students can find information on the internet free and plagiarize other’s work whether if it is intentionally or without realising it. According to Lindemann C(2013) among students in grades 7-12, 21% have turned in a paper downloaded from the Internet. More than a third (38%) copied text from a website. The more students rely on the internet such as Google and Wikipedia answers to answer their home work questions, they are required to use less of their minds to come up with independent thoughts and opinions. Instead they simple click, copy and paste. Plagiarism is not the only way of cheating. The internet is not the only way; students can used other technology such as mp3 players, mobile phones, calculators and other technologies. In gaining information using phones this can be done by emails, texts, Bluetooth, as well as phone calls. According to Takahashi (2011) many educators perceive them a slacking more formal ICT skills. The availability and ease of use of technology makes cheating possible. The environment opens possibilities for academic dishonesty which can be difficult to discover. Students find simple and fast way to get through their studies, such way is to share materials, results, papers, information about exams. A majority of website offers a variety of finished work materials for essays, seminar papers, reports, and even degree works, answers to test for final exams in bachelor or master courses. These website are made for students to upload their work voluntary and the provider usually do not get benefit from the sites; while some sites will offer small benefit for uploading the work. Downloading the work can also be free without registration, if not unless the provider creates a user account or a fee. The reason why students plagiarize is the overload of information. The more information you have leads to the first step towards good school paper. Technology is used by teachers and professionals to increase the quality of leaning. The growth and progress in ICT changes education compare to decades ago and introduce methods that increase in students learning. From this students need to learn how to deal with information for assignments,  work tasks, research tasks and other information problems. Thirdly, technology affects students thinking skill. According to Wolpert S (2009) as technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declines, while our visual have improved. Thinking is the ability to reflect, draw on conclusions, knowledge, reason and insight. It is what makes students communicate, build, create and become civilized. Thinking is based from learning, observing, remembering, questioning, arguing, judging and others. The exposure of technology as changes learners. Because of students’ brain still developing and malleable, the exposure of technology causes digital natives brain to be wire in ways different from previous generation. Reading encouraged the brain to be focused and imaginative; but pleasure for reading has decline in young people which enhances thinking and creates imagination that visual media such as video games, television cannot. The using of visual media will allow students to process information better but most don’t allow students to get the time to reflect, analyze or imagine. Reading develops reflection, imagination, critical thinking as well as the development of vocabulary. Through reading, these skills are developed. Students today are more visual literacy and are less print literacy thus many students are not being seen reading often and reading for pleasure. Technology strengthens student’s ability to scan information quickly and efficiently. An impl ication for teaching and learning is that workshops or seminars should be implemented for teachers so that they receive training to know how to integrate the different types of technology into their lessons and make learning more engaging for students. As we know that student gravitates to technology and we are living in 21st century. Attending these workshops teachers are able to know more about each technology such as the usage, programs and others. They are able to monitor the technology by themselves and by doing so they are able to carry out the lesson effectively and stimulate children learning. One implication for policy makers is that in order for the teachers to integrate the technology in the classroom to meet the need of his students, firstly you should provide or equipped the schools with the necessary technology. Without these, teachers will unable to do so, which he or she wants to; so that her students can grasp the concepts well. For the school to be equipped policy makers should also develop an infrastructure to  place the technologies. Provide the necessary security and to eliminate outdated hardware and software and replace them with up to date as the years are passing by. â€Å"When technology integration in the classroom is seamless and thoughtful, students not only become more engaged, the y begin to take more control over their own learning†. (Hertz 2014). Technology integration is the use of technology in the classroom that helps to carry out learning concepts and to manage the class, such technology are computers, overhead projectors, digital cameras, internet, tape recorders, and CD-ROMs. Digital camera is a great application in the classroom as it allows collecting and documenting exciting events in the environment. Integrating digital camera properly can help to link lessons to student’s lives. For example class letter, development of stories and community based research. Cameras can be share between classes and capture images quickly and easily, in which pictures provide important context for children learning experience. Images that are culturally relevant can be a very powerful strategy for students to learn about their community. For example teaching about vocabulary, teachers can send students outdoor with the digital camera to take pictures of events, objects or actions that represent the vocabulary that was discussed . Students can be asked to write sentences or paragraph highlighting new vocabulary. Which is a very excited way for students to increase their vocabulary and become better readers; and teachers could give students the opportunity to take pictures of events or actions that reflect in a story that was read to them, downloading pictures from the computer then allowed children to write a sentence or paragraph about each picture. Having students to take pictures of the story event or action will help them to relate what they reading to their own lives in their community. Digital camera can be used to do storytelling which produces narrated short films using music, photos and voices. The grade 3 lesson â€Å"who are the people in my community†, students and teachers can take a walk within the community with the camera and take pictures of community helpers and write sentences about each role within the community. The teacher and students can produce their story by downloading the pictures on the computer using programs such as Photo-Story, Windows Movie Maker, Powe rPoint, that include narration for each. The tape recorder and boom box can be used to engage student and help save time. One activity for the whole class is teachers can use a student to  become the classroom DJ. Using a microphone, the student announces the topic of the day’s lesson. With a book in hand students can read along with their teacher during reading time. Students can even listen to a recording of their teacher who record the book tape before. The boom box can be used to create electronic portfolio that showcase student’s best work and the learning progress during a time period. By doing this teachers can record the students reading or thinking process when solving a problem, a video clip of his or her oral presentation and a CD with the child digital story. The tape recorder can be used to record student’s reading of a text at regular intervals which is assessed at each interval and strategies plan to improve the reading fluency. The overhead projector is a display system that is used to present images, videos, texts to students. It helps to carry out concepts and for students to grasp concepts by which it stimulates learning by watching videos, interactive games and retrieving texts which aid in the development of different learning styles such as audio and visual learners. The teacher faces the students while the notes that are prepared previously revealed. The lesson becomes engaging and students are attentive or focus and not only that but the teacher becomes more efficient by sharing and creating reusable work. . An example of how teachers can make the projector a part of her lesson is if a teacher is trying to bring across the lesson of the topic family to a grade two class, students will watch a video of the family then have a discussion with the teacher, from the video students will define the term family in their own words. Students will use family related terms seen in the video to write at least five sentences. The family related terms are like: grandmother, brother and sister. References Prensky M (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Retrieved February 19, 2014 from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensigrants%2520-%2520Part1.pd Hertz MB (n.d) How to Integrate Technology Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-guide-implementation Wolpert S (2006) Is technology producing a decline in critical UCLA Newsroom Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/is-ducing-a-decline-79127.asp Lindemann C (2013) How to Stop the Plagiarism Plague | Education.com Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://www.education.com/magazine/articlcle/stop-plagiarism-plague Janssen C (n.d) What is a Digital Native? Definition from Techopedia Retrieved February 21, 2014 from www.techopedia.com/definition/28094/digital-native Takahashi (2011) Academia.edu | Documents in Digitalian Academia.edu Retrieved February 23, 2014 from www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Digitalian

Human Resource Management at China Telecom

Human Resource Management at China Telecom 1. Introduction 1.1 Introduction to High-Performance Work System High performance work system is to achieve organization’s goals by fully using organization’s resources. It supports the right combination of technology, people and organization structure (Noe, 2014). Reasonable arranging human resource management practices is one of the mainly elements of creating the high performance work system. Three major practices include recruiting, selection and training and development. 1.2 Introduction of China telecom China Telecom Corporation Limited was established in 2002. The main business is focus on the service areas. At the end of 2003, it owns six affiliated companies that ware acquired by about RMB 46 million. Then it acquired 10 and 3 telecom companies, respectively, in 2004 and 2007. During this period, it provides voice service, data service and mobile service. In 2009, the company obtains a license about 3G mobile and provides this service in April of the same year. In 2013, the company obtains licenses to operate the 4G digital cellular mobile service. 2. Recruiting Account Executive 2.1 Three Parts of Recruiting In the first pact is called personnel policy provides the standards of implementing human resource management. Government provides now labor laws in 1995 and it impacts personnel policy about recruitment (Dickie). The main personnel policy in China telecom Company is internal and external recruiting. It helps the company to decide vacancy characteristics about account executive. Internal recruiting focuses on employees who work in the company. It chooses the qualify employees by analyzing and assessing the performance of junior employees. When the company never chooses reasonable candidates inside the company, external recruiting is a right policy. Enough potential employees outside the company are chosen. Then the company determines right recruitment sources before analyzing the applicant characteristics. Two main sources are job posting and electronic recruiting. According to job posting, the company put recruitment information about account executive on corporate intranets, such as the time of recruiting. It only focuses on the internal staffs in the company. Furthermore, the company recruits new employment by electronic recruiting, such as online recruitment. The company put the network advertisement on the website commonly used, such as Sohu.com, Sina.com.cn and other website. It focuses on people in the global level. At last, the company chooses three or four recruiters with professional knowledge and skills. They have more than 5-year work experience in relevant areas. When they recruit the candidates, they pay attention to the candidate’s skills and knowledge. At the same time, they give some information about account executive. Then they provide some positive information about account executive to attract the candidate to apply for the job. For example, as an account executive, the salary is about RMB 2000 per month. The company helps employees to pay parts of insurance and the company records the significant information and feedback timely (Noe, 2014). 2.2 The Impact of Recruiting Using internal recruiting increases the employees’ satisfaction and reduces employee turnover (Croteau, 2014). It is cheaper than recruiting outside the company. According to external recruiting, the company solves the problems about staff shortage. The company recruits the professional with plentiful experience. It increase work efficiency. On the other hand, job posting give qualified employees who work in the company opportunities to apply to become account executives. It spends less time and costs than then other sources. Using electronic recruitment attracts many candidates from any regional or countries. It expends the scope of recruitment and offers more choice about account executive (Nell, 2010). Furthermore, the traits and behaviors of recruiter impact the result of recruiting employees. Some recruiters pay attention to the theoretical basis, but other may pay attention to the practical ability, such as enough work experience. Reasonable recruiting increases the quality of employees. It improves work performance indirectly. 3. Selection – Account Executive 3.1 The Five Stages of Selection There are five steps in the process of selecting account executive in the follow (Noe, 2014). The company follows this process to pick up their qualified candidates. At the beginning of selection, the company needs to analyze application forms of candidates. With job application form, the candidates provide their full name, address, telephone. If the candidates work before in other company, they need to provide company’s name, the year of work, name of employer, position held and reason for leaving. Then educational background is necessary for candidates to writes. They only write the information about high school, college and above. Also, they must provide graduation certificates. If they have some award-winning experience in the study period, they can copy the certificates and put them after the application forms, such as IELTS certificates in two years, Interpretation certificates and other certificates. At last, it provides three or four references’ name, such as th eir superiors’ name and their colleague’s name (Noe, 2014). After analyzing job resumes, the company provides written tests and answering phone call. The written tests provide 100 questions about related laws, management and the company. For example, how to respond the customer complaint? How account executives increase the employees’ satisfaction? How to deal with the conflict between employees? The other tests called answering phone call. The company gives a situation and candidates need to give the reasonable measures. For example, if a customer said the company spends a long time to deal with problem and the customer was anger, how the account executive answer the customer by phone call. After the candidates finish the text, they wait for the company’s notice. Then structured interview is used to examine the candidates’ organizing ability and communicative competence. At first, the company provides a total why do you agree team work or not. Then the candidates divide into two groups A and B. A group agrees and B apposed to this view. The company gives them one hour to debate each other. During this period, everyone in two groups must engage in the debate. They must give some reasonable evidences to support their view. After the debate, the company gives the final score by score of team and person. The score of team is focus on the task assignment and achievement. It reflects the organizing ability. Then the company gives the score of everyone based on the condition of debate. For example, the candidate provides enough reasonable evidences or not. The expression is clarity and smoothly or not. These two points are the mainly individual scoring criteria. After determining the qualified candidates, the company must to check background information about candidates. This process spends about two or four weeks to know information about candidates from person references provided. If the person points out the candidates has some negative behavior, such as using violence in the workplace (Noe, 2014). The candidate is never recruited. At the same time, the company makes sure the truth of the information on the applicant forms by checking. If the information on the applicant forms is truth and the candidates have never bad action like criminal behavior, the candidates are qualified. At last, the company determines the final qualified candidates who will work in the company. During the process of selection, it is based on multiple-hurdle model. The company deletes the unqualified candidates in each step. For example, the company chooses the candidates with high scores on the process of interview and test (Noe, 2014). 3.2 The Impact of Reasonable Selection In order to increase competitive advantage and work performance, the company must select the high quality employees. The process of reasonable selection helps the company to select the employees who are best for accounts executives. These employees the company selected have enough skills to complete tasks. It increases the efficiency and quality of completing tasks. It provides contribution to create the high-performance system indirectly. 4. Training and Development – Account Executive 4.1 The Process of Training Learning management system (LMS) helps the company to improve the efficiency of training process. The company use LMS to identify need, make plans and analyze the training outcomes (Noe, 2014). At first, the company needs to conduct needs assessment. The company belongs to the service industries. It wants to provides high quality service and expand its market. The company needs to know which employees with lack of knowledge and poor work experience. Then the company arranges training class for them. The tasks of training help employees to learn how to record the information through computer and know how to deal with the relationship between customers and the company. Before training, the company needs to do some preparation work. At first, the company makes sure employees have basic cognitive ability, such as reading and writing skills, speaking with English clearly, using basic computer technology and the ability to deal with problem in the job. Also, it is necessary for the company to provide a positive work environment. The company prepares enough training material and gives employees one or three months to practice and training. At the some time, the company gives employees praise and encourage in order to high efficiency and quality of training (Noe, 2014). Then the company needs to plan the reasonable program of training. The company arranges the training class from employees who want to training. It shows employees with high performance are chosen at first. Training is to increase employees’ work skills. Complete this objective, the company two training method, such as computer-based training and on-the-job training. During the computer-based training, the company gives trainees one month. It takes less time and money to learn online. It is convenience of trainees who lives far from the company. On-the-job training shows the company gives trainees one month to practice with a mentor. If trainees have some problems, they can ask the mentor for help. Training program implements based on the mainly five principles of learning. The first point is that skills employees learned in training are work-related. These skills can help them finish the work better. It helps trainees to know how to implement o their job and gather experience in the working. Then the company gives trainees some opportunities to understand what they learned clearly by the internship. Also, it is easy for trainees to remember and understand the content by implementing high quality training planning. At last, the materials the company provided must be clear and easy to reading The last step is to evaluate the result of training. The company provides the training relate to their current job, they need to analyze the skills that are used in job or not. If these skills trainees learned increase the quality and efficiency of completing their job, it shows the training has a great success. If not, company need to analyze the shortcoming of training and adjust. 4.2 The Process of Development The company usually uses career management system to plan the development programs for staff. According the analysis of the weaknesses and strengths, the company needs to evaluate whether the employee has an opportunity to become an account manager. Next, the company use performance appraisals to analyze the success factors of high performance. If the company provides the opportunities of promotion, the company plans a long-term program about employee development. Also, the company points out employees are becoming an account manager within the next four years. The employees need to use communicate competence to deal with the conflict between company and customers. They must maintain the company’s image. At last, the employees plan for an account manager. They increase the management capacity, organizational capabilities and the ability to deal with the problem. They determine to reach the goals in two or three years. 4.3 The Impact of Training and Development Training and Development encourage employees to complete the work better and faster by increasing job satisfaction (Dennis). The employee turnover reduces. The company helps employees to arrange and manage their time. Next, employees learn much knowledge and skills about the job clearly. Training and development help them to know detail information about the job. Furthermore it helps employees to add value in the company. 5. Conclusion Recruiting in the company attracts many patient talents. It expends the selection of talents who are suitable for account executive. According to selection, the company knows detail information about employees such as behavior, skills and ability. Then the company arranges the employees by training and development. These three practices maintain the normal operating of the company in the next five years.

An Analysis of Four Advertisements Essay -- Media Advertising Essays

Imagery, literature and language - modes of communication - are all ways by which a society constructs its beliefs and narratives, and how we are able to find meaning in the world. As contemporary notions of capitalism have reigned in North American culture throughout the 20th century, an awareness of production and consumerism is essential to an understanding of culture itself. As psychologically savvy advertising executives plague the fashion industry, it is often cited that "sex sells", that consumers are drawn toward purchases due to the sexual content and appeal of an image; but is this clichà ©d utterance enough to grasp the cultural phenomenon of material fetish? Even if one accepts that mass culture is driven to consumerism as a result of selling by sex, one must wonder: what is sex selling? Through imagery, especially the print media, the emotional effect of advertising can be witnessed. Viewers always have an emotional reaction on some level, whether admitted or not - how else would one be able to designate favorite or undesirable advertisements without having assigned some type of emotional value to it? The question as to how these commercial images work, and how they are successful, however, remains unanswered. Their connection to a consumer cannot be wholly conscious; otherwise, one would be able to comprehend it in simple, logical terms. The rationale for the thriving advertising industry cannot be as simple as sex selling (that buying clothing/fashion is buying sex), or idolization and imitation (that one desires to be the woman in the image and tries to emulate her). Thus an analysis of four advertisements from the October 2009 issue of Vogue magazine will demonstrate that the efficiency of commercial adverti... ...e. The argument can be made that one receives pleasure in these purchases, as a displacement of a desire for sex transforms into a fetish for shopping. If the image is seen as manifest, and meaning is latent, then the viewer isn't simply buying sex, nor prostitution, but is rather purchasing a state of mind. The image does not appeal to the viewer only on the level of illicit sexual behaviour (prostitution, lesbianism, pedophilia ), but rather as a deviance from the socially acceptable and appropriate; in viewing and accepting the eroticized image in the unconscious, one is able to experience via catharsis societal taboo and rebellion, and to penetrate social norms. Advertisements, then, maintain social order in allowing viewers to participate in a controlled and directed unconscious rebellion, all without admitting to any conscious denial of capitalism consumerism.

Advertising Essay examples -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  School, family and church all have an effect on teenagers, but nothing will ever measure up to the effect that advertising has on our nation’s youth. The advertisements target our youth by way of radio, television and newspaper. Advertisers use special tactics to persuade youth to buy their products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the ever growing world of mass media becoming more accessible to children, we must realize the effect advertising has on the youth of today. Multiple television sets are commonplace in today’s homes. â€Å"Today, at least one television set is in 98.2% of American households.† (Television Bureau of Advertising, 2001) Television viewing is no longer a family activity. â€Å"Fifty-six percent of thirteen to seventeen year olds have a television set in their bedrooms.† (Gentile & Walsh, 2002) Advertising reaches more and more people every year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children spend more time watching television than any other activity except sleeping. â€Å"By age 18, the average American teenager will have spent more time watching television-25, 000 hours-than learning in the classroom.† (American Academy of Pediatrics) Children are also bombarded by ads every day through television, radio, and print. Advertisers now focus their ads more heavily towards children and teens than adults. Many ads that are â€Å"adult† ads are now appealing to younger people by having young attractive people in the advertisements.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Television is the fastest growing market with advertising. It has grown so quickly because the message can appeal to the eye, the ear, and the mind. Television ads are quick, persuasive, and enticing. The advertising and marketing budgets aimed at children approached $12 billion dollars. â€Å"Four hours of television programming contain about 100 ads.† (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999) The cost of owning a television has dropped, therefore making ads reach more people than ever before.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Radio advertising has always profited well in the United States for many reasons. Radio is very cheap and effective to a certain point. Radio does not have the visual aspects that television has but it can contain catchy phrases or jingles. Radio is better than television in the aspect of targeting and audience. Many radio stations have local advertisements to appe... ...wn on that station. Parents can set the v-chip ratings to suit the age group of their children, so only the acceptable maturity rating television stations will appear on the screen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many steps made by the government have helped the screening of inappropriate material to youth. Technologies such as v-chip, parental controls, and television age ratings help to a certain extent but media will always search for new ways to influence young Americans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Television is the most effective way to advertise in most cases but certainly not the only way. The cheap, appealing, and accessible advertising through the internet has been growing every year. â€Å"Evidence about the effectiveness of this advertising has come mainly from industry reports. Five recent reports conclude that internet advertisements build brands (i.e., increase advertisement awareness, brand awareness, brand image, or intent to purchase). These studies suggest that size, use of interactive elements (such as flash or DHTML), and advertisement position increase branding† (Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2002).]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Digital Cinema

Scott McQuire Millennial fantasies As anyone interested in film culture knows, the last decade has witnessed an explosion of pronouncements concerning the future of cinema. Many are fuelled by naked technological determinism, resulting in apocalyptic scenarios in which cinema either undergoes digital rebirth to emerge more powerful than ever in the new millennium, or is marginalised by a range of ‘new media’ which inevitably include some kind of broadband digital pipe capable of delivering full screen ‘cinema quality’ pictures on demand to home consumers.The fact that the doubleedged possibility of digital renaissance or death by bytes has coincided with celebrations of the ‘centenary of cinema’ has undoubtedly accentuated desire to reflect more broadly on the history of cinema as a social and cultural institution. It has also intersected with a significant transformation of film history, in which the centrality of ‘narrative’ as th e primary category for uniting accounts of the technological, the economic and the aesthetic in film theory, has become subject to new questions.Writing in 1986 Thomas Elsaesser joined the revisionist project concerning ‘early cinema’ to cinema’s potential demise: ‘A new interest in its beginnings is justified by the very fact that we might be witnessing the end: movies on the big screen could soon be the exception rather than the rule’. 1 Of course, Elsaesser’s speculation, which was largely driven by the deregulation of television broadcasting in Europe in conjunction with the emergence of new technologies such as video, cable and satellite in the 1980s, has been contradicted by the decade long cinema boom in the multiplexed 1990s. It has also been challenged from another direction, as the giant screen ‘experience’ of large format cinema has been rather unexpectedly transformed from a bit player into a prospective force. However , in the same article, Elsaesser raised another issue which has continued to resonate in subsequent debates: Scott McQuire, ‘Impact Aesthetics: Back to the Future in Digital Cinema? ‘, Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2000, pp. 41-61.  © Scott McQuire. All rights reserved.Deposited to the University of Melbourne ePrints Repository with permission of Sage Publications . 2 Few histories fully address the question of why narrative became the driving force of cinema and whether this may itself be subject to change. Today the success, of SF as a genre, or of directors like Steven Spielberg whose narratives are simply anthology pieces from basic movie plots, suggest that narrative has to some extent been an excuse for the pyrotechnics of IL;M. 3 Concern for the demise, if not of cinema per se, then of narrative in cinema, is widespread in the present.In the recent special ‘digital technology’ issue of Screen, Sean Cubitt noted a ‘common intuition among reviewers, critics and scholars that something has changed in the nature of cinema — something to do with the decay of familiar narrative and performance values in favour of the qualities of the blockbuster’. 4 Lev Manovich has aligned the predominance of ‘blockbusters’ with ‘digital cinema’ by defining the latter almost entirely in terms of increased visual special effects: ‘A visible sign of this shift is the new role which computer generated special effects have come to play in the Hollywood industry in the last few years.Many recent blockbusters have been driven by special effects; feeding on their popularity’. 5 In his analysis of Hollywood’s often anxious depiction of cyberspace in films such as The Lawn Mower Man (1992), Paul Young argues that ‘cyberphobic films overstress the power of the visual in their reliance on digital technology to produce spectacle at the exp ense of narrative’, and adds this is ‘a consequence that [Scott] Bukatman has argued is latent in all special effects’. A more extreme (but nevertheless common) view is expressed by film maker Jean Douchet: ‘[Today] cinema has given up the purpose and the thinking behind individual shots [and narrative], in favour of images — rootless, textureless images — designed to violently impress by constantly inflating their spectacular qualities’. 7 ‘Spectacle’, it seems, is winning the war against ‘narrative’ all along the line.Even a brief statistical analysis reveals that ‘special effects’ driven films have enjoyed enormous recent success, garnering an average of over 60% of the global revenue taken by the top 10 films from 1995-1998, compared to an average of 30% over the previous four years. 8 Given that the proportion of box office revenue taken by the top 10 films has held steady or increased slightl y in the context of a rapidly expanding total market, this indicates that a handful of special-effects films are generating huge revenues each year.While such figures don’t offer a total picture of the film industry, let alone reveal which films which will exert lasting cultural influence, they do offer a snapshot of contemporary cultural taste refracted through studio marketing budgets. Coupled to the recent popularity of paracinematic forms, such as large format and special venue films, the renewed emphasis on ‘spectacle’ over ‘narrative’ suggests another possible end-game for 3 inema: not the frequently prophesied emptying of theatres made redundant by the explosion of home-based viewing (television, video, the internet), but a transformation from within which produces a cinema no longer resembling its (narrative) self, but something quite other. Complementing these debates over possible cinematic futures is the fact that any turn to spectacular f ilm ‘rides’ can also be conceived as a return — whether renaissance or regression is less clear — to an earlier paradigm of film-making famously dubbed the ‘cinema of attraction’ by Tom Gunning.Gunning long ago signalled this sense of return when he commented: ‘Clearly in some sense recent spectacle cinema has re-affirmed its roots in stimulus and carnival rides, in what might be called the Spielberg-Lucas-Coppola cinema of effects’. 9 For Paul Arthur, developments in the 1990s underline the point: The advent of Imax 3-D and its future prospects, in tandem with the broader strains of a New Sensationalism, provide an occasion to draw some connections with the early history of cinema and the recurrent dialectic between the primacy of the visual and, for lack of a better term, the sensory. 0 In what follows here, I want to further consider the loops and twists of these debates, not so much with the grand ambition of resolving them, b ut firstly of adding some different voices to the discussion — particularly the voices of those involved in film production. 11 My intention is not to elevate empiricism over theory, but to promote dialogue between different domains of film culture which meet all too rarely, and, in the process, to question the rather narrow terms in which ‘digital cinema’ has frequently entered recent theoretical debates.Secondly, I want to consider the relation between ‘narrative’ and ‘spectacle’ as it is manifested in these debates. My concern is that there seems to be a danger of confusing a number of different trajectories — such as cinema’s on-going efforts to demarcate its ‘experience’ from that of domestic entertainment technologies, and the turn to blockbuster exploitation strategies —and conflating them under the heading of ‘digital cinema’.While digital technology certainly intersects with, and si gnificantly overlaps these developments, it is by no means co-extensive with them. ‘Spectacular sounds’: cinema in the digital domain Putting aside the inevitable hype about the metamorphosis of Hollywood into ‘Cyberwood’, like many others I am convinced that digital technology constitutes a profound revolution in cinema, primarily because of its capacity to cut across all 4 sectors of the industry simultaneously, affecting film production, narrative conventions and audience experience.In this respect, the only adequate point of reference for the depth and extent of current changes are the transformations which took place with the introduction of synchronised sound in the 1920s. However, while the fundamental level at which change is occurring is widely recognised, it has been discussed primarily in terms of the impact of CGI (computer-generated imaging) on the film image. A more production-oriented approach would most likely begin elsewhere; with what Phil ip Brophy has argued is among ‘the most overlooked aspects of film theory and criticism (both modern and postmodern strands)’ — sound. 2 A brief flick through recent articles on digital cinema confirms this neglect: Manovich locates ‘digital cinema’ solely in a historical lineage of moving pictures; none of the articles in the recent Screen dossier mention sound, and even Eric Faden’s ‘Assimilating New Technologies: Early Cinema, Sound and Computer Imaging’ only uses the introduction of synchronised sound as an historical analogy for discussing the contemporary effect of CGI on the film image13. While not entirely unexpected, this silence is still somewhat urprising, given the fact that digital sound technology was adopted by the film industry far earlier and more comprehensively than was CGI. And, at least until the early 1990s with films like Terminator 2 (1991) and Jurassic Park (1993), the effect on audience experience was arg uably far greater than was digital imaging. Dominic Case [Group Services and Technology Manager at leading Australian film processor Atlab] argued in 1997: I am more and more convinced that the big story about film technology as far as audiences are concerned in the past few years has been sound.Because, although you can do fancy digital things, the image remains glued to that bit of screen in front of your eyes, and it’s not really any bigger†¦ But the sound has gone from one woolly sound coming from the back of the screen with virtually no frequency range or dynamic range whatsoever †¦ to something that fills the theatre in every direction with infinitely more dynamic range and frequency range. To me, that’s an explosion in experience compared to what you are seeing on the screen.However, the visual bias of most film theory is so pervasive that this transformation often passes unremarked. Part of the problem is that we lack the necessary conceptual armature : there are no linkages which pull terms such as 5 ‘aural’ or ‘listener’ into the sort of semantic chain joining spectacle and spectator to the adjective ‘spectacular’. Film sound-mixer Ian McLoughlin notes: Generally speaking, most people are visually trained from birth. †¦ Very few people are trained to have a aural language and, as a result there isn't much discussion about the philosophy of the sound track. .. There has been very, very little research done into the psycho-acoustic effects of sound and the way sound works sociologically on the audience. 14 Compounding this absence is the fact that the digital revolution in sound is, in many respects, the practical realisation of changes initiated with the introduction of Dolby Stereo in 1975. (On the other hand, the fact that CGI entered a special effects terrain already substantially altered by techniques of motion control, robotics and animatronics didn’t prevent critical atten tion to it. Four-track Dolby stereo led to a new era of sound experimentation beginning with films such as Star Wars (1977) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). As renowned sound mixer Roger Savage (whose credits include Return of the Jedi, 1983; Shine, 1996; and Romeo + Juliet, 1996) recalls: ‘Prior to that, film sound hadn’t changed for probably 30 years. It was Mono Academy †¦ Star Wars was one of the first films that I can remember where people started coming out of the theatre talking about the sound track’. 5 While narrative sound effects such as dialogue and music were still generally concentrated in the front speakers, the surround sound speakers became the vehicles for a new range of ‘spectacular’ sound effects. In particular, greater emphasis was given to boosting low frequency response, explicitly mirroring the amplified ambience of rock music. There was also greater attention given to the ‘spatialisation’ of di screte sound elements within the theatre.As Rich Altman has argued, these developments presented a significant challenge to one of the fundamental precepts of classical Hollywood narrative: the unity of sound and image and the subservience of sound effects to narrative logic: Whereas Thirties film practice fostered unconscious visual and psychological spectator identification with characters who appear as a perfect amalgam of image and sound, the Eighties ushered in a new kind of visceral identification, dependent on the sound system’s overt ability, through bone-rattling bass and unexpected surround effects, to cause spectators to vibrate — quite literally — with the entire narrative space.It is thus no longer the eyes, the ears and the brain that alone initiate identification and maintain contact with a sonic 6 source; instead, it is the whole body that establishes a relationship, marching to the beat of a different woofer. Where sound was once hidden behind t he image in order to allow more complete identification with the image, now the sound source is flaunted, fostering a separate sonic identification contesting the limited rational draw of the image and its characters. 16 Altman’s observation is significant in this context, inasmuch as it suggests that the dethroning of a certain model of narrative cinema had begun prior to the digital threshold, and well before the widespread use of CGI.It also indicates the frontline role that sound took in the film industry’s initial response to the incursions of video : in the 1980s the new sound of cinema was a primary point of differentiation from domestic image technologies. However, while Dolby certainly created a new potential for dramatic sound effects, in practice most film makers remained limited by a combination of logistical and economic constraints. In this respect, the transition to digital sound has been critical in creating greater latitude for experimentation within e xisting budget parameters and production time frames. In terms of sound production, Roger Savage argues: ‘The main advantages in digital are the quality control, the speed and the flexibility’. This is a theme which is repeated with regard to the computerisation of other areas of film making such as picture editing and CGI. ) Enhanced speed, flexibility and control stem from a reduction in the need for physical handling and a refinement of precision in locating and manipulating individual elements. In sound production, libraries of analogue tape reels each holding ten minutes of sound have given way to far more compact DAT tapes and hard drive storage. The entire production process can now often be realised on a single digital workstation. There is no need for a separate transfer bay, and, since digital processing involves the manipulation of electronic data, there is no risk of degrading or destroying original recordings by repeated processing.Once the sounds are catal ogued, digital workstations grant random access in a fraction of a second (eliminating tape winding time), and, unlike sprocket-based sound editing, all the tracks which have been laid can be heard immediately in playback. The creative pay-off is an enhanced ability to add complexity and texture to soundtracks. In terms of sound reproduction, the most marked change resulting from six track digital theatre systems is improved stereo separation and frequency response which assists better music reproduction in theatres — a change which goes hand in glove with the increased prominence that music and soundtracks have assumed in promoting and marketing films in recent years. 7The enhanced role of sound in cinema is even more marked for large format films which, because of their high level of visual detail, demand a correspondingly high level of audio detail. Ian McLoughlin (who, amongst many other things, shares sound mixing credits with Savage for the large-format films Africaâ₠¬â„¢s Elephant Kingdom, 1998 and The Story of a Sydney, 1999) comments: If you look at the two extremes of image technology, if you look at television, and then you look at something like Imax, the most interesting difference is the density of the sound track that is required with the size of the picture. When you’re doing a TV mix, you try to be simple, bold. You can’t get much in or otherwise it just becomes a mess.With 35mm feature films you're putting in 10, 20 times more density and depth into the sound track as compared to television, and †¦ when you go to Imax, you need even more. McLoughlin also makes a significant point concerning the use (or abuse) of digital sound: When digital first came out and people found that they could make a enormously loud sound tracks, everyone wanted enormously large sound tracks. †¦ Unfortunately some people who present films decided that the alignment techniques that companies like Dolby and THX have worked out arenâ₠¬â„¢t to their liking and they think audiences like a lot of sub-base and so they sometimes wind that up. †¦ [S]uddenly you’ve got audiences with chest cavities being punched due to the amount of bottom end. †¦Dolby and screen producers and screen distributors in America have actually been doing a lot of research into what they are calling the ‘annoyance factor’ of loud sound tracks. Because audiences are getting turned off by overly jarring, overly sharp, soundtracks. This comment is worth keeping in mind for two reasons. Firstly, it underlines the fact that the image is by no means the only vehicle for producing cinematic affect: in this sense, ‘impact aesthetics’ offers a more apt description of the trajectory of contemporary cinema than ‘spectacle’. Secondly, it warns against making hasty generalisations when assessing the long-term implications of CGI.While digital imaging undoubtedly represents a significant paradigm shif t in cinema, it is also feasible that the 1990s will eventually be seen more as a teething period of ‘gee whizz’ experimentation with the new digital toolbox, which was gradually turned towards other (even more ‘narrative’) ends. (The way we now look at early sound films is instructive: while contemporary audiences were fascinated by the mere 8 fact that pictures could ‘talk’, in retrospect we tend to give more weight to the way sound imposed new restrictions on camera movement, location shooting and acting style). Painting with light In contrast to the relative dearth of attention given to changes in areas such as sound and picture editing, digital manipulation of the film image has received massive publicity.While this is partly the result of deliberate studio promotion, it also reflects the profound changes in cinematic experience that computers have set in train. When we can see Sam Neil running from a herd of dinosaurs — in other wo rds, when we see cinematic images offering realistic depictions of things we know don’t exist — it is evident that the whole notion of photo-realism which has long been a central plank of cinematic credibility is changing. But how should this change be understood? Is it simply that ‘live action’ footage can now be ‘supplemented’ with CG elements which replace earlier illusionistic techniques such as optical printing, but leave cinema’s unique identity as an ‘art of recording’ intact? Or is a new paradigm emerging in which cinema becomes more like painting or animation?Lev Manovich has recently taken the latter position to an extreme, arguing that, ‘Digital cinema is a particular case of animation which uses live-action footage as one of its many elements’, and concluding: ‘In retrospect, we can see that twentieth century cinema’s regime of visual realism, the result of automatically recording visua l reality, was only an exception, an isolated accident in the history of visual representation†¦ ’. 17 While I suspect that Manovich significantly underestimates the peculiar attractions of ‘automatic recording’ (which produced what Walter Benjamin termed the photograph’s irreducible ‘spark of contingency’, what Barthes ontologised as the hotographic punctum), it is clear the referential bond linking camera image to physical object has come under potentially terminal pressure in the digital era. However, any consideration of ‘realism’ in cinema is immediately complicated by the primacy of fictional narrative as the dominant form of film production and consumption. Moreover, cinema swiftly moved from adherence to the ideal of direct correspondence between image and object which lay at the heart of classical claims to photographic referentiality. ‘Cheating’ with the order of events, or the times, locations and sett ings in which they occur, is second nature to film-makers. By the time cinema ‘came of age’ in the picture palace of the 1920s, a new logic of montage, shot matching and continuity had coalesced into the paradigm of 9 classical narrative’, and cinematic credibility belonged more to the movement of the text rather than the photographic moment — a shift Jean-Louis Commolli has neatly described in terms of a journey from purely optical to psychological realism. 18 Within this paradigm all imaginable tactics were permissible in order to imbue pro-filmic action with the stamp of cinematic authority — theatrical techniques such as performance, make-up, costumes, lighting and set design were augmented by specifically cinematic techniques such as stop motion photography and rear projection, as well as model-making and matte painting which entered the screen world via the optical printer.Given this long history of simulation, the digital threshold is perhaps best located in terms of its effect on what Stephen Prince has dubbed ‘perceptual realism’, rather than in relation to an abstract category of ‘realism’ in general. Prince argues: A perceptually realistic image is one which structurally corresponds to the viewer’s audio-visual experience of three-dimensional space †¦ Such images display a nested hierarchy of cues which organise the display of light, colour, texture, movement and sound in ways that correspond to the viewer’s own understanding of these phenomena in daily life. Perceptual realism, therefore, designates a relationship between the image on film and the spectator, and it can encompass both unreal images and those which are referentially realistic. Because of this, unreal images may be referentially fictional but perceptually realistic. 19I have emphasised Prince’s evocation of fidelity to ‘audio-visual experience’ because it underlines the extent to which t he aim of most computer artists working in contemporary cinema is not simply to create high resolution images, but to make these images look as if they might have been filmed. This includes adding various ‘defects’, such as film grain, lens flare, motion blur and edge halation. CG effects guru Scott Billups argues that film makers had to ‘educate’ computer programmers to achieve this end: For years we were saying: ‘Guys, you look out on the horizon and things get grayer and less crisp as they get farther away’. But those were the types of naturally occurring event structures that never got written into computer programs.They’d say ‘Why do you want to reduce the resolution? Why do you want to blur it? ’. 20 10 By the 1990s many software programs had addressed this issue. As Peter Webb (one of the developers of Flame) notes: Flame has a lot of tools that introduce the flaws that one is trained to see. Even though we donâ€℠¢t notice them, there is lens flare and motion blur, and the depth of field things, and, if you don’t see them, you begin to get suspicious about a shot. 21 In other words, because of the extent to which audiences have internalised the camera’s qualities as the hallmark of credibility, contemporary cinema no longer aims to mime ‘reality’, but ‘camera-reality’.Recognising this shift underlines the heightened ambivalence of realism in the digital domain. The film maker’s ability to take the image apart at ever more minute levels is counterpointed by the spectator’s desire to comprehend the resulting image as ‘realistic’ — or, at least, equivalent to other cine-images. In some respects, this can be compared to the dialectic underlying the development of montage earlier this century, as a more ‘abstract’ relation to individual shots became the basis for their reconstitution as an ‘organicâ€℠¢ text. But instead of the fragmentation and re-assemblage of the image track over time, which founded the development of lassical narrative cinema and its core ‘grammatical’ structures such as shot/reverse shot editing, digital technology introduces a new type of montage: montage within the frame whose prototype is the real time mutation of morphing. However, while ‘perceptual realism’ was achieved relatively painlessly in digital sound, the digital image proved far more laborious. Even limited attempts to marry live action with CGI, such as TRON (1982) and The Last Starfighter (1984) proved unable to sustain the first wave of enthusiasm for the computer. As one analyst observed: ‘The problem was that digital technology was both comparatively slow and prohibitively expensive. In fact, workstations capable of performing at film resolution were driven by Cray super-computers’. 2 It is these practical exigencies, coupled to the aesthetic disjunct ion separating software programmers from film makers I noted above, rather than a deeply felt desire to manufacture a specifically electronic aesthetic, which seems to underlie the ‘look’ of early CGI. 23 Exponential increases in computing speed, coupled to decreases in computing cost, not only launched the desktop PC revolution in the mid-1980s, but made CGI in film an entirely different matter. The second wave of CGI was signalled when Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) made morphing a household word. 24 Two 11 years later the runaway box-office success of Jurassic Park (1993) changed the question from whether computers could be effectively used in film making to how soon this would happen. The subsequent rash of CGI-driven blockbusters, topped by the billion dollar plus gross of Cameron’s Titanic (1997), has confirmed the trajectory.Cameron is one of many influential players who argue that cinema is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation: ‘Weà ¢â‚¬â„¢re on the threshold of a moment in cinematic history that is unparalleled. Anything you imagine can be done. If you can draw it, if you can describe it, we can do it. It’s just a matter of cost’. 25 While this claim is true at one level — many tricky tasks such as depicting skin, hair and water, or integrating CGI elements into live action images shot with a hand-held camera, have now been accomplished successfully — it is worth remembering that ‘realism’ is a notoriously slippery goal, whether achieved via crayon, camera or computer.Dennis Muren’s comments on his path-breaking effects for Jurassic Park (which in fact had only 5 to 6 minutes of CGI and relied heavily on models and miniatures, as did more recent ‘state of the art’ blockbusters such as The Fifth Element, 1997 and Dark City, 1998) bear repeating: ‘Maybe we’ll look back in 10 years and notice that we left things out that we didn’t kn ow needed to be there until we developed the next version of this technology’. Muren adds: In the Star Wars films you saw lots of X-wings fighters blow up, but these were always little models shot with high-speed cameras. You’ve never seen a real X-wing blow up, but by using CGI, you might just suddenly see what looks like a full-sized X-wing explode. It would be all fake of course, but you’d see the structure inside tearing apart, the physics of this piece blowing off that piece. Then you might look back at Star Wars and say, ‘That looks terrible’. 26Clearly, George Lucas shared this sentiment, acknowledging in 1997 that ‘I’m still bugged by things I couldn’t do or couldn’t get right, and now I can fix them’. 27 The massive returns generated by the ‘digitally enhanced’ Star Wars trilogy raises the prospect of a future in which blockbuster movies are not re-made with new casts, but perpetually updated w ith new generations of special effects. Stop the sun, I want to get off Putting aside the still looming question of digital projection, the bottom line in the contemporary use of digital technology in cinema is undoubtedly ‘control’: 12 particularly the increased control that film makers have over all the different components of image and sound tracks.Depending on a film’s budget, the story no longer has to work around scenes which might be hard to set up physically or reproduce photo-optically— they are all grist to the legions of screen jockeys working in digital post-production houses. George Lucas extols the new technology for enhancing the ability to realise directorial vision: I think cinematographers would love to have ultimate control over the lighting; they’d like to be able to say, ‘OK, I want the sun to stop there on the horizon and stay there for about six hours, and I want all of those clouds to go away. Everybody wants that kind of control over the image and the storytelling process. Digital technology is just the ultimate version of that. 28A direct result of digital imaging and compositing techniques has been an explosion of films which, instead of ‘fudging’ the impossible, revel in the capacity to depict it with gripping ‘realism’: Tom Cruise’s face can be ripped apart in real time (Interview with the Vampire, 1994), the Whitehouse can be incinerated by a fireball from above (Independence Day, 1996), New York can be drowned by a tidal wave, or smashed by a giant lizard(Deep Impact, Godzilla, 1998). But, despite Lucas’ enthusiasm, many are dubious about where the new primacy of special effects leaves narrative in cinema. The argument put forward by those such as Sean Cubitt and Scott Bukatman is that contemporary special effects tend to displace narrative insofar as they introduce a disjunctive temporality evocative of the sublime.Focusing on Doug Trumbull’s work, Bukatman emphasises the contemplative relationship established between spectator and screen in key effects scenes (a relationship frequently mirrored by on-screen characters displaying their awe at what they– and ‘we’ – are seeing. )29 Cubitt suggests that similar ‘fetishistic’ moments occur in songs such as Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, where narrative progress gives way to visual fascination. His example is drawn from a strikingly similar terrain to that which inspired Laura Mulvey’s well-known thesis on the tension between voyeurism and scopophilia in classical narrative cinema: Mainstream film neatly combined spectacle and narrative. (Note, however, in the musical song-and-dance numbers break the flow of the diegesis).The presence of woman is an indispensable element of spectacle in normal narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a story line, to freeze the flow of action in moments of erotic contemplation. 30 13 This connection was also made by Tom Gunning in his work on the early ‘cinema of attraction’: ‘As Laura Mulvey has shown in a very different context, the dialectic between spectacle and narrative has fueled much of the classical cinema’. 31 In this respect, a key point to draw from both Mulvey and Gunning is to recognise that they don’t conceive the relationship between spectacle and narrative in terms of opposition but dialectical tension. 32 This is something that other writers have sometimes forgotten.Presenting the issue in terms of an opposition (spectacle versus narrative) in fact recycles positions which have been consistently articulated (and regularly reversed) throughout the century. In the 1920s, avant-garde film makers railed against ‘narrative’ because it was associated primarily with literary and theatrical scenarios at the expense of cinematic qualities (Gunning begins his ‘Cine ma of Attraction’ essay with just such a quote from Fernand Leger). Similar concerns emerged with debates in France over auteur theory in the 1950s, where the literary qualities of script were opposed to the ‘properly cinematic’ qualities of mise-en-scene.In the 1970s, the ‘refusal of narrative’ which characterised much Screen theory of the period, took on radical political connotations. Perhaps as a reaction to the extremity of pronouncements by those such as Peter Gidal, there has been a widespread restoration of narrative qualities as a filmic ‘good object’ in the present. However, rather than attempting to resolve this split in favour of one side or the other, the more salient need is to examine their irreducible intertwining: what sort of stories are being told, and what sort of spectacles are being deployed in their telling? While it is easy to lament the quality of story-telling in contemporary blockbusters, few critics seriously maintain that such films are without narrative.A more productive framework is to analyse why explicitly ‘mythological’ films such as the Star Wars cycle have been able to grip popular imagination at this particular historical conjuncture, marrying the bare bones of fairy-tale narrative structures to the inculcation of a specific type of special effects driven viewing experience. (To some extent, ths is Bukatman’s approach in his analysis of special effects). In this context, it is also worth remembering that, despite the quite profound transformations set in train by the use of digital technology in film making, there has thus far been little discernible effect on narrative in terms of structure or genre. The flirtation with ‘non-linear’ and ‘interactive’ films was a shooting star which came and went with the CD-ROM, while most contemporary blockbusters conform smoothly to established cine-genres (sci-fi, horror, disaster and action- 14 dventure predominating), with a significant number being direct re-makes of older films done ‘better’ in the digital domain. One of the more interesting observations about possible trends in the industry is put forward by James Cameron, who has argued that digital technology has the potential to free film makers from the constraints of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ picture hierarchy: [I]n the ’40s you either had a movie star or you had a B-movie. Now you can create an A-level movie with some kind of visual spectacle, where you cast good actors, but you don’t need an Arnold or a Sly or a Bruce or a Kevin to make it a viable film. 33 However, Cameron himself throws doubt on the extent of this ‘liberation’ by underlining the industrial nature of digital film production. 4 In practice, any film with the budget to produce a large number of cutting edge special effects shots is inevitably sold around star participation, as well as specta cle (as were films such as The Robe, 1953 and Ben Hur, 1926). This point about the intertwining of narrative and spectacle is re-inforced if we look at developments in large-format film, an area frequently singled out for its over-dependence on screen spectacle to compensate for notoriously boring ‘educational’ narrative formats. Large-format (LF) cinema is currently in the throes of a significant transformation The number of screens worldwide has exploded in the last four years (between 1995 and January 1999, the global LF circuit grew from 165 to 263 theatres. By January 2001, another 101 theatres are due to open, taking the total to 364, an increase of 120% in 6 years).More significantly, the majority of new screens are being run by commercial operators rather than institutions such as science museums. These new exhibition opportunities, coupled to the box-office returns generated by films such as Everest (the 15th highest grossing film in the USA in 1998, despite ap pearing on only 32 screens) has created significant momentum in the sector for the production of LF films capable of attracting broader audiences. For some producers, this means attempting to transfer the narrative devices of dramatic feature films onto the giant screen, while others argue that the peculiarities of the medium means that LF needs to stick with its proven documentary subjects.However, most significantly in this context, none dispute the need for the sector to develop better narrative techniques if it is to grow and prosper, particularly by 15 attracting ‘repeat’ audiences. In many respects, the LF sector is currently in a similar position to cinema in the 1900s, with people going to see the apparatus rather than a specific film, and the ‘experience’ being advertised largely on this basis. While it would be simplistic to see current attempts to improve the narrative credentials of LF films as a faithful repetition of the path that 35mm cinema took earlier this century, since most production is likely to remain documentary-oriented, it would be equally as foolish to ignore the cultural and commercial imperatives which still converge around telling a ‘good story’. 5 Distraction and the politics of spectacle Despite the current rash of digitally-inspired predictions, narrative in film is unlikely to succumb to technological obsolescence. But nor will spectacle be vanquished by a miraculous resurgence of ‘quality’ stories. A corollary of a dialectical conception of the interrelationship between narrative and spectacle is that neither should be seen simply as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ objects in themselves. For Mulvey, spectacle (exemplified by close-ups which turn woman’s face and body into a fetish), as well as the more voyeuristic strategy of narrative, were both attuned to the anxious imagination of patriarchal culture in classical cinema.Both were techniques for negotiatin g the threat of castration raised by the image of woman, an image classical cinema simultaneously desired and sought to circumscribe or punish. Nevertheless, even within this heavily constrained context, ‘spectacle’ could also assume a radical function by ‘interrupting’ the smooth functioning of narrative, disturbing the rules of identification and the systematic organisation of the look within the text. (This is the gist of her comparison between the films of von Sternberg, which privilege a fetish image of Dietrich over narrative progress, and those of Hitchcock which more closely align the viewer with the male protagonist). Can spectacle still exert a ‘progressive’ function in contemporary cinema?While most critics answer this question negatively without even posing it, Paul Young is unusual in granting a measure of radical effect to the renewed primacy of spectacle. Young draws on Miriam Hansen’s account of the ‘productive ambi guity’ of early cinema, in which the lack of standardised modes of exhibition, coupled to reliance on individual attractions, gave audiences a relative freedom to interpret what they saw, and established cinema as (potentially) an alternative public sphere. He takes this as support for his argument that contemporary ‘spectacle’ cinema constitutes an emergent challenge to ‘Hollywood’s institutional identity’. 36 16 Young’s analysis contrasts markedly with Gunning’s earlier description of the ‘cinema of effects’ as ‘tamed attractions’. 7 Nevertheless both share some common ground: Young’s reference to the ‘productive ambiguity’ of early cinema, like Gunning’s rather oblique and undeveloped reference to the ‘primal power’ of attraction, draws nourishment from Siegfried Kracauer’s early writings on the concept of distraction. In the 1920s, Kracauer set up Ã¢â‚¬Ë œdistraction’ as a counterpoint to contemplation as a privileged mode of audience reception, seeing it as embodying a challenge to bourgeois taste for literary-theatrical narrative forms, and also as the most compelling mode of presentation to the cinema audience of their own disjointed and fragmented conditions of existence. 38 While distraction persisted as a category used by Walter Benjamin in his ‘Artwork’ essay of the mid1930s, by the 1940s Kracauer seemed to have revised his position.As Elsaesser has pointed out, this re-appraisal was at least partly a re-assessment of the ‘productive ambiguity’ which had characterised social spaces such as cinema; by the 1940s distraction and spectacle had been consolidated into socially dominant forms epitomised by Hollywood on the one hand and fascism on the other. 39 If Kracauer’s faith that the 1920s audience could symptomatically encounter ‘its own reality’ via the superficial glamour of movie stars rather than the putative substance of the era’s ‘high culture’ was already shaken by the 1940s, what would he make of the post-pop art, postmodern 1990s? The extent to which surface elements of popular culture have been esthetically ‘legitimated’ without any significant transformation of corresponding political and economic values suggests the enormous difficulties facing those trying to utilise spectacle as a ‘progressive’ element in contemporary culture. However, it is equally important to acknowledge that this problem cannot be resolved simply by appealing to ‘narrative’ as an antidote. While the terms remain so monolithic, the debate will not progress beyond generalities. In this respect, Kracauer’s work still offers some important lessons to consider in the present. Here, by way of conclusion, I want to sketch out a few possible lines of inquiry. On the one hand, his concept of the ‘mass orna ment’ indicates that any turn, or return, to spectacle in cinema needs to be situated in a wider social context. 0 Spectacle is not simply a matter of screen image, but constitutes a social relation indexed by the screen (something Guy Debord underlined in the 1960s). Developments in contemporary cinema need to be related to a number of other trajectories, including cinema’s on-going endeavours to distinguish its ‘experience’ 17 from that of home entertainment, as well as the proliferation of spectacle in social arenas as diverse as sport (the Olympic games), politics (the dominance of the cult of personality in all political systems) and war (the proto-typical ‘media-event’). On the other hand, the specific forms of spectacle mobilised in contemporary cinema need to be examined for the extent to which they might reveal (in Kracauer’s terms) the ‘underlying meaning of existing conditions’.Kracauer’s analysis of cinem a in the 1920s situated the popularity of a certain structure of viewing experience in relation to the rise of a new class (the white collar worker). In contemporary terms, I would argue that the relevant transformation is the process of ‘globalisation’. While this is a complex, heterogeneous and uneven phenomenon, a relevant aspect to consider here is Hollywood’s increasing reliance on overseas markets, both for revenue, and, more importantly, for growth. 41 In this context, the growing imperative for films to ‘translate’ easily to all corners and cultures of the world is answered by building films around spectacular action setpieces. Equally as ignificantly, the predominant themes of recent special effects cinema— the destruction of the city and the mutation or dismemberment of the human body — are symptomatic of the underlying tensions of globalisation, tensions exemplified by widespread ambivalence towards the socio-political effect s of speed and the new spatio-temporal matrices such as cyberspace. 42 The most important cinematic manifestations of these anxious fascinations are not realised at the level of narrative ‘content’ (although they occasionally make themselves felt there), but appear symptomatically in the structure of contemporary viewing experience. The repetition of awe and astonishment repeatedly evoked by ‘impossible’ images as the currency of today’s ‘cutting edge’ cinema undoubtedly functions to prepare us for the uncertain pleasures of living in a world we suspect we will soon no longer recognise: it is not simply ‘realism’ but ‘reality’ which is mutating in the era of digital economy and the Human Genome Project.If this turn to spectacle is, in some respects, comparable to the role played by early cinema in negotiating the new social spaces which emerged in the industrial city remade by factories and department stores, el ectrification and dynamic vehicles, it also underscores the fact that the ‘death’ of camera realism in the late twentieth century is a complex psycho-social process, not least because photo-realism was always less an aesthetic function than a deeply embedded social and political relation. 43 18 Finally, I would argue that it is important not to subsume all these filmic headings under the single rubric of ‘digital’. There is a need to acknowledge, firstly, that digital technology is used far more widely in the film industry than for the production of blockbusters and special effects (for example, it is the new industry standard in areas such as sound production and picture editing).Moreover, as Elsaesser has argued recently, technology is not the driving force: ‘In each case, digitisation is ‘somewhere’, but it is not what regulates the system, whose logic is commercial, entrepreneurial and capitalist-industrialist’44 What the digit al threshold has enabled is the realignment of cinema in conformity with new demands, such as ‘blockbuster’ marketing blitzes constructed around a few spectacular image sequences of the kind that propelled Independence Day to an US$800m gross. It has rejuvenated cinema’s capacity to set aesthetic agendas, and, at the same time, restored its status as a key player in contemporary political economy. In this context, one aspect of the digital threshold deserves further attention. In the 1990s, product merchandising has become an increasingly important part of financing the globalised film industry.While some would date this from Star Wars, Jurassic Park offers a more relevant point of reference: for the first time, audiences could see on screen, as an integral part of the filmic diegesis, the same commodities they could purchase in the cinema foyer. As Lucie Fjeldstad (then head of IBM’s multimedia division) remarked at the time (1993) : ‘Digital conten t is a return-on-assets goldmine, because once you create Terminator 3, the character, it can be used in movies, in theme-park rides, videogames, books, educational products’. 45 Digital convergence is enacted not simply in the journey from large screen to small screen: the same parameters used in designing CG characters for a film can easily be transmitted to off-shore factories manufacturing plastic toys.