Thursday, October 31, 2019

Exhibitions of Kiki Smith in Brooklyn Museum Essay

Exhibitions of Kiki Smith in Brooklyn Museum - Essay Example During the exhibition, Smith displayed her artworks such as the Walking Puppet. She further displayed the Installation image of major Henry Trippe House Chamber Room during the 2010 exhibition. In 2005, Smith was elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York. Smith currently lives in New York and the Pace Gallery has represented her since 1994. She has been exhibiting annually since 1982 at Fawbush Gallery in New York. In 1990, she received acclamation for her exhibition at Museum of Modern Art, New York. She exploited the use of ceramic, fabric, paper, and glass for her work. Her work reflected the physiological and psychological body power. Smith’s first full-sized sculptures were stoic figures. The sculptures showed naked male and female couple. They exhibited leaking body fluids from both the figures. The figures also show human power and powerlessness through the presence of a blood pool. The sculptures present issues regarding sexuality and gender. Smith ha s produced many accolades. Her recent accolades include Theo Western Berger Women of Excellence Award in 2010, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award and Purchase School of Arts in 2010. She recently did work on U.S State Department Medal of Arts that was given by Hillary Clinton in 2012. In the year 2009, she finished her 50th Edward MacDowell Medal and Women in the Arts Award. Smith has several exhibitions. Her work has featured in the PACE gallery exhibition frequently. One such exhibition where her work featured was the FOG Design + Art Fair in 2015 in San Francisco. The exhibition explored spiritual aspect her work. Smith has a great relationship with Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum has an important cultural institution in U.S. The Museum has a vast collection of Smith’s artistic work. Such work involves After Lewis Carroll of 2003, Lebbeus Woods of 2004, Logan Elm Press, and Universal Limited Arts Editions, Inc. among others.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Factors related to strategic management and leadership that make the Essay

Factors related to strategic management and leadership that make the company highly successful - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that business strategy is an extremely important and perhaps one of the most frequently used buzzwords in the contemporary business literature. Business firms are finding their ‘strategies’ as pathways to success because the strategy of an organization necessarily incorporates planning, people, processes, patterns, procedures, and perspectives. Strategy within an organization is a specific pattern of decisions that defines and determines the objectives of the firm to provide certain structures related to achieving the goals Managing human, as well as non-human resources and utilizing the organizational capabilities effectively, are at the very heart of formulating and implementing the business strategy. Deckers Outdoor Corporation designs manufacture and markets stylistic, innovative and high-quality footwear for men, women, and children with causal and outdoor wearing. The company was founded in 1973 by a student of California University to produce sandals for beachgoers and surfers. The company markets its footwear products and accessories such as handbags and outerwear under three brands, namely UGG, Teva and Sanuk primarily through U.S retailers and international distributors. The company also markets its products directly to end-users both in a home and abroad through its website. Deckers Outdoor gives more importance to finding and building niche brands into global lifestyle leaders through its innovative design and brand differentiation. Its brands are designed with a view to meet specific needs of different groups, activities, jobs, and people around the world. What makes the company and its brands different is that it never caters ordinary outwears. Apart from the three major brands- UGG, Teva and Sanuk, it markets TSUBO, Ahnu, MOZO, Hoka etc. TSUBO is designed for providing a line of casual footwear and Ahnu for outdoor performance and lifestyle footwear. MOZO is developed with a view to providi ng a line of footwear that combines running shoe technology with work shoe toughness for people who spend long hours working on their

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Idea Initiation In A Young Company

Idea Initiation In A Young Company Making the business plan has been a great hands on experience to learning about small business development. We were not only required to study theories on how a business is created but actually do it ourselves. For me it has been a great learning experience as I had to make a decision to think like an entrepreneur and develop the qualities an entrepreneur has and incorporate the qualities of creativity, drive and a willingness to take risk. The aim of the below report is to summarize my contribution to this project as well as the key areas of idea initiation, teamwork, presentation experience, alternative scenarios and learning gained as well as other areas covered in the development of the business plan. Teamwork All three team members contributed to make this project successful and worked together to create an efficient team. Idea Initiation After several sessions of brainstorming the group decided on a Business and technology magazine under the guidance of Mrs Priti Punatar through the process of identifying opportunity by means of problem solving. Presentation Experience A learning experience about time management, public presentation and the importance of thoroughly understanding the business venture an individual wants to undertake as well as understanding the involvement of investors in the entrepreneurial process. Alternative Scenario Consideration of both best and worst case scenarios allows BT to prudently predict steady growth rate. Team Work A new venture team is defined as the group of founders, key employees and advisors that moves a new venture from an idea to a fully functioning firm and so with our team it was the case of bringing together people with different abilities and strengths to create a strong unified force to achieve the objective of making a successful business plan. Each individual brought their own individual set of skills and played a different role in the planning and execution of the business plan. Our team was formed keeping in mind the strengths of its members and tasks were delegated accordingly. Priyanka who is good with numbers did the financial plan as well as the marketing plan, Krupa who has the strongest organizational skills dealt with the organizational structure and risk analysis and I was delegated the task of Industry analysis due to my research skills as well as the operational plan. Initially our team consisted of four members; Priyanka, Krupa, myself and Joyce Issowe who later dropped out due to medical complications. Working efficiently in a team is a key success factor for anyone who wants to be a successful entrepreneur as he/she will be required to meet with and bring together a venture team to work with. We were very lucky in that, although our team involved the coming together of three highly opinionated individuals all were willing to listen and respect the others opinions which allowed us to come up with the best viable solutions in a dignified manner. In my opinion, each individual within the team worked efficiently to ensure the success of the team. The executive summary, the business and appendices were completed with hard work from all the three team members equally. All In all, every team member put in the required effort, all meetings were attended in time and all our planned goals were reached Process of Idea Initiation In this most fundamental process our first and basic concern was to come up with a firm that would be entrepreneurial in nature as opposed to being salary substitute or lifestyle oriented. The business had to be feasible, innovative and we needed to have both the passion and knowledge required for it. Initially through the process of brainstorming our group had a number of business concepts to go with. Joyce had suggested a dairy farm, Krupa suggested a school for performance arts, Priyanka suggested an engineering consultancy and my own suggestion was a web based real estate firm. By the process of elimination using our checklist we realized that a dairy farm wasnt innovative enough, we didnt have the expertise required for an engineering consultancy and the market wasnt ready yet for a web based real estate venture or a school for performing arts. As the foundation of any successful business lies in recognizing opportunity, we decided to speak with a few people, in our social network, involved in different industries whilst researching the trends in various fields and industries. Finally under the supervision of Mrs. Punatar, we decided to work on a business and technology magazine that would be the first of its kind to be produced in Tanzania. Due to the growth in the economy and changing social factors such as more graduates entering the labour market and increasing diversity the need for information had arisen and there was a lack of a locally produced business magazine. We realized the window of opportunity was wide open and circumstances were just right. Therefore our business concept came about; A business and technology magazine for Tanzanians, by Tanzanians. Through this process I learnt that opportunity needs to be defined, timely, attractive and of value to the end user. I learnt also to identify opportunity through observing trends, finding a gap in the marketplace and solving a problem. Apart from this I saw how economic and social factors account for the creation of opportunities and how different characteristics such as prior experience, creativity and social networks help entrepreneurs and finally I learnt to apply the 5 steps of generating creative ideas as well as the different techniques involved such as brainstorming and surveys. Presentation Experience Important factors considered by investors in their decision making process include determining that the company has focus, specific solutions for the needs of the market, that customers are willing to buy the product and that the dynamics of the company are strong. They need to know that the company is run by smart people who can control expenses and make a profit. If expected to invest, they in turn need to trust the management team running the business in terms of their experience, maturity, reputation as well as a track record of success and personal interaction therefore is a must. Also investors cannot be expected to have the time to sit down and go through lengthy documents, they want to get instant answers for any concerns or queries. The process of crafting the slides to be presented, and ensuring the presentation would cover all essential areas whilst summarizing the entire business concept, was a challenging one that taught me about time management, extraction of essential information from available data and the involvement of visuals to convey essential points. All three members of the group presented the plan in parts with me introducing the business, the problem we aimed to solve and our business model. Krupa then took over and covered management team, industry analysis and competition leaving Priyanka to finish the financial overview including; share offering, payback, profitability, break even analysis and current status and projected use of funds ending with exit strategy for investors. Crucial lessons were learnt during this presentation about capturing and retaining the interest and attention of our potential investors, maintaining the set time limit as well as the importance of confidence and a deep understanding of the business venture. Alternative Scenario The success of any business is dependent on external as well as internal conditions. Internal factors are easier to control and predict relative to the external factors. With regards to external conditions, there is always some degree of uncertainty. In order to be prudent all figures taken within the business plan have reflected a pessimistic view of the worst case scenario. In order to achieve this and to reflect alternative scenarios that may arise due to unpredictable factors the revenue included in the business plan is less than that actually expected by investors. Due to the unpredictability of Macro-environmental factors the number of subscriptions has been kept at minimum and the advertising revenue included is less than what the firm will target to achieve. Another relevant point concerns the break even analysis. To keep alternative scenarios in mind, both best and worst case of total revenue have been considered whilst the figure taken for cost has been kept at maximum in line with the accounting principle of prudence. This allows investors to be comfortable to know that the minimum success will be as presented in the business plan with an additional potential for greater growth. Business partnerships have also been taken into account in order reflect alternate means to achieve a target. This can be seen as in the outsourcing of printing to keep costs low as well as the establishment of a network of free lance contributors. Figures for costs and budget in the analysis of the financial statements have also been calculated after the consideration of the alternative growth scenarios and B%T therefore is expected to have steady growth as a worst case scenario where the best case reflects a quicker point of break even and higher profitability. Learning and Usefulness of the Business Plan The experience of coming up with a business plan opened up my eyes on the many aspects that are necessary to be considered whilst starting up a business. Extensive research is required together with knowledge of the industry. I have realized that an entrepreneur must have a clear vision on how exactly his company will work and perform. Before making a business plan myself I had no idea of how important it is. This document includes all research and analysis showing feasibility of a new venture and how all the different resources needed may be brought together synergetically. In developing a business plan it becomes necessary to look at every single aspect of the business and it therefore provides a clear picture of whether a new venture is likely to succeed or fail. The business plan analyses the potential of turning an idea into a source of revenue and in so doing answers the question of viability, industry attractiveness and growth, size and buying power of target market, attractiveness and uniqueness of the business model, availability of skilled labour, completion, ROI, legality and critical risks. It can be stated therefore that it is a critical document providing answers to investors for them to make an informed decision on whether or not to turn a particular idea into a business venture. This process has taught me a lot. I learnt to apply Porters 5 forces model in considering substitutes, new entrants, existing rivalry, bargaining power of buyers and suppliers as this was necessary in order to determine the attractiveness and profitability of the industry and position our firm where we could make maximum profit. In carrying out competitor analysis I understood the type of competitors BT would face and was therefore able to develop strategies to allow the firm to compete successfully for example, establishment of BTs brand before the emergence of future competitors. Through the next step of developing a business model we had to apply what we learnt in class to create an effective model for BT as was the case with applying knowledge on financial analysis and the value of pro forma statements, forecasts and budgets to determining success of the new venture. I also learnt how to develop a successful marketing mix through looking at the issue of core product versus actual product. All in all this process has shown me that a business plan is the most important tool needed in the entrepreneurial process as is incorporates within it everything any stakeholder would need to know about the viability of the idea and its conversion to a business venture.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Theme of Change in The Crucible, Sky High, Titanic, and The Colour Purp

The global social systems throughout history and today are a constant movement of change seen in emotional, mental and physical patterns. Changes alter perception and perception can manipulate things to change. â€Å"The Crucible† by Arthur Miller, â€Å"Sky High† by Hannah Roberts, â€Å"Titanic† directed by James Cameron and â€Å"The Colour Purple† by Alice Walker, convey the concept of change in an inevitable occurrence or voluntary decisions throughout all aspects of life. Throughout the four texts, various techniques are used to portray these messages, for instance, anecdote, juxtaposition, music, and film techniques. Miller incorporates the character Reverend John Hale in â€Å"The Crucible† as representation of the whole changing town of Salem. Hale is a paradoxical figure that discovers the absence of evil in the people due to the injustices of court decisions. When Rev. Hale first arrives in Salem in Act one, he is very objective about the whole situation of witchery. He questions Tituba and Abigail about all the events that occurred in the forest such as the girls' dancing, and he believes â€Å"witchery† was involved. The Salem witchcraft trials began as a result. Hale's personal feelings tell him that Abigail and her friends are innocent, but his Puritan background prevents him from questioning the authority of the court. However in Act Three, Hale realizes that John Proctor, the accused, is an honest man when he would willingly ruin his own reputation in the hopes of exposing Abigail as a â€Å"whore†, and denounces the proceedings and left. Ironically, Rev. Hale retur ns to Salem to encourage the accused to lie in order to save their lives. This demonstrates that Hale's beliefs changed dramatically as a result of the injustices of the court. He be... ...e right,† but she says it’s all she has. Eventually, Celie stops thinking of God as she stops thinking of the other men in her life and tells God off, writing, â€Å"You must be sleep.† But after Celie has chased her patriarchal God away and come up with a new concept of God, she writes in her last letter, â€Å"Dear God. Dear stars, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God.† This re-imagining of God on her own terms symbolizes Celie’s move from an object of someone else’s care to an independent woman. Walker emphasizes here that the ability to express one’s thoughts and feelings is crucial to developing a sense of self. Individuals and groups are influenced by change that is cataclysmic, whether it would be inevitable or voluntary. As discussed above, change can be seen as acceptance. Once one accepts this change it is adopted but one must live to fulfill it.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Women in Hamlet

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the roles of women are dependent on men. There are only two women in the play who have a direct relationship with Hamlet. Ophelia, who looked up greatly towards Polonius, Laertes who has a great influence on her life as well as Hamlet. The other female role is Gertrude, Hamlets mother always trying to impress the men in her life not only her son but previous marriages. As these women are the most important female characters in the play it is first shown through Ophelia. Ophelia is not independent as she has to rely on men such as her father, brother and boyfriend.First, she is greatly obedient for her father willingly to do what he requests her to do without hesitation. Polonius gives her advice to take in a strong manner to break it off with Hamlet knowing she must listen. She responds with respect â€Å"I shall obey, my lord† (I. iii. 136). She tells him that she will do as he asks obeying his commands, because he is the only one she may go t o until she gets married. Not able to make decisions for herself either way for the fact if she married Hamlet he would be making them for her.Also, Hamlet was the man she considered spending her life with and was willing to do what he would ask of her trying to win his affection. Although, after listening to her father, by agreeing to stop seeing Hamlet, he over reacts on her with anger, mocking in which her reputation is ruined and how she will never find a man. She does not defend herself after these comments knowing you cannot battle against a male, yet later cries to wish he did not react that way â€Å"Oh, woe is me / T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!† (III. i. 160-1).Requiring the desire to please all men, this makes her feel terrible although she did satisfy her father. Another influence she significantly admires and respects is her brother Laertes. Before his leave, he gave her great advice in which she took account of since her brother was like a role m odel, promising, â€Å"I shall the effect of this good lesson keep / As watchman to my heart. †(I. iii. 45-6). Wanting to make him feel proud and show prove how she is capable of taking care of herself.Later, with the loss of her father and absence of her brother, as well as being apart from the man she loves, is one of the reasons to why her life ends early. She drowns as explained, that her garment pulled her down. Moreover, it is as if she had no one around to motivate her to fight to live, since none of the men are around to regulate her to do so. Furthermore, Ophelia a young woman is obligated to abide by the rules of men as well as the Queen of Denmark also who relies on their comfort.Gertrude’s oblivious personality makes her dependent on the men in her life shadowing not only King Claudius but King Hamlet and her son Hamlet as well. The love for her son ends her life in tragedy by drinking from the chalice of poison that King Claudius prepares for Hamlet. Altho ugh, she knows not to drink the chalice as the King warns her not to, nevertheless, does it anyways symbolize as a sacrificing mother. Before her death the last she says, â€Å"No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet! / The drink, the drink! I am poisin’d† (V.ii. 303-4).This depicts what happens if women are disobedient as she was to her husband which led to her death and also portraying how saving Hamlets life was what she had to do being selfless and caring. In addition, Gertrudes need for attention is seen after her quick marriage following the death of King Hamlet. Losing the feeling of importance, where she needs, and rapidly gets over her husband’s death moving on explaining to hamlet, â€Å"Do not for ever with thy vailed lids / Seek for thy noble father in the dust† (I. ii. 70-1).Revealing how her values of affection are far greater than her moral righteousness and respect of herself not considering others approach on situations. Marrying K ing Claudius, she is highly dependent on him, who is able to persuade her in fictitious ideas others might not allow themselves to believe yet Gertrude constantly does. Such as after, he hears of the death of Polonius, tries to make it sound like he is helping Hamlet with his best interests when in reality he plans to kill him.As he assures the Queen, â€Å"It had been so with us, had we been there / His liberty is full of threats to all† (IV.i. 13-4), the king attempt to secure his own safety first sending Hamlet off somewhere far by seeming like it is for a greater intrest. Gertrude is oblivious to her surroundings which present it easier for the King to manipulate in addition for her disregard for her own place and her ultimate confusion. Gertrude is a strong character by her title as being the Queen, nevertheless forced to obey and concur with reinstated ideas by the King, losing attention from King Hamlet and sacrificing herself for Hamlet.The woman of Shakespeareâ€℠¢s play Hamlet needs guidance in order to achieve fulfillment. Ophelia, seen loyal and obedient to her father Polonius, brother Laertes and listening to other males such as Hamlet recognized throughout the play, displays her devotion to make them pleased. Finally, Gertrude has a high power considering all the women and even men, still fights the struggle between impressing men in order to achieve satisfaction. They both play the passive roles in the play; this shows that all women were not measured as equals.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Cooking: Water and Chicken Essay

Cooking has been my specialty since I was a child. This is one of my strongest talents. I can cook a variety of recipes from my local Ethiopian cuisines to the modern American recipes. Some of the foods I can boast off are â€Å"injera†, a local food of Ethiopians and spicy chicken sandwich but today I want to prepare chicken breast ready to be fried or baked. This is called simmering. Simmering is cooking the chicken with chicken broth or water. This makes the chicken tender and soft, ready to be fried. Firstly, rinse each chicken breast. If the breasts are frozen, allow them to fully defrost before boiling. The chicken breast can also be defrosted in the microwave, in the refrigerator, or by soaking it in a bowl of cold water. After defrosting the chicken is soaked in salt water it take the slimly taste out of it. Most Africans do this before cooking any poultry and dairy products After defrosting; fill a pot with water or chicken broth. The broth will be a better choice since it has a lot of flavoring. Place the chicken breasts in the pot, making sure that each piece is fully submerged under water or broth. Add more water or broth if necessary. Do not add more water or broth if not needed or this tends to make the chicken softer and even watery in extreme cases. If you want this to cook faster, cut the breasts into halves or in quarters. This is also a good way to ensure that the inside of the breast thoroughly cooks. Thirdly, place the pot on the stove. Bring water or broth with chicken to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. The temperature must be right; this it must be too hot or lower. Cover the pot and allow the chicken to cook until the insides are no longer pink. Cook time will vary depending on the size and type of breast. Chicken breast can be skinless or boneless, either way; they should be cook for about thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, remove pot from the source of heat carefully to avoid getting burn. Drain liquid from the pot, and transfer breasts to a plate. Chicken should be white in color and be easily pulled apart with hands or a fork. At this point they are ready to be fried; baked or even eaten. Chicken that is boiled in only water can be very bland tasting. Adding vegetables and/or broth to the pot, and season your chicken with various cooking sauces and spices will give it some nice, warm taste. This is the most perfect time for to fry the chicken. Deep frying is my preferred choice but other methods include pan-frying or even baking. Either ways the chicken is well-prepared and ready to be eaten. The fryer should be a deep fryer so the chicken can be completely submerged in the fryer. Flour is used to coat the skin of the chicken; this gives the chicken its crispy coating and a fine layer of skin. Vegetable oil or olive oil is the best choice for frying. After the fryer is heated to the right temperature, the chicken is gently lowered into the pot to prevent the oil splashing around and causing burns. It takes of 30 minutes and above to get the chicken fully and wholly fried; during this time a watchful eye must be kept on it so it doesn’t burn. After this, they are ready to be served. They can be eaten with almost anything from stir-fries, fajitas to salads.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The theory behind Reaganomics essays

The theory behind Reaganomics essays The theory behind Reaganomics was sound, but when applied in real life its consequences are still present more than ten years after the fact. The tax cuts applied early in Reagan's first term cemented the ideology for what the next eight years of his reign would uphold. The Economic Recovery Tax Act would cut taxes roughly twenty five percent over a three-year period. The ideology of Reagan's administration quickly received supporters of what he was doing. Entailed in these tax cuts were reductions in welfare programs which was also a popular idea amongst Reaganites. But what is puzzling is that David Stockman held a large portion of the truth of these tax cuts from Reagan and the public. What would occur with the ERTA was a substantial deficit. This deficit was not the intent of Reagan. Reagan's intent was that the tax cuts would allow the public to have more money. This additional money which would have otherwise been spent on taxes was supposed to be put back in the economy by the people. The ability of people to now spend more on homes, cars and other goods would boost the prosperity of the economy. But Stockman had a theory of his own. He saw that this deficit would force Congress to make cuts of its own on social programs. Stockman with held this information from the public and from Reagan so that when Congress would reallocate funding, it would avoid giving it to social programs. Stockman's theory does not make sense with the political views of the time. If Reagan and the public were in favor of cutbacks on the welfare system, why would Stockman with hold this information from a population who was in favor of the result? Stockman was an intelligent man who for some time worked in the House of Representatives and had connections to many people in Washington. He served as the budget director for the Reagan Administration. As budget director, his intentions were to acquire a balanced budget by the next t...