Art Review - A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion essays

Art Review - A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion essays Art is subjective; everyone has different opinions on what constitutes a masterpiece. Some may find Van Gogh's "Starry Night" to be the epitome of a great artistic creation, while others may appreciate the innovative style of Picasso's "Guernica." No matter whether a person views art as garbage or as the holy grail, the purpose of art is to force people to become contemplative. Artists can bring out of people that which cannot be easily seen or felt. They can cause the observer to think about other people and their emotions, their environment, and the social issues that have arisen in the world. The most enduring issue of civilization is the unequal balance of power between the wealthy and the impoverished. The painting "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion" serves as a satire on the upper class, displaying the contrast between French and British artists, exposing the faults of the nobility, and twisting public perception of the nobility. The greatest obstacle to art was censorship. The catastrophic nature of the French Revolution led to a wide-scale censorship of literature, art, and of the press in France. As another monarchist nation, Great Britain should have feared that the rebel attitude across the water would spread to its people. Despite their proximity to the French Revolution, the British maintained a system of free speech and free press. As a result, artists were free to say whatever they wanted in their works because there were no repercussions to fear. The artist behind "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion" was clearly making a statement about the appalling nature of greedy nobles yet because of freedom of the press he is able to openly mock the nobility, showing the confidence of Britain as a nation. Faced with no restrictions to his work, the artist of the painting depicted a noble in an appalling manner. Earlier in history, the noble's portliness would have marked him as fashionable and of high soci...

Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Essay

Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Essay Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Sociology Essay Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Sociology Essay The main focus of this research is on the study of the dynamics of the divorce problem in Italy and Brazil. This study includes comparison of data associated with divorce issue, factors that contribute to divorce, and governmental efforts to solve the divorce problem. To have deep understanding of the topic, scholarly sources have been used, for example, â€Å"Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces† by Stevenson and Wolfers, â€Å"Socio-Economic and Cultural Correlates of Cohabitation in Brazil† by Covre-Sussai and Matthijs, â€Å"Legislative Changes and their Impact on Divorce, Separation and Marriage Rates in Brazil† Maristrello Porto and Butelli, and other works. The research presents the effects of legalization of divorce and describes the factors that account for divorce rate. Historical and cultural developments, rise of globalism, and introduction of new technology may lead to changes in people’s judgment, causing them to reconsider their choices concerning family life. The research also describes the role of the Roman Catholic Church in restricting divorce progression. Due to the significant influence of the Church in Italian and Brazilian societies it was possible to delay the legalization of divorce for a considerable period of time. Divorce in Brazil and in Italy For a long time family was regarded by many nations in the West as a very important social institution. Today, family has become a subject of controversy and discussion. Many researchers have raised questions about the functions of the family units in terms of husband-wife-children relationships. It became common to see women going outside the home to take income producing jobs rather than staying home with children. Many couples live together without a formality of marriage, and those who are legally married tend to separate or divorce. Italy and Brazil are not the exception in this matter. In these countries husbands and wives often share their responsibilities in domestic spheres and the market. Rearing their children is also included in those responsibilities. Gary Becker, in his Treatise on the Family explained this phenomenon and described it in terms of â€Å"production complementarities†. He also identified some reasons for this change: the emergence of new technology that can save labor in the home, availability of birth control and easy access to abortion (Stevenson Wolfers, 2007). All these forces made a significant contribution to a high divorce rate in many countries, including Italy and Brazil. Italy and Brazil have been selected for this research to learn the dynamics of the marriage failure in a deeper way. Such an approach will consider more cultural and social variables that can influence the divorce rate. Italy and Brazil are situated in different geographic regions and have different historical development. While Italy’s population is more homogenous, Brazil is an ethnically diverse country with 50% of mixed races, 42% of white people and 6.5% descendants from Africa (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d., p. 6). The religious influence in both countries has been considerable for centuries. The dominance of the Roman Catholic Church significantly influenced Italy and Brazil. As it was mentioned before, family is a very important social institution. Families are not standing in opposition to the rest of the society as some people think. The truth is that the family units affect the values and structure of the whole society. Both, in Italy and Brazil, these units are the product of particular historical and social circumstances. They are intricately interconnected to other features in social infrastructure. For this reason, the problem of divorce should be a great concern to Italy and Brazil. This research will compare the dynamics of the divorce problem in Italy and Brazil. It will also discuss the initiatives of the governments of both countries to solve this problem. Magnitude of the Problem Italy was one of the countries that held the traditional view concerning marriage, and did not accept the legalization of divorce for a long time. In 1970 a divorce law was passed in Italian parliament. Mark Seymour in his book Debating Divorce in Italy (2006) made the following comment on this event, â€Å"after several deputies had collapsed from exhaustion, a parliamentary vote of 319 for divorce, and 286 against, made Italian history: The Nation now had a divorce law† (p. 211). But only in 1974 when the divorce referendum on this matter was held the Italian public voted for its legalization. Since then the divorce rate began to increase. In 1960s, before the divorce law was passed the divorce rate in Italy was zero. The research of Gonzalez and Viitanen (2006) showed the dynamics of the divorce rate in Figure 1 while comparing the rates in other European countries (p. 24). Immediately, after the passing the law the rise in divorce rate occurred. It reached about 0.7 per 10 00 population. In 1974 the rate began to decrease and it was at approximately 0.3 for more than a decade. However, in the late 1980s the divorce rate almost doubled. This phenomenon can be explained by the amendment of the divorce law passed in 1987. It made provisions for shortening the divorce process and allowed only 3 years of legal separation. Before the divorce process could last 5 or 6 years. Since the amendment was provided the divorce rate had been gradually rising and in 2008 it reached 1.3 per 1000 population (The United States Census Bureau, n.d.). In 2011, the Italian National Institute of Statistics gave more detailed information on separations and divorces in Italy. According to their data, â€Å"In 2011 separations were 88,797 and divorces 53,806; compared to the previous year a substantial stability is observed (+0.7% and -0.7%)† (Istat, n.d.). Total rates of separation and divorce indicate the rise of these phenomena. For example, in 1995 the numbers of separations and divorces for 1000 marriages were 158 and 80 respectively. In 2011 these numbers grew to 311 and 182. Recently the Italian Government has introduced another amendment that simplified the divorce process. The 3 years term of legal separation that had been required by the law, was reduced to 6 months. This initiative will probably contribute to the further growth of divorce rate. The historical development of divorce legalization in Brazil was similar to Italian. The Brazilian society was not willing to accept the divorce law for a long time. This phenomenon was attributed to the influence of Christianity represented by the Roman Catholic Church. Only in 1977 the divorce law became legal. In the 1960s and the early 1970s the divorce rate was zero, the same indicator as in Italy before the introduction of the divorce legalization. But since 1980 this dynamic has changed. The researchers Maira Covre-Sussai and Koen Matthijs, in their project on cohabitation in Brazil discussed the marriage trends. Their research covered different regions of Brazil inhabited by various ethnic groups. The graphs 1 and 2 show the dynamics of marriage and divorce rate in the period from 1980 to 2007 (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d., p. 7). It is remarkable that soon after the introduction of divorce law marriage rate dropped by 4 – 6 marriages per 1000 adults in different regio ns during the next decade. Then the marriage rate stabilized. However, it never came back to the initial point. The divorce rate has shown an ongoing growth in all regions of Brazil since 1980. In the North this rate grew from 0.1 to 0.8 per 1000 adults in the period from 1980 to 2006. In the Central West the divorce rate rose 4 times within the same period. To be precise, if in 1980 the rate was approximately at 0.5, in 2006 it reached 2.00 per 1000 adults. It is also necessary to say that the initial rate 0.5 was more predominant in the Brazilian society. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2012) published average data on this issue. According to their data the divorce rate rose from 0.5 to 1.4 per 1000 adults from 1980 to 2006. But then, the graph showed a rapid growth from 1.4 to 2.6 per 1000 adults from 2009 to 2011. The Civil Registry 2011 revealed an astonishing fact: divorce rate rose to 45.6% in only one year. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2012) put it in more detailed way, The number of divorces in Brazil reached 351,153 in 2011, with increase of 45.6% over 2010 (243,224). As a result, the divorce rate reached its highest level since 1984 (2.6 divorces per 1000 inhabitants aged 15 and over), even more than in the previous year (1.8%). It is remarkable that the rapid growth of divorce rate occurred after the Brazilian Government provided the 66th amendment to the constitution. According to the new legislation a year period of separation was not necessary to be divorced any more. This event took place in 2010, just in the period when the rapid rise of the divorce rate occurred. Considering the fact that Italian Government has recently introduced an amendment that reduced a period of separation, a prediction can be made that Italy will soon experience a new rise of divorce rate. To have a full picture of the magnitude of divorce problem it is necessary to research structural factors that may count for it. The major factor that influenced marriage and family was globalization. Both, Italy and Brazil have been affected by the globalization process to a different degree though. Since 1960s many countries, particularly in Europe, have experienced the second demographic transition. In their research on socio-economics and cohabitation, Maira Covre-Sussai Koen Matthijs put it in the following way, â€Å"Secularization, privatization, individualization and urbanization seemed to contribute to the shifts from collective to individual behavior† (n.d., p. 9). These factors influenced human mind: people began to acquire critical thinking and evaluate current social and economic conditions. New motivations in social consciousness have been formed, such as equality, freedom and self-fulfillment. As a result, people began utilizing these ideas and standards as the y forged their families. Therefore, the growth of divorce rate, decline in fertility, cohabitation and economic autonomy of women are directly related to the 2nd demographic transition. In the social background there were changes, such as abandonment of previous traditions, beliefs and values. Under the influence of these changes couples began to consider new options in their life. For example, they may take the decisions related to legal marriage, living with a spouse and having children (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d.). All these changes have affected people both, in Italy and Brazil. Today Italian people have been experiencing tougher demands in the course of their life. They can also have more opportunities for self-fulfillment. As a result their lifestyle is now very hectic. Both, men and women are professional and are capable of doing different jobs. But their busy life often prevents them from paying attention to emotional needs of each other and from showing care to their children. Therefore, the lack of affection led to relational problems and caused a separation and divorce. The upper middle class in Brazil has been experiencing similar relational problems, but since this social class is not large, Brazilians deal with these problems at a lesser scale than Italians. Unlike Italy, Brazil has never been the state with sufficient welfare that could provide all the necessary needs and proper education to people from all social classes. It is well known that poverty and low education do not encou rage people to get married. For this reason many Brazilian people cohabit instead of getting married. Poverty and low education may also contribute to divorce rate in Brazil (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d.). Coming back to globalization impact on family it is important to note the role of new technology in divorce rate growing. The emergence of Internet and development of cell phones pushed the boundaries and allowed people quick and easy access to communication with each other. Social services gave more opportunities for connection with friends or making friendship. All these factors contribute to relational problems within the family unit significantly. For example, in Italy many young people tend to use the instant messaging service. The service allows people to send free messages via smartphones. Such a service often tempts Italians to converse with the opposite sex. These affairs via smartphone may result in divorce. In Brazil the society is poorer, and is affected by the social services via smartphones at a lesser level. However, the Internet is now available for many Brazilians and it gives them an opportunity to connect with the opposite sex in the Internet cafà ©s. It is also important to mention some historical developments in Brazil that influenced the attitude to the family in the country. Back in the 18th century, when the Catholic Church had control over marriage the slaves were not allowed to be married. The only option they had was to have informal unions. Portuguese colonizers who came to Brazil without their wives also chose informal unions taking indigenous women. Thus family organization in Brazil had a particular history that laid the foundation for interracial and patriarchal relationship (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d.). However, in the modern Brazilian society authoritarian attitudes are tolerated less and they may lead to divorce. To complete the research on the magnitude of divorce problems it is important to mention one more reason that often cause divorce in Italy. The Italian family has a special tradition that is characterized by the close relationship and strong emotional ties between mother and her son (Straussner, 2001, p. 6). Thus when the son gets married these ties often interfere with his marriage relationships. Mother views her son’s spouse as a rival. She often visits the couple’s household and attempts to replace her son’s wife doing things in the house. These mother’s initiatives often cause conflicts between spouses, and ultimately lead to separation and divorce. Efforts to Reduce the Problem of Divorce It may sound surprising to the contemporary Italians but the Italian Parliament made great effort to prevent divorce problem. Their struggle against legalization of divorce had been going since 1860 until the popular referendum that took place in 1974. A lot of research on this matter has been done by Mark Seymour in his book Debating Divorce in Italy (2006). He did a very good job studying the efforts of Italian Parliament to prevent divorce law. During the period of 1860 – 1870 the divorce proposal was not included in the 1865 Civil Code. The proposal was not introduced during the period of the Historic Right either. Until 1901, all the attempts of divorce proposal were futile owing to deliberative procedures in the parliaments. Though some representatives kept introducing proposals for divorce they were always declined or postponed. After 1901, any initiative to allow divorce could not even pass the initial stages of the review in the Italian Parliament. Many historians tri ed to understand why so many divorce initiatives failed to pass. The historian Ernest Ialongo (2008) from CUNY Graduate Center, gave the answer in his review. Because the Church, through its Opera dei congressi, had successfully mobilized public opinion and parliament against divorce. Starting with the divorce proposal of 1881, the Opera began sending out petitions to parishes throughout the country that were then signed and forwarded to parliament. There was not any other non-governmental establishment that could contribute so much to preservation of the family institution. Secular organizations , were not usually interested in sacredness of the family and moral values. Secular Italian government and non-governmental organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank invested their funds into the economy system or social projects. But the measures on improvement of living standards were not sufficient to protect the family units. It was necessary to protect and cultivate moral values. The Church showed its concern when the morality was questioned by some representatives of the Italian society. Eventually, it managed to delay the introduction of divorce law and the gradual destruction of the family institution in Italy. In the 1960s the Italian nation was influenced by the secularization process that started in the Western societies. Secularization of the Italian state, the weakened influence of the Vatican in the Italian communities and the triumph of individual freedoms over religious and social traditions led to the legalization of divorce. As the result of this triumph, in 1970 the divorce law was passed. Four years later, public referendum supported the decision concerning the divorce matter made by the Italian Parliament. In Brazil the Catholic Church had a strong influence too. It managed to delay the introduction of divorce until 1977, seven years longer than in Italy. When the divorce law was introduced several amendments were issued that accelerated the divorce process. The Brazilian governments tried to reduce the divorce problem by the implementation of laws that prevented divorce. The evolution of laws that supported divorce began in 1916 when the Civil Code allowed marital unions to be dissolved after the death of the spouse. Litigious judicial separation was also possible. The law had specific requirements for judicial separation: mutual consent and willingness to be married for another 2 years. According to the research of Porto and Butelli (n.d.) In litigious judicial separation at least one of these must have occurred: adultery, insult, homicide attempt, or voluntary marital abandonment. However, even after judicial separation was granted, the marital bond was kept, impeding new marriages from both individuals. (p. 6) In 1977, the law 6.515 and the Amendment to the country’s Constitution n.9 allowed the dissolution of marriage but at the same time impeded new marriages. The new legislation also made a provision for prior separation that could take more than 3 years. However, a few months later there emerged the Divorce Act. This legal document provided not only separation but indirect divorce. In 1989 there the Law 1.841 was issued. It provided more freedom for those who decided to divorce: divorced individuals were allowed to remarry. As a result, successive divorces became possible. The Civil Code issued in 2002 modified the divorce process in Brazil. Marriage dissolution was provided in 2 ways: through judicial separation and divorce. In 2007 Law 11.441 was issued. It allowed the consensual divorce to be granted in the civil registry. Thus, divorce, separation and dividing the assets became possible whenever the spouses made agreements on its terms. As a result it became much easier to get divorced than before. Ultimately, Brazilian governments failed to reduce divorce problem. Non-governmental institutions, such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund, managed to assist the Brazilian society with reducing their social problem. Like in Italy, the finances were spent on economy system and some social projects, but not on preserving family values. Over time the divorce rate rose significantly, and statistics showed no evidence that the problem would be successfully dealt. It is really difficult to predict what the divorce problem in both countries will look like in 10 years as there are many factors that can influence the dynamics of this matter. For example, the introduction of new laws that simplify divorce process can trigger a new rise of divorce rate. The introduction of new technology will also affect the family institution and may contribute to divorce rate. Considering the reduction of the Church’s influence and the willingness of Italian and Brazilian governments to provide new laws encouraging divorce, this problem will only get worse over the next 10 years. The majority of population in Italy and Brazil had been family oriented before the divorce was legalized. Thus, legal restrictions on divorce helped to preserve families. The dominance of the Roman Catholic Church also served as a positive factor. The Church influenced both, society and government ensuring moral values in Italy and Brazil. It appears that specific historical developments, globalization process and the introduction of new technology may affect the family unit in a negative way. However, if legal restrictions and the Church’s influence remained it would be possible to avoid the rise of divorce rate and preserve family institution.

Produce a 2,000 word literature review that focuses on a specific area Essay

Produce a 2,000 word literature review that focuses on a specific area of social care e.g Dementia. The literature review will - Essay Example Do the rights of the individuals receiving the care supersede those of the care givers? Are the challenges faced by the care givers justified? This research paper will seek to answer these questions and many more that will arise Social care can further be described as a sector that advances care to individuals who are incapacitated to perform their daily activities through the use of social workers. Social care is divided into two main types; child social care and adult social care. Adult social care is the fastest growing type of social care among the two and it involves advancing care to the homeless, individuals with mental health problems, the elderly and disabled individuals. Social work issues are facing the society now. This is a relevant topic in today’s society with changes proposed in the field by many governments to cut the costs incurred by many governments (UK government, The Guardian, Social Care Network) The social workers are the individuals who advance the car e to the incapacitated individuals and they can be professional or non-professional. Social care is majorly advanced to individuals with mental health problems. Individual with mental health problems majorly suffer from Dementia. ... Why are there many vacancies and high staff turnover in social care? Social care has a negative image due to the two raised questions and not much has been done over the years to repair the tainted and negative image that social care is receiving. This topic is of importance because it employs a significant proportion of employees in many countries thus providing employment. In the United Kingdom, social work employs 2.3 million adults which are roughly 6% of the total UK workforce. Dementia is further explained by cognition as a serious state of lack of cognitive ability. Cognition is the ability of an individual to perform psychological functions after the brain processes information. Most of the text on Social work is on providing help for individuals with mental health problems especially dementia. This is not an exclusive area of concern for social care but care is also advanced to the elderly and the disabled individuals. Recently, social care is moving from its original place where care was given in homes, day care centres and nursing homes to residential homes of those in need of the care. Analysis of the rights of the individual An individual receiving care from the care givers or the social workers should be aware of his/her rights which have been stipulated under the European Convention on Human Rights. These rights are the rights that a human being is entitled to due to humanity. Any human being is to be treated with respect and dignity. Some of the rights that the individual is entitled to in the care centres are; Right not to be discriminated against The care givers and the doctors need not to discriminate any individual receiving care in the care centres on either the basis of their race, sickness or age. All the individuals receiving care are

Marketing Communications Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Marketing Communications Plan - Essay Example According to Sheth & Kellstadt (1992), a normative model of service quality improvement is built on the concept of continuous improvement. The company that I have been working in has been using this kind of approach to address its issues of quality improvement. This is because the key objective of the company is to achieve sustained improvements in its services delivery. Therefore, throughout my career, I have had an opportunity to experience a situation in which this model was applied. Moreover, I have been able to experience some of the benefits of this kind of a model when used to improve service quality as well as some of its shortfalls. This benefits and shorts could form a very good basis for my evaluation in this paper.  Normative model of service improvement is divided into stages. The stages include management commitment, employee commitment and participation, employee education and training, communication, assessment and modification, outcomes and targets, and integration (Hernon & Whitman, 2001). These stages are interconnected in an intertwined manner. This means that a stage does not necessarily resAfter intensive market analysis, it has been found that following locations are the most lucrative prospect for Premier Inn:†¢ Manchester (Piccadilly)†¢ Birmingham (City Centre-New Street)†¢ Edinburg (Central)†¢ London (Kensington)These four locations are among the top tourist spots in the country currently and generate significant revenue from tourism activities.

Uninsured and Ill, A Woman is Forced to Ration Her Care Essay

Uninsured and Ill, A Woman is Forced to Ration Her Care - Essay Example Kaur, a year old lady who has suffered from glaucoma since she was a child. Hailing from a poor background, we see how her family struggled to take her to an optometrist who through and through prescribed stronger and stronger spectacles. Now a grown, married lady her illness is a crucial problem to her day to day work. Ms. Kaurs access to care for her eye condition has been affected by many situations. Ms. Kaur works in Manhattan newsstand, at her husband’s uncle, she makes $6 an hour, and she works from 6 am to 3 pm without lunch break for seven days a week. In her health condition, she uses glasses to see well. Her annual income when calculate sums up to $16000 per year. This amount does not qualify her or Medicaid or any other government health program for the poor. Occasionally she experiences eye throbbing pain that require medical attention. Her visits to the New York eye and ear infirmary, where she has been treated for glaucoma on and off since 1999, leave her in debt and having exhausted her earnings on medication and other necessities Ms. Kaur, sometimes avoids regular doctor visits. On many occasions, Ms. Kaur acts as her own physician and druggist though it is said that, with lack of professional attention, she may wind up causing a problem in her other eye. The absence of a regular doctor to examine her condition has also been seen as a barrier since she does not receive the free samples that many patients enjoy with regular doctors. A spokes’ woman for allergen explained that pharmaceutical companies have free drug programs for the poor. Ignorance is another barrier to Ms. Kaur health access the fact that she lacks a source of information about the readily available insurance programs for the poor, company programs for the uninsured this would have enabled her to receive xalatans for at least 6 months. Ms. Klau is also faced with cultural barriers, culturally a young woman in India was not allowed to work to make

Jc Penny Essay Example for Free

Jc Penny Essay This is not the first time that this company has been faced with adversity. The first time was in the 1960’s when shopping went from downtown locations to more uptown locations in malls. The company transitioned to mall locations to cope with the change. This time the change did not come easy to the company. In fact this change has cost the company millions. This time JC Penney’s was faced with a challenge that they wanted to change. They wanted to transition the public’s perception of them. They no longer wanted to be viewed as an old fashioned department store. The company no longer wanted sales or clearance racks. They wanted to change the whole retail climate. They called it fair and square pricing (Baskin, 2013). This came off a lot like Wal-Mart’s always low prices campaign. This sounds like a great idea to me. However, it failed for many reasons. The main reason because it was confusing to consumers. While the other main reason being poor marketing. Many people sat in anticipation of this new campaign by JCPenney’s. There were just as many supporters in the beginning as well. When I heard of this I thought of an upscale Wal-Mart. Low prices I do not have to shop for sales anymore because these should be low prices every day. However, very shortly after this I found myself not shopping there at all. Consumers want a deal, and they do not feel that deal when they shop there anymore. It is the thrill of the hunt for consumers. Not only that but the sales ad and clearance racks used to change. They are no longer changing prices so there is no need to go daily, weekly, or even monthly. Customers may check there as a way to show case, but they are not buying. Without the sales and without the sale advertisements the company is not bringing in nearly the amount of people that were coming into the store to score the best deal. Next the advertisements they are sending out are worded poorly. They are no longer doing sales but they do mail out what they called month long value. Customers did not understand the wording of it. It was never broken down for them. Ideally they had sales, but they were not called the standard name. Therefore, customers missed out on them and they were not bringing in the clientele like a â€Å"sale† probably would have. They were not able to embrace JC Penney’s new tactic. Another problem with this campaign is that the average consumer does not know what the clothing costs. Therefore they think it should be or could be marked down. They have no idea if they were getting a good deal or not. Again the thrill of the hunt is gone, and still makes the customers confused. It was confusing to customers and that means there is a problem in marketing. When a place makes changes that could potentially be confusing marketing is the key. However, there advertisements were so irreverent that they made even less sense to begin with. They came up with a campaign after their numbers dropped called â€Å"do the math. † It was supposed to show how much easier it is to just get a low price in the beginning rather than use a coupon. This action failed for the company. The CEO Ron Johnson came out and reported later that â€Å"it was confusing† to some of their consumers (Baskin, 2013). It’s no wonder that they lost customers. They did not target other competitors about their prices just what the company was trying to do. Last but not least they attempted to open little stores inside their stores. It was a Martha Stewart collection like IKEA. Even that failed because Martha Stewart was not able to put her name on it, because she was still in litigation over her brand. So, it was still branded as JC Penney’s. Not that the name would have made much difference, but it was not thoroughly hought out within the company. Also, this is not a new tactic stores have been doing this for years. The renovation of the stores to add in this small store was costly. It has cost the company millions of dollars. It has depleted their cash, and has also caused their credit rating to drop (Baskin, 2013). This was a costly decision to make when sale s were already down. Here is the largest problem that they had they wanted become a high end store in a low end economy. If I were the CEO of JC Penney I would make quite a few changes. My first change would have been to go back to traditional wording for now. These are the words that customers are the most familiar with. I understand that some companies like to do all their changes at once because it is cheaper. However, when you are changing familiar terms it is wise to do it slowly. Or at least explain it as thoroughly as possible. Change is needed as a society, but no one likes change, because of this I feel that they should be done slowly and over a period of time. I would also have changed the price tags on their merchandise. In order to make someone feel like they are getting a deal I would change how they were priced. I would put a suggested retail price and then put â€Å"our† price on the label. This would appear to customers that they were getting a deal. Sales are because the prices are higher than what they need to be. The advertising is all about â€Å"trickery† to pull people in. In reality they were still doing sales but they were not called sales, and people did not buy into it. By changing the price tags on the items the customers are still getting the thrill of the buy. They can see what their item is going for at their competitor’s location, and impulse buy. This helps eliminate â€Å"showroom† shopping. Or leaving to check their prices somewhere else. If it is a matter of a few dollars they will not go back to purchase. However, if they can see the deal they will buy. Instead of focusing on expanding a business inside of an already expanding business I would have spent the money elsewhere. Imagine if they could have established new rules for buyers. Gone back to JC Penney’s original roots and prove their claims. It could have created new financing and lay-away policies that communicated value, and used social media to create meaningful communities of consumers who wanted to track and participate in conversations about prices. Employees could have been recruited and trained to offer a fundamentally new customer experience based on integrity. They could have changed the way Americans shop and feel they should stop. I would not have wasted money on an advertisement that was bewildering. I would have spent money marketing on calling competitors out on their prices. Sharing the news on how Penney’s was changing. How they were forward looking. Instead of making confusing ads with no sales just to avoid the word sale I wouldn’t have tried to stay away from it. Since they were still doing sales but not doing sales on certain items. Limiting the sales options were not the problem the problem was using unfamiliar wording. Measuring some of these techniques could be hard to do. Going back to traditional wording would be one way that is hard to track. However, I believe it would go hand in hand with how you would track the new price tags. That would be sales. With these new changes and advertisements I would think that sales would increase. I would not look at the actual accounting book but do a twelve month comparison on the sales on each individual store. This is time consuming and costly but I think it is the only way to see how each store is doing in comparison to how they were doing the previous month and year. During high sale times I would make sure I would have as much staff as possible on the floor to assist our customers. Maybe they do not need help but a casual conversation can lead into why they came into this department store and not the one across the way. Along with this I would like to institute team meetings once a week where department heads meet with their front line employees on all shifts. To find out their ideas and where they are hearing concerns are. Then I would have them write them up and do a teleconference with each store head to hear these ideas, questions, or concerns. I feel this is an open door policy. I would also include suggestion boxes not only in the store, but in the break room for employees so they could bring these up anonymously if they felt the need to. Also, I would work on getting the contact information to employees for everyone in charge. Change can happen and many great ideas come from the front line, because they see and do it every day. However, their voices are not often heard. To measure the effectiveness of advertising I would do a few things. I would add a survey at the end of their receipt to figure out what they thought about the advertisement. I would also add a quick questionnaire in the store that the customer could fill out. I would also make it known that there is a number they can call at any time with questions. I would make it so that they could be heard with questions and concerns. Before I launched a campaign I would have a test market so that we could see what people could recall from the add, as well as find out if there was any confusion on what may have been advertised. The sales would play a large part also in whether it was an effective campaign. A company that has been operating for 100 years is struggling. JC Penney ’s was once a fashion icon to children, young adults, and teens. Beginning in 1913 it currently operates over 1000 stores. Growing up my sister and I waited to go through their catalogue. However, in the last few years something has changed. The company didn’t look far enough ahead to the future to predict these changes. They tried to become a higher end boutique like store in an economy that could not support it. Poor marketing and too many changes has made this one booming store one of the top ten stores that are predicted to be out of business in the next year. Works Cited Baskin, J. (2013, January 2). Lessons From JC Penneys Doomed Marketing Makeover. Retrieved May 12, 2013 , from Forbes: http://www. forbes. com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2013/01/02/lessons-from-j-c-penneys-doomed-marketing-makeover/ Tuttle, B. (2012, June 19). More Troubles for JCPenney: Top Executive Departs Amid Sales Slump. Retrieved May 12, 2013, from Time Magazine: http://business. time. com/2012/06/19/more-troubles-for-jcpenney-top-executive-departs-amid-sales-slump/

The Healing Wound :: Vietnam Veterans War Memorial Essays

The Healing Wound It’s a beautiful morning at our nation’s capital. Constitution Gardens is blooming with life. Flowers of red, yellow, and pink bob their heads in the gentle summer breeze. Wise old trees proudly oversee the grassy lawns, while twittering birds scamper about on their strong, sturdy limbs. People talk animatedly as they stroll in small groups along the brown, dusty paths. Children run and jump, stopping occasionally to make quick poses for parents’ snapping cameras. As we walk ahead, we notice a shape taking form on the horizon. It looks like a large gray splinter embedded into the green landscape. As we come closer, we realize how truly large this object is, yet it does not rise up from the earth like other structures in the park. Rather, it sinks down into the lawn, as if its very size were a giant weight upon the land. Now that we are upon it, it looks far more like a gaping black wound than a silver sliver. Its opening begins narrowly and then widens in the middle, tapering off again at the other end. It is very dark, and now that we are close enough to touch it, we see that it is solid and black and hard and dense. The park breezes die here. Adults cease their prattle. Children stop their play. Eerily, even the chatter of birds doesn’t reach this solemn place. All senses tell us that we have entered a sacred site--a place meant for reflection and contemplation. We are at the Vietnam War Memorial. The tip of the gash points to President Lincoln sitting high above and looking out upon us all. In contrast to the giant statue of pristine white, the wall that rises by my foot is so dark that it reflects the ground in which it is burrowed. There are letters inscribed on the wall. They form names. I read: FLOYD LEE WILLIAMS JR. I wonder about Floyd. To most people who come here, his is merely one out of a myriad of names scratched into this cool granite wall. Does anyone know that Floyd was from Northglenn, Colorado, or that he was only 20 years old when he died? How can the thousands of people who see his name here know that he was in Vietnam for only 12 short days? His helicopter was shot down. His life was important, yet his death is only the tip of a great iceberg that chills the hearts of Americans everywhere. There are over 58,000 more names like his listed on these cold slabs. The sleek and stark feel of the memorial is enhanced by the The Healing Wound :: Vietnam Veterans War Memorial Essays The Healing Wound It’s a beautiful morning at our nation’s capital. Constitution Gardens is blooming with life. Flowers of red, yellow, and pink bob their heads in the gentle summer breeze. Wise old trees proudly oversee the grassy lawns, while twittering birds scamper about on their strong, sturdy limbs. People talk animatedly as they stroll in small groups along the brown, dusty paths. Children run and jump, stopping occasionally to make quick poses for parents’ snapping cameras. As we walk ahead, we notice a shape taking form on the horizon. It looks like a large gray splinter embedded into the green landscape. As we come closer, we realize how truly large this object is, yet it does not rise up from the earth like other structures in the park. Rather, it sinks down into the lawn, as if its very size were a giant weight upon the land. Now that we are upon it, it looks far more like a gaping black wound than a silver sliver. Its opening begins narrowly and then widens in the middle, tapering off again at the other end. It is very dark, and now that we are close enough to touch it, we see that it is solid and black and hard and dense. The park breezes die here. Adults cease their prattle. Children stop their play. Eerily, even the chatter of birds doesn’t reach this solemn place. All senses tell us that we have entered a sacred site--a place meant for reflection and contemplation. We are at the Vietnam War Memorial. The tip of the gash points to President Lincoln sitting high above and looking out upon us all. In contrast to the giant statue of pristine white, the wall that rises by my foot is so dark that it reflects the ground in which it is burrowed. There are letters inscribed on the wall. They form names. I read: FLOYD LEE WILLIAMS JR. I wonder about Floyd. To most people who come here, his is merely one out of a myriad of names scratched into this cool granite wall. Does anyone know that Floyd was from Northglenn, Colorado, or that he was only 20 years old when he died? How can the thousands of people who see his name here know that he was in Vietnam for only 12 short days? His helicopter was shot down. His life was important, yet his death is only the tip of a great iceberg that chills the hearts of Americans everywhere. There are over 58,000 more names like his listed on these cold slabs. The sleek and stark feel of the memorial is enhanced by the