Proposal of Director’s Interpretations for Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well loved plays and the mastermind behind it is none other than the great Shakespeare. This story has become one of the most iconic tragic teen love stories of our time. It has been reinterpreted differently by various people, each trying to present their own ideas and take of the play. Therefore, as a director, we have a tricky job. How do we in a way add more to the play? What is it that we can do to give our audience a fresh experience? Therefore, this interpretation of the play, my interpretation, has been thoroughly thought about to address all these concerns. I sincerely hope our audience has a wonderful experience as we bring to light new concepts and ideas. One of the biggest worries when reinterpreting the play is whether or not to change is context; for our audience, as a director we must contemplate about whether or not it is better to change the context to make it more applicable to our society or to just leave it. However, in this case, I have decided to change the setting of the play by modernizing it to be set in modern America. The modernization of the play will allow for a new canvas where a whole new variety of ideas can be explored. As I want to emphasise the extent of the violence and rivalry originally embedded in the play, I have also decided to have the concept of gangs incorporated into my interpretation of the play. The concept of gangs will also be a medium to expand on the theme of the â€Å"ancient grudge†. The

India Fashion Free Essays

TABLE OF CONTENTS| | | Page| -| INTRODUCTION – India’s â€Å"design† leap forward? | 3| 1| INDIA’S UNIQUE ECONOMY – AN OVERVIEW| 4| 2| FACETS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY| | 2. 1| India in the last decade| | 2. 2| Infrastructure| | 2. We will write a custom essay sample on India Fashion or any similar topic only for you Order Now 3| Bureaucracy and Corruption| | 2. 4| Import tariffs| | 2. 5| Engineering skills| | 2. 6| Entrepreneurship| | 2. 7| Trade imbalances and inflation| | 2. 8| Indian Political scene| | 2. 9| People| | 3| THE PATH FORWARD| | 4| INDIA’S FASHION INDUSTRY – TRULY GLOBALIZED? | | 4. 1| The Fashion Industry| | 4. 2| The Indian Fashion Industry| | 4. 2. 1| Factors driving growth| | . 2. 2| Local and Foreign players| | 4. 2. 3| Fashion design industry – an example of India’s design future| | 5| | | 5. 1| | | 5. 2| | | 5. 3| | | 5. 4| | | 5. 5| | | -| APPENDIX| | | | | INTRODUCTION India’s ‘design’ leap forward? Abstract India has always been a unique country and this is especially true of how its economy has developed. Rather than aggressively pushing for export growth or attracting foreign direct investment like China and most others in Asia, India’s unique setting, resources and boundaries led it to develop the service sector instead. Was this an ‘accidental’ development or a purposeful push by the government? If purposeful in nature, what drove the Indian government to take such an approach? In fact, what are the key drivers (or should be the key drivers) on a macro-economic level that determine a country’s developing path? In our paper, we would like to explore three areas specifically: The Indian government and its policy making, given infrastructure and institutions and finally India’s political base to see if a conclusion can be made with regards to its economic development. With this macro environment understanding in place, we would then like to look from a micro-economic level and analyze how businesses can succeed within the India service industry given this framework. The latter question will be answered while evaluating the rapidly growing Indian â€Å"desi† fashion industry as an example of the design future for Indian, which has become very much about focusing on the taste and preferences of locals in terms of design. Is there a way that foreign design firms might be able then compete given that the local companies are so in tuned with the local culture and tastes, not to mention cheaper? Would there be a way to educate the local consumers to adopt a ‘brand conscious’ mindset as the economy develops and the affluent community increases in size? Or will the culture remain a loyal to a ‘Made in India’ concept for the years to come and hence be a waste of time for foreign firms to try and break that mold. With this paper we will try to address these issues to draw a conclusion and recommendation on how best to approach entering this unique and challenging market. 1. INDIA’S UNIQUE ECONOMY – AN OVERVIEW India, with 1. 189 billion people (July 2011), is the second largest country behind China. Though only 30% of the total population is living in cities, the urbanization is taking place at 2. 4% per annum. Only 6% of the population is above 60 years. However, due to longer life expectancy at birth of 66. 8 years (2011), this segment is constantly growing. The population below 15 years remains relatively constant because on average every Indian woman is giving birth to 2. 6 children but with an infant mortality rate of 5%. It is important to mention that the working population age 15 to 59 will increase dramatically in the next five years from 720 to 800 million, seeking jobs and enlarging the economy. The government is spending 3. 1% of GDP on education in order to increase literacy rate (only 61% of Indians above the age of 15 can read and write) in order to prepare a young workforce to enter the labour market [Data based on CIA fact book 2011]. India and China were the biggest economies until approximately 200 years ago because they had the biggest populations and size was a dominant factor in economic output. Once the industrial revolution commenced in England in 1800s, followed by the information revolution in the late twentieth-century, mere size mattered less. First the Europeans, and then the Americans leveraged technology to increase GDP in absolute terms and on a per capita basis. Now, India and China are developing fast, and are moving up in the world in GDP terms. In 2010, India’s GDP in purchase parity was $3. 92 trillion and listed as fourth-largest economy in the world after the US, China and Japan. . FACETS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY 2. 1India in the last decade It is interesting to note that while services now make up more than 50% of the GDP of India, it wasn’t that long ago that India was also embarking on the conventional path towards an advance economy through the typical agriculture to manufacturing route. After all, Japan, then Taiwan and South Korea, and now China have demonstrated that manufacturing can accelerate development because its output can be exporte d to rich countries. However, in India’s case, while export and trade rules were relatively lax at the time, the domestic market was one where there were massive protectionism laws in place, so much so it became known as a ‘license raj’. At that point in time, India had just gained independence and eager to boost export growth while still protecting local industries and expertise. The reality was however, that this strategy was a failure and led to a much slower growth rate than its neighbour leading it soon to a brink of bankruptcy in 1991, despite the ‘Green revolution’ and massive growth of its agricultural segment. Looking back however, this phase might have actually ‘saved’ India and probably served as the platform where India’s true growth began. The Prime Minister then Narashimha Rao and Finance Minister Mammohan Singh, with fresh money from the IMF and conditions of the loan, engineered sweeping economic reforms throughout India which included steps to remove the ‘license raj’ that it had became. In tandem with this, tariffs were reduced along with interest rates. Many public monopolies were also removed, markets were opening up and automatic approvals for foreign investment were granted into many areas (but not all). The results from these reforms have been impactful. As mentioned in the earlier section, India is now the 4th largest economy by purchasing power parity and has been experiencing an average GDP growth rate of 8. 5% since 2005, making it second only to China in terms of growing economies. Additionally, despite the global economic slowdown, for FY11, India is still expected to achieve at least 7. 5% growth for its GDP. This is partially due to the fact that its domestic consumption is extremely strong and this helps to insulate it from external shocks. Looking a bit closer at the GDP split, one would find that services now make up the bulk of it, accounting for 56% of the GDP while the industrial and agricultural sectors represent 29% and 15% respectively as of 2010, a sharp turnaround for India when compared to the 1970s where agriculture used to be the shining star of growth, contributing close to 42% of the overall GDP. In addition, the contribution from the industry sector only increased from 21% to 29% during the last 40 years, which is very unimpressive when compared to the services sector. Source: Worldbank With the various reforms also comes increased foreign investment into the country. This has amounted to some 178 billion USD between 2000 and 2010, a massive jump from 1991 where it was only averaging USD $200 million per year before in FDIs. Among some of India’s key investors include Mauritius, Singapore and USA which rank 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively, with interests in such investment obviously gaining ground given India’s significant potential and prospects of high profitability. As discussed above, the strong domestic consumption has led to a lot of overseas investment into the country and the government has been doing its share to promote such FDIs, through the continued removal of investment caps across all the industries. There still remain an unfinished agenda of permitting greater FDI in politically sensitive areas such as insurance and retailing, though at least for retailing, some steps have recently been taken to open this market. A deep dive into where this foreign investment is going also reveals, not surprisingly, that a substantial amount or about 23% of total FDI equity goes into the services sector, followed then by the IT and telecommunication segments. 2. 2Infrastructure An important element to take note of is that India’s economic growth stands on a weak foundation as highways, bridges and airports are not up to international standards. Average speed on highways is only 20 miles per hour due to road congestions and generally its roads are of poor quality. Economic losses resulting from such poor infrastructure are estimated to be $6 billion per year according to the Federal Planning Commission. In India, highways or expressways constitute only about 67,000 km and while this makes up only 2% of all roads, they carry 40% of the road traffic! The government has been trying to resolve this by setting up a multiple stage National Highway Development Project (NHDP) with its signature project â€Å"Golden Quadrilateral†. The goal of this project is to connect the most populous cities of Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. This has been partly completed in 2011 cutting the travel time on the 1335km route from Chennai to Mumbai from 90 hours to 48 hours (a significant 47% reduction). However, multiple check posts and mobile squads remain a source of corruption, not to mention traffic obstruction on highways and toll stations. Various entry restrictions into cities also slow down the transportation of goods. Since cargo traffic is estimated to grow by 15 – 18% annually, the Indian government is spending $78. 5 billion over the next five years and is additionally trying to attract foreign direct investments for road development projects, granting 100% income tax exemption for a period of 10 years to private investors. It is also disappointing that India’s vast railroad network of more than 60,000 km is not as effectively used for goods transportation as compared to China. One reason is a different standard of broad gauge (80%) and narrow auge (20%). The government has thankfully recognized this and is now investing $5 billion into building dedicated freight corridors in the Western and Eastern routes (Delhi – Mumbai and Delhi – Kolkata). More significantly, India has opened the freight transportation sector to competition erasing CONCOR’s previous monopoly of container movement by rail. Source: Worldbank database Power is another issue as many cities and economic zones suffer from unstable power supply along with shortages of fresh water. India is generating 122 Gigawatts of power from coal-fired plants (57%), hydro power (25%), gas (10%), nuclear power plants (3%) and 5% from renewable sources (wind, solar). There is a silver lining here though. While generation, transmission and distribution is in the hands of public sector companies or state electricity boards, the private sector companies and international players are increasingly investing in India’s energy sector (for example Tata Power has a capacity of 2,203 MW, China Light ; Power provides 655 MW). Unfortunately, despite these investments, there is still a large demand / supply gap of 7 to 12% according to Indian investment commission. It is also precisely because of its weak infrastructure that some foreign companies choose other countries in South East Asia, for example Thailand or Vietnam to set-up manufacturing sites. 2. 3Bureaucracy and Corruption Despite India’s best efforts to remove its ‘licence raj’ stigma, there still exists a fair amount of bureaucracy. The Indian Times summed it up aptly with an article it ran on 3rd June 2009, titled: India’s ‘suffocating bureaucracy’ worst in Asia! A survey by the Hong-Kong based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) compared 12 Asian nations towards business friendliness.. Source: World Bank â€Å"Doing Business† Publication In the abovementioned article, 1,274 expatriates working in the 12 leading Asian nations found Singapore, Hong-Kong and Thailand to be the most efficient countries followed by South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines and Indonesia. India came in last with its bureaucracy described as â€Å"suffocating† and interaction with civil servants perceived as a â€Å"slow and painful process†. This is a serious issue not just for its reputation to the outside world, but also domestically. According to World Bank figures, India ranks among the world’s worst countries at encouraging entrepreneurs. India is ranked a lowly 166th out of 183 countries in terms of ease of starting a business and second last with regards to enforcing contracts. In addition to bureaucracy, India also suffers from an alarmingly high level of corruption. The 2011 Li-Na report reveals the following: Other organizations like Transparency International ranked India 73 out of the 102 countries in its Corruption Perception Index (2008) and the World Economic Forum positions India 44th amongst 49 countries surveyed. Over the past two decades since the end of the â€Å"license raj† in the 1990s, the Indian economy has gradually opened up along with the government’s relaxation on its tightly controlled policies. On the contrary, corruption in turn has become standard in most business processes. One would find the formal route of setting up a business extremely difficult in India and it is only through bribery that various processes can move or speed up. 2. 4Import Tariffs Despite steadily opening up its economy, India has however maintained high import tariffs, especially when compared with other countries. Before the 1990s, average tariffs exceeded 200% and quantitative restrictions on imports were extensive. Post 1990, India has been taking steps to cautiously reform tariffs and focus only on goods and services of highest necessity. This has resulted in India’s trade to GDP ratio increasing from 15% to 35% between 1990 and 2005 according to World Bank. Non-agricultural tariffs have fallen below 15% and quantitative restrictions on imports have been eliminated. However, that does not mean India is a completely free market as the government has maintained a degree of economic protectionism. For instance, agricultural tariffs remain between 30-40% and anti-dumping measures have been used to protect trade. There have also been numerous requests by the US to the Indian Ministry of Commerce to reduce tariffs on industrial goods, especially in key segments like commercial air lines. On the other hand, India has recently been pushing for a more liberal global trade regime, especially in services where it is strongest in. So India must find some way to reconcile the 2 issues here. 2. 5Engineering skills In 2008 approximately 350. 000 students graduated from college holding an engineering degree, 23,000 with a Masters degree in engineering and only 1,000 students were awarded with a PhD degree. These figures were estimates by Rangan Banerjee and Vinayak Purushottam Muley, both employed by the IIT in Bombay. The number of engineering graduates has been growing significantly over the last years and is now larger than in America. However quantity does not mean quality. According to a survey of local companies, only 4% of Indian’s engineers are immediately fit to work for software firms and only 18% are employable in the IT sector (McKinsey’s survey of international firms: 25% of graduates pass IT industry-specific requirements). Hiring companies need to put a lot of emphasis on training on the job in order to bring Indian engineers up to mark. 2. 6Entrepreneurship Author Raghav Bahl argues in his book â€Å"Super Power? † that the Indian entrepreneurship trumps the Chinese due to more private ownership, intense competition and high productivity in India. In his book he describes an interview with George Soros in December 2006, asking him about India’s competitive advantage over China. â€Å"Entrepreneurship! † was the answer. According to Soros, India had already brought up companies with world-class reputation (Tata, Infosys) which is something China lacks. According to the author â€Å"entrepreneurship is embedded in Indian genes† and he points to the communication industry which was liberalized approximately 15 years ago. Since then the number of TV channels and newspapers have exploded and the telecom industry has now 500 million customers and is adding 15 million per month under extreme competitive conditions. The tough competitive environment demands for high productivity. Since the private sector in India is footed on common law, entrepreneurs can act in a legal thus predictable framework without fearing expropriation. The result is that Indian’s private sector is booming and is only facing hindrances of the states bureaucracy and poor infrastructure. China, with its massive population, does have its fair share of entrepreneurs of course, but the business environment in China is even more challenging as compared to India. In China, the state and the numerous state-owned enterprises with their easy credit access, are the biggest enemies to the private sector. According to Marshall Meyer (Wharton Business School) â€Å"the government will always remain in control of the 100 largest firms in China†. The tight control limits competition and the drive towards higher productivity. 2. 7Trade imbalance and inflation Trade imbalance has always been a sore point for India where it has always suffered a trade deficit. Part of this can be explained by the strength of the domestic market and hence the reliance of the GDP growth on it. This trade deficit has however increased significantly over the years and currently stands at some USD $16 billion as of August 2011. Together with this, annual Inflation has also increased significantly and is currently standing at close to 10% in 2011, way above the generally acceptable levels of 6%. This rise in inflation is despite the India Central bank’s efforts to contain this through multiple interest rate hikes. However, India’s inflation is caused more by structural factors in the economy, including some discussed above like poor infrastructure, lack of skilled workers and low productivity in agriculture – which will require major policy reforms to tackle, rather than simply increasing interest rate. All these factors combined can pose a significant challenge for India moving forward. Inflation does not just affect the cost of goods for the domestic market and hence affordability. It also affects the strength of the Rupee, India’s national currency. The strength of the rupee has been steadily decreasing over the years compared against the dollar and this in the long term would affect India’s competitiveness. Granted, India is still very much a consumption led market. When compared with many Asian emerging economies, this advantage has narrowed down over the years, especially given the fact that India now imports almost two thirds of its oil requirements from overseas markets. Additionally, while the overseas debt has gone up to $306 billion at the end of March 2011 from $221 billion at the end of March 2008, the cushion of foreign exchange reserves was stable and decreased slightly to $305 billion from $310 billion over the same period, which is a worrying trend. The main reason why internal public debt has increased in India during in the last decades was the requirement of funds to finance various developmental programmes as both tax and non-tax revenues were totally inadequate to finance the government expenditure. The external public debt in India Increased significantly during 1961-2004 as it was utilized to make import payments and solve balance of payment problems. The tremendous rise in total public debt in India during 1991-2004 provides an alarming signal to Indian economy. 2. 8Indian Political scene India’s political scene has always been an interesting one. It is the world’s largest democracy where literally everyone has a voice and this has on more than one occasion, resulted in slow and costly decision making. While there is a central government in place comprising of the standard hierarchy of politicians and parliament, the states themselves also have their own legislative environment, which differ greatly from one another due to the significant autonomy that they continue to enjoy. In terms of political parties, there are 2 main coalitions: The Indian National Congress (current ruling party) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As such, it is unfortunate to note that while Indian National Congress has a majority in the current ruling government and even control some state assemblies, it has failed since to implement any significant reform programs. This is in part due to the complex nature of the Indian political scene, but more important than that is the amount of time and energy spent to manage several high profile corruption cases, the most significant of which (as discussed above) was for the 2010 Commonwealth games and the auctioning of the 2G wireless spectrum. As such, while India has built up a profile of being a hot bed for FDI, this volatile political scene has also detracted some countries like the UAE from investing as well. 2. 9People As a last part of India’s growth story, we also thought it be interesting to explore if the lives have improved over the years as well. After all, a key part of growth is to ensure the people’s standard of living goes up. There are bright spots of course. Gross income per capita has experienced astonishing growth, reaching USD $,219 in 2010, up from close to USD $400 back in 2000, in line with the growth of India to some extent. This represents almost 14% growth on average over the last 10 years. However, such massive growth is not without its problems. The middle class has exploded within India, reaching 32% of the overall population in 2010, and while the service segment has boomed, it only accounts for 20% of total employment in India. Majority of the people are still farmers by trade, working within the agriculture segment that is protected within India but now only accounts for 15% of its overall GDP. In addition, according to the registrar of India, the number of young adults aged between 15 and 50 years will reach 800 million by 2016. This means that the number of people entering the workforce will shoot up dramatically over the next few years. The question then is where are the new jobs going to come from? It is not a realistic expectation for the service segment to dramatically increase employment by another 20 points and the manufacturing segment isn’t growing fast enough to contain this population, which in China has taken on the main bulk of the employment. . THE PATH FORWARD As per the introduction, this paper will attempt to argue that India should look to develop another industry – the Design industry. Why such a specialized segment? What is critical for both India and its MNCs is the ability to build a global brand. There are 2 typical routes taken by companies to establish themselves are as shown below: Route A is the more conservative approach where a co mpany looks to develop a consistent revenue stream before embarking on its own brand. Route B, while more risky, brings much faster rewards should one be successful as seen from the likes of HTC and Giordano. The profits reaped however are quite significantly different. Just simply becoming an ODM, yields a 6% increase in terms of margin when compared to just being a simple OEM, primarily because of the additional value one can bring. Requires market and technology competencies Becoming a design hub would also enable India to grow its manufacturing segment at a much faster pace. India has the potential to become a complete solution provider – it is already strong in consultancy and services not to mention a big pool of engineers and scientists, and it has a lot of land available to set up manufacturing plants. Plus it has a large and still relatively low cost labour market. Hence, domestic players who are strong in the services piece can build up its manufacturing capabilities quite easily to up the ante. International firms who already have plants in India, can tap onto the big brain pool and potentially bring lots more RD investment into India. So in terms of helping India grow both from a brand and FDI perspective, we felt that becoming a design hub is key. Additionally, design is really the driver of profits as it is the key differentiator for a lot of products, which in turn lead to higher price points and consumer willingness to pay. Apple and its iPhone is the perfect example of this. The great part about all this is that design innovation can cross all industries from automotive to design to FMCGs etc, which also means it is not a niche segment that will fizzle out after a period of time. The question is what should India do to develop this segment quickly and effectively, and the rest of the paper will be devoted to that using fashion as a case for analysis. 4. INDIA’S FASHION INDUSTRY – TRULY GLOBALISED? 4. 1The Fashion Industry The world’s fashion industry was born together with modernisation, even though fashion has been in existence for more than five thousand years. And with industrialisation, continuous technological advancements and global capitalisation from the 20th century onwards, the fashion industry has contributed to a significant share of the world’s output. A study on emerging fashion markets showed that India, amongst countries like South Africa, the UAE, Singapore, Russia and Brazil had emerged as a new and unique player in this global industry since year 2000. In many of these countries, one of the key growth drivers identified was actually government support. Others mentioned are factors such increased awareness of international brands and higher demand for fashion as countries globalised (Grial Research Sep 2009). For India, the government had not played any key role in its emergence in the fashion industry. We would want to explore what the key drivers are, and how they can be used to plot Indian fashion on the global success map. In Asia, China is the biggest apparel and fashion market with domestic clothing sales worth US$33. 1 billion in year 2008 (Price Waterhouse Coopers report). As the Chinese are relatively more brand conscious than most Asians, the high-end fashion market is actually dominated by key brand names of US, Europe, Japan and Korea in China. As for India, it is the third largest in apparel market after China and Japan ($31. 8 billion – Willy Barker. com) with US$5. 8 billion (PWC report). Refer to Chart A. With experts looking to the fashion industry in Asia for good growth potential, China and India are expected to have double-digit growth in sales in the next two years. 4. 2The Indian Fashion Industry In a McKinsey report on India’s fast-growing apparel market, India’s apparel sales was expected to reach an estimated US$25 billion by end of year 2010 (McKinsey Jun 2010). In fact, apparel is the second largest retail category (behind food and groceries), and this growth of double digits showed that the great potential of this industry will continue to see strong and positive expansionistic opportunities. With that we do expect to see faster growth in the Indian fashion industry. How true is that? In order to know whether it can be true, we will need to understand the underlying factors, key drivers and perhaps the ways of overcoming constraints of this industry. In addition, it is important to look from inside out as well as outside in and explore whether Indian fashion can be truly globalised and whether foreign industry players stand a chance in penetrating the Indian market. All in all, with potential growth in Indian fashion design, it will push its manufacturing requirements, and truly globalize Indian fashion as well as setting pace and example in an important industry for India to carry through from design innovation throughout all industries, just like fashion design is trying to do. . 2. 1Factors driving growth Indeed there are several key drivers which drove, and most of these will probably continue to drive the local domestic fashion industry to greater heights. These can be grouped into 3 key areas; mainly the increasing disposable income of Indians with economic growth driving GDP per capita from US$329 in 1991 (Wiki) to an expected US$2,110 by year 2016 (refer to Chart B); 1991 2016 2010 Indian youth’s behaviours and exp ectations of fashion; as well as Indian-Western fusion and influence. These are definitely interrelated and formed a powerful driving force which will continue to shape the Indian fashion industry, as well as how Indian fashion can be truly globalized. Figure A on the main growth drivers for Indian fashion industry Real average household disposable income in India has more than doubled since 20 years ago by about US$2,000 per household (Earthpulse). In addition, the middle class portion is expected to continue a significant growth rate and this will create a robust consumer market internally in India. With stronger purchasing power, fashion products will definitely see faster growth as such goods have been proven to be demanded as people become richer. Latest figures (refer to Chart C) show that comparing year 2007 through to year 2010, India’s gross and disposable income has grown by almost 50%, and with this comes prospering urban consumer lifestyle which push for stronger demand for fashion, given more social opportunities as Indians evolved to have richer tastes and improved social and work lives. At 29% of population residing in cities, India has one of the lowest urbanisation rates in the world (McKinsey report), and this shows the potential upward growth as Indians continue to stream into the urbanised cities to work and live, and with that will continue to demand strongly for new styles and fashions in order to stay relevant to the rest of the more developed societies, which is part and parcel of urbanization and changing cultures in growing ad developing countries. Also, with higher disposable income, it pushes more businesses, both foreign and local enterprises to expand in hope of being first movers in many areas and aspects of fashion such that they will be the preferred brands or choices as Indians grow richer by the day. As such, larger shopping malls are opening and many are focussing on apparels and other fashionable items. In addition, with the increase in the usage of credit cards with more Indians holding jobs in bigger companies, there is no doubt that this factor will continue to drive consumer demand, and definitely the fashion industry growth. The second driver is really the change in the demographics of the Indian population. With better education, younger age groups, more exposure to foreign ideas and stuff through growing internet users and all, the youthful Indian population (in comparison with aging societies of Japan and China) have refreshed the fashion and apparels market with fresh and new ideas, and as a result, even traditional costumes such as saris are modernised and being worn differently, and India has also seen many renowned designers on the international scene. Coupled with things like the launch of new programs and courses in various Indian schools, such as Indian School of Business launched â€Å"Business of Fashion: Strategic Brand Management†, there is much greater promotion of fashion and push of local designers and the industry to an international level. Rising affluence of the younger generation has also increased the brand awareness of Indian consumers, thus helping India moving closer to the Chinese standards of brand consciousness, giving rise to the vibrancy of the fashion industry. Hence, as India’s economy continues to grow stronger, and with the help of a sustainable youthful population, the Indian fashion industry can be boosted with much more international exposure and clientele, thus truly globalizing this industry to attract and promote Indian fashion products and output internationally to a greater level of competitiveness. Another important driver is really the fusion of Indian and Western tastes and perhaps some parts of culture, which has gradually influence the lives and lifestyles of Indian nationals. This can be attributed to several reasons such as the ever growing number of foreign multinational companies setting up branches and even regional headquarters in India; the â€Å"bombardment† of foreign television programs, all thanks to cable TV, as well as movies and the Internet which played a big role in educating and updating Indians of the latest global fashions and trends; many more Indians receiving education overseas as compared to previous 20 years. As a result, this mixing of the East and West has also provided a unique Indian fashion line and trend which has given foreign fashion lines a run for their money. Also, Indians themselves for opting for more Western, especially American and European styles of fashion as compared to traditional clothing, although it will still take many decades and generations to dilute the traditional Indian clothing. This fusion is essential for Indians to embrace the fast pace changes that we are seeing in the fashion industry globally, and enable them to quickly adapt and even be able to set trends for the future. 4. 2. 2Local and foreign players Being one of the oldest civilisations in the world, Indian fashion has combined tradition, culture and modernisation to become an emerging market since year 2000. Fusions of Indian and Western styles have dominated the catwalks of India’s various fashion weeks, which have become popular and saw strong demands locally and overseas. Since year 2000, India has organised an increasing number of fashion weeks, such as Delhi fashion week and Lakme India Fashion Week, which are annual events showcasing the works of the nation’s best fashion designers. This has attracted local and foreign purchasers, facilitating business opportunities as well as giving local talents the platform to globalise their designs. Lakme 13th India Fashion week which attracted many buyers both locally and abroad With recognition and the foresight of continuous strong growth, in year 2008, a group of established Indian designers founded the Fashion Foundation of India (FFI) and it aims to help all local designers and the fashion industry grow internationally. At a particular Delhi’s fashion week, about 70 out of 150 buyers came from abroad, and this numbers continues to grow as more overseas buyers recognized the popularity of Indian fashion. With the local scene doing well with their local product designs, given that more and more Indian grown companies are also moving into the fashion and apparels markets, such as ITC (Imperial Tobacco Company of India Ltd) creating Wills Lifestyle with 61 stores in 34 states, Trent, Reliance Retail, Indiabulls, etc. , the fashion and apparel sector are bound to see double digit growth for the next 5 to 10 years, and this is a boom for the apparel manufacturing industry indeed. In addition, India is attracting foreign investment in fashion as well. We see the country being a focus for Inditex, the Spanish clothing retailer which opened 25 Zara shops in year 2010 in partnership with the Tata group. Another international renowned fashion company who had made their debut in India since a few years ago opened its third store in Mumbai selling international as well as local designs which includes exclusive sari designs which sold for between USD $6,000 to $8,000 each piece, targeting at the expanding luxury market in India. Although Hermes (French) did not divulge whether their sari designers are locals, but from the design, it appeared obvious that Indian designers would definitely had played a key role. Hermes is definitely not the only company that had launched Indian collections. Other luxury brands like Tod’s (Italian) and Prada have gone into the market with the â€Å"Indian touch† of silk satin clutches, woven sandals and embroidered cotton dresses which are typically made in India! From the above, we can see that there is very strong foreign interest in Indian design and thereafter manufacturing in fashion products locally as most foreign players see the great potential of Indian consumer market given its strong growth in GDP per capita and other factors as already discussed earlier. The challenge for these global brands will be how they can translate the interest and investments into successes. One area is of course trade barriers which should see changes if the Indian government wish to liberalize this sector further. 4. 2. Fashion design industry – an example of India’s design future Confidence is for sure to be going the positive way as even the world’s leading fashion and style consultancy firm, WGSN, had set foot in India with the intention to partner with the Indian fashion industry to identify the opportunities and the process to become a global player. WGSN had planned to focus on the whole fleet which included fashion designers, m anufacturers and retailers by helping them move up the value chain to tap on more and bigger opportunities both in the local scene as well as in the global fashion design industry. As quoted in an Economist article on Indian fashion design future, it stated that â€Å"It is India’s potential as a source of future design stars that attracts the foreigners†. Many foreign players are really looking for that â€Å"polished diamond†, i. e. designs or designers, which are able to combine Western cuts with India’s talent for embellishment and its famously fine textiles. However, many Indian designers also lack the organisational skills and infrastructure needed to handle large orders. But as Indian designers attract investors, their business skills will no doubt improve. And as discussed in the macro analysis earlier, there are many constraints atypical in hindering exponential growth which basically applies in impending the faster growth in the Indian fashion industry as well. These are constraints such as poor infrastructure, inflexible labour laws, even the difficulty of growing from small to big because of conservative banking systems, etc. We can see that more has to be done for the fashion design industry, which will be further elaborated in the next section of this paper. Depending on current fashion institutes, and push from Indian domestic designers such as Rina Dhaka, Anamika Khanna and Manish Arora who have gained some success in the international scene and are trying to push more for this industry through creation of associations like FFI (Fashion Foundation of India), this will still not be sufficient in growing faster unless the government re-look at their own strategies and is able to see the importance of the fashion design industry in driving both the fashion industrial and service sectors, as well as to put a name for India in international fashion arena. With this, we draw parallel to other Indian industries (IT, Healthcare, Higher-end consumables) which too can ride on design to bring about a positive and effective change in the value chain of India, and as such may bring India to the next level in climbing up the ladder of being the world’s main heavy weight in economic power in competition with China. An example which can show how many are envisioning this trend and are trying to ride on the bandwagon to perhaps have first mover’s advantage is the fact that IDEO, the world’s top design and innovation consultancy firm, has landed in India. It is pretty obvious that IDEO has recognised the potential of India and Indians being groomed to put design and innovation in their move to grow the economy exponentially All of IDEO’s work is done in consideration of the capabilities of our clients and the needs of their customers. As we iterate toward a final solution, we assess and reassess our designs. Our goal is to deliver appropriate, actionable, and tangible strategies. The result: new, innovative avenues for growth that are grounded in business viability and market desirability. Extract: IDEO’s website And it is truly what the Indian government can concentrate on, and that is to use design and innovation as key drivers in improving the performance of both the local industrial and service sectors, which will in turn improve the Indian economy tremendously and the lives of Indians with more jobs and economic stability, moving from Third World to First World country for all Indian humanity. 5. COMPARISON WITH CHINA The ancient Chinese strategist and philosopher, Sun Tze has once said â€Å"if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need to fear the result of a hundred battles†. This also applied for India in order to formula its strategy in developing the design industry. In the previous section, we have done the detailed analysis about Indian economic and the direction for its economic development direction, in this section we will discuss how should India compete in the global market. Firstly of all, we shall identify India’s main competitor in the individual industry. For the manufacturing industry, base on the market size, India’s main competitors are mainly China, Japan and Korea, which are mainly within the same geographical area. For the service industry, India’s main competitors are mainly USA, China. For the design industry, India’s main competitors are Italy, USA, China. As we can tell that, in each of the industry, China is the overall main competitor for India. Since China and India both are leaders in the emerging market countries, both are having similar competitive advantages (massive labor resource, cheap but high skill workers, high GDP growth etc), there are more and more competitions between the two. A further analysis shows that China has already made a leap in the development of its design industry. Referring to the Forbes global 2000 companies list, we can tell that there are few Indian companies in the product renovation relevant industry, the majority of the listed Indian companies are in the Banking industry, Steel Manufacturing Industry and Natural resource related Industry; however, there are many Chinese companies in the list are famous for their product innovation ; design, for example, Lenovo Group is the global leader in PC design ; manufacturing industry, ZTE is famous for its network equipment design ; innovation and TCL is famous for the electronic appliance innovation and design. In order for India to compete in the manufacturing with the leap of design industry, we think that it is reasonable for India to study how China developed its design industry, and base on the comparison, Indian may take some lesson learn from China. Chinese government recognizes the importance of design ; innovation in 1980s. Since then, the government has taking stepping in helping to develop its design industry. Basically, China takes 3 steps to develop its design industry. The first step is to establish the education system for the industry. In 1984, China setup the first design course in Hunan University, Since then, there are more any and more students graduated with major in industry design or fashion design. Till now there are nearly 10. 000 students graduated with major in industrial design from 400 colleges every year. This large talent pool provides an enhanced support for China to develop its design industry. This is also one of the major factor that many multinational design related companies are setting up its design innovation centre or R;D centre in China. The second step is to establish the design industry network across the country. China has established 34 design associations all over. There are more than 30 design festivals and nearly 50 seminars in China every year, many of these events are sponsored by the Chinese government. The government also encourage and promoting the design ; innovation by introduce country wide awards to motivate designers. For example, since 2005, the government established the honoured activities selecting â€Å"China Top Ten Outstanding Young Designers† every year. Also, since 2006, the government establish the national industrial design award â€Å"Red Star† annually. The third step is to support the Local companies and projects. The government has made plans to introduce national support to develop the fashion ; design industry by providing funding for design projects. There are also government policies to encourage design related firms to develop. Overall, China has achieved progressive result in developing its design industry. In 2009, Chinese government produced an advertisement of a international image promoting â€Å"Made in China† brand and aired on CNN Asia. This ad is deliberately made to rebuild and strengthen the â€Å"Made in China† reputation. However, it also shows that China has taking he product branding into a national level, the government may be is aiming for promote â€Å"Design in China† in the near future. 6. PATH TO VICTORY? India may take reference in Chinese government leading example in development its design industry. Base on the previous discuss, we think India should recognize the need for the country to development its design industry, at the mean time learn from its competitors and apply the strategies according to its own market needs. Referring to China’s strategies, there are four recommendations we think Indian may consider: The first recommendation is that Indian should support the design education. Although there are two global top design schools in India, however, there are not many schools offering design as a specialization. Even within the two top schools, there are reports shows that the facilities for design faculty are very limited and students do not have exposal to the international design industry. We think that Indian should recognize that in order to develop the industry, there must be enough talents available. Indian government may consider the following strategies to support the design education. 1. The government can identify several schools in each state to introduce to design course. The government should consider provide funds for the school to recruits staff either from the industry or from overseas. 2. The government should encourage the internal national design company to open branch office in India. This local operation of the overseas design company will generate the market demand for the design talents and attract more youngster to take the design related courses. 3. The government should establish international activities to provide international exposal to Indian schools and the students. The second recommendation is that India should consider establishing its design network across the country. India is also a big country; it should also consider establishing the design association in each state. We understand that for India, the local state government may have more resource and authority in local development; we recommend the central government to provide the policy to guide the local state government to encourage a close connection between design associations in each state. The third recommendation is that India should consider establishing a regional design centre. In this way, India may take the opportunity to link the work design industry with the design centre and spread to each state across the country. One city India can consider to label as the design centre is Bombay, since Bombay is named as the commercial ; entertainment capital. The fourth recommendation is that the India government should consider encouraging the local companies to develop its design and innovation strength. The government may provide the funding support for design projects. This will help the Indian companies to development a sustainable model. Price + Value In order for a business to sustain, there are basically four key factors: investment, productivity, human development and product quality. The education support in recommendation 1 will help to provide a sufficient high skill work force for the company to develop its design arm. The initial government funding will provide the investment for the company to develop the product design and innovation. The introduction of the new drive force for the product design ; innovation will contribute to the increased value in the product quality and increase the productivity. The business sustainability will also help to sustain the design industry to develop. APPENDIX for references 1) http://zeenews. india. com/news/nation/india-s-suffocating-bureaucracy-worst-in-asia-survey_536445. tml 2) http://www. li. com/attachments/EntrepreneursIndia2011. pdf 3) http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052970204479504576639233537716542. html#project%3DISTARTUP1011%26articleTabs%3Darticle 4) http://business-standard. com/india/news/us-wants-india-to-decrease-tariffsindustrial-goods/374667/ 5) http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTR IES/SOUTHASIA 6) http://www. forbes. com/2010/10/13/india-china-entrepreneur-markets-economy-raghav-bahl-book-excerpt. html 7) http://www. li. com/attachments/EntrepreneursIndia2011. pdf 8) http://en. wikipedia. org/ ) Grail research on Global Fashion Industry – Growth in Emerging Markets (Sep 2009) 10) http://www. merinews. com/ – Article on Indian fashion industry becomes global (2nd Mar 2008) 11) McKinsey ; Company reports a. India’s fast-growing apparel market (Jun 2010) b. Made in India – The next big manufacturing export story 12) http://blogs. wsj. com/indiarealtime/2011/10/12/hermes-goes-local-with-india-sari-launch/ 13) Forbes – Fast Fashion Zara in India (29th Jul 2010) 14) Price Waterhouse Coopers – Strong and Steady 2011 Outlook for the Retail and Consumer Products Sector in Asia 15) http://willslifestyle. om/Season21/lounge. html 16) http://www. earthpulse. com/ PARKING LOT Easy access to credits for the private sector i did not write anything about it! ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. forbes. com/global2000/ [ 2 ]. http://www. chinahush. com/2009/12/02/made-in-china-ad-campaign-and-its-secrets/ [ 3 ]. http://nitawriter. wordpress. com/2007/12/11/india-has-two-of-the-best-design-schools-in-the-world/ How to cite India Fashion, Papers

The divisions of societys povety classes Essay Example For Students

The divisions of societys povety classes Essay John BostonSociology 101October 31, 1996If I had the power to abolish poverty in the United States I would do it in a second. Abolishing poverty would be almost impossible because there are just to many poor people for one person to help to abolish poverty we must all work to help those who are poor get out of this condition. There are two types of poor, there are people who are relatively poor and there are people who are absolutely poor. People who are relatively poor are poor compared to the people around them. These people usually only have the bare necessities to survive like food, clothing or shelter. They might even have a steady job but they just dont have any real wealth. In fact people who are relatively poor are usually in the lower 5% of the population in terms of wealth. People who live the state of absolute poverty can not sustain a certain level of living . These people have a hard time getting money for food , clothing, or shelter. People who are absolutely poor have a rough time getting money to put food on the table one day and the next day they might not have any money to put food on the table.Not all people who are relatively poor are absolutely poor, but, all people who are absolutely poor are relatively poor.These types of poor are found all throughout the world especially in underde veloped countries. In the United States a advanced well-developed country both absolute and relative poverty are present throughout the country. I think that absolute poverty has no beneficial purposes to society. However, relative poverty does have beneficial functions. I think that relative poverty can make people competitive. It would do this because people always try to do better then the people around them. This competitiveness might force people to work overtime or even two jobs in order to make more than the people around them. There are some major costs that both povertys have on society. These costs include: In areas of high poverty there are usually the same areas of high violence. A second cost to society might be that some people in poverty might become welfare dependent, this means that they rely solely on welfare to pay for everything and they dont even try to find a job of there own. These negative costs definitely outweigh the benefits. If I had control of the poverty situation in the United States I would only try to eliminate absolute poverty. I first would raise the taxes of the rich and the upper middle cl ass. Then I would raise the tax on alcohol and tobacco. Then I would do some refinancing of governments spending. With all the money that this creates I would setup cheep but nice government housing, government grocery stores and government clothing stores. Then I would setup a job training program that gives poor people government jobs. I would also send the best teachers to the ghetto schools. These programs will not work unless the poor work to get out of there citations. I can invasion a society without absolute poverty and without relative poverty. In a society without absolute poverty everyone that could work would have a job, there would be little crime just a great place to live. In a society without relative poverty people would all have the same wealth there would be no competition to be better then anyone. This type of society is only possible in the imagination. John BostonSociology 101October 31, 1996If I had the power to abolish poverty in the United States I would do it in a second. Abolishing poverty would be almost impossible because there are just to many poor people for one person to help to abolish poverty we must all work to help those who are poor get out of this condition. Mexican Food vs Tex Mex Food EssayI think that absolute poverty has no beneficial purposes to society. However, relative poverty does have beneficial functions. I think that relative poverty can make people competitive. It would do this because people always try to do better then the people around them. This competitiveness might force people to work overtime or even two jobs in order to make more than the people around them. There are some major costs that both povertys have on society. These costs include: In areas of high poverty there are usually the same areas of high violence. A second cost to society might be that some people in poverty might become welfare dependent, this means that they rely solely on welfare to pay for everything and they dont even try to find a job of there own. These negative costs definitely outweigh the benefits. If I had control of the poverty situation in the United States I would only try to eliminate absolute poverty. I first would raise the taxes of the rich and the upper middle class. Then I would raise the tax on alcohol and tobacco. Then I would do some refinancing of governments spending. With all the money that this creates I would setup cheep but nice government housing, government grocery stores and government clothing stores. Then I would setup a job training program that gives poor people government jobs. I would also send the best teachers to the ghetto schools. These programs will not work unless the poor work to get out of there citations. I can invasion a society without absolute poverty and without relative poverty. In a society without absolute poverty everyone that could work would have a job, there would be little crime just a great place to live. In a society without relative poverty people would all have the same wealth there would be no competition to be better then anyone. This type of society is only possible in the imagination. John BostonSociology 101October 31, 1996If I had the power to abolish poverty in the United States I would do it in a second. Abolishing poverty would be almost impossible because there are just to many poor people for one person to help to abolish poverty we must all work to help those who are poor get out of this condition. There are two types of poor, there are people who are relatively poor and there are people who are absolutely poor. People who are relatively poor are poor compared to the people aroundCategory: Philosophy

Paintings by El Greco

Introduction Work of art refers to an artistic creation, which can take a form of fine art like painting, photograph, fine work of architecture, design, or an interactive game.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Paintings by El Greco specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the foregoing description, formal analysis is used to analyze an artwork by El Greco which is a painting done in between 1575-76. It presents a story of a blind man from the Bible called Bartimaeus crying out to Christ to heal him of his blindness. â€Å"The story is covered in the four gospels: Matthew 9:27-34, Mark 8:22-25, Luke 18:35-43 and John 9:1-22. Christ mixed his saliva with soil to make mud, which he used to heal the blind man.†1 Line and form This story forms the theme of the painting. The collation and visualization of the texts are in the form of contemporary Venetian setting. The figures of Jesus and the man he heals occupy the f oreground, off-center to the left, and form the central part of the composition. A group of people witnessing the miracle stand in the right with two men sitting in the center. There is a city square seen in the background, which is receding towards the gateway. Behind the blind man and Christ, there are stooping figures and a group of four people who are unaware of what is happening. â€Å"The extensions of lines that the blind man is using for gesture together with the figure, which is on the right side with his back to the viewer, convene at the end of the point in the center of the gateway, placed slightly left of center in the picture.† 2Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The line of the arch behind him reinforces the act of Christ moving his hand in the direction of the blind man. The foreground part between the sniffing dog and the two men conversing in the middle dis tance is demarcated by receding lines and left empty, while the groups in the foreground are crowded on either side. The viewers’ attention is attracted to both the right and the left sides of the composition, while lines of perspective construction created by the paving draw their attention to the vanishing point. Space and Shape El Greco succeeded in the use of deep space in the utilization of the floor space, where he made maximum use of the foreground. The foreground figures, which are in a lower level, are meant to create space on the front edge while the groups make up the composition. Their presence shows that space extends beyond the foreground and some figures in the center to the left towards the direction the youth is pointing. The sense of space moves beyond the picture and creates a sense of spatial confines of stage. The sequential arrangement of colored shapes shows good use of space. Color El Greco used luminous colors and created structured architectural sett ings for the figures. He used a rich variety of colors and tints. Balance and emphasis The composition has a calculated formal balance shown in the grouping and actions of the figures. Those to the right of Christ are more gracefully than those to the left. The frontal aspects of Christ emphasize the outline of his figure, simplification of the fold and texture of his robes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Paintings by El Greco specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The parallel lines of the bent elbow of the two main figures, protruding and receding, are pictorially balanced. The atmosphere surrounding this place is calm creating an impression of balance. The emphasis laid on Christ’s figure advancing right knee is minimal, and his pose is more statuesque. El Greco applied perspective focused on straight and diagonal lines in the setting. Contrast In contrast, there is a restless movement framed by the differe nt forms in the background architecture. This contrast ensures that they are the main center of the composition. The following is the picture-forming basis of our discussion: Bibliography Prnjatovic, Mladen. Elements of Formal Analysis in Architecture. London: University of New South Wales, 2008. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York: Pearson, 2010.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Footnotes 1 Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. (New York: Pearson, 2010), 14. 2 Prnjatovic, Mladen. Elements of Formal Analysis in Architecture. (London: University of New South Wales, 2008), 34. This essay on Paintings by El Greco was written and submitted by user D0m1n0 to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Most Dangerous Myth about Writing - Freewrite Store

The Most Dangerous Myth about Writing - Freewrite Store Based on the encounters I’ve had as an author and an editor, I’d say it’s rarer to find someone who doesn’t want to write a book than someone who does. Today’s guest post is by editor and author Susan DeFreitas (@manzanitafire), whose debut novel, Hot Season, won the 2017 Gold IPPY Award for Best Fiction of the Mountain-West.       Based on the encounters I’ve had as an author and an editor, I’d say it’s rarer to find someone who doesn’t want to write a book than someone who does. Many dreamers never so much as start. But there are also a whole lot of would-be authors who start writing a book and never find a way to finish it. Some writers lose the thread of a novel because they lack a sense of the big-picture, the story as a whole. Some abandon their writing projects because they lack the discipline to set aside time to write. But there are many writers who fail not because they’re not cut out for writing, but because they are, in as much that they’re perfectionists. But that perfectionism has been misplaced. Which is why I consider the idea that you should revise while you’re drafting a book the most dangerous myth about writing. The Great (Unwritten) American Novel In 2000, the ink on my degree in creative writing was not yet dry, but I was working on the Great American Novel. For me, at twenty-two, this involved working in a bagel shop and spending a lot of time in Coyote Joe’s, my local watering hole- but despite my youthful excesses, I worked steadily at the novel I had in mind. Sure, it was a sprawling epic- and sure, my reach exceeded my grasp (by a mile, at least!). But the book didn’t fail because I lacked vision, nor did it fail because I stopped writing- in fact, I worked diligently on it for the next ten years of my life. That novel failed because every time something seemed off, I went back to the beginning and revised. The Power of Deadlines There is a perennial truth known to grad students and journalists: a looming deadline will make you actually finish a piece of writing, no matter how epic or ambitious your aims with it might be. When I went back to school at thirty-two, I no longer had the luxury of revising ad infinitum, because I had to turn out twenty pages of new work every two weeks. And yet, these were somewhat famous people I was working with, who might just give me a hand up if they liked my work. The incentive to produce polished prose was high. But how could I produce polished work in just two weeks? My solution was simple: I worked twelve-hour days. I hadn’t kicked my perfectionist’s habit of revising as I drafted, I’d just found a way to accommodate it (by eliminating nearly everything else of any consequence from my life). As a result, I did produce some polished work (though I’d scrap a whole lot of it later; see Editor’s Note, below). And maybe, just maybe, I managed to impress someone- if not with my work, than my work ethic. But what I lost, in the process, was my enjoyment in writing itself. Remember When Writing Was Fun? When I was a kid, I didn’t dread the act of writing. Between the pages of my composition notebooks, fantasy worlds came alive and â€Å"imaginary friends† became real. I was always looking for an excuse to play hooky from the rest of my life (especially if it involved homework or chores). After grad school, I asked myself, â€Å"When did writing become something I hate?† I realized this change occurred when I tried to perfect a piece of writing, to finish it, in too short a span of time. But that short span of time- the almighty deadline- was what had finally allowed me to finish in the first place. How could I make writing fun again, while actually producing publishable work? For me, the answer was this: Stop revising as you write. Separate drafting from revising. And reconsider your tools. Part One: Stop Revising as You Write Remember my Great (Unwritten) American Novel? It’s languishing in the back of my hard drive because I could not stop going back to the beginning and revising it. Which, though it gave me the illusion of progress, kept me from doing anything more than inching forward. It can be useful now and then to look back at where you’ve been with your novel and the promises you’ve made to your reader- useful too to remember what the voice of the protagonist or narrator sounds like. But take it from someone who sacrificed years of her life in the service of a failed manuscript: that boomerang that keeps sending you back to the beginning is unlikely to ever give you enough momentum to write your way through to the end. And oftentimes it’s only once you’ve reached the end of your book that you know- really know- the way that it should begin. So no matter how polished your opening pages might be, you might have to scrap them in the end. Part Two: Separate Drafting from Revising When I talk about drafting, I’m talking about the process of creating new work. By revising, I’m talking about the process of improving that work- adding to it and deleting from it, reshaping and improving it. Productivity experts tell us that we’re less efficient when we’re constantly switching between tasks, and it doesn’t take a neuroscientist to tell you that drafting and revising make use of very different parts of the brain. (The former generally involves throwing spaghetti at the wall; the latter involves deciding what sticks.) As a consequence, switching back and forth between these two tasks in the same session tends to be not only inefficient but frustrating- and because it’s hard to do both tasks well, you never quite achieve the effortless state of flow. That’s another term productivity gurus like to throw around. But writers, you know what I’m talking about: The flow state in drafting is when the next word, the next sentence, the next movement of the story, is clear; the flow state in revising is when you can easily tell what’s on and what’s off (and how to address the latter). If you want to work efficiently- and with less frustration- my advice is to separate these two tasks as much as humanly possible. Part Three: Reconsider Your Tools When I decided I was going to make writing fun again, I tried all sorts of process-oriented hacks. Some of them stuck, and some of them didn’t, but one of the most useful strategies I found was drafting by hand. When you open up a Word document, the first thing you see is the beginning of the piece. If you’re a perfectionist- and to succeed at writing, I believe, you must be- it’s difficult not to get sucked in. (What’s a little nip and tuck here and there?) The trusty composition notebook from my childhood, I found, did not work that way. I opened to the last thing I had written, not the first- and in doing so, more effortlessly found the thread (especially if I had made a few notes the last time I wrote, about what came next). Of course, writing by hand is slower than writing on a computer. So if you can find a way to write- via a typewriter, via tech like the Freewrite, or simply via the willpower required to start at the end of your Word document, rather than the beginning- you’ll have the best of both worlds. Editor’s Note Everything I’ve learned in the course of my journey as a writer has been backed up by what I’ve learned in my career as a freelance book editor. At Indigo Editing Publications, we work with authors over the course of three distinct rounds of editing: a developmental edit, a line edit, and a proofread. Which is to say, we don’t cut a comma, question a word choice, or ask to see a single image clarified until the story itself has been nailed down. Doing so would be a waste of the client’s money, and of our time- because the word, sentence, or image in question might not even make the cut for the next draft. Just as writers are best served by separating drafting from revising, revising is best served by separating work on the story from work on the language itself. It can be hard to do, but it is, without a doubt, the most efficient way to work. In Conclusion Certainly, there are exceptions to every rule, and there are some successful authors who meticulously revise as they draft new work (Zadie Smith is a good example). But in my experience, these writers are the exception. Those who succeed in publishing are usually those who’ve learned how to reliably enter a state of flow, in both drafting and revising- and in most cases, they’ve learned to do it by separating drafting from revising. Of course, I’m curious about your thoughts on this. When has writing been the most fun for you? How has perfectionism served you as a writer (or held you back)? And what’s the number one most useful writing hack you’ve found?    An author, editor, and educator, Susan DeFreitas’s creative work has appeared in (or is forthcoming from) The Writer’s Chronicle, The Utne Reader, Story, Southwestern American Literature, and Weber- The Contemporary West, along with more than twenty other journals and anthologies. She is the author of the novel Hot Season (Harvard Square Editions), which won the 2017 Gold IPPY Award for Best Fiction of the Mountain West. She holds an MFA from Pacific University and lives in Portland, Oregon, where she serves as an editor with Indigo Editing Publications.

4 Facts About Native American Reservations

4 Facts About Native American Reservations The term Indian reservation refers to the ancestral territory still occupied by a Native American nation. While there are approximately 565 federally recognized tribes in the U.S., there are only about 326 reservations. This means that almost one-third of all currently federally recognized tribes have lost their land bases as a result of colonization. There were well over 1,000 tribes in existence prior to the formation of the U.S., but many faced extinction due to foreign diseases or were simply not politically recognized by the U.S. Initial Formation Contrary to popular opinion, reservations are not lands given to Indians by the United States government. Quite the opposite is true; land was given to the U.S. by the tribes through treaties. What are now reservations is the land retained by the tribes after the treaty-based land cessions (not to mention other mechanisms by which the U.S. seized Indian lands without consent). Indian reservations are created in one of three ways: By treaty, by executive order of the president, or by an act of Congress. Land in Trust Based on federal Indian law, Indian reservations are lands held in trust for tribes by the federal government. This problematically means that the tribes technically do not own title to their own lands, but the trust relationship between tribes and the U.S. dictates that the U.S. has a fiduciary responsibility to administer and manage the lands and resources to the best advantage of the tribes. Historically, the U.S. has failed miserably in its management responsibilities. Federal policies have led to massive land loss and gross negligence in resource extraction on reservation lands. For example, uranium mining in the southwest has led to dramatically increased levels of cancer in the Navajo Nation and other Pueblo tribes. The mismanagement of trust lands has also resulted in the largest class-action lawsuit in U.S. history known as the Cobell case; it was settled after 15 years of litigation by the Obama Administration. Socioeconomic Realities Generations of lawmakers have recognized the failures of federal Indian policy. These policies have consistently resulted in the highest levels of poverty and other negative social indicators compared to all other American populations, including substance abuse, mortality rates, education, and others. Modern policies and laws have sought to promote independence and economic development on the reservations. One such law- the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988- recognizes the rights of Native Americans to operate casinos on their lands. While gaming has produced an overall positive economic effect in Indian country, very few have realized significant wealth as a result of casinos. Cultural Preservation Among the outcomes of disastrous federal policies is the fact that most Native Americans no longer live on reservations. Its true that reservation life is very difficult in some ways, but most Native Americans that can trace their ancestry to a particular reservation tend to think of it as home. Native Americans are place-based people; their cultures are reflective of their relationship to the land and their continuity on it, even when they have endured displacement and relocation. Reservations are centers of cultural preservation and revitalization. Even though the process of colonization has resulted in much loss of culture, much is still retained as Native Americans have adapted to modern life. Reservations are places where traditional languages are still spoken, where traditional arts and crafts are still created, where ancient dances and ceremonies are still performed, and where origin stories are still told. They are in a sense the heart of America-a connection to a time and place that reminds us how young America really is.

Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Contract Law - Essay Example To give us a clear understanding of why this is so, let us take a look at the important issues presented in this case. There are two important issues that are involved in this case namely, (a) whether or not Bowford University is bound by its advertisement and (b) whether or not Dustbusters is entitled to the contract considering that it placed its bid within the prescribed time and that its bid proved to be the lowest. With regards to the first issue at bar, we can clearly see that Bowford University cannot be bound by its advertisement. The decision of the count in the case of Partridge v Crittenden 1 and in the case of Harvey v. Facey2 explicitly stated that a seller should not be bound by the advertisement or to contract the services of the bidder. An advertisement is not a direct offer but rather an invitation to treat or an invitation to negotiate. By nature, an invitation to treat includes the display of goods, advertisement and direct invitation for competitive bids (A Burrows, 2009). Unless these acts are accompanied by express statements or promise to sell or to contract services, the person or entity that placed the advertisement or displays the goods is not bound to sell or contract the services of those who responded to the invitation. According to the case of Spencer v Harding3, an offer inviting tenders does â€Å"not amount to an offer capable of acceptance to sell†. Since the advertisement of Bowford University did not clearly stated that they are going to contract the services of the bidders, the bidders cannot compel Bowford to hire them. Clearly, Bowford is only inviting offers which they can either accept or reject as they see fit. Given this scenario, even if Dusbusters did submit their offer within the time stated in the advertisement, that is not an assurance that they will win the contract. When can an advertisement be considered as binding on the invitor? An advertisement can be held as binding on

AT&T annual report analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AT&T annual report analysis - Essay Example Images in AT&T’s 2013 annual report to show that the company serves people from different multi-ethnic communities.There is a picture of two small children using a computer on a luxurious bed. Behind them is a large Cupboard with books and a world globe on top of it. The children are illuminated by light from the computer; displaying their faces of different colors which means that they come from different racial/ethnic communities. Perhaps they are using internet technology (product) from AT&T. The world globe on top of the cupboard also shows that the company serves people or ethnic communities from different parts of the world. Therefore, these pictures welcome investors from different cultures of the world to invest in the company’s shares and to display global marketability of the company. AT&T’s 2013 annual report effectively uses color to create a clear visual image of the company’s performance for the investors to be convinced that the company is performing well; hence it is worth investing in it. For instance, the title â€Å"To our investors† on page one is written in capital letters and red colors to invite investors to read the message given by the company. In AT&T’s 2013 annual report, figures indicating key financial performance measures of the company are also colored to clearly show the company’s performance to investors in a way that they can see easily and be convinced about the performance. Comparison in growth of earnings between 2012 and 2013 are also shown in red and blue colors on page 7 of AT&T 2013 annual report. AT&T 2013 annual report also uses figures in form of pie charts graphs in order to show the share performance of the company and convince investors to buy shares. For instance, on page two there is a pie chart which shows the revenue growth generated by different lines of business including wireless, voice and wireline data. This helps investors to visualize the performance of the company in terms of

Leadership Approach Paper Essay Example for Free

Leadership Approach Paper Essay Organizational behavior comes into play to aid management in enhancing their understanding of human behavior within organizations to better communicate, allocate resources, delegate tasks, plan, organize, direct, and control work activities. The main purpose of understanding organizational behavior is to increase leadership effectiveness, motivate workers, and inspire them to work toward a common objective. Although there are many leadership approaches, we will focus on the situational leadership approach. We will analyze the purpose, strengths and weaknesses of the situational leadership approach, and provide an example of how it can be applied to real situations. Situational Leadership Approach As it name suggests, the situational leadership approach states that leaders should use different approaches as situations change. In short, leaders should be flexible, embrace change as it comes, and be capable of adapting to it. The situational leadership approach is a model that was developed by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey in 1972. The theory states that leaders should match their leadership style to the maturity of followers and to the specific tasks on hand (Lerstrom, 2008). As people within organizations acquire more experience and become more knowledgeable about their job, leaders will need to adapt new leadership styles to keep these people motivated. According to May (2013) the core concept of the situational leadership approach is that â€Å"one size does not fit all†. The best leaders are not only those who have a vision, but â€Å"the most successful leaders are the ones who are able to adapt their leadership styles across a broad range of varying maturity levels readily present within the average organization (May, 2013). † Moreover, using the situational leadership approach suggests that leaders use a mix of other leadership approaches to be effective. According to Phatak (2012), â€Å"The philosophy of a leader should be flexible enough to adapt to situations and changing times. We need a mixture of transactional and transformational leadership techniques to get the job done. The basic idea behind this theory is that one must adapt strategy with changing conditions. † Strengths As mentioned earlier, situational leadership allows for more flexibility. As the world evolves, organizations have to make adjustments to survive. Tomasco (2013) states that with the situational leadership approach, leaders get the opportunity to adapt their leadership style to their followers’ needs. Consequently, as leaders effectively match their leadership style to situations and followers’ needs, work activities will run smoothly, interactions will be more successful, relationships will be built up, and followers will achieve optimum performance. Weaknesses Although the situational leadership approach appears to be the best course of action due to its flexibility, it has weaknesses that one cannot ignore. Phatak (2012) explains that constantly changing strategies with time, a leader will find it difficult to implement new strategies on the go. A long term vision may elude him due to constant changes. † Further, Wile (2013) identifies four weaknesses of the situational leadership approach which are confusion, leadership or management, outside factors, and perception. Indeed, followers may become confused as leaders change a newly implemented leadership strategy as a result of changing conditions. The situational leadership approach is often misconstrued with a management strategy to lead employees to achieve better outcomes. One cannot downplay the impact external factors have on organizations and organizational behavior. Leaders should demonstrate their ability to understand the organization’s external environment and to assess followers’ behavior to implement a leadership approach that will work. Finally, people within organizations have different perceptions and react differently in similar situations. Hence, the situational leadership approach may not give accurate predictions of followers’ behavior. Situational Leadership Approach in Real Life Alan Lerstrom from Luther College did a case study using the situational leadership approach in which he demonstrated how academic advisors can alter their leadership style based on students’ maturity as they advance higher in their studies. Lerstrom applied the Hersey and Blanchard’s model of situational leadership in the case study. The model suggests that effective leaders will adjust their leadership styles in accordance with changing situations and followers’ maturity. According to Lerstrom (2008), Jay, the student in the case study began showing signs of maturity as he better understood the major he wanted to pursue and classes he needed to enroll in. Also, Jay became more confident about his abilities, understood the requirements associated with his major, and was more willing to communicate with the advisor. â€Å"Situational leadership provide theoretical and practical tools that help advisors in understanding changes in the readiness levels of their students, and it suggests patterns for relating to students (Lerstrom, 2008, p. 7). † Conclusion Situational leadership is the approach that states that leaders must be flexible enough to adapt their leadership styles to changing situations, to specific tasks, and to organizational behavior. This study showed that although the situational leadership approach yields positive outcomes it has weaknesses. Thus, it is important to leverage the strengths of the approach to alleviate its weaknesses. For increased effectiveness, leaders will need to use organizational behavior research methods to better understand the situations at hand, their followers’ perceptions, and the organization’s internal and external environments. This method will provide guidance in applying the appropriate leadership style. References Lerstrom, A. C. Advising Jay: A Case Study Using a Situational Leadership Approach. NACADA Journal; Fall2008, Vol. 28 Issue 2, p21-27, 7p May, R. (2013). Basics of the Situational Leadership Model. Retrieved from http://www. businessdictionary. com/article/724/basics-of-the-situational-leade rship-model/ Phatak, O. (June 20, 2012). Pros and Cons of Leadership Theories.

Internet Appliances Have Arrived :: Essays Papers

Internet Appliances Have Arrived This article was about a new kind of devices referred to as â€Å"Internet Appliances†. These devices look like small PCs but they only come with the online essentials: a screen, a keyboard, a modem, and a browser (no hard disk or floppy drive). These devices are directed at consumers who are interested in only using the Internet. Three devices were tested and described: Microsoft Network Companions from Compaq and Vestel, and the New Internet Computer (NIC). The two Microsoft Network units were very similar in design. They both have an embedded mouse and keyboards with short cut keys. A bad point of these machines is that they only function with Microsoft Network as the Internet service provider, which can result in a large amount of money as an overall investment. As far as price is concerned, the Vestel unit did not have a set price at the time of publication while the Compaq retails at $599.00. Up to $400.00 of that amount is available for Microsoft Network rebate. The rebate amount varies with the length of the contract. Overall both machines should be sufficient for first time Internet users. The third device, â€Å"The New Internet Computer† (NIC) is the opposite of the Microsoft network machines. NIC is the most computer-like of the three appliances. Included with the device is a small vertical case, two stand-alone speakers, a tabletop mouse with a mouse pad, and a full size keyboard without shortcut buttons. The price for the NIC is a modest $200.00 plus $130.00 for the 15† monitor. NetZero is one of the unit’s default Internet service provider options.

Barriers Can Limit Access to Opportunity

Barriers can limit access to opportunity (Health and Culture diversity) When it comes to achieving opportunity, many people have to face barriers or challenges. For example, a child from a poor family background might have a goal of going to medical school and graduating with a medical degree. But in this case, the barrier could be financial. Likewise, a person moved from his country to another country for work. He found difficulty in understanding his colleagues who speak a strong regional or national accent.This could be a communication barrier and might be challenging to him. These barriers can limit access to opportunity. Nurses work with patients from a range of ethnic, cultural and religious groups and a people from diverse social backgrounds. So nurses need to know enough about diverse groups to develop an awareness that enhances planning and caring for patients. According to the nursing code of ethics, her primary commitment is to the patient whether an individual, family, gr oup, or community.She is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligation to provide optimum patient care. For example, a language barrier can be a challenge while provide quality care to patient. According to the nursing code of ethics, a patient has right of appropriate care, hence the nurse can confront with this barrier by assigning an interpreter who can work as a communicator between the nurse and the patient. It helps the patient to explore the real problem that is he facing.And a nurse can apply an appropriate method for his promotive, preventive and curative services which are the basic right of the patient. A Patient can also be from a different culture than that of the nurse. Hence, this could also act as a challenge while providing quality care. So she has to confront this situation by gaining more knowledge about the culture of the patient and respecting the patie nt’s morals and values. Failure to understand and manage social and cultural differences may have significant health consequences for people of diverse backgrounds.

The July Plot Failed Largely Because of Popular Support for Hitler

The German public had met the outbreak of World War II with a general sense of apprehension. Although Hitler had been admired for his achievements thus far, it was becoming increasingly obvious to the German public that the regeneration of their economy would come at a price. Hitler made considerable achievements in political and economic fields. He also addressed military matters and to some extent social policy. The Enabling Bill was passed in March 1933, with opposition coming only from the Socialists. This was due to the threat posed by the development of the Gestapo and of course, the SS, which had advanced â€Å"from improvised terror of the early years to the gigantic concentration-camp system of the extermination era. † (Bracher – 1970) As a result of relentless persecution and the introduction of stringent laws, various groups emerged, with a mutual opposition to Nazi conformity. Unfortunately there was no single, unified resistance movement, which meant that any kind of successful campaign proved difficult to initiate, especially under the close eye of the Gestapo. Resistance ranged from youth groups such as the Edelweiss Pirates, committing petty crimes, to the Beck-Goerdeler group and the Kreisau Circle who made attempts on Hitler's life. At the same time there was a great deal of support for Hitler and allegiance to him, which made it more difficult still for the resistance groups to take any action. The Edelweiss Pirates were a prime example of youth resistance to Nazi conformity. They consisted of mostly working class youths. Some had refused to join the Hitler youth because of the lifestyle it would have imposed upon them. Others had simply dropped out from the Hitler Youth presumably because they disagreed with the programme. They daubed graffiti on public walls, disturbed uniformed officials and held pitched battles with the Hitler Youth. On a greater scale, groups such as the Kreisau Circle and the Beck-Goerdeler Group spoke actively about ending the Nazi regime and looked towards a post Nazi Germany. The founders of the Beck-Goerdeler group, Ludwig Beck and Carl Goerdeler, had both held positions in Hitler's governmental office. Beck was Chief of General Staff and Goerdeler was Commissioner, having remained in office after the government of Heinrich Bruning. Beck particularly objected to Hitler's attempts to take over the army. He sent a messenger to London to seek military aid from Neville Chamberlain to help prevent Germany invading Czechoslovakia. However, Chamberlain's regime was one of appeasement. Hitler learned of Beck's opposition and he was thrown out of office. From there on in he kept in touch with many others who opposed Hitler's regime. Goerdeler resigned from office in 1934 after disagreement with Hitler's policies, publicly opposed German rearmament and the Nuremberg Laws and was appalled by the Munich Agreement whereby the Sudetenland was taken from Czechoslovakia and given back to Germany. He made contact with Beck and became involved in the July Plot where he agreed to become Chancellor in the proposed office should the plot prove successful. There were various other key figures within the Beck-Goerdeler group such as Henning von Tresckow, a general staff officer during the Second World War, and Captain Wilhelm Canaris who worked with Himmler and SS intelligence but leaked information to Beck and Goerdeler. However, one figure emerged as an active leader of the Beck-Goerdeler group by the name of Major Claus von Stauffenberg. Appalled by the atrocities of the SS as a member of the general staff, he began to associate with Henning von Tresckow and others. He was soon promoted to major and was badly injured when his car was attacked by enemy aircraft and rolled into a minefield. While recovering from his injuries he decided to join the Beck-Goerdeler group in the July Plot. It was decided among the group that Hitler and Himmler must be eliminated. Once that was done, it was planned for troops in Berlin to seize key government buildings, telephone and signal centres and radio stations. The Kreisau Circle was a group of German professionals, army officers and academics who were opposed to Nazism. Founded in 1933, it was led by Count Helmuth von Moltke, who was born in Kreisau itself and who worked closely with Wilhelm Canaris and Hans Oster. In 1939 he became financial adviser to Abwehr, the German military intelligence organization. Many of the members of Abwehr became active in the resistance movement in Germany, including von Moltke, Oster, and Canaris who was head of Abwehr. Members of the Kreisau Circle frequently held their meetings on von Moltke's estate. They saw defeat in the war as inevitable and post war planning and reorganisation as essential. Hitler and the Nazi party were threatened not only by active resistance groups, but also by various organisations, not least the German Army. In fact, according to Dr. Klaus Hildebrand in his book â€Å"The Third Reich,† â€Å"Two major political and social forces, namely big business and the army, managed to resist the party's totalitarian demands until 1936 and 1938 respectively, when they were brought under strict control. † The extract is taken from â€Å"The Third Reich† written by Dr. Klaus Hildebrand, first published in 1984 and translated from German into English. The date of issue causes the matter of bias to be somewhat disregarded. Had the book have been published 30 years earlier, the authors view would have been far more tainted. Resistance groups such as the Beck-Goerdeler Group and the Kreisau Circle realised that political overthrow of the Nazi government was unrealistic. It was becoming increasingly obvious that in order to seize power, a coup d'etat was the only answer. Based on the above source, one would expect that a military coup wasn't out of the question. However, when approached, the army were uncooperative and, according to Alan Bullock, â€Å"The army's illusions had helped to consolidate Nazi rule† The quote is taken from Bullock's â€Å"Hitler – A Study in Tyranny,† which was first published in 1952. A well-acclaimed book, translated into 14 languages, and written by a former tutor of modern history who lived through both World Wars, it certainly seems as though this book would prove valuable to any study set in this context. This particular quote contradicts the previous extract from Hildebrand's â€Å"The Third Reich† and leads us to believe that the army helped to reinforce Nazi rule rather than oppose it. Some might jump to the conclusion that the reason for the difference between the two sources lies in the nationality of the authors. This is unlikely but can be taken into account as Dr. Hildebrand is German and Bullock is British. A more important factor perhaps is the date of publication of both books. Having been published in 1952, only 7 years after the end of the war, Bullock's biography may have been influenced by public opinion, which would certainly have been strong at the time, and also lack of knowledge about the German Army. Additionally, Bullock was probably one of the first authors to write such a well-acclaimed book addressing events of the Second World War. Therefore, one might feasibly presume that his book left room for improvement as there have been countless books written since, on Hitler and on World War II. Bullock could have used primary sources, eyewitnesses and indeed his own experiences to his advantage. Dr. Klaus Hildebrand, having first published his book in 1984, would have had a wealth of material to help form his opinions and arguments. He could have used primary and secondary sources and views of other historians since the period of study. Bullock would have found this more difficult. However, Bullock had access to eyewitnesses and primary sources that Hildebrand may not have found quite so easily during the 1980s. Perhaps the reason Bullock saw the army as having ‘illusions' lies in the fact that Hitler manipulated the army in order to prevent any threat to his totalitarian rule. It was important that he had their unconditional support as, without it, he could not maintain a secure state, and due to the severity of his regime, could even risk a military coup. He introduced a system of gradual Nazi infiltration into the army. Furthermore, with the emergence of the Hitler Youth who were also given admittance, the army were bound to become more sympathetic to Nazi sentiments. Despite Hitler's attempts to promote Nazism within the army, he felt he still had to earn their respect somehow. The Rohm Purge of 1934 proved convenient as it gave Hitler the opportunity to eliminate those whom he felt threatened the Nazi regime whilst at the same time satisfying the Army. He instigated the Rohm Purge or the ‘Night of the Longknives' in July of 1934. On July 1st he ordered that the detained Ernst Rohm, leader of the SA, be executed. This followed a series of executions and arrests of various SA members. The Army regarded the SA as an unruly and threatening group and thus approved of their elimination. In order to ensure he had the army's respect, Hitler enforced their pledge to the following oath: â€Å"I swear by God this sacred oath: that I will render unconditional obedience to the Fuhrer of the German Reich and people of Adolf Hitler, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath. † (Document 1 – prescribed document pack) The above oath was a prime example of allegiance to Hitler and it made each soldiers' commitment morally binding. It would suggest, therefore, that those who would deviate from their duties and dare to oppose Hitler would be committing an act of treachery and abandoning their morals at the same time. The oath was taken on August 2nd 1934, almost immediately after the death of General von Hindenburg. This was significant as the army had great respect for Hindenburg and Hitler had to ensure he had a similar level of respect or risk a military coup. As a result of this pledge and the army's approval of the Rohm Purge, it was always going to prove difficult to promote anti-Nazi sentiments within their ranks. It must be said that, aside from popular support for Hitler, the July Plot and indeed many other attempts on Hitler's life suffered from severe misfortune. An unlikely series of flukes ensured that Hitler remained unscathed by any of the attempts until the final July Plot. â€Å"General Franz Halder and Henning von Tresckow intended to use a bomb to assassinate Hitler but the device failed to detonate†¦ Field Marshal von Witzhelben intended to shoot Hitler at the Champs Elysees. Sadly Hitler declined his invitation to visit Paris†¦ Colonel von Gersdorff agreed to blow up both himself and Hitler when they shook hands but he failed to get close enough† The above extract and the oath of allegiance are taken from â€Å"David Evans and Jane Jenkins Years of Weimar and the Third Reich, 1999. † The oath is useful to an historian as a primary source. It demonstrates why it might have proven difficult to incite resistance against Hitler and thus gain support for the July Plot. As a direct translation it should not suffer from any form of bias. The above extract, in summarising the various attempts on Hitler's life, is useful in its portrayal of the desperate measures taken by resistance groups. David Evans and Jane Jenkins are specialised historians in this subject area and will have used both primary sources, secondary sources and other historians' views as well as their own knowledge. The date of publication of the sources would ensure that they were free from censorship. Additionally, any bias that might have been brought about during the post-war area will have been discounted by this time. By the end of 1943, The Gestapo and Himmler's SD had succeeded in dispersing most anti-Nazi resistance within Germany. Key figures of resistance had been arrested or invalidated in some way. Hans Oster, one of the heads of German military intelligence, who had maintained active resistance against Hitler, was placed under close surveillance. In January 1944 Moltke, a leading figure in the Kreisau Circle, had also been arrested after it was discovered that he was warning conspirators that they were about to be arrested. Around the same time Beck of the Beck-Goerdeler group underwent a serious cancer operation and his health was unstable. Resistance was effectively in disarray. Again in 1944, Canaris had been dismissed as head of Abwehr on grounds of incompetence and thus the resistance suffered from a lack of information on Hitler's movements. Thankfully Stauffenberg was appointed as Chief of Staff to General Fromm, head of the Home Army. From there he would have ample information on Hitler's whereabouts. In the summer of 1944 Rommel was approached about joining the July Plot. He refused, criticising their tactics and claiming that assassination would turn Hitler into a martyr. Instead he suggested that Hitler should be arrested and brought to trial. However, on 17th July Rommel was injured when a British fighter aircraft attacked his car in Northern France. Furthermore, and on the same day, Goerdeler was arrested with lists for the provisional government. German resistance had suffered a terrible run of bad luck. Nevertheless, plans to assassinate Hitler and seize Berlin were put into action. On July 20th, Stauffenberg's presence was requested at a conference to report on the state of the Home Army. It was intended that Stauffenberg would assassinate Hitler using a time bomb in a briefcase. At the same time, it was proposed that resistance troops in Berlin would seize governmental buildings, telephone and signal centres and radio stations after arresting SS troops who might put a stop to the plan, known as ‘Operation Valkyrie. ‘ The conference had been put forward by half an hour from 1pm because Hitler had a meeting in the early afternoon with Mussolini. When it came to the conference, Stauffenberg arrived late having activated the time bomb in his briefcase. He placed it about 12 feet from where Hitler was stood and made a prompt exit. The bomb exploded and the plot almost proved successful; although the bomb had exploded in Hitler's vicinity, his good fortune remained a prevalent factor in his survival. â€Å"Hitler had been protected, partly by the table-top over which he was leaning at the time, and partly by the heavy wooden support on which the table rested and against which Stauffenberg's brief-case had been pushed before the bomb exploded† In spite of the fact that Hitler had sustained minor injuries and was fairly shaken, he delivered a speech to the public on the same day. The extract above is a fitting example of Hitler's uncanny good fortune and is taken from â€Å"Hitler A study in Tyranny,† written by Alan Bullock. The conspiracy fell apart quickly; General Fromm had Stauffenberg shot at midnight in the courtyard of the War Ministry and in the following months of vengeance, Hitler was sure to seek out all those involved and have them tortured and executed. In fact, many of those killed thereafter had no connection with the July Plot but were merely among a large group of people whom Hitler was wary of for one reason or another. Aside from Hitler's persistent fortuity and the loss key figures in German resistance, there were other factors that led to the failure of the July Plot. It could be said that the various assassination attempts including the July Plot failed due to lack of competence. The mere fact that so many assassination attempts were implemented would suggest that there was a sense of desperation in the hope of removing Hitler. The following extract quotes Henning von Tresckow when voicing his opinion to Stauffenberg: â€Å"The assassination must be attempted at all costs. If it should fail, action must still be taken in Berlin. For it is no longer a question of the practical aim: it must be demonstrated to the world and to history that the German resistance has decided on a supreme throw. Nothing matters in comparison with this. † The quote is again taken from â€Å"The Third Reich† written by Dr. Klaus Hildebrand. I believe it to be useful in its portrayal of the sheer desperation of the Beck-Goerdeler group in their attempt to remove Hitler. When looking at the failure of the July Plot one might ask what would have happened if the initial assassination attempt had succeeded. Different historians have different views as to what post Hitler Germany would have held in store. Some say the Beck-Goerdeler group's provisional government would have failed, some say they would have succeeded. Heinz Guderian was commander of the General Staff. As a result of the July Plot Guderian demanded the resignation of any officer who did not fully support the ideals of the Nazi Party. Over the next few months Guderian played a role in the Army Court of Honour that expelled hundreds of officers suspected of being opposed to Hitler's policies. Although willing to carry out a purge of the Army, Guderian disagreed with Hitler over strategy and he was dismissed from office on 28th March 1945. According to his book ‘Panzer Leader,' He believed that the resistance hadn't enough troops to defend their position. He believed essentially that Operation Valkyrie was a disaster and that even if Hitler had been assassinated, Germany would have been no worse or better off. Guderian joined the army in 1908 thus he had considerable military experience. He led the attack on Poland in September 1939 and his rapid success sent shockwaves throughout the world. One would assume that Guderian's view would therefore be one of value. Guderian stated that: â€Å"The officers and men assembled for Operation Valkyrie had not the slightest idea of what was going on. † However, having been published in 1953, there is likelihood that Guderian's book may have been influenced by public opinion. Furthermore Guderian served under Hitler and was witness to much propaganda that would have shamed and discredited the resistance movements. It is quite possible that Guderian could have taken on board some of Hitler's views on resistance movements such as the Beck-Goerdeler Group, which might explain his unenthusiastic view of their strategy. Albert Speer agrees with the fundamental idea that the coup was doomed from the start. He believed that the plot failed because of the extent of loyalty to Hitler. Speer first met Hitler in July 1933 as a member of the SS and was given the task of organising the Nuremberg Rally. He became Minister of Armaments and was a good administrator. He considerably raised production levels of armaments. He must have been familiar with Hitler and the degree of loyalty that he commanded. One might expect, then, that his claim might have been justified. However, it may once again be worthwhile to consider Speer's possible acceptance of Hitler's ideas as his own. If this was the case then Speer may have been misled as to how much loyalty to Hitler actually existed. Others believe that the plan would have succeeded. Certainly Bullock makes reference to the fact that in Paris, the plan actually worked. Conspirators in Paris, Vienna, Prague, Kassel, and Frankfurt continued to implement their plans even after the reported failure of the coup in Berlin. The plans made considerable achievements in Paris where some 1,200 SS and SD troops were arrested. It collapsed, however, simply because the assassination attempt on Hitler had failed. Added to this was the fact that the Navy and SS quickly began their counter measures. Bullock also looked upon the support of Rommel as a positive factor, claiming that: â€Å"His popularity would have been a considerable asset. † As already established, Bullock was a tutor in modern history at the same time as he was writing ‘Hitler a Study in Tyranny. ‘ He was also Vice Chancellor of Oxford University from 1969-73. He had a wealth of experience in the field of modern History and this particular book is hailed to be: ‘Acclaimed all over the world as an outstanding biography. ‘ David G. Williamson looks upon the failure of the July Plot somewhat sympathetically. He believes that, had the generals in Berlin have acted more decisively without waiting to hear whether or not Hitler was dead, they could have overthrown the SS and the SD as they did in Paris. Williamson is an expert in this field and has written several books on German Modern History including ‘The Third Reich,' which is quoted in document 11 of the prescribed document pack. This particular book was published in 1982. Williamson would therefore have had a great deal of material at his disposal. He will have used a range of primary and secondary sources as well as taking into consideration views of other historians. Some of his other titles include ‘Bismarck and Germany 1862-1890,' published in 1986, ‘Germany from Defeat to Partition, 1945-1963,' and ‘The Age of the Dictators,' not yet published. The views of Heinz Guderian and David G. Williamson differ greatly. We might again attribute this to their difference in nationality, though there are once more additional factors to be considered. Guderian's view might have been tainted greatly by a very influential Hitler whereas Williamson's view should have been free from any form of bias. The dates of publication also differ greatly. Guderian's book, ‘Panzer Leader' was published in 1953, probably written almost immediately after the war when the general consensus was certainly a biased one. Williamson's ‘The Third Reich' was published in 1982 when there was more material available, less propaganda and less influenced public opinion. I feel that support for Hitler was widespread, and where there wasn't support there was loyalty through fear. I believe that Himmler posed as much of a threat as Hitler as a Nazi aggressor and as head of the army from 1944, he could have overthrown any kind of provisional government set up by the Beck-Goerdeler Group upon assassination of Hitler. It would be wrong to say that the plot failed entirely due to popular support for Hitler and more feasible to propose that, as the essay title suggests, the plot failed largely due to popular support for Hitler. He gained the support of the army and had the support of the SA and later the SS. He also had a largely dedicated governmental cabinet. Any form of opposition was promptly eliminated. Of course, the July Plot also failed because of a succession of mishaps and poor organisation as previously mentioned.