Marketing Analysis Polyphonic HMI free essay sample

Uncertain Attractive Yet Challenging Music Industry Landscape The music Industry is a 32 billion dollar industry, offering a huge opportunity if it can be penetrated. However, it is fraught with challenges. Arthritiss, producers, and record companies have little idea on how to find and create success in the industrys ABA. The dominant players, I. E. Record companies outfit pursuing the production of teethe next big hit by producing In masses and hoping hope that one turns out good, . This Is shown evidenced by the low hit success rate of 10%. A song topping music charts (Peg. 1, PA). What entails is an Industrial marketing practice of huge inefficiencies and unwise budget expenditure (Peg. 8, PA4). These problems stem from the market interactions of the industry, such as theistic is dictated by popular culture. There is constant and rapid evolution due to both volatility of popular music culture and lack of fail-safe apparatus to accurately predict upcoming trends. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Analysis Polyphonic HMI or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Hence, all segments need a tool that Improver tool that Improves their chances of landing a hit song and reduce the need for excessive marketing expenditure..The satisfaction gratification of this need is ever more urgent due to falling sales and increasing music piracy (Peg. 5, PA). Can HAS be the answer to the industry needs? 2. Harnessing Overcoming Polyphonic HIM Barriers Opportunities Polyphonic HIM has significant barriers to overcome. Upon failing to impress hardware providers, HIM is lacking capital and time. In an Industry that Is normally associated with art, they have not found a way to make science and music mesh.However, they possess the potential to revolutionize the music industry. Polyphonic Whims core competencies IEEE in its technical expertise in artificial intelligence and natural science applications (Peg. 2, PA). Even though it does not provide specific feedback on how to improve a song, Haste HAS scientific product has the ability to revolutionize the music industry Phelps to eliminateeliminating the uncertainties of relying on instinct while incorporating humanistic music preferences In predicting future successes..It will serve to reduce marketing Inefficiencies, thereby allocating concentrated efforts and budgets to refocus efforts and budgets towards hits that have a A wheelwright likelihood of success of making the next big hit. Below are further issues of consideration, specific to HIM. What stand in its way is the minor issues detailed below. Minor Issues 1. Shoestring Marketing Budget HIM operates on a limited budget of $1 50,000 and this creates two Implications. First, HIM Is unable to reach out to the entire market and It limits them to target only 1 segment at this juncture..Pricing is critical as well, given that it needs to ensure that it recovers its operating fixed costs. Secondly, HIM is in dire need of a off cost efficient marketing plan is unable to do advertising and has to strategically come up with a feasible selling process. What is Hisss ideal marketing mix? 2. Dealing with Competition In Dalton to the budget constraints, HIM cannot simply Consigliore are competitors compartmentalizing forces, which lies in the substitutes of HAS which are traditional call-out studies and individuals gut instincts (preference surveys).These conventional substitutes depended on human instincts and thus it makes consumers highly skeptical of the abrupt replacement with machines. Depending on the different uses of spectrophotometer, it is pertinent to note that levels of skepticism Mould differ across segments and in turn affect the adaptability of HAS. Thus, based on the target market, how should HIM needs to position itself using an optimal marketing strategy to minimize skepticism and ensure highest possible profits?. Strategic Options: Option 1 : Target Unsi gned artists (AU). The AU segment comprises of hundreds of thousands of hopefuls that dream of a shot at fame and who are willing to spend money to further their dreams. Value Drivers: For AAAS, nothing gets in the way of pursuing their dreams. In addition, they form a mostly technologically as. N. Y crowd ho are willing to adopt new technologies like HAS. The potential of this segment is age where 300-400 demos are sent to a record label per week. Approximately 187,200 demos (350 demos per week) are sent in per year to the dozen or so ARCS under Universal Music Group for the US market (Peg. , PA). Risk Drivers: The core needs of CIA is to get a contract from Arcs, but as ARCS might not align their tastes and preferences to the scoring criteria of HAS (Peg. 12, AS), a good report from HAS does not directly translate to the CIA being signed by the RCA. USA have financial constraints Inch have prevented them from seeking available avenues like Internet Polls and Call-out surveys that costs above $1000 (Peg. 0, Pl). The shoestring budget does not allow for extensive advertising as it is costly for outreach to the massive number of USA (Peg. 1, PA). Lastly, the reports may be too complex for USA to understand, resulting in low adaptability. Option 2: Target Producers. This segment comprises 20-30 successful producers, few hundred producers with occasional hits and thousands of minor producers. Value Drivers: The use of HAS can help to diminish uncertainty to a certain extent, giving producers a better gauge of the potential of their songs. Risk Drivers: There are a few noteworthy risks. Outfits, there is a disconnection with the primary needs of the producers.Producers need to create hit songs but HAS merely suggests whether the songs that have the potential to become hits, showing limited effectiveness in tweaking songs. Therefore, HAS can only be seen as a subordinate tool in meeting producers needs. Secondly, thereafter is a high level of skepticism as producers pride themselves as artists with skills that cannot be replaced by a machine. Lastly, they might feel threatened that the software Nail replace their Job and hence refuse to adopt it.Risk Drivers: The core needs of AU s to get a contract from Arcs, but as ARCS might not align their tastes and preferences to the scoring criteria of HAS (Peg. 12, AS), a good report from HAS does not directly translate to the CIA being signed by the RCA. Thus, HAS is unable to meet the needs of this segment. Next, CIA have financial constraints which had prevented them from seeking available avenues like Internet Polls and Call-out surveys that costs above $1000 (Peg. 10, Pl). Thus, this is a highly price sensitive segment.In addition, Polyphonic does not have the full registry of CIA. The shoestring budget does not low for extensive advertising as it is costly for outreach to the massive number of in low adaptability. Option 3: Target Record Companies(RCA). This segment comprises of five major ARCS with combined share of 84% in the U. S. Market, each being home to at least a dozen labels. In addition, there are also tens of thousands of other small and midsized ARCS (Peg. 6, Pl). Value Drivers: The core needs for of ARCS is to reduce fixed costs that mainly stem from marketing initiatives(Peg. , PA). Hence, the core competency of HAS can directly address the by helping them filter hits and needs of Arcs, which is to predict hit songs with high accuracy for better allocation of baccalaureate budget to support likely hits and generate higher expected revenues. In addition, ARCS areas more a price insensitive, segment predisposed with higher budget and resources. A partial ACCORD analysis shows that this segment has high adaptability: HAS with an accuracy of 80% would be perceived to be more superior to traditional research methods of fairly low accuracy of 10% (Peg. 0, PA3). HAS is highly compatible as it suits the labels current behavior of sending songs for in-depth analysis in the form of reports. And since ARCS have familiarity with interpreting reports, complexity is low. The massive use of HAS in the music industry will definitely allow HAS to get noticed and tributes will spread by word-of-mouth, ensuring high communicability. Risk Drivers: However, Record labels under the same record company have significant collective buyer power to congregate and pressurize Polyphonic to reduce prices for their reports.In addition, major ARCS are hierarchical and operate with red tape, so the process of implementing HAS would be cumbersome. Recommendation: Option 3 is recommended. As the music industry faces a decline in album sales, the ARCS are forced to practice caution in launching albums. Consumers have become more discerning with their product expenditure. Every album launch requires a gamble on the part of the RCA marketing expenditure of $300,000 and upwards do not guarantee success in recouping the costs and profitability.An axiom of the industry is that less than 15% of released music titles generate profit, meaning the bulk of marketing investment are moot. Therefore, HAS brings about intervention to support the inner workings of Arcs. HAS sifts out the albums that do not make the cut room the manufacturing line, which avoids wastage of marketing budget. On the other hand, HAS could direct the ARCS to focus their endeavors on potential hit albums by allocating the bulk of budget to support likely hits. As such, HAS helps the ARCS to streamline marketing initiatives, and extract higher values from marketing investments.The ARCS can then reap higher margins from a reduction of fixed marketing costs. With predictive accuracy of about 80%, ARCS will perceive HAS as instrumental in turning their performance around. Justification of Recommendation Positioning Statement: Balance between Science and Art Within the business of research technologies in the pop music industry available to Arcs, Hit Song Science deviates from subjective preference sampling of limited individuals by Juxtaposing the test song and mathematical attributes of past hits alliterated by masses.HAS is thus the new-edge scientific humanistic tool that engages a million cultured ears to increase the likelihood of producing hits and reduce marketing expenditure. Generate u nbiased and technical assessments of songs, regardless of the reputation of the artiste. Financial Attractiveness Option 2: Producers option 3: RCA Target Volume 0,000 songs 5,500 songs 1 1 ,OHO songs Marketing Cost $1. 51 Unsigned artist $98. 41 Producer $2,500/ label target top 5 first) areas Even Price (BEEP) $95/ song $130/ song $89. 1 song above PVC) $30,000 $19,500 $33,000 Assumptions for all segments: Annual Fixed Cost=$500,OHO, Marketing budget= per song = $30, 10 songs/artist, Figures are for North America. Assumptions for CIA: 100,000 unsigned artists (Peg. 5, PA), Penetration Rate (PR)=I% Assumptions for Producers: 25 top producers(20 artists each) (Peg. 7 PA),500 one hit producers(10 artists each)l ,OHO aspiring producers (1 artist each) PR=I% Assumptions for RCA: 12 labels per record company (Peg. , PA), 5 major Arcs, 10,000 small Arcs, 2,500 unique albums and 3,000 unique singles, PR=50% Unit Contribution Analyzing the financial of each segment, it corroborates that targeting major ARCS Option 3) is the optimal choice. The $1 50,000 marketing budget is sufficient due to the least outreach that needs to be marketed to (12 labels or 5 Arcs). It Justifies the higher arbitrary market penetration rate set at 50%. Comparing with Option 2 and 3, marketing budget will be overstretched due to the much larger base of interested parties. Egg: only $1. Racketing dollars can be spent per unsigned artist which is probably close to production cost of a leaflet for promotion. Even though Option 1 and 2 have higher gross song volumes, the higher market penetration in Option 3 ensures the highest effective volume of songs that HAS technology captures (11,000 songs). Option 3 is also the most financially viable because it delivers the lowest areas-Even Price ($89/song) and highest Total Unit Contribution ($33,000). ), assuming that each song is priced 10% above Variable Cost of $30 for all 3 options.Value Sharing between ARCS and Humiliated by HAS for Record Companies To Justify he premium pricing of HAS(see later), we first considered Hisss value add for to the two main sources: (1) Marketing Cost Savings and (2) Increase in Expected Revenues. Marketing Cost Savings Before HAS After HAS Success rate of marketing to get hits Singles to market 2 Marketing and Promotion cost/singles Total marketing cost Marketing cost savings Assumptions: (1) Peg. 10 PA, Assume conservative 50% success rate instead of 80%. (2) Peg. 9 PA, Assume HAS capture only 50% of 3000 new singles. (3) Peg. PA, Assume $300,000 marketing cost and $100,000 promotion fees (1): Usage of HAS dramatically educes Marketing Expenses of newly released singles. Traditionally, there are about 3000 singles released per year, of which HAS technology captures half due to the 50% market penetration rate. Given that the HAS software increases success rate of marketing hits from 10% to 50%, we only have to promote 300 singles (instead of 1,500) to get 150 hits. Assuming each single is marketed and promoted at $400,000 per single (Peg. 8 PA), this results in 80% decrease in marketing expenditure from MM to $MM, generating potential cost savings of $MM. 2): Assuming hit success rate remains at 10%, there will also be an increase of expected revenues of MM. With the implementation of HAS technology, there is now 80%there is 40% probabilistically predictability (50% instead of 10% based on AR) that 1 out of 10 albums/singles marketed will become hits, generating increased probability- Knighted expected revenues of $776. MM for albums and $65. MM for singles. Increase in Expected Revenues Hit Success Rate (Fixed) Success rate of marketing to get hits Number of hit albums 125 381 Number of non-hit albums 1,375 Probability weighted revenues from non-hit albums (Table A)Increase in expected revenues from albums Number of non-hit singles 150 Probability weighted revenues from hit singles (Table A)Weighted expected revenues from hit singles 11,500,000 1,350 Probability weighted revenues from non-hit singles (Table A)Weighted expected revenues from non-hit singles 4,950,000 Total Increase in Expected Revenues Assumptions: Hit albums = Hit Success unique albums-?125 ton-hit albums-2500-125) Hit singles = Hit success * *3000 unique singles-?1 50 (Non-hit singles=3000-1 50) Probability weighted revenues from hit-singles/albums= Success rate of marketing /3)*Low Estimate+(l /3)*Med Est 3)*High Est] *Hit singles/liberalnesss in expected revenues from singles Sensitivity Analysis to Determine Optimal Procrastinating hit success rate remains at 10%, there will also be an increase of expected revenues of $MM. With the implementation of HAS technology, there is now 80% probability (instead of 10% based on A) that 1 out of 10 albums/singles marketed will become hits, generating increased probability-weighted expected revenues of $776. MM for albums and 565. MM for singles. Sensitivity SVGA Market Penetration Rate 75% Success Rate of Marketing to get hits 37801,477 1 51 337,931 ,250 1 ere sensitivity table proves that implementing HAS technology improves success rate of marketing, which in turn increases the SVGA for the Arcs. However, we observe that SVGA is limited by the market penetration rate, depending on how best HIM utilizes its marketing budget to capture the largest possible portion of the market, reinforcing the importance of Promotion and Distribution strategies. Its marketing mix. SVGA was then utilized to derive the price ceiling, price floor and target price of HAS technology on a per song basis. Based on target price of $60,105 per song or $600,105 per album, HIM is able to achieve a profit margin of 99. 85%.Price Ceiling Price Floor Target Price Assumptions 100% Penetration Rate Success Rate 1% Penetration Rate 11% Success Rate Penetration Rate Share of GAVE Price/songs $181,730 $6,873 $60,105 Net Value Add to Arcs 1$2. 68 bill) $1. 32 bill $661 mil Profit Margin of HIM(PM) 39. 97% 56. 58% 39. 85% Assumptions: (1) SVGA divided by target volume(market penetration * total volume of songs) (2) Net Value Add= Gross Value Add- Cost of Reports; Cost of Reports = Price per song * Market Penetration Rate * Volume of Songs (3) Assume that HIM will share alee created with record companies equally The sensitivity table proves that implementing HAS technology improves success rate of marketing, which in turn increases the SVGA for the Arcs.However, we observe that SVGA is limited by the market penetration rate, depending on how best HIM utilizes its marketing budget to capture the largest possible portion of the market, reinforcing the importance of Promotion and Distribution strategies. SVGA was then utilized to derive the price ceiling, price floor and target price of HAS technology on a per song basis. Based on target price of 60,105 per song or $600,105 per album, HIM is able to achieve a profit margin of 39. 85%. To analyze the mutual benefit of implementing HAS, we analyzed Hisss deducting all the relevant costs (Peg. 8 PA). With the implementation of HAS technology target price and assuming that Universal claims 32% the $661 M net value created See Pricing of HAS), this results in 8% increase in profit margin. PM.Suggested Marketing Mix for HAS Short Term: HIM should first target one major RCA to the top Major ARCS and hope to achieve industry awareness and accreditation of the technology and capture the ailing with at least one major Record Company. Patenting the HAS technology and giving competitive exclusive rights to one RCA will diminish buyer power that major ARCS hold when they congregate. Seethe suggested Pricing is standardized at $60,000 per song. The Product is homogeneous and utilized on master recordings of established artists. Pertaining Promotion and Place, HIM would seek the management of ARCS management via professional connections of HIM board members.Advertising leaflets are published to inform about the product. Salesmen and technical satisfactoriness would execute On-site Demonstrations to entice and enlighten Interested Arcs. Follow-ups are conducted to update ARCS on changing market trends and consumer preferences. For further market awareness, HAS guaranteed stickers Nail be placed on record label albums to enhance visibility of product. Mid-term and needed:Hem would now target small/medium sized Arcs, Producers and Unsigned Artists. The aim is to increase sales volume in other segments using the Market and Product Development strategy. Pricing is discriminated between Producers and Unsigned Artists.The Product is licensed as a software to major Arcs, while reports re personalized and simplified for USA and aspiring producers. Promotion and Place Initiatives are done via personal selling and one-to-one consultation with ARCS with the incentive of volume discounts. HIM can also offer trials of one unreleased song and four recently released songs to validate predictive and post-deceive accuracy. A chart release of Top 100 songs screened through by HAS technology and online retailers reviews increases product visibility. HIM will pursue the development of mobile APS and DID online websites for unsigned artists and producers to encourage easier consumer adoption.

To Be Or Not To Be Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays

To Be Or Not To Be Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays To Be Or Not To Be To Be or Not To Be This is a question I ask myself Do I live to be or not to be Do I die to be or not to be What exactly is to be anyway to be in what frame of mind when i murder to be in love when i get married do i have to be in order to be something?

The Company of Wolves Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Company of Wolves - Essay Example While her mother mourns, she goes to spend some time with her grandmother (Angela Lansbury), who tells her stories and warns about wolves and men, intuitively and effortlessly drawing parallels between both species; After she returns to her parents, and while taking a walk in the woods with a friend, they find that a wolf has entered town to lay siege on their cattle. They run into town to alert the men, who hunt down the wolf and kill it. However, the carcass transforms into a human corpse. The rest of the story is reminiscent and full of the symbolisms from Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood. It also includes the usual suspects – huntsman, wolf, granny etc. But that is where the likeness ends – it does not end or even proceed as would be expected. Based on Carter’s short stories, which, according to Merja Makinen, are (in)famous for the â€Å"excessiveness of their violence and, latterly, the almost violent exuberance of their excess,† The Company of Wolves delivers on its promise of violence and morbid dispositions. It is also very vicious in its attack on and reversal of the damsel-in-distress tradition present not only in Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood, but in fairy tales, generally. For example, in one scene, where Rosaleen is cornered by a wolf, she has the courage to grab a rifle and shoot at it (as opposed to the helpless/hapless young girl crying for help). It is also ‘laden’ with sexual innuendo and symbolic portraits of female sexual liberation, which can be deduced in the scenewhere she gives up her bright red shawl (which is said to symbolise her virginity) of her own volition, not out of coercion. The wholesomeness of the plot, however, is brought to question by the director’s barely comfortable employment of the â€Å"Chinese Box† structure in the film. Throughout all four stories narrated in the movie, I was conscious of the separateness of the

Utilization Management and Models of Care Research Paper

Utilization Management and Models of Care - Research Paper Example It is also a whole person centered approach that offers a comprehensive care strategies for chronic, acute and end of life care. Finally, the PCHM facilitates the integration and coordination of care thus ensuring that the patients receive the best care and services from their medical neighborhood thus improving quality and safety of the services. Health care facilities that have employed the Chronic Care Model have also been able to achieve their quality and safety goals due to the various beneficial elements inherent in the model. Glasgow, Orleans & Wagner (2001) informs that one of the key ways through which the Chronic Care Model facilitates the achievement of quality and safety goals by coordinating the care delivery process and offering clinical decision support. The model coordinated coordinates decisions and actions of different care givers leading to glycemic control, health care utilization and patient satisfaction. Evidence based decision making is vital in the achievement of safety and quality goals (Coleman, Austin, Brach & Wagner, 2009). The model facilitates the incorporation of evidence based practices into various registries and patient assessment tools thus improving the quality of care offered by the care givers. Shojania, K., Kathryn, M., Grimshaw, J., Sundaram, V., Rushakoff, R. (2006). Effects of quality improvement strategies for type 2 diabetes on glycemic control: a meta-regression analysis.  Journal of the American Medical Association  296(4), 427–440.

Peer review process assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peer review process - Assignment Example This is a very useful proposal for educational institutions since the factors that affect XYZ are the same factors that influence other institutions that offer the same services. I appeal for funding because management hired fire captains based of their technical competence and high motivational attitudes. However, this does not necessarily translate in to leadership ability, as many would think. Further, I think promoting managers that have not been trained, nor have had the opportunities to be mentored by experienced leaders, leaves an experience gap between upper level management and lower level supervisors that will soon be asked step into upper level leadership positions. It is significant to note that as upper level management leaves and younger supervisors step up there will certainly be a lack of transformational leadership and vision that was possessed by the leaders that left. Therefore funding such a project will improve leadership styles in organizations. The proposal has critically looked at the firefighting career field, which is technical field where firefighters are given individual tasks in order to accomplish an overall objective. When there is an emergency each individual knows what he or she as an individual must due to contribute to the team success of the mission. However, this causes problems when a firefighter is now put in the position of supervisor and they must keep up with the technical competencies of firefighting while also managing the administrative, political, and human resources issues that comes along with the day-to-day activities of running a fire station. In making this transition, one is often required to alter their paradigm or worldview. I appeal for funding for this project because the emphasis on efficiency, customer-service, and consistent communication are all-important components of an HRPP. Building trust between the research community and the HRPP indirectly serves as a

Effectiveness of Support Services for Reducing Poverty

Effectiveness of Support Services for Reducing Poverty A 6000 word literature review project which critically analyses and evaluates the effectiveness of family support services aimed at reducing stress and poverty for the parents of children in need. Introduction The whole issue of parents and children in need is a vast, complex and ethically challenging one. This review is specifically charged with an examination of those issues which impinge upon the stresses and strains that are experienced by parents of children in need. A superficial examination of these issues that are involved in this particular area would suggest that there are a number of â€Å"sub-texts† which can all give rise to this particular situation. Firstly, to have a child in need is clearly a stressful situation for any parent. (Meltzer H et al. 1999) This can clearly be purely a financial concern and a reflection of the fact that the whole family is in financial hardship, perhaps due to the economic situation or perhaps due to the actions of the parents themselves. Equally the need of the child can be a result of a non-financial need, so we should also consider the child who is in some way handicapped, ill, emotionally disturbed or perhaps in need in some other way. This produces another type of stress on the parent, and these stresses are typically longer lasting and, in general, less easily rectified than a purely financial consideration of need. (Hall D 1996). It is part of the basic ethos of the welfare state that it should look after its less able and disadvantaged members. (Welsh Office 1997). Parents of children in need will often qualify in this definition. We shall therefore examine the various aspects of this problem. Literature Review We will make a start by considering one type of child in need. The first paper that we will consider is that of Prof. Vostanis (Vostanis 2002), which looks at the mental health problems that are faced by deprived children and their families together with the effectiveness of the resources that are available to them. It is a well written and well researched paper, if rather complex and confusing in places. We will consider this paper in some detail as it provides an excellent overview of the whole area. The paper starts with a rather useful definition for our purposes. It qualifies the deprived child, initially in terms of a homeless family, that being : A family of any number of adults with dependent children who are statutorily accepted by local authorities (housing departments) in the UK, and are usually accommodated for a brief period in voluntary agency, local authority or housing association hostels. This period of temporary accommodation can vary enormously depending on the time of year and the area considered, and can range from a few days to perhaps several months. The target in Greater London is currently to rehouse homeless families within 4-6 weeks. In London particularly, the homeless families can be placed in Bed Breakfast accommodation. (D of H 1998) In this respect, the immediate family support mechanisms do appear to be in place. Vostranis however, goes on to make the observation that despite the fact that the definition of the homeless family is rather broad, it does not cover all of the potential children in need, as those children and their carers who have lost their homes but have managed to live with relatives, on the streets or perhaps live as travellers, are not covered by the statutory obligation to provide housing. The official figures therefore, he observes, are generally an underestimate of the true situation. The official figures for the homeless families are put (in this paper) at 140,000. (Vostanis Cumella, 1999) The authors give us further information in that many families will become homeless again within one year of rehousing and the typical family seen is the single mother and at least two children who are generally under the age of 11 yrs. They also observe that the typical father and adolescent child tend to be placed in homeless centres. (D of H 1995) In exploration of the particular topic that we are considering, the authors give us the situations that typically have given rise to the degree of parental stress that may have led to the homelessness. They point to the fact that a homeless family is usually homeless for different reasons to the single homeless adult. Vostanis (et al 1997) is quoted as showing that 50% of the cases studied were homeless as a direct result of domestic violence and 25% as a result of harassment from neighbours. The authors observe that the numbers in this category (and therefore the problems), are rising. (Welsh Office 1999). There are a number of section to this paper which are not directly referable to our considerations. We shall therefore direct our attention purely to those parts that have a direct bearing on the subject. One particularly useful and analytical part of the paper is the section that details the characteristics and needs of the target group. This is a very detailed section, but it makes the point that the children in need in this group are particularly heterogeneous, generally all with multiple and inter-related needs. Homelessness is seldom a one off event. This particular observation, (say the authors), is crucially important for the development and provision of services. Most families have histories of previous chronic adversities that constitute risk factors for both children and parents (Bassuk et al, 1997). Such events include family conflict, violence and breakdown; limited or absent networks for family and social support; recurring moves; poverty; and unemployment. Mothers are more likely to have suffered abuse in their own childhood and adult life and children have increased rates of placement on the at-risk child protection register, because of neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse. If we specifically consider the health needs of this population, the authors categorise them thus: The children are more likely to have a history of low birthweight, anaemia, dental decay and delayed immunisations, to be of lower stature and have a greater degree of nutritional stress. They are also more likely to suffer accidents, injuries and burns. (BPA 1999) Some studies have found that child health problems increase with the duration of homelessness, although this finding is not consistent. A substantial proportion of homeless children have delayed development compared with the general population of children of a similar chronological age. This includes both specific developmental delays, such as in receptive and expressive language and visual, motor and reading skills, as well as general skills and educational status (Webb et al. 2001). It is for this reason specifically, that it has proved extremely difficult to assess the effectiveness of the family support services because of the multivariate nature of the problems that are presented. The authors point to the fact that one of the prime determinants of the degree of support available, is the actual access that the families have to these services. Many sources (viz. Wilkinson R 1996), equate the poor health of the disadvantaged primarily with the lack of access to services. One immediate difficulty is the current registration system in the UK. In order to be seen in the primary healthcare team setting, one must be registered with a named doctor. In the majority of cases that we are dealing with here, they have moved area and registration is probably not high on their list of priorities. One can argue that there is the access to the A E departments of the local hospitals but there is virtually no continuity here and they are no geared up to provide anything other than immediate treatment. (Hall D 1996). This fact restricts their access to primary healthcare team procedures such as immunisations and other preventative medicine health clinics. (Lissauer et al, 1993) . By the same token these groups also have restricted access to the social services, whether they be the access teams, the family teams or the family support units and other agencies. The authors also point to other more disruptive trends in this group such as an inability to attend a particular school for fear of being traced by an abusive partner. It follows that these children do not have a stable social support of a school. They are denied such factors as peer groups, routines and challenges which are both important protective and developmental factors. (Shankleman J et al 2000). The summation of all of these factors, and others, is that the effectiveness of the family support services is greatly reduced by the mobility and the transient nature of the family unit. Quite apart from the difficulties outlined above relating to the problems of access to avenues of help open to the child in need and their families there are the problems engendered by the fact that social service departments in different areas of the country may not have immediate access to the previous records giving rise to many potential, and real, problems with continuity of care. This problem is brought into more immediate focus when one considers the increased frequency of child protection registrations in this particular group. (Hall D et al 1998). One specific analysis of the family support services of this particular group comes in the form of the psychiatric services. In the context of the title of this piece, it demonstrates how these particular services, (but not these alone), are failing to deal with the totality of the problem. All of the aspects that we have outlined so far are conspiring to dilute the effectiveness of the services provided. The fact that they are a mobile population with no fixed address means that some of the services may choose to invoke this as a reason for not making provision for them, particularly if resources are stretched. If more resources are given, then they are typically preferentially targeted at the single adult homeless population where the need is arguably greater. The authors of this paper point to the fact that this may not actually be true as some studies have shown that homeless single mothers and their children have a 49% psychopathy rate and only an 11% contact with the support services. (Cumella et al, 1998). The impact of this fact on the children can only be imagined. To an extent however, it can be quantified as the authors cite other studies which show a 30% need rating for children, (they do not actually define exactly what their perceived level of need was), contrasted with a 3% contact rate for children and adolescents in this area. (viz. Power S et al. 1995). Putting these considerations together, the authors outline a set of proposals which are designed to help improve the access to some of the essential services. The model that they propose could, if successful and with a degree of modification, prove suitable for adaptation to other areas of the family support services. It is not appropriate to discuss this model in detail, but suffice it to say that it has a tiered structure so that the degree of distress and need is titrated against the degree of input generated. One of the reasons that we have selected this particular paper to present in this context is for its last section. It proposes a â€Å"family support services model† which has been developed and pioneered in the Leicester area. In the context of our review, it is worth considering in some detail. A service provided through a family support team (four family support assistants).This is designed to detect a range of problems at the time of crisis; manage a degree of mental health problems (behavioural and emotional); provide parenting-training; support and train housing (hostel) staff; co-ordinate the work of different agencies; and provide some continuity after rehousing by ensuring intake by appropriate local services. The family workers are based at the main hostel for homeless children and families. Other, predominantly voluntary, services have established alternative posts, such as advocates and key workers. Whatever the title of the post, it is essential that the post-holder has some experience and ongoing training in mental health and child protection, so that he or she can hold a substantial case-load, rather than merely mediate between already limited services. The family support workers have direct access to the local child and adult mental health services, whose staff provide weekly outreach clinics. Their role is to work with the family support workers and other agencies, assess selected children and families, and provide treatment for more severe problems or disorders such as depression, self-harm and PTSD. A weekly inter-agency liaison meeting at the main hostel is attended by a health visitor, representatives of the local domestic violence service and Sure Start, There are also close, regular links with education welfare and social services. The aim is to effectively utilise specialist skills by discussing family situations from all perspectives at the liaison meeting. A bimonthly steering group, led by the housing department, involves senior managers representing these agencies, as well as the education and social services departments and the voluntary sector, and they oversee and co-ordinate the service. This appears to be something of an exemplar in relation to services provided elsewhere. The paper does not provide any element of costings in this area neither does it provide any figures in relation to its success rates, contact rates or overall effectiveness. In conclusion this paper is an extremely well written and authoritative overview of the situation relating to the stresses of the homeless parent with children and the effectiveness (or lack of it) in its ability to reduce the stresses experienced by the homeless children in need and their parents. It proposes remedies but sadly it does not evaluate the effectiveness of those remedies. In order to address these shortcomings we can consider another paper by Tischler (et al 2000). This looks at a similar outreach set up which has been designed to capture the families of children in need who might otherwise slip through the net. This paper is written from a different perspective and specifically analyses the effectiveness of these services as they pertain to an entry cohort of 40 families. This particular study was set up after preliminary work was done in the Birmingham area with 114 homeless families and this study defined the needs of the families but did not quantify their support systems.(Vostanis et al 1998). This paper set out to identify and measure the support systems available and their effectiveness as far as the families were concerned. The stresses encountered were partly reflected by the incidence of psychiatric morbidity. The mothers in the group were found to have over 50% more morbidity than a matched control group. The children in the group were found to have â€Å"histories of abuse, living in care, being on the at-risk protection register, delayed communication and higher reported mental health problems.† All of which adds to the general background stress levels. (Kerouac S et al. 1996). This particular study found that despite the psychiatric morbidity in the children, (estimated to be about 30%), and the psychiatric morbidity in the parents, (estimated at about 50%), only 3% of the children and 10% of the parents had had any significant contact or support from the social services. In this respect, this paper is very useful to our purpose as it quantifies the levels of intervention and access to healthcare resources that this particular group has. By any appreciation, it would be considered woefully inadequate in any society that calls itself civilised. In the terms of the title of this piece, the effectiveness of the family support services is minimal. Like the last paper discussed, this one also considered how best to tackle the problem, and this one is of much greater value to us, as it specifies a response, or intervention, to the problem in much the same way as the Vostranis 2002 paper did, but it makes the same measurements as it did prior to the intervention, and therefore allows us an insight into the actual effectiveness of the intervention. The way this particular study worked was to assess the problem (as it has been presented above), devise an intervention strategy and then to measure its effect. This particular study goes to great lengths to actively involve all the appropriate agencies that could help the situation by having a central assessment station that acted as a liaison between all of the other resources. In brief, it actively involved liaison with the following: Education, social services, child protection, local mental health services, voluntary and community organisations to facilitate the re-integration of the family into the community, and particularly their engagement with local services following rehousing; and training of staff of homeless centres in the understanding, recognition and management of mental illness in children and parents. This is essential, as hostel staff often work in isolation and have little knowledge of the potential severity and consequences of mental health problems in children. It was hoped that, by doing this, it would maximise the impact that the limited resources had on reducing the levels of morbidity and stress in the families of the children in need. The post intervention results were, by any estimate, impressive considering the historical difficulty of working with this particular group (OHara M 1995). 40 families (including 122 children) were studied in detail. The paper gives a detailed breakdown of the ethnic and demographic breakdown of the group. By far the biggest group were single mothers and children (72%) The results showed that the majority of referrals were seen between 1-3 times (55%), with a further 22% being seen 4-6 times. It is a reflection of the difficulty in engaging this type of family in need that over 25% did not actually keep their appointments despite the obvious potential benefits that could have been utilised. The authors investigated this group further and ascertained that a common reason for non attendance was the perception that the psychological welfare of the children was not actually the main concern. The families perceived that their primary needs were rehousing and financial stability. Other priorities identified were that physical health was a greater priority than mental health. The authors also identify another common failing in the social services provision, and that is the general lack of regular contact. They cite the situation where some families cope well initially, apparently glad to have escaped an abusive or violent home situation, but a prolonged stay in a hostel or temporary accommodation may soon precipitate a bout of depression in the parents and behavioural problems in the children of such parents. (Brooks RM et al 1998). They suggest that regular re-visiting of families who have been in temporary accommodation for any significant length of time should be mandatory. This paper takes a very practical overview by pointing out that workability of the system is, to a large extent, dependent on the goodwill of a number of committed professionals. The authors state that this has to be nurtured and they call for sufficient funding must be given to enable this particular model to be extended to a National level. Thus far in the review we have considered the effectiveness of the service provision in the support of the families of the children in need in one specific target grouping, those who are stressed by virtue of the fact that they are homeless. We will now consider the literature on a different kind of family stress, and that is when a parent dies. This leaves the children with a considerable amount of potential emotional â€Å"baggage† and the surviving parent with an enormous amount of stress. (Webb E 1998). An excellent paper by Downey (et al 1999) tackles this particular problem with both sensitivity and also considerable rigour. It is a long and complex paper, but the overall aims and objectives are clear from the outset. The structure of the paper is a prospective case study which aims to assess whether the degree of distress suffered by a family during a time of bereavement is in any way linked to the degree of service provision that is utilised. The base line for this study is set out in its first two paragraphs. Parentally bereaved children and surviving parents showed a greater than predicted level of psychiatric morbidity. Boys had greater levels of demonstrable morbidity than did girls, but bereaved mothers showed more morbidity than did bereaved fathers. Children were more likely to show signs of behavioural disturbance when the surviving parent manifested some kind of psychiatric disorder. (Kranzler EM et al 1990). The authors point to the fact that their study shows that the service provision is statistically related to a number of (arguably unexpected [Fristad MA et al 1993]) factors namely: The age of the children and the manner of parental death. Children under 5 years of age were less likely to be offered services than older children even though their parents desired it. Children were significantly more likely to be offered services when the parent had committed suicide or when the death was expected. Children least likely to receive service support were those who were not in touch with services before parental death. Paradoxically the level of service provision was not found to be statistically significantly related to either the parental wishes or the degree of the psychiatric disturbance in either the parent or child. (Sanchez L et al 1994) The service provision did have some statistical relationships but that was only found to be the manner of the parental death and the actual age of the child at the time. The authors therefore are able to identify a mismatch between the perceived need for support and the actual service provision made. Part of that mismatch is found to be due to the inability of the social services and other related agencies to take a dispassionate overview. Elsewhere in the paper the authors suggest that there are other factors that add to this inequality and they include lack of resources and a lack of specificity in identifying children at greatest risk. (Harrington R 1996) The authors examine other literature to back up their initial precept that bereaved children have greater levels of morbidity. They cite many other papers who have found distress manifesting in the form of â€Å"anxiety, depression, withdrawal, sleep disturbance, and aggression.† (Worden JW et al. 1996) and also psychological problems in later life (Harris T et al. 1996). In terms of study structure, the authors point to methodological problems with other papers in the area including a common failing of either having a standardised measure or no matched control group (Mohammed D et al 2003). They also point to the fact that this is probably the first UK study to investigate the subject using a properly representative sample and certainly the first to investigate whether service provision is actually related to the degree of the problems experienced. The entry cohort involved nearly 550 families with 94 having children in the target range (2-18). With certain exclusions (such as two families where one parent had murdered the other etc.) and non respondents, the final cohort was reduced to 45 families and one target child was randomly selected from each family. It has to be noted that the comparatively large number of non-respondents may have introduced a large element of bias, insofar as it is possible that the families most in need of support were those who were most distressed by the death of a family member and these could have been the very ones who chose not to participate. (Morton V et al 2003) The authors make no comment on this particular fact. The authors should be commended for a particularly ingenious control measure for the children. They were matched by asking their school teacher to complete an inventory of disturbed behaviour on the next child in the school register after the target child. A large part of the paper is taken up with methodological issues which ( apart form the comments above) cannot be faulted. In terms of being children in need, 60% of children were found to have â€Å"significant behavioural abnormalities† with 28% having scores above the 95th centile. In terms of specific service support provision, 82% of parents identified a perceived need for support by virtue of the behaviour of their children. Only 49% of these actually received it in any degree. Perhaps the most surprising statistic to come out of this study was the fact that of the parents who were offered support 44% were in the group who asked for it and 56% were in the group who didn’t want it. The levels of support offered were independent of the degree of behavioural disturbance in the child. As with the majority of papers that we have either presented here or read in preparation for this review, the authors call for a more rationally targeted approach to the utilisation of limited resources. The study also provides us with a very pertinent comment which many experienced healthcare professionals will empathise with, (Black D 1996), and that is: Practitioners should also be aware that child disturbance may reflect undetected psychological distress in the surviving parent. While not suggesting that this is a reflection of Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy, the comment is a valid reflection of the fact that parental distress may be well hidden from people outside of the family and may only present as a manifestation of the child’s behaviour. (Feldman MD et al. 1994) The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are that there is a considerable gap in the support offered ( quite apart form the effectiveness of that support) in this area of obvious stress for both parents and children. (Black D 1998). This study goes some way to quantifying the level of support actually given in these circumstances. We have considered the role of the effectiveness and indeed, even the existence, of adequate support services for the children in need and their parents in a number of different social circumstances. The next paper that we wish to present is an excellent review of the support that is given to another specific sub-group and that is women and children who suffer from domestic violence. Webb and her group (et al 2001) considered the problem in considerable (and commendable) depth The study itself had an entry cohort of nearly 150 children and their mothers who were resident in a number of hostels and women’s refuges that had been the victims of family violence at some stage in the recent past. The study subjected the cohort to a battery of tests designed to assess their physical, emotional and psychological health, and then quantified their access to, and support gained from, the primary healthcare teams and other social service-based support agencies. This study is presented in a long and sometimes difficult to read format. Much of the presentation is (understandably) taken up with statistical, ethical and methodological matters – all of which appear to be largely of excellent quality and the result of careful consideration. The results make for interesting and, (in the context of this review), very relevant reading. Perhaps one of the more original findings was that nearly 60% of the child health data held by the various refuges was factually incorrect. This clearly has grave implications for studies that base their evidence base on that data set (Berwick D 2005). Of great implication for the social services support mechanisms was the finding that 76% of the mothers in the study expressed concerns about the health of their children. Once they had left the refuge there was a significant loss to the follow up systems as 15% were untraceable and 25% returned to the home of the original perpetrator. The study documents the fact that this particular group had both a high level of need for support and also a poor level of access to appropriate services. In the study conclusions, the authors make the pertinent comment that the time spent in the refuge offers a â€Å"window of opportunity† for the family support services to make contact and to review health and child developmental status. This is not a demographically small group. In the UK, over 35,000 children and a parent, are recorded as passing through the refuges each year, with at least a similar number also being refered to other types of safe accommodation. Such measures are clearly not undertaken lightly with the average woman only entering a refuge after an average of 28 separate assaults. One can only speculate at the long term effects that this can have on both the mother and the children. In common with the other papers reviewed, this paper also calls for greater levels of support for the families concerned as, by inference, the current levels of effectiveness of the family support services is clearly inadequate. Conclusions This review has specifically presented a number of papers which have been chosen from a much larger number that have been accessed and assessed, because of the fact that each has a particularly important issue or factor in its construction or results. The issue that we have set out to evaluate is the effectiveness of the family support services which are specifically aimed at reducing the stress levels for the parents of children in need. Almost without exception, all of the papers that have been accessed (quite apart from those presented) have demonstrated the fact that the levels of support from the statutory bodies is â€Å"less than optimum† and in some cases it can only be described as â€Å"dire†. Another factor that is a common finding, is that, given the fact that any welfare system is, by its very nature, a rationed system, the provision of the services that are provided is seldom targeted at the groups that need it the most. One can cite the Tischler (et al 2000) and Downey (et al 1999) papers in particular as demonstrating that a substantial proportion of the resources mobilised are actually being directed to groups that are either not requesting support or who demonstrably need it less than other sectors of the community. Some of the papers (actually a small proportion) make positive suggestions about the models for redirecting and targeting support. Sadly, the majority do little more than call for â€Å"more research to be done on the issue†. In overview, we would have to conclude that the evidence suggests that the effectiveness of the family support services in reducing stress and poverty for the parents of children in need is poor at best and certainly capable of considerable improvement. References Bassuk, E. Buckner, J. Weinreb, L. et al (1997),  Homelessness in female-headed families: childhood and adult risk and protective factors.   American Journal of Public Health, 87, 241–248 1997 Berwick D 2005 Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 316. Black D. 1996,  Childhood bereavement: distress and long term sequelae can be lessened by early intervention.   BMJ 1996; 312: 1496,   Black D. 1998,  Coping with loss: bereavement in childhood.   BMJ 1998; 316: 931-933,   BPA 1999,  British Paediatric Association. Outcome measures for child health.   London: Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 1999.    Brooks RM, Ferguson T, Webb E. 1998,  Health services to children resident in domestic violence shelters.   Ambulatory Child Health 1998; 4: 369-374.    Cumella, S. Grattan, E. Vostanis, P.

A Tan to Die For by Claire Oliver :: Letter to Editor Melanoma Tanning Solarium

â€Å"A tan to die for† written by Claire Oliver is a letter to the editor that shows that the use of solariums can greatly increase the potential for life-threatening melanoma. Claire Oliver’s tone shows a composed, collected and complacent frame of mind at her imminent death, stating that â€Å"[she is] at peace†. Her composed tone when discussing the certainty of her impending death appeals to a sense of rationality, and writes optimistically about the remainder of her life. This optimism, and personal responsibility, comes from her wish of helping those who do not know of the health risks involved in the beauty young teens crave to acquire. Ms Oliver states factually how little life she has remaining. â€Å"If I really fight it out, I may even have six weeks left.† She puts her life in perspective, and follows by showcasing her emotions more obviously. â€Å"It’s scary, because I feel myself getting more tired and it worries me that I might not wake up.† This fear evokes the sympathies of the reader. The writer then transfers her focus from her story to the risks involved with solariums and how she appeals to the government to educate the general public especially to the younger generation. She also demands some answers from the government and wants some honesty from them on how the dangers on solarium can kill you. Through her letter to the editor she implies that the solariums should be banned but for the first time she gives her opinion saying â€Å"Obviously, I think they should be banned.† She also implies the government is more concerned about business profits rather then the general public’s health. Ms Oliver tries to not focus her attentions on the government but to raise awareness and the sense of responsibility. The writer shifts her focus to her life background and how she was like any other normally 25 year old. She implies how â€Å"normal† she is because she wants to everybody to know that she was just as â€Å"normal† as everyone else. This disease can happen to anyone at any age.

Developing Good Business Sense

Developing Good Business Sense Axia College of University of Phoenix BUS 210 Developing Good Business Sense June 29, 2008 The three companies I selected for this assignment are McDonalds, Bose Corporation and Motorola. From the reading I was able to determine the employee’s organizational structure within this company’s by which they complete their jobs. I will review and outline the main kinds of Operations and Materials Management (OMM) processes these companies use, and how it affects their operations. Also, I will discuss how companies design their operating systems to give them a competitive advantage. I will identify which components of operations and materials management costs and the methods companies use to reduce them. McDonald’s is a highly successful and well recognized brand leader of fast food restaurants located around the world. They sell hamburgers and french fries as their primary products, and they work with many different food suppliers such as hamburger bun manufacturers, beef producers, produce suppliers and many others, to ensure their foods are as fresh as possible. McDonald’s sells franchise rights to local owner/operators which allow them to keep costs low and avoid high capital and plant investment costs. Since a great deal of McDonald’s service is reliant on delivering customer’s food fresh, McDonald’s use the Just in Time (JIT) inventory management system. This system reviews stock inventory levels available against product usage, and arranges delivery and restocking to the restaurants just as inventory items are needed. This allows inventory to be kept to a minimum in each franchise location. Foods for the restaurants are not warehoused for days or weeks, and are efficiently managed under this system so they are used quickly and, freshness is guaranteed. Each franchise owner keeps labor costs down by managing store staff schedules against the peak customer periods when the restaurant gets busy. Another technique McDonald’s uses to keep distribution costs low, is to have soft drink company’s ship only the soda syrup mix needed for each brand, which is then mixed with carbonated water at the soda fountain in the store. McDonalds has also begun to employ the use of robotics to complete routine, repetitive tasks such as filling soda orders for the drive through window and dumping fries into the fry maker, as a means of making their food quicker and less expensively. Over time the return on investment for these developments will pay off greatly in saved labor costs. Of course, the most important element in any McDonald’s restaurants is that employees must be organized and communicate effectively. Wasted food equates to wasted money and if a special order is needed, staff must talk to each other to make sure it is done right the first time. By working together as a team the cooks, preparation staff, and cashiers help to keeps the orders organized and production is kept high. The Bose Corporation is a world renowned manufacturer of high-fidelity speakers and audio equipment. The company’s ability to meet customer demand for their products is dependant on the supply chain and availability of components needed to complete customer orders. The company uses a supply chain network that is spread across the globe, with their primary source of over 50% of purchased components coming from the Far East. Logistics managers within the company bear the responsibility of moving the vast amounts of equipment into production, based on a real-time inventory management system called â€Å"ProterLink†. This system is able to locate supplies that are needed anywhere in the shipping chain, and divert them if necessary to meet an accelerated production schedule if necessary. This operational system gives Bose the advantage of meeting large customer’s orders without missing a beat. Transportation costs associated with material movement and management from suppliers to their Bose’ production facility would be a key cost consideration for the company. If supplies needed to fill orders are transported efficiently and are timed to correspond to production schedules, costs would be lower because unnecessary components would not take valuable inventory space away from items that are in need to complete orders, thereby maximizing production effectiveness. Motorola, a global communications leader, is using a unique forward thinking production plan to bring their services and products to market. In their self-named, â€Å"factory of the future†, custom made communication devices can be produced very quickly for customers, giving Motorola a competitive advantage. The process starts with sales person who receives the order and inputs all of the customer’s customization preferences. This information is provided as a barcode and relayed to the production facility, which uses automation technology (robots) to produce the phone in accordance with the customer’s wishes. Using robots gives Motorola a competitive advantage because they are able to mass produce large volumes of customized phones, with only a two-hour turnaround window. The universal operational strategy in any business is to meet the goal of customer satisfaction. The company’s reviewed accomplish that goal through improving quality and efficiency, and ultimately reducing costs. [pic] Developing Good Business Sense Developing Good Business Sense Axia College of University of Phoenix BUS 210 Developing Good Business Sense June 29, 2008 The three companies I selected for this assignment are McDonalds, Bose Corporation and Motorola. From the reading I was able to determine the employee’s organizational structure within this company’s by which they complete their jobs. I will review and outline the main kinds of Operations and Materials Management (OMM) processes these companies use, and how it affects their operations. Also, I will discuss how companies design their operating systems to give them a competitive advantage. I will identify which components of operations and materials management costs and the methods companies use to reduce them. McDonald’s is a highly successful and well recognized brand leader of fast food restaurants located around the world. They sell hamburgers and french fries as their primary products, and they work with many different food suppliers such as hamburger bun manufacturers, beef producers, produce suppliers and many others, to ensure their foods are as fresh as possible. McDonald’s sells franchise rights to local owner/operators which allow them to keep costs low and avoid high capital and plant investment costs. Since a great deal of McDonald’s service is reliant on delivering customer’s food fresh, McDonald’s use the Just in Time (JIT) inventory management system. This system reviews stock inventory levels available against product usage, and arranges delivery and restocking to the restaurants just as inventory items are needed. This allows inventory to be kept to a minimum in each franchise location. Foods for the restaurants are not warehoused for days or weeks, and are efficiently managed under this system so they are used quickly and, freshness is guaranteed. Each franchise owner keeps labor costs down by managing store staff schedules against the peak customer periods when the restaurant gets busy. Another technique McDonald’s uses to keep distribution costs low, is to have soft drink company’s ship only the soda syrup mix needed for each brand, which is then mixed with carbonated water at the soda fountain in the store. McDonalds has also begun to employ the use of robotics to complete routine, repetitive tasks such as filling soda orders for the drive through window and dumping fries into the fry maker, as a means of making their food quicker and less expensively. Over time the return on investment for these developments will pay off greatly in saved labor costs. Of course, the most important element in any McDonald’s restaurants is that employees must be organized and communicate effectively. Wasted food equates to wasted money and if a special order is needed, staff must talk to each other to make sure it is done right the first time. By working together as a team the cooks, preparation staff, and cashiers help to keeps the orders organized and production is kept high. The Bose Corporation is a world renowned manufacturer of high-fidelity speakers and audio equipment. The company’s ability to meet customer demand for their products is dependant on the supply chain and availability of components needed to complete customer orders. The company uses a supply chain network that is spread across the globe, with their primary source of over 50% of purchased components coming from the Far East. Logistics managers within the company bear the responsibility of moving the vast amounts of equipment into production, based on a real-time inventory management system called â€Å"ProterLink†. This system is able to locate supplies that are needed anywhere in the shipping chain, and divert them if necessary to meet an accelerated production schedule if necessary. This operational system gives Bose the advantage of meeting large customer’s orders without missing a beat. Transportation costs associated with material movement and management from suppliers to their Bose’ production facility would be a key cost consideration for the company. If supplies needed to fill orders are transported efficiently and are timed to correspond to production schedules, costs would be lower because unnecessary components would not take valuable inventory space away from items that are in need to complete orders, thereby maximizing production effectiveness. Motorola, a global communications leader, is using a unique forward thinking production plan to bring their services and products to market. In their self-named, â€Å"factory of the future†, custom made communication devices can be produced very quickly for customers, giving Motorola a competitive advantage. The process starts with sales person who receives the order and inputs all of the customer’s customization preferences. This information is provided as a barcode and relayed to the production facility, which uses automation technology (robots) to produce the phone in accordance with the customer’s wishes. Using robots gives Motorola a competitive advantage because they are able to mass produce large volumes of customized phones, with only a two-hour turnaround window. The universal operational strategy in any business is to meet the goal of customer satisfaction. The company’s reviewed accomplish that goal through improving quality and efficiency, and ultimately reducing costs. [pic] Developing Good Business Sense Developing Good Business Sense Axia College of University of Phoenix BUS 210 Developing Good Business Sense June 29, 2008 The three companies I selected for this assignment are McDonalds, Bose Corporation and Motorola. From the reading I was able to determine the employee’s organizational structure within this company’s by which they complete their jobs. I will review and outline the main kinds of Operations and Materials Management (OMM) processes these companies use, and how it affects their operations. Also, I will discuss how companies design their operating systems to give them a competitive advantage. I will identify which components of operations and materials management costs and the methods companies use to reduce them. McDonald’s is a highly successful and well recognized brand leader of fast food restaurants located around the world. They sell hamburgers and french fries as their primary products, and they work with many different food suppliers such as hamburger bun manufacturers, beef producers, produce suppliers and many others, to ensure their foods are as fresh as possible. McDonald’s sells franchise rights to local owner/operators which allow them to keep costs low and avoid high capital and plant investment costs. Since a great deal of McDonald’s service is reliant on delivering customer’s food fresh, McDonald’s use the Just in Time (JIT) inventory management system. This system reviews stock inventory levels available against product usage, and arranges delivery and restocking to the restaurants just as inventory items are needed. This allows inventory to be kept to a minimum in each franchise location. Foods for the restaurants are not warehoused for days or weeks, and are efficiently managed under this system so they are used quickly and, freshness is guaranteed. Each franchise owner keeps labor costs down by managing store staff schedules against the peak customer periods when the restaurant gets busy. Another technique McDonald’s uses to keep distribution costs low, is to have soft drink company’s ship only the soda syrup mix needed for each brand, which is then mixed with carbonated water at the soda fountain in the store. McDonalds has also begun to employ the use of robotics to complete routine, repetitive tasks such as filling soda orders for the drive through window and dumping fries into the fry maker, as a means of making their food quicker and less expensively. Over time the return on investment for these developments will pay off greatly in saved labor costs. Of course, the most important element in any McDonald’s restaurants is that employees must be organized and communicate effectively. Wasted food equates to wasted money and if a special order is needed, staff must talk to each other to make sure it is done right the first time. By working together as a team the cooks, preparation staff, and cashiers help to keeps the orders organized and production is kept high. The Bose Corporation is a world renowned manufacturer of high-fidelity speakers and audio equipment. The company’s ability to meet customer demand for their products is dependant on the supply chain and availability of components needed to complete customer orders. The company uses a supply chain network that is spread across the globe, with their primary source of over 50% of purchased components coming from the Far East. Logistics managers within the company bear the responsibility of moving the vast amounts of equipment into production, based on a real-time inventory management system called â€Å"ProterLink†. This system is able to locate supplies that are needed anywhere in the shipping chain, and divert them if necessary to meet an accelerated production schedule if necessary. This operational system gives Bose the advantage of meeting large customer’s orders without missing a beat. Transportation costs associated with material movement and management from suppliers to their Bose’ production facility would be a key cost consideration for the company. If supplies needed to fill orders are transported efficiently and are timed to correspond to production schedules, costs would be lower because unnecessary components would not take valuable inventory space away from items that are in need to complete orders, thereby maximizing production effectiveness. Motorola, a global communications leader, is using a unique forward thinking production plan to bring their services and products to market. In their self-named, â€Å"factory of the future†, custom made communication devices can be produced very quickly for customers, giving Motorola a competitive advantage. The process starts with sales person who receives the order and inputs all of the customer’s customization preferences. This information is provided as a barcode and relayed to the production facility, which uses automation technology (robots) to produce the phone in accordance with the customer’s wishes. Using robots gives Motorola a competitive advantage because they are able to mass produce large volumes of customized phones, with only a two-hour turnaround window. The universal operational strategy in any business is to meet the goal of customer satisfaction. The company’s reviewed accomplish that goal through improving quality and efficiency, and ultimately reducing costs. [pic]

Functionalism And Machine Aesthetic Of Modern Architecture Architecture Essay

Functionalism in Architecture was a motion during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was a merchandise of one American designer Louis Henri Sullivan who coined the term â€Å" signifier follows map. It was Distinct to hold exposed architecture of the being of ornamentation and hence aesthetics so that a construction merely expressed its intent or map. Both in the United States and in Europe, functionalism and machine aesthetics became existing due to the development of the epoch. During the 1920s and early 1930s in the United States, there was a turning automated civilization. The machine ‘s influence on art and architecture reflected the machine ‘s detonation as a valuable signifier of aesthetic. Both Functionalism and machine aesthetics held its ain influence in modern architecture. The reaching of the machine was to hold such radical significance that the undermentioned old ages can lawfully be termed the Machine Age. Among the great figure of cultural alterations engendered by this new epoch was the installing of a machine aesthetic in the Fieldss of architecture and design. This was of cardinal importance to the Modern Movement as it provided a agencies by which its practicians could prosecute with what they regarded as the spirit of the age. The machine aesthetic can be distinguished in the work of each major figure of the Modernist pantheon ; it hence conditioned the full scope of Modernist activity. By using these facets, the ornamentation and unneeded signifiers of designs were obliterated and alternatively replaced by a plainer but functional expression. Despite the turning motion of functionalism and machine aesthetics during the early twentieth century, there still lie the differences and comparings between the uses, positions, and thoughts about them from America and Europe. The difference of the two topographic points someway manifested assorted attacks towards the subject. The machine was valued for its service. Its aesthetic was promoted by those who saw a beauty in the machine — a beauty in visual aspect and map. The machine aesthetic was assumed by all kinds of objects. The expression of the machine was non universally celebrated, yet it was widespread however Despite this consistence, the grounds why single Modernists employed the aesthetic varied greatly, and to reason that they did so merely to arouse the current Zeitgeist would barely look satisfactory. Alternatively, the purpose of this essay is to analyze functionalism and the several utilizations made of the machine aesthetic in order to find why it was so cardinal to Modernist theory and pattern. Since the peculiar character of the aesthetic varied harmonizing to the nature of the involvement in it ( e.g. political, economic ) , the grounds for its usage are cardinal to any apprehension of Modernism. First, the thought that Modernism embraced the machine aesthetic in order to give concrete signifier to the spirit of the age, though non the exclusive motive behind Modernist motion is valid in itself and deserves to be expounded. The Industrial Revolution precipitated a series of huge alterations which can be understood to hold truly transformed the universe. These include industrialization, the rise of the city, an attach toing diminution in ruralise, and rapid technological advancement. In being plundered for their natural resources, even Third World states felt the impact of the new epoch. For many these alterations threatened to make an environment that was both foreign and hostile to humanity and nature. In the cultural domain, the nineteenth-century design reformists John Ruskin and William Morris attacked machine-production for disheartenment the trade accomplishments and individualism of the worker. Since the machine took both tradition and single effort, it would go impossible for the creative person or craftsman to take pride in their work, and the consumer, in bend, would endure the religious disadvantages of no longer life in an environment that had been fondly crafted.1 As a neutralizer, Ruskin, Morris and others proposed a return to traditional trade procedures and beginnings of inspiration that were chiefly mediaeval. In other sectors, this reactionist step was felt to be unrealistically hidebound. Since the machine was, as Ruskin and Morris had argued, incompetent at fiting traditional trade procedures and designs, those who recognised that the machine was an beyond uncertainty world were cognizant of the demand to germinate a new aesthetic that it was suited to. This would re-establish a high criterion of quality in design and guarantee that designed goods were adjusted to the age, instead than being hopelessly evangelist. One such figure was Adolph Loos, whose essay ‘Ornament and Crime ‘ ( 1908 ) argued that using ornament to a designed merchandise was both inefficient and condemnable, because finally it resulted in the use of the craftsman: ‘If I pay every bit much for a smooth box as for a adorned one, the difference in labour belongs to the worker. ‘2 Alternatively, the new aesthetic was to be derived from the new procedures of mass production. The consequence was a simple, essentialist manner that was based on geometry ( particularly the consecutive line and the right angle3 ) . Geometry became a theoretical account, non merely because geometrical signifiers were theoretically easier for the machine to put to death, but besides because of overtones that Plato, amongst others, had invested it with. In Plato ‘s doctrine, geometrical signifiers were beautiful because they were elements of the ageless and absolute ‘world of thoughts ‘ that existed beyond stuff world. The most conjunct effort to joint this manner was given in an exhibition on â€Å" Modern Architecture † at the Museume of Modern Art in 1932.A The International Style: Architecture Since 1922A accompanied the exhibition. Historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock and critic Philip Johnson outlined the rules of the â€Å" International † manner: The thought of manner as the frame of possible growing, instead than as a fixed and oppressing mold, has developed with the acknowledgment of underlying rules such as designers discern in the great manners of the yesteryear. The rules are few and wide. . . . There is, foremost, a new construct of architecture as volume instead than mass. Second, regularity instead than axial symmetricalness serves as the main agencies of telling design. These two rules, with a 3rd proscribing arbitrary applied ornament, tag the productions of the international style.4 Progresss in building techniques and stuffs allowed for a displacement in structural support. Whereas walls were one time weight-bearing, and therefore monolithic, support was now given by skeletal infrastuctures. This alteration provided greater flexibleness in window arrangement ; one time nil more than holes cut in a wall, they could now be located virtually anyplace. Therefore, advocates of the International manner, the architectural equivalent of machine pureness, moved Windowss away from walls ‘ Centres, lest they suggest traditional building. Armed with these new possibilities, asymmetrical designs were encouraged, as â€Å" map in most types of modern-day edifice is more straight expressed in asymmetrical forms.5A Ideally, constructions were non to be randomly asymmetrical, but it was assumed that the demands of occupants and the intents of different infinites in the edifices would non bring forth symmetrical designs — in fact, arbitrary dissymmetry would be a cosmetic device, and therefore an bete noire to the Internationalists. Machine pureness was a reaction against the ornamentation of old decennaries and even the Moderns. Honesty in usage and stuffs was sought — maps should non be concealed beneath a covering, and points should n't be presented as something they were non. Simplicity and asepsis championed the pure white of the infirmary and lab. Stucco was an ideal stuff, as it provided for unbroken, uninterrupted surfaces. Walls were teguments, stripped down and leting for a upper limit of interior infinite. These interior infinites were to be designed separately, fiting the demands of the occupant, to â€Å" supply for the betterment and development of the maps of life. â€Å" 6A Suites were to be determined by map, and the motion between suites was to â€Å" emphasize the integrity and continuity of the whole volume inside a edifice. â€Å" 7A Book shelves and populating workss were the best cosmetic devices in the place.This appealed to Modernists, whose plants and Hagiographas revealed a desire to transcend the pandemonium of impermanent solutions and preoccupation with manners that had characterised nineteenth- century design.The purpose of Modernism was to accomplish the ideal solutions to each design job in plants that would be manner less, timeless and possess the same pureness and lucidity as geometry.Given the widespread belief that the machine symbolised the new century, it was possibly inevitable that certain Modernists should encompass it wholly for its ain interest – strictly as a metaphor, and with no concern for its practical applications. To some extent at least, this tends to be the instance for most canonical Modernists, but this attack is exemplified by the Italian Futurist motion.INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/Boccioni-The_Noise_of_the_Street_detail ( 1 ) .jpg † * MERGEFORMATINETAs this brief analysis indicates, Futurism was chiefly a literary and artistic motion. It was characteristic of its self-contradictory nature that a motion initiated as a response to the altering environment should possess no agencies of look in the art signifier that most straight conditioned the environment – architecture. This was the instance until 1914, five old ages after the publication of the first Manifesto, when Marinetti was eventually able to welcome Antonio Sant ‘ Elia into the ranks.Sant ‘ Elia recognised the city as the environment of the new age, and consequently pioneered designs that were full with hints of the machine aesthetic. His positions for La Citta Nuova ( 1914 ) underscore the geometry and verticalness of his vision by juxtaposing stepped-back subdivisions with sheer verticals. The interaction of diagonals and verticals this produces invests his plant with the same energy and dynamism to be found in model Futurist pictures. In add-on, his edifices are often surmounted by characteristics resembling industrial chimneys or wireless masts ( e.g. Casa gradinata con ascensori, 1914 ) , therefore doing possibly somewhat picturesque usage of an iconography derived from machines. Futurism ‘s involvement in the machine aesthetic arose from a naA?ve and romantic jubilation of the machine for its qualities of energy and dynamism. The machine was hence valued entirely for the expressive potency it offered. Since they failed to hold on its practical facets the Futurists neglected to accommodate their aesthetic to technological restrictions. For this ground Sant ‘ Elia ‘s designs remained on the pulling board. INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/Picture6 ( 6 ) .jpg † * MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/Picture7 ( 6 ) .jpg † * MERGEFORMATINETA deeper battle with the worlds of the machine was demonstrated by those who embraced the construct of ‘functionalism ‘ . This thought played a important function in most signifiers of Modernist design and theory. The cardinal contention was that the signifier of an object should be dictated by its map. The Bauhaus, for illustration, aimed to ‘originate the design of an object from its natural maps and relationships, '11 so that they could be used efficaciously and were rationally related to each other.Of class, the chase of functionalism complemented the Modernists ‘ purpose to get at ideal design solutions – unless objects fulfilled their intent they could hardly be ideal. This led to the impression that a designed object could be beautiful if, and merely if, it functioned absolutely.Function hence replaced visual aspect as the premier rule of aesthetic quality. Artistic amplification was eschewed in favor of clear signifier that both expressed its intent and ensured that this intent was satisfied. Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, in their treatment of ‘European functionalist ‘ designers ( i.e. canonical Modernists ) , wrote that, ‘If a edifice provides adequately, wholly and without via media for its intent, it is so a good edifice, irrespective of its visual aspect. '12 Explanation of this slightly extremist position was found in the machine. Since the machine ‘s visual aspect was derived wholly from its map it was both morally and economically admirable, which made it beautiful. Karl Ewald ‘s composing The Beauty of Machines ( 1925-6 ) contained the expression, ‘A good modern machine is aˆÂ ¦ an object of the highest aesthetic value – we are cognizant of that'.13 For grounds of this the Modernists looked to the USA, where an unselfconscious functionalism had been put into pattern by innovators like Samuel Colt and, in peculiar, Henry Ford. Ford brought the construct of standardization to his auto works, with consequences that were seen as about amazing. His traveling meeting line system, which involved specialized phases of fiction and indistinguishable parts, had enabled him to dramatically increase auto production. His success was such that industrialists and makers across the universe were following these methods. Theoretically, their goods were now readily available and continually deprecating in monetary value, even as net incomes soared. Paul Greenhalgh has observed that Modernists recognised the demand to encompass engineering for these grounds of economic system and handiness. It was the agencies by which Modernism could be promoted worldwide. In add-on, the standardization advocated by Ford would ease rapid building and maintenance.14A Therefore, the illustration of Ford and others encouraged the Modernists to see the machine as the absolute ideal of functionalism. This can be confirmed by mention to Le Corbusier. INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/c-11.jpg † * MERGEFORMATINET Much of Le Corbusier ‘s pronunciamento Vers une architecture ( 1923 ) is dedicated to advancing the architectural virtuousnesss of the machine. His celebrated declaration, ‘The house is a machine for life in, '15 frequently misunderstood, meant that the guiding rule for designers should be to do the house as good suited to its intent as was a machine. This reiterated the statement that functionalism was more of import than visual aspect. In order to come on, he believed, it was necessary for designers to abandon the impression of traditional manners and cosmetic effects: ‘Architecture has nil to make with the assorted ‘styles'aˆÂ ¦ [ They are ] sometimes reasonably, though non ever ; and ne'er anything more. '16 this implies that he saw the aesthetic, non as merely another manner, but as the really substance of architecture. Alternatively, he drew analogues between architecture and the ‘Engineer ‘s Aesthetic ‘ , reasoning that applied sc ientists were to be praised for their usage of functionalism and mathematical order. As a effect, designers were encouraged to emulate applied scientists and follow these rules in order to achieve harmoniousness and logic in their designs. To reenforce this statement the illustrations of Vers une architecture celebrated the functional and architectural integrity of Canadian grain shops, ships, airplanes and cars. From a present twenty-four hours perspective his rules are better illuminated by his architecture, since these illustrations ( e.g. the Caproni Triple seaplane ) seem instead old. The Maison Dom-Ino ( 1915 ) was an early illustration of his Engineer ‘s Aesthetic: three indistinguishable planes are suspended above each other by steel columns, a method of building that frees the walls of their supporting intent, and allows his construct of the ‘free facade ‘ to be introduced. An external stairway communicates between each degree, and its location permits an unprecedented infinite and lucidity in the program. The constituents were all to be standardised and pre-fabricated, which would let for rapid building. This house was hence a merchandise of Le Corbusier ‘s purpose to use the rules of mechanical mass production to domestic architecture. INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/VillaSavoye ( 1 ) .jpg † * MERGEFORMATINET However, a significant organic structure of unfavorable judgment ( e.g. Greenhalgh, Sparke ) has argued that this functionalism of Modernist theory was non based in world. The machine aesthetic remained merely that, as few of the designs were capable of being standardised. For illustration, the Grand Comfort chair by Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand was neither functional nor standardized. It required no less than 18 dyer's rockets and three stuffs, doing it expensive and capable of production merely by workmanship. Le Corbusier ‘s marquee L'Esprit Nouveau featured door grips purportedly derived from auto or airplane grips. These were non standardised but had to be made separately. INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/05-esprit-nouveau ( 1 ) .jpg † * MERGEFORMATINET At the Bauhaus, Marianne Brandt ‘s tea service ( 1928/30 ) embodies the machine aesthetic with its geometrical, angular signifiers, but, once more, these characteristics made it unsuited to machine production. For this ground, virtually no merchandises of Modernism were mass-produced, at least until the manner was modified and practised on an international degree in what became known as the International Style. For the innovator stage, mass production remained a metaphor that could non yet be emulated.17A farther dimension which has non yet been discussed is the political map of the machine aesthetic.This was hinted at in Loos ‘ belief that it improved the domination of the worker, but here the importance was on the labour-saving potency of the machine. Loos celebrated the aesthetic because, theoretically, it reduced the hours of attempt required of the worker by avoiding unneeded decoration. This line of concluding even occurs in the theories of the politically diffident Le Corbusier, whose Freehold Maisonettes of 1922 used mechanical applications and ‘good administration ‘ derived from machines to cut down the demand for human labor, and therefore relieve the work loads of servants.18 It did non needfully follow in either instance, nevertheless, that the machine could function as an instrument for societal release. INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/Bauhaus.jpg † * MERGEFORMATINET This possibility was non to the full explored until the influence of Modernism had spread and produced a diverseness of practicians. To the progressively machine-orientated Bauhaus Moholy-Nagy imparted his belief that the machine was inextricably linked with socialism because it was an absolute. He wrote: ‘Before the machine, everyone is equal – I can utilize it, so can you. . . There is no tradition in engineering, no consciousness of category or standing. Everybody can be the machine ‘s maestro or slave. '19 This belief was widespread amongst Modernists, with Theo Van Doesburg being another noteworthy advocate. Van Doesburg praised the machine as a medium of societal release, and denied that handcraft possessed this capableness, since handcraft, ‘under the domination of philistinism, '20 reduced work forces to the degree of machines. But as Charles Jencks has observed, Van Doesburg ‘s enthusiasm for the machine went beyond its labour-saving potency, it was besides based upon its ‘universalising, abstract quality. '21 In Jencks ‘ lineation, the machine ‘s impersonality enforces equality between its users, which in art would take to the universal and the abstract. The consequence would be the realization of a corporate manner that was universally valid and comprehendible, based as it was upon the abstract signifiers of the machine. INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //factoidz.com/images/user/in-de-stijl-van-de-stijl.jpg † * MERGEFORMATINET Paul Greenhalgh suggests that such an internationalism was cardinal to Modernists ‘ theory and was an inevitable status of their pursuit for a ‘universal human consciousness. '22 In order to accomplish this, national boundaries had to be disposed of, every bit good as those between subjects ( such as all right art and design ) and political categories. Greenhalgh confirms that the abstract, geometrical aesthetic appealed to Modernists because it could be used as a common linguistic communication through which different nationalities could get at unvarying solutions, thereby fade outing national boundaries. ‘In its exclusion per Se of linguistic communication, abstraction was the aesthetic which enabled the ethic, internationalism, to be realised. '23 Though he does non utilize the term, the aesthetic Greenhalgh refers to is that of the machine, since it is derived from and ( theoretically ) tailored for machine production. I would therefore argue that Modernists associated the aesthetic with internationalism, non merely because of its abstract quality, but besides because its beginnings in the machine imbued it with the cosmopolitan quality that Moholy-Nagy and Van Doesburg recognised in this beginning.The practical usage of the machine aesthetic ‘s political map is best illustrated by the Russian Constructivist motion.It is possibly surprising that an aesthetic originating from the machine – the foundation of capitalist economy – could boom in the political clime following the Communist revolution. Loos ‘ thought of the machine as labour-saving device was, of class, cardinal in deciding this quandary, as was the societal release and classlessness revealed by Van Doesburg and Moholy-Nagy. Besides instrum ental, no uncertainty, was the fact that, in this epoch, Russia was still mostly a rural, peasant state possessing no heavy industry. The negative facets of the machine would hence hold been less obvious than the myths of its glorious effects. In this clime of rural poorness and political excitement, the machine seemed capable of transforming society, and the aesthetic became the perfect metaphor for revolution and nation-wide advancement. Since this made the aesthetic an priceless resource for Communist propaganda, many of the taking interior decorators were commissioned to make plants that mythologized the revolution. Significantly, this state of affairs did non merely affect the authorities pull stringsing design to its ain terminals ; many of the creative persons and interior decorators were every bit committed to the thought that they could function the new society. The Constructivist motion was so named because its members saw it as their undertaking to ‘construct ‘ the environment for a new society in the same manner that applied scientists constructed Bridgess and so on.25 Proletkult promoted the integrity of scientific discipline, industry, and art: Vladimir Tatlin, for illustration, believed design was linked to technology, and saw the interior decorator as an anon. worker edifice for society.26 Tatlin ‘s Monument to the Third International ( 1919-20 ) reflects this ethos. This projection for a 400m tall tower ( merely a scaled-down theoretical account was built ) clearly represents the brotherhood of art and building – its sculptural signifier of two entwining spirals and a surging diagonal constituent is rendered in a lattice building suggestive of technology. Equally good as resembling a machine, the tower really functioned as one: it featured four transparent volumes that rotated at different velocities ( annually, monthly, day-to-day and hourly ) . These were intended to house authorities offices for statute law, disposal, information and cinematic projection. It should be pointed out that none of these grounds for involvement in the machine aesthetic were reciprocally sole, and single Modernists did non adhere to it for any individual ground. Each partook, to some extent, of most of them. The enthusiasm of the European Functionalists besides involved the political involvement observed in Constructivism. At the same clip, an component of the Futurists ‘ romantic captivation can be detected in the thought of Le Corbusier, the Bauhaus, and all those for whom mass production remained out of range. In decision, as instance after instance demonstrates, the Modernists ‘ enthusiasm for the machine aesthetic continued to be of an ideological instead than a practical nature. The machine was embraced as an thought by interior decorators who failed to hold on the worlds of mass production. Since their aesthetic was hence inspired by the machine but non adapted to it, in many instances this really impeded its realization. This is highlighted by the illustrations of Futurism, Constructivism and even facets of the Bauhaus, where legion strategies could non be put into practice.A However, the importance of the machine aesthetic within Modernism should non be underestimated ; it was practised so widely, so constituted an International Style, exactly because it was deemed to be the ideal and most logical manner of gaining the cardinal dogmas upon which Modernism was founded. These included truth, internationalism, map, expiation with the age, and so on. The belief that the aesthetic w as universally valid is reflected by the great assortment of utilizations to which it was applied, such as Utopian, political, economic etc. For this ground it is no hyperbole to state that, for the Modernists, it was non a inquiry of aesthetics at all, but of a Machine Ethic.