Titus Andronicus Character Study

What do we learn about Titus Andronicus in the opening to Shakespeare’s play? Our first introduction to the character of Titus Andronicus is by way of a speech my his son, Marcus, who represents the voice of the common people in the election campaign for emperory, declaring that Titus Andronicus has been chosen by the people of Rome to be the next emperor. He hails Titus as a hero, saying that there is not a nobler or braver warrior to be found within all of Rome. He is obviously held in great esteem by Marcus, who calls him ‘good Andronicus’, and ‘Renowned’ Titus. These descriptions of him using the positive epithets are powerful yet very simple to understand. He is portrayed in a very positive light, and is well respected within Rome for his many years of military campaigns against the enemies of Rome. He returns a hero, with a claim to the title of emperor. However, his successes have not come without great person losses, as we learn he has buried many of his sons on return from his various military causes. The first insight we see into his character is one of cruelty and vengefulness, when he rejects Tamora’s pleas to spare her first-born son and is the perpetrator of extreme violence, sacrificing him in revenge for the deaths of his sons at the hands of the Goth’s, her people. This view of Titus as a merciless killer starkly contradicts what we had learned about him from Marcus, who led us to expect Titus to be honourable and good and sets the tone for the play as dark and brutal. The sudden violence is a shock, and we see that there are two sides to his character: the much loved hero and the ruthless warrior. Titus has fought for Rome for 40 years, so is quite old by Roman standards and though he has been chosen by the people to be their emperor, he feels that he is not suitable to rule: â€Å"A better head her glorious body fits, than his that shakes for age and feebleness. † Here he is saying that he feels he is no fit to rule an empire as glorious as the Roman Empire, and relinquishes he claim to rule. This humbleness of character is a huge contrast from the violent nature we saw him display when he demanded the death of Alarbus. He asks for a ‘staff of honour’ instead of a ‘sceptre to control the world’ and favours Saturnine to be emperor in his place, as he is the late emperor’s eldest son, showing that he values tradition over the far more virtuous character or Bassianus. He then shows loyalty to the unlikeable Saturninus over his own son, mercilessly killing him when he stands in his way. This second brutal act because of his slavish loyalty to Rome provokes even the violent Goths to declare that they are not ‘half so barbarous’ as Rome. The ‘honourable’ Titus that we were first introduced to actually shows contempt for honour in trying to force his daughter to break her betrothal, and his wild devotion to Roman customs causes more harm than good, especially to him; he quickly goes from being the favourite of Rome to being despised by Saturnine because of the betrayal of his family. His actions seem chaotic and random, yet follow the ongoing theme of revenge, making ‘Titus Andronicus’ a revenge tragedy.

Professional Communication Essay

The reasoning behind ISO 9000 certification in manufacturing is to ensure uniformity in processes as an assurance of levels of quality. By creating sets of standards to which the manufacturing process must adhere, only acceptable product is released for shipment or sale. With the development of and subsequent compliance with ISO-9000 standards in mind, it is critical to construct a realistic and effective ISO standard. The cornerstone of this construction is the charter documentation. Just as the ISO standard itself is used as a quality control measure, the charter is a control method for the formulation of the standard itself. Basically, ISO in manufacturing is intended to cover two major areas- people and processes. Without giving personnel the proper training to carry out the standard, the processes will not be reflective of the quality standards brought forth by ISO. For these reasons, charters must be carefully developed in a multi-faceted approach. Charters are typically most effective when driven from the managerial/supervisory level from the beginning. In regard to this managerial input in the chartering process, management should detail their responsibility in the ISO program. This will achieve two very important things- it will be a reasonable assurance that the charter reflects the overall initiatives of the organization as envisioned by management and will show the subsequent lower levels of company hierarchy that this is something that management is taking a part in and not merely issuing a mandate without leadership by example. Just as management has to have a level of responsibility in the charter, the individuals who are involved in more of the hands-on aspects of production need to make a contribution to the charter. The insight that production personnel will be able to provide in the creation of a useful charter is vast. These individuals have seen the best and worst of the actual manufacturing that goes on daily; as such, best practices can be incorporated into the charter from the start. Design control must also have a place in the charter document; from the outset, of course the charter will correspond to existing product; in the case of new product development as an example, designs must fall under the same requirements as does a long-standing product. The same would apply to modifications of existing product. Document and data control are essential elements of the charter; being able to achieve uniformity and quality in the ways that work orders, shipping documentation, product specifications and purchase orders are created and processed will aid in the carry through of quality standards beyond the shop floor and into the administrative and clerical areas of the manufacturing facility. Up to this point, the charter has been considered in terms of how it will correspond to things being done correctly. Just as important is the consideration of what will be done when inevitable errors and problems arise. For these occurrences the proper planning and execution of corrective actions, as well as follow up to assure that the original error does not become a repeat event, can be incorporated into the charter. In this case, malfunctions are accounted for in addition to best practices. After the charter’s collaborators, scope and purpose is in place, the launch of the charter comes into play. The document itself begins with a clearly stated purpose which can literally be understood by those of technical and non-technical backgrounds alike. Not only can the words be understood in terms of what they explicitly say, but also easily lend themselves to adaptability on the part of the audience; in other words, the words can be processed in the mind of the audience and they can then begin the thought process of exactly what the Charter will ultimately mean to their job tasks, and most likely open up a dialogue among the audience members in regard to how they will all collaborate, with the Charter as a framework, for the achievement of quality objectives as required. If looking at nothing else but the intended use and audience of the Charter, the strengths are many. In fairness, however, some weaknesses likewise exist. Audience is perhaps the most important consideration in the production of any technical document, and especially in the case of the ISO Charter, not only because of the fact that this document, by its nature of being a quality control document should set an example for quality and would discredit the ISO process if it was not of the highest quality, but also because of the fact that the Charter is intended to be used by a huge variety of manufacturers, quite literally around the world. Because of these audience factors, the Charter often is interpreted not only according the particular industry that it will be dictating to, but also translated into different languages for different nations, and comprehension levels; for example, an automobile manufacturer in France will be using the same base document, in the form of the ISO Charter, as would a paper mill in Mexico- different industries, different cultures, and possibly even different educational levels and therefore levels of reading comprehension. Because of this, the demographic element of the audience for this particular document deserves additional discussion. The ISO Charter, by necessity and purpose, has to possess a sort of universal quality in terms of its intended audience; as was previously mentioned, the document will at any given time be used by any given industry in any given part of the world, creating operational and cultural variations that must be taken into account. Further, even within one organization itself, the Charter will have to be flexible in its target audience, which is better understood with a brief description of how an ISO Charter may be utilized at varying authority levels in the same operation. Initially, the Charter would be reviewed by the upper management, possibly delegated to middle management, and ultimately to the rank and file. This being understood, it is also important to understand that everyone must be able to interpret it and adapt what it teaches for their own uses if it is to achieve the ultimate goals that led to the adaptation of the Charter in the first place. The close relationship between the charter and the subsequent ISO standards that will branch out from it are much like blueprints from which a finished product emerges. Because the charter has multi-level participation, precise details of how all areas of the manufacturing facility will be involved in the end goal of quality in line with ISO, and controls in place in the event of errors or problems, the charter possesses the unique ability to literally instill quality in the ISO standard itself. While the viewpoint of some manufacturers is that ISO is best used as an effective means to gain competitive advantage merely by the existence of the ISO logo on finished products, the true intention of correctly used ISO standards- continuous improvement, an assured level of quality, and the means to fix whatever may jeopardize that standard of quality- seems to be more palatable to the majority of manufacturers. This is especially so given the dynamic nature of the competition in some industries. Guided by an efficient charter, the ISO standard can be properly formulated and enacted over the long term in pursuit of quality objectives.

Best Practice And Best Fit Approach In HRM Management Essay

Best Practice And Best Fit Approach In HRM Management Essay 1. Introduction The discussion between promoters of best practice and best fit approaches has sparked widespread controversy in the human resource management (HRM) area. The topic has gained much scholarly attention because it not only addresses a theoretical controversy but also possesses a high degree of practical managerial significance. The essay has the aim to analyse best practice and best fit approaches in HRM of a multinational enterprise. The reader receives insight into Lincoln Electric’s organization through a case-study analysis of practical HR approaches serving as a basis for developing practical managerial implications in the last part of the paper. 2. Critical evaluation of â€Å"best practice† and â€Å"best fit† practices in HRM 2.1 Best practice approach The best practice approach claims that certain bundles of HR activities exist which universally support companies in reaching a competitive advantage regardless of the organizational setting o r industry (Redman and Wilkinson 2009). Best practice models imply a close connection between HR practices and organizational performance and are often associated with high commitment management (Paauwe & Boselie 2003). Empirical research in the best-practice field shows similar groups of HR polices which are especially suitable for maximizing performance irrespective of market and product strategies (Peffer 1998, Guest 2000). Best practice bundles of activities are characterized as mutually compatible HR activities which forge high levels of workforce competence, encourage motivation and introduce a workdesign boosting employee commitment (Maloney and Morris 2005). Based on concepts from expectancy theory (Vroom 1964, Lawler 1971) best practice HR will result in higher levels of quality, productivity and low rates of absenteeism and wastage (Guest 2000). The best practice approach suffers from a series of limitations. Firstly, when implementing best practice standards organizations run risk of introducing mutually prohibitive combinations like team working and compensation based on individual performance resulting in a deterioration of employee collaboration through overexaggerated competition (Delery 1998 in Redman and Wilkinson 2009). Secondly, high commitment management systems are generally a complex undertaking requiring large inputs of planning and top level management commitment. Thirdly, critics like Milkovich and Newman (2002) argue that best practice HR lacks direct linkages with organizational strategies and is minted by the belief that outstanding high performing human resources will influence strategy. By making HR policy precede corporate strategy an organization risks prescribing standardized sets of â€Å"one size fits all† best practice approaches which will not support the particular needs of employees and be detrimental to overall strategic objectives (Maloney and Morris 2005). Fourthly, discussions with regard to the appropriate cho ice of best practice measures resulting from an insufficient research methodology and theoretical definition exist (Marchington and Grugulis 2000 in Redman and Wilkinson 2009). 2.2 Best fit approach The best-fit model is considered as a variant from precedent models of Harvard, Michigan and York and is called â€Å"matching model† for HRM (Sparrow and Hiltrop 1994). It is based on developing HRM policies according to business strategy. Strategy involves planning future activities, performances objectives, and policies towards reaching the corporate aims. HRM strategy should be designed and applied to support the given corporate strategy (Lawler 1995). The â€Å"best-fit† approach questions the universality assumption of the best-practice perspective. It emphasizes contingency fit between HR activities and the organization’s stage of development, an organization’s internal structures and its external environment like clients, suppliers, competition and lab our markets (Redman and Wilkinson 2009). HR policy should be minted by the appropriate context of individual employees and therefore support the overall competitive strategy. Aligning HRM practices to strategies can enable companies to create potential competitive advantages (Schuler and Jackson 1987 in Redman and Wilkinson 2009).

Hidden Influence of Social Networks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hidden Influence of Social Networks - Essay Example Those deaths really affected their families, friends and even him hence they got socially disturbed. He says that, â€Å"so, when I die, my wife’s risk of death can double, for instance in the first year†. On the other hand, he addresses the local audience telling them that the widowhood effects are not restricted to only wives and husbands. They are also experienced in all sorts of relationship including spousal and marriage and friendship sets of connections. Nicholas asked rhetorical questions such as, â€Å"why are we embedded in social networks?†Ã‚   â€Å"How do they operate?†Ã‚   â€Å"And how do they affect us?† (Christakis, 2010)Nicholas says that emotions which are fundamental may causes of human networks which are encoded in our genes. He continues explaining how human social networks look like a regular lattice and specific patterns with particular structures. He gives an example of a real network of college students at an elite northeas tern university. He uses and highlights a few dots. He says that if an individual looks at the dots, a comparison of node B in the upper left to node D in the far right; B has four friends coming out from him and D has six friends coming out from him (Christakis, 2010). This implies that the two individuals have different friend numbers. Therefore, other aspects of social network structures are not so obvious according to Nicholas. He also addresses the audience using signs and gestures to explain to them the pattern of connections of among people thus conferring upon the groups of people.

Economic Colonization and a North-South Polarization Term Paper

Economic Colonization and a North-South Polarization - Term Paper Example However, the above distinction is found to be absent in the policy statements furnished by global trade and economic bodies like the World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund. An analysis made on the basis of income suggests that the countries falling in the South Pole of international trade has per capita income at least less by 50 times in comparison to that of the countries pertaining to the North Pole. Further, the north-south polarization debate gained ground from the period of Cold War due to wide differences in the economic, political, and military resource conditions of the developed and developing countries. (Johnston, 2000, p. 558) The modern practice of international trade is contributing to the creation of economic colonies depending on the economic and political disparities of the different nations. This growth of economic colonization reinforces the concept of North-South Polarization. The notion of North-South Polarization earned due importance after the end of the Second World War. It is observed that the countries pertaining to the North Pole were referred to as the ‘First World’ countries. On the other hand, countries belonging to the South Pole were referred to as the ‘Third World’ countries. It is however, observed that the notion of the third world countries existed prior to the fall of the Socialist states like Soviet Union in 1980. In the previous period, the concept of third world was used in regards to geo-political ideologies in the realm of global politics. Moreover, the distinction between the North and South Polarization was also found to have relevance to the levels of industrial practice among the world nations.

International Human Resource Mnaagemnt - Examination Essay

International Human Resource Mnaagemnt - Examination - Essay Example Moreover an important factor which causes low productivity of labor in developing nations is because they suffer from low motivation. The concept of motivation is linked to capacity and must be addressed and analyzed in all capacity levels, i.e., individual level, organization and enabling environment. Measures of incentives, like salaries, intangible rewards, secondary benefits, recognitions and sanctions are some of the conventional ways of motivating employees for increasing their performance (UNDP, 2006, p.5). Because developing nations are characterized by high supply of labor and excess competition in the labor market, an incentive system based on performance generally results in improved performance on the part of the employees through instigating motivation. Because of the high rates of unemployment in the nations, even the slightest of incentives results in employees delivering the best of their capacities to perform their jobs. In such a condition it is recommended that mul tinational organizations having subsidiaries in the developing nations incorporate incentive based system of pay for motivating employees and recognizing their efforts. There are certain cultural aspects that are common among developing nations. They are seen to demonstrate high collectivism which shows their affinity to remain and operate in groups. There is high degree of integration among the people in society which reflects through the organizations as well. Organizations can employ team work and group activities which employees are more comfortable with. However, such team activities generally undermine the individual efforts which might go unrecognized. This is the reason why an incentive based pay system must be incorporated in organizations in developing nations. Along with the group performance, such a pay system helps to recognize individual performance as well, such as none of the individual efforts go unrecognized. Also the intangible incentives like rewards; recognition plays a major role in motivating the employees. Since remuneration remains low in developing nations, cash awards are given major value in these nations. Some of the non financial incentives like rewards, gifts and travel also provide added stimulus to the motivation level of employees in developing nations. Some of the less tangible incentives which work for the developing nations are independence of working, work flexibility, career advancement possibilities, work recognition etc. Also an incentive necessarily means that the fixed salary of the employee is not dependant on the performance of employees. This provides a sense of security for the employees who can then perform their jobs without anxieties. It is important that a certain amount of the employees’ remuneration must be independent of performance while the remaining part can be performance based. This is especially applicable for the developing nations where the remuneration of employees generally remains low (Jai n & Narayan, 2010, p.7). Question 3: Analyze the ethical dilemmas associated with human resources management in developing countries. Answer: Because of the volatile and fluctuating economic and political conditions in the developing nation’s organizations face difficulty in making long term plans. Also there are state dependencies with regards to policy and financial issues. Also there are frequent changes in government rules and regulations because of which multinational organizations are confronted with

Pp2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pp2 - Essay Example One article praises the quality of Japan’s management style and sates that British managers are trying to learn from the competitive model of Japanese management style. Another article points out the weak aspects of Iranian hospital management. The article helps us to make a detailed comparison with the hospital industries UK and Japan. The literature also illustrates the various reasons why hospital industries in UK and Japan have better management quality than that of other countries like Iran. The majority of developed countries seek convergence of different management styles which are found successful in practical business operation. The article on Iranian hospital management points out the absence of effective interaction between the managers and other employees. Iranian managers maintain exceedingly distinguished position in the organizations which ultimately will have adverse effect on the interpersonal relationship. On the other hand, the managers of other regions main tain comparatively positive approach to knowledge sharing and collective teamwork. As the article states, there is little distance between managers and other individuals in the British style of organizational management. Instead of personal management, rather broad and collaborative information sharing has become the major facet of modern business management. Therefore, the mode of leadership is a significant factor that determines business success. The quality and effectiveness of workforce is subjected to leadership style. HR management should be the major concern business strategy. Successful companies spend time and effort to develop their managerial functions. Countries like Iran need to heed their genuine concern to research on other organizational cultures and business management styles. The first part of the research is to investigate the common theories associated with the organizational management. The theory part will be helpful in order to

Assessment Individual workbook (70%) 3000 words Assignment

Assessment Individual workbook (70%) 3000 words - Assignment Example For instance, the government’s ‘Mortgage Support Policy Scheme’ supports home owners who have fulfilled the set criteria to pay back their mortgages by offering around 80 percent of total interest assured. This policy will somehow decide part of Bryant homes’ policy; the more individuals who find the money to pay back mortgages, the more houses would be sold but by increasing demand. Economic: The general economic view for the last six quarters has been that of a contracting financial system. Even with the small intensification attained, the majority of sectors of the economy are still suffering from the outcomes of the recession. The result, together with increasing unemployment level, is that individuals have smaller amount money to use, and are likely to spend their restricted resources on necessary products. This invariably indicates that the high-end market where Bryant homes is represented may suffer, which is not the case of lower-end market. Nonetheless, the government has made attempts to ensure ascertain that additional credit is accessible to individuals via the banks â€Å"by issuing bailout funds† (Barlow et al, 2003, p. 139). These developments indicate that the company may have to sell its significant stock of developed houses at prices quite below to what was actually estimated, with the purpose of raising cash and enhance liquidity. Social: The business has started societal campaigns to support learning, secure operational environment and job assurance to the individuals. Social factors play a critical role in influencing the policies Bryant homes adopts since alteration in â€Å"patterns of living may dictate what sort of houses increase in demand† (Pan et al, 2007, p. 190), for instance, family focused houses rather than flats. Technological: The role of technology in the accomplishment of any business in aggressive markets of today cannot be disregarded. The company invested huge amounts during the last year to improve the

AUSTRALIAN STUDIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

AUSTRALIAN STUDIES - Essay Example Latham's Australian Immigration Policy and Horne's The Lucky Country are examples of primary documents that may be used for this objective. This paper summarizes each document first, then tackles them both in an integrated section, and finally makes a conclusion. In this document, J.G. Latham was reacting to a pamphlet entitled "Control or Color Bar" said to be published by the Immigration Reform Group of the University of Melbourne. The pamphlet criticizes the Australian Immigration Policy and Latham was concerned for fear that Australia's' reputation might be harmed and its relations with other countries prejudiced. The proposal of the pamphlet was that Australia initiate offer to non-European countries for agreements admitting people from these countries into Australia as permanent residents Latham, however, is of the view that there is common sense in controlling immigration to one's country, which does not necessarily foster racial hatred. First off, Latham said, criticism should be based on accurate statements and proper understanding of the policy. In the Australian Immigration Policy, he says, color is not a criterion as it does not count whiteness as racial superiority. True, he said, there are differences in Oriental civilizations and European civilizations as to color, race, language, tradition, history, and loyalties including in social and political outlook and organization, in religion, in manner of living, and standards of living - but color and race are not tests of character and quality. So, to the proposal of the pamphlet that Australia be opened to immigrants as permanent residents, Latham said - If the Australian government went out of its way even to discuss with all of them how many of their people they would like Australia to take as settlers annually, the government would, it would be suggested, simply be asking for trouble. The Government might even discover that millions of people in Africa believe strenuously in a "Black Africa." Would the government undertake a campaign to get them to change their minds The point of Latham is that the pamphlet thinks Australia's immigration policy absolutely excludes Asians and suggests that there should instead be control of immigration. The pamphlet also thinks Australian Immigration Policy is only after filtering colors without wise control. Explaining his side, Latham says - "A man can have friends without inviting them all to his house. If a person says that he has a right to be invited - or at least to complain because he has not been invited, - there will not be a good prospect for friendship. If a person goes so far as to say that he has a right to come into the house (of a friend or anyone), whether has been invited or not - and to stay - then friendship will be impossible. Concluding with emphasis that the Australian Immigration Policy is not based on color prejudice or racial superiority, Latham says Australia had in the past been admitting merchants, tourists and students which many know nothing of, beginning with the critics. Horne, Donald.1968 (1964). The First Suburban Nation. The Lucky Country: Australia in The Sixties, Ringwood: Penguin, pp28-31, 97-100 Horne's piece is about the real Australia that lacks a serious writer to write about it; therefore

Geely Automobile Essay Example for Free

Geely Automobile Essay In the first part, the ECLIPTER factors including econography, culture, legal system, income profile, political risk, tax regime, exchange rate and restrictions, together with the multilateral institutions such as WTO, EU and ASEAN will be examined by using UK and Malaysia as examples. Then based on this analysis, it will provide an assessment of the company‘s overall international expansion strategy and process. In the second part, legal system and income profile, the two most important ECLIPTER factors on Geely‘ overseas operations, will be evaluated. Furthermore, the scheme which Geely used to deal with the impact of these two factors and leverage the multilateral institutions will be shown. Finally, this report will analyze whether the company‘s international adaptation of the business function is effective, and then give some recommendations and lessons. 2. ECLIPTER Factors Analysis 2. 1 Econography Econography refers to physical and human assets including distance from major markets, and natural resources of nations that affect industry performance. In the first, the close distance between parent company and foreign subsidiary can help the company to reduce the transport costs and overhead expenses; it also can improve the connection between them. If the parent company is in China, it is better to build a subsidiary in Asia such as Malaysia. Secondly, the natural resources used for making cars mainly include steel, copper, and aluminum. If the country owns rich mineral resources, it can greatly provide benefit in the production of automobiles. One of the major purposes for many multinational corporations establishing overseas subsidiaries is to exploit the foreign natural resources. This is good for companies to 5 International Business Environment II reduce production costs and get competitive advantages. As World Steel Association reported in 2009 that the crude steel production of United Kingdom is 13. 5 in 2008, whereas the crude steel production of Malaysia is 6. 1 in 2008. 2. 2 Culture This paragraph will analyze the effects of culture on auto industry through power distance index and saving rate. Firstly, power distance index measures the degree of inequality exists in a society (Hofstede, 1997). The power distance index is 80 in Malaysia whereas it is only 35 in UK (Hofstede, 2008). The unequal distribution of wealth makes most Malaysian citizens prefer to hold a commercial auto. So the inexpensive Geely auto could be a good option for them. Secondly, saving rate could be a standard to show the attitude of citizens. The saving rate of Malaysia was 47 per cent in the year 1998 which ranks second in Asia (Azia, 2004). In contrast, the saving rate in UK was significantly low, which was less than 10 percent in the past ten years. For instance, the saving rate of UK household in 2008 was only 1. 7 percent (chart 1)(Presser, 2008). So UK citizens are apt to consume a relatively high price car. Chart 1 Resource from Posser (2008) 6 International Business Environment II 2. 3 Legal system The auto industry has been affected by laws and government regulations since the 1960s. The first safety act passed in 1966 by Congress and was called the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Highfill, 2004). This act forced manufacturers to improve the safety for the passengers, the driver visibility, and the braking of the car. Not only safety, but also environment is being growingly concerned even before the oil crisis. The Vehicle Air Pollution and Control Act passed in 1965 was the first act to set standards for automobile pollution. Then in the 1970s, Congress passed the Clean Air Act that led to a 90% decrease in automobile emission within the next six years (ibid). In the 1970s the oil crisis led to the approval of The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 which stated that all automobiles must meet a certain mileage per gallon. The act required that all automobiles had to meet a standard of 20mpg by the 1980 model and then 27. 5 mpg for the 1985 model (ibid). EU 2020 growth strategy also emphasizes the importance of low carbon automobile (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, 2010). There are also many special laws for auto industry in different countries, such as Malaysia, which has built a free trade area for production and assembly of products for export-oriented enterprises. Companies can enjoy the minimum tariffs, raw materials and simplified mechanical equipment import formalities. Nevertheless, the Malaysia government regulates that more than 80% products should export to other countries (Daily News, 2006). Furthermore, the UK Byers Acts Measures to cut the average price of a car by ? 1,100 and save private car buyers around ? 1 billion a year. Although it may lower the profitability of auto industry, the number of consumers will increase gradually (DTI, 2000). 2. 4 Income profile Since automobile is not inferior goods, the demand of automobile would rise when income increases. In the economic aspect, income could be an indicator of the purchasing power of individuals and nations. Data from UK national statistics office (2010) demonstrated that despite the contracted 4. 9 percent of GDP in the whole year, the GDP increased 0. 4 percent in 7 International Business Environment II the fourth quarter of 2009. Furthermore, Household expenditure also rose 0. 4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 in UK (chart2). For Malaysia, the GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 4. 5 though the figure was negative in the whole year (chart 3) (Malaysia statistics, 2010). It can be observed that the economy of both UK and Malaysia seem to recover from the global financial crisis. This positive signal predicts the growing demand and distensible market for Geely in both countries. Chart 2 Resource from UK statistics 2010 Chart3 Resource from Malaysia statistics 2010 8 International Business Environment II The core competitiveness of Geely automobile relies on its high performance-price ratio. Per capital GNI (Gross national income) in Malaysia was 25784 RM in 2008. By analyzing the 2004 United Nations Human Development (UNHDP) report, except the 20% population of richest and poorest class, Geely will be a better choice for the rest citizens in Malaysia(chart 4) (Lumpur, 2004). In comparison, the young people account for a great amount of population in UK. A source from HMRC shows the average income of under 20 years is ? 9,570 and 20-24 years is ? 13,200 which is below the average (chart 5). It implies that when young generation decide to buy a car, price is the first consideration factor. For medium quality car manufacture companies, young population in UK could be a potential group of customers. Chart 4 9 International Business Environment II Chart5 Median Age Band Under 20 years 20 – 24 ? 11,800 years 25 – 29 ? 17,000 years 30 -34 ? 19,500 years 35 – 39 ? 20,100 years 40-44 ? 20,200 years 45 – 49 ? 20,300 years Resource from Lumpur (2004) ? 28,600 ? 24,800 ? 35,400 ? 15,200 ? 20,100 ? 28,100 ? 24,600 ? 34,600 ? 14,900 ? 19,800 ? 26,800 ? 23,600 ? 31,700 ? 15,500 ? 20,100 ? 23,900 ? 21,600 ? 26,700 ? 16,400 ? 20,100 ? 19,300 ? 17,800 ? 20,600 ? 15,900 ? 17,800 ? 13,200 ? 12,400 ? 13,800 ? 11,200 ? 12,300 ? 8,130 ? 9,570 ? 8,490 ? 9,810 ? 7,990 ? 9,250 Median Income Mean Income Income (Men) (Men) (Women) (Women) Income Income Income Mean Median Mean 2. 5 Political risk According to Guinger (2001), political risk describes the stability of government institutions. It can be measured in a variety of ways such as likelihood of foreign aggression and civil insurrection. The Transparency International (2009) showed that UK and Malaysia both face some problems of political corruption, which adversely affects the efficiency of economic operation. World Bank estimates that corruption could cost Malaysia as much as RM10 10 International Business Environment II billion a year – an amount equivalent to 1 or 2 per cent of GDP. The corruption in the UK is lighter than Malaysia, which ranked 17, whereas Malaysia ranked 56 in world in 2009 based on Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. But the corruption in UK is not unheard. Surveys by Control Risks and Simmons Simmons show that the awareness of UK laws against foreign bribery may be decreasing over time. In 2002, after the act came into force, 68 percent of respondents said they were familiar with its main points. But in 2006, 48 percent people said that they have totally ignored it (Global Corruption Report, 2009). 2. 6 Tax Regime Tax regime refers to the tax instruments that governments use to raise revenues from multinational firms, such as corporate taxes. The tax of Malaysia is transparent, the multinational corporate must be taxed 30% of the corporate income which is just the same as Malaysia companies Marketing directory, 2005) According to the tax incentive treaties, auto ( . industry may be eligible for pioneer status which is given by the way of an abatement of 70% of the profits for five years (ibid). The remaining 30% of the profits will be taxed at the prevailing corporate income tax rate. The profits abated are exempt from tax and will be available for distribution as tax-free dividends. In UK the resident corporate tax is the lowest in Europe, even the tax is zero for the small companies in 2002(Lawandtax-news, 2010). According to the tax treaties, multinational corporate which set up, purchase or control the companies in UK can follow the resident tax (Navstar, 2009). In the ordinary course of events, foreign companies cannot follow the low corporate tax, but with regard to double taxation and the agreement between UK and China, Chinese multinational corporates in UK now pay the low tax (ibid). 2. 7 Exchange rate Stable trade policies are extremely important for both the economic welfare of the countries and the multilateral trading system. Unfortunately, the liberalization measures were adopted by many countries. As Dornbusch‘s 1976 analysis has pointed out that when the exchange rate is used to provide protection for domestic firms, it is through undervaluation. An undervalued 11 International Business Environment II exchange rate protects domestic firms from imports and gives domestic firms greater incentives to export. For example, the Balance of Payments Committee of the WTO has received 39 requests from member countries for derogations from their international obligations and for a temporary increase in temporary protection. Moreover, several developing countries, such as Malaysia, have recently increased tariffs in response to financial crises even though the higher rates remain below the rates these countries bounded in the WTO. Moreover the analysis said China has become a great auto exporter, as a result of the huge subsidies, an undervalued exchange rate and dirt-cheap credit (Swaminathan, 2009). 2. 8 Restrictions Restrictions refer to the taxes and limitations that host governments place on foreign products and services or on foreign firms themselves when they enter or leave the host economy. Because of the policy of protecting their national automobile industry, the import tax of automobile is relatively high in Malaysia. Since 2004, Malaysia began to reduce the automobile import tax: for the import components the tax is reduce from 25% to 10%, and for the whole automobile the import tax is drop from 130% to 30% for the companies outside of Southeast Asia (MEI, 2009). In 2010, according to the agreement of ASEAN, the automobile import tax will be zero to all the regions of ASEAN. UK is a member of EU, it followed the economic agreement of EU which sets no import or export tax between members of EU and they must charge the same tax when they have business with the third country (European competitiveness, 2009). 12. International Business Environment II Scoring Analysis of UK and Malaysia Country Score Econography Culture Legal System Income Profile Political Risk Tax Regime Exchange Rate Restrictions Total (10) (10) (20) (20) (10) (10) (10) (10) (100) 8 7 18 8 8 8 7 7 71 7 6 16 15 5 9 8 9 75 UK Malaysia 3. Institutions 3. 1 WTO The major objectives of WTO‘s roles are ? the creation of a common automobile market through the elimination of barriers to intra-Community trade; the maintenance and expansion of a competitive world automobile industry; the use of voluntary import restrictions to prevent cheap imports and to maintain competitiveness? (European Commission, 2006). For example, in 2006, WTO announced the establishment of a panel to examine whether Chinas tariffs on imported auto parts violate WTO trade rules, following a joint complaint made by the United States, the European Union and Canada, who accused China for its discriminatory charges on imported auto parts. After examining China‘s related regulations, WTO panel declared that Chinas regulations are inconsistent with Chinas WTO obligations. China has agreed to make the necessary regulatory changes by September 2009 (Herd, 2006). 13 International Business Environment II. WTO facilitates Geely‘s international expansion since the elimination of trade barriers has cleared its path to world market and made it integrated to the world economy. In 2002, after China joined into WTO, 100 automobiles of Geely exported to Syria (Luo, 2005). 3. 2 EU EU functions as a rule-imposer. It sets strict requirements and institute rules and regulations to improve vehicle safety. Besides the vehicle crash tests executed by Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Program backed by European Commission), there are also some regulations set to protect the environment. First, in order to respond to the gradual aggravation of greenhouse effect, the European commission developed a mandatory emission standard to limit the emission of one major kind of greenhouse gas, CO2. The regulation set a fleet-average CO2 emission target for passenger cars, which is 120 g/km to be reached by 2015 (European Commission, 2010). The vehicle manufacturers must reach the CO2 emission target of 130g/km, with an additional reduction of 10 g/km to be provided by supplementary measures, such as the use of hydrogen fuel. A long-term target of 95 g/km to be reached by 2020 is also established by the regulation (ibid). This regulation will take effect in 2012. From 2012 onwards, vehicle manufacturers who do not meet this target will have to pay penalty for their excess emissions. According to DieselNet (2010), from 2012 to 2018, the penalties are â‚ ¬5 per vehicle for the first g/km of CO2; â‚ ¬15 for the second gram; â‚ ¬25 for the third gram; â‚ ¬95 from the fourth gram onwards. From 2019, manufacturers will pay â‚ ¬95 for each g/km exceeding the target. Another congressional mandate imposed by European Commission requires tire pressure monitoring systems on all new cars in 2012. According to Europe‘s Information Society (2010), many road accidents resulting in fatalities and physical injuries are linked to tire defects. Furthermore, under-inflated tires can result in severely inefficient use of fuel and cause an extra two million tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere per year. So this mandate enhances vehicle safety and protects the environment. 14 International Business Environment II These regulations have incurred a rise in car prices since vehicle manufacturers are forced to increase price to offset the cost of upgrading. These regulations put Geely in an unfavorable position. Since Geely is better known for making low-tech and cheap cars, making eco-friendly cars is not included in the competencies of the company and huge RD spending is inevitable for nurturing this competence. They set a high bar for the competition and limit Geely‘s ability to expand market in Europe. 3. 3 ASEAN ASEAN – Association of South East Asia Nations is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia. China and ASEAN are both newly-emerged, rapidly-developing auto markets. Cooperation in auto industry between China and ASEAN will bring a win-win situation for the two sides and make their cars more competitive in a global competition. For instance, according to Xinhua News Agency (2006), a report released by the Ministry of Commerce Indonesia has announced that compared to the expensive Japanese sedans, the China-made ones gradually gain popularity for more favourable price-performance ratio. ASEAN country also needs investment from Chinese carmakers to expand local employment and for more price-favourable cars, said a Germany auto expert at the China-ASEAN Expo, 2006. Consequently, in general, ASEAN opens its gate to Chinese car companies including Geely to achieve a win-win situation. 4. Assessment of Geely’s overall international expansion strategy Geely‘s current international strategy is to produce affordable automobile, so the market size and consume power of a foreign market are highly valued by Geely. Malaysia automobile market resembles China more than UK, in the aspects such as the people‘s income, the similar culture, and the similar geographical position, etc. As by now most cars have been exported to some developing countries like South-East Asia, Ukraine, Russia, and Mexico, Malaysia will be good choice. Meanwhile, although UK does not represent a neighboring or ? home‘ market, 15 International Business Environment II as markets in South-East Asia do, UK could be seen as an interesting market with a potential for higher margins, higher price levels and a more mature market for branding, technology, etc, as the UK‘s income per capita, and the automobile sales volume are higher than that of Malaysia. Considering the future international development, Geely should focus on UK. Therefore, at first, it is better for Geely to develop its ? producing automobile which most of people can buy‘ strategy in Malaysia, and when Geely is able to enter high-end automobile market, UK will be a better choice. In terms of multilateral institution, after evaluating the influence of international organizations, we suggest that Malaysia is a better choice for Chinese car companies to exploit new markets. Firstly, a win-win situation guarantees a favourably corporate relationship between Geely and ASEAN (Eichengreen, 2006). Secondly, there are various quality-related requirements and constraints in EU and probably NAFTA, which puts up a strong challenge for those Asian auto makers. Moreover, by far, there is no evidence to prove the acquisition of Manganese Bronze and Volvo have considerably increased Geely‘s sale in developed nations. Thus considering the opportunities and threats faced by Geely, it is recommended that the company emphasizes on developing nations‘ markets, rather than the developed markets. 5. Marketing analysis 5. 1 Legal system According to Alistair Darling‘s pre-budget report, UK will bring new opportunities for the low-carbon industries. Through the Innovation Investment Fund and the Carbon Trusts Venture Capital scheme, UK will invest at least ? 160m in low carbon projects (Guardian, 2009). They will also invest ? 90m in the European Investment Banks new 2020 fund, which will put 6. 5 billion Euros of finance in green infrastructure projects. In this report, there are alterations to the climate change levy, company car tax, and fuel benefit charge (ibid). This is good news for Geely because now it dedicates itself to produce high-tech and eco-friendly automobile. In 16 International Business Environment II UK the amount of car tax depends on the price and the discharge amount for carbon, which is from 9% for electric motor car to 10%-35% for petrochemical car. UK also has a successful car scrappage scheme, which gives consumers a ? 2,000 discount off. If they scrap their old vehicle, it will help up to 125,000 families replace their inefficient boilers with new models (Julia, 2009). Through the government‘s support of low-carbon industry, Geely has more opportunities to innovate high-tech and eco-friendly automobile. Furthermore, because of the low tax and car scrappage scheme, customer is inclined to buy or change an electric motor car,. In 22nd March 2006, Malaysia published the new automobile policy (MEI, 2009). Since that day, the import taxes of CBU (Complete Built Unit) are reduced from 20% to 5% for the ASEAN members and 50% to 30% for other countries. The import taxes of CKD (Completely Knock Down) are 10%. In 28th October 2009, Mustafa Mohamed announced many new policies for auto industry which will give much more preferences and subsidies for the new energy automobile companies (ibid). 5. 2 Income profile It is known that the success of Geely relies mostly on keeping low cost and offering the affordable cars. For instance, Geelys best-selling four-door sedan, the King Kong, has been sold 6127 in April 2010 and the retail price is between 47,800RMB 58,800RMB (Jiang, 2010). Geely sold 329,014 passenger cars in 2009, making it is the third largest domestic car producer (Zheng, 2010). However, Geelys winning formula is under pressure in china because Chinese consumers are becoming wealthier; the higher-end models will gradually be affordable for them. Meanwhile, brands such as the Chery QQ, Ford Fiesta, and Honda Civic are threatening Geely‘s current market position. Geeky‘s winning formula is also challenged at the oversea markets like UK and Malaysia. Date from HMRC (HM Revenue Customs) indicates that nearly 50% of the population in UK earns ? 16400 annually which is much higher than the middle class income of Malaysia. This group of population could be a dominant power in the automobile market in UK. It is not a wise choice to sell its inexpensive cars in UK considering that low price would not be 17 International Business Environment II attractive for these relatively rich citizens. The similar situation also happened in Malaysia which made Geely‘s low price cars less competitive. This is because that the predicted real GDP growth in 2010, 2011 and 2015 are 4. 7%, 5. 0% and 5. 0%, Malaysian people are becoming richer than before(IMF, 2010). Their increasing incomes will directly affect their car buying choice. People nowadays prefer the higher-end models and the market share of Geely‘s lower-end models are estimated to reduce gradually. 6. Geely’s reacts to the impact of the ECLIPTER First, since the middle of 2009, the sales of car exports decreased from 37940 in 2008 to 6297. Furthermore, although Geely exports to more than 50 countries, most of them are developing countries which are not so effective in the promotion of the brand image. In order to get rid of low-end image, Geely changed its strategy from ?produce automobile which most of people can buy‘ to ? do not produce cars which price is below 40000 Yuan‘ (Fang, 2009). Besides, Geely take over Volvo which also expressed its desire to promote the brand image. Geely‘s strategy changes starts in May 2007, which is focus on transforming its competitive advantage from price to technology. In 2007, Geely used three new motorcycle type—Yuan Jing, King Kong and Zi You Jian, which have relatively higher value added to substitute the Haoqing, Meiri and You Liou. For doing that, Geely scraped its old molds, jigs and production line which worth up to 8 billion Yuan. In 2008, the sales of these three new auto types grew 12% without discount marketing strategy (Geely annual report, 2009). Furthermore, in 2010, Geely will market 21 new auto types, and some of them were designed by Fabrizio Giugiaro, the Italy‘s famous auto manufacturer. Moreover, the new energy auto will also be produced in 2010, which will include Panda and DiHao (Wenqing, 2010). These new energy auto types have been showed in the Beijing car exhibition 2010 (Phoenix auto, 2010). In order to deal with these two factors, Geely also has a complementary strategy: cooperate or takeover other well-known international auto manufacturers. It will not only help Geely to promote its auto manufacture technology, but also improve its brand image. Geely has already cooperated with 18 International Business Environment II Britain‘s Manganese Bronze to produce luxurious brand-named taxi (China car Times, 2010) and assembled cars with Information Gateway Corp Sdn Bhd (IGC) in Malaysia, 2006 (Tan, 2006). 7. Leverage the multilateral institutions 7. 1 ASEAN One of the stunning news in 2005 was the political barriers Geely met in Malaysia, which was considered as the biggest challenge for its overseas expansion so far. Geely‘s President Li Shufu described Malaysia as ? an unexpected trap? because of Malaysia government‘s rejection on fulfilling the contract. After examining the ECLIPTER factors of Malaysia market, Li Shufu and his team regarded Malaysia as the first pillbox and cornerstone of its expansion to ASEAN countries. He believed the learning in Malaysia could be helpful. Therefore, in May 2005, Geely has made a joint contract with Malaysia IGC group for building CKD factory in Malaysia. However, Malaysia government denied the contract after a new document on automobile being published. According to the document, all cars made by foreign automobile manufacturers were prohibited to sell in Malaysia. Then the situation in Malaysia went against its expection of getting a huge sale. However, according to Geely officials, to some extent, ASEAN agreements have made Geely to reconsider the importance of Malaysia (Harwit). In South East Asia nations, there are some strict tariff-related regulations for automobile industry. Contrarily, tariff among ASEAN countries is in a minimum rate. According to an inner-ASEAN agreement, from 2003 to 2009, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore and Vietnam exempted auto import tariff for each other. From 2010, all ASEAN countries will implement zero auto import tariff for each other. At the same time, Indonesia, Thailand and some other ASEAN nations‘ demand of cars is increasing considerably (JAMA, 2008). Especially after an impressive increase in 2007, the car-sale in Indonesia becomes significantly dazzle. Therefore Geely 19 International Business Environment II planed to only manufacture cars in Malaysia and then export cars to other ASEAN countries, which seems like a forward-looking plan in a long-term development. Finally, Geely decided to move its Malaysia CKD manufacture center to Indonesia. However, its vision of leveraging ASEAN to pursue a sale performance in all ASEAN nations has not changed. 7. 2 EU In terms of EU regulations, since Geely has acquired 100% ownership of Volvo, the Sweden‘s company, Geely is no longer an outsider of European market. According to the EU Single market concept (European Commission, 2010), a free circulation of capital, labor, goods and services between EU members is granted. Geely now have got over tariff barriers and competes as an insider. 8. Implications and Recommendations One of the strategies of Geely is to promote new energy automobile, there are two advantages for this strategy: Firstly, Geely can get powerful support from government since the development of new energy is encouraged by the government. Secondly, since new energy automobile is environmental friendly goods, it not only reduces the carbon emissions, but also decreases the expenses on routine maintenance (Bond newspaper, 2010). However, there are also drawbacks, such as the inadequate facilities. Acquiring other world famous bands is the other strategy of Geely, which facilitates the company‘s global expansion. For instance, Volvo is well-known by its safety, which could provide Geely with a competitive advantage on its brand trust. It also provides a valuable, more upscale user image. Therefore, through merger or acquisition of international well-known brands, Geely can get greater international fame and advanced technology, integrate into the world market and attract more consumers. However, certain risks should be considered when Geely acquires Volvo. The first risk is that the culture conflicts between two countries. It has been reported that one of the hindering factors is that the union of Volvo in Sweden disagrees the acquisition for their reduced 20 International Business Environment II welfare and unemployment (Gasgoo, 2009). The second risk is that the value of acquired equity. It has been said that Volvo‘s vaunted reputation for safety has been challenged by other manufacturers which can also provide automobiles with same safety standard. In this case Volvo‘s ? safe? advantage may not be as competitive as before. 9. Conclusion To sum up, this essay has analyzed the ECLIPTER factors of Geely‘s two overseas markets, Britain and Malaysia, and examined influence of the related multilateral institutions. According to this matrix analysis, legal system and income profile have the most important impact on the auto industry. For multilateral institutions, ASEAN and WTO generally promote the Geely‘s international expansion strategy, while EU regulations are less favored in its expansion. Considering both ECLIPTER factors and related multilateral institutions, it is suitable for Geely to enter developing nations to acquire market share at its initial development. But for long-term development, Geely need to pay attention to research and develop higher-end models. With the development of Geely Company and the overall auto industry, Geely‘s focus will shift from developing countries to developed countries. Currently, Geely‘s low price strategy is challenged by the legal system and income profile of developed countries. Therefore, Geely is increasing its efforts in releasing new model cars and tapping into developed countries through merger or acquisition. Geely intends to promote its brand image and enlarge its market share through these strategic moves, although it has to face the risk of culture conflicts and the uncertainty of acquisition value. 21 International Business Environment II 10. References: Azia, A. Z. (2004) Malaysia-Encouraging Saving in a Dynamic Economy [Online]. Available at: h.

Adams Building St Marys Church: Nottingham Architecture

Adams Building St Marys Church: Nottingham Architecture Outline the stylistic and technological contexts which influenced the buildings In this patchwork essay I will be outlining the stylistic and technological context which has influenced my chosen buildings, which is the Adams Building and St Marys Church in Nottingham. The Adams Building dates back to the 10th July 1855 has been the largest building in the Lace market district of Nottingham City centre. When Nottingham was the heart of lace production around the globe the building was once a lace warehouse and also a showroom for the people. The building got its name after Thomas Adams who was once a famous Quaker and industrialist in the 19th century. The St Marys Church is known to be the oldest parish in Nottingham and is believed to date back into the Saxon times. The building dates from the end of the reign of Edward III (1377) to that of Henry VII (1485-1509). The entire nave was finished before 1475. It is also The University church for the University of Nottingham and several schools and organisations hold annual services here. Many organisations hold annual yearly services and many use its function for a place of worship. As mentioned above, Adams was a Victorian industrialist with strong Quaker views and a deep social conscience. He had selected a local Nottingham based architect Thomas Chambers Hine who was drawn equally to history and technical innovation. Between them they created a building which, for a variety of social and architectural reasons, is now a quite a unique building. The building shows series of construction from 1854 to about 1874. The earliest phase of the building was when it faced Stoney Street with its unique symmetrical frontage behind a railed courtyard. Adams was very determined had provided good facilities for his workers. A large area of the basement was designed as a chapel where nearly 500 workers and managers would share service each day. On the other hand indoor toilets and rooms where also provided for employees, records show various funds and savings and a book club. During winter heating was also provided by the use of coal and patent warm air which flues through du cts from a heat exchanger boiler. Adams Buildings main entrance display area seems to have a very spectacular two storey light well in the centre of the building which is lit up by decorative gas lamps and approached by a grand staircase. As time went by the building became as part of Nottinghams heritage and was later listed as a grade 2 building.  £16.5 million was also spent on the building for refurbishment allowing the site to convert into Nottinghams college. Several floors had to be altered so that it met the buildings requirements. The main reason for refurbishment of the building was during the WW2 when the RAF used parachutes to store their belonging and this had damaged several floors which forced the building to close in the 1950s. The building became into disrepair as many of the floors were structurally unsound and often heavy machinery had caused some of them to fail. St Marys church is the only the present building on the site which occupies a prominent position in what was originally the Saxon town of Nottingham. Over the years great amount of work was done on the fabric of the church. In 1588 the tower vaulting collapsed into the church and was not replaced until 1812. The foundation stones of the piers of the tower had consisted of various fragments of a much earlier building, probably Saxon, or very early Norman. They consist of capitals, shafts, bases, arch mouldings, and plain ashlar of strong grit-stone. In conclusion to my two building i have outlined the stylistic and technological context which has influenced the twobuildings. Over the years the two building has playeda very important part for their people. The importance of these great two buildings only comes to know if we research thoroughly. Bibliography: http://viewfinder.historicengland.org.uk/search/detail.aspx?uid=145421 http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1317165 http://flickriver.com/photos/bobwatt/tags/staircase/ https://sarahormerodntuarchitecturaltechnology.wordpress.com/author/sarahnormerod/page/2/ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56275a18e4b0361a456e9c4d/t/5630e9abe4b0d9f80f94ded6/1446046123819/adams-history-leaflet.pdf http://www.nottinghamenglishschool.com/location/ http://www.experiencenottinghamshire.com/discover/adams-and-page-building-p666951 http://southwellchurches.history.nottingham.ac.uk/nottingham-st-mary/harchlgy.php http://www.stmarysnottingham.org/about_st_marys.html Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism | Review Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism | Review In Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich, Shelley Baranowski presents a detailed history of Nazi Germanys main leisure organization Strength through Joy (Kraft durch Freude or KdF). Although she attempts to point out the failures of KdF, the influence of politics and propaganda, and the likely inflated statistics of the organization, Baranowski seems to portray KdF as being largely successful in achieving many of its goals. Particularly, the author argues that KdF achieved an impressive increase in tourism and was relatively successful in improving the popular appeal of the regime and that its after-work branch, Beauty of Labour, improved conditions in numerous companies, though not appeasing workers entirely. This essay will provide arguments that in some cases contradict these conclusions. Overall, Strength through Joy sheds light on some of the positive aspects of the Nazi regime and helps explain to what extent KdF managed to bring leisure to the m asses, serve the political purposes of the party and diminish the role of class in society. Despite these strengths, Baranowski fails to include important economic and statistical measures and comparisons with other Nazi, pre-Nazi and foreign organizations or commercial travel agencies. Furthermore, the author appears to not discuss sufficiently the extent to which KdF was based on Socialist or other Weimar organizations. Without these points elaborated, the author seems to make some questionable interpretations regarding the extent of KdFs success. Therefore, this essay will argue that although this book attempts to provide a detailed and objective look into KdFs activities, it seems to lack information necessary to construct an accurate portrayal of KdFs impact in and on the Third Reich. Strength through Joy was organized under the German Labour Front in late 1933 as a tool to coordinate existing leisure organizations in the newly formed National Socialist regime. It soon consisted of several departments including the Beauty of Labour (for the beatification and improvement of factories), Sport and Tourism, among others. The Nazi idea for the organization was based on the Italian After Work, but while After Work was, as the name suggests, only concerned with organizing workers leisure time after working hours, KdF was meant to take on the ambitious task of managing both work and leisure for German workers (Baranowski 2004, 45). One of the main themes in Strength Through Joy is thus the role of KdF as a political tool and a class destroying mechanism. More specifically, Baranowski points out that KdF was a way to save resources for rearmament by providing the German people with an alternative to mass consumption (2004, 8-9, 119). KdF was supposed to achieve this throug h the creation of cultural activities, sport facilities, the active organization of tourism and the improvement of factories conditions. KdF was also to solve the problem of the eight-hour workday, which according to Robert Ley, leader of the Labour Front, left too much free time at the hands of the workers and could potentially threaten the unity of the racial community (Baranowski 2004, 42). In addition, Kristin Semmens adds that another purpose of KdF was to prepare the German Volk for future struggles through strengthening their bodies, but at the same time to aid for the temporary avoidance of war, through the significant exchange of German and foreign tourists (2005b, 145-146). However, perhaps the most important goal of KdF was to provide the feel in the German public that living standards have improved under the Nazi regime (Baranowski 2004, 38-39). In Strength through Joy Baranowski examines mainly two ways in which KdF attempted to achieve its goals, namely KdFs Beauty of Labour and the Tourism departments. She looks at case studies of workers experiences in factories, trips and cruises and although she attempts to maintain a fairly objective view of KdFs success, from those individual cases she generalizes that the regimes social policy yielded positive results (Baranowski 2005, 197). Baranowski even goes as far as to claim that KdF was relatively successful as an alternative to other options to raise living standards Fordism and Socialism (2005, 136), which seems far-fetched considering these two alternatives were never truly experienced within Nazi Germany. Here, Baranowskis definition of raised living standards is required. It would be perhaps possible to demonstrate that KdF or the regime in general had been successful in improving the well-being of ordinary Germans, if the results are measured by intangibles, such as access to vacations and improved factory conditions. On the other hand, it would be fairly hard to demonstrate the same if the r esults are measured by increased wages or material goods. The author does not provide that definition. Therefore, although it may seem logical to conclude that KdF was at least partially successful in both improving the public perception of the ruling regime and the well-being of Germans judging by some of the statistics it managed to achieve, the correlation between the increasing activity of KdF and the increasing support of the Nazis does not necessarily imply a causal relationship. For example, other factors in the 1930s such as the rise of employment and productivity could have contributed to the increased standards of living. Therefore, one should be careful when drawing conclusions on the KdFs success on a stand-alone basis, especially considering KdF was a part of both the Reich Tourism Association and the Ministry of Propaganda (Semmens 2005b, 147) and therefore it was just a small part of a very big machine. Furthermore, in terms of reducing the clash between classes and promoting the Volksgemeinschaft, Baranowski concludes that KdF helped link Volksgemeinschaft and Lebensraum (2005, 138) and that the organization was no mere beautiful illusion' (2004, 177). Undoubtedly, she does discuss the social conflicts on the KdF trips, but she seems to put more emphasis on the numbers that these tours achieved to draw her conclusions about their success as a political tool. Baranowski states that through the number of tourists who flocked to KdF, it reaped the dividend it sought, the enhancement of the Third Reichs popular legitimacy (2004, 161). However, other historians such as Christopher Kopper find that the propagandistic self-stylization of a seemingly classless society of vacationers was based on a Utopian vision, not on hard socio-economic facts (Kopper, 3). Thus, workers were still underrepresented on tours, middle classes were unhappy with the quality of KdFs service, Jews were consisten tly ignored and discriminated against and party leaders consistently flaunted a well-being far superior to that of most other Germans. More specifically, Kristin Semmens points out that only 5% of all KdF overnight stays in 1939 were taken by workers. She explains that number with the fact that although tour prices were astoundingly low, they were still fairly high compared to workers salaries, which had to cover many expensive trip extras (2005a, 100, 108). This argument weakens significantly Baranawoskis conclusion regarding the success of KdF, especially considering that even in the Weimar Republic workers composed about 10% of all tourists (Baranowski 2004, 15). Furthermore, KdF seems to have actually intensified class conflicts to some extent. First of all, the organization made the middle and especially the upper class angry when it refused to let them sign up for the considerably cheaper tours (Semmens 2005a, 107). Second of all, richer tourists seem to have been complaining openly against the behaviour of the masses of KdF tourists, while the KdF tourists complained they were not getting the same level of service as the richer tourists (Semmens 2005a, 102,107). Eventually, KdF was forced to move to unpopular and poor sites in order to both avoid growing conflicts and to attempt to financially support those underdeveloped areas (Semmens 2005a, 110). As a result, Semmens findings partially contradict Baranowskis, as she claims that KdFs promises to eliminate privileges were entirely unfulfilled and images of community misleading (2005a, 100). Nevertheless, although perhaps not as successful in promoting unity and improving the regimes image as Baranowski argues, KdF seems to have effectively demonstrated Nazi Germanys supremacy over other countries in at least one way -through its foreign tours. German tourists often visited cheap and poor areas of Portugal, Italy and Africa, where they could see for themselves the superiority of the Aryan race and thank the regime for the benefits that it brought (Baranowski 2004, 127). Still, despite the obvious effects of this subtle propaganda, Baranowskis generalization of the impact of these foreign tours on the German population seems far-fetched. Specifically, it is debatable whether she is correct in her conclusion that the KdFs foreign tours persuaded the majority of Germans that an improved economy, rising living standards and the regimes commitment to social opportunity defined the Third Reich (2004, 198), when her evidence seems to consist of only a few case studies from satisfied workers. A second theme that Baranowski discusses, though more briefly, is the emergence and the role of the Beauty of Labour office of Strength through Joy. The Beauty of Labour (Schà ¶nheit der Arbeit, SdA) was given the relatively difficult task of eradicating political divisions on the shop floor [through] environmental improvements in the factory, as well as the supervision of the recreational choices and personal habits of workers (2004, 75). Interestingly, this definition did not entail eliminating racial conflict, as the SdA sometimes described to employers the alternatives to its visions as Jewish (Baranowski 2005, 129). The main goal of this office was therefore to eliminate class conflict in factories by improving the quality and efficiency of design, lighting, ventilation, sanitation, noise and temperature, as well as sports, dining and washing facilities. SdA was most likely a way to increase the regimes public appeal and boost productivity, but also to compensate for reduced wa ges and the destruction of trade unions and the overall domination of employers over employees under the regime. It is fairly difficult to assess what Baranowski believes about the actual achievements of the SdA. On the one hand she seems impressed by the sheer number of events that SdA managed to organize. For example, the author quotes the programs likely inflated statistic that it improved over 17,000 companies by as early as 1935 and over 33,700 companies by 1938 (2004, 56, 110). She explains this apparent employers volunteerism to cooperate with SdAs suggestions with the fact that businesses were grateful to the regime for the destruction of unions, but also that in the mid-1930s organizations were actually competing for labour (Baranowski 2004, 112). Thus, Baranowski suggests that employers themselves considered that making factory improvements would be an important factor for attracting workforce. Baranowski seems to have paid little attention to the third likely reason for corporate cooperation the perceived and desired boost of productivity that would come as a result of improved fact ory environment and increased goodwill on the workers side. Tom Mason claims that there was such a boost though it was likely a very short term one (1966, 120). Thus, it is possible that corporations took that into account when complying with SdAs proposals. On the other hand, Baranowski makes the conclusion that improved factories did not compensate for longer hours, frozen wages and coerced volunteerism' (2004, 116), which seems to have been drawn from evidence of individual workers opinions. This conclusion makes intuitive sense, as within their workplace workers were actually under the direct control of the harsh reality of the Nazi regime geared towards rearmament, marked by frozen wages and curtailed consumption, and often dominated by big business. These workers were underpaid and overworked, and the beatification of their working environment, which they often had to execute themselves in unpaid overtime, seems a less efficient propaganda tool than after-work cultural events or vacation trips. Nevertheless, there were aspects of SdAs policies that workers appear to have welcomed. For example, some companies employees took it to heart to improve their working environment, either for their own healths sake or for the pride of winni ng an SdA award. As a result, Baranowski concludes that the praise [that]Beauty of Labour bestowed on retinues dedicated to improving their workplaces was less empty than it might retrospectively appear (2004, 114). Interestingly, with regards to the SdA program of improving the overall look of villages on key German roads, Baranowski claims that by 1938 only 708 villages were affected (2004, 107). It seems difficult to justify her qualifier (only), as the author does not provide any information on how many villages were supposed to be reformed or how many villages were there in total in Germany at the time. Nevertheless, the number seems vast and demonstrates a point Joshua Hagen supports- that from this success rate it is evident that these villages had some desire for and experienced pride from doing beautification. Particularly, Hagen analyzes the example of Rosenthal and describes how the political agenda and foreign policy at different times of the regime during its 12 year hi story had different impacts on Rosenthals desired image and the tourist groups that visited it. He concludes that the level of initiative demonstrated by local residents to beautify their city, the pride they seemingly experienced from doing that and number of tourists that came to the city were all significant (Hagen 2004, 223). Therefore, one should possibly be careful to qualify SdA as unsuccessful, coercive or as a small scale program, because it appears to have been, at least in some cases, the exact opposite of that. The third main theme in Baranowskis book regards the success of KdF in stimulating tourism in Nazi Germany. The tourism industry was one of the several focal points that the Nazi regime had since its coming to power. With considerable effort the regime strived to coordinate hundreds of independent travel societies and as a result by 1938 the Reich Tourism Association had managed to become a central authority incorporating all tourism organizations. Additionally, through establishing a legal framework, it was able to create a proper hierarchy, standards and professionalization requirements. Thus, it managed to distance itself from the usual organizational chaos in the Nazi regime (Semmens 2005a, 9, 23, 34, 41).Tourism is also the most widely covered and most debatable point in Baranowskis book. That the numbers KdF managed to achieve are impressive seems beyond doubt from 1934 to 1939, 43 million Germans took advantage of its trips (Baranowski 2004, 55), thus becoming the worlds bigg est organizer of package tours (Kaiserfeld 2009, 9). However, what is problematic is the perspective that Baranowski takes as presenting KdF as achieving these statistics almost single-handedly, with minimal discussion of the size and impact of commercial tourism in Nazi Germany , the role of the improving economy on the growing desire of Germans (and citizens of virtually all industrialized countries) to travel and of the significance of Socialist and Weimar organizations to the jump start of the organization. At the same time, she provides few economic figures to support her conclusions, and even those stand alone, left with no explanation as to their value in the 1930s and compared with neither commercial tourism, nor with similar organizations in France, Italy, Spain or Britain. When one does such a comparison, it appears that while KdF did achieve a rise in tourism, it was by no means unique. For example, Kopper states that while only 15% of adults in Nazi Germany took a week-l ong vacation in 1939, in the same year about 40% of the British vacationed for a week (2009, 2,4). Moreover, Semmens points out that between 1928 and 1933, domestic travel decreased by 40% (2005a, 8), which was most likely the result of the Depression. This allows for the reasonable assumption that at least part of the increase in tourism in the 1930s was due to the return of tourism to pre-Depression levels, as people deprived of resources and possibility to travel for several years finally had this opportunity again. Perhaps even more importantly, while Baranowski discusses in great detail the positive impressions that the KdF Tourism departments flagship- its cruises left on certain workers and other tourists, it seems that one cannot generalize from these individual cases that Nazi tourism or KdF as a whole left the same agreeable impression on the German population. In addition, cruises only accounted for about 2% of all KdF trips (Hachtmann 2007, 124) and so they were experie nced by a very small portion of Germans. What is more, on a national level KdF never really managed to compete with commercial tourism within Nazi Germany, as it never actually exceeded 11 % of the tourism industry. Furthermore, KdF had troublesome collaborations with hotels, restaurants and other travel accommodations, because the rates these had to agree on were far below what they charged individuals or even travel agencies (Baranowski 2004, 165). Importantly, one of Baranowskis strongest arguments regarding KdF that it promised comfort, individual choice and outlets for fantasy (2004, 161) can be disputed. The organizations cheap package tours certainly allowed at least some workers access to previously inaccessible luxuries and left them pleased (Semmens 2005a, 117). However, for the majority the KdF vacation meant a visit of unknown or poor domestic areas by travelling in a 3rd or 4th class train cars, cramped with hundreds of other tourists (Semmens 2005a, 126), which could probably be hardly described as comfort or fantasy. In addition, Baranowski nearly neglects to discuss the role of commercial tourism in the public perception of the Nazi regime. In contrast, Kristin Semmens argues that this type of tourism was more influential on German opinion of the Nazi party, which the regimes leaders realized well. Semmens further claims that this perceived importance of private tourism was the reason why KdF was not allowed to interfere with or endanger in any way the commercial travel sector and often had to succumb to travelling to unfamiliar sites. However, the Nazis did not merely let commercial travel unattended or uncontrolled. Instead, through it they purposefully provided continuity and an illusory escape from everyday reality in a particular area of civilian life. Thus, commercial tourism actually became a calculated attempt to maintain a degree of touristic normality (Semmens 2005a, 40, 73, 97, 99). Semmens concludes that there was only a superficia lly state-free sphere in the realm of tourism (2005b, 157), and thus both KdF and commercial tourism actually served the same, essentially political, purpose. However, there was one important difference between the two types. When the war started, KdFs activities became critically limited or stopped completely, and the organization was reduced to troop entertainment. At the same time, commercial tourism thrived until late in the war (2004, 201). Private travel survived in other hit hard countries as well, such as in occupied France until about 1943 (Furlough 2002, 469) and Civil War stricken Spain, where it thrived throughout the entire WWII (Holguin 2005, 1424). This demonstrates the inherited deficiencies of the state-run KdF as compared to private tourism that it was extremely dependent on state budgets, public appeasement, rearmament and later war effort, macroeconomic and political conditions. Thus, when problems began the government support needed to maintain the organization was no longer available and KdF had no choice but to assume a much smaller scale and a less visible role in the new war reality. This essay has attempted to provide a critical review of Shelley Baranowskis book Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich. Quotes, statistics and examples were drawn from different sources to confirm, or more often to contrast, Baranowskis findings in three main areas of her book the success of KdF as a political tool, the impact of Beauty of Labour on workers view of the regime and the role of Strength through Joy for the increase in tourism in the 1930s. For all three points, some weaknesses and limitations of Baranowskis work were pointed out. Admittedly, this essay has therefore taken a rather critical view of Baranowskis book. However, most criticism has been directed not towards the authors research, data, sources or methods of presentation, but rather towards her conclusions. Thus, this essay should not help diminish the importance of the book for the topic of tourism in the Third Reich. While Baranowskis book may have potential for improvement, it is certainly one of the first and so far major sources on Strength through Joy available in English. The significance of the book is further elevated when one considers that KdFs main archive and other related documents were largely destroyed during WWII, that the topic of tourism and popular appeal in a dictatorship are generally difficult to research and analyze, and that throughout most of the book the author has actually managed to preserve an organized, objective and fairly detailed view of her topic. In conclusion, a consideration of the points made in this essay may certainly contribute to Baranowskis pioneering study, but even without them the book still remains a strong addition to the Third Reichs historiography. Bibliography Baranowski, Shelley. Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Baranowski, Shelley. Radical Nationalism in an International Context: Strength through Joy and the Paradoxes of Nazi Tourism. In Histories of Tourism edited by John Walton. Clevedon, UK: Channel View Publications, 2005. Furlough, Ellen. Une le?on des choses: Tourism, Empire, and the Nation in Interwar France. French Historical Studies 25, no. 3 (2002): 441-473. Hachtmann, Rà ¼diger. Tourismus-Geschichte. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck Ruprecht, 2007. Hagen, Joshua. The Most German of Towns: Creating an Ideal Nazi Community in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 94, no.1 (2004): 207-227. Holguin, Sandie. National Spain Invites You: Battlefield Tourism during the Spanish Civil War. The American Historical Review 10, no. 5 (2005): 1399-1426. Kaiserfeld, Thomas. From Sightseeing to Sunbathing: Changing Traditions in Swedish Package Tours from Edification by Bus to Relaxation by Airplane in the 1950s and 60s. Working Paper, Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, 2009. https://www-edit.sys.kth.se/polopoly_fs/ 1.29134!KAISERF.pdf Kopper, Christopher M. The Breakthrough of the Package Tour in Germany after 1945. 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