Different media texts analysis, relationship between media and Assignment

Different media texts analysis, relationship between media and communication and in terms of culture - Assignment Example Media will always want to maintain a good relationship with the society and therefore it tends to sell itself to the consumers by telling the society what they want to hear. Media is so dependent on the society because it cannot exist without it. Communication on the other hand is the flow and of ideas and information between individuals. Communication is only effective if the two or more communicating persons understand one another. It is only successful if the receiver is able to decode and understand received the message from sender (Carey, 1989). The communication process involves, first, the sender has to possess an element of feeling, idea, concept or information that he wants to pass to the sender. Next, involves encoding of the message. The message is sent to the intended receiver in words, symbols or appropriate language of the medium. Next, the decoding of the message takes place. This involves expression of the message in an intelligence language that the receiver understa nds. Lastly, the receiver gives feedback to the sender. This is an expression of the sender’s opinion. This can be in form of words, facial expression or feelings. Media textual analysis is the way in which the audience of given information make an intelligent, educated and a well understandable choice at the most likely interpretation about the information (Chin, 2011). It is a methodology used to carry out quantitative analysis of the content of some information in question. Texts from magazines, advertisements, television, clothes or films can be closely analyzed so as to obtain different ways in which different audiences interpret them according to different situational analysis. There are several factors that affect interpretation of media messages. First, cultural background has got a say on the interpretation an individual will give to a particular message. The cultural backgrounds could be religious, tribal or economic. For instance, journals from the west report that fatness is unhealthy. However, there is no general universal agreement that being fat is something worth not appreciating or appreciating. Some western medical and anesthetic arguments insist that having a larger body is neither attractive nor healthy. This is not the case in Africa (Chin, 2011). For example in Niger, being fat is the beauty of a woman. Therefore women get encouraged to take pills to gain appetite and steroids to become heavy. The media case above about the western journal is clear evidence that cultural disparity result to different aspects in which a media message gets interpreted. People from the western community who are influenced by scientific research would support the health journal report. On the other hand, the Niger community from Africa is greatly influenced by their African traditions (Berger, 2011). They believe that a woman is quantified by her body size. Their reaction to the journal would be dismissive. Differences in critical reasoning and thinkin g also display varying interpretation about media information. Logical reasoning is the basis of factual argument in the western countries inherited from Classical Greece (Silverstone, 1999). They will often subject facts to many options of possible understanding. Culture of the Jains in India poses several possible results of factual analysis. Is it a fact? May be it is, may be it is but it is not, and may be it is not. Let us consider a television advertisement of a sexual protective wear. Medium analysis has to take into account several

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Ralph Waldo Emerson was born into a pre-determined life. His father was a minister, so he was already set to become a minister. However, Emerson didn’t believe in organized religion. This was the reason that he became a transcendentalist and wrote his essay â€Å"Self Reliance†. In 1817, Emerson attended Harvard College where he first began to formulate his ideas that were portrayed in his most famous essay. In his essay, Emerson uses two main strategies to persuade his readers. These strategies were anecdotal stories and reasons supported by evidence. Throughout his essay, Emerson uses anecdotes as his main strategy for persuasion. For example, he tells an anecdote about when he was a child. When he was a child, he expressed his true beliefs to a close adult. When asked how he knows that his beliefs aren’t from the devil, Emerson responds by saying, â€Å"They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil. † In this response he is saying even if his beliefs are from the Devil, it doesn’t matter. This is what he believes in and nothing can change that. This idea was Emerson’s main virtue that he lived by and wanted others to live by: trust thyself. Emerson’s anecdotes prove to be a very effective way to persuade his readers to believe in his ideas. The anecdotes in this essay are so effective because the reader is able to connect with him, and place themselves in his shoes. The anecdotes are also effective because they are a portal into Emerson’s life. Instead of just listing facts and statistics, Emerson chooses to tell stories about his life. This allows his readers to connect with him on a personal level and the readers develop a stronger emotional connection with Emerson. Another strategy that Emerson uses is reasons supported by evidence. This strategy is also effective because it gives the reader a reason why they should trust themselves, and then supports the reason with evidence to show why the reason is true. For example, he says that if people don’t trust themselves, then they will feel guilty and ashamed. This is the reason Emerson gives of why people need to trust themselves, and then he supports the reason with evidence by saying that it is a waste of time to want what thers want and â€Å"envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide†. He also says that to be truly happy, a man must accept himself for better and for worse. This evidence supports the reason that people should be happy with themselves the way they are. Emerson’s strategy of reasons supported by evidence is very effective because it gives the reader concrete evidence. The evidence supports the reason, and the reason supports the overall claim. The reasons and evidence are logical appeals which appeal to the reader’s good sense; this also makes the strategy effective. It is hard to argue when Emerson gives many concrete reasons to support his claim and then backs it up with even more evidence. Although Emerson’s essay â€Å"Self Reliance† has many good strategies and qualities, it also has some weaknesses. The essay is aimed at a small audience, educated white males. If he were to open the essay up to a broader audience, he would be able to spread his idea more effectively. For example if women were also targeted in the essay, then Emerson’s ideas would be spread to almost twice as many people. Another weakness in the essay is the overall claim. He says that people should trust themselves. This claim has no qualifiers; therefore Emerson is saying that people should trust themselves, always. This is not always true. Yet another weakness in the essay is that Emerson uses mostly anecdotal evidence. Although the anecdotes prove to be effective, the evidence inside of them is not all that concrete. The claims he makes in these anecdotes are not as strong as they could be if he had more of a variety of strategies to support his claims. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay â€Å"Self Reliance† tells its readers to trust themselves. He says that every heart vibrates to this iron string. Emerson uses many strategies in his essay; however the two main strategies are anecdotes and reasons supported by evidence. Both of these strategies prove to be very effective on the reader. The anecdotes allow the reader to connect with Emerson, and have strong emotional appeals on the reader. While the reasons supported by evidence apply the reader’s logic and give concrete examples that support his claim. â€Å"Self-Reliance† is a well written essay that persuades its readers to listen and trust themselves.

Analyzing Moulin Rouge Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Moulin Rouge is celebrated for its art direction, music, and performances. One of its biggest endeavors is the set design. With a combination of real sets and computer generated images, Moulin Rouge manages to showcases a 19th century Paris, France as a world of moral decadence but undeniable beauty. The set design further pushes the message of France, at this time, being a place of plague, poverty and sin; but also a place of art, music and beauty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the introduction of the film, we see an elaborate design of 19th century Paris, France. We have a detailed and inside look at Paris through the allies, cabaret bars, prostitutes, and up the rooftops to reveal a colorful and vibrant fantasy world. Just the opening sequence emphasizes how the people of France, through poverty and plague, live a life of love, art and music. So we have these two characteristics, these two sides of Paris that seem to juxtapose each other. We see this constantly through out the film; sin and beauty, love and poverty, etc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the view of the city, we then see an old broken down apartment where Christian, one of the central characters, live. The room is cluttered with broken bottles, clothes on the floor, old wooden floor, worn out walls, and the centerpiece of the room; a polished type writer on the table. This illustrates the idea that art and creativity rise above the poverty and sin of this world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the Main sets of the film are the rooftops of Paris. There we have another open view of the city at night and how it comes alive. This film is unique when it comes to set design because it uses the aid of computer generated images. So there are many instances where a character can travel through the city in an unrealistic manner. The train station, most of the city, and the Moulin Rouge are altered with computer generated images.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most important aspects of the art design is how the film’s visual language and message is established through color. The Moulin Rouge, compared to the rest of the city, is colorful and alive. The rest of the city is painted with sepia and dark colors, while the Moulin Rouge is bright with many colors; mainly gold and red. And yet it’s supposed to be an underworld where love is for sale and s... ...orce art out of the people who suffer from these flaws and imperfections. It’s as if art cannot exist without these challenges that the people of that time met. This theme is one that applies to almost every film that talks about the struggle that artists go through.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A very common picture, almost a stereotype, is the writer with a broken heart, the penniless musician, and the artist who dies of hunger. There is something romantic about the tragedy that most talent has to go through. There are several beliefs that one is caused by the other. Some would say that art and talent is forged through the difficulties of life and that through art we are able to out live these threats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The set design and art direction almost scream the idea of how all the bad things of the world are almost worth it because of the good that comes from them. The beauty of the torn down buildings, the dying walls, the old floors, the old bed spring mattresses, men in wife beaters and suspenders, women in shredded but colorful dresses all personify this idea that people suffer and die; but through that arises art, music, poetry, beauty, truth and love.

financial accounting and the need for a conceptual framework

The Asiatic crisis exploded in July 1997 and raised frights of planetary economic recession. It has exposed an unresolved job in the manner of fiscal globalisation that local accounting criterions used to fix fiscal statement did non run into international criterions. The authoritiess have realized the essentialness to better the supervising, ordinance and transparence of fiscal systems under the forces of fiscal globalisation.[ 1 ] Since the origin, the FASB has recognized the importance of aims of fiscal statements based on different fiscal criterions and the demand for a coherent system of interconnected aims and basicss. In fact, the Board has realized the concern of the external users, the people who use the statements so produced, about the credibleness of fiscal coverage in the recent old ages, and has criticized the undermentioned state of affairs[ 2 ]: Several methods of accounting can be used to reflect the same fact. Less conservative accounting methods are more progressively utilizing than earlier. Militias are used to smooth the earning fluctuation. Form is relevant over substance. The direction has used an averment of immateriality to warrant nondisclosure of unfavourable information or goings from criterions. Off-balance-sheet funding is common. To work out the confusion between different criterions and correct the fiscal accounting state of affairs, a conceptual model was promoted. The chief intent of the model is to increase the comprehensibility of fiscal coverage and the assurance of fiscal statement users. A conceptual model can be defined as: ‘A fundamental law, a coherent system of interconnected aims and basicss that can take to consistent criterions and that prescribes the nature, the map, and bounds of fiscal accounting and fiscal statement. The aims indentify the ends and the intents of accounting. The basicss are the implicit in constructs of accounting constructs that guide the choice of events to be accounted for, the measuring of those events and the agencies of sum uping and pass oning to interested parties. Concepts of that type are cardinal in the sense that other constructs flow from them and mention from them will be necessary in set uping, construing and using accounting and coverage criterions. ‘[ 3 ] Figure 1[ 4 ]shows the eight major constituents of the undertaking. Aims Elementss Recognition Measurement Fiscal Statements and Fiscal Coverage Net incomes Fundss Flows and Liquid Accounting Coverage Qualitative FeaturesFigure 1Conceptual Framework for FinancialAccounting and CoverageExhibit 6.3 shows the range of the conceptual model and lists the related paperss issued to 1982 by the FASB.[ 5 ] At the first degree, the aims indentify the end, the intent, the information and the restrictions of accounting. Statement of Financial Accounting Concept No.1 ( Objective Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises ) and No.4 ( Objective Financial Reporting by Non-business Organization ) present these of import elements of accounting for concern endeavors and non-business organisations severally. At the 2nd degree, the qualitative features of fiscal information ( Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No.2 ) and the elements of fiscal statements ( Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No.3 ) are included in the basicss. The four chief qualitative features are relevancy, dependability, comparison and comprehensibility which are related to the content of information and how the information is presented. Assetss, liabilities, ownership involvement, additions, losingss, parts by the proprietors and distributions to proprietors are described as the elements of fiscal statements. At the 3rd degree, the accountant uses the operational guidelines in advancing and using accounting criterions which include the acknowledgment standards, fiscal statements versus fiscal coverage and measuring ( Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.33 ) At the 4th degree, describing net incomes, describing financess flow and liquidness and describing fiscal place are included in the show mechanisms that accountant utilizations to show accounting information ( Elementss of Financial Statements No.3 ) .[ 6 ] In the followers, the chief degrees and constituents in the conceptual model for fiscal accounting will be briefly described.The Objective of fiscal statementsThe Statement of Principles follows the IASC Framework in the designation of seven user groups: Investors, Lenders, Suppliers, Employees, Customers, Government and other bureaus, and Public. The investor group is identified as the primary group for whom the fiscal statements are being prepared. The comptrollers have to make up one's mind the information demands of which group are to be dominant, because there is merely one set of fiscal statements. The in formation should be satisfied in four facets: fiscal public presentation, fiscal place, coevals and usage of hard currency, and fiscal adaptability.[ 7 ]The qualitative features of fiscal informationWhen sing about what makes fiscal information useful, the thought of materiality is the first coming into head. The materiality trial is regarded as a threshold quality for acknowl edgment because there is no demand to be considered farther if any point is non material. Actually, the Statement of Principles contains four qualitative features of fiscal information about the content of information and how the information is presented. The two primary features about the content are relevant and dependable ; the other two related to presentation are apprehensible and comparable.[ 8 ]Recognition and MeasurementHarmonizing to acknowledgment standards, the point is required to run into the definition of an component of fiscal statements and be relevant and dependable. With respect to measuring, the statement recognizes the five different properties of assets and liabilities presented in the treatment, historical cost, current replacing cost, current market value, net colony value and present value of future hard currency flows.[ 9 ]DecisionFrom the Asiatic crisis, it is necessary to work out the open job in the manner of fiscal globalisation due to miss of an account ing theory. Then we trace the development of a conceptual model undertaking of the FASB, the regulator of fiscal accounting and coverage, and why the undertaking is needed. In the followers, briefly introduce the construction of the undertaking and depict the chief constituents in the conceptual model of fiscal accounting.

Picasso: Artist Extraordinaire

It was as array of Blue all over – some were cold, some skeptic, some with the desire to escape and mellow in the sky. Some were intense and challenging, while some other were diminutive and soothing. Together they reflected the state of their creator, who was then at the crossroad of his life – Mr. Pablo Ruiz Picasso! The genius of the geniuses, Pablo Picasso has left quite a few messages for the rest of the world – and very important one at that – because it is in the essence of those messages, lies the secret of his success.His Blue period happens to be a prominent slice of a painter who would rise to the zenith of name and fame later, much like a phoenix from the debris of despair, pathos and taunting ambience. Even a peep into his life would evoke anyone to identify the Blue period as his springboard – anyone would be excited to discover that how much power a parsimonious condition can generate for those who are willing. His life highlights the positive impact of poverty and drudgery in the making of a genius.The canvas of Picasso's life, in fact holds a picture that would always speak about the potential of human mind – that it is like a magic spring – the more you suppress it, the more it garners energy to outmaneuver its obstacles – or, from another perspective, it is from the chaos the universe of Picasso was born! The facts of Picasso's life shatters a good many myths about ‘chances rule human', and substantiates the fact that it is ‘humans who create chances' – a lesson as sparkling as a diamond to those who are deprived by the affluence of even basic amenities to bloom to their best.Thus this essay makes a humble survey on the life and works of this master of the masters, Pablo Picasso, with special emphasis on Blue Period, and how it impacted the proceedings of his life after, before reaching its own conclusion about the special messages that one can learn from his life besi des, indicating on the impact of â€Å"Blue Period† over the artists' movements.The protagonist, the central character of this magical example of human triumph, Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born on October 25th in Malaga, Spain, in the year 1881 and went to live on earth for 91 years, holding a unique collage of events, inventions, rendezvous and, most importantly, time-winning creations between the years of his charismatic existence. Thus it is impossible to discuss the Blue period without knowing about his background, which had a solid bearing on the rest of his life. A child Picasso would mingle with the gypsies, the outsiders of the society – their bohemian lifestyle had been a source of attraction to him (Picasso: Magic).It was his father Don Jose, who was an artist, a museum curator and a teacher all rolled into one, identified the latent talent in Picasso very early and engaged the boy into art. After having initial lessons from his father at home, Picasso joined Acad emy of Fine Arts at La Corupa, Spain, where his father was a teacher. He was then only a boy of 14 years, but that did not deter him to master the nuances of anatomy. That stint was short-lived as the family moved on to Barcelona, Spain in 1895, where both father and his son joined the Academy of Fine Arts, one as a teacher and the other as a student.Here the genius in Picasso first appeared before the world, when he startled everyone by qualifying for the advanced classes, after proving his astounding capabilities through completing the entrance test in a single day, which even the older boys would have taken whole month to complete! The jury board [†¦ ] of the entrance tests instantly declared him a prodigy. (Picasso: Artist Extraordinaire) During their stay in Barcelona, Picasso came across a new experience, and that was of [†¦ ] nude study and painting of the models. His uncle, Dr.Salvador Ruiz Blasco, who was very much impressed by the talent of the young boy, had arr anged everything for Picasso in his house at Malaga (Picasso). Next year he had his first painting making way to an exhibition. And no wonder, Picasso felt he has outgrown this academy very soon – as he left it to join at the Madrid Academy – which he would leave too in no time – before joining the band of young avant-garde artists, writers and poets, who would gather at a local tavern, Els Quatre Gats and were known as â€Å"modernistes† (Picasso: The Early Years)This group would discuss the revolutionary ideas under the then context – like symbolism, graphic arts etc. and accorded the French art nouveau, which used simplified versions of artistic nuances. Most of them were plagued by parsimony, and thus were on the same boat of poverty and uncertainty. Picasso visited Paris in October 1900, and from then on kept on shuttling between France and Spain. At this time Parisian nightlife caught his fancy and that resulted in some of his works that depi cted dark cafe or the destitute people, besides his usual works of landscapes, portraits.That was the foundation of this great man before he decided to meet the world with his treasure of art – with no footing whatsoever in the elite circle in the Paris, which was considered to be the stepping stone for an aspiring artist. And, he came, he worked, and worked, and worked – before leaving behind a legacy of a goliath. Blue Period In walked 1901 – by then his childhood favorites, the gypsies, perhaps vanished into blue, but the spirit of their bohemianism might have helped him to shrug off the shortcomings of not being a blue-eyed boy of any of the denizens of the art world of Paris.Yet, how would he know someday the world would earmark his formative years before becoming a true-blue artist, as ‘Blue Period'! In this period, especially between the period 1901-1903, Picasso had been able to gain direction in his painting, while his personal started evolving ou t of the situations, other painters' works and his deep understanding of the situations. This was the beginning of the â€Å"Blue Period†, where Picasso decided to confine within the color scheme of blue – which has already been considered as the color of pathos by many. That idea and the ongoing [†¦] parsimonious culture among the budding intellectuals around provided him the necessary momentum to stick to his decision (Blue, 2007). Thus this new line of painting by him started appearing in public – where he consciously highlighted the hapless state of humans with the mastery of forms of and usage of blue, which proved to be revelation for the contemporary art world (Picasso: The Early Years). The period 1901 – 1904 is roughly considered as the â€Å"Blue Period† of this great painter, when he would do his paintings and sketches mostly with various shades of blue.That coinage might outwardly justify itself with this strange practice of Picass o – but on the deeper level, the same coinage carries the connotation of a lone struggle of a painter that was further made difficult by emotional swings with the death of his dear friend Carlos Casagemas – who committed suicide after failing in love. Casagemas was the bosom pal of Picasso. Thus the shock of death and horror of suicide dominated in his painting, â€Å"The death of Casagemas†, which also bears the testimony of his learning process – as the painting has clear influence of Van Gogh's style.The same can be said [†¦ ] about his his work â€Å"Portrait of Jaime Sabartes (the beer glass)', which reminds about ‘Absinthe Drinker', a painting done by Gauguin (Blue, 2007). He created three portraits of Casagemas as a corpse, the last of his pictures showing colors for a prolonged period. The â€Å"Blue Period† also holds an account of Montmarte's nightlife, where Picasso and his friends would visit regularly. Those carefree moment s, however marked by limitation to enjoyment or engulfed by the cloud of uncertainty, sparked the imagination of this great painter.There were plethora of events, adventures and moments of solitude and despair – a constant swing between those two extreme poles perhaps made him more resilient inwards, otherwise how could he depict the sorrows of others so vividly? One such instance might add some color to this essay. Once Picasso went to visit a women's prison Called St. Lazare in Paris, and found nuns were serving as guards. That prompted him to paint â€Å"Two Sisters†, which evokes the image of Mary in mind, more because of the presence of blue rather than anything else (Picasso's).Then, there was this painter in his twenties, Picasso – cramped by extreme poverty and grief, was in all blue, before he became a star in the world of art. It was a period when he would find it difficult to arrange two square meals a day, save spending for oil paints and canvases or socializing with impresarios. Yet he worked on – that was the only thing he could do – he worked on with whatever he had with him – cheap blue color, a heart wailing for the lost friend, wondrous ideas in head, and, enormous zeal to communicate with his own visual language.And, it was that blue color, already recognized as the color of inner grief, had provided him the perfect medium for his message of the time. Thus it became blue all the way, deep, light, dark.. in every possible way it aided Picasso to express his sorrows in all possible dimensions – be it form, content or medium – all of them would echo the inner chaos of a twenty-year old who has just started the battle to gain his ground in one of most sacred colonies of art and culture, and right at the kick-off who received a jolt by losing his great friend and aide in Paris.It was that chaos which gave birth to the paintings like â€Å"Trait† (1901) or â€Å"The Tragedy† (19 03), which puts forth his desire and despair – while his self-portrait presents him as a happy-go-like romantic man with dreamy eyes, â€Å"The Tragedy† looked all gloomy, down in despair, where a family of three are looking downwards, visibly hopeless and as if nowhere to go, nothing to eat, and have nothing left to meet the basic needs of today, save the tomorrow! That was a beggar family whom Picasso covered by clothes, yet made naked with poverty, something he himself shared with them in this period.This speaks of the dichotomy that was prevalent in the time and also in the mind of Picasso, because, unless there was inspiration from both inside and outside by any means, Picasso wouldn't have been bent on to create such paintings of two extreme poles in close interval. Another interesting aspect of those paintings is their coming of age in a new avatar – that spoke of Picasso's own poor state, where he could not afford to buy canvases for new drawings and had to settle on the old ones. â€Å"What comes out in the end is the result of the discarded funds† (Picasso's Technique), he would say, perhaps to find a solace in his finesse in recycling!In fact, the researchers could find that the canvas used for â€Å"The Tragedy† contains sketches as old as 1899, while â€Å"The Tragedy† was finished in 1903. So much so, with the help of x-radiograph, they have been able to decipher that those sketches gave birth to one of his bullfight paintings. This clearly shows how misery had forced this great genius to abandon his work for the sake of new work. Perhaps all that boiled down to a sentiment, which saw a recurrence of the theme â€Å"like desolation of the outcasts† in his paintings of the â€Å"Blue Period†.Time and again researchers have identified Picasso's penchant for using excessive blue in this period as his conscious decision to use it as another medium of communication. And he did that with elan â₠¬â€œ the figures he depicted in this period was mostly of the lower rung of the society, ranging from beggars to prostitutes or the circus-people – even not to leave himself or his penniless friends – he dowsed all of them with blue to depict the world of despair that usually engulfs when people are caught with limitations and uncertainty.Obviously all his works are endowed with his mastery over form and content, yet it was blue that adds more dimensions to them, and at times, even issues more appeal than everything. He even would wear blue clothes in those days! Associating colors with sentiments was nothing new, yet the utilization of a color as the medium of the message was unique in his case. The use of blue color to depict sadness was prevalent even in the Anglo-Saxon culture (Pablo, 2007).However, Picasso's own statement, â€Å"It was thinking about Casagemus that got me started painting in blue† (Pablo Picasso blue period), helps all to associate his pers pective of blue as a language of inner grief or melancholy. This was supplemented by his own poor state where it became hard at times to arrange a good meal. â€Å"My dear Max, I think about the room on the boulevard Voltaire, about the omelets, the beans, the Brie and the fried potatoes. But I als think about the days of misery, and it's quite sad,† So he wrote afterwards to his friend, poet Max Jacob, the partner of his struggling days.Alongside, â€Å"Blue Period† was nonetheless a training session for Picasso, where he experimented with low light conditions, which perhaps gained momentum from the proverbial presence of pathos in blues or the prevalent culture of the then intellectuals who wanted to glorify by the poverty or take pride in the idea that an artist is generally considered as an outcast! There was definitely another reason, and that was his intense desire to be different from the crowd! The qualitative factors achieved by the use of blue also signify hi s tendency to experiment in those days.The paintings of a boy of twenty years as if serving as a passage to the dreamland with blue spectacles – that was something unthinkable before the traditional art. Some of his paintings would evoke a pall of gloom with the deeper shades of blue – yet the quality of luminance in them would make anyone stop and think about that gloom for a while. Thus, blue served for him as a strong language of visual communication. The presence of poverty and extreme difficulty has been reflected in most of his works in this period, either directly, or indirectly.For the first instance, the painting â€Å"Frugal Repast† depicts a destitute couple sharing a frugal supper of bread and wine; â€Å"Crouching Woman† depicts the hapless condition of a lonely, poor woman. He went back to Barcelona and started a painting with complex allegory called â€Å"La Vie†, a remake job over his earlier â€Å"Last Moments†, which took t urn from being a self-portrait to someone resembling Casagemus by its features, thereby making the journey of his â€Å"Blue Period† coming to a full circle with a tribute to the departed friend.Set in a studio, La Vie is considered as one of the most complex works done by him, and in the context of the period, contains the essence of his learning in the Blue Period, the lessons of which were mostly about the cruel side of the world, and were about how one could find the right path to move on. The scholars are still divided about the message hidden in this painting, where a nude woman clings to a male with only white loincloth on; who as if points towards another woman in heavy dress and holding a baby in her arms. These three figures stand behind a perspective that contains two canvases set on different layers, where[†¦] two clinging nude women adorn the upper canvas while another such figure is seen on her knees (â€Å"La Vie†, 2006). Perhaps this complexity, th is enigmatic, personal statement in â€Å"La Vie† speaks about the acorn that was now ready to bloom as a giant oak – this perhaps the most potent message conveyed by this painting of the master. Elements of Blue Period John Richardson, Picasso's biographer and his close friend, had almost devoted his life in deciphering the enigmas that are layered with Picasso's phases of evolution as a multi-dimensional creator.In that research, â€Å"Blue Period† holds a special place. Before anything, Richardson weighed certain elements that had influenced Picasso's mind right at his childhood. Richardson drew a parallel of Picasso's lifestyle with the philosophy of the gypsies and in the occult culture prevalent among the members of Andalusia, a region in southern Spain, which is the native place of Picasso. According to Richardson, the people of that region were found to be superstitious in nature, which would affect their actions too, and Picasso being one of them could not escape that influence.Because of being superstitious, once he found appreciation for using blue tone in that period and people accepted that, he had considered it as a good omen for his painting career and was stuck to it for quite sometime (Picasso: Magic). Even his days at La Coruna substantiates such claims of Richardson, where a young Picasso was deeply moved by tarot cards (Picasso: The Early Years). There can be another argument that points at a unique confluence of events that led to a series of ‘blue' creations by Picasso. This corroborates Richardson's assumptions too, by taking the superstition factor into account.This idea conjures up situations like Picasso's superstition about blue, his belief that blue is the messenger of inner grief, and his childhood and the then association with poverty or grief-stricken people. These situations might have been culminated into a series of paintings with blue tones – where Picasso wanted to give vent to his pent-up e motions, or he wanted to depict the haplessness of the poor or outcasts like gypsies or circus people, and he wanted to present them in a medium which he thought would convey the message best – blue.And he was conscious of his own poor state too – thus he didn't mind for once to operate from reality by including himself as one of the subjects of Blue Period. He did not ignore the pathos within him, and instead, accepted them as the way of life. This idea is corroborated by Jaime Sabartes, then his closest friend: â€Å"Picasso believed Art to the son of Sadness and Suffering†¦ that sadness lent itself to meditation and that suffering was fundamental to life†¦ If we demand sincerity of an artist, we must remember that sincerity is not to be found outside the realm of grief† (Picasso and the Mood).In all, this was the period where he was tested by all possible roadblocks, which had forced him to bring out his best to cope that challenge. This was the per iod when Picasso stepped into the mystic realm of spiritualism and ethereal ideas – all fueled by death, despair, poverty and uncertainty. Therefore, this period in his life had gifted him the prime elements of success, all in disguise – the required zeal, the expansion of mind and deep feeling for fellow humans. ConclusionThe Blue Period of Pablo Picasso is essentially a documentary of a collage of situations, which not only unfurls the stages of Picasso's blooming as an artist, but also refers to certain ideas about the then social condition, the locomotion of art and culture of Paris, etc. But the greatest messages lie in another direction – where this period talks about how one's childhood association creates impact on one's creative pursuits, or how a human being emerges as victorious in front of the challenges of extinction.This era also marks his coming of age with various types of practice, development of ideas and eventually the birth of a new style wit h seeds of his other periods like â€Å"Rose Period† or â€Å"Cubism†. The gathering of a bubbling gang of intellectuals at Montmartre or Picasso's association with them, all speaks about a wonderful movement of art and culture led by people who even took pride in considering themselves as outcasts for the sake of art.Together all these, â€Å"Blue Period† depicts a unique march of time, which not only benefited Picasso to rise his height in the future, but also it provided a solid documentation of time. Pablo Picasso's â€Å"Blue Period† is indeed a lesson to all who are interested to fight and win from the wretched state, besides the aspiring painters. It also highlights the effect of death and the power of humanity over the creative manifestation of perfection in an artist; rest lies with Picasso himself, who took away a lot of hint with him, leaving a big box of enigma for the posterity!Ends Works Cited â€Å"Picasso: Artist Extraordinaire. † . . 4 Dec. 2007 . Blue period. . 3 Dec. 2007 . La Vie. . Cleveland Museum of Art. 4 Dec. 2007 . Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Spain) 1881-1973. 4 Dec. 2007 . Picasso – Magic, Sex and Death. Ed. W Januszczak. 4 Dec. 2007 .Picasso and the Mood of a Painting. Color Vision and Art. 4 Dec. 2007 . Picasso. Ed. H. L. C. Jaffe. 4 Dec. 2007 . Picasso: The Artist's Studio. 3 Dec. 2007 . Picasso's Blue Period 1901-1904. . 4 Dec. 2007 .Picasso's Technique. 4 Dec. 2007 . Rubin, W. Picasso in the Collection of the Museum of Modern ArtRev. 5 Dec. 2007 . Warncke, C. P. Pablo Picasso 1881-1973. 5 Dec. 2007 Picasso: The Early Years, 1892-1906. 5 Dec. 2007. . Pablo Picasso blue period. 4 Dec. 2007. .

Are You Ready for the Next Edition of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile Your Input Requested!

Are You Ready for the Next Edition of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile Your Input Requested! IMPORTANT: SURVEY LINK ENCLOSED! Win *your choice* of $50 off any service from The Essay Expert – or a $25 Amazon gift card! CLICK HERE TO ACCESS MY SURVEY Last week, LinkedIn officially announced to the world its upcoming changes, which have started to roll out across its platform. With membership in the U.S. at approximately 133 million, and worldwide membership up to 467 million, it’s more important than ever to stand out on LinkedIn. Thankfully, as far as I can tell, effective LinkedIn strategies have not changed with the new platform. You still need to follow my 3 Ls: Locatability (have 500+ connections and use keywords effectively) Likeability (have a personable, professional photo and a unique Summary section) ALiveness (stay active on LinkedIn and network off the site as well) My hope is that the free platform will be more user-friendly- that it will be easier to post articles, easier to keep track of important notifications, and easier to figure out how you’re connected to people and companies. What’s clear is that many things will look different and be organized differently; that the Advanced Search function will function differently; and that you will no longer be able to use Notes and Tags unless you have Sales Navigator. Here are LinkedIn’s videos on the new changes. LinkedIn Desktop Redesign Puts Conversations and Content at the Center How to Make the Most of the New LinkedIn Search As the author of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, I face my own dilemmas about how to handle these new changes. Not to worry: I will be revising my e-book, and if you are subscribed, you will get the new version! I have other questions as well, however, as to when to publish my next e-book version and whether to create a new print book at all. I thought I’d ask you to help me out. Would you be so kind as to complete this quick 6-question survey? I would be very grateful! And youll be entered to win *your choice* of $50 off any service from The Essay Expert or a $25 Amazon gift card! CLICK HERE TO ACCESS MY SURVEY Your input will help me greatly in making decisions about future publishing decisions. Thank you! If you’d like the current e-book of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, complete with lifetime updates, click here. For the print version, click here. Save

5 Widespread Myths About Interracial Relationships

5 Widespread Myths About Interracial Relationships Interracial couples, marriages, and relationships are more common today than ever before in the United States. Marriages between people of different races reached a record high of 8.4 percent in 2010, according to the New York Times. Despite the rising rate of interracial marriage, mixed-race couples not only continue to face scrutiny and disapproval but sweeping generalizations from outsiders. Individuals in interracial relationships often are accused of entering such unions for less than honorable reasons. This review of the myths that shroud interracial couples indicate that romance across the color line remains a source of stigma. Interracial Means Black And White Arguably the biggest myth about interracial couples is that such pairings always involve a white person and a person of color. Interracial couples consisting of two people who belong to racial minority groups are largely overlooked in the mainstream culture. This is likely because discussions of race in general still are based on a black-white paradigm. Nonetheless, interracial couples of color have been the inspiration for films such as â€Å"Mississippi Masala,† in which Denzel Washington plays a character who falls in love with a South Asian woman. Moreover, the comedy â€Å"Harold Kumar Go to White Castle† paired the Korean-American protagonist up with a Latina love interest. Of course, a number of such couples exist in real life as well. Famous examples of interracial couples of color include musician Carlos Santana and his wife, Cindy Blackman, an African American; and Wesley Snipes and his wife, Nakyung Park, a Korean American. As the United States grows more diverse, interracial couples of color will only grow more common. Accordingly, discussion of interracial relationships should include pairings of Asian Americans and African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Arab Americans, and so forth. People in Interracial Relationships Never Date Their Own Race Strangers often assume that people in interracial relationships have long dated exclusively outside of their race. It’s undeniable that some people display strong preferences for a particular race. Indian-American actress Mindy Kaling, for example, essentially told Us Magazine that she favors white men.   â€Å"I embarrassingly love blond men - hot pinups like Chris Evans and Chris Pine,† she said. â€Å"I feel like people expect me to have an edgy choice, like Justin Theroux, and I’m just like, ‘Nope! I want Captain America!’† In addition, Kaling has been called out for casting solely white men as her love interests on her show â€Å"The Mindy Project.† Unlike Mindy Kaling, however, many people in interracial relationships don’t have a type. They have dated both intra-racially and interracially and just happened to end up with partners who don’t share their ethnic background. They don’t have a pattern of choosing solely white mates or solely Asian mates or Hispanic ones. Singer Rihanna,  journalist Lisa Ling and actor Eddie Murphy are all examples of people whove dated both within and outside of their racial group.  Ã‚   If you don’t know the dating history of a person in an interracial relationship, don’t assume that they have no interest in dating members of their own race. Unless you’re interested in dating the person in question, however, ask yourself why you care whom this person dates. If the person has bought into the idea that some racial groups are more desirable than others and date such people because they consider them to be â€Å"catches† or â€Å"trophies,† there’s little you can do to change their mindset anyway. They’ll likely excuse their dating patterns as being simple â€Å"preferences† rather than examine how our racially stratified society has influenced them to find some racial groups more appealing than others. Minorities in Interracial Romances Hate Themselves People of color who date interracially are often accused of suffering from self-hatred. While some minorities date whites in particular for social status, many minorities who date across the color line are proud of their heritage. They’re not dating interracially to dilute their bloodlines. They simply felt a spark with someone who doesn’t share their racial background. This doesn’t mean that they don’t identify with their minority group and are ashamed to be part of that group. A number of African Americans who married interracially have fiercely fought for civil rights and the uplift of their racial group, including the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and actor-singer Harry Belafonte. Whites in Interracial Marriages Are Rebelling While minorities in interracial relationships are often accused of hating themselves, whites in such relationships are often accused of rebelling. They didn’t marry interracially because they truly loved their spouse, outsiders say, but because they wanted to get back at their parents. Are there white people who bring home a person of another race because they know it will drive their parents crazy? Probably. But it’s unlikely that these people would have a sustained relationship with someone of a different race just to spite their parents, let alone marry interracially to do so.  Ã‚   Minorities in Interracial Relationships Date Down It’s a common belief that people of color in interracial relationships, especially with whites, date down rather than up. In other words, their partners aren’t particularly attractive, moneyed or educated. They are not dating â€Å"catches.† The rationale here is that whites enjoy so much privilege in society that minorities who pursue romances with them aren’t exactly picky. Any white person will do. This, of course, is a sweeping generalization. Unless the only criterion a person has in a mate is that she be white, it’s doubtful that this generalization applies. Rosie Cuison Villazor, a law professor and editor of Loving v. Virginia in a Post-Racial World, has found that the income of interracial couples tends to vary by the racial makeup of the couple. â€Å"Forty-two percent of white men/Asian women married couples both went to college, compared with 20 percent of white/Hispanic married couples and 17 percent of white/black married couples,† she found. â€Å"A look at earnings also reveals racial and gender differences: the median combined income of white/Asian couples is $70,952, compared with $53,187 for white/black married couples.† The fact that black-white couples earn less than white-Asian couples reflects the fact that blacks generally earn less than whites in the United States, while Asians tend to earn as much or more money than whites. Given this and the fact people of all races are more likely to romance those who share their economic and education background, it’s inaccurate to suggest that minorities in interracial relationships marry or date down. Sources Maillard, Kevin Noble. Loving vs. Virginia in a Post-Racial World. Rose Cuison Villazor (Editor), Cambridge University Press, May 16, 2012. Villazor, Rose Cuison. Marrying Across Racial Lines, but Still Seeing Lines. The New York Times, November 17, 2014.

Remembering Life - Creating Wholeness from Loss

Remembering Life - Creating Wholeness from Loss It’s Memorial Day and I am remembering. Remembering those who have passed in various ways throughout the years. Those who have touched me personally. Remembering, etymologically, is a putting back together of parts. When someone is torn from us, we naturally perform this reconstruction through our thoughts. The most recent lost in my life was my friend Nikk, who died unexpectedly two weeks ago. He was 33. His family has chosen not to request an autopsy, so we don’t know how he died, whether it was an aneurysm or a tumor or a heart attack. I have a compulsion to understand, to know the reason. His family, understandably, believes that the final result is the same so why put their son’s body through invasive procedures? What’s important is not how it happened but how we choose to remember. And so we remember. The music, the love, the funny things he said and did. The contribution he made. In Memory of Nikk C. These are the sorts of things we are called upon to piece together about all our loved ones who have passed on. I remember these things about my father who died of pneumonia at age 57; my college roommate who was killed in a car accident in the prime of her life; and my grandmother who lived to a ripe old age. What of my high school classmate who was hit by a bus? Or the professor who was going to be my thesis advisor until he was in an accident on his way home one night? We experience painful loss, and in the same transaction we are gifted with memories that repair the rift. What will we choose to remember? And what can we learn from those memories about how best to live our lives? I asked some of Nikk’s friends what message they thought he would want to send to the world. Some words and phrases that came up were were joy, spontaneity, embracing who you are, connecting closely with others, believing in others even when they don’t believe in themselves, and being a force for positivity, inspiration and love. Recently he had completed a huge web development project for the Rainbird Foundation, whose mission is to end child abuse. He definitely made his mark. The pieces come together. I had a brush with possible death when I was in a car accident four weeks ago, and I have been called to consider what people will remember about me. I want to be thought of for the creativity I have put into the world, for the ways I have expanded and progressed other people’s lives, for my spirit and my contributions. I hope that many people’s lives have been made better because I have touched them. Celebrating Life The phrase â€Å"Memorial Service† has rather somber connotations, and so Nikk’s family gathered people together for a â€Å"Celebration of Life.† Whatever the title, what we all did there was scroll through our memories. We experienced joy, we connected with each other, and we appreciated all that Nikk had created. We say â€Å"Rest in Peace,† and we want the souls of our loved ones to be at peace if that is our belief. I believe that with that phrase we are seeking peace and wholeness in ourselves as we adjust to life without the person who passed. I also believe it’s the remembering, and the inspiration that springs from it, that will get us there. Category:Life and LeadershipBy Brenda BernsteinMay 28, 2013 1 Comment Andrea says: May 28, 2013 at 2:54 pm Hi Brenda Im sorry for your loss. Nikk must have been touched by the joy in your life, too. He sounds like he was such a special guy. Log in to Reply

Summarize the argument of one philosopher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summarize the argument of one philosopher - Essay Example According to his explanation, this implies that to some people, the idea that God commands one not to do something will have a grave meaning or importance to their thinking that they will really have to consider that before coming to their conclusive decision. However, he is quick to add that the understanding of the idea one will have when deciding what is wrong or right does not serve the an answer to understanding what is morally right (p. 34). This means that a person should be made to understand why some things or actions are morally unacceptable rather than offering a template of do’s and don’ts as purported by the scriptures. The idea of morality is left vague and according to ethical relativism, this has been catapulted by the fact that morality is quite so relative and depends on other factors such as location, age or culture. An action that is acceptable in a given locality may be totally absurd in another geographic location hence calling the attention of what is morally right. According to Miller, to deeply understand ethical relativism which tries to explain whether there is a universal norm or what is considered universally correct. Therefore to conclude, an action can never be morally acceptable across all cultures or age groups. There are only moral norms that define or tie a certain group of people in a given society (p. 34). This forms the basis of moral relativism. However, as he explains, a norm may not be totally accepted in a society by all the members (p. 35). He uses abortion in the U.S. perspective to address this point. This makes moral relativism tough to understand. To address this confusion we agree that the rightness or wrongness of an action will be decided by other factors such as the harm they may inflict to someone’s physique or infringing on their privacy (p. 35). This is the basis of context sensitivity which explains the application or

Clinial Excercise physiology(Osteoporosis) Literature review

Clinial Excercise physiology(Osteoporosis) - Literature review Example Recent research recommends that regular exercise at all stages play an imperative role in preventing osteoporosis. Various features serve as a contributing aspects in the development of osteoporosis. A reduction in the level of estrogen, calcium and reduced physical activities pave the way for the augmentation of depletion in bone mass (Chesnut, 1984). Sufficient levels of calcium is required to suppress bone resorption (Korcok, 1982), moreover, bone mineralization or calcification strengthens the bone (Williams, 1984). Physiotherapy plays a pivotal role in treating patients who are at the potential risk or those who are afflicted with this condition. It is essential that physiotherapist must possess sound awareness and knowledge regarding the condition and management of osteoporosis. The present article provides an overview about osteoporosis along with the information regarding features for the development of osteoporosis. It is highly recommended that postural guidance accompanied by weight-bearing workouts play key role in managing patients with indicative osteoporosis (Kanis, 1994). Recent study conducted by Bergland et al (2010) concludes that exercise improved mobility, balance and HRQOL (Health Related Quality of Life) in osteoporosis with a history of vertebral fractures. Similar recommendations are given by Nikander et al (2010), stated that exercise has a great implication on bone strength in children but could not gather enough data to prove the implication of exercise on adults. Another approach was made by Lirani-Galvà £o and Lazaretti-Castro (2010) emphasising that osteoporosis and its consequential fractures are emerging as major health issues amongst the elderly population. They emphasized that impact exercises, specific strength training, balance and co-ordination training enable one to sustain or enhance the density of spine and hip bones and diminish the incidence of falls amongst the elderly group. It is also suggested that

Mothers' Health Conscious Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mothers' Health Conscious - Essay Example This essay talks about the survey analyses regarding mothers food decisions for their families. 1,000 American mothers were included in the survey. Many respondents felt that major brands were not able to address their individual needs, which meant that changes in the food and beverage marketing have to be implemented so as to appeal to moms. This article by Ben Meridith was published in a website which advocates healthy living. By using distributions from a survey, it was able to support its claim that more people are awakening to the need for a healthy lifestyle. At the end of the article Meridith said, â€Å"while food corporations are not known for their healthy messages, we can hope that they will approach marketing with a refreshing honesty† which in a sense meant that there is business in providing healthy food. Hence, in total, the article was able to support the website’s advocacy – that a healthy lifestyle is the new trend. While the writer for this article was successful in supporting his claims, one cannot say whether his interpretation of the distribution was correct or not. This is because he stated only the percentage distribution and not the actual frequency distribution of the survey. Moreover, there is no way for this researcher to check on the actual questions posted to the respondents and determine whether or not questions statements might have affected responses. Aside from this, only the averages were reported and there was no way of computing other characteristics of the distribution.

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Risk management - Essay Example Banks therefore, make investments in various areas in order to be able to reduce the adversity risks due to price movements in a security it trades in simply by taking a position that will offset the related security. The Bank of England has played a very pivotal role in the economic development of the country primarily, by diversifying risks for all the economic agents. As with any other bank, the greatest financial risk it faced was the interest rate risk. During the last financial crisis i.e. the financial crisis of the year 2007, banks were able to employ certain strategies before and after the crisis which were geared towards mitigating them from such risks brought about by the crisis (Dietrich, 2006). The Bank of England was among those banks which were affected by this crisis and had to therefore apply a risk management theory such as the Forward Trade Agreement before and after the crisis to mitigate itself from the various forms of interest rate exposure. This is because, fl uctuations in its interest rate had the capability of altering its interest income and value thus, making the management of interest rate risk using hedging methods vital to its success. The Asset and Liability Committee of the Bank of England as the body tasked with ensuring that interest rates are properly maintained and managed to avoid any interest rate risk exposures before and after the financial crisis, applied the following strategies to hedge out the risk. Hedging strategies/methods used a. The use of interest rate swaps Interest rate swaps refers to a type of highly popular instrument as a liquid financial derivative that is used by two parties in the exchange of interest rate cash flows. The two parties agree exchange the cash flows of the interest rate basing their agreement on a specified notional amount obtained from a rate that is fixed to a floating rate or even vice versa. The same can also be from a floating rate to any other rate. A clear understanding of how the Bank of England used it would be to consider the two parties agreeing to pay a rate fixed or floating, denominated in the pound to the other party. The rate was then multiplied by a notional principal amount in the US$. The outcome was given an appropriate accrual value for the day count convention. If both the legs featured in similar currency, the notional amount was typically not exchanged between the parties but, instead used to calculate the cash flow sizes to be exchanged (Dietrich, 2006). The notional amount was exchanged if the legs appeared in different currencies. A more common interest rate swap in use has been the LIBOR. With the LIBOR there is a ‘payer’ and a ‘receiver’. One party pays the LIBOR plus a trade percentage plus the rate offered by the other party in this kind of trade activity. Since interest rate swaps are over-the-counter (OTC) instruments, the various varieties the bank could have used include: floating for floating rate swap wi th different currencies, the floating for floating rate swap with similar currencies, and the fixed for fixed rate swaps. Regardless of the changes in the LIBOR rates in future, the rolling deposit value will always equal the notional amount at the reset date. b. Used of forward derivatives The bank also used derivatives during the period to manage the risks. A particular one used was the forward contracts. In the management

An overview of Mobile Commerce and Mobile Banking solution for the Essay

An overview of Mobile Commerce and Mobile Banking solution for the Unbanked in Sub Saharan Africa - Essay Example One of the cornerstone Internet technologies that have emerged in recent years is electronic commerce. Electronic commerce does not simply provide convenience to merchants and retailers, but has revolutionized many aspects of banking and even social life. One of the prominent sub-elements of electronic is mobile commerce. This is the combination of electronic commerce with mobile handset technology. This thesis specifically provides an overview of electronic commerce and the means by which it has been integrated with mobile technology. The thesis implements literature sources and industrial and practical articles from the telecommunications and mobile industries. The research is categorized in three main sections: the history of electronic commerce, GSM network elements, and finally the implementation of mobile commerce banking solutions in Sub Saharan Africa. In terms of the history of electronic commerce, background elements examine the way electronic commerce is implemented in con temporary contexts as compared to historical contexts. This section also examines the means of past and future growth of electronic commerce. ... The final section considers the implementation of mobile commerce banking solutions in sub Saharan Africa, with particular emphasis on Kenya. This section recognizes that there are a variety of mobile banking solutions that have gained widespread popularity in the region. This popularity is partially motived by the large-scale need for banking solutions for individuals with non-traditional incomes. The two major banking solutions considered in these regards are the M-PESA Banking solution and the Gemalto Mobile Banking solution. The technological aspects are examined, as well as the means of security they provide. Acknowledgements This thesis owes its existence to the help, support, and inspiration of many people. In the first place, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor Dr.Konstantinos Markantonakis for many hours of useful discussion, tirelessly reading and correcting my work, and suggesting many invaluable comments. Without his support, thi s thesis would not have been possible. I am also indebted to Dr. Chez Ciechanowicz for their care and guidance throughout my Master at Royal Holloway. In addition, I would like to thank the staff and colleagues in the Information Security Group for making my time at Royal Holloway an enjoyable one. Finally, and most importantly, I am most grateful to my family for their continuous and unconditional support throughout the period of my studies. Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgment 3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 8 1.1 BACKGROUND......................................................................................................8 1.1.1 The growth of e-Commerce/ m-Commerce...........................................8 1.2 Motivation

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Risk management - Essay Example Banks therefore, make investments in various areas in order to be able to reduce the adversity risks due to price movements in a security it trades in simply by taking a position that will offset the related security. The Bank of England has played a very pivotal role in the economic development of the country primarily, by diversifying risks for all the economic agents. As with any other bank, the greatest financial risk it faced was the interest rate risk. During the last financial crisis i.e. the financial crisis of the year 2007, banks were able to employ certain strategies before and after the crisis which were geared towards mitigating them from such risks brought about by the crisis (Dietrich, 2006). The Bank of England was among those banks which were affected by this crisis and had to therefore apply a risk management theory such as the Forward Trade Agreement before and after the crisis to mitigate itself from the various forms of interest rate exposure. This is because, fl uctuations in its interest rate had the capability of altering its interest income and value thus, making the management of interest rate risk using hedging methods vital to its success. The Asset and Liability Committee of the Bank of England as the body tasked with ensuring that interest rates are properly maintained and managed to avoid any interest rate risk exposures before and after the financial crisis, applied the following strategies to hedge out the risk. Hedging strategies/methods used a. The use of interest rate swaps Interest rate swaps refers to a type of highly popular instrument as a liquid financial derivative that is used by two parties in the exchange of interest rate cash flows. The two parties agree exchange the cash flows of the interest rate basing their agreement on a specified notional amount obtained from a rate that is fixed to a floating rate or even vice versa. The same can also be from a floating rate to any other rate. A clear understanding of how the Bank of England used it would be to consider the two parties agreeing to pay a rate fixed or floating, denominated in the pound to the other party. The rate was then multiplied by a notional principal amount in the US$. The outcome was given an appropriate accrual value for the day count convention. If both the legs featured in similar currency, the notional amount was typically not exchanged between the parties but, instead used to calculate the cash flow sizes to be exchanged (Dietrich, 2006). The notional amount was exchanged if the legs appeared in different currencies. A more common interest rate swap in use has been the LIBOR. With the LIBOR there is a ‘payer’ and a ‘receiver’. One party pays the LIBOR plus a trade percentage plus the rate offered by the other party in this kind of trade activity. Since interest rate swaps are over-the-counter (OTC) instruments, the various varieties the bank could have used include: floating for floating rate swap wi th different currencies, the floating for floating rate swap with similar currencies, and the fixed for fixed rate swaps. Regardless of the changes in the LIBOR rates in future, the rolling deposit value will always equal the notional amount at the reset date. b. Used of forward derivatives The bank also used derivatives during the period to manage the risks. A particular one used was the forward contracts. In the management

Why I want to attend a particular law school Essay

Why I want to attend a particular law school - Essay Example To begin with, I am convinced that I am an excellent match for the Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS), since the program has been instrumental at inculcating exchange of ideas as well as research on capital markets, financial regulation, and international financial systems. With my Bachelor’s degree in Finance, and my keen interest towards the international law realms, I have undoubtedly looked into a number of law schools and found that Harvard Law School’s PIF, being run by acclaimed professor Hal Scott is an exceptional blueprint, which offers a more comprehensive study of international finance than any other law school. It gives me more reason to be genuinely excited about the possibility of participating in Harvard Law School’s global international legal studies outside the classroom. Specifically, the international learning possibilities afforded by attending the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland appear sizeable when I contemplate such measures. My personal commitment towards improving the conditions in Tanzania and east Africa, as discussed in my personal statement, would greatly be facilitated by my studies of the World Trade Organization law and the United Nations law, besides international finance and economics. Harvard Law School has a universal appeal to an individual who is looking to attend a law school, as well as to any organization or agency, which is looking to hire the sharpest legal minds. I would be most pleased and honored to be a part of the Harvard Law School’s younger demographics, with decades ahead of me to hone my legal skills and to become a scholar in a field that will only continue to grow and develop as international expertise in the

From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy Essay Example for Free

From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy Essay The gas pump. As of late, it has been the bane of drivers everywhere. With the prices of crude oil skyrocketing combined with the prices at the pump and nearly everywhere else, many people are looking toward renewable energy sources to supplement or replace the use of fossil fuels. This interest in renewable resources has generated new energy policies around the world, has spawned new energy technology and has produced ideas on a different way of living. Adding to the interest is the awareness on humanity’s impact on our environment, there is so much interest that the United States and many other countries have started to explore the option of producing power by the cleanest sources possible. However, it may not be enough. With the threat of oil reserves being used up and the energy crisis unresolved it is imperative that the United States begins to utilize solar, wind, and hydroelectric power in an effort to decrease the dependency on fossil fuels. Many people notice the rising costs of just about everything. The rising costs are due to the rising cost of energy. Nearly everything in our economic system requires energy to create, to ship, to stock, or to provide and the energy costs are passed down to consumers. The price for energy has not been terribly high in the past, but now the price is rising. One look at your electric bill will tell you that energy, however inexpensive it is to make or obtain, does not come cheap; at least, not anymore. The price of fossil fuels, not just in a monetary sense, but in an ecological sense is taking a toll on the country and the world. Acid rain, carbon dioxide and global warming are all consequences of cheap acquisition of energy. Coal supplies a large part of the energy needed to produce power in US and is one of the largest sources of energy in the world (Energy Perspective, Walter Deal 2006), but strip mining ruins the landscape, destroys ecosystems, and when burned causes acid rain. Oil has been this country’s, and the majority of the world, most used form of energy for years. From powering our vehicles and homes to creating lubrications and solvents, its uses are prolific. But we’re are now faced with the possibility of oil supplies becoming scarce, and it has everyone jumping out of their pants to find a better source of energy. Combine this with the fact that the by-product of using oil (carbon dioxide) is practically burning a hole in out atmosphere and we have a doozy of a problem. Enter renewable resources. Why have we not thought of this before? What has kept the US, and indeed the world, from investing in renewable resources much earlier? The answer is technology. The green energy has always been there, but the capabilities to harness the forces were not advanced enough to take advantage of it. Perhaps it still has not reached that level yet but we are getting close. For years, people have used the sun for a variety of things: warming things, lighting torches, burning ants, and to cook. The energy radiated by the sun is phenomenal. In fact, the energy the sun shines onto the earth daily is enough to supply the world’s yearly energy needs (National Geographic, 2008). This energy potential of sunlight was not lost on seventeenth century scientists. In 1873, William Adams and Richard Day found that when selenium was exposed to sunlight it created a low charge of energy, though it could not power anything (US Dept of Energy, 2008). Later on, in 1908 William Bailey invented the solar panel whose design is extremely similar to the solar panels used today. Solar energy technology, while not developed enough to harness the full power potential of sunlight, has been used consistently since the mid-1960’s to power satellites, spacecrafts, electronics, cars and homes through the use Photovoltaic cells (US Department of Energy, 2008). The Photovoltaic cell, which produces electricity when light strikes the cell causing an electron imbalance, has gone through numerous transformations to make the cell as efficient as possible. There are solar plants littered across the country, most notably in Kerma, California where they use the Photovoltaic system to supplement Pacific Gas and Electric’s electric grid during peak power usage (US Dept of Energy, 2008). These cells can be used in homes across the country and the current technology has created a Photovoltaic cell that is more durable, flexible and easily maintained. In addition to Photovoltaic cells, parabolic trough mirrors, parabolic dishes and power towers use mirrors to direct the sunlight to a specific area where it is used to create steam, that steam is then used to create electricity (The Economist, 2008). Now SolarReserve, a development firm partnered with United Technologies and US Renewables Group, has designed a system that will capture and store sunlight for several days. The system is similar to traditional capture of sunlight by using mirrors to direct sunlight to towers where molten salt is kept, usually a collection tower. The salt is heated by the sunlight, which can then be stored or used immediately. Since molten salt is an efficient heat carrier and storage medium, it can create energy on demand or stored for later power production thus solving the problem of power generation during cloudy or stormy days. SolarReserve first demonstrated this technology at their site in Barstow, California and states that the technology is ready to be used for power production on an electrical grid (Wald, New Ways to Store Solar, para. 13). The benefit of this type of solar technology, and other solar power production, is that the fuel source is free. The acquisition of sunlight requires no drilling, no decimation of land and no major disruption of fragile ecosystems. Solar power is also a clean energy source, giving off no emissions in addition to being abundant and renewable. Sunlight also creates another renewable resource. Wind. The power of wind has been harnessed to irrigate, to grind grains, and to produce electricity. Turbines here in America only provide 1% of the electricity consumed, but the potential for the wind industry is huge. Several countries around the world use wind as a portion of their power generation. Denmark, for instance, generates 20% of their energy from wind. Spain has generated 8% of their power from wind and they are expected to raise that number in the next year (Greenpeace, 2008). Early wind turbines were used to grind grain and to bring water to irrigate crops, now the turbines are created to crank out electricity. Wind farms are cropping up everywhere; just recently T. Boon Pickens announced that he was partnering with General Electric to build the world’s largest wind farm in Texas (The Economist, 2008). This partnership comes about due to the suddenly lowered costs of turbine production. Couple that with the fact that, aside from the cost of construction, the generation of the electricity is free and (theoretically) will not go away, you have a deal of a life time. Current turbines have become more reliable than earlier ones; they are easily built and generate power as soon as they are up. Some snags manufacturers of turbines and the electric companies have come up against are the questions of storage, the issue of visual impact or noise pollution, and the effect turbines have on animals. Electric grids have traditionally used alternating current to transfer power to the grid; however, the location of turbines can sometimes be remote places, which can mean that power is lost in the transportation to the grid. The non-traditional idea of using direct current has cropped up, since direct current travels well over long distances and there is less power loss, using direct current grids to transport the power to areas where the energy can be used effectively solves the transportation dilemma (US Department of Energy, 2008). The use of DC instead of AC forces a change in the way power is transported on a grid and although many balk at the idea, Europe has already a similar system in place and plans on extending it to the United Kingdom. The system pushes power to the grid and channels excess power to help push water uphill to Norwegian hydroelectric systems. While wind has been making leaps and bounds in technology and production, the hydroelectric systems in Europe and most of the world have helped power these countries for years. In reality, hydropower has been used for centuries around the world and it had been used in ancient Greece to turn water wheels to grind wheat into flour (US Dept of Energy, 2008). The water wheel is probably the most well known way of producing energy from water, and it was this early application that spawned the idea for current turbines. The amazing thing about water is that it is perpetually recycling itself. It is evaporated into the air from oceans and streams then comes back to the ground to start the process all over again. This process is what makes hydroelectric power so attractive. Unfortunately, although hydroelectric power accounts for one fifth of the world’s power generation and is the cheapest source of energy, the building of dams can displace wildlife and destroy ecosystems. There have been some advances to making dams more eco-friendly though. By building fish ladders and developing aeration techniques, installations can have a minimal impact on wildlife and the environment (National Geographic, 2008). There are even some technologies that are being developed to harness the power from ocean waves. With mechanisms similar to wind turbines, the energy in the ebb and flow of the tides is captured to produce clean energy. Unlike wind energy, tidal energy is constant and easy to predict, which makes â€Å"coordinating the flow of electricity in the grid quite manageable† (Holzman, 2007 para. 7). Tidal turbines are also easier on the eyes. Whereas wind turbines and solar plants may mar a skyline, tidal turbines are generally not visible at all. While you may see commercials and ads touting the beneficial effects of renewable energy going on right now, the generation of clean power is not an immediate process. It is going to take a lot of hard work and a great change in lifestyle to accomplish it. Although there are many companies working hard to provide the technology or the means to produce clean power, consumers can help by investing in green energy. Many utility companies offer a green power program that allows consumers to donate a portion of their power bill to the research and development of clean energy (Environmental Protection Agency, 2008) and consumers can get tax credits for energy efficient home improvements. Although renewable resources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric power may be expensive at the outset, the use of clean energy will pay for itself in terms of environmental impact, and especially its renewability. Because it is not a change that will happen over night, it is important for consumers to remember that they too can assist in investing in the future of renewable resources. By donating a small amount every month through their power company a consumer can help his or her utility company pay for the additional costs that are accrued in using green power and the new technologies to generate green power. If a change is to come, everyone has to be on board and willing to change their lifestyles from the current â€Å"throw away† lifestyle. Change for the better has to come from consumers as well as the pioneers of renewable energy. References The power and the glory: A special report on energy (2008). The Economist, 387(8585), 1-14. Deal, W. (2006, May) Energy Perspectives: Another Look at Fossil Fuels, The Technology Teacher, 65(8), 10-14 Greenpeace: Global Wind Energy Outlook. Retrieved July 2, 2008, from http://www. greenpeace. org/international/press/reports/globalwindenergyoutlook Hydropower: Going With the Flow. Retrieved July 6, 2008, from http://science. nationalgeographic. com/science/environment/alternative-energy/hydropower-profile. html Wald, M (2008, April 15). New Ways to Store Solar Energy for Nighttime and Cloudy Days. The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2008, from http://www. nytimes. com/2008/04/15/science/earth/15sola. html? _r=1ref=businessoref=slogin US Department of Energy: Solar Technologies Program. Retrieved July 6, 2008 from http://www1. eere. energy. gov/solar/photovoltaics. html US Department of Energy: Wind Hydropower Technologies Program. Retrieved July 6, 2008 from http://www1. eere. energy. gov/windandhydro/ Holzman, David C. Blue power turning tides into electricity. Environmental Health Perspectives 115. 12 (Dec 2007):

MRO Activities in Aviation Industry

MRO Activities in Aviation Industry Definitions: MRO: Maintenance, repair and overhaul organization. OEM: Aircraft original equipment manufacturers. Such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier Embraer and others. Airworthiness Authorities: Regulate all aspects of civil aviation. These include the construction and operation of airports, the management of air traffic, the certification of personnel and aircraft. There are two main organizations, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States of America and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Airworthiness: FAA Part 3 defines Airworthy as, the aircraft conforms to its type design and is in a condition for safe flight. A more generic and non-process oriented definition is required. Airworthiness is defined in JSP553 Military Airworthiness Regulations (2006) Edition 1 Change 5 as: The ability of an aircraft or other airborne equipment or system to operate without significant hazard to aircrew, ground crew, passengers (where relevant) or to the general public over which such airborne systems are flown. Mother airline: In MRO aviation sector mother airline is the core airline from with the MRO unit segregates, for instance British Airways is the mother airline of British Airways Engineering. Virtual airline: Is an airline that has outsourced as many possible operational and business functions as it can, but still maintains effective control of its core business. Line Maintenance: Usually carried out at or near the aircraft dock or parking. The level of dis-assembly is usually limited to what can be reassembled and restored within a short period in order to allow the continuous aircraft operation. A limiting factor is usually the level of Ground Support Equipment and the scope of the revisions reaches to the A-Check. Heavy Maintenance: The mayor level of maintenance with capabilities of disassembling, inspecting, repairing, refurbishment, overhaul and restoration. It is usually carried out into specific installations called Hangars with and extensive source of facilities, tools and equipment. The scope of the revisions in this kind of maintenance is focus in C-Checks and in mayor structural repairs and inspections. Engine Overhaul: Comprises of the whole disassembly of an engine. The overhaul facility inspects the engine, repairs it as necessary, reassembles, tests, clean and approves it for return to service within the fits and limits specified by the manufacturers overhaul data (Lee et al, 2008). This kind of maintenance need to be done in a very specific installations approved by the engine manufacturer. Component Maintenance: Reparation of aircraft components is slightly different from a complete overhaul, as the workshop needs to determine the cause of a given defect, correct that defect, perform bench tests and release the component back to service. Very specific workshops needed for different components such as: Radio transceivers, Hydraulic valves, batteries, passengers seats, etc. Modifications: This kind of maintenance is performed in order a manufacturer option or an authority requirement. During the manufacturing process of an aircraft, improvements have been implemented over time, for early versions, these improvements can be made later in the form of modification, on the other hand civil aviation authorities generates Airworthiness Directives (AD) of mandatory compliance to the aircraft operators , that needs specific modifications. Introduction Maintenance, repair and overhaul in the aeronautical sector is a complicate procedure that has strict and particular requirements defined by airworthiness authorities to guarantee the safety of passengers and aircrew. MRO could be defined such all actions that have the objective of retaining or restoring an item in or to a state in which it can be perform its required function. (Vieira, Loures, 2016). The aviation MRO engineering could be defined such the arm of the aviation industry responsible for the retaining or restoring aircraft parts to a state in which they can perform the required design applications (Al-kaabi, Potter et al. 2007). Chang and Abdullah (2014) states that the business model of the MRO is a combination of technical capacity and logistic configuration counting the level of supply chain vertical integration and outsourcing practices. Chris Markou (2015) estimates the maintenance cost for an airline is 17% of the operational cost. MRO Activities and Models: Al-kaabi, Potter et al (2007) study assesses the decision-making process of an airline when deciding on the outsourcing of maintenance services, the study define three different phases: The first phase corresponds to the activities developed by the MRO, in this section the critical activities of the organization that are included (figure 1). The second phase deals with the study of demand based on a series of entries that will take into account the logistical complexity, the age of the fleet and its use, among others. The MRO have to focus on the actual market and need to develop a plan strategy for short, medium and long term. The third phase addresses the study of capacity and the true need to outsource taking into account the MRO cost, that include maintenance resources such hangar space, qualified equipment , qualified manpower and the dispatch reliability related with technical delays. During 2014 Global Market of MRO spends was value at %62.1 billion, excluding overheads, with a 3.8% increase per annum, the market size is estimated to reach $90 billion in 2024 (Chris MARKOU, 2015). The following graph represents the distribution of cost between MRO activities for the year 2014. Al-kaabi, Potter et al (2007) states that according with the critical activities of an MRO and the level of outsourcing developed, a MRO could be categorized in different models: Fully Integrated MRO: Where all MRO activities are generated and performed internally and in addition the MRO can support other airlines different to the mother airline generating external revenues. Partially Outsourced MRO: Where airlines try to maintains most of their MRO activities internally but some are externalised, for example the outsourcing of the Engine Maintenance. Mostly Outsourced MRO: Where only critical activities are performed internally for instance, generally airlines consider Line maintenance such a critical activity for the relation with the punctuality, for this reason is maintained such as in house activity. Wholly outsourced MRO: Where all activities are outsourced, it is similar to the Virtual airline model and it is highly extended across the new Low-Cost airlines that cannot afford the initial investment to create their own MRO. The following table represents an SWOT evaluation performed by Al-kaabi, Potter et al (2007) of the difference structure models. This variety of organizational models in which certain critical activities are externalized requires a maximum level of coordination between the actors involved, as well as within the organization itself. One of the leading issues in aviation industry today is how information is managed and retained in an organization (Flouris, Oswald 2006). Regarding to the operational aspect of the MRO activities Vieira and Loures (2016) states that the maintenance could be: Scheduled Maintenance: Defined as an anticipatory action to ensure that a product works properly at pre-defined intervals. The intervals can be defined in terms of hours of operation, number of flights or flight cycles. (Figure 5). Unscheduled Maintenance: Defined as not planned or programmed is performed when an unexpected component failure occurs. Actual MRO Scenario in aviation industry Aviation MRO activities cannot be precisely defined solely within manufacturing or service term alone, Given that it is a product of both (Ayeni, Ball et al. 2016). The process are very complex, each component needs to be certified by the competent airworthiness institution which define severe requirements to guarantee safety (Vieira, Loures ,2016). Due to the high quality requirements, there is a very small number of authorized companies to serve parts and services in the sector, this fact generates limitation in the options available when a MRO or manufacturer has to select the provider, creating a lack of influence to discuss commercial conditions. It can be highlighted four stakeholders in the service flow of an aviation MRO: Subtier/Supplier, Aircraft OEMs, Aircraft MRO and Customer. The flow model used by OEMs provides for key suppliers working as system integrator, this means in comparison with other sectors aircraft OEMs have very few suppliers approximately 50. The production parts is very standard and similar compared with other industrial sector, OEMs submit a purchasing order with the system supplier and making and respect a commercial agreement the part is delivered. The complexity increases with spare part due to the logistic and regulatory framework. Customers can purchase orders to the rest of the stakeholders always depending of the type of structure and also can request the MRO services. In order to obtain a complete an actual vision of the MRO sector, the following table shows the top 10 aviation MROs ordered by the number of airframe maintenance hours during 2014. (AWST, 2015) MRO Procedures: Lifecycles: Two main flows can be identified within an MRO Aviation (CHANG, Abdullah 2014): The Physical flow: Is the aircraft maintenance process which comprises: professional methodology, material, machine, manpower and environment. The information flow: Defined as the company management process which comprises the cycle of P-D-C-A (Plan-DO-Check-Action) that includes functions of demand integration and material logistic. These flows have to be analysed through the lifecycle of the different components of the Aviation MRO activity: The previous diagrams show a generic lifecycle for the different elements with which MROs work, they are valid regardless of the level of outsourcing that the organization has, because it is the complete cycle, which would vary the organization that would perform the task in case they were outsourced. Many common characteristics can be seen in the different cycles, such as logistics for the receipt and delivery of the product, personnel and tooling distributions, documentation and various final tests. During the development of the phases, the physical flow and the information flow must be taken care of equally. Is very important visualize the wide intricacy of the MRO organization management (Bierer, Gtze et al. 2016). The two types of flow mentioned above are then analyzed further in detail: Physical flow Regarding the physical flow, the maintenance process does not vary significantly with the product to be treated within the 3 life cycles previously exposed. Chang and Abdullah (2014) divides the aircraft maintenance process in 8 parts: Review Flight history: Make a review of previous maintenance actions and evaluate the current status. Determine Maintenance Items: Following manufacturer requirements and documentation, perform an engineering evaluation and determine the maintenance items. Receiving Process: Accept the aircraft from customer and perform the maintenance previous set-up. Disassembly: Gain access to the maintenance item. Inspection and testing: Perform the evaluations and approved test to ensure the state of the maintenance item. Assembly: Substitute and assembly the relative parts of the maintenance item, including de aces panel to the maintenance item area. Functional test: Perform a functional test of the maintenance item. Flight test: In some maintenance action could be necessary a flight test to ensure achieve the original performance requirement according to the regulatory framework. Figure 12: General Maintenance Process of Aircraft flow shop. Source: (CHANG, Abdullah 2014) It can be seen the easy allocation of the parts to the previous discussed lifecycle in Figure 8. The complexity and the resources used in the maintenance task may vary, however the process remains essentially unchanged. Information Flow The information flow is the company management process, Chang and Abdullah (2014) argues that is composed by two major functions: Demand integration: Divided in three stages: Delivery schedule: Where is necessary the management of customers orders taking into account the delivery date, aircraft model and requirements, this stage makes the link with the investment and business plan. Rough-cut capacity: Consider the information and the overall demand, during this stage the rough-cut capacity for midterm and long term is computed. Material requirement planning (MRP): In this stage inputs are receive from engineering evaluation (Bill of material), current inventory and current capacity, after the pertinent evaluation the detail production schedule is generated. Material Logistic: Divided in three stages: Detail production schedule: Generated in the MRP phase, it is based in the feasibility of the production schedule, taking into account the lead time of the details parts, outsourcing level, procurements and resources. Shop floor control: This phase monitor the progress and daily performance in order to achieve the targets of the detail production schedule. Delivery: After the maintenance task and checks, all the documentation and quality records should be prepared for reviewing and approval. In this section it is necessary to differentiate information from knowledge. The information is the raw content of the metric being used, Gunasekaran, Patel et al (2001) use some of the following metrics in the aircraft maintenance process: Documents rejected, Defects at final inspections, Rework, Tool bag audit among others. Knowledge however is formed through the analysis and study of information, and gives a real vision of the state of the process as well as the achievement of objectives. Significant knowledge construction and application involves information to be accessible and relevant moment and relevant situation (Iyengar, Dharwada et al.). One of the most important factors in the Aviation industry is how information is managed and retained in the organization. The concept of Knowledge Management in an organization is supply managers to with all the tools and knowledge necessary for decision making. Knowledge should be made available to the correct people at the correct time, and it must be sheltered so that this knowledge does not leave the organization. (Flouris, Oswald 2006). Bierer, Gtze et al (2016) indicates that the knowledge management is necessary to obtain a successful generation and correct handling of knowledge, they also emphasize the tendency of MROs to outsource services by aggravating the problem of making knowledge accessible within the company. Little literature exits on information management of the data obtained from various aircraft maintenance process which have direct consequence on the safety of the aircraft. (Iyengar, Dharwada et al. ). Nonetheless, in the publication the authors describe the hierarchy through different levels of the maintenance environment: Senior managers refers to the higher managers who reviews all the maintenance activities. Manager refers to the individual who reviews and report all the maintenance activities to the senior manager. Airline representative refers to the individual who performs day-to-day surveillance at the vendor location. Vendor refers to the independent maintenance operator who performs maintenance operations on the aircraft. Human resources: One of the most critical and most important components within the physical and information flows within an MRO is the human component, two main roles are mainly involved in the whole process (CHANG, Abdullah 2014). Engineer: The role is related with planning, certification liaison, and regulation, specifications to maintain the reliability, relations with financial departments and provide technical and analytical support. Technician: The qualified technician cover three main categories: structure repair, avionics and mechanical. The technicians are the main component of the manpower and they performed the designed maintenance task accourding to the valid regulation. . Mapping information flows is a process for analysing how information is transferred between two points inside an organization (Hibberd, Evatt 2004). There are two types of information flows: Direct information and indirect information, companies have for a long time tried to optimize and improve the physical material flow within the supply chain but is needed also improve the information which is connected to the physical flow (Chibba, Rundquist 2004). Figure 17: The physical material flow and the information flow showing two different Approaches (Indirect and direct information). Source: (Chibba, Rundquist 2004). Hibberd and Evatt (2004) indicates some benefits of mapping information: Enables the understanding of who is the user of information and how is used. It identifies the ultimate client or key stakeholder for various types of information services. Help to focus information services where more necessaries are. Steps: They also pinpoints a process of five steps to perform the information flow mapping: Describe current situation: They suggest a hierarchical chart showing the mission, goals and objectives of an organization, in addition it is also exposed the interaction with various business units and how these units support these goals. Describe potential clients: Identification of potential clients in other business units. Determining the organizational goals and objectives of each unit and identify what information may need. Map potential clients: Listing the units, needs and resources help to analyse the potential overlap areas, the current clients maps is completed with the potential clients information. The map should be completed with suggestions and reallocation of resources, products and services. Rank solutions for prioritization: Make a classification of the possible solutions: Low Risk: Organizations is not making a mission-critical decision. Moderate Risk: Organizational activity involves a complete department and its budget. High Risk: Organizations is making a mission-critical decision. Create an Information map: Mapping the final solution to show each department and the suggestions for their information, the information map will require updating to continue its function. Chibba and Rundquist (2004) argues that a data flow diagram (DFD) could be used to map typical supply chain information flows the article present difference commercial solutions for DFD creation and the characteristics for a process: Is necessary a supplier that contribute with some measurable entity into the process. The process comprises a number of activities that convert the object in a more valuable object. The process should have well defined start and concrete ending. The process should be regularly iterated. The process should use the organization resources. Is good for organization to work with a process model that all the member could understand, they should know how their process are connected, the hierarchy, hat resources are critical to the clients. References AL-KAABI, H., POTTER, A. and NAIM, M., 2007. Insights into the maintenance, repair and overhaul configurations of European airlines. Journal of Air Transportation, 12(2), pp. 27. AL-KAABI, H., POTTER, A. and NAIM, M (2007) An outsourcing decision model for airlines MRO activities, Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, 13(3), pp. 217-227. AYENI, P., BALL, P. and BAINES, T., 2016. Towards the strategic adoption of Lean in Aviation Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) industry: An empirical study into the industrys status. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, , pp. 38-61. AWST. 2015. Aviation Week Announces Top 10 Airframe MRO Providers: Biennial survey examines MRO developments, 2014 airframe maintenance hours and revenue. Aviation Week and Space Technology, MRO Edition, Aviation Week Ranks. May 2015. BIERER, A., GTZE, U., KHLER, S. and LINDNER, R., 2016. Control and Evaluation Concept for Smart MRO Approaches. Procedia CIRP, 40, pp. 700-705. CHANG, H.M. and ABDULLAH, K., 2014. The Operation Management Model of Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Business. International Journal of Trends in Economics Management Technology (IJTEMT), 3(3), CHIBBA, A. and RUNDQUIST, J., 2004. Mapping flows-an analysis of the information flows within the integrated supply chain. Chris MARKOU Assistant Director, IATA Operations, MRO, December 2015 Airline maintenance cost executive commentary: public mctf An Exclusive Benchmark Analysis (FY2014 data) by IATAs Maintenance Cost Task Force. FLOURIS, T.G. and OSWALD, S.L., 2006. Designing and executing strategy in aviation management. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. HIBBERD, B.J. and EVATT, A., 2004. Mapping information flows: a practical guide. Information Management, 38(1), pp. 58. IYENGAR, N., DHARWADA, P., KAPOOR, K., GRAMOPADHYE, A. and GREENSTEIN, J., DEVELOPMENT OF A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO REDUCE ERRORS IN AVIATION MAINTENANCE. M. TAAFFE, K., WILLIAM ALLEN, R. and GRIGG, L., 2014. Performance metrics analysis for aircraft maintenance process control. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, 20(2), pp. 122-134. SAHAY, A., 2012. Leveraging information technology for optimal aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). Elsevier. VIEIRA, D.R. and LOURES, P.L., 2016, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Fundamentals and Strategies: An Aeronautical Industry Overview.