Organizational Changes within the National Health Service Essay Example for Free

Organizational Changes within the National Health Service Essay 1. Discuss and debate the organizational changes within the National Health Service and examine how these have influenced care delivery. At the start of the NHS, a mediation model of management subsisted where the role of the manager facilitated health care professionals to care for the patient. Medical staffs were extremely influential and controlling in determining the shape of the service, at the same time as managers were imprudent and focused on managing internal organizational issues (Harrison et al. 1992). After the 1979 general election, there was originally little change to the National Health Service (Klein 1983). Though, poor economic growth, together with growing public expenditure, slowly brought about changes. Influenced by the New Right ideologies, a more interventionist, practical, style of management in the health service emerged. This efficiently changed the role of managers from one of imprudent scapegoats for existing problems, to agents of the government (Flynn 1992). Managers became the means by which government control over NHS spending was increased (Harrison and Pollitt 1994). The impulsion for this change arose from the 1983 Griffiths report (NHS Executive 1983), an assessment by the government health advisor, Sir Roy Griffiths. Within this report, four specific problem areas were recognized: the limited management influence over the clinical professions; a managerial stress on reactivity to problems; the significance placed on managing the status quo; and a culture of producer, not consumer, orientation (Harrison et al. 1992). The power of the Griffiths Report (op. cit.) was to challenge and limit medicines sovereignty in the health service, and over health care resources. certainly, nurses were simply referred to twice throughout the document. Through its attention on organizational dynamics and not structure, the Griffiths Report proposed main change to the health service. General Managers were initiated at all levels of the NHS. In spite of Griffiths original intention that it was simply cultural adjustment that was required, there were instantaneous and considerable structural and organizational changes in the health service (Robinson et al. 1989). Post-Griffiths there were escalating demands for value for money in the health service (DoH 1989). Efforts to extend managerial control over professional autonomy and behavior so continued throughout this intense period of change, and terminated with the NHS and Community Care Act (DoH 1990). From the re-organizations that taken place during this period, the NHS was rationalized to conform more intimately to the model of free enterprise in the private sector. This reformation was shaped by the belief that greater competence could be stimulated through the formation of an internal and competitive market. The belief that the health service was a distinguishing organization was disputed. The principles of economic rationality linked with business organizations were applied extensive to the operation of health service. The services requisite were determined, negotiated, and agreed by purchasers and providers through a funding and constricting mechanism. In this, trust hospitals and Directly Managed Units supplied health care provision for District and General Practitioner fund holders. There has since been a further shift in the purchaser base from health authorities to local commissioning through primary care groups and, more lately, through the Shifting the Balance of Power: The Next Steps policy document (DoH 2001b), to Primary Care Trusts. Through such recognized relationships, purchasers have turn out to be commissioners of services and the idea of the internal market has become the managed market that recognizes the more long-term planning of services that is required. Rhetoric of organization and health improvement underpins service agreements now made. The NHS is not simply a technical institution for the delivery of care, but as well a political institution where the practice of health care and the roles of health care practitioners imitate the authority base within society. The hospital organizational structure is an influential determinant of social identity, and thus affects health care roles and responsibilities. Though, through the health care reforms the medical staff and, to a lesser degree the managers, appeared to be defense from the introduction of general management into the health service. This has resulted in health service delivery remaining stoutly located within a medical model, and medical domination unchallenged (Mechanic 1991). It is the less authoritative occupational groups, including nursing, that have felt the major impact of such reforms. The NHS organizational changes aimed to convey leadership, value for money, and professional responsibility to managers at all level of the health service. These alterations were intended to reverse the organizational inertia that was limiting growth and efficiency in the system. Though originally aiming a positive impact on the service, these radical ideologies led to tension at the manager-health care professional boundary (Owens and Glennerster 1990). The prologue of the internal market in the NHS meant to present a more neutral and competent way of allocating resources, through rationalization and depersonalization. The new era of managerially claimed to be a changing force opposing customary health professional power (Newman and Clarke 1994), and persuasive professionals to offer to organizational objectives (Macara 1996). The contradictory models of health care held by managers and health care workers improved ambiguity over areas of responsibility and decision making, somewhat than clarity as anticipated (Owens and Glennerster 1990). The contending ideologies and tribalism between the health care groups were more unequivocally revealed. The introduction of markets to health care exposed a dichotomy for health care professionals. Medical and nursing staffs were requisite to report to better managerial officials, yet reveal professional commitment to a collegial peer group. This was challenging, mainly for medical staff that understood medical influence and the independence of medical practice, but did not recognize managerial ability. In many of the commentaries addressing this, the majority pragmatic resolution to addressing this situation was to distinguish that professional independence exists but together with, and limited, by managerial and decision-making control. The Griffiths Report (NHS Management Executive 1983) considered the doctor as the natural manager and endeavored to engage medicine with the general management culture through the resource management inventiveness. This requisite medicine to clinch the managerial values of collaboration, team work and collective attainment through the configuration of clinical management teams: the clinical directorate. On the contrary such working attitudes were in direct contrast to medicines principles of maximizing rather than optimizing, and of autonomy not interdependence. It is fascinating that even in todays health care environment; there have been sustained observations that medical staffs do not supervise resources or clinical staff in an idealistic way. in spite of this, there has been little effort to undertake a methodical and broad review of the organization of medical work. This is in direct distinction to the experience of nurses, whose working practices and standards persist to be cr itiqued by all. Early on attempts made by managers to bound medical authority led to doctors adopting countervailing practices so as to remain independent and avoid organizational authority. Such practices, taken to keep their clinical independence, included unrestricted behaviors in admitting patients or deciding on explicit patient treatments (Harrison and Bruscini 1995). These behaviors rendered it hard for managers to intrude on medical practice, and therefore restricted the impact of the health care reforms. Immediately post-Griffiths there was some proof that introduction of general managers had, to a small extent, influenced medical practices. Green and Armstrong (1993) undertook a study on bed management in nine London hospitals. In this study, it was established how the work of managerial bed managers was capable to influence throughput of patients, admission and operating lists, thereby ultimately affecting the work of medicine. however, attempts made by managers to organize medicine were self-limiting. Health care managers were not a colossal, ideologically homogeneous group and lacked a strong consistent power base (Harrison and Pollitt 1994). Managers did not fulfill their remit of exigent the medical position in the health service and evade the responsibility for implementing repulsive and difficult decisions (Harrison and Pollitt op. cit.). The management capability of medicine persists to be challenged by government initiatives including the overture of clinical governance (DoH 1997). In this, the Chief Executives of trusts are held responsible for the quality of clinical care delivered by the whole workforce. An optimistic impact of this transform may be to provide opportunity for an incorporated organization with all team members, representing an interdependent admiration of health care (Marnoch and Ross 1998). on the other hand, it might be viewed as simply a structural change to increase the recognized ability of the Chief Executive over the traditional authority of medical staff: a further effort to make in-roads into the medical power base. Current years have demonstrated sustained commitment from the government towards modernizing health care (DoH 2000b). This has integrated challenging conventional working patterns and clinical roles across clinical specialties and disciplines. certainly medicine has received improved public and government scrutiny over current years. This has resulted in a shift of approach from within and outside the medical profession. The accomplishment of challenging the agenda for change in health care will be part-determined by medicines capability to further flex its own boundaries, and respond to the developing proficiency of others. 2. Identify and critically explore the changing role of the nurse, within the multi disciplinary team, examining legal, ethical and professional implications. The impact on nurses of the post-Griffiths health service configuration has not been so inconsequential. Empirical work has demonstrated that execution of the Griffiths recommendations led to the removal of the nursing management structure. This efficiently limited senior nurses to simply operational roles (Keen and Malby 1992). The implementation of the clinical directorate structure, with consultants having managerial accountability over nursing, further reduced nursings capability to effect change. Prior to 1984, budgetary control for nursing place with the profession. The 1984 reorganization distant nursing from nursings own control and placed it decisively under the new general managers (Robinson and Strong 1987, p. 5). As the notions of cost inhibition and erudite consumers were promoted, audit and accounting practices assumed a significant position in the health service. It was nurses who, encompassing a considerable percentage of the total workforce and linked staffing budget, found themselves targets for public and government analysis. Nursing maintained some strategic management functions within the new management structures, but these tasks were mostly limited to areas within the professional nursing domain. Nurses have been seen as pricey and potentially upsetting factors of production: channels through which costs can be lessened and administration functions can be absorbed (Ackroyd 1996). Caught in the crossfire of managerial changes that were originally targeted at medicine, nursing has been placed subordinate to management (Robinson and Strong 1987). In spite of debates on the impact of health care changes, there is consent on one issue. The structural and organizational changes in the NHS since 1991 have re-fashioned unit management teams and unit management responsibilities. This has resulted in the improved involvement of these teams in the stipulation of the service. It has required a diverse way of thinking about health care and new relationships between clinicians and managers to be developed (Owens and Glennerster 1990). The nineties are set to become a vital period in changing the ways in which health care is delivered, not just in terms of the potential re-demarcation of occupational boundaries between health care occupations, but as well in terms of the broader political, economic and organizational changes presently taking place in the NHS. It is asserted that traditional demarcations between doctors and nurses, seen as based on ever more unsustainable distinctions between cure and care, are becoming blurred and that the new nursing causes a threat to the supremacy of the medical profession within health care (Beardshaw and Robinson 1990). though, there is an element of wishful thinking about this and, indeed, Beardshaw and Robinson (1990) rage their optimism with an identification of the continued reality of medical dominance. They see the threat to medical supremacy as one of the most problematical aspects of the new nursing, largely as claims to a unique therapeutic role for nursing must essentially involve a reassessment of patient care relative to cure. In Beardshaw and Robinsons view, the degree to which doctors will be willing to exchange their conventional handmaidens for true clinical partners, or even substitutes, is one of the most significant questions posed by the new nursing. In the wake of the Cumberlege Report on Community Nursing (DHSS 1986) and World Health Organization directions concerning precautionary health care, there appeared the very real view of the substitution of nurses for doctors in definite clinical areas-particularly primary care in the community, through nurses creating a central role in health encouragement, screening, counseling and routine treatment work in some GP practices (Beardshaw and Robinson 1990). Though, a current evaluation of the impact of present reforms in the NHS on the role of the nurse in primary care is more distrustful concerning the future shape of the community nursing role. If the way to determine the extent of nurses challenge to medicine is in terms of the conflict it provokes, then there positively is proof of medical resistance to recent developments in nursing. Doctors reaction to the Cumberlege Report on neighborhood nursing (DHSS 1986), which suggested the appointment of nurse practitioners, revealed that there were doctors who strongly resisted the initiative of nurses acting autonomously (Delamothe 1988). On the other hand, the General Medical Services Committee and the Royal College of Nursing agreed that decisions concerning appropriate treatment are in practice not always made by the patients general practitioner and recognized that nurses working in the community are effectively prescribes of treatment (British Medical Journal 1988:226). Discussions relating to the proper arrangements desired to hold the prescription of drugs by nurses are taking place, on the grounds that nurse prescribing raises issues linking to the legal and professional status of both the nursing and the medical professions (British Medical Journal 1988:226). This suggests that renegotiations relating to the spheres of competence of doctors and nurses are on the agenda. None the less, the General Medical Council (1992) Guidelines remain indistinct on nurse prescribing and other forms of delegation of tasks under medical privilege to nurses, stating that it has no desire to hold back delegation, but warning that doctors must be satisfied concerning the competence of the person to whom they are delegated, and insisting that doctors should retain eventual responsibility for the patients, as improper delegation renders a doctor liable to disciplinary proceedings. Renegotiations around the division of responsibilities between doctors and nurses are taking place very carefully and to a large extent on a rather extemporized basis, given the volume of letters requesting advice and clarification received from GPs by the General Medical Council. The focus in much of the nursing literature seems to be on the challenge of the new nursing to the old nursing posed by nursing reform, somewhat than on the challenge to medicine. One doctor (Mitchell 1984) has complained in the pages of the British Medical Journal that doctors have not been told what the nursing process is about. Paradoxically, the nursing process is in fact derived from the work of an American doctor, Lawrence Weed, who pioneered the problem-oriented record for hospitals in 1969. This changed the way in which patient information was collected and stored by instituting one single record to which all health professionals given. Though the nursing process, which was part of this innovation, crossed the Atlantic to Britain, the problem-oriented record did not. Mitchell (1984) has argued that the medical profession must oppose the nursing process and give it a rough ride on the grounds that medical knowledge should precede nursing plans to remedy the deficiencies of living activities which are, he insists, consequential upon the cause and clinical course of disease. He also accuses nurses of enabling a pernicious dichotomy between cure and care, relegating the doctor to disease and inspiring the nurse to the holistic care of the individual, and suspects that the nursing process is less a system of rationalizing the delivery of care than a means of elevating nurses status and securing autonomy from medical supremacy.

Competitive Strategy Essay Example for Free

Competitive Strategy Essay â€Å"Successful and unsuccessful strategies shape a company’s destiny† – R.A. Burgelman, Strategy is Destiny†¦ Competitive Strategy is the high-level strategy used by the firm to realize its business goals, and in particular, profitability, in the face of competition. We study competitive strategy within the overall context of technology firms, which operate within a so-called industry, e.g., the computer industry, the consumer electronic industry, the cellular phone industry. Each industry, ideally, serves a market, which denotes the buyers or customers of the products and services offered by the industry. The function of strategy, which has a time horizon of years, is, in general, to set the long-term direction or position of the firm, for example define the technology, product, or service that the firm intends to develop, and determine the intended market for the product or service. The function of planning, which, in general, has a time horizon of several months to years, is to translate long-term strategy into medium-term activities, e.g., the portfolio of projects that the firm should execute the time-phased planning of these projects, and resource allocation. The function of operations, which has the time-horizon of days to months, is, in general, to translate medium-term planning activities into short-term product design, development, and delivery activities such as prototyping, manufacturing, product release, and shipment. No company can follow only one strategy. For example, Johnson Johnson uses one marketing strategy for its common product such as BAND-AID Johnson’s baby products; and different marketing strategy for its High Tech healthcare products such as Vicryl Plus, antibacterial surgical sutures or NeuFlex finger joint implants. There are several different types of strategy, including competitive strategy, technology strategy, product market strategy, financial strategy, and supply-chain strategy. For a technology company to be successful all these strategies need to be aligned with each other, and with the business goals of the firm. Competitive strategy, is the highest level of strategy in the firm, and is intimately related to the mission and vision of the firm and also to setting the direction for all the other strategies in the firm. There are several schools of strategy formation: design, planning, positioning (Mintzberg, 1998). We focus on two important schools or frameworks for strategy-creation or â€Å"strategy-making† that are particularly important for high-technologycompanies. The first framework is the so-called â€Å"positioning† approach due to Porter (Porter, 1980), In this approach strategy is viewed as taking a generic position in a competitive market and which views strategy-making as an analytic process performed at the industry-market structural level (Porter, 1980) and the resulting dynamics between functional groups of players (e.g., competitors, suppliers) in the industry. The second framework analyzes strategy-making at the industry-level, company level, and intra-company level using evolutionary organization theory (Burgelman 2002). In this evolutionary organizational theory approach, each company is an organizational ecology within which strategy emerges through two basic mechanisms, external selection and internal selection. When companies start, because they are new and small ¸ the external selection mechanism dominates. As a company grows in size and becomes more established, internal selection plays an important role. Based on e volutionary organization theory, views strategy-making as an evolutionary process performed at three levels: industry-company level, company-level, and intra-company level. When these two frameworks are combined, an integrated approach to competitive strategy emerges: from industry-market level all the way to intra-company level. A unique aspect of creating competitive strategy for a company, and in particular, a high-technology company, is that the time-scales for the evolution of markets, industries, and technologies are, in general, much shorter (â€Å"faster†) compared to other industries. Therefore, the strategy frameworks of the positioning school needs to be augmented with functional maps (Clark and Wheelwright, 1993), which capture the evolution of the market, industry, and technology relevant to the company, and which can therefore be used to create strategy. The objectives of this chapter are as follows: 1. Describe the positioning framework for the creation of competitive strategy. 2. Provide an integrated competitive strategy process which is useful in developing competitive strategy in a technology company. 3. Demonstrate the application of the process of competitive strategy The objective of technology strategy (Clark and Wheelwright, 1993) is to guide the technology company in developing, acquiring, and applying technology for competitive advantage. An important part of technologystrategy is the definition of technical capabilities (e.g., advanced device design, rapid prototyping, automated assembly) that provide competitive advantage. The objective of product/market strategy is to clearly establish the following: define what differentiates the product from its competitors; identify market segments for the product, the customer needs of these segments, and the corresponding products (i.e., product lines) that will be offered to these segments; etc. An important outcome of produc t/market strategy is to define the product roadmap, including sales volume and price, necessary to realize the business goals. However, in the rapidly evolving industry and market landscape of high-technology, competitive strategy, in turn, depends on three levels of â€Å"strategy-making† as follows (Burgelman, 2002): 1. Industry-company level. At this level the firm must determine its strategic position, its core competencies, and its strategic action. 2. Company level: At this level strategy-making involves induced strategy and autonomous strategy. 3. Intra-company level: At this the internal level autonomous strategy is created. In successful companies, it is the tight coupling of strategy these three levels of strategy-making with the highest-level (i.e., industry-market level) competitive strategy that, results in successful strategic action where what the company actually does, e.g., the product lines it develops and markets, results in the realization of its business goals. It is also useful to mention two other strategies that are closely related to competitive strategy. Financial strategy in cludes issues such as capital budgeting and portfolio management, i.e., deciding on which technology and product development projects to fund in order to maximize the cumulative expected profit. Another important and related strategy is supply chain strategy (Chopra), which specifies the service, distribution, and operations functions, performed either in-house or outsourced, that the company should do well in order to successfully realize its intended competitive strategy. The â€Å"Positioning† Framework We first present a historical overview of the positioning or analytic school of strategy. Then, we develop the five forces framework (Porter, 1980) and the approach to creation of competitive strategy that is closely related to the five forces framework. We will use the personal computer industry to illustrate the approach. The positioning school of strategy which emerges from the competitive school is based on the following assumptions (Mintzberg, 1998): the marketplace is competitive strategy is a generic position in the marketplace; strategy formation is the selection of a generic position based on analysis. The underlying assumption is that industry or market structure drives position which drives the organizational structure of the firm. Matrices like the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) introduced two techniques: the growth-share matrix, and the experience curve. The growth-share matrix for a firm, developed in the early 1970s, is a 22 matrix with â€Å"growth† along one dimension, and â€Å"market share† along the other dimension. Each of these variables can take two values, â€Å"high† or â€Å"low† resulting in a 22 matrix. Therefore, the product portfolio of a firm can be decomposed into four combinations of growth and market share, each with a well defined meaning: (High growth, high market share) or â€Å"stars†, (high growth, low share) or â€Å"question marks†, (slow growth, high share) or â€Å"cash cows†, and (slow growth, low share) or â€Å"dogs†. The approach to strategy using this matrix would be to have a portfolio balanced mainly between cash cows (the stable business of the firm, e.g., â€Å"MAC† computers in the case of Apple) and stars (e.g., the iPod, in the case of Apple). The experience curve, developed in 1965-66, is based on the idea that accumulated experi ence by a firm influences costs and prices. The claim â€Å"for the experience curve was that for each cumulative doubling of experience, total costs would decline roughly 20% to 30% because of economies of scale, organizational learning, and technical innovation† (Ghemawat, 1999). In 1971, the consulting firm McKinsey came up with the GE/McKinsey nine-block matrix called the Industry Attractiveness-Business Strength matrix (Ghemawat, 1999), which plotted business strength [High, Medium, Low] along one axis, and industry attractiveness [High, Medium, Low] along the other axis. The basic idea was to divide the company into â€Å"strategic business units (SBUs)†, and then make the appropriate strategic recommendations for each SBU depending on its â€Å"location† in the matrix. The Five Forces Framework and Competitive Strategy In this framework there are two high-level stages in the creation of competitive strategy, each stage corresponding to a high-level determinant of profitability mentioned in the previous section. The first stage is the assessment of the attractiveness of the industry in which a given company is embedded based on a structural analysis of the industry. In this stage, called the five forces framework, five forces that influence industry attractiveness are identified, as well as the factors (e.g., number of competitors, size of competitors, capital requirements) that determine the intensity of each force and therefore the cumulative intensity of the five forces. The purpose of the five forces framework is to relate the degree (or intensity) of competition in a given industry, as qualitatively measured by the combined strength (or intensity) of five forces, to the attractiveness of the industry, defined as its ability to sustain profitability. Based on the structural analysis, a particula r company may be in a very attractive industry (e.g., pharmaceuticals) or in an unattractive industry (e.g., steel). However, though a firm exists in an unattractive industry, it can still be highly profitable by choosing the proper competitive position within the industry, for example, e.g., a mini-mill such as Nucor in the steel industry in the nineteen-eighties (Ghemawat). The second stage of strategy creation addresses the competitive strategy available to the firm in order to achieve a strong competitive position. Ideally, a firm would want to be in a very attractive industry (e.g., pharmaceuticals) and have a strong competitive position (e.g., large pharmaceutical firms such as Smith Klein or Glaxo) within the industry. The five forces framework for the structural analysis of an industry is as follows. First, we define the following terms used in the structural analysis of the industry: industry, market, competitors, new entrants, substitutes, buyers, and sellers. The term ind ustry denotes (1) the manufacturers (or producers) and (2) the suppliers of a primary product or service, as well as (3) the manufacturers of alternative products and services that could serve as a substitute. For example, the (conventional) personal computer (PC) industry would include PC manufacturers like Dell and Apple, suppliers of semiconductor chips like Intel and Micron, suppliers ofdisc drives like Seagate, suppliers of software such as Microsoft, etc. Substitute products could be pen-based tablet PCs or small hand-held personal digital assistants (PDAs). In the five forces framework described below, manufacturers and producers will designated as (1) competitors in the industry if they already have established products, or (2) new-entrants if they are trying to enter the industry, or (3) substitutes, if they provide alternative (substitute) products. The term market denotes the buyers (or customers) of the product or service. For example, the market for PCs would include enterprises and individual consumers. The analytical process of strategy analysis and creation can be decomposed into the following five steps. 1. Create a map of the industry in which the technology company is em bedded. There are five key sets of players that constitute the business landscape: competitors, new entrants, substitutes, suppliers, and buyers. Identify key players (companies) for each industry. 2. Perform a five forces analysis of the industry structure. The five forces that influence the intensity of competition in a particular industry, and therefore the profitability of the firms within the industry: Force 1: the degree of rivalry (or competition) between the competitors; Force 2: the threat of new entrants (or the inverse of this force, the barrier to entry); Force 3: the threat of substitutes; Force 4: Buyer Power (to demand lower prices); Force 5: Supplier Power (to increase material prices). For each force, determine the key structural determinants which affect the intensity of the force. Porter and Ghemawat provide a detailed set of the determinants for each force, some of which are given in the table below. In the last column of this table we indicate plausible values o f each force for the PC industry in the nineteen nineties. Table 1 |Force |Key Determinants |Strength of the force | |Rivalry between competitors |Concentration (number) and size of |Medium to high | | |competitors | | | |Fixed costs/value added | | | |Brand indentity | | |Barrier to entry |Economies of scale |Medium to high | | |Brand identity | | | |Capital requirements | | |Threat of substitutes |Price/Performance of substitutes |Low to medium | | |Switching costs | | |Buyer Power |Buyer concentration | | | |Buyer size (volume) |Medium to high | | |Switching costs | | |Supplier Power |Supplier concentration |Low to medium | | |Supplier size (volume) | | | |Switching costs | | In theory, one would, qualitatively determine the strength of each force, as indicated in the third column of the above table, and then determine the cumulative or combined intensity of the five forces. The collective intensity or strength of the forces will determine the structural strength of the industry, as characterized by attractiveness, or the profit potential of the industry. The profit potential is measured by the long term return on invested capital (ROIC). If the collective strength of the forces is high, as in the steel industry, then the corresponding profit potential or attractiveness is low, and vice-versa. At one extreme of this analysis is the perfectly competitive free market, where there are numerous firms alloffering very similar products that cannot be differentiated (therefore, the force of rivalry is high), entry is free (therefore, the threat of both new entrants and substitutes is high), and bargaining power of both suppliers and buyers is low. Using the PC industry of the 1990’s as an example, the qualitative values of the forces shown in the last column of the above table would lead one to conclude that the cumulative strength of the five forces was medium to high, and therefore the attractiveness of the industry, i.e., its profitability, was medium to low. The PC industry in the nineteen-nineties would therefore not be attractive to new entrants, and in fact, in the early 2000s, HP’s computer business was unprofitable, and IBM sold its computer business to Lenovo. (It is important to note that HP’s unprofitability in computer business in the early 2000s cannot be attributed solely to industry attractiveness being low, but is also due to issues associated with its acquisition of the computer company Compaq.) 3. Select a competitive positioning strategy The basic premise of Porter and Hall was that for a firm to be successful (in a market) it had to compete based on one of two sources of competitive ad vantage: cost, i.e., by providing low cost products, or differentiation, i.e., by differentiating its products from its competitors with respect to quality and performance. Porter also proposed that a firm needs to select its strategic target: either offering a product to the entire market (â€Å"market-wide†), or offering a product for a particular market segment. Using these two dimensions (source of competitive advantage, and strategic target), Porter proposed the following three generic competitive strategies: 1. Cost Leadership: offering the lowest costs products to the entire market 2. Differentiated: offering highly unique products (as perceived by the customer) to the entire market 3. Focus: offering products which serve the needs of a niche segment of the market Porter’s claim is that for a company to be successful in the industry in which it operates it must choose between one of the three generic strategies: cost leadership, differentiated, and focus. If one uses the personal computer industry in the US during the 1990’s as an example, then the competitive strategies of the major players was as follows: Dell was the low-c ost leader; HP had a differentiated strategy with high-quality products; Apple had a focus strategy, targeting a narrow marketsegment of users who whom the user-experience (look, feel, and graphical user interfaces) were extremely important; and IBM had a mixed strategy. 4. Link competitive strategy to strategic planning (Ghemawat 1999) In order for a company to derive competitive advantage (or position) within its industry, the company needs to maximize, relative to it competitors, the difference between the buyer’s willingness to pay and the costs incurred in delivering the product to the buyer. Therefore, the next step in the competitive analysis is for the company to link competitive strategy to strategic planning by analyzing all the activities involved in differentiation and cost, and, to this end, a value chain (Porter, 1985) is an extremely important tool. According to Porter, â€Å"the value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation.† A three step process for using these activities, first to analyze costs, then to analyze buyer’s willingness to pay, and finally to explore different strategic planning options to maximize the difference between willingness to pay and cost, is developed in (Ghemawat, 1999). 5. Competitive strategy needs to evolve, especially in a high-technology company where markets, industries, and technologies, are changing relatively rapidly. A good example of the evolution of competitive strategy is IBM’s strategic decisions to evolve from a product-based company in the early nineties to a services-led company at the present time. In the early nineties, when the company was in trouble, IBM closely examined its business model and strategic direction, and decided to â €Å"stay whole† by moving its focus from products and hardware to solutions. One result of this strategic shift was the creation of IBM Global Services in the mid-nineties. By the late-nineties the company moved into e-business solutions, and extended this model in the 2000’s to â€Å"business-on-demand†. One result of these shifts in strategy was IBM’s decision to exit the Personal Computer Market by selling its PC business to Lenovo. Functional Maps A functional map essentially is a time-based evolutionary map of a key metric for an important organizational function, e.g., a product performance metric map for the engineering function in a technology firm, e.g., the well-known Moore’s Law in the semiconductor industry. Since the time-scales for the evolution of markets, industries and technologies for technology companies, especially â€Å"high-tech† companies, is short compared to other industries, the creation of the appropriate functional maps is critical to strategy formation in a technology company. As an example, in the relatively short span of four decades, information technology evolved from mainframes through workstations, servers and personal computers to internet-based and mobile computing. An important feature of our approach to developing competitive strategy in a technology firm is the integrated approach to strategy for a technology company, which relates company strategy to the company’s busin ess goals, business strategy, technology strategy, and product marketing strategy. Since, markets, industries, technologies, and products for a technology company are continually evolving, an important concept that plays a vital role in the creation of strategy, and, in particular, competitive strategy, is the functional map (Clark and Wheelwright, 1993). Here are some useful â€Å"dimensions† along which to create functional maps for strategy creation: a) Evolution of the industry in which the enterprise operates (changes in technology, customer needs, competitive landscape, etc.) b) Evolution of strategy business, technology, and market of the enterprise c) Evolution of technology (including manufacturing), product platforms, and product lines of the enterprise. The processes used for technology, product, and process development within the enterprise. d) Growth (or decline) of the enterprise with respect to of market share, revenues, costs, profits, etc. e) Organizational structure of the enterprise f) Key decisions made at different stages in the life of enterprise, and the drivers for these decisions g) The interconnections and relationships between all the above dimensions A multi-dimensional functional map for Intel is given in the next section. A very simple example of how functional maps can shape strategy is in the information technology industry. A functional map of the Information Technology Industry from the 1990s to the 2000s would reveal a shift from â€Å"products† to services†. The Services business in 2007-08 is approximately $750 billion, with IBM, whose share of this market is $54 billion, being the leader. HP, whose own share in the market is $17 billion seeing this shift in the industry and the need to build competitive strength, acquired EDS, whose share of the market is $21 billion. The combined share of HP and EDS would then be $38 billion, allowing it to compete more strongly with IBM. Another simple example of the use of a functional map in creating strategy is in the software industry. In the 2000s the software market is moving from a â€Å"packaged† product to online software, where individuals can get software that is mostly free, supported by advertising. Google is using its leadership on the Web to provide online softwa re that competes with Microsoft’s packaged software. Understanding this shift from packaged to online, and the corresponding change in the revenue model from direct sales (of product) to advertising, Microsoft is aggressively entering the online advertising business. Process for developing competitive strategy in a company If we combine the positioning framework for competitive strategy due to Porter, the evolutionary organization theoretic framework due to Burgelman, and augment these with the creation of relevant functional maps, then the resulting process of developing competitive strategy in a company can be decomposed into four stages, as follows. Stage 1: Company Analysis 1. Establish the business goals and objectives (ROI, %market share, revenue, and growth aspirations). 2. Determine the technology strategy and product market strategy for the company. 3. Define the overall development goals and objectives to align business goals, technology, and market strategies. 4. Develop the functional evolutionary maps of the markets and industry in which the company is embedded. Create functional maps (time-based evolutionary maps) for technology, product market, and manufacturing strategy of the firm. These maps will be useful in the process of assessing and creating competitive strategy. Stage 2: Industry Analysis 1. Perform the structural analysis of the industry in which the company is either an active competitor, or a new entrant, or a substitute. 2. Determine the existing competitive strategy of the company within the industry. 3. Determine the relationships between the company and the other players in the industry Stage 3: Assessment and Evolution of the company’s strategy within the relevant markets and industries 1. Using the functional maps of the overall markets and industry in which the company is embedded, as well as the company specific functional maps, assess the evolution of the company’s competitive strategy. 2. Decide on what the company’s future competitive strategy should be, and the corresponding technology strategy, product market strategy, and manufacturing strategy. Glossary Autonomous Strategy (also see induced strategy). Autonomous strategy refers to actions of individuals or small groups within the company that are outside the scope of current high-level corporate strategy. While autonomous strategy is constrained by the company’s distinctive (core) competencies, it usually (1) involves new competencies that are not the focus of the firm, and (2) results in so-called â€Å"disruptive technologies† that could change the strategic direction of the firm (Burgelman, 2002). Company Structure (vertical vs. horizontal). A vertical company is one which uses only its own proprietary technologies. A horizontal company is one which (usually because of the existence of open-standards) which does not solely rely on its own proprietary technologies, but usually uses technologies and products from other suppliers. In the computer industry, traditionally, Apple is an example of a vertical company, while Dell is an example of a horizontal company. The co mputer industry, itself, moved from a vertical structure to a horizontal structure in the 1980s (Ghemawhat, 1999). Corporate Strategy (official corporate strategy). Corporate strategy is top management’s view of the basis of the company’s success. It includes distinctive (core) competencies, product-market domains, and core values (Burgelman, 2002) Industry. The term industry, e.g., the consumer electronics industry,denotes (1) the manufacturers (or producers) and (2) the suppliers of a primary product or service, as well as (3) the manufacturers of alternative products and services that could serve as a substitute (Porter, 1980). Market. The term market denotes the buyers (or customers) of the product or service. Typically markets are segmented, for example, a two-dimensional segmentation based on the types of product (product segmentation) along one axis, and the types of customers (customer segmentation) along the other axis. The market, as represented by â€Å"Buyers† is an important part of the industry analysis in Porter’s framework. Once youve established the key assets and skills necessary to succeed in this business and have defined your distinct competitive advantage, you need to communicate them in a s trategic form that will attract market share as well as defend it. Competitive strategies usually fall into these five areas: 1. Product 2. Distribution 3. Pricing 4. Promotion 5. Advertising Many of the factors leading to the formation of a strategy should already have been highlighted in previous sections, specifically in marketing strategies. Strategies primarily revolve around establishing the point of entry in the product life cycle and an endurable competitive advantage. As weve already discussed, this involves defining the elements that will set your product or service apart from your competitors or strategic groups. You need to establish this competitive advantage clearly so the reader understands not only how you will accomplish your goals, but why your strategy will work. [pic] References Burgelman, R.A., â€Å"Strategy is Destiny†, The Free Press, New York, 2002. Chopra, Sunil, and Peter Meindl, â€Å"Supply Chain Management, Strategy, Planning, and Operations†, Third Edition, Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2007. Clark, K. B., and S.C. Wheelwright, Managing New Product and Process Development, Text and Cases, The Free Press, New York, 1993. Edwards, Cliff, â€Å"Intel†, Business Week, March 8, 2004, Pages 56-64. Ghemawat, Pankaj, Strategy and the Business Landscape, Text and Cases, Addison Wesley, 1999. Mintzberg, Henry and Bruce Ahlstrand, and Joseph Lampel, Strategy Safari, The Free Press, New York, 1998 Porter, Michael, Competitive Strategy, New York, The Free Press, 1980 Porter, Michael, Competitive Advantage, The Free Press, New York, 1985 Figure 1: A strategic view of the technology firm, showing different types of strategy Revenue ($), Growth (%), Etc. Purpose of the company Financial Strategy Competitive Strategy Market Strategy Technology Strategy Business Goals †¢ Vision †¢ Mission

GIS in Asset and Utility Monitoring Management

GIS in Asset and Utility Monitoring Management CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE A detailed literature survey pertaining to the application of GIS in Asset and Utility Monitoring, Management is presented in this chapter. GIS combines location data with both quantitative and qualitative information about the location, letting you visualize, analyze, and report information through maps and charts. Using the technology, we can answer questions, conduct what-if scenarios, and visualize results. GIS is often first identified as a system to manage infrastructure assets and natural resources outside of buildings, but this is only part of the story. Buildings, campuses, military bases, and industrial plants, to name a few, also have geography and can be mapped. It is easier to analyze and manage facility and asset data stored in GIS, making design, construction, and maintenance more efficient and profitable.(ESRI 2010) Ajwaliya and Patel (2014) has done Design and Development of GIS Based Utility Management System covering 39 acre residential area of staff quarters, DOS housing colony, Vikramnagar, Space Applications Centre (SAC). They identified that GIS can be used in many ways to improve the planning, maintenance and management standards. Developed GIS model has been designed to manage utilities for vikramnagar residential colony. Strength of GIS is integrating data and preparing it for analysis or modeling apart from tying together data from various sources makes it an important tool for the planning and decision making. User can display legend of all layers displayed on the Map. P.Smith et. al. (2005) developed Electrical Distribution Model during his research on Electrical Distribution Modeling: An Integration of Engineering Analysis and Geographic Information Systems found that the integration of GIS and power system analysis efforts provides added functionality to the management of utility systems. As competition increases and as information technologies advance, a utility’s data becomes more and more valuable as a corporate resource. As a result, sharing information becomes very important to the efficiency of an organization. Though his research a small-scale integration, he highlights the ability of GIS to initiate full integration of electric utility information. The technique of integration and the role of GIS within the envelope of the entire information system can take many forms. Blachut et al. (1979) remarked that, The availability of detailed and up-to-date cartographic representations of underground utility lines (as water supply, sewage system, electrical grid, gas network, district heating network, telecommunications and wiring network, oil pipelines) is very useful for network facility management, both for private companies and for local administrations. References from Books: Blachut, T.J., Chrzanowski A. Saastamoinen J.H. 1979. Urban Surveying and Mapping: 221-234. Springer-Verlag, New York (USA). Metje et al. (2007) noted that To obtain a sufficiently accurate and complete representation of the underground, a dedicated and extended survey is required. Non-invasive surveying can be performed with traditional topographic methods or by GPS positioning, by measuring the positions of the surface elements of the networks, like manholes, catch basins, transformers, hydrants, exchange boxes, etc., and subsequently inferring the presence and the approximate planar location of the buried lines. Another possibility is the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) technique. References from Journals: Metje, N., Atkins, P.R., Brennan, M.J., Chapman, D.N., Lim, H.M., Machell, J., Muggleton, J.M., Pennock, S.R., Ratcliffe, J., Redfern, M.A., Rogers, C.D.F., Saul, A.J., Shan, Q., Swingler, S.G. Thomas, A.M. 2007. Mapping the Underworld. State of the Art Review. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 22(5-6): 568-586. N.cazzaniga et al. (2012) implemented a geographical DB for the storage of data of underground structures and infrastructures. The structure of the DB has been designed based on an approach oriented to the study of the whole process of designing and laying new elements of a utility line. The results were compliant with the requirements of Italian national regulations. This approach allows a good traceability of all collected and archived data, giving the possibility to reconstruct the complete processing chain from the preliminary design of the utility lines to their laying. The Fort Pierce Utilities Authority (FPUA) migrated some of its electric CAD operations into GIS and maintains a dual CAD and GIS system. FPUA serve more than 24,000 electric, 15,000 water, 12,000 wastewater, and 4,700 natural gas customers in Fort Pierce and portions of St. Lucie County, Florida. With the GIS in place, FPUA is working to bring the natural gas and fiber-optic telecommunication service databases into the GIS as well as to integrate them with the water service and wastewater collection GIS.(ESRI 2005) The city of Painesville, Ohio’s utility services include water, electric, storm water, and sewer services. The city has set up a system for government regulation compliance by using GIS. The windfall of meeting the government requirement is that Painesville’s GIS also supports asset management for electric operations, system maintenance and capital improvement planning.(ESRI 2005) Reliable digital data acquisition, robustness, and ease of use were the requirements stipulated by Swisscom AG when it set out to acquire new GNSS instruments to determine the positions of telecommunication infrastructure in the companys country wide fixed-line network. The first requirement was for the measuring sys- tem to provide reliable digital data acquisition to allow data transfer to be extensively automated. Furthermore, the system had to be robust, easy to transport, and able to be used by staff who had no detailed knowledge of surveying. The new satellite- supported surveying system Leica Viva GNSS fulfilled all these requirements – in addition to the GNSS and communications technology, the client was also impressed by the systems’ newly designed, easy to use software, Leica SmartWorx Viva.(Schnichels n.d.) In the past few years the State of Qatar, a peninsula on the Arabian Gulf, has experienced extensive infrastructure development. More than twenty years ago the results of a user needs assessment carried out by the government clearly indicated an enormous need for a fully integrated nationwide GIS. The government then established the Centre for GIS (CGIS) as a department of the Ministry of Municipality Urban Planning. It is based in the capital Doha and became the official mapping agency of the State of Qatar. Since the end of October 2009, many public and private survey and mapping communities have been benefiting from a nationwide Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network.(Saal 2009) Mary Howard (2014), County GIS Manager has quoted â€Å"we have found excellent return on investment for staffing time during collections as well as the importance of having a reliable end-product.† while collecting data in heavily wooded terrain using Trimble and Floodlight technology. for project consisting of installing a broadband 220 miles of buried fiber cable and 5 wireless relay towers. According to County GIS Manager Mary Howard, a fiber mapping crew used an underground-line-locating device to detect the buried fiber and mark its location. Then a GIS technician recorded the location using the handheld GeoXH unit running Esri ArcPad with Trimble GPSCorrectâ„ ¢ data collection software.(Mary Howard 2014) Jamil et al. (2012) has tried to evaluate main driver in utility mapping, utility agencies, land surveyors and the land surveying profession to meet the demand and challenges in executing the underground utility mapping in Malaysia. JUPEM has developed a national underground utility database called PADU to act as a repository of reliable and accurate underground utility data comprising power and telecommunication cables, gas, water and sewerage pipes provided by the utility agencies in a systematic GIS approach. The data submitted by the various utility agencies are subjected to various checks and verification processes before they are accepted into PADU. However, these checks reveal data of low quality, inaccurate and insufficient to be used as a reference for excavation works. Issues pertaining to data quality, lack of skill and knowledge and the requirement of legislation on underground utility mapping are some of the challenges faced with regards to underground utility mapping in Malaysia. Various initiatives are now being undertaken to overcome these challenges. 1

Comparing Women in A Mans Requirements and A Letter to Her Husband Ess

Subservient Women in A Man’s Requirements and A Letter to Her Husband Authors use poetry to creatively present attitudes and opinions. â€Å"A Man’s Requirements,† by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and â€Å"A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment† are two poems with distinct attitudes about love that contain different literary approaches. In both of the poems, love is addressed from a different perspective, producing the difference in expectation and presentation, but both suggest the women are subservient in the relationships. In â€Å"A Man’s Requirements,† Elizabeth Barrett Browning uses repetition, flowery language, and strategic role play to expose her regard for man’s perception of love. The narrator repeatedly pleads the phrase â€Å"Love me,† followed by his conditions, which are painted with adored language such as â€Å"with thine azure eyes, Made for earnest grantings.† For the narrator, the purpose of the poem is to request love; more specifically, it’s a demand for love, but Browning equips the narrator with a begging tone and flattering language, lightening his demand...

Essay --

It was my first time leaving the country, and I was excited. The summer of Saudi was hot, and I couldn’t stop thinking about going away for the first time. My family and friends were helping me pack the last of my luggage, and I was on my way to the airport. As I made my way through the gates and into the plane, I could never imagine the experiences that were to come. It all started with my airport and Canadian immigration services, then meeting my host family and the people of Canada, and last but not least the school experience. As I left Saudi Arabia, it was a bittersweet feeling. I left from Riyadh to Vancouver via London. My experience at the airport in London for the first time was very difficult. So when I was in Riyadh airport, my father and mother gave me advice to study hard and be a good student. All my friends were with me to say their final good byes because it was my first time leaving alone. Before I got on the plane, I met a new friend who I didn’t even know would end up at the same university as me in Canada. It’s a small world because I did not expect this. We became good friends and our friendship continues until today. When I arrived at Heathrow airport in London, I felt this empty feeling, like I was missing something already. My mind started to go blank and the little English that I knew, I forgot. So it was very difficult for me to talk to any airport staff and ask them where I should go. Then I became nervous because I didn’t know what to do. I w as praying that somebody would be able to help me. Suddenly, I found a guy who looked like an Arab and I approached him to ask him for his help. I found out he was Egyptian. He was very kind to me and was able to guide me to my terminal a... ...tely, my test was not very good so I was put in the beginners level. I struggled at the beginning, but as time went on, I became more comfortable and started speaking little by little. The more I spoke, the better my communication in English became. One year passed and I became comfortable in the city, with my host family, and new international friends, all because I spoke better English. My experience of leaving Saudi Arabia has made me a better person. Of course at the beginning it was very difficult, but I’m glad now that I was able to get a scholarship to study in Canada and learn English. Maybe if I didn’t get this opportunity, I would not have met the people I met and become friends with them. The best thing I can say about leaving my country is that now I have friends from all over the world and I would not change anything for that experience.

Epic of Beowulf :: Essays Papers

Beowulf "In a world without hope, a brave soul has nothing to lose." In the epic Beowulf, some might perceive Beowulf as having traits such as being arrogant. Although he is raised in a Pagan society, Beowulf concurs many tasks that an ordinary man could never do. He portrays man in general struggling against outward foes and inward doubts. Beowulf displays his characteristics; courage and strength, fame, perserverence, and compassion; which affords him the opportunity to be looked upon as an epic hero. With a lack of courage, not many can accomplish much. As Beowulf travels, his courage not only grows but stands strong. In his journey to Hrothgar's kingdom, Beowulf is faced with many unbearable tasks many men wouldn't dare to go up against, but with Beowulf, he takes those tasks and runs with them. His fight with Grendal not only proves his courage but his strength as well. Beowulf, being a mortal man, takes Grendal by the hands and tears his hand from his body, leaving Grendal mortally wounded. When Grendal's mother attempts avenge for her son's death, she is rudely awakened. After her kill of Ashchere, she resorts back to her lair in Hell, but not for long. Beowulf goes looking after her and swims through the deep, dark, and miserable waters to Hell. He finds Grendal's mother there and kills her without any warning to her. His bravery saves his people back in his homeland as well. After gaining the throne, a terrible dragon starts to terrorize his home. Here he proves t o his people that he is in fact a true hero. He, with the help of his dear kinsman, slays the dragon even after being wounded. His courage and strength truly proves him an epic hero. With an epic hero, one must know of his travels and battles. As is with Beowulf, he is known throughout the lands. His fame helped him tremendously in becoming this hero. His courageous fights and accomplishments led to his known defeats in battle with huge and fierce monsters. After his death, his people promised him a tumulus to be built in his memory so he could be remembered. Not only did his people hear his request, but they honored it as well. They built an enormous tumulus on top of a high cliff over the waters where the boats would see and remember him by.

Journey Humanities

Celeste Mompremier Professor Watts HUM1020-41 September 25, 2018 Flynn, Brenda. Journey. 2002. Mosaic tile on fiberglass armature. My overall museum experience was amazing. Since its been eight years since I have been to a museum, it was kind of new to me. But seeing all of the beautiful sculptures just blew me away. I was amazed by how much time and effort these people put in making such perfect artwork. I was also impressed by all the gifts these people have in making sculptures. I would definitely not have any talent in making these sculptures, that's for sure. I really enjoyed eyeing these sculptures in real life. I think that there are advantages in seeing art in real life because I believe that you get a much better understanding of art by seeing it in-person. Also, it can make you think more about the true meaning of art. I think that museums are relevant places to study humanities because they help us learn more about human culture. Museums help us grasp our attention more on our human history. We end up understanding our culture more. Also, it's fun to learn about art. Museums are important in understanding our culture because they help our newer generation learn about our history. No matter what, history should always be remembered and never forgotten. I also think that people of different backgrounds can learn better at museums because of the artwork from our ancestors of the same heritage. I think that the difference between something authentic and a copy is possibly the texture. I feel like that actual artist put so much care and time and effort in his or her artwork. But the other artist, although he or she did work hard on the copy, did not put as much care and effort as the original artwork. They just tried to make it look as much like the original as possible. Also, nobody can ever make the exact same texture as the original. I feel like the original artwork would have a more smoother texture than the replica. I would rather see the original artwork than the replica because I believe that the original would have more meaning than the replica. The authentic artwork has a much larger purpose than a replica. Original is unique that is irreplaceable. It's more powerful to see the original because you can interpret the message that the artist is saying. With a replica all you can interpret is how much they wanted to mirror the original. With a replica there is no purpose or meaning. If I were a part of the Monuments Men task force, then the sculpture that I would have saved and chosen is a colorful horse made of mosaic tile on fiberglass. My artwork is named Journey. This sculpture is created by Brenda Flynn. I chose this piece of artwork because it just captivated me. I also feel like this sculpture is has a rarity in it that makes it unique. This horse isn't your usual horse that is drawn like a regular horse that has fur. This horse's mosaic tile on fiberglass just makes it rare and captivating. Also its just so creative that someone would think outside the box by creating a three-dimensional horse full of multicolored mosaic tile. This sculpture would most definitely be something worth saving. I think that the artist's purpose on making this sculpture is she is trying to promote individualism because this is not your usual horse. This horse is colorful. She's trying to express that it's ok to be different. That different is beautiful. Also that you do not have to be like everybody else. Its vivid colors lead me to suspect that its expressing that our world is full of different cultures, fashion, etc. And that the title Journey is expressing travelling all around the world. The colors also express this earth because we have so many states and countries that have different cultures, beliefs, values, and religion. The horse also expresses travelling in a way because she's bringing back how people used to ride horses to get from place to place. The theme is travelling and expressing yourself. I know this because of the colors of our world of different ways of living. I find that this sculpture means to always live life to the fullest, because life itself is short. Not to mention that there are so many places to see, to where the artist is encouraging travelling. Honestly, as soon as I saw this sculpture, I was immediately awestruck by the artwork. I don't think that I have ever seen anything so beautiful in my life. I said to myself that I had to absolutely make my museum paper about this magnificent sculpture. It's such a stunning piece of art. The reason why I liked the piece is because I felt a connection with this sculpture. I loved the message it brought out. Where its alright to live your life to the fullest by taking every journey that knocks at your door. With the mosaic tile shimmering with all kinds of colors of every culture. This piece makes me see that in life, it's important to take certain journeys throughout your life because you might find just what you're looking for. I believe that it does have a strong message because life is so beautiful, don't waste it all in one place. The sculpture isn't named Journey for nothing. I believe that everything in this artwork has a purpose. The media of this sculpture is multicolored mosaic tile and fiberglass. This sculpture is actually a mixed media, because of its mosaic tile and fiberglass. The fiberglass looks like it's of a grey color, while the mosaic tile is multi-colored. The fiberglass is also carved with pieces of mosaic glass covered around it. The technique of this sculpture is that the fiberglass is carved out to give it its unique horse-like shape. Also the way these people managed to put all of that mosaic glass glued around it without messing it up is absolute pure talent. I think that the mixed media enhances the meaning because of the fact that the fiberglass of the sculpture is shaped like a horse, and the fact that it is named Journey, it is inspiring others to travel the world. Also because it's a different looking horse, that it's ok to be different. The multicolored mosaic tile also expresses how different and beautiful our cultures are, and how important it is to experience everything in the world. I strongly believe that the new material is superior to the traditional media because mosaic tile is usually used for walls, ceilings, etc. After all, the textbook has stated that when we engage with two-dimensional works of art at a more technical level, we begin to notice things about the work's medium. It also states that one of the choices is the work's medium, which gives it its fundamental characteristics. (pg.30) It's saying that whatever tool the artist uses to create the sculpture, they gave it its true meaning. Mosaic tile is very unique in a sculpture because nobody usually uses that for sculptures. The most common media usually used for work is paint. One of the principles of this artwork is pattern. I say pattern because the way the swirls of the horse interact with each other. This sculpture is just filled with swirls of different colors. Also apart from the swirls, this artwork has a lot of circles of different colors surrounding the swirls. The artist brought out the mosaic tile by putting them in different shapes and colors. The swirls of the mosaic tile make it look like a purse. It's one after another perfectly placed together. How does this artist manage to make the shapes so perfectly proportionate with each other from head to toe? That is beyond me. The swirls spread out a message of creativity. One of the elements of this artwork is color. I say color because of the fact that this sculpture does not focus on just one color, but many. Red, green, white, yellow, orange, etc. All blended together in one beautiful horse. The colors express individualism. This sculpture expresses how beautiful color is. I am so glad that the artist created the sculpture the way she did. This art sculpture expresses shape as one of its elements because of the fact that it is shaped like a horse. The sculpture provides such a beautiful horse. I also believe that another one of the sculpture's elements is good texture because of the mosaic tile and fiberglass. The texture is emphasized in great details of the smooth feel of the mosaic tile. The texture has a smooth feel to the touch. The texture has such a brilliant finish. Another one of the principles of the sculpture is emphasis, because this artwork is put out with such importance to where it is the most valuable of them all to be saved. This sculpture is saying a message that is crying for attention. The mosaic tile especially on the horse, since it's unreal to have a horse that is covered with anything other than fur, is brought out to the viewer's attention. The mosaic tile is the focal point because it's unique. This is the best sculpture because it stands out. Also, another one of the principles of this sculpture is rhythm because the pattern of the mosaic tile is different with the different colors of the mosaic tile, but yet the routine is repeated that it's all around the horse. The repetition goes on the same way. The arrangement is put out like the mosaic tile in the same streak but different patterns and colors. The patters go between being multicolored to being all in swirls. Another one of the elements of this sculpture is form because it is a three-dimensional horse. The form is trying to tell us a story about this artwork. The form gives this art such a descriptive nature of taking journeys in our lives. The form gives this sculpture a purpose of taking chances in life. I do believe that this artwork is a cultural value because this sculpture could have easily been from another country because it's just so rare and sacred. This mosaic glass horse is not what you see everyday. The main thing that cries out that it is culturally valued is that it is named Journey, and that it's multicolored with different patterns. The colors and patterns read out all of our different cultures and values that exist in this earth. I think that the value of this artwork in today's society would probably be a little irrelevant because in my opinion, art has declined in value. People in todays generation in general don't seem to appreciate art anywhere near as much as people in previous generations. So I am not disagreeing because of my sculpture, I am just disagreeing because art regardless has declined with a sudden increase in technology. Art has lost its value and excitement it once had for human beings. No, I don't think that the artwork's message will become relevant in the future, but not in the way that you think. As I said before, I just think that all art has lost its value in todays world and people lost interest so therefore, I think that all recognition in art will decrease from this point forward. I absolutely love the message the artwork is trying to portray, but I know deep down in my heart that art no longer has the same values the way they did in previous centuries and generations. Yes, I feel that the Monuments Men risking their lives for art was a worthwhile endeavor because as much as I would never die for art, I loved the fact that they were standing up for what they believed in. And also, they would not give up no matter what. They would do anything to get to it rain or shine, and life or death. They knew that the artwork would eventually increase in value in culture overtime, so they wanted to make sure that the art was spared, regardless of what would have happened to them. I would never do the same because I don't feel for myself that it's worth dying for art. For people that you care about, that's another story. But for artwork, it would depend on how much that piece meant to you. For me, if I were to choose art or myself, I think that I would be a little bit selfish and choose myself. Artwork is not replaceable, but you can build something at least close to it. But human life cannot be reconstructed. No one can ever create another you.