Thursday, December 26, 2019

Yoohoo! A Theatre Warm-up

This theatre game is an energizing warm-up for use in Theatre Class or with any group that could use a shift in energy! Theatre Skills Taking Cues, Cooperation, Cooperative Movement, Ensemble Playing, Remaining Frozen and Silent Materials Reproduce a copy of the list of cues provided below. Directions/Modeling the Process Ask all participants to stand in an open area and then teach them the following lines: Leader: Yoo-hoo! Group: Yoo-hoo who? Leader: You who†¦ Explain that you as the leader will cue them with words that suggest movements or characters and movements, like this: Leader: You who sneak like thieves. Then the whole group rhythmically repeats the last word in a whisper six times as they move as indicated and then say â€Å"Freeze† and freeze in place: Group: â€Å"Thieves, thieves, thieves, thieves, thieves, thieves, freeze!† The leader then cues the next movement: Leader: Yoo-hoo! Group: Yoo-hoo who? Leader: You who jump with ropes. Group: Ropes, ropes, ropes, ropes, ropes, ropes, freeze! Practice Do a few practice rounds until the participants get the call-and-response lines down and move in rhythm, freezing at the appropriate place: Leader: Yoo-hoo!Group: Yoo-hoo who?Leader: You who move like robots.Group: Robots, robots, robots, robots, robots, robots, freeze!Leader: Yoo-hoo!Group: Yoo-hoo who?Leader: You who style hair.Group: Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, freeze! Teaching Tips It is best if this warm-up can maintain a rhythm in both speech and movements so that it moves quickly. This is why the â€Å"whisper† and â€Å"freeze† aspects of the activity are important. The whispering of the final word in the cue will help to control the noise level. The â€Å"freeze† at the end of each movement section will stop the previous action and prepare participants to listen for a new cue. Having a copy of the list of cues is important so that the leader does not have to think up movement ideas on the spot. Of course, this list can be increased with new ideas, but here is a set of cues to start with: List of Cues You who†¦ †¦bloom like flowers. †¦crawl like babies. †¦sway like palm trees. †¦splash like waves. †¦soar like birds. †¦move like boxers. †¦dance ballet. †¦swirl like tornadoes. †¦walk on tightropes. †¦move like toddlers. †¦swim through water. †¦move like a sharks. †¦play basketball. †¦float like clouds. †¦practice yoga. †¦move like monkeys. †¦dance the hula. †¦figure skate. †¦perform surgery. †¦ski down mountains. †¦run in races. †¦bake a cake. †¦conduct an orchestra. †¦walk like brides. †¦sing in operas. †¦move like royalty. †¦wait on tables. †¦do gymnastics. †¦lift weights. †¦clean houses. †¦row boats. †¦ride horses. †¦paint nails. †¦ride skateboards. †¦wear high heels. †¦drive race cars. †¦ride a bike. †¦play hop scotch. †¦paint a house. †¦walk in mud. †¦reach and stretch. †¦rush to class. †¦taste new food. †¦water ski. †¦take selfies. †¦dance at parties. †¦lead the cheers. †¦throw the ball. †¦sing too loud. †¦take big steps. †¦gaze at stars. Using the Warm-Up in Connection with Curriculum Once the participants understand the format of this theatre game, you can adjust it to apply to an area of study. For example, if you are reading Macbeth, your cues could be: You who†¦ †¦prophesize. †¦long for power. †¦plan and plot. †¦murder kings. †¦see a ghost. †¦rub out spots. Add new cues and save them for future uses of this warm-up. And if you like Yoohoo, you might also like Circle Tableau Game.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The Ford Production Of Ford Pinto - 994 Words

The Ford automobile company began producing the Ford Pinto line up in 1968. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the time of the pinto production was Lee Iacocca. The reason for the decision to mass produce the pinto in a short amount of time is because American automobiles were losing market share to smaller Japanese imports. Lee Iacocca wanted his engineers to design and manufacture a compact car that weighed less than 2,000 pounds and cost less than 2,000 dollars. Because of this monumental task from Lee Iacocca, that meant the ford pinto automobile would have to be built within 25 months instead of the typical 43 months. There are many safety test that is mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration before a vehicle†¦show more content†¦The savings from not installing the baffle was $20.9 million dollars. The Ford Motor Company’s reputation also suffered. From a utilitarian theory, the Ford Motor Company focus on damage arising from this decision of money and nothing else. Money is seen as value by the Ford Motor Company, so by losing money by law suites and protecting the Ford Motor Company employees outweigh the collateral damage the Ford Pintos line up imposes. Jeremy Bentham brings to light the pleasure and pain aspect of what the decision would bring. In this case the Ford Motor Company expresses that the money saved from the recall brings more pleasure to the most amount of people. The money being saved is obviously from not installing the baffle between the gas tank and rear bumper. The consumer will also save money by the Ford Motor Company not issuing a recall. If the Ford Motor Company issued a recall, then the price of the Ford Pinto would be more than what was stated thus maybe making it not comparable to other cars in its class. You must also consider the pain that this decision creates. Because the Ford Motor Company refused to issue a recall to install the baffle between the gas tank and the bumper, it has cr eated pain and suffering to those who were affected by rear-end collision injuries. You have to consider the Ford Motor Company’s reputation after they made the decision to not recall the Ford Pinto toShow MoreRelatedThe Production Of The Ford Pinto1266 Words   |  6 PagesThe Ford Pinto The automotive industry is one of the largest and most important industries in the world, employing over 9 million people directly and producing over 80 million vehicles, accounting for over 5% of the world’s total manufacturing employment per year. An industry that began in the 1890s, it has experienced astounding growth during the 20th and early 21st century. It is an industry characterized by fierce competition and low margins. 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The vehicle engineers were tasked to develop the vehicle and put it into production within 25 months, which was nearly half the time in which the average new vehicle is put into production. The Ford engineers were aware that rear-end impact safety tests were pretty standard at the time, but they were not requiredRead MoreFord Pinto Fires Case Study and Executive Summary Essay1208 Words   |  5 PagesFord Pinto Fires Case Study and Executive Summary John Bonner, Scotti Greenleaf, Rose Scarbrough MGT216 University of Phoenix October 18, 2010 Sarah Nelson Ford Pinto Fires Case Study and Executive Summary Introduction During the Late 1960’s the Ford Motor Company was one of the leading auto manufactures in the United States. Ford was credited with revolutionizing the muscle car era of the 1950’s and 1960’s. During the mid 1960’s Lee Iacocca helped Ford establish itself in the late 1960’sRead MoreFord And The Government Of The Pinto Case1747 Words   |  7 Pages Was Ford to blame in the Pinto case? Christeen Olsen Business Ethics Social Issues 1122 Anoka Ramsey Community College April 26, 2015 Abstract This paper explores several published articles and an overview of the court cases, that bring up the question of ethics and the responsibilities of Ford and the government in the Pinto gas-tank issues of the 1970’s. This paper is intended to ask questions of ethics regarding manufacturers responsibilities when there might be a potential

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Organizational Structure free essay sample

It is also, measured by the number of branch offices and employees, the second largest bank in the world. The bank was established in 1806 as Bank of Calcutta. It is the oldest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent. The Government of India nationalised SBI in 1955 with the Reserve Bank of India having a 60% stake. SBI provides a range of banking products through its vast network in India and overseas, including products aimed at NRIs. With an asset base of $126 billion and its reach, it is a regional banking behemoth. SBI has laid emphasis on reducing the huge manpower through Golden handshake schemes and computerizing its operations. The Bank has also been unsuccessfully trying to improve service quality through a programme called Parivartan or Change. After a 20 year hiatus the Bank will be recruiting 20000 clerks and 3500 officers. [citation needed] So far, more than 2. 4 million have applied. Contents [hide] †¢1 History †¢2 Associate banks †¢3 Growth †¢4 Group companies †¢5 See also [edit] History The roots of the State Bank of India rest in the first decade of 19th century, when the Bank of Calcutta, later renamed the Bank of Bengal, was established on 2 June 1806. Facebook was set up to allow for people just to communicate with one another over the internet and to keep in contact with people that you do not see that often. As things progressed Facebook has become one of the most well-known social media websites out today. Without proper organizational skills then Facebook would not be able to allow all of the advertising spots that they do and would not be as well-known to businesses as they are now. Facebook developed over time to become the top advertising businesses out in the world today and a while back MySpace used to be one of Facebook’s competitors, but with the lack of interaction from businesses Facebook eventually took over having more and more to offer. MySpace was set up to do the same as Facebook but MySpace did nothing but allow people to stay in contact with one another and was mainly friendly with people only who brought them no money and a major lack of businesses appeal. After a while Facebook opened themselves to businesses to go along with the regular amount of friendly communication between people. Businesses took advantage of this opening and corresponded with Facebook to allow businesses to make friends with the people that keep up with them (Meg, 2008). Twitter is another organization that allows for all the same things, but at the same time twitter is more based upon the fact that you can post a status and people can actually track you and keep up with your status knowing what you are doing. Twitter does not really have a business like appeal because there is only advertising while you are on the site and unless you are updating your status there is nothing to do on Twitter so there is no reason to stay logged in. When you log into Facebook you can change your status, see all your friends’ status updates that have happened, there are advertisements on both sides of the screen, there are games to play, and you can find your favorite businesses and talk to their representative’s about what is going on in the business. It allows you to keep up with what is new in the business world. Facebook has a lot of different organizational functions that it goes through and that it lives by. Facebook allows for massive amounts of marketing through advertising, and by allow for the games that are on Facebook (Whyte, 2012). Facebook has many different types of financial stability that allows for them to continue running and these are marketing, businesses pay a good amount to Facebook that is a stable income. Along with the businesses paying them just for their advertising Facebook has a good amount of games that are offered to everyone and these games vary so that everyone has their different types of games that they may like. People are constantly watching what is going on, on Facebook and they have to, to make sure that everything continues to run smoothly, no matter what is going on Facebook stays up, and running. These human resources allows for Facebook to not go down because when a business goes down for just a little bit it can hurt them dramatically and start to make their investors questions their stability (Whyte, 2012). To me Facebook has a Functional structure because each employee and business that runs through Facebook has his or her own set skills and tasks that he or she has to use to get his or her part of his or  her job done. Facebook does not only have a Functional structure but also the organizational design is Functional as well. Facebook is a very stable organization that will continue to run for a very long time, they will continue to be strong, and very well-known not only to people but also to businesses all over the world. Facebook employees each have their own set tasks that they have to complete in the business and if they do not make sure that they get each of their set tasks done then there will be issues with their department and Facebook cannot allow for any of their departments to run into issues. Not only do the employees have their own set jobs that they have to complete but also the businesses that do their advertising through Facebook have to make sure that they information that they are giving to Facebook stays up-to-date and the right advertisements gets used in the proper spots and that their advertisements are correct. Without all of this being done then things could get mixed up and there could end up being issues throughout the entire website and that would do nothing but cause Facebook to fail (Meg, 2008). Every business has its own Structure that is must follow so that it can be successful, their structure is not something that they pick, but it happens to be something that eventually grows over time and becomes their foundation of how the work (Corkindale, 2011). Without organizational structure and organizational design then an organization would not be considered an organization because a true honest Organization is something that is built over time, it may start out as a small business that someone had a dream to start, it had the right management, and the right dreams to grow and grow. When you manage a business the right way and make sure that everything that happens in the business is for the sake of the business the organization structure is developed and the business becomes an organization (Corkindale, 2011). Conclusion The main focused purpose of this organization structure paper was to select two organizations such as Facebook and MySpace. I compared and contrasted the differences of their organizational structures. I also addressed and evaluated their organizational functions that made and determined their organizational structures. I elaborated and explained their organizational design and how these organizations have influenced society especially in the social media world. As we all knew today modern world, every single person has either a Facebook or MySpace account and spend numerous hours online talking, chatting, socializing, staying connected to friends and families, and networking with other work related colleagues or school projects. This has tremendously enhanced communication effectiveness and time limitation.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Virgin Essay Example

Virgin Essay 289 CASE EXAMPLE The Virgin Group Aidan McQuade Introduction The Virgin Group is one of the UK’s largest private companies. The group included, in 2006, 63 businesses as diverse as airlines, health clubs, music stores and trains. The group included Virgin Galactic, which promised to take paying passengers into sub-orbital space. The personal image and personality of the founder, Richard Branson, were highly bound up with those of the company. Branson’s taste for publicity has led him to stunts as diverse as appearing as a cockney street trader in the US comedy Friends, to attempting a non-stop balloon flight around the world. This has certainly contributed to the definition and recognisability of the brand. Research has showed that the Virgin name was associated with words such as ‘fun’, ‘innovative’, ‘daring’ and ‘successful’. In 2006 Branson announced plans to invest $3bn (A2. 4bn; ? 1. 7bn) in renewable energy. Virgin, through its partnership with a cable company NTL, also undertook an expansion into media challenging publicly the way NewsCorp operated in the UK and the effects on British democracy. The nature and scale of both these initiatives suggests that Branson’s taste for his brand of business remains undimmed. Origins and activities Virgin was founded in 1970 as a mail order record business and developed as a private company in music publishing and retailing. In 1986 the company was floated on the stock exchange with a turnover of ? 250m (A362. 5m). However, Branson became tired of the public listing obligations: he resented making presentations in the City to people whom, he believed, did not understand the business. The pressure to create short-term profit, especially as the share price began to fall, was the final straw: Branson decided to take the business back into private ownership and the shares were bought back at the original offer price. We will write a custom essay sample on Virgin specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Virgin specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Virgin specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The name Virgin was chosen to represent the idea of the company being a virgin in every business it entered. Branson has said that: ‘The brand is the single most important asset that we have; our ultimate objective is to establish it as a major global name. ’ This does not mean that Virgin underestimates the importance of understanding the businesses that it is branding. Referring to his intent to set up a ‘green’ energy company producing ethanol and cellulosic ethanol fuels in competition with the oil industry, he said, ‘We’re a slightly unusual company in that we go into industries we know nothing about and immerse ourselves. Virgin’s expansion had often been through joint ventures whereby Virgin provided the brand and its partner provided the majority of capital. For example, the Virgin Group’s move into clothing and cosmetics required an initial outlay of only ? 1,000, whilst its partner, Victory Corporation, invested ? 20m. Wi th Virgin Mobile, Virgin built a business by forming partnerships with existing wireless operators to sell services under the Virgin brand name. The carriers’ competences lay in network management. Virgin set out to differentiate itself by offering innovative This case was updated and revised by Aidan McQuade, University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, based upon work by Urmilla Lawson. Photo: Steve Bell/Rex Features 290 CHAPTER 7 STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGY services. Although it did not operate its own network, Virgin won an award for the best wireless operator in the UK. Virgin Fuels appears to be somewhat different in that Virgin is putting up the capital and using the Virgin brand to attract attention to the issues and possibilities that the technology offers. In 2005 Virgin announced the establishment of a ‘quadruple play’ media company providing television, broadband, fixed-line and mobile communications through the merger of Branson’s UK mobile interests with the UK’s two cable companies. This Virgin company would have 9 million direct customers, 1. 5 million more than BSkyB, and so have the financial capacity to compete with BSkyB for premium content such as sports and movies. 1 Virgin tried to expand this business further by making an offer for ITV. This was rejected as undervaluing the company and then undermined further with the purchase of an 18 per cent share of ITV by BSkyB. This prompted Branson to call on regulators to force BSkyB to reduce or dispose of its stake citing concerns that BSkyB would have material influence over the free-to-air broadcaster. 2 Virgin has been described as a ‘keiretsu’ organisation – a structure of loosely linked, autonomous units run by self-managed teams that use a common brand name. Branson argued that, as he expanded, he would rather sacrifice short-term profits for long-term growth of the various businesses. Some commentators have argued that Virgin had become an endorsement brand that could not always offer real expertise to the businesses with which it was associated. However, Will Whitehorn, Director of Corporate Affairs for Virgin, stated, ‘At Virgin we know what the brand means and when we put our brand name on something we are making a promise. ’ Branson saw Virgin adding value in three main ways, aside from the brand. These were their public relations and marketing skills; its experience with greenfield start-ups; and Virgin’s understanding of the opportunities presented by ‘institutionalised’ markets. Virgin saw an ‘institutionalised’ market as one dominated by few competitors, not giving good value to customers because they had become either inefficient or preoccupied with each other. Virgin believed it did well when it identified such complacency and offered more for less. The entry into fuel and media industries certainly conforms to the model of trying to shake up ‘institutionalised’ markets. Corporate rationale In 2006 Virgin still lacked the trappings of a typical multinational. Branson described the Virgin Group as ‘a branded venture capital house’. 3 There was no ‘group’ as such; financial results were not consolidated either for external examination or, so Virgin claimed, for internal use. Its website described Virgin as a family rather than a hierarchy. Its financial operations were managed from Geneva. In 2006 Branson explained the basis upon which he considered opportunities: they have to be global in scope, enhance the brand, be worth doing and have an expectation of a reasonable return on investment. 4 Each business was ‘ring-fenced’, so that lenders to one company had no rights over the assets of another. The ring-fencing seems also to relate not just to provision of financial protection, but also to a business ethics aspect. In an interview in 2006 Branson cricitised supermarkets for selling cheap CDs. His criticism centred on the supermarkets’ use of loss leading on CDs damaging music retailers rather than fundamentally challenging the way music retailers do business. Branson has made it a central feature of Virgin that it shakes up institutionalised markets by being innovative. Loss leading is not an innovative approach. Virgin has evolved from being almost wholly comprised of private companies to a group where some of the companies are publicly listed. Virgin and Branson Historically, the Virgin Group had been controlled mainly by Branson and his trusted lieutenants, many of whom had stayed with him for more than 20 years. The increasing conformity between personal interest and business initiatives could be discerned in the establishment of Virgin Fuels. In discussing his efforts to establish a ‘green’ fuel company in competition with the oil industry Branson made the geopolitical observation that non-oil-based fuels could ‘avoid another Middle East war one day’; Branson’s opposition to the Second Gulf War is well publicised. In some instances the relationship between personal conviction and business interests is less clear cut. Branson’s comments on the threat to British democracy posed by NewsCorp’s ownership of such a large percentage of the British media could be depicted as either genuine concern from a public figure or sour grapes from a business rival just been beaten out of purchasing ITV. More r ecently Branson has been reported as talking about withdrawing from the business ‘which THE VIRGIN GROUP 291 more or less ran itself now’,6 and hoping that his son Sam might become more of a Virgin figurehead. However, while he was publicly contemplating this withdrawal from business, Branson was also launching his initiatives in media and fuel. Perhaps Branson’s idea of early retirement is somewhat more active than most. Corporate performance By 2006 Virgin had, with mixed results, taken on one established industry after another in an effort to shake up ‘fat and complacent business sectors’. It had further set its sights on the British media sector and the global oil industry. Airlines clearly were an enthusiasm of Branson’s. According to Branson, Virgin Atlantic, which was 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airways, was a company that he would not sell outright: ‘There are some businesses you preserve, which wouldn’t ever be sold, and that’s one. ’ Despite some analysts’ worries that airline success could not be sustained given the ‘cyclical’ nature of the business, Branson maintained a strong interest in the industry, and included airline businesses such as Virgin Express (European), Virgin Blue (Australia) and Virgin Nigeria in the group. Branson’s engagement with the search for ‘greener’ fuels and reducing global warming had not led him to ground his fleets. but rather to prompt a debate on measures to reduce carbon emissions from aeroplanes. At the beginning of the twenty-first century the most public problem faced by Branson was Virgin Trains, whose Cross Country and West Coast lines were ranked 23rd and 24th out of 25 train-operating franchises according to the Strategic Rail Authority’s Review in 2000. By 2002 Virgin Trains was reporting profits and paid its first premium to the British government. xperience with any one of the product lines may shun all the others’. However, Virgin argues that its brand research indicates that people who have had a bad experience will blame that particular Virgin company or product but will be willing to use other Virgin products or services, due to the very diversity of the brand. Such brand confidence helps explain why Virgin should even conte mplate such risky and protracted turnaround challenges as its rail company. Sarah Sands recounts that Branson’s mother ‘once proudly boasted that her son would become Prime Minster’. Sands futher commented that she thought his mother underestimated his ambition. 10 With Virgin’s entry into fuel and media and Branson’s declarations that he is taking on the oil corporations and NewsCorp, Sands may ultimately prove to have been precient in her comment. Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Sunday Telegraph, 4 December (2005). Independent, 22 November (2006). Hawkins (2001a, b). PR Newswire Europe, 16 October (2006). Fortune, 6 February (2006). Independent on Sunday, 26 November (2006). Ibid. The Times 1998, quoted in Vignali (2001). Wells (2000). Independent on Sunday, 26 November (2006). Sources: The Economist, ‘Cross his heart’, 5 October (2002); ‘Virgin on the ridiculous’, 29 May (2003); ‘Virgin Rail: tilting too far’, 12 July (2001). P. McCosker, ‘Stretching the brand: a review of the Virgin Group’, European Case Clearing House, 2000. The Times, ‘Virgin push to open up US aviation market’, 5 June (2002); ‘Branson plans $1bn US expansion’, 30 April (2002). Observer, ‘Branson eyes 31bn float for Virgin Mobile’, 18 January (2004). Strategic Direction, ‘Virgin Flies High with Brand Extensions’, vol. 18, no. 10, (October 2002). R. Hawkins, ‘Executive of Virgin Group outlines corporate strategy’ Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, July 29 (2001a). R. Hawkins, ‘Branson in new dash for cash’, Sunday Business, 29 July (2001b); South China Morning Post, ‘Virgin shapes kangaroo strategy aid liberalisation talks between Hong Kong and Australia will determine carrier’s game-plan’, 28 June (2002). C. Vignali, ‘Virgin Cola’, British Food Journal, vol. 103, no. 2 (2001), pp. 31–139. M. Wells, ‘Red Baron’, Forbes Magazine, vol. 166, no. 1, 7 March (2000). The future The beginning of the twenty-first century also saw further expansion by Virgin, from airlines, spa finance and mobile telecoms in Africa, into telecoms in Europe, and into the USA. The public flotation of individual businesses rather than the group as a whole has become an intrinsic part of the ‘juggling’ of finances that underpins Virgin’s expansion. Some commentators have identified a risk with Virgin’s approach: ‘The greatest threat [is] that . . Virgin brand . . . may become associated with failure. ’8 This point was emphasised by a commentator9 who noted that ‘a customer who has a bad enough Questions 1 What is the corporate rationale of Virgin as a group of companies? 2 Are there any relationships of a strategic nature between businesses within the Virgin portfolio? 3 How does the Virgin Group, as a corporate parent, add value to its businesses? 4 What were the main issues facing the Virgin Group at the end of the case and how should they be tackled?