The Value of Kindness in Bhakti According to Vyasa’s The...

Vyasa’s The Bhagavad Gita, written between 300 B.C.E. and 300 C.E., is regarded as the eternal message of spiritual wisdom from ancient India. Lord Krishna discusses with Arjuna the types of discipline that men should possess, particularly devotion, or bhakti. The purpose of this essay is to show that Krishna’s teaching of bhakti in The Bhagavad Gita entails that one should exhibit kind behavior at all times. Kindness is necessary in the practice of bhakti, and those who devote their utmost faith to Krishna will be granted religious salvation, as shown in the Seventh and Twelfth Teachings. The Bhagavad Gita has also found its place in Hindu culture, and Krishna’s teaching of bhakti influenced Indian society as a whole. In the Seventh Teaching of The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna goes more in-depth on discipline as was discussed in his previous teachings. Krishna explains to Arjuna that devotion, or bhakti, is a discipline that â€Å"involves the performance of discipli ned action (karma)† (Vyasa, 157). Bhakti entails action done for the greater good, which leads to salvation in the end because of one’s compassion. Compassion is kindness to all living beings especially when they are in distress, and those who exhibit compassion are thus qualified to attain association with the Supreme Lord and his devotees. Vyasa’s emphasis on the â€Å"disciplined man of knowledge† is significant in that he is a rare being who is â€Å"set apart by his singular devotion [to Krishna]† (75). This emphasis signifies

Strategic Marketing Planning and Management

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Marketing Planning and Management. Answer: Introduction As per Ward and Peppard, (2016), strategic management refers to the formulation and implementation of major goals and objectives of an organization. Only setting up of the goals cannot be defined as strategic management. In the brooder since, Strategic management means the adoption of various initiatives which is needed to successfully achieve the long term goals and objectives of the company. It is essential to have an effective strategic management for the smooth running of an organization. On the other hand, Value Chain Analysis is another important concept in strategic management as it is an important strategic tool. Value chain is used to analyze the internal activities of a firm. Value chain helps to recognize the most valuable activities and provide the scope of improvement for the weak activities (Hollensen, 2015). The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the strategic management of the company, Google. Google is one of the largest corporations in the world (www.google.c o.in 2016 ). The first part of the study explains Porters five forces model in relation to Google. A values chain analysis is done on Google in the next step of the study. The last part of the study shows that how Google has utilized their capabilities to become one of the best multinational companies in the world. Porters Five Forces Model As per Porter, there are five forces or five factors that decide the competitiveness among the peer organizations (Dobbs, 2014). The barriers are discussed below in details: Porters Five Forces (Source: created by author) The Entry of New Competitors: In the era of the changing digital business, the entrance of new firms is always a potential threat for the existing organizations. Now companies are coming with better digital business plans that have bright future growth potential (Magretta, 2013). Google also had to face some major difficulties at the time to enter in the market of digital business. As per the case study, Google had to face a lot of competitions from various renowned companies. An existing company always has to face a lot of competitions from existing as well as new companies (Tauman, Weiss Zhao, 2015). This is called the threat of new entrants. There were some companies that gave a tough competition at the initial stage of entry. The companies are Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo. Yahoo was invented in the year 1994 to give competition to Google. Its a search engine and at the time of the launch, the aim of the company was to deliver a smooth and effective internet experience to the common people. However, within 5 years of the launch, Google easily outperformed Yahoo (Hirt Willmott, 2014). Another tough competitor was Microsoft. Bill Gates incorporated Microsoft in the year of 1974. From that time, Microsoft has been giving a tough competition to Google. Microsoft offers a large variety of computer and internet services that has changed the way people think about internet and computer (Ward Peppard, 2016). The entry of Apple in this market gave a strong competition to Google. The business strategies from the leaders of Apple changed the mode of business at that time. Apple actually changed the business scenario at the time of economic recession. These are three main competitors whose entrance gave Google a tough competition (Christensen, 2013). Value Chain Analysis Value chain refers to the process of a firms identification of its primary and support activities as these activities add value to the final product of the company (Fearne et al., 2012). As per Porters values chain analysis model, there are five activities that Google follows. These value chain activities are discussed below: Inbound Logistics: Inbound logistics refers to the delivery, transportation and storage of the goods that are coming in a business for the various business activities. As per the company policy of the business, the inbound supply chain management details are not disclosed by Google to anyone. It has been reported that Google is planning to introduce digital transformation in supply chain management by automated drones. There is a dedicated supplier site maintained by Google where the supplier can get all supply related information (Zamora, 2016). Operations: There are 40 countries in the world where Google operates through more than 70 offices. Google is reputed by the creative designs in the offices. There are various features in these offices like pianos, cafes, pool tables, sharing cubs, video games and many others. All the operations of Google are based on the Googles organizational culture which is working in a challenging environment and to adopt unorthodox ways to get things done. As per different views, due to the increase in size in the business operations, the company needs to develop more rules, regulations and policies for the smooth running of the business operations of the company. Sales and Marketing: Google has adopted both online and offline communication channels for the purpose of communicating the marketing message. The communication mixes adopted by Google are advertisement, various events, various public relation campaigns, various events and many others. Google sales are done in the form of online. They have recently started offline sales. Services: There is a forum called the Google forum that is used to give live support to the various issues caused to the Google users. This forum is always available to any kind of technical as well as other issues faced by the user of the company. Google always gives first priority to their customers. From the above analysis, it can be understood that there are some key areas from where Google is creating value for the company. These areas are Human Resource and Technology. Technology is the most important driving force behind the success of Google as Google has been using technology in every aspect of their business. On the other hand, their unique human resource strategy to tackle the employees of the organization has given the company a competitive edge over their competitors. The company is using their technological advantage to solve the various issues of the customers (George, 2013). Core competencies (CC) are the combination of skills and resources that make an organization different and unique from the other organizations. After conducting the value chain analysis on Google, it can be said that this company has some competencies that differentiate it from the other companies. The first CC is the technological advantage that Google uses in every aspect of their business. Ranking algorithm which is used in the Google search engine is another CC. Google has a significant awareness about the change management of the company where necessary. One of the most important CC of Google is their strategic leadership. They have some excellent leaders and an effective management team that ensures the smooth running of the organization. Based on the above discussion it can be said that the software engineering and the infrastructure of the hardware is the major core competencies of the company. On the other hand, the culture of the company and the technological innovation are continuously supporting these above discussed core competencies. These are considered as the core competencies as they are hard to imitate, impossible for the competitors to observe, unique to the customers and satisfy the need if the customers. Ansoffs Matrix Google has been known as one of the fastest growing multinational companies in the world as they have been successful to use their core competencies in an effective manner to grow their business. The Ansoffs Matrix is considered in case of Google. There are four components in the Ansoffs matrix (Darroch, 2014). Three of them are discussed below to analyze how Google has used their core competencies to grow their business. Ansoff Matrix (Source: created by author) Market Penetration: Market penetration refers to the selling of the existing products of the company to the existing customers in order to increase the market share (McDONALD, 2016). As it has been discussed earlier, Google is famous for their innovation in the products. It has been seen that Google has been continuously developed their products to cater to the increasing demands of the customers. For example, todays Google search engine is better and far more improved than the one when it was first launched. This indicates that that Google is always ready to tap the market. There are other instances of improved products by Google like Google advertisements, other Google search engines and many more. Market Development: Market development as per Ansoffs matrix refers to those strategies that help to identify and develop new markets for the current products or the new products. Having change management as one of the core competencies, Google has been successful to develop new markets for its current as well as new products. Search engine used to be the main area of focus for Google one time. However, Google has introduced new products as online advertising, various applications and mobile phones to tap the new market of technology. Here, technological innovation plays an important part with the change management. A lot of people all over the world are using various products of Google and it can be said that the company has become successful to develop new markets for its various products (Thijsen, Tong Leer, 2014). Product Development: Product development strategies are used to develop new products in the market to ensure more growth of the company (Holahan, Sullivan Markham, 2014). Various core competencies are needed for the development of new products. At first, Google came up with the search engine by using one of its core competencies that is raking algorithm. After that, Google has come up with more innovative technological products like Google advertisements, various Google applications, Google mail, mobile phones and many others. As per Google, this progress would not be possible without the help of the leaders of the company like the board of directors and many others. On the other hand, technological improvements and business culture helps them to earn the faith of the customers all around the world. Conclusion As per the above discussion, it can be said that strategic management has an important role to play in the growth of Google. Now-a-days, Google is one of the best multinational corporations all over the world and the core competencies of the organizations have been playing a significant part behind this success. As per the Porters five forces model, it can be seen that a new entrants in the digital industry has to face a lot of difficulties while entering into the market. It can be seen from the above study, there were mainly three companies whose entrance in the market gave a tough challenge to Google. The companies are Yahoo, Apple and Microsoft. Among them, Google easily surpassed Yahoo among five years of launch. However, Microsoft and Apple have been two leading companies along with Google in recent years. As per the above study, the core competencies of Google are identified and they are technological innovation, change management, ranking algorithm, improved hardware and many others. They are the core competencies of the company as they are unique by nature, hard to follow for the competitors, helps to satisfy the needs of the customers and many others. One of the reasons behind the success of Google is that the company has been successful to effectively use the core competencies of them. They have been successful to develop new markets by launching new products by using the core competencies of them. However, there are some areas where Google need improvement. Thus some recommendations are given below: The privacy system of various products of Google has been an emerging issue. Thus, this issue needs to be resolved. There are still a lot of people and places where Google has not reached yet like the areas where there is no development in the digital technology. Hence, the company needs to take necessary steps to tap these markets. Price of the Google products can be reduced in order to avail more people use the products of the company as some of the products are of high price. There is a real scope of the development of the mobile products of Google as it is not as popular as the other products. References Christensen, C. (2013).The innovator's dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business Review Press. Christopher, M. (2016).Logistics supply chain management. Pearson Higher Ed. Company Google. (2016).Google.co.in. Retrieved 3 November 2016, from https://www.google.co.in/about/company/ Darroch, J. (2014). Ansoffs Growth MatrixIn Detail. InWhy Marketing to Women Doesnt Work(pp. 131-147). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness Review,24(1), 32-45. Fearne, A., Garcia Martinez, M., Dent, B. (2012). Dimensions of sustainable value chains: implications for value chain analysis.Supply Chain Management: An International Journal,17(6), 575-581. George, B. (2013). Apple Value Chain analysis. Hirt, M., Willmott, P. (2014). Strategic principles for competing in the digital age.McKinsey Quarterly,2. Holahan, P. J., Sullivan, Z. Z., Markham, S. K. (2014). Product development as core competence: How formal product development practices differ for radical, more innovative, and incremental product innovations.Journal of Product Innovation Management,31(2), 329-345. Hollensen, S., 2015.Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Magretta, J. (2013).Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy. Harvard business press. McDONALD, M. A. L. C. O. L. M. (2016). 5 Strategic marketing planning.The marketing book, 86. Tauman, Y., Weiss, Y., Zhao, C. (2015). Bargaining on the Sale of a New Innovation in the Presence of Potential Entry. Thijsen, T., Tong, T., van Leer, J. (2014). Ansoff Model.Marketing. Ward, J., Peppard, J. (2016).The Strategic Management of Information Systems: Building a Digital Strategy. John Wiley Sons. Zamora, E. A. (2016). Value Chain Analysis: A Brief Review.Asian Journal of Innovation Policy,5(2).

Intel A Corporation Essays - American Brands,

Intel A Corporation "A corporation is a business that, although owned by one or more investors, legally has the rights and duties of an individual. Corporations have the right to buy, sell, and own property. Corporations may make legal contracts, hire and fire workers, set prices, and be sued, fined, and taxed. A business must obtain a charter of incorporation from a state legislature or Congress to be legally recognized as a corporation."(Watson, p211) While corporations didn't exist until the mid to late 1800s, the idea of the corporation had existed since the early 1600s. It all started with English merchants who started trading companies to help fund the early colonies. If the colonies thrived, the stockholders reaped in the profit. (Watson, p211) A corporation is started when a sole proprietorship, a one-owner business, that is the most common form of business institution in the US, or a partnership, an association of two or more people in order to run a business, decides that they don't want to be personally responsible for any loss the company might have. (Watson, p211) Or they might decide that they want the company to "live on" after they die, that is for the business to have "unlimited life". Since neither of these goals can be reached with a sole proprietorship, or a partnership, the owner (or owners, as the case may be) decide that he (they) want to "convert" their business to a corporation. The owner(s) file a charter of incorporation from the government to be legally recognized as a corporation. (Boyd, March, 99) The owner(s) then sell shares of stock, documents representing ownership in the corporation, to investors. These investors buy and sell the stock to small investors, or stockholders. Since there is no limit to the number of shareholders to a company, the investors vote (for every share you own you get one vote) on a board of directors. The board of directors are in charge of hiring the people responsible for the every-day running of the corporation. These positions include, but are not limited to: the president, vice president, and other chief administrators. (Watson, p211-212) If a corporation reaps a profit, investors may receive a dividend, or a share of the monetary gain made by the company. The elected board of directors choose whether the money will go towards profit, expansion of the company, modernization of the company, or research and development. (Watson, p212) "With about 85% of the microprocessor market, Intel is definitely inside. Its microprocessors -- including the Pentium -- have been providing brains for IBM-compatible PCs 1981."(http://thestandard.net?.) Intel started on July 16, 1968 when magnetic core memory was the leading technology at the time. They were trying to make semi-conductor memory practical with silicon memory. Unfortunately for Intel semi-conductor memory cost 100 times more than magnetic core memory, but the silicon had many advantages - smaller size, greater performance, and reduced energy consumption. Then, in late 1968,the Japanese company Busicom asked Intel to produce a series of chips (twelve chips for every unit) for a group of programmable calculators that they were producing. Normally, chips were made specifically for each product. Well, the designers at Intel decided that they would make a general purpose logical chip to replace all of the many different varieties of chips that would go into the different electronics. The logical chip was a major success; the only problem was that Busicom had the rights to the chip. Realizing that this chip could have a major impact on society, the founders Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore praised the new chip, while people in the corporation still wanted to stick with producing memory. Intel bought the rights to the chip from the struggling Japanese company for $60,000, and this "paved the way for Intel's developing vision of ubiquitous (universal) microprocessor-based computing."(?/cn71898a.htm). The 4004 microprocessor set was introduced near the end of 1971. "Smaller than a thumbnail and packing 2300 transistors, the $200 chip delivered as much computing power as the first electronic computer, ENIAC. By comparison, ENIAC relied on 18,000 vacuum tubes packed into 3,000 cubic feet when it was built in 1946. The 4004 executed 60,000 operations in one second, primitive by today's standards, but a major breakthrough at the

Low Book Sales 11 Methods to Give Your Book a Boost Sell More

Low Book Sales 11 Methods to Give Your Book a Boost Sell More Low Book Sales: 11 Methods to Give Your Book a Boost Sell More You wrote a book for a few reasons†¦To fulfill a need in your life and also likely to make some passive income.Both of which are great reasons to write a book but what if only one outcome is coming to fruition and in fact, you’re not making much- if anything- off the hard work you put into your book?It can be really frustrating but we can help. After all, that’s part of what we do here at Self-Publishing School.Low Book SalesMany self-published authors who are doing this on their own may see an encouraging spike in sales early on in their publishing journey.After their launch, however, they check their stats, only to be let down by the low book sales they see. What happened to this vision of an author who actually made a living from their books?While it’s challenging, making a full-time income from your books is possible. You just have to have the right system in place. Our very own coach here at Self-Publishing School, Lise Cartwright, has been able to grow her passive income to over $4,000 per month in sales.And we want to teach you how to do the same.Nobody likes low book sales. If you did, you’d never publish a book in the first place but instead, just hoard your books for yourself to read.But it’s not always just about the money, either. More book sales means that more people are reading your book and changing their lives as a result.Since sharing your book’s deep purpose is linked to book sales, it’s only reasonable to want to learn how to sell more books.Plus, we all like to be paid fairly for the work we put into our books, right?NOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about how to build a platform and maintain consistent book sales in our Sell More Books Program. Learn more about it hereHow to Sell More BooksSo you did it. You went through the arduous process of self-publishing and now you’re left with more questions than when you started.Since your focus was on actually pub lishing your book, you may have overlooked the very important step of making sure it actually sells.Here at Self-Publishing School, we know what it takes to self-publish and maintain your book sales.Just take a look at this student’s results with our methods. Jed Jurchenko committed, and made it happen, so much so that he’s now one of our very own coaches, so he can teach new students how to implement these techniques in the same way he did.Here’s how you can get rid of your low book sales and actually sell more books. #1 Realize the marketing doesn’t stop once you hit â€Å"publish†The best thing for you to do is realize that just because you’ve published, it doesn’t mean the work is done.In order to maintain steady, continuous book sales, you have to set up a foundation in which you can grow from. This often means marketing regularly in order to keep your book in the limelight.For example, the more you market your book, the more vi sitors you’ll get on your book’s page.Why is this important?Because the Amazon algorithm uses other user’s information to make sure your book pops up in the â€Å"Customers who bought this item also bought†¦Ã¢â‚¬  section, as seen in the example below.The more people visit your book’s page, the more information Amazon gathers about those users, and this helps your book land in that spot, which increases sales.#2 Adjust your book description on AmazonThe description you put on Amazon is much like a short sales letter.Why should someone buy your book? What’s in it for them? If they’re going to be paying you money, they often want to ensure they’re getting their money’s worth.Is your Amazon book description written in a captivating way?This is an example of a strong, powerful book description that helps pull in thousands of dollars in sales per month.Here are a few HTLM tips to ensure your book description on Amazon is hel ping increase your book sales:br Create line breaksem Emphasize the enclosed text in italicsfont Determines the appearance of the text within these bracketsh1 to h6 Determines the size of the text (h1 is the largest)hr This creates a horizontal line used to divide sectionsli is used to create lists (it stands for list item)ol creates a numbered liststrong created bolded textu underlines enclosed textIf you need more help, we have an entire blog post all about this topic, you can read right here.#3 Get more reviewsReviews are so important for book sales. Not only do they help readers discover if the book is a good fit for them, but Amazon relies on book reviews heavily in order to determine where to rank your book.The way the algorithm works is to reward authors who are getting consistent, high rating reviews. Meaning, if your book got 50 4 or 5 star reviews during launch and nothing since, it might fall in the rankings compared to a book that has fewer reviews, but had received the m on a consistent basis.The reason for this is because Amazon wants to promote books that are consistently getting sales and are pleasing the people actually buying them.So it’s your job to get out there and increase your reviews!Here are a few ways you can work to get more reviews (and we have a whole blog post about this here if you want to head over and read that):Add a section about reviewing the book within your bookHost giveaways with a review as one of the criteria to enterRemind people to write a review if they reach out about your bookIn order to increase your book sales, getting more reviews is essential. Don’t underestimate the power of a book review.#4 Create adsIf you’re willing to invest in your book, creating ads on Amazon and even BookBubs is a great way to increase your sales.Make sure you’re not putting more in than what you’re making. In order to ensure you’re using the ads to the best of your abilities, check out this po st about how to create unique Amazon ads to help your book stand out against the rest.#5 Host a relaunchA great way to help your book gain momentum again is to host a relaunch. This could be just a fun event where you get another launch team together to promote your book, or you could also put out a hardcover copy and host a launch for it.As of right now, Amazon does not allow printing of hardcover books, but you can use other sources like IngramSpark for your hardcover.This will bring new attention to your book and when you have more than one version (paperback, hardback, and kindle), you’re seen as more of an authority, which can skyrocket your sales.#6 Reassess your keywords on AmazonAuthors need to start treating Amazon like a search engine, because that’s what it is. But in its case, you’re searching for products and not just information, like you do in Google.Without hitting the right keywords, you can lose out on sales that should rightfully be yours, s imply because your book isnt’ showing up when someone looks for its contents.Take this, for example.If you search for the term â€Å"be happier† in the â€Å"books† category on Amazon, a number of results pop up.We go into even more details of this in our VIP Self-Publishing course, which you can check out right here.#7 Assess your categoriesThe categories you place your book in can make or break your chances of becoming an Amazon bestselling author!Do not make light of this.When you put in your information on Amazon, you’re able to select which categories your book belongs in. These are what’s shown in the example image below.We have a blog post covering this topic in much more detail than you can read right here, but we’ll give you the basics for getting approved for more categories:Use Amazon Keyword Selection. Place your categories in strategic places.Contact Amazon. These category placements are what will attract the right readers and help you become a bestseller remember that!#8 Upgrade your author bioYou want to make sure that people searching Amazon for the types of books you write can find you easily. And sometimes, that means optimizing your Amazon Author bio so others can do so.Take this example of Joanna Penn’s author bio.As you can see, she has a few keywords right away in her biography, which can help those searching for authors who cover the same material she does.Not only that, but she also posts â€Å"author updates† to keep her bio fresh. This shows others that she’s active, which can motivate them to purchase from her, since they know she’s frequently available.#9 Get book endorsementsBook endorsements are one of the best ways you can place yourself as more of an authority in your field. When others see that your book has an endorsement by someone they deem as highly credible, it can prompt them to purchase from you.The reason for this is because they already trust the person who is endorsing you.Since they may not have heard of you before, they might feel less inclined to purchase from you.But having a book endorsement from someone they trust will help calm their qualms so they purchase.Take this example of a book endorsement by one of our students, Cloris Kylie, and her book Beyond Influencer Marketing.#10 Land interviewsInterviews are a powerful way to get your name out and show people just how much you know about the topic you’ve discussed.Whether this is an in-person interview, like one of our youngest students, Emma Sumner as she discusses her book, The Fairies of Waterfall Island: The Search for the Missing Crystal, or an interview on a podcast, you can only benefit from allowing others to ask you questions about your book. Because you’re leveraging someone else’s audience, you can increase your book sales from those who may not have been able to find you or your book through other means.#11 Be consistentOverall, the best thing you can do for you and your low book sales is to be consistent with your methods of marketing.As scary as the term â€Å"marketing† can be, there are many ways you can up your exposure in order to increase your book sales.Our most successful students are those who put in the work and remain consistent in their efforts to sell more books.What’s to do NextAre you ready to increase your low book sales and turn your passion into consistent passive income?Were ready for you!

Brokeback Mountain

The movie opens in 1963 in Wyoming when two young cowboys are looking for work as sheep herder. The two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), are sent to Brokeback mountain to herd sheep’s and it is there that both fall in love with each other. After this realization, both go their separate ways; Ennis back home to his sweetheart, Alma (Michelle Williams) and Jack to Texas to be a rodeo rider. Four years later, the two are reunited when Jack visits Ennis. At this point both men are married with kids; Ennis to Alma and Jack to Lureen (Anne Hathaway). The two meet together once a year in Brokeback Mountain, the one place both men feel safe and comfortable to express their love for each other, over a 20-year period. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal masterfully portrayed their characters to a tee. Ennis Del Mar is a very simple and quite man who just wants to find a place for himself in the world while Jack Twist is outgoing, full of dreams which, due to the blatant homophobia of the time and location, cannot come true. Jack’s dream is to live with Ennis in their own ranch, a dream that Ennis knows is unrealistic. Ennis is tormented by his love for Jack because as a child he witnessed what happened to a man who lived in a union others deemed not right while Jack is tormented by Ennis’s refusal to accept and acknowledge their relationship beyond Brokeback Mountain. Some in the mainstream media, which took some people by surprise, positively received Brokeback Mountain. The movie was critically praised and received many awards for the actors and director. Heath Ledger was nominated for the best actor category in a drama, Michelle Williams for best supporting actress in a drama and Ang Lee for director, which he won at the Oscar’s. Since Brokeback Mountain came out, there have been several shows and movies that have gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender and transsexual (tblg) characters featured. Ang Lee said it best when he accepted his award for director for Brokeback Mountain â€Å"the power of movies to change the way we’re thinking† (Globes goes to ‘Brokeback’, ‘Walk the lines’; International Herald Tribute, January 17, 2006). Only time will tell if this will led to society being more open-minded of people from the tblg community. A good indication of acceptance is when such movies are classified as a romantic movie instead of a ‘gay cowboy movie’ Brokeback Mountain Brokeback Mountain The movie opens in 1963 in Wyoming when two young cowboys are looking for work as sheep herder. The two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), are sent to Brokeback mountain to herd sheep’s and it is there that both fall in love with each other. After this realization, both go their separate ways; Ennis back home to his sweetheart, Alma (Michelle Williams) and Jack to Texas to be a rodeo rider. Four years later, the two are reunited when Jack visits Ennis. At this point both men are married with kids; Ennis to Alma and Jack to Lureen (Anne Hathaway). The two meet together once a year in Brokeback Mountain, the one place both men feel safe and comfortable to express their love for each other, over a 20-year period. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal masterfully portrayed their characters to a tee. Ennis Del Mar is a very simple and quite man who just wants to find a place for himself in the world while Jack Twist is outgoing, full of dreams which, due to the blatant homophobia of the time and location, cannot come true. Jack’s dream is to live with Ennis in their own ranch, a dream that Ennis knows is unrealistic. Ennis is tormented by his love for Jack because as a child he witnessed what happened to a man who lived in a union others deemed not right while Jack is tormented by Ennis’s refusal to accept and acknowledge their relationship beyond Brokeback Mountain. Some in the mainstream media, which took some people by surprise, positively received Brokeback Mountain. The movie was critically praised and received many awards for the actors and director. Heath Ledger was nominated for the best actor category in a drama, Michelle Williams for best supporting actress in a drama and Ang Lee for director, which he won at the Oscar’s. Since Brokeback Mountain came out, there have been several shows and movies that have gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender and transsexual (tblg) characters featured. Ang Lee said it best when he accepted his award for director for Brokeback Mountain â€Å"the power of movies to change the way we’re thinking† (Globes goes to ‘Brokeback’, ‘Walk the lines’; International Herald Tribute, January 17, 2006). Only time will tell if this will led to society being more open-minded of people from the tblg community. A good indication of acceptance is when such movies are classified as a romantic movie instead of a ‘gay cowboy movie’ Brokeback Mountain Brokeback Mountain

Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 22

Paper - Essay Example The sculptures were to serve as funerary shrines to the Medici. The strength of curved Michelangelos sculptures reflected on an intricate symbolism of Human Life. Based on the symbolisms, contemplative life and active life interact to liberate the soul after death. The philosophical concept was closely linked to Michelangelos own spiritual beliefs. The architectural prowess displayed by Michelangelo, within the new sacristy was simply amazing. In the new sacristy is where one can see Michelangelo’s prowess as an architect rather than a sculptor or painter. The construction of the structure was inspired by the design of pantheon dome located in Rome. The domed ceiling in the new sacristy was a replica of a scaled down version of the pantheon dome. Michelangelo admired the beauty, harmony and elegance displayed within pantheon dome and this he used as an inspiration in the new sacristy construction and design. It is at the entrance of the new sacristy where the tombs of Lorenzo the magnificent and his brother Guiliano lie in a simple stone

Developing and Presenting a Strategic Plan Research Paper

Developing and Presenting a Strategic Plan - Research Paper Example ? time, the company has gone through rapid growth and it became a powerhouse with yearly worldwide production facility of 117 million square meters of ceramic and porcelain tiles (RAK, 2015). In addition to this, production capacity for sanitary ware is 4.6 million and the annual turnover is of US$ 1 billion. The company is a true global leader and a jewel in the manufacturing industry of entire Middle East (Superbrands, 2014). It received the Super brands awards for the sixth consecutive year which shows how well it is performing in the ceramic lifestyle category. 2. Gres Procellanato: RAK Ceramics produces numerous glazed and unglazed porcelain having different types of finishing touches. For example, polished, stones, mosaic, rustic etc. These are ideal for both homes and offices. RAK Ceramics began its legacy with a vision to meet world standards for good quality. Over the period of twenty years, the company has further built on its vision and aims to be an innovative leader in the ceramics’ category (RAK, 2015). The mission of the company is to responsibly and knowledgeably deliver eight core values. These are: Mahmood (2012) suggested that the company was able to maintain its position as the number one position ceramic producer of the world for two consecutive years. This shows how well the management is working in line with the vision and mission. RAK Ceramics aims to reach the highest heights in the field of ceramics by producing hi-tech lifestyle solutions. The company wants to be the most preferred option around the world for tiles and ceramics. The company believes that excellence is well embedded into the system and it strives to achieve excellence in technology. In addition, the company refers to excellence in technology as the ‘Organizational DNA’ with which it envisions to achieve the hallmark of success (Annual Report, 2010). The internal analysis of a company includes the company’s strengths and weaknesses. This section would closely