Contrast Of Films And Literature Film Studies Essay

Contrast Of Films And Literature Film Studies Essay There are many things to be considered when comparing literature and film. Using the knowledge gained in class, the differences between literature and film will be explained with a focus on the film and literature of Oedipus Rex. This play makes you think and shows us how important the theater was and still is as a way of communicating a playwrights ability to build something from the inside out. In addition, adapting literature to a film is a challenge for sure, and since the beginning, films have been considered the realm of the actors and the script itself. The process of characters construction, the techniques, the language, and the references are very important aspects to be considered while making films because after all they are based on the play itself, which the directors will reduce in size to fit in a time frame between one and three hours. By looking and thinking critically, plays and films are dedicated to each other; films are just a new way of thinking. Many films were made based on books which were used to tell a story about something. For example, telling the reader or the viewer about the life of a person doomed to be destroyed by its own wrong doings; a kingdom whose people are suffering because of political arrogances due to family problems including a drunk king that cares about his own well-being; or a love story ending in tragedy dramatized by the separation of the two main characters. Of course there is more to these stories that films do not always depict, in some cases the literary text makes us think about morals, gives us advice, or poses questions about real life circumstances. Sometimes the film does not always portray this and a more in-depth analysis will be found by reading the actual play. The video created in 1984, Oedipus the King with Michael Pennington, Claire Bloom and John Shrapnel, translated and directed by the late Don Taylor, can show the spectacular performances of all the actors, especially King Oedipus. The techniques used by the director draws attention, while the other elements used in the video including the sound, light, and fog direct you to another point of view and create the reality of the situation. The costumes were appropriate for the time period, except for the main character, Oedipus the King was dressed in a white suit while the others were dressed for the correct time period. Maybe this decision was made by the director to separate Oedipus from the rest of the actors, or it is possible it could be a mistake not realized until after the film was done. The film is fantastic but it cannot be, in any way, a replacement for the original play by Sophocles. (http://www.encyclopedia.com/video/OpqVmviDEvk-oedipus-king-part-212.aspx) One of the differences among the film and the play is the approach for understanding. If people who has recently read the play and have been asked what the play intends to tell, it is possible to have some different answers, which will be in accordance with the concerns and priorities of each reader. Now, if a group of people was just done watching the video and have been asked the same questions, even after the film not being the same as the original script, the possibility of having the same answer is much more like because the film captures the viewers attention at the same time by all the effects used. The version of Oedipus the King starring Christopher Plummer, made in 1967 by U.K production directed by Philip Saville, brought the story to life. In the beginning of the film we can see Oedipus as adult attacking his father on the wagon and killing him. This part is presented as slides of pictures to demonstrate how it began; each picture can be used as a flash back, as you watching the film, to explain a little more about the details and the use of images as an alternative from language used for plays. Sometimes people can lose interest reading the play, but with the growing fascination and effects of films its almost impossible to lose concentration in what is going on. (http://www.youtube.com/watch#!videos=atN3Ko8Ni3Mv=EUzr-48JIwM) The Chorus in this video, with no doubts, calls the attention of the viewers and carries a very important part of the video. It symbolizes the people of Thebes and acts as a guide, directing our attention to the truth about what is going on. In addition, it acts as the voice of reason, when Oedipus does not. After each part, the chorus has a task which is to clarify and guide the audience to what is happening with more details, explanations and sometimes mediators. For example when Tiresias reveals Oedipus fate to the Chorus, the chorus remains inert: But that a mortal seer knows more than I know-where Hath this been proven? Or how without sign assured, can I blame Him who saved our State when the winged songstress came, Tested and tried in the light of us all, like gold assayed? How can I now assent when a crime is on Oedipus laid? (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31/31-h/31-h.htm / (Ant. 2) after last words of Teiresias) Most of the Greek plays written were done in very different society than the one we live in today and most of the time it was presented to one entire community in which were used to seeing and experiencing this kind of activity at that time. This is one of the main challenges in which directors face today to produce a film. The directors have to work not only with the spectacular mythical traditions of the play but they have to somehow combine the old tactics into a modern way to draw the attention of viewers. (http://wogone.com/iq/Sophocles_Oedipus_Rex_in_Modern_Film.pdf) One of the differences between literature and the films are the interpretations. Most of the audiences today grown without the recognition of ancient literature and begin their journeys focusing directly to films. After learning that about the particular film they have watched was made from a play or a book, the viewers can become more interested to the subject and most of the times they find themselves reading the scripts. In a dissertation undertaken as part of the requirements for the degree of B.A. joint honors in Classical Literature, Civilization and Russian Studies called Sophocles Oedipus Rex in Modern Film using the film done by Pier Pasolini, an Italian poet, intellectual, film director, writer and creator of Oedipus Rex filmed in the summer of 1967, N. Woodbridge from the University of Birmingham wrote: Another major choice facing the director is whether to produce modern tragedy in the medium of the theatre or of film. Theatre is often considered more conducive to Greek tragedy as it was the original medium used. Film can be thought to be incompatible with Greek tragedy as there are obvious difficulties in transferring plays which have existed for 2500 years into a medium that has only existed in the last century. (http://wogone.com/iq/Sophocles_Oedipus_Rex_in_Modern_Film.pdf / line 31) In this work Pasolini had a true vision based on the original work of Sophocles. The movie adaptation is considered by many to be a frustrating and boring film while others classify as a beautiful work. Many also felt that the double period of time was a bit confusing, modern at the beginning and end of the film and basically ancient in the middle. However, Pasolini used a chronological order showing the full circle of his work. In addition, his work was very close to the original work of Sophocles, it shows that the life of Oedipus was predetermined and governed by his fate. The dedication and talent of Pasolini and his production team were the main input responsible for the perfect adaptation of this famous tragedy into film version. The tragedy of Oedipus, whether written or in film, shows the values given by the Greek tradition. Reading or watching people somehow sympathize with Oedipus, crying to his tragic fate and at the same time purifying the emotions of the readers and viewers. The tragic error of Oedipus was his pride and arrogance to his indestructibility. People also can feel suspense and fear because the reader knows what will happen to Oedipus in the end. The perfect demonstration of how life can change and show a person cannot, in any way, diverts its fate. Sophocles used a combination of special intelligence and creativity by mixing mythology and tragedy into this perfect play. Without a doubt, all tragedies created by Sophocles are considered exceptional for its quality of work and its power, bringing more attention into our new generation.

Parenting Styles in Different Cultures Essay

Parenting style is one of many factors that strongly influence child development. One’s choice of parenting style is most often molded by their cultural background. American parents use a myriad of parenting styles, all of which have their roots in various cultural beliefs about which method is best to raise a child. In 1971, clinical and developmental psychologist, Diana Baumrind, recognized three different categories of parenting styles that she believed described most parents’ methods (Berger, 2011). Parents who fell into the authoritarian style of parenting set high standards and strict rules for their children. Disobedience was not tolerated and was met with harsh consequences, often physical. The authoritarian parent rarely showed affection or concern for their children’s emotional needs. On the other side of the spectrum was a permissive style of parenting that was characterized by no boundaries or discipline, but did include a lot of parental involvement and affection. Authoritative parenting was the third style Baumrind identified. She believed this style produced the most happy, well-adjusted, and successful children and adolescents (Baumrind, 1971). An authoritative parent set high clear standards for their children. They respected their children’s opinions and concerns and offered plenty of support and encouragement. This style is often referred to as the balanced or â€Å"democratic† style. Later a fourth category was added by Maccoby and Martin, who recognized a neglectful parenting style (Berger, 2011; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). The neglectful parent provided for the basic needs of their children, but nothing else. This style involved no demands, boundaries, emotional support, guidance or affection. The mother and father that utilized this method basically detached from their children. While these four categories are still widely used today to classify the types of parenting, many recent studies indicate that the results of Baumrind’s research are not culturally universal. â€Å"Parenting styles developed on North American samples cannot be simply translated to other cultures, but instead must reflect their sociocultural contexts† (Chao, 1994). This paper will further research the variability of effective parenting styles across cultures and explore some of the reasons for these variations. Based on the results of initial research and subsequent studies, Baumrind was a firm advocate of the authoritative parenting style claiming that it was the most successful of the parenting types in producing a positive child outcome (Baumrind, 1971). Authoritarian parenting tended to raise children who performed well academically and had a low involvement in problem behavior. However, they also had â€Å"poorer social skills, lower self-esteem, and higher levels of depression† (Darling, 1999). In contrast, while permissive parenting tended to raise children who had higher levels of self-esteem and were better socialized, they didn’t perform well in school and exhibited more problem behavior (Baumrind, 1991). Children raised by neglectful parents had the most negative results, with poor academic performance, low self-esteem, and high involvement in problem behavior (Baumrind, 1991). For years these results were extrapolated and generalized to describe all families and, although her work continues to be influential (Berger, 2011), many recent studies have found Baumrind’s conclusions regarding the success and failure rate of each of the parenting styles to be inaccurate when applied to a broader population. This is primarily due to her ethnocentric research design (Chao, 1994). The demographic for Baumrind’s study sample consisted of 100 preschool children that were mainly of white, European-American, middle-class families in California (Berger, 2011). Influential variables such as culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, family size, religion, and the individual temperaments of both parent and child were not controlled or accounted for. If they were, very different results would have been found because each culture has different goals, values, and expectations of their citizens. Thus, the children will be socialized under different conditions. Aut horitarian and permissive parenting styles practiced in select cultures outside of the European-American context exemplify this. Criticized by many Westerners for its harshness and controlling approach, authoritarian parenting has found more success in Asian and Arab cultures (Grusec, Rudy, & Martini, 1997; Dwairy et al., 2006). In Asian cultures, which would include the Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Japanese, etc., Confucian principles are strongly embraced, and therefore, profoundly shape social relationships and moral ethics. In particular, Confucius stressed that a person should respect and obey authority without question, and to seize every opportunity to learn and perfect oneself (Chao, 1994). Rooted in this philosophy, Asians have chosen to use a very strict, controlling, and restrictive approach to parenting. Recently adding fuel to the notion that Asian’s authoritarian parenting style is harsh, oppressive, and sometimes even cruel, is the controversial book, â€Å"Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom,† by Amy Chua (2011), a Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Chua’s book shares her experiences raising her two daughters â€Å"the Chinese way.† Some of her memoirs describing her authoritarian parental tactics were viewed by the American public as disturbing. Chua (2011) shares that she never allowed her daughters to have a play date, be in a school play, attend overnights, date boys, attend school dances, watch TV or movies, or make any grade less than an A in school. Furthermore, she required her girls to be number one in every class, drilled them daily in Math and Chinese, and made them practice violin and piano three hours a day. Chua recognizes that she was intentionally very strict like most traditional Chinese families, but she was very involved and loving as well. Chua admits to threatening, yelling, and even calling her children degrading names at times in order to motivate them. She believes that most Westerners cringe at this type of parenting approach because they are interpreting her methods based on Western culture instead of Chinese culture. What Asian parents and children recognize as a training environment, Westerners interpret as a controlling one. Ruth Chao (1994), from the University of California, points out a critical difference between Western and Asian authoritarian parenting. The Western version described by Baumrind, â€Å"emphasizes an absolute standard of conduct from children without explaining, listening, or providing emotional support† (Baumrind, 1971). Chao (1994) describes authoritarian parenting as, â€Å"encompassing a set of standards of conduct enforced by parents and the community. These standards are imposed not to dominate the child, but rather to assure familial and societal goals of harmonious relations with others and the integrity of the family unit.† Based on these different interpretations of authoritarian parenting, it is apparent why the two culture’s results are so dissimilar. Among European-Americans, the style is associated with parental hostility and dominance (Martà ­nez, 2008). But for most Asian children, parental obedience and strictness is usually interpreted as parental concern, caring, and involvement, motivated by their parents’ belief that they are capable of excelling (Chao, 1994). Because they feel loved and supported by their parents, Asian children have higher self-esteem when raised with the authoritarian style than do European-American adolescents (Chao, 1994). Similarly, some studies have shown that in Arab societies, authoritarian parenting is not associated with low self-esteem or other negative effects on adolescents’ mental health as it is in Western societies (Dwairy, Achoui, Abouserie, & Farah, 2006). The permissive or indulgent parenting style is often considered too lax by the European-American culture. They found that with this approach children and adolescents were â€Å"more likely to be involved in problem behavior and perform less well in school, but they had a higher self-esteem, better social skills, and lower levels of depression† (Darling, 1999). Like authoritarian parenting however, permissive parenting has found more success outside of the European-American culture. For example, in a research study designed to establish which parenting style is associated with optimum youth outcomes among adolescents of Spanish families, the results found indulgent parenting to be the best approach in the Spanish cultural context (Garcà ­a & Gracia, 2009). This study attributed permissive parenting’s high success rate in Spain and Italy to the style’s compatibility with their â€Å"horizontal collectivist† culture (Garcà ­a & Gracia, 2009). Horizontal collectivism â€Å"perceives the self as a part of the collective and sees all members of the collective as the same; thus equality is stressed† (Singelis et al., 1995). Therefore, parenting styles that lack a hierarchal parent-child relationship, are low in strictness, and high in affection work best. In their study, Garcà ­a and Gracia (2009) found that Spanish adolescents raised by indulgent parents had higher self-esteem, were more socialized, and performed well in school. Garcà ­a and Gracia (2009) concluded that the most successful parenting style was determined by a country’s culture type, based on the dimensions of equality value and perception of self. The findings of other research studies seem to support this conclusion. Martà ­nez and Garcà ­a (2008) conducted a similar study in Brazil, another horizontal collectivist culture, and found that permissive parenting was favored there as well. Another study in Mexico found that authoritative and permissive parenting had equally positive outcomes (Martà ­nez, Garcà ­a, & Yubero, 2007). Garcà ­a and Gracia (2009) use their theoretical idea to account for the variance of preferred parenting styles across cultures, stating: In a cultural context, such as Spain, which has been described as horizontal collectivistic, egalitarian rather than hierarchal relations are emphasized, and strictness in parental practices would not have the positive meaning they would have in other contexts such as the United States—characterized by vertical individualism—or Asian cultures—characterized by vertical collectivism. This statement would explain the success of strict authoritarian parenting in Asiatic and Arab countries and authoritative parenting in the United States. Neglectful or uninvolved parenting is the least successful parenting style in European-American culture (Berger, 2011; Darling, 1999). In fact, it is universally viewed as a destructive approach to child development (Darling, 1999). A child who receives the message that they are worthless or unloved is going to have very low self-esteem and suffer from weak social skills. Very often, children with uninvolved parents stop relying on their parents and try to provide for themselves so they don’t feel the sting of rejection and disappointment. A study by Maccoby and Martin (1983) researched adolescents between the ages of 14-18 in four areas: psychological development, school achievement, internalized distress, and problem behavior. Their results concluded that adolescents from homes with neglectful or uninvolved parents scored the lowest in all areas (Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Another more recent study performed at Brigham-Young University indicated that teens from homes that prov ided accountability and warmth were least prone to heavy drinking (Bahr & Hoffmann, 2010). This does not fair well for children raised by the neglectful approach because both warmth and accountability are absent. Although authoritative parenting isn’t as generalizable as Baumrind once thought, it is still more widely successful across cultures than any of the other styles. Many of the studies mentioned in this paper found that, if authoritative parenting was not the most successful in producing a positive child outcome, then it was almost always the second most effective. This was the case among Arab, Asian, Spanish, Brazilian, and Mexican adolescents (Grusec et al., 2007; Dwairy et al., 2006; Garcà ­a & Gracia, 2009; Martà ­nez & Garcà ­a, 2008; Martà ­nez et al., 2007). However, the United States isn’t the only country in which authoritative parenting outranks the other styles in producing a positive child outcome. Research has shown that Great Britain finds this parenting type most effective as well. One study, conducted by Tak Wing Chan (2011) from Oxford University, found that British children raised in authoritative homes were associated with high self-esteem and well-being, and were less likely to engage in problem behavior, such as smoking, drinking, fighting, or have friends who used drugs. Additionally, when compared to those from permissive and authoritarian families, authoritative-raised adolescents made higher grades and stayed in school longer (Chan & Koo, 2011). The French also seem to advocate an authoritative style of parenting. In the recent book by Pamela Druckerman entitled, â€Å"Bringing Up Bà ©bà ©,† a work that people have been calling the next â€Å"Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom,† the author explained French methods for parenting (Kingston, 2012). During an interview, Druckerman said of French parenting that, â€Å"it’s a balance between what North Americans view as old-school parenting where parents have a lot of authority, and a much more modern form of parenting where they speak to children and listen to them but don’t feel they must do everything children say† (Kingston, 2012). This description certainly falls in to Baumrind’s definition of authoritative parenting. In a study of French adolescents regarding parenting style and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, researchers found that adolescents whose parents provided both parental control and emotional support were less likely to partake in activities involving those substances (Choquet et al., 2008). While this paper could continue on and on, its point has clearly been made that culture plays a large factor in determining the most effective parenting style. Based on the information gathered, one can see that Baumrind’s conclusion declaring the authoritative style as the best form of parenting cannot be accurately applied to all families across all cultures. It is not as simple as translating her model of parenting to fit other cultural contexts, because each culture has a different set of values, ideologies, history, and goals. Behaviors are not interpreted in the same way. Even in the United States, Braumind’s model does not always fit. For example, low socioeconomic status is associated with a more strict authoritarian style (Berger, 2011). African-Americans are also associated with more parental control and blended families bring in multiple parenting styles. As demonstrated by Americans’ criticisms toward Asian parenting, it is important to not stereotype other cultures parenting approaches because they might not be accurately interpreted. References Bahr, S.J., Hoffmann, J.P. (2010). Parenting style, religiosity, peers, and adolescent heavy drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 71(4), 539-543. Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology Monographs, 4(1, Part 2). Baumrind, D. (1989). Rearing competent children. Child development today and tomorrow (p. 349-378). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance abuse. Journal of Early Adolescents, 11, 56-95. Berger, K. (2011). The developing person through the life span. (8 ed.). New York: WORTH. Chan, T. W., & Koo, A. (2011). Parenting style and youth outcomes in the uk. European Sociological Review, 27(3), 385-399. doi: 10.1093/esr/jcq013 Chao, R.K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child Development, 65(4), 1111-1119. Choquet, M., Hassler, C., Morin, D., Falissard, B., & Chau, N., (2008). Perceived parenting styles and tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use among French adolescents: Gender and family structure. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 43(1), 73-80. Chua, A. (2011, January 8). Why chinese mothers are superior. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html Darling, N. (1999). Parenting style and its correlates. Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, 1-3. Retrieved from ERIC database (ED427896). Dwairy, M., Achoui, M., Abouserie, R., & Farah, A. (2006). Parenting styles in Arab societies: A first cross-regional research study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37(4), 1-18. Garcia, F., & Gracia, E. (2009). Is always authoratative the optimum parenting style? evidence from spanish families. Adolescence , 44(173), 101-131. Grusec, J.E., Rudy, D., & Martini, T. (1997). Parenting cognitions and child outcomes: An overview and implications for children’s internalization of values. Parenting and children’s internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (p. 259-282). New York: Wiley. Kingston, A. (2012). Why the french are better parents: The interview. Retrieved from http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/02/10/why-the-french-do-it-better-and-why-your-toddler-should-be-eating-braised-endives/ Maccoby, E.E., Martin, J.A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. Handbook of child psychology, 4, 1-101. Martà ­nez, I., Garcà ­a, J. F., & Yubero, S. (2007). Parenting styles and adolescents’ self-esteem in Brazil. Psychological Reports, 100, 731-745. Martà ­nez, I., & Garcà ­a, J. F. (2008). Internalization of values and sel f-esteem among brazilian teenagers from authoratative, indulgent, authoritarian, and neglectful homes. Adolescence, 43(169), 13-29. Singelis, T. M., Triandis, H. C., Bhawuk, D. P. S., & Gelfand, M. J. (1995). Horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism: A theoretical and measurement refinement. Cross-cultural research, 29(3), 240-275. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Horizontal collectivism is a term that comes from a two-dimensional concept in which the horizontal-vertical spectrum measures the value of equality versus the emphasis on hierarchy, and the individual-collective spectrum measures the perception of self as an independent individual versus the perception of self as a part of the collective or community (Singelis, Triandis, Bhawuk, & Gelfand, 1995).

Global Wine War Essay

Introduction Human beings have been dealing with wine for thousands of years, from the Mesopotamians to the ancient Egyptians, from the Greeks to the ancient Romans, the latter which under their vast empire spread viticulture through the Mediterranean region. Through centuries countries, such as France and Italy, obtained a consolidated position in the wine industry, both in demand and production. In the last part of the 20th century newcomers (Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, USA, etc.) have successfully challenged the leadership of the so-called Old World that represented the majority of global market share. Wine Industry Analysis using the Porter’s Five forces Model A brief Porter’s five forces analysis can help understand how the evolving of competitive environment is actually composed and why this market shake occurred. Figure 1. 1: Porter’s Five Forces Model For what concerns the threat of new entrants; the Old World companies completely underestimated this threat. When the newcomers entered the market they could bargain market share of the pre-existing ones without facing real opposition, exploiting better marketing strategies and more efficient organizational approaches. Regarding to the threat of substitute products; this seems to be a challenge for the future, with the introduction of branding as a marketing approach; the threats from the beer industry and â€Å"soft drinks† producers must be taken into account. Referring to the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, the entrants are in a much better position because of bigger production plants which allow them to gain a stronger contractual power towards distributors; moreover their value chains are more concentrated removing the troubles of the too much fragmentation and variety of actors between the producer and the consumer, which on the contrary, Old World’s competitors are facing. Furthermore analyzing the rivalry among existing competitors it is possible to understand that the traditional producers are facing much more difficulties, because they cannot exploit advantages the newcomers have, such as professional management, large marketing investments and economies of scale and scope. Unfortunately, these are not the only intricacies they are bearing with; the pre-existing producers have always been in competition one against the other, making it more difficult to achieve competitive advantages through cooperation. Eventually the newcomers are concentrating their action in the new growing markets while the old ones are still mainly struggling in the Old World declining markets. Network value analysis It is also of a relevant importance introducing the Chain Value Model that was at first presented by Porter in â€Å"Competitive Advantage. Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance†. This model was introduces in order to better understand the activities through which a firm, in particular a wine firm, develops a competitive advantage and creates shareholder value (fig. 1. 2). Concerning the primary activities we can see that in both the inbound and the outbound network logistics, the NW producers managed to reduce costs of transport and warehousing, exploiting new technologies of packaging (an example is the Australian â€Å"wine-in-a-box† instead of the classic glass bottle. ) Analyzing the outbound logistics, it is possible to explore the fact that as consequence of being big multinationals the newcomers can bargain power of the distributors, carving out margins which the European competitors are not able to gain due to the excess of fragmentation which reduce contractual power towards the distributors. With reference to the inbound logistic a major role in reducing costs per unit is played by mechanization and scale economies, which are widely exploited by the NW producers. The same advantages are reflected on the operations where mechanization of harvesting and scale are making the incumbents competitors more profitable, moreover they are also exploiting scope economies, while in the Old World, the fragmentation and the wide specialization, which were the strength of the systems now are showing themselves as weaknesses. Figure 1. 2: â€Å"Chain Value Model† by Michael Porter The use of new technologies and new organizational approaches are also incident on the quality of the final product, which is granted by the integration of the processes and an efficient network strategy by the newcomers, while in the OW these challenges have not been answered yet. One of the largest disadvantages the mature competitors are facing concern the activity of marketing and sales, where due to the newcomers approach they are loosing the market confront. The Old World is exploiting factors largely underemployed by the Europeans, the use of professional marketing, market researches try to understand and forecast the market in order to be more responsive to the real needs of the demand. The correct use of branding from part of the NW producers is resulting as one of the strongest competition advantage towards the OW ones. Concerning the support activities the situation does not vary, the new-comers have advantages in the firm infrastructures mainly because of a more efficient organization of the all networks and because of a better organization and integration of the production chain. As regards to the Human Resources Management the differences are mainly a consequence of the different organization types of the actors of the market; in the New World the companies are organized as multinationals with professional managers and marketers, in the Old World the firms are often too small, fragmented and in competition among them to have access to such resources. On the side of technology development the newcomers are exploiting the new technologies in order to gain efficiency and quality, developing new mechanical tools and new approaches mainly regarding harvesting. Completely different is the approach of the New World competitors, strongly opposing the use of new technologies providing quality with a traditionalist method, an unfortunate approach for gaining market share. In terms of procurement it is unclear if there are advantages of one system towards the other. The outcome of the analysis shows how the New World could gain market share against the Old World, challenging a domination that lasted for centuries. 1. How did the French became the dominant competitors in the increasingly global wine industry for centuries? What sources of competitive advantage were they able to develop in order to support their exports? Where were they vulnerable? * Competitive advantage sources: history and traditions; know-how; experience; strong internal demand; world wide quality recognition; leader in wine sector for centuries. * Weak areas: fragmented chain of production; too strict regulation and classification; scarce innovations; no differentiation of the product; poor marketing; no branding bargaining power. As wine production grow up in the Mediterranean area, this alcoholic beverage became more and more blended with cultures, religious traditions and everyday life in the area that now is called the â€Å"Old World†. Wine first uses and its complex production made it not accessible for all, actually it was considered a luxury good. But centuries of development in the production process, like vineyard horses or row plantations, innovations in the distribution and preservation of the wine, like cork stopper or mass production of glass bottles, made it affordable for everyone generating a strong internal demand in countries such us French, Italy, Germany and so on. Specifically, regarding France, in 1966 the domestic demand accounted for 120 liters per capita and it became the country with the higher consumption of wine, followed by Italy with 110 liters. In order to better understand the dimension of the market, in the same year in Australia, USA and UK the annual per capita consumption was far less than 10 liters. In France, wine was not only highly consumed in every house, but it became one of the business strengths of the country. Actually it was the second largest French export, because History and tradition made the French wine synonymous of quality in the whole world. Moreover, since there were hundreds of different types wine, French government codified a hierarchical classification (Appellation d’Origin Controllee – AOC, Vins Delimites de Qualite Superieure – VDQS, Vins de Pays) and nurtured the concept of terroir to help consumers recognize their finest wines in a highly fragmented market. This significantly strict regulation was an important innovation that made the difference among the main competitors, such as Italy or Spain. French source of competitive advantage was not only the century know-how that permitted to have a high quality wine and the strong internal demand, but also the demand coming from the neighboring countries without a highly developed wine industry. Wine producers, in many countries of Europe, were isolated from each others, and most of the world’s wine drinkers consumed either local wines or imported from close winemakers. This tradition made the fortune of France, since the climate and the soil in the United Kingdom didn’t allow grape growing enough to satisfy the huge internal demand, British were forced to import from the closest producer. The century tradition was an advantage for the French wine because it was a symbol of quality, but it was also a drawback, because it fiercely limited the flow of innovation and development concerning the production, distribution and branding of wine. Moreover, since the whole production chain was fragmented in many segments, there was a lack of economies of scale and integration that had terrible results in market power of the French producers. Actually branding was poor or even not existing and a number of small producers with very small bargaining power were incapable to deal with retailers as supermarkets loosing market visibility and the connection with the whole segment of customers. The direct competitors, the Old World producers, were all in the same situation: fixed to the traditions and unable to satisfy the increasing fast-changing consumer tastes and preferences. The fact that they had been the market leaders for centuries made them unconscious about the possibility of new hardened competitors growing in the New World. 2 What changes in the global industry structure and competitive dynamics led France and other traditional producers lose their market share to challengers firm Australia, US, and other New World countries in the late 20th century? In the last twenty years, the worldwide wine industry has become increasingly internationalized and sophisticated, though over the years, the market has become fragmented, international, multi-lingual, operating in many currencies, and information-intensive. The wine industry globally faces continued shake-up and consolidation and the generation of mega wine companies has become inevitable as no one wine company – listed or private – currently has more than one percent of the world wine market, in stark contrast to other beverages. Global wine showed solid growth in volume terms in recent years, up nearly two percent to 25,066 million liters. Still red wine provided much of the impetus for volume growth in the world wine market over survey period, with sales rising nearly 12% between 1998 and 2003. However, volume growth of global wine was dampened by changing patterns of consumption in important Western European markets, like Italy, France, Portugal and Spain, as younger consumers moved away from traditional everyday wine drinking to more occasional consumption. Globally, the two countries that are leading the wine production and consumption businesses are France and Italy. However, the irony is that these two countries are also witnessing a steady erosion of their global market share. In our opinion there are five key success factors that we have identified that are extremely relevant to compete favorably in the global wine industry: * a strong existing domestic market * domestic market growth potential * economies of scale advantage * industry adaptability to change and * potential to attract foreign investment. First, a strong domestic market is one where a large volume of wine is purchased and where consumers readily select domestic wines. Second, even more important is the potential for growth in a producer’s domestic market, as this shows if opportunities for additional sales exist where producers may have local knowledge and other native advantages such as local distribution. Third, countries where production is dominated by larger firms have the advantages of scale and scope as well as improved power in promoting and pushing their wines to consumers and retailers. Fourth, industry adaptability to change summarizes the willingness of producers to experiment with cost saving production methods or to pioneer new marketing techniques. It also indicates if producers are free from excessive regulations or blind adherence to long standing traditions. Finally, countries that have business-friendly climates, favorable costs or other natural comparative advantages will attract foreign investment in wine production, which makes these countries stronger global competitors. Old World producers were the first to define tastes and quality standards and they have traditionally been supported by a strong local consumer base. The New World has had to work hard to build their wine industry, both in infrastructure and reputation. Large scale wine production is relatively recent, and many of the New World producers faced difficulties such as currency collapse, prohibition and international sanctions. Per-capita consumption also lags that of the Old World countries. Yet New World producers have recently been successful in producing consistent quality wine and in capturing global market share. .The group with the strongest competitive position includes Australia, Chile and the United States. Australia and Chile both have small populations that provide for a tiny domestic market with little potential for growth. However they are very well positioned to produce and export wine with their adaptive, large-scale producers and their great lure for foreign investments, providing them with a position of a strong competitive advantage. The US is a populous, affluent nation, and while the US wine market is already large, it has even more potential to expand. With all other key success factors strongly favorable, the US also possesses significant competitive advantages. The countries with the weakest competitive advantages in the global wine industry are two traditional strongholds of wine production in the Old World: France and Germany. While they have large domestic markets, there is little opportunity for further growth. There are many causes of the decline of France, and the Old World in general, in the market share of this sector; these concerns globalization, changes in the demand, more responsive strategies of the rivals and also the lack of market research and marketing investments by the French firms and totally ineffective technology and innovation policy. Moreover, the concentration of production into small wineries, complex labeling practices and inability to leverage new production and marketing techniques does also not bode well for effective competition in a global market place. Nor does either country hold much potential for attracting foreign investment, save for some traditionally undervalued areas of France, like Languedoc. In response to the shrinking costs of transport, globalization allowed companies situated in different areas of the globe competing in the same final market, an example is the UK one, where in the past the demand was completely satisfied by French, Italian and German wines. Although consumption per person has decreased in traditional consuming and producing countries (Italy, Spain, France), the consumption and production of wine is increasing in new countries in northern Europe, Americas and Asia. Countries like South Africa, Australia, Chile and Argentina are radically modifying the industry’s competitive environment. With the â€Å"globalization† of the wine market, the environment is becoming more competitive and producers are implementing new strategies. We can observe two very different production and marketing models. * The traditional French model, based on the certificate of guaranteed origin (AOC), whose objective is to turn out a high added value typical product in limited quantities through the combination of a demarcated territory called terroir and enforcement of constraining specifications and regulations. * The second, is being implemented by producers in the so called New World (the United States/California, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina). It is based on â€Å"industrialized† mass production and intense marketing of relatively standardized products which are easily identifiable through private brands. There are different observable relationships between the players and the production sites in the industry. In this context, the French wine industry appears to be in an insidious or even open crisis. In most producing regions, a major symptom is the decrease in domestic sales in a context of market shrink. In addition, there is a loss of export market shares which is estimated at ten points in several countries that have traditionally been markets for French such as Great-Britain, Germany and Canada. In these cases, these losses are not due to an overall market decline, which is actually on the rise, but rather to the increase in competition by producers who are mostly from the southern hemisphere (Argentina, Chile, Australia, South Africa) and California. The real alleged weaknesses of the French wine industry have been the subject of numerous analysis and reinforcement proposals: regulations which are too strict and consequently slow down innovation, a complex and hard to understand product supply, minimal or even no effort made concerning promotion and marketing. Furthermore, we believe that the main mistake lies in the structural organization of the wine industry in France. Hence, we would like to not concentrate on the wine product and its specific qualities but will try to compare the way the industries’ players are organized, in order to analyze where the French industry is not adequate to modern challenges. The terroir/AOC model has been a reference for worldwide wine production until the 1980s but it is no longer the case in the early 2000s. Why is France’s position on the international wine markets degrading while New World wines experienced spectacular improvements and now aim at catching up with traditional â€Å"Old World† products? From an organizational point of view the terroir/AOC model seems to have a certain number of cumulative weak points in comparison to the new world’s model (identifiable with Porter-like clusters.) In terms of the supply structures, the French established supply model and infrastructure are characterized by fragmentation and a high number of small winemakers that have a negative effect on investment capacities (material or immaterial) in the industry as a whole. This fragmentation has certainly a negative effect on the ability to innovate in terms of products, processes and even marketing and selling. The small scale of businesses and lack of tradition as regards pooling resources do not allow producers to find the financial means necessary for heavy investments. This weakness tends to neutralize the local industry’s reaction capability when it faces the new environment pressures. The fragmented supply chain is, indeed, both the cause and the consequence of a â€Å"non-competitive/non-co-operative† tradition among producers; individual strategies of traditional producers aim to avoid all forms of comparison with neighbours and potential competitors. This lack of cooperation is, in Porter’s perspective, one of the major weak points. On one side, for New World producers, wine-making is an economic activity and is taken on as such: producers define output, profit and market share growth objectives and give themselves the means to reach them. On the other, for traditional terroir producers, wine production, though highly lucrative, is not taken on in its economic dimension but rather centered round the â€Å"cultural† nature of the product. The â€Å"New World producers are turned towards innovation, the terroir is founded on immutability of tradition; it is consequently strongly resistant to change. Terroirs’ organization model is traditionally supply driven in a context of scarcity. This avoids producers to think about productive environment and production method change. Consequently, traditional producers have had trouble in considering both the qualitative and quantitative evolution of demand and its consequences on supply, where â€Å"New World† producers are used to have a proactive behavior and, therefore, anticipating and stimulating it. And even when the need to change is implemented, the existence of tight regulation within a specific AOC can make a substantial product modification or production method more difficult to happen. A further set of identifiable weak points is linked to the nature of the top-down complementary relationships between grape growers and wine traders and to the transaction costs that result. The terroir/AOC† model of organization tends to generate opportunistic behaviour that can call into question its very survival, specifically in a very competitive context. In fact, while the perspective of getting an AOC label encourages players to enhance production quality, it may lead to let up on efforts made to maintain product quality once the label has been obtained, interfering with the overall image of the terroir and raising suspicion as regards product quality. To particularly highlight is the existence of incomplete contracts between grape growers and winemakers/wine merchants, the latter being responsible for the marketing of the product. This â€Å"generates considerable price variations and makes it impossible to set up contracts that guarantee traders constant and adequate wine supplies in terms of quantity and quality. The problem can spread to wines beyond generic wines and condemns, in advance, all ambitious and viable marketing strategies from the traders. † The presence of extremely heterogeneous quality levels within the same appellation can thus call into question the appellation itself and therefore the whole of the â€Å"terroir/AOC† organization and strategy. To avoid such opportunistic behaviours, autonomous certification bodies should be entitled to reconsider such certification on a regular basis and ban weak products/producers. The industry’s players themselves or a third party must assume responsibility for product quality guarantee. A major terroir organization characteristic is fragmentation and corporatism. Consequently, taking responsibility for such guarantee scheme is extremely difficult owing to incompatible corporatist and general interests. What is more, the existence of non-market regulation mechanisms (based on, for example, family or friendship ties) can in this case be counter-productive. Indeed, players can be tempted not to sanction one of their kin in the name of these relationships and later themselves avoid possible sanctions, whereas the intervention of a third party that is likely to guarantee this quality is difficult to promote with local entities. Under the AOC label, regulation is indeed carried out at local level by local players themselves and therefore known to be rather lax: making it impossible to use the label as a genuine quality guarantee. 3. 1 What advice would you offer today to the French Minister of Agriculture? To the head of the French wine industry association? To the owner of a mid-size, well regarded Bordeaux vineyard producing wines in the premium and super premium categories? * French Minister of Agriculture: increase government investments in the wine industry; promote a responsible wine consumption of wine through events marketed at the new generation; create a new clear classification system based on the consumer tastes; promote the creation of big companies and disadvantage the proliferate of little-medium producers; sign contracts with other agriculture ministers of consumers countries in order to favour the French wine. * Head of the French wine association: better integrate the network; quickly spread the know-how, techniques and innovations throught the French producers; promote wine events to increase the consumptions; promote the invention of new products made with wine; try to anticipate the next changes in the consumer tastes; advertise and invest more on the type of wine that is preferred by the consumers in that very moment; make advertisement aimed to a responsible and wealthy consumption of wine; try to drive the consumption to the type of wine that is over offered; lobbying the ministry of agriculture in order to have grants and privileges. * Owner of the mid-size, well regarded Bordeaux vineyard: found a bigger company with the surrounding producers; invest in innovating the production process in order to increase the quantity and the quality; buy extensive land in the New World and exploit economic scale advantages. 3. 1 Possible advices to the French Minister of Agriculture Since the main objective of France is to take back the market share of the past and maintain the leader position in the wine market, it has to better exploit its competitive advantages and adopt some technical and marketing innovations in order to compete and defeat the new threatening producers. The first functional recommendation for the French Minister of Agriculture is to increment the government investments in the wine industry. The larger flow of money would be used, firstly, to invent or to develop techniques and tools for harvesting or farm vineyards, secondly, to achieve and overtake the distribution and marketing level of the New World producers. All those developments will also increase the production of wine and fulfil a larger portion of the international demand. In the last ten years, the new generation has grown with a high consumption of beer and super-alcoholic cocktails, the French Minister could aim to substitute these beverages with the wine. He might promote a responsible wine consumption through events directed to the new generation. It is important to advertise wine as a drink for all ages instead of a refined beverage just for mature people as this would implement the demand from part of the younger generation. One of the common problems of wine consumers is choosing which kind of wine and which brand purchase at the supermarket. This issue could be solved with a classification of brands and wine names that could be easily understood and memorized by the consumers. Quality can be maintained and highlighted also gathering the large number of different types of wine in few clusters with easy names to remember. This problem is also due to the large number of brands in the market. The majority of potential consumers are confused and at the end they prefer to buy a bottle of beer of a well known brand. It’s possible to overcome this situation promoting the creation of big companies and disadvantage the proliferation of little-medium producers. Big companies bring into the market well-known brands, which massively increase producers’ market power. In order to increase the French market power compared with the direct and New World competitors’ ones, the French Minister of Agriculture could sign contracts or agreements with other agriculture ministers of consumers countries in order to favour the French wine. Since, UK, one of the larger consumer countries is next to France, it would be easy to find something to exchange for a commercial agreement. 3. 2 Possible advices to the head of the French wine industry association As the Head of the French wine industry association to manage and represent all the wine producers, its objective is to promote and give advantage to its associates. Furthermore it would be useful to advise him to promote a better integration of the wine production process from the vineyards to the final consumer. This issue could be achieved through a cooperation or collaboration between the wine producers, merchant traders and the retailing sector. A superior control, permitted by this form of collaboration, avoid more handling stages, holding less inventory, capturing the intermediaries’ mark-up, sharing common objectives and improving the time to market. Moreover, the cooperation can spread the know-how, technique and innovation through all the French associates. It is really important to promote higher investments in R&D in order to fill the gap that has occurred between France and the other New Word competitors. New innovations and technologies bring new developments and improvements to overtake and succeed on the marketing and distribution level of the competitors. Concerning the distribution, communities, retailers, and consumers are demanding more sustainable, eco-friendly packaging options, whether for everyday items or higher end purchases like fine wine. For some products, the barrier to conversion has been package performance. Therefore would be important to spread the use of â€Å"green† materials to pack and deliver the products. Since the French has never developed an efficient marketing strategy it has been difficult to align the interests between supply and demand. The French wine association has to try to anticipate the next changes in the consumer tastes, by means of market surveys and data collected through an effective wine industrial analysis. It is also important to drive the offer towards to the type of wine that is preferred by the consumers in that very moment. On contrary it is possible to drive also the demand and not only the supply of wine. Guiding the consumption towards the type of wine that is over offered or over produced it is hoped to avoid sure future losses. Nowadays people are blasted with advertisement that recommends not consuming wine because it is unsafe for the drinkers’ life. There will be an increment of demand persuading consumers that a little quantity of wine is not dangerous but rather really healthy, in particular the consumption of red wine. As well as the French Minister of Agriculture the Head of the French wine industry Association might promote and arrange wine events to increase the new generation consumption of wine. 3. 3 Possible advices to the owner of a middle size well regarded Bourdeaux vineyard producing wine and premium and superpremium category The main issue for French wine producers in the actual competitive environment, considering how the newcomers are acting and consequently gaining market share, is size. One of the challenges each small producer has to face is a competitive market without boundaries, totally changed from what it was only 10 or even 5 years ago, in which large multinationals are now efficiently operating. There is no univocal solution to this problem, but a few advices could be given to small or mid sized European companies. In order to gain advantage in terms of scale but even scope, the best way is to control the full production chain. From the vineyard to the glass, this can be obtained through either acquisition of neighbour producers, merging with other companies to better integrate or forming and exploiting networks. Each winemaker should analyze the market, an affordable process, and identify its possible cooperation/competition strategies. Maximum control over the value chain can often guarantee that the final product is produced and sold at the company’s standards. One of the troubles the incumbents have to face is the inconstant quality often found within the same wine denomination. Bottles often sold at very high prices, due to a very lousy quality denomination system, are ruining the reputation of the other products of the same wine group. This is unacceptable as it ruins the whole regional system, but a solution can be found through the aforementioned network implementation or radical integration.

Post Partum Depression ( Ppd ) - 2298 Words

Post-Partum Depression (PPD) is the last thing on most mother’s minds during pregnancy and labor. However, for a number women after childbirth, the joy that is expected doesn’t arrive. The joy isn’t there when they bring the baby home, and it continues to evade them well into taking care of the baby. So what happens during such an emotional and delicate time in life? This paper will attempt to delve into the intricacies of PPD and its effects on the mother and the family unit. Symptoms, risk factors, historical treatments, current treatments, complications, and preventative techniques will be included. Post-Partum Depression is characterized first and foremost as an irritable, debilitating form of depression manifesting within four weeks to thirty weeks of giving birth (Andrews-Fike, 1999). Every patient present with various types and levels of symptoms. Symptoms can include those similar to other depressive disorders such as insomnia, fatigue, and anxiety. 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