History and Comparison of American Musicals

History and Comparison of American Musicals Utopia is an ideal world state where everything which happens is perfect and there are no negative emotions like sadness, anger or jealousy to exist in it. The world is perfect and has every situation resolved in the most enjoyable manner possible. Consciously, or unconsciously, the human mind strives towards perfection to create an ideal world- a utopia for itself. But, in real life, this is not possible and this leads to a multitude of emotions like sadness, disappointment, anger, etc. which is the opposite of what a person in utopia should feel like. To bring back this sense of utopia even temporarily, humans started projecting the carefully constructed ideal world through entertainment such as theatre, films, musicals etc. In this essay, I will compare the films Singing in the Rain by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen and Meet Me in St. Louis by Vincette Minnelli as examples of classic American musicals against Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrmann as examples of contemporary American musicals on the basis of whether they satisfy the idea of musicals being a form of escape into utopianism. First, I will use Rick Altmans The American Film Musical, which has laid out quite a few criteria for a standard American musical to analyse these films and ensure they satisfy those criteria. Also, I will focus on Utopianism by using Richard Dyer, in Only Entertainment. Two of the taken-for-granted descriptions of entertainment, as escape and as wish-fulfilment, point to its central thrust, namely utopianism. (Dyer, Chapter 3, Pg. 18) By using entertainment, humans are able to escape to the realm of utopia but this realm is not produced by using models of utopian worlds, rather it is brought forth with feelings and emotions. Dyer claims that, It thus works at the level of sensibility, by which I mean an affective code that is characteristic of, and largely specific to, a given mode of cultural production. This code uses both representational and non-representational signs. (Dyer, Chapter 3, Pg. 18) Using Dyers words, I will also try to analyse the representational and non-representational signs of the films mentioned before. Meet me in St. Louis is an American musical which was released in 1944 with a fairly simple storyline which focusses on an upper middle class family with their four daughters and a son. It is based in St. Louis, Missouri in the year leading up to the 1904 Worlds Fair and goes through the struggles this family faces and how they overcome them together. The American film musical is known to have a dual focus narrative. As Altman says, in The American Film Musical, Instead of focussing all its interest on a single central character, following the trajectory of her progress, the American film musical has a dual focus, built around parallel stars of opposite sex and radically divergent values. This dual-focus structure requires the viewer to be sensitive not so much to chronology and progression- for the outcome of the male/female match is entirely conventional and thus quite predictable- but to simultaneity and comparison. (Altman, Chapter II, Pg. 19) Altman also says, Whereas the traditional approach to narrative assumes that structure grows out of plot, the dual-focus structure of the American film musical derives from character (Altman, Chapter II, Pg. 21) In Meet Me in St. Louis, there is a dual focus narrative. The plot revolves around the entire family, focussing mostly on Esther and her relationship and the news of the familys sudden move to New York. By subjecting these narratives to simultaneity and comparison, we can see that they are interdependent as the narrative of the family moving away threatens the newly found relationships of Esther and her other family members- Esther and John, Rose and Warren, the parents with their kids. Also, this is putting Esthers love for her family and her boyfriend against each other. As for structure deriving from character, the film is structured in a way that the character Esther and her conquest for her love occupies the first part of the film and this is followed up by the sudden announcement of her familys move to New York by her father. This is done to ensure the entertainment factor is still present by creating mild tension, as the primary goal is achieved and the viewers shouldnt lose i nterest. Singing in the Rain also adheres to the principle of dual narrative as there are different narratives or paths for both the male and female protagonists. The film portrays the struggle of American film studios and their transition from the silent films to the talkies. The male protagonist, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), is a silent film actor with humble origins, who tries to survive and retain his place in the film industry during the transition. The female protagonist, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), is an aspiring stage actress who is used by Lina Lamont to be her voice backstage but she finally is given credit and her career flourishes. There are other side narratives which tie into the main narratives, the most noticeable one being the narrative of Lina Lamont, which serves the same purpose as the narrative of the family moving away to New York in Meet Me in St. Louis- to present a problem which when solved, strengthens the existing narratives, or give a neat conclusion to the narra tives. These two main narratives are intertwined simultaneously and highlights the contradictions between the already famous artist and the newly flourishing artist (Don Lockwood and Kathy Selden), fame and infamy (Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont), hate turned to love (in the case of Kathy Selden), etc. These contradictions are resolved by the main characters falling in love and this resolves or gives these characters the strength to resolve their conflicts. The structure is definitely derived from character, especially from Don Lockwood, whose narrative overshadows Kathy Seldens narrative. All the musical numbers focus on Lockwood and his emotions, or makes him the reason for the initiation of the song- as in the case of Cosmo Browns Make Em Laugh or the final musical number dubbed by Kathy Selden for Lina Lamont. Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet are both musicals directed by Baz Luhrmann and released in 2001 and 1996 respectively. they are both contemporary musicals and they follow the dual narrative path, focussing on the male and female protagonists and their narratives highlight the differences in their character such as freedom and confinement, love and money as in the case of Moulin Rouge! and love and hate, life and death as in the case of Romeo + Juliet. As for the structure of these two musicals- Moulin Rouge! focusses on Christians character as the musical starts and ends with him and he is the narrator of the events which unfold. Satines narrative is interwoven with Christians and her narrative is actually the cause for the beginning of Christians narrative, thereby forming a never-ending loop. In the case of Romeo + Juliet, it is a loose adaptation on the play by Shakespeare, using dialogues from the play itself. The narrative is driven by Romeos character but it is balanced out by Juliets narrative as well. All these four films can be classified as American film musicals albeit there are differences in the way utopia is portrayed by these films. The films Singing in the Rain and Meet Me in St. Louis bring about a utopia in terms of setting (representational) and feelings (non-representational) using various factors- one of them being the musical numbers. In Singing in the Rain, the world it has created is realistic as the film is based around the world of film and situated in the age of transition from silent films to talkies. The utopian element is brought forth by the numbers which provide another realm where the characters can be themselves and express their feelings without any complications. Dyer says, utopia is implicit in the world of the narrative and as well as in the world of numbers (Dyer, 1992). When a character breaks into song, as in the scene where Don Lockwood confesses his love to Kathy Selden (You were meant for me). Dyer says, We are moved by music, yet it has the least obvious reference to reality- the intensity of our response to it can only be accounted for by the way music, abstract, formal though it is, still embodies feeling. (Dyer, 1992). The confession scene is carefully constructed by Lockwood and narrated by him, which does make it seem realistic, unlike the other musical numbers, and this adds on to the intensity of feelings the song gives the audience. Intensity, according to Dyer, is the capacity of entertainment to present either complex or unpleasant feelings (e.g. involvement in personal or political events; jealousy, loss of love, defeat) in a way that makes them seem uncomplicated, direct and vivid, not qualified or ambiguous as day-to-day life makes them, and without imitations of self-deception and pretence. (Dyer, 1992) The orchestral non-diegetic music also adds on to the intensity as the two characters dance, with Lockwood encouraging Selden to dance with him and finally through the music, dance and lyrics, their mutual feelings for each other gets conveyed to each other. As the camera pans out at the end of the number, the utopian backdrop and the airy lights are accentuated, adding the final touches to the realistic utopia created by this number. Another scene charged with such feelings is Don Lockwoods Singing in the Rain, the title song. The realistic setting is done through the diegetic rain accompanying the entire song. The orchestral parts sometimes drown out the rains pitter-patter but it is still ever present in the background. The lively music and the dance of Lockwood transcends through to the audience and they are able to feel his emotions through this number. This utopian number comes to an end with the interruption of the police officer where Lockwood is brought back to the reality of his world. Meet Me in St. Louis also treats its musical numbers in a similar manner as escapes to utopia. But the setting is different, it is much less realistic than Singing in the Rain. It showcases a community where singing is common practice where everyone loves to sing or break into a musical number, which already makes it feel much more utopian than the other musical film. Altman says, The sequence of scenes is determined not out of plot necessity, but in response to a more fundamental need: the spectator must sense the eventual lovers as a couple even when they are not together, even before they have met. (Altman, 1987) This is true for Meet Me in St. Louis, as the musical number The Boy Next Door immediately puts both the protagonists together. As the film progresses, this utopian world created in the film is strengthened with feelings of love in the air, fun and mischief, and so on. Not much goes on with the main narrative of the film till Esthers father comes with the news which breaks their created utopia. Dyer says, In these films, the introduction of any real narrative concerns is usually considerably delayed and comes chiefly as a temporary threat to utopia- thus reversing the other two patterns, where the narrative predominates and the numbers function as temporary escapes from it. (Dyer, 1992) The musical numbers are light-hearted and chipper till the father announces his plans for the family. After the announcement, we have numbers such as You and I by the parents as a form of reconciliation- a place where mistakes are forgiven is created by the musical number (thereby reverting back to the original pattern of musical numbers providing escape), Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Esther as a consolation to Tootie- a place where hope is provided for the future, ensuring that everything will be alright. In these two films, the element of utopia is strong, one way or the other. It provides the so-called escape from reality, either through musical numbers as in the case of Singing in the Rain, or through narrative and numbers as in the case of Meet Me in St. Louis. But, like Dyer says, the idea of utopia through musicals and their numbers is applicable to these early American film musicals. The contemporary film musicals are a bit more complicated in that regard as the escape to utopia is not clearly defined. Moulin Rouge! is the film directed by Baz Luhrman, which is loosely based on the Greek myth of Orpheus. Its style and setting is highly fantastical, reinforcing the utopianism of the world. Pam Cook says, The heightened artificial world was projected as an illusion in which every detail was driven by the need to appear complete and plausible, but which audiences would perceive and enjoy as fiction (Cook, 2010) Just like how Christian saw the green fairy under the influence of absinthe, which later transmuted into a nightmarish hallucination that sucked Christian into the world of Moulin Rouge, though the setting and style is fantastical, the narrative of the film is not a utopian story. The main narrative focusses on Christian, a writer of the post 19th century suffering from depression.ÂÂ   Unlike other musicals which gives the audience a happy beginning and a happy ever after, the film starts with an ominous and melancholic tone, which confirms the female protagonists death early on in the film. This tragic revelation at the start hinders the utopian world the style and setting is trying to create.

The Lamb and The Tiger by William Blake Essay -- Poet Poems William Bl

'The Lamb' and 'The Tiger' by William Blake Write about The Lamb and The Tiger by William Blake. Explain how the poet portrays these creatures and comment on what you consider to be the main ideas and attitudes of the poet. 'All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.' Cecil Frances Alexander Indeed, God created all creatures great and small, and he could not have created two creatures more different from each other than the lamb and the tiger. The question arises in one's mind therefore: - 'Could one creator design and give life to two exhibits of such a vast contrast?' ====================================================================== William Blake certainly poses this question in a somewhat clever manner in the two examples of his work that I've analysed and compared, namely 'The Lamb' and 'The Tiger'. In the two collections of his work, namely Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, he has several contrasting poems that bring the two states of being described by both collections under the microscope. As one of the early Romance poets, Blake was writing in opposition to the rapidly changing, revolutionary eighteenth-century. Essentially, that opposition developed into an appreciation of the emotions, as opposed to reason ant intellect, and a recognition of the purity and innocence which childhood represents in contrast with the corruptions and in-authenticity of adulthood, with its learning and experience of life. The English Industrial Revolution played a very influential role in William Blake's work. Songs of Innocence includes a reversal of the expected 'hierarchies'. The poems reject t... ...ecessary self-knowledge. The Lamb develops into the Tiger - innocence is the price that must me paid to attain an identity in 'grown-up land'. It has to sacrifice its meek, mild, gentile innocence to become the Tiger of Experience prowling the 'dark forests' of life. In conclusion, I feel William Blake is attempting to transmit an important message: never mind how innocent we are during our naÃÆ'Â ¯ve, happy playground days, the big bad world is awaiting us all, and we have to stop resisting and accept that we're all going to develop into Tigers at some point - gaining our own unique symmetry in place of our soft, delightful, tender selves. Life past, present and future poses many questions - it's up to us to answer them, to discover our true identities, and to decide where exactly our faith lies. Innocence is the foundation upon which experience is built.

Snowden

It truly seems as though the days of having full privacy is over with the coming of these new leaks by Edward Snowden. The government has many borderline unethical powers that are Justified by terrorism today. But with our current status of technology being iPhones and iPads with all of our emails and data being stored ‘in the cloud,' is it a shock to think that somebody other than us could see it? Yes, Edward Snowden broke laws regarding disclosure of private government information and he should be punished for his actions, but couldn't we say the same about the government's use of our information?It seems that we take for granted our so-called privacy, but with this release of Snowden's it doesn't seem that we can have any privacy at all these days. My answer is yes, I do believe that the government has stepped its' bounds on spying on its own citizens. I understand that they do so for the sake of protecting us from terrorism and that is great, that's what they are there for. My concern is that when spying becomes anything more than protecting the people, it crosses the line of being ethical and that is not right.As I stated earlier I think Snowden deserves some ort of sentence because he crossed the line on disclosure of documents to the public. That is the law and it should be obeyed, whether it is right or wrong he broke the rules. I haven't changed my online habits to protect my information because I do believe it's too late, especially with the rise of social media. People now a day are so eager to put out information that in some cases should be kept to themselves on Facebook statuses and in emails. When it comes to my personal information I fear the government more than industry.We live in a time now that if something bad appens, whether it be a serious crime or attacks against our country, the government is able to access all the information about you ever on the internet. Do you remember everything you posted on Facebook or online? What if they find something taken completely out of context but use it against you in an indictment? I believe that the technology we have these days is amazing and we should keep innovating but I'm Just worried that the soon all of our information, whether it be personal or professional will be online and accessible by someone, somewhere at any time.

Analyzing a Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway Essay Example

Analyzing a Clean, Well Analyzing a Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway Paper Analyzing a Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway Paper and the waiters are about to close up only hindered by an old, deaf man, who is still sitting on the terrace drinking brandy. Obviously this particular old man comes there often, since the narrator tells the reader about the old mans bad habit of not paying for his drinks once he is drunk. Hemingway keeps emphasizing the shadows of the leaves of a tree (Hemingway 11) apparently standing either on or nearby the terrace. By doing that he separates the caf? © even more from its surrounding, thus highlighting it as some kind of illuminated haven within the darkness of the night. Since darkness and night always in a world of sinister and menacing loneliness. This picture is aided by the description of the tree that moved slightly in the wind (Hemingway 311) and thus creates a feeling of desperation. In this scenery the two waiters talk a bit while waiting for the old man to finish his drink and leave. At first they talk about the man imself. One waiter tells the other one about the suicide attempt of the old man from the week before. Cleverly Hemingway writes this first part of his story in a way that the reader will never know which waiter is the one telling and which is the one listening. Up to the point at which the old man changes the setting by calling for a waiter Hemingway lets the waiters appear to be equal and most of all equally unknown and plane in character. Then he distinguishes them by identifying one as younger than the other, creating a gap between them and establishing some kind of ierarchy between all three protagonists. All of a sudden there seems to be a constellation emerging to be depicting a conflict of generations. Despite the feeling from the beginning of the story that the old man is the main character, Hemingway now starts to deepen the characters of the waiters by switching from descriptive narration to descriptive dialogues leaving out the old man. Now the reader gets an impression of the younger waiter as being full of life, married, impatient and not emphatic, while the older waiter appears to be more demure and empathizing. As their dialogue goes on one could suspect that the older waiter told the younger one about the attempted suicide of the old man, whom they consider to be eighty something years old. By recognizing this, the older waiter becomes sort of a mediator between the old man with his experiences and feelings on the one hand and the younger waiter with his lack of comprehension for other people, especially elder ones, on the other hand by trying to explain the behavior of the old man to his colleague. Once the old man has left and the younger waiter has gone home too, the lder waiter heads for a bar to fght his apparently chronic insomnia and starts thinking about the old man. Hemingway illustrates that by switching again, this time from the descriptive dialogues to a stream of consciousness in which the older waiter contemplates the reasons of the old man to attempt suicide. He comes to the conclusion, that this man had nothing in his life anymore, Just a great, big, chaotic nothing, so the caf? © has become a place of life with a good lighting and tidiness as symbols of the order the old man misses so much in his personal life. Cynically the waiter begins to recite the Lords Prayer in his mind exchanging some words with the Spanish word nada which means nothing. Interestingly he also uses the term pues nada (Hemingway 313) which translates as well then indicating he is accepting the loneliness and nothingness he already feels in his own life Just as part of growing old. In the bar the barman asks for the waiters order which he answers with nada (Hemingway 313) as well, obviously messing around with his own thoughts. The barman, seemingly annoyed, responds with otro loco mas (Hemingway 313) eaning and another insane. The complete behavior of the barman even in response to the statement of the waiter about the unpolished bar aids the impression of the bar as a symbol of the despair of the world. In the end the waiter reflects the usual progress of his night convincing himself that the symptoms of loneliness in his own life are Just simple insomnia, ergo a disease pattern, which connects him with other into his story or is it Just a story? In fact I am convinced that Hemingway processed his own traumata and feelings of loneliness and despair in this short story. When he ublished it he had already been in one war including being wounded, got divorced, learned about his fathers suicide and suffered from a disease in Africa. So the old man in the story might be an allegory for Hemingways father while the story itself portrays his introversion and thus might be an early sign for his lethal depressions. Bennett, Warren. Character, Irony, and Resolution in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. American Literature. Vol.. 42. Durham: Duke UP, 1970. 70-79. Print. The Manuscript and the Dialogue of A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. American Literature. vol.. 50. Durham: Duke up, 1979. 613-24. print. colburn, William E. confusion A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. College English. Vol.. 20. Millwood: Klaus Reprint, 1973. 241-42. print. Gabriel, Joseph F. The Logic of Confusion in Hemingways A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. College English. Vol.. 22. Millwood: Klaus Reprint, 1973. 539-46. Print. Hemingway, Ernest. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. The First Forty-Nine Stories. London: Jonathan Cape, 1968. 311-14. Print. MacGowan, Cristopher. Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). The Twentieth-Century American Fiction Handbook. Ames: Wiley-Blac kwell, 2011. 91-95. Print.

World Tourism Organization Essay Example

World Tourism Organization Essay Example World Tourism Organization Essay World Tourism Organization Essay boring Slide 1 5 On foot Advantages: meeting new friends and animals, opening new places Disadvantages: slow, dangerous Slide 16 Now you have a chance to travel to any place. Slide 17 There are a lot of places of interest in our world and many beautiful countries. Slide 18 Paris Paris is a particular city of France; its the capital of France, European fashion, art, city of unique people. Among its places worth sightseeing are Eiffel tower the cathedral of the Notre Dame, Louver. Louver is the museum of worlds art, which is visited by each traveller. French Kitchen is also famous and nobody will deny to dine t a small restaurant when essence of love is dissolved in peaceful evening air. Slide 20 Washington, D. C. is one of the most famous capitals in the world. Its known for its state buildings, the White House, US capitol, the Supreme Court building are among them, for plenty of memorials and museums dedicated to American heroes of the past. Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington memorials are great examples of warm feelings of Americans towards their heroes. Slide 22 One of the worlds great cities, Moscow is the capital of Russia. Since it was first mentioned in chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history. Today Moscow is not only the political centre of Russia but also the countrys leading city in population, in industrial output, and in cultural, scientific, and educational importance. For more than 600 years Moscow has been the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. Slide 24 Holidays Summer Winter Slide 25 Many people travel during holidays especially in summer. Some people enjoy spending their holidays in winter countries because they like frosty weather and enjoy winter sports. Slide 26 Norway France Winter sports were largely invented by the British leisured classes, nitially at the Swiss village of Zermatt (Valais), and St Moritz in 1864. The first packaged winter sports holidays took place in 1902 at Adelboden, Switzerland. Winter sports were a natural answer for a leisured class looking for amusement during the coldest season. Finland Austria Italy Russia Sweden Slide 27 Winter sports and activities Slide 28 Summer holidays All the people enjoy summer holidays very much. It is a great pleasure to have a rest after the whole year of hard work or study. People like to travel during their summer holidays. Some people go abroad to see new countries, ome people prefer to go to the country-side to enjoy country-life far from noise and fuss of big cities. Egypt Spain Turkey France Italy Greece Slide 29 Slide 32 Famous travellers Ferdinand Magellan Christopher Columbus Roald Amundsen Georgiy Ushakov Nikolay PrJevalskiy Slide 33 Fyodor Konyukhov The world-famous Russian traveller Fyodor Konyukhov was born and grew up on the Azov Sea. Finishing school he sailed on fishing trawlers, swam in the cool winter sea, slept on nails, made 100-kilometre runs a day, drank seawater and crossed the Azov Sea in a rowing boat. Entering a seminary in St. Petersburg Fyodor never finished his studies. One day the rector called him into his office and said, mfou love life too much. Go, live with the people He made four circumnavigations and crossed the Atlantic fourteen times. Fyodor is the first and so far the only person in the world to have reached the five extreme Poles of the planet. His name was entered into the encyclopedia Chronicle of Mankind. By the age of fifty he had made more than forty unique trips and climbs expressing his vision of the world in paintings and books. As a religious man, Fyodor Konyukhov agrees that the meaning of life of an Orthodox believer is to seek Gods grace, to learn what God as in store for one and to live ones life in keeping with Gods commandments, preparing for eternity. But when asked why risking life was so often? Fyodor says: Because suffering is the only way you can see the Lord. Slide 34 Ellen MacArthur The world record breaking solo round-the-world voyage by Ellen MacArthur has propelled her to the status of greatest sporting hero. MacArthurs fantastic voyage has marked the spirits of sailing fans around the world and has even succeeded in increasing the overall popularity of sailing. This is not only due to the feat itself, but largely because of exceptional media coverage. Only a handful of skippers had ever sailed a mu ltihull solo around the world and only two previously managed it non-stop Ellen was taking on a huge challenge. The live coverage of this event, as well as faultless support would be crucial. Offshore Challenges Sailing Team is at the leading edge of communications technology and OC Technology, part of the OC Group, created the all-Sony based onboard media system. This relied on 12 Sony cameras and microphones that could all be operated from down below via a simple switching box, and video compression/transmission and video conferencing that elped put the story on national news during the attempt. Three Sony VAIO Centrino- based notebooks were instrumental to navigation, video and still picture editing and communications. According to MacArthur, the VAIOs worked without a hitch: They all worked perfectly throughout the voyage, she says, and I never had a single problem with them. Slide 35 Questions Do you enjoy holidays? Would you like to find new places in the world? Do you admire any famous traveller? How long does it take a modern traveller to sail round the world? How long does it take to cross the Atlantic in a row boat? How does it feel to face a storming ocean? And what new challenges can nature offer to an adventurer who has already seen it all? Slide 36 Get ready for adventures! So are you ready to have an adventure? Are you ready to discover the deepest Jungle or to sail the dead calm waters of the Pacific? Do you want to hear how the wolves howl and be blinded by the white Arctic desert? Or do you want to see where the sirens sing, dance in the fields of coral? Whatever you To conclude I would like to say that everybody enjoys travelling and I think there are a lot of unknown places which we should make known.

Large Corporations managing change,internal change drivers and Research Paper - 1

Large Corporations managing change,internal change drivers and catalysts - Research Paper Example In the organizational context researchers define change as â€Å"necessary way of life in most organizations†1. Again, some other researchers have defined organizational change as â€Å"a relatively enduring alteration of the present state of an organization or its components or interrelationships amongst the component and their differential and integral functions, in totality, in order to attain greater feasibility in the framework of the current and future environment†2. The present study intends to investigate the reasons that compel firms to change, and how companies manage the change process. In this regard, the role of internal change drivers and catalysts is vital. Mills and Mills write in their book Understanding Organizational Change that the operations of a company as well as other organizations are affected by a variety to environmental factors such as leadership change, mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, introduction of new products, industrial disputes, political and legal climate, changing consumer preferences and technology3. Change is the only thing constant in the environment and is taking place every day. However, when we refer to organizational change, we are specifically referring to change that has significant impact how employees think about their organization and the changes they need to make in their work to cope with it. Organizational Change is thus referred to as a change in the core aspect of a company’s operations. It has been determined with the previous discussion that for organizations change is not merely inevitable but to a great extent essential for survival. However this does not automatically imply that people would be readily accepting the change. The truth is that changing an established behavior makes people uncomfortable, and the result is resistance4. Implementing change is a very challenging task. The unfamiliar makes the employees suspicious; it is their natural concern

The Importance of Coffee in the Brazilian Economy Essay

The Importance of Coffee in the Brazilian Economy - Essay Example This paper demonstrates the importance of coffee production in the economy of Brazil. There is two figures in the essay which graphically illustrates the production of coffee over the recent years. Brazil is not only the largest producer of coffee and produces an estimated one third of world’s total coffee produce, and is also the world’s second largest consumer of coffee behind USA. Coffee is a key ingredient of the economy of the country on three main counts – a key economic activity contributing to the GDP, a major export item, and an important industry for employment. Agriculture accounts for 36% of Brazil’s exports, with coffee being the biggest exported agricultural item at $4.7 billion, by value. Coffee contributes to 0.27% of the total economy in Brazil and 2.1% of total exports. Brazil has 2.1 million hectares of land under coffee cultivation (ICO) with an estimated 350,000 producers spread through 14 states, and 160 firms exporting coffee. The production and processing of coffee is highly labor intensive industry and the coffee industry provides direct and indirect employment to nearly 8.5 million people in Brazil. This translates to almost 5% of the total population working in the coffee industry in Brazil. Historically, coffee has been an important component of the economy in Brazil. Brazil was the largest producer of coffee in the world and it accounted for 75% of Brazil’s total exports. Although this weight has reduced significantly over time, the contribution of coffee to the economy is still significant. In the 1990s, coffee was a key pillar of the economy in Brazil by supporting it in four ways – contribution to the economic activity, contribution to exports thereby increasing the foreign reserves, contribution to employment, and a key area of foreign investment. The coffee market was under government control until the 1990s, when the government decided to convert it to free market. This led to a lot of foreign investment in the sector and therefore helped the economy build its foreign reserves. The production and export trend of coffee is shown in Figure 1 below. It is evident that the coffee production overall has been increasing over the years. Also, the exports of coffee have been increasing constantly in accordance with the production. The peak production reached was in 2002 when it reached 2.65 million metric tons (MMT). However, although the coffee exports have been generally increasing, the weight of coffee in exports (by value) has been generally decreasing over the years, and over the last few years has stabilized at 2.1%. This is evident in Figure 2 where it is seen that the weight of coffee in exports has continuously reduced from a peak of 5.2% in 1997 to 1.8% in 2004 where after it has almost stabilized to 2.1%. Coffee is clearly a key part of the Brazilian economy - it forms a large part of the agricultural produce of the country and is a major export item for Brazil. It provides employment to nearly 5% of the Brazilian population and has historically been an important driver for foreign investments. Over the years, its relative weight in exports has been decreasing indicating that the dependence of the Brazilian economy on coffee is decreasing slowly; however, coffee still continues