Saint Joan of Arc :: Essays Papers

Saint Joan of Arc The Lindau Gospel Book Cover is a signatory representative of the early and mid 9th century due to its quality to compel and garner admiration from the common masses. The cover exemplifies the attributes of many other works from its period. It is a safe assumption that the majority of the citizens that lived during the time these works were created couldn’t read, and that works of art such as the book cover could function as a metaphor for the story contained within. Stories like the Passion could be depicted on a slab of stone or pressed into a sheet of gold to show levels of importance on particular moments. One example of a multi-level drawing is that of the Utrecht Psalter. The Psalter, created around 820 in Reims, is a preliminary source for the style of metaphor overlaid in visual representation1. The Psalter provided an interpretation to all of the Biblical allusions, sometimes very cleverly. Though the type of visual representation found in the Psalter are thought to be modeled after earlier forms2 there is a certain simplicity in style that seems to compel not the courtesans, but the common citizen3 . The images are highly stylized, a far cry from the art of the aristocracy; even more telling, it was rendered in the very local artistic style of the workshops of Reims4. The drawings are impressionistic5 and worked as a puzzle for the viewer6. There was a definite link reaching out from the work to the viewer, the Psalter served as a prototypical way of engaging the audience in a visual tale while communicating the literal story behind it7. The viewer was able to take a mental pictu re of a liturgical event8. This style progressed and found its way to other visual forms9. The ivory book covers illustrating Psalms 50 and 51 had drawn influence and may have been in fact directly modeled after the Utrecht Psalter10. The ivories depict the same scenes from the Psalms drawn into the Utrecht Psalter, however, the ivory panels are more of an abridged version11. The progression from drawing to book covers represents a certain leap in audience and visual structure even if just momentarily or inadvertently, since ivory was a luxury few could afford, and the meticulous undercutting even fewer12. The scenes did however grow in leaps and bounds in the method of figural representation, realistic drapery, and depth that is monumentally achieved in such a minimal space13.

Bharti Airtel in Africa Essay

The jury is still out on Africa. The cost of operations is still higher than expected, elasticity of demand could fail to kick in, and competition could intensify. But the business metrics are showing early signs of a turnaround. My gut feel is that we can make this work. — Sunil Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel In February 2012, Sunil Mittal walked past the illuminated hoardings for Airtel’s mobile services plastered across the walls of Nairobi airport, and wondered if Bharti would be able to overtake MTN in Africa by replicating the high-volume, low-cost telecom business model that it had pioneered for the Indian masses. Founded in India in 1995, Bharti Airtel (Bharti) had rewritten the rules of the global telecommunication industry. The cellular operator had defied conventional Western telecom wisdom that emphasized high tariffs for wealthy customers, and had instead chosen to concentrate on India’s mass market, including the rural poor. In order to focus on acquiring customers, the company had made the bold decision to outsource large portions of its operations. By February 2012, Bharti had been India’s market leader for some time, with 183 million customers, and had pioneered a highvolume, low-cost telecom model with tariffs of less than one cent per minute, which had previously been considered unviable. By 2009, growth in India had begun to taper off, and Mittal began to look for new opportunities. Africa seemed to present just the right option. Its vast population of over a billion people with low per capita incomes mirrored India’s demographics. Africa’s real mobile penetration was 30% and growing rapidly, and high mobile tariffs in Africa, combined with low monthly  minutes of use per customer, indicated that there was room to grow the market not just by increasing mobile penetration, but also by intensifying usage.1 In June 2010, Bharti acquired the 15 African operations of Bahrain-based Zain Telecom, for $10.7 billion – the largest M&A deal in the global telecom industry for that year, and the largest ever cross-border deal in an emerging market. When they reached Africa, Bharti’s leaders discovered that employee morale at Zain was low, work cultures between the two continents differed vastly, and market share revenues and EBITDA were falling every month. Infrastructure was poor, hardware and software equipment was obsolete, access to equipment supplies was limited, skilled technicians were in short supply, and the cost of doing business was turning out to be much higher than Mittal and his team had anticipated. Bharti’s initial experiments with leveling tariffs and removing Zain’s 20% to 30% premiums in its ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Krishna Palepu and Research Associate Tanya Bijlani from the India Research Center prepared this case. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineff ective management. Copyright  © 2012 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only in International Business by Prof. R. Sugant at SDM Institute for Management and Development (SDMIMD) from September 2014 to November 2014. Francophone and Anglophone regions had not increased demand to the extent that they had expected; and it was unclear whether lowering prices would drive mobile usage in the hinterland of the continent. Despite the challenges, Bharti initiated multiple transformations in Africa, including outsourcing active and passive managed services (networks) for all of its 16 countries; outsourcing its IT and call centre support to BPO1 firms for the first time in Africa; revamping its distribution network; integrating its brand, and implementing a host of human resource-related initiatives to inculcate the company’s DNA in its new operations. Bharti’s executives felt that these measures had comprehensively changed the structure of the telecom industry in Africa. Africa was turning out to be far more complex than Mittal and his team had imagined. By February 2012, it had been over a year and a half since the acquisition, and Bharti was leading in revenue market share in 9 of 16 countries, including Zambia as well as some smaller markets like Malawi and Gabon. In Africa’s other larger markets, such as Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, MTN, its chief competitor, continued to lead. (Exhibit 1: Bharti’s Position in Africa). In Nigeria, Africa’s largest market, MTN was improving the quality of its network, emphasizing advanced data offerings, rolling out mobile payments solutions, conceptualizing applications such as mobile healthcare, and holding onto its undisputed position as the market leader. If Bharti continued with its India plan in Africa, investing in rural networks and slashing tariffs, and demand failed to pick up, the company risked losing money. With a $12.9 billion unpaid loan (largely on account of an approximately $9-billion unpaid loan from the Zain acquisition) still lingering on Bharti’s balance sheet, Mittal wondered if that was something they could afford. The other option was to wait and watch, leave prices at market levels, and focus on urban and suburban areas, until it was clear that the money had trickled into the villages. As Mittal got into his car and drove towards Bharti’s Nairobi headquarters, he wondered what their strategy in Africa should be. Bharti in India The Early Days Mittal started manufacturing bicycle parts at the age of 18, with approximately $200 borrowed from his father, a Member of Parliament from the north Indian state of Punjab. He subsequently imported portable generators, and assembled push-button telephones in India. In 1992, soon after the Indian telecommunications market liberalized, Mittal secured a partnership with three other companies, including Compagnie Generale des Eaux, the precursor to Vivendi of France, to make a joint bid for the first round of cellular licensing in India. Mittal took a three-month sabbatical to prepare for the bid, and spent $220,000 on the presentation, which included aerial photography and satellite imagery2. The Government of India gave the consortium a license to build a cellular phone network in India’s capital, New Delhi, and Mittal’s newly-incorporated Bharti Cellular became the first company to launch mobile telephony services in New Delhi, in 1995, under the brand name of Airtel. The company sold equity interest to British Telecom and Warburg Pincus in order to raise the funds it needed to acquire licenses to operate in new geographies, and by 2003, Bharti had acquired mobile licenses for 15 out of India’s 23 circles. By 2004, Bharti was a pan-India operator with running operations in all circles. Like many Indian enterprises, Bharti contained elements of a family business. Bharti was Mittal’s middle name. Mittal was Chairman and Group Managing Director of the company, while his brother, Rajan Mittal, was Joint Managing Director, and a third brother, Rakesh Mittal, was on the board of directors. Akhil Gupta, a chartered accountant and a friend of the family was Chief Financial Officer, and later became Deputy Group CEO and Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises. The Minute Factory Model â€Å"In the early days, telecom was an industry where the complexity was daunting,† Gupta said. â€Å"We were committed to making it a very simple industry. So we equated ourselves with manufacturing. The only difference was that another factory could be manufacturing nuts and bolts, while we manufactured minutes.† Bharti learnt the business of telecom from their early European partners, British Telecom and Telecom Italia. Conventional wisdom then was that mobile telephony was meant for upper class customers who could pay premium prices. Operators preferred to keep tariffs high, thereby protecting Average Revenue per User (ARPU), considered one of the most important metrics in the business. High tariffs, they felt, discouraged users from talking too much, which in turn, minimized the need for network infrastructure, thereby reducing capital expenditure, and improving return on investment. But Mittal and his team felt that at an ARPU of Rs. 1000 (approximately $222) – then considered a minimum requirement for a telecom operator to be profitable – their customer base would be restricted to a small segment of wealthy customers in major cities and a few large towns, and decided to turn the model on its head. Gupta explained: The goal of a manufacturing organization is to maximize the number of units produced while maintaining margin per unit. Similarly, we decided that we would expand production of our principal output, minutes, keeping margins per minute more or less constant. As we scaled up, we would pass any cost savings we achieved onto the customer by lowering tariffs, which would increase demand further, and would allow us to go deeper into the market and  reach lower-income customers. This would result in a rapid increase in minutes and consequently, overall margin. Mittal and Gupta believed that how they utilized existing capacity, and how much revenue they collectively earned from that capacity, mattered most. The focus, therefore, was on growing total revenues, reducing operating expenses as a percent of revenues (opex productivity), and increasing revenues as a percent of cumulative capital expenditures (capex productivity). (Exhibit 2: Bharti’s Key Performance Metrics) Outsourcing Operations A telecom company, it was originally thought, would have to be an infrastructure company, a network company, an IT company, and a customer service company rolled into one. But in early 2004, given that Bharti was growing rapidly, expanding into new territories, and entering new businesses like fixed line services and long distance operations, Mittal and his team were forced to question what constituted their core activity. â€Å"Again, we broke away from traditional telecom wisdom,† Gupta said. â€Å"We had no choice; at our back end, we were collapsing.†

Entrepreneurial Leadership

Using the WileyPlus resources, go to the Interactive Case Study â€Å"Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Ingredients for Success† example located in Chapter 3. To access the entire textbook, use the WileyPLUS Read, Study & Practice link located in the Student Center. Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you: 1. Determine how Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. 2. Analyze the original values for the start-up company and how it remains strong today. . Enumerate three (3) factors that contributed to Five Guys’ success in such a short time and what effect, if any, external markets had on these factors. 4. Assess how ethical and social practices are part of the Five Guys’ culture and provide examples to support your choices. 5. Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. †¢Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Examine the private enterprise systems, drivers of change on the system, ethical and social responsibilities of business, and the requirements for success in today’s business environment. †¢Analyze the factors that drive supply and demand, different types of market structures in a free enterprise system, and factors of stability in a nation’s economy. †¢Use technology and information resources to research issues in contemporary business. †¢Write clearly and concisely about contemporary business using proper writing mechanics. Entrepreneurial Leadership Using the WileyPlus resources, go to the Interactive Case Study â€Å"Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Ingredients for Success† example located in Chapter 3. To access the entire textbook, use the WileyPLUS Read, Study & Practice link located in the Student Center. Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you: 1. Determine how Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. 2. Analyze the original values for the start-up company and how it remains strong today. . Enumerate three (3) factors that contributed to Five Guys’ success in such a short time and what effect, if any, external markets had on these factors. 4. Assess how ethical and social practices are part of the Five Guys’ culture and provide examples to support your choices. 5. Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. †¢Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Examine the private enterprise systems, drivers of change on the system, ethical and social responsibilities of business, and the requirements for success in today’s business environment. †¢Analyze the factors that drive supply and demand, different types of market structures in a free enterprise system, and factors of stability in a nation’s economy. †¢Use technology and information resources to research issues in contemporary business. †¢Write clearly and concisely about contemporary business using proper writing mechanics.

Womens role in French Revolution essays

Womens role in French Revolution essays Contrary to common belief, women were important contributors to the popular movement during the French Revolution. They staged demonstrations and food riots, presented petitions to the National Assembly, and brought the royal family back to the governmental capital. They agitated ceaselessly for the political and civil rights that they deserved, and backed up their demands with well-thought-out logical arguments. The women of 18th century France pioneered through uncharted ideological, political, and social grounds, but their work was fruitless in establishing womens rights in the constitution ratified after the French Revolution. The majority of men believed that womens participation in government was both unnecessary and redundant. Women were assumed to have the same interest and opinions as the men who represented them, and they were repeatedly assured that their husbands, sons, and fathers would always have their best interest at heart. Women were encouraged to support the Revolution by assuming the duties associated with being a good Frenchwomen, not by forming legions or social clubs that argued for equal rights. An aristocratic womens duty was to live simply and modestly, abjuring luxury, and wearing only French-made clothing. As a wife, the patriotic Frenchwoman was faithful and fecund; as a girl she was required to be virgin. The truly patriotic women would live honesty and attempt to restore morality to the nation. It was with these opinions that the constitution of 1791 and 1793 were written (1). At no stage were women included with in the definitions of citizenship. Women, like domestic servants, were not considered autonomous human beings; they were natures passive citizens, and their rights were rendered invisible in the constitutions. The most eloquent and influential male advocate of womens rights was the philosopher Condorcet. In the Essai sur ladmissoin des femm...

Parthenon Sculptures

A History of the Elgin Marbles/Parthenon Sculptures The Elgin Marbles are a source of controversy between modern Britain and Greece. Its a collection of stone pieces rescued/removed from the ruins of the Ancient Greek Parthenon in the nineteenth century, and now in demand to be sent back from the British Museum to Greece. In many ways, the Marbles are emblematic of the development of modern ideas of national heritage and global display, which argues that localized regions have the best claim over items produced there. Do the citizens of a modern region have any claim over items produced in that region by people thousands of years ago? There are no easy answers, but many controversial ones. The Elgin Marbles At its broadest, the term Elgin Marbles refers to a collection of stone sculptures and architectural pieces which Thomas Bruce, Seventh Lord Elgin, gathered during his service as ambassador to the court of the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul. In practice, the term is commonly used to refer to the stone objects he gathered- an official Greek website prefers â€Å"looted†- from Athens between 1801–05, particularly those from the Parthenon; these included 247 feet of a frieze. We believe that Elgin took around half of what was surviving at the Parthenon at that time. The Parthenon items are increasingly, and officially, called the Parthenon Sculptures. In Britain Elgin was heavily interested in Greek history and claimed he had the permission of the Ottomans, the people ruling Athens during his service, to gather his collection. After acquiring the marbles, he transported them to Britain, although one shipment sank during transit; it was fully recovered. In 1816, Elgin sold the stones for  £35,000, half his estimated costs, and they were acquired by the British Museum in London, but only after a Parliamentary Select Committee- a very high-level  body of inquiry- debated the legality of Elgin’s ownership. Elgin had been attacked by campaigners (then as now) for â€Å"vandalism,† but Elgin argued the sculptures would be better cared for in Britain and cited his permissions, documentation which campaigners for the return of the Marbles often now believe supports their claims. The committee allowed the Elgin Marbles to stay in Britain. They are now displayed by the British Museum. The Parthenon Diaspora The Parthenon and its sculptures/marbles have a history which stretches back 2500 years when it was built to honor a goddess called Athena. It has been a Christian church and a Muslim mosque. It has been ruined since 1687 when gunpowder stored inside exploded and attackers bombarded the structure. Over the centuries, the stones which both constituted and adorned the Parthenon had been damaged, especially during the explosion, and many have been removed from Greece. As of 2009, the surviving Parthenon sculptures are divided among museums in eight nations, including the British Museum, the Louvre, the Vatican collection, and a new, purpose-built museum in Athens. The majority of the Parthenon Sculptures are split evenly between London and Athens. Greece Pressure for the return of the marbles to Greece has been growing, and since the 1980s the Greek government has officially asked for them to be permanently repatriated. They argue that the marbles are a prime piece of Greek heritage and were removed with the permission of what was effectively a foreign government, as Greek independence only occurred a few years after Elgin was collecting. They also argue that the British Museum has no legal right to the sculptures. Arguments that Greece had nowhere to adequately display the marbles because they can’t be satisfactorily replaced in Parthenon have been made null and void by the creation of a new  £115 million Acropolis Museum with a floor recreating the Parthenon. In addition, massive works to restore and stabilize the Parthenon and the Acropolis have been, and are being, carried out. The British Museum’s Response The British Museum has basically said no to the Greeks. Their official position, as given on their website in 2009, is: â€Å"The British Museum’s Trustees argue that the Parthenon Sculptures are integral to the Museum’s purpose as a world museum telling the story of human cultural achievement. Here Greece’s cultural links with the other great civilizations of the ancient world, especially Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and Rome can be clearly seen, and the vital contribution of ancient Greece to the development of later cultural achievements in Europe, Asia, and Africa can be followed and understood. The current division of the surviving sculptures between museums in eight countries, with about equal quantities present in Athens and London, allows different and complementary stories to be told about them, focusing respectively on their importance for the history of Athens and Greece, and their significance for world culture. This, the Museum’s Trustees believe, is an arrangement that gives maximum public benefit for the world at large and affirms the universal nature of the Gree k legacy.† The British Museum has also claimed they have a right to keep the Elgin Marbles because they effectively saved them from further damage. Ian Jenkins was quoted by the BBC, while associated with the British Museum, as saying â€Å"If Lord Elgin did not act as he did, the sculptures would not survive as they do. And the proof of that as a fact is merely to look at the things that were left behind in Athens.† Yet the British Museum has also admitted that the sculptures were damaged by â€Å"heavy-handed† cleaning, although the precise level of damage is disputed by campaigners in Britain and Greece. Pressure continues to build, and as we live in a celebrity-driven world, some have weighed in. George Clooney and his wife Amal are the most high profile celebrities to call for the marbles to be sent to Greece, and his comments received what is, perhaps, best described as a mixed reaction in Europe. The marbles are far from the only item in a museum which another country would like back, but they are among the best known, and many people resistant to their transfer fear the complete dissolution of the western museum world should the floodgates be open. In 2015, the Greek government declined to take legal action over the marbles, interpreted as a sign that there is no legal right behind Greek demands.

Gulf Oil Spill Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gulf Oil Spill Paper - Essay Example Both the air and water pollutants are primary pollutants (Norse & Amos, 2010). This is because the hydrocarbon fumes, smoke, and the oil are released from the source of pollution directly into the environment. They also keep hold of their chemical components. Question 2 There are a number of effects which are associated to the spill. Numerous different species of animals and coral died. The demise of these marine creatures could be seen as both short-term and long-term effects on the environment and wildlife. Nonetheless, there are other short-term effects of the spill on the wildlife and environment. One, water pollutants may lead to a significant decrease of the marine creatures. Two, oil may penetrate the bodies of marine animals, lessening their insulating capacity, and making them more susceptible to temperature changes and less active in water. The long-term effects include, one, water pollutants may lead to the extinction of species because of the bottlenecking that may happen to attempt to repopulate the creatures. Two, creatures that depend on scent to locate their mothers or babies disappear due to the stout oil smell. This causes the rejection or abandonment of babies, hence their starvation and eventual death (Norse & Amos, 2010). Question 3 The troposphere is closest to the surface of the earth. It has the ability of diluting pollutants. It also moves air pollutants from high pollution production areas to lows production pollution areas. The stratosphere is above the troposphere. Pollutants in this layer remain in the atmosphere for long because they do not disperse. In the mesosphere, temperature lessens with height. Therefore, pollutants remain in the atmosphere for a prolonged period. Temperature augments with height in the thermosphere. Therefore, pollutants are moved from where they have high concentration to other areas. The exosphere is the external layer. This layer enables the movement of pollutants to far distances because molecules and a toms are widely spread. The identified pollutants from the spill will affect the atmosphere. This is because the burned oil releases hydrocarbon fumes and smoke which react to develop ozone in the atmosphere (NOAA, 2013). Question 4 The different cleaning procedures include bioremediation, dispersants, skimming, and natural degradation. Bioremediation Bioremediation entails the employment of micro organism metabolism to get rid of pollutants. It may include ex situ or in situ technologies. Ex situ entails the elimination of the polluted material to be cleaned at a different location. Conversely, in situ entails treating or cleaning the polluted material at the site. Dispersant Dispersants are chemical elements that break the tension that separates water and oil. When a dispersant is sprayed on oil, the oil collects in reduced droplets making them to sink. This facilitates a natural breakdown. Skimming Skimming equipment with fine filtering systems may be utilized to clean up oil spi lls. First, the spill is controlled using booms then the oil is skimmed from the surface. Booms can be made from stout material or neoprene. Natural Degradation The most appropriate way of dealing with an oil spill if it is not probably going to pollute coastal regions or fishing areas is to let it naturally break down (NOAA, 2013). Question 5 There are several new regulations and safety measures for oil drilling. One, organizations are required to provide

Individuals resident in the UK are liable to UK Income Tax on their Essay

Individuals resident in the UK are liable to UK Income Tax on their worldwide income arising in a tax year - Essay Example An individual who is not residing in UK is subject to income tax in UK or corporation tax in case of a company only on income arising within UK from a source. Likewise, a UK company is subject to corporation tax on capital gains if the gain is accrued from the sale of assets anywhere in the globe and an individual is liable pay capital gain tax on the capital gains earned. An individual is not subject to UK’s capital gains tax if he is not resident in the UK, unless the gain is generated on the sale of the assets of a UK resident’s permanent establishment. As per s 831 of the Income Tax A ct 2007, if a person who has stayed in UK for 183 or more number of days in a tax year will be recognised as a resident for that tax year. As per s 66 (1) of the Finance Act 1998, every corporation registered in UK will be viewed as a resident company in UK. If anyone does not fall in any of the above mentioned categories, then test derives from a chain of decided cases on the subject. HMRC also regards any person as a resident if he has stayed in the UK for more than ninety days on average per annum in four successive years. In decided cases as in IRC v Brown1, however, such simple arithmetical calculation is not followed. (Elizabeth, Martin & Law 2009:475). In UK, liability for income tax arises from the basis of residence. If one resides in UK for a particular period during a tax year, then he is liable to pay income tax for that tax year. There are set of guidelines and there are less cumbersome procedures to be observed for determining residential status. If anyone does not fall in any of the above mentioned residential categories, then test derives from a chain of decided cases on the subject. Since, in case of any dispute as regards to residential status under UK’s Income Tax Act, then one has to approach the court for redressal of his grievances. Employees who are on overseas duty is still ought to pay PAYE if they receive payments from UK employer. A UK