Thursday, January 30, 2020

Yahoo Versus Survivors of the Holocaust Essay Example for Free

Yahoo Versus Survivors of the Holocaust Essay The case Yahoo versus Survivors of the Holocaust is based on a lawsuit that was made by a group of French Nazi concentration camp survivors against the website yahoo.com for the auction of Nazi materials and other hate related contents. The Holocaust survivors sued the company in a French court after the US based Yahoo Company refused to respond to the warnings block access to neo-Nazi contents on its US based servers. The case was targeted towards accusing CEO of Yahoo Timothy Koogle as responsible for the controversial auctioning of Nazi artifacts on the Yahoo website and if he is found guilty he faces potential incarceration in France. The case also provides information on the dot.com crash which had a negative impact on Yahoo’s performance which experienced serious decline alongside other companies in the advertising budget. In April 2001, Yahoo suffered a 42% decline in advertising revenue which led to mass exodus of the company’s leading staff and threatened to replace Koogle. The case also point out that Yahoo France which was established in 1996 as a subsidiary of Yahoo International shares similar organizational structure, same look, and tailored its contents according to local tastes. It is therefore, a shared system whereby information that comes up on the company’s US site also shows up on the French site. Thus, there was a challenge in creating a global brand that is able to adapt to suit local tastes. In this case, the challenge of a shared website has led to a lawsuit which was put together in April 2000. La Ligue Contre le Racisme et l’Antisemitisme (LICRA) and the French Jewish Students filed a lawsuit against the US based company Yahoo, for posting Nazi-era contents for sale on the company’s auction site. Yahoo responded to the lawsuit by countersuing LICRA with the US District court for violating of constitutional rights of free speech in the US. Analyze the opportunities and threats of Yahoo establishing subsidiaries in foreign countries which maintain majority ownership. Yahoo International has developed subsidiaries that are suitable for the company image as a major MNC working in Information Technology (IT). The company is establishing subsidiaries in foreign countries around the world so that they can maintain majority ownership. For instance, in Yahoo France, the contents are tailored to fit local culture through specific contents such as sports categories focused on Tour de France, world cup soccer and the French Decathlon; while in the UK these categories focused on rugby, cricket, and equestrian events. Yahoo subsidiaries also enjoy the opportunities of majority ownership which allows the MNC to benefit from IT advancement and ease of transportation which makes it easier for the home and host country to have an effective international business. An example of the expected experience of Yahoo subsidiaries right to maintain majority ownership is similar to MTV network International, the music channel operation that reaches 1 billion people in 18 different languages and 164 countries; MTV management assures host countries that they are not in the business of exporting American culture, they point out their policy of 70% local content (Fatehi, 2008). Like MTV Network International, Yahoo International is advance in that it has developed 24 international sites in 13 languages, in each of its international markets Yahoo built independent directories of local language websites and other contents. The company yahoo is able to benefit this way by attracting 40% users from foreign countries. Nonetheless, the threats of having Yahoo in foreign subsidiaries which maintain majority ownership is that they risk having problems of hosting contents that are not culturally acceptable such as in the case of the Nazi artifacts showing up on the company’s French website and thereby signaling dispute due to local culture. The French representatives, primarily LICRA finds Yahoo as supporting unlawful act of hosting Nazi and other hateful contents which is against the Nazi Symbols Act. The symbols associated with Hitler’s Nazis are attractive to bigots on the Web because they suggest anti-Semitism in an immediate, forceful way to the general public (Poisoning the Web, n.d.). Based on the conflict in thoughts between the US based company and their French subsidiary, there are risks that are involved in providing foreign subsidiaries or their communities’ with the authority to accuse the company’s actions. According to the claim of Yahoo their intentions appear innocent. Thus, Yahoo is able to take a stance to protect their Freedom of Speech so that they do not experience continued accusation associated with hateful contents. Yahoo calls for protection of the First  Amendment of the US Constitution which includes the most basic component of freedom of expression, the right of freedom of speech, the right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without interference or constraint by the government (First Amendment, 2010). The information on the First Amendment of the US Constitution is important for Yahoo to use in defense of the risks that they could experience from their accusers who have consider them as disobeying th e Anti-Nazi Act and French laws that prohibited the display of Nazi contents and other hateful material. Analyze Yahoo’s social responsibility from a stakeholder perspective Yahoo’s social responsibility in this case will have a negative effect on the stakeholder perspective and their capacity for prosperity due to the conflict laid out in the lawsuits by Yahoo and LICRA. Yahoo is responsible for providing social responsibility to their customers, by providing safe products at reasonable costs. However, Yahoo was accused of showing auctions of Nazi contents on the companys U.S.-based Website which was accessible by French users and thus Yahoo was condemned by French Holocaust survivors. Yahoo’s social responsibility is also negative due to its acts that are found by LICRA as disobeying local laws and customs. Yahoo made progress in a countersuit against LICRA which accused that the French’s decision was in violation of the Communication, Decency Act, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 10 of the convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yahoo’s countersuits provide stakeholders with confidence in the organizations ability to overcome the constraints of the lawsuit. Yahoo’s stance in taking on a countersuit is a strong defense which creates opportunity to regain respect for the company and their stakeholders without acknowledging a prejudice intent or reference to Nazi auctions. Take a position on whether Yahoo acted in a manner that was ethically and socially responsible. In the case Yahoo versus survivors of the holocaust who is particularly Jewish students, the company did not meet the high expectancy level of ethical and social responsible standards. This is due to the auction of materials that are intolerant. The web displays of Nazi contents and other  hateful materials which were found on Yahoo website are unethical and unlawful. MNCs are responsible to act in a social responsible way; this includes operating within a certain parameter. There is thus a demand for the company to react quickly toward such contents of hate so that they will protect the company’s image and mission without experiencing accusation. Neo-Nazis use the Web to market merchandise, selling items emblazoned with the instantly recognizable symbols of Hitler’s Nazi party†¦ Like the T-shirt a music fan might buy at a rock concert, one shirt reads Adolf Hitler European Tour 1939 1945(Poisoning the Web, n.d.). Based on such negative intents, Yahoo is obliged to take serious future steps to isolate neo-Nazi contents from the website to protect the company’s image and promote social responsibility and ethics by condemning those that misuse the web to spread hate. Besides excluding Nazi-era memorabilia from the company’s French-language portal, formulate two additional business strategies to address the issues faced by Yahoo as well as the risks associated with implementing those strategies. Besides excluding Nazi era memorabilia from the company’s French language portal, it is important that Yahoo applies additional business strategies to address the issues faced by the company. One strategy that could benefit the organization is the Strategic planning which is the alignment of organizational capabilities with anticipated environmental changes in the pursuit of goal attainment (Fatehi, 2008). This strategy is important because it will provide Yahoo with the understanding of their environment and the forces that are likely to determine how they secure resources and achieve goals. However, there is a downside to this strategy and it is the risks involved in planning strategy which is somehow limited to the extent of difficulties that can occur as Yahoo expands globally. The multiplicity of cultural, sociopolitical, legal, and economic environments creates quantitative and qualitative difficulties (Fatehi, 2008). The problems that are likely to arise from Yahoo’s internationalization are risky and there is a chance that the firm will experience additional complexity that is outside of their strategic planning due to new problems can be a burden to the MNC. Cultural aspects of strategy are important strategies and will be the second business strategy that will address Yahoo’s problems in their foreign  markets. This strategy is important because culture plays a vital role in controlling MNCs to better support them in achieving their goals (Fatehi, 2008). In most business situations individuals are expected to apply self control and abide by culture norms. Cultural aspect of strategy is an important influence in determining the firm’s role in globalization and controlling its foreign operations. The risks of applying culture aspects of strategy is that the cultural difference are vast and vary in concept. Thus, there is a demand for Yahoo to meet cultural differences particularly by understanding the thoughts of foreign cultures. Without understanding the mentality and beliefs of a certain culture where they operate, Yahoo is likely to reencounter difficulties similar to the Nazi artifacts auction. Thus, the risk of cultural aspects of strategy will develop difficulties due to complications from various cultural differences which should be control in order to promote the company’s international objectives. Predict the consequences had Yahoo complied with LICRA’s initial demands. There would have been limited consequences for Yahoo if they had complied with LICRA’s initial demands to remove Nazi contents from their website. Instead, Yahoo initially responded that they had complied with French law on this issue and that there website did have a display or auction of hateful contents or Nazi materials. The case was initially made by LICRA charging Yahoo with illegally hosting auctions of Nazism, thereafter, the French court gave Yahoo a warning to block French residents from viewing Nazi auction or face fines. Yahoo adhering to LICRA would have violated their constitutional rights to protect free speech in the US Constitution. Thus, Yahoo would risk having to address serious issues from their home country about freedom of press which is linked to freedom of speech in the US constitution. The right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech; it allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination; it is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression; and it does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general (First Amendment, 2010). Yahoo faces the possibility of running into further problems from their users who could use the First Amendment as a bargain power to use the  website without compromising their constitutional rights. It is however a limited consequence if Yahoo is able to respond early to users or law enforcers on the contents display on their websites, this will avoid expenses for lawsuits and avoid challenges in securing revenues for stakeholders. References: 1. Fatehi, K. (2008). Managing internationally: Succeeding in a culturally diverse world (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd. 2. First Amendment (2010) Cornell Universitys Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 5/26/2012 from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment 3. Poisoning the Web: Hatred Online (n.d.) Neo-Nazis: Stormtroopers of the Web. Retrieved 5/26/2012 from http://www.adl.org/poisoning_web/neo_nazi.asp

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Barbarians at the Gate :: Business Management Studies

Barbarians at the Gate Barbarians at the Gate is a story of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Ross Johnson turned CEO of a company, which was the product of three merged companies, Standard Brands, RJ Reynolds, and National Biscuit Company (Nabisco). The newly formed company’s, called RJR Nabisco, stock began to fall and never recover. Johnson along with Shearson executives planned a leverage buyout (LBO), in which a brokerage firm (Shearson) would borrow money from banks and buy up all the outstanding shares from the stockholders to turn the company private. The problem with this is that the company would be put into jeopardy of other companies that can outbid the parent company, which would lead to a takeover. The higher the bid would lead to a bigger debt and lesser profits for the owners of the firm. One of the six accounting principles that was discussed in the book was the expense principle, which helps determine performance of a company by measuring the outflows and inflows of resources. The matching principle guides the recognition of expenses, so good matching will ultimately lead to a better measure of performance. When KKR exercised due diligence of RJR Reynolds, they could not figure out â€Å"other uses of cash† in the statements obtained. â€Å"The initial projections they had obtained from RJR Nabisco was a heading ‘other uses of cash.’ Beside it was a row of figures stretching out ten years, each year ranging from 300 to 500 million dollars. Was it cash flowing in or out? Should he add it? Subtract it? Ignore it?† (Barbarians 369).

Monday, January 13, 2020

The Who Music Quiz

Short Disclaimer: You may or may not notice that I did not mention everything The Who have released, or all the people in their line-up at all times. Nor did I mention Tommy(the movie) or Quadrophenia (the movie). I wanted to focus on The Who's music in their prime years, rather than their various reunions and films. Band Members: Pete Townshend: Guitar, vocals Roger Daltrey: Vocals, harmonica John Entwistle: Bass, vocals, French horn Keith Moon (until 1978): Drums, vocals Kenney Jones (after 1978): Drums John Bundrick (after 1978): Keyboards Discography: 1964: Singles: I'm the Face 1965: Singles: I Can't Explain, My Generation 1965: The Who Sings My Generation 1966: Singles: Substitute, I'm a Boy, The Kids Are Alright, Happy Jack 1966: A Quick One 1967: Singles: Pictures of Lilly, I Can See For Miles 1967: The Who Sell Out 1968: Singles: I Can't Reach You, Dogs, Magic Bus. 1968: Magic Bus – The Who on Tour 1969: Singles: Pinball Wizard, I'm Free, The Acid Queen 1969: Tommy 1970: Singles: The Seeker, Summertime Blues 1970: Live at Leeds 1971: Singles: Behind Blue Eyes, Lets See Action 1971: Who's Next 1971: Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy 1972: Singles: Join Together, Relay 1973: Singles: 5:15, Love Reign O'Er Me 1973: Quadrophenia 1974: Single: The Rael Me 1974: Odds and Sods 1975: Singles: Squeeze Box, Slip Kid 1975: The Who by the Numbers 1978: Who Are You? 1979: The Kids Are Alright (Soundtrack) 1981: Face Dances 1982: It's Hard 1991: Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (Box Set) 1996: My Generation – The Very Best of the Who 1996: Live at the Isle of Wight 2000: BBC Sessions 2002: Ultimate Collection 2002: Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2004: Then and Now: 1964-2004 Few bands in rock history have had the talent, ability, energy, and impact as The Who did from the mid 60's to the late 70's. Starting as an offshoot of the British Invasion, the Who evolved to become one of the most powerful and one of the greatest rock n' roll bands of all time. Though by definition they weren't a super-group (the members were not already established as premier musicians before The Who took off), they arguably had the talent to be one. Destroying equipment, blowing up bass drums, Townshend's windmill, Daltrey's tough guy attitude and rock vocal power, and Entwistle's â€Å"eye of the hurricane† approach to the stage show and lead bass-playing are all defining parts of The Who that make them a legend in their time and into today. Pete Townshend was the artistic leader of the band, and he constantly moved them in new directions to reach areas no rock bands had been and few have been since. Aside from his artistic creativity, his guitar playing was very good. He is often overlooked because he did not do many solos or much flashy guitar work, but he fit the band perfectly. Not only was Townshend a capable guitarist, but his song writing ability is up there with the best. Townshend also sang background vocals and occasionally lead vocals, making him even more valuable to the band. Roger Daltrey, the singer of the group, started as a great singer with solid range and glimpses of power. His versatility allowed him to progress into a power-rock front man, and his amazing stage presence propelled The Who's live shows throughout their career. But the real focus of The Who is usually on the rhythm section (or in The Who's case, the lead instrumental section). John Entwistle was a pioneer in bass playing, as he was one of first players to show that bass could be the lead instrument in rock music. He immediately made his presence known in The Who with his heavy sound and distorted bass, like the fills in My Generation . Entwistle also added solid backup vocals, which gave The Who more dimensions in their vocal harmonies. And then ,of course, there is Keith Moon. Moon was a defining aspect of The Who, and a key part of why they were so different from almost all other bands. His attacking drum style, blazing speed, and constant fills would become a trademark of The Who, especially in their live show. Although Keith is usually noted for being a crazy man on the drums, he tends to show a significant amount of control on their studio albums. There are more fills than other drummers, but enough restraint so as not to ruin the trac k. Instrumentally, Entwistle and Moon led the band. Townshend was a good guitar player, but he usually found himself pounding out power-chords and solid riffs in the role of a rhythm player while John and Keith took the role as lead players. That is not to say that Pete never played lead or that he could not solo, however. Townshend and Entwistle first met each other in high school, and initially played in a Dixieland band together (John was on trumpet and Pete was on banjo) in 1962. In 1963, Entwistle left to play bass for the newly formed Detours, with singer Roger Daltrey already in place. Soon, Townshend joined them band on guitar. Not long after, there was a drumming void, and Keith Moon was added to the band. They changed their name to The Who in 1964. After struggling for a few months to progress, the band met an interested manager in Pete Meaden. Under his direction, the band became known as the High Numbers and began wearing suits and playing more of an R&B style. Their first single contained I'm the Face/Zoot Suit , but it faired poorly. Meaden was cut, and they reformed as The Who. I Can't Explain was the band's next single, and it did much better. After the band played a TV performance that featured Moon and Townshend destroying their instruments, The Who starting gaining popularity. The band's dynamics in this time period are very interesting. Each member had vastly different personalities, which often led to disputes and arguments, sometimes even violence onstage. Instead of keeping these altercations private, The Who made them well-known. They became notorious for their violent demeanour and aggressive stage act, but instead of having a negative effect on the band, the result was that their popularity continually grew. It is important here to stress the Who's significance to the Mod movement in London at the time. The hundred of mods in the audience became a medium through which The Who could let out their pent-up aggression. In these years, The Who soon became the Mod band, the voice of the rebellious teenagers, soon to represent what rock and roll would become: a defiant escape from the previous generation and a defiant statement against it. As I Can't Explain had jumped to the British Top Ten, the band was now ready to record an album. The Who Sings My Generation was built around the title track, also released as a single. The album showcases the raw style of the band early in their career. There is noticeable influence of R&B, blues, and Motown, added into the Who's style of power rock. Its lasting legacy to music is undoubtedly My Generation . This song displays the defiant attitude of the band and Townshend's infamous, â€Å"hope I die before I get old† line. The rebellious nature of the song even became somewhat of an influence on the future punk movement, which would start to see its true beginnings in just a couple years. Also seen here are instrumental statements of Entwistle and Moon. As mentioned before, Entwistle's fills are remarkable. The end of the song features Moon all over the drums, producing a wall of sound that no other drummer of the time could even hope to emulate. The song would also become a key part of their live show for the upcoming years. The single Substitute was released shortly after that album, and met more British success. The song itself is a solid pop tune with great drumming and good vocals. The Band again prepared for more studio work. The Who's next record would prove to be an interesting one, to say the least. Titled A Quick One (in Britain) or Happy Jack (in America), it would expand on the base of The Who to showcase a wide variety of music. The tracks range from the circus type music of Cobwebs and Strange (which features amazing drumming from Moon, it's somewhat of a mini drum solo) to the ten minute mini-opera of the title track, A Quick One . This is Townshend's first experiment with a lengthy piece that centered on a theme. The plot concerns a woman who cheats on her husband while he is away for a long time. Musically, the song moves through six movements that run together successfully. Also on the album were the strange Happy Jack and even stranger Boris the Spider , both of which are solid and are now well known tracks. The most important parts of this album were the fact that the band was certainly showing signs of evolution (which were necessary to further develop and survive as the 60's died out), and the mini-opera concept Townshend was starting to create. This idea would become more important on the band's next album, and eventually reach a climax on Tommy. Their next record, The Who Sell Out (1967), is debatably a concept album that centers on a mock radio broadcast program. Between nearly every song, there is a short mock radio jingle. The album even includes the band advertising certain products in song form, as the title would suggest. There are some rather obvious examples of this, such as Heinz Baked Beans , and other examples that can actually stand alone as solid songs, like Odorono . There is even some dabbing in psychedelia (after all, it was 1967) like on Armenia, City In the Sky . The Who take full advantage of the studio to produce this record, though the music itself still has a bit of the raw essence of the early Who. These early albums do not tend to present the loud raucous Who that their live show represented; instead, there is a strong sense of melody and control. Moon shows remarkable constraint (for him, at least) on songs like Tattoo . Sunrise, I Can't Reach You, and Our Love Was showed Townshend's softer side as a songwriter. I Can See For Miles was the only the album's top ten hit and the only track that got radio play and it features great singing from Roger and typical Keith Moon drumming. However, the real climax of the album is Rael , and religious conceptual experiment. The Who even develops some of the instrumental themes for Tommy on this song (mostly from songs like Sparks or The Underture ). They were now only a short step away from a full-blown concept album. The Who's live show was growing in popularity, size, volume, etc, as they became a bigger band over the last few years. Destroying their equipment was now a standard part of their nightly show. In fact, The Who destroyed so much equipment and gear, that they were actually in debt for a few years, despite the success of their albums and singles. Ironically, the band had stopped smashing their instruments by the time they had enough funds to actually afford doing it. In 1967, The Who performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in front of 200,000 people. Two years before the legendary Woodstock, a festival of this magnitude was a great tool to help launch the band into their upcoming power rock years. In 1968, The Who continued to release singles, including the ever-popular Magic Bus . To help keep momentum, they also released Magic Bus -The Who on Tour , a collection of some early singles and some album cuts not available previously. Through the rest of 1968, Townshend worked on what would be considered by many the band's artistic peak. He developed an interesting concept and a complex plot that moved through the life of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who plays pinball. Tommy , released 1969, is a double-album and a conceptual masterpiece. The album is known for being the first very successful rock-opera (and one of the first in general). Tommy was met with great commercial success, especially in America. The plot, though confusing at times, is generally easy to follow. An interesting aspect of Tommy is in the religious themes it develops. By the end Tommy becomes such a powerful figure for fans seeking salvation (Sally Simpson ). Musically, the album is unquestionably strong. The Who were able to use great vocal harmonies and soft melodies in combination with their naturally loud and upfront style to produce an ideal mix of the two. Moon is excellent without being over-powering, and Townshend's song writing may have peaked here with impressive lyrics throughout the whole album. There are also instrumental movements like Sparks and The Underture , both of which relate to a strong musical theme. Combined with unbelievable songs like Amazing Journey, The Overture, Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Christmas, I'm Free, We're Not Gonna Take It , and a great album structure, Tommy is an album that by itself would have made The Who's career great. Tommy was the peak of the early Who, and soon the band would undergo changes that would dominate their style in the 70's. Touring to support the album, their live show grew in magnitude. Often they would play the entire album all the way through, each night reproducing the epic plot. 1969 also brought about another event that would have lasting effects on The Who: Woodstock. The legendary music festival was the basis for further evolution in the band's sound. The power of their live show was now all but unmatched, and it thrived off performances of epic songs such as the See me, Feel me climax. Roger Daltrey especially evolved during this time. In these years, he became Tommy to the audience, a sex symbol and a leader of the band on stage. Not to say that he was outshining the other members, however. In 1970, The Who decided to d0cument their astounding show with their release of Live at Leeds . The original LP featured rousing versions of Summertime Blues and Young Man Blues , along with a 15-minute version of My Generation that experiments with the Tommy themes. This album is regarded as one of the best live albums ever released, and it's no wonder why. It is still widely considered one of the best live performances ever recorded. A two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album is now available, which features Tommy performed almost in its entirety. Later that same year, The Who also played at the gigantic Isle of Wight Festival. With over 600,000 fans in attendance, The Who delivered a spectacular set. The material is similar to that of Live at Leeds , with new songs like Water, I Don't Even Know Myself, Spoonful/Twist and Shout , and an abridged version of Tommy . The show is now available on DVD as well as CD. The Who's momentum in 1970 to 1971 was also supplemented by the release of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy , a collection of early singles, as well as the release of The Seeker as a new single. The new song gave audiences a feel for the type of sound that The Who would produce during the upcoming years. After the release of a record that stretched the idea of what was possible by four guys on a stage with just their instruments, The Who decided to use the studio to their full advantage on their next album. Synthesizers drive the album, and there use here was one of the first times a band used them so effectively. However, Pete was having difficulty with the album's concept. Townshend's original idea was a project titled Life house , which supposedly dealt with science fiction and a utopian society, but the idea was becoming increasingly complex and spiralled out of control. In response to the stress build up and complications, Townshend suffered a nervous breakdown. After his recovering, The Who picked up the pieces of Pete's failed work and came up with their 1971 release, Who's Next (this album is said jokingly by many to be the greatest failure in the history of rock music). The new album carried a much heavier sound than their previous studio work, and was very synthesizer-drive n. This is evident right from the start of the album. There are definite beginnings of The Who's â€Å"arena rock† era, which would last basically all of the 70's. Hard rock anthems like Baba O'Riley, Bargain, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again all became very popular and received extensive play on FM radio. It also contains popular fan songs like My Wife and The Song is Over . Who's Next is usually thought of as the band's best album, and is probably their most popular. After more touring with the new material The Who were ready to go back into the studio. Determined to overcome his previous â€Å"failure† and do another Tommy so to speak, Townshend prepared to create another complex concept album. He moved through many possible ideas, each time getting involved in them for a period and then abandoning the concept. Eventually, Townshend settled on looking back at the time he knew best: the Mods. The double-album Quadrophenia was crafted together and released in 1973. The album's concept dealt with a youth, Jimmy, growing up in 60's and struggling to find himself in a mod society. Despite starting with a much stronger story than Tommy originally had, Quadrophenia's plot suffers from being underdeveloped. Townshend tried to incorporate four vastly different personalities into his central character, each of which reflected a member of the band, but this too was left underdeveloped and only weakened Quadrophenia as a thematic album. Ultimately, the record's attempted concept was too complex for the mass Who audience to understand. The album is also very studio heavy, meaning that its complexities (horn sections, various studio effects, overdubs, etc) made it very difficult for the band to replicate it live, unlike most of their earlier material. Despite these negative points about the album, the music overall is very well done. Standout tracks include The Real Me, The Punk and the Godfather, I've Had Enough, 5:15, and Love Reign O'Er Me. The Real Me features some amazing bass playing, even by Entwistle's standards, and Love Reign O'Er Me showcases Daltrey's undeniable power and the emotional climax of the album. Quadrophenia also features what may be Keith Moon's best studio drumming. However, the inability to reproduce the album's sound on a tour would prove costly for the group, and caused them to take a step back. After Quadrophenia , The Who began to drift apart slightly. Townshend and Entwistle were both interested in their own solo projects. Pete began to drink excessively, a habit that would plague him for the next several years. Moon was enjoying his rock star lifestyle of substance abuse and like Townshend, this would cause problems for him in the next few years. Regardless of this, Pete continued working on songs for The Who and for their next album. During their off year in 1974, The Who released Odds and Sods , another singles and album cuts collection spanning The Who's career to that point. The band goes back to the basics on The Who by the Numbers , released 1975. The complex arrangements of the last album were replaced by basically pure rock music. Townshend's lyrics were very emotional and personal. The album and its subsequent tour were both hits, but it did not stand up the level of their past four releases. The record's strongest tracks were Slip Kid and Squeeze Box , with a number of other expressive songs like They Are All in Love and How Many Friends . After the tour, The Who was exhausted and artistically worn-out and agreed to take an extended break. Very little would be heard from the band until they came back together in 1978 to work on their new album. The resulting record would be Who Are You , which was a relatively big success. However, the album is plagued with problems and inconsistencies. Alcoholism and substance abuse were taking their tolls on Townshend and Moon, and although their instrumental ability is still intact, there is the sense that the group is starting to fade. Moon especially during this time was very flakey. It was questionable whether he would turn up for sessions or not. Sometimes he would even forget parts of his drumming and have to relearn things in the studio. The album relied heavily on synthesizers and complex arrangements, and in some cases these are certainly overdone. The title track is the album's biggest accomplishment. The commercial success of the record may have triggered The Who's comeback, but it was not to be. On September 7, 1978, Keith Moon overdosed on a drug that was helping him get away from his alcoholism, and died. Losing a band member like Keith Moon almost immediately implies that the band would not continue. Moon was a defining aspect of The Who for nearly 14 years, and he was certainly not replaceable. Almost no drummers could bring to a band what he brought to The Who. However, the surviving members elected to continue playing. Later they would all agree that The Who in fact did end with Keith Moon's death. Kenney Jones, formerly of the Small Faces, was hired as Moon's replacement. Keyboardist John Bundrick was also added to the group, and they began working on new material and set up for a tour. They gained momentum through the release of The Kids Are Alright, a collection of video footage of the group's entire career. But their momentum and goodwill was crushed when they were informed about the deaths of 11 people after being trampled in a Cincinnati accident. Townshend fell deep into drug use now, and had an almost fatal encounter with heroin in 1981. Daltrey and Entwistle worked on their solo careers, but met limited success. The band reformed to release Face Dances (1981) and It's Hard (1982). Though with some standout material (namely Eminence Front ), the albums pale in comparison to The Who of ten years ago. Their 1982 Tour was supposedly a goodbye to fans, as they were basically packing it in. The remainder of the 80's saw numerous Who collections emerge, and finally in 1991 the band brought together a successful 4-disc box set. The three core members continued their solo careers, and have reunited a few times in the 90's for brief tours and various benefits. When it looked as though the group was gaining steam, John Entwistle died in June of 2002. The Who's lasting legacy to rock music is one of the greatest ever left. They did what no band had done and very few have done. Between the early mod Who, the guitar-smashing mid 60's Who, the concept/thematic album Who, and the unyielding arena-rock Who, few bands have changed as much as they did and covered so much area in music. Their legendary live show is still though off as one of the best rock has ever seen. With the super talented musicians they had, it is no wonder that The Who were able to produce so much good music and influence so many bands and artists of their time, and even now. Their music will indeed live on forever.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Organizational Design Is The Organization s Structure...

Organizational design is â€Å"the process of aligning an organization’s structure with its mission† (Mind Tools, 2016). The structure of an organization is personal to each group and encompasses the relationships between tasks, workflows, accountability and authority, ensuring they all come together to support the mission of the business. Each organization has its own culture and way of doing business and it is important for a leader to clearly articulate the organizational culture, mission and values to the members. Hierarchal structures in organizational design are useful for identification of â€Å"division of labor and responsibilities† as well as defining lines of authorities (Hamel, 2010, p. 13). In an open systems structure, the boundary lines of the unit are porous meaning, what impacts one system will adversely or positively impact another. Regardless of how an organization is structured, it can benefit from improvements to the design, which will i ncrease individual and team effectiveness, organizational effectiveness and growth through knowledge management and integrated assessment processes and tools. In order for organizations to survive, thrive and be effective today, design and structure must support a culture and environment where knowledge can be shared and utilized by other systems. There are many integrated assessment processes and tools, which can increase the effectiveness and growth of an organization. One such type of assessment is a survey, which can beShow MoreRelatedFred Meyer Organizational Structure Essay1235 Words   |  5 PagesMeyer’s Organizational Structure Selection MGT230 January 29, 2013 The Process of Fred Meyer’s Organizational Structure Selection Introduction According to Bateman and Snell, â€Å"Two fundamental concepts around which organizations are structured are differentiation and integration† (2011, pg. 227). Differentiation refers to the different units that work on different kinds of tasks with the use of different skills and work methods in an organization. TheseRead MoreOrganizational Structure and Culture661 Words   |  3 PagesOrganizational Structure and Culture Introduction In this week’s assignment we will be looking at organizational structure and organizational culture. We will first look at how organizational culture impacts organizational structure and vice versa. 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