Five Forces of Competition Essay

Air travel has changed the way people live and experience the world today. The airline industry is a strategic sector that plays a fundamental role in the globalization of other industries since it promotes tourism, world trade, foreign investment and, therefore, leads to economic growth. However, all airlines within the industry operate in a highly dynamic environment where various legal, social, technological and economic forces interact with each other, thus influencing their decisions and actions In the industry where airlines can face severe financial distress due to oil crisis, recessions and terrorist attacks, In order to survive, as well as succeed, the business needs to assess its competitive environment and identify key factors that may influence its actions (Porter, 1998, p. 5). The airline industry is very competitive and Michael Porter’s five-forces model can be used to analyse the intensity of the competition and the profitability of this industry. Porter’s five forces model is a business unit strategy tool which is used to make an analysis of the value of an industry structure (Hubbard, 2004, pg 35). The analysis is made by the identification of 5 fundamental competitive forces. These include: Threat of new entrants is high  One of the forces identified by this model is the threat of new entrants which refers to the possibility of new competitors entering the industry and undermining the profits of the established businesses. In the world today, the airline industry is so saturated that there is hardly space for a newcomer to enter the market. The biggest for this is the cost of entry. The airline industry is one of the most expensive industries, due to the cost of buying and leasing aircrafts, safety and security measures, customer service and manpower. Other barriers to entry which will recess new comers into the airline industry include Government restrictions and high capital costs to develop new airlines. However, the entry barriers for new airlines is lower today since the Australian domestic airline market was deregulated in 1990. This has produced far greater competition than before deregulation in most markets. The deregulation has allowed Jetstar and Tiger Airways enter the market and reduce the market share for Virgin Blue and with the added competition, together with pricing freedom, means that there is a major onstraint on profitability for the airline industry. Moreover if borrowing is cheap the likelihood of more airlines entering the industry is higher. Bargaining power of Buyers is high The bargaining power of buyers is another force that can affect the competitive position of a company (Porter, 1998, p. 48). This refers to the amount of pressure customers can place on a business, thus, affecting its prices, volume and profit potential (Porter, 1998, p. 45). The various airlines flying from the Gold Coast airport are competing for the same customer, which also results in strengthening the buyer power. Individuals wishing to travel to and from the Coolangatta airport are presented with various choices when selecting an airline but price is usually the most important factor, especially for students and families. Hence, the bargaining power of customers in the airline industry is very high since they are price sensitive and search for the best deals available. Virgin Blue attracts travellers that are price sensitive by offering them low fares and those that are convenience oriented by providing them with frequent flights. Qantas on the other hand has created a frequent flyer program to create switching costs which may be a significant factor to a traveller when choosing which airline to fly with. Bargaining Power of Suppliers is high Suppliers can also exercise considerable pressure on a company by increasing prices or lowering the quality of products offered which are mainly dominated by Boeing and Airbus. The bargaining power of suppliers depends on supplier concentration, substitute supplies, switching costs, threat of forward integration and buyer information. However, other suppliers who work with the airline such as the providers of on board snacks do not have the same bargaining power as they are a larger industry which allows for Virgin Blue to have a choice over who they are purchasing from. Virgin Blue will purchase their on board snacks from the supplier which is the most economic so Virgin Blue can make a higher profit margin from the goods when they are sold. Threat of Substitutes is low for international carriers/ little higher for short distance The availability and threat of substitutes is another factor that can affect competition within the airline industry. It refers to the likelihood that customers may switch to another product or service that performs similar functions (Stahl, M, Grigsby D 1997, pg 145). Substitutes for air travel include travelling by train, bus or car to the desired destination. The degree of this threat depends on various factors such as money, convenience, time and personal preference of travellers. The competition from substitutes is affected by the ease of with which buyers can change over to a substitute. A key consideration is usually the buyers switching costs, however due to their low fare non-stop flights, Virgin Blue, Jetstar and Tiger airways can lure both price sensitive and convenience oriented travellers away from these substitutes. Competitive Rivalry is high  Industries that are very competitive generally earn low profits and returns since the cost of competition is high. The airline industry is usually characterized by the cut-throat competition that exists among the rival airlines due to its low cost nature. Since the carriers are involved in a constant struggle to take away the market share from each other, industry growth is average and as it is easy for buyers to switch between the airline companies, depending on price, the rivalry is increased. Rivalry is also high in the airline industry due to high fixed costs, as much of the cost of a flight is fixed, there is a great opportunity for airlines to sell unsold seats cheaply, which resolve in pricing wars between the airlines (Hubbard, 2004, pg 38). The airlines are continually competing against each other in terms of prices, technology, in-flight entertainment, customer services and many more areas. The net result of this competition between companies is an overall slow market growth rate. In conclusion we can understand that the airline industry is very competitive and Michael Porters five-forces model can be used to explain why the potential for returns is so low in this industry. Firstly, the threat of new companies entering the industry is high and the entry barriers are low. Secondly, the bargaining power of customers is high since they are price sensitive and search for the best deals. The third force, bargaining position of suppliers, is strong since they are concentrated and this limits the control airlines have over suppliers to reduce prices and earn higher profits. The availability and threat of substitutes is another factor that can affect a company’s competitive position. However, the degree of this threat depends on various factors such as time, money, convenience and personal preferences of travellers. The final force in Porters model is competitive rivalry between the companies within an industry. Cut-throat competition exists among the airlines and since there is a constant struggle for market share, the over all profit potential of this industry is low.

Appendicitis

In the position of the appendix, age of the patient, and degree of inflammation make the clinical presentation of appendicitis notoriously inconsistent. Statistics report that 1 of 5 cases of appendicitis is misdiagnosed; however, a normal appendix is found In 15-40% of patients who have an emergency appendectomy. Niwa et al reported an Interesting case of a young woman with recurrent pain In who was referred for appendicitis, treated with antibiotics, and was found to have an ppendiceal diverticulitis associated with a rare pelvic pseudocyst at laparotomy after 12 months. 15] Her condition was probably due to diverticular perforation of the pseudocyst_ Symptoms The classic history of anorexia and perlumblllcal pain followed by nausea, right lower quadrant (RLQ) pain, and vomiting occurs in only 50% of cases. Nausea is present in 61-92% of patients; anorexia is present in 74-78% of patients. Neither finding is statistically different from findings in patients who present to the emerg ency epartment with other etiologies of abdominal pain. In addition, when vomiting occurs, it nearly always follows the onset of pain.Vomiting that precedes pain Is suggestive of Intestinal obstruction, and the diagnosis of appendicitis should be reconsidered. Diarrhea or constipation Is noted In as many as of patients and should not be used to discard the possibility of appendicitis. The most common symptom of appendicitis is abdominal pain. Typically, symptoms begin as periumbilical or epigastric pain migrating to the right lower quadrant (RLQ) f the abdomen. This pain migration is the most discriminating feature of the patient's history, with a sensitivity and specificity of approximately 80%, a positive Ilkellhood ratio of 3. 8, and a negative likelihood ratio of 0. 5. [3] Patients usually Ile down, flex their hips, and draw their knees up to reduce movements and to avoid worsening their pain. Later, a worsening progressive pain along with vomiting, nausea, and anorexia are desc ribed by the patient. usually. a fever is not present at this stage. The duration of symptoms Is less than 48 hours In approximately 80% of adults but tends to be longer In elderly persons and In those with perforation.Approximately 2% of patients report duration of pain in excess of 2 weeks. A history of similar pain is reported in as many as 23% of cases, but this history of similar pain, in and of itself, should not be used to rule out the possibility of appendicitis. In addition to recording the history of the abdominal pain, obtain a complete summary of the recent personal history surrounding gastroenterologic, genitourinary, nd pneumologlc conditions, as well as consider gynecologic history In female patients.An inflamed appendix near the urinary bladder or ureter can cause Irrltatlve v0101ng symptoms ana nematurla or pyurla. cystltls In male patlents Is rare in the absence of instrumentation. Consider the possibility of an inflamed pelvic appendix in male patients with appare nt cystitis. Also consider the possibility of appendicitis in pediatric or adult patients who present with acute urinary retention.

Domestic violence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Domestic violence - Research Paper Example Most of the time such as happened in this case, the victims of domestic violence find it difficult to accept their situation and report the case to the authorities. As such, most cases go unreported especially for men due to fear of what the society would think of them. For women, they rely much on men hence fear loss of economic sustenance or fear their partner would more violent towards them if they reported the case. Furthermore, domestic violence occurs within confines of the home thus making it difficult to detect unless the victim reports. Sometimes police regard it as a family matter hence no need for reporting. In Connecticut State, dating violence was not given much consideration; they were exempted from arrest fro domestic abuse (CCADV, 2013). As of October 1, 2011 domestic violence laws in Connecticut apply to you if a person with whom you are in or have recently been in a dating relationship perpetrates violence against you. Domestic violence is a criminal offense punishable by law especially if it involves assault. As such, the person perpetrating the violence, in this case Sarah’s boyfriend can be arrested and arraigned in a court of law for assault. If assault is third degree it is regarded as misdemeanor and attracts a punishment of one year imprisonment but if assault is first or second degree it is a felony punishable by more than one year in jail (Hart, Davies & Epler-Epstein, 2011, p. 11). The boyfriend caused physical injury to Sarah by breaking her arm and on another instance by hitting her on the mouth as evidenced by bleeding mouth. For such an offense the offender is liable to imprisonment and deserves to be arrested whether or not Sarah makes a claim to the police department provided the evidence and testimony by witnesses prove such a crime was committed. The police also determine if the victim needs medical assistance and helps them by also advising them to

Journal #2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Journal #2 - Assignment Example It is a symbol of family unity, a bond uniting me and my grandmother, and consequently my great grandfather. It is a golden necklace whose value indicates that it was a treasure that has to be passed-on the family line, an indication that the family relationship is valued and treasured. The leather wallet given to me by my uncle during my 12th birthday remains another valued artifact for me. The wallet has my names inscribed on it, and it is made up of pure leather. My uncle ordered it as a birthday gift for me when I was turning 12 years old, and it has remained the favorite of all my possessions, more so because it has my name on it. The significance of this artifact is that it gives me my identity, my name. Whenever I have the wallet with me, I feel that I have something that identifies with me, with my name. It signifies that presents and gifts can make a real impact on the life of an individual. The photograph of me, my sister and our friends at the train station when we were young, is another artifact that I value. The photograph was taken when we were young, during our migration journey to our new home. It was taken when my sister was crying at the train station, when we were waiting to board a train, because she did not like the idea of moving from our previous residence to our new home. She was sad, since she was leaving all her friends behind, and we were trying to console her. The significance of this artifact is that it reminds me of our childhood, when were so close with my sister. It brings back the beautiful memories of our life in our previous residence, where we lived closely with our neighbors since the residences were not spacious, and all families integrated as though they were one big family. It is an artifact signifying social integration that is rarely possible these days. My friend gave me a painting when I was graduating from high school, which has always reminded me of our friendship. Many

Media Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media Article - Essay Example It connects cultures with one another and brings people and different nationalities under one roof. However, the long awaited dream of Alan Lomax has been given a real existence to spread the traditional music and culture of different nations from around the globe. Alan Lomax was the first American folklorist and a prodigious traditional music collector who dreamt of creating a global jukebox, even before the internet was introduced (Larry Rother). Alan Lomax was the first one to record Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie. He set a platform for the American to get a better understanding of folk and traditional music. He developed a strong relation between the music and the cultures. Alan Lomax has hugely contributed in revolutionizing the music industry. He can be considered as a pioneer in giving the support to the traditional music and introducing it for once again in the minds of people. In other words, it can also be said that in American culture, where Afro-American music was considered as â€Å"destructive for the soul of music†; Alan Lomax stepped ahead and appreciated the versatility, richness and uniqueness of Afro-American music in the American culture. Culture can be well studied by the customs, music and traditions of any particu lar region. Music is an international language of peace and love. Alan Lomax has tried his level best in bringing all the traditional music and dance styles from around the world together. This would enable people to better understand and analyze the cultural differences of other nations. People would compare and contrast the versatility and uniqueness of their culture with other cultures. This would benefit a large group of people from around the world who are keen to know and explore different cultures. A culture represents different key aspects of a nation, region or group of people. Enormous efforts and contributions made by Alan Lomax in rejuvenating the essence of traditional music and making people

Advanced financial reporting and regulation Essay

Advanced financial reporting and regulation - Essay Example The important characteristic of intangibles is that they lack physical substance. It is very difficult to estimate the value of intangibles and there is a high degree of uncertainty regarding the length of time over which they will provide future benefits. IAS 38 clarifies that intangibles should not be recorded as other assets. Also this standard does not apply to intangible held for sale in the normal course of business of the entity. Similarly differed tax assets, leases, assets arising from employee benefits, financial assets, mineral rights, and other exploration and evaluation assets, and most importantly goodwill arising from business combinations do not fall the preview of IAS 38. The identifiable assets should be separable. The entity is in a position to sell, transfer, and license, rent or exchanges the intangibles. It is important to note that intangibles should be clearly distinguishable and controlled separately from the goodwill. Such identifiable intangibles may have arisen from contractual or other legal rights, whether those are transferable or not, or separable from the entity or other rights and obligations. The initial accounting for intangible is largely dependent on whether they are purchased or developed internally. When intangibles are purchased from others, they are initially recorded at their cost. The amount capitalized will include the purchase price and, like other assets, costs of preparing them for their intended uses. As a result, costs of registration or legal fees related to acquisition are also capitalized. When intangibles are purchased in a business combination, the cost to be recognized is the fair value at acquisition. When intangibles are acquired free of cost or received as a grant, the fair value or nominal value and directly attributable costs of such intangibles is recognized. All other costs of intangibles are charged to revenue. Internally generated intangibles are not recognized as

Child abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Child abuse - Essay Example Taking a moment to know and understand some of these causes will help us to find ways of preventing child abuse. Some children have been found that they were abused by parents who had unexpected pregnancies and therefore resulted to unwanted children who end up being neglected and develop a very poor relationship with their biological mother or both parents. The parents who also physically beat their spouses are known to extend the same frustrations on their children. People who take drugs like alcoholic drinks and cigarettes or cocaine also have a tendency in abusing children. Other factors are unemployment and financial difficulties which are associated with increased rates of child abuse (Check, 1989). In a 2009 CBS News report, it was realized that child abuse in the US had become greater during the economic depression. An example was given of a father who was not a sole breadwinner . But when the father was in that role, the situation changed. In this discussion, I will talk about two factors, these two factors are; Alcoholic parents and Parents experience of violence. The problem is drinker parents and parent’s history of abusing by their family members are the most important reasons that lead parents to abuse their children. It is very important to prevent violence toward children. How do we prevent this issue? We have to stop and limit this concern by knowing the exact problem in terms of the effects it has on the children and then by addressing the solution. According to the studies from World Bank and World Health organization, â€Å"alcohol-related death and its impact is bad. The dangerous effects of alcohol use on health and the likelihood of becoming an addict have been recognized as dangerous issues of great concern for a long time (www.searo.who.int). Parents who drink alcohol or any other substances that cause them to get drunk will often abuse their children if the level of their drinking is too much. Drinking

QWE Case Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

QWE Case - Assignment Example A program should be developed to dispose of the products without them affecting animals due to the plants that absorb them and are fodder for animals. The study used the strategy of putting forth questions to the respective samples and analyzing the answers to draw conclusions on the various PPCPs (Boxal, 2012). The use of critical questions was crucial in getting main points, and the study came up with a list of the final questions. The criteria for choosing the questions involved the focus on relative risk, antibiotic resistance, effects characterization among many others. The key question strategy was used to determine the potential harmful effects of PPCPs on the environment and humans especially their detection and they are spread throughout the environment. The approach used was the key question approach. The criteria of coming up with the twenty questions were crucial and used prioritization among other factors. Since the PPCPs have extensive use throughout the world, the questions would not be hard to formulate. The questions on the PPCPs took into consideration various areas in the environment and effects of the chemicals contained in them to the environment and the animals. The questions were of either low rank or high status. The high-rank questions for the study were twenty in total. Almost everyone has knowledge on the PPCPs. The spread of the PPCPS is quite significant since most of the PPCPS elements are present in sewage, ground and surface water. The questions were ranked according to the various stressors on the environment, humans, and animals. All questions were necessary, and the top ranked questions drew a lot from the other lower ranked issues. The questions covered detection, effects and exposure of PPCPs in the envir onment. Stanford et al., (2010) notes that the focus on pharmaceuticals and hormones does not have the needed

Developing Yourself as an Effective Human Resources or Learning and Development Practitione Essay Example for Free

Developing Yourself as an Effective Human Resources or Learning and Development Practitione Essay LO1: Understand the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to be an effective HR or LD practitioner. Briefly summarize the CIPD Map (i.e. 2 core areas, specialist professional areas, the bands and the behaviors) Comment on the activities and knowledge specified within any 1 professional area at either band 1 or 2 identifying those you consider most essential to your own (or other identified) HR/LD role. The  HR Profession Map  is a framework based on extensive research with  HR professionals  at all stages of their career, and sets out what makes great  HR: the knowledge, skills, and behaviors. An extensive variety of associations and HR experts are currently utilizing the CIPDs Profession Map to benchmark and fabricate their HR ability at the singular, group, capacity and association levels As you can see on the image above CIPD has created LO2: Know how to deliver timely and effective HR services to meet users’ needs. 2.1. Identify the needs of 3 different customers using the HR service and explain how conflicting needs are prioritized. 2.2 Identify 3 different methods of communication and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each. In business, effective communication is vital to remaining competitive, amplifying benefit, keeping workers drew in and cheerful, and ensuring everybody is centered around the correct objectives and targets. At the point when correspondence is done effectively, it implies a similar thing to both the sender and recipient. Type of Communication Advantages Disadvantages Face to Face Eye to an eye is yet the favored correspondence channel if lucidity of a message is an essential factor. Communication in person enables you to connect with the audience in a forward and backward dialog. It likewise enables you to use nonverbal motions, outward appearances, and individual magnetism to upgrade the message. A disadvantage is a potential that a contention could turn out to be more warmed or enthusiastic in an eye to eye channel. Strain or stress is likewise more probable if you have the individual clash with the other individual. Written Email Email is a key correspondence direct in topographically scattered organizations or ones in which representative’s travel. Email considers more adaptable reaction times. You can communicate something specific one day and get a reaction in a couple of hours or the following day. It takes into consideration discussion that isnt time-forced, however, can serve for quick turnaround times. It additionally considers the incorporation of records, for example, archives or pictures. Email is less individual than either vis-à  -vis or telephone. The missing setting of the message may prompt errors or misjudged messages. Also, the greater part of emails and vital data can be lost with a basic hard-drive crash. In the event that email data are stored on another server, at that point information could get lost if that site goes down or bankrupt. Phone Land or cell phones have taken up the correspondence slack in organizations where separation and travel counteract eye to eye discussion. The phone still permits quick connection between two gatherings in the correspondence. Cell phones likewise extend your capacity to speak with removed specialists or workplaces. The absence of nonverbal or outward appearances expel those components from the message. This can repress the capacity to restrain the unique circumstance or feeling of a message sender. The telephone is likewise less personal than an up-close meeting. 2.3 Describe how you can provide effective service delivery. HR gives organization benefits over the representative lifecycle. Delivery perfection implies assembling and keeping up powerful administration, which incorporates: Building connections, which requires to invest energy and to speak with individuals, particularly up close and personal. This can be succeeded by being liberal, having an uplifting disposition, concentrating on passionate insight, listening effectively, promising open correspondence, esteeming others. There are many advantages in growing great connections: the work is more enjoyable and beneficial, it makes a positive domain, it values people and correspondence, it averts issues and enhances performances. Resolving complaints While instinctual a complain produces negative responses, overseeing it is part of the activity. It is significant to assume liability for the issue and to associate with a client on both an expert and individual level, utilizing cautious dialect, listen carefully and feel for the client. Moreover, grievances give the chance to enhance administrations delivery. Managing difficult customers Initially, it is fundamental staying alert that the client is despondent and to change claim attitude. Also, it is expected to listen them act. Right off the bat, it is central remaining ready that the customer is beset and to alter have the viewpoint. Moreover, it is relied upon to listen to them adequately, being empathic and after that repeat their stresses and make a request. Finally, demonstrate an answer and make a move rapidly revealing every movement to take to settle the issue. Finally, being empathic and after that rehash their worries and make inquiries. At last, display an answer and make a move instantly disclosing each progression to take to settle the issue. Managing time and budget constraints Overseeing time and budget successfully serves to deliver magnificence, to be beneficial and to meet desires. A key factor for effectiveness is to organize undertakings, distributing time and money related assets where it is generally required. It is vital to esteem the time and assets. It intends to compose, taking control of the day and arranging costs. Seeking continuous improvement The key to a consistent change in delivering outstanding services is observing the inner process, gaining from clients input, modifying the delivery process and enhancing performances and administrations guidelines. LO3: Be able to reflect on own practice and development needs and maintain a plan for personal development. 3.1 Define and explain the importance of Continuous Professional Development Most of the people once they have got their degree feel that their trip to knowledge has come to an end. They do not realize that the trip just began. Working in HR specifically is a continuous journey to research and expansion of knowledge and skills. This not only benefits the individuals but enhances ‘’Continuing professional development is important because it ensures you continue to be competent in your profession. It is an ongoing process and continues throughout a professional’s career.’’ http://continuingprofessionaldevelopment.org/why-is-cpd-important/Here are some examples explaining why CPD is playing an important role in our careers: CPD guarantees our abilities keep pace with the present principles of others in a similar field. CPD guarantees that we and our insight remain important and progressive. We are more mindful of the changing patterns and headings in our calling. The pace of progress is presumably quicker than its at any point been – and this is an element of the new type that we live and work in. On the off chance that we stop, we will get left behind, as the cash of our insight and abilities winds up plainly outdated. upgrade our certainty and inspiration add to our vocation advancement as we turn out to be more viable in our working environment CPD encourages us to remain intrigued and fascinating. Experience is an extraordinary educator; however, it means that we tend to do what we have done sometime recently. Centered CPD opens us up to new potential outcomes, new information and new aptitude zones. 3.2 Undertake a self-assessment against the CIPD Professional Map at either band 1 or band 2. Identify the areas for development. 3.3 Explain at least 2 of the options you have considered to meet your development needs which have been identified through undertaking 3.2. 3.4 Devise a personal development plan based on the outcome of the self -assessment and any personal aspirations which are relevant. This should cover a period of 6 months. undertaking 3.2. Bibliography Article title: Profession Map for HR and LD | CIPD Website title: CIPD URL: https://www.cipd.co.uk/learn/career/profession-map Author Continuing Development Article title: The importance of continuing professional development (CPD) Website title: Continuing Professional Development URL: http://continuingprofessionaldevelopment.org/why-is-cpd-important/

Nancy Lancaster and Her Influence on Architecture Essay Example for Free

Nancy Lancaster and Her Influence on Architecture Essay Empowerment. No other word can probably spell out how the women had ever wanted, and will always want to achieve it so long as oppression, discrimination, disparagement, abuse, and the list of scornful issues can go on until this era and so long as the eras to come continue to wreak these issues upon the women. This advocacy grew stronger every decade and the society’s sight falls upon those ‘group’ of citizens kicking up a storm within and against the ‘other’ group called men. What could better explain this outcry than their wonder that despite their membership in what the world or at least most of it recognize as society, they are clustered as ‘the second group’ with the men filling up the first. Even the artistic realm, though mostly associated with women, is predominated by the male species. After all, the great grandmother of all architectural work of art was conceived by men. The Parthenon, begun in 447 B.C., was part of a great plan conceived by the indubitably male Athenian Pericles for decorating the Acropolis in Greece. This temple was designed by three other manly architects Ictinus, Mnesicles, and Callicrates. History tells us that the Greek colonists had established this ever-male-dominated disciplines in literature, art, and architecture. Their neighbors, the Etruscans, were the first to forge practical skills in sanitation, road building, architecture, and pottery making by as early as seventh century B.C. This inequity was brought about by a number of reasons. Generally women were not permitted into the finest art institutions. As a consequence, women turned out deficient in the de rigueur education to go up against men in the field receiving the highest regard for in the scholarly realm, historical and metaphorical painting. This segregation similarly kept women from breaking the glass ceiling and establishing the social and political associates needed to thrive in the artistically aggressive ambit. Juvenile female art scholars supposed they existed in a potential period notwithstanding the several forms of complicatedness they were obliged to prevail over. Private art academe, enrolled in which was a mix of male and female students, were a commonplace, as were art schools exclusive to women. But even these art schools would not permit women to exert themselves from nude subjects until the transition to the new century. The sizeable national exhibitions demonstrated several works by women, to a certain extent for the reason that entries were tendered namelessly or incognito. Halfway through the subsequent centuries, women likewise started to establish their own exclusive expositions. Among them were Americans Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, Lois Lilley Howe, Louise Blanchard Bethune, Sophia Hayden, and Mabel Keyes Babcock. Twentieth century architects explored new methods and materials in their designs, but the dominant style in city buildings was the angular International Style. A few architects in the United States made use of ideas found in German architecture and in the Savoye House. Although office and public buildings are impressive, it is the house that provides the most immediate architectural experiences for most people. There is a huge variety in the houses in the United States. This is seen in the thousands of buildings erected in housing developments since World War II. At one extreme, are the multiple-unit dwellings. At the other is the house designed for the needs of one family. Thanks to the households headed by women, the need for more female architects and designers were born. And together with dwellings is the widened variety of furniture and housewares that peppered the household pioneered by Nancy Lancaster. A woman designer who made a redrafting of a historic edifice was Rebecca L. Binder. The five-story academic institution she was commissioned to remake a 40,000-square feet addition, which she beautified with concrete with horizontal belts in brickwork. How she made it happen could not be sufficed with either superlative words or this magnum opus itself:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps, Nancy Lancaster’s words could better explain the beauty that Rebecca L. Binder and the rest of the fabulous woman designers emanate through their masterpieces:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I was always searching for beauty. I wasn’t as interested in the houses as I was in their ambience. In the furniture, in the history, in the garden. You never could put your finger specifically on whatever created the beauty, it was too elusive, but houses were where I found it the most†¦Ã¢â‚¬    Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indeed, Rebecca L. Binder is but one of the many designers especially the female ones to have perpetuated the influence of one of the breakthrough designers of the modern era Nancy Lancaster. Nancy Lancaster’s words could echo the own feelings of these female designers for interiors and architecture. The revolutionary Scandinavian boomerang shapes had descended en masse upon the abodes of the more progressive of the Western population. The fifties era had set in, but in other homes, homebodies were still clinging to Victorian values, Dickens, and Puccini, while everyone else was worshipping the new gods names Elvis and Rock, and had been lured by the pale Danish furniture, delicate paper Noguchi lamps, and wretched wallpapers. The new household names were unpronounceable Sigrun Bà ¼low-Hà ¼be, Victoria Van Dyke, Itsuko Hasegawa, Signe Lagerborg-Stenius, Annette Hoyt Flanders, and Hanna Adamczewska-Wejchert.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The sixties heralded a great struggle between the love for Grand-Mere’s romantic world and the growing interest in all things modern. Out went the sweet remembrance of the old coachman’s house with its exquisite, old-fashioned rooms and in came the exciting iconoclasm of the Mary Quant, the provocative mini-skirt, and false eyelashes by the yard. Plastic reigned supreme, and inflatable transparent furniture and chairs, lamps, kitchen utensils in screaming, vile colors took over from the natural Scandinavian look. Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier, and their much-favored combination of steel, chrome, and black leather had yet to be rediscovered. For the moment, the design-conscious sat decorously in the pop designer Verner Panton’s â€Å"Champagne Chair† and in Knoll’s pristine white and curvilinear furniture, or tried to look very futuristic and 2001 in a foam and stretch-jersey construction made by Monsieur Mourge. This variety may seem to have been impossible decades ago. Back then, Expressionism was a movement that proved to be an enduring force in 20th century art, exercising a strong influence on New York painters of the 1940s and 1950s. This period also promoted the concept of neoplasticism, a plastic idiom equally applicable to painting, architecture, and the decorative arts, and was known to have influenced the Constructivists in New York. Constructivism is one of several idealist abstract art movements that arose in Europe and Russia between 1913 and 1920. It stressed total acceptance of technological, scientific society and the possibility of an ideal world based on the perfect functionalism of the machine (Frascina et al., 1982). More futuristic Vasarely patterns, the revolting combination of chocolate brown and orange and the dangerous juxtaposition of apple-green and geranium-red proved that the seventies were all about color. And about color-blindness. Walls covered with panels of brushed steel, long-haired flokati carpet that looked like the curly fur of a wet sheep, and anthropomorphic furniture ran riot. To be really in meant having plexiglass all over the place: a plexiglass coffee table, plexigllass side tables, plexiglass obelisks (with uplighters cleverly hidden in their bases so they glowed mysteriously at night), and little plexiglass supports to add drama to the objets d’art and emphasize their qualities and value. Indeed, these innovative designs were all a product of the revolutionary state of affairs during the time they were made. Thus, the artists’ revolt against the classic codes of composition, careful execution, harmonious coloring, and heroic subject matter. One museum in New York today nostalgically reflects this revolution. The Museum of Modern Art puts across the messages of women’s success, fame, power and glory with their latest exhibit Digitally Mastered: Recent Acquisitions from the Museum’s Collection. Digitally Mastered stresses total acceptance of technological, scientific society and the possibility of an ideal world based on the perfect functionalism of the machine. This modern variety in the arts springs to life with a surprising sense of alertness, as if it had a personality. Joie de vivre is what every New Yorker can describe of himself. After all, New York is the busiest city in the world. The progressiveness of women designers is entertainingly described in the most relevant movie last year. In the movie/novel The Devil Wears Prada, the highly modish corporate garb, seen on people going to work in the course of a fashion runway and doing a catwalk along the busiest business districts of New York, is still an understatement. Not only does the movie depict women progressive in the arty world but in the economic world as a whole. Women have always been the tops in the fashion world, both locally and internationally. Somehow the androgyny seems to have the advantage of knowing what their fellow women want and what men consider attractive in terms of etiquette and dress. If interior design in the eighties had a color scheme, it was mainly black and white. It was launched and cleverly promoted by the Black Widow of design, Andree Putman, a gifted talent-scout and orchestrator of striking and severe interiors, who founded the firm ECART which reproduced original designs, mainly from the thirties. As a result, a large number of tables, chairs, and lams by the totally forgotten Irish designer Eileen Gray, and creations by giants of the Art Deco period, such as Robert Mallet-Stevens and Jean-Michel Frank, were re-edited. Re-edition was the clever description that covered up the eighties’ frantic and boundless copying of originals. Design fanatics, who would never have invested any money in the acquisition of a common copy, seemed to be proud to be living with the same Fortuny Lamr, the same Eileen Gray carpet, and the same sleek Frank sofa as their neighbors. Gae Aulenti and Rebecca L. Binder very well know this. Those who thought that living among vulgar copies showed little originality seemed to find solace in the sublime and very esthetic emptiness of minimalism, reassured by the fact that if one possessed very little, one could never be accused of having no taste. Andree Putman, always light years ahead of trends to come, had already pointed a warning finger at the threatening despotism of design and at the constant fear of not being of the latest fashion. Of course, the multifaceted world of interior design had also had a string of adepts who would only take inspiration from great classical examples. In the fifties, when the boomerang fever had rise to its most dangerous level, the prominent Madeleine Castaing was filling the pages of the leading magazine Connaissance des Arts with images of rooms that looked deceptively period. Her love of white and gold and her penchant for velvets and damask silks and a flamboyant use of antiques seemed, at that time, only accessible to the moneyed few. Madame Castaing’s subtle concoction of le style Anglais, bourgeois Viennese biedermeier, and sever Frencg directoire reached its zenith at her own chateau near Chartres. But her cleverly composed â€Å"windows on the past† were like wines that do not travel, and remained imprisoned in their own country. This description could equally well apply to the formidable Nancy Lancaster herself, whose memories from her Virginia childhood transcribed in her splendid dwellings in England became the â€Å"English country† look. Her â€Å"buttah-yellah† room above the shop was the epitome of relaxed chic, and some of her statements, such as â€Å"I never thought twice about using bright colors in old houses, and â€Å"Mahogany is lovely when it’s been faded in the sun,† illustrate her loose interpretation of the past when she was attempting to create a period look. An inspired artist who spend her whole life doing up houses, Lancaster has left a most delightful description of the decoration of the staircase in her London townhouse at 28 Quen Anne’s Gate: â€Å"When you walked in, the staircase was on the left: it was the loveliest architectural feature in the house. I left the staircase a tobacco color but painted the paneling along the stairs a pale, pale green. On the window in the stair hall, I put curtains the color of a cigar, with a fringed pelmet and along the floor I had a very pretty Bessarabian runner with the same brown in it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her words convey something of the excitement involved in creating this prologue to a ballet performance. On the other side of the Atlantic, an equally formidable lady was also freely borrowing elements from the past. Lady Mendl, also known as Elsie de Wolfe, who invented the profession of â€Å"interior decorator† was making a risky cocktail of Louis styles in different shades of white and combining them with Venetian baroque, forties’ stucco, engraved mirrors, and walls decorated with silver leaf. The setting for a period recreation does not always have to be grand, the expenditure exorbitant, or reflective of only the sentimental female’s work. It is imagination rather than money that is the first requirement for originality.   Large amounts of money are not always needed: a room can be assembled from inexpensive finds in the flea market, a pair of old curtains, and a table found in a street or on a dumpster. All these could be found in grandma’s basement while the men in the family, leaving their women at home, rummage through the streets for the money. The likes of Nancy Lancaster prove that even the homebodies can be exorbitantly creative. Ancient patinas have their own romance that could only come from the empowered womanly instincts: crumbling walls and peeling paint can be the epitome of sophistication, and touches such as the elegant folds of draped fabric, a candlestick on an antique table, or the presence of a canopied bed all contribute to a style that has been inspired by the past but will, in the end, be timeless. References Frascina, Francis, Harrison, Charles, and Deirdre, Paul. (2002). Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology. Grosenick, U. (2002). Women Artists in the 20th and 21st Century.